Page 4- The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, October 15,1991 SIbr idhgrn ai1 mU 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 SENATOk KENWED11 How ASOVrTJIM& ALLE6A-FiaNS THOM A5 ? .._._... P~o YOU FMtL A6AthrST FUDGE 1~ 7.' q C "/ '. S - 1 /f WELL., t Doj'T S££ wHAT.5 wk~ON(o E '\NiTN A 4irLE S EJUA L h1RASSMErT "'" )Rcem Q Ei. A cou Pie of BARS A6 AG O -is SC.EArARY wTH~ THE Two ~C6s 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. :s: . . ...... rii TA Contract Resolution of contract is welcome, but long overdue ne week ago, the members of the Graduate Employees Organization signed a two-year contract with the Administration, ending seven months ofconfrontational negotiations. GEO over- whelmingly supported the new contract. Ninety- seven percent of the 524 that voted endorsed the hard-fought agreement. The resolution is welcome but long overdue. GEO's frequent threats to walk-out or strike, while supported by the Daily, were clearly detrimental in the short term for University students. The efforts of the union and its leadership should be commended. Despite great resistance and odds created by an Administration unwilling to budge on reasonable requests by the union, GEO " had the resilience and endurance to continue nego- tiations while employing enough agitation to expe- dite the process. While GEO calls the agreement fair, the Uni- versity community should remember the tactics the Administration used to quell GEO's attempts to negotiate a fair contract. At one point, the Admin- istration threatened to do its part to see that striking foreign TAs would be deported by rescinding their 'student visas - a tactic more worthy of 1920s union-busting corporations like United States Steel than a prominent University. Such terrorist tactics should never be employed by the University Ad- ministration again. Even after the April walkout - which had widespread TA support - the University refused to concede to legitimate GEO demands. They refused to grant a reasonable salary increase to TAs, and would not agree to the proposed enroll- ment cap of 25 students - a gesture geared to help both TAs and students get a better education. The new contract includes provisions to reduce class sizes and creates a grievance process - which will allow graduate teaching assistants to vent their frustrations with teaching conditions in the future - and hopefully prevent future con- flicts. The teaching assistants received smaller salary increases than they had originally demanded. The union accepted the smaller raises to ensure that low-fraction teaching assistants - those that teach less than ten hours a week- received partial tuition waivers. Despite the support for the new contract, 60% of the voting members of GEO wisely supported a contingent plan to strike, in case the process goes awry. Hopefully the union can learn to make use of the new grievance procedures and will not resort to use of a strike. The University must heed this warning, and act responsibly in the future to ensure that the lines of communication do not break down again. **,J$.~OOPS! I _ ;A~fM ;'..DIS6us7W6G.. 5vsr DIStvsTrN(&! -: 1 k--1-. r 1 l v ' , t , "1 ( . r i 1 r / molim A - I - , , , -Mv .....................................5 Ji }: : '{'."L":ti :::"}:ti{"i State health care Proposal is a great step toward ne million people in Michigan have no health care program. In the event of serious illness or injury, one million Michigan citizens, unable to afford treatment, have nowhere to turn. But state representative Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor), looking out on their behalf, has proposed _ an innovative universal state health care program to the Michigan House of Representatives. The tax-based program aims to extend insurance to everyone and is a long-awaited move toward a similar program on the national level. r The need for an improved health care system is urgent. If this program proves not to be the best possible solution, it is the closest the Michigan legislature has seen and may act as a catalyst for a effective changes in the future. Proponents believe the bill has little chance of approval by the House, but Bullard's suggestion will force legislators to think about the idea and may encourage further discussion and thought. The proposal, replacing private health insurance as well as Medicaid and Medicare would cover everyone in the state. Similar to Canada's national universal health care plan, if enacted,the bill would establish a state commission to set an acceptable salary for doctors, including specialists and other health care professionals. An annual budget, paid universal coverage through taxes, would determine hospital revenue. Arguments that socialized medicine would drive young doctors away and eventually lower medical quality may have some validity. But considering the one million people in the state who are presently unable to consult any physician, the difference is negligible. I feverybody could see a doctor when necessary, the infant mortality rate