A OPINION Page 4 Tuesday, March 10, 1987 The Michigan Daily i Et aed sturtstnvtichig an i Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan MS By St A should communicate eL ve Blonder Vol. XCVII, No. 108 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 l 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. Classroom patern alism A T ANY GOOD university, students should learn much more than the material covered in their course work. In recent informal interviews, more than a dozen professors and department heads admitted a trend toward paternalism in the classroom. In addition to teaching academic subject matter, society expects colleges to help young people gain maturity and learn responsibility. 'Many of the parents and taxpayers who foot the bill for most University operations and most of the employers who hire University graduates probably consider the development of this -maturity and responsibility to be the most important single mission of higher education. Yet across the University, there has been a growth in academic requirements, such as the new language requirement for students who had four years of language in high school. Furthermore, a growing number of professors run their classes in a manner which diminishes students' responsibility for their own work. As recently as four or five years ago, the typical upper level LS&A course had few formal require - ments: an often lengthy reading list, a midterm, a term paper, and a final exam. Everyone involved assumed.that, if ,students skipped lectures, neglected readings, or devoted is ufficient effort to paper writing, their lack of effort would show up in their performance and their grades. This system, which places a premium on student discipline and responsibility, is on the decline on this campus. Where the midterm and final exams once adequately deterred student impulses to neglect the course reading lists, now many professors administer pop quizzes (or announced ones) to insure that students read the books. Where tough exam questions on material found only in the lectures kept most students in class most of the time, now more teachers take attendance and subtract points from the final grades of students who chronically cut class. Where, not so long ago, the only date students had to remember regarding a term paper was the final due date, now many have to keep track of the additional dates on which their topic statements, bibliographies, outlines, and rough drafts are due. In short, professors are exchanging reliance on student initiative and discipline with faculty coercion and supervision to make certain that students do the work. And, they tell us, it's for our own good. Most professors, however, are not ogres who seek to impose petty requirements upon students to gratify their authoritarian urges. Instead, for many faculty mem - bers, these paternalistic measures stem more from compassion than malevolence. When students find themselves in academic jeopardy through neglect or poor management, they often inform their professors of the dire consequences which they will suffer as a result of the low or failing grade: loss of scholarships, rejection by graduate and professional schools, and delayed graduation. It is to save themselves from the agony of imposing these consequences on students that many facuty rergnw . students' hands through tie learning process While the compassion of these instructors is commendable, the results of that compassion are not so praiseworthy. Professional schools and employers generally demand results, period. They don't look over people's shoulders to check on progress. College is supposed to prepare students for these demands. By imposing paternalistic requirements in upper level courses, University professors deprive students of the opportunity to learn how to function in a results-oriented world. Many of these students will now have to learn the hard way by flunking out of law or medical school or losing their first jobs. Information remains a core ingredient for any democratic system to succeed. People need to be informed and active participants; all of the people, not just about 15 percent. For the past several years, the Michigan Student Assembly has been plagued by large numbers of students not being involved. Although the students haven't been participating in large numbers, the blame does not, and should not, fall solely on their shoulders. Rather, the problem stems from MSA not fully accomplishing its obligation to inform its constituents about its activities. Vice presidential candidate David Vogel best articulated the problem when he said: "The majority of students on campus do not know what MSA stands for. There has been a breakdown of communication between MSA and the students." By no means am I suggesting that MSA has failed to achieve significant accomplishments involving campus life. For example, the assembly has succeeded in getting the dormitory party policy repealed and, in conjunction with other groups, has been an important part of the movement to increase safety on campus. Despite accomplishing many objectives, MSA does not enjoy the., campus-wide recognition that perhaps it deserves. The reason rests on the organization being extremely ineffective in communicating its achievements. After getting the party policy repealed, for example, the assembly failed to trumpet its victory to the students. Many students still believe that they have to register any gathering of more than ten people with the dormitory administration. The students should not have to camp out on MSA's doorstep to find out what the major issues before the assembly are. Rather, responsibility rests with MSA, as Blonder is a Daily reporter. with any other representative group, to actively inform its constituents. The Michigan Daily has served as the primary mouthpiece for MSA. If MSA wants the Daily to comunicate to the students for the assembly, the least they can do is pay for an big, expensive ad listing their weekly agenda and accomplishments. While the Daily reaches most of the University community, MSA should explore other avenues of communication. MSA needs to maintain the responsibilty for making its actions visible to the students and bringing attention to itself. These are not responsibilities of the Daily. Even members of the Daily staff have misgivings with the paper's role as MSA mouthpiece. Daily editor-in-chief Rob Earle said, "I'm not comfortable with the number of times the Daily comes up at MSA meetings as the means to communicate." Perhaps MSA needs to devote some of its resources into developing alternative methods of communicating with the students and getting more students involved. Vice presidential candidate and current MSA member Becca Felton expressed this idea when she said, "We can't just rely on the Daily, we need to make our own efforts (to publicize what's going on)." One measure of how involved students are in MSA is the voter turnout in the annual MSA elections. Last year, 15 percent of the total student population voted in the MSA elections. This apallingly low figure is about the norm. The 18 percent turnout two years ago was regarded as extremely high. Several students do not even know that MSA elections will be held next week. Many of those who are aware that the elections are coming up do not know that they are eligible to vote. When asked whether she would vote in the upcoming MSA election, one student replied, "I can't vote in MSA elections, I'm not registered to vote in Ann Arbor." This student's ignorance does not appear to be unique. Current information about the upcoming elections is limited. Most of the information that the candidates have put out does not directly deal with the issues. Students need to know more than the fact that the proposed code of conduct is an issue. Why should anyone vote for one party over another when they all hold "no-code" positions? Just as students should not have to go to MSA to find out what they are working on, students . should not have to go and beg the candidates for campaign information. 