Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Wednesday, November 5, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
LISTEN! WHY ALL THIS FUSS
ABOUT THE EQUAL RIQ'HTS
AMENDMENT?
11
WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR
TRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIP?
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By MICHAEL BECKMAN
Editor's Note: The following is
the first of a four part series re-
counting the sordid history of the
Teamsters Union and speculating
on the directions its future will
take.
THE METEORIC RISE in
power of the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffers, Warehousemen and
Helpers of America has been
equaled only by their incredi-
ble misuse of that power.
In the past twenty years, the
Teamsters have grown from a
regionally oriented group of
disorganized locals to the larg-
est and single most powerful
union in America.
From a modest membership
of barely 100,000 in 1903, Team-
ster ranks swelled to their cur-
rent size of 2,000,000.
Teamsters are strategically
placed throughout a U. S. econ-
omy over which they exert con-
siderable control. They are or-
ganized to a point where any or
all segments of the union can
- be mobilized on short. notice to
shut down means of production
and transportation.
The power wielded by the
Teamster legions, a group no-
torious for its history of cor-
ruption, is both amazing and
-frightening.
IN RECENT DECADES the
Union has seen two of its presi-
dents, Dave Beck and Jimmy
Hoffa, sentenced to prison. Con-
clusively linked to the under-
world, the Teamster hierarchy
has attracted constant Con-
gressional investigation. In ad-
dition, it has been exiled from
the AFL-CIO, linked with the
Watergate and other Nixon in-
discretions, implicated in a
bloody and violent program to
crush the United Farm Work-
ers, and fingered again for its
possible role in the Hoffa kid-
napping.
Not only has the ubiquitous
union survived these crisis, it
has managed to grow stronger
with each one.
Such is the regrettable saga
of the Teamsters Union. Con-
ceived as an advocate and safe-
guard for the millions of hard-
working Americans who popu-
late its ranks, it has garnered
as much and more power than
its founders had hoped for, but
in the process it has betrayed
its membership by using that
power for internal coercion and,
ultimately, personal gain.
IN 1907, FOUR years after
the union was founded, Dan To-
bin became its president, a post
he would hold until 1952. The
Teamsters were a no-growth
union in the early years. Inno-
vation and expansion were not
encouraged until the Mid-30s,
the low point of the Depression.
Since then, the Teamsters or-
ganization has undergone two
pivotal changes accounting for
its rise to national power.
Farrell Dobbs started the
push in 1934. Dobbs, later to
become the Trotskyist Party's
presidential candidate organiz-
ed Minneapolis city truck driv-
ers into a powerful union. Fol-
lowing a major strike victory
there, he expanded the union's
tentacles out across the U. S.
Dobbs has been credited with
moving the Teamsters power
base beyond the local level and
laying the groundwork for the
national Teamster hierarchy
of today.
IN 1937, THE union absorbed
the warehousemen from the AF
of L. Slowly, the union began
to fill out.
Also in 1937, west coast em-
ployers fearful of dealing with
the corrupt CIO longshoremen
under Harry Bridges, turned to
a young Teamster organizer
from Seattle named Dave Beck.
Beck consolidated his charges
into the Western Conference of
Teamsters. He centralized the
structure of the union, and soon
held power over 11 states. In a
short time his region grew from
60,000 members to over 400,000.
Beck gained a reputation for
being true to his word. His in-
fluence grew immensely, and in
1952, Dave Beck replaced Dan
Tobin as president of the Team-
sters.
Born in Seattle in 1894, Beck's
parent were poor, and he was
taught the value of the dollar.
He developed a taste for power
and money at an early age and
started working as a truck
driver. He owned his own truck
by 1925, when Dan Tobin offer-
ed him a post as a Teamster
organizer in the Pacific North-
west.
Beck went about organizing in
the accepted mode of the day,
the tough way. He resorted to
the use of goon squads and
violence but didn't get very
far.
In 1937, Beck changed his
methods from coercion to co-
operation.
