Page 4-Saturday, January 5, 1979-The Michigan Daily

AbeMtChtgan :4 aIld
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eigh ty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedon
Vol. LXXXIX, NO. 80 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

A turn for the worse

- U


MSU takes the lead

O VER THE YEARS chauvanistic
University students would look
over their glasses and down their long
noses at their alleged "intelligently in-
ferior" counterparts at Michigan State
University. The University of
Michigan, after all, is the elite school;
it is this university which provides
leadership in every field. But last
December it was MSU which took the
leadership role in moral fortitude and
wisdom. On December 8 the MSU
Board of Trustees voted to cut the
university's ties to apartheid regime in
South Africa.
The Trustees ordered MSU ad-
ministrators to begin selling all the
university's stocks in corporations
which operate in South Africa. MSU
has about $10 million invested in such
corporations.
The news from East Lansing was a
welcome relief. It is indeed good to
know that the trustees at least one
school in this state have a social con-
science and are not afraid to do what is
right. When the Trustees of MSU made
their controversial decision to stop
supporting the racists regime in South
Africa, it made one thing clear to
all-MSU is what a university should
be.
Former University President Rob-
ben Fleming, in his last commen-
cement speech, rendered a guide by
which a university should be judged.
He said a university "cannot be devoid
of values. ...If a university cannot
exercise a humanizing influence upon
those whose lives it touches it will have
failed in one of its purposes." MSU has
not failed; this university has.
As Mr. Fleming suggests, a univer-
sity has a moral responsibility to lead
the way in the search for truth. The
University Regents have neglected
their moral responsibility by refusing
to cut ties with South Africa. At one
point then President Fleming, despite
his lofty words at commencement, said
of the MSU decision to divest: "Well, of
course, MSU's portfolio is significantly
smaller than ours." What Mr. Fleming
seems to have said is that the Univer-
sity of Michigan could not afford to be
moral, at least with respect to any ac-
tion on South African ties.
However, MSU's investment
management firm, Scudder, Stevens,
and Clark, have assured the Trustees
that "prudent divestiture" could be
accomplished without endangering the
school's financial security. James
Brinkerhoff, the University's chief
financial officer, has said that MSU
Trustees had the same information the
Regents had concerning divestiture
and, other than size, there was no dif-
ference in how either university han-

dles stocks and bonds. In fact, a study
done by Mr. Brinkerhoff's office has
revealed that this university could also
divest without endangering its finan-
cial security. So what could be the
problem?
What one MSU Trustee, and ap-
parently the Regents, fear is that these
corporations would, in retaliation, stop
the magnanimous flow of monetary
gifts to any university which would sell
its stock in those corporations. The
University could stand to lose $1.5
million yearly in gifts from companies
which do business in South Africa. The
Univesity receives more corporate gif-
ts than any other university in this
country, including Harvard, Yale, and
Stanford. In this time of inflation and
tight state funding, there is little
leeway in the University budget. The
Regents' fear is legitimate.
MSU's Trustees overcame their
fear; they realized their responsibility,
saw what was right, and did it. In
essence they have told corporate
leaders that to operate in South Africa
is wrong and if you continue to do so we
cannot support your companies with
our investments. Raymond
Krolikowski, an MSU Trustee, believes
that corporations would "recognize the
withdrawal for what it is," and not cut
off financial support.
The University Regents, in their
fear, have paid only lip-service to the
South African issue. Meeting after
meeting they sit and talk about the
evils of apartheid, the lack of human
rights in South Africa, and the moral
responsibility of American cor-
porations there to play a progressive
role in changing that country's racists,
immoral society.
Some say the Regents do well to keep
the University s investments in those
companies with South African
operations. They say a bloody
revolution there will only come sooner
by the Regents inactivity. This may be
true. And if it is the case then we all
share responsibility for the horrible
race war which ensues. It would be
wise to use the threat of corporate
withdrawal from South Africa to affect
real and lasting change.
To think that a corporation can ease
the plight of blacks by giving them a
better job and more money is naive.
We have often said that South African
blacks who work for American cor-
porations may be better paid than
most of their peers, but they are still
slaves.
The Regents know their respon-
sibility. It is hardto believe they do not
know what is right in this case. They
are intelligent persons, but fear has
made them weak. We hope that the
recent MSU decision to divest pruden-
tly will give them strength to again
make this university proud to have the
word truth in its motto.

