4
OPINION
Page 4 Tuesday, September 22, 1987 The Michigan Daily
t Mthgan tly
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVIII, No. 9 420 Maynard St.
AnnArbor, 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.
Pass the budget
WHETHER THE consumer and en-
vironmental group PIRGIM should
receive funding from students has
been a divisive campus issue for 15
years.
From 1972 to 1985, PIRGIM
received funding through a positive
checkoff on the Student Verification
Form. Citing declining student
support, the University's Board of
Regents removed PIRGIM from the
form. PIRGIM then undertook a
petition drive and succeeded in
collecting signatures from the
majority of students in favor of a
negative checkoff which would
insure funding unless students
indicated otherwise.
Rather than acknowledge the
petition signatures, the regents
suggested that PIRGIM seek
funding from the Michigan Student
Assembly. The assembly put a
proposal on the election ballot last
March to allow students to vote
whether or not to include a
refusable fee for PIRGIM in the
MSA appropriation. It passed with
69 percent of the vote.
This summer the regents
approved a $7.00 MSA fee,
understanding that a portion of it
was budgeted to PIRGIM.
Questions about PIRGIM's internal
finances, however, have delayed
passage of the assembly's budget.
Those questions were raised by
Jon Bhushan, chair of the
assembly's External Relations
Committee. Bhushan spent much of
his summer researching PIRGIM.
Bhushan summarized his findings
in a report released shortly before
last week's MSA meeting.
Bhushan's report suggests that
PIRGIM's condition is no longer as
dire as it was in 1985 when it had a
$38,000 deficit. With the success of
canvassing, PIRGIM finished 1986
with a $73,000 surplus.
This money, however, is
designated for lobbying, research
and educational efforts at the state
level. According to PIRGIM
activists, the money collected from
students will be used for only
campus activities such as
SAFEWALK and support for
inclusive language. Therefore, it is
irrelevant how much money
PIRGIM raises in statewide
canvassing because that money is
not intended for campus.
At their meeting tonight, MSA
should pass their budget with the
PIRGIM fee. Without a budget, it is
impossible for the assembly, the
Ann Arbor Tenants Union, or
Student Legal Services to begin
work.
Bhushan argues that if PIRGIM
funding is included in the budget,
MSA will be in a poor bargaining
position to negotiate a contract. He
suggests that the assembly delay
approving PIRGIM's funding until
a contract is ready which insures
that students will not subsidize the
activities of PIRGIM at the state
level.
However, if PIRGIM's budget is
not approved, they cannot begin
making plans for next term.
Bhushan's concern that the contract
will not serve the interests of MSA
is legitimate, but he will have a
chance to bring those concerns to
the floor once the contract is
negotiated.
One of Bhushan's main
objections is that PIRGIM will not
be able to separate its costs such as
office supplies and staff salaries.
PIRGIM has promised to conduct
separate audits and even separately
incorporate the state and campus
organizations. Also, the vast
majority of the money raised on
campus will go to hiring a full time
coordinator.
Bhushan is right that the
assembly has a responsiblity to
guarantee the integrity of student
funds. If the contract does not
guarantee that MSA can exercise
oversight over PIRGIM's books, it
should not be approved. There is no
reason why MSA cannot pass its
budget tonight, and still insure that
a contract favorable to the assembly
is negotiated.
LETTERS:
FDR n
To the Daily:+
The Latin American Soli-
darity Committee (LASC) and
Coalition for Democracy in
Latin America (CDLA) jointly+
sponsored a debate on U.S.
policy in Central America
Monday (8:00 P.M., Rackham'
Auditorium). In order to publi-
cize this event, CDLA put up a
number of posters around the
campus area. Unfortunately,
these posters are inaccurate.
They identify the FDR, the
Salvadoran opposition coali-
tion, which Victor Rubio, one
of the participants in t h e
Keep up prote
To the Daily:
The world peace movement
and Gorbachev have finally
forced Reagan and the Pentagon
to accept an Intermediate
Nuclear Force (INF) arms deal
abolishing short and medium
range land based nuclear
missiles. The INF deal did not
come about because of the
Reagan buildup of nuclear
missiles in Europe. On the
contrary, the deployment of
Pershing II and Cruise missiles
delayed a deal for over four
years. The Soviets walked out
of the INF talks when these
weapons were put into Europe
in 1983.
