OPINION
Page 4 Thursday, November 21, 1985
I LETTERS:
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
SAID clarif
Vol. XCVI, No. 56
420 Maynbrd St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Rock fade
kay, so Mick and Tina weren't
there. Nobody really expected
them anyway, but many people did
anticipate a good turn out for Sun-
day's Ann Arbor Aid for Africa
Concert at the Michigan Theater.
Sad to report, the concert was
able to raise a mere $200 for hunger
relief, and that after many hours of
hard work by members of the
Public Interest Research Group in
Michigan.
While it is far easier to be a post
facto critic of such an event than to
stage one, it seems Pirgim made
several organizational errors
which left it with a near empty
Michigan Theater for most of the 12
hour affair.
For one, the Michigan Theater
was a poor choice of venue. The
large theater was destined to look
empty for most of the show, and
worse, cost more to rent even at its
discounted price than a smaller
place.
Second, $10 a ticket is a bit more
than most students are willing to
pay for a concert without any
national names. When $2.50 buys a
movie ticket and $4 or $5 buys ad-
mision to a show at Rick's or The
Blind Pig, it's hard to justify $10 for
more of the same.
Third, Sunday is usually a day
for students to study. It's one thing
to find time for a distraction on a
Sunday, but certainly not for
something that's scheduled to run
12 hours.
Finally, the organizers weren't
able to draw on the local bands that
really have mass appeal.
Headliners Peter "Madcat" Ruth,
The Urbations and The Watusies
usually pack houses when they
play, but most of the others on the
bill were virtual unknowns.
It's a shame that the benefit
wasn't more of a success, and in
spite of the organizational
problems it is discouraging that no
more than 300 people payed to see
the concert.
The people who worked to put it
on had a creative idea to
simultaneously work on behalf of
world hunger and showcase local
talent. In spite of a vast publicity
campaign, the noble project failed.
Hopefully, similar projects in the
future will benefit from the ex-
perience.
To the Daily:
I am writing to clarify my
quote from the Daily article of
Nov. 14 ("LSA parties compete
for top spot before elections")
that was grossly misconstrued by
Marian Matyn ("Tear denies
potential of New blood', Daily,
Nov. 18.) Matyn accuses me of
"...denying potential for new blood
on LSA Student Government." She
comes to this conclusion by
misinterpreting my statement
that "The other candidates
haven't been involved in any kind
of student government. You
can't just come in and take over
and expect to be effective."
Perhaps some of the blame
should go to the Daily for failing
to mention that we were dis-
cussingtpresidential candidates
only when I made that
statement. My point was not that
there should be no new students
involved.
If Matyn were more informed
about the election she would
know that six out of 12 people that
ran with the SAID party had no
previous experience with LSA
Student Government. Does that
not constitute new ideas and
"new blood"? Five of the other
students that ran with SAID were
just appointed to executive coun-
cil in late September. Is that not
"new blood"?
Only two people, myself and
Stephanie Farber, ran for reelec-
tion. I feel that while this demon-
strates a pool of experience, it
also opens up the way for new
ideas.
My point was that someone
could not come in and take
over and be effective. I sat on
council for one year and two mon-
ths (under two different
presidents) before I ran for
president. Even then, it was not
an easy task to undertake
because there is no specific
agenda and there are no tran-
sitionary people.
Similarly, I would not be
qualified to be Editor in Chief of
the Daily. Certainly, I could be a
reporter with a little guidance,
enthusiasm and new ideas. But, I
have never worked on the Daily
and do not know how it operates.
Consequently, I could not just
come in and "take over and ex-
pect to be effective."
As the election results are in,
there are 14 new people out of 15
who will sit on executive council.
I am confident that we will be
Wo olson
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The Michigan Daily
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ands. We are always looking for new
If interested, please call 763-4799 blood.
r stop by the office at 4003 -Michelle Tear
Michigan Union. Our meetings November 19
re every Wednesday evening at Tear is president of LSA
:30 in the MSA chambers. Student Government.
eIss wth Bursley
munity and make iatrthe alwho would other-
of the plight of the homeless, and wise have nowhere to stay.
of the many things we can do to -Bursley Hall Committee
aid the Shelter Association of Ann for Community Involvement
Arbor in providing a warm, safe November 16
is racist expression
ines. Thus, Israel's political Jewish state is acceptable, so too
ystem, Zionism, embodies a is a Palestinian one.
olitical theory that is exclusive Until such a Palestinian state is
o others. established, Zionism has lived up
Israel seems to have only two to the U.N. condemnation ad-
moral choices. It must either mirably. On the basis of national
levelop into a secular, heritage, it has forwarded the
lemocratic state where Israeli political interests of one group of
Jew and Palestinian Muslim and people, and suppressed those of
"hristian can live together as another. Clearly, this is an ex-
quals, or establish a viable pression of racism.
Palestinian state where the -Nabil Khoury
national aspirations of the November 13
Palestinians may be realized. If a
Active students are sinceree
ro the Daily: were in the '60s.
