4,
Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, April 23, 1991
Gbe Sibigati iailg
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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
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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Cashless campus
Restaurants, shops should jump
T wo businesses in the Michigan Union have
recently added their names to an elite but
quickly growing club. In the last two weeks, both
the Bangkok III restaurant and the Michigan Union
Bobkstore have gone on line with their own Entree
Plus terminals, and students can now pay for their
purchases with their ID
cards. Theirefforts to make
students' purchases easier
should be commended, and
other businesses and Uni-
versity services should be
encouraged to get on the
Entree Plus bandwagon.
Bangkok III and the
bookstore have obviously
taken their cues from the
enormous preliminary
success of the MUG's Little *x.
Ceasar's restaurant. Lines y
constantly snake around the
corner at the fast-food pizzaE
place, and much of the .
newfound business can be
attributed to the ease of
paying on Entree Plus.
Other businesses should Businesses and shops ai
take notice ofthe additional heed the lesson of Littlet
sales brought in by the En- and invest in Entree Plus
tree Plus computer. Stu-
dents should show their appreciation for the new
service by paying for their books with the same
plastic they use for their lunch and dinner. Busi-
nesses in the surrounding areas should seriously
consider installing the needed technology as well.
The University Housing office recently installed
a machine in the West Quad laundry room that
allows students to pay for their clean boxer shorts
on Entree Plus bandwagon
with theirEntree Plus as well. Housing officials are
monitoring the success and cost-effectiveness of
this convenient machine, and similar machines
could go campus-wide by next year. This will only
make another annoying task easier for students,
and residents on the Hill and in the other quads
~1should push to have these
machines installed in their
dorms.
These developments may
seem insignificant, but they
represent the first steps in
the transformation to a
"cashless campus." Eventu-
ally, students could use their
cards to get up-to-date in-
formation on their tuition
bills, library fines, and fi-
nancial aid status. The pros-
pect of shorter lines in front
of the cashier's and finan-
cial aid office and the UGLi
should appeal to both stu-
dents and staff.
The technology needed
for a cashless campus- al-
ready exists, and the only
barrier to its installation is
the cost- each Entree Plus
Rea ders speak out on Bush's visit
round campus should
Ceasar's in the MUG,
s.
computer costs approxi-
mately $3,500 a year to lease. However, the in-
creased convenience immediately translates to
bigger profits from student consumers, as has been
shown by the long lines at the Entree Plus registers
in the MUG. Restaurants and shops around cam-
pus should make the effort and the investment in
Entree Plus - it really pays off, for themselves
and for the students.
Unwanted arsenal
Detroit Police Department should not sell off old handguns
T he Detroit Police Department, in the process of
re-equiping police officers with 9mm. hand-
guns, has announced it will sell 8,482 .38-caliber
revolvers to CPM Distributors, to be sold without
restriction or supervision.
As the first 3,000 revolvers become available
forsale, CPM Distributors denies any responsibility
for where the firearms might end up. Surely, the
chief of police cannot be so stupid so as to believe
releasing more than 8,000 handguns into the shops
and streets of Detroit is a good thing. Many officers
already complain about the number of guns sitting
around in homes or the hundreds of firearms used
to commit felonies. In fact, many police officers
are ardent supporters of the Brady Bill - limiting
access to handguns - pending consideration in
Congress.
The Detroit Police Department is facing serious
funding difficulties, but liquidating its unused ar-
maments is not the answer to their financial woes.
Selling the surplus weaponry will bring the de-
partment $600,000 - including the bonus $5
holster which accompanies each order- that they
would not have, were they to melt the guns into
molten lead. The primary responsibility of the
police, however, is ensuring public safety. Molten
lead is far more safe for the residents of Detroit
than 8,000 additional handguns circulating
throughout the city's streets. Even better, depart-
ment officials should actively seek out police de-
partments around the country that would graciously
accept this small arsenal. Not every police depart-
ment in the nation is upgrading to 9mm handguns;
it's an expensive modernization process, and one
that few - including Detroit - can afford.
The Detroit Police Department needs to make
some major changes in its spending priorities.
