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January 28, 1979 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 1979-01-28

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Page 4 -Sunday, January 28, 1979-The Michigan Daily

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial F rdOm 01

A new kind of revolutionary

Vol. LXXXIX, No. 99

News Phone: 764-0552

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

Support the boycott

EW EVER KNOW the hardship of
a farmworker's life. Not the
small farm owner, although they are
also " plagued with monstrous
problems, but the often landless per-
sons who pick the fruit and vegetables
we eat daily without a thought about
whence or how they came to us. Many
are migratory workers literally
following the harvest from Texas,
southern California, and Florida in
spring to Ohio, Indiana,.and Michigan
in late summer and fall.
For the most part, they lead
miserable lives with shabby housing,
no guaranteed work, no medical
coverage, and little or no represen-
tation. Only recently have far-
mworkers achieved a small degree of
solidarity through the United Farm
Workers (UFW).
Despite the UFW victory the
struggle continues around the country.
Late last summer, a group of far-
mworkers who toiled in the tomato
fields of Ohio, refused to further sub-
mit to the deprivation in which they
were forced to live - they went on
strike. Their demands were simple but
essential; they asked for better
housing (running water and elec-
tricity), 'a guaranteed minimum wage
of $3.25 per hour, medical coverage,
and the right to participate in the an-
nual contract negotiations between the
growers and the canneries.
The group representing the workers
is the Farm -Labor Organizing Com-
mittee (FLOC). The group was foun-
ded in 1967 and currently has more.
than 3,500 members strewn through
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, and
Florida. The FLOC, like other farm

labor organizations, cannot achieve its
goals by merely striking. They must
rely on consumers to force the growers
and canners to recognize the rights of
farmworkers.
Last week, FLOC -representatives
came to Ann Arbor to ask consumers
here to help them win their rights.
About 30 migrant workers, some from
as far away as Florida, picketed a
local Kroger store and asked everyone
not to purchase Campbell's or Libby's
brand food products. Libby's and
Campbell's own the canneries which
deal with the growers. We strongly
support this boycott.-
FLOC President Baldmar Velasquez
said the boycott would probably not
econpmically hurt the companies. But
is quick to point out, and rightly so,
that hurting the company is not the
major purpose. It is a consciousness-
raising device which will make per-
sons more aware of whence their food
comes, end how workers are exploited.
Mr. Velasquez also suggests that con-
sumers write letters to these cor-
porations to show support for the far-
mworkers' plight.F
Libby is no stranger to boycotts.
Libby is part of the huge, trans-
national conglomerate Nestle which
produces a baby formula distributed
throughout third world nations. The
formula, concocted with the proper
utensils, has nutritional value. Most
families in developing nations do not
possess the proper utensils and, as a
result, the formula is nutritionally
worthless. We have supported the
boycott of Nestle products for some
time. We urge the continuance of the
Nestle boycott and add Libby's and
Campbell's to the list.

