4A -- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 7, 1995 I L7bIe ir~grn p~wwaUt~ JUDITH KAFKA Tm- FirE PRuN, 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan MICIAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES M. NASH Editorial Page Editors A word to procrastinators: Trust me, it all will be aver soon Unless otherwise notei unsigned editorials reflect the opinion ofa majority ofthe Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarili reflect the opinion of The Michigan Dailv. Our 2 cents President forum a good start on student input mid term papers, exams and final due dates, 15 students took time at the Uni- versity Board of Regents' forum on Monday night to articulate their concerns and sugges- tions for the presidential search. Though the number of students represented a miniscule proportion ofthe student population, the con- cerns they vocalized should be echoed by all on campus. Moreover, the regents must care- ully consider this solicited student advice. Several patterns emerged in the comments at Monday's forum - each subsequent speaker validated and contributed to the pre- vious speakers' points. The students made passionate pleas for candidates who will re- spect and encourage diversity across lines of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orienta- tion. They called for improvements in presi- dent-student relations, including greater stu- dent accessibility to the president. They also demanded that the regents select candidates who would respect students as adults. Above all, the speakers demanded the creation of a student advisory board to aid the regents in their search. Now the campus population will watch and listen to determine whether the regents heed these suggestions. Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) - co-chair of the search committee - said she is unsure whether a student advisory board will mate- - rialize. The regents owe the students repre- sentation in this critical decision. The student population must campaign steadfastly for an advisory board. The regents do not necessar- ily represent students' best interests, nor do they have any legal obligation to include students. If the search committee is without formal student input, fundamental student needs will not receive due attention. If the presidential selection process is to be at all representative of student concerns, an advi- sory board is essential. Furthermore, the regents must continue to show an active interest in student opinion. They must prove their self-professed high esteem for the student voice by continuing to gather student input and carrying out the search accordingly. It would behoove the regents to set dates for several more student- targeted forums - preferably at a more con- venient time than the last week of classes. Ifthe regents are willing to cooperate with student concerns, the student population has a responsibility to take advantage of given opportunities. Excuses will only suffice for so long before the students are labeled as apathetic. In his comments at the forum, Michigan Student Assembly President Flint Wainess jokingly suggested that if the re- gents had held the forum at the Angell Hall Computing Site, participation would have increased substantially. His comment had more than a hint of truth - and MSA should capitalize on that fact. An organization like MSA has the resources and influence to effectively solicit student response and orga- nize it for presentation. If the student popula- tion needs a moderator or motivation, MSA should be campaigning for and collecting student input- wherever students are found. A few students have forged ahead on the trail toward a new University president. The rest of the population must follow and con- tribute to create a voice the regents will be unable to ignore. It's the end of the semester. I'm tired, over- worked, and really, really stressed. Essentially the last thing I want to do is write a column, which only a few people will read anyway because they're just as tired, overworked and really, really stressed as I am, and thus have better things to do with their time then read 3,000-odd characters about a topic to be determined later. On the other hand, maybe a lot of people will be forced to read this, stuck waiting the full 220 minutes for a computer at Angell, or hanging out on the floor of some hallway, trying to make their professor's or TA's very last office hours before they're left on their own, with nothing but the possibility of a review session, to prepare for whatever it is exactly that they have to do to prove to this same professor or TA that they've under- stood everything this particular class has had to offer, and then some. So maybe there are some people reading this column right now, but certainly not out of choice, and not out ofa real interest to see what I have to say about the same miserable experience we're all going through. Actually, I've noticed that people have different ways of dealing with these final weeks of school. Weird as it may sound, not everyone is suffering rightnow. In fact, even as I write, some of my very own housemates are sleeping, having decided that whatever it was they managed to accomplish today was enough to warrant catching some z's. There are people like that, who manage their time well and get to sleep and socialize at a normal rate, even during finals week. On the other hand, there are those sleep- ing right now who have accomplished virtu- ally nothing today, but have dotle so with such focus and dedication that they, too, feel it is their right to slumber. Then there are others who will not sleep at all - sleep-lorderers, not to be confused with sleep-lords. These sleep lorderers will try to lord