i
Ei 3ft r4w an Daitl
Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48104
PAT OLIPHANT
Slapstick satire and politi~cal punditry
Tuesday December 9, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Kissing Kissinger goodbye
IF PRESIDENT FORD intends to
make "moral diplomacy" more
than just a catch-phrase, he must
first rid his foreign policy brain-
trust of the domineering and highly
immoral presence of Henry Kissin-
ger.
For well over a year ,the people in
Congress and the national journals
have questioned Kissinger's role in
the U.S.'s interventionist policy to-
ward Salvador Allende's Chile. As
the evidence piled up implicating
Kissinger the chief architect of CIA
subversion in Chile, the Secretary
maneuvered to place the aura of
high office between himself and ac-
countability for his actions. By ar-
guing the need for complete atten-
tion to the on-going responsibilities
of his office, Kissinger in effect turn-
ed the attack back on his accusers.
When he threatened to resin
rather than countenance such de-
meaning accusations, he vas chal-
lenging the patriotism of his accus-
ers. Never ones to resist coercion
when skillfully denloved, the folks
on the Hill quickly fell in line behind
Kissinger.
TZISSINGER'S RECORD AS advisor
for national security affairs umnder
Nixon and later as secretary of state
for both Nixon and Ford has chilling-
ly and consistently combined mis-
layed genius with abuse of power.
As the world's most outspoken ad-
vocate of detente as well as articula-
tor of its conditions, Kissinger gar-
nered recognition beyond the bor-
ders of the U.S. and the West.
So a swift rise from relative ob-
scurity to international prominence
prompts the question: is a reasoned
approach to detente - a policy
which stresses the aversion of nu-
clear annihilation at all costs - a
policy of messianic or simply intuI-
tive proportions?
Is no one in the American dinlo-
matic corps except Renry Kissin ePr
capable of impressing on world
leaders the need for peace at all
costs?
TSHE SECRETARY OF state, since
his first China initiative under
Nixon, has displayed a remarkable
facility for creating compromise
where it didn't seem possible. But he
also proved perfectly willing to re-
sort to strong-arm tactics where dip-
lomatic elan made no impression.
Two years ago reports began trick-
ling out of congressional staffs that
Kissinger had used his influence as
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Barb Cornell, Jim Finklestein,
Rob Meachum, Stephen Selbst, Jeff
Sorensen
Editorial Page: Marc Basson, Michael
Beckman, Paul Haskins, Debra Hur-
witz, Tom Stevens
Arts Page: David Blomquist
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
head of the elite national security
"Forty Committee" to mastermind U.
S. manipulation of domestic Chi-
lean affairs. This manipulation took
many forms, including CIA disrup-
tion of Chile's free elections; har-
rassment of socialist President Sal-
vador Allende and his administra-
tion; and the purposeful fomenting
of coups, most of which were abor-
tive.
What role, if any, Kissinger had in
Allende's death and the ascension to
power of Chile's present reaction-
ary regime has not yet been deter-
mined. But the fact of Kissinger's
direct involvement in the Chile init-
iatives is no longer up for debate, es-
pecially in light of last week's con-
firmation of that involvement by
senate investigators.
THE FORD ADMINISTRATION
must not continue to make ex-
cuses for Kissinger. After last week's
revelations, the rhetoric of peace can
no longer obscure the debased pur-
poses which move him.
President Ford's moral diplomacy
can be no more than a self-delusion
or a calculated lie until he removes
Kissinger from the top echelon of
government.
For their part, the American peo-
ple and media must come to grips
with the facts and impress on the
President their inevitable conclu-
sion: "Kissinger must go!"
Photography Staff
KEN FINK PAULINE LUBENS
Chief Photographer Picture Editor
E. SUSAN SHEINER ........ Staff Photographer
GORDON TUCKER ........ Staff Photographer
Editorial Staff
GORDON ATCHESON CHERYL PTrATE
Co-Editors-in-Chief
DAVID BLOMQUIST ...........Arts Editor
BARBARA CORNELL .. Sunday Magazine Editor
PAUL HASKINS..............Editorial Director
DEBRA HURWITZ......Asst. Editorial Director
MARY LONG .... Sunday Magazine Editor
JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY Sunday Magazine Editor
SARA RIMER................ Executive Editor
STEPHEN SELBST................City Editor
JEFF SORENSON............Managing Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Tom Alien, Glen Allerhand,
Marc Basson, Dana Baumann, Michael Beck-
man, Ellen Breslow, Mitch Dunitz, Ted Ev-
anoff, Jim Finkelstein, Elaine Fletcher, David
,Garfinkel, Tom Godel, Charlotte Heeg,
Stephen Hersh, Lois Josimovih. Tom Kett-
ler, Linda Kloote, Chris Kochmanski, Doc
Kralik, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann Marie
Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lubens,
Teri Mageau, Angelique Matney Rob Mea-
chum, Robert Miller, Jim Nicol, Maureen
Nolan, Ken Parsigian, Cathy Reutter, Jeff
Ristine, Annmarie Schiavi, Tim ,Schick, Kar-
en Schulkins, Rick Soble, Tom Stevens, Steve
Stojic, Cathi Suak Jim Tobin, Bill Turque
Jim Valk, David Weinberg, Margaret Yao.
