4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 6, 1995
1 e £Iidiguu &rti1g
JORDAN STANCIL
LAST-DITcH APPEAL
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Editor in Chief
JULIE BECKER
JAMES M. NASH
Editorial Page Editors
inss holiday season, Wayne
Fontes is the idea/ patron sai'zt
:
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion ofa najority oftie Dailv 's editorial board. All
other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan DailV.
A M**21*
A drop in the bucket
Minoityfacult fgrs tell incomplete stor
According to a recent report, minorities
now make up 15 percent of the
University's instructional faculty - a 1.1-
percent gain from last year. At face value,
these figures seem impressive, but there is
less progress here than meets the eye.
First, 15 percent is not a big proportion. It
is larger than at any time in the University's
history, and the product of steady increase
L over the past five years, but in a country
where the non-white population is expected
to exceed 50 percent by the middle ofthe 21st
century, more minorities should be on a pub-
"ic university's faculty.
2 .The figures are also deceptive in that they
depict minorities as a whole, failing to indi-
cate which minorities are most prevalent on
campus. Asian Americans comprise more
than half of the non-white faculty at the
University, with African Americans running
a distant second and Hispanics making up
just over 2 percent ofthe total. Native Ameri-
cans are woefully underrepresented at less
than 1 percent. The failure to identify the
small number of non-Asian minorities dis-
torts reality, and minimizes the difficulties
many ethnic groups face in gaining a foot-
hold in the University infrastructure, both at
the faculty and student level.
A look at minority presence across the
University, in the various schools and col-
leges, is also revealing. Vice Provost for
Academic and Multicultural Affairs Lester
P. Monts maintains that progress in recruit-
ing and retaining minority faculty has been
uneven. For example, the natural science
divisions of LSA and the College of Engi-
neering have by and large made less progress
than the rest of the University. Monts cited
the psychology department ofLSA under the
leadership of Patricia Gurin, the School of
Social Work under Dean Paula Allen Meers
and the School of Music headed by Dean
Paul Boylan as having made the most
progress. The heads of these divisions have
done "a marvelous job in terms of their
efforts to recruit and retain minorities," he
explained. Although President James J.
Duderstadt has set goals for a range of Uni-
versity departments with the Michigan Man-
date, deans are essential to its success at the
faculty level.
Prof. Thomas Landefeld, a member of the
faculty's committee for a multicultural Uni-
versity, echoed this point. He blamed the
lack of accountability in the University's
command structure on noncompliance with
the Michigan Mandate at the faculty level.
He cited the Medical School, with its chronic
difficulty in recruiting and retaining minor-
ity faculty, as a particular example of this
problem.
Other problems may be responsible for
the University's slow progress in this area.
Minority faculty often leave because they
have difficulty getting tenure. This is not due
to overt racism, but rather is the result of
institutionalized discrimination in tenure re-
quirements. All faculty are expected to de-
vote 40 percent of their time to teaching, 40
percent to research and 20 percent to service.
However, minority faculty members are fre-
quently placed on University committees
dealing with multicultural issues, which take
up a great deal of time - eating into their
research and teaching. They thus have more
difficulty attaining tenure, and the commit-
tees that are supposed to address the problem
actually contribute to it by causing profes-
sors to get discouraged and leave. Some also
cite an unfriendly atmosphere and covert
prejudice as reasons minority faculty might
not feel comfortable.
It is impossible to deny that the Michigan
Mandate is working - to an extent. Progress
has been made and continues to make the
faculty and student body more diverse as we
head into the next century. However, the fact
remains that the University has a long way to
go. It will only get there through continued
structural improvements and increased sen-
sitivity to the needs of its faculty members.
D uring this holiday season, we must all
remember that faith is a very important
element of human happiness. Afterall, intel-
lect can only provide the answers to some of
life's questions, and even that depends on
how much intellect you actually have at your
disposal. Since reason leaves so much unac-
counted for, a truly fulfilling understanding
of the world requires faith. One can place
this faith in any number of institutions, reli-
gious organizations, causes or people. It's
better to have faith in inexplicable and unex-
pected miracles, like the continued exist-
ence of the Democratic Party, the virgin
birth or just the loss of your own virginity.
You could also have a patron saint, like
I do. Since I am a lazy, procrastinating
student, my patron saint is Detroit Lions
coach Wayne Fontes. He is a lazy, procras-
tinating coach ofa lazy, procrastinating team
which always plays poorly during Septem-
ber, October and November but extremely
well during December. The only problem is
that the Lions get so far behind by screwing
up the first three months of the season that
they rarely leave enough room to actually
win anything. They do, however, manage to
get themselves all riled up in December,
which is when they try to make up for losing
to teams like Arizona.
As you may have guessed, the Lions
approach to football closely parallels my
own approach to school. And so every De-
cember I feel a strengthening of the bond
between myself and the Lions as we find
ourselves locked in a common struggle
against past mistakes: fumbles, late papers;
offsides penalties, missed classes: passes
that should have been caught, books that
should have been read. Basically, what I'm
saying is that my fate is intertwined with that
of the Lions.