By drawing business away
from Harry Bridges' racketeers,
Beck began to make a name for
himself, leading to a rapid rise
in the Teamster hierarchy. His
ascension climaxed in 1952,
when he became International
President of the Teamsters.
When Beck assumed the
presidency, the Teamsters were
divided into tight city-central
bodies. Gradually, he began to
apply nationally the same meth-
ods of organizing that had
worked for him on the west
coast. He formed the Central,
Eastern and Southern Confer-
ences of Teamsters, all modell-
ed on the Western Conference.
In the process, he merged many
locals, cleaned out many but
not all of the racket-ridden lo-
cals and molded the Teamsters
PART ONE:
eamsters: Origins of power
into a strong, solid block.
HIS CHIEF ALLY was
James Hoffa of Detroit who, in
return for his support of Beck's
bid for the presidency, was
named ninth vice-president and
given charge of the Midwest
and . Southern Conferences.
Along with the conferences,
Beck set up 15 trade divisions.
Among these were the auto-
mative division, the warehouse-
man, the brewery and soft
drinks, and others. The union
was expanding both vertically
and horizontally, and its power
was skyrocketing.
Beck was a man of arro-
gance, a quality he often ex-
hibited in his dealings with
other unions, especially within
the AFL-CIO. During the mer-
ger conference of the AFofL
and the CIO in December, 1955,
Beck played with the agree-
ment, conceding on points that
benefitted his Teamsters, and
abstaining from agreeing to
such measures as the no-raid
clause, for the same reasons.
Going into the year 1957, there
seemed to be limitless avenues
open to the expansion of Team-
ster influence and power.
Tomorrow: Dave Beck's de-
mise
Michael Beckman is a mem-
ber of the Editorial Page staff.
MEN AND WOMEN GO TOGETHER
LIKE BACON AND EGGS.. . LIKE.
ICE CREAM AND CAKE. .
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_..... ..... ....._ .w. ___.Y...
Halloween guzzler's escapade faIts flat
gprd7,-1745r,--
Editorial staff
GORDON ATCHESON CHERYL PILATE
Co-Editors-in-Chief
DAVID BLOMQUIST ............. Arts Editor
BARBARA CORNELL .. Sunday Magazine Editor
PAUL HASKINS ............ Editorial Director
JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY Sunday Magazine Editor
SARA RIMER .................. Executive Editor
STEPHEN SELBST ...............City Editor
JEF SORENSON .......... .Managing Editor
MARY LONG .......... Sunday Magazine Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Torn Allen, Glen
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Gordon Atcheson, . Elaine
Fletcher, Angel ique Matney Sara
Rimer, Jeff Ristine, Annemarie
Schiavi, Jim Tobin
Editorial Page: Paul Haskins, Jon Pan-
sius, Tom Stevens
Arts Page: Jeff Sorensen
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
Allerhand, Ellen Breslow, Mary .Beth Dillon,
Ted Evanoff, Jim Finklestein, Elaine Fletch-
er, Stephen Hersh, Debra Hurwitz, Lois Josi-
movich, Doe Kralik, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly.
Ann Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline
Lubens, Rob Meachum, Robert Miller, Jim
Nicoll, Cathy Reutter, Jeff Ristine, Tim
Schick, Katherine Spelman, Steve Stojic, Jim
Tobin,, Bill Turque, Jim Valk, David Wein-
berg, Sue Wilhelm, David Whiting, Margaret
Yao.