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, ToM Cameron,
Tom Duranceau, Andy Glazer. Kathy Henne-
ghan, Ed Lange, Rich Lerner, Scott Lewis, Bill
Stieg
By TOM STEVENS
PAT OLIPHANT is perhaps
the best editorial cartoonist
in the country today. His lucid
lively style is widely imitated
and his punch is generally un-
paralleled.
"I came from Austrail-yer in
1955," Oliphant told me in his
still pronounced accent during
my telephone conversation with
him. "I've been involved in
newspapers much of my life. I
started as a copy boy at a local
paper and went from there."
When Oliphant left his edi-
torial cartooning job in his
homeland, he immediately took
up residence at the Denver
(Colorado) Post.
Last spring he split from the
Post to work for the Washing-
ton (D.C.) Star where he holds
down a prestigious daily front
page spot for his work.
Now established, Oliphant can
get nasty in his cartoons, and
he does indeed, but most al-
ways within the limits of taste
and satire.
THESE TALENTS are amply
displayed in a recent cartoon
that has Ron Nessen and Jerry
Ford standing before a crump-
led limousine labled "Credibili-
ty." Says Nessen, dressed in
mechanic's garb, "Fixing this
is going to cost you a bun-
dle."
Editorial cartooning is unique
among American career pur-
suits in that here alone can
the creativity of the artist and
the cynical eye of the political
pundit merge and bear fruit.
Oliphant's cartoons are as
popular as they are outstand-
ing. In contrast to the old school
style of editorial cartooning
which employs heavy lines and
grainy shading, Oliphant goes
with what looks like a maga-
zine gag cartoon style. Along
with the sporty technique used
by Oliphant and (now) others,
another up and coming format
in political cartoons is the hori-
zontal, which offers much more
potential for innovation than the
old-school, upright boxes.
INSTEAD OF STAYING with
dry political statements that
are more opinions than inte-
grated criticisms, the new style
favors a more slapstick ap-
proach, the kind of sardonic
lampooning that digs deeper and
bites harder than a Gila Mon-
ster with hydraulic jaws.
Among Oliphant's contempor-
aries in this genre are such
pen-wits as Don Wright of the
Miami Herald and Jeff MacNel-
ly of the Richmond News Lead-
er.
A recent MacNelly cartoon
lambasted the widely controver-
sial UN Zionism as racism de-
cision by portraying Uganda's
Idi Amin proposing to the UN
assembly that idiocy be declared
a form of intellect.
Others around Amin bore such
name-plates as Weganda, They-
ganda, Lower Tract and The
Fun Republic of Chuckles. A pig
wrapped in Amin's arm was
identified as a representative
77
'EASY wiTHAT STUFF-- ONE WP CAN KILL 500,000 PEOPLE?
-Copyright, Los Angeles Times. Reprinted with permission.
of The Incredibly Glorious Peo-
ples Provisional Democratic
Council of Revolutionary Free
States of the Ridiculous Repub-
lic of Bilge. In the front row
there appears a Hitler blowing
on a party favor and, to his
left, a bespectacled chimpanzee
in a formal business suit. Two
rows back to the right a torso
wearing a white tuxedo and
black bow tie has a stump with
a clothes hanger hook in it
sprouting from the collar hole.
The name marker is blank.
THE TREND IS obviously to-
ward presenting a more humor-
ous message while increasing
the degree of social and politi-
cal comment. Pat Oliphant still
heads the pack but others are
catching up to the Australian
wizard.
Of Oliphant's peer group,
Frank Williams, Detroit Free
Press editorial cartoonist of 32
years, commented, "Oliphant
paved the way for the new
style, and 'he's good, I like
him, but these new styles are
starting to look too much
alike."
There is a bright future for
the editorial cartoon, though.
There are about 70 more work-
ing editorial cartoonists today
than in 1970 when the Ameri-
can- Association of Editorial
Cartoonists was formed."
Williams added that the influ-
ence of cartooning pioneers had
much to do with Oliphant's
emergence.
"OLIPHANT IS drawing in a
style reminiscent of the very
early American cartoonists, with
perhaps not as much exaggera-
tion but quite the same meticu-
lous detail," Williams explained.