Mayor Coleman Young recently laid off more than
400 officers in an attempt to balance Detroit's
troubled budget. During times of climbing crime
rates and unbalanced budgets, it is nothing but
fiscal idiocy to layoff hundreds of officers in order
to finance shiny new pistols for those lucky enough
to survive the cut.
Detroit's crime problems will only be solved by
more police officers; more guns will only add to
the city's problems. This logic has evidently evaded
those running the police department. Thepeople of
Detroit should make sure that the Mayor, Council,
and Police Chief are aware of the ridiculousness of
this proposal. They need. to let their municipal
government know that flooding the local market
with revolvers and shotguns isn't the way to reduce
violence on the streets of Detroit.
To the Daily:
In response to the Daily's
editorial on graduation ("Presi-
dential visit," 4/18/91), I must
disagree wholeheartedly. Gradua-
tion should not be a forum for
people to aid out their political
views but rather to celebrate the
end of their college careers.
Bush's visit is a graduation
ceremony, not a political rally.
Graduation represents the
culmination of four of the best
years of our lives and it should
not be marred by protest.
As students we are fortunate to
go to a university where the
president will be addressing us.
Many students are excited by the
prospect of the president coming
to speak and his appearance will
just add to one the most memo-
rable moments in our lives.
Graduates deserve to not have
Bush's speech interrupted by
protest. If people wish to protest
they should do so outside of the
Michigan Stadium. It would be a
travesty if graduation was marred
by protest. I hope those who
disagree with the president can
manifest their objections outside
the stadium and respect those
students who do want to hear
what the president has to say.
David Brill
LSA senior
Protesters
should use Diag
To the Daily:
The April 18 Daily editorial
told students who are pro-Bush to
not be affronted by protesters at
commencement because they
"have the right to speak out."
However, what they are missing
are other's right to listen. They
are missing my right to enjoy the
commencement I spent five years
of tuition to enjoy. They are
missing my right to be able to
hear a speech from a man I
respect and am proud to have at
my graduation without any
"annoying disruptions." If,
indeed, people want to protest,
protest outside the commence-
ment ceremony. Protest all you
want at the Diag. Graduation
ceremony is not the appropriate
place for annoying disruptions. If
graduates feel strongly about not
wanting to listen to Bush, just
don't attend. Go to the other
commencement ceremonies
which are taking place. and enjoy
the speaker you wish to hear. If
your school is not holding
separate ceremonies, celebrate on
your own or with the "protesters"
at the Diag, anywhere outside
where Bush is speaking. You
have the freedom of speech. But I
have the right to LISTEN!
Maricelle Casquejo
Engineering senior
Stadium protests
not 'appropriate'
To the Daily:
Recent Daily editorials have
concerned the protests some
students began planning as soon
as President Bush's visit to the
University was confirmed. These
editorials have urged students to
respect Bush's right to speak and
the right of students who wish to
listen to do so, while reminding
us all that Bush's critics also have
the right to express their dissatis-
students of the University, most
of whom will be there simply to
share with their families and
friends one of the most important
occasions of their lives?
Daily editorials in the past
week have concluded by excusing
in advance any disruptive
behavior by students on the
grounds that it is the inalienable
right of students to celebrate their
graduation by shouting, scream-
ing, and otherwise acting like
children at recess. Interestingly,
the 4/18/91 editorial ends with the
statement, "This ceremony marks
[these students'] entrance into the
real world, and is the final
affirmation of adulthood; they
should be treated accordingly."
The same editorial, after embrac-
ing the First Amendment rights
we justly cherish, directly
contradicts them by stating, "if
yellingacrimonious remarks ... is
what [students at the LSA
commencement exercises] choose
to do, no one has the right to stop
them." Is exercising one's own
right to voice an opinion by
preventing others from exercising
theirs the act of an adult? And
should not those who do precisely
'this indeed be treated accordingly
To the Daily:
This is the time of year when I
am always so ashamed to live in
Ann Arbor and be a University
graduate. I refer to the abysmal
way in which University Com-
mencement speakers are routinely
treated by the students. "Rou-
tinely" is a good word to describe.;
the seemingly annual rite of
"seeing how obnoxious we can
be."
I was very sorry to see that
President Bush is coming this
year because a person in his
position will no doubt bring all of
these anti-everything people out
of the woodwork.
