vol_14_no_4 by Michigan Review

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Questions Surround U-M Health Care BY DEVORAH ADLER

HE UNIVERSI'IY'S MANDAtory health insurance plan is, at first glance, a great deal for students without health insurance. It would basically be an HMO specifically for students, with a very low deductible and extensive benefits for about $700 a year, students would be covered for pre-existing conditions, given access to counseling services, and insured for up to $1 million in catastrophic care, even when not enrolled in classes. Unfortunately, there are a number ofprobleme with the cummt plan. First, it is unclear how many students are uninsured. The University has estimated that approximately 13 percent of graduate students are uninsured, but hail no figuree for the undergraduate population; however, since many undergraduates are covered under their parente' plana, it is reasonable to aS8Ume that this figure will be less than 13 percent. 'Th.is in iteelf does not present a problem; if studente do not need the extra coverage, they are not forced to enroll. In fact, Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) President Flint Waineas has assured students that they would only have to '"purchase" health insurance through the Univ~rsity if they need it. However, the Vniversity admits that, in order to make this plan viable, 25,000 students must enroll. For this figure to be met, it is required that students enroll unless they are "adequately covered" by another earrier. 'The University has yet to define what adequate coverage entails. The administration has a vested interest in making its definition of "adequate" stringent, in order to ensure that as many students as possible enroll in the plan. At first glance, it is unclear what is motivating U-M to implement a mandatory health insurance plan as

Information SuperStopsign.

Are Sadness and Depressian facts of life, or are we making some mistake?

health insurance bill for students, the ex.tensive as this one. A general health network may expand quicker than insurance plan for students is already anticipated. In addition, the bill would available, and graduate students are give the system an incredible number eligible for coverage in the University of what are every insurance company's of Michigan Medical Center's (UMMC) GradCare program. However, a ~--. ,~ recent article written by University researchers makes the administration's insistence on a mandatory plan a little easier to understand. Dr. John Billi, Dr. Chistopher Wise, Ms. Elisabeth Bills, and Ms. Rita Mitchell con- ~ ducted a study on the potential effects of managed care at the UMMC, published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. Using several different models, they estimated the number of eIlr9Y'ees that the Will the mecIcII center beneftt from Mhealth Cll'e? HMO system needs in order to '. dream. patienta - young adulta, aged maintain ita 1992 "vel ofrevenue for from 18 to 25: Students are a healthy sped.a.lty care arid maintain its present population that rarely visits th~ docnumber of medical specialists. They concluded that, barring "other changes," UMMC could not be expected to maintain that level of revenue without an HMO enrollment of at least 250,000. BY SHONE BROOKS 'This mandatory health insurance plan seems to be part of those "other N THE WAKE OF DAY OF DIAchanges." The hospital is feverishly logue II, many members of the University community may still working on all fronts to increase its HMO enrollment; MCare Account wonder what it was all about. The Executive Debbie Burns stated that answer to this, of course, will differ MCare's goal is to increase its enrolldepending on who is asked. For those ment by 25,000 by December of 1996. who attended the event, which was held on Tuesday, October 24, in the She admitted that this goal is a rather a,mbitious one, but stated that the Michigan League, it was for reasons department is going to do its best. As as varied as the backgrounds from part of this effort, it is having "open which they came. For those who are enrollment sessions" for University considering next year's Day of Diastaff during the next month and have logue, here is something of what they posted signs all over campus encourcan expect. aging potential enrollees to attend. Day of Dialogue, and subseBurns stated that this effort to inquently Day of Dialogue II, were crease enrollment is echoed by all of meant to be conferences among Unithe University's HMO programs, and versity and community members conthat the network is expanding all the cerned with ethics, truth, spiritualtime. ity, and religion, and with how these With the passage of a mandatory ideas affect the University and the

tor, and when it does, its needs are usually met by inexpensive primary care. Even under the new plan, most student needs will be served through UHS, as they presently are. Although this plan will raise anywhere from $12.5 million to $20.5 million, chances are that only a fraction of that will be used on student health care. 'The rest of it willlikel.y go towards the creation ofre80urces that will rarely be used by students and .towards the salaries of physicians that students will never see. However, the augmentation of the already extensive U-M health care resources wiU serve to attract other enrollees to this network, making it easier for the hospital to maintain its revenue. Studente must learn more about the proposed mandatory health insurance plan. There is ample reason for. concern that it is not designed prim8rily t'ortheirbeD.81it. -

Day of Dialogue II

4 From Suite One

If the ~ is meddling with · fraternities, it is again exceeding it's duty.

The Berkeley professor discusses the religion of academia.

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Interview: Phillip Johnson

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world at large. They were intended to provide a venue in which a Jew may speak his mind in one sentence while a Muslim may issue the next. Wiccans can speak freely with Christians, and Buddhists may offer suggestions to atheists concerned with community ethics. 'lhose who choose to do so voice their opinions in light of the interactions of these and other groups offaith with "outsiders" and with each other. How do these beliefs coexist? How do they conflict? Is there common ground, and if so where does it lie? What is best for the campus? What effects will Michigan graduates have on the world they enter? Questions like these are brought forth at this conference and individual replies are considered without prejudice or dogSee DAY OF DIALOGUE II, Page 5

8 u.s. I College Ratings News

Why people should not trust the U.S. News college ran kings.

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LIVING CULTURE Books, movies. and good old rock 'n' roll. Who could ask for anything more?

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October 25, 1995

'!HE MICIflOAN REVIEW

o SERPENT'S TOOrH"r

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The campus Affairs Journal of the University of Michigan -raxalionisThetr

The University ofMiBBissippi recently began selling cheerleader dolls similar to Barbie dolla. The dolls, available with white or black akin and in a variety of hair colore, come with a doll-eized U ofMisa. di:p1oma To avoid s~ them with doll-med sexism disclaimers, they will be paired with Ken-like male dolls, equipped with a doll-sized dirty white cap and a dollsized J . Crew flannel shirt. Who says

stereotypes are a bad thing? Recently, one of the m08t popular of the great pyramjda ofEgypt was doeed to the public for the first time to save it from irreparable damage. It was found that the breath from the enormous number ofvisiton was ruining the stone. Also on the topic of damage from exhaled hot air, Washington D.C. was closed to politiciana for the first time to save the Country from ilTepaFable damage related to their ineptitude.

With the sanctions placed on Triangle HoUle, it loob.liketheU..Mmay'be

~glargestepstow~brin~g

the Greek system mto the folds of adm.inistrative policy. Serpent's Tooth , has a 8uggestion concerning how to proceed: Start MFrat. Students could pay dues with their MCard, buy beer with an BOAS account; and then use MCare to get treated fur broken bones as the U-M stomps on their fteedoms.

riol?l? After all, as one Daily letter writer noted, we are the people who "flash [our] cluelessne8s like an AMEX platinum card."

...

Last week in West Bloomfield, retired General Colin Powell e:Jplained ·':· 5." Primary'car8:p~ha~ :,·in.atru.ctiona to refer an'ca.set,' changes in hi8 views oniBsues like ;, no:iD.atter how eerioua.or iDaig.. abortion and the religious right as the "sharpening" of his ~hlkjng and Dificant, tD Dr. KeVQrld8n. ' views'" on these isaues. Serpent's Tooth ' ~. COst cutting alternative to 'a nesthetic: a ' bi~, ~ ~J.h8 :, tends to Call his acti~il8, a "aharpen,: " i:ng" of"determining which people will . :hhe8.d with a ,ltick ''''':/ ,:t&,Astonisbingne ..... inedicaJ.'cxm. ,,' vote" for him. cept: Duct tape 'worla! on evety- ' Are we the only people sick of the . ? thing else. why not. op~n ~wbunda? ,,;, " " , ,.. pseudo-intelligent blab that appears in thelAUlys "letters" section? Seems " ;~, COat-eu~ga1temative to I :"~ IUtgital toola: Dixie D.i8poIable everyone on1f1e planet wants to g,et l'l.astie,Bcalpela, their unfounded, illogical opinions published. Whfln will people learn ' t:Ghief~' Doc from.The it's the ~,.t;bat'8 in charge of ' 'lAWlJofd., printing unfounded, opinionated vit-

that

DROVING PHOTOGRAPHER

by Lisa Wagner

EDrTOR-I8-CHIEF: ...... A. RoMftI•• ASSOCIATE PUBUSHEA: . . . . . Kepple MANAGING EDITOR: . . . . KfIIbnM ASSISTANT EDITOR: Gene K.a COPY EDITORS: Anthony W.. COIFUTER CONSULTANT: MIrk Will IIJSIC EDITOR: Dr.w .,..... FlUI CRITIC: R~ Polly UTERARY CRITIC: BU Ahrww PHOTOGRAPHER: UII Wagner STAff:'-- Addle, Dwcnh Adilr. SooU BidImIn,

