4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 9, 1995 he Lichigai&tiu 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI, Challenges to the Israeli sense 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 Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion ofa majority of the Daily 's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Students should donate blood, defeat OSU 'With the Michigan-Ohio State game W looming, it is not just up to the foot- ball team to defeat Ohio State, but to all other University students as well. The only differ- ence is that their battle takes place in the blood banks. The 14th annual Michigan vs. Ohio State blood battle is taking place until Friday, Nov. 17, and there is no reason for University students not to bring the pride of victory to Ann Arbor. Until the 17th, the Red Cross bloodmobile will be making periodic stops at all parts of campus, allowing students to conveniently donate blood. The event, spon- sored by Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity, aims to collect 2,300 pints ofblood by the deadline. Giving blood during the battle is a rela- tively painless and useful way both to help the community and defeat an archrival. The process of extracting the fluid is very simple and offers no health risks. Neither of these factors should have any impact on the deci- sion to give blood. Donating blood is also a great service to the community. For every pint donated, up to four lives' can be saved. Yet despite this return rate, southeast Michigan - which uses 1,000 pints of blood per day -still is in dire need of blood. If something is not done quickly the Red Cross will be forced to im- port from a different region. The blood-extracting process takes about an hour, and it is recommended that donors eat a good meal before giving. The only requirements for donors are that they are at least 17 years old and weigh more than 110 pounds - requirements the majority of the campus fulfills. Many University students have already donated and many more are expected to sacrifice the time. It is a very small price to pay when the gains are so large. As of yesterday - the third day of the blood battle - Red Cross officials said they are 100 pints short of their projections. They expect to make up that shortfall in the days ahead, but they can't do it without student participation. Since the blood battle began in 1982, the Red Cross has collected 73,701 pints of blood - potentially saving thou- sands of lives. However, the University's record since the battle's inception is less than stellar. In the unlikely event of an OSU victory this year, the schools would be knot- ted in a 7-7 tie. One can only hope the University will defend its winning record this year after losing the last three battles. Time is of the essence in a University student's life, but lack of time is no excuse for not donating blood. Everybody's sched- ule can spare an hour over the next two weeks, and this hour should be spent sup- porting the blood battle against the Buck- eyes. Him.oft/ en tity I heard about the assassination of Israeli socially, politically Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in a rather Created in the unusual forum. It was during a question- caust, Israel, too,1 and-answer session conducted by one of the opposition to otherr actors in the traveling company of Tony It is a Jewish state Kushner's "Angels in America," which was home for all Jews f playing in Detroit last week. Someone asked Yet while mos a question about American identity, one of mourn Rabin, Israe the main themes of the play, and the actor fied in their sense+ responded that he had been discussing that this assassination e very issue backstage, because Yitzhak Rabin Many are shoc had just been killed - by an Israeli Jew. what happened on5 The actor went on to say how difficult it think Rabin provok was for him to imagine choosing one part of a situation that end his identity -an American, a Jew, a man - Jewish state. over the others, to hold it dear in exclusion of Instead of create all else, and then to act upon it, to murder tion to others, Isra because of it. form identities in o Over the past few days, the world has For those of us1 heard eulogies and tributes to a great man, Jews, especially for we have reflected upon the irony of his areas where a Jew murder occurring at the largest peace rally f icted with what w Israel has ever held and we have predicted American, the con the political repercussions that the assassi- Jews is difficult to nation will have - every time stressing that Whenever myI it was a Jew who killed this Israeli leader, field trips, we were Yet the more it's been discussed, the our best behavior be more I find myself going back to the words who saw us would of that actor from Saturday afternoon; it was were Jews, and thus he who has best highlighted for me the an entire people on important issue in this tragedy. When the Intif The question, after all, is really about a remember the assis sense of identity: the assassin's, the Israelis', brew school telling the Jewish people's. to always support I Historically, Jews have always been able regardless of its ac to create an identity for themselves in oppo- We grew up kr sition to those around them. Even when their disagree intellectu sense of religion was not strong, they were socially and politic reminded of their Jewish identity by others: the face of all othe , they were always Jews. aftermath of the Holo-- has built its identity in nations, to other peoples. surrounded by Arabs, a from all backgrounds. t may join together to li Jews are far from uni- of