Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, April 17,1991
bie £41ai1
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
DANIEL POUX
Opinion Editors
Open letter to President Duderstadt
Dear President Duderstadt:
May 1 marks the third anniversary of the implementation of the University of Michigan Policy on
Discrimination and Discriminatory Conduct by Students in the University Environment. This policy
was struck down in August 1989 by federal judge Avern Cohn as unconstitutional but was soon replaced
with the University of Michigan Interim Policy on Discrimination and Discriminatory Conduct by
Students in the University Environment. While the legality of the Interim Policy with respect to First
Amendment rights is questionable, one thing is clear: The administration's attempts to control student
speech with any type of policy is wrong.
The University ought to be educating its students, not engaging in a partisan evaluation of their
thoughts. Federal, state and local laws already tempered by the Bill of Rights should be wholly sufficient
to evaluate and enforce student speech and conduct. By making students answerable to a University
policy on speech, they become hostages to a bureaucracy that does not have the resources to ensure these
rights.
According to the Interim Policy, it is the University's duty to protect the "educational process" at the
University. Using resources intended for education to police the speech of University students is not
the job of the University. As editors of campus newspapers, we ask the administration to abandon this
policy. The Interim Policy benefits no one. Not newspapers, not students, and especially not the
"educational process."
Sincerely,
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.
": .:r .{ :.:!"}"} : . K{x{' {r...,{.S{..:"r.{4 '{..{ ""^" .....:.:.... . . . .
" - :: .C n:L. r ""
New suggestions offer small, but encouraging reforms
W hile the debate continues over the extent,
timing, and impact of global warming, the
National Academy of Sciences has issued a report
that strikes a balance between environmentalists'
calls for immediate action and the White House's
fears of alienating industrial alliances.
The academy deserves praise for establishing a
difficult compromise between costly manufactur-
ing industry changes and the desire ofmany business
people to maximize financial profits by doing
nothing.
There is clear evidence and wide agreement
among atmospheric scientists about several aspects
of climate change:
*the atmospheric concentration of methane
has doubled during the last century and is increasing
about 0.9 percent a year,
the atmospheric concentration of carbon di-
oxide has increased 25 percent during the same
period and is increasing about 0.5 percent a year;
chlorofluorocarbons are increasing at about 4
percent per year, and human activities are prima-
rily responsible, and;
the global average temperature has risen by
0.5 to 1.1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century.
The academy asserts that if no effort is made to
reduce emissions, greenhouse gas concentrations
could continue to rise, doubling the pre-industrial
level by the year 2050. This rise could ultimately
increase average global temperature by 1.8 and 9
degrees Fahrenheit. Experts also believe that fur-
ther increases in temperature are likely because the
oceans release heat more slowly than land, so
ultimately the temperature rise could be twice as
high.
Faced on one hand with this gloomy evidence
and its possible consequences, and on the other
hand, with strong political pressure from lobbyists
for manufacturers and fossil fuel industries, the
academy has suggested actions and policies that
are relatively effective - yet involve little or no
cost.
Policy recommendations for greenhouse-driven
energy systems include the following:
developing coal- and natural-gas-fired plant
arrangements that have efficiencies approaching
60 percent;
encouraging broader use of natural gas;
developing and testing new nuclear reactors
that are designed to deal with safety, waste man-
agement, and public acceptability, and;
increasing research and development on al-
ternative energy technologies, such as solar or
wind power, and designing ways to use them in
conjunction with existing power systems.
The academy's recommendations for reducing
emissions include renewed emphasis on building
energy efficiency, vehicle efficiency, halocarbon-
CFC usage reduction, and reforestation. It also
recommends that federal and state governments
strengthen support of mass transit, improve the
efficiency of American cars through use of regu-
lation and tax incentives, and encourage public
education for conservation and recycling. These
efforts would involve little or no cost, while their
effects could be far-reaching and environmentally
significant.
