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page 2 THE MICHIGAN REVIEW
December, 1985
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irrprut's muutI! Isn't it interesting that the ACLU, fresh from failing to deport a Ukrainian teenager (against his will) back to the land of opportunity, the USSR, is now defending the CIA protesters?
"
**
We understand that one CIA protester's arrest was, well, rather hairy.
** Nicaraguan president Daniel Urtega and his fashionable Anglaisspeaking wife were in New York recently. They bought $3500 worth of fashion eyeglasses on a Diner's Club card. The bourgeois couple pulled up in a 17-car motorcade and managed to buy nine pairs of eyeglasses. Don't despair, they did spread the wealth by buying three pairs for their daughter. Gucci Gucci.
** In the past we have criticized the Daily. But we should note that the
'.> Daily is nOI subsidized by U-Mstu-. J., ;, , dents. .Other papers aren't quite as ' independent, most notably the MSA Campus Report, an "analytical journal produced by" MSA. The Campus Report is completely subsidized by U-M students, apparently because nobody (except for coerced studenttaxpayers) is willing to support the venture. We're not surprised.
** One of the articles in the October 28 issue of the Campus Report was on the SOl conference. Ingrid Kock reported, "Research on Star Wars is . . . highly likely to be classified. James lonson . .. promised that his office would treat the research . . . (as) basic research. However, lonson could not point to any federal directive to support his promise." Sorry, Ingrid. lonson did point to a directive that he had signed.
** Then we have this classic line from the November 18 issue, in an article on green bikes: "One was even found locked to a rack with a Reagan-Bush sticker upon its slender green body." Slender green bodies can be very tempting, especially those with voluptuous tires and soft silky smooth supple seats,
Elsewhere in that October 28 masterwork, V. Terry Hirsch rambled, babbled and blabbered and emitted a piece entitled "America the Ugly." Believe it or not, however, we actually did agree with one Terryble statement. That is "I am . . . ashamed to be an American." Well, Terry, we are also ashamed that you are an American.
On the other end of the spectrum, Lyndon LaRouche's people were on campus proposing to end AIDS by use of lasers or fusion or something. We sometimes get the slogans mixed up.
z.'!
**
(!tontest
Some people were not as amused by the paper and actually criticized the first issue quite severely. In response to the critiques, one of the Campus Report's editors was heard yelling, "I don't give a (expletive deleted) about student opinion." That's been MSA's problem all along.
Seen below is a photo Smiling Mike Gorbachev, the leader of Evil Empire. If you look closely, a rather queerly-shaped birthmark adorns his forehead. The purpose of this contest is, in 25 words or less, to describe Gorbachev's raspberry mark. Creativity is urged. The winner will te- , ceive a gift certificate from Steve's Ice: Cream.
** .
We shouldn't be too negative, however. The November 18 issue did discuss a few student-related issues (oh no!). The rock and roll piece, dealing with the history of the Sex Pistols , was great. Perhaps the Campus Report should devote more
, space'to'''rodlt''b6vetage.tike,rnaYbe
':':'
every page.
** "The Rotten/Vicious Report, an analytical journal produced by MSA" Naw, everyone would think it was still the same paper.
rn
** Conversation overheard in the Fishbowl as a woman from the "Progressive Party" was passing out copies of their fustian ragsheet: "How . much does that thing cost?" "Nothing-it's free." "Naw, not worth it. "
** According to New York Governor Mario Cuomo, it is "very tempting to squash a little freedom here, a little liberty there," but the Statue of Liberty keeps him in line. Perhaps we sht>uld keep Mario as close to the Statue and as far from the real wheels of power as possible.
**
,,~ ,J~t, •
Tht' winnt'r for this month's conIesl is Gary Patishnock. an LSA senior, Gorbachev's inhereted defect is a bloody map of Afghanistan! This hideous scar follows him everywhere. The cure? Soviet withdrawl from Afghanistan gets the red out!!! Mr, Patishnock will receivt' a gift certificate to Stel'e's Ice Crt'am for his winning entry Watch for Contest #3 in February's issue,
The Michigan Review would like to congradulate Coach Bo Schembechler on a glorious season and wishes him the best of luck in the Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska. We also would like to wish Coach Bill Frieder the best of success in his defense of Michigan's Big 10 Basketball Championship. Go Blue! .
.~~ >M_~'lIN~"~'M~",:~",y",'"\t}I;W'>i"'_>""
.
THE MICHIGAN REVIEW page 3
December, 1985
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THE MICHIGAN
In Sum. * *
REVIEW Publisher Sa.ndra A. Collins
Associate Publishers James P. Frego Gerald W e;.r
Editor·in-Chie/ Seth B. Klukoff Executive Editors Ste~t Angelotti Joseph M . McCollllm Production Manager Da~id A. Yogel Minister 0/ Patriotism Y. Terry Hirsch Staff David Katz
PO/flck BOlchel/er
'horles Llpsig
Craig BrOll'n
'homas Melveh(>
Debbie BUe/lholl!
DaVId NorqlUs/
C Brando" Crockt,
Paddie O'/lalloroll Sharlene Pro is SCOII T. Rickman Nt'i1 Rosemall
Peter Cubba Michael
Davidson
Karl £delwQ//II
James £ridoll Jeffr"y £,'ans Paul Flack RoIX'no Frisoncho
Paul Sellman Molly Suessllllllh
Bill Tayler JosqJh
Rot/"l'JI Fulfer Mal/h(>1I' Gwclwss Dal,jd N ir.fhmon
/lONORARI' ADI'I$OR I' BOARD: II ,Ihum C"lh",q, PUIII If' .IIr<fQ(~hf, Slrphrn J
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Several random ruminations on The penchant for burbling the the Geneva "feel good" summit. mane has once again smitten the The decision by .the two Gladiators Reagan Administration. First, there (to steal a title used so eloquently by was James Watt's belly-Iaugher about Court Wag Patricia Schroeder) to three jews, a black, and a cripple (or impose a news blackout was simply a some combination thereof). Then, in masterstroke. The Rather-Brokaw- the midst of the summit, it was Jennings troika was caught off guard Donald Regan's tum to indulge in the and, struggling to search for new absurd. To wit: Women are not going angles, resorted to describing the to "understand throw weights or what angles of Nancy Reagan's and Raisa is happening in Afghanistan or what Gorbachev's gaudy garb. Oh, and I is happening in human rights." He must not forget the derring-dos of further babbles: "Some women will, Donald Regan and Cap Weinberger. but most women-believe me . . . Yes, they were aptly covered too, but would rather read the human interest more on them later. The' fireside stuff of what happened." Well, it was chats and the momentous walk in the rumored that Jeane Kirkpatrick was backyard also kept the network mikes discoursing on the configuration of warm and comfy. Raisa's crumpets. And guess who showed up for ~long similar lines, a letter sent by dinner, ever the uninvited guest. Yes, Cap Weinberger urging the President that preposterous purveyor of peace- "to make no promise to continue to nik agitprop, the ambassador without honor" the 1979 Strategic Arms portfolio, Sir Jesse Jackson. The Treaty and to avoid a "restrictive" noted quasi·politico arrived armed interpretation of the 1972 ABM with a bundle of petitions from such Treaty, was reported in several major Jeft-<:hjc····~,.f8$.c . ;;SA:NE,·laA4 . .,ithei,.t;\~~~~f$··QAl,.~e~~~y p~.. Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. ing the summit. Because of the news Jackson's mission was to present blackout, this story kept the media's these petitions to both leaders. To pot boilirig throughout the summit. Jackson's credit, he brought up the Every conceiveable angle ofthis story subject of Soviet Jewry in his discus- was milked dry and, believe me, I sion with Comerade Gorbachev. Said began to worry when I saw Cap Jackson: "I had to look him in the Weinberger's face in the papers and face and say 'we care about human on the evening news every day. Basirights.' " Is Jesse Jackson a true cally, the letter episode was blown out champion of Soviet Jewry or was he of proportion. At one point, Mike playing the media for a positive pub- Wallace's son, Chris (of NBC), dislic image? cussed the letter in the context of a
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major battle in Washington between the moderates and conservatives. He exhorted this dandy: "There is open and bloody warfare in the Administration." Granted, such a conflict exists, but it is not the Battle of Gettysburg (nor the Sparta-Athens War for that matter.). *And then there were the cries of the peaceniks (and liperal Democrats jealous to see Reagan so successful at Geneva) about the "lack of progress" at the summit. Well, their definition of "progress" entails the compromising of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Sorry chums, but the summit was an absolute success. Let's take a look at what was accomplished. There was the General Exchanges Agreement, which renews academic, cultural, and performing arts ties. Moreover, new consulates will be opened in New York and Kiev. On the first day of the summit, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan issued the North Pacific Air Safety Agreement. One vomponent of this pact allows planes in an emergency to land in the Soviet Union. New proposals were discussed, such as a risk reduction center, which will study ways to reduce the risk of nuclear war. There was dialogue to prevent the spread of chemical weapons. Although major issues such as SDI, human rights, the extension of SALT II, and regional conflicts were left unresolved, the two leaders plan to meet at least twice in the next two years. Only through continued discussion will these issues be addressed.
