OPINION Tuesday, January 20, 1987 The Michigan Doily Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCVII, No. 78 420 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. Just say maybe Lucas THERE'S A KILLER OUT THERE, AND IT'S DESTROYING LIVES, ONE Y ONE - S 0 * . * S i - -s?:: ... . j- - - At- - - In October of 1986 President Ronald Reagan declared a "national crusade against drugs". White Mouse budget proposals for 1987 make it apparent that the crusade was simply a propaganda campaign. The Reagan administration once again wants cuts in money appropriated for domestic initiatives in order to meet the deficit ceiling in Graham-Rudman- Hollings. The budget proposal includes a significant increase in military spending. In the new budget Reagan performs an about face, cutting money only recently appropriated. Reagan signed an anti-drug bill last October funding drug enforcement and rehabilitation at state and local levels. Reagan now wants to eliminate $225 million earmarked for those initiatives. This would sharply reduce his administration's emphasis on drug-related issues and destroy what should be the focal point of the war against drugs. The efforts by the Reagan administration to suppress drug trafficking from foreign countries have been superficial and empty. The administration still gives large amounts of military and economic aid,. not to mention poiticalt support, to governments and groups that support the narcotics industry. Pakistan and the Nicara- guan Contras are striking examples of this hypocrisy.. The Reagan approach to alleviating drug-related troubles is both shallow and unrealistic. Reagan believes that complex narcotics problems can be solved quickly and easily, whether it involves giving money over a short period of time or sending U.S. military personnel to Bolivia to participate in relatively small-scale drug busts. Drug testing of federal officials is yet another superficial solution. Reagan ignores education, which may be the most crucial weapon against narcotics. Teaching Americans about the hazards of drugs and helping those who have fallen victim to drugs could prove key to achieving a solution to the drug issue. . The Reagan administration is going to have to learn that a strong military is not going to solve all of the problems of the country. Spending for drug enforcement and rehabilitation is necessary and imperative, the issue of narcotics plagues all levels of U.S. society and the administration must deal with it. LET'S STOP "IT". BEFOREIT STOPS US. MICW&AN Letters: Daily should support language study Student zone Residents of the North Burns Park area want to rezone their neighborhood to prevent an expansion of student group housing. Unless students coalesce in opposition to this proposal, it is likely to succeed. Wednesday morning, the city plannigg commission voted to ban group housing in 40 houses in North Burns Park. This leaves 21 existing group houses in the neighborhood and five houses which can still be converted to group housing. Before the rezoning can take place, however, the change must be approved by the city council. At the planning commission hearings, the neighbors' spokesman was University Vice- Provost for Information Tech - nology Douglas Van Houweling. Van Houweling showed poor judgement in taking a prominent role in this effort. Van Houweling has a right to his opinion; there is, however, a difference between supporting rezoning and becoming a spokesman for it. Van Houweling, as an administrator, is identified with the University; in becoming a spokesman, he lends the University's name and his connections gained as a public official to a cause which is detrimental to students. The controversy began over winter break when 42 households signed petitions requesting rezoning-a change which would primarily affect fraternities, sororities, and co-ops. At first, opposition to the ban on group houses was minimal. The Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) was unable to organize opposition to the change and the Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC), which has expanded far less than the Greek system, supported the rezoning. Panhellenic, the sororities' repre- sentative, should be commended, for organizing a large group of women to oppose the change. This opposition should not be dampened by the loss at the planning commission. While the permanent residents of Burns Park have demonstrated considerable political muscle, students have done little to organize against rezoning. Students, by virtue of their numbers, have an opportunity to wield considerable political clout. Given the University's unwillingness to expand campus housing, the only way to alleviate the housing crunch is to expand off-campus. The most effective way to do this is through large- group housing. The ICC supports changing zoning laws in student- dominated areas to encourage more group housing there while supporting the maintenance of North Burns Park as a mixed neighborhood. Rather than wait for rezoning in other neighborhoods, the ICC should defend the right of students to live in Burns Park Even more disturbing is the apathy of the IFC in contrast to the well organized opposition of Panhellenic. If the IFC were to join Panhellenic in effective opposition at city council perhaps a fair compromise could be reached. To the Daily: I was disappointed to read "Reconsider requirements," (Daily, 1/15/87) which recommended that the University eliminate its language requirement. Such an outlook is shortsighted, parochial, and insular. The writer asks for sympathy for the "bewildered"and "confused" students who must deal with an "unnecessary language requirement." While a business major, major seems to be the rage for large number of undergraduates, there are many strong arguments that a traditional liberal arts education is the best training for confronting our rapidly changing world. More and more universities and colleges are re-establishing core or distribution requirements after the more lax, self-defined education programs of the late Sixties and early Seventies. Learning a foreign language is Critic To The Daily: A November 7 letter to you accuses your September 15th editorial on the forced relocation of Navajo Indians in Arizona ("Big Mountain") of "untruths and innuendos concerning Peabody Coal." The letter comes from Ronald Greenfield, Director of Public Affairs, Peabody Holding Company, Inc. I'd like to offer a response to each of his four facts [in the letter in this same issue of the Daily - ed.]. 