Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY:
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Saturday, November 6, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michiggn
Carter 1 s economic policies
start off in right direction
IT IS ENCOURAGING that the first
indications of the plans of Presi-
dent-elect Jimmy Carter's future ad-
ministration belie a cautious but for-
ward - moving philosophy behind its
proposed policies. Although nothing
very substantial came out of the news
conference of the Thursday night,
the implide direction shows modera-
tion and restraint while providing
necessary reform.
Of special good cheer is the possi-
bility of an income tax cut aimed at
stimulating consumption and pro-
viding relief for the average wage
earner. Unfortunately, President-elect
Carter had little specific to say about
the matter, it seeming that the ques-
loner knew more abou the cut than
our future leader. Typical of Carter's
post - election confusion was his re-
feral to "payroll taxes" which in-
Editorial positions represent a
consensus of The Daily Editorial staff.
Photography Staff
Pilne Lubens.............Chief Photographer
rad Benjamin...........Staff Photographer
Alan Bilinsky............... Staff Photographer
Scott eccker................Staff Photographer
Andy Freeberg .............. Staff Photogrpher
Christina Schneider ..,...... Staff Photographer
Business Staff
Beth Friedman.............Business Manager
Deborah Dreyfuss .........Operations Manager
Kathleen Mulhern ... Assistant Adv. Coordinator
David Harlan.................Finance Manager
Don Simpson ...............:. Sales Manager
Pete Peterson .......... Advertising Coordinator
Cassie St. Clair ...........Circulation Manager
Beth Stratford ............. Circulation Director
Sports Stafff
Bill Stieg ...................." ... Sports Editor
Rich Lerner ........... Executive Sports Editor
Andy Glazer ............ Managing Sports Editor
Rick Bonino.............Associate Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Tom Cameron, Enid Goldman,
Kathy Henneghan, Scott Lewis, Rick Maddock.
Bob Miller, John Niemeyer, Mark Whitney.
STAFF WRITERS: Leslie Brown, Paul Campbell,
Marybeth Dillon, Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engel-
hardt, Jeff Frank, Cindy Gatzlolis, Don Mac-
Lachlan. Rich Ovshinsky, Jim Powers, Pat Rode,
John Schwartz.
elude Social Security taxes but not
income taxes. However, based on the
proposals of Lawrence Klein, chief
economic advisor to Mr. Carter, and
a sampling of opinions of the Univer-
sity economics department, it seems
that unless the economy picks up a
good deal we can expect a tax cut
of up to $15 billion in 1977, with an
increase in the personal income tax
exemption and a decrease iii the mid-
dle income tax rates.
This is not very surprising, Presi-
dent Ford having proposed a similar
scheme, though tied to spending de-
creases, some time ago. The economy
clearly needs stimulus, as a brief look
at the unemployment figures will
show. At this stage, there is also little
need to worry about too much of
such stimulus in the short run. A $15
billion cut in taxes would have a
substantial impact and,,help speed
the recovery.
WE APPLAUD the future adminis-
tration's, tentative proposal and hope
that it carries through when Carter
and Congress get down to business
in January. Perhaps caution may dic-
tate that only tax cuts and not
spending increases be instituted; new
programs are extremely difficult to
get ,rid of in case of overheating.
Perhaps tax policies be made to en-
courage the expansion of industrial
capacity which is rather strained in
some vital industries such as steel,
paper, and chemicals. Even so, a re-
sponsible fiscal stimulus that will
create more jobs without substnat-
sally fueling inflation or stamped-
ing the touchy Federal Reserve into
an anti-inflationary panic is desper-
ately needed and overdue.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Don DeKett, Lori Carruthers,
Stu McConnell, Martha Retallick,
Jeff Ristine, Tim Schick, Shelley
Wolson
Editorial Page: Michael Beckman, Rob
Meachum, Jon Pansius, Tom Stevens
Arts Page: Lois Josimovich
Photo Technician: Scott Eccker
By MICHAEL CONTE is no lo
50 per+
THE SITUATION of the ers ma
American worker has been year, ar
the subject of a great deal of come is
debate a7 d discussion in recent $14,000.
