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OPINION
Page 4 Tuesday, January 11, 1983 The Michigan Daily
Is Helms a statesman or a Scrooge?
By Dan Aronoff recovery in the near future. Disagree with his traditional Keynesian practice. In some objec-
1 1HOU tIf W A Asupply-side theories as you wish, but you can't tive sense, Jesse Helms and the other suppor-
Anyone who read a newspaper or watched hdeny that the issue Sen. Helms addessed is one ters of his filibuster may be the only
television during vacation undoubtedly was A 5W AT FIRST.. of the foremost facing our country. Keynesians left in the U.S. Senate.
aa thatmany Americans were in such dire In Keynesian terminology, the government4
financial straits that Christmas cheer was Ap HELMS FEELS that raising taxes in the currently is running a full-employment budget
simply a distant memory. cheer wa midst of a severe recession will unfairly burden deficit. This means that at full employment tax
As I pondered this cheerless news, I also y.o taxpayers and create disincentives for private revenues would increase and entitlement ex-
Asci ed th i reprtess nes se EMO sector growth. When asked how this jibes with penditures would decline enough to balance the
Helms, This arch conservative and leading his advocacy of the balanced budget amen- current federal budget. This is a Keynesian
spokesman for the New Right from North dment, the senator points out that levying huge policy par excellence. As Helms put it,
Carolina, was obnoxiously abusing the rules tax hikes-regardless of whatever else the "Deficits are not the cause-but are rather a
and filibustering the Senate. His efforts were government may or may not do-will burden consequence-of bad economic policies.bg
causing inconvenience to his fellow senators, the economy by discouraring effort, savings, HELMS WOULD not be flattered by being
who desperately wanted to go home to their and capital formation. In addition to impairing labeled a Keynesian. Moreover, he supports
families for the holidays. recovery, Helms reasons, the tax increase will large reductions in government spending-ex-
IT HAD ALL the trappings of a Dickens 'iii add to unemployment which will cause the cept, of course, on subsidies for a certain cro
novel-Helmspotae the mean old Scrooge, budget deficit to further increase, they grow down there in North Carolina. But he
while achts p ayed bye vearous cother, also knows that policies, like raising taxes, that
while Cratchet was played by various othernd Helms advocates vigorous tax-cutting and will impair economic growth will only
Christmas day with their very own Tiny Tims. deregulation to spur private sector growth and aggravate our problems. In his opposition to
The poor senators as much as accused Helms defends his position by pointing out that, for the tax increase passed last August, Helms
of being Scrooge; why even Barry Goldwater every percentage change in unemployment, compared the policies being pursued by the
golfing in sunny Arizona, was rudely interrup- the budget deficit changes by nearly $30 billion. Reagan administration and currently endorsed
ted when his presence was urgently needed in Thus, if we cut taxes and spur economic by a majority of the Senate-policies of fiscal
Washington to put an end to Helm's heretical growth, unemployment will decline and the austerity and monetary contraction-to those
filibuster. Our worst suspicions about therNew budget deficit will fall even if revenues fall in of Herbert Hoover in the 1930s.
Right were seemingly realized. This man absolute terms. You might think that Helms is wrong. Still,
Helms was the embodiment of evil. He was out Helms: Warts and all his arguments are not inconsequential. They4
Htoms ruinChs the mbdnt of l.He waHelms usually is painted as a conservative deserve serious consideration, whatever time
I nearly vomited at the media's performan- admitted, During this holiday season, he was Senate and prolonging the session for no ap- ideologue. And no doubt he supports supply- of the year it is. If this inconveniences some
ce. The press is so biased against anything that willing to put the interests of this nation ahead parent reason or - depending on which side policies out of his deep conviction that the, lawmakers, then perhaps they aren't cut out to
deviates from the traditional liberal party line of his own creature comforts. This much can- newspaper you read - to push some crazy free market is the only viable economic system be public servants.
that it was willing to turn this affair into a not be said for most of the other members of the New-Right social agenda. Helms, in fact, was and that pro-free-market policies are Aronoff, an LSA junior, currently ia
right-wing plot to harm other people. In reality, U.S. Senate. opposing a proposed five cent-per-gallon necessary for a sustained economic recovery.
just the opposite was the case. Whether or not The press painted he issue as if Helms was gasoline tax. He believes that such a measure But his opposition to raising taxes in the midst studying at the , London School o
you agree with Jesse Helms, one thing must be gratuitously obstructing the proceedings of the will impair the chances for strong economic of a recession is thoroughly in keeping with Economics.
