*.,_ i
Eighty-Five Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Cafes: Brimming with
Wednesday, April 9, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Notice: No votee no bitchee
By PAUL O'DONNELL
A w I D E S P R E A D,
stereotypical view of France
includes a beret-wearing mous-
tachioed Frenchman sitting in
an outdoor cafe with a glass
of red wine on the table in front
of him; he sips the wine slow-
ly as he watches the world
go by. Or perhaps he's a long
haired student, in a cafe in
Paris' Latin Quarter, having
long conversations about May
'68, socialism, capitalism, ex-
tentialism, and other 'isms"
. . . the atmosphere is filled
with cigarette smoke and Car-
tesian logic. While these vi-
sions of France are far from
being accurate representations
of the country as a whole, the
cafe is indeed an important
part of the European, and espe-
cially Mediterranean, way of
life. It is certainly an institu-
tion which fascinates most
Americans when they first
come to Europe; some of us
even spend hours going from
one cafe to another when we
first arrive in Paris, Madrid,
or Rome. I confess to being
one of those who spent his first
evenings in Paris going to Cafe
de la Gare, Le Saint Severain,
and Cafe Risheliou instead of
visiting Notre Dame or the Eif-
fel Tower. After I'd been in
France for a while, a friend
told me: "Tell me what cafe
you go to; and I'll tell you what
party you vote for." The state-
ment is, of course, exaggerated,
but I later learned it carried
substantial truth.
"AND THAT," said my
friend as he took me for a tour
of his home town in Southern
France, "is a Monarchist cafe
... that is where the Cascicans
hang out . . . here's where the
law students go . . ."
"How can you tell?" I had
to ask. What made one bar
"Socialist," another bar "right-
wing," and another "Monarch-
ALTHOUGH MONDAY'S low student
turnout at the polls was expected,
it was nevertheless disappointing.
The total number of people voting in
the Second Ward, a student-dominat-
ed enclave, has decreased significant-
ly over the past two years.
In the 1973 elections, 4,563 Second
Ward residents cast their ballots. This
year, only 3,623 bothered to do so-a
decrease of nearly 21 per cent.
During the years before the 18-
year-old vote went into effect, stu-
dents grumbled about being hit by the
draft while being denied their politi-
cal voice. Since they have been grant-
TODAY'S STAFF .
News: Glenn Allerhand, Stephen
Hersh, Jay Levin, Sara Rimer, Tim
Schick, Jeff Sorensen
Editorial Page: Clifford Brown, Bar-
bara Cornell, Paul Haskins, Debra
Hurwitz, Mara Letica
Arts Page: David Blomquist, Chris
Kochmanski, George Lobsenz, Sarah
Polarek, James Valk, David Wein-
berg
Photo Technician: Pauline Lubens
ed their enfranchisement, however,
their political voice has emerged as a
weak one, at best.
STUDENTS ARE traditionally the
least motivated group of voters. A
chill breeze or long wait are often de-
cisive factors in keeping large num-
bers of them away from the polls on
election day.
The rent control ballot proposal -
the one issue which logically might
have generated a moderate amount of
student concern - was decisively
trounced. Not only was it defeated
2-1, but it received 4,400 less votes
than last year.
It is true that a well-financed me-
dia campaign by the landlords helped
tip the scales heavily against rent
control, but students apparently suc-
cumbed to apathy, assuming their in-
dividual votes were of little conse-
quence.
Unless students change their atti-
tudes and begin to exercise their
franchise, the lowered age of major-
ity will be largely meaningless.
Piloting in
Cambodia:
ist," especially when they were
all similar in price, architec-
ture and decoration? The con-
clusion was that bars get their
"character" according to who
did or didn't frequent the place,
and that this didn't necessarily
have anything to do with the
bar's atmosphere or the man-
agement's political leanings.