years. Studs Terkel's interviews WHAT
with working people in his book work,"
"Working" brought home the in it co
fact that work is dull and repeti- directio
tive - a distasteful experience gone in
- for most Americans. Re- particul
searchers for the Department commur
of Health, Education and Wel- to "hux
fare confirmed this in their re- ronmen
port on Work in America. One proofing
of their findings is that mechan- ameniti
ization has required less per- ever, c
sonal and imaginative input on lars, an
the job, at the same time that than a
people are demanding more of wage se
an opportunity to realize their rection
full potential. Observers from curred
all sides insist on the need for issue of
fundamental change, not only This
in rates of pay and "working nature
conditions," but in the nature change
of work. worker
This is a heady prescription; mation
one which unions have general- and not
ly avoided since the demise of bank a
the I.W.W. Modern labor unions There
in America, rather than ad- the que
dressing questions about the ers' pa
work, itself, have concentrated will ent
on bread-and-butter issues: wag- agemen
es, fringes, and other benefits decade.
that can be measured in dol- (Bluest
lars. These issues are, of course, Union (
paramount when the struggle is chinists'
for subsistence. That, however, are beg
ers press
anger the case, for about gree of econ'omic demo
cent of American work- These leaders are all, in
ke more than $10,000 a tention for the presiden
rd the median family in- their unions. Meanwhile
s in the neighborhood of Transportation Employees
ion in Ann Arbor has m
T IS THE "nature of clear that they seek con
and what might changes control by employees ov
nsist of? There are two operation of the city's bu
ns that innovation has vices They argue that s
. The most popular (in step would considerably
ar, among the business crease the cost to the c
nity) have been attempts operating the public trans
manize" the work envi- tion network. Movements
t by installing sound- ilar to that in the TEL
g, air-conditioning, other growing in localities acros
es. These changes, how- country.
an be measured in dol- A GROWING AWARENE
nd reflect nothing more the need for industria
new dimension to the mocracy has occurred o
ettlement. The other di- organized labor, also. Th
that innovation has oc- sociation for Self-Manag
in has to do with the (formerly People for Self
f decisions and control. agement) was founded in
type of change in the for the purpose of pron
of work involves a awareness and discussion
in the nature of the sues relating to workers'
(a change from auto- trol and industrial demo
to creativ individual), and to help implement the
t only additions to their of its members. Implemen
ccounts. is taking place through a
is some indication that sociated group called the
st for a degree of work- eration for Economic Den
articipation and control cy (FED). FED is cur
er heavily in union-man- soliciting funds from found
t negotiations in the next and governmental agenci
Leaders in the UAW create a revolving fund1
one), the Steelworkers' would provide capital toi
Sadlowski) and the Ma- prises which would be st
Union (Winpisinger) worker-managed.
ginning to demand a de- The People's Bicent
crary.
conr-
cy of
, the
s' Un-
ade it
mplete
er the
s ser-
uch a
de-
ity of
porta-
sim-
U are
ss the
ESS of
l de-
utside
e As-
ement
-Man-
1972
moting
of is-
con-
cracy,
goals
tation
an as-
Fed-
xocra-
rently
ations
es to
which
enter-
trictly
ennial
ror PG
Commission has also done much
toward promoting economic de-
mocracy by focusing attention
on the democratic principles of
the founding fathers of the Unit-
ed States. The message of the
PBC (now called the People's
Business Committee) is clear:
the application of democratic
principles to social organization
need not stop at the factory
gate. PBC's efforts have
brought about the publication of
educational materials (such as
Own Your Job: Economic De-
mocracy for Working 'Ameri-
cans) and public mobilizaztion
around economic issues.
