Page 4-The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 21, 1991
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A N D 3T T W C AC D t I
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T40 M41j i
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW GOTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
DANIEL POUX
Opinion Editors
l
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
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Tomorrow, the University and the Graduate
Employees Organization (GEO) will conduct
their fifth negotiating session for a new GEO
contract. Given how the first four sessions pro-
ceeded, there is a good chance that when classes
resume after Spring Break, GEO's 1,800 TAs will
be operating without a contract - raising the
possibility of work stoppages or even a strike.
The University administration has only itself to
blame for this potential chaos. Despite its frequent
proclamations about fairness and its professed
commitment to undergraduate education, it is
wantonly and recklessly risking the educational
process, rather than negotiating in good faith with
GEO.
At this point, the two sides have not even begun
to tackle the thorny monetary issues which are
always the most difficult to resolve - primarily
because the University has been so slow to give
ground on the non-economic issues traditionally
negotiated first.
GEO's non-economic demands are quite rea-
sonable. The union wants its members to be paid
for the hours that they actually work; many now
receive no compensation for much of the time they
spend grading, tutoring, and preparing. GEO is
asking only that its members be paid for the time
they must spend in training -just as they would
be in any other job.
It is asking that the GEO office be informed
faithfully and consistently about looming staff
cuts; the University's failure to report this term's
67 person reduction in the TA workforce, for
example, represents a clear violaton of the current
contract. And, perhaps most importantly, GEO is
asking that the University conduct negotiations
with GEO publicly, as it has in the past.
The University's failure to grant this last demand
stems from its refusal to negotiate honestly on any
of the others. If the University were considering
CEO's demands fairly and sincerely, public ne-
gotiations would hardly appear threatening. The
University's intransigence on this point stems from
its clear embarrassment at its stonewalling tactics.
The University administration should be even
more embarrassed by its clear disregard for un-
dergraduate education. Even as it once again raises
bloated administrators' salaries, it refuses to pay
TAs for the hours they work - effectively forcing
them to either invest less time in their students or
continue being ripped off by their boss.
When TAs get ripped off, their students are
ripped off as well. Undergraduates at Michigan
need to understand this, so that they can place the
blame for a possibly impending TA strike right
where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of a
University administration which is demonstrating
a markedly callous attitude toward its own teachers.
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Ti ananmenSuare
Washington must condemn repression of student movement
Since the beginning of the new year, the Chinese Turning a blind eye to Deng's oppression only
government in Beijing has passed down a flurry highlights the hypocrisy of Bush's foreign policy
of prison sentences for the student leaders of the agenda.
1989Tiananmen Square demonstrations. Last week The president has taken this conciliatory stance
Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming, two of the student toward China in an effort to consolidate his inter-
leaders, were each sentenced to 13 years in prison. national coalition against Iraq. While he rallies
These punishments are the harshest reprisals by world support behind his cause, he is betraying the
the Chinese government to date. students in China and the cornerstone of our own
This should be an issue of immeasurable impor- Constitution: freedom ofspeech. While Bush claims
tance to students at the University and throughout to be fighting for democracy in the Gulf, he has
the United States. Studying in the United States, sacrificed democracy in China.
we often take for granted our ability to demonstrate The time has come for the Bush administration
and speak out without fear of governmental inter- to both openly criticize the Beijing government for
ference. Michigan students would undoubtedly be punishing the student leaders, and revoke China's
outraged over a similarly severe suppression of most-favored nation status until all political pris-
free speech on our own campus. oners are released. The United States cannot allow
Unfortunately, few people here have spoken China to continue its repression while the eyes of
out in support of the Chinese student leaders, and the world are watching the Persian Gulf.
the White House has virtually ignored the issue. The expiration of the original international
President Bush has yet to criticize the government economic and political sanctions implemented
in Beijing, and China still enjoys "most-favored against China in 1989 makes it only easier for the
nation" trading status with the United States. government in Beijing to come down hard on the
While the president labels Saddam Hussein a students who rallied for democracy. The White
"madman" for killing his own people, and openly House must end its silence, and condemn these
denounces Mikhail Gorbachev for the crackdown human rights abuses in China, just as we have in
in the Baltics, he applauds Chinese President Deng Iraq and the Soviet Union. Until then, Deng
Xiaoping-theinstigatoroftheTiananmenSquare Xiaoping and his cronies will continue to repress
massacre - as a great reformer. By remaining their people, and block any moves toward de-
silent on Chinese human rights abuses, the White mocracy.
