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f.
OPINION
Page 4
Sunday, March 28, 1982
The Miciigan Daily
Budgets on the
loose, out of
B UDGET-CUTTING and the panic it's
brought has reached epidemic proportions.
During a Detroit press conference last Mon-
day, University President Harold Shapiro
joined with the presidents of Wayne State
University and Kalamazoo College to berate
federal government proposals to cut student
financial aid in half. The trio asserted that by
slashing support to higher education,'
Washington officials were forcing colleges and
universities once again to become havens for
the wealthy.
hMeanwhile, back home in Ann Arbor, Art
School Dean George .Bayliss tried to soothe
frazzled nerves of Art School students anxious
about an administration budget review that, at
its extreme, could result in the outright
elimination of the school.
and New Hampshire town meetings and has
been endorsed by 171 members of Congress.
The Pentagon, however, has no plans to
freeze its funds for Department of Defense
research at major universities across the
nation. DOD research funds have been steadily
increasing since- 1973 at many research in-
stitutions.
While' defense research has actually been
decreasing at the university, the trend is ex-
pected to reverse itself if the University is
awarded a $7.3 million grant to establish a
robotics center.
Some see DOD funds as a valuable aid for our
financially strapped university. Others have
complained that military research conflicts
with the academic ideals of the University.
The battle over military spending, on cam-
pus and throughout the nation, is now set bet-
ween those who say "more is better" and those
who say "enough is enough."
Engineers in hock
THERE'S TOO much of a good thing hap-
pening over at the University's College of
Engineering.
And the only solution appears to be more
money.
A staggering number of new college ap-
plications and already overflowing classrooms
Daily Photo by BRIAN MASCK
' Neo-Nazis confront demonstrators at last Saturday's rally.
Bayliss told the assembled group that Art
School students and faculty may even benefit
from the careful evaluation of the school.
As the University gears up to face its own
budget reviews, Rochester's Oakland Univer-
sity already is planning to eliminate seven of
its academic programs and to consolidate five
others. Oakland's program cutback criteria, by
the way, are nearly identical to those the
University is employing.
In addition to a growing number of major
program reviews, less obvious cutbacks are
beginning to penetrate all areas of the Univer-
sity.
One example is a recently revealed plan to
combine the reserve desks of the graduate and
undergraduate libraries into a single reserve
section located on the UGLi's third floor. The
consolidation is expected to save the University
$50,000 in personnel and processing costs.
Library officials also are preparing to replace
some library jobs with new com-
puters-another money-saving move.
Apparently, there's no way to escape this
epidemic.
A rally loses control
T HE MORNING after the rally there were
only a few reminders of, what had hap-
pened the day before. The shattered front doors
of the Federal Building had been quickly boar-
ded up, although part of the plate glass that
survived the clash was still streaked with splat-
tered eggs and tomatoes. A battered cardboard
sign reading "Mobilize To Stop The Nazis" lay
mostly hidden beneath a clump of bushes near
the plaza in front of the building.
Less than a day before the plaza had been the
scene of a violent clash between about 1,000
demonstrators and 15 teenagers from Detroit
who called themselves Nazis. The neo-Nazis
had come to Ann Arbor, dressed in pseudo-Nazi
combat uniforms, to hold what they called an
"anti-communist rally."
But they were able to speak on the steps of
the Federal Building only 10 or, 15 minutes
before the mob of demonstrators marched
there and pressed them back, cornering them
against the building.
Police insisted that the clash that followed
was "absolutely not a riot." But most who wit-
nessed the violence agreed that if it wasn't a
riot, it came close. After all, it took about 50
police in riot gear to rescue the neo-Nazis from
the mob's clubs, rocks, and bottles.
When it was all over about .40 minutes
later-as the neo-Nazis were whisked from the
mob in a Sheriff's Department bus-it left the
city with a $7,000 bill for the overtime wages it
took to keep almost the entire Ann Arbor police
force on the scene. It also left a bad taste in the
mouths of many people who stood by helplessly
and watched the mob clash with the neo-Nazis
and the police.
Many in the mob, however, insisted after-
ward that the violence was the appropriate way
to deal with the neo-Nazis, and called the clash
a "victory." Said one demonstrator over the
cheers of the crowd as the sheriff's bus drove
off through the crowd, "If the police hadn't
been there, they (the neo-Nazis) would've been
killed."
The military on ice
WHILE SOME are looking for a nuclear
freeze this spring, the University is in-
volved in a heated competition for Pentagon
research funds.
The Michigan Nuclear Weapons Freeze
Campaign brought its drive to halt production,
testing, and deployment of nuclear arms to
campus last Monday, with a series of films and
workshops. The group is circulating a petition
throughout the state to put the freeze issue on
the November ballot.
The U.S. freeze campaign began in Vermont
:ontrol
and laboratories-added to a shortage of funds
to accommodate the problem-has placed the
engineering college in 'a classic "Catch-22"
situation, said Dean James Duderstadt.
Reducing enrollment won't help, said Duder-
stadt, because of the heavy demand for
engineering graduates and growing numbers of
applicants hoping to enter the school. What's
more, the administration estimates,, cutting
enrollment would cost the University $4 million
in tuition dollars.
But help may be on the way.
The man who now holds the University's pur-
se strings, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Billy Frye, has agreed with , Duderstadt's
assessment of the enrollment problem and has
promised him more money.
The engineers probably can't get too much of
that.
Money talks
T HERE'S A LOT of money talk going on at
the Michigan Union these days-some of it
good and some of it bad, according to students.
