University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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clay, he cautioned. Their forms of in- volvement are just more sophisticated. They won ' t jump into something without the feeling that something can be accom- plished. If spectating and hand-sitting may be considered sophisticated forms of political involvement, then Eldersveld ' s analysis ap- plies well to this year. Despite a state-wide election, quiet filled the spots where there was protest, and activism died out on cam- pus as quickly and mysteriously as it had arisen the year before. The Diag, the political and spiritual heart of U-M, told the story. The shanty erected in protest against apartheid in South Africa was knocked down several times in the fall and then was boarded up completely. No longer did students spend long cold nights under the boards they had struggled so mightily to defend in the past. Absent were the crowd-collecting work- t7 re ar F Stt Ie tt II • MICHIGAN ENSIAN

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Back to the 50s? This is a decade of conservatism By Rebecca Cox When the quintessential product of this can leadership and a healthy economy. pus this year just as activism was last decade, Marty McFly, found himself suit- America ' s world supremacy was unchal- year ' s. denly returned to the 1950s in the block- lenged. Nuclear weapons took center stage. The 198S-86 academic year was marked buster hit Back to the Future. he felt and the possiblility of using them and star- by the protests of thousands of students quite out of place: clothing, hair styles and viving their usage fascinated most political against President Reagan ' s foreign policies, music just weren ' t the same as in the sleek and military figures. Star Wars, an appearance by Vice Presi- eighties. In the 1950s, the key phrase was to keep dent George Bush. CIA recruitment on Perhaps beneath the surface the world cool. to go along with the Eisenhower campus, and apartheid. Nearly 200 Uni- McFly found wasn ' t all that strange to him. presidency and be happy. This kind of pub- verity students were arrested for acts of Certainly, technology has advanced, and lic complacency permitted McCarthyism civil disobedience, and activists urged stu- traditional institutions have changed. but and America ' s intial involvement in Veit- dents to get involved before the impending the political and social life of the 1950s nam to grow. Code was passed, depriving everyone of reflects an era when the world was so much Perhaps the same scenario could also be their constitutional rights to petition and simpler. An era that the students of the 80s used to describe the Reagan presidency. assembly. seem to yearn after. The popularity of Rambo and public sup- Such activity prompted University politi- If the 1970s were the Me Decade then, port of Star Wars underlies an American cal science professor Sam Eldersveld, con- as some social pundits have suggested, the desire to reclaim dominance over the world. ductor of a formal study of student atti- 80s are the re-Decade . Everything old is and this conservative attitude has swept tudes over the past two years, to declare new again. The 1950s are back. In the over Ann Arbor and the University as it has that the activism that characterized the words of Huey Lewis, It ' s Hip to be the rest of the country. 1960s isn ' t dead—just dormant and wait- square. But just as complacency in the ' 50s her- ing to return. The ' 505 were characterized by a long aided the arrival of McCarthyism. Don ' t write off students of today just period of feel-good conservative Republi- Complacency was the key word on cam- because they aren ' t morally outraged at so- PROLOG VE • '

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This pear year was a busy one arund campus for construction shops of previous years. such as the green though Baker. a U-SI economies graduate how much economic concerns has affected bike exorcism or the Sperm Wars ' skit. student, attracted roughly 500 student vol- student ' s political attitudes. concerns, and One workshop last October in tribute to unteers to his fold, his campaign was fairly mobility, said Eldersveld. four veterans fasting in Washington, D.C. quiet on campus. Meanwhile, students also This concern with economics has earned to protest America ' s involvement in Nica- were shockingly apathetic about the go- U-M students the table: conservative. ragua failed to attract the attention of more ings-on in Iceland, where President Rea- Most of the remaining liberals bristle at than 50 students during the noon rush. gan ' s attachment to Star Wars broke up the notion of the U-M campus gone conser- Instead, the Diag was filled with Greek what might have been the most radical native. I ' ve concluded that students of to- fundraisers and car bashes, and the most arms reduction agreement ever. day still do care about more beside them- prominent voice to be heard was that of What was missing during the past year selves, but they may just express it in a longtime Diag fixture Preacher Mike. In was student involvement in issues of social different way, senior Mark Rose said, who past years, he drew crowds of amused stu- concern. Baker attempted todrawattention worked on Eldersveld ' s survey. For many dents who didn ' t take him very seriously. to Purcell ' s opinion that Social Security that I interviewed, the gap between them- Last fall, he consistently found himself sur- should be phased out. Not much student selves and the political process was so large rounded by more believers than distractors. response was heard. that they tended to withdraw themselves. What went on in the Diag was almost less Eldersveld concluded in his survey that The decisions that we have to make about incredible than what didn ' t go on. Ann Ar- over half of U-M students identify them- our future are always getting bigger and bor ' s Congressman Carl Purcell, whose of- selves as Reagan supporters, largely be- bigger. and when you have someone else out five was the site of protests in 1985 against cause they think his administration has there to decide the rat for you, it ' s easy just his support for aid to Contras forces in done a good job with the economy and in- to let someone else do it. Nicaragua, handily defeated liberal chat- creased their economic security. A closer look seems to show that the con- lager Dean Baker by 18 points. Even One of our most surprising finds was servative label is just too easy, too conve- PROLOGL I •