4 Most of the campaign information that is nowiavailableijust announces the, upcoming elections, and does not, effectively state candidates' positions. If the students do not possess all of the,., information necessary to make an. intelligent decision in the MSA elections,, they should not vote. An uninformed decision is certainly worse than no decision. Illinois voters demonstrated this, last year when they nominated two,,. disciples of Lyndon La Rouche on the Democratic Party ticket out of ignorance,,. Students must not make the same type of mistake here at the University. One less.-. student voting because he does not have all of the information will not have a-;- significant impact (unless that student is,.- in the School of Library Sciences where only one student voted last year!). Most of the MSA candidates agree that more students need to get involved in the:< assembly. However, unless the candidates, can get themselves in gear and focus o. informing the majority of the students about the major issues, the students ought to send MSA a message by not voting and actively petitioning MSA to make the necessary information easily, accessible and available. MSA should represent all of the students, not just an arbitrary 15 percent. LETTERS Eggers do not represent protesters . r 1 i _I Immigrant internment IN A "THREATENING SITUATION" the Immigration and Naturalization Service will confine all non-citizens to concentration camps within twenty four hours. The INS is ready to violate the rights of all non-citizens at a moment's notice. Previous Actions The INS arrested Palestinian and Kenyan residents of the United States for violation of the McCarthy era McCarran-Walter Act that prohibits distribution of Communist literature. The INS also inters those "unde - sirables" who enter the United States in contradiction with current U.S. foreign policy. Many Haitian and Cuban refugees arrived in Florida in the past two years. The INS helped the Cuban refugees escaping Communism and placed Haitian refugees emulating the Cubans in concentration camps where INS officials physically and psychologically intimidated them and told them thev not to annlv for motivations of many refugees except those from Communist countries. While the arrivals of defectors from the U.S.S.R. are common news features, in the "Sanctuary" trials on whether or not El Salvadoran immigrants are political refugees, the INS initiated an exclusionary clause ruling that the politically based fears El Salva- dorans is not relevant to the trial. This is ludicrous in light of the hu - man rights violations and political executions going on there. Internment Plan The INS will seize all visas. Non-citizens will be reclassified by nationality. Permanent residents will be treated like immigrants arriving only days before. The INS also will seal all borders in both directions. U.S. citizens will be isolated from all others once the plan takes effect. There are already camps in Oakdale, Louisiana and southern Florida. The mayor of Oakdale said, "I think that the good to our neople would far outweigh any To the Daily: We represent the law students who organized the protest and rally against the policies of Attorney General Edwin Meese, held at the law quad. Over five hundred people united for that evening for what was, despite press accounts, a largely peaceful demonstration focused entirely on the Attorney General's abhorrent policies. The protest was organized with four goals in mind. First, we sought to further educate the University about the danger the Meese justice department poses to our constitutional liberties. To this end, speakers representing the National Lawyers Guild, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Black Law Students Alliance, the Hispanic Law Students Association, the Women Law Students Association, and the Latin American Solidarity Committee addressed the protesters at the outset of the rally. This well-received speakers forum, and some carefully prepared literature on the Attorney General's policies helped serve the rally's second aim - to unify diverse groups and individuals around their opposition to the Meese agenda. Our third purpose was to send a clear and personal message of disapproval to Edwin Meese himself. The Attorney General has available virtually countless avenues for conveying his to the nation. His visit to Ann Arbor provided us with the rare opportunity to communicate our dissent directly to him. Finally, we hoped that the protest would demonstrate that a large and active constituency exists among the American n-n1 fr. ncP nirl policies, and were gratified to see that student activism is not dead in the 1980's. Senator Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) gave an encouraging address to the demonstrators, and other attendees gave similar messages of support. To allow the Attorney General's visit to go unmarked would have degraded the University's image, and sent a message of insensitivity to minorities, women, the underclass and the gay community, who are the special, though not exclusive targets of the regressive Meese agenda. The place where strongly held political and social beliefs should find expression. By whom and at whom a couple of eggs were thrown is unclear. A number of protesters saw eggs thrown from fraternity houses across State Street from the law quad. In a telephone conversation last week, President Ford told Law School Dean Terrence Sandalow that, despite Leo Heatley's published assertions to the contrary, he was not hit by an egg. Immediately after the incident, we wrote to former President Ford to convey our regret. But the egg issue is a small one. It is unfortunate that the media has seized upon the actions of a few misguided individuals to denigrate an otherwise peaceful and important event. The Michigan Daily mis- characterization of the demonstration as "violent" and its obsession with the "egg- throwing incident" are especially objectionable The Daily coverage has only succeeded in blunting the communication of an important political message to a powerful government official, and to the University. We believe that the goals that we had for the protest were successfully accomplished. We regret that some demonstrators and counter-demonstrators found it necessary to express; themselves by throwing eggs. But to concentrate on their- actions shifts the discussion away from the important issues which gave rise to the protest: - Ed Meese's assault on, among other things, affirmative action, a women's right to reproductive'- autonomy, and the Miranda Rule. In closing, we would like to thank all those who joined us in telling Edwin Meese personally that we will not acquiesce in this attempts to destroy our constitutional rights. -Steve Corliss- Marty Myers David Roland Lisa Blatt March 8, I I q Are you energetic? Do you want to have an impact on issues you care about? Write for the Michigan Daily Opinion Page. Call 747-2814 c;U Lucas aI I - V-, -- I F 4 iI JE L L, .OH, 89 THE WAY BOB, NANCY A~/S5AYVS You SHOULD bF JUST SAID "NO. - a; I 1" IR.Acqhn I F 1