Shone BrooD, Geoff Brown. MItt BucIdIr...... Cow1, PaIrIcIa o..t, Rob DevIl. Pall DIfIoftD. KMn Deming. Sherb.. DIu.... Molly EJgIft, PIt EaIDN, Jennll'1I' hIla, 8 ..... FOfStII, Hardy, c.Mn Hwlg.UIrk JaIIneoft, Tom JoII'M, Anlhany ~ LI KaliIIl, a..-.1ONIcId, JuItIn Kou, Br)WI ~. lIura a...-Lun, 8.. "'01. JInnIfw MeCnady, 511ft 1IuItD. Dave Patera, N..... PwcI, Rod... RIbbIr, Dan RoblnlOft.lltghln Roekle, FIoM RoM, Davldcll Steal, Thanh Tran, MIry JIM WIIGII.1IchIII wtIIIIan, In. Whon. Dave YIIII

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EDITOR ElERnuS: Na JImIIoe PUBUSHERS EIERm: ErIc ~ Ann . . . . . Tbe UdfPn AI...., ... ~ Ii-weeIItt IlUdtr&-4un joImII ~ cllaiclllIIefIIlIld IIIIc\arIin apiiDn ; . . . tHIMIyd ~ We .... d::IlIOI'iCCIpt I naIIIIIy donalkIII tom 1he UrWeIlly of MIcNgan, IIId , 11M 110 respect Ia qnllll doll. We fICC9IIZe the lid . . GtIM~w. alNll1elLlllan ~ III . . . . . . . IllI1-com, and w. IhIIt FI/lilf AlfllllIIIllWllilthe I1ICHAuliIl critique of !he Cc*i W.,. You ........ a...y "p'...rtI 1he proiIIarIa .. ConIIWIanIto the AII:iIUM Rrdn ... 1U..dldllcta" under SedIon 501 (c)(3) of IhI iIIImII RMIIII Code. Tbe ",..11 nee aIIIIiIIId will q pollical piIty or IIW_ pobaI ~

boInL ElgD.IIey ~ con.c Ind" '*'*" ....... to cltprM"IogIc'" IonnIIfon. lor you SIpd artIcIII and cII'IOonI ~ dociIII'......... opiIIan of the tcIortIl

If you could organize a march with 400,OO~ :people following you, what would your purpose be?

You wtnllno the~

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October 25,1995

o INFORMATION SUPERSTOPSIGN

THE MIClllGAN REVIEW

Requisite Sadness BY

MOHAN KlwmNAN

HEDRABBElGEWAU.BOF my apartment, like those of dorm rooms of the past, do very little to CQIIlfurt me. '!be friends lost amidst the wash of strangers maeaing t.ogetber like a mighty wave just emphasise my aloneness. The packed busses IU1focate me. The classrooms seem strangely impersonal. '!he psychology classes and the books and newspaper articles daunt me, saying depression is a medical illness, but, whether it is or not, I am not sure I'd readily part with it. '!he sadness, the anger, and the depression feed me; I cling to them and they drive me to success. I remember a truelfal.ae questionnaire that asked whether genius and insanity are closely linked. I said they weren't, and although the answer sheet said I was wrong, I was never truly convinced. Pemape insanity isn't linked with genius, but I think. sometimes that depre88ion is linked with success. With achievement comes the realization of more opportunity lost, and with advancement comes remorse far what is left behind. Understanding makes clear the depths of ignorance, leaden yearn. for the days when they simply followed, planners wish they could simply attend, and writers would be happy if their only burden was to read. Of coune, this is di1f'erent from. the morl>id, crippling depre88ion that some autrer from. 'Ibis is much more like manic depreuton the wonders and joys of the tbinga dane can drown out, on many occasions, the sadness that wella up. Sometimes people ask ifl'xn bitter, but wrually after reading my writing, not from obeerving my actions, and ~ taken on a reputation far being frank on paper. I really elm't think this sadness is obvious, limply ~U88 it isn't allowed to be. ODe of the fundamental dedJd.ona made in the purBlJit of any kind of IIUCCeU ill to aelectl-vely hide portions of oneeelf from others. 'I1lis is done in a calculating manner, to protect othel'l and to prevent one's opinions and. irrelevant views from interfering with cme'a milsion. Thia, in ~ forthers the _dDesa, by preventiDg the venting of frustration in many caaee. Unfortunately, it aacerbatea the feeling of almerva .. wall. .IV. cold as it seems, most eve:r,wMI does this at some level 01' another, it'. more commonly referred to as tact, one of the moat important comerstones of 8UCCe88. , However. ~ .~~ ~eripg ofiJ8dneas and depJeeaion, ~to 8'lJb.. \

To this end, it makes sense to dwell on dealing with them clearly empowers jugation of desire, to achieve BUCOe88 the problems we face, but only with us. It is through necessity that invenis honible to experience, if not just the intention of solving them. tion is born (to paraphrase an aphoplain wrong, and I sometimes wonder It seems like a non-eolution, but rism) and hope for a brighter future if there is a better way. perhaps the very key to surpassing It's easy to say that it is success would not exist without a bleak this requisite depression is to avoid it present or past. If nothing harmed itae1f which is wrong, but I remain and concentrate on the work. to be the earth, what point would there be convinced that this is not the cue. I done. Just as there are cyclical effecta am not talking about financial or p0in environmentalism? Peace would of dwelling on sadness, there are cylitical success or any other specific pursuit, but rather i clical etTects of avoiding it: by concentrating on the work, the work is comabout the fulfil1ment of pleted, and more things that make us duty, to God, to COWltry, to happy are thereby created. It's friends, or to self, which evaaionism but it works. we all recognize individuOtherwise, it is possible to really. Given the capability solve these conflicts internally. Ifwe to achieve things of benstart from the standpoint that our efi.t, and the recognition of emotional problems actually have s0the need for these things lutions, then perhaps we will find to come about, or for the need for understanding it- ,-,- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' that we are shockingly correct. Of self, I cannot sway from The sun will come out tomorrow - Annie said 10. course, there are some people who make it their livelihood to listen to the opinion that this success must be be IlOthing special ifit did not co-exist others' problems, and they are useful, with war. The human condition is pursued. Beside this, there is the reeven if only as a sounding board. alization that with the admission of defined by the struggle against the '!hen again, perhaps I have alfailure comes a li..(p,of purposeless- --odds, against the cruel ground, and ready dwelled on this too long; perness, and that with the acceptance of ~ against vicious enemies. haps it is a problem that has no uniSince we are all sad, we should ignorance life becoI9-es chaotic and incomprehensible. )" . learn to channel our hurts and our versal answers, no psychological pains into things that will make us, It's also easy to suggest forgoing bumper liiticken, and no medicated sm.iley-face buttons. Mt and those around us, more powerful. tact and letting others, if even only specific others, share the pain. '!his is, obviously, a route that we all take, to a limited extent. At the same time, without a large degree ofintemalizaUS News and World Report has called us a leader in our field. tion of sadness, it is very difficult to avoid being singularly defined by deThe editors of The Wall Street Journal and The Detroit News pression and problems. If I were to dwell on sadness and depression in have praised our publication. conversation with others, I would be seen as a sad, morbid person, and USA Today has praised our editorial page. those others would encourage and solicit my attention to sadness. 'Ibis Our former editors have published articles in noteworthy would make it impossible to focus on publications such as Reason, The waU Street Journal, and The and achieve goals of any moment. New Republic. Oddly enough, it seems that keeping sadness to oneself is mandatory for Our staft'members have been interviewed by the Detroit News, preventing it from domination of the the Detroit Free Press, the Ann Arbor News, the Wall Street entire person. 'Ibis is why I say this extreme "tact" is needed for success. Journal, Time, the Chronicle of Higher Education, 60 MinIn the end, I am driven to assume utes, the Macneil-Lehrer News Hour, Radio Free Europe, and people are right when they try to WJR Radio in Detroit. universalize despair and depression, saying that what one person goes through. everyone goes through, and that an experience is unusually f0rceful when viewed in the first person. Maybe we are a sea of discontent souls, roaming the college campus, hiding our true feelings from each other with quick smiles and stupid jokes. '!his grand conspiracy would explain the need to fit in. for the conformation of appearance and expression. We strive to hide our differences even with clothing and posture, in the hope that we will not bring our problems to the forefront. We all definitely deal with sadneea and despair, and in some ways,

What's all the buzz about? Join the Review and find out.

