Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, March 5, 1991
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420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan
ANDREW GOTTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
DANIEL POUX
Opinion Editors
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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Hold the parade
Bush must face aftermath of an
George Bush's successful prosecution of the
Gulf War has made him the most popular
president in American history. Post-war euphoria
- replete with ticker-tape parades, miles of yel-
low ribbon, and thousands of flag-waving patriots
- is now percolating throughout the country,
leaving little time for hard questions about the
Bush administration's decision to go to war, its
subsequent prosecution of the war, and the war's
potential aftermath.'
Such questions - however unpopular - need
to be asked. However astute our generals or mighty
our Patriot missiles, we cannot forget that the
Allied Coalition was fighting a country the size of
Kentucky, with a popula-
tion comparable to the
Netherlands and a Gross
Domestic Product equal
to Portugal's. Though few
Americans died, prelimi-
nary estimates suggest
that as many as 100,000
Iraqi soldiers - and per-
haps twice as many civil-
ians - may have been
killed. And though Uncle
Sam now stands tall in
the Middle East, his pres-
ence there has potentiallya
destabilized the region for
decades.
Iraq's puny size and
limited resources made
any comparisons to Hitler
and the mighty German
war machine ridiculous;
the mere 100hours it took
the U.N. forces to win the Bsh
ground war conclusively Bush
demonstrated as much.
Though Iraq had one of the largest armies in the
world before the war began, it was poorly equipped
and undernourished. Rather than gloating over the
success of the forces he commands, Commander-
in-Chief Bush should be justifying their use.
As the Daily has maintained since August,
sanctions against Iraq offered a safer and more
cost-effective means of forcing Hussein to leave
Kuwait peacefully. All of the available evidence
suggests that the relatively backward Iraqi economy
was reeling beneath the weight of sanctons. At the
very least, Bush should have been forced to pro-
vide concrete evidence that sanctions were failing.
He never did so.
Instead, the president rushed into war and re-
expensive and avoidable war
fused a cease-fire - even when it became pain-
fully clear that Hussein was willing to accept any
available face-saving gesture. During the six weeks
of the war, U.N. forces contributed to the deaths of
hundreds of thousands and the devastation of two
countries' infrastructures.
Finally, there is the post-war hangover to con-
sider. In the Middle East itself, the ongoing U.S.
presence has strengthened right-wing fundamen-
talistmovementsinMorocco,Algeria,Tunis, Egypt,
Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Washington has once
again proven true to the role it has played in the
region since the early 1940s - supporting auto-
cratic rulers such as Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and
the Saudi royal family
rather than true democ-
racy while placing its
own economic interests
in the region ahead of
those of the Arab
peoples.
At home, the war and
its aftermath have
caused incalculable
economic damage. Al-
ready, allies whom Bush
is counting on to pay for
the war are balking. Re-
building the damage
caused by U.N. bombs
in Kuwait - while it
will benefit numerous
U.S.-based multination-
al corportations - will
also raise domestic in-
terest rates and prolong
the U.S. recession. And
COLLEGE PRESS SERVICE domestic social spend-
ing may be cut further as
Bush takes advantage of
post-war euphoria to bolster the Pentagon's al-
ready obscene military budget.
In this context, Bush may soon find that he -
like the famous British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill before him - has won the war and lost
the peace in the process. Churchill's heroics against
Hitler did not translate into prosperity at home;
three months after Germany surrendered, Churchill
lost his bid for reelection. Bush has now won a
much more shameful war against a caricature of
Hitler. As the "Butcher of Baghdad" rides into the
sunset, will ourleader lick the real-world problems
he has created as easily as he triumphed in the
made-for-TV war he waged?
SAPAC must do
more to stop rape
To the Daily:
The Feb. 19 article title,
"SAPAC continues efforts to
educate and help prevent rape,"
left me wondering if the
organization's efforts to stop
sexual assault on campus are
being channeled in the right
direction. Although awareness is a
fundamental part of prevention, it
alone is not enough to stop this
crime. This University needs
unsafe area on campus. Several
bus stops are not lit at all,
although they provide nighttime
service. The Diag, also, has
suffered several such power
failures. What is SAPAC doing
about that?
Awareness is certainly the first
step toward prevention. But
University students will continue
to be the victims of sexual assault
until we are provided with better
security and better protection
from possible assailants.
SAPAC should be com-
mended for their efforts thus far.
Kaufman argues that "the
University of Michigan is an
academic institution, and its
classrooms are no place for a
guerilla theater." Guerilla Theater
exists on this campus to provide a
medium for expression on the
Gulf War. The reaction to our
efforts has been mixed, not
decidedly negative, as Kaufman
implies. We have performed a
number of skits, ranging from die-
ins and songs to those which
offered a more analytical com-
mentary on the way the U.S.
government has manipulated the
media coverage of the War.
In my opinion, the Gulf War
disrupted the peace more than a
group of students ever could. A
guerilla theater is a more con-
structive and academic medium of
performance than a war theater.
Pam Jordan
Rackham graduate student
OF.
C PS
more than a crisis hotline and
some Acquaintance Rape Preven-
tion Workshops. What we need is
better protection: better lighting,
improved night-time transporta-
tion, and increased security
personnel. The article stated that
SAPAC's funding was recently
increased to $130,000. Couldn't
some of these funds be invested in
improving campus security?
Safewalk, Night Owl bus
service, and the emergency
phones scattered across campus
are certainly helpful in preventing
sexual assault. But these measures
are not enough as they do not
cover a large part of campus.
North Campus has insufficient
lighting, limited Safewalk service
and a grossly understaffed
security team.
This, of course, is not the only
Unfortunately, they still have a
long way to go.