__________ 1I.w.l.
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Seth B. KlukojJ is a Sophomore in iea/ Science and Russian and European Studies and is Editorief of the Review.
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December. 1985
page 4 THE MICHIGAN REVIEW
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A Deficit Primer by Scott T. Rickman
Today's university students are facing a potentially bleak and uncertain economic future. The federal government is sacrificing the longterm economic health of this country for short-term political gains by following a policy of deficit spending on a level not seen since the Second World War. The budget deficit, often read about but little understood, poses a threat to the financial wellbeing of all who read these pages. However, while many people are aware that the federal budget deficit is in the range of $200 billion, they fail to recognize the danger this poses. The common response is, "I know there is a deficit. but the economy seems healthy enough right now." In this article we shall examine the nature of the budget deficit and its impact upon the economy. ,B~(Qrec.w:e ,;embarkupon o\lr.an~d;. 'ysis of the deficit, it may be worthwhile to understand several economic terms. Macroeconomics, the study of the overall health of the economy, is concerned with the relationship between what economists refer to as aggregate supply and aggregate demand. Aggregate supply is the sum of goods and services produced in this country. This includes all manufactured goods, all services provided and all the further inputs needed to produce those goods and services. Aggregate demand is the sum of the demand for goods and services. This FEDERAL REVENUES, OUTLAYS (in Billions)
would include all the purchases made by consumers, organizations and the government. When aggregate supply equals aggregate demand the economy is considered healthy. Producers can sell their produce, consumers can buy what they need. Now, when aggregate demand is less than aggregate supply, producers cannot sell all that they produce. Their inventories build up, so production levels must be reduced. This cut-back in production requires that some workers be laid-off or fired. As a result, the nation enters a recession. When aggregate demand exceeds aggregate supply, consumers want to purchase more than is available. The producers respond to this by hiring additional workers, adding extra shifts and paying overtime. This increased production is more expensive to the producers, so prices must be raised. When this occurs throughout.theeountry,\thenation experiences a period of inflation. With this in mind, we may turn our attention to the budget deficit. Problems arise from the deficit in two ways-from the deficit itself and from the means of financing the deficit. Each year the government runs a defici t, the budget is harder to balance in the following year. When government expenditures exceed government revenues, the government must borrow to make up the difference- this is the source of government debt. In 1985, government revenues were (approximately) $600 AND DEFICITS
1.500
billion, government expenditures $800 billion, hence a deficit of $200 billion and a previously accumulated debt of roughly $1.8 trillion. At the end of the year, when the current deficit is added to the previous debt, the new federal debt will be $2 trillion. The government has no need to repay the principle of the debt, but it must finance 1he debt (pay the interest~ each year. As the size of the ~bt increases, so does that portion of the budget which pays the interest on:the debt. In the last five years of hiih budget deficits, we have seen the interest payments on the debt balloon from $52.5 billion in 1980 to $121 billion this year. The Grace Commission, in its report to the President on government spendi::J.g in 1984, predicted that interest payments on the debt may rise to $1.5 trillion by the year 2000. So the longer the government waits, the more difficult it will be to balance the budget. These enormous figures may not be significant by themselves until we understand how the government finances the deficit. The government does this by borrowing from the public through the sale of bonds. When the government borrows on such a large scale, this tends to raise interest rates. This occurs because the amount of money available to be loaned. while not fixed, fluctuates only within certain parameters. This is a classic example of supply and demand. As demand for this money to be borrowed increases. the price rises. The price of borrowing money is the interest rate. However, many private businessmen borrow money to expand their companies-to buy a new machine or building, or to renovate their existing plants. As interest rates rise, the cost of borrowing to improve production begins to exceed the benefits of those improvements. Small businesses are squeezed out of the credit market by high interest rates. The immediate effect of this process passes unnoticed, but in the
long run these companies lose their competitive edge to foreign firms operating in an environment oflower interest rates. Domestic economic growth is stifled by high interest rates. The foregone economic growth of today becomes the less productive economy of tomorrow. Business is lost overseas, followed by jobs. There is an eve~more noticible effect of high interest rates on the exchange rate of the dollar. When interest rates increase in' the U.S., foreign investors seek the higher return offered here. To b.y American bonds and securities requires them to first exchange their domestic currencies for dollars. The law of supply and demand operates in the currency exchange market too. As demand for the dollar increases, so does its price. The price of the dollar is its exchange rate. As the exchange rate of the dollar increases, foreign goods-radios, cars. clothes-become relatively less expensiw than their American counterparts. The government does have a means by which to finance the deficit without raising interest rates. If the government increases the money supply. the pool of funds available to be loaned will increase and hold down the interest rate. However. this method is not without drawbacks. By increasing the money supply, the government will be stimulating consumer demand for goods and services. As we have already seen, when aggregate demand exceeds aggregate supply, the nation experiences inflation. So by increasing the money supply to finance the deficit the government may very well be court-
see page 9
Scott T. Rickman is a Junior in Philosophy and Economics and a sta.fI writer for the Michigan Review
INTEREST PAYMENTS ON THE NA TIONAL DEBT (Billions)
5.000
1.000 4.000 3.000 1983
2.000
DefiCit
I QS BillIOn
540
500
1.001
1~6S
lyg3
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PrOjected federal revenues. outlays and delicll> to the year 2.000. (Source: President '5 Pril'ate Sector Surl'ey on Cost Control, 1984.)
