sa diga an
Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48104
Tuesday, March 23, 1976 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
earst: A tough question
No easy answers
to jobless cycle
On pacifists and
tax for the military
THE HEAVY HAND of justice
brought its full weight down
upon Patty Hearst in San Francisco
this past weekend. Much to the cha-
grin of her high-priced attorney, F.
Lee Bailey, she was found guilty on
two counts of bank robbery in a quick
verdict. Thus ends one of the reput-
edly great trials of all time, but for
Patty it marks only the very begin-
ning of a long, uphill fight for her
freedom.
The conviction carris with it a
maximum sentence of 35 years, but
the appeals process will be lengthy.
But even if Hearst manages to have
her conviction overturned, she still
faces trial in Los Angeles on a ple-
thora of charges.
Hearst's defense was not based on
the contention that she did not par-
ticipate in the robbery. Rather, Bailey
attempted to convince the jury that
she bad been brainwashed into join-
ing the SLA, and that she took part
in the bank robbery out of fear for
her life. This defense posited some
of the most difficult legal questions
ever put before a jury. The prosecu-
tion attacked this line of defense, by
taking expert psychiatric testimony.
The jury choose to believe the pro-
secution.
WTITH THE overwhelming evidence
that the prosecution had com-
piled against her, counled w i t h
Bailey's history of courtroom thea-
trics, it is not difficult to ascertain
the rationale behind her defense.
Bailey attracted monumental public-
ity, bringing an air of sensationalism
to the case. His aim apparently was
to create mass public sympathy. And
in this case, neither the skill of Bail-
ey, nor the wealth and power of the
Hearst family could prevent the in-
evitable.
It would be easy to just write off
Patty Hearst as another confused
rich kid, if it were not for the ines-
capable fact that regardless of her
guilt or innocence, she was kidnaped,
and put through severe physical and
emotional strain throughout her cap-
tivity. A feeling of sorrow for her past
plight and her hopeless future is un-
avoidable.
Editorial positions represent
consensus of the Daily staff.
Hearst
By JON PANSIUS
WITH THE economy laboriously climbing
out of the 1975 recession, the number
one concern of most Americans remains get-
ting and holding jobs.
The high number of people still out of
work has spawned a plethora of proposals for
creating new jobs. Unfortunately, the long time
lags involved in the government's taking any
economic actions make improving the situation
any faster before the end of 1976 quite im-
possible. Still, high unemployment makes a
nice election issue, and it promises to plague
us for a few more years at least.
An obvious approach to tackling the problem
would be to stimulate the economy through
tax cuts, more government expenditures, or
easy money. By invigorating aggregate de-
mand in the economy, this would create more
jobs as businesses grow, invest, and produce
more, and it may even reduce inflation
(through greater productivity) in the s h o r t
run.
However, there is a large amount of evi-
dence, says University Economics Professor
George Johnson, that there is a "natural" rate
of unemployment which, through demographic
shifts, is presently rising; pushing the unem-
ployment rate below this for any major length
of time would create constantly accelerating
inflation through rising inflationary expecta-
tions or some other mechanism. Other econo-
mists contend that while there is no such
natural rate, there is a large long-run trade-
off between inflation and unemployment: it
takes a lot of inflation to buy decreased unem-
ployment. Thus, while some stimulation might
help the jobs problem, too much would start
the inflation treadmill backmuphagain.
AS IN ALL recessions since the New Deal,
legislators have proposed that we fight
unemployment through more public works pro-
grams. The leading legislation that would im-
plement this is the Humphrey-Hawkins b i 1.
This plan aims for no more than three per
cent of the work force being out of a job at any
time by creating public jobs "at fair rates of
compensation" (the minimum legal wage)
via a public works program "shelf" from
which these programs can be drawn as need-
ed. It also calls for more planning and easier
credit to raise demand by making the govern-
ment hope to provide jobs to those unable to
find them in the private sector
Those who subscribe to the natural rate hy-
pothesis oppose the legislation, contending that
it would lead to constant acceleration o fwages.
