4 - The MichiganDaily - January 19, 1996 Maynard Street ---- -- - MICHAEL ROSENBERG rbor M 48109 Editor in Chief and anapci y : 424 A AnnAi Editedr BRENT MCINTOSH MCINTOSH CLASSICS .- First lady's fan dub captures the essence ofa cofee-addited ciy students at the University of Michigan ,JULLIE IDECKER JAMEs M. NASH Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Dail. Foreign Service 'U' should aid international grad instructors International students vying for graduate student instructorships face many hard- ships in leaving their countries behind and venturing to a new land with new customs. The University fails to defray many of the hidden costs, requirements and burdens these potential students face. Recognizing this, the Graduate Employees Organization has in- cluded better treatment of potential interna- tional graduate student instructors in its list of contract demands. The University should use this opportunity to overhaul hiring and training practices for international GSIs. Would-be international GSIs are required to attend a three-week training session, and they must pay for it. In addition, they must purchase health care premiums to cover the duration of the workshop. Despite the heavy financial burdens, the University does not promise to hire any of the foreign partici- pants. One of GEO's proposals would re- quire the University to reimburse the foreign participants at the hourly equivalent of the GEO rate. In addition, the University would pay a $34 premium for each international GSI to provide participants with health care for the duration of the workshop, GEO pro- posals reflect not only the needs of potential international GSIs, but also of its under- graduate students. The financial and logisti- cal hardships prevent many potentially good teachers from attending a program that may not result in employment. This, in turn, hurts undergraduate students because many quali- fied international GSIs are never hired. Under another provision, GEO is asking the University to allow any potential interna- tional GSI to request English language assis- tance. Currently, English assistance is lim- ited to IGSIs whose departments request it in advance. GEO's solution would make the process more fair for all candidates and not give special preference to those whose de- partments are more organized and sensitive to the candidates' needs. Ifa candidate receives English assistance, he or she is still subject to intense and unfair scrutiny during the interactive phases of the workshop. Currently, candidates must take an English Language Institute test as well as participate in the workshop. During the work- shop, the candidates' scores can be altered based on their performance. American stu- dents, however, are not being monitored and a double standard emerges. The foreign par- ticipants often are nervous during the work- shop because they are being closely moni- tored, which detracts from their performance and participation. To solve the problem, GEO has proposed an end to that scrutiny. GEO members also would like to prevent instruc- tors from altering the participants' grades. The University should recognize the in- strumental role that international graduate student instructors, who comprise an esti- mated 25 percent of all GSIs, play in under- graduate education. It should meet GEO's modest demands and help eradicate the tre- mendous expense, financial burden and psy- chological hardships potential international GSIs endure to be considered for a job. If the University continues to slight them, diver- sity ofscholarship -a significant element of the University's credo - will be damaged. In a hastily called press conferenceNASA revealed yesterday that astronauts in the space shuttle had stunned the Houston con- trol room with a startling revelation: Even from space, the line to see Hillary Rodham Clinton in Ann Arbor Wednesday was easily visible, snaking around the block from Border's Books past Bivouac to the Burro and beyond - this sighting despite heavy cloud cover. Just as the rocket scientists reported, approximately 147,822 people waited in a downpour Wednesday to see the first lady of the United States - although the National Park Service representative who counted the Million Man March put the figure at "around 235, give or take a couple dozen." Many of the people in line held hand- lettered signs praising the besieged first lady. One, forexample.read "Saint Hillary."Saint Hillary? A piece of advice: Whatever reli- gion that man practices, avoid at all costs. Most saintings require three miracles; Hillary's only miracle is finding Chelsea a date last weekend. The College Republicans also showed up to heckle the first lady, since -being that they are the College Republicans - they really have nothing better to do. Some of the Republicans began milling about like drugged sheep and others curled into tight fetal positions on the wet sidewalk after a H-illarian pointed out to them that the most charismatic leaders in their party are Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole. Many of those who came to see Hillary were members of the Ann Arbor chapter of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Fan Club (AAHRCFC, an acronym that should only be pronounced by trained professionals). which, they are fond of pointing out, is the nation's largest chapter. Largest chapter? There are other chap- ters'? I was sure that such a thing could only happen in Ann Arbor. This city is weird that way. Don't get me wrong: Ann Arbor is proud to be home to the nation's largest chapter of the Hillary Rodham Clinton Legal Defense Fund - uh, I mean, Fan Club. I can imagine the