61
Page 4 -The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, April 22,1992
Glie Midiigan~al
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
764-0550
Editor in Chief
MATTHEW D. RENNIE
Opinion Editors
YAEL CITRO
GEOFFREY EARLE
AMITAVA MAZUMDAR
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
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.
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tal
The Salvation Army has for years been associ-
ated with worthwhile grass-roots aide for im-
poverished people along with a strong alliance
with the Christian church. Unfortunately, in the
case of one local Salvation Army Shelter called
Arbor Haven, that alliance has given rise to a
troubling policy: the shelter has a policy of evict-
ing residents who fail to attend mandated religious
services. Arbor Haven certainly has the right to
maintain this policy. But Constitutional guaran-
tees of the separation of church and state demand
that if it wants to pursue this course, it give up the
state funding it receives.
The problem lies in the funding of the 90-day
shelter, which houses 15 of Ann Arbor's homeless.
Arbor Haven is funded by the Salvation Army, an
organization that receives money from the Michi-
gan legislature and United Way, which receives
federal funding.
The shelter provides job counseling for its resi-
dents, as well as three meals per day. The house
works something like a co-op, with each member
putting in a share of work to insure that the house
runs smoothly. It also runs mandatory meetings
regarding house operations almost every day.
Within the past year, these meetings have ex-
panded. Among the additions is one entitled "Spiri-
tual Awareness." Its stated purpose is to allow
house members to investigate their relationships
with Jesus Christ. In addition, residents are re-
quired to attend one church service per week. The
punishment for missing too many of these meet-
ings is eviction. Bluntly stated, if a resident does
not attend the religious functions, the roof over
their head is callously removed. Additionally, the
staff has been placed under a similar restriction, a
mandatory retreat to the nearby Salvation Army
camp.
Proponents of this policy may argue that a few
measly hours of religion is a small price to pay for
food and shelter, and it is, if that food and shelter is
provided by a private organization. But it is not a
fair price if it's provided by an organization which
recently acquired $10,000 extra dollars from the
taxpayers. Residents of the shelter are not the only
ones affected by these rules. Certainly, the benefits
of a shelter like Arbor Haven are immeasurable. It
is the type of shelter that people have been scream-
ing for- one that not only provides food and beds,
but also helps in the search for jobs and housing.
Unfortunately, it seems that the priorities of the
organization have shifted to a slightly different
direction, a direction which forbids the use of the
public's tax dollars.
t
e
City, residents should heed tent city
L ast Wednesday, the Homeless Action Commit-
tee and the Homeless Union collaborated to
create the Salvation City for thePoor People's Park
in order to increase the community's awareness of
the problems confronting the homeless popula-
tion. Its message is simple: homeless people are
human beings and human beings deserve perma-
nent homes. After months of enduring while the
city neglected the issue, it seems the homeless have
rightfully taken up their own cause.
The residents of Salvation City, a make-shift
community located at the corner of Ann and Main
streets, are concerned by the vacancy of the Ann
Arbor Inn and the Downtown Club. They feel that
Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor can help home-
less people by turning the unoccupied buildings
into low-income housing. Their sentiments are
u'nderstandable. The two buildings have remained
vacant for too long, and the city should renovate
them for low-cost housing. Ann Arbor residents
and city government officials should heed their
message.
In additionto protesting the buildings'vacancy,
these residents are raising the public's awareness
that the stereotype of the drunk and lazy homeless
person is a myth. Society views the intoxicated
man vomiting on the sidewalk as the poster child
for the homeless population. However, Salvation
Bush passing the
The programs distributed at President Bush's
$1,000-a-plate campaign dinner held in
Dearborn last Tuesday contained some revealing
information. They included a list of five major
corporations, including Upjohn Inc. of Kalamazoo,
Deloitte & Touche and the Chrysler Corp., as
major contributors to the Bush campaign, despite
the fact that corporate donations are illegal under
current campaign finance laws. Corporation mem-
bers as well as Bush aids referred to the incident
"and embarrassing, stupid mistake." Campaign
officials later insisted that the donations were
actually legal personal contributions, and the in-
clusion of the names of the corporations was en-
tirely coincidental.
It is possible that these Bush officials are right.
Some corporations solicit contributions from indi-
vidual workers in the workplace through a process
called "bundling." Once they raised the money,
these corporations probably sent in a lump sum of
money in exchange for dinner tickets. Peggy
Pentacost of the Deloitte & Touche co. claimed
that one third to one half of her firm's 59 partners
bought tickets for themselves and their spouses for
the maximum personal contribution allowed by
law.
