4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 1, 1995
420 Maynard Street MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in chief
Edited and managed by JULIE BECKER
students at the JAMES M. NASH
University of Michigan Editorial Page Editors
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.
It only takes one
DPS rape statistics paint incomplete picture
tudents should not take comfort in the keep their pain private.
statistics on sexual assault recently re- DPS's conclusions mean very little with-
leased by the Department of Public Safety. out a long-term statistical analysis - thus
"The numbers, which indicate a decline in the there is currently no basis for concluding that
number ofreportedforcedrapes andinstances the situation is improving. If nothing else,
of fondling from 1992 to 1994, do not accu- DPS's numbers confirm that sexual assault
'f'ately reflect the number of sexual assaults remains a significant problem on campus -
on campus. It would be a mistake to use these until the statistics read zero sexual assaults
numbers as evidence of a downward trend in every year, the University and the city have
,sexual assault occurrence. DPS's statistics not solved the problem.
'are merely inconclusive. If one individual is attacked, members of
The number of forced rapes reported to the University community must lookpast the
DPS fell from 10 to five in two years. Re- numbers - and mobilize to prevent further
ported fondling incidents decreased from 15 assaults. Education and safety procedures
to six over the same period. This appears can be reinforced through programs such as
'encouraging-but the vast majority ofcam- the SAPAC-sponsored Sexual Assault
pus sexual assaults are never reported to Awareness Week. In addition, behind-the-
JDPS. scenes programs like counseling and regular
Socialpsychologistand sociologyprofes- workshops provide needed services. City
sorAndre Modigliani recently acknowledged officials can contribute by placing streetlights
,he importance of the disparity between the in poorly illuminated areas.
Lumber of reported assaults to the number of Moreover, every resident of Ann Arbor
actual incidents of assault on campus. Many must participate in the fight in thought, word
survivors of sexual assault do not report and deed. A glaring statistic not immediately
incidents to DPS - often because they fear apparent is the occurrence of acquaintance
-indifference or even mistreatment from DPS rape - a crime that is beyond the reach of
officers. Others may be hesitant to press police and safety lights. The vast majority of
charges and face the possibility of a lengthy sexual assault survivors know their attack-
and emotionally draining legal battle. ers. Any solution to this problem must be
Not surprisingly, the 88 sexual assaults based on changing attitudes, through mas-
reported to the Sexual Assault Prevention sive education and awareness campaigns.
And Awareness Center of Ann Arbor in 1994 Unfortunately, publicized statistics such
was a significantly higher number than the as DPS's numbers on sexual assault have the
combined 48 assaults reported to the Ann potential to do more harm than good. The
Arbor Police Department and DPS. Never- University community cannot allow mean-
2heless, even SAPAC's numbers cannot ac- ingless numbers to create a false sense of
ount for the many survivors who choose to safety, lulling students into complacency.
Medicare bonanza
Health-care reform requires sacrifice from all
4 n the tally of Medicare resuscitation the the House. These enormous savings could
score is now insurance win, hospitals and lead to numerous hospital closings and the
'doctors tie and senior citizens lose. Current reluctance of many doctors to treat Medicare
.health-careproposals are incomplete answers patients. However, the shift to HMO care
to risinghealth-care costs. Selectively target- will limit the positions of medical specialists
:ng senior citizens without demanding equal by setting caps on the number of tests and
sacrifice of the entire health-care industry is consults patients can seek. It has been pro-
-wrong. Doing so will prevent the creation jected that by the year 2002, 1 in 5 specialists
:nd implementation of an effective system. willbe out ofajob. Under this plan, the future
The share of the burden falling on elderly for medicine is to manage independent
'itizens includes raising the entrance age into HMOs.
,the system from 65 to 67, increasing seniors' Meanwhile, the insurance industry has
share of premium payments from $46.10 to been remarkably silent during this round of

-$92 under Senate plans - the Medicare debate. Such
;or $87 as proposed by the silence owes to the fact
.House - and increasing MEDICARE REFORM that the Medicare Plus
the deductible, agreedupon policy effectively filters
by both houses. Seniors out the undesirable - the
also face a cut in service unhealthy and poor -cli-
either through restrictive - ents for them. By making
HMOs, a higher price tag Second in a series the risks too great, the ser-

