OPINION I 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- * 4 [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 4 4 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. 4 4 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 q 4 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. 4