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Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 18, 1991
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EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Viewpoint
NOAH FINKEL DAVID SCHWARTZ
Editor in Chief Opinion Editor
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.
"
Arab-Americans
FBI should protect, not harass American citizens
IN RECENT WEEKS THE ARAB-
American community has drawn at-
tention to, and voiced opposition
against, the Federal Bureau of Investi-
gation's (FBI) surveillance and inter-
rogation of its citizens. Now that a
shooting war has begun and anti-Arab
sentiment is growing in many areas,
American citizens of Arab descent
need greater police and FBI protection.
However, the FBI has conflicting
responsibilities; it assumes the role of
protectorate of our citizens, but sus-
pects Arab-Americans have informa-
tion about, or are party to, wrongdoing.
The result has been a large-scale ques-
tioning of Arab-Americans, especially
in the Detroit area, where the largest
Arab population lives outside the
Middle East, about their knowledge or
participation in subversive activity
against the United States.
Americans should harshly criticize
the FBI for this, as it ignores the im-
portant moral lessons of Japanese in-
ternment in World War II. In addition,
their prejudiced interrogation sets a
poor precedent for how American citi-
zens should treat one another. When
Arab-Americans are being held ac-
countable for Iraq's foreign policy, the
American government has a responsi-
bility to dispel such myths, not to fuel
them.
Strong parallels can be drawn be-
tween the FBI's efforts aimed at Arab-
Americans and FBI activity against
Japanese-Americans during the Second
World War.
First, the same method of interroga-
tion has been employed; FBI agents
approach an individual concerning their
safety, but soon shift the questioning to
imply links to "terrorism."
Secondly, Arab-American and civil
rights organizations recently exposed a
planned internment camp for Arab-
Americans in Oakdale, Louisiana. It is
frightening that almost 50 years later,
the FBI exhibits the same callous atti-
tude it did during World War II, sup-
porting the taking of war hostages and
the silencing of political dissent.
We must all acknowledge the rising
discrimination against Americans of
Arab decent, and fight to dispel the
myths that perpetuate it. Whether or
not we support war with Iraq, we must
promote the protection of these peo-
ple's most basic civil rights as U.S.
citizens.
Three anti-war activists link arms yesterday on the Diag to form a barrier between other peace protestes and the
pro-war counter-demonstrators behind them. From left are LSA senior Ken-Polski, graduate student Sarah Messer,
and LSA junior David Bryce.
Conflicting loyalties in the Gulf crisis
Safe sex
University should make condoms more available
By Stephen Henderson
I, like most Americans, spent the
majority of Wednesday night glued to
the television set in disbelief over what
I was seeing and hearing. The confusion
of that evening and the intense level of
sentiment I experienced prevented me
from collecting my thoughts immedi-
ately.
But now that I've had the opportunity
to sleep - for a few hours at least -
and diffuse some of the.shock of that
night's events, I am more able to de-
velop an opinion on what lies before us.
On one hand, I must deal with the
sense of responsibility I feel to support
my country. I consider myself, to some
extent, a patriot, and enjoy the benefits
of the lifestyle I am fortunate enough to
lead in this nation. If this war is, like so
many have been saying, a war to pre-
serve the "exorbitant American way of
living," then t is definitely in my self
interest to support it.
My personal experiences as a citizen
of the United States have been such that
I have had little to worry about; I have
never gone hungry, homeless, or felt the
least bit oppressed in this society. I feel
no guilt over the fact that I am one of
the more fortunate people in this soci-
ety, but I do feel a responsibility to
Henderson, an LSA junior, is an Associ-
ate Opinion Editor of the Daily.
those who are not. And I find myself
mitigating conflicting allegiances.
In addition to my thoughts of patrio-
tism, I find myself analyzing the events
in the Persian Gulf also through a
broader scope - as an African-Ameri-
can.
I look at the this nation's policies
concerning people of color, and specifi-
cally Blacks throughout the world, and
feel resentment and contempt for my
country. In South Africa, the Israeli-oc-
cupied territories and Central America,
U.S. policy fails to protect the rights of
these people on the most basic level.
And in the streets of this country's inner-
cities, I see other African-Americans
act in self interest alone.
For this reason, I will not be a party".
to the so-called "liberation" of Kuwait.'
As one of the few African-Americans
provided an adequate opportunity in this.
society, I am in a position to ensure that,
other African-Americans are afforded
the same, and this doesn't include fight-
ing a war to protect the very system that
adversely affects them.
This war is not about preserving free-'
dom, liberty or self-determination. It's
about protecting the gluttonous lifestyle
to which Americans have become aq-
customed. Unfortunately, the majority of.o
African-Americans have been left out of
this lifestyle, and are, in fact, threat-
AT A TIME WHEN 'PHE CONSE-
quences of unsafe sex are increasingly
risky, it makes sense that group hous-
ing, including residence halls, sorori-
ties, fraternities, and cooperatives, take
full advantage of the safe sex prog'rams
provided by Health Services. To this
end, the University should make con-
doms more accessible, through free,
well-publicized distribution sites, or
through vending machines in residence
haill bathrooms.
