Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited'and managed by students at the University of Michigan
"SCHULER" COUNTY UPSHOT
Saturday, September 7, 1974 News P
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Phone: 764-0552
Ecoiomics of cooperation
AT LONG LAST we have a man in
the White House who admits
that economic problems do exist in
this country and who, by all appear-
ances, intends to do something about
them.
Whether or not the revival of the
Cost of Living Council and the plan-
ned balanced budget actually prove
beneficial is yet to be seen. The fact
remains however that for the first
time since Nixon's disasterous price
freeze in 1971 the government is at-
tempting to remedy the situation.
Many economists have sharply
criticized President Ford's anti-infla-
tion plan, calling it "a terrible idea"
and "mostly window dressing". Some
of these same men were advisors to
former President Nixon, and we all
know how successful his policies were.
Political affiliations though, seem
to have little or no bearing on econo-
mists' views of what has been seen
so far of Ford's policy. Economists
with Democratic and Socialist ties, as
well as those with Republican iden-
tities see Ford's plans as ineffective.
ECONOMICS HAS ALWAYS been a
tricky business, and most econo-
mists readily admit that there is con-
siderable disagreement among them-
selves as to the best way in which to
fight inflation. With each economist
carrying his/her own banner to save
the world's faltering economy, there
is little wonder that Ford's ideas were
so promptly blasted as worthless by
these modern economic wizards.
What seems to be lacking in all this
rhetoric is a workable plan to help
alleviate some of the economic stress
this country is presently being sub-
jected to. It's easy for one economist
to say that another's ideas are worth-
less while their own could possibly be
just what the nation's economic pol-
icy needs.
So while economists bicker among
themselves inflation rises and so
does, unemployment. Apparently it's
easier to sit back and criticize what
the other guy is doing than to risk
success by cooperation.
-SUE WILHELM
Keep in'
Editor's note: This is the second in a signed ca
series of interviews with Myra Wolf- a majori
gang and Bob Alpert, organizers for lo- very im
cal 24 of the Hotel, Motel, Restaurant ciate tha
Employes, Cooks and Bartenders. They in the bu
are currently preparing for a unioniza- Myra:
tion vote at Win Schuler's Restaurant. the reas
Any correspondence on this issue is wel- ler's "pu
come, and should be addressed to "Let- Michigan
ters to The Daily." the Wage
By MARNIE HEYN name, I
out, but
IS THE ELECTION that has been calls it-
scheduled standard procedure as far emptions,
as your work in Michigan goes? Have mum wa
you had to go through the formality of three en
an election everywhere you have ob- er mem
tained cards from, say, two-thirds of bers, ap
the employes in an establishment?...... to appro
Myra: Yes. Yes, in all fairness, there function
are rare exceptions where the employer is to def
will accept authorization cards if they the min
are validated by a third party. But the make tin
employer who wants to fight the union in the ki
will ask for an election and will ask for ing tins,
a hearing to determine the proper unit The !foa
and as a result will be able to defer the "Gratuit
election from the moment it's asked for trih'ition
until it's held for - in this case - six lv from
to eight weeks. And 98 employes have services
left since then. or casto
That's a really substantial number. Is glove to
Schuler's an important employer in the nurposes
state? bovs do
Myra: Very important, not only in the frnn c'u
state, but especially in this part of the this md,
state. vTaitresz
Bob: Let me emphasize, though, that nersonal
a majority of employes who originally very hel
them
ards are still there, and we have
ity of those cards; and that's
portant. It's necessary to appre-
at there is this kind of turnover
usiness.
