4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 2, 1996
abe Sittguu Eaitg
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
University of Michigan
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RONNIE GLASSBERG
Editor in Chief
ADRIENNE JANNEY
ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily s editorial board. All
other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily
FROM THE DAILY
Serviceable investment
'U' will put state clinical grant to good use
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'NWROC is pushing people in a direction
they may not want to go.'
- LSA senior Reed Selby on the National Women 's Rights Organizing Coalition
JIM LASSERRHSARP AS TOAST
z EAVE T S T' P
0 0
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F*t TT-t
LETFERS TO THE EDITOR
C linical programs have provided
University students with opportunities
not commonly accessible to them. Last
week, the University announced an expan-
sion of these programs. As a result of a one-
time $3 million grant from the state, the
University will strengthen existing pro-
grams and create new ones. The state
deserves commendation for granting the
University the money - it will benefit
University students and the communities
with which they interact.
The grant will allow students to gain
valuable real-world experience. Instead of
learning theory in the classroom, students
can apply what they have learned in settings
similar to those in which they may work
after graduation.
For example, students participating in
the Michigan Migrant Farm Dental
Program provide dental services to migrant
workers in northern Michigan - an oppor-
tunity that allows students to apply a class-
room lesson to a realistic setting.
In addition, the community will benefit
from the low cost of the students' various
services. Because the University's clinics
are for educational purposes and the stu-
dents are not professionals, they charge
reasonable fees. Many of the communities
that the clinics benefit are in low-income
areas. The grant will allow University stu-
dents to directly impact a portion of society
they might otherwise ignore.
The University's clinical programs also
should spark the interest of citizens in the
communities that they serve; members of
these communities may not have been pre-
viously exposed to the various services. The
programs, which range from a new Poverty
Law Center to the Michigan Math Camp,
will afford community members the chance
to benefit from University students' exper-
tise and newly acquired knowledge.
For example, the Detroit Outreach
Project sends faculty and University gradu-
ate students to work with high school dance
students. The University students' instruc-
tion may incite interest in youths that tradi-
tional methods of high school education
may not. The youths who work with the
University students gain an advantage most
high school students do not have. Exposure
to higher education may encourage younger
students to further their education in the
areas in which they have gained interest.
Since the state's grant will help expand
and create new programs, the University
will not have to raise tuition to sustain them.
And the money is worth it. The new pro-
grams enhance college education by provid-
ing students with a genuine experience. And
the efforts will be returned in the long run if
high school students are encouraged to
attend the University. The outreach also
demonstrates to prospective students that
the state is committed to clinical education.
The state Legislature deserves commen-
dation for granting the University the addi-
tional funds. Through this funding, the state
is not only educating future professionals,
but assisting many of its citizens.
Half and half
Republicans, Clinton agree on immigration
Saturday marked a rare occurrence.
The White House and congressional
Republicans were able to hammer out many
of their differences on immigration. In
response to criticism from various civil
rights groups, government leaders were
able to recreate a piece of legislation that
tackles both sides of the immigration issue.
The bill, which U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-
Texas) sponsored and the House passed last
Wednesday, remains a vehemently anti-ille-
gal immigrant bill. But it's a much friend-
lier version of the legal immigration bill.
The agreement maintains some of the
toughest measures to halt illegal aliens in
decades: doubling the number of Boarder
Patrol agents to 10,000 and speeding the
deportation of immigrants who are crimi-
nals or who use false documents.
However, lawmakers struck two provi-
sions from the bill. First, any legal immi-
grant who uses public aid, such as English
classes and child care for more than 12
months, would face deportation within
seven years.
The proposed legislation would have
compounded the already-desperate situa-
tion the Welfare Reform Act - which
denies food stamps to legal immigrants -
created. The immigration bill would have
made it nearly impossible for legal immi-
grants to acquire and maintain a job -
compounding the act that denies them
unemployment benefits.
The second dropped provision would
have denied public education to children of
illegal immigrants. While it is justifiable
for the United States to penalize any illegal
activity, it would have been deplorable to
punish children for the deeds of their par-
ents.
The bill also stipulated that families that
wish to bring immediate relatives to the
United States must be at twice the poverty
level to qualify as sponsors. According to
the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, nearly half of all past sponsors did
not have qualifying incomes. Under the
compromise, however, one or more spon-
sors can pool incomes to reach above the
poverty level.
Nevertheless, a troubling provision
remains. The federal courts will no longer
have the power to review the INS' opera-
tions. The INS grants or denies refugee sta-
tus. Until now, the courts could review its
decisions - the bill would give INS free
reign.
This presents a situation where an indi-
vidual who wishes to challenge the INS'
practices must rely on an immigration
judge, without the benefit of counsel in his
or her case. The provision damages the
applicant's due process rights.
The situation for asylum applicants has
worsened. But overall, the immigration bill
is less harsh with those who strive to
improve the life of legal immigrants. While
the Welfare Reform Act is unjustly hurting
gainfully employed immigrants, fortunately
the status quo is maintained for those who
are working.
