4 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 6, 1993 Whbrirbigan iaiIg 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editor in Chief Edited and managed by students at the ANmxiw LEY University of Michigan Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily editorial board. All other cartoons, articles and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. Sharp as Toa! 9 K- "cvomTa 6 Paying not to yi UĀ®LSA disenrollment fee is u uppose a random LSA student reading this edi- torial suddenly decides to drop all of their classes and head to the beach for the remainder of the semester. That unsuspecting dropout will be subject to a $130 disenrollment fine. Prior to this semester, while an LSA policy was in place that required students to pay the fee whenever they disenrolled, those who did so before the drop/ add deadline were usually exempt from paying up. Beginning this semester, however, LSA has decided to crack down and stop allowing students to get away without paying the fee - $80 of which is a registra- tion fee and $50 of which is attributed to disenrollment. :Of course, those who disenroll after the drop/add 'deadline are also responsible for the disenrollment fine but may be exempt from the registration fee because they have already begun to pay tuition. While requiring students to pay an $80 registra- tion fee if they disenroll early is fair, because a registration fee is included in tuition - which the early dropout would not pay - LSA's justification for the $50 disenrollment fine is unsatisfactory. LSA officials point out that the Board of Academic Advi- sors must meet every time a student decides to drop a class and this board, obviously, has a cost. However -and this is the catch - the only time a student must appear before the Board to drop a class, or all classes, is after the drop/add deadline has passed. Therefore, ,while it seems fair that a student compensate the University for disenrolling after the deadline, when a meeting of the Board of Academic Advisors is attend class nnecessary and unfair required, it is unfair to require students to pay a disenrollment fee - $50 of the $130 total - when the only thing the University must do is take a name out of the computer. Although it is confusing to sort through all of these regulations and fines, it is important to keep track of them. The University's many fees result in many ridiculous situations, among them requiring a student who goes to class for only one day to pay $50 for disenrolling. With the University sucking money from its students at every turn, situations such as these should not be ignored - or tolerated. While it is true that the disenrollment fee has been unenforced in LSA for years - though it has in fact been enforced in other colleges here at the University - the policy itself is still unjust. Every year students complain about rising tuition costs, and rightly so. The irony in the disenrollment policy is that we, who are already forced to pay so much to go to school, now must pay to not to go to school. A fair policy would require those who disenroll before the drop/add deadline to pay the $80 registra- tion fee only, and be exempt from the $50 disenrollment fee. Lack of enforcement of the disenrollment policy is no justification for the excessive penalty, nor is the fact that engineering students and other non-LSA students are forced to pay this fine. Considering the University's propensity to increase tuition, it is no surprise that it is taking one more swipe at our disposable income. Haiti: a lesson in Politics vs. justice r Clinton should grant Pollard Lorget, for a moment, political implications. For get charges of dual loyalty and theories about what constitutes a breach of national security. And what unfolds is the sad story of a U.S. citizen who is serving time not in proportion to his crime. Jonathan Pollard, arrested in 1985 for espionage on behalf of Israel, has been in jail now for more than seven years. He has spent the majority of his sentence locked away in high-security Marion prison, and he is not expected to be released until 2015. Jewish leaders, once silent on the issue in fear of invoking ,the infamous "dual loyalty" charge, have joined Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in asking Presi- dent Clinton to commute Pollard's superfluous sen- tence. The President would serve justice by heeding this request and granting Pollard clemency. The case against Pollard began with the ridiculous rhetoric of former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who claimed that he could conceive no "greater harm to national security than that caused by Pollard." Of course, Pollard's selling of classified documents - such as the location of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's headquarters in Tunis - to a close ally of the United States did break federal law and he should be punished accordingly. But Pollard's offense came at the heart of the Cold War, and the average period of incarceration for Soviet spies at the time was only five years. Was the information Pollard sold six (assuming Pollard will serve a thirty year sentence) times as damaging as the information held by Soviet infiltra- tors? Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing. The. Federal government claimed at the time, and can continue to claim, that the information Pollard re- vealed cannot be released for national security rea- sons, thus making it impossible for the American clemency request people to determine the extent of the railroading to which Pollard was subjected. Current Defense Secretary Les Aspin, arguing against the early release of Pollard, has continued this hypocrisy by telling President Clinton last week that 14 letters written from jail by the con- victed spy held new classified information. When Pollard's lawyers demanded that Aspin back up his allegations, the Defense Secretary balked, hiding once again behind the national security curtain. While national security is an important issue, not to be taken lightly either by the government or by citizens, it must not be an excuse for the govern- ment to hide anything for which it does not want to face disagreement or criticism from the American public. Because of the surreptitious nature of the pro- ceedings, many of the facts in the case will never be known to the media and the public. But a few things remain clear, and they demand looking into.. Among these is the fact that Pollard's fate was determined by Federal Judge Audrey Robinson, who has since confessed that one of his main justifications for the lengthy sentence was that Pollard had leaked information on joint Israeli- South African missile tests. Yet the prosecution papers contain no mention of this. For all the American people know, the government may have fed Robinson inaccurate information. No credible organization is defending what Jonathan Pollard did, and President Clinton need not either. However, commuting an unjustly long sentence does nothing of the sort. Rather, it simply shows that the President is ready to put aside politics in favor of justice. It shows that he cares about the bedrock of American justice: freedom from the government. For those who heard me argue that Haiti would be a free(r) nation by the end of 1993, I concede that my prediction was less than accurate. With hundreds of thousands of Haitians CM U threatened daily with poverty, A hunger and mz da government- sponsored violence, Haiti has become one of the United States' more tragic post-Cold War foreign policy failures. Just as Bosnia's Serbian rapists continued undaunted in Western Europe's backyard, Raoul Cedras' thugs learned quickly that there are no unfortunate consequences in ignoring President Clinton's threats. The word is now that the Clinton administration has given up on the Haiti problem. Cedras' reneging on the agreement to restore power to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appears to have left the United States with few options. Moreover, the fact that a crowd of rioting thugs in Port-au-Prince managed to scare off U.S. naval craft and marines left the United States looking both weak and foolish. Mazumdar's column appears every other Thursday. Don't blame all men for the actions of one man To the Daily: In response to the many articles submitted by the various women on campus about rape, as a memberof the male gender, I can only say that I am perturbed that such literature could and would be published by the Daily. The first letter to the editor was adequately sufficient in getting the point across about the rape behind South Quad last month. As a member of the media, the Daily has a responsibility for the articles it prints. I can only say that I am embarrassed that the editors would print Mrs. Hollenbeck's piece ("Don't blame the victim for the rape" 12/7/93), where she makes, the statement, "Maybe if the men of the world would take responsibility for their actions ... this could have been prevented ... Until men stop thinking with their dicks and start thinking with their minds, women will be forced to live their lives in fear." Men of the world are not in some secret society, where we all get together and plan ways to terrorize women. I am surprised that Ms. Hollenbeck would make such a stereotype. The last thing I need is to hear yet another diatribe about how men are pigs. Her piece only demonstrates her closed- mindedness. Despite what Ms. Hollenbeck thinks, people are That does that there aren taking. Possib freezing of al belonging to 1 the expulsion{ members from Considering t Clinton admin Haiti (mostly, imminent), it steps have no There is, f clean up Am policy with re U.S. Coast G returning Hait Port-au-Prince certainly suffe ruling junta. A United States arms all Cuba Castro's daug granddaughte is clear: refug brutality of a government a while those w authoritarian (To those whc Kirkpatrick sc policy, this sh policy-makin Admittedly might be take guarantee off may be doom decades as the and Baby Do United States some lessons1 U.S. foreignp failed foreign plc not mean, however, The United States officially n't still steps worth opposed the election of President le options include Aristide in 1990, spending taxpayer 1 