October 25, 1995

THE MICHIGAN REVIEW

o FROM SUITE ONE Frat Police Strikes Ag~in

';.2:.-#~H' "

VER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT

deal of controversy BUlTOunding the University of Michigan ~ffice of Oreek. Life and ita relationship with fraternities. 'lhe tension again became apparent a.fter Triangle's national organization suspended the local chapter, when lOme accuaed the U-M of meddling in the process. 'lhese allegations again call into question the liberal nature of the U-M; if they are true, the University is again exceeding its proper responsibilities as a liberal institution. 1hough only a minority of students at the U-M are involved in the fraternal system, the alleged policing actions of the University are relevant to all studenta. Such is the case because the University, through these actions, is defining ita responsibilities 8.8 an institution of higher education. As evidenced by these instances, the U-M has assumed a paternal relationship with its studenta; that is, it has deemed that the regulation ofnon-academic student behavior is an appropriate role of a collegiate institution. In light of the University's purpose of providing students with a liberal education, such a role is a dubious one. Indeed, a liberal institution should seek to foster an environment of experiment and growth, not one of restriction. A liberal university must allow students to prepare themselves - both intellectually and socially - for adulthood. Such an institution must not restrict the non-academic freedom of students, for such an action would · compromise the ability and possibly the desire of students to take responsibility Ii fur themeelvee. Yet the Univeraity ofMicbigan - a supposedly liberal institution - is perhaps doing just the opposite: It is restricting th,e freedom of students by pu.niahing them for their non-ac:ademic behavior: . " . . " Related to this point is the fact that most fraternal activities occur off campua. 'lhus, these activities, being of a social rather than an academic nature, bear no relation to the. U-M'.8. i4eal.mia8i.onof ojferiDg a liberal . education to ita studenta. '11le controls that the University has placed upon these various fraternities, consequently, are illegitimate, for they extend beyond the appropriate role of a liberal institution. Instead of regulating the behavior of students involved in off-campus activities, the University should allow the city of Ann Arbor to prosecute those who have offended city ordinADM8. 'Ibis will allow for two things to occur. First, those students who allegedly have broken a statute will receive due process in a court oflaw. Because the student will avoid any judicial repercussions from the University - a process that often holds the rights of students to be of a rather low priority - this student will retain his civil liberties. Second, the offending student will face the consequences of his actions just as an adult would: by defending himself in court. By allowing this to take place, the University woUld move toward the fulfillment of its goal of acting as a liberal institution. In addition to these idealist reasons, the University also has pragmatic re88QIl8 for not polidDg the eociallivea ofita students. Given that the city of Ann Arbor already regulates disruptive behavior, it is monetarily wasteful for the U-M to appropriate funds 01" time to this purpose. Indeed, the University could devote these resouroea to other functions that would better serve the student body. A second reaaon deals with the nature of the fratemalsystem itself One may assert that studenta choose to join fraternities 80 that they may engage in a social activity outaide of the formality of academics. Such activity, regardless ofwbether it is related to fraternities, is a vital aspect ofliberal education, for it serves to develop one's aocial characteristics. By governing the fraternal system - one part of the campus aocial scene - the University may deter people from actively participating in it. 'lhia is not the proper role of a liberal university; instead, such an institution should allow the fraternal system to exist on ita own, giving 8tudents neither an incentive nor a disincentive to

participate. 'l1lese actions of disciplining fraternities for non-academic behavioral inddenta, iftrue, are merely the latest in a long line off questionable decisions on the part of the Uniwrsity. From the alleged policing of the fraternities to the enforcement of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, the UM administration baa eatab1ished a pattern ofregu1ation toward non-academic student behavior - regulation that all too often violates the due process righta and civil liberties of studenta. To become a truly liberal institution, the University of Michigan must ceeee ita efforts to govern this behavior and allow ita students to experience the individual freedom that is essential to a higher education. Ml

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o COMMENTARY Liberal America Must .S tayOutofB,o snia NE OF THE GREAT TRAGEDIES OF THE CLOSING YEARS OF the twentieth century is the cummt conflict in the former Yugoslavia. 'lhroughout his administration, President Bill Clinton has periodically advocated U.S. intervention in Bosnia as a means to rurtail the fighting; he recently reaffirmed his support for such action. Given America's goal of being a free and independent nation, such intervention is misguided and illegitimate. '!he Constitution grants to Congress the power to "provide for the common Defence ... of the United States ... " 'lhia statement provides insight into the proper function of the state: to protect the rights of those who have established it. It is quite difficult for one to argue that the cummt instability in the former Yugoslavia threatens the rights or safety of the American people. 'lhus, any action on the part of the U.S. military reaches beyond the proper and

constitutionally delegated powers of the American government. An obvious objection to American military involvement is that such campaigns often result in the 1088 of life. A more subtle criticism is that the participation in warfare generally leads to a loss of freedom. Indeed, many historians have shown that a dramatic iIuease in state power often accompanies and follows the military excursions of a nation. One II)8Y cite World War I 8.8 an example of this, for this conflict led not only to increased defense capabilities, but to the increased taxation and centnll planning of the New Deal. During the founding age of the United States, America tended to maintain its neutrality in foreign affiUrs. Remaining neutnll in the mce ofintemational conflict was, and still is, vital to the maintenance of an independent, selfgoverning nation. By intelfering in the conflicts of other nations, the United States may inaease the number of defense obligations that it holds throughout the world. This not only may lead to future conflicta that call for U.S. involvement; it also places the American government in a situation ofreaction, whereby it acts, to further its interests, in a responsive measure to foreign conflicts. Such is antithetical to independence. for the state of global affairs, rather than the American people, may determine the action of government. One may reasonably assert that when the U.S. government chooses sides in response to a foreign oonflict, it does 80 with its own political or economic interests in mind. 'Ibis type of action on the part ofgovernment is inappropriate at beet. Quite frankly, by taking sides in an international dispute, the U.S. gov~ent is sacrificing the lives of others to further its own interests. 'lhia is entire1yinconsistent with the American tradition of individual liberty. While the events unfolding in Bosnia are indeed tragic, it does not follow that the U.S. go.vemmCi'nt should become involved. Rather, America.must retain U.s tradition otllbenillsm and ~'J'a.rne. A. Rooeri., 11

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October 25, 1995

THE MICHIGAN REVIEW

o SATIRE

M-Health=.,Why Bother? East Quad for l\Ulch is somehow infected with Legionnaire's Disease. OMEPEOPLEHAVECOME M-HeaIth takes a big financi.alloss. across some kind of semi-diFEB 19, 1996 - Car crash victim vine vision and have decided Dennis Witherspoon, 21. an LSAjunior, suffers two broken arms and is for us that it is a Good Idea that we have mandatory, universal Univerrefused compensation by M-Health sity of Micb.igan-provided health indue to his lack of having the mandatory documentation. After being forcsurance. Bnt what would happen ifit was implemented? Hell, it probably ibly sedated, Witherspoon was then will be anyway. Imagine, if you will, fO\Uld unable to register due to a hold the \Ulveiling of ... credit put on him because "M-Health didn't cover that, so we're billing you M-Healthl™ for that $18,124." JAN 1, 1996 - Regents enact MFEB 22, 1996 - A rather sick Health with blessing ofMSA and. Vice President of Student Affairs. MVice-President for Student Affairs Health has been expanded to serve Maureen Hartford comes in to drop the entire University CommWlity. offher claim forms for a doctor's visit. JAN 2, 1996 - New M- Health FEB 22, 1996 10:01 AM cards issued to all students. Fun free Maureen Hartford does not have fonn t-ahirt giveaways in Angell Hall by AAlUMl3-THX1138 (Request for MSA (your funding dollars at work). Form 221UMAA-XCOVB, "Form to Banners put up over Michigan Union, Request University Payment for ExUHS, and the University of Michigan penses Incurred During Treatment Hospital Emergency Room Entrance: Of Non-fatal Illness"). and is told to "M-HEALTH. FOR YOUR OWN go home until ;~lIe does fill out the GOODI" fonn and 'l>leaSe stop bothering us. IC JAN S, 1998 - New ada placed. in you're aick, take eome NyQuil.." FEB 27, 1996 - After prot.es18, a Michiean Da.i.ly and other publicaHealth Workgroup is established to tions starring "THEODORE M HEALTHMAN." Theodore is in a revamp M- Health with "more stuwheelchair and body cast, and holds dent input." Six graduate students his M-Health Card. up with his castare found who are summarily drafted encased. right arm to the sky. Teddy to work on the proposal from the also has a glazed look, a permanent School of Social Work, holding meetsmile, and looks as if he is going ings with little public notice and with "EEEEEEEEEI" all the time, in a dull an obvious disdain for student input, moan. which tends to be very negative and JAN 7, 1996 - University comangry. missions a second bU8 so they can FEB 28, 1996 - Head Accoundisplay the M-H~th logo. An anonytant at M-Health goes crazy and atmous administrative member is tacks C(}-workers with a staple gun quoted as saying, '1Jh, huh-huh, cool! shouting, "We're insolventl DIEI DIEI Hey, Beavis! We can rent a bus!" DIEI" JAN 8, 1996 - First student MAR 1, 1996 - Actor portraying uses M- Health after being ~ in THEODORE M HEALTHMAN pubscuftle with DPS at an~Health rally licly apologizes to University Comheld inside Fleming Administration mWlity, saying. "If they gave you free Building. tuition, wouldn't you do it too? Ijust JAN 28, 1998 - '!he Old Man at didn't knowl!!" the CRISP door is rehired to work. at MAR 3, 1996 - Latest Michigan M-Health Claims and Adjustments. Daily "Angering you for 105 years" JAN 28, 1996 8:02 AM - The editoral refocuses on MSA Rep. AnOld Man at the M-Health Claims and drew Wright's monetary dealings. Adjustments Door demands for the MAR 4, 1996 - Notable Quotfirst time that all ltudents have their able in Daily: "Of course he didn't do appointment Blips, ID cards, Mit. Why in hell would someone give Carda, M-Health cards, and claim MBA $796 ofth.eir own money? And if forms to enter the prooeeaing room. he did, are they all that stupid? Can I FEB 6, 1996 - M-Health posts get $796 too?'" - George Saunders, loss of $100,000 due to student LSAjunior. disenrollment, massive hiring of adMAR 7, 1996 - MSA Budget ministrative pel'8Onnel to deal with Prioritiell Committee in memo to the paperwork overflow. new carpetSaunders: "Yes, but youll need to fill ing for the office, and unnatural outout this 78 page form if you a.re a break of a new influenza. strain on student group or you represent one." campus, '"Rotterdam Q." MAR 11, 1996 - M-Health FEB 17, 1996 - A batch of the Workgroup delivers a "Paper" and , Soya....;.Turkey TetraDini: eeried .at' , ~resen?-~61;\- ' ~ ' Vice-President ·for

