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Page 4-Sunday, February 10, 1980-The Michigan Daily
Economics spark
Nigt3trod an F areed
Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom
Vol. XC, No. 108
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Affirmative action should
not become ABA rule
SOME UNIVERSITY law students
are upset that Law School Dean
Terrence Sandalow is opposed to an
American Bar Association proposal
that would require law schools to have
an affirmative action admissions
program before the school could be
granted the all-important ABA ac-
creditation.
Law schools should have active
recruitment programs for potential
minority students, but it would be a
mistake to require such programs as a
condition of accreditation.
ABA accreditation has traditionally
been a signal that the institution in
question offers a high caliber legal
education. As desirable as affirmative
action programs may be, it would be
unfair and improper to deny ac-
creditation to an otherwise superb in-
stitution because it failed to meet a
goal not necessarily related to the
quality of the education at the school.
It could be argued that affirmative
action programs do contribute to the
quality of the educational experience
at law schools, and this is probably
true to an extent. But it is not at all ob-
vious that an affirmative action
program is a critical enough deter-
minant in the soundness of a legal
education to merit denying ac-
creditation solely on those grounds.
It is understandable and even ad-
mirable that the concerned law studen-
ts at this University want to promote
affirmative action programs at other
schools-but using the ABA ac-
creditation guidelines as the method is
simply not the way to do it.
It would have been easy for Dean
Sandalow to remain quiet on the
politically hot issue-after all, the
University law school has had an af-
firmative action recruitment program
for years and would not be in any
danger of losing accreditation if the
proposal passed.
But Sandalow sees that the in-
credible power of the accreditation
guidelines are in danger of being
abused to promote social and political
gains-however worthy-that they
were never designed to promote.
The 1980 version of anti-draft demonstra-
tions on-college campuses may be motivated,
partially by a much more powerful stimulus
than the political anti-war sentiments of the
Vietnam era. For today's college student, a
delay of two or more years in completing a
college education could appear to mean the
difference between a satisfying professional
career and the lack of one. The issue is
economic self-interest.
The difference separating the student of
today from the student of ten years ago lies in
the virtual revolution which has taken place
in the American labor market. During most of
the years of te Vietnam War draft, college
students had the comfort of knowing that
unemployment was at histoiic lows and that
the market value of their college degree
appeared secure. But in today's economic
environment, good jobs-those that offer
upward mobility, good pay, and long-term
security-are growing fewer and fewer by the
year, and the economic leverage represented
by the college degree is growing weaker and
weaker.
IN SHORT, THE student of the
198os-uncertain of where he fits in an
insecure economy-is rushing toward a door
to economic opportunity that is closing. The
longer it takes him to get there, the less
chance he will have of getting through. And a
two-year stint in the Army must seem to
represent a very significant hurdle.
The reality of -this closing door is
highlighted by data from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. It reveals that while employment
of college graduates grew by 76 per cent
between 1968 and 1978, the quality of the
employment declined. The proportion of
college graduates employed in desirable
professional and technical occupations
actually dropped during the decade because
the number of qualified candidates grew
faster than the number of jobs in those
occupations.
As a result of the declining opportunities for
good jobs, a quarter fo one-third of all
employed college graduates today hold jobs
traditionally filled by someone with less
schooling. And naturally, as the number of
college-educated candidates move down the
job ladder, a proportion of high-school (or
less) educated job-seekers are bumped,
completely off the ladder.
OBVIOUSLY, THIS predicament is of the
greatest imrtance to those who aspire to
e ete racket of the job market-the
professional and managerial jobs. And just as
obviously, it is from the "elite" universities
that the loudest outcry against the draft is
coming.
These students know the harsh economic
dictum of 1980: Get into the right line as fast
as you can and stay there, or else you might
lose your place for good. An involuntary two-
year delay in today's environment may mean
a lifetime of regret.
Whether such a perception corresponds to
reality is another matter: in an anxious world
facts are easily exaggerated beyond reality,
and it is comm'only acknowledged that
today's campuses are caught in a whirlpool of
economic anxiety.
ON THE OTHER hand, there is also
evidence that the draft historically has been
beneficial to the less advantaged sectors of
the labor market, particularly to minorities
who have been confined to the lower rungs of
the job ladder by various factors. A recent
study.by sociologist Dudley Poston, Jr., of the
By Martin Brown
University of Texas at Austin, n
black armed forces veteranst
significantly better in the job m
black non-veterans. This is p
because of the training in technica
skills they received in the ser
qualified them for skilled jobs in
or public economy..,Tt is difficult
however, that this pattern will
today's rapidly changing economy
"de-skilling" of jobs is acc
increased 'automation and a
manufacturing sector.
