OPINION
Page4 Wednesday, April 2, 1986 The Michigan Daily

ea Mchgan B y
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVI, No. 124 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board

Continuing push for action

Back on track

IN OUR March 20 editorial,
"Fizzled Peace March," we
criticized the Great Peace March.
Particularly, we found fault with
the organizers of the march, Pro-
Peace, and its leader, David Mix-
ner. We maintain this sentiment.
In that same editorial, we pointed
out as the main victims, "the 500 or
so marchers left virtually stranded
in the Mojave Desert." Recent
developments, however, have
demonstrated that the marchers
have been able to sustain their
commitment and overcome this
setback.
On Friday, the march began
again, this time called The Great
Peace March for Nuclear Disar-
mament. An estimated 300
(Associated press) to 500 (New
March Officials) people started to
make their way to Yurmo, the next
town. According to Betsy
Winkelman, mother of University
student and marcher Marjorie
Winkelman, the marchers have
taken over the duties of the paid
staffers of the now defunct Pro-
Peace Movement. They have also
opened up offices across the coun-

try to accept funding under their
new name.
These mere facts fail to capture
what the changes represent. No
longer can this march be con-
sidered a celebrity extravaganza,
nor a pre-fabricated, non-
grassroots march. While only a few
people are involved, the march
was re-born because the marchers
themselyes believed they could
succeed despite dwindling num-
bers. The remaining marchers ob-
tained some of Pro-Peace's
remaining equipment: tents and
food, and kept intact the system of
neighborhoods and council meetin-
gs with neighborhood represen-
tatives that they had previously
established.
Deserted by their leaders, these
dedicated people are demon-
strating the ability to organize
themselves effectively. No matter
what happens from here, the mar-
chers should be applauded for their
steadfast determination to raise
world-consciousness. Now,
perhaps, all the march hoopla will
die down and the march will sym-
bolize what it should: a plea for
peace.

By Michael West
A Luta Continua. The Struggle Continues.
In communities across the nation, men and
women have come together to participate in
two weeks of intense activitism called the
National Weeks of Action Against Racism
and Apartheid. On the University of
Michigan Campus, the theme of the ac-
tivities is "A Luta Continua," The Struggle
Continues." The primary organizers of the
weeks of action were the Free South Africa
Coordinating Committee, the Black Student
Union, the Black Law Students'
Association, M.S.A., and the Eastern
Michigan University Press Club, but many
other groups and individuals lent their time
and effort to the planning of the activities.
To begin the activities, a shanty was con-
structed on the Diag, symbolic of the ab-
symal conditions in which people in South
Africa are forced to live-on the outskirts of
the prosperous cities, which are havens for
the wealthy beneficiaries of the Apartheid
regime. The shanty was also built to protest
the unwillingness of the Reagan ad-
ministration to take anything but a short-
sighted racist stand supporting the cruel in-
justice in South Africa. Additionally, the
shanty was built to remind us that all is not
well at the University. Over these two
weeks, visitors to the shanty have learned
more about the University's failure to effec-
tively recruit and retain Black and Latino
students. And finally, the shanty stands in
protest of the University's sorry refusal to
West is a member of the Free South
Africa Coordinating Committee.

take a stand against racism in South Africa
by not divesting the $500,000 it still has in
companies doing business in South Africa
and by offering Nelson Mandela an
honorary degree. On Friday, March 21st,
the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville
Massacre, Randall Robinson, one of the
leaders of U.S. opposition to apartheid, of-
fered inspirational words on the future of
the apartheid struggle. The following Mon-
day, a film was shown on the trial of South
African freedom fighter Steven Biko, and
later that night, an emotional candlelight
Vigil was held for the victims of political
violence (and Reagan administration
policy) in South Africa and in Central
America. Like the 21st, the 24th is another
tragic day, marking the anniversary of the
assassination of El Salvador's Archbishop
Romero. On Thursday, April 3rd at 7 p.m.,
in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan
Union, a panel discussion on the fight again-
st apartheid will be held with represen-
tatives from the A.N.C, and S.W.A.P.O.,
two organizations on the front lines of the
liberation struggle in Southern Africa. Finally
on Friday, April 4th, the day Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. was assassinatedrstudents,
faculty, staff and community members will
begin a Freedom March on the Diag which
will parade through downtown Ann Arbor
arriving at the Diag at noon for speeches
and songs of protest.
By making clear our demand for an end to
racism and apartheid, we will send a strong
message to President Shapiro's office and
to Washington that the time for equivocation
has long passed. We must put an end, once
and for all, to racism and apartheid.
A Luta Continua. The Struggle Continues.
Though the two weeks of Action will end on

April 4th, our activities will not. President
Shapiro, the Regents, and the Honorary
Degree Nominating Committee have
ignored the extraordinary community sup-
port for the Mandela Degree and have con-
tinued to refuse to divest the University of
the $500,000 in stocks it has in companies at-
tracted to South Africa for cheap labor from
people of color who are enslaved by a racist
minority. We will continue to demand that
the University create a viable, funded task
force to combat racist and anti-Semitic
graffitti and other offensive practices. We
will continue to encourage members of the
University community to honor the Dear-
born business boycott called for by the
Detroit N.A.A.C.P.
The shanty on the Diag will stand until the
University makes a serious appraisal of
these issues as well as the issue of minority
recruitment and retention. The University
originally endorsed the construction of the
shanty, although the F.S.A.C.C. did not ask
the administration for their approval,
because the University administration
believed that the shanty would serve a
useful educational purpose. We believe that
the Shanty's use as an educational tool and
as a symbol of our solidarity with those
people who oppose injustice in South Africa
has not ended. We ask that the University
continue to respect our right to peaceful
protest by leaving the shanty as it is. A Luta
Continua. The Struggle Continues.
The Free South Africa Coordinating
Committee meets on Mondays at 7:00
p.m. in the CASS lounge, 111 West
Engineering. The next meeting is April
7th and all are welcome.

