6 e 4-Tuesday, February 26, 1980--The Michigan Daily Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom Vol. XC, No. 121, News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by 'students at the University of Michigan k Class boycott a good idea F SEVERAL THOUSAND students at the University of ichigan were to boycott classes in potest against registration and the draft, such action would certainly dhaw national attention. Millions of Amnericans, caught up in a new Cold Xar fever, might, stop and consider tlat students are really serious in their opposition to war and their desire for p ace. if this one-day class boycott were part of an entjire anti-draft educational teach-in, the message would be even s onger. n fact, such a boycott is planned for Regents and ITH POWER AND influence comes 'respon- ility-something the Regents seem t have forgotten when they granted veloper John Stegeman an option to some University land two weeks a. Stegeman needs the land for a king structure to go along with a gh-rise complex that he wants to ild just north of University Towers. It is not clear that the proposed 32- ory complex-a combination of hotel oms, apartments, and con- 'ominiums-would be beneficial for ther the University or the com- unity. But such a massive develop- 'aent would surely have a significant impact on the surrounding area and would seem to merit careful analysis «iy anyone with any sort of control-over the future of the project. But the Regents-specifically Thomas Roach (D-Saline)-chose to inore their responsibility to scrutinize lhe project that 1n ght -bem made ossible by their land oj Although some ^ "community epresentatives expressed their con- cern that the planned complex would ;e detrimental to the largely student- dccupied S. University area, Roach in- isted that the Regents should not con- y ern themselves with the building's ef- ject on the area because such a worry Sohdarity In HE IMPOSITION of a threat from Tabroad has a way of drawing a Iation together. The Vietnamese eople, to whom nationalism was a ew idea, summoned strength enough 'o chase one superpower from its bor- ers. 4 Now, diverse and poverty-stricken Afghanistan has found strength and fortitude as a result of an invasion by ,he other superpower. The Afghan people, recent reports indicate, are by ho means meekly settling down to ac- 'eptance of Soviet domination. They are fighting, both militarily and sym- bolically, to be free of the bear from $he north. On Thursday, reports came from Thursday, March 20 as the culmination of a week-long teach-in about registration and the draft. The entire program is being organized by the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) and is supported by some fifteen studert organizations.' It seems almost unnecessary to urge all students opposed to draft registration to participate in both the teach-in and the boycott. To under- stand that widespread participation in this program could have a real effect on policy makers in Washington is to understand the need for such a united effort against registration. responsibility is "properly the control of the Ann Ar- bor City Planning Commission." Such an attitude is both puzzling and disturbing. It is true that the planning commission would carefully examine the building plans before granting ap- proval, but when a project is prac- tically in the University's own backyard and would affect a sizable portion of the University community, the Regents must take advantage of any opportunity they have to influence the development. Instead, Roach was pleased that the University would get at least $5,000 for the option even if Stegeman decided not to buy the land. Deciding to grant an option authorizing such a large project for such a small sum is unwise. Stegeman's plans for the building sites have changed several times in the past; they will probably change again. Actually city approval for the project seems unlikely now, but Stegeman has wrangled, approval on ,xnumerous pro ects b>efore and ,he could do it again. There is no reason that the Regents cannot at least discuss such issues with the city officials who could provide some helpful insight. The University dominates a large portion of this city; it's high time the Regents recognize this and accept their responsibility. Afghanistan Kabul that the, city's merchants responded unilaterally to shut down their stores in defiance of the Soviet- backed regime. The next day, actual rioting against the invaders was repor- ted across the nation by insurgents. The Soviet suggestion that only a small band of religious fanatics is fighting the Russian presence is beginning to look rather absurd. The State Department has estimated that the Soviets will need to station half a million men in Afghanistan to control the ongoing widespread rebellion. Perhaps the heroic acts of insurgence already performed-and yet to come-will thwart the Soviet ambition altogether. A 'space WEST LEBANON, N.H.