My suggestion? Since it is
perfectly obvious that there is no
stopping this destructive tradition
- the good names of both the C
University and Ann Arbor are
diminished a little more each year
as this annual event is duly
reported in the media across the
nation - I suggest that in the
future only local or non-famous
persons be invited to speak at
commencement. Maybe then
there will be nothing for the "anti-
's" to get fired up about and the
University graduation can again
become the proud occasion it is
supposed to be.
audience. As Kristine LaLonde
stated in her letter to the Daily
("Graduates owe Bush at least
their ears," 4/16/91), "We may
come away more disgusted and
more confused, but we can say
one thing: we listened." I just
hope we are able to hear.
Lauri Margolin
Business School senior
Graduates always
mistreat speakers
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Pam Newhouse -
1967 University graduate
COLLEGEB,
ROUlNDUJP Banlg on, Muse...
A couple of years ago, the Daily was seized by
McGill's administration for reproducing a photo of a
woman grasping her friend's penis. In the mid-60s, we
were nearly closed down for printing a satiric column
which alleged that Lyndon Johnson fucked Kennedy's
throat wound after the assassination.
And last week, the Royal Newfoundland Con-
stabulary announced they may charge Memorial
University's newspaper with "corruption of morals" for
printing erotic safer sex tips for gay men.
Corruption of morals? Did you hear that, honey?
When the Queen's English is spoken with such
classic narrow-mindedness, an ancient and honorable
desire stirs: the urge to yell, "Fuck you!"
It's apleasure our generation is often denied, because
the rebellions of our immediate forebears have been so
grossly commercialized and co-opted: Sexual revolu-
tion? Old hat. Personal liberation? Done to death. Op-
positional communities? Don't be silly...
Woodstock television specials, "Keep On Truckin"'
bumper stickers and alfalfa-sprout cafes have told us all
our lives that nothing is true, everything permitted, and
so, get mellow, get encore.
They tell us speech is no longer dangerous, freedom
is complete, and nobody's at a disadvantage - exactly
the lie countercultures have always existed to destroy.
And what with all that same-sex smooching on L.A.
Law, sometimes we just can't see the costraints.
Perhaps it takes a stupid, cliched act of repression
like censoring the student press to prove how far we
haven't come.
It makes you wonder what other boundaries could
use some stretching, and who's going to do it.
March 29, 1991, The McGill Daily
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Student protesters were a pain in
the neck when George Bush last
visited campus in 1986.
- by turning them over our knees
for a well-earned spanking?
Rhana Jacot
LSA graduating senior
Protests will
sully graduation
To the*Daily:
In the four years I have spent
here at the University of Michigan
I have learned to respect the
diversity of opinions held by my
peers. While I personally have not
chosen, over the years, to publicly
express my views in the form of.
protest, I do encourage those
people who choose to exercise
their right of free speech. Never-
theless, I was disgusted by the
Daily's editorial ("Presidential
visit," 4/18/91), suggesting to
students that "the stadium
graduation ceremony represents
an appropriate time to let him
[Bush] know their feelings
through protest."
To me, as well as to many
other graduates, the planned
ceremony in Michigan Stadium is
a celebration honoring many
years of hard work and dedication
at this reputable institution. I am
in-,n~tiltPftha~t neohnle wouildeven
Bush's visit will
not be an honor
To the Daily:
I argue with the idea that
Bush's upcoming graduation visit
is an honor. It isn't.
The office of President does
not change what George Bush
really is and always has been. He
is a petty, little man. But he's a
skillful politician whose life goal
has been the power he now owns.
As a man, Bush has all the
instinct and moral integrity of a
jackal. Study his career and you'll
see a base, clutching politician
with blood in his teeth and a
hyena's grin.
After eight years of careful
VP-ing, he has come out and
shown his ass. The truths about
Panama and Iraq are slow in
coming to light, but we should
study them carefully before
lauding Bush with words like
"honor." He knows nothing of
honor.
It's appropriate that a murder-
ous fiend like George Bush usher
University graduates into his New
World Order. But it's not an
honor.
Will Oliver
Special Status student
School of Music
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by Judd Winick
OH4.NOFI1. N MIDs
Sticking
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summer?
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IWAT'S GOING