Page 4 --The Michigan Daily -Monday, April 1, 1991
420 Maynard Street ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Editor in Chief
Edited and Managed STEPHEN HENDERSON
by Students at the DANIEL POUX
University of Michigan Opinion Editors
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
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A2 electons
Mayoral candidates force voters to choose the lesser evil
Today, Ann Arbor residents will select the Jemigan has perpetuated. This city needs hands-on
person who will be the city's top official for leadership and concrete plans in order to rectify the
the next two years. But despite the fact that there current dilemmas of homelessness, solid waste
are three very different candidates in this year's disposal and income taxes, and Rafflaub's de-
mayoral elections, none of them offers a platform regulatory attitudes will shuffle these responsi-
enticing enough to merit an actual endorsemnent. bilities to the private sector - where they will
Perhaps the least impressive candidate is Re- undoubtedly be ignored.
publican incumbent Gerald Jernigan. During his Although Democratic candidate Liz Brater of-
past two terms as mayor, Jernigan has proven fers positive ideas toward solving some of Ann
unswervingly that his priorities lie more with big Arbor's problems, her platform lacks the concrete
business - and parking structures - than with backing to carry out many of them. Brater's plans
those who are most in need in Ann Arbor. He has to intensify the city's recycling efforts and to find
refused to adequately address the growing problem ways to gamer revenue from Ann Arbor's exten-
of homelessness in the city and has permitted the sive non-taxables - such as the University - are
landfill to become full with non-city waste - all laudable pursuits. But the feasibility of these
while pumping millions into the development of prospects is questionable, and Brater has yet to
the downtown area and its businesses, offer real means to attain her solutions.
But Je higan's most striking drawback is the In addition, Brater has flip-flopped a great deal
clear conflict of interest he holds. Throughout his on the controversy over the proposed $9 millhon '
tenure as mayor, Jemnigan has held the position of parking structure for Kline's department store
Assistant Investment Officer at the University, and downtown. This money could undoubtedly be better
has demonstrated that he does not have the city's spent on increased low-income- housing, or put
--or its citizens';-best interest at heart. When the toward recycling efforts, and Brater's inconsisten-
University deputized its own security force last cies on this matter are troubling.
year, Jemnigan stood by President Duderstadt and However, because none of these candidates
the University Board of Regents in their decision. provides all of the attributes needed to lead Ann
Even though Ann Arbor stood to lose considerable Arbor during the next year does not mean that the
revenues from this move -to the tune of $500,000 city's citizens - or students who are registered -
- Jemnigan saw fit to protect his own personal should not vote today. Five of the 10 City Council
iterests instead of looking out for th city. Clearly, seats are also up for election today, and it is
Ann Arbor citizens would do themselves a great imperative that students and residents make their
disservice by re-electing him. voices heard in local government. Even if you cast
Libertarian candidate David Raafluab's seem- your vote for a write-in candidate, the most im-
ingly new ideas are almost as disturbing as portant fact is that you exercise your constitutional
Jernigan's past history. His plans to "privatize" right to vote.
Ann Arbor will only exacerbate the problems
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elements - the first being humor, Impossible. That's the first to anticipate problems and
and the second being a degree of thought that went through my prepare for them.
subtlety. Sadly, those which mind upon hearing that the In a year in which its leaders
appear on the opinion page election workers hadn't shown . have constantly been demanding
possess neither. The dubious "art"~ up on Wednesday in the law that the administration respect
of this "Woody" character neither school for the Michigan Student the assembly's legitimacy, a
amuses nor stimulates. His pieces Assembly (MSA) elections. On successful election would have
are about as subtle as a blow to . inspection, I discovered it was demonstrated MSA's impor-
the head with a lead pipe, and his true. tance, not its incompetence.
wit (or lack thereof) is puerile. Leaving the voting table If MSA ever hopes to be seen
The students at this University unattended was not an insignifi- as more than a self-absorbed,
have been subjected to cant mistake. Not staffing a ersatz legislature, the first step is
"Woody's" artistic temper polling place can determine an to ensure its elections are fair.
tantrums for months now, and election. Last year. the first and Even if leaving the law school
many of us are sick of him. It is last place candidates for MSA polling place un-staffed was the
laudable of the Daily to give from the law school were only snafu this year (which
untried cartoonists a chance, but separated by only 15 votes out of seems quite unlikely), the newly
to continue to print the infantile the nearly 400 cast. elected assembly should immedi-
drivel of such an inept buffoon is This letter is not a condemna- ately investigate ways in which
a crime against good editing and tion of the election director. elections can be restructured to
an insult to our intelligence. Rather, it's a condemnation of protect against future problems.
