Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48104
Wednesday, February 4, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Of PubI
IF YOU REALLY want to understand
the significance of 1976, take a tip from
the American public, ignore the candi-
dates. This election year, the first to
be dominated by economic issues in the
post-war era, should pose some very
important questions about the future of
the American economy. The fact that
the presidential contest fails to do so
is an indictment of the American politi-
cal system, not the American people.
Virtually every major poll in the
country indicates that the public is very
uncertain about the economic future of
ic
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Moynihan. Spirited, puzzling
Power and
populism,
DANIEL MOYNIHAN'S resignation
as United States representative
to the United Nations is unfortunate.
The urbane, scholarly Irishman
pumped new life, if not significant
reform, into an institution that was
slowly smothering in its own inac-
tion and ineptitude. His candor was
like a blast of arctic air, and when
he pegged Ugandan President Idi
Amin as a "racist murderer," we
knew that this was not another tep-
id-tongued member of the striped-
pants-corps representing our inter-
ests at the U.N.
His departure is hardly a surprise.
Despite public avowals to the con-
trary, his lay-it-on-the-line style was
obviously too hot for President Ford
and Secretary of State Henry Kis-
singer to handle. His revulsion at the
dwindling number of democracies in
the world probably ran sufficiently
against his libertarian grain to be a
factor in his resignation.
But this Moynihan is a complicat-
ed, enigmatic man. One sniffs a dili-
gent careerist at work. His associates
admit that he has been casting more
than a random glance at the New
York Senate race this year, and of
course, thesedatekconfines of Har-
vard yard are beckoning.
THERE HAVE, however, been times
when Moynihan has been out
in left field. In 1972, as an adviser to
President Nixon, he wrote a memo
suggesting that the race problem in
the U. S. could benefit from a period
This article was written by
members of the Ann Arbor
chapter of Public Power.
the nation and is willing to support seri-
ous economic change. If the public seems
politically indifferent in 1976 it is out
of confusion not apathy.
AFTER A DECADE of Vietnam and
Watergate, there are many reasons for
this confusion, but one factor is para-
mount: what we are witnessing in 1976
is the collapse of traditional liberal poli-
cies in the United States. That collapse
brings the question of the redistribution
of wealth and power squarely into the
American political arena.
Since the New Deal, liberalism has
been able to skirt this question because
it rested as a political ideology on the
firm base of an ever expanding economy.
As long as the economic pie was get-
ting bigger every year, everyone's piece
could increase in size without redistribu-
ting the pie.
Today that economic base is shaky
and the question of redistribution is
ready to become a dominant political
issue in the United States. I say ready
because it takes two sides to make an
issue and as yet we only have one,
the Right. Using the slogan of fiscal
conservatism as a smokescreen, the
Right opposes redistribution and seeks
to place the burden of economic hard
times on American working people.
BUT WHERE IS the other side, the
side that would argue that social pro-
gress in the United States can only come
about through a major redistribution of
wealth and power? It's hardly the liberal
Congress of the Democratic presidential
candidates. In fact, liberals seem as con-
fused by the new political realities as
anyone else. The more opportunistic in
their ranks have joined the Right under
the banner of fiscal conservatism. Others
cling to expensive band-aid solutions that
even they admit can't solve long range
problems.
No, if there is to be a progressive
force in the redistribution debate it will
have to come from the American Left.
The Left must do for the politics of
redistribution in the 1970s what we did
for the anti-war movement in the 60s-
take it into the political mainstream. Our
failure to do so allows the Right to keep
winning the dedistribution debate by de-
fault.
THATIS ALL WELL AND GOOD, but
where is the American Left? Where are
the organizations and leaders that can
put these issues into focus on the na-
tional political scene? Well, we didn't
have them in the 60s either-we built
our own organizations and let the is-
sues themselves, not charismatic lead-
ers, drive the message home. And
through a lot of creative hard work we
won the majority of the American peo-
ple to our side.
Again in the seventies the issues them-
selves must be the heart of our politics.
In Michigan this year there is an ex-
cellent opportunity for the Left to wage
an effective campaign on a key economic
issue, public ownership of utilities. For
several months now a petition drive
called Public Power has been taking
shape around the state. If successful,
it will place a proposal for public take-
over of gas and electric utilities on the
1976 ballot.
PUBLIC POWER is precisely the kind
of issue we need to build a movement
for economic change. And the format
of a petition drive puts political power
where we think it belongs, with the
people. It is not a petition of grievance
that can be ignored by the utilities or
politicians. Public Power will place a
constitutional amendment on the ballot
that with voter approval will Michiganize
the private utility companies.
