Edited and managed by students at the
University of Michigan
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual
opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints.
FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552
TheTnext step..
AND NOW IT has been predicted that the next hideous
step taken against the people of Indochina will be
mass drowning.
The State Department will have us believe that the
flood dikes in North Vietnam are weak from last year's
rains. We have already been told that "accidental bomb-
ing" of the dikes "cannot be ruled out." The State De-
partment explains that the air war, much acclaimed for
its deadly accuracy in hitting "military" targets only,
is certainly not above committing a few "accidents."
NOW, WARNS Far East specialist Eqbal Ahmed, only
one more "accident" is needed to trigger "geno-
cidal" flooding across the densely populated coastal
plain of North Vietnam.
Just as the dike system has been softened by oc-
casional "accidents," the State Department has subtly
prepared the American public for the floods in North
Vietnam.
When the floods begin, there will be accusations of
dike bombings and there will be more denials. Having
already pointed to the sad condition of the whole dike
system, the Pentagon will matter-of-factly describe the
destruction of North Vietnam as a "natural disaster."
And most likely, the American people will discount
the idea that their government could have arranged
such a thing. Those that see through the official expla-
nations may vent their anger in some small way, but
they will certainly be unable to prevent the flooding.
And the United States of America will have engi-
neered the mass drowning of half a million to a million
North Vietnamese people.
-DAN BIDDLE
/Use t a 1 su/rc
WASHINGTON - We are often
asked who is in charge of our
foreign policy - Richard Nixon or
Henry Kissinger.
Dr. Kissinger makes proposals.
He presents the options. He runs
around the world conducting se-
cret diplomacy in the President's
name. Before the President an-
nounced that the Paris peace talks
would begin again on July 13,
Kissinger quietly spread the word
to congressional leaders that a
major breakthrough on Vietnam
was imminent.
Kissinger, then. is the Presi-
dent's chief adviser and number
one legman. But he is not t h e
President. Richard Nixon makes
the decisions.
Here's an inside example:
During the high level meetings
that led up the mining of the
Haiphong harbor, all of the Presi-
dent's chief advisers - without
exception - warned the President
that the Russians would react
against such a bold move. Kis-
singer himself warned the Presi-
dentrthat at the very least, the
Russians would cancel the Moscow
talks.
But President Nixon overruled
his advisers. He said he w a s
convinced that the Russians had
too much to gain to back out
of the talks. The President, as it
turned, out, was right.
-Bumbling Blowhard-
Nebraska's Senator R o i a n
Hruska is an amiable fellow, who
is known inside the Senate as a
bumbling blowhard. He is per-
haps best remembered for h i s
comment that mediocre Americans
deserve representation on t h e
Supreme court.
Then, at the height of the ITT
affair, Hruska excused ITT's $400,-
000 commitment to the Republican
convention by declaring tiat such
conventions were "bