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iTHE
Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
-University of Michigan
Tuesday, July 9, 1974
News Phone: 764 0552
On women's rights
and other vagaries
EDUCATION IS a stepladder-men climbing one side
and women the other. Notice that both sexes over-
crowd the lower rungs which attain the college gradu-
ate level. But also notice that while the men continue
upward evenly, step-by-step, the wgmen cannot, for few
of them can master the missing rungs leading to the
Ph.D summit. In short, sexual discrimination pervades
the nation's graduate schools.
The U's Grad School Committee on the Status of
Women in Graduate Education and Later Careers con-
firmed that "the higher the rung on the academic ladder,
the fewer women are to be found."
According to the study during the 1972-73 academic
year at the U, women accounted for 44 percent of the
bachelor - degrees, while 14 per cent garnered Ph.D's.
Pretty bleak. For the University of Michigan reflects
the national picture too.
"Faculty members are not taking them (women)
seriously," the report states. Female grad students are a
risky proposition. What if they drop out to marry or
raise children? University departments risk too much in
offering women fellowships, the report suggests.
YET POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS risk even more
by preventing society from tapping a potential half
of the nation's intellect. Even for the women who are
lucky to make it, the pitifully small number of female
instructors and counsellors offer little encouragement.
The committee stated that the University's female
Ph.D's were underemployed at three times the rate of
their male counterparts. Thus the vicious circle con-
tinues-women have little incentive for enrolling in
graduate school, because of systematic and implicit dis-
crimination at the graduate level, much of which could
no doubt be eliminated by a stronger female enrollment.
The Committee's recommendations are commendable
-that the School's staff evaluate departmental data re-
garding progress of male and female graduate students;
and that the School develop "imaginative and systematic
approaches to the placement of doctoral students, with
emphasis on placement of women, both married and un-
married.. The report claims the Grad School is "taking
steps" to remedy the imbalance; but will they follow
through? The University's paper commitment to Affirma-
tive Action and their subsequent failure to provide the
promised 10 per cent minority student/staff enrollment
leaves us less than optimistic.
-BILL HEENAN
The'no-Issue myth
By JAMES WECHSLER years than during the- period of the 19k and
AMONG THE Democratic Party's numerous early 1970s."
armchair strategists and philosophers, o n e OBVIOUSLY there may be clashing interprets-
highly vocal group is contending that the formula OlIOS m fthertm etc.h e
for success this year and in 1976 is to find a tions of some of the arithmetic. The grievances
comfortable refuge in the deadly center and mute of many suburbanites may be intensified by the
serious debate on controversial issues. realization that escape from the cities did not
mean liberation froth the plague of drugs - or
According to this doctrine, most frequently inflation. The dissatisfaction of the young white
expounded by Messrs. Wattenberg and Scammon, college alumnus has very different roots from
most Americans are leading private lives of quiet those of the black kid trapped in the slums. (Sig-
satisfaction and resent being told there is any- nificantly. the sense of alienation among blacks
thing deeply wrong with things as they are. The has remained constant at 66 per cent during the
Democrats, so the theory goes, may nullify all last two years, white it has risen from 47 to
their prospective dividends from Watergate and 57 per cent among whites).
other Administration debacles if they appear to But whatever questions remain unanswered
be spokesmen of discontent and advocates of by the figures, the central message seems incon-
any basic social change. testable. There is a deep unease and frustration
Instead they should be telling Americans that in the country, and Democrats delude themselves
the reason "they never had it so good" is be-
cause of the social progress recorded under the ,., ,
Democratic administrations of the 1960s. The
comparative tranquility prevailing on the cam- "There is a deep unease and
puses in recent times is cited - among other eeI epue~ n
things - as proof of the country's distaste for frustration in the country, and
the suggestion that there is any underlying mal-
aise in our society. Democrats delude themselves
That serene portrait of the American condition
has been sharply challenged anew in the latest if they believe they can stam-
Lou Harris poll (published in this newspaper yes-
terday). And while opinion surveys are properly pede the electorate by merely
subject to dissect-on and dispute, they re least offering their party label and
likely to be wholly fallible when they cumulative-
ly present a public mood rather than focus on a a reminder of past Democratic
single question.
glories.
HARRIS summarized his findings in these
words: : _se s-c ccc. s,..s-c. sc. .