Photography Staff
KEN PINK
Chief Photographer
STEVE KAGAN ..............Staff Photographer
PAULINE LUBENS.........Staff Photographer
Sports Staff
BRIAN DEMING
Sports Editor
MARCIA MERKER...........Executive Editor
LEBA HERTZ .................. Managing Editor
JEFF SCHILLER ................. Associate Editor
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Al 'Hrapsky, Jeff
Liebster, Ray O'Hara, Michael Wilson
NIGHT EDITORS: Rick Bonino, TomCameron,
Tom Duranceau, Andy Glazer, Kathy Henne-
ghan, Ed Lange, Rich Lerner, Scott Lewis, Bill
Stieg
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Enid Goldman,
Marcia Katz, John Niemeyer, Dave Wihak
DESK ASSISTANTS: Paul Campbell, Marybeth
Dillon, Larry Engle, Aaron Gerstman, Jerome
Gilbert, Andy Lebet, Rick Maddock, Bob Miller,
Joyce Moy, Patrick Rode, Arthur Wightman
By JAY LEVIN
T PROMISED MYSELF this
year to spend Halloween
night in a different way than
last year's writing of a 'C' Calc
midterm.
Different it was.
After guzzling pitchers full of
Stroh's at the V-Bell, staggering
through the UGLI yelling
"nurds" and upsetting the hardy
band of late night crammers,
and taking a midnight jaunt,
appropriately, through the ceme-
tery, one of our party, masked
for the occasion, invited up to
his apartment where he wanted
to fetch a warmer coat.
Walking from our friend's
digs after a very brief stopover,
we came to a series of descend-
ing steps in the hallway. Still
a little tipsy, I negotiated the
first series of three steps with
a charming pirouette, a grace-
ful move which delighted my
equally tipsy friends. On the
second flight I managed a bal-.
letic leap, comparable to the
likes of Nuryev, or maybe even
Gene Kelly.
APPROACHING THE THIRD
flight, I gave myself a running
start, left my feet and smashed
my skull against a lowered por-
tion of the ceiling, landing
crumpled and dazed with all my
weight registered on an unlucky
left ankle.
Embarrassed at my ultimate
act of stupidity, I sat at the
base of the steps with a throb-
bing foot and blood gushing from
a nasty head cut, staining the
hall's brocade carpet.
"Take me to University Hos-
pital," I remembered telling the
crowd cloistered around my
sore body, cautiously avoiding
the mention of Health Service
in the interest of my health.
So off to the hospital I went,
wearing a tightly-fitting terry
cloth turban around my battered
head.
And the folks at the 'U' Hos-
pital emergency room, 12:30
Saturday morning, were very
efficient.
No sooner had my friends
wheeled me in when a shapely,
young nurse began to attack me
with the customary barrage of
questions.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU go to
Health Service?," "What's your
name?," "What's your Ann Ar-
bor address?," "Do you have
a Blue Cross card?,". "What's
your home address?," "What
are your parents' first names?,"
"Are they living?," "What hap-
pened to you tonight?"
The first question, inquiring
why I did not drag my bleeding
body to Health Service, gave me
the impression that they wanted
to get rid of me. I explained
that I had already tested Health
Service last year when I lost
my voice, was less than pleased
with the care I received, and
trusted only hospitals in an
emergency situation.
After being issued a blue,
plastic 'U' Hospital accounts
card, a jovial assistant shaved
around my wound much to my
displeasure) and began to de-
germ it with antiseptic. X-rays
were promptly taken of my sore
ankle by a technician who look-
ed more like a linebacker for
the Redskins than a hospital
medic.
I WAS WHEELED back to a
small, ominous room, filled with
needles and cotton swabs, and
was ordered to lie down and
wait for the scalp surgeon.
(Scalp surgeon! Fancy schman-
cy...)
Doc took his time in arriv-
ing, arousing me from a dreary
slumber. A young, poker-faced
physician, he dodged my inquisi-
tive questions with the skill of
a political candidate and only
informed me he was going to
insert sutures in my head.
"What are sutures?," I asked.
"Stitches."
I was slightly annoyed that he
was using medical terms way
above my head.
A nurse (the shapely one)
dropped in and asked Doc
whether this one would be "with
or without."
"With," he said.
Hey folks, let me in on this
I boasted a ridiculous, rolled
piece of gauze connected to my
head with four freshly implant-
ed sutures.
After being given a pair of
crutches ($7), an ace bandage
($?), instructions on the wear
and care of my head and the
news that the bill would be sent
to my parents, I was free to
leave.
