4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 28, 1995
(TIbe hI~tan Drn tlii
JUDITH KAFKA
THE FINE PRNT
420 Maynard
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
Cndtcs take note: Women 's
A sues aren 't one-dbnmensiornal
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily 's editorial board. All
oither articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
Looking outward
11
U wise to broaden provost search
A n ongoing search to replace retiring easy to shirk this objective through an inter-
Provost Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr. has nal search, as the current dean pool - the
now reached its final stages. According to a traditional breeding ground for the provost
meniber ofthe Provost Search Advisory Com- - includes only four women, one of whom
mittee, five finalists are being considered for is also the only minority dean. Among these,
the position, which acts as a link between LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg has publicly
University President James J. Duderstadt disavowed interest in the job. The University
and the 18 academic deans. In a change from has done a praiseworthy job in going outside
recent-practice, none of the finalists are cur- to look for minority and female candidates,
rentlyaffiliated with the University. However, if it is truly committed to increas-
For the past 30 years, each vacancy in the ing diversity, the University must look in-
provost's office had been filled by promo- ward at its lower administrative levels. Thai
tions from within, usually by the elevation of the University had to look beyond its own
a dean from one ofthe University's 18 schools campus to find qualified female and minority
and colleges. That all five candidates to fill candidates attests to the progress that still
the office -- the second-highest administra- must be made.
tive post at the University - are from out- The search committee has narrowed its
side is encouraging in many respects. New list to five external candidates, at least one of
faces bring too-rare new ideas to the Univer- whom is either a woman or a minority. The
sity community. They also allow the Univer- appointment of a woman or minority to the
sity tobenefit from individuals' experiences provost's office should not be automatic. But
at other institutions. in an effort to bring greater diversity to the
Diuderstadt has cited an increased num- University administration, the opportunity tc
ber offemale and minority candidates as one advance to the position based on merit shoulk
advantage of a national search. This is a be provided to the most diverse pool ofquali-
comimendable goal, in tune with the fled applicants possible. The University has
presi nt's Michigan Mandate, Agenda for attempted to do so in this instance, and shoulk
Womin and the University's ongoing com- be commended. One can only hope its ac-
mitinnt to diversity. It would have been tions will be repeated in future promotions.
a a
A high price to pay
Pan would cut students off from grad school
v
t
Y
Y
e
I had just sat down at the computer when
one of my housemates appeared at the
door to my room. The housemate asked what
I was doing; I responded that I was about to
work on my column.
"What are you going to write about?" the
housemate asked. "Something to do with
women?"
I answered I hadn't really decided yet.
"You'll write about women," the
housemate insisted. "You always write about
women."
I considered this assertion.
"You should write about something else
for a change - people might get sick of it.
You don't want to sound like a broken
record."
I thanked my housemate for the unsolic-
ited advice, only because it provided me
with an inspiration for my column.
This was not the first time someone had
suggested to me that a feminist column (read:
a column written by a feminist) would have
a limited appeal.
In fact,just last week I received a piece of
similar advice from a graduate student via e-
mail. "You have some good points," I was
warned, "but you should try more inclusive
topics. You don't want to fall into an angry
feminism type."
If these comments had come from fum-
ing readers who hated my column that would
be one thing, and much easier to deal with.
But my housemate is a loving friend, and the
grad student seemed well-intentioned and
genuinely concerned. These are not femi-
nist-bashers; rather, they were promoting
the "enough already" attitude quite preva-
lent when it comes to women writing about
women.
I'm not going to say that in the past four
weeks I haven't devoted more space to
women than to men, nor will I assert that I've
been completely gender neutral in focus.
The fact of the matter is, women make up
50 percent of the population; I don't con-
sider writing about issues that pertain to
them as particularly specialized.
It is telling, although not surprising, that
both my housemate and my e-mail core-
spondent are male.
In their eyes, writing about women is
valid, as long as it is done in moderation:
Repeatedly writing about the same topic is
overkill.
What they fail to see is that "women" is
not a topic. Women are diverse people with
diverse interests, few of which ever make it
into newspapers, television or the classroom.
Women, much as our friends controlling
Congress would like to disagree, are not a
special interest group. They are worthy of
more than brief acknowledgments when
abortion laws are being debated or a famous
football star's wife is gruesomely murdered.
They do not all think alike, and they cannot
be neatly packaged into the single slot they
are allotted everywhere from politics to board
rooms.
There is nothing redundant in writing
about women.
Furthermore, issues that interest women
and issues that interest men are not mutually
exclusive. No one doubts the cross-gender
readership of columns that do not touch
upon women's issues. I grant men enough
credit to believe that the same applies to
those that do.
I don't know what my future columns
will be about; I have not made a conscious
decision to only write about women.
