F age 4-Friday, December 2, 1977-The Michigan Daily a Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom ± 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol.LXVIII, No. 70 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by-students at the University of Michigan Garter's hailing of Mideast moves: Too little, too late I was an Amtrak, rider W HEN ANWAR el-SADAT made his historic pilgrimage to Is- Vael's Knesset in mid-November, the 4vent won honest praise from every expected source - except for one. SEndorsement of the trip by the United States was conspicuously ab- sent. The administration remained surprisingly detached and cool about the Mideast until Wednesday, when President Carter decided to hail the Oew initiatives by leaders of #the two countries as an "historic break- through." That Carter finally lent his support to the initiatives is good,' but his words come well past the time they would have aided in any breakthrough. In ;fact, this week's backing of the pro- posed Cairo talks by the U.S. only ser- ves to reduce the negotiations to the same old 'U.S.-on-one-side, U.S.S.R.- on-the-other' mentality. The time for a Carter administra- tion show of support came when Sadat first offered to go to Jerusalem. But even as the Egyptian President's plane was landing at Ben-Gurion Airport, White House and State Department spokesmen were downplaying the most significant step toward peace that the Mideast has seen sirice Israel was -.liven statehood. j Even now, Washington seems to be adhering to a silent convictioq that the only permanent Mideast settlement will come from Washington - not from' Cairo or Jerusalem. It is almost as if Carter believes the two superpowers know what is best for Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians alike. Perhaps the most important thing the Sadat initiative has proven is that Mideast countries are capable of solv- ing their own disputes - when so mo- tivated. Now that the countries are mo- tivated, the United States should step back and become an impartial observ- er. T HERE ARE MANY interpreta- tions as to why Carter did not formally endorse peace initiatives put forth by Sadat and Begin long ago. Whether it was for fear that the pil- grimage would fail, or whether the ad- ministration simply resented Sadat's brave initiatives, the wait-and-see atti- tude taken by Carter was not charac- teristic of his image as a crusader for .human rights around the world. The United States, in textbooks at least, has always been the first to recognize and nurture improvements in relation- ships among its siblings. Carter's belated endorsement of the Mideast development makes it appear as if the administration is sore because it didn't think of the Sadat pilgrimage idea first. Not all roads to Geneva run through Washington. By PAUL SHAPIRO A gentle snow drifts down from the gray Chicago sky. The cities ostreets, covered in snow, glisten. The scene is poetic, peaceful. In contrast my television blares nasty tidings. TRAVEL ALERT. HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDI- TIONS. DO NOT DRIVE. It is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I must return to school. Digging in- to my pocket I shell out eighteen bucks and opt for the comfort of Amtrak. I would have been better off walking. What follows is a brief account of my nine-and-one-half- hour journey between Chicago and Ann Arbor. 12:45 - Arrive at Union Station one hour before departure time, as instructed by Amtrak informa- tion, and report o gate. There is a man with a megaphone at the departure ramp and he instructs all passengers on Train number 352 (destination Detroit) to return to the Amtrak lounge - there will be a' short delay in taking off. The crowd moans and scatters. I buy a rubber ham- burger and nearly choke. 2:00 I am still sitting in the Amtrak lounge and if I hear one more muzak version of Glen Campbell's Witchita Lineman,' there will be violence. I stroll up to the information counter, but I' can tell by the look in the at- tendant's eyes that the train con- tinues to be in limbo. It is. 2:30 - I decide to return to the departure ramp (as we were specifically told not to do) in hopes of outsmarting the rest of the crowd and securing a nice window seat. When I arrive at the gate I realize that I have been a bit slow. 500 angry passengers are milling about, and I am-at the end of the line. Suddenly the PA system announces that Train 352 (destinations Niles, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Albion, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Detroit) Will be loading at Gate 28. I'm at the end of the line and it looks like I'll have to settle for an aisle seat next to some undesirable old lady, but at least I have the Sun- day paper and a chance to relax. That was not to be. For some un- known reason Amtrak officials pew C=3 I= => 1= C5 I= C5 f.t L' proceed to lead the crowd into a circular formation around Union Station resembling a halt-time show by the Michigan marching band. The crowd finally erupts and