OPINION. Page 4 Tuesday, April 23, 1985 The Michigan Daily te d mabtna ni i Edited ond manoged by students at The University of Michigan All the news that'sfit toprint* Vol. XCV, No.162 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 By Brian Leiter As a service to the busy but conscientious Michigan student who may not have time to peruse the paper each day, here is a short rouno-up.o..cent..-4-newswor.,,..tny events: Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board I M Stalled re THE NUMBERS speak for them- selves. In spite of the University's $300,000 recruiting campaign, the number of women and black employees did not increase significantly in the last year. Although the University's current campaign to increase the recruitment of minority students has received most of the attention the past several mon- ths, under representation among staff is also a major stumbling block in the way of a more integrated and diverse community. One of the most commonly cited reasons for the low number of minority students on campus is that there are not enough minority faculty and staff. When students cannot identify with their instructors, they are less likely to feel welcome in the University en- vironment. A diverse faculty and staff adds to the number of perspectives that are available to the University community and enhances the overall learning en- vironment. Several University regents ex- pressed disappointment over the recently released statistics which in- dicate that the proportion of women and blacks hired in the last year was little better than last year. Those statistics indicate that the number of black assistant professors is down to 19 from 25 last year, and that the number D.C. STONEY BURKE didn't show up, an there weren't too many green bikes lying around, but Washington D.C.'s Ellipse certainly seemed a lot like Ann Arbor's diag last Saturday. Over 200 University students travelled in buses, vans, and cars to take part in a march on Capital Hill that called for "jobs, peace; and justice." The march itself ran for almost two miles along Pennsylvania Ave., and ended on the front lawn of the Capitol. A series of speakers, highlighted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, addressed problems facing minorities, homosex- uals, and farmers as well as gover- nmental policy in Central America, the arms race, and the apartheid gover- nment of South Africa. Although there were no official statistics, the Ann Arbor contingent seems to have been one of the largest ones there. In the weeks leading up to the march, the Latin American Solidarity Committee advertised a bus trip to Washington. The response to their ad was so overwhelming that a ( f 1 c a d 1 t_ l i. i i t round-up of recent newsworthy events : " " Colorado Senator and presidential hopeful Gary Hart, suspecting that someone might m actually ask during the 1988 campaign what his "new ideas" are, has formed a think-tank to produce new ideas. Says a Hart aide: "New of women assistant professors dropped ideas are what America wants and new ideas from 166 to 161. At the same time the are what Hart is all about. Of course, Hart number of white male assistant appreciates that new ideas must include professors climbed from 344 to 360. things like details, substantive proposals, and actual insights into the reality of the economy The statistics on assistant professors and society. Now that Gary Hart has presen- are particularly important because the ted America with 'new ideas,' our think-tank next generation of senior professors will undertake this secondary task of will be promoted out of their ranks. elaborating on these matters." One uniden- With the statistics in general leveling tified source close to Hart reports, however, off and in some cases worsening, the that the real reason for creating the think- o, s tank was Hart's discovery that one of his administration is uncertain what steps much-touted new ideas - to move away from it should take. New Deal politics and place greater reliance on the private sector - was actually the old Recruiting efforts are hurt by the idea of the Republican party. Said the source, fact that the total number of faculty "Old ideas are not new ideas - it's too bad, and staff is declining. With fewer but there's just no way around that." senior faculty positions to fill, the Secretary of Education William Bennett has launched a new series of attacks on the University cannot recruit as many quality of college education. Said Bennett: assistant professors as it traditionally "Colleges are not performing their task: has. students read and write, sure, but they don't Although unsuccessful last year, the learn to think critically. Repetition of and women faculty and staff banalities and cliches, reliance on simplistic minorityen generalizations and distortions - such skills recruitment program seems an ap- will carry almost all students through college propriate response to the problem. The these days. Our colleges are producing em- University should continue the pty-headed drones." As support for his program, but should investigate charges, Bennett cited the Reagan ad- specific failures to make it more effec- ministration which, he noted, "consists tive. mainly of college graduates." The road to establishing an in- " A new report, known informally as "The tegrate dtivest bitgyanis a White Paper II", charges that the tegrated University community s Nicaraguans are building an air field from long one, but it is well worth the effort. which the Russians will be able to conduct spy Continued programs to recruit minority and women faculty combined Leiter is