House is endorsing Beijing's repressive policies.
RUNDUP 'Coed by bed' all year
Taxpayers should
decide arts funding
To the Daily:
Bethany Robertson's concern
about decreased funding for the
arts ("Arts funding on the cutting
block," 2/19/91) would be valid if
the money involved was simply
being wiped out of existence.
However, such is not the case.
Governor Engler is cutting the
arts and other social programs
because Michigan is facing both a
tax crisis and a deficit problem.
When a state is in debt and can't
increase revenue, the only option
is to cut spending.
However, the money cut from
social programs is being returned
to the citizens. They will now
make more money after taxes.
That means the people of Michi-
gan will have more money to
spend on whatever they enjoy.
Some say that without state
support, the price of art activities
will be too high for individuals to
bear. Will not the money saved
from a property tax cut make up
for this discrepancy? And if it not,
who was paying for the arts
before?
The budget cuts mean the cost
of art is being passed directly to
the consumer, who will receive a
corresponding increase in income.
The consumer can then decide
whether the activity is worth the
price, instead of letting the
beauracrats decide. And if the
people decide art is too expensive
for the entertainment and cultural
experience it provides, how can
we justify using their tax dollars
to support it? Let the people judge
what art is worth their money.
Jason Larke
LSA first-year student
Perspective on
ERA inaccurate
To the Daily:
Cheers to the editors of the
Daily for introducing the bi-
weekly Feminist Perspectives
column to the Opinion page. I
wold like to know, however,
where you find your feminists.
Dawn Paulinski's perspective
(2/18/91) was based on a false
argument. The article's title was
"No equality in the ERA," yet the
column actually discussed the
exclusion of women from politics
and the military. Paulinski did not
address the origins of this
To the Daily:
With a U.S.-led ground assault
against Iraq an imminent reality,
now more than ever, an outcry for
peace must be made. The Univer-
sity of Michigan Asian American
Student Coalition (UMAASC)
abhors the Bush Administration's
blatant disregard for the sanctity
of human life. UMAASC's
commitment to the elimination of
racism and all other forms of
oppression implores us to speak
out against Bush's racist war.
As victims of the U.S.
government's racist policy of
interning 120,000 persons of
Japanese ancestry during World
War II, Asian Americans stand in
solidarity with Arabs, Arab
Americans and Muslims in this
country. We condemn any acts of
racism, harassment, and violence
perpetrated against Arabs, Arab
Americans and Muslims by
government agencies as well as
by members of the general public.
UMAASC says NO to the war i
the Gulf.
Jonathon Sung Bidol
Program Director, University
of Michigan Asian American
Student Coalition (UMAASC)
To the Daily:
The recent events that have
unfolded in the Persian Gulf have
significant consequences not only
for our nation, but for the entire
world as well. As the war in the
Gulf continues to take shape, a
new crisis on the homefront is
quietly building. Incidents of
racism and violence against Arab
Americans have skyrocketed in
recent weeks. Such acts as the
destruction of personal property
and harassment of individuals
have, to our dismay, shaken the
moral foundations of our society.
One cannot help but be reminded
of the injustices perpetrated
against Japanese Americans
during World War II. As people
of color who have experienced
similar types of persecution, the
members of the United Asian
American Organizations (UAAO)
would like to extend our support
to the Arab American community.
If we, the citizens of the
United States, wish to ever set
moral - in addition to economic
and political - examples for the
rest of the world, we must not
allow these acts of terror to
continue. We recognize the rights
accorded to all people every-
where, and therefore condemn
these incidents against an inno-
cent group of people as savage
and unjustified.
Tommy Lo
Alice Rim
Garwah Yung
Members of the United
Asian American Organizations
(UAAO)
1
Asian student groups denounce war
inequality, but the title implies
that ERA is to blame.
A brief history lesson would
have informed Paulinski that in
fact, there is no ERA. By 1982,
the ERA had not gained ratifica-
tion by enough states, and failed.
Paulinski's title should have been
revised to state that inequality
stems from the lack of an ERA,
rather than a result of it.
In the future, I hope the Daily
will take some time to edit its
columns in order to eliminate
such discrepancies. It is difficult
for any woman to speak on behalf
of all feminists. Therefore, if one
decides to undertake this task, the
least she should do is gain a basic
understanding of the Women's
Movement and its history.
