THE Michigan Daily Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Thursday, May 23, 1974 News Phone: 764-0552 Unhand us, ya perverts ITH THE RETURN of the warm weather, droves of malevolent, sex-starved males have taken to the streets oance more to intimidate, proposition or otherwise harrass their female victims. The comparatively innocent pastime of "girl-watching" appears to have evolved to much more than merely a spectator sport in recent years. Apparently, modern-day comoisseurs of the flesh r'egard ogling and whistling as outmoded techniques. In these days of sexual permissiveness, these mis- guided males deem it necessary to uphold their macho image by employing lecherous stares and obscene lan- guage to express their sexual desires. And sometimes, not even these blatant tactics suffice to satisfy their per- PIRGIM REPORTS Truth in lending, maybe tiy RICHARD CONLIN THIE TRUtITH-IN-LENDING L a w, p a s s d by Congress in 1968, is a well-constructed con- sumer protection measure, and one which d- dressed an important and widespread problem. However, it also provides an example of the frequent dichotomy between what's written on the books and hov the world actralry operates -- that is, betweuen a. law and the enforcement pro- cess. The law itself deals with the problem of con- sumer credit. Prior to its passage, borrowers were losing billions of dollars annually as a re- suit of fraudulent and deceptive practices, includ- ing concealed charges, rates calculated to appear smaller than they really were, fine print and hidden clauses in the loan contracts giving lend- ers unfair advantages. ' The Truth-in-Lending law attempted to elm- inate these practices by requiring contracts to be written in standard forms with all charges spec- ified and the interest rate expressed through one universal formula, the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). To reduce deceptive advertising, it ban- ned the use of any rate calculation other than the APR in advertising. verted tendencies.MMO ST OF THE provisions relating to contracts and other written statements have been observed It is not unusual for an unsuspecting young womani and enforced. Written materials provide e a s y to have various parts of her anatomy grabbed at and evidence of violations, and very few such vila- subjected to probing, pinching and other unsavory tions therefore exist. carresses. The spoken word is more elusive; and that is But because most women are so accustomed to this where many problems have occurred. The law may work when it comes down to the contract sort of dislgstin sexist behavior, they rarely make use itself, but by the time the average consumer gets of fhe tegal recourse available to them. Consequently, down to signing the written contract, he or she these ass-grabbing animals spend most of their potent has probably made too much of a commitment to' lives on the prowl for likely targets. back out without a very obvious reason. - Thus, in comparing loan options and analyzing JA/HAT MOST WOMEN do not realize is that they do provisions, what matters is the information the " not have to pot on with this sort of harassment. Cur- consumer can get orally, by talking to alternative rently, there is a stnte law which states in part, "anyone loan sources in person and on the telephone. using obscene. indecent, or vulgar language . . . in the The federal government has mandated that presence of a woman is guilty of a misdemeanor." the law applies to oral quotation of loan rates. The question, of course, is whether this is b'ung Although the law is almost as sexist as the behavior enforced. which it seeks to thwart, the penalty of up to 90 days in jail and or a fine of $100 is enough to make any veteran FOR THAT REASON, PIRGIM and PIRG's in lech keep his mouth shut. several other states have surveyed lending insti- tutions over the telephone, asking them to quote Also, under the present state law, any sort of unso- rates to determine whether they were giving the licited bodily contact is classified as "assault." This legal rates mandated for accurate consumer in- means that a woman can take her attacker to court for formation - that is, the Annual Percentage Rate any offense ranging from a quick feel-up to sexual vio- (APR). lation. Last fall, PIRGIM surveyed banks. We found that only 41 per cent of the banks surveyed were Althoug'h must of these odious perverts make complying with the law. This spring, we recheck- speedy getaway, it sometimes is possible to get either ed the banks earlier found in violation and also extended the survey to credit, unions and auto dealers. We found that only 27 per cent of credit unions and 17 per cent of auto dealers were in full compliance. We found credit unions frequent- ly quoting the monthly rate, which is somewhat - deceptive. We found auto dealers frequently quot- irng the grossly deceptive and illegal"add-on" rate, which is totally in contravention of the law. The resurvey of banks showed that 83 per cent of banks exposed as violators in PIRGIM's earlier survey have now moved into compliance. AFTER DOING this. sprimg's survey, we con- tacted the lending institutions and the enforce- ment agencies responsible for the law, and found that the enforcement agencies had done little to ensure compliance. Some of the lenders even professed ignorance of the law. We feel that these projects demonstrated three things. First, they show that there is a lack of sincere concern for he consumer on the part of many of the institutions surveyed. If an in- stitution really cared about truth-in-tending and adequate consumer information, it