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News Phone: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1972
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facuty (comment
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Sticking Tricky Dick
i
RALPH NADER'S recent charges of cor-
ruption in the Nixon Administra-
tion come as no surprise to those who
have been faithfully following the an-
tics of the tricky one and his merry men
over the last four years.
Nader, in calling the Nixon Adminis-
tration "the most corrupt in history," ex-
plains that "It's not simply a matter of
illegal corruption, but of legal corrup-
tion made possible by the administra-
tion's policies and (Nixon's) exercise of
executive discretion."
Nader's allegations followed the release
Tuesday of the first volume of his in-
depth study of Congress. The report, in
citing Nixon's misuse of constitutional
power, lays partial blame on the Con-
gress, for sitting idly by and allowing
such an usurpation of power to occur.
Apparently, Nixon merely took advan-
tage of his under-achieving and lack-
luster Congress.
NADER FURTHER notes the President's
tendency to ignore the existence of
hanky-panky in his administration. As
an example, of which there are many,
Nader cites the expose of the Watergate
affair which only led Nixon, through
his lackeys, to disclaim any knowledge
or responsibility of the events, and to
blame non-administration individuals.
This, despite evidence which questions
the involvement of both his former Sec-
retary of Commerce and his former At-
torney General.
The White House, true to form, has re-
fused to comment on Nader's charges,
prefering instead to let other Repub-
lican officials react.
George Romney, the lame duck Sec-
retary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment with the "washed brain," called the
charges of corruption "poppycock."
BUT PERHAPS THE most thought-pro-
voking rebuttal came from Repub-
lican Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott,
who in calling the charges "full of in-
nuendoes," further noted that it is the
public who will bee the final judge of
Nixon's performance. Indeed, the polls,
if they are to be believed, do show that
the majority of the public seems to be
content with the present administration,
impurities and all. A sorry state, it
would seem.
But in all fairness, it should be noted
that with Nader claiming that he's right
and the Republicans claiming he's
wrong, the ultimate decision lies with
the individual citizen; who by perusing
the contents of Nader's book, should be
the final judge.
General Motors, we remember, when
faced with Nader's attacks on their de-
fective Corvair a while back, was moti-
vated to recall and eventually retire that
model. One only hopes that a public
findlin7 i Oiln f iiltc in a a 4ida 1t0
McGOLDWATER
Teacher collective
bargaining urged
By DANIEL FUSFELD
THE U-M ASSOCIATION for Collective Bargaining was 'organized
during the summer of 1972 in response to a widespread feeling that
the voice of the faculty in University affairs must be strengthened. The
University has entered a period in its history in whch its position as
one of the nation's great universities is threatened. Central to the
maintenance of that position is the attraction and retention of an out-
standing faculty. The present pattern of faculty consultation with the
administration, in an advisory capacity, has been accompanied by a
continuing erosion of the economic position of the faculty. If that eros-
ion continues the University will shortly lose its position in the
upper ranks of the world's universities.
A great university's chief resources are its student body ad
faculty. It must nurture those resources. To do so it must be able to
attract and hold outstanding teachers, great scholars and imaginative
researchers. It must give top priority in its salary policy to three
things:
FACULTY SALARIES that match the highest available elsewhere;
REWARDS FOR outstanding teachers that equal those provided for
outstanding scholarship and for administration; and
ADEQUATE SUPPORT for research and scholarship from resources
within the university itself.
