0 OPINION The Michigan Daily Page 4 Friday, November 8, 1985 0 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 N I WO STEERNG,-WHEEL.. 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 by Ber~kereanthed ma NQ HAVE 5EAT. FAR~MERS 6%gt w= UW It IIU~L3A.... i'll _____________