vol_9_no_7

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by Vincent DeSantis English is a second language for a large number of faculty employed by the University of Michigan. Many of these non-native speaking teachers are fluent in English and speak it with a grace and knowledge of grammar and syntax to be envied by those of us who are native English speakers. Others, however, lack such essential skills and have difficultly communicating with their students.

Students at the U-M complain of difficultY,understanding their International Teaching Assistants (ITA), and, subsequently, understanding the material covered. Although understanding ITAs is a problem in

any setting, science and engineering my point." students encounter ITAs with the most Many students are forced to seek frequency. Beginning students in scioutside help or value their textbooks ence and engineering fields find it esmuch more than their teachers. Bepecially difficult to understand cause of this ~stration, some students technical information presented by become disinterested in the subject. such teachers. These students are faced LSA freshman Coleman Mark said, ''J not only with unfamiliar subjects, but stopped going to my economics class also with trying to decipher strange because my TA was so unfarniliarwith vocabularies that are pronounced, and . the English language that she could often written on the chalkboard, in an not relate the economic concepts to me. incomprehensible fashion.

If anything, I left the classroom more As engineering sophomore Scott confused than when I got there."

Durbin said, "It was very frustrating Some students transfer to different forme to askquestionsor to argue over sections in an attempt to avoid ITAs a disputed answer with a TA who only only to find that the other sections of nodded, smiled and gave me a quizzical that class are also taught by TAs that look after I asked my question or stated are not native speakers. Becau~ de-

partments often rely on TAs to teach the bulk of their introductory courses, they are not often in aposition manpower-wise to tum away unqualffied TAs. Many of the teaching assistants for math and science courses are ITA graduate or doctorate students who teach courses as a way of deferring the costs of studying in the United States.

Because of its world-wide reputation, this problem may be intensified at the U-M. Highly-qualified teaching assistants desire to teach at reputable schools such as Harvard, MIT, or the U-M.

Please See Page 11

Sperm Bank Arouses Student Interest

by Rahul Banta and Brian Jendryka lmaginewalkingintoabank,making a deposit, and having the teller give you $50 for doing so. With no service charge and no per-check fee, it sounds too good to be true. In fact, most students have probably unknowingly seen ads for such a bank. They read something like this: "Semen donors needed for a well established infertility clinic.

If you are a male between 21-40 years of age and a graduate student or a professional, 5'10" or taller, we need you."

"Great!/' you say to yourself. ''J'll just go in a couple of times when I need the extra cash." like automated bank machines, it is not as easy as it sounds.

Sperm donation is something that requires a commitment. Donors are usually encouraged to give at least once a week for 11 /2 years, according to Cal Wilkinson, co-director of laboratories for Arbor Park Reproductive laboratory Inc. Located on Clark Road in: Ann Arbor, the lab is one of only 100 sperm banks in the country.

The lab screens each prospective donor thoroughly, and as result, less than half of potential donors are accepted, according to Dr. Edwin Peterson, president of the American

Fertility Society (AFS). In addition to height, age and education requirements (which have caused their ads to be rejected by the Ann Arbor Observer because they "discriminate" against women and short people), applicants are also turned away if they are in high-risk groups for AIDS, including intravenous drug 'users and homosexuals.

The lab's policy is influenced mainly its clients and the AFS. While the lab relies on AFS oolicv for AIDS

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and other health guidelines, .such as inadequate sperm output, customer demand has determined what is socially acceptable with regards to height and education/occupation. "Even short people want tall kids," said Wilkinson.

Alcoholics and non-intravenous drug users are not turned away outright, but are often excluded because of a low sperm count In addition to a health history fol1Il., potential donors are also required to get a phvsical be-

fore they can take part in the program.

The entire screening process takes from 3-4 weeks, according to Joyce Connett, director of the sperm bank. Donors are tested for the AIDS virus six months after the original donation and then monitored throughout their term with the lab. Because of this lengthy - and expensive - screening period, the lab asks that customers donate on a longtime basis. "One specimen isn't going

Please See Page 11

..... 4!!. .. ...X .-._" ".

But Wait!

There's Muir...

5

Interview: Dr. George Roche 8 The Evils of Manualism

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The Michigan Review, March 6,1991, p. 2

THE

Se~pent' s Tooth Kudos to Students United for Desert Storm (STUDS), an organization recently formed by law students. Our only objection lies in a press release announcing the group's formation.

The sruos write that "SAUSI is just another knee-jerk reaction by hypocritical leftists who have for years talked about supporting worldwide freedom, but are truly unwilling to make any sacrifices for those causes."

Don't you guys think that rallies on the Diag when the weather is reasonably nice count for anything?

Many people wondered why it took George Bush so long to order a ground offensive against Iraqi troops occupying Kuwait. The truth is that the Review editorial board did not give him the go ahead until the U-M campus officially recessed for spring break. We feared an uncontrollable outburst of student protests which would capture the hearts and minds of the American populace and lead us into "the mother of all revolutions."

Do you ever get the feeling the antiwar protesters really wanted the Persian Gulf War to erupt? After all, most of our student radicals were remarkably silent in the months leading up to January 15. Indeed, the perpetual protestors were much more concerned with the much less important U-M police force last fall. The protestors, most of whom represented different left-wing fringe movements, vainly hoped this latest conflict would be another Vietnam, resurrect the 19605, and unite the oppressed masses against the evil status quo. Tough luck.

"Bush must work to overcome one other negative - the idea that despite his resume, and his war record, he's somehow not decisive, not forceful, not a Commander-in-Chief," said CBS reporter Bruce Morton in 1987, according to the Media Research Center.

Thanks to his incisive political commentary, Morton now works at the Ann Arbor Metro Times.

A special thanks goes out to the lovely lady who mailed the Review an announcement for a "Dance for Lesbian ":""''!II;~L1iH8Z.

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At a recent mass meeting for MSA, which had to supply free pizza to encourage attendance, current tyrant Jenny Van Valey commented on "What the Assembly does and what she believes it should do," according to the Daily. ''We should work as hard as we can," said the blonde beauty, "and truly advocate the things we believe in." Query: does the third "we" refer to the same people mentioned in the first "we"? Maybe Jen is forgetting that MSA ought to promote what is in the students' interests, what "they" believe in. Stayed tuned for more political games ...

Just 30 minutes after we distributed the last issue of the Review, we received an irate phone call lambasting (surprise) Jeff Muir's "Special Priviliges for Special Minorities" article. The chastizer began with an obligatory list of "-isms" and then incoherently rambled into singing .the glories of affimative action.

"But wait!" replied our lucky representative, ''If blacks have been denied education in the past and must now be compensated, I would like you to tell me, 'At whose expense?' Should someone born white, whose ancestors may have never discriminated against a black person, have to pay for the sins of the past?,' ''Yes,'' she replied.

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and Bisexual Womyn in Celebration of International Womyn's Week." Interested parties are invited to call 6687217 for further information. We encourage our readers not to hesitate.

37.5%

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVISTS FOR HIRE

Dumb headline of the month: ''Yale 'V' student murdered, Death follows increase in number of campus police officers," from the Daily, February 20. Unfortunately, neither the headline nor the article answered the question on everybody's mind: were the new campus police officers unable to deter this heinous deed, or was the deputized death squad ultimately responsible?

Don't believe the hype.

12.5%

12.5%

MEDIOCRE LEFTlST ACTORS

STUDENTS WITHOUT DATES

From the files of our French Wunderk: ind, Karen Brinkperoffspring, comes this gem of a quote: "It can be hard not to feel like a retarded slug some days." ..

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The Campus Affairs Journal of the University of Michigan Editor-in-Chief... ........ Brian Jendryka Executive Editor._ ..........Adam DeVore Executive Editor................Mark Tulkki Contributing Editor........Clifton Gault Contributing Editor................Jeff Muir Publisher......................... Mark O. Stem Business Manager.........Stacey Walker Assistant Editor................. Rahul Banta Assistant Editor.......... .DavidJ. Powell Copy Editor ........................ Dala Taylor Music Editor......................Chris Peters MTS Editor.......................Joseph Klein Francophile ................ Karen Brinkman Staff Chris Bair, Mike Beidler, David Boettger, Mister Boffo, Spencer Carney, Joe Coletti, Brian Cook, Sam Copi, Pete Daugavietis, Vincent DeSantis, Mary Dzon, Athena Foley, Adam Garagiola, John Gnodtke, Reg Goeke, Corey Hill, Jon Hoekstra, Nicholas Hoffman, Kishore Jayabalan, Heather Johnston, Jay McNeill, Crusty Muncher, Megan Nelles, Greg Roth, Michael Skinner, Chris Terry, Doug Thiese, John Transue, AI Tulkki, Anthony Woodlief.

Our Old Publisher......Brian Meadors Editor-at-Large_N __ ...John J. Miller

37.5%

NOSTALGIC. MIDDLE-AGED HIPPIE PACIASTS

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MICHIGAN REVIEW

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Editor Emeritus __ N_..Marc Selinger The Michiglln Rtt>iew is an independent, non-profit, student-run journal at the University of Michigan. We are not affiliated with any political party. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board. Signed articles represent the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the Rtt>iew. We weIoome letters and artides and enoourage oomments about the journal and issues discussed in it Our address is: Suite One 911 North University Ann Arbor, MI 48H19-1265 (313) 662-1909 Copyright 1991

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 3

Roving Photographer How would you assess President Bush's Gulf policy?

Jong Han, 50S (Support Our Soldiers) Administrative Coordinator: "He's handling things well. I think 50S is pleased that the ground war didn't take long. Our objective was to give the troops 100 percent support to accomplish their goal and get home as quickly as possible."

Ben Sandler, SAUSI (Students Against U. S. Intervention) member: "What angers me the most about the way this has been handled is the lack of care for the enemy. They talk about there being so few casualties when they are completely ignoring the casualties of the enemy."

Michael David Warren Jr., STUDS (Students United for Desert Storm) President: "The world has united against tyrannical aggression and utterly defeated it. American troops have done more for international peace, liberty, and human rights in a few months than years of leftist agitation and double talk."