the size of their sleep deficit over whomever they can, as if they are better people, or at least more worthy of pity, because of their ability to survive without sleep. Similar to this group are the seasonal recluses, people who are out and about doing stuff during most of the semester, but now confine themselves either to their rooms or a cubicle in the Grad, thinking that if they don't talk to anyone until they take their exams, the chance that they'll be able to absorb and remember three months' worth of information in a week's worth of studying is increased. Then there are those who feel the need to reach out during this time, and call friends they haven't hung out with all year except for that first week of school when they diligently "did" lunch or coffee and "caught up" on each other's lives. Now, at the end of the semester, they want to "do" lunch or coffee again, so that the next time they accidentally bump into each other, they'll be able to marvel at the fact that they haven't seen each other since right before Christmas -although actually, with ourextended win- ter break this year. the end of classes aren t right before Christmas at all. Productive procrastinators come out of the woodwork these days as well, as evi- denced by the increased 'iumber of mes- sages in my Pine "Inbox." They're the ones who feel a lot better about not doing their school work if they do other valuable stuff instead. Living with productive procrastina- tors means that the kitchen will always be clean this week, and if things get really bad, the bathrooms may follow. The thing about this collective body of school work looming ahead of us in the coming week is, we can tell ourselves that eventually it will all get done - even if it doesn't, eventually it will all be over. But these words of wisdom may not prove sufficient consolation for the masses, especially since finishing classes so early this year simply means we're home that much longer ... - Judith Kafka can be reached over >- mail atjkafka@umich.edu. MATT WIMSATT MOOIE'S DILEMMA FOR G NcASUATE' W H AMERMk'\ NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'You would like to believe that when the president says something that you can, count on that statement to be true.' - University Regent ,Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor), reacting to apparently deceptive assertions by President James J. Duderstadt A threat to federalism VIEWPOINT Flippant use of 'Nazi' cheapens history Court correct to reject n Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court re- jected Colorado's attempt to withhold Medicaid funds for abortions in cases of rape and incest. The ruling is well-timed and ab- solutely appropriate. The issues the Colo- rado case brought to the court are threefold, and the court's latest ruling should be inter- preted as a warning to states that are trying to wrest power from the U.S. government and effectively challenge federalism. The first issue, and the backbone of the court's ruling, is that states cannot partici- pate in a federal program and then pick and choose which of its guidelines to follow. Current Medicaid policy bans funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or a danger to maternal health. Colorado had cho- sen to receive Medicaid funds from Con- gress, but took it upon itself to write its own laws on how the funds could be used. Such actions are in direct contrast to the system of federalism in place for more than 200 years. It is both naive and unfair to request federal funds and then withhold them from citizens based on state politics. - The case also exemplifies the dangers inherent in handing over control of Medicaid and Medicare to states in the form of block grants. Citizens of one state could be left at the whim of reactionary conservative poli- cies, whereas residents of another state may continue under the status quo. The purpose of wMedicaid is to provide a safety health net for the less privileged, not be used as a football for moralist concerns. Colorado's attempt to Colo. abortion policy withhold funds was a political move that ignored the ramifications such a precedent would set. If full control of Medicaid were handed over to a state government with a recent history ofbackward conservatism such as Colorado, it is reasonable to assume that Medicaid would cease to exist. The restrictions on abortion funding them- selves are morally abhorrent. The Hyde Amendment, which has been in place since 1976, originally barred federal funding for all abortions. It was modified in 1993 to provide for cases of rape, incest or the mother's health. This law egregiously denies poorer women access to a safe and legal medical practice, discriminating on the basis of economic status. As long as abortion is legal, there is no excuse for not making it safe and accessible. Using a federal health pro- gram to assault abortion rights is far beyond reprehensible. Giving states leeway to deter- mine further which medical procedures the poor may receive -- while the well-to-do have the ability to pay and thus access to comprehensive care - is unfair and runs contrary to the very idea ofequality on which Medicaid was founded. Governors and state legislatures - many of whom have taken it upon themselves to declare states independent of the federal gov- ernment - must take notice of this prece- dent. As long as a state continues to receive and depend on federal funds, it has no right to hold government services hostage to its own discriminatory whims. By Stephanie Jo Klein White males are running scared these days.aThey seem to feel their dominance is being threatened by oppressive forces and Nazi-like regimes made of militant females and "uppity" minorities. I beg to