"Disenchantment with the state of the country
has now reached such massive proportions among if they believe they can- stampede the electorate
the American people that a record 59 per cent now by merely offering their party label and a re-
feels disaffected, up from 55 per cent in 1973 and minded of past Democratic glories.
more than double the 29 per cent who felt that The transcendent mood reflected in the poll
way back in 1966. So pervasive is the current is a spreading public conviction that inequity and
down feeling that no less than a marity of special privilege dominate our public policies, and
every single major segment of the population is that most politicians do not give a damn.
turned off by politics, the fairness of our econ-
omic system, and the role accorded the individ- The findings have immediate relevance, of
uat in our society." course, to many approaching Congressional and
These conclusions were based on responses in stateecontests. But they also have direct bearing
1413 homes to a series of statements offered by on plans for the Democratic Party's midterm
the interviewers. Seventy-nine per cent agreed "convention" in December. Many of the party's
that "the rich get richer and the poor get poor- statesmen have envisaged that session as one
er" (as compared with 45 per cent commenting in which "unity" is achieved by a congenial con-
on the same words eight years ago). Seventy. spiracy of silence on explosive issues.
eight per cent feel "special interests get more
from the government than the people do," while IF HARRIS' ANALYSIS bears any resemblance
75 per cent believe "the tax laws are written to , restive American reality - and I believe it
help the rich, not the poor." does - such a vacuous pep-rally could be a poli-
In 1966 only 26 per cent accepted the state- tical disaster. For too many people can no long-
ment that "the people running the country don't er be beguiled by the simple cry of "throw the
really care what happens to you"; now that view rascals out." They are looking for something
is shared by 63 per cent. And 62 per cent agreed more positive and inspirational than a purge
with the assertion that "most elective officials are (which could incidentally menace numerous in-
in politics for all they can personally get out cumbent Democrats). They are, one might even
of it for themselves." conjecture, looking for leaders who dare to chal-
Harris found the symptoms of "disaffection" lenge untouchables and to think unthinkable
rising most precipitiously among those who had thoughts.
previously felt least alienated - the college-edu-
cated suburban dwellers. And, despite the surface
peace and quiet on the campuses, he reported
that "massive disillusionment" among the young New York Post. Copyright, The New York Post
has spread far more rapidly during the past two Corp., 1974.
.Greasing the skids
at Big Oil, Inc.
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON (UPI) - In
recent days one major oil com-
pany has tried to take over
Montgomery Ward and another
has sought control of Ringling
Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Now critics are asking how
these proposed deals square
with the oil industry's claim
that it needs higher petroleum
prices to finance energy explor-
ation.
As Business Week magazine
points out in an editorial, oil
executives who defend price in-
creases never mention "the
need for huge sums of cash' to
buy department stores." This
type of criticism, I feel, is un-
fair.
I happen to be acquainted
with a big oil man and he ad-
vises me that Montgomery
Ward and Ringling Bros. both
are potential new sources of
energy.
"IT'S A gamble, of course,"
he said, "but we big oil men
spare nothing in our dedicated.
effort to make America s e 1 f-
sufficient in energy output." -
There was a moment of re-
verent silence while we stood
and faced in the direction of
Texas. Then I asked the big
oil man how getting control of
Montgomery Ward tied in with
energy exploration.
"There are two possibilities,"
he replied. "One is recycling
Montgomery Ward catalogs to
augment fuel for home heating
and cooking.
"Properly treated, a single
catalog will burn for a couple
of hours in a fireplace or sup-
ply enough heat to grill four
shish kebabs on a hibachi.
"The other possibility is dril-
ling for oil under Montgomery
Ward parking lots in suburban
shopping centers."
I said, "I can see why an
oil company would like to get
its hands on Ward stores. But
where is the energy potential in
a circus?"
"Here again there are two
important prospects," the b i g
oil man told me. "I'm s u r e
you read about the man in Eng-
land who, -during last winter's
energy crisis, adapted his car
to run on barnyard manure.
'IV"ll, sir, I hardly need point
out that the circus is loaded
with animal acts. Why, t h e
elephants alone * make an oil
company's investment worth-
while.
"Beyond that, there are the
acrobats. Did you ever consider
the tremendous amount of ener-
gy that is released when an ac-
robat jumps off another acro-
bat's shoulders and alights on
one end of a teeterboard?
"You laymen probably a r e
only interested in whether the
girl acrobat on the other end of
the teeter can turn a double
backwards somersault and safe-
ly land atop a three-acrobat py-
ramid.
"BUT WE big oil men a r e
interested in whether this en-
ergy can be harnessed and used
to supplant the- fuel we now
have to import from the Mid-
dle East"
Once you understand what's
behind oil price hikes, y o u
don't mind so much paying 60
cents a gallon for gasoline.