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OPINION
Page 4 Friday, February 5, 1982
The Michigan Daily
x
Friday, February 5, 1982
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Of students and
Vol. XClI, No. 104
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Superfluous fee
T HE UNIVERSITY'S new policy
charging a $10 fee to all students
who drop/add after deadline is a com-
pletely unnecessary financial burden
and should be eliminated immediately.
The University's newly announced
poliay, which will take effect in Sep-
temler, calls for a $10 assessment on
any Student who drops or adds a class
at CRISP after the normal three week
deadline.
Administrators - such as Helen
Crafton, LSA academic actions direc-
tor -- claim the new policy will reduce
post-deadline CRISP traffic. This
notion is a complete fallacy.,
Students who drop/add after the
deadline currently receive a W (a'
withdrawal notice) on their permanent
records, a deterrent that keeps most
serious students from withdrawing.
late. Permanent records are reviewed
by all graduate schools and, on oc-
casion, prospective employers.
Having a W stamped on one's tran-
script, therefore, is not taken lightly.
In addition to receiving a transcript
W, students with late drops must pay
partial tuition for the classes they leave
if their total credit load falls below the
12 credit hour limit. The knowledge
that one must pay this fee is in itself a
strong enough monetary deterrent.
The next logical question is why do
students drop/add late? The answer is
obviously because they have a serious
reason for doing so. Students who take
on outside jobs or face pressing com-
mitments at home are often forced to
drop classes past the deadline. A $10
late fee will not stop students from
dropping a class late, it will only
harass them.
The University's drop/add policy is
ill-considered and useless. The $10 fee
will only feed the resentment many
students hold toward people they con-
sider to be heartless bureaucrats.
By Mark Gindin
The character, goals, and subsequent ac-V
tions of that body of humanity refered to as
college students is consistently fascinating.
Students sincerely appear to care for the
world they are about to enter. Unfortunately,
for quite some time now, they have been
calling for more harmful action than prac-
tical solutions. Contrary to what they believe,
centralized government is not the answer.
Students and radicals use youthful vigor to
pursue their goal, that of mankind in har-
mony, caring for its neighbors, whether those
neighbors want it or not.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT had this same"
vigor and brought to light many of the gover-
nmental solutions to social and economic
problems. Focused by John Kennedy and
amplified by Lyndon Johnson, these social
programs spread like wildfire.
The basic flaw in these most noble notions is
that these reformers did not and do not under-
stand what makes people most happy. People
are the happiest when they are allowed to do
as they wish. Freedom was the magnet that
attracted people to this country. A higher
standard of living was merely an added
bonus.
In America, pioneers found unlimited op--
portunity and freedom. The only limit on
freedom was not allowing people to limit the
freedoms of others. That concept, unlimited
freedom, has been lost over time. Even the
notion of basic rights has been altered.
NATURALLY, freedom in the New World
did not come cheap. Everybody in the society
had to guard against those who would take it
away. For about two centuries, until the
1900's, everybody kept their guard up. The
liberties defined by the founding fathers
allowed the country to collectively advance
the standard of living-for everybody-to
previously unheard of levels.
The people of the land, the Americans, guar-
ded their freedom jealously. The states were
set up by those who loved their land and
desired to influence directly the people who
governed it. These people were the grassroots
of America. The grassroots are still there.
The story would have ended there, but for.
the intellectuals-those who are convinced
they know how to run a person's life better
than the person himself. When the
professional politicians took over, intellec-
tual theories provided an excuse for the en-
suing reduction of liberties.
CENTRALIZED POWER became the ap-
parent savior, not the scourge, of the people.
- The principles of individual freedom began to
disappear as the New Deal and its children
multiplied. In the name of equality, freedom
has disappeared. The very principle the
colonies fought for has disappeared.
Equality, in the guise of the minimum
.wage, has forced willing teenage workers
from the labor force. Price supports make the
consumer pay for cheese that only piles up in
warehouses. We now pay people not to work.
Rent control causes housing shortages. And
the list continues.
Regulations and taxes have grown
astronomically. Washington has become the
focus of power, the keeper of the people, the
all-knowing Big Brother.
WASHINGTON'S tax revenue, for example,
has doubled since 1976, while the budget has
more than doubled. If this trend continues,
everybody agrees, the economy will collapse.
But when change is so much as mentioned,
cries of anguish are heard across the country,
mostly in the name of equality.
History has numerous examples of cen-
tralized governments that tried to expand the
country out of danger. All of them ended
either in dictatorship or in failure.
Russia and Britain are current examples of
both. Even the misdirected French are still
following their doomed footsteps. Will they
never learn?
Once upon a time, people welcomed a
challenge, a chance to make something work
that hadn't before. They crossed deserts in
covered. wagons, built miles of railroad
tracks, and gave up king'and country for a
dream.
NOW, THE college student expresses the
desire to be looked after, cared for, and
regulated by the "good boys" in the
Washington bureaucracy. Not only is such an
attitude pathetic, it is suicidal. It is hardly the
attitude inherited from our forefathers. In
fact, George Washington would likely with-
draw him name from the city that adopted it.
Being American is not a flag-waving "we
are better than you" attitude of belligerance.
An American is simply proud of his country.
He is someone who enjoys living in a place
beralism
where the son of an Italian immigrant can.
become the owner of his own corporation, or a
Michigan ghetto dweller can become a
multi-millionaire basketball player.