----
252
121
2000
1980
.. 1985
1990
1995
Projected interest payments on the national debt to the year 2.000. (Source:President's Prirate Sector Survey all Cost Control, 1984.)
2000
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December, 1985
THE MICHIGAN REVIEW page 5
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The Technology of SDI by James Eridon ..
.,~
Part Two oJ Two
,
provide a beam of almost any desired thing else, against this type of attack. orbit to ensure complete coverage of wavelength, depending on the particOne more advantage of this device is Soviet missile silos di vi ded by the ular requirements of the system deits very poor divergence, normally number which are actually in a posisign. With this laser, large amounts of undesirable in a beam weapon. Since tion to participate in an attack at any energy could be delivered on target X-rays cannot be reflected by mir- given time. Ideally, if th e satell ites are relatively cheaply and effectively. rors, there is little directional selec- placed in geosynchrono us orbit over There is one possible way of tion as in a normal laser. The beam the Soviet Union, the abse ntee ratio avoiding very large energy requiretherefore spreads out quickly as it is one. However. satellites in geosynments. If a large amount of energy is tra vels to the target. But with the chronous orbit maintain an altitude focussed for a ' short time - a few power of a nuclear explosion behind of 40,000 kilometers. Even beam millionths of a second - the outer it , this spreading does not seriously weapons have a ha rd time shooting that far. A more realistic orbit of. say, la yers of th e missil e's skin will reduce the beam's effectiveness, and 1000 km (the space shuttle orbits at vaporize explosi ve ly, se nding a deth e large beam spot at th e targe t 250 km) places the satellites in sustructive shock wave into the bod y of makes highl y accurate aiming unnecpersy nchrono us orbit : they make the boost er. The power leve l required essary . Usi ng UCS figures - most se\'era l trips around th e earth each for this "impulse kill" is much higher X-ray laser data is classified - an than that needed for "t herm a l kill ". X -ray weapon 4000 km away from a da y. Obvio ll sly. at any given moment som e satellites would be o ut of range but since this level need only be target will instantly destroy e veryof th e Soviet sil os, perhaps on the susta ined for a fractio n of a second thi ng within about a 100 yard radius. opposite sid e of the planet. To r1l:1ke Th e target must be outside the atmothe total e nergy requirements are up for th is fact. ex tra sa tellites must much lower. One defensi ve weapon sphere before a strike, since X-rays be placed in th e sa me o rbit at spaced designed to use impulse kill is th e will not no rm a ll y travel ve ry far intervals. If ground based weapons X-ray laser. This device is "pumped" thro ugh air. are employed, these extra satellites with the energy from a nuclear The huge power requirements of would only be mirrors, which would ,explosio n, The laSeri,,,.fQ.ds~ ,$!JnQ:t:Illq:,·· . ~(;\m weapon$" makes·"tbeir. . placepresu mabl y be much less expenSI vc the nuclear devi ce, eaeh rod pointed ment in space very diffic ult. [f o ptica l than redundant space based lasers. at a different target. When th e bomb wave length laser beams are emThis issue, the cost of protection explodes, it emits an enormous ployed, it would be possible to place against ballistic missile attack, is ulamount of radiation energy. This is the actual laser and power supply on timatel y what will decide whether we absorbed by the rods which promptly the ground while using orbiting mirshould pursue this mode of defense. re-emit the energy as X-rays in the rors to direct the beam to the target. direction of the target. A fraction of a In order for this idea to work, a laser There are a number of countermeasecond later, the force of the nuclear must be developed with the proper sures the Soviet Union can take to thwart a Star Wars scheme, and if the blast destroys the rods. This particuwavelength and even higher power lar concept may suffer from the obcapability, since part of the beam will cost of these countermeasures is vious drawback of requiring the be absorbed by the atmosphere or lost small compared to the cost of the defense the U.S. will end up fighting a placement of hundreds of nuclear in reflection from the mirrors. There losing economic battle. As a simple bombs in orbit around the planet, are still considerable problems to be although other non-nuclear pumping overcome involving transmission example, suppose it costs the Soviet Union 500 million dollars to produce mechanisms are being investigated. through the atmosphere and reflecan ICBM, and it cost the U .S. 100 The advantage is that it is very tion from the mirrors. Ordinary atmillion to place a mirror into orbit difficult to harden a booster, or anymospheric turbulence will reduce the coherence of the light as it travels to which is capable of directing enough the first mirror in space, and this energy to annihilate that missile must be compensated for in some should it ever be launched. Now it is manner. The space mirrors must also not worthwhile for the Soviets to be very large and very perfect ; they continue a missile buildup. But supshould have imperfections no larger pose that instead of building real than a fraction of the wavelength of ICBMs, the Soviets began building the laser light - about one thousandth unarmed boosters, which looked like of a millimeter. Furthermore, they real ICBMs, at a cost of only 10 must be able to withstand the stresses million each. Suppose they built a induced by reflecting ten or a hunthousand such decoys at a cost of 10 dred million watts of power while still billion dollars. It now costs the U.S. a ~,.r NR01'C CoDea Pft.tpUD o&n you two rears of upeut direct ing the beam to a moving target hundred billion dollars to defend IDODI1 that'a worth up to 12.000'llua the cban" , . of bIcomj~a of about one meter in size several against t-his threat, and a trillion lrin N..,. ~ with _,. M1"""'ih' ties aDd d8c:iaioa-!D.I l au nCy. thousand kilometers away. The proDuriq yaur Iu& two ~ ill ~ the Navy pa,. for uaiforms. dollars if we have reason to suspect NRan:: tatbooka aDd aD allowaDI::e of 1100 a maath for up to 20 tDODtba. duction of such mirrors and their that the Soviets have managed to Upoa tnd\LItioD aDd completiaa of ~ta. you become a . placement in space would be a Navy 0f6c-. with ~t d-osioa-malciaf raspoDlibillties. prodigiou5,c' fea,t of science and engi\l'C pagt' 9 Call your Navy "pI" ntatiw for more informatica oa this neenng. cha''-em. propuL 1/11)"((/(1/11/ Deur/hll/'. Jail J I . Iwl6 Ground basing of beam weapons Cull 1 ( J,.lm ( '11\/(,/111 'M · /4fJ.~ may also be a much less expensive James EridOfl is a Graduate Student \ 'III/It lIull option than space basing due to the in Nuclear Engineering and a staff "absentee ratio" , which is defined as writer for the l'vlichigan Review. the number of satellites needed in
High efficiency beam devices are perhaps the highest priority research area of the present SOl program. A major part of the cost of any defensive system is expected to be the expense of lifting the weapon into space. Lifting a payload into low orbit on the space shuttle currently costs about three million dollars a to n . The largest part of the weight of a defensive satellite could be the power supply, particularl y if chemical fuel is em ployed. Nuclear powered satellites are muc h more desirable from thi s point of view , since nucl ea r fuel packs abo ut a milli on tim es m ore e ne rgy per pound than docs c hemica l fuel. A Ii vc perce nt effic ien cy device will need twent y times more fuel than the sam e devi ce operating wit h 100 percent effici ency. Disposing of the ~asted e nergy in a low effic iency weapon is a problem which can be eliminated with higher efficiencies. nc promising high efficIency device is the Free Eiectron Laser (FEL) . As the name implies, in this laser the electrons are not bound to atoms or molecules. Instead, the energy levels are created artificially through the action of magnetic fields on beams of "free" electrons. Electrons in atoms can spread out over literally an infinite number of energy levels, while only two particular levels are used to create the laser beam. This is one reason ordinary lasers are so inefficient. In an FEL, electrons could conceivably be placed in exactly two levels, leading to very high efficiencies. Since these levels are artificially produced, they could be chosen to
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The Marcos Whose Team is This? Problem
