OPINION Page 4 Saturday, November 10, 1984 The Michigan Daily The need to control early projec By Jerry Markon "Ronald Reagan has been re-elected president of our United States," CBS anchorman Dan Rather announced during the network's election coverage Although not surprising to pollsters who had predicted a Reagan landslide, and voters who had mysteriously obliged them, Rather's words come over the airwaves at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time - with polls still open in 34 states and only 3 percent of the vote counted. West Coast polls would remain open for another 3 hours, polls in Hawaii and parts of Alaska for 5! CBS had based its "projection" not on solid results but, rather, on those notorious network exit polls. According to Thursday's New York Times, the CBS/New York Times exit polls inter- viewed only 8,696 voters out of an estimated 92 million nationwide or an infinitessimal .00945 percent of the elec- torate. Not to be outdone, ABC and NBC soon followed as the networks competed among one another to project Reagan's victory. ABC's David Brinkley declared Reagan the winner at 8:13 p.m., and NBC, though it had promised restraint in light of its early projection in 1980, "generously" waited until 8:30. AS I WATCHED this display of network hysteria unfold, I was repulsed. Denying so many voters their right to a free objective choice made a mockery of America's electoral process. How many Alaskan, Hawaiian, and West Coast businessmen getting off work several hours after these inane projec- tions actually bothered to vote? How many local elections were influenced by this network frenzy to beat the com- petition? How many potential Mondale voters standing in line all over America as the news spread gave up and went home? Colorado Senator Tom Wirth said that in his own congressional district "news of the network projections spread like wildfire. Countless voters left the lines, as was the case in 1980, when the networks did virtually the same thing. Those voters had been ef- fectively told that their votes didn't matter." Wirth is chairman of a congressional committee that is studying the network's election prac- tices, and persuaded both houses of Congress to pass "non-binding resolutions urging the networks to refrain from calling races until after all polls had closed." Obviously, this resolution did not prove to be very binding. A small post- election survey, conducted by Dr. William Adams, professor of ad- ministration at Georgetown University, "definitely encountered a number of people who said that the projections had a decisive influence on their decision not to vote." More hard evidence is difficult to obtain, but Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro believes the issue will be raised in Congress again and probably in the 14 I lions primary source of information. Far more scary, however, is the potential impact of projections on a closer elec- tion. John Kennedy's victory over Richard Nixon in 1960ywas soclose that in my hometown of Chicago, people still say Kennedy won only because loya democratic workers threw a few thousand Nixon ballots into the Chicago river. With today's technology, pollsters may have been able to forecast the winner, even as the vote count stayed close (just as they forecast Carl Levin the winner in the Senate, even though Jack Lousma was leading throughout much of the evening). How can this awesome power to in- fluenceelectionsabe tamed? Does any attempt at regulating media excess violate freedom of the press? These are serious questions, and I certainly can- not provide conclusive answers. But there can be no doubt that something must be done. The issue is not really the exit polls themselves since they do provide helpful data about voter trends and composition. Perhaps the networks could simpl be required to withhold the data unti the day after the election. It's value for researchers would still remain, and it would not exert such a powerful control on Americans' minds. One thing is cer- tain: if this trend continues to its frightening conclusion, the American people may as well just let the networks pick the President. Markon is a Daily staff reporter. Associated Press The networks' election projections have a demonstrable effect on voter turnout. courts. He summarized perfectly the implications of the network projec- tions: "It's terrible. People are heading home and suddenly they know it's over. Why go vote?" UNDOUBTEDLY, the network policy could not have changed the fact of Reagan's victory, but it unquestionably could have affected the size of his lan- dslide. In a year where talk of a "realigning election" predominates, a far bigger Reagan landslide could be, and in fact already has been, inter- preted as a mandate for Reagan's long term goals - a frightening thought for any sensible American. In addition, local races throughout the country could be effected. People may be more inclined to vote for Republican can- didates, and consitituencies of local Democrats who couldn't vote until late in the day might be more inclined to stay home. The power of television is unquestionable: recent surveys have concluded a full two-thirds of Americans regard the tube as their A Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCV, No. 57 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board A successful forum INSTEAD OF heading to the bar or the library on Thursday night, around 300 students traipsed over to Angell Hall to hear President Harold Shapiro, Prof. Martin Gold, and Eric Schnaufer speak out about the proposed code for non-academic con- duct. This prompted Gold, chairman of the University's Civil Liberties Board, to note that he hadn't seen the auditorium