OPINION
Page 4
Wednesday, March 18, 1987
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
MSA
Vol. XCVII, No. 114
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.
Have a seat and a say
THEBOARD OF REGENTS will be
meeting here this Thursday through
Sunday. While they are on
campus, they might decide to:
*Change Michigan's colors to red
and green.
*Give themselves a raise.
*Impose a code of nonacademic
conduct that will eliminate due
process.
*Decide to build a new dormitory.
*Decide to build a new parking
structure.
*Decide that racism does not exist
on campus.
*Decide to give Nelson Mandela an
honorary degree.
Essentially, the regents can do
whatever they want but they are
sensitive to student input. It is the
responsibility of every student to
make sure these decisions are not
made without student input.
However, there is a great lack of
communication between the
students and regents. Recent
discussions concerning the Code of
nonacademic conduct demonstrate
just how great this communication
gap is. The regents seem unaware
of student opposition to the Code.
While the regents obviously
should work to be in contact with
the campus they control, the
students must also understand that
the regents to not live and work in
Ann Arbor. Rather, the regents
meeting and a few other select
events are the only contact they
have with the University
community. The regents meeting is
an excellent forum to make sure
they are aware of student concerns.
This is not an easy task, though.
In past years, the regents have
changed the location of their
meetings in order to avoid contact
with students. This is an
abomination. Essentially, the
regents have denied students
control over their own lives while
at the University.
No decisions concerning the
lives of the students should be
made in a vacuum. It is up to the
student body to fill this vacuum.
Students should take control
over their lives and go have a seat
at the Regents Meeting. Sit until the
students' point of view is
acknowledged and understood.
By Paul Honsinger
Great leaders who have important
things to say generally say those things
quite plainly. Important ideas don't need
to attract attention to themselves by
means of important-sounding language.
Conversely, behind almost every facade of
impressive sounding political language,
there lurks an idea utterly devoid of any
real meaning.
Political campaigns are notorious
examples of this principle, and the MSA
campaign is no exception. While
emphasizing the need for the MSA to
communicate better with University
students, all eight candidates for the
positions of President and Vice-President
have relied on buzz-words and inflated
phraseology which defeat voter efforts to
understand what they are talking about.
Therefore, after listening at length to
all of the candidates, I humbly present the
following MSA Lexicon in the interest
of voter understanding (with apologies to
Samuel Johnson and William Safire).
Administration, The: n.,
members of the academic community
who are not teachers, students, or
researchers; the root of all evil. Example:
"The Administration supports immediate
implementation of The Code."
campus issue: n., any issue which
the current speaker believes to be
important or relevant to him or herself;
the kind of thing that the MSA obviously
should concentrate on. Example: "It is a
matter of great debate at MSA whether
the Iran/Iraq war is a campus issue."
Code, The: n., any one of several
proposals for a Code of Student Non
Academic Conduct; a thing like Fascism,
Racism, and Paternalism to be
unthinkingly condemned by all.
Example: "All four parties oppose The
Code."
effective representation: n., the
act of competently and energetically ad -
vocating student concerns to the
University administration, the Ann Arbor
City Council, and other unsympathetic
Honsinger is a Daily Opinion Page
Staff member
>verusi
groups; what every student
student government, what ev
promises that his party will
what MSA is inherentlyi
delivering. Example:
continuing housing crunch,
students as residents nee
representation." See, leade
grass roots: n., the g
eligible campus voters, m
are disaffected and who don'
about the MSA; the source o
and legitimacy. Example:
wants to rebuild support for
getting in touch with the!
