. r trixan Daily
Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

Saturday, February 1, 1975

News Phone: 764-0552

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104

GEO deserves full support

AST NIGHT THE GEO (Graduate
Employee Organization held a
mass meeting to decide whether to
hold a strike vote next Wednesday
unless the university administration
agrees to the GEO's contract de-
mands. About 500 teaching assistants
were present, and of those only one
or two voted against having a strike
vote next Wednesday.
Between today and next Wednes-
day, the GEO hopes to recruit still
more teaching assistants to back a
strike. However, even with 100 per
cent support among the T.A.s, their
proposed strike, when it comes, will
probably fail unless two things hap-
pen.
The first is support by other
unions such as the AAUP, AFSCME,
CCRA/UAW and the teamsters. The
second thing needed for GEO's suc-
cess is undergraduate student sup-
port. A general boycott of classes by,
undergraduates would show the ad-
mijistration, that the GEO has
campus-wide support.
If this were the case, the image-
conscious administration would prob-
ably settle fairly quickly with GEO.
The G.E.O. is presently attempting
to enlist the aid of other labor unions
to support their proposed strike, but
this issue is as yet unresolved. As for

undergrad support, about 25 percent
support GEO, 25 percent dislike
GEO, while the other 50 percent nev-
er even heard of G.E.O. until last
night.
The main reason for 25 per cent
of the undergraduates opposing the
G.E.O. Is that they believe, however
falsely, an increase in the salaries of
the T.A.s will mean an increase in
their tuition. The administration
was going to raise tuition rates any-
way, even if the T.A.s didn't move
for a salary hike. Another point to
consider is that the $300,000 wage in-
crease that G.E.O. wants would be
only an infinitesimally small part of
the University budget, and that the
GEO demands probably could be met
by the administration without it rais-
ing student tuition.
We should all make a point of ac-
quainting ourselves with the T.A.s
plight.
Talk to your T.A., read the leaflets,
and make a decision for or against
the G.E.O., but be informed when you
make it. Don't sit back and ignore
this issue as ecology, rent control, and
political corruption have been ignor-
ed. After all, it's your education
that's on the line here. Whether you
support or condemn GEO positions,
at least know what they are and why.
PETER BLAISDELL

Tanks: I
By HOWARD DRATCH ly qualified r
A $3 BILLION plan to build about a "dane
supertanks equipped with in American r
the latest in computer weaponry after 600 U.S.
is the U.S. Army's big hope in ed to Israel.I
this year's military hardware gon officialsv
competition saying that sh
Both the Army and tanks are had reduced
hard-pressed to prove their strength to a
worth in these days of billion level.
dollar strategic programs, like
the Navy's Trident sub and the EVIDENCE
Air Force's new B- bomber. PNS contradic
Still, the Army sees its super- and suggestst
tanks as one way to get back worried about
in the money. its own budge
In the behind the scenes Right now,
struggle for a bigger piece of 8450 tanks, 50
the defensebudget, Army tank modern M-60s
men were evidently willing to M-48s. But th
let their inventories fall dras- plans, and its
tically-followed by a well-or- piece of the
chestrated publicity campaign with a "main 
about a "tank gap." 1980s and 1990
Late last year, columnists a solid state b
Evans and Novak quoted "high- laser range fi
Sp end It
By GORDON ATCHESON
LAST WEEK, I wandered into a State Street
restaurant only to stumble upon an old friend
who had somehow escaped me for more than
a year. And in that time something had taken
a grievious tool on him.
He sat at the counter listlessly staring into
the bottom of his empty coffee cup, occasionally
shaking his head slowly from side to side for no
aparent reason.
For a guy who stunk of success the last time
I saw him, he had seemingly plunged into a
deeply restive, troubled condition.
Slowly I siddled up to the hunched figure
and planted myself on the stool next to his.
"How's it going?" I asked in what I hoped
was at least a half-way sympathetic voice.
He just sat. Then he stiffly turned and looked
at me. "Damn miserable," came the response
from the pale, unshaven face.
"I'M SORRY to hear that. Anything I can do
to help?"
"Jeez, I doubt it. I'm in a real tough spot .. .
we all are."
Frankly, the profundity of the remark failed
to register. I had riot gathered exactly what pre-
carious position everyone had been placed in.
"What's the problem?" I ventured.
"This coffee."
"Ye mean it's crummy."
"No, it costs twenty cents," he said testily.
"I don't get it."
"Well, look," he began to explain, "I've given
this a lot of thought. A year ago, this coffee
was a dime and now it's twice as much. And
the sugar I dumped in it has quadrupled in cost."
"That's inflation for you," I quiped, rather at
a loss to dispute his assessment.
"Right," he answered in an urgent tone. "And
while we sit here shooting the breeze, do you
realize what's happening to the money in my
savings account?"
"Actually, I hadn't given it much thought."
"IT'S GETTING less and les valuable by the
minute. I mean inflation is going up at like 11
... 12 per cent a year and my money is earn-
ing maybe half that much in interest.
"That creates a monetary evaporation disposi-
tion of at least six per cent. In non-technical
terms that means the longer my bread stays
in the bank, the less I can buy with it," he
said, as his eyes began to widen and his hands
to quiver.

