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OPINION
Page 4
Friday, November 9, 1984
4 The Michigan Daily
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die 3 sdesahnichiganku
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
A future for the
Democrats
Vol. XCV, No. 56 '
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
A modest proposal
O NE OF THE things that is so
special about Ann Arbor is the
dedication of the city's parking meter
attendants. They hover like so many
vultures waiting for the "expired" sign
to pop up and then with no delay slap a
ticket on your windshield. They are so
effective that as many as 25,000 tickets
have been issued in a single month.
While such dedication will no doubt
continue, Ann Arbor City Council is
considering changes in the city's
parking meter policies that would be a
good deal more humane that those
which now exist.
Earlier this week, City Council
tabled their discussion of parking
policies in an effort to gain more com-
munity input. The message from the
community should be clear: the
policies need to be changed.
At the heart of the problem is the fact
that parking in Ann Arbor is a hassle.
There is a great shortage of spaces,
and where spaces can be purchased in
some of the larger parking structures
the cost is prohibitive. So many
students and residents out of
desperation park illegally and ignore
the tickets. This accounts for the large
number of tickets issued, and the large
number of tickets that are unpaid.
Parking tickets are expensive. Sure,
if you pay within the first week it only
costs $3 but then the fine goes quickly
up to $8 and then to $18. Only the most
punctual can keep the costs down. Af-
ter racking up a bill of $20 or $30 bucks
the urge is just to ignore it. And
thousands of Ann Arbor motorists do
just that. In fact, the city is owed
nearly $2,000,000 in parking fines.
This understandably disturbs the
city so that police get a computer
readout of those cars with six tickets or
more, search them down, tow them
away, and eventually collect the
money owed. The whole procedure is
expensive for the city and an obvious
annoyance for motorists. The city
doesn't urge prompt payment, it
harasses the violator into paying. The
point is not to excuse the guilty parking
violator, but to take into account cer-
tain realities: people have to park, and
if faced with huge fines will be very
reluctant to pay them.
City Council has promised a
lowering of fines from $3 to $2 if paid
within two days. In order to encourage
this prompt payment, the city would
install collection boxes around Ann
Arbor, and instead of towing, would
place locks on the wheels of illegally
parked cars. The wisdom of this
proposal is that it would be less expen-
sive and more convenient for all par-
ties involved. The city wouldn't have to
tow, would most likely receive a
greater precentage of fines, and
parking violators could pay convenien-
tly and not run the risk of being towed.
The real solution, of course, would be
to provide better and cheaper parking.
But since that won't happen, the City
Council proposal is a reasonable, if
only partial, solution to the problem.
By Andrew Hartman
On the heels of Reagan's landslide electoral
victory, many far-reaching questions will be
put forth. Is Reagan's re-election a mandate
for conservative policies? Is this the begin-
ning of a new Republican majority? What will
the Democratic Party do? Finally, did the
Republicans really win and what does the
future hold?
President Reagan won big electorally but
only won the popular vote by 59 percent to 41
percent. Considering 41 percent of the people
disapproved of Reagan and of those who did
vote for the president, some were simply voting
against Walter Mondale and/or Geraldine
Ferraro, Reagan's victory is much less
resounding. In the Senate, the Republicans
actually lost two seats, including the defeat of
Senator Percy of Illinois. In the House, where
the Democrats were extremely vulnerable,
the Republicans only picked up about 12
seats, hardly touching the Democratic 100
seat majority. This electionwas not aman-
date for the Republican Party or a major
realigning election.
THIS ELECTION reflects the popularity of
a popular president. There was very little coat-
tail effect and the Republicans actually lost
big in Congress, and in the states. For exam-
ple, Florida was one of Reagan's strongest
victories butthe Republicans picked up no
House seats. It is amazing that with 435 House
seats up, and with a nationwide Reagan vic-
tory.of 59 percent, the Republicans only won
12 seats. Statistically, they should have
picked up 84 seats.
Democrats in Michigan lost the presidency
but claimed victory in almost every other
area. Democratic Senator Levin ws re-
elected, the Michigan delegation to the House
remains 12 Democrats and 6 Republicans,
conservative Proposal C was crushed, and the
state assembly remained about the same.
What must the Democrats do to recapture
the White House in 1984? The party must
nominate a candidate that is not of the old
New Deal Democratic school. Democrats
have been losing support with the middle
class and the young. Unless something is
"y"Reagan
Mondale
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Reagan may have taken the presidency from the Democrats but his party made very
few inroads into the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and even lost
members in the Republican-controlled Senate. (The asterisks represent vacancies in
both the House Republican and Democratic seats.)
