Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 16, 1990 Whe tc Tig nU]ail EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigah 48109 ARTS 763 0379 PHOTO 764 0552 NEWS 764 0552 SPORTS 747 3336 OPINION 747 2814 WEEKEND 747 4630 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. View W 1 IS TVA 7 . ME, I IN 1W v f v ,r J tT /. L i I o w f j i , 1 - .. AND V4 DA SDFT R i (f JOS[ r PIC- MK-N l c9AN Ho C-9 a / x L t f tl ; Pollution Companies need to clean up, not look for excuses THE GREEDY PURSUIT OF PROF- its by big business has long been a source of pollution, protected by politicians and economists who think this greed can be harnessed and used to help preserve the environment. Now President George Bush has proposed a system which would allow companies to buy and sell the "right" to pollute as part of a plan to encourage them to clean up their operations. The ultimate goal of the proposal is a global market that would treat pollution permits like stocks and bonds. The idea of trading pollution rights is the centerpiece of Bush's plan to combat acid rain. Under the strategy, the government would set limits on emissions of sulfur dioxide, a primary cause of acid rain. But, rather than the government dictating how these limits are to be met, the open market will de- termine the "cheapest and most efficient way" to meet the limits. Each individual company would be allotted an acceptable level of sulfur dioxide production. If a company man- ages to pollute less than its "share," it would receive permits representative of its surplus, which it could then sell to other companies which could not meet their limits. According to Bush, com- panies would have an enormous incen- tive to keep their emissions down so they could profit from selling their surplus. Meanwhile, Bush claims the money raised by the government from selling permits would go to help clean up the environment. Though Bush's plan is certainly in- novative, it will likely do little to curb pollution by big business. First of all, companies are not environmentally motivated. The incentive in the plan will not be to pollute less - this would require restructuring factories, retrain- ing workers, and remodeling products,' all of which require enormous expense. The true incentive here will be to buy up as many pollution permits as possi- ble in order to avoid incurring the ex- penses associated with fighting pollu- tion. Businesses aim to make profits, and ignoring pollution is one way to avoid costly environmental protection. As long as purchasing permits to pollute is cheaper than restructuring factories, business will have no incentive to change their habits and quit polluting. Since large companies with the most money will be able to buy the most pol- lution permits, they will not have to restructure their operations and will be able to continue manufacturing their products while ignoring harmful envi- ronmental side-effects. But most importantly, the Bush plan is a fiasco because it treats the envi- ronment like a commodity, something to be bought and sold. This sends the wrong message to the American people; clean water and clean air should be inalienable rights, along with life, lib- erty, and the pursuit of happiness. The United States needs to follow the lead of European nations and insti- tute a program that taxes companies severely for environmental violations. The money collected should go to envi- ronmental education and cleanup, not to buying more pollution. In addition, the names of companies that violate pollution laws should be publicized; there is nothing a company hates more than bad publicity. It is time the Bush administration faced reality - the environment is not a renewable resource and it is not a commodity. The only way to cut down on business pollution is to punish those responsible for it. Selling pollution rights won't reduce pollution, it will simply allow big companies to pay their way out of laws they don't like. AIDS is ignored in Black communities By Kimberly Smith Although much attention has been paid to the impact of AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, on some white communities, very little attention has been paid to the impact of AIDS on Black communities. Of the total number of per- sons with AIDS in the United States, 25 percent are Black, even though Blacks make up only approximately 15 percent of the total population. In the U.S., of women diagnosed with AIDS, 60 percent are Black. In addition, 60 percent of the babies born with AIDS are Black and 53 percent of children under the age of 13 with AIDS are Black. Smith is a second-year medical student and a member of the Black Medical Asso- ciation Despite these facts, very few efforts have been made to challenge and prevent the spread of AIDS in Black and poor communities. One consequence of this ne- glect has been minimal allocation of funds to AIDS-related efforts of medical and community institutions in Black commu- nities and half-hearted efforts at AIDS edu- cation prevention in Black and poor com- munities. In addition, many of the drugs that have been shown to lengthen the lives of AIDS patients are not available to Black and poor communities due to their expense and/or the bureaucracy of drugs certification