4A - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 3, 1996

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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by
students at the
Un versity of Michigan

RONNIE GLASSBERG
Editor in Chief
ADRIENNE JANNEY
ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Editorial Page Editors

NOTABLE QUOTABLE
'I don't think Dole can beat Clinton.
I think only Clinton can beat Clinton.'
- Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster
YuiuKUNIYUKI GROUND ZERO

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
Welcome back '96
'The U' does not sleep in summer

o everyone survived move-in.
Over the past week and a half, Ann
Arbor has begun to look more and more like
,herself, starting with carloads of lost par-
,ents, anxious packs of first-year students -
and culminating with a traditional football
Saturday and the official start of classes.
Although the University's comforting
routine gives the impression of a beginning,
it's only a peak in the cycle - things have
been rolling all summer. While students are
away at summer camps or internships, the
University keeps moving ahead.
New face in Fleming
;July 1 marked the passing of James
Duderstadt's reign as University president
and the beginning of Homer Neal's interim
'service. Last year, the University Board of
Regents commissioned a student-faculty-
staff advisory committee to seek out poten-
tial candidates for the position. Like presi-
dential searches past, the advisery panel
pledged its commitment to secrecy and full
candidate anonymity until it presents a
short list this fall. The University communi-
ty does not expect to see a reprise of the
1988 presidential search, when search com-
,mittees violated several Open Meetings Act
taws.
Preliminary indications revealed strong
favoritism for medical center administrators
presumably stemming from the serious
restructuring issues the University medical
center faces. While the medical center
needs a strong administrator to guide it
through its time of trouble, the presidential
search committee must make a distinction
between the medical center's best interests
and the University's best interests - though
linked by name, the medical center and the
rest of the University operate under separate
budgets, have different goals and target a
different clientele. While it is entirely
appropriate to seek out a seasoned medical
center administrator to replace former
University Medical School Dean Giles Bole
- who stepped down this summer -
advisery committees are supposed to select
' University presidential candidates who will
serve students well, regardless of expertise
in the medical field.
Relief in sight?
As part of its annual budget decision-
making, the University Board of Regents
voted to increase tuition again - though
students won't feel as hard a pinch as in
years past.
The regents voted to pass Provost J.
Bernardl Machen's budget proposal for the
1996-97 academic year, which included a 3-
percent tuition increase for in-state, lower-
division undergraduates. The modest figure
is the lowest in this category in nearly 30
years. Upper-division and lower-division
.non-resident tuitions will increase by 5 per-
cent. Though higher than the in-state, lower-
division rate hike, the 5-percent increase is
the smallest increase for upper-division stu-
dents and non-residents in almost 15 years.
Finally, students are allowed to reap some
of the University's excellent financial
health - they have been forced to shoulder
the burden of exorbitant tuition increases
'too long.
Machen's budget included a 9-percent

increase in financial aid funding. Students
desperately need funding increases, howev-
er modest the tuition hikes; the University
still stands as the most expensive public
university in the country.

A watchful eye on DPS
The Department of Public Safety often
finds itself in the middle of controversy.
Officers and the people they are commis-
sioned to protect often dispute how DPS
handles incidents; hence, an oversight com-
mittee is necessary to review grievances
and complaints.
Four years ago, Duderstadt commis-
sioned an oversight committee, but the
group remained inactive - mainly due to
ambiguity of wording. Students and com-
munity members with problems to report
had to differentiate between a "complaint"
and a "grievance" - the oversight commit-
tee only reviewed formal grievances while
complaints were essentially ignored.
In July, Duderstadt and Executive Vice
President Farris Womack ordered a renewed
approach to DPS oversight. They agreed to
give the committee office space, telephone
lines an operating budget and possibly a
part-time criminal lawyer.
More importantly, they agreed to elimi-
nate semantic labels that kept the commit-
tee from reviewing every filed complaint or
grievance. Renewed efforts to monitor DPS
are welcome within the University commu-
nity and they should promote good faith on
both sides of future disputes.
Campus facelift
Students wandering around campus dur-
ing these first few days of fall term may
notice a new look for several University
buildings. Classroom buildings, city streets,
residence halls and even Michigan Stadium
received major overhauls this summer.
Alice Lloyd and Couzens residence halls
were closed to incoming students during the
summer due to extensive remodeling and
renovation. The inconvenience will be com-
pensated by more modern facilities - stu-
dents pay the price of top-quality housing
and are often greeted with substandard
facilities. Student accommodations are a
good place to spend money. Of course, stu-
dents are - like last year - living in
lounges due to a lack of dorm space.
The south side of AngellMason/Haven
Halls spent much of last year wrapped in
chain-link fences, rerouting foot traffic
around barricades and through shrubbery
and mud. The area between Tappan Hall,
Haven Hall and the University Museum of
Art is now mercifully clear of fencing, tool
trucks and other impediments -- students
can once again move freely without the has-
sle of bottleneck foot traffic.
The much talked-about pedestrian mall
on East University Street is near completion
- a relief to anyone trying to enter East
Hall or running from Randall to the Chem
building.
The area on the corner of East and South
University streets has a new brickwalkway,
leading to both the pedestrian mall and a
revamped West Hall arch. Large clusters of
street lamps shed bright light on the corner
- a welcome safety measure in a formerly
dark area.
Autumn
From interim administrative appoint-
ments to tuition increases to new residence
hall bathrooms, the summer months on