The proposed system of administration-faculty consultation that is
now in the process of being formed has very serious deficiencies. It is
cumbersome, with at least three committees to deal with overlapping
issues. All of the committees are purely advisory. Recommendations
to the Regents are ultimately the responsibility of administrative of-
ficers, and are subject to still further modification at the Regents'
level. Indeed, there is no safeguard against ignoring of faculty wishes
altogether. The faculty committees have only those powers delegated
to them, have limited authority, and often have substantial partici-
pation by administrators at the initial imput level. Finally, any faculty
committee dependent upon the University for its financing would not
be eligible to deal with the University on such matters as rates of
pay, conditions of work, grievances or other matters. Under Michigan
law such a committee would probably be considered a company union.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, on the other hand, makes possible a
clear identification of the interests of the faculty. It provides a means
by which faculty interests are represented by faculty themselves in
making final decisions on salaries and related matters, rather than
at second-hand through administration-Regents negotiations. A demo-
cratically organized association for collective bargaining would draw
its goals and objectives from the faulty itself. The goals could be as
flexible as the faculty wanted them to be, and I, for one, advocate
a maximum degree of flexibility for individual faculty members to
reach special agreements with the adniinistration, consistent with a
strong.position for the faculty as a whole. There is no need for collec-
tive bargaining to force everyone into the same mold.
The need for action is urgent. Other universities in Michigan al-
ready have collective bargaining or are moving toward it. The agree-
ments reached there are likely to determine the faculty salary rates and
teaching responsibilities that the legislature will seek to impose uniform-
ly upon unorganized faculties. If this university has a unique character
in this State, and I think it has, we have to start now to make our
voice heard and to make it stick.
WE CAN ALREADY see some results just from the announcement
that the U-M Association for Collective Bargaining has formed. The
faculty's -Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs stood up
and complained about the Regent's cut in the administration's recom-
mended salary increase for next year! But note this: all that SACUA
could do was complain. If the administration's proposal had been
the result of collective bargaining it would have stuck.
Collective bargaining is no panacea. It can achieve only limited
goals. But one thing it can do: it can move the faculty into the heart
of the decision-making process as an equal, from its present position
as the last claimant after all the other decisions have been made. When
that happens we will be on our way to making the University of
Michigan the great university it can be.
Daniel Fus feld is Professor of economics at the University.
FSociety's chil
Poll-watching as sport
By CHARLES STEIN
WHEN A candidate's election
strategy seems to be failing,
every armchair quarterback in the
country is sure he knows what the
candidate is doing wrong.
g 111Ksm 11ar hull in a presl
might take similar action.
-MARTIN STER
Defending the Press
THE TRADITIONALLY strained rela-
tions between the courts and the
press was split even further last Wednes-
day, in an action revealing that the
"right" of freedom of the press might
just be a privilege after all.
For the first time, a reporter - Peter
Bridge of the Newark Evening News -
was sentenced to "an indefinite jail
term" for refusing to reveal a news
source.
Bridge's "crime" apparently stems
from a story in which he revealed a bribe
attempt related to him by a Newark, New
Jersey Housing Authority official. Sub-
poenaed by a grand jury investigating
possible corruption in the Authority, he
confirmed that the official had told him
she was offered a bribe.
When the grand jury began question-
ing Bridge about who had offered the
bribe, and whether the official had re-
lated any other harassments not men-
tioned in his story, Bridge refused to
answer.
His contention was that the grand jury
had not shown a compelling need to
know what, if anything, he had not al-
ready revealed about the incident, since
he had already testified to the truth of
the story.
THE COURT, Bridge felt, was not ask-
ing for the source of confidential
Today's staff.
News: Dave Burhenn, Tammy Jacobs,
John Marston, Jonathan Miller
Editorial: Robert Schreiner
information, or to reveal leis perso
observations of illegal activity, wh
would give him some legal grounds to
fuse -it was simply fishing for any
formation he might have on the sub,
of corruption.
Despite a recent Supreme Courtx
ing, that a reporter is liable to prose
tion for protecting his news sour
there are still some limits as to what
courts can demand of a reporter. A ne
man is still legally protected, in the op
ion of Supreme Court Justice Lewis P(
ell if his testimony would jeopardize
confidential sources "without a leg
mate need of law enforcement." He
also protected, said Powell, "if called
on to give information bearing onl1
remote and tenuous relationship to
subject of the investigation."
In most instances, however, it wo
not seem hard for the court to deem
most any information relevant and-n
essary.
TO BE REALISTIC: a lot of people do
trust the legal system in this coi
try, and a lot of the legal system does
deserve their trust. It has proven itt
inefficient in punishing organized cri:
traffic in hard drugs, and in reveal
the duplicity of government officials.
