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OPINION
Wednesday, January 21, 1981
The Michigan Daily
. Page 4
ay,
11E Iict igttn ttil
Higgins
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCI, No. 95
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, Ml 48109
I d.
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Inauguration day positive,
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but what about the term?
N HIS INAUGURAL address yester- poor, underprivileged, and minorities
day, President Reagan offered cannot be forgotten.
irage and strength to, as he termed Part of this progress; Reagan said,
the long neglected American people. was reawakening the "industrial
was a concerned and positive soun- giant." This reawakening should not
ig Reagan who offered these words mean the exploitation of the worker or
bopefully, it will be the same kind of of the country's natural resources.
in who serves as president for the Even at a time when energy is scarce,
xt four years. the need to conserve our resources is
great.
Such positive remarks are badly One of the most important things in
;ded at a time when the electorate's the next four years, the president said,
th in its officials is as low as ever, was the need for peace. We could not
U.S. economy is in a shambles, and agree with him more. As nuclear
ernational strife seems again to be weapons proliferate, war still must be
the rise.-. avoided at all costs. Hopefully, Reagan
n his speech yesterday, the 40th will follow through with his idea of
sident pledged to put the dragging peace and make moves, such as
5. economy back on its feet. reopening SALT II talks, to ensure
rogress will be slow, measured in keeping it.
hes and feet, not miles. But we will The presidenthhas started out his
gress," he said. But progress will term in the White House with many
ne only if it includes all of the promising remarks. Now, the arduous
ion. Progress will not mean the up- task of building up confidence, the
white middle class leaving the rest economy, and ensuring peace must
the nation in a cloud of dust. The begin.
"She's all yours, Governor!''
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
We must give Reagan a chance
9 9
Iran's last- n
ainute delays
T SH
one,
That f
back, th
release
kteeping
Iranian
days.
:The h
n ews re
port wel
1:naugui
Squeezir
was wor
til after
were a ste backward
OULDN'T have surprised any- Such a speedy release would have
really. shown good faith on the part of the
final twisting of the knife in the Iranians, a willingness to begin the ar-
iat final agonizing delay of the duous negotiations and financial
of the hostages, was entirely in wranglings that will now dominate
, with the behavior of the U.S.-Iranian relations.
government these past 444 Those negotiations will necessarily
be fraught with tension, for both par-
ostages, it appeared from all ties have deeply wronged one another.
ports, were at the Tehran air- Neither side can profit from continued
[1-before Ronald Rieagan's noon provocation or propaganda.
ration. But the Iranians, That is why the aggravating delays
ng their advantage for all it were so regrettable. The Iranians
rth, refused to release them un- could have been taking the first steps
r Jimmv Carter had ceased toward eventual reconciliation.
To the Daily:
While Americans anxiously an-
ticipated the change of presiden-
cy on January 20, a local group of
students and activists calling
themselves People United for a
Human Future already tried,
convicted, and condemned the
Reagan administration even
before it had taken its first of-
ficial act. They called a
moratorium on classes and
organized a teach-in to educate
us all about the grave threats to
individual liberty caused by this
country's recent shift to the right
of the political spectrum. They'
claim hard-won civil liberties
victories are in danger of being
lost; that Ronald Reagan is the
harbinger of 1984. These are
serious charges to be making
even before the man has a chance
to prove himself in office.
The actions of People United
for a Human Future clearly show
a narrow-minded, outright,
naked prejudice against Reagan
and his brand of conservative
politics. It is a hard and fast case
of condemnation before trial.
They are blinded by their own
political opinions to the
possibility that Reagan may in
fact be a conscientious, dedicated
man genuinely committed to the
well-being of every citizen of this
nation.
This kind of myopic thinking
demonstrates a severe lack of
respect, and even contempt, for
the will of the American people.
Because Reagan has a different
political thought, various leftists,
liberals, and communists under
the guise of People United for a
Human Future seek to impose
their own ideology upon a people
who have already made their
choice.
Not only is this anti-Reagan
force an insult to the American
people, it is a clear vote of "no
confidence" in the American
system of democracy. The will of
the majority has been expressed
being President. They wanted one last
victory over the "evil Satans" of Car-
ter and America.
The dilatory tactics were unfor-
tiunate not so much for the pain they
prolonged, but for the lost opportunity
they represented. The Iranians could
have released the hostages hours
Earlier; they could have dropped their
last-minute rhetoric about "underhan-
ded trickery" on the part of the United
$tates.
Correcting a lethal legacy
Unsigned editorials ap-
pearing on the left side
of this page represent a
majority opinion of the
Daily 's Editorial Board.
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To the Daily:
On Sunday, January 18, Jerry
Stanecki hosted a special report
on toxic waste contamination of
groundwater and litvestock
throughout Michigan. Unfor-
tunately, this is not a novel
situation in a state that
discovered the nightmare of PBB
poisoning at St. Louis, Mich.
almost eight years ago (Velsicol
Chemical Co.). The problems
associated with the improper
storage or disposal of hazardous
wastes are only beginning to sur-
face. Instances like the discovery
at Montague, Michigan of the
Hooker Chemical Co. (the same
nice folks who gave us Love
Canal) have involved serious
groundwater contamination
problems, not to mention ex-
tremely expensive clean-up
costs.
In Michigan, an estimated 1.2
billion pounds of liquid industrial
wastes are hauled away for
disposal every year. Daily we are
discovering large quantities of
these wastes indiscriminately on
the ground, buried in fields and
behind factories, or stored in
forgotten warehouses.
