OPINION
P....g.e4. Wednesday, A pril 1, 1981 The Michigan Daily

Edited and managed by students of The University of Michigan

UnsungSecret Serviceheroes

Vol. XCI, No. 147

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Progress in budget cuts

T HE UNIVERSITY Budget
Priorities Committee has acted
wisely in its decisions concerning cuts
in the University's non-academic
budget, but unfortunately the methods
the cormmittee has employed indicate a
clear lack of concern for outside input.
One of the best moves the BPC
proposed is the elimination of the
University Extension Service. Many
courses the Extension Service offers
throughout the state are duplicated by
and compete with courses already of-
fered by the University and other
educational institutions.
Rather than supporting this cen-
tralized red herring with general fund
monies, it is more efficient to have in-
dividual schools and colleges provide
the service. By doing so, the individual
units can ensure the maintenance of
academic quality that was not evident
with the other program. In retrospect,
it is surprising the Extension Service
has lasted this long.
A Budget Priorities subcommittee
has also acted wisely in its amen-
dment of proposed cuts for the
Recreational Sports Department. In
January, Vice President for Academic.
Affairs Billy Frye suggested a $250,000
cut in the department's $470,000
budget. The cuts would have resulted
in severe reductions in the hours at the
Central Campus and North Campus
Recreation Buildings, and In-
tramural Building.
The subcommittee has prudently
proposed a cut of only $130,000,
suggesting instead to make up the fun-
ds through increases in user fees for
non-students, and intramural entry
fees. In making this move, the sub-
committee has taken the burden of the
cuts off the average student who will
continue to be able to use the facilities
during the same number of hours.
In proposing reductions in the Center
for Research on Learning and
Teaching and Michigan Media, the
BPC has, very importantly, kept in
mind the importance of instruction.
CRLT's budget will be cut by 25 per-
cent. The cut will result in elimination
of much of the facility's research on
learning. But CRLT will continue
much of its work on improving
teaching techniques through the
University - a service that cannot be
neglected at any time.
Cuts in Michigan Media will also
result in an increased emphasis on
teaching, and less concentration on

The president emerges, waves his right
arm, and grins. He lifts his left arm, looks in
that direction, and the first shot sounds.
Policemen, civilians, reporters all hit the
pavement. I would have done the same, and
so, I submit, would all but a virtually non-
existent minority of the human race. And yet,
in full view of the cameras stands a man who
does not even squint, let along dive or run for
safety. Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy
wheels in the direction of the gunman and
begins to spread his arms.
Justasthe intended, he takes a slug in the
torso that might otherwise have hit Reagan
and ended his life.
What kind of man is this? McCarthy has
displayed an accomplishment that can only
be described at bizarre: He has sublimated
the most basic of his instincts to the extent
that, with but a fractionn of a second of con-
sideration, he can turn to John Hinckley to be
killed, perhaps, in the president's stead.
It's really kind of frightening. One of the
few beliefs strict Freudians and
sociobiologists share is in the fundamental in-
tractability of the survival instinct. It, stands
to reason, after all; the human race would not
long survive if people could easily set aside
the desire to live.
Somehow, the Treasury Department has
managed to defy the so-called laws of human
behavior in breeding a group of men capable
of calm, but lightning-fast action virtually
guaranteed to put them. in the most dangerous
imaginable circumstance.
Look again at the videotape of the shooting
(there'll undoubtedly be plenty of oppor-
tunity). One commentator reported that Mc-
Carthy not only was trying to intercede bet-
ween the bullet and the president, but was at-
tempting to rush Hinckley. If there is any
truth to that - and there might well be-
McCarthy's action is even more astonishing.
In the background of the videotape shown
on ABC are further examples of swift, smart
Secret Service action. After the first shot, one
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:

