Stadium renovation should not reduce capacity
To the Daily:
The news of Michigan Stadium updates piqued my interest. Especially the part mentioning the possibility of reducing the number of seats in the Big House. Perish the thought!
I would suggest that the University look at the design renovations that were done to the University of Arizona’s football stadium back in the late 1980s. These renovations included the addition of skyboxes on the west side of the stadium.
This was accomplished without any reduction in stadium seating. It is also interesting to note that no part of the skybox structure touches the stadium.
While the University of Arizona’s football team is in no way comparable to our beloved Wolverines, I think that Arizona’s skybox design idea is worth
Martha Retallick
Alum
‘U’ should encourage diversity in social habits
To the Daily:
While drifting off to sleep on Monday night, a strange thought occurred to me: students, faculty and administrators at this university all throw around the word “diversity” without really considering how far the definition can be carried. Without tritely calling in a dictionary’s assistance, I am sure that diversity simply means “difference.”
Why is this such a strange thought? I’ll answer that: because difference goes beyond skin color. It even goes beyond political ideology; it goes right to the very essence of what each person is as an individual. You may not see where I am going with this, so I’ll give you a leading question: What is perhaps the biggest stereotype of the “college experience?”
Answers: drinking, partying or sex. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I don’t do it. And I’m not pulling a moral one-up on you people. I’m not up on a pulpit here. I’m merely pointing out that there is a majority (or at least a large number) of students that fit this stereotype.
How can the University address this issue of apparent uniformity among students? Is it necessary to “proactively” fight the dreaded demon of the cultural beige that is college life? Do we need to petition the administration to reach out to nondrinking, abstinent students in order to increase our diversity?
I’ll let you think about that.
Dan Bertoni
LSA sophomore
Rice an unworthy choice to replace Powell
To the Daily:
One reader’s corrupted ideas of what diversity means, printed as a letter to the editor (Daily should support Rice’s nomination, 01/26/2005), typifies the majority of attitudes here in Ann Arbor and at the University. Most people think that simply adding more people of color to a student body, a work place or the federal government is something that can amend over 500 years of Eurocentric/Christian hegemony. Diversifying, for one particular reader and author, is something he does because he has to — certainly not because he wants to. Well, it takes a lot more than that. Diversifying also means expanding mental attitude. Diversifying means to think and reason for one’s self, rather than mindlessly digesting spoon-fed rhetoric. Condoleeza Rice is not diversity. Yes, she may be a woman and a woman of color, but her mindset is the exact same as of those who are pulling her strings. Rice is incapable of reasoning and arriving at the truth. She is simply another cog in the same machine. I applaud all of those who think it is time for our government to start holding itself accountable for it atrocities they created.
Jose Maciel Lario
LSA senior
SAPAC should not include Amaker in its publicity
To the Daily:
We cannot help but feel uncomfortable with the inclusion of basketball coach Tommy Amaker in the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center’s “Take a Stand Against Sexual Violence” ad in the Daily.
The lead story in the paper, Horton charged in domestic assault (01/25/2005), not only stated that will Horton continue to play basketball this season, but also reminded readers that even after basketball player Bernard Robinson pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault and battery, Amaker tolerated and condoned his acts of sexual violence by permitting him to continue playing basketball for Michigan.
SAPAC’s ad implores readers, “Don’t tolerate sexual violence at the University of Michigan.” How can Amaker lend his face to this campaign and claim to “take a stand” while allowing Horton to play?
As an organization dedicated to the interest of sexual assault survivors, SAPAC should not include Amaker in its ad campaigns.
Katharine Patterson
Rachael Horowitz
LSA seniors
Editor’s Note: Amaker has since suspended Horton from all games and practices pending a resolution of the case against him.
The ‘U’ should encourage diversity in social habits
To the Daily:
I am perplexed as to the meaning of moral values asserted by Americans during this election. Is it possible to have moral values without any moral principles? This is the questions citizens concerned with morality should ask themselves as Alberto Gonzales is being sworn in as the country’s attorney general.
Any conventional, rational — not to mention Christian — system of ethics will tell us that torture is wrong, especially when those tortured are proclaimed guilty under extremely dubious circumstances by a vicious party. Moreover, no person deserves to be treated as those prisoners in Abu Ghraib, as testified by the horrific images we have seen even in the mainstream media.
For once we cannot claim ignorance! I propose to any concerned citizen to write to his state representatives, or, at least go to the website www.humanrightsfirst.org and send an electronic letter opposing and adamantly protesting Gonzales’s nomination. Furthermore, as the U.S. involvement in Iraq continues, democratic spirit and civil responsibility require us to be vigilant of the actions of our government and to hold it accountable for the transgression of those moral principles that not only destroy our credibility in the world, but our moral worth in the eyes of God.
Vlad Beronja
LSA sophomore