Health Services now sells condoms
in its pharmacy and provides free ones
In bowls on tables in some waiting
rooms and offices. It also distributes
condoms through various safe sex
programs. Resident Hall Advisors can
pick up safe sex pamphlets at Health
Services and 50 condoms per visit, and
in turn can dispense them to the resi-
dents on their hall.
East Quad has taken these practices
a step further. Since 1987, they have
permanently staffed a safe sex special-
ist equivalent to a resident fellow. This
advisor provides free condoms and
will answer students' questions about
birth control, disease protection, or any
other sex issue. Resident fellows take
full advantage of the Health Services
condom distribution. The Upper Half
snack bar sells condoms as well. All
residents in group housing would ben-
efit from following the example of the
staff in East Quad.
The programs available through
Health Services and the initiatives of
East Quad are commendable, but un-
McFee
fortunately only a few organizations
make use of Peer Education Groups.
And although more resident advisors
are getting free condoms from Health
Services, not enough residents are
aware they can get condoms from
RAs. Furthermore, these programs do
not work for students who are embar-
rassed to discuss or be seen with con-
doms, or who, despite reminders and
the relative accessibility of condoms on
campus, do not plan ahead.
For these people, group residence.
coordinators should ensure that any
resident can get a condom without em-
barrassment or without leaving their
residence. If leaving a box of free con-
doms in every bathroom or outside the
door of every resident advisor proves
impossible for some reason, University
Housing officials could install condom
vending machines and ensure that these
condoms are of good quality and that
the machines are well-maintained.
These suggestions are not revolu-
tionary; nor should they be controver-
sial. Condom use is a simple common-
sense health precaution that prevents
unwanted pregnancy and can help stem
the tide of a sexually transmitted dis-
ease epidemic whose final result we
cannot begin to imagine.
The issue of safe sex is not exclu-
sive to any gender or specific sexual
orientation; it should be a concern of
the entire community. The University
and group housing coordinators have a
responsibility to provide adequate safe
sex precautions in an age when safe
sex is a matter of life and death.
I feel no guilt over the fact that I am one of the more
fortunate people in this society, but I do feel a
responsibility to those who are not. And I find myself,
mitigating conflicting allegiances.
systematically oppressed by our gov-
ernment; metropolitan degradation has
placed Black males in a position not far
from extinction and all but ruined the
Black family unit.
Thus the conflict within me arises. I
would like to protect the "exorbitant
American dream" for my own interests,
but I see that this dream has become a
nightmare for my race, and one cannot
ened by it.
There is little I can do, or wish to do,
about my economic status in this soci-
ety; I did not choose, nor will I reject
the amount of money my parents earn.
However, I also refuse to play a part in
ensuring that my lifestyle oppresses oth
ers - and that is what President Bush is
asking 430,000 young men and women
to do.
Geography lesson
To the Daily:
The article "Anti-war activism brews
on campuses" (1/15/90) unfortunately
put my alma mater, Williams College,
in the wrong state.
It is in Massachusetts, not Maryland.
I realize that this is far from the most
important information in the article. As
the U.S. military (aided by smaller
numbers of troops from some other coun-
tries) prepares to sacrifice potentially
many lives to try to make the world safe
for a monarchy (and also maybe help
me to save about a dollar or two when I
get gasoline), it is very important that
students, whether at Williams, here, or
elsewhere, ask questions about the large
U.S. presence in this turbulent and dis-
tant region.
Martin Hildebrand
Assistant professor of
mathematics
Support our troops
To the Daily:
War in the Gulf has come, and now our
responsibility is clear. Protests and cries
for peace have lost their point and now we
must do all we can to support the men and
women we have stationed there.
There is no doubt that most of the
opposition to war in this nation lies in
memories and feelings of our involvement
in Vietnam. This hesitation is no doubt
justified, but we must remember the
biggest crime of the war, our failure to
support (and indeed our alienation of) our
troops upon their return from that conflict.
We must not repeat that mistake!
Support of the war is no longer an is-
sue. We must put our personal feelings
aside in order to help make the prosecution
of this war as quick as possible and give
our returning troops the welcome they
deserve, no matter the outcome.
Matthew E. Fox
LSA Junior
u.
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_
Newest regent should stick to her platform
AS THE UNIVERSITY'S BOARD OF
Regents convened yesterday for the
first time in 1991, and newly-elected
Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek)
assumed the seat vacated by Thomas
Roach (D-Saline), needed changes in
the b2ody's effectiveness come to mind
- on canipus and in Lansing.
During her campaign, McFee
legislature and the governor's office. If
the state's budget crunch threatens ap-
propriations to the University, McFee
may have an edge in effective lobbying
to cushion the blow.
Her campaign commitments to stu-
dents and student interest together with
her knack for politics will serve McFee
well in replacing Roach.
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