Page 4-Thursday, January 17, 1980-The Michigan Daily
Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom
Vol. XC, No. 87- News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Solve the econ.
TT IS BA6 ENOUGH when introduc- fair plan
tory courses are extremely over- out of c
crowded and teachers are forced to simply b
bear excessive burdens - the quality groups.
of education in these courses Finall;
necessarily plummets. But when class could uti
sizes become bloated in intermediate alleviate
and concentration-level courses, machine
where student interaction with faculty ses (cot
members is essential, the situation study) a
must be corrected. Such a problem is from a
unusually acute in the economics would sE
department today; undoubtedly, student
similar crises are confronting depar- already
tments all across the University. ses, to
In a recent memorandum to educatio
colleagues in the economics depar- Frye's
tment, Prof. William Shepherd pointed the best
out the overcrowding and overbur- the hirin
dening problems that are currently visiting
plaguing the department. It is not sur- are not '
prising that the economics department qualificc
should be experiencing a significant courses.
rise in enrollments, considering the Unfort
dismal fiscal picture of the country and very fea
the desire that many students have to the mon
understand what is happening to the teachers
economy. What is surprising is the that mo
University's apparent lack of response are unde
to the department's increased needs. must pa
LSA Dean Billy Frye has tuition f
acknowledged the economics depar- classes
tment's dilemma, but maintains that crowded
there are few dollars available to The
alleviate the problems. economy
Int lieu of funds, Frye suggests and inde
several solutions, each of which is far the Univ
from ideal.. The department should consider
take a longer-range look at itself and cutback
its problems, Frye says. Well, it is dif- pleasant
ficult to imagine that any department realize t
at this University has not been taking be as di
long-range looks at itself in this era of enrollm
decreased funds. Frye's suggestion spreadin
would do nothing to alleviate the too thinl
current problem. and adi
The economics department should those ar
consider ceilings on enrollments, Frye wants to
suggests. Certainly this is not a very monies t
dilemma
; students should not be closed
ourses on a wholesale basis
ecause they register in the last
.y, Frye thinks the department
lize "pedagogical methods" to
teaching burdens. He cites
-assisted or Keller Plan cour-
urses similar to independent
as possible alternatives. Far
desirable solution, such plans
erve only to reduce teacher-
contact - a contact that is
quite infrequent in many cour-
the detriment of students'
ns.
suggestions clearly are not
answers. The best answer is
ng of more teachers, such as
professors or lecturers who
on tenure tracks, but have the
ations to teach upper-level
unately, this solution is not
sible, because there just isn't
ey available to hire many new
. However, this is not to say
ney can't be found. Students
erstandably outraged that they
y eight to ten per cent more in
each year only to enroll in
that are impossibly over-
t.
ultimate solution to the
ics department's problems,
ed, the budgetary problems of
ersity as a whole, is carefully-
ed, but immediate,. program
cs. Cutbacks will not be
t, but the University must
hat it just cannot continue to
verse in a time of decreasing
eits and revenue. Rather than
g the University's resources
y, students, faculty members,
ministrators should choose
eas in which the University
excel and direct badly-needed
oward those areas.
AP Photo
RUSSIAN TANKS TAKE up positions recently on the snow-covered clement of China, the quelling of domestic unrest within their own cou.
road between Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The Soviets seem to try, and the eventual acquisition of a warm water port.
have several reasons for their invasion, including the gradual encir-
Afghanistan: One more
giant step for the big bear
!
There are several reasons that the Soviet
Union invaded Afghanistan and that they may
not have anticipated a strong international
reaction to their invasion.
Since the end of World War II, the Soviet
Union has considered eastern Asia, the Mid-
dle East, and Eastern Europe within its
sphere of influence, and it has steadfastly
maintained that stability in this region is vital
to its security interests. This attitude is
premised on the fact that the Soviets suffered
immense casualties from the three wars in
which they have been involved during the 20th
century. In fact, the Soviet Union lost over 20
million people from World War II alone. No
other country's losses from the war came
close to equaling those of the U.S.S.R. Fur-
thermore, the Cold War strengthened the
Soviet desire to create friendly neighbor
states with identical economic, political, and
ideological philosophies.