The deal came about because
of six years of constant protest
by ordinary Americans and
Europeans against Reagan's
unprecedented military buildup,
and because in Gorbachev the
Soviets found a leader who
(unlike Reagan) realizes that+
you can't have both guns and
butter. If we had not been +
demanding disarmament in 1
every peacefuldway these six
years, we would not even have
debate, represents, as "Marxist-
Leninist". In fact, the FDR is
not a Marxist-Leninist organi-
zation. It is a broad based
coalition that includes Marxist-
Leninists, as did for example,
the opposition to the Nazis in
Germany, France, and the rest
of Europe. The coalition itself,
however, does not adhere to a
Marxist-Leninist position.
Virtually all of the political
figures who've worked for
reform over the last two
decades joined the FDR after it
became clear that the govern-
ment and military were intent
sts for peace
an arms control agreement,
much less a bit of modest dis-
armament.
We must not let the weapons
fans claim credit for a deal they
were never seriousabout.
General Alexander Haig, who
was Secretary of State at the
time, admits that the United
States only offered the deal
which the Soviets have now
accepted as "propaganda."
They hoped that the Soviets
would not accept it and
therefore would look bad. And
in fact Gorbachev had to stuff
the United States' own offer
back down its own throat.
The deal will not disarm
Europe. There will still be
thousands of nuclear weapons
on aircraft and ships. Britain
and France still have nuclear
missiles which are not affected
by the deal. It is a step in the
direction of disarmament, but it
is not the coming of the Prince
of Peace. To keep things
moving, we have to keep up
our protests. They have
brought us this far.
-Janis Michael
September 19
on continued repression. Even
many prominent members of
Duarte's (El Salvador's current
president) own party joined the
FDR once it was apparent that
Duarte could do little towards
implementing land reform or
bringing El Salvador's death
squads to justice.
It is understandable that
CDLA might not have known
about the composition of the
FDR. The U.S. media rarely
discusses El Salvador at all,
4
ot 'Marxist-Leninist'
and virtually never says any-
thing of substance about the
nature of the political situation
there.
By rushing to print their
posters without bothering to
consider the facts, the CDLA
finds itself embarrassed. I hope
this embarrassment caused
them to consider the futility of
substituting name-calling for
honest political discourse.
-Billy J. Gladstone
September 17
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Does 'M' stand for money?
To the Daily:
I was very disappointed yes-
terday when I turned on my
favorite public radio station
(WUOM) during the football
game against Notre Dame and
didn't find my favorite
announcer, Tom Hemmingway
doing the play by play. I have
listened to him do football and
basketball broadcasts for years,
and contribute to the Uni-
versity of Michigan as a Friend
of WUOM because of his
broadcasts. As a superstitious
sports fan, I am sure the reason
we lost the game was because
Tom wasn't on the air.
I called the station today to
find out why Tom didn't
broadcast. I was told the ath-
letic department had "sold out"
for "big money" and WUOM
could not broadcast. If this is
true, I find this deplorable.
WUOM is the University's
station. It is non-profit and
does not compete with com-
mercial stations. Furthermore,
Tom Hemmingway is the best
football and basketball an-
nouncer in the country.
I would like to know what
price the University and its
Athletic Department place on
tradition and loyalty? Can I
assume that all traditions are
for sale? Will we replace the
'M' on the diag with a bronze
pizza box? Will we allow
companies to paint advertising
on the cube? Will our football
players, for a price, change
their helmets from the flying
wing to a corporate logo?
We try to teach our children
values. We try to teach our
athletes that an education and
school loyalty is more im-
portant than quick money. We
bemoan the fact that a player
signs with an agent before
graduation - that money
comes before alma matter.
Then the administration sells
something and someone that
was "MICHIGAN" for no other
reason than "MONEY." 'Is the
message that we send our
young people by our actions
somewhat confused over what
we say with our words? Is the
"M" in "M GO BLUE" really
"M"oney?