If the Daily cannot find a the assembly as a whole. Past Peter Mooney
political cartoonist who is capable experience should have led them second-year Law student
of producing printable work then
at least bring in a decent syndi- wouldn't a more pragmatic returned, Ifinally visited the
cated one, such as Gary Trudeau approach be more appropriate? store where I found Mike. He
or Pat Oliphant. You may even find friends among was a smart-alec and very rude to
As the only campus newspa- all of us racist, anti-women, pro- me when I explained the situa-
per, the Daily should strive for nuke, anti-tuna (and whale), pro- tion; however, he said he would
self-improvement. The readers KKK, xenophobic, pro-Nazi, anti- check into it.
deserve better. choice, gun-totin', anti-life, pro- After two weeks and approxi-
Give "Woody" the axe and get centralized government white mately 10 phone calls to Mike, I
a real cartoonist! males. still have yet to hear from him. In
- the meantime, I have called Visa W
LSBrian Leininger Jonathan Greenberg and have contested the charges.
LAfrt-year student University graduate Fu r trme anthr insanen
Artice wasVide o problems an acquaintance of mine once
Arti Ce WSSreturned a video approximately
To the Daily: two hours late, Mike himself
Co O~e igApproximately three weeks -tried to charge her a $6 late fee.
To the Daily: ago, I received my Visa bill with When she challenged this charge,
Discrimination is everywhere, two charges on it totalling he reduced it to the standard $2.
but if Pattrice Maurer ("Discrimi- approximately $110 from I hope the above experiences
nation is elsewhere," 3/25/91) is Wolverine Video and Electronics have not happened to other
attempting to help the socially on Church Street. students as well, but I feel the~y
weak among her audience through When I contacted the store, are probably not just isolated
a lame attempt at satirical they told me it was for a video incidents. If this has happened or
hysteria, she shoul try it in a less that they saidi I d no return (). hapen n the fuu ake sure
Although I agree with her However, they said I would credit card company. It is your
assessment of almost every have to talk to Mike Wax, the right.
example of discrimination, I don't manager (whom I later found out
need a self-righteous lecture from is also the owner) in order to Fred Hackstock
her. solve this situation. After several Engineering senior
If she wants to educate, phone messages to Mike were un-
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I's not all black and white...
by "Peter" those imprisoned Antarctic Ameri- administrators. Hell, even the re-
As an oppressed member of the cans were forced to play second gents can come if they promise to
world community, I feel it is time to fiddle to a bunch of monkeys! bring Deane Baker.
shed some light on the plight of my Now that many of us have won We guarantee that once you are
race. The silence of the campus our freedom, we are continually exposed to the plight of our people,
community has disturbed me, but I subjected to a hostile society that you will not be able to hide your
suppose very few of you are aware refuses to respect our rights. The eyes from the reality. No longer
of the discrimination that I, and government has even closed "pen- will you go to the local zoo and
many like me, face every=day. guin schools," seeking to quell an laugh as our brothers and sisters sit
How many of you have had to Antarctic American insurrection enclosed behind glass walls. No
face a life where people scoff if you that doesn't even exist. longer will you giggle at our unjust
choose a profession other than be- We have a right to an education, imprisonmentas though it had some
ing a maitre d' or a professional dammit! sort of sick entertainment value.
boxing announcer? Can you imag- This oppression must end, and And - perhaps most important of
ine the horror of being over-dressed for this reason, the Antarctic all - no longer will you stand idle
at every social function? American Solidarity Society (ASS) while your government ensures the
Unfortunately, though few of has called for the Michigan Student unflinching, callous oppression of
you may realize it, this is the daily Assembly (MSA) to send a fact- Antarctic Americans.
fb *i Lhn in findinS misinn to Antarctica to Remember. by maintaining si-
New superintendent's 'choice'
The urban deterioration now ravaging this
country is probably most prominently re-
flected in our inner-city schools - and Detroit is
no exception.
In an effort to rectify the situation, the city's
board of education has chosen educational reform-
ist Deborah McGriff as the new superintendent.