The news media, by investigating a
exposing these issues, performs a va
able service, complementing the funct
of the courts. To deprive it of the right
confidential information and sour(
the same tools granted to lawyers a
policemen, is a senseless and regretta
decision on the part of the court.
-JIM O'BRIE?
aenc
By ol indications, G e o r g e
McGovern is clearly doing some-
N thing wrong, and two of the coun-
tries most prominent armchair
quarterbacksasometimes called
columnists, have proposed a solu-
tion to McGovern's dilemma.
Writing on consecutive d a y s ,
New York Times' heavyweights
Tom Wickerand James Reston,
anal told McGovern in efect that his
Lich problems were directly attribut-
re- able to his attempt to move tow-
in- ards the center of the political
j ect spectrum. By constantly modifying
his positions on such issues as am-
nesty, taxation and welfare reform,
ru-they argued, McGovern has dIe-
rul- stroyed perhaps his greatestasset,
cu- his credibility.
ces,
the IN LIGHT of these develop-
ws- ments, Wicker advised McGovern
)in- to stick to his guns on the issues,
even if his positions were n o t
ow- popular ones. Only in this wayt
his Wicker said, can, McGovern re-
iti- store his now tarnished credibility
is and present himself as a genuine
up- alternative to the quintessential
up- politician himself, Richard Nixon.
y a Taking up where Wicker left off,
the Reston took his colleague's prem-
ise and carried it to its logical, or
uld perhaps in this case, illogical con-
l clusion.
al- In short, Reston told McGovern
ec- to forget about winning the elec-
tion and instead urged him to speak
out with great conviction on the
issues.
'tn Like Adlai Stevenson, whom Res-
mt ton says knew he didn't have a
self chance to win, McGovern could
me, use his campaign as an opportunity
ing to educate the American people
and in the process restore some
dignity to the political arena.
and It doesn't take a genius to real-
,lu- ize the weakness in Reston's argu-
ion ment. If George McGovern doesn't
to get elected it isn't going to make
ces, a bit of difference whether he
nd went down like a champ or a bum.
ble The country will still be faced with
the prospect of Four More Years
.and all that the slogan im-
ONE CANNOT as easily dismiss
the thinking of Mr. Wicker, how-
ever, who essentially is asking
McGovern to choose ideological
purity as the path to victory.
But there is, I think, one major
flaw in Wicker's plan, a flaw per-
haps best articulated by a Mc-
Govern detractor who made h i s
comments during the primaries,
when McGovern was still a rising
political star.
"Let's face it," he quipped,
"once people find out what George
McGovern really stands for, he
doesn't have a prayer." Sad as it
may be, this gentleman is probably
right.
America is just not ready for
the real GeorgesMcGovern. It is
not ready for redistribution of its
income, quota systems, peace in-
stead of war, or as Spiro Agnew
might put it, begging instead of
bombing.
IF McGOVERN were to continue
to espouse these policies he would
be committing political suicide.
People might respect his courage
and integrity, but the vast ma-
jority of them would certainly not
reward him with their votes in
November.
McGovern's only real alterna-
tive then is to move as he has
done, towards the center. To win he
needs the support of labor unions,
blacks, Jews and all the other
elemenst of the coalition that has
faithfully served Democrats since
FDR.
The scenario sounds a bit worn,
but as yet, no one has come up
with .a suitable replacement.
According to the pollsters, over
one-third of all the nations Demo-
crats plan to desert the national
ticket in November. To get them
back, McGovern will have to hit
hard at traditional economic them-
es and avoid a number of the more
controversial issues that initially
endeared him to the Left.
In effect, George McGovern
must disguise himself as fIu-
bert Humphrey and hope that the
American people b e 1 i e v e him.
Machiavellean as that may sound,
it is probably a political necessity,
at least until Election Day, when
he can re-emerge as the McGov-
ern we all supported in New
Hampshire.
He will not perhaps be as ro-
mantically remembered as Adlai
Stevenson, but he might just ,vin.