I had been in the hospital less
than three hours and received
excellent care with a minimum
"I negotiated the first series of three steps
with a charming pirouette, a graceful move
which delighted my equally tipsy frienis. On
the second flight, I managed a baltetic leap,
comparable to the
likes of Nuryev."
'.' ,^ ::.ik?: , ;.' y?' ?n. .:"f b-, i " 'r.' . h*'r' ' 7 :t"' . v. r +' ^Yn ." '^4<GY:".lJ.o .. ""?:. 7Ct, ti.o!<"Y< ii I [" - .r sT/ "
also!
"With what?," I asked.
"WE'RE GOING TO numb
your head with a needle, so
you won't feel anything," said
Shapely.
So while thousands of people
boozed, smoked and did God
knows what else in honor of
Halloween early Saturday morn,
a poker-faced doc methodically
injected me with a stinging
fluid and proceeded to do mac-
rame on my head. When the
10-to-15-minute ordeal was over,
of waiting and hassle.
BACK AT THE DORM, around
3:30, a drunk partygoer asked
me why I.had a narshmallow
in my head. Giving her a snotty
look, I hobbled into my room,
undressed, took a Anower with
a 'U' Cellar bag over my head
to keep my marshmallow nice
and dry, elevated my ankle
and went to bed.
A Halloween night to remem-
ber! I'd just as soon forget it.
Jay Levin is a Daily staff
writer.
The LighterSid
Putting the reaction
before the bad news,
Dick West s
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON - Some citizens may have found it curious that
the first confirmation of James Schlesinger's dismissal as Secre-
tary of Defense came from Sen. Henry Jackson's reaction to the
unannounced action.
But to anyone who understands how things work around here,
that sequence seemed perfectly in order.
Anytime there is a high level government firing, the question
arises as to how the firer breaks the news to the firee. Usually,
the decision is made at a meeting between the President and his
top aides.
Now that the tape . recorders have been removed from the
Oval Office, we may never see the exact transcript of th talks
that led up to the ouster of Schlesinger and CIA Director William
Colby.
It is possible, however, to reconstruct what I feel sure is a rea-
sonably accurate facsimile of the discussion.
"OKAY, YOU GUYS," the President says, "Schlesinger has
got to go. What's the best way to approach it?"
"How about putting a pink slip in his pay envelope?" one of
the aides suggests.
"That won't do," the President replies. "He has already been
paid for October and I don't want to wait until the end of Novem-
ber to give him the gate."
A second aide says, "You could have the Pentagon remove
the door to his office during the week and and replace it with a
gate."
"Too subtle," the President replies. "We don't -want to leave
any doubt that he is being sacked."
The second aide says, "Maybe you could give a picnic for
the cabinet and let Schlesinger win the sack-race."
"To obvious," the President replies. "I want this handled as
tactfully as possible."
"I'M JUST THINKING off the top of my head," a third aide
says, " but why don't we get Bo Callaway to issue a statement
asserting that you would be better off with a younger man as your
Secretary of Defense?
"When Callaway as your campaign manager said that about
the Vice President, everyone instantly assumed that Rockefeller
was being dumped. If he says it about the Defense Secretary,
maybe Schlesinger will take the hint and resign."
"That's no good either," the President replies. "Schlesinger is
only 46."
"I think I've got it!" cries the aide whose pink slip sug-
gestion was rejected. "When you fire Schlesinger, you fire Wil-
liam Colby at the same time.