Let me give you an example of
ons that in a sense make Schu-
iublic enemy number one." The
n minimum wage law gives to
ge Deviation Board - horrible
wish they'd left the "deviation"
that's the name that the act
- the right to make certain ex-
s, deviations, from the mini-
age. The board is composed of
mploye members, three employ-
bers, and three "public" mem-
pointed by the governor subject
val by the senate. One of the
s of the Wage Deviation Board
fine how much can be taken off
imum wage for employes who
is. Employes who are working
tchen or elsewhere and not mak-
are in a different classification.
rd made the following definition:
y means a tip, a vollintarv con-
, received by an emplove direct-
a guest, patron, or customer for
rendered to th-t guest, patron,
mer, and reported by the em-
the employer for Social Security
." Now, according to this, bus-
not receive any tins directly
stomers. Bilshovs customarily in
strv do receive aportion of the
>es gratuity, and that's a highly
relationshin. If the busbov was
Inful, the girl will give him an
kids
in
X amount of money; if they're less help-
ful, they give them less. Anyhow, Schu-
ler's went into court (and you don't have
to guess which court; he picked Calhoun
The net result is that
every busboy in the state
of Michigan is receiving
24 cents an hour less than
he was getting one year
(Igo.
County, whose seat is Marshall, which
IS Schuler's) - he went into court to
challenge the definition of the State of
Michigan - not my definition. They
were able to get a judge who said that
a tip is a monetary contribution received
by an employe, period. The net result is
that every busboy in the state today is
receiving 24 cents an hour less than they
were getting one year ago. For that, ev-
eryone in the state has only Win Schuler
to thank. The busboys at Schuler's used
to get $1.60 an hour; now they're getting
$1.31.
Another interesting thing about Schu-
ler's saying that employes don't need a
union because they're one big happy
family - you know they opened a new
restaurant in West Bloomfield. There
he's paying thehwaitresses $1.75 an hour:
in Ann Arbor he's paying him $1.31 an
ho"r.
The legal minimum. Where did they
get 24 cents?
Myra: The 24 cents is a 15 per cent
deduction for gratuities from the legal
minimum; plus 5 cents for a meal-4
per cent - and defines a meal as con-
sisting of two vegetables, salad, meat
fish or poultry, beverage, bread and but-
ter. An additional 3 cents deduction is
allowed for a second meal, so if you
work lunch and dinner and have a snack,
the total is $1.31. The waitresses at Schu-
ler's working days are paid more than
the swaitresses working nights.
They also deleted the portion of the
law which required the employe to
report the gratuities for social security
purposes. This is outrageous, because
it leaves the employer as the sole judge
of how much the employe is making in
tips.
They automatically subtract the maxi-
mum?
Bob: What they do is automatically
take the 15 per cent and the meal deduc-
tion. Now, where tips are very low,
they add a few pennies. The thing is that
they automatically do the same thing
to the busboys. Now the busboy gets no
gratuity from the guest. The tradition
is for the waiter or waitress to give the
busboy a percentage of their tips. The
management then goes ahead and takes
the same deviation from the busboy's
wages. So they're deducting tips about
four times.
Myra: that's right........ ....
TOMORROW: Organizing tinder the
fable.
line
Debeefing national palate
MACHO'S LAST STAND:
Rodeo: Scar from America's past
WHO AMONG US does not remem-
-ber their mother telling them at
the dinner table, "Eat your vegeta-
bles; there are people starving in
Asia?" This is usually looked on as a
joke in later life. But unfortunately,
it typifies the American attitude to-
ward the world food situation.
In the town of Ann Arbor, it is easy
to find people who are aware of the
starvation that exists in Africa and
India, and are sympathetic toward,
the victims. But when it comes to
changing personal habits, even the
most liberal of people stick to the
preservation of their material com-
forts.
Mind you, we are not urging that
University students share in the star-
vation of foreign lands, though many
would not be harmed if they took off
a few pounds. However, certain Amer-
Ican character traits should be re-
examined in the light of the world
food crisis.
A prime candidate is the American
addiction to beef. As America grew
more affluent, beef consumption rose
accordingly, and now steaks and
hamburgers are synonymous in the
popular mind with meat.
BEEF IS TASTY and an excellent
source of vital protein. But there
are costs to beef production, and they
are not entirely found on the super-
market pricetags.
