Page 4 --The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, March 13, 1991 Wbe £iig4an 1ai g 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 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. 'U' stonewalling Refusal to concede in GEO negotiations hurts TAs, students L- ..- 7 <( l - 7/.',;., Q 1.t ,/ , , rW A to. ASFN&pJl 'J11ICVWP'"? 0 J"~ ~J N~J 4~LTh Q~ tJ ~e~?('. S L( 'o) F -r" .--- ',p f r .W... A..WWVSS..-SAV .*'....,,.*ill..*.. . . *........ ...... # .(' V . *. r AT 1 Mo S ~E 1 titD 4S t vJ } V t- ©IC. v t~i < S~ t. '.V5. M o re.} o n .'}},'" "M ," L. "111Yi"" +.f"h{V1V1Vth e D .N.'t,..AS '~ .1h1r"A.a k e 's f ip.. vfr" M1}1A W:.4"At Ve}4":f}r'L1"{.:.}i.:};}:"{t: T ensions are mounting in negotiations between the University and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO). The University's unwillingness to give any ground in salary negotiations could lead to a strike - crippling the entire University. The package offered by the University included salary increases of 3.5 percent for 1991-92, a 3.5 percent increase for 1992-93, and a five percent increase for 1994-95. This "raise" does not even compensate for basic increases in the cost of living. And TAs - who are traditionally underpaid nation-wide - would clearly suffer under this plan. Last month, at the outset of negotiations, GEO requested a salary increase of 15 percent. Recog- nizing the unlikely chance of the University grant- ing this pay hike, the TAs scaled down their origi- nal proposal, and asked for a 12 percent increase for 1991-92, and a nine percent increase in 1992- 93. But the University's negotiators - despite GEO's efforts - have refused to budge, or even negotiate some sort of compromise. In addition to offering TAs a minimal salary increase - on the heels of administrators such as President Duderstadt receiving a five percent raise this year - the University ignored GEO's other requests. And these requests would benefit TAs as well as their students. The University bargaining committee has ne- glected GEO's request for an enrollment cap of 25 students per section. This move would cut down on overcrowding in classrooms and allow TAs to provide more of the individual attention that stu- dents need. Peace CorF GEO's request for overtime pay outside of the classroom is an equally legitimate plea that has gone unanswered. Paying TAs adequately for the work they are already doing is fair, and would encourage instructors to spend more time on tasks such as paper grading-which are a critical part of their job. GEO has also requested that the University take steps to offer TAs greater job security. For ex- ample, ithas asked that all TAs be hired on a yearly, not a semesterbasis. TAs would like tobe informed of departmental hiring and firing plans early on in the decision-making process. These attempts at increasing job security are undoubtedly justified in light of the elimination of 54 TA positions in the past year. All of these things affect the undergraduate experience here. And by denying them, the Uni- versity is failing to ensure students the best possible education. Looming cutbacks in national and state educa- tion budgets demand that the University begin to view its budget with increasing scrutiny. Cutbacks are inevitable in numerous areas throughout the University community. But the way to make these cutbacks is not by jeopardizing the human re- sources that play such an important role in under- graduate education. The University should give GEO a reasonable offer, so that these drawn-out negotiations can come to an end. Students must realize that if the University does not give in, and a TA strike erupts, it is the University's obstinate bargaining tactics that will shoulder the blame for the sacrifice of our education at this institution. New 'Fellows Program' promotes service on the homefront E' very superpowerhas the responsibility to share its resources and technology with those nations that have little of either. The 122,000 American Peace Corps volunteers, since 1961, have helped the United States - at least partially - fulfill this responsibility. For 30 years, Peace Corps volunteers have given aid to citizens of third-world nations in an effort to help them rise from helplessness to self- sufficiency, by teaching the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as efficient meth- ods of farming and conservation. In an ironic twist, this organization, while continuing aid to other nations, is now turning to deal with the third-world problems that are now plaguing major cities in our own nation. With the celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Peace Corps, in conjunction with the City of De- troit, has announced the Fellows/USA Program. This plan will bring Peace Corps volunteers - who have acquired rich