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Recently, there has been considerable debate over what policy the United should follow regarding events in the Philippines. To set the scenario, a growing Communist insurgency, the New People's Army, has entrenched itself throughout the country. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Richard Armitage estimates that the insurgency is 16,500 combatants strong. Moreover, the size and strength of the insurgency has led Philippine Defense Minister Juan Enrile to speculate that at least a decade will be needed to contain the forces. Uni~ed States military bases in the Philippines, Clark Air Force Base and Sub,ic Bay Naval Station, are imperiled if the Communist rebels ever rise _ to power. Philippine President Fe~dinand Marcos, faced with this rapidly expanding insurgency, a deep economic crisis, and widespread criticism from his own citizens and the United States, has called for elections in order to bolster his power. The announcem,e nt ,of the elections, scheduled for February, is encouraging;- buf:i'd oes 'n ot:ftiIJy') absolve ' Marcos of his faults. Marcos, through past actions, has revealed that he is not a true democratic leader, (to wit the Marcos Government's role in the Benigno Aquino ' assassination) and has been unwilling to answer calls for reform. Salvador Laurel, the leader of the United Nationalist Democratic Organization and Corazon Aquino, the widow of the slain Benigno Aquino, are the leading figures of the moderate opposition to Marcos. Laurel,a former ally of Marcos, has launched an extensive campaign. Though Laurel has received negative coverage by the Philippine media, the result of a smear campaign by Marcos' cronies, he has received solid support throughout the country. Corazon Aquino, who is set to formally announce her candidacy, is benefitting from her slain husband's widespread popularity and cult following. The acquittal of Marcos crony General Ver, who was on trial for the murder of Benigno Aquino, should further Corazon's support. The United States must bide its time with Marcos, continually pressing him to reform, while lending support to the moderate opposition. For even if Marcos wins the election, which seems like a certainty, his grave illness does not ensure longevity. The United States must adopt a long term policy which will work to create a stable democracy in the Philippines, while preventing a victory by the Communist insurgents, After Marcos is gone, the moderates will be the only viable alternative and thus merit our support. ~
Rarely do the football or basketball teams have a problem that Coaches Schembechler and Frieder cannot fix. Unfortunately, this semester a serious problem has arisen that affects 30,000 football fans and 5,000 basketball fans: student seating. In Michigan Stadium, the rule-of-thumb in student sections has been: sit where you want, no one cares anyway. The idea is that friends in the same section should sit together, even if their seats are not together. But as the team improved, the crowds increased, and problems arose. Alumni who scalped tickets, and some plain unfriendly students, claimed the seats on their tickets, displacing students already sitting there and causing a lot of grief. After all, alumni should not even be in these sections in the first place! The solution is simple. Everybody in the student sections should be allowed to sit in any seat within their own section. This way, everyone can sit by their friends, and those that want the best seats in the section can :show ,up;a few h()UfS'ettly; This is the "unwritten rule" thatgovems the stadium now; it is time to write it down. . In Crisler Arena, the fault lies entirely with the Ticket Department. Most everyone who wanted season tickets was awarded poor seats, even seniors and juniors. Students were distributed throughout the arena, everywhere except in the "good seats" - the Blue section. Whose team is this? The "sit-on-your-hands" alumni, who dominate the Blue section, do not deserve preferential treatment over students. Indeed, if there were not any students, alumni would not have a team to root for. Place the students, prioritized from seniors to freshmen, on one side of the Blue section, hopefully the side national T.V. cameras always face. Would it not be better for T.V. audiences to see 5,000 screaming ~tudents instead of 5,000 rich alumni? Bill Frieder and the team deserve :tter. UM students deserve better!
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December, 1985
THE MICHIGAN REVIEW page 7
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.Cltnmmtuiary in
Polish Charade by David Klocek
Elections were held recently in Poland. Haven't you heard? Perhaps, the reason that you have not, is that the results were known in advancethe Government won. The American media only seems to be interested when the issue is not yet decided, when a story can be reported with a bit of suspense. There was no change. A country like Poland is doomed, because of the past actions of great powers and the constraints of geography, to continue on a losing path without the possibility for real change to take place. It is true that most Poles thought, quite recently, that change, real
.'}~I~::\,~;i~i!~~~~ef,1o~~,·t~·~k:l~u~6:; They were shattered on a cold December night almost four years ago when the Polish Government proclaimed martial law by declaring war-not on Poland's enemy, the S0viet Union-but on her own citizens. Since then the Government has pretended to change things, but the substance of its rule remains the same. The Solidarity underground called for a boycott of the elections, the first parliamentary elections to be held since the August 1980 upheaval. The regime, for its part, conducted a massive propaganda campaign to defeat the boycott. It had other tools at its disposal to encourage voting as well-the names of those who did not vote would be known to the authorities. Perhaps nothing would happen to those who did not vote, but the authorities could not take chances. The Solidarity underground had its own people monitoring polling places because the Government's turnout figures would most likely be exaggerated. Five minute counts were taken of people coming out of polling places in the morning, ~fternoon, and evening, and a statistiCal method was used to come up with an approximate measure of voter turnout. Monitoring the elctions could prove somewhat dangerous. Even though it is not illegal in Poland to count the number of people coming out of polling places, this would not stop the everpresent police from arresting, beating, and trumping up charges on another
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Revamping Social Security by Neil Roseman
Many fundamental problems exist innocent victim. In Poland, it seems, within the present Social Security the greatest violators of the law are If the general public changes system. the police. its philosophy on Social Security then The Government announced a a restructuring of Social Security 78.86 percent turnout, while the Solcould be enacted by Congress and the idarity underground estimated the current administration. turnout at approximately 66 percent. Three major problems have eThe opposition admitted that the volved in the present system: I) turnout for these elections was about Middle and upper middle class peo3 percent greater than the turnout for ple pay for the lower class' Social last year's elections, as the GovernSecurity benefits. This is not fair to ment also claimed. In both cases, the hardworking middle and upper there was a discrepancy between ofmiddle class citizens. 2) Most middle ficial figures and Solidarity figures of and upper middle class people will approximately 12-13 percent. receive Social Security benefits. So who won the election? Neither However, with the right planning, side really. The underground lost be~\1~ the. boycott did. not attract : they will not need the benefits they 'ttldrepeople; "f!vertirt avery' 'bad • are due to receive( l) Since nearly all senior citizens receive more than they economic situation, with all of the contributed, the system will ultimaopposition leaders united in support of the boycott, and with the Church tely exhaust its money supply. The history of Social Security has agreeing with the boycott, not granthad a major impact on the current ing approval to a group of Catholic philosophy of the system. Social Secandidates which the regime wished curity was originally designed to to include on the official list, turnout temporarily help the elderly in a time had still increased. The regime lost of need, the Depression. This was a because with all of the pressures sound idea at the time, but once the available to it, with all of the propagovernment gives people money, it ganda, it still was unable to effect has a hard time taking the money much of an increase in turnout. away. This is exactly what happened Thus,the Polish stalemate continues. after the Depression. But the question It is strange that there should be a remains, how did the elderly people stalemate in Poland, for it is clear to survive before the Depression? They almost everyone, including the Comsurvived by sacrificing. The families munists, that Communism has failed supported the elderly and the elderly there. Stalin once said that Commumoved in with the families. In sumnism fits on Poland like a saddle on mary, they survived because they had an ox, for it is deeply alien in a very to survive. religious, individualistic country that Government officials at the time reveres a romantic tradition in its also decided that forced savings history, literature, art, and music. In should be implemented. The idea Poland, even Party members go to behind forced savings is that people church, and have their children baptized! How strange it is to continue to are not disciplined enough to save for mouth support for Marxism-Leninthemselves and therefore the government must force them to save. ism on official holidays like May 1, Two alternate plans would elimiwhen everyone really knows that most Poles consider the official . : nate some of the problems facing the ideology to be a joke, and a bad one Social Security system today. In these proposed systems mentally and phyat that, from the point of view of sically handicapped people are not their country's traditions and identinvolved, but are covered by a sepaity. One is reminded of Cicero's rate plari. report about the remark of Cato the I) Instead of having a giant pool of see page II money that everybody contributes to, David M. Klocek is a Master's let the government have an account Candidate in the Center for Russian with a person's name on it. This way, and East European Studies and a whatever is put into the account by contributor to the Michigan Review.
