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OPINION
Page 4 Tuesday, October 30, 1984 The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
An appeal for student leaders
Vol. XCV, No. 47
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
County Prosecutor
ACCORDING TO George Sallade,
21 years is a long enough term for
a county prosecutor. We agree.
Sallade, the Democratic challenger
to incumbent Washtenaw County
Prosecutor William Delhey, says
Delhey has failed to change his office
and initiate new programs over the
last two decades. He calls for in-
creased use of psychologists, social
workers, and female interviewers in
dealing with sexual assault victims
and family problems. He points to the
fact that there are no blacks on
Delhey's 19-person staff. And he says
there is a need for increased services
to help victims of domestic violence
and to keep victims from being treated
like criminals during investigations.
These ideas deserve to be pushed for-
ward.
Delhey seems to agree that
programs are needed in these areas,
and he points to his success at begin-
ning and maintaining efforts to settle
family disputes, successfully
prosecuting repeat criminal offender-
s, and dealing firmly but fairly with
first-time drunk drivers.
Delhey has, indeed, created suc-
cessful programs, but Sallade is
correct when he says there is a long
way to go. Sallade seems to have the
ability to make that progress. He
exhibits the energy and enthusiasm
needed to spark an office like the
prosecutor's into high gear.
As chairman of the Michigan cam-
paign for Gary Hart, Sallade gave his
office to the student campaigners and
led a campaign that brought Hart from
underdog to strong second-place
finisher in Michigan. He served in the
state legislature, and has run for
several other offices - both as a
Democrat and a Republican.
Sallade works closely with students
and says as prosecutor he would work
to ensure students the right to protest
peacefully and make their voice heard.
He opposes the proposed code of non-
academic - conduct and calls it un-
necessary. He sounds genuinely con-
cerned with the problems students
face.
Delhey says students are rarely in-
volved with the prosecutor's office,
and when they are it is usually as a vic-
tim. He opposes the proposed code
because it does not clearly state which
type of cases would be tried by the
University and which by the county,
but does not oppose the idea of a code.
It's time for a change in the
prosecutor's office, and George
Sallade promises the strong cross-
examination needed to bring about
that change. It's definitely worth a try.
Drain Commissioner
By Scott Page
The student government of the School of
Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA-SG) will
soon begin its annual fall election. This year's
contest might be devoid of the hand shaking,
leafleting, and postering contests that an-
nually pervade Angell, Mason, and Haven
Halls. Why? Because only one party is run-
ning.
Most people readily blame the all too often
publicized problem of student apathy on the
upcoming uncontested election. I would like
to ask that someone among the multitudes of
LSA students squelch this criticism of the
study body and organize an alternative party
in the spirit of competition and democracy.
THE REASON for becoming a member of
LSA-SG could conceivably be any of a number
of things. I would like to propose a somewhat
idealistic motivation.
The University benefits from and needs
more direct student involvement in the
decision making process, and LSA-SG
represents a vehicle for enhancing student in-
teraction with administrators. Students,
more than any other constituency in the
University community, possess an under-
standing of the quality of instruction at the
University. Responsible and intelligent
student input into University committees
promotes greater emphasis on the student
and less emphasis on simplicity.
Effective leadership in LSA-SG will im-
prove the school's academic programs for all
LSA students. I am not suggesting that by
LETTERS TO THE DAILY
Profit ince
To the Daily: vice. Th
The response given by Richard "private
Simonetta of the AATA in his let- for exa
ter "Night Ride not created for carefully
Women" (Daily, October 25) is to make
what one would expect out of threat to
an organization that has no incen- taxicab
tive to provide good service: the rides ar
incentive of profit. While it is true sidized. A
that nowhere in the AATA subsidies
literature or in its ads does it so-called
state that Night Ride is for prise" w
women, the whole idea behind it of eithe
was that many women, par- freemar
ticularly those working at shook the
University Hospitals without ac- Those
cess to cars, would want to make AATA or
use of the service, given that the
Ann Arbor Police might be too
busy writing parking tickets,
hassling "street people", or
busting someone for smoking a
joint to adequately patrol the To the Da
streets agaist the more violent I wish
members of the community. possible
A business that is seeking "Apathy
profit, and in fact is relying on it Day," (D
on a long term basis, is going to a handfu
provide the very best service it reporter
can to obtain that goal. In other was inter
words, better service, more interesto
profit. Public bus companies, viewees)
however, like everything else run on perh
by government, do not havenany aspect of
incentive and do not rely upon the or not fa
customer to call theshots, classes.
profitwise. Very little comes The lal
out of the fare box; most centralp
operating cost -forget profit- is
from tax-funded subsidies.