By Ian MacKenzie
PEKING - Senior Vice-Premier Teng
Hsiao-Ping, one of the great political sur-
vivors of modern China, is the first top leader
from the People's Republic to pay an official
visit to the United States after 30 years of
hostility and gradual reapprochment.
A short, broad-shouldered man, blunt in
manner and speech, Teng has twice toppled
from high pow=er to virtual oblivion, only to
rise again after the radical left was purged.
Since his latest re-emergence in 1977, he has
become the driving force behind China's am-
bitious modernization program, opening the
country's doors to the world and laying the
groundwork for an industrial revolution
which is likely to have far-reaching social
consequences.
The establishment of diplomatic relations
with Washington on January 1 of this year is
one result of this modernization process, with
China looking to the vast resources and
technical expertise of the United States to
help achieve its aims.
Teng also gave his guarded approval to the
outspoken poster campaign that broke out in
Peking in late 1978, although he cautioned
that dissent should be kept within certain
bounds.
He is unlikely, however, to tolerate outside
criticism of China's internal political affairs,
inlcuding the human rights departure.
For the United States: "It is-our policy to
bring democracy into full play. Our principle
is one of democratic centralism. As for the
question of human rights raised by the United
States, I hope that we will not discuss it,
because each has his own interpretation of the
question."
One of the most widely-traveled of China's
leaders, he went to Burma and Nepal in early
1978, followed later in the year by trips to Nor-
th Korea, Japan, where he cemented Peking's
new relationship with Tokyo, and then
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
He had visited New York in 1974 to attend a
session of the United Nations where he first
expounded China's "Three World" theory of
international relations-dividing the globe in-
to the superpowers, the United States and the
Soviet Union; the industrialized "Second
World;" and the developing "Third World."
He is highly popular at home-poor peasan-
ts demonstrating in Peking in early 1979
carried banners referring to him as "Teng-
the-Incorruptible."
During Premier Chou En-Lai's long battle
with cancer, Teng gradually took over his
state duties, holding -the posts of vice-
premier, army chief of staff and vice-
chairman of the Communist Party.
He was host at all major occasions and
made a state visit to France.
When Premier Chou died in January 1976,
Teng was regarded as his logical successor,

Teng Hsiao-ping
but his extremist opponents launched a fierce
campaign to stop his appointment. He was
again branded a "capitalist roader" and the
power struggle reached its climax with- riots
in Tien An Men Square that April when the
authorities removed wreaths to Chou.
Two days after the incident, on April 7,
authorities blamed pro-Teng "class enemies"
for the rioting and the then little known Hua
Kuo-feng was appointed Premier.
But behind the scenes, the little man from
Szechwan province had many powerful frien-
ds. Try as they could, his leftist opponen-
ts-personsified by the now-purged "Gang of
Four"-could never shake faith in Teng's
talents. .
His second return to power came in August
1977. He was absolved of all blame for the
Tien An Men riots, which were subsequently
described as a glorious revolutionary in-
cident, the highest praise in the Chinese
lexicon.
Teng also was pressed the rehabilitation of
many other victims of political extremism.
Teng is known for an earthy sense of humor
but there is a widespread conviction among
Chinese that almost nothing can stop him. He
has proven his worth on the battlefield and
behind a desk.
Teng's philosophy is summed up in his most
famous saying which was often used against
him and other pragmatic leaders: "I do not
care whether a cat is black or white. The im-
portant thing is whether she catches mice."
What Teng lacks in physicl stature-he is
only a little over five feet (1.53 meters)-he
makes up for in his reputed ability as a top-
class administrator and organizer.
He was born on August 22, 1904 in the
western Chinese province of Szechwan, the
land of hot, peppery food and the birthplace of
a number of Communist leaders.

When the Chinese People's Republic was
proclaimed in October 1949, Teng became a;
member of the government's Administrative
Council, retaining his .post on the
Revolutionary Nyilitary Council.
Teng's area of responsibility at this time
was southwest China, which he helped to:
bring under effective Communist control.
In 1956, he was appointed general secretary-
of the Communist Party and became a full
member of the ruling Politburo.
He remained a member of Mao's summit:
group until he was toppled in 1967. by leftists:y
during the Cultural Revolution.
As well as playing a crucial role in China's
domestic affairs Teng also took a hand in the
country's foreign policy, particularly during
its split-with the Soviet Union.
He accompanied several high-level Chinese
delegations to-Moscow, including one led by:
Mao in 1957. In 1963, when the ideological feud
between the two Communist giants was
becoming ,increasingly bitter, Teng led an
abortive mission to the Soviet capital to try
and patch up the quarrel.
His prestige and influence were of little use;
to him during the Cultural Revolution. Along F
with several other Chinese leaders he was ex- ;
posed to the full fury of Red Guard students r
and "revolutionary rebel" workers who ac-:
cused him of opposing the ideas of Mao and ;
trying to divert China away from the path of;
true socialism toward capitalism. ' ;
In January 1967, Teng was labeled by the
Red Guards as the "number two top party
capitalist roader" after Head of State Liu
Shao-chi.
The Red Guard seized upon one of Teng's
leisure pursuits which scarcely fits in with the
traditional image of a Marxist leader in China
or elsewhere.
He was known to be fond of bridge, and his.
skill at the game led the Red Guards to
charge that he spent more time-playing cards
than working.
After his surprise reappearance in 1973, in-
.formed sources went out of their way to make
clear that his rehabilitation was in accordan-
ce with Chairman Mao's teachings.
Mao, they explained, had sais, that people
who admitted making serious mistakes and
then - corrected them could be
rehabilitated-providedthat the mistakes did
not include contradictions "between our-
selves and the enemy."
He was re-elected to the Party's Ceitral
Committee and in January 1974 was promoted
to Politburo. Then exactly three years after
his rise to power, he again was purged by
radical leftists."
But 16 months later he was back in Peking,
restored to all his posts, and his opponents led
by the "Gang of Four" were expelled from:
the party and behind bars.
Ian MacKenzie writes for Reuter News"
Service.

