Page 4--The Michigan Daily- Monday, March 30, 1992
Eb£dlor InlaChief
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48 L09
764 - 0552
MAI'IHIEW D. RE NNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
Unsigned editorials represent a niajority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
t1MT'h E.DAILYi:}r::i::. . :.::::ti:""."::r:i:J
'Vote today,
Free Speech
n addition to electing membersi
Student Assembly, students vc
tomorrow will be asked to vote
referendum concerning a speechc
versity. Freedom of speech has be,
on campuses nationally. Students
now have the opportunity to decla
tion to any code restricting free sp
A "yes" vote will also endors
Collegiate Speech Protection Act,
proposed in the Michigan Legisl
any Michigan college administrati
ing freedom of speech. Any interv
ference by Lansing, however well
unsettling. Despite this, students
referendum to tell the University
that any speech code is a threa
Amendment rights and is unaccep
Demonstrations in 1989 and 19
terized by the chant "No cops, no
The regents have already deput
armed police force, dealing a t
students'rights. The U.S. District(
Michigan defended students' rig
down the original code as uncon
interim code, however, has not b
court of law.
However; the administration sJ
the code immediately, understandi
to view opinions openly and frank
important in an academic environ
administration a message. Vote "ye
code referendum.
. . . . .............................................. ............... ..:::
protect students' rights
Oversight Board
to the MichiganA nother important referendum on the MSA
ting today and ballot involves the board responsible for over-
up or down a seeing the conduct of University police. The over-
code at the Uni- sight board, which was mandated by Public Act
en under assault 120, must include two students. It will serve the
on this campus critical role of meting out disciplinary recommen-
are their opposi- dations to the Department of Public Safety (DPS)
eech. when individual officers act questionably.
e the Michigan It is vital that students elected to this board
which is the bill recognize the dangers of police misconduct and an
ature to restrict unbridled police force, and are committed to stu-
on from restrict- dents' rights.
vention or inter- While a handful of the candidates fit these
1-intentioned, is qualifications, Michael Dorsey and first-year law
should use the student David Schwartz will be the most effective
administration and outspoken boardmembers.
t to their First Dorsey has thorough knowledge of the flaws in
)table. the deputization process, and has expressed a com-
90 were charac- mitment to upholding the civil liberties of students.
guns, no code." Along with Christy Ochoa, he has earned the
ized their own endorsement of the Coalition of Students Against
errible blow to Deputization, a broad-based organization opposed
Court of Eastern to deputization.
hts by striking Schwartz too, is extremely well versed in Uni-
stitutional. The versity politics and DPS policy. His experience as
een tested in a a law student will be of great value to the board.
Students should be sure not to neglect this
hould eliminate critical referendum when voting in the MSA elec-
ng that the right tions.
dy is especially An active board that will serve as a watchdog
iment. Send the for DPS is needed to keep the department under
s on the speech community control, and to keep students as safe as
possible.
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U' housing rates fair, equal to off-campus rates
0
To the Daily:
In am writing in response to
Jennifer Sinacola's letter ("Hous-
ing hikes ludicrous and unjusti-
fied," 3/12/92). The article says "I
fail to understand how the
University can justify charging
such outrageous prices for the
residence halls." The reasons
these prices are charged is
because they are very comparable
to the prices in off-campus
housing.
I do agree that living off
campus would be somewhat more
enjoyable but there is only a
minimal amount of savings
involved. Rent will cost $2,160
for the year. Is that for the school
year or the total year?
Let's just say that it is for a
whole 12 months and you don't
have to worry about paying
money when you sublet in the
summer. Your food will cost
around $1200 during the year if
you only spend $35 a week.
Then there are the monthly
phone, electric and possibly cable
bills that will cost about $30 a
month, at the cheapest, which
means another $240 added to the
price of the apartment. There is a
security deposit that you are
supposed to get back at the end of
the year. That will probably cost
around $300 on average. With
these added expenses you are
now saving only around $385
over the dorm with the increase.
There are also added expenses
like getting electricity and phone
service turned on and a security
deposit on the phone. Cooking
utensils and cleaning supplies
must be bought that don't have to
be if you live in the dorm. Even
at the cheapest estimations you
will be saving very little. If
something happens to a roommate
you are stuck paying the extra rent
and the extra amount for bills. It
also takes a lot of time to prepare
meals that you don't have to while
living in the dorms.
Don't blame the housing
department for the cost of living in
Ann Arbor. All of the money is
being used and is accounted for in
the letters they sent to the students
living in the dormitories.