McGriff comes to Detroit from Milwaukee,
where her efforts to de-centralize that city's school
system and restore a sense of community to each
individual school are widely respected.
But along with her positive ideas and change-
ninded attitudes, McGriff also brings support for
a program which is potentially dangerous to the
schools in Detroit - and across the nation.
McGriff is an avid supporter of the "choice"
plan, which is also endorsed by Republican Gov.
John Engler. ,Under this program, students in a
scpool district would be able to attend whatever
school they feel is best for them. This would permit
a student on one side oftown to go to a better school
across town if he or she so desired. While this Wray
seem - on the surface - to be the solution for
aling inner-city schools and their students, in
actuality, it is little more than a stop-gap measure
that fails to directly address the problem of sub-par
education in the city.
Choice, by attempting to provide an alternative
plan ignores real problems
for students trapped infaltering inner-city schools,
skirts over the need for real reform of our educa-
tional systems. The dire reality in cities such as
Detroit is one in which most of the schools offer an
inadequate education. Choice does nothing to ad-
dress the majority of the schools - which are
desperately in need of attention.
The real answer to the educational dilemma
Detroit now faces is a concerted effort to improve
all the city's schools. Increased funding, intensified
college-preparatory programs and an enhanced
dedication to every school in the city are the only
ways to truly salvage inner-city education.
McGriff, Engler and other proponents of the
choice plan ignore this reality. They feel that by
offering students an alternative, the need for im-
provement of our inner-city schools is erased.
McGriff brings many valuable attributes to her
new job as superintendent in Detroit. Educators in
Detroit are right to welcome her with optimism.
But her support of the choice plan clearly de-
tracts from this optimism, and should be viewed
with considerable skepticism in the coming months.
It is time for reform in the Detroit schools; this
is an indisputable truth. But choice is not the
answer, and hopefully the city's citizens and board
of education will realize this before it is too late.
Gun control
'Brady bill' provides chance for
Former President Ronald Reagan had a surpris-
ing change of heart last week when he ex-
pressed his support for the Brady Handgun Vio-
lence Prevention Act - a gun control bill that
favors a seven day waiting period on handgun
purchases.
The bill is named after James Brady, the former
White House Press Secretary who was wounded in
ar assassination attempt on Reagan's life in 1981.
Its introduction to Congress marks the 10 year
anniversary of John Hinkley's attempt on Reagan's
life and is long overdue.
Despite Reagan's contradictory past stance on
similar legislation, this bill is an important step in
thie right direction.
The bill is the first step in the battle for national
gun control and only applies to handguns - not
rifles or shotguns. If the Brady Bill is approved by
{ Congress, it will set the precedent for a more
complete gun control program that could include
rifles, shotguns and other firearms.
Indeed, there is a legitimate national problem
increased regulation
with the use of handguns. Despite efforts in many
of the nation's major cities to regulate their use,
handguns are still largely the gun of choice among
criminals. Although this new bill cannot regulate
the extensive black-market sales of handguns, its
merits should not be underestimated.
The bill would allow police to check the back-
grounds of prospective buyers for information
about criminal action or commission to mental
institutions before providing the license. However,
the check is not mandatory on all handguns.
Until now, the Bush administration has shown
opposition to gun control legislation, but with the
new bill backed by Reagan, the White House has
iterated a willingness to back a revised version of
the proposal.
But both the the White House and Congress
should back the bill in its orginal form. By doing so
they will send a strong message to the people about
their commitment' to the proper regulation of
handguns - and hopefully other weapons - and
to the protection of American citizens.
Nuts and Bolts
IT' HAVE INFRONTOFM-E
A PETITION OF ROUOGHsLY
1200 HUNgIPREP S$I&NATU1iES.
by Judd Winick
R P ,N~COMFLETEL-I
F-E .
z AKE ATEMPTS T
IIIIGMY AUDIENCE ISSUES,
IV NTERSr AND? IMRRTA E~
B URNS FIRSTANNUAL
LIVE RAP+O
~VASECTOCMY i!
sentence or tnose ite me, wnom in
your ignorance you refer to as
"penguins." Most of you don't even
have the courtesy, or maybe the PC-
ness, to call us by our chosen title -
research the history of my race.
Hell, they do it for everyone else.
The trip would only cost $1,000
- a small price to pay to educate
lence in the face of evil, you shoulder
as much responsibility for our op-
pression as the brutal zoo-keepers
who hold the keys to our freedom or
vi