i4Vr 3iriigan DBatI
Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
videre est credere
Our allies: /
Murderers and thieves
F,
by pat mahoney
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
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.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1971
NIGHT EDITOR: TAMMY JACOBS
The Nixon economic policy
IT IS A truism that modern America is
the wealthiest society the world has
known.
The shiny products of galloping tech-
nology are available here as never be-
fore for wide popular consumption. Auto-
mobiles, televisions, stereos, are within
the reach of the vast majorty of Amer-
icans. We as a nation consume nearly
half of the resources used up by the
people of the entire world in any given
year.
Within most of our individual retreats
we have wealth and technological wond-
ers that would have astounded the upper
classes of a few generations ago. We
have things, things, more things - used,
thrown' away, piling up, replaced a f t e r
barely being used.
In its colossal capacity for production,
modern America demonstrates the po-
tential for a genuinely affluent society
- one in which all people can live in
material comfort in both the private and
public spheres of their lives.
But looking around, there are strange
anomalies about this golden land. There
are shortages of money, of resources -
desperate, life-and-death shortages.
This society just doesn't seem to have
the money either to take all the people
who have to get into hospitals when they
need it, or to replace the tenement hous-
ing that scars our cities, or to help the
vast proportion of our old people who
spend their final years in poverty, or to
attempt to rehabilitate those we shunt
aside to festering prisons.
IT IS WITHIN this context that t h e
Nixon economic program should be
viewed. The President is attempting to
deal with certain immediate problems -
a sluggish economy with continuing high
unemployment, chronic inflation, a de-
cline in the U.S. international financial
position - in ways that will be popular
in at least the short run with the Ameri-
can electorate.
The effective devaluation of the dol-
lar on the international money market
will hopefully lead to saner patterns of
international exchange. And wage-price
curbs will doubtless put a temporary stop-
per on inflation.
But the chronic distortions of the
American economy - its gross maldis-
tribution of income and the shortage of
resources it makes available for vital pur-
poses - are likely to only be exacerbated
by the Nixon program.
Administration economic policy oper-
ates for the maintenance of these distor-
Editorial Staff
ROBERT KRAFTOWITZ
Editor
JIM BEATIE DAVE CHUDWIN
Executive Editor Managing Editor
STEVE KOPPMAN .. Editorial Page Editor
RICK PERLOFF .. Associate Editorial'Page Editor
PAT MAHONEY .. .. Assistant Editorial Page Edior
LYNN WEINER .. Associate Managing Editor
LARRY LEMPERT Associate Managing Editor
ANITA CRONE......A... A ts Edit
JIM IRWIN .... ............... Associate Arts Editor
JANET FREY .. ... ....... .. Personnel Director
ROBERT CONROW .. Books Editor
tions. Wage-price curbs are going to
freeze if not lower the proportion of in-
come earned by workers, and the fiscal
measures Nixon' proposes encourage t h e
further growth of the corpulent sector of
consumer America cutting the underfed
public sector.
NIXON relies on more spending by in-
dividuals on privately consumable
goods to revitalize the economy. He
proposes tax cuts and reduced govern-
ment spending - less for public p r o -
grams, including further delay in even
his pathetically inadequate welfare re-
form and revenue sharing programs, and
more for private luxury expenditure.
When the President says "tax cuts to
stimulate employment must be matched
by spending cuts to restrain inflation,"
he is counting on popular economic ig-
norance. The idea that private spending
generated by tax cuts creates jobs, while
public spending merely causes inflation,
is completely misleading and unjustified.
In fact, if tax cuts and spending cuts
matched exactly, the net efect would pro-
bably be a depressing one economically.
This is because while every tax dollar
appropriated for public purposes is spent
and goes into the economy, a portion of
every tax dollar returned to the consumer
is saved, so that the overall impact of
matching cuts is generally less spending.
THERE ARE MANY options open to the
Administration in its attempts to sti-
mulate the economy. Decent minimum in-
comes could be established, financed
through higher taxes on middle and up-
per income groups.
Public expenditures could be increas-
ed on mass transport, medical care, edu-
cation, addict rehabilitation programs,
prison improvement, public parks and re-
creation and a host of other vital serv-
ices.
These are the sorts of emphases that
could make America a saner place to live
-that would tend-to redistribute income
and provide high levels of basic services
for all.
