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OPINION

Page 4

Saturday, March 10, 1984

The Michigan Daily

4

Freak Power for Campaign
handling of the Iranian hostage if you'll go along with me, and back him he could fire-up an impressive political
ke Buhler situation, control of the economy; sure, in the Michigan caucus. My candidate, machine - I envision a Harley David-
Fritz. It has been said that George Bush despite the aborted effort of '72, is son 750 (he is the guy who rode with the
Democratic presiden- is a wimp of a vice president (he's not), George McGovern. That's right, the Hells Angles and lived to write about
is like rooting for a which makes Mondale a sissy by com- guy with the wacko vp's. And his run- it)
n: "Go Hart! Beat naic Sn tha atnin tha mnto - .,-,--1r__.__._-I

1984

By Mi
Watching the I
tial primary race
high-school tear

Mondale!" After all, isn't that what all
this presidential stuff is about? Deter-
ming names for schools to be built 50
years from now? I'm sure you've heard
those backwoods post-war high school
scores on the radio before - "...and in
class A it was Truman over Roosevelt,
58-52. In the Catholic League, Christ
Redeemer spiked Our Lady Queen of
Martyrs, 64-35..." In order to keep those
creative scores coming, we need some
new politicians. The list of saints,
though slow in recruitment, gave us
names that stand for something. Unfor-
tunately, the politicians do not. Look at
the Democrats: none possess a known
platform.
There isn't much of a pool to select
from these days, putting greater impor-
tance on this year's race. President
John F. Kennedy couldn't even hold on
to the name of Cape Canaveral; how
can we expect him to glorify a high
school? Of course the Nixon Institute of
Criminal Law is a natural, as are Car-
ter Agricultural and Reagan Elemen-
tary. Ford only seems to appear on
libraries.
BACK TO this year's race, it is either
Reagan or a Democrat. And most
people seem to believe, as I do, that
Reagan will win. But if for some reason
he loses, it only makes good sense to
have a decent Democrat for back-up
president - which immediately rules
out Mondale. Fritz is bopping around
America taking credit for stuff Carter
did - the fated Middle East accords,

parison. o he attention t en turns to
Gary Hart who, to the amazement of
all, is a current co-front runner.
Heck, Hart has taken us all by storm.
and he doesn't even have a platform yet.
But really, what challenger ever does?
The current administration develops
certain modus operandi, and
challengers are quick to chisel away at
it. Unfortunately, none of our can-
didates have been quick to express a
plan; they only work to establish an
image, one that makes them appear
liberal to the left and conservative to
the right, and a protector of every
American's rights and beliefs. All 242
million individual ideologies. Reagan is
a known quantity, but what about Mon-
dale and Hart?
When faced with a choice between
these two men, it's easy to go with
Hart: he's younger than my dad, has
little or no gray hair, and he's from
Colorado. Imagine what kind of positive
impact that would have on the skiing
industry! Discount fares to Denver!
Perhaps Bob & Ray should do his cam-
paign radio spots.
IF REAGAN loses, we want a strong
back-up; or else we want the strong
back-up to win - take your choice.
Regardless, we should all declare our
selves Democrats on St. Patrick's Day
drink green beer and vote for Hart in
the Michigan caucuses. The Hart
people can give you the details.
Unfortunately there are not John An-
dersons out there this year. Yet, I want
to create one - and will vote for him -

