A
OPINION
.Yoge 4
Friday, December 2, 1988
The Michigan Daily
4
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
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V.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Vol. IC, No.60
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.
iS~Stop th
N DECEMBER 2, 1980, a Salvado-
ran government-controlled death squad
aed and murdered four U.S. mis-
'sionaries in El Salvador. The Carter
administration feigned concern for hu-
man rights in El Salvador with a tem-
porary suspension of economic and
military aid to the junta, but Carter re-
sumed U.S. aid at the announcement
of a rebel offensive and before any
investigation into the murders had
begun.
The Reagan administration's
-continuation of these actions is
summarized by Noam Chomsky and
Edward S. Herman in their new book,
_Manufacturing Consent.
"[T]he already badly compromised
'oncern to find the culprits diminished
further, and the dominance of the inter-
est m protecting the client regime in El
Salvador became still more over-
whelming. It was quickly clear that the
Whole business could be forgotten -
ud'=1ong with the thousands of Salvado-
rans already killed - except for the
demands of public relations. The
<willingness to support any feasible
overup was also quite evident."
nboorish statements Reagan's U.N.
_l-ombassador Jeane Kirkpatrick sug-
=gested that the actions of the women
were "an incitement to murder" while
secretary of State Alexander Haig said,
They were political activists on behalf
of the Frente and somebody who is
ising violence to oppose the Frente
killed these women." These lies sug-
gest that the butchery of the U.S.-
',backed regime was justified.
During the last nine years, the United
States has been consistent in its will-
ingness to ignore or attempt to justify
such human rights violations when
they conflict with its own economic
and political agenda. The Salvadoran
government is responsible for the
deaths of over 70,000 Salvadoran citi-
zens in the last nine years, yet the
ie
killing
United States continues to give it $1.5
million per day. The United States has
spent more than $3.6 billion during
this time to prop up a government
maintains control only through extreme
repression and mass murder of civil-
ians.
This nine-year war that the United
States and Salvadoran governments
have been waging against the Salvado-
ran people has had devastating effects.
Most Salvadorans live in terrible
poverty and fear of death squad at-
tacks. Almost 1 million Salvadorans
are living in forced exile in the United
States. Another 1.5 million have been
driven from their homes by scorched-
earth operations.
In addition to supplying it with eco-
nomic and military aid, the U.S. has
attempted to legitimize the Salvadoran
government by portraying El Salvador
as a "model democracy."
Elections in El Salvador are a farce.
Voting is obligatory and voters are
given a stamp proving participation.
Those without a stamp can be arrested.
Further, ballots are cast in lucite ballot
boxes, leaving the secrecy of the vote
in question.
In March, the government will stage
another election. The Arena party
which is responsible for the murder of
the four U.S. missionaries and the
assassination of Archbishop Romero is
expected to win with full U.S. support.
Despite the suffering, repression and
murder U.S. policy has inflicted on the
Salvadoran people, it has failed to sup-
press the popular and guerilla move-
ments in El Salvador. Low-intensity
warfare is not working.
The people of the United States must
stop U.S. military and economic aid to
the corrupt and repressive Salvadoran
government. The U.S. government
supplies the arms, weapons of torture,
and economic force which are breaking
El Salvador.
Tagar
careless,
not racist
To the Daily;
The Michigan Student As-
sembly has exhibited a pro-
found disregard for freedom of
speech and an astounding de-
gree of hypersensitivity by
voting to no longer recognize
Tagar, the campus group which
supports the Israeli right
wing. Still, I feel obligated to
come to the defense of Tagar
because of the extraordinarily
unfair way that they are being
treated by MSA.
MSA's attempts to silence
Tagar are in opposition to the
first amendment rights of every
American. MSA is trying to
force the removal of a wooden
ool bus from the Diag, a
protest which symbolizes the
wanton murder of innocent Is-
raelis. In addition, MSA is
seeking to eliminate ways in
which Tagar can effectively
publicize its views. In that the
members of Tagar are students
at this university, the have a
right to voice their opinions
regardless of who is offended.