-Jerry Brown is challenging some fundamental assumptions. In the process, he is also defying some accep- ted political wisdom. His critics dismiss the California Governor and Democratic presidential candidate as a "flake," a "space cadet," and as a political opportunist because of his seemingly un- predictable stands on major issues. BUT IF HIS audiences and his political op- ponents have a hard time understanding Jerry Brown, it is because he does not speak in the usual nuances and euphemisms which they are accustomed to hearing from politicians. He is blunt, caustic, and willing to say practically anything, unrestrained by traditional formalities, and niceties (for in- stance,.he refers to the incumbent president simply as "Carter"). His is a common man, common sense ap- proach to government. He offers a few specific political alternatives, but mainly prides himself on being the only major can- didate of either party willing to question the wisdom of past policy. In that respect, Brown really is the "candidate for the future" that he claims to be. "Kennedy's been going around saying a vote for Brown is a vote for Carter," Brown recently told a student audience at Dar- tmouth University. "I'll change that. I'll say a vote agaist Brown is a vote for Bush. I don't think you're goingto get Kennedy elected or Carter re-elected. If you can bring a new for- ce in this party, I think that person will have a chance to win. That's Why I say a vote for me is a vote for the future." HIS USUAL approach is to point out the contradictions and paradoxes in America's policies at home and abroad. For example, when asked for his analysis of .U.S.-Soviet relations, Brown launched into this rambling dissertation: "Under Nixon, we started getting real chummy with the Russians. That was when -we had a right-wing, anti-communist president. Under that anticommunist president, we reduced our military spending, we negotiated the SALT I agreement, we opened up relations with Red China, which was then changed to the People's Republic of China, which became our friend. "Now we got Carter, who ran on a platform of love, now running on a re-election platform of fear, reinstating the draft, increasing the military budget, breaking off SALT II, and playing what he calls the China card. "NOW HERE'S THE point I want to By Keith Richburg make," Brown said at last. If under the c-n- servative Nixon we started selling stu ffh'to the Russians-fertilizer plants and wheat, PepsiCola-then lo and behold something happens to (Afghanistan) and it's all off; boycotts, rhetoric, Cold War, take home con- sulates. As we're getting so chummy with China and we're sending a lot of technology over there and building them up, are we going to go through the same thing in five years when China does something we don't like?" Brown says he is "trying to point out that there's a real arbitrary quality in much of our foreign policy and our own thinking doesn't add up." He asks his audiences to ask them- selves why the superpowers spend billions of dollars developingnuclear weapons while billions of people are suffering from star- vation. Another example: Brown asks his listeners to explain why Japan and the European ally closest to the Soviet border, West Gemany, are both decreasing military expenditures, while this country-with a lower productivity- than either West Germany or Japan-in- creases defense spending annually. "America is being sucked into subsidizing other countries' military defense," Brown says. HIS CRITICS-and there are many-see Jerry Brown as the consummate politician, jumping on any bandwagon no matter how in- consistent with his previous positions. TheO obvious example is his call for a con- stitutional amendment to balance the federal., budget. But Brown is, if anything, the quintessential 'non-politician, defying traditional labels and deciding issues on a case-by-case basis, removed from any ideological framework.,. His call for protectionist legislationto stop the p flood of Japanese and other foreign imports indicates isolationist tendencies. His idea for i a U.S.-Mexican-Canadian energy common market makes him look like an inter- 'iL nationalist. His call for a balanced budget;r makes people think him conservative, while y his anti-nuclear stance-which has attractedi' a large youth following here-sounds quite v liberal. If Brown is not a politician in the traditional sense, he is most certainly a campaigner, and r" he loves every minute of it. He will stand alone on stage, gripping the - microphone stand, and talk extem- " poraneously for just a few minutes, pulling. facts and statistics from his endless reper- toire. THEN HE WILL open the floor to the . audience, and use each question to deliver a. rambling monologue on America's current. faults and failings. At Dartmouth, when one, student asked his position on nationalized health care, Brown spoke for twenty minutes on "the medical-industrial complex," much to the annoyance of his hurried. schedulers. "I. know that's a long way from cost- containment," Brownsaid in closing. Brown's strategy now is to concentrate his attacks on Kennedy, helping Carter knock the Massachusetts senator our of the race early, on. To that end, Brown has been trying to bait Kennedy into a one-on-one debate over, nuclear energy, challenging Kennedy to come out of "his own rose garden." Brown envisions a race between Carter and' himself, which he confidently envisions win-, ning. But in case that scenario does not. emerge, Brown would not be deterred. He,, says, "In the year 2000, I will be younger than Ronald Reagan is today." 'In that respect, Brown is the candidate of the future. Keith Richburg is aformer Daily editor currently in New Hampshire covering the primary. cadet' looks ahead Jerry Brown Baker hopes for N.H. bronze. HANOVER, N.H.