ATTICA REIEMBERED -rV4S FOUMI)4 Wyo L. After four years, By MARC BASSONis. no real reform A &OR#& DAY MARKS the fourth an- niversary of the crushing of the Attica uprising by armed police. On September 13, 1975, at 9:30 a.m., New York State Corrections Commissioner Rus- sell Oswald ordered state and local police, backed by the Na- tional Guard, to seize control of the Attica State Penitentiary from its rebellious inmates and end their four day revolt against unfair prison conditions. As a result, the affair cost 43 men their lives (almost as many from policemen's weap- ons as from the prisoners' vio- lence) and left the state with $4 million dollars in property damages. For a time, the media were filled with speculation about the motivations and circumstances of the event and chances for penal reform seemed good. To- day, all seems forgotten. IN THE end, the prisoners' real grievances were buried be- neath national anger over the manner in which the inmates chose to express them. Basic- ally, the prisoners had sought more humane treatment and the rights accorded their fel- low men outside the prison walls. Typical of their complaints were the lack of proper medi- cal care and recreational facili- ties, guard brutality, and the prohibition against inmates en- gaging in political activity. Af- if. r kL.Y K i' Ti u w @a +rG+ i s. rte 1 ter the first brief outcry, how- ever, these problems were q u i c k 1 y forgotten, leaving America's prison system in as poor a state as before. Of course, we do have some' "showcase" minimum security facilities today. The Allenwood Penitentiary in Pennsylvania boasts a golf course, tennis courts, and other sports facili- ties - more like a Hilton Hotel xe Cau -& an Bme Eighty-Five Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Letters to The Dail Saturday, September 13, 1975 News Phone: 764-0552 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 MPSC: Conflict of interest AT LEAST 10 STAFF members of the Michigan Public Service Commission, which regulates the state's utilities, will receive pensions from those companies when they reach the age of 65. Critics have argued that such an arrangement raises the spectre of conflict of interest, a charge that one commissioner has already dismissed as a child of post-Watergate moral- ity or something like that. "It seems a little far-fetched to find a conflict . . . but you never know these days . . . and may be it's a conflict if you breathe the same air," remarked the commissioner. The charges, however, cannot and should not be dismissed that lightly. The conflict exists. It poses a threat to consumers across the state. Utilities enjoy monopolies, with the provision that rate increases and other policy changes must be approv- ed by the Public Service Commission. Yet that commission can hardly serve as an effective watchdog when its staff - which drafts recommen- dations on the companies' requests- has a deeply vested interest in the{ well-being of the utilities. IF THE UTILITIES were in financ- ially unsound condition, they could no longer contribute to the pension funds - meaning benefits earmarked for past and present com- pany employes would be jeopardized. Therefore, the staff members may want to see a healthy profit margin for the utilties ,even though it re- sults in gouging the consumer. The commission has promised a thorough investigation into possible conflicts. But judging from remarks already made, it does not seem as if the probe will be carried out with vigor and impartiality. Although a member of the state Attorney General's office has noted that a possible conflict of interest exists, the agency has no immediate plans to look into the matter. To resolve the issue, an indepen- dent investigation of the charges must be conducted. If that study re- veals a clear cut conflict - and we think it will - steps must be taken to eliminate the cause. Clericals To The Daily: I AM A CLERICAL who has worked at the University for over eight years. I was involved in the initial drive to get a un- ion in because I felt that it was necessary and long over-due. One clerical trying to deal with University administration is fu- tile and I felt (and still feel) that a united group of clericals could deal more efficiently. I worked long and hard with sev- eral other people trying to or- ganize the North Campus area, but ultimately withdrew from active participation because of the discouraging results of try- ing to organize the passive and indifferent clerical staff. When the union was finally voted in, I had great faith in our bargaining committee's ability to deal with the important is- sues at hand and to convince the administration that our pay and, more importantly, our benefits, were sorely lacking. We placed ourselves completely in the hands of the committee. We didn't want to get involved or be bothered with weekly meetings and so the bargaining committee went it alone and in- experienced. I cannot help but think that the UAW took advan- tage of that fact. We, the cleri- cals are now paying for that costly mistake. A contract that should have never even been considered has been ratified. Why? At the first ratification meeting a raise of $52.50 was offered by the University and our bargaining committee did not recommend ratification. But at the last meeting, a raise of $43 was recommended for rati- fication and was, in