4 OPINION - ./ Page 4 Sunday, March 13, 1983 The Michigan Daily Biggest ax yet iimed at School NIVERSITY administrators were not able to keep one of the campus' biggest secrets under wraps for long. Against the wishes of a key University budget committee, the education school dean showed her faculty the results of the school's 10 month review this week. The report is infor- mation University officials had wanted to keep confidential for several more weeks. Once the faculty found out, however, the news of a proposed elimination of un- dergraduates, a 40 percent budget cut, and a huge faculty reduction leaked to the Daily and all over campus. Not surprisingly, education professors and administrators said they were confused, as well as angry about the panel's conclusions. University administration officials and the members of the top budget committee are still silent on the issue. The school claims the report suffers from a sort of schizophrenia. The first part extolls the school's virtues, while the second part cruelly cuts the school without saying why, they said. As one professor put it, the school feels the plan presented in the report takes away any chance for the school to attain the goals the panel itself sets. Although all the proposals have caused con- cern in the school, many people involved say the hidden issue is how the University would get rid of 30 professors. Most people see layoffs of tenured professors looming in the future, something the University has never done before - something that has resulted in lengthy legal battles when other universities have tried it. Reagan knows best R EMEMBER WHEN you used to get really pissed-off at your mother when she made you eat your brussel sprouts before you could have dessert? Didn't you wish you could have challenged the cruel rule in court? Six University of Minnesota students did just that with a federal law operating on the same principle, and they won. The law denied federal financial aid to students who do not register for the draft. Even though the government promised good behavior would have been rewarded with money for college along with an option for foreign travel to such exciting places as El Salvador and Lebanon, Judge Donald Alsop didn't buy it. The judge said the law is "likely to violate a student's constitutional rights." Under the law, a male student is required to prove he registered before he was eligible to receive student aid. The law thus requires self- incrimination, Alsop said, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. But not only that, unlike mother's rule which is generally applied to all, rich and poor (since all moms want big and strong kids), the federal rule unfairly discriminates against poor males, since they are the one who are more likely to need the aid (to become wise and worthy). If Alsop's ruling is upheld, the law will un- doubtedly be reconsidered by Congress who will again (like mom) try to withhold some reward to force boys to be "good." Out of cash JAMES BLANCHARD is finding that run- ning the state can be expensive venture. Now, with his coffers empty and his cupboards bare, the governor has told the University that its monthly ration of state aid will be late. 1v " ,,""-- ' -_ - C .. 4 ,9 I -I - I '+' / 9 -J----, of Ed. the coming days. The leftist insurgents con- tinue to make wild random attacks at op- position strongholds. Meanwhile, the ad- ministration-backed ruling junta will not bend, with spurious claims of human rights im- provements to appease a discontented populace. Is this El Salvador? Well, maybe. But it's 4 also Ann Arbor, and the battle is over military research. The student and faculty Research Policies Committee last week concluded its six-month discussion of the military research question and arrived at two decisions: " Wording in the University's policy statement should say that professors may not do "research the primary purpose of which is to destroy or incapacitate human beings," in- stead of the present more general, policy of "the clearly forseeable and probable 4 result ... the direct application ... or any specific purpose of which, is to destroy human life ... '; " No central oversight committee ahould be created to identify unacceptable research projects, but each school, college, and in- stitute should develop its own method for assuring the propriety of research. Critics of military work find both proposals unacceptable. They say the first weakens University policy and the second is a hollow gesture that will do nothing to halt im- proprieties. This Wednesday, the committee will sponsor an open forum on the question, to be followed next Monday by the faculty Senate Assembly's consideration. Thus far, the critics have come up with insuf- ficient firepower to convince many ' faculty members that research being done on cam- pus for the Pentagon is a threat to human life. So a plan any stronger than the present proposal is unlikely to pass-especially if it ever gets to the University's Regents. The Week in Review was compiled by Daily staff writers Barbara Misle, Kent Redding, Bill Spindle, and Barry Witt. - VIII State universities: High and dry. In spite of appearances, word is that Blan- chard's third month of payment deferrals in as many months in office, is not a subtle hint that the University should become a private in- stitution. What has had University officials really worried is that the "temporary" deferrals would become all too costly and too permanent. Indeed, one of their fears has become realized. President Shapiro laments that the University will have to borrow more than $45 million, ad- ding hundreds of thousands of dollars in in- terest costs to its already strained budget. Thus