Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Friday, September 13,1991 She Mchiga Bail 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN Editor in Chief STEPHEN HENDERSON Opinion Editor 'o aa a 5 Q C a ' i m Ll 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. e liv I P. ..................{:{Ci {};;{?r: "':f;}r{:{i ;{ r?' fs{ti '~rr{.;{~: i i :,i{o . . . . . . . . . . . . . .#' P ry r r r t.}} h.. rhp . .h} :hr,: rhh vh hh rv r r . .. F 'r S':S h SK {: ~ . f " r? r'.r{ Imo..... Emd Maintenance fee University should cut costs, not put burden on students A s though it weren't enough that students have beenhit with at least a 7 percent tuition increase this year, they are now also being asked to cough up an extra $100 for a new building and facility maintenance fee. And while it is clear that the new fee is partially a result of the University's increas- ing financial pressures, it is equally evident that the bloated administration here is largely responsible for creating those pressures in the first place. The national median salary for a university president is $98,000; President Duderstadt makes $162,000 in salary and $194,000 with bonuses. The national median salary for a university's chief financial officer is $62,000; the University's chief financial officer, Farris Womack, makes $157,000 in salary, and $179,000 with bonuses. Other Uni- versity administrators are paid equally dispropor- tionate wages. The University administration has grown 48 times faster than the student body over the past decade. In the same period, admittedly necessary building repairs have been neglected, class sizes have ballooned, and dorm rooms have become closets. Tuition increases have grown prohibitive. Nonetheless - and despite both a national recession and Gov. John Engler's predictions of massive budget cuts - the University's top-heavy administration voted itself another hefty round of pay increases last year ranging from 6 to 17 per- cent. This is the context for the University's decision to slap students with a maintenance and building fee. And this is why that decision borders on the absurd. As a public institution supposedly pledged to quality education, administrators have no busi- ness raking in such hefty piles of money while students themselves suffer. Sacrifices - if state budget priorities indeed mandate that they are necessary -must be shared. If campus buildings need to be repaired, fix them. But the administration must begin to find ways to pay for maintenance and repairs without relying solely on students' checkbooks. Of course, the state should not have cut funding for buildings and maintenance in the first place. The University should be able to rely on Lansing to maintain its "Ivory Towers." But because it can't, it mustcut excessive and unnecessary expenditures. At the very least, students should not be footing the bill. And they should not be footing it as a disguised tuition increase, which is essentially what the new fee is. Unless the University changes both its priori- ties and the way it presents them, it will be high time for students to mount pressure campaigns designed to force such transformations. N4 N) 0Y }) i/3 N4 C b h 4) D a) _d WE ARE EXPERIENCING SATELLITE DIFFICULTIES II I -um __.- -.4 m r :11ti:" ;":"y{.;.;''y.;:"f " " " 11:'"":V 1}}'::R',",'' h '' AS'':'1'. M "i k{:. :"tiv:{+:<<: rti: :'".'{"CAS'":}h4o"{ 4:< f}":ti: w"kh'"f1 Pump up the pep! Band, cheerleaders, should be at every football game uring the first half of this past weekend's to perform. Boston College game, Michigan players and So let the c fans alike were demoralized - and rightly so. to play on -j Second-ranked Michigan was losing to a 24-point State and Nol underdog. Clearly, a rousing chorus of "The Vic- opponents. tors" and a good cheer were needed to provide the team with an emotional boost. But thanks to a wrong-headed Athletic Depart- ment policy, the only cheering came from some pre-adolescent cheerleaders borrowed from a local high school. Worse yet, the Michigan Marching Band was replaced by a well-meaning, but under- standably inferior high school band. This season, the Athletic Department will pay for band members to attend only one away game- Michigan State. Four members of the Michigan cheerleading squad were able to go to the Boston College game with help from the Michigan Alumni Association, but the full team will only get funds from the Athletic Department to travel to Michigan State. Given their hard work, proud tradition, and morale-boosting role, Michigan's cheerleaders and band members deserve better. They deserve the right to represent the maize' and blue at every important sporting event. They work as hard as the football team to perfect their Band members skills; they should be given the same opportunities De Klerk's new proposal is a paper tiger heering continue and allow the band not just against the likes of Florida tre Dame, but against all Michigan Don't park in handicap spots To the Daily: A large number of University students don't know how to read. Ever since classes resumed, it has been impossible to find a handi- capped parking space. Everywhere I have gone over the last two weeks, there has been someone parked in the handi- capped spaces illegally. I have run into this situation at the bank, the supermarket, K-Mart and even in my own apartment complex parking lot. I have a handicapped parking permit because of weakness in my legs due to neuropathy. When I question people about why they are parked in these spaces illegally, the answer is always the same: "I'll only be here a minute." The fact of the matter is, people just don't care. I am going to start blocking their illegally parked vehicles by parking my own car behind theirs. I will not move my own vehicle until the police arrive to issue them a ticket. I have had it with inconsiderate people. No wonder the world is going to hell when people can't read a simple sign like "handicapped." On the other hand, maybe those people who park illegally in these spaces are handicapped - between the ears. Rick Hayner Ann Arbor resident Can B&R To the Daily: Another year, more home- work, more rain, more "Bread and Roses." The former seem unstoppable; B&R should go. First of all, the Daily is a newspaper, not a political action magazine. By running an out-and- out socialist column, the paper decreases its own objectivity and journalistic standing. Granted, the column appears in the editorial section, the fact remains that giving over a regular column to socialism - without a compa- rable column devoted to laissez- faire capitalism - is an endorse- ment of the socialist agenda. Second, the column is not written for the mainstream audience. The average person on campus