4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 14, 1995 (Thle , ic igttn ttil JEAN TWENGE T E ERASABu PEN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan r-- MICHAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES M. NASH Editorial Page Editors Ifit's snwing, -rimustbefwinter iaz Michigan - or maybefall Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. TheD ballot quetions Several proposals "T omorrow and Thursday students have two sets of important choices to make: who should represent them and how several important issues will be resolved. 'Along with candidates for the Michigan Stu- .,4ent Assembly, the ballot will feature four -.questions from MSA in three categories, as well as one LSA Student Government pro- posal. Though marking random answers to these referendums is tempting, they deserve .more than that - the issues at stake affect each student. Student Legal Services For MSA to ask the University Board of Regents for the additional ending SLS desperately 'eeds, students must ap- prove a fee increase. Un- .frtunately, the last refer- 4ndum struck downthe 23- . ent raise, disabling MSA, the Board of Regents - 'nd SLS. To MSA lead- rs' credit, a plan to salvage SLS was insti- tuted: The regents placed the money in es- Lrow, pending this fall's referendum. Ifques- ions 1 and 2 pass, the funds will go to SLS immediately. If they fail, SLS will be forced jo lay off many employees indefinitely. A "YES vote will allow SLS to continue the vital services it provides to students: free legal .advice and representation in all cases except hose involving another student or the Uni- versity. To further maintain SLS, the third ques- lion deals with the removal of the legal ser- vice from the MSA fee cap. Voting NO will free SLS from the assembly's restrictive bud- get and place control over SLS into its own .nore capable hands. Though funds would =ome from the SLS fee on the tuition bill and "applied to the operation of SLS. A no vote' will also prevent the meddling of offices like the Division of Student Affairs in students' deserve attention free legal counsel. Campus Safety Task Force Vote YES to amend the MSA constitution to elevate the campus safety task force to the campus safety commission. Replacing the ad hoc task force with a permanent commission would ensure a spot for campus safety on the MSA agenda for years to come, rather than just in response to incidents. A yes would mean that equal resources will be available to work on safety as for other MSA commis- sions. A safe campus is essential to students' well-being - as such, it must be a priority . Central Student Judiciary The decision for the last MSA ballot question re- quires little thought or ef- fort. It asks students to raise the term limits for jurors | on MSA's Central Student Judiciary from three to four in an attempt to increase effectiveness. A YES vote would be most beneficial to CSJ members and to the students they serve. LSA Student Government LSA-SG's proposal aims to add to its representative pool, with a yes vote raising the number of members from 15 to 19. Add- ing four students to the government would lift some of the workload from the existing representatives, without decreasing efficiency or accountability. As LSA-SG deals increas- ingly with pertinent issues to students, it needs the numerical strength to tackle them. U., The outcome of these questions, along with the representatives elected this week, will have a far-reaching effect on students' lives over the next year and more. Students have a responsibility to themselves and one another to put their voices into their govern- ment. Elections are Nov. 15 and 16. A s a child growing up in Texas, I loved snow. Since snow powder was usually accompanied by the lethal combination of ice and clueless Texas drivers, school was canceled; my brother and I were free to spend the day stomping about in the meager scattering of white on the front lawn. The occasion was so rare that we usually took photographs of each other in coats and mit- tens, gesturing gleefully at the half-inch cover on the ground. I've lived in the Midwest for seven years now, and snow is no longer cause for either joy or photographs. It is cause for whining. There are both good and bad things about snow and winter, but I'll begin with the bad things, since they tend to predominate when the weather grows nasty so early in the season (it's still officially autumn, dammit!). Driving. Notice six-inch accumula- tion of snow on car. Decide you can't get away with starting the car and hoping it will melt away eventually. Start car and listen to the useless whirr of the wipers anyway. Brush snow away with 79-cent wooden brush you got at Meijer. Brush harder as you dis- cover that the layer of ice on top of the snow is making things more difficult. In frustra- tion, start throwing the snow off the car with your hands, dooming yourself to having wet gloves the rest of the day. Scrape off the underlying ice with the other end of your Meijer brush. Decide if you really need to see out the side windows. Now thoroughly freezing, get into your car and wait 10 min- utes for the heat to start working. Walking. This isn't much better. First, bundle yourself from head to toe in down coat, down gloves, warm hat, scarf, ear- muffs, long underwear, snow boots, wool socks, mummy suit, electric blanket, house- hold pet and anything else you can think of to keep you warm. Then realize you have to go to the bathroom. Rebundle. Head outside. Be careful not to slip on the ice-covered stairs, sidewalk, grass, etc. Walking in the street where the cars have cleared the way is easier