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Thinking Ahead Stephanie Grier
NEWS OF INTEREST
Public Interference of Freedom Is there anyone who has not already heard every argument ever raised on the subject of abortion? It is certainly one of the most widely debated issues in America today; forevery statement there is a rebuttal, for every demostration there is a condemnation. Even in this issue of The Anchor there is a piece advocating the choice of life, and next week there will likely be a letter from a student on this campus who disagrees. The fingers of this debate touch everyone. Into the flames of this fire comes the unmarried pregnant woman. She is certainly well aware of the arguments before her, and probably even has an opinion of her own. However, for her the issue is no longer philosophical orremote. Itisareal,painftil choice which must be quickly made and which will affect her for the rest of her life. As if the decision itself were not already heartrending enough, this woman must know that whatever she elects to do will cause her to be condemned by some group, if not directly from an outspoken individual, then through the propaganda which this group distributes. If she chooses to continue her pregnancy, then she will be faced with terms like "wasted life" and "if only this hadn't happened, you could have led a successful and happy life independent of care and worry for this unwanted child." However, if the woman elects to
end her pregnancy, she will suffer not only her own guilt but that which is heaped upon her by the emotionladen propaganda of the pro-life movement. Any guilty woman who hopes to quickly put the experience behind her will be quickly squashed when she turns on her television and sees advertisements made by the Arthur H. DeMoss Foundation. Imagine that you are this woman, or that you are her partner. Assume that you both decide to end the pregnancy and then imagine how it would feel to walk through a valley of demonstrators who are waiting for you at the door of the clinic. Do you feel violated? Is your decisionmaking any longer your own personal affair? It is unceasingly amazing that such an emotional and personal decision has been turned into a political and media nightmare. It is also terribly unfortunate. Could you make a logical decision about your own future in the midst of such a cacophony of opinion and demonstration? When did the decision, which used to be so personal, become public property? The same is true of the assisted suicide issue. Imagine that you are the family member of someone who is terribly ill and who insists upon death through the help of one Jack Kevorkian. First, you must come to terms with your own grief and feelings about this issue, and then you must explain it to the members of
the press who come knocking at your door demanding to know why this happened. Forget the funeral. Forget your own loss. Yourfamily's decisions are now public property. How can we as Americans allow this public interference into private issues to continue? We value our freedom, and yet we allow the freedom of many of our citizens to be infringed upon as their decisions become community property. If every one of us had to deal with one of these catastrophic issues ourselves, chances are that there would be a great deal more sensitivity on the part of our public. It doesn't matter whether or not you think the person was right or wrong in their decision because chances are that he or she doesn't really know either. The place for debate is in the government, where something can be done about it issues like these without interference into the private lives of individual citizens. March on Capitol Hill. Lobby in Congress. But don't punish the people who are either making these choices or who are already trying to put such a decision behind them. Guilt-filled television ads and endless questions and interviews by the press will not make these issues go away. Only responsible, senstive handling through the appropriate channels can rid the nation of these issues and settle the debate once and for all.
Impact of NAFTA debated at Hope by Rob Harrison staff reporter Last Friday Hope hosted a conference on the North American Free Trade Agreement. The question on everyone's mind was the effect of NAFTA on the economy of the U.S. and particularly Michigan. Will free trade stimulate the economy or cost jobs? The conference opened with the presentation of papers analyzing the agreement. Arguing in favor of NAFTA was Dr. William G.Moller, Jr., a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan. Dr. Frederick R. Strobel, professor of money and banking at Kalamazoo College, argued against it The question is not whether trade is beneficial, but how much trade is good. Trade in general is good for countries because of comparative advantage. What this means is that different countries are better than others at producing various goods. For example, when comparing Mexico and the U.S., the U.S. is better at producing high-tech goods such as telecommunications equipment. Mexico, by contrast, is better at manufacturing such things as glass products. Because of differences like
this, trade leads to lower prices. The overall effect of the agreement should be to add jobs to the economy. The reason is that, as Dr. John Lunn, a Hope professor of economics, pointed out in his response to the papers, the U.S. is a capitalintensive market while Mexico is a labor-intensive market This means that manufacturers in this country tend to use more labor-saving devices where Mexican plants tend to rely heavily on people. FOT example, American workers usually use power tools where Mexican workers would use hand tools. As Stephen Beckman, an economist with the United Auto Workers, put it, Mexican workers are MacGyver, using whatever is available, while American workers are Batman, with a tool for every occasion. This means that firms which produce goods that require large amounts of capital should benefit from NAFTA while firms which produce goods that require large amounts of labor will probably lose out to Mexican competitors. The effect of NAFTA on the first group will be to add 90 million new potential customers. The second group will either adapt or go out of business. For the Michigan economy in
particular, the industry of primary importance is the automobile industry. Most economists feel that NAFTA will help this industry. As more jobs are created in Mexico, Mexicans will have more money to have such things as American cars. Since Mexico is not dropping tariffs on Japanese cars, U.S. carmakers will have an advantage. Some are concerned that U.S. manufacturers will relocate to Mexico. This is unlikely because of the low productivity per wage dollar of the Mexican worker. J. Kermit Campbell, president and CEO of Heiman Miller, noted that plants in Mexico are far less efficient than plants in this country. The risk of Michigan losing many jobs to plants in Mexico is low. In the end, some Michigan workers will lose their jobs because of NAFTA. No one denies that. However, if these people can be retrained for more high-tech jobs, then the damage done by the agreement need not be great. On the plus side, it will give Michigan companies 90 million more people to buy their products. More consumers usually means more sales, so in the end, and on the whole, most economists believe Michigan wins with NAFTA.