Whether you ride AATAeor not,
whether you are dragged off a
street corner and sexually
assaulted because the Night Ride To the D
was 20-30 minutes late is of no The ed
real concern. To be fair, there informat
has been a vast improvement in criticize
AATA from five or six years ago, vocation
but if you don't like the service, after his
walk. Or get a car. Just do not at- 1960 lette
tempt to start an alternative bus editors
company. It's a crime to compete discussio
with government. however,
As to the cab companies, this paign tr
sounds like a sweetheart deal, one Mon
Perhaps business is rather slack, "John F.-
or perhaps the contract beats Answer
hustling for customers, par- Ronald
ticularly if the customers are
fresh out of a night at the bars.
Again, don't try to start your own
cab service if you are unhappy BLO
with what's available. Licensing,
like subsidies, keeps out com-
petition.C
What is the best solution? A
totally free market in transpor-
tation. Those that provide the
best service at the least expensive
price will stay in'business. Those
who don't, won't. Any business
that gets complacent and slacks
off will soon find competition
climbing on its back. Of course, a
free-market transportation
system need not seek profit. Any
groupthat wantsto provide tran-
sport should be free to do so, 4A .
running for LSA-SG someone could drastically
change the direction of the school. I am
merely saying that any effort directed towar-
ds improving the University community is ex-
tremely important. LSA-SG offers a unique
opportunity to address real problems from an
idealistic perspective while still attaining
substantive results.
'I am not suggesting
that by running for
LSA-SG someone
could drastically
change the direction
of the school. I am
merely saying that
any effort directed
towards improving
the University com-
munity is extremely
important.'
THIS YEAR Eric Berman, the LSA-SG
president, and the LSA-SG representatives
have succeeded in increasing awareness
about the importance of LSA. Among other
things, they sponsored one essay contest and
are currently organizing a second they held
a symposium on liberal arts last spring,
they invited and arranged for a visit by Dr.
I-
-I_
ntive is the only incentive
here are a few such
services, van-pools,
,mple, but these are
watched and regulated
sure that they pose no
transit authorities or the
monopoly. Many of those
e also government-sub-
A free market needs no
or licensing, and those
" friends of free enter-
,o accept the legitimacy
r would not know the
ket if it came up and
eir hand.
who are hoping that
r any other government-
run entity will provide Service
-with-a-capital-S, convenience
and/or safety, are living in a
dream world. Until such time as
a free market can be established
in this country, such unfortunate
occurences will keep occurring.
Everyone should make their own
arrangements.
With government, it is not
going to get any better. The poor,
the women out alone on dark,
empty streets late at night are
just pawns for further boon-
doggles, further subsidies. It is
the free market, through that
much-maligned profit motive,
that really cares. Perhaps the
care is only the result of a desire
for profit, but the important
things is that desire does result in
care, and the ones who profit
from care are the customers. T
bad there's a law that preven,.
such a system from existing in
our society. Perhaps there should
be a closer scrutiny of those sup-
porters of that law.
-Jim Greenshields
October 27
Greenshields is chair of th
Hudler for Congress Commit
tee.
'factor
Ernest Boyer, a nationally recognized figure
in the area of liberal arts institutions,
scheduled for tonight, and
they admirably performed the difficult and
time consuming tasks of appointing student
to various LSA committees and appropriating
money to worthwhile student projects.
Although much of their work escapes cam-
pus publications such as the Daily and the
University Record, their accomplishments
should not be diminished. While the questions
they have asked and the issuesthey have
raised have not been the most salient on cam-
pus, they certainly have been among the
more important. The quality and direction of
the University's largest school deserves con-
siderable attention. LSA-SG has devote4
time and energy to that cause.
Like all student governments, LSA-SG is
not without its problems. Not all LSA-SG
representatives prioritize the needs of their
constituents (the twenty thousand plus LSA
students) before their own homework, thus
creating an inconsistency of work effort
among the members. Earlier this term in an
attempt to increase morale, mandatory office
hours became voluntary because so many
representatives were missing them.
Overall, though, the LSA-SG represen-
tatives have served their school well. To
paraphrase the inscription on the MSA front
door, "they have helped make the University
of Michigan a better place to live."
So should you.
Page is president of the Michigan
Student Assembly.
THE MAJOR issue in the race for
Washtenaw County Drain Com-
missioner is the water quality of the
Huron River, Geddes Pond, and Ford
rake.