the worker will be received by the worker when he ret~res, This would be similar to a pension fund. The government would run the system on the following principles: They would determine what the life expectancy of an American citizen is beyond age sixty-five. They would then divide the total amount of savings by that average life expectancy. This would give the amount that the retired worker would receive eac.h year. If there is a spouse involved the~v ernment would figure the average 1ife expectancy of the longer living spouse (It would be higher because jf there are two people involved there is a greater chance that one of them will live past the average life expectancy of a single person). They would then divide the total earnings of the couple by the new age expectancy beyond age sixty-five. The couple would then receive the calculated amount of money until a spouse died, and then the remaining spouse would receive the same money until he/she died. The money left over from people who die young will support the people who live past the age expectancy. 2) The second plan is almost the same as the first except that people would give the money to banks and let the banks use the money for capital investments. This would increase the money supply by 200 billion dollars. This 200 billion dollar influx would actually more than triple itself in the money supply when the velocity variable is taken into consideration. Therefore the 200 billion dollars turns into 600 billion dollars. Both these plans are good alternatives to the present Social Security system. They solve two of the major problems mentioned previously: I) The current system's repeated financial crises. The new plan is self-perpetuating. 2) The current system's taxing of middle and upper-middle class families to subsidize lower class families. Even with this restructuring see page II ~
Neil Roseman is a Freshman in LSA and a stq(J writer for the Michigan Review,
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page 8 THE MICHIUAN REVIEW
December, 1985
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itnieruiem
Carl Pursell
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more economic wealth in a society in REVIEW: W\II tax reform occur which they can be not only producand, if so, how will the House's tive, but invest in our future, for our package differ from Reagan's original future generations, and not be penalproposal? ized. PURSELL: The tax reform packREVIEW: One component of age has a)ot of activity right now in Reagan's tax reform proposal, the the House Ways and Means Comelimination of state and local income mittee . Dan Rostenkowski , the tax deductions, has met strong biparChairman of that committee, is tisan criticism. How do you assess marking up the bill at this present this component? time. As far as the House is conPURSELL: The state and local cerned . I would expect a vote on a tax income tax deduction issue is big in package probably this Fall. Optithe Northeast and Midwest, where mistically , they are probably onethird the provision has been used as a through the tax package . Some break. I have talked to Bill Archer members. like Bill Frenzel of Minne. and some members of the Ways and sota, probably our leading spokesman Mean s .committee who feel that on the Republican side. feel that we ma ybe the provision will be phased will not have a vote on the bill. The out. It will not be eliminated beca use ranking Repu blican on the Commitit does produce 38-40 Billion dollars tee feels that there will be a vote on it in reYenue. The whole issue has yet to this Fall. Bob Dole, on the other be addressed by the Ways and Means .' hand. in the Senate. does not give tax Committee and I cannot predict reform high priority, So, with the today whether they are going to phase Senate under hi s leadership, my best '. this ' provision ,down: Tb¢ywiU ' not 8u~s right nowjs tll~twt;W:iU get a phase it out. There will be a comvote in the House, but not in the promise in the state and local deducSenate. tability issue. The longer the tax reform package REVIEW: How will the Grammis debated , the less chance it has to Rudman-Hollings bill, which aims to get final passage. The President has eliminate the federal deficit by 1991, given a lot of speeches around the affect other deficit-cutting proposals country, trying to encourage some such as the line-item veto or the movement on the tax reform packbalanced budget amendment? age. But, when we come back to our PURSELL: The line-item veto is congressional districts, we do not find opposed by many members of Conmany people interested in tax reform. They are interested in the deficit, the gress because it transfers the power of appropriations to the President. I results of the recent summit, and have some strong reservations about many other pressing issues. On a the line-item veto and I do not think scale of one;to-ten, I would give tax reform passage probably about a four. it will be adopted. The balanced I think most of the people in the budget amendment has to be approved by thirty-four states. Michicountry want a simplified tax, a more fair package. A moderate approach is gan just rejected the amendment, so two more states are still needed to that the tax reform package should be revenue neutral, it should not jeopratify it. I do not think that there will be a balanced budget amendment. ardize the the competitiveness of the That leaves us with a two part probAmerican business community, lem. First, Congress is not doing its which is, in effect, the producer of jobs for America. Although we want job within the budget cycle, from the businesses to pay their fair share, January through October I, to comr do not want to see the businesses plete thirteen appropriations bills and impaired so dramatically that we get them to the President on time. Over the years, this process has never cannot compete in the international worked effectively. In my nine years competitive market, and therefore in Congress, we have always ended lose jobs. So the tax code should be fair and simplified, by reducing the up with a concurrent resolution, throwing everything until the last rates in the three rate categories that minute. This means that we cannot we have in this bill to get rid of this bracketing. Therefore, I think that tax do our job effectively and responsireform should be balanced, so that bly. So what can we do to trigger that the individual pays his fair share as mechanism, to act as a hammer, to push Congress to do its job? We have well as the corporation. I prefer to see rates reduced to anow the individual
rights. I really think that the moderates in Nicaragua need people like Arturo Cruz to be effective leaders and establish a government that is neither extreme on the Left nor extreme on the Right. I would like to see democratic elections established in Nicaragua. see a proper mix of personaliity and leadership develop. I am a little pessimistic that there is really a solution right now to the hard line positions of the United States supporting the Contras. and Castro and the Soviet Union supporting the before us the Gramm-Rudman-Hol- Sandinistas. We are in a deadlock lings proposal. which I support. It is a there. without much of a long term budget process and a hammer, to policy. Our policy has been short remind us that if we do not finish the term crisis management. We went budget on time, we will have some through that ,,"'ith Kennedy. John so n. fixed larget deficit savi ngs within Nixon. and nO\\I with Reagan. 1986. REI 'IEH '.