4

LOCOC/KINGBArRTHE WEEK
X/kJIXIN\.JIN REVIEW

MSA defines tie to
student search committee;
Fleming returns
On Tuesday night the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA)
formalized its re1ationship with the Student Advisory
Committee on Presidential Selection. MSA pledged to af-
ford the committee's recommendations "great respect."
The next afternoon former Unviersity President Robben
Fleming Was honored by a gathering of nearly 400 persons
at the Michigan League. That night fewer than a dozen
students bothered to attend a wide ranging discussion of
what problems his successor was likely to face.
The MSA resolution, proposed by Jeff Supowit, was the
assembly's response to a proposal passed by the search
committee last week. The student search committee
pledged that it would "recommend to MSA the recall of our
committe (if) we perceive a lack of meaningful student
participation in the selection process, specifically
inadequate access to candidtes, including interviewing..."
The search committee's reolution was the first official
indication students may push for the right to interview each
candidate considered by the Regents. MSA has resolved to
boycott the'entire presidential selection process if it is not
satisfied with the access to candidates the Regents decide
to allow..
Assembly member Joseph Pelava opposed the MSA
resolution because it did not spell out the specific conditions
under which the student selection committee would
dissolve. Pelava attempted to amend the resolution to in-
clude the specific conditions but his motion did not receive a
second."
The student search committee held an open meeting
Wednesday night in the Union to discuss what problems the
next president of the University will have to deal with
during his term. The discussion was meant to be an inter-
mediate step in the committee's formulation of a "Needs of
the Unviersity Statement." The seven members of the
search committee were barely outnumbered by the 11
students who attended.
Political Science professor David Singer urged the com-
mittee to reject a president who would serve only as a
business manager "who wants to make the University even.
more of a service station for American industry."
Ken Latta, a Democrat on city council and a staff mem-
ber of the University Office of Academic Planning and
Analysis, urged the committee to demand a president and a
University that is accountable to students. Latta told
students not to feel guilty about pushing too hard to make
their aspirations known.
On Wednesday afternoon nearly 400 persons paid $15 a
piece to attend a testimonial banquet in former President
Robben Fleming's honor. Between continual references to
Fleming's deft handling of the campus during the turbulent

