Page 4-Friday, July 13, 1979-The Michigan Daily
Michigan Daily
Eighty-nine Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Moynard St. Ann Arbor Mi 48109
Vol LXXXIX, No. 43-S News Phone: 764 0552
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Skylab's lesson
S KYLAB DISINTEGRATED in a splashy light
show over Australia Wednesday, leaving a
blemish on the United States space program
which only scientists can erase. For it is up to
them to benefit from the beleaguered space
station's plights and advance space technology to
avoid future threats to life and property.
The relief that most earth inhabitants experien-
ce in the aftermath of Skylab's plunge must not
lead to false hopes that we have seen the last of
costly space study.
The 77.5 ton cylinder is the first space
laboratory launched by this country, and will un-
doubtedly not be the last. The $2.6 billion under-
taking was quite a success in terms of the amount
of knowledge gained and endurance of human life
in space, despite the numerous technical dif-
ficulties that occurred. The last crew spent an un-
precedented 85 days in space and emerged in bet-
ter physical shape than their predecessors who
occupied Skylab I earlier.
These factors bolster the chances of future
space station ventures, as well as the possibilities
of establishing space colonies.
Obviously, technical kinks must be smoothed
before the public will allow so many of their tax
dollars to be spent on such endeavors. Presently,
the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration (NASA) is suffering from an image
problem which precludes the launching of another
ambitious project such as the troubled space shut-
tle in the immediate future.
Media and public outcry will soon die down,
though, since no injuries from the ill-fated
station's fall have been reported. The success of
Voyager I, which has been beaming back close-up
pictures of Jupiter's surface, should also save
face for NASA.
By recycling more spacecraft parts and demon-
strating the usefulness of the knowledge gained
from projects, NASA may contribute to the
public's feeling that extensive outlays are worth
it. If the funds are spent sensibly and progress is
apparent, Congress may be more generous with
appropriations.
But such action will be futile, if NASA officials
do not learn from past mistakes evidenced in
Skylab's difficulties.
SUMMER EDITORIAL STAFF
ELIZABETHSLOWIK
Editor-in-Chief
U. S. black lobby presses
for equitably African policy
By BILL DRUMMOND
WASHINGTON, D.C. - With
the Rhodesia issue now in the
middle of domestic U.S. politics,
moves are underway by black
American groups to form an
American black lobby on Africa.
Key spokesman in this effort is
United Nations (UN) Am-
bassador and top Carter political
aide, Andrew Young. Young fees
the issue of trade sanctions
against Zimbabwe Rhodesia as a
litmus test for President Carter's
commitment to the aspirations of
blacks in America.
"There is now a population that
is ethnically related to Africa,"
says Young, "that is going to be
concerned about the way those
votes come down. Even if we
don't understand all of the in
plications of each and every vote,
there is no way that we cannot be
sensitive to the radical dynamics
of each and every vote."
ADDED TO THIS growing
political awareness by American
blacks, is Nigeria's new clout in
world affairs. "If you are
thinking about these long gas
lines, one out of every eight
gallons of gasoline sold in this
nation comes from Nigeria,'
Young pointed out late last mon-
th-a few days before Nigeria let
it be known that it might use its
oil weapon if the U.S. recognized
the new government in Zimbab-
we Rhodesia. "Now if you buy
Gulf, one out of every two gallons
of Gulf comes from Nigeria. We
are talking about the kinds of
realities that I think white folks
can understand."
Black American political and
civil rights leaders have been
quick to back Young in making
the connection. Last week, Trans-
Africa, the 'Washington-based
lobby on U.S.-African policy,
brought together a coalition of
black groups that included the
Congressional Black Caucus, the
National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and the National Ur-
ban League to support Carter's
decision to continue the U.S.
economic boycott of the Salisbury
regime. These leaders said they
would take political ateps against
those in the Senate and the House
who had been pushing for an end
to the trade sanctions.
Randall Robinson, executive
director of TransAfrica, said,
"We want to make it clear that
the black leadership is commit-
ted to respond to those in
Congress who would embrace
what is nothing more than a
racist solution to the problems of
Africa."
NO DOUBT the Senate conser-
vatives who want the sanctions
lifted are less intent on aiding
Bishop Abel Muzorewa than they
are on dealinga setbackttoCarter
and particularly Andy Young.
Nevertheless, the Rhodesia
question highlights two basically
new facts of life about racial
realpolitik.
First,keducated, upwardly
mobile American blacks are in-
creasingly looking forward to
Africa as a derivative of the civil
rights movement in the
American South. Salisbury has
becomesa latter-day Selma.
SECOND, AMERICA'S relian-
ce upon African countries for raw
materials, not necessarily con-
fined to petrolium, will inevitably
mean accompanying more of
their political demands.
If you ask a reasonably well-
informed person which country is
the most populous black nation on
earth, he or she will quite likely
answer: Nigeria.
But then try asking which coun-
try has the second largest black
population in the world. Not
many people will know that is the
United States.
THESE TWO geopolitical for-
ces mean one thing: Black Clout.
It exists and the U.S. must adjust
to it. However, the question
remains whether Young and
Nigeria chose correctly in exer-
cising that clout over the
Rhodesian issue.
The Arab states gained few
admirers in the U.S. when they
exercised the oil weapon
following the October War in the
Middle East in 1973. Many
Senators want to show the
Nigerians that they cannot push
the U.S. around.
Some observers believe that in
identifyinghimself with the
Nigerian threat, and seeing
Rhodesia through the Mississippi
prism, Young may have Over-
stated the fact to his own
detriment. They poit out the fact
that Muzorewa'a government is
multi-racial and substantially
different from the white
minority regime of Ian smith. In
Washington, moreover, the
political battle lines on the san-
ctions do not follow classic
liberal-conservative patterns.
Civil rights veteran Bayard
Rustin and liberal ex-
Congressman Allard Lowen-
stein-both pointing to what they
see as a more dangerous com-
munist alternative-have given
qualified support to Muzorewa's
government.
On the other hand, as the
Greek-Turkish confrontation
over Cypress illustrated, a
domestic constituency (such as
the Greek lobby) can
dramatically alter the direction
of foreign policy.
AS JIMMY CARTER'S stan-
ding in the polls continues to fall,
he appears less inclined to make
a move that would alienate Andy
Young, who is his single hold on
the allegiance of black voters.
As far as Andy Young is con-
cerned, the Rhodesia struggle is
the successor to the civil rights
marches in the south.
In May, Young said as much.
"This isn't about foreign policy
at all," the Ambassador said in
reference to the role Africa
played in domestic American
politics. "The folks that are
pushing these amendments
(favoring lifting restrictions)
don't give a damn about Africa.
They don't know a damn thing
about Africa." He concluded:
"What they do know is that one
way to seriously disrupt the
Democratic Party is to force a
split in the Democratic Party on
the African issue. With tensions
already between a balanced
budget and inflation and energy
policy and all of these things, the
final nail in the coffin would be an
African policy that did not
respect the sensitiveness of the
black voters of the nation."
Bill Drummond, who works for
National Public Radio in Wshingon,
D.C., wrote this piece for Pacific
News Service.
--*,
A
"Yes, we did predict that the reactor accident would re-
sult in one additional cancer and one additional birth
defect... r,-which .are you?
JUDY RAKOWsKY
JOSHUA PECK.. . .
Editorial Director
.......Arts Editor
SPORTS STAFF
GEOFF LAtR(M .S..............................Sports Editor
HILLY SAE . ........ uecuv Sports Editor
.ItYNNE FF--.........................Managing Sports Edtor
DAthN PERtKIN.. ...-- anagngtiSports Editor