OPINION Page 4 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCViI, No. 72 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board Allother cartoons, signed articles, andletters do notnecessarily represent the opinion ofithe Daily. Kee Your Guard Up Monday, January 12, 1987 LAST 1HURSDAY, MEMBERS OF the Latin American Solidarity Committee (LASC) held a demonstration at and in the National Guard Armory of Ann Arbor. After defying police orders to evacuate the building, University students Mark Weisbrot and Dean Baker, were arrested for trespas- sing. Staff Sgt. Hoffman, in a statement revealing of government attitudes, announced "this is not a public building, it is a military installation." The actions of Weisbrot, Baker, and other protesters have been made necessary by the undemo- cratic domestic and foreign practices of the government regarding Central America. Al- though national polls have consistently shown a lack of popular support for the admin- istration's interventionist practices in Nicaragua, the White House has found ways to insulate itself from the populace and political opposition. The National Guard Armory has been targeted as a manifestation of Reagan's efforts to circumvent popular opinion and dissent. The National Guard has been chosen as an instrument of Reagan's Central American policy because the President can nationalize the Guard without approval from Congress. Traditionally, the President has only had to request a governor's cooperation in calling up a state's contigent of the National Guard. However, after receiving refusals from some governors, Reagan has removed even this obstruction to his goals by "federalizing" state troops. This usurption of power has made it impossible to affect Do not cut T HE BUDGET PROPOSED BY President Reagan contains cuts in student aid. These cuts, if passed, will critically limit access to higher education. The budget cuts decrease Pell Grants by $1 billion. If ratified, this cut would result in a loss of aid for million recipients of the need based grants. The College Work Study Program, in which students advance their education through work experiences while earning money for tuition, is being cut out entirely in the budget proposal. The cuts also affect the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program by ending government payment of interest on the loans. The elimination government subsidies of the interest on GSLs would decrease the willingness of banks to participate in the loan programs, leaving many students without access to loans. The administration's cuts would affect thousands of University students who depend on Work Study, Pell Grants and GSLs to fund their educations. Some 3,000 students receive Pell Grants and 2,000 receive Work Study. The cuts deny the educational opportunities to those who cannot affordroften exhorbitant tuition.. The administration justifies the cuts on the basis of the budget deficit and higher education's rising costs. While the deficit may deployment and use of the National Guard by lobbying state and congressional representatives. The administration's success in denying accountability to the public and its continuing pursuit of undemocratic policies has made serious actions like civil disobedience necessary as one of a the few remaining avenues toward affecting policy. The National Guard Armory is more than just a symbol of Reagan's efforts to circumvent public opinion. The National Guard makes a considerable contribution to the administration's attempt to undermine the Nicaraguan government. The Guard has been participating in the "war games" - next best thing to being there - that have been continually played in Honduras, Nicaragua's neighbor, since June 1982. Besides adding to the intimidation factor of the military exercises, the Guard has built air strips and military bases which are used to aid the Contras and could be employed in a possible invasion of Nicaragua. Brig. General Mathieu, assistant adjutant general for the Army in Lansing, says the Guard is involved in "humanitarian stuff like building roads." Yet, the actual purpose of the roads is to aid supply of the Contra rebels. The role of the National Guard is Central America is anything but humanitarian. The Daily supports efforts, like the Thursday demonstration, to expose the lie of the United States' "humanitarian" role in Central America. It is hoped that such efforts will continue and ultimately be effective in ending intervention into Central American affairs. student aid well necessitate budget cuts, these cuts should not come at the expense of access to education. What minimal affects these cuts may have on the deficit agree outweigh by increases in the defense budget anyway. Secretary of Education William Bennett's claims that college costs have risen because of reliance of federal assistance. Bennett argues that when fewer students are able to afford tuition at the current cost the marketplace will cut tuition. This is unconvincing. The University's tuition increases are the result of decreasing state aid during the recession. In order to maintain quality the University implemented large tuition increases, primarily for out of state students. Instead of decreasing educational opportunity to cut tuition, government, both on a state and local level, should take an active role both in maintaining quality and financial aid. Fortunately, the Reagan budget has been widely pronounced "Dead on Arrival" because its cuts in social programs and increases in defense are widely divergent from the congress's budget priorities. Historically, the role of financial aid has been to make an education available to all regardless of ability to pay, congress should not abandon this role merely to satisfy the administration's desire for budget cuts. Wasserman MKS SgEEM To O. oe M MA~o o 'NWTABOUT TA1E oTR6? SO* OFp ~fAEMMTULY 114., JVNt4KIANMD , DRUNVS The Michigan Daily .,.,, i 1 ~ FENURE kT OUT 0 0 Letters: Sanctions are ineffective r To The Daily: Constructive engagement is an apparent failure. The Reagan administration has not acted strongly nor quickly enough to press the Pretoria government to reform. A new strategy is necessary if a major crisis is to be averted. Economic sanctions are not the answer. Economic sanctions do send a messsage of contempt to South Africa's white minority government, but will they be conducive to change? The inability of the