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OPINION
Page 4
Wednesday, April 8, 1987
The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
TAs
enhance
Vol. XCVII, No. 129
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.
Canada and acid rain
PRESIDENT REAGAN'S agenda
obviously underscores his ignor -
ance of environmental issues. His
stance on acid rain most clearly
illustrates his malicious miscon -
ceptions. With the success of this
week's meeting with Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
depending heavily upon this issue,
the president's apathetic attitude to
this problem may prove hazardous
to U.S.-Canada relations.
As U.S. factories continue to
release untreated emissions, the
incidence and severity of acid rain
multiplies not only in Canada, but
in the northeast United States as
well. Consequently, this invisible
threat injures the home turf,
especially its fisheries and vacation
trade, and thus provides an impetus
for action by a president concerned
only with the condition of his own
country.
With thousands of acres of dead
and dying forests and as many
nearly lifeless lakes, President
Reagan must reverse his deplorable
environmental record and address
the devastating effects of acid rain.
Despite many conclusive studies of
this airborne malady and its ever
increasing environmental and eco -
nomic toll, Mr. Reagan skirts the
issue by claiming that at least three
more years of study are necessary
toallow for better understanding of
the "complex" problem. However,
the president cannot afford to "wait
for additional research results" to
attack a problem which affects not
only the environment, but U.S.-
Canada relations.
Although President Reagan may
ostensibly reject more acid rain
control for lack of "convincing"
research, his underlying motive is
most likely protection for large,
polluting industries and high-sulfur
coal producers. These manu -
facturers, already reeling under
intense foreign competition, would
most probably sink under the
weight of cleanup costs. The coal
industry, struggling to reverse
languishing demand and increasing
costs also could not survive such
policies. Thus, President Reagan
must cast aside his "small govern -
ment" rhetoric and subsidize the
costs of clean air technology.
Mr. Reagan could even justify
the government funding of such
cleanup programs as necessary to
uphold his free trade policies.
Without Reagan's commitment to
significant progress on curbing
acid rain, the Canadians will
probably attempt to impose
economic sanctions on the United
States or build a three-thousand
mile long wall along the border.
However one views the situation,
lack of action on the problem will
likely result in retaliatory trade
policies.
Realizing that the Canadians will
place so much emphasis upon the
acid rain issue, President Reagan
decided last week to call for $2.5
billion over five years in appropria -
tions for cleanup funding. Un -
fortunately, this was not a new
proposal, but a return to the initial
appropriations request after a
decrease to $350 million. This re -
newed expenditure request should
be increased even further in order
to stave off trading difficulties with
Canada and, more significantly, to
begin to correct the disastrous
environmental and economic ef -
fects of acid rain in both countries.
By Belinda Davis and
Peter Appelbaum
We would like to propose a project
which promises to "enhance undergraduate
education," "sustain and improve
undergraduate education," and "bring
greater focus to undergraduate education,"
in accordance with the stated aims of the
Undergraduate Initiatives Fund request for
proposals.
In meeting the needs for enhanced
quality, "especially in...the freshman and
sophomore years," we propose the
constitution of a body of graduate
students who will make the vital link
between professor and undergraduate in
the large lecture courses which comprise
much of a University of Michigan
education. Undergraduates would be
divided into groups of up to twenty, and
meet once or twice a week with a graduate
student in order to discuss the lectures and
assigned readings. In this way, the
students will come to understand what it
is they've heard and read. Students will
have the opportunity to participate
actively, developing their own ideas and
learning from others. In addition, the
graduate student would write constructive
comments on the undergraduates' written
work, aiding the improvement of their
analytical and writing skills, ability to
conduct a lab experiment, and particular
skills associated with the various
disciplines. Further, students would have
Belinda Davis and Peter Appelbaum
are University graduate students
the opportunity to meet with the;
student to discuss individual dif
Such a program would, we believ
in bringing "greater focus and c
to the undergraduate experience."
