..::.:....-..,,.,BRAIN MISTRUST° °=°: :°
Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Ford has a
better dea--money
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News Phone: 764,-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 1972
NIGHT EDITOR: LINDA DREEBEN
Smoke gets in your eyes
THE CATALOGUE of ills to which cig-
arette smoking is said to contribute
-lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease
et al -- would be the envy of the nost
perverted of hypochondriacs.
To the increasing number of non-
smokers, however, the habit represents
something much different - the unique
feeling of noxious fumes blown at the
'back of one's neck or ,curling up one's
nose, or a smoke cloud enveloping an un-
ventilated auditorium.
More importantly, a recent study by
the surgeon general suggests that the
perils of smoking are by no means re-
stricted to those who smoke cigarettes
but can extend to anyone in, the same
room or car.
While this particular report is still be-
ing actively contested by the tobacco in-
dustry, as is virtually every other study
linking cigarettes to health problems, the
source of irritation which tobacco smoke
has become for many is beyond dispute.
And in a community so concerned with
the quality of the air its citizens breathe,
it is particularly ironic that the smoking
problem is almost completely ignored.
"Please do not smoke" signs, placed'
prominently in nearly every classroom
and auditorium, elicit little response, save
that of the frustrated protester who in-
variably crosses out "not" and places
"dope" at the end of the phrase.
Indeed, anyone, who has ever asked a
classmate to extinguish a cigarette and
has met with an incredulous stare, rec-
ognizes the terrible imposition such a re-
quest unfortunately involves.
THUS, what for many would be the most
satisfying solution to the problems, to
recognize smoking as an official nuisance
and ban it in public places, is not only
perhaps too radical a proposition, but is
clearly unenforceable. The administra-
tion should nevertheless re-examine its
policies to protect the rights of non-
smokers.
Rules which are egregiously unfair
prevail all over campus, and at the Un-
dergraduate Library in particular. Smok-
ers have free reign over the entire UGLI
while anyone who seeks merely to work
in a smoke-free atmosphere is relegated
to one of a couple noisy and uncomfort-
able corner rooms.
SURELY, IN the UGLI and elsewhere, a
more equitable policy should be en-
acted, which separates smokers and non-
smokers in distinct areas of buildings and
classrooms. This system, similar to the
one used with success in various modes
of public transportation, would protect
the. rights of a substantial but hardly
negligible group of students while incon-
veniencing virtually no one.
While hardly a dramatic blow against
the forces of evil, such a measure would
alleviate what is to many a subtle but
widespread source of oppression.
-DAVID MARGOLICK
It is our goal to be in every
single country there is. We at Ford
Motor Co. look at a world without
any boundaries . . . We don't con-
sider ourselves basically an Ameri-
can company. We are a multina-
tional company.
Robert Stevenson, Ford's
executive vice-president for
international automotive
operations
THE $3.9 billion volume of
Ford's foreign sales last year
was second only to Standard Oil
of New Jersey. Foreign income ac-
counts for 26 per cent of Ford's
tital sales; 24 per cent of Ford's
profit came from abroad.
Back in 1963, when Business
Week did its first special report
on multinational corporations,
Ford was chosen as a case study.
At that time Ford was among the
biggest of the multinationals, with
plants in 20 countries, sales oper-
ations in 18, and some 110,000
workers overseas.
It had put, according to the
article, well over $1 billion into
foreign operations since 1950, while
foreign plants were turning out 14
lines of cars and trucks distinct
from Ford's U.S. made vehicles.
General Mators and Ford h a d
pumped some $2.5 billion abroad
since 1950 - the bulk of it from
foreign earnings.
"What excites scholars," the
Business Week feature observed,
"is that the multinational corpora-
tion appears to be more than just
an instrument fort profits. They
see it as a means by which busi-
ness can act as a stabilizer in a
world full of tensions." By 1963,
U.S. direct investment abroad had
soared to $36 billion, three times
the 1950 figure.
CURRENTLY, Ford is manu-
facturing or assembling c a r s .
trucks, or tractors in 21 countries
and has sales companies in eight
others. Ford supplies its dealer-
assemblers in 11 nations and deal-
ers in about 100 more; 44 per cent
of its employment is accounted for
by operations outside the U. S.
The big promise in Ford's future,
as President Lee Iacocca writes
in Forbes, is "in expanding into
a, truly commanding position in
the vast international auto mar-
ket."
definite commitment to the pro-
ject - it is a waiting he promnul-
gation of an investment incentives
law by Saigon - Ford is known
to be projecting a possible 12,000
square yard plant 12 miles north-
east of Saigon at Bien Hoa.
