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Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
The death of politics in
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1974
No peace in Vietnam
WHEN FOUR GOVERNMENTS signed
the Paris Peace Accords one year
ago, the people of the United States and
Vietnam looked forward in their various
ways to the end of a conflict that, for two
decades, had ravaged both nations mili-
tarily, economically and, especially for
the American people, morally.
Any hopes that were cherished about
the Paris Accords bringing peace to Viet-
nam have now vanished in artillery fire,
spreading famine, tiger cages, and swell-
ing refugee camps.
It is now clear that the U. S. govern-
ment's intervention in the complex civil
strife in Vietnam follows its own grim
logic regardless of the needs or desires
of the 'citizens of either country. The
needs of multinational corporations for
raw materials and markets outweight all
consideration of ethical, legal, or diplo-
matic niceties.
ACCORDING TO THE terms of the peace
agreement, a permanent ceasefire
was to begin on the day that the agree-
ment was ratified. Ironically, more bomb
tonnage has fallen on Vietnam in the past
year than in any previous one, and at
least 100,000 Vietnamese have died as
the battles flare and subside.
A National Council of Reconciliation
and Concord was to be established, and
new elections under international super-
vision were to be held in the South. But
the Saigon regime has announced that
it has no intention of entering discussions
or negotiations with any communists.
Editorial Staff
CHRISTOPHER PARKS and EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editors in Chief
TONY SCHWARTZ........ ....... Sunday Editor
DIANE LEVICK....................... Arts Editor
MARTIN PORTER.. . ...........Sunday Editor
MARILYN RILEY.,....... Associate Managing Editor
ZACHARY SCHILLER..........Editorial Director
ERIC SCHOCH ..........Editorial Director
CHARLES STEIN....................City Editor
TED STEIN..................... Executive Editor
ROLE TESSEM ..................Managing Editor
EDITORIAL PAGU EDITORS: Miarnie Heyn, Chuck
Wilbur, David Yalowitz
STAFF wRITfRS: Prakaesh Aswanl, Gordon Atcheson,
Dan Biddle, Penny Blank, Dan Blugerman, Howard
Bri ).,Dave Burhenn, Bonnie Caes, Charles Cole-
rman, Mike Duweck, Tred Evanoff, Deborah Good,
William Heenan, Cindy Hill, Jack Krost. Jean Love-
Josephine Marcotty, Cheryl Pilate, Judy Ruskin,
tAnn Raurna, Bob Seidenstein, Stephen Selbt, Jeff
Sorensen, Sue ttephenson, David Stoll, Rebecca
Warner
Photography Staff!
THOMAS GOTTLIEB
Chief Photographer
KEN PINK ...................... Staff Photographer
STUART HOLANDER..........Staff Photographer
KAREN KASMAUSKI.............Staff Photographer
DAVID MARGOLICK.............Staff Photographer
ALLISON RUTTAN..............Staff Photographer
JOHN UPTON .................... Staff Photographer
Sports Staff
DAN BORUS
Sports Editor
PRANK LONGO -
Managing Sports Editor
B(B MGINN ...............Executive Sports Editor
CHUCK BLOOM ..............Associate Sports Editor
JOEL GREER..............Associate Sports Editor
RICH STUCK ..............Contributing Sports Editor
BOB HEUER............Contributing Sports Editor
And Thieu's Tet (lunar new year) pre-
sent to the Vietnamese people was an an-
nouncement that the required elections
will not be held.
And although the agreement stipu-
lated that all political prisoners were to
be released and repatriated, this heated
issue cooled rapidly once American
POW's came home. Tens and possibly
hundreds of thousands of political pri-
soners are still held in jails that are de-
signed, built, financed, and directed by
the U.S. military, while surveillance, com-
puterized data gathering on all citizens
over the age of fifteen, and "pacification"
programs continue unabated.
THE U. S. GOVERNMENT, despite an
international commitment to disen-
gage from the conflict in Vietnam, con-
tinues to give direct financial and mili-
tary support to regime whose corruption
and viciousness are legendary.
The Paris Peace Agreement was an at-
tempt to move the conflict in Vietnam
from the military arena into the political
arena where differences could be re-
solved in a less-than-lethal fashion, so
that ultimately the country could be re-
unified.
But" the Thieu regime, with complete
support from the American government,
has thus far evaded the terms of the
peace agreement and effectively blocked
the chances of a political, non-military,
resolution.
As long as political solutions are un-
available, the military struggle will con-
tinue, and actually grow, throughout the
foreseeable future. And as long as mili-
tary struggle continues, the possibility
exists for a renewed U. S. troop commit-
ment in Vietnam, accompanied by either
the involuntary servitude of the draft or
,the appalling spectacle of American vol-
unteer mercenary troops.
