A OPINION Page 4 Thursday, November11, 1982 The Michigan Daily Breaking ground for blacks in business I After breaking ground for blacks in the world of tennis, Arthur Ashe now is attempting to do the same in the world of corporate America. Ashe currently works as a minority recruiting consultant for the Aetna insurance corporation. Daily staff writers Julie Hinds and Sharon Silbar spoke to Ashe last month during a recruiting trip about the problems- and the oppor- tunities-black college students en- counter. culture shock was more than they could handle. And not only could they not handle it, there was no.one for them to talk to about it. You also have at a school this size a built-in tendency to keep things exactly the way they are. It doesn't take a far leap of the imagination to find a student wondering why this University doesn't respond to him, saying, "This place is the pits. Let me out of here." But Michigan isn't alone in that. Daily: At the colleges you've visited-particularly the smaller black colleges-are students afraid they won't complete their education because of Reagan's cutbacks in federal aid? Do you think that could have a devastating effect on getting blacks into the cor- porate ranks? Ashe: At a crucial time when you're full of hope and expectation, to have your hope dashed by something beyond your control is very frustrating. I've just been to some black schools- Morehouse and Spellman-and the ef- fect there is quite noticeable. There's been a tremendous decrease in the enrollment; students couldn't find the money, so they couldn't go back to school. What's made it even worse is that a lot of black students plan on graduating in five years. You'd be amazed at how many, know they cannot graduate in four years-not because they're not academically qualified, but because they don't have the money. Their nor- mal plan is to take off a year to earn money. Now that the scholarship monies have been cut off, now they can't even find a job. Daily: How effective do you think Jesse Jackson has been in placing pressure on major corporations to hire blacks? Ashe: Psychologically he's been even more effective than he has in actuality. In the past, civil rights movement boycotts have been very local. What Jesse's stressing now is that the political awareness of middle-class blacks is such that if he tells them "don't buy x," they won't buy it. It's worked. I don't think it's an accident that consumer product companies have been reaching agreements with Jesse. Daily: You've made the transition from a successful sports figure to a successful corporate figure. But em- phasis on college sports may take away from a student's chance to get an adequate education. Do you think that's a problem? Ashe: I always say that more em- phasis should be placed on education. After all, that's the reason you're in college. But the plain and simple fact is that athletics are a normal part of college life. I think all accept that- black and white. What is bad, though, is that a disproportionately high percentage of varsity athletes are black, and they are only in college to play a sport very well. If they weren't athletes, not only would they not be in a particular college, they wouldn't be in a college at all. But it's not only the fault of the universities, it's the fault of the black community as well. We place so much cultural emphasis on sports-we just exalt those people. We print their salaries, their cars, their homes in our magazines. I think it's only natural for a black kid to want to be another Butch Woolfolk. There's still discrimination in sports, probably more off the field than on. The NBA has often been called too black; and that was cited last year as a reason for declining attendance. When the NBA is 80 percent black and attendance drops, people start charging that white middle-class people don't want to see two black teams play. There's still a lot of arm-twisting In other sports for positions-especially in football for quarterback. How.many black college students have had hopes of being a quarterback and have been put in a dif- ferent position when they turned pro? Daily: What about discrimination in corporate America? Ashe: Oh, it's there. When you first enter, there's a good chance your first boss will not know how to criticize a young black graduate. If it's done the wrong way, that superior may be ac- cused of being racist. The further on up you go, you have to learn to play the corporate game. There's also a disadvantage as you rise in ranks because more and more business is done outside the ,business setting-at country clubs that serve the rich and the powerful. Black people don't belong to those clubs. That's a huge disadvantage. Even the inability to play golf can wind up being a disad- vantage for a young black in the business world. It's difficult sometimes when no one in your family has done it before. So many times you're the only black around. Dialogue- is a weekly feature of the Opinion Page. Daily: Are blacks preparing. adequately in college to advance to the corporate level? Ashe: Yes, but students are looked after fairly well at Michigan. You have enough money to hire people to look af- ter you during your college days more than just a bull session with your professor. But in some of the smaller schools-black as well as white- unless that school is very, very well en- dowed, it can't afford the counseling. Daily: r A college guide for black students recently rated the University as "the pits." What sort of feeling do you get from black students on cam- pus? Ashe: Up until recently, the specific needs of certain groups. like black students were just not being met. The Daily Phoooby BIANi MASC. Ashe: "We place so much cultural emphasis on sports-we just exalt those people ... I think it's only natural for a black kid to want to be another Butch Woolfolk." But if you invest all your sense of self- esteem into athletic prowess, you've got real problems. Daily: Were you surprised at the amount of discrimination you ran into as a tennis player? Ashe: I didn't run into any as a professional player. As a kid I ran into a lot, but I was not surprised. I was born in Richmond, Virginia, which was the capital of the confederacy. I lived in a discriminatory environment for all my formative years. I went to all-black schools by law. Everything I did was in a black setting. For a while you think it's normal, until you see the other side. Daily: Does a great ,deal of discrimination exist in other sports where blacks have yet to establish themselves? Ashe: You don't see many black hockey players, but that's not due to discrimination. That's a cultural em- « phasis. You don't see many hockey players from Alabama, either-black or white. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Wasserman TME To PRACTCE, SIR- ,,, COM... PRO*** \7 PRO... Vol. XCIII, No. 55 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 MISE r 7 / I MISE Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board l A Dashing hopes J ' r / j 0 / ._ L AST WEEK, when Dean Hinton, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, told a group of Salvadoran businessmen that the United States would no longer tolerate the wholesale corruption of the country's courts, many thought a long-hoped-for change in American policy was beginning to materialize. Many thought that the United States, after 17 months of relative silence on the atrocities in Central America, was finally going to start taking constructive action. Those hopes were dashed early this week. On Tuesday, word from the White House came. Dean Hinton is not to ut- ter another word criticizing the Salvadoran government's human rights violations. Such criticism, a White House official said curtly, is "counterproductive." Silence is now the order of the day. In context, the administration's rebuke of Hinton is almost incom- prehensible. From the time he took his position in San Salvador, Hinton has been an active supporter of the Salvadoran junta and been par- ticularly virulent in his criticism of the opponents of the current regime. Hin- ton has carefully distanced himself from the "crazy liberals" in the United States who have called for reform measures in El Salvador. It was Hinton who seemed to be on the far right on El Salvador. But for the Reagan administration, even Hinton's position apparently wasn't conservative enough. Criticism of Salvadoran oppression - even from one of the regime's friends-is "coun- terproductive." Sadly, it is the administration's response to the Salvadoran crisis that is counterproductive. Out of a fear that legitimate, well-founded criticism may somehow damage U.S. interests in El Salvador, the Reagan administration is going to tolerate in silence the human rights violations which are themselves a great threat to the Salvadoran government. The Reagan administration justifies its position on human rights in El Salvador by suggesting that the only alternative to rightist military rule is a communist government. But the population of El Salvador wants neither a government of the fanatical right nor a government of the fanatical left. They want a Cuban-style workers' state about as much as they want their current masters. The support forthe guerrillas doesn't come from any grassroots conversion to Marxism; it comes from a profound dissatisfacton with the current regime. Like most people, the Salvadorans only want a fair stake in the world and the freedom to enjoy it. Under the current regime, they have neither. The latest administration position on El Salvador is another ste pback from a peaceful solution to the region's problems. It will further weaken the stability of the region, undermine what few reforms have been made, and breathe new life into Salvadoran ex- tremists of all colors. r/ *4 11(6~w &0OD- NOW ITRY IT PLL ,,, TO@GE'({. STAY THE COURSE! AV / c v :_ ItillAg -- KV tU) . 4 fuj;, A l /,. // A N LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Comment on the GEO contract vote 14 To the Daily: I would like to comment on your report of last Thursday's GEO meeting ("GEO decides to head back to bargaining table with administration," Daily, Nov. 5). As you write, Jon Bekken tried to'cast doubt on the validity of the ratification vote. None of his insinuations, however, had any factual basis. Bekken and others have in the past accused the election com- mittee of being partisan "pro- contract". Suppose we did doctor up the vote counts-pretty clever of us to do it in a way that the out- come wouldn't reflect our sup- posed preference, isn't it? Bekken does have an ax to grind in this affair. The so-called "Membership for a fair con- tract." of which he is a leading proven accusations. Anyone who wishes to reinspect the ballots may do so and the election com- mittee will gladly be of assistan- ce if so requested. Contrary to the statement in the Daily article, the GEO con- stitution does not require 50 per- cent of the membership to vote in order to have a valid election; in fact, there is no minimum required percentage. However, 50 percent of the total member- ship would have to vote for ratification to have a contract ratified. I understand the writers of the constitution had in mind that a contract which could not draw support of at least half the membership could certainly be improved upon. -Cay Horstman member of election committee for GEO ratification voting November 7 Rickover skims surface on ethics To the Daily: I have just returned from the inaugural Warner-Lambert lec- ture series with retired Admiral Hyman Rickover. I am per- plexed. I felt the admiral gave a mind-probing lecture on technology and the humanities-explaining the dif- ference between pure science and ,.J ,t ___- taining to the lecture concerned whether or not the engineering college should deal with the topic of professionalism and ethics. The admiral wittily remarked, "You should learn those (ethics) on Sunday in church." I was very disappointed by this response. As a recent engineering graduate, I am problem, but failed to suggest a solution. When asked his opinion of an ethics clause for engineers, the wise admiral gave a quick,. barbed, and foolish respon- se-totally negating the wise comments of his lecture. I had hoped the admiral had thought more on the subject. I am unaware, but curious about whether maiking engineerina 2n ... ...:4 ... ?h44.v. ....."v" h::.v...{.. :. ... . ........ v...,.... .... . ::.. :.:: ..\v.,v: '.:v."v.. N ,:i v."..h.:........V........................:.............. ................................