Letters to the Editor

Constitutionality takes precedence over partisanship

To the Daily:

I admit to being a supporter of Al Gore and would very much love to see him emerge victorious once this electoral decision is finally made.

However, I do not feel that going against this nation's most sacred set of principles, the United States Constitution, is something that should ever be considered when deciding this election. Even with the knowledge that there is an overwhelming probability of irregularities and confusion involved with some of the ballots in Florida, allowing a handful of counties to revote would do a great disservice to the integrity of our constitution and this country as a whole. This election needs to be handled in a manner that follows the procedure stated in the electoral process and agreed upon by the nation. It is not the right of the citizens of Florida or the Democrats throughout this nation to retroactively change the electoral process in lieu of a few ballot irregularities.

Our attitudes as citizens of this country should be to let this election run its course and, once that has finished, to make our voices heard. We need to tell our congressmen to get off their hands and start taking the steps necessary to amend the constitution, ridding it of the Electoral College and in addition, to create a federally standardized ballot utilized by all 50 states.

Walter Coleman

Dental school

Big House should avoid luxury boxes

To the Daily:

While we applaud the selection of Bill Martin as the University's new athletic director, we were very disappointed to read his quote regarding luxury boxes in the fall issue of The Michigan Alumnus. When responding to a question about his top priorities, he replied, "It's not a matter of if, it's when ... for adding stadium boxes." Here we go again. We finally got that embarrassing halo problem resolved and now we're planning to segregate the Big House in the name of deficit reductions.

Earlier this year, Martin sent two of his managers to see what other programs such as Nebraska, Tennessee and Arizona were doing with their stadiums to raise revenues. Since when does Michigan have to play "follow the leader?" There must be better alternatives than luxury boxes for an elite few who, like Martin, can afford to pay exorbitant fees to view our home games in climate-controlled comfort. The University is a public institution and the public's interests should always come before corporate interests.

What we really need are more seats for those who want to see the games in person. Every year we have thousands of students, alumni and fans who are unable to purchase tickets to our sold-out games. There are thousands more who have been on waiting lists for season tickets for years. At the same time, scalpers are selling tickets for five to 10 times face value. Michigan Stadium was designed so that it could be enlarged to hold as many as 150,000 spectators. Why not add another 10 or 20 thousand seats to accommodate our Michigan family first before we start to cater to the champagne and caviar crowd? The additional seating would be a one-time expense and should increase the athletic department's funds for many years to come.

Some of Bill Martin's other ideas seem eminently reasonable. Yes, we should consider raising our ticket prices to keep them in line with other events. And yes, perhaps a seat between the 40 yard lines should cost more that a seat in Row 90 of the end zone. Selling advertising on the video screens may even be acceptable as long as there is no permanent physical signage. However, charging special "seat license" fees seems to be a discriminatory policy.

As was clearly demonstrated by the halo controversy, the character, tradition and dignity of the Michigan Stadium are close to the hearts of fans and alumni around the world. This "Field of Dreams" is also part of what attracts some of the nation's finest athletes to become Wolverines each year. We would like to see our athletic department come up with some creative ideas for raising additional revenues without changing the nature of this centerpiece of Michigan athletics. Better television, radio and licensing contracts would be a good place to start. If we want to continue to be the "Leaders and Best," we need to innovate, not imitate.

Gerald and Sharon Hill

Alumni