Yet if that's how it ends up, I'll have no
regrets. I am confident there will be enough
to write about without me sounding like a
broken record.
Judith Kafka can be reached over e-
mail at jkujkaaumich.edu.
I
I
MATT WIMSATT
MooKu's DCIEMMA
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NOTABLE QUOTABLE'
'It makes stu-
dents losers and
parents losers and
taxpayers losers.'
- Jon Obeg, Department
ofEducatio~n legislative
speczairt, on the student
aid prop osal passed :in
Senate Committee this week
,s the congressional GOP leadership
rives for its dual goal of a balanced
budgM and an enormous tax cut, fiscal ma-
neuves may force graduate and professional
studets to bear a heavy burden. If Congress
follo5s through on the cuts outlined in this
sunir's budget resolution, graduate stu-
denteyill lose the in-school interest subsidy
on 4beir student loans. This would be an
enormous blunder as America prepares for
the :eponomy of the 21st century.
Uilder current law, graduate students are
exe nted from the interest on their student
loanm hat accrues while they are in school.
Cofion sense dictates that this is fair -
studrts cannot earn enough money while in
scho: to cover heavy
debtloads. Under the
planftudents would not
need pay higher costs
whili in school. How- S
ever, once they have
gradsted and begun to
repa their loans, the in-
terestfrom their years in school would be
added to their bill.
Cgisidering that many graduates already
hav aggering financial difficulties, this
couldbe a nightmare for young profession-
als; Eiminating the exemption would raise
the: pst of graduate school by up to 50
perceht for some students. A student with the
maximum student loan allowed ($65,500)
coQl1 end up paying a total of $45,000 in
intert. Students with smaller loans would
be hWith enormous new costs as well.
TIbe congressional proposal would make
gra1dtQ school not feasible for many stu-
dentlIndividuals ofaverage economic back-
gro ds would lose almost any chance of
ente.ig a number ofprofessions. Many fields
that equire advanced degrees do not carry
witlthem the earning power that would be
needed to pay off the enormous debt bur-
TO CONTACT THEM
To voice your concerns ab
1-800-5
For more information
n a. il c4..m rcn _i
dens. Teaching, social work, nursing and
theology - to name a few - would be out of
the question for most middle-class students.
This plan comes at a time when graduate
school is becoming increasingly necessary.
A liberal arts degree is not the ticket to
employment it once was. Without graduate
school, many college-educated people are
relegated to the lower echelons of the profes-
sional world. With this plan, government,
instead of serving as an engine of opportu-
nity, would serve as a roadblock.
In addition, the economy is changing in
such a way that America requires a highly
educated workforce. The educational levels
employers demand will often only be attain-
able by graduate and pro-
fessional studies. By cut-
ting off the opportunity
for Americans to seek
* *d higher levels of educa-
tion, the government
would be severely crip-
pling America's ability
to perform in the world economy.
There are reasons for optimism that this
proposal will fail. When the Senate Labor
and Human Resources Committee passed its
package of cuts this week, it preserved the in-
school interest exemption. President Clinton
has also pressed hard to maintain the interest
exemption in his budget negotiations with
Congress. Even some Republican House
members have called for the exemption to be
preserved.
As Washington delves into the budget
battle, this issue is certain to be a key point of
contention. The effects of the debate will
reverberate for decades in the American
economy - and hundreds of thousands of
individual students will be enormously af-
fected as well. As Congress strives to balance
the budget, it must not undermine America's
professional future.
LETTERS
The Citadel is
no place for
physically
unfit cadets
To the Daly:
In response to "Even after
Shannon Faulkner, a 'treehouse
mentality' thrives" by Jean
Twenge (9112/95).
As a female Army officer, I
myself have been referred to as a
trailblazer. I'm Michigan's first
female commissioned (2LT) he-
licopter pilot. Many times I have
been the lone female in courses of
my training and I've also done
more than my fair share of push-
ups in 100-degree heat. In OCS
(Officer Candidate School) I was
one out of the two females in the
course. I graduated fourth in the
class; the other female graduated
last. Whatever preconceptions my
male peers and instructors had
didn't matter in the end. They
saw me hold my own in garrison,
out in the field, mentally and
physically. They realized "1 could
hang," even when of lot of the
males couldn't.
Shannon Faulkner knew for 2
1 /2 years she wanted to' attend
The Citadel and be a cadet. Dur-
ing that time she should have been
preparing herself physically. I
know she claims she did. She
didn't. She was one of six out of
600 who fell to the heat that first
day. Thousands of soldiers gradu-
ate from Army basic training ev-
ery year after being exercised
extensively in the heat, i.e. Ft.
Jackson, S.C., Ft. Benning, Ga. A
good percentage of those soldiers
are female. I myself graduated
from Army basic training from
Ft. Jackson. Even after having
been raised in Michigan it didn't
take very long to get acclimated.