Business ventures Jn Vietnam
are nothing new for Ford. Its sub-
sidiary Philco-Ford has been in
Vietnam since at least 1957. As
far back as 1967, Business W e e k
ran an article entitled "W h a t
Vietnam is Teaching Philco" with
the subtitle "The company', con-
tracts with the military for be-
hind-the-lines services such as
transport and warehousing are pro-
viding experience it hopes to apply
in other underdeveloped r.ations."
At that time Philco was conduct-
ing a vehicle maintenance service
for the whole Danang combat com-
mand, supplying and .>perating an
ary vehicles parts supply line and
warehousing system, stretching
from Tacoma, washington to Sai-
gon, and keeping the dockside
handling equipment in gunning con-
dition in Vietnam. These contracts,
currently worth some $32 million
a year to Philco, evolved in just
a few years from a small opera-
tion that consisted largely of a
$600,000 contract to supply some
roadbuilding experts.
Yet according to M. L. Long, a
high Philco official, that it only
the beginning. Given a fairly ear-
ly end to the Vietnam war and a
long-term U.S. economic commit-
ment to Southeast Asia, Long look-
ed forward to getting some $1.7
billion in business throughout the
area in 1971.
PHILCO HAS been a major cor-
porate supplier for the electronic
battlefield in Vietnam, producing
sensing and communication sys-
tems. This method of warfare was
one of the pet ideas of former
Ford president, Robert MacNa-
mara; in fact, the first electron-
ic Csensing network set up along
the DMZ was called the "Mac-
Namara Wall." To provide such
equipment, Philco drew on its long
experience in producing military
telecommunications systems.
It has built three aircraft warn-
ing and control systems for Iran,
an "Integrated Joint Communica-
tions System" for Okinawa, Tai-
wan, and the Philippines, a ne-
tionwidetelecommunications net-
work for the U.S. Air Force in
South Korea, and a global "3ecure
voice network" for the Pentagon.
tures this year into foreign oper-
ations.
Already expanding into the Phil-
ippines and Thailand, Ford s
planning to move into Indonesia
and Yugoslavia, and, despite be-
ing closed down in Peru and tak-
en over in Chile, expects to an-
nounce an impressive capital out-
lay for Brazil.
"The reason,"'Forbes explains,
"is elemental: There has been an
erosion in Ford's U.S. profitability
since 1965, but net income from
overseas operations has nearly
doubled."
FORD'S EXPANSION abroad as
a multinational corporation com-
es into direct conflict with those
who wish to develop their national
economy independent of the Unit-
ed States and its corporations.
Henry Ford II told the Copen-
hagen Junior Chamber of Com-
merce 'that "national differences
Who wants a Tet.
"THE BIGGEST North Vietnamese drive
since the Tet offensive" - that is the
news that has come blasting off the front
pages in recent days.
And, the obvious reaction of the Nixon
administration is to retaliate and coun-
terattack - bomb the°living daylights
out of North Vietnam.
This is precisely what was predicted
by a ranking military officer in mid-
February, remarking on the "possible of-
fensive."t
"If North Vietnam moves the 308th
Division through the DMZ into South
Vietnam," he said, "I would expect a de-
cision to bomb supporting supply targets
as far up the peninsula of North Viet-
nam as necessary to stop the flow. That,
at least, is what we'd recommend to the
President."
The offensive provides a good excuse
for a step-up in the war as a whole, and
it is with some suspicion that one must
view accounts of South Vietnamese be-
Ing lacerated at the hands of a merciless
foe.
We hear that the North Vietnamese are
"pouring across" the DMZ. But there is
a good deal of confusion over just how
many there are. While a South Vietnam-
ese commander identified his opponents
in the field down to the last artillery
regiment, U.S. sources were reporting a
whole division's difference (10,000 men)
between his estimate of the attackers'
force and theirs.
THE PRESENT attack may be an em-
barrassment to South Vietnam's Presi-
dent Thieu and for President Nixon's
Vietnamization program. But if it is re-
ported often enough as "savage and bru-
tal," it could provide the President with
the ammunition he wants to prolong
American involvement and increase the
daily bombing load.
Perhaps the wisest advice on the cur-
rent offensive is: read between the head-
lines.
-ZACHARY SCHILLER
High!?
THE ANN ARBOR News and The De-
troit News both reported that there
were "no drug violations" on the Diag
Saturday.
Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny
knew of "nothing unusual," and police
Lt. Gene Staudenmeir, who was there,
saw "nothing."
But others who were there saw, smelled
and toked lots, as the first annual Hash
Festival hit a high point in the study-
worn lives of the University's inhabitants.
