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OPINION
Page 4
Wednesday, January 30, 1985
The Michigan Daily
e AbIcigan aii a1
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
An 'intelligent' revolution
Vol. XCV, No.99
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
First aid
UNDER THE teeter-totter logic of
working out a budget, when one
thing goes up, another must come
down.
So far, the Reagan administration
has refused to give up its request for a
six percent increase in its defense
spending and instead is proposing to
curtail the number of new research gr-
ants given out by the National Institute
of Health.
NIH is a major source of funds for
medical research across the country,
and supports 65 percent of the research
at the University medical, dental, and
nursing schools. Under the Reagan
proposal, no current grants will be cut,
but many grants that were anticipated
will not materialize.
Under federal law, Reagan does not
have the authority to cut NIH funding,
but he can limit the number of new
grants, thus spending fewer gover-
nment dollars. Although the ad-
ministration claims that private agen-
cies such as The American Cancer
Philanti
T HE REAGAN administration is
making it more and more difficult
for charities to exist. After proposing
cuts to the National Endowment for the
Arts with the claim that private cor-
porations and individuals would make
up the loss in their contributions, the
administration is attacking charities
from another angle. Now, if a proposal
by the treasury department is passed,
philanthropists may have less incen-
tive to take on that financial burden.
The Treasury Department's
recommendations, which it says are
the result of taxpayers taking an ex-
cess of withholding, would limit in-
come tax deductions for charity.
Philanthropists would not be allowed
to deduct gifts of amounts less than two
percent of their adjusted gross income.
Independent Sector, a coalition
representing 595 national non-profit
associations, has estimated that the
organizations would lose more than 5
billion in private dollars if the proposal
were adopted.
Although it is estimated that private
money only accounts for 20 to 25 per-
cent of most charities resources,
philanthropy is an important means of
1
Society or the Kidney Foundation will
be able to make up for some of the
missing grants, local researchers
denied the possibility.
In spite of the importance the
Reagan administration places on the
defense budget, medical research is
certainly a more effective use of
federal funding than is arms research.
Whereas the ultimate objective in
weapons research is to develop newer
and more effective ways of killing
people, the goal of medical research is
just the opposite: saving lives. The
products of military research increase
tensions around the world, while the
products ot medical research can be
used to alleviate suffering world-wide.
In calling for cuts in NIH funding
over reductions in his defense budget,
Reagan demonstrates a concerning
short-sightedness. Faced with a clear
choice between research that aids
humanity and research which
threatens it, the president chose the
latter.
ropy falls
funding for these organizations. By ac-
cepting support from private sources,
non-profit organizations can better
keep in touch with the community they
serve. A benevolent organization fun-
ded entirely by the government need
only respond to government demands,
whereas a similar charity receiving
contributions from a host of private
corporations and individuals must be
responsive to the specific needs of
that community. Although federal
support is essential to the survival of
many charitable organizations, sup-
port from local corporations and in-
dividuals gives charities the indepen-
dence which separates them from
federally-controlled programs.
With the administration's recent at-
tempts to cut endowments to
benevolent organizations in an effort to
trim the deficit, private funding will
likely play a greater role in keeping
non-profits afloat. This was President
Ronald Reagan's rationale behind
proposing cuts to the National En-
dowment for the Arts this month. To
turn around and restrict this form of
funding would leave many charitable
organizations without sufficient money
from any source.
By Naomi Saferstein
On most days I relish the idea of opening
my eyes to the sound of my Panasonic am/fm
digital clock radio with automatic wake to
music and snooze control. Few things are
nicer than getting up to the mellifluous sounds
on a sonata or a symphony. But then few
things are worse than the mornings when I
wake to the drone of some monotonous man
saying".... and now, the news."
The other day was one of those mornings.
One of those mornings when a beep or a buzz
or a wa-waa wa-waa siren would have been
better than someone reading idiot cards that
said in Houston they now have what is called
an "intelligent building."
Now the thought of an "intelligent building"
is a scary idea in and of itself, but at 7:00 in
the morning it verges on horrific, horrific-
plus when they quote the construct as saying
"Ninth floor, watch you step." This idea, the
idea of a building with brains, is supposed to
be to business what the microwave was to the
kitchen, yet another modern convenience.
The only problem that has been stated thus
far is that rent in this "intellegent building"
tends to be higher than that of it's conven-
tional peers. But it seems as though small
conveniences, such as a voice descending
from the heavens saying, "Haven't you
forgotten something?" when someone leaves
the room and the lights are still on, is well
worth the price.
And as I lay there with my eyes closed and
the covers over my head I thought that this
was yet another monumental step in the age
of technology, another precursor of the things
to come-intelligent building today, in-
telligent home appliances tomorrow.
