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will
we
kill
our animal
friends?
By ALAN KETTLER
SIVEN A PILE of food, a
hungry bear unhesitatingly
womps into his meal and stuffs
his stomach with the food, con-
cerned only with satisfying his
appetite. Should he consume his
entire supply of food, leaving
nothing to eat tomorrow, it does
not matter to him; he lives only
in the here and now. His chink-
ing is immediate and s h o r t-
sighted.
Of all the world's animals,
man is the only one capaole of
projecting his thoughts into the
future. He can ask himself, 'If
I do this what will become of
it tomorrow? How will what I
do today affect tomorrow?"
Man is a baffling creature,
though. He displays minimal
foresight in his relationships
with the ten million other 'ypes
of living beings on this planet
of ours.,
als, including 44 mammals, 70
birds, 8 reptiles, 11 amphib-
ians, and 55 fishes. Still more
animals are in danger within
the United States, although not
over their entire ranges.
The gloomy list is completed
by 18 mammals, 42 birds, 10
reptiles, 6 amphibians, and 35
fishes, who are probably endan-
gered, but for whom mnforma-
tion is lacking. All told, 345
American animals may not be
with us much longer.
MANY factors account for the
vast number of animals ap-
proaching the great void. By
far the most outstanding caus-
es of animal population deple-
tion are habitat destruc*ion and
overexploitation. The first is
directly proportional to man's
increasing need for agricultural
land, residential areas, and ;e-
source consumption. Strip in-
ing for coal transforms a thriv-
The most outstanding cases of animal popu-
lation depletion are habitat destruction and
exploitation. Stripmining for coal trans-
forms a thriving woodland into a landscape
as bleak and lifeless as the moon.
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THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
'Besides, the Communists spend more money to subvert
democratically elected governments than we do!'
Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Thursday, February 6, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Man is making life so inhos-
pitable that hundreds of ani-
mals and tens of thousands of
plants are threatened with im-
mediate extinction. Man, engulf-
ing the earth with his vast pop-
ulation, industrial activities,
and dimunition of its resources,
is leaving no place for i t s
wildlife to exist.
AT PRESENT, according to
the World Wildlife Fund, t h e
leading animal conservation or-
ganization in the world, aimost
800 species of higher animals
are rare or endangered. Their
listing includes about 280 mam-
mals, 310 birds, 75 reptiles, 25
amphibians, and 75 freshwater
fishes.
While some of the animals are
obscure except to zoologsts,
many are well-known, includng
the large cats, rhinocercses,
whales, eagles, primates, and
sea turtles.
In the United States, m u c h
wildlife is faring poorly against
man. In 1973 the U.S. Office
of Endangered Species named
a total of 188 threatened anim-
ing woodland into a landscape
as bleak and lifeless as t h e
moon..
Businesses shear away the
tropical forest of Central Amer-
ica, and in Indonesia logging
operations have increased thir-
teen-fold during the pmat seveal
years. Also, our activities in
Indochina resulted in the de-
foliation of one-sixth of t h a t
nation's forests, making such
areas unsuitable for support-
ing wildlife.
Perhaps the greatest single
horror is the clearing of virgin
rain forests in the Amazon.
With the completion of the
Trans-Brazilian Highway, un-
guided commercial and agricul-
tural developments are proceed-
ing there at a rapid pace. Be-
cause this is the most species-
rich, yet most delicate habitat
in the world, the World Wild-
life Fund has estimated that
development there could cause
the extinction of one inilion
species. If trends continue and
the scientists are correct. one-
tenth of all living special will
be snuffed out.
THE SECOND greatest killer
of the world's fauna is over-
exploitation by, hunting. Al-
though habitat destruction is an
unavoidable activity to some
degree, the commercial use of
wild animals is exemplative of
man's greed.
Each year, poachers l'ill half
of Africa's elephant population,
their tusks becoming chessmen,
jewelry and artistic carvings.
Meanwhile, on the other side
of the world, wolves are kiled
so that their fur can decorate
coat collars.
Not all animals are ivinted to
death. Many find their way into
this country as pets. Presently
American imports of wild birds,
mammals, and reptiles number
over three million annually. But
many animals die durii t h e
cruel shipments (f-r every mon-
key that makes it five die, and
most die soon with inadequare
care. And animals taken from
the wilds represent lost bren!-
ing potential, decimari i; poi--
ulations regardless of wh-Yher
the creatures survive a. pets
SPECIES extinction is roth-
ing new. Evidence indicates
that even Stone Age hunters re-
moved animals from their en-
vironment. But since the dc h
of the dodo in 1600 the rate at
which animals have become ex-
tinct has accelerated rapidly.