procedures. ' Unlike some white communities, Black and poor communities have not had the political clout and the economic re- sources to mobilize a powerful and sus- tained fight against AIDS. Thus, the im- pact of AIDS is another weight on our al- ready overweighted shoulders. However, as Black students, we will not stand by and watch the devastation of AIDS without fighting back, and the first step in this struggle must be education. Tomorrow, the Black Medical Associa- tion along with the Black Law Student Al- liance, the Black Dental Student Associa- tion and other concerned groups will pre- sent a forum on AIDS in the Black Com- munity. This forum will consist of several speakers who will discuss the medical, epidemiological, legal, and economic aspects of AIDS and its impact on Blacks. The forum will be held in the auditorium of the School of Public Health from 1-5 p.m. Admission is free, refreshments will be served, and all who are interested are welcome. aColIleg R undupates Penn State joined Big Ten solely for athletics Penn State's decision to join the Big Fen last December was motivated by ath- letics, a move that prioritized sports pres- tige over the University's fundamental mission - education. The University's arrival in the Big Ten represents a step above the last athletic conference Penn State participated in - the Atlantic 10. The athletic competition the A-10 provided was scarce, the aca- demic network non-existent. By contrast, the Big Ten may be the best all-sports conference in the country, and it offers more academic support than the A-10. But though the Big Ten offers a sup- port system, it is still not something that will greatly benefit the day-to-day aca- demic life... If the University seriously wanted to ensure the move would enhance aca- demics, it should have consulted with a wider range of University community members. Talking with the Faculty Senate and the athletic director may have taken time, but it would have been worth weigh- ing the potential ramifications for both students and student-athletes. Members of the Faculty Senate last week rightly ob- jected to the lack of consultation. - The Daily Collegian Penn State University Januarv 31 Keep fighting racism To the Daily: I support the statement that "minority representation deserves more attention." (2/14/90). However, I cannot agree that "the burden to improve the atmosphere at the University of Michigan lies solely with the administration... " Changes with- in the University administration will occur when the term "University" refers to stu- dents, professors, and staff workers, as well as to administrative higher-ups. The risk of placing all the responsibility on the administration, and on UCAR for pressuring an abstracted "University," is to remove responsibility from the majority of students and faculty. We, as students, cannot wait for the administration to confront, constructively, the problems of low minority enrollment and low minority retention. If the com- munity of University students and faculty is to be attractive to people of color and to individuals of different economic and cul- tural backgrounds, that community itself must take the initiative when the adminis.. tration seems to move ahead with geologic lethargy. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, stu- dents turned out in impressive numbers for a march and rally defending the struggles of the civil rights movement. Commemo- ration of the political heritage of civil rights is one part of "improving the atmo- sphere" at the Univerity. Another is a sim- ilar show of force by students for greater equality at the University in the 90s. The administration will respond to proposals by UCAR if the student body and faculty demonstrate, at an active, day to day level, their support for people of color on this campus. The Daily stated that a mandatory course dealing with racism is "the only way" to educate students about racism. No. The proposal for such a course failed, but students can still organize their own forums which debate questions of racism at the University and in society more gen- erally, can still work behind the efforts of student organizations representing minor- ity students, and can still develop a student movement which does not isolate UCAR at one end of the spectrum and the "University" at the other. The Daily editorial rightly placed the issue of racism at the University into the broader context of state government poli- cies on education. That context need not, though, restrict student activism. Since the University is a public and state-run in- stitution, however much it dresses in the garb of a private and elitist one, interven- tion by students and faculty on decisions about financial aid, enrollment, and curric- ula, becomes all the more crucial. Students have the opportunity to direct the attention both of academic manage- ment and of state officials to the undemo- cratic foundations of the University. They can best seize that opportunity by taking the lead in thoughtful discussion and orga- nized action. Ellen Poteet Member of Solidarity Rackham Graduate Student CC is in best interest of students and MSA To the Daily: Jennifer Van Valey's letter ("Con- servative Coalition works against