identity; if anything, mphasizes the point. cked and devastated by Saturday night, but some ed the attack by creating angered the future of the ing an identity in opposi- eli Jews have begun to pposition to themselves. brought up as American 'those ofus brought up in ish identity often con- e were told was that of an ncept of Jews opposing understand. Hebrew school went on always warned to be on ecause some of the people remember only that we s we had the reputation of our shoulders. fada began full force, I tant principal of my He- us it was our obligation srael in the public sphere, tions. nowing that Jews could ally, religiously, but that ally Jews were unified in rs. We were one people. But a Jewish identity, like any other kind, can not be distilled into one. While Jews in the diaspora have been busy worry- ing about their duty as representatives of their people, Israelis have been learning how to accommodate the differences in Jewish identities. Many Israelis now identify with the movement toward peace, a great deal do not. To some the state has God-given borders, to others the promise for an end to the fighting is worth more than that. Along with the luxury of being able to identify in opposition to each other comes the responsibility for Jews to recognize the validity of their differences. Otherwise the one-dimensional view of Jewish identity with which I grew up will once again reign throughout. What Yigal Amir showed by killing Yitzhak Rabin is not that the Jews are losing their moral high ground, as some have sug- gested. Baruch Goldstein gunning down 29 Muslims in Hebron and stories published last summer about Israeli treatment of pris- oners of war have already taken care of that. What he did show is that some Jews are prepared to pare down their own sense of right and wrong for the sake of what they have now taken to be their sole identity. These people have done more than take away one man's life, and they have done more than threaten the peace process, they have challenged the Israeli ability to accept and encompass more than one sense of iden- tity. It is this challenge, more than any other, that the Jews worldwide must answer. - Judith Kajka can be reached over e- mail atjkafka@umich.edu comefrom witkkz MATT WIMSAT Goodbye, PAC men Bill would bring much-needed finance reform There is arguably one issue on which voters from the most conservative Pat Buchanan supporter to the most liberal Bill Clinton backer agree: the need for campaign finance reform. They have good reason: The influence of legal special-interest money on U.S. legislators undermines Congress' cred- ibility and accountability. Now, however, lawmakers may finally be ready to do some- thing about it. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are the main authors of a new and comprehensive campaign finance reform bill -the first bipartisan reform bill in years and the first ever to be introduced in 'both the House and Senate in almost identical form. Along with having an actual chance of passing through Congress, this bill, unlike previous attempts at reform, has real teeth. First, the legislation provides for volun- tary campaign spending limits. While many fear the voluntary measure will be ineffec- tive - and thus favor mandatory spending limits as in Canada-the constitutionality of mandatory limits is questionable. Voluntary limits, which would be curved to account for each state's population and size, are a reason- able alternative. Candidates who stay within the voluntary spending limit will be provided up to 30 minutes of free television air time. Because incumbents have a great advantage in com- manding news attention (campaign publicity that costs nothing), challengers must spend enormous amounts of money on air time to get their message out. Making air time avail- able for free would lower the overall amount of money a candidate must raise to have a realistic chance ofwinning. When the amount each candidate must raise shrinks, so does the influence of big money. Second, the bill places serious restrictions on political action committees. PACs, which How TO CONTACT THEM exist solely to influence legislators on behalf of one specific group, are rightly seen as influence-peddling tools of corporations and lobbies. The bill either would ban them out- right or severely curtail the amount of money they can donate to candidates and parties. Last, and what some consider most im- portant, is a provision to abolish "soft money." Currently, unions and corporations are for- bidden from donating to federal campaigns. To get around this, they contribute directly to the party with the "suggestion" that it be used to help a particular candidate. The party then hands down the money to the state election committee, which uses it to help the chosen candidate. The McCain-Feingold bill would eliminate this loophole in the law. While it may not seem obvious, passing this legislation would help many lawmakers. With less pressure to raise huge campaign war chests and reduction of special-interest influence, lawmakers would have more free- dom to follow their constituents' wishes. Many members of Congress find the line between special-interest and constituent ac- countability very treacherous indeed. Many questions remain unanswered. First, no one knows whether House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) or Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) will insist that the bill be watered down. Dole consistently stymied debate on finance reform as majority leader in 1985-86. As well, this bill will not elimi- nate the influence of big money, which has deftly circumvented