ning mate? I'll settle for Hunter S.
Thompson: it's a natural.
Maybe it seems strange to propose a
reasonable running mate for a
seemingly weak candidate, but in 1980
it was Bush with Reagan. In 1984 we can
do the same thing with McGovern-
Thompson.
GARY TRUDEAU, husband to Jane
Pauley and author of Doonesury,
produces an apt characterization of
Hunter S. Thompson as Duke. He's the
guy with flowered shirts who smokes
cigarettes in a holder. Now Thompson
is not new to politics. In 1969, as in-
stigator of the Freak Power Party, he
worked to get a man named Edwards
elected as mayor of Aspen, and Freak
Power lost, 603-597. So Hunter waged a
battle in 1970 as their candidate for
Sheriff, calling for the sodding of all
streets and elimination of the
"greedheads" from Aspen. He was also
for the free distribution of mescaline,
and wanted to eliminate the profit-
taking dope dealers. You can't be more
liberal than that.
Thompson's view of the primaries is
priceless: "the only possible good that
can come of this wretched campaign is
the ever-increasing likelihood that it
will cause the Democratic Party to self-
destruct." You gotta like a guy who
said that while covering the McGovern
campaign in '72 for Rolling Stone. I'm
not pushing for him to be president yet.
He'd be quite an adjustment for D.C. as
merely the vice president. He'd need
four years first, but after that, I'm sure

With Thompson as a running mate,
McGovern would be overshadowed, as
would the rest of the Democrats, by the
attention he would draw. There would
be speculation about the new code of
dress at the White House; Hells Angels
would replace the Secret Service; there
would be an economybased on the
elimination of the. corporate
greedheads; and best of all, with the
Stone connection, McGovern-
Thompson could book much better con-
certs than James Watt.
So what do you say? Can we do it?
Unquestionably, Mondale is out of con-
sideration. Hart will make a better
also-ran to Reagan. But if we look at it
that way, why not go for it all the way
with McGovern-Thompson? If they
were elected, there will be some
changes, sure. But definitely a new
vitality will enhance the staleness
we've experienced in the presidency
this half of the century. And I'm all for.
that.
So let's forget what's-his-face, phase-
out no-platform Gary, and avoid
pruneface. Go with McGovern, and as
they say on the West Coast, like, let's
have a thrashing presidency; that'll
like get the old folks stoked. Fer sure.
And "Hunter S. Thompson High" will
sound so respectable, too.
Buhler is a regular contributor to
the Opinion Page.

Photo courtesy Rolling Stone

Says Hunter S. Thompson ir'Freak Power in the Rockies:'"On my front por-
ch I have a palm tree growing in a blue toilet bowl...and on occassion I like to
wander outside, stark naked, and fire my .44 magnum at various gongs I've
mounted on the nearby hillside. I like to load up on mescaline and turn my
amplifier up to 110 decibels for a taste of 'White Rabbit' while the sun comes
up on the snow peaks along the Continental Divide."

4Y


Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Sinclair

Vol. XCIV-No. 126

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board

Getting down to business

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.THERE HAVE been many conflicting
reactions to Tuesday's sit-in at
Engineering Prof. George Haddad's
lab and the subsequent arrest of 11
PSN members. The arrest of the
students protesting military-sponsored
research at the University has elicited
comments ranging from, "They
deserve it," to "More power to 'em.''
This points out a definite difference of
opinion on campus.
Interestingly, this difference of
opinion does not concern the issue of
military research so much as it does
the appropriateness of the PSN's-
protest techniques. The average
student on this campus is unaware of
the issues involved in the military
research question, but has a very
definite opinion of what kind of ac-
tivism is appropriate. Many members.
of the community view Tuesday's
protest as way out of line.
The potentially negative effect of the
sit-in is that it might promote division
within the community where unity is
called for. The problems associated
with military research should concern
everyone and the answers to those
problems should not be identified
solely with the "radical fringe"
represented by the PSN. On one side of
the debate stands the PSN and its sup-
porters who feel that any military-
sponsored research increases the risk
of nuclear war and should consequen-
tly be banned, and on the other side
stand members of the faculty and ad-
ministration who harbor fears of
restricted academic freedom. The en-
tire University community needs to
educate itself and work toward a full
examination of research that could be
aimed at the endangering of human
lives. Sit-ins are no longer aiding in
that task.
Previous sit-ins at Engineering Prof.
Thomas Senior's lab and in the office of
Harold Shapiro were effective in sen-

