New voters: Bumper crop for '72 ? By TONY SCHWARTZ If young people were to vote the way most presidential candidates claim they will, a majority would cast their ballots for every major contender. The candidates' claims, however, are often as hollow as they are mathe- matically impossible. The fact is that no candidate can reasonably expect to woo a clear majority of the millions of young people who will be voting in the 'upcoming presidential primaries. As far as the youth vote is con- cerned, only the barest facts are cer-' tainties. About 11.2 million of the 25 million new voters, received the vote by the way of the 26th Amendment which enfranchised 18 year olds in state, local and federal elections. An- other 13.9 million Americans between 21 and 25 will also be voting for the first time in a presidential election this year. At this point, most surveys have shown that less than 50 per cent of those eligible can be expected to vote. One survey has indicated that ap- proximately 42 per cent will vote, al- though as many as 65 per cent may register. elections '72 In simple terms, this would mean a vote of 10-12 million-enough to in- fluence the outcome of a presidential election in the event of bloc voting. But one other fact that studies have consistently borne out, is that young people basically make up a mixed bag of voters. A recent Newsweek pool, for in- stance, showed that the most com- mon ideological identification given by young people was "middle of the road". The 45 per cent who fit in this group far outdistanced those who labeled themselves "liberals", "radicals" or "conservatives." But one other fact is emerging, at least for the presidency. Young people have been registering Democratic by almost 2 to 1 margins over Republi- can. Nevertheless, Republican strategists, particularly those in the President's camp have an answer-the large num- ber of young people registering inde- pendent. Nixon's advisors have expressed hope of capturing a significant percentage of this group, which representing 42 per cent of young voters, according to a recent poll, make them the largest bloc of voters. As to the impact of a heavily Dem- ocratic youth vote, it just depends on whose study you look at. If half of the potential new voters had cast ballots in the last election 1 and split two to one for Humphrey (10 per cent for Wallace), only one 1 state would have switched hands. By c this study. in short, the outcome of the election would have been the same. Another study, which sounds a more comforting note in Democratic hearts, predicts just the opposite. It indicates that if only 50 per cent of th 25 million new voters cast bal- lots in 1972 and vote two-thirds Demo- cratic, Nixon would lose nine states that he won in 1968-among them Cal- ifornia, Illinois and Ohio. These states' total electoral vote of 150 would give the election to the Dem- ocrats even in the event that Nixon (minus a Wallace candidacy) sweeps the South. All of this mind-boggling manipu- lation of statistics leads to one definite conclusion: No one can tell the im- pact of the youth vote for it is made maleable by varied surveying - tech- niques, prior assumptions and accept- ances of past precedents. But all of the uncertainty has not staved off intensive efforts by almost every presidential campaign contender to woo these enticing millions. The unspoken credo on the youth vote is similar to the one which guides political advertising-"We aren't sure See SURVEYING, Page 6 Getting ready to vote BOLSTERING THE THIEU REGIME See Editorial Page Y Sh: ta~ ~~E~aiti BLANKETING High-35 Low--22 One to three inches of snow Vol. LXXXiI, No. 96 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, February 3, 1972 Ten Cents Ten Pages Viet Cong set conditions or peace talks SAIGON ( - The Viet Cong said yesterday it could begin immediate discussions with the Saigon government toward a political solution of the war if President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned now and the United States set a troop with- drawal deadline. The National Liberation Front said in a radio broadcast that the United States, by setting a date for he complete withdrawal of all allied forces and giving up all U.S. bases, could free American pilots held in North Vietnam. The broadcast called these demands ."the two key points" of- the National Liberation Abortion lw drive. continues By MARCIA ZOSLAW In the wake of the repeated de- feat of abortion reform bills in the State Legislature and the unre- solved nature of state court cases on the issue, efforts for state abortion reform now focus "op- timistically" on a seven-month old petition drive to put the issue on the ballot in the November elec- tion. The petition asks that abortion be performed on demand, pro- viding the operation is done by a licensed physician and the pa- tient's pregnancy has not exceed- ed 20 weeks. According to Marianne Davis, state abortion reform petition drive chairwoman, the drive has already netted 65 per cent of the 214,000 valid signatures needed to present it to the Legislature. Although the Lansing Coordi- nating Committee for Abortion Reform which organized the drive has set a deadline of late Febru- ary for presenting the petition to the. legislature, Davis explained yesterday that the February dead- line can be pushed back until enough signatures accumulate. Pushing back the date, how- ever, could make the issue too late for a place on the November ballot, she said. Once the required number of signatures is obtained, the legisla- See ABORTION, Page 10 Front's seven-point plan for ending the war. It said that once these require- ments were met, the Viet Cong's provisional revolutionary govern- ment-the PRG-would be ready to discuss establishment of a "na- tional reconciliatory government" to organize;elections and an "offi- cial government" for South Viet- nam. "If the two said conditions could be agreed upon, the other prob- lems could be solved easily," the broadcast said. The eight-point allied peace pro- posal disclosed by President Nixon a week ago included a provision that Thieu would resign a month ahead of an election, witha care- taker government to serve in the interim. It did not provide, however, for any dismantling of the government machinery, nor rule out Thieu as. a candidate in the election. Various Communist broadcasts and statements have indicated that this is the most objectionable por- tion of the proposed political solu- tion, saying it wocld only provide a repeat of last October's one-man election in which Thieu won a sec- ond four-year term. The Viet Cong's seven-point plan, first advanced in Paris last July 1, is considered by U.S. officials to be only a variation of the nine- point program which Hanoi offered in secret a week earlier and which has since been the subject of secret talks. The nine-point plan was made public by the North Vietnamese two days ago, following Nixon's Dubliners 'embassy; victims bi DUBLIN (-A crowd of 30,--- 000 Irish reduced the British Embassy to a smoldering shellj here yesterday only hours after the victims of London- derry's "Bloody Sunday" were laid to rest in the North. None of the embassy's 30 mem- ber staff was in the building at the time of the attack, having been warned beforehand to stay away in view of lesser attacks on the two previous days. Mobs rampaged and gun battles flared throughout Ireland, plung- li the'divided island into more . death and destruction in the af- termath of 13 killings Sunday in Northern Ireland's second city. A crowd surged at the embassy in Dublin's downtown Merrion Square, brushing aside a police cordon. Youths with sledgeham- mers climbed the embassy's bal- conies and smashed its windows; Then the mob leaders bombarded ? - it with flaming Molotov cocktails fueled from buckets of gasoline passed from the rear by a human chain. Dublin police said people lay in theroads to prevent fire engines from reaching the scene.,.., The assault on the embassy fol- - lowed a mass rally to protest the n . ' killing of the 13 by British para- troopers last Sunday in London- derry. Then the t h o u s a n d s marched through the city center to the four-story embassy and ex- ploded in violent fury to cries of: "British out!" STUDENT ADVISORS to the The British government pro- adu nysedysana tested vigorously and demanded a drum in yesterday's annua n compensation from the Irish re- public." In London, British Defense Min- r se odCrigo lde e r f rt iterLord Carrington pledged be- a- fore the House of Lords that Brit- rs ain would make no concession to violence and terrorism in Northern Ireland. i- ipHe said the British army would n- break up a civil rights march planned for this weekend. It was a WASHINGTON (R - B n, similar march in Londonderry. d- broken up by paratroopers, that No. 1 in yesterday's draft l s- led to Sunday's deaths. men born those days in1 g, Carrington reaffirmed his gov- callup. ernment's refusal to allow North m Ireland's Protestant majority to be In the safest spot with a forced to join the Irish Republic born July 23 with No. 365 a in as some Northern Irish Catholics have demanded. officials expect draftable n n- The form of government in of last year i- Northern