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OPINION
/
Page 4
Friday, November 21, 1986
The Michigan Dai!
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Socialism
doesn't
Vol. XCVII, No. 57
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.
4
Housing politics
a
STUDENTS SHOULD PAY attention
to the politics of housing in Ann
Arbor. With the development of
the downtown and campus areas,
students risk getting entirely
squeezed out of affordable housing
within a one-mile radius of campus
in the coming years. The tabling of
an Ann Arbor . City Council
proposed ordinance on housing
Monday draws attention to the fact
that, despite the growth of office
space and malls in Ann Arbor, no
one has any plans to alleviate the
current housing shortage.
The proposed ordinance would
have required owners of rented
housing to provide one year's
notice to tenants and the city before.
converting rental units to
condominiums. This would give
the city and tenants the chance to
prepare for the loss of low-income
housing and the possible
eventuality of increased home -
lessness on the part cf those
displaced persons unable to afford
a condominium.
With a 99% housing occupancy
rate in the city and skyrocketing
rents ("The Housing Crunch,"
Daily Weekend Magazine,
10/10/86), the proposed ordinance
served to underscore the housing
shortage in Ann Arbor. At the
moment, the University has no
plans to build new dormitories and
developers foresee no major low-
income housing projects.
Student lobbying groups such as
the MSA should focus their
attention on this issue since the
University does not provide
enough housing for all students to
live on-campus. Rents for on-
campus and off-campus students
can only increase if current trends
continue.
Students should also demand
action from their elected
representatives-the mayor and the
city council. Already city council -
member Gerald Jernigan is running
for the Republican nomination for
the mayor's race in 1987. Given
the Republicans' traditional priority
of pushing development, Jernigan
deserves some pointed questions
from students about where student
housing fits in Ann Arbor's more
developed future.
At the same time, Mayor Ed
Pierce has appropriately declared
housing "a societal problem," but
he has yet to take action to increase
the supply of affordable housing in
Ann Arbor.
Pressure should come to bear on
both the University and the city's
developers to build affordable
housing. Perhaps the state leg -
islature can see that students and
their parents will end up paying
ridiculous rents if the University
does not build new dormitory
housing (and rent existing housing
out over the summer).
Ultimately, Ann Arbor bus -
inesses will feel the pinch if
students can not find affordable
housing. Money in the landlords
pockets means less disposable
income for students, which means
fewer meals out, less entertainment
and fewer purchases of clothes.
Even the University's corn -
petitive position may suffer with a
loss of affordable housing.
Prospective students and scholars
might as well live in Chicago or
New York with some of the rents
charged in Ann Arbor.
By Seth Klukoff and
David Vogel
To what depths has debate on campus
sunk to? First, we were treated to a
diatribe on the merits of New York versus
the Midwest. As if that is not humorous
enough, Michael Edwards of the Ann
Arbor Communist Party defended the
Soviet Union as a beacon of world peace
and freedom ("DSA Takes Reagan's Cues,
Daily, 11/12/86). Your local protectors
of Liberty and Responsibility, the
Review, cannot sit back and belly-laugh
any longer without comment.
Amusingly, Mr. Edwards disputes the
notion that the Soviet Union is, egads, a
"totalitarian state." He says "any (honest)
person" would find the Soviet Union not
to be totalitarian; he goes on, curiously,
to quote Professor Yanov to support his
contention.
We bet Mr. Edwards does not know
that Prof. Yanov used to be a faculty
advisor to the Review. We know Prof.
Yanov would never ever return to the
Soviet Union. Furthermore, we assume
that Mr. Edwards does not realize that
Yanov was expelled from Russia for
criticizing government agricultural
policy. Of course, this is an everyday
occurrence in our "democratic" society.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Edwards does
not mention some minor inconveniences,
which he would have trouble apologizing
for:
-A myriad of "Soviet" citizens attempt
to defect or escape every year.
-The Berlin Wall was built to contain
East European masses.
Seth Klukoff is the Editor-in-Chief of
the Michigan Review. David Vogel is
the publisher of the Review.
-400,000 Jews have applied for
emigration. (Does Mr. Edwards remember
that Jewish people are barred from
teaching religion to their children, and
from teaching in general?)
-The totalitarian-like tendencies to
imprison dissidents like Andrei Sakharov,
Solzhenitsyn, Scharansky, Orlov, etc.
Had Mr. Edwards written a similar letter
in Russia, he would undoubtedly join this
long and ever-growing list.
-The repression of the distinct cultures
and traditions of the various "republics"
like Latvia, Estonia, and Georgia.
Shall we continue?
Next, Mr. Edwards claims that there is
no Soviet threat, that the threat is only
Western propaganda, and that the Soviet
Union is "genuinely interested in peace."
Tell that to Afghan children.
If the Soviet Union is so peace-loving,
how does Mr. Edwards justify their 3-to-1
superiority of conventional forces in
Europe? Why does the USSR spend a
greater fraction of its GNP and national
budget on the military than any of the
democratic nations? Of course, this huge
military build-up is only in the interests
of protecting the rights of the workers in
Hungary, Poland, Czechoslavakia,
Angola, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and
other such glamorous places to be.
He also criticizes the American
development of "Star Wars." How can he
ignore the larger and longer effort of his
beloved empire to develop the very same
weapons? Or are we just playing the
game, "Historical Revisionism?"