explodes in all directions in search of the actual boarding ramp (which, was not 28). I am lost in the scuffle and, only after receiving an excellent pick from a woman wearing a Women's Sports Has Balls' T-shirt, do I make my way to the train. Unfortunately ithe train looks .quite similar to a Tokyo subway at rush hour. There may be trou- ble finding a seat, so I press an inquiry to the conductor. "Why are three cars reserved for Niles and only one for Ann Arbor?" I ask. He bites my hand and kicks me in the groin.. A fight breaks out behind me and the crowd is swelling, everyone pushing to gain admittance to the train. The flow of the masses brings me to a halt in front of the car's women's bathroom, and it is there I will spend a good part of the trip. I try and get off the train, but the doors are sealed. 3:30 - I now know what it was like for my grandparents to sail to this country in steerage.. The train is packed so tight that one can barely move an inch. To make matters worse every woman on the train seems to have bladder problems. There is a non-stop assault on the john which forces me to sit face to knees much of the ride. To add to that, a number of men have taken to using the women's room, re- treating there for suspiciously long periods of time and creating a ,.waiting line which flows over my lap. The train grinds to a halt just outside Gary, and we sit for another hour. 4:30 - The young boy next to 'me is dying of const*nption. He is continuously coughing, snorting, and dribbling. Someone asks if there is a priest on board. I hold my breath as much as possible. 'k:30 - We stop in Niles for two hours. No doubt the engineer is having -an affair in town, as he departs the train. He returns in a tizzy, foaming at the mouth, and proceeds to start and stop the train eight times in 45 seconds. The train exudes a loud blast and we sit some more. 6:30 While waiting, I decide to fight my way to the snack car for a sandwich. Wrong move again. The Amtrack chefs have used Sea N' Ski in lieu of mayon- naise. I'm forced to wash the sandwich down with a 70 cent, non-carbonated cola. 7:30 - We reach Kalamazoo, where throngs on angry citizens await our arrival. Passengers on the train stir and I notice an el- derly man standing up. He is dis- embarking! I quickly grab my bags and dash up the aisle, step- ping on a few poor souls who lie face down on the carpet. I dive for the seat, my N.Y. Times flies all over the car, but I make it. Outside, passengers appear to be heading toward our already over- burdened car. A man yells, "Bolt the door! " We deny them en- trance. 9:00 - Passing through Battle Creek an angry young woman rises and reads a petition she has written, addressed to Senators Riegle and Griffin, deploring the conditions of our journey. She receives a standing ovation and everyone signs. 10:00 -Through a crackling loudspeaker the engineer offers a meager apology: "At least Am- trak had delivered us safely," he concludes. Someone in the back of the car shouts, "We haven't arrived yet asshole." Everyone laughs as the lights flicker and die. The facts in the abo"re arti- cle are true. Only the exagger- . tions, have been changed to protect the innocent. Paul ~ Shapiro, a Daily Arts staffer, admits he may eventually ride another Amtrak train. But not l too soon. BUSINESS STAFF DEBORAH DREYFUSS.....................Business Manager COLLEEN HOGAN......................Operations Manager ROD KOSANN........ .................... Sales Manager NANCY GRAU................A..............Display Manager ROBERT CARPENTER .....................Finance Manager SHELLEY SEEGER............Classified Manager SUSAN BARRY National Ad Manager PETE PETERSEN ................ Advertising Coordinator STAFF MEMBERS; Steve Barany, Bob Bernstein, Richard Campbell, Joan Chartier, Frdd Coale, Caren Collins, Pam Counen, Lisa Culberson, Kim Ford, Bob Friedman, Kathy Friedman, Denise Gilardone, Nancy Granadier, Cindy Greer, Amy Hart- man, Susan Heiser, Larry Juran, Carol Keller, Randy Kelley, Dough Kendall, Katie Klinkner, Jon Kottler, Lisa Krieger, Debbie Litwak, Deb Meadows, Art Meyers, John Niemisto, John O'Connor, Seth Petok, Dennis Ritter, Arlene Saryan, Carole Schults, Claudia Sill Jim Tucker Karen Urbani, Beth Warren PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF ALAN BILINSKY ....................Chief Photographer ANDY FREEBERG..................... Chief Photographer BRAD BENJAMIN ...................Staff Photographer JOHN KNOX .......................Staff Photographer CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER................ Staff Photographer l Re-encountering Editorials which appear without a by-line represent a con- sensus opinion of the Daily's editorial board. All other editorials, as well as cartoons, are the opinions of the individuals who sub- mit them. Carter's By WALTER R. MEARS WASHINGTON-It's a big season for shopping lists; and j President Carter's is a long one. f Not too long, he says, and not im- possible to fill. M But as he nears the end of his first year in office, Carter, has hundreds of promises out there waiting to be kept or quietly put aside. " promises THE MATTER came up at his news conference the other day, and Carter said he's doing just fine in keeping his vows to the voters. I'm trying to fulfill all my promises," he said. "I think I was quite reticient in making those promises, certainly compared to some of my opponents." That's a little ironic, since at Why rents rise so fast Design by Karl Schweikart Written by Stephen Hersh, / /I m Q DfEp =, , '' Eon i TkE Rte" l$$ RAISE 15 t , aNL-Y ro Co.-'T5 o o M o r A new group of tenants has moved in, and Mr. Gray has set their rent higher than what the previous tenants paid. To figure out how much rent he wan- ted to charge, Mr. Gray tallied up his mortgage costs, property taxes, utility costs, miscellaneous expenses, and the monthly profit he decided he should earn on the building. u RTyA ES > , , campaign time Carter's- rivals ' used to chorus complaints that he was vague, imprecise and quite impossible to nail down on the issues. And it is even more ironic that Carter, accused of fuzziness then, is being questioned now as to whether he made too many promises when he was seeking the White House. "... We put forward already to the Congress proposals that carry out the major promises that I made, reorganization, energy, welfare reform and so forth." "So forth" apparently in- cludes major income tax reform, on which Carter has not yet acted. Reorganization of the gover- nment has begun, slowly, as Car- ter always said it would. Welfare reform awaits action next year. Energy is snarled in congressional dispute, the out- come in doubt. WHATEVER the final product, it will bear little resemblance to the administration energy bill which Carter once vowed to get passed if he had to fight for*very vote. Carter said the year's record will show progress. "... I think so far our relation- ship with the Congress has been good," he said. "The effort to carry out my promises has been adequate. I don't think I made too many promises to the American people." It's hard to say how many promises would be too many; lthere is no formula. Presumably, the voters would take care of a candidate who made too few, by electing somebody else. Carter not only made a lot of promises, he kept track of them. This is a risky business, as any parent can testify these days. It's all too easy to be agreeable in July, when your 8-year-old has her eye on the most expensive doll in the catalogue. It seems a long time until Christmas, but don't count on a short memory. Presidential shopping lists don't come due at Christmastime -but they do at the next cam- paign, unless the opposition is asleep. The Republicans are not. They have compiled a, list, of Car- e ter promises. THEY PUT the total atj6i2, and by their figures, he has kept 17.5 per cent of his pledges, broken 13 per cent, with the rest awaiting action. The Republicans - say they're':. going to revise their Carter report card periodically, with the; next edition due during the win. ter. Carter made their exercise: easier by publishing his own compendium of promises. It's, hard to count precisely, because, of some overlapping and duplication, but the White House book lists 665 Pledges made;. during the Carter campaign. To match them all, Carter. would have to keep a promise every 2.2 days, including; weekends and holidays, in. order, to finish the list in a four-year- term. That's assuming he doesn't: make any more. But it does not, iscount the ones he already has ecided won't be kept, like the, deregulation of natural gas prices for a five-year period and the maintenance of U.S. control of the Panama Canal. Back on Feb. 23, after the promises book was made public, Carter said he was determined to: keep all of them. Inevitably and properly, Carter has made changes that scrapped, some campaign promises. The, wisdom born of experience- demands that of any president: One who tried to govern straight' from the campaign speechbook: would be in for trouble. The an swers of 1976 do not necessarily fit the problems of 1977. Still, the right Carter reserved,,' to go back to the people and. ex= plain differences between what he said then and what he is dding- now, remains'%in reserve, so fam unused. Walter . Mears is a special correspondent for The Associ. ated Press. "5 , . It's 1970, and Mr. Gray has just become the landlord of a $10,000 building. To buy the building, he made a $1,000 down payment, and the bank paid the rest with a loan. Mr. Gray will pay off the bank loan in monthly installments, which are called mortgage payments. _ _ r 'rt-- la As he collects the rent checks every, month, Mr. Gray sets aside a certain portion of the rent income to cover his mortgage payments. Banks set the cost of a mortgage according to the value of the building-the more expensive the building, the higher the mortgage. MDR i }lE REN"r~ ( jA16e 15.tWU) 1D GOYO- I j vnau AS6 t. I MAW;-) , Contact your rep's Cv., ilr.nolrl Rin tln tilnrn 1 1gait nirltenrn RIAtt W chino'tnn I 11