Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Insurgents control rural Thailand Tuesday, February 17, 1976 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Capital punishment absurd ANOTHER C A.M P A I G N ISSUE emerged last weekend when President Ford endorsed the death penalty for federal cases involving murder, treason, sabotage and espio- nage. Ford's stance is very unfor- tunate because it appears to ignore weight of years upon years of de- bate on capital punishment.-. The much-touted "deterrent effect" of the death penalty has never been proven to the satisfaction of crimi- nal law and penal experts. Death penalty advocates who argue that the sentence dissuades major crimes really have no foundation to their position. Another rationale for the death penalty-one usually not articulated but no doubt present In the minds of many of its advocates-is an irra- tional desire for vengeance. This po- sition is so meaningless and Inhu- mane that it hardly merits rebut- tal. The objective of prisons and the judicial system, all civil libertarians agree, must be rehabilitation, not punishment. A third point Ford failed to raise in his speech is the shaky legal standing of the death penalty. Con- stitutional language is admittedly vague, but it is difficult to imagine a punishment more "cruel or unusu- al" than execution. Moreover, it is particularly inappropriate for Ford to come out in favor of the death pen- alty just as the Supreme Court is weighing this very issue. A FOURTH ARGUMENT against capital punishment focuses upon its targets. Statistics show blacks and poor persons are victims of the death penalty far out of proportion By NEIL KELLY BANGKOK (PNS) - At night, travel- ers in northeastern Thailand move by permission of Communist insurgents. While no one knows how many of them are fighting the Thai government -the government estimates 10,000-no one disputes their domination of remote areas in the last non-communist country on the Southeast Asian peninsula. About 350 miles northeast of Bangkok, in the poorest region of Thailand, the revolutionaries govern over 200 villages. And their nighttime command of the countryside extends much further. BANGKOK WORRIES most about the wave of young radicals, students, intel- lectuals and workers - many of whom led the overthrow of Thailand's military dictatorship two and a half years ago - who have now given up on the present government and joined the insurgents. The western press knows almost noth- ing about the insurgency -'just as in the Vietnam of 1960. To find out more, this reporter journeyed into the rural stronghold of what the insurgents call their "liberation army." My guide told me to wear a bright shirt that could not be mistaken for a. military uniform. He approved of my longish hair. "The people in the jungle think any- body with a military haircut is a CIA man," he explained. ESCORTED by a tall man carrying an M-16 rifle - now freely available in Thailand for $25 to $30 each - I arrived at a small food shop isolated in the dark- ness. Three men also carrying rifles emerg- ed from the shadows to join us at the ta- ble, while a woman placed glasses of hot tea before us. "Thailand does not need foreigners," the first man said. "They all must go. We have our own army . . . our own weanons. The Americans have been bad for Thailand." TiHE U. S. WILL officially ends its combat presence in Thailand in March, but 3,000 military advisers and several communications facilities will re- main. He said the government neglects peo- ple in rural areas who need help. "There are no roads, no doctors, no schools, no medicines, no water and sometimes'no food," he said. The rural, jungle people are mostly minority tribes, poor 'and traditionally discriminated against by the Thai government. About 1.5 million of them live in Thailand-in- cluding tribespeople and Muslims-and most are hostile to the government. But the tribal based insurgents have developed a revolutionary ideology in- tended to appeal to poor peasants of any ethnic background.. THE REBEL accused police and sol- diers of mistreating rural people, de- manding food and women. "If thieves steal a buffalo, the police do nothing, but we get it back," he said. "Some people here went to jail for cutting down a tree," he went on, "but a contractor cut down a forest and noth- ing happened to him. Sometimes a po-' licemen shoots somebody and says we did it." Although refusing to answer many of my questions, when asked whether the communists could defeat the army and police, he immediately replied, "In three years." THE INSURGENTS concentrate their military actions on ambushing govern- ment forces. In one or two ambushes a day, they kill an average of one or two policemen or soldiers, the insurgents said. Strengthened by arms and probably training from Vietnam, Laos and Cam- bodia, the insurgents are now better or- ganized and better equipped than at any time in the past. Over 40,000 government soldiers and* nolice are fighting the rebels at a cost of X150 million per year. Until a year ago the government fre- quently over-reacted to communist ac- tivities, -killing innocent people and de- stroying