Several aspects of the Public Power
amendment make it an ideal issue for
the Left.
0 First, by calling for the elimination
of private utility companies it makes a
direct challenge to corporate domination
of the economy.
* Secondly, it offers consumers much
needed rate relief through a non-profit
service concept and the elimination of
rate structures that subsidize giant in-
dustrial and commercial users.
0 And finally, Public Power calls for
public not private decision making on
vital issues like nuclear power plant
construction, energy conservation, and
resource use.
BUT THERE IS MORE to the Pub-
lic Power campaign than the amend-
ment itself. The general political im-
pact of a public takeover of utilities
in Michigan could be felt around the
nation. The political system may move
to the Right in November but Public
Power offers people in this state a
chance to move to the Left.
For the Left, Public Power is a con-
crete campaign that can unite people
who have been turned off by the sectar-
ian infighting that characterize many
radical groups. But more importantly
it allows us to reach out to thousands
of people whothavenever been part of
any political movement, but who are will-
ing to work for progressive economic
change.
We have the opportunity to offer the
people of Michigan a real choice next
fall, the choice betweenna utility sys-
tem run as a profit making monopoly
or a public system responsible to the
people they serve. In a larger sense it
is a choice between two economic fu-
tures, one of inflation, budget cuts, and
unemployment and another based on the
redistribution of wealth and power.
"If there is to be a progressive force in the redistribu-
tion debate, it will have to come from the American
Left. The Left must do for the politics of redistribution
in the 1970s what we did for the anti-war movement in
the 60s-take it into the political mainstream. Our
failure to do so allows the Right to keep winning the re-
distribution debate by default.'
rtar.-a.;r;;.}"t n;:." :v.1, ,.. ^.; "r :":.""v.;. w ..
Daniel Moynihan
of "benign neglect." This indicates
that his U. N. floor criticism of ra-
cism did not exactly spring from a
deep understanding of the problem.
And his manner of criticism may
have blunted the persuasive effect
his views might have had on the ob-
jects of his opprobrium.
But any voice speaking against ra-
cial injustice should be welcome. In
his outspoken criticism of the U. N.
Zionism resolution, Moynihan was in
the right.
HEALTH SERVIC',E HANDBOOK:
Veggies in combination make protein
Paying the bill for PIRGIM
THE UNIVERSITY Board of Re-
gents will vote today on a new
method of funding PIRGIM, the
student - run public interest group.
PIRGIM works for the students
on this campus. When Michigan Bell
wanted to raise telephone rates PIR-
GIM fought them every step of the
way. It lobbied in Lansing and con-
vinced enough people to block the
rate hike. Right now, PIRGIM is
working to push through a bill that
will prevent the sale of products us-
ing the ozone damaging propellant
freon.
These are just two of the 26 pro-
jects that PIRGIM has worked on in
the last five months. But to continue
to serve the public as it has, PIRGIM
needs money.
UNDER THE GROUP'S funding sys-
tem students are automatically
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: David Garfinkel, Ann-Marie
Lipinski, Rob Mtachum, Annmarie
Schiavi, Tim Schick, Bill Turque
Editorial Page: Marc Basson, Michael
Beckman, Steven Hersh, Maureen
Nolan
Arts Page: Jeff Selbst
Photo Technician: Scott Eccker
charged the $1.50 PIRGIM fee. To get
a refund, students must only fill out
and return a form that will be sent
out with each tuition,bill.
This system is unfair in that it
places the burden on the wrong
group. It is wrong to require those
who don't wish to contribute to have
to do anything, even something as
simple as filling out a form. PIRGIM
should be supported by those who
wish to contribute and only by those
students.
The alternative before the Regents
is a positive check-off system. This
would still call for a form to be
sent out, but a student would fill the
form out only if he or she wanted
to contribute to PIRGIM.
WHILE THIS PLAN is certainly
more equitable, it will make it
harder for PIRGIM to collect money.
PIRGIM is the students only voice
in this state's government and we
can't afford to lose it. With a posi-
tive check-off system it will be easy
to just ivnore the form and not con-
tribute. But we can't let this happen.
We have to keep PIRGIM alive and
the only way to do that is to care.
To care enough to take 20 seconds
to fill out a form and give $1.50 to
PIRGIM.
