Page 4-The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 6, 1991
420 Maynard Street ANDREW GOTTESMAN
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Editor in Chief
Edited and Managed STEPHEN HENDERSON
by Students at the DANIEL POUX
University of Michigan 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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The battle continues
SAUSI must maintain fight for
rT he Gulf War is over. Iraqi forces have surren-
dered and withdrawn from Kuwait, the allied
forces are celebrating their victory, and an uneasy
peace has settled over the Middle East. While the
various governments involved in the fight struggle
to pick up the pieces, it is important that those at
home continue to be skeptical of American policy
in the Persian Gulf region.
Throughout the Gulf War,
Students Against United States
Intervention in the Middle East
(SAUSI) has been the stron-.
gest campus group opposed to
the conflict. From its inception
last fall, SAUSI made a con-
certed effort to broaden its fo-
cus beyond the battlefields in
Kuwait. Instead of restricting
its protests to the Gulf War.
specifically, SAUSI set out to
oppose all U.S. intervention in 3
the region. As Washington
hunkers down for a long stay in
the Gulf, SAUSI's ongoing
pursuit of its stated goals is
now more crucial than ever.
The Bush administration
has already announced its in-
tention to maintain a perma- Students protest the
nent presence in the Persian Gulf- clearly disre-
garding the possibility of further alienating much
of the Arab world. The Pentagon is planning to add
at least one aircraft carrier unit to the previously
minimal forces in the region, and there is a strong
chance that more troops will be in the Gulf for
years to come.
the end of U.S. intervention
SAUSI's future tasks do not end with opposi-
tion to the beefed-up American military presence
in the Gulf. More subtle forms of U.S. interven-
tion, including the staggering sums of foreign aid
doled out each year to Israel and Egypt - which
together devour more than half of Washington's
foreign aid budget- are as potentially destabiliz-
ing as the American troop
presence there. SAUSI should
oppose these appropriations so
that the monies involved can
be invested in the long-delayed
"peace dividend" here athome.
SAUSI - and the many
other campus anti-war groups
- has suffered a massive set-
, back in the past few weeks.
The overwhelming Allied vic-
tory in the Gulf War refuted
any anticipations of along and
costly conflict. Butthis should
not signal the demise of their
struggle to end U.S. interven-
tion.
SAUSI has proven that it is
capable of rallying support for
a cause. Now it must prove
JOSE JUAREZ/Daily that its cause is as compre-
war on Jan. 15. hensive as the group has long
maintained. If SAUSI abandons its laudable ef-
forts to end U.S. intervention in the region now that
the war is over, the sincerity of its original commit-
ments will come into question. Hopefully, it will
continue its pursuit of those goals, compelling
Washington to bring home both the troops and the
money that have been wasted in the region.
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Infant mortality
To the Daily:
For better or for worse, the
annual Hash Bash will soon be
upon us. The organizers, the
National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORME), are trying to
convince the public that hemp
should be legalized for its
"useful" qualities. In fact, the
uses for hemp are far more
limited than they claim.
Thom Harris, the NORML
coordinator, claims that hemp
can "stimulate the appetite for
anorexics, reduce rigidity in
muscles for multiple sclerosis
patients, relieve nausea in
cancer patients, and open the
bronchial tube for more air for
asthmatics," ("NORML plans
for 20th annual Diag Hash
Bash," 2/21/91). This descrip-
tion makes hemp out to be a
miraculous cure-all. But the
extent of how much hemp helps
people is exaggerated.
First of all, anorexia is a
condition in which the victim
refuses to eat. They are able to
suppress their natural appetites
for extended periods of time.
Anorexia is a long-term disease
and smoking a joint will not
cure it. In order for anorexics to
overcome their disease, they
must confront and deal with it
directly. Hiding behind drugs
solves nothing.
Secondly, hemp is used to a
limited extent by some hospi-
tals and clinics to ease the
suffering of terminally ill
patients. But this does not mean
that it is the best remedy. Other
specially developed drugs are
better able to relieve pain and
discomfort. Using hemp in
place of these drugs would
result in a loss of effectiveness.
Finally, the use of hemp by
asthmatics to open constricted
Bush's infant mortality campaig
F or all the publicity surrounding President
Bush's declaration of war on infant mortality
- which is higher in some U.S. cities than in many
Third World countries - the specifics of his plan
are neither impressive nor imaginative. Worse, his
methods once again demonstrate the stunning hy-
pocrisy and callousness ofthe Bush administration's
domestic policy.
Bush's plan earmarks $139 million next year to
fight infant deaths in 10 as-yet-unnamed U.S.
cities. But the president plans to fund this "war" by
gutting the budgets of 10 other programs which
currently address infant health and pre-natal care.
$33 million of the funding will come from the 1992
community health center budget; additional mon-
ies will be filched from the already underfunded
Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grants.
Both of these programs currently aid the im-
poverished families with babies in danger. But
Bush's new proposal does more than simply re-
shuffle money. By targetting 10 urban areas -
where poverty is most visible and where, presum-
ably, the war against it will receive the most pub-
licity - Bush is trading the future well-being of
rural America - and other urban areas - for
flashy results and persuasive 1992 campaign com-
mercials.
Rural America already lacks many resources
that are readily available in cities. Removing fur-
ther federal assistance from Appalachia or rural
OUNDUP NU's spot
This year has unfolded pretty much like every other
one for Northwestern athletics.
The sports teams President Weber calls "semi-
professional" are humiliated game after game while
impressive victories in other sports pass by largely
unnoticed.