In fact we discuss here"
activities of demonstrated exc
Bearing the burden of nearly 50p
the University's teaching lo
permitting students to complet
having some idea about what it
were to have learned, the Uni
Teaching Assistant program is ex
in fulfilling the University's stat
thus, we feel certain it is this prc
which Mr. Duderstadt refersv
notes in his request for propos
staff of the University have (
made contributions to student grc
development.
Therefore, it follows that su
and improving this already-
program is a natural way to "su
improve undergraduate educati
recommend the following measu
1. Limitation of class size.
that a class of more than twenty
loses its ability to "enhance a
undergraduate education."
2. TA training. We feel certai
ipating graduate students w
enthusiastic about the opporti
enhance their own efforts in in
undergraduate education. Natura
graduate students should be com
for their efforts, just as Mr. Dud
compensated for his. (Well..s
like Mr. Duderstadt is compen
his.)
3. Maintenance of quality of
education
graduate students to fill these positions.
fficulties. A. Permit them to eat.
ve, go far B. Keep potential grad students
oherence from going anywhere in the country but
here in search of the goal of being able to
"existing eat. The new tax law, coupled with
ellence." inflation, will render this impossible in
ercent of Ann Arbor next year under present
ad, and contract conditions. Moreover, this
e a class cannot but seriously damage minority
was they recruitment and retention.
versity's We are confident that such measures fit
xemplary in the "wide range of experiments
ed goals; designed to improve the quality of
ogram to undergraduate education."
when he We propose, therefore, that in order to
als, "the "sustain and improve" this program of
sic) also "demonstrable excellence," one which
owth and cannot be replaced by any other in its
ability to "bring coherence and focus to
ustaining undergraduate education," that the extra
-existing one million dollars lying around that
stain and came to fund the new "Undergraduate
on." We Initiatives Program" be given to the
res: University negotiator, Colleen Dolan-
We feel Greene, who claims she cannot find any
students money, to be applied in toto as a partial
nd focus step toward meeting a reasonable contract
for the University's Teaching Assistants.
n partic - Project Director: The Graduate
ould be Employees Organization has generously
unity to agreed to direct this program.
mproving Budget: $1,000,000.00
illy, these This will make a tidy contribution
npensated toward the 1.4 million needed to
erstadt is underwrite a full TA tuition waiver. We
omething anticipate resourceful University
sated for negotiators will then meet this
contribution to cover the balance of the
graduate waiver, as well as TA training.
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ETTERS
TAs need and deserve better treatment
Butt out
C ONGRESS WILL SOON BE
considering legislation which would
ban cigarette advertisements from
the print media. Such legislation is
based upon the well-founded fear
that cigarette smoking can be
detrimental to your health, but this
cannot justify an abridgment of our
First Amendment rights.
Statistics show that most of the
people addicted to smoking are
hooked as minors. Many
organizations, such as the American
Heart Association and the American
Lung Association, try to educate
minors about the dangers of
smoking in hope of dissuading them
from taking up the habit.
Government health services also
spend considerable sums to make
people aware of the health risks
involved in smoking.
However, glamorous
advertisements put out by the
cigarette industry make these efforts
practically useless. The
advertisements imply that by
smoking you can lead a healthy,
adventurous life. In reality, smoking
is liable to give you lung cancer and
a shorter life expectancy.
The cigarette manufacturers are a
powerful international industry.
Presently, a very small number of
nations, including the United States,
have been able to regulate the
These groups neglect the different
legal status of print and broadcast
media. Because the number of
broadcast frequencies is limited, the
law deems the airwaves to be owned
by the public. This gives the
government the power to enact.
extensive regulation of broadcasting
to insure that this limited resource is
used in the public interest.
Print media are 'fundamentally
different because there is no
theoretical limit on the number of
newspapers or magazines which can
be printed and distributed.
Therefore, while TV and radio still
enjoy considerable First Amendment
protection, the government has far
more power to govern broadcasting
than to regulate print media.