By SILVIA HACKER
and NANCY PALCHIK
GARWOOD
Question: In your October 9th
column you mentioned the fact
that different plant foods had
different amino acids and so
in order to get the balance the
body needs, some of these
plants ought to be eaten togeth-
er. Can you give some exam-
ples?
Answer: Certainly. From the
well - stocked mental cupboard
of our nutritionist, Irene Hieber,
we have extracted the follow-
ing:
As was noted in our earlier
column (but we feel is worth
repeating), the value of any
protein depends on the number
and the proportions of the 8
essential amino acids (EAAs)
it contains. (Actually, all 22
amino acids are essential but
these eight cannot be manu-
factured by your body and must
thereforebbe obtained from the
food you eat). In terms of
quality of protein, egg protein
is the highest, closely followed
by milk and other dairy pro-
ducts, fish and meat. Different
plant proteins are strong in
some EAAs and weak in others.
Since in order to maintain
health' it is important for all
of the EAAs to be present sim-
ultaneously, you should make
certain, if you are going to re-
strict your diet to plant foods,
that you eat foods which com-
pliment each other with respect
to EAAs. For example, certain
plants called legumes (like
dried beans, split peas, and
lentils) are strong in the amino
acid known as lysine, good in
isoleucine but deficient in the
one know as tryptophan. Nuts
and seeds (like almonds, sun-
flower seeds etc.) on the other
hand, are deficient in isoleucine
and lysine but strong in tryp-
tophan. Thus these two types of
plant foods would be considered
complimentary and if eaten in
the same meal would provide a
good balance of the amino acids.
A meal of bean soup and pea-
nut butter on whole wheat
bread would also be excellent.
A third example of a good com-
plimentary mixt'rre would be a
casserole containing soybeans,
rice, wheat germ and pecans.
Incidentally, we wish to in-
form you that our nutrition clin-
ic is in the process of setting
up educational sessions which
will deal with this important
tonic in greater depth. If you
wish to attend one of these
group sessions you can call for
an appointment at 763-0224.
Question: In last Wednesday's
Daily you said that "crabs" are
contracted through close physi-
cal contact. However, Dr. Segat
(at least) will inform you that
thev are also commonly con-
tracted by sharing clothes, tow-
els, toilets, etc. This could in-
chide trying onvclothes in
stores! Why do youi insist on
snreading these VD-like myths?
You are a disservice to stu-
dents. If students have health
ouestions, let them ask real
doctors and find the truth. Do
yoi have the guts to resnond?
Answer: Hey, hey, why so
beliuerent? The fact that crabs
are indeed commonly soread by
all the means you mention does
not x;egate the fact that they
are even more readily spread
by close physical contact. One
fnct does not cancel ont anoth-
er. However, we are sorry we
did not elaborate on the as-
nects von are talking about. In
or own gutsv way we'd like
to sav that arguing a Point by
calling names (i.e., calling 1s
a disservice because of a lack
of emnhnsis and not misinfor-
pnatlon) is kid stuff. You can
crhk ot our facts by any re-
liah1e book on the subiect or
by f"4ther discnssions with doc-
tors (hah real and unreal).
Onstion: Ts it possible for a
virgin to use Tampax during
her menstrual period?
Answer: Although there are
some women whose hymenal
openings are so small that a
tampon can only be inserted
with difficulty, it has been our
experience that most women
learn to insert vaginal tampons
to control their menstrual
bleeding with only a minimal
stretching of the hymen. (In
fact, some physicians feel that
this gradual minimal stretch-
ing accomplished by the con-
stant use of tampons, may pre-
pare women for later sexual
intercourse with less difficulty).
In addition, the use of a tam-
pon may serve the added func-
tion of helping a woman be-
come acquainted with her re-
productive antaomy and help-
ing her to overcome any taboos
against touching her genitals.
If you are using a tampon for
the first time, it may be help-
ful for you to begin with the
"junior" size and to lubricate
the tip far easier insertion.
Send any health related ques-
tions to:
Health Educators
U-M Health Service
207 Fletcher
Ann Arbor, Mich. 48109
Safety for University busing
By STEPHEN KURSMAN
On January 29 at about 4:30 p.m., the
Bursley-Baits bus stopped behind Bursley as
usual. Some people walked in front of the
bus, others behind. All crossed the street
except one: he was hit by a car.
According to one witness, the car ap-
proached from the direction of Baits, mov-
ing quickly. The witness moved out from
in front of the bus, and the car slowed
down. But not enough, for the witness looked
around and saw the victim bounce off the
car's fender into the air, landing on the
pavement.