City proves that the unfortunate stereotype is inac-
curate as well. The residents do not allow alcohol
or drugs on their grounds. Furthermore, they pro-
hibit drug dealers and intoxicated people from
causing trouble in the area. The residents have
organized a night watch security system to insure
the safety of their community. They have also
prepared a list of items they need donated from the
community, such as warm clothes, non-perishable
foods, sanitary supplies, medicine and tents. The
final item on their list is "houses."
Salvation City was created to help lift the spirits
of homeless citizens, not to cause problems for the
community. Many of its residents are working but
still cannot afford housing. Its construction has
prompted visits from many members of nearby
communities, and even residents of Detroit and
Flint. But hopefully, whenthese people visit Salva-
tion City, they will leave with more than a snap shot
impression of the community. Better that they
leave with a commitment to demand a comprehen-
sive social policy that does not ignore the home-
less.
As one sign in the city says, "Empty building +
people = home." While the residents of Salvation
City wait patiently for their homes, they deserve as
much support as possible from the rest of the
community.
."
toplate t crp.
Common Cause PresidentFred Wertheimer said
that "if corporate executives can gather alarge sum
and turn it over on behalf of the institution, you
wind up with the same capacity for... influence-
selling as if the corporation made the contribution
in the first place."
Whether wrongdoing took place or not, Bush's
'92 campaign organizers obviously did not learn
from the accusations of illegality in his '88 cam-
paign. Recent investigations by the Federal Elec-
tions Commission (FEC) into whether the Fund for
America's Future was illegally funneling cam-
paign dollars into Bush's '88 campaign should
have kept Bush's campaign organizers on their
toes. Listing corporate donors in Bush's program
indicates that the Bush campaign finds nothing
wrong with evading campaign laws, privately or
publicly.
The president's disdain for election rules is only
compounded by his promise to veto federal cam-
paign finance reform laws. It seems he is content
to keep money's influence in politics strong. Even
worse, the FEC seems willing to ignore the Bush
campaign's tendency to dodge campaign spending
laws, and has not even hinted at the idea of inves-
tigating corporate bundling.
Avoid stereotMes
To the Daily:
I would like to draw your
readers' attention to a terribly
cruel stereotype displayed in the
Daily's review of Basic Instinct. I
have not seen this movie and
therefore don't know how the
characters are depicted. I wonder,
however, if the Daily gave much
thought to the use of the word
"psychotic" when it said that,
Catherine Trammel is possibly
psychotic." Most people with a
psychotic illness are not violent.
Their thought processes are so
confused by the illness that they
aren't able to carry on the
reasoning required to plan the
premeditatedtviolent crimes that
are of the plot of Basic Instinct.
Donna Estabrook
Ann Arbor
Dailys make a mess
To the Daily:
I just want to say amen to the
letter by Paul. Hirschfield (4/20/
92). As a University custodian, I
do find a lot of Dailys and other
papers on the floor and all that
does wind up in the trash. It would
make my job easier if that
wouldn't happen, but it does. The
same goes for signs on doors and
walls.
Jay Daves
Ann Arbor
Abortion rights abuse
To the Daily:
Count me out! I have been
raised by a set of rules that
women have rights to keep their
bodies safe without government
control. I believe that this is
absolutely true and I would fight
tooth and nail to keep the
abortion technique available as a
life saving procedure. However,
when I read an article on Monday
about the march in Washington I
was sicked by the woman who
disposed of her child because the
baby tested with a disability. I
myself refuse to be a part of this
kind of biologically selective
RWL should keep to itself
To the Daily:
This statement is the culmina-
tion of a long struggle within the
Ann Arbor Committee to Defend
Abortion and Reproductive
Rights (AACDARR) over the past
two semesters. The struggle has
been conducted over fundamen-
tally different methods to building
and participating in the women's
movement. The most visible
difference in these approaches has
been the difference between
democracy and dishonesty within
AACDARR.
The Revolutionary Workers
League (RWL), though not itself
in AACDARR leadership, has
repeatedly undermined
AACDARR's internal democracy.
The RWL has taken advantage of
AACDARR's open attitude
toward membership to force its
views on the majority of
AACDARR activists. When the
decision was made by a clear
majority two weeks ago to
disaffiliate AACDARR from the
National Women's Rights
Organizing Coalition (NWROC),
the RWL resorted to the despi-
cable tactic of packing the next
week's meeting with RWL
members and other non-
AACDARR members to reverse
the decision.
The RWL's abuse and combat-
ive behavior toward independents
and new AACDARR members
who express disagreement with
RWL supporters alienates people
who may be new to politics but
are nonetheless committed to
militant defense of abortion rights.
The presence of the RWLin
AACDARR, and its willingness to
resort to any means to enforce its
sectarian view of the development
of the women's movement, has
unfortunately made infeasible the
existence of AACDARR as a
united organization.
