4 OPINION Page 4 Sunday, April1, 1984 The Michigan Daily I le 3 td6ian 4:taitj Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Students pick a new MSA 4 Vol. XCIV-No. 145 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, M1 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board City CounCil elections O N THE FIRST day some polling places opened late, and some never even opened. The director was dismissed on the second day of the elections and the entire group was charged with inadequate publicity. This week's Michigan Student Assembly elec- tions did not prove to be a pleasant experience for those in charge. MSA president Mary Rowland took the bull by the horns Wednesday night by relieving MSA elections director David Surovell of his administrative duties. Rowland said that she wasn't "at all pleased with his performance" as election director and she barred him from counting ballots after the election. Rowland said that Surovell, who also direc- V OTERS WILL have plenty of incentive to head to the polls in Ann Arbor's city elections as Democrats and Republicans will be vigorously fighting in all but one ward. The reason for the higher stakes this year is that for the first time since 1969, Democrats could easily win a majority of council seats. It is also possible, though less likely, that Republicans could regain a decisive 7-4 majority which they will have enjoyed from 1978 up until next year. However, the partisan battle is less important to watch than the qualifications of the candidates. Democratic incumbent Larry Hunter, who is running unopposed in the First Ward, deserves praise as well as reelection. Hunter has tried to keep Council away from bickering on partisan issues. He has won respect from Democrats and Republicans alike for evaluating issues on an individual basis while remaining an advocate for the traditional groups of Democratic voters. Hunter, who was a minority researcher for the Michigan Student Assembly, has shown social and financial responsibility: One example of this is his influence in involving both city and private organizations in fiiding a permanent shelter for the city's homeless population. Second Ward Democrat James Burchell offers a strong challenge to incumbent Republican James Blow. Blow's positions are too blindly conservative. Burchell has a depth of political experience, dedication, and. pledges support for. needed human service programs. He is no less aware of financial issues and has a creative proposal for a standing budget committee. Burchell stands apart from Blow in his emphasis on "quality of life" issues. Energy conservation and weatherization programs are important to Burchell who sees them in terms of aiding economic development in the long run. Burchell's only weakness is perhaps his lack of - familiarity with Ann Arbor. But he has served on the New Hampshire state legislature, the city council in Rochester, N.H., and is currently a legislative aid to state Rep. Perry Bullard. Burchell knows how to work effectively in the system. The Third Ward contest is more difficult to call. But Republican newcomer Jeannette Middleton, though she lacks the experience of the Democratic incumbent Raphael Ezekiel, would hopefully take a more active role on city council. Ezekiel's contribution to Council has been in the area of high-sounding rhetoric. While his consistent defense of social justice is laudable, it often seems to contribute to partisan squabling that leads to stagnation. Middleton has been very active in community affairs and makes it clear that she would not sacrifice either roads or human services when making budget cuts. She has an enthusiasm to work toward bipartisan solutions to city problems and a vote for Middleton should be a vote for a more productive and less verbose Council. The Fourth Ward race pits incumbent Republican Gerald Jernigan, a University financial analyst, against Democrat John McNabb, a University political science undergraduate who served six years in the U.S. Navy. While Jernigan needs to widen his focus beyond issues such as improving roads and city services and show greater support for human services, he has more specific proposals for implementing his ideas than McNabb. McNabb is simply too vague on the issues and has little experience with or knowledge of the community or the functioning of city politics. Jernigan is not the ideal. candidate, his habit of evaluating the merit of city projects primarily in cost- benefit analysis terms is disturbing. But he has shown a good level of flexibility. Democratic candidate Doris Preston is easily the best choice for the Fifth Ward council seat. Preston, a University librarian, is much more experienced than her Republican challenger Sally Pennington, a real estate saleswoman. Preston is well- known for her work on the city and county Planning Commission. She has a sound political style and proven leadership abilities developed over her years as a council campaign manager and Democratic ward chairperson. 