1. "Harrison Loesch - who was instrumental in shaping the Interior Department's propartition policy in 1972 and who worked on the land dispute legislation in 1974 as minority counsel for the Senate Interior Committee - became an executive for the Peabody Coal Company in 1976." (The Second Long Walk, Jerry Kammer, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1980) Peabody hired Loesch after he had successfully lob - bied the Interior Department and the Senate Interior Com - mittee. Also, regarding lob- certainly a part of a good liberal arts education. The editorial itself recognizes the high degree of ethnocentrism that Americans engage in. "Because of ethnocentrism, which follows from an inability to communicate, Americans are often confused and bewildered by that which seems foreign." Therefore, the editorial argues, the University should eliminate the language requirement, so as 'not' to add to this bewilderment:" Perhaps I am missing the point, but the logic of such reasoning seems to be completely backward. If we are "confused and bewildered," should we not study that which is confusing, so we may better understand it? The study of a foreign language, besides being a practical skill that can be very valuable when travelling or doing business abroad, offers an insight into the culture and ideas of other people. These are people with whom we must share this earth, and from whom we might even be able to learn something interesting or valuable. For those non- travelers and more selfish individuals, it is also generally recognized that the study of a foreign language adds to the understanding and use of the student's native language. I can personally attest to all of the above. On the grand scale, experience and expertise in foreing languages and foreign cultures is something that can greatly help the United States and the world. The better we are able to understand and communicate with the people. of other nations, the better we will be able to deal with international problems, such as trade imbalances and world peace. Confusion and bewilderment are not qualities that are likely to help our S r u c S 1 S S t a L c i r. 1 s a d 1 t E 1 t 1 t attacks Peabody's bying: "The Bureau of Re- portions of the Joint Use Area ( clamation's power at Interior of its present population of t was so great that when citizens traditional Navajos; a major 1 wrote to the Department to ask step in making the coal about Black Mesa, they were reserves available for strip- sent a brochure prepared and mining.-I published by the Peabody Coal I believe Peabody denies C Company." ("Whose Home on intending to mine Big Moun - f the Range? Coal Fuels Indian tain because Big Mountain is C Dispute," Mark Panitch, The the most well known section I Washington Post, July 21, of the Joint Use Area. If they L 1974.) had no intention of mining any P 2. "To carry the chain to its part of the Joint Use Area they C conclusion, Peabody Coal would say so.r strip-mines Black Mesa in the Meanwhile, the Navajo and 5 joint use area under a contract the Hopi Tribal Councils, approved by the Interior which share subsurface rights F Department." (Mark Panitch, to the Joint Use Area, and 2 The Washington Post.) which could potentially demand The Peabody strip-mine is 30 higher royalties on their lease miles north of Big Mountain. to Peabody, are divided by the Whether this is "in the Big Relocation program. The low Mountain area" depends on royalty rate Peabody pays for one's perspective. The mine the Black Mesarmine allows extends within the Joint Use them excessive profits. T Area, from which Navajos are 3. "In a 1966 professional I being relocated. The Black directory, "Hopi Indian Tribe" F Mesa coal formation extends and "Peabody Coal Co." are o under most of the Joint Use both listed as clients of John Area. It is barely under the S. Boyden's law firm of n surface and contains 20 billion Boyden, Tibbals, Staten and P tons of accessible coal. Croft of Utah. III If successful, the Relocation MARTINDALE-HUBBEL program will evacuate major LAW DICTIONARY 174515 society and world grow and prosper, but rather help it be reactionary and tension-filled. The writers argue that "[a]n understanding of foreign cultures and societies can be gained from history and sociology classes." However; it should be pointed out that history, sociology, writing kills, and many other valuable skills insights may be realized through the study of foreign language. The change recommended by LSA faculty to require a :ompetency test of all incoming students is a good recommendation on both the local and grand scales. It ;ounds to me the Daily's writers are simply bemoaning a requirement that they find lifficult to fill. -Jonathan Foot January 17 facts' 1966). Nineteen-sixty six was: he year the Black Mesa Coal: ease was negotiated between he Hopi Tribal Council and Peabody Coal company: NDIAN LAW RESOURCE CENTER, REPORT TO THE: HOPI KIKMONGWIS AND: OTHER TRADITIONAL' HOPI LEADERS ON DOCKET 196. ("A Policy Review of the Federal Government's Relocation of Navajo Indians Under P.L. 93-= 531 and P.L. 96-305, Hollis A. Whitson, Arizona Law Review, Volume 27, Number 2 1985.) 4. "According to James Ridgeway in his book "Power Play," Kennecott Copper which own Peabody) "through ts interlocks with Zions Utah Bancorporation. . . Panitch, The Washington Post) Kennecott divested itself of Peabody in 1977, by court trder. I hope this corrects any misinformation you may have. eceived on this subject. -Tim Shinabarger January 8" Peabody Coal responds to the Daily The Opinion page is looking for investigative researchers to have their own watchdog columns on particular local subjects, such as Ann Arbor housing, police and the court system. Call 747- 2814 and ask for Karen or Henry. To The Daily:. Your September 15 editorial on Big Mountain repeats many of the untruths and innuendos concerning Peabody Coal being disseminated by the Big Mountain Support Group. Some pertinent facts are as follows: 1. Peabody Coal Company is not involved in any way in the Federal government's relocation of Navajo and Hopi tribal members residing in the Big Mountain area. Our company never lobbied nor hired anyone to lobby on our behalf for the passage of Public Law 93-531, which established the relocation program in 1974. 2. Peabody Coal has no leases to mine coal in the Big Mountain area and has no intention of ever mining coal there. 3. Peabody Coal never employed John Boyden nor his law firm. 4. The Mormon Church has no ownership interest in Peabody Coal. We trust you will want to bring these facts to the attention of your readers to correct the misinformation contained in your editorial. -Ronald H. Greenfield Director, Public Affairs Peabody Holding Company November 7 Editor's note: While the Daily welcomes further correspondence on Big Mountain, it stands by its September 15th editorial as accurate.