Now that leftest ideolog
popular, this word has su
more Marxist-sounding "t
See, The People.
leadership: n., th
leading effectively; a read3
any problem which def
solution; something that stu
ment almost always fails
Usually used in conjuncti
adjectives "strong" or
Example: "Our party is t
equipped to provide strongl
the racism issue." See, tas
liason: n., a persong
managing an orga
communications with other
and for referring persons to
organizations; a bothersom
detested both by the orgE
which he or she works and
organization; a whining,
boor. Example: "The
establishment of a liason
MSA and other student or
v.i., to maintain communi
other groups. Example:
liason with minority inter
See, outreach and networ
network: v.i., to comm
other organizations and tor
to them when appropriate
buck. Example: "Part of r
to network with oth
organizations." This word
"interface," which was in
years ago. See, liason and
outreach: n.; to ta
groups and organizations, es
are composed of people wh
The Michigan Dail
es jargon
t wants from would like to avoid. Example: "The
ery candidate solution to this problem is outreach to
provide, and RHA and the other dorm groups." This
incapable of word has replaced the once popular
"With the "establish linkages." See, liason and
the rights of network.
ed effective People, the: n., the source of all
rship. power, wisdom, and legitimacy; what the
reat mass of MSA ought to go back to. Example:
ost of whom "In order to have clout with the
t give a damn Administration, MSA needs to go back to
f all wisdom the people." See, grass roots.
"Our party Regents, The: n., an elected
the MSA by assembly which serves as the ultimat
grass roots." governing body of the University; a
ies are less disaffected congregation of old fogies who
pplanted the know nothing about daily operation of
he Masses." the University and care even less.
Example: "We need to push the Regents
e quality of for action now on Racism."
y solution to slime: v.t., to implement an
ies obvious unpopular program or policy under
dent govern - circumstances designed to minimize
to provide. opportunity for student opposition, esp.
on with the to do so in an underhanded manner.
"effective." Primarily used in reference to The Code.
the only one Example: "Our main fear is that the
leadership on Regents will slime The Code through
k force. during the Summer."
in charge of task force: n., a body appointedto
iniza tion' s study, a problem and to propose action to
organizations remedy it;a body whose recommendations
o those other are always applauded and subsequently
e go-between shelved; a pat answer to any problem
anization for which defies easy solution. Where leader
by the target once approached these problemsb
contemptible commissioning a study, now they
Party favors appoint a task force. Example: "Our
between the party will attack the problem of racism
ganizations." by appointing a broad based task force on
ications with minority issues. See, leadership.
"We need to
rest groups." Student government at this University
k. faces a host of difficult problems which
unicate with will defy solution until campus leaders
refer students learn to discuss them plainly and directly
to pass the And, on a campus on which the MSA's
MSA's job is biggest problem is that most students
er campus (quite correctly) perceive MSA to be a
has replaced profound irrelevancy, student leaders ivill
vogue a few never be able to inspire students to
outreach. become nyo yed in their government so
.k to other long as thdy discuss the issues in terms
p. when they of the verbal mashed potatoes to which
o the speaker they seem to be addicted.
idorse Bigfoot.
nts more aware of what hard at turning MSA around,
is and does. Who then unfortunately because I have
s out? actually tried to do this myself,
e Blue party claims they I know it is not as easy as it
ort addressing minority sounds, and accordingly I
rns, yet they have merely believe their is another part
non-white on their party that would be more effective.
nly three women. Of course, that party is
ell, what about FLASH? Bigfoot.
Sternlicht and John Bigfoot represents a more
nueva receive high marks diverse range of students. Its
book, but I can't endorse membership includes both
for President and Vice- males and females, greeks and
dent. They perceived the non-greeks, and minority and
ems in MSA and formed a majority students.
of other concerned
nts to change the system. -Darrell Thompson
e few negative remarks for MSA Vice-President
party, although they too
to have strong minority
sentation. I believed if March 17
ed, they would try extra
Felton defames Review
he Daily: to deceive those reading thei
Thursday, March 12, I articles. Knowing several of
ied the MSA Candidates the writers for the Review, I
i, sponsored by the Daily. can assure people that these
g this forum I was much people are sincere in their
ssed by Students First's beliefs and have no intention of
Presidential candidate, deception.
a Felton's description of Clearly, Felton's comments
lichigan Jgeview as "the were made in an attempt to
r source of disinformation disparage Seth Klukoff and
is campus." When asked David Vogel, the Presidenti
that description of the and Vice-Presidential candidates
w, Felton again referred for the Blue Party. At least I
t as a source of hope this is the case. If Felton
ormation. does actually believe that
am not upset about the Klukoff and Vogel are
hat Felton disagrees with purposefully trying to deceive
Zeview; considering her the University community,
political beliefs, I would then she is showing a
rprised if this was not the combination of political
What I do object to, fanaticism and naivete that is
ver, is her use of the dangerous.