By E.N. Earley

Frankfurt, West Germany

Cliflford, D. Rucker saw the
U.S. Army as an answer to his
prayers.
He needed to learn a trade, he
wanted to see the world, and the
idea of defending his country
appealed to him. He said it made
him proud.
"I wanted to be somebody
special," the blond-haired youth
said.
So as soon as he was eligible,
Rucker signed up.
Withing a few months, he was
shooting up-heroin.
Rucker became an addict with
a $180-a-day habit, a dope pusher
who pressured young recruits
into using drugs, and an alcoholic
who drank nearly a quart of
whiskey a day.
Now, at age 18, Pfc. Rucker is a
reformed Army junkie, facing
court martial for drug
smuggling.
He was one of two former
addicts who testified in
November before a
Congressional subcommittee,
chaired by Rep. Glenn English
(D-Okla.), investigating drug
abuse in the military.
Rucker's story helped lead to
an eight-part agreement between
the military and the
subcommittee in which the Army
admits it has a drug problem in
Europe so serious that unless
"immediate action to contain" it
is taken, the ability of U.S. troops
to fight is in grave jeopardy.
"I became an addict," Rucker
testified, "because no one really
gave a damn."
He said he had never used
drugs'before joining the Army.
"The first day I walked into the

barracks here (in Germany) a
guy came up to me and said,
'Hey, do you get high?' 'I didn't
say a thing and he just laughed.
'You will' he said, 'You will.'
"He was right. The guys just
kept buggin me so I started
smoking hash.
"Everyone was doing it. It
weren't no big deal at all.-
"There wasn't much to do
around here. We couldn't afford
nothin' so we sat in the barracks
and bitched about the Army and
got stoned."
Rucker said he got depressed
one day so a friend gave him a hit
of heroin which he snorted. He
began "ice creaming"-using the
drug on weekends.
"Three years is a hell of a long
time to be-stuck here,ya' know,"
he said.
He also began drinking more
and more.
"I'd drink a quart of Jim Beam
at night and even during the day I
always had a can of beer in my
hands. Nobody said nothing."'
The Army gives periodic
.surprise urinanalysis tests to
discover if soldiers have been
using hard drugs. The tests show
whether a soldier has used hard
drugs like heroin within 72 hours.
Rucker says the tests are easy to
beat.
"A non-commissioned officer is
supposed to watch you
(urinate)," he said. "Hell, the
non-com that was watching me
- was a doper too."
There are other ways to pass
the test. Soldiers sold safe urine
to junkies and Rucker said he
often had friends give samples
for him. If he had no other choice,

he would doctor his own sample.
"The only test they run is for
drugs, they don't test what's in
the bottle," he explained. "Once I
filled the thing with gasoline and
no one ever knew the difference."
Rucker said he often smoked
hashish, drank or was high on
heroin while on duty at the 317th
Engineer Battalion. He wasn't
afraid of getting caught, he
testified, he was afraid of running
out of money for his dope and
booze.
Just Putting In Time
"I needed cash so I started sell-
ing dope," he said. "It was cheap
in Germany." He would buy a
gram of heroin for $130, divide it
into 25 hits and sell it for $20 per
hit, bringing in $500.
Rucker was caught and sent to
the Army's drug control program
for 60 days, but he says he
continued using drugs while
undergoing counseling. He beat
the urine tests by using a friend's
urine.
"Nobody really cared, I was
just putting in time."
He was finally arrested for
smuggling LSD across the West
German border.
Pvt. Michael Jefferies is in the
same battalion as Rucker. He
never used drugs before he came
here.
"We were sitting in the back of
this truck going out for a drill the
day after I got to Germany,"
Jefferies says, "and everyone
was getting smashed on hashish,
so I figured, why not join in?
"I got real homesick after that
and a friend gave me a hit of
heroin. It made me sick at first
but then I got to liking it.
"It helped me get through all
the bullshit you have to take.
Pretty soon I wanted it everyday.
I never thought I was addicted,
not even when my best friend
died from an overdose.
"I'll never forget that, seeing
him, seeing them carry him away
dead."
Heroin users usually have no
way of knowing how pure the
drug is they buy. Heroin in
Germany often is 30 to 50 per cent
pure while heroin in the states is
three to four per cent pure,
according to the Drug
EnforcemeAt Administration.
If the heroin here has not been
,,cut down, it often is too strong
even for addicts.
"I've seen junkies dead with
the needle still in their arms after
shooting up with a hot load," says
DEA agent Bob Stutman, who
traveled with the House
subcommittee. "Imagine a drug
so strong that it could kill you
before you could pull out the
needle."
Jefferies was caught when an
officer demanded that he take the
urinanalysis test in front of him.
The test showed he had been
using hard drugs while on duty.
(The Army does not give tests to
determine if soldiers use
hashish.)
Gen. George Blanchard,
commander in chief of the United
States Army in Europe, told the
subcommitteee that soldiers turn
to drugs because 'of peer
pressure, loneliness and
boredom.

