4 Opinion Page 8 Saturday, May 23, 1981 The Michigan Daily The Michigan Daily Vol. XCI, No. 14-S Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Didn't even hurt CEE, THAT WASN'T so painful after Gall. Wednesday's astonishing 96-0 U.S. Senate rejection of two key elements in Ronald Reagan's Social Security overhaul marked the first time either body of Congress has energetically attacked even a single element in the president's blitzkrieg budget offensive. The Senate's "Sense of Congress" resolution declared its members' unanimous opposition to proposed changes penalizing early retirees, and more generally opposed all cuts which would exceed those necessary. Recent disclosures by the House Select Committee on Aging assert that the president's planned Social Security deletions go perhaps twice beyond what is deemed necessary to save the system. The alleged discrepancy once again spotlights one's suspicions that the ad- ministration's ambition is not merely to save money, but ultimately to dismantle most of America's social programs. No sector of our federal system needs reform more badly than does Social Security - yet the Reagan remedy is far worse than the ailment. It would capriciously chop off at the knees everyone needing help the most; it is a cynical breach of faith toward those who have put their wages into the system for years. It was nice to see Capital Hill display some guts. Let's hope it won't prove an anomaly. Welcome back T HE DAILY IS delighted to re-welcome the diabolical pen of Herbert Block - bet- ter known simply as Herblock - to its editorial page following more than a decade's absence. Herblock is more than a habit - he's an in- stitution. His lean, spare art and venomous journalistic wit have made him the most celebrated political cartoonist of this century; tyrants, phonies and sacred cows of all ideological stripes and sizes have been felled year after year by the merciless accuracy of his quill. Herblock tilted with the excesses of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the Vietnam war long before it was fashionable to do so. His relentless "five-o'clock shadow" portrayal of Richard Nixon may have been as responsible as anything else for turning the tide of public opinion against the ex-president. No left-wing apologist, Herblock tirelessly disects The Soviet Union's brute authoritarianism in the knowledge that despotism is despotism, Block's work spans the better part of five decades - yet he seems to grow younger every year. We hope this year will be the first of many more to come at The Daily. LETTERS TO THE DAILY: West's firing ill-advised 4 To the Daily: In reference to the article in the Daily of May 20, 1981, we as for- mer employees of West Quad, were not only surprised but sad to hear of Leon West's dismissal. West Quad was just another drab, uninteresting dorm before Leon West was hired as director. He turned West Quad into one of the most popular places to live on campus. He expanded the library, made the house lounges a decorative and enjoyable place to T'S PART OF THE PLAI TO FREE PEOPLE FROM GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE 4 i fi& "REAEAI 1S RIOtT! HERES PAGE AFTER PAGE OF WANT-ADS: ARCNITECTS, BOOKKEEPERS. COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS, DATA PROCESSORS EVITORS, EDUCATORS, ENGINEERS...' e Vn'- i E 1& relax in, (at the first sign of cold weather, Leon would have a big fire going in the fireplace in the main loungeto welcome staff and students in from the cold), created a new laundry facility, and provided interesting programs for each house. It was a decent "home" away from home. Leon was a firm disciplinarian, but respected just the same. If a student or employee had a problem, he would help them work it out. It's true, he had his own way of doing things, but don't we all get tired of the bureaucracy and the time it takes to get things done? The present residents of West Quad will miss him, but future residents of West Quad will never know of his creativeness and daring to try something different. The spirit of West Quad has died. -Betty Gumtow Sharron Wenzel May 211 Reporter mistaken To the Daily: I am writing to clarify statements attributed to me in Lou Fintor's article on budget cuts affecting the arts which ap- peared in The Michigan Daily on May 15, 1981. Grants from the National En- dowment for the Arts (NEA) provide approximately h of 1 percent of the University's revenue for sponsored projects 4 each year. While NEA cuts would have a limited impact on the University as a whole, they could present significant problems for individual units on campus such as University museums, the School of Music, Eclipse Jazz, etc. The, statement that NEA's Challenge Grant program has been eliminated is not true. NEA hopes to continue this program at a severely reduced level of $2,500,000, down from $13,450,000 this fiscal year. My references were to the Challenge Grant Program of the National En- dowment of the Humanities (NEH) which has been eliminated and to reductions in NEH Gifts and Matching Funds. -Paul G. Cunningham Project Representative May 21