. OPINION i Page 4 Thursday, March 11, 1982 The Michigan Daily' e atutsa ntchigan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Getting rid of geography with no administrative skill I . Vol. XCII, No. 125 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board It's time to kill the Beast of defense research Geography Chairman John Nystuen will no longer have a department come July 1. Nystuen, whose department was officially eliminated by a Regents' vote last June, will be transferring to a position at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Nystuen spoke with Opinion Page Editor Julie Hinds this week, reflecting on the department's long and bitter review and his new attitude toward the Univer- sity's administration. T HERE COMES a time when you have to put your foot down and scream "No more!" for all the world to hear. A time when scientists talk of sur- viving a nuclear war, politicians talk of limiting one, and the military talks of winning. A time when we lose all possible per- spective on what it means to obliterate a city - let alone a country or the entire world -- because it is simply beyond the realm of our imaginations. A time when we could be vaporized in the next instant, without even being granted the dignity of a few seconds to compose a final thought such as "God help us" or "They really, finally did it" or even "Damn, I just washed the car." That time is now. And perhaps the strongest gesture we as students can make is to demand that all research being conducted at this University for the Department of Defense be stopped. Enough with hair-splitting distin- ctions between classified and un- classified research, between weapons research that leads directly to the destruction of human lives and basic research that leads indirectly to the same end. Enough with token student committees and token faculty commit- t'es and token student-faculty commit- oversee and review and scrutinize and analyze the propriety of individual research projects. We must finally and unabashedly acknowledge the underlying truth about all defense research-it will inevitably lead to death. Extraordinary times demand ex- traordinary measures, and who could, deny these are extraordinary times when the world is only minutes away from destroying itself? To argue that banning defense tesearch violates the sanctity of the ideal of academic freedom - under which every professor is supposed to he free to do research in virtually any 3 rea - is to argue that dead men should get tenure. For what good is academic freedom to any of us when we are all tiny little radioactive ions floating somewhere in the galaxy? Let us not lose sight of the forest for the trees-let us not get caught up in petty mental exercises about pragmatism and academic freedom when our lives are at stake. How can we continue to tolerate a world in which we as individuals have absolutely no control over our destinies? Slowly, gradually, in Europe first and only in recent months here in America, have individuals begun to mass together and demand an end to the absurdity of nuclear weapons. Maybe if enough people sign "nuclear freeze" petitions, maybe if enough people stage "die-ins," maybe if enough people refuse to continue supporting the government depar- tment charged with destroying us - maybe then there is some small sliver of hope. God knows there are no simple solutions. Even if we demand an end to defense research here, other univer- sities will pick up the slack. Lots of research not even commissioned by the defense department may even- tually lead to our destruction - who knows, for instance, whether some University-made robot might one day be used to guide a warhead toward Moscow? And then there's the ROTC - should we not also demand that it, too, be kicked off campus? Even the Daily itself directly supports the death machine, by accepting recruiting ad- vertisements for corporations that fill contracts for the defense department, not to mention ads for the armed forces themselves. Yes, that awful beast Pragmatism looms overhead, threatening to reduce any initiative to futility. "Why do anything, since you clearly can't do everything?" the Beast laughs at us. But we can smile back at the Beast, we can smile the desperate smile of the damned. And we can-take one small step, however impractical and unrealistic and ultimately futile, and at least be vaporized with clear con- sciences. Nystuen: In our case, once the review decision was made, the rest of the procedures were only a matter of form. We couldn't influen- ce the administration once they announced they were considering cutting us. Daily: What did you learn about dealing with the administration from your experien- ce? Nystuen: I think the administration demon- strated that they don't need to pay attention to the faculty at all. By discounting the faculty vote in support of saving geography, they (administrators) showed they have the ultimate power and authority to make these decisions alone. And they did with us. Daily: Will eliminating geography be worth it economically? Will it save money? Nystuen: The announced savings are not very significant. Last year they needed $1.2 million that LSA was unable to come up with. They chopped about $200,000 of that from geography. That means they'd need to cut five more geography departments to achieve nammmmNX mmm se ewa" 0 0 Daily: What mistakes do you think the University administration made during the geography department review? Nystuen: The worst thing they did was secretly target the department for elimination without giving us a chance to look at the material, the statistics they used to finger us. Daily: Do you feel you didn't have time to prepare a defense? Nystuen: I feel that by the time we were in- formed that discontinuance procedures were underway, a great deal had already gone on to which we had no privilege. By the time they announced discontinuance possibilities, the administrators had their minds made up. It put us in an awkward position. Daily: What about your department? Did you make any mistakes? Would you do anything differently now? Nystuen: I don't think we could have done much once they started discontinuance review. Once procedures were underway, we tried every avenue we could to save ourselves, and we were thwarted on every approach. Daily: Do you think once a review decision is made elimination of a department or in- stitute is a foregone conclusion? now? } Nystuen: Be more political. Get more in- volved in college affairs. Get onto the Executive Committee and into the dean's