The other significant findingi
draft protest
whaf appears to be an economic roulette
game that could leave them in the non-
ownership class.
rv While today's rampant inflation is a key
heveals that factor in the narrowing opportunities fo
arket than home ownership, other economic forces are
presumably responsbile for the downturn in job
e and social opportunities for both college and noncollege
vice, whichl job seekers, and these factors are
thce, priae exacerbated by any delay into the job market
the privat,e such as that posed by the draft.
ho pdin, Among them:
pod up the decline of traditional American
y, in which a industries. Mechanization, general economic
ompanying slowdown, and internationalization of the
shrinking economy have all contributed to a loss of goo
in Poston's jobs available- to non-college educate
workers in such blue-collar industries as-
steel, coal, auto manufacturing, and truck
driving;
Ththe financial crisis of the welfare state.
The public sector, which provided roughly
two-thirds of all the new "good" jobs during
the 1960s and 1970s, has been hit by the.
economic slowdown, inflation, and the tax
revolt. A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics
study on government employment concluded:
that "State and local governmen
employment is not likely to sustain the larg ,
rapid increases of recent years into the
future ...
" the rise in part-time employment. Both
public and private employers are resorting to
more part-time workers to trim costs. Part-
timers generally receive less pay, little or no
fringe benefits, and less job security than full-
time employees; and
" the "de-skilling" of jobs. Even in the most
dynamic sectors of the economy, such as-,
computer programm'ig, the phenomenon 4
"job engineering" is transforming high-skill
monstrator jobs into a series of specialized and separate
d a Califor- occupations, many of which are tedious and
as speaking low paid.
ersonally is TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE factors have
ture, many already produced a gloomy job outlook for the
ountry may coming generation of job-seekers. To impose
the draft the draft and the possibility of an unwanted
t of the eve- two-year delay in entering theralready
narrow job market is to create an.
understandable panic among the most
not benefit ambitious sector of the youth populatior*
t. The data, those seeking college degrees.
v service is What distnguishes the draft from other
Anglo men factors of economic lifethowever, is the sense
real cost in that something can be done about it through
n said in an political action. While protest demonstratons,
holds for all and even political elections, are unlikely to
ucations. have much effect on the rate of inflation or the
ures of that internationalization of the economy, they
udents are might be effective in turning the tide against
g access to re-imposition of the draft. And if the president
ream of the seeks to defuse the issue by allowing draf
g more and deferments for students, he would only ignit
ng year of an even more explosive controversy around
ar delay in race discrimination.
y well mean Already the draft issue has infused a new
any young student political movement mnore visible
to rise at a than any since the. Vietnam war. The
, only about possibility that it may be at least partially
ord to own a motivated by economic self-interest makes it
hirds in the no less potent than the anti-war morality of a
luarter may different generation.
iarticularly, Martin Brown, is an economist who
udents: Get teaches at San Francisco State University.0
w it may be He is also an associate editor of the
nally expect pacific News Service, and wrote this piece
society, the P Ns
them with for PNS.
The state of the human race
THIS ANTI-REGISTRATION de
was one of nearly 3,000 who ringe
nia hotel where Rosalyn Carter wa
Friday night. Whether or not he p
concerned about his economic fu
other college students across the c
be protesting registration and
because they fear being closed ou
narrowing job market.
study is that an Army stint does
Anglo veterans in the job market
he writes, "suggests that military
not economically beneficial for
Indeed, our data suggest a
being a veteran for Anglos." Poste
interview that the same pattern h
Anglos, with or without college edu
One of the most obvious measu
cost-one which draft-age stu
actuely aware of-is the declinin
home ownership. The American d
privately-owned home is becomin
more remote with each passin
double-digit inflation. A two-yea
getting onto the property rolls may
permanent renter status for m,
people, as housing prices continue
rate of 20 per cent a year. Already
one-quarter of all families can aff
home, compared to some two-th
1950s. Two years from now, that q
shrink to a fifth.
IN THE HOUSING situation, p
the message is clear to today's st
it while you can, because tomorro
gone. To students who might norm
to enter the home-owner class of
prospect of the draft confronts
T HE HEADLINE in yesterday's
New York Times read, "Trans-
plant of Kidney From Jew to Arab Girl
Causes Furor in Israel."
It wasn't really necessary to read the
story. The headline said just about
everything.
All across the country, probably,
readers were absent-mindedly tsk, tsk-
ing and Oh, God-ing over coffee, ad-
dressing unanswerable questions to
disinterested breakfast companions:
"How can border disputes interfere
with efforts to save a little girl's life?"
or "How can nationalism get mixed
up with medicine?" or "What has the
human race come to?"
Such questions are commonly con-
sidered naive in today's sophisticated
society, which is daily exposed to
human frailities, evils, and atrocities.
Questions like "What has the human
race come to?" are sighed so frequen-
tly that they have become
meaningless. By tomorrow, no one will
remember the kidney story, or any of
dozens of otper similar incidents.
