4
Opinion
Page 6 Tuesday, July 14, 1981 The Michigan Daily
_______________________________ -
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCI, No. 39-S
Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Hot time
W E'RE IN THE HEART of summer now,
and the city is vibrant with activity.
Rather than cowering away from the sultry, at
times oppressive summertime weather, local
residents seem to be celebrating it.
Skateboarders and roller skaters zip through
city streets; musicians entertain before sun-
splashed audiences in West Park and Liberty
Plaza; the Diag swarms with frisbee throwers
and partiers; softball players fill area diamon-
ds for nightly confrontations; the Huron River
suddenly finds itself a nucleus of recreational
activity.
Summer in the city-sweat-soaked, hazy,
relaxed-unlike the schizophrenic days when
academia and nasty weather combine to keep
people indoors, to keep things quiet. Those that
are enrolled now, and those working in various
University departments, find the pace slower
and the tone lighter. .
The respite is a welcome diversion from the
normally manic brouhaha that infests this
town, though it is deceptively fleeting. In a
matter of several weeks, the machine will lurch
back into gear, the festivities will return in-
doors and become restricted to weekends, and
the routine will commence (once again).
For now, though, take it all in, Ann Arbor,
and enjoy the madness while it lasts.
Feiffer
oW BWAH HAVE AL 2 sfARS A60 t TLAILP 1 W6 1116 FAXNL TO PRW A TL-TU
""(L-FC.1"- ; U V AVf).. OFF. x OVE -W'FANU't/ ( fW AOIlS. A O HR A -
Ao 1 7O 0A j 5 HS -005 o
I 5FA'IT IlA . T r OrzeTcae
(,1AR w. 0 Y0?
'c'at s As cor '-
AWJA010 "~ 3 5XRTHE GOS RO6< jTHFANUJ<K
IA c( t.ATL' Aov70oDALLAS.
AFTER / LA)A A
2 )
AFTM P'AVE T.AA913 LIT
LASS1 AFE S-r I A FA(1Y5 <
AFTRHT G T E-3
SATr)). AFPTM ~ A F/A)
CAllW 10)5 -TRAVEL
t
Daily articles unfair
to Taiwan ese studen t
4
195-9$,-
To the Daily:
We, the members of the Free
China Student Association,
deeply resent the insinuations
made in the article which ap-
peared in the July 9 issue of your
paper-"Taiwanese Here Fear
Murder." Of course the death of
Chen Wen-Chen is a sad and
tragic occurrence, but it is unfair
to suggest that we are somehow
involved.
The Daily quoted a number of
students who made the vague ac-
cusation that there are Kuomin-
tang secret agents here-"most
of whom work through-a campus
organization called the Free
China Student Association."
Your article brings forward no
evidence in support of this except
one professor's statement that
"he wouldn't be surprised" if this
were true. It is all too easy to
engage in smear tactics of this
kind to make a dramatic news
story. We want to make it clear
that the function of our group is to
provide social and cultural ac-
tivities and a support network for
all students from Taiwan here at
the University. Our members in-
clude both native Taiwanese and
so-called "mainlander" students,
and all of our activities are open
to any interested member of the
community.
Your reporter uses the fact of
Chen's death and the suspicion
(nowhere proven) that there are
KMT spies on campus as an ex-
cuse to write an article airing the
prejudices of liberal
America-i.e. that "Taiwan is a
police state" and the Taiwanese
independents are subjects of per-
secution. The reporter evidently
started with the above bias. He
interviewed 10 Taiwanese
students who seem united in their
belief that an oppressive Taiwan
government and KM T agents
here were "responsible for the
incident." Only one other
student, an official of the FCSA,
was sought to get another point of
view. The reporter concludes
with a condemnation by
Professor Young of Taiwan as a
"one-party state." This sim-
plistic kind of reporting can only
mislead, not inform, the public.
We believe this article is not
only biased, but irresponsible.To
say that "the eventual con-
sequences of his [Chen's] death
may reflect back to their point of
origin: the University's student
population from the Republic of
China," is absurd. No real link
between the death and the FCSA
here is made except the ex-
tremely tenuous onethat five
years ago Chen offered to reveal
to the Daily the names of suspec-
ted KMT agents working here.
Five years is a long time and
Chen left Ann Arbor three years
ago-how can the University be
"directly affected by the recent
mysterious death of Chen" as the
article so glibly hints? And, we
repeat, no attempt was made by
the reporter to find any evidence
supporting the allegations that
spies have infiltrated the FCSA.
The death of Chen is still under
investigation. it is unfair at this
early stage, when so much is still
unknown, to jump to any con-
clusions. We deeply regret his
death and eagerly await the
disclosure of the facts of the case.
We hope that those responsible
will be brought to justice and only
wish to conclude with a reminder
to the Daily of its responsibility to
the causes of truth and justice.
-Sincerely yours,
Chin-Yung Yeh
Associate Chairman,
Free China Student
Association,
and members
July 13
(Editor's note-This letter to
the Daily was co-signed by 82
members of the FCSA.)
Bad News
To the Daily:
The strike at Kolossos Printing,
Inc. by the entire production staff
there (all of us being members of
Local 289 of the Graphic Arts In-
ternational Union), is in its fourth
week. We have noticed that since
the strike began the Ann Arbor
News has continued to patronize
Kolossos, actually crossing the
picket lines to do so.
Tim White of the Ann Arbor
News states, in the July 1981 issue
of the Ann Arbor Observer, that
his intention is to build up the
newspaper. May we suggest that
the integrity of the Ann Arbor
News will not be served by its
showing complete disregard for
the Kolossos workers' rights to
job security and safety. Nor will
its "profitability" be served
when the readership realizes that
a newspaper does not show its
impartiality in news reporting by
printing only one story and one
picture about a dispute and then,
by its actions, supporting one side
and ignoring the other's
reasonable and justifiable
grievances.
--The Kolossos Workers
July 4
4
I
r
i '
VO't'iNG RITES
' "
4