4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 8, 1995
(Tbe £hd$!Wu &'~ig
JORDAN STANCIL
LAST-DITcH APPEAL
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI
Street
48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Editor in Chief
JULIE BECKER
JAMES M. NASH
Editorial Page Editors
ThA' week's psych ology lesson, or
an afternoon with the car dealers
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.
Alcohol awarenes
Week's events give ne
" on't drink. If you must drink, do it in
moderation. Don't drink and drive. Be
- ensible. The Substance Abuse Education
Network and University Health Services are
breathing new life into these old messages
this week with their scheduled programs for
Alcohol Awareness Week. This annual event
is traditionally well-run, important to the
education of students and worthy of support.
However, this year's scheduled programs
outshine previous ones - a great credit to
organizers of the affair.
Students encounter alcohol awareness
programs at almost every educational level.
At a time when the messages of
these programs may be getting a Alcol
little stale, a new ,approach is Awrij
needed. Organizers of this Wee
week's events recognize this fact
and have made many creative i'
changes to the format. Alcohol
Awareness Week Chair Marcia
Benz said, "We support people
to stay away from drinking; if
o they drink, drink .moderately."1
Clearly, these are not new mes-
sages - but the events of this week give
.them zest.
Organizers of the Alcohol Awareness
:'Week have done several things that should
make this year's event the best in recent
nemory. They have added inventive pro-
,rams like a "Drunk Driving Simulator,"
which allows students to enter the number of
drinks and their weight and then simulates
the experience of drunk driving. It is a fresh
land fun effort - one that promises to get the
alcohol awareness message across far better
" tdaan any speech or pamphlet. The novel
approach organizers have taken will cer-
" tainly add excitement and garner far more
,, support than programs of previous years.
Alcohol Awareness Week '95 also offers
Awareness doesr
's Alcohol Awareness Week here at the
University, and according to state and
national law three-quarters of undergradu-
ates should not even know what the whole
fuss is about. According to law, people from
the ages of 18 to 20 can vote and die for their
country, but cannot take one sip of beer.
These laws are contradictory, outdated and
remote from reality.
One reason for the current statutes is the
contention that drunk driving deaths are higher
where the drinking age is 18. This idea has
some validity, but ignores one basic fact:
People under.21 drink. Some of those will
drive after they drink. In fact, sometime this
week, someone will die because an underage
individual drives drunk.
This is clearly a serious problem - but
education about alcohol and stronger drunk
driving laws will do more to combat drunk
driving than a 21-year drinking age ever will.
If the government truly wants to cut down on
drunk driving accidents, it is necessary to
enforce the laws and increase its educational
efforts, not raise or lower the drinking age.
Others argue that people under 21 are not
mature enoughto drink responsibly. Yet these
same immature people are allowed to vote,
fight in wars, smoke, have sex with whom-
ever they wish and live on their own. They
are allowed to make decisions that will affect
their lives forever - yet those decisions
cannot involve alcohol.
In the past, the federal government has
pressured states into establishing a nation-
v twist to old messages
students fun alternatives to drinking. As in
previous years, popular movies related to
alcohol abuse are being played on University
Housing cable channels. Moreover, alcohol-
free parties in residence halls have been
scheduled. There is fun to be had without
alcohol - these programs make that much
Recently I thought that maybe I would
get a new car. I didn't need a new car.
I didn't even want one, really, except insofar
as it's always good to get a new car. My
desire to buy a new car was caused entirely
by newspaper ads. The legible part of the ads
said that you could drive a new car for $99
per month. The illegible part said it would
cost more than that. But even if you had a
magnifying glass, you still couldn't figure
out how much the car would actually cost.
So I figured that it would probably be some-
where close to $99 per month.
Thus fortified I set out to car dealerships.
At the first dealership, I was greeted by an
eager-looking man who was ready "to put
you into something you would really like."