Blanchard's pre-election promise of "quick action" on the state's chronic budgetry problems has not yet materialized. His 38 per- cent income tax hike plan, which was supposed to spare the University huge cuts, is being stalled by the incessant quarreling among Republicans and Democrats in the state Senate. Without a tax hike, the state's budget deficit will remain at around the $1 billion mark and University officials will continue to have anxiety attacks around the first of the month. While the legislators bicker, the University borrows and the state goes broke. War on the home front THE LONG AND bloody battle has raged for almost two years now. Both sides are entrenched, preparing for final offensives in ie I tch aun C at Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Stewart a Vol. XCIII, No. 127 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Stay home T HE NAZIS are coming. The Nazis are coming. To arms, to arms? No, not again. The call to confront the S.S. Action Group - a small organization of Neo-Nazis - at their planned March 20 rally has gone up again, and this time it should be ignored completely. Last year the same Neo-Nazis mar- ched at the Federal Building and were able to provoke a mini-riot with the several thousand counter-protestors, causing some minor injuries and property damage. But more importan- tly, last year's ugly incident gave the Nazis exactly what they wanted - publicity, and lots of it. And it wasn't just local media coverage, it was state and national attention focusing on a dozen or so weirdos getting mobbed by several thousand other weirdos. All sorts of righteous left-wing groups claimed "victory" for driving the Nazis away, but the only group that won was the Nazis. They got the atten- tion they both need and crave and they left an ugly mark on the city and everyone involved in the incident. Their wish to return only demonstrates the hollowness of the protestors' claim of victory. Let the Nazis come back to Ann Ar- bor and exercise their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly - but let them exercise those rights alone. Such inaction would be the ultimate insult, deterring national news coverage and probably the group's return. Ignoring the Nazis by letting them speak to empty streets does not mean the people of Ann Arbor would be ignoring the hatred and murder they represent. It only means the people of Ann Arbor will not sacrifice their prin- ciples and stoop to the same type of violent hatred that motivates this han- dful of twisted minds. The best way to show that our society has advanced past the ideals that drove Adolf Hitler is not to confront the few who have not progressed with the overwhelming majority. The groups that confront the Nazis March 20 will only be signalling a retreat from those advances. I U iv(Fo J MCA-4t'w.y53 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Problems on RHA boycott vote ss;<.r rj j. ' GRRORGE INS GRRBRGF t To the Daily'; The incredible show of ignorance and apathy that plagued the last Residential Hall Association meeting in their con- sideration of the Campbell's boycott issue was both frightening and appalling. The meeting was reminiscent of my high school days on student coun- cil. The lack of concern and un- derstanding prior to the vote on whether or not residential halls should partake in the boycott was very sad indeed. The lack of or- der and logic used in coming to their decision not to support the boycott was beyond belief. Campbell's has been criticised in recent years for questionable labor practices and in response there has been an attempt to form a farm workers union. In hopes of prodding Campbell's in- to recognizing and negotiating with a union, a boycott of their products was organized. RHA was commissioned to make an advisory decision on whether or not to participate. After hearing a group of students who support the boycott speak, and then a paid professional from Campbell's some weeks later, the represen- tatives themselves decided that they were not well-enough infor- med to make a responsible decision. However, in the same breath they denied . a knowledgeable professor the right to speak to them. In a mysterious mix-up Professor John Vandermeer was struck from the agenda and asked to leave. He has written a book on the subject and was RHA's sole chance of becoming educated on the issue prior to the vote. Their seemingly lackadaisical attitude and bur- ning desire to hurry on to "more important" matters - such as jello-snarfs and pie throwing con- tests - prevented this. Trip jay. To the Daily: The Association Against Social Rule Breaking (AASRB) is an- nouncing its annual membership raising drive for Washtenaw County. Last year AASRB's members were successful in sub- stantially reducing the number of people who take cuts in line on a nann ..Ain.mava Though this was largely an ad- visory decision, the irresponsible treatment of this important human rights issue was hard to stomach. I wish they would have given it as much consideration as they did to their deliberations on the banquet they are going to throw themselves. If these sup- posed student leaders are a fair representation of the lack of political awareness and concern at this university, human rights is a hopeless cause. - Ludovico Provenzano March 10 -walkers bal harassment, vigorous finger- pointing, and other severe forms of chastisement. Other forms of deviant behaviour targeted by AASRB are double parking, taking too long with the bank teller, wearing mirrored sun- glasses, and driving into the exit ramn and nut ,of the n..d...nn __ Krell's chutzpah To the Daily: the Daily would be much better reading if they did. I m~4-.:a- % mlf - -%'W~'lll l