The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 21, 1986 -Page 5
Muenchow puts
the stress on
campus issues
Independents
put stock
in their own enthusiasm
(Continued from Page 1)
issues as an aversion to controversy.
Daniel Melendez-Alvira, a
representative of Rackham Student
Government, said Muenchow tries "to
please everybody" which often causes
him to oscillate from "progressive to
regressive" stances on different
issues. Melendez-Alvira also noted that
Muenchow often abstains from voting
on controversial national issues.
But while Muenchow may seem in-
decisive on national issues, he has
played an active role on others. This
year he vehemently opposed the
student computer fee, and discussed
the issue in front of the Board of
Regents.
-Muenchow has been an MSA
representative and chairman of the
assembly's Budget Priorities Com-
mittee (BPC) for the last two years.
He said he has been involved with
"practically every issue that MSA has
dealt with" during that time.
'Thompson, the Meadow party's vice
presidential candidate, has been an
LSA representative for one year.
Thompson is a communications con-
centrator from Detroit, and also a
BPC member.
Thompson has been active as an
Evan Scholar and Kappa Alpha Psi
fraternity member.
Muenchow and Thompson are the
only presidential and vice presiden-
tial candidates who have held elected
positions on the assembly.
The Meadow Party makes no
apologies for taking its name from the
' Bloom County comic strip and using
Opus on its campaign posters.
"It's definitely fair. There's nothing
wrong with drawing more attention to
yourself," Thompson said.
Muenchow said the name may draw
more students to the elections, and
reflects the party's "fun" attitude
toward the election.
But his year's election has not been
all fun for the Meadow Party, whose
31 candidates for assembly seats
make, it second largest behind the
Student Rights party.
Last month, Muenchow faced
allegations of disregarding BPC
guidelines in order to avoid funding
some student groups - particularly
liberal groups - and of being unhelp-
ful and unavailable to groups when
they attempted to collect the funding
they had been granted.
BPC members said some groups
may have had problems with the
committee because Muenchow did not
keep up with his duties as BPC chair-
man at the beginning of this semester,
when the committee was facing
several crucial decisions.
The assembly is currently in-
vestigating the BPC in response to the
charges. The results of the in-
vestigation will probably not by
available until after the election.
The Meadow party has also faced
controversy over its use of Opus as a
campaign symbol.
Last week MSA election officials
ordered the party to halt its use of
Opus because the party had not
received permission from the
Washington Post Writers Group,
which distributes the comic.
Later the party received permission
to use Opus, providing it followed
copyright guidelines. But a Meadow
Party candidate was fined earlier this
week after he broke the guidelines by
putting his own picture next to Opus'
on a poster.
Muenchow said the Bloom County
issue and the investigation of the BPC
were initiated by his political op-
ponents on the assembly, and that the
investigation of the BPC is irrelevant
to his campaign. He added that the
term "evaluation" is more accurate
than "investigation," the term used
by the assembly.
Muenchow is determined that the
controversy will not hinder the
Meadow party's campaign, and he
continues to place priority on campus
issues.
Muenchow said he views the job of
next year's leaders as concluding a
transition to a more effective student
government, which has been taking
place over the last several years, and
will by realized by the full institution
of the Compiled Code, a new set of in-
ternal changes which changes MSA's
Thompson
... wants to pollstudents
election process and requires assem-
bly representatives to make regular
contact with constituents.
Muenchow said accomplishing this
long-term goal would make it easier
for the assembly to concentrate on
more issues of immediate student
concern.
Muenchow and Thompson said they
currently oppose a code of non-
academic conduct, but will consider
the code proposal expected to come
from the University Council this year.
Other issues Muenchow said are at
the top of the Meadow agenda include
centralizing services for minority
students on campus, a suggestion
made by MSA Minority Affairs
Researcher Roderick Linzie this
year; instituting a campus-wide
escort service for women; and
examining the relationship between
campus security forces and the Ann
Arbor Police Department.
Muenchow and Thompson also put
priority on enforcing a new MSA
guideline requiring assembly
representatives to keep in close con-
tact with their constituents.
Though some assembly represen-
tatives say it would be impossible to
keep tabs on all of the represen-
tatives, Thompson said that as vice
president he would contact leaders of
other student organizations to make
sure the representatives have been
reporting back to their respective
college government or organization.
Thompson said the assembly this
year has taken some significant steps
in reaching out to students, but more
needs to be done.