would empha- size this in its employee training; it wouldn't wait for enforcement. action to be taken. Second, they show that the agencies entrusted with consumer protection simply aren't doing their job. There is no reason why PIRGIM should have to do this type of survey: it could and should be done by the Michigan Financial Institu- tions Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission. One agency, the National Comptroller of the Cur- rency, has belatedly begun such a program, but its jurisdiction is limited to national banks: other agencies maust act as well. THAT LEADS TO the third conclusion. Cu- sumers must continue to be alert in dealing with loans. Since neither the lending institutions nor the government is adequately concerned with trtith-in-lending, you must check competing in- stitutions carefully when you seek a loan. Check the rate, the contract provisions, the actual dollar cost of the loan, any "extras" you may be charg- ed for. It may make a big difference to yir finances. The Truth-in-Lending Law was designed to pro- tect consumers and promote competition in lie lending -field, thereby toughening the economics system and helping to prevent inflated lending rates, a contributor to both inflation and reces- sion. Some successes have been scored, but truth-in-lending is not yet an integral part of the loan- system. Richard Conlin is a PIRGIM staff member. PIRGIM REPORTS is a co~lun provided to The Daily by the Public In/erest Researcsh Group in Michigan. their name or the license number of their car. In addi- tion to carrying such useful weapons as lighted cigarettes or nail files, women should also keep a pencil and paper handy for recording any information that might help identify these offensive males. CHERYL PILATE WE AGREE. For those who are going to answer the above editorial with 1) "You girls (sic) should take that stuff as a com- pliment," 2) "That's sex, not sexism," 3) "I'd love it if women treated me the same way," or 4) "He's just sow- ing his wild oats"--thanks but no thanks. -MARNIE 'HEYN and REBECCA WARNER ANONYMOUS L TER REGEDE BY 11 Waei6'ON POESEPI5.1972 Tn H E E OUSC l-Mr S of Otj1asi9ton Post L.X FF m CLSI Letters to the Da ly To The Daily: GRADUATION 1974 left us angry and disturbed. Jerry Ford's confused metaphors about China and the U ni te d States - 'trust the people / don't pay attention to the polls' - were bad enough, but Robben Fleming's remarks gave us a real chill. He presented a caricature of history by placing the class of '74 as the first in nearly a de- cade that is not 'tainted' by the 'radicalism' of the 1960's. It is fittingly ironic that the class of '74 generally complained about arriving too late on the campus scene to experience the uplift of activism that accom- panied the sexual, racial and academic reform as well as anti-war protest of the 60's. Fleming remembered political graffiti but not the causes of such expression. He must have preferred clean walls and drone- like acceptance of geuoctdal imass murder in Indo-Cihina. What are his values? te offered an invitatia nor social unity based on our com- mon realization of the seious- ness of the planetary con.mion. But unity with the causes of our plight is simply anotue:- in- vitation to cynicism the class of '74 knows only too well. AS GRADUATES of two uti- versity classes, '69 and 74, we offer another.type of inv.a ion to Robben Fleming. We insote him to leave his highest-ii-the- state public salary, maticured White House, and management- profit mentality. ("It's a nimney problem.") and join- the un'- versity's 3,00 secretarie sm their struggle to gain lob se- curity and a decent wage. We invite him, as Prof. Good- man suggested in his introduc- tion and as Jerry Ford ill.strat- ed in his red-book address, to dirty his hands with the people in their efforts to combat the -reality of our corporate-govern- ments' (national, state,,i-at, and university) elitist wastefl- ness with authentic egalitarian discipline. We invite him to -e- member the history of the 60's as the continuing reality of the 70's: racial and sexual inequit- ies, war in Indo-china, hierar- chical education, elite-based so- cial services, and lying govern- ment. We invite him to exprience the joy of struggle and spray, spray, spray - "graffiti", as he calls it, until the causes of protest are as weak as hIs self- serving vision of recent histort. ALL PEACE and power to those of the class of '74 who turn their backs on corporate cynicism (and Oakland County) and join the planet's masses! -Members of University Classes of 1969 and 1974 May 9 To The Dailyt The quest for poser is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie to the peo- ple; he leadeth me beside the still Congress. He restoreth my soul; he lead- eth me in the paths of con- tempt for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Watergate, I will fear no impeachment, for thou art with me; my tapes and my transcripts they comfort me. Thou preparest a throne before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with fantasies; my cup runneth over. Surely subpoenas and (expletive deleted) shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the White House for ever. -Reprinted by permission of Father MacLaughing by Oded Borowski Dept. of Near Eastern Studies Letters to The Daily shold1 be mailed to the Editorial Director or delivered to Mary Rafferty in the Student Publications business office in the Michigan Daily build- ing. Letters should be typed, double-spaced and normally should not exceed 250 words. The Editorial Directors re- serve the right to edit all letters submitted.