Originally, the slogan "Stop
Arab Terrorism" was painted
on the bus. Some Arabs on
campus took offense at this
statement, and Tagar voluntar-
ily complied with their wishes,
changing the demonstration so
that it read "Stop All Terror-
ism."
When I first heard about this
incident I thought that the
original slogan was racist, but
upon further contemplation I
have decided that the commo-
tion is unjustified, since
Tagar's sign was not racist.
It is a fact that the terrorists
who have been attacking Israel
for years are Arabs. But per-
haps, as some on campus feel,
it is wrong to use such a broad
term, since admittedly not all
Arabs are terrorists. Shall we
then call the terrorists Pales-
tinians? Well, not all Pales-
tinians are terrorists, either.
Tagar had to find some name
to use, and "Arab" was the
term they came up with. It
would have been better if they
had written "Stop Terrorism
Perpetrated Against Israel," a
statement which can offend no
one. They probably did not
think of this, proving only that
they put little care into their
wording. This does not mean
that Tagar and its doctrines are
racist.
Those few Arabs who do kill
Israelis, Americans and other
people have given all other
Arabs a bad name. It is the
fault of those Arabs that in to-
day's society the word "Arab"
is too frequently associated
with terrorism. Tagar should
not be punished for using a
generalization which, though
wrong and offensive to some,
was not intended to harm or
discredit all Arabs.
Racism is wrong and should
be dealt with; Tagar's insensi-
tivity is merely regrettable.
The whole situation, unfortu-
nately, has gotten out of hand
because of hypersensitivity of
certain groups on campus.
What is unforgivable is MSA's
shocking attempts to destroy
freedom of speech on campus.
-Gil Renberg
November 30
Correction
To the Daily:
I'm sorry. In my letter to the
editor published November 10I
stated that the Michigan Daily
had referred to Griffith Neal as
an "accused rapist." The edi-
tor's note below my letter
the editorial in question (Daily,
11/10/88) reads:
"Such was the case of Grif-
fith Neal, the student accused
of raping a woman last year." I
am sorry that I accused the
Daily of calling him an accused
rapist, I must have read it
wrong.
-Thom Johnson
November 10
Men's
words
To the Daily:
In her "Women's Words"
column (Daily, 11/28/88),
Sandra Steingraber is both
inaccurate and distasteful as she
accuses the police of oppress-
ing women.
Steingraber's thesis is
flawed. by citing only those
examples of police brutality in
which women were the sole
victims, she attempts to
demonstrate some sort of con-
spiracy against women in our
nation's law enforcement sys-
tem. But she leaves out the
many more examples in which
both male and female protesters
were brutalized - for instance,
the protest of President Duder-
stadt's inauguration in which
she herself was injured.
Though she does remind us
that the police can be brutal,
she shows no evidence what-
soever of any intent to
"oppress" women.
Steingraber borders on the
preposterous in asserting that
beefing up police patrols in the
Ann Arbor Public Schools is
actually another instrument of
sexist oppression. I can per-
sonally attest to the falsehood
of this assertion; in addition to
taking classes at the Univer-
sity, I am a student at Ann Ar-
bor Huron High School. At the
Ann Arbor high schools, there
are drug dealers, one of whom
was expelled last year for
bringing an Uzi sub-machine
gun to school. This is what the
police are for. But Steingraber
goes to a new extreme in
offensive writing at the end of
her article, where she admits
that "it's a great fantasy" tocut
the suspenders of policemen
and strip these men down to "a
lot of naked flesh." It's worth
nothing that were the author
male and the sexes reversed in
this paragraph, the article
would not be printed because of
blatant sexism. To put it more
directly,,Steingraber advocates
sexual assault of men. This is
particularly shocking con-
sidering her recent procla-
mations about the "rape
culture." As a man, I would
feel extremely threatened by
someone holding a pair of
scissors who has just forcibly
.removed my clothes. Stein-
graber's hypocrisy is blatant
and inexcusable.
