J
lW4 igan a li
Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Wednesday, February 5, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
GEO strike action justified
THE GRADUATE EMPLOYEES Or-
ganization (GEO) represents the
twenty-two hundred Graduate Stu-
dent Assistants (GASs) working for
the University of Michigan. The GEO
and the- University have been un-
successfully negotiating for a year.
An impasse has been reached on the
following issues:
0 Money. Very few people are
aware of the negotiations concluded
in February of 1974 between the
GEO and the University. An eight
per cent pay hike beginning Septem
ber, 1974 was agreed upon by both
sides. When BSAs opened their Sep-
tember paychecks, the eight percent
was nowhere to be found, and the
GEO filed an unfair labor practice.
The University is still dangling the
eight percent as if it were a new
offer, rather than being an old debt.
At the present time, the GEO is de-
manding an eight percent increase
retroactive to September, 1974, a five
percent increase retroactive to Janu-
ary, 1975, and another seven percent
beginning September, 1975 - twenty
percent over a two year period. The
University has offered eight percent
retroactive to September, 1974, and
four percent beginning September,
1975 - twelve percent over a two
year period. The GEO also proposes
that GSAs pay a two hundred dollar
service fee in lieu of tuition. The
University offered in-state tuition to
GSAs,something that most have any-
way.
THE GEO PROPOSALS are reason-
able. Twenty percent over two
years will not even keep pace with
the rate of inflation, and compared
with other Big Ten schools, Michi-
gan already pays its GSAs the least.
How much lower can they go?
t Job Security. GEO demands
three terms of job security after a
one term probationary period. The
University proposes no job security,
making every term a probationary
period.
! Class size. Large classes prevent
quality education. GEO proposes that
classes where student participation
Is integral be limited to twenty stu-
dents, other classes to twenty-five,
with lectures remaining unlimited.
The University refuses to negotiate.
class size, claiming the issue is not
related to working conditions. It
seems odd that an institution which
has been educating people since the
early nineteenth century could hold
such an opinion. The University above
all should recognize the importance
of class participation, and how it is
strangled by crowded conditions.
! Sexual Preference. The Univer-
sity refuses to include a provision in
the contract prohibiting discrimina-
tion against gay people. Why? Does
the University wish to reserve the
right to discriminate against homo-
sexuals? In addition to violating
ethics, the University's position vio-
lates Ann Arbor's Human Rights Or-
dinance.
* Binding Arbitration. GEO sub-
mitted a standing offer to the Uni-
versity to go to binding arbitration:
The University refused.
THERE ARE MANY other unresolved
issues. Throughout negotiations,
GEO has been flexible and non-mili-
tant. Their demands are reasonable,
ethical, and beneficial to the educa-
tional process as well as to them-
selves. The University has been ob-
stinate and intimidating. Their ac-
tions prove they would like nothing
better than to undermine the
strength of GEO and cast doubt on
its legitimacy as the bargaining rep-
resentative of the twenty-two hun-
dred GSAs. It is the University, not
the GEO, that imperils the quality
of education at this school. The GEO
is a union of workers fighting for its
survival, struggling for its recogni-
tion. They demand a decent wage,
protection from discrimination, and
a limit on class size. The University
refuses all three. The facts speak for
themselves.
TONIGHT AT A MASS MEETING,
the GEO will decide whether or
not to take a strike vote. A decision
to strike is justified and deserves
the supnort of all students, faculty,
and members of the Ann Arbor com-
munity.
-VINCENT BADIA
Jean,
By STEVE STOJIC
EVER BEEN beaten over the
head with an iron bar for
passing out leaflets? Had your
ribs kicked in by a hoard of
police just because of your
political views? Been dragged
down a flight of stairs by your
feet so that your head systema-
tically pounds each step on the
way down? These are things to
keep in mind when considering
President Ford's request for
$300 million in extra aid for
the Thieu regime in South Viet-
niam and a $222 million supole-
ment to the Lon Nol government
in Cambodia.