BY BENJAMIN KEPPLE

•

...

•.

Student Affairs consisting of all their hard work and dedication into making a better health system. MAR 12 , 1996 - VJ.Ce-President for Student Affain tosses M-Health Workgroup Paper into wastebasket and ignores it completely. MAR 20, 1996 - Alpha Sigma Sigma Fraternity brought up under Code for spending MSA monies on "beer and stuff." A panel of students specially chosen for conviction decides that all members of the fraternity should be whipped six times with electric cattle prods. MAR 21, 1996 - M-Health refuses to pay for Alpha Sigma Sigma burn treatments and motor skills therapy because "it would be a conflict of interest for the University to pay for the treatment ofpunishments i~ inflicted. You'd just be helping the pprpetrators. " MAR 26, 1996 - M-Health reviews cafeteria food and begins implementation of the "M-Death: Corpse Removal" service for residents with deceased roommates. Later that day. a cafeteria Codk refers to the pt'Ogl'8Dl , as a "godsend."

"It's BUm a good. thing that we can get 'Meals on Wheels' in our dormitories now." she said, stirring a pot of "beefbarbecue sandwich mix." APR 5, 1996 - George Sa\Uldera receives check in mail for $796 from Michigan Student Assembly. Has a killer party and finds some old receipts to prove he spent the money on a Sony Entertainment System for the "U-M Monty Python Appreciation Society." APR 7, 1996 - George Sa\Ulders receives check for $1,300. Has weekend fact-finding junket in Washington, D.C. APR 12, 1996 - Regents command University to make up new health code with student input after protest shuts down Fleming again. Students cheer this victory loudly. MAY 3,1996 - The first day of summer vacation, and all the students have gone home. The University now sneakily begins to reformulate M-Health into a new program that it is certain no one will like, regardless of what anyone else says. Oh weU. at least 8Ome. thi"l/8 never change :'. Mt ... . .

around. here ;

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THE 'MICHIGAN REVIEW

o INTERVIEW: PHILLIP JOHNSON

O~l>er

25, 1995

A Critique of Academia's Religion

N OCTOBER 8, CALVIN

Hwang of the Review interviewed Dr. Pkillip John8on, a senior law profeuor at the University ofCalifomia at Ber1ceky. A graduate ofHaroard and the University of Chicago Law School, Johnson u the author of Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law. and Education. lie recently spoke at the Verita.t Forum, a Nne. of lectures, appearing at the Univenity of Michigan, that discfUU1ed the intellectual foUndatioM ofChrilltianity.

MIl: What do you 1t*1k Is the IUPOI8 of 1he Verltas Forum?

JOHNSON: I only spoke at the Ventas Forum once a year ago at Ohio State and I talk about it in Chap-ter 10, the concluding chapter in my book: bring the question of truth to the universities. '1.binking in the universities tends to be based on pragmatism. People don't ask what is truth; they sort of ask what is scientific knowledge, what is useful knowledge. '!be purpose of the VeritasF()<o ~ fita in veI'Y,well with, my bOOk'" the truth about ultimate reality. the nature of life, and the nature ofhuman beings. So it is bringing a question to the universities that academia isn't used to thinking about.

MR: Do you think 1h«. Is • good atmotphere at WIMni1III for fonInIlfe Vaitas? JOHNSON: Well, no, there is not a particularly welcoming atmosphere, because this is a challenge to the dominant ways of thinking in the university. MR: Are you a Christian?

JOHNSON: Yes, I certainly am a Christian theist, and my books are written from that ~ve. MIl: Do yow profe8aIon1II colleagues have strong religious vtewa, or Is there more of a religious apathy In your field?

JOHNSON: '!be university is dominated by a position of agnosticism, and the higher up in the academic pecking order you go, the more certainly that becomes the case. At a university like Michigan or Berkeley, which are in many ways oomparable, the established religion is ~gnostic materialism, and the key element in that is an undemanding of the world that comes from Darwinism that says, "well, we now know how we were created, and it wasn't by a ~tor who brought about our existence for a

purpose. It was by a blind materialist process that has no values, has no purpose, and cares nothing for us or anything else for that matter." And this is claimed to be known for cer-

complex organs. '!here is really very little evidence of an empirical nature to back up these claims. '!he reason why Darwinists are so sure that they are right is that there is no alternative in their minds. Since God does not exist - that's taken for granted as a base line as-

such a difficult question by logic alone, or do you believe there Is • faith factor?

JOHNSON: Logic works from some premises, from some starting point. tam. And so when you ask about faith, one . '!be important thing about Darof the great mistakes of our present winism is much distorted in all the ph.iloeophyistheidea that some people textbooks and all the have faith, and theSe are the newspapers and everyreligious people, and then there thing. It is not that it The university is dominated by a are the atheists, and they don't • • • • have any faith - they just reasays that things took a long time - the earth posttton agnosttCtsm, and the son. Well, that's a piece ofathe~ billions of years old, higher up in the academic pecking istic propaganda. '!h~t is not It was a gradual pro• true at all. What atheIsts have cess - that is all superorder you go, the more certatnly to have is a faith that nature ficial. The important h b h can do its own creating - that affirmation of Darwint at ecomes t e case. is one of the things that they ism is that the process have to have a blind faith in. of creation is purposeAnd that's one of the realess, a purely immaterial process.,So, sumption - then nature had to do its sons why Darwinism has been so trethere is no place for God in the sys- ' own creating. 'lhe Darwinian mechamendously attractive, because it protem, and if there are going to be any f nismis the most plausible thing that vides that natural creation mechavalues or morals, human beings have anybody has ever thought up - 90 in nism that doesn't need a God. That's to make them up for themselves, betheir minds its pretty much true as a why they are 90 uncritical about evalu· cause we arejust accidents in tbjs logical matter, without regard to the ating the evidence, because they h.a:ve purposeless system. Now, in my view, need of establishing it by any oonvincfaith that.something of that general this is just a mythology - the idea ing evidence. And ~t is",ru:tt I 1m). sort j~t has to be true. When you that it is .well groun.qe4bl:scienti& expbeing..;.t.hat it jj:a philosophical know that something just has to be evidence and· 80 on is the reigning system, and that if you are inclined to , true, you are not critical about the delusion of our age. And so that is one be skeptical about the claims, ewluevidence. And it's their faith in the of the things that I do in my univertion is not really well-backed by eviability ofnai:ure to do its own creating sity lectures: I challenge that. dence. But it intimidates people; it is that makes them uncredible. the belief system of our universities. MR: In your first book, you write, .. The Everybody is brought up to think that MR: Finally, coWl you give a brief descripphilosophically Important part of the Dartion of what you are working on now, espeit is a fact; they are not taught to look winian theory - Its mechanism for creating at it at all critically. cially the book you lust published? complex things that cId not exist before - Is JOHNSON: Sure. '!he first book, MR: Do you believe there Is • basis for therefore not really pert of empirical science at all, but rather a deduction from naturalisDarwin on Trial, is a critique of the creation science? tic philosophy." In brief, are you saying that Darwinian theory of evolution. It tries the philosophically Important part has to be JOHNSON: What I always say is to get away from this sterile Biblecloaked in naturalistic evidence or empirical that if you -look at the evidence of science deadlock and look at the scientific and philosophical aspects of science because there Is no other valid science and biology, they are in fact consistent with and support the Darwinian evolution, and show what's very theory? fact that you need an intelligent Crewrong with it. Now, the second book is the one I JOHNSON: If you look at the claims ator to bring about all of these "living of evolutionary biology and Darwinthings!' '!bey are full of genetic inforreally wanted to write all along, which ism, you will see that natural selecmation, and there is no way to prois about the cultural consequences of tion can do this and this, made the duce this kind of information out of this - scientific naturalism as the elephant's tnmk and the bat's wing, unintelligent material. So you need a established religion of the university. the whale's ability to hear sound in As it is, the established religion of the Creator, and the evidence of biology speaks to a Creator when it's viewed legal structure and whole culture that the ocean depth - it did all of these things. And if you ask to have any of without Darwinist bias. says since we live in a purposeless Now these questions about that demonstrated, if you ask for reuniverse, we get to make up the rules ally bard evidence that a oombination whether it was a long process or a ourselves, and we can change them at any time. This is sort of what's behind sudden one - whether you are to of mutation and selection can really the sexual revolution and all the relado these things, you quickly find out read the book of Genesis figuratively: that there is, as I like to put it, the these are all secondary questions of tivist ethics of our time. I had to write the Darwin book evidence tha~ is somewhere between much less importance. 'lhe argument first, beatuse that deals with the claim extremely weak and altogether nonthat the Darwinists are making is existent. What you find is talk about that this whole system is established that there is no Creator in the system. by impartially evaluated scientific variations in the beaks of finches at at all because these blind materialisevidence. And I had to deal with it the most, dog breeding, and it's really tic forces can do it all, and that's what first to make it an issue to be diswell known among the people that I argue is just false. cussed. But I am not a practicing are most familiar with all of the litscientist; my interest is in the cul· MR: I notice that you dismantled o.rwtneratu.reof evolution that those things tural, moral", educational aspects of have nothing to do with the major Ism baslcaHy through aystematIc arguing. 'the Situation.· Mt . -. Do you- believe that it 18 pos8IbIe,to an.w. innovations with how you get new