xpensive
military officials' " .................
gerous drawdown
military capacity"
tanks were rush- "Critics assert
Elsewhere Penta-
were quoted as sread deploymc
hipments to Israel
U.S. combat
"dangerously low sophisticated, an

assembled by
ts these reports -
the Army is less
a tank gap than
etary future.
the Army h a s
000 of which are
the rest older
ae Army's future
hopes for a big
defense pie, lie
battle tank for the
s," equipped with
allistic computer,
inder, an improv-

over the past ten years has made
the tank too vulnerabl eto de.
struction."

obsolescence

that the wide-
nt of cheap, but
ti-tank weapons

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ed tread, and a huge 120mm
gun.
Timing is crucial. While the
Army is requesting $69 million
for research and development
on the X-M1 (supertank) this

ROTC or apolitical U?

all--soon.
Now, I have never taken an economics course
nor have I ever heard of monetary evaporation
disposition, but all in all the theory sounded pcet-
ty plausible despite the half-crazed source.
"Yeah, I see what you're driving at. Still
what can you do about it, that's all high finance
- Wall Street, IT&T, Milton Friedman . . ." I
started.
"Nonsense," he shouted. "We've got to do some-
thing. Do you realize that ifbyou plot that dis-
position rate over time on the basis of diminishing
returns, n 57.9 years all I'll be able to buy with
my life savings is two packs of gum and a pencil
given the current inflation spiral?"
"MY GOD, THAT's frightening," I sputtered.
"You better believe it," he said more frantic
than ever. "But I think I've figured out what our
- the human race's - only option is.
"I've stayed uip nights, worked 20 hours
a day, skipped classes, meals, everything to
figure this out."
His talk made me nervous. I could feel the
sweat beading on my forehead. "Well? Tell me!
What can we do?"
"We've got to spend our money now. All of
it. I mean forget the 'rainy day' business by then
you won't even be able to buy an umbrella any-
way. Just go out and blow it all - the whole
wad."
"Everything?"
"Ye p."
"If that's the answer, why are you just sitting
here?"
"Well, after I figured this out, I had to decide
where to spend my money. That's been the
toughest thing yet. I could buy a newcar, but
then the company would send me a big rebate
and I'd have to figure out how to get rid of
that.
"OR I COULD go the wine, women, and song
route. But then again practicality - like corner-
ing the market on socks and underwear - might
be the best bet. And the longer I wait, the worse
my situation gets . . . I just begin to wonder if it
really makes any difference . . ." his voice trail-
ed off.
"Like hell," I said, bolting from the counter. I
ducked into a travel agency and picked up every
brochure there - just before heading straight
to the bank.
Gordon Atcheson is a staff writer for the
Michigan Daily.