AMERICANS MUST REALIZE that their
government's involvement in the
Vietnam war is far from over, and must
take concrete steps to insure its final re-
solution under the terms of the Paris
Agreement.
Citizens must apply pressure to Con-
gress to cut off military and police aid to
Thieu, and must constantly remind Thieu
that his violations of the agreement, es-
pecially in regard to political prisoners,
do not pass unnoticed.
And the public must demand accurate
information on political and military
events in Vietnam from press and gov-
ernment. Further, all of us must contri-
bute to rebuilding all the lives - Ameri-
can veterans and draft resisters, Vietna-
mese soldiers and civilians - that have
been shattered by this war.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Cheryl Pilate, S a r a
Rimer, Judy Ruskin, David Stoll, Becky
Warner
Editorial Page: Ted Hartzell, Marnie
Heyn, Eric Schoch
Arts Page: Ken Fink, Diane Levick
Photo Technician: David Margolick
By GARY THOMAS
ON JANUARY 27, 1973, the United States,
North Vietnam (DRV), South Viet-
nam (GVN) and the Provisional Revolution-
ary Government of South Vietnam (PRG)
sat down in Paris to affix their signatures
to a document aimed at bringing peace
to a war-weary Vietnam.
The diplomatic handiwork of Henry Kis-
singer and North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho
finally produced a peace agreement to bring
stability to South Vietnam and extricate
the United States from a quagmire of its
own making.
One year later, South Vietnam is still
without peace or agreement.
Historically, wars have been fought to be
won with a decisive military victory. The
post-World War II era has changed that,
with the Korean settlement foreshadowing
what was to come out of Vietnam. The
Paris agreement was a series of points
designed to end hostilities with a political
formula - not a military one. It is in this
context that the breakdown of the cease-
fire must be viewed.
EACH SIGNATORY in the agreements,
of course, had different interests at heart in
the accord. For the United States, the ob-
ject was to get out as quickly as possible
"with honor" - which meant getting out
while maintaining shreds of its steadily
dwindling prestige. To this end Dr. Kissing-
er was able to deliver what President Nixon
wanted.
For the DRV, it was an end to the bomb-
ing which had plagued that ceutnry ever
since American intrusion into the conflict.
This was secondary, however, to the Viet-
namese drean of unification - a vision
which Ho Chi Minh did not live to see
and which still has not come about. The
agreement also put North Vietnamese down
the long path to reconstruction.
For the GVN, there was no real interest
at all - it had been pressured into it by
the United States. Kissinger made it clear
to South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van
Thieu that he faced a sure cutoff of Amer-
ican aid from an awakening Congress if
he did not play ball.
Thieu's position remains the same as it
always has been: the agreements are just
a worthless piece of paper and he will have
no truck with Communists.
THE PRG HAD the most to gain by the
accords. The political formula drawn up
in Paris gave PRG a legal stake in the
political future of South Vietnam, a goal
denied them under the Thieu regime - and
still denied them one year later.
The most basic responsibility for the two
domestic sides under the agreement is that
they engage in political competition with
each other.
It was to be essentially a struggle be-
VotmnA
tietnam
political struggle in face of such obstacles.
While it, too, has violated the ceasefire, it
realizes the importance of political strug-
gle over military battles.
From a New York Times report on Nov.
1, 1973: "President Thieu has never had
any real interest in engaging in the com-
plex, high-risk 'political struggle' suggested
by the Paris Agreement . . . and the Com-
munists, while willing to try the political
struggle, were hardly prepared to aban-
don their military options."
Where does the United States fit into
this?
As overt military presence left Vietnam,
more and more of the slack left by the
military was taken up by U.S. multina-
tional corporations, with Lear-Siegler, Asia-
tic Petroleum and ITT topping the list.
The corporations have vied for aircraft
mechanics, communications specialists and
other ex-military men to go back to Viet-
nam as civilians under Defense Department
contracts and do the same jobs they did
in the military.
A potential applicant for a job with Lear-
Siegler was turned down in February be-
cause all the openings had been filled so
quickly. When asked if he should try again
at a later time, the Lear recruiter an-
swered, "Oh, sure. We entered Vietnam
in 1965 and we'll be there a long time
veet."
A NOV. 28, 1973 report in the Los Angeles
Times revealed another aspect of contin-
uing American involvement. The story quot-
ed a U.S. military oficer in Thailand "with
access to intelligence reports on South
Vietnamese bombing raids" as saying U.S.
photo reconnaissance planes have been fly-
ing missions to check on accuracy of Sai-
gon's pilots.
Aid has also continued to South Vietnam.