THE MICHIGAN REVIEW

October 25. 1995

o CURRENT EVENTS

A Million Men for Unity BY ANTHONY WEN

NE MILLION. IT IS A MAGI-

cal number that evokes images of colossal things. It's pretty bard to imagine one million of anything in a small area., let alone one million people. But recently, the Million Man March was held in Washington. D. C., where NaticBl ofIalam leader Louis Farrakhan called together one million black men. '!he event was more of a rally for black unity than a ma:rc:b.; the oontroveraial Fan-akh.an called for promises of peace and involvement in .the community. It was a "day of atonement," as well as one of praying, singing, and unity. Many who· attended the march said they felt energized and hoped it would "reverberate around the country." Although it W88 touted as the Million Man March, official figures from the National Park. Service estimate that approximately 400,000 men attended. 'Becauae of their disagree-, ment with this oount, Farrakhan and other organizers have sued authorities, claiming that as many as two million men were in attendance. Organizers claim that "racism, white supremacista, and the hatred ofLouia Farrakhan" affected the count. But do the numbers ~ally matter? Perhaps the National Park. Service underooWlted; a study using digital analyai.e techniques rommiaaioned by the ABC television network finds that the crowd may have ranged from 655,000 to 1.1 million But who cares? Numbers only affect reoord books, not the ideas and inspirations that came from the march. In addition to the men in Washington, millions more acro88 the country watched it on TV or listened to it on the radio. '!hese people who were not in Washington could have been affected by the march and ita spea.k.era as much as the people that were there. 'The oftbe march are far more important than its size. '!he ideas of peace, involvement in the oommWlity, self-reliance, Wlity, and avoiding drugs and violence - if these ideas could be instilled in many people of all races, society in the United States would be improved. Race relations are generally seen 88 poor, especially with high-profile trials pitting black defendants against white police and prosecutors. One of the central messages of the march was to be more understanding of other races and to improve race relations. Unfortunately, the main organizer of the march, Louis F'amlkhan, is often seen as a divisive force. He has alienated many groups, calling

idem

Judaism "a gutter religion," whites "devils," and the pope "a representative oftbe anti-Christ." He once spoke of Hitler as a "wickedly great man." Because of these and other remarks, some black leaders dislike Farrakhan, believing that his views hurt race relations. In fact, the NAACP and the Urban League, did not endorse or support the Million Man March, even though 80me experts believe that this refusal could hurt those groups. Farrakhan said, "God brought the

views of 80 many different groups. No one knows what the eventual reverberations oftbe marcll might be. Hundreds of thousands were inspired and energized to build bridges, tnake peace, and become involved in rebuilding their communities. These ideas oould bode well for all races. Four hundred thousand people unified for one vision can inspire people and make changes. Four hundred thousand can be as much of.,a magical number as one million. m

idea [of the march] through me not because my heart is dam with hatred and anti-Semitism.. If my heart were that dark, how is the message so bright, so clear, and the response 80 magnificent?" Because Farrakhan was the catalyst and main speaker at the march, many think that his status has been elevated greatly and he may become the new leader ofblack activism. Some believe that his ascension to this rank bodes poorly for race relations because of his critical

-l

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How the Ether Was Won

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THE MICHIGAN REVIEw

October 25, 1995

o EsSAY U.S. News Fails College Rankings EsKEw

crucial statistics in determining the The freshman retention and three are private and twen~o are "best schools" are high rates of alumni graduation rates are equally ridicuEastern. Does anyone else see a probCCORDING TO THE SEPdonations, th~ freshman retention lous. By these measures, colleges are lemhere? tember 18, 1995, issue of U.S. rate, graduation rates, educational rewarded for ensuring that freshman It is not just our pride as studenta New6 and World Report, the expenditure per student, and the stuare given incentive to stay and eventhat is suffering because U.S. Newlf University of Michigan is the 24th dent-to-faculty ratio. Consider the tuallyearn a diploma. Using this reahas misconstrued the facts for ita own best university in the nation. Hooray, advantage. More importantly, this ab~tyofeachofthese let's celebrate! Or should we? measures: heresy has an impact on the millions The article is loaded with bias The figure representof high school students who rely on and flaws. Michigan is one of only two ing the alumni giving rate such information when making decipublic schools (the University ofVlris computed as the numsions about college. ginia is the other) to achieve recogniber of undergraduate Let's pretend for a moment that tion as one of the top 25 schools in the alumni who contributed to your name is Joe Croissanwich. You country. The University of California are a high school senior at Boise Centheir alma mater's 1993 or at Berkeley, UCLA, the University of 1994 fund drives divided tral High School and a top notch student. If you (Joe CroisSanwich) only North Carolina at Chapel mu, and by the total number ofunthe University ofWisoonsin at Madilook at U.S. News, you might be dedergraduate alumni. Obson are absent from the list. What is ceived into thinking that Tufts is a viously, the pollsters want even more confusing is the fact that to account for alumni opinbetter school than Berkeley. You subMichigan is ranked eighth in tenns of ion in their survey. UnfOI'-' sequently would be stripped of any "academic reputation," one of the factunately for the integrity notion you ever had of being an inteltors considered when comparing ligent human being at this point, but of their poll, they fail to schools. Of those other state schools this isn't your fault. Joe, you are the realize that giving money :0mentioned, none was ranked below victim of a conspiracy. U.S. News has to a school does not make ' . . it a better place to learn. "This U.$;Newltranldng Is worthlessr brainwashed you, your parentst and 20th in this category. Ifacademic:reputation isn't the only factor necessary even the school guidance counselor Michigan ~· 142nd on to find "the best university," what BOning, the home-GRE program (you into believing that small, private, exthis list despite being in the midst "of doea it take to be in the top 251 pensive, East Coast schoola are;the ,. know, the one that Sally Struthers a one billion dollar donation drive '. .. According to the publishers and that one of the largest alumni .bases in. . pushee every time: :you.·:te", ~to " best you can get. Are there alternatives to the way the natiou supportirig. · . watch GitnIne (I Brea4reruns) would editors of U.S. New., aome of the moet be ideal for this category: 100 pell)&Dt , ' U.S. New8 does ita work? '!he answer, of all participants are iuaranteed a of course, is yes. The Gourman Report diploma if they pay their money. is a publication whose sole purpose is Small schools benefit in the stuto evaluate the strength and weakdent/faculty ratio and educational nesses of all undergraduate and expenditure per student measures as graduate schools and individual programs. 'Th.e detail of this survey is well. The publishers obviously believe that a smaller student body results in immense. Also, the criteria used to better education. Washington Unirank schools considers such factors as versity has half the budget that Michlprogram and student diversity as well gan has but one sixth the number of as alumni placement into graduate or students. Therefore, Washington is a professional work to actually be im"better school" than Michigan in this portant. The goal of this publication is to provide "an objective evaluation" category. . Consider Notre Dame as an exand not simply sponsor "a popularity ample of what is wrong with this contest." survey. Despite being ranked 36th in In The GouTm(ln Report of 1993, academic reputation, Notre Dame still the University of Michigan ranks third is considered the 18th best national in overall undergraduate programs, university. The crucial numbers are placing it behind only Princeton and these: a 48 percent alumni giving rate, Stanford. All 11 Big Ten universities a 97 percent freshman retention rate, are within the top 44 schools listed. Of a 94 percent graduation rate, and a these top 44 schools, ten are west of ranking of fifth in alumni satisfacthe Mississippi. For anyone wondertion. It is the combination of these ing, Tufta is 38th, while Berkeley is dubious figures that places Notre sixth. Dame ahead of Michigan and every You won't see The Gou1"m4n Reand North Campus PCs) or-IP v.u,~\"!J; other public university in the COWlport next to the candy bar rack at (Centnl Campus PCs) folder. ' try. Meijer. In fact, few people have ever Once Netacape i.e loaded, clicS on All of these categories indicate heard of the thing. This means that open and enter the WWW addreae. If" something that is very wrong with even intelligent people will probably you m:e looking for a,particular topic the survey. '!he more money a school buy U.S. New. and make decisions or juat want to brow8e,'cliclt on the has and the smaller its D, the greater based upon its rankinga. Maybe this Internet Directory (under the Direc> the survey will reward it. Public is unfair to students, parents, and all schools, however, are not the only public and Western schools, but hey, www . netre8ouree~mmlw8nj~~;;lf; y~ Mtri u.d to haw (I life, but Ita dropptd ones taking a beating in this poll. they will probably have enough extm read it just for ~altictesr ~& it clown tM~ at tMDtntolSchool. Only three schools ranked in the top money to write a check to their old the Playboy ltome , ; Pap .t(litn»· : lI H~ U now 1M compuUr COMUltanl for www.pIa,boy.oom). '/':' , . . ",'(:' '.," 25 are located west oftha Mississippi school's fund drive. After all, educa- . the Review. River. Of the top 25 schools, twentytion is all about money. Ml. ,

