Page 4-Thursday, December 8, 1977-The Michigon Daily Eight v-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 75 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan The PLO's mistake THE PALESTINIAN Liberation Or- ganization (PLO), self - styled spokesman of the Palestinians, has re- jected Egyptian President Anwar Sa- dat's offer to join a summit meeting of U.S., Soviet Union, Israeli, United Na- tions, and various Arab leaders in a summit meeting in Cairo. The Soviet Union and all Arab states (except Egypt) have spurned this offer. None- theless, the PLO has much more to lose than the so-called "rejectionist" Arab states in choosing this course of action. The PLO finds itself in a precarious position. Its main concern must ever be for insisting upon its legitimacy; and in fact, it represents many of the functions of a government-in-exile for Palestinians. The Israelis still deny the legitimacy of the PLO and refuse to negotiate with them. This is the main reason the PLO has 'missed its chance to score a coup. Israel accepted Sadat's invitation without knowing that the PLO would be present. Sadat's invitation to the PLO was not a pre-planned stab-in-the-back to Israel, but must simply have seemed a way to solve a tough problem (getting the Israelis and the PLO to talk to each other) with a bold dramatic stroke. The PLO would have had the Israelis where it wanted them. Israel, upon learning that the PLO had accepted, could have " backed out. This would have made Israel look foolish, considering both Prime Minister Menachem Begin's re- cent hospitality towards Sadat and his declared willingness to reciprocate * stayed, granting the same kind of de facto recognition of the organiza- tion's legitimacy that Sadat accorded Israel by virtue of his visit. The PLO could hardly look bad in the world forum. Instead, it has chosen to cast its lot with the rejectionist states, which held their own "anti- summit" meeting at Tripoli, Libya last week. The rejectionists, led by Moam- mar Khadafy's Libya but including Syria, Iraq, Algeria, South Yemen, and the PLO, declared that Sadat is a "traitor" for his actions, and called for the removal of the Pan-Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Tripoli, the severing of formal relations with Egypt, as well as economic sanctions of any sort. T HE PLO HAS BEEN calling upon those who would orchestrate peace talks that they must be included in the calculations. Yet when they are offered the opportunity to go and speak their piece, they refused. Why?, Well, one reason is that the very na- tions upon whom an independent Pales- tinian state would depend greatly, are the "rejectionist" ones; Libya's fanatic leader Khadafy supports the PLO, but probably would not should the PLO em- brace any Egyptian peace initiatives. Ditto Iraq, which walked out of the anti-, summit meeting because the sanctions recommended were not stringent enough. So the PLO has and will continue to make its own tenuous existence even more so.-After all, the next time any peace talks are discussed, and they will be again, the PLO may or may not be considered a variable in the peace equation. And if that proves the case, they will have no one to blame but themselves. By HUGH A. MULLIGAN Once again the groves of Academe are shaken root, branch and bud by a howling storm over examinations; whether to do away with them altogether or make them tougher. The controversy has been recurring on campus every seven or so years, like a plague of locusts, ever since Socrates began asking irksome questions instead of just lecturing like the other tenure double domes at Acropolis U. EDUCATORS in favor of scrapping entran- ce~ exams and final tests now argue that, among other things, quizzes areunfair to disadvantaged minority students, who may lack the background in competing under pressure, and that a student's overall work and effort is a better indicator of his progress than his ability to jot down some quick, meaningful answers while sitting in alternate seats in alternate rows under a ticking clock and the suspicious gaze of a proctor. The get-tough faction in the faculty smoking room tends to cite the number of functional illiterates occupying the desks previously reserved for the football team and argues that tomorrow's brain surgeons at least ought to be able to read and write, even if no one can read their handwriting on a prescription for laudanum or aspirin or whatever. Why award a diploma to some spavined wealing who never blitzed a quar- terback ox executed a blind-side tackle for the glory of alma mater? But, on the other hand, why flunk out-just for the sake of a few pasty questions-some amiable 37-year-old youth who has found a real home on campus, a lifestyle to his liking, now that it no longer is necessary to bug out to Canada or Sweden. WHAT WITH open dorms, food stamps, unemployment checks and government loans that rarely come to maturity when the student does, college life would be serene and carefree were it not for the spectre of failure and expulsion raised by the hard- nosed padagogues in the tougher exam camp. In the opinion of this scholastic observer, who has sat on both sides of the examination bench, the whole bruhaha is based on two ) ,st tim e questionable premises: that students actually break into a cold sweat, have nervous break- downs and jump out of lecture room windows. (Harvard exams always seemed to be held in the basement rooms during a tough quiz.) And that professors actually read the pile of test papers they stuff under