Of course, there'is a price. Freedom is not
free. There is no free lunch. The road is rocky,
and so on. But the college students who are
speaking and writing today do not want to pay
any price. They want to kill Reagan's New:
Federalism because they are not really sure
of the result.
THEY WANT to continue to allow
Washington D.C. to run their lives and live in
their own self-righteous world. And they call
anyone who disagrees with them heartless,
uncaring, and naive, among other things.
The truth is, nobody can predict the future,
The New Federalism policy is not a guaran-
teed success, and will meet with certaiy
failure if the principle of centralized gover-
nment is endorsed.
It must be observed, however, that
Keynesian economics - the excuse
politicians use to expand central control-is a
failure, because, in the long run, it is dead. To
sit back and accept the present state of af-
fairs, or especially to .ask for more of the
same, is suicide. A large and bloated federal
government can only increase the pain of a
recession, not cure it.
THE DARING, the adventurous, and the
patriots will try and better the world for
themselves and their children. Those are the
people who deserve to be in charge of their
own lives, not the intellectuals who believe
they can think for everybody. John Kenneth
Galbraith, Edward Kennedy, Ralph Nader,
and others do not know how to run other
people's lives, and anyone who thinks they
can is an insidious danger to society.
The college student who presumes to know
that social programs are good for people is
also dangerous. They want no budget cuts in
social programs and no responsibility for
their lives and the lives of their families.
I have faith that the power will return to the
states, and ultimately to the people from
whence it came. That is what will make
people happiest. Those who oppose it are
either misguided or irresponsible. Pity them
in their quest for utopia, for they will never
find it.
Gindin is the Daily's University editor.
4
Muddled solution
WITH ITS new plan for testing the
English proficiency of teaching
assistants, the University has indulged
in reasoning as hard to fathom as the
lectures of many of its foreign TAsr.
After several years of student
protest, the University has finally ad-
dressed the problem posed by foreign
TAs who lack adequate English skills.
LSA Dean for Curriculum Affairs
Jens Zorn announced last week that,
starting in September, all foreign TAs
will be required to pass an oral
examination that tests their English
language proficiency. The test will be
mandatory for all TAs currently at the
University, as well as those entering in
the fall.
This worthy idea, however, contains
some ludicrous provisions. Under the
plan, TAs who fail the oral
examination will be required to un-
dergo special English tutoring-but
they will be allowed to continue
teaching for a whole semester.
The University carried its illogical
reasoning even further with its plans
for removing TAs from classy If a TA
failst asecond exam, he or she will be
barred fromteaching, but will be able
to do alternative work, such as grading
papers. The University seemingly con-
cludes that a graduate student unable
to instruct students in spoken English
will be ready to grade coursework
written in English.
The University's oral examination
plan will do little to alleviate the
problems faced by students who must
cope with incomprehensible instruc-
tors. These half-hearted measures ob-
viously fail to ensure that TAs unable
to communicate in English will be
prevented from teaching in the
University's classrooms.
Weasel
By Robert Lence
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
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Staff does its best on suicide problem
To the Daily:
It is generally contrary to our
practice and principles to
respond to editorial or jour-
nalistic remarks expressed in
support or critical of our
operations. We feel, however,
that the editorial statement
published Jan. 16 cannot pass
without commentary and, in fact,
correction from the Housing
Division staff. While we applaud
your efforts at raising campus
awareness of the drastic nature
of the suicide attempt problem
here at Michigan, we are just as
vehemently disturbed by your
allegations of poor training and
inconsistent standards with
regard to the paraprofessional
preparation of our residence hall
staff.
As the professional staff mem-
bers responsible and accountable
for the preparation of Resident
Advisors, Directors and so forth,
we spend a significant portion of
our time reviewing training prin-
ciples and programs. The
Building Directors and Residen-
ce Life Directors meet frequently
and regularly in conjunction with
our minority support staff and
library director to invest major ef-
forts at developing clear stan-
dards for hiring as well as
training our live-in staff. The
criteria by which staff are hired
and trained may differ
somewhat from building to
building but, nonetheless,
they are all rooted in consistent
standards involved fundamental
requirements of sensitivity,
maturity, empathy, and the like.
Similarly, orientation and in-
service training programs are
developed with concern for
commonly established prin-
ciples. Contrary to your
statement of resident staff's
needing to ask for specific
training, our staff are required to
participate in an array of
training sessions covering many
areas of problem solving, crisis
intervention, and personal
growth. At the various
professional meetings which oc-
cur in the Housing Division, we
have identified several aspects of
staff development which have
come. to be expected as basic
elements of all training
programs. Among those are
racial awareness, academic and
personal counseling, program-
ming and, indeed, crisis interven-
tion. If your editorial authors had
consulted even with your own
reporters who diligently in-
vestigated our training programs
you would have discovered that
nearly every R.A., R.D., A.R.D.,
M.P.A., and Head Librarian in the
Housing Division spent the
equivalent 'of a full day in crisis
skills development training
during our summer orientation.
In addition, virtually every hall:
has had follow-up, in-service
training in suicide prevention and
general crisis intervention.
We are as distressed as your
editors with the magnitude of the-
suicide problem and we spend
considerable amounts of time
and energy training staff in
prevention and intervention
techniques. As the saying goes,
we do our best, and we certainly
do better than is implied by your
editorial.
-Kathie Beauvais
* Larry Moneta
Max Smith
Residence.Life Directors
February 3
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