40 Page 4-The Michigan Daily- Monday, November 9, 1992 Editor in Chief ZY-. 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 764-0552 MATTHEW D. RENNIE Opinion Editors YAEL CITRO GEOFFREY EARLE AMITAVA MAZUMDAR Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan StL-ACK' MAH- 1. SPACE worm COPS BEAT !- 5'LACK M'AN-- G-o 6/4 CKa 3 PAC F=S 6 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. ERO T~E :..X I U. Closin the financ First of two editorials L ast month, the "Campaign for Michigan" be- gan a fund-raising program called the "Case for Student Financial Aid." This is a multi-faceted program designed to compensate for dwindling federal support. At a time when the federal govern- ment has dropped the ball, the University Undergraduate Stu has taken appropri- U ate steps in finding innovative solutions 75.00% to bring students of all incomes to the University. For the past de- cade, the financial needs of non-resi- dent students have outpaced the University's ability to cover the cost. Currently, the under- 52.00% graduate self-obliga- tion - the amount each students is re- sponsible for - for non-residents is $14,000. For many eco- nomically-disadvan- L institutional Aid taged students, this amount puts the Uni- State Aid versity out of reach. ® Federal Aid This year, almost 1,000 non-resident students could not Source: Office of Financial Aid attend the University because there was simply not enough aid avail- able. In the long run, more and more quality students who want to attend the University will be shut out for lack of support. Administrators have decided the best way to solve this problem is through the "Campaign for Michigan," the University's $1 billion fund-rais- ing campaign. University fund-raisers will solicit donations on behalf of the "Case for Student Financial Aid." Alumni are being encouraged to make contributions to funds specifically designed for non-resident financial aid. This will allow students with demonstrated need to shoulder less of the burden for attending the University. dent 1 ial aid gap But the University is also looking at ways to increase financial aid across the board. Last July, the University allocated the greatest increase in institutional financial aid in the University's his- tory, appropriating $12 million. This increase rep- resents a commitment to restoring accessibility to all students regardless of financial need. The University is Aid Expenditures by Source responding to in- tense pressure to 982-83 provide greater fi- 19.00% nancial aid. During thelast 10 years, fed- eral aid has de- 6.00% creased from 75 to 52 percent of the University's finan- cial aid budget while the institutional aid - money from the 1992-93 University general fund - has in- 41.o% creased from 19 to 41 percent. Since 1982, when President Reagan called on Congress to slash the student financial aid budget by half, 7 % the federal govern- ment has turned its back on underprivi- leged students. In 1982, the University received$35 million in federal aid; today it receives only $30 million, a 242 percent cut counting for inflation, according to the Office of Financial Aid. It is against state law for public institutions to give more financial aid to out-of-state students than in-state residents. However, maintaining ac- cessibility for all students is a critical component of the University; the "Case for Student Financial Aid" will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. f i " ..- .. . ..._. U U WHITE COPS SEAT" 6"LACK MAN - Go0 &ACK. '3 S'PACES P-= " I W4HIECOPS 5'EAT 2i SPACES I HITE COP E41" R'L-ACIckMAN- G-o b64lcKt !' SPAC es __________________ t F o- 'WHITE COPS BEAT 'LACK MAN- 'G-0' 15AcK OZ5 P~ACES t t W"l-rE COP'S BEAT 8L.AGk M~% - Go BACk S PACES 4 - -I NF- U _ a Campus debates Arab-Israeli conflict The homeland To the Daily: In her column of Oct. 20 ("Clinton pro-Israel bias hurts peace."), Katherine Metres writes about peace in the Middle East and the need for compromise there. I agree that both Israel and the Arab nations have got to stop stonewalling and start talking. However, Metres' comments present her as leaning more toward pro-Palestinian extremism than toward compromise. Metres mentions several times Israel's "repression" of Arabs and lack of concern for "human rights." I agree that Palestinians are people, too, and I do not maintain that Israel can do no wrong. However, I would put it to Metres to consider the Palestinian agenda in the Middle East. The Arab nations have never consid- ered Israel to be a legitimate nation and have sought to regain their "stolen land" by wiping Israel off the map. Israel has only survived behind what some Zionists have called an "iron wall" of military power. Metres is concerned with the assertion of the human rights of minorities. But she has forgotten that Israel is still a minority in the Middle East, and Jews are still a belongs to Jews minority on this campus and in the world. As a Jew, I cannot forget that my people are constantly under the thumb of repression ourselves. Now that we have a homeland and a respected military, it is easy to forget this hatred. But