Bill Mauldin, of World War
Two Willie and Joe fame, now
editorial cartoonist for the Chi-
cago Sun-Times has been con-
ducting a seminar in political
cartooning at Lale University,
says, "I admire Oliphant, and
it's true that the way he draws
is nothing absolutely new and
original, but it is a departure
from the conventional.
"A lot of people are really
blatantly imitating Oliphant,
which is indeed the sincerest
form of flattery I suppose.
Wright's signature in his car-
toons is much like Oliphant's
you may notice. As a matter
of fact, Oliphant told me that
sometimes magazines run a re-
print of one of Wright's car-
toons and mail the check to
him instead of Wright."
THOUGH THE editorial car-
toon remains predominant
among political art forms, the
comics page now has a political
representative. Garry Trudeau's
political Doonesbury strip has
turned the heads of those who
once wrote off the comics page
as a wasteland of cheap gags.
"It's good and it fills a need,"
says Oliphant.
A lot of people must agree
judging from the overwhelming-
ly favorable response Trudeau's
strip has met with since it was
introduced five years ago.
Editorial cartoonists resent
those who dismiss them as nig-
gling iconoclasts with no real
mission except to take innocu-
ous pokes at government. The
well done political cartoon is
supposed to make its readers
think. Furthermore, a political
cartoonist who shies away from
controversy is being unfair to
both his paper and his read-
ers.
TO BE GOOD, the cartoonist
must keep up with the news
as much as possible, interpret
his feelings, and take a strong
editorial position in his car-
toon.
Like anyone else, a cartoon-
ist has to be able to take it
as well as dish it out. And Oli-
phant's ascerbic artwork has at-
tracted more than its share of
public uproar.
"I got a lot of feedback when
I did a job that made fun of
.womens' rights to the effect
that we have our ERA (Equal
Rights Amendment) and the
Irish have their IRA," he re-
lated.
In the particular cartoon that
Oliphant spoke of, the irritating
comment was made by Punk
Penguin, a sidelight asset to
all of his cartoons. Oliphant
created Punk Penguin when he
sought to overcome restrictions
placed on his editorial view-
points by his superiors. Punk
was a low key way to add de-
sired oomph to the lampooning
of an issue, but people now
surely look for and enjoy Punk
as much as ever.
QUITE A BIT of independence
accompanies Oliphant's lofty
status among cartoonists. His
endeavors go wholly unchalleng-
ed by his editors.
"I have complete say," Oh-
phant remarked.
For all his talent, though, Oli-
phant can credit a large share
of his success to supreme self-
confidence. 'Back when others
might have harbored doubts
about the sprite artist's future,
Oliphant had faith in himself.
Common sense tells us that
not unusually, this is the gen-
eral case with all high achie-
vers, even Richard Nixon, ob-
ject of numerous Oliphant
barbs.
Pat Oliphant is editorial
prince, who sits in his office,
refusing to divulge even what
kind of pen and ink he uses.
Even telling him that simply by
knowing the brand names of his
materials one could . not dupli-
cate his work did .not move
him. He still declined 'to tell
all, saying that these are "kin-
da trade secrets, aren't they?"
Oliphant did reveal, however,
where a special paper he uses
can be obtained. When a fluid
is painted onto the surface of
this paper, halftones magically
appear, creating some very in-
teresting effects.
THE PAPER IS available
from a company called the
Graphix Corporation,, some-
where in the Cleveland, Ohio
area. So much for that bit of
esoteric information.
As to comic favorites, Oli-
phant here, too, declined to di-
vulge any specifics. "I: have a
lot of comics I like," le al-
lowed.
Olinhant seems a somewhat
careful personality whose true
id is best revealed in his crea-
tions. Even so, Oliphant is just
Oliphant. There isn't a whole lot
to analyze; he's really just the
best around.
Tom Stevens is a member of
the Editorial Page staff,
Letters to. The' Daily
The Lighter Side . . l
;i __1
Clash of the quasis:
State vs. enterprise
'wi.Dick West v-
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON (UPI) - If the railroad relief bill passed by
the Senate last week ever becomes law, it will hasten the day
when the hand on the throttle held by Casey Jones will be-
long the Uncle Sam.
The measure provides for a quasi-governmental agency, Con-
rail, to take over the freight operations of seven bankrupt north-
eastern rail lines.
Meanwhile, another quasi-government agency, Amtrak, would
take over the Washington-New York-Boston passenger corridor.
Any agency that gets into the railroad business these days has
got to be a little quasi. But this could be the start of something
big.
To fully appreciate the potential, you need to tie it in with
another financially troubled operation, the federal postal service.
With the government taking over railroads going broke under
private ownership, we are now hearing proposals that the floun-
dering postal service be turned over to private enterprise.
BOTH MIGHT BE acts of desperation, but maybe, just maybe,
they point the way to economic stability in this country.