If this money is appropriated,
it will perpetuate such crueities
as well as the greater atrocities
of death, maiming, and devas-
tation caused by the ongoing
war in Southeast Asia. Jean-
Pierre Debris came to Ann Ar-
bor last Friday to present his
views of the situation in Indo-
china. Debris observed the bit-
ter Vietnam experience first-
hand during his four and a palf
years in that country.
DEBRIS HOPES his speak-
ing tour sponsored by tle Wash-
ington based Indochina Mobil:
Education Project will help es-
close the human dimensions of
the Indochina war.
P.
Debris:
Tale of torture
Mr. Debris went to Vietnam
in 1968 to teach math and ful-
fill his military obligation. De-
bris taught math to the stu-
dents who spoke French and
was placed in charge of the
French Baccalaureat e x a m .
This exam, given at the level
equivalent of an American stu-
dent's second year in college,
could exempt a student from
the draft if he scored well
enough. Because of his position,
government corruption was
quickly brought to his own door-
step: "I was approached hun-
dreds of times by Vietnamese
officials who offered to pay me
to allow their sons to evade
the draft."
DEBRIS speaks fluent Viet-
namese and believes this gave
him an advantage ii under-
standing the struggle since he
could speak directly 1o ,he pea-
sants and refugees first-hand
and avoid the government inter-
preters. By speaking to those
in refugee camps, he found that
most had not fled from the
North Vietnamese, bot "they
were forced to leave by Amer-
ican troops in a forced urbaniza-
tion program to prevent the po-
pulation from helping the )her
side."
When asked about the "Nlood-
bath" that some say wo'ud oc-
cur after a North Vietnamese
takeover, he asserted that from
"time to time such thiags l'ap-
pen. N.L.F. soldiers sometimes
take revenge but on a much,
much, smaller scale."
In considering the m st pow-
erful weapons on both sides he
could find no real comparison
in the death and destruction
caused. The North Vinamese
had only Russian 122 mm rock-
ets while the South was ft p-
ported by the devastating satur-
ation bombing of B-52's
DEBRIS' view of the terror
was that the "N.L.F. is using
terror on selected targets* po-
licemen that are very cruel,
officers of the Saigon army that
are also very cruel", while the
"Nixon and Johnson terror was
systematic: bombing the entire
countryside and displacing mil-
lions of people. My personal
experience was that nine vic-
tims out of ten were victims of
American troops.'
On the subject of My Lai, De-
bris feels "Calley is a scape-
goat for people who are much
higher. My Lai was not an iso-
lated incident. There have been
thousands of My Lai's in South
Vietnam." He claimed that the
GI's realized that then wt~re
Legal Aid
Guide for housing .hunters
By MARY DRYOVAGE
It's time to start thinking about where you're
going to live next September. Most landlords are
asking their present tenants to sign next years'
lease now, so they can put the un-reserved dwel-
lings on the market. Because of the housing
shortage in Ann Arbor, most places will be
rented by May. If you're planing on changing
residences - look now.
Regardless of the inconveniences you've put
up with this year, a better housing situation can
be found. Sick of dorm food? Try a co-op. Room.
mate hassle or lack of privacy? An apartment or
boarding house may be the answer. Need more
control over what you eat? Like to cook? How
about a house? City life too noisy? Rent a farm.
Sick of high rent and nothing to show for it? Buy
a house. Whatever remedy you decide to use,
realize that there are few bargains in the Ann
Arbor area.
First, decide who you want to live with and in
what kind of situation. Next, look at bulletin
boards, newspapers, real estate listings, and ask
your friends. Your initial desires will -te modified
to include more realistic expectations. When you
finally find a place that suits your needs and
decide you can afford to pay the exhorbitant
rent, it's time to sign the lease, if there is one.
If you like the apartment, sign the lease. Keep
in mind that no lease is favorable to the ten-
ants. Also, most laws that work in the tenants'
favor, will be applicable only after the tenant has
moved in. Of course, the Human Rights ordin-
ance prohibits discrimination before you move
in. So, pay your first month's rent, damage de-
posit (usually 1 and a half months rent) and
so on, then move in. You may want to agree in
writing, that certain repairs will be completed
before a certain date. Don't waste your time
arguing with your landlord over a few (outrag-
eous) clauses. Complaining about these clauses
before you move in won't insure your rights and
may cause your landlord to distrust you, or even
to not rent to you. The more objectionable the
clauses are, the less enforceable they are likely
to be, according to legal aid lawyers.