Beef cattle must be fed, and the
prime food of the feedlots is grain,
mostly born. The trouble is that cat-
tle are very inefficient converters of
corn into beef. Even the best herds
require six pounds of grain for every
pound gained by the animal. Since
corn is itself edible by humans, five
pounds of potential food have been
lost in the conversion.
I PONi' CARE WHAT FOR'P
NPAYxT XSA js1'
'Vll?-
BO! 1S E IGR!WHT I
Large areas cannot be cultivated
for grain but will grow grass; and
grass is an excellent cattle feed. But
the American public has a prejudice
against grass-fed beef, dating back
from the days of the longhorns.
Grain-fed beef is less tough, andj
looks better when displayed for sale.
So the American cattle industry
developed. Cattle are calved on the
Great Plains, shipped off to the Corn
Belt to be fattened, and when the
proper weight is reached, they are
sent to the slaughter and become
Wrigley's steaks or Big Macs.
QINCE EVERY DIET must have pro-
tein, one would do well to con-
sider alternate sources. For meat-
-eaters,. chickens are the most effic-
ient grain converters (a pound of
gain one two and a half pounds of
feed). For those not inclined toward
meat, protein can be found in dairy
products and dry beans and peas.
No one is really expecting the
Michigan training table to start serv-
ing Dennis Franklin and Company
cheeses and nuts after practice. But,
as has become apparent from the re-
sults of the World Population Con-;
ference, the poorer nations of the
world are inclined to view the con-
spicuous consumption of the develop-
ed countries as an excuse for their
failure to take any action to improve
their own lot.
A S SOMEONE ONCE said, we're all
in this together, and sending
the American beef cow along the
path of the horse would be a small,
but significant gesture toward Im-
provement of the condition of a large
share of humankind.
-JOHN KAHLER
Nor ANY KINP!
vEg!E*
By DAVID WARREN
FOR MOST people rodeo is an
exciting sport event that
pits man against beast. An ar-
ray of color, character,.spills
and danger mingled with smells
that are supposed to remind us
of our rural past. As a specta-
tor sport rodeo is great, but
few people ever concern them-
selves with the reality of rodeo.
The reality of rodeo is that
it is perhaps the most brutal,
inhumane sport s i n c e gladia-
torial circuses of ancient Rome.
For both people and animals,
rodeo is hard, cruel, and unpro-
fitable as a way of life.
For the cowboys rodeo can
be a great way to live, if they
are one of fifteen top riders
who made from ten to forty
thousand dollars last year. But
for the5,085 other cowboys it is
frustrating, and difficult to
make a living. According to the
Rodeo Cowboys Association the
average yearly income for rod-
eo cowboys is $3,000. All rodeo
contestants have to pay their
expenses, entry fees, and hos-
pital bills. Because of th i s
many cowboys do not break
even.
ACCORDING TO R.C.A. last
year there were 2 arena deaths,
which, so they say, is very
high. Also there were 289 re-
ported injuries in rodeo, but
not all injuries are reported.
There are no reports on perm-
anent damage due to a number
of injuries. Jim Cleveland, who
is a top-rated rider has broken
his left ankle threertimes in the
last three seasons, and that
has to affect his health event-
ually.
All in all, it is argued, t h e
cowboys are willing partici-
pants, and are aware of the
hardships involved in trying to
make a life as a rodeo rider.
But what about the animals, the
unwilling participants?
The American Humane As-
sociation of Denver, Colo., is the
only humane group that sanc-
tions rodeo. It is their con-
tention that buck straps, calf
ropes, and other sundry arti-
cles that are used to make
the animals perform do not
seriously hurt the animals, and
in fact only one tenth of one
per cent of all animals used
in rodeo are seriously injured.
Butwhat are "serious" and
"non-serious" injuries?
LEE KVARNBERG, of the
Washtenaw County Humane So-
ciety disagrees with the A.H.A.
of Denver. Most injuries in
rodeos occur in the in the rop-
ing events, when calves run-
ning at full tilt are suddenly
roped by a rider and jerked
around, causing damage to neck
tendons and muscles.