By Joshua Peck

Not surprisingly, the men who make up the
presidential protection force are not, by and
large, a pleasant lot. When in 1972 then-
President Nixon came through Westchester
County (a wealthy suburban area just north
of New York), I had the opportunity to watch
them at work. Though Westchester was
distressingly friendly territory, agents
were at diligent duty screening the crowd for
prospective assailants.
They would not speak to anyone in the
crowd except other agents, even when
politely questioned. In general, they projec-
ted a cold, dispassionate, impersonable image
to any but their own slickly-sunglassed kind.
Yet no lesser degree of professionalism would
do.
By Monday night, network newsmen were
already referring to the men wounded in the
Hinckley shooting as "President Reagan,
Press Secretary Brady, the Secret Service
man, and the D.C. policeman." Tim McCar-
thy's name will be on our lips for another
week or two, if that. He will quietly
recuperate, and then hit the streets again,
perhaps for a less dangerous detail.
But forgettable and anonymous though
McCarthy and his buddies may be, they are in
a very real sense the difference between
democracy and anarchy. Maybe the Secret
Service goes so uncelebrated because
Americans don't like the idea that anyone has
to subjugatehis will to survive to the interests
of preserving the republic, but that- remains
the simple fact.
The tapes tell the story. Tim McCarthy,
that mediocre, bland-looking man, is a hero,
as is every other member of his corps. It's-
just too bad that we need such an ugly, unfor-
tunate excuse to say so.
Joshua Peck is a former editor of the
Daily's Opinion Page.

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SECRET SERVICE AGENT Tim McCarthy
lies wounded on a Washington sidewalk after
intercepting a bullet intended for President
Reagan.
can see President Reagan being bent over
like an accordion and veritably stuffed into
the waiting limousine. To a lesser extent, this
is evidence of the same astonishing
coolheadedness McCarthy exhibits: Under
fire, the unnamed agent instantly becomes
aware of the most expedient way of protec-
ting his charge. His calculation is so shrewd
and quick that it almost seems inhuman-and
yet, it is a show of entirely human percep-
tiveness and physical agility trained to per-
fection.

THE UNIVERSITY'S recreational sports
program has escaped some of the more severe
cutbacks it was originally targeted for by the
administration.
outside broadcasting projects.
Although these cuts are well-
considered, the prognosis for future
recommendations by the BPC does not
look as encouraging. This is due, for
the most part, to the lack of concern
the committee has shown to its outside
input.
An example of this occured with
Michigan Media. A subcommittee
suggested a $100,000 cut, instead of the
$250,000 proposed by the ad-
ministration.
The subcommittee voted four-to-two
in favor of the $100,000 reduction. The
BPC, however, followed the advice of
the committee s minority recommen-
dation - which was exactly the same
as the administration's. Although the
committee may have good reason for
supporting the larger cut, it appears as
if is is only giving these reviews lip
service and is merely a rubber stamp
for the administration.
It is even more frightening to con-
sider that the committee still has to
approve the Recreational Sports
budget proposal. Will they again blin-
dly follow the administration's original
decree?
If the Budget Priorities Committee
intends to clearly review all of the
proposed University budget cuts, it
cannot act as a puppet ofkthe ad-
ministration, but as a thinking, in-
telligent, and open-minded body.

Dubious wisdom on PIRGIMfunds!

To the Daily:
Once again Michigan Student
Assembly President Marc
Breakstone has descended from
Mount Olympus to bestow his
great wisdom upon all us
heathen. This time the subject is
funding for the Public Interest
Research Group in Michigan.
While I wholeheartedly agree
with Breakstone that the Daily's
coverage of PIRGIM in the last
three weeks has been "inor-
dinate," I cannot agree with his
defense of the "refusable/refun-
dable" PIRGIM welfare system.
If there are financially-strap-
ped students who can't afford the
$2 PIRGIM donation at CRISP,
as Breakstone maintains, then
one wonders how they could
suddenly afford to donate the
same amount under the welfare
system. Breakstone's assertion
that those who "support PIRGIM
are far greater in number than
those who can" is ludicrous. To
claim that students cannot afford
a 0.3 percent (at maximum) in-
crease in their bill insults our in-
telligence.
I have spoken to many people,
all of whom had been asked to
sign PIRGIM's petitions. To
PIRGIM's credit, the solicitors
were polite to all, even those who