· Recently . Governor I wrote a budget myself, as Chair- Blanchard announced that Michigan man of a group of moderate and has reached solvency. How much conservati v e Republicans called credit does Blanchard actually deGroup 92. We introduced a budget serve') which had a 51 Billion dollar savings PURSbLL: Michigan, like all other and introduced it on time, under the states in the Midwest, was hit pretty Budget Act. We went through every hard by the recession. We are all program , through every function of rebounding because inflation is government, and cut across the down, productivity is up, and the board, so that everybody was treated national economic position is better fairly. The defense budget received a today than in the last six years. More 24 Billion dollar reduction in a freeze than one person should receive credit and domestic programs received a for that. The President contributed, freeze across the board. Nobody was the whole Congress contributed, and hurt dramatically. There were about Paul Volcker has made a contribuseven programs that were eliminated, tion. I am sure that respective govand which deserved elimination. ernors have felt that Michigan was in They were outdated and ineffective. I a position to raise taxes in 1983. should add that we had the only Moreover, spending is up in Michibudget introduced on time. So, I gan. Some of the budgets I have seen believe that Congress can accept its in the State Legislature contain responsibilities. Gramm-Rudman-. 10-12% increases in spending. At that Hollings will probably be comp~o- rate , we are going to be in a serious mised with the Democrats to achelve situation. To increase taxes and not some targets through 1991 , to reduce reduce spending is a real long term the deficit. However, Gramm- problem. So I do not think that Rudman-Hollings does not cut one Blanchard can take much credit for dime out of the budget. Michigan's solvency. Michigan has to REVIEW: To what extent should reduce taxes to really become comthe Reagan Administration support petitive. Today, we are not a comthe Contras? petitive state. We are losing jobs and PURSELL: I think the Contra or- people are leaving the state. The ganization is a mixed blessing. There Governor has a positive attitude but is no question that there are some his policies of strategic investment Somoza people within the organiza- need much debate and discussion tion. I had the opportunity to meet before Michigan sees the daylight. with Arturo Cruz recently, who was a major civic leader in Nicaragua who • • • • • • • • • • • • • •_ later became a Sandinista. He then The questions for this interview left the organization because Daniel Ortega and his party are were prepared by the editors and staff Communist-oriented. They are not of the Rel'iew. ~ democratically setting up free elections and are reoressive in their civil
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THE MICHIGAN REVIEW page 9
December, 1985
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Deficit
SDI
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harden their missiles by a factor of ten. It is no longer worthwhile to continue this type of defense. At this point in the development of beam weapons technology, there are still enough unknownS so as to allow a reasonably talented spokesperson to make a good case for either side of lhe argument of whether to pursue this mode of defense. Spokespe~sons, however, are generally well paid for their efforts and are not renowned for their impartiality. It is to be hoped that an informed public, in hearing these arguments, will be able to sort the wheat from the chafT and make an intelligent decision on how to proceed in this field. At this point, the American SOl effort is strictly a research program. As such, anysignificant developments over the next few years are as likel y to have commercial as military applications. For example, the development of a high efficiency, tunable laser woyld be a phenomenal scientific accomplishment with important non-military applications in society. Electricity and laser light are both high quality forms of energy. A device which CQuJd easily convert one to the. other would be similar in importance to the ric generator. which all
. . ing a return to the double digit infla· conversIOn of ;mechamcal energy to tion of the 1970's. electricity. The ~cope of applications The only way to avoid these una~d enonnous I~pac~ of such a depleasant scenarios is to reduce the Vice ~n only betmagmed. deficit. This will not be a painless In 1U'~y case, one point that most task. To do so wiil require a combipeople -can agree.,on is that theSe nation of spending cuts and tax inweapons will nQt make their appear-: creases. Both must be used, for the ance any time soon. Colonel Richard deficit is too large for either means to Gullickson of the Directed Energy · handl'! alone. This may be- an un<?~ce of th~ St~tegic Defense Inipleasant prospect, but the future ttatlve OrgamzatlOn put out a request holds a far more unpleasant picture, to the audience at a colloquium he if the deficit problem is not resolved gave this November for new ideas . . .s.o.o.n• . • • • • • • • • • •IIIIi.~ from anyone interested in the technology of directed energy weapons. He said that it is widely believed the current ideas are not extremely promising, and are not likely to fulfill the requirements for a beam weapons contmued from page 7 defense. He was then asked by Dr. Censor, who was very surprised that Fred Mayer, of KMS Fusion, how one auger could meet another in long he thought it would take before ancient Rome without bursting into we would be able to deli ver the laughter because both would no explosive force of one pound of TNT doubt have known how phony the over a hundred mile distance using profession of augury was (De Dirinanon·ch e mical (directed e nerg y) tion e 2. 24). Similarly, one would means. His response was, " I haven 't think it is difficult for Party leaders in the foggiest idea. What's your guess')" Poland to keep straight faces when To which Mayer responded , "About they make those speeches on the a hundred years." ~ oppression of the. working man in capitalist countries. and on how superior their system is from the point of view of social justice. So what is to be expected in Poland in the near future? Not much in the way of cha'nge, unfortunately . The
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Charade regime will continue its pro paganda of "normalization." insisting that life in Poland is calming down and opposition diminish ing. This will not. however, produce any more suppon for the regime. Its power will still be based on coe rcion and force. and it will never gain real legitimacy from the people. Another round in th e never-ending Poli sh cycle of rebel· lions-1956, 1968, 1976, and 1980~81, to' count o nly the ones since the end of the last war-is slire to erupt again one day. ~_
!Ousic in itruirw
Vienna Symphony Orchestra by Eric Winiecke
Through the years, Ann Arbor has always drawn talented and colorful performers. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, which performed at the Hill Auditorium on November 13th, certainly upholds this tradition. Under the direction of Wolfgang Sawallisch, the orchestra performed a diverse program that enlightened and captured their intrigue. The Orchestra played eight waltzes, followed by one of Richard Strauss' greatest works, Ein Heldenleben. The first half of the concert consisted of the eight waltzes, featuring the composers Johann and Joseff Strauss. As one can imagine, listening to eight consecutive waltzes tends to tire even the most enthusiastic of
audiences. However, that did not occur at this performance. The wide variety of waltzes and the enthusiasm of the orchestra members brought laughter, cheers, and sustaiQed applause from the audience. This was due to Wolfgang Sawallisch's playful interpretation of the works. The second half of the concert featured Richard Strauss' Ein Hel· denleben. Opus 40. This difficult work necessitates a talented orchestra. The Vienna Symphony's performance, despite a few minor mistakes, was masterfuL Jan Popsichal, the concert master, performed Strauss' violin concerto to near perfection. The performances of the principal hornist and the entire brass section
were equally impressive. The audience again responded with much applause, recalling Wolfgang Sawallisch to the stage several times. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra proved to many that the Vienna Philharmonic is not the only quality orchestra in the Austrian capital. ~
Eric Winiecke is a Sophomore in LSA and a staff writer for the Michigan Review
For all YOllr protesl need. call
PS iNc. You name it, we'll protest it. Ha~'e
slogan, will travel
Dial 1-800-PROTEST Operators are standing by.
page 10 THE MICHIGAN REVIEW ....................................