4 Daily Photo by DAN HABIB The Taco Bell on East University has been the site of increased vandalism and violence in the wee hours of the morning. ted this years LSA elections, was not fired but that she will have a meeting with him on Monday. The results of the controversial election put the SMART party's Scott Page and Steve Kaplan in the offices of president and vice president. SMART also captured six representative seats on MSA. LMNOP put ten of their reps into the assembly, the once dominant IOU party got eight, YOU had six, RAP had two and three independant candidates managed to win seats on the distinguished body. Voter turnout was as awesome as ever, with 5,500 voting for representatives and 3,929 total voters in the presidential race. With around 34,000 students at the Univercity, surely MSA once again feels that they have the mandate of the students to really make some progress in the coming year. Isn't democracy great? Late-night nastiness "Everyone after 10 p.m. can be considered dangerous," complained a manager of the Taco Bell on East University in reference to the restaurant's patrons. Thesestablishment and others in the vicinity have been plagued with violence and van- dalism attributed to late-night revelers retur- ning from nearby bars. Tables have been stolen, and fires set within the Taco Bell. The most recent and disturbing violence came early last Saturday morning when more than 20 persons engaged in- a late-night brawl that left the restaurant "trashed.'. The fight is believed to have resulted from racial tensions. A white male is reported to have thrown a half-eaten burrito at a black male standing at the counter. The two men proceeded to argue, hurling racially derogatory terms at each other. "It im- mediately occured to us that this would be a racial fight," one witness said. "It was made clear (through the shouting) that the burrito was thrown because he was black." Police arrived at the scene after the parties had dispersed and the incident was labeled a "food fight" since no one wanted to file a complaint. No arrests were made. In order to curb the nocturnal nastiness, Taco Bell's management is considering locking their doors early or hiring security guards. Steve Chapman, manager of Stop 'N' Go, located next door to Taco Bell, said his store has been "a madhouse zoo lately." Those with late-night munchies beware. Research approved If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Or so goes the old adage. Take, for exam- ple, the classified research proposal of elec- trical engineering Prof. Theodore Birdsall. Birdsall's proposal was rejected by the Classified Research Review Panel last month when former student representative Erica Freedman, an LSA junior, said the proposed research violated the University's 1972 classified research guidelines. The guidelines prohibit research which could be used to harm human life. But the guidelines also outline a specific procedure classified proposals must endure before being rejected. The next step after Freedman's rejection was the Research Policies Committee, a faculty andestudent body that endorsed the proposal 8 to 4 on March 9. And then on the Vice President for Research Alfred Sussman for the final decision. No surprise to anyone involved, Sussman decided "based on his own judgement," to push the proposal through for possible defen-- se department funding. The RPC endor- sement of Birdsall's work was, in Sussman's words, "a paramount consideration." Freedman, who resignedther post on the review panel following the RPC's endor- sement, was not convinced that the guidelines were being enforced. Nor was she convinced that Birdsall's research itself - which deals with sound and underwater currents - fell within those guidelines. A member of the Progressive Student Net- work, Freedman said that she will continue her opposition to this proposal, and to military research on the U iversity campus in general, through "civil disobedience." She. believes that that is the only alternative the administration has left her. Department preserved The University's Linguistics Department had a slight anxiety attack this week when rumors, that the Department might be changed into an LSA program were confir- med. Interim Chairman Eric Rabkin said that changing the department into a program was under consideration. But LSA Dean Peter Steiner came to the rescue by saying that the Linguistics Depar- tment will remain intact for at least another year. "We felt we couldn't make a change without knowing what to make a change to," said Steiner. Steiner said an internal committee will be set up to eveluate whether the department should be continued or converted to a program. Possibilities for the future of the depar- tment include having it remain as a single department, dividing it into "general" and "applied" linguistics that would be classified either as separate departments or pro- grams, and shifting it to an inter-depar- tment program. Associate LSA Dean Jack Meiland would oversee the committee which is scheduled to report its findings