European and American sanction packages to go beyond superficial measures that do not adversely affect their domestic economies leaves much room for doubt. Yet, the question runs much deeper than that. Who will be most affected in a showdown in the South African economy? It is reasonable to believe that Mr. Botha will not miss many meals in the near future. Recently, the United States has directed similar sanctions at the governments of Poland and Nicaragua that have failed to bring their politically desired results. In fact, these sanctions have helped to legitimize these governments. Faced with a breachment of sovereignty by a foreign power, these states have used American sanctions as a justification to increase the level of militarization and limit basic civil rights within their borders. Sanctions help to breed a "siege mentality" that brings about a predictable level of reaction rather than liberal reform. In South Africa, the reaction has already began. The Pretoria government's enforcement of a news blackout is the latest in a series of tough pro-apartheid measures that have included the state of emergency black townships and the outlawing of active black political and student organizations. Recent election results show that many in South Africa's white population do not believe that President Botha's National Party is dofng enough to keep the peace, and the government is feeling extreme pressure from the Right to get even tougher. Economic sanctions will accelerate this reactionary process just as an economic crisis helped give birth to fascism in Europe between the wars and to use a more subtle example just as the American electorate voted in a president preaching law and order following the economic problems in the United States in the 1970s. Hopes that economic sanctions will create a situation where, in the near future, a coup d'etat will bring the black majority to power are not well founded. Modem revolutions are won by highly organized and well armed groups. There are no black groups that fit this mold in present day South Africa. It takes very little historical memory to recall what the Czechs and Hungarians proved conclusively when armed with little more than stones and the moral outrage of the United States government, it is very difficult to stop a tank. The real hope for change in South Africa lies with organized liberal grddps that have tangible polit"...clout such as the "English" business community and the opposition Progressive Federal Party. Well publicized pleas from groups of major South African businessmen and journalists calling for real powersharing and the now forgotten meetings between the Progressive Federal Party and the outlawed African National Congress illustrate the potential that these groups have for wedging lasting political concessions from the Pretoria government. With pragmatic help from the United States and her allies, these changes could be dramatic. Economic sanctions will obviously limit the political power of the liberal business community and the growing reaction from the Right will weaken Pretoria's liberal opposition. Moderate elements within South Africa could be in real danger of extinction. The ,result is a quickening of the social and political polarization in South Africa - white against black. Under present conditions, this is a battle that the black majority has little chance of winning. Economic sanctions are Feel confident in Safewalk To The Daily: At 1:00 in the morning on a Tuesday morning, I sat in the Union waiting to meet a friend so we could walk home together. The thought crossed my mind that maybe she had gotten tired of studying and had gone home early. A year ago I would have either walked home, in fear, asked a friend for a walk home, or taken the Night Owl to the stop closest to my home and run home, again fearfully. This year, I thought for a minute about walking home alone, in fear, and then remembered Safewalk. Ah! The perfect alternative! I ceased worrying about the whole issue. I had an option in Safewalk if my friend did not show up. In this instance, I used Safewalk as a back-up way to get home, but I use it regurlarly as a primary option, and am very proud to do so. Although I continue to be frustrated that I cannot function independently in safety on this campus, I am very happy to have an option that offers me some measusure of independence. Safewalk allows me to claim my right to feel safe and to be safe. In addition to being a regular "walkee" of Safewalk, I am a walker and a dispatcher for Safewalk. I derive as much pleasure form participating in Safewalk as I do from using it. Everyone participating> in Safewalk is very excited about it and is happy when people use it. The more that people use it, the better the participants feel about it. It was created to be used. I stress the idea of its having been "created to be used" because many people seem to feel guilty about using Safewalk. Many people have told me that they hesitate to call on Safewalk because thay feel that they will be "putting us out," or that their destination isrnot in anarea dangerous enough to warrant a walk. Safewalk was created to walk people around campus so that they feel safe. I find it destressing that people feel guilty about claiming their right to feel safe and the be safe. Since the beginning of the year, the number of users of Safewalk has been increasing steadily. In response to the in crease of "walkees," more walkers were added to the staff, and more will be added in January. I hope this trend continues as more and more people become aware of Safewalk and recognize in it a positive and very available response to a frustrating problem. -Rebecca C. Knox January 5 popular because the Americari public feels as if they are at least doing something to hely blacks in South Africa, but it is of course no accident that thi legislation came rolling through Congress just in time for the November elections. The United States is justified in pressing the Botha government to reforp. Yet, however politically popular these economic sanctions might be, they are in the end 'a dangerously passive outgrowth of constructive engagement tlhat in time will push the situation in South Africa towards a confrontation that has a better chance of strengthening apartheid than destroying it. -Brian E. Burns January 7 2 G- o .. 'My opinion? Gee, that's a toughie... Can you give me a hint?"