According to this daily story, about 60 people picketed the Liberty Street Borders yesterday in support of the workers there who have been struggling to form a union after voting to unionize by 92% last December.

… “(Borders Readers United) is a coalition of community groups that have come together to support Borders employees,” member and Rackham student Matt Ides said.

Borders management could not be reached by phone last night to comment. In the past, managers have said they encourage communication with employees and do not feel unionization is necessary. …”

Clair Morrissey, Jackie Bray, Emily Squires, and Pete Woiwode respond to Johanna Hanink’s column in a letter to the Daily today, bringing the tally to 2 in support, 1 against. Excerpt:

” … First of all, it is not the responsibility of people of color to continually educate white people. White folks need to recognize the effects of the history of racism and oppression in our country; we need to acknowledge how we benefit from institutional and systemic racism. We must take the initiative to increase our own understanding of racial privilege and discrimination in order to understand why demanding an explanation from people of color is usually insulting, regardless of intention. … “

This from Michael Moore’s latest message to his fans:

” … The day Clark made his announcement, I was in the former Yugoslavia. Clark was the NATO commander during the Kosovo War. If you’ve seen my film (”Bowling for Columbine”) you know that the bombing of civilians in Kosovo is something that bothers me to this day. That is why I put it in my movie. The 19 countries of NATO have yet to account for this decision to bomb in this way. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Clark wanted to use ground troops instead of relying on the bombing (less civilians would be killed that way). Clinton and Defense Secretary William Cohen overruled him. They didn’t want to risk having any American casualties; they preferred the “clean” way of killing from 30,000 feet above. Clark, apparently to undermine them, went on TV and took his case to the American people. Cohen was furious and told him to “get your (bleeping) face” off the TV. He and the Pentagon then orchestrated his firing.

Years later, many analysts agree that the Kosovo War would have ended much sooner — and fewer civilians would have been killed — had the White House listened to Clark and let him use the ground troops to stop Milosevic’s genocide of the people in Kosovo. …”

This assault reported in the Ann Arbor news also goes unreported by the Daily:

“U-M student reports knifepoint threat

A campus police officer found a man who matched the suspect’s description in the area and arrested him, reports said. The 42-year-old homeless man is being held at the Washtenaw County Jail on a felonious assault charge.”

This event on Thursday seems to be shaping up as one of the biggest this semester:

WHO: Jim Hightower, Joe Wilson, John Passacantando, and more.
WHEN: Thursday, September 25th, 2003 from 5-9pm.
WHERE: The Power Center, 121 Fletcher, on the U. Michigan Ann Arbor campus.
COST: Admission is FREE with on-site voter registration or proof of voter
registration, or if you bring somebody who needs to register to vote. Nobody
will be turned away due to disenfranchisement (citizen or legal record).

At 7 pm, take a seat in the 1300 seat auditorium to hear Hightower, Wilson,
Passacantando, and local luminaries, as well as to hear some good music,
rap, and comedy with Jesse Popp. State Senator from Detroit, Buzz Thomas,
along with former State Senator Alma Wheeler Smith, will co-host the
evening. Ben & Jerry’s has donated free ice cream for you to eat on your
way home. For more information contact Elisabeth Daley at
eldaley@umich.edu.

“Don’t you realize how privileged you are?”

Well, letters in support of Johanna Hanink’s column are running ahead of those opposing her 2-0. That must mean she’s right, not that she pissed off a lot of people who probably will never write a letter to the editor from now on. Also in the letters section is a letter chastising U-M students for not understanding the luck and privilege that go along with attending a university like the University of Michigan. I can’t help find the two linked: a privileged U-M student who fails totally to understand the interplay of power and race in modern America, and pampered youth so overstimulated they fail totally to understand how lucky they are to be at the University:

“As a projectionist who has spent nearly twelve years providing crucial media support for higher education, I was appalled by your article headed New technology tries to spice up outdated lectures (09/22/03). This preposterous headline was accompanied by a photograph of a dozing student sprawled in an auditorium seat, unable to stay awake over a crossword puzzle. The inference seems to be that highly trained lecturers are somehow at fault for failing to hold the attention of so many bright young things. But boredom occurs in the brain of the beholder. Boredom is the result of a decision, made by certain students, to disengage and resist the efforts being made to help them educate themselves. The fact that this is the most over-stimulated generation in history makes this a prickly problem. It would be best resolved by the students themselves, who need to exercise more than a nominal amount of self-discipline. There is nothing boring about the subjects being lectured upon. This is not a boring world. Wake up.

Theodore Grenier
LSA Staff”

A poll released yesterday found that 52% of 600 Michigan residents would ban affirmative action, 9% were undecided, and 39% in favor. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

> DetNews: “Diversity loses in two polls”