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OPINION
Page 4
Sunday, September 23, 1984
The Michigan Daily
Regents
F THE controversial Voter's Choice disclosed amounto
proposal is approved this November, the alumni, students, f
University could face a disasterous economic fluenced by. the 1
shortfall, the University regents resolved this Proposal C.
week.
At their Friday meeting, the regents con-
demned the populist tax cut measure by a vote
of 6-0. Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) ab- UGL
stained, and Regent Paul Brown (D-Petoskey)
was absent.
Proposal C would reduce all state and local
condemn ba
of money trying to persuade
aculty, and other groups in-
University to vote against
i computers
poperty taxes to their December, 1981
levels-substantially lower than current
rates-unless voters backed a tax increase in a
special election.
Opponents of the measure claim that such a
drastic cut in revenue would lead to chaos in
the state's-still fragile economy. But proponen-
ts say the Michigan Legislature has wasted the
taxpayers' money too long, and a tax rollback
is overdue.
According to Richard Kennedy, University
vice president for state relations, the regents
may have to consider the possibility of raising
tuition in the middle of the school year in order
to make up the nearly $20 million cut in state
appropriations the University will face if this
passes.
To try to help defeat the proposal, the regents
ordered the University officers to campaign
against it. The University will spend an un-
Just when you thought it was safe to go to the
library to escape the advance of computer
technology by settling into a chair and letting
your eyes dive into an old leather-bound book,
the UGLi replaces its lounge chairs and tables
with Michigan Terminal System computers.
Forget pop machines and candy dispensers,
in a high tech world there is no need for such
things in a library.
Besides, University officials say the com-
puter center needed more space for their MTS
terminals, the engineering school needed to
expand their existing facilities for their studen-
ts, and the library wanted to use its limited
space efficiently. Who needs a lounge anyway?
David Norden, director of the UGLi, said the
University felt that the need for a computer
facility for general student use would be a good
trade off for the lounge, especially considering
the Michigan Union's new food places and
study area.
Though it is not yet known how much the
project will cost or which computers will be in
stalled, Norden estimates there will be at least
40 or 45 Zenith Z150's as well as a large number
of MTS terminals.
One of the few flaws in the idea is that it was
not planned sooner so that it would be ready
this fall. But officials say they expect the
project to be completed by the end of this
academic year.
lot prop
resolution for a lower fine, says he hopes the
state will heed the city's example and lower the
penalty for scalping. Blow spouted that
famous, oft-quoted line borrowed from
President Reagan that "the government should
stay off the backs of the people." Why this
means a $25 fine instead of no fine whatsoever
seems a puzzle. Well alas, the city must make
money just like the scalper.
Councilmember Dick Deem (R-Second
Ward) voted against the lower fine, claiming
that it would encourage the professional
scalpers in the area without benefiting the city.
LSA Senior John Haughton, who had cam-
paigned to change the ticket scalping law since
last November when he was picked up by two
police officers, ended his personal battle to
decriminalize ticket scalping. And, he was un-
doubtedly happy.
As for the scalpers, they are as numerous as
ever-perched in front of the Michigan Union
like seagulls hovering about fishing boats in the
ocean.
"I'm here every Saturday. And I'll be here
every Saturday. I mean I clear at least $65 on
any given Saturday morning. You think I'm
going to quit because of a $25 fine?" declared
one anonymous scalper standing in front of the
Union.
City Council members and police officials
may feel they have found a new cure to treat
those individuals who feel compelled to turn a
buck by selling University football ticktets.
But you can't drive seagulls away from the
ocean, and you can't keep scalpers away from
the front doors of the Union.
An exclusive club
University Club officials face a day of
reckoning next week as they try and explain to
This young University Club patron isn't even
interested in drinking a glass of pop much less
a beer. But if he were of age, he couldn't drink
without proving U-Club membership.
The indomitable scalper
The ticket saga continues.
Monday Ann Arbor City Council made their
move with united force and voted 10-1 to lower
the penalty for ticket scalping to a $25 fine. The
law will go into effect Sept. 27.
