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Eighty-$even Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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Tuesday, March 29, 1977
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Supreme Court takes one
step in the right direction
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LEO}NID BREZHNEV doesn't like
Jimmy Carter. publically criticiz.-
ing Soviet internal policies. He made
that clear to Cyrus Vance in nuclear
arms talks held by the Soviet Leader
and the American Secretary of State
yesterday.
Brezhnev warned that if Carter
continues to interfere with Soviet
internal affairs and continues to
voice support for Soviet dissidents,
"constructive developm-nt of rela-
tions between tle two countries
impossle."
Who does Brezhnev think he is
kidding with his nickel-chip poker
bluff? Certainly not U.S. officials,
who claim they expected Brezhnev's
comments all along.
The Soviets are aware of the im-
portance of nuclear arms talks. A
new SALT agreement is as crucial
to their interests as it is to ours.
The Soviets are spending twice as
much per year on defense as we are,
and they can't afford to continue.
They may make a lot of noise, and
mutter a few platitudes - that's to
be expected - but they will work to-
wards an agreement, just the same.
It's been a long time since an Am-
erican president has put power poli-
ties aside and made an effort on be-
half of human rights. Woodrow Wil-
son attempted to forge a humanistic
settlement of the First World War
with his Fourteen Point plan for
peace. His fellow negotiators from
France and England felt his ideas
too idealistic in the wake of four
years of destruction, and came down
on Germany without mercy.
IT IS REFRESHING to see Jimmy
Carter adopting. Wilsonian ideal-
ism. Since 1919 America's role in the
world has changed greatly. Wilson's
Fourteen Point's failed because Am-
erica did not have enough power and
prestige to implement his policies.
Such is not the case now. America
is on° of the two most powerful na-
tions in the world. A strong stand in
favor of human rights by an Ameri-
can president today carries a lot
more clout than it did in 1919.
Jimmy Carter has made a strong
stand, and the Soviets don't like it.
So now they are blowing smoke-
screens, hoping that Carter will re-
lent. The prize is a nuclear arms
agreement that, if signed, will go far
to keep the world from turning into
a munitions dump. The prize is 'too
valuable to the world to be stalled
by righteous indignation.
We are proud of Jimmy Carter's
advocacy of human rights - keep up
the good work!
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11
Does the Helsinki Agreement work?
Carter should denounce
violations of human rights
By ALEXANDER YESENIN-VOLPIN
THE HELSINKI agreemncat concerns issues of interna-
tional policies, of borders and arms limitations,
as wel as those of human rights. In accordance with
the ideas of the United Nations Charter and of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights, these differ-
ent issues are recognized as deeply interconnected.
And they must be so recognized-no only because
negligence of human rights can help totalitarian dic-
tators to start a war or invasion. One cannot wait
until this extreme danger becomes immediate. All
binds of measures to prevent it can be effective only
when supplemented by deep and careful international
control and necesary inspections. This must apply not
only to nuclear explosions and missiles, but also to the
most crucial issues of freedom of information and of
human rights.
The Helsinki agreement is not an international trea-
ty. It is only an important step to such a treaty; abnew
step is expected in Belgrade this June. The problems
of confidence are at issue. There may be no confidence
in countries participant to the agreement when, in spite
of it, they violate its statutes and claim that to be their
"internal affair"!
In recent years, there has been a recession in pub-
licity about some human rights problems and free1om
of information problems in several countries. Officials
of those countries have relied on continuation of this
lack of publicity, and, then when governmental vio-
lence grew widespread, the oficials claimed it to be the
state's internal affair.
If that continues, all further international agree-
ments with those countries are fragile and unreliable -
and may even be hypocritical.
This can be prevented, and the sooner the better.
No recession in publicity on important international is-
sues!
IMPRISONMENTS AND other harassments of dis-
sidents are to be treated not only as inhumane acts.
They violate the agreements; break the confidence.
This break of confidence must be systematically public-
ized and analyzed. Some important cases need public
attention persistently, not only so long as they remain
new and current. Violators must be prevented from
counting on the shortness of public attention to their
singular acts of breaking the agreements. Only then
can a reliable treaty and a real peace be eventually
achieved.
Too often have the various inhuman acts of violent
authorities been considered mainly from the point of
view of pity to the victims. That in insufficient even
for genuine pity. The authorities are pitiless, and don't
claim to be sentimental. They like to threaten, and can
even prefer to seem cruel. But they cannot permit
themselves to seem fraudulent and unworthy of con-
fidence.