We discussed the double overhead chassis
100,000-mile air-conditioned floor mat and
the benefits thereof. More confused than
ever, I said I would come back.
As I was walking back to my car, the man
said desperately, "I'll make you a deal, and
you'll like it!"I looked back and smiled. His
car-salesman tie flapped bravely in the wind.
"You'll see!" he said.
The next dealer apparently believed he
was in Hawaii. He wore white pants and
sandals and a floral print shirt. His blond,
wavy hair was greased back. He wore a lot of
gold jewelry and his shirt was open so that
the hair on his chest poured copiously forth.
Bucking the stereotype, he spoke excruciat-
ingly slowly, as if trying to imitate a mob
boss. It was clear what had happened to him.
Unlike the first salesman, who was obvi-
ously an upstanding member of the Rotary
Club and the PTA who happened to be a car
salesman, this Hawaii-man was a snake.
And he was wallowing in it. He loved it.
While he was explaining, in a low and
husky voice, the advantages of the supple-
mental roadside restraint glove compart-
ment, I was sure that this guy would have
echoed the Duke of Gloucester in "Richard
III": "I can't prove a lover, so I'll prove a
villain." He wasn't pathetic enough to deny
that hisjob was to get people's money through
devious means. I pictured him, recently de-
serted by his sixth wife, sitting drunk in
some crummy bar, determining to play well
the part assigned him by fate.
Thus distracted, I couldn't understand
anything the dealer said about the tax title
automatic dashboard with a sunroof. When
I left I no longer had any desire to buy a car,
but I had become so interested in the psy-
chology of these salesmen that I decided to
try another dealership.
Here, I was greeted by a man who walked
straight out of the American Dream. He was
young and clean-cut and strong and carried
with him a simple and familiar earnestness.
He was the type of straightforward guy to-
ward whom those "Like a Rock" Chevy
commercials are aimed. He liked cars and he
liked people. So there he was.
The sad part was that he was only a
genuine fake. He wasn't trying not to be
fake, like the first dealer I encountered. He
didn't seem to enjoy being a fake, like the
second. Rather, he didn't seem to know.
There's nothing worse than being lied to by
an idiot, so when he told me that driving a
Volkswagen in northern Michigan is like
driving on the Autobahn, I left.
When I got home my dad suggested that
I try JJ's: JJ has a big flashing sign outside
his lot which usually says something about
how the fact that he's gone nuts will lower
your car payment. I didn't want to buy any-
thing from JJ, who, rumor has it, once cheated
his own mother. My father, who believes in
Truth, Justice and the American Way, na-
ively trusts JJ and has even bought a car from
him. My cynicism would not let me go to
JJ's, even if he is nuts. In the end I decided
to keep my old car, since women find the
1993 Geo Prizm to be extremely sexy.
I can also get the car serviced for free
anytime I want. This is because in my home-
town a man named Roger fixes everyone's
car for free. You take your car in, leave it
with Roger and in several weeks, it's fixed.
Occasionally, people ask Roger how much
they owe, but he never really answers. And
no one ever gets a bill. I believe that this
system is Roger's way of avoiding custoimer
complaints. After all, who could tell him to
hurry up when he's working for free?
The downside to Roger's generosity is
that he has politically paralyzed the commu-
nity. Roger's establishment is a complete
disaster area. It is essentially an unlicensed
junkyard right in the center of town. Of
course, no one can complain. What if Roger's
been keeping track of everybody's tabs all
these years? He could bankrupt the whole
town. So the junkyard stays.
New York has the mafia. Grayling has
Roger. It's a strange world.
- Jordan Stancil can be reached over
e-mail at rialto@umich.edu.
In
clear.
This year's Alcohol Awareness Week
brings another new approach to the events:
an attempt to get students involved in the
ongoing effort to promote alcohol aware-
ness. One program encourages students to
write letters to advertisers and call for re-
sponsible alcohol advertising.
ol This program should increase
awareness and remind produc-
/ ers of the need to acknowl-
edge the effects of their prod-
uct on people who consume it.
