Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Congress considers
Presidential recalls
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1973
Releasing faculty salaries
WHEN THE REGENTS meet today to
vote on Regent Dunn's resolution to
publish faculty and administration sala-
ries, we hope that they will pass it with-
out further ado.
State law already holds that official
records of any state agency are "public
property belonging to the people." The
Regents have thus far avoided disclosure
by citing another portion of the same
law which says that "in some limited in-
stances the public interest may require
that the names and compensations of a
public officer or public employe be held
in confidence..'
This is clearly an attempt to stretch
a special dispensation into a loophole.
And the Regents have yet to demonstrate
why withholding the pay scale is in the
public interest, rather than in their own
interest.
And state Atty. Gen. Frank Kelley's re-
cent ruling that the names and salaries
of public employes must be considered
a matter of public record has given teeth
to Regent Dunn s resolution.,
JN THE FACE of such weighty legal and
legislative decisions, the opponents of
the measure have marshalled a few un-
impressive arguments.
The first is that making salaries public
would weaken what is facetiously called
the merit system. Those who favor the
present publish and/or perish hiring and
promotion procedure loftily conclude that
this system has some positive correlation
with teaching ability.
This is not the conclusion reached by
any independent evaluation body. It is
certainly not borne out in the experience
of students whose education suffers for
whims of the editors of scholarly jour-
nals.
The real fear of those who oppose
Dunn's measure is that it will cause con-
tention within departments. It seems only
reasonable that those whose pay does not
approach parity
being exploited,;
their plight.
will decide that they are
and take steps to rectify
THE SECOND pro-secrecy argument is
that the publication of salaries
would turn the University into a second-
class institution (or third-class, or
worse). This is a stock banner the Re-
gents yank out of the closet each time
that they are expected to do something
of which they disapprove, as in the ad-
mission of blacks in larger numbers.
Each time they must be reassured that
other prestigious institutions have done
the same thing they are asked to under-
take with no apparent harm. In this in-
stance the state schools of New York and
California, and other public colleges and
universities within Michigan (notably
MSU) seem to have survived the publica-
tion of financial records.
And finally, in what can only be a
feeble attempt at humor, Regent Deane
Baker has asserted that, in a similar in-
stance, students would not like having
their grades published. The situations
are not analogous. Students, who provide
considerable income for the University,
are not subject to economic discrimina-
tion in the same way that faculty mem-
bers, as employes, are.
Perhaps, in the near future, the Edu-
cational Testing Service can undertake a
lengthy survey to determine whether any
groups of students are facing discrimin-
ation, in grading. But, for the present,
that is not the issue.
THE ISSUE IS the possible discrimina-
tory pay practices of the University.
If the Regents attempt to evade this is-
sue now, the courts will force them to
face it in weeks to come. And the Re-
gents' behavior will once again call into
question their ability to function in the
multiple role of management, arbiter, and
public watchdog of the University.
Doily Photo by JOHN UPTON
Until the last burning dragt
By JAMES WECHSLER
ALTHOUGH THEY hardly plan-
ned it that way, Richard Nixon
and Spiro Agnew may achieve a
certain immortality as the men
who finally compelled Americans
to contemplate far-reaching change
in our political processes.
For many months the two domin-
ant facts about the national con-
dition have been deepening unease
about Mr. Nixon's capacity to gov-
ern and an equally manifest reluc-
tance to confront the stresses of
a long impeachment struggle.
These clashing emotions have been
intensified by signs that Vice Pre-
sident 'Agnew is in special troub-
le of his own.
Despite the current efforts of
the White House and some Re-
publican spokespersons to pro-
claim that Watergate belongs to the
past, as if repeating the thought
often enough will exor'ise the un-
pleasantness, no such relief is in
sight. Too many men are al-
ready entrapped; who and what
will break next as prosecutions
proceed?
