4 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, November 20, 1985 The Michigan Daily 4 Edite andt an mangbr it l Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Philippine involvement Vol. XCVI, No. 55 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Only a panacea HE REAGAN administration's recent proposal for a voucher system of public education deser- ves serious examination. And rejection. Education Secretary William J. Bennett is urging Congress to convert the pittance it currently allots low-income children for remedial instruction into vouchers which poor families pould redeem at selected schools for their children. Under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Federal Government fun- ds remedial instruction for low- income children. Last year the $overnment alloted $3.2 billion for aid to approximately five million children. Bennett proposes to distribute this money in the form of stipends averaging $600 per family. Unfortunately, $600 is not enough. According to the National Education Association, the average public school pupil costs $3400 a year to educate. In subur- ban public school districts the cost is more than twice as much. These :figures do not reflect the costs of -special education for children af- flicted with autism, dyslexia, or mental retardation, for example, who currently receive federally. funded remedial instruction, and clearly require more assistance than the "average" student. The Bennett plan purports to give poor families the freedom to choose schools for their children, but $600 offers about as much choice for an improved education as it does for Carribbean cruises. While the parsimony of the Ben- nett proposal cripples its power to offer educational assistance, the voucher theory alone creates serious problems. First, the proposal is unconstitutional. Because it allows students to choose from both public and parochial schools, the voucher system indirectly funds religious schools, thereby violating the se- paration of church and state. Furthermore, the voucher system undermines a fundamental goal of public education: A voucher system would encourage parochialism in education. Com- petition-induced specialization would result in homogeneous student bodies characterized by students of similar class, religion, and race, and would reverse the slow trend toward integration. Finally, Bennett advocates the voucher system because he seems to have the false assumption that public school deterioration is based solely on lack of competition. This premise ignores such vital social factors as urban decay, crime, and apathy, and fails to explain the superiority of suburban public schools, which also do not compete for students. By arguing that com- petition would solve the problems of the public school system, proponents of the voucher system divert attention from social issues that need to be addressed. Secretary Bennett is right about one thing: the public school system is in serious need of help. However, a voucher system is not the solution. Not only is the current plan shamefully underfunded, it seeks an economic panacea based on the unfounded notion that the free enterprise system will somehow cure the ills of our public school system. By C. A. Catieres and George C. Burgos Americans must begin to comprehend why a growing number of Filipinos wish to fundamentally change both their society and U.S.-Philippine relationship. Numerous media reports on the recent visits of U.S. of- ficials to the Philippines have focused on U.S. strategic interests which are in- variably defined as the maintenance of U.S. military bases. But unless Americans start to view Philippines as more than just U.S. military bases, and consider also the aspirations of the Filipino people for democracy and sovereignty, the American people may once again find themselves embroiled in another foreign war. Ironically enough, U.S. involvement in the Philippines began with a massive military intervention in 1899 following the U.S. decision to annex the Philippines. Filipinos, however, resisted subjugation, having declared their independence six months earlier. The Philippine-American War that ensued resulted in the commitment of 126,000 American troops and the deaths of an estimated half a million Filipinos by 1902 - a brutal war that is barely mentioned in history books today. During the American colonial period, a political system emerged in which the UnitedStates gradually handed the reins of political and economic power to the Filipino elite. With the granting of independence in 1946, the United States secured extra-territorial rights to 23 military bases for 99 years and parity rights which gave U.S. citizens the same rights as Filipinos to exploit Philip- pine natural resources. This was in keeping with U.S. policy which was later defined in a top secret document, "Policy Planning Staff 23," dated Feb. 24, 1948. This document reads, in part, "we [Americans] have 50 percent of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population...Our real task is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity... To do so.. .we should cease to talk about vague, and for the Far East, unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of living stan- dards and democratization." PPS 23 further declared that U.S. policy should see to it that the Philippines "remain in hands which we can control and rely on." This policy was best exemplified by the events of Sept. 21, 1972 when Marcos, reac- ting to a growing