OPINION Page 4 Tuesday, March 23, 1982- The Michi Mr. Administrator cleans up the facts gan Daily "Come in here, Ernest," Mr. Administrator called out as his young assistant passed by his office. "I want to talk to you a minute about this draft you prepared for the University's new publicity booklet." "Sure, Mr. Administrator," Ernest grinned confidently as he walked in. "I hope you liked it-I really think it gives prospective students a good picture of what this place is all about." "That's why I wanted to talk to you," Mr. Administrator smiled paternally. "Now I know you're new here and don't quite understand how we do things, so let's have a little chat." "Great," Ernest exclaimed cheerfully. Mr. Administrator started in as gently as he could. "Let's take the cover, for example. 'Smaller but Whiter: An Introduction to The University of Michigan.' Exactly what is that supposed to mean?" "WELL, WITH ALL the budget cutbacks and falling black enrollments, I thought-" "Now there's your problem," Mr. Ad- ministrator broke in pleasantly. "Try not to think too much." He snatched up a pencil and started scribbling on the cover. "The proper phrase is 'Smaller but Better,' see?" "Sure," Ernest said, a little confused. "Now over here on page three," Mr. Ad- ministrator continued. "You wrote: 'Despite a 12-year-old promise by the University ad- ministration to boost black enrollment to 10 percent, the number of black students on the Ann Arbor campus continued to drop sharply last year, plummeting 5.2 percent since Fall, 1980. Only one student in 20 at the University is black, reflecting a dismal 4.9 percent black enrollment rate.' Frankly, Ernest, I'm disap- pointed. Don't you remember anything from your 'Creative Statistics' course in Ad- ministrator School?" "But those figures are all accurate-" "AND SO ARE these," Mr. Administrator cut in again, handing Ernest a sheet of paper. "Now, why don't you read this revised version I've prepared?" Ernest read: " 'Overall minority enrollment at the University's three campuses was up a whopping 3.2 percent last year, reflecting the administration's renewed commitment to minority recruitment goals.' ' "Pretty smooth, eh?" Mr. Administrator beamed. Ernest was aghast. "But that's so misleading," he protested. "You're mixing in figures for the Dearborn and Flint campuses, and you're in- cluding Asian and Hispanic students to gloss over the declining black enrollment rate." Mr. Administrator wasn't listening. "Let's look at page ten. You wrote: 'University ad- ministrators have targeted the Schools of Art, Education, and Natural Resources for budget cuts and possible elimination. Meanwhile, Pen- tagon-sponsored research in hard-science areas more than doubled last year.' I'm sorry, Ernest, but I've had to rewrite this section also." ERNEST WAS beginning to sense a pattern. "It was a little direct, I'll admit," he said apologetically, hoping to avert the worst. "Good. I'm glad you agree. Now, how does this sound? 'Although the University is actively fulfilling its patriotic duty by increasing defen- se-related science research, other more humanistic areas are hardly being ignored. Many students polish their artistic skills by doodling during lectures, and all ecology- minded members of the campus community are encouraged to visit the Nichols Ar- boretum.' You see? Much better now." "Of course," Ernest said dully. "Over here on page thirteen," Mr. Ad- ministrator breezed along. "You wrote: 'Although University administrators say they are concerned about the plight of blacks in South Africa, no progress has been made on divestment of University holdings in cor- porations that do business in that white-ruled country. In fact, two University regents haye admitted that the administration has failed to comply with its own divestment guidelines.' Now this is a little better, Ernest. You're get- ting the hang of it." ERNEST LOOKED up in disbelief. "I am?" "Sure-I don't even have to rewrite this sec- tion," Mr. Administrator said, scratching furiously with his pencil. "Just cross out a few words here and there and, presto! It's all set!" Ernest read the revised paragraph. "Univer- sity administrators are concerned," it said. "That's it? That's all you're leaving?" Er- nest gasped, his dying will barely managing to flare. "What about divestment? What about the guidelines? I thought-" "There you go thinking again," Mr. Ad- ministrator interrupted. "Look, we can't con- fuse prospective students with all this stuff about South Africa. Most of them don't even know where South Africa is. This way, everything's nice and general." Mr. Administrator read the sentence again, quite pleased with his handiwork. " 'University administrators are concerned.' Kind of adds a human dimension, don't you agree?" "Yeah; great," Ernest surrendered. He felt his mind going blank. His head started nodding backand forth uncontrollably. "VERY GOOD. And this section here about the geography department-" "Wait, I think I know," Ernest interjected, his voice quavering into a monotone. " 'Because most students don't even know where countries such as South