4
OPINION
:age 4 ~~~~Friday, October 31, 1986 TeMcia al
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
CVII, No. 42 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
Wasserman
MeN WILL. IT eNvi? FIRST ITWPBS
CRvIT IA o UR \WO~VV*NSM~P,,,
Vol. X
LL
Lana
STATE SENATOR LANA POLLACK
should be re-elected to the 18th
District Senate seat she has held for
the past four years. She has
worked hard for the University,
Smost single-handedly restoring
3.2 million to the Research
2xcellence Fund after Senate
*epublicans depleted it.
k5 Education has been one of
1 ollack's primary concerns. She
Chas served on the Senate Education
,Committee and stressed the
importance of kindergarten through
*twelvth grade as well as higher
:education in her district, which
t includes all of Washtenaw County.
;: Though Pollack lost some rank
$n her committees when the
emocrats lost control of the
Senate in 1983, she has continued
.I work hard, She has pushed for
,,e University to receive its
requested appropriations from the
state.
Pollack is a firm believer in
University autonomy from the
state. She has said that there are
b.nefits that could result from a
ftudent seat on the University
oard of Regents, but her
commitment to such a realization is
iarginal.
Pollack advocates juvenile
justice system reform and opposes
japital punishment. Her proposed
*ix , bills that call for stricter'
pollution control standards would
nstall harsher penalties and liability
tonsequences for offenders.
:Unlike her opponent, she supports
1 woman's right to choose abortion
James B
HE DAILY, WITH RESERVATION,
:*idorses Governor James Blan -
jhard for re-election. Blanchard's
performance for the past four years
has been adequate, and faced with
'Republican challenger, William
Lucas, he is the better candidate.
The Daily, however, strongly
objects to Blanchard's willingness
w to send the State National Guard to
:,.train in Honduras.
2' Blanchard entered office at a
time when the state of Michigan
::was in deep financial trouble-a
kuge debt, low credit rating, high
.*nemployment, and a poor bus -
<ness climate. Under Blanchard's
leadership, the budget was
balanced, the debt was eliminated,
unemployment has been cut in half,
and the state's credit rating has
been revived. Although Blanchard
>aised taxes to accomplish this, the
xes were rolled back last year.
Blanchard is committed to
'higher education. He increased
s ate financial aid by 45 percent
since he entered office and he. did
s at a time when the federal
government was cutting loans and
grants heavily. Blanchard
pressured the University Board of
Regents into freezing in-State
tuition two consecutive years and
jhis year only allowed a tuition
Acrease at the inflation rate.
Blanchard also supports the
ght of a woman to choose
4bortion whether she is rich or
-poor. Blanchard has continuously
vetoed bills from the state
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...State Senator Lana Pollack
regardless of wealth, and thus
supports continued availability of
Medicaid-funded abortions.
Pollack's challenger Dale Apley
is a former administrative assistant
for Senator Nick Smith. He has
voiced concern about toxic waste
disposal but believes that Michigan
coal burning plants standards are
sufficient and that too much
government regulation is count -
erproductive. Michigan is a large
contibuter to the acid rain problem
through coal-burning industries;
obviously, regualtion is needed.
The Daily endorses Pollack for
her support of the community,
special emphasis on the environ-
ment, education, and women's
rights: she deserves voter
recognition on November 4.
LETTERS:
Baker can't
V V
change system
Ilanchard
To The Daily:
I would like to make a few
comments on the significance,
or the lack thereof, of the Dean
Baker campaign.
Capitalist-owned technology
is taking more complete
control of production through
the use of computers, auto -
mation and robotics ensuring
that the vast numbers of perm -
anently unemployed will con -
tinue to increase dramatically,
decreasing proportionately the
number of consumers and
consumption in the mar -
ketplace. When products don't
sell, factories close creating
more unemployment. In an
attempt to remain competitive
in a declining market, factory
owners are motivated to auto -
mate further to lower (labor)
costs, exacerbating the problem
still more.
This economic stagnation
and decline at home forces
American capitalists to try to
protect their profit margins by
maintaining and expanding
their foreign markets with
imperialistic force.
Beyond these needs of
imperialism, military pro -
duction is an absolutely neces -
sary economic stimulus. In
addition to providing huge
profits for "defense" con -
tractors, it increases the demand
for both non-military capital
goods and consumer goods.
Secretary of Defense Wein -
berger said "the current arms
buildup is half of the attempt
to revitalize America," and
Business Week states bluntly
that "economists are counting
on one constant to keep the
economy going: defense
spending."
For Dean Baker to hold out,
as he does in his political
flyers, the promise of jobs and
peace in the face of these forces
for greater unemployment and
military conflict is to
publically announce economic
ignorance or a willingness to
practice the cruel deception
common to bourgeois politics.
The inherent drives of
capitalism lead to joblessness,
poverty, militarism and war.