The quickest ways to get needed repairs is to
withhold all of your rent. If you get an eviction
notice for nonpayment of rent you can ignore
not wanted in the co:v-y and
that everyone was a potential
enemy. These realizaio'snhe
said, led in many cas s to in-
cidents like that in My La.
THE NON-POLITICAL ati-
tude he had brought to Vietnam
changed dramatically with his
experiences. "Because of what
I had seen, I felt I had to do
something to show them (the
Vietnamese) that not all foreign-
ers had come to kill or exploit
them." So he began to demon-
strate and pass out leaflets with
another French teacher: "We
were displaying an N.L.F. flag
and pasing out leaflets written
in Vietnamese asking for the de-
parture of all American soldiers
from the country."
In response to their non-vio-
lent demonstration, a group of
about forty police armed with
M-16s came to arrest them. The
police showed little cmercy:
'They beat us with clubs and
iron bars until both of us fell
to the ground." As a result of
the clubbing and kicking, De-
bris sufferedabroken ribs and
numerous head and body con-
tusions, and was unable to walk
for a month after the beating.
THE PRISONERS were taken
to an interrogation center one
block from the American Em-
bassy, where "they tortured
some prisoners in front of us
so as to intimidate us. They
forced them to swallow soapy
water and oil drained f r o m
cars."
During five days of interro-
gation he was given no ia.d or
medical treatment for his in-
juries. The police had a pur-
pose: "They wanted names of
Vietnamese friends of mine and
wanted me to admit that I was
a Vietnamese cadre. I never
gave any names or admitted
anything."
After the interogation, he was
transferred to Chi Hoa p r i-
son where "for the first tine I
saw how prisoners were bing
mistreated. Inside the prison
where I was, which contained
about 9,000 prisoners who were
a cross section of Vietnamese
people: peasants, people from
cities, middle class and upper
class, Catholic priests, Buddhist
monks. Most of them had been
arrested not for violent demon-
stration, but only for asking the
removal of President Thriz- or
the withdrawal of American
troops from their country."
"MORE THAN half of the pri-
soners were women. There were
many students. Children as
young as seven years old were
considered political prisoners.
The head of the prison was an
American advisor wo:xing for
the A.I.D. program. His name
was Major Klein."
He demonstrated once again,
this time with the prisoners for
more food, bringing down the
wrath of the guards: "I w a s
beaten a second time nine
months later. I was dragged
down staircases by ny legg yand
put in solitary confinement."
Things were no better for eth-
ers: "Hundreds of my friends
were in tiger cages. Their legs
were paralyzed. They could only
crawl on the ground. My friends,
teachers and students, were tor-
tured by the placing of pins un-
der the nails."
Debris spent two and one half
years as a political prisoner.
The handcuffs that bound his
wrists were compliments of
Smith and Wesson, Springfield,
Massachusetts. The tear g a s
that subdued prisoners was a
gift from Salisburg, Pennsylvan-
ia. He did not want to dwell
on his own personal experione-
es, however, using them only
to illustrate the cruelties and
corruption of the Thieu regime.
His lecture tour _s aimed at
preventing "direct U.S. m litary
re-intervention in Indochina."
He is particularly concerned
about President Ford's request
for more funds to :id Thieu
and Lon Nol. "If the money is
passed, it will mean na lesson
has been learned by the war.
More Vietnamese people will be
killed. More Vietnamese peo-
ple will be arrested."
DEBRIS cannot understand
why U.S. leaders wish to spend
Debris
over half a billion dollars on
killing and torture when :he
problems of recession and infla-
tion continue to press at home.
"How can the U.S. government
talk about 'peace with honor'
when 100,000 Vietnamese have
been killed and more than $8
billion dollars in aid to Thieu
has been spent since the sign-
ing of the Paris agreement?"
