age 4-Sunday, October 16, 1977-The Michigan Daily

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Bing will outlastMinute-mai

Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 34

News Phone: 764-0552

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
(elease of pay hike good,
vhether selfishsympathetic

THE UNIVERSITY this week
agreed to give the Graduate
Employes Organization (GEO) the 5.75
per cent pay hike outlined in their as
yet unsigned contract, an action which
stands solitary in its level-headedness
when compared to other moves made
by the University since this GEO mess
began.
There is some question as to
whether that size increase will still be
agreed to by GEO - what with the
year-long delay in the implementation
of a new contract with the University
- but basically, the release of those
funds from escrow shows a spark of
-sympathy by the administration.
It also shows a keen eye on their
part: the University is insisting that
GEO agree not to file an unfair labor
practice charge against it for unilater-
ally granting the pay hike,-instead of
reaching agreement with the union
through normal collective bargaining.
It appears GEO leaders will agree
,-to the conditions, if only because rank
e=And file members would probably dis-
: .regard the union otherwise, insisting
e'=on immediate payment of the raise. If
--that were to happen, GEO would effec-
t:: lively lose their mandate and would
"never have clout at the bargaining
a 'table again. It has already been made
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°obvious, through a series of unsuccess-
ful strike votes, that GEO does not
have the genuine support of its consti-
tuency.
The administration's action, then,
has not only given them favorable pub-
licity, but put the union on the defen-
sive again. A shrewd maneuver.
The rest of the contract controversy
stands in its own mire. GEO was given
some ,momentum by a Michigan Em-
ployment Relations Commission
(MERC) decision earlier this year that
defined graduate student assistants
(GSAs), as employes of the University,
and not just students. The administra-
tion has, in effect, appealed that rul-
ing, and will not return to the bargain-
ing table to sign a GEO contract until
the appeal is answered in December.
No matter what the real motive was
for the University's release of the pay
hike, whether selfish or sympathetic, it
is good that the money is being paid.
There are, no doubt, many GSAs
who will be eating and sleeping better
once they see that cash. Some have
probably sacrificed greatly simply
because two clumsy organizations -
the University and GEO - have been
too busy outwitting each other to con-
sider the welfare of those affected by
the stalled contract.

By BOB ROSENBAUM
The first time I heard Bing
Crosby, I think, he.was signing
the song which must have in-
evitably come back to haunt him
many times in recent years -
"White Christmas."
The large plaster disk spun
around the turntable at 78 r.p.m.,
and I remember I was fascinated
by the crackling sounds which ac-
companied' the smooth Voice in
raspy rhythm. The song didn't
impress me half as much as the
number of copies it has sold at the
time. Millions " on millions, my
mother told me.
I WAS YOUNG. I was inter-
ested more in what the Beatles
were doing than what this old
man was doing anytime. Still, to
this day, the success of "White
Christmas" staggers me.
Now Bing Crosby is dead. That
fact does not sadden me to any
great extent.
But I am saddened by the lack
of perspective that people have
shown, toward Crosby. Members
of this generation have cast the
singer aside as ever having any
influence on the entertainment
industry today. There is a simple
explanation for this.
WE ARE OBVIOUSLY unable
to appreciate the Crosby style,
accustomed as we are to the
screamingly angry heritage of
rock 'n roll music. It's true as
well, that the only thing we've
heard from the smooth stylist in
recent years are Minute-maid
commercials.
But Crosby represents an era
so totally different from ours, he
fit the needs and expectations of
that era with such grace and ex-
pertise, the generation of the 50's
couldn't possibly appreciate his
talents.
We are captivated today 'by
nothing less than that which glit-
ters, flashes, beeps, bruises and
blinds. Entertainment must stun,
shock or stupify us to gain accep-
tance. It is evidenced in the
music we listen to, the movies we
watch and the games we play.
BING CROSBY could never
compete with that. He never at-
tempted to. His ever-present pipe
and hat, his velvet smooth vocals,
his family-man image and his
unchallenged generosity are
characteristics of an age past; of
sudden economic depression and
World War. Bing Crosby was the
respite of his day.
Even though we can't, critics
have recognized the talents

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_ -AP Photo
CROSBY is pictured here in some earlier achievements, along with yesterday's European newspape
headlines which followed his sudden death in Spain. At lower left, the entertainer is shown in his oscar
winning role as a priest in the 1945 film "Going My Way," and at top, with Bob Hope and Dorothy La
mour, his partners in the "On the Road to.. ." movies series.

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\ which pervaded this man's
career days. They have the per-
spective to call Crosby great. We
laugh through our noses when we
hear that.
Then singer's ,,career covered
everything: big bands, radio,
recording, films, theater, and
television. Whether we will admit
it or not, Crosby has found his
way into even those things which

entertain us today.
Bing was certainly -not the
greatest, but if his success with
the'40-year-old-plus generation is
any indication, he was certainly
close to it. No doubt future weeks.
will subject us to Bing Crosby'
nostalgia the likes of which can
only be equaled by the late Elvis
Presley.
Certainly we will not see many

of today's top-name 'superstars"
receive as much attention when
they die many years hence.
Look at it this way. If one of
today's ;names re-recorded that
corny "White Christmas," would
it sell 39,120,000 copies?
Bob Rosenbaum is co-direc-
tor of the Daily's editorial
page.

