Letters to the Editor

Oversight implies 'editorial bias'

To the Daily:
After reading the article "Pro-life pioneer discusses abortion," (1/23/98) regarding Mildred Jefferson's speech, I noticed that there has been no Daily coverage of Marge Piercy's visit to campus, nor of the other events celebrating the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (except a small mention of last Thursday's rally). Piercy, a University alumna, award-winning poet and novelist, is no more qualified in her opinion than Miss Jefferson but I suspect that a great number of students would have liked to have known she was coming. Piercy is admired by many students on this campus, not simply for her activism but for her sheer genius. (Perhaps a mention in last Thursday's "The Calendar" would have been nice).

I think the Daily has been guilty of a gross oversight, which could be interpreted as editorial bias.

Anna Phillips
LSA sophomore

Campus advertising is inadequate

To the Daily:
Alpha Chi Sigma is a professional coed chemical sciences fraternity. In an effort to increase attendance at our events, we turned to the Student Organization Resource Center. After arriving, I was told that all the prime Diag boards had been raffled off the previous day and my only options were to hang a banner in the trees and place flyers in campus buses for a fee of $10. The first time that I visited the SORC, I was informed that while the service of putting a banner in the Diag was free, I would have to pay for the materials involved. This seemed like a reasonable matter until I realized that they demanded that I use special banner material and weather-resistant paints that were only available through the SORC.

Seeking to save my organization money, I opted for the SORC banner and sought out my own paints, which cost roughly $55.

Once painted, I brought my banner and flyers into the office and was informed for the first time that I was required to place special metallic braces in the corners ($7.50), purchase special weather-resistant rope ($5), and tie it on myself to the banner. In addition, the flyer I presented to the employee was apparently in need of photocopying ($2.50) and mounting on a specific thickness of cardboard. Of course, the SORC happened to sell this grade of poster board for whatever exorbitant cost they wanted to charge. Not having time to mount and copy these flyers myself, I had the woman estimate the cost of the cardboard, mounting, photocopying, and the fee for placing these in the buses, which came to roughly $30 - triple the original cost. Finally, I asked if this banner could be placed within some proximity to the Chemistry Building and I was flatly told that it couldn't. I spent the next half hour untangling rope and tying it onto the banner while the employee played Monopoly on the office computer.

My irritation with this event is two-fold. First: The organization of the SORC is perhaps the epitome of the bureaucratic nightmare that is the University. Not only were hidden cost strategies implemented but the staff was incredibly unhelpful and despite the ridiculous price that I paid, I had to do half of the work myself. My organization cannot afford to spend $67.50 on a banner that no chemistry student will see because it is not near the building.

Under normal circumstances, I would chalk this up to a learning experience and implore my friends of the ridiculous nature of the SORC and advise them to use any alternate organization.

Alas, the SORC maintains a monopoly on Diag board space, tree banners and bus signs, and I have no choice but to submit to the extortive practices of the SORC the next time I need to advertise effectively on this campus.

Adarsh Pandit
LSA senior

Coverage of homeless was 'phenomenal'

To the Daily:
Kudos to Reilly Brennan and Jason Stoffer for their Friday Focus,"Things fell apart" (1/23/98). Their article was one of the best written and poignant that I have ever read in the Daily. The reporting was both balanced and deep, and the quality of detail was phenomenal. The problem of homelessness is something that many University students, with varying degrees of privilege, either actively or passively ignore when encountered in the city of Ann Arbor. I think that Brennan and Stoffer have effectively put real, human faces on the huddled shapes that we glance at while walking past Taco Bell.

Trevor Boyer
LSA sophomore

Wire story was 'biased' and unfair coverage

To the Daily:
I found a particularly disgusting example of journalism in The Washington Post's article on Theodore Kaczinsky's plea bargain that ran in the Daily, ("Kaczynski confesses to attacks" 1/23/98). He was labeled schizophrenic when mental examinations proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is mentally sound. Such ridiculous misinformation and bias should have no place in real journalism.

Andrew Dempz
LSA senior

Abortion is not the only option

To the Daily:

During the days surronding the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I have been part of arguments about the subject of abortion. Personally, I would have to declare myself pro-choice because I hold no right to make such a personal decision for another person - especially when it comes to abortion. Since I am a man, I could never encounter the emotional and physical stress that would accompany a pregnancy or related abortion. But, to say that, as a man, I am unable to comment is a fallacy. I think abortion is wrong in most cases and should be used as a last resort in specific cases - those being health threats to the fetus or mother.

The most common erroneous theme that I found through many of these arguments was a quote similar to this: "America has to have legal abortions, because what about all those people who get raped, or all the times that the mother might die, or the baby could be born retarded or stillborn?" This is where I find the biggest problem with the abortion debate today.

This tells us much about the state of abortion in the United States at this time. It is an excuse to remain ignorant about the status quo of today's push for awareness about pregnancy and abortions. It is a problem much larger than abortion. It is a halogen light illuminating our general apathy and lack of accountability so prevalent in today's society.

There are other options to having an abortion, such as adoption and the various support and aid groups.

Personally, I know two sets of couples that waited about two years to adopt a baby. Some of this time was due to "red tape" but the majority was due to the lack of available babies and agencies. People simply aren't exercising the alternative options that are out there.

The next time readers are in a discussion about abortion with friends or even at a rally somewhere on campus, and they yell out with certainty, "Well, what about those rape victims and health threats?" and everyone cheers, stop and think. Thirteen percent of abortions are attributed to the health of the fetus, seven percent to the health of the mother and only one percent are due to rape. So, what about those 21 percent of cases I just cited? More important, what about the other 79 percent that I didn't?

Scott Hall
LSA first-year student

01-28-98