OPINION Page 4 Friday, March 6, 1987 I 'a Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCVII, No. 106 420 Moynard 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. International Women's Day: Struggle for equality Reagan By Jeffrey Rutherford The Tower Commision Report startled the world by revealing many negative aspects of President Reagan's management style and his administration. However, the lying and deception, the abuse of privilege, and the vigilante attitudes of the Reagan administrationare not new. The Tower Commision blames Reagan's style of detached leadership for many of the problems of the Iran arms deal. Reagan does not have much control over his staff members and he does not demand that they inform him of all their actions. He refuses to learn more than generalities of issues before making what few decisions he takes responsibility for. Moreover, the report implies that Reagan worries little about the details of his general policies. He leaves this job to his staff. Reagan is not aware of what his staff actually does. He is also unable to recall whether or not he authorized the transaction of arms to Iran. The issue seems to be worth remembering and it would behoove the president to deal with these situations more seriously. Reagan's competency and the integrity of his leadership are in serious question. Jeffrey Rutherford is a Residential College Sophomore and a member of the Opinion Page staff. MARCH 8TH marks the date of the working women's 1857 protest march in New York City. Women who worked in the textile industry were demonstrating against a pay cut and an increase in the work week to 60 hours. Textile workers were predominantly women and the lowest paid of any workers in any industry. International Women's Day has been celebrated around the world on March 8 every year since 1910. It is a day in which women unite in the struggle for equal rights, peace and justice for all members of all societies. As early as 1908 thousands of women were marching on this day in New York City to demand the right to vote. After a long struggle women obtained that right in this country. Swiss women, however, still do not have suffrage. Internationally women have a long way to go for equality. Islamic women cannot show their faces on the street; in every country of the world women are paid less than men for equal work. Women are still sd into marriages and wi ettohooe their own lifesfyles. In this country single women with dependent children make up the largest sector of those living below the poverty line; yet, affordable day care is not even addressed by the admini- stration. . Women are still second class citizens. Economic and sexual 'r 'I r *" Orle T1 HEATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION acted negligently by repeatedly deciding to keep Bell Pool open despite hazardous pH levels. It not only ignored complaints by both patrons and staff, but affected temporary solutions without acknowledging the roots of the Gproblem: obstinacy and the chlorination system. a Since February, patrons of Bell Pool have swam in odorous, 4 murky water. The Athletic Administration contended that the 't, stagnant water was actually clean and considered the problem solved. w'Over the next two weeks, swimmers suffered from skin and ,hair problems and in a few cases, respiratory and digestive problems. Patrons of Bell Pool complained to CCRB workers and the Athletic Administration about the condition of the water and the health problems swimmers experienced. Employees of the CCRB registered similar complaints. Some life- guards refused to teach classes in the pool until pH levels returned to normal. Both these roads were dead ends; the Athletic Admini- stration took no action in response to private complaints. movie w The Teflon-coated Reagan administration avoided political fiascos for the six years prior to the scandal of the arms-for--hostages trade. However, the Tower Commision Report, casts some light on the other malingering problems within the Reagan administration. Earlier this year the Reagan administration swapped American journalist Nicholas Daniloff for a Russian spy despite Reagan's repeated denials that an exchange was ever a possibility. In addition, the administration continually denied any relationship between Daniloff and the CIA; however, Daniloff after his release admitted his connections to the American espionage apparatus as an informant. The unrestrained deceit of the Reagan administration was exemplified again by the disinformation campaigns orchestrated through the White House by former National Security Adviser Admiral Poindexter. Poindexter lied about United States intentions regarding military action against Libya, deceiving both the American press and the closest allies of the United States. The Tower Commision Report accused both Poindexter and former White House chief of staff Donald Regan of doctoring information sent to Reagan concerning Libya's role in international terrorism, painting a more demonic picture of Quadaffi than evidence justified. The United States took such actions as The Michigan Daily! ill end bombing Libya without fully; investigating the culpability of that; country. After killing civilians ahdt innocents in a bombing raid on Libya, it A was discovered that Syria, not Libya, was; behind the bombing of the disco. o, they are not the same country. .These examples reveal Reagan s inability to control what Oliver North John Poindexter, Donald Regan, William:: Casey, and others have done. Reagan'is not a strong leader. He is afraid to remo4e: people from their jobs regardless of thei inability to perform their assigned tasks: This is not indicative of loyalty. Itfis cowardice. Reagan is quick to allow the impre 4 mentation of rash decisions such as the invasion of Grenada, the deployment of, American troops to Lebanon, and money; to the Contra rebels that transcend the: approval of the American people 4nd: Congress. Deception and individualistic hubi-i have always plagued the Reaga . administration and will continue if' h0 does not change his detached style o management. Reagan is an actor. He is starring in a movie just as he has throughout his life Reagan does not realize that Ii administration is crumbling and is now; ineffective. He is playing the part of the President. He is waiting for the credits toa: roll. onto the screen and America'i$ waiting for the movie to end. exploitation are rampant in all societies. The resistance women face when they attempt to correct these social injustices is equal to the resistance woman have faced in the past. International Women's Day