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Page 4-Friday, June 15, 1979-The Michigan Doily
.Michigan Daily
Eighty-nine Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, ML. 48109
Vol. LXXXIX, No. 32-S News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Decontrol oil
to boost supplies
THE CEILING ON domestic crude oil should
not be lifted because the oil companies
deserve a break. Incessant price hikes by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) have phased domestic oil profits much
less than the effect of pump prices on consumers.
In fact, Mobil Oil Co. estimates it costs $1.52 to
pump a barrel, which it then sells at about $8.33.
Oil decontrol is a favorable policy because it
provides-an impetus to domestic producers for in-
creasing production in face of huge demands.
Pump price gouging is inexorable at this point.
Therefore, the best short-term solution to the
shortage is boosting supples, which are presently
suppressed by a synthetic price ceiling.
We must accept the long-term shortage
situation and its ramifications. The public,- accor-
ding to a recent New York Times/CBS survey,
favors gas rationing over higher prices. But pump
prices have risen 18 cents a gallon over the last
year while oil prices have been "controlled."
Decontrol advocates are asking for an additional
2-4 cent per gallon price increase.
Decontrolling oil prices may reduce tem-
porarily our heavy reliance on foreign sources.
Presently, the U.S. imports nearly half its stocks
from abroad. Repeated disruptions of-the Alaskan
pipeline and resulting refining difficulties have
underscored our vulnerability in this area.
Kuwait Sheikh Ali Khalifa Sabah said Tuesday
new price hikes should have the desired effect of
shocking industrialized nations into dealing with
the long-term shortage. By turning our dependen-
ce inward, the blow will be softened, foreign debts
reduced, and vulnerability diminished.
The oil companies must pay a fair price for
their undeserved profits, however., Mr. Carter's
windfall profits tax idea is a sound solution to the
profit excesses decontrol will create. The tax
should be hefty, perhaps greater than Mr. Car-
ter's proposed $20 billion. The resulting revenues
should pay for research and development of
alternative sources on a grand scale. The House
Ways and Means Committee has indicated it will
go even further than Mr. Carter on the tax, and it
rejected exemptions on newly discovered crude.
But oil companies must be obligated legally to
invest their decontrol profits into exploration, so
that foreign reliance is reduced in the future.
Oil must be decontrolled and taxed con-
siderably for a short-run solution, while other
energy methods, which may not be as profitable,
are made feasible.
SPORTSSTAFF

ERA should be ratified
before women are drafted

In an upcoming House debate
Congressional Representative
Paul McCloskey (R-California)
plans to propose legislation which
would require all men who turn 18
after January 1, 1981 to register
for the draft. McCloskey plans to
include women in this proposal.
Such an amendment if passed
would mean that women as well
as men would be required to ser-
ve the country in time of war.
Although the idea of being draf-
ted is repugnant and frightening,
and should be protested by all,
the inclusion of women is perhaps
-the most progressive move the
government has made in
recognizing the equality of
women and men.
,SUPPOSE THE draft proposal
passes and men and women are
required to register for war-time
duty. Consequently when the
United States enters a war, men
and women are sent to battle. But
some problems could arise as a
result of the induction of women.
During war-time, soldiers
abroad have often left behind war
orphans. These children have
never hampered the soldiers by
interfering with military activity.
If soldiers were to become
pregnant would the government
pay for these women to have
abortions (since carrying a child
to term would be impossible op
the battle field)?
The Supreme Court recently
ruled that it is up to each state to
deterinine whether it wants to
finance Medicaid abortions. Most
don't and since Federal money
cannot be provided, what will
Letters

By MARION HALBERG
these women soldiers do?
Perhaps the pregnant soldier
from Louisiana will be sent home
while the one from Michigan has
an abortion and returns to the
front.
MANY MEN cannot meet the
physical strains of the army. Is it
possible that women could? Since
many of our schools violate Title
IX guidelines, women do not
receive equal physical training.
Hut of course, the money made
by male sports is more important
than the development of women's
athletics anyway, isn't it?
Many men leave families
behind when they go to war and
the same will be true for women
who are drafted. But who will
take care of the children while
parents go away to protect the'
Democratic way of life? As it is
there are not enough child care
facilities in our cities or on our
campuses for college students'
children. .
Maybe the previous examples
aren't as far-fetched as they
seem. How can women be drafted
when they are not even deemed
equal to men by the Constitution
of the United States? Because of
their sex, women are
discriminated against in all
areas, including jobs, contracep-
tive and reproductive freedom,
and by the legal system. Without
an Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) there is no reason why
women should be drafted
alongside men.
BUT EVEN though the ERA

has not been passed into law,
draft registration for women may
soon become a reality. The
amendment says, in effect, that
women are equal to men in that
they can fight, kill, and even die
for their country. Well then, why
are women not considered equals
on the home front as well?
Maybe the government is
taking advantage of women.
Members of government (among
whose ranks women are poorly
represented) all of a sudden want
women to serve side by side with
men. Terrific from an equality
for people view! But why can
they not be equal in all walks of
life?
There are still 15 states which
have not ratified the ERA
(Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nort
and South Carolina, Utah,
Virginia, Illinois, Oklahoma,
Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Nevada). Men and women must
boycott these states, put pressure
on government ofticials, and
support ERA advocates. No
woman should register for the
draft if the bill passes without the
benefit and human rights of the
ERA.
Neither men nor women should
be forced to register for the draft.
But the inclusion of women in
McCloskey's draft proposal un-
derscores the need for complete
passage of the ERA.
Marion Halberg covered women's
issuesfor the Daily.


Capitalpunishment

To the Daily:
I dislike bad arguments, even
in a good cause. Some recent let-
ters have attacked capital
punishment on two grounds: tl) it

is "murder"; 2) it is only for the
poor.
As for the first, it has never
been regarded as murder to kill
in self-defense, or in defensive

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war. Now, a murderer has made
war on us. Also, if he is a
deliberate or mercenary mur-
derer, he us a bad man; whereas
many killed in war, on both sides.
are very good. I see no murder in
killing in collective self-defense.
The latter argument if sc-
curate, is stronger. Has no
wealthy murdered ever been
executed? If so, the argument
could be turned either way: to
acquit the poor or convict the
rich.
There are sounder arguments-
If executions for murder could
protect the innocent, I would he
all for them. But this has not been
shown to be the case. Even in the
days of capital punishment,
executions in this country were so
rare in proportion tobcases of
murder, that they. had little
deterrent effect. It is the certain-
ty of punishment, not its severity,
that reduces crime.
-Preston Slosson
professor emeritus
Editorials which appear without a
by-line represent a concensus opinion
of the Daily's editorial board. All
other editorials, as well as cartoon,
are the opinions o the individOalt
who submit them.

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SillY Ni:FF-....
hAN P'EtRIN ... -

-........-.Sports Editor
............-Ex cutit- Sports Editor
.......,.... Managing Sports Editor
-anaing SOpIrts Editor