Since then 36 mammals and 94
birds have become memorios.
James Fisher, writing for the
International Union for the Con-
servation of Nature, percjgive-
ly observed, "Destroyed buld-
ings can be rebuilt; destroyed
works of art may post;ibly be
replaced by new creaions; but
every animal and every flower
which becomes extinct is lost
forever in the most absolute of
all deaths."
It's important to ma tnat
these animals be sav-d. Wildife
is important; the very (ver-
exploitation and commercializa-
tion of wild animals is an in-
dicator of their valuae. 'Ineir
existence provides us w i t h
products, their absence no-hing.
Forty thousand whales a i e
killed by Japanese and Russian
whalers each year for they: pro-
tein. Seemingly intent on e-
stroying every sizeable w.hale,
they are oblivious to th: fact
that allowing the whales to in-
crease their numbers would
leave them with even more pro-
tein in the future. But if hunt-
ed to extinction, whales w i 11
disappear as a protein scurce.
A FURTHER consider-ation is
that if we make the earth into
a biological wasteland,the ra-
tural systems of the earth will
be so disrupted that v2 may he
unable to survive. We often for-
get we are part of the world's
ecological system. And danger-
ously, we are still unaware of
what man-made disruptions and
interferences will do to the re-
mainder of the natural world.
Finally, wildlife gives human
life a spiritual flavor unexcel-
led by anything else. It gives
us an incredibly rich diversity of
forms and manners to observe,
ponder and delight uoan. A nd
unless we disrupt nature, it will
remain an infinitely complex,
exerchanging, and self-perpet-
uating system for us to enjoy.
We need do nothing but protect
it.
Cleveland Amory, speaking
here last December may have
predicted the future when be
said, "There will be a day when
our descendants look back on
the era, and liken it to the era
of slave trading."
Alan Kettler is a staff writer
for the Editorial Page.
420 Moynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Need New U.S. Pot Law
AS EVIDENCED by the vote on last
year's local marijuana referen-
dum, you'd be hard pressed to find
many people in town who don't agree
with the adage, "The threat of ar-
rest is pot-smoking's greatest dan-
ger." So if you get busted for pot
within the city limits, by a city cop,
the dangers of reefer smoking are
lower than the national average.
A federal weed law like Ann Ar-
bor's would do much to reduce reefer
risks from coast to coast. It's to this
end that bills will soon be introduced
in Congress which would remove
penalties for the possession for per-
sonal use or non-profit sale of up to
three ounces of pot.
The legislation's chances of passing
are remote at best.
BUT CONGRESSIONAL attitudes to-
ward more lenient marijuana
legislation have been steadily waxing
more friendly over, the past few
years. If the trend continues, we may
before long have, if not a federal de-
criminalization law, then a reduction
of weed offenses from felonies to mis-
demeanors.
According to Keith Stroup of the
National Organization for the Re-
form of Marijuana Laws, a more per-
missive pot bill may pass Congress
next year in a move by Republicans
to avoid marijuana legislation as a
presidential campaign issue in 1976.
So we would do well to try to influ-
ence our representatives in Congress
to look kindly towards a liberaliza-
tion of the marijuana statutes. The
easiest way to do this would be to
write them urging them to vote for
dope. Showing members of Congress
that large portions of their consti-
tuencies want pot penalties reduced
might swing their sentiments.
WRITE YOUR representatives:
Sen. Philip Hart (Dem), Rm. 253,
Old Senate Bldg., Capitol Hill, Wash-
Letters to The Daily
ington, D.C. 20515;
Sen. Robert Griffin (Repub.),
353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515; and
Rep.. Marvin Esch (Repub.),
412, Cannon Bldg., Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Rm.
Hill,
Rm.
Hill,
-THE DAILY STAFF
expediency and 'U' values
AT MONDAY'S LSA FACULTY meet-
ing, President Robben Fleming
exhorted the assembly to divorce po-
litical and ethical concerns from
academic assessment in debating the
accreditation of ROTC classes. Per-
haps the irony of making such a plea
during the University's self-pro-
claimed Values Year escaped him;
but perhaps the evolutionary pres-
sure of being a professional neutral
and institutional bagman for most of
his adult life has atrophied his moral
sense to virtual extinction.
Fleming has whooped along during
his years at the University (and pre-
sumably before) using expediency as
a moral rule of thumb. Evidently it
has worked well for him; but expedi-
ence is a poor ethical framework for
an intellectual community whose
motto is "Knowledge, wisdom, and
the courage to serve."