The Republican candidate Daniel
Bicknell points to reports showing the
city as a source of bacterial pollution
putting sewage runoff into those bodies
of water. He accuses the Democrat in-
cumbent James Murray of negligence
concerning this problem and a lack of
concern for water quality. There is
some question as to how much action
Murray has taken concerning this
pollution, but even if he has done as
much as he contends, he does not
possess the commitment to environ-
mental safeguards that Bickell does.
For this reason, Daniel Bicknell is the
best choice for Washtenaw County
Drain Commissioner.
Bicknell places great emphasis on
adherence to the 1956 Drain Code
which states that, "the drain com-
missioner is to make investigations for
the purpose to end pollution of county
waters, in the protection of public
health and the promotion of the
general habitat." The University's
School of Public Health recently con-
ducted a study that shows that Huron
River waters and Ann Arbor's major
storm drain are contaminated with
human waste.
The problem is that sanitary pipe
lines are illegally hooked into storm
drains which carry runoff into the
Huron River. Murray says that he is
conducting a pollution abatement
program for that system, but Bickell
contends, and we believe, that more
can be done.
Bicknell is a graduate of Eastern
Michigan University in biology and
chemistry and is currently a graduate
student in the University's school of
Public Health. He has conducted his
own pollution studies and takes the
results of other studies very seriously.
No task of the drain commissioner can
be more important than the safeguar-
ding of clean rivers and lakes. Bicknell
has demonstrated his commitment to
cleaning up Washtenaw County's
waters and he deserves support.
Story magnifies apathy
aily:
to register my strongest
objections to your article
Hits Central America
aily, October 20). Based on
il of interviews your
concluded that nobody
ested (despite the stated
of several of the inter-
, and she chose to focus
aps the most trivial
the program: whether
culty will dismiss their
tter has never been the
premise of the event.
Your prognostication of apathy is
unfair to the broad spectrum of
organizations that have endorsed
and worked hard for Central
America Day: student groups
like MSA, LASC, and PSN;
faculty groups like FACHRES-
CA; University offices like
Religion and Ethics; church
groups like Lord of Light
Lutheran, New Jewish Agenda,
and the Interfaith Council; and
the City, Council of Ann Arbor
which unanimously declared Oc-
tober 24th to be Central America
Day.
But most of all your article is
an insult to the concern and com-
passion of the students at this
University - particularly during
an electoral campaign and
following a foreign policy debate
focussing precisely on Central
America. Please give students aj
this University a chanceti
educate themselves without
predjudicing them against the
events before-hand with cynical
pronouncements of "apathy."
-Peter Rosset
October 21
Mondale needs historv lesson
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aily:
litorial "No trivial bit of
ion" (Daily, October 25)
d President Reagan's in-
of John Kennedy's name
slandering of JFK in a
er to Richard Nixon. The
neglected, in their
on of Mondale's speech,
, one question of cam-
ivia: how many times in
dale rally can the name
Kennedy" be invoked.
r: 7.
d Reagan can't top that.
OM COUNTY
Does Walter Mondale have
more right to invoke JFK's name
than Ronald Reagan,as the Daily
implies? Hardly.
Mondale says he will bring
back the type of leadership this
country had under the Kennedy
administration, on the one hand;
on the other, he rips Reagan for
CIA training of revolutionists in
Central America. Mondale
should study up or some of his
American history-starting with
the Bay of Pigs.
Next, he should think back to the
Cuban missile crisis when he and
other Democrats criticized
Reagan's stand on the cruise
missiles in Western Europe.
Walter Mondale and his sup-
porters criticize the president's
"ignorance of the facts." Well,
Mondale, American history is
something a candidate for th
nation's highest office shou
know.
-Robert Andalman
October 26
by Berke Breathed
County Sheriff
T HE RACE for Sheriff of
Washtenaw County offers no
clear-cut choice. Both the incumbent
Republican candidate Ronald Schebil
and his Democratic challenger James
Douglas would undoubtedly provide
the county with responsible ad-
ministration of the enforcement and
prison systems. One-third of the coun-
ty's budget is allocated to the Sheriff's
department. The 11 million sum goes
toward county law enforcement, the
training of police officers, public
stituting the 911 emergency telephone
system in Saline and is disturbed that
the system is not in effect throughout
the county. Such a system for the coun-
ty would be desirable. In addition ,
Douglas emphasizes the need for in-
teraction between the sheriff's office
and the community.
Schebil took over the office in April
after the resignation of Thomas
Minick. He would undoubtedly con-
tinue to carry out his responsibilities
effectively.
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