,,Page 4-Thursday, November 15, 1979-The Michigan Daily
.I3 Aid-igan 1aiIy
Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom
' Vol. LXXXX, No. 61 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
MSA funding authority
inmdanger again
OMEONE KEEPS forgetting that
student governments on this cam-
pus cannot allocate funds to please
everyone. Occasionally, some group
may not get what it wants.
But, in an act of silly desperation,
one group has decided that if it is not
going to get its proper share, then
nobody should. Denied its funding
request, the Michigan Republicans
Club will tell the Regents in their
public comments session today that
the Michigan Student Assembly should
not have the power to give money to
any group.
The organization charges that the
assembly only allocates assistance to
groups with acceptable ideological
values, and turns down requests from
people with opposing views. It believes
that is the reason the assembly rejec-
ted its appeal for subsidies.
No doubt MIRC's complaint will find
a receptive audience in the Regents, a
r borad which just several months ago
tevoked temporarily the assembly's
funding authority until an appeals
process could be established. A few of
the Regents have made it no secret
a that they are deeply disturbed by the
Sway the $assembly decides funding
Omatters. Regent Deane Baker once
lashed out against the assembly for
r generously supporting the Washtenaw
#County Coalition Against Apartheid, a
group that Baker said acted irrespon-
sibly in disrupting several of last
spring's Regents' meetings.
Despite the temptation and the
chance to once again restrict any
power the assembly may enjoy, the
'Board will probably evade the question
'at this time. It does not seem prepared
or another battle over the funding
issue. Not yet, at least.
The more serious danger here is that
a fairly powerful coalition on campus
now is determined to take away MSA's
right to fund other organizations.
MIRC has been slowly building support
on campus, and its call for a funding
suspension has the potential to carry a
dangerous amount of clout. If it were
able to mobilize enough support in the
near future, the Regents may then
have sufficient ammunition to seize the
assembly's funding powers forever.
MIRC wants the funds to subsidize
an open house scheduled for today and
a visit by Michigan Lt. Governor
James Brickley scheduled for Nov. 27.
The GOP student group asked for
$1,400. It received nothing for today's
affair, and was granted $82 for the
Brickley visit. MSA backed its refusal
by indicating that the open house was
strictly a social event which usually
does not receive allocations.
It is not time now to evaluate the
merits of MIRC's request - they may
well deserve more money. But whether
it has a justified grievance in this case
is not the essential question. It is more
important to recognize that the assem-
bly must have a free hand in all of its
funding decisions, without interference
from the University. The organization
has had to fight for too long to get the
Regents to respect that right. This past
summer and part of this semester had
to be wasted while the assembly re-
acquired its cherished freedom.
Student government does not have
much power. Most of the crucial con-
flicts are decided by the Regents and
the University hierarchy while studen-
ts are rarely consulted. Yet, the
authority of the assembly to give
money to groups promoting cultural
and educational awareness gives
students some say in events.
Even that small authority is again
being threatened. When will MSA be
left alone?
Thousands of Iranians demonstrate against America in a rally earlier this week in Tehran.
AP Photo
The current Iranian crisis is',
full of rr
The current events in Iran -'mainly the
seizure of the American Embassy by Iranian
students demanding the shah for American
hostages - has aroused justifiable anger in
the American people and has created a series
of dangerous misconceptions. I would like
briefly to attempt to make three points which
seem relevant and worthwhile at this point.
(I fluctuate daily, but I feel more positive as
these words are written that the hostage
question will be satisfactorily resolved. Its af-
termath is another matter.)
FIRST, Americans and most Europeans
apparently cannot understand the justifiable
wrath of the Iranian people and their need for
revenge against their former ruler, the shah.
Since his return to power at the hands of the
CIA in 1953, the U.S. has been intimately in-
volved in his perpetuation in. power.
American influen'ce was felt most notably
through the notorious intelligence agency
known as SAVAK, an organization which at
the least could not have been unknown to the
U.S. government and was probably assisted
by the CIA in the murder of hundreds and the
torture and imprisonment of thousands of
young Iranians. The Iranian Revolution was
successful because the shah had alienated the
entire Iranian population during his tyran-
nical reign.,
SECONDLY, it would be a gross error for
the U.S. government to consider (so far I
think it has not entertained the thought) of ex-
traditing the shah to Iran. That issue is a mat-
ter of principle , that transcends the shah,
Ayatollah Khomeini, President Carter, and
iisconc eptions
By Richard Mitchell
the revolutionary students in Iran who are
playing out the drama - no matter how
justified the cause. The Iranian students are
in gross violation of fundamental principle
that has governed relations between nations
since the beginning of time: embassies are
sacred and sacrosanct institutions. The
protection of extraterritorial status is a prime
and universally accepted responsibility of the
iocal government. To extradite the shah to
save 60, 90, or even 500 Americans would be to
further weaken the fabric of the increasingly
unstable relationships between nations which
are becoming increasingly more complex and
more unpredictable. Few governments in the
world would wish to see these principles
weakened. It is no accident that the "radical"
Arab regimes of Syria and Algeria as well as
the PLO are involved in mediation efforts.
F Iran would hardly expect to win much support
for its position at theUnited Nations, built as
it is on the principle that there should be an in-
ternational law and code of behavior accepted
by all its members.
