iIv mir4igan Bait
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1972
Nixon's irrational triekery
PRESIDENT NIXON has blatantly cut
an authorized allotment of federal
aid to states for the financing of waste
treatment plants. Yesterday, he ordered
the Environmental Protection Agency to
allot only $2 billion of the $5 billion au-
thorized by Congress for the present fis-
cal year, and only $3 billion of the $6
billion for fiscal 1974.
In doing so, Nixon violates the re-
quirements of the new federal Water Pol-
lution Control Act, passed by the Senate
and House on Oct. 8 over a presidential
veto.
At a recent news conference, William
Ruckelshaus, administrator of the EPA,
released a letter to himself from the
President, dated Nov. 22. In part, Nixon's
letter said:
STATED IN THE veto message that
even if the Congress were to default
its obligation to the taxpayers, to hold
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Editorial Staff
( SARA FITZGERALD
Editor
PAT BAUER............ Associate Managing Editor
LINDSAY CHA2NEY ............... Editorial Director
MARK. DILLEN .................... Magazine Editor
LINDA DREEBEN ........ Associate Managing Editor
T AMY JACOBS ............... Managing Editor
ARTHUR LERNER ............... Editorial Director
ROBERT SCHREINER ........... Editorial Director
GLORIA JANE SMITH .................. Arts Editor
ED SUROVELL ................Books Editor
PAUL TRAVIS .....Associate Managing Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Robert Barkin, Jan Benedetti, Di-
ans Levick, Jim O'Brien, Chris Parks, Charles
Stein, Ted Stein.
COPY EDITORS: Meryl Gordon, Debra Tha.
EDITORIAL NIGHT EDITORS: Fred Shell Martin
Stern.
DAY EDITORS: Dave Burhenn, Jim Kentch, Marilyn
Riley, Judy Ruskin, Eric Schoch, Sue Stephen-
lon, Ralph Vartabedian, Becky Warner.
TELEGRAPH/ASSOCIATE NIGHT EDITORS: Prakash
AswanI, Gordon Atcheson, Laura Berman, Penny
Blank, Dan Blugerman, Bob Burakoff, Beth Eg-
nater, Ted Evanoff, Cindy Hill, Debbie Knox,
David Stoll, Terri Terrel.
STAFF WRITERS: Howard Brick Lorin Labardee, Ka-
thy Ricke, Eugene Robinson, Linda Rosenthal,
Zachary Schiler, Marcia Zoslaw.
ARTS STAFF: Herb Bowie, Rich Glatzer, Donald
Sports Staff
JOHN PAPANEK
Sports Editor
ELLIOT LEGOW
Executive Sports Editor
BELL ALTERMAN ............ Associate Sports Editor
808 ANDREWS ...........Assistant Sports Editor
SANDI S MS .............. Assistant Sports Editor
RANDY PHILLIPS ........ Contributing Sports Editor
MICHAEL OLIN .......... Contributing Sports Editor
CHUCK DRUKIS ........ Contributing Sports Editor
JOEL GREER ...........Contributing Sports Editor
SPORTS NIGHT EDITORS: Chuck Bloom, Dan Borus,
Maro Feldman, George Hastings, Bob Heuer, Frank
Longo, Bob McGinn, Roger Rosster, Rich Stuck
ASSSTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Brian Deming, Jim
Ecker, Mike Lash, Mark Ronan, Bob Simon, Theresa
Swedo, Robin' Wagner.
STAFF: Jeff Chown, Richard Flaherty, Fred Lucas,
Janet McIntosh, Marcia Merker, Mike Pritula,
Today's staff:
News: Tod Evanoff, Tammy Jacobs, Deb-
bie Pastoria, Eric Schoch, Charles
Stein, David Stoll, Ter Terrell
Editorial Page: Bill Heenan, Robert
Schreiner, John Shields
Arts Page: Tom Field, Gloria Jane Smith
Photo technician: Denny Gainer
the line against inflation, through enact-
ment of this legislation, I would not de-
fault mine."
The President's concern for holding
the budget is admirable, but once again
he displays remarkable short-sightedness
regarding priorities. Rather than add to
the forces of life, Nixon uses his power to
promote death.