Arthur Burns, Chairman of the Federal Re-
serve Board of Governors, likes the idea be-
hind the proposal but recommends that the
government offer wages below the minimum
wage so that these public jobs do not merely
replace low-paying private ones 'and employ-
ers do not have to bid up these wages.
It is said in France that if the unemploy-
ment rate gets over three per cent the work-
ers riot; in the United States, however, we
have to go to war to get our unemployment
rate below four per cent. Our complex eco-
nomy (with its heterogeneous work force and
reallocation problems) and the structure of our
labor markets (with slow absorption and low
job attachment of unskilled workers and with
seasonal demand fluctuations) account for this
"structural" unemployment.
ONE ECONOMIST, Martin Feldstein, attacks
this problem as the major culprit of our
jobs troubles, arguing that stimulation of the
economy and public works can only go so far.
We should reform the unemployment insur-
ance system, he says, by taxing benefits the
same as other income, eliminating limits to
employer contributions, and shifting the basis
for experience from the firm to the individual;
this would make workers consider the true
costs of quitting or passing up jobs and force
employers to try harder to keep their workers
on the job.
Reforming the minimum wage by providing
individual subsidies, or redefining the mini-
mum by including the market wage with some
fraction of annual public income maintenance
would permit business to hire inexperienced
or low-skilled workers and provide them with
useful jobs that would give them experience
and on-the-job training leading to less quitting
and more retention. Finally, he proposes tax
credits and other incentives for workers reten-
tion and training.
Another way to reduce structural unemploy-
ment, says Professor Harold Levinson of the
economics department, would be to institute
vocational education, retraining, and mobility
programs similar to those of the West Euro-
peans. "Our vocational education programs,"
he says, "have been poorly financed and staf-
fed"; we should emulate the successful pro-
grams of Europe and thus enable young or
unskilled workers to be absorbed faster and
get steadier jobs.
By ALAN KETTLER
IN 1799, Tomas Jefferson said
that "To compel a man
to furnish contributions of mon-
ey for propagation of opinions
which he disbelieves - is sin-
ful and tyrannical."
With a philosophy akin to this
principle of freedom, the World
Peace Tax Fund (WPTF) Act
would permit conscientious ob-
jection for taxpayers. Presently,
the tax-paying conscientious ob-
jector must violate moral be-
liefs by sharing in war through
tax payments, or violate t h e
law by refusing to pay taxes ow-
ed.
Developed by a group of citi-
zens in Ann Arbor, the peace
measure was first introduced by
10 members of the House of Re-
presentatives in 1972. In 1975,
the bill had 23 sponsors, includ-
ing Charles Diggs, John Con-
yers, and Bob Carr of Michigan.
According to the National
Council for WPTF, "support
is growing in the House and
Ways and Means Committee."
Fortunately, two of the b 111 ' s
sponsors, Peter Star and Peter
Helstoski, are on this commit-
tee.
THE WPTF would legally al-
leviate the peace-loving citizen's
distress at financing the bur-
geoning militarism of this coun-
try. Instead, that portion of his
taxes normally spent on the mili-
tary would be put into the World
Peace Tax Fund.
The use of the fund as a
means of reducing regular ap-
propriations for nonmilitary pur-
poses would be prohibited. Also,
none of the money could be ap-
propriated for military purpos-
es.
A Board of Trustees would be
appointed by the President with
the advice and consent of the
Senate. These Trustees would ad-
vise Congress on its appropria-
tionsFto be made from the
WPTF.
Bill Samuels, staffer for t h e
National Council for a WPTF
in Washinaton, D.C., captured
the goals of the bill when he told
me that "peace and develop-
ment are closely related." Thus,
the fund would support research
directed toward developing and
evaluating non-military and non-
violent solutions to international
conflict.