Alternative Career Fair
A NXIETY PREVENTS MANY
students from seeing beyond their
own needs. They grasp at the
security offered by the corporate
world. Some students limit their
options out of fear. How can
students be concerned with
changing the future when they need
to think about getting a job?
The Alternative Career Fair
presents insight and internships in
three types of careers. Traditional
jobs in alternative settings: those
commonly acquired skills such as
teaching or health care that can be
utilized in alternative settings to aid
people who might not normally
benefit from such services.
Alternative jobs in traditional
settings: bringing new skills to the
traditional work place in order to
improve both the product and the
life of the worker. Alternative jobs
in alternative settings: anything
anyone can imagine that can help
other people.
The fair will be held in East
Quad for the seventh consecutive
year. A year-round Alternative
Career Center also has been
established in East Quad near the
academic counseling offices. Basic
information such as specifics con -
cerning jobs and internships are
available at the center and the fair.
Both the fair and the center are
entirely student organized and run.
They receive funding from various
departments within the University
as well as a number of off-campus
organizations.
Friday night will begin with
keynote speeches and a futuring
workshop in East Quad followed
by a night of folk music at
Canterbury House. Other activities
consist of panel discussions
concerning options and
opportunities in the fields of
environment, media, social
,services, labor, education, health,
international jobs, community
organizing, art and theatre,
business and cooperatives, science,
technology and law.
Anyone who is fed up with the
jobs at Career Planning and
Placement or just wants improve
society through her or his career or
just wants to consider all the
options available should come to
the Alternative Career Fair this
Friday and Saturday.
LETTERS
MSA executives en
To the Daily:
Its MSA election time and
you're pondering over who
you'll vote for. There have
been massive posters and flyers
covering the entire casmpus for
the past two weeks, but what
do the parties really stand for?
Who are the best candidates?
One very easy selection will be
that of Steve Herz for Student
Board of Publications. Steve's
experience in MSA and at this
university places him far above
his opponent. O.K., but what
about the President and Vice-
President? David Newblatt and
Charles Heckstall, the
Presidential and Vice-
Presidential candidates from the
Bigfoot party would best
represent student concerns in
1987-88 in the Michigan
Student Assembly. Why?
Of the four parties running
in the MSA elections, three
oppose MSA being involved in
international issues which have
no direct relation to students of
this campus. They are
Bigfoot, FLASH, and Blue,
with Students First being the
lone dissenter. Although I
firmly believe this is one of
the major issues of the
campaign, little has been done
to bring this to the attention of
the students. In yesterday's
issue of the Daily, the Students
First party received the paper's
endorsement. One of the
reasons the Daily cited for this
endorsement was the fact that
Ken Wiene and Rebecca Felton
possesed greater Assembly
experience. What the Daily
ommitted was the fact that
both Kenny and Becca
supported resolutions calling
r_ IkSO A 44 A- --A * -
the U.S.A. for his misconduct
during the Iranian Scandal," and
"...that MSA calls on the U.S.
Congress and the Reagan
Administration to cease the
intervention in El Salvador."
I mention these two
examples not because they are
extremes, but because
resolutions similar to these
often are present on the MSA
agenda. I personally do not
believe they should be
discussed in MSA. I am not
alone; over 1500 students
recently signed a petition to
this effect. I believe many
more would have done the
same since we see three parties
formed basically because they
believed MSA was getting
beyond itself by addressing
non-campus related issues and
they wanted to see a change.
Unfortunately, because you
have three parties running with
the idea of changing MSA's
agenda to one that mainly deals
with issues effecting students,
the students who likewise agree
are forced to choose only one
party. This ultimately works
out to a splitting of the vote.
Thus, in actuality although the
majority of the students may
want MSA out of international
issues, but what could possibly
happen is Students First would
win by having the competition
eliminate itself. If this was to
happen it would be the students
who would suffer.
Thus, if you believe MSA
should deal with issues that
concern you as a student of the
University of Michigan, you
have three choices: Bigfoot,
FLASH, or Blue. Where do
you go from here? Basically,
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