multicultural experiences abroad - to Detroit to be hired as permanent substitute teachers.Simultaneously, volunteers will be earning a teacher's certificate and a master's degree in education from the University of Michigan. The Fellows/USA Program, scheduled to begin this fall, is patterned after similar programs already functioning in New York, as well as three other American cities. The forethought to make America's school systems the Peace Corps' "new frontier" is an admirable move and is worthy oflavish praise. The Fellows, if continued, could help alter the self- destructive course of the Detroit Public Schools. By alleviating the stressfully low number of certi- fied teachers in the system, and - at the same time - providing a much needed new perspective to the present Detroit teaching corps, the Fellows program is making an investment not only in the City of Detroit, but in our nation's future. In the current system of training educators, student teachers are brought into public schools to decide whether teaching may be the profession most suitable for them. Many leave disillusioned and frustrated. Peace Corps volunteers, however, are already certain that teaching is their suitable and preferred profession. More importantly, Fel- lows volunteers have already experienced the frustration of teaching and still hold the idealism necessary to tackle the seemingly overwhelming debacle of the educational systems in our inner- cities. Surely, the shameful conditions in Bangladesh or Haiti will make Detroit's problems appear more manageable. Peace Corps volunteers have gained invaluable human experiences during their service in foreign countries. Now, the Fellows Program offers them the chance to share these experiences - and the knowledge brought by those experiences - with those most desperately in need, our nation's youth. To the Daily: We have noticed that when we have a chance to tell our story, people tend to support us. Therefore, it's rather disquieting that the .. Daily's chosen not to print our previous letters, thus effectively blocking the public from . .4 . ..' knowing what actually happened. So, one more time. : F.a... Five women went into . . '4 ; Drake's, ordered, and sat down. After about 10 minutes of sitting '':." quietly in the near- ' ...... .. empty restaurant they_ were approached and Patrice Maurer of ACT-UP protests Drake's told to leave by the proprietor, Mr. Tibbals. At first, we thought it was just a random act of All in all, a very disturbing meanness, but Mr. Tibbals' reaction. comments made it clear there Madelyn Wilder was more involved. To the senior, more "feminine" of us, he said Arch. & Urban Planning "why do you want to hangoutA with people who look like that? Look at her!" regarding Mr some of the less "feminine" of M . Ti bbaS us. "Maybe you should get not homophobic yourself some new friends."C Through direct questioning, it To the Daily:7 became clear that he was It is arrogance of a particular throwing us out because we female - and, I suspect, lesbian looked like lesbians. We then white - kind, to assume that1 informed him that there would everyone that doesn't jump to the be a boycott by the gay beck and call of any given community and he said, "I feminist issue, regardless of how" don't care. Get out." ridiculous, is a white male. And1 dOne of the most striking therefore, of necessity, that things in the violent backlash person is a "politically retarded" accompanying the counter- underminer of "women's reality" protest was the aggressive and should probably give sexism displayed. The men someone the "willies."" seemed furious that we hadn't I refer to the editorial about consulted them or somehow the "Drake's five" written -+ sought their approval, and they beautifully in the third person+ were determined to "set us omnipotent - by Beth Chase straight." The counter- ("Defending the Drake's five," 3/ protesters showed very 11/91). We should thank Chase aggressive intrusive body for pointing out (bothliterally language and loud shouting, and figuratively) that evidence is JOSE JUARE7JDaily last Thursday afternoon. not required to make any claims regarding the motives of someone we have never met or spoken with. Contrary to what "is all-too- commonly-perceived," hetero- sexual white males on this campus are not responsible for each individual event that goes wrong, nor every injustice. I have heard that some even respect and support women's and gay rights issues. I would ask Chase in the future to try to be more direct with her generalizations (for example, limit them to white males who wear boxers, or have blond hair). If we are all to work together for mutual equality, we must stop generalizing attitudes and second guessing everybody who has an opposing view. We must also try to focus our efforts on issues of significance or motivation and credibility are quickly diffused. Peter Argenta LSA senior i 0 $ :: J"VJ: JJJ: JJ: Jf: :'f.1V.V.11V:.VJ ".111"J Jt1Y:J".1t11YJJ:.IIVJ:J.VJ.Vf.VJ."fsV:JJ:fJ:f.1V.1t': Jff :V.1V:J".'JJ :V:: A1"Jt"V:.V:.".": :""J ":.1V: 111V "1" 1V. t1V 111t""f.1V: "11"f: lV "f.1t1V:.1V: ": "J: "t :"J:: J::JJ :V."JJ: J.VJfJ.'