I OPINION Page 4 Friday, January 27, 1984 The Michigan Daily 4 Answering a college questionnaire - By Dick West WASHINGTON (UPI)-I was reading the latest governmentsreport on the slump of our educational, system the other day, and I felt guilty. Judging from a study showing a 10- year drop in college admission test scores, schools need positive input from every age group. Yet there.is little that I, as a adult, have done to help them cope with their problems. MY pangs of conscience became par- ticularly acute as I, in a burst of New Year's resolve, was cleaning out some old files. While thus engaged, I came across a 1979 questionnaire I apparen- tly put aside and never got back to.. It was sent to me by a college student who was soliciting information for a term paper. I know, remembering my own cam- pus days, that term papers occasionally are handed in late. In this instance, however, the presumption is that the student was forced to graduate into the real world without the benefit of my an- swers. SO,-AS my first contribution to the revitalization of American education, I shall attempt now to come'to grips with a couple of the questions. The two inqueries that impressed me I get most of my ideas from government reports of education.' as the most meaningful were: "Where do you get ideas?" and "What is your advice to a beginning columnist?" Taking these up in the order of their appearance, let me say that I get most of my ideas from government reports on education. RIGHT NOW, the main controversy concerns proposals that exceptional teachers be given merit pay increases. I am, forthrightly, of two minds on that dispute. If you are talking about merit pay that would keep good teachers from leaving the school system for better paying jobs elsewhere, thus enhancing the prospect of students emerging solidly grounded in educational fun- damentals, I'm for it. But if you are talking about merit pay that would cause dissension among faculty members and stifle initiative in the classrooms, I'm against it. WHAT frequently is overlooked in this argument is a basic misconception about the human brain. Some of the schools I attended took the attitude that the brain was like a giant sponge that would go on absor- bing knowledge as long as it was ex- posed to fresh information. Actually, as we know from modern neurological research, the brain is more like a giant prune. Each new bit of data is firmly embedded so that the brain eventually becomes completely wrinkled. When that point is reached, new facts either displace a crease already in place or slide right out again on the other side. This concept puts the traditional view of the closed mind in a different light. It indicates that failure to accept new ideas is more circumstantial than premediated. In my own case, many of the fresh ideas I might need for- a column are rejected by a brain already full of flap- doodle I learned in school. Therefore, I am reduced to reading government reports. As for the second question, my advice to a beginning columnist would be to try another line of work. Have you con- sidered teaching school? West is a correspondent United Press International. far I Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCIV-No. 97 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Belcher's un A NN ARBOR Mayor Louis Belcher has been cleared of charges that he had a personal interest in voting last year to convert a boarding house for the city's homeless into office space. But that doesn't erase the ethical question which surrounds his current ties to that property which he now owns. Did Belcher vote to convert the Downtown Club into office space because he knew his real estate firm could get a 25 percent tax break on the property and turn a profit? And did this knowledge influence the vote he made last year to such a degree that he could not consider the merits of main- taining the property as low-income housing? City Attorney R. Bruce Laidlaw ruled Wednesday that according to laws currently on the books, Belcher did not have a conflict of interest when he voted on the land. "I can find no law that would restrict a council member from participating in the development of a parcel of land which was previously the subject of council ac- tion," Laidlaw wrote in his decision. Members of an ad hoc committee trying toblock the plans to convert the Downtown Club into office space ethical antics however, know of an unwritten law: common sense ethics. Belcher should have known that his firm's purchase of the property at 110 N. Fourth Ave. would raise eyebrows, especially in light of the fact that the city is still searching for a suitable place to set up 'a shelter for the homeless. Instead, Belcher called those who questioned his involvement with the property "crazy" and insulted their judgement. He defended his actions by saying that converting the property to low-cost housing would cost more than turning it into office space. City Councilman Lowell Peterson (D-First Ward), however, said private contractors who have examined the building said it could be profitable as a residential site. And who is going to be more objective in his opinions of the property, -,a