Thankfully, I have not en-
countered many women who
share this sentiment. Indeed,
judging from the opinions of
the women I know, it is safe to
say that Steingraber has yet to
write a representative view. So
I would request that the Daily,
if it is to publish a column
entitled "Women's Words,"
find authors with viewpoints
with which most women agree.
-Andrew J. Sullivan
November 28
Armenia
needs
freedom
world - has followed the
disturbing news of renewed
pogroms and atrocities
committed against the peaceful
and defenseless Armenian
populations living within the
present boundaries of Soviet
Azerbaijan.
While official statements
emanating from Moscow tend
to minimize the extent of the
incidents and the number of
Armenian victim of these
genocidal massacres, other
reliable sources and eyewitness
accounts speak of hundred of
innocent men, women, and
children killed, maimed or
wounded.
It is inconceivable that while
the trial of a few *of the
murderers of the recent
Sumgait pogrom of Armenians
is taking place in the capital of
the Soviet Union, a repeat
performance of those horrors is
taking place in various areas of
Soviet Nakhijevan and
Karabagh - both hi torically
Armenian regions presently
under Azerbaij an's
administration. The misleading
terminology of "ethnic
disturbances" and "Armenian-
Azeri clashes" used by official
Soviet sources in reference to
the incidents in Nakhijevan and
Karabagh only serves to
disguise the ugly reality of the
attempted uprooting and
annihilation of Armenian
populations living on ancestral
lands arbitrarily incorporated
into the Soviet Republic of
Azerbaijan by the late dictator
Joseph Stalin.
By now, it is obvious that
the only way to guarantee the
security and survival of the
Armenians of Artsakh
(Karabagh) and Nakhijevan is
not the questionable policy of
evacuating them from their
ancestral homes, but to remove
those two regions from the
Azeri jurisdiction and return
them, once and for all, to their
rightful owner - the
Armenian nation.
-Richard Najarian
November 29
Review
insults
Christ
To the Daily:
I'm writing in response to
the appalling critique of Jesus
Christ Superstar (Daily,
11/7/88). I saw the show Fri-
day night, and left the Power
Center feeling angry, disgusted,
and humiliated. I understand
that being part of a secular in-
stitution means learning to ac-
cept and respect other people's
points of view, but when my
faith is put down, mocked, and
dragged in the mud, a line must
be drawn.
Casting Pilate as a women
was not a stroke of creativity,
it was a sign of desperation.
Elizabeth Richmond had a
wonderful voice, and she com-
manded the stage. She was the
only sign of leadership in a
completely misdirected play.
Pilate was not "the victim of
hypocritical, back-stabbing
Christians," as you so crudely
put it. Pilate was a weak man.
He was afraid of losing his job
and his power so he permitted
an unlawful execution that he
didn't even support. He lacked
the values and convictions of a
strong leader, and in that sense,
th character played by Rich-
mond was misleading.
Jesus Christ was not "a
wimp" or "a sell-out to his.
image," and qualifying Him as
such is the highest form of in-
sult ever written or published.
There is no "hypocrisy in
lene in this show was a com-
plete fabrication of a misin-
formed director. You could
easily have written a clear, in-
formative article without these
unfounded comments.
-Helen Bellanca
Question
quayleism
To the Daily:
This letter is intended for
Mark Weisbrot in response to
his Perspective, "Is Quayleism
on the rise?"
Never make a generalization
that you cannot support.
Whether or not somebody cares
about what's going on in Cen-
tral America doesn't make
him/her a "Dan Quayle." You
used the hurricane that struck
Nicaragua as an example. You
said that Reagan was not send-
ing any type of aid to
Nicaragua, and in the same
breath, you said that Nicaragua
is suing the US for $12 bil-
lion. Would you give money
to somebody who was suing
you for $12 billion? Besides,
do you really think that any
money the US would send to
Nicaragua would get to the
people who actually need it?