A fun-loving protestor: "Read my lips."

r-----------------------------------------------------, Do you ...

Oppose speech bans?

Support the teaching of classic literature?

Abhor the politicization of the classroom?

Feel the U-M's leftists need to be challenged?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions,

I

support

The Michigan Review With your tax-deductible donation of $15 or more, you'll receive a one-year subscription to the campus affairs journal of the University of Michigan.

You'll read in-depth articles about the wasteful U-M bureaucracy, be the first to hear of First Amendment violations, and keep abreast of the forces working to erode traditional Western education.

I I I I I YES! I WOULD UKE TO HELP! I'm sending my tax-deductible donation of: :

__$15

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__other

: Name:

"Yes, I'll Subscribe!"

I Address: I -Suite One, 911 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1265-

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 4

From Suite One: Editorials

Free Market Dorms "West Quad, close to campus. We got it all!" read the advertisement. A man on the Diag was passing out handbills: "Alice Lloyd - it's not just for New Yorkers anymore!" Off in the distance one could see the evening rush for Bursley, renowned for its Friday night steak dinners.

This is Dorm World 2000, where the magic of market forces has worked its wonders on the formerly centrally controlled University of Michigan's Housing Division and Food Services. Milton Friedman cited Industrial Revolution era Britain and modern Hong Kong as bastions of prosperity in Free to Choose. Unfortunately, "free to choose" fails to describe life for the dorm denizens.

The U-M Housing Division is scrambling to hide this fact, and has recently started its own version of glasnost and perestroika. The glasnost, or "openness," are the many surveys. The perestroika, or "restructuring." are its few reforms. The reforms include greater flexibility in moving from one dorm to another, and the option to receive a partial rebate on the purchase of 13 meals per week. But the reforms, like perestroika, are trying to fix a flawed system.

What the Housing Division does not mention are the ridiculous assumptions behind its surveys. According to its misnamed "Options" pamphlet, "residents told us that they were interested in greater flexibility in our meal plan options."

As former dorm denizens ourselves: we can assure you that a slight misinterpretation has occurred.

The students are not dissatisfied with the number of meals per week - they are dissatisfied with the meal itself. Unfortunately, they have no other options.

Like perestroika and glasnost, the new housing reforms are really trying to bandaid a gaping wound.

How is the system flawed? Well, imagine a student in Mosher-Jordan, rising in anger after tasting his "meal" of "steak kow." The student marches up to the Mojo building director and says, "This food is terrible! Starting today, I am going to take inybusiness elsewhere. I will start eating at the Stockwell cafeteria." The building director would have little reason to care.

Or, imagine a student in Markley who is fed up with the vomit that sits in the

sinks from Friday to Monday because the cleaning crew does not work on weekends. Moreover, the student is suspicious of any dorm that calls its main lounge "the Pit." Can he tell the building director that he and his hall will go live in West Quad next year unless big changes are made? Certainly, but it would not have much impact. The building director has no real, vested interest in making students happy. And why should he? He receives the same amount of pay regardless.

The closer one looks at flOptions," the more evident it becomes that there are indeed few options. According to Larry Dursp of the U-M Housing Division" the U-M "wants to be able to respond" to student requests. Yet the only system capable of efficiently handling consumer desires is the marketplace. The only system that offers any real options is the marketplace. The only system that has consistently led all others in terms of efficiency and wealth is the marketplace.

Ideally, the University would remove itself from the housing business altogether and allow the market to fill the niche, assuming the stifling property taxes and zoning laws could be alleviated. As this situation is probably unrealistic, the U-M should do the next best thing - initiate free market incentives.

Building directors should receive a base pay plus a bonus. The bonus would be determined by how many students requested the dorm. Thus, building directors would have an incentive to improve their dorms. Likewise, bonuses should be given to Food Service managers, depending on the number of customers they serve. Then, the threat of "taking my business elsewhere" would actually have meaning. Directors and managers, with more freedom concerning operating expenses, would have incentives to improve living and eating conditions in the dorms. Working for their potential bonus, building directors would engage in room price wars, and cafeteria managers would improve the quality of their food The U-M makes no money from its dormitory robbery - the approximately $4000 per term per resident is how much it actually costs to run the building. End the waste. Leave students free to choose. Introduce free market incentives to U-M housing.

"Supporting the Troops" Our nation learned some painful lessons from Vietnam. One of these, learned especially well by the Abbie Hoffman wanna-be's here on campus, is the importance of emphasizing support for the troops in the field. This tactic is effective at fending off accusations of being unpatriotic. But how realistic of a claim is it to make? Are not the ideas of ''I support the individual, volunteer soldier fighting in Iraq" and "The job they are doing is immoral and wrong" mutually exclusive?

It would seem that a large part of the answer to ,this depends on how you define the word "support." A Ronald Reagan flsupporter" is generally assumed to hold the same beliefs and share the same goals as Ronald Reagan. How is it possible to "support" someone and yet claim that what they are choosing to do is wrong? By protesting the military presence in Iraq, groups like Students Against United States Intervention (SAUSl), are undermining the mission of the military and the individual soldier. And it seems safe to say that "undermine" would be a good antonym, not synonym, for "support."

It is one thing for people to engage in intellectual debates about the nuances of war policy and quite another to routinely hit the protest social circuit, deriding Desert Storm as immoral and unjust. Many prominent conservatives and liberals alike were opposed to U.S. military intervention in Kuwait before January 16, and have remained critical of the wisdom of such a move since the invasion. But their criticism is usually accompanied by an attitude of wanting to end the conflict quickly and debating the politics ofit afterwards. These people know SAUSI-style protesting only serves to demoralize U.S. troops while allowing Saddam Hussein to see the illusion of a divided America (while polls show that support for the President and his Gulf policy is holding steady in the mid-80% range).

Our nation followed its democratic process into military action in the Persian Gulf. Massive troops were committed in September, and. the P..resident, stq.ted

emphatically that the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq would "not stand." Elections were held in November, in which every member of the House and one third of the Senate was up for re-election. The American people knew the stakes then, and made their will known. All but one senator was re-elected, and 98% of the House of Representatives were returned to office. In 1992 we will all have an opportunity, with the benefit of hindSight, to make known how we think the entire crisis was handled.

If the members of SAUSI truly sought the speedy return of all U.S troops and a quick conclusion to fighting, protesting the war was the wrong way to go about it. Debate ought properly to take place before and after such conflicts, not during, especially if oneis trulyconcemed about the welfare of the troops, asSAUSI claims it is. We are certain that the 500,000 service-members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in the gulf, all of whom volunteered for service, and all of whom are specialists who take pride in their mission, do not feel "supported" by protests and assessments of their mission as "immoral."

SAUSI ought to get honest with itself and with the community. If it is truly against the war and decides to actively protest while fighting is occurring, it ought not try to soften the seriousness of this decision by claiming to "support" the troops.

SAUSI's right to freedom of expression and freedom to peaceably assemble will be respected whenever they protest U.S. intervention. But SAUSI ought to take it upon itself to be honest regarding its true sentiments about the war. To use the claim that they "support the troops" as a means to avoiding harsher criticism or to attract members who would not otherwise join is cowardly and an insult to our soldiers. , ..

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The Michigan Review, March 6,1991, p. 5

But wait, there's Muir

Oh no, it's Psychological Rape!

by Jeff Muir "Hello Beautiful. Kiss, kiss, wink,

wink."

You may not be aware of it, gentle reader, but you are now a victim of rape. Because you observed a picture "staring" at you and have read the written equivalent of "verbal harassment," and "kissing noises/' you have been raped,at least as far as Julie Steiner of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) is concerned.

Steiner and SAP AC cla.im that these are all examples of "psychological rape," as are "whistling, heavy breathing orslycomments/' al;:cording to a recent article in the Michigan Daily.

This is just the lateSt in a series of dubious "facts" about rape, date rape, and acquaintance rape. Not orily does this effort to tum normal males into perverted sex freaks make it easier for men to be falsely accused of rape, but more importantly, it cheapens and degrades the seriousness of real rape.

Perhaps Steiner thinks that if everybody who has ever breathed heavily, stared, made kissing noises or sly cominents is really a rapist, and were locked away, she could then live in a Feminist Utopia.

Following an accusation of date rape at Colgate University, local officials passed a law making '(women who are visibly intoxicated legally incapable of consenting to sex," according to National Public Radio.

That this law is d emeaning to women and to theconceptofindividual responsibility should be obvious. But using this same logic, it seems just as reasonable to have a law stating that any man who is visibly intoxicated should be legally incapable of deciding to rape. Butthenagain, pop-psychology and logic don't often mix well.

According to SAPAC' s definition of "psychological rape," thinking to yourself,"Gee,IwishJen Van Valeyor Corey Dolgon would get hit by a bus," would be "psychological murder".

The main force behind the drive towards transforming normal human behavior into rape is probably a few really angry women armed with some really shaky statistics.

Given half a chance, most any feminist will assualt you with the following well-worn statistic: "One in three womenJf.e victims of rape."

Now, if my looking longingly at a girl's butt constitutes rfl.pe, then I'll buy this stat.

But it shouldn't, and I don't.

This often blathered statistic is rarely questioned, because, well, nobody wants to seem insensitive torape.

And hey, if some rape counselor says it is so, it must be so. Right?

Wrong.

This figure comes from Professor Mary P. Koss, of the University of Arizona. To arrive at "One in three women are sexually attacked," she simply mailed out 5,000 que$onnaires to women in the Oeveland area. Of those people who responded, 27.5% claimed to

have been "victimized by rape or attempted rape since the age of 14."

First, as any statistician will tell you, volunteer samples are considered to be neither mathematically correct nor generalizable. So this" one in three" business is utterly meaningless. And, if we apply the "Mathematical Reality Theory," we find that 27.5% is a lot closer to one quarter than one third.

Hmmmm.

It seems that once again, a small number of people with a personal axe to grind have been given a measure of power, and they are running rampant with it.

