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