) Page 4-The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 5,1993 idliJu41vI Ann Ed b Univ 420 Maynard Josil Dulow n Arbor, Ml 48109 Editor in Chief ited and managed YAEL M. CITRO y students at the ERIN LIZA EINIIORN versity of Michigan Opinion Editors Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board. All other cartoons, signed articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. GEO 'U' proposal unaccepable; may force strike Ei GRADUATE EMPLOYEES Organization tal care come out of TAs' pockets. GradCa (GEO)-the unionwhichrepresentsteach- also eliminates the annual vision exam, cove I ing assistants (TAs)- and the University none of the many prescriptions that insuranc re currently enmeshed in contract negotiations companies pay, and denies many other basi which are on the high road to disaster. Soon, the health benefits. The effective cuts of GradCa TAs may strike. hit women particularly hard, denying them co Though this would be detrimental to under- erage for infertility treatment or birth contr graduate education, much of which is conducted prescriptions. by TAs, the University's current bargaining This plan could also be an "effort to chi position is so hurtful that a strike may be justi- away at the employee status" TAs won in th flied. The University must speedily meet the 1970s, said Jon Curtiss, head of the GEO ba basic demands of the TAs, gaining team. GradCa treating them as the valu 'Although compromise is always isthesameplanthatgrad able part of the University necessary, the majority of GEO's ate students on fellowshi that they are, and insuring demands must be met - soon. TAs' receive. It is crucial th the primary responsibility lives and students' education are too TAs get all the benefi of the University: The con- valuable to be suspended.' given to University em tinuededucationofstudents. ployees, rather than bei GEO came to the bargaining table demand- viewed as 'students teaching for their own ed ing a 15.7 percent raise which would bring their cational benefit,' as University administrato salary to a graduate student's living wage and have claimed. For TAs, teaching is often nine other contract changes. Ignoring GEO's economic necessity. emands, the University bargaining team shot Though gaining a salary increase and retai back withatiny two percentraise, which doesn't ing current medical benefits are GEO's mo even compensate for the rate of inflation, and a important demands, others cannot be ignore proposal to replace the TAs' choice of health The current calculation of TAs' hours is til care with a weak substitute called GradCare, a against them, often rounding down their fra University owned and run medical-care pro- tion of full time work and paying accordingl gram. With their barren salaries, TAs must at least While GEO's demands are reasonable, and paid for the full time that they work. The inord union members have expressed an aversion to nate$80"registrationfee"must also bedroppe GradCare, the University will not bend to rea- The University cannot disguise the fee's u son. In fact, the University's team of negotiators ward spiral over the last few years as anythir dismissed Wednesday's bargaining meeting other than a slash in usable income. claiming they had nothing to discuss. Some The University must extend the same be conclusionmustbe reachedby Sunday whenthe efits that married heterosexual spouses cu GEO contact expires. It seems that the Univer- rently receive to domestic partners registe sity is goading the TAs to strike. through thecityof AnnArbor. This would allo Like the witch who enticed Snow White with same-sex spouses to be treated with the sam apoisoned apple, the University bargaining team respect as opposite-sex ones. is trying to paint GradCare as a plan that the TAs It also must create system of child-care f would like. But they are fooling no one. At the the children of TAs. With their sparse salari Feb. 16 GEO membership meeting, there was a and demanding work and study schedules, T unanimous voice vote to reject GradCare. hardlyhavethetimeormonytopovidedayca GradCare embodies a drastic cut in benefits for their children. from any of the health care plans from which Although compromise is always necessa TAs currently choose. In contrast to the M-Care the majority ofGEO's demands must be met- program which currently covers 80 percent of soon. TAs' lives and students' education are t TAs, GradCare demands the first $200 ofhospi- valuable to be suspended. CLINTON President must fill sub-cabinet appointments SA PRESIDENT CLINTON sells his eco- Department of Defense could cause pobler nomic package to the nation, it seems with next year's budget. the young administration is ready for a Without any sub-cabinet appointees to w whirlwind of activity, launching new policy on the budget, billion-dollar decisions are bei initiativesleft andright.Butnomatterhow much made by bureaucrats who were never elect' Clinton has in store, it will be difficult to imple- and who were hired by Reagan or Bush appoi mentnew programs and en- tees. force new regulations un- Unfortunately, the D less he speeds up his ap- fense Department is not t pointments of officials to only place the Bush admin