Organizers of Alcohol
Awareness Week '95 deserve
praise for the engaging selec-
tion of events they have cre-
[ov. 6-11 ated. In an environment where
alcohol plays such a promi-
nent role in social life, students can easily
become desensitized to constant warnings
about the potential dangers. The Substance
Abuse Education Network and UHS are at-
tempting to counter this pitfall by bringing a
stimulating slant to alcohol awareness mes-
sages.
This year's Alcohol Awareness Week
should see more student participation and a
greater effect than its predecessors. These
improvements can be directly attributed to
the enticing approach coordinators have
taken. Organizers have done an outstanding
job, and Alcohol Awareness Week '95 is
shaping up as an interesting and - more
important-afresh, invigorating and much-
needed campus event.
JIM LASSER
SDUD EWE L05 T
° l
SHARP AS TOAST
WHAT' 6 0IN G ON
IN T HE NE WS?
1 ,
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'This isn't
even a literate
document.'
- English Prof Leo
McNamara, on the new
Code of Student Conduct
't begin at age 21
ally uniform drinking age. Wyoming and
Louisiana, the last two states to set the drink-
ing age at 19, were pressured in the late 1980s
into conforming when the national govern-
ment threatened to withhold funding for their
public transportation systems and highways
- again linking the drinking age to acci-
dents.
The federal government needs to recog-
nize the faulty logic behind a 21-year drink-
ing age, as the states will not act until the
threat of lowering funding is removed.
Michigan recently implemented a law that
increases the penalties for those under 21
who are caught purchasing, possessing or
consuming alcohol. This is a step in the exact
wrong direction. Even when governments do
admit that people from 18 to 20 drink- and
far too few acknowledge this -they are
unwilling to confront the illogic of the exist-
ing drinking age. They are even less willing
to admit that the drinkers in this age group are
little more of a threat to themselves or the
public than their middle-aged counterparts.
People from the ages of 18 to 20 are mature
enough to handle the effects of alcohol. The
only outcome of lowering the drinking age is
a reduction in the number of individuals
under 21 who carry fake identification so
they can buy alcohol.
In every other aspect of society, people
18 and older are considered and treated as
adults. They have all other rights and privi-
leges given to people 21 or older. Only one is
missing: alcohol. That must change.
LETTERS
The real facts
about student
aid programs
To the Daily:
Ifone read Fiona Rose's view-
point of Nov. 2 ("As financial aid
falls, so falls education"), one
would think the Republican bud-
get plan means the end of the
world. This does not surprise me,
for fear is the only tacticthe liber-
als have left, all else has failed.
Let's get down to the facts.
Ms. Rose claims that the congres-
sional bill "would strip some $20
billion from federal student loan
programs over the next seven
years." Where does she get these
absurd numbers? Reality check:
According to the Economic and
Educational Opportunities Com-
mittee (EEOC), the amount of
loans available to students will
increase from $24 billion this year
to $36 billion by 2002 even under
the most extreme Republican
plan. The fact is that even more
students will have loan money,
available to them over the next
seven years under the Republican
plan. There are no draconian cuts.
Ms. Rose continues by stating
that the Republicans are elimi-
nating the six-month grace pe-
riod. This is incorrect; students
will still have six months after
college to begin to pay for the
interest on their loans. The plan
requires that interest is accrued
during these six months, but not
one penny must be paid until the
six months is reached. This mea-
sure should add only $4 a month
to the payment of a loan, hardly a
draconian measure.
She then goes on to describe
cuts in the Pell Grant program.
Once main this is incorrect. the
conceptions is Ms. Rose's de-
scription of the Federal Direct
Student Loan program as one that
"saves the government money."
Again, where are the facts? Well,
let's take facts from the nonparti-
san Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO predicts the Direct Loan
program will cost taxpayers $1.5
billion over the next seven years.
