Meadow Party Sparks Controversy In U. of Michigan Student Assembly

Bloom County Meadow Party candidates Opus and Bill the Cat may have only a handful of votes in their bid for the presidency in 1984, but their real-life Meadow Party counterparts at the University of Michigan managed to "slime" their way to victory in a recent Michigan Students Association (MSA) election.

In an election marred by controversy, Meadow Party moderate Kurt Muenchow defeated leftist Student Rights Party candidate Jen Faigel for MSA President. During the campaign, however, the Meadow Party posted flyers revealing that the vice presidential candidate on the Student Rights ticket had signed a form in support of a Marxist study group.

The Meadow allegation is probably accurate, sources say. "He [the Student Rights VP candidate] is clearly a Marxist," said Michigan Daily News Editor Robert A. Earle.

But political opponents accused Muenchow and his party of "Red baiting," Earle said.

Earle said that students expressed concern over the political philosophy of the Student Rights Party and its intention to get involved in national politics.

Further campaign controversy involved the use of Bloom County character Opus on publicity flyers by the Michigan Meadow Party. The director of the MSA election accused the Meadow Party of violating copyright laws, Earle said.

The officials said that "using a nationally and locally recognized graphic design for partisan political purposes" may have violated election regulations.

The Washington Post Writer's Group, which holds copyright privileges, later approved restricted use of the character. President-elect Munchow said that he "assumed" that using Opus would not be a problem.

According to Earle, MSA members asked Muenchow to decline the presidency because of the Opus controversy, and because he falsely denied involvement in the "Marxist slime" campaign.