4 OPINION Monday, September 26, 1988 Page 4 The Michigan Daily Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. IC No.13 420 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. Mazrui contested 4 'Dangerous IT'S TIME to play monopoly except this time it's for real. The players are the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press vs. the Michigan Citizens for an Independent Press. The News and the Free Press want to combine their busi- nesses, resulting in a monopoly over the Detroit's newspaper industry and threatening the quality of news cover- age. Michigan Citizens for an Independent Press, representing a small group of readers, advertisers, and an indepen- dent newspaper, the Arkansas Demo- crat, is trying to prevent the merger through a court battle. The merger was approved by then-Attorney General Edwin Meese and upheld by a federal court ruling. The only hope now for the Michigan Citizens for an Independent Press is a federal appeals court injunc- tion temporarily blocking the merger until it reaches a decision. If this monopoly goes through, ad- vertisement and subscription prices will shoot up, while the quality of the news will decline due to a lack of competi- tion. The newspapers will also have no incentive to print the news quickly. They will leave out important stories while shortening the coverage on oth- ers. It is likely that the merger will be up- held since the press is influential in shaping public policy. The News and the Free Press are part of the two largest newspaper chains in the coun- try, Gannett and Knight-Ridder. Their combined influence dwarfs that of the Michigan Citizens for an Independent Press. A monopoly is made possible by the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, which states that failing newspapers are exempt from anti-trust laws. The asser- tion that the Detroit newspapers are failing is puzzling because both were prosperous up until nine years ago. Apparently though, the Free Press was not prosperous enough for its. owner, Alvah Chapman, who nine years ago decided that he wanted a monopoly monopoly over the Detroit newspaper industry. Chapman started cutting prices to drive the Detroit News into bankruptcy, but the News fought back. Now both papers are still in business but losing money as a result of this pnce war. If Chapman had not been so greedy, the Free Press and the News would still be making money. Chapman is trying to blackmail his opponents by threatening to shut down the Free Press should the courts rule against him. He argues that closing the Free Press would eliminate 2,200 jobs. This is unlikely because Chapman would lose a great deal of money and his company's largest newspaper. He has enough resources to easily keep the newspaper running until it starts mak- ing money again. As demonstrated by the period preceding the price war, the paper could still turn a profit. Even if the merger is allowed, Chapman would still have to eliminate at least 500 jobs. The precedent that this merger could set for the newspaper industry is frightening. Other newspapers across the country would soon start forming similar monopolies. After all, they need only prove that they are a failing news- paper. And what better way to make a newspaper fail than to start a price war? Such newspapers would have nothing to lose because if they succeed in the price war, they win control over their market. If they do not succeed in the price war, they use the Newspaper Preservation Act in order to form a monopoly. Either way they make a lot of money. Corporate raiders would soon start feeding on the newspaper industry. A monopoly would make it possible for them to ruin not just one company but a whole sector of the industry. They would milk the newspaper industry for every last penny, then move on to their next prey. Meanwhile, this industry, so influential in shaping public policy, would die a slow death.. How ironic it would be that the great power of the press precipitated its own downfall. By Marc J. Brennan Ignorance is contagious. I am referring to the interview with Dr. Ali Mazrui in "Allies: Israel and South Africa," (Daily 9/22/88), and his subsequent lecture that evening which prove that even the most educated individuals can be stereotypical, hypocritical, and oblivious to historical and present situations. This letter was originally intended to protest the heaping of Israel and South Africa in the same boat by Mazrui and Is- rael's detractors. However, Mazrui's speech uncovered a more serious aspect of his anti-Israel activity: anti-Semitism. The first part of Mazrui's speech echoed most of what appeared in the Daily. Of course, he neglected to mention that Is- rael's trade with South Africa is dwarfed by that of Europe, Arab states, and Black African states, and that South Africa re- ceives over 75 percent of its oil from Arab states. This demonstrates that Mazrui, the Palestine Solidarity Committee (the sponsors of this event along with Rack- ham Student Government), and the Arab states are not only hypocrites but are also only using the Israel-South Africa "alliance" to further their own anti-Israel goals by disseminating negative Israeli images. Even the allegations of an Israel-South Africa "alliance" (as the Daily proudly, Marc J. Berman is the President of the Union of Students for Israel. prominently, and in a typically misleading fashion printed as the title of the inter- view) were completely unsubstantiated. Mazrui produced no concrete evidence of such an association, providing only generalizations and comparisons that were more contrived than real. I need not continue on this issue be- cause the more significant second part of Mazrui's speech must be addressed. Mazrui proceeded to switch the subject from Israel and her relationship with South Africa to a subject that made me sick to my stomach: Israel and her rela- tionship to Nazi Germany. Mazrui warned that Israel's current role in the Arab-Israeli conflict is becoming