e Si4 igan Pail
Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
superscription
ACE lobby: Uniting to resist HEW bias plan?
p
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, DECEMBER 4, 1971
NIGHT EDITOR: GERI SPRUNG
Prodding the U' on sexism
FACED WITH the loss of federal re-
search contract eligibility, the Univer-
sity last spring submitted to the Depart-
ment of Health Education and Welfare
(HEW) a set of goals and timetables for
achieving employment equity for women.
These goals and timetables, weak at best,
have not, however, been implemented ac-
cording to the University's own schedule
and directives.
The University's lack of compliance
with its own sex discrimination goals as
well as the lackluster nature of the goals
themselves impelled PROBE, a group of
University women, to file a second suit
two weeks ago. Once again the University
is charged with sex discrimination, and,
in addition, bad faith in its alleged ef-
forts to fight this sexism.
In response to these renewed sex dis-
crimination charges, the University has
denied that it is acting in bad faith. Pres-
ident Robben Fleming called the PROBE
complaint "unfair." Yet Virginia Nordin,
chairwoman of the University's Commis-
sion for Women, agrees with the charges.
"I don't think we'd argue with anything
PROBE has to say," she commented.
These reactions are not surprising. It
has been clear since last fall, when the
University first submitted an affirmative
action program that was deemed unac-
ceptable by the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare (HEW), that it
Editorial Staff
ROBERT KRAFTOWITZ
Editor
JIM BEATTIE DAVE CHUDWIN
Executive Editor Managing Editor
STEVE KOPPMAN ..... ...... Editora± Page Editor
RICK PERLOFF ... Associate Editorial Page Editor
PAT MAHONEY .. . Assistant Editorial Page Editor
LARRY LEMPET....... Associate Managing Editor
LYNN WEINER...........Associate Managing Editor
ANITA CRONE Arts Editor
JIM IRWIN .............. . . .. . Associate Arts Editor
ROBERT CONROW ............o......,oks Editor
JANET FREY ......,............ Personnel Director
JIM JUDKI . ...............Photogra""v Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Rose Sue Berstein, Lindsay Chaney,
Mark Dillen, Sara Fitzgerald, Tammy Jacobs, Alan
Lenhoff, Arthur Lerner, Hester Pulling, Carla
Rapoport, Robert Schreiner, W.E. Schrock, Geri
Sprung.
COPY EDITORS: Pat Bauer, Chris Parks, Gene Robin-
son.
DAY EDITORS: Linda Dreeben, John Mitchell, Han-
nah Morrison, Beth Oberfelder, Tony Schwartz,
Gloria Jane Smith, Ted Stein, Paul Travis, Marcia
Zoslaw.
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Robert Barkin, Jan
Benedetti Steve Brumrnel, Janet Gordon, Lynn
Sheehan, Charles Stein.
Business Staff
JAMES STOREY, Business Manager
RICHARD RADCLIFFE ... Advertising Manager
SUZANNE BOSCHAN l. ..FSaes Manager
JOHN SOMMERS..........Finance Manager
ANDY GOLDING .... Associate Advertising Manager
DEPARTMENT MANAGERS: Bill Abbott-Display Adv.;
Rebecca Van Dyke-Classified Adv.; Fran Hymeii
-National Adv.; Harry Hirsch-Layout.
ASSOCIATE MANAGERS: Alan Klein, Donna Sills,
Judy Cassel.
,ASSISTANT MANAGERS: Paul Wenzloff, Steve Evseef,
Ashish Sarkar, Dave Lawson.
Sports Staff
MORT NOVECK, Sports Editor
TERRI POUCHEY....... Contributing Sports Editor
BETSY MAHON................Senior Night Editor
TERRI FOUCHEY.. ...Contributing Sports Editor
SPORTS NIGHT EDITORS: Bill Alterman, Bob An-
drews, Sandi Genis, Joel Greer, Elliot Legow,
John Papanek, Randy Phillips, Al Shackelford.
did not intend to alter its employment
practices.
THIS ATTITUDE of institutionalized
disrespect for women's rights was' fur-
ther borne out by the inadequate goals
and timetables proposed last March and
later by the University's response to at-
tempts at enforcing these goals and time-
tables. Last summer for example, in the
first such case ever, Cheryl Clark, a re-
search assistant at the Highway Safety
Research Institute, sued the University
for back pay, charging that she was paid
less than a male employe executing the
same duties. Clark's request was denied.