a graduate student in law and with stepped up recruiting of minority philosophy. students are a start and must be built upon. Letters Diag Daily show they were forced to rent two additional Your vans. In all, the group brought 111 To the Daily: art vans.T In Daly:and th people. Unive LASC was not alone, however. It's good to see that you are prohibit Groups of marchers came from the remaining consistent in your "destr( P Student Network, the editorial policy. "Star Wars" capacit Progressive ,(Daily, April 20) is just another another Michigan Alliance for Disarmament, example of the continuing misuse overp the Interfaith Council for Peace, Take of information to present the Weapo Back the Night, the Puerto Rican viewpoints of an obviously liberal propose Solidarity Committee, and the Ann Ar- editorial staff. As has often been other bor Peace Community. noted, there are two sides to the beings. Because it didn't focus on a specific coin and you rarely examine both protect issue, the march was more a show of before taking a stand. later th Your foot-in-mouth style of Final] solidarity on the part of anti-Reagan journalism was most evident in Univers administration activists than a specific your editorial of the 20th. "Any will be political demonstration. effort at the University to design agreem If the number of marchers is any and deploy Reagan's imagined researc sign of the country's feelings toward missle shield..." Deploy? I think specific Reagan, then the President may not be you are giving too much credit to of the the Space Program here. Is the as popular as his polls indicate. University Space Shuttle Although only 35,000 marchers were operational already? My, how expected, police estimates ranged as As for your presentation again- high as 100,000 participants. st SDI, the Union of Concerned It is impressive to see that so many Scientists argument you To the U University students are committed reiterated is just another exam- adcnendeog totk tie ple of the highly pessimistic at- What and concerned enough to take time titude of the scientific community asked t from studying for finals and travel 10 toward their own field. The fin- ded for hours for a political cause. dings that the Strategic Defense awaren Initiative is unfeasible should be Without a ' ,u 4'comared to ast findings by They K scientists that the world is flat, U.S.A. :hi1that bees cannot fly, and that World. f *i;, human stomachs cannot be record operated on because the exposure opening 7N 1 ,, ~ of the abdomen to air would proble cause instant death. Africa? SDI is a research proposal. It and S will be audited regularly to allow Nelson for budgetary shifts away from severa dead ends. The Initiative can specific S;then be used by futurePresiden- Thes ts to determine the feasibility of a Africa': ballistic missile defense. If been so defensive technologies research is considered an escalation of the 8L arms race (as you assert) then the Soviets should be condemned for their active escalation in the last 20 years. The Soviets maintain around f Ir- Moscow the world's only 'A operational ABM system. In the last five years they have upgraded and expanded it just within the boundaries of the 1972 ABM treaty. A rapidly deployable ABM system has been developed which could be built in months instead of years. They are now deploying one surface-to- air missile system, the SA-10, and l r missions along the West Coast. In addition, the report claims that the Nicaraguans are installing nuclear missiles aimed at major American cities. The report also asserts that the Nicaraguans are supplying arms to rebels in El Salvador, French separatists in Quebec, blacks in South Africa, and subway riders in New York City. The report also notes that under the Sandinistas, Nicaraguans do not wash as frequently as Americans; Nicaraguan school children do not say the Pledge of Allegiance; Nicaraguan baseball players have lower batting averages than American players; and Nicaraguans do not speak English. In closing, the report calls for "renewed efforts at reform and peace or a U.S. invasion and general holocaust and destruction." * Skeptics and critics of Jesse Jackson's 1984 Rainbow Coalition have been rebuffed. Scientists at Stanford University report that it is possible to have a monochromatic rainbow. * John C. Whitehead, a retired investment banker with no background in international affairs, has been appointed Deputy Secretary of State. A State Department official com- mented: "Although Mr. Whitehead has no ex- perience in foreign policy-making, he does understand intimately the needs of American capitalism and we feel this background will more than suffice." Mr. Whitehead will join former corporate executives George Shultz and Caspar Weinberger as part of Reagan's foreign policy team. " Speaking of the needs of American capitalism, things took a turn for the worse in South Africa this past week when South African army planes dropped firebombs and napalm on black ghettos throughout the coun- try in order to quell riots and disturbances. Police report that six were killed and twenty- seven injured, though unofficial estimates from uppity blacks suggest that as many as 30,000 may have been killed or burned alive. Prime Minister Botha renewed his plea for "peace and cooperation" and denounced calls for violence by the outlawed African National Congress saying, "Such immoral and destabilizing actions threaten the good order of our society. As civilized peoples, we cannot condone violence." In Washington, Secretary is bias in ill- of State George Shultz concurred and repeated his commitment to "quiet diplomacy" as