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OPINION
The Michigan Daily
Page 4
Friday, November 8, 1985
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Large field fights for LSA-SG posts
4
The largest number of students in three
years will be vying for positions in the up-
coming LSA student government elections
on November 18th and 19th. Forty students
have filed to run for the 15 representative
spots and president and vice president
positions. Current president junior Michelle
Week
in Review
Tear will run again with the SAID (Students
for Academic and Institutional Develop-
ment) party, along with running mate
junior Michael Rolnick. SAID has nine
people running for representative positions.
The Action party's presidential candidate
is sophomore Steve Herz; Liz Uchitelle is
their vice presidential candidate. Nine
other members of the Action Party are run-
ning for representative.
CAUSE (Concerned About University
Student Education) has a field of 7 can-
didates, including junior Keith Titen for
president and junior June Kirchgatter for
vice president.
The other party, SDS (Students for
Democratic School) has eight candidates
running for representative.
Short seated
The availability of Michigan basketball
season tickets was met with cheers and
jeers on Monday. But many students, while
anxious for the start of what looks to be a
great season for the Wolverines, were
disappointed with the location of their seats.
With the number of season ticket ap-
plications almost tripling among students
this year, ticket manager Al Renfrew had
his hands full trying to ensure that the most
deserving students are placed in the best
student seating.
Renfrew has instituted a new system
whereby seniors who have bought season
tickets in the past get top priority. Seniors,
however, are the only students who
received this special priority. Renfrew felt
that since many people would be buying
tickets for the first time, credit should be
given to seniors who have been going to
games regularly.
While the new priority system seems to be
an improvement on the existing seating
arrangement at Crisler Arena, it is that
arrangement which is at the root of the
student complaints. With students eligible
for only one-fourth of the lower (blue) sec-
tion seating, and the remaining three-
fourths going to alumni, students will con-
tinue to suffer nosebleeds in the highest
rows of Crisler and the basketball team will
suffer the "support" of the senior citizens at
courtside.
Divide and conquer
Members of the Michigan Student
Assembly and Niara Sudarkasa, associate
vice president for academic affairs, faced-
off this week on students' role in minority
recruitment and retention.
MSA is pushing for students to have
power in the decision-making process in
minority affairs, while "Sudarkasa wants to
make autonomous decisions," according to
MSA President Paul Josephson. "I want
students to be decision-makers," Josephson
said.
Sudarkasa favors numerous task force
committees, which would include students,
to make recommendations. "If MSA
chooses not to appoint any students to the
committees, I will see if there are other
student organizations (which) would be in
terested in helping me," said Sudarkasa.
Sudarkasa also said she has already of-
fered two positions on a newly-formed
committee to MSA members Laurence
Norris and Roderick Linzie. That task force
formed about two weeks ago and will look at
undergraduate minority recruitment.
Protesting abuse
The city will investigate student charges
of police misconduct at the TODAY Show
broadcast and the CIA recruiting visit.
Lowell Peterson (D-First Ward) and Jeff
Epton (D-Third Ward) proposed a
resolution Monday night to investigate the
police, but city administrator Godfrey
Collins forced the resolution's withdrawal
by asserting his responsibility for inter-
departmental investigations.
The investigating committee will include
Peterson, Epton and Gerald Jernigan (R-
Fourth Ward). Peterson and Epton said
that they would wait for Collins to report
and if necessary conduct their own in-
vestigation.
Protesters claim the police are guilty of
physical mistreatment, use of abusive
language and behaviour, and failure to give
required warning of violations before
arrests. Thea Lee, a student member of the
Latin America Solidarity Committee said
she was physically carried away from a
roped off area at the TODAY show broad-
cast.
Open classifieds
Controversy erupted last week ovor
whether the first meeting of the presidential
committee reviewing the UniversityIs
guidelines on classified research should be
open to the public.
The Michigan Student Assembly
unanimously passed a resolution urging the
University administration to open the
meeting, at the behest of MSA's Military
Researcher Ingrid Kock, who claimed sloe
had been told next Tuesday's meeting would
be closed.
Kock's evaluation was inaccurate, 5
however, as Prof. Phillip Converse, the
Committee's chairman, said he had not
made a final decision on the issue. As of
Thursday, the nature of the meeting
remained unclear.
MSA members expressed strong reser-
vations about any of the committee s
meetings being closed, although the
University has closed meetings of review
committees in the past.
The Week in Review was compiled by
Daily editors Jody Becker and Tom
Keaney and staff writers Jerry Markon,
Nancy Driscoll and Henry Park.
I
MIb f11Eb43au49 a 41 1
tebt an t Michigan
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
LETTERS:
Get involved in MSA
don't defund it
Vol. XCVI, No. 47
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Young again
" I've heard people saying
things like, "There's too much
crime and the city services are
abysmal and the schools aren't
safe and my kids are being eaten
by rats - and I'm voting for
him."