Compared to the massive defense bud-
get, even the authorized $5 billion is a
less than negligible quantity. By continu-
ing to supply the South Vietnamese Army
with U. S. armaments, while restricting
spending on pollution controls, the Pres-
identpersists in following his irrational
path of construction through destruc-
tion.
Moreover, Mr. Nixon now openly disre-
gards a federal law. His actions, there-
fore, contradict his alleged role as the
representative of the people.
-JOHN SHIELDS
Merry Xmas?
REPORTS ARE OUT that the Detroit
Lions will consider playing their Na-
tional Football League play-off game in
Michigan Stadium, should they first de-
cide to win their divisional title.
But besides avoiding the clutches of
opposing linemen, the Lions would also
have to escape the bonds of their con-
tract with Tiger Stadium. Should the
plan go through, however, the game
would be quite a Christmas present for
the University's athletic department.
And perhaps Athletic Director Don Can-
ham will consider playing Santa Claus to
the impoverished intramural depart-
ment. The profits from such a game, esti-
mated by Canham at around $80,000,
could well revive the spirit and health of
the ailing intramural facilities.
-S.F.
A free hand
?RESIDENT NIXON announced Tues-
day that he was moving Elliot Rich-
ardson from the chief spot in the Depart-
ment of Health Education and Welfare to
the Department of Defense. We who have
watched Richardson deal with the Uni-
versity's affirmative action programs for
equal employment in hiring, have seen
him respond to his constituents with a
forthrightness sadly typical of other Nix-
on administration officials. Before he
leaves, however, we'd like him to take a
minute and answer - either for the press
or the University - a question that has
sat on his desk since December, 1970.
"Doe HEW have jurisdiction over gradu-
ate admissions when the graduate stu-
dents are employed as teaching fellows?"
If your jurisdiction was limited at HEW,
don't worry, Elliot. It certainly won't be
where you're headed.
-S.F.
HRP: S,
By SUSAN NEWELL
and JERRY De GRIECK,
DEMOCRATIC CITY Councilman Robert
Faber, recently accused the H u m a n
Rights Party of "half-truths and c h e a p
trickery," (Daily, Nov. 14) on City Council.
We had hoped that after a long and stren-
uous campaign, everyone might take a
short rest from name-calling. Unfortunate-
ly, Faber cannot resist taking potshots at
HRP and making false charges which de-
mand an answer.
First, Faber attacks HRP's anti-war legis-
lation on the grounds that its sole purpose
was to make the Democrats look bad and
that it duplicated already existing d r a f t
counseling services. It is curious that Fab-
er did not raise these objections during the
public hearing at which local anti-war
groups and many people from the University
and community offered suggestions concern-
ing what the city might do to resist the
war both in symbolic and concrete ways.
When HRP drafted into ordinance and re-
solution form all of the ideas brought up
at that public hearing and presented these
and some of our own proposals to the
Council, Democrats joined with Republicans
to defeat all the proposals. In fact, he and
the other Democrats on Council refused
even to discuss most of the resolutions be-
fore voting them down.
SECOND, FABER accuses HRP of ex-
ploiting the lettuce boycott issue for its
own political gain. We had hoped that the
incidents surrounding the lettuce boycott
resolution had been sufficiently explained,
but Faber obviously felt it necesary to give
this dead-horse issue another flogging. So
let's run through the facts one last time
for him.
HRP did not present the resolution in
support of the lettuce boycott "premature-
ly without permission of the United Farm
Workers." We had discussed such a re clu-
tion with the UFW for some time, and
gave them notice a week in advance that
we were introducing the resolution. All the
information that was used to draft the re-
solution was gotten from the UFW. At
the Council meeting, Jerry DeGrieck at-
tempted to read fact sheets written by
the UFW to explain to the community and
the Council the necessity of the boycott.
At the meeting, Councilman Faber, rep-
resenting the Democrats, called such resolu-
tions as the one on the lettuce boycott "in-
fantile, . . . and a waste of council's time."
Later, when it became apparent that there
was widespread community support for the
lettuce boycott, they reversed themselves
and co-sponsored a resolution with HRP.