meetings: first, a criti- cal look at Hillary's new hairstyle. Then, on to the important business: how to invest wisely, according to the first lady. Which is, one must admit, a whole bunch more interesting than the Nancy Reagan Fan Club, which spent its time discussing topics like "How to push around your not-quite- all-there-anymore husband, especially if he's leader of the free world" - at least until the members of the club all quit on the advice of their own personal psychic advisors. Or the Barbara Bush Fan Club, which was really nothing more than a recipe-ex- change chain letter. Still, for these AAHRCFC members, I have a single piece of advice: Get a hobby. Soon. Even if you like the first lady, which for the first time ever a majority of Americans do not, do you start a fan club'? The answer, for people with real lives, is no. But, as I was saying, Ann Arbor's weird that way. More examples? In recent history, only one Ann Arbor line has exceeded Wednesday's Hillary- queue in length: the line to get into Touch- down Cafe. Hardcore Touchdowners are often seen drunkenly bedding down outside the bar immediately after lastciall, such that they can be first in line when the plac reopens. There is, of course, a reason for this mildly deviant behavior: Ann Arbor, strange town that it is, has about six times as many coffee shops as bars, so real drunkards have to crowd into the few bars there are. There is a reason for this lack of pubs, also. Think about it: What can you do with a big cup of coffee that you can't do with a beer? While true, the answer I'm looking for is not "burn myself, sue McDonald's and wi a grotesque amount of money. The answer I'm looking for, of course, is "drive the new Jeep Grand Cherokee that Daddy gave me." And since good little New Jersey girls wouldn't be caught dead away from that new Polo Green-Jeep, double cappuccinos will always be in greater de- mand than bottles of Budweiser. This coffee addiction has strange effects on Ann Arbor. For example, in most cities, the town drunk slurs his earnest plea for quarter. In Ann Arbor, on the other hand, th bums lear at you, wide-eyed and wired, and demand in ajittery voice, "Gimme yer spare freakin' change, or I'm going rip yer beady- eyed little head off, buddy-boy., It makes me sad. I really want to give them money, but I'm afraid they'll run right out and spend it on coffee. Sometimes I give them a buck or two, anyway - at least they're:not paying Hillary's legal bills. - Brent McIntosh can be reached ove e-mail at mnctosh@umich. eda. He will, however, decline all requests to contribute to Hillary's defense fund. I JIM LASSER C ONFLC T7 GOVE r SHARP AS TOAST COMPROM/5 E 4r o- 0 a. ' NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'Politics is a life of artifice. You become, through press releases and self- promotion, a figment of the public's imagination.' - Sen.'William Cohen (R-Maine), who an- nounced Wednesday he woutd not seek re- election, iwrote this in a piece offiction. The rich remedy Flat taxes cheat middle-class families F ormer Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp's congressional tax reform panel this week unveiled its pro- posal for a "flat tax" system to replace the current income tax code. The report comes at a time when several GOP presidential candi- dates and congressional leaders are calling for a similar restructuring. While the tax code needs reform, Kemp's "solution" would do America more harm than good. The details of the various flat-tax plans differ, but there are a few common points. The government would tax all income above a certain threshold - usually near $30,000 per year for a family - at a single rate between 14 and 24 percent, depending on the plan. Most or all "tax breaks" - deductions, exemptions and credits - would vanish. Some plans spare the home mortgage interest and the charitable donation deductions. Over- all, the plans would tax only earned income; investment revenue would become tax-free. Supporters argue that a flat tax would be more fair than the current code because it would eliminate the loopholes that allow so many wealthy Americans to pay unreason- ably low income taxes. This is a valid point. While a few deductions are worthwhile, Con- gress must re-examine the tax code and phase out all but the most important tax breaks. The flat-taxers do not stop, however, with eliminating deductions. They also propose a single tax rate for all income above a certain threshold. This idea is fundamentally unfair and unwise. Millionaires and working-class families would pay equal taxes on any in- come above the threshold. While a flat tax rate would lower the actual rate middle- income families must pay, the lost deduc- tions would result in more money owed to the government. Worse yet, the proposed system would tax only earned income, not investment in- come. Thus, a millionaire who does not work, but makes hundreds ofthousands of dollars a year from investments would pay no income tax. A flat tax plan would harm the poor by eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit. Also, the working poor would still be saddled with high payroll taxes, such as Medicare and Social Security. Although Kemp has suggested that payroll taxes be deductible, this would not solve the problem. Real tax reform must deal with the payroll taxes are disproportionately borne by the poor and working class. Support for progressive taxation should not stem from envy or loathing of the rich, but rather from sound economic reasoning and fairness. Government needs revenue, and it should try to acquire money from the sources that are best able to sustain taxation. Working people who