THE VIEW THAT we are doom-
ed to three long years of creeping
paralysis and futile polemics seems
to be the prevailing fatalism. But
in Congress there are thoughtful ,
if little-heralded legislative stir-
rings that could set the stage for
national debate. It is time they
received notice.
Rep. Jonath'an Bingham (D-N.Y.)
has introduced a constitutional
amendment that would permit Con-
gress to call for a new national
election when it "determines that
a situation has arisen in which the
President cannot adequately per-
form the functions of his office."
A comparable scenario is pro-
jected in a longer, more detailed
amendment co-sponsored by Reps.
Edith Green (D-Ore.) and Mor-
ris Udall (D-Ariz.). It would em-
power Congress to initiate a spec-
ial election within 90 days when
"the President has failed or re-
fused faithfully to execute t h e
laws enacted by the Congress; or
..has willfully exceeded t h e
powers vested in him by the Con-
stitution and the laws of the Unit-
ed States . . . or has caused-or
willfully permitted the rights of
citizens to be trespassed . ."
By BETH NISSEN
"Light up or leave me alone"
Traffic, Low Spark of High Heel-
ed Boys
HIS IS WRITTEN for anyone
who has ever lit up a cigarette.
put one out, sneezed, coughed, or
strained their eyes to see an An-
gell Hall movie through a cloud of
smoke.
Today's smoker must contend
with the AMA, the Cancer Founda-
tion, the succinct Surgeon Gener-
al's warning, the 50c-a-pack charge,
and a public that is increasingly
intolerant of cigarette smoking.
People are beginning to react to
the stubborn stale smell that hangs
in rooms, closets and on clothing,
the ugly butts, eye-stinging smoke,
and the medical suggestion that
exhaled cigarette smoke may be
physically harmful to those non-
smokers who inhale it.
It was once an indication of
status to smoke; it is now gener-
ally socially acceptable to tolerate
but not encourage or participate
in smoking; a time may soon come
when it will be socially commend-
able to discourage and forbid smok-
ing.
I remember the first experiment-
al drag I took in the fourth grade.
It was followed by a gasp for cool
air and what must have been four
hours of coughing and eight hours
of aftertaste; it was my first
and last.
IN JUNIOR HIGH, my class-
mates were divided into those who
smoked and those who didn't. The
bathrooms were the hang-outs for
the smokers, who agreed among
themselves they were more sophis-
ticated and experienced than the
rest of us with virgin lungs. It
was never difficult to distinguish
a smoker from a non-smoker; the
female smokers always seemed to
be the ones who teased their hair,
wore bras first and spread garish
blue and green on their adoles-
cent eyelids, while their male coun-
terparts slicked their hair back,
hid their jeans from the laund y,
and talked exclusively of motor-
cycles and the female smokers
They were harder to distinguish
in high school. They were much
more discreet, more practiced. The
bathroom was still the center of
puffery (the hall with three bath-
rooms was the school "drag
strip"), with clouds of smoke hov-
ering mysteriously over the stalls
in the back, two sinks pluged with
swimming butts, and an instant
chorus of well-timed flushing when-
ever a teacher was too near the
bathroom door.
THERE WAS SOME obscure im-
age that accompanied the light'
up action, a composite image
birthed by Madison Avenue and the
smokers themselves. The ads as-
sured men of their masculinity, in-
dividuality and appeal; women who
smoked were independent and the
epitome of liberation.
But the image began to falter
under ever-increasing discourage-
ment: warnings, the ban on tele-
vision cigarette ads, and the in-
crease in public service mesages
against smoking.
It will only be a matter of time,
hopefully, until the issue of smok-
ing in public becomes a national
health campaign, like the current-
ly effective emphasis on seat belts,
on until Smokey expands his serv-
ices to putting out cigarettes along
with forest first.
