Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 1, 1990 Utie M~idhigan Bfl aug EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 T E criANwIN oR.\. OF~ PZ2E ,E UCA NOAH FINKEL Editor in Chief DAVID SCHWARTZ Opinion Editor 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. Doing too little Proposal to cut funds to El Salvador isn't enough THIS WEEK, THE SENATE APPRO- y Damas continues to point his accus- priations Committee will vote on a pro- ing finger at army helicopters "sowing posal that would cut in half the $82.5 terror" among an innocent population. million U.S. military budget to El Sal- Last week, the respected indepen- "vador. Citing massive human rights dent human rights monitor Americas abuses and the Salvadoran govern- Watch, in one of its harshest condem- ment's consistent failure to redress nations of the Salvadoran government them, Senators Christopher Dodd and ever, confirmed the archbishop's as- Patrick Leahy introduced their proposal sessment. Issuing a study of nine no- hoping that it could somehow curb the torious examples of the Salvadoran abuses of a government that has re- government's human rights abuses, it ,ceived more than $4.5 billion in U.S. stated flatly that "despite a decade of ;funds over the last 11 years. promises to bring to justice those re- But it can't, because the Dodd-' sponsible for gross violations of hu- Leahy bill barely begins to address the man rights in El Salvador, the impunity problems it claims to solve. Even as of military officers and death squad Salvadoran President Cristiani was members suspected of the killings re- lobbying against any aid cut during a mains intact." four-day visit to Washington last week The Senate debate about cutting aid - while being praised for his sincerity represents less of a promising first step by senators from across the political than a tempest in a teapot. Not only spectrum - the Salvadoran air force does the Dodd-Leahy proposal leave finished yet another month of horrific half of the government's military aid human rights violations by bombing intact, but it also does nothing to slash the community of Las Vueltas in El the hundreds of millions of so-called Salvador's Chaletenango province. "non-lethal" aid which Washington Several people were wounded; 16 gives El Salvador every year - even houses were destroyed. though more than 74 percent of this The Salvadoran military continues to supposed economic aid indirectly funds justify such collective punishment, the government's war against its own much as it has for the past decade: if People. guerrilla sympathizers are hiding If the Bush Administration were se- among the civilian population, you riously concerned about peace in El must get rid of the civilians so that you Salvador, it would cut off of all aid to can find them. Or, in their own some- the Cristiani regime until it engaged the what more blunt analogy, you must FMLN - which continues to prove drain the sea to catch the fish, both willing to talk and flexible in its drai thesea o ctch he fsh.position - in genuine, substantial dia- Nobody can accuse their "drainage logue. Instead, as FMLN commander operations" of inefficiency. Over the Ana Guadalupe Martinez asserted after past 11 years, the Salvadoran military the fifth round of failed negotiations, it is responsible for more than 75,000 is clear that the govemment delegation civilian deaths. But the sea is still full "isn't here to negotiate, its here to buy and the guerrilla army - the "inthr ongtae t eet u Farabundo Marti National Liberation time." bMN )-s ntion'lytileato io'For as long as the Bush Administra- Front (FMLN) -- is not only still at tion and Congress are more willing to large, but also continues to enjoy the debate cosmetic changes in their Sal- support of the majority of the Salvado- vadoran policy than pursuing substan- ran people. tial change, 4hey too are buying time - Meanwhile, the human rights abuses time with which to satisfy their grow- mount, making it increasingly difficult ing chorus of critics that they are hu- for a money-strapped Washington to manitarians and that they mean busi- justify a policy that is clearly failing ness. But for now, the only business in and, moreover, causing the Bush Ad- El Salvador is business as usual: more ministration severe embarrassment. killings, more repression, more terror. Though Cristiani, Bush the Pentagon, Unless Washington stops stalling and the State Department blame the and confronts the increasingly horrific FMLN for both El Salvador's civil war ramifications of its Salvadoran policy, and the failing negotiations supposedly that precious remaining time in which it designed to end it, El Salvador's might still influence El Salvador's fu- courageous Archbishop Arturo Rivera ture appears to be running out. 0I I OWIM r r" 0 THEKO4X hOVely 'U' cops would be harmful to women* By Dawn Paulinski Women on this campus are afraid. We are afraid because it is not safe to walk home alone at night, and we are afraid be- cause it is not safe to be home alone at night. We are afraid because men feel free to objectify and harass us both day and night. And we are afraid because the ad- ministration on this campus is not con- cerned. Women on this campus had to stage a sit-in in order to force the University to create the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC). The adminis- tration has never initiated programs to im- prove lighting on campus. These and the emergency phones have only been put up in response to student demands. So now the University wants us to be- Paulinski, a School of Education senior, is a member of the Feminist Women's Union and the Daily's Opinion staff lieve that they are suddenly interested in the safety of women. They claim that arm- ing and deputizing campus security offi- cers is going to help alleviate the harass- ment and danger faced by women. Conveniently they ignore the fact that 90 percent of all rapes occur in the home, not on the street. Conveniently they ig- nore the fact that University campus secu- structively to women's. demands for groups like SAPAC, the University will respond by calling their security officers in order to intimidate and arrest us. The secu- rity officers are an unwanted threat and a use of money that could be better spent on improved bus