Although the University has been her-
%Ided nationally for its affirmative ac-
tion plan to achive employment equity
for women and Fleming has been named
to an advisory unit of the American
Council for Education, the University has
in fact done little to combat its own in-
grained sexism.
Especially since the goals it submitted
in March were weak - calling for min-
imal increases in women personnel
throughout the University - it is shock-
ing that they have been met with dis-
regard and bureaucratic stagnation.
PROBE charges the University with us-
ing the media to distort and weaken the
issue of sex bias, using inadequate pro-
cedures to identify victims of sexism,
failure to pay compensatory back pay to
women performing jobs for which men
receive higher pay, and inadequacy in
complaint procedures for employes with
sex bias grievances.
ALL OF THESE issues should be met
with more than official assurances
that the University is working to combat
sex bias.
It is patently sexist that the Univer-
sity should discrimipate against its wo-
men employes because they are women.
'And it is patently sexist' to fail to fulfill
goals aimed at alleviating this discrim-
ination.
While working toward equality for wo-
men, of course, those involved must be
constantly alert to the danger of simply
replacing a male power elite with a fe-
male power elite. Nevertheless, women at
the University should be allowed to at-
tain positions of importance based on
merit, just as men can attain these
positions.
CONCERNED individuals and groups
must prod the University to institute
and abide by a vigorous program to
achieve employment equity for women.
The University has demonstrated clearly
by its lack of attention to its own list-
less affirmative action plan that only a
powerful threat - such as loss of federal
contract eligibility - will force it to fight
sex discrimination. PROBE and HEW
should thus insist upon anemployment
equity plan with automatically imposed
sanctions for lack of compliance.
-ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS came one after
the other - like beads on a string -
but the order of the beads didn't make
sense.
First, the American Council of Educa-
tion (ACE) announced last month its ap-
pointment of five university presidents, in-
cluding President Robben Fleming, to a
committee advisory to the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare (HEW).
The committee's focus, they said, will be
in coordinating national affirmative action
plans, all aimed at achieving employment
equity for minority group members within
the institutions involved.
Then PROBE, a group of University
women, announced it had filed a complaint
with the federal government, charging the
University with acting in "bad faith" in its
affirmative action plan on sex bias which,
it added, was inadequate to begin with.
At this point the beads cascade to the
floor, unstrung, for Fleming and the other
committee members represent institutions
most of which have been under fire for
stalling and, in some instances, attempting
to block HEW's directives to eliminate sex
bias.
The universities apparently are squaring
off against the government on the issue
of internal guidelines dealing with employ-
ment goals - setting up, in effect, a
lobby to represent university administra-
tions.
The other members of the committee
are Derek Bok, president of Harvard Uni-
versity and chairman of the committee:
Martha Peterson, president of Barnard
College; Terry Sanford, president of Duke
University, and Clifton Wharton, Jr.,
president of Michigan State University.
OF THESE UNIVERSITIES, two - Har-
vard and Michigan State - have recently
been involved with HEW negotiations for
ending sex discrimination and one - Bar-
nard College - is affiliated with Colum-
bia University - where federal contracts
are currently being withheld pending reso-
lution of an agreement between Columbia
and HEW to end sex bias in employment.
The University of Michigan's affirmative
action plan has not yet been accepted by
HEW.
The purpose of the committee, Chairman
Bok said yesterday, is to iron out what
the universities must do to comply with
HEW guidelines.
He also said that the universities were
chosen to represent differences of the re-
University's Commission for Women meets
by lynn weiner
Women, (CFW), established last spring to
improve the status of women at the Uni-
versity, was never consulted or informed
of the appointment. The group issued' a
statement yesterday indicating its "dis-
may" that Fleming accepted the appoint-
ment without their knowledge.
CFW chairwoman Virginia Nordin said
she didn't "doubt the good intentions of
the committee members," but that "many
men and women just don't understand the
dimensions of the problem. Many qualified
academic women could have been appoint-
ed to the committee. Fleming has a pos-
itive attitude - but the problem of dis-
crimination is so complex it would be
better for a woman to advise HEW on
sex bias."
Nationally, a woman's group represent-
ing the Women's Action Equity League, the
National Organization of Women and
others is charging "collusion between ACE
and vested interests in the University
world." And they have begun-to circulate
petitions throughout the country calling
for the dissolution of the committee.
