4 OPINION Page 4 Monday, March 9, 1987 The Michigan Daily 4 01be fidiiCbgan B u Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCVII, No. 107 420 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. Election time Feminists' double burden T'S EASY TO IGNORE A M S A election. For two weeks every year MSA comes out of hibernation, and demands the attention of students. Year after year, MSA is unsuccessful in provoking significant interest in the campaign. One reason for campus-wide lack of interest in the race is the reputation of MSA. The assembly is widely, and inaccurately, viewed as a haven for radicals who spend their, time passing pointless resolutions while ignoring valid student concerns. This perception led to a petition campaign to place a ballot question on the March 17-18 election requiring MSA to limit its jurisdiction to student concerns. Though the campaign, led by iMPAC, was relatively pointless and never defined a student concern in precise terms; it did reveal the problem MSA has with its image. A result of MSA's poor image is that election turnouts are appallingly low. Last year only 15 percent of the campus voted. To rectify this situation, the assembly should make a concerted effort to publicize the election. Without a high turnout, MSA cannot influence the administration as a body truly representative of the students. As it stands, the victorious candidate receives the votes of a tiny minority of the campus. Last year, Kurt Muenchow was elected president of the assembly with less than 2000 votes. It is possible for turnout to reach slightly higher levels. In 1985, 18 percent of the campus voted. This year, with four well-organized parties on the slate in addition to two ballot propositions on funding mechanisms for PIRGIM, the assembly should 'have no trouble equaling or bettering the 1985 turnout. But the assembly should. aim higher. To aim higher means providing mechanisms to insure that the elections are participated in. This means allowing a longer campaign period than the two week limit which MSA rules now prescribe. No one seems to know precisely why the campaign is limited to two weeks, though some argue that if the campaign period were longer it would dominate the assembly business and would adversely affect the candidates academically. While a longer campaign would be a burden for candidates, it is necessary. Without a sufficient time to learn about the candidates, it is nearly impossible for a voter to make an informed choice. Since the candidates tend to agree on most of the issues, it's experience and ability which differentiate them. Background information only comes to the voters' attention as an election progresses and candidates are forced to make direct attacks on each other. The assembly should change the two week rule to allow either three or four weeks of campaigning. More importantly the assembly should recognize that its legitimacy depends on the participation of its constituents. There are a variety of the things the assembly could do in addition to the candidates' issue of the campus report. A sound system on the Diag would allow all the candidates to speak to a variety of. students who would have no choice but to listen to them. One of the complaints at MSA is that the election excessively dominates assembly business. Assembly members say that candidates for executive office offer resolutions more to draw attention to themselves than to move forward the goals of the assembly. MSA should be more concerned increasing interest and participation in the campaign than whatever inefficiency it causes within the assembly. Dr. Mercedes P. Briceno, the assistant general secretary of the United Nations, is not only the highest ranking female in the UN, but is also married and has four children. She has achieved success in both a career and family. Briceno spoke to Daily reportcr Vibeke Laroi about international feminism. Dialogue Daily: How do you view the radical feminists' approach of excluding men from participating in the women's movement? Br ice no : In the international environment, that is not the case. First of all because most women find they don't want to separate themselves from the men when the relation with them is the one that has to be changed. And second, my experience, international and national, is that the men sometimes are more committed with the women's issue than the women themselves. Maybe we should ask ourselves how we failed during the past decade by not arousing the curiousity of men. We were competing with them, but we were not sharing with them. D: What is your experience in reaching the ranks predominately held by men? B: I feel among men very comfortable because I feel they are my colleagues, they have always been my colleagues. I think its part of socialization. When you come from a very equal socialization, you just don't understand how it can be different. But I have seen a lot of discrimination towards others. As in the minority cases, when you speak about blacks or you speak about ethnic or religious cases, the women's (situation) is the same. It's part of those minorities. And I don't know, but I have the feeling sometimes that the minorities have Laroi is a Daily reporter. certain complexes to overcome. They want to be recognized as minorities and continue to be recognized as minorities. In the same way, there are some women who want to accept equality but continue to have the privilege and protection of the situation. And that in some way is the most important barrier because you don't accept the challenge of life. You need to accept that there is a confrontational, negotiational process always. You know that you will have to go through that step if you don't want to stay behind. That is why I think socialization is very important. If you don't have family life, you cannot learn. We have to make a stronger family, we have to change the family. The family has a lot of problems, as an investment it is a very bad investment, but it is something that at the end of your life gives you some meaning. And you find something very unique -- a divorce is to make a new marriage. D : Do you think women can be successful in both their professional and family lives. Do you think they can overcome this so called "double burden?" B: I think it depends too much on how women will have solidarity. Solidarity means that whatever choice you make, you have to help bring up solutions to that choice. Solidarity means that you have to find the others that have to understand the problem. And solidarity means that you have to accept the imperfections of the problem. I have found women in the high level posts that just reject the married women because they suppose they will have problems with the family. We have the time when a young woman could not find a job because potentially she could be a mother - she was not pregnant, but pregnancy was a disease. We have to come through solidarity to understand that there is a mother because there was in some way a father, and that the problem is of both. The only role that is not reversible is motherhood so that it is not a women's problem, it is society problem. You' protect motherhood not because you protect women but because you protect society. You