campus are anything but stagnant. The
University community returns to campus
this week to find it fresher and more ener-
gized - it can be hoped that summer was
as kind to University students.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Clinton: work with teachers, not unions

To THE DAILY:
As President Clinton
made his way through
Michigan last week, he
announcedthat he would be
putting another burden on the
children of America. This
time the burden was in the
amount of $2.75 billion.
He is saying that this plan
is to help children learn to
read. I only have one state-
ment to that: What are our
teachers and schools for?
Maybe instead of looking
at spending more money on
more programs, Clinton
should look at real education
reform. Reform that Gov.
John Engler, U.S. House can-
didate Joe Fitzsimmons (R-
Ann Arbor), U.S. Reps. Dick
Chrysler (R-Brighton) and
Nick Smith (R-Addison) and
the other Republicans are
talking about.
It's time we looked at our
teachers in our school system
and evaluated them.
Just as an owner of a
business or an employee at a
supermarket has to meet
standards to keep their jobs, I
believe the teachers in
Arerica need to be evaluated
on even a higher level than

that; if they don't meet the
standards, out the door with
them.
Right now in Michigan
you have the MBA ramming
through teaching contracts
for some teachers that should
have been removed from our
school systems many years
ago.
Those teachers were given
President should
follow Engler,
Republicans' lead
on educational
policies
tenure and high pay years
ago, and then decided to only
give 80 percent, if that.
It is time we went to a
merit program for teachers in
this country where the best
teachers get the best pay
based on student perfor-
mance.
Back to Bill Clinton: Mr.
Clinton if you really want to
help our children start mak-
ing the teachers in America
accountable, start demanding
that they do their jobs. Don't
spend $2.75 billion of money

that isn't yours to spend.
Spending money will not
make parents read to their
children or make teachers do
their jobs.
Parental responsibility is
something that will take time
to restore. It's not something
that can be done overnight.
This responsibility of parents
can and is reinforced by the
teachers in our school sys-
tems that do care and are
accepting responsibility.
Mr. Clinton, I think you
need to re-evaluate your plan.
People in the Democratic
Party, like President Clinton,
U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-
Ann Arbor) and others, in the
party always think things can
be solved by spending more
money. That is the major
problem, money is not the
solution. Accountability and
responsibility are the
answers. Do what is right -
send Clinton a message; send
him and his over spending
ideas back to Little Rock.
KENNETH J. DIGNAN III
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE
FOR COUNTY COMMISION