These are not the first charges of col-
lusion of universities. against government
es suggest- pressure to end discriminatory practices.
d ACE as Science Magazine reported last Novem-
e, he said, ber that the University had circulated the
n institu- initial HEW demands o the administra-
tions of other schools, "in an attempt to
n's groups gain support for university resistance to
protesting the demands."
and charg- Fleming, as Bok, sees the role of the
e interests 0 committee in "discussing with the secre-
t may not tary (of HEW) the problems involved with
minority administrating affirmative action pro-
grams."
This may, some women paint out, be
aich filed interpreted as defending the interests of
said yes- the administrations against what may be
was an viewed as unreasonable HEW demands.
higan."
resignation CLEARLY, THE LOBBY does not repre-
they said. rent the universities als a totality, but
mmend to rather only the administration's point of
t be spent view. And if this is so, and the lobby -suc-
nstitutions ceeds in communicating with HEW, then
ney flying women and other minorities affected by
ng to find affirmative action plans should also or-
ith federal ganize to formally represent their view-
mination.". points.
hey added, For the ACE committee speaks for ad-
ile women ministrators who represent a status quo,
... would and only pictures one bead on the string
the prob- of perceptions of the problems of discriM-
ination and its alleviation in the nations
I
gional HEW office directives.
It is interesting to note, then, that two
of the five universities represented are
within 60 miles of each other - Michigan
State and the University, that two rep-
resent the east coast Ivy League, and one
is in the South. There is no representation
of any schools west of Michigan, and all
of the schools are large institutions.
Why were these particular schools cho-
sen? ACE President Logen Wilson said
Thursday that the presidents were chosen
for the following reasons:
* Fleming. "He has had more exper-
ience with HEW and has a .legal back-
ground."
* Wharton. "We wanted a black."
* Peterson. "Her affiliation with Colum-
bia, and because she's a woman."
* Bok. "We chose Bok because he knew
Pottinger (one of the HEW heads) and
had talked to him about the problem. He's
also a forme'r law student of his."
* Sanford. "He's the former governor
of South Carolina."
These "representatives" of the nation's
universities represent the administrations
of universities which, for the most part,
have been charge by women's groups with
bucking HEW guidelines on ending sex
discrimination,
The committee was born when the As-
sociation of American Universiti
ed its birth, and Wilson offere
the parent organization because
it broadly represented America
tions of higher learning.
Both national and local wome
have kicked the beads around,
the formation of the committee a
ing that it represents only the
of the administrations - which
be the interests of women or
groups.
PROBE, THE GROUP wh
charges against the University,
terday Fleming's appointment
"affront to the women of Mic
"We call for his immediater
or removal from the committee,"
"We believe that . . . he reco
ACE . . . that their energy bes
in cleaning up their own i
rather than waste our tax mo
around in private airplanes tryi
ways to keep from complying w
contract orders to end discri
"If HEW needs advisors," th
"there are thousands of capab
in all parts of the country who
be most willing to, explain how
Lem should be corrected."
THE UNIVERSITY'S Comm
fission for
colleges.
U.S.:0
By ALAN LENHOFF
IN WASHINGTON, speculation is
mounting that the Nixon Ad-
ministration is preparing to ex-
pand arms shipments to Latin
American countries - despite the
recent opposition to Latin Amer-
ican military aid voiced by mem-
bers of the Senate.
Last week, presidential advisor
Robert Finch announced that
many Latin American countries
have expressed an interest in pur-
chasing American military equip-
ment that will become available at
the end of the Vietnam war, Finch
is currently in Latin America on
a special mission for President
Nixon designed'.to help formulate
new policies toward our southern
neighbors.
Finch is expected to m a k e
recommendations to the President
upon his return, and selling sur-
plus military equipment to Latin
American countries is sure to be
high on his list.
These sales would serve two
important functions for the ad-
ministration. First, they would
help ease the burgeoning U. S.
balance of payments deficit. Also,
the sales would help provide as-
surance to some of the more para-
noic Nixon advisors who worry
about the political influence Euro-
pean countries have gained in Lat-
in American countries through
military sales.
But to expand this trade, Nixon
will have to win over Senate crit-
ics of the current Latin American
policy.
Specifically, those critics have
blasted the Department of D e -
fense's Military Assistance P r o-
gram (MAP) and the State De-
partment's Agency for Interna-
tional Development for bolstering
the power of numerous right-wing
governments in Latin America,
thereby preventing long overdue
land and economic reforms.