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Wasserman
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420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
. Vol. XCIII, No. 82
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
No requirement necessary
SE- ROiAN'S NOT I-WOIAP -H e
RFINEDELZ~t D1. 'o"I CBIE
EQUAL RIGHTS A ENDET
xONCE THE province of math whizzes
and science fiction, it is becoming
more and more a part of our everyday
lives. It even supplanted mere mortals
to become Time's Thing of the Year.
The indispensible tool of the '80s? The
computer.
Recognizing this growing importan-
ce, Western Michigan University is
now requiring its students to take one
course in computer literacy before
they graduate. No doubt the officials
at WMU hope to help students keep up
with a rapidly changing world. After
all, knowing how to use a computer will
soon be a prerequisite for virtually
every occupation one can imagine.
But for all these good intentions,
Western's requirement is not one the
University should attempt to copy.
Certainly computer skill and
knowledge is important. But it's not as
important as letting students decide
for themselves what they want to
learn. However good a vocational-
and thinking - aid computer literacy
is, it's no more important than art
history of philosophy or chemistry, all
optional courses that add up to the
-t
well-rounded student.
Western and this university would
be better off encouraging students to
become familiar with computers by
adding courses for those students just
plain scared of the technology. Today
at the University, students with no
background in computers must com-
pete in courses with intimidating-and
curve-destroying - engineering and
computer science majors. By opening
up new courses designed for computer
novices, the University could make
computers a natural, less painful part
of campus life.
Western has acted in haste -
something the University doesn't have
to do. Computer literacy has not yet
become as important as literacy in the
English language. When and if it does,
then University officials can consider
making computer work mandatory.
For now, the University should try
an easier way of making the joys of
computers known to the uninitiated. It
should stick to the most basic of college
requirements: offering better courses.
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Can you train your mind to con-
trol your health? Leading
physicians and scientific resear-
chers around the world say you
can-through biofeedback.
A relaxation technique less
than 20-years-old, biofeedback
enables people to gain control
over some bodily functons
previously thought to be "in-
voluntary" and may help
alleviate many ailments in-
cluding high blood pressure,
migrane headaches, muscle
spasms, back and neck pain,
asthma, general tension,
cerebral palsy, epilepsy, some
heart problems, rheumatoid
osteoarthritis, drug and alcohol
withdrawal, and some
psychosomatic illnesses.
BIOFEEDBACK IS basically
the conscious monitoring of in-
ternal body states. By watching
and/or listening to sensitive
recording machines-or
amazingly simple home
devices-you can learn to control
many internal body processes.
With a little instruction and daily
practice, almost anyone can
learn to regulate pulse rate, body
temperature, muscle tension, or
other internal processes.
Prof. David Danskin, a
psychologist who heads the Ap-
plied Biofeedback Laboratory at
Biofeedback:
Health through
willpo wer
By John Alle
Program at the Meninger Foun-
dation in Topeka, Kan. Green has
taught migrane sufferers to
eliminate their headaches and to
prevent new ones by altering
their skin temperatures, one
measure of relative physical ten-
sion.
ULTIMATELY, THE goal may
be to rely solely on one of the
inexpensive do-it-yourself home
biofeedback devices now
available, but people experienced
with biofeedback advise the novice
to begin with a few sessions
guided by a trained professional.
Suppose you've been diagnosed
as having migranes. If your
physician tells you you're too ten-
se and need to relax more,
fluid, to your forehead. The elec-
trodes are connected to an elec-
tromyograph (EMG) machine,
which monitors muscle tension.
FIRST, YOU can expect to
hear a high-pitched tone that in-
dicates that the muscles in your
forehead are tense. Then the
trainer probably will begin
describing a series of pleasant
images to help you relax. As you
relax, the tension should begin to
flow out of the muscles in your
forehead and the pitch of the tone
should drop to a low hum. When
it's over, you may notice that
your headache has improved or
disappeared.
After several training sessions
where you turn those high-
to help them regain muscle fun-
ction. To move a partiall
paralyzed arm or leg, there has
to be sensory input to the brain as
well as motor input. Biofeedback
instruments can make sensory
substitutions for stroke and
paralysis victims.
Dr. John Basmajian, professor
of medicine and director of
rehabilitation services at Emory
University in Atlanta, has used
biofeedback with more than 500
rehabilitation patients. "W4
never succeed in restoring full
function," he said, "but we can
restore some useful function."
Does biofeedback work for
everyone? Probably not. Success
in biofeedback depends mostly on
the type of ailment and on the
degree of concentration the per-
son invests in the training. Doc-
tors explain that biofeedback
may not work if a person has
serious psychological problem
or if severe pain prevents
adequate concentration. Per-
sonal motivation also plays a key
role. Some patients are so used to
thinking there must be drugs or
other cures for them that they
can't believe they can control
their disorders themselves.
As with any new and unconven-
tional therapy, however, some
doctors have expressed fears that
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