Terriea Nelson has said there was a second victim in the recent tragedy at Northwood Family Housing; I say she's off by one, there are two other victims, and neither is her abusive and deceased brother.
First, there is the yet-to-be-named Department of Public Safety officer, who acted as best he could in what is the worst case scenario for any police officer, answering a domestic violence call.
Kevin Nelson could have just as easily held a gun on the darkened lawn of Stone Drive. This officer will forever wonder, "What if I shot a minute sooner? What if I drove a little faster?" The University community and fellow DPS officers should insure and comfort this officer. He did his best, he did the right thing.
The second and more obvious second victim is Williams' two-year-old daughter Kiera, whose mother and father are now both gone. Kiera can now use all our help, even yours, Ms. Nelson.
Terriea, I ask that you do not long mourn your fallen brother without thinking of these two victims; they are now forced to lead much more complicated lives thanks to Kevin Nelson - and sadly, there are far too many others who must share these same burdens and loss, and no looming shortage of your brother's ilk.
Report domestic violence, make it your business.
Stephen Hipkiss
University employee
To the Daily:
We write to express our concern regarding the article, "Memorial honors those who donated bodies to medicine," printed Sept. 17, 1997. We feel that this article was a misrepresentation of this important and serious event.
This service honored and payed respect to individuals who donated their bodies to science for the health and advancement of mankind.
It furthermore sought to comfort the families of those who provided us with gifts and also to express to these families our appreciation for these gifts.
The Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and the Medical Center organized this event on behalf of faculty, medical students, dental students and medical illustrator students. Hundreds of people attended the service to listen to sincere thanks from University faculty and pastors.
On our own part, approximately 50-60 second-year medical students attended the service, including many who actively participated as greeters, ushers, and choir members.
The importance, gravity, and generosity of the gifts we received cannot be understated. Accordingly, we found the aforementioned article a negligent attempt to capture the meaning of this event.
The individuals who donated their bodies were our first patients. They were responsible for endowing us with an intimate knowledge of the human body, knowledge that will enable us to help thousands of people. We and all of our future patients and students will always be indebted to the individuals who in death allowed us to learn something of how to save and improve life.
Members of the Medical School class of 2000
I used to feel sorry for those poor skateboarders being picked on, until I worked near a prime skateboarding location, the courtyard around the Cube.
Next time you walk past Fleming or the benches around there, look at the chips out of the bricks and concrete, and realize that every one of them was the result of a collision with 130 pounds of muscle and sinew concentrated in a hardened steel wheel. It's not "young kids being loud" that bothers me, it's the damage to our buildings and fear of damage to me.
I see the charm of those wonderful airborne antics. I like to watch their stunts. But I don't drag race on Liberty Street or practice shooting arrows into the public buildings of Ann Arbor, and don't think the city should allow dangerous and destructive actions everywhere the practitioners want to go. Each sport needs a safe place. Perhaps the political committee should concentrate on creating more places to practice their art. Several times a year the city closes down some streets for bicycle and foot races - could something like that be done for skateboarders?
Tish Lehman
University employee
Regarding the letter titled "Asking for apologies is a mistake," in the 9/23/97 edition of the Daily, I believe that passive attitudes such as this one are what perpetuate ignorance and stereotypes against minority and ethnic communities, such as those committed against the Indian American community. While each individual is entitled to freedom of speech and expression, each individual is also responsible for providing respect toward all cultures and diverse backgrounds.
If the author believes that Jay Leno is justified in "poking fun at people" such as one of the world's esteemed non-violent leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, then would it be acceptable to ridicule a great non-violent leader such as Martin Luther King, Jr.? I do not believe that Leno would have ever considered producing a skit that disrespected MLK. A show like Leno's has a very large viewing audience, and skits and comments made on a show of such prominence provides its viewers with false knowledge and inaccurate information about a world renowned leader such as Mahatma Gandhi.
In order to fight such ignorance within our society, we must take the first step in order to spread awareness about our respective minority and ethnic groups. The Indian American community at this University aimed to notify NBC of its disrespectful actions toward Indian American culture and history, and asked NBC to produce an accurate documentary about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. I disagree with the author when he states, "Someone out there found it funny, so let it be." Obviously, the students who signed 856 letters didn't just "let it be."
Rahul Shah
LSA junior
Everyone seems to be jumping to this conclusion that the recent destruction of a Hillel sign must have been an anti-Semitic act. While this could very likely be the case, I would like to submit another theory that some people may have overlooked.
Three guys are out drinking Saturday night (yes, it has happened a few times on this campus). While stumbling home they have a sudden urge to urinate (this always happens in this situation). They notice a sign (which they can't read because it's dark and 15 beers leads to blurry vision) and decide to use it as a cover as they relieve themselves. These guys then destroy the sign for no reason other than they are drunk and it's fun to smash stuff when you're drunk. I'm sure we've all heard of much more outrageous actions taken by normal people when walking home from a late-night party.
Mark West
Engineering senior
09-25-97
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