THE SIMPLE FACT is that this accident
need not have occurred. The implementation
of a few common sense measures would
have made this particular accident, and
others like it which may occur, almost im-
possible.
First of all, the bus let the riders off
on the street instead of pulling into the cir-
cle behind Bursley. This is dangerous, es-
pecially during rush-hour. The buses pick up
students from the circle in back of Burs-
ley; the bus should stop there to drop them
off as well. The few seconds which may be
gained by avoiding the circle are not worth
the risk of injury or even death.
But let's assume that the time element
is very important, so buses can't use the
circle. Jeff Goldsmith, a frequent rider, an-
grily points out that there are no signs to
warn motorists of crossing pedestrians. If
a few well-posted warning signs were there,
the accident might not have occurred.
THE CARS THEMSELVES are often mov-
ing too fast, and they are not required to
stop for the buses. According to the Ann Arbor
Police Department, there is nothing - state
or local - that requires a motorist to stop
for a U-M bus that is loading or unload-
ing. The driver of the vehicle is free to
keep moving around the bus, to the rish
of the rider-pedestrian.
Sam Mickelson, a Bursley resident, plans
to circulate a petition asking that red flash-
ing lights be put on all U-M buses. This
is a good idea. The accident is unfortunate
evidence that these lights are needed now,
and as North Campus becomes more populous
in the future, they will be needed that much
more.
Another suggestion comes from Goldsmith,
who questions the wisdom of buses pulling
out from Fuller Pool, especially at night.
He claims that the oncoming traffic makes
this a dangerous practice,. and a likely loca-
tion for another accident.
The overall message is clear. Correctible
dangers exist in the bus service. Safety
anyone?
1i%4EFZE6No wm-m PR?&Em..\A)E 3us-r DI&A 4 ) 4LE
Stephen Kursman
Daily editorial page
is a new member of The
staff.
Letters
to
The
Daily
Clerical debate
To The Daily:
I WOULD LIKE to comment
on the charges which have been
leveled against the Clericals for
a Democratic Union by the
"Unity" Caucus in recent
weeks. Two examples, repre-
sentative of all "Unity" propa-
ganda, are the letters to The
Daily from Ronald Jones, hus-
band of the former "Unity"
Caucus boss of Local 2001, and
Lisa Gumtow. "Unity's" charg-
es are both absurd and danger-
ous - they range from sheer
lie to subtle but harmful dis-
tortion.
assessing "militant, dedicated,
capable and experienced lead-
ership." What is more important
is. looking at the positions of
union leaders and the consisten-
cy of their actions. Since June,
CDU has consistently stood for
and fought for the rights of the
membership of Local 2001, while
"Unity" has fought to maintain
its control over the member-
ship.
THE MOST REVEALING sen-
tence in Jones' letter is the fol-
lowing: "Do the major CDU
candidates have any loyalties
or obligations, political or finan-
cial, which will compromise
terests of Americans?" Yes, we
have heard it all before.
McCarthyist smears are not
new from the right-wing "Uni-
ty" Caucus. From the day "Uni-
ty" first crawled into view
(September 28, 1975), it has had
no positive program of its own
for Local 2001. A creature of
the UAW bureaucrats, "Unity"
was born of an anti-CDU smear
campaign and has drawn its
pathetic nourishment from such
smears. During the last elec-
tion, CDU put forward an ex-
tensive program of action for
Local 2001, so that union mem-
bers could know exactly where
we stnd Uny" n .,frwad
"Unity" would be fatal both to
democracy and to struggle.
"Unity" must also be stopped
b'ecause right-wing smears by
desperate bureaucrats are ex-
ceedingly dangerous to all our
free thought, speech and activi-
ty.
CDU challenges "Unity" to
debate openly any union or
political issue of concern to
union members. But we also
call on University clericals and
other UAW members to show the
UAW and "Unity" bureaucrats
that we will not permit the
deadly virus of McCarthyism
to take over our unions again.
Seen Hansen
be the second consecutive wom-
an to speak at commencement
- Alice Rivlin having been the
December speaker.
We are happy to bring to your
attention the fact that Francoise
Giroud will be the THIRD con-
secutive woman commencement
speaker at the University of
Michigan. In August, Dr. Mary
Ellen Avery, chair of the Pe-
diatrics Department at Harvard
University, received an honor-
ary degree and delivered the
commencement address.
As the staff of the UM In-
ternational Women's Year Com-
mittee, we are delighted to see
suich distinguished women hon-