THE SOVIETS HAVE long enforced this
policy, as seen in the invasion of Hungary in
1956, and of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In each
case the international reaction was subdued
in comparison to the reaction to the recent in-
vasion of Afghanistan.
To the Soviets, the Muslim threat is real if
less dangerous than the Japanese, Western
European and German threats earlier in the
century. Furthermore, there is some dissent
among the Kashek people who live in the
southern U.S.S.R., in areas bordering, among
other countries, Afghanistan and Iran. Many
of these southern Soviet dissidents have
cultural ties and similarities with the peoples
of their neighboring states. The Soviet gover-
By Lorenzo P. Benet
nment is well aware of this. The turmoil in
Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan is a thorn in
the Soviet Union's side. Perhaps the Kremlin
believes a strong show of force will quiet the
insurgents in all the countries along its bor-
der-insurgents who would oust Soviet
economic and political policies if they could.
In light of these considerations, one can see
that a stable pro-Soviet Afghanistan regime is
in the best interests of the Soviet Union.
Perhaps the Soviet Union believed that this
rationale was one the U.S. could sympathize
with. After all, we see stable quasi-
democratic systems in our hemisphere in
our best interests, as evidence by the CIA-
supported overthrow of democratically elec-
ted Salvadore Allende, the former Marxist
head of state in Chile. The same rationale got
us involved in Vietnam.
ANOTHER MOTIVE for the Afghanistan
invasion is the Soviet policy of encircling and
containing the People's Republic of China,
which Afghanistan borders. Throughout the
60s and 7Qs, the Soviet Union and China have
maintained a hostile relationship. In fact, the
two powers almost went to war in 1969 over a
territorial dispute. Each country has also
been undermining the other's attempt to
establish itself as the revolutionary leader of
the third world. China's trade with the
U.S.S.R. is minor compared to its exchanges
with the U.S. and Japan. In recent years, the
border dispute, the Chinese invasion of for-
mer Soviet ally Vietnam, Vietnam's invasion
of Cambodia, and finally the Afghanistan
crisis have all strained Sino-Soviet relations.
The. Soviet Union perceives China, not the
U.S., as its most imminent threat and vice-
versa. Soviet forces ,bordering China are
almost twice as large as they were in the mid-
60s. They number approximately 35 divisions.
The Soviet Union has also increased its naval
presence in eastern Asia, and now has acces4
to Mongolian and Vietnamese airfields. The
invasion of Afghanistan can then be perceived
as just another step in the encirclement of
China.
Another objective of:the fU.S.S.R.'s in-
trusion is its historical desire. for a warm
water port. The Soviets arenow only 300
miles from this goal. But reaching that port
will require the.Soviets to overcome not only
Pakistani mountains, but Pakistani guerillas.
The cost of invading Pakistan will be far
greater than that of the Afghanistan incur*
sion. Pakistan has nuclear capability, as well
as a large supply of conventional arms whiich
no doubt will be bolstered by the U.S. and
China. Furthermore, the Soviets' inter-
national reputation has suffered as a result of
the current military action. That is probably
a setback they would like to amend.
The Soviets are propping up an unpopular
Marxist regime that would not survive
without their support. This fact is the case
with most Soviet satellites. Their motives are
clear and an international response is in or
der.
Lorenzo Benet is a Daily Assistant
Night Editor and general assignment
reporter.
Nazi war criminals
NSTEAD OF paying the price for
their unprecedented acts of
genocide, thousands of Nazi war
criminals escaped from the burning
Third Reich to seek new lives as
respectable, ordinary citizens. Many
of them, desperate to evade war
tribunals, received safe refuge in the
United States.
That was 35 years ago; many of
them have died, but at least 200 still
remain here, free from prosecution'
and harrassment, living in luxury.
Some are doctors, dentists, lawyers,
businessmen and even politicians.
Their horrifying past remains a secret
to most, buried in the annals of history.
But owing to the effort of some -
who can't forget the Holocaust and the
destrttion of six million Jews - these
ex-mass murderers are still being
sought for trial and extradition to the
scenes of their brutality. Since the end
of the war, Nazi hunters have criss-
crossed the nation to bring these
criminals to justice, but their gallant
attempts have been thwarted by a
number of circumstances. Many of the
witnesses, the survivors of Nazi Ger-
many, have dibd in the past three
decades. For those who are still alive,
the memories are so scanty and old
that they serve as easy prey for talen-
ted defense attorneys.