but more dangerous. At 100 yards, take off scarf be- cause you're too hot. At 125, put it back on because you're too cold. At 150 take it off again. Repeat as necessary (i.e., until you reach your destination and unwrap yourself completely). Staying inside. During the winter, it's tempting to stay inside unless absolutely necessary (i.e., the quick dash to get the mail, the quick dash to buy groceries, the walk to your girlfriend's place and, oh yeah, classes). You forget what sunlight looks like, static cling and electric charges become a way of life and your skin begins to re- semble that of a three-toed sloth. It's the isolation from nature that's the worst, though; even when you go outside, the wind is blow- ing too hard to look up, so you don't see much of the world. Reminder: The sky is blue and trees are green, despite your creep- ing winter suspicions that the sky is gray and trees are brown. Admittedly, there are a few good things about snow: Snowmen. These are most enjoyable when used as caricatures. Sculpt one to re- semble your cheating ex-boyfriend, your whiny roommate, your boring professor. Don't forget the unflattering details of the form, specialized for each person. When you've tired of your creation, you can al- ways practice your softball swing on your snowman's all-too-deserving head. As we say in psychology, there's nothing like a little displaced aggression. Snowball fights. I've never enjoyed these all that much (since I spent my forma- tive snowball-throwing years in Texas, I suck); however, I gather it can be rather fun if you have a knack for hitting your target. Besides, what better excuse do you have for walloping your dormmates? Quiet. Despite its many disadvantages, snow creates an extraordinary quiet that settles over a town and the lives of its inhab- itants. Footsteps are muted, cars make only a quiet hum on the street, and people walk- ing by are too cold to say anything even if they didn't have scarves wrapped around their faces. Winter is a good time to be introverted: reading a book by a warm fire (or at least a warm heating vent), contem- plating the snow in silence, climbing under warm covers. No wonder I never got to do any quiet thinking in Texas. - Jean Twenge can be reached over e- mail at jeant@umich.edu. MArr WMSATT MOOKIElS DILEMMA _ MA~YBE \ NAVE RUN p 5 / /, I NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'As President, I have not received the level of support from the Board (of Regents) enjoyed by most of my colleagues throughout higher education.' - University President James J. Duderstadt, in a confidential letter to the regents the day he resigned LETTERS Dive-through V ndelivery Bill would improve safety for mothers, babies n a time when little in the health care debate can be labeled progress, a bill fight- ing its way through the Michigan Legislature defies that trend. This proposal, dubbed the "Drive-through Delivery" bill, would man- date that all health plans provide 48 hours of hospital time to a mother for a standard birth, and 96 hours for a Caesarean section. By making the first few days a mother spends with her child safer and more productive, and by taking some power from insurance com- panies, this bill takes a marked step forward for the state's health care. The bill's provisions would make condi- tions safer for newborns. In today's busy hospitals, a pregnant woman often will enter a hospital and leave with her child within 24 hours. This period is insufficient for the thor- ough tests a baby needs following birth, particularly on its lungs, heart and brain. In the hurry to clear out a mother and what seems to be a perfectly healthy baby, impor- tant problems can be overlooked. In recent years there have been several cases of babies dying from heart or lung defects after they got home. Other cases have included babies readmitted to the hospital for a problem that could have been detected and treated at birth. The "Drive-through Delivery" bill will help HOW TO CONTACT THEM cut down on such occurrences. The hours following a birth are also the time when a mother must learn about matters such as detecting signs of illness in her child, proper breast-feeding techniques and even the correct way to hold her baby. In most cases, 24 hours simply is not sufficient for mothers to learn about caring for a newborn. Most disturbing about this scenario is the reason it occurs: Insurance company accoun- tants and budget analysts simply want to save money. Even when a doctor is happy to keep a mother who feels she needs more time in the hospital, he must tell her that the time will come out of her pocketbook -the insurance company won't pay for it. A hospital room for a day can impose exorbitant costs, and insurance companies are rarely cooperative in meeting requests to stay any longer than the requisite one night. They need to make a profit, but childbirth coverage is not the place to cut expenses. Rushed is the last way a woman or doctor should feel when delivering a baby. Both should have all the time they need. The "Drive-through Delivery" bill would pro- vide this time, and consequently make the experience of childbirth safer and less worri- some for mother and child alike. Remarks c To the Daily: Student Legal Services needs your help. During the MSA elec- tions on Nov. 15 and 16, students will decide whether SLS will re- ceive the funds necessary to con- tinue to exist. It is imperative that you vote to support SLS on Wednesday or Thursday. I fear that this upcoming vote may be the last chance for SLS. SLS provides legal advice, assistanceand representation to any student who needs it. It is a pre-paid