I
Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Independent voters hold key
Tuesday, October 26, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Ticket procedure should
be changed .4
WAITING IN LINE for football
tickets has become a tradition here
at the University. Every fall a hand-
ful of devoted fans bundle thein-
selves up in jackets and sleeping
bags, down a few beers and ask them-
selves if it is worth it to freeze to
death for a week or so as they wait
for 50-yardline beauties.
And it is a fair system. The people
who are willing to wait in line for
a few days deserve the best tickets.
But, the system has always worked
because people have always been
reasonable about it - never lining
up more than a week in advance.
This year, however, things have got-
ten out of hand, both for football
tickets and basketball tickets.
Senior basketball tickets don't go
on sale until November 11, yet as
many as 2,500 tickets (Crisler holds
13,000) are already spoken for. Over
two weeks ago, a group went to the
ticket office on the corner of Hoover
and State, and decided to start a
line. They announced their inten-
tions to the ticket office, which
OK'd them, and then they put up a
list, complete with rules.
x -
.immediatel
"You must check in every day at
5:30 until Nov. 4 when you must
check in at 7:30 a.m. also," it reads.
"One person can hold 50 places un-
til Nov. 4, then you must have one
person for every four places." There
were no announcements, no explana-
tions - just an agreement between
the ticket office and this first group.
At last count the list was over 50 and
rising. By the time tickets actually
go on sale, as many as 4,000 could
already be accounted for.
If this boggles the mind there can
be no description of the football tic-
ket situation. Some eight groups have
already started a line for next year!
They meet the 15th of every month,
and each person can hold 50 places.
Who knows how many tickets will be
gone by next fall?
WHERE IS it all going to end? It
seems it won't be long before high
school seniors will be starting lines.
four years in advance. The Univer-
sity should put an end to this non-
sense before it is too late. Lines
should not be allowed until one
week before tickets go on sale. The
date that lines will be, allowed should
be widely publicized so that every-
one who wants good tickets will at
least know what they have to do to
get them. Also, the present policy of
letting the first group in line make
up the rules should be abolished.
There should be a standard set of
rules consistent from one year to the
next, and set up by the ticket office.
There are a lot of people who
want to get good seats for football
and basketball who can't make a
sacrifice every day for over a month.
For a week maybe, but not for a
month. They deserve a chance to get
good tickets. Under the present sys-
tem there are a lot of people who
want tickets who don't even'know
about the lines yet because there is
no publicity.
We have to put an end to this be-
fore it gets out of hand, and the
time to do it is now.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Jeff Ristine, Bill Turque, Jay
Levin, Lani Jordan, Linda Willcox,
Martha Retallick
Editorial Pace: Rob Meachurn, Tom
Stevens, Ken Parsigion
toP
By ROBERT ENTMAN
and BRUCE ANDREWS
Pacific News Service
IF GERALD FORD pulls off
the biggest upset in a genera-
tion this November 2, he will
have done it by capturing the
independent vote. If Carter
holds on, he will likewise owe
his victory to the independents.
"That's the whole campaign,"
Ford pollster Robert Teeter
told PNS. "Everything we're
doing is designed to emphasize
the independent vote" - from
paign appearances to spend-
c a m p a i g n appearances
to spending priorities.
According to a spring Gallup
poll, 32 per cent of the public
now call themselves indepen-
dents, while 22 per cent are
Republicans and 46 per cent
Democrats. Since over the
years Democrats haveproven
themselves much less likely to
vote than Republicans, Ford
should win if he captures a sub-
stantial majority of independent
votes.
Who are these new power
brokers? Polls and surveys tak-
Robert Enfnan and Bruce
Andrews teach political science
at Dickenson College in Penn-
sylvania. Between themn, they
have been writing about public
opinion and elections for near-
ly 40 years.'
residen tiad
win
en in recent years highlight
three characteristics:
* Increasing independence is
less a result of unhappy voters
shedding their Republican or
Democratic allegiance than of
new voters - with little respect
for either party - enterting the
electorate. Roughly half of those
under 35 - who as a group
make up 39 per cent of the
electorate - call themselves
independents, as against well
under a third of their elders.
* Independents are more com-
mon among upper status than
lower status groups. A Gallup
poll found that 37 per cent of
those with college educations
are independents, compared to
32 per cent with high school
and 22 per cent with grade
school educations. And while
35 per cent of all male respon-
dents are independents, only 28
per cent of women reject affil-
iation with either major party.