PART OF MY one-man study
involved talking with' bartend-
ers, waiters, and bar owners,
and even working in one cafe-
restaurant. In one "leftist"
cafe, for example, I asked the
waiter how he liked working
there. "The customers are nice,
but they don't tip much . .
some waiters live off their
tips you know . . ." The wait-
er's pot-bellied, chain-smoking
boss seemed more concerned
about the cash register itself
than about whose money he was
putting in it. "I don't care who
or what my customers are, as
long as they pay their bills and
don't break anything," he smil-
ingly informed me.
If going to one cafe of an-
other ' sometimes implies a
political choice, tipping, or not
tipping, also has political con-
notations. Once, aftertleaving
my habitual tip of fifteen per
cent pourboire, a French stu-
dent solemnly advised me:
"You shouldn't leave tips . . .
if the waiter is poorly paid,
he should go- on strike and de-
life
existentialist cafes, intellectual
cafes, working - class cafes,
high-class cafes along the
Champs-Elysees, and under-
world bars in the red-light dis-
trict. Some literary cafes which
were once frequented by such
famous writers as Jean-Paul
Sartre have since become tour-
ist attractions, even though
the personalities who made
them famous never set foot in
them.
THE TRADITION OF literary
creation taking place in cafes
still continues, and even thesis-
writing doctoral candidates can
be seen poring over notes and
writing draft copies in a quiet
back or upstairs room of a
neighborhood snack-bar. One
university professor, himself
the author of several books
about Spanish history and liter-
ature, told me' of his experi-
ences; "I can't write at home
I take all my notes and
reference materials to a cafe;
it's theonly place I can get
any work done."
Cafe going may seem like a
rather "separatist" activity,
with each social class, profes-
sion, political tendency, or ath-
letic preference visiting 'exclu-
sivelyn his own establishments,
and not venturing into bistros
that don't correspond to his in-
terests or views. In small
towns, however, the limited
number of possibilities forces
bar customers of all ages, na-
Far from a carnival
U' budget: No easy choice
TN LIGHT OF Monday's announce-
ment that the University budget
will be cut an additional two per cent
next year, the Administration has a
greater obligation than ever before
to reaffirm its commitment to pre-
serving vital University programs and
endangered personnel.
Robben Fleming and his band of
merry managers have no enviable
task ahead of them, and no one can
reasonably expect them to arrive at
a fiscal policy that will meet Milli-
ken's guidelines and at the same time
not take an unhealthy chunk out of
the University's people and project
assets.
But the budget barons would be re-
miss to level their austerity arrows at
crucial educational programs and em-
ployees without first looking else-
where for alternative funding sources.
FLEMING THE OTHER DAY grimly
predicted that the unexpected set-
back would probably be reflected in
either a tuition increase, curtailment
of already depleted programs, or in-
creased reliance on private contribu-
tions.
Those administrators who discount
student resistance to tuition hikes as
a predicably defensive reaction
might take a closer look at ethical
implications of a fee hike option be-
fore adopting it.
Within the past year, the standard
number of students who have annual-
ly been forced to withdraw for the
traditional reasons of poor grades,
personal problems, or disinterest has
been upped radically by a growing
minority of students who can no
longer afford an astronomical price
tag on a University education.
THE POLITICIANS, THE educators,
- and the history books have al-
ways told us that people who work
diligently and cooperatively are as-
sured an education regardless of per-
sonal means. But the cold realities of
the present economic malaise tell us
that what we've held as sacred truths
are, like so much else, no more than
empty rhetoric.
The free enterprise system is some-
thing that we are stuck with, and for
the most part willing to swallow. But
there is no tolerating the application
of cost efficiency and economic thrift
principles when it results in the de-
motion of students to expendable
commodities.
Increasing tuition will not solve the
University's economic crisis. One
doesn't relieve an overburdened tree
by trimming it at the trunk.
THE ADMINISTRATION should do
everything possible to seek out
alternative funding, especially if, as
many have charged, they have untold
millions languishing in private funds.
As a state institution, this Univer-
sty was bult to serve its students, not
to victimize them. The Administration
and State budget makers would do
well to reassess their attitudes to-
ward education before deciding where
the budget axe will fall.
