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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1972
Vote 4
A WEEK FROM Tuesday America will go
to the polls to elect a President, and
the choice facing the voters will be the
most explicit in four decades.
The choice is a fundamental one-be-
tween a man who desires to preserve the
status quo, and a man who would like a
substantial reordering of national priori-
ties. It is a choice between a man firmly
aligned with the powerful interests that
presently dominate the economy and so-
ciety, and a man who questions whether
those interests deserve their positions of
power.,
The choice is clear, and our choice is
George McGovern.
Let us take a look at the performance
of the incumbent - a performance that
rates, in any terms, as a national disgrace.
THE VIETNAM War has continued -
only now there are thousands more
lying in graves, millions more uprooted
from their h o m e s, and billions more
poured through an ever-widening drain.
The latest news is that a peace settlement
is near-four years too late.
In the field of economics, the record
speaks for itself. It doesn't take a coun-
cil of economic advisors to know that
prices are g o in g through the ceiling.
Meanwhile, our b o o m i n g "recovery"
doesn't seem to have lowered unemploy-
ment significantly. But the administra-
tion's economic policies have done one
thing-they have raised profits to heights
unscaled for a decade.
While the economic policies have been
benefitting the wealthy few at the ex-
pense of people who are trying to make
an honest living, the administration and
the office of the President have been
tainted with the odor of malfeasance and
corruption.
Among the more dubious actions of the
administration have been the ITT affair,
the $10 million secret re-election fund,
the Watergate break-in, and the Soviet
wheat deal.
In his line of official duties, the Presi-
dent also has a scrapbook full of sad
"accomplishments."
He vetoed a day care bill because it
would have established too big a bureauc-
racy.
He vetoed a water pollution bill because
it was too extravagant.
He pocket vetoed nine more bills, in-
cluding a $30 billion health, education
and welfare appropriation, just last
week.
And he's considering vetoing the edu-
cation bill-but will probably wait until
after election day.
He has debased the Supreme Court with
incompetent nominees such as Clement
Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell. One
Today's staff:
News: Prakash Aswani, Tammy Jacobs,
Diane Levick, Paul Travis, Ralph
Vartabedian
Editorial Page: Arthur Lerner
Arts Page: Gloria Jane Smith
Photo technician: Karen Kasmauski
c Govern
wonders if he could have done better by
throwing darts at a phone book.
While he harangued about the need for
law and order, he approved the illegal
arrests of over 10,000 people in May, 1971.
ON THE ELECTION trail this year, the
President has sought to inflame and
expand the issue of school busing. In-
stead of trying to promote unity and un-
derstanding in the American people, the
President exploits their fears and pre-
j udices.
In the one area where he has seem-
ingly done something constructive and
praiseworthy-in our relations with the
People's Republic of China and the Soviet
Union-a closer look will reveal that the
President has been forced to move be-
cause of a changing international scene.
His choice would have been to maintain
exclusive world power for the United
States-not only in the political, but in
the military and economic spheres as
well. But times have changed since the
days when, as a U.S. senator, he tracked
down "Communist subversives." So now
he must seek friendlier relations with
these countries - again with maximum
exposure to the American public.
Now let us look at the alternative.
GEORGE McGOVERN is certainly no
knight in shining armor. Indeed, his
recent endorsement of Chicago's Edward
Hanrahan - involved in the slayings of
two Black Panthers there three years ago
--his support of parochiaid, his waffling
on the issue of abortion, and other actions
have led many to turn away from his
candidacy.
But G e o r g e McGovern represents a
fundamental alternative to Richard Nix-
on-he is a person who would act in the
interest of the citizens, rather than one
whose every move is made to further en-
trench his power.
In the international arena, a President
McGovern would end our support of cor-
rupt dictatorships, and would reduce the
present mania which says we must be
the "supreme power."
We would no longer have a President
reinforcing racism with harsh opposition
to busing; a President more concerned
with football strategy than with impor-
tant issues; a President who feels that it
is his prerogative to throw people out of
work in order to "stop the inflationary
spiral."