it is alive and well in the Intifada and the workings of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The Arab nations demand that Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders. But this line would cut through Jerusalem and pass within nine miles of Tel-Aviv. This would be much too tenuous a position, considering the Palestinian agenda to squeeze Israel out of existence. I agree that there must be compromise in the Middle East. I am wary of Israel giving up land for a measure of peace, however, since Israel is generally not recognized as a legitimate nation in the Middle East. I also agree that we need to recognize the humanity of the Palestinian people, and treat those that already live in the land as citizens. The homeland, however, belongs to the Jewish people. Howard Scully Business School senior Tomorrow: Education Act distribution at How the Amendments to the Higher of 1992 are affecting financial aid the University. Students bleeding for a good cause U.S. backing of Israel wrong 7hough it is a given that the Wolverines will draw blood at the Ohio State University (OSU) football game, the competition at another match - the anual blood battle - promises to be much' stiffer. The "UM v. OSU Blood Battle" will offer students the opportunity to help others while stir- ring up school spirit. Students are encouraged to participate. The blood drive will take place in most resi- dence halls, the Business School, the Michigan Union and the Michigan League, and runs from Nov. 9 through Nov. 20. The first blood battle was created 11 years by the Michigan Alpha Phi Omega chapter, and the rivalry has continued ever since. Competition, of course, is not the real point of the blood battle. The Red Cross depends on the University to deliver large amounts of healthy blood. In fact, the Red Cross has canceled or postponed other drives in order to concentrate on the University. Students, faculty and staff should realize the importance of taking a little more than an hour out of their day, suffering only the consequences of a pin prick in order to help someone in desperate need of blood. The blood collected from the battle will go to Southeastern Michigan Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross. This network includes 72 hospitals which use an average of 1,000 units of blood every day. Sadly, only 10 percent of eligible donors in this region have ever donated blood. University students will have the opportunity to make up the difference. The demand, for blood for typical emergencies can quickly add up. For instance, a person in a car accident may need one to 50 units of blood. Recipi- ents of organ transplants often need several hun- dred units, according to the American Red Cross. Blood donors give only one pint, about one twelfth of their total blood supply. Therefore, the blood drive's success depends on high donor par- ticipation. Additionally, the Red Cross hopes to collect450 units of blood on Nov. 19 in the Union, an excep- tionally high amount. By taking part in this event, students will be able to make history, while simultaneously saving lives - and finding yet another way to beat Ohio State. To the Daily: I feel compelled to write in response to the piece written by Jonathan Margolin and Trevor Hart ("Clinton pro-Israel stance justified," 10/28/92). In the second paragraph, they take offense to the fact that Zionism is equated with "unwill- ingness to compromise on territorial issues," and go on to say that "millions of dovish land- for-peaceIsraelis and Israel supporters would find this statement ludicrous and insult- ing." In the next paragraph they try to justify Israel's right to occupied territory. I don't hear any willingness to compromise in this statement. As far as calling the Arab states "hostile nations" - the reason they are hostile is because thousands of fellow Arab Pales- tinians are living as impoverished refugees, herded out of their homeland by Israel. Speaking of hostility, a new case has been brewing up here among Americans. This tension is the result of Bill Clinton, who is wholeheartedly siding with the interests of Israel and Israeli- Americans. I do not have a problem with his support of Israel per se, but when it is at the expense of Arabs and Arab- Americans, - it is wrong and discriminatory. As far as referring to Israel as a democracy, that is just untrue. Arab Israelis are highly discrimi- nated against by the Jews in Israel. Arabs in Israel aren't even allowed to benefit from the national health care system (which is funded by the United States). I think the United States should at least cut back on financial support until all human rights are protected in Israel and until some sort of land-for-peace agreement is worked out with the Arabs. Michael Abdou Engineering junior Israeli actions defy universal morality To the Daily: In response to Jonathan Margolin and Trevor Hart's article ("Clinton's pro-Israel stance justified," 10/28/92) I would like to say that as an American Muslim I support Clinton but for different reasons. Margolin and Hart are techni- cally right about Israel not being in defiance with