If you're a conscientious student you
probably would think this is a bad thing.
Your fate is that of the Cowboys. You might
have a B+ on the midterm but your 3.9 is not
really in danger. But I am not bitter about my
place in life. The sad part is: I actually find
myself loving, in a platonic way, the undis-
puted master procrastinator Wayne Fontes.
It's hard to respect a man who has 500
chins and wears gaudy running suits. But
college students everywhere should love
him. He stands in a stadium containing 80,000
people who scream in unison, "Wayne must
go." He watches his team commit errors
normally seen in Class C high school games.
His team gives opponents 8 zillion chances
to win. The defense gets neutral-zone penal-
ties on the last plays ofclose games. He loses
to Tampa Bay. And he doesn't care.
This is because he knows what every
self-respecting last-minute genius should
know: There's nothing to worry about. Fontes
knows that every December he'lljust ace his
finals and end up OK. He knows that:the
only thing you have to do during September,
October and November is stay close enough
to make that final December spurt meaning-
ful. Wayne Fontes gives hope and meaning
to the lives of students who spend the first
three months of fall term lounging on.the
Diag or napping in the Arb. He lets us know
that it's all right.
Because he legitimizes laziness, I've al-
ways been surprised that there isn't a move-
ment among University professors to get
Wayne Fontes fired. Maybe no one realizes
his vast influence over my life and the lives
of many, many other students. In fact, these
students may not be aware of it themselves.
But that doesn't matter, because as we head
into finals week Wayne Fontes will be with
us and we will fear nothing as we walk
through the valley of death.
So don't worry. If the Lions can pull it
off, you can too.
Jordan Stancil can be reached rver
e-mail at rialtoCunich.e'du
' |NOTABLE QUOTABLE
JIM LASSER
SHARP AS TOAST
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'Part of me feels
they were taking
it to heart. Part
of me feels that
they were
patronizing.'
LSA senior and MSA
Rep. Jenna Levinson,
after the regents'pesi-
dential searchfbrum last
night
.11
_
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Aquired Immune Dficiency Syntme
VIEWPOINT
Congress distorts U.S. mission in Bosnia
Delayed reaction
MSU stalls on benefits to same-sex partners
D espite the efforts of "Moving Forward,"
a three-year task force on lesbian, gay
and bisexual issues, the Michigan State Uni-
versity Board of Trustees has decided it needs
yet another two years to study whether to
grant domestic partner benefits to same-sex
partners of faculty, students and staff. Why
do the MSU trustees insist on stringing the
gay, lesbian and bisexual community along
for two more years? Perhaps the board be-
lieves that if shelved long enough, the matter
will simply go away. Or, better yet, that the
postponement will deflect attention away
from the fact that MSU's current policies -
by not recognizing the rights of same-sex
students, faculty and staff - condone dis-
crimination.
It is time to call the trustees' bluffthat they
have any intention of ever improving the
quality of life for the lesbian, gay and bi-
sexual community at MSU.
Some will defend the trustees' hesitation
by arguing that more studies must be done to
determine how costly domestic-partnership
benefits would be, or contend it is too expen-
sive to include same-sex couple benefits.
However, cost-effective analysis is an inap-
propriate concern when civil rights are at
stake. Moreover, claiming that adding same-
sex partners would be a financial burden
How TO CONTACT THEM
distorts the reality that gays, lesbians and
bisexuals comprise a small portion of the
population.
Others on the MSU board defended their
actions by insinuating that same-sex couples
are less deserving of benefits than hetero-
sexual couples. Trustee Jack Shingleton told
The State News, MSU's student newspaper,
on Nov. 17, "The fact that someone does
something does not make it right. I don't
believe in (domestic partner benefits)."
Shingleton's attempt to justify discrimi-
nation by displaying his own homophobia is
hardly sound reasoning. The beliefthat same-
sex couples cannot sustain a relationship or
that such a partnership could somehow pose
a threat to family values is a myth. The goal
of America's more than 2 million gay and
lesbian families is not to convert others, but
simply to regain the rights and respect that
has been denied them as human beings.
MSU's ability to strike down domestic
partner benefits illustrates the pressing need
for the state of Michigan to confer on same-
sex partners the same rights it accords to
married heterosexual couples. Ifthe goal is to
"move forward" - as the title of the MSU
task force implies - then the state has to
make domestic partnership equal to marriage
in the eyes of the law.
By Joel F. Knutson
The imminent U.S. role in
Bosnia has produced some of the
most interesting policy wonking
among members of Congress
since Desert Shield/Storm. What
I have absorbed through hours of
sitting in front of C-SPAN and
CNN and watching House and
Senate debates and hearings on
the subject is how political the
foreign policy decision-making
process has become. The ques-
tion ofwhether U.S. troops should
defend the peace inrBosnia has
produced an amazing reversal of
the traditional hawks-doves men-
tality in Congress.
Peaceniks who were ada-
mantly opposed to DeserteStorm
are reminding us of our greater
role in protecting Bosnia. Inter-
ventionists who never met an in-
vasion or weapons program they
didn't like are suddenly urging
the public to let Bosnia crumble.