Such apeals don't corespond to present psychologi-
cal habits of Western societies with respect to Eastern
forces. And thus the West loses its bet and the only
trong possibilities in the moral struggle with these
violent forces - since a moral struggle requires moral
means, not concessions.
Changes in the psychological habits of the present
day are necessary, but they wil take time - plausibly
more time than the West can wait in this sfruggle,
which today is a moral one, but, later, may be even
physical. But particular people and bodies can be free
from their weak habits even today, and they can be
influential.
Some traditions of former American presidents
and state secretaries from Dulles to Kissinger, have
limited the U.S. role in the observance of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, have relented the U.S.
entry on the International Covenants on Human Rights
of 1966. Finally, President Carter is going to address
the Congress for the ratification of the Covenants,
whereupon they would become effective in this country
in three months. The need is serious, and there is hope
that this event will occur soon.
THE PARTICIPATION of the U.S. in the covenants
will transfer the issue of human rights to a permanent'
international forum, and reduce (not remove) the im-
portance of the attention of Congress to this difficult
point. Members of the U.N. Commitee on Human
Rights - to be created in accordance with the covenant
on human and political rights - wil be competent to
treat important cases of violations of this covenant.
Still, the State Department will have to be. active
in sending notes to the governments violating the coven-
ant, in order that the Commitee could consider con-
crete cases of the violations. A weak point of the
covenant is that the committee's members are not en-
titled to introduce items by their own initiative.
Thus, the important issue will remain after the U.S.
entry in the covenants. The role of the Committee iv
consideration of human rights violations has to be
extended, and the Committee has to become more in-
fluential than it is at present.
The covenant on civil and political rights is sup-
plied by the Optional Protocol in which some countries
already participate. This protocol grants to the citizen
of these countries the right to petition to the Com-
mittee when they are victims of the violations. The
Committee may then consider the petitions independ-
ently, on the diplomatic notes, which seriously shortens
the procedure.
I EXPECT THAT the U.S. wil enter the Optional
Protocol as well. Other Western countries have done it.
That would be a very important step - but not for the
immediate future, because the USSR systematically
objects to the Protocol by considerations of one's 'sov-
ereignty". That is again the same intolerable psychol-
ogy of concept as "internal affairs'. The covenants
and other commitments are actually void if participants
are alowed to claim that that is their "internal affair"
to follow or not their own pledges.
The atmosphere is to be changed, so that no country
could even confess this attitude toward the commit-
ments. Thereupon the USSR wil be less persistent in its
objections against the Optional Protocol and, finally
will have to enter it, as well as its satellites. So far,
only tiny groups in the Eastern countries openly and
seriously support the human rights covenants and the
Basket three of the Helsinki agreement which mentions
them. These dissident groups are severely prosecuted,
and none of the dissidents can rely on his opportunity
to continue. his struggle so important for freedom
and peace. Prisons, "mental" incarcerations, murders,
and in the more hapy cases, emigration, are the fates
of those people. So no wonder if they are few. Some
disappear others appear, and-that is the only way i
which the Human Rights cause can be openly supported
in the totalitarian countries.
If the atmosphere surrounding the issue of civil and
political rights in the East changes in the West, and the
Soviet Union ceases prosecutions of the dissidents sup-
porting the Helsinki agreement, -the open and unhar-
assed activity of these groups shall reduce some other
restrictions of human rights in the Eastern countries.
That is a long way, but no shorter one is known.
Tomorrow: The USSR doesn't play by the rules.
Alexander Yesenin-Votpin is
a math professor at Boston Uni-
versity.
THE SUPREME COURT Is hearing
a case that the death penalty as
a punishment for rape is unconstitu-
tional in one of a series of questions
raised about aspects of state-spon-
sored slaughter.
The Court's decisions since Warren
Burger became Chief Justice have
been incredibly anti - humanitarian,
and we are thus especially hopeful
that the court will concede that death
is a penalty inappropriate to the
crime of rape.
Certainly, The Daily holds rapists
to be abhorrent offenders, and we
are extremely sympathetic to femin-
ists' demands for stricter sentences
and easier convictions forvthem. But
we do not believe that even an act
as repugnant as violating a woman's
most valued rights is justly answered
with extermination. No act is.
