Page 4-Friday, May 26, 1978--The Michigan Daily wmichigan DAILY Eighty-eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI. 48109 Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 18-S News Phone: 764-0552 Friday, May 26, 1978 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Plymnouth refor-m must come now N EARLY March, after the Detroit Free Press reported that residents of the Plymouth Center for Human Development were being abused and neglected, Federal District Court Judge Charles Joiner ordered fundamental reforms for the Cen- ter. Joiner directed the Center to increase its staff- resident ratio to one to four during the day and one to eight at night. He also established a monitoring group to supervise activities at Plymouth and report any abuses which may occur. He ordered the Plymouth staff to be directly accountable to certain residents. It appears, however, that Little has been done by Plymouth administrators to abide by Joiner's orders. The monitoring group released a report Tuesday stating that residents of two halls still live in smelly, noisy conditions with inadequate supervision. Aggressive residents have not been separated from passive ones as Joiner ordered, the 67-page report said. It also said the Center is still no more accountable to residents. Abuse and neglect continue at Plymouth and lit- tle action is being taken to rectify the situation. Although many incapable and harmful attendants have been fired or suspended, many remain. The report indicates that the new attendants have received inadequate training. This is apalling, especially since former Plymouth Acting Director Evelyn Provitt proposed to establish a new training program for attendants. The matter has been in the hands of the Plymouth Administration for too long. It should now be transferred to state or federal officials so they can begin making the proper changes. All of Judge Joiner's changes should be immediately enforced. A special investigative task force, directed by Governor William Milliken, released a list of recommendations several weeks ago that seem appropriate. Now these ideas must be acted upon. It appears that the present Plymouth staff is in- capable of making the necessary changes on its own. INFLATION 16 RAMPANT AND CARTER S NOT DOING ANYT ING BUT HANPING OUT LOANS ABOUT VOLUNTAR ENIA ACION I YU WN 'rro Students must endeavor to redistribute power in 'U' Educational reform movements have largely fallen short of expectations because of a failure to internalize a basic truth-that the University is a business that operates in a larger social order upon which it demands, and which it serves. "Educational innovation" programs and "ex- periments" exist largely asa thorn in the side of the administration, which in proper businesslike fashion, is preoccupied with the "product"-us. REFORM MOVEMENTS within universities cannot exist in a vacuum. The concept of the university as a training ground for society at large is still a potent one. To the extent that we object to the dehumanizing aspects of our learning environ- ment we must understand the social forces which have necessitated it. And to the extent that we ob- ject to the social-political injustices or the self- destructive course of society, we must understand its origins within our own educational experience. The so-called "neutral" university has been shaped to fit into a very questionable political order. We should derive optimism from the fact that it can likewise be shaped to fulfill its legitimate role and responsibility. Among these responsibilites are the promotion of critical thinking, free inquiry, and personal freedom, rather than rigidity, conformity and dependence. We, as students, are objects of a campaign to in- still a sense of powerlessness and the futility of building community. This strikes home, but equally important, it strikes beyond the confines of our in- stitution. For instance, how could a whole population find itself in blind defense of an arbitrary economic order if it weren't for education that con- ditions a fear of independent judgment. As students organizing for change, then, we should focus on the quality of our own education. We should view it as much more than narrow self- interest but in fact, as integral to the larger political struggles for freedom, equality and understanding. A MAJOR responsibility of students is to work together and with sympathetic faculty to systematically redistribute decision-making power in the University bureaucracy. It is no secret that progressive faculty continually face weeding out through the tenure system, as in the case of Prof. Joel Samoff. Students need a strong voice in all decisions relating to composition of the faculty. Especially important is a campus-wide course evaluation system. Budget priorities are now set without significant regard for the quality of education. Costly research programs of esoteric and often eccentric faculty of- ten contribute nothing to the advancement of the learning for students, and are relevant only for their own sake. The only research generally considered as legitimate, whether among undergrads, grads, or faculty, is quantitative statistical nonsense that often distorts reality, as in the excuses offered by the Sullivan principles for continued University in- vestment in South Africa. Class size at the University has consistently inter- fered with meaningful learning. There are solutions to these problems, the first of which is gaining ac- LETTERS TO THE DAILt cess to the decision-making structure which has thus far only perpetuated the insensitive, bureaucratic non-action that plagues the whole University community. THE UNIVERSITY has failed to provide for adequate student space-for example, in the Michigan Union, where the vitality of the student community could be greatly bolstered by some serious planning: The Administration, in fact, has reclaimed the student-financed Student Activities Building for administrative functions-again, a closed decision having no mandate from the student body. Research into this and related matters, which the Peoples' Action Coalition supports, will show how much, in terms of facilities, the University student is short-changed for his or her tuition dollar. Results of this type of research, critical of both the major administrative decisions and the university's day to day operations, must be widely com- municated throughout the university. We cannot afford, especially those of us with lets opportunity, such as women and blacks and other minorities, to be passive in the face of University decisions that affect the quality of our education. It '. to the extent that we object to the dehumanizing aspects of our learning environment we must understand the social forces which have necessitated it.' is clear that students alone have the respon- sibility-by default-to develop a true two-way process of learning between "teachers" and "lear- ners." We have the responsibility of challenging the authoritarianism of our institution, which all too ef- fectively deflates our will to do anything but "get through" and commits to cynicism and apathy our most valuable resources-ourselves. Most importantly,.we have the right to participate in deciding the conditions under which we seek our education, for example through direct student par- ticipation on the Board of Regents. But the question remains-What is necessary to insure more adequate decisions and better planning, whether regarding curriculum, research, composition of faculty, .tuition, housing, affirmative action, cor- porate investments, or other issues? How can these decisions be made to include students, who are most deeply affected by them? IT IS WIDELY accepted that education should become less "mechanizing" and more "humanizing," less of a "static" process and more of a "dialectical" one, less attuned to "quantity of information" and more attuned to "quality of lear- ning," and not as "fragmentary" but rather "holistic" in approach. These terms must be tran- slated into a well-conceived strategy for student power. This piece was written by members of the Peoples' Action Coalition, which holds several seats on the Michigan Student Assembly. To the knm ser on arr TATS rLN M,JERRY! Y -'"Isr, _ ~flex nev 'EAK! S531 rec WAVE IT pea 00NS1' fle) pea pla Do jets really block peace? the Daily: AND HOW HAS Israel respon- the Congress heroically opposed (our editorial on the jet sale to ded to such a bold and historical and beat the once invincible Middle East lacked complete peace summons? By invading Israeli lobby in order to bring the wledge of the problem and Lebanon and using cluster bombs arms balance equation. between ved to mislead your readers to bombard indiscriminately in- the Israelis and Arabs near the important issues of the nocent men, women, and parity. Your Jets Block Peace ns sales. children. They have continued, editorial is a misconception. You (ou explain that the Arabs and contrasy to world opinion and are blaming the arms sales for aelis can afford to be more in- human rights, to expand and the blockade of peace. You fail to xible with the possession of the establish new settlements in comprehend that Israel is w arms, yet you do not occupied Arab territories. To at- blocking any peace hopes by their ognize the fact that Sadat's tain their policy of expansion the policy of expansion and refusal to ice initiative went beyond - Israelis resort to oppression and negotiate under equal terms. And xibility in order to reach economic strangulation of the they will continue to refuse to ce, and in doing this he has poor Arab farmers on the West negotiate for peace as long as ced himself in danger of an Bank. they remain the bully, militarily ifs bullet or e taliver President Carter, perhaps not unopposed in the Middle East. usany~eYment-Af Jbpdyli*cAapii aa~ nr~uerapigh