Letters to the Editor

MSA forum will educate students

To the Daily:

We want to thank the Michigan Student Assembly and especially the Minority Affairs Commission for beginning what we hope will be a fruitful community-wide discussion on diversity within higher education. This week's symposium, organized entirely by students, should help to bring a variety of perspectives on the issues of affirmative action and admissions policy.

We have begun to plan other fora during the academic year with various speakers who will continue to inform us for our own on-campus discussions. We are delighted that University students have come together independent of our efforts.

The lawsuit brought by the Center for Individual Rights against the University challenges our undergraduate admissions policy as unconstitutional. We firmly believe that this suit is without merit and that we will win it.

We do not know how long this matter will take to resolve but during this time, there must be opportunities for all parts of our community to continue an enlightened and energetic discourse about the important issues it raises. Even though we are in litigation vigorously defending a University policy, we must remember always that we are a University committed to full and open discussion and analysis of important social questions within an environment that is respectful of different points of view - that is what the University is about.

We wish MSA every success with this week's symposium.

Lee Bollinger
University President

Nancy Cantor
University Provost

Affirmative action is a form of discrimination

To the Daily:

I know I stand opposed to most people at the University in regard to affirmative action, but I just had to add my two cents. I am against affirmative action at the University as well as preference given to relatives of alumni or other special privileges. When I applied, I gave little thought to such things and happily filled in the appropriate places that tagged me as a white female going into a scientific field with several alumni as relatives. When I apply to grad school, I believe I will leave sex, race and alumni association spaces blank.

Unless equally qualified applications are being turned away based on race, I do not support any preference given solely on that basis. I've heard the many arguments about diversity, but this is an academic institution and applicants should be accepted only on that basis. I do not deny that there is racism.

One can take affirmative action too far. What if the same logic were applied to professional sports? At 5-foot-6, I am one of the tallest people on the Maltese side of my family. You know what? I don't know of many Maltese women playing professional football - hey, I'm an underrepresented minority! Let's kick a well-qualified player off the field so I can play! I couldn't play professional football to save my life, but my team would be more diverse.

My point is that I love everyone regardless of age, sex, race, religion or sexual orientation. If this school's most qualified individuals for next years' class were all black, white, Asian, hispanic, Native American or multiracial, I wouldn't love them any more or less. Let's not support discrimination in any form.

Jill Sammut
LSA sophomore

Intergroup Dialogues offer unique experiences

To the Daily:

I am both an Intergroup Dialogue facilitator and also a staff member at the Intergroup Relations, Conflict and Community office. I want to thank the Daily for the editorial on the program ("Fostering diversity," 11/12/97). As a facilitator, I feel that the dialogues offer an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about the different groups of people that share the campus and the many issues facing a diverse, multi-cultural community. I was excited and honored to learn of President Clinton's recognition of the program and some of the publicity that has been the result of being associated with the "One America" initiative.

On a personal level, I appreciate the Daily's encouraging students to consider taking a dialogue or other cultural exploration class as I believe that the issues brought up in these classes are important to everyone and may impact students lives more then they might think (e.g., the affirmative action suit against the University). From a facilitator's perspective, I think that the classes offer a unique experience for students in a non-traditional atmosphere and really gets them to think about topics from other points of view. In both the dialogue I facilitated in the past between people of color and white people and the one I facilitate this semester between lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and heterosexuals, students have proclaimed that the class was the most enjoyable and interesting one they have taken while at the University.

Jeff Walker
LSA senior

Article on Prof. Faller was 'biased'

To the Daily:

I am responding to the article written by Stephanie Hepburn regarding Prof. Kathleen Faller ("'U' prof. faces trial for improperly interviewing a child," 11/4/97).

I am currently a doctoral-level student in the joint program of Social Work and Psychology. I am also a therapist and forensic evaluator who has specialized in working with sexually abused children for the past 20 years. I am writing to challenge the tone and impression left by the very biased article you printed. First, it is not clear that this is a civil matter rather than something criminal. Second, it should be clear that defendants in such a case are generally unable to respond to media smears in their own defense because of the trial. Finally, the real issues of this case were obscured by professional slams against Faller that are misleading, if not untrue.

What Dr. Elissa Benedek, who does not specialize in this type of work, said about her opinion of a case in 1990 does nothing to shed light on this case. The issues of this trial do not even focus on whether or not abuse occurred, which may never be clearly ascertained, but on whether professionals operating within the standards of their profession should be penalized for making difficult judgment calls or for fulfilling their legal obligation to make reports when they suspect child abuse. In the difficult cases Faller's clinic handles, referrals frequently come there because of complicated factors which make others unwilling or unqualified to make a call regarding whether abuse was likely to have occurred. Should we stop evaluating cases with young children since it is unlikely that we will get 8- by 10-inch glossies to confirm our decisions? In fact, many professionals with years of experience have left the field of child abuse because of its difficulty, exacerbated by attacks or threats of lawsuits.

I am proud to be affiliated with Faller and the work of the clinic, having been a social work consultant there for the past seven years. Before the Daily becomes a mouthpiece for an attorney who has stated wishes to close down the clinic, or for a parent unhappy with a decision made by this multi-disciplinary team of child abuse specialists, it should do some homework.

Carol Plummer
Rackham

11-17-97