The routine is always the same: Some know-it-all will take a legitimate cause that most people will agree is bad (racism, sexism, rape) and make it seem like these things occur all the time, right under our noses. Then they attempt to convince the majority of the population that they are probably all

Please See Page 12

Letters to the Editor Policy Article Misleading The article on the Sexual Harassment Policy of the Political Science Department grossly misrepresented the intent of the policy. Your headline and the tone of the article suggested that the Political Science Department is eager to"clamp down on bad speech."

Ms. Walker (the author) emphasizes a conflict between free speech and the community of trust the policy aims to create. Of course, the policy does not attempt to control language used withinoroutside the classroom. Rather, it urges that faculty and students recognize the way in which the context and the tone of that language can have a detrimental effect on students' ability to perform in the classroom and in the profession of the discipline. While commenting that a student is attractive in itself need not cause harm or concern, repetitive allusions to personal appearance accompanied by other innuendoes of gesture or language can be threatening. The goal of our policy is not to "ban" any language; it is rather to educate all members of our co~u­ nity.

By focusing on free speech and alleged sanctions that the Department in fact cannot exercise, Ms. WaU<er ig~ nores the goal of allowing all our students and faculty equal treatment, re-

spect and the opportunity for professional development.

We hope this clarifies the goals and commitments of our department.

.

Arlene W. Saxon house Professor and Chair Jocelyn Sargent, President Graduate Association of Political Science

Policy Chills Men, Too After reading Stacey Walker's article 'The Big Chill: Clamping Down on 'Bad' Speech," I was reminded of a personal experience from last semester.

While visiting 'a lecturer in her office hours, I encountered a situation similar to one of the incidents of "Sexual Harassment" reported by the Women's Caucus of the Department of Political Science. Nervous about an upcoming paper, I ventured into her office to discuss my anxiety. While attempting to boost my confidence, the lecturer placed her hand on my knee. Of course, I recognized this as a gesture of assurance. Butii a professor resting his hand on a female student'sback is considered "sexual harassment," what could my lecturer's actions be construed as?

Maybe I should discuss this occurrence with Professor Arlene W. Saxonhouse, Chair of the Political Science Department, as I myself am a Political Science major and am directly affected by the department's policies, To 'avoid a

double standard, perhaps a ''Policy on Reverse-Sexual Harassment" would be .forthcoming. Keep up the good work.

Justin R. Lawrence

LSA saphomore

Muir is a Spoiled Child Jeff Muir's comments on the Minority Scholars Program were totally ridiculous. He sounded like a spoiled child wanting everything to go his way.

There is always a racist comment or two in the Michigan Review, and they alwaysmakemenauseated, but Muir's article actually made me gag.

First of all, whether or not you realize it, there is no way in the world that a program like this could hurt whites or Asian- Americans. Both of those races have economic and educational advantages surpassing those of African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Asian-Americans and whites automatically are considered "college material," while AfricanAmericans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have to go the extra mile to prove it. A lot of times they don't get the chance to do this because they are automatically shoved out of the running. This program just puts them back in the race.

Secondly, programs like this will not make a student believe that hel she ·

"cannot compete with whites or Asians." Programs such as this one will encourage students to excel and provide them with support. What is wrong with helping students which otherwise would be unable to attend college. You are going to have to come up with a reason better than "reverse racism," because it is an old, worn-out phrase and it doesn't really exist.

My final reason I hated your article is because you ask one of the directors of the program if an Asian-American or white wanted to getinto the progratn, could they? What a stupid question!!

Why would a supposedly intelligent white or Asian-American student ask about a program for African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans? The inclusion of that question was a waste of space.

I really think that you should stop being so selfish. Whites, and now Asian-Americans, have advantages that other races should be able to relish, too. If giving other races a little help is what it takes, then so be it Stop thinkingaboutyourselfandthinkabouthow it feels for African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans to constantly be in last place for everything in this country except poverty, crime, and illiteracy . .

Dorcas Blue LSA

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 6

Opinion

Women's Studies: Feminist Imperialism

by David J. Powell

The Women's Studies Program at the University of Michigan has endured asa syrnbol of theU-M adrninistration's inability to withstand pressure from special interest groups.

Politics have been traditionally denied access to the classroom, which was set aside as a forum for purely intellectual discourse and the pursuit of knowledge. Today, special-interest groups have subordinated the Academia's noble goals to prejudiced political demands. As a result, entire disciplines are being erected solely on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation. None of these new "disciplines," however, present critical or objective views of their topics, and all are suspiciously self-approving. As critical theories, they Seem sOmewhat

free of criticism.

Since the creation of the Women's Studies Program in 1973, academic feminism has been at the forefront of the movement to enshrine politics at the center of the university. In the process, these politically-motivated challenges to traditional study, have virtually transformed the defiiUtion of a liberal education.

Academic feminism's constant demands for conformity to the feminist ideology (replete with its own language, art, history, logic, philosophy, theology, science, and political agenda) suppresses the university's vital intellectual freedoms by proceeding on the untestable and uncontested premise that there .exists a distinct feminist vieWpoint. Christina Hoff Sommers, Associate Professor of Philosophy at

Profs: "No Comment" In the course of researching myarticle, I contacted on Mrs every full professor who teaches in the University of Michigan's Women's Studies Program, as well as June Howard, an associate professor.

Very few replied. Those who did failed to address the questions, reaffirming my impression that the Women's Studies Program at the U-M prefers to re~n intellectually unchallenged. I had a particularly vitriolic exchange with Pr0fessor Abigail Stewart, the current director of women's studies.

Here are their responses:

willpresent itself for you to learn more about women's studies."

SHERRY ORTNER: No comment.

ARLENE SAXONHOUSE: No comment.

DOMNA STANTON: No comment.

ABIGAIL STEWART #1: "Before responding, I'd like to know more about what you are writing this story for, and what the purpose of this story is. I'd also like assurance that I will have an opportunity to review any quotations."

Clark University in Massachusetts, claims that "the assertion that there is such a thing as 'the perspective of

women' is as suspect as the (Nazi) idea of 'Aryan science.

Carol Iannone, Professor of English at Iona College in New York, identified the cruel irony of the current situation il}. an essay printed in the February, 1990 Michigan Review: "The very years that women were encouraged to establish identities beyond gender restrictions, entire fields of knowledge were deliberately splintered off and genderized."

In other words, just as women were increasingly likely to take advantage of their equal status, they were told by the feminists that they must separate themselves from men. Such attitudes are wholly reminiscent of the "separate, but equal" doctrine our country defused only several years prior to the rise of academic feminism.

Separateness, of course, implies inequailty.

The U-M's first foray into this emerging movement occured in 1973, when an exploratory committee, led by then-graduate student Lydia 1II

Kleiner, successfully convinced the University into believing that there were "good political reasons" for the formation of an interdisciplinary women' 5 studies program. The interdisciplinary nature of the program underscored the goal of creating a distinct feminist viewpoint in all areas of study. According to feminist scholar Brigitte Berger, this amounts to "nothing less than an imperialism of feminist sentiment."

The U- M Women's Studies Program held its first classes in the fall semester of 1973 under the direction of Professor Margaret Lourie. By 1974, the program had already spawned The University of Michigan Papers in Women's Studies, distinguishing it as oneof the leaders in the emerging field.

Current U-M Women's Studies Professor Martha Vicinus, in a collectionofessayscommemorating the 10th anniversary of the program, identifies the top priority of feminist scholarship when she reveals that she is engaged in

the "task" of "rewriting" history. Coauthor Vivian .Patraka concurs when she partakes in what she calls "reimagining and redefining the past."

In order to impose their feminist "vision" onto the past, the Founding Moms of women's studies have felt it

Please See Page 12

ELIZABETH DOUVAN: No comment.

JUNE HOWARD: ''The answers to some of your questions- the goals of women's studies, the creation of other such units [on the basis of genderandsexua1orientation],and so forth - are very complicated. I don't know that you can get from figuring out the difference between a "program" and a "department" in an electronic message..."

ANN LARRIMORE: " wish that the questions you have asked were answerable in a few minutes but they are not. The answ.ers are complex and need consideration -...

Perhaps another opportunity

ABIGAIL STEWART #2: "Since you have stated up front your view [that you are opposed to the creation of a discipline solely on the basis of gender] it seems quite pointless to respond."

MARTHA VICINUS: "I am on leave this semester - it would be more appropriate to speak with Abby Stewart, the current director."

Of these, only June Howard invited further discussion. As a follow up to this essay, I hope to conduct an interview with Ms. Howard for a future edition of the Michigan Re-

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Campus Affairs

English Department Changes Curriculum

by John J. Miller English students might now be able to graduate from the University of Michigan without having read Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Milton.

The U-M English department recentlyannounced the creation of a new curriculum for its undergraduate majors. The plan will affect all students declaring an English concentration after April 1.

Although the old curriculum had been in effect for more than a decade, the department has discussed possible changes over the last four years. Associate Professor Ralph G. Williams, associate chair of the English department and the driving force behind the new curriculum, cited "points of intolerable strain" upon theoldcurricu1um-Iarge class sizes, three "rigid" required core classes; and pressure accommodating students in senior seminar courses.

Most important, perhaps, is the. burgeoning size of the department. The early 1980s saw approximately 200 English majors; presently there are 910.

Under the old plan, students were required to tak~English 240: Introd uction to Poetry as a prerequisite to concentration, and then complete 27 credits atthe 300 or 400 level. These credits had to include three core survey courses, a senior seminar, one class focusing on a pre-1800 topic (which could not be the popular Shakespeare course),anda "New Traditions" class, which concentrated on the writings of what Williams called "works previously not well represented in the academy."

The new curriculum retains English 240 asci. prerequisite, the. New Traditions requirement, and the minimum 27 credits of 300 or 400 level study. Changes include the additions of English 239: What is Uterature? as a second prerequisite, one class devoted to AmericanUterature, and the elimination of tl)e core classes. Replacing the cores are one class on pre-l600 literature and two classes on pre-l830 literature. .

The elimination of the three core classesrnarks what is perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the new plan. Students will no longer be required to engage in a \Xide-ranging,chronological study of the language's literature.