Maybe, in other words, what this country needs is a complete
role reversal, with the government taking over the entire private
sector and all federal functions becoming privately owned.
On paper, at least, it looks good.
Injecting the element of competition into such governmental
activities as weather forecasting, census taking, national de-
fense and law enforcement should create a multiplicity of new
opportunities for fame and fortune.
A typical success story might be that of Conrad Sheraton, a
poor but ambitious ribbon clerk in Farthing's Cap, Miss.
He scrapes together enough money to buy a small, rundown
hotel and converts it into a two-cell calaboose, which he names
the Sheraton Cooler.
AT FIRST, ABOUT the only business he gets is locking up
Saturday night drunks hauled in by the Apex Police Co., a locally
owned constabulary. But, as luck would have it, Farthing's Can
is selected as a training site by the Amalgamated Foot Soldier
Corn., one of the nation's larger military manpower suppliers.
arousal
To The Daily:
I READ THE ARTICLE that
you carried in the Sunday Daily
about Dr. Harris Rubin's re-
search at Southern Illinois Uni-
versity concerning the effect of
pot smoking on sexual arousal.
It seems that Dr. Rubin is
turning on male students with
high grade dope and then
showing them a series of por-
nographic films to see how
being stoned affects one's sus-
ceptibility to erotica. All of this
is fine and good and undoubted-
ly there are millions of men
out there who would be more
than willing to make the "big
sacrifice" and subject them-
selves to this torturous experi-
ment.
The women of the world, how-
ever, have been slighted -
dealt a "kick in the groin", so
to speak. According to your ar-
ticle women have been exclud-
ed from this heavy bit of re-
search because it is impossible
to accurately guage their de-
gree of arousal, whereas men's
state of arousal, besides being
fairly obvious, can be accurate-
lv measured by a penile strain
guage. The guage, which. Is a
flexible circlet the thickness of
of rubber band, fits unobtru-
sively around the base of the
penis where it measures blood
volume and pressure pulse. I
am afraid, however, that the
exclusion of women from this
experiment is just another ex-
amnle of sexist attitudes domi-
nating exnerimental design, for
contrary to Dr. Rubin's claim
an analogous device does exist
to measure female sexual re-
sponse.
IN THE APRIL 1975 iss'le of
"Psychology Today" Julia R.
Heiman of SUNY Stonvbrook de-
scribed her research in an ar-
r "Physiological measures of
female response aren't so easy,
and until recently researchers
had to rely on asking women
what they felt. Last year
George Sintchak and James
Geer of SUNY Stonybrook de-
veloped a way to measure
blood volume and pressure pulse
in the vagina. (Genital vasco-
congestion, as Masters and
Johnson have shown, is a prin-
cipal physiological response dur-
ing the initial stages of sex-
ual arousal for both sexes.) Sint-
chak and Geer came up with a
simple device with a cumber-
some name, the photoplethys-
mograph, an acrylic cylinder
that is only 1 3/4" by 1/2",
which contains a photocell and
light cource. The photocell reg-
isters diffused light as vaginal
pressure pulse and blood vol-
ume change. (It is placed just
inside the entrance of the va-
gina, and is not used if the wo-
man is menstruating.) The pho-
tonlethysmograph can detect
relatively low levels of arousal,
and validation studies indicate
that the device does reliably
measure sexual response - as
opposed, say, to anxiety, bore-
dom, or apprehension."
SO THERE YOU have it, a
blatantly sexist study being
snoorted by $121.000 in Fed-
eral funds yet- Write your con-
gressman, this sort of discrimi-
nation must end! Equal repre-
sentation in experimental de-
sign! A chicken with every pat!
A photoplethysmograph in ev-
ery .. .
Stephen Rosenblum
College of Human
Medicine
Michigan State
University
Dec. 8
manifesto
To The Daily:
I REGRETTED THE mani-
festo signed by eighty-five Uni-
versity of Michigan faculty
members, "An Open Letter to
the University Community,"
which appeared in the Novem-
ber 18 issue of the Daily be-
cause I think it obscures the
issues rather than clarifies the
picture.
Instead of accusing the Arabs
of acting like Nazis, is it not
time for the Israelis to set their
own house in order? The Israe-
lis have ejected seven hundred
fifty thousand Arabs from their
homes: they have confiscated
ther nroverty: they have de-
nied themcitizenship andhave
claimd their own ethnic su-
neriority in Palestine. What
more did the Nazis do except
the conrpntrntinn camps?
ri-rk Houkins
Profewor Emeritus
Nov. 18
.:%'^c}i::{,t'"v{:;f:!L!"?,q:;Y~q:;"a, ;?'H,"^tvv"}?yt{{.w~si ;Yv~,., ,. ,, ;Y1:r;;..,,...t.,}}r "''. {."W,:At¢; A4.C~
Contact your
reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol 11111,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
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