0 OPINION Page 4 ~Ije Bltditgan iwa tI Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Wednesday, April 10, 1985 The Michigan Daily 0 Talking about- nuclear war Vol. XCV, No. 151 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board T Wo faces of racism ACISM at the University wears two faces. There is the unfeeling disregard demonstrated by the University ad- ministration for much of the last decade in which the concerns of minority students, particularly blacks, are unaddressed. Worse, there is the overt scorn that certain students feel for others on the basis of their skin color. For much of the school year, the first form of racism has received the lion's share of attention. In response, the administration has commendably begun a stepped-up minority recruit- ment campaign and has commissioned associate vice president Niara Sudarkasa to compile a report on minority retention. In the last few weeks, however, the second form has been publicized. On March 31, the Detroit Free Press ran an article entitled "Being Black at UM, "which depicted the University as an environment filled with "racist taunts, stereotyped attitudes toward black culture...and library and bathroom scrawls with racist phrases." On April 6, Daily photographer Carol Francavilla conducted an informal, unscientific poll of ,mblack students on campus for the Inquiring Photographer column that indicates many black students feel racism is a problem on campus. Racism is a subjective label, and therefore there can be no statistics kept on it. Individuals are hurt by others who may or may not have intended in- sult. The result is an atmosphere of in- tolerance; an atmosphere that is as difficult to resolve as it is to label. Racism can begin without malice. Friends may refer to blacks or other minorities with derisive slang in jest. But even intra-clique racial slurs engender feelings of hostility by postulating a distinct group of "others." Unlike the first sort of racism, the administration cannot simply cure the problem of overt intolerance. Better representation of the qualified pool of black students will help matters some, but the only real solution begins with every member of the University com- munity. Only when every student, staff member, faculty person, and ad- ministrator has thoroughly analyzed himself for subtle racial prejudices and worked to rid himself of them will the problem truly be solved. With the administration appearing at last to be committed to increased minority recruitment and improved minority retention, the latent racism that has recently become evident is all the more appalling. Until individuals begin working to improve their own at- titudes the problem will continue' and the University community will suffer for it. Dr. Helen Caldicott was born in Australia and came to America in the early 1970s to conduct medical research at Harvard University. She has since aban- doned her medical pursuits to work full time as a spokeswoman for the anti- nuclear movement. Caldicott revitalized Physicians for Social Responsibility, now supported by over 30,000 medical professions concerned with the threat of nuclear war. More recently, she founded Women's Action for Nuclear Disar- mament (WAND), a national coalition working at the grassroots level to protest- nuclear proliferation. During a visit to Ann Arbor last month to deliver a speech marking the close of the University's In- ternational Women's Decade, she spoke with Daily staff reporter Jody Becker. Dialogue Daily: Your visit to Ann Arbor coincides with the U.S.-Soviet arms negotiations in Geneva. What do you think can be realistically expected from this new round of talks? Do you think the "Star Wars" initiative is going to thwart the efforts at Geneva? Caldicott: I think that star wars is going to make arms control impossible, and that Reagan has staffed the arms control talks with hawks. And I think Reagan's decision not to go to Chernenko's funeral is a mistake. It doesn't really look like the United States is trying to reach out, even make a gesture. No, I don't think they'll accomplish much. D: Prior to the re-election of President Reagan, you made statements that warned of the danger of a second term in regards to the escalation of the arms race. Now that Regan is in the White House again, what do you see as the future of the MX and the new Strategic Defense Initiative? C: Well, he calls the MX the "peacemaker", which is "1984" talk, he says we have to have the MX because we want ar- ms control. That's newspeak. I never heard of such insanity, and unfortunately the people in the Congress will roll over and do it. I don't understand where they are, I suspect they aren't getting enough pressure from their constituents. Your (Rep.) Pursellsonly got 20 letters related to the MX. 20 letters! He should be deluged with telegrams and telephone calls and letters. What are the people doing? Putting their heads in the sand like the people in Germany did? Umm, "Star Wars". What is the future for "star wars"? Well, they're going ahead with R and D, ,(research and development) for it and we'll see, and the universities will get into it and the labs will get into it and the corporations will get into it. And it's great, you see. We were really winning in 1982, and I