And about the people collect-
ing money on campus, are they
for real? A couple of weeks
ago, a friend of mine was asked
for a $5 donation to help
Nicaragua. My friend asked
how the money was getting
there, and the guy said he
would give it to his supervisor,
who would then take it to
Nicaragua. Gosh Beav, do ya
think he's tellin' the truth? I'm
not saying that people
shouldn't help Nicaragua, I'm
just saying there are better
ways of doing it than passing
out money to every huckster
on the Diag holding a white
bucket.
Also, are you sure that the
only reason Reagan sent $125
million to Jamaica was because
"... the Jamaican government
was brought to power with the
help of CIA-sponsored destabi-
lization efforts in the early
'80s."? Maybe it was because
Reagan was protecting Ameri-
can interests, since millions of
Americans vacation in Jamaica
every year, ya think?
Personally, I agree with you
that Quayle is a younger and
less sophisticated version of
the fool who has occupied the
White House for nearly eight
years. However, I think you
were way out of line by calling
the people who are indifferent
towards Nicaragua "Dan
Quayle's." This is a very di-
verse university, and everybody
is entitled to their opinion. So
don't condemn people for being
indifferent towards a country
that is thousands of miles
away. Maybe they are inter-
ested in other things, things
that you don't even care about.
-David Bowbeer
October 30
4
Reject Dean Vest
TUESDAY Engineering Dean Charles mandatory class, rather than expressing
Vest was appointed by his former boss, "outrage" after the fact.
President James Duderstadt, to the L The position of Provost and Vice
number two-position at the University, President of Academic Affairs is very
:.Provost and Vice President for powerful. The Provost appropriates the*
'Academic Affairs. The University of funds to the 17 schools and colleges
lMichigan Board of Regents should and oversees their operation - he re-
reject Vest. ports only to the President and the Re-
Vest is portrayed as a good comple- gents.
ment to Duderstadt because of his sup- Vest believes that research is an in-
posedly amiable personality. Vest is tegral part of the University which im-
considered personable while Duder- proves the teaching ability of the pro-
stadt is short and terse. But com- fessors. Vest's commitment to research
;munications skills do not a provost while a part of Engineering suggests
make. The provost should be chosen that the University will remain a re-
n experience and ability, not search-oriented institution.
personality. The Regents should deny the nomi-
*'During their tenure in the Engineering nation of Dean Vest for Provost and
school, both Vest and Duderstadt su- instead pressure President Duderstadt
pervised military research designed to into nominating a candidate who would
kill people of the Third World more have a different background than him-
-e'ffectively. Anyone who has condoned self.
the University's participation in the If Duderstadt and Vest rule the Uni-
murder of people in the Third World versity like they ruled Engineering, the
should not be promoted to a position of University might well become a
power. "research-only" institution. The Uni-
In 1987, Vest inadequately dealt with versity needs more diverse opinions at
wo engineering societies which van- the top to ensure that this does not
alized the South Africa shanties and happen.
tore down anti-racist posters. Al- The University could be reprioritized
though Vest said he was "outraged" at quickly if the students, workers, and
the vandalism, he stated, at ±e time of faculty were allowed to elect a provost
the incident, that no disciplin: action who represented their concerns rather
vould be taken. Neither Vest :or the than the interest of the military-indus-
student societies acknowledged tie acts trial complex and big business. The
-as racist. -Provost needs to be accountable reflect
The University needs a provost who the progressive needs of the University
f nderstands racism and will act against community. This can only happen
=t through such measures as the through an election.
ARNTbs
I.A
Duly 1.
4
Thanks
Daily
To the Daily:
I just wanted to write the
Daily a note to say thanks to
have the opportunity to write
for it. When I was a second-
year law student at UM, I
started writing op-eds for the
Daily. Since then, I've been
published in the Wall Street
Journal, Newsday, and the
Chicago Tribune, not to men-
tion Dead Relix.
Thanks for giving me a place
to get started, and the freedom
to try different things.
4
To the Daily:
It is with great anxiety that
the Armenian-Ame'rican
I