The Administration allocated more than $3
billion in military aid to Indochina this
fiscal year. This figure includes Laos, Cam-
bodia and Thailand. The $3 billion figure has
not been publicly broken down for us to see
who gets what.
Whatever happens this coming year, one
fact remains clear: The GVN, with the tacit
approval of the United States, has refused
to allow the PRG to participate in the poli-
tical process in South Vietnam. The viola-
tions continue on both sides.
Until the GVN does show such willing-
ness, there can be every realistic expecta-
tion that the PRG and DRV will con-
tinue to seek military solutions out of a
lack of any other alternative.
The one opened to them, the Paris Peace
Agreement, has failed.
Gary Thomas is a reporter for United
P-ess International news service.
A 'civilian' helps load bombs at Da Nang
tween the GVN and PRG for support among
the people - a struggle which the GVN has
adamantly refused to allow. In this the GVN
has had the tacit support of the United
States, which has already gotten what it
wanted out of the agreement: an "honor-
able" withdrawal and return of its POWs.
The U.S. and GVN squarely placed the
blame for the breakdown of the accords on
the PRG and DRV. These two have had the
most to gain by honoring the agreement,
while the U.S. and South Vietnam have
the least to gain by cofnpliance
DEFENSE SECRETARY James Schles-
inger said on Jan. 7 of this year that the
United States might resume bombing in
the event of an offensive "without provo-
cation" - an interesting statement if one
reads between the lines, for it implies that
-ation on the part of its South Viet-
T?* had already occurred.
Such provocation has already resulted in
PRG violations reported by the West-
ern press, while GVN violations have
often gone unnoticed. Newsmen are forbid-
den by the Saigon government from travel-
ling into PRG-controlled zones, where most
of the GVN shelling and bombing takes
place.
When newsmen have managed to g e t
close to the action, they have been abus-
ed by GVN troops.
Craig Whitney of the New York Times
reported on April 7, 1973 that "to con-
ceal the fighting from public notice, the
government banned all civilian traffic."
While covering ceasefire fighting on that
same day, Whitney reported, "The (police)
chief ripped out the photographer's film and
confiscated the driver's identity card. His
men shot out two tires of the jeep."
BUT THE PRG has been willing to try the
The
fruits of ignorance
By PATRICIA TEPPER
THURSDAY night State Repre-
sentative Perry Bullard sat
down with students in South Quad's
West Lounge to report on legisla-
tion in Lansing and to gather stu-
dent opinions on current issues. He
was greeted by an enthusiastic
crowd of twelve. Never has stu-
dent apathy run so high.
Bullard, alarmed about the
growing menace of police-state tac-
tics in Michigan government, had
many fascinating things to say:
-$400,000 of the state's budget
has been allotted for TIP - Turn
In a Pusher - despite the fact that
the national program has failed
completely. Thirty-four new nar-
cotics agents have been hired, and
rewards up to $30,000 are to be.
offered. The administrative board
governing the awards is secret; the
basis for reward, vague.
Since informers are to be iden-
tified only by number, a narcotics
agent could conceivable take un-
fair advantage of the system, and
an informer could collect without
reporting the sum on his/her tax
returns.
-CLERK-TYPISTS working for
the state are required to take a
psychological test as part of their
civil service exam. The test will
soon be administered to state troop-
ers, and eventually to others fur-
ther up the bureaucratic line.
Questions like, "When you were
a child, who punished you most?
a) your father; b) your mother" or
"When you were disciplined as a
child, were vou a) punished phy-
sically; b) punished verbally; c)
deprived of something; d) severe-
ly reprimanded but not punished)"
are highly personal and totally ir-
relevant to job performance. Yet
the entire test consists of such
questions. As Bullard aptly puts
it, "It's a perversion to have these
questions asked of you."
-Bullard also pointed out that
the oil industry is playing games
with the American people and -put-
ting corporate interests far abo-e
the welfare of the nation. Oil in-
dustries are amassing huge pro-
fits during an oil shortage, while
consumers are paying exorbitant
prices for gasoline and fuel oil.
-BULLARD ALSO talked about
tuition, a subject vital to students.
Little can be done about secret re-
gents' meetings, which are consti-
tutionally protected, but Bulllard
has proposed the addition of three
student regents, to represent stux-
dent interests. He also nad sug-
gestions for more effective finan-
cial aid programs and alternatives
like a deferred tuition plan. The
list goes on and on.
Student disinterest was undmuht-
edly not the only factor which in-
fluenced attendance at the mect-
ing. There seems to 'e a pervas-
ive attitude that individuals are
powerless to effect any kind of
change. Many of those not attend-
ing considered a state reprecenta-
tive too inconsequential to produce
it is not insignificant. On t h e
contrary, it makes decisions that
vitally affect the state and t h e
University itself.
