lettersletters lettersletters lettersletl objectivity To The Daily: AS THE PERSON who arranged the February 6 debate on nuclear energy sponsored by PIRGIM and, as the head of PIRGIM's nuclear energy project, I should like to respond to Fred Schneider's let- ter which appeared in the Daily on February 8th. It is true, as Mr. Schneider Ftat- es, that the four participating de- baters all support a moratorium on nuclear energy. This, however, did not hinder the debaters who defended nuclear energy from ac- curately presenting the propon- ent's viewpoint. He claims that the debate wzvs the most lopsided, one-sided arau- ment against nuclear power he has ever seen. Yet, many of the argu- ments of nuclear energy propon- ents were embodied in the speech- es of the two debaters who oppos- ed a nuclear moratorium, the ques- tion about which the debate cent- ered. For example, the debaters noted that the results of a study con- ducted by Dr. Ernest Sternglass, which established a correlation be- tween radiation emitted from a nuclear processing plant in Color- ado and the infant mortality rate in the plant's vicinity, could not be reproduced by other scientists. They also mentioned that S*ern- glass's explanation for the differ- ences between the results of his and subsequent studies was weak, IN ADDITION, the debaters in- veighed against the findings of Drs. Tamplin and Gofman in the same manner that nuclear proponents do. They noted that Gofman and Tamplin upped their estimates on the number of extra cancer deaths to be expected each year because of nuclear power generation from 30,000 to 60,000 and eventuall-y to 96,000 without changing the original evidence. In addition, the debaters noted, as nuclear proponents frequenUtiv do, that Gofman and Tamplin used radiation levels in their calcni.i- tions that exceed by several hund- red times the levels to which a normally functioning reactor sub jects the general public. Such evidence would hardly be mentioned in a lopsided debate to which Mr. Schneider alludes. And, I could cite more examples of ar- guments which nuclear proponents use that the debaters arguing against the moratorium question also used. MR. SCHNEIDER claims that ,the debaters had little idea of what they were talking about. The debaters, however, who constitute part of the U of M debate team and who have run both sides of the nuclear question at collegiate debates for the past year, have file card cases loaded with file cards containing quotes from the many articles which they have read in the course of preparing their nuc- lear energy case. The debaters though, did n o t document the specific sources they used during the course of Wednes- day's debate upon my request. I felt that citing references would interfere with the fluidity ofeach speech. In light of Mr. Schneid- er's charge, as well as a com- ment by one other student in the audience, I must admit that I er- red on this point. Finally, Mr. Schneider charges that "the debaters arguing f o r nuclear power baroiy touched on the outer surface of why nuclear power is necessary and practical." These debaters, however, system- atically outlined the problems with other alternative energy sources and then stated that the alterna- tives cannot replace the 30 per cent of the power needs whic nuclear power can supply by 2000. Without it, we face a massive energy cris- is. UNQUESTIONABLY, Mr. Schnei- der's charge that the debate was lopsided is unwarranted. He s u g- gests that we set up a "true" de- bate. I insist that we had a true debate. But, there is a grave need for further dissemination- of ir- formation on the nuclear energy issue. PIRGIM plans to sponsor lectures and speeches in the future featuring professors from the Uni- versity's nuclear engineering and physics department. -Jeff Weiss February 8 truckers To The Daily: EVERY AMERICAN s ho ulI d fully support the truckers who are peacefully striking. The, are strik- ing for you as well as themselves. Do you realize that the 6 per cent freight rate surcharge would not cost the oil companies one penny? You the consumer would be paying for that increase directly from your wallets every time you made a pur- chase? Why do the truck drivers want oil company financial statements made public? So everyone can see that when they cry "rolhack would be counter-productive" they are ly- ing throuh their teeth. And who are transmitting these lies to us? None other than our represen atives in Washington. It is this group of men who are trying to do what the general pub- lic was unable to do - fncco the energy To The Daily: IN YOUR Feb. 7 editorial which would seem to be a veiled jibe at the "Stop Exxon" demonstration of the past week, The Daily has hit new lows of political analysis. Throwing around such phrases as "scapegoat mania", "schoolboy who desperately denies his own guilt," and "who-dunnit-ism", The Daily implies that the energy crisis is really the result of a "current of self-seekingness that reigns as the American Way," that we are all equally to blame for this cris- is. While decrying the v e n a 1 greed of the oil companies, T h e Daily considers it just another manifestation of some general American greed. May I suggest that The Daily has missed the point? It would, of course, be wrong to blame the whole thing on the oil companies as a somehow thoroughly depraved breed of money-grubbing fiends. But the point is, and this is the point the demonstration tried to make (unsuccessfully perhaps), is that this is nothing new under cap- italism. That there is ample oil in the ground to meet all present and near-future needs has been well documented. But when any capital- ist finds that he cannot make a "reasoable" profit on an ;nvest- ment, he doesn't invest. rhe o4 companies are not basically dif- ferent; caught in a profit squeeze, they hold back on deliveries and on refinery building, and voila, a shortage! And if you :an silence the environmentalists at the sanme time, so much the better. OF COURSE America'5 fuel con- sumption is too high. But who pro- moted such an idiotic rate of fuel consumption in the first place? In fact this wastefulaess constitutes to a large degree the "good life', the carrot that the promoters of the system hold out in front of working people. While a 500 cubic inch V-8 Chevy or a thirty-foot "re.reational ve- hicle" may seem the heigh: o1' ecological stupidity to the envi.on- mentally-conscious college student, for many Americans such conspic- uo's consumption is the only form of fulfillment in a workaday world. With this outlet denied them, in counterposition to the soaring pro- fits they see the oil companies reaping all around, is it any won- der that people should feel be- trayed and angry? Where The Daily goes wrong, ul- timately, is in its refusal to re- cognize distinctions of class. Any invocation to "all Americans, to alter their life styles inevitably ig- nores the concrete facts of Amer- ican life which Qtrongly influe ice classes of people to act in parti- cular ways - in this case to con- sume energy. Of course the energy consump- tion patterns in the U.S. are ir- rational, but until the system is changed they will remain so. Invo- cations to ".all Americans" serve the system very well by tehing people that they have only them- selves to blame for their problems, and getting them to accept oppres- sion willingly, instead of acting to overthrow it. -Steve Cohen Feb. 7 L Publishe~rs-Bal syndicate, 1974 94c Sfr4iazn PBafl Eighty-three years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 News Phone: 764-0552 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1974 TODAY'S STAFF: Editorial Staff DANIEL BIDDLE Editor in Chief JUDY RUSKIN and REBECCA WARNER Managing Editors SUE STEPHENSON...............Feature Editor MARNIE HEYN ................ Editorial Director CINDY HILL ....................... Executive Editor KENNETH FINK ...... ...........Arts Editor TONY SCHWARTZ.........,...... Sunday Editor FlF55 News: Gordon Atcheson, Dan Biddle, Judy Ruskin, Jim Schuster Arts Page: Ken Fink Editorial Page: P a u I Haskins, Marnie Heyn Photo Technicians: David Margolick, Al- lison Ruttan The unresolved tragedy By MARC KAHN.,_ and DAN STRICOFF ONDECEMBER 8, 1972, United Air- lines Flight 553 from Washington, D.C. destined for Midway Airport, Chi- cago, Illinois, crashed. One of the un- fortunate victims aboard that plane was the wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt. The public was told that the causes of the crash were purely accidental and due to nothing more than undeliberate negligence and mechanical malfunctions. This was all the information that was revealed to the public through the es- tablishment media, and as far as the public at large was concerned, the mat- ter was closed. However, there were further private investigations concerning the crash con- ducted by the Citizens Committee to' Clean up the Courts, whom under the guidance of their chairman, Sherman Skolnick, have uncovered a mass of heretofore unpublicized information that raised many new questions surrounding the crash. THE COMMITTEE tTO Clean up the Courts, a non-profit public interest group, helped gather evidence that led to the conviction of ex-Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, on charges of bribery and perjury. They also assisted in the inves- tigation of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1969 which led to the resignations of half the Illinois Supreme Court. she had ten-thousand dollars on her at the time of the crash. Skolnick contends that besides this amount she also had forty-thousand dol- lars traceable to Watergate spy Bernard Barker, and upwards of two-million dol- lars in American Express money orders. Ralph Blodgett and James W. Krueger, attorneys for the Northern Natural Gas Company, were mentioned to be car- rying documents revealing that then- Attorney General John Mitchell dropped anti-trust charges against El Paso Nat- ural Gas Company (a competitor of Nor- thern Natural) and at the same time ob- tained a stock interest in El Paso Natur- al Gas Company. THE MAJOR EVIDENCE of possible sabotage as brought out by Skolnick are: * The airplane needed its instru- ments since the visibility was only one to two miles that day, and the cloud ceiling varied from 400 to 600 feet. A major radio navigational instrument, the airport outer marker stopped working as flight 553 approached Midway Air- port. * The plane's altimeter would not work under 3400 feet. * The plane approached at too great a speed for safety. 