. Page 4-Sunday, February 12, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Free dom
420Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 111
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
eMSA goes to D.C.
v
JON LAUER, president of the Mich-
igan Student Assembly (MSA),
and 'Michele Sprayregen, chairperson of
the Student Organizations Board, are off
,to Washington. We're glad they're
going-not because of anything they've
done on campus, but because of what
they hope to do in the nation's capitol.
Lauer and Sprayregen plan to address
Congresspeople in both houses of the
legislature about the merits of a tax-
credit plan to aid families with depen-
dents in colleges and universities.
Although we do not fully agree with
their position-that the tax-credit plans
are the best options for helping students
and families-it is still clear their lob-
bying efforts are in the students' best in-
terests. Our own position calls for a
T "
~Tecoal stri
LTHOUGH MEMBERS of the
A United Mine Workers (UMW) are
balking at the ratification of a contract
hwhich would end its 68-day strike,
Michigan Public Service Commission
officials are not taking too seriously the
state's dwindling coal supplies.
Detroit Edison currently has only 52-
day reserves of coal at its power plant
and Consumers Power, which provides
, electricity for the majority of the state,
a has only a 56-day supply at each of its
generating plants.
wi Both utility companies have pleaded
;with the Public Service Commission to
- ask consumers to cut down on their
energy use until the strike ends. A thir-
ty-day reserve is considered critical by
N officials at both power companies.
According to UMW officials, ..any
agreement could take a week or more
to be ratified. An additional week is
needed to bring dormant mines back to
full production._
As it looks now, the strike may not
end for several days. If an agreement is
combination of the tax-credit plans with
Carter's financial aid proposals.
Because many senators and represen-
tatives already favor the plans, Lauer
and Sprayregen's words will certainly
fall on some kind ears. But if their effor-
ts can help other Congresspeople think
more about how to help students in need,
the trip is worth every penny of the $200
MSA is spending.
Lauer has also said he hopes to
establish a lobbying committee so that
students can lobby on other student-
related federal issues in the future. The
costs of such ventures would be minimal
if they could help the bigwigs remember
the littlewigs more often.
Students often complain MSA does lit-
tle of obvious note. Here is one less note
to complain about.
The rhetoric has concluded.
The appeals for assistance have
been delivered. Speakers from all
over the nation assembled in Ann
Arbor this past week to convey
their views on the sensitive sub-
ject of human rights; they told of
countless nations which deny
even the most basic liberties to
their people.
The twenty lecturers, including
a prominent congressman and a
former member of the Helsinki
Monitoring Group, all relayed the
same message: The people in the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
are being harassed because they
want certain freedoms and they
must be granted those freedoms.
THE SYMPOSIUM on Human
Rights in Russia and Eastern
Europe, coordinated by AKTSIA
(Action for Soviet Jewry and
Human Rights) and sponsored by
various student and community
organizations, was held in
Rackham Amphitheater from
Sunday through Friday.
It is certain the message was
delivered and people heard it.
But did they listen? Will the
stories told of the horrible Soviet
repression result in constructive
action?
One thing is for sure. The at-
tendance at this week's lecture
series is indicative of the absence
of a cause among today's
American youth. In other words,
nobody really cares anymore
about ideals. It's a new age in
America.
AS AKTSIA chairman Rick
Isenberg told me, "Thirty
thousand demonstrators stopped
the war 10 years ago but now we
are fighting a different kind of
war. We're fighting a war for
human rights and its a little har-
der for people to understand
something which doesn't directly
affect them.,,
Throughout the week, the focus
seemed to be centered on the
denial of three basic freedoms:
The right to freedom of speech,
freedom of religion and freedom
to emigrate. A former Soviet
underground poet, Andrei
Svetkoff, complained about the
lack of "freedom of cultural and
literal expression" in the Soviet
Union. "The poets in the Soviet
Union are living an artistic death.
They have lost their creativity
assume a more active role in the
cause of human rights. He said
the Carter administration has
scored high marks in improving
human rights in certain areas
around the world, but has failed
miserably in others. He asked
that the American people push
their country's leads ever fur-
Grass roots
human rights
By Michael Arkush
It is certain the message was deliv-
ered and people heard it. But did
they listen?
because they have to abide by
whateverythe Soviet ad-
ministrative authorities ant them
to write", he said.
Peter Vlcko, a former
Czechoslovakian dissident, at-
tacked the Soviet regime for
"violating the Helsinki
agreement and the 1948 United
Nations Declaration on Human
Rights." He said Russia had
completely violated all but one of
the 28 rights granted in the U.N.
declaration.
"THE ONLY right the Soviet
Union sticks to is the right to
provide the people with social
welfare and take care of their
needs. Only by being a socialist
society have they done that with
their social programs. But
without basic human rights, it
doesn't alleviate the situation",
he said.
