Letters to the Editor

Students should participate in Earth Week 2000

To the Daily:

Between yesterday and Sunday, April 2, hundreds of University students, faculty and staff will join together in a coordinated effort to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Week. But regardless of all our hard work, and all the people involved, Earth Week 2000 can only be a success with your input and help.

The theme for Earth Week 2000 events is "Beyond Environmentalism: Reaffirming the Connections between Society, Culture, and Ecology." It is our goal to present our University community with a unique opportunity to remember and reflect upon the underlying ecological, social and economic threads that join us to the web of life. These threads make each and every one of us an "environmentalist," whether we choose to believe it or not.

We welcome and encourage everyone, from soon-to-be briefcase warriors to poets hopeless and romantic, from meat-eating, SUV-driving shop-til-you-droppers to granola-and-Teva die-hards, to escape the day-to-day molds in which we are too often cast, and together consider the roles we can and do play in "environmental" issues.

Global climate change, economic development, species extinction, hunger, poverty and social injustice share commonalities we sometimes forget to consider and sometimes completely ignore. Everyone helping to organize Earth Week 2000 events hopes to both directly and indirectly highlight some of these interconnections, offering opportunities for campus and community-wide discourse (dissent and debate are welcome) and active involvement (remember that inaction is an act in itself).

With 23 "official" and many more less-than-official events, there's something planned for everyone. Highlights include the Earth Week 30th Anniversary Lecture Series (to be held next Monday through Thursday in the afternoon and evening in the Michigan League), as well as student presentations, information sessions, musical events, cultural celebrations and volunteer opportunities. All these events have been coordinated to highlight the diverse, dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of efforts being made here at the University to increase ecological literacy, encourage active participation to affect positive social change and investigate notions of justice, democracy and equality in the current political and economic climates.

Earth Week events are being held one month in advance of the day commemorated by Gaylord Nelson in 1970 to keep finals and graduation from discouraging participation. We've also stretched the "week" into ten days, including weekends, for those who have many scheduling conflicts. Please take the time to participate, and help to make a difference in both physically and mentally improving our environment! The schedule can be found at www.umich.edu/~jgroenke/earthweek.html and you can link to it from ITD's website (the default webpage on most campus computers).

Joseph Groenke SNRE senior Brianne Haven SNRE senior

Advertisement objectified women

To the Daily:

On Tuesday March 21, I opened the Daily; and found, on the second page one of the most sexist ads I have ever seen in the Daily or any other newspaper. On page two was an ad with a provocatively dressed woman leaning into the car window with a man at the driver's seat. This ad not only provokes the image of prostitution but it is substantiated by the caption "Free and Easy. 2 words you won't hear coming out of her mouth." This ad is misogynistic and it perpetuates the sexual objectification of women in society. It allows women to be seen as sexual objects who are not free or easy but obtainable for the sexual desire of men. Some people may argue that sex sells but should it be at the expense of women?

The University and Ann Arbor community should be embarrassed by the placement of this ad. This month in the nationally recognized feminist magazine, Ms. Magazine, this ad is one of four in their section about sexist ads in the United States. I was informed by Ms. Magazine that this ad was developed in Ann Arbor by Bidlack Creative Services for CollegianClassifieds.com. The University newspaper allowed and was paid to run this sexist ad and the Ann Arbor community supports the company that produces this ad.

I am now saddened more by the idea that the liberal and diverse communities of the University and Ann Arbor have falsely represented their progressive feminist ideals. I, as a proud feminist representative of these communities, have to question if in fact I should be proud. How could any liberal community allow this ad to be in circulation? The question that the Daily, the University community and the Ann Arbor community needs to ask themselves is do they have a feminist consciousness? If so, then this ad should not be condoned.

Jaime Lester

LSA senior