WE WOULD HAVE a President commit-
ted to the notion that every American
capable of working be guaranteed a job,
and dedicated to the idea that the gov-
ernment should operate for the benefit
of all Americans, and not just the wealthy
few who contribute to the incumbent's
campaign coffers.
Although McGovern is far behind in
the polls, every vote for him is a vote for
a rational reordering of national priori-
ties-either now or in the future. We
wholeheartedly urge you to cast your vote
on Nov. 7 for George McGovern.
This endorsement represents the unani-
mous opinion of The Daily's editorial staff.
e4 -' l
EDITOR'S NOTE-This is the third in
a series of articles discussing academic
reform-including both faculty and student
problems-in the literary college.
By JOHN REVITTE
HIS TUESDAY in a college-wide referen-
dum, students will be asked to indicate
the grading system they consider the best
for the literary college. Then, at the No-
vember faculty meeting, a vote will be
taken on whether to send this same referen-
dum to all of the faculty members for a
final decision.
These events are occurring after years of
consideration by committees of students
and faculty members of the college, from
which various proposals for grading reform
have been produced.
On the referendum, there will be four
policy proposals to choose from, and addi-
tional space for individuals to suggest their
own recommendations. Except for the pro-
posal to retain the present grading system,
they all suggest that failing grades not be
recorded on students' transcripts in the
future, and that pass-no record grading be
utilized more in the college. However, be-
yond this there are important differences.
THE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE pro-
posal envisions a policy of multiple choices
for instructors (pass-no record, and A, B,
C, D-no record, with optional pluses and
minuses and student choices concerning the
method of recording grades by the regis-
trar-including A, B, C, D-no record, A, B,
C-no record and pass-no record.
The proposal of the Committee on the
Underclass Experience (CUE) recommends
instead that all 100 and 200-level courses
be pass-no record, that students in their
first two years be allowed to take upper-
level courses either pass-no record or A, B,
C, D-no record, with a limited pass-no
record option available for the junior and
senior years.
The proposal called the "merger" (cur-
rently being studied by the Student-Faculty
Policy Committee) combines these two pro-
posals by instituting pass-no record in all
100 and 200 level courses and adds the mul-
tiple options for instructors and students in
all other courses.
While all three have merit, CUE feels
that its proposal is the only one that effec-
tively answers the most important questions
regarding grading and education, while at
the same time not raising new problems
that might become counter-productive in
the future.
course of action is at this time unwise.
graded student will not be so likely to limit
WITH ITS PROPOSAL, CUE has advo-
cated a coherent, non-graded environment
for the first and second years of the literary
college experience-work that is of lesser
importance to future job, career, or gradu-
ate school admission, but of tremendous
importance to the goal of a liberal arts'
education.
Presently the fear of low grades often
prevents students from f r e e ly exploring
areas of interest and obtaining needed skills
when they feel ill-prepared in a particular
discipline. On the ,other hand, the non-
"Well, I'm not sure if I should take 101 or 303. 101 is
graded on a A, B, C, D-no record basis and I could take it
pass-no record, but maybe I might get a B in it ... But then
again, 303 has pluses and minuses and I might be able to
pull a B-plus or something .
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rather than the pursuit of grades. Such a
change could only improve relationships
among students and faculty as it reduced
the adversary aspects of grading.
Unfortunately, a system of options, as in
the Curriculum Committee proposal, while
improving conditions in some courses, would
make the over-all four year situation much
worse. In addition to the problems of stu-
dents balancing their graded and non-graded
courses, confusion would increase as - in-
structors and students tried to decide
which grading scheme they would use in
their particular courses.
Time is now wasted with counselors on
questions like "How can I get out of this
requirement?" Instead, there would -be
long discussions on grading systems: "Well,
I'm not sure if I should take 101 or 303.