THE CLIMATE FOR all these
activities is ripe. In the wake
of the recession, workers in sev-
eral plants have been forced
to actually buy their companies
in order to retain their jobs.
The most well-known cases are
those of Vermont Asbestos, the
South Bend Lathe company,
Saratoga Knitting Mills and In-
ternational Group Plans. The
power of worker ownership and*
control is partially indicated by
the fact that these companies,
which were considered as liabili-
ties to their previous owners,
are now turning record profits
for the new worker-owners, and
workers' attitudes toward their
jobs have changed significant-
ly.
'wer
Members of the Association
for Self - Management believe
that industrial democracy can
only be achieved as a result
of a united and informed move-
ment; that union efforts to pro-
vide a meaningful work life can
be aided by the constrictive
criticism of interested individu-
als, and that constructive work
can be done outside the formal
bargaining framework. We can
participate in this movement in
Ann Arbor by educating our-
selves and others. Members of
the ASM hope to bring promi-
nent union leaders to Ann Ar-
bor to explain their positions
to students and workers here.
We hope to recruit participants
from the university and the
working community. We are al-
so trying to influence legisla-
tors to work for proposals that
would promote democracy in
the workplace.
IF YOU ARE interested in
these or other activities related
to workers' control, please come
to our meetings or contact one
of our members. Our next meet-
ing will be on November 10, at
7:30, in Room 3209 of the Michi-
gan Union.
Michael Conte is a University
graduate s fdent in economics
and a member of the Association
for Self-Management.
1 W6
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LETTERS
*f c more than the three linguistic units (Zulu,
Sotho, and Xhosa (Scheller had it Zhoso)
To The Daily: that he mentions.
IT IS OF COURSE appropriate that The FOURTH, THERE IS nothing particular-
Daily make its commentary columns avail- ly logical in the emergence of Apartheid
able to authors of divergent political orien- (the justifying ideology for racial discrim-
tations, including those as little likely to ination), other than that all discriminatory
find support in the University community systems develop a claim to moral rectitude.
as the apologist for racial discrimination Nor is there anything particularly logical
in South Africa (22 October). Yet, I won- in the claim that separating peoples of dif-
der why the editors of The Daily permit ferent color reduces tension, especially in
the use of commentary columns to per- a society where race is used to deny to
petuate the sorts of myths about Africa the majority of the society most of the
that distort and devalue the African ex- rights, privileges, and benefits of that so-
perience. ciety.
A clear case in point is the column My point here has not been to respond
by W. L. Scheller, arguing for a gradual to Scheller's argument. I do not think his
transition to majority rule in South Africa. claims could stand up to serious chal-
But I am less concerned with the naivete lenge. My point here is that it does not
and the superficial nature of Scheller's seem to me reasonable that The Daily per-
analysis that I am 'with the errors of mit its commentary columns to be used
fact included in his column and printed to propagate such distortions and errors,
by The Daily. For the rest of your read- even when they serve the political purpose
ership, the record ought to be put straight., of the commentator.
First, only the South African govern- Joel Samoff
ment continues to believe that there was Department of Political Science
a simultaneous arrival of Europeans and November 1
Africans in'what is now South Africa. The
archeological and linguistic evidence con- Bursley elections
vincingly demonstrate that African peoples To The Daily:
inhabited all of Southern Africa prior to IN A RECENT ARTICLE appearing on
the arrival of the Europeans, and that is the front of Th Dail I d
confirmed by the reports of early European sttg ofer hegarkIPa de a
travelers. (Simultaneity of arrival would statement concerning Mark Patrosso. who
not, of course, excuse racial discrimination, was contesting the Bursley elections. For
but that myth is so often repeated by the my statement in wich I labeled Patrosso
buttha myh 1 s ofen epetedbytoe an obnoxious and unpopular person, I was
South African government, it deserves to subequy acd byltwonletters
be deflated.) subsequently attacked by two letters to
SECOND, THE COMMUNITY of South the Daily.