villages with indiscriminate and heavy air strikes and gunship attacks. NOW THE THAIS, convinced by the failure of U. S. air power and other tactics in Indochina, are fighting a limit- ed, mobile war of ambush, night attacks and never-ceasing patrols of enemy areas: The government has also decided it can best defeat the guerrillas by putting its best face forward in the countryside. Rather than jailing captured insurg- ents, the government sends them to an amnesty center where they get job training in minimum security conditions. They are soon free to go where they please. Although hardliners in the military dis- approve of this approach, General Sai- yud Kerdphol, who directs the program, supports it enthusiastically. "We believe these men should be forgiven," he says. "Some inevitably rejoin the commun- ists, but very few. We are convinced our amnesty program is a success." IN THE LAST year, the government has also developed programs to improve rural life. Most effective has been a $250 million per year program of cash aid to villages throughout Thailand for local improvements - including roads, bridges, water and electricity, drainage -and irrigation systems, schools and health centers. Meanwhile, behind military lines, com- munist political education teams travel from village to village to explain their own program, using generators, projec- tors and propaganda materials reported- ly from Hanoi. Thais also are reported to go to Laos for political and military training. To display their strength, the com- munists take unusual care of govern- ment troops, sometimes risking their own safety to carry wounded men to places where government units will find them quickly. 'Then they tell the local peo- ple, "The government doesn't even look after its own wounded. We have to help them." This argument has impressed many villagers. And communist medical care and campaigns against opium, gamb- ling and crime have won followers. GENERAL SAIYUD believes the com- munists can only be defeated if the position of the minorities is improved and a voluntary rural militia is estab- lished. Unless the tribals are given Thai citizenship and the right to run their own affairs, the insurgency will expand constantly, he says. Perhaps he is right. It remains to be seen whether the Thai government can win the race it has belatedly entered to c-nfre the loyalty of minority peas- ants. Neil Kelly writes from Bangkok for Pacific News as well as a number of Australian ahters. The Observer in Lon- doa and the Washington Post. To display their strength, the communists take unusual care of government troops, sometimes risking their own safety to carry wounded men to places where government units will find them quickly. Then they tell the local people, "The government doesn't even look after its own wound- ded.' "{. .........." ' :f:....... nv:;................: : =....... .... ...}vmf4 ,h e Y{ :; .y''J > +.+ {"::.rx };7: w. . .'mrm. {a' { 9 Gerald Ford Editorial Staff with their offenses. The penalty is far too often applied unfairly and inequitably. . A related point involves the indi- viduals who commit the crimes Ford singled out. Murder and ter- rorism, of course, must not be tol- erated in a society which strives to protect it citizens. But murder is quite frequently committed in a brief state of uncontrolled passion, when a gunholder has temporarily lost his or her better judgment. At other times, violent crime may be committed by emotionally unbal- anced or mentally ill persons. Cer- tainly, not even Ford would advocate execution of men and women for acts they simply cannot control. Even more frightening is the re- mote yet very real possibility that an executed person may prove to be in- nocent in the light of new informa- tion learned after the penalty is ap- plied.I FINALLY, WE SUSPECT that Ford's idea could have exactly the op- posite effect he intends. His "eye for an eye" mentality may sound good to some, but jurists often report that they must agonize for days before senencing a criminal in an offense involving the death penalty. More- over, many legal experts suspect juries may simply choose to find defendant innocent, rather than pro- nounce guilt and thereby subject him or her to a potential execution. Guil- ty parties could escape scot free. Ford's stance, therefore, is based on emotional, irrational and inhu- mane feelings which are completely out of place in any system of juris- prudence which purports to be fair and effective. His opponents in Cam- paign '76 should respond with every bit of attack and rebuttal which the, position deserves. TODAY'S' STAFF: News: Pauline Lubens, Rob Meachum, Ken Parsigian, Jeff Ristine, Rick Soble, Mike Norton Editorial Page: Stephen Hersh, Karen Schulkins, Tom Stevens Arts Page: James Valk Photo Technician: Ken Fink ROB MEACHUM B Co-Vditors-in-Chief BILL TURQUE JEFF RISTINE .............. Managing Editor TIM SCHICK.. . .......... Executive Editor sTEPHEN HERSH............Editorial Director JEFF SORENSEN...................Arts Editor CHERYL PILATE .. ...... Magazine Editor STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Tom Allen, Glen Allerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David Blomqluist, James Burns. Kevin Counihan, Jodi Dimck, Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher. Phil Foley. Mark Friedlander, David Garfinkel, Tom Godell, Kurt Harju, Charlotte Heeg, Richard James, Lois aosmovich, Tom Kettler. Chris Kochmanski, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu- hens, Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim Nicoll, Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton, Ken Par- sigian-, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter, Anne Marie Schiavi, Karen Schulkins, Jeff Selbst, Rick Sobel, Tom Stevens, Steve Stojic, Cathi Suyak, Jim Tobin, Jim Valk. Margaret Yao, Andrew Zerman, David Whiting. 