a parallel to Nazi Germany. "Judeo-Naziism is no longer a contradiction in terms," he proclaimed, continuing that the "German picture is becoming part of the Israeli pic- ture." He also stated that "German experi- ence is Israeli experience," claiming that "Israel has the most efficient war machine since Nazi Germany." Mazrui's anti-Israel opinions then turned into anti-Semitism and racism. He com- pared Israel to Nazi Germany because of its "racial arrogance and exclusivity" through encouraged Jewish intrafaith mar- riage to create a racial purity, though he obviously doesn't realize that there are Black Jews, Asian Jews, and converts who create a varied ethnic diversity. He then told stories depicting Israelis as arrogant, rude, obnoxious, and "echoing of Aryan self-confidence." He continued to criticize Jews as "monopolizing the Holocaust as an experience." Finally, Mazrui noted that generous American support to Israel is maintained because the Jewish lobby controls the American government and media. Mazrui is completely ignorant regarding Jewish faith and history. To compare Is- rael to Nazi Germany is the ultimate racial slur. Nazi atrocities were responsible for the ruthless massacre of six million Jews, including one million babies. Of those who survived, many are mentally scarred for life. The Jewish people are still scarred and will never forget. To digress from politics to anti-Semitic tones only fuels the fire of hatred. The disturbing part of this experience is that the opinions expressed by Mazrui are shared by many others including the ma- jority of the attendees at this event. Racism and anti-Semitism are dangerous situations which have been proven by history time and time again. It is upset- ting and scary that such points of view still have so much support. It is disgraceful that the Palestine Soli- darity Committee invited a speaker with such convictions. It demonstrates that they would rather increase hostility between Jews and Arabs, making negotiations for peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict more dif- ficult. I urge all students on campus to be aware of and protest anti-Semitism on campus, be it open or under the shadow of anti-Israel propaganda. I understand that not all who are anti-Is- rael are anti-Semitic, however, Mazrui and his supporters certainly are both. :m. M 4 , H " 6'U, cheats students By Jon Zimring "There is no money," came the reply as Prof. Peterson began the second day of his Psychology 475 class. "I asked the de- partment to open more sections and they said there is no money. I'm sorry. I can't help you. I tried." Professor Peterson did try, but the University failed to honor his request. The result was that many students were turned away from a class in which they were genuinely interested, and were forced to compromise themselves in order to obtain enough credit hours. It is an all too familiar story and one which is alto- gether inexcusable at a school with the re- sources of the University of Michigan. Every year students receive a letter from the University apologizing for tuition which is "undesirably high." Every year undergraduates are required to pay hefty tuition increases or tack-on fees so that the quality of education at the University of Michigan need not be compromised. It seems that one way or the other, the Uni- versity always needs more money and al- ways finds a way of getting it. It is there- fore more than peculiar that the University seems to have such a difficult time ac- commodating its undergraduates due to monetary deficiencies. If the average Michigan student were to stop and think about it, he or she would realize what an insult to his or her intelligence the Uni- versity is getting away with by refusing to open classes. Where is all the money going? There are plenty of answers to that question. Where should the money be going, first and foremost? There is only one answer to this question. The students at the University of Michigan pay, and pay dearly, for excel- lence in education. Excellence in educa- tion, however, should not mean scram- bling to get classes for the credits alone. If undergraduates are turned away from the classes they really wish to take, they are not getting what they paid for. After all, how much money does it take to pay TAs to teach a few extra sections so that classes can be opened? Certainly, the TAs wouldn't mind answering this question. with the business. No matter what else it claims to be, the University of Michigan is a very poorly run and exploitive enter- prise if it can't provide for the most basic needs of its students. Wherever it is possible to allow higher enrollment with- out sacrificing quality, the University has a duty to do so. The bottom line is that the University is failing miserably at this duty! Every year the University of Michigan recruits from a pool of the best and the brightest students from around the nation. Those who are reading this letter represent the chosen few who were convinced that the University would serve their best in- 4 4 FBI's sordid history 'No matter what else it claims to be, the University of Michigan is a very poorly run and exploitive enterprise if it can't provide for the most basic needs of its students.' THIS AFTERNOON MARKS the can- cellation of the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation's scheduled recruiting visit to the University. For most people, the. FBI represents nothing more than an- other official branch of the U.S. gov- ernment. A sordid history suggests otherwise. A report from the "Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports On Intellegence Activities and the Rights of Americans" shows FBI policy and practice to in- clude hundreds of warrantless entries of questionable legality; techniques which deeply intrude "into the privacy of tar- geted individuals." Though these tactics were discerned as surreptitious in the sixties and seventies, the Justice Department still permits them in the