nationalist movement, declared martial law. Marcos then abolished Congress and all political parties, closed down hundreds of newspapers and Catieres and Burgos are Ann Ar- bor residents. radio and television stations, directed the armed forces to "enforce obedience" to all his decrees, and arrested over 30,000 dissidents over the next few months. U.S. response to these events was to help consolidate the Marcos dictatorship. The following year, the U.S. government more than doubled military aid to Marcos, and armed and trained Marcos's police and military. Since 1972, international human rights organizations have accused the Marcos regime of widespread human rights violations. Church-affiliated groups have documented 588 disappearances and 2114 "salvagings" (summary executions) of political dissidents from 1977 to the present. In the face of such human rights abuses, Vice-President Bush's toast to Marcos for his "adherence to democratic principles" in 1981 was a clear affirmation of the PPS 23 policy of ignoring human rights in favor of preserving U.S. strategic interests. This was reinforced a few years later by the Reagan administration's increase in military aid to Marcos to a record $900 million for five years in exchange for the U.S. bases. Today, the U.S. perceives that Marcos's uncertain health and increasing isolation coupled with a growing insurgency threaten U.S. strategic interests. In its single-minded pursuit of strategic interests, the Reagan administration has concentrated on convin- cing Marcos to call for early elections. Through this election, U.S. hopes to under- mine the burgeoning nationalist movement and to prepare for a post-Marcos scenario by forcing Marcos to begin sharding power with the pro-U.S. faction of the elite op- position. This elite group envisions a return to the old-style, patronage-based and personality- oriented politics of pre-martial law days. Most, like Senator Salvador Laurel (who un- til recently was a member of Marcos's ruling party), do not have any programs to address Philippine economic and, social problems, except to present themselves as a replacement for Marcos. Like all previous elections, the upcoming election would most likely be fraudulent. Even a U.S. State Dept. official recently stated thatCongress should not be surprised if Marcos and his cronies win the election. The Reagan administration, however, hopes that an early election will offer a semblance of "legitimacy" to the Marcos regime - an important factor in continued Congressional approval of military aid to Marcos. Another major thrust of U.S. policy is to improve the counter-insurgency capabilities of the Philippine military. In doing so, the United States ignores the un- derlying causes of this insurgency. As Car- dinal Jaime Sin of Manila recently noted, the armed resistance is partly a response of people who do not see any other means to counter grinding poverty and political repression. Eighty percent of the population live on or under the poverty line and based on gover- nment surveys, 79 percent of pre-school children are malnourished. And yet the Philippines is the 14th largest producer of food in the world. Much of the arable land is controlled by multinational corporations and the Filipino elite while 81% of the rural labor force is virtually landless. Many Filipinos who have attempted to work for basic changes through legal means have been labeled "subversives" and have been targets of repression. Even church and media people have not been exempted from military violence. In the last year alone, military and para-military groups have been implicated in the killings and disap- pearances of seven priests and ministers and 12 journalists. It should not be sur- prising, therefore, that some people have opted to join the New People's Army rebels in the countryside. Besides the New People's Army, an unarmed movement working forgfundamen- tal changes emerged from the organizing work by various sectors of Philippine society in the late 1970s. This grassroots movement, the so-called cause-oriented and sectoral opposition, is viewed by many analysts as the most organized and unified segment of the above-groundopposition. Unfortunately, they have barely been covered by the U.S. media. Under the coalition of BAYAN (New Nationalist Alliance), hundreds of students', workers', teachers', peasants', religious, professional and other organizations .are developing long-range programs. They propose a coalition government with grassroots representation as a democratic alternative to the present political system. Filipinos undoubtedly would like to main- tain close and warm relations with the American people. It should be recognized, however, that a whole new generation of Filipinos have come to associate the United States with the discredited Marcos regime due to the U.S.'s long-standing support for Marcos. While the older generation may still look up to the United States to solve Filipino problems and pin their hopes on old- style politics, younger Filipinos who now comprise the bulk of the sectoral opposition, may no longer view U.S. strategic interests as compatible with their own needs and aspirations. This may mean the eventual removal of U.S. bases from the Philippines. Present U.S. policy, unfortunately, is to maintain these bases at all costs, including perhaps large-scale direct U.S. military in- tervention. If this were to happen, the second Philippine-American War would be bloodier than the first. But this time, the0 