THE ARBITRARY 'WAY in which
courts decide which criminals die
and which ones live is exemplified
in another question up for review by
the high court. Can a person who
committed a crime punishable by'
death under a state law which was
later invalidated, be condemned some
years later under a new and consti-
tutional law? With this sort of ques-
tion to deliberate, the chance of a
convict slipping through the noose
is as much a matter -of when he/she
committed the crime as why. The dif-
ferent statutes in each state are also
contributing factors to the law's un-
fair ambivalence. Is a murderer in
Utah more evil than one in Califor-
nia?
One point that the attorney op-
posing execution for rape made is
that killing rapists would by nature
be racist. His point is well .taken. 90
per cent of the men executed for
rape since 1930 have been black. Since
the U.S. Constitution and our com-
mon morality tell us that all men
are created equal, some factor other
than moral inferiority must be re-
sponsible for the higher incidence of
rape among blacks. And if the envi-
ronment is responsible, what are we
killing the rapists for? They are vic-
tims too. We must change the society
that spawned them instead.
Phottgraphy Staff
ALAN BILINSKY ANDY FREEBERG
Co-Photographers-in-Chief
BRAD BENJAMIN ........ ...Staff Photographer
JOHN KNOX ...............Staff Photographer
CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER ... Staff Photographer
Business Staff
DEBORAH DREYFUSS,........Business Manager
COLLEENHOGAN.........Operations Manager
ROD KOSANN ...........Sales Manager
ROBERT CARPENTER.........Finance Manager
NANCY GRAU........ .........Display Manager
CASSIE ST. CLAIR ........ Circulation Manager
BEIH STRATFORD ...... ... Circulation Director
Sports Staff
KATHY HENNEGHAN..............Sports Editor
TOM CAMERON.........Executive Sports Editor
SCOTT LEWIS ..........Managing Sports Editor
DON MacLACHLAN .....,Associate Sports Editor
Contributing Editors
JOHN NIEMEYER and ENID GOLDMAN
NIGHT EDITORS: Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engel-
hardt. Rick Maddock, Bob Miller, Patrick Rode,
Cub Schwartz.
ASST. NIGHT EDITORS: Jeff Frank, Cindy Gat-
ziol ir. Mike Halpin. Brian Martin, Brian Miller,
Dave Renbarger, Errol Shfman and Jamie Tur-
ner
Letters
to
the
Carter
To The Daily:
CARTER'S BLATANT and
thus far successful efforts to
totally destroy industry and sci-
ence is finally meeting resist-
ance. The formation of alliances
between the Labor Party, Trade
Unions, and anti-Rockefeller,
pro-industrial capitalists to im-
plement scientific and technolog-
ical progress demonstrates that
advocates of "left-right" politi-
cal science are incompetent
fools at best. More emphatical-
ly, all scientific and political
groups must master politics
based on the Idea of Progress.
Now when it is undeniable that
the Carter alministration repre-
sents the "back to mother na-
ture" brand of actual fascism
and destruction of science and
industry (which means the de-
struction of this institution of
education), we continue to see
all too many scientists and en-
gineers providing credible
stereotypes of the "apolitical
moral eunuch" hiding in his
soon-to-be-shut laboratory. Un-
like the career political whores
whose singular skill is to blow
with the wind like a feather,
these important individuals can
be won over to actively "politi-
cize" for sane policies.
During the last month espe-
cially, the significant break-
throughs in virtually all areas
of controlled fusion research -
despite miserable funding - has
triggered what is now a full-
scale international debate on
overall economic policy.
On the side of trade and tech-
nology are the Labor Party's
-ni n t, +-enr wi.th.. mit eimilar
tends to every aspect of policy,
especially war policy. The "lib-
eral" Carter, with his Sakarov
caper has already gone far be-
yound the "conservative" Ford
in bringing us to the brink of
World War III.
Briefly, the breakthroughs in
fusion research are feeding into
a rapidly crystallizing opposi-
tion to Carter. The Congression-
al testimony of ERDA fusion ad-
ministrators Hirsch and Kintner,
who stated that prototype fu-
sion reactors are realizable
within ten years and the sub-
sequent resignation of Hirsch in
protest of Carter's sabotage of
energy development emphasizes
the crucial point. The Labor
Party's program for world in-
dustrial development centers
around crash development of
fusion power, and this program
is the key to stopping Carter.
The Senate's encouraging vote
last week to overrule Carter's
waterworks shutdowns sets the
stage for a decisive battle over
the fusion cutbacks. The de-
mand for expanded full funding
for fusion research is now the
leading edge of this fight with
the Labor Party's fusion legisla-
tion officially introduced into six
state legislatures. We call upon
all individuals and groups com-
mitted to scientific development
to join with ourselves, trade un-
ions, industrialists, etc. to en-
sure passage of this legislation.
