Page 4 -The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 15, 1992 Elbr £idiTgau 1OaiIy 420 Maynard StreetA Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN Editor in Chief Edited and Managed STEPHEN HENDERSON by Students at the F TPE EDRO University of Michigan 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. 665H, I CAN'T 8ELIEve ! PtI DON'T 4bog2kL(, M2. j i1 S r 1H op Fs ! 7At>N ' N 44 S L-E A 7E t S-E '-- ro Ihr FfP :: P E H - ~~ Tho ~1AN~fpt4PL , > f'N B15- { sHLiL RC-g p CCS t6P44 (~~& It) CHc6-Ai'd VAALY - 40 Fake IDs Drinking age unnecessary, but C ollege students drink alcohol. They have done so for years, and they will continue to do so, regardless of any state or federally mandated drinking age. The 21-year-old drinking age has been in effect for some time now. And while it was an under- standable attempt to decrease the number of alco- hol-related deaths, the fact is that the only effect of a high drinking age has been to make otherwise law-abiding students into criminals. Last week, in an attempt to curb the rash of underage drinking, the Ann Arbor City Council passed an ordinance imposing stricter penalties for minors caught using false identification. Among these penalties are fines ranging up to $100 and community service sentences. In recent years, Ann Arbor has become less and less friendly to people under the age of 21 who wish to drink. Through public pressure - and on their own-bars, clubs, and even the Interfraternity Council have made efforts to stem under-age drink- ing. Now the City of Ann Arbor is jumping on this bandwagon. But the city's actions actions are ap- propriate, simply because the government has the responsibility to enforce laws created through a democratic process. bars need protection When a law such as the drinking age is passed, it is in the best interest of all involved to make sure that itis properly enforced. Bars and other drinking establishments need a way to protect their busi- nesses from legal action. Laws such as the fake ID ordinance help protect these establishments from liability. However, while it is proper to enforce the drinking age while it is in effect, the fact remains that it should not be in effect at all. The reason that each of the 50 states has a 21- year-old drinking age is simple. The federal gov- ernment threatens the states with cutting off high- way funds if they don't. This sort of pressure is undue. The states should have the prerogative to decide for themselves where to set the drinking age. When that prerogative is given, Michigan should choose to set it at 18. But in the meantime, for the sake of those legally liable, legislation like the fake ID ordi- nance should be passed and enforced. And as enforcement gets more and more difficult, and when every person under 21 is a criminal, then perhaps the government will realize how ridicu- lous that drinking age is. ...t.... }t-':.w,}...- .- t }}}:.:}i } .. . . . i{ ..J. .. ' . .. . . . .:..................................... ..............**.*..*..*.**.**.........:":i".. . MSA appointments political favors V.R Quayle in '92? President's illness redirects attention to vice presidency L ast week, when President Bush suddenly be- came ill during his economic trade mission to the Far East, the American public was forced to reconsider, with renewed seriousness, its opinion of the president's running-mate. Bush demonstrated some hard-ball American negotiating techniques ,bythrowing up under the table at a state dinner with Japanese dignitaries. According to the White House, the president was apparently only suffering from a flu bug when he collapsed in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Americans across the country were confronted with the unsettling image of Vice President Dan Quayle in the Oval Office. These events revived an important campaign issue - the health of the president and the qualifications of the vice presi- dential candidate. Vice President Quayle has been the subject of national ridicule ever since his weak performance during the 1988 elections. He earned a reputation for being a pretty boy, a poor student, a draft dodger, and a political buffoon. Among his follies was a speech suggesting the United States commit itself to making sure the planet is not hit by a giant flying asteroid. But a recent series of articles in The Washington Post, by David Broder and Bob Woodward, tells a different story. The reporters depict Vice President Quayle as a shrewd back- room politician who manipulated the president and the GOP into making him Bush's running mate. Moreover, Quayle's performance as President of the Senate has been one of some influence. His voting record is quite reactionary. So far, George Bush and the Republican Party have expressed no intentions of changing the Bush/ Quayle ticket for the 1992 election. No doubt Bush knows the old adage, "don't change a winning game." But whether Quayle is really an ignorant show-piece or a conniving politician, he should not be in the vice-presidential mansion in 1992. It would be a dangerous gamble to re-elect President Bush if Dan Quayle is the person on deck. Bush's illness last week should serve