But we cannot forget Mr. Edwards'
characterization of the "people's forces."
He cherishes the "planned economy
(versus an anarchic one)." Has Mr.
Edwards ever witnessed the three-hour
waits to get to the bare shelves in Polish
markets? Not that everyone in the West
work
perfectly fed and sheltered, but, frankly
waking, the East Bloc economies do not
ren begin to hold a candle to Western
:onomies. How can Mr. Edwards
:plain the enlightened phenomenon th
percent of the Soviet agricultural
itput is produced on the one percent of
nd that Russian farmers can utilize for
eir own personal purposes? Three
leers for planned economies.
Mr. Edwards likes to talk about the
eople's forces" being oppressed by the
Zeaganites" and other "capitalist ruling
asses." Gee, what about the large and
oad coalition of rank-and-file unio
orkers who consistently suppor
epublican and Democratic, not Socialist
r Communist, candidates. (Omigosh,
ke how can we totally forget? Like,
me totally tubular mindcontrol, eh?).
His theory of "capitalist domination"
d the lack of power of socialism in the
est is completely unsubstantiated. It is
ue that socialism has never completely
>me to power in the West. Is it
>ssible that is because socialism is
ilure? As Chirac of France recently
tid, socialism in France proved one
ing-that it does not work. Or are we
st "brainwashed" into just believing
iat socialism is a failure? Perhaps,
qually possible and much more
robably, Mr. Edwards has been
brainwashed" by Pravda and Tass. The
iccesses of capitalist nations pummel
ny rare benefits of socialism.
While we at the Review do not se
ye-to-eye on many (or maybe most)
sues with the DSA (Democratic
ocialists of America), we can at least
ay that they are far more realistic than
ie CPUSA (Communist Party; USA) of
[r. Edwards. Please, Mr. Edwards, we
7ought to debate on the Mets was funny
nough.
I
Bering
14
Inclusive learning
NO MATTER HOW knowledgeable
a professor is, s/he will have little
impact if students write him or her
off as close-minded, prejudiced or
inhumane in some way. Last
week; PIRGIM (Public Interest
Research Group in Michigan) did
students and faculty a service by
running a contest to see which
professor is best in using non-
discriminatory language in class.
Kudos go to professors Alfred
Meyer, Hubert Cohen, June
Howard, Richard Tillinghast,
James Turner and Raymond Tanter
for gaining the most student votes
for using inclusionary language.
Students found these professors
least likely to discriminate against
women, blacks, the elderly and
religious groups in the use of
language.
Learning and teaching are not
simply issues of students'
ON WALL STREET ToDAY, ARRESTS
WERE UP SALY_
n O
0
willingness to absorb knowledge
and the faculty's capability of
supplying it. A very important
factor is the conditions of learning.
Professors who are sensitive to
minority concerns help to remove
one major roadblock to learning on
the part of minorities and those
sympathetic to minority concerns.
For example, a normally effective
chemistry teacher may turn off his
or her students with a sexist or
racist remark. Professors may
force students into a position where
they are morally unwilling to open
their minds to a professor who
seems close-minded and unfair.
The rewards of inclusionary
language are not just the notoriety
of winning a PIRGIM contest.
Inclusionary language, sensitivity
to minorities and a general concern
for ethics all reduce frictions in the
process of learning.
LoSeRS OVNUOEED GANERS AS
INDICTMENTS ADVANCED SROA~DLY
0Q
LETTERS:
Maligned Muslims invite understandn&
To The Daily:
Almost everyday an in -
justice is being commited over
the airwaves in this land of
ours. Lately, so much has
been said on the various news
programs and even in the
context of daily television
programing which connects the
religion of Islam to terrorism.
The American public is
constantly being given in -
formation about the Muslim
World which is not only
inaccurate by may also have far
reaching and damaging con -
sequences. For many people of
the Muslim Faith this
constatnt barrage of negative
imagery is both disturbing and
frightening-
Just as extremist groups
calling themselves "Christians"
do not represent the doctrines
of Christianity by any stretch
of the imagination, so too the
particular acts of violence on
the part of so-called "Islamic"
groups do a great disservice to
the millions of faithful, sincere
and law-abiding Muslim
peoples of the world. I am not
saying that there are no real
problems between American
foreign policy and the Muslim
World, but simply that the
actions of those particular
groups which we see so
constantly on television are not
indicative of Islamic solutions
to the problems facing the
n.- .nl r
occurances of the Middle East
taken as a true indication of
how Muslims feel about the
world, especially when one
considers that the Middle East
holds only about twenty
percent of all Muslims in the
world?
I would like to see the day
when, at least on this campus,
a door is opened to objective
inquiry into the feelings of
Muslims living here in the
United States. The oppor -
tunity for real understanding
and even for friendly interaction
exists. Then, after opening
ourselves up to dialogue,
problems can be examined
fairly and in a courteous
manner. Let us begin to
exhibit the high ideals that
democracy is supposed to stand
for. Let us begin to forge a
true understanding of one
another, before it is too late foG
clear headedness and rational
thinking.
-Hytham A. Younis
President, Muslim
Students Association
-November 3
a
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Class conflict is eliminated
To the Daily:
Tn the A~rt-i~lP"L-Ac.;th
holiday. .
I
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