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OPINION
Page 4
Thursday, September 15, 1983
The Michigan Daily
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Do we think we can resolve our dilemmas?
By David Spak
On the eve of Yom Kippur, 1982, the
world was reacting in shock and anger
to -the murder of hundreds of
Palestinians at Sabra and Shatilla.
0 This year on the eve of Yom Kippur -
the holiest of days for Jews - the world
is reacting the same way to the murder
of 'the 269 people aboard Korean
Airlines flight 007.
1 So it seems we react to tragedies of
this' nature in the same way, time after
time. Then the fresh memory fades un-
til some other great tragedy sends us
reeling anew. The great moral cry - a
necessary cry - for "justice" goes un-
fulfilled time after time.
Yes, once in a while an inquiry panel
is set up and an official is reprimanded.
Or maybe a terrorist is caught and sen-
tenced to life in prison - or until
another terrorist blows up a few people
to demand his friend's release. But the
kifling goes on unchecked.
That may be the frustration of the
rear victims of these crimes - you and
me. We are victims of Sabra and
Shatilla, of the violence in Northern
Ireland, of the wars in Central
.America. The list seems endless. We
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That's a pretty bleak portrait of the
world on the eve of the day of
atonement, Yom Kippur. It doesn't
leave us with many options, and the op-
tions I believe in may 'not be very
promising: They are faith, hope, and
trust.
Faith, hope, and trust in both our-
selves and our neighbors may not solve
the problems of the world, but would go
a long way toward easing the tension
between individuals and perhaps bet-
ween nations.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying
we should all get together and give our-
selves a collective hug, but we do seem
to have lost the belief that we can work
out our problems peacefully. It seems
that no one is willing to take the risks
necessary to resolve dilemmas because
such an effort involves a certain
amount of faith, hope, and trust.
This failing is not the fault of liberals
or conservatives, of the conflict bet-
ween the superpowers, or of the
pluralistic world community that has
sprouted up since the end of World War
II. The failing may well be the lingering
result of that frustration of having
beaten Hitler and still having to face
the results of his atrocities.
That conflict became evident to me
over the summer while I was travelling
in Europe. I was in the middle of im-
mersing myself in all the greatest
splendors and tributes of modern man
- St. Peters, the Sistine Chapel, the
Forum, the Academia - when I
decided to visit the Jewish synagogue in
Florence. Inside the courtyard, well-
groomed flowers, plants, and trees
surrounded the gravel pathways
leading to the synagogue. For most
people, the synagogue is the dominant
structure on this plot of land. But, for
me, a large white marker of marble
with five columns of names etched into
it captured the scene.
I knew immediately that these were
the names of the Florentine Jews killed
in the Holocaust. I read every one of the
248 names, not only to remember
something that happened long before I
was born, or to remember the victims
of terrorism since, but to keep an eye
toward the future, that it may hold less
frustration and more faith.
Up until now, world history has been
a history of ceaseless conflict. We
haven't learned that the lesson of
history is to end conflict as best as we
can. We haven't learned to trust our-
selves with peace.
Spak is a Daily Opinion Page co-
editor.
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are the victims because we must
respond to these crimes and the search
to find a meaningful response short of
more violence becomes exasperating.
This helplessness has been building
since the end of World War II, when the
Allies ended Hitler's systematic an-
nihilation of millions of Jews and non-
Jews. We had just defeated an enemy in
a war that was "worth fighting" and
yet individuals the world over con-
tinued to feel the frustration that the
Holocaust had happened at all.
Today it's difficult to distinguish bet-
ween enemies and friends. Right-wing
dictators, left-wing dictators, and
moderates alike contribute to the
bloodbath.
}* ;}... .
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Wasserman
Vol. XCIV - No. 7
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, M{ 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Doily's Editorial Board
The unkindest cut of all
DRAON/ YOUD/
BETTEQ SLAYV\T.
----
AFTR yoU "o
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SINCE THE BUDGET cutting process
at the University started last year,
administrators have gotten better at it
- at least from their point of view.
As the School of Education budget
cut demonstrates, much of the process'
flexibility and compromise has been
sacrificed in order to push decisions
through faster and more smoothly.