Nothing less than the class-
conscious efforts of a
revolutionary working class to
eliminate capitalism and re -
place it with democratic social
ownership of the economy and
the the ignorant. When the
reform efforts of Malcolm X,
the leaders of the Black Panther
Party and the Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr. began to
move from a racial base into a
class-conscious area, they were
all assassinated. Students of
Jackson State and Kent State
Universities were executed by
gunfire without trial by agents
of the capitalist state for
activities in opposition to state
policies. Social change
belongs to those committed to
socialist revolution, who will
not be deterred by personal cost
or by the long haul.
Baker's influence as a
congressman on a capitalist
class who, through ownership
of multi-national corporations
set policy for nation-states,
who direct governments into
wars and war-like acts illegal
by both national and
international standards, will be
absolutely nil. Individuals and
Contra aid unjustifable
Y
To the Daily:
I was angered by Carl
Pursell's statements about
Contra aid in his interview in
the Daily (10/20). Once again
Pursell failed to justify his
support of the Contras: his
claim that the Sandinista
government poses a threat to
U.S. security held no
documentation. What is
maddening about Pursell's
statements is that behind their
superficiality lies a very real
war where Nicaraguans are
being raped, tortured, and
murdered by the Contras daily.
It is time that the voters in
this district ask the
fundamental question, "What is
the purpose of funding the
Contras?" If the answer is to
pressure the Sandinista
government to negotiate on the
Contadora peace process, think
again. While the Contadora
peace process has the support
of fifteen Latin American
countries, the United States is
working to block attempts to
reach an agreement. To quote a
State Department memo, "We
need to develop an active
diplomacy now to head off
efforts at Latin American
solidarity, whether they are
sponsored by the Contadora
support group, the Cubans, or
the Nicaraguans. We need to
find a way to turn the pressure
they bear on us or our friends
to our advantage." (State
Department memo, Sept. 4,
1985.)
If the real purpose of the
Contra aid is to overthrow the
Sandinista government, Contra
aid will not suffice. "It
continues to be the assessment
of the U.S. intelligence
community that only U.S.
Contras. Our votes should not
be so unjustifiable on Tuesday,
November 4th in the
congressional election.
-LisabKiser
October 28
groups supporting him or ad'
other politician in the capitalist
arena are wasting their time,
money, energy and hope anil
are ultimately serving the cause
of the reactionary Right b !
bringing movement for social
change back into the machineiy
of bourgeois politics wher
change is impossible.
-Robert V. Gray '6t
Socialist Labor Party
Ann Arbor
Fan offended
4
...Governor Blanchard
To The Daily:
The New York Mets have
finally won a World Series
Championship after years upon
years of struggling, suffering,
and futility. All Mets fans
around the country are thrilled
that their team has overcome
obstacles, adversity, and the
Red Sox to become World
Champions for the first time
since 1969. Obviously not
everybody is as thrilled about
this as I and other Mets lovers
are. Apparently, Mark Bo-
rowsky belongs to this latter
category attributed to the fact
that he is a Chicago Cubs fan
(and a jealous one at that). But
Borowsky takes his dislike of
the Mets. a step further by
attacking Mets fans and in
particular New Yorkers by
expressing inflammatory opin -
ions ("Mets win; 'U' must live
with the fans" (10/29/86).
Other New Yorkers and I are
tired of Borowsky and
everybody else who think that
all New Yorkers are loud, ob -
noxious, and annoying. This
stereotype is about as valid as
claiming that all Michiganders
are nothing more than dumb
Midwestern farmers. I go to
school here and know that this
is not true. The same should
be said for the former case.
Borowsky's criticism is
highly caustic, sarcastic, and
obviously untrue. Not only
can Mets fans read and write
but they can probably do so
might be impractical, so,
following Borowsky's reas -
oning, chopping off their heads
might do the trick. Sadly,
though, as Borowsky notes,
these vital organs would
eventually regenerate.
Borowsky and others
criticize New Yorkers and New
York constantly. They sayl
that New York is not the Big
Apple but the Apple core. We
New Yorkers like to say that
Detroit is the same core
months later. Many people
here do not like New York
accents. Well, we New York -
ers are not that thrilled about
Midwestern accents (and don't
deny that you have accents
because you do). I did not see
Mets fans rioting the city,
turning over cars, or lighting
the city on fire after their
team's victory celebration like
the one in Detroit two years
previous. Other people com -
plaining and screaming about
New Yorkers are louder than
New Yorkers are themselves.
Sure we New Yorkers could go4
back to New York but then
where would the money come
from the support the Uni
versity? Maybe in-state tuitiop
would then quadruple. What a
thought!
It seems very ironic that
should one day in the future a
New York Times editor
approach Borowsky and ask
him to work for their premieri
taxes and has declared that there
will be "no more free lunches." He
would stop welfare payments to
single adults, and eliminate Aid to
Families with Dependent Children
for parents under 18 years old.
Lucas has criticized Project Self-
Reliance; has vowed to cut school
funding andthe Job Corps, and has
said the Detroit police department
should be put under state control.
Workers League candidate
Martin McLaughlin does not
support sending National Guards
to Honduras. He favors cutting
back on the military budget,
increasing social service spending
by expropriating big business
profits and refocusing spending