A~ickig"wu aily
Sports Staff
BRIANsDEMING
Sports Editor
MARCIA MERKER
Executive Sports Editor
LEBA HERTZ
Managing Sports Editor
BILL CRANE............Associate Sports Editor
JEFF SCHILLER ... ..Associate Sports Editor
FRED UPTON.......Contributing Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Jon Chavez, Andy Glazer, Al
Hrapsky. Rich Lerner, Jeff Liebster, Ray
O'Hara, Bill Stieg, Michael Wilson
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Rick Bonino,
Tom Cameron, Tom Ruranceau, Kathy Hen-
neghan, Ed Lange, Scott Lewis, Dave Wihak
DESK ASSISTANTS: Marybeth Dillon, Marcia
Katz, John Neimeyer
By RICHARD BOYLE
CAPTAIN GENE E. J. Lee pulled back on the
throttle of his four engine Viscount, which
dipped into a steep dive. His co-pilot, on the
lookout for incoming rockets, peered out the win-
dow. As the plane careened into a dive, I braced
myself, trying to see past the pilot's head.
Our plane had been held up at Battambang,
Cambodia's rice capital 150 milesnorthwest of
Phnom Penh, because of fresh reports that
Phnom Penh's Pochentong airport had been roc-
keted. But after the delay, Chinese-born Captain
Lee made his daily flight to bring bags of rice
and a few adventurous passenger from Battam-
bang to Phnom Penh, risking rockets at both air-
ports.
Some 20 airlines fly various routes in Cambodia
-some no more than one-airplane operations,
runnning on a shoestring and hopes of a fat U.S.
government contract. Since the risks are high,
many airlines quickly go bankrupt, especially if
the company's single airplane is hit too many
times by shrapnel.
LIKE CAPTAIN LEE, all of the pilots are
non-Khmers - Taiwanese, Koreans and Ameri-
cans.
The Viscount came down hard, hitting the
runway with a thud. We were all watching for
incoming rockets or even 105 mm artillery shells,
which have twice spread panic at the airport. A
few grave baggage handlers in helmets and flack
jackets raced to unload the freight as the passen-
gers ran quickly to a line of sandbags near what
was left of the airport complex. Other flight
groundcrews huddled behind sandbags, waiting
for the distinctive whine of incoming rockets. 58
had landed the day before.
Earlier in the week, Lon Nol's tired third di-
vision and other units had launched a counter at-
tack to push the rebels beyond rocket or artillery
range. But despite a newly appointed army com-
mander, the counterattack failed to drive the
rebels back and, in fact, may have lost even
more of the shrinking Phnom Penh enclave.
Captain Lee admitted that pilots now faced
small arms fire on landing, which meant the
rebels may have advanced to even a few miles
of the airport. For several days at stretches, the
Americans had stoDped flying because the in-
coming fire was taking such a heavy toll. Sev-
eral Americanpilots has, been wonded while
flying rice and ammunition to the retreating Lon
Nol armies and there was political pressire by
the new Thai government to ston U. S. military
flights from its territory altogether.
BESIDES CAUSING physical strain on the aged
aircraft making the Battambang - Phnom Penh
run, shrapnel also causes a severe mental strain
as well.
Although the air - conditioning on the creaky
old prop plane doesn't work, and the exhaust
is a little blacker than usual, the pretty Khmer
hostess still smiles as she serves glasses of tea
to the passengers. But she is uneasy.
A few weeks ago Captain Lee said one of the
stewardesses had been hit by a piece of shrap-
nel at Phnom Penh airport. "Two pieces came
through the cockpit window," he said.
Over the plane's loudspeaker, the piped music
play "Sail on Silver Bird" as a mother gently
rocks an infant. The 45-minute flight is almost
unreal.
After takeoff, Captain Lee turned the con-
trols over to his co-pilot and discussed why he
was risking his life for $40 per hour. It wasn't
the money, he said.
"I KNOW COMMUNISTS well," he began. "We
have been fighting them for 25 years. There are
two things you can do. One is surrender."
"What is the other?" I asked.
"Kill them all."
