Page 4-Friday, June 9, 1978-The Michigan Daily
emichigan DAILY
Eighty-eight Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Ml. 48109,
Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 27-S News Phone: 764-0552

Peace is in Begin's hands

Friday, June 9, 1978
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan

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Half-baked tuition
plan unacceptable
W HEN IT CAME time for the House of
Representatives to settle on a tuition tax
credit bill, members had a wide array of
legislation to choose from. It's just too bad they
didn't take advantage of this fact and choose their
final piece of legislation more carefully.
The House last week passed a bill providing for
a $250 tax credit to all college-goers, regardless of
their family income. Granted, the tuition tax
credit idea is a more direct alternative for studen-
ts who must cope with the immense governmental
bureaucracy to get assistance. But a mere $250
credit per student would serve only to drain the
U.S. Treasury without doing students much good.
The bill would cost an estimated $635 million in
lost taxes for fiscal year 1979 and, in the 1980s,
would be expected to top the billion dollar mark
every year. It is ludicrous enough to offer blanket
aid to people who do not need it, but the approved
bill also comes up short of providing substantial
aid to individuals who do need it.
Other tax credit bills introduced in the House
included provisions such as an income ceiling so
the tax break would apply only to those who could
really use it. House members apparently aban-
doned such stipulatons in order to get the bill ap-
proved, and thereby compromised the effec-
tiveness of the entire tax credit concept.
It is now up to the Senate-where tax credits
have recently received a warm reception-to vote
on the bill. Legislation providing a $500 tax credit
passed the Senate Finance Committee last year.
The full Senate must now decide whether to opt
for the House version, inadequate provisions and
all, or realistically amend it to make it fit the
public need.
Relief from tuition burdens is long overdue in
light of surging tuition and living costs. Needy,
even middle-income, students must now endure a
tedious financial aid process that leaves many
uncertain about whether they will be able to com-
plete their college careers.
A taxcredit system is long overdue in the U.S.
But if it's less-than-mediocre, no thanks.
=michigan DAILY
SPRING EDITORIAL STAFF
BARBARA ZAHS
Editor-in-Chief
IkICHARDBERKE KEN PARSIGIAN
Editorial Directors-
JEFFREY SELBST
Magazine Editor
OWEN GLEIBERMAN
+ Arts Editor
ANDY FREEBERG
JOHN KNOX
PETER SERLING
, Photographers
STAFF WRITERS: Mike Arksh, Rene Becker. Brian Blanchard, Elisa Isaac-
son, Dan Oberdorfer, TomO'Conell, Judy Rakowsky, R.J Smith
CARTOONISTS: Jane HanstelnDuane Gall

By Peter Blaisdell
Egyptian President Sadat
recently stated that he was
prepared to give his. peace
initiative just two more months to
bring an acceptable response
from Israel. What form this
response is to take and what
Egypt will do if it doesn't
materialize were left inten-
tionally vague, nevertheless
Premier Begin should heed this
warning and put much greater
emphasis on resolving the
problems preventing a peace set-
tlement.
Sadat knows that putting a set
time constraint on the already
stalled peace negotiation process
will make accord still harder to
reach, but he hopes that the
United States will now put ad-
ditional pressure on Israel to of-
fer concessions on such issues as
recognition of the Palestinians,
West Bank autonomy, andi Jewish
settlements in occupied Arab
territory.
PRESIDENT Carter's suc-
cessful sale of warplanes to both
Egypt and Saudi Arabia, no
doubt, encouraged Sadat to
believe that the United States
isn't as pro-Israel as during
previous administrations and
Begin is presently doing little to
reconcile the differences between
his country and America.
Opposition to Begin's gover-
nment within Israel could be fur-
ther aroused by the threat of
killing the small hope that still
remains of reaching a rapid set-
tlement. Several of the smaller
parties in the Likud have been
critical of Begin's handling of
foreign policy, indicating that his
political strength isn't as
unassailable as it once seemed.
Sadat also had to take into ac-
count his own political position

/ L.O.
EeRROR ndless Jur
. Endless Journey

which is apparently stable, but
might weaken if he can't produce
some concrete response to his
own dramatic overtures for
peace. Lately stories have ap-
peared in the Egyptian press
which have called these attempts
a failure. In addition, Israel has
continued to settle occupied
territory, forcing a response to
appease such Arab hardliners as
Syria, Algeria and Iraq.
THOUGH THE reasons for
Sadat's time limit seem clear,
they give the Palestine
Liberation Organization and
other Arab guerrillas an oppor-
tunity to halt peace talks for
years to come. Should these
groups launch another major
raid on Israel during the next two
months it will provoke inevitable

reprisals and emotions will not
have enough time to cool before
the Egyptian leader's self-
imposed limit expires.
Sadat's statement implies that
the next move is Israel's and
though Begin is currently in a
position of imposing military and
political might, he would do well
to consider Sadat's statement not
as a threat to be spurned, but asa
signal that a stable settlement
will require greater flexibility
than Begin has so far been
prepared to show. The time
remaining to reach an agreement
isn't limitless; Begin must
recognize this, and respond to
Sadat's initiative soon.
Peter Blaisdell is a recent
graduate of the University.

HEALTH SERVICE HANDBOOK:

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On proper male hygiene
By Syvia HckerAlso, while circumcision is rarely practiced in
By Sylvia Hacker Great Britain and most of Western Europe, higher
JESTION: As a foreign student, I have noted incidences of cancer of the penis and cervix are not
young Americans are circumcised. Please in- recorded in these countries. Recently, concern has
me and my countrymen: been voiced about the decision for circumcision
What other countries practice it routinely? being vested in the parents rather than in the male
Why is it done-what are its advantages and himself.
dvantages? IN FALL 1975, the American 'Academy of
Should me and my friends (ages 19-26) have it Pediatrics published a statement that routine cir-
?9 cumcision was not essential if good personal
SrER: Having consulted our Medical Direc- hygiene were followed. It recommended a program
Dr. Robert Anderson, who is a specialist in of education to encourage ongoing good personal
ogy, here is some basic information on circum- hygiene in order to offer all the advantages of cir-
ny ucumcision without the attendant surgical risk.
e only country in which circumcision has been Complications fom surgery in performing circum-
rmed on a routine hasis is the United States. cision are uncommon, but do occur.
ever, in some countries, it is done on a religious While routine circumcision can be done as an out-
(e.g., Iran) and is particularly associated with patient procedure, it is usually performed sn the
slamic and Jewish faiths. In Nigeria, there hospital. The convalescent period is only a few
s a high percentage of circumcision, but the days. The cost of the procedure may range from
an is unclear. Recently, there has been the ten- seventy-five dollars as an out-patient procedure un-
y to reduce the routineness in the United der local anesthesia, to three hundred dollars as a
s and to increase in some European countries. hospital inpatient procedure under general
est Germany, for example, it now occurs in anesthesia. We would strongly suggest that all un-
t 20 per cent of male births. circumcised individuals contemplating undergoing
e subject of circumcision has lone been one of the procedure have individual consultations with
oversy. Without question, is it recognized that a physician to evaluate its advisability.
imcision aids in hygiene of the male genital Send all health-related questions to:
Tha enn fairly nninnn id that

area. ere is, also iairiy convincing evidence naE
cancer of the penis, while a rare entity, occurs less
in circumcised males. It is also possible that cancer
of the cervix occurs less frequently in wives of cir-
cumcised husbands. There is much controversy,
however, as to whether such protective benefit oc-
curs in males circumcised later than infancy.

The Health Educator
University Health Service
Div. of Office of Student Services
207 Fletcher
Anon Arbor, Mich. 4$109