As long as the Bush administration continues to
balk at taking responsibility for the consequences
of the manufacturing and industrial policies that it
encourages, environmentalists and the American
public will have to be satisfied with small-scale
policy changes as recommended in the Academy's
report.
Meanwhile, it seems that we will have to wait
for further scientific evidence or for a more envi-
ronmentally conscious administration before
America takes a proportionate amount of respon-
sibility for protecting our planet.
Brian Jendryka
Editor in Chief
for The Michigan Review
Andrew Gottesman
Editor in Chief
for The Michigan Daily
Mark Sanor
Editor in Chief
for The Res Gestae
Lisa Bean
Editor in Chief
for Prospect magazine
/J/ r ' r 16. - --
/Ai rffI
-JS/J-L S, El 1,u 1 o
. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .
l/............
:'Y
~VS Ac~WTc~) LETLE~A1J TL~ UttLi:Wk
Ryskamp
Bigoted judge should be removed from bench
:: .
: A
r 9
:: Y
::
Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee, which reviews all presidential nomina-
tions to federal court judgeships, rejected Judge
Kenneth Ryskamp from assuming position on the
11th District Court of Appeals (covering Florida,
Alabama, and Georgia).
Ryskamp, who presently presides overa Florida
district court, has received criticism from civil
rights groups about his 20-year membership in the
Riviera Country Club in Coral Gables, Fla., and
discriminatory statements he has made toward
Blacks and Cubans from the bench.
The Riviera Country Club has a reputation for
racist and anti-Semitic membership practices, as
no Blacks or Jews hold memberships. At one time,
the club had a policy prohibiting the use of any
language other than English.
In 1987, Ryskamp presided over a case where a
group of four Black suspects sued the West Palm
Beach Police Department forpermitting its dogs to
maul agroupof four Black suspects. Judge Ryskamp
commented that it might be a good idea for some
of the plaintiffs to "carry around a few scars" to
remind them of their wrongdoing. As it turns out,
two of the plaintiffs were never charged of a crime.
Clearly, practices like this display Judge
Ryskamp for the racist he is. He should not be
sitting on the bench in Florida, much less be
appointed to the Court of Appeals. The 11th Dis-
trict covers an area heavily populated by minori-
ties; someone with Ryskamp's biases would most
likely hold back cases of discrimination that might
otherwise have gone on to review by the Supreme
Court.
As a pleasant surprise, both Republican and
Democratic members of the Review Committee
agreed that Ryskamp's inability to dispel concerns
about his sensitivity to racial and ethnic minorities
spelled his defeat. But how did Ryskamp get onto
the bench with these facts known? Now that they
are public, ajudicial review shouldbe implemented
to remove Ryskamp from office. To have an openly
racist judge on any bench is wrong, for it undercuts
the basic foundations of the American judicial
system.
This case falls on the heels of the Michigan's
proposed legislation concerning lawyers and
judges' membership in clubs that hold discrimi-
natory policies. The Daily contended that the
membership in clubs should not be of public
concern, for if it was, First Amendment rights and
rights to privacy would be infringed. However, the
Daily qualified the statement by saying that mi-
nority-insensitive judges should not be presiding
in a court of law. Ryskamp is guilty of holding
discriminatory views, which were displayed in his
actions from the bench. His membership in the
Riviera Country Club is simply another symptom
of his insensitivity to minority agendas.
Judges like Ryskamp should be removed from
office. They only threaten the justice system and
prevent discriminatory practices from being rec-
ognized and halted. Most certainly, they should not
be elevated to higher. positions in the system, for
that only acts to commend their beliefs.
Listen to Bush!
To the Daily:
We and our University are
being honored in our commence-
ment exercises by the presence of
the President of the United States,
George Bush. I hope that as
critically thinking, responsible
men and women, we will realize
the significance of this honor, and
impart the respect deserved to this
event.
The address by President Bush
is an honor to our University. If
we claim as members of this
community to be worthy of this
honor, we ought to act as digni-
fied members of the prestigious
institution we believe the Univer-
sity to be.
