The Michigan Daily-Friday, March 18, 1988- Page 3 Experts discuss media's role in presidential candidate selection BY DOV COHEN The presidential campaign of 1988 has turned into a "couch potato campaign" as viewers with "eyes and no brains hunker down" to watch television coverage of the race, 1980 Presidential candidate John Anderson said yesterday. Television coverage doesn't get viewers "engaged (in the campaign) besides superficial interests, like does Paul Simon have the long ear- lobes that everyone is talking about," Anderson said. Anderson spoke at a n Undergraduate Political Science As- sociation conference yesterday on candidate selection and the media be- fore about 100 people. At the con- ference, experts debated whether the media is adequately covering the campaign. ANDERSON argued that media coverage is superficial and doesn't engage citizens in thinking about the issues, and University graduate stu- dent Donna Wasserman said the me- dia favors "horserace" (who's doing well) and personality stories over stories concerning the issues. On the other hand, University political science prof. Gregory Markus defended the media, saying that personality factors are impor- tant, and voters use "horserace" cov- erage to judge candidate "viability." Research on campaign stories published in The New York Times during the first half of 1984 revealed that 42 percent of the stories con- cerned "horserace" coverage, 32 per- cent concerned candidate characteris- tics, 14 percent concerned candidate endorsements, and only 12 percent concerned policy issues, Wasser- man's study showed. M A R K US, however, argued that speculation stories over who is doing well are important to many voters. Research has shown that a sub- stantial factor influencing Gary Hart's support in 1984 was his pei - ceived likelihood of obtaining the Democratic nomination. Markus does not complain that there is "horserace" coverage of the candidates, but that the speculations are often wrong. He noted the incor- rect predictions that Bush would do well in Iowa, that Gore would falter on Super Tuesday, and that Simon was "sinking like a stone" in Illi- nois. M A R K U S also defended "personality" stories. "I'd want to know whether a candidate - Bob Dole, for example - hasn't watched a movie in years, doesn't eat dinner with his wife, or is likely to go off at any moment and fire half his staff," Markus said. Research has also shown that voters look at "job-relevant" person- ., Anderson .. .speaks against broadcast journalism x Doily Photo by JOHN MUNSON Jackson in action Rev. Jesse Jackson shakes hands with supporters after speaking at a Chappel Hill church in Detroit where he called on his fellow Democratic nominees to stop attacking each other. He called up the ghost of primaries past saying, "Democrats beat Carter in the spring, Reagan beat what was left of him in the fall." Throughout the rest of the day he attended fund-raisers in several Detroit locations. Former Soviet dissidenr discuss violated human rights ality characteristics, like leadership ability and integrity. In an earlier panel discussion, ex- perts talked about the powerful, ef- fects of television. Television, not the print media, influences people most, said John Herbers, a former national corre- spondent for The New York Times. Print media's influence is in telling television cameras where to focus, one panel member said. By ELIZABETH STUPPLER Tatyana Osipova and Ivan Ko- valev were convicted as criminals, but they were not guilty of theft or murder. Guilty of promoting human rights in Russia, they were sentenced to five years of imprisonment fol- lowed by five years of exile. Osipova and Kovalev, husband and wife who were released from the Soviet Union last spring, spoke to about 75 people at Angell Hall last night about human rights, glasnost, and the treatment of political prison- ers in their former homeland. In the speech sponsored by Amnesty International of Ann Arbor and the University's Center for Rus- sian and Eastern European Studies, the former Soviet dissidents spoke in their native tongue but their speeches were translated for the audience. Dissidents are punished for at- tempting to improve the lives of Soviet citizens, Kovalev said. Political prisoners are sent to camps to forget ideas of freedom. When they refuse to do this, which most do, they are at risk of solitary confine- ment and loss of all privileges, in- cluding bedding and clothing. Yet, the unfair treatment - the isolation and deprivation - are not only characteristic of the harsh prison camps. "(The camps) are a reflection of the way we live outside. Camp colors are a little more concentrated," said Kovalev. Despite the West's continued support of glasnost in the Soviet Union, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's plan is making situations worse instead of improv- ing them, Kovalev said. Although Kovalev and Osipova were two of the 200 who were granted pardons since Gorbachev's' glasnost program was initiated, they said there are 372 people they can name.who are still in custody. Kovalev and Osipova were strong participants in the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, which was formed to monitor human rights within the USSR. This group issued state- ments, wrote letters, formed appeals, and worked on an underground news- paper to protest the Soviet's cruel and unfair treatment of its citizens. Kovalev and Osipova said Ameri- cans should write letters to prisoners to voice oppositon to the Soviets' treatment of human rights activists. Although most letters will never be received, Kovalev said, such interna- tional interest makes the government more conscious about how it treats prisoners. Both Kovalev and Osipova praised the work of Amnesty International whose constant support and 'adoption' of prisoners of conscience continously help Soviets in exile and imprisonment. Daily.Photo by KAREN HANDELM MSA officials, Ken Weine, Mike Phillips, and Robert Bell, L-R, speak out against President Fleming's code to the Board of Regents at yesterday's meeting. b 4' Group works to preserve rainforests By STEFANIE ILGENFRITZ Every 15 minutes, 135 acres of land in tropical rainforests are de- stroyed by logging, the cattle indus- try, and the shortage of available farmland. As campus group alarmed at this fact, the Rainforest Action Move- ment has made this week Rainforest Awareness Week. Formed in September, the group of about 35 students, faculty, and Ann Arbor residents, has organized films, speakers, a panel discussion, a skit on the Diag today, and a bucket drive tomorrow - all to increase awareness of the destruction of rain- forests. THE GROUP seeks to tell people in the northern hemisphere what they can do to preserve the rainforests, said Monica Tomosy, a An Apology Yesterday's Newsweek on Campus, a publication inserted in the Daily, contained sexist ads that were offensive to many. We have created a policy designed to reject any sexist insertion or advertisement, but are in the initial stages of implementation. Yesterday's error was not caught before the policy was adopted. The. Daily regrets this error. HI-FI STUDIO ANN ARBOR RADIO & TV TAPE RECORDER SERVICES VCR Cleaning & Repairs - FAST! Speaker Repairs & Components TV Repairs & Rentals SALE ON USED STEREOS Phono Stylil - Woofers, Tweeters, Etc. WERENTBIG SCREEN TV& P.A. 's 215 S. Ashley, 1/2 block N. of Uberty (313) - 769-0342 or 668-7942 graduate student in the School of Natural Resources. "Tropical forests have an intrin- sic right to exist and all the species in them and all the people in them," Tomosy said. "They're on their way to disappearing." Tropical rainforests make up only about 6 percent of the world's land mass, but 50 to 80 percent of all species of plant and animal life exist in the rainforests. SCIENTISTS have developed many medicines and pharmaceuticals from rare tropical plants, including an effective treatment for leukemia, according to Mare Cromwell, an Natural Resources graduate student who founded the group with four others. Rainforests are a complex envi- ronment that the world cannot afford to lose, she said. If the current de- struction continues, it is estimated that all rainforests will have been removed by the year 2025. PRODUCTS such as teak stereo cabinets and Minute Maid orange juice come from rainforest land, said Cromwell. Burger King used to use tropical beef, but has recently stopped. In the future, the Rainforest Ac- tion Movement hopes to organize protests outside stores that sell prod- ucts made of tropical hardwood, Cromwell said. The group, which meets weekly, is trying to arrange a relationship with an organization in Costa Rica, the country which is facing much rainforest destruction, to gain a local source of information. behavior must be reviewed by the council was ineffective. Proposal council, a nine-member panel of¢ students, staff, and administrators. Fleming has maintained that be- Continued fromn Page 1 Philosophy Prof. Shaw Liver- cause of intense protest of campis more, council' co-chair, however, racism at public comments sessions ing for bypassing the University told the regents that because students of regents' meetings last term,t4 Council process. Regental bylaw on the council were so strongly op- University should take steps soon Jo 7.02 states that all rules for student posed to any academic sanctions, the deter such behavior. F I __ ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ___ IONA University of Windsor BETTY FRIEDAN author, feminist, social critic What-= Com puf air '88 Where - University of Michigan Union (Ballroom Booth '12') When- Thurs. March 17- Fri. March 18 9:00 AM-5:00 PM Why- To see computer products from H EWLETT PACKARD brought to you by Ulrich's Electronics. Also register to win one of two Hewlett-Packard calculators. If you can't see us at Compufair '88, stop by our store located at- ! -- i , r " - 1 The HP DeskJet Printer. We've got great news for all of you who want the clean, crisp look of laser output without the laser output price. Hewlett-Packard's new DeskJet personal printer offers a step up to laser quality for less than $1000. :. ' In 1984 Hewlett-Packard revolutionized the laser printer market. 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