NIXON'S PAST record indicates
that he will have few misgivings
about selling U.S. military equip-
ment to these countries.
Last May, for example, the Pres-
ident ignored a self-imposed $75
million limit on arms sales to Latin
America and asked Congress to
authorize sales of $150 million.
At that time, Nixon said he was
concerned that the U n i t e d
States was beginning to lose hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in
arms sales to European competi-
tors. Indeed, all of the countries
Finch has visited thus far have
rFeeding
- 4
Loyalist Argentine
According to Nixon, this coun-
try's "failure" to secure more of
the arms market has been due
to its reluctance to actively pur-
sue such trade. A recent study,
however, disputes that statement.
THE STOCKHOLM International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
has reported that four countries
-the United States, the S o v i e t
Union, Britain and France - have
supplied more than 90 per cent of
the major arms to Third World
countries "where all wars have
been fought in the past 25 years."
The institute said that the sale
of arms by the four victorious
World War II powers was one of
the most politically profitable ven-
tures to emerge from that con-
flict - totalling close to $18 bil-
lion since 1950 and continuing cur-
rently at a rate of about $1.5 bil-
lion a year.
"The United States is the larg-
est supplier of military equipment
in the world, accounting for near-
ly half the world's total trade in
weapons," the report said. "Since
1950 well over a third of the total
major weapons acquired by Third
World countries have come from
the United States."
The report was issued last week
by an international team of five
South
American
feuds
tionalists and liberal and left-wing
elements - in direct contradiction
with our goals for reform in the
Americas, as stated -in the Al-
liance for Progress.
According to John Gerassi, form-
er Time Magazine Latin Ameri-
can correspondent, "Our arms .. .
have encouraged Latin American
armies to rule, violating constitu-
tions, denying elections and mak-
ing a mockery of democratic pro-
cess."
The result of our military a I d
to LatinsAmerica, Gerassi c o n
crudes, is that "Latin Americans
continue to think there is only
one way to defeat their armies --
oy arming the people."
Surely, this has been d e m o n-
strated on several. occasions, in-
cluding Bolivia where peasants and
miners armed themselves in the
1952 revolution and in Cuba where
guerrillas routed Batista's U.S.
trained and equipped troops and
'eplaced the regular army with
peasant militias.
SHOULD NIXON choose to ex-
pand the flow of military equip-
ment to Latin America, it is ap-
parent that this bloody struggle
between fascist military institu-
tions and the nationalist reform-
ers will continue for years to come
--with the Latin American people
becoming the victims of our mis-
guided Cold War and economic
strategies.
The Editorial Page of The
Michigan Daily is open to any
one who wishes to submIt
articles. Generally speaking, all
articles should be less than
1,000 words.
4
troops prepare to meet army rebellion.
1 7F {
,I Vo
i i - 11 1CCC -,y .
t"A
t
lJ
l (
t s } f 1
I i ; ii 1r
a
pons used in these wars have
come almost entirely from the in-
Justrialized nations of the North-
ern Hemisphere."
The report also charged t h a t
while France and Britain h a v e
been involved in the arms trade for
economic purposes, the key moti-
vation of both the United States
and the Soviet Union has been
to use arms deals as part of their
global power plays - thus turn-
ing the Third World into the
literal battlefield of the Cold War.
Certainly these findings are not
unique. For example, John Ken-
neth Galbraith, the noted academ-
ician and former ambassador to
India, has said that United States
arms shipments to Pakistan ac-
:ully caused the war between Pak-
istan and India in 1965. His ex-
planation is simple: If the U.S.
had not, provided the arms, Pak-
istan would have been incapable o'f
seeking a military solution no mat-
ter how strongly they felt about
retaining Kashmir.
The arms had been provided by
the U.S. to protect Pakistan from
possible aggression by either the
Soviet Union or China. The prob-
lem that emerged in 1965 was that
Pakistan did not share the Unit-
ed State' viewmnint that Kashmir
boats which it borrowed from the
U.S. Navy.
While the rationale for American
military aid programs has been
to prevent communist subversion
from within, (extra-continental at-
tacks having long been regarded
as being beyond the realm of pos-
sibility) Latin American militar-
ists have tended to expediently
brand all opponents as "Commun-
ists." Our arms, therefore, have
consistently been used against na-
,
14I .-..
.-,
.yh.:
. 4
1 X.,
I
U if. ~..t