Kvarnberg also told of sores
and even serious injuries result-
ing from cinch belts, metal
studs and nails in the belts. He
also stated that "one fourth of
one per cent" injury estimate
is very conservative, but had
no figures himself. The Humane
Society of Washtenaw County
does not sanction rodeo.
The Fund for Animals, locat-
ed in Ann Arbor is another hu-
mane group, like the Humane
Society, which would like to
seen an end to rodeo. The di-
rector, Doris Dixon, claims that
rodeo is a very cruel sport, and
cited many of the same atroci-
ties as did Kvarnberg, but ad-
ded that many rodeos are not
supervised by any humane
groups. In fact the A.H.A. of
Denver only sanctions 30 per
cent of all rodeos in the U.S.
IT IS SYMPTOMATIC of us
as a society that some of us are
entertained by rodeo. It would
be incomprehensible to an Eng-
lishman to enjoy the spectacle
of people torturing animals for
entertainment. Perhaps it is
because of our history as a peo-
ple that we equate manhood
with domination of others. A
rodeo cowboy is one of the last
representatives of the macho
frontier mentality.
Rodeo began as a showplace
for cowboys to exhibit their tal-
ents and skills, and at one
time it was a valid reflection
of American society. But re-
gardless of how we view our-
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
selves as a society, it is ap-
parent that rodeo'has little bear-
ing on modern American life.
We are not cowboys, nor are
we frontierspeople.
The image of the rodeo cow-
boy has also outlived its pur-
pose in society. The last thing
that we need right now is the
John Wayne type of man. The
machismo ethic, the cowboy,
and rodeo itself are all anach-
ronisms, dinosaurs from a by-
gone era.
WHILE THE people's libera-
tion movement has done much
to destroy, these myths, it has
done little to stop rodeo, which
is a concrete representation of
what is evil in American life.
Letters
to
The
V. _-
I
BOY! IS H E A TIGER! WHAT DID
HE DO IN WORLD WAR il?
-- 5
i
DROVE A TRUCK FOR A
HEADQUARTERS COMPANY
MOTOR POOL.
union without warning.
Health and safety concerns
To the Daily: are sometimes disregarded by
management. For example,
THIS MORNING I read the when I first arrived on the job,
Daily interview with union or- both back exits from the kit-
ganizer Myra Wolfgang concern- chen were locked (to supposdly
ing the unionization attempt by protect against employe theft).
employes at Win Schuler's res- This meant that if a fire broke
taurant. I support their struggle, out in the cooking section of the
and I would like to report on a kitchen, the dishwashers could
similar situation at another Ann be trapped. Two other dish-
Arbor restaurant. washers pointed this out to me.
I worked for the past five AFTER I COMPLAINED to
weeks at the Ramada Inn West the manager one of the doors
on JacksonRoad. Conditions at was opened (although the screen
both the motel and restaurant door is still locked which means
to work without fear of being
arbitrarily fired. A union would
insure that an employe is not
fired unless valid reason-such
as not performing one's job-is
shown. Without a union, em-
ployes have no way to protect
themselves in this regard.
Tn early August a group of
employes was discussing the
conditions and we decided to try
to organize. We chose the Hotel
and Restaurant Employes Union
Local 24 to represent us and
within two weeks a majority of
hotel and restaurant employes
s i g n e d union authoribation
Daily
Ramada employes need an
organization to protect their in-
terests in matters of wages,
working conditions, and most
importantly job security (which
is non-existent). It is interesting
that Ramada management al-
ready has two voices to speak
for it's own interests: Ramada
Corporation headquarters in
Phoenix, Arizona which is di-
recting the anti-union effort for
the Ann Arbor Ramada, and
the national Hotel and Restau-
rant Association.
Hopefully employes in other
Ann Arbor non-union restaurants
will follow Schuler's and Ra-
mada employes in the effort for
union representation.
-David Klein
September 6
I
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
it