4
OPINION
Mpoay, February 16,)1987
Page 4
The Michigan Daily
. . .... . ... ............. - - ----
et 1 Ctigan oil"
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVII, No. 97 420 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.
Stop
Greeks of ti
R acial barriers divide the
University on many levels, both
social and academic. One of the
most unfortunate and obvious
divisions exists between the black
and the mainstream Greek systems.
The University boasts seven
black fraternities and sororities and
about fifty mainstream Greek
organizations. However, no black
Greek organizations presently hold
full membership in either the
Interfraternity Council or the
Panhellenic Association which
govern the mainstream Greeks.
One organization, the Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity, accommodates the
status of social affiliate in the IFC,
allowing the fraternity no voting
privileges, though it can participate
in such philanthropic events as
Greek Week.
The difference in rush procedure
is one of the main reasons that the
black houses do not join the
mainstream system, where full
voting membership requires
conformity to the mainstream rush
process. Even as a social affiliate
Alpha Phi Alpha does not get to
vote, participating primarily during
Greek Week.
The black organizations hold
only one rush a year. The process
is conducted through a series of
~parties, termed smokers, and
R which are followed by a series of
personal interviews. This is starkly
different than the mass informal
' rush of the mainstream system,
: where prospective members visit
the houses on consecutive nights
during rush week.
The pledge period for most black
houses, referred to as going on
- line, lasts only six to nine weeks,
-: whereas the pledge periods in the
mainstream system normally last a
semester.
The IFC and Panhellenic
' Association need to make an
important first step to try to remove
the barriers separating the systems.
They should invite the black Greek
chapters of the University to join
their respective groups. The black
organizations should be granted an
'I'
unite
exception on rush procedure and
should be able to vote without
relinquishing the traditions and-.
habits that are so vital to their
system.
The decisions of the IFC and
Panhellenic are perceived as
representing all Greeks, whether
they are independent or not. By
voting, the blacks Greeks would
have a voice in those decisions.
Interaction between the two
systems is important, not
homogenization of one into the
mold of the other.
Throwing houses from the two
systems together in a forced and
unsure setting, such as integrated
rush or parties could prove more
harmful than helpful. Immediate
interaction across the board is not
recommended. Rather, more subtle
means are necessary, the two
systems should be exposed to each
other on the most basic of terms.
The efforts put forth by the
individual houses that try to initiate
interaction between the two
systems deserves applause. The
Daily also lauds the students who
are presently working on initiatives
to foster interaction between the
systems.
The two systems need to be
educated on any' differences that
might exist between the groups and
on the importance of tradition to
each, especially to the black
organizations. They also need to
realize the many similarities
enjoyed universally by Greeks and
students at University. Both
groups should retain their traditions
and avoid conformity. The first
steps to foster interaction must be
basic, unforced, and well-intended.
Unity in an area such as Greek
life could prove vital to bridging
the gap between blacks and whites
at the University. Students, in
general, and the two systems
specifically, need to realize the
similarities that exist between them
and refrain from dwelling on any
superficial differences that might be
impediments to progress.
By Hilary Shadroui
The Reagan administration has now
taken Arab hostages. On January 26th,
1987, eight Palestinian residents of the
Los Angeles area and one's Kenyan wife
were arrested by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), the FBI, and
the LAPD, in a 7:00 a.m. raid on their
homes. The nine were held at the INS
building in L.A. until after 4:00 p.m.
before they were allowed food or water.
They were tightly shackled and verbally
abused by the INS detention guards. The
following day, six of them were moved to
a San Diego INS detention facility and
held in isolation. Attorneys for the de-
tainees were denied information from the
INS concerning their clients' whereabouts
throughout the day of Tuesday, January
27th.
Six of these individuals have been
charged with violating Section 241(a) (6)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a
section of the U.S. immigration law
enacted as the McCarran-Walter Act in
1952. Section 241(a) (6) makes it a
deportable offense to be affiliated with
any "organization that causes to be
written or printed matter advocating or
teaching economic, international and
governmental doctrines of world com-
munism." The INS charges that these six
individuals are affiliated with the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a
member organization of the Palestine
Liberation Organization. Such affiliation
is, according to the INS "Order to Show
Cause," a violation of Section 241(a)
(6).
Of the six charged with violating the
McCarran-Walter Act, two are lawful
Hilary Shadroui speaks for the November
29th Committee for Palestine and is a
graduate student in history.
[eporting
permanent residents of the U.S. The
other four are not permanent residents and
are also being charged with technical
violations of their student or visitor
visas. The remaining three are all being
charged with technical violations of their
student or visitor visas.
