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OPINION
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Friday, January 13, 1984
The Michigan Dail
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Glenn holds the center; aims for the top
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By Ellen Golin
and Paul Morton
As we are busy digesting the latest word
t<from Lebanon, Central America, and Moscow,
there may seem little time to spend assessing
presidential candidates. When we remember
that the crises in these locales have intensified
L;- -during President Reagan's tenure, though,
considering what alternatives the would-be
successors offer becomes imperative. It is a
healthy exercise, this process of reexamination
and discovery, appropriate for the beginning of
the election year and a fresh semester at the
University.
Ideally, the electoral process involves voters
who recognize substance in a candidate, are
able to distinguish rhetoric from sincere inten-
tion, and are mindful of the precedent that
voting record and past policy sets for future
performance. Evaluating John Glenn in these
terms has led thoughtful Americans of all
walks of life to lend support to his presidential
bid. Ohio's senior Democratic senator may
earn the votes of those who marvel at his ex-
ploits as a pilot and as the first American to or-
bit the earth, but these are not the sorts of votes
the politically literate, including the Senator
himself, welcome.
IN NINE YEARS in the United States Senate,
Glenn has established himself as a substantial
terrestrial presence. Regarded by colleagues
as something of an E. F. Hutton on military
-A-matters, Glenn has emerged as a leading
figure on the Senate Foreign Relations Com-
mittee. That forum serves as an excellent van-
tage point for him to observe the course of
Reagan administration foreign policy, and has
underlined the distance between Glenn and
Reagan on a number of today's most pressing
issues.
Glenn does not dispute that the objectives of
U.S. peacekeeping troops in Lebanon are ad-
mirable. He agrees that an urgent need exists
to bring stability to the globe's most volatile
region. But he recognizes the policy failure
inherent in an ill-defined military mission.
While the parallels with Vietnam may be too
subtle for some to appreciate, Senator Glenn
counsels against policy that "squanders
American power. and American lives in a
doomed attempt to fight someone else's war."
Also fundamental to Glenn's view of the Middle
WHEN CONSIDERING American par-
ticipation in conflicts like Lebanon and
Grenada, Glenn draws on personal experience.
As a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, he
viewed the dimension of battle of which a
leader of U.S. armed forces must be aware. "I
don't need to watch late-night TV to understand
what war is," he says. "No one will work har-
der than I to negotiate for peace."
As the principal architect of the 1978 Nuclear
Nonproliferation Act, Glenn has long pushed
for barring new membership to the nuclear
club and for reductions in force for those
nations that do possess nuclear arms. Now
satisfied that the SALT II terms are verifiable,
Glenn urges that that treaty be resubmitted to
the Senate for ratification. He is troubled by
the inertia of the arms control process, an
outgrowth of tensions between Washington and
Moscow.
InsOctober, with the Geneva talks on
medium-range nuclear weapons floundering,
Senator Glenn offered a bold proposal: for the
United States to initiate a temporary
moratorium on the deployment of European,
cruise missiles. Glenn's thought was to show
Soviet leaders a sign of good faith in order to
revive negotiations. Unfortunately, the
proposal was not heeded; the U.S. missiles in
Europe recently were declared,
euphemistically, operational. A second depar-
ture from the administration's arms control
tack is Senator Glenn's wish that the U.S.
count British and French nuclear weapons as
part of the West's arsenal. Such a formula
would likely spur agreement, since the Soviets
understandably include British and French
weapons as part of the total nuclear force they
need to counter. Glenn strongly backs the
Kennedy-Hatfield freeze resolution, though he
feels the text of the proposal "does not go far
enough."
PERHAPS AS difficult to fathom as the
levels of weapons the East and West maintain
is the federal budget deficit. Glenn's prescrip-
tion for curbing the deficit, which will amount
to almost $200 billion this year, involves a
necessary but potentially unpopular plan. He
would couple tax increases with an eye for
economies in defense spending, to which few
outside of the Pentagon would object.
Funding for education is a facet of gover-
nment spending Glenn is committed to preser-
ve. In keeping with his attachment to research
and development, Glenn considers education4
not as an expense, but as an investment. He
calls upon the federal government to ensure
equal access and opportunity in school systems
by restoring grant and loan programs. He has
also directed a task force to examine a
proposed trust fund to provide displaced
workers with loans for education and training.
On environmental concerns, Glenn offers
legislation that tackles one particular problem
caused by industry in his home state. He calls
for a slight electric bill surtax to finance new
purifying devices at coal-burning plants. The
new technology would reduce sulfur dioxide
emissions, a major cause of acid rain, by about
one-third over the next decade.
Innovative leadership is possible only with a
strong supporting cast. As Senator, Glenn has
surrounded himself with a diverse body of ad-
visors. He is said to value the counsel of Middle
East specialist Sol Linowitz, former
Secretaries of Defence James Schlesinger and
Harold Brown, former Secretaries of State
Edmund Muskie and Cyrus Vance, former Un"-
dersecretary of State Joseph Sisco, and former
Senator Abraham Ribicoff. Reliable in-
telligence and advice, Glenn realizes, is central
to sound policy formulation.
John Glenn the senator, and the candidate, is
regarded as a centrist, wary of uniformly
liberal or conservative politics. As his can-
didacy reflects, he thinks of himself as a
representative of the Democratic party, and
not for the sum of the various classes,
ethnicities, and special interests which comp
prise the electorate. Those who become mor
familiar with John Glenn will sense that he is
genuinely excited about helping the country
"design the future," and qualified to do just
that. The presidential nomination process
begins next month with the first of the state
primaries; Michigan holds its caucus on March
17. Ideally, again, this introduction will serve
as an inducement to members of the Univeisity
community to become better informed before
exercising the franchise.