Congress deserves praise for the ability
to compromise as well as its accountability
to those that strongly desire to succeed in
the United States. In an environment that is
increasingly partisan as well as isolationist,
they are welcomed deeds.
Netanyahu
'rattles the
hornet nest'
TO THE DAILY:
The recent combustion in
Israeli-Palestinian relations
has sparked the proverbial
debate between the Arab and
Jewish groups on campus.
Perhaps both sides are justi-
fied, but as usual, the rhetoric
is not based on any logical
assessment of the situation.
Rather, it is based on the
prospective sides each is
required to represent, by
virtue of their affiliations.
As an independent Israeli,
however, I have the privilege
of being exempt from such
loyalties.
Benjamin Netanyahu,
Israel's premier, has rattled a
hornet's nest. Consequently,
the peace process has had a
near death experience. The
irresponsible decision to
open the tunnel without con-
sidering the historical ramifi-
cations of such a move has
been the direct cause of the
bloodshed. The head of
Israel's General Security
Service had recommended,
prior to the start of the exca-
vation, that Israel engage in
some sort of negotiation with
the Palestinian Authority; for
example, postponement of
the departure of troops from
Hebron might serve as a
negotiating tool.
Regardless, it was a care-
less move that ultimately cost
too many lives.
On the other hand, the
Palestinian police's
deplorable overreaction of
shooting live bullets at Israeli
soldiers was mostly responsi-
ble for the extraordinarily
large number of casualties.
Israel did not arm 30,000
Palestinians with the inten-
tion of being on the receiving
end of a target practice.
The tunnel is only sym-
bolic of the main issue: con-
trol of Jerusalem. Clearly,
this issue will not be resolved
in any of the subsequent
meetings that will take place
in the aftermath of this
tragedy.
This fundamental point of
contention, however, is only
secondary to the severe eco-
nomic depression the
Palestinian people are under.
A 70 percent unemployment
rate will not be cured by
mere talk. The young
Palestinians that have been
born into a reality of war, ter-
rorism and hopelessness have
nothing to lose, unless they
start seeing some action that
will put food on their tables.
It is the inherent obligation of
both sides to maintain stabili-
ty, regardless of the progress
in the peace talks. It is the
only way economic redevel-
opment and hope can ensue.
AARON GUTNICK
umn ("At the antique store:
After a hundred years, it
gains value," 9/30/96), is "to
do but one thing - give the
news --promptly and accu-
rately."
In the past couple of
years, I find that the Daily is
not necessarily a newspaper,
but a forum for a select few
to give their opinions from
glass tower dorm rooms and
fraternity houses on the
"world" around them. I back
this up by pointing out that in
the main section of the
Monday issue that Janney's
article was printed, the three
pages of reported news were
matched by three pages of
reporters' opinions.
I have enjoyed the
columns of Adrienne Janney
and Dean Bakopoulos,
among the many other jour-
nalists, even if sometimes I
disagreed with what they
wrote. I can understand that
the Daily wants to give hon-
est and qualified students.
who have a desire to write
and want to spend their valu-
able time doing so for the
benefit of the greater student
body, a journalistic forum
that respects "editorial free-
dom." This does not mean,
however, giving anybody who
can vaguely construct a sen-
tence and has a beef about
some issue that they heard in
one of their lectures, a col-
umn or a cartoon.
- I'd like to remind the edi-
tors of the Daily that journal-
ism is, or was, in the Daily's
case, a discipline. In being a
discipline, there are certain
codes to be followed and/or
broken, but only in certain
situations and at a journalist's
discretion.
One of these codes, which
the editorial editors of the
Daily continue to mangle, is
to present the news, even if
opinion-based, in as an unbi-
ased and accurate fashion as
possible.
This is where the editors
of the Daily cower behind
their precious "editorial free-
dom."
Yeah, the First
Amendment gives everyone
the right to free speech. The
biggest downfall of the Daily,
however, is how they mangle
freedom of the press by print-
ing half the garbage they do.
True editorial freedom does
not mean that the news can-
not be given "promptly and
accurately." Editorial freedom
should not mean that any
yahoo who can turn on a
,word processor can publish
their most shallow opinions,
iwithout having the vaguest
clue about what they are talk-
j ng about or proof to back
them up. The type of "edito-
al freedom" that the Daily
thrives on and seeks to pub-
lish should not be the voice
pf the student body at the
University.
Raising taxes
won't raise
prosperity
TO THE DAILY:
Ah, yes, our liberal
friends at the Residential
College have stood firm once
again for the admirable quali-
ties of American public poli-
cy: entitlements, redistribu-
tion of wealth, wasteful
spending, reverse racism and
ectatic parochialism. Am I to
assume the RC simply offers
no remedial economics/polit-
ical science courses - or
that the socialist initiative
produced by "communal"
study has blurred the distinc-
tion between the existential
certainties of laissez-fare
capitalism and the oppressive
bureaucratic constructs of
left-wing governments?