What was really accomplished by this action
remains to be seen. City police officers will
still have the option of arresting the scalper
and enacting the steeper state punishment of a
$100 fine and 90 days in jail. And the scalper
lives on.
James Blow (R-Second Ward), sponsor of the
osal
the State Liquor Control Commission why they
have, on occasions, allowed non-members of the
club to indulge in alcoholic concoctions.
Apparently, it's a case of the U-Club not
being exclusive enough. which has sent local
bar owners into a tizzy.
An Ann Arbor bar owner who declined to be
named, suggested that the liquor control com-
mission investigate the club's practices. For
the U-Club has a "private club" liquor licerce
which restricts sales to students, professors,
staff members, alumni who apply for member-
ship, and guests of members.
Who doesn't that include? Why none other
than one liquor control commission officer who
was served a drink on July 18 and is now,
bringing the violation to the attention of U-Clubi
officials. Another non-member slipped through
the club's censors on Sept. 8, according to one
liquor control commission official.
Possible penalties for the mess-ups range
from fines of up to $300 for each violation, to
suspension or revocation of the club's license,
officials say. However, it is not yet apparent if
the club will be penalized.
The crackdown on the club has resulted in
confusion over concerts already scheduled;to
be open for the general public and a stricte4
policy for checking membership has been im-
plemented. Not only do patrons have to get
stamps to prove they are over 21, but they must
wear plastic bracelets if they want to drink.
Die-hard U-Club fans should bask in the
unique service the club provides now because
there's an outside chance it may lose its licen-
se.
As the famous latin term suggests,
diem-seize the day-and get those
drinkb hoIev are ~taken awav.
carpe
U-Club
The Week in Review was compiled by
Daily staff writer Eric Mattson and Daily
Opinion Page editor Jackie Young.
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCV, No. 16
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
America's 1
IHEMCRAB APPLE National Wildlife
Refuge in Williamson County, Ill.
used to be the Sangamon dump-a
disposal site for a local electrical com-
pany. It is now the federal site listed
as most hazardous in terms of toxic
waste. Instead of providing an en-
vironmental sanctuary, high levels of
lead and polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCB's) have poisoned the soil and
wildlife of the area. Sangamon dump
left a deadly legacy-a legacy which is
repeated at countless sites throughout
the country.
Unfortunately the Environmental
Protection Agency, whose job it is to
correct such disasters, and the Reagan
administration are playing politics
with this lethal subject. New Jersey
Rep. James Florio released
Friday a new list of toxic waste sites
prepared by the EPA and leaked by of-
ficials within the agency who were
frustrated by the delay in publicly
identifying the sites. The EPA is
required within a prescribed 12-month
period to update its priority list, and an
update should have come at the begin-
ning of the month. The sites listed
were to be added to those that
represent a "substantial and imminent
threat" to health and the environment.
So why would information of such
urgent public importance be delayed
by the EPA? The assistant ad-
ministrator for toxic waste programs,
Lee Thomas, explained that the list
was in "final review" and that, regar-
dless, 128 sites had already been ad-
ded, complying with the annual
revision requirement. Those 128 sites,
however, were proposed a full year ago
and had just not been formally put on
the list.
toxic legacy
The real reason for the delay is that
the administration would like to block
legislation calling for an extension of
the toxic waste clean-up fund. The
legislation has passed through the
House and is currently in the Senate.
President Reagan has already said
that he does not want any legislation
this year. Public alarm that might be
caused as a result of the expanded list
would place very undesireable
political pressure on the president to
increase funding for the clean-up of
those sites.
Last summer the House voted for a
five year extension to the cleanup fund
and an expansion of funding from the
current $1.6 billion to $10.2 billion. The
reason? There are currently 538 toxic
waste sites on the priority list and
Thomas himself estimates that could
grow to 2,000 in the next two years.
The agency has also estimated that
there may be as many as 22,000 waste
sites in the country which will even-
tually need to be cleaned up. Those are
staggering numbers that represent an
ominous threat to the environment and
the health of millions of Americans.
But the administration turns the
other way-as it has turned away from
the acid rain problem-and says it
needs more "reviews," more
"studies," and initiates little construe-
tive action.