key sub-cabinet positions. tration still holds power. T Since the election, Justice Department,curreni Clinton's nominations for operating without an att politicalpositions in the ex- ney general, is filled withla ecutive branch have been yers hired during the years delivered to the Senate at a the pernicious Attorney Ge snail's pace. Although no erals Edwin Meese, Di presidentcan fill all ofthese Thornburgh and Wilia positions injust a couple of Barr. months, both Ronald Important matters of li Reagan and George Bush gation and enforcement appointed far more people regulations are being handl by this time in their terms. by left-over attorneys. Part of this problem For example, the peopl stems from Clinton's pro- processing Haitian refuge pensitytomicro-manage the applications for asylum ha administration's affairs. He notbeen appointed by Clintc likesto exercise control over or hired by his appointe every detail in the appointment process. but rather represent Reagan's and Bush's la Although this management style is prefer- hold on the department. Hopefully, Clinton able to that of President Reagan, who seemed to choice for attorney general will soon be co spend his presidency oblivious to the actions of firmed and the rest ofthe department's positio hisunderlings,itcouldseriouslyimpairClinton's can be filled. efforts to run effective executive departments. Clinton also made a promise to appointa This danger is most notable in the Depart- AIDS Czar. Some have attributed his failure mentof Defense where the only Clinton apnoin- do so in a timely fashion to his reluctance1 re rs ic re V- ol ip e T- re u- ip at ts n- Ig u- rs n n- 'st d. c- y. be i- d. p-[ ng :n- r- ed w ne 'or es ks 0 y, 00 ns rk ng ed in- )e- he is- he dy r- w- of ,n- ck tm ti- of ed ple ive ton -es, ast n's )n- ns an to to I : , ., r:Y. .. . ..P i+JJ 0 6 U.S. intervention imperative in Armenia by Patrick Sarkissian LSA first-year student Member, Armenian Students' Cultural Association Imagine waking up to a day devoid of heat, light, water and hope. The life of the homeless is conjured to mind, yet imagine a whole nation of people living in such depravity. Try to fathom packs of starving dogs attacking people on the street at will, young infants freezing to death a few days after birth and a hospital where the doctors use Vodka as anesthetic while patients lie on wet, blood-soaked sheets. This situation could be a level of hell from the pages of Dante's Inferno. Instead, it is a daily reality in the Republic of Armenia. Armenia's history mirrors a melange of disaster and religious persecution. After the 1915 genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks, the remaining Armenians en- dured a long period of slow regeneration. The Soviet Union later encumbered the small country into its communist system. The 1988 earthquake, though, destroyed the economic foundation- that the Arme- nians had built back over 70 years. Arme- nians still live in the make-shift housing constructed during the earthquake. In addi- tion, a 5-year territorial dispute over the land of Nagomo-Karabagh with the neigh- boring Muslim Azerbaijanis had put Chris- tian Armenia in a strain for resources and human life. While these past tragedies may evoke empathy, the present situation in Armenia will surely lead to the extinction of a resil- ient race if immediate action is not taken. The Azerbaijanis (controlling 80 percent of all Armenian fuel supplies) havecompletely banned all fuel entering Armenia. Mean- for the United States as a peace-keeping savior. Unfortunately, the Somalian trag- edy is overshadowing the desperation of the Armenians. Also, the United States has strategic interests in Turkey. If the United States fosters good relations with Turkey, its present NATO base in the country helps the United States gain a foothold on the many Muslim countries bordering Arme- nia and Turkey. The United States is sacrificing human The United States should practice the principles of democracy from our Constitution, not the principles of real politik. while, the additional pipeline of fuel into Armenia from Georgia was recently blown- up by Turkish-backed Azeris. The Turks have also instituted a full blockade of non- military relief supplies to the starving Ar- menians. Withou. this necessary food, medicine and electricity, an estimated 30,000 Arme- nians will die by the end of this winter. The Armenian issue has notbeen brought to the forefront in the media for two reasons. The similar situation in Somalia has evoked a great deal of humanitarian aid and pre- sented itself as a great political pro-bono act life in the interests of politics. There have been diminutive efforts on behalf of the United States andUnited Nations to ap- pease the half million American Arme- nians. Without the media's coverage and U.S./ U.N. intervention,annihilation isonceagain inevitable for Armenians. The United States should practice the principles ofdemocracy from our Constitution, not the principles of real politik. In order to avoid another Soma- lia, the citizens of the United States must demand our intervention to lift the inhu- mane Turkish blockade of the Armenians. Have courage, publicize names To the Daily: After reading the Daily's article "W. Quad sign 'offensive' to female stu- dents," (2/8/93) I wonder how these two men can - in good conscience - request anonymity after they were so willing to publicize their values to the pedestrians below them. If this is the method they have chosen to demonstrate their 'freedom of speech,' then shouldn't they be proud to stand up and be recognized as constitutionally-aware citizens? Thomas Bowman LSA senior Daily shows its own hypocrisy To the Daily: Wonderful! I see that you finally nailed yourself in your own hypocrisy. On the op-ed page you ran a title "Serve, protect and break a Nigga's neck (2/9/93)." This article was an excellent piece and the title seemed to be "intended" to highlight the content, but it was an extremely poor editorial choice. It was a poor editorial choice because the next day you ran an article decrying the West Quad "Pussie Rd." sign for being offensive. In that editorial you opine that the owners of the sign were offensive just as it would be offensive to run a sign out of the window saying "Hymie Rd." or "Nigger Rd." But isn't "Nigga" exactly the offensive word that your editors allowed on the op-ed . GradCare is unacceptable health-care plan for TAs To the Daily: I would like to point out an error in a photo caption carried on your front page last Tuesday ("An apple a day," 2/ 16/93). You wrote there that "GradCare... is to be included in next year's TA contract." On the contrary, the point of our pharmacies was to inform TAs about the GradCare program, which has merely been proposed by the administration during our current contract negotiations. GEO, as of yet, has no contract for next year, largely because the administration's negotiators refuse to consider our own proposals. As you know, GEO submitted a proposal late last month asking for a salary increase that would amount to raising the average TA's salary to a "living wage," or the amount determined by the University's Office of Financial Aid as required to meet basic living expenses in Ann Arbor. The administration responded by ignoring this and other GEO proposals, and proposing instead a small cut in real pay, and a substantial cut in TAs' health insurance benefits, under the guise of GradCare. Under our current contract, TAs, as part of the University instructional staff, are given the same health insurance options as the faculty. These include a choice of M-Care, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Care Choices and other plans. The University proposes to replace all of these options with the single plan called GradCare. GradCare is administered by M-Care, but offers lesser coverage at a higher out-of-pocket cost to TAs. For example, GradCare currently has no prescription coverage, no vision coverage and a $200 copay for inpatient care. (M-Care covers prescrip- tions with a $3 copay, gives a free annual vision exam, and carries no copay for inpatient care.) Moreover, GradCare costs significantly more for those TAs who need to add addi- tional coverage for a spouse or dependent, and it restricts the choice of physicians and care- givers to those at University- owned facilities only, a far smaller selection than the M- care network. It is hard to believe that the administration could be so reckless and insensitive to the needs of its employees as to present such a proposal at a time when concern about health care is foremost in the minds of most Americans. GradCare is a stop-gap plan designed for students who would otherwise go unin- sured. TAs are employees, vital to the functioning of this institution, and we deserve the same quality health insurance as other.instructional staff. We at GEO are not interested in adding GradCare to our contract, and we are currently working to mobilize our members to take action to prevent it. As the administra- tion currently refuses to discuss our proposals at the bargaining table, direct action is the only option left to those of our members who do not wish to see GradCare in their next contract. Douglas Shapiro Vice President, GEO 0 0 6 S 0 Debate about lifting ban breeds insanity I To the Daily: I'm responding to Michael Wheaton's letter regarding the lifting of the ban on gays in the armed forces ("Lifting ban could cause conflict," 2/10/ 93). I could not agree more, Michael, and I believe that we shouldn't stop there. I think that, for the same reasons, we should ban blacks from the military. .Morale, order and disci- their privacy. Joining the service suddenly forces soldiers to eat, work, bathe, and sleep with Negroes - a situation that we citizens can easily avoid. This may cause anxiety and animosity among soldiers, which can lead to conflict among them. It is this conflict that should encourage us to ban spooks, not "myths and false stereotypes" about blacks. n..- I,: - .i -" n .r- :., i transform the military environment. And for that matter, as a good Catholic, I would not want to have some godless heathen sharing my room. We must consider the conflict that this would introduce to the barracks. And as a meat-eater, I don't want any damned vegetable heads hanging around when I eat. Let's try to implement a united military that reonresents the real 0 0 I