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October 25, 1995

o SPORTSCENE

THE MICmGAN REVIEW

A Look at the NFL Season BY MEL

MYERS

NEKEYWORDDESCRIBES the NFL these days: parity. How else does one describe a league in which last years went team., the Cincinnati. Bengals, blows out the Pittsburgh Stealers, the defending AFC Champions? How else does one explain how the World Champion Forty Niners lost two straight? Free agency and the salary cap have leveled the playing field, allowing teams like the Bengals, Rams, and Bues to become division title contenders. '!he Cowboys, Forty Nmers, and Dolphins will still appear in the playoffs, but Tampa. Bay, Atlanta, and St. Louis may join them. Even the expansion teams have won games hell, Jacksonville had a winning streakl When the season started, most con8idered the Patriots, Browns, Stealers, and Dolphins to lead in the AFC, while the Cowboys and Niners would dominate the NFC. Although these preseason AFC picks appear to be in jeopardy, it is doubtful that parity will deny a fourth consecutive

NFC Championship battle between the Niners and Cowboys - one of which will trounce the AFC lamb. Now that rve reiterated the prediction that the only meaningful games are the November 12th Nmersl Cowboys game at Texas Stadium and the NFC Championship game, l will at least give the midsea80n awards and attempt to discern the pretenders from the contenders. First, hats off to Rich Brooks, who has guided the seemingly hopeless Rams to a tie for the division lead with the defending World Champions. 1 for one thought that Brooks, who had a mediocre college record at Oregon, was going to struggle when attempting to motivate apathetic and spoiled professional players. Also, kudos to the Tampa Bay Bues, who have managed to win with a mediocre, inexperienced quarterback (Trent Dilfer) because of a tenacious defense and the tough running. of Eric Rhett. Jllhey will end their string of consecutive ten-losa seasona~ My dH>ice fbr;MVP: no, not Emmit Smith (who is having a career year), not Jen-y Rice (who again leads all

receivers in touchdowns); my choice is Chiefs quarterback. Steve Bono, who has led Kansas City to the best record in the league. He was a etock broker as late as 1990 and toiled on the bench behind Joe Montana and Steve Young for most ofhis career. Montana's retirement led many (including myself) to believe that the Chiefs would become another mediocre AFC team. However, Bono, with his accurate throwing arm and excellent play-action ability, has made Kansas City the favorite in my mind of being the next AFC representative to be humiliated in the Super Bowl. '!he most intriguing team that comes to mind when detennining who is going to continue playing well and who is going to settle back into their losing ways is the Cincinnati Bengals. .Although they have a losing record, they are tied for the division lead with Cleveland, who has lost to Jacksonville (although that is not much of a distinction anymore). Cincinnati has the AFC's leading passer along with the AFC's top receiving core; it also has plenty of talent on the defensive side ofthe ball. Without its poor coach-

ing, 1 could guarantee a pla~ff spot. As for the Colts, with Jim Harbaugh quarterbacking (1 know he's an alum), theyaren' going to be good enough on the offensive side of the ball to make the playoffs. In the NFC 1 would look for Atlahta and Chicago to gain the wild card berths. Sorry Buca fans, but Tampa Bay simply does not have the quarterbacking yet to win the big games. Perhaps the biggest question remaining in this NFL season concerns the Dallas Cowboys' reaction to Deion Sanders. He's set to debut October 29th., when the Cowboys face the Falcons. Ifhe is the separating factor as he was last year between Dallas and San Francisco, then combined with the Niners' loss of Rickey Watters to free agency, it seems safe to say that Dallas is superior to San Francisco, and the favorite in the Super Bowl. As for the rest of the NFL ... well, at least it will be fun for the fans to watch those late December matchups of all those mediocre teams battling for the 'final playoff spots, and the chance to get sJa~teredby one of the NFC demigods. Mt

The Merits of Nuclear Power From which would you receive more radiation? (1) Watching a color television. Or, (2) Livingnexttoanuclearpowerplant. Well, if you spend much time watching "The Days of Our Lives," you're more likely to be taking days ofi'your life because, believe it or not, watching a color television gives you 10 times as much radiation as you would get if you pitched your tent in the shadows of a giant cooling tower. That's right, as strange as it may sound, the radiation emitted from an operating nuclear plant doesn't register a blip on your personal dosimeter compared to other sources. Indeed, of the rougbly 360 millirems of radiation you receive annually, 80 percent of it comes from such naturalsoUICes as sunlight and rocks, and the rest from man-made sources like X-rays and consurner products. So given these facts, it's hard

to believe anyone would raise a ruckus over the miniscule radiation passing over the gates ofatomic energy plants. But that's exactly what some anti-nuclear activists have been doing by trying to link this high-tech energy source with the dreaded word, "cancer." Greenpeace, in fact, recently grabbed the media spotlight with a report claiming to have found a connection between breast cancer and a woman's proximity to an operating plant. The group asserted, "Nuclear power is unethical. It is dangerous. It is outrageous. It should be stopped." This conclusion, however, leaves some obviously gaping scientific holes, and even worse, with its potential impact on public opinion, may further harm a technology that is crucial to our nation's economic health. For the record, there is absolutely no credible evidence linking nuclear power and cancer. The largest study ever conducted on the

subject was done by the National Cancer Institute itself That study examined deaths attributable to all forms of cancer in all of the counties surrounding all of the nuclear plants that were in operation by 1981 and "produced no evidence that an excess OCCUITence of cancer had resulted from living near nuclear facilities." And specifically with regard to breast cancer, the State of Minnesota's Department of Health found mortality trends "in the 10 counties near nuclear power plants showed no discernable difference from statewide trends. " So much for Greenpeace's cancerhype. But what about the long-term fallout from this continued antinuclear campaign? Well just consider that by the year 2000 when next year's freshmen will graduate and begin looking for jobs, about 40 percent of the plants that provide us with electricity will be more than

30 years old and getting ready to retire. Consider also that for more than two decades, our nation's economy and its use of electricity have been closely linked and have followed an almost identical upward path. So with a number of years of planning and construction necessary to get a new power plant on line, we obviously must begin preparing soon if we are to meet our future electricity needs. Nuclear power, which already accounts for more than 20 percent of our electrical production without environmental impact, is clearly one of the best ways to accomplish that. But if groups like Greenpeace keep up their irresponsible and deceptive scaremongering, it's just going to make it that much harder to get these new plants, and the resulting economic growth, on line for, dare we say, a healthy tomorrow.