their arms as they march menacingly from the lecture hall. When Vladimir Nabokov, the late, great author of "Lolita," was teaching literature at Cornell, he rarely read the students' answers to the questions he so laborously contrived for their final doom or reward. His wife, Vera, marked the papers. That was the good news. agailn world, a few decades back, as a substitute teacher in the Boston Public School system. When a history teacher fell ill, pushed down the staircase during fire drill, at the William E. Russell Junior High School in the tough Roxbury section, the substitute found himself conducting a quiz in the origins of our nationhood. "When did the Mayflower reach Plymouth Rock?" "I don't know, teach, I was absent that day," responded a lightly mustachioed adolescent who later was awarded a six-year government scholarship for taking a tire iron to a gas station attendant. The bad news was Statistics that more t students hauled off laughing 4 exam time those reck to read t submitted t ti ns. that she was an ex- MY BROTHER, Andrew, now a school superintendent in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., once had the ungraciousness to pull a surprise will shOw quiz in on ancient history class at a Brooklyn High School the day before Christmas Eve, a eachers than gaucherie equivalentto Scrooge turning away the carolers at his door. have been "Who were the Visigoths?" he asked. t th"Where did they come from and when did ravinge they attack Rome?" One among the sullen, resentful examinees academy at essayeda seasonal response: "I don't know who the Visgoths are or where and when they ---especially came, but whoever they are and wherever they are, I wish them all a Merry Christmas." less enough Repentent, reborn Scrooge coughed up with an A. he answers o their ques- ceedingly tough marker. But it all came out even, or better, because on final grades, the master rarely could bring himself to flunk anyone and had a special fondness for the toothless oafs who overflowed their. lecture benches in sweat shirts marked "property of the Athletic Department." STATISTICS will show that more teachers than students have been hauled off raving to the laughing academy at exam time-especially those reckless enough to read the answers submitted to their THEN THERE was the progressive, highly demanding Yale lecturer on England's In- dustrial Revolution and Rising Class Struggle (3 credits) who asked only one question on the final exam: "Why?" While others scribbled firiously, battled with the clock and their total recall of lecture notes, one self assured undergrad wrote but two words in his blue book: "Why not?" But my favorite exam answer is the Ver- mont farmer who dealt a blow against bureaucracy when at the end of a long and exasperating government questionnaire on pesticide controls he came to the line "Do Not Write In This Space." "I'll write where I damn please," he wrote and went back to his mules. Hugh A. Mulligan is a Special Correspon- dent for the Associated Press. questions. This typewriter tyro entered the working Letters to The Daily THIS WAS YOUR FBJC 'I 10 i i i U' C C 1i A ~ Y °, LSA-SG To The Daily: I have written this letter in re- sponse to the Daily article, "In- cumbents put on defense as 25 seek 12 seats on LSA-SG," print- ed on December 1st, 1977. As the headline implies, the article fo- cused on two candidates who charged current members with fiscal mismanagement and elec- tion corruption. As the current President of the LS&A Student Government, I wish to examine the absurdity of the charges, to clarify several factual inaccura- cies concerning our reorganiza- tion, and to discuss the irrespon- sibility of the Daily staff in print- ing this article. The first charge, made by Mike Spurnack, member of the Bull- shit Party, is that "LS&A-SG spent $12,000 at the beginning of this term when there was only $5,200 in the treasury." This charge is ludicrous! On October 12th, the LS&A-SG Executive Council approved a tentative budget of $13,052 for the academ- ic year. Since September 1, 1977, only $2,376.64 has been allocated for projects and operating ex- penses. Mr. 'Spurnack's charge is made out of ignorance. He has' never attended an LS&A-SG meeting, nor has he spoken to the LS&A-SG Treasurer, Deb Filler. The second set of charges was levelled by Jasper Di Giuseppe, member of the New Action Coal- ition. # Mr. Di Giuseppe alleges that PESC (Program for Educa- tional and Social Change) influ- ences LS&A-SG to appoint PESC friends as election directors. There is no basis for such a charge. The Elections Director, Theodore Yemen, is obviously the most qualified person for this position. Mr. Yemen was Elec- tions Director in last April's elec- tions, which were free of corrup- tion. Mr. Di Giuseppe further alleges that voting is "easiest" in "PESC dorms." As I pointed out the Daily article (12/1) this is rid- iculous, since none of the PESC candidates even live in a dorm. Polling sites are determined by the Elections Director solely on the basis of past turnout. High voter participation is par- ticularly difficult to achieve given the current attitudes towards all student governments. Mr. Di Giuseppe points to Alice Lloyd and East Quad as "PESC dorms," but he fails to mention that Mosher Jordan and South Quad have polls open equally as long because, historically, turn- out has been highest in these four dorms. Mr. Di Giuseppe also omits the important fact that he and others have challenged the placement of polling sites in past elections, but