4 OPINION / Page 4 Friday, November 21, 1986 The Michigan Dai! 4 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 I- Class conflict is eliminated To the Daily: Tn the A~rt-i~lP"L-Ac.;th holiday. . I va si