To the Daily:
Let me begin by saying that overall, I am quite impressed with the quality of The Michigan Daily. For a student paper, it is excellent and in many ways superior to the large city paper from my state.
However, the Arts section is one area in which I see a definite need for improvement. I have yet to see a favorable review of any performance that is on the classical side of things. I have also yet to see a performance that was nearly as bad as the reviewer seemed to think it was.
The Dec. 8 review ("'Ida''s slow plot, dull music fail to captivate") is only the latest example of this problem. I personally found this production to be quite enjoyable, and I didn't see anyone in the audience who seemed as though they would disagree with me. There was plenty of laughter at the humorous lines in the play, and I thought that the songs were done quite well. And yes, Ida is supposed to sound like she's singing opera - an operetta is a comic opera, so she was singing opera. It seems as though this reviewer's attention span is not up to the demands of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, the only part of the review with which I agreed was the first sentence: "Gilbert and Sullivan operettas are an acquired taste." This reviewer has clearly not acquired this taste and he does not seem interested in doing so. The Daily needs to have theater reviewers who actually have an interest in theater and who can be relied upon to comment intelligently on what they have watched.
Sara Kennedy
LSA first-year student
To the Daily:
Four years ago, I led a group of guys from Couzens dorm to victory in our first Intramural football game. I was a third baseman in high school and had a decent arm, so I was voted quarterback. After that game, my arm soon left me and so did our propensity for victories. We won three more games in our IM football careers. One was a bye, one was a forfeit, and one was against a team that was a man short.
We called ourselves the Crazy Cooters. We had no speed. We had no talent. We were a horrendous team, and the culmination of our dreadful play occurred during this year's four-loss season. The frustration was so great that one member of our team was driven to throw a football at an opposing player who sprinted for the end zone. This vital Cooter disgustingly said, "We got worse with every game we played." He was right.
The Crazy Cooters lost their final IM football game a couple of weeks ago. As I watched my team play, I realized that the same guys from Couzens were still playing for the Cooters. Over four years, many players have graced the Cooters' roster with their names, but the nucleus has remained secure. These are some of the best friends that I have made in college. IM football brought us together, and for that, I am grateful.
Jim Kettel
LSA senior
To the Daily:
Both politicians and students have argued for many years about the diversity, unity and fellowship affirmative action brings to society. I wish that were true. Unfortunately, I have seen a great deal of division caused by affirmative action. Many minority groups spend far too much time fighting over who is the greater victim, who is entitled to more compensation, and who is a minority! As a conservative Puerto Rican at the Medical School, I am part of a small minority group.
Life experience and the media have led me to expect prejudice and racism from the "privileged majority" in an almost paranoid fashion. The opposite has shown to be true. While I have experienced racism and prejudice from the so-called "majority," the most open and blatant racism I have experienced has come from other minorities. My conservative beliefs have left me open to many attacks from other minorities. Often, I find myself having to defend my minority identity to other minorities! A recent example occurred right here at the University by an employee. This African American individual made the comment that by using my full birth name as it appears on my birth certificate is an attempt to hide my Puerto Rican background after gaining admission to medical school. My full name is Carlos Eugenio Hernandez Ford. Without attempting to explain Puerto Rican naming traditions, I leave it to each reader to decide whether using my maternal last name after my paternal last name truly hides my proud heritage!
The point is that I do not believe unity and cultural sensitivity can truly be legislated. I have mixed feelings about affirmative action and do not claim to have the solution nor am I saying that it needs to be abolished. However, I truly believe that cultural awareness and social unity will come from within the minority groups themselves. We need to listen to all points of view and not attack an individual's self-identity because of race or politics. Do we really believe society will be a better place by eliminating all other points of view? Must society be only liberal or only conservative or someone's idea of politically correct? What is wrong with re-examining any policy or system? Analysis and review is the only way to assure improvement.
Finally, I know the University Medical School has done everything possible to ensure my class has a very diverse composition. This school has proven to be one of the most racially sensitive institutions I have ever had the privilege of attending. I encourage people of all cultures with a desire for a medical education to apply at the University. Go blue!
Carlos Hernandez
Medical School, MSA representative
To the Daily:
I am writing to complain about the lack of parking here on our beautiful campus. Why is the University so worried about accommodating students so they can all get season football tickets by spending millions to add seats to the stadium, but they are too cheap to add a parking structure anywhere on campus? It seems to me that 80 percent of parking on this campus is for staff and faculty. Those lucky enough to find a parking spot must constantly check their meter and add change or else the meter people, being the vultures they are, will use their "radar" to pinpoint their vehicle after only minutes of the meter expiring.
The City of Ann Arbor and the University both make a bundle of cash each year from expired meters and other parking violations. Why don't they put some of this money back by constructing new parking lots that are for students only?
North Campus has a notably bad parking problem. There are currently three lots that I know of on North Campus that allow student parking. Total parking on North Campus, I estimate, is at well under 300 parking spots, not including the commuter lot.
When the University decided to build a mainly commuter campus (i.e. North Campus), why didn't they think about where thousands of students would be parking? There is plenty of empty land on or near North Campus, so why no parking structure for students? I would be willing to pay a few hundred dollars a year to assure me a parking spot every time I drive to class, and I know others would too.
Kristoffer Tewkesbury
Engineering junior
01-08-98
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