* On issues, independents show
no such common threads other
than paying above - average
attention to candidates' posi-
tions, a bent that inay stem
from the fact that many are
college educated and came of
age during the turbulent 1960s.
Nearly half (48 per cent) de-
scribe themselves as "right of
center," while 35 per cent say
they are "left of center."
A UNIVERSITY OF Michi-
Lan study found that on the
issue of government guarantees
of jobs and standards of liv-
ing - a key dividing line be-
tween Ford and Carter this
year - independents-were com-
pletely fragmented. While 31
per cent favored such guaran-
tees, 22 per cent were" neutral
and 48 per cent opposed.
This ideological diversity
makes it extremely difficult for
any candidate to appeal to a
majority of the independents
with his stands on the issues. A
position meant to cultivate
some is bound to alienate oth-
ers.
To deal with this polarization
among the crucial independents,
the Ford staff has attempted to
shift the campaign away from
issues, toward image.
In his acceptance speech at
Kansas City, Ford said, "As I
try in my imaginationrto look
into all the homes where fami-
lies are watching . . . I can't
tell which faces are Republi-
cans( which are Democrats,
and which are independents ...
I see only Americans."
Since then, according to poll-
ster Teeter, the entire cam-
paign has been based on the
attempt to portray Ford's per-
sonal qualities as superior to
Carter's. Issues are "Irrele-
vant," Teeter insists; indepen-
dents are "primarily interested
in the personal qualities of can-
didates."
AND THOUGH HE refuses to
release the results of his own
polling, Teeter claims that
"we're doing very well among
independents with the image-
oriented strategy."
When Ford has dwelt on is-
sues, it has been to attack Car-
ter's stands, not to emphasize
his own. In this way he has
successfully forced Carter to
amend and qualify many of his
positions, jeopardizing some of
his issue - based support and
leaving him open to charges of
waffling.
Ford's strategy apparently
had a significant impact on the
independents in the early part
of the campaign. After the first
televised debate, a New York
Times / CBS poll showed a
sudden shift among indepen-
dents from a 39-39 split to a
49-41 Ford lead.
The poll also asked people
if they agreed with the state-
ment: "At least I know what
kind of a president Gerald Ford
will be. I'm not so sure about
Jimmy Carter." After the first
debate, the margin of agree-
ment widened from 55-32 to 66-
27.
But the Ford strategy - and
Teeter's interpretation of the
independents - has suffered
a setback in the wake of the
second debate.
Based on the results of post-
debate Gallup and New York
Times / CBS polls showing Car-
ter's lead back up to 48 against
Ford's 42 per cent, the Times
reported that "Jimmy Carter
has succeeded in making Presi-
dent Ford's record, rather than
his own personality, the main
focus of the most recent phase
of the presidential contest . . .
C A R T E R ' S CRITI-
CISM OF the President's stew-
ardship of the economy and
foreign policy, together with
his emphasis of -populist
themes," the report continued,
"has swung the . . . indepen-
dent voters behind him."
Subsequent events could, of
course, reverse the trend once
again and give Ford his upset.
Showing an unprecedented de-
gree of "disenchantment with
the establishment," as the 'Har-
ris poll put it, and increasingly
dominated by independents, the
electorate remains volatile.
And the independent cam-
paign of Eugene McCarthy
could also play the spoiler to
Carter in key states - as the
Ford people, according to Tee-
ter, are hoping.
Ford does have precedent on
his side: The Republican has
won a majority of independent
votes in all but one of the last
six presidential elections, the
exception being Lyndon John-
son's landslide in 1964. But this
year, with the old electoral con-
stellations breaking apart, pre-
cedent may not count.
Nov.
2
Letters
Rob Meachum
Editorial Staff
Co-Editors-in-Chief
Bill Turque
Jeff Risine ...... .... Managing Editor
Tim Schick.................Executive Editor
Stephen Hersh ........... Magazine Editor
Rob Meachum Editorial Director
Lois Josimovich Arts Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Susan Barry.
Dana Baumann, Michael leekman, Philln Rn-
kovoy, .Joni Dimick. Chris Dvhdale, . w1,I ne
Fletcher, Larry Friske, Debra Gale, =Tom r(o.
deli, Eric Gressman, Kurt Harpu, Char Hoeg,
James Hynes, Michael Jones, Lani Jorden,
its Josimovich, Joanne Kaufman, David
Keeps, Steve Kurman, Jay Levin, Ann Marie
Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lubens, Stu'
Ccoannell, Jennifer Miller, Michael Norton,
Jon Panstus, Ken Parsigian, Karen Paul..