These courses will be replaced with classes ofa more thematic bent, relieved from the str~ins of studying several centuries worth of material in one semester. Williams, for example, . __ , _ .. .an___ 4

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nounced at a forum held to discuss the new curriculum that he plans to teach a classon "the language oflove." Readings will include Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton.

A weakness of this new arrangement is the fact that a student could graduate with an English degree from the U-M without ever having read Chaucer, Spenser, or Milton.

serve to exacerbate the problem, some English department faculty members believe.

"Thisisa potential weakness," said Krook, "but the department will be encouraging the prerequisites be taken as prerequisites."

According to Representations: A

Newsletter of the Undergraduate English Program, English 239 will help students

Sir Walter Scott because they are of roughly equal merit. By placing them in their own special categories, critics assert, the works become marginalized.

Their required study smacks of an affirmative action program in scholarship.

AssIstant Professor Steven Sumida, who teaches a New Traditions cm.. rse on Asian-American literature and serves on the New Traditions Ad Hoc Committee, approves of the requirement. "I think it is a positive thing.

There are indeed students who develop more awareness," he said.

Williams said that he tends to dislike requirements, butthat he supports the New Traditions requirement because it will help diffuse underrepresented works into the curriculum as a whole. "I'd like to see the day when this requirement is not needed, when these works are a part of our myriad literary tradition," he said.

"The requirement will make students become skilled in reading in another context," said Krook, who serves with Sumida on the New Traditions committee and supports the requirement. "Students will be better able to evaluate literature and culture."

Krook views the requirement as having a dual goal: to diffuse underrepresented literature into the more canonical courses, and to preserve their independence by making available classeswhich are separate from the standard canon.

The additional freedom the new English curriculum grants students will probably please many. With this added freedom, however, must come added responsibility,and students themselves will have to make a greater effort to . guarantee they receive an education worthy of the U-M.

"determine what it is that we study, and how we choose to talk about it-both as we analyze it thematically and structurally, and as we discuss the complex pleasures its reading provides."

The class might be a useful introduction to an English concentration, perhaps especially among students with poor backgrounds in the discipline. But the burden of a second prerequisite might actually deter a number of students who might otherwise choose to major in English. Moreover, for those student who complete the prerequisite after taking several upperlevel classes, the introductory class Associate Prof. Ralph G. Williams: The driving force would have signifibehind the new English curriculum. cantly less value.

The New Tradi. tions requirement, although not a Assistant Professor Anne Krook, change in the curriculum, remains an who supports the new curriculum, issue of "considerable debate amongst admits this posSibility, noting "the new those who care," said Williams. curriculum asks students to make more . To qualify as a New Traditions choices. It places more responsibility on the students to know what they John-J. Miller is a junior in English course, the class reading list must consist of a majority of works written and editor-at-Iarge of the Review. want." by women, minorities, or authors with "An inventive student could avoid backgrounds typically ignored by the Chaucer and Milton," said Williams, literary canon, such as works by Cana"but this is not the kind of English . dian and Irish writers. major I know."

Critics of the requirement often Other members of the English faccite the dangers of ghettoization. That ulty who wished to rernain anonymous We hold meetings every is, by segregating certain authors into criticized the addition of a second preSunday night at 7 pm in our office their own specially categories instead requisite. They believe students often on the third floor of the of incorporating them into a more traabused theoriginal,singleprerequisite Michigan League. ditional context, underrepresented by taking it well into their English conworks of quality will riever find a place centrations. Prerequisites, of course, Call 662-1909 for more in the standard literary canon. Jane are intended to serve as introductions information.

Austen and Mary Shelley are taught to a subject. alongside William Wordsworth' and . Requiring English 239 will only • '. . , .••• -. . ' > 1 ;._ _ .___ ._ ._ _ _ _ _ , ______ ~ :~~~ ____ _ _ : :~ , ~ ~-~~_ .. __ .____ .. _,_..: ._ ...... .-.1

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 8

Interview

Charting the Decline of the University On February 25, John J. Miller of the Review interviewed Dr. George Roche, who has served as president of Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale, Michigan, since 1971. Over the last two decades, Hillsdale College has fought a federal government which has sought to extend its rule over the small liberal arts school. In order to preserve its autonomy over such matters as student enrollment and faculty hiring, Hillsdale has never accepted government aid, and in 1985 was even forced to deny admission to students who needed to finance their education through government loans.

Established in 1844, Hillsdale was educating women and free slaves before the Civil War. Today it successfully fends off a righteous federal bureaucracy which believes it knows best what the gender and ethnic compositions of a school should be.

privatizing higher education, many people would be priced out.

funded, we have been able to stay apart from that process.

ROCHE: That's one of the assumptions which is often made. I think, REVIEW: You have said that only prifrankly, it's invalid. Here at Hillsdale, vate colleges can offer opportunity to a little better than 70 percent of our everybody. Why? students receive financial support. Our ROCHE: The sense in which I meant total cost package, if you remove the tax benefits that go to public instituthat was not to overlook the fact that in a publicly-funded institution there are tions, provides an entirely privately,__ ' ,. :""""'" . . . . , ',<;:... . funded education at a lesser cost than state schools and schools receiving federal dollars.

REVIEW: How is Hillsdale able to keep a teacher-student ratio of 14 to 1, whereas this is obviously not the case at other schools?

lic schools and a variety of private alternatives. But that is a matter of local communities and individual parents.

REVIEW: How do small, private colleges like Hillsdale compare with enormous, public institutionslikethe University of Michigan? How would you persuade a high school senior, for example, .to attend Hillsdale instead of the UM?

REVIEW: What role, if any, should the government play in educational matters?

ROCHE: It would depend upon the level of education. We traditionally have been a country that values public education for elementary and secondary school. Dealing with higher education, there was a time when there were virtually no public institutions financed by federal or state dollars in the entire country. Virtually all of American higher education was funded by the private sector with specific traditional values and God-centered values. It's hard to believe that now, but that's actually the way it all began.

So if we're talking about higher education, I would say there really is no necessary rationale for government intervention. If we're talking about publicly-funded schools on the lower level we now seem to be evolving in this country toward a time when private education is offering some very important alternatives. If anytQing, I think the role of government in education should be declining.

REVIEW: Should the government ultimately get out of the business of education?

ROCHE: I certainly thirik it should in higher education. In publicly-funded matters I think there is room for communities, if these are local communities, making the decision to have pub-

good professors or that there are good students. There are both. And when good professors and good students. come together, educational opportunity is still present. The great difficulty with higher education in the public sector is that it has tended to bring a substantial amount of political pressures which color that educational structure. The present business of p0litical correctness and the last 20 years of affirmative action laws are both instances of something distorting higher education and actually interfering with the educational process and educational opportunity. Agood teacher and a good student will get together wherever they happen to be, but the atmosphere ina private institution is greatly enhanced in the opportunities it provides.

REVIEW: It would seem that with

ROCHE: My own background was as a professor of history in a large stateuniversitythe University of Colorado. I had a survey class there in excess of 500 students. I assure you there is no connection between that experience and anything called education. In the first place, it's a matter of scale At Hillsdale, we have a studentteacher ratio of 14 to 1. By our sesquicentennial in 1994, our present plans and funding efforts call for a studentteacher ratio of 11 to 1. That close relationship between teacher and taught is a special opportunity which only a small school, or a small private school in our time, seems able to achieve.

Another advantage comes back to this matter of the political pressures that are generally produced by political dollars. We find, in our time, that what a professor is able to say in class and what a student is able to learn is colored by the political pressures of the institution involved. Fortunately, because Hillsdale is entirely privately ~

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ROCHE: Partially because we're spending private dollars, which means we can be a Ii ttle less profligate in their expense. We tend to keep our efforts targeted. We have a core curriculum, and we make no apologies about it. We think there are certain elements traditional to a liberal arts education which all students who are going to be properly educated should have as part of their experience. I'm talking about the Westemtradition;theJudeo-Christian heritage, the unique application of that heritage here in America, a whole body of history and literature, politics and economics touching every aspect of a properly educated person's life. We feel this is central to any proper education. Because of this, we're not nearly as likely to proliferate into vast programs, vast faculties, and vast departments going in all sorts of directions in every conceivable area. That leaves us with a much smaller overhead, a much more do-able task than a large, politicized university.

REVIEW: What subjects are required study at Hillsdale and why are they so important?

ROCHE: The liberal arts tradition for us means something quite different than it means on many othercampuses.

At so many places the liberal arts are what's left over in the catalog after the vocational courses have been removed.

We don't mean that, we mean something quite specific: the Greeks, the Romans, theJude<H:hristianheritage, the American experience, the whole body of literature and tradition coming through in that fashion Shakespeare, John Locke, the Founding Fathers. It means a very standardized canon, frankly, of what an educated person should receive. It is precisely that canon which has suffered so very badly on so many campuses as those political pressures to which I was referring have grown.

REVIEW: A vital aspect of a U-M education is the wide range of student opinions one will likely encounter. Having one's views constantly

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challenged can transform vague notions into convictions. Do students experience this same kind of intellectual confrontation at Hillsdale?

ROCHE: We are not confronted by the wide range of sexual preference questionsand the rest which seem to plague so many campuses in our time. But in terms of powerful intellectual debate, we try very hard to provide that at Hillsdale. Our program in public policy for our faculty and students - the Center for Constructive Alternatives - has attracted in the last 20 years nearly 700 major national and international figures with an important message to share with our students. And when we bring these people in, it's in small enough groups so that there's a direct relationship between teacher and taught with a substantial chance to interact. We are also careful to bring in differing points of view. For example, we did a program several years ago on the regulatory .state, and one of our guests on the Hillsdale campus was Ralph Nader, and he engaged in a debate with a professor.

We have a quite specific definition of what a properly educated person should know, but we offer a wide variety of ways in which these items are discussed and even a debate over whether that is the position we should be adopting. We're not afraid of a debate.

REVIEW: Have there been anti-war protests at Hillsdale?