would stop skyrocketing every year. The idea of enduring pain to avoid robbery by greedy doctors would fade into oblivion. Lawmakers in Ohio, Missouri, Colorado and Hawaii are also considering such legislation. Each state attempts to provide for its own citizens, but states with traditional costly health care programs would disproportionately draw young doctors in- terested in making money. A national program would eliminate this trend It's time we stopped turning sick people away from hospitals because of outrageous costs. It's time families stopped having to bankrupt property be- cause of an extended illness. It's time for medicine to mean health, not ridiculous bills and crippling concerns. Although Bullard's program may not be ideal for America, it is a step in the right direction for the citizens of Michigan. Green str To the Daily: Generally I make it a rule not to respond to comments printed in the Daily which attack me' because I could end up writing a letter every night. However, I must respond to Corey Dolgon's piece entitled "SRC sells out student interests" (10/10/91) because Dolgon engages in something he has devoted his entire academic career to - revisionist history. In this article Dolgon alleges that at a Student Relations Board meeting last year I responded to his and former MSA President Jennifer Van Valey's inquiries regarding the macing incident at South Quad by stating "Corey, who really cares?" Dolgon, intentionally or unintentionally, completely misrepresents the events that transpired. I was indeed at this meeting as an LSA representative and I did make this comment. However, this comment was not in response to the situation Dolgon describes. The topic we were discussing at the time was Dolgon's efforts to have a individual from campus security fired for allegedly Piece shows bigotry To The Daily: I would like to take issue with Julie Steiner's article entitled "Anita Hill challenges norms" (10/14/91). Why does she refer to the men in the Senate Judiciary Committee as "white?" What does their race have to do with sexual harassment or the issue of the Clarence Thomas nomination? I too am deeply disturbed by the way sexual harassment is being handled in this country, and I sympathize for Anita Hill. But I am a white male, and I take serious offense to Steiner's blatant bigotry. As director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Aware- ness Center and as an influential r ikes ba Ck a making derisive comments about students. To this effort I stated: "Who really cares!" I did not understand how firing an individual would address student concerns regard- ing deputized security officers. It I invite Dolgon to come out of the sixties and work, in a constructive way, on issues such as the Union policy, which I suspect will be modified in the very near future. certainly did not address the reason we were at this meeting in the first place which was to explore ways of involving students more in the decision making process at the University. I felt the Vice President for Student Services should know that Corey Dolgon did not speak for all University students. I find it laughable that Dolgon and his supporters routinely leader on campus, I hope she will give her professional insight in the future without her very unprofessional biases. Shane Green LSA Senior More 'U'-Cop rap To the Daily: One afternoon about a week ago, I waas sitting in the MUG by the windows. My studying was interrupted by one of University's finest standing next to my booth. He asked me if I had seen who had just written on the cube. Looking out the window, I saw "Deane Baker is UM's #1 Bigot" emblazoned on four sides. Laughing, I said "No," but the officer continued to question me t Dolgon accuse my party of racism. If one attends any MSA meeting one will notice that the vast majority of people of color on the assem- bly, including Mexican-Ameri- cans, African-Americans, Native- Americans, Asian-Americans, and Indian-Americans, are members of my party, the Conservative Coalition. These individuals are members of the party because they share common values and have a common vision. Con- versely, the majority of our opposition are upper-class, white people like Dolgon who attempt to hide their own racial insensitiv- ity with trite and patronizing rhetoric. I invite Dolgon to come out of the sixties and work, in a con- structive way, on issues such as the Union policy, which I suspect will be modified in the very near future after weeks of negotiation. Change does not always occur by simply demanding it. We must become informed and then work for change, which is what this administration is doing. James Green MSA President 0 * 01 ai about suspicious persons and so on. he was evidently obsessed with this because after leaving me alone he went out and studied the cube for several minutes. Even though we have campus cops now, I still cannot walk home alone at night and I am still as likely to be a victim of violence or theft. But I rest assured with the knowledge that the freedom of speech of