I
OPINION
Page 4 Sunday, November 11, 1984 The Michigan Daily
Students drawn
to forum on the code
t wasn't a fraternity beer bash. It wasn't
t e showing of a Woody Allen film. And it
wasn't Ronald Reagan who caused 300 students
to flock to an auditorium in Angell Hall Thur-
sday night. What it was, though, was a forum
on the proposed code of non-academic conduct
with honored guests University President
Harold Shapiro, Prof. Martin Gold, and Eric
Schnaufer.
Such a tremendous turnout is something of a
rare occurance on this campus, and taking note
of this Gold, chairman of the Civil Liberties
Board, said that the crowd was reminiscent of
those he saw during the teach-ins on Vietnam.
While the proposed code is not even close to
becoming a life and death issue, obviously a lot,
of students came to the forum because they.
feared the University gaining power to
regulate their lives outside of the classroom.
Interestingly, when asked how many in the
room were familiar with the code, almost
everyone raised their hand. When the question
was posed as to how many people in the room
wouldn't favor a code, even more of those
present raised their, hands. Only around two
people raised their hands to show support for
the code as it is.
Although the forum succeeded in drawing
students out of their apathy and into the code
debate, it is still clear that the Michigan
Student Assembly and the administration
aren't willing yet to forge a compromise on the
issue.
MSA leaders insist that the administration is
going to go over their heads and adopt a con-
duct code, regardless of student disapproval.
MSA wants President Shapiro to assure them
that he will not destroy the assembly's
authority to reject the code. Shapiro does not
want to tell the regents that they cannot do
away with bylaw 7.02 and continued to reject
MSA's plea at the forum.
Does this stalemate remind anyone of the
problem with U.S.-Soviet relations? Apparen-
tly, one person in the audience saw a parallel.
After Shapiro argued that almost every
organization or firm has special conduct rules
which its members must follow, someone coun-
tered: "Yeah, where? The Kremlin?"
Congress to the rescue
University students who voted against
President Ronald Reagan in Tuesday's election
because of his shoddy record in funding finan-
cial aid programs had some relief this week.
Officials said Friday that Congress isn't
likely to implement the severe cuts in student
aid undoubtedly to be proposed by Reagan in the
future. In past years, Congress has refused to
accept Reagan's large budget cuts in financial
aid. This trend will continue, officials say,
despite the landslide re-election victory.
"Every indication seems to show that the
Reagan administration (plans to) continue to
cut education funding. But Congress has been
pretty good in rejecting the administration's
proposals. I'm pretty sure they will do it again
for us," said Bill Krueger, director of public af-
fairs for the American Council on Education.
The University's lobbyist in Washington,
Thomas Butts, confirmed the idea that
Reagan's budget axe would be kept away from
education.
Butts said there is also reason to hope that
this Congress will reject major cuts in Social
Security educational benefits, which the past
Congress supported as part of the Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act. That act cost
University students about $20 million in
benefits which to this day have not been made
up.
Fortunately, Reagan's re-election doesn't
appear to mean students who can't afford a
college education can't get one. But the thanks
goes out to Congress, not the Gipper.
Nuclear suicide
Jason Salzman wants to make you more
aware about the consequences of a nuclear con-
frontation. This week Salzman brought his
campaign to campus and joined the local
group, Students Against Nuclear Suicide
(SANS), in attempting to educate the Univer-
4
.4
*4 '--8 . u a k
Jason Salzman tells a University class about his plan to raise student consciousness of nuclear war by equating it with suicide. Salzman
successfully helped to organize students at Brown University who passed a referendum asking university officials to stock suicide pills in
the event of a nuclear war. He came here last week hoping to win supporters for a similar campaign at the University.
sity community on the nuclear threat.
At Brown University, Salzman was in-
strumental in pushing students to adopt a non-
binding referendum that urged university of-
ficials to stock suicide pills in the event of a
nuclear war. If Salzman and SANS are suc-
cessful in winning over University students, the
Michigan Student Assembly may put a similar
referendum up for a campus-wide vote.