We are happy to be able to
announce the death of PIRGIM.
By cowardly refusing to debate
the Labor Party in several in-
stances, "PIRGIM" has now no
basis for existence. The flag-
ship local at Ann Arbor has si-
mulaneoli s beenfad wit
Renaissance movement that will'
stop Carter. This is the method
of actual political science that
has been deliberately used
whenever there have been great
humanist accomplishments: the
Italian Renaissance, Tudor Eng-
land, the American Revolution,
and the Civil War.
Bruce Pyenson
thanks!
To The Daily:
Thanks for a good reporting
job March 19 on the Crusade
by the churches of Ypsilanti to
put the Adult Theatre there out
of business.
Somepne wisely said not long
ago, "The trouble is that the
churches today are busily an-
swering questions that no one
is asking any more." I really
think this fits perfectly for what
Ypsilanti churchmen are busi-
ly engaged in - picketing the
adult movie for the treatment
in film of a particular approach
to human sexuality.
A growing majority are in a
space described by the words,
"Live and let live."
There is evidence that pornog-
raphy of all varieties may be
a useful fantasy form that men
and women employ to vent sex-
ual impulses in a socially ac-'
ceptable fashion. Also, there is
no scientific evidence of which
I am aware thdt porn causes
sexual violence in the street.
An A-1 "Teach-in on Prisons"
just concluded in Ann Arbor. If
the Ypsilanti churches are in
need of a cause on which to
expand their energies I suggest
the plight of the hundreds of
thousands of Americans, chil-
dren and adults in custody cen-
Daily
gress passed the Marine Mam-
mal Protection Act, outlawing
the killing of dolphins. In the
four-year grace period following
their legislation, tuna fishers
have done nothing to modify
their technique: in 1975 some
54,000 dolphins were killed, and
even more in 1976. At present,
the tuna boats are docked in
the harbor, and the fishers re-
fuse to sail until the quota of
dolphin kills is reinstated. We
must not allow the government
to back down. They must abide
by and enforce the Protection
Act. Simple modification at an
economically, feasible cost will
reduce the number of dolphins
slaughtered. On April 4th, 5th
and 6th we have an opportunity'
to publically affirm our commit-
ment, by voting for a tuna boy-
cott in the UHC elections. This.
would force the dorms to serve
only that tuna which is caught
by the method that does not kill
dolphins. We must take positive ,
action now before it is too late.
PLEASE VOTE FOR AND SUP-
PORT THE BOYCOTT!
Kathie Klaneici
bottle bill
more delay on a state law. We
must make it clear to Carl Pur-
sell that delay on a national
bill is intolerable. Congratulate
yourself for helping to pass Pro-
posal A. Then pick up your
phone and let Carl Pursell know
that you reject delay by calling
his Ann Arbor office at 971-5760.
Better yet, write to him in Wash-
ington at the House Office Build-
ing, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Once again, we will win if we
make ourselves heard!
Tom Moran
AFSCME
To The Daily:
Contrary to chief negotiator
William Neff's statement in The
Daily (March 25), we feel that
the administration is in fact
attemoting to break AFSCME.
The dismissal of seven student
cafeteria workers who supported
the strike clearly shows this.
Housing director John Feld-
kamp has stated that the fir-
ings were not political, but mere-
ly the result of "excessive alb-
senteeism." However, the facts
contradict Feldkamp's state-
ment.
Furthermore, seventeen union
workers have been fired, and
Neff has stated (Daily, March
25) that the university could do
without twenty to twenty-five
per cent of the AFSCME work-
ers in some areas. Reprisals and
veiled threats are sobviously at-
tempts by the administration to
bust the union and harass sup-
porters. We refuse to be intimi-
dated by such century-old tac-
tics. Students and campus work-
ers must protest these outrage-
ous attacks.
The United Front Against Re-
#"1400) WLL',< me.'p w, Do 1 lAscK L.IA C 09( 1+
..
To The Daily:
We are fed up with the waste
of throwaway containers. You
made that resoundingly clear
last November by your over-
whelming approval of Proposal
A. Our local Congressman Carl
Pursell never received that mes-
sage. He is refusing to support
a national bottle bill (Hatfield-
Jeffords bill). Just as our state
legislators shirked their respon-
sibilities on the bottle bill is-
sue, Carl Pursell is neglecting
his.
0.40 fwr Il