the only sort acceptable for "a nation like ours that respects national sovereignty." " At a press conference last week, George Bush proclaimed the failure of diplomatic solutions to "the Nicaraguan problem" and called for "a U.S. invasion and general holocaust and destruction." "Quiet diplomacy is for women and homosexuals," Bush added. " A recent Gallup poll suggests an uncer- tain future for American democracy. Among the total electorate, 36 percent said they did not know there was a presidential election last year, 12 percent thought Reagan had abolished elections, and 8 percent expressed "concern lest this 'electorate' group take over our country." Of those voting for Reagan, 12 percent thought the major part of his plat- form was "white supremacy," 19 percent thought it was "general kicking ass," and 34 percent thought it was a mixture of "patriotism, guns, religion, and keeping wives submissive." Of those voting for Mon- dale, 31 percent thought he was the incurr - bent, 17 percent thought "the DemocratsA were the pro-Democracy party," and 11 per- cent flipped a coin. Asked who they would support for president in 1988, the responses were: Reagan-49 percent; John Kennedy-" percent; Clint Eastwood-18 percent; Gar. Hart-2 percent; "anyone in Motley Crue"-4 percent; themselves-8 percent; - Christie Brinkley-7 percent; smurfs-3 percent. Asked to comment on the poll, President Reagan said he too would support smurfs in'88. " Jeanne Kirkpatrick has officially registered as a member of the Republican party. Her switch has lead to calls for The New Republic to follow suit. e The group Americans for Honesty and Character in Public Officials has disbanded reporting declining membership, lack of fun- ds, and failure to have "any impact in even the slightest degree during its 20 year history. An FBI spokesman said that since the group had disbanded, it would be removed from the Subversive Organizations file. America: you gotta love it! arguement thatsthis !h will be non-classified erefore not "subject to rsity guidelines'' ing research which might oy human life or in- ate human beings" is example of emotions owering judgement. ns such as the ones d are designed to destroy weapons not human They are designedato missiles initially and e population. ly, you assert that the sity and the U.S. military threatening international nents if "Star Wars" h is continued. You ally mention a passage ABM treaty prohibiting space-based AB1 compare Presi+ proposal with t you will see that is incorrect. Ai Treaty defines as one which "co * ABM interc which are incept structed and d ABM role, or of an ABM mode; " ABM launch launchersacor deployed for lau terceptor missile " ABM radar radars construct for an ABM ro tested in an ABM Nowhere in the ticle beam, la thought edit K systems. If you energy weapons mentioned. ident Reagan's These are the areas of the SDI he ABM treaty research and they do not con- your argument flict with the '72 Treaty. If you rticle II of the are truly concerned with the an ABM system "destabilizing", effects of# SDI insists of : then perhaps you should voice eptor missiles your conern in an attempt to haveW or missilescon: the Treaty renegotiated. In any eployed for an case, do some research before a type tested in you take a stand. As I've said before, uninformed rhetoric is hers, which are great for getting the blood structed and flowing,-but it won't substitute for hin ABM i substance. .nng n- s; and rs, which are ted and deployed le, or of a type Imode." treaty are par- ser, or kinetic -Jeffrey Evans; April 21 Evans is vice-chairman of the University's College Republicans. South Africa has its songs as well 1 _ . ... . .. . . . . ...... ... .. . . .. .. .. I- {{11 * , r i' Daily : would come to mind if o name two songs recor- the purpose of raising ess to African problems? t a doubt, Band-Aid's "Do now It's Christmas" and for Africa's "We Are The 'But what about the songs ed for the purpose of our eyes to the racial ms that plague South Peter Gabriel's "Biko" pecial A.K.A.'s "Free Mandela" are only two of 1 songs recorded sally for that reason. e songs of black South s fight for freedom have rely overlooked. Why does LOOM COUNTY it take a glitzy "People" cover story of pretty boys and glamorous women to make us think? Are our values now restricted to the dictates of this sort of literary crap? Why are we deaf to songs pleading a cause like apartheid in South Africa? Perhaps the answer is that we have become a nation of cowards. We close our eyes and ears to problems like this. We are too damn afraid to pay attention to an outcry of political injustice. Ethiopia was a cut and dry case - give them money, buy them food, let them live. But what about the people dying in South Africa in their fight for freedom? Is one death so different than another that it deserves our full attention? Maybe it's that the case of South Africa would stir up too many questions, too much@ disgust. Don't get me wrong - I think the work by Band-Aid and U.S.A. for Africa was a tremendous and successful effort, and I supportm their cause. yet I can't help but be disgusted in thinking that we are a nation of wallets, with hardly a' backbone in sight. We are big-hearted people in America (at least, those of us outside of the White House). We've helped one African tragedy; now it's time to open our eyes to another. - Heidi Freedman April 3 by Berke Breathed .I HAVE WM4T WAS 71HE MV MANWFIf7ItRA AVE I,5 BU Yoc/g BANANA INC..." BACE Ytx/RS.... YES WWRKII*,OKAY IM~4 AFRAIP 7hfYW 60ONE HIGH -TC H YO!/CA'T /Wt~d5rKYA6 WRK M~ftN.. IN IW1650Y. lye,~ MM ll . r 16A 1ramTY WHfAT P/I) oI I a 0 bk