Salzman and other SANS members have said
that they aren't really concerned with quickly
eliminating their own physical suffering during
a nuclear war but want to motivate the
American public to take action to prevent the
occurance of an actual war.
"People are talking about it. It's our task
now to get the campuses to take it seriously. We
want to motivate action," he said.
A Mondale victory
In case you slept through this week and
aren't aware of who won the elections, wake up
to reality. It was Ronald Reagan by a landslide
in the race for the top seat in the country and
Democrat Carl Levin in the U.S. Senate seat,
not Republican astronaut Jack Lousma.
In other action, the lone Republican on the
University's Board of Regents, Deane Baker,
found he will have some company next year.
Republicans Veronica Latta Smith and Neil
Nielsen won the regents seats away from
Democrats Robert Nederlander and Marjorie
Lansing.
Voter's Choice foes can rest easy as state
voters overwhelmingly defeated the measure
which would have submitted all tax increases
to a popular vote and rolled back taxes to
December 1981 leveles.
Supporters of the Ann Arbor Nuclear Free
Zone Act, however, had a kind of rude
awakening as voters rejected that proposal by
a margin of almost 2 to 1. Free zone activists
did hint that they might try the idea again in
the next city election.
It was Rep. Carl Pursell, a Republican in-
cumbent, over Mike McCauley in the race for
the Second Congressional District seat. And,
state Rep. Perry Bullard, a Democrat, won re-
election over his challenger Paul Jensen.
Student-favorite George Sallade lost his bid
for prosecuting attorney to incumbent
Republican William Delhey in a close contest.
Another Republican incumbent, Sheriff Ronald
Schebil, won out over his Democratic
challenger.
Although University graduate student Dqn
Bicknell gave the Democratic incumbent a run
for his money, he lost a bid for drain com-
missioner when the final ballots were counted.
There is also some weighty evidence to
suggest that a lot of University students, con-
trary to the national sentiment, did some heavy
grieving over the defeat of Walter Mondale.
Sixty-three percent of the predominantly
student precincts in the area voted for the
Mondale/Ferraro ticket.
Although this University's favorite cab-
didates lost, there mnay be some solace in the
fact that students voted like those in the Ivy
Leagues, overwhelmingly for the most in-
telligent choice: Walter Mondale.
Too bad the country didn't share our wisdom.
4
4
The Week in Review was compiled by
Opinion Page editor Jackie Young.
. ....... - --------- -
ie Mithi gan a an
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCV, No. 58
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Tear, Brown for LSA-SG
ecause of their depth of
knowledge concerning issues
relevant to the LSA student body
and their practical goals for student
government, Michelle Tear and
Michael Brown of Students for
Academic and Institutional Develop-
ment are the best choice for LSA
student government.
Tear and Brown have done their
homework. They have set reasonable
goals for the improvement of coun-
seling services and understand that
student awareness of LSA services is
needed. They take as a long-range goal
the establishment of a student seat on
the executive committee-a goal that
LSA-SG has been pursuing for the last
couple of years. It is wishful thinking
but they approach the issue with the
proper perspective. Their main goal is
the education of students concerning
crucial issues, such as the code, and
they see their role as advocates of the
student interest within LSA.
They view as fundamental the
existence of a student body and would
undoubtedly push for any opportunities
for greater student involvement. Both
Tear and Brown have experience
working with University officials and
their realistic goals reflect this ex-
perience within the system.
Their opponents Greg De Graff and
Doug Mikatarian of Students Proud of
Campus Knowledge suffer from a lack
of knowledge concerning the basic
workings of the school of LSA. When
pressed, De Graff was unable to pin-
point specific problems within the
current government or layout concrete
goals for working to improve services
nnrA fani14tiac umithin +hna nhan1 Thn
would do if 'elected. He speaks of
publicizing the government more and
setting up forums for the debate of
issues of interest to students-both of
which are worthwhile goals-but has
no ideas concerning the more fun-
damental issues facing the gover-
nment.