Ireland, he said, "must See BRITISH, Page 10 raze strife pried -Associated Pres POLICE attempt to hold back several thousand demonstrators outside the British embassy in Dublin yesterday afternoon after the building was set afire by gasoline bombs (left and above right). Mean while, a crowd gathers in Londonderry (below right) to mourn the deaths of 12 victims of the "Bloody Sunday" shootings this week. STA TE-WIDE PROPOSALS: 'U' studying'external' plan for adult students By JIM O'BRIEN The creation of an "external degree program," opening the opportunity for a college educa- tion to persons unable to attend regular classes is one of several ideas under consideration by the University and the 12 other four- year state colleges. According to Alfred Storey, di- rector of the University Exten- sion Service, representatives of the 13 institutions will be meet- ing in the spring to discuss this proposal as well as a number of others. Other topics likely to appear on the agenda of the meetings include: -Creation of a common edu- cational television network cov- ering the entire state; -An increase in the number of courses, sequences, and pro- grams offered jointly by state college extension services; and -A central record-keeping fa- disclosure tions and posal. of the secret negotia- his own eight-point pro- A look at our legislators cility for the college extensio centers throughout the state. The proposed changes are pai of a plan to increase coopers tion between extension center of the 13 colleges. A consortium, or partnershi of the centers, which would it volve sharing of common facil ties and faculty, and uniforn liberalized, admission procei ures will be the main issue di: cussed at the spring meetinE according to Storey. The external degree prograi may in part be a response to State Department of Educatio report on adult education. The report calls on state ii stitutions to . provide opportun ties for every adult citizen t pursue studies "beyond hig school, including continuing edi cation beyond the baccalaureat degree." An external degree unit,a Storey describes it, would pr vide adults who cannot atten regular college classes a chan to earn a degree through exte nal work, examinations and ii dependent study. Further, h said, it would give young adul an opportunity for greater flex bility than the conventional co lege experience, by letting thei study at their own pace on part-time basis. -Associated Press Selective Service pick numbers from i draft lottery. ykingse hed [is expected 3y rare coincidence, March 6 drew )ttery and March 7, No. 2, putting 1953 first in line for next year's h the highest numbers were those ind Sept. 9 with No. 364. But draft numbers to fall far below the 125 Bursley: Unique senator? By JAN BENEDETTI State Senator Gilbert Bursley (R-Ann Arbor) believes himself to be unique in the State Senate since he represents "more stu- dents than anybody in Lansing." His 18th district includes both the University community and Eastern Michigan University. Sitting in his Ann Arbor home surrounded by his prized collec- tion of medieval weapons and armor. Bursley is reluctant to categorize himself politically. But he agrees to the category of "liberal Republican", defin- Smit: Election fight looms With a November re-election battle inevitably approaching, State Rep. Raymond Smit (R- Ann Arbor) must keep balancing between the demands of his stu- dent constituency and the rest of Ann Arbor's voters. Both Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor township form Smit's district with the stu- dent population in the minority. Separating the student commu- nity and the supposedly more conservative townspeople, Smit sees "a basic liberal-conservative conflict on the question of the V- u- te as '0- ad ce r- n- he ts Id- ol- m a Sweepstakes' sweetens a sour pill from Uncle Sam By DAVE IURHENN Yesterday was Neil Makstein'sk lucky day-sort of. Neil and many other American young men were caught as the long shadow of Uncle Sam, not unlike that of the groundhog, stretched across the country in the annual draft lottery. Draft Director Curtis W. Tarr 1 started the drawing by saying: "We do not as yet know what the draft call will be in 1973." "Nor," he said, "do we know as yet what the call will be for the remainder of 1972, but we do ex- pect calls to be lower than they have been in recent years." Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird has said there will be no calls at least until April. For list of draft numbers and birthdays, see Page 7. In contrast to the first three draft lotteries, there were no pro- m ..._