JORDAN STANCIL LAST-DITCHAPPEAL
J'~tUous Pgnspus o /lc
he for a m omen t before the sowal
T he Virtuous Pagans were sitting ontheir morbid. But that's the life of a Virtuous a lackofyearningoroflonging. Itjustmesns
porch one night, making big plans about Pagan. that it's always clear to the Virtuous Pagans
how they would one day lead a life of deca- Virtuous Pagans aren'tonly on the porch. that there's no chance of their longing ever
dence ... later, of course. Right then all they They're everywhere. They're in swanky hotel yielding a result. The porch doesn't allow
wanted was someone nice to take to the Arb. rooms in Chicago having anonymous sex. them to forget this. But it does make this
But Virtuous Pagans can't go to the Arb, let They eat at McDonald's all alone on Thurs- business of hopelessness seem a bit funny.
alone to Marcus Roberts. They can go to the day night at 8:40. They're in the Lake Supe- Outthere with the other Virtuous Pagans
Amoco station to buy a box of crackers. Just rior State University Hockey Pep Band. (because no one else is ever there), the pre-
because they can't fit the crackers under the They're in grocery stores late at night, stuck dicament takes on the air of a comedy, with
bullet-proof money slot doesn't mean any- in a full-size reproduction (surely it couldn't the pagans laughing at the pathetic exploits
thing. have been an accident) of Edward Hopper. of one another. One funny thing after an-
Actually, these guys onthe porch weren't Going through the motions. Thinking too other is said. But none of the utterances is
virtuous and they weren't pagans. If they'd much. Sustenance for the sake of suste- worthy of a daytime conversation, even a
been real Virtuous Pagans they wouldn't nance. Ellis-Don and his crane. And then conversation between pagans.
have had last names. But, last names not- back to the porch. And that's the problem with pagans in
withstanding, there was really no hope that The porch is a place where things are general, virtuous or otherwise: You never
they would ever leave the porch. And that discussed and thought about and planned ... know what they're going to say or do. And
made them feel like Virtuous Pagans. but never acted on. It gives off a certain you might not want to know. Trust me.
Notthat it was bad for them on the porch. impotence to those who sit on it, while at the Pagans think they're a lot funnier than they
After all, they were contemplative by na- same time making one comfortable with really are. And if you're on the porch with
ture, and the porch is the best place for impotence, or rather, with the sheer laziness one of them, just agree that it's all too bad,
contemplative types. It's where you realize and inactivity which are probably the first and try to squeeze out a laugh.
that the falling of the last leaves forecloses signs of general personal impotence.
the possibility of anything good happening Of course, the whole idea is that there's -Jordan Stancil can be reached over e-
for a very long time. Maybe that's a little alack ofhope. Thatdoesn'tmeanthatthere's mail at rialto@umich.edu

JIM LASSER SHARP AS TOAST
aTo The Vic1ers, SELL OUTS... To sour NUINEOCAMPUS
( i r 1
Ts Michigan,
tbs EM3ARASSME!
' siftheGWes!

NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'Where you have
unity of purpose
between the
people,
businesses and
government
you're going to
have a positive
impact.'
-Ray Johnson, principal
of the Paul Robeson
Academy, referring to the
school's efforts against
Devil's Night in Detroit

ETTERS

Dial-in fee
beneficial
To the Daily:
Your editorial titled "Syntax
Error: 'U' shouldn't penalize
modemusers" is slightly mislead-
lug. First, this charge for the use
of the UMCE modem pool, al-
though only coming into effect
recently, has been in the works
since as early as August, and sev-
eral sources available to students
reported this change in Septem-
ber, so it should be no surprise.
Yet you react as if this was at
overnight decision by UMCE.
This is certainly not the case.
Second, you say that "The
University is allowing the old
system to fall by the wayside."
Again, this is not true. The $4.40
monthly charge for modem users
will be used to maintain and up-
grade the modem pool to reflect
the latest technology. Over the
last two years, the modem pool
has been upgraded from 2400
baud modems to 14400and28800
bauds, and the number of mo-
dems within each pool has also
increased. The UMCE has done
an excellent job of making sure
that the University modem user
haseasy acces o the University's
computing environment.
It is true that with a decreased