Combat for him he said was nothing new. He
had battled Communist Chinese MIG-17s over
the Formosa Straight in his ancient American-
built Sabre jet, of Korean War fame. Those
flights, he said, were mainly photo recon mis-
sions when he was in the Taiwan Air Force. Al-
though he did not down any MIGs, he learned
a lot and later worked in Laos for three years,
and for Air Vietnam for two years.
"Would Congress cut off the money to Cam-
bodia?" Captain Lee then asked.
I told him the Democratic Caucus in the House
had just voted overwhelmingly to suspend mili-
tary aid to Lon NoI and he nodded in under-
standing.
He then put on his earphones as the plane
dipped for the descent into Phnom Penh. Be-
sides the reports from the collapsing front in
Vietnam there was more bad news for pilots-
rumors the Khmer Rouge were moving up 37
mm anti-aircraft guns,which could knock down
virtually any plane trying to land at the airport.
BUT CAPTAIN LEE was still fighting, even if
the army of the government he was sunnlying
was in total disarravand close to surrender. It
was almost as if it were in some distant war
decades ago.
Richard Boyle, veteran combat reporter who
is now in Cambodia for Pacific News, has cov-
ered the Indochina gwar for such publications as
Time, Newsweek, Paris Match, and New Times.
Copyright Pacific News Service, 1975.
mand better wages . . . by your
charity, you're merely helping
his boss justify the low wages."
In another bar, a waitress told
me not to tip, because the
boss-woman kept all the money
the customers left. In most
cases, however, I automatically
leave a few coins in the plastic
dish, fearing that if I didn't,
the waiter might not understand
that it was for reasons of per-
sonal conviction.
IN EUROPE, where cafe go-
ing is as old a tradition as
church going, the mixture of
coffee and politics is nothing
new. But theicorner tavern
might also be a sportsmen's
meeting place, a chess player's
gameroom, or even the perch
from which a famous writer
looks down upon the world,
finding his inspiration by look-
ing at reality through an al-
coholic haze. In important
cities like Paris, there are
tionalities, and prespectives to
meet and have some kind of
contact at the local watering
hole. In one small town in
Southern France where I once
worked as a grape picker, only
one cafe was open during the
harvest season.
OVER A GLASS of beer, on a
Sunday afternoon, the distance
between employer and employe
seemed to diminish . . . one
day a week with the bistro at-
mosphere and alcohol serving
as equalizers, we could forget
who was whom, and talk "from
one man to another." But the
next day, out there in the field,
the cafe camaraderie had dis-
appeared, and there was no
doubt who was the boss and
who the worker.
Paul O'Donnell is a foreign
correspondent for the Daily
presently studying in Aix-en-
Pro-vence, France.
_Letters
to
Thie
dis ru ption
To The Daily:
I READ OF THE alleged bias
in hiring practices by the Ger-
man department, and I agree
totally with Mr. Schober that
there should be an avoidance
of departmental disruption. A
careful and thoughful reading of
the facts that were presented
leads me to feel that no such
disruption should result since
there is really no valid issue
involved.
First of all, Herr Professor
Hubbs is correct in protesting
that he should not be called
upon to chase TAs all over cam-
pus. While jogging is admitted-
ly a good form of exercise, the
TAs, being younger than Pro-
fessor Hubbs, would undoubt-
edly be able to outrun him;
and if he cannot catch them,
why should he be expected to
chase them?
Secondly, Professor Hubbs
rightfully assumed that if the
TAs were not around in their
offices, then they didn't want
to teach. (This assumption is
so obviously true, no proof is
Daily
needed to substantiate it.) And
thus we have another reason
why he cannot be expected to
chase TAs all over campus -
this would take him out of his
office, and thus lead to the con-
clusion that he does not want
to teach.
THIRD, WE CAN only ad-
mire his forthright attack on
the problem of selecting the
TI E F L6H-r 15; r"' 146
E Cof -TFIE ruNtaJEL..