fact, ac- cepted. Why? Where is the logic in accepting $10 less than what we turned down before? Why had the paperwork for the $43 raise already gone through pay- roll before we even ratified the contract? Why does Carolyn Forrest of the UAW internation- al continually run the meetings instead of ourbargaining com- mittee? I've been told that it's because they asked her. Why? Before the union was voted in, we were deluged with leaflets from the UAW. Since that time it has dwindled to a mere trickle and has almost dried up com- pletely. WE HAVE BEEN BLIND and lazy for far too long and have lost out in the process. It's time we took hold of the reins our- selves and got actively involved in our local because that's the only way it's going to work for us. The power of a local is not in the hands of the union's in- ternational representatives; it is not in the hands of a few (chosen or self-appointed). The power of a local is in the hands of its members and we must as- sume the responsibility or else settle for next to nothing. A un- ion is only as strong as its mem- bership and we must show the international and the University administration that we want more than they are willing to give. We have made the bargaining committee do it all because we couldn't be bothered. That course of action didn't benefit us in the least. I think we should at least give the Clericals for a Democratic Union a chance to explain their ideas. Some of the members of this "splinter group" were involved in the ori- ginal drive to unionize. They left the core group because they could see that the international was taking advantage of our in- experience. I would like to urge all clericals to go to the CDU meetings, and go with an open mind. Be good enough to at least listen towwhat they have to say. I think we might find that they are not the "wild-eyed rad- icals" we think they are. All we have to do is listen and that has never hurt anyone. Instead of flinging bitter recriminations back and forth (that, incidental- ly, wear our effectiveness down), let's keep our minds open to new ideas. We are in- telligent people who can make up our minds when presented with all the facts. Let's move forward instead of moving no- where at all. Rose Kronsperger North Campus Sept. 11, 1975 CDRS To The Daily: THE ANN ARBOR' FREE People's Clinic faces a grim battle for life in the City Coun- cil Chamber this coming Mon- day. Through nearly a full year's worth of discussion, re- view and consideration with the Citizen's Committee on CDRS, the Clinic staff has defended its request for federal grant mon- ies. Its fate now rests with City Council. Over the past eleven months the clinic has curtailed services and limited outreach programs while awaiting the final deci- sion on funding. The current clinic budget, if not expanded, will be exhausted within two months. Unfortunately, the clinic's ef- forts to present a comprehen- sive funding plan may have fallen on deaf ears. Judging from Mayor Wheeler's publicly stated plan to fund the clinic in a piecemeal, temporary fa- shion under the guise of emer- gency funding, the mayor may intend to deny us the long-term funding we feel is necessary for a stable, effective program. HIS PLAN WOULD CALL. for impounding $2.5 million of dollars of funds,hwhich would be released, at 'his discretion, to unspecified future programs falling under the auspices of the mayor's Human Services Or- ganization. The mayor has not yet establishedcriteria for de- termining which or to what ex- tent "shoestring" proposals are to be funded. Through this dramatic politi- cal move - a move that not only involves a huge sum of money but in aavery real sense imperils several of the com- munity's more effective social service programs - themayor 'leads one to believe that the funding allotments may well fall only to more favored brethren. Which community services will be graced by his generos- ity and which will be allowed only token sops to limit their political efficacy are as yet unanswered questions to be dealt with at Monday's meeting. WE URGE ALL who are fa- miliar with the work of the Free People's Clinic or who feel they have a stake in the future of so- cial services in this community to attend Monday's Council meeting and help us guarantee that our general medicine clinic will not be forced to live, or die, on a token. Kevin Conway Coordinator Free People's Clinic than a dungeon. Reporters tak- en to visit Allenwood return with glowing stories about "the new penology." But Allenwood is one of but a few minimum security prisons and reporters are barred from inspecting maximum security prisons like San Quentin, alleg- edly for their own safety. (These are the same reporters who the government encouraged to go to Vietnam when the war began to report on our army's, glamorous exploits there.) IT SEEMS ironic somehow that those least in need of re- habilitation, the so-called white collar criminals, are placed in relatively luxurious institutions, while those who are in desper- ate need of help, the perpetra- tors of violent or sexual crimes, the thieves, the murderers, the rapists, are incarcerated in maximum security dungeons. There, they receive reinforce- ment for their criminality and hostility towards the system that put them there. If a "hard core criminal" de- cided to rehabilitate himself by following the apparent mode of behavior of