has no particular ideology except perhaps a vague respect for diversity. "Bread & Roses" makes no attempt to justify socialism to the mainstream; it takes socialism as a starting point and proceeds to apply it. My suggestion? Abandon the column. The left already have Agenda, the right have the Michigan Review, but the center stands open. It's not too late for the Daily to step into the political mainstream on campus. For those who wonder why I haven't mentioned the author of the column, I should mention that to do so would - according to socialist morality - unfairly ignore all the little people who make the column possible.. If the Daily should take the second option and print a conser- vative column (Brie & Wine?) I should mention that I have a little room in my schedule to do some writing... just kidding. Jason Larke LSA sophomore Info in story was incorrect To the Daily: As a University student from the New York City area, I had the opportunity to follow closely the case of LSA sophomore David Donahue this summer. Upon returning to school, I was interested to see how the Daily would cover the story. Jennifer Silverberg's story,"'U' Student Faces Charges In Beat- ing," (Sept. 9, 1991) needs to-be corrected. The main problem with the article rests with the two times it cited Donahue as an active participant in the beating of Jermaine Ewell. I would suggest that the Daily refer its research staff to the Newsday cover story titled "What Happened That Night?" (Aug. 5, 1991). According to the Newsday account, which is corroborated by the findings of the Grand Jury indictment, Donahue had no active role in Ewell's horrible experience. The Grand Jury, in fact, only charged Donahue with criminal possession of a weapon, incite to riot, and conspiracy, while it indicted the other four defendants for assault and/or attempted murder. In the future I should think the Daily would separate the facts of a story from the rumors surround- ing and differentiate original charges from indictments. I am writing because the Daily plays the major role in disseminating information to the student body. It owes not only its readers, but, more importantly, the subjects of@ its information, the most clear and well-founded facts. Peter McPartlln LSA senior Frat parties not BYOB yet To the Daily: The Daily's recent article on the Greek system and the BYOB policy ("IFC executive board pushing for approval of BYOB policy," Sept 11, 1991) was both misleading and misrepresenting of the facts. Although the IFC Executive Board has agreed to begin discussing the feasibility of a BYOB policy, the article made it seem as if a BYOB policy were inevitable. On the contrary, IFC representatives from each fraternity house have yet to begin debating the topic in the IFC's weekly meetings. This debate is scheduled to start next week. It is these representatives who will ultimately make the decision about whether or not to bring BYOB to this campus. To call Greek support for BYOB "overwhelming" is simpl outrageous. With fraternities facing increasing pressure from their nationals, the community, and police, chapters have begun to take a closer look at BYOB. But this consideration of BYOB should not be considered to mean "support" of such a policy. In addition, the article quoted IFC President Matt Commers as saying that each fraternity was to have tried one BYOB party befor the end of last term. Whether for better or worse, IFC has never passed such a trial policy nor was one agreed on by the entire fraternity system. Only a small number of houses have acted on their own or in small groups to try BYOB parties. The Daily should avoid jumping the gun in proclaiming the creation of a BYOB policy and instead should allow the proper channels - the IFC board and representatives - to look at this issue intelligently and responsibly, as I know it will. Bruce Namerow member, IFC committee to review the social activity polhy LSA junior - - cheer at last year's Maryland game. 1 L ast week South African President F. W. de Klerk outlined his government's proposal for a new constitution. Supposedly aimed at creating genuine universal suffrage for all South Africans, it is long on style and short on substance. The current parliament, which excludes South Africa's Black majority, is divided into three chambers - one for whites and two smaller, weaker chambers for people of mixed race and Asian origin. De Klerk's proposal would replace this structure with two chambers, both open to all South Africans. Membership to the first chamber would be strictly proportional. Membership to the second chamber would be determined by tabulating the vote in nine newly designed regions. This regional chamber would have veto power over legislation enacted by the first chamber. De Klerk's plan also includes provisions for replacing the post of president with an executive council of three to five members drawn from the main political formations. President de Klerk's plan for South Africa's political future is clearly a weak attempt to create "universal suffrage." He has outlined a future for South Africa where the real power of the Black majority would be severely diluted. First, the second chamber of the newly created parliament would, under de Klerk's proposal, be dominated by property owners and taxpayers. This would favor the white majority class, since they own most of the property. Millions of Blacks have no real homes; they remain in squatter camps or rented homes without legal status. By giving this chamber veto power over the first chamber, whites would be able to veto legislation enacted by the Black majority, which would most likely dominate the first chamber. Secondly, by abolishing the post of president, de Klerk and his National Party have made it impossible for the Black majority to choose a single leader, thus encouraging in-fighting and fragmentation among rivaling Black groups. It is not difficult to see through de Klerk's proposal. Instead of abolishing apartheid, the new constitution merely reshapes it under the guise of creating anew democratic government. De Klerk's longstanding insincerity underscores why it was foolish for President Bush to drop U.S. sanctions against South Africa, thereby forfeiting Washington's main form of political leverage in Johannesburg. At a time when most other Southern African nations are taking real steps toward democratiza- tion, South Africa remains fixed on maintaining apartheid. While Zambia and Mozambique will both be holding their first multi-party vote in impending elections, South Africa - the region's most in- dustrial, developed, and educated country - stubbornly holds on to the status quo of white minority rule. r }t'art' ."+.::ix ""ax:rr: C.,+"ur,:.:::Yr aMe