4 OPINION Page 4 Sunday, April 8, 1984 The Michigan Daily Protests and debate surround code in T HE PROTESTS didn't hold together very well. Neither did the yarn or the crepe paper. But the students protesting the Univer- sity's proposed code of non-academic conduct certainly made their point - whether or not anybody agreed. Monday was the rehearsal at the ad- ministration building. Led by a bearded trum- pet player who obviously never finished his fir- st trumpet lesson, 11 members of No Code wrapped a ribbon of blue crepe paper 'round the old Fleming building. As the crepe paper broke, they dragged it through the lobby and attracted curious looks from the administrators who tripped over it. But organizers looked anxiously forward to the real thing Friday. Meanwhile the University Council held a forum Thursday night to find out whether there were any opponents to the code outside of the few who protest everything the administration does. They invited 500 randomly-chosen students, but only 125 showed up. Everyone came to a definite conclusion after the meeting, but not everyone shared the same one. No Code leaders said it showed a wide base of anti-code sentiment, while administrators said it didn't. Friday's blue-ribbon protest involved encir- cling central campus with blue yarn, but it wasn't long before the yarn was broken and students ignored the pleas of "sleep-in, sit-in, or protest" and headed for class. There wasn't much support for No Code, but maybe they did accomplish something. At least they had a few people wondering what was being knitted on State Street. Comedy of errors Can they do nothing right? It sounds so simple. See who wants to run for Rackham Student Goverment, write their names on the ballot, have everybody in the school cast a vote, and count them all up. Who ever gets the most votes wins. It sounds so simple. But when RSG tried it in January, somebody got mad because one of the candidates tried to give out a mail-in ballots after the polling. booths had closed. So they had a few meetings and decided to try it all over again. Well, all of it happened again - the vote, the accusations, the meetings about whether to invalidate the election. It seems this time one of the voters thought a supposedly impartial election worker tried to tell him how to vote. But the worker says she was just clarifying a candidate's position. Don't touch that dial. Tune in next time to find out the answers to these and many other questions: Will RSG throw out its second election this term and try for a third? Will RSG believe the voter who says he was influenced or the election worker who says he wasn't? Will the candidate who allegedly violated the rules by being too close to the polling place bring a tape measure next time? Will RSG ever make the papers for anything else but election problems? Don't touch that dial. But twice a year Students began that dreaded semi-annual tradition this week - CRISP. Starting last Monday, from the inhuman hour of 8 a.m. until the doors closed at 4:30 p.m., students approached the all-powerful computer to see if their schedules next term would be a breeze or a bust. One lucky student began laughing insanely when he discovered he had successfully CRISPed into all the courses he wanted. "Two terms in a row!" he giggled, while other poor wretches had to search for that extra natural science credit or a non-8 a.m. computer class. There are Ways in which you can prepare for the ordeal: Have alternate courses already picked out, keep cool, and change your last name every term so you get to CRISP first. Jean Weinman, an LSA junior, put it this way: "It all works out and I don't have nervous breakdowns like I used to." CRISP administrators and students alike had a nightmare come true on Friday, however, when the computer broke down for nearly two hours. There were no reports of violence. But for some students, the horror is only beginning. Those who were wait-listed or came up against an inactive course - whatever that means - will have to return to Lorch Hall for another round with the computer. And of course, there are those students who will face massive closed course lists later this week. CRISP officially ends on Friday. Tax and termination With chants of "Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, tax withholdings got to go," the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) rallied this week against the University because an IRS code that allows tuition benefits to be tax free has expired and the University has decided to start withholding taxes from TAs' paychecks. The University is the only college in the country that is withholding taxes on tuition waivers. GEO wants the University to return the money it has already collected in taxes on the waiver even though Congress is expected to reinstate the law this summer, said GEO President Celeste Burke. The University has also decided that the letters GEO has sent to TAs who have failed to pay union dues were "improper." Dan Gamble, University personnel manager, said GEO violated their contract by sending TAs form letters instead of individual notices last month about the unpaid dues. The University has decided not to fire TAs who haven't paid the fees unless GEO sends the TAs new letters. But even if the University was willing to comply with the contract, termination proceedings would not take place before the end of this term, added Gamble. The sky was grey but the yarn was blue as protestors of the proposed code of non academic -conduct picketed and encircled cen- tral campus with twine on Friday. The Week in. Review was compiled by Daily staff reporters Neil Chase, Andrew Eriksen, and Eric Mattson. A ____ I LaBan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XdIV-No. 151 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 I FMOT-THLA UE. CZNGELSDDrF AIL ,j Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Reagan vs RECENTLY PRESIDENT Reagan, Rtrying to diffuse criticism of his foreign policy strategies, has taken to attacking Congress. Reagan's gripe }with the governing body which provides a check on the immense powers of the president is that some members have actually dared to question the wisdom of relying so heavily on the use of force over diplomacy. Reagan and members of his administration feel that a bipartisan approach to foreign policy is necessary to eliminate all disagreements between the president and Congress. But what he calls "bipartisanship" is more like a dictatorship. Those members of Congress who questioned the 'presence of U.S. military troops in Lebanon after the truck bomb explosion that killed 260 Marines, are dangerous