He said that polling students each
semester about the job MSA is doing
would make MSA more responsive to
student concerns.
Thompson said that he and Muen-
chow's strong friendship outside of
MSA helps them work well together.
(Continued from Page 1)
"People in MSA are already so used
to what MSA does that it will be hard
for them to see what needs to be
changed," VarnHagen said.
VarnHagen, who is from Brighton,
Mich., has not decided on a major. In
high school he participated in the
National Honor Society and helped
other students in their campaigns for
student office.
SAVOY is from Bloomfield Hills.
He is currently a member of Bursley
Residence Hall government.
The candidates hope to get more
students involved by inviting frater-
nity and sorority members to attend
meetings and by making meetings
more accesible to students by
publishing the agenda in the Daily.
"After you get student involvement
and respect, everything else will fall
Tinto place," VarnHagen said.
Both VarnHagen and Savoy said all
military research, including
classified research, should be allowed
on campus.
"IT KEEPS students up to date on
what's happening with the latest
technology," Savoy said.
But they also say that there is too
much stress on research at the
University and not enough on
teaching. VarnHagen said more
faculty and resources are needed to
make the University a teaching in-
stitution.
Though VarnHagen and Savoy op-
pose a code of non-academic conduct,
they would read and consider a code
from the University Council.
VarnHagen -and Savoy say that
MSA needs to be more vocal about its
services to students, such as the
Tenants' Union and Student Legal
Services.
"We need to get the things they do
for students to be bigger news than
things they do for political issues,"
Savoy said.
Savoy
... wants military research
Faigel plans t obring the
assembly out of obseurity
Indi pensable 's Soble
rro oses his own code
(Continued fromPage 1)
credit," Soble said.
Soble earned his B.A. in economics
at Stanford University, where he was o . . .
extensively involved in student We found a paranoia in MSA agains
government. This year he is serving having any code. That's not giving the
as the student representative to the
University's Residency Appeals administration enough credit.'
committee, which determines - Indispensable candidate Mark Soble
*hether a student pays in-state or out-
if-state tuition.
Soble's running mate, Marc
Strecker, is also a first-year law
student. Strecker earned a B.A. in d p
history from the University of most recent coe proposal. views of their constituents
Chicago, where he served on several Attorney Jonathon Rose, the former voting on resolutions without hay
university committees. director of Student Legal Services, time to contact students beforeha
SOBLE IS also running as a saidSoble'scodecontainsmanyofthe To remedy this, they prop
representative for the Law School, but same provisions which students have requiring all resolutions to be
the party has no other candidates for objected to in administration code nounced several days before
representative seats. drafts. These include a lack of a meeting to give assembly repre
The name "Indispensable Party" is unanimous verdict for conviction - tatives time to prepare.
a legal term that Soble refers to as an as in civil court cases - and allowing SOBLE ALSO said MSA need;
inside joke. He said that the party had punishment for civil disobedience, communicate more effectiv
no "moralistic" reason for using it. which is expected to be ruled out by especially with graduate stude
Soble admits that his pro-code stan- the University Council. through an "improved" MSA Cam
ce is politically dangerous, but he siad Soble agreed that others may find Report.
if the code did not receive support on a flaws in his code, and he wants to "fix The party is against all classi
student referendum, he would not try weak links before asking students to research, but not overall weap
to push it through. approve it through a vote next fall. research.
- SOBLE BELIEVES opposition to HE SAID he did not wait for the Though Soble and Strecker ac
the code is not as great as it appears. council to come up with a code before that seeking the two top MSA pos
"I've talked to a lot of students who making his own proposal because he ambitious for their first year at
don't know about the issue and don't fears that if the council takes too long, University, both agree that t
care about it," he said. Soble said the administration will try to impose would not be content being assen
many universities, including Stan- its own code. representatives.
ford, have managed well with similar Like its competitors, the Indispen- "If I was elected as a repre
codes. sable party sees MSA s biggest tative, I might just wind
Soble has presented his code problem as a bad image with studen- disagreeing with where MSA is go
jfroposal to the University Council, a ts, and blames this on its politically and I might not be able to chang
group of faculty, students, and ad- charged resolutions. But as an assembly president I m
ministrators currently composing an Soble and Strecker said represen- be able to have a substantial pus
alternative to the administrations tatives can't accurately reflect the the right direction," Soble s
(Continued from Page 1)
to put more effort into diagnosing
student concerns through postering,
polling students about problems they
see with housing and other campus
issues, and informing freshmen about
MSA activities at orientation.