think the people in the government were getting very worried that these feelings were sweeping the coun- try. There was a huge march in New York, the labs like Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos and all the rest and all the cor- porations were seeing that they weren't going to build any more nuclear weapons. They were really finished. So there was a call put gout for making this new engineering initiative in space, which is endless, because it's in- soluable, and it just goes on forever. And so he bought it. I don't understand. D: What do you think Americans can do at the grass roots level to protest the passage of the MX or funding of further research and development of the "Star Wars" scheme? C: They should be deluging their congressmen and senators with phone calls and letters and telling them, "If you vote for the MX, I personally will make sure you're not re-elected in three years time." Don't forget the power of this democracy lies at the ballot box. D: But what about the fact that only 52.9 percent of those eligible voted in the last national election? C: You'd be surprised. If a congressman gets a hundred calls a day, they get really jumpy. How do you think the corporations get through with their demands? They deluge them with telegrams and the congressmen know that's orchestrated. But if the people, their actual constituents start to call in, it really freaks them out. I don't understand why Americans don't understand democracy. I don't know what you're being taught in school. Becker's conversation with Caldicott will continue tomorrow. 6 Wasserman cR. MC5 cNA96E 1 MI ouR 1N V,66i N OF Lesiwow WAS P, T-N LURE o J itp "CHAT VJT COST 'THOUS.ANDS OF LIES UT CkA.N4&Et'NOT1WNC-. THEY ARE WRZONG M4 198, OU Q. No TMxEPZd BoEDRWAS TNQE ENEP BY -me XkosliveFowa 100 KY /IT IS ATC~'4d Y THE Nsit RCSoI~~ ~~ * f V- E S.iITES IF ii A slow solution Letters VOICE gathers necessary experience T HE LEGISLATION recently ap- proved in the House and Senate demanding that the Japanese reduce their trade barriers is reasonable. Last year of the greater than $100 billion trade deficit the United States amassed, over $34 billion was due to Japan. Since World War II, the Japanese market has been, almost en- tirely'closed to foreign goods. A close examination of this situation reveals that the situation is not as one- sided as it would appear to be. Many U.S. officials agree that for- mal barriers tb the Japanese market are not that severe. One U.S., official stated that the trade deficit with Japan would probably be reduced only by a third if all tariff barriers under con- sideration are dropped. Researchers have discovered that the Japanese are not the protectionists that many in the West envision them to be. One study revealed that Japan's average tariff on industrial imports is 2.8 percent, while the tariff rates on such goods in the United States and among the European Economic Com- munity are 4.4 and 4.7 percent respec- tively. Non-tariff barriers are also con-. siderably less in Japan. One study found that 22.1 percent of Japan's manufactured imports are subject to non-tariff barriers, while in the United States 45.1 percent of all such goods are. Two other studies revealed similar statistics.. Why then, is the U.S. trade deficit with Japan so large? Business leaders, especially in the telecommunication field, complain vehemently about the severe, complicated Japanese laws governing telecommunication equip- ment imports. A common complaint is that laws are not specific enough, and often, as a result, those who wish to en- ter the Japanese telecommunication market must perform an excessive amount of paperwork. The U. S husinessmen noint to the United States' laws are too lenient. Ac- cordingly, the Japanese have good reason to be fearful of mass infiltration of their telecommunications market by United States' industries that have not been forced to produce quality items. Others propose that the chief factor contributing to the trade imbalance is culturally based. People from the generation that experienced World War II are now Japan's leaders. This generation also possesses the majority of Japanese wealth, and oversees education and commerce. Thus children have been indoctrinated with a distrustful attitude towards the United States. Of course, the few young people who would like to break tradition and buy foreign goods have had difficulty doing so. Firstly, they have little money and find Japanese goods to be more affor- dable than imports. Secondly, the strong U.S. dollar has drastically decreased these people's buying power, just as it has elsewhere. Therefore, the young who would like to buy American goods are unable to do so. When all of these factors are con- sidered, it becomes obvious that the U.S.