Instead the Administration asks for
credits for businessmen to invest in
equipment to make more things people
don't need, a cutting of excise taxes to
promote the ,buying of more and a'speed-
up in the reduction of personal income
taxes.
It is too easy to cast blame for this on
Nixon in Washington. Much of the fault,
in fact, lies closer to home. It lies large-
ly with voters who complain about de-
teriorating social conditions while put-
ting their first priority on 'more for me'.
AFTER A LONG WAIT, the President
has moved from a pose of passivity to
one of action on the immediate dilemmas
of the American economy. But his ap-
proach would stabilize or even make more
unequal its existing distribution of in-
come, and then lead it further in the
direction that has made the richest so-
ciety on Earth one of the sickest.
-STEVE KOPPMAN
Editorial Page Editor
EDITOR'S NOTE: For those readers
who have, for some reason or an-
other, gone remiss in their classical
studies, the title of Pat Mahoney's
column, "videre est crederre, means,
in plain and quite ordinary English,
"To see is to believe." Need we say
more?
ONE DAY late last month a
group of South Vietnamese
soldiers entered Kompong Rau, a
small Cambodian town, and ac-
cused an entire family of being
members of the Vietcong. While a
sobbing 21-year-old mother, plead-
ed with the South Vietnamese to
leave, theyrbeat her parents and
eight brothers and sisters to death
with their rifles and then robbed
and assaulted her. Nearly a hun-
dred other Cambodians in Kom-
pong Rau were beaten, tied to-
gether and led away by the Viet-
namese soldiers.
The mother and her two-year old
son escaped to the bombed-out
village of Prasaut where scores
of Cambodian peasants have gath-
ered for protection from the wan-
ton attacks of South Vietnamese
soldiers..
Over 500 Cambodians have fled
to Prasaut in the past six weeks.
Most of the town was destroyed
in fighting over a year ago. But
the refugees feel they are less
likely to be terrorized there be-
cause Prasautissituated on a
major road.
FOR OVER A YEAR, since the
South Vietnamese troops first en-
tered Cambodia, there have been
reports of occasional looting. But
recently the incidents have be-
come more violent. Instead of at-
tacking the Vietcong, South Viet-
namese soldiers have entered and
looted Cambodian homes, tying
the occupants to chairs. In one
village, the South Vietnamese
stole sewing machines, outboard
motors, clothing and animals.
American and Vietnamese of-
ficials are aware of these atroci-
ties, but are unwilling to stop
them. Red tape has slowed the
operations of a joint Cambodian-
Vietnamese commission investigat-
ing charges.
Negotiations have begun between
the Vietnamese and the Cambo-
dians who want their neighbors to
withdraw from all but a 16-kilo-
meter zone along the Vietnamese-
Cambodian border. This might al-
leviate the plight of Cambodian
peasants, but some basic prob-
lems will remain.
Discipline has apparently col-
lapsed in the South Vietnamese
army. Even in their own country,
infantry men are turning to mur-
,der, looting and highway rob-
bery.
In the southern delta province of
Baclieu, a group of militiamen
stopped a bus and stole the pas-
sengers' watches, wallets and
rings. Afterwards, the troops
sprayed the bus with automatic
fire from American M-16's. Five
persons were killed and five
wounded. In Danang, a U.S. Army
bus carrying South Korean enter-
tainers was stopped by Vietnamese
and the Koreans were robbed of
their valuables.,
IT IS EASY to condemn South
Vietnamese troops for attacking
defenseless Cambodians and Viet-
namese. But, this ignores the
plight of the ordinary soldier.
For while politicians and officers
have become wealthy from Ameri-
can supplies, the front line soldiers
are underpaid. It is only natural
that, after living with war most of
their lives, they would try to col-
lect the spoils of it. A few vic-
tories over the Vietcong have
given them new confidence, while
the current lull in fighting has
contributed to boredom.
A f t e r intimidating unarmed
peasants, the soldiers may be re-
luctant to settle down to the rigid
routine of military life. Instead of
following orders from officers,
they are likely to continue plunderM - : k
ing the countryside. As long as
ammunition and guns are avail- 4
able, these soldiers may terrorize
some parts of South Vietnam to
such an extent that confidence in
President Nguyen Van Thieu's "......
government would be undermined. ,
EVER SINCE President Nixon
announced h i s Vietnamization
policy, American journalists and
officials have tried to determine
the ability of the South Vietna-
mese to defend themselves. Now
it appears the greatest danger to
South Vietnam's security may be
its own soldiers. Removing Viet-
namese troops from almost all of
Cambodia may end most of the at-
tacks there, but the abuse of mili-
tary power in South Vietnam can-
not be curbed so easily.