As part of the University's efforts to
cut back expenses, three schools .have
now undergone long reviews and
received large cuts. The School of
Natural Resources was first, and was
cut 25 percent, the School of Art was
second and lost 18 percent of its
budget. Now the School of Education,
the last of three major schools to face
review, is being cut 40 percent.
With each decision, however, the
process has become less flexible. .
Before a final decision was made on
the natural resources reductions, ad-
ministrators gave the school several
months to analyze how it would handle
several levels of cuts. With this infor-
mation, administrators had a very
good idea of exactly what they would
be eliminating before they made cuts.
The art school was next in line. But it
was never asked how it would handle
several levels of cuts. According to the
school's dean, it had little opportunity
to analyze proposals before a final
decision was handed down.
Instead, central administrators did
most of the analysis themselves. And,
without detailed help from the dean or
the faculty, they decided the art school
would be cut by 18 percent.
Now it is the education school's turn,
and once again a final decision was
made without any detailed knowledge
about how the school would handle the
cuts. And this time the decision was
released only two days before going to
the regents, not nearly enough time for
any faculty response before the regen-
ts consider it. The tining seems to tell
the faculty that their response to the
final decision does not matter.
With the natural resources school,
the process appeared to be an effort to
balance budget cutting with great con-
cern for the viability of the school
being cut. Now, the process seems to
have leaned more toward a race for
money with anyone being overly
worried about who gets trampled.
At a University with more budget
cuts to be made, it may be the start of a
disturbing trend.
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...BUT,' MY DEAR, WE MAKE THE LAWS,
WE DON'T HAVE TO OBEY THEM,
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To the Daily:
As an academic secretary ac-
tively involved in anti-union
campaigning I was glad to see
that AFSCME dropped their
complaint against the University.
I am also glad that it doesn't look
as if the clericals are going to be
unionized, at least not this time
around. This does not mean,
however, that I am delighted with
all the University policies.
I would like to broach one
policy that I in particular find
lacking. This is Standard Prac-
tice Guide 201.69, Tuition Refund.
Even -though I consider the
University big business, I realize
the University can't possibly
match most large company's 75%
across the board tuition refund
programs. I also realize there are
more 'professional students" in
an area such as Ann Arbor and
they have to be careful or they
may end up subsidizing a large
community of such. What I do
think, though, is that as a state
institution of academic education
with one of, if not the highest
tuition rates in the country, they
could do better than they are
doing now.
any twelve month period), must
be approved by and paid for by
the department in which you
work. Some departments have
recently had severe budget cuts.
Does this mean their employees
will suffer in their endeavors to
advance their education?
Consider that to be eligible for
time to attend classes and/or a
tuition refund the class you take
must be "job related." In SPG
201.69 there are five definitions of
this term. These are understan-
dably general to allow super-
visors to deal with the myriad of
situations that will arise. But if
your supervisor interprets this
term strictly, this limits a
clerical to classes that will only
keeprhe/she in a generally low
paying, nonprofessional career
as opposed to trying to develop a
professional career intsomething
more fulfilling to them, say
perhaps science.
As a clerical at an academic in-
stitution I see people all around
me furthering their education,
reaching for new opportunities,
BLOOM COUNTY
increasing their knowledge. I
work for an institution that helps
provide thousands of people these
opportunities to improve them-
selves. Working for such an in-
stitution can be interesting and
gratifying. It can also be
frustrating.
As a clerical employee here I
am probably paid less than if I
worked for industry, I pay for
parking, I pay to use University
facilities such as the gym. When
the University is faced with
budget cuts and faculty accepting
higher paying' positions
elsewhere I am asked to do with a
smaller yearly increase. Is it
really too much to ask that the
University reevaluate some of
the different ways they can do
- something for their employees?
Although I would hate to see a
union have to negotiate for the
clericals it seems inevitable that
this will happen unless the
University takes it upon itself to
do some of the small things
within its grasp to make this a
better place to work. It seems
ironic:that an institution whose
business is education, can't do
more in this regard for its em-
ployees.
-Marie Schatz
September $4
4
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Unsigned editorials appearing on the left
side of this page represent a majority opinion
of the Daily's Editorial Board.
by Berke Breathed
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