There might be a deal out there
where someone would save a
significant amount of money over
the dorm but for the most part,
with all the dorm offers, it comes
at a good price. The University is
definitely not charging outrageous
prices.
Jeremy Perrette
LSA sophomore
0I
Budget cuts hurt Michigan's kids
Michigan's youth might as well declare them-
selves part of a national disaster. According
to the 1992 Kids Count Data Book, a study that
examines the condition of America's children, the
well-being of children in Michigan has slid in rank
from 36 to 39 among the 50 states and the District
of Colombia. Although the statistics are fairly new,
the problems affecting Michigan youth have been
prevalent for years. Neither the government nor
the people of Michigan can afford to ignore these
problems any longer and must make efforts to
improve the status of Michigan's youngest citi-
zens.
Gov. John Engler has greatly contributed to the
downtrodden condition of Michigan's children by
cutting essential public services from the state's
budget. Department of Education spending has
,been significantly reduced, consequently abating
school safety programs, health education and for-
eign language instruction, and other educational
necessities. Engler has cut funding to creative
learning institutions such as the Detroit Science
Center and the Detroit Institute of the Arts.
State budget cuts have forced closings of a few
Childish behavior
Jn the two weeks since the Michigan and Illinois
primaries, an already weak campaign has taken
a disturbing turn for the worse. Last week, Demo-
cratic National Committee Chair Ron Brown spe-
cifically criticized former California Gov. Jerry
grown forlashing out atArkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.
This type ofparty infighting
must end.
The focus of the Demo-
cratic race since then has
been and endless series of
verbal assaults between the
two candidates - one that
has had little focus on any
poignantissues, and has left
the two looking like bellig-
erent toddlers fighting over
a lollipop.
But, as Americans who
have been forced to watch
Brown and Clinton bicker
know, the presidency needs
to be taken much more seri-
ously than a lollipop.
Brown's attacks have consisted largely ofmind-
less character attacks on Clinton. Most notably,
Brown's televised tirade about Hillary Clinton's
alleged involvement in an Arkansas scandal is
evidence of his belligerent attitude. Brown, whose
platform has considerable merit, has far better
things to criticize Clinton for than indiscretions
that may or may not have actually occurred, and it
would behoove him to start bringing them up.
Clinton's attacks on Brown have mostly been
state mental health facilities for children, leaving a
number of mentally ill children to fend for them-
selves. This shifts the burden of caring for many of
these children onto religious organizations, shel-
ters and soup kitchens, all of which suffer budget
problems of their own. Decreasing after-school
services have left many children to learn their
cultural and social education on the streets, result-
ing in increased adolescent violence, drug abuse
and teen pregnancies.
Many adults have become jobless and even
homeless because of the recession, and their prob-
lems are only exacerbated by state cuts in social
services. Adults are increasingly unable to provide
enough financial and emotional security for their
children. Philanthropic organizations cannot ad-
equately help children without government funds.
Poor children in particular are powerless to
effectively protest the government that ignores
their welfare. These children cannot vote or form
a special interest group. They have little money
and few resources to fight their own battles. Unless
the government is willing to aid its children, Michi-
gan should anticipate a grim future.
hurts campaign
retaliatory, and have tried to paint the former
California governor as someone who is making
desperate attempts at character assassination in
order to achieve a seemingly unreachable goal.
While the validity of those claims may have some
merit, they do not make a positive contribution to
the rapidly deteriorating
° debate. In recent days,
Clinton has shifted his fo-
custoBrown'sflattaxplan.
This new tack shows sig-
nificant promise for aim-
[i ing the debate in the right
direction.
In all of this, itis impor-
tant not to forget the even-
tual goal of the campaign
--to replace George Bush.
If there was ever any need
/ for character assassination,
- it should be aimed at a man
who is even more of a
Teflon president than Ro-
nald Reagan. Bush has been associated with with
the Iran-Contra scandal, Manuel Noriega's drug
running operation, and the savings and loan scan-
dal. To gain the White House, both Clinton and
Brown will have to attack Bush about his
involvement.But, until the nomination is decided,
the candidates should be reminded that this is an
election, not a playground. Through all of their
crying and whining, Brown and Clinton both have
to realize that the ultimate goal is to be sent to the
White House - not to their rooms.
Better credit changes
To the Daily:
In the March 9 and 17 articles,
you erroneously credited the LSA
Curriculum Committee with
reducing the credit of history and
political science courses from
four to three credits. Not only was
the decision made by the Execu-
tive Committee and only based on
a recommendation from the
Curriculum Committee, but the
decision was an attempt to
equalize credits between depart-
ments and not a "money-making
scam. I
Under the old system, students
in majors such as English
received only three credits for
their upper-level courses with
equal amounts of work, while
history and political science
courses received one extra credit.