NEW YORK The World Trade Center was rocked by an explosion on Friday, Feb. 26, believed to be a car bomb. Five people were killed in the blast, and over a thousand were injured. An FBI report indicates that the bomb consisted of as much as 1500 pounds of TNT. Although no group immediately claimed responsibility, speculation has turned to mid-eastern terrorist groups. Iranian, Iraqi and Libyan groups are among the chief suspects. BOSNIA The United States began its relief efforts in the former Yugoslav Republic, dropping leaflets and food supplies into Bosnia. This is the first time that the United States has intervened in the conflict, which is fueled by ethnic hatred. TEXAS Four officers of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms were killed this weekend as officers attempted to raid the headquarters of a religious cult. The cult possesses automatic weapons, and after repulsing the officers' initial attack, engaged the officers in a standoff. The officers were searching for guns and explosives. SOMALIA Fighting intensified between rival clans, as the U.S. increased its efforts to pacify the port of Kismayu. Three Somalis died in the fighting. The U.N. is preparing to take command of the Somali operation, and some U.N. forces are already in Somalia.
Hope Habitat for Humanity created by Nicole Mueller staff reporter Plans are in the works to open a Hope College chapter of the international organization. Habitat For Humanity. In so doing, Hope students will join 650 projects throughout the U.S and lOOchapters worldwide in providing "a decent house in a decent community for God's people in need." Habitat For Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian organization that builds homes and sells them at cost to those who could not otherwise afford housing. The average home in the U.S. costs $35,000, a sum which is paid off by the family in small monthly payments. In addition, homeowners put in a minimum of 300 hours of work on their own home and assist in the building of other Habitat homes. Funding for the organization comes entirely from volunteers and private donation; no government aid is accepted. The dependence on volunteer support makes the need for a Hope chapter all the more crucial. "Our objective is to help the local chapter," said Jason Kooyer ('95), student representative for the Hope chapter. Helping involves fund-raising and publicity, as well as actual physical labor on the ten houses the Lakeshore Chapter hopes to build within the next five years. As well as building homes. Habitat For Humanity builds community. "One of the reasons we're doing this is to better our relationship with the Holland community," said chapter president John Nowak ('95). "We want to promote awareness in the community that Hope is not just
a place where students go to study and party. By helping the community, we hope to show that we do care about what happens in Holland." Habitat For Humanity was founded in 1976 by Linda and Millard Fuller, a couple from Montgomery, Ala. At the age of 30, Millard Fuller had amassed over $ 1 million in personal wealth and ran a successful marketing corporation, yet had failed to achieve that same level of success in his personal life. When their unfulfilling lifestyle drove Fuller's wife to leave him. Fuller realized it was time for a drastic change. In an effort to make their relationship woik, the couple decided to devote their wealth to improving the lives of others, and thus Habitat For Humanity was bom. Since then. Habitat For Humanity has grown and spread to 33 countries, giving new lives to the economically disadvantaged. The organization has gained further recognition by the worldwide community through the work of former President Jimmy Carter, who is now a member of Habitat and devotes much time and energy to building homes and raising funds. Habitat's greatest contribution is not the homes themselves, but the true Christian experience of giving and receiving. "You don't know how powerful it is to see the look on the faces and in the eyes of people who know you're building a house for them out of the goodness of your heart," Nowak said. "It's unbelievable. Everyone's soul is bettered." Open meetings for H o p e ' s chapter of Habitat For Humanity take place Wednesday nights at 6 p.m., in Chapel room B-15.
WIO works to educate the Hope community about women's issues by Dirk Joldersma features editor Integral to the success of Women's Week, is a campus group that works toward educating people about the role of the woman in our society, the Women's Issues Orga-
nization. Women's Issues is a group of approximately IS students that organize activities to promote awareness of the woman in society and who gather regularly to discuss these issues. They are primarily interested in
educating members through discussion-oriented weekly meetings. Recent topics have varied in nature from the informative, like a recent session focused on women's health, to the political, this fall the group analyzed presidential positions on women's issues, and even to a so-
cietal issue, like sexual harassment, Amy Poel ('93), student leader of WIO, characterized the group as "fairly self-oriented," but also emphasized the outreach programs initiated by the group. They sponsor several activities throughout the year to raise awareness of gender issues
on the local and global scale, Vinie Burrows, keynote speaker during Women's Week, was sponsored and funded by the Women's' Issues Organization. They also organizedandsponsoredarecentpanel
see W I O page 11
2 The Anchor March 3,1993 f