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Tangible Shadoms and Modern Poetry

BY JAIOS WILSON

T SOME POINT IN THE last hUDdred odd. years, somebody decided that it was all right for poetry not to be mymed and metered like Sbak.espeare or Frost. or anybody. Whoever it was decided that poetry could be made up of any combination of worda or letters or lines, without much regard to how they play off one another or BOund or feel on the tongue. And in some ways, this was a good thing. It certainly allowed poets to generate more meaningful, emotional, and powerful works than might otherwise have been possible, by freeing them of tradition and orthodoxy. It is because ofthia removal ofrestrictions, this addition of anarchy to ~e . recipe of poetry, that much modem poetry is more interesting than the often timid vente of the past. But along with this free-verse revolution, the element of'\rerae" was lost. Not to all poets, of course, but to manyoftbem. Some poets strayed 80 far from tradition that their work was more like prose divided into lines than anything that might be described as '\-erae," much lees, 1yrical." Some (and by this "some," I refer to successful, established. and often fiunous poets), BUooeeded in oollectmg words together so clumsily and aWkwardly that it Unbullt Worlds

In broken basement mirrors emaciated boys flex , while overweight children suck in their guts. Stutterers give eloquent speeches to their reflections and club-footed young girls dance angelic ballets. My own secret fantasies

are maps of lntJ:icate universes like spider webs that collect dust in unseen places. Always out of reach. I act out the roles I always fett best suited for in front of aacked mirrors in the empty rooms of unbuitt wands. -Mark Greenberg

waa almost impo88ible to read. In such in8tancea, it didn't seem like experimental. innovative art 80 much as a foreign student ofEngtiab's early attempt at writing een~. , ' . , I do not mean to demean Free

Vane. Or to aesault the worlt of such iDnoYaton 88 Walt Whitman. Allen Ginaberg, cr William Carlos Williams. In fil~ I would generally rather read

"NUMBers-). After reading the first poem, the second seems almost impossible. Greenberg rearranges the lines of the first poem into an equally meaningful second. But. while the delight in language is present in"rEVOLUTION," it is not as beautifully expressed as it is in <J~ many of the other poems in the book. Like a highly evolved Anglo-Saxon, £k;JtuIlJ, Greenberg goes on to use alliteration and rhymes to push and pull the reader through many of the poems. In "My 'lline Grey," he delivers a fantastic final stanza where the language flows smoothly when the thought is smooth, and pauses when the thought breaks offOast stanza printed below), There are countless examples of this careful molding oflanguage throughout the book, No attribute of Greenberg's work is more consistent, ~ My time gray . an endless instant split blink tj~ retracting refractions infected inflection TMfJ/bIe Shttdow8, by Mark Greenberg . infliction is " , ' : ' . "Hom- than Homer. Free Vene i8<i ." .' ...' addiction . ' .. . 1roly a great form ofpoetry, but many I breathe wouJ.d-be...poeta have freed their verse yet. BO much that it is inappreciable, much Andretum less unreadable. It seems that what is star traveled BOul needed is not a regression to the to sleepless Shakespearian Sonnet, or a BUdden blank body bars market saturation of Limericks, but a home compromise between the lyricism of from roads more "classic" verse and the chaos of extending too deep most modem works. inward It is for this reason that Tanto be conquered gible Shadows, by Mark in one life's Greenberg (WEB Press, 1995, time. $5.00), is so important. It is a short - (excerpt from "My Time Gray," collection ofpoems (Greenberg's first) by Mark Greenberg) that flow one into the other, not beHowever, the theme of his work does rival this lyricism close in concause of theme or meaning, but because the language of each poem is BO stancy. Each poem seems a quiet resmooth, controlled, and beautiful. flection of what is taking place around Greenberg uses language him - whether it be sociallpolitical innovatively, but he never forgets that events, or the loss of a girlfriend. each word is dependant upon the one Greenberg experiences each event as beside it. and therefore, never fiills to though it were an assault upon himmake sure they work well together. In self ("I sift through the scrap heaps! reading his book, you feel1ike you are pausing here and there! taking a moactually watching him construct each mentl to collect myseIr), but at the poem.; witnessing his mind and ~ playfully put together stanza after

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"Playfully" is a key word, too. While his poems do not lack in calm, sometimes lugubrious, introspection. the lanpage itaell ia like a toy to Greenberg. 'l1le most obvious example is the pair of poems "rEVOLUTION'" and "rEVOLUTION remix." 1M first one is an experimental collection of stanzas. ~t pla~ ' wi~, worde-wi.~ ' . words (for example~ "numb" within - ~" "-,,~ . - . ,, - •

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Casting It's hard to imagine all of our elaborate plans carried out by different hands. Other minds will read the lines we wrote for each other. Other people will play the parts that we built around one another. And we'll reshoot the same scenes until the wrong people J ' get

them right.

-Mark Greenberg out." How this affects the poet and others is most poignant one of the first .poems in the book, "Casting," and the earlier poem "Unbuilt Worlds" ("1 act out the roles! I always felt best suited fori in front of cracked mirrors! in the empty roomsl of unbuilt worlds"). Nearly every poem in the collection is a quiet music describing and defining the most personal and most important relationships of humanity. Whether the subject is poet to woman, poet to society, or poet to universe, a feeling of tragedy, acceptance, and celebration is conveyed by Greenberg's work. Such meaning and themes are enhanced by the lyricism that touches, and sometimes, floods each poem with the intention, and often success, of touching the reader. Tangible Shadows by Mark , Greenberg is available at Borders Books and through WEB Press (PO Box 4106, Ann Arbor, MI 48106). m

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stanza.

same time, there is a feeling of aloofness. Not just the aloofness of a poet reporting what he sees, but an almost Buddhist acceptance of the large and small wonders and horrors of this world. Such acceptance, not swprisingly, comes from a feeling that everyone, including the poet. is almost arbitrarily put into the role they play, and have no alternative but to "play them

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Strange Days are Here Again

BY RYAN POSLY

HE FUTURE LOOKS bleak. The last days of 1999 will be filled with unending violence, fires in the middle of every street, and a severe state of martial law. Ofcourse, tb.ia is nothing new for Los Angeles. Strange Day., the new sci-fi cybel"-thriller from James Cameron, documents these last 48 hours of the millennium in exactly this fashion. Desolation and destruction have already ruined Los Angeles - and in only 4 years! 1hat Cameron sure has some imagination. Strange DaYIl tells the story of Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), a dealer of the new, high-tech drug of choice: clips of other people's experienCes that can be played back. by anyone with the same effect. In other words, if you place the "wire" on your head and play back. a clip of someone having sex with 64 women at the same time, you will actually experience having sex with 64 women (though why anyone would want to is beyond me). The odd

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things going for it. Visually and aurally, it is phenomenal. Although they are used too frequently as plot developers, the scenes of actual memory clips utilize surround sound and the subjective camera like nothing rve ever seen before. They draw you in and show the essence of the drug itself

ThIs Isn't exactly what we'd call1hefuture._ . Aside from its ciriematography, hbwever, Strange Days is nothing but a self-indulgent and confusing story cooked up merely to showcase James Cameron's concept of the high-tech possibilities of the all-too-near future. It does have a message, but its impact is limited by the phony story

and poor acting. Cameron, best known for bringing us the Terminator, among other things, wrote and produced Strange DaY8, and seems to have experienced his first fiillure as a writer. Director Kathryn. Bigelow, best known for being James Cameron's wife (Can you say nepotism1), shows here that she can handle action and special effects with just as much aplomb as the big boys. Her failure is in handling actors and plot - a pretty big failure for a motion picture director. Although she is dealing with some extraordinary actors, including three .Academy Award nominees (Fiennes fur SchindJerl8 List, Bassett for What's Love Got To Do With- It and Juliette Lewis for Cape Fear), all she can draw out of them is a mediocre perfonnance at best. Strange Day8 is one of those movies with a deceptively enticing trailer that end up only disappointing. With its unrealistically dismal vision of the near future and its aelf-acoomodating, pretentious story, Strange Day8 is indeed strange, and unfortunately a failure for everyone involved. Ml

Mozart's Requiem: Abandon All Hope ...