ROOlE:No, there have not. And again, that is essentially because we view an institution of higher learning as something which can only be most effective if it is apart from highly politicized pressures. My own graduate work at the University of Colorado was in the 19605, a time I assure you when a lot of excitement similar to some of the things going on now, except in those days the shoe was often on the other foot - the anti-war protests seemed to very much outweigh any other kind of demonstration that might occur. And the leftist pressures generated at that time made it actually dangerous for a pr<r fessor or student to have other views than to go along with that dominant anti-war persuasion. That's a shame, that's not what campuses should be engaged in. It's an attempt to avoid those political pressures which cause us to operate as we do.

REVIEW: Of course, many people would accuse Hillsdale of succumbing to an ideology of its own - they would seek to pigeonhole all of the

Western.tradition as a mere ideology.

Can you refute this kind of claim?

ROCHE: As I examine the other cultures which are offered as alternatives to Western culture, on which we ought to base our educational experience, I find no particularly good candidate.

The patterns of a third world ideology, feminist ideology, sexual preference ideology, black ideology, or whatever, area series of special pleadings.There's

about the educational communities in which it occurs. This leads me to wonder what source, if indeed they ha\'l,' any source at all, they now prescribe for these fundamental values which they advance. The splfiludi trrldi tion of the Western world the Old and New Testaments - is sometimes painted as thought it were repressive and limiting. It is not. As far as I know, the spiritual tradition gives

To choose to be animals rather than men is not a choice which is viable for us. room inside the Western tradition for men and women, black and white, simply judged as individual human beings, which is whatthe Western tra. dition finally is demanding and is all about. The special pleading comes from the political pressures to set aside our basic tradition and substitute these special pleadings in their place.

harmony and purpose and direction and above all dignity to individuals as they make their choices and order their priorities. Our insistence upon that dignity gives people a wide range in which to choose. But to choose to be animals rather than men is not a choice which is viable for us.

REVIEW: Are Hillsdale students ever exposed to these "special pleadings"?

REVIEW: How does a student from a different religious background or from no N'ligious background fit into thb schp"'le?

ROCHE: In one fashion or another, I say they are, partially through the pr<r grams which I've mentioned in which speakers have ideas which don't have to pass any kind of litmus test of approval from me or from our faculty.

But also I think there's quite a free give and take between and among our students. The students who come to Hillsdale are prod ucts of the same culture in which we find ourselves. They bring some of those same ideas 'and a tti tudes with them. Our job is to offer a proper education. That comes far short oflimi ting dialogue in our claSses ..

ROCHE: On our campus we have faculty and students from the Jewish tradition. We have Muslims as well - of course their numbers are very small - but in the ,main, those who come here do so because they are looking for an education, because they wish to explore a given educational tradHion which includes, even demands, that spiritual dimension be discussed.

Russell Kirk, who the Review interviewed a couple of months back, is always talking about T.S. REVIEW: You've called for the return Eliot and the "permanent things" of Judeo-Christian values to the those things one generation must classroom at all levels of education. hand down to another through Why do feel this religious training is education. To deny the permanency of some values or to deny the necessary? spiritual roots. which give that , ROCHE: One of the great arguments permanency is finally to deny the that has been going on for quite a educational tradition itself. while in the Western world is whether a religious tradition has REVIEW: The Western scientific validity and purpose. Those who tradition, of course, has also say it does not have never launched some very formidable demonstrated very effectively what attacks upon Judeo-Christian ideas. basic source for their values and attitudes they would put in place of ROC HE: Those are now almost those spiritual roots. As a result, a passe. We went through a stage for rootlessness develops which finally some time, beginning in the late 19th destroys the educational process and century and moving through a good the tradition along with it. The part of the 20th century, in which idea of serious discussion as to all of that was set aside by a new whether or not sodomy is an scientific tradition. Science itself acceptable lifestyle says something has increasingly come not to retreat

from that position, but to go beyond it to a more effective position by exposing roots which demand some outside Creator presiding over the universe, which demand certain conditions in the human experience, which nothing within quantitative science has ever been able to satisfy.

Some of the most aggressive spiritual thought which has gone on in the last several decades in this country has been from the scientific community. The Western tradition is alive and well, especially in contemporary science.

REVIEW: What does the future hold for Hillsdale College?

ROCHE : Our future is especially bright. We have a fine reputation.

We are continually ranked among the best schools by the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, and the National Review very prominently displayed us in its new book. We are doubling the size of our library and our science facilities, building a new fine arts building and a new athletic complex, we have added several new dormitories, we are adding to our scholarship endowment to attract bright young men and women from around the country to our campus. All of these things are possible because there is a 路large national audience of people who value traditional education.

REVIEW: What does the future hold for George Roche?

ROCHE: George Roche has been many times blessed. I've been here for 20 years, which makes me something of a dinosaur among college and university presidents. I appreciate this continuity, and everything we're doing at Hillsdale is absolutely central to my own life and the things which I most value. I have been blessed to see those values prosper inordinately here at Hillsdale. I will continue to do everything in my power to broaden and deepen that influence. I think George Roche has found the place he would like to be.

Along the way I've turned down some other places to which I might have gone, including some prestigious places in the academic community. But quite frankly, I've never found a place with such a complete commitment to the ideas and values we have here.

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Satire

Left Out in a Right-Handed World

by John Gnodtke Before entering the University of Michigan, I realized that prejudice existed in American society. What I did not know was the extent to which this condition affects our daily lives. Wallowing in my naivete, I thought that only gender, race, and sexual orientation could be reasons for harassment.

All of this changed during my orientation last August.

Between the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center's (SAPAC) program where male students were treated like saturated hormonal sponges, and the "Take a Women's Studies course!" lecture from the orientation leaders, I was subjected to an hour-long session during which I first learned of the "hegemony." To ensure that everyone realize the inherent, insti tu tionalized oppression which is embedded in our society, the U-M makes each incoming student '1eam" about dassism, ableism, lookism, and many other -isms.

After forcing my 14 companions into accepting a definition of prejudice which maintained that only those in the majority could be guilty of politically correct blasphemy, our discussion leader told us of the many subtle tactics used by The Establishment to oppress minority groups. We were told that homosexuals are raised in a society constantly sending them messages that they are acting incorrectly. In addition, the English language is inherently slanted with negative connotations toward African-Americans since many phrases containing black images, such as "black cat" and "behind the eight ball," imply bad situations.

Rather dazed, I stumbled out of East Quad contemplating'whether the country I had grown up loving could be as bad as these bastions of truth and justice had claimed. That evening, I overheard some students jokingly discussing how left-handed' people were victims of discrimination. One mentioned that notebooks are made for right-handers. Another commented on how certain auditoriums segregate all left-handed desks to one side. I dismissed their jests as attempts to avoid debating the real issues, but the conversation, nevertheless,lingered at the back of my mind.

Since then, I have discovered the awful truth that rightism does exist.

The previously mentioned examples do not do the topic justice! however.

Much like lesbians ~~d ga¥men', l~ft-

handers are often told they are doing things the "incorrect" way. Also, the English language has negative slants toward "left" language. Had I not been required to attend my orientation session, I never would have understood the plight of left-handed people.

The hand one chooses to favor is an innate decision, much like sexual orientation. When a child initially draws with a crayon or throws a ball, it is one of that youth's first expressions of individuality. Unfortunately, some people have set ideas that it is "normal" to be right-handed. When I was first learning to color, I felt the desire to experience all oflife' s possibilities, and used both hands. Then, one fateful morning I was shown by my teacher the way "most people" color. What child would not want to be like the rest of the kids? I was brainwashed into accepting left-handedness as incorrect.

Rather than allowing natural impulses to be felt, far too often children are reprimanded and shown the "right" way.

By the time I had entered elementary school and began to play baseball, my inner strength had grown and I did not let others push me around. Every time I stepped up to the batter's box swinging left-handed, insensitive teammates would tell me to stop messing around and bat the "right" way. Leaming to ignore their jeers was an important moment in my life. Only now do I realize that they were in fact harassing me.

Even if a person can avoid societal brainwashing, the English language reinforces the inferior images of lefthanded people through the negative connotations of "left" language. If something is "left," it has been abandoned or forgotten, evidently because it is unimportant or unworthy. Yet something that is "right" is obViously correct. Insincere compliments are deemed "left-handed." People who are fairly clueless are deemed "out in left field."

Our hegemonic society's deepseated hatred ofleft-handed individuals reveals itself through the etymological roots of our corrupt language.

The Latin "dexter," or "right," has trickled down to English as "dexterity," which implies skill and aptitude.

The Latin word for left, however, is "sinister." Since our nation's Western ideals are the reason for all oppression throughout the world, the manner in r•ds , ,"Ihi~,~ Eng,li~~ Pf~. ~isted ~~~_'t9 . , . ' - ' 1 , . .. . . , • , . " , " ,

is no surprise.

We must as a society take a deeper look at the problem of left-handed discrimination, and take whatever steps necessary to remedy the situation. If this means big government programs, so be it. We should send out literature encouraging people to "tell someone about manualism." Counseling should be made available, free of charge, for all left-handed people so that we can enhance our self-respect. We must rid our school systems of outdated auditoriums and replace them with progressive ones, such as that in the new Chemistry Building, where students of different manual orientations can intermingle.

The U-M has taken some steps to remedy this problem, but we cannot allow the job to go unfinished. Diversity classes should be developed that discuss issues of manual orientation. A Department of Left-handed Affairs should be fonned and given a large budget. A vice-provost for Left-

handed Affairs must be appointed.

Hopefully, manual orientation will be added to the U-M regental bylaws next to sex, race, and Vietnam-era veteran status. We must use any means necessary.

Please, send messages to President Duderstad ton MTS, interrupt regental meetings, rally on the Diag, amputate your right hand - do whatever you can. Should we do otherwise, the travesties of oppression and hegemony will only continue to fester like an exposed wound.

John Gnodtke is a freshman in LSA and a staff writer for the Review. If you can correctly pronounce his last name, then you should feel very good about yourself.

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iNo Comprendo!

Continued From Page 1 The U-M is not alone in having many nOh-English speaking teaching assistants. Most colleges rely on these TAs to teach discussion sections.

