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 victnrv wnld mean mnre wnmen advanc he Ferraro can didacy ley ion ice ro's nan will ally ied key bit hat all in- can an- at s a her ver, ces ace nd, as a mpt ent s in or- its t to s to ally on hat aro be ate In- and the one as the d or O it- cies of t is sm S. cal out s. I in acy o's ing *> 3r .f } a{ .# xi s a y . ,f IEj {? 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.