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Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Bureaucratic
'U'
victimizes secretaries
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1974
Undermining abortion reform
OPPONENTS OF LEGAL abortion have
struck another blow for their cause
in the state legislature. State Rep. Wil-
liam Bryant (R-Grosse Point) Tuesday
introduced a bill that would make abor-
tions in the first trimester of pregnancy
legal only at the "advice" of a physician
and at a place, time and manner indi-
cated by the physician.
Most obviously, the proposed legisla-
tion is another assault on women's right
to control their own bodies. The U. S. Su-
preme Court has ruled that women have
the constitutional right to decide for
themselves whether to terminate un-
wanted pregnancies.
Attempts to limit this basic freedom
of choice can only be interpreted as sup-
port of the idea that women are the
property of their doctors, fathers, hus-
bands and lovers.
More sinisterly, Bryant's bill opens the
door for physician control of the abor-
tion business. When New York legalized
abortion, doctors added thousands of
dollars to their incomes by charging ex-
orbitant fees for the procedure and col-
laborating with hospitals, clinics and re-
ferral agencies all intent in taking the
abortion consumer for all she was worth.
UNDER BRYANT'S PROPOSAL, doctors
would not only control the woman's
chance to get an abortion, but would
also name the facility she would pay for
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Penny Blank, Charles
Coleman, Della DiPietro, Mike Duweck,
Sue Stephenson
Editorial Page: Clifford Brown, Marnie
Heyn, Eric Schoch
Arts Page: Ken Fink, Mara Shapiro
Photo Technician: Thomas Gottlieb
the procedure - a kickback windfall for
ambitious practitioners.
America's predominantly male doctors
have proved again and again that, espe-
cially with regard to their female pa-
tients, they are more concerned with
making money and maintaining tradi-
tional values than with providing for
their patients' needs.
To throw abortion patients to the mer-
cy of a group of self-styled Marcus Wel-
bys-paternalistic at best and quite prob-
ably hostile to abortion - would be a
disaster for the women of the state.
Instead of trying to pass disguised re-
strictions on abortion, Bryant would do
better to concern himself with drafting
legislation to control the gigantic pro-
fits that doctors and health facilities
reap from abortions.
IT IS ALSO vitally important that this
session of the state legislature pass
strict and enforceable guidelines on the
quality of services provided by abortion
facilities.
When the Supreme Court decision
struck down the state statute, abortions
were no longer illegal, but at the same
time there were no protective regulations
regarding treatment for abortion pa-
tients. Thus, many women are forced to
accept pot-luck treatment because there
are no legal standards for abortion
clinics.
Lansing must accept the Supreme
Court ruling once and for all and rea-
lize that abortion is a widespread health
need of Michigan women. High prices
still make abortion the privilege of the
middle class. Profit control, and quality
control, not abortion control by physi-
clan's consent, are what the state needs.
By JOAN WEISS
BUREAUCRACY. That's what comes to
mind when I think of the U. of M. ad-
ministration. One immense, terribly frus-
trating jumble of offices, red tape, and sec-
retaries who smile sweetly as they give
directions to an office on the other side
af campus. It had never occurred to me
that secretaries, themselves, might be vic-
tims of the administrative run-around as
much as students.
Being shuffled around on questions of
course elections or drop-adds is undeniably
irritating, yet the frustration of being un-
able to obtain straight answers to ques-
tions pertaining to making a living is much
greater.
Secretaries at the University are becorn-
ing increasingly angry about their wages
and, on a broader scale, about the de-
meaning and condescending attitude of the
University administration, particularly the
Personnel Dept., toward their grievances.
At a meeting of the Non-academic Uni-
versity Workers Sub-Committee of the Wo-
men's Commission on Jan. 24, 1974, re-
cent dealings with the Personnel Dept. were
discussed. In response to an article in the
Ann Arbor News comparing starting sal-
aries of University secretaries with that of
other area universities in which the Uni-
versity ranked lowest, two women from
Personnel, Gloria Hovan and Emily Gard-
ner, were dispatched to reassure the sec-e-
taries.
None of the secretaries at the Jan. 24
meeting seemed particularly calmed, how-
ever. The general concensus, instead, was
that their intelligence had been insulted.
MUCH STRESS was laid on the subject
of merit wage increases based on a vague
system of classification of secretarial jobs
as C-3, C-4, and on up to C-6. The scale is
supposed to describe the progression of
supervisory and management skills up the
ladder.
In reality, however, it seems that the
classification system is a farce. Instead
of jobs being classified clearly, often the
secretary is labelled as a C-3, for instance,
and asked to do the work of a C-4 as a
personal favor to her boss, while still re-
maining in the pay bracket of a C-3.