101 is graded on a A, B, C, D-no record
basis and I could take it pass-no record,
but maybe I might get a B in it. . . But
then again, 303 has pluses and minuses and
I might be able to pull a B-plus or some-
thing ."
Such a process would produce a new
and even greater focusing on the grade
rather than on learning.
THE CUE PROPOSAL is a deliberate
attempt to improve the educational en-
vironment of the literary college, not an
administrative move to reverse current
trends toward higher grades. Though it
does not go as far as other positions (and
somenmay favor the "merger" for this
reason), it does present a well-reasoned,
coherent alternative to the present system.
Students can learn more about these pro-
posals at Monday night's forum in Aud. A
at 8:30, and also make sure they vote on
this important referendum issue during this
week's student elections.
John Revitte is an educational change
advocate in the Office of Special Services
and rograms.
In particular, the multiplicity of options
(of the Curriculum Committee and "mer-
ger" proposals) may turn out to be a step
away from improving education, since they
will still place students in the position of
having some courses pass-no record while
others are graded in the traditional manner.
As is the case with the present limited
pass-fail option, the student is forced to
give the graded courses her primary atten-
tion even though they may not be the ones
the student feels are most important to her
education.
Obviously the way to completely alleviate
this problem would be to have all courses
non-graded. H o w e v e r, since graduate
schools still attach so much importance to
grades in the last two years of undergradu-
ate work, especially in the student's area
of concentration, CUE feels that such a
herself to the areas in which she has pre-
viously succeeded; thus the student will be
able to take courses according to interests,
not just according to expectations of suc-
cess.
Additionally, by making the first two
years of college a non-graded experience,
students and faculty would be given the
opportunity to direct more attention to the
content of education, and less to its forms.
("Would you recommend this course or
not?" "Well I got a B-plus out of it."
Too much time and effort is wasted- on
this grading process-and an education that
means only a 3.7 or 2.8 is of little use to
students' lives and a misuse of faculty time
and taxpayers' monies.
A NON-GRADED ENVIRONMENT would
re-direct student interest, motivation, and
energy toward the pursuit of knowledge
Spinning the strategic spending wheel
By RICHARD WEINBERG
DAVID FRADIN, in the Oct. 14
Daily, tried to show that there
has been a change in federal pri-
orities, suggesting that a lower
proportion of government re-
sources is devoted to the military
than at any time since 1951.
The Nixon administration has
claimed credit for being the first
in 20 years to spend more on "so-
cial" than military goods.
He presented a mass of statistics
on the share of the nation's re-
sources devoted to the military.
The set of figures was so expan-
sive that a reply must focus on
one key element of his analysis.
Fradin wrote: "This year social
and economic spending will be $145
billion and defense spending will
be $44 billion."
He has since indicated that this
is in "1958 dollars," though this
was not mentioned in his article.
Moreover, regardless of w h a t
year's dollars it is in, his citation
of $3.30 of "social spending" for
every "defense dollar" is a gross
misstatement of the facts.
A GLANCE at the federal budget
for fiscal year 1973 yields the fol-
lowing breakdown:
-Military related expenditures,
$78.3 billion;
-Human resource programs
(veterans benefits, health, educa-
tion and welfare), $54.4 billion;
-Social Security, $56.4 billion;
-Physical resources (commerce
and transportation, agricultural,
rural and community develop-
ment, environment), $25.7 billion;
-Interest on the national debt,
$21.2 billion
-International affairs and fi-
nance, $3.8 billion
-Space research and technolo-
gy, $3.2 billion;
-General government and reve-
nue sharing, $10.5 billion; and
-Net deductions, -$7.3 billion
This yields a total budget of
$246.3 billion.
If everything other than de-
fense, interest on ' the national
debt, and space research is classi-
fied as ' "social goods", $1.92 is
spenta"socially" for each "de-
fense" dollar - vastly different
from Fradin's ratio. And if one
considers only those funds over
which Congress and the President
have some say (Social Security,
the Highway Trust Fund, and vet-
erans benefits are somewhat im-
mune from presidential tamper-
ing), about half of whatrremains
goes to defense-related programs.