THE UFW did not, as Faber says, make a
last minute desperate attempt to have
the resolution delayed. He goes on to crit-
icize HRP for making "no efort to gather
support for its passage and resolve pos-
sible differences." The fact is that HRP
did bring in supporting evidence,, but the
Democrats and Republicans attempted num-
erous parliamentary moves to cut off dis-
cussion. Further, the state and national plat-
forms of the Democratic platform support
the lettuce boycott, therefore, we expected
support from the Democrats on this issue.
However, platform apparently means little
to the Democrats and this is a crucial dif-
ference between them and the Ihuman
Rights Party. We run on a platform and our
elected oficials are bound to it. To the
Democrats, their platform is irrelevant to
their voting behavior.
When the resolution was finally intro-
duced at 1:00 a.m. (Mayor Harris placed
the resolution toward the end of the agenda),
two Republicans and one Democrat walked
out in the middle of the discussion. Faber
moved to lump the resolution together with
several other pieces of HRP legislation
and voted against HRP's motion to tahl2 the
resolution until after more discussion had
taken place and all members of the Council
were present. Faber then voted with other
Democrats and Republicans to defeat the
resolution.
THE HUMAN RIGHTS Party believes that
resolutions about the war, the lettuce and
Farah boycotts, Gay Pride Week and other
social and economic concerns are of rele-
vance to the people of Ann Arhor and
should be discussed and acted upon by the
Council especially when the people directly
involved call upon the Council to act.
The most absurd section of Faber's dia-
tribe deals with HRP's "cavalier disregard
for the integrity and fragility of the law."
He says that "the short term benefits of
demeaning the Law in the name of a noble
cause poses the long-term threat of exposing
the nation's weaker minorities to the un-
protected passions of the majority." In
other words, "disrespect" for the law neces-
sarily opens the doors to repression and
chaos.
The law is not a sacred document hand-
ed down from on high. It is the product of
men and women in varied and changing soc-
ial and economic conditions. The law has
often been used to legitimize and systema-
tize social oppression. Laws against vic-
timless crimes, draft laws, tax laws, labor
laws, laws discriminating against persons
on the basis of race or sex - the list of op-
pressive and unjust laws is seemingly end-
less. Civil disobedience has been one useful
tactic used by oppressed groups to call at-
tention to such laws.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the law can
be one instrument to help free people from
oppressive and exploitive situations. Saying
that one respects "therule of law," :hen,
is like saying that one respects people. This
means nothing, unless we specify which
laws or people, judged according t) which
values.
On City Council, IIRP has tried to replace,
laws that we consider unjust and solely'in
the interests of business, landlords and de-
velopers. Also we have introduced legisla-
tion which is progessive and helps to allev-
iate problems as far as possible at 'the
local level. Further, we have raised issues
of concern in our party platform and of
concern to the people of Ann Arbor. Per-
haps this is, as Faber puts it, "tearing at
the basic fabric of the Law". But then
again, to Democrats and Republicans alike,
"the law" has often been a euphemism
for keeping power in this country in the
hands of the corporate elite and the poli-
ticians who serve their interest.
We have been criticized for too much
and too radical legislation. We receive this
criticism with some humor. We have pro-
duced more than twice the amount of legis-
lation as the Democrats, and the Republi-
cans combined. Most of it has not been
passed. But most of it has been the product
of radicals using their creativity to make
small changes in Ann Arbor and to educate
people around the need for real change in
society. We do not expect that two HRP
council people will substantially c h a n g e
society. But we do hope to focus public
attention on some important issues.: We
hope to continue in our efforts. And we
hope that Ann 'Arborites will differentiate
between partisan hysteria and a desire for
social change.
Susan Newell and Jerry De Grieck, a city
councilman, are members of the Human
Rights Party.
eeking viable social changes
.0
Are
Arabs
civi'l liberties endangered?
By RIAD AL-AWAR
IN AN EDITORIAL (Sept. 29) The
Daily lamented the fact that
the United States had set up new
visa requirements affecting fore-
igners travelling through the coun-
try and the imposition of "a blank-
et restriction on the international
community without justification."