ALSO, IT would support dis-
armament efforts, international
exchanges for peacefulpurpos-
es, improvement of international
health, education, and welfare,
and programs for providing in-
formation to the public about
these activities.
We are greatly in need of such
a bill. At the individual level
it would allow each taxpayer to
legally and democratically allo-
cate about half of his taxes
to constructive p u r p o s e s.
Through the collective power of
conscientious objectors, busi-
ness-as-usual among the mili-
tary-industrial complex would
face peace as an increasingly
stronger competitor in the world
scene.
The amount of human and
capital resources spent on war
research further stresses t h e
need for diversion into p e a c e
research and development.
About one fourth of the world's
scientists and engineers are en-
gaged in military research and
development.
Also, about 50 per cent of all
worldresearch and development
goes to military and space mat-
ters. In 1970 the world spent $200
billion on armaments.
LET US strongly support this
fine piece of legislation. With
it, conscientious objec-o:-s can
leg'ally pay their taxes without
glilt, and our military might
will rightly yield to growing
peaceful activities.
As the Steering Committee of
the WPTFA stated, "By allow-
ing conscientious objectors to
use the war part of their taxes
to help build peace, you increase
the chances that solutions may
be found before it is too late."
Alan Kettler writes occalion-
ally for The Daily's Editorial
Page.
'It is said in France that if
the unemployment rate gets
over three per cent the workers
riot; in the United States, how-
ever, we have to go to war to
get our unemployment rate be-
low four per cent.'
Bailey
( l1w
Editorial Staff
m B
Co-Editors-in-Chfef
ROB MEACHUN
BILL TURQUE
THE MOST disturbing aspect of the current
lack of sufficient jobs is the apparently
high structural unemployment level and the
danger that it is increasing.
We must reverse this trend by making em-
ploying workers, especially the "chronically
unemployed," pay off for employers while at
the same time making such work more attrac-
tive and available. To this end we should intro-
duce structural reforms as suggested by Martin
Feldstein and others.
Implementing modest public works programs
along the lines of Chairman Burns' proposal
would relieve much critical unemployment.
These projects could also be geared toward
teaching new skills to the participants and thus
helping them to be hired in the private sec-
tor. However, they should have safeguards
against the replacing of existing jobs with
those created by the programs.
BOTH BURNS' and Feldstein's proposals
would involve extensive hiring at below
the minimum wage. While this may seem sac-
rilegious, the fact remains that workers earn
more working at $2.00 an hour than not working
at $2.20 an hour, and more people would find
work without a strict minimum wage.
Finally, the authorities should expand the
economy cautiously, allowing it to recover at
a natural and stable pace, lest we get back on
the boom-bust roller-coaster which dominated
the economy from 1966 to the start of the pre-
sent recovery. Even the speculators h a v e
grown weary of that.
John Pansins is a imember of the Daily
Editorial Page staff.
JEFF RISTINE ................ Managing Editor
TIM SCHICK ................. Executive Editor
STEPHEN HERSH ..Editorial Director
JEFF SORENSEN ........ . ...... Arts Editor
CHERYL PILATS
Magazine Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Tom Allen, Glen
Allerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David
Blomquist, James Burns.,Kevin Counihan,
Jodi Dimick, Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher,
Phil Foley, Mark Friedlander, David Garfinkel,
Tonm Godell, Kurt Harju, Charlotte Heeg,
Richard James. Lois Josimovich, Tom Kettler,
Chris Kochmanski, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann
Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu-
bens, Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim
Nicoll, Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton, Ken Par-
sigian, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter, Anne
Marie 8chiavi, Karen Schulkins, Jeff Selbot.
Rick Sobel, Tom Stevens, Steve Stojic, Cathi
Suyak, Jim 'robin, Jim Valk, Margaret Yao,
Andrew Zerma nDavid Whiting. Micha eBeck-
man; Jon Pansius and Stephen Kursman.
