4 OPINION cage 4 Wednesday, March 23, 1988 The Michigan Daily 9 4 Et aed by Michigan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vietnam war needs holiday Vol. XCVIII, No. 116 420 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. Vote Yes N APRIL 4, the residents of Ann Arbor and University students will have the opportunity to make democracy work for the less privileged, despite overwhelming odds. The landlords misunderstand Proposal C, they use skewed figures to demonstrate the effects of rent control and much of their data from other cities such as New York and Berkeley about deteriorating rental housing does not apply because of Ann Arbor's stricter housing code. Citizens for Ann Arbor's Future, however, refuses to participate in public debate upon the subject. They rely upon an immense amount of expensive advertising to reach more voters, rather than the soundness of their arguments, or the validity of their evidence. Housing supply remains Proposal C will not create hardship for landlords. Rather, it will stabilize rents so that more elderly and moderate income people will not be forced to leave Ann Arbor. Although landlords are interested in getting as much return on their investments as they can, Ann Arbor Citizens for Fair Rent believes that most Ann Arbor landlords are already receiving an adequate return. The ordinance allows landlords to increase rents by 75 percent of the Consumer Price Index and to pass on to consumers all increase in heating costs, property taxes, and in making improvements. National rent control advocates have called the ordinance an extremely moderate proposal. Citizens for Ann Arbor's Future also emphasizes that Rent Stabilization does not solve the housing crisis in Ann Arbor. Although this is true, not having the ordinance only solves the crisis in the perverse sense that only the "fittest' would survive in Ann Arbor. Rents drive out poor If present trends are allowed to continue, only the wealthy will be able to live here, and all others, including students, will have to live somewhere else. Already many people of lower incomes have been forced to live in Ypsilanti or Dexter and commute to work in Ann Arbor. This is not a solution to the housing crisis. The landlords claim that Proposal C would actually worsen the housing crisis because it would discourage investment in new housing. Empirical studies in cities similar to Ann Arbor, however, show that Rent Stabilization does not actually have this effect because in cities that ask for Rent Stabilization the profit made from rental housing is already outrageously high:. Ann Arbor has been, and will continue to be, a good place to invest. Moreover, Rent Stabilization has no effect on setting the initial rent for a C )n Prop. C new housing unit: luxury apartments could still have luxury pnces. Prop. C guarantees rights The landlords' most implausible argument is that rent stabilization hurts the tenant both through discouraging improvements, and through leaving the owners with neither the capital nor the incentive to keep up their property. First of all, many landlords in Ann Arbor do not adequately maintain their property today because the Housing Code is not enforced. Under Proposal C, landlords would not be able to raise their rent annually without being up to Code. This would provide a much stronger incentive for providing decent living conditions than the present system. Secondly, routine maintenance, such as replacing a dishwashers, is clearly already included in the cost of rent: if the landlord can afford to replace a dishwasher now, he would still be able to do so under Proposal C. And finally, Proposal C would also allow landlords to pass on the cost of capital improvements to their tenants with a rent increase. Prop. C protects profits The landlords complain that Proposal C only allows rent -to increase at 75 percent of the inflation rate each year. But they neglect to mention that a substantial portion of a landlord's cost is fixed in the form of a mortgage, which does not rise as fast as the rate of inflation. If landlords were allowed rent increases at 100 percent of the inflation rate, their profits would continue to increase substantially each year. Furthermore, a landlord who, for whatever reason, was losing money from their property could appeal to a rent stabilization board and thereby raise their rent to a more reasonable rate. Proposal C should be amended, if passed, to exempt the Greek system because of the special circumstances of fraternity and sorority residents who, like the co-ops, are partially in control of the maintenance and upkeep of their houses. This exemption would be easily granted, as it has already been written into the ordinance for the co- ops. Vote for rent control The landlords have spent a lot of money in hopes that their interests will be represented in the upcoming election. It is up to the voters, however, to look beyond the television commercials, newspaper ads, and mass mailings sent out by Citizen's for Ann Arbor's Future, and instead look at what is best for them. Vote "Yes" on Proposal C on April 4, and maintain Ann Arbor as a place where a diverse group of people can live. By Charles D. Tackett In all that is humane and just, the national Vietnam Memorial holiday should be put on the calender for many reasons. Number one, just to remember and enjoy the peace as we travel around every day. I, along with many others, seem to just take peace for granted as we are so busy in our everyday lives. On May 7, 1975, a whole nation was set once again free and at peace, and many families were reunited. The Vietnam War was the longest