And, as long as The Law doesn't seem
to think there's anything "unusual"
about it, let's have another one, real soon.
-MAYNARD
"Automobiles, as long as I'm going to be a
working man, are certainly going to be the basic
means of transportation in this country . . . If
you think mass transportation is going to re-
place the automobile I think you're whistling
Dixie or taking pot."-Henry Ford II
Henry's Hot Rod Lincoln
1971 to expand and modrnize
its world-wide facilities. F o r d
formed a new subsidiary call( d
Ford Asia-Pacific & South Africa
Inc. with headquarters presently
at the Ford of Australia head of-
fice but soon to move to its own
complex in downtown Melbourne.
Initially its main task will be to
coordinate existing Ford mnar'u-
facturing operations in Austrailia
and South Africa, assembly sub-
sidiaries in the Philippines, Singa-
pore, and New Zealand, a licensee
in Thailand assembling British
Fords, and sales operatins (ese-
where in the region. Ford's plans
call for Australia to remain the
central manuafacturing point but {
as more assembly plants are cs-
tablished in the area. th mae -
facture of some auto part '-;ill
also be decentralized.
Parts facilities in various Asin
nations will each be rsosp:hible
for turning out particular^ parts
which in turn will be shipped to
assemblers throughout the region.
The Big Three auto makers have
also joined up as Japanese Juinior
partners. GM has finalized its
connection with Isuzu Motors, and
Chrysler is linked with Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries; Ford is in the
process of buying into Toyo Kogyo,
but the transaction will probably
not occur this year because of the
deadlock over the price Ford is to
pay for its share on Toya Kogyo's
shares.
TO PRODTCE cars far the As-
ian mass market - only Ford has
announced its plans. In July of
this year, the family tirm let it
be known that it was planning to
invest nearly $1 billion in Asa by
1980. Late in 1969, w~izen Henry
Ford II announced his company's-
intention of concentrating on mak-
ing and selling autos in Asia in
the years ahead he remarked that
a principal reason for nis decision
was an "attractive apply of
cheap labor."
In the words of Business Week,
Ford "is shaping a strategy for
putting Asia's millions on wheels."
Actually, the proposed car, which
Henry Ford has characterized as
"a sort of modern day Model T,"
would be little else but wheels.
According to one idea advanced
by Ford planners the automobile
would have a plywood body, rug-
ged frame and two-cylinder en-
gine; it would retail for under
$1000.
J. W. Henderson, Detroit repre-
sentative of the -Asia-Pacific &
South Africa subsidiary has said
that U.S. foreign aid funds, ad-
ministered through the Agency
For International Development
(AID), would be available t, build
the roads for the anticipated flood
of cars. It is clearly in Ford's
interest that viable public trans-
portation systems be constructed
in Asia.
Ford's method for producing As-
ian Model T's will be the same
"complementation" p r o g r a m
which Ford is introducing in all
its production facilities in the As-
ia-Pacific region. The process in-
volves two basic steps (a) setting
op assembly operations in e a c h
participating country, thereby
creating a market for compon-
ents and i b} developing manufac-
turing plants in each country to
produce soMe of these components
for use in both domestic assem-
bly and for export to other coun-
tries involved in complementation.
THE FOREIGN ministers of the
five Association of Southeast As-
ian Nations (ASEAN) states were
told recently by.William Bourke,
president of Ford Asia-Pacific &
South Africa that the initial in-
vestment in the overall strategy
would be about $355 million, ris-
ing to $900 million by 1980. Bourke
pointed out that Ford vehicles
were at presenttbeingdassembled
in each of the ASEAN countries,
and estimated that the total num-
ber assembled in 1971 would be
close to 148,000 units. Bourke has
stated that Ford plans to b u i l d
plants in South Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,
Indonesia, and the Phillipines.
South Korea is a good example
of Ford penetration. In February
of this year, it was announced
that Ford was expanding its oper-
ation in that country. Toyota now
di1minates this small but profitable
market, but the Japanese fire: will
gradually give way to Ford dom-
ination since its continued p r e-
sence in South Korea is rn im-
portant barrier to increased Jap-
anese trade with China. Ford has
obtained the Seoul government's
approval to construct an auto en-
gine plant and parts foundry in a
i0-50 joint venture with F o r d ' s
local dealer-assembler, Hyundai
Motor Company. This project, cap-
italized at $18 million, will take
over most of Hyundai's Motor's
assets, including the assembly and
retail outlets, as Hyundai's share
in kind.
Ford is holding talks aimed at
establishing an automotive fac-
tory on Taiwan. This year in Aus-
tralia, it will complete major ex-
pansions at its Broadmeadows
truck assembly plant and Geelong
chassis plant. And last February,
Ford announced it will invest $10
million in an Indonesian plant to
assemble small automobiles while
forecasting eventual sales of 100,-
900 Fords a year in the archipel-
ago.