-Japanese trade deficit dilemma is not easily solvable. The current "spenders" in Japan, mistrust not only the quality and serviceability of U.S. products, but also the United States it- self. By forcing the Japanese to import a considerably larger amount 'of U.S. products now, the United States' government will only cause 'the Japanese people to feel further resen- tment. If the United States wishes to remain closely allied with Japan, it should proceed cautiously. For now, Congress should accept the Japanese concessions concerning telecommunications. Then, later this year at the economic summit in Bonn, the U.S. government should present, in writing, a plan which calls for a gradual increase in U.S. exports to Japan. To the Daily: I amtwriting to recommend that you vote for Paul Josephson for president and the VOICE can- didate from your school for representative in the MSA elec- tion today. There is a difference between VOICE and the other paries. Other parties tell you they are supportive of "minority concer- ns." VOICE has blacks, hispanics and whites who are currently ac- tive in working for all disadvan- taged groups on campus. The other parties may tell you that, if elected, they will begin work on an escort system. Voice can- didates have been among the Women's Issues committee who have already completed the design of an escort program, as part of a comprehensive program to insure women's safety on campus. VOICE can- didates are among those curren- tly working with the ad- ministration in order to im- plement this comprehensive program. All the candidates will (or should) tell you to vote "yes on C," the ballot proposal that would deny legitimacy to any code of conduct passed without the approval of the student body. Paul Josephson, Brian Haus from the Engineering School, and[ other VOICE candidates wrote proposal C. They have been ac- tive on the students rights com- mittee in stopping the code. They want to continue to VOICE student concerns effectively to the administration. Paul Josephsonand the VOICE slate will be better able to ad- vocate student concerns because their party is a better cross- section of the student body. Other parties claim to be for a "more representative MSA." The question is: representative of what? VOICE has candidates from the Greek system, from the dorms, from coops, and from off campus housing. VOICE has RA's, current MSA represen- tise than the other parties com- bined. I have worked with Paul Josephson and many of the can- didates on the VOICE slate during my time as MSA code researcher and chair of the University Council. I have had the chance to get to know them and see them in action at meetings of the Student Rights Committee, the Women's Issues committee, and the Assembly. Paul Josephson is dedicated, hard working, and effective. As a co-editor of the MSA news, he has had the chance to become well in- formed on all the issues of the past year. He learns quickly because he is open to the input of others. Paul acts ably and meaningfully on what he has learned. Paul Josephson and the rest of the VOICE party know how to act effectively to insure that student concerns are not ignored by the administration. Other parties tell you to trust the administration, that students should just keep quiet. "Mum's the word," they, say. Paul Josephson and the candidates running with him say, "students need a VOICE." Paul Josephson and his party are that VOICE. - Lee Winkleman April 3 Winkleman is chair of the University Council. Proposal C is democratic safeguard To the Daily:. In this year's MSA election, there is a chance for students to reaffirm their fight for democracy at the University and their fight against a code. Ballot Question C is a call for direct student democracy. Question C asks: Should any code of non- academic conduct be approved by a vote of the student body prior to ratification by MSA? If passed, Question C would give the students veto power over a code submitted for approval. The debate over the code has been at times a sad reminder that the University is not a democracy. Regent Roach declared that students "have got to remember that this is not a democracy. We don't make decisions based on what students think." The Administration's willingness to repeal Bylaw 7.02, taking away student approval power over a code, has shown just how much it respects student opinion. In this polluted air of bureacratic visions on how to run students' lives, Ballot Question C is a fresh call for democracy. Because the Administration will not guarantee that students will be "allowed" to approve the code, BLOOM COUNTY Ballot Question C cannot guaran- tee that students will be able to vote on a-code. It will, however, be an important part of the at- tempt to keep the students' right to approve or reject a code. Specifically,. Ballot Question C would transfer the right of ap- proval given to MSA in the Bylaws of the University to the entire student body. A vote by all of the students would determine how MSA would vote on a Code. The many problems associated with a code have caused students to be concerned and to fight for their rights. In last year's MSA election, 92 percent of the studen- ts voted for a similar proposal. This year, 100 percent of the students should vote to secure their right to vote on a code. It i in the interests of all studen that no code be approved without their consent. If approved, Ballot Question C will be an important check against a code. Voting yes on C will be an important declaration that students' opinions mean something! -Dave Buchen April 1 Buchen isa staff person 4 MSA 's students' rights com- mittee. 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. 60 by Berke Breathed YOVR& 4XIM171V67 II ONE POC5NT 9/5scU5 176 6&2y,'WHj 11 IA