as a re- minder that a State of the Union Address from a President Quayle is becoming an increasingly real possibility. It should also remind the public that the vice-presidential candidate is an important factor to consider during elections. It should not be for- gotten that the person a president chooses as their running mate is a reflection of their own judge- ment. Like a candidate's platform, their politics, and their record, their running mate too must be examined before the voting ballots are punched. by Amy Polk MSA committee and com- mission chair elections are never a fun experience. Elections always take place the night before the last day of classes, when papers and exams are fast approaching. These particular MSA meetings run at least three hours, during a period when everyone has other pressing uses for their time. But the most recent round of MSA committee chair elections last month surprised me with an all-time high level of anxiety. Without exception, the Conservative Coalition (CC), which holds the majority of the representative seats as on MSA, saw its candidates of choice get elected to every committee chair, every commission chair, every committee vice chair. MSA representatives from opposition parties, independent reps from small schools, and interested students with no previous affiliation to MSA were all rejected by the CC-dominated assembly. Law School representative Michael Warren was reappointed as chair of the Student Rights Commission, even though he has drawn much criticism for his ineptitude in handling a number of explosive incidents during fall term. LSA sophomore Sejal Mistry, who has almost no previous experience with budgets or finance, was chosen over second- year MBA student Tony Vernon to chair the Budget Priorities Committee. Polk is a Rackham MSA represen- tative. MSA committee and commission chairs were not selected during the MSA meeting the night before the last day of classes; they were selected at a Conservative Coalition party meeting the Sunday before. Engineering junior John Vandenberg was appointed chair of the Peace and Justice Commis- sion, even though he openly stated that he would schedule meetings so that people with whom he disagreed could not attend. (John Vandenberg's practice is in direct violation of the MSA Code and Constitution, which state that MSA commis- the entire student body by voting for the most qualified candidate. Or he could sell out student interests by voting for his party favorite. Green chose the latter, to the detriment of the student body. MSA committee and commis- sion chairs were not selected during the MSA meeting the night before the last day of classes; they were selected at a Conservative sions must operate in an open and democratic manner.) But the climax of the evening came during the selection of the vice chair for the Budget Priori- ties Committee. First-year MBA student Michael Odurro and Engineering sophomore Brent House were vying for the seat. Odurro's experience can be matched by few students on campus. ie chaired thestudent government Budget Priorities Committee during his under- graduate years at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After graduation, Odurro managed the budget for a state agency in Massachusetts. He is now an MBA student majoring in finance. CC candidate Brent House had no such qualifications. Votes between Odurro and House were evenly split, and Conservative Coalition MSA President James Green had to break the tie. At that moment, Green could have chosen to serve Coalition party meeting the Sunday before. MSA committees and com- missions should not be political rewards to be handed out like poker chips during closed-door sessions. The committees and commis- sions should be an opportunity for students to work on projects which address issues which are important to them. By working on these projects, students can gain hands-on organizing experience not available in the classroom. Leadership positions in MSA committees and commissions are too important to leave to a CC- dominated assembly. The Conservative Coalition was able to elect a full slate because it had a majority of seats on MSA. I hope students remember this set of interactions, and CC's robot-like voting behavior during the next round of MSA elections in March. 0 0 Despotism Future offormer Soviet states could bring dictatorship ast week, citizens of the republic of Georgia protestors with rockets, anti-tank weapons, and L gathered to begin clearing Rustaveli Prospekt high powered rifles then anti-government rebels - a street in the capital city of Tbilisi - of broken fired on a government demonstration. glass and debris, after a bitter two-week national Last week, following a weeks-long siege in the crisis that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Parliament building with close supporters, Georgians. The trend in the former Soviet states, Gamsakhurdia was forced to leave office. Dzhaba like Georgia, of former communists becoming Ioseliana has been installed as the new military powerful dictators threatens the future of growing leader, and now leads the republic on an interim. democracies. He has promised