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OPINION
Page 4
Friday, January 25, 1985
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
A lack of
commui
Vol. XCV, No. 95
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Out of order
Very much like the bully down the
street, the United States has
picked up its marbles and gone home
now that the World Court isn't fun
anymore.
The United States has always been
one of the strongest supporters of the
world court. Now, however, in respon-
se to Nicaragua's suit over U.S. mining
of Managua harbor and other incidents
resulting from U.S. covert aid to
Nicaraguan rebels, the United States is
withdrawing from the court before a
decision has been reached.
The administration's rationale for
the withdrawal, according to a
statement released by the State Depar-
tment, was that they had formed, ".. .
the impression that the court is deter-
mined to find in favor of Nicaragua in
this case." The statement also cited a
technical grievance for the with-
drawal: Nicaragua has not yet
recognized the World Court and thus
would not be subject to a similar suit
brought by the United States. In ad-
dition, the State Department
questioned the Court's jurisdiction,
claiming that the case concerns "an
inherently political problem" as op-
posed to "a narrow legal dispute."
The withdrawal, however, is an inef-
fective way for the United States to
respond to international pressures. In
so doing, the administration comes
just short of admitting to a violation of
international law. There are still a
great number of questions concerning
U.S. conduct in Nicaragua, and the
World Court is the proper forum for
those questions to be answered. It is
unfortunate that the administration
would lack the conviction to defend
that conduct.
Equally unfortunate is the damage
to U.S. credibility in international
relations. Through its years of support
for the World Court, the United States
had established a reputation as a
defender of international law. This
decision, combined with the recent
U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO, will
damage the country's standing in the
eyes of its allies and politically neutral
nations.
As Reagan begins his second term, it
is important that he work toward in-
ternational cooperation. The decision
to withdraw from the World Court is a
move in the wrong direction. The
decision displays both a lack of faith in
his own policies and a disturbing short-
sightedness in international relations.
By Robert Honigman
Second in a series of four articles.
When I drove up to Ann Arbor in the Spring
of 1977 I was aware that there was a housing
crisis in the city. A secretary ushered me into
the office of Dr. Ostafin in the SAB Building,
who I had not seen in 19 years. he expressed
surprise at seeing me and faintly remem-
bered the housing paper I had once worked on
with his help.
Ostafin kindly provided me with the current
University housing statistics. Since 1958,
15,000 new students had been added to the
Universtiy's Ann Arbor campus, raising it
from 21,000 to 36,000. Over the same time
period the University had built additional
housing untis on North Campus for some 3,000
students.
The Natu re
of the
University
I asked Ostafin why the University had
never carried out its major residence hall
project on North Campus. He replied that
there had never been a major housing plan for
North Campus - all planning had been ten-
tative and on an ad hoc basis.
I asked Ostafin why University housing
failed to avert the housing crisis. He said the
while it would be nice to have more housing,
the University's housing program was not a
failure. In fact, Ostafin said he was retiring
soon and was going to write a book on the
University's accomplishments in student
housing, and he would have a hard time
restraining his pride in its achievements.
There was no housing crisis - Ostafin
assured me - students who really wanted to
remain in the residence halls would find
vacancies opening up in the fall.
I left Ostafin's ofice feeling confused. The
huge housing complex I had envisioned for
North Campus - replete with a fraternity
row -had never been planned.
I went across the mall to the Michigan
Union and talked with Kim Keller of the Ann
Arbor Tenant's Union just to reassure myself
that there was indeed a housing crisis in Ann
Arbor. She reassured me that there was -
showing me various articles from the Ann
Arbor News.
Then she referred me to Johnathan Rose
and Paul Teich of the Center for National
Housing Law Reform. They too reassured me
that there was a housing crisis in Ann Arbor
- its rents were among the highest in the
nation. In a letter to the MSA Newsletter they
wrote: "We have seen horrors in Ann Arbor
student housing of people living in a closet,
two groups of tenants literally fighting over
the right to occupy a house, ads offering a
'reward' for finding a house for rent, and rent
rises of 60 percent in one year."
What had gone wrong? The University not
only denied the existence of a housing crisis,
but seemed to have forgotten that it had
created the housing crisis itself. Students
blamed greedy landlords for the situation and
seemed ignorant of the role of the Unversity.
I couldn't escape the feeling that perhaps
because I was silent all those years, the
housing problems of students had never
received the public attention they deserved. If
I had spoken out and written letters to the
Michigan Daily, I might have alerted the
University community not only to the housing
crisis that was occurring, but to the oppor-
tunity for a great North Campus student
campus as well.
There is little doubt that a major housing
program on North Campus would have had a
beneficial effect on student life as well as
preventing a major housing crisis in the city.
For each student attracted to the University,
approximately 2.5 support personnel and
their families are also attracted.