of- fice. Daily: Is it who you know at the University; rather than what your department does that ensures safety? Nystuen: With geography, it was a political matter-an arbitrary, capricious act. It was; not adequately Justified by the evidence, presented. So how can I suggest to other units0 that they rely on facts and expressions of sup-. port? They-didn't save us. their original goal. I don't think they'll find many more places to cut without seriously changing the curriculum of the college. Daily: If you don't think the savings were significant, then why were you cut? Nystuen: It was an exercise in power. It was a demonstration that the administration. had the authority to get rid of a department. Other departments noticed that. Daily: What advice would you give to a professor whose department is under review Daily: Last term one geography professor compared being relocated to being shot. What was being moved to a new department like for you? Nystuen: I'm not pleased to be forced to change my profession. I am a geographer and I was working in a graduate program that was very successful. The people where I'm going, at architecture and urban planning, have been very cordial in; inviting me in, which means I may get along all right. I'm reluctant to let go of the tradition of my department, though. I dou't think it helps our university at all to-let suc a tradition slip away. We're getting smaller, but there's no indication we're getting better. Dialogue is a weekly feature of the Daily's Opinion Page and appears every Thursday. 0 Weasel, WHA GOINM ORe. H~AVE s .C6T MY( MINA? YOUR tMIND jTTPLA"(L1N& TRICK(S ON YOU, we&SL.. FMR ~ YtAfRS CRAM4PE iN'T6 j% NYCN A UMZ f-M Y GUYS! j(2 6/ By Robert Lence'1., ALKIE+IT WEASEL.., IF YO 'ou~Ecr fNA~r soN6W T1bMY flN6 rMY "UN KNOWN (mcM"ou1INE FOR YOU, TMN L1 womt Do IT! / -1l 6 6 Watching the stars OR THOSE OF you who are up and about today reading this editiorial, ongratulations. You have survived te "Jupiter effect" intact. .Yesterday's rare alignment of the un, the planets, and the earth's moon, Lnown as the Jupiter effect, provoked everal rumors of imminent world isaster. Soothsayers from China, In- 4ia, and Peru predicted that the event could set of everything from pidemics and torrential tidal waves to ttacks of wild beasts. For some in Balifornia, recent earthquake remors were enough to inspire belief hat the end of the world was truly on ts way. But superstitious sorts looking for :ataclysms have more to worry about han this odd alignment. One need only ook at the world around us to find erious, pressing problems that, unlike he Jupiter effect, merit more atten- ion. One can start looking at the Univer- ity level. The long-range plans of the dministration to cut the size of our in- sure right now of their future status at the University.$ On the state and national level, current economic conditions are enough to spark fears of impending financial disaster. The budgetary policies of the Reagan administration especially have provoked fear among the underprivileged and minorities that the country's future holds no place for them. The international arena provides perhaps the widest selection of disaster. The famines and plagues that seemed humorous when astrologers predicted them yesterday are occurring in fact throughout the world. And fears of a cataclysm are hardly groundless when one considers the destructive potential inherent in the current international nuclear arms build-up. Anyone shopping around for problems shouldn't waste their time on astronomical, hazards when so much potential danger is present in real life. The problems surrounding us, that LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Polish rule shows little moderation To the Daily: Raymond Taras, in his Dialogue interview (Daily, Mar- ch 4), sounds like he would make a good PR man for Gen. Jaruzelski of Poland. How can Taras think Jaruzelski is a moderate and . deserves more time? In only two months of martial law, Solidarity has been disbanded, thousands have been imprisoned and have Bring back bowling To the Daily: This letter is in response to your article about the closing of the Michigan Union bowling lanes (Daily, March 6). It is a shame that the Union board (comprised of 11 students) has made the decision to close the lanes for good. A major univer- sity consisting of 33,000 students without bowling lanes is hard to imagine, and will put us into an elite category. Bowling is the most widely-played sport in America, and the Detroit area has the largest body of bowlers in the country. to remodel was only half that figure. Also, the article stated that "only 32 students were interested in the intramural winter tour- nament," when in fact well over 100 students signed up for tour- nament play, and three times as many people signed up for the University Activities Center's mini-course this fall than stated. As mechanics on the bowling alley staff, we (as well as other staff members) are offended by Dann's statement that, "In fact, our decision was encouraged by the bowling alley staff itself." been asked to leave the country, the independent student organization has been dissolved, strikes have been violently sup- pressed, and basic human rights have been abrogated-all under the direction of the "moderate" Jaruzelski. Taras should remember why Solidarity grew so large in the first place. Poles, very conscious of their history, remembered how past leaders Gomulka and Gierek betrayed them. So why should Taras think they will sympathize with Jaruzelski, who has already shown he is less willing to negotiate than the past rulers. I find it amazing that a politic- al sociologist would fail to note the sense of hostility between Poles and their present leader, especially after martial law and Jaruzelski's visits to Moscow. Undoubtedly, Taras must have been barred from travel during martial law, and perhaps before,. The Polish worker has not seen an improvement in his condition. As one Pole told me while I was in Poland last summer, "What goQd is a trade union if a pig-headqo government won't reform? W' have only begun to fight!" The academics Tara* associated with may have bedr much happier with their new. freedoms, but the Poli- workers, who, after all, starfed the movement, were hardl, satisfied. Jaruzelski is bound to face coil frontation from the workets because he has failed to face tlh, reality of Solidarity. As the Poles; now warn: "The winter is youri but the spring is ours!" -Richard Walawender Polish-American Student r Association March 4 'j ph el