Letters to the Editor

Bookstore alternative is cost-effective

To the Daily:

I've read with amusement the recent letters concerning Shaman Drum and the inadequacy of its physical setup. Ironically, the response by Shaman Drum's staff ("Shaman Drum tries to accommodate students," 1/20/98) does not address this point at all. Rather, the response notes the independent bookstore's "commitment to serving the needs of students and faculty," as opposed to chain bookstores' interest in "the bottom line."

I suggest that students and faculty consider an alternative: Amazon.Com (http://www.amazon.com). Amazon.Com is not a chain bookstore as it can only found on the Web. It offers 2.5 million titles, far more than any Ann Arbor-area bookstore. Moreover, ordering from Amazon.Com can save students as much 40 percent off of retail prices. And for faculty, there is an "associates program" for referring students (anyone, actually) to buy books from Amazon.Com; these "associates" are subsequently reimbursed monetarily based on the number of referred people who buy books.

If only faculty would refer students, through a Website (which Amazon.Com can help create with a set of step-by-step instructions), then students benefit with more money in their pockets and without being inconvenienced by long lines. And the benefits for faculty are quite obvious. Having used Amazon.Com as both a student and instructor, I've found its service excellent, and the savings superior to any bookstore to which I've been.

John C. Lopez
Rackham

'U' community should thank football team

To the Daily:

Before the Northwestern football game, I had to purge myself. Before the Ohio State game, I wrote a letter to the Daily, smart-assing game security. For my troubles, the Department of Public Safety called my house to harass me before the game. At the game, they looked up my seat number so they could give a physical description of me to every security guard there, and eventually I got arrested. I also suffered mild hypothermia during the game and dislocated my right kneecap while entering the stadium. In Pasadena, my housemate set my car on fire, and five minutes after it was repaired, I rear-ended someone on the Los Angeles Expressway. And for all my troubles during the football season, for all my unfortunate experiences, I have this to say to the 1997 National Champion Wolverines: Thank you. Thank you for setting lifetime Wolverine fans' hearts ablaze, for making our dreams and yours a reality. Through all the talking and complaining, the two seconds, the split title and the limited pep rally tickets, I think one thing needs to be said above everything else, and I'm sure I speak for the entire University family when I say it: Thank you. You are my conquering heroes, and on top of everything that happened to me this season, I would love to be hung, shot and stabbed to do it all over again.

Dave Callaham
LSA junior

Law School blocks needed discussion

To the Daily:

The Law School administration has put a gag order on electronic discussion that does not support its affirmative action policy. On Dec. 3, in conjunction with the suit already pending against LSA, the Center for Individual Rights filed a lawsuit attacking the Law School's affirmative action admissions policies. On that same day, the dean of the Law School, Jeffrey Lehman, distributed over e-mail a two-page press release defending the Law School's preferential admissions policies to every Law School student and employee.

On that same day, CIR made available on its Website a short press release describing its reasons for filing the suit. In order to facilitate a balanced discussion of the affirmative action issue, a student attempted to distribute a copy of CIR's press release to the same list used by the dean to distribute his own viewpoint. The dean blocked distribution of the CIR press release to the Law School community. Although asked about alternative methods of distributing the CIR release, the dean has not approved any form of general distribution.

It is hard to imagine what has brought the Law School to this sort of overt censorship. Are the Law School's policies so unjust that they cannot withstand the scrutiny of public discussion? What is it about the Law School's admissions program that demands secrecy? It seems unlikely that anything but the most arbitrary of programs would so outrage the University community as to warrant stifling discussion. So what is the secret of the affirmative action program at the Law School? So long as the administration maintains its stranglehold on public forums, we will not know.

Note: I will forward a copy of the CIR release to anyone who sends me an e-mail at awg@umich.eduso requesting.

Allen Graves
Law School

Editorial was helpful for 'U' students

To the Daily:

The Daily is to be thanked and commended for taking a strong stand supporting the University's efforts to increase computer security ("Secure measures," 1/20/98). You did an excellent job of describing how the benefits of improving security by eliminating weak passwords far outweigh the cost of a visit to the Information Technology Division's accounts' office. If all students, faculty and staff heed the Daily's advice and change their passwords now, even that small cost can be avoided.

For guidelines on how to change their passwords, users can check the ITD Information System at http://www.itd.umich.edu/itd doc/ and search for document R1162, "Choosing and Changing a Safe and Secure Uniqname Password."

Thanks again for taking the lead in encouraging your readers to take password security seriously.

Theresa Hofer
University staff

'U' athletic facilities need repairs

To the Daily:

If I could make a short film about Michigan athletics, it would run as follows.

Opening shot: Pasadena on Jan. 1. The popping of flashbulbs. Our Victors, resplendent in maize and blue, are clenching roses in their teeth and raising their fists to he sky. In the background, thousands upon thousands of delirious fans are screaming in ecstasy.

Fade out. Scene two: Palmer field tennis courts, May '97. Silence. Close-up of a clump of weeds sticking out from an ant hill in a large crack in the pavement. Camera follows the crack as it winds menacingly through green concrete, crossing a painted white line here and there. Zoom out.

The "ping" of contact, then slow motion of a tennis ball looping cross-court, with a U of M student in hot pursuit. Ball bounces - right in a crack, oops - and ricochets sharply to the right. The surprised student changes direction instantly with a spray of sweat. But whooosh! - she loosens her footing on the huge patch of sand just behind the baseline. She is falling now, in ultra slow motion, as the camera fades out. Lee Bollinger's voice echoes in the background, "This is the greatest university in the world."

Screen goes black. Splat. Credits roll.

No matter how many national championships a school has, you can't call it the greatest sporting university if it can't even maintain its basic recreational facilities. Today at Michigan, Woodson & Co. can go all the way to Pasadena and bring back roses - but ordinary students can't enjoy an ordinary game of tennis on an ordinary spring day, because their great University doesn't fix its courts.

Hopefully 1998 will be different, so that everyone at the University can enjoy the thrill of competing in sports.

Praveen Dayalu
LSA senior

01-23-98