Bullard proposes DNA
research safety committee
In an attempt to guard - against possible dangerous
effects of DNA research conducted in the state, Rep. Perry'
Bullard (D-Ann Arbor) announced Tuesday that he plans to
introduce legislation early next month that would create aj
seven-member DNA Research Safety Commission.
The commission would have the power to certify
laboratories and individuals engaged in DNA projects and
would also have the power to stop allegedly dangerous
research. Bullard said he was hoping to avoid another
disaster like the state experienced when a fire retardant
(poly-brominated biphynal) was mixed with cattle feed in
1973. -
State Attorney General Frank Kelley handed down a
ruling Monday, in response to Bullard's request, that
upheld the constitutionality of state regulation of recom-
binant DNA research in cases where the publich health is
threatened. Currently, under legislation passed in 1977, all
laboratories or other places, engaged in recombinant DNA
research must register with the state Department of Public
Health.
A spokesman for Upjohn Laboratories in Kalamazoo said
Bullard's legislation is unnecessary because the dangers of
DNA research are not as extreme as first believed.
Carter's proposed budget:
Some can cope, others will fight
Local reaction to President Jimmy Carter's proposed
budget was mixed as city officials said they could cope with
some of the budget cuts for' Ann Arbor. But University,
Education Professor Wilbur Cohen, a former Secretary of
Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) vowed to fight cuts
in the Social Security program.
Cohen said he would announce the establishment of a
labor and welfare coalition entitled "Save Our Security
(SOS)" to fight the administration's efforts to phase out"
many Social Security benefits. He predicted the ad-
ministration's proposal to reduce those benefits for the 1980
fiscal year by $600 million will be rejected by the Congress.
Cohen, who was one of the prime authors of the Social
Security Act of 1935, said Social Security cutbacks in-
troduced a major theoretical modification in the gover-
nment's attitude toward the nation's disadvantaged. "That
change raises many questions for the future," said Cohen.
"The proposal is too vast a policy switch in too quick a time.
It must be studied more."

'U' launches minority
recruitment program
The University's Admission Office is planning a highly
personalized approach to recruiting minority students in an
attempt to beef up the dwindling minority enrollment at the
University. The project is called "Each One-Reach One."
Enrolled minority students will be asked to submit the
names of friends and relatives who might need some, en-
couragement from the admissions office.
Last week over 3,000 letters were sent to minority studen-
ts enrolled at the University asking them to participate in
the program. David Robinson, assistant director of the
Admissions Office said, "Obviously we have fallen far short.
of the 10 per cent black enrollment commitment (set after.
the Black Action Movement strike at the University in
1973),but nevertheless, it continues to be a goal. When the
letters hit I think we are really going to see a good response.
I think we'll be flooded with names."
The Admissions (ttice has also begun to send recruiters
to major cities out of the state in an effort to recruit
minority students. Robinson also pointed to a number of
improvements in recruitment procedures including an ad-
junct office in Detroit which was established in 1970.
Detroit awaits the
'elephant'
Detroit Mayor Coleman Young was in a particularly
jovial mood Tuesday after the Republican Prty announced
they were going to hold their 1980 convention in Detroit. The
decision was symbolic of the GOP's effort to bring mem-
bers of the urban and black communities into the party.
The choice was opposed by a host of southern
Republicans, many of whom support Ronald Reagan for
the 1980 Republican presidential nomination. "Our
weakness in Michigan and around the country has been the
inability to appeal to the cities," said Jerry Roe, state GOP
executive director. "Detroit is like Chicago or Philadelphia
or any big city. Here is a city that was on its knees. It truly
is a renaissance for the city of Detroit."
But one Republican from Mississippi said, "I am the only
white person from Mississippi who has ever been to Detroit
once and I don't want to be the only one who has been their'
twice."
When Coleman Young was asked what he would say to
southern Republicans who were unhappy with the choice of
the party, he said, "Ya'll come!"
The Republican's decision will mean literally millions of
dollars pouring into the city during the week long conven-
ti4,w itis~ rnite nnccible the Themnperatsiwill asa nnick fDetroit

Robben Fleming and his wife Sally.
man of the board of Chrylser corporation, Regent Thomas
Roach (D-Grosse Pointe), and Detroit Recorders Court
Judge Geraldine Ford. Regent Gerald Dunn (D-Livonia)
read a message from Irving Bluestone, vice-president of
the United Auto Workers.
The bus may leave a
little later
The Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) continued to
push this week for the extension of bus service hours on
North Campus. The MSA has secured a meeting with acting
President Allan Smith to discuss the extension. Richard
Pace, chairman of the MSA special committee on North
Campus transportation, said the assembly was making the
effort for the sake of the safety and convenience of North
Camnus residents.

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