Page 8-Sunday, February 4, 1979-The Michigan Daily
Yugoslavia--
(Continued from Page a)
1in the midst of Macedonia's parched.
rugged mountains, was leveled by a
196:3 earthquake. They explained that
because of a United Nations arranged
reconstruction effort. Skopje now ranks
among Yugoslavia's most modern
cities.
Ivo and Milovan spoke loudly in their
native tongue of Macedonian. which
resembles Bulgarian as well as Serbo-
Croatian. They said nationalism is
strongest among Serbs and Croats. but
that such feelings run deep in the blood
of all 22{ million Yugoslavs. Milovan
stressed his support for Tito's gover-
nment, but the burly, third-year
medical student said he is miffed
because Macedonia. by- far
Yugoslavia's poorest region. is not
being developed fast enough.
"I'm studying to be a doctor, but when
I graduate, I won't be able to find work
in a good hospital in Macedonia," he
said. "I'll have to go somewhere like
Sldvenia (the richest republic and a
day's travel) todo myrresidency,' he
lamented.
But Ivo, a constant talker, spoke in
glowing terms of his freedom to travel.
He is studying economics, and has ven-
tured as far west as England and as far
east as Romania. "All of Eastern
Europe is jealous of us. We can travel.
That is what freedom is," Ivo said,
smiling through a thick,;craggy beard.
"I once went to Sofia (Bulgaria).
People there never talk on the streets in
groups larger than two or three.
Soretimes they came up to me and
said so no one else could hear: 'Yor (in
Yugoslavia) are on the right track.
Keep going.' Then they would leave.
They were afraid to talk longer."
Ivo is obsessed by high voltage
music. Listening to rock and roll music
remains for him, no matter how many
freedoms allowed by the government.
the most accessible form of Western
pop culture. He quizzed me and Elaine
about the concerts we have seen, ooing
and aahing as we ticked off a list in-
cluding Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead,
Chick Corea, and so on. Because he
lives in an out-of-the-way city,"the only
non-Yugoslavian band Ivo had seen was
the Locomotive G.T. from Hungary.
A
"Music: no problem for you,-' he com-
plained. "You just go to a concert if you
want to hear some sounds. If I want to
hear, I have to go to a record store." He
added that he thinks the Eagles are
"the best product of the U.S.A."
Records are just one example of the
rampant commercialism that has en-
veloped Yugoslavia. Workers returning
from Germany for Christmas filled
whole trains with items such as
television sets, pocket calculators,
foreign whiskies, sophisticated tools for,
home use, and blue jeans. These items
are either unavailable or more expen-
sive'in Yugoslavia' "Of course we like
to buy things," said Milovan, the
medical student. He pointed to the stiff
pair of Levis he was wearing. "I bought
these in Lausanne (Switzerland) but we
can get them now in any big city (in
Yugoslavia)."
Television, also, exemplifies
Yugoslavia's romance with commer-
cialism. Instead of interlacing half hour
shows with commercials, the
Yugoslavs save ,what they call
Economic Propoganda Programs for
the half hour breaks. The EPPs adver-
tise a variety of products-and use
promotion techniques-one would har-
dly expect to find in a communist
nation. Example: a sharply dressed
business executive explains how °a
Diner's Club card saved him from em-
barrassment at a fancy French
restaurant; a seductive blond winks at
the viewer after touching her face with
eye makeup; a peppy young housewife
packs a picnic basket, making sure not
to forget "deit (sic) cola."
The ads are symptomatic of sexism
in the society. The Yugoslav attitude
toward American women, Elaine in
particular, was extremely perplexing.
Twice while riding trains, Elainewas
accosted as if a prostitute. On one oc-
casion, we were sitting arms draped
over each other in a private compar-
tment when two Yugoslavs yanked
open the door and asked in German if,
she needed some extra cash. "Only for
five minutes," they said, but retreated
quietly upon receiving a no-nonsense
negative reply.
The other time, three drunk 'Serbs
took seats in our cabin. One spoke
English, and one wanted Elaine. The
other .was quiet. The one who desired
Elaine. a six-foot-four. two-hundred'
pound lummox, repeatedly asked me if
I wanted to bring her to his house in
'Sorajevo. When I retorted no in so
many words, he gestured that he would
toss me out the train window. And when
I got up to use the bathroom, he made
his move. Elaine's screams did not
deter him from exposing himself; in
fact he said her protests merely in-
dicated that she wanted more. He did
not leave her alone until'I returned and
Elaine simultaneously began crying.
Then he apologized to me, but said
nothing to her. Throughout the entire
scene, a young family-husband, wife,
and crying baby-sat silently in the
compartment, seemingly unperturbed
by the incident.
The couple's reaction to the would be
attacker-feigned helplessness in the
face of a more powerful force-exem-
plifies an attitude that is characteristic
of Yugoslavian culture, especially
politics. Yugoslavs are complacent
about the dictatorship of Josip Broz
Tito because he has guided them with
kindness, and from a position of
strength. "I don't like him. But I guess
we all respect him for having stood up
to the Russians," a librarian from a
small town near Zagreb told Dusko
Doder, a Washington Post reporter
stationed for three years in Belgrade.
Tito has a marvelous formula for
winning elections: he is the only serious
candidate allowed to run. In recent
years, however, legislative bodies for
each of the six republics were given a
good deal of mobility to formulate in-
ternal policies. That is until 1971 when
the Communist Party in Croatia
demanded to be let loose from the con-
federation. Then, Tito cracked
down, increasing the power of the cen-
tral committee, and reasserting his
leadership. However, unlike other
Eastern European countries where
governments are centralized, local
governments in Yugoslavia still wield
considerable power.