0 The approach controller admitted he forget to give the flight approach clearance. The crew of flight 553 thought they were in a holding pattern. government to work for the people and not the oil companme:. Give the truckers your support. It may be your only chance to transfer the cost of this contrived energy1 crisis to the oil companie and fatt politicians who are their spores- men. -Mrs. Elaine Wedge '68 Feb. 9 Vietnamn To The Daily: ON JAN. 26, the first anniver-I sary of the signing of the Vietnam Peace Agreement, the Indochina Peace Council held a teach-in on the present situation in Indochina. Workshops were held on the topics of Vietnam today; Thailand, Cam- bodia, and Laos; peace agreement violations; and possible action to take. Speakers included p e o p I e from the Indochina Solidarity Com- mission, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the Coalition to Stop Funding the War; and U of M faculty members John Whitmore, Tom Weisskopf and Marilyn Young. The program was very interesting and informative. The Daily assigned a reporter t cover the program, but he never showed up. Calling the Daily of- fice that night no answer w a s found on the other end of the line. When I got in touch with the City Desk Editor, he apologized and informed me the absent staffer was severely reprimanded. I told the editor I had taken notes and could compose a story for the next (Tuesday, Jan. 29) edition. He thanked me, but said it was old news. IT IS not old news to most Amer- icans that the War in Vietnam con- tinues; that the Thieu government, which is really a puppet of the U.S. and would fall without its sup- port, has constantly and flagrant- ly violated the terms of the cease- fire. On Dec. 30, 1973 Thieu can- celled the general election called for in the treaty. On Jan. 4 of this year Thieu ordered an attack on the Provisional Revolutionary Government (referred to in most American media sources as the Viet Cong" or "Communists"). There are 20,000 U.S. military per- sonnel in disguise in South Viet- nam. Thieu's government continues ex- treme repressive measures against the people. It is illegal to be in- dependent in Saigon-government controlled areas. It is illegal to publicly support peace in a country which has known only war for the past thirty years. Many political prisoners have been arrested and are being tortured by Thieu's gov- ernment. Martial law remains in effect in Saigon. THE BASIC U.S. foreign policy of neo-colonialism in Suth Viet- nam and the rest of Indochina has not changed, only the tactics and the color of the bodies have. Most Americans do not undersand the peace agreement, they think the war is over. This is not 'old news' for the majority. On Feb. 25 Don Luce, who was in South Vietnam with the Inter- national Volunteers Service an~d revisited the country in 1972, will be speaking on campus as a guest of the Department of Southeast Is- ian Studies and The Indochina peace tax To The Daily: COUNTY Commissioner Eliza- beth Taylor, by refusing to pay taxes which go for military pur- poses, is in the forefront of con- scientious objectors to war. She is seeking to establish that this is her right under our Constitution's guar- antee of freedom of religion. She is by no means alone in her stand. Military expenditures con- tinue to mount, and throughout the United States, thousands of p. r- sons are refusing to pay part or all of their Federal income taxes. Tens of thousands are refusing to pay the Federal phone tax, wmich was explicitly levied to help fin- ance escalation of the war in Viet- nam. Many of these people donate or lend the amount of their refused war taxes to "alternative funds" which help finance scholarships, co- operative movements, medical clin- ics, emergency aid to the poor, and organizations which help promote human welfare. (The local alterna- tive fund is: The Ann Arbor Life Priorities Fund, P.O. Box 5S_+, Ann Arbor, Mich., 48107). Recently, in a case involving two Philadelphia Quakers, a U.S. 'us- trict Court set a major precedent. The Court enjoined he Government from collecting 51.6 per cent (the "military portion") of Federnl 'in- come tax from two employees of the American Friends Service Committee through the withhold- ing method because this violated the "free exercise of their relig- ion" (N.Y. Times, 1/5/74, p. 21). THE LONG tradition of recogniz- ing religiously-based conscientious objection to war, developed and expanded by the U.S. Supreme Court, is now being applied only to men of draft -age. This tradition should be expanded to gave all tax- payers who are conscientiously op- posed to participation in war a legal alternative to paying taxes for military purposes. The World Peace Tax Fund Act, H.R. 7053, introduced by Repre- sentatives Ronald V. Dellums and Benjamin S. Rosenthal and 10 oth- er members of Congress t-ncluding Representatives Conyers and Diggs of Michigan) would amend t h e Internal Revenue Code to establish such an "alternative fund ' within the Federal government. Tax mon- ey directed by conscientious objec- tors into the World Peace Tax Fund (i.e. the "military portion" of their taxes) would be used to help build a peaceful socie' y, and to foster non-violent methods of re- solving international dispute. You can ask your Congressman, Marvin Esch, for a copy of the Bill. Other information -s available from the World Peace Tax Fund Steering Committee, P.O. Box 1447, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48106 -David R. Bassett Chairman - Worl: Peace Tax Fund Steering Committee To The Daily: "I BELIEVE THE time h a s come to bring that investigation and the other investigations on this matter to an end. One year of Wat- ergate is enough." (Richard Nix- on, Jan. 30, 1974). Is one year of Watergate enough? No way. On May 9, 1973 Nixon said: "I will simply say t you tonight . . . Attorney General, El- liot Richardson, and the special three more years? "They imply that it may have been in the best interests of the Committee to Re-elect the President, or some government officials including the President, to have this plane sabotaged." r' 'F rrr r .,. nr{{ fr f r, a ".raaar.