Golin is a junior in LSA. Morton is
senior in LSA. They are coordinating the
local effort for Glenn's campaign and both
served as interns this past summer for the
national campaign in Washington, D.jC.
John Glenn has the right stuff to be president, but not because he was an astronaut. As his nine
years in the Senate attest, he is a respected leader ready to lead the nation as it shapes itself for
the future.
East is his insistence that Israel's security be
ranked as the highest interest of the United
States. Evenhandedness in dealing with Arab
nations and Israel is a Reagan tactic Glenn has
criticized.
Closer to home, Senator Glenn calls for
greater self-determination for America's
southern neighbors. "Our task in Latin
America," he contends, "is to let change take
place without a blind insistence on managing
and manipulating it. We should be ready and
willing to help, but not by imposing 'made in
U.S.A.' prescriptions." He is convinced that
steadily increasing levels of military aid will do
little "because they paper over, rather than
solve, the fundamental problems."
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCI V-No. 85 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent d majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Time to pay the price
TTNIVERSITY students, especially But if the leaders of the state and
those from Michigan, often find their constituents recognize the need
a that good high school grades don't and benefit of such improvements, as
prepare them for the academic well as the long-term implications of
challenges of the University. Students not taking action, they won't be so
from low-income school districts which hasty to reject the financial cost.
lack sound educational programs are Education is the major route of up-
disadvantaged. After a long-overdue ward social mobility in this nation. In
study of the problem, the state Board addition, strong educational systems
of Education has come up with a set of bring in industry and jobs and the
solutions which, on the whole, promise people seeking academic excellence.
a brighter future for Michigan's Until now, the public agreement on
educational system. the need for excellence in education
The board's report, "Better has resulted in a moral commitment,
g Education for Michigan Citizens: a but not a financial one. Two state
Blueprint for Action," outlined 60 senators already have lost their jobs
initiatives for upgrading educational after voting for Gov. Blanchard's tem-
standards in the state's junior and porary income tax increase. The tax
. senior high schools. The report, issued increase was a crucial move toward
earlier this week, recommended keeping tuition rates at state colleges
lengthening the school year and and universities from skyrocketing
establishing tougher graduation and in preserving the current funds for
r requirements for high school students. primary and secondary schools.
One of the more unusual recommen- Lengthening the school year and
dations is that the board seek man- toughening graduation requirements
datory statewide graduation standards will not guarantee a marked im-
if local districts don't adopt them provement this year or next. The
voluntarily, board's aim is to ensure that Michigan
There is a catch to the plan, however high school graduates will be
- it's price tag of $500 million. adequately prepared for whatever en-
Legislators and school officials deavor they choose - college or
generally have praised the substance otherwise. The state can improve the
of the board's proposals but criticized level of education of its citizens. But
the high cost of such reforms as exten- the people have to be willing to pay for
ding the school year by 20 days. it.
Sinclair
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THE H-o
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Will the registered poor vot
By Joanmarie Kalter
NEW YORK - "Excuse me,
are you a registered voter?"
Altagracia Robles, 31, is not
eager to sign up - she says she's
late, must get home, will do it
Monday - but finally, she is
coaxed over to the table.
Robert Banks, the receptionist
and music teacher at Henry
Street Settlement House, where
Robles' two small children come
for day care, helps her complete
the registration form. And he is
made aware, once again, that
this is only half the battle.
"I DID THIS once before, but I
didn't make the time to vote,"
Robles says. Will she vote this
time? "Oh yes," she says
mechanically. "I will try. It's a
tlement houses, and clinics with
the help of social service em-
ployees and volunteers. Since
May, SERVE has registered
60,000 in New York alone. Its
nationwide goal is five million.
But some think the numbers
are misleading. "Let's face it,"
says Dave Collessano, a social-
work student who helps SERVE.
"These people fill out forms all
the time. I'd be kidding you to say
that really means they'll vote."
UNLIKE THOSE WHO claim
voter registration itself is a
means of empowering the poor,
Collessano finds registration
meaningless unless people feel
empowered already. "When they
think they can affect their en-
vironment, that's when they'll
vote," he says.
Some of the volunteers are
more than efficient - and more
energetic - than others. At the
Human Resources Ad'
ministration building in lower
Manhattan, food-stamp and
welfare recipients crowd around
a tableas Ray Rosario yells,
"Register to vote - or cut your
throat!"
Rosario's registrants seem
committed and less defeatist
than most. Rosario and his group
have seized upon workfare -
which many poor people see as
slave labor - as a galvanizing
issue.
"You hear a lot of comments
like, 'Register for what? Why
bother?' says Rosario. "But
people feel a lot of anger about
being forced to work for such tow
wages."
Whatever the level of commit-
ment at registration, everyone
agrees that follow-up is the key. A
study by Project Vote found that
with little follow-up, only 29 per-
cent of the newly registered tur-
ned out to vote in New Jersey's
1981 governor's race. With mor
vigorous follow-up the turnou
rose to 66 percent.
. Since turnout runs high in a
presidential race, SERVE
organizers believe far more than
66 percent of their newly
registered voters could turn out
in 1984.
Kalter wrote this article fo
the Pacific News Service.