4 OPINION Page 4 Thursday, September 26,1985 The Michigan Daily Salavdoran anguish 'Why we did it' has provided $1.7 billion dollars, military nment of El Salvador. This is despite the Boston Tea Party would say. We America. That includes the police. We By Peter Rosset training, and countless weapons, bombs and receiving, by the admission of his aides, an criticize the German people who heard the regard them as fellow American citizens planes to the government of El Salvador. It overwhelming proportion of letters and rumors about Jews in cattle cars, but who should be concerned about U.S. policy, On September 241985;Ind4othr is a government that maintains 900,000 of its figured it wasn't their job to find out if they and as such we try to be respectful and Oitizn Septemb rb,8- iand 48 other s 5 million citizens in absolute poverty, ac- were true. So how can we stand by while our avoid confrontation. We hope that our at- members of Aenir, ity m ny cording to the U.S. Congress. 1 out of 4 We remained gravely concerned about the con- government supports atrocities in Central titude gives them a pause for thought. members of the Univ ersitye maunito children die before the age of five, and 50% tinued involvement of all branches of the security America? Our country is moving fast toward were arrested in a peace Carl Prsell Why of those that survive are malnourished. t and military forces in a systematic and widespread There is a national campaign, begun by __________r ___ngressman,__rs _. y is a government that for years has savagely program of torture, mutilation," disappearan- Church organizations, called the Pledge of repressed peaceful dissent, leaving only ce," and the individual and mass extrajudicial Resistance. Acting on their highest moral, "At first the Air Force dropped bombs that armed struggle as an alternative for the im- execution of men, women and children from all religious and civic principles, almost 100,000 "How is a man to behave toward this American knocked down trees and houses, killed people, and poverished majority. According to all sectors of Salvadoran society... (and) continued to Americans have signed a pledge to engage government today? I answer, that he cannot be made three-meter craters. Then they began to drop. respected human rights agencies, more express its concerns to relevant officials in the in acts of nonviolent resistance whenever associated with it... I think that it is not too soon bombs that exploded before they hit the ground than 50,000 civilians have been executed or United States concerning the possible direct effect the United States escalates its involvement for honest men to rebel... What makes this duty and others that made craters eight meters deep to disa ppeared. which military assistance could have on the human in the killing in Central America. This week the more urgent is the fact that the country so kill us as we hid in our shelters. Now they use the Since June, 1982, the Salvadoran airforce rights situation in El Salvador." the national pledge was called in, to overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading worst of all-theflaming liquid (napalm)." has been waging an air war against the -AmnestyInternational dramatize our opposition to President army." -Salvadoran refugee civilian population in rural areas. In what is _Reagan's request before Congress for $438 -Henry David Thoreau, the most intensive bombing ever in this million in further aid to the government of Resistance to Civil Government, 1849 hemisphere, an average of 60 500-pound and phonecalls from his constituents urging him El Salvador. Our demand here in Ann Arbor 75 750-pound bombs are being dropped per to oppose such aid on humanitarian groun- was that Rep. Pursell pledge to vote against did we do it? The answer is that we feel a month (New York Times, 7/18/85). There is ds. Many community groups have tried to that aid. Unfortunately he has refused to another Vietnam war in Central America. terrible injustice is being committed in our more than one bombing mission per day. reach him through reason, through com- oppose it. The last war stopped by public protest, but names, it is in a sense our moral obligation And all this can only continue because of passion. But it hasn't worked, and at some In order to be more effective, the Pledge ntutlhnrd ftosnso olg tomdsomths ing abssou bgtin n m assv U suppor. Te Unitedtaes point we had to decide where do we go from of Resistance needs more signers. We need not until hundreds of thousands of college to do something about it. massive U.S. support. The United States ple who age American men lost their lives. This time Since 1981 the United Statesgoenet roie556otheniebdeofte hr.polwharwiigtoatcptetay ahUid tgrvadon goemente feth the hCan we say, "we tried our best," so it is no level, be it illegal civil disobedience or legal let's stop the war sooner. We in Ann Arbor Rosset is a U of M graduate student in time has come to say enough. We cannot i longer our fault that thousands of innocent, demonstrations and other forms of protest. ovementhsi in thiscamp nti-w biology and co-author o The Nicaragua good conscience allow more genocide in our men, women and children are dying We are committed to non-violence, open- pu bRe a:Docu-entsoof Thevoltionamgecns. nc aowmregeoc i or because of our tax dollars? Well, I know ness, friendliness and respect toward all the nation in public opposition to an unjust- Under Fire (available at Borders in Rep. Purell has consistently voted for what Thoreau would say, what Martin whom we encounter as we engage in our war. Let