4
done, these groups may again support the
Republicans in 1988. The Democrats will
always be outspent by the Republicans, they
must nominate a vibrant young candidate
who will lead the party through the 1990s.
THE NEXT election in 1986 will be a very
shaky one for the Republicans. They have 22
Senate seats up whereas the Democrats only
have 12 at stake. These Republicans were
brought in by the Reagan landslide in 1980 and
it is unlikely that all will be re-elected.
Professor Kinder of the University's
political science department states that,
"Republican control of the Senate will be
vulnerable in 1986." In 1986, the Democrats
should retake the Senate and maintain a
strong advantage in the House. This will have
the effect of bottlenecking Ronald Reagan for
the last two years of his term. Until the 1988
election, he will be a lame duck without much
power.
In 1988, we should look for Baker, Bush, and
Kemp battling it out for the Republic
nomination. The Democrats will find a Har,
Hollings, or Cuomo ticket, if they know what
is good for them. 1988 is a long ways away.
But remember, you heard it here first!
Hartman is president of the campus
College Democrats.
Sinclair
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Defeat of the tax-slashers
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MICHIGAN CAN breath a sigh of
relief, the tax-slashers have
been held at bay. No result of
Tuesday's election is more important
to the residents of this state than the
overwhelming defeat of Proposal C.
The "voter's choice" proposal would
have crippled fundamental state ser-
vices such as education and roads
maintenance and even more importan-
tly would have undermined the prin-
ciples of representative government.
The voters made the right choice.
Students at the University should be
especially relieved. The proposal, if
passed, would have cut a large percen-
tage of state funding to the University
resulting in a sizeable increase in
tuition-which is the last thing studen-
ts here need.
Taxes are a touchy subject in
Michigan. Last year two state
legislators were recalled by voters
irate over the lawmakers' support of
an income tax increase. Voters don't
like taxes, but luckily they also don't
respond to single-issue politics and the
knives of tax-cutters heading toward
crippling the state's essential services.
The proposal would have taken touc-
y issues off of the shoulders of
legislators and brought them to a state-
wide vote. But American democracy
doesn't work that way. Legislators are
elected to represent the best interests
of their constituency. This often entails
making unpopular choices, such as a
tax increase. If the voters don't like the
choices their representatives make,
they say so at the polls.
Representative government places
the public trust in legislators to further
the best interests of that public.
Proposal C's defeat wasta great vic-
tory in the support of that ideal.
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LETTERS TO THE
DAILY
Research panel lacks information
To the Daily :
In March of 1972 the regents
adopted a policy on classified
research which states the "The
University will not enter into or
renew any agreements or con-
tract, or accept any grant, the
clearly foreseeable and probable
result of which, the direct ap-
plication of which, or any specific
purpose of which is to destroy
human life or to incapacitate
human beings." As a member of
the Classified Research Review
Panel I have the responsibility of
looking at classified projects and
deciding whether or not I think
they violate the guidelines. I have
recently been given a project
proposal from Prof. Theodore
Birdsall titled "Basic-Scale
Ocean Aouistic Tomography in
the North Pacific" which, after
serious consideration, I believe
violates the Classified Research
Guidelines.
A similar project came up for
review last year as the student on
project which I am reviewing is
an extension of Professor Bir-
dsall's last project. According to
Professor Birdsall, compared to
last year's project "Tomography
could be better used to find sub-
marines in the ocean." Having
approached Birdsall with uncer-
tainty as to whether or not the
project violated the Classified
Research Guidelines, his
statements relating the ap-
plication of the project to anti-
submarine warfare helped me to
make a decision.
While I have decided to reject
the project, I have done so under
great pressure and with little in-
formation. One of my goals in
rejecting the project is to bring
into question the nature and ap-
plication of the research which
BLOOM COUNTY
Professor Birdsall is proposing to
do. With my decision the project
will go to the Research Policies
Committee where further
discussion on the project's accep-
tibility will take place. However,
the Research Policies Committee
will be meeting this Friday to
make its final decision. Given the
current lack of information and
time, I think this raises serious
questions about the present
decision-making process and its
ability to provide for a truly
educated conclusion.
-Nancy Arnof
November 6
Aronoff is on the Univer-
sity 's Classified Research
Review Panel.
Racist joke shows ignorance
To the Daily:
At the end of a difficult
chemistry test last week the per-
son sitting next to me nodded to
the black TA in front of the
room and said to surrounding
students, "Well, I hope nigger
logic did something for you."
This comment got a big laugh.
Such a comment and response
reflect ignorance. This is
precisely what a college
education is supposed
eradiate. Apparently, educators
have their work cut out for them
this term.
-Lynn Crawford
November 8
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