pro- gressives," 2/13/90) openly accuses the Conservative Coalition and myself of waging a brutal war against the old traditions of MSA. I couldn't agree more. Recently Aaron Williams (President of MSA) and myself introduced over 12 new changes to MSA's Compiled Code and Constitution. These changes addressed such issues as revamping the election pro- cess, giving student groups a Bill of Rights, and restricting MSA funding to within the United States. On Feb. 6, Jennifer Van Valey and the Choice party successfully voted down a proposal that would allow the students of this university to vote on whether they wanted their money to be spent on foreign MSA "field trips." In addition, Van Valey and the Choice party opposed another proposal that would allow the students to vote on a Bill of Rights for Student Organizations. This document outlined the various rights enti- tled to every student group, in the hopes that, if passed, MSA could no longer pick: and choose those groups that it deemed "politically correct" and recognize and derecognize accordingly. This document would outline specifically to groups like TAGAR, Cornerstone Christian Fellow- ship, ROTC, and others what specific rights they have under MSA's Constitu- tion. Currently, there exists no such doc- ument. The Bill of Rights states that "re- ligious and political organizations have the right to maintain autonomy in order-; ing their own internal affairs... [this] is thus a means by which religious and polit- ical organizations define themselves." Van Valey accuses this of being discrimina- tory, but is it discriminatory to allow such' groups to be free from MSA's wrath of: derecognition if MSA disagrees with the, religious or political mission of a group? Overall, the Conservative Coalition: has attempted to give the students of this campus a vote on the activities of their student government. The only proposal Van Valey and the Choice party have made thus far this term to the Compiled Code or Constitution is to allow Van Valey's vice=,, chair a key to the back door of MSA's offices. Bryan Mistele Budget Priorities Committee Chair, Conservative Coalition Member: - - - - - - - - - ::;; 7 - - Teenage sex: Politicians Senators in Washington state are trying to impose their own morals on the teenage population by proposing a bill that would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to have sexual contact unless they were married. The rationale behind this bill is that it would help prevent the spread of AIDS. One of the bill's sponsors acknowledged that it would be impossible to enforce the law and concluded that its strength would lie in the fact that it could be used as a out of the bedroom! convenient excuse for young people to avoid having sex. When will politicians learn to stay out of the bedroom? There are more important issues senators need to deal with than the sexual conduct of teenagers, or adults for that matter. The sexual morality of teenagers should be the responsibility of parents, not politicians. - The Daily Kansan University of Kansas January 26 Abraham Lincoln does not deserve recognition on Presidents' Day By Tony Silber This week, Americans celebrate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birth- days on Presidents' Day, a national holi- day. While Washington should be com- memorated as the father of our country and the crusader for our independence in the Revolutionary war, there is little reason to commemorate Lincoln. His birth should not be recognized as a national holiday and for all his glories which loom large in the nored it, and acted unilaterally. He rarely consulted Congress and he single-handedly usurped more power than any other chief executive since the founding of the Repub- lic. Several of his actions were later ruled unconstitutional, such as his suspending the writ of habeas corpus and calling for a conscription. In many ways, Lincoln looks like a dictator in his rule over the "divided house," and instead of seeking support from the two other branches of the Lincoln appointed many "political gen- erals" at the outbreak of the war. These were men with no combat experience who the President appointed for their political support, not for their abilities in a war. James McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, ex- plains, "These appointments made politi- cal sense but sometimes produced military calamity... 'Political General' became al- most a synonym for incompetency, espe- credited with freeing the slaves. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lincoln was a racist who didn't care about Blacks or slavery. In his message to Congress on July 4, 1861, he said that he had "no pur- pose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so." Then, 18 months later, he issued his much celebrated Emancipation Proclamation which freed all the slaves. Shelby Foote, any means and Lincoln was not progres- sive on the issue of Black equality. Why do we celebrate Lincoln? His war' was a war to preserve the union at all costs - that cost would eventually be nearly 800,000 American lives and prop- erty damage which cannot be estimated in today's dollars. He usurped and exercised powers not given to him in the Constitu- tion and freauently operated without the