Some non-smokers are taking the
initiative and asking people to
please refrain; some smokers dre
showing growing sensitivity a n d
asking a quick "Do you mind if I
smoke" to the persons on either
side of them in a crowded lecture
hall. Those reluctant to endure a
smokers who-do-you-think-you-are
stare have taken to subtly hiding
ashtrays and coughing conspicuous-
ly when a cigarette is lit. And
there are those who are not in
the least bothered (usually smok-
ers or ex-smokers themselves,
children of smoking parents, or
friends of tobacco tycoons).
THE NON-SMOKERS of the
world must continue their vigilant-
ism and persuasive efforts firmly
and convincingly until smokers can
find an alternative: nail-biting,
over-eating, thumb-sucking, medi-
tation, anything. The economists
can then capitalize on the new
market of short-nailed, overweight
neurotics. It may work better than
anything Nixon's tried to date.
Beth Nisson is a student who, as
you might suspect, does not smoke.
APART FROM the precise time-
table and more elaborate specifi-
cations in the Green-Udall formula,
there is one other significant dif-
ference between their approach
and Bingham's. They would re-
quire a two-thirds vote of b o t h
houses as a first step; Bingham's
resolution calls for a simple ma-
jority.
Since it takes a two-thirds vote
to override a Presidential veto, the
difference may be more apparent
than real. But Bingham notes that
a beleaguered Chief Executive
might be disposed to seek a new
mandate once repudiated by a
simple majority.
Under both amendments, the in-
cumbent would have the right to
run assuming that he obtains his
party's nomination. (Bingham's re-
solution does not spell out the me-
chanics of designation, as Reps.
Green and Udall do; he contends it
would be preferable to enact the
basic principle and let Congress
evolve the machinery).
EVEN IF EITHER won C o n-
gressional sanction and survived
Presidential veto, the approval of
three-fourths of the states would
still be needed. Barring s o m e
unforseeable bombshells that could
create a darker mood of national
emergency, the road to such re-
form will not be swiftly traversed.
But if these are ideas. w h o s e
time has not yet come, they sure-
lv belong on the agenda of public
discussion.
Clearly they would embody fate-
ful alterations in our political
structure, introducing basic ele-
ments of Britain'sparliamentary
system. Is that an unthinkable
thought after both Watergate and
Vietnam?
Neither amendment is necessar-
ily the last word. It may be ar-
gued, for example, that a Con-
gress which decrees a new na
tional election should in fairness
provide for its simultaneous dis-
solution and an electoral test of its
own members. (It must also be
recognized that the proposed
changes would require the opposi-
tion party to maintain some equi-
valent of "shadow cabinet.")
GRANTING THAT Congressional
and state action is unlikely before
the 1974 races, the start of major
debate on the amendments could
transform those contests into a
midterm popular plebiscite with
special meaning.
While the political sickness un-
folded in the Nixon Administration
- from Watergate to Cambodia -
and the ensuing national malaise in
the backdrop for these remarks,
the issues transcends his term.
Certainly the existence of such de-
mocratic instruments for change
might have modified the tragic
chronicle of Lyndon Johnson's de-
bacle in Vietnam.
Nor can this be discounted as a
desperate scheme to "reverse the
Nixon mandate" of 1972. For if
that result still has any validity,
his disintegrating second term
could be salvaged by a new na-
tional vote.
The larger 'qustion is whether
many Americans are prepared to
face the implications of their dis-
taste for the impeachment route
(which could conceivable lead Carl
Albert to the White House). In a
deeper sense, are they willing to
concede that imperfections H1 our
system are in part responsible for
our present frustration -nd dis-
array? We will never know the
answers until responsible voices
begin to present the questions -
as Bingham, Mrs. Greene and Ud-
all are trying to do.
James Wechsler is editorial page
editor of the New York Post.
Copyright 1973-The New York
Post Corporation.
,11
U.S.-India: A failing detente
Endorsing the lettuce boycott
THE UNIVERSITY Housing Council
voted Tuesday -night to support the
United Farm Workers UFW union's let-
tuce boycott and prohibit the purchase
of lettuce not picked by the union's mem-
bers.