Although it is tempting to con-
cern ourselves solely with enor-
mous national affairs, we cannot
ignore local and regional issues, be-
"Questions like, 'When you were a child, who
pu-nishedl you most? a) youL father b) your
mother . ..' are highly personal and totally ir-
relevant to job performance."
|.|.|||a . ..|||. . ....
justifiable) that they have no voic
in eaucational and governmenta.
matters and that they should have
the 'right to exercise some control
over the issues that affect them.
THURSDAY NIGHT they had an
opportunity to speak out, but no
one showed up.
People who do not take political
responsibility deserve the inade-
quate legislation and. incompetent
leaders they often get. Voters must
remain consistently aware of trends
in governmental policy - but it
city, state, or national - in order
to assert and protect their consti-
tutional rights. Without continual
vigilance on the part of citizens,
legislators sometimes convenient-
ly forget their duty to guard their
constituents' rights and pass bills
which make massive invasion of
privacy, in the form of phychologi-
cal tests, a mandatory part of the
civil service exam.
Voter indifferent is an insidious
threat to freedom, but few people
seem to recognize its danger. If we
end up with a nation looking more
and more like a police state, it is,
to a great extent, our own fault.
Patricia Tepper is a staff writer
for The Daily.
worthwhile legislation. T h e y
thought that he would have noth-
ing new to say to students, a n d
that any input from them in turn
would not matter anyway.
To a certain extent, they were
right. Bullard did not have any
sensaional news to report, but he
did reveal some interesting facts,
and he did ask for student response
to important issues.
THE FACT is that a state re-
presentative can have influence.
The state legislature, although
sometimes invisible to the public,
cause one set frequently springs
from the other. The grassroots
movement for "law and order" is
one example. A major focal point
of the 1968 and 1972 presidentdil
elections, it has filtered up through
municipal and state levels to na-
tional politics.
The point is that students had a
chance to find out what decisions
the state legislature has made and
is going to consider, as well as a
chance to make their views known
to their representative. They did
not take it, however.
Students constantly complain (and
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Letter
To The Daily:
IN THE '60's the country em-
barked upon a miserable escapade
in Sountheast Asia. It took years to
get out and stop the death of
tens of thousands of Americans.
In the '70's we are not without
our killing mistakes. Now this
country kills its young unborn. They
are not entitled to a thing because
they cannot speak for themselves.
Our involvement in Vietnam cost
us over 40,000 Americans. Since
abortion became a reality doctors
have killed more than 10 times 'that
number in one-fifth the time.
In this country in the '60's col-
lege students protested deaths of
servicement in an "unlawful" and
"unjust" war. Are the unborn any
less deserving? How can anybody
onoose a war and support abortion
Equating abortion with
war
tax resistance
To The Daily:
THIS MORNING Mr. William
Himebrook, an agent with the Spec-
ial Intelligence Unit of the Internal
Revenue Service, and Mrs. Mary
Kellman, from the local IRS of-
fice on Washtenaw Avenue, visited
me at my office. Mr. Himebrook's
purpose was to inform me that I
was in the process of being inves-
tigated for possible criminal vio-
lations of the Internal Revenue
Code. He informed me of my rights
under the law and said the investi-
gation of my case would include
discussions with other people.
I have refused to pay my Fed-
eral income taxes voluntarily since
May 1, 1970, the day after Mr.
Nixon's announcement of the in-
vasion of Cambodia. Except for
pose of killing and maiming inno-
cent human beings here at home
and in foreign lands. The funds
I have refused to pay to the gov-
ernment have gone, instead, to or-
ganizations which promote human
welfare. For these activities I am
suspected of being a criminal.
There are many people in th s
community who agree with my ob-
jectives and my methods. Many
others agree with my goals, but not
my methods. Some people object to
both. But I am confident that thc
vast majority of the people who
know me, or know of me, whether
they agree with my actions or not,
are supportive of my efforts to
make this community, this nation,
and this world more peaceful plac-
es in which to live. I know people
are particularly supportive of my
right to follow the' dictates of my
conscience, so long as these orinci-
pals do not hurt other people.
In these days ofi almost d a i 1 y
revelations about 1 corruption in
government, I feel it is very im-
portant for me, as an elected pub-
lic official, to let my constituents
and the people of this community
know that my ability to follow
the dictates of my conscience, in
both personal and public matters,
is of utmost importance to me:
That comes first. I shall not be
swayed from my position by invesi-
igations, threats of punishment or
anything else} and in follbwing
this course, if there is a price to
pay, I realize I will have to p ty it.
-Liz Taylor
County Commissioner
. ontact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Bill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), Rm 353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
ill-Wn1 chitn nT C )215.