GRAND hIUSION
Whither studen
activism?
"We are the people of this generation,
bred in at least modest comfort, housed
now in unversities, looking uncomfort-
ably to the world we inherit."
W ith these words, Tom Hayden,
then the 22-year-old leader o
the Students for a Democratic Socie
ushered in the New Left - a movement
initiated and oper-
ated by students r u h t e 1 6 s 4 ;x
trugh the 1960
and early '70s
These words are
also the introduc-
tion to the Port
Huron Statement, a
manifesto ratified
in 1962 at SDS'
first convention,
which would prove SAMUEL
to be the most GOODSTEIN
influential docu-
ment in the early history of the New Left.
Hayden, a University of Michigan phi-
losophy student, would go on to be a key
leader of the remarkably large, and large-
ly factionalized, student movement
before becoming a California state sena-
tor, gubernatorial candidate and outsp.
ken champion of various liberal causes
(not to mention a stint as Jane Fonda's
husband). The student movement of the
1960s was the high-water mark of stu-
dent political power - the past 30 years
have seen a steady decline not only in
student activism, but in the political
import of the student voice. While a host
of college towns still carry the mantra
"liberal, activist campus," Hayden's lega-
cy is largely lost on most students todayJ
is an oversimplification, however, t
explain away student activism by saying
students have become more apathetic and
the issues less exciting. The political voice
of students in the mid-'90s is certainly less
powerful, and persuasive, than 30 years
ago, but it is worth asking to what degree
this is true, and why it is so.
A frequently offered explanation for the"
demise of student activism is "this genera-
tion doesn't have any issues like Vietnt
and the civil rights movement" To a linit-
ed extent, this is on the mark. The issues
students face today are not nearly as high-
profile or likely to incite passions as
intense as those created by the Vietnam
War or racial discrimination. However, the
student movement of the '60s began long
before Vietnam was an important political
issue. The Port Huron Statement was writ-
ten years before the United States became
seriously involved in Indochina, an
makes not a single reference t
Vietnam. Instead, the New Left was
energized by issues that are, for th
most part, still important today: poverty.
labor issues, a government that booss
defense spending at the expense of soci
programs, discrimination and the state
the Third World. So if the issues that first
galvanized students still exist, there must
be an explanation more nuanced than
"those were different times' e
One reason may be that studen '
today are, often justifiably, not focused
on those issues that could unite but
instead on divisive ones. While a
broad range of students could agree
with the platform of the New Left, and
later agree that Vietnam was a mind-
less waste of lives and resources, stu-
dents cannot agree on the central
issues on campuses today. These
issues often pit minorities against
whites, or are partisan domestic issue
that pit liberals against conservatives
For example, perhaps the most impor-

tant controversy on campus last year
was when various minority student
groups charged the Daily with racism,
and thousands of copies were stolen as
'punishment." So far from being able
to organize a strong student voice, we
(for better or for worse) can hardly get
along with each other.
To exacerbate the situation, ar
campus-based issues that could possi-
bly bring students together - such as
a conduct code or other administrative
intrusions into student life - rarely
capture the interest of more thanta tiny
fraction of students. So we not only
lack the high-profile issues that once
brought students together, we also
have debates that drive a wedge
between students (affirmative action
and a bitterly partisan political cli-
mate, to name a few) and debates th:
lull students to sleep (the Code et. al.)
But all is not lost. There is an important
paradox that points to a resurgence in stu-
dent activism. While meaningful Diag ral-
lies are rare at best, students are, at least
nominally, more active than ever. One
look at the list of registered student groups
could explain part of the disappearance of
a unified student voice: Students are
involved in hundreds of groups, rangir
from the Young Republicans to the Young
Hegelians, and are more involved than
ever in their own specific issues of inter-
est. To the extent that this is true, student
activism may not be dead; it may simply
have taken on a new exterior.
Anything short of a national crisis may

LETTERS POLICY
The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from its readers. All letters from University stu-
dents, faculty and staff will be printed, space providing. Other materials will be printed at
the editors'discretion. All letters must include the writer's name, school year or University
affiliation and phone number. We will not print any letter that cannot be verified.
Ad hominem attacks will not be published.
Letters should be kept to approximately 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for
length, clarity and accuracy. Longer "Viewpoints" may be arranged with an editor
Letters should be sent via e-mail to daily.letters@umich.edu or mailed to the Daily at
420 Maynard St. Editors can be reached at 764-0552 or by sending e-mail to the above
address.

WHAT'S AFFECTING 'U' THIS WEEK

TUESDAY
Classes begin! Check local listings.
TUESDAY
MSA meeting
3909 Michigan Union 7:30 p.m.

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THOUGHTS
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We are proud to announce our columnists:
MONDAY:
To BE ANNOUNCED

TUESDAY:
GOODSTEIN/GRAND ILLUSION

SAMUEL

WEDNESDAY:
JAMES MLER/MuILER ON TA
THURSDAY:
KATE HuTcHs/SHAiaNG THE TREE
FRIDAY:
To BE ANNOUNCED
The edor(pcsei stsah9sbmssions br the Mondyand d yspos
Cal764-0552andask forAAenne orZadke
e-mail diem Lmn~d.edU andmv7nh.d

How TO CONTACT THEM
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