are finding a lot of young fathers who are very scared of leaving their children in school or a daycare center and they are beginning to reject better posts to share more in the family life - very few ones, but it is coming. D: You mentioned the double burden# being now a triple burden because women . must be active in politics and change the. power structure. B: When you look at government, you. don't see many women. In Geneva you, don't see women. In Reykjavik you don't. see women. But they are coming. And I. think the young people are going to make. the change - more qualified, more educated, and more diversity of interests.. We have to accept the risk of the, responsibility, the risk 'of continuing, participation. We have a lot of personsr who come to the power structure to do, something but after they have done something they go out. We have to be opening the doors for other women. Its very beautiful to talk about Margaret Thatcher or Indira Ghandi or Golda Meir,; but they were exceptions, they were not common women. We have to open the doors for common women. Power is not only something far, something not: tangible - power is the local community, power is the local issue that prepares you for the middle issue and the middle issue for the higher issue. We: have to have the power behind the throne:; and it has to in some way be a solidarity; process. We are the most critical of ourselves so that is were we have to: really overcome the barrier - women's:; fear of power, of, evaluation,:: confrontation, and fear of priorities. We: have to make priorities in life. D: How can I and other young women; like myself learn to make these priorities? B: Have confidence in yourself and optimism to overcome. 4 4 4 I LETTERS: ' Capitalists milk racism for a proit 4 t HSYAISEDO THIS YEAR, INSTEAD OF T THNKING ABOUT "POR ME;... P 1MEW HOR1KW*N, TUITION, JOB, EXPENSES, etc. -ucaA-O 9s6 PINK ABOUT 'DOR HIM. CLOTHES, 4: SHELTER 6 MICH~I&AN DAILY 7' To the Daily: Blatantly racist and sexist jokes played on U of M radio station. Poster slipped under the door where black women students are meeting, declaring open season on blacks. Professor tells student it's understandable she has grammar problems; he's never met a black who can speak English properly. Set in the backdrop of a country where a few dozen civil rights marchers were attacked by four hundred KKK supporters, and a young black man was'beaten and killed by twelve white punks. Racism has obviously not been gotten rid of. It still Irages. In responseto recent racist attacks, there have been forums, teach-ins, and rallies, most of them focused on the need for dialogue-changing racist attitudes. But racism is not just an attitude held by individuals. It is a cornerstone WJJX apologizes To the Daily: of an entire system of organized violence. The object of the game in the system is to make money. It only makes 1 sense then to find as many t ways to pay less wages, in t order to keep more profit. It makes sense for European merchants to consider the ; inhabitants of their "discovered" land to be I uncivilized, lower forms of life, and enslave them to mine gold. It makes sense for slave traders to consider Africans ini the same way, and kidnap them1 over to American to do thosel fine gentleman plantation I owners' work for them. It 1 made sense for Colonists to systematically murder millionss Protest would To the Daily:- After reading Benjamin I Sowers' defense of the egg and2 snowball throwers during Edwin Meese's visit to the Lawa School on February 4 (Daily, 2/20/87), I say "right on!"c I have participated in many2 protests during the past five years; for example, in Detroit last October where 500 people were present to show their op - position to President Reagan'sI policies when he came to speak at a fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate William Lucas. I l spent several hours marching around in a circle in front of - Cobo Hall where Reagan was speaking, carrying a sign that read : "U.S. Out of Nicaragua." What did we accomplish? 1) The demonstration was men - tioned in the Detroit and Ann Arbor newspapers. 2) We appeared on television during a short segment of the evening news. 3) I saw a friend from my undergraduate days at the of Native Americans while stealing their land. It makes sense for these people today, in their endless drive to make money, to pay blacks 75% of what they pay whites, to pay women 60% of what they pay men. It makes sense for them to pay Mexican workers $1/day for which they used to pay Americans $9/hour. It further makes sense for them to turn around and tell American workers that it is the Mexican workers' fault that plants are being closed here, because they are "willing" to work for so little; to tell them that Japanese imports are the problem, rather than their own greed. They foster racism in order to keep their pockets filled. We need to examine racist attitudes on an individual level, but will that touch the systematic injustice capitalism shows to people of color in this country and the world? As long as our lives are controlled by a few people whose concern is to make themselves richer, there will always be groupings; of people they degrade anq devalue even more harshly tharn others. The struggle to end racism will not be successful unless we see this fact and act to change it. x -Phyllis Floral Peter Putnam' March 2 I 4 be ignored without zation against his policies? No. about o I left the demonstration feeling, disgust, 1 as I had after countless other question t demonstrations, that I had our gover accomplished nothing. our concer Since Mr. Meese does not Finall care to defend his positions in "distingu an open public forum where we and influe can debate the issues in an Mr. Mees orderly fashion, I and others by the " have to resort to these sorts of some of u confrontations to let our top mustering law enforcement official know of disresp of our displeasure with him and his policies. That this incident happened at all speaks volumes eggs ur frustration and: besides calling into: he ability or desire of': nment to respond to rns and needs. y, that such a; ished," "important," ential public figure as' se can still be pelted; masses" shows that. us are still capable of: g up a healthy show ect for our "leaders." -Karl M. Will February 21 g 'II CAN YOU BELIEYE WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING WITH THE PRESIDENT?- I MEAN, WTH ALLIRAN!?! WHO'S THAT DRAMA AND TALKING ABOUT IRAN? CONTROVERSY ABOUT HIM, 7A TALKING ABOUT ITS JUST INCREDIBLE! REAGAN'S PROSTATE r SURGERY. EAH . TH IS T9 As Station manager of WJJX (650AM), I would like to apologize to the University community for racist remarks by a D.J. (who has been dismissed). It is unfortunate that one individual can cast such a dark cloud over a very dedicated and conscientious group of students at WJJX. I am beginning to implement corrective measures to assure that events of this magnitude will never occur again. With the help of the United Community Against Racism (UCAR), WJJX will begin to schedule programming to hl n ,P.',-tP mmhorQ r-f tht. Wasserman GOS4, Noce- TKS t5 EXcit 0,1 AND TO TAINK IT ALL IN T l5 HOUSE i %ij I' ,110 STUF!t 14a kPPEED 9K $ LA iPPS5YW 4 4 / 4