OPINION
Page 4 Thursday, November 6, 1986 The Michigan Daily


ie g tutsanichig an
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Vol. XCVII, No. 46

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.

Voters
T HE APPALLINGLY low voter
turnout at polls nationwide
Tuesday is a sad comment on
democracy in the United States.
Politicians are removed from the
people, and the people feel
removed from the political process.
Issues are buried under rhetoric
and personal attacks on candidates.
President Ronald Reagan has set
the tone for other politicans: tell the
people what they want to hear and
they will like you. That doesn't
add up to representative politics.,
Instead of name-calling, hard
line posturing on drug tests, and
patriotic ramblings, candidates
should have provided the public
with some hard hitting debates on
important issues, such as the trade
imbalance, aid to the Contras, and
the national debt.
Candidates spend exorbitant
funds on television commercials
that don't serve any constructive
purpose. Fluff like this keeps
voters removed from the political
process. It's hard to get excited
about a product. ,
Politicians must get out and
interact with constituents.

iscouraged
issues and stand by them, and be
elected on that basis. It's
impossible to know what someone
stands for, though, if they never
explain the substance of their
beliefs. Such game playing is bad
for democracy, since it is
misleading.
Besides, if politicians confine
themselves to dialogue with large
special interest groups and other
select organizations they will not
understand what their constituents
want. It is a rare politician who
makes an effort to get the issues
out to the people.
Here in the Second District, the
grass roots political campaign of
Dean Baker, is a shining example
of democracy at home. Though
Baker didn't win the election, his
effort pulled together a working
coalition that challenged five term
incumbent Carl Pursell. Motivated
by frustration over Pursell's Contra
aid votes, Baker managed to
mobilize nearly 1000 volunteers
who traveled around the district,
educating voters and discussing the
issues with senior citizens,
students, workers, and farmers.

'Sesame
By Mark Lee
I-TAL, a reggae band from Cleveland,
recently performed in a popular Ann
Arbor bar. I could talk about various
aspects of their performance, but instead
I'd like to address something that I saw
happen on that cold October night, in that
little bar.
About half-way through the show I-
TAL broke into the theme song from
"Sesame Street." Starting out dub with a
stinging bass section they progressed into
the lyrics. "Sunny days, sweeping the
clouds away; friendly neighbors, yes
that's where I'll be, can you tell me how
to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"
...Everyone in the bar sang along,
smiling and yelling at the top of their
lungs.
We all grew up with "Sesame
Street..." I can remember my next door
neighbors Andrew and Jimmy coming
over at 9 o'clock every day to watch
"Sesame Street" on channel 56. We
loved to watch Big Bird and Oscar. Good
old Snuffy dragging along sad and down-
trodden, visible only to his best friend
Big Bird. The counting games, the skits,
the cartoons, the lessons, the fun! There
was nothing better than "Sesame Street;"
we wondered as children - how do we
get to "Sesame Street?"
Now as an adult, I fondly look back at
the values this program taught me. There
was education. The residents of "Sesame
Street" emphasized the importance of
education and they made learning fun.
Through games and quizzes they taught
us how to count and read. They showed
us the pleasurable side of reading and
useful aspects of knowledge.
The residents of "Sesame Street"
showed us the importance of community.
Everyone on "Sesame Street" cared about
Lee is a sophomore in the School of
Art.

everybody else regardless of status, race,
sex or species. There was never a need to
worry on "Sesame Street" because if hard
times were upon you, you could always
count on Bob, or Mr. Hopper, or Maria
to give you a hand. If Big Bird lost his
favorite toy airplane everyone would drop
what they were doing to help him find it.
And if in the end it turned out that Big
Bird had had it in his nest all along
nobody would be angry. People on
"Sesame Street" took time to be with
their families and friends, cultivating love
and. friendship. Everything was,
everybody's: Bob would gladly share his
guitar with the Count, and a bag full of
apples would be equally divided among
all.
This program promoted love, peace,
education, sharing, and above all, the age-
old adage "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
By following these simple values,
"Sesame Street" exemplified an urban
utopia.
Our society now is not "Sesame
Street" - it's "Reagan's Alley." Where
the skies are brown and toxic, the rivers
green and poisened. Where a huge
percentage of the population has no place
to live, and suffer from hunger, dying of
starvation day in and day out while others
eat from "hundred-dollar plates." Large
amounts of money are dumped into the
military to "promote peace," while social
programs are cut. Education beyond K-12
is becoming a luxury because of
skyrocketing tuition 'and the federal
government's reductions in student aid.
The only people who flourish are
those who look out for number one,
subscribing to the "dog-eat-dog" system,
stepping on others to climb the ladder of
success. While those people who
promote sharing and love are looked down
upon as stupid and a thing of the past.