THIRDLY, it is a dangerous delusion for
westerners, and especially Americans to be
carried away with the notion that somehow
what is happening in Iran is "Islamic." There
is no question that there is a "Muslim"
dimension to the Iranian Revolution. But the
Iranian Revolution was just that - a people's
revolution perhaps unprecedented in human
history. It just happened to coincide with the
emergence of a religious figure, Khomeini,
who could mobilize national sentiment and
had fortuitously at his disposal an
organization which the shah's SAVAK was not
able to destroy. It could be said that the Iran
Revolution created the Ayatollah and not the
reverse. I suspect - and this is slightly off the
point - that his particular Islamic Revolution
will not survive him, but that certainly some
"Musliinness" will inevitably become part of
whatever new political system emerges in
Iran.
This phenomenon of Islam's revival is a
worldwide matter as we all know. Moreover,
the Iranian Shia Islam is not the choice of all
Muslims. The point is that what is happening
today is not equitable with Muslim society
and history. The Iranians are using religious
terms because the current regime's secular
revolutionaries are seeking revenge against a
very secular ruler. The situation, no matter
how resolved, will leave a poisonous relation-
ship between Iran and the U.S. for some time
to come. The confusion in the media between
Arab and Persian, the equation of Persian
with Muslim and Persian/Arab with Muslim,
the explicit and implicit assumption that this
is "Muslim" behavior, all will heighten the
historical antipathy of the West and Islam
and create an adversary relationship which
no one in this shrinking world can afford.
Richard Mitchell is a professor of modern Near
East and North African history.
R
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Letters to
The Daily
To the Daily:
It's about time that the
American population stood up
and let itself be heard. We have
put up with all this shit too long.
The Iranians have constantly
refused to be civilized and to act
in a way that is expected of a
country involved in international
affairs.
After careful thought and con-
sideration there are a multitude
of things that could be changed
and shjould be done. First off,
Iran should free all political
prisoners. These include the sixty
Americans being forcibly held
against their will. Whether one
wishes to see this in the same
light or not, this is a definite act
of war and should be considered
so by everyone.
FURTHERMORE Iran should
be made into a democratic state.
A dictatorship, whether defined
by supreme right or by devine
right, is still-a dictatorship. Iran
should also institute a freeze on
all oil prices.
The United States should also
receive a formal apology and
restitution for all damages that
Iran has inflicted upon the United
States.
The Ayatollah Khomeini should
be extradited to the United States
for the multitude of crimes com-
mitted against the aforesaid par-
ty. These crimes include: con-
spiracy of mass kidnapping, an
accomplice to mass murders,
willingly aiding terrorist activity,
slander, and other high crimes.
If these demands are not met,
especially the first one, then"
there are really two definite
possibilities open. The United
States could seize Iranian studen-
ts at the ratio of one hundred or
even a thousand to one
Americans held in Iran.
Whatever happens to the
Americans should also happen to
the Iranian students. The other
possibility is to invade the
bastards and retaliate for this act
of aggression against the United
States.
In the event that the American
hostages are released, the United
States should cut all ties with
Iran until they become more
civil. Or the United States can in-
vade them anyway. This would
not only be a just retaliation for
all crimes and damages done to
the United States it would also
ease the oil crisis some.
Whatever happens it is about
time for Americans everywhere
to throw off this apathetic at-
titude that has been the more
aware of what is happening.
Apathy and an isolationistic at-
titude will only lead the United
States to further trouble than it
already has. The time is now to
let yourself be heard and to let
the world know that the United
States is not a sluggish, invirile
old man that will allow a crazed,
religious dictator to tell us to go
to Hell.
-Steve Roach
To the Dailv:
Lillian's somewhat less than
tasteful remark that she hopes
"nothing happens to him." And,
of course, Jimmy "I'll whip his
ass" Carter assures us that he
didn't mean to refer to Senator's
reaction after the Chappaquidick
accident when he said he doesn't
panic in an emergency. All of
which makes one wonder what
the Daily editors-who are
usually found in the ideological
fantasy land somewhere to the
left of Mr. Kennedy-were
thinking when a headline in the
Nov. 8 issue (p. 5) read: "Ken-
nedy takes to big plunge." Wow,
just wait till Reagan announces!
-Emil Arca
To the Daily:
I am a third year Inteflex
student presently taking Gross
Anatomy, and I was totally
astounded by your article
"Cadavers: The Cold, Hard Fac-
ts". In it, one student, who asked
not to be identified, states that,
"Bodies get tossed around, and
there is a degree of disrespect."
Also, a third year Dental student,
Mooch Young, was quoted,
"People have been known to
jump rope with various parts of
the amatomy." He also said that
gold bridgeworks were stolen
from the cadavers.
These quotes and "facts" used
in the article to inform the reader
as to what really goes on in a
Gross Anatomy lab. Unfor-
am also positive that it is very
much the exception, and not the
rule, and it would have to occur
behind the backs of myself, my
classmates and my instructors,
because we would never condone
such unprofessional behavior.
While I agree that it is
necessary for the students to
somehow desensitize themselves
to working with dead bodies,
maliciousness and disrespect is
not necessary for, nor is it used or
condoned as a method 4J den-
sitization.
I am saddened that the Daily
chose to print an article that un-
justifiably portrays Anatomy
students as sadists and thieves.
Such poor journalism does .not
belong in the University's student
newspaper.
-Mark S. Rosner
Inteflex class of 1983
To the Daily:
I must take issue with several
points raised in the recent Lyons
and Rosenberg article on the use
of cadavers for anatomy labs at
U. of M. Having participated in a
class involving cadaver dissec-
tion at a different university, I
suggest that 'dehumanizing the
cadavers' and participating in
various pranks is not necessary
to make human dissection
tolerable. Indeed, an attitude of
respect and gratitude for those
who have donated their bodies
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