O ii c~priion 4 Page 6 The Michigan Daily Vol. XCII, No. 52-S Ninety-two Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Saturday, July 31, 1982 The Michigan Daily 'U' Enrollment decline raise's elitism fears, A it Cold shoulder for unemployed S PRESIDENT Reagan said during his press conference the other night, the economic recovery we've all been waiting for will be ex- tremely slow in coming. In light of that asser- tion, it is amazing that the administration has coldly tried to block the extension of unem- ployment insurance. Quite obviously, the unemployed are hit har- dest by the current recession. With unem- ployment running at the highest rate in four decades, the suffering is deep and widespread. To relieve that misery, the Senate has begun hearings on proposals that would extend unem- ployment insurance for at least another 13 weeks. Without that reprieve, thousands will be off the insurance rolls with no prospects for employment and dismal prospects that the economy will turn around before they are for- ced to sell their homes and go on welfare. The administration's response is that an ex- tension would be too costly. Of course it would, be costly - but only a little more so than a couple of B-1 bombers. As one senator said to an adminsitration official, "You've got Marie Antoinette beat. She said, 'Let them eat cake.' It sounds to me like you're saying, 'Don't let them eat anything if it is going to cost money. - Both Democratic and Republican senators have come out in favor of continuing unem- ployment insurance as a necessary and humane response to an economic crisis out of control. Nearly 2.2 million people fell below the poverty line in 1981. The president seems intent upon increasing that number. As the Senate Democrats have suggested, losses to the budget can be mitigated by a $2 billion increase in taxes on such benefits. That is a fair response to those who worry about ballooning deficits. With the economic recovery a long way off, an extension of unemployment benefits is needed to keep many heads above water. In times like these, the administration should not be so blatantly cruel when it comes to aiding those caught in the middle of a tightening economic vice. Letters and columns represent the opinions of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or beliefs of the Daily. U NIVERSITY officials announced this week that student enrollment will actually decline in the coming year. That decline. combined with decreasing state aid has left ad- ministrators uncomfortable about creeping budget problems and elitism at the University. The University will have nearly 830 fewer students in 1982-83 than the previous year, according to Sue Mims, director of the Office ,of Academic Planning and Analysis. That drop in enrollment and a large increase in tuition is a "short step to an uncomfortable degree of elitism," said Cliff Sjogren, director of un- dergraduate admissions. In spite 4 4 In spite of the assertion that non-faculty staff are essential to an ef- fective faculty, the University's salary plan excludes them. of the decline, freshman enrollment will remain the same, but the University accepted nearly all the students who were wait-listed, he said. Vice President for Academic Affairs Billy Frye said the University was already being ac- cused of becoming a "financially elitist school," but he blamed the lack of state support for pushing the University in that direction. In spite of the administration's fears of the decline in enrollment and higher tuition, it has no plans to change its slogan from "smaller, but better" to "expen- sive, but elite." 'What about us?' WHILE FACULTY members were gloating over the University's recent decision to devote $5 million to a salary plan, non-academic staff members were asking, "what about us?" University administrators decided last week to devote the first $5 million dollars saved in the University's five-year reallocation plan to a salary program. What angered many non-faculty staffers is that the plan left them out of the picture completely-no pay hike and none expected, in these in- flationary times. "It is important to keep good faculty here," said Lili Kivisto, a student services assistant at the political science department, "but you have to realize it is the (non-academic) support that makes effective scholarship possible.:' University administrators said they simply didn't have the money for complete general staff raise. But Jo Willsman, a clerical employee at the Institute for Social Research, was not convin- ced and labeled the plan "outrageous." If administrators can "increase the top of the (pay) scale," she said, "they can come up with cash for the lower end." In spite of the protest, it ap- pears the plan will not be revam- ped-unless, of course, the faculty itself decides to share the wealth. Army conflict SEVERAL LAW schools around the nation, including Wayne State University, have kicked U.S. Army recruiters off campus for discriminating against homosexuals and the handicapped. Now the Army has threatened to remove its resear- ch projects from those same schools for that policy. The controversy started when the Army decided not to accept people who were either homosexuals or physically han- dicapped. The law schools at WSU, Harvard, Yale, and several other universities decided that was discriminatory and barred theArmy from recruiting on their campuses. "Discrimination against (homosexuals and the physically handicapped) is not dissimilar from discrimination by race, sex, or national origin," explained John Roberts, dean of WSU's law school. "It's a matter of prin- ciple." The Army disagrees ard has threatened to hit both the law schools and their respective universities where it counts-in their research grant pocket- books. I 4 I Wasserman I WANT TO REMIND YOU WN N-1 PUSHED F OR TAX BUT I PARTEDCOMPANY REC-ORD DER(cT, 06NL THAT I BAC2KDIE CUTS, LSS GNEMTWTMMASONAS kDStLGFSAD VRS( VENT 100 PEENT. A ND THE. tMk&IC OFfE NE AMEOUTFO.. A