If we claim to be intelligent,
critical thinkers, we ought to
demonstrate our abilities by
responding as educated men and
women who, although they may
disagree, respect other viewpoints
and the right of people expressing
those ideas to be heard.
Protesting, in a manner which
interferes with another's expres-
sion of his or her view adds
nothing to persuasive, critical
debate and never receives respect
or results.
If students feel the necessity
to protest policies of President
Bush, I would hope that they
recognize the appropriate forums
for expressing their views which
would gain the respect, attention
and ends that they desire. Com-
mencement exercises are clearly
not such a forum.
Thomas Norton
LSA senior
is Bush an honor?
To the Daily:
After George Bush's slaughter
of the citizens of Iraq and
subsequent betrayal of the Kurds
and Shiites, it truly is a disgrace
that the University has invited the
popular (?) president to speak at
the May commencement exer-
cises. What a shame!
Even if the entire Michigan
Stadium were full when the
President speaks on May 4, it still
wouldn't equal the number of
people killed or injured by
George's "Quick War" in the
Gulf. George Bush's role in this
entire affair can best be summed
up by Macbeth:
"Will all great Neptune's
Ocean wash this blood clean from
my hand? No, this my hand will
rather the multitudinous seas
incarnadine, making the green one
red, (Macbeth, Act II,;Scene 2,
line 60).
Thomas Renau
Rackham graduate student
Y
i
B
4
K
4
t
i
1
i
4
4
k
t
9
f
1y
i
t
f
6
t -
} ,
t3
A
a
. $
W
4
3
u
d
e
A
A
Asian American studies?
The Daily encourages responses from its readers. Letters should
be 150 words or less and include the author's name, year in
school, and phone number. They can be mailed to The Michigan
Daily, 420 Maynard, Ann Arbor, 48109, or they can be sent via
MTS to "The Michigan Daily." The Daily reserves the right to
edit letters for style and space.
The media has recently focused
a lot of attention on America's
changing ethnic composition. By
the next century, the United States
will no longer have one dominant
racial
group.
People of
color, who
are cur- ' ERS
rently in the
minority,
will com-
prise more
than 50 by
percent of .c .i
America's Victoria
population. Kuo hung
Somestates
- such as
California and Hawaii - have al-
ready undergone this transition.
Recognizing the new demo-
the University concentrate on the
experiences of Asian Americans.
Though Asian Americans make up
the largest minority contingent on
campus - seven percent of the
total student body - they might as
well be non-existent. Without a
formal Program in Asian American
Studies, the University is perpetu-
ating an unfriendly atmosphere for
a large group of students who wish
to explore their background.
There are other ways as well in
which the University contributes to
the social problems afflicting Asian
Americans. Stereotypes of Asian
Americans as the "model minority"
disregard the poverty of a large part
of the Asian American community.
And little effort has been made to
address the increasing trend of anti-
Asian violence, which will only
worsen as the Japanese are
American Studies. Here at the Uni-
versity, only two faculty members
and a handful of graduate students
are pursuing advanced research in
this discipline.
The consequently weak support
network hampers students at the
University interested in this field.
This situation contrasts sharply with
thatat the Berkeley and Los Angeles
campuses of the University of
California, Cornell University,
Washington State University, and
other institutions with which the
University of Michigan claims to
be equal.
Obviously, critics who advocate
only a "classical" Western education
are bound to label Asian American
Studies as nonsense. They thereby
tarnish the University's social and
academic credibility, preventing it
from adequately addressing Asian
Nuts and Bolts
O.K. E;a. iT vE
THIS WO~tKS. THE INERyg8 j5
z..= AvOT, -HOL*#4. IS
IA1eouT WOMEN Or7HE BfEC'
ITEN So S4NE £i.OUn
APPAR~ANWE tL. C
IA WLWC~dk3M SRT
IS-O IJE_ N AE
by Judd Winick
q :4CP,,AflPr.CAL!
VOGOTJUS
i