We urge all members of the
AACDARR who are not members
of the RWL to separate them-
selves from the RWL and con-
tinue the struggle for abortion
rights in a genuine organization.
We, the majority of AACDARR
activists, have among us many
talented and experienced activists
who will continue to do militant
pro-choice actions, including
clinic defenses, in the real
tradition of the AACDARR.
Rhonda Laur
NWROC rep., founding
member
Rebecca Wirtell
AACDARR treasurer
Ann Bernardin
AACDARR vice-chair
society! My vote goes to Pro-life
candidates.
Grant Grobbel
LSA N.C.F.D.
Daily 'king of crude'
To the Daily:
Who in the hell wrote the
obituary on Sam Kinison (4/13/
92)? What do you have to gain
from gloating over the tragic
accident that left Kinison dead and
his wife hospitalized? I think its
ridiculous the way that you stuck a'
tiny piece in the Arts section and
critiqued him, as if his death was
his final act.
What really bothers me about
this article, and the Daily in
general, is that it always assumes
that everyone is as liberal as it is.
Because of this, it thinks that no
one is going to notice it belittle the
death of someone because he
made sexist or homophobic jokes
that happened to be entertaining.
Not everyone agrees with your
views on Sam Kinison. I do not.
The thousands who saw his
comedy live or televised do not,
and his newly wedded (and now
widowed) wife most likely does
not. I doubt that she would think
of him as the "King of Crudeness
and Insensitivity." The Daily
seems to be the king here.
John Kasiborski
Engineering first-year student
Letters to the Daily are continued
on page 15.
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On line:* Jobs with digit ad justice
Today's Daily is the last of this term. During the
summer, the paper will come out on a weekly basis,
with Dave Sheperdson and Gil Renberg at the helm
of the Opinion page. Students are encouraged to
keep reading and write plenty of letters.
The editors would like to wish all students good
luck with finals. Finals offer an ideal time to
experiment with something students often don't
have time to do - read books. Moreover, it offers
students the opportunity to visit often neglected
tourist sights throughout the University, namely
libraries. For those students who are already done
with exams, we wish you a long, slow and painful
death. Good luck, and enjoy the summer.
If you are a University student,
you probably have a lot in common
with Karen Tipton. Shewas a model
high school student, and earned her
B.A. in three years, with honors.
But when she moved to Ann Arbor'
after graduation, it was hard to find
a good job with
her out-of-state
credentials. So NMI.
Tipton got ajob : Y.:<1
as a cashier at t1Y".Y, :
Kroger. Now '
she's on strike. :: Yr:,.
Some stu- ::.:
dents, she told;?S Y."
me, have ElizabehCole
crossed the line
to shop at Kroger, calling out "get
an education, get a job!" "I'm not
expecting to work here forever,"
she said, "but this is my job. They
don'tunderstand that unless the big-
ger economic picture changes, this
will be them."
Most students also don't under-
stand the working conditions at the
grocery store they patronize. The
striking Kroger workers have not
had a wage increase 'i the past 11
years. Nevertheless, the union has
prosperity they helped to create,
the Kroger workers face an erosion
of their existing standard of living.
For example, although Tipton is
lucky enough to work 40 hours a
week, she is still apart time worker
and receives no benefits.
At Kroger, "full time" is not a
function of the hours worked, but a
status which is accorded only to
about one third of the workers. The
contract offered by management
would limit the number of full time
workers by committing 2000 full
time jobs to the employees cur-
rently holding them. That means
that when full time workers leave
or retire, their full time position
willno longerexist.Over time there
will be even fewer full time jobs at
the grocery chain.
Additionally, management's
contract would force the union to
allow it to bring in "free vendors,"
non-union workers contracted at
lower wages to perform tasks that
are currently the responsibility of
union workers, such as restocking
shelves. This would further cut the
work hours available to Kroger
employees.
off.
McGinnis argued that the ben-
efits of corporate tax breaks do not
trickle down to workers who are
inadequately paid. Workers who
receive sub-standard wages can't
buy cars and other consumer goods.
This leads to job losses in other
industries.
Moreover, because two half time
workers pay less in taxes than one
full time worker, low wages further
erode the tax base. He takes issue
with the argument that unions and
worker demands are destroying the
economy. Unions fought for and
won many benefits which we now
take for granted, such as the 8 hour
work day, paid holidays and pen-
sions.
The striking Kroger workers are
not the cause of what ails the
economy, they areasymptom. They
do not represent aby-gone age when
unions were strong and active. They
presage the service oriented
economy the United States is be-
coming. They are on the front line of
the battle for the rights of workers in
the new economy. "Unions want
people to be paid well so that they
.
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