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 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 TENANTS UNION CORNER Rent strike stronger; Sunrise. By "ROBERT MILLER IS THE SUNRISE realty com- pany falling apart? Its in- vestors are not being paid. It is defaulting cases in court. And it is beginning to lose its houses bought on land con- tracts. Au owner of buildings man- aged by Sunrise looked at his house and agreed with the ten- ants. When he managed the houses himself, he claimed, it was in pretty good shape. Now it's rundown. "I wouldn't pay rent myself," he said. Meanwhile, the Sunrise rent strike is growing, Ten more tenants will join In March. People who have signed leases for September have expressed interest in joining next year. And the Tenants Union may find Sunrise units in Ypsilanti who have cause to withhold rent. At a Tenants Union meeting last fall, Sunrise manager Dew- ey Black argued that the poor quality of the houses was Tro- ny's fault, not his. That is only part of the story. According to a secretary who used to work for the firm, Black's incompetence has dam- aged Sunrise more than the strike. For instance, last Thurs- day Black claimed he received a temporary Certificate of Oc- I cupancy for one of his houses. However, the very next day, a list of violations five pages long was compiled by Don Tay- lor, a city inspector. Of the 13 units in the house, Taylor said, only one was legally liv- able. When a tenant last fall asked that maintenance be done on her apartment, Black looked her up and down. "One of my maintenance men went, to your place," he said, "and saw wo- men running around in the nude. As a matter of fact," he continued, "the one he de- scribed looked like you." But Black has more prob- lems than that. One counter- claim against Black reads: "Plaintiff threatened with ex- tortion in that plaintiff threat- ened to have 'friend' in the po- lice department charge the de- fendant with the sale of drugs . . ." The tenant in that case has filed for $50,000 in dam- ages. THE LONGER tenants live in shoddy homes, the stiffer their demands will be. Prob- lems with heat and maintenance continue. And each day the re- solve of the tenants is strengthened. Striking members of the Ten- ants Union (TU) have' already been offered a one month rent rebate as the bottom line, with a mediator to decide who de- serves more. Or in lieu of that they can be absolved of the last four months. of the lease. The tenants want more, however, because they deserve it. The University must accept its responsibility too for the housing crisis in town. The Re- gents seem unaware that a crisis exists. They callously raised dorm fees by nine, per cent and were not even aware of the number of students en- rolled or of the effect of the hike on the private market. 'Can University Hous- ing Director Jo h n Feldkamp be serious when he says an in- crease in dorm rates has no affect on t h e private market? Where is his proof? The TU has learned that three landlords have already raised next year's rent t e n per cent.' DEAN ROACH HAD the nerve to suggest enrollment had increased by only one student over the last year although it has grown by 1,200. Enrollment has increased by 4,000 since 1967 and there is not enough housing. Further indication of the hap- hazard way in which the school operates was given by Univer- sity President Robben Fleming when he admitted that decisions concerning the number of stu- dents admitted has no relation' to the number of living units on hand. Will students be living in University offices before the eyes of these bureaucrats are opened? Students are already thinking about sendng notes to high schools across the country, saying "You need not apply here; the quality of education has gone down and there, is no place to live." IF THE SOLUTION is half- assed, the problem is real. The vacancy rate of 0.46 per cent tells part of the story. Tenants are overcrowding their houses. They live in attics and cellars or kitchens converted to bed- rooms. Some cannot afford any- thing else. Can University Housing Di- rector John Feldkamp be seri- ous when he says an increase in dorm rates has no affect on the private market? Where is his proof? The TU has learned that three landlords have al- ready raised next years rent ten per cent. Students should write letters to the Regents complaining about their housing conditions. It would not hurt either, if the'ir parents