Those difficulties are understan-
American diplomats and strategists
viewed these mass murderers as
valuable, contributors to the U.S.
propaganda and military confron-
tation with the Soviet Union. The
Russians suddenly became the new
world threat to peace and American
security - the Red Scare was con-
tagious. To eliminate some of those
fears, the ex-Nazis were utilized.
In the ensuing decades, the- new
respected elements of society were
protected by the CIA and other gover-
nment agencies. The Immigration and
Naturalization Service proceeded at a
snail-like pace. Of the 250 cases
currently being investigated, only 16
are now in litigation. Many trials have
been suspended without any verdict,
others have been delayed for years.
Meanwhile, the criminals remain free
in their safe homes.
The recent transfer of jurisdictional
responsibilities from that agency to the
Justice Department offers some hope
that the U.S. will make an effort to
prosecute and extradite resident war
criminals. The department's announ-
cement Tuesday that it vows to take
action on the outstanding cases within
a year is encouraging. Perhaps the
government will finally do its job.
The shift must be credited to
President Carter, who by recommen-
ding a national memorial to the vic-
Letters to the Daily
5
Cambridge House has problems
To the Daily:
Fall term, 1979, at Cambridge
House, West Quad, was the worst
living experience I have ever en-
countered in my four years in
Ann Arbor-and I have experien-
ced some pretty bad situations.
I would like to bring to your at-
tention the following list of my
personal grievances as in-
criminating evidence of incom-
petence and neglect on the part of
Mr. Leon west, director of West
Quad:
" My so called "small double
room" was too small to accom-
modate two persons. Drawer
space and closet space in the
room could be considered insuf-
ficient even for one person. Two
beds and two desks filled the
room to such a point that any ex-
tra living space was non existent.
The small double room should not
be a double room at all, yet oc-
cupants of the small double pay
an exact same amount as oc-
cunants of other, larger
letter to tend to the matter.
" Because I received no reply
whatsoever to the aforemen-
tioned letter of complaint, I
should suppose Mr. West com-
pletely ignored the problem.
* The Cambridge House
elevator, use of which I needed
because I was using crutched
most of the term, never missed a
weekly operational failure.
* During at least the first one
and a half months of the term (no
one knows exactly the actual
time period,) all my mail was
returned to sender marked,
"Moved; no forwarding ad-
dress,"- because my name had
not been posted on my mailbox by
the West Quad mail staff. I do not
know the total amount of mail I
did not receive because of this
completely negligent, and utterly
illogical, error by the mail staff.
Furthermore, I was never infor-
med of the error, and when I
discovered the negligence-only
because a persistent correspon-
times. day and night. My room-
mate and I were forced to cover
the vents of the radiator and keep
open the windows to avoid un-
bearable overheating in our
room.
Finally, a sign outside the
South Quad cafeteria, where
West Quad residents are forced to
take their weekend meals,
notified the students food is ser-
ved during posted meal hours
only. This notice is a gross
misrepresentation of actual prac-
tice. Food service in the South
Quad cafeteria is terminated
sometimes a full half hour before
scheduled closing time.
-Matthew Lyons
Thanks to dog rescuer
happened to be driving by out
apartment building and noticed
what was happening. He stopped
and asked a fireman about ou
dog, Data. As no one seemed too
know what had happened to the
mutt, Bob took the situation into
his own hands and broke into our
apartment to free our dog. It is
true that Bob didn't have to jump
through a wall of fire, or dodge
falling walls as might be expec-
ted in a movie. It is also true that
Data is not an international ballet
star or vital diplomat on the
SALT XVI conference. Data is
mutt, 3/ months old, mostly
pest and an addition to our
minute family that we would find
almost impossible to live without.
When Bob saved him from the
smoke, noise, and fright, he per-
formed an act of heroism that is
often overlooked. After all, Bobe
wasn't in fatal danger, and Data
is only a mutt, but we are ex-
tremelv grateful just the same. It