year alone, the real target is
July 1915. At that key date, Con-
gress must decide whether or
not to give the Army 'he green
light to build 3312 projected X-
M1 tankd, at an eveilual cost of
$3' billion - close to a million
dollars a tank.
While Army tank goherals are
hoping their supertani; will tread
on no Congressional toes, they
aren't taking any chances. They
remember that in 19'1 Congress
dumped their last advanced
tank proposal as "too expen-
sive."
THIS 'IME, Army tank men
are carefully laying the g-ound-
work to refute expert testimony
- some of it from within the
Defense Establishment - that
the new supertank is a super
waste of money. "The tank is
here for a long time," says Col-
onel Phillip Bolte, who heads
the X M1program. "Tha tank
saved the Israelis, ad no one
has foind a better way t seize
and control territory and de-
strov totr enemy thri a tank."
BoUre thinks the Dt-: way to
defend Europe against the Sov-
iet tanK threat is to hav'e many
new X-Ml tanks and "to concen-
trate them for a mOunt( rat-
tack ' Bolte is backed by a
classic;O Army reo rt which
claims that the X-VI1, with "a
new tvne armor" mad, of ultra-
hard alloys to resist misiles. is
"intende-i primarily for NATO."
Bait crtics say this is an out-
moded, if nersisten, ste le of
thinkini within the I'entagon.
T'iese critics assert ti-at t h e
widespread development of
chear but sophisticated, anti-
tank ikneapons ov'er tlrn leis, ten
years h1« made the tank too
vulneral'le to destruct'o~.
IN LARGER strategic terms,
biidrrzu-triners like farmer
Ass ant Siecretarv of Pefense
Paul 'Asnmke see cia tank as
increm,±,1, 1elirrelevant -.out-
moded like the baillosh p, be-
cause newer weapons can do the
joh beter.
Both ..ruics and stinwrters
agree that the Middi Fast is
the io-ical place for tank war-
fare. But he Washingtxn-based
Center for Defense z alysis,
neaded by retired Adnural Eu-
g ne l.aRoque, nas directly
cha' i r i the usefilness of
tznks there as well.
"The Middle East W ar in
October, 1973," the Center re-
ported recently, "de nonstrated
the rapidly advancing obsoles-
cence of the tank. loth the

Arabs and the Israelis suftered
devastating losses of taiks, tot-
ailing nearly 3000. Clearly anti-
tank mi sile tec'mnclcgy has
overcome any protective coun-
termeasurescurrently a-aiable
to tank,. A $300,000 tank can be
destroyed by a very :nexp pnsive
man-carried anti-tank weapon
such as the $2000 U.S. TOY. Mis-
s,"le. A tank is not reqLired to
c unter another tank. One. man
can accomplish the nission of
destroying, a tank."
THE IDEA that armed per-
sonnel carriers equipped with
anti-tank weapons could replace
the tank as the mainstay of
NATO and U.S. ground forces, is
a nightmare to the Army's tank
generals - who already fear
being edged aside by the
Army's missile faction in the
scramble for budgetary out-
lays.
Facing convincing arguments
that no new tanks are needed to
defend Europe or the continen-
tal U.S., and fierce competi-
tion for military appropriations,
the supertank may run into se-
vere problems.
But Defense Secretary James
Schlesinger and other top Pen-
tagon leaders have apparently
hedged their bets in case Con-
gress dumps the supertank. Last
month they quietly stepped up
production of the M-60 tank
from 30 to 60 a month. Their
reasoning is that a steady sup-
ply of tanks, whatever its value
in defending the U.S., is a quite
valuable component of arms
deals with Israel, Iran, Ethio-
pia, and many other countries.
These sales help the U.S. bal-
ance of payments and assure
the tank contractors - G.M.
and Chrysler Corporation-their
million-dollar contracts.
AT THE same time, produc-
ing more M-60s may hurt the
Army's chances for its X-M1
dream tank, and knock it out of
the inter-service race for ex-
pensive strategic weapons. In
future years, the only mightly
Army may find itself little more
than a quartermaster - chief
supplier of conventional mili-
tary hardware to customers
around the world.
Howard Dratch, a teacher of
history and political science at
the University of California and
Bay Area Community Colleges,
regularly monitors military af-
fairs for PNS. Copyright Pacif-
ic News Service, 1975.

