Table of Contents for 7 October 1998
Campus Affairs
Anatomy
of an MSA Budget
by C.J.
Carnacchio
At their September 22, 1998 meeting, the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) approved its 1998-1999 budget in less than an hour. The MSA’s total external budget for the 1998-1999 fiscal year is $550,000. This total was derived from three major sources of revenue: 1) $540,000 generated by the annual student fee ($5.69 per student per semester) and the surplus revenue from the 1997-1998 fiscal year; 2) $3,000 worth of interest income; 3) $7,000 generated by department activity. The $550,000 pool was distributed in the following manner: 1) $73,000 to the child care program; 2) $33,000 to the general reserves; 3) $16,600 to the capital goods reserve; 4) $110 to the Community Service Van Reserve; 5) $25,000 to the Ann Arbor Tenants Union (AATU).
Campus Commentary
The Meal Plan
Scam
by Jacob Oslick
October not only marks the beginning of fall, the start of midterms, and the World Series; it is also the time when new freshmen undergo the most unpleasant experience of their young college career: the first time they pay a tuition bill. And if, like roughly 95% of freshmen, they live in a University Residence Hall, they also pay for room and board (slightly under $5500 for the standard double). Presumably, this is a fair price that includes a place to sleep, clean bathrooms, Ethernet, a small library, and, most importantly, food. From this dorm rent, the University claims the Any 13 Meal plan costs $2,268 per student for two semesters. This is the rate the University charges off-campus students who for some reason (masochism?)choose to pay for a year-long University meal plan. Using some rather curious math, the University also claims the other meal plan options (such as “Points Only” where students receive no meals but get $1060 worth of Entree Plus) also cost $2268. The following report details where the money goes, and questions the efficiency of the meal plan in relation to two alternatives: the Kosher Meal plan, sponsored by Hillel, and the food service provided at the Theta Xi Fraternity House. With respect to these comparisons, the evidence clearly shows the University plan to be a significant financial burden on students relative to value, with high costs for salaries and overhead.
And now for the benefit of our Yale and Oxford-educated president, we provide the following defintions:
is — third person singular, present
indicative, of be
alone —without any other person
liar — a person who tells lies. See
Clinton, William Jefferson.
Letters to the Editor
BAMN
Challenges Review to
High Noon Showdown
The other day a crowd of 150 passers-by listened intently to a debate over religion on the Diag.
Letters to the Editor
The Review
Editors Respond
Thank you for your invitation; however, we must respectfully decline your group’s invitation to an “informal debate” on the Diag on Monday, Sept. 28, for the following reasons:
Letters to the Editor
Collier
Responds to "Lanterns & Lances"
Lee Bockhorn’s recent column “Heroism in an Unheroic Age” (September 16, 1998) caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, I too consider the flag on the Diag “one of my favorite sights on campus.” Only a few years ago, U-M flew a small, bedraggled, and often only partly raised flag — and on rainy days flew none at all! Sometime during the later Duderstadt years, floodlights and a proportionately huge flag were installed, and we now have a sight to behold - and proudly to hail. Second, I take your point about the academic criticism of U.S. policies and actions, but with more hope than you. If you read back into the 1930’s, you will find very similar attitudes among both faculty and students then; Eric Sevareid’s Not So Wild a Dream may be the best book to give you a feel for the times. And yet within a few years, those same college students had graduated to leading Ranger companies ashore on Omaha, commanding PT boats in the Solomons, and flying in those huge formations of bombers over Germany. I really think that today’s students would, “when the dark days of battle return,” respond every bit as well.
Letters to the Editor
U-M Prof
"Gratified" by Debate Coverage
I’ve been meaning for some time to write to thank you for
your coverage of my debate with William Lane Craig last February,
in Rackham, on the existence of the Christian God. (“U-M Asks: Does God Exist?”
February 11, 1998)
I was gratified that you gave the debate coverage which was
extensive, generally accurate, and (as I thought) generally quite
fair to both sides. So far as I can tell, the Daily gave the
event no coverage at all (beyond a notice on the day of the
debate informing people when and where it was to take place).