By December, 1979, 268 sites of
known groundwater con-
tamination were identified; 381
sites of suspected groundwater
contamination were identified;
but over 50, 000 sites of potential
groundwater contamination have
been identified. It is difficult, if
not impossible, to understand
how the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources (whose
budget was recently slashed by
Governor Milliken by 50 percent)
will be equipped to defuse the
time bomb of chemical wastes.
Furthermore, the DNR lab in
T.nsing ,s wnfu11v inadnqiuta tn
wastes. These bills are:
" 5700 (Hertel) Designed to
provide for a critical (cradle to
grave) inventory of chemical
materials before they are
declared as hazardous wastes. It
provides a tracking system for
hazardous wastes so that we can,
hopefully, protect ourselves from
the deadly effects of these wastes
before it's too late;
" HB4995 (Kirksey) Designed to
regulate hazardous waste con-
tainers to prevent leaking into
groundwater; and
* HB4996 (Kirksey) Designed to
provide for carrier liability of
toxic materials discharge.
The importance of citizen par-
ticipation in this area cannot be
emphasized,_ enough. Only
your feelings about this growing
menace, communicated to your
elected officials, can offset the
enormous voice of the chemical
lobby. That is why I urge you
(and everybody you know!) to
write to your representatives or
to this address:
Toxic Wastes
Channel 7
Box 7
Detroit, Michigan 48219
and your letters will be forwar-
ded to the proper official in Lan-
sing. Your representatives are
there to represent your interests
so let them be known !
Please remember that you do
not have to live next to a
chemical dump to experience the
evil effects of hazardous
chemical wastes. Though few of
us live in or near St. Louis or Mio,
Michigan, practically everyone
who has lived in Michigan since
then carries some PBB in their
system as a reminder of its
arn.c -. + raan
in landslide proportions. The
minority has, of course, the right
to dissent, but such premature
and unsubstantiated attacks
against Reagan indicate an
unambiguous prejudice and an
unwillingness to participate in
the American democratic
system.
Let us think just for a moment
with our heads and not our glan-
ds. Do we want a government that
vacillates from one position to
another because the people can't
decide whether to trust the
government with the powers and
responsibilities they give it? This
is surely what must result from the
anti-Reagan, anti-government,
anti-American sentiment of this
entire affair, A house divided
against itself cannot stand. We
believe that the government has
the responsibility for the people.
This includes the protection of
civil liberties. We expect our
government to do just that. It is
out duty to inform the gover-
nment of our concerns for human
rights; that is the proper place
for dissent.
Would that the purpose of this
teach-in was solely to propose
constructive plans to advance the
cause of human freedom and
human rights. -Sadly, this is not
the entire truth. The purpose of
this teach-in is also to whip up
dissatisfaction and resentment
against the new conservative
government. The result of this'
teach-in can be nothing but
aggravated anti-Reagan sen-
timent, a people increasingly
alienated from the government,
and a nation crippled by dissen-
tion, unable to lift even the
smallest finger to assist the cause
of human rights.
Our government is the gover-
nment most responsive to the will
of the people. If the people oppose
the government, the very organ
created to embody their common
desire, there can be nothing but
confusion and conflict. Mean-
Thanks frog
To the Daily:
Members of the Washtenaw
County Committee Against
Registration and the Draft ex-
tend grateful thanks to all
organizationsand individuals in
the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti com-
munity who helped protest
registration for the draft.
Everybody worked hard to
provide information for the whole
community and draft counseling
for draft-age men.
It was encouraging to see the
number of people who showed
their concern and actively sup-
ported the men who are forced to
register for the draft or face the
possibility of going to prison.
During most of the business
hours at the Stadium, Liberty
Street, and Arcade post offices in
while, the real atrocities agains*
human rights continue to be
committed under right-wing
dictatorships and Marxist
totalitanian regimes, with U.S.
hands tied by a people contending
against itself.
We as Americans have a moral
and social responsibility to the
other members of our society. It
is our society and our democracy-
to which we owe our liberty an
our prosperity. We must respect
the integirty of our democracy,
give it a chance to work, while
working to correct problems2
through established and
honorable methods of change.
In November, Americans'
decided to give the conservative
faction a shot at solving this
nation's problems. Thus the will
of the American people has
been clearly demonstrated;
Americans want to see what
Reagan can do. If People United
for a Human Future truly respect
human rights, they will respect
the rights of the American people,
to have the government of their
choice. Outright negative sen-
timent and opposition is destruc-
tive and can lead to no real"
positive social change. People
United for a Human Future have
excellent points to be made, on
very important issues, but if they
expect to do more than talk, they
must work in concert with the.
new administration, cooperating
and proposing new programs
wherever possible. Stirring up
emotional opposition and bad
feelings can only lead us all down.
the road to ruin 'and destruction.
The principle is.,so very clear::
conflict and struggle destroys
while unity and cooperation are@
the building blocks of progress.
All I'm saying is give Reagan a
chance.
-Art Humbert
Treasurer, Collegiate
Association for the
Research of Principles,'
January 20
mi WCARD 0
young men have.
Other' anti-draft volunteers
coordinated scheduling, answered
telephones, did draft counseling,
and provided a warm:#at-
mosphere in which to discuss
issues relating to draft
registration at WCARD's Liberty
Street headquarters.
To everyone who helped i
bringing the pro-peace messago
to those who needed it during
draft registration week, we again.
say thanks.
We would also like to invite
people of the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti
community to attend the +-up-
coming National Antidraft ,Con-
ference that will be held in
Detroit in mid-February.
-Chris Grossman
" Washtaw ou natyCami tp