ON MONDAY, THE LSA faculty will
probably consider a motion to
grant credit for selected ROTC cours-
es. The recommendation of the Cur-
riculum Committee for the approval
of accreditation is a hurried hodge-
podge of sloppy reasoning and unsup-
ported aphorisms, glossed over with
a thin pretense of political neutral-
ity. It should be flatly rejected both
for its intellectual sloth and moral
sophistry.
Ratiocinations that have been put
forward to support giving University
credit for 'non-military" ROTC cours-
es are spurious, and each can be re-
butted in about one sentence. Grant-
ing credit for "non-military" ROTC
courses because they have "academic
merit" is redundant, because the same
material is covered in regular Uni-
versity courses, which are taught by
qualified, independent instructors ra-
ther than military appointees. Some
may call ROTC a worthwhile exper-
ience, but the University has neither
the need nor the capacity to crank out
graduates for such vague sentiments.
ROTC does indeed subsidizethe edu-
cations of some students, but If North
Hall were turned into a paying pro-
position instead of an accountancy
limbo, the University itself could beef
up its financial aid program. Students
should not be prevented from enrol-
ling in the ROTC program, since that
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Ken Fink, Steve Hersh, Cheryl
Pilate, Sara Rimer, Judy Ruskin,
Tim Schick, Stephen Selbst, Cather-
ine Shugrue, Jeff Sorenson
Editorial Page: Paul Haskins, Debra
Hurwitz, Steve Ross
Arts Page: David Blomquist
Photo Technician: Ken Fink

might possibly be a violation of First
Amendment rights, but denying credit
does not prevent them from enrolling.
And the romantic fluff about college-
trained officers "liberalizing" t h e
armed services got blown apart, along
with dozens of unarmed civilians, by
an ex-ROTC cadet William Calley in
a hamlet called My Lai. Nor is Calley
an isolated example, although he was
a scapegoat; over half the American
officers in the Indochina war were
ROTC-trained, and similar acts of
atrocity were a daily occurence
throughout the war. Sceptics are re-
ferred to the transcript of the 1970
Winter Soldier Investigation.
THERE ARE TWO reasons that the
current ROTC debate is so prickly
and esoteric: the first is the hast;
and uncritical nature of the Curri-
culum Committee's analysis, and the
second is, historically, the inability
or unwillingness of the faculty in
1970 to confront hard moral and
political questions. The action which
stripped ROTC of credit was a com-
promise, albeit a popular one with
faculty at the time, between confirm-
ing the ROTC program as a part of
the University and tossing it off cam-
pus. As with every other ethical non-
decision, the 'ROTC controversy will
resurface like a corpse until it is un-
equivocally laid to rest.
The problem w h i c h the faculty
faces is essentially political: should
the University help maintain a stand-
ing army, or should it reject granting
the military a share of influence in
University affairs. Until that decision
is made, debating credit for ROTC
courses is premature.
--MARNIE HEYN

Letters: IPC charges advertising bias

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To The Daily:
AT THE time of a major pro-
paganda offensive by the Ford
administration designed to jus-
tify large supplemental military
aid appropriations for the Lon
Nol government in Cambodia
and the Thieu administration in
South Vietnam, The Daily, in
apparent violation of a signed
contract, refused to distribute a
16-page advertising supplement
for its Jan. 9 issue because it
contained a 4-page ad by the
Ann Arbor chapter of the Indo-
china Peace Campaign.
The ad demonstrated with
considerable historical analysis
that the reasons why there is
no peace in Indochina is that
US military and economic aid
supports regimes which prevent
peace. There is no peace be-
cause the US government pro-
vides the materials for Thieu
and Lon Nol to wage war.
There is no political settlement
in Vietnam because Thieu, the
US's choice in South Vietnam,
refuses to implement the pro-
visions of the Paris Peace
Agreement. There is no political
settlement in Cambodia because
Lon Nol, the CIA's choice in
Cambodia, runs an administra-
tion which represents nothing
in Cambodia except continued
U.S. intervention.
THE DAILY justified this ac-
tion by maintaining that the
IPC ad was editorial matter dis-
giised as advertising. This jus-
tification simply does not hold
up. The whole supplement was
clearly marked as an insert to
the Daily and to the Michigan
Free Press; the IPC ad was
clearly part of a larger adver-
tising supplement and was of a
format enmnltelv different

All of this raises a serious
question about the Daily's own
sense of political responsibility.
We do recognize that the Michi-
gan Daily follows certain edi-
torial policies with regard to
reporting on Indochina which
reflect a degree of awareness
of its responsibility for the polit-
ical content of the "news"
which it distributes, and that
the Daily has lately editorially
supported cuts in aid to Indo-
china and various actions of the
Indochina Peace Campaign. But
in the final analysis, the Daily's
self-understanding in this re-
gard is incredibly shallow.
DESPITE ITS presumed op-
position to the war and to U.S.
imperialism in general, the
Daily has consistently uncriti-
cally reported information on
the war and other events in In-
dochina from corporate media
sources. For example, on the
very day on which it refused to
print the IPC ad, the Daily
printed on page one an AP
story which said that Saigon
wanted increased aid in order
"to help meet the thrust of a
current Communist offensive."
That one linereflects an inac-
curate understanding of the
broad-based political composi-
tion of the liberation forces in
Souh Vietnam, nor is there a
statement regarding the purpose
of the Provisional Revolutionary
Government's military opera-
tions - that is, to create a sit-
uation in which the administra-
tion in Saigon will implement
the Peace Accords.
There are other objectonable
aspects of the story - the Ford
administration, for example, has
been anything but "quiet" in
preparing to ask for supple-

