4 OPINION Page 4 Saturday, September 17, 1983 The Michigan Daily' Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. XCIV - No. 9 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Pay ,raise: Poor judgem--ent T HE UNIVERSITY'S regents dis-. played extreme insensitivity and poor judgement in giving President Harold Shapiro a $10,000 raise yester- day. The amount of Shapiro's pay hike is excessive, and further, the way the regents passed it is highly questionable. The regents passed the 11 percent raise for Shapiro at their monthly meeting yesterday. The action rein- states him as th University's highest paid executive officer, with a salary of $96,000 annually. The regents gave two reasons for raising Shapiro's salary: First, he has declined large raises in the past because of the University's financial problems. And second because he has been an outstanding leader during such troublesome times. Over the last several years, Shapiro has received smaller pay raises than his fellow executive officers. Since 1980, his yearly raises have been at about the same level as the average professor. And for the good of the University, that is just where they should have stayed. Instead, Shapiro's salary is up 11 percent this year, while the average professor's pay is only up 5 percent. Shapiro is the head of a University which is, constantly cutting budgets and at the same time trying to uphold morale. Seeing the president receive a $10,000 raise can do little for the morale of those in the education school, who just one day earlier saw their school's budget cut nearly in half. It can do little to encourage natural resources and art faculty whose schools are trying to adapt to 25 per- cent and 18 percent cuts. Shapiro may be doing an outstanding job. And yes, he may deserve a large pay raise, but so do many others. Some of the top professors in the world teach at this University. Many of them are paid a fraction of what they could be making somewhere else. Yet every year administrators ask them to stay, even though their raises are well below the inflation rate. Beyond the effects on morale, the decision also will cost the University a good deal of money - a lot more even than the $10,000 Shapiro gets. Like the stakes in a poker game, salaries of all players rise quickly when the ante is upped. Who will want raises in 1984? Who will see themselves as next in line? Undoubtably the stakes rise. To make matters worse, the regents precluded any public debate or discussion by the way they proposed and voted on the raise. The proposal never appeared in the public meeting agenda, and seemed to come as a surprise to everyone in the room, except the regents themselves, when Regent Thomas Roach (D- Saline) proposed the raise just before the meeting ended. It was passed unanimously. Unlike the practice for almost any item they vote on, the regents deliberately avoided giving the public any opportunity to discuss or comment on the proposal. The pay raise may have been fast and easy for the regents, and en- couraging for Shapiro, but for the rest of the University it can only be disap- pointing. MANAGUA, Nicaragua - The call for "free and democratic elections" in Nicaragua has become a central feature of the U.S. political offensive against the Sandinista regime. The White House clearly believes that Sandinistas are un- willing to risk an election and that revolutionary governments are incompatible with electoral politics. YET THE evidence here strongly suggests that both assumptions are mistaken: The intention to hold elections in 1985 was announced by the Sandinista national leadership (FSLN) more than three years ago. They have been preparing for the event ever since - preparing so well that the FSLN will almost certainly win. " Far from basing their ap- proach on an untested mixture of revolution and ballots, the San- dinistas have carefully followed the political lead of another Latin American nation. That model is not Cuba, but Mexico, whose ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has demonstrated that regular elec- tions can enhance, rather than weaken, claims to legitimacy. With the PRI's precedent clearly in mind, a concerted ef- fort is underway to refashion the FSLN as an election-oriented party. At present, there are only 500 card-carrying party mem- bers and another 2,000 activists at the neighborhood level and in workplaces. But thousands of other Nicaraguans, though not under actual party supervision, appear to follow its guidelines. THE MOST crucial role in this party-building procedss is played by various "mass organizations" which were set up in 1979. They include a labor federation which now encompasses 80 percent of all organized workers; a univer- sity-centered youth movement; women's and peasant organizations, and "defense committees" found in the neigh- borhoods of every town and city, which often coincide with the religious "base communities" of activist Catholics. Each of these groups answers directly to the FSLN. Thus, Sandinista institutions criss-cross Nicaraguan society, offering the means to draw into the process large segments of the population who have never before participated in politics. From top to bottom, this struc- ture parallels the political system of PRI-dominated Mexico. There, too, the ruling party exercises direct control over a wide variety of mass organizations identified with key voting groups. These organizations often act as political "transmitters" - for bringing party views before voters, or in the reverse direc- tion, for obtaining favors from the party. In Nicaragua, this structure is referred to as "the Sandinista Mexico is Nicaragua s political model By Nelson Valdes popular bloc." In Mexico, PRI of- ficials call it their "revolutionary family." THERE IS little doubt about its effectiveness. The PRI was formed in 1929, after 19 years of revolution, and proceeded to sponsor and win an election. It has gone on to hold elections every six years since - and to win every time. Simply put, it is the very electoral structure created by the party which has allowed it to remain in power. The lesson has not been lost on Managua, nor the conclusion that Mexico offers a much more useful model than Cuba. Fidel