The latest reverberation of
economic statism comes
from comrade Noah
Robinson, RC junior, who
laments in his recent letter
("Kirk's letter does not tell
whole truth," 9/30/96) that
Reagan's tax cuts benefitted
the rich at the expense of the
poor whose "services" were
robbed from them, ultimately
resulting in economic stagna-
tion. So the question now
becomes, Robinson: Are your
historical facts subject to the
same automatism that afflicts
your political ideology -- or
is your sociological imagina-
tion just deeply impaired?
Assuming the first is true,
you might be interested in
knowing that when Reagan
lowered the top income tax
bracket from 70 percent to 50
percent in 1982 and ultimate-
ly to 28 percent (inflation
adjusted), entitlement pro-
grams expanded by only 2
percent - slowing federal
spending markedly! A strong
4 percent economic growth
was soon to follow (compare
that with 2 percent today),
severely reducing the demand
for federal programs. It is
examples like these that
unequivocally link tax cuts
with reduced federal spend-
ing and economic growth.
Assuming the second is
true, I challenge you to
accept the fact that the rich
and poor alike are increasing-
ly exercising more personal
responsibility and are steadily
rejecting government pro-
grams as impediments to real
economic opportunity. Armed
with financial discipline, citi-
zens are prepared to slay the
bureaucratic dinosaur left
over from the failed social-
engineering projects of the
Great Society.
A -~~- 1Iat- «a,
MILLER ON TAP
When you've
got to choose ...
M y eruptions of optimism are few
and far between. So you can
imagine my surprise when I began to
get 4hat warm, fuzzy college idealism
feeling in the Diag earlier this week. I
was talking to a friend at the voter reg-
istration table. I asked him ho ma
converts he had
won so far this
year.
"Oil, about
4,000, give- or
take," hie said
grinning like a
proud father.
"You're kid-
ding," I said
"That many?"
"Yeah, they been
coming in droves JAMES
all day. But mostly MILLER
all flaming
Democrats, the College Republicans
were dead right." (OK, I made that fast
part up.)
But I was only gooey and blubbery
for a minute. As I walked home, I real-
ized a few things about a massive col-
lege voter registration drive. I'll sp*
you the usually, sterilized "your-vote-
is-your-voice" MTV sermonizin .But
this issue has two important points to
consider.
First: You actually have to vote. I
know this sounds stupid. I've already
explained the newspaper columnist's
affection for the obvious. But you'd be
surprised how many people get their
democratic duty heated up by the
sweet young thing behind the "Rock
the Vote" table, sign up, and then ne
see the inside of a voting booth.
See, a lot of causally involved people
will view voter registration as a right
to complain, or at the very least a Get
Out of Democracy Free Card. Since
the rest of the country is floating in
such blind apathy, something as simple
as registration seems like a genuinely
Herculean effort, in comparisoniBut it
doesn't mean a thing if you don't vo
Ain't the obvious grand?
Second - and this is the big one -
you have to make an informed vote. It
is one of the great sins of democratic
government to think that the individ-
ual's obligation to his government
stops at the pull of a lever. An unin-
formed vote is almost as bad as none
at all.
There are innumerable governmental
tragedies that could have been averted
if a large enough percentage of
electorate had been awake for that par-
ticular play. Allow me to illuminate.
The savings and loan explosion. One
of the reasons that the owners and
operators of S&L's were able to run
screaming into capitalist Valhalla was
the fact that several key members of
Congress (such as Sens. Jake Garn of
Utah and Don Reigle of Michigan)
allowed these coin sucking scumwa s
to bypass stacks of regulationsW
years -- until finally even voters
noticed how greasy they had become
and gave them the electoral pimps-
mack. An inforhed electorate, one
that reads the congressional voting
records, would have realizednthat they
were getting it in the shorts from their
elected officials and unloaded them.
But we didn't.
This is merely one example, unfortu-
nately there are dozens. But the toit
thing is that many issues are not t
public or easy to spot. It's obvious to
see that your congressman is a
schmuck when he's wearing handcuffs
and on the cover of every newspaper
from here to Oxnard. True evil, like
true beauty, seldom announces itself,
if you truly wish to be an effective
member of society, the duty falls to
you to become educated about the
issue you care about. If you happen
be a die-hard environmentalist, chec
and see if your representative voted to
repeal the Clean Water and Clean Air
Acts. Do your homework. The infor-
mation is all readily available to the
general public.
Which brings us to another unglam-
orous issue. An old political axiom
states that all politics is local. Your city
council person and state representative
often have more to say about the w
government affects you than your L.
senator. Even though it seems like
pointless small change some times,
local issues are often good places to
make your opinions known.
For example, on the next ballot,
Washtenaw Community College has a
millage increase and a bond issue
pending. The bond issue will help
finance a new building and the millage
will give the college the funds to r
it, as well as retool much of its co-
puter technology. While this does not
have the grandeur of a presidential
election, these two ballot items have
the potential to help thousands of peo-
ple who want to educate and abetter
themselves. You don't have to travel to
How TO CONTACT THEM
FIONA ROSE
MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT
3909 MICHIGAN UNION