St.

&

Reagan
Look down "Reagan's Alley:" no trees,
no schools, no food - there's only hate
and huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Out world today is as far removed from
"Sesame Street" as possible - we're oi,
the other side of town.
As students at the University o6.
Michigan we are the future of oui
country. We shall be tomorrow's leaders
tomorrow's business people, tomorrow'.
artists and doctors. The kind of world; a.
we'll be living in ten or twenty years*.
from now depends on us. Right "now it
seems the majority of us like living i
"Reagan's Alley." We're riding the wave,
ignoring the destruction of mother earth,
the proliferation of nuclear weapons, th
gross violations of human rights taking
place all over the globe. Isn't it time we
wake up and take a stand, maybe start:
adopting some of those "Sesame Street'"
values. Couldn't we all be a little more:
peaceful, a little more responsible, a little-
more loving, a little more concerned
about our fellows humans?
"Can you tell me how to get t'.Z:
Sesame Street?" is a very valid question
in this, the age of Reagan and the new.
right. I can't tell you how to get to
"Sesame Street," neither can I-TAL, or.-
for that matter, even Big Bird. But a step
in the right direction can be found in the
values "Sesame Street" teaches. They've
given us a starting point. Let's make a
left turn off of "Reagan's Alley," take
."Equality Street." to "Peace Lane," go
through "Love thy neighbor as thy self'':
park, keep walking in the right directi(n
and sooner or later we'll get there. We've
already spent far too much time as
residents of "'Reagan's Alley; "it's time to'
move on to where the skies are sunny and
the air is clean, where love and peace
reside. Even if we never, get there, we can.
still try; things can only get better.


Politicians

should

take stands on

i

L10a t

SOME "M u CL TICSoviert& cOULJ
EASILY DAEA1v StR AR .H N
tENOUNCS lj* THE MORE ILUONS 'N-
$?S-NtDON IT

Bur' w~y VwoULP TI'IEY VEP
t)ENouNC1N& $oMEAtflN& '(1EY DuLL)
EASgILY D1f T?

t

4
yA
t x
I.

r
t

Letters:

Rehnquist heeds Constitution

S

intent

.****...*...V:::"}::. *.*.}":V}::. .* f:V*.*ifl: "I}:. . . . ::. .
:.:::::::............ . . . . . . . ....f... . . !

To the Daily:
Rehnquisition: The
process by which the liberals
attempt to deny qualified
conservatives high positions
in the federal government due
to differences in philosophy.
In an effort to succeed,
liberals will resort to
unsubstantiated accusations
and half truths which are
often more applicable to
themselves than to their
intended victim.
One might have hoped
that we had seen the last of
this spectacle with the
Senate confirmation of
Rehnquist on September 17.
Alas, this was not to be as
the Daily continued with this

of the Hebrew race. It is
also true that such
provisions are totally void in
the eyes of the law and
because they are not legally
binding, it is redundant to go
through the trouble and
expense to have such clauses
removed from the deed.
Obviously, Rehnquist is not
alone in this assumption as
former President John
Kennedy, Senator Hubert
Humphrey and Senator
Joseph Biden all had similar
restrictions in their deeds!!
The Daily editorial also
criticized Rehnquist for
practicing judicial restraint,
that is, interpreting the
Constitution in a strict

new legislation. To lambast
William Rehnquist for
heeding the intent of the
Constitution is typical of the
unthinking liberal establish -
ment.
This (lack of thought) is
further evidenced by the use
of Alan Derschowitz's quote
that William Rehnquist is
one "...of the finest 19the
century minds in America."
His comment was due to
Rehnquist's vote against
abortion in Roe v. Wade and
his opposition to school
busing in a 1979 Court
ruling. If Mr. Derschowitz
truly believes this, then he
also must include President
Reagan in his assessment

in 1980.
The bottom line is that it
is the President who selects
federal judges with the
consent of the Senate and it"'
is the people who elect the
President and thus his
selection is merely a
reflection of the will of the*
majority of Americans. If
the liberals wish to challenge
Rehnquist on ideological'
grounds that is their'
perogative, but they should
be honest enough to admit
the true reasons for thei
opposition, rather than issue
unfounded accusations and
attempt character assass -
ination (such as the charge
that William Rehnquist *

The Opinion page is
investigative researchers to
watchdog columns on p

looking
have their

for
own

articular local

subjects, such as Ann Arbor housing,