Illinois congressman Abner
Mikva, a leading advocate of
human rights, appealed to the
United States government to
ter to support human rights
policies.
Ann Gillen, the director of the
National Inter-religious task for-
ce which assembled people of
various faiths to unite and
promote the cause of human
rights, said that the inter-
religious cooperation on human
rights has improved remarkably
but has much more to accom-
plish.
"You must invest more of your
time toward the cause of human
rights," she told the audience.
SO, THIS is what they said. The
week is over and almost forgot-
ten. The speakers have left Ann
Arbor and departed for several
different destinations to continue
their mission.
There are plenty of things
which can be done to help the un-
fortunate citizens in Russia and
the Eastern bloc countries.
First, the student run
organization AKTSIA works
throughout the year to aid the
human rights struggle. AKTSIA is
holding a meeting February 19
for all those interested in turning
the rhetoric into action. There
are flyers all over campus listing
the specific information. If
unable to attend the meeting, you
could call AKTSIA workers at
663-3336.
YOU CAN WRITE your local
congressman or senator and ask
them to take a stronger stand on
human rights. You can write a
telegram to President Carter
praising his previous announ-
cements on humanrights, and
telling him to keep up the
struggle. Also, you can write
Communist Party chief Leonid
Brezhnev asking him to abide by
the 1975 Helsinki Agreement,
which his country signed along
with 35 others.
Whatever you do, it must be
something. This is a real cause
which deserves the concern of the
American youth-not only
because it is a moral issue, but
because it directly threatens our
national security.
Congressman Mikva of Illinois
said he believes the cause of
human rights is a pragmatic
issue as well as a moral issue.
As long as there is a struggle
for human rights, so peace will be
a struggle," he said.
We must not shy away from
this cause. We are the future
leaders and we must grow up
with this underlying concern for
the preservation of basic human
rights all over the world Before
it gets too late.
Michael Ar ush coered this
weeks SvmpositlIm 011 1I1fl u(ml
Rights in Russia and Easternu
Europef or the Daily.
kexin1 winter
not sealed by that time, power company
coal reserves will reach the critical
level, creating the risk that many state
dwellers could face the end of the win-
ter with severely curtailed electric
power.
Currently, the only move state of-
ficials have made to conserve
decreasing coal supplies is to announce
plans to turn off unnecessary lights and
heat in state buildings if the situation
becomes more critical than it already
is. A few dark, cold rooms in Lansing,
however, will not make much differen-
ce to an entire state faced with power
shortages.
The time to conserve is now, before
coal levels reach the critical point.
State officials must take the initiative
to ask all state businesses and residents
to make a concerted effort to conserve
electricity until the strike ends and
supplies are returnedto normal.
'If steps are not taken immediately,
Michigan may face a very cold end to
an already long winter.
LETTERS TO THE DAILY
Sam off case is being covered over
To The Daily:
In a recent letter I argued that
student sympathy for dismissed
Prof. Joel Samoff is misplaced
since Samoff has always exploit-
ed his power over students just
like any other professor. My ex-
ample was his punitive misgrad-
ing of me in 1972 and his efforts to
prejudice various bodies to which
I appealed for protection.
At Samoff's apparent instiga-
tion a former student member of
the Political Science Executive
Committee, Catherine Shaw, dis-
putes my statements. Shaw has
no personal knowledge of any of
the proceedings discussed in my
letter. The majority of members
of two independent bodies (the
LSA Administrative Board and
the LSA Student Government)
condemned the department's un-
fairness. But Shaw, as token
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student, joined withher faculty
patrons in rubber-stamping the
result of that rigged review. She's
defensive because of her own
guilty involvement in the cover-
up.
Shaw falsely says the depart-
ment just followed standard
procedure in the matter. Actual-
ly, the review committee had no
procedures. Its chairman,
"Chuckie" Rehmus, admitted
(on tape) it broke his promise
that only procedure would be dis-
cussed in my absence: "I de-
scribed to you before our meeting
was held what I thought was
going to happen. It didn't happen
that way." It didn't happen be-
cause Rehmus proposed and
Samoff agreed to break that
promise (Feb. 14, 1973 minutes):;
"Mr. Rehmus requested Samoff
to tell the group about his under-
standing of the matter at hand,
the course which he had taught,
and any material about the cour-
se."
The resolution of the . LSA
Student Government Summer
Steering Committee lists 17
"serious improprieties" in the
proceeding. Samoff shares blame
for many of these (for instance,
withholding class papers proving
that others had done what I was
punished for), and he benefited
without complaint from .all of
them. LSA-SG "condemn(ed) the
acquiescence in, and active de-
fense of, these improprieties by
Professor Samoff . .."