international law on the Occupied Territories, however I would like to say that Israel's occupation and treatment of Palestinians is in defiance of universal morality. Then they stated that U.N. resolution 242 was the most "relevant law." This resolution was written on Nov. 22, 1967 and it referred to the Six Day War and Israel's recent occupation of Gaza strip, Golan Heights, Sinai and West Bank. One can take this resolution and twist its arms and get a million different meanings out of it, but we all know what 242 means. Also, Margolin and Hart state that the Zionist movement was "nothing more than the belief in self-determination for the Jewish people and their homeland." I agree with Margolin and Hart but it is their ignorance, double standard and hypocrisy that gets to me. What do you think the Palestinians have been trying to do for the last 45 years? We can fight about this issue or laugh at each other like Margolin and Hart have suggested - or we can try to put our differences aside and work towards a peaceful Middle East. Syed Ahmed LSA senior U.S. has responsibility To the Daily: The assumption that Israel is a democracy is contentious by even Israeli standards and fallacious by the standards of the common understanding of the word. First, Palestinian citizens of Israel do not have the same rights as Jewish Israelis. Second, the assumption that Zionism is a national liberation movement of world Jewry linking them to a homeland is also contentious even by Israeli standards. The issue Katherine Metres pointed to ("Clinton's pro- Israel bias hurts peace," 10/20/92) is Clinton's uncritical support of Israel, and in particular of the most right-wing of Israeli political spectrum. Thirdly, Even if Israel were a democracy, the economy is subsidized by American "loans" and aid. Consequently, the President of the United States is responsible for the human rights abuses that Israel does every day. Number four, International law states all land "captured" in a "war" situation is not to be retained - this is besides the fact of disputable but the very clear U.N. resolutions concerning Israel's occupation of the West Bank,pGaza, Golan and Southern Lebanon. The issue that Metres raises is Clinton's unrelenting support of Israel's most conservative and rinn .~nne n :~, iein: i~ b # 5F b ¢: . t a s k a , , # . # , # .# ,.. , # a a# b # # .,, k E U t b # # # # } Y Y 1 b i k R I # a # # 6 0 0 Trading shots in E.C. trade war Israel supporters living a lie The European Community and the United States are on the verge of a very hot trade war. Just when GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) negotiations offer the potential for another foreign policy victory for President George Bush, and the path to free trade between the United States, Mexico and Canada seems clear, the basic tenaments of international free trade are again threatened. The United States has promised harsh economic retribution if the French and other Euro- pean governments continue to refuse to meet the standards set by the temporarily-stalled Uruguay round regarding agricultural subsidies. Before the trade war gets out of hand and for the sake of economic stability, the European Community should reverse its current position and reduce n ari ,t~ a ..hci :i sons. The Uruguay Round calls for the elimination of agricultural subsidies that are meant only to unfairly prop-up prices. Every nation has these subsidies, long-known as a disruptive force in international exchange. The Uruguay Round was meant to limit or eliminate such disruptive forces. Moreover, agricultural subsidies are, and always have been, a financial blackhole that monopolize whole portions of budgets at the expense of other programs. As a result of European intransigence, U.S. trade representatives have announced the begin- ning of a trade war in some 27 days. The United States will impose stiff tariffs - 200 percent on imported French wines and colognes, for example - until the European Community concedes the icn.anfa~rir lt rolciteiPC n nSigh a icr t mwrnl To the Daily: When I read Jonathan Margolin and Trevor Hart's opinion ("Clinton's pro-Israel stance justified," 10/28/92), I was not at all impressed. Many of the arguments they hold against Katherine Metres' column are illogical. It seems to me that they are the ones who have "distorted history to make it conform to [their] opinions," using their own words. First, they claim that "it is widely acknowledged that Israel is legally justified in holding on to the territories for secoAty reasons, as long as it is surrounded by talking about? Success in bombing entire Lebanese villages and killing civilians, or success in controlling over 1.5 million Palestinians? Or success in holding on to land that is not theirs? If an American president allows Israel to go on violating international law, will he be supporting the peace process? Finally, I am shocked by their continued reference to Israel as a "democracy" which America should support. How can Israel be a democracy when many Palestinians who have been born in Palestine (Haifa, Jaffa, etc.),. and left in 1948. are not allowed