To some, the lettuce boycott currently
being conducted by the UFW may seem
to be an abstract struggle. However, the
boycott has proved to be one of the most
effective tactics the UFW can draw on
in its effort to gain union contracts with
California growers.
It was. through the grape boycott of
the late 60s that the UFW forced growers
to recognize their union as the grape
pickei's' bargaining agent.
The contracts signed in 1970 between
growers and the UFW established for the
first time a seniority system of hiring,
medical and retirement benefits, protec-
tion from the use of pesticides, and other
significant farmworker gains.
AFTER SIGNING the grape contracts,
the UFW moved into the lettuce pick-
ing area, hoping to bring about the same
kinds of changes.
However, when the grape contracts ex-
pired this year most growers signed with
the Teamsters, eliminating most of the
UFW gains of past years.
The Teamster contracts were notable
for their swtich back to a labor contrac-
tor system of hiring workers, a system
which allows kickbacks and favoritism
instead of seniority to decide who shall
work.
Moreover, significant evidence of
Teamster-grower collaboration in trying
to undermine the UFW's position has been
found. Just last week, the Justice De-
partment handed down several indict-
ments for the payment of bribes by grow-
ers and packers to Teamster officials.
UNITED FARM Worker efforts to defeat
the Teamster-grower alliance have
included a grape pickers' strike-which
met with harassment from both the po-
lice and Teamster-paid thugs-and a na-
tionwide boycott of grapes as well as of
the two largest grape purchasers, A&P
and Safeway.
The success and prospects of these
tactics will be the subject of numerous
dorm discussions early next week, at
which farmworkers who participated in
the grape pickers' strike will talk.
We urge that students attend these
discussions, especially so that they may
vote more intelligently in the November
referendum which will put the campus
lettuce boycott to a vote.
In light of the struggle the UFW is en-
gaged in to establish its hard-won gains
once and for all, the actions of the Uni-
versity Housing Council is no longer ab-
stract. It is concrete and, what is more,
correct.
Barely heard
THE VIOLENCE caused by apartheid in
South Africa has apparently become
so commonplace that it no longer merits
significant attention.
Yet, last week police gunfire mowed
down 11 striking black miners at the site
of the country's richest gold mine. Pneu-
matic drill operators at Western Deep
Levels mine had demanded a pay in-
crease, which was rejected by the Anglo
American Corp., the! mine owner.
When protesting miners advanced on
the mine's administration building, the
police opened fire, killing the 11 and
wounding 27 more.
South African Prime Minister John
Vorster's comment on the killings was
that, "The police have always acted with
the greatest caution in such circum-
stances. They acted the same way last
night."
Others, including the secretary general
of the World Council of Churches and the
United Nations Special Committee on
Apartheid, had less praise for the police.
THE INCIDENT will no doubt pass with
little change in attitude of any of
the parties involved, including the U. S.
rnomenment Our nrnorations will con-
By JOHN BARTON
W7ASHINGTON - Events s u r-
rounding the recent visit of
Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto suggest the administra-
tion's efforts to attain a balanced
foreign policy towards India will
be difficult to achieve.
It is not so much that new pol-
icies are too difficult to devise and
put into practice. Rather that old
ones are so easy to remember.
Ironically, it is not the visit of
Bhutto - who heads the govern-
ment India has regarded as its
major enemy - but the recent
coup in Chile and the dispute be-
tween the U.S. and Cuba that is at
the core of the latest flap between
Washington and New Delhi.
For some time before the visit
of Bhutto, both Indian and U.S. of-
ficials went to great trouble to pub-
licize a mutual desire to forget past
troubles, real and imagined.
