OPINION Page 4 Friday, February 8, 1985 The Michigan Dily Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Lansing's progressive voice Vol. XCV, No. 107 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board A good compromise SOMETIMES THE University ad- ministration does budge. Earlier this year, the Michigan Union Board of Representatives sub- mitted a proposal to Henry Johnson, vice-president for student services, requesting that he modify the selection process for representatives to the board. Johnson accepted the proposal and did away with a system in which a selection committee, formed of two members each from Michigan Student Assembly and MUBR, recommended its findings to MSA for approval. MSA was responsible for publicizing the process as well. Where the old process had in- volved the combined responsibility of MSA and MUBR, the new one was almost entirely the responsibility of MUBR. The inter-group screening committee was abolished and MUBR alone voted on the final proposal. MSA lost its ability to affect an important University institution and MUBR lost some of its credibility as it become a self-perpetuating body. There were also problems with the old process too. MURB complained that MSA didn't put enough effort into publicizing openings, and MSA admit- ted that since the process came at a time when their Personnel committee was particularly busy, it was difficult for it to treat the MUBR seats any dif- ferently from any of the other positions they fill. MUBR sent its proposal to Johnson without consulting MSA. Once MSA of- ficials learned of the change they protested the reduction of their authority and began negotiations with MUBR to formulate a new proposal. At Tuesday's MSA meeting, President Scott Page announced that the two groups had reached an agreement. He added that he an- ticipates no difficulty from Johnson in accepting it. The new proposal calls for a shared responsibility, with both groups doing publicity for the selection process and both approving or disapproving the candidates. It is a compromise in the best sense and it appears to solve the problems of both groups. The solution to the controversy around the MUBR appointment procedure is a good example of com- munication and compromise. It is a positive development and should make the selection process for an important University board fairer and more ac- cessible. By Chris Parks Some members of both parties have taken to describing Gov. James Blanchard's State of the State message-with its emphasis on schools, crime, economic development, tax cuts and austerity-as "Reaganesque." It is significant, perhaps, that the governor himself does not take offense at this charac- terization. In fact, he has called it something of a compliment. Where this all leaves legislative liberals is an interesting question. Two of the Legislature's staunchest progressives, Lynn Jondahl of East Lansing and Perry Bullard of Ann Arbor, insist Blan- chard shares with the liberals a commitment to core values of compassion for those in need. But they have varying levels of anxiety over the specifics of the Blanchard program. and the current political mood. Jondahl, an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, and Bullard, an attorney, are charter members of what used to be called the "Kiddie Caucus." Both were first elected to the House in 1972 when student ac- tivism was peaking in the campus com- munities they represent. Jondahl now is chairman of the powerful House Taxation Committee and Bullard heads the important House Judiciary Com- mittee. This makes them, in a sense, mem- bers of the Legislature's establishment, Parks, a former Daily editor, is the UPI Lansing bureau chief. He wrote this ar- ticle for UPI. despite their stubbornly unestablishmentlike views. Jondahl is not sure that Blanchard's State of the State was Reaganesque. The speech reflects "an appreciation of the benefit of the economic upturn that Reagan has been celebrating," but not the Reagan ideology, Jondahl said. Instead, Jondahl said, Blanchard's message outlined a "very pragmatic program" consistent with the governor's non- ideological orientation. "I wouldn't say it's Reaganesque at all," Bullard agreed. "It's clearly a recognition of the current realities of the climate of ideas in America. That's what democratic government is about, What we've seen now is a victory essentially for the idea of a return to the 1920s." "There have always been conservative Democrats," Bullard added. "The governor now is reflecting a conservative side of the Democratic Party in response to the political climate of the times." Jondahl said the challenge for liberals and progressives, in the current political at- mosphere, will be to continue pressing for ac- tion to meet unmet human needs and to quesion why institutions, such as the prison system, are not working as they are supposed to. Jondahl said his constituents these days seem to "appreciate the struggle to find an- swers to the more difficult problems and not just knee-jerk political responses fashioned to play to whatever seems to be the momentary mood." In this atmosphere, he said, liberals must work to build coalitions with other lawmakers on an issue-by-issue basis. Bullard sounds less optimistic. He said he is "hoping we can prevent more damage to the human victories of the last 20 years" but is "not too" certain of success. The two agree, however, that the ad1 ministration keeps an open door to the party's liberals and listens to what they have to say. "They cannot afford, with the slim margins (in the Legislature), to ignore any part of the caucus or any part of the Legislature," Jon- dahl said. Bullard said liberals can have an impact with Blanchard "on questions that aren't overwhelmingly high visibility where the an- swers are essentially dictated by a concern that is set at the national level... by thg Reagan victory and Reagan agenda." Liberals have their differences with the governor on a range of specific issues, in- cluding welfare and crime, Jondahl con- ceded. But Bullard said he has "absolutely no doubt" that Blanchard has more in common with Democratic liberals than with Reagan. "The governor's in a position where he has to respond to the realities of the Michigan electorate as a whole, which supported, for whatever reason, the Reagan election, Bullard said. But he said Michigan