Thus, it wasn't merely 15,000 students ad-
ded to the Ann Arbor population since 1958 -
it was these students plus some 35,000 support
personnel and their families, altogether some
50,000 people attracted to an already over-
crowded and overpriced housing market.
By concentrating students on North Cam-
pus, inexpensive parking and mass transit
could have been easily developed - perhaps a
The Michigan Daily
nication
monorail as a Daily editor once suggested.
Moreover, housing built in the early sixties
before construction costs doubled would
have built in low-rent structures. And studen-
ts would have had the benefit of living in a
community close to other students and their
classes rather than being swallowed up by
scattered and isolated off-campus housing.
With some of the best experts in the country
on its faculty, the University could have
designed a model campus, a national
showcase of physical beauty and social fun-
ction.
Instead, the actual housing conditions for
students in 1977 were far worse than in 1958.
Parking and transportation had deteriorated
enormously. The Ann Arbor police were
issuing more than 25,000 parking tickets a
month, and Universty housing brochures
urged students "not to bring a car to cam-
pus." Roommate problems had also in-
creased enormously - since four to seven
person apartments were now commonplace.
And the price of housing was among the
highest in the nation, despite low quality and
constant landlord-tenant disputes.
Although I didn't know what had gone
wrong or why, I suddenly realized in 1977 that
what I had thought were student housing
problems, were not housing problems at all. I
had reached the second level of understan-
ding. The University didn't want to solve
student housing problems. For some reason it
chose to ignore them.
I had been naive to imagine that I alone in
1958 had forseen a housing crisis or suggested
a new type of housing. The University em-
ployed dozens of full-time experts who dealt
with nothing but student housing, and who
understood it far better than any outsider or
student.
There was no communication gap. The real
problem students faced was that they had en-
tered an institution that was indifferent to
them. And I had a dark sense of foreboding
that there were other areas of student life -
less visible but far more important - that the
University was also neglecting.
Honigman, a University graduate, is an
attorney in Sterling Heights. Tomorrow:
"The University's motives
I
Cramer
Remaking the Ranger
I
K EMO SABE is happy again.
Because of a Los Angeles court's
decision, actor Clayton Moore, who
made the Lone Ranger famous, has
earned the right to wear his mask in
public. An injunction requested by the
company with the mask's copyright
had prohibited Moore from leaving the
house with his famous eye covering.
While this case will most likely never
be written up in the law journals, it is a
classic example of the thousands of
useless and wasteful lawsuits filed
each year.
Wrather Corporation of Beverly
Hills, the company which brought suit,
claimed that it would be confusing for
viewers to see the legendary hero ap-
pearing around the country. Moore
claimed that he and the Lone Ranger
are "one in the same," and that ap-
pearing in dark glasses would jeopar-
dize that valuable relationship in the
public eye. So off the two parties went
to court.
The actual dispute, however, was not
so terribly concerned with alienating
Long Ranger fans. It concerned
money. While the injuntion was in ef-
fect, Moore was making public ap-
pearances and advertisemen-
ts-cashing in on the Kemo Sabe name-
recognition. Meanwhile, Wrather was
promoting a new Lone Ranger feature
film, starring a younger actor in the
title role. Moore's nationwide ap-
pearances were getting in the way.
So after two years of wearing
sunglasses in public, Moore can once
again say "Hi-o Silver" with a .clear
conscience. The question remaining is,
why wasn't this case thrown out of
court in the first place? The legal
system is continually perpetuating a
I4
Moore
... back in black
backlog of cases that often subjects the
parties involved to severe emotional
and financial strain. Thesedays, when
the hero rides into town to save the
day, it takes five months before the
villians can have their say in court.
People working in the legal system
are constantly frustrated with delays
and scheduling problems thanks to
that backlog. No longer is there a hero
to champion the case of those trapped
in the bonds of litigation.
Now, when it seems there is nowhere
to turn for justice, even the age-old
guardian of fairness and truth seems to
be part of the problem. What
America's courts need is a real Lone
Ranger.
rD1EE FW AiRF~6 &9 I4t MJ ATNtAJ4LL QF A LOT NICEftR~
I
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY
Critic made uninformed accusations
To the Daily:
How is it that critics like Bruce
Poindexter ("Daily is all
talk without any action," Daily,
Jan. .23) who do not know me
nonetheless see fit to make
pronouncements about my lack
of actual experiences in the world
(I am "ensconsed within ivy-
covered cells") and my "no
Doesn't the use of such unsound
methods really tell us more about
the critic than his target?
I might add that someone infantile ad hominem attacks.
named "Poindexter" is probably - Brian Leiter
ill-advised to set a precedent of January 23
The Michigan Daily encourages input from our readers.
Letters should be typed, triple spaced, and sent to the Daily
Opinion Page, 420 Maynard, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
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