ACN ,HE COMUNt ITYodfSrguty The letters written by John McHugh,
Afri ans whose descent is traced largely G. J. DiGiuseppe, Brian Lasky 'and Jeff
from the original -Dutch settlers and otherG.Jompsn peer anted ky adJck
immigrant communities, including French Thompson, generally amounted to a pack
of blatant .lies. It first then appeared to
and German immigrants, has been called me that these individuals have no re-
Boer, from the word for farmer (and not spect for the truth and wrote these let-
Boor, as your columnist had it).sp re ttand mrote.e
Third, Scheller perpetuates another of ters purely of spite and malice.
Not only was I attacked concerning
the Tarzan-like images of Africa: that Af- my opinions of Patrosso, but also for my
rica is organized into something called . , ,; rr_.,A - - .
MICHAEL BECKMAN
Aftermath
NOW THAT THE DUST and smog have cleared and
Jimmy Carter has emerged at the top of what
many have inferred to be a "scrapheap" of an elec-
tion, upon initial analysis, many positive and en-
couraging signs can be seen from the results.
The foremost of these signs is the large voter
turnout, in light of the fact that pollsters and political
analysts were - predicting one of the lowest turnouts
since women were given the suffrage. This year over
80 million voters cast ballots for or against a presi-
dential candidate, the largest turnout in history. While
the actual percentage, (about 54 per cent of the eligi-
ble voters turned out) is low compared to the high
of 62.8 per cent in the 1960 election, or even the
55.4 per cent turnout in the 1972 election, is is signifi-
cantly higher than the 40 per cent figure that some
analysts were projecting.
This comparatively high figure can be attributed
to many factors. First of all, over ten million Ameri-
cans became eligible to vote for the first time this
year because of the lowering of the voting age in
1971. And this large new segment of the voting popu.
lation didn't vote as expected. A CBS poll showed
that voters between the ages of 18-21 went with Ford,
by a small majority.
SECONDLY, IT APPEARS that organized labor's
massive campaign to turn out the workers was suc-
cessful. In major industrial cities across the coun-
try, voter turnout was extremely heavy. New York
city reported over 77 per cent turnout at the polls,
Los Angeles county estimates around 85 per cen
those eligible voted, and in Boston, with the f
tally not yet in, a whopping 92 per cent is predic
The televised debates obviously had a substa
effect on the turnout, but there could be other, r
intangible reasons why so many people voted. Ma
all the experts were wrong. Maybe the people of
country really could differentiate between the
major candidates, and what seems even more sh
ing to cynics like myself, maybe people actually l
the candidate they voted for. Maybe it wasn't
a "lesser of two evils" election.
In addition to the pleasantly surprising voter t
out, many staunch and suffocating political tradi
endemic to Presidential elections seem to haveI
broken. The all-pervading power of the incum
suffered a severe short-circuit Tuesday. For only
eighth time in history, and the first time since
an incumbent President was beaten. Not sinceI
and his New Deal defeated Herbert Hoover's s
goat for the depression administration has an in
bent tumbled.
And nine incumbent Senators, five Democrats
four Republicans will not be making the trip to W
ington after this Janiuary. The voter's decision to
out these people is very encouraging. The time
once, when an incumbent merely had to go thr
the f rmalities of a primary and an election to
tinue their solidification of the Apierican ruling{
But now the American people have given these
islators notice. Being in office no longer automati
entitles someone to stay there, regardless of his
tions or in the case of the 94th Congress, inact
THE MEN AND WOMEN that will run thisc
try for the next 2, 4 or six years will have to
duce. They will have to work harder, stay mor
tuned to the will of their constituents and com
with some workable solutions to the problems fa
this country or they will be sent back home toi
their memoirs. And this attitude of the people
only be a big plus to everyone in this country
cept the Machiavellian power-mongers who. hav
too longbeen ruling this country.