bility of the Daily goes some-
what further in relation to poli-
tical action and groups within
Ann Arbor. The Daily has con-
sistently taken a stand of being
above the positive political con-
cerns of left groups in the area,
and of having more important
things to do than join in poli-
tical action. This stance is not
apolitical or in any way objec-
tive. Rather, it is profoundly
political, and especially danger-
ous in a place like Ann, Arbor
where many people may be in-
fluenced by, or even actively
seek, some apology for choos-
ing to lead lives which tend to
support imperialism. They may
find this apology in either the
politics of despair or in the
politics of individualistic cynic-
ism, whch is what the Daily too
often peddles.
Objectively, the Daily's re-
fusal to distribute the IPC ad
constitutes active opposition to
the dissemination of accurate in-
dependent information about In-
dochina. The Daily's editors and
policy-making officers of the
Board of Student Publications
need to engage in serious posi-
tive self-criticism leading to
adoption of systematic proced-
ures for getting accurate in-
formation on what is happening
in the world. The Daily's read-
ers should recognize that what-
ever the level of the Daily's own
self-understanding, it is not poli-
tically neutral.
--Ann Arbor Indochina
Peace Campaign
January 31
. *
IN REPLY:
UNFORTUNATELY, the Mich-
igan Free Press has threatened
The Daily with legal action in
this matter, making it virtually

responsibility" because we re-
fused to run the insert is to
ignore several key facts. As
most of our readers are aware,
the right side of the Editorial
Page has always been a forum
for community viewpoints and
information. On several occas-
ions we have printed IPC ma-
terial in this space. Moreover,
IPC's suggestion that informa-
tion was suppressed only sup-
ports the point that the insert
was indeed advertising in the
guise of editorial matter.
IPC describes its own material
as "highly authoritative" a n d
chides us for being "not politi-
cally neutral." We never claim-
ed to be neutral, and we very
much doubt that IPC is free of
all bias. Nonetheless, we con-
tinue to offer space on this page
for all opinions and statements.
-Dan Biddle
Editor in Chief
black grads
To The Daily:
A RECENT investigation by a
group of minority students re-
vealed that the Office of Grad-
uate Minority Affairs of the
University of Michigan is now
under review and has been for
several months. The supposed
purpose of this study is to de-
termine the future function of
the office. However, until one
week ago the entire study was
shrouded in a cloud of secrecy
which one administration offic-
ial termed, "a communication
gap " We as concerned b l a c k
graduate students feel that the
very fact the function of the
Minority Office is in question
forecasts grave consequences
for all minority students at the
University of Michigan. We are

terms will be nonexistent.
3. The reduction of aid for the
1975-76 academic year.
4. The proposed shifting of all
aid to the Office of Financial
Aid. (This in turn automatically
insures that fewer minority stu-
dents will be at Michigan).
5. The proposed shifting of fi-
nancial aid for minority stu-
dents to their respective depart-
ments. (We know that t h o s e
same departments have display-
ed an unwillingness to address
themselves to the needs of mi-
norities in the past).
6. The ultimate possibility that
minority students may soon be
without any type of administra-
tive office that will insure our
continued presence at the Uni-
versity.
We see the situation for what
it is. It means in concrete terms
that a new policy concerning
minority students is about to
sirface. Behind this policy is
the administration's understand-
ing that the concessions granted
at the height of the B.A.M.
strike were stop-gap measures
never intended to be permanent.
The new policy now that the
screaming has stopped is the
gradual elimination of minority
students at the University. We
are by no means crying,
"Wolf!" Look around for your-
selves. The signs are there.
Signs such as the controversy
over the appointment of a black
female dean to L.S.&A., and the
declining minority enrollment
are all too obvious.
-Concerned Black
Graduate Students
January 31

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