"The quality of life for some of
our men here is shocking," the
four-star general said. "At one
14-year-old facility there is no
running water and we don't have
enough facilities like gyms where
young men can vent their
frustrations."
Blanchard said some bases
have one gymnasium for 14,000
troops. Craft shops often have no
supplies. Many outposts are far
from recreation spots for
soldiers. Many German b
nightclubs refuse memberships
to GIs.
Old SS compounds built by
Hitler for World War II serve as
barracks for many of the GIs.
Nazi swastikas still decorate the
walls and floors.
"The men defending our
country deserve better facilities
and treatment," Blanchard said.
But the biggest problem is the
availability of drugs-especially-
heroin, Blanchard said.
Heroin hits cost $20 here, less
than a night on the town or a
prostitute. In the States stuff of
comparable purity would cost
$180.
Because of the devalued dollar
many soldies now spend, ,
weekends in the barracks,
Blanchard says.
"For many of these guys,
getting high during the weekend
is all they got to look forward to,
says English.
The Army is making some -
changes. At Rucker's and
Jefferies' base, Lt. Gen. Sidney
Berry has promoted group tours,
intramural sports and
community-Army base
activities. He also has allowed a
former alcoholic to open the first
narcotics anonymous chapter on
a U.S. base in Europe.
At one compound, English met
a GI who claimed he had entered
the Army by lying at the
prompting of the recruiter.
"I had a police record," he
said. "I had been busted in
Colorado for having a pound and
a half of grass on me and for
selling slope.
"I told the recruiter, but he
said, 'Look, do you want to join
the service or don't you?'
"I figured I could straighten
myself out here, but the first day
I hit camp, a guy asked me if I
wanted a hit.
"When you need the bread you
try to be the first one to trun on a
new recruit. You become their
first friend.
"I said sure I'd take a hit.
"I hadn't been in Germany an
hour and I was already dealing.
"This is better than the
streets."
0
E.N. Earley, correspondent
for the Tulsa Tribune,
accompanied Rep. Glenn ;
English (D-Okla.) on a House
subcommittee fact-finding
tour of U.S. bases in
Germany, investigating drug
abuse. The subcommittee's
report, now complete, is
expected to play an important
role in the growing debate over
reinstating the draft. This
article was written for Pacific
News Service.


Letters to the Daily

WATCNH TS',
SOME FUN ? SR
HOUSE
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Student's attitudes
To the Daily:
Regarding the articles written
on December 7 concerning trends
in attitudes of college students in
the 60s and 70s.
Thep3int of'these articles which
is not in debate is the fact that
this is a "me" generation. I think
this is obvious to all of us. The
fact that dieting and jogging are
"in" means that people are
striving for physical self-
improvement, and the high
numbers of students in college
today (including those over 30)
must indicate some striving for
mental self-improvement. But let
me not dwell upon this.
The article on December 6
reasonably states "The priorities
of the University of Michigan
students should be questioned."
Isn't learning the process of
questioning and answering? And
isn't learning of high priority? I
agree with Glaza and Placencia
that our priorities should be
questioned, and everything else,
too. I do not mean that we should
necessarily disagree with the

them. Right on! Why should
anyone expect us to be like
anyone else? The times have
changed and so have we. I
believe that Sharp here makes a
good point. We should not have to
live up to others' expectations,
but our own!
It is too bad that this is the only
good point in Sharp's letter. She
has a misinformed view, of
society and the 60$. First, she
implies that the college students
of the 60s only made mistakes.
The major issues of the times'
were civil rights and the Vietnam
war. Many college students
sought to change the system; they
sought something better. These
same students led protests and
let the rest of the country know
that they were not satisfied. I
commend their activities. I do not
think that these were mistakes.
Sharp also claims that Nixon
ended the Vietnam War "only as
a re-election bid," 'and "not
because of Kent State." I cannot
imagine the, incident at Kent
State and all of the anti-war
demonstrations not having an
effect on Nixon's decision. That is

that Sharp is self-reflexive in the
use of her vocabulary, calling
those college students "kids" and
not "adults." Perhaps when
Sharp becomes an adult she will
write another editorial letter.
Finally, Sharp criticizes the
very action of protesting, calling
it a waste of time "because it's
a proven fact that doesn't change
a god-damn thing." Perhaps
Sharp should convey this thought
insight to Iran and South Africa;
I'm sure that it would put all
those radicals back in their place.
Questions of civil rights and
equality have and still continue to
be a concern of the people. And
protesting has and still continues
to be an effective method of
informing the "system" that
things need to change. Only after
we are all satisfied can we expect
anything different. I hope that in
the remaining two years of
Sharp's undergraduate career,
she will try to question her own
views and try to understand how
others can have differing views.
Perhaps this will give her a
better insight into the thinking of
this generation than the one she

alter the structure of Michigan's
government. The Ann Arbor
News is one publication which
has served the public well by
giving much credence to
Bullard's proposal for a
unicameral legislature with
proportional representation,
However, the News does not
seem to understand the
immediate necessity for such a
change.
Many good proposals meet
their untimely demise on the
rocky shores of the State Senate.
When this happens, and the
citizens of a democratic society
such as ours come to feel that
their government is unresponsive
and unaccountable to them, then
the time is right for reform which
will enhance the practice of the
democratic ideals upon which our
nation if founded.
Many well-intentioned people
in and out of government have
recognized the need for a change
and are able to articulate noble
goals, including government
accountability, for which we
must strive. But with their
patchwork approaches to our
cuirrent cr1 isis in vernment