just walked by when asked to
sign. However, PIRGIM did not
make an effort to "improve
campus awareness.' Rather,
they simply requested that
people "sign for a stronger
PIRGIM."
Breakstone believes that
PIRGIM's 8,000 donating mem-
bers and its status as the largest
organization on campus can
make the 7,200 petition signers
important. He ignores the fact
that PIRGIM's size is a direct
result of its privileged status.
within the University.
If PIRGIM is so concerned with
eliminating the collection at
CRISP, why didn't they push for
a system where a student could
donate (instead of refuse to
donate) to PIRGIM at the time of
the first tuition bill? That system
would have eliminated the major
objection to the welfare system -
that the welfare system would
have placed the burden on the
non-donator.
The donation system would
have had alltthe other advantages
so often cited by PIRGIMites.
One wonders why it wasn't
proposed, when it stood a much
better chance of acceptance by
the Regents. The answer is ob-
vious - there would have been

muchamore money raised by the
welfare system than by the
donation system, since the
welfare system's burden would
be placed on the non-donator.
In taking advantage of student
apathy, PIRGIM could rake in
far more money. Talk about

"threats to civil liberties."
The real question is whether
PIRGIM, with lethargic support
given its privileged status,
deserves any special treatment
from the University.
-Steven Angelotti
March 28

Reagan and 'U' don't mix

To the Daily:
I was shocked when I read the
front page story in the Daily
(March 25) concerning Ronald
Reagan's refusal to speak at
. commencement. My shock was
certainly not at his refusal
(Thank God for that !) , but at the
fact that the University asked him
to speak!
He and his colorful ad-
ministration are working on
large-scale loan and grant cuts
for university students, huge cuts
on welfare and food stamps, cuts
on public transportation systems,
and almost every other program
that helps those in need in the
United States.
In addition, he has mandated

the sending of "advisers" to El
Salvador, is against the Equal
Rights Amendment compen--
sation program, and is against a
woman's freedom of choice in
giving birth. This is the man they
University asked to speak to a-
new generation of Universityq
graduates?
I am disgusted and hope that
the student population would ac-
tually boycott commencement
exercises if Reagan ever spoke
there.
My relief at his refusal is short-
lived. Perhaps the committee has
already asked Alexander Haig or
Strom Thurmond?
-Tracy King
March 28

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Daily sides with junta vs

peasants

To the Daily:
Unlike those who distort the
nature of the civil war in El
Salvador, the Spartacus Youth
League stands firmly for no U.S.
intervention in El Salvador and
for the military victory of the lef-
tist insurgents.
There is a civil war going on
between the left-wingers and
peasants and the dictatorial junta
and its right-wing supporters. In
the interest of human liberation,
it is elementary to demand that
the workers and peasants suc-
ceed in the overthrow of the hated
junta.
Your editorial, "A political, not
military solution in El Salvador,"
(Daily, March 28) is a shameless
apology for the continued junta
butchery of the insurgent
masses, and an ideological

instituted by Carter in El
Salvador. Yet, last year, while
Carter was in office, 12,000
workers and peasants were killed
by the junta and the rightist
death squads. Some moderation!
As for the junta's "reforms," in
El Salvador the land reform
program is known as "Reform by
Death." Its architect is Roy
Prosterman, who also designed
the Vietnam "Pacification"
program. And everyone knows
what happened in Vietnam.
The Daily editors only differ
with Reagan on the most effec-
tive way for U.S. imperialists to
combat "international Com-
munism." They long to return to
the days when Carter talked
about "human rights" while the
Salvadoran junta slaughtered
thousands of workers and

MEMBERS OF THE SPARTACUS Youth League join with other
students to protest U.S. involvement in El Salvador during a rally on
the Diag earlier this month.



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