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§prcial Itl'rafurr
Russia. the Neato by Elroy "Crazy Legs" Schplitz (as told to Joe' Typho) Last time, I told you why I don't love America as much as I used to, Us rich (rich, I might add, in the proper American waythrough Mumsy and Daddy) young leftists are getting really upset with this "opportunity society" nonsense, Not only that, but Reagan is getting on my nerves, The U,S. does so many rotten things, like provoking wars, suppressing dissent by calling it sedition, trying to impose "Christian" morality on the people, and limiting the rights of the accused. Reagan may be the biggest scoundrel in history, except for Lincoln, who did the same things. All of this really tees me off, so I thought I'd use your Marxist Student Association "donations" to explain my views here in the MSA. Revolu· tionary Worker and Gazette. But, first, I have some questions for you; questions designed to help you think and understand the issues involved, Why have American soldiers died overseas? Were they really killed by Communists and fanatic Muslims? Or were they exploded by remote control
on Reagan's orders in order to drum up support for "Star Wars" ? Why were American soldiers killed at a Salvadoran cafe? Would you go to Rick's and shoot Salvation Army warriors? How can the government say that these people "died for peace" ? Geez, what a lousy cause. They should have died for something important, like Hackysack. Isn't "fighting for peace" an oxymoron? Am I an oxymoron? People like Reagan talk about Russia. Have they ever spoken to a Russian? Did the Russian talk back? Did he say, "nolo comprendre" ? Where is Russia? Isn't it in the grocer's freezer, next to the Ortega Tacos? Did you know that the Soviets don't want a war with America? Did you know that Russia is paranoid and that even if they wiped out every Afghan they'd still be worried about every other conceivable threat, from Pakistan to armed Yeti? Did you know that Russians don't like war because they know the stench of rotting corpses? Did you know that the Soviet government is so sensiti ve to that fear that they leave prisoners' corpses to rot in the labor camps, away from the population, so nobody has to smell them? Did you know that some
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heat to escape, raising temperatures again, etc., and eventually the planet fries. We also reach the frying point, then explode and piss off everyone else. For us it's known as the Outhouse Effec\, Let me also use this opportunity to talk about another topic: Students and the Marxist Student Association. I'm upset about the local media's coverage of our gtoup. Last year the coverage was non-existent. This year many more people are reading the local papers but the information is false. We did not endorse demonstrations against Bush. We did not tell people to try to shout down Bush. We did not urge people to violate anyone's First Amendment rights. We did pass a resolution stating that Bush's visit was "grody to the max." We felt that this was an appropriate response to Bush's status as heir apparent to the greatest mass murderer in history (except for Somoza) (or was it LB}?) (Charles "Tex" Watson?) (or is Tex the guy we want set free?). The local press, however, misrepresented our resolution by stating that we felt that Bush's visit was "a Fascist provocation." We'd never indiscriminately use the term "Fascist." Oh no. Not us. We'd rather mention our other, quieter but equally important activities, the ones that the press never covers. In fact, we don't write much about our projects either. Well, they're important, but, face it, there's no sense of glory in issues like computer policy, especially when we can pontificate instead on foreign policy correct private citizens). The cycle repeats itself' disputes. But, hey, don't complain-you're the morons who selected us to lead the M.S.A. So and eventually we're all in a frenzy. It's kind of shut up, Go to hell. ~ like the Greenhouse Effect, where carbon dio-
Soviet soldiers have lost arms and legs and eyesight in wars? Did you know that the Soviets help equalize this handicap by giving cute toys to Afghan children which later ex· plode and blow off limbs? Have you answered all ·the questions yet? Good, cuz I got confused and was running out of things to ask. Just a second. . . Oh yeah. Star Wars will not work. It is too expensive, easy to bypass, and technically infeasible in the first place. Why is Reagan pushing it? Probably because he wants to launch a first strike from "America the Ugly" against "Russia the Nice and Neato". You see, Star Wars would stop Soviet missiles during any retalitory strike (even if the defensive system doesn't work and is easy to bypass). There are better alternatives to this garbage. If you don't like what is going on in the world, call Eudora Phillips, our M.S.A. General Secretary (Editors' Note: Eudora Phillips was recently named Vice President of the Latin Lovers' Solidarity Committee, the Harlequin Novels division of the People's Sit-In Co-op, Inc.). She'll hook you up With some exciting protests where you can scream and shout and eventually get frustrated. This is because you'll have done nothing to persuade other people and will have done plenty to anger them. This frustration will increase your willingness to scream and shout and apparently violate First Amendment rights (but we all know that the First Amendment applies only to politically
xide prevents heat from escaping Venus' surface, building up the temperature and even more carbon dioxide, which allows even less
Joseph Typha is a Senior in the School of Natural Resources and Buddhist Studies and has defected to the Upper Peninsula, and now resides in a bar in BaraJ!a.
Wolfe at Large by Steve Angelotti
Essayist Tom Wolfe spoke before a full house at Rackham Auditorium November 13. Wolfe's speech was the fifth in the Warner-Lambert lecture series and was the first to feature a noted author. Wolfe is best-known for his book, The Right Stuff, in which he glowingly recounts the test pilot and astronaut glory days. He is perhaps even more respected as a social critic and the purveyor of the "New Journalism". The "New Journalism" is a innovative style of reporting where the writer becomes a part of the events about which he reports. This style is most evident in Radi· cal Chic, where Wolfe reported on a 1968 Black Panther fundraising party given by Leonard Bernstein. Being a guest himself, Wolfe was able to portray the party from the viewpoint of the guests: The "I dig it man" rhetoric of Bernstein, the whole atmosphere of rich white liberal guilt that led to funding parties for racist
thugs, the hilarious scramble for white servants so as not to embarrass the guests. The result is a hilarious portrayal of rich folks' guilt which leads to a "I'm a radical but love my Mercedes" attitude that is as silly as it is pathetic. What is even more impressive about Wolfe is his language. Every sentence flows in a fashion that is joyful to read yet difficult to imitate-he truly is unique. His prose style is complemented by his precision as a social critic. He has expertly covered all topics from LSD (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) to Modern Art (The Painted Word) to intellectual closed-mindedness (The Intelligent Co-ed's Guide to America). It was unfortunate that Wolfe did not refer to the latter essay during his lecture. It would have been appropriate for the rich white ivory-towerliberal crowd. Not to knock Wolfe's performance-he was hilarious and cutting. Wearing his trademark white
suit with red hanky and socks, yellow tie, white shoes, even white glasses on occasion, he certainly seemed, well, as LSA dean Peter Steiner said, "hard to classi fy. " Wolfe devoted his speech to continuous teasing of the audience as he repeatedly proclaimed his intention of reading from his new novel, "Bonfire of the Vanities", then digressed. He covered many topics, including university athletics ("Unitwelded football players"), the co--ed dorm ("One of the major social changes over the last 15 years"), and Malcolm Muggeridge's comment, "We live in a century where it is no longer possible to be funny." Wolfe certainly managed to be funny, especially during his repeated plea, "Where are the great authors of today?" For instance, "Where are the great authors to describe the men and women who work the airport metal detector wickets and read X-ray machines?" Wolfe is fascinated by
the subtleties of society and it is his ability to communicate these subtleties that makes him such an effective commentator. Wolfe's tone was much less political than in a previous speech I had attended. The audience at that speech was similar in terms of wealth and political persuasion, but this time he sadly avoided some of his classic lines, for whatever reasons. An Ann Arbor audience deserves to hear lines such as: "Daniel Ortega is Fidel Castro as played by Woody Allen." "We have this Marxist mist. where we forgive Marxism's sins because we know that Marxists are striving for Utopia, never mind how many they kill in the process." "We can never see page II
Steve Ange/otti is a graduate student in Physics and is an Executive Editor _Q{theRev~
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THE MICHIGAN REVIEW page II
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the theory of forced sa,vings is still strongly contained in the alternate plans. Opponents of these plans point out a few drawbacks. They say that the second plan would be hard to enforce effectively . They believe that if money is given to business rather than the government then it is harder to detect who is cheating. They also believe that it would be hard to merge the present system with a new system. Their other strong argument is that nobody wants the system changed, and if anyone wanted it changed, it would be, politically, too cumbersome and difficult to change. First of all, the second plan would not be any more difficult to enforce than is the rurrent system. Big and medium sized companies are never a problem since their records are made public lind the risks are too great for ~,.",,,·,~~iD:,;lQ,.#¥~~~,;'OJ1~SocialSecur"! :' ", ,;;,' ity payments, Small businessmen and independent contractors' payments, however, would be hard to analyze for fraud. This is because a small businessman or independent con· tractor must fill out a form stating his/her earnings and could lie about earnings. This, however, is the same problem Social Security has. It is all based on personal honesty. The problem with merging the systems is easily solved. Anybody born after a certain date will have to use the system while aU people born before the date will use the present system. For example, if Congress passes a bill to change the system on January I, 1986, the bill would state that whoever is born after February I, 1986 would be part of our new Social Security system. The problem with actually restructuring the system is serious. There are, however, millions of people that are unhappy with the present system. Most people do not like it, but they are too busy to do something constructive about the system or they do not place it high enough on their priority list. It is important that the general public becomes aware of the problems with the present Social Security system and alternate plans. When the time is right, possibly after tax reform, there will be a move to restructure Social Security. It is important to jump on the bandwagon and put political pressure on Congress so that students will not be ~ shafted when they retire.
