OPINIO N
Page Four Saturday, April 18, 1981 The Michigan Daily
'U'-Nurses talks
may be delayed
until April 28
Page Nine - Saturday, April 18, 198
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCI, No.®157 420 Maynard St.
Saturday, April18, 1981 Ann Arbor, Ml 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
A terror strikes
closeto home
T wo University students are dead, the vic-
tims of senseless violence. The end of
classes and a holiday for many have been
marred by a tragedy-for no apparent reason
two human beings have been shot and killed.
The shootings at Bursley come on the heels of
violence that has been sweeping the nation. In
December, John Lennon was killed-for no ap-
parent reason. Less than one month ago, an
assassination attempt was made on President
Reagan, leaving the President, Press Secretary
James Brady, and two security officials woun-
ded.
Terrifying as the Lennon and Reagan
shootings were, however, they seemed
somewhat removed from Ann Arbor. It is not un-
til such a despicable act occurs in our own
backyard-when our friends are the victims of
irrational violence-that we can begin to ex-
perience the full magnitude of such an outrage.
As a result of a gunman's act, we have only
memories of the two men. Both were known for
their compassion and understanding of others.
Ed Siwic, or "Ward" to his family, was
described by many people in the dorm as a hard
worker. Douglas McGreaham was known for his
responsible character. This sense of respon-
sibility carried over to his role as a resident ad-
viser, when, early Friday morning, he waited in
the dorm to make sure it was evacuated. While
he was doing this, he was shot and killed.
No killings can be justified. But for the
relatives and friends of McGreaham and Siwic
the lack of any apparent motive must be
especially horrible. Two students are dead; the
frustrations of this wanton killing raise thousan-
ds of questions-most with no answers. We can-
not bring the two men back. We can only lament
the loss.
Trying to make
sense of madness
By Christopher Potter
The man's face is twisted into a
driven lunatic's visage of hate.
Bathed in sweat, hair askew, his
features are those of an ancient,
high-boned Flemish grotesquerie
straight out of Bosch. Every
muscle is taut and straining; the
jaw juts forth, open lips curled up
and back, spewing out rage at
those around him.
The eyes blaze at you -- the
fury behind them made all the
more terrifying by their obvious
incomprehension. The veins on
his forehead pulse and throb
with a protuberance akin to the
most hideous movie effect of
George Romero or David
Cronenberg. His countenance
seems the essence of our darkest
nightmares of mindless, uncon-
trolled passion -- of Yeats' som-
nambulant rough beast
awakening within ourselves.
THE MAN'S photograph came
over the Daily's wires a couple of
weeks ago, and I still can't get his
face out of my mind. A resident of
Florida, he had first called police
threatening suicide, then, upon
officers' arrival at his apar-
tment, had opened fire with an
arsenal of guns stored at his
dwelling.
Following a pitdhed battle of
several hours, the man was sub-
dued and dragged screaming and
cursing to a local hospital - his
motives as murky and obscure as
his actions were corporal and
horrifying. One looks at his photo
- at that frenzied mindlessness
- and one asks why? No answer
comes.
And now it happens here. The
thunder of a gun, two students
piteously done to death - ap-
parently at random selection.
The crime made all the more ob-
scene by its impersonal nature -
the killer does his deed, then
By CHARLES THOMSON
Negotiations between striking
University nurses and the University
may not resume until April 28, accor-
ding to a Michigan Employment
Relations Council official.
Ed Phillips, the labor mediator for
MERC in charge of the negotiations,
said yesterday that he "has no plans''
to call the parties back to the,
bargaining table. He said that the
reports he had received from both the
nurses' union and the University ad-
ministration indicated that there had
been "absolutely no movement" in the
position of the two parties.
HE SAID, HOWEVER, that April 28
would be a "reasonable" estimate for
the next round of negotiations, adding
that the delay would allow both parties
in the negotiations to evaluate their
positions.
"Right now," he said, "there is no
prospect of progress."
Talks between the two parties broke
off following a 12-hour meeting between
union and the University represen-
tatives on Wednesday.
SPOKESPERSONS FOR BOTH the
University and the union said they were
prepared to return to negotiations at
any time.
John Forsyth, Medical Campus Per-
sonnel Director, said the University
was prepared to return to negotiations
at any time "day or night" but that
there is "not much point in meeting un-
til you have something to talk about."
Forsyth added that negotiations had
made significant progress, but that
there remain "a couple of 'principle'
kind of issues. Unless one party
changes its principles it's going to be
difficult to reach an agreement. I think
that's probably why the mediator wants
us to think about our positions for a
while."
Margot Barron, president of the
Professional Nurses Council, said that
during a membership meeting Thur-
sday night, "our people were over-
whelmingly in support of the position
we've taken." She said the union's
position was unchanged and that their
negotiating team was ready to return to
bargaining "with one hour's notice."
Forsyth commented the University
was anxious to settle the 12-day strike
by registered nurses. "Our objective is
to have the thing settled as quickly as
possible and to get all of the valuable
employees that are out on strike back to
work," he said.
AP Photo
calmly walks back to his dor-
mitory room to await the police.
HOW MANY LOVES blighted
forever by this detached act of
absurdism? It's very sen-
selessness mocks man's unquen-
ched desire to know, to explain
the inexplicable; better to die for
any reason than for no reason at
- all. What does one tell children,
grandparents - anybody?
Without meaning, there is only
silence.
One can only weep - then work
to somehow prevent such horrors
in the future. The mystery
remains how to do it.
Registration of firearms? Surely.
Increased efforts in mental
health? Perhaps - though
scholars have spent centuries
studying and attempting to
master the monsters of the id, yet
remain no closer to an ultimate
solution than they were a
thousand years ago. Man's heart
of darkness remains palpable
and thriving.
Perhaps the answer lies in tur-
ning not inward but outward,
away from our inner demons.
Loneliness can kill - It can strike
Park Avenue just as easily as
Skid Row - anywhere one finds
one self with no one to talk to, no
one to keep the demons from
taking over. Aswe reflect on this
sad Easter weekend, we might
think about human isolation and
the healing effect of human love,
both in its spiritual and temporal
forms. No one has ever claimed
love is a simple, untormenting
process; ;yet no one has ever
claimed any one of us could live
without it.
Christopher Potter is a
Daily staff writer.
LETTERS TOTHE DAILY,
Washington grad laments racism
To the Daily:
As a 1976 graduate of George
'Washington High School in San'
Francisco, I was sorry to see that
Pauline Craig's recent series
("Racism and the WPOD",
Daily, April 9, 10), reflected the
long-term development of racial
Stupidity amazes
To the Daily:
I am continually amazed at the
level of stupidity your newspaper
is able to muster.
You seem pleased that women
have finally been admitted to The
Explorers Club (Daily, April 14),
a gang of big game hunter's who
get together .to gnash their
canines over such species as the .
lion, hippopotamus, mountain
bear, and yak. I suppose, if it
were 1942, you would be upset
that women were excluded from
the higher echelons of the
Gestapo..
Take your heads out from bet-
ween your legs. The smaller the
club is, the better.
-Barry Himmelstein
April 14
tensions I saw emerging during
my years there.
I was among the white minority
at GWHS; I witnessed the self-
imposed ethnic segregation, and
wondered whether American
society had progressed from the
civil rights break-throughs of the
1960s. I deeply regret that the
latest generation of San Fran-
cisco youth appears to be
showing so little ability to grow
beyond the prejudices of those
before them.
-Steve Hoch,
. , April o
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