I don't think the move by the
Executive Committee was wise,
but the old system wasn't
completely fair to students in
other majors.
I understand the University's
desire to establish a uniform way
to distribute credits for courses in
all majors, but I don't agree with
it at all. The University should
make the four-course load the
norm for juniors and seniors as
well as first-year students and
sophomores by raising all core
major courses to four credits.
This would equalize credit
distribution in majors and be
more manageable for students.
Amy Gendleman
student member LSA
Curriculum Committee
MFN status for China
To the Daily:
I feel compelled to respond to
the editorial ( "Bush Ignores
Human Rights, Again," 3/10/92)
which argued for the termination
of China's most-favored-nation
(MFN) trading status. I'm afraid
the article demonstrates a rather
narrow understanding of Chinese
political reality.
Far from being a unitary actor,
as the editorial implies, the
Chinese central government is in
fact quite divided into two
schools of thought, which are
currently involved in a power
struggle of sorts. There is a young,
educated strain of reformers, the
basis of whose influence depends
upon the success of daring, free-
market economic reforms, which
would be seriously jeopardized by
a termination of MFN status.
There is also an aging, hard-line
conservative faction, anxiously
awaiting the failure of these
reforms, so they can shut the door
on further economic and social
change, and return to a more
consolidated central, inward-
looking, heavy-handed control.
The editorial failed to commu-
nicate that this group is respon-
sible for the Beijing massacre.
Discontinuing MFN status would
only strengthen the hand of this
element, with its dismal human
rights record, and deal a death
blow to reform. By overriding
Bush's veto, Congress could quite
possibly do what Li Peng and his
cronies could not: finish the job
started in June of 1989 in
Tiananmen Square.
Jonathan
LSA junior
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t"dJUL. AATU"
Who "A Vol CCU Cl to
by Kevin Gietzen
Beware to all those who are
moving into a house or apartment
for the first time. Landlords know
the rules, and believe me, most of
them will try to take advantage of
you. If you are not aware of your
rights don't take it for granted that
the landlord will be honest with
you. You may suffer unnecessar-
ily.
Take me for example. When I
was a sophomore I moved into an
apartment complex. I arrived in
Ann Arbor only to find that the
guys who had leased the apart-
ment the year before hadn't
moved out because they thought
they had signed the lease for
another year.
What did the landlord do? Not
much. We waited in the building
managers' apartment for a few
hours after the old tenants were
told to leave. They left their
belongings and spent the night at
a friend's apartment. So, there we
were; sleeping in an apartment
with somebody else's belongings
strewn all over. Finally, the next
afternoon the old tenants grabbed
their stuff and moved out.
been preserved as ancient
artifacts were jammed in the
corners and under the refrigera-
tor.
The bathroom was another
story. The grime on the tiles was
thick enough to trap flies. The
floor and toilet were too disgust-
ing to even describe. The
landlord could not have paid
someone to clean them, and he
probably knew it.
We asked about the bathroom
and kitchen and the landlord said,
"I'll pay for the cleaning equip-
ment, but you'll have to do the
work." We cleaned the bathroom
and kitchen, but we were not
aware that it was our right to have
a clean apartment to move into,
and that if we had to do any
cleaning we were entitled to labor
wages. If we had only known
about that right, we'd probably be
rich right now.
Believe it or not, I've lived in
the same apartment now for three
years, probably because I'm a
glutton for punishment. Believe
me, the landlord is very good at
playing dumb. We've had the
heat go off three days in a row
nil te nnrinr i;nnlly , ;,A
manager) he was wrong when he
said, "It's a tough way to learn a
lesson."
I could go on for pages about
my landlords dirty deeds, but I'd
rather you go out and read a
pamphlet, "How to Evict Your
Landlord: A tenants' primer."
This pamphlet is published by the
Ann Arbor Tenants Union
(AATU). You can pick one up at
Student Legal Services (SLS) in
the Union. The pamphlet explains
all your rights as a tenant. I sure
wouldn't have been taken advan-
tage of if I had picked-ne up
before signing a lease.
Some rights you might never
expect. For example, "in a unit
that has more than one bedroom
access to any bedroom shall not be
through another bedroom or a
bathroom and there should be
access to the bathroom without
having to pass through another
bedroom." Also, "All doors and
windows must be equipped with
locks." Last, "All snow and ice
which accumulates prior to 6:00
a.m. on a private sidewalk used
for entrance or exit, maintenance
of the building, or garbage
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Nuts and Bolts
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