Stephen Plekover, Christopher Potter,.Don
Rose, Luey Saunders, Annemarie Seitavi, gar-
an Schulkins, Jeffrey Selbst, Jim Shahin, Rick
Sable, Tom Stevens, Jim 'Stimson, saivtd
Strauss, Mike Taylor, Jim Tobin, Loran Walker,
Laurie Young. Barbara Zahs.
Photography Staff
Pauline Lubens.Chief Photographer
Brad Benjamin............Staff Photographer
Alan Bilinsky .... ........... Staff Photographer
Scott Eccker...Staff Photographer
Andy Freeberg.Staff Photographer
Christina Schneider........ Staff Photographer
Business Staff
Beth Friedman.Business Manager
Deborah Dreyfuss ... ,...... operations Manager
Kathleen Muihern ,.. Assistant Adv. Coordinator
David Harlan............... Finance Manager
Don Simpson................. Sales Manager
Pete Peterson..........Advertising Coordinator
Cassle St. Clair........... Circulation Manager
Beth Stratford............ Circulation Director
GEO as being vital to the improve-
ment of our education.
To The Daily: Already the GEO has scaled
WE, AS UNDERGRADUATES, down its economic demands and
feel that it is in our best in- is now asking for sub-cost-of-
terests to support the GEO in living wage levels. Still, the Uni-
its demands and actions, and versity refuses to negotiate. We
we call on our fellow under- cannot tolerate the position that
grads to help join in their strug- the Administration has taken in
gle. The GEO (Graduate Em- ignoring the needs of the entire
ployees Organization) has been university community. If we
bargaining with the University want to improve the quality of
for several months. The Admin- our education, we must unite
istration has not been bargain- with the GEO in their struggle,
ing seriously during this period, for there is strength in solidar-
and we feel that they have been ity.
ignoring the best interests of Bree Johnston,
the undergraduates, the GEO, Kay Pitkin,
and the entire academic com- Pat Dowling
munity. Young Workers'
We pay thousands of dollars Liberation League
in tuition each year, and have
seen a 10 per cent rate increase
during the past year. However,imjerry
we have not seen any positive To The Daily:
effects of the tuition increase. JIMMY CARTER and Gerald
We are still faced with huge Ford are both decent people.
classroom situations which al- We would trust them to babysit
low us little chance for inter- out kids, and we would buy a
action with our professors or used car from either one. But
fellow classmates. The sections, once assured of this, we want
which are supposed to supply to know if either one is going
us with an opportunity for per- to act, and act positively. Or,
sonal attention and active in- do their traces suggest passivi-
volvement, fail to do so as they ty and a negative outlook. De-
are also greatly overcrowded. cency around the playpen may
TF's cannot be expected to give be enough at home. It is not
adequate, attention to each stu- enough in the White House.
dent in a class size of 40 or When he became Governor of
more. The GEO's demand for Georgia, Jimmy Carter acted.
a cut in class size would defi- He successfully sponsored leg-
nitely improve the quality of our islation to equalize education
education by giving us a more funds between the richer and
direct involvement with our poorer counties. He initiated
TF's and professors and a and completed a thorough re-
greater chance for participation form of the judicial system in
in the educational process. Georgia, which had been at-
AS WELL AS being cheated tempted in Georgia without suc-
by large classes, we are also cess since the turn of the cen-
being denied a full educational tiry. He enacted a comnre-
experience by the low numbers hensive set of sunshine laws
of minorities and women in the onening un virtually all govern-
teaching staff. This is especial- ment meetings to the nmblic.
ly alienating and oppressive to The record goes on and on.
minority and women students, O'ncalionally President Ford
who have little opportunity for a"ts. NtT vatoAd everv irh hill
contact with faculty people who -'-4 1h Conoress. 1N --
share their experiences. White toad the st'in mining hill. fTe
students also suffer from the .ct th- findiP for th F"irn -
Universitv's lack of affirmative --,tai Protartinn Aapnv in
action. The Administration has 10-7. 1F" vatno4 i nront"m s
chosen to ignore our right to ' n the Fr-fdrom of Tnformntion
a multi-cultural education. The A -
University has thus far done mtTtn'tA V'V TfANY ,7v- rof
little or nothing to improve this (Z- tin cdk"n*cr t-,n and
situation. We see the GEO's de- '-'e i,, ltrn""t tl-t rio not
mand for the implementation '-'- n"w r'fnran' to tha
of affirmative action programs ",'M1 +ornl-rnePriatijNe cate-
1tothc
gories. Government efficiency is
a popular and legitimate con-
servative concern. Jimmy Car-
ter did something about this
when he was governor (he insti-
tuted the pioneering zero-based
budgeting system which requir-
es annual justification for all
programs, both new and old).