Whether it be MIT, Harvard or even Michigan State, students invariably complain about their ITA instructors. ''Many of my instructors for math and science at Boston University had a difficult time relating concepts because of the language problem," said transfer student David Miller.

According to Dr. Sarah Briggs, of the U-M English Language Institute (ELI), one way to counter these '1anguageproblems" is to give the teaching assistant another chance to explain the material. It may not be the TA, but rather the subject that is giving the student difficulty. "Students may not like the class or perform so poorly that the non-native speaking TA becomes the dog to kick," said Dr. Briggs.

Dr. Briggs also said departments are continually trying to improve their

non-native speakers' language capabilities.If students are having difficulty understanding a teaching assistant, they should alert the department. Most departments will accomodate students who want to transfer sections. Concerns can also be directed to Dr. Briggs at the English Language Institute.

According to Dr. Briggs, the quality of IT As at the U-M is high. "Based on my experience with other colleges and universities, the U-M has significantly higher standards than most schools, as high/if not higher, than any of our peer institutions."

The number of complaints about ITAs has in fact decreased in recent years. Professor James Kister, personnel director of the Math Department, "Departments have been more conservative, screening ITAs. Consequently, foreign teaching assistants tend to have a better English communication skills."

The U-M uses the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), a written and oral English Board com-

prehension test similar to the English Usage section of the SAT, as a screening test for prospective ITAs. Although the departments are demanding higher scores on the test from their candida tes, there is some evidence that these students sometimes take "cram courses" in their native countries for the TOEFL. Because of these courses, some students may not have the English speaking capabilities their test score would indicate. "In that case, we try to place them in positions where they canimprove their language skills before they become TAs," stated Professor Kister.

After ITAs come to the U-M, they go through a summer workshop where their English skills are evaluated.

Weaknesses in their communication skills are then improved upon before they become TAs. In addition, IT As receive individual department training. After ITAs are assigned classes, evaluators and members of the EU sit in on classes where they routinely monitor the IT As to determine their

classroom performance.

The classroom is the place for questions. It is the responsibility of the instructor, language barrier notwithstanding, to impart knowledge to their students. Therefore if students are having difficulty understanding their TA, they must take it upon themselves to remedy the situation. Students should first go to their TAs' office hours to seek help. If the problem continues students should contact the department to see if they can transfer sections or contact Dr. Briggs at the ELI. Language difficulties in the classroom occur at all universities. It has become a part of most students' college learning experience. The rational students must work with the system if they intend to succeed.

by Arbor Park. The doctors and nurses make the diagnosis and then get the sperm samples from Arbor Park.

Barbara Champion, business man- . ager of the Ann Arbor Reproductive Medicine explains that when a couple

from the sperm bank are resold for $5{}-$100. The insemintation process often needs to be repeated, however, and couples pay an average of $1,500, including other medical costs, for a successful pregnancy. According to Dr. Peterson, there have been no cases of clients requesting sperm of a different race than that of the husband. ''I can't imagine that happening... We wouldn't do that."

Once the insemination is successful, the new parents are provided with "non-identifying" traits of the donor - height, weight, hair color, and eye color. Although Arbor Park keeps track of the donors' names, they are referred to strictly by a code number. Neither the parents or the child is given access to the file itself. Likewise, the biological father is not allowed to know which couple receives his sperm. These precau tions are in place in order to protect both parties' right to privacy. Unlike adoption agencies, sperm banks do not allow a third person to mediate betw.eeIU .child and a biological father who wish to learn each other's identity. "There is no third party," said Dr. Peterson. ''There is no way it can be traced from either direction.

Vincent DeSantis is a senior in economics and a staff writer for the Review.

Sperm Bank Continued From Page 1

their sperm is no more valuable than that of the more common donors.

"There are just fewer specimens to choose from," said Dr. Peterson.

Contained in the same building as Arbor Park is Ann Arbor Reproduc-

to do us any good," said Wilkinson.

Once accepted, the customer can donate up to twice a week at a rate of $50 per acceptable specimen. The process of donation takes "anaverageof15 minutes," according to Connett and is nothing more than good old-fashioned masturbation. The lab does not provide anything beyond visual aids to help the process - "just some Playboys," said Connett.

Each acceptable ejaculate can be separated into as many as five specimens. The semen is then stored in liquidnitrogen ·and theoretically has an indefinite shelf life. In reality, however ''Every time you open and close the container to add or take out another _ sample, all the other samples warm up just a tiny bit." says Wilkinson. This warming keeps the actual shelf life of sperm to around 5 years. Considering the fact that Arbor Park has accumulated a stockpile of 500,000 specimens, why are they always advertising for more donors?

"I'm trying to keep as wide a variety. of donors as possible to service my customers," said Wilkinson. Since the lab sells semen to other doctors and clinics all over the United States, it is to Joyce Connet of Arbor Park Lab. removes specimens from the deep-freeze. their advantage to get the best variety of semen as possible. He admits that it comes in, a nurse tries to match the is hard to find donors of Jewish, Black, tive Medicine Associates P.c. This semen sample to the husband's charHispanic, and Arabian ancestry. clinic is where infertile couples go to -acteristics.

The ·individual specimens t :- J'll9\l2h these_qAAO~C\Jl! less COn)JJlPp., ~ . ' ~ jnserNna.- e4 l'i,jl)\le spenn,stwfcl , ,- !_r ~ $ , • , " - • t ;. . \ i • • ~ \ , _, _- , ~ - , ~ • • f • • ~ • • , - - ;-. l' \ t •• \ :. ... , I /. , . . . . . ,iI

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 12

Women's Studies Continued From Page 6 necessary to supply the academy with anew vocabulary, as traditional jargon oppresses. More specifically, the nature of our language reinforces Western culture's inherent sexism. Perhaps this is what Patraka wants to change when she speaks of the "imaginative creation of structures different from those ... which perpetuate oppression." As aresult,theuniversitycommunitynow has wimin, wymyn, wymin, wim, and dykes, depending on which feminist you consult, all in an attempt to rid the the word woman of "the ever-present devil, 'man.'"

Notonlydothefeministsendeavor to rewrite the language, they consistently provide our universities with the latest chic critiques of society, very few of which seem to be grounded in any observable truth. For example, Alison Jaggar, women's studies chair at the University of Cindnnati and head of the American Philosophical Association's Committee on the Status of Women, claims that the family is "a cornerstone of oppression" that it enforces heterosexuality" at\d "imposes the prevailing masculine and feminine character structures on the next generation."

Framed on the discredited Marxist model of class struggle, many of these critical pet theories are self-aggrandizing and have the explicit purpose of redefining the past in terms of the feminist ideology. Ultimately, most of these theories sink into periphrastic meaninglessness. Nonetheless, theyare taken very seriously at our most presII

tigious colleges and universities, including the U-M. Seeking nothing less than the triumph of political dogma over truth, however, Vicinus' admitted attempt to "rewrite literary history" and Jaggar's untestable - and detestable - op-

pression model are just some of many instances of the political intrusion on the intellectual integrity of the university~

The pervasiveness of the feminist ideoldgyonournation' scampuses can be seen through a sampling of class listings from around the country. At Williams College, students may learn about ''BaroqueArtand Gender Roles."

At the University of New Mexico, students may enroll in a class called "Heterosexism and the Oppression of Women." Queens College offers "The Lesbian in Literature: Honors Tutorial." Interested U-M students can investigate ''Feminist Perspectives on Lesbian Studies."

While some view this propagation

of feminist scholarship as a victory for diversity, others believe that the imposition of blatanly political and inherently unprovable ideology on the past is simply a case of academic fraud. In his book Tenured Radicals, Roger Kimball remarks upon how ouruni-

versities are "purchasing pluralistic concord at the price of intellectual content."

This is reflected further in the erod.ed standards of the materials presented in the classroom. For instance, to say that Aristotle's Ethics might be more worthy of scholarly consideration than Nisa: The ute of a Tsung! Woman (which is currently read in the U-M's Anthropology 101), is to commit an unspeakable crime among people of letters. In American culture classes, a student can be. similarly chastised for asserting the value of Hawthorne's collected works over The Simpsons.

Almost everything in the university today, including the emergence of the Women's Studies Program, is the

consequence of the triumphant march of two principles: diversity and equality. Diversity tells us we must consider everything. Equality says that none of these things are intrinsically better than others. Those who still dare to make such distinctions are habitually derided as racist, sexist,- ethnocentric phallocentric, logocentric, etc.

As such, the U-M -much like our Congress - increasingly resembles a perpetuating triangle of self-interest: students, who enjoy the leniency of special-interest programs like Women's Studies (as they do not require learning any hard body of knowledge); tenure-seeking professors, who are prodded into furnishing anti-establishment theories; and administrative faculties, who want to increase the prestige and revenue of their departments.

Ultimately, the politicalization of the classroom has rendered the educated person an outdated concept.

Those who believe education should consist of the transmission of mankind's accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next are considered dinosaurs. Students are no longer required to learn the philosophical underpinnings Qf Westem society -the very root of feminist scorn.

This brings us to a fundamental question: How can we reject those things of which we have no knowledge? Indeed, knowledge is an endangered species at today's university.

David J. Powell is a sophomore in history and political science and an assistant editor of the Review.

Muir Continued From Page 5 guilty of it and don't even know it.

Next, as LBJ taught us, the best way to battle a social problem is to create a bureaucracy, spend lots of money, and pass some regulations. At the U-M, this means giving the whiners an office, a letterhead, and a ViceProvost or Director.

And, of course, you need someone who is knowledgeable about whatever particular social evil is being addressed, so you must put somebody who is obsessed with race in charge of Affirmative Action, someone who suffers

from a Napoleoncomplex in charge of the Peace and Justice Commission, and Julie Steiner in charge of SAPAC. Voila!

For some reason, I have a hard time believing that Julie Steiner, the mad-sociologist-Director of SAPAC and "discoverer" ofneatthingslikethe theory c,>f "psychological rape," is really in touch with the social scene in Ann Arbor.