ding out a message that military
research needs to be examined. But
now the patience of many people is
running thin. Whether or not patience
should be running thin is not the
question. The question is how can the
PSN and all others concerned rein-
vigorate debate surrounding research
sponsored by the Department of
Defense. 200 demonstrators at a can-
dlelight protest showed their support
for those arrested, but 200 voices of
protest at this University isn't enough
to make administration sit up and take
notice. When only 11 protesters show
up for a sit-in and are quickly carted
away by the police with no prohibitive
cries of outrage from the community,
the strategy has to be altered.
The heroic efforts of the 11 could
have been morekconstructively chan-
neled into making the University
community more aware of the issues
involved. Students who are uninformed
cannot understand a drastic action
such as Tuesday's sit-in. Just because
11 people demonstrated that they are
angry doesn't mean that the rest of the
campus will get angry too.
An education on the issues is needed.
And if the arguments against military
research are as clear-cut as the PSN
would have everyone believe, that
education would lead to an immediate
resolution of the problem. What is
more likely is that people will begin to
understand that only open debate and
discussion will lead anywhere.
A lot of people have to get mad, or a
lot of people have to get down to
business. At this stage, the latter would
prove to be much more effective.
At the demonstration showing sup-.
port for the 11 arrested the crowd
chanted, "The people united will never
be defeated." Unfortunately, the
University, community is not now
united, and until the issues are ex-
plained and debated, it never will be.

_;

LETTERS TO THE DAILY:


False as.
To the Daily:
The editorial supporting the
Graduate Employees
Organization (Daily, March 6)
was based on two assumptions
that I find questionable.
The first is the assumption that
the benefits enjoyed by TAs are a
direct result of GEO's efforts.
Many non-unionized TAs in other
universities receive comparable
or superior benefits. In fact, RAs
at this University who are not
covered by the GEO contract,
receive the same pay and
benefits as TAs.
The real incentive to offer
competitive benefits to RAs and
TAs is the need to attract top
caliber graduate students. Since
RA and TA positions provide a
substantial portion of graduate
students' financial support, sub-
standard benefits for these
positions at this University would
cause many students to elect to
do their graduate work at other.
universities.
The second assumption with
which I disagree is that the cam-
paign by the GEO to have TAs
recognized as legitimate em-
novees is a nositive contribution

sumptions concerning GEO

such support is viewed as
fellowship money, TAs are not
being taxed on their tuition
waivers.
Finally, I object to the overall
conclusion of the editorial that
TAs who haven't paid their dues

in the past are freeloading. .The
massive number of TAs who have
not paid dues in the past did not
choose to have GEO negotiate for
them and have, in effect, been
voting with their pocketbooks
against the policies of GEO.

The current petition drive is
merely an effort to retain the
right of each individual TA to
choose whether or not to support
the GEO.
-Wallace Hopp
March 6

Frustrations with military research

To the Daily:
The Progressive Student Net-
work's recent action against
military research on campus-a
sit-in at the lab of Prof. George
Haddad-was met by an in-
teresting response. Prof. Haddad
is quoted as saying:. "Our
patience is running thin" (Daily,
March 7). He was referring
specifically to himself and his
assistants who were disrupted by
the protesters, and I think
generally, he implied that all
such protest is childish and an-
noyingto others who think as he
BLOOM COUNTY

does.
I would like to send an echo
back to Prof. Haddad and other
members of the University com-
munity who believe that military
research should remain on cam-
pus. "Our patience is running
thin." We are impatient with
debates over academic freedom,
impatient with the fact that our
proposals fall on seemingly deaf
ears. We are so impatient in fact,
that some of us are willing to be
arrested for our beliefs, as
evidenced by the action of the
PSN, (a group to which I do not
officially "belong" but which I

fully support).
A university is a place where
the highest ideal ought to be the
furtherance of human potential.
Such a place cannot defend or
promote research which has ap-
plicability toward human
'destruction. Military research
does not belong on this campus,
or any university campus, or
anywhere. Yes, our patience is
running thin, and judging by the
March 6 gathering of over 200
supporters of PSN's action, "we"
are not a minority.
-Lisa Vihos
March 7
by Berke Breathed

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