FORD LEADS the list of large
U.S. corporations now exploring
manufacturing investments in
South Viet Nam. Saigon govern-
ment sources report that Ford has
proposed a $6 million assembly
operation for autos, Erucks, trac-
tors, agricultural machinery. Al-
though Ford has not yet made any
.4
Nearly one third of Ford's dol-
lar volumn now comes from out-
side the United States and Can-
ada. According to the Arthur Lip-
per Corporation, Ford is edging
General Motors in overseas pene-
tration with 9.7 per cent of the
foreign market compared to GM's
8.6 per cent. Ford sells cars n
133 countries and is currently
pouring more than 40 per cent of
its $700 million in capital expendi-
Letters to The Daily should
be mailed to the Editorial Di-
rector or delivered to Mary
Rafferty in the Student Pub-
* lications business office in the
Michigan Daily building. Let-
ters should be typed, double-
spaced and / normally should
not exceed 250 words. The
Editorial Directors reserve the
right to edit all letters sub-
mitted.
should not be allowed to keep the
people of different countries from
doing whatever it is in mutual in-
terest to do. This is the basic
philosophy behind the multina-
tional corporation, and the world
will be better when this same
philosophy gains wider acceptance
in other aspects of human endeav-
or."
Ford has little sympathy w i t h
mass public transportation as an
alternative; to' the private c a r .
"Automobiles," he remarked re-
cently, "as long as I'm going to
be a working man, are certainly
going to be the basic means of
transportation in this country and
other parts of the world . . . Mass
transportation in certain areas is
certainly a necessity, but if you
think mass transportation is go-
ing to replace the automobile I
think you're whistling Dixie or
taking pot."
ASIA IS the focus for much of
the $700 million Ford spent during
14,
ISO
=i K>
I.
b.
i
Lee Iacocca
At the close of 1968, Philco com-
pleted installation of a $100 mil-
lion integrated wideband cominun-
ications system (IWCS) in Thai-
land. It has been called "with-
oct exaggeration the AT&T of
Southeast Asia" by Dr. George
R. Thompson, a top Pentagon of-
ficial historian of the U.S. Army
Strategic Communications C o m-
mand. This Thai network is linked
with a similar network in South
Vietnam, which in turn feeds in-
to other satellite and submarine
cable networks.
The economic as w e 11 as the
military importance of this sys-
tem was described by Ford execu-
tive . Henry Hockeimer, vice-presi-
dent and general manager of Phil-
co-Ford's Communications & Elec-
tronics Division. He explained
that Ford's experience in Thai-
land is prompting Philco-Ford "to
tions business prospetcs in the
evaluate future , telecommunica-
tions business prospects in the
military market in expectation of
fundamental changes in geopoli-
tics and America's strategic pol-
icies." He viewed eather termin-
als for satellites as "bridgeheads
for development of modern tele-
communications in more back-
ward sections of the world.
HOWEVER, in the light of in-
creasing resistance from overseas
youth movements and a progres-
sively worsening balance of pay-
ments, Hockeimer believes there
are clear political and financial
reasons for reducing U.S. overseas
troop concentrations.
"For those of us in military
telecommunications, this develop-
ment means that the traditional
lines between strategic and tecti-
cal equipment will blur," the
executive observed. "We can fore-
see the need for fixed, strategic
Prisoners and pols at the Peace Talks
By ARTHUR LERNER
IT MIGHT have slipped past you, but
last week was National Week of
Concern for Americans who are prison-
ers of war or missing in action. Presi-
dent Nixon proelaimed the week of
concern to coincide with Holy Week-
"a time of prayer and contemplation for
many Americans," according to Secre-
tary of State William Rogers.
There have been American prisoners
in Vietnam since 1963, Rogers n o t e d
last week, emphasizing that the ma-
jority have been imprisoned for more
than four years.
Rogers pledged "the continued best
Pffnrt s nofo rnvernment to nes. .
Porter cancelled this week's meet-
ing and announced the United States
would refuse to participate in the talks
until the North Vietnamese offer "a sign
that they are disposed to engage in
meaningful exchanges."
Insisting certain conditions be met
before the discussions could resume,
Porter slammed the North Vietnamese
for their "ultimatums," "contradic-
tions," "failure to negotiate seriously,"
"preference for war," "abhorrent black-
mail," and finally, their "avalanche of
abuse."
Porter, a professional diplomat, cited
their attempts to prevent monitoring
of North Vietnamese territory by Amer-