financial assets dollars to ensure the election of his the Haitian elite and right-wing opponent. A friend of of all elite family mine at the University of Dayton n their host countries. visited Haiti on two occasions as a he emphasis the member of independent fact-finding nistration placed on missions, which were sponsored by when success seemed the liberal Catholic organization is surprising that these Clergy and Laity Concerned. He t already been taken. returned with an interesting story. urthermore, a need to After Aristide's victory, the story erican immigration goes, an American delegation, gard to Haiti. The which included former Ambassador uard is currently to the United Nations Andrew tian "boat people" to Young, asked Aristide to concede e, where many will the election to his opponent. er reprisals by the Naturally, Aristide refused. The At the same time, the result was an American-sponsored welcomes with open coup against the new president. an refugees, including Though the national press has hter and yet to corroborate this theory, such r. The double-standard a scenario is certainly possible, ees escaping the even probable. Presidents Bush and totalitarian Reagan had an intervention record re welcome to stay, as morally questionable as any of vho suffer under an their predecessors. Consider, government are not moreover, the CIA's behavior o do not belong to the during recent months. Its attempts chool of foreign to assassinate Aristide's character iould look to be silly with stories of instability and g). brutality appear to be fraudulent, y, whatever steps and Agency reports during the Bush n, there is no administration called Raoul Cedras final success. Haitians (Haiti's chief thug) "bright" and ed to suffer for "up and coming." Caught in a major ey did under Papa Doc faux-pas, the CIA might be trying c Duvalier. But the to cover its tracks. An investigation* might at least draw of the Bush administration's Haitian by examining where policy might reveal a lesson in what policy went wrong. not to do to promote democracy. case in today's society. However, we must be realistic, and understand that this is not the case. There are people who are willing and able to violate these rights. Just as we take precautions to avoid muggings, precautions are available to avoid rape. We must accept, and live in, the society which is available to us. The utopia we all dream of is far ahead in the future, and acts as an objective for us to achieve. Until then, be safe; if you can't be safe, be smart. DAVID SETO LSA first year student SAPAC is right on target, criticism is invalid To the Daily: In response to Abraham Bates' 11/9/93 complaint that SAPAC is using "scare tactics and efforts to create an inflated rape-crisis mentality," SAPAC is right on target. Women still don't report many rapes for various reasons, so the one-in-three figure is far more accurate than one-in-eight. Buried deep in the hearts and minds of many a woman are memories of a rape, sometimes long forgotten, sometimes long remembered. Crimes that never were reported, but nevertheless make the higher numbers of rape no less real in a acquaintance (it'was reported and he was arrested, but prosecutors put it on hold), and again at the age of 15 by a stranger who dragged her toO the bushes (her faith in the system destroyed, she refused to report it. Both occurred between 8:00 and 12:00 in the morning. So it's three- in-three for us ... for now (or more accurately, five-in-three). Only through efforts by organizations like SAPAC are women getting the courage and strength to report and emotionally survive rapes. Those who can't do gain some strength from the knowledge that people are working to educate and provide support. We will never know the true figures on rape, but rest assured, they are far higher than what we do know now. SHALANE J. SHELEY Ann Arbor Resident Prof. Crysal By RUSSELL BALCH While I am adverse to trying my' cases in the press, the article by Amitava Mazumdar ("Discrimination case is off the mark, 11/11/93) engages in precisely the type of prejudgement which the author says he deplores. Having criticized my client, Prof. Jill Crystal, for offering "little evidence" to support her claims, Mazumdar pro- ceeds to prejudge those claims without has wrong. Prof. C recommended tine Committee Department. mended for ten of the full tent partment. Pro "good enough ence Departme standards" of ti its faculty apps been wronged rystal was unanimously and the lone male has been granted for tenure by the Execu- reconsideration. Since 1985, the per- e of the Political Science centage of tenured instructional fac- She was then recom- ulty who are women at the University nure by a clear majority has risen only five percent, to about 15 ured faculty of her De- percent of the faculty. f. Crystal was clearly Mazumdar's article alsofails to look " for the Political Sci- at the troubled history of the Political nt. She met the "stricter Science Department itself when it his top Department, and comes to women. Of the Assistant Pro- roved her for tenure. If fessors hired in 1986, the men have all