service, lighting and educa- tion. In the past, the only way to force thO The security officers are an unwanted threat and a use of money that could be better spent on improved bus service, lighting and education. rity officers have repeatedly been accused of sexist and racist harassment of students and workers. Conveniently they ignore the fact that women on this campus do not feel these armed security officers will make the campus a safer place. These security officers will, in fact, present a greater danger to women on campus..Now, instead of responding con- University administration to respond to student demands has been direct action. We need to convince the administration we will not be ignored. We can not allow them to play cA women's real concerns to implement a policy that further endangers women on this campus. The first step is to make our presence and outrage felt. GOP tries to recruit Dave Barry as VIP I --It L E S G A B3 Y I A M N E A N N' S D- By DaveBarry Those of us who care deeply about America's future will be alarmed by the continuing efforts of high-level Republi- cans to recruit me as an influential national leader. The method they're using is direct mail. As you may recall, several months ago I reported that I had received a letter from U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, inviting me to join the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, a pres- tigious group open only to those Americans who met the rigorous entrance requirement of forking over $1,000. Sen. Dole's letter said that for an additional $285, I could go to Washington for a "closed door briefing" with "key Washington officials," PLUS attend a dinner-dance with President and Mrs. Bush. Needless to say, I was severely tempted, because when high-level Republicans get together, they definitely know how to "party down" to their favorite "rap" tunes: I'm from the G-0-P, and I know how to DANCE, Ido the bunny hop in my lime-green PANTS. I know how to boogie, I know how to JIVE, I got a statue of a jockey at the end of my DRIVE. (CIIORUS) Feelin' so good, momma, feelin' so right; Think I might fold my S&L tonight. Unfortunately, I was busy with various other obligations, such as washing my dog, and Inever got around to joining the Repub- lican Senatorial Inner Circle.-So you can imagine my surprise when, several weeks later, I got a letter from ANOTHER Repub- lican U.S. Senator, Don Nickles. (True anecdote: President Reagan once referred to Sen. Nickles as "Don RICKLES." This caused much amusement because of course Don Rickles is not a senator. He is our am- bassador to Iraq.) Sen. Nickles' letter invited me to join an even MORE exclusive group called the Presidential Roundtable, which is "made up of men and women, just like yourself, who have tremendous faith in the future of our nation and years of experience to share with our leaders." This came as news to me, because almost all my years of experience involve trying to think up new booger jokes. It's hard to picture our leaders wanting me to share this with them.,Or even necessarily to shake hands. But as Sen. Nickles says, "I wouldn't extend this invitation to you if I did not feel you were qualified to become a member." What they are looking for, in the way of qualifications, is five grand. But it sounds like a heck of a deal. As Sen. Nickles ex- plains: "... the Presidential Roundtable operates much like a a private club - a club whose members meet, talk and dine with some of the most important people in the world... Presidents, U.S. Senators, Cabinet Officers, White House Officials, and some of the most important people in America today." Forexample, they'replanning a golf outing with former President Gerald "Look OUT." Ford,a possible appearance by for- mer President Dick "Dick' Nixon, and (I swear I'm not making this up) "an elegant dinner at the Watergate Hotel." Quite frankly, this sounds like more fun than I would be able to stand without the aid of prescription drugs. I was giving it some senous thought when I got a letter from ANOTHER Republican U.S. Senator, John Heinz, urging me to act quickly on Sen. Nickles' offer. "I hope you are making plans to join us," he says. By this point I was begin- ning to wonder whether these Senators had anything to do in Washington aside from try to get me to be in exclusive clubs with them. I was half- way expecting them to start sending me sweepstakes- style letters with pictures of Ed McMahon telling me I might have already won a Valuable Prize, such as a five function LCD wristwatch or a working Stealth bomber. "How desperate are they?" I was asking myself. "How low are they willing to sink?" This is when I got the let- ter from Vice President Quayle. I am still not makinf this up. "Dear Mr. Barry,' the Vice President begins. "It gives me great pleasure to inform you that at the last meeting of the membership committee of the Republica* Senatorial Inner Circle, your name was placed in nomination by Senator Connie Mack and you were accepted for member- ship." The Vice President also states that "Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Shultz, Sam Walton, and other distinguished Ameri- cans have already joined the Inner Circle." Now I am really concerned. I am won- dering: Does this mean I owe them money? Can high-level federal officials FORCE me to be in their club? Could I possibly be appointed to the CABINET via direct mail? If I don't respond to them, will I hear from an even HIGHER-level official, in fact the most powerful Republican on the planet? Namely Arnold Schwarzenegger? These are some of the questions I'm pondering as I await their next letter. Mean- while I've started reading the non-comics sections of the newspaper so I'll be prepared in case I wind up in charge of the foreigr policy. Also I'm in the market for some lime-green pants. f OTuba MdagewcS.Ic 1\flghsReere S' Law groups condemn racist flier To the Daily: We join in condemning the racist fliers 'Caption was offensive To the Daily: Your depiction of the refugees in JorO elsewhere. May these words meant to di- vide our community serve only to E ::1' ti ti':ti :ti.{ : : : ; , .ti;:;;;:::'; ; ':; }'"'i~ ,'titi ti ~, }} ' ' \' :13f . }'j};( }' : T.t'.1 ', /r'/ .' ' .' . 'jC'{j{/ "Y ,a, } 7 j {{ ( " :.' 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