I would hope that the real
reason that WUOM and Tom
Hemmingway does not broad-
cast the games is for a different
reason. However, as a Friend
of WUOM, as an alumni, as a
taxpayer I feel an answer to my
questions are in order.
-Michael S. Frank
September 13
There are n
To the Daily:
It is true, we all w ea r
socks. .some of the time at
least. And it is understandable
that to the question, "What
would every kid not m i n d
having?" "Another pair of
socks," is as good an answer as
any. Thus, it can be reasoned,
that given the opportunity to
get a free pair of socks, all sane
studerits would not mind
getting them, as long as they
were truly free.
Well, this seems reasonable
to me, and it must have to the
armed forces recruitment squad
as well. Because when I was
making all those crucial
college decisions, sure enough,
a letter came that ran
something like, "Yes, we're
the armed forces...so send for
your free pair of socks today to
receive more information on
our officer training program...
no obligation!!" Being the
streetwise student that I was, I
fired off, the post card in no
time flat. In a few weeks my
socks came, along with a big
envelope full of information.
Since I was only in it for the
socks, I hastily threw the
envelope away and tried on my
socks.
They were a normal pair of
tube socks with green stripes,
except that they said "ARMY,"
in green letters down the side
of each one. Notwithstanding,
they were new socks and,
initially, I was quite pleased
with this addition to my
wardrobe.
But every time I put them on
I wonder what the money could
have been used for instead of
sending a kid a pair of tube
socks that said, "ARMY" down
the side. At times I felt like an
accomplice - wearing the
socks whose production cost,
took food out of the mouths of
starving people. And, at
times, the hero - draining the
money - lifeblood out of the
ofree socks
death merchant's arm. At
times, almost, the fool.
I question the forethought
that went into such a recruiting
scheme. I can just see a couple
of guys with crewcuts, nick-
named "GORDO," sitting
around thinking, "if we give
them socks, they'll wear them
and maybe, uh, read them.
And then, uh, that would be
good advertising for us." As if
a pair. of socks would decide
my life.
Not long ago I answered an ad
in the Daily. It ran something
like, "Yes, we're Honeywell,
and if you send today for an
entry blank for our big contest
we'll send you a pair of socks
- FREE." You guessed it.
I cannot understand why they
were giving socks away'. I
would understand it if they
gave you the socks after you
entered, but they didn't.
Maybe they just wanted to give
away socks...I guess it would
be, uh, good advertising.
This time the socks came in
an separate envelope, so I
didn't even have to look at any
of the information. These
socks were a lot nicer than the,
ARMY socks. They had more
cotton in them, and were all
white except for red lettering
up the side that read,A
"Honeywell Futurists Compe-
tition."
The ARMY socks already are;
starting to get thin in the front.;
Whenever I wear them I think
of, not only what else the
money could have been used
for and the lame scheme, but
also of the.army that was too
cheap to give away some socks
that people could appreciate.:4
The Honeywell socks are like
new. A possible moral of this
escapade might be, "Join:
Honeywell, not the army - at
least you'll get decent socks."
And it might not. All I know
is I really did mind getting free
socks - because somebody:
paid for them.
-Scott Friedman
May 1
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Mistake on Jewish holiday
To the Daily:
The Free South Africa
Coordinating Committee,
Latin American Solidarity
Committee, and United
Coalition Against Racism,
would like to apologize to the
campus community for
scheduling out joint mass
meeting for Wednesday
.September 23, the first night
of Rosh Hashanah. This
unfortunate error came about
neither through malice nor
point we had already made
arrangements for our speaker
Prexy Nesbitt to come to Ann
Arbor, and extensively
publicized the meeting. Given
the scheduling conflicts w e
kept running into to establish
the initial date, it seened all but
impossible to reschedule the
meeting. We regret very much
that many Jewish people will
not be able to attend t h e
meeting because they are
celebrating Rosh Hashanah.
BOPK FROM O K...
ON ROE VERSUS
WADE, COULD
Sa : YOU CLARFY..
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