existing laws on cam- paign funding. There is no reason to believe new laws will completely deter rich special interests. However, this bill would be an excellent, perhaps even revolutionary, change in campaign financing. Sens. McCain and Feingold deserve credit for drafting this bill. Lawmakers should do voters a service and themselves a favor and vote it through. L ETTERS Lr~Duderstadt may want to pledge his salary raises To the Daily: In recent months, one of the events that has had a significant impact on academia, and specifi- cally the University, was the at- tack on affirmative action pro- grams, epitomized by the vote of the University ofCalifornia Board of Regents. In response to that decision, among others, President James J. Duderstadt stated that any similardecision by the Michi- gan Legislature would be unac- ceptable to him and he would resign. This seemed most appro- priate as his Michigan Mandate (i.e. commitment to diversity) had indeed gained him extensive vis- ibility and a national reputation. Relatedly, the Board of Regents approved a $28,288 raise for the president, not just in recognition of his accomplishments, but to bring his salary "more in line with" other University presidents (e.g. the UC presidency for which President Duderstadt was suppos- edly a candidate). Well, as we are all aware, despite the Michigan Legislature not deciding to fol- low the California lead (at least not yet), President Duderstadt did indeed decide to resign. It is obviously not known whether or not the new president will choose to continue the Man- date and/or Agenda for Women. However, perhaps President Duderstadt, as a farewell gesture MOOKIE's DRLEJMA~ III y/Ax\\\k 1I gratefully respect Engler.' - University Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), after Gov. John Engler announced h would not supporti Baker 's re-election [NOTABLE Q it is personal sacrifices, similar to that of Chancellor Tien, that truly reflect the type of commitment that is required for causes such as providing equal access and op- portunity to education for every- one. Is the originator ofthe Michi- gan Mandate, or for that matter, any of the other top University administrators, committed enough to follow the lead of the UC chancellor and donate a por- tion of their raises to this most important agenda? Thomas D. Landefeld Associate professor of Pharmacology Article fuels myths about giving blood To the Daily: I am writing to you in regard to the article appearing in the Daily titled "Ohio State, 'U' aim for 4,600 pints in annual blood drive" (11/7/95). I1am the coordi- nator of publicity for Alpha Phi Omega, which, by the way, is a national co-ed service fraternity, not a sorority as reported in the article. It is very difficult to encour- age people to give blood. It is a scary thought to many. I feel this article may sway many people to not give blood, because it pre- sented student testimonials ofbad experiences and made poor at- tempts to discourage fear in giv- ing blood. In reality, very few people experience problems when The blood-supply level is extremely low right now. The Red Cross will have to import blood from other regions if our drive does not go well. Ear piercing is rated to be more painful. All blood is tested and test- ing is confidential. 0 The fluid you lose while giving is replaced in about 1 hour. For every pint donated, up to four lives can be saved. Donating blood is a very im- portant thing-lives will be saved from these donations. Having pride in your school and showing support in a competition like this is just as important I think it is your job, if you are going to offer to do an article on it to make sure people understand this and are excited about it. Beth A. Clark Sergeant at Arms Alpha Phi Omega LSA senior Ignoring the Code won't defeat it To the Daily: This is in response to Mr. lan Goldenberg's letter to the Daily titled "Why all the Code fuss?" (11/7/95). Mr. Goldenberg com- plains the Daily editorial page spends too much time "complain- ing" about the Code, on a daily basis in fact. Mr. Goldenberg, I have but one question for you. Are you the type who does not mind when the Fourth Amend- disregard for the principles o country was founded on? Y say and I quote, "If the code we strengthened, I don't see how would affect anyone. The co has absolutely no impact on st dents who go to class and beha themselves." On this point Stali Idi Amin and I agree with yo but let's define our terms. Wh do you define as behave ou selves? Some may conclude p litical dissent like that oozing fro some neo-communists within t RC and the rest of the campus inflammatory and therefo should be banned. While I veh mently disagree with such rhet ric, I defend those who speak because I realize an informed ele torate will dismiss it as rubbis That is the process ofdemocrac it is ever changing and forev evolving. We cannot beco complacent when there is abrea of democracy such as that illite ate document they call t "Code." Remember dictatorshi are not revolutionary, they a comfortable. Our generati seems to enjoy being told what do, not having to engage in re thought for ourselves so if become complacent we dese our fate. Our democracy isapriv lege we borrow from our ch' dren, not inherit from our ance tors; therefore-we have a duty protect it from those who seek take the comfortable path a eliminate it by removing due pr cess protection or by mandati closed-door proceedings or nally by not allowing that m derer or rapist to confront his a cusers. Lastly Mr. Goldenber you also referred to the "Ja UniversityRegent Daniel Horning University Regent Rebecca McGowan 0 I