Carter is the doer no matter
how we slice the pie.
The character of the Ameri-
can president must have traits
in addition to decency. Jimmy
Carter has them. Do we want
any less in our next President?
Donald Munro
October 24
sexual politics
To The Daily:
PROF. E. SHAFTER, JR. of
the U-M Humanities Depart-
ment recently wrote to the
Daily to express his views of
GEO's bargaining demands. We
quote from his letter as printed
in the Daily of 10/20/'76: "GEO
proposes ... the setting up of
commissions on gay and lesbian
GSA's ... on what ground ...
do the sexual preferences of
GSA's serve as a proper is-
sue for collective bargaining.
What of those GSA's who pre-
fer pistachio ice cream? Or
gravy on watermelon? Sena-
rate commissions on them?"
We now quote U-M President
Rrbben Fleming, who expressed
himself thus in a letter to the
U-M faculty dated 10/141'76: "It
is in the nature of things that
during a labor dispute the level
of rhetoric rises considerably
above the level of rationality.
I would urge you to look at
rPasonPd araurnentm rather than
rhetoric " So would we.
mrt"""n O'Rourke,
.Tim Tov
Oetnher 22
To The Daily:
I WAS AT FTPST amazed,
and then offended by the senti-
ments expressed by Debbie
Culp in her review of Alicia de
Larrocha in concert. (De Lar-
rocha snarkles, 10-20-76) Ms.
Gale begins her review by stat-
in:
Becnuse of her Snanish batk-
rround - she was born in Rar-
celona and is one of the lead-
/Daly.
ing representatives of Spanish
music - one might expect Alic-
ia da Larrocha' to be a temp-
estuous, emotional pianist, giv-
en to showy pyrotechnics.
Perhaps Ms. Gale expects
Spaniards to be "tempestuous"
and "showl", but I certainly
do not. De Larrocha is a polish-
ed, professional musician, and
a pianist of international sta-
ture, not merely a member of.
the "Spanish musical world",
which implies some sort of "lo-
cal" talent. To assume that the.
nation that, has also given us
such artists as Pablo Casals,
Andres Segovia, Narciso Yepes,
and Monserrat Caballe is cap-
able of only producing "showy"
people betrays an unfortunate
ignorance and an even more
serious and deep-rooted bias on
the part of the reviewer.
I ESPECIALLY R E S E N T
The Daily's publication of this
review in light of their handl-
ing of the ethnic slurs recently
attributed to former Secretary
of Agriculture Earl Butz. The
Daily not only closely followed
the consequences of the public
airing of Mr. Butz's sentiments,
(using several opportunities to
fully quote his remarks), but
also indignantly criticized his
ethnic prejudices in their edi-
torial column. But now we see
a large group of people slander-
ed by a member of The Daily's
own staff. As a student of Span-
ish history and culture, I am
deeply offended by this slur,
and I'm sure that a Spaniard
would be even more so. I sug-
gest that The Daily look to its
own house before criticizing
others for their ethnic or cultur-
al biases.
Jodi Bilinkoff
October 22
proposal A
To The Editor:
ELECTION TIM E
is apnroaching and once again
the citizen of Michigan have an
oroortunity to voice their su-
port for a healthier and cleaner
environment. Proposal A would
bring a return to the environ-
mentally sound concent of re-
tornablas. Tt exemplifies the
somnrehensive perspective call-
ed for in environmental legis-
lation. TT"fortinatelv, the citi-
zens of this state are not being.
given the chance to examine the
bottle referendum in an atmos-
phere of reason and rationality.