Students hope that "good" money for more
Union renovations will come from an alumni
fund-raising drive which began last week.0
Student members of the Michigan Union Board
of Representatives have sent donation requests
to 1,000 alumni, counting on Union nostalgia to
spark a flow of contributions. Funds from the
drive will help to augment current renovations
at the student center.
But students protested last week that the
Union is getting "bad" money from a rule that
forces student groups to hirethe Union food
services for functions in the buildings. Leaders
of several student organizations charged that
the high prices of. Union catering place an un-
fair financial burden on students. Union Direc-
tor Frank Cianciola insisted, however, that the
rule is necessary because of health regulations
and financial realities.
"The fact that we're a (student) union
doesn't let us escape the financial respon-
sibility of being a business," the practical
Cianciola said.
Aid when it comes to business, any sort of
money can't be all that bad.
The Week in Review was compiled byO
Daily editors Julie Hinds and David Meyer,
former Daily editor Julie Engebrecht, and
Opinion Page staff writer Kent Redding.
Duderstadt: "Catch-22" for engineers.
ebt a n Michig an
Edited and monaged by students at The University of Michigan
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Solving all the problers at once
Vol. XCII, No. 140
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, M{ 48109
To the Daily:
At the University of Michigan,
as on many other campuses,
there is a tendency for student
groups to arise dealing with only
one problem of the day. While
this is certainly not a negative
trend, it can sometimes result in
a lack of focus and missed oppor-
tunities. At a time when unified
student opposition to Reaganism
is crucial, such "misses" can
prove costly.
A current example of this
problem is the relationship bet-
ween the opposition to financial
aid cuts on one hand and the op-
position to U.S. involvement in El
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
e
Postponing the cuts*
Die-in' implications
T SEEMS AS IF students have won,
a brief respite in their battle to save
their federal financial aid.
Students currently are rejoicing over
congressional efforts to halt President
Reagan's proposed student loan cuts.
Several bright spots have appeared
recently. The House Appropriations
Committee has approved a large
emergency loan - to tide over the
guaranteed student loan program. And
now it seems likely that the House will
oppose Reagan's plan to cut graduate
students out of the loan program
altogether.
Why has this welcome shift come"
about? Perhaps it was the expression
of student -outrage that spurred a
legislative turnabout. The thousands of
students who marched on the Capitol
earlier this month may have been
enough to prod 'legislators into ac-
tion-legislators not willing to alienate
the next generation of constituents.
Or maybe the size and severity alone
of the proposed Reagan cuts, made
representatives realize how detrimen-
tal such a sacrifice would prove. Cut-
.~ ~
ting off the financial means for studen-
ts to obtain an education would be like
cutting our own throats-the loss of a
vital, educated youth would have a
painful impact on the nation's future.
But whatever provoked Congress's
change of heart, it was not enough of a
change. Students still face an uncer-
tain financial future in congressional
hands. The rates and restrictions on,
the emergency funds have not yet been
set, and they may . be much more
stringent. And' although graduate
students have been spared a cut tem-
porarily, their loans may be bargained
away in the next round of budget
wrangling between the president and
Congress.
Students may find themselves en-
joying a momentary reprieve, but a
long, hard fight remains. As students
relish the congressional stay of
execution on student loan cuts, they
should look= carefully over their
shoulders. When Reagan's proposals
finally pass through Congress, the
worst for students may be yet to come.
To the Daily:
I found the coverage of the
"Die-in" (Daily, March 4) to suf-
fer from poor reporting. The
"Die-in" was a protest against
the horrible threat of nuclear
war, not a freak show. Rather
than attention-getting photos,
why didn't the paper show the
shocking phenomenon of a mass'
of people lying "dead" on State
Street on a sunny afternoon?
The majority of demonstrators
were not "smeared with red
paint," as the article implied, nor
were the police idiotic, clowns
who ran around directing traffic.
Quality reporting is truthful and
unbiased. Background infor-
mation on the nuclear situation
should have been included in the
article to help explain the
significance of such a protest.
We were there because we're
frightened, because we want the
situation to change. I wish the
Daily had been capable of
relaying that message.
-Nancy Marcozzi
March 8
Salvador and nuclear weapons on
the other hand. As yet there has
been little in the way of united ac-
tion between these groups. In
fact, some of the organizers of the
campaign to save financial aid
have intentionally separated -
their cause from the struggle for
peace.
To artificially separate the cuts
in financial aid from their
broader context hides" the an-
swers to the questions "Where
can the money for student aid
come from?" and "Why is
student aid beingacut in the first
place?" This separation impedes-
recognition that the program
reductions at the University, the
rising role of the defense depar-
tment in academia, the cuts in
student aid,and the threat of war
in El Salvador are different
aspects of the same general
crisis. It prevents the for-
mulation of a concrete strategy
which can propose serious alter-
natives and solutions for the
problems of students. d
Another mtajor ideological
barrier to building a powerful
student voice against Reaganism
is the lack of attention devoted
toward fighting racism. While
financial aid cuts hurt all studen-
ts, it is clear that black and other
minority students will be hurt
more severely. It is not enough
for the student movement to say
'we are fighting for everybody.'
We must fight -extra hard for
those hit hardest and
traditionally excluded.
The time is now to forge a com-
prehensive fight for student's
rights. As a strategy,,I suggest
that the pr9posed April 8 rally
against student aid cuts be
broadened into a rally for
quality education and peace.
Such a broad demonstration of
student awareness would really
send a message to Washington.
- Tim Feeman
March 26
Sinclair
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