BY DAVIDDE SrELLA

thing is that most people apparently want to experience things like robbing a liquor store or beating someone half to death, so this is what Lenny deals in. Due to his high morals, however, he draws the line at "blackjacks," or clips where the person dies, As for the convoluted plot, a brief summary would not do it justice, It , wanders around too many characters and too many coincidences, All there is to know is that Lenny has come across a horrible clip (which everybody seems to watch with a hilarious, half~sgusted, half-excited look on their face) of a woman being raped. tortured and murdered. It turns out that Lenny knows the woman in the clip, so he attempts to track down the killer, enlisting the aid of a lim<>driver friend (who miraculously turns out to be a martialarts expert), played by Angela Bassett. 'Ibis seemingly simple beginning leads to such grandiose events, wi~ so many unex- '" plained twistjs. 'a!ong the way, that ,a.fter the first half~ur I knew I was watching a very cOntrived story. Strange Days does have a few

EQUIEM IS A SCARY

record indeed. Mozart's last great work before he died is still shrouded in my;stery and intrigue. A "Requiem" by definition is the music played at a Catholic funeral mass. Usually the tone is dark.. filled with lamentation. The Binging is all in Latin, which adds to its somberness and decor. The music is split up, each belonging to a certain portion of the mass. The history of the writing of the Requiem is filled with inissing details and conspiracies. The score was originally commissioned by a stranger to Mozart. As Mozart's health failed, he became convinced. that the man who commissioned it was really a messenger from the beyond. Mozart came to believe that he was to write the music to his own funeral, a terrifying prospect. He died while leaving half of the work unfinished. Mozart's wife, Constanz.e, in desperation to have the music finished, asked Mozart's student, Franz Xaver Sussmayr, to complete the work for him. All Fram bad fD go on were a few &ketches and outlines that Mozart had left ,m6niabed. What Mozaxt ac,tually bad done before be died is atill

a matter a great dispute, but towards the end of the recording, it becomes obvious that the last few segments are not the work of Mozart. In a word, Mozart's Requiem is passion. This is not simple church music. It is gothic, dark, almost feeling as you yourselfwere sitting at the gates of hell. In other words, it is not

Why Mozart, you look Uke death warmed ov" '-

a very relaxing thing to listen to at-3 o'clock. in the morning in complete darkness. It leaves the listener with an eerie, disturbing feeling. It evokes the torment of a dying man, desperately tI'ying to finish the music to his OWD..funera:l. . . • ~

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orchestral and singing parts are inBy far, the most brilliant piece is troduced. The middle section is the "Introitus." It begins silently, muddled because it seems that the slowly building up to a dazzling intertheme of the work still exists; but mingling of a female and male chorus since we do not know what Sussmayr's who seem to be in a duel of some sort. mediocre contributions to it were, it The choruses depart from each other becomes hard to accurately gauge but always come back together at the what Mozart's vision was. end. As the female voices hover high The final sections of the over the rest of the music, the men mass, "Offertorium," "Sanctus," add depth and volume to the perfor"Benedictus," and "Communio" demmance. You can almost see the coffin onstrate their obvious dullness. being rolled into the Church with daIkMozart had only completed parts here laden mourners ,all around. The and there. I do not even recommend unsurpassed intensity of the beginlistening to the last four tracks bening of the mass sets the stage for cause it simply is not Requiem and it later pieces. The second track, the "Kyrie," is .is certainly not Wolfgang. Much blame is attributed to simply a series of the words "Lord Constanze who allegedly, in trying to have mercy, Christ have mercy" over prove that Mozart was the sole auand aver again for four minutes. Again, thor, destroyed many of the original drawing on the pattern of "Introitus," the music contains dueling choruses drafts and sketches that he drew. But swirling in the foreground. it is not she who should take all the '!he orchestral' coloring is made blame. Mozart himself actually put off the project for a long time and somber by the lack of a few instruwrote some llght-hearted, bad music ments. Mozart omits oboes, clarinets, for some Masons. He finally poured and horns. Instead, he uses violins, on the effort, but only after he was bass, basset horns, ba8800ns, tromd~. bones, trumpets, and an organ. With We will never get the full piece. the upbeat instruments gone, the But I, in the highest regard. recomcharacter of the work is shown in a mend the fir8t halfofthia reard above darker contrast. Throughout the second part of other clasaica1 muaic that I have been to"..:t' :! : .- " • •• , • , " .. . .. ,,, - , the"iD.us, the '~uen~ ~a JiWt 9Cr :,: ~ ~

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MICHIGAN REVIEW LIVING CULTURE ~

II BY

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Michael

ScoTr BICKMORE

ICHAEL HEDGES PERformed justice at the Ark on October 11. With the overflow oflazy, cool guitarists in popular music today, Hedges reminded the audience that the guitar can be explored to its tonal and percussional limits, rather than cranking up a Marshall and playing regurgitated power chords. The background music stopped, the lights dimmed, and Michael's music appeared before he did, as he came walking up the isle with acoustic guitar strapped on (and a chordless mic - nice touch!). On stage he looked like an elf twirling around barefoot with his long moppy hair and gypsy clothes. I watched this small, skinny man play and knew I was witnessing a musical genius. His fingers danced along the strings as if he had choreographed the movements. He showed incredible technical ability but not at

M~dges

the expense of his unique human touch. And who needs a drummer when Michael uses the body of his beat up Martin as a drumset, slapping, and tapping for percussion, all while strumming away. But Hedges doesn't care about pleasintLguys like me who get all geeked out over his guitar Virtuosity. "I'm not interested in any fan who puts technique over content ... I'm after communication, not applause; So, sure I'll lose some of my fans, but I would rather lose them than keep away the ones who are after the deeper meaning," says Hedges. And so, to show us that his musical ideas aren't constrained to the guitar, Hedges brought out his alto flute and played a soft melodic piece for us. Afterwards, he told us how he had picked up the flute so the director . ofhis high school jazz band would let ~ him play guitar in the band. But the catch was that heaIso had t<> play the piccolo in ,nf4rching band, which "didn't help my status much in lllgh

at the Ark the poem hobbling around the stage doing his Chi Kung yoga positions and looking pretty out there. But then he followed this explaining how he grew up in Oklahoma. "A nice place to live, but not somewhere you want to visit." Whatever that means. Hedges pulled all the stops. He played a small Indian drum, he covered "Like a Rolling Stone" while sitting on his huge blue rubber ball, and he played "Darth" - a huge black acoustic guitar with five bass strings strung like a harp above the guitar strings. Hedges claims to have been "to the center of the earth," he sang his folk-sounding heart out, he told long anecdotes you thought only your grandfather told. He was the man. The audience was predominantly what's known as Windham Hill'sAAA (album adult alternative) crowd. In other words, middle age people who ~ they're hip. Nevertheless, in the intimate atmosphere of the Ark, we all seemed touched by this oft'beat entertainer. III

school." Michael's hQlllble humor complements his bazaar disposition. At one point in the show he almost lost me with his extremely weird reciting of the "Jabberwocky," as he portrayed

Here h81s, MfchaeI Hedges .

J ajouka Is Very Good and Very 'Cool BY

MARK MORGAN

H BRAHIM JONES! Jajouka Rolling Stones! Ah Brahim Jonesl Jajouka really stoned." For almost thirty years, men in Jajouka, a small isolated moun- Master Musicians of tain village in Jajouka Morocco, have Brian Jones Presents: been singing The Pipes of Pan at thi.s since Jajouka BrIan Jones Point Music made his his- '---_ _ _ _ _ _-' torical visit there in the late sixties. Feeling weary of his stardom with the Stones, Jones went to Morocco in 1967 with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Through Brion Gysin, a painter and ' writer who lived in Tangiers, Jones was introduced to' the music and people of Jajouka. For ages, music has had a firm grip on the consciousness of Jajouka. There it is believed to cast magic spells, induce trances and even heal the sick. The musicians of the village are greatly esteemed and honored. William Burroughs noted that, "the Master Musicians are a special caste ex-

empt from farm work. The sons BJld grandsons of Master Musicians, they have nothing else since birth and perhaps before. While they differ widely

Hey, this is Brian Jonesl in age, they all have the mark of the professional, of someone who does what he does superlatively well" The music of the Master Musicians is an amazing, other worldly

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Jones Presents: The Pipes of Pan at Jajouka. The album went out of print for a very long time but Point Music recently re-released this marvelous piece of music. Coinciding with this reissue, the Master Musicians have embarked on their first ever tour of the United States. Last Saturday, they made a Michigan appearance at Rackham Auditorium. As with almost all music, the Master Musicians were even better live. The droning hums of the openingpiece threw my brain into automatic pilot (this is a good thing) and the weaving, lithe melodies curved around the air. The love song that they played was · also fantastic as it shimmered with total sexual energy. To top off the music, there was a dancer named the Bou Jelod. He was covered in goatskins and ferociously gyrated around while he waved branches in the air. Simply put, the show was absolutely incredible. Everyone person I talked to who saw the show was completely floored. Even ifyou missed the show, pick up the CD. Check this one out unmediately. III

trance which needs to be heard to be believed. It is created through the ghaita (oboe), lira (bamboo flute), gimbris (three string lute) and Moroccan drums. The most important and unique skill of the Master Musicians is their ability to play one continuous note without wavering. They do this through a special method of circular breathing which enables them to play for hours at a time without stopping for breath. The sounds . of J ajouka were so extradionary that Jones came back to Morocco in 1968 with tape recording equipment in hand. Jones was so ecstatic with the results that he only recorded the Master Musicians for about one day. He went back to his hotel in Tangiers and simply spent his time listening to the tapes. When he went back to London, he re-mixed the tapes by adding backward tape loops and varying the speed to intensify the timbre of the instruments. Unfortunately, Jones drowned in his swimming pool and would never see the tapes released. Fortunately for the rest of the world, they were issued posthumously in 1971 as Brian

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