-Kirk Cheyfitz
Editor of Metropolitan
Detroit magazine
DESPITE THE appalling con-
ditions which characterize
everyday life for many Detroiters,
the voters came out in full force
Tuesday to re-elect Coleman
Young to an unprecedented fourth
term as mayor of that troubled
city.
Young, in office since 1974, is
Detroit's first black mayor and, as
such, has developed a huge black
following who regard him as larger
than life. To many, he is the em-
bodiment of the "Renaissance"
spirit that has transformed Detroit
from "Murder City" to the fifth
most popular convention site in the
country.
Indeed, Young's ideas -- such as
the celebrated Renaissance Cen-
ter, site of the 1980 Republican
convention, and Hart Plaza, where
popular ethnic festivals occur each
summer - have given the city a
new breath of life. His latest
projects, the ritzy Millender Cen-
ter apartments, and the
problematic People Mover system,
will probably increase the flow of
money from suburbanites and con-
ventioneers in the Downtown area.
However, Young, no matter how
successful with multi-million
dollar investers, has neglected his
most basic duties as mayor.
Young's glossy topcoat cannot
cover the unsightly decay of the
city. Neighborhoods, schools, and
public services have been virtually
ignored by Young in his pursuit of
glorious glass towers.
Recent weapons searches in
Detroit public high schools have
uncovered countless knives, guns,
and martial arts weapons. Youths
set 479 fires over Halloween. Crime
and unemployment rates are
peaking at staggering levels.
Taxes are high and city services
too few. The citizens of Detroit
have been waiting ten years for
Young to effect changes in their
lives.
The very foundation of the city -
its neighborhoods - must be re-
vitalized. Vacant houses should be
renovated or razed. Small
businesses must be encouraged.
Crime, the city's biggest enemy,
must be fought head-on. Detroit's
police officers and fire fighters
(whose unions came out in op-
position to Young) must be expan-
ded.
Projects which will improve the
quality of life for the average
Detroiter - making the city an
attractive place not to visit, but to
live - must take priority.
To the Daily:
Defund The Michigan Student
Assembly. DEFUND MSA? In
response to the recent criticisms
of MSA, and the subsequent call
for defunding, I would like to
voice my opinion of MSA's impor-
tance and tell why I believe such
a proposition (defunding) would
be not only ignorant but also ill-
advised.
Students claim that MSA
doesn't represent them. What do
they mean? Have they bothered
to find out exactly what MSA
does, or are they forming their
opinions based on recent negative
press? Have they even attended a
single MSA meeting to see how
student government works or to
express their concerns, opinions,
or ideas? For most students,
sadly enough, the answer is no.
MSA does a hell of a lot more
for students on this campus than
some would like to believe. It
organizes activities like Festifall
and the Alternative Career Fair.
It funds student groups who need
money for their projects and
events. It works hard in the in-
terests of minorities and women.
It works in the interests of all
students by demandingstudent
participation in University
decision-making.
A good example of this is the
fight against any code of non-
academic conduct which would
deny anyone basic constitutional
rights. It works to educate
students about campus, national,
and international problems,
promoting seminars on impor-
tant issues such as University in-
volvement in the Strategic
Defense Initiative program.
It registers student groups so
that they can have accounts at
Student Organization Accounts
Service and can be eligible for
funding through MSA, LSA-
Student Government, etc. And
the list goes on and on. It seems to
me that any student who says, or
believes, that MSA does not
represent them is either ignorant
of the truth or cannot understand
the truth because of their own
selfish biases.
You might ask where your $5.07
per semester goes. Did you know
that over half goes to support
Student Legal Services? Are you
aware that you, as a student, are
entitled to use SLS free of
charge? Yes, free of charge. To
defund this program would be
ludicrous.
Further, a good portion of
MSA's budget is spent on
allocations to student groups
which petition MSA for money.
Certainly these groups, and
anyone associated with them,
would not appreciate the defun-
ding of MSA, an important source
of funds for them. Finally, the
close, 11-10 in favor. Those who
have condemned MSA should
condemn themselves for not
speaking up sooner, for not
caring enough to attend meetings
to express their opinions and
even perhaps to persuade MSA
members to vote in a certain
manner, for not caring enough to
get involved at election time by
studying the candidates and
voting for the people who would
be the best representatives (in
the least, this means being
present at meetings in order to
vote, and I assure you that MSA
has more than 21 voting mem-
bers).
So, instead of crying for the
abolition of MSA (which is what
defunding would do, effectively),
take the initiative yourself. If you
don't like MSA's decisions,
projects, or procedures, let them
know in a rational manner. They
want your constructive input.
Further, when the next election
rolls around in April, either run
for MSA yourself, or at least get
involved enough to know the
issues and the candidates, and
vote for the ones whom you think
would do the best job.