Shaw deceptively says that the
Ad Board, to whom I next appeal-
ed, "did not dispute the fact" that
I didn't meet course require-
ments. The Ad Board didn't dis-
pute it because it didn't deal with
it. The Ad Board only has power
to "ensure that each department
has an efficient procedure for
(grading appeals) and shall en-
sure that these procedures are
-followed in individual cases",
(Faculty Code, A 2.05). Samoff,
who knew this, nonetheless ha-
rangued the Ad Board as to the
merits of the grade - once again
breaking the rules and getting the
first licks in.
Details aside, Shaw's letter re-
veals her own unconditional sub-
mission to faculty oligarchy,
hierarchic education and blind
faith in the ideology of faculty
expertise and professionalism.
Tenure squabbles are important
because "the capabilities stu-
dents develop to raise questions,
think critically, and respond
creatively to the world before
them depend in large part on the
teachers . ." Horseshit! Shaw
thinks education is something a
pedant does to you, not something
you do for yourself. No wonder
she gets off on Samoff. But self-
respecting students spurn these
academic bondage freaks.
There will always be student
renegades that settle for the
scraps of power that fall from the
faculty table. Shaw is one of
them. Anq there will always be
"radical" faculty whose leftist
rhetoric does not restrain their
use of repressive power on those,
like me, who challenged and still"
challenge their classroom au-
thority. I'd rather be flunked than
be a flunky.
- Bob Black
FQR VE~iF1CAT O,
F'LMASCiiECK _
CY VAOLC-
7RAH OF r
LOOKING BACK THE WEEK IN REVIEW
carter offers relief
p RESIDENT Carter looked at ef-
forts brewing in Congress to
provide tax credits for college tuition
and didn't like what he saw.
Wednesday, he acted to cut the plan
off at the pass by offering a plan of his
own to relieve families, facing
skyrocketing costs of higher education.
Essentially, the presidents proposal
would make it easier for middle and
upper middle class households to take
out federally subsidized and guaran-
teed education loans. In addition,Car-
ter's plan makes more grant and job
funds available for lower income
students.
On thea n1ns gid the administratinn
new vote for mayor
THE LONG legal battle over who
should be Ann Arbor's mayor
came to an unexpected end Wednesday.
But the fight between Republican
Louis Belcher and Democrat Al
Wheeler for the top elected city job is
far from over.
Attorney's for the two contenders
agreed to settle their dispute by putting
the issue back before Ann Arbor voters
during the April ,3 city election. The
contenders now face the job of rapidly
throwing campaign drives into high
gear.
The result may be a heightened
public interest in a so-far placid City
f'nfm alSn-mnnio
registered and voted in the April elec-
tion. After an abortive and highly con-
troversial effort to force the 20 to
disclose their votes, a court decision to
throw out the election results appeared
likely.
One interesting sidelight to the
Wheeler-Belcher contest is the question
of whether Socialist Human Rights
Party (SHRP) candidate Diane
Slaughter will - or should - appear on
the ballot, along with the "big two."
Slaughter garnered some 356 votes on
the moribund leftist third party label
last year. Since SHRP voters generally
prefer Democratic to Republican can-
didates, her presence on the ballot
probably cut into Wheeler's lead.
First, the University of California
political scientist published a book
ranking the University of Michigan
third in the nation in overall academic
excellence.
Only Princeton and Harvard placed
ahead of the 'U' in the survey. Serious
questions remained, however, whether
the poll reflected teaching - especially
undergraduate - as well as research.
The following day, the campus heard
that the University was second among
Big Ten schools in another category -
dormitory rent.
Only Northwestern University, which
is a private institution, charged dorm
residents more than the University of
Michigan. Housing officials offered
ruckus over raunch
SEX WAS ON the agenda Monday
night as Ann Arbor City Council
clashed head on with civil libertarians
over a plan to crack down on pron
dealers and so-called "adult"
businesses.
The topic was hot and the dialogue
even hotter as local officials debated
the merits of zoning changes and
display rules making it difficult for sex-
oriented bookstores and massage out-
fits to operate within the city.
''Blatant censorship"~ is what
American CivilsLib'erties Union
(ACLU) state director Howard Simon
called the proposal by Fifth Ward coun-
cilman and Republican mayoral-
Belcher then suggested that Wheeler
must be a fan of blue movies, as in-
dicated by the mayor's own familiarity
with the subject.
Council gave part of the porn or-
dinance an initial OK. Approval at
second reading is necessary for the law
to go into effect, however, and several
council members appear to be
wavering on the porn issue.
primate reprieve
THE BABOON seven, minus one,
were saved earlier this week.
University researchers, who had
planned to use the seven primates in
car crash simulations, , announced