my fellow students will be controlled so as not to bother me. Lynn Mittler LSA Junior Write the i Write the Daily! Write the Diy General a ssistance? Republican welfare cuts leave underprivileged out in the cold * , F a p ., p°. w P . '' r " 1 . O n Friday, an Ingham County Judge ruled to temporarily block welfare cuts instituted by Governor Engler and demanded that the govern- ment reinstate General Assistance to 90,000 Michi- gan residents whose benefits were cut two weeks ago. He ruled the state must first determine which recipients were eligible for the State's disability program before cutting their welfare benefits. This is a welcome court ruling, especially to those people whose benefits were hastily cut by Engler. His cuts were aimed at single unemployed adults, most of whom are not eligible for any other benefits. The judges ruling will at least provide tempo- rary relief for these people. But unfortunately, the ruling is just that - temporary. The state plans to appeal the decision and implement the classifica- tion system demanded by the ruling. Once a clas- sification system is implemented, thousands will still be without benefits. This decision comes on the heals ofPresidential Bush's veto of legislation that would have pro- vided 20 weeks of extended unemployment ben- efits to over 2 million Americans hardest hit by the recession. Bush and Engler's respective decisions mark an unwelcome trend in government to de- crease welfare during times of recession. This latest action by the Engler Administration marks a widespread feeling in this country that welfare provides support for lazy people who prefer welfare dependency to holding a job. Noth- ing could be further from the truth. As a nation, we have a responsibility to aid the disadvantaged and unemployed. There aren't enough jobs. Over half the jobs created during the Reagan and Bush Ad- ministrations were low paying jobs. In times of crisis, it is the responsibility of the government to reduce the impact of that crisis on its people. The description that the 90,000 are able bodied and simply refuse to work is false. At least 59 percent have no work experience and 45 percent do not have a high school diploma or GED. Over 45 percent are over the age of 40 and at least 13 percent are disabled. These statistics provide a grim picture of those on general assistance. Thanks to Engler's proposed cuts and the weak- willed Congress who decided to go along withhim, thousands of Michigan's working class will have an especially tough winter. Their policy was halted by a legal technicality. To merely fix the techiical- ity and continue the policy is an injustice to Michigan's working class. In light of the opportu- nity provided by Friday's court ruling, Engler and the Congress should reverse this harmful step. Y, Why the Klan is free to march "Sex, drugs, and the Neville Brothers," Will said when I asked him what things he couldn't live without. I was a bit more practical when he turned the question to me. "Food, sleep, and freedom of expres - sion," I said. W i llI chuckled for a while. He didn't realize that I was com- perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." The quote comes from "On Lib- erty," by John Stuart Mill. I love it because it makes me profoundly aware of things which I have long felt, but could never put into words; like why racists and fascists have as much right to free speech as any- one. When most people are exposed to the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi organizations, they are repulsed to the core. What Mill's thoughts teach us is the value of this repulsion. Just as no one can understand the hor- rors of war unless they have been at war, no one can understand the evil of racism unless they have been exposed to it in its purist form. I was twelve when I watched the Klan march in the shadow of Inde- pendence Hall, in Philadelphia. At the time I wished that their right to from marching. In fact, I would probably still go to watch, and to voice my opposition. After all, as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote "If there be time to expose through discussion, the falsehood and fallicies, to avert the evil ... the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." Instead of trying to silence their opinions, I would once again ex- pose myself to the errors espoused by racists, and try to learn just as I did when I was twelve. I would experience the "clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." We live in a racist society. One which teaches us all to be racists to one degree or another. Stifling the freedom of expression of racists and fascists will never solve the problem. On the contrary,we would only be denying ourselves the op- by Matt Adler /.. p . r. r4 i,- Nuts and Bolts FOR THOSE OF14OOWHO 00 Sr TUNE IN TODAY. . Z OCE~ YU SKj YOR RtNI1 OR PtCK UP YESTERDAY',$ IVEBU8EEMJ by Judd Winick IOE nI4 A CONL,1~ QUEIONp 5.~ A pletely serious. I felt very hurt. I thought about my favorite quotation. "The pecu- liar evil of silencing the expression