is set aside to recognize these universal struggles and to celebrate heroic victories over eradicated social injustices. Here at the University, Women's Weekend is marking its 20th year in conjunction with International Womens' Day. This year key speakers include the United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Dr. Mercedes Briceno, and the Deputy Chief of United Nations Development Fund, Sohair Soukkary. Exhibits and panel dis- cussions will highlight international women in arts and professional fields. Other local organizations have bound together to celebrate international women's diversity, unity, and common experiences. They are holding a poetry reading, dance performance and dramatic performance tonight at 7:30, at the Unitarian Church on Washtenaw. This worldwide celebration traditionally attracts men and women who are active in the fight against social injustices. They are working towards the day when International Women's Day will be a true celebration and not a reminder of those injustices still left to overcome. LETTERS: IMPAC supports U.S. - Israeli ties r, t , cover-up Next, the administration attempted implementing a temporary solution: the haphazard addition of chlorine by both trained and untrained staff members. This action aggravated the problem because of uncoordi- nated action among staff members and because, once again, the chlorination system did not respond as expected. The pool was drained and reopened the next day. The administration reported after this action that the pool was clean but chilly. A week later the chlorine system malfunctioned again. The Athletic Administration did not sufficiently warn the public of the hazards involved. In response to the EHI report, the administration placed a "Swim at Your Own Risk" sign on one of the doors to the pool and criticized people who alerted the EHI to the situation. This is not an acceptable course of action. The Athletic Administration blinded itself to its own faults and deafened itself to the complaints of its patrons. It interpreted its position as one of power over rather than service to the University community. The administration must be responsible to the To the Daily: It is with a profound sense of regret that I sit down to write this letter, as I had hoped that the promotion of political activism on the college campus would not result in partisan battles over a non-partisan. issue. I refer to Debbie Schlussel's letter to the editor "IMPAC left out of the mainstream" (Daily 11/14/86) in which she erroneously proclaimed that IMPAC has a partisan bias. As a political leader on this campus, one of the things I strive to contend against is the overwhelming ignorance- both of political issues and of the American political process- that seems to characterize so many students today. There exists a regrettable tendency for both voters and politicians to be outspoken supporters and opponents of issues which, in reality, they know little or nothing about. Such is the case of Schlussel's letter. Let me deal with the most obvious fallacy first. The claim that IMPAC has only supported liberal Democrats is true. For the 3 years we have been in existence, we have indeed worked on the campaigns of Democrats. However, this time period is negligible in terms of the acquisition of necessary contacts, connections, and political acumen required to generate any kind of political clout and it is therefore misleading and inaccurate to conclude that IMPAC supports only Democrats. The case of the Carr-Dunn race is one which I take special exception for many reasons. I resent the entirely unfounded slur on my integrity in the insinuation that IMPAC supported Congressman Carr because I worked as one of his interns this past summer. Why would I, a registered voter in Maryland's 8th district and a student in Michigan's 2nd district, work for a congressman from Michigan's 6th district? IMPAC has already pledged to support Carr in his bid for re-election as Dunn's pro-Israel voting record is better, if not equal to Carr's, is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. Dunn served as Michigan's Congressional Representative for the 6th district from 1980-1982. During that time, it was' necessary to lobby extensively in order to solicit the support he chose to give in the end. Unfortunately, Dunn has no initiative when it comes to the issue of Israel. In fact, the only successful amendment he sponsored during his term in Congress was one that deleted a MSA should focus on student issues w r To the Daily: MSA's passage of the resolution limiting the assembly to student concerns was long overdue. Students have become tired of inane resolutions dealing with inter- national issues. Now, MSA must heed their own action and concentrate on student issues. The "Blue" Party plans to focus solely on student con- cerns, such as improving cam- pus safety, increasing minority recruitment and retention, or- ganizing opposition to the Code, and lobbying to halt financial aid cuts. For exam - ple, if elected, we will form a University-wide commission with a mandate to develop a coherent plan for increasing minority recruitment and reten- tion. This group will consist of representatives from the dorm minority councils, the Black Student Union, Asian- American, Hispanic, and Native American organizations. The "Blue" Party seeks greater student participation in campus concerns. This commissionis one way to involve more students. It is time for MSA to recon - sider its purpose on campus and to act in the true interests of its constituents: The resolu- tion just passed is a prop er start. The "Blue" Party wvill ensure continued commitment to student concerns. -Seth Klukoff Presidential candidate "Blue" Party, Marc"mr 1I provision to ban aid to Libya in a foreign aid bill. Dunn isn't even good for America, never mind Israel. There are numerous other fallacies regarding IMPAC in Schlussel's letter that I could take the time to point out. Let me instead say that besides being ignorant of the plethora of factors which contribute to and impact on group dynamics and decisions, Schlussel also demonstrates an unfortunate misperception and general lack of cognizance of many political facts. It is my hope that she will choose to educate her f before she again attempts' to misleadingly educate the public. I believe that It hale demonstrated my ability to keep my personal politics out of . iMPAC. I .exteA4, the invitation to Debbie to 4Q the same, As I firmly believe we can work together to strengthep the United States-Isra"l relationship. -Lisa G. Bardakh Chairperson, IMPAC November 17 A 4( tiL is .