filled with so many studen- ts since the first teach-in on Vietnam. While the forum on the code didn't seem to settle any of the disputes bet- ween the Michigan Student Assembly and the administration, the big fur- nout proved that students are in- terested in educating themselves on this crucial issue. Praise goes out to all those students who attended. Not only did students take the time out to go to the code forum, but the students who went made a real effort at pinning Shapiro down on the reasoning behind the code. Student questioners forced Shapiro to admit that even though the code wasn't for- mulated to quash civil disobedience, it would definitely crack down on those who protested University policy by, for instance, staging sit-ins in professors' laboratories. Students questioning Shapiro were also able to find out for themselves that he didn't have any ex- tremely convincing reasons for deciding to implement a code. For example, although Shapiro said cam- pus safety was not "a big issue" in developing a code, every incident he cited to show a need for the code was safety-related. What are the real reasons? What the forum didn't do was clear up the roadblock in negotiations bet- ween MSA and the administration. Schnaufer, chairman of MSA's code committee, said that MSA wouldn't discuss making any changes in the code until Shapiro promised not to ignore MSA's vote on the guidelines. Of course, Shapiro refused to be pressured by the assembly and would not agree to this pre-condition to negotiations. In other words, nothing new was accomplished. Though MSA and the administration don't seem any closer to reaching an agreement on the code, overall the forum has to be labelled a success. Any meeting which can draw 300 students away from the bars, homework, and nighttime television to debate issues which directly affect them is laudable. The campus needs more forums such as this. Student leaders shouldn't be the only ones making decisions about the code, each student should contem- plate the issue on his or her own and reach an educated decision. LETTERS TO THE DAILY Pro-m To the Daily: Deeply disturbed and saddened by the recent events in India, I felt compelled to share my thoughts with your readers. I think the pro-militant Sikhs living in the United States, Canada andhGreat Britain are perhaps cowards of the first or- der. It is easy for them to com- mend a hasty, foolish act that unleashes a tidal wave of com- munal hatred and anger against their kinsmen in India. Those people are nowhere near the direct line of fire. Do you think the average Hindu-on-the-street would not have heard about these celebrations? Wouldn't that have only further clouded his judgement? To a small extent, the Sikh community has precipitated public anger in India on itself. I realize that a majority of Sikhs are moderate, and want and are no part of the radical militants rounded up by the late Bindran- wala. Yet they have long been silent, not speaking up against the militants. Whether they were silenced at gun point by these militants is immaterial. Their silence has led many Hindus to still is one in view of the recent from ignorance lea riots) and the lack of judgement I close my letter with this sin- hail Peace, Peace and sanity of the Hindus, we have cere prayer, which is a tran- -Anup successfully landed ourselves in slation of a Sanskrit prayer: Position on symposium clarified ad us to wisdom, ,Peace! ama Srinivasan November 5 To the Daily: Stacey Shonk's article, "LSA- SG pulls speaker's funds" (Daily, November 7), inadequately por- trays LSA Student Government's stand. Slocum contends that while the group used a title which LSA-SG was not aware of, the substance of their symposium has not been altered. He con- cludes, therefore, that the event is still entitled to our endor- sement and funding. What Slocum fails to appreciate is that when his group decided to change the title of their symposium, they implicitly changed the nature of their event. In this case, it is im- possible to disassociate the con- tent of the package from its BLOOM COUNTY wrapping. When deciding whether or not to fund student organizations, LSA-SG has a list of priorities to which it adheres. The list is divided into three categories: membership/involvement, pur- pose, and financial status available funds. The program's title, "Palestine.. . Zionism and Racism", effectively dissuades many students from attending this "educational experience". The number of LSA students affec- ted is high on that list. We now believe this symposium to be one of a political nature which is of low priority. Finally, because of this misrepresentation, LSA-SG feels strongly that what the group required was not so much our funding, but rather th legitimacy our endorsemen carries. The LSA-SG Constitution's operating procedures state, "All funds appropriated should be for a specific purpose. Funds not used for that purpose will be returned to LSA-SG." For all of the above reasons, the title change manifests that the sym- posium's outcome is not what LSA-SG originally supported Therefore, LSA, of its own ac- cord, voted to rescind the group's funding and endorsement. -Eric Berman November 8 Berman is president of LSA Student Government. by Berke Breathed ilitant Sikhs lack judgement4 voice, it is heading for trouble. the vicious circle of you-killed- From falsehood lead us to truth, Thanks to the silence of the mine-I-kill-yours communal from darkness lead us to light, moderate Sikh majority (if there hatred. from death lead us to immortality, 1 KNOW Htie THE BHI~WlN V/THERE-YOU 4AV4C "ir blt, IA fl4lCn rn l "7f ' SPRRkrJW 1,1"A u Cllr-4 AL9 L: !! r MIY lIH ,,;,C -4T1 %%% 7'IfZ i f- ' ' ...r I f.-..- ei 1 I is