forces threatening the United States' interests in the world, in Reagan's view. Reagan said some members of Congress who raise such dissenting voices believe this nation is "still in the troubled Vietnam era" and therefore they see their only role as "vocal critics, not responsible partners in developing positive, practical programs to solve real problems." But how easily Reagan forgets that Congress is supposed to insure that there is a check on presidential power. Such checks as the War Powers Act have been badly abused during the Reagan administration and now it seems he is trying to erode Congress' power over him even more. Why shouldn't legislators be wary of another Vietnam situation, when Reagan tries to steadily increase U.S. military involvement in Central America? Congressional wavering had encouraged "enemies of democracy" in Central America, according to Reagan. But Reagan seems to be an enemv of democratic nrincinles . Congress himself. While Reagan continually speaks of the evils of communism, he and members of his administration are preaching an end to dissenting voices in Congress on foreign policy matters. This is evident in his wish that Congress would speak with "one voice" - his voice that is - and stop calling into question such "bipartisan" foreign policy solutions as the Kissinger Commission report on Central America. Last Tuesday, Secretary of State George Shultz said there were so many restrictions imposed by law on the president's ability to act that they hampered creation of an effective national policy. Diverse opinions always slow things down, but that is the price a country pays for having a democracy. Robert McFarlane, nationalsecurity advisor, said that ."full and open debate and criticism (of foreign policy tactics) is fine." But after a policy decision has been made, McFarlane equivocates and says there should be "full and private criticism." This type of criticism which he suggests - confidential letters to the president and private meetings - is contrary to the openness that is supposed to prevail in American government. With this kind of a policy, once the U.S. made a bad decision there would be very little room for the public or the press to watch or affect the actions of the government. Reagan's voice or that of his advisors should not be the only voice heard in this nation just because the president thinks his foreign policies are the best ones around. Reagan's disasterous policies in Lebanon vividly show the need to question his intentions and judgment. Reagan's pleas for a 'bipartisan consensus" in Congress are no more than an attempt to erode some of the necessary limits on presidential authority which make America a democracy, not a dictatorship. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . ......... f,: f. i LETTERS TO THE DAILY: GEO doesn't deserve TAs To the Daily: What has the GEO done for me? Well, in addition to harrassing me for the past month and a half, it has "won" medical and dental coverage for me (just what I needed! A third form of coverage!), it keeps a lobbyist in Washington (who no duobt is promoting my views), and it keeps lawyers on retainer (so I can rest easy at night). On a less positive note, the GEO has prevented me from getting a raise and last, but certainly not least, it is having me "ter- minated" on Tuesday (doesn't that seem unusually harsh? I could understand my em- ployment being terminated, but all the correspondance I've received insists that I will bite the big one.) If that isn't your idea of representation, you're not alone. . . I figure with friends like the GEO, who needs enemies? Seriously, I will lose my job this Tuesday because I refuse to sup- port a group that offers me nothing I desire, and in fact has acted contrary to my interests in many cases. I'm not trying to prevent those TAs who feel the --anr +n m 4 n- n fw-f, f-,A^1"" Department of Mechanical Engineering, for which I work, in pre-GEO days raised its TA's salaries 5 percent for each term they taught the same course. Since I'm on my third term, I'd be making 10 percent more than I am, but the GEO forbids any pay differentials. Apparently they don't feel that an experienced person does a better job, or that he deserves to be rewarded for it.) Nor do I desire to support a lobbyist who, since he's af- filiated with the Michigan Teachers Federation, is probably lobbying against merit pay for teachers, something I'm very strongly in favor of. I think the University ad- ministration was seriously in error when it recognized a small group as the bargaining agents for all TAs, and an even worse mistake when it signed a contract with a closed shop clause. The amount of resistance the GEO met in collecting this represen- tation fee is proof that they do not have the support of the majority of the TAs. They were only able to collect the fee after badgering support and threatening until people paid simply to get the GEO off their backs. It should be a hollow vic- tory for them. One last note. I would most likely have joined the GEO of my own volition in order to help fight the tax on our tuition wavers. Here was a situation in which I felt that T needed to join m fellow TAs to most effectivel9 fight a situation. Perhaps the GEO should have concentrated more on earning the support'of TAs instead of mandating it. Michael Mitchell April 6 Premeds not chained to textbooks To the Daily: Your article "Gunning through medical school" (Weekend, April 6) left a very sour taste in the mouths of the plethora of premed students who do not conform to the stereotypes presented. You depict premeds as pathetic in- dividuals, inherently vicious, held captive by chemistry tex- tbooks chained to their ankes. The students interviewed led the readers to believe that to attain -arMKrdei arian-- ...C-; m. sity, I have never seen or heard of an overt act of sabotage in any laboratory class. It is those students of mediocre intelligence, insecure about their ability to do well or under relen- tless pressure from overbearing parents, who create the com- petitive'environment. Put two or three of these students in one room the night before an exam and ugly things will happen. But for the students who are capable, and cnnfident with their ability to is not harder and no more com- petitive than. any otheg preprofessional program. As for organic chemistry, I found it much easier to comprehend and to do well in than my political civil liberties class. And to fur- ther quell those who claim how "competitive" the r premed sequence is, a visit to schools like Cornell or Duke would remind them quickly of what competition really is. Glenn Krinskv I