It's not a person's political
preference that is, or should be,
important, it's whether or not
that person is willing to put forth"
a responsible, honest effort in the
interests of the students 'of,
Michigan. To think that every'
diverse opinion or attitude will be"
represented by a small number of
elected people is very naive, in-
deed. MSA cannot know how you$
feel unless you let them know;
through constructive criticism or-
input, not by calling for defnn-
ding or by ignorantly, criticizing
them behind their backs.
-Michael Brown"
Octobers31
Brown is vice-president of
LSA -Student Government.
y racism
Prosperity does not justi
To the Daily:
The letter printed on Oct. 28
concerning the current situation
in South Africa, written by Ed-
ward Freier is a gross
trivialization of the issues in-
volved in that nation. To say the
South African government "isn't
perfect" is like saying Hitler
killed some Jews.
The South African government
is one that is based on legal
racism. This -allows the gover-
nment to deal with colored, and
blacks as second and third class
citizens. By law, black
educational programs must be
inferior to white schools. By law,
no black may hold a position
above a white (even in companies
that subscribe to the Sullivan
Principles). By law, each racial
group must live in separate
suburbs: the black townships
never being within twenty miles
of the city center, by law. I do not
have the space to go into what
this means in terms of the quality
of life. It can only be said that it is
against the law for a non-white to
rise to anything other than
menial laborer.
The statement by Mr. Freier
that South Africa is "the most
prosperous country on the con-
tinent" is true, yet it glosses over
the realities of this so called
prosperity. Gross National In-
come and Gross Domestic In-
come do not adequately measure
quality of life. The whites in
South Africa have used the
nation's abundant natural
resources and the large
repressed work force of non-
whites to forge for themselves a
lifestyle equal to or better than
the average white American.
Meanwhile, many or most
blacks live at a subsistence level.
Malnutrition, disease, and even
starvation are all too common in
this most prosperous nation. It is
important to state at this point a
reality concerning U.S. in-
RhLM COINTY
volvement in South Africa. Most Mr. Freier had attended the
U.S. corporations in South Africa recent Teach-in Against Apar-
have been there for close to forty theid and Racism organized by
years. The reason they are the Free South Africa Coor-
present is the same as for being dinating Committee (FSACC), hd
in Taiwan or Brazil: cheap labor. could have talked with members
They are not there to bring about of the ANC. Or he might have
social change. If they were, learned how intelligent and ar-
change should have already oc- ticulate non-white South Africans
curred. can be, since the basis for his im*
It is fitting that the argument pending "terror" is that they are
used by Mr. Freier is the same not capable of ruling themselves.
one used by Americans in favor Mr. Freier's views of non-wiite
of black slavery, and by Britons South Africans seems to sotne
in favor of Indian slavery. The from an old Tarzan movie. This
essence of his argument is that belief is inexcusable in today's
the non-whites are better off world.
ruled by whites than by non- Racism in any form and in any
whites themselves. This ideal has guise is immoral. I will not sit
its roots in white supremacy, not back and forget this. I am not, as
fact. When the Botha regime is Mr. Freier says I am, "un-
deposed, the void created will not fulfilled unless [I'm] protesting
be chaos, for there are many something." I am protesting one
skilled blacks, Indians, coloreds, issue: racism. I oppose it in many
and whites didicated to a new or- forms. In South Africa or the
der. United States. South Africa is a
The African National Congress purely moral question. To sup-
(ANC), the most popular op- port the Botha regime, and hence
position group, has held for over Apartheid, is to support slavery
thirty years the position of one and repression.
man, one vote democratic style -Glen D. Williams
government in South Africa. If October 39
LA SC seeks out critics
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RWQM AVE %1OPACE
No EXHAUST' PIPE.
BAN4K LOANtS ARS
ALRFEA E AJS1UD.
To the Daily:
As members of the Latin
America Solidarity Committee
(LASC) we were disappointed
that of the more than 100 persons
who came to our Open House on
November 6, only a handful of
these people came to express
concerns and/or criticisms of
recent LASC activities.
We felt that many students on
campus have misunderstood our
intentions and have expressed
anger,.confusion, and apprehen-
sion over our recent protests.
Therefore we thought it ap-
propriate to hold an open forum
in which these concerns could be
discussed in a non-
confrontational atmosphere. We
went to great lengths to advertise
the event. Posters were placed all
over campus and letters sent in-
viting more than 1"P0
organizations and individuals.
There has been a great deal:of
indirect criticism of LASC recen-
tly in the form of letters to the
Daily,. vandalism of our adver-
tisements, physical threats, and*
insulting posters. It's unfortunate
that people who apparently hold
such strong views on this subject
are unwilling to express their
opinions in an open forum and
engage in a rational discussionrof
the issues.
-Kathryn Savoie
Peter Rosset
November 7
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