remains "a state that cares about its citizens more, and I think more effectively, than many other states." Jondahl concurred that liberals and the governor "share an overall set of values that has a heavy commitment to compassion for people in need." "I don't have any anxiety about whether the progressive's soul is there," Jondahl sai "It's a question, and a terribly critic question, about how we respond to the needs." Sinclair r amarATrON AM~rwoMur! -M ? Er? YN HSWPS A NWMOMOP FlX 4 Happy birthday NNOW No 14 MWEW-1 MF T v j 4 W EDNESDAY WAS a double holiday for Ronald Reagan. Not only was it the President's 74th birth- day, it also gave the Republican president yet another chance to publicize his relentless rhetoric-in this case, that rhetoric was in the form of his State of the Union address. Although this State of the Union speech was not what Americans have come to expect from the annual presidential summary, it was perhaps what many of them wanted to hear. According to Reagan, the country is in great shape as a result of his leader- ship. But as comforting as it is to hear a positive report from the Oval office, Reagan's optimistic address com- pletely ignored the many problematic national issues a State of the Union speech is supposed to address. "There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those that we our- selves erect," Reagan said. At the risk of spoiling the presidential pep rally, there are a few barriers Coach Reagan failed to address in preparing his speech. There are constraints on the human mind imposed by recent cuts in federal education funding. There are walls around the human spirit con- structed by the Reagan Administration with its recent proposal to decrease funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, the chief funding source for many non-profit art and music organizations. There are barriers to the progress of a nation set in. place by the burdens of an overinflated deficit and defense budget. Reagan looked on the United States as being involved in "...a revolution that carries beyond our shores the golden promise of human freedom in a world at peace," while the revolutions the United States is most heavily in- volved exist in Central America. There, the golden promise of human freedom is subverted by the human rights violations of the Central In- telligence Agency. In South Africa, where overt oppresion and blatant racism are at best, ignored-and at worst, accepted--by the Reagan Ad- ministration, that promise of human freedom rings hollow to the over- whelming majority of blacks dominated by the country's 10 percent white population. Reagan's ever-present commitment to defense expenditures and military research is also inconsistent with his stated goal of ''a world at peace."~ Peace, when enforced by the threat of computer-guided nuclear missiles and technologically-advanced surveilance systems in space, is not peace at all. Reagan's State of the Union address was a fountain of optimism, aimed at an audience in need of reassurance that there is method behind the mad- ness of its government. If the president truly wants a revolution in peace and human freedom, that goal will require more than a televised package of em- pty hope. It will require the ad- ministration to take an honest and ef- fective approach to the problems facing this nation, instead of working to create an optimistic facade. ________________________________________________________ p. __________________________ 6AIN7V RMAE? N~W'JA MENPMEWT I ~4ILE WOAT I' 4W'~OUT ~A ENPMENT P ON -TW'si AND QTI4PR a1~sA- "rREwE oucru E A LWV" 4 I1 I A(p~8g r aT~L~u Letters Pro-choice advocates not objective To the Daily: It is interesting that Jackie Young's Weekend piece on abor- tion ("Abortion: A local dilem- ma," Weekend, February 1) has come under attack by Lisa Oram and company. Young made an at- tempt to present the views of both sides on the issue of abortion. She included statements from women who have chosen abortion, people who work at clinics, and people who try to uphold or overturn current abortion laws. All this was done in an Ann Ar- bor context, since the abortion issue certainly does have local ramifications. Oram spends a whole letter complaining that the article was "anti-choice." (My own view was that it was somewhat "pro-choice," but we all often view neutral articles as being biased against our own viewpoint). Oram claims that "men spearhead thecanti-abortion movement." Of course there are men involved with the notice the feminist anti-abortion groups such as Feminists for Life and Women Exploited by Abor- tion. Oram might also look back to the history of the pro-choice movement - the National Abor- tion Rights Action League was founded by men. But Oram would rather deal in vicious rhetoric than confront the issue or the people involved. Oram's real objection seems to be aimed toward Young's willingness to concede the sin- cerity of abortion opponents. In the past it has been fashionable to paint pro-life/anti-choice (I use both terms to neutralize the silly semantics of the issue) as male chauvinist monsters out to destroy women. Now that the media is fairer, Oram is upset. It's much easier to deal with an issue when you can call your op- ponent names (be it "murderer or "oppressor"). Sorry, Oram, BLOOM COUNTY we aren't monsters. We go to work, we drink beer, we laugh, we cry, we're flesh and blood. You might even live next door to a pro-lifer and not even know it. Perhaps one of them did a favor for you last week. And you thought all along that we were scheming pigs; hateful men asking "What can we do to op- press women today?" The real world is a little more complex. If we can't gain the support of people like Oram we at least wai her to respect our sincerity. It much easier to be "pro-choice when one dehumanizes the fetu It's much easier to be "pr choice" when one dehumanij abortion opponents thro hateful rhetoric such as Oram Should we really be surpris that one such dehumanizing a titude leads people like Oram the other? - Steve Angelot February Letters to the Daily should be typed, triple- spaced, and signed by the individual authors. Names will be withheld only in unusual circum- stances. Letters may be edited for clarity, gram- mar, and spelling. .4 %t~uiibrilflf Colege Pess Serivce by Berke Breathed a75 - W=M=j AM f (?VW 16q Nwlfr- .IN IFL - N __