"Classifications are only followed to jus-
tify not granting a promotion," stated one
secretary, who had applied for a C-4 job
and was hired, but classified as and given
the minimum wage of a C-3 because she
was only 18. A year later, she was promot-
ed to a C-4 when her work load (including
running for coffee) was extended from two
Fugitiv
An effort was made to discredit the pay
scales and comparisons drawn up by the
secretaries of the Law School and to use
comparisons instead, with other schools in
the Big Ten, disregarding the discrepancy
in standards of living between Ann Ar-
bor, (which as we all know, is incredibly
high), and places such as Illinois and In-
diana.
OTHER STATEMENTS were made by
Personnel as to actual starting salaries and
promotion policies, which, according to
every secretary with whom I discussed this,
are absolutely untrue. Yet, there seems to
be no one who cares to listen or investi-
gate the true state of affairs.
Seemingly, Personnel is interested only in
pacifying these women. Emily Gardner sug-
gested that perhaps an effort should be
made to get more men on the clerical staff,
stating, "Face it, girls, men make more
money."
The sexism in this issue is blatant, so
blatant that the women I spoke to were
hardly upset by it anymore. More upset-
ting to them is the lack of value placed
on their worth as human beings, as work-
ers whose services are important to the
University.
The University's failure to discuss wages
and merit increases with them, the fact
that the standards by which they are eval-
uated are inconsistent and un-enforceable,
the aspect of age discrimination in job
class ification, all point to an incredible lack
of respect or concern on the part of the
University. "We are an easily replaced com-
modity," one worker put it.
THE UNIVERSITY uses the high turn-
over rate as the reason why so few secre-
taries ever reach the average salaries quot-
ed on official pay scales, yet many women
can find little reason to remain in a job
which pays them so little. One woman, who
is supporting her student husband and a
child, was advised by her supervisor to go,
on food stamps.
The questionable prestige afforded by
working for the University of Michigan is
hardly enough to make up for subsistence-
level wages. Regardless of the official line
taken by the University on this issue, these
women are convinced that they are receiv-
ing a very raw deal from this University.
It is unlikely that they will stand for it
much longer.
Joan Weiss is a staff writer for The
Daily.
professors to three. Her salary was raised
to the minimum for a C-4.
PROMOTIONS ARE supposedlytbased on
evaluations, which are filled out by the
professor for whom the secretary works,
signed by that secretary, and given the
final okay by the supervisor, usually a
higher ranking secretary, a C-5 or C-6.
I spoke to one women however, who, al-
though classified as a C-4, supervised oth-
er secretaries and performed many of the
duties of the higher classifications, al-
thought her pay remained at the C-4 level.
Her feeling was that the evaluations had
lost any validity they might have possessed
as determinants in merit judgments (rais-
es are supposed to be determined by merit).
by the recent 3 per cent across-the-board
raise. The validity of evaluations was also
questioned by secretaries of the L a w
School, who cited cases of evaluations be-
ing changed after being signed by the
secretary.
s from in
Doily Photo by TOM GOTTLIEB
The role of supervisor seemed question-
able in that she (or he) rarely is in a
position to see and evaluate the work of a
secretary.
THE INEFFECTIVENESS of such eval-
uation processes in determining merit, and
the feeling that merit has nothing to do
with wage increases anyway, re-inforced by
the across-the-board raise, led the secre-
taries to send a letter to Budget Priorities
Committee last Nov. 15, 1973, stating basic
inequities in pay scales and wage increases,
and questioning the possibility of using the
surplus from mis-calculted tuition pay-
ments last year toward a wage increase.
This led to an article in the Ann Arbor
News, which, in turn, led to the meeting
with Personnel on Jan. 14, 1974. There
is a feeling among the secretaries w i t h
whom I spoke that the treatment they
received at the hands of the two women,
who are supposedly their representatives at
Personnel, was incredibly shabby.
justice:
Two tales
4 WeO L"kE-lO LEAS1 YbUR 6L7I BI L. G AP -FoR
USE; AS A S1tgA66 FA+CJ'.
By JAMES WECHSLER
THE PROCESSES of democracy
are often complex, cumber-
some and exasperating, but they
still intermittently produce unex-
pected events with the quality of
miracles.
Thus two 30-year-old black men
who have been fugitives from in-
justice in other states - one from
Alabama and the other from Mary-
land - have been early beneficiar-
ies of Malcolm Wilson's rise to the
governorship of New York.
Both are escaped prisoners who
established new lives in this city,
winning the esteem of employers
and friends - but continuing to
dread the moment when they would
be expelled from this sanctuary
and sent back to jail, possibly for
the rest of their lives.
