I OPINION Paqe 6 The Michigan Daily Saturday, July 30, 1983 utf- - The Michigan Daily Vol. XCIII, No. 29-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 Educators, or police force? What should a man do who has been called upon for military service - that is, called upon to kill or to prepare himself to kill? - Tolstoy F OR MANY YOUNG men, registering for the draft is a violation of their moral or religious beliefs. Instead of honoring their beliefs, the U.S. Justice Department - with strong support from President Reagan -has chosen to hunt down the "hardened criminals" and bring them to trial. Fortunately, only a small percentage of those men have actually been rounded up and taken to court. Although we regret the prosecution of even one of the draft resisters, at least there have only been a few "sacrificial lambs." Equally upsetting, however - and jeopar- dizing many more people - is the Solomon Amendment, a law linking college financial aid with Selective Service registration. Under the law, which took effect July 1, male college students applying for federal financial aid must sign a form certifying they have registered for the draft. Men who fail to sign the form are denied federal aid. Perhaps in the future, federal law will require universities and colleges to force students to pay unpaid parking tickets, or sign vouchers that they never played hooky in grade school. To help alleviate the problem, other colleges, such as Yale University, have set up alter- native funding programs for non-registered students whose aid has been cut off. Sadly, University officials announced recently they have "no intention" of setting up similar programs. University President Harold Shapiro, as well as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Billy Frye, have sharply criticized the law because it causes the University to become "a policing arm of the federal government." The University, however, does plan to help students find alternative funding or jobs - we commend them for that. But if the Ad- ministration is really as opposed to the law as they claim, why not go all the way and set up a program for subsidizing those students affec- ted? By doing so, they would help University students who have been unfairly discriminated against, and send a strong message to Washington that colleges will stick to educating- not policing themiasses. NP9EM. If: 15 CASES OF VIETNtAWJ lINIAJQFIS VrU\Nrl7 TRE~S 31tNlS~omL W~JEP IREPorv A [T THE IVS moICAN, 10WA1 .FVJ I l- l\V PFT~ F NEWS OF THEF (lIsNcriRCOMMI~tSi~otION lCENT KAL AMAERICA APEAIRED) orv TFlEiif l~MirlirJAW- 101z PI K VE TE K4 A House page defends system By Halle Czechowski The most recent round of the page scandal has left many Congressional leaders calling for an end to the page program. Although their concern for the young people who serve as pages is understandable, it is an ex- treme reaction to a few isolated incidents. While not wanting to justify the actions of the two representatives involved in the most recent even- ts, in the long run, the scandal could prove to strengthen the page system, rather than weaken it. Last summer, when the allegations of illicit sex and drug use among the members of Congress and the pages first sur- faced, the House of Represen- tatives initiated an investigation. In that investigation letters were sent to former pages from the last ten years asking them to report any incidents of improper sexual conduct or drug use with representatives or staff mem- bers. The letters also urged pages to testify if they could dispel any of the allegations. In addition, newspapers all over the country conducted in- dependent investigations, hut un- fortunately, all the reporters wanted were tales of kinky sex and drug use on the House floor. For all of the time and effort that went into uncovering the scandal, only two cases were discovered - one occurring more than ten years ago. Every person who has served as a page has had to put up with snide remarks and jokes. The newspaper accounts never focused onthe hard work in- volved with being a page, leaving many readers with the im- pression that pages are teen-aged nymphs that roam the halls of Congress. For many pages, past and present, this has tainted a valuable experience. Pages, who are appointed by a member of Congress, work on the House and Senate floors delivering messages, ringing bells for votes, pouring water, and supplying Congressmen with the needed information for a debate. Perhaps they are nothing more than glorified "gophers," but they do perform a needed ser- vice. Congressman Joseph Moakley (D-Mass.) called pages "the backbone of Congress." Pages work long hours for little pay. An average page walks more than 28miles in a single day. They work for as long as the Congressmen do - often until 2 or 3 in the morning. Many critics of the program complain that the lack of super- vision of the pages, combined with monthly paychecks of more than $765 can only lead to trouble. But it is the lack of supervision, however, that allows the ex- perience to be so valuahle. Students get a chance to be on their own for a year or two, lear- ning many lessons in budgeting their money and getting by. If Congress is worried about how teen-agers behave with little supervision, they should be more selective about the students chosen to serve. One would hope that by the time a person is 17, their parents would have instilled in them a little responsibility. Contrary to the wild sex stories spread in the papers, most pages and Congressmen develop healthy friendships. Congressman James Whitehurst (R-Va.), for example, is popular with the pages because he likes to take small groups of them out to dinner and on excursions to the beach. Hardly "immoral" ac- tivities. Unfortunately, most newspapers have chosen to dwell on the two incidents exaggerating their importance instead of pointing out the positive aspects of the page program. Two incidents in ten years isn't bad when one considers that during that period there were more than 1,007 pages appointed and 5,350 Congressmen elected. Congressmen who break the law should not be treated lightly because of their position. If they do something that threatens the government's integrity, then they deserve to be punished by their peers. A whole system shouldn't be scraped, however, because of two incidents. Since the allegations were made, several attempts to upgrade the system have been made. But for the most part, the public will never really know about those attempts. The experience of being a page is unique. Only a handful of high school students are selected each year for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of working with America's public leaders. Opportunities like this shouldn't end just because of a few unsavory incidents. Instead, Congress should reassess the program, and the manner in which they choose young people to serve-in it. Everyone knows Congress will survive; we can only hope the page system will also. Czechowski is a Daily staff writer and served as a U.S. House Democratic Page in 1981. I 4