The Daily claimed that "civil lib-
erties are not the exclusive right
of U.S. citizens . . ." and that "the
United States must consider the
rights of foreigners as well."
The Daily made one exception to
"foreigners with civil liberties" -
"countries where Palestinians and
their sympathizers are harbored."
This means, apparently, that t h e
Arabs are beyond the pale of the
civil rights allowed the rest of the
peoples of the world.
The Nixon administration appar-
ently agreed with you. Also toward
the end of September, a presiden-
tial directive set up a cabinet-level
"committee on terrorism," repre-
sented by several federal agencies,
including the FBI and the Immi-
gration Service. This committee
has had as its exclusive aim the
surveillance and interrogation of
Arab aliens, especially students,
and U.S. citizens of Arab origin.
ALONG WITH thousands of in-
dividuals of the Arab-American
community in the United States, in
the past several weeks a number of
Arab students at the University and
other schools in the area have
been singled out for investigation
and interrogation by the Immigra-
tion Service, ostensibly with re-
gard to visa validity.
Although questions regarding vis-
as fall within the prerogative of the
Immigration Service, the Agency
is clearly using its otherwise legi-
timate jurisdiction for purposes
other than that for which it was
intended.
Some students have been asked
questions regarding their private
lives which do not directly relate lo
the issue of visas. Others, although
it has not yet happened on this cam-
pus, have been asked about their
political beliefs.
And since the information asked
regarding visas was already free-
ly available to the interrogators
and on file in their own offices, no
new data was gained. Rather, they
have merely harrassed and intimi-
dated, not only the individuals di-
rectly involved, but the entire groep
of Arab students on campus.
WE HAVE NOT been able to find
any other national minority on
campus or in the area which has
been subjected to similar treat-
ment, with the exception of a few
non-Arabs who have Arabic-sound-
ing names. We can only conclude,
therefore, that these police meas-
ures have been used to isolate and
stigmatize all members of o ii r
community. This situation. c o n-
jures up the possibility of our een-
tually being accorded the trea--
ment meted out to the Japanese in
the United States during World
War II.
Further, these police measures,
intentionally or not, have created
the impression in our communirv
that mere public statements a n d
speeches in support of our o w n
position in our conflict with Israel
is sufficient for us' to be exposed
to this federal committee of in-
quiry. As university students, our
organization is perhaps more vocal
than other segments of the Arab-
American community, and is there-
by more exposed than others to
what is turning out to be an an'i-
Arab witchhunt. Such intimidation
can only have a chilling effect of
the freedom of speech protecte i
for aliens as much as for citizens,
by the Constitution's First Amend-
ment.
ALL THIS in spite of the fact
that, as the Nixon administration
itself has freely admitted, no cases
of Arab-inspired violence have oc-
curred in the United States. On the
other hand, the Jewish Defense
League has committed a signifi-
cant number of violent acts against
the installations and foreign diplo-
mats of the Soviet Union and the
Arab States in the United States.
We do not see a concomitant in-
vestigation of their activities and
membership or of the larger Jew-
ish subgroup of which they are a
part. Nor do we suggest that there
should be.
But when we see that the activit-
ies of the JDL are glossed over by
the police agencies and are treat-
ed almost affectionately by t h e
media, such as The Daily spread
on them September 24 (keeping in
mind that The Daily only five
days later put the Arabs beyond
the reach of international civil lib-
erties), we realize that we are on
the butt end of the notion that
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Hijackers of latest U.S. aircraft put in 4x4x4 ft.
boxes by Cuban government.-News Item.
"some people are more equal than
others."
Foreigners have traditionally
been treated hospitably in the Arab
countries, including students a n d
researchers from the University.
it would be unfortunatedif, as te
have already threatened, the Arab
countries hosting these Americans
begin to treat them as we have
been treated here.
Riad Al-Awar is president of the
Organization of Arab Students at
the University.