One is Donald Lewis Cox, a na-
tive of Birmingham whose story
was told in this space last April.
The other is Nick Bagley, whose
early home was Washington; his
case was aired by Nat Hentoff in
the Village Voice, taken up by The
Times' Tom Wicker, and reported
at length in The Post's news col-
umns earlier this month.
The chronicles vary in details,
and the Governor's actions are not
identical. But in both cases his hi-
therto unreported moves will al-
most certainly assure the two men
a chance to pursue the new, useful
lives they had begun.
THE CHARGE against Cox was
rape of a white woman. He was de-
scribed by his victim as "bushy-
bearded." Seeking to validate that
description, the Birmingham au-
thorities ordered him not to shave
for two weeks before his trial. But
no beard appeared; he was still
too young to shave.
Nevertheless, despite this and
other flagrant flaws in the pro-
secution's narrative, he was con-
victed - partly because his lawyer
extradition. But last spring Gov.
Rockefeller rejected these appeals,
insisting the issue of guilt or inno-
cence could not affect extradition
agreements.
HIS COUNSEL, however, nego-
tiated' with Gov. Wallace's aides,
and on July 9 New York was told
"Gov. Wallace has decided this
matter must rest with the proper
authorities in your state." There it
"(Cox) was described by his victim as "bushy-
bearded." Seeking to validate that description,
the Birmingham authorities ordered him not to
shave for two weeks before his trial. But no
beard appeared; he was still too young to shave."
BAGLEY'S LEGAL odyssey was
tortuous. As a teenager hitchhik-
ing through North Carolina, he be-
came desperate about finding a
temporary shelter: He "confessed"
to police officials there that he had
staged a robbery "somewhere in
the Washington area." They ^,heck-
ed out his story, found it full of
gaps and sent him on his way.
Ninety miles later, he embroider-
ed his tale to police in Valdese,
N.C., adding that he had shot his
robbery victim. Baltimore p'lice
got the report and decided to lino
him to _a long unsolved local mur-
der.
They journeyed to North Carolina
and extracted a confession from
him (with no lawyer present). No
other evidence was ever produced;
witnesses swore he was not in
Baltimore at the time of the mur-
der; Bagley claimed the confession
was coerced. But after one trial
ended in a deadlock, a second, all-
white jury convicted him. A life
sentence was pronounced.
For 10 years he was a "model
prisoner" by all accounts. But
when his last appeal to Maryland's
highest court was rejected, he
walked out of a minimum security
prison and headed for New York.
That was in October, 1972.
HE GOT A job in a Long Island
printshop and worked diligently. Ile
luckily encountered a young Legal
Aid attorney, Douglas Colbert, who
became deeply committed to the
case. He married a nursing direct-
or at Kings County Hospital who
had been his childhood sweetheart.
But despite the growing outcry
in the Baltimore press and here
against extradition, he was appar-
ently doomed.
Then, on Jan. 14, Gov. Wilson
wrote to Gov. Mandel describing
Bagley's constructive existence and
the legal vulnerabilities noted in
the prosecution. He added:
"In view of, the great public in-
terest in this case . . . 1 feel it
apropriate for me to inquire spec-
ifically of you whether you would
consider the parole of Mr. Bagley
to New York authorities as an al-
ternative to his rendition to Miry-
land . "
It is hard to believe this is an
offer Mandel can refuse.
I trust a heralding of these events
here will not subject Gov. Wilson
to any thunder on the right or alle-
gations that he is a "closet lib-
eral." They are humane, decent
actions and; if some read I a r g e
political meanings into them, that
is a separate subject. What mat-
ters at this moment are the salvag-
ed lives of Donald Cox and N i c k
Bagley.
James Wechsler is Editorial Page
Editor of the New York Post.
Copyright 1974-New York Post
Corporation.
failed to challenge a monstrously
prejudicial charge by the t r i a 1
judge. After serving four years of
a life sentence, he escaped and
fled to New York. He found a job
in March, 1968, and his employer,
Joseph Maimin, president of H.
Maimin, a manufacturing firm,
was to plead warmly for him five
years later.
He also won the support of the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and
lawyer Jack Himmelstein devoted
endless hours to the battle against
rested inconclusively until G o v.
Wilson quietly sent a letter to Wal-
lace informing him he .had "re-
called for reconsideration" the ex-
tradition warrant issued by Ro'ke-
feller.
In his letter he said many citi-
zens here were convinced that "Mr.
Cox had demonstrated during the
last seven years that he his been
rehabilitated and that his return
to prison would not serve any use-
ful purpose but would in fact con-
stitute an injustice."