to the department chair- man by the:fall of 1984. Changes may be coming for the department, but they're not coming as fast as many feared they would. The department chairman for next year will be Linguistics Prof. John Catford, accor- ding to Steiner. Catford will replace Interim Chairman Eric Rabkin. q 4 The Week in Review was compiled by Daily staff reporters Andrew Eriksen, Tom Miller, and Pete Williams, and Daily editor Jim Boyd. Wasserman 4 M.MEsG-1INWI V4Wo d LMD YOU SELL YoUP OS WAS NAMED t\WGTANT -9CETQc -ME NE4oR. City ballot proposals (1ITY VOTERS will have three rather uncontroversial ballot proposals to decide on Monday. Proposal A calls for an amendment of the City Charter to allow voters to initiate the adoption of ordinances by petition. Proposal B asks for an ad- ditional tax of up to 1.5 mills to finance major road reconstruction or resur- facing. Proposal C is a measure which would enable the city to borrow $950,000 for bike path improvements and reconstruction. All three proposals would improve the community and deserve adoption despite the respec- tive costs. Proposal A would bring about in- creased citizen involvement in city government by stimulating com- munication between council members and the general public. Currently city residents can only propose amendmen- ts to the City Charter by petition. This causes problems because laws, such as the weatherization amendment proposed unsuccessfully last year, are inappropriately tacked on to the City Charter which is, in effect the city's constitution. Proposal A would add more flexibility to the system because - -;irnc onidn nunnono ordinan- Proposal B would be an effective ap- proach to solving a long-standing problem in Ann Arbor: potholes in city streets which make for hazardous driving and wrecked tires. Although a homeowner with a house whose market value is $50,000 would pay an additional $37,50 per year for the next five years, the cost is well worth it. The proposal has rightly achieved bi- partisan approval. Some Council members, however, believe dollars for road repair should be drawn from the city's general fund. But this solution to the problem is not a reliable answer to the city's road problem because, general fund money is always fluctuating depending on council's spending priorities. City roads have been neglected too long and if taxpayers don't pay now, they will have to pay more later in safety and reconstruction costs. Proposal C would restore the bike route at Huron Parkway from Washtenaw to Plymouth Rd. This proposal is particularly appealing to students since it would extend the bike route to Briarwood so that students could ride the Eisenhower or State , ,N AN OV~U2 ; NKTGA~s wm IVEN A POST AT Th E UNTD-AIOS, AND T ACOUNTANT \NKO 1 LKE) YOOU@ET LOANS WAS AMPbNTEI) K-ADO T1C U.S. POSTAL SERVICE \If WOULDN't YouU kSTO NEME WiT ~MY CN\APATON2 F^' 4 a z u' r N - ,. . 3 a 4 Hi 7 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: More complaining than campaigning I To the Daily" After reading the Daily this morning, I pinched myself to make sure it was a former RAP candidate complaining about the election. I agree with Mr. Koenig's claim that Dave Surovell did a very poor job running the elec- tion. However, the problem was not being timely and organized rather than playing favorites. The parties that campaigned the hardest were hurt the most by Surovell. The greater magnitude of their efforts was not translated into a proportionate greater number of votes because of his incompetence. As far as election officials campaign than any other party.' During the two days of the elec- tion, I campaigned for twenty hours. I do not believe that those who campaign the most always deserve to win. I do, however, feel that the amount of time committed is a good reflection of Does Daily To the Daily: Thank you for your editorial comments on the sorry state of current English grammatical practice. "Honor thy language," (Daily, March 23). Your point is, well taken, and it is refreshing to see that someone is concerned with the rampant abuse of our ones ambition, and degree of in- terest in being elected. Mr. Koenig, and the rest of his. party lacked, at the least, the commitment it takes to run a serious campaign. It was a poorly run election but nevertheless a legitimate one. The only thing that wasn't for real was the RAP party. - Mark Gittleman Marcd 31 Gittleman was elected = to next year's MSA as a can- didatefor LMNOP. A offer grammatical hope? I of that paragraph ("to oc- cassionally flub") yet another example of common blunders (to say nothing of the deviant spelling)? I pose a similar question in reference to the first sentence of the concluding paragraph: "One shred of hope is that Mortar Board made the everyone I knew was on his toes or her toes, but no one I know is on their toes, unless his expertise on the dance floor leaves something to be desired. I only hope that I may share your shred of hope by placing con- fidence in the Daily's editorial staff. "Let's cross our fingers."