and Congressmen wrote letters too. We at the TU have an address list in our office. Tenants must organize and as- sert their rights. If we sit back urtilng we are helpless. The landlords have money and have spent nearly $90,000 to defeat legis- lation favoring the tenant. Landlords intimidate tenants who do not know their rights and threaten those who coi- plain with eviction. Our strength is in numbers. LA N D L OQ R D S discrimi- nate against women and the poor. Wilson White will not rent to people who receive Aid to Dependent Children (ADC). Women's:rights groups should join with the TU to make this illegal. At Woodland Hills, the owners are trying to improve their image after a fire killed two people. A widow was allowed to move in only if she paid a year's rent in advance. Another wo- man defaulted on a court case after the manager told her she need not show up Another wo- man has a daughter going in for open heart surgery next month and is being denied per- mission to rerent since she re- ceives ADC. There are leaks in the buildings which are often without heat. One woman claims her two children caught pneumonia because the place is so cold. We must act. Now is the time. Robert Miller is a member of the steering committee of the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union. WII- i ;,, Clericals To The Daily: THE FEBRUARY 13 Daily carried a rather silly letter to the Editor from "Unity" Cau- cus stalwart Judy Sisung. Si- sung appears to object to the fact that CDU supporters are thinking human beings, capable of analyzing the urgent tasks facing Local 2001, working- out proposals for action, and pre- paring enough for union meet- ings so that we won't flail around and waste everybody's time. In particular she objects to CDU supporters - not just Carolyn Weeks - working out contingency plans to prevent UAW bureaucrat Carolyn For- rest from ignoring parliamen- tary procedure and strongarm- ing her way through our meet- ings. The objection is absurd. Si- sung knows very well the his- tory of Local 2001. Our first meeting run by Robert's Rules of n..n.. +nnlr nlaon Seri... Letters had feared, Fersort tried the same game again at our Febru- ary 4 meeting. She failed only because she and "Unity" were outnumbered nearly two to one by an angry membership. Forrest and the other UAW bureaucrats are professionals with years of training and ex- perience in suppressing UAW members. That is why so few UAW locals. have escaped the control of the Solidarity House machine up to now. Anyone who watched the UAW bureaucrats quash any serious discussion even of affirmative action at the December 1975 Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Convention knows how effective they are at shutting off micro- phones, physically intimidating delegates and playing parlia- mentary games to prevent de- bate and action. In order to de- feat such enemies, our mem- bership must be as well inform- ed and organized as they are. C'T T )TA A T AV nit for- to intelligent debate is advanced and not retarded by thinking ahead. Our Local does not need the silly demagogy of a Judy Sisung. We need open and in- telligent debate. We need to begin to defend our members and to prepare for the contract struggle ahead. Lenore Goldman Jacke O'Dowd Feb. 16 wo men's sports To The Daily: I JUST FINISHED reading the sports page Saturday, Feb- ruary 8, and I was so disgusted I had to write to you. Why does your paper insist on relegating your reporting of the excellent achievements of our women's sports teams, par- ticularly the swim team, to the bottom of the page, in the short- est articles of the entire sports page? Time and aigan this has hannened to the swim tean a The only way one would even know we had a women's basket- ball team at all is through the scores printed at the bottom of the page, which are also typical of male chauvinist thought: the men's basketball scores are listed as "College Basketball" scores, while the women's scores are listed as "Women's Basketball" scores. And if you try to tell me that the "Col- lege" above the men's scores is meant to include the women's scores, then I ask you, why are the men's scores not designated as such, but just assumed to be so? "College Basketball" should be the general heading with sub-headings of "Women's" and "Men's" ON THIS PARTICULAR sports page, the articles on the women's swim team and the men's track team were the only articles written about teams that won, yet they were also the two articles printed at the bottom of the page. The top of the page was filled with ev- ery little detail imaginable about the defeats of the men's basketball, hockey, and wrest- ling teams. Your paper is in most respects a somewhat en- lightened one, so why do you continue to perpetrate such chauvinist ideas and practices? If you do nothing to correct the chronic injustice done to wo- men's sports teams in partic- ular and women in general, then who will? Virginia R. Boynton Feb. 9, 1976 The Daily "":." I.sv;.S?.;.; s . .A S. ":. . ; . }.:;},:?W'"'? SF . v Contact your reps- Sen. Phillip hart (Dem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill, Washingtan. U.C. 2015.