Just imagine opening the refrigerator and
hearing, "Can't you smell? There's tomatoes
rotting in the back corner," or "Remember,
you're getting low on apples." Why it'd be the
dieter's dream. . . "Hey, tub-o-lard, you
really want that? Bertha, I wouldn't if I were
you, once on the lips forever on the hips. Will
it really taste that good?" Suddenly
Dexatrim will become obsolete.
Or how about the intelligent garbage
disposal... "Bones go in the garbage bag".. .
"Hey stupid, there's a spoon down here."
And its partner, the intelligent sink, will pot
an end to dirty dishes because every timfe
they start piling up this Piglet-like voice will
go... "Oooo, wash me, wash meee. Yuck;
mold, mildew, crustacia is forming."
And this will be just the beginning, befor4
you know it we'll be able to get "intelligeuit
home appliances with the voice of our favorite
stars. The Mae West oven... "Heya, big boy;
can't ya' see I'm boiling over Ever here? The
Woody Allen toilet... You know, I feel very
uncomfortable talking about this but it really
upsets me that every time I go to the
bathroom I see your little tampon watching
me while I, you know, do my business." The
Arnold Horshack doorbell. .. "Oooo, Ooo0*,
Mr. Kotter, Mr. Kotter." And of course the
Joan Rivers answering machine... "Listen;
I'm out on a hot date with Edgar right now--I
know, can you believe it? - but all I want to say
is listen can we talk? Really, as soon as I get
back. Beep." And this is only the beginning,*.
Saferstein is a junior in the Residential
College.
Wasserman
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY
Campus CIA protests were legitimate
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To the Daily:
When we put the CIA on trial
last November and ran them off
campus, many students, in-
cluding the Daily Editorial
Board, applauded us and
recognized the necessity of our-
action. I was pleased to see so
much debate over the issue in the
week that followed. It seems as
though some people were really
thinking about what it means to
allow a group which spreads
murder, torture, and repression
the world over to recruit at the
University.
This time, I am concerned that
perhaps the necessity of our
protest was gotten muddled by
the focus on our "disruptive" tac-
tics. First of all, I want to say that
it was not pleasant, nor our inten-
tion, to have to disrupt the inter-
views of students who wanted to
speak to other companies both at
Career Planning and at the Jobs
Fair in the League. However, it is
much worse to think that my tax
dollars go to support CIA crimes
abroad, for example that CIA-
trained contras rape, murder,
and brutally torture health-care
workers, teachers, mothers,
children, and old people in
Nicaragua. By allowing the CIA
to recruit here, we are accom-
plices to these heinous crimes.
Morally, I cannot accept the fact
that my tuition money is used in
part to sponsor this agency on
campus and that is why I will
continue to protest their presen-
ce.
greater wrong and was the first
step in what became a much
larger movement. When con-
sidering the CIA recruitment on
campus, don't just look at one
person's interview (even if it's
your own), but look at the record
of the organization. The CIA's
bloody overthrow of the
democratically elected gover-
nment of Salvador Allende in
Chile, for example, is well-
documented in Senate Subcom-
mittee Reports of 1974. The CIA,
by their own admission, directed
the illegal mining of Nicaragua's
harbors.
If the above-mentioned crimes
are not enough to convince you
that the CIA is not'a legitimate
organization, what would? The
overthrow of the elected gover-
nments of Iran and Guatemala in
1954? The prevention of elections
in Vietnam in 1956?
A forum on the CIA is being
planned for early March, so that
the whole academic community
can join together and discuss the
problems inherent in allowing the
CIA to recruit on campus. I hope
many people who disagree with
us or do not understand our tac-
tics will come. -Lisa Vihos
January 23
Daily should not 'go with the flow'
To the Daily:
I was distressed to read in the
Ann Arbor News that the
Michigan Daily's circulation, ad-
vertising, and income are on the
decline, but have no quick-fix
suggestions to remedy the
problem.
One solution, however, that
should not be tried is that implied
in the idea of "adapting to the
market." This sounds like advice
that the Daily begin to pander to
the shallow interests and dubious
morality of the "new conser-
vative" mood on the American
college campus. Leaving aside
whether this emphasis on social
selfishness, simple-minded
nationalism, and avoidance of
disciplined and creative
educational experience can
BLOOM COUNTY
properly be called conservatism,
there are two additional con-
siderations.
One is that we still have an im-
pressive minority of students,
faculty, and administrators who
have not yet acquiesced in these
deplorable tendencies; they
represent both an important con-
stituency and a possible source of ;
support. Perhaps more impor-
tant is the need to provide a coun-
ter-vailing voice when the nation
is in a state of temporary decline,
ethically and intellectually, as we
undoubtedly are. When many or
most of the trends are running
against the best and most
cherished American principles,
we cannot afford to capitulate,
but to resist through responsible
criticism, vigorous analysis, and
careful attention to the evidence.
The Daily is a University and
national resource, and it would be
a shame to see it deteriorate and
"Go with the flow."
-J. David Singer
January 22
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.
by Berke Breathed
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