to hold new elections next year. The conflict in Georgia resulted in the ouster of In the Ukraine, tensions between the Ukranian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who had been Army and the Soviet army have arisen. In democratically elected last spring, capturing 87 Azerbijani, secessionist movements threaten to percent of the vote. Recently, Gamsakhurdia has break the country apart. been widely accused of seizing dictatorial powers. In Russia, President Yeltsin has extended ex- The events that took place in Georgia should ceedingly strong authority throughthe use of presi- serve as a warning to the other former Soviet dential decrees. Yeltsin's moves to Russianize the republics. The best way to prevent ethnic strife and entire Soviet intelligence apparatus and his past head off civil war in the region is to prevent any one threats to bring the former Soviet military under person from holding excessive power. The protest- Russian control illustrate Yeltsin's despotic ten- ers in Georgia were right to recognize this danger. dencies. Following the August coup in the Soviet Union, Events in the republics of the former Soviet Gamsakhurdia federalized the National Guard by Union create a tumultuous future of the Common- merging it with the police, and placed it under his wealth of Independent States. Such new democra- personal control. cies are inherently fragile and unstable. Some of the national guard units refused to With the creation of new governments in the cooperate and set up camp outside Tbilisi. Many republics, there is a possibility that those in charge anti-government demonstrators beganlarge peace- will seize dictatorial powers. All those involved ful protests. The government began firing on the should be aware of this possibility. Communism against human nature Kreg Nichols In December, The New York Times used a full page headline to declare the death of the Soviet Union. The Soviet collapse occurred only two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and loss of its Eastern Bloc satellites. These events, combined with reforms that have taken place in Commu- nist Red China, have many people wondering about communism's feasibility. The answer to this question is quite simple using the former U.S.S.R as an example. Pure communism will not work in large involuntary societies because of its dependence on the innate goodness of human nature. The theory of communism was developed in the 1800's by the German philosopher Karl Marx. According to Marx, the state would own and control all basic industries that produced goods and services. Each person would work to their ability for the betterment of both the state and their fellow man, while the government redistributed wealth equally among them. Communism would be achieved through a series of social stages. These stages began with simple communism, transgressed to slavery and feudalism, and eventually developed into capitalism. Marx believed orni va, ate r ner o f capitalism the majority of the wealth would be amassed in the hands of the few. To counter this, the exploited workers would rise up to over- throw the government forming a proletarian dictatorship. This dictatorship would eventually happiness and ambition are not i determined by their own wealth and position, but from their wealth and position relative to those around them. People work harder to make things better for them- selves. When Plato created his Ideal Communism can therefore be envisioned as a perfect machine. However, if such a machine's gears and other pieces are human it will be prone to breakdown and failure. give way to the emergence of a socialist state. Finally, true communism would emerge with the complete withering of the state. In theory, communism might seem like an ideal solution to the complexities of society. It is not communism's theoretical side that we should be concerned with. Instead we should examine the practicality of this system. Marxist theory is based upon the goodness of human nature. Marx believed that each person in society desired to work to their potential for the common good of man. In order for this to be achieved, each person had to place both the state and their fellow man above themselves. This might work if humans morP machine withnnt ncnirn- Republic it was very much like a Marxist state. He pointed out, though, that this state is not attainable. The expectations of this system are not suited to M human nature. Communism can therefore be envisioned as a perfect machine. However, if such a machine's gears and other pieces are human it will be prone to breakdown and failure. This is exactly what is happen- ing to communist states today. The inability to achieve true communism has been demon- strated by its failures. This does not mean that partial socialism does not work. Socialism has been very effective in many European Countries. Instead, we must understand the need for competition, how- ever dight it mav he Onlv then Nuts and Bolts I UNDRSTAND-THAT Ct) GO(YS ACAN- IbUPSETL - NOWA N ~~~4'Sr ? by Judd Winick W~E eRIBE ORCRES1 INTO 5KIPPiNbICU.R ENEM1AS. ------------ NAIWRRIC-iTZ OK SINCE WHEN PIP YOU TWO START SMOKING? "