Africa are, much less care about them, it was decided that a geography department was unnecessary at the University.' How's that. "Brilliant!" Mr. Administrator blurted. "By jove, I think you've got it!" "Here's another one," Ernest droned, his voice now totally flat, his eyes rolling back into his head. "'In a move to protect the campus community, University administrators recen- tly decided to restrict public access to research files, explaining that knowledge can be dangerous. Mr. Administrator was ecstatic. "Oh Ernest, Ernest! You dear, sweet boy!" He leaped up to hug his assistant, barely able to contain his emotion. "You're one of us now! You're one of us! Why, I think we might even promote you. upstairs, to the University Record!" "Smaller but better. Smaller but better," Ernest repeated vacantly as his boss kissed his cheeks. Witt's column appears every Tuesday. - By Robert Lence TOUR M5WE OPE TRAT BY 1990 NT. WE WILL HAVE AC4IEVEDA oR JT 60AL oF CoNVERTIN6 THE L BE ENTIREU -M cAMPU6 INTo A ENT3,AMP SRAWUN6, M-TI-pIMENS NAL p Ts. ROBOTICS PARK. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Weasel Vol. XCII, No. 135 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board WE IN TE.'U"RIERARCHY REALIZ.E T14AT MANY STUDENTS AMP FA DLT( IN THE S&CHOOL.S TO BE REVIEWV ARE NO DOUBT A BIT ANXIOUS. ON BEH4ALF OF THE AYMINISTRA11ON X JUST LIKE TV AY A PEW WAD- TO C-EAR THE AIR. J YOU WILL NO lCe THAT 009 PEONON TO REAFW 114ESI ilAREE 50oas COI NGIVES W;V T44P ' U %" &RoWIN6INVoI-vEmegir WIT14 R0WrIGS RESEAR(A MWP-V- THIS IS I3 f NO MEANS UNINTENTI ONAt-. do 6\11M T}4- YEARS, rITIHAS I INCREASING(,1'OBVIOUS 11AA WHOL-E EVlUCAT I ON SY51 I4Of'ELESSLY INEFFIGIEC TN~REr:ORE~, OVER THE N 6IV1:RAL Y~EARS We WIL PH4ASIN& OUT TIhe.5"tA PASIN& IN THE Rob Placing blame T HERE WAS A reason behind Saturday's violence at the neo- Nazi rally at the Federal Building. The ..,r,.e. iai, lr " Oln] nnr which these revolutionary groups do not have a say. This is not to imply that the issues they address do not merit at- tention-it is merely the method used f ,,. l reason was neitn1L riogJia , AL rationial The reason was, however, that is so utterly detestable. founded in hypocrisy and the Banners flew at the City Hall rally misguided actions of a minority of the proclaiming an end to the Reagan war participants. drive-a philosophy well worth suppor- ting, and yet completely out of place 15 Some of the various "radical" one was interested in protesting the groups involved in the melee at the Nazi threat, not in capitalizing on the Federal Building-the Committee to rally. Speakers blared their message Stop the Nazis and the Coalition again- of confrontation at the crowd, claiming st the Nazis-used Saturday's events to that the Nazis must not be allowed to propagate their own beliefs. They march in Ann Arbor. In essence they manipulated the anger of the crowd called for a suspension of the con- and the confusion of the rally to spread stitutional rights of the marchers, and the hatred of their ideas and the they supported their cries with threats hypocrisy of their actions. of violent action. Certain groups-the Spartacus Nothing could be more reproachable Youth League and the Revolutionary than the methods of these groups. Socialist League, to name a few-at- Their outlandish wars with the rest of tended the rally in force because of the world usually make people laugh, their virulent hatred of everything for but on Saturday, they caused trouble. which the Nazi's stand. And yet these When a group's actions become so same groups turned around and made absurd that they threaten the physical the whole scene a horrendous spec- safety of innocent observers, they too taclerunmatched in recent Ann Arbor shouldebe ignored, no matter how history. horrible the ideology they are This is typical of the way in which protesting against. Even though these these groups operate. They represent radical groups were, in the end, on the opportunism carried to its extreme. right side, their actions make it hard tot There is never an issue on campus on call them allies.t t 5 a ., , . . .. LETTERS TO THE DAILY Disappointed with Daily's cov To the Daily: I suppose that more than anything else, I am disappointed that in your coverage of Satur- day's events (Daily, March 21), you neglected to give the deser- ved coverage to an im- measurably important Ann Ar- bor event. Sure, the Nazis were here, and several violent confron- tatins ensued; but what does an enlarged headline and front and back page stories of the clash bet- ween neo-Nazis and other blood hungry individuals prove? Isn't this publication supposed to educate its readers, to provide equal coverage of equally impor- tant events? Am I expecting too much of a university newspaper? The Ann Arbor community rally, which occurred Saturday at the Federal Building, was a far more important happening than the "mob clash". The purpose of the rally was described as follows: "Our original reason for gathering here today was the Nazi 'visit' to Ann Arbor. We are here, however, not solely to react to the Nazis, but to make a st- atement