Criticism of the government is also
permitted to a greater extend than in
Soviet. bloc countries or even in
American supported dictatorships such
as Korea or Taiwan. American
publications such 'as the International
Herald Tribune and Time Magazine
arrive uncensored in Yugoslavia.
However, native papers are
predominately controlled by the party.
Even so, these papers are permitted to
criticize the government minimally:
for example, cartoons depicting second
level officials are frequent. Tito,
however, is safe from such public
ridicule.
Dissent in Yugoslavia, _ though
minimal, comes from a range of soijr-
ces. Three groups are feared most: ex-
'patriated Yugoslavs who have oc-
casionally returned to commit bar-
barous terrorist acts, small bands of
Communists who use Soviet funds to
promote "revolutionary" ideals, and
Marxist intellectuals who say the
government is too right wing. It is the
latter group that irks the Tito gover-
nment most. Led by university
professors, these intellecturals are cut
off from the people because they lack
easy access to the press.
Close observers of Yugoslav politics
say that by strengthening the party,
Tito is preparing for his death. There
are no obvious successors to the
charismatic leader-the choices are
either too old or not known throughout
the entire country. "Tito might live five
years of five days," said the
Washington Post correspondent Doder.
"I think the people live better now than
they did before. But there is a problem
with a political system that doesn't
have an orderly method for succession
between leaders.
Still the question lingers: "After Tito,
what?" It remains to be seen if
Yugoslavia will continue forging: its
present path, eventually becoming
pluralistic. Likewise, it is unclear if a
new leader could take Yugoslavia back
on the road to centralization. What is
clear, however, is that these questions
are pursed on the lips of all 22 million
Yugoslavs. The Yugoslavs have, since
the end of World War II, lived under
Tito's benevolent rule and are ac-
customed to its stability. It will not be
easy for the populace to be thrown head
first into the waters of uncertainty.
drinking
Continued from Page 6)
"If one of our women has a drinking
problem and is taking still greater
pains to hide it, we are not going to be
as aware of it as in the past. And if a
resident can't control herself from
drinking in the hallway, then she's got a
bigger problem than just Proposition
D."
Lance Morrow worries about the
legal liability of a resident serving to
underaged drinkers. "If someone gets
drunk and falls down the stairs, we
have to face the ease with which a
lawsuit could be filed.. Legally, we can't
search a student's room, either, so -I
guess it's a matter of reasonable effort
on everyone's part to keep things under
control."
As long as the building staff can get
together and agree to ignore
"relatively discreet partying," they
can expect the full cooperation of
University Housing Security and the
Ann Arbor Police. "Our staff will not
look for people who are drinking,
stressed David Foulke, campus direc-
tor of Housing Security. "Only 'if
drinking is going on in the large public
areas of the building are we concerned,
and only if we have an auxiliary,
problem such as violence or noise will
We contact the building staff, or, in ex-
treme cases, call the police. Our plan of
action is in keeping with the spirit of the
five-dollar fine idea."
Chief Walter Krasney of the Ann Ar-
bor Police Department was very
direct: "We don't have any intention of
going into dorms. Up to this point, there
haven't been any new difficulties, and
we're not going to search buildings
looking for parties unless something
unusual is going on." Krasney added,
"Only a disturbance will get us to a
fraternity - we don't have any
business there."
Residents of some local cooperative
houses gave no indication that they
have broken stride since parties are on
the same order as before, and most
houses still host pop machines with half
beer and half soda selections. "What
law?' one co-op resident scoffed. "We
haven't noticed. Of course, once we're
at the bars and places like the Village
Corner, we have the same problems
that everyone else has.",
These-problems have kept underaged
people away from some of their
drinking activity because, while getting-
a drink is by no means impossible these
days, it is no longer simple and con-
venient. "I only drink now when I want
to get 'good and drunk' "admitted one
student. "That means I save a hell of a
lot of money."-
The incredible crushes at most film
society screenings over the weekends
-early this term attested to the fact that
the bother of circumventing the law
isn't always worth the trouble.
"Business is great! I think it has to do
with the new law," remarked Fred
Parnes, charismatic house' manager of
the Ann Arbor Film Co-op. "You know,
we just sold out Woodstock. Two years
ago we showed it and got thirty
people."
Other non-alcoholic forms of enter-
tainment will surely prosper as young
people out for a social evening find
going to bars and ordering Cokes just a
little infra-dig. Forging IDs and sipping
on a Colt 45 drawn from a grocery sack
may be good sport for awhile, but it is a
strong whiff of those silly high school
days when we were treated 'like kids.
Young adults may soon discover that it
is indeed possible to have a fine time
without help from Demon Run.
One RA, chin in hands, sighed, "It's
very, very sad that people say that they
think our big parties here aren't going
to be any good just because they can't
drink. That maybe shows that they
yweren't old enough to handle it in the
first place." But a resident of Elliot
House in Markley was more optimistic:
"We have the reputation of throwing
the best parties in the dorm, and we are
determined to show everyone that you
don't have tohave alcohol to have fun."
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Cover photo by Dan Ober dor fer
The
Aftermath
of Prop. D
A Jazz
on the
Decline?
New
direct
for U
Supplement to The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Sunday, February 4', 1979'