Even James Reston can pro-
bably appreciate that.
Charles Stein is a Copy Editor
for The Daily.
Get involved-
urite your reps!l
Sen. Philip Hart (Dem), Rm.
253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep),
Rm. 353 Old Senate Bldg., Cap-
itol Hill, Washington, D.C.
20515.
Rep. Marvin. Esch (Rep). Rnm.
:12, Cannon Bldg. Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Gilbert Bursley (Rep),
Senate, State Capitol Bldg.,
Lansing, 48933.
Rep. Raymond Smit (Rep),
House of Representatives, State
Capitol Bldg., Lansing, 48933.
By TONY SCHWARTZ
F UCK. That's right, fuck. Make
you choke on your orange
juice, spit up some egg? It was
late Tuesday night when t h a t
word bleeped into TV land live
from the victorious Detroit Tiger
locker-room, compliments of short-
stop Ed Brinkman. It came in re-
sponse to a bland and typical ques-
tion from a bland and, typical
sportscaster and it was an other-
wise bland and typical response:
"Yea, Dave, it's a great feeling
to win the division, but not so
much for myself as for the rest of
the FUCKING guys."
This writer was watching t h e
tube at the time. Linguistically lib-
erated and inherently foul-mouthed
as I am, I nonetheless jerked my
head back in reflexive disbelief,
jumped up from the bed and flew
upstairs to appraise my friends of
an incident which, if truth be told,
had stunned me more than any
Photo technician: Tom Gottleib
NK
plies.
TV event since they announced
The Fugitive would be vindicated.
Conditioned we are. Just to relate
the above paragraphs to you re-
quired the personal signature of
the Editor of this publication' over
each of three obscenities! Without
it the story would not have been
set in type. And that's not the
worst of it. The Daily is legions
more flexible than most of t h e
media.
In a sense, the media of the
1970's is more prudish than the
classic folks of 100 years ago. At
that point, good Victorians, when
forced totalk about indiscreet sub-
jects, painstakingly sought "le eu-
phemisme juste". Legs and arms
became "extremities", underpants
were "linens" and sex, in the rare
instances when its existence had
to be acknowledged, was "rela-
tions".
TODAY'S MEDIA won't even go
that far. How many times have you
seen Dick Cavett blush, dimples
flaring, as an up-front guest's racy
comments were lost to that mad-
dening "BLEEP?" On the local
front, the Detroit Free Press had
its equal.
In a lengthy front page article
on Ed Brinkman's slip, the report-
er managed never to say "fuck",
no mean feat in itself. As would
have been the case in most news-
papers, the word was replaced by
the catchall sign for all unmen-
tionables, namely " ", or in
more avante-garde publications
perhaps "f--k".
Brinkman's indiscretion merited
front page news locally, elicited a
none-too-pleased response from a
huge tristation viewing audience
and sent morality in the Motor City
reeling.
It's true, obviously, that many
are still outraged by obscenity.
It's times like now when one real-
izes that below the so-called sexual
revolution, there simmers an op-
posite feeling which is equally em-
passioned. The visibly liberated
of those avocations which is dis-
tinctly ok in some arenas and dis-
tinctly not ok in others. In tele-
vision it's not. It seems to have
happily accepted its role as a
protector of a solid, moral code.
Things slipped up Tuesday night.
Television's contentions (or lack
of them), notwithstanding, cursing,
sex, taking a leak and other such
unmentionables will persist. More
than that, they will continue to
compromise the more gutsy, ele-
mental and time consuming as-
pects of most of our lives, even
many of those who would deny
their existence.
What really should have shocked
viewing audiences Tuesday was
not that Brinkman said "Fuck",
but that he deviated from the rigid
interviewer-athlete format at all.
Those who watch sporting events
often come to know the pattern
of athlete interviews so well that
they can almost be predicted be-
fore they happen. Bland. Uncon-
troversial. Pat. In short, a lot of
pap.