private contractor or Belcher and his real estate partners? Certainly, any office holder having a financial or personal stake in a matter of business before his office should ex- clude himself from considerations on the issue: It's simple ethics. That Belcher was cleared under the law doesn't mean the mayor acted accor- ding to the expectations of his office. LaBan ., HE CAIT BE S RoJS.. /1 -._..0'' I -. ", " , ....:... . . DAt THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Daily focuses on MSA s minor faults r ja r' .t ' r .,r s To the Daily: We would like to express our thanks for the Daily's pre- Housing Fair coverage ("Housing fair to help students with options," Daily, January 2). It was thoughtful of the Daily to purvey information about this new MSA-sponsored student event. However, it was shallow journalism to mock and make light of the fair just because of an unfortunate coincidence. To benefit the most students before the annual student housing rush, it was necessary to reserve the Union Ballroom, in November, for Jan. 22-which at the time we didn't know was Superbowl Sun- day. In fact, if the Daily covered the actual event, they would have realized the fair ended well before the football game started. We are justly disappointed that our student newspaper focusebd on some minor problems in- volved in starting a new event aimed to help students, rather than discussing the fact that over 400 students attended the fair. It is sensationalist for the Daily to constantly denegrate the MSA for its faults, while neglecting to report the positive events that MSA constantly provides and organizes. It is interesting to note that the Daily, which prides itself on responsible journalism can criticize MSA's supposed "inef- fectiveness" on the same day, Thursday, that the front page contained an insignificant photo on the weather and a book report ("Careers are a crock"). In ad- dition, Wednesday's front page contained two more irrelevant photos, depicting winter, which I weren't even taken in Ann Arbor, -Steve Kaplan John Haughton January 26 Aaplan and Haughton are MSA representatives and directed the Housing Fair. Yes, somebody is really out there To the Daily: On Jan. 25, David Spak wrote a column concerning his frustrations with student apathy-specifically in response to the University's stricter drinking policies in dormitories and to the proposed non- academic code of student conduct (" 'U' leaps at the chance to babysit"). In answer to your question, David, yes I am listening. But in the past four years I have spent at the Univer- sity I have simply stopped taking University policies seriously-and I suspect I am not alone. As a freshwoman, I was nearly raped in my dorm's showers. I was, told that bathroom locks were cumbersome and expen- sive. When I was a sophomore, one of my few decent professors was denied tenure because she hadn't published her book in time. As time went by I came to feel, more and more, that my life has nothing to do with University policies. I found dorm life to be pretty disgusting, and so I moved off campus my sophomore year-increasing my distance from University policies. I have great respect for the Progressive Student Network and for other people that haven't given up. But I view the University as a corporation who is concerned with everything but the intellec- tual betterment of its students. Being a student here is like being on the sidelines of a huge cor- poration-and for that reason, it is simply very hard to feel per- sonally involved-even when University policies claim they will effect individual students' lives. But that doesn't mean I'm not listening. -Julie Boesky January-6 Hailing Witt's end To the Daily: Hail Caesar! For now he is dead. Everyone knows how he succumbed. Perhaps the situation of the Daily is not so unlike that of Caesar's. It has come to my at- tention the rule of "Witt the Great" will soon be at an end. Will miracles never cease? But this is not a moment of despair working staff you can correct damage done in the past. Student groups and organizations will respect you. Alumni will support you. Advertisers will flock to get aboard a "new Daily." Accept the challenge. Go for it and goBlue. -David Kaufman January 14 R.M EUNTY Unprinted letter- writer To the Daily: dared to disagree with the D So the Daily is "more than editorial board and their happy to give people a forum to posedly leftist constituency. express their views" ("Whim- I suppose if I changed my pering regents," Daily, January and wrote a letter endorsin 22) ? I guess there must be some ins to prevent violence (a other explanation for your abortion clinic, perhaps refusal to print letters that would get some attention. disagree with your editorials. maybe I could imitate aI I've written several letters editorial and call everyth over the last year or so that never disagree with "doublespeak saw the light of day. Each was a Please, I'm on my knees.I well-written statement offering a throw THIS letter down new perspective on a campus memory hole! -Steve An issue. Unfortunately, my letters Janu an. ways rg sit- at a S?) a Daily ing I ." Donat the ngelatti uary:24 I-d . - - hes ltavkirp Rt ssat