fought in American history. Secondly, there was no thanks whatsoever to the veteran who came home from the conflict, more accurately called war. I, along with all of America, have watched combat veterans literally die on the streets. There was no help in sight for these people for as long as 18 years - a long hole in any person's life. The rights and benefits came late, if at all, and much was already lost. The families had Colonel Charles D. Tackett is a homeless veteran of the Vietnam war and works with the Michigan Student Assembly. to suffer along with the veteran since America willfully set the veteran out on the street without proper rehabilitation to re-adjust to society. Many wives had to file for divorce since they could not handle the stress and much personal income was lost. The war had a huge impact o n universities across the nation as anti-war protests raged. They personally shed their blood to try to get us home. That took a lot of courage and I deeply thank the students for the pressure their actions put on Congress. Many Americans felt they had to move to Canada to get away from the whole issue. They made a heavy decision to leave their families and friends, possibly forever. They had to decide on a road of self-exile. Many families, in fact, the entire nation, were split by the war. The nation was split by civil unrest that scared me. The wounds of the aftermath of the Vietnam War were evidenced in the unemployment that occurred beginning in 1975. Even lost jobs were blamed on Vietnam after all the corporations made a lot of money on the war effort. As I see it, the post-Vietnam economy still is not as sound. I say, "make jobs, not a war." The Vietnamese war had the first fully- integrated force which I feel says a lot in itself. In Vietnam I was so proud to be able to stand beside my brothers and share each others thoughts and lifestyles. Additionally, it is important to learn from our history and teach our children to think twice before employing our armed services4 overseas. I deeply feel that it is our responsibility and duty to hold down our war mongers within our own countries. It is also crucial to pass on rights and benefits to the veterans and not to play around with the patriots who serve our great nation. I must remind everybody that once you take the life and mind out of a body, it is impossible to replace. When anyone takes a life, that life will never be put back; the person is buried and gone forever. The Vietnam Memorial Holiday Project should be brought to life as the simple reminder that our decisions could cause a whole nation to have a lifetime of suffering, even death. To have a better future with peace and justice for all and not just a few, we must always be teachers and learners. We must not just flow along with everyone else, but remember pasts errors. This wisdom will provide a safe and better future; another Vietnam is not the answer. LETTERS: Daily misinterprets PLO terrorism To the Daily: The purpose of this letter is to address your consistent mis- use of quotation marks, to dis- cuss the ignorance of certain individuals you choose to in- terview, and to discuss the journalistic ethics of your edi- torial staff. On February 16, Muzammil Ahmed interviewed Paul Mc- Closky, and Paul was kind enough to share his views on the PLO with us: "To call the PLO today a "terrorist" organi- zation is unfair ... some of the folks are still 'terrorists' in the sense that they will try to wipe out Israeli Army installations." Paul, are you sure these folks only target army installations? On February 28, five Pales- tinian guerillas were discovered floating towards the Israeli city of Nahariya, with instructions to stage a raid on civilians. They were members of Al Fa- tah. They were members of the PLO. On February 29 (the very next day), the Daily Editorial Board writes: "Claims that the PLO is a 'terrorist' organiza- tion are just attempts by Israel PIRGIMc To the Daily: Your editorial board did not read the Engin Council resolu- tion on PIRGIM carefully. The resolution that was passed did* not call for the PIRGIM fee to be terminated immediately. The resolution only en- dorsed a petition and a potential MSA referendum that, if passed, would terminate the fee. The bulk of you editorial was based on a completely in- PIR G'EM To the Daily: While money taken from us without our consent earns in- terest in the coffers of a group which we never agreed to sup- port, we wonder aloud, "When are we going to get our PIR- GIM refunds?" For roughly three months now this sup- posedly non-partisan orga- nization have had their hands on our money and we're tired of waiting. If the Michigan Student As- sembly would take a brief rest from its vital task of passing resolutions condemning war, famine, and who knows, per- haps even death itself, they could investigate this matter. It and its proponents to discredit the PLO politically." In other words, the PLO is not a terror- ist organization - people just call them terrorists. On March 5, in the Weekend section, Caleb Southworth (Daily Opinion page Editor, no less) interviews Sami Ismail, who claims that "you cannot accuse an entire population of being terrorist. The PLO is a people's organization which really commands the respect and support of the vast me - ity of the Palestinian people.' Dare I ask how the PLO com- manded this respect? On March 8, The New York Times reports (the Daily got around to printing this on the ninth, by the way), that "Three Palestinian guerillas hijacked an Israeli bus, killing one hostage before they and two Israeli women died in a blaze of gunfire when Israeli troops stormed