allocation and the new modem
charge students will have to
choose their computing services
carefully. However, students
should also realize that there are
ways to use the most of this allo-
cation. By dialing in at low use
times, such as during the day or
on weekends, a student can ex-
tend the number of hours he or
she can stay on-line. Ifnecessary,
students can add additional funds
to their allocation to allow for
more on-line hours. Finally, with
the use of software such as PPP,
which is highly supported by
UMCE, students can increase
their productivity when on-line,
and thus, get more use for the
limited number of hours avail-
able.
You claim "the fee is a trou-
bling sign that the University is
reneging on its commitment to
provide computer access to all
students." But in a time where
budget cutbacks and reduced
funding for University services
flourish, I see this fee as a com-
mitment to the students to main-
tain and improve upon the cur-
rent computing environment on
campus.
Michael K. Neylon
Engineering graduate
student

Daily cartoon misidentifies
regions in former Yugoslavia

To the Daily:
The editorial cartoon in the
Daily ("Mookie's Dilemma" 10/
31/95) contains a blatant error
that suggests the cartoonist is not
very well informed about events
intheformerYugoslavia. Croatia
is depicted as eager to devour a
territory called "Eastern
Slovenia."
Actuallytheterritory inques-
tion is "Eastern Slavonia." East-
ern Slavonia is a territory within
the eastern part of Croatia's inter-
nationally recognized borders. It
was seized a few years ago by the
Serbs. The majority Croatian
population in the region was ei-
ther driven out or massacred by
Serb "ethnic cleansing."
"Slovenia,"onthe otherhand,
is a completely seperate nation in
thenorthwestcornerofthe former
Yugoslavia. Itwasthefirstformer
Yugoslav republic to declare its
independence. After winning a
brief conflict with the Serbs,
Slovenia has remained a inde-
pendent nation, completely free

from fighting. There is no history
nor prospect of fighting betweer
the Croatians andthe Slovenians
It may or may not be true that
it would be foolhardy for the
Croatians to try to recapture the
Eastern Slavonia region. But it
you're going to express your opin-
ion on this issue, the least you
could do is get your facts straight
And doesn't anybody else at the
Daily read the cartoons before
you print them? I'd like to think
at least one person there would be
well informed enough to notice
that something was wrong.
Sure, they sound alike, but sc
do, for example, "Iraq" ane
"Iran." Imagine the outcry if you
mixed those two up.
Jon Bakija
Rackham student
Editors'note: The error in the
cartoon in question was thefaul
of an editing mistake. We apolo-
gize to the cartoonist, Mat
Wimsatt, for the error.

on the current system or
charges for individual rou-
tine care through medical savings accounts.
Wary of crossing the powerful insurance
and medical lobbies, the GOP has tailored
new Medicare policy to appease these glut-
tonous industries. The American Medical
Association's endorsement was contingent
on the promise to lift antitrust restrictions, set
a cap on malpractice damages and allow
hospitals and doctors to establish indepen-
dent HMOs.
But the plan also calls for the slowing of
annual growth payments to doctors and hos-
pitals. Savings are estimated at $96.2 billion
by the Senate and a similar $98.7 billion by


vices too few and cost too
high, lower income and
chronically ill citizens must look to either a
higher-priced revamped Medicare plan re-
quiring a supplement, or an HMO that will
limit the services available. Neither of these
options is adequate.
To oversee health-care distribution with a
calculatorinsteadofa stethoscope is to cripple
medicine. Doctors will be forced to examine
first the form of insurance and then the pa-
tient, creating a stratification of care - leav-
ingmany peopleunder-served. Concise, thor-
ough care is sacrificed through cost-cutting
measures - making this GOP "victory" a
hollow one.