Consider us naive. What has the
human race come to?
AATA transportation plan
is a real moving idea
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Closed courses may mean no graduation
T HE ANN ARBOR Transportation
Authority has taken some big
steps recently, both in the direction of
encouraging fuel conservation on the
part of city residents and in solving the
perennial parking problems downtown
(Daily, February 2).
AATA is working hard to develop
three transportation programs that
are sorely needed by the city. Plans for
van pools, park-and-ride lots, and sub-
scription bus service are among those
Authority officials have unveiled.
AATA has wisely joined with local
businesspersons in its conservation ef-
forts, and in fact the business com-
munity has been surprisingly
cooperative.
Ann Arborites may yet be weaned of
their "need" for their own
automobiles.
To the Daily:
I am writing to protest the un-
sympathetic and unsatisfactory
treatment I am receiving from
the University of Michigan,
where I am currently enrolled in
a program of Journalism/P-
sychology as a junior.
When one speaks of "Top 10"
schools of first-rate education, of
diversity in programming and in
the very student body itself, the
University of Michigan comes to
mind almost immediately.
I would like to know how the
"top 10" schools define
education. I think that these
schools would benefit from taking
a look at Webster's definition: to
educate is "to develop and
cultivate mentally and morally."
Higgins
d9Sa ThF DAILY
r,,I o1Nrs
I. I'M AE~ihE ai r'IL (4A ,Alf ~7
No doubt, this term I am men-
tally cultivating many ideas on
the policies and procedures
adhered to here at Michigan.
Morally, i am developing a
strong sense of anger towards the
administration as I try to get into
classes I need to fulfill my
requirements for a Jour-
nalism/Psychology concen-
tration.
For the last three weeks, since
the winter term began, I have
been on the phone, in the offices
of top university administrators,
and I've spent more time sitting
in classes I have no interest in
(yet they are attractive because
they remain "open") and in the
registration terminals than I
have in any type of productive
education.
I nearly had to beg my way into
some classes. THIS IS
OUTRAGEOUS!!!
Excuses were given over and
over again. "Your turn to
register first will come up," one
director of counseling consoled
me. "It's your fault you chose two
Persian gi
To the Daily:
While H. Scott Prosterman
offers a comprehensive historial
and -political- analysis of the
current turmoil in the Persian
Gulf area, I take exception to his
concluding statements (Feb. 1).
Mr. Prosterman suggests
American foreign policy should
be directed to "pressure Israel
into Changing its position on
Palestinian autonomy."
Although he is ambiguous about
ivnt o nnno : in . ho :y.cho
majors. We have to take care of
our own first," one department
chairperson declared.
How could I have known three
years ago that I would never get
to become a journalist because
my last name begins with an
I declared my majors in the fall
of my sophomore year. I find that
I must be incredibly naive to
think that deciding on major
fields of study would help move
me towards my goal of
graduating with a degree in those
areas.
Each term the excuses were
the same. This term, I received
the same excuses but now, if I
don't get my required classes, I
won't be ready to graduate next
April. I was extra-ambitious this
term and went as high as the
President of the University and I
did finally get two classes, out of
the five that I needed.
The final breaker came today
when I found out that I can't even
apply for an internship in my
area of study because I never took
one of the prerequisite courses. It
didn't seem to matter that I had
been closed out of the class due to
the registration procedure.
How long can this type of
treatment continue? Students
and their families, place a great
deal of time, money and hope into
the university only to be pushed
around for the duration of their
stay. In my protest, I was told
that "I still might be able to
graduate with my choser
degree." No promises were
made.
I feel that I am not alone in ex-
pressing the need for some
revisions to be made within the
University registration
guidelines and more specifically
within individual departments.
What has happened to"planning
for the future?. Are students
going to graduate, after bein4
pushed around in college, to find
out that they've been closed out of
life itself?!!!
-Marlene Malinas
Feb. 2
ulf political analysis faulty
controlled by the extremist PLO,
an organization whose covenant
cites the destruction of Israel as
national intent, and which nur-
tures a cozy relationship with
Moscow. While some apologists
claim the Soviets are working on
behalf of Palestinian .human
rights, such altruism seems in-
consistent with traditional Soviet
policy. Instead, Moscow's in-
volvement should be interpreted-
not only as a manifestation of its
nhesiv eanti-Semitic nosture. but
arousing anti-American and an-
ti-Israeli sentiment in Arab
leaders.
The Palestinians, like al
people, must be assured of their
basic human rights. Every fac-}
tion involved needs and wants an'
equitable solution. However, Mr.
Prosterman fails to look at the
ramifications of his proposition.
As a result, his conclusion is a
paradoxical and desperate
resolution.
-ioel Young
1I
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