Victory is derigeur, a thrill, far
mnore for its character building
elements than for its financial re-
wards. Athletes are nearly always
morally upright people with fam-
ilies and quiet life-styles. T e a m
dissension is non-existent; players
love players and everybody loves
the managers. Or at least so we
are told. The cycle seems inexcap-
able; but for Howard Cosell (and
the now notorious Al Ackerman,
the Detroit sportscaster who got
fired for emerging ever so slightly
from the bland role expected of
him) most sportscasters ask play-
ers idiotic superficial questions
and get like responses.
WE NOW KNOW that Ed Brink-
man curses. That's a step in the
right direction. Perhaps next we'll
learn that he isn't entirely happy
with the Tigers or that he goes
to the bathroom between innings.
There's lots of liberating left to
be, done: sportscasters, athletes,
viewers. It'd be nice if more ball-
Letters: Controversy continues over use of DES
To The Daily:
THE CONTROVERSY w h i c h
has finally arisen over the use of
diethylstilbestrol (DES) is 1 o n g
overdue. On April 22, 1972 in the
"New England Journal of Medi-
cine" (vol. 284:878-881) Dr. Ar-
thur Herbst noted for the first time
seven cases of vaginal cancer in
girls whose mothers had taken
DES during their pregnancies.
Adenocarcinoma of the vagina is
extremely rare in young women
and an associated was immediate-
ly suspected between the DES giv-
en the mothers and that which de-
veloped in their female offspring
some 20 years later. Since t h a t
time there have been additional ar-
ticles and in the May 1; 1972 is-
sue of the "Journal of the Ameri-
can Medical Association" (vol. 220:
ice? Perhaps nothing, because
clearly the whole reason for the
use of the morning-after pill is to
eliminate the possibility of preg-
nancy. According to Dr. Kuchera of
the Health Service "The morning-
after pill is never given to any
girl that we suspect may already
be pregnant." Unfortunately, there
is no sure way to determine preg-
nancy before six weeks and a
woman may not be aware at the
time she takes the pill that she is
already pregnant. It is also pos-
sible that after starting the pill
(which must be taken for five
days) a girl may stop because of
the unpleasant side effects some-
times encountered and thereby be
subject to pregnancy. Dr. Kuchera
goes on to say that "If such a
girl had doubts or felt that she
England Journal of Medicine" (vol
285: 1201) states "I cannot find
reported in the medical literature
any well controlled, scientific stu-
dies conducted to prove the safe
and effective use of DES in any
dose or duration for treatment of
even the generally recognized med-
ical conditions, although there is
ample literature indorsement. The
fact that studies done to support
the accepted "safe" uses of DES
at low doses are apparently un-
available should certainly cause
the practitioner to hesitate to of-
fer DES at high doses to his pa-
tients for novel uses".
I believe that prospective pa-
tients at the Student Health Serv-
ice should be given complete in-
formation regarding DES before
it is nrecribed sn that thev cain
poster
some
Those
that had been defaced by
wandering graffiti artist.
Whose poster it was re-
sponded with a hand-printed line
condemning the "slob" who had
performed such a dastardly act and
admonishing opponents of abortion
to be considerate enough not to
destroy posters.
And that, if you think about it,
makes a good summary of the pro-
abortion position. Trees are scarce
and people are in surplus; hence
it is reasonable to become uptight
and indignant over the harm done
to a piece of paper while advocat-
ing a measure that would lead to
the destruction of thousands of
human lives. What better state-
ment of the majestic Law of Sup-
ply and Demand, and what better
.a. fnr nn A 4 nnt nra.r . nt .
it is, can the value of a life al-
ready born remain higher? - as
if by the working of an invisible
hand those surviving in a once
again uncrowded world will be
able to enjoy the trees and work
at self-actualization . . .
As an economist used to seeing
life in monetary terms, I am
nevertheless just the slightest bit
uneasy about these relative values
of paper and people. Somehow I
seem to hear the smug I-told-you-so
whisper of one Rev. Thomas Mal-
thus and what can only be t h e
diabolical laughter of the late Dr.
Jonathan Swift.
-Daniel Martin '72
Oct. 4
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