members of the LS&A Academic Judiciary have always maintained their legality. Ultimately, the Daily staff must take responsibility for printing these unsubstantiated charges, and giving credibility to the candidates who made them. I find this particularly disturbing in view of the recent reorganiza- tion of LS&A-SG, which was men- tioned only in the last three para- graphs of the article. I consider this reorganization to be the most important event in the recent his- tory of LS&A-SG. Not only has the Daily failed to publicize the reorganization de- spite our pleas, but Steve Gold, author of the article, has seri- ously misrepresented it. Mr. Gold states that I have "spearheaded" this reorganization and that I "hope to carry out a fifteen point" reorganization plan. This is inaccurate. This reorganiza- tion plan was decided upon by all Executive Council members through a series of workshops led by an outside facilitator. The in- ternal changes have been im- plemented and the external projects have begun. Mr. Gold also implied that apathy is my major concern. I never mentioned the word during our interview. On the contrary I believe that the current members of LS&A-SG are extremely com- mitted, and if the recent reor- ganization were better publicized, more students might become involved.. Why did the Daily print this ar- ticle? Mr. Gold states that "al- though he did not think that the changes were valid, they were nevertheless 'news.' "This is Mr. Gold's first semester at the uni- versity and his first article on LSA-SG. It is understandable that he would not know the history of such charges nor fully under- stand the implication of printing them in the Daily. What is left ex- cusable is that his editors, who are more experienced, not only saw fit to print such an article but actually urged him to write it in this fashion. It is my hope that in the future, the Daily staff will focus more on its energy on re- porting LS&A-SG progress rather than making news out of politi- cally motivated maneuvers on the part of persistent opportun- ists. Dick Brazee, President of LS&A Student Government plutonium dangers To The Daily: Plutonium is one of the most lethal poisons known to man. An ounce of plutonium, widely dis- persed, is enough to kill every human being on this planet. A typical commercial breeder reactor will contain over one metric ton of plutonium. Plutoni- um must be contained for 250,000 years before it decays enough to be safely released to the environ- mrent. So far no method of perma- nent storage has been accepted, although a number of methods have been studied by the AEC for almost 20 years. In 1969 AEC was firmly convinced that liquid storage in specially designed tanks "has proved safe and prac- tical." Sixteen leaks have oc- cured in the past 16 years. By the year 2000 AEC projects there will be 111,300 shipments of radio- active materials a year or an average of 305 en route somewhere in the U.S. everyday - by train or truck. A 1974 AEC study team found AEC security precautions and regulations "en- tirely inadequate." An individual or group would find little diffi- culty in hijacking a nuclear ship- ment (plutonium emits alpha particles which are easily shield- ed; thus handling is simple, in- gestion of trace amounts if fatal.) A precedent was set for the world in March, 1973, when a guerrilla band took temporary possession of a nuclear power plant in Ar- gentina. Controversy rages on over the safety of the backup sys- tems, designed to prevent melt- down when malfunctions occur, yet industry with AEC at its heels aggressively pursues a return on its capital investment, "the public be damned." I question the motives and the competence of industry and AEC in providing safe nuclear energy. They are playing with fire, yet assure us that everything is under control. Why not pursue a safer energy strategy? - Steve Milsap LSA r , 'ti 7 Students get C ONTRARY TO popular belief, stu-t dents can get things done around this University if they are determined{ and reasonable. A good example is the compromise reached Tuesday by aa group of student leaders and University administrators over the paucity of stu- dent activities space on campus. The issue first came to light lastI Spring when.Scott Kellman and Steve Carnevale, then president and vice- president of MSA respectively, present-; ed a plan to the Regents for increasing student activities space. The proposal called for the since demolished Water-I man gymnasium to be converted to a I student activities center. The RegentsI considered the matter, but rejected the e~narntc' nlnnTnvan aRc'f-~ b irant m ore space ties Building to be expanded; and per- mitting students to use Angell Hall classrooms at night. If the Regents ap- prove it quickly, the plan could be put into effect sometime next term. T HE STUDENTS who participated on the committee deserve hearty thanks for securing increased space for student activities. They acted as solid diplomats, taking some 'and giving some, and the end result was more space. These students proved that the University can be reasoned with effec- tively, provided we don't set our sights too high. Had our student representa- tives demanded a new activities build- ing, they might have come away with WiKl 1116 ARE t i) M W MSCRV 06, E IF 4) &Jet-, THE WT M(tOR Rje'4 1 J16 SVMeL2 JBuev ycf. 6EAArIAT) AMP9RN6P-TY~ O&) YvoUR LFT HU NJG2Y EYESOf AREN CR3OJR ANl OW-WAY CJtECK l 'A St T _ T rUS PAVCFO)R A M-OMEN3T AbJP i Ep t Lirfl A f'W&3r.) ~~ \ 1I II,A.M hrv LA-.*IV. L0 TOURSH.