Debris believes the U.S. should
withdraw its advisors and end
its support of Thieu and ihat
the Saigon side, neutralis-s, and
N.L.F. side should come to-
gether to form a coalition gov-
ernment. "The only silution to
stop the bloodshed that is hap-
pening now is for the U.S. to
implement the Paris agreement
and stop supporting President
Thieu. I think this is some'ing
the great majority of Ameri-
can people would support." It
seems, however, that the great
majority of V American people
have not made their voices
heard or perhaps someone isn't
listening. Now is the :ime to
make your voice heard, before
more killing and Torture become
American-financed.
Steve Stojic is a staff writer
for the Editorial Page.
Ypsi tenant law leads way
Troubled tenants can bring their housing
hassles to Legal Aid on the fourth floor of
the Union. The office's team of legal eagles
can give landlorditis the treatment. Best of
all, it's free.
it. The landlord can't evict you without a court
order, and if the Court issues an order you have
ten days after that to pay and you won't be
evicted. If you get a "Summons" to come to
Court, bring it to Legal Aid right away. Legal,
Aid has a long history of helping tenants win legal
battles. If a problem arises stop at our office,
4310 Michigan Union.
HUNDREDS OF tenants in Ann Ar-
bor take their landlords to court
over violations of the city code, faul-
ty maintenance and disagreements
over damage deposits every year. Un-
der the established procedure the
tenant must acquire a lawyer, docu-
ment the violations and, to gain lev-
erage against the landlord, begin
their rent strike.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Gordon Atcheson, Ellen Bres-
low, David Burhenn, Barbara Cor-
nell, Mary Harris, Jo Marcotty
Editorial Page: Vincent Badia, Chuck
Covello, Paul Haskins, Mara Letica,
Steve Stojic
Arts Page: George Lobsenz
Photo Technician: Sue Sheiner
THE YPSILANTI City Council at
their Monday night meeting
passed a landlord-tenant ordinance
which hopefully will circumvent
these problems.
They voted to make illegal all code
violations, poor upkeep, and other
"common strongarm tactics against
tenants such as keeping damage de-
posits and evictions without court or-
ders."
This kind of progressive legislation
in Ann Arbor would do much to en-
sure tenants their full rights and
privileges. And, coupled with the pas-
sage of the rent control ballot pro-
posal this spring, it will establish a
balance between landlord flat and
tenant rights.
-DAN BLUGERMAN
Letters,
To The Daily:
I AM RESIGNING as Student
Body President and President of
Student Government Council ef-
fective 7:30 p.m., Thursday,
February 6, 1975. My resigna-
tion is :prompted by an inability
to find employment in the Ann
Arbor area. Registtration as a
University of Michigan student
is a prerequisite for serving as
a student government officer,
and without a source of income
I cannot register for the cur-
rent academic term.
I leave office with the affairs
of central student government
on this campus in far better
shape than when I assumed of-
fice last January. In my opinion
the major accomplishments of
my administration aire as fol-
lows:
1. "The restructuring and
strengthening of the revenue
disbursement process and gen-
eral financial management of
SGC, to include bringing the or-
ganization's balance sheet "into
the black" for the first time
in years. For example, upon
taking office in January, 1974, I
placed SGC under tight disburse-
ment controls. In 'e teriod
July to December, 1971, ebout
$5,500 of organizational funds
was paid to cover bacK debts in-
herited by my adminis- ration.
The cost of the October, ;974
All-Gampus Election was held
to about $2,700, compared to
bills for $7,000 to over 520,000
for each of the previous mveral
SGC
Pres.