+-arFa ' fkgYl. .. i:": i;:... r .{. ar ...a. F} %i r+. : f}sfdi. rr . . f ledge? According to the Citizens Com- mittee, there was a well-conceived cov- er-up to mask the supposed sabotage. Skolnick's major points are: 0 There were over two hundred F.B.I and D.-I.A. (Defence Intelligence Ag- ency) agents at the scene of the crash before or immediately after it occurred. They arrived before the fire depart- ment, who were at the scene one min- ute after the crash occurred. The F.B.I. refused the police or ambulances access to the crash-area, only allowing the firemen through. The F.B.I. later con- firmed they had fifty agents at the scene shortly after the crash. * On December 9, 1972, one day after the crash, White House Aide Egil Krogh Jr., who was just convicted in connec- tion with the Ellsberg breakin, was ap- 'pointed Under-Secretary of Transporta- tion, supervising the National Transpor- tation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, the two agen- cies supposedly going to investigate the crash of flight 553. * On December 19, 1972, Whitehouse Deputy Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Cabinet, Alexander P. Butterfield (the man who revealed the presence of the Watergate tapes) was appointed the new head of the Federal Board hearings on the crash of flight 553 refused Skolnick to present his testi- mony and documentation at the initial hearings on February 27, 1973. Skolnick sued the Chairwoman for this refusal. Eventually, at reopened hearings, June 13-14, 1973, Skolnick produced thirteen hundred pages of documentation and five witnesses. Skolnick admitted he had stolen a copy of the government file on the crash of flight 553 and was using the State's evidence against them. These are the facts accumulated by the Committee to Clean up the Courts. The validity of the information mention- ed is in our opinion, uncertain. However, there are many grave ques- tions raised, questions which need to be answered one way or another. Why has there not been more coverage of this in the major media? Why has the Senate Watergate Committee shied away from this matter? Senator Ervin, in a per- sonal letter, told Skolnick that his com- mittee is powerless to investigte the matter. Why did the National Transpor- tation Safety Board initially refuse Mr. Skolnick's testimony? It is every citi- zen's right to be heard. Skepticism and cynicism concerning this topic are only natural. This whole plot is almost beyond comprehension, -t-1-.,. c -k .- flint nnp ,m rpn na fl n VPO prosecutor that he will appoint in this case will have the total co- operation of the executive branch of this government . .. Where was that cooperation? The invoking of executive privilege, the deliberate disobeying of c o u r t orders, and the obstruction of Ijus- tice are not the types of coopera- tion that the American people de- sire. If the erased Watergate tape, which John Dean says implicated the President, and which N i x o n claims would have cleared him, if Nixon was right they why didn't he create an uproar when the evi- dence that would of "cleared him" was destroyed? As far as the historic statement, "I am not a crook," why doesn'r Nixon release the information that he says will clear him? The answer to that is easily seen by answering the following question. WHERE ARE Spiro Agnew. John Mitchell, Maurice Stans, John Ehr- lichman, Bob Haldeman, Egil Krogh, John Dean, Alexander But- terfield, David Young, G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howart Hunt, the Water- gate team, the plumbers, and Rose Mary Woods? Everyone of them is either in jail, -r 'irder crininal investigation. One year of Water gate has not clean-ed out the hoxie vet. So the question s not "one ye-,r of Watergate is enot.gh," rather it is 5 years and 18 mminutes is too much. -Guy Cavallo, '75 President of the College Young Democrats r.";"". lrYd...........r..- ..... The amount of information the com- mittee has compiled on the crash is enormous. Their contention is that there were upwards of twelve people connected one way or another with Wat- ergate on that flight, and they imply that it may have been in the best inter- ests of the Campaign to Re-elect the President, or some government' officials including the President to have this plane sabotaged. According to Skolnick, the possible mo- tives for the sabotage of flight 553 are obvious. Mrs. E. Howard Hunt was al- 0 A propeller plane was steered im- mediately in front of them. 0 No-one warned the plane it had drifted outside the outer marker. * In violation of regulations, the air- port was working two planes for the same runway at the same time, 553 and the propeller plane. # In the last five minutes of the flight, the copilot and. second officer were flying the plane which supports the contention that the pilot was dead or disabled due to cyanide poisoning or other foul play. The plane's pilot, Cap- tain Whitehouse, and six other passen- Contact your reps- Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515. Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), Rm 353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.