OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, November 30, 1983 The Michigan Daily 4 Who serves whom at the University? This is the first of two articles examining the relationship between the student and the University. Tomorrow's article will ex- plore this relationship as a contract bet- ween the parties. Many people imagine the University to be a sort of giant educational shopping center. The student enters the University, shops around for his or her major, and is free to choose a curriculum from the many "stores" selling educational certification. Yet the vendor-vendee theory of education places the student in an adversarial relation- ship to the University's faculty and ad- ministrators. As Everett Ladd Jr. and Seymour Lipset have noted: "IN THIS context, the buyer or client seeks to get the most for his money at the lowest possible price. He prefers that an increased share of the payment to the institution should be channeled into more direct benefits for him - teaching, student activities, better housing, and so forth. The faculty seller of services, on the other hand, is obviously interested in maximizing his income and working con- ditions. Lower teaching loads and greater research facilities are to his benefit." Certainly, in the daily routine of academic life it is easier to use the vendor-vendee relationship as a model. But it is an adversarial relationship, and it is hard to imagine, for example, how the Univer-. sity justifies state support in the millions of dollars annually for a group of academic en- trepreneurs. IS IT A business subsidy? And what about alumni contributions? Are they given, to sup- port faculty and adminstrators per se, or are they contributions affected with a trust? My guess would be that taxpayers are more interested in their children and the next generation than in research - so it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the University is a trustoperated for the benefit of its students. It's true that on many occasions, academics will stand up and say, "We exist to do research, and to train an elite." But few are so foolhardy as to turn away a majority of their students or admit that the University is operated for the benefit of its management and faculty, although, sadly, the defense of the University autonomy and academic freedom often have the ring of 19th century capitalists defending free enterprise and competition. BUT, ON THE other hand, the trust theory raises certain difficulties that merit public debate and attention. You see, if the objects of a trust are adults, then there must be some reason why these adults should not themselves By Robert D. Honign (through their elected representatives direct the trust agents who admin trust. There has to be some reason why a 'There has to be reason why a groL. regents who are not e ts in education and wh not directly responsil students, neverth control and administ trust.' regents who are not experts in educ who are not directly responsible to nevertheless control and administer ti The answer to this riddle is histor most of its history the University wa parentis to students - it acted in th n/r 3 nurt their parents. Thus, students as minors were s at least) not trusted with charting their own academic lister the futures. NOWADAYS, WE dismiss the in loco paren- group of tis doctrine as a relic of the past, but the gover- nment of the University based on in loco parentis lingers on. One might argue that the University is operated by the regents because it belongs to some the people of the state and that the University p of must place service to the state ahead of service to the students. xper- But imagine a university whose purpose is to serve the state. It would be no different than a to are university in a totalitarian country. There, ble to people are highly trained in narrow specialties. They are well-trained and cared-for, but as ieless tools of the state, not as individuals. THEY ARE NOT allowed to make decisions r the or think for themselves. They are not en- couraged to place their own well-being ahead of that of the state. And the state, of course, is really those people in charge of the system. People are ation and valued as machines in such an educational students, system, and since what we want from a he trust. machine is reliability, simplicity of operation ical. For and safety, people are taught to think as little s in loco as possible, to dress alike, think alike, act e place of alike, laugh alike, and cry alike. They must weep when the state weeps, rejoice when the state rejoices and laugh when the state laughs. IT'S AN EDUCATIONAL system designed to produce robots and zombies - and to the extent that any university does produce robots and zombies it is an instrument of the state. I don't think mature and responsible people. would argue that the University must serve the state ahead of its students. So we are left with regents who are non- experts in education, who have little sense of responsibility and no accountability to studen- ts, running the University for the benefit of students as quasi-parents. Student opinion is politely considered and usually ignored; student government is con- sulted and then overruled; and great anger is expressed when the business of the University is interrupted by students. Who owns the University? Who is the master and who is the student? In a real university people think about such things. Honigman is a- University graduate and an attorney in Sterling Heights. Ete tudnsatt ogan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Sinclair Q~4L&tw j83 TK tAKA " DW Vol. XCIV-No. 69 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 11 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Searching for justice HOW COME WHENEVER WE NEED A NJE C EILIN, L ES MY K ID- HE "DUAL prosecution" of Vin- cent Chin's two killers may be a rare legal action. It may be an em- barrassment to the judicial system, though that system let the killers off on three years probation and a $3,780 fine.: But it is the only way that justice can be rendered in this case. The two men, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, beat Chin to death with a baseball bat in June, 1982. Ebens pleaded guilty and Nitz no contest to manslaughter charges in a plea bargaining exchange. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office agreed to drop second degree murder counts against them. Now, however, the federal gover- nment is prosecuting both men for allegedly violating two civil rights laws. The government is accusing the men of alleged racial motivations for the beatings. Federal officials say the "dual prosecution" system is being used at least partially to rectify the leniency of the previous prosecution. And although it is a sad statement, the first prosecution does need rec- tifying. The beating of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American, by the two white men was brutal. It was done with little provocation. There was never any doubt the two men committed the crime. Yet, the punishment did not fit the crime, and only a few thousand dollars in fines and court costs. The judicial system which allowed this to happen, obviously made a mistake. Perhaps in this second trial of Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, Vin- cent Chin and his family will receive justice. 4 4 4 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Resist the urge to dismiss nuke film To the Daily: The most significant aspect of the film The Day After is the role that we as viewers now assume. In its most enlightening and hear- tening sense, one which we must cling to and nurture, the movie has fostered widespread concern and discussion on the calamity which is nuclear war. We must both individually and collectively resist the urge, however strong, to minimize or even dismiss the film. These responses reflect the psychological defense of denial. Viewers need to be assured that feelings of isolation and despair are not unusual and equally im- portant, in a supportive setting as with close friends or family, these emotions may well be ex- pressed. Stated in its most fun- damental terms, we must unite as a species perhaps as never before - simultaneously con- fronting the ominous nature of the nuclear arms race while drawing upon all possible resour- ces that offer not only solace but, the will to change the situation. The movie then can be seen as an invitation to renewal - both personally and collectively. Recalling the words of writer John Buchan, as John Kennedy sometimes did in his speeches, that democracy is "primarily an law, our own country tries to erect a dubious democracy at gunpoing. The taking of human life does not reveal strength - but weakness. The great enemy in the sturggle for world peace is not essentially any foreign power but the tendency in each of us to shirk our ture obligation as citizens. Might not the lack -of compassion one often hears ex- pressed for others reflect a lack of compassion towards our- selves? A nuclear war must never be fought. If we agree, then let our actions, however slight, signify 'our commitment. At risk is the human species. We lessen the risk when we reconstruct a humane environment in each of our lives - one imbued with em- pathy and caring and hope. -R. Jay Allain Easthampton, Mass. November 2Z Daily could do better on elections To the Daily: We would like to comment on the Daily's treatment of the LSA Student Government elections. We believe the purpose of a newspaper is not only to publicize daily happenings, but also to act as a forum to educate and update when circumstances permit. An election is a perfect opportunity for the latter. One problem with the Daily's decision to endorse a party on Sunday, November 13 was that there was no publication on Mon- day, November 14. There was no chance for rebuttal before com- mencement of the elections. In addition, the endorsement of an entire slate of thirteen people based on an interview with one does not suffice when truly determining who the better can- didates are. We realize that much time and effort on the part of the Daily would have had to have been sacrificed, but only giving results after an election is not actually covering an election. The Daily could have used their com- munication powers to educate LSA students on candidates, and issues. Another problem with the Daily's election coverage oc- curred on Thursday, November 17, when final results had not yet been posted, yet, without thought of the candidates concerned, in- complete and ambigious resuls were reported. The power of the media, unlike the power of elected officials, had no checks or balances. Tis power should not be uh- derestimates, and we would hope that in future student gover- nment elections the Daily would use it in a more constructiVe fashion. -Ruth Bard Larry Bottinitk Cheryl Goldfarb Margie Libpf Robin Morggo Jimmy Rosenberg November 21 All six signers ran for LSA Student Government seats. by Berke Breathed om"0 4 BLOOM COUNTY I &. / I ....a i . .