\
Adoption: Not the real answer
By JOHN C. SCHAFER
THE SAVE-THE-V i e t n a-
mese - orphans hysteria
currently sweeping the coun-
try is an expression of both the
very best and the most danger-
ous aspects of the American
character: the very best, be-
cause it is evidence that we
can be an unselfish people will-
ing to give, to volunteer, to or-
ganize in short notice in time
of disaster; the most dangerous
because in the hysteria we as-
sume that we are gods with
power to save. Dangerous be-
cause we seldom stop to ask
what we mean by save and
what we are saving people
from, dangerous because it
leads to excesses like an Amer-
ican colonel's announcement.
that the town of Ben Tre had
to be destroyed to "save it".
The problem is not with the
original compassionate impulse
to help the suffering. No one
,nnlr marrel with that. If the
two million orphans, clothed
and fed in America, can wash
the blood off American hands
for what we did to the people
of Indochina.
THE ORPHANS ARE a diver-
sionary issue, an issue politi-
cians love, for everyone's for
orphans. But while they are
having their pictures taken
with babies in their arms,
children are still being or-
phaned as the war continues
in Indochina. The real issue is
whether or not the Ford admin-
istration is going to apply pres-
sure on Thieu to leave so that
negotiations with the other side
can begin and peace can be re-
stored. Peace is what will help
the Vietnamese - all the Viet-
namese, the orphans, the wound-
ed, the young, the old, all the
people who are tired of running
and sick of the war. Bringing
them all to America is not a
solution.
age, and somehow the two bal-
ance each other " out. They
don't. The moral arithmetic is
all wrong. The moral thing for
Americans to do is to end the
nightmare of war for the Viet-
namese and for ourselves.
THIEU'S GOVERNMENT is
in complete disarray. Even his
own self appointed congress
wants him out. The handwrit-
ing is on the wall and Ameri-
ca's empire in Southeast Asia
is over. The end of empires
may always be messy but it
can be less messy if Americans
encourage Thieu to take a trip
like Lon Nol. President Lon
Nol left with some dignity. He
is a man of whom it can be
said, nothing came of his ca-
reer like the leaving of it. It
would be good if we could cay
the same for Thieu.
I have seen the American
militarv and civilians with the
lets into New Life Hamlets, out
of our Free Fire Zones into re-
fugee centers, out of refugee
centers i n t o resettlement
areas.
A refugee worker with Inter-
national Voluntary Services in
V i e t n a m once overheard
an American commander telling
his men that it was ok to bomb
an area; if the villagers ran,
he said, there were American
refugee workers all ready to
take care of them. An old Viet-
namese in a refugee camp
where I was working once
asked me, "Why don't you talk
to your fellow countrymen
who are dropping the bombs?
If you did that we wouldn't
need anyone to help us re-
build." We as Americans have
to stop working at cross pur-
poses with each other.
WHAT WILL HELP t h e
Vietnamese most is the re-
storation of order which only
TAs. After a list of the most
qualified TAs was compiled
(planning stage), 'he moved
quickly and got the job done in
a minimal amount of time. It
was the Germans, after all,
who developed the blitz as a
standard operating procedure-
a strategy that was noted for
its proven effectiveness in at-
tacking troublesome problems.
F u r t h e r m o r e, Pro-
fessor Hubbs should be com-
mended for his discovery of a
surprisingly easy and workable
solution to the whole problem
of selecting TAs. By merely
proceeding down his list of can-
didates in alphabetical order,
he was, as he himself stated,
able to end up with the nine
TAs who were the most quali-
fied for the job. Surely this
raises exciting possibilities for
the entire university. On the
one hand, each department
merely needs to choose those
names that fall within its sec-
tion of the alphabet.
FINALLY, IT seems rather
obvious to me that Mr. Schober
has little basis for raising his
objection in the first place.
Since the German department
has discovered that its most
qualified TAs are to be found
within the beginning part of
the alphabet, and since his
name starts with the 18th let-
ter of the alphabet (with only
30.8 per cent of the letters com-
ing after the letter S), how can
he nurture the hope that he is
one of their most qualified
TA? The mnt-nnalified se-