those who designed his cell block and maintain its security, he would end as more twisted than he began. In her book Kind and Unus- ual Punishment, Jessica Mitford comments on the government's efforts to improve our jail sys- tem: "You want to appropriate money for better prisons. I say don't do it. Giving money to the state to build better prisons is like giving money to Himmler to build better concentration camps." Indeed, government correc- tions officials often seem to bend over backwards to avoid the charge of "coddling the criminals." A state prison com- pleted recently had a large swimming pool in its yard. Pri- son officials afraid of seeming lenient filled it with dirt and planted over it. OUR CURRENT system is honeless and it is time for a new approach. William Nagel, a corrections administrator for eleven years, wrote, "If this country is resolved to do some- thing about the crime problem, the immediate thing it must do is call a halt to the building of new prisons, jails, and training schools, at least for a time, while we plan and develop al- ternatives." One such alternative has been developed by Dr. Sol Chaneles, professor of sociology and a vet- eran of countless New York State and Federal crime com- missions. Remarking that the root of the prison problem lay in the prison's tendency to pro- duce automata conditioned to mindless obedience rather than thinking human beings capable of independent survival without crime, Chaneles developed the concept of the "open prison-" There are literally hundreds of towns in this country whose sole industry is staffing and supplying a nearby Federal or state penitentiary. The towns themselves are collapsing as old prison staff die or retire and no new staff replace them. Thus, Chaneles suggests that prisoners be encouraged to move out into the town and give it a new blood and labor pool as part of their rehabilitation. A voluntary "buddy" system could pair inmates with prison guards and townspeople who would eat dinner once a week, help him find a job in the com- munity he could fill during the day to earn extra money, and generally help to ease the pris- oner into a quasi-parole situa- tion in which the prisoners lives in his cell but spends varying amounts of time in the town. THE PRISONERS would be allowed to participate in local political processes as well. (The law only bars them from tak- ing part in state and national elections.) In theory, once the prisoner has lived within the town for five or ten years, par- ticipated in its sicial life, ob- "A fer the first brief outcry, however, these problems (the prison- ers' grievances) were quickly forgotten, leaving America's prison system in. as poor a state as before." tained a job, and elected a may- or, he may even elect to stay in the town upon his release rather than return to the un- healthy atmosphere fromwhich he came. The state of Washing- ton is now moving in this direc- tion. Of course, Dr. Chaneles' solu- tion may not be the only one; indeed, it may prove to be no solution at all. But American penology is desperately in need of more such fresh innovative thinking, both to improve our prisons and to prevent another Attica. Marc Basson is a fresh person in the In/e flex program. Union sliflting members j ISTENING TO RECENT rumblings in University clerical circles, it is becoming increasingly clear that the UAW union local representing the group hasn't lived up to its rank and file's expectations. There is evi- dence to suggest that the union lead- ership has been less than candid with their members in securing a contract from the University. Furthermore, it appears that the union (local 2001) is making an active attempt to divide the members of the union into vari- ous factions by permitting former contract bargainers to establish a set of by-laws without any input whatso- ever from the people it supposedly represents. Judging from the results of the bargaining team efforts to secure a contract last month, it is highly ques- tionable whether they should be per- mitted to draw up the by-laws. It seems, at this point, that they are more interested in their own power TODAY'S STAFF: trips - and extending the power of the union hierarchy and fattening their own coffers - than in serving the best interests of union members. ALL ALONG, THE UAW has display- ed a blatant contempt and a gross lack of sensitivity to the prob- lems and opinions of the University's 3,200 clericals. They have instead, quickly lapsed into a pattern of auto- cratic rule which implicitly, if not explicitly, discourages open communi- cations and opposition to union dic- tates. As was typical of what occurred during contract negotiations with the University during the summer, Jean Jones, former head of the clerical bargaining team, has consistently re- fused to discuss any specifics of the by-laws being drawn up by the old unit. And it appears that the mass of clericals won't learn of the details until their next general meeting Sep- tember 28. If the UAW and their bargaining lak-C rpfna ni r n . ir n- n ns WUE CPk) Jor I ',-B CAUSE AFTOPMREW/ WE JE JUU M OtKJE' F AU& 1P G-nE: FOP, T111 K- .,,' t K- IHPFDVU TNT TIME FOR cU N Xr L-(H1TD WOAR-. N _ DECDP A HORS x ( S 10OJAt, TMEYWMELTM WH3 .~'A~G tAHT 3A T TQF( 1 H b4 rzz f AOP DX) CAQ-FJ AFFOQP' TO056~$ TWO I a1l-rrr) OTHER t'ATI V6 5OPIT cRI TrA(- f4 S''A~ 5)E~l~w"- APOCAb PS5.