However, what is more amusing are the aggrieved responses of New Yorkers who have had their pride wounded. It is simply ridiculous for such letter writers to compare a bit of regionalism to such problems as ethnic discrimination. Being from Cleveland, a city made fun of much more often than New York, I can reasonably argue that regionalism expressed in this fashion does no harm to anyone. I haven't been deprived, discriminated against, or emotionally scarred because I happened to live in "The Mistake by the Lake." If Miller joked about the Cuyahoga River catching fire, the hideous schools, how our professional football program is lacking, or the fact that most Cleveland drivers shouldn't be behind the wheel of anything, my response would be to laugh. I most certainly would not call it "dangerous," "ignorant," "prejudiced," or "discriminatory."
I might also add that in all likelihood, very few people, from New York or not, really were that torn up by Miller's column, and for those of you who were, for God's sake, grow a thicker skin, or this campus will eat you alive.
Benjamin Kepple
LSA senior
To the Daily:
I would like to comment on the article by Jack Schillaci ("Student regent should be installed," 9/3/97) regarding a student on the Board of Regents.
Even though I graduated last year, I still feel that having a full-voting member on the Board of Regents is important. I would like to commend Schillaci on his presentation of the issue. The article was inaccurate in a few areas, though. Although it is true that we lobbied Sen. Schwarz (not state Rep. Schwarz) last year, we never had his promise to sponsor the bill. He looked at our proposal and decided that he did not favor it. We went to him because he was the chair of the Senate Appropria tions Sub-Committee on Education, but we did not give up when he decided against supporting the bill. We always had the support of Speaker of the House Curtis Hertel, and we focused mainly on the State House, where we felt (and still feel) that the bill can be introduced and passed.
I agree that we should focus on a full vote instead of an ex-officio vote. We explored the option of ex-officio, but in the end decided that we should pursue a full vote. Since that time, Andrew Wright and Trent Thomson (representing the Michigan St udent Assembly) have spearheaded a drive to unite the University with Michigan State University, Wayne State University, U of M - Dearborn and U of M - Flint. They have made great strides and are closer than ever to getting this idea into the State legislature. The Daily, as well as all students, should give their support to Andrew and Trent to make this student priority a reality. They can be reached at 763-3241 or aleew@umich.edu or trentlt@umich.edu.