The same senators who were
gung-ho behind President Ronald
Reagan's sending of Marines to
Beirut and - after the marines
were bombed in their barracks -
Grenada, were vociferously op-
posed to sending Marines to Haiti
and were quick to slam Clinton
for mistakes made by the penta-
gon brass in Somalia. Predict-
ably, many of the same are now
indirectly threatening President
Clinton. Sen. Phil Gramm (R-
Texas) has ridiculed the prospect
of sending "our boys under the
control of NATO or the U.N.,"to
a far-off country ... evidently not
recognizing the sheer irony of his
Joel F. Knutson is an LSA
junior and a member of the
Dail' editorial page staff
statement given Korea and Iraq.
Yet, it's not just the hawkish-
Republicans-turned-isolationists
that get me. There is a bit of
inconsistency on the part of
Democrats who are urging the
support of Clinton's policy, yet
voted against Desert Storm.
While the issue may not be as
simple, some of the central ideas
of-standing behind the United
Nations and supporting NATO
and American stature in a region
were the same. Similar to many
foreign ventures undertaken by
the CIA to protect American cor-
porate interests, these was a defi-
nite blood-for-oil aspect of the
invasion. Yet realistically, that
was an option the U.S. could not
afford. Lacking any sort of en-
ergy policy, the loss to Saudi
Arabia would have been cata-
strophic. Evidently, the Demo-
crats who could not foresee the
danger of a Middle East run by
Saddam Hussein have come to
realize that the obliteration of
Bosnia by the Serbs would be
just as catastrophic.
I have to wonder if any of the
greater interests that I believe are
served in the invasion are even an,
issue. If the United States does
not comprise a major portion of
the defense force, will NATO
crumble? Are there greater inter-
ests of peace that override the
risks of mines and snipers? Does
a police forceof 60,000 ensure
that the United States will not be
acting alone, and has a viable exit
strategy? Does the timing of the
agreement help to ensure that
NATO will not antagonize Rus-
sia by sending troops? I have
heard these questions over and
over, but I have not heard any
answers on eithieside to support
the cause one way or the other.
Clinton has proposed a serious
involvement based on doing the
right thing, as he will not likely
gain significant points in the polls
forhis actions. Nonetheless, Con-
gress is turning it into a partisan
issue. Military involvement
should not be split along party
lines. It should be determined by
a greater sense of right vs. wrong.
Another aspect of the unfold-
ing spectacle of note is the confu-
sion of "strategic" and "vital"
interests. Opponents of the inva-
sion, again many of whom voted
for defense increases above and
beyond Pentagon requests, mush
the two terms together. They stake
the claim that: a) there is no
American business interest in
Bosnia, b) Bosnia, by virtue of
not being located next tof r-
many or Central America, is not
strategically located and c) given
a and b, there is no vital Ameri-
can interest in Bosnia.
Of course, strategic and vital
were not watermarks of the inva-
sion of Panama or Somalia, nor
were they combined in the
airstrikes against Libya and they
certainly didn't come into play
during the country's payment of
dictators in Central America. Ad-
mittedly, Bosnia is not home to
the Shell oil company, ITT,
United Fruit Company or any
corporation on whose behalf the
United States has intervened. But
it is in NATO's backyard. If the
United States is to have a lead
role in NATOthe European back-
yard certainly represents a strate-
gic interest. More important, and
separate from all other concerns,
is the vital aspect of protecting
the peace. Vital concerns shout
be the overriding factor in thi
conflict, not whether there is
strategic foothold for ... what?
Stopping the communists?
Last summer, Congress vote
overwhelmingly to admit defea
forthe United Nationsand NATO
arm the Bosnian Muslims an
"give war a chance." Now that w
have the opportunity for peac
and to restore our responsibilit
as the lone superpower to protec
and uphold democratic values
Congress is balking. After th
NATO airstrikes and the Croatiai
invasion of the Crimean region,
real peace may be attained ami
thy carnage and bloodshed: Op
ponents ofthe invasion are agains
it politically. Proponentsarestep
ping behind the president.No on
is understanding and addressin
the greater issue Clinton ha
brought up of our role in prevent
ing destruction when given th
opportunity to do so.
I have a relative in the arme
forces who will likely be spend
ing his spring and summier i
Tuzla. I trust the president an
the Pentagon to make the nigh
decisions concerning his role i
upholding the peace in Bosnia.
But I am not sure I am ready t
give credence to any actiontake
by Congress in the matter until
can rest assured that all of th
flip-flopping and political con
cerns about bodybags is laid t
rest, and the real issue about U.S
leadership in foreign policy
addressed. I can imagine n
greater horror than 20,00 o
America's finest being used a
pawns in political wrangling b
the most inconsistent institutiol
in U.S. foreign policy.
message to SAPAC acttvitie
group. This group was activate
so that twice a year, for Sexua
Assault Awareness Week an
LETTERS
Punishment
inanDroDri ate
the punishment to the students
was intendedtoencourage.mem-
bers of the community who may
by an infringement on students'
rights.As students, we are tired
of being pawns of a University
University Regent Daniel Horning
University Regent Shirley McFee
i
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