4 OPINION The Michigan Daily Paae 4 Thursday, March 21, 1985 . _, Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan ,1 MSA: Skewed priorities Vol. XCV No. 134 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Down but not out' T HE SENATE vote to approve the funding for the next 21 MX missiles is a major setback for op- ponents of the missile, but it in no way. guarantees that the weapon will be built. The Senate voted 55-45 to approve the $1.5 billion that was frozen last year when supporters of the missile were able to work out a compromise at the last minute to save the missile from being cancelled. The MX is a large missile capable of holding up to 12 different warheads. Consequently, it makes an attractive target for enemy missiles because a single warhead can remove many. In order for the missile to be effective, it will have to be launched early in a con- flict situation and is there for a first strike weapon in direct violation of the U.S. notion of nuclear weapons as a defensive tool. President Reagan argues that the MX build up will have to continue in or- der to insure effective arms. negotiations in Geneva. He overlooks the recently updated Minutemen missiles, however, which would serve as an effective "bargaining chip" without wasting additional billions of dollars. The Senate vote is an ominous sign that the missiles will be funded, but there is still hope of stopping them. An even more controversial confrontation comes next week when the House of Representatives will vote on the issue. In spite of the significant margin of passage in the Senate, observers were unable to forecast whether the funding would be approved. Many Senators who had previously opposed the missile, such as Barry Goldwater (R- Ariz.), switched their votes to support Reagan. The outcome in the House is even less certain. The Democratic majority in the House will be more inclined to vote against the weapon than the Republican Senate, although Reagan has directed heavy - and reportedly effective - lobbying on behalf of the MX. Nonetheless the outcome is still in question, and area residents have a rare opportunity to influence the out- come of the vote. Rep. Carl Pursell, a Republican, has supported the MX in the past, but has also said he would be inclined to oppose it. He is one of a handful of swing votes on the issue. Last year, during the Congressional vote in which the compromise funding freeze was reached, Pursell claimed that he was persuaded by the large amounts of mail he received in op- position to the missile. Writing to representatives is always an important tool for influencing decisions, but public input on the MX missile is as important as ever. In or- der to maximize whatever chance there remains to halt the MX, write to Rep. Purcell. By Kevin P. Michaels A great deal has been written and said about the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) over the last number of years. One point is painfully clear: MSA has a poor image on campus which promotes student apathy towards the Assembly and lack of respect from the University administration. Why does MSA have a public relations problem? There are many reasons, but the main reason is that a great deal of students view MSA as being too radical and unrepresentative of student views. They see a student government that sometimes is more interested in Central America than Central Campus. They see a student government whose publication, the MSA News, has the gall to endorse national and state political candidates in its "Voter Education Issue," has tainted the picture of Alexander Haig to portray him as a villian, and has portrayed Uncle Sam as the bad guy in its comics. They see a student government that feels one of its "duties is to "educate" the students. They see a student government out of control. Why is MSA out of control? Simply because it concerns itself with off-campus topics that is has no business dealing with. The original intent of a campus student government was to deal with campus issues and problems. That's it. Slowly but surely, MSA took on more and more responsibilities. And since the Vietnam Conflict, MSA has concerned it- self with national and state affairs, and student "activism." Well, the Vietnam Con- flict is over, and MSA still has not recovered from it. And while the major student gover- nments around the state concern themselves solely with campus issues, MSA feels it should do much more. A year and a half ago, I served on student government at Oakland University. We never talked about world and state affairs, we never sought to "educate" the students, and we poured all of our energy (and money) into Michaels is an MSA representative from the School of Engineering. campus problems and issues. The result: a campus student government respected by the students and faculty alike. A student gover- nment that wielded power with the ad- ministration. Is Oakland's student gover- nment unusual? Not at all. In fact, almost every student government around operates just this way. It is MSA that is unusual. It is MSA that has a basic problem of gaining respect. And I say this from experience, having communicated with almost every major student government around the state. Clearly, MSA has to change it's ways. But how can legitimate state and national student concerns be addressed? They can be addressed through participation in the state and national student governments. The national student government, The United States Student Association (USSA) deals with national student issues. It has been very ef- fective in dealing with such national student concerns as federal financial aid cuts and the 21-year-old drinking age. By participating in the USSA, MSA can give students a voice in national student affairs, and national representation, which is the role of the USSA. However, MSA voted last week against par- ticipation in a USSA event, one of only two such events a year. MSA can address state student concerns through the Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC), our state student government. The role of the MCC is to deal with state student concerns. The USSA and the MCC are the two vehicles through which MSA can address national and state student concerns without actually having to deal with them itself. The result: MSA can devote all of its energy and resources toward campus issues and problems, such as rape. What is wrong with a student government trying to educate the students? Very simply the "education" students receive becomes entirely too subjective. For instance, two years ago, Mary Rowland served as president of MSA. The students were thoroughly "educated" on every political viewpoint far left-of-center. One simply has to look at an old issue of the MSA news to see this. One simply has to recall an MSA sponsored bus trip to Washington D.C. for a peace