U.S. would not only stand to lose its bases but ultimately the friendship of the Filipino people. T&\ &oiw& To Ie~TI1IS PLACE Wasserman Limits on liberalism UVAWLE For2 D6EENT FOLK( SE DEPUY- ROUND OF Th e SECULAR W0MNS, AEVRIATIVE WTIVIf5, CIVIL RI6IFI5, FEMINSTS, PACIFISS BUT BI& ED- AR.ENT YOU FVo26ETriN& ABW'T THE SUPREMAE CouRTa ? NOPE -T1 EyPEI NEXT ON' THE LST \ , ~ CONJSTIT OWL5T5 0 "Oh the people of old Mississippi should all hang their heads in shame, But if you ask me to bus my children I hope the cops take down your name, Oh love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal. " - Phil Oaks HE LIMITS of liberalism are being tested in light of the ongoing debate among Ann Arbor parents over a proposed desegregation plan. In a com- munity which prides itself on its open-minded character, such heated arguments among black and white parents comes as a disillusioning blow, to say the least. The re-organization plan, in its tenth and final form, calls for the closing of seven elementary schools in order to draw new atten- dance boundary lines intended to create a racial balance among students. The plan also includes an outline of educational im- provements for the system, con- tingent upon the outcome of the Dec. 16 millage vote. The "Ann Arbor Save the tax increase will not affect the, desegregation plan itself - but will only serve to deny the school board funding for many needed im- provements. The situation is perplexing, in- deed. The parents opposing the plan claim that they are dissatisfied with the specifics of the plan - not the goal of desegregation. Opposition to the millage, however, only serves to eliminate an opportunity for higher standards of education to be developed for the Ann Arbor schools. It is this opposition that is the primary concern of "The Black Student Parents Support Group" - which is attempting to generate support for the upcoming tax vote, in an effort to counter the actions of the white parents. This desired funding is an integral facet of the re-organization plan. Without this additional financing the school board will be unable to address a variety of parental con- cerns - such as continuing specialized programs that many foreign students now enjoy in their present schools. Racial imbalance within the Ann Arbor school system has remained LETTERS: Protesters accused of hyprocrisy To the Daily: As a bystander, I would like to comment on the recent protests on this campus. Namely, I would like to cite the protests at George Bush's speech and the protest of CIA recruitment. Non-violent protest is an effective medium for expressing views, unless it is abused. I intend to show that the two instances listed are examples of such abuse. When George Bush came to: Ann Arbor, he had to expect some flak, representing a controversial Administration which has little support in this area. And his ex- pectations were not disappointed as Reagan forces came out in force, armed with picket signs and verbal artillery. This is all in accordance with useful protest. But the protesters shocked me by chanting while Bush spoke. In other words, in exercising their freedom of speech, they impeded someone else's. I ask these protesters if they felt the result of the protest was effective. I would guess that many people felt hostility to the protesters carried their righteousness too far. In a flyer handed out October 23, 1985, the protesters call for "an immediate ban on CIA recruitment on cam- pus until such time as the CIA modifies its activities in accord with universally accepted prin- ciples of law and moral conduct." Using a phrase like "universally accepted" is haughty and rash: which universe and who accepts it, and what are these principles. To claim that theirs'is a principle which is universally accepted is simply false. It would be along the same lines as saying that everyone knows that the Wolverines are the best. It would be much more acceptable to say that the CIA is against what the LASC or the MSA stands for. Second, the CIA has a right to recruit on campus just as the protesters have the right to protest here. Not everyone agrees with the protesters motives, goals or practices. Using the logic from the flyer, a BLOOlM COUNTY group who felt the protesters were not "in accord with univer- sally accepted principles of law and moral conduct" could call for their removal too. In other words, the protesters tend toward a degree of hypocrisy in their methods. As a bystander, I offer this advice to the LASC etc. in their further en- deavors: avoid hypocrisy and you'll earn this bystanders ear, if not his respect. -Michael Gerow November6 Purpose of pet-ban' To the Daily: The purpose of the "pet-ban" bill is simply to reduce the un- necessary suffering of dogs and cats. Looking closely at the effec- ts of this bill, we find that resear- chers would begin raising three thousand animals a year specifically for the purpose of laboratory experiments, while at least that many will have been put to sleep needlessly in the pounds. The "pet-ban" bill would just encourage growth in an already saturated domain where thousands of members are dying each year. Curiously, this situation reminds me of the* Vatican's stand on birth control in overpopulated Africa. -Glen Anderson November 7 Letters to the Daily should be typed, triple-spaced, and signed by the individual authors. Names will be withheld only in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for clarity, grammar, and spelling. by Brvke rweathed ai