Darby Miller
Steering Committee Member
Pro-Choice Coalition
RWL's anti-war
argument skewed
To the Daily:
Paul Carmouche's column in
the Feb. 19 issue of the Daily was
almost Orwellian in its misuse of
language. Referring to "our fight
for anti-imperialist politics,"
Carmouche lays out the Revolu-
tionary Workers' League's
argument against the war. Part of
that argument includes support for
an Iraqi victory. How is it anti-
imperialist to support the occupa-
tion of Kuwait?
And finally, Carmouche calls
for a "mass movement." If
RWL's membership is large
enough to bring about such a
movement, why does it need to
infiltrate other groups?
Peter Mooney
Second-year law student
Right now, the idea of pairing roommates of differ-
ent genders probably seems as foreign as allowing men
and women to live in the same dormitories did 40 years
ago.
But just because there would be initial opposition to
"coed by bed" housing does not mean the University
should not consider it.
Students who are friends of the same gender have
always had the option of entering the housing lottery
and rooming together. But students who are friends of
different genders can only enter the lottery to live in the
same dorm - not the same room - as their friend.
The University should enable students interested in
entering the lottery for coed rooms to do so, regardless
of pressures from alumni and parents.
Ideally, students should have the option of rooming
with whomever they want. After all, if consenting
adults make an informed decision to live together, the
University should respect their choice rather than pro-
vide obstacles to it.
Naturally, students of coed rooms would have to
;grapple with issues of privacy and space - but such is
the case with students of the same sex. The difficulties
of such an arrangement are limited compared to the
insights it could provide.
As two years of experimentation at the University of
California-Burbank has shown, coed rooms can add a
new dimension to the understanding of and interaction
with members of the opposite gender.
This year's arrangement, part of a gender explora-
tion week, compelled students to find personal answers
to the question of whether or not men and women can be
friends, and just friends.
At the very least, more dorms should consider trying
Burbank's experiment because of its potential to break
down gender stereotypes.
Having coed rooms for an entire year can be a
workable option. Currently, there is already at least one
house on campus that, unofficially, has coed rooms.
The University should provide this option, however,
only to juniors and seniors.
Having incoming first-year students live in coed
rooms could cause problems. Many might want to live
in coed rooms for novelty's sake, while others might
bring with them all sorts of emotional problems.
Of course, all students should think twice before
taking up the option to live with members of the oppo-
site sex. Couples who wanted to take advantage of a
policy change would have to remember that they will
have to room together for a full year, for better or for
worse.
Feb. 15, 1991, The Stanford Daily
Stanford University
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The'JAP' ' isn't f unny anymore x
joke
The word "JAP" elicits many
different responses from students
on this campus. For many people,
the word is an acceptable part of
their vocabulary; for others, it is a
religious
and sexist-
slur. Re- * n/my
gardless of
the intent
behind thev
phrase, it is
adangerous
label, and is .
offensive to Jennifer
all Jewish Knoll
women.
Liter-
ally, this
acronym
spend time with.
Many justify their use of this
verbal jab by explaining that it does
not necessarily refer to a Jewish
woman. Because the "J" in JAP
stands for Jewish, this argument
holds littlewater. Some people claim
they use it to describe both Jewish
and non-Jewish women. Although
it may be unintentional, if someone
uses "JAP" to refer to a non-Jew,
the perpetrator is implying that this
person exhibits the same behavior
as an obnoxious Jewish female.
Even if this word is inflicted
upon anon-Jew, it is an affront to all
Jewish women. Rationalizations do
not excuse the implied insult, and
gloss over the inherent anti-
Semitism. Recent incidents on
woman was meant to be Jewish,
and it is inconceivable that people
did not condemn the stereotypical
display. People would not have re-
acted so nonchalantly if the t-shirt
was "busting" an African Ameri-
can woman, ora Hispanic teenager.
The implications of the JAP
image can be seen on television as
well. Jewish men have been main
characters on popularprograms, but
there have been few positively por-
trayed Jewish women characters.
The few Jewish females on televi-
sion only help to perpetuate the JAP
stereotype: loud, pushy women'
wearing too much jewelry and
makeup. It is saddening that no ef-
fort is made in the television industry
to clear up some of these miscon-
i
Nuts and Bolts
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By Judd Winick
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