The Joint Faculty-Student Policies
Committee has taken steps calling for
professors to issue syllabi, clearly
define class requirements, and provide
ample notification of test dates. Tear
and Brown recognize that these
guidelines are undeniably beneficial to
students and are well within the scope
of LSA-SG. They have made clear their
desire to have students actively in-
volved with the formation of any such
guidelines. De Graff, however, said
that he would not pursue this project or
others like it. "I am grudging on
making new rules," he said.
De Graff has a serious, and
legitimate, complaint with the way the
elections have been organized. The
current government was inexcusably
negligent in its publicity of the elec-
tions, which has a lot to do with the
small number of candidates par-
ticipating. Such, irresponsibility is un-
fortunate and should be carefully
avoided in the future.
De Graff is also worried about the
political nature of student government
and attacked last spring's Michigan
Student Assembly elections as
"cheap." He defended the SPOCK par-
ty's attempt to delegitimize the elec-
tions, saying the elections "were a farce
so we chose to make it a farce." This is
hnrdly n rPnanncihla tiian e ha
Beyond
By Jackie Young
Television commentator David Brink
drew a remarkable conclusion on elect
night after listening to Democratic vi
presidential candidate Geraldine Ferrari
concession speech. Brinkley said: If a wom
isn't on a major party's ticket, that partyv
have to explain why, instead of automatica
assuming that there aren't any qualif
women in this country to run for such a k
position. This statement, though perhaps a
exaggerated, proves the validity of wl
many women's groups have been saying
along-that having a capable woman
volved in the highest level of the Americ
political process is bound to be a good thing
Sure, there are those who said her c
didacy hurt Walter Mondale's chances
being elected, not so much because she wa
woman but because of the mess with :
husband's finances. I would argue, howev
that even the controversy over his finan
brought some important issues to the surf
that otherwise would have been ignored. A
more importantly, Ferraro's candidacy wa
necessary and extremely worthwhile atter
to engage more Americans with differ(
cultural backgrounds and political agendas
the national decision-making process. Unf
tunately, many refused to look further at
significance than the fact that it turned out
be a kind of gimmick to draw more females
the Democratic ticket. People are genera
turned off by political gimmicks.
That is why, when the public looks back
the 1984 election campaign, I would hope t]
both men and women would not see Ferra
simply as the token first woman to
nominated as a vice presidential candid
on a major party's presidential ticket.
stead, I believe that a more appropriate a
accurate view of her candidacy, as well ast
candidacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, isc
which sees these people not as tokens, but
real representatives of a segment oft
American electorate that has been ignored
oppressed in the past and is now asserting
self. With this perception of their candidac
there is a ray of hope for the future
American women and blacks-a hope tha
all too easily clouded when shouts of tokeni
fill the American airwaves and livingrooms
WHEN I asked students and local ooliti
figures last September how they felt ab
Ferraro's nomination, I got mixed results
sensed that there was bit of pride
Republican women for the Ferraro candida
but a real lack of conviction that Ferrar
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Associated Press
Vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro gives a thumbs up signal on Election Day
after she voted in New York City. Her candidacy could mean that American women are
increasingly a political force to be reckoned with. But this can only happen if people are
influenced by Ferraro beyond Nov. 6.
4
Michael Jackson or Prince,
It is thus with some tears of regret in my
eyes that I will look back on this election year.
Not because my candidate did not win, but
because I feel that some fantastic advances
toward making this country's political
establishment more representative of the
people were not properly recognized by the
'I feel that some fan-
tastic advances
toward making this
country's political
establishment more
representative of the
people were not
properly recognized
been broken, it is just a matter of time before
more women, and blacks, will become a
highly visible and powerful force in national
politics.
I believe that David Brinkley correctly
predicted an increase in the political power of
women in this society. But it takes more than
a couple of journalists and more than a few
special interest groups to nurse this belief to
its fruition so that it can actually reflect
political reality. I welcome a time in the near
future when the average student and citizen
realizes this and is supportive of and comfor-
table with this trend.
Young is a Daily Opinion Page editor.
N I.