form of "Black bag jobs." Over 500 such intelligence gathering break-ins have been conducted by the Bureau since 1960. Organizatons affiliated with progres- sive politics have been heavily victim- ized by the FBI's investigations. Inci- dents of harrassment and intimidation have been reported by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in associ- ation with the National Lawyers Guild. "The FBI utilized wire-taps, undercover agents, and informants," in addition to the "intensive physical surveillance" normally reserved for investigation of serious crimes. The Bureau also keeps thousands of files on people who attend peaceful demonstrations, who openly criticize the Reagan administration's foreign policy iniatives in Central America and South Africa, or who are somehow af- filiated with such activities. Several ex- FBI agents testify to the use of these seized or became subjects of FBI files." The FBI's actions and files released under the Freedom of Information Act demonstrates the Bureau's right-wing orientation. According to the CCR, if the FBI does not conduct the extensive break-ins experienced by dissident groups then "the break-ins are often carried out by right-wing groups who in turn give the information they collect ot the FBI." According to another UPI article, a Special Agent instructed a subordinate to compile sketches on hundreds of Americans critical of the Reagan administration's policies, and to draw from "literature from the John Birch Society and other right-wing groups." Under the Reagan administration, the Bureau is no longer required to ques- tion the way in which information is obtained from private individuals. Legally, executive order may allow the FBI to use "special techniques" in matters involving foreign pow- ers/agents. They are labeled as "terrorists," and dealt with accordingly. Thus the "possible connections with a foreign government" stipulation by ex- ecutive order allows the FBI a free hand in circumventing American's civil liberties. The Privacy Act is one legal form of defence against the FBI to which citi- zens have recourse. It forbids the filing or investigation of how individuals ex- ercise the rights granted them by the 1st Amendment "unless expressly autho- rized by statute." However, strictures embedded in the Act make it extremely difficult to sue successfully or to en- force it to specification. It has been observed that an institution as large as the University of Michigan must necessarily be run like a business. Perhaps so. A couple of very important characteristics of a successful business are ' its ability to allocate its resources properly and to maintain the goodwill of its cus- tomers. When University departments don't have the financial flexibility to open a few extra sections of a -popular class; when frustrated, disgruntled students feel cheated and helpless in the shadow of a large and unwieldy University bureaucracy; and when even the best of University pro- fessors aren't able to push hard enough to open channels that will ameliorate the sit- uation, there is something very wrong terests. If the University can't or won't figure out for itself what its duties to its undergraduates must be, then it is every students' obligation to let the administra- tion know exactly how to fulfill those du- ties. If each student who has been aggra- vated and abandoned by a system which is unable to provide and lacks the allocated resources to be adequately flexible would take ten minutes at the library to write a note to President Duderstadt, maybe he would take more than ten minutes to read them. And maybe then the University would stop making ludicrous excuses and provide the educational opportunities sup- posedly paid for by ever-increasing tuition bills. Zimring is an LSA Senior. :;.i "j j... t e ed eE:::........................: Nursing's vital role To the Daily: I am writing in response to the article "Major stymie 'U' students," (Daily, 9/12/88). I am alarmed at the percep- tion by Sheila Gomez relative to the -position of Nursing as stated in the article. Nursing is recognized internationally as an independent profession, free- standing and separate from Medicine. Nursing collaborates with Medicine in today's healthcare delivery systems and facilitates many of the thera- pies determined by physicians. Nursing's scope of practice as apies, and evaluate patient re-1 sponse to interventions with- out the direct guidance of a physican.c Your article greatly repre- sents the largest group of health care providers in the United States. I strongly sug- gest that you think of a way to correct the image you have displayed in this article. I alsot suggest that you visit one oft the health care facilities withinI the community and see for yourself how the care of pa- tients in those facilities occurs. You will surely find the nurse is the heaalth care provider who is at the bedside and available to the ill patient twenty-four hours a day. grant sexism. The Student As- sembly was, you will recall, about to enclose misogynist douches in the care packages given to female University housing residents, had Buckhoy and Paige not stopped them. Unfortunately, Buckhoy and Paige seem to have overlooked yet another insensitive act by the care package committee: the inclusion of peppermint mouthwash in packages for both sexes. For ages, humanity has been made to believe that our mouths are dirty and malodor- ous, and in need of extra spe- cial cleansing. But the inside of a healthy mouth does not need to be washed or "freshened," contrary to what the mouth- wash industry would have us think. Furthermore, mouth- wash contains ethyl alcohol, known to cause damage to the kidney, the liver, and the brain. -Alex Eulenberg September 20 Daily Opinion Page letter policy Due to the volume of mail, the Daily cannot print all the letters and columns it receives, although an effort is made to print the majority of material on a wide range of views. The Daily cuts letters and I