OPINION
Page 4
Tuesday, November 25, 1986
The Michigan Doily
Edie fdmngdtents hiohig an tly
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Bering
I
Vol. XCVII, No. 59
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.
Strike protects jobs
IWHIi TTA E IiwfA~ELI 2oVERIEIfT!v Jfl1TSl?
THiS WEST SANK PALYATIVAN?
mAo ITBCA SE':
AD HE SAN~G / A PL8FSlnJINTINLSG
8LIPE Ov\ED A pfOK
?ALESTiN/AO pT\i
_ C j H EWORE t- Co2-O
i i o f F T /HE P A L E S T / IA NHy) WF
1) I 1-1 WF2Jf OT ~J-J-
M~
x
4"
WHEN WORKERS at a General
Motors subsidiary in Kokomo,
Indiana went on strike last
Monday, they began a chain of
events that would cripple GM
operations nationwide. Though the
strike ended five days later, its
impact remains. Since production
at nearly all GM plants involves
electronic components made in
Kokomo, the giant auto
manufacturer was forced to its
knees and a grinding halt within
days. Faced with plants that could
not operate for lack of necessary
parts, GM conceded to United
Auto Worker demands.
Those demands focused on the
transfering of United States jobs to
Mexico. GM announced plans to
shift its radio production from
Kokomo to Mexico, where
workers are paid about $2 per
hour. GM's announcement came
soon after the UAW condemned
U.S. Commerce Department aid in
moving production to Mexico. The
government agency has invited
28,000 United States companies to
a conference it is sponsoring on
establishing operations in Mexico.
UAW President Owen Bieber
blasted U.S. agencies and firms for
putting "still more workers onto
unemployment lines while taking
advantage of exploited Mexican
labor."
In keeping with their stand, the
UAW resisted, and successfully
prevented, GM's exportation of
jobs to Mexico from the Kokomo
plant. Union success resulted from
the extensive interdependence and,
hence, corporate vulnerability
created by division of production
between numerous specialized
plants. Both labor and business
can learn valuable lessons from the
Kokomo strike. While many sing
a song of lament for dying unions,
the Kokomo victory provides an
encouraging note.
L.AG
?LvT
VE~
R E/ N oYE} R R2 ,,TNF mE NThoA9A L
DAY OF SOLIPAPTY VWITH TiE PEOPLE
MicyOAitY @6 OF ALEST/AE
Letters:
4
Reagan's lies defame
Ul
.S.
Politicize the code
ANN ARBOR'S DEMOCRATIC Party
deserves some credit for taking the
initiative to oppose the University's
idea of a code of non-academic
conduct, which would establish
extra rules in addition to existing
laws to govern all behavior of
students. Democratic Party activist
Dave DeVarti showed that he is in
touch with students by approaching
the MSA Student Rights Com -
mittee on the issue.
Despite pro-code arguments by
University Council co-chair Donald
Rucknagel, local Democrat Thais
Peterson said, "I can't see that this
code would bring any additional
protection to either myself or the
University." The Democrats also
stressed that the University should
devote its energies elsewhere to
provide security, namely where
real problems exist as in the area of
sexual assault. The Democrats
even seem to realize that students
should have the full rights to
dissent that other citizens enjoy.
The stance of the Ann Arbor
Democrats proves that students,
have a solid position from which to
gain outside allies in their struggle
against the administration and its
proposed code. The anti-code
movement should have confidence
in the ultimate justness of its
position and push for similar
statements from the City Council,
Ann Arbor Republican Party and
the Michigan branches of both
parties. Then the final step is to
arrange for the state legislature to
pass a law against the University's
punishing students academically
for alleged non-academic infract -
ions.
MSA and students generally
should let politicians know that
they are accountable for their action
or inaction on the issue of the code.
Right now, both parties
demonstrate mostly inaction;
although, the Ann Arbor Demo -
cratic Party's condemnation of the
code is an important step.
To the Daily:
President Reagan's cynical
foreign policy in the Middle
East has seriously undermined
America's national interests.
By making deals with
terrorists, selling weapons to
Iran, and lying to the American
people, the president has done
incalculable damage.
Although Reagan denies
having made a deal with the
terrorists, it seems incredible
that the kidnappers released
three American hostages at
times that coincided with arms
deliveries. Furthermore, if the
shipment of arms to Iran was
not a ransom payment, what
was its purpose? Why would
the United States arm a nation
that caused its greatest
humiliation since Vietnam?
Reagan claims that he merely
wanted to gain influence with
"moderate elements" in Iran.
Who are these "moderate ele-
ments," and how will they get
the arms? Is this an example
of "constructive engagement"
applied to Iran? If so, then
what stops Reagan from
selling arms to Libya's
Colonel Khadafy, or the Soviet
Union for that matter? Selling
weapons to the enemy to gain
influence is like handing a
burgler a pistol and asking him
to go away. It is so obviously
detramental that even Reagan
would not pursue such a
policy. Finally, in a press
conference, the president
claimed that, had the press not
reported the arms deal, the two
hostages still held in Lebanon
would probably have been
released. If the arms deal had
nothing to do with the release
of hostages, as Reagan claims,
then why would reporting the
event-as opposed to, say,
reporting on an arms deal with
Honduras or Greece-endanger
the other hostages? Why
would the terrorist react to the
publicizing of an event that has
nothing to do with them?