-Breezing through the small New England towns, carrying his message to the people, the man from the South must get very frustrated when the pollsr in the East show him far behind George' Bust} and Ronald Reagan. Just look at his Track record. He's the Republican minority leader in the U.S. Senate, one of the nation's chief foreign policy experts, and a hero of Watergate. NEVERTHELESS, Howard Baker of Ten- nessee can't move up the ladder, and has thus caused pundits to predict he may soon fall off. The verdict is almost universal: He entered the race too late, took two months to shape an effective organization, and doesn't stir up a crowd as well as his opponents. At each campaign stop, however,-Baker in- sists he still has time to rebound from his early decline. "I tell you, my friends, it's not too late-it's too early," he says. "This is only the second primary. There are still 34 more to go," he adds, almost desperately trying to persuade his supporters not to give up if he's ripped today in New Hampshire. SOUNDING LESS THAN a forecast for vic- tory, the Baker strategy has evolved into a battle for survival. Sights have been set low for today's election. In fact, no one on his staff expects him to fare better than third, and some say he will do even worse than that. The Baker scenario has Bush knocking out Reagan here in the New England primaries, starting with New Hampshire..Massachusetts and Vermont have primaries on March 4. On- ce the 69-year-old perennial presidential con- tender drops out, the theory goes, only Howard Baker will be left to stop George Bush. Enough dirt will leak out about Bush, Baker's strategists say, that the party will have no choice but to turn to the Senate veteran. By Michael Arkush "A LOT OF Republicans want to stop Reagan,,'and tbat's why Bush is doing so well. But this isn't permanent support. George has been c'fipaigning for 368 days; I've been of the trail for much less," he said recently. Baker claims he doesn't regret his late en- trance into the campaign, though, because "I had more important things to do in the Senate." And that is the point atdwhichthe starts to tell the audiences in this region why he deserves to be president. While the other Republican hopefuls can Slaughter Carter's naive character analysis of the Russians, only Howard Baker can say he did something about it. "If I hadn't pushed, so hard to stop MLTJr on srng Brzhnev hirnself it yn't ir, Russians would have had .t SALT and Afghanistan," he 'skysprod, 'as if vin- dicated by the Soviet's recent invasion. LIKE THE OTHER Republican candidates,, Baker favors a sharp hike in defense spen- ding, plus additional strategic moves so the U.S. does not fall behind the Russians.' Buto only he has fought for them in the Senate. Even more troubling to him, however, has been the nation's plunge into economic"= catastrophe. The inflation problem has become so severe, in fact, that Baker told a crowd in Litchbury, -Mass., Friday he would' interrupt his busy campaign schedule to return to the Senate to combat the issue. He proposes a general tax cut to stimulate more investment in the private sector, hoping to cause higher productivity. The growth of federal spending must be drastically reduced, he says, or the inflationary rate will exceed 2Q. per cent by the end of the year. ' To prevent that disaster Baker says he wouldn't be afraid to use the "power of veto.'' "Congress must learn it can't spend so freely;n that when it does, the American people are the ones who lose,", he says. Whether his message will be followed can' not be determined now, but it seems that wherever he campaigns he gains immediate" converts. Qne of them, Scott Kennedy, i$, Leominster, Mass., said, "when I came here,; I was for Bush, but Baker seems much smar- ter and more sensible, and he has all the ex! perience." Michael Arkush is editor currently in covering the primary. a former Daily New Hampshire Howard Baker I LETTERS TO THE DAILY: 'I Teach-in is preferable to class boycott To the Daily: A boycott of classes asba protest against the draft? Isn't that cut- ting off the nose to spite the face? Or if we say that we should quit school for one day because somehow school is like accepting the draft, hadn't we all better quit school forever? In 1966, as I remember, there was a call for a boycott of classes in protest against the war in Vietnam. A number of us argued that the last thing we wanted to do to protest against that war or any war was quit learning things, and Frithjof Bergmann and America. Let's do it that way again. Boycotting classes is a form of ostrichism-and sticking your head in the sand is not a very ef- fective way to protest against the man who wants to cut your throat, or the state which wants your body. What we know won't hurt us. If we're going to protest against the draft, let's be both reasonable and moral about' it. Let's not protest with ignorance. Rather, let's protest by learning about the larger issues we should be protesting against-like the whole idea of national defense, and the presumption that training in acts of violence is a legitimate occupation for anybody, whether he or she is drafted or volunteers. Learning is the really radical act, always. I propose that we all spend a night together-soon-learning against the draft and what the draft means. -Bert G. Hornback, Professor, Director, Great Books Program Feb. 23 Carter-Mondale backroom politics To the Daily: Tif 1 ^.I..-....-. if"dirty h j'r,.' n'm~ system makes it easier for dirty - I I"l A " AI 1, ti Z I tte11111tmm s mi nrimarv since voting in a caucus