in favor of human dignity and freedom. We have not remained silent, nor have we walked away. . . we affirm the right of every human being to live in dignity with the freedom to make personal choices. This is the antithesis of what the Nazis represent, and this is our answer to any such group." The Daily staff member who wrote the editorial, (Daily, Mar- ch 21) should be reminded that "92 years of ediorial freedom" does not give one the right to ignore reality. I was at the com- munity rally along with hundreds of other people and, at that rally, none of us created what the editorial referred to as a "disgusting spectacle that drove the Nazi hatred from our Ann Ar- bor streets-with clubs, rocks and abuse-all in the best fascist erage.. tradition." I heard people spe, of the beauty of humanity. I sivC people who had never beforenr4 holding hands and singing sonr of peace and hope. I saw me women and children of differed' religions, races and politidal orientations together-peaceful ly. Unless my knowledge ;ilj skewed, that does not constitute fascism. The Daily should take a closer look at the events on which it reports. -Elissa Driker March 22 . ...and editorialflip-flops 0 .and rally violence To the Daily: This Saturday I had the unfor- tunate experience of witnessing the response to the Nazi demon- strators in front of the Federal Building. I do not wish to use this space to condemn the Nazis. Let it be accepted that everything the Nazis stand for is hateful, ex- ploitative, and intolerable. I do, however, wish to express my disillusionment with the actions of those individuals who felt it was their righteous duty to purge the Nazis in a Nazi-type fashion. In talking to different in- dividuals, I dound that many had the attitude that we must physically put down the Nazis so that they won't physically put us down. One man chanted something along the lines -of "Cops, go home, let us deal with the Nazis." The absurdity of such thinking is readily apparent. To hurt the Nazis so they won't hurt others, to want to kill Nazis (as some all too sincerely expressed that they wanted to do) because they could gain enough power to kill others. To act like a barbarous mob so that the Nazis will never turn us into a barbarous mob leave through the gentle per- suasion of rocks and ice. A well- placed rock could easily have killed one of the fascist demon- strators, a police officer, or an unfortunate observer. Would that have pleased some people at the demonstration? Am I wrong to worry? Believing in a cooperative in- ternational community, equality and freedom for everyone, socialism as a feasible and necessary solution to the present economic situation, and unilateral elimination of nuclear weapons-that is, believing in an ideology that is the polar opposite of Nazi fascism-I understand the need for unrestricted free speech. The best way to put down the Nazis is through peaceful protest, as many organizations around campus advocated. Such a plan of action contrasts the peacefulness of the anti-Nazis with the violent and hateful rhetoric of the white racists. The action in front of the Federal Building had the reverse results-the anti-Nazis cause ap- peared to be a violent one, while To the Daily: While it seems that the Daily editorial board wrote consisten- tly against a violent response to the Nazi demonstration on Satur- day, it surprised me to see that the Daily needed two editors and three reporters to write up the "violent" demonstration. It concerns me that the lines, "They got action, They got violence. They got bloodshed," from Sunday's editorial (Daily, March 21) are as applicable to The Michigan Daily reporters as they are to the violent protestors. Why did the peaceful human dignity rally, ardently supported by the editorial staff, deserve but one reporter to cover it? Perhaps with better coverage, someone might have recognized that the number of people attending the peaceful rally was at least three times that which was reported in the Daily. Two Detroit television stations and a local Ann Arbor paper estimated the total atten: dance at 1000. The Daily did a great injustice to those peaceful members of the Ann Arbor community who at- tended the Rally for the Affir, mation of Human Dignity and Freedom by accusing, in Sun- day's editorial, the "peace- seeking inhabitants of Ann Arbor" of creating "a spectacle as disgusting as any neo-Nazi could have presented." The success of the Human Dignity Rally, despite earlier violence, reaffirms the Ann Ar- bor community's dedication to rational and effective alter- natives of preventing racism through unity and education. -Robert Levine March 22 S ...and media attention To the Daily:' They got action. They got bloodshed. They got everything they wanted. Everyone got what they wanted, especially the media. They got meaty ink to splat on their paper. Yesterday I attended the rally That hateful atmosphere was turned into one of brotherhood and strength. When over a thousand (not 350, as reported in the Daily) people join arms, sway and sing "We shall Overcome," you know that there is hope for our planet.