ADMITTEDLY there has been a
reduction in the proportion of fed-
eral funds going to the military.
In the decades of cold war, the
United States spent billions for an
immense nuclear arsenal, and
maintained a conventional force
to contain "communism" and to
intervene in the affairs of other
countries.
It has been the labor of peo-
ple who have devoted themselves
to exposing the military - indus-
trial complex and the horror of
Vietnam that has produced what
changes there have been in the
national priorities. Richard Nix-
on has demonstrated in his pro-
posals and his vetoes what his
priorities are.
The Pentagon asks for over $10
billion "worth" of Tri-dent sub-
marines, but the administration
cannot find the money for a $141
million anti-pollution program for
the Great Lakes the the Environ-
mental Protection Agency has
recommended.
Sen. William Fulbright has es-
timated the overrun on the 45
weapons systems under develop-
ment at $36.5 billion. This sum,
which Fradin dismisseshis more
than the federal expenditures for
health programs in 1972 and 1973
combined.
With flashes of "impending
peace" on the scene day after
day, there is danger of complac-
ency over the military's major
drain on our resources - and
casual, sloppy reviews of federal
spending. The military, Vietnam
or not, is still the number one
"bad guy."
FOR FRADIN does not confront
the most basic question. What
kind of defense policy should the
United States have? How much
is enough?
The comments of Gene La
Roque, a retired Rear Admiral
and now head of the Center for
Defense Information, are to the
point: "In 1968, Robert McNa-
mara estimated that a force of 400
one - megaton nuclear warheads
could provide an adequate deter-
rent to general war. Such a force
could destroy up to 74 million of
the Soviet population and up to 76
per cent of Soviet industrial ca-
pacity.
"In 1972 the United States has
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a strategic. arsenal many times
in excess of that needed to deter
enemy attack. We have 5,700 stra-
tegic nuclear weapons compared
with 2,500 for the Soviet Union.
Yet, the MIRV missiles from one
Poseidon submarine could destroy
about one-quarter of the industry
of the Soviet Union.
"Limitations of ABM defensive
systems assure the continued mu-
tual vulnerability of both coun-
tries to nuclear attack and pre-
serve the effectiveness of each
country's forces. With the aban-
donment of all but token strategic
defense capabilities, each super
power could devastate the other."
ENOUGH?
Richard Weinberg is a senior in
the literary college.
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Letters.
fo The Daily:
WE ARE writing this letter to
express our frustration about the
rock concert situation in Ann Ar-
bor.
We cannot understand why UAC
has not sponsored any super
groups for Homecoming weekend.
We think that with the availability
of a large arena like Crisler that
we can support nyuch higher qual-
ity music than we are getting.
If each and every student at the
University pays $1.50 a term to-
wards such a worthless organiza-
tion as SGC, why isn't this money
better spent to provide the large
advancerdeposit needed to ob-
tain super groups?
If UAC does not feel that Ann
Arbor can support such groups as
Jethro Tull, Traffic, Moody Blues,
etc., we think that they are great-
ly mistaken.
We have heard rumors that
there may be some ogre booking
agent in Detroit who, for some
unknown reason, refuses to send
good groups to Ann Arbor. Ignor-
ant of the exact situation, we
would like to know the details of
UAC's booking arrangements.
Looking to the future, we would
like to see some corrective action
taken in order that we as stu-
dents at this university will have
some good vibes to look forward
to.
Rock la
as to literacy, consider the many
students who are unable to follow
a set of directions and complete
the election forms properly.
Does Mr. Leavitt think that
there is open enrollment in all,
courses, or even that the Regis-
trar places limits on enrollments
when in fact it is the department
or the professors? Does Mr. Leav-
itt think that with the volume of
election requests we handle that
we can do any more than attempt
to decipher some of the incredibly
cryptic forms we receive, or that
some mistakes might be made by
even the most well-intentioned, lit-
erate workersp?