Castro has never faced adver- saries in the electoral arena and can scarcely be expected to ad- vise the Sandinistas on strategies for winning votes. If the FSLN were to lose the election, "one will have to accept the results," according to Rafael Soilis, secretary general of the Nicaraguan Council of State, its provisional legislature. But thanks to other borrowings from Mexico's example, that result is most unlikely. FINALLY, the Sandinistas themselves are designing the election procedures, introducing... legislation on political parties and preparing a census this year to determine how many voters there are. By the time votes are cast, the FSLN will have essen- tially defined the rules by which the electoral game is to be played - just as the PRI has in Mexico. Today there are nine separate, political parties functioning here. Each of them, with the exception of the Communist Party whose activities have been restricted, is to be found in the Council of State. Between them, opposition and in- dependent members hold 36 per- cent of that body's vote. What would their prospects be if elections were held now? All of the opposition legislators hold their posts thanks to appoin- tment in the first week after the revolution, and it is by no means certain that an actual election would return them to power. In the view of Xavier Gorostiaga, a Jesuit priest who heads one of the country's key social research in- stitutions, there is reason to believe that the current anti-San- dinista representation on the council does not accurately reflect popular sentiments. Moreover, many of the San- dinistas' fiercest critics have gone into exile, leaving poorly organized followers behind. Thus, an election might well bring a Sandinista landslide,. sweeping away the present:- diversity of the Council of State -. and achieving an aim precisely: : the opposite of that intended by, Washington's Nicaraguan cam- paign strategy. Valdes teaches sociology at the University of New Mexico. He wrote this article for the Pacific News Service. 4 Stewart WdELL,,, ifs 1101 rTET BAR BKCCKR, Iit MAYBE N W9 L QUORT TO tTUv TOM 1AROUND AN F sf ND,<< AM 4 ' Congress unnerved DESPITE THE efforts to find a reasonable response to the downing of the Korean Airlines 747, it was only a matter of time before the incident would be used to promote a dangerous program. Sure enough, in the wake of the tragedy the House of Representatives Wednesday bowed to pressure and reversed a vote against the production of new nerve gas weapons. Sponsors of the nerve gas plan said ending the 15 year.U.S. moratorium on production of chemical weapons would send a signal to the Soviet leadership in response to the murder of the 269 people aboard the airliner - and send a signal it will. The measure, which as part of the overall military authorization bill now awaits President Reagan's certain ap- proval, will tell the Soviets the U.S. leadership is going to expand an already intense arms race. It will only encourage the Soviets to continue their use of chemical weapons such as yellow rain, not persuade them to stop. And it promises to increase tensions at the nuclear weapons talks in Geneva. More importantly, though, the vote in the House showed a disturbing lack of clear thinking by the represen- tatives who changed their minds. Rep. Ed Bethune (R-Ark.) put it best before he voted against the measure when he said he hoped "Congress will rise above the emotions of the moment" and reconsider the proposal. If the members of Congress would step back from the airline tragedy they would see that the nerve gas plan is a counter-productive weapons boon- doggle. Murder in the sky doesn't change that. ''A -I ,,, 'N, } 4 , j- /. ~ ~ ' . - s , AV / // \ : y 4 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Unruly viewers ruin movie for fan MAYBE NOW HE'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR US 1 ~r \1 j} I : M; t A } 1/ z i . To the Daily: We have a rare opportunity in this community to see a large number and variety of often ex- cellent films through the co-ops. Many of us would like to thoroughly enjoy it; but it is in- creasingly often spoiled by the rude behavior of some of the audience. Daily attitudes sour mash To the Daily: I'd like to commend the Daily staff for the excellent "New Student Edition" of September 8, 1983. In particular, I appreciated the article on Counseling Ser- vices ("Anxiety traps 'U' studen- ts"), of which I am a staff mem- ber. Since our staff has been dealing with increased incidence of alcohol abuse-related problems in the past few years, I thought your "drink responsibly" ad commendable. But, alas, a sour note. As a alcoholic beverages. My concern is that the assumptions implied in the Daily articles that "everyone does it" and that "it's the only thing to do" will foster behavior which can and does result in serious problems for students. - Penny Tropman Senior Counselor September 15 BLOOM COUNTY I attended a showing of the Greek film "Iphigenia" on Wed- nesday night, and was distracted throughout the length of it by a vociferous running commentary (mostly a stream of feeble wit and American ethnocentric remarks) by a group of students near me, who I understand were compelled to be at the film for a class assignment. They con- tinued despite several hisses of "shut up" from neighbors, plus a slightly more subdued request on my part. From the sound of it, there were more such groups scattered through the audience. It really should go without saying (especially by the age of 18 or over) that it is only cour- teous to save remarks and comi ments (unless quietly whispered) until the showing is over, and refrain from disturbing those who wish to watch the film in peace. Whether or not you like the film is immaterial. If you really cannot stand it, then leave, or, if you have to be there for a class, contain yourselves until it's over. It is very regrettable to have to leave feeling that such class assignments ought not to be4 made unless babysitting service or mouth gags can be provided. - Barbara Nagler September 15 by Berke Breathed ' TS u A5.."ANAME OUT OF MY PA5T...YA KNOW, AS I RECALL., YOl'U ON~C.CONNED K UtP 10 AND! r _ .,Ent l111 BY WciR, I DIDN'T FUJ, I I I