How in the world is that saving
the government money? The $1.5
billion figure does not even ac-
count for the billions of new dol-
lars the government will have to
borrow to fund the loans for the
program. According to Forbes
magazine, the default rates will
soar due to placing the program
under the Department of Educa-
tion. The belief that the Direct
Federal Student Loan program
saves money is like saying the
postal service is an extremely ef-
ficient and speedy organization.
The Republicans are saving
students in the long run. No longer
will we have massive federal defi-
cits to worry about. The EEOC
predicts that interest rates will
come down by 2 percent under a
balanced budget, this will help
many students pay back their
loans at a cheaper rate. Whom do
you trust more on budget mat-
ters? The nonpartisan Congres-
sional Budget Office or Ms. Rose?
Ms. Rose was described in the
same issue of the Daily ("MSA
follies") as being an important
leader in MSA who is not even
familiar with the budget and fi-
nance rules of that organization.
If she can't understand MSA's
budget, do you really think she
understands the federal budget?
The liberals can keep their fear
tactics, I think students would
prefer the facts. I ask you to join
us as we defend the Republican
n1an
To honor
Rabin, work-
toward peace
To the Daily:,
Yitzhak Rabinwas an instru-
mental figure at every turning
point in the history of the State of
Israel. Now that he is gone, it is
up to those of us he leaves behind
to ensure that his death will be-
come another of these turning
points. We can ensure this by
creating a lasting peace in the
Middle East. This peace is the
legacy that the late Prime Minis-
ter deserves.
In the eyes of Jews every-
where, the most horrific aspect of
this tragedy is that it was commit-
ted by a Jew against a Jew, a
brother against a brother. In the
three months that I have been
living here in Tel Aviv it would
have been impossible not to no-
tice how divided the Israeli soci-
ety has become. However, never
did I imagine that it could reach
such a point.
Ifthe murder had been carried
out by an enemy from beyond
Israel's borders, it would have at
least made sense. Surely it would
not have been any less despicable,
and the aftermath would have
been far worse in regards to the
peace process, but an Israeli
would have been able to lash out,
as he always has, against his "tra-
ditional enemy." Now however,
Israelis are forced to refocus on
who the enemy really is. We are
forced to see the light and to real-
ize that there are very dangerous
enemies to peace on all sides.
These enemies must not succeed.
In the aftermath of the assas-
sination I have felt many differ-
ent emotions. As an Israeli, the
ing of utter helplessness was one
I had never before experienced.
In the days since, I have looked to
assign blame. I realize now, that
this is the wrong course of action.
The polarized atmosphere
which gave rise to this event must
be remedied. However; it first
behooves those who helped to
create it to rethink their actions.
On all sides, politicians spewed
bitter rhetoric, calling each other
traitors and accusing each other
of going against the state. On the
extremes, people actually chanted
for the death of Rabin. Rabin criti-
cized the religious right wing
harshly. An American rabbi said,
on national television, that to as-
sassinate Rabin would be the
greatest of godly deeds. All of
this was too much.
While free speech is an in-
alienable right, it is one that car-
ries with it a great responsibility.
Words are not just words, they
have ramifications. Those with a
powerful voice must realize that
when they speak, someone is lis-
tening, and that their words are
capable of inciting. Does this
make the speaker responsible for
the action of a lunatic? Surely
not, but the divisiveness he helped
to create only adds fuel to the fire.
Now, however, is not a time
for blame, or politics. The crimi-
nal will stand trial and pay for his
crime. As Jews, however, the rest
of us must come together as a
people in a common goal for
peace. Only then can we bring a
unified force to the negotiating
table.
Yitzhak Rabin never claimed
to be the only person who could
bring Israel to its peaceful des-
tiny. Another will step in and
continue his work. We will
bounce back. Nonetheless, in the
Prime Minister's honor. the ef-
HOW TO CONTACT THEM
University Housing Division
Bill Zeller, director
1011 Student Activities Building
I