Letters to The Daily: PIRGIM responds
To The Daily:
IN YOUR ARTICLE "PIRGIM:
Local money funds research pro-
jects around state" (Nov. 28), the
statement is made that PIRGIM is
"not now engaged in any local re-
search projects"; such is not the
case! Students at U of M are
presently involved in six projects
either dealing directly with Wash-
tenaw County and Ann Arbor, or
which will have ramifications af-
fecting Washtenaw County and Ann
Arbor.
The projects run the gamut from
consumer protection to health-care
protection to sexual discrimination.
The projects are: 1) an investiga-
tion of banking procedures in Ann
Arbor, 2) a 'watchdogging" of the
FDA's enforcement actions con-
cerning Dangerous Toys, 3) an in-
vestigation of charges of sexual dis-
crimination in the job placement
industry, 4) a study of alternatives
to prison, 5) an investigation of
Housing Code enforcement in Ann
Arbor, and 6) a state-wide study
of Ambulance service and the reg-
ulatory effectiveness of the Mich-
igan Department of Public Health.
The condition of PIRGIM at the
University is far from one of in-
activity. The position of PIRGIM
is far from that of state benefac-
tor.
-Jay Tower
37 per cent of the electorate vot-
ed against political government by
a Democrat.
18 per cent of the electorate vot-
ed against political government by
a Republican.
100 per cent of the electorate de-
monstrated a distrust of political
government in one way or another.
Industrial society requires an in-
dustrial democracy which will be
based on the social ownership and
control of the means of production
and distribution. Then each of us
will participate daily in p o li c y
making where we work. We shall
choose our industrial administra-
tors from among the ranks of our
occupational peers of whose qual-
ifications we shall be well inform-
ed without a lot of ballyhoo. Bed-
sheet ballots and election snafus
will then be a thing of the past.
--Ralph Muncy
Nov. 30 '
A1MI and the pill
To The Daily:
IN RESPONSE to Joe Graedon's
letter in Tuesday's Daily concern-
ing Advocates for Medical Informa-
tion, AMI does not give out "in-
accurate" or "scare" information.
This charge is made on the basis
that AMI allegedly was informing
the public that side effects cf te
morning after pill included "lock-
jaw and hallucinations".
As one of the AMI staffers re-
sponsible for conducting the tele-
phone survey on the morning after
pill, I can say this is absolutely
false. AMI never said that halloo-,
inations and lockjaw were possible
side efects of the morning after
pill.
Then, it is absurb to challenge
the credibility of AMI based upan
a- statement the group did not
make. AMI agrees with Grandon
that the information that AMI
provides should be accurate and
relevant. I am in agreement wjlh
Belita Cowan's suggestion in Tues-
day's Daily that AMI in the fuNtre
issue press releases to insure that
the papers get the facts straight.
AMI is concerned with intorm-
ing, not frightening people in -re-
gards to the morning after pill. Our
ad in the Daily subscribes to this
intention by suggesting that people
phone us or drop by for informa-
tion. We do not tell people that
we concretely know that the morn-
ing after pill causes cancer. W e do
tell people that the use of O!ES
(diethylstilboestrol) as the morn-
ing after pill is dangerous as it is
a very powerful drug that is Yet
experimental as all the 'side effeLts
of it are not known.
AMI informs people of both sides
of the auestion: we inform pople
ter. It is not a "scare" to want
people to be informed when they
get a drug of ALL possible side
effects.
In my own personal experience
and in the personal experiences of
many of the patients who have call-
ed us the doctor did not even in-
form us of what we were being
given, of how it worked, of w'iat
all the possible side effects wer2,
or that the use of DES as the
morning after pill was "experi-
mental". Some of us also were
not asked about our family istor-
ies and were not asked if we
WANTED to be in studies being
conducted on the morning after
pill. And, many of us were NOT
FOLLOWED UP after taking the
morning after pill.
In this context AMI is challeng-
ing the monopoly on medical know-
ledge that doctors protect. A41
is also challenging the ethic of
unquestioning obedience to author-
ity that leads patients to see the
doctor as omnipotent, accepting
his /her word as authority despite
his/her level of competence. AMI
is working for the demystification
of the medical art and direct eon-
trol of health institutions by health
workers and the people they serve.
-Jackie Rodgers
AMI Staffer
Nov. 28
.l "9I -,