march to see this. The students were educated to be leftists with their own student fees, whether they liked it or not. However, when a right-of- center viewpoint came to campus, former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, the MSA News devoted the whole back page of its issue to something that has become a disgrace to the University. The back page consisted of a picture of Haig, tainted with devils eyes, hor- ns on his head, and missiles in the background. Underneath the picture, it sim- ply read "Haig." It is no coincidence that Haig received a disgraceful reception at Rackham Auditorium. The one chance MSA had to "educate" the students on the other political point of view was lost. With actions like this, it is no wonder MSA has trouble get- ting respect from the adminigtration. It is no wonder MSA has "public relation" problems. And to think that Mary Rowland said, "We must educate students on both sides of the issues." The one saving grace for MSA this year has been President Scott Page. He has brought some moderatism to MSA, and has sought to strenthen ties with the United States Student Association, and the Michigan Collegiate Coalition. He commands a great deal of respect. However, the president alone cannot control the actions of the assembly as a whole. MSA must move away from trying to "educate" the students and sponsoring political activities. There are just simply too many problems on campus. It must be remembered that every ounce of energy, and every dollar used to try and change Central America and the arms race, is an ounce of energy and a dollar taken away from campus problems. How can we justify giving money to the Progressive Student Network for Nuclear Awareness Week when 200-400 women a year are raped on campus and there is still no escort service. Clearly, MSA must reprioritize its goals. And when it does, it will find that it will be a much more effective and efficient organization, with a better image. Just ask the other student governments, around the state. 4 4 4 Wasserman 4 N4oW, MAMb1E, 'NAV' AL1S FUSSOVRSEAS NWUT THE IS1T1E46TA Op I~rEDoU.12? Keys to peace D ESPITE ALL the recent hoopla about new developments in the Mideast peace process, there are still many stumbling blocks on the road to peace. It seems that all the key actors are simultaneously looking for sincere and lasting negotiations, but they have different sets of motives, goals and agendas which inevitably contradict each other. Perhaps most essential to the suc- cess of the peace talks is the involv- ment of the United States. The disorganization among the Arab states has forced them to appeal to the U.S. to lend a guiding hand by acting as an un- biased overseer. President Reagan has responded with a flat out "no." Clearly without U.S. involvement in the peace process the various actors will spin their wheels due to their clashing concerns, ideologies, and pressures from home. The U.S. should act responsibly, assuming a leading role in promoting peace in this volatile area. The first step must be the Palestine Liberation Organization's final and unequivocal adherence to the provisions of the United Nations resolution which allows for the peaceful co-existance of all nations of that region, including Israel. The February 11 agreement between Yassar Arafat, the leader of the PLO and King Hussein of Jordan seems to offer just such concessions, but .the language is fuzzy and 'the U.S. and Israel see little interest in it. It was purposely vague to give just enough of a signal to the U.S. of a concession, but at the same time not to aggrevate the radicals in his own movement. King Hussein of Jordan, who has initiated much of the recent discussion, will have to affirmatively outline a proposal to create a joint Palestinian- Jordanian estate under his rule. This is important because it eliminates the possibility of a pro-Soviet West Bank Palestinian state to arise between Israel and Jordan. Secondly, Israel has affirmed that Jordan must be willing to accept something other than a total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Israel will be very interested in talks if the PLO and Jordan can make these concessions, but peace is not at the top of their priority list. They first want to complete their military withdrawal of Lebanon. Shimon Peres needs to keep the governing coalition of the Labor and Likud parties together so both can be held responsible for the consequences. He feels that peace talks now might seperate them. Secondly, he needs a redefinition of peace from the Arabs and to warm up relations with the Arab states in general before getting started. Egypt on the other hand is trying desperately to get the talks going. Hosni Mubarak needs stable diplomatic and economic relationships among mideast nations in order to relieve economic problems in his own country. His eagerness to attain peace has lead him to speak almost too openly about new Arab concessions angering his fellow leaders. The final result of the developments then doesn't add up to much more than a lot of discussion that is sincere, but ineffectual. Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the PLO are all working towards peace, but each defines peace differen- tly. So until they are all able to sort out the competing factors and come to some mutually acceptable concessions there is not much chance for peace. The sooner the U.S. steps in and lays out the necessary framework, the bet- ter the chances are for Mideast peace. %01 1~4N ' I)} ; tm 4 4 i 1wHp ^ 3 rn U Letters Daily m To the Daily: I am sorry to report that in the March 14 Daily ("Candidates miss election forum"), a reporter misquoted (despite his seeming attentiveness to my statements) my remarks concerning City In praise of Daily photos To the Daily: Your photography staff is to be commended! Rarely has the cover of a college newspaper por- trayed as much warmth as the front page of The Michigan Daily isreported Council candidates' attendance at an open forum sponsored by the Lesbian-Gay Political Caucus of Washtenaw County on March 13. Of the nine candidates, three Democrats responded to our in- vitation: Jim Burchell (Ward 2) promised to attend and did so; Lowell Peterson, running unop- posed (Ward 1), came to the meeting although he had originally been uncertain of his attendance; Kathy Edgren BLOOM COUNTY orum a (Ward 5) let us know that she preferred to do door-to-door can- vassing on the night in question. I would appreciate your publishing this letter so that the candidates' courtesy and com- mitment can be a' matter of public record. ttendance -Jim Toy March 15 Toy is a member of the Lesbian-Gay Political Caucus of Washtenaw County. ' 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 Breathd NOW ? II NOW7 I I ~I II j it cwrr tawm M~Y MW ..Yarn ow ALW a ~ 1 iv 57W j~ 1Ww FA II III '1 1 IA