H1T11r


Letters to

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parking
To The Daily:
In the short time that I have
been a Parking Enforcement Of-
ficer for the City of Ann Arbor,
many citizens have complained
to me about the parking laws. Un-
fortunately, I only enforce the
laws; City Council passes them.
Therefore, I urge all of you with
parking complaints to join me at
the October 17 Council meeting at
City Hall. Since the parking prob-
lem is not on the agenda, it will
not be discussed at the beginning
(7.30 p.m.) of the meeting.
However, anyone wishing to
speak on this subject may drop
by the City Clerk's Office Monday
- the earlier the better.
If there is a large turnout - of
speakers and spectators - I am
sure the council will tackle this
problem in the near future.
-Gary Sanders
Parking Enforcement Officer
City of Ann Arbor
"

carter and israel
To The Daily:
President Carter has loudly
proclaimed a new policy by
which he will.remove the threat
of war in the middle East - a
homeland for the Palestinians
and defensible borders for Israel.
A close look at this policy, how-
ever, shows that it is merely the
offering up of the life of a small
nation, Israel, to appease the
Arabs just as Great Britain of-
fered up the life of a small nation,
Czechoslovakia, to appease Hit-
ler.
The root cause of the continu-
ing threat of war in the Middle
East is not the problem of Arab
refugees or Israel's holding on to
conquered Arab territories. The
real cause is the fact that after
each of the four wars that the
Arab countries have waged
against Israel, the Arab coun-
tries did not live up to the terms
they agreed to in the settlement
which ended the war. And they

TheL
got away with that, after each of
the four wars, because they were
able to play off the Great Powers
- U.S., Russia, England, and
France - against one another.
This is enlighteningly pointed out
by a former adviser on foreign af-
fairs to our presidents, Mr. Eu-
gene Rostow, in his article "The
American Stake in Israel in the
April 1977 issue of Commentary
magazine.
The philosophical basis for this
faithlessness in living up to
agreements is deeply rooted in
the bible of the Islamic religion,
the Koran. Any crime - includ-
ing pillage and murder - is legal,
says the Koran, as long as it is
committed against those persons
who do not accept Islam as their
religious faith. This is brilliantly
disclosed in another American
magazine article, the one on
"Chimera in the Middle East,"
by R. E. Tyrrell Jr. in the No-
vember 1976 issue of Harper's
magazine.

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Now that the Arabs are import
ant to the Great Powers becaus
of their oil, they can play off the
Great Powers, against one
another, as much as they please.
It is therefore inevitable that the
Arabs will not live up to an
commitments they make now or
in the near future.
As long as Israel's Arab neigh-
bors do not live up to their agree-
ments, putting an Arab state in
the center of Israel, to give the
Palestinians a homeland, will
merely be putting a dagger at
Israel's heart, to be plunged intq
it by the Arabs when they choose
to do so. And no amount of elec
tronic devices to sound the alairn
of invading Arab armies will giv
Israel defensive borders.
The Carter policy is therefore
not a sound basis for peace in the
Middle East. It is merely the
modern version of Munich, to
achieve what Chamberlain called
"peace in our time." R
- Hyman Olken

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LOOKING BACK THE WEEK IN REVIEW

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Bakke
A LL ALLEN BAKKE has to do now
is sit back and wait in anticipation
for the Supreme Court to rule on a land-
mark civil rights case he instigated.
Oral arguments of thewease were heard
in the Court on Wednesday.
Bakke, twice rejected from the medi-
cal school at the Davis Campus of the
University of California, contends the
admission of less statistically qualified
minority students barred his admission
into that school.
The Regents of the University of Cali-
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this position, the defense countered that.
racial minorities are entitled to special
treatment to offset past discrimination.
Now that the arguments are in, all the
briefs are filed, and the justices have
retired to their chambers, followers of
the case say they really don't expect a
decision before next July.
Investments
THE CITY got some good news
Thursday, when Moody's Investor
Services reinstated Ann Arbor's. "A-1"
bond rating. A week ago the Investment
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bitrage transactions. Jedele is planning
to retire.
The city's "A-1" rating is the third
highest rating used in the state and
helps determine how much interest a
municipality will be charged when it
borrows money. Moody's informed the
City Administrator that the rating had
been reinstated after it was determined
the city's problems were bureaucratic,
not economic.
Despite the restoration of its bond
rating, an addit, conducted by the Ann
Arbor firm of Icerman, Johnson and
Hoffman and presented to City Council

$100,000 or risking the possible illegali-
ties that would accompany carrying
through the agreement and buying
back the security.
The city opted to carry out the agree-
ment. In buying back the security, the
city will lose the use of the $2 million un-
til the security matures in 1980, thus
putting a dent in the city's revenue
flow.
Prizes
THIS WEEK Stockholm and Oslo
were abuzz with the usual antici-

Amnesty International, the 10th organi
zation to be so awarded.
In medicine, the prize went to Dr
Rosalyn Yalow, Dr. Roger Guillermin
and Dr. Andrew Schally, for their wor
in endocrinology. Yalow won for th
development of radioimmunoassays o
peptide hormones, while Guillermi
and Schally were awarded the prize fo
conclusions that "laid the foundation
to modern hypothalamic research."
The economics prize went to Cam
bridge professor James Meade, 70, an
Beertil Ohlin, 78, of Sweden, for theii
"nathbreaking contributions to ths

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