From Suite One
The Ignorant
Voter
As election day rapidly approaches, the electorate will soon become deluged with exhortations on the importance of exercising their right to vote. Newspapers will run their usual “be sure to get out and vote” editorials. MTV will once again attempt to “Rock the Vote” by trying to get all those apolitical and apathetic Generation Xers to take off their headphones and pick up a ballot. Unfortunately the media always talks about the importance of exercising the right to vote, but they never mention the responsibilities that go along with it.
Commentary
Nation Fiddles
While World Burns
by Jacob Oslick
Although most of America does not appear to realize it, there is a world outside of the President’s pants. Within the past month, Russia defaulted on its debts, Slobodon Milosevic practically wiped out the Kosovo Liberation Army, virtually all of Central Africa plunged into a proxy war in Congo, North Korea fired two missiles over mainland Japan, and much of the world started clamoring for reckless controls on capital. Today, Russia seems dangerously near to returning towards a planned economy, Asia continues to spiral downward (and is close to taking Brazil with it), the second-craziest state in the world (Iran) is nearing war with the craziest (Afghanistan), and Saddam Hussein is making trouble again. So through all this chaos, where has the attention of the American public, media, and Congress been? Sadly, it has focused on the sordid details of the President’s sexual indiscretions.
Send Lawyers, Guns & Money
Students'
Rights, Code Wrongs
by C.J.
Carnacchio
Once again it is time to play U-M history trivia. What infamous University policy went into effect on January 1, 1996? Here are a few hints: As a result of this policy, the student body’s civil rights and liberties became the personal playthings of Vice President for Student Affairs/Student Oppressor Maureen “Damn the Constitution, give me absolute power!” Hartford. The weight of the administration’s iron boot became a little heavier on each student’s throat. The University seized our ships, occupied our cities, and did violence to our citizens. (Well, maybe not the last one.) Give up? It was on this dark day that the most recent version of the draconian Code of Student Conduct went into effect. Copies are currently available in both English and the original German.
Lanterns & Lances
The Way You
Wear Your Hat ...
by Lee Bockhorn
If clothes make the man, as the saying goes, then the clothing of today’s college students is producing some interesting specimens. A quick visual tour of the U-M campus will reveal various strands of “grunge,” “hip-hop,” sorority-chick and frat-rat cool, and an incredible array of outrageous hairstyles, exotic tatoos, and garish makeup. Today’s youth view their outward appearance as a primary means to “express” themselves, and have elevated this notion to a “right” which must be vigorously defended; witness the inevitable outraged reaction at any high school which dares to institute a dress code. Yet, looking at present fashion trends one wonders exactly what it is that people are trying to express.
Michigan Politics
Foot-in-Mouth
Fieger Spouts Off
by Matthew S. Schwartz
The Michigan gubernatorial race has been touted by many as the most exciting race in the country. That is due in large part to the feisty and fiery Democratic candidate, Geoffrey Fieger. Fieger, a U-M graduate in theater, is best known as the passionate trial attorney who has successfully acquitted Doctor Death Jack Kervorkian numerous times. The unusual thing is, Fieger has stated in numerous interviews that he doesn’t even want to be governor! But, as he says, “there comes a time in your life when you have to give something back, and I feel it’s time. I think I’m as qualified as anyone.”
Campus Affairs
Students
Respond to Clinton Scandal
by John E. Jernstad
Almost daily, opinion polls conducted by the print and broadcast media describe how the American people are reacting to what has become the political spectacle of the decade. Each national poll has differed slightly in their numbers, but they have indicated that although the American people do not think Mr. Clinton to be much of a family man, he is still doing an acceptable job as the president of the United States. An opinion poll conducted by CNN in mid-September has reported that President Clinton’s support has remained virtually unchanged before and after the release of Independent Prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s report to Congress, with his approval rating holding steady in the mid-60% range. It also stated that more Americans have lost respect for the president as embarrassing details of the investigation has become public, from 59% of respondents saying they respected the President in January to just 43% in mid-September (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll).