If some units continue raiding
the countryside, the government
could be forced to use "loyal"
troops to bring the insurgents un-
der control. It would be ironic to
'find South Vietnamese soldiers
fighting each other while Thieu , A
seeks a vote of confidence in the .
October 3 election. -Ludwig, Dispatch News Service International
I you're old enough to die,
then you're old enough to fight
They treated me like
a female hamburger
By SARA FITZGERALD
THE NEXT time I roll my cart
past the supermarket's meat
counter I will empathize with the
lamb chops. My heart will go out
to the beef brisket, I will sympa-
thize with the spare ribs.
For I now know what it feels
like to be inspected, wrapped in
cellophane and stamped U. S.
Prime Choice.
Now, I've never been selected
Miss America, Miss Michigan
State Fair, or Miss New York
Steam Engine Society. But from
the reception I got this summer
as I walked to work on Exchange
St. in downtown Akron, Ohio, I
could have been on the gangway
at the Miss Universe contest.
I received wolf whistles and
horn honks, "hey babe"'s and ride
offers. My record day was a grand
total of two whistles, three honks
and once chance to ride to work.
BUT I LEARNED to develop a
style about it. No, not a free and
easy walk withuball-bearing hips,
but shoulders hunched over and a
bitchy face.
And with my cardigan buttoned
safely to my neck, my batting av-
erage would usually drop 50 per
cent.
Not only did I develop a style of
walking, I also came up with a
system of categorizing the "shop-
pers."
One group was the policemen-
you know those "law-and-order"
men who are supposed to protect
women. Don't count on it. They
were among the worst.
Once one nearly fell out the
door of his van catching a last
look as the police car rounded the
corner. Then another driving by
formed an imaginary gun with his
hand and went "Bang."
Ha-ha.
When I wasn't busy avoiding
sharp-shooting policemen, I had
plenty of time for fantasies.
Lett
To The Daily:
THE MALICIOUS ACTIVITIES
of the New York law enforcement
contingencies in regard to the At-
tica prison riot have generated
much academic and political dis-
course here in the law school and
the nation. The action represents
an unreasonable response to the
despondent and critically frus-
trating plight of human beings.
While the state admittedly has
police powers which may be used
to maintain control for the bene-
fit of an ordered society, the use
of force as demonstrated at At-
tica cannot be justified, either in
terms of a threat presented or
atal harm done.
ONE OF MY FAVORITES was:
A car creeps up slowly behind me,
the driver lets out a whistle. He
drives by to gaze at the object
of his dreams and sees-a wart-
nosed witch.
He immediately vomits out his
car window.
Some days my dreams turned
into reality. Once a truck driver
whistled at me one too many
times. I promptly told him to "go
get screwed." I also walked a
block out of my way to avoid a
furtheruconfrontation withahim.
But I never could get up enough
courage to give one of my "as-
sailants" the finger. But I thought
about it a lot.
And in my daydream, the guy
always turned out to be a plain-
clothes policeman who promptly
arrested me for making an ob-
scene gesture.
My trial would start-and I'd
love every minute of it.
FOR I'D FINALLY get a chance
to tell them what I feel is truly
obscene.
By LINDSAY CHANEY
fRViNG WAS sitting on t he
I Diag a few days ago, busily
writing on one of those yellow
legal pads.
"Hi Irv, watchya doing," I said.
"I'm writing a letter to Con-
gressman Esch," Irv answered,
without looking up. "I have solv-
ed the problem of selective serv-
ice inequities and the injustices
inherentsinour present miliatry
draft system."
"What's your plan?" I asked.
"MY PROPOSAL is a universal
military service act to draft every-
one over 65 years of age," Irv said,
looking up and appearing quite
proud of himself.
"Draft everyone over 65?" I
asked incrediously.
"Oh, I know what you're going
to say." he said wearily. "You're
going to say people over 65 are
too feeble to serve in the arniy.
Well, you're wrong."
"Don't interrupt me," Irv in-
terrupted. "Today's army is a
mechanized army. It's brains, not
brawn that move those tanks and
het -onters."