Marta Zelitsky
LSA first-year student
Guerilla theater
efforts important
To the Daily:
As a member of Guerilla
Theater, I wold like to reply to
Jeffrey Kaufman's letter in the
Feb. 22 Daily. As a point of
clarification, Guerilla Theater
does not represent the Nonviolent
Action Clearing House (NACH);
it represents Students Against
U.S. Intervention in the Middle
East (SAUSI).
1
Come to vigil to
mourn war dead
To the Daily:
A coalition of campus groups
has organized a candlelight vigil
to be held on the Diag tonight at
10 p.m. to mourn for the people
who have died and continue to
suffer as a result of the Persian
Gulf War.
Although offensive military
operations are said to have
ceased, there is nothing to
celebrate in this victory for the
United States. As the news media
focuses on the "brilliance" of the
U.S. command and on the
celebrations of victory, they are
ignoring the devastation that has
racked its toll in human lives.
This vigil will allow people to
express the pain and the sorrow
that is being eclipsed by the
patriotic cheers of victory in our
midst. Let us mourn for all the
war dead and their families.
0
Louder than words
To a lot of people, making public places accessible
to everyone means things like building ramps, widening
bathroom stalls and adding elevators. What is often
overlooked is that some obstacles faced by disabled
people are not necessarily physical.
For many members of the deaf community, English
is a second language. Mostdeaf Americans use American
Sign Language, and the hearing society's lack of
knowledge about ASL can be the deaf community's
biggest barrier to access. When communication breaks
down, the net result is often frustration, isolation or
something worse. In the case of Carl DuPree, a student
at Gallaudet University, the nation's only university for
the deaf, the result meant death.
Last fall DuPree got into a dispute with an instructor
about English 50, a remedial language course in which
he was enrolled. Whether the argument was about a
grade or the university policy that forced DuPree to be
in the class in the first place is not known. But we do
know DuPree had been involved in a student movement
protesting the policy.
According to a Washington Post article, tempers
between DuPree and his instructor flared and campus
security was summoned. A struggle ensued, and
DuPree's hands were cuffed, preventing him from sign-
ing. In an apparent attempt to subdue him, officers
placed DuPree in a choke hold and he died of asphyxi-
ation.
Next month will mark the third anniversary of the
student-led fight to get a deaf president appointed at
Gallaudet. For 124 years, Gallaudet had been headed by
hearing presidents and a mostly hearing board of trustees.
Carl DuPree was one of the hundreds of students,
faculty and alumni whose efforts led to the appointment
of I. King Jordan - a victory one student described as
the "Selma of the deaf."
But even after this success, the tacitly understood
rules of order among the hearing community persist.
The responsibility for communication - or its failure
- falls on the deaf alone.
Many unanswered questions persist: Why did the
fight begin? Why was DuPree handcuffed, and therefore
left unable to sign? Why was a choke hold - illegal in
the District of Colombia - used? And how is it that
many of the 25 to 30 campus security officers employed
by Gallaudet are not fluent in American Sign Language?
DuPree's death has correctly been attributed to a
"communication breakdown" - not only between the
officers, but between the hearing and the hearing-
impaired.
Feb. 19, 1991 The Minnesota Daily
University of Minnesota
Benjamin Sandler
LSA sophomore
PC pressure on campuses mirrors Red Scare hysteria*
by Jonathan Uy
The return of Chandler Davis,
Clement Markert, and Mark
Nickerson - three University
professors purged during the Red
Scare in the 1950s - to the
University several weeks ago
focuses our attention on some-
thing that is often taken for
granted: academic freedom. The
University has traditionally been a
symbol of academic freedom in
the face of political and economic
pressures, but in the unfortunate
cases of Davis, Markert, and
Nickerson, that freedom was
denied.
It is easy to look back at the
days of McCarthyism and smugly
believe that such incidents are
behind us and could no longer
happen. This is not so. Today, our
nation is heading down a danger-
ous path of ideological confor-
mity; this time, the universities
are not fighting this trend but
leading it.
The current trend is often
referred to as "politically-correct"
or "PC." Historically, PC can be
traced back to the 1960s when the
civil rights, women's rights, and
other movements took the
national spotlight. The protestors
of the 60s sought to educate a
universities, in control of the
institutions of higher learning.
The power to institutionalize their
ideals by force has proven too
tempting. In implementing speech
and conduct policies, instituting a
political education curriculum that
begins at orientation and contin-
ues in the residence halls, and
formulating a simple litmus test
for what is acceptable and
unacceptable, these academicians
have sacrificed their intellectual
integrity.
that need answers but are not
often asked. The liberal ethic -
with all the positive things it has
brought to our society - is not
perfect and needs to be more
carefully examined.
There are contradictions
within the PC dogma. Should the
government allow an unrestricted
pornography industry or should
they mandate censorship to
reduce the exploitation of
women? Should we strive for
completely free speech or create
Public figures, from athletes to politicians,
have to watch what they say and even parrot
the right lines in order to gain the approval of
today's thought police.
The Daily encourages responses from
or less and include the author's name,
can be mailed to The Michigan Daily,
its readers. Letters should be 150 words
year in school, and phone number. They
420 Maynard, Ann Arbor 48109, or they
0
can be sent via M TS to "The Michigan Daily." The Daily reserves the right to edit
letters for style and space.
Much of the academic basis
for this movement comes from the
social sciences, its basic presup-
positions and methodologies not
subject to hard scrutiny or
critique. Indeed, voicing any
criticism is bad for one's health as
one might be immediately labeled
racist or sexist and denied any
future university-affiliated
restrictions to guarantee "free
speech" for all?
These and other contradictions
are not intentional but indicative
of the world we live in. Even if it
were possible to eradicate our
nation of the triumvirate of evil
-racism, sexism, and
homophobia - America would
still be far from utopia. In this
Nuts and Bolts
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