It is obvious, then, that the
purpose of the deal was to pay
a ransom to a terrorist regime
in return for the release of
hostages. The timing of the
shipments leaves little doubt as
to the president's intentions,
no other motive for arming the
enemy is plausible, and by
linking reports of the deal
...t the . a tes . - n t ha,.
diplomatic courtesy. By
negotiating a quid pro quo
with terrorists, Reagan has put
the taking of hostages on the
same qualitative level as
raising tariffs or initiating
embargoes. By legitimizing
terrorism, he has encouraged it.
Furhtermore, by arming Iran
the United States has
humiliated itself before the
world. Reagan has provided
weapons for a government
whose war-cry is "Death to
America!" and in doing so has
severely compromised national
honor. Iran humiliated the
United States by taking
American hostages from the
summer of 1978 to the winter
of 1980, and the same
government that endorsed the
kidnapping is still inpower.
Reagan has proved to the world
that principles-even the
principle of national self-
respect-are absent from..
American foreign policy.
Finally, by lying to the
American public about his
actions-indeed by mounting
as policy a campaign of
disinformation-Reagan has
destroyed the credibility of the
presidency. The American.
public depends on the president
to educate it on national issues.
When he fails to do so, and
even goes so far as to lie as a
matter of policy, not only does
democracy suffer from the
inflated power of a dishonest
president. The institution
itself becomes.debauched, and
the leader of the American
people, far from being a
symbol of strength and
respectablity, becomes a
symbol of lies and degradation.
-Ron Schechter
November 21
4
4
Acquaintance rape most common form
' I - , r
I i/I
_ f"
To the Daily:
In the next seven minutes
at least one woman in the
United States will be raped or
sexually abused. It is the
common belief that she will
be raped according to this
scenerio: - A woman is
walking down a city street
alone, late at night. As she
passes a dark alley a strange,
burly man grabs her, pulls
her into the alleyhand rapes
her. Although this is the
common image of rape,
according to stastics, it is far
from the truth. 88 percent of
all rapes are acquaintance or
date rapes.
Most women are familiar
with the men who rape them.
This 88 prcent breaks down
into several categories. 17
percent of the rapes are
acquaintences, 5 percent are
boyfriends, and 8 percent are
dates. The remaining
percentage is comprisedof
husbands, relatives, and
authoritative male figures.
Priests, doctors and teachers,
whom women confide and
admire, are seen as powerful
and stable and use this power
to sexually take advantage of
women. It is evident from
statistics that the typical rapist
is not a social or moral
outcast, but could be any
average, American man.
Another myth about the
typical rape situation is that
most rapes occur outside on the
streets. Statistics say that
only one-fifth of all rapes
occur outside while the
remaining 80 percent occur in
residences, vehicles and public
out on a date. They go back to
the woman's home and start to
fool around. The question of
sex arises, and the woman says
"no." The man is persistent
and proceeds to rape the
woman. This instance could
involve both physical and/or
verbal coercion. Physical
coercion is using strength to
force unwilling women to
have sex. Verbal coercion is
using psychological reasoning
to induce guilt, feelings of
obligation, or feelings of
helplessness which manipulate
women to have sex when
they really don't want to.
Examples of verbal coercion
include threats, bribes, telling
the woman that she really
wants to have sex, telling her
that she is a prude if she
doesn't want to have sex,
telling the woman that she
owes him sex, and telling her
that she aroused him to the
point where he has to have
sex. These psychological
manipulations that lead women
to have sex against their will
are, in fact, acts of rape. When
a woman says "no," regardless
of the point in sexual
activity, it means "no." Once
a woman has said "no," men do
not have any right to force
women to have sex, no matter
what.
It is important to be aware
of date rape and its
implications , especially
considering that this is a
college campus, which presents
men and women with many
problematic situations. In fact,
according to a survey by MS.
magazine, 25 percent of all
college women will survive a
rape or rape attempt before they
finish school. Of those 25
percent, almost all will have
known their assailant prior to
the attack. If you are a woman
and should experience date rape,
it is imperative to do several
things. First, report the rape to
the police, even if the rapist is
related to you or he is your
boyfriend. This is vital to
remember because statistics
show that the better a woman
knows her rapist, the less
likely she is to report it, andi'f
it is not reported , the rapist
cannot be prosecuted or given
counseling. The second
necessity upon being raped is
to seek physical and emotional
counseling. One should Iot
feel embarassed or blame
themselves for a rape, but
should seek help in order to
cope with the trauma.
For further information.
regarding rape, date rape, sexual
assault, and counseling, contact
the Women's Crisis center.
The number is 994-9100. The
above statistics are provided by
the Ann Arbor Coalition
Against Rape.
-Anthony Lehv
-Andrea Pravda
November 21
Animal abuse hotline
Onr rnmmittre mPm=
TA the iln:I.:"