"And not even too much
br-ins" T volunteered.
"You don't seem to realize that
most people over 65 are pretty
healthy. otherwise they wouldn't
have made it to 65." Irv contin-
ued. "Just the other day I read
where Senator Barnstorm, 68
years old, gave a 30 minute
speech on the Senate floor, de-
nouncing flaaburners."
"I guess that takes some phy-
siesl stamina." I said.
"Right. Anyone who can do
that can serve in the army. And,
after all, how much does it take
to open a bomb bay and p us h
4
-Daily-Tom Gottlieb
Uncle Sam needs YOU
napalm out on bamboo huts? How
much muscle do you need to
fly over rice paddies in a heli-
copter and shoot farmers?"
"What you say might be true,"
I conceded.
"MY PROPOSAL has other
merits." he went on. "One of the
chief criticisms of the present
draft system is that young men
are subject to an interruption in
their lives at a crucial time -
when they're embarking on a ca-
reer that will cover some 40 years
of their lives."
"And under your plan, the peo-
ple have already completed their
careers, right?"
WN-%
-
"That's it exactly," said Irv. "By
the time a man gets to be 65, he's
already got where he's going, has
been where he's gone, or will nev-
er get there. In any case, his
career is behind him."
"I suppose a lot of people get
pretty bored after they retire
from civilian life," I commented.
"Now you're catching on," said
Irv. "This plan will provide all
those lonely retirees with some-
thing worthwhile and exciting to
do."
"But do you expect very much
public support for this proposal?
I can see that 20-year-olds might
like it, but don't you think men
over 65 might be opposed to this
idea?"
"NOT AT ALL," Irv said, sound-
ing rather hurt. "Some of the
most patriotic men in the country
are over 65 - men like Bob Hope,
John Wayne, Lewis Hershey, Lyn-
don Johnson, John Stennis, and
J. Edgar Hoover. These are the
men I would expect to be most
enthusiastic about my plan and
who would work hardest to ensure
that it is passed into law."
"They might even want to vol-
unteer," I added.
"Of course," said Irv. "These are
men who have extolled the vir-
tues of fighting and dying for the
United States; the kind of men
who would jump at the chance to
carry a gun in Indochina."
"YOU'VE CONVINCED me," I
said. "I'll write a letter to Marvin
Esch myself."
tcre
dollars from the general funds
made no difference in this curious
bit of logic, for those moneys went
to support something other than
intercollegiate athletics per se.
The new parking lot will un-
doubtedly be very profitable, and
we can be sure that our Depart-
ment of Intercollegiate Athletics
will come up with ways to spend
the money. But, to judge from past
performance, the money will go to
help the big time near-professional
athletics that we've grown used to
around here, and very little bene-
fit will find its way down ,to the
peculiar individuals who simply
like to play games because they
are fun.
-
_ . ;. =
l , ° ,
r . ...
.,.
4
ters: Response to the Attica massa
reduces our faith in these legal
mechanisms and serves as a hu-
miliating blight on any civilized
society.
Further, the immediate denial
of necessary medical services af-
ter such repressive actions serv-
es only to emphasize the inhu-
manity and lack of due consider-
ation on the part of the police
hierarchy. Such action can be in-
terpreted as cruel and unusual
punishment in violation of guar-
anteed constitutional rights un-
der the Eighth Amendment, a n d
serves as evidence of the severity
of the abuse of power by the state
officials.
laws, is the apparently expend-
able nature of the life of the
guards held hostage.
The political system displayed
at Attica only serves to promote
more Atticas plus more rational-
izations for the murders of t h e
predominantly black inmates. We
feel it incumbent on us to vehe-
mently denounce the actions tak-
en by the New York officials and
point to their gross disregard for
human life.
-Black Law Student Alliance
Athletic profits
To The Daily:
FOR THE FIRST TIME in any-
mandeered and, in all probability,
damaged in order to make money
for our Department of Intercol-
legiate Athletics. I checked this
matter with the Accounting De-
partment, and that's where the
money goes-not into general
funds, but into the Department of
Intercollegiate Athletics, Don Can-
ham, Director.
This semi - autonomous body
made very clear last spring that
It had access to two classes of
money-Its money (that generated
from admissions to, and conces-
sions associated with, athletic
events) and our money (the funds
used for the University at larger .
On, mrno ,enmlrlho Te N,t in nn
4
Sir