By treating expediency as a desir-
able goal, the University administra-
tion has impoverished and alienated
essential teaching, clerical, and pa-
tient-care personnel, and engendered
TODAY'S STAFF:
the University's current manage-
men-labor struggles; in addition,
University bureaucracy proliferates
like demented yeast because it is eas-
ier to pay any given associate dean
than figure out what he or she does.
Buck passing becomes standard pro-
cedure. In fact, unwillingness to
make moral decisions allowed the
ROTC credit issue to get as far as a
faculty vote.
FORTUNATELY, the faculty in their
collective wisdom concluded that
ethical issues can and should be con-
sidered in making policy and proce-
dure decisions. But expediency gener-
ates its own inertia, so ethical people
must constantly insist that human
concerns be respected in resolving in-
stitutional problems.
Claims have been made that the
morality of whatever works is appro-
priate for conducting business; this
position is clearly debatable. But this
University is not a cartel for crank-
ing out teaching hours, nor should it
aspire to become one. We are a com-
munity of ethical and intellectual
concerns and values, and must pro-
tect that.
V ili fic1
To The Daily:
AS A GRADUATE o
University of Michigan,
consider myself a ml
servative. However, the
of the past week have
ed me to a flaming libe
This letter is a writ
mination against the
sexism and racism re
the, ludiorous "contract'
ed to Mrs. Jewel Cobb. I-
event taken place in th
1960's, the Administration
ing would have been ro
its foundation. The "co
is a vilification and isc
with the administration'
clivity to eschew publi
ment and confrontation.
The era of surreptiti)m
ities and infinite subterfu
transpired to integrity a
dor. What has happened
progressive institution.
this renowned, liberalt
sity is fixated in the Wa
stage. Dear old Freud
have cut off his arm toc
this University's behavi
We have all lost in not
Mrs. Cobb. In the name
play, Billy Frye should
fered the same contrac
the tenure, which he now
be rescinded. I am no
enough to make Fler
scapegoat. Perhaps I am
enough to hope a famsii
this event never again
Let it serve as an aduml
from a steaming, silaat
ity.
-Louis Saslaw
February 4
To The Daily:
I AM ABSOLUTELY o
by the photo which appe
the front page of your S
Feb. 2 issue - MOUSEI
SE INDEED! I will be
never to involve myself
family with the future d
humane medicine. One w
if the poor rodents were
and frozen quickly or ju
ped into the frig. I've hea
laboratory animals are us
sometimes abused, but1
the grossest conduct I'v
heard of. I, personally,a
palled!!
-H1. Louise Procto
Sr. Exec. Secy .
College of Pharm
Febrnrv 4
ation at Rosh Haniqra. The caption
explained to us that he had
ft h e wounded a Palestinian and then
o still burned him to death with a
Id con- phosphorous grenade. O r. l y
actions afterstelling of the actions of
chang- the Israeli soldier, do yo t men-
chang- tion that two Israelis were <Ml-
eralf led. It would seen that T h e
ten ful- Daily is more cone:ned with
blatant the Palestinian 'errcrist than the
't aring children and other mnarmed hu-
offer- man beings he was attempting
dad this to kill.
Be la-e When Israelis killed three ter-
cked to rorists and burned their bodies,
ntract' you ran a picture f the angry
coupled Israeli crowd and only mention-
, P1 ed the number of unarmed ci-
s°- rvilians killed by the terroris's.
c com-
WHEN ARAFAT was recog-
is actv- nized by the UN, your wire-
uge has stories told us to r'lax becansn
rd can- Arafat was the leader of his
to this recognized "nation" and his re-
Simply, sponsibilities would mellow him
Univer- into something more than a
itergate murderer.
would As supposedly enlightened
analyze members of the social and edu-
)r cational elite, one would hope
hiring that you would not lose hold of
of fair your recognition of the value of
be of- human life nor of your sense of
ct, and priorities.
v'holds, If someone killed you- family
t naive orfriends, you would not emy
niag a over the murderer's death. One
n naive might also assume that you
mile of wouldn't be thrilled if the man
occurs or men who subdued the mur-
bration derer were made to look like
major-a sick criminal and thw inorder-
major- er like a martyred saint.
Finally, you must remember
that as members of the press
the materials you publish re-
flect your views. What you are
mice condoning is the murder of de-
fenseless men, women, and
utraged children, not by saying so in
ars on bold print like you should if
Sunday, you are to be respected, but by
MOUS- subtle innuendo.
s u r e -Peter A. Levine
or my February 4
octor of
vonders big ten
sliced
St scs - To The Daily:
Ird that THE BIG TEN Conference
ed and has now become the official
this is "Watergate" of college foot-
e ever ball. It no longertmatters in this
a conference whether or not a
team plays well and wins a
r share of the conference title.