Yet another bright spot that occurred in this
tion is the apparent rebirth by and reacceptanc
the south. Jimmy Carter is the first man to be
00 06 7)A' ,CAL- t
t of ted President from the Deep South since Zachary Tay-
final for died in office in 1850. The Civil War ended in 1865,
ted. but it has taken over a, century before the northern
rtial "liberals" have been able to get over their fear of
more a second Confederacy and have seen fit to give the
aybe South a chance to truly rise again.
this
two AND THE HEAVY ; SUPPORT of the moderate
ock- candidate, even omitting the fact that he's one of
iked the boys, shows how far the South has come in try-
just ing to throw off its rebel image. Gone are the days
of Huey Long, l)eracy tests for blacks trying to reg-
turn- ister to vote and the aura of invincibility surround-
tions ing the Ku Klux Klan. And hopefully, gone forever
been are the prejudices that cause Rebel flags to be waved
bent in Mississippi, and the image of simpletons and hi
the y'alls that the playing of "Dixie" inspires in New
1932, Jersey.
FDR But the most important and encouraging sign to
cape- come out of the election was that Jimmy Carter won,
cum- but did not receive the overwhelming popular man-
,date he received. He knows now, that he won the
and election by an extremely small majority, in spite
Nash- of the seemingly insurmountable lead that he once
turn held, in spite of the large voter turnout that histori-
was cally has favored the Democrats, and in spite of his
ough clearly superior performances in the last two debates.
con- Jimmy Carter will take his oath of office on Janu-
elite. ary 22' knowing that with a few votes here and there,
leg- he might have lost. He has a hard task ahead of
cally him in t-ying to bind together a country torn by a
s ac- very close election.
ions. But he is armed with the knowledge that he could
have lost, and that he had better do a damn good
coun- job of fulfilling his platform. He knocked off an in-
pro- cumbent, and he knows that it could happen to him.
e at- With these facts indelibly etched in his mind, it is
e up believed that Mr. Carter will put out a concerted ef-
acing fort to right this country's wrongs.
write
can AND MAYBE IN FOUR YEARS, we can look back
ex- at the results of this election and smile in the wis-
dom of the rightness of our choices and of the en-
elec- couraging trends that came out of what was gen-
ce 'of erally considered to be a disappointing campaign
ele- before the vote came in.
RECENTLY, THE BLACK
students of South Quad respond-
ed through Letters To The
Daily asking for an article that
would express all sides to the
events which have been occur-
ing at Bursley.
I believe the South Quad
Black residents have the right
idea. During the two years that
I have attended the University
of Michigan. I have never doubt-
derous and greatly without foun-
dation. Evidently McHugh, Di-
Guiseppe, Lasky and Thompson
have little knowledge of what
has actually taken place at
Bursley, or at least a correct
picture of both sides to the
story.
ALTHOUGH I AM not claim-
ing to have this correct picture,
I do feel that it is a shame
that opinions such as these peo-
no accurate source of informa-
tion. They are like so many
others that have a need to hear
the real story. This being both
sides to the story in order that
they may make a more ac-
curate assessment of the situa-
tion.
Charles F. Holman, III
Former Presiding Officer,
Bursley Hall
Rnor o m._i -ann
the people of the United States.
However small the margin of
decisive votes - and close elec-
tions are by no means unprece-
dented in our history a the vote
still represents a definite ma-
jority. To say that the country
is "far from being united"
seems inaccurate. The fact that
a Southerner has been elected
to the Presidency for the first
time since before the Civil War,
That was what was so signifi-
cant about this election. Al-
though Jimmy Carter may not
have been the candidate that
many of us would have more
wholeheartedly preferred or had
supported during earlier stages
lof the campaign (and it is spec-
ulative who else could have de-
feated Ford); it is reassuring
and encouraging to know that
as a nation we have taken the