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OPINION


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Page 4Tuesday, September 13, 1983 The Michigan Daily


Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Sinclair

U.S.

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CONJTINUE Toh'RECE vE U.S.

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Vol. XCIV=- No. 5

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109


To I QNo(E
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Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board

Students strike Gold

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-_____
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A T A UNIVERSITY where close
contact between professors
and students is not exactly a top selling
point and at a time when acting on
oine's convictions is not widespread,
one professor is bucking both trends..
: Psychology Prof. Martin Gold spent
his summer rounding up financial aid
sources for students who refused to
sign forms disclosing whether they
hpve registered for the draft.
A new law which went into effect this
fall has revoked all federal financial
aid from students who refuse to sign
the form. Here,students not complying
are not only stuck without any federal
aid, but also without any replacement
aid, because the University has been
unwilling to set up a fund for students
who don't sign the forms.
Gold, however, went outside the
University to look for private 'sources
of aid. His actions are commendable
for two reasons.
First, Gold is helping students in a
very real waysone which goes beyond
the classroom. Although there are
currently only three students at the
University ,hohave been denied aid
by the law, those three students could
be having a hard time staying in
school.
The Soviet
T HE DOWNING OF Korean Airlines
flight 007 was not an aberration in
Soviet policy, nor does it signal a.
change in policy. Instead, the incident
is yet another manifestation of the
colossal nation's paranoia.
The Soviet paranoia is so great the
world including the Soviet people -
will never know the answers to the
many unanswered questions surroun-,
ding the tragedy. That's because the
Soviet propoganda machine has
already cranked out enough lies about
the episode that if the truth behind the
attack were told few would believe it.
The Soviets so fear being vulnerable
that they need to keep not only their
own people enslaved, but the people in
the countries surrounding them. They
are willing to march into
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and
Afghanistan, so why not shoot down a
plane ( any plane) that enters their
airspace?
Because the tragedy was not an un-
natural action, responding with
anything more than a wave of words is
next to impossible without triggering
World War II, as President Reagan is

Federal aid makes up a great portion
of the cash available to students, and
finding other sources could take time,
and connections most students do not
have.
Gold had the necessary connections,
made the time, and may have done
several students a big favor.
But even beyond the practical help
for these students, in a small way Gold
spoke out against a law he does not
like.
Too often at the University faculty
and students, caught in the routine of
teaching, learning, research, and
studying, somehow learn to live with
laws, policies, and actions they don't
like instead of trying to change them.
Gold had problems with the law, as
many students and professors at the
University do. But he decided to do
something, to take action and help
those the law affects.
Gold obviously is not the only
professor putting in overtime hours to
help students, there are surely many
others. But he and others like himado
seem to pleasantly go against the grain
of a, University known for teaching
assistants and large classes.
For this, he and the others who may
be less visible should be commended.
boogie -man
finding out. Jimmy Carter found that
out four years ago after the invasion of
Afghanistan.
So how does a president react? Cart-
er's response of economic sanctions
and boycotting the 1980 Olympics
backfired miserably. Harsher
measures like trying to further isolate
the Soviets economically and
politically would feed the paranoia.
However, reacting with only words
means that they can continue these ac-
tions unchallenged. A Catch-22 if there
ever was one.
So far, though, Reagan has reacted
fairly well. The minor steps - the ban
on Aeroflot, the Soviet civilian airline,
and cancelling cultural exchanges"-
are not the best answer, but they are
better than only propaganda. Reagan
best move has been to let the Soviet
leaders lose world favor in their own
web of lies and delays.
Perhaps showing the world this side
of the Soviet government's policies by
using their own words and actions is
the best response. Perhaps not. That is
the difficulty in dealing with paranoia
as policy.