How does she explain the fact that thousands upon thousands of nubile young college girls spend hours in front of their mirrors each Fri~ay;andSatur足 day night dolling themselves up, going <

to local bars (which are often referred to by their patronsas "meatmarkets"),

if they are really worried about being "psychologically raped?"

I have a feeling that Julie doesn't hang out at Rick's, Charlie'S, or O'Sullivan's very often.

So why is somebody so out of touch with reality heading a U-M funded organization, telling us all tha~ we are either rapists or rapees?

If I were you, male or female, I'd be scared. Not of being raped on a date, but of being screwed by the laws and lies being passed by SAPAC. Who determines what constitutes "sly speech"?

What about "heavy breathing" or "stares?"

Amazingly enough, it is the same person who determines when referring to a woman as "cute" is sexual harrassment in the Political Science Department. It is not a judge or jury in a court of law, but the U-M hierarchy.

In this'case, both the judge and jury is SAPAC. Jeff Muir is a junior in general studies and a contributing editor for the Review. His column appears in every issue, and there is nothing YQu can do to stop it.

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 13

Books

Eight Desert Shield Fact Book Frank Chadwick and the GDW research staff Game Designers' Workshop Softcover, $10.00 64 pgs.

How to Defeat Saddam Hussein Col. Trevor N. Dupuy, U.S. Army (Ret.), and others Warner Books Paperback, $4.95 202 pgs.

by Adam Garagiola In the era of "live via satellite," most Americans get the majority of their news from television; indeed, CNN's constant reports and the daily televised briefings have turned 0peration Desert Storm into a media event of vast proportions. While this is great for quickly acquiring the most current information, TV coverage rarely provides the insight necessary for understanding why events unfold as they do.

In the seven months which have passed since the invasion of Kuwait, however, a considerablenurnberofbooks covering a wide range oftopicsabout the Gulf crisis have been printed. The two books examined in this review seek to provide the information concerning the military capabilities and objectives which shape the grand strategy of the international coalition opposing Saddam Hussein.

Many readers may find the Desert Shield Fact Book a useful source of information. As the name would indicate, the book was released before the fighting began; the "information cutoff" date listed in the Fact Book's chronology is January 2. That aside, it a useful and informative text for anyone curious about the details of military operations in the Gulf. It lists all major U.S. army, air force, and navy jmarine units which have been deployed in the

ore Ways to Beat Hussein region, and also includes information about the size and composition of allied forces participating in the operation.

The book provides a reasonably objective evaluation of the military capabilities of both sides. Included are details about each coalition nation's equipment, troop quality, and motivation. The Iraqi army is also reviewed in detail, with accompanying lists and charts which show the size and basic organiza tion of the army, and its offensive and defensive tactics are analyzed with respect to their predicted effectiveness against coalition forces.

A helpful section entitled ''Modern Mili tary Jargon and Symbols" provides a basic primer on the organizational structure of the armed forces and a glossary of military terms. If you have listened to the evening news and wondered what the difference is between an APC (armored personnel carrier) and an IFV (infantry fighting vehicle), the glossary will tell you. This section also contains a guide to standard military formations, providing the names and approximate sizes of each. This is a good reference to have available while watching the briefings; it gives the reader some sense of the numbers of troops and tanks involved when General Schwarzkopf talks about several brigades being on the mO,ve, or the destruction of an Iraqi tank battalion.

Three possible allied strategies are briefly examined, with the relative advantages and disadvantages of each compared. A segment entitled "U.S. Policy Constraints" explains how military planning may be modified in light of political ramifications. While each of the three plans for ground assaults in Iraq and Kuwait certainly seem to be reasonable courses of action, the book's prediction of a one day air campaign followed by a massive tank assault

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seems laughable in hindsight, after over one month of continuous bombardment.

Some sections of the book seem a bit too arcane for the average reader for w hom this book is aimed. Sections such as those entitled "Tank Versus Antitank," and "High Technology Annor Protection," explore the nuts and bolts of modem annored warfare in depth.

The structure of Chobham annor and the function of HEAT warheads are ann-chair general esoterica that a typical reader, looking for an explanation of the "big picture" of the Gulf crisis, will not care about. This is not surprising, as the writer and research staff of the Fact Book, who work for Game Designers Workshop, are used to writing for wargamers, most of whom are already familiar with military argot, and find such data interesting and useful. Should the reader wish to delve into such topics, however, the presentation of the information is fairly clear and the accompanying illustrations and charts are helpful ~,q, additions.

HOW TO Finally, a foldout map provides the locations of all major cities and geographic features, and is useful for locating positions of troops and movements reported on the news. Overall, the Desert Shield Fact Book is an excellent basic guide for anyone interested in the military actions of the coalition and Iraq.

How To Defffit Saddam Hussein, by Col. Trevor N. Dupuy, U.S. Army (Ret.), and three c~uthors, also deals with the military aspects of the Gulf crisis.

The focus of this book, however, is on the prediction of possible strategies which may be pursued in a ground war. Beginning with a brief history of the region and the key players in the crisis, the book soon launches into a description of the probable objectives of an allied air campaign, which the author correctly predicted would be a massive operation targeting Scuds, airfields, military bases and troop concentrations.

After considering the possibility of the war being won by air power alo~e (the author concludes this is un-

likely), four possible allied strategies for a ground war are outlined. Options covered in the hypothetical strategies include a massive' frontal assault, flanking and / or encirclement operations, and what the author calls "0peration Siege," which predicts an extended air campaign followed by an overwhelrningattack on the attritioned Iraqi forces.

The descriptions of the different strategies are quite detailed and might present some difficulties for those who have no prior knowledge of military operations. The review of these strategies is enlightening, and it will help readers understand the battlefield and stra tegic objectives of a land campaign and how different approaches will attempt to achieve these goals.

The problem of providing logistical support to troops fighting 10 the desert, and the difficulties posed by weather and terrain, are considered in further chapters and appendices. On the whole, Dupuy is rather confident that none of the difficulties posed by DEFEAT the enemy or the environment will block the eventual success of U.S. and ....,.~ coalition forces. He also devotes a short, unexceptional chapter to the question of a postwar situation.

At the end of the book, Dupuy provides an appendix which numerically rates the different weapons systems he expects 'Nill be used in a war. The inclusion of this section was unnecessary, as the numbers have no meaning to anyone without an extensive military background. More helpful are the lists of units involved in Desert Stonn and the charts of their organizational set-up, which are provided in another appendix.

Above all, Dupuy clearly and accurately assesses what our goals in a ground campaign should be: not only the liberation of Kuwait, but also the destruction of the Iraqi anny.

SADDAM ...HUSSEIN - -....

Adam Garagiola is a sophomore in creative writing and comparative literature and a staff writer for the Re-

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 14

Books

The Convictions of a Dead White Male Convictions Sidney Hook Prometheus Books Hardcover, $24.95 310pgs.

by John J. Miller Euthanasia continues to emerge as one of the leading policy questions of our young decade. Indeed, the rumblings of Dr. Jack Kervorkian and his "suicide machine" can be heard throughout Michigan. The rest of the nation eagerly wat(:hes our state and its unique opportunity to shape a potentiallynationwide debate-one that carries with it all the emotion and controversy surrounding abortion.

Given this context, the opening chaptersofSidney Hook'sposthurnous collection of essays, Convictions, seem particularly timely. In the middle of the 19805, a congestive heart failure placed Hook on his deaU\bed. Treated by an aniogram which triggered a stroke, he could no longer consume food and lost the use Of his left side.

"Some form of pleurisy set in, and I felt I was drowning in a sea of slime," he writes. Hook asked his doctor to let him die.

His doctor, however, did not grant this request. Hook's health was soon restored - one month later he left the hospital, and in six months he regained the use of his limbs. Apart from a slightly impaired voice, several other minor disabilities, and a restricted diet, Hook was able to resume.the life'of an octogenarian.

As a man who loved a good argument, Hook gladly entered the eutha-

sanctity of life and consequently must share its legal and political battles.

As a secular humanist, Hook finds himself able to connect the argument concerning sanctity of life and lithe unsophisticated desire for immortality." He later quotes Seneca, who once observed that lithe wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can." Ultimately, however, Hook considers euthanasia to be profoundly humane: the infirm "suffer, and impose suffering on others, unable to even make a request that their torment be

ended."

In addition to euthanasia, Hook vigorously engaged in other debates in the final years of his life, perhaps most notably in defending Western culture from its antagonists at Stanford. Convictions devotes an entire section to this affair, serving as a very thorough chronicle of the events leading up to the Stanford faculty's 1987 decision to

Sidney Hook on the U-M speech code: lilt will make a choice item in the museum of the intellectual absurdities of our time." . nasia debate as an expert witness. Considering his own experience, Hook somewhat surprisingly became a leading proponent of voluntary suicide.

"Most human beiJ\gs take for granted that since life is a good, if not an intrinsic good, then at least as a necessary condition for any other experienced good its preservation and extension are always a good," he writes.

Later, he perceptively links the antieuthanasia camp with the right-to-life movement - each insists upon the

sion of racism wherever it is found, a false charge of racism is equally offensive, perhaps even more so, because the consequences of a false charge of racism enables an authentic racist to conceal his racism by exploiting the loose way the term is used." He further notes that one must understand "the world of our own experience regardless of whether one seeks to revolutionize or reform or preserve it."

After his curricular defeat at Stanford, Hook continued the fight by concentrating on what he considered a growing national trend. Deriding those who would label our most prestigious colleges and universities as dens of "institutional racism," Hook claimed the accusers to be "engaged in an orgy of self-flagellation about lapses from proper behavior whose intensity seem inversely related to the absence of overt expressions of racism." This comment comes from an essay entitled "The Academic-Brawley Cases."

Many of Hook's ideas have obvious applications to the University of Michigan. In a brief essay, he even directly addresses events on our own campus, specifically the infamous "speech code," which was ruled unconstitutional just two months after Hook's death in June, 1989. "It will make a choice item in the museum of the intellectual absurdities of our time," he writes.