.":J :V.VJ'::1 AV.'." ::.................".. 11..x.............. "...........JJ:':1V:V:.VJ.VJ.VJ:JJ:.V:.V:.V:":i:.V: J't.": "ifJX:t" '.'JJJJ:": JJ .... .J"i"J":""""": VJ VJ:". ... JfJ Jf "J'........... ".f.Vt:: i:. JJJ:.VJ. :.1 :"J::::'::i. .................. V ..... ............ J ...... 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A....V Volun r fund n for II I A v Haiti United States undermines legitimate democratic process n presidential elections last Dec. 16, Haitian voters gave formerpriestJean-BertrandAristide a landslide victory. Though Aristide was one of 11 candidates, he won70 percent of the votes with his promises to clean up Haiti's corruption and redis- tribute its concentrated wealth. The U.S. government acknowledged Aristide's victory; given his overwhelming support, there was not much choice. However, Washington does not like Aristide because he threatens to disturb business as usual -which has been quite lucrative for American corporations. Between 1969 and 1981, the free trade zones. which Haiti established~ with American money made Haiti the ninth largest producer of American goods in the world. As corporate profits flowed out of the country, Haitian workers' salaries plum- meted well below basic subsistence levels. Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for Intemational Development (USAID) was demanding that Haiti start growing export crops if its government wanted financial aid. A 1982 USAID study called for 30 percent of Haitian land to be set aside.for export. crops, even as it admitted that this policy would "cause a decline in income and nutritional status." Aristide has promised to change these abuses. In response, Washington has warned that Haiti will only receive former levels of aid when it adopts "good economic policy." In other words, Aristide must either maintain free market policies or face both Washington's wrath and its continual meddling. While Bush was willing to ship half a million troops to the other side of the world to "free Kuwait," he was sabotaging a truly democratic process in Haiti. Until he irons out these discrep- ancies in his policy, he will continue sabotaging his own integrity as well. Two days into the 1991 Michi- gan Student Assembly (MSA) Presidential Election, I am truly disheartened that all of the parties -from the Conservative Coalition to the Anti- Imperialist Action Brad Caucus - Bernatek speak of student concerns, but disre- gard the is- . sue of man- funding and ' the possible conversion. to voluntary funding. For those unfamiliar with MSA, it is the campus-wide student gov- ernment - duly elected by 10 per- cent of the student body. Every year, lemma. Presently, each student is charged a mandatory MSA fee of about $14 per year. Amidst tuition bills amounting to thousands of dollars, 14 bucks seems trivial; however, collectively, the manda- tory fee provides the MSA coffers with about half a million dollars. Since MSA is usually elected by a small percentage of the entire University, it is, in most cases, unrepresentative ofpopular campus opinion. The summer excursion to the West Bank and the anti-war movement - both of which were supported largely by MSA dollars - are good examples of minority opinions that have proven to dominate the MSA agenda. The student body is done a great dis-. service by such unrepresentative movements funded involuntarily due to the mandatory funding. Furthermore, mandatory fund- ing of MSA only discourages real,. government is an insult to the stu- dents of this University. MSA has become the tool of a minority, an exclusive little club, with thepower to spend tens of thousands of dol- lars on whatever they wish. With- out adequate student involvement, MSA is not a true, representative government.A studentgovernment, in the purest sense, receives a mandatefrom a majority of students and reflects the needs and views of the student body, not a select mi- nority of 10 percent. While I would love to see large scale voting indicating that MSA is a republican assembly - and a rep- resentative government - we can only expect about 3,000 students to vote - hardly a mandate of the masses..The other 90percent either don't know about MSA or don't care enough to vote. Surely, these are not willing participants in the great MSA family, or at least they@ Nuts and Bolts r WHY K NA *E. I ' by Judd Winick IL AN 2 7lNK ONE. EARRIN47) TNCSE GUYS DO HRVE -rn cwa-r n.rr f"vfnwi IWHERE ARE iHEY NOW?' I