NEVER MIND that U.S. policy
had tilted toward Pakistan in the
Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, Indian
officials said. Forget the fact the
U.S. supplied Pakistan with wea-
pons that had been turned against
India instead of the "Communist
aggresors" for whom they were in-
tended. Pakistan lost,tEast Pakis-
tan merged as Bangladesh, and
things would be better.
Never mind that India used every
posible chance to denounce the
U.S. policy in Asia in the most
vitriolic terms, U.S. officials said.
Forget the fact India has accept-
ed an enormous amount of Amer-
ican foreign aid but still sided
more with the Soviet Union than
the United States. The Vietnam
War ended, and things would be
better.
Only the day before Bhutto ar-
rived, a ranking State Department
official told reporters that Bhut-
to's visit would not result in any
new military arms supplies for
Pakistan. And in a sharp reversal
of past practice, officials made it
clear the U.S. no longer w o u I d
automatically support Pakistan in
its problems with the giant neigh-
bor, India.
BUT ON THE very day that of-
ficial spoke, Cuban Prime Minis-
ter Fidel Castro was warmly re-
ceived by Mrs. Gandhi in N e w
Delhi.
Castro, not unsurprisingly, had
some unpleasant things to say
about the United States. Among
them was a direct accusation that
the United States was responsible
for the coup in Chile and the result-
ant death of deposed President Sal-
vador Allende.
Mrs. Gandhi and other Indian
oficials had already criticized the
coup in Chile in terms American
officials privately interpret as a
thinly veiled attack on the United
States.
U.S. officials winced. They hive
concluded that by giving Castro
a public forum and implying a
U.S. role in the Chilean coup, Mrs.
Gandhi had, once again, buried the
hatchet in the American hide.
AMERICAN OFFICIALS are
hoping that the incident is just an
-isolated slap at the U.S. face and
not the forerunner of a sustained
anti-American attack. It is just
such stinging barbs, however, that
have derailed past eforts to bring
about better understanding b e -
tween the United States and India.
Heard against a backdrop of
thanks by Bhutto for Amrican
support and generosity, some of-
ficials here believe it is yet ano-
ther reminder that the road to
better understanding between the
United States and India will not
be an easy path.
John Barton is a writer for the
United Press International.
Letters to The Daily
(i
Coleman Young
To The Daily:
I HAVE JUST read, in great dis-
may, Eugene Robinson's portrayal
of the Detroit mayoral primary.
Having spent my summer working
in Senator Coleman Young's cam-
paign I felt I had to write to clear
up some of the viciously false
statements you made.
Coleman Young and his support-
ers 'did not expect to lose t h a t
primary on Tuesday. We expected
that, having the most progressive
and appealing candidate that we
would get sufficient votes from
all racial and ethnic communities
in Detroit to place second behind
John Nichols.
Coleman Young did not offer
"general babblings" on his v i c-
tory. He gave customary thanks to
all of his gathered supporters, ex-
pressed his appreciation for the
support of countless rank-and-file
union members, and urged all to
work toward our next victory in
November.
Coleman Young is not a "black
liberal."' He is a black man with
an extensive record of struggle, in
Detroit's Black Bottom, in the
police, improved housing condi-
tions, decreased unemployment and
many others.
I don't know whether you spent
any time at all observing or
working in Senator Young's cam-
paign this summer, or indeed whe-
ther you live in the city of De-
troit or not. But I see your at-
tempt to picture Senator Young as
a foolish, inexperienced man who
has been thrust by fate into a posi-
tion he doesn't know how to deal
with, as a very racist and danger-
ous action. I hope none of your
readers' are diswayed from work-
ing, as I will, with all their ability
to elect this man the next mayor
of Detroit.
-Marcia> Fishman 7SRC
Sept. 14
prisoner
To The Daily:
I AM A FEDERAL .prisoner at
Leavenworth, Kansas. I have been
in prison now almost five years. I
expect to be getting out next sum-
mer, and after being in prison for
so long, I have lost all contact with
the people I. once knew on the
streets.
I
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