Wasserman,

Women and poverty

W OMEN ARE the majority of
t the impoverished in the
United States. Despite a huge in-
crease in the poverty level among
women over the last ten years,
there has not been an adequate
response to this problem at the
federal level.
For the past six years the percen-
tage of female headed households
living below what many experts
determine to be the poverty level
has been in excess of 40 percent.
That means nearly half of all
women are living in, or on the edge
of, poverty.
One reason for the increase in
poverty among women is that more
marriages end in divorce. By
failing to acknowledge the advan-
tage which men have in the
marketplace, recently established
no fault divorce laws are profoun-
dly unfair to women. This is
demonstrated by the fact that
womens' standard of living
decreases by an average of 73% in
the aftermath of divorce. The
divorce settlement could be refor-
med along the recommendations of
Stanford sociologist Lenore Weit-
IS v4 .

zman, who has argued that divorce
settlements should take into ac-
count the earnings potential of each
spouse, as well as the contribution
to the husband's career which the
wife may have made. The fact that
women are paid only 60 cents for
every dollar men earn is a good
reason for readjusting the set-
tlement process and is a key factor
for the disproportionate number of
poor working women.
The Reagan administration's
cuts in Aid to Families with Depen-
dent Children, Medicaid, and in
eligibility for Social Security sur-
vivor benefits have compounded
the problems of poor women and
their dependents. Partially as a
result of these cuts, the poverty
rate among dependent children
under the age of sixteen is now 23
percent.
The restoration of funds
eliminated by earlier budget cuts
is not sufficient to alleviate the
problems of poor women. A general
redirection of resources and
reprioritization of human needs,
such as day care, is essential to
redress the feminization of pover-
ty.
-'
y 1 { 7 j.
f }1' t'.. ,{l/T i , i ) /a

J hCIECUSES MPE U ANJD T.
ikaEEERAI NUCLEPAR tE~STJ6
C.oHT fIRE MICARA6UMS'
Kf V-

'T} (oB1N4AR HEE NDI
A~ ~.CkP LEN6E KHADP/

4


rN OD"04*~

r

I

N\N,

~
0

Tot*oU6TS of WAR
IN

I

Mond

4

LETTERS:

College Republicans laud Pursell

To the Daily:
The charges of slanted news
coverage once again ring true in
the Michigan Daily. The author of
the article, "College Republicans
support Contra aid" (Daily,
3/19/86) felt it necessary to in-
clude the statement "Tayler's
claims could not be substantiated
last night" - referring to com-
ments that the Sandinistas have
been involved with PLO
terrorists.
While it may be true that the
author could not find substan-
tiation in his feeble attempt at
research, that does not mean that
evidence does not exist. Nor is it
grounds for a vague assertion
that there is no proof of the
allegations.
Since 1969 there has been
mounting evidence of ties bet-
ween Sandinistas and the PLO, as
well as other Middle East
radicals.
Bill Tayler's claims that the
Sandinistas narticinatd in the

the PLO, also the Center for In-
ternational Security in The San-
dinista-PLO Axis.
The comments Bill made
referred specifically to Patrick
Arguello Ryan, a Sandinista
killed during the hijacking of an
El Al airliner September 6, 1970.
Arguello is now considered a hero
to the Sandinistas, and they have
named a large dam under con-
struction in his honor.
There are many other exam-

ples of Sandinista participation in
international terrorism which
have been documented by
various organizations and news
media. These cases completely
dispel the myth perpetuated by
the radical left that the San-
dinistas do not carry out a policy
of exporting revolution
throughout the world.
By words and deeds the San-
dinistas have demonstrated that
their revolution will extend

beyond Nicaragua's borders. I
commend President Reagan for
seeking aid to the freedom
fighters in Nicaragua, and
commend Congressman Car
Pursell for not caving in to the
screams of a very vocal minority
of radical leftists.
- Jeffrey Evans
Executive Director
College Republicans
March 17

Republican Party divides the nation

4

To the Daily:
Recently, the College
Republicans staged a rally on the
Diag to support the Contra aid
legislation. This letter's intent is
not to discuss the passage or
defeat of that legislation, rather
its purpose is to address the slan-
derous comment made by Bill
Taylor, a member of the College

ment reduces American politics
to nothing more than a battle
between liberals and conser-
vatives rather than addressing
what is right and wrong. Bill
Taylor, you not only divided this

'campus, but your party has
divided the nation.
-Jonathan J. Bhushan
vice-President
College Democrats
March 20

K-College misrepresented

To the Daily:
Vnur article on the Program

Kalamazoo or elsewhere - a