We do not intend to defend the
system as it stands. We are react-
ing only to Mr. Leavitt's crude ad'
hominem attack on those harried
individuals who do their best with
the system they have to deal with.
Mr. Leavitt has more experi-
ence at employing fertilizer tech-
niques than we do.
-Sandra Kay Fine
and 12 others
Oct. 26
On capitalism
To The Daily:
THIS LETTER is a reply to the
"Special Feature" published in the
Sunday "Daily" of 22 October 1972,
entitled "The U.S. free enterprise
myth: A joke on the middle mass-
es." To dissect completely its er-
ing industrialists, "predatory price
competition" in quest of monopoly.
The author's source for this bit of
misinformation is not given (though
not hard to guess); however, Mr.
Chaney ought to know that this
policy is fautly in theory and his-
torically an unsubstantiated charge.
Should the author be unaware of
this, I would be glad to point him
to the appropriate information.
Paragraph 11 contains a pecul-
iarly worded statement about An-
drew Carnegie and his "biggest
steel monopoly in the world" in
1898. It is doubtful if the Carnegie
Company produced more than 30
per cent of the nation's steel out-
put; indeed, Carnegie did not even
manufacture "finished" (consum-
er), steel products. Carnegie had
not a monopoly in the American
market, and certainly didn't have
one in the world market. And the
notion that competition was de-
stroyed in the late 19th Century
is patently false.
Finally, the author ought to know
that the act establishing the In-
terstate Commerce Commission was
passed in 1887, and no "shortly af-
ter the turn of the century." (para-
graph 16).
The "largest corporations'"
"don't tell the public" that t h e y
have "abandoned free enterprise
altogether" for the simple reason
that they haven't. Despite the dil-
rck reeks: block knocked
There are other noteworthy er-
rors in this feature, such as the
misinterpretation placed on the
mesage contained.in the "rags to
riches" precept (paragraphs 14-
15) which wrongly equates "suc-
cess" in the marketplace with be-
ing "number 1"; and the crude
equivocation fallen into when
"freedom" is discussed in para-
graph 19.
ipdeed, one could go on and on.
But astonishingly, the essay never
really speaks to the important issue
raised, which is that of free en-
terprise vs. the "mixed economy. '
It is *true that the crazy-quilt of
government intervention, regula-
tion, and controls have made it
increasingly difficult to succeed
and prosper on any level: but if
one values success and prosperity,
the direction of change called for
is toward the "true 'free-market' "
an insight totally lacking in this,
essay.
-Howard.Dickman
Oct. 26
Harvey 'incompetent'
To The Daily.
WHILE I was pleased to see your
editorial endorsing Fred Postill for
sheriff, there was one rather vague
statement in the litany of D o u g
Harvey's incompetence which be-
comes absolutely shocking upon,
clarification. I am referring to the
passage that "the department's.
Washtenaw County had the highest
crime rate for its size of any coun-
ty in the state. Serious crime rose
over the previous year by 15 per
cent in Ann Arbor, six per cent in
Ypsilanti and an astounding 104
per cent in the rest of the county-
all of which is patrolled by t h e
Sheriff's Department.
Harvey claims to have signifi-
cantly increased the department's
response to calls over the 1 a s t
several months. But what has really
happened is that he is now counting
dog complaints and other "gar-
bage calls" in with larcenies, rap-
es and assaults.ws
The above facts are clear. proof
of Harvey and Owing's incompe-
tent stewardship. In the last four
years, command officers have been
increa'sed from 10 to 22, with no
similar increase in road patrol of-
ficers. Fred Postill sees that area
as one of the department's main
areas of "fat," and would divert
the money wasted on a top-heavy
bureaucracy to increasing r o a d
patrols, setting up a juvenile pro-
gram and other law enforcement
needs so long ignored by Haivey
and his administration.
-Rob Bier
Oct. 26
In making its endorsement of
Student Government Council
candidates yesterday, The Daily
VI
--David Sanders '74
Jame sLne1 '74
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