differ. People from outside the old- boy network of bald, fat, white men who make strides toward racial and gender equity have nothing to do with the totalitari- anism of Nazi Germany from 1932-45. As a female, I take it as a personal affront when I hear men andwomen who strive forchange in America's governmental sys- tem equated with a movement of brutal, genocidal killers who sought racial purity. Stephanie .Io Klein is " LS.l solphomore and a Dail staff reporter. I have often heard the term "femi-nazi"used on campus to describe feminist groups. I hax e most often heard this term used against NWROC, the National Women's Rights Organizing Coa- lition. A group that prints "No free speech for fascists!" on many of its signs, NWROC is an easy tar- get. At rallies opposing the Ku Klux Klan, members threw bottles, rattled fences and got maced. Their tactics. one could say, are less than subtle. At other times, they have pro- tested peacefully and encouraged participation in governmnent, on cases such as Jennifer Ireland's fight to maintain custody of her child. Shouts of anger at an op- pressive court system that tried to keep a child away from hermother because the mother had a social life and went to school are not surprising. In protesting male at- tempts to dominate females in such cases. NWROC members hardly deseve the label "ferni- nazis." I ould never call a man who protested based oan his be- liefs a "mascu-nazi." Chauvinist. maybe, but one must keep things in perspective. NWROC's tac- tics often detract from their argu- ments, but they are not Nazis. Conservative Republican ra- dio guru Rush Limbaugh uses the' term "femi-nazi" freely and fre- quently. Mr. Limbaugh loves to insult feminists and}people who support affirmative action pro- grams. Like many other mem- bers of his cowardly political party, he says affirmative action' destroys the "meritocracy" of America. ie fears that qualified people who have not been given prior employment opportunities due to systemic discrimination could take his job. This is not reverse discrimi- nation and it most certainly is not a subversix e attempt at oppress- ing another class or race ofpeople like the Nazis did. I have heard- Gloria Stein' e called a "femi-nazi" because sh dares speak her mind and foste female empowerment. I havt heard Mark Fuhrman called Nazi because he possibly tam pered with police evidence 'an used a racial slur. I have evet heard the late Israeli Prime Min ister Yitzhak Rabin parallefe with Nazis for his dealings with Palestinians. None of these people hav< anything to do with Nazis. I trivializes the term when we-usi it in everyday speech or whes wi disagree with someone. Fuhrmai is clearly a racist, but he has'no where near the power of the terri tying mmindset that allowedan encouraged the burning, gassing and mass burials of more than million Jews, Catholics, Poles Gypsies and homosexuals. I hope no one ever does. LETTERS Data dilemma lurks on-line To the Daily: All I wish to do in this letter is draw your attention to a growing aspect of our society I feel should be more closely examined by all citizens - the growth of a new identity that each person has in cyberspace. In particular, per- sonal documents and data stored on-line raise the questions of just how safe is this data, and just who has the power to examine it. First, I ask you the reader to take out your Michigan identity card, and examine the back ... yes, I am serious, go ahead. If you look, you will see your Social Security number printed on the t -^, A ,*, ;- t n v - 2 nr.. what departments can see what portions of your files'? Certainly the University promises security, but how careful are they, how closely do they really review ac- cess privileges to your records? For example, think of your e- mail. Where is the actual physical data that makes up your e-mail stored? Most likely on this cam- pus, in one of several mail servers on campus, whose sole duty is to sort and deliver e-mail. But this means your e-mail isn't really secure from examination by the University if they wish, it is only as secure as they permit. In other words, the University regulates itself on how e-mail is treated, and whatever privacy your e-mail appears to have, or actually has, relies entirely on their whim. )T l l-.- f: 1/l. - a P :t n - tl considered? As well, how do you. feel knowing at any time some- one might be able to just pop into your e-mail box and check up on you, see how you are doing? Then of course there is the question: Does the University store your e-mail? For those who remember, the University at one point lost some servers due to mechanical failure, and several accounts lost access to their files, but all was well because the staff at ITD were able to restore all the lost files off their backups. This is good policy, but also should make you wonder, just hoV much of my e-mail is backed up? Did you intrinsically agree by having an e-mail account at the University that they in turn had the right to, keep your e-mail in storage?, P:inll. t.,n nfthic Wat of records of your life. How ruc control of your future do y~ou re~ ally have, how safe is the data yo rely on'? As a close, I only ask yodsto after reading this for five minute and ask yourself this question how many records involving m exist, and where? Who has them and why are they being stared Ponder on that for a minute, anc you may find I sound~a little lest paranoid after all. Ed Chusid LSA first-year student Thanks, Blue! To the Daily: This letterofthanks isdirecte to the Michigan football team an to all of the fans that cheerei How TO CONTACT THEM Send written comments about the presidential search to: Secretary of the University 2012 Fleming Administration Building Ann Arhor M 48109-1 344