us continue in. that honorable paperback). economic and military aid to the gover Luther King, Jr. would say, what the folks at witness against U.S. intervention in Central tradition. GO BLUE! ie t a nrichig an l Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Chassy Vol. XCVI, No. 16 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board i Boy's resident Reagan's game plans have met with an imposing phalanx of opposition. It appears that the release of a Congressional Office of Technology Assessment report which casts aspersions on the feasibility of the "Star Wars" defense plan could inhibit his drive to develop the great missile shield in the sky. The report, commissioned by the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee clearly contraverts the Administration's assertion that a high-tech missile defense would make nuclear weapons obsolete. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) director James Ionson had candidly stated that his office is "trying to sell something to Congress,"and now it looks as if it might be a tough sell. While concerned scientists nationwide have expressed doubts about the Star Wars plan, Congress must now consider the non- partisan agency's highly resear- ched document which states that Star Wars "does not appear feasible." Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.) chairman of the House Armed Ser- vices Committee, a consistent toys proponent of a strong national defense, has conceded that the research and development of the technology necessary to implement the new mechanisms could be a destabilizing, unwise maneuver on the part of the United States. Simultaneous to the release of the report, yesterday the world was in fact presented with a clear illustration of the destabilizing im- plications of Star Wars. In an ad- dress to the UN General Assembly, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said that the Soviets are prepared to make "truly radical reductions" in existing nuclear stockpiles if only the U.S. would abandon the Star Wars en- deavor. Unfortunately, the world is collectively witnessing a dangerous fantasy being pushed to the logical extreme. Scientists, educators, and other experts have maligned the scheme from the start, but Reagan remains enchan- ted with his ever expanding war chest of nuclear toys. It is time to hear the informed, resounding choruses of protest; sorry Mr. Reagan, there is no "Star Wars."' CAPTAIN, I THIUK MONSIt iR WhEFHrfrU cm utrfes ol W-, ere Ore Co P.U er feeS. I WE IKEEPHIM AROU)ND IN CaSE WE NEED MORE NEVA..p To the Regents: We read with consternation in both the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan Daily that you, the regents, put through a tuition in- crease of one hundred dollars per term for the use of university- owned computers. A number of things annoy us about this decision. First, the University of Michigan is a public institution. By definition (or at least in theory), the facilities should be affordable to the public. Since recent legislation passed by the Federal Government has made the ability to attend U of M rather difficult for some who depend on their own resources to come here and learn, the assumption by the Regents that all U of M students would blithely agree to an automatic increase inetuition by nearly ten percent is rather blind. To some whose bills are paid by parents or scholarships and grants, a $200 increase may not seem like much. But topa majority of students who pay their own way, $200 is a lot of this fee has been imposed do not use, and have not used in their te nure at U of M, a computer, let alone a University-owned one. Did the Regents impose this fee because they, the seven that voted unanimously to put this policy into effect, want more computers? Then the sensible answer would be to impose a fee on those who use the University- owned computers. The fee should not be imposed on those who never use them. If, for some reason, a student wishes to use a terminal for a one-time project, he should pay a small fee. But there are students at U of M who don't use the facilities who will find the mandatory $200 fee un- fair. The reasoning of the Regen- ts would then beg the question shouldn't the student body be'for- ced to pay a mandatory fee to pay for new instruments for the mar- ching band? Finally, the first anyone (who isn't in the know, i.e. on the Board of Regents) heard of this move is today (September 20), after the vote had been taken and the policy put into effect. Did the Regents decide to keep a lid on this policy in order to quell whatever opposition from studen- ts that might arise? Or was it an oversight on the part of the Regents-they meant to tell us before the vote was taken so they might weigh student opinion as to how they felt about a $200 tuition increase to pay for some to use the computers, but they forgot. Either case is inexcusable. This is a public institution, and should take into account student feeling and opinion. Several students, one might presume, do not wish to have a mandatory fee imposed on them for a facility they do not use. Certainly in this case, the students, the public at this public institution have been overlooked. We encourage our readers to use this space to, discuss and respond to issues of their concern. Whether those topics a, iI./. I cover University, Ann Arbor com- munity, state, national, or international issues in a straightforward or unconven- tional manner, we feel such a dialogue is a crucial }function of the Daily. leters and guest columns should be 'yped, triple-spaced, and signed. - - - - " t. i