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The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCII, No. 54-S
Ninety-two Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Wednesday, August 4, 1982
The Michigan Daily
LETTERS TO.THE DAILY:
'U' ignores non-faculty staff
Neee:Israeli*
moderation
AS THE TENUOUS cease-fire continues to
hold in Lebanon, the Reagan administra-
tion is hinting that it may pursue a tougher
policy regarding Israel. In light of Israel's
policies and practices in its two-month-old in-
vasion of Beirut, such a policy is long overdue.
Since the invasion began, the Israeli gover-
nment has been infinitely more concerned with
its goal of rooting out the Palestinian Liberation
Organization, than the heavy loss of innocent
lives or the concerns of its chief benefactor, the
United States.
To place sole blame for the Lebanese crisis on
the Israelis would be ridiculous. The PLO has
woven its military forces and violence into the
fabric of Lebanese civilian life, to deter Israelis
from retaliating when it shelled Israeli set-
tlements. However, the Israeli response, a full-
scale invasion, was way out of proportion to
that violence.
By anyone's count, civilian casualties in
Lebanon have been very heavy. The Israelis
seemingly have abandoned their lofty goals of
limiting those casualties as much as possible.
To keep pressure on the PLO, Israeli jets have
often bombed west Beirut, but in the process
have hit hospitals and areas that have virtually
no Palestinians-guerrillas or otherwise.
Israel also has continually broken cease-fires
in Lebanon as its military machine has seen fit.
It has blockaded food and water to west Beirut,
further increasing the suffering of innocent
civilians. And negotiations sponsored by the
United States have been continually hampered
by Israeli intransigence and bombings in
violation of one cease-fire or another.
Abandoning support of Israel, of course, is
not the answer to the Lebanon problem. But
neither is unconditional support for a nation
that continues to flout both U.S. policy objec-
tives and peace initiatives in the Mideast.
Peace in Lebanon is possible, but only if the
Israeli government comes to realize that
negotiations cannot be one-sided-they involve
give and take. Already the PLO has agreed to
leave Beirut if a peace-keeping force is in-
stalled between themselves and the Israeli ar-
my, but Israel has refused.
If there is to be peace in Lebanon, Israel must
offer hope instead of guns for a solution. If it
refuses, the United States has no recourse other
than to fundamentally reassess its unwavering,
but often thankless, support of Israel.
To the Daily:
It has been suggested that the
University administration con-
sistently undervalues the con-
tributions of it's non-academic
staff. That suggestion now ap-
pears to be fact given the results
of the July 23 Regents'
meeting, where a $5 million
salary package for faculty only
was approved. One wonders what
kind of back-door politicking oc-
curred to get this board to pass
such an outrage without so much
as a question.
While there is no doubt that
faculty members have the closest
relations with students in regard
to teaching and research, one
wonders it the administration
realizes where the support for
this activity comes from. Who
types the lecture notes, research
papers, and appointment forms?
Who sets up meetings, schedules
rooms, and class hours? Who
provides the background infor-
mation and data for the several
hundred meetings that occur on
Sinclair.
OUR NU EK
IDEA. RO~c
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campus daily? Who deals with
students in regard to problems
with their academic records,
financial aid, housing,
fellowships, etc? Certainly not
faculty members!
The bulk of the $5 million saved
under the financial reallocation
plan has come from doubling and
tripling the work of the non-
academic support staff-the very
people who provide all and more
of the functions mentioned above.
And yet, the non-academic
staff pay the same prices at the
market, utility companies, and
doctors' offices as faculty mem-
bers. We are just as concerned
about a quality life for our
families.
Even in the best of times when
everyone at the University
received a raise, 5 percent of
$40,000 is certainly muchemore
than 5 percent of $10,000. With the
buying power of a dollar
decreasing daily, are we now
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being asked to "volunteer" our
services?
Mary Jarrett
Ethel M. Thoms
Tonza J. Phenix
victor N. Palacio
Joanne Beck
Doris M. Knight
Carol Brown
Marilyn Gordon
July 29, 1982
Partisan
politicking
To the Daily:
Some recent political ads in
your paper . imply that
Washtenaw County is foolishly
spending large sums to prepare
for a nuclear disaster. In fact, the
Office of Emergency Prepared-
ness spent about $150 of county
funds on this topic in all of 1981. It
was to plan a meeting to discuss
crisis re-location planning with
public officials. So far this year.
the office has spent about 15 to 20
hours of professional time working
with Peace Coalition volunteers
to prepare a pamphlet on the
horrors of nuclear war.
It will take good people of many
persuasions working together if
we are to avert nuclear insanity.
To take this critical issue and
distort it for partisan political
gain is unconscionable.
-Janet Klaver
August 1, 1982
Of bigotry
and ignorance
To the Daily:
I was shocked at the bigotry
and ignorance displayed in the
letter attributed to one Cari ver-
Planck published in the Daily on
July 28th. The author appears to
have a personal irrational
distaste for unnamed men who
are old, overweight, or have a
receding hairline.
Furthermore, the author's
characterization of "preppies" is
not only prejudicial and grossly
unfair, but also inaccurate - any
well-informed person knows that
preppies don't wear designer
jeans!
To Cani I say: "Kiss my bald
spot!" (From an old, fat, balding
man).
-James H. Dautremont
July 28,1982
Letters and columns
represent the opinions of the
individual author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the at-
titudes or beliefs of the Daily.
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