Letters: Legalized abortion must stay
GUEST EDITORIAL
Good noose
THERE SEEMS TO be a trend in jour-
nalism-not an entirely new trend,
but suddenly more obvious and embar-
rassing than ever.
It's the trend toward so-called good
news, especially prevelant in the broad-
cast segments of the media. You've heard
them: The Vietnam war was good be-.
cause it restored much of our lost moral
conscience. Watergate was good because
it awakened America to the need for
constant vigilance. Now the energy
crisis is good because it is bringing us all
together.
Please spare us the euphemisms. There
are no good wars, good scandals, nor good
PERHAPS SOME journalists have guilt
complexes about always having to
tell people what they don't want to hear.
But then perhaps a doctor would rather
tell a woman with lung cancer that she
is pregnant. For her welfare, we hope
the doctor will be honest.
But probably the biggest danger of
good news journalism is that it breeds
complacency.
If people convince themselves that the
war isn't so bad, they will do little to
stop it. If people convince themselves
that Watergate has its good points, they
will do little to prevent, future Water-
gates. And if people convince themselves
To The Daily:
YOU HAVE published quite a few
letteers from people in this com-
munity who challenge the legal-
ity of abortion. I am afraid of what
may happen if these voices become
too strong. To repeal the new laws
legalizing abortion would be a tra-
gic mistake. I will not argue with
these people on the question of
abortion as murder - perhaps it
is, but I have found that in order
for morality to be useful in living a
practical and orderly life one must
be flexible.
Nothing is "right" or "wrong" in
all cases. In order to save one life
of an unwanted child through il-
legalization of abortion you threat-
en the physical, mental, and emo-
tional health of the mother, per-
haps even her life if she's desper-
ate enough to seek a dangerous il-
legal abortion, the health of the
baby who will be brought into the
are not ready to have children will
be forced to seek illegal, unhealthy,
and unsafe abortions performed,
not by licensed physicians, but by
butchers. Abortion will fall into the
hands of organized crime and help
to perpetuate it. Also, the Catholics
who wish to deny the world not
only abortion, but also contracep-
tion, are placing those women who
do not agree with them in a hor-
rendous trap.
If you do not believe abortion is
right for you, you are free to carry
and give birth to your child. But
let the rest of us decide for our-
selves how we want to live our
lives. In your love and compassion
for these unfortunate unborn child-
ren, you have forgotten the rights
to life and happiness that belong to
their mothers.
-Perri Knize '77
.Jan. 29
registration
ed response.
Since I have been the personal
target of Ms. Jones I would like to
respond for myself, and no one
else. What I find much more ob-
jectionable is the holier-than-thou
attitude of the Democrats. One
would think that door-to-door regis-
tration is the political equivaient
of incest. In fact, several Demo-
cratic registrars participated in
and aided our efforts. Tim Smith,
for example, when informed of
about a trek through Alice Lloyd,
told us he'd been planning to do
the same thing but in a less visi-
ble manner. Although he did supply
us with the names of other regis-
trars to help, he did not at first
do so himself. Later, he assisted
us in our extra efforts in student
area registration.
COUNCILWOMAN Jones was not
only informed, she approved of the
door-to-door effort. Her only com-
plaint was that it was too nartisan.
as few students as possible went
out. City Administrator Murray
specifically told me that voter reg-
istration would not be allowed at
registration in Waterman Gym,
precisely because "too many" sto-
dents would register, contrary to
the pressures from the Republican
majority.
Time after time, broad hints
were thrown our way that a second
registration drive would not be
held in February. We decided to
make the most of the opportunity,
at times staffing 6 out of the 1
registration sites throughout the
city.
BUT DOUBLE standards abound.
When city officials abuse their
discretion, when city delivery of
registration materials is late by as
much as 90 minutes out of 4 hours
alloted to register, when hours for
registration are deliberately set at
inconvenient times - this is polite
and accentable. But let nennie do
opponents to forget to run a candi-
date in the Second Ward. As Mr.
Natural says, "None for roe,
thanks!"
-Frank Shoichet, Law
Jan. 30
citizenship
To The Daily:
I AM WRITING in response to a
letter written you by Delia C. Ieg
gett, entitled expose (Jan. 22).
Ms. Leggett correctly described
the unhealthy situation existing in
the women's showers and bath-
room. It's a dreadfully depresing
sight to behold after one has felt
the exhilarations of life by exer-
cising the body.
However, I want to point out,
that it is the women who use
this facility that leave it in its ab-
horrent condition. It is with shame
itnat I report that a "sister"
thoughtlessly discarded a sanitary
nankin on a shelf. It remained