Shannon Faulkner was a poor
representation for women. Al-
though The Citadel is not the
... - . ,---
pation experience you're seek-
ing. Shannon Faulkner doesn't
want to experience life as a Cita-
del cadet. She wants the change
The Citadel to accommodate
women like herself. There are
many military-style schools she
could attend not includingi the
service academies. Considering
the number of women seeking
enrollment at The Citadel, am I to
assume there will be just as many
seeking enrollment at VMI (Vir-
ginia Military Institute)? Their
antics are even more "primitive
male" than The Citadel's.
I am all for the advancement
of women but let's not jump on
the feminist bandwagon and
praise Shannon Faulkner for her
hypocrisy. If she truly wanted to
be a cadet she would have arrived
at The Citadel head-shaven,
physically fit, and she would have
left her inhibitions at the gate
when she stepped through.
Christina Doster
Engineering junior
Church-State
separation is
not absolute
To the Daily:
I must confess, I normally
don't read the Daily. However, I
happened upon the 9/25/95 edi-
tion, and read youreditorial about
why Spring Arbor college is not
qualified to teach classes at the
state prison ("In prison, with reli-
gion"). I noted your comment
about the "American principle of
separation of church and state" as
applied to civil rights laws. It
made me wonder if the editors
ever read Jefferson's original let-
ter, or his resulting comments on
that letter. In that letter, Jefferson
was arguing against the existence
of a state-sponsored religion. He
never argued for the exclusion of
all religious thinking or all reli-
gious institutions from public af-
r..,~Ft- ^+
tic, but I see nothing wrong with
a state prison located in Jackson
turning to a Jackson-area institu-
tion of higher learning to provide
college-level instruction. In light
of that, why not give Spring Ar-
bor the contract and let the "cap-
tive audience" decide whether
those instructors are qualified for
the job? Why set up a kangaroo
court and judge Spring Arbor's
instructors for teaching programs
with "religious overtones" before
the fact?
I anxiously await the day when
merit rather than creed, skin color,
etc. becomes the bottom line in
American society in determining
whether one is fit for a job. I hope
that Daily editors use their edito-
rial freedom to speed rather than
impede the arrival of that day.
Reuben A. Rubio
Rackham student
Daily unfairly
criticizes
McCartney
To the Daily:
Michael Rosenberg claims
that hiring Bill McCartney to
coach Michigan football would
be the "worst move the
University's Athletic Department
could ever make," presumably
because of his "highly question-
able character" ("The wrong an-
swer" 9/21/95). On what does
Rosenberg base this degradation
of McCartney's character?
First are the numerous arrests
that occurred during McCartney's
tenure at Colorado. A coach is
rightfully held accountable for the
image his program presents to the
public. However, many esteemed
coaches have been tarnished in
this manner, including Tom
Osborne, Lou Holtz and Steve
Fisher (with our beloved Fab
Five). Thus, if the police record
of his players is in correlation
with the character of the coach,
Uv ~rnac;: i ar -. 4 iz-
Finally Rosenberg takes of-
fense with McCartney sharing his
faith with his players. McCartney
is not the only one to do so. In a
recent article on Tom Osborne in
New Man magazine, it was
pointed out that the Nebraska leg-
end takes care to profess his faith
openly to his players and hold
optional Bible studies for his staff.
By inviting his players to pray
with him, McCartney is simply
showing that he cares for them as
more than just players, and that
he desires to share with them what
he considers the most important
part of his life. Moreover, it is
ridiculous to insinuate that
McCartney ties playing opportu-
nities to religious persuasion. Did
Rashaan Salaam, last year's
Heisman winner, suffer from lack
of playing time because his faith
differed from McCartney's? How
could a coach be as successful as
McCartney was, while basing his
personnel decisions on anything
other than performance?
Character is a synonym of in-
tegrity, which is defined a "ad- :
herence to moral and ethical prin-
ciples." Rare is the man with the
character ofMcCartney. In a very
moving speech at the RCA Dome
in Indianapolis, he explained why
he left a top position in a profes-
sion that he adored. Football was
interfering with his ability to be a
husband and a father. He gave up
a situation of which most men
dream for the sake of his wife, his
children, and the calling of his
God. Now that is adherence to his
moral and ethical principles!
McCartney is not unem-
ployed, as Rosenberg suggests.
Afterrefusing apaid position with
the Promise Keepers organiza-
tion, he took ajob with a waterbed
manufacturer. I agree with
Rosenberg that McCartney would
have the ability to bring Michi-
gan football back to glory, and I
would wager that he would not
have any drunken outbursts in the
process.
However, stating that
out student aid to Congress
574-4AID
on saving student aid
lannhamn il ho a