Football and men's basketball continue to draw
bigger crowds and correspondingly greater media at-
tention than "low-profile" sports. Sadly, the glamour
teams' feeble performances lead many shallow observers
to demean our sports programs and even call for our
eviction from the Big Ten.
These pessimists overlook the outstanding perfor-
mances turned in by Northwestern's student-athletes in
other sports. A perfect example is women's basketball.
After splitting the conference championship last
year, the team is ranked No. 18 in the nation and is riding
a string of five straight victories over Big Ten compe-
tition. They enter Sunday's road game against confer-
ence leader Purdue at 9-4 in the Big Ten and 17-6
n continues war against poor
Alabama and Mississippi could compound the
very problems Bush claims he wants to solve.
More importantly, this new focus may exacer-
bate the poverty problems it is attempting to solve.
By slashing vital services in rural communities, the
Bush administration practically assures anincrease
in urban poverty levels; already impoverished ru-
ral dwellers will have no choice but to move to
urban areas for vital services.
Infant mortality is a serious problem across
our country; it strikes more than just 10 cities. The
United States has slipped to 22nd among the nations
of the world in the rate of infant mortalities. Bush
cannot solve this problem with a financial quick-
fix, and he should be careful not to destroy the few
remaining vestiges of President Johnson's half-
hearted efforts to help America's rural poor.
If Bush is truly serious in asserting "good health
care is every American's right and every American's
responsibility," he should take money from the
Pentagon's bloated defense budget and implement
a progressive income tax rather than playing the
country's growing number of poor off against one
another.
Poverty cannot be solved by robbing Peter to
pay Paul; it certainly cannot be solved by robbing
both Peter and Paul to pay for the Pentagon's new
toys. If Bush wants to defend America, he should
begin this war with a frontal assault on poverty
here at home.
FILE PHOTO/Dail
Participants in the annual Hash Bash on the Diag cheer on a speaker.
This year the "hemp fest' will take place on April 6.
bronchial tubes defies common
sense. Breathing in smoke of
any kind, whether from
cigarettes or joints, is detrimen-
tal to a person's health.
Neighborhood drug stores offer
a wide variety of safer, more
effective medicines to relieve
asthmatics. If these are not
strong enough, then doctors can
prescribe other drugs.
The medicinal qualities of
hemp, besides that of relieving
pain, are questionable. This
leaves supporters to find new
grounds for legalization. They
have proposals ranging from
making rope to using hemp to
make alternative fuels. But
once again there are better
alternatives. The hassle of
legalizing hemp would
outweigh any benefits gained
from it.
If marijuana's uses are as
great as NORML claims they
are, then it never would have
been outlawed in the first
place. Regardless of what
happens in the future, mari-
juana is still illegal, and anyone
caught in possession of it
during Hash Bash should pay
the penalty.
Chris Russell
LSA first-year student
0
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Wmnres|
Western myths; Indian realities
rts tradition
overall.
Northwestern's teams in other sports also perform at
levels well above mediocrity. The wrestling team fin-
ished fourth in the nation in 1990.
These performnances are proof that Northwestern's
athletic program is nothing to be ashamed of. Just
because students at other Big Ten schools don't care
how good their field hockey or wrestling teams are is no
reason for Northwestern students to ignore our teams'
successes.
If students want to go to football games instead of
tennis matches or women's basketball, that's perfectly
understandable. It's their choice to cheer likely defeats
instead of victories.
But before they try to excuse a lack of school spirit
by saying our teams always lose, they should notice that
some of our teams seldom lose.
Feb. 22, 1991, The Daily Northwestern
Northwestern University
When people discover that I -
an Indian woman - am interested
in feminism, they immediately ask,
"Does this have anything to do with
the way women are treated in your
culture?" I
always
want to re-
spond by
reminding
them that
"women
are not
muchbetter
off here."
Y e s ,
sexism cer-
tainlyexists
in India -
as it does in
RS
withstanding.
Hindu families - comprising
the majority in India - generally
encourage women to further their
education if they can afford it.
Though many Americans stereotype
women entering the hard sciences
as "hardly female," Indian women
suffer no similar constraint.
Women also usually enter the
work force. Though working class
women must do so - and often
must work in menial jobs -middle
and upper class India women also
work in large numbers. Almost 50
percent of Indian doctors are
women; there is a 30 percent quota
for women in government jobs.
Numerous newspaper articles dis-
cuss women who work in the police
force, as rickshaw (taxi) drivers,
and in politics. IndiraGandhi served
as India's Prime Minister long be-
fore Geraldine Ferraro became
Walter Mondale's running mate in
1 QA
pressures as American women to be
"supermoms."
This isn't to say that there aren't
things in the Indian family structure@
which I find discouraging. Many
parents still arrange their children's
marriages. While this custom ap-
plies to men as well as to women, in
practice it frequently victimizes
women and female babies.
The related dowry custom, for
example - though outlawed for
the past quarter century - still
plagues many families. Originally,
the dowry was a gift given by the
bride's family to the new couple -
just as, in American tradition, the
bride's family customarily pays for
the wedding. Currently, however,
the groom's family usually demands
a price, while the bride's family
often ends up "selling to the lowest
bidder."
When brides' families cannot
pay all that they pledged, many are.
by
Vidhya
Shanker
Nuts and Bolts
CA AYt COtaNVRj .I.S AT I
1 1 -
By Judd Winick
I'FRIGGIN' Al)
every culture. But I was introduced
to the issues and realities surround-
ing gender inequality here, in
America. In the spirit of Interna-
tional Women's Day this Friday, I
,.int o * rno Tn inn xu.n..ra.tlha.
.I
11