The conference is run by men
acy who cast secret ballots and no
one is allowed to know even
will not be made public? What
kind of a system would allow for
a team to accumulate the na-
tion's best three-year record
and play in no bowl game? And
why has Bo Schembechler been
placed on two years' probation
expostfacto when Woody Hayes
has not?
Wayne Duke may or may not
be personally involved in behind-
the-scenes schemes, but if he
cannot run the Big Ten without
political implications he needs
to be replaced. The Big Ten's
Rose Bowl representative MUST
be selected on the basis of
PREDETERMINED RULES
which eliminate ANY possibility
of political maneuvering.
IF YOUR readers would like
to see politics removed from
Big Ten policies, please encour-
age them to express their views
to:
Big Ten Conference
111 Plaza Drive
Schaumburg, Illinois 60172
-Alex and Ann
Mercandetti
oppression
To The Daily:
WITH ALL the attention these
days being given to the situation
of the Arab Palestinians, I feel
another group is totally ignored
by the world. That group is the
Jewish people who dwell in
Arab countries, especially those
living in Syria. In Syria gun-
slinging secret police break into
homes at midnight and pull back
the blankets from sleeping child-
ren to make sure they are still
there. Men, barred from most
occupations, are forced into
feeding and clothing their fam-
ilies with handouts. Communica-
tion by mail, phone and radio is
strictly forbidden and anyone
caught without his identification
card (which is marked 'Mousa-
wi', meaning follower of Mos-
es) is locked into jail. This is
the reality of daily lire for the
3500 Jews of Damascms, Alep-
po and Qamishli, a tragic rem-
nant of a once thriving and cul-
tured community in Syria. Fur-
ther restrictions are- To stray
more than four kilometers from
home is forbidden, no one with-
out special permission may
leave their home after the six
p.m. curfew, the authorities
have banned assemblies of more
than four and most of the fam-
ilies have been reduced te grind-.
ing poverty by strict economic
sideswipes
A merica threatened
by "ferin" investors
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN
A SAUDI Arabian fmnancer is buying a huge chunk of Michigan's
Bank of the Commonwealth, which for the present doesn't con-
cern us all too much.
True, we are vaguely troubled, but the management and own-
ership of banks is something so far beyond our comprehension
anyway that we can't worry ourselves silly over who does the
managing and owning. Hell, some good may develop from this
latest move straight out of a Parker Brothers board game-
we might get rid of those crummy Bank of the Commonwealth
musical production number television commercials.
But, as true flag-waving, fireworks-loving all-American patriots,
we must ask where all this foreign ownership will stop. Fellow
citizens, we'd soon be fighting the economic invasion on our
beaches except for the fact that they own the beaches.
THE OWNERSHIP itself shouldn't make us bite our nails.
With the way businesses are purchased through intermediaries the
foreigners (pronounced "ferners") probably own half of the
country now. Swallow your pride America. Remember those
Jewish bankers General Brown warned us about - they're all
Arabs.
Why that should upset us is not clear. The home-grown ownership
of our largest corporations does not exactly inspire us to go out
and buy shares in ITT to finance military coups and CIA opera-
tions. Our own American oil shieks from some of the larger
gasoline companies won't even sell the black bubbly to our own
Army.
Perhaps we should be worried for other reasons. Remember the
revolution that was going to come to this country in the late
60's? Right on, I knew you wouldn't forget. Well, do you think
a bunch of foreign investors is going to let their dollars go down
the drain when it finally comes in time for the Bicentennial? No
sireee.
NO TWO BIT American Allende would stand a chance. "Semper
status quo" would become our new national motto even while ur-
ban guerrillas tried kidnapping Bank of the Commonwealth big-
wigs for huge ransoms.
The danger of foreign ownership in a backward one-crop econ-
omy like ours is truly great. It cannot be viewed as a coincidence
that banks in Detroit will be owned by outsiders. The Motor City
is the capitol of our automobile banana republic. Whoever con-
trols Detroit is in the driver's seat.
But we do have one secret weapon left. Underdeveloped, op-
pressed countries are always doing it to American outside invest-
ors - perhaps when the junta takes over in Washington we will
nationalize their American holdings.
AS COMPENSATION we'll give them the Penn Central and a
$500 rebate. That will teach them not to mess in our domestic
affairs.
Bob Seidenstein is a staff writer for the Editorial Page.
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