How TO CONTACT THEM
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
580 Union Drive, Room L-107
(West Quad entrance, south of Regents' Plaza)
763-5865
Crisis line, 936-3333
'I~ As l
tl Tcs'P C5. ~
a 11
y t

Sporting
mascots can
promote bias
To the Daily:
This is in response to Jim
Lasser's "University X" cartoon
of Oct. 25, which portrayed the
dean of a "politically correct"
university searching for a new
mascot because Norwegian
groupsobjectedtothe university's
Norwegian sailor mascot. I as-
sume the cartoon is an indirect
response to objections of Native
Americans and others to the of-
fensive symbols used by the
Cleveland Indians and Atlanta
Braves that have drawn national
attention during the World Se-
ries. The cartoons' tone is that
this is a boring and trivial issue.
Mr. Lasser, the good people
of the city of Pekin, Ill., would be
proud ofyou. Many of them were
using this very argument well into
the 1980s to justify their keeping
the name of their high school ath-
letic teams. Pekin gets its name
from the city of Beijing, China,
and its high school called itisteams
the Pekin Chinks. (As Dave Barry
would have to say at this point, I
am NOT making this up.) You
can imagine the symbols and im-
ages that went with this. For
those few who might not know
what the term "Chink" is all about,
it is an incredibly offensive racial
slur used against those of Asian

ancestry that is about as crude
and inexcusable as the term
"Redskin" that is sometimes used
to give offense to Native Ameri-
cans (and promote NFL football).
When attempts were made to
point out to the supporters of the
Pekin Chinks namesand symbols
how offensive these were, the
responses would tend to fall into
one of the patterns of "Hey, it's a
harmlesstradition!", or"Wemean
no offense and really only want to
honor Asian culture," or "Such-
and-such person of Chinese an-
cestry says that he sees nothing
wrong with the name," or "Why
can't you lighten up a little and
see how trivial this all is! Don't
youhave somethingbetterto do?"
We Native Americans are quite
familiar with these responses,
since they are the very ones used
to justify the retention of offen-
sive team names, mascots, and
symbols aimed at us, such as the
ones the Cleveland Indians use.
These excuses are no more valid
fortheretention ofNativeAmeri-
can stereotypes than they were
for keeping the "Chink" name.
I hopethe day will come when
sports teams will not feel the need
to draw support by appealing to
the worst instincts of people
through racial stereotypes. Until
that happens, you can bet that we
will keep this issue alive.
Robert E. Megginson
Associate Professor of
Mathematics

Affirmative action needed to
remedy past discrimination
To the Daily: a predominantly black popula
I am writing in response to a tion, while the suburbs are fillet
letter in the Daily ("Affirmative with wealthy white people. I
action programs are another form would be ridiculous to say that is
of racism," 10/23/95) in which a America itis a disadvantage to be
studentreferredtoaffirmativeac- white. It is also ridiculous to be-
tion as "reverse racism." Affir- lieve that affirmative action wil
mative action is intended to as- somehow disenfranchise white
sure a level playing field for mi- America.
norities. President Lyndon Affirmative action has beet
Johnson in 1965 declared: in place for 30 years. Whites.ar
"Freedom is not enough. You still economically superior ti
donottake apersonwho foryears blacks. Blacks are still struggling
has been hobbled by chains ... forequality. Thirtyyears ofaffir
bring him to she starting line of a mative action have not leveled
race and then say, 'You're free to the playing field.
compete' and justly believe that I have experienced life as a
you are being completely fair." whitekid fromthesuburbs. I wen
Johnsonwascompletelyright. to a good school and was pre
It would not be fair to African pared for college. I never had ti
Americans if affirmative action worry about where my next mea
were eliminated. Even from the was coming from. Hopefully, II
onset of their freedom, blacks getagoodjob afterschool and be
havebeenexploitedbythe whites set for life. Unfortunately, no
in power. everyone hastheseopportunities
I would like to believe that Covert racism and discrimi
racism has been expelled from nation stillexist today in America
American society, but Ijust can't. This forces blacks to start life at a
I see covert racism almost daily, definite disadvantage. Itsis the
and it disheartens me. I would government's responsibility tc
like to be sure that if affirmative ensure them of opportunities -
action were repealed, blacks thesameopportunitiesthatwhite:
would still be given equal oppor- getmerely because they are white
tunities, but I'm not. I would love for there to be ni
I come from suburban Detroit need for affirmative action pro
and I see the effectsofinequality. grams. The day that someon<
I can drive downtown and see couldprovetomethatracismhat
rundown houses with bars in the been eliminated is the day that
windows. Then I can look up and support an end to affirmative ac
down the suburban streets and tion.
see big houses with expensive Frnk Kress
cars in the driveways.
It is no secret that Detroit has LSA sophomore

I