Two of the nine arrested individuals
were finally released on bond, originally
set at $25,000 apiece but, lowered to
$3,000 and $5,000. The remaining seven
are still in detention. Shackled hand and
foot, they were brought before Judge
Ingrid Hrycenko who refused to set bail,
describing the prisoners as "national
security risks." Their bond hearing is
scheduled for Tuesday, February 17 at
1:00 pm.
After conducting a lengthy invest-
igation, the FBI could find no evidence
that the detainees were going to commit
any acts of violence. They turned the
case over to INS because it's easier to
deport people than to win a criminal case
against them. The FBI and INS believe
they can violate these individuals' civil
and democratic rights since the arrests
come during an atmosphere of hysteria
-concerning Middle East terrorism
generated by the Reagan administration.
The people were arrested because they
are activists and Palestinian nationalists.
They are respected members of their
community and have not engaged in any
violent or illegal activites. Khader
Hamide, singled out as a "leader" of the
PFLP, participated in the work of the
Arab American Institute, was a founding
member of the Arab American Demo-
cratic Club of Los Angeles, and served as
a delegate to the national convention of
the Rainbow coalition.
With the Reagan administration's
Middle East policies in shambles after the
revelations of Iran-Contragate, it appears
that these arrests are a desperate act of a
Arabs
discredited administration. The alle-
gations and smear campaign involved in
these arrests must be seen within the
context of the recent revelations ofg
disinformation campaigns, illegal arms
sales, and other covert and illegal
activities committed by the Reagan
administration. In addition to abridging
the rights of these individuals, the arrests
and the sensational media coverage of
anonymous government officials at the
time of the initial announcement appear
,to be calculated to have a chilling effect
on national debate over urgent foreign
policy issues.
Further, these arrests serve as one
more ploy in the Reagan administration's
concerted effort to inflame anti-Arab
racism. Palestinians and Arabs, branded
as "terrorists," have become suitable
targets for racist attacks. Last year Alex
Odeh, regional coordinator of the Arab
American Anti-Discrimination Com-
mittee, was murdered and the FBI has yet
to make any arrests. We insist that the.
FBI pursue the murderers of Alex Odeh
instead of denying the democratic rights
of a peaceful community.
These arrests are an attempt to revive
McCarthyism during the Reagan admin-
istration, making all residents and
immigrants easy targets for deportation
and exclusion because of their views and
activities. These attacks subject an entire
community to fear and intimidation, and
represent, a graye threat to all people's4
democratic and constitutional rights.
A vigil to show solidarity with the
detainees will be held on Tuesday,
February 17, at 12:00 noon on the diag.
We invite all concerned persons to come
and give support. This case is not the
first assault on our liberty, nor will it be
the last. We must protest this attack on
democratic freedoms now.
LETTERS:
Ca n'tjustify U.S.-Iran armssale
None of the above
To the Daily:
This letter concerns the
column which appeared in the
26 January edition of the Daily
"Support Moderates in Iran,"
by Reed Rubinstein. This in-
terpretation of what U. S.
policy should be concerning
Iran and how this policy should
be conducted is as flawed and
full of contradictions as the
original justification offered for
the arms deal with Iran. Why
do I believe this? First, I will
quote the last paragraph of Mr.
Rubinstein's column, "To the
extent that the Iran affair was
triggered by the desire to help
entrench and support a pro-
western faction within the
Iranian government, then the
policy goals were proper and
should serve as the basis for
the future dealings with other
nations. That, and really little
else, is what is important
about Iran."
Oh Yeah?! I've heard of
sweeping things under the rug,
but declaring that the only
important issue concerning Iran
is whether mythological Iran-
ian moderates now suddenly
love the U. S. because some
cowboy colonels and dim bulbs
in the National Security
Council believe in TOW
missile diplomacy is beyond
comprehension. In the first
place, who are these Iranian
moderates that we hear so
much about these days? Many
foreign policy experts and
analysts ranging in ideology
from Cyrus Vance to Henry
Kissinger declare that no
"moderates" as we define them
remain in Iran. They have
either been exterminated or
driven into exile.
Even if these moderates do
exist in Iran, is sending them
thousands of tons of sophis-
ticated U. S. weapons and mili -
tary supplies the proper way to
get in the way of "dynamic
action," as he puts it.
However, the fact remains that
it was the policy of the U. S.
since the beginning of the Iran-
Iraq war not to provide arms or
aid of any kind to either side.
Nations that did provide aid
were severely criticized while
American citizens were and
still are being prosecuted for
selling arms to the Iranian at
the same time a renegade
faction within the U. S.
government was coordinating
the shipment of arms to Iran.