Faigel wants to revive the 76-
GRIPE line, a phone line for students
to call in and comment or ask for MSA
help in dealing with the University
bureaucracy. The line was set up this
year, but discontinued when it attrac-
ted little response. Faigel said the
phone line would work with more
publicity and a change in the hours of
operation from evening to daytime,
when MSA members have more time
to answer the phones.
FAIGEL SAID she wants students
to be aware of the "why" rather than
just the "what" of MSA decisions.
"People don't understand the issues,
but they don't hestitate to have an
opinion. Even with the code, not that
many students really know what it
is."
The party also sees a com-
munication problem within the
assembly, and Faigel blames much ofj
this on the assembly's current
president, Paul Josephson. and vice
president Phil Cole. She cited their
failure to discuss the possible
resignation of Cherie Bullard, MSA's
former adminstrative coordinator
before Bullard resigned. Faigel said
that if more discussion had occurred
before Bullard quit, the issue could
have been resolved more fairly.
Believing that MSA's officers are
not approachable, which has made
working on the assembly
"frustrating," the party hopes that
with a better spirit in MSA, more
students will want to devote time to
assembly mattters.
FAIGEL SAID the infighting and
cliquishness of this year's assembly
prohibits it from getting anything
done, preventing it from effectively
lobbying the University ad-
ministration and the state and
national governments.
She also hopes to extend MSA lob-
bying to the city of Ann Arbor, so that
students have more input into
decisions concerning parking and
housing.
Faigel, a political science concen-
trator from New Haven, Conn., has
become known as dedicated to her
role in the assembly. During her two
years of assembly work, she has ne-
ver held an elected office in MSA, but
has served as the appointed Women's
Issues Committee chair and co-edited
the MSA News. -Faigel has also
worked on MSA as a work-study
student.
THE STUDENT Rights party, with
41 candidates, is the largest this year,
and boasts some of the most active
members of the current MSA. Faigel
said the party's members would be a
key tool in helping to get other studen-
ts to participatein the assembly.
Mark Weisbrot, a Rackham student
and teaching assistant for Economics
201, is the Student Rights party's vice
presidential candidate. During his
four years at the University, Weisbrot
has been involved with the Latin
American Solidarity Committe and
the Rackham Student Government.
Some students express concern that
the Faigel-Weisbrot ticket is too
liberal to represent students, and that
it would press national issues, such as
American aid to Nicaragua, rather
than addressing campus concerns.
Both Faigel and Weisbrot agree
that the assembly's controversial
resolution opposing Vice President
George Bush's appearance on campus
last fall was a good idea, even though
some students expressed anger that
MSA had chosen to make a political
statement.
FAIGEL SAID that while national
issues are important - particularly if
they involve financial aid to students
- students often complain that MSA
is "too political" without understan-
Weisb rot
... protested CIA
ding MSA's position on an issue.
"The main reason the Bush
resolution was passed ... was to say.
'We don't approve of your being here.'
If Bush had been president in 1960,
there never would have been a Peace
Corps," she said.
Faigel and Weisbrot say their
ideologies, while on the liberal side,
are not far from the mainstream, par-
ticularly in their vehement opposition
to the proposed code of non-academic
conduct.
Faigel said Weisbrot's reputation as
extremely liberal would not hurt the
campaign. "He's shown that he can
organize students, and he understan-
ds the issues and the campus. He's
also willing to take a stand on things
that are important."
Weisbrot, who was arrested last fall
at a protest of CIA recruitment on
campus, opposes military research on
campus. Opposition to Strategic
Defense Initiative research and
overall Pentagon funding to the cam-
pus forms a major part of the party's
platform.
Ultimately Faigel said, the party is
about giving students a voice, par-
ticularly though gaining a student
seat on the Board of Regents.
"Who's against student rights?
That's what we are going to work on."
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(Continued from Page 1)
into that fight," O'Neill warned.
But Rep. Dick Cheney, (R. Wyo.),
said he could not "find a single vote
that we lost" because of the sharp at-
tacks on opponents from White House
communications director Patrick
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proponents argued was needed to halt sive" anti-aircraft weapons, training
the spread of communism in Central and logistics for the first 90 days while
America. pressing for a negotiated settlement.
Trying to secure undecided votes, Reagan, however, could drop those
Reagan offered Wednesday to restrictions after 90 days if diplomatic
restrict use of the money to "defen- progress is not made.
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