OPINION
Friday, June 20, 1986
Page 6
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCVI, Nc
96 Years of Editori
Unsigned editorials represent the majority
Cartoons and signed editorials do not nec
o.7-S
al Freedom
views of the Daily's Editorial Board
essarily reflect the Daily's opinion.
LETTERS:
S. African calfor action
Don't ban banners
R ECENT PROPOSALS to limit jection is misplaced. The creat
the number of banners in the the banners actually contrib
Diag restricts students' rights to free the attractiveness of the
expression., adherence to a single architect
Orginally, the University ad- -
ministration attempted to limit the artistic standard; the contra
number of banners to 3. Compromises ween the Ugh and the grad lib
between University planner Fred for example, reflects a belief in
Mayer and MSA President Kurt sity, not uniformity.
indicated that the limit Instead of limiting bann
Mfuenchow reducetethehriskhofhstudents
may be raised to 11. The University redce the risk of students
has justified these proposed changes from trees, the University
upon the perceived risk to students eliminate its liability. This cc
climbing trees to install the banners accomplished by askingstud
and the "aesthetic" effect of banners sign a release absolving the 1
on the appearance of the Diag. sity of responsibility when rece
Though the compromise is much permit to put up banners.
better than the initial proposal, any To increase turnover, the Z
limit provides an unfair restriction on sity should adopt Muen
students. Banners are an effective recommendation that it r
way for the Greeks and Co-ops to ad- refundable deposits from
vertise their houses, for activists to groups who want to put up bani
announce rallies and for student per- Restricting the number of b
formers to publicize plays and seems a senseless attack on st
Banners are a vital mode of
musicals. communication and should be
The administration's aesthetic ob- ted.
Successful activism
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To the Daily:
With the increasing support from workers
and students in this country for the freedom
struggle against apartheid, we need to escalate
the concrete means of giving our sisters and
brothers there our help.
The street demonstrations organized by the
AFL-CIO, civil rights, women's and com-
munity organizations are very important.
of Many of these actions have raised the demand
ity boycott South Africa, not Nicaragua. I
es to think the demand is great. It exposes the U.S.
Diag. aid to the cutthroat rapists and mercenaries
in its that are attacking the Nicaraguan people. It
ral or points to the outlandish sanctions that Reagan
bt and the Democrats have put up against a coun-
try that is teaching its people how tQ read,
aries, providing free medical care, helping unions
liver- organize, and giving land to the farmers. On
the other side, Washington does nothing to help
rs to smash the racist apartheid system.
An argument has been raised that to divest
liun would hurt blacks. This is a paternalistic
hould
.argument that has been used for Decades
"Blacks don't know what's good for them-
selves." The ANC and the Black workers
unions in South Africa have initiated the
divestment campaign exactly because it will
weaken apartheid and cut the loss of life as
the African people carry out their democratic
revolution.
As a member of the UAW, local 1700, and a
Chrysler assemblyline worker, I pledge to use
my campaign for governor, as the Socialist
Worker's Party candidate, to educate and
mobilize the people of Michigan on this issue.
That means I support the boycott Shell Cam-
paign and the immediate freedom of Nelson
Mandela. If elected governor one of my first
activities would be a complete and immediate
divestment of Michigan monies from South
Africa.
South African workers are counting on us -
let's not let them down.
Kate Kaku
Socialist Workers gubernatorial candidate
id be
its to
iver-
MSA mediator is necessary
EVENTS surrounding the tenth
anniversary of the Soweto
rebellion in South Africa suggest that
conditions in that country have
reached a critical stage. Either the
white minority government will
relinquish power to black South
Africans or the conflict will be
decided by a civil war. It is up to ac-
tivists - students and non-students -
to keep pressure on South Africa to
encourage an end to apartheid.
Locally, the campaign to give
Nelson Mandela an honorary degree,
the shanty in the Diag, and other ac-
tions by opponents of apartheid have
raised the consciousness of the cam-
pus.
Recent activism against apartheid
has included Monday's vigil in the
Diag and Thursday's rally at the
federal building. Protests on .cam-
puses around the country have
caused about 100 colleges and univer-
sities to divest their South
African holdings. Fear of sanctions
-and ArVathieg=hu~s a d many
4 R t Africa.
Even more significant is a
which passed the House of Repr
tatives Wednesday. It requires
plete divestment by all
businesses and puts severe re:
tions on imports from South Af
This action amounts to an e
sement of the divestment movem
It also demonstrates Amei
moral aversion to the apart
system in a more pointed way1
the Reagan administration's poll
'constructive engagement'.
Protests send a message tha
stitutions and governments shou
held responsible for the regimes
bankroll. The power of this mes:
for example, has forced the Euro
Common Market nations to con
economic sanctions for the first t
Activists should repeat
message to companies
organizations which have yf
divest. By keeping the issue of
theid in the public eye and by ra
awareness through civil disobe
ce, protesters can ° succeed -on
basis of their, iralexample.-
ing a To the Daily: required to work effectively on student issues.
The Daily editorial about the mediator for There are three alternatives to hiring a
v MSA (Daily 6/13/86) fails to recognize the mediator from outside the University: a
iver- urgency of the situation. MSA has to resolve its mediator could be obtained from the ad-
iow's differences with the MSA Executive Officers ministrative branch of the University, a
quire and with Pam Horne, Director of the Student mediator could be obtained from the faculty, or
udent Organization Center, as soon as possible. MSA there could be no mediator. A mediator from
depends on its employees in order to provide the administration is likely to be biased, par.
rs. services to students and to lobby on the behalf ticularly because MSA's differences with Pam
nners of students. The pay of MSA employees has Horne, an administrator, have to be resolved.
lents. been withheld on several occasions because of Faculty are busy with their own projects, and
udent differences between MSA on one hand and most would not have the time to volunteer as
rotec- Pam Horne and the Executive Officers on the mediators. Given the urgency of the situation,
other hand. The situation must be resolved MSA does not have the time to search the
quickly so that MSA is able to retain its em- University for a faculty member to act as
ployees. Jen Faigel, who was working on a mediator. Finally, if there is no mediatorthen
course about racism and sexism, has already the problems will continue, and MSA will not
left MSA because the Executive Officers have be able to work on student services.
bill delayed paying her. The energy of Assembly --Gus Teschke
members has been drained by attempts to en- MSA representative
esen- sure that employees are paid, and Assembly from Rackham
com- members have not had the additional energy June 16
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