The section defending Western culture closes with the last essay Hook was to produce. An eloquent treatise on why American higher education must favor Western culture above all others, the essay notes that "Western culture has been the most critical of itself, that its history has largely been a succession of heresies, and that it has beeri freer of the blind spots of ethnocentrism than any other." Adding works by women and minorities to the

remove the required freshman classon Western culture from the curriculum. .5 The faculty replaced the Western cul1: turerequirement with something more ~ "diverse" - a class called "Culture, Ideas,and Values," which Hook termed ~ "a politically diluted course in sociology."

0 Many of the Stanford levellers predictably cited the Western tradition 0 as inherently racist. Hook capably rebukes this argument, and comments • "As mo~~y offensi~e ~.~ t!'~ e~r~- ... ~_ .

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John J. Miller is a junior in English and editor-at-Iarge of the Review.

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Western canon simply because their authors are not white males amounts to a kind of affirmative action program in scholarship, (which) is both patronizing and ludicrous (from) the standpoint of honest scholarship."

The final lines of the essay, however, speak more loudly and clearly than anything preceding them: "It was a mere fifty years ago when we were hearing about Aryan and Jewish physics and proletarian biOlogy. Today once more there is talk of race, gender, and class not as a subject of scientific study but as characterizing the scientific approach itself. Nonsense, the literature reader will say. To be sure, but if unchecked, we have learned that nonsense will kill."

Sidney Hook shares with us his convictions in other areas as well, including pieces on Allan Bloom, WhittakerChambers,and John Dewey.

The wide scope of the book seems appropriate - Hook began his intellectuallife as a Marxist, but finished it more closely allied with conservatism.

"I have been mistaken about many things, some of great importance, and I have modified my views accordingly," he writes in the first essay of Convictions.

"But I am not aware of having abandoned any of the ideals that motivated me to run risks, to throw myself into the political movements of my time, to do some rash and foolish things from whose consequences I escaped I know not how, to endure long years of unpopularity, to pit myself against powers and movements that could have easily crushed me."

One cannot help but think of Convictions as a fitting epilogue to a long, varied, and productive life.

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The Michigan Review, March 6, 1991, p. 15

Movie

A Celebration of the Lizard King

by Christopher Balr Two decades after Jim Morrison's death, the Doors only increase in popularity. They sell hundreds of thousands of albums annually. In 1980, they sold more albums than they did during any year of the band's existence, from 1965 to 1971. The 1980s and early 1990s have witnessed a Doors' revival largely started by Danny Sugerman and Jerry Hopkins' best-selling biography of Jim Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive. Oliver Stone's la test film, The Doors should only enlarge the cult of Jim Morrison, although it will likely clarify the myth which has made him so misunderstood.

The Doors' music is still appealing after 20 years, even in our top-40 world in which image has almost wholly replaced talent. Butthe Doors' enduring fame has its roots in the mystery of its vocalist, the Lizard Kin~ Jim Morrison.

There are the hits like "Light My Fire," "Touch Me," and many others, but Morrison was among the first to transform rock and roll from a pop culture phenomenon into an art form. With the help of John Densmore's jazz drums, Ray Manzarek's other-worldly keyboards, and Robby Krieger's flamenco guitar and his own lyrical influences of Rimbaud, Nietzche, and Sophocles, created something unlike anything else in American music.

"If my poetry aims to achieve anythin~" Morrison wrote in a self-interview, "it's to deliver people from the limited ways they see and feel."

After his lyrical epic, ''The End," this was almost an understatement.

Jim Morrison was the electric shaman who could drive audiences to orgasmic fury. He commanded them to "break on through to the other side," to "ride the snake," to "follow me down."

Morrison was effective because ''he lived his art," said Oliver Stone. ''His life became the working out of his lyrics. He wouldn't be like Mick Jagger and put it away into a suitcase when he came off the stage."

Morrison would follow Rimbaud's "road of excess" to "the palace of wisdom."

"Drugs are a bet with your mind," he wrote. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was gonna get his ''kicks before the whole shithouse" went up in flames. He was "testing the bounds of reality." Following Greek myth, he would become the modem Dionysus.

Jim Morrison broke on through in

ance, from the long brown mane to the a Paris hotel bathtub on July 3,1971, at vinyl pants. He acts from the range of the age of 27. He is gone but Dionysus remains. the shy, sulking art student to the elecWhat drives the myth behind tric shaman to the old bluesman. There are moments when Kilmer's singing Morrison is the romantic conception of matches Morrison note for note. Kevin a young, handsome poet who may have Dillon portrays John Densmore as a faked his death-only two people saw drummer so passionate about making his body, right? Yet he has transcended music with Morrison that Morrison's his death by becoming a god. We all wish we could believe this, because we . excess tears him up. Kyle Maclachlan, with his strawberry-blond wig and don't want our heroes to die. glasses, as Ray Manzarek, equals But our illusion ignores the truth

"Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?"

-Jim Morrison, "The Movie" that Jim Morrison died because of his . myth. His drug use, originally an experimentation of perception and reality, changed into an escape from his mind and his pain. He thought that "as the body is ravaged/the spirit grows stronger," but the electric shaman became the old bluesman, "singin' the blues ever since the world began." He destroyed himself with alcohol. He disintegrated into a shadow of his former self. He crumpled before the very excess he sought.

Oliver Stone captures this powerful individual in his latest movie, The

Doors.

In making the film, he wanted to "leave a legacy that I was a good historian as well as a good dramatist."

Stone does not waver from that goal in making this movie. He consulted with Krieger and Densmore, who authored an autobiography en. titled Riders on the Stonn. This influence can be felt much more strongly than Sugerman's biographY, which insinuated "inaccuracies," like Morrison's faked death.

Oliver Stone succeeds on two levels: one, as a biography he is true to the real story; two, as art The Doors stands on its own as a well directed piece.

We see his committment to reality immediately in his casting. Val Kilmer has become Jim Morrison, in appear-

Kilmer's performance. Frank Whaley plays a soft-spoken Robby Krieger.

Stone is consistent to reality in his script - Morrison's excess is not glorified. Near the end of the film, Jim pats his jelly belly like he would an old, friendly dog. The close-up is deliberately repulsive.

But the reader must be reminded, The Doors is not all gritty drama. This film is sometimes a perverse celebration of Morrison the electric shaman, of the Doors as one of the leading bands of the 1960s, and of the culture of the Sixties itself. The 150 minute film is almost solid music.

Director Stone shot wide, 360 degree swoops over concert audiences. ''The End" is a visually haunting piece that could stand on its own as a short film and a concert piece. It begins with Morrison finding his Indian soul on a peyote trip in the desert. We are transported almost without knowing to the Whiskey A Go-Go, where he first introduces his Oedipal section.Val Kilmer's performance as Morrison is so convincing that Robby Krieger said, "I'm really glad that we finally got 'The End.' We never got a recording of that live withJim.Now we've got it." Stone's cinematography should win hima best director nomination, at least.

What really grabs one's attention are Morrison's altered states of con-

sciousness, his darker states of mind, and his decadence. The camera softly rolls in the dark drunkenness of a New York club as the whiskey-<irinking, pill-popping Morrison meets seducer Andy Warhol, who is romantically licking his chops for Jim's vinyl pants.

Morrison doesn't even know what's going on, he's so blitzed. Although perverse, itis funny, oneof the movie's few comic moments.

The Doors is a cinemagraphic achievement that, while celebrating the music of the Doors and the cult of Morrison, emphasizes the tragedy of the modem Dionysus, the tragedy of Jim Morrison's lifestyle. In searching out his mind and body's limits, in "testing the bounds of reality," Jim Morrison destroyed himself.

Christopher Bair is a freshman in philosophy and a staff writer for the Review.

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The Michigan Review, March, 6, 1991, p. 16

Music

Material Issue's Year of Revolutio·n

by Crusty Muncher Chicago's Material Issue seem to have a tight grip on the rock n' roll throne in their home town. Before embarking on a U.S tour early last month, the power-pop trio packed over 1000 fans into a club called the Cubby Bear and were forced to turn away 300 more at the door. The goal for the five year old band is to conquer the rest of the planet with their Polygram debut International Pop Overthrow and a club tour including stops in New York City, and New Orleans.

International Pop Overthrow is a 14 song effort full of guitar-heavy poprock works in the vein of a Cheap Trick meets the Ramones, leaning heavily on catchy vocal melodies and lightly on high-tech embellishments. Keyboards, drum machines, and sampling have no place in the Material Issue formula.

The guitar progressions on Overthrow fail to be very distinct, but once the vocal melodies chime in and the arrangements begin to take their course,

none can deny that guitarist/vocalist Jim Ellison is a master at the art of writing explosive pop-rock songs.

Material Issue tunes are so catchy that less than one minute into each tune the listener will be singing right along. By . the album's end at least three songs will be fixed on the brain for hours. ''Valerie Loves Me," the first single, is a bouncy piece Ellison wrote about an older girl he fantasized about who lived in anupstairs apartment during his youth. The chorus culminates into the vocalist insisting and passionately screaming that she loves him. ''Diane'' incorporates a peppy vocal melody with some Ramones style guitars and, along with "Renee Remains The Same" and others, features a chorus very thick in vocal hannony. ''Renee Remains the Same/' "UI·Christine," and "Chance of A Lifetime" sound somewhat like Neil Young in the context of commercial, old-style pop, complete with tasteful five note guitar solos and a twist of country:

Material Issue performed at Rick's Cafe last month and delivered a tight set that included most of the tunes on the debut, a spiffy version of Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz," and a few other covers. The band came off ,sounding twice

if and when MTV gets a clue. International Pop Overthrow contains at least 10 strong singles, so the odds of a high rotation video are good. MaterialIssue could possibly become the band supplying the video you will be forced to

':~'!

as aggressive and intense in a live setting and plans to ·return to the area within the nextrew months.

By the time they make it back to Ann Arbor, the Windy City act just may have a hit or two on their hands-

watch 50 times a day.

Crusty Muncher wears a wig and occaisionally interrupts Regent meetings.

SOCIALLY I\ESPONSIBLE INVESTING. WE BELIEVE YOU DON'T HAVE TO SACI\IFICE PROFITS FOR IJRINCIPLES.

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