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Left, right, center, gear. up

4

to challenge two-party system

By James Ridgeway
WASHINGTON - Third parties and in-
dependent candidates have long been subjec- i
ts of derision in the United States, which
remains the last bastion of two-party politics
in the Western world.
But this year the joke could turn sour on
mainstream politicians.
The persistent decline of the old
Democratic coalition coupled with the rise of
aggressive conservatism have drawn in-
creasing attention to political efforts laun-
ched outside of the major parties.
TWO OF the most prominent political
newcomers, the Libertarian Party and the
Citizens Party, held conventions last week in
New York and San Francisco respectively to
plan their 1984 strategies.
Meanwhile, John Anderson, whose in-
dependent run for the presidency in 1980 drew
7 percent of the national vote, is proceeding
with the organization of another, as yet un-
named, political party. A provisional
steering committee - the names of its mem-
bers kept secret - has been formed and is
drafting a set of principles. An Anderson
spokeswoman says the idea is to qualify the
new party for the ballot in 10'states, which
would be sufficient to earn it $6 million in
federal election funds.
The Libertarians first ran a presidential
candidate in 1972. And while the name of John
Hospers., a University of Southern California
philosophy professor, excited little interest
and attracted only 5,000 votes, his candidacy
brought notoriety to the party when a mem-
ber of the electoral college from Virginia cast
a vote that year for the Libertarians.
In 1976, Ed Clark, a Los Angeles oil com-
pany lawyer, ran for governor of California as
a Libertarian, winning 5.5 percent of the vote.
In 1980, he ran for president and drew 1 per-
cent of the total U.S. vote. By then the party
was on the ballot in all 50 states and was run-
BLOOM COUNTY

ning 500 candidates nationwide.
THE LIBERTARIANS have considerable
support in the Rocky Mountain states and on
the West Coast. Their party's activities so far
have been financed largely by Charles Koch,
head of a family-owned conglomerate with in-
terests in oil, chemicals, cattle, and real
estate. In 1980 Koch's brother, David, was
the Libertarian vice-presidential candidate.
Put simply, the Libertarians champion in-
dividual liberties, tracing their lineage to the
abolitionists and anarchists. The party
argues for a non-interventionist foreign
policy, including U.S. withdrawal from NATO
and Central America. It opposes the income
tax and supports every citizen's right to bear
arms - and to smoke marijuana or take
heroin. It opposes government social welfare
legislation and compulsory public education.
Libertarians usually are white, fairly
young, middle-class professionals. They are
fierce proponents of free trade and unbridled
economic competition.
While the.party itself often is fractious in
the extreme, Libertarian ideas are in-
creasingly well-received and played a major
role in winning Ronald Reagan a wide
audience during the 1980 campaign. His em-
brace of free trade and a volunteer army, his
attacks on government spending and
regulation, his campaign for reduced taxation
are all positions which have been closely iden-
tified with the Libertarian movement.
THE CITIZENS Party, by contrast, was
formed in 1980 by a group of philanthropists
long active in social welfare projects. They
believed that the grass-roots organizations
they were financing had sufficient followings
to fuel a new political party. Barry Com-
moner, the environmentalist, was persuaded
to run for president, and while he received a
miniscule vote (one quarter of 1 percent) the
party still is functioning three years later. It
now has 35 chapters and has won a smattering
of local races, most notably in Burlington,
Vt., where several persons on the city council

are members of the Citizens Party.
At their convention in San Francisco, party
members will have decided whether to run a,
presidential candidate again or to opt only
for congressional and local races. Some are
calling for a compromise plan, in the form of
what Commoner calls "the Vermont
strategy"-,running a presidential candidate
in that state alone in the hope that the results
will set an encouraging example for the,,-
future.
Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and
feminist leader Sonja Johnson often are men-
tioned as possible running mates on a Ver-
mant strategy ticket. Former U.S. Rep.
Shirley Chisholm reportedly was approached
but turned down the invitation.
Like the Libertarians, the Citizens Party.
would aim at reducing armaments and pur-.z
suing a withdrawal of U.S. forces abroad. But
there the similarity stops. The Citizens Par-
ty backs public ownership and government-
sponsored development of renewable energy
resources and in general endorses strong
planning.
Debate over the impact of such parties has
intensified amidst growing Democratic con-,
cern about a possible run at the presidency by
Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jackson wants to run within the
Democratic Party, with a view toward
rebuilding the old New Deal coalition around
defense of the poor, peace, jobs, and equakty-
the slogans promoted by the March on
Washington Aug. 27. If party leaders strongly
resist his pressure, Jackson will have little
choice but to go outside and run as an in-
dependent black presidential candidate.
That development could prove fatal to the
Democrats' prospects for retaking the White
House in the November election.
Ridgeway wrote this article for the
Pacific News Service. He is currently its
Washington editor.
by Berke Breathed

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