If this policy of sending arms
to Iran has so much merit, why
did the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of Defense object
so strongly to it when they
learned of it? Mr. Rubinstein
claims that sending arms to
Iran helps counteract Soviet
infuence in the region. If
anything, Soveit influence in
the Middle east and Persian
Gulf will certainly grow in the
months ahead because of the
vastly weakened credibility of
U. S. allies in the region such
as Jordan and Egypt. These
moderate Arab states are scared
to death of what the conse-
quences would be if Iran de-
feated Iraq. They naturally felt
betrayed when they learned that
the U. S. had sent large
quantities of military supplies
to the bloodthirsty regime of
Khomeni that has been linked
to numerous acts of terrorism
including the bombing of the
Marine barracks in Beirut that
killed 241 U. S. marines.
In conclusion, there is
Vote for Bob Ferri in fifth
absolutely no proof that th
illegal transfers of arms to Iran
without the knowledge 'or
approval of the State
Department or Congress helped
or aided the U. S. in
establishing any links with
moderate factions in Iran that
may not exist. Furthermdre,
contrary to Mr. Rubinstein's
assertion, U. S. credibility and
prestige has been badl
damaged at home and abroad as
the result of the Iranian fiasco.
If I may once again quote Mr.
Rubinstein's closing sentence
"That, and really little else, is
what is important about Iran."
Stuart Cl rk
January 30
ward primary
of their apartments and onto
the street.
The third candidate is Bob
Fern. He hasstaken some cour-
ageous positions for a Republ-4
ican. He has opposed the
condo conversion of Tower
Plaza even though Tower Plaza
is not in his ward. He may not
win many votes for this posi-
tion, but he is a man of princi-
ple. Ferri realize that Ann
Arbor has a crisis in the area of
affordable housing and we must
take steps to resolve the crisis,
not steps to make it worse. 4
Ferri believes in the concept
of comparable worth and he
favors development with plan-
ning and reason. He won't be
a rubber stamp for the big
developers.
If you live in the fifth ward
and you don't wish to give the
arch-conservatives a chance to
win in April, vote for Bo4
TODAY'S ANN ARBOR City
Council primary for the Republican
nomination in the fifth ward
features three' candidates whose
distinguishing features are ig-
norance of city issues and a lack of
new ideas.
Bob Ferri, a self-employed
landscaper, has lived in Ann Arbor
for 57 years. His positions on
many of the issues are surprisingly
progressive for a Republican: he
supports affordable housing and
would allow more citizen
involvement in Ann Arbor's
development. This does not
outweigh the fact that Ferri is
neither ready nor capable to be a
city councilman. He has only a
cursory understanding of the
issues. He was unaware, for
example, of the proposal to expand
Ann Arbor's city hall. The issue
for which Ferri expresses the most
from Detroit will invade Ann
Arbor. Spear's ignorance of the
screening process which will keep
low income people with criminal
records out of the project is
surprising in light of the fact that
this is his second council cam-
paign. Spear suggests that more
citizen involvement is needed to
prevent crime but he suggests no
alternatives to the already imple-
mented neighborhood watch
programs.
Yet another realtor, Jeff Gallatin,
is also running for the fifth ward
nomination. Gallatin focuses on
helping senior citizens while at the
same time opposing stricter stan-
dards for rental housing where
many seniors live. Gallatin
expressed no knowledge of the pay
equity issue, an issue which has
dominated recent council pro-
ceedinas.
To The Daily:
Voters in Ann Arbor's fifth
ward will have a clear choice to
make today. While there is no
contested Democratic primary
there is a three way Republican
primary. Two of the candidates
are wealthy realtor-landlords
whose conservative agendas are
completely out of touch with
the average citizen. They
wouldn't even blink at the
thought of shoving handi-
capped and elderly people out
Money talks:Canham listens
To the Daily:
This business with the
Michigan Cheerleaders not
being allowed to conduct
certain "dangerous" routines
irks me. As a basketball fan I
enjoy the added dimension the
cheerleaders provide as part of
the "sixth man." They were
sorely missed during the
Minnesota game. I do not feel
that pyramids and the like are
an integral part of their role and
therefore do not think the
cheerleaders were justified in
every pyramid was teetering,
unstable and suicidal. it is a
blessing that no one was hurt
seriously. Mr. Canham acted
irresponsibly in not stopping
the pyramids last year. If Mr.
Canham really cared about his
cheerleaders he would have
stopped them last year when
they were foolishly inept, not
this year when they are
improved and competent in
their routines. When money
talks, i.e. insurance premiums,
Mr. Canham listens.