continued from page 10
completely eliminate nuclear weapons. But when's the last time two democracies fought a war? Why not try to turn the USSR into a democracy?" Such comments may not have been as amusing but might have caused the audience to think. Wolfe presents his views in a style that amuses but encourages contemplation. He is too hip to be dismissed as a reactionary, he speaks pointedly on controversial topics, and he makes excellent points. Ann A~bor audiences could use a few alternative viewpoints. Wolfe concluded his lecture not with a reading but with a description of a scene from his novel which was more vivid than any reading: A rich white man and his various fears inCluding his wife, his wife's discovery of his affair, his dog's refusal to move, ,a black teen on the street-a cOlllplete salirizatioJ) of :Qlo~ern wealthy society. As is usually the case, many of those laughing with Wolfe did not realize that they were laughing at themselves. The man was and is a treat.
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page 12 THE MICHIGAN REVIEW ......................
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iBooks in itruirw
oscow
reaking with BREAKING WITH MOSCOW. ARKADY N . SHECHENKO. KNOPF PRESS, 1985. by Gerald Weis
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In the wake of the Vitali Yurchenko affair, j,t 'is necessary to take another look at a Russian ddector who did not redefect. Yurchenko, reportedly the number five man in the KGB, defected 10 the United States only to walk away from a Washington restaurant, days before the summit, claiming to have been kidnapped and drugged by the CIA. Yurchenko's redefection raises questions about the validity of the information he brought. While we may never know for sure, as the records of Yurchenko's three month debriefing are secret and the parties involved are strugg1ing to cover themselves, it appears that Yurchenko was a legitimate defector. November 2S brought , the. arrest p[ .,~ forwef,N~t.~~nalSe-: .' cu l1 ty ,Agency'"employee.: reportedly on ¥urchenko's information. Yurchenko's defection remained secret until reports leaked out that former CIA officer Howard fled to the East after an FBI investigation using information supplied by Vitali Yurchenko.' It seems that Yurchenko's defection was genuine. Where then did we go wrong? One place to look is at the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who are in charge of handling defectors. According to Arkady Shevchenko and Yelena Metroxina. FBI agents tended to be warmer and more humane than their CIA counterparts. Metroxina, who had worked with Yurchenko, suggested to the FBI that she might speak with Yurchenko to offer her
support as a successfully settled defector. Apparently, the CIA did not bite. Lost in the media blitz following the Yurchenko affair was the internal value placed upon CIA agents working with defectors. To take such a position is to cut oneself off from career advancement, and salary increases, Thus, it is not a matter of overt CIA mishandling of defectors. Rather ,the failure to attract and retain top notch personnel for our defector settlement programs, allowed Yurchenko to redefect. Breaking with Moscow is the 370 page memoir of Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko. Before his defection, Shevchenko was Under Secretary General of the United Nations and next in line' for Anatoly Dobrynin's job as Soviet Ambassador to the United States. ShevchenkQ describes his growing disenchantment with the Soviet system, a disenchantment that rose with his career. Shevchenko had ,twQ choices:-to defect or retire peace1
, funYto his Mostdwhorile
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would have forsaken the information of one of the top fi ve men in the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, just because he would not risk his life to spy for the United States. Defecting, especially at such high levels, is not without cost. Shevchenko could never rise to a position of equal status in the West. His place in the ruling Nomenklatura is incomparable to any position in the West. Moreover, he has forever lost his family. He will never again see his son Genady or daughter Anna. His wife Lina, who was taken back to the Soviet Union, died shortly after his defection. The Soviets called it a suicide, Shevchenko believes they murdered her. We shall never know for sure. A death sentence has been passed on Shevchenko in absentia. Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko i; a diplomat from the Geopolitical chool, comparable to the backround of George Frost Kennan . The merit of this book is the wealth of information provided by Shevchenko's on the spot participation in the upper echelons of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Breaking with Moscow is an important book to read, it sheds much light on the inner discussions behind the Soviet propaganda we normally see.
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In order to sound out his reception, Arkady Shevchenko told "an old American acquaintance" of his desire to defect. Though not mentioned by name, I hazard to guess that this acquaintance was Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The Central Intelligence Agency approached Shevchenko with an offer of asylum , but asked that he stay at the UN for a while, in order to help the United States. Thus, a reluctant spy was born. Shevchenko makes it clear that while the CIA did not force him to comply, he was isolated and vulnerable. Apart from this self-imposed pressure, no coercion was used by either the FBI or the CIA. It is excedingly unlikely that the CIA
William Colby, former Director of Central Intelligence, was asked recently what he would do now that has not yet been done to unmask Americans spying for the Soviets, He replied that domestic Counter Intelligence is the responsibility of the FBI, but that he would go out and find defectors to tell us where to look. In order to adequately fulfill American counter-intelligence needs, we must show that we value defectors and their handlers. However, as Senator Patrick Leahy cautions, we must not beat the intelligence community about the head because beefed up counter-intelligence has turned up spies. The severe intelligence failures of Iran and Beirut illustrate the pressing need to rebuild the damage done to our intelligence community in the \ 970s. The road is a long one, but we must not turn back. ~
Gerald Weis is an Associate Publisher of the Review
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