OPINION
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Page 6
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCIII, No. 22-S
93 Years of Editorial Freedom
Managed and Edited by students of
The University of Michigan
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the
Daily Editorial Board
The Michigan Daily
Thursday, July 14, 1983
Dear Mr. President: Stay
out of CentralAmerica
The following is the text of a
letter sent to President Reagan
and key members of Congress
last week. It was signed by 38
members of the Michigan y
House of Renrese~ntativesc in- *
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[uuV xpf Jrll ve,
" * " eluding Perry Bullard (D-Ann
T tion increase Arbor) and 12 members of the
Michigan State Senate, in-
D ESPITE THE rosy economic picture the eluding Lana Pollack (D-Ann
supply-side economists have been pain- Arbor).
ting, the ugly truth is that times are still tough Recent U.S. actions have inten-
- particularly at the University. Unfor- sified the movement toward
tunately, this most likely means another sub- direct American military in-
stantial increase in tuition. volvement in a full-scale Central
American war. We, the under-
At the Regents meeting today, the University signed members of the Michigan
administration will propose to raise tuition by Legislature, oppose all attempts
9.5-percent. Our initial reaction is to condemn by the Reagan Administration
the proposal, but economic conditions as they and Congress to further
"Americanize" or widen the
are, we, somewhat reluctantly, approve of the scope of the current conflict in
proposal. that region.
The University administration claims the in- American financial support of
crease is necessary to help cover faculty and efforts to destablilize the gover-
staff increases - and if that is actually the nment of Nicaragua - in
staf inreaes -andif hatviolation of international law -
case, then the hike is justifiable. For far too have further militarized Hon- President Re
long many of the University's faculty and staff duras, increased repression in Oval Office,
have been grossly underpaid. The increase in Nicaragua, and threatened policies in Ce
pay will help make up for that and stop what democracy in Costa Rica.
has been commonly called "faculty flight." American policy has intensified rights abuses by1
This is not to say that the students must conflict along the Honduran- government. Th
of such things as the Nicaraguan border and government has
always absorb the brunt dangerously accelerated nor gained justicE
pay increases. The federal and state gover- prospects of a wider war. This Salvadoran citi
nments, University alumni, and the University policy jeopardized America's civilians, large
administration must do their share, as well. real long-term interest in friendly rightest death squ
relations with the people of Cen- The murderers of
The State, apparently, has recognized its tral America. missionaries and
responsibility to higher education, as last week American involvement in the land reform wor
the House and Senate approved a nine percent civil war in El Salvador has unpunished, and t
increase in appropriations. We commend them escalated dramatically, despite has been stalled.
for this, and only wish the federal government continuing widespread human tragic mistake f
would also see the light.
Those hit hardest by the tuition increase, of LETTERS TO THE DAILY
course, are students in the low and middle-in-
come brackets. The amount of financial aid e
Giving readers w
crease by 9.5 percent to help cushion the hike.
Furthermore, compared to the steep tuition To the Daily: benefits we garni
increases of the past couple years, 9.5 percent Your article about a petition filiation.
isn't nearly as severe. circulated among some of the Unlike man
We realize there are no easy solutions to the members of AFSCME Local 1583 workers we h
Unforrreconsideration bof ahunioneprerogatives sucl
University's economic problems, but what the duesrincrease gave some of your procedure for pe
administration must realize is that substantial readers the impression that 490 contract and le
tuition increases cannot always be the way out. signatures had been obtained for management, a s
For if tuition increasescontinue to be a regular decertification of the union. The that provides ba
petition on which the signatures and eliminate
occurrence, the University will become a were collected dealt specifically dismissal of W
school affordable to only the rich - and our with the problem of the undesired members and a'
beloved school colors will change from maize dues increase and not with decer- that includes full
and blue, to treasury green and white. tification.
As an alumnus of the Univer-
sity and as a steward for Local
1583, I am particularly concerned
that members and non-members
of the union may misinterpret the
news coverage of this event. The Unsignet
r" I vast majority of the ap- of this pag
proximately 2000 rank and file
members in the bargaining unit Daily's Ed
of Local 1583 support the union represent th
and have no desire to see it and do no
removed. Many of us in the Local
disagree with the decision to in- beliefs oftth
crease the dues and with the
manner in which it was approved
_ ' ± but are quite aware of the many
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agan, pictured here during a happy moment at the
was the recipient of a letter criticizing his
ntral America.
the Salvadoran
e Salvadoran
neither sought
* for the 35,000
izens, mostly
ly killed by
uads since 1980.
four American
two American
kers have gone
he land reform
It would be a
'or the United
States government to tie its
prestige to a government which
has shown such disregard for
necessary reforms.
We call upon the United States
government to reverse these
dangerous trends in its policy
toward Central America, and of-
fer its support for immediate
negotiations between Central
American parties seeking a
peaceful solution to the problems
of the region.
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rong impression
er with union af-
iy non-union
ave extensive
h as a grievance
otecting against
egal abuses by
eniority system
sic job security
s capricious
argaining unit
benefit package
health and ac-
cident insurance, a dental plan
and a generous allotment of paid
vacation and holiday time. Com-
bine these advantages with the
current, very decent wage levels
for union members and you will
understand why most members
have no interest in decertification
or disaffiliation of AFSCME local
1583 at the University.
- Douglas Plante
July ii, i983
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d editorials appearing on the left side
e represent a majority opinion of the
litorial Board. Letters and columns
e opinions of the individual author(s)
t necessarily reflect the attitudes or
e Daily.
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