service, which means that you pay a couple of dollars on your tuition bill each term to ensure that it is around for you if you need it. SLS provides a valu- able service to students, especially if you ever need a lawyer but can't afford one. They've helped students in everything from land- lord disputes to criminal repre- sentation, and have done an out- standing job representing the needs and rights of students on this campus. The lawyers at SLS are hard-working, respected and have helped thousands ofstudents just like you with little or no fan- fare. SLS is in serious financial trouble. It has been crippled by the MSA fee cap, which was de- signed to curb the spending of MSA, not SLS.tThe lawyers at SLS are paid substantially less than typical lawyers, embarrass- ingly low for attorneys of their caliber. Because of these finan- cial difficulties, some lawyers at SLS have already been laid off and their ability to represent your rights has been reduced. Last March, a ballot question that would have helped SLS failed by a couple hundred votes and their situation only worsened. On Wednesday or Thursday, If S lutely r suppor A vote serve y we all< Louis SLS bi LSA si this week's campu LS is to survive, it is abso- which is scattered throughout the necessary that you vote to walkways and hallways of our t it this week. Remember: campus, making not only an un- for SLS is a vote to pre- sightly mess, but much more work your rights. If SLS loses, for our custodial staff. If these do. candidates were half as respon- sible as they claim to be, they Andrew Stefanic would post only single copies of oard member their signs on designated posting enior boards, saving themselves time and money. To the Daily: I am writing to give facts clari- fying the false campaigning of Fiona Rose in the current MSA campaign. Fiona has not in the past and is not currently working with Women's Issues Commis- sion. There are two major false- hoods in her campaigning. She is claiming to be working on the Campus Sexual Assault Informa- tion bill. However, I am coordi- nating the University's lobbying effort on this bill. I have met with and I am in contact with members of the Michigan Legislature con- cerning a strategy for the passage ofthese bills. Yet, when I e-mailed Fiona asking for her help on these bills she did not return my e-mail. Also, when Fiona speaks of her Michigan Women's Caucus it is only for MSA women and not for her constituents. This should not be confused with Women's Is- sues Commission's "Women's Round Table," which is for all University women. These two campaign issues show Fiona's blatant disregard for women's issues on this cam- pus. If you have any questions please e-mail me at saute@umich.edu. Emily Berry MSA Women's Issues chair LSA junior Philip Brenner LSA senior To the Daily: On behalf of Alianza, The Latina/o Student Alliance, I wish to offer my wholehearted endorse- ment to the United People's Coa- lition, the only all-student-of- color slate running for MSA. UPC runs out of a desire to counteract the historic and present lack of U.S. minority representa- tion on MSA. Their slate repre- sents a diverse coalition of stu- dents of color, both men and women, who are committed to improving the University for all students. Unlike other parties who "fo- cus solely on the University" - so to speak - UPC recognizes that the same stratifications of power, race, class, sexism and privilege which we as students of color encounter outside of academia are also prevalent in- side the University setting as well. The United People's Coalition does not sidestep or shy away from those issues that directly impact us, but engages in a dia- logue over such things as affir- mative action. To the best of my knowledge, not one of the other parties has made this commitment in public - in fact, as the results of a s election affect us in our daily lives, and demands a guarantee that the next president of the University do likewise. They advocate for a tu- ition cap set at the rate of inflation or 3.5 percent annually, which- ever is greater. Additionally, the United People's Coalition has made it known that they support: an in- crease in the numbers of faculty of color, following a 50/50 male/ female split; Gov. Engler rein- stating the Indian Tuition Waiver -if Englerrefuses to do so, UPC demands that the University con- tinue to waive tuition for its Na- tive American students from Michigan; free day care for any students who request it; contin- ued funding of the AATU and SLS; an increase in preventive measures for campus safety; open search committee and adminis- trative meetings affecting stu- dents; the establishment ofa Gay/ Lesbian/Bisexual Studies Pro- gram; that DPS be disarmed and not carry loaded weapons; the renewal of the Baker/Mandela Center; no cutbacks in the South- east Asian Languages program. Other parties give little (to- ken) or no attention to any of these issues - instead we get "Project Smile"-mentality pro- grams that erase and obscure real differences and power relations in the name of a sham "diver- sity." Alianza pushes-for change at all levels of the University, from the administration to the student body. And the United People's Coalition is about change - changing the student body to become responsive to stu- dents of color. We share a similar agenda and similar goals - with UPC there is no one-way com- munication or resume padding. State Rep. Mary Schroer (D-52nd district, North Campus) 99 Olds Plaza Building Lansing, MI 48909 r-A '. 71 A-7-3d P State Rep. Uz Brater (D-53rd district, Central Campus) 412 Roosevelt Building Lansing, MI 48909 1 M-1,1 '2 *2 0M,,