"Anything even remotely connected with the CIA these days
Letters to The Daily
help us make SGC a more vi-
ballot able force in students' control
To The Daily: of their academic lives. If you
have questions concerning what
IN RESPONSE to the letter SGC is up to, stop by the week-
printed by you of October 29, ly informal coffee hour in the
headed "hypocrisy," we would SGC office from three to five
like to make it clear that the on Wednesday afternoons. Or
actions taken by the SGC are talk to council members any
not indefensible. The two ballot time during the week.
proposals rejected by a substan-
tial majority of council mem- Jeff Lark, Lisa Yellin,
bers contained provisions that Anita Tanay, Debi Goodman,
differ so subtly from the single, Michael Harwood, Cliff Adler,
two part proposal that was ac- Dave Mitchell, Kim Keller,
cepted, that to include all three Student Organizing Committee
on the ballot would not, as some October 29
suggest, give the students more
choice in the matter. Rather, it pirgim fundS
would have the effect of:
* Confusing the issue. To The Daily:-
* Rendering the results mean- THE CURRENT METHOD of
ingless due to the similar na- funds collection employed by
ture of the alternate amend- PIRGIM and supported by the
ments. University is unreasonable and
What SGC doesn't need is unethical in that it fails to pro-
another meaningless election. vide each student with equal
We've seen too many of those opportunities to support or not
things in the last few years. support PIRGIM.
What is important is that stu- With the previous method of
dents begin to realize that SGC funds collection, support of
is no longer the three ring cir- PIRGIM was running fourty-
cus of years past, and that SGC iRGitwasrunigfuty-
as awhoe i no ineretedand five to fifty perecent. But un-
as a whole is now interested and de r the system now employed
actively engaged in dealing with
the real problems faced by stu- just 3000 requests fordrefunds
dents on this campus. were received by Friday, Oc-
Not the least of these prob- tober 3, the end of the designat-
lems is the current outmoded ed refund week. This is very
structure of SGC. consistent with amount of sup-
IF PASSED BY the student port received by PIRGIM on
body, the two part ballot pro- other campuses where this
posal would have the effect of: method is employed, ie, ninty
* Guaranteeing diversity of to nintyfive percent. The nega-
interests and more well-rounded tive responce method is nearly
student representation by includ- doubling PIRGIM receipts on
ing representatives from each campus. Or in other terms,
U of M school and college gov- PIRGIM and the University ex-
ernment in addition to reps elec- pect roughly 16,000 University
ted at large by the student body. of Michigan students to be in-
* Polinea the vat renrc,. convenienced each term with a
Council, Panhellonic, Morter-
board and others have all adop-
ted resolutions indicating dis-
content with the present sys-
tem. In addition, a substantial
number of students have signed
petitions indicating similar dis-
atisfactions. Representatives of
PIRGIM are now aware of this
disalusionment and are urging
the creation of a student - ad-
ministrative adhoc committee
to investigate alternative PIR-
GIM funding plans. We have
certain reservations about such
a committee and its expedi-
ance. Its fairness and effec-
tiveness would certainly hinge
on the details of its construc-
tion.
We suggest that a form be in-
cluded in the first tuition bill-
ing allowing the student to in-
dicate his support of PIRGIM
with the first tuition payment.
PIRGIM representatives feel
that this check-off system may
reduce PIRGIM funding signifi-
cantly in that student informa-
tion and awareness of PIR-
GIM may be reduced. They feel
this may possibly initiate the
end of PIRGIM on this cam-
pus. To this we suggest a let-
ter of information be included
with the first bill. We believe
that a tuition bill check-off sys-
tem with an information sheet
allows the student a less biased
situation under which to make
his PIRGIM decision. It pro-
vides equality in convenience
and provides a reasonable and
rational situation to make a
judgement. If PIRGIM cannot
exist with students making
judgements underthese condi-
tions then its use of the uni-
versity billing system is unjus-
.is
Poor guy. Woke up after being asleep for 8 years to find
Fubert Humphrey leading the Democrats, Ronald Reagan the
GOP dark horse, and a new Nixon emerging.'
Brass lowers its standards
By STEVE STOJIC
U. S. NAVY has announced that all
personnel must wear their under-
things. Throughout the fleet, the order has
gone out. At two briefings aboard the de-
At the men's briefing, the Captain said,
"Men, let's be brief. Things don't go right
when your shorts are too tight. That's why
I've brought this briefcase containing our
latest U. S. Navy issue H.A.N.E.S. - Hea-