Satire
Clinton:
"The Cheese Fries Made Me Do It"
by David Guipe
Yes America, the Starr Report is finally out. Right now, many of you are probably wondering what’s going to happen to the president with the second highest testosterone level in history (J.F.K.’s still holding the top spot, apparently). So, in order to address all of your questions, we’ll turn to our political expert in this Q and A segment that I like to call, “Ask The Guy Who Knows Stuff”.
Campus Affairs
Continue the
"Witchhunt"
by Benjamin
Rousch
This summer the Ku Klux Klan held a small rally in Ann Arbor. If you weren’t around to see it, you probably saw the news coverage of the ensuing riot on TV. The estimated 300 protesters calling themselves “Smash the KKK” soon got fed up with the Klan shouting their usual barrage of irrational racist slurs and, instead of leaving, decided to riot. The police were ready for the riot, and responded by dispersing the violent crowd with tear gas and riot gear. The rally was cut short as rioters beat people bloody, tore down fences, and broke windows, but was still shown on many news programs because of the violent protests.
Viewpoint
Free Speech
Goes Down the Toilet
by Julie Jeschke
At this university, we are force-fed diversity. We are brainwashed with messages of equality and unity. Having an open mind is an unwritten requirement for graduation. Biology requires us to use restrooms, daily. Is it possible for us to get our U.S. recommended daily allowance of these things in the bathroom? Quoth the Mason Hall facilities people, “nevermore.”
Campus Computing
IFS FAQs
by Benjamin
Rousch
You probably pay attention to how many pages of printing ITD has allocated to you for the term, and you may even know how many hours of dial-up time you have left. However, you may not be aware of the other services included in the basic computing package, such as your IFS space. Even if you do know that you have ten megabytes of IFS storage space, you probably have no idea how to use it, or even what it can be used for. In this installment of Campus Computing, you will learn how to store and retrieve files on your IFS space, and view email attachments which Pine cannot display.
Computers
Looks Aren't
Everything
by Matthew S. Schwartz
Apple has always been a unique company. While other computers are dull and void of spirit, Macintoshes try to be very friendly to the user. As soon as one powers up the machine, he is greeted by a smiling face telling him that his Mac is happy and ready to have fun!
Essay
Letter to a
Host-Mom
by Tom Jolliffe
Greetings from the United States. Those golden-molten days of Spain come to me now and again in the sun’s touch and a swallow of beer, and for a moment I forget that I am here in our infant nation. Perhaps you wear your Michigan oven mitt now, preparing your paella or sausage soup! That you could cook for me now, Mati. On my shelf I see barbaric conditions that make me weep for your kitchen. Every day I eat candy bars.
Living Culture: Books
Bulls:
Fractured Dynasty
by Andrew Golding
They have won six championships, but, as the old adage says, all good things must come to an end. For the Chicago Bulls, that time may be now, as Roland Lazenby suggests in his probing look at the splintering of the team, Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Sports
Critical Mass
for the Wolverines
by Hal Borkow
Is anyone in the sports world still wondering who deserved the Heisman trophy last year? I hope not. If someone from Knoxville still claims that Peyton Manning was most deserving of the honor, show him the play of the 1998 Michigan squad. Without doubt, the current Wolverines have put the whole matter to rest. However bittersweet it is, Michigan fans can take solace in knowing that they were right all along as to who was last year's college football MVP.
Living Culture: Music
A Proposition
from the Music Editor
by Chris Hayes
In this year’s first Review I notified you about Hayden and Juliana Hatfield playing at the Seventh House last week. Hopefully some of you, or at least one of you, took my sage advice and checked out the show. Hayden started his set with an acoustic solo of “Hardly,” a song about semi-obsession for a girl at a coffee shop. The rest of his set consisted of himself and three other band members playing in perfect harmony; combining drums, bass, electric guitar and an occasional keyboard to produce the textures Hayden dabbled in so successfully on his second record. Hayden played for fifty minutes, leaving the audience with a full realization that Hayden is as talented and diverse at his live shows as he is in the studio. He ended his set with an emotionally charged “September,” his most rocking tune off of Everything I Long For.