face an uncertain fu- ture should be allowed to keep more of their paychecks. The wealthy can afford to con- tribute at a higher level to society. The simplification of the tax code, which many politicians support, is a good idea. However, the tax code can be simplified without being "flattened." A flat tax would harm the middle class and strike a blow to America's tradition of upward mobility. The current tax code is not perfect. But it at least makes an attempt at economic justice - a cause the flat tax would abandon. FIVE YEARS AGO IN THE DAILY Iraq bombing complicates peace efforts The United States is at war. President George Bush, de- spite mixed opinions from citi- zens around the countrylast night authorized an air attack on Iraq and Iraqi-controlled Kuwait. On national television immediately after the strike, Bush vowed to continue attempts to forcibly -lib- erate" Kuwait through military might. No one yet knows the number of casualties, either of American soldiers or of Iraqi and Kuwaiti civilians. Further, no one yet knows how long the war will last, or how many more will die. It is shameful that Bush, while speaking of peace, would launch an attack without first exhausting all possible diplomatic options. This editorial ran ill the Daily five years ago this week, 01n the day tafter the United States bombed Iraq, starting the Gulf War. Even economic sanctions, which the president assured us would force Saddam Hussein's hand, have not been given enough time for an adequate assessment of their effectiveness. Bush's action has put hun- dreds of thousands of people at risk. He was aided by a U.S.- pressured United Nations resolu- tion, which set Jan. 15 as the arbitrary deadline for Iraqi with- drawal. The deadline allowed those hungry for war, like Bush, to abandon dialogue and negotia- tion in favor of aggression. Unfortunately, lamenting last night's attack will not change the fact that the country is at war, nor will it bring back those people who have already been killed. Though many Americans have already expressed opposition to war, we must now focus our at- tention on ways to halt the mili- tary conflict. Even those who were in favor of an attack must now see that the importance of any subsequent at- tack has been diminished; clearly, Bush's promise of an attack on Iraq can no longer be seen as an unsubstantiated threat. Saddam must surely hold no illusions about why U.S. troops have been sent to the Persian Gulf. The United States should halt bombing and give Iraqi troops a chance to withdraw from Kuwait. It should also seek to reopen ne- gotiationsconfident that Saddam now recognizes the willingness of the United States to use force. Ultimately, it will be discus- sions and dialogue that end the" aggression. Bush said he would attack "sooner rather than later." The longer the attacks continue, both by the United States and by Iraq, the more people who will be unnecessarily killed. If Bush means what he said last night to a national television audience, he will demonstrate his commitment to:human life with more than rhetoric. Talking, and not violence! is the best way to solve problems. Here in Ann Arbor, people must think of and support U troops, many of whom are c friends or relatives; it is not the soldiers' fault the country is at war. Students and members of the community must also demon- strate their opposition to contin- ued militarilyconflict. There will be a rally at l1 a.m. today on the Diag, and Aati-war leaders will announce subsequent rallies that time. Go,t and make sure yo voice is hear inWashington. Whether we like it or not, the United States is at war. And al- though anyone can resort to vio- lence, it takes strong-willed people to make peace. Ameri- cans must now make it clear we support peace through negotia- tion, not more killing through war. LETTERS Alums revisit 'U' through online Daily To the Daily: I am a former student at the University, and I would simply like to show my appreciation to the Daily staff for the mature. comprehensive newspaper it pub- lishes each weekday. The Daily, you see, is one of my only last links to your glori- ous institution, now that I am no 1----.A- back to that stimulating, pictur- esque, cultured place all of you call home. Through reading about the basketball teamsI am "in"Crisler Arena; by finding out how the top-ranked swim teams are per- forming, I feel the moist humid- ity of the fabulous Canham Nata- torium; or when I see that the first lady of America herself is ap- pearing at Borders, I fondly re- call both that crowded, exciting bookstore, and the Clintons' 1992 campaign visit to the campus, when I was at Michigan. Q - . .. - - _ . - 1 a] xr. :i r41 M-I. thank the Internet for this possi- bility, and most of all, thank you! Kenneth Swinkin University graduate OFA does a great job at this large 'U' To the Daily: I want to take the time to pub- licly compliment the staff at Of- fice of Financial Aid on the out- vinindin ithv o. nThe U ni- 800 students, the second had 20,000). Consequently, one might expect, as I did, that the service here -would be ;imper- sonal, slow and difficult to ob- tain. On the contrary, each of the five times I've been to see a counselor at student financial aid - I've been helped promptly (I' never been able to finish eve i one magazine article), I've been treated very politely and I've had my problem corrected efficiently. To the management and staff in the student-financial aid office I want to say, thank you and keep a. t ..h e rp i . trnh .,. ' in ia. How TO CONTACT THEM President Bill Clinton The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 e-mail: President@WhiteHouse.gov r I I