As someone who was active in Even though there is no draft
adical politics here while a now, social channelling
tudent during the '60s, and is mechanisms that force students
till active now 20 years later, I to make career choices against
iould like to take issue with the their will are just as prevalent
pinion that has become so today. Even though there is no
revalent lately and which has war in Indochina, what's hap-
een reflected in the pages of the pening in Africa, Latin America
daily that while protest activities and the Middle East is no less-,
f the '60s were genuine, the severe or important. 0
adical politics of students today Images portrayed by the media
somehow false and only notwithstanding, I am happy to
reminiscent" of the '60s. see that in reality there is much
Student activism today is just of the same fervor on campus as
s authentic as it was during the there was when I was a student
60s, or during the '30s and '40s here.
or that matter. Students today -David Duboff
re just as genuinely concerned November 20
bout what's going on in the Duboff is a former Daily
vorld and in their own lives as we contributing editor.
Hunger fast
It is hard to escape thinking that
hunger is a place - usually a
place over there.
- Joseph Collins and Francis Lappe from
Food First.
TODAY marks the twelfth an-
nual Fast for a World Harvest.
Last year fasters contributed more
than $1.5 million to Oxfam America
and the University' community
raised$6,000 for Oxfam and the
Hunger Coalition of Ann Arbor.
This is the first year that the entire
University community, including
fraternities, sororities, food co-ops,
;and residence halls will participate
in the fast, giving up their evening
meal and donating the cost.
Although it is impossible to un-
cover exact statistics, an estimated
20,000,000 Americans suffer from
-hunger. Of the 5,000 who receive
food stamps, 50 to 90 percent run
out of food at the end of each mon-
th, largely because food stamp
levels are based on the 1975 "Thrif-
ty Food Plan" which is the least
expensive plan devised by the
United States Department of
Agriculture.
At least 80 percent of the families
who try to live within the
limitations of the thrifty plan do not
obtain recommended levels of
dietary allowances. Clearly, the
definition of what constitutes an
adequate diet is debatable, but it is
certain that the poor in this country
and across the world are lacking
nutritionally sound diets.
In a country with enough food to
feed itself and a good portion of the
world, any evidence of hunger in-
dicates failed government policies.
In Detroit, the infant mortality
rate is as high as 33 per thousand
while Federal funding for maternal
and child-health care has lost 25
percent since 1981. For each dollar
spent on prenatal care for low-birth
weight baby risks, $3 is saved in
specialized care later. In addition,
28 states will not grant aid to
families with dependent children if
both parents live at home.
Families who need to regain
stability aren't eligible for
assistance if they have assets like a
house or car.
Reagan's "safety net" to protect
the vulnerable of this country has
been discounted by the former
White House Domestic Policy Ad-
visor, Martin Anderson as " . .
political shorthand that only made
sense for a limited period of time."
The predominant attitude in
Washington exaggerates the bur-
den of waste and abuse by food
stamp recipients which only
amounts to 6-6.5 percent. Other
government sponsored programs
which incur much greater loss to
taxpayers, suchasncorporations
that produce weapons, have not
been attacked so severely.
A cooperative effort must be
made to end hunger. The Fast for a
World Harvest is a step toward a
greater goal, and a signal to the
government that hunger abolition
must be a priority.
able to be an effective resource
for the LSA student body. I would
like to encourage students to
become involved in student
government. There can never be
too many new ideas or helping
h
1
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6
Shelter the homeli
To the Daily:
It is a sad truth that in our
country, which enjoys one of the
highest standards of living in the
world, there are still many people
who lack even the most basic
needs, those of food and shelter.
Sadder still is the fact that for the
most part, in cities and towns
around the country, no effort is
made to even attempt to provide
for this segment of our
population. Ann Arbor is very
fortunate to be an exception, in
that there are several groups
which operate emergency
shelters catering to various
segments of the homeless
population here.
Mayor Pierce has declared the
week of November 17-23 as
Homeless Week in Ann Arbor,
and in conjunction with this, the
Committee for Community In-
volvement at Bursley Hall has
undertaken several projects to
aid the Ann Arbor Shelter for the
Homeless on W. Huron Street.
On Saturday, Nov. 16, ap-
proximately 40 residents and
resident staff from Bursley went
to the shelter and did interior
painting, weatherproofing, and
general clean-up. All materials
were donated, and we appreciate
the residents of Bursley giving up
their time to make this project
work. Over the course of next
week, other events will take place
in Bursley and at the shelter, in-
cluding films, discussions and a
collection drive for items needed
at the shelter, such as tooth-
brushes, razors and shampoo, as
well as hats and mittens for
colder weather.
Ol n atinact. va .r nfaaah it.a
ming what they learn through
their contact with the homeless.
It is our hope that our con-
tribution to Homeless Week will
challenge the University community
T
t
t
Zionism
To the Daily:
On November 13th, the
Michigan Daily published an
editorial letter criticizing a 1975
United Nations General Assem-
bly resolution which delared
Zionism to be a form of racism
(UN: Zionism as Racism?, Daily,
November 13). The letter's
criticisms, I feel, were weak.
Here in the United States, an
attempt has been made at solving
the conflicts and problems that
ethnic and religious minorities
have faced historically. The con-
cept is that of secular democracy
- a system which allows all
people to be integrated into their
society. American minorities
have steadfastly struggled to
maintain secularism in order to
insure the sanctity of our
pluralistic society. No doubt,
many supporters of Israel back
secularism here, but not in
Israel. This is inconsistent.
Israel is at a crossroads today.
Is it trying to exist as an ex-
clusively Jewish state while only
65% of its population is Jewish.
The remaining 35% are
Palestinians who have no
national rights and only limited
political rights. If Israel con-
tinues to deny equal political and
national rights to Palestinians, it
propagates a great injustice -
one based on racial/national
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