America's toxic legacy affects
everyone because it affects the en-
vironment. There is no such thing as
an isolated environmental crisis,
especially when there are 22,000 of
them. The health of the nation, and of
the planet, demands action-action
that the administration and EPA are
far too slow to give.
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In debates over capital
punishment, liberals have
traditionally called for mercy
while conservatives demand
retribution. The debate still is
framed largely in these terms,
yet there now is some blurring at
the edges-some people from
each camp do not react predic-
tably when discussing the fate of
the 1,400 people now on death
row.
When the Senate considered a
federal death-penalty bill earlier
this year, several liberal
Democrats voted for capital
punishment.
ON THE OTHER hand, several
moderate Republicans opposed
the bill. "New Right" fundraiser
Richard Viguerie and a former
Richard Nixon aide, Charles
Colson, also have taken firm
positions against the death
penalty.
Only time will tell whether
these men are simply mavericks
or whether others in the right will
follow their lead. Certainly it
would be ironic if conservatives
were to lead a swing of public
opinion against the death
penalty. Conservatives generally
have led the swing in the other
direction.
Conservatives and moderates
opposed to capital punishment
use a variety of arguments.
Colson bases his opposition
squarely on skepticism about big
government. "I'm opposed to the
death penalty," Colson said in a
1982 interview. "As a nnliticsal
Conservatives may
be changing views
on death penalty
By Mary Meehan
Viguerie also opposes abortion.
While he reached his positions of
these two matters independently,
he does see a connection. "To
me, life is sacred. And I don't
believe I have a right to ter-
minate someone else's life either
way-by abortion or capital
punishment."
Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.)
challenged the effectiveness of
the death penalty as a deterrent.
The federal bill covers such acts
as assassination, and Danforth
said these are "crimes of
terrorism" that probably cannot
be deterred. Quoting an expert
who suggested some terrorists
are "suicidal schizophrenics,"
Danforth commented that the
death penalty for such people
"might be an incentive to crime
rather than a deterrent."
Some other points against the
death penalty seem essentially
conservative in nature. Prof.
James Barber of Duke Univer-
sity has said, "You do not have to
be a pacifist to be against killing
convicts. It is one thing to kill
Although President Reagan sup-
ports capital punishment in the'
United States, he has requested
clemency for prisoners abroad on
at least two occasions.
IN LATE 1980, he urged South
Korea to spare the life of its chief
opposition leader. His appeal,
joined with those of the outgoing
Carter administration and other
governments, was successful.
Last year Reagan appealed to
Iran to stop executing members
of the Bahai faith without effect.
Certainly Reagan could protest
executions in Iran and elsewhere
with greater force and eloquence
if we were to halt our own.
Another figure much admired
by conservatives, Pope John
Paul II, has requested clemency
for both political prisoners and
criminals. Although his appeal
for a death-row prisoner in
Florida was unavailing last year,
it could not have gone unnoticed
by conservative Catholics.
The U.S. Catholic bishops also
have taken a stand against
cnnital nlnishment While eon-
sorieimpact.
WHAT REMAINS to be seen is
whether'criticisms of the death
penalty from the right and the
center will have any practical ef-
fect.
So far, they have not. There
have been 13 executions alredly
in 1984-more than the total of the
seven previous years. The death-
row population, which now stands
at about 1,400, is growing by 15 to
20 inmates per month.
If conservative and liberal
critics of the death penalty could
agree on an alternative to it, they
might form a powerful coalition.
There are signs that some
liberals understand this. Last
year Democratic Senators Ed-
ward Kennedy, Howard Metzen-
baum and Patrick Leahy
suggested life in prison without
parole as an alternative to capital
punishment. A leading
organizational opponent of the
death penalty, the Southern
Coalition on Jail and Prisons, has
taken a similar position.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-
Wis.) a conservative who suppor-
ts capital punishment, told the
press earlier this year, "I
wouldn't advocate the detth
penalty if we had life imprison-
ment without parole, with per-
sons convicted of a very henious
crime locked up and the key
thrown away. But in many in-
stances, these people get back ouit
on the streets."
The assurance that murderers
no longer will be turned loose
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Unsigned
editorials
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