Sports Stafff
BILL STIEG
Sports Editor
RICH LERNER.........Executive Sports Editor
ANDY GLAZER........Managing Sports Editor
RICK BONINO ..........Associate Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Tom Cameron, Enid Gold-
man, Kathy Henneghan, EdyLange, Scott
Lewis, Marcia Katz, John Niemeyer.
STAFF WRITERS: Dennis Bash. Paul Campbell,
Marybeth Dillon, Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engel-
hardt, Jeff Frank, Cindy Gatziolis, Jerome
Gilbert, Don MacLachian, Rick Maddock, Bob
Miller, Jim Powers, Patrick Rode, John
Schwartz, Mark Whitney.
'Detente' gets axe
By ROBERT and ROGENE WAITE
(PNS)-President Ford is not alone in purging "detente"
from the language. Soviet officials have also given up the term.
In fact, the Soviets jettisoned the word long before Ford
told a Florida audience in late February that he was, in future
speeches and statements, going to substitute "peace through
strength" for "detente."
The Soviets have been avoiding use of the word, except
within quotation marks, for a number of months. They have
substituted the word razriadka, which they define as the state
of international relations resulting from observance of "the prin-
ciples of peaceful coexistence."
THE SOVIET JOURNAL Za Rubezhom recently explained
that while the dictionary meaning of "detente is close to that
of razriadka," it nevertheless remains a "misleading concept"
for most Americans because they erroneously equate it with
the "preservation of the status quo" in the world.
"This," the article says, "is all wrong. A status quo world
would be as petrified and lifeless as a lunar landscape, a world
without social cataclysms and storms, where imperialism could
continue unhindered its tyranny in the areas remaining in its
sphere of influence."
Such American interpretations of the meaning and purposes
of "detente," the Soviets say, are "bankrupt," ignoring the
"real" world and the actual state of power relations.
Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev reaffirmed the
Soviet commitment to "peaceful coexistence" at the 25th Party
Congress, held recently in Moscow. At the same time he said
the Soviet Union will continue to support "wars of national
liberation," an obvious reference to Soviet (and Cuban) sup-
port for liberation groups in Angola and elsewhere.
TO AVOID FURTHER CONFUSION and frustrations, the
Soviet journal Za Rubezhom suggested the Americans substi-
tute their term "peaceful .coexistence" for "detente."
President Ford apparently chose not to take the Soviet sug-
gestion, and substituted "peace through strength" instead.
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
TODAY'S STAFF
NEWS: Glen Allerhand, Stewart
Connell, Rob Meachum, Jenny,
ler, Larry Nolan, Jeff Ristine,
Schick, Dave Whiting.
Mc-
Mil-
Tim
EDITORIAL PAGE: Michael Beckman,
Steve Hersh, Jon Pansius.
ARTS PAGE: Chris Kochmanski.
PHOTO TECHNICIAN: Steve Kagan.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Hill,
Rep. Marvin Esch (Rep), 2353 Rayburn Bldg., Capitol Hill,
Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Gilbert Bursley (Rep), - Senate,
Lansing, Mi. 48933.
Rep. Perry Bullard (Dem), House of
Capitol Bldg., Lansing, Mi. 48933.
State Capitol Bldg.,
Representatives, State
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
A queue of unemployed Ann. Arbor residents wait their turns to apply for welfare pay-
ments.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __m_________________________________e_: n w
riio~r ww ~ r rwr .____________________ '/ I Iw
Letters
to
1e )(ily
To The Daily:
IN HER LETTER to the Daily
(March 3rd), Deborah Margules
claims that Science for the Peo-
An honest appraisal of the sci-
entific establishment within the
country would reveal that poli-
tics is already a tremendous
society as our own, some solu-
tions can never be considered
because they conflict with the
political/economic interests of
a year. Now finding a cheap-
er method of producing the
treatment is one solution to the
problem. But we could reorgan-
efficiency, we must understand
the causes of the problems and
then assess all the various
means of combatting them. If
,-A VIH~TIMMIW\77\ V k~