In seeking to ban cigarette ads,
the government is trying to impose
its ethical decisions on the people of
the United States. If we concede the
government the right to ban cigarette
ads because of their "unethical"
nature, we would have set a
precedent upon which the written
press can be censored. What will the
government consider "unethical"
tomorrow? Perhaps criticism of
government policies or news the
government finds embarrassing.
The decision to run a cigarette ad
in a magazine or newspaper should
rest entirely within the publication's
.r
To the Daily:
Teaching Assistants don't
want to strike, and are well
aware of the difficulties which
a strike will cause to the
undergraduates here. What I
would like to stress is that
graduate students here would
not be supporting a strike if we
didn't feel stuck between the
proverbial rock and a hard place
by the University admin -
istration.
My case is similar to that of
most graduate students. I have
$12,000 in debt between
college and one year of graduate
school. My pay as a TA is
$460 per month for 8 months.
Out of that, I have to pay
$2,000 in tuition not covered
by the waiver, $325 per month
rent, plus living expenses. It
doesn't take math to realize
that this is a negative'income.
To make ends meet, I had to
borrow $4000 this year. But
because the earning potential of
a Ph.D. candidate, even from
Training!
To the Daily:
Teaching assistants in
biology are committed to high
quality undergraduate education.
We are concerned that
inadequate training and large
class size hinder the attainment
of this goal.
The Graduate Employees
Organization (GEO) is nego-
tiating a new contract with the
University. One part of GEO's
proposal is mandatory paid
training for teaching assistants.
The University offers only
voluntary unpaid training.
The University has allocated
$1 million to improve
undergraduate education. Why
not use $50,000 annually to
train all first time teaching
assistants.? Since teaching
assistants do about forty
percent of the undergraduate
teaching, this could have a
major positive impact.
Currently, many classes are
too large for effective dis-
cussion or individual instruc-
tion. GEO proposes that each
department form committees of
To the Daily:
The United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for
Palestinian Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) is
appealing for $20.6 million to
provide emergency help for .
Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon. UNRWA is the only
reliefaorganization that is being
allowed into the camps.
The Agency's first priority
is to ensure that refugees in the
greatest need receive adequate
supplies of food and clean
water. The next step is to
restore UNRWA's health,
education, and welfare services
in Burj El-Barajneh, Rashidieh,
and Shatila camps. The third
step is to clear rubble in the
camps, repair camp
infrastructure and help refugees
repair shelters.
The situation in the refugee
camps is desperate. The camps
have been under intermittent
fire by Lebanon's Amal militia
since May 1985, but the
people in the camps have been
under siege by Amal for more
than four months. The camps
are, thus, completely
surrounded by Amal and no
food has entered until very
recently. UNRWA is allowed
to enter the camps only once a
week.
the best programs, is an
average of $24,000 per. year, I
can't afford to bQrrow much
more money, especially with
6-7 years-of graduate school
still ahead of me.
I don't have the luxury of
accepting the University's
current offer. Most other
graduate programs have full
tuition waivers, and grant
residency to more students than
does the U of M. These
schools realize that a teaching
assistantship is not a sop
thrown our way while we are
in graduate school. It is a part
of our professional training for
a career in academia, for a
career as teachers. Until the
University comes up with a
salary that reflects the eco -
nomic realities of graduate
school, and not the wishful
Support today's bucket driv
thinking of a group of admin -
istrators isolated in the
Fleming Administration buil -
ding, U of M will continue to
lose its competitive status in
attracting the best students.
And everyone, undergraduates,
faculty, and graduate students
will be the losers.
-Jennifer Gurahian
March 30
e for refugees
For the sake of tens of
thousands of starving civilians
in Lebanon, a number of Ann
Arbor students, faculty, and
residents will bucket drive
today, Wednesday, April
8th, at five locations around
Ann Arbor: Engineering Arch,
the Diag, the corner of North
University and State, St.
(Kresge's), the corner of State
St. and Liberty (at Border's),
and in front of the Michigan
Union.
-Steve Ghannam
the November 29th
Committee for Palestine
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