Sandberg resigns
President;
3. Implementation of string-
ent measures for ,pe efficient
and economical operation of the
SGC office, to include lowering
operating costs sharply. As an
indication of the effectivtiess
of these measures, in the three-
month period prior to my taking
office the SGC office p h o r e
bill totalled $1,246. One year
later the same quarter's phene
aervice cost $175,a ieciease
of 86 per cent;
4. Expansion of sefvices pro-
vided to students by c:eirral
student government ifor exam-
ple: enlarging the Student Le-
gal Advocate staff; renegotiat-
ing the student health ;nsurance
master contract to ensure n in-
crease in premiums paid by stu-
dents in 1974-75; and fu'lding
a campus child care program
for 1975) ;
5. Bringing parliamentary d:s-
cipline to SGC meeti ig proced-
ures;
6. Reducing polarization be-
tween minority students a n d
SGC by bringing representatives
of these students into the poli-
tical process;
7. Defeating an Administra-
tion proposal for direct Uati'er-
sity control of student organi-
zations' finances; and
8. Gaining modification of the
CSSG Report to allow s:uacnts
to directly' elect and remove
their Student Body President.
My deep thanks go to those
who supported my two su.cess-
fil candidacies for Student Body
maintaining the Pilot Program
at Alice Lloyd.
Having attended Michigan
State University, George Wash-
ington University and University
of Detroit, I feel that my var-
ied learning settings allow me
to speak to the value of the liv-
ing-learning of the Pilot Pro-
gram. Since my arrival in Sep-
tember, the value of the small,
personal, value-conscious, out-
side-the-classroom environment
has been obvious to me.
There's just something about
Alice Lloyd people. Mayoe it's
due to the fact that when you
meet them, they seem more
aware, more autonomous yet
conscientious, more self-confi-
dent and open to their own
growth and that of others; they
have the kind of qualities wvhich
come only from selves grounded
in valuable, meaningful exper-
ience. In sum, a lot more inte-
grated-more human.
IN THE WAKE of Watergate
or any set of decisions made
without regard to personal al-
ues, it becomes mandatory that
human beings be taught, to
regard themselves as irroplace-
able, unique, individual per-
sons - the result of whose
decisions will affect and in-
fluence others. Schools must
pay attention to the kinds of
things that Pilot gives focus to,
an example being in its commit-
ment to taking learning out-
side of the classroom. Rook
learning must only be seen ,s a
dividual students and t
Hear individuals who
be content to "make
ing" and enter the w
a cog.
Hear individuals wh
the guts to take sta
cause they believe ttie
consistent with their
not just popular. Hear
uals who will have
nights when their con
are bothering them,
channel that conflict
ten time unorthodox i
Most important, hea
of genuine human
struggling with questio
out making excuses -
always thought humai
were capable of doin
the "right factors".
I believe the Pilot
at Alice Lloyd is neces
vital, in the analysis
proachto human goal:
urgently pettiion you
that Pilot continues.
eachers.
will not
a liv-
vheel as
o have
ands be-
m to be
values,
indxvid-
rastless
nsciences
numor
To The Daily:
NICE JOB on the Pose in
Tuesday's Happenings column.
Has Earl Butz joined the staff,
or are you setting your own low
standards for religious humor?
--George Flynn
February 4
ethics
and will To The Daily:
into of- IT IS MOST unfortunare that
ecisicrs. the Daily would be -o irrespon-
r sounds sible as to publish what was ap-
beings parently a leak about the delib-
ns with- erations of the Regents and the
like you Central Administration on t h e
n beings choice of the LSA Dean. As
ng given a member of the SearTh Com-
mittee (now discharged), I can
testify to the very careful pro-
Program cedures used to protect possible
sary and candidates from embarrassment
and ap- at every stage. The publication
s, arnd. I of a story which obviously anti-
insure cipated a final decision could
only put the candidaes a n d
ne Arne everyone else concerned in a
most embarrassing nosition.
The Search Committee gave a
list of candidates to the admin-
istration with the understanding
ripoff that all of the candidates would
be acceptable as Dean. But the
decision from that point on had
to be made in a calm and ra-
in this tional atmosphere, certainly not
ratiig ex- subject to the kinds of pres-
'ed off. I sures that s u c h irresponsible
Last i"ri- journalism can aply. T blame
ahle rab- both the source of the informa-
len from tion and the Daily for the prob-
-Nadine Catheri
Egnatios
January 30
To The Daily:
RIPPED OFF!
Practically everyone
city has had the frustr
perience of being ripp
am a victim myself.
day night my very valn
bit fur coat was sto
'A' AX