Slick, Madison Avenue advertis-
ing payed for bythe container
manufacturers and brewers
serves to obfuscate the real is-
sues involved. Instead of exam-
ining litter, job gains resource
depletion, energy, consumer
savings, and the throwaway
ethic, the opponents of propos-
al A distort the Issue. The pur-
pose of the referendum is to get
ISSUESout to the people, away
from the dark halls of the legis-
lature. Here, issues should 1e
examined and not manipulated
by one party. I urge you to
think before being convinced
by the media blitz being con-
ducted by the bottling industry.
Ask yourself why are they real-
lv buying up so much advertis-
ing? Are they more concerned
about the community of life on
the planet, or their narrow self
interest? Vote Yes on A, go the
community way!
Dan Mendelson
October 29
cooking
To The Daily:
WE ARE REGULAR sub-
scribers to the Michigan Daily
and have found it lacking in
one area.
In the tradition of the great
newspaper, i.e., The New York
Times, The Washington Post,
the New York Daily Newsy and
the National Enquirer, why not
have a Food Sunnlement .which
would consist of readers re-
cines. In fact, why not offer a
small but substantial monetary
nri- for the best "Recite of the
week!" This would not only
henefit the winner, but also
+thos r'on hn'det who cannot
affnord No. 1. taking a chance
n foiltre at noor recipes and
?Tn. 2. thosp "nabl to purchase
eV-nsi- cookbooks.
Walking down the aroma fill-
eA streets of Ann Arbor at din-
ner time sgegest th vast Dos-
sihilities of interesting rcines
to be slhared by vour significant
rihtcrribin nbhlic.
Peace through cooking.
Students for Julia Child
for President
October 18
Arts Page: Lois
Saunders
Photo Technician:
Josimovich, Lucy
Brad Benjamin
"V. :iC Y} . 1. '
Contact your reps
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem.), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep.), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Rep. Marvin Esch (Rep.), 2353 Rayburn Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Gilbert Bursley (Rep.), Senate, State Capitol Bldg.,
Lansing, MI 48933
Rep. Perry Bullard (Dem.), House of Representatives, State
Capitol Bldg., Lansing, MI 48933.
:;}...c"a..: '.c:i?::} ;" mvX:i: ;c }": , r mf: r:! . *.v .;.";.;,.;3 }}. .': x ..}::;%>Y .i ;
EVERYBODY DOES IT:
Jimand Jerry play word
By KEITH RICHBURG ocrats, "momentum" was first used by more use than ever before, with Presi-
candidate Jimmy Carter after his New dent Ford and his running mate Rob-
THE SUMMER of the Ervin Commit- Hampshire primary victory. On the Re- ert Dole tossing it at Carter, and with
tee and the Senate Watergate Hear- publican side, "momentum" was never the Georgian himself getting into the
ings gave us "At this point in time" and used until after the Texas primary, when act and accusing Ford of some "flip-
"I cannot recollect." The summer of candidate Ronald Reagan claimed that flops" of his own.
the Judiciary Committee Impeachment the "momentum had shifted." GROSS INDISCRETION, compliments
Hearings handed us "obstruction of jus- Currently, the word "momentum" is of Earl Butz. A "gross indiscretion" is
tice" and "impeding the investigation," being used in both camps, most recent- a word, phrase or complete statement
and the ensuing months added "exple- ly by Democrat Carter to explain what which the speaker wishes he or she
tive deleted" to our ever-growing vo- he believes will be the affects of the hadn't said. Calling that word, phrase
cabulary. Earl Butz affair and the Ford slip about or statement a "gross indiscretion" im-
The election summer and fall of 1976, Eastern Europe. Carter exclaimed, "I plies only that the language used was
however, has formed a vocabulary all think we've got our momentum back!" wrong, (Example: President Ford's
its own, and for the comprehensive FLIP-FLOP, courtesy of Morris K. statement that the nations of Eastern
S__ ._ ,:1-A .. T. - U - - . ...1 g.. m- ,-it'r in-Eone are free was admitted to be a
games
claiming they have an overabundance of.
"Trust" was first introduced by candi-
date Carter in his single-theme primary
campaign. More recently, candidate
Ford has been bandying the word about,
preaching on how it must be earned,
by performance and not promises.
"COTTON" SOUTH: a term intro-
duced by Democratic and Carter strate-
gists, the "cotton" South refers to the
region including Georgia, Alabama,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas that
candidate Jimmy Carter is supposed to
have a solid hold on.
EYE-TALIANS: term used to desig-
nate persons of Italian nationality or
ke-t jfi'Iw m-