the bus ... Al Fatah, Yasir Arafat's organizational base within the PLO, took re- sponsibility for the hijacking." This incidents demonstrates that your use of quotation marks around the word terror- overspends accurate assumption. I find it interesting that you referred to last year's referen- dum on the fee. PIRGIM won the election by massively out- spending its opponents, by us- ing a fallacious campaign slo- gan "SAVE PIRGIM" (at a timewhen PIRGIM was run- ning a $ 70,000 surplus), and by completely vandalizing the opposition campaign. When will you editorialize about that? I hope that you are more careful and complete in your future coverage of the PIRGIM issue. -Steve Angelotti February 10 ists is incorrect. It is not just that some people call the PLO a terrorist organization - the PLO is a terrorist organization. They did not attack an army installation; they shot and killed an innocent man in cold blood, while also causing the deaths of two women. Mr. Ismail, is this what the Pales- tinian people respect? The final point I would like to make relates to the Daily's editorial board's journalistic ethics, or lack thereof. I would High tuition, To the Daily: One of the greatest barriers to real diversity here at U of M is the high price of education. Here are some facts. Next year, U of M tuition is going to be approximately twelve percent higher than this year. That might be the biggest one year tuition increase in U of M his- tory. Each in-state undergrad stu- dent will pay at least $300 more next year. Out-of-state students will pay at least $900 more. For freshmen and sophomores that cost increase does not even include cost in- creases that will come in dorms. In-state graduate students will be paying at least $500 more next year. Out-of-state grad. students will be paying over $900 more than this year. The increases a r e "necessary," says the U. Administration, because state funding of education is ex- tremely low this year. But, all is not lost. This is where con- cerned student lobbyists like MSA and MCC come in. Ev- eryone knows that the Michi- gan Student Assembly, our student government, does a lot of lobbying. The Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC), however, is less known. MCC is the state think that the idea of an opin- ion page is to allow for the equal expression of all view- points. However, you choose to present only the Palestinian perspective. Sure, you printed my letter, but compare that to your frequent anti-Israel editorials and interviews of Palestinians -- there is no comparison. You folks can count on quantity, whereas I must settle for quality. -Jack Nahmod March 11 less diversity student association of Michi- gan and represents the 200,000 students at Michigan's 15 state universities. MCC knows Pell Grants are being cut and is do- ing something about it. MCC sees levels of financial aid dropping and takes action when no one else does. Members of MCC regularly meet with leg- islators and argue for affordable and accessible education. MCC also works for smaller class sizes and better instruc- tional quality. In other states, student associations have actu- ally written legislation that helps students. To work even more affectively for students, MCC needs a permanent office in the state capitol. MCC wants to be stronger. It's an investment. All students will 4 benefit from MCC's work. Show your support for the Michigan Collegiate Coalition and vote yes on 5 in the MSA elections today and to- morrow. -Zachary Kittrie LSA Rep. to MSA Fat Al would like to hear from you. To let Al know what you think about his column, the 'U', or life in general, send a letter to him, c/o the Daily's Opinion page, 420 Maynard St, 48109. He's waiting. Fraud in El Salvador T HE ELECTIONS in El Salvador last Sunday are being heralded as an ex- periment to see if the tiny nation is ca- pable of governing itself. News reports portray the elections as free and uncor- rupted except for their "disruption" by leftist Salvadoran guerrillas. As usual, the North American public is only get- ting the U.S. media's presentation of the Reagan administration's propaganda as if it were fact. Actually, the tainted elections were virtually meaningless since El Salvador is a military-ruled U.S. puppet. The administration likes to portray the Sal- vadoran situation as a fledgling:, democracy fighting the expansion of Soviet communism embodied by the guerrillas. They prefer to ignore the immoral role the United States has so painfully played in El Salvador's recent past to ensure it is ruled by U.S. inter- ests which the U.S. labels "democratic." been documented as carrying out nu- merous death squad murders since the 1970s. Robert D'Abuisson is the leader of Arena and has been charged by hu- man rights groups of orchestrating the killing the Archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero. The mainstream U.S. press claims Arena's victory will threaten the recent moves toward freedom of expression and bringing political murderers to jus- tice by President Duarte. In fact, politi- cal freedoms have been just as restricted under Duarte as under his military pre- decessors. The masses live under the same terror and fear of death squads since they still operate with the gov- ernment's tacit approval. The popula- tion fears continuous violent govern- ment action in the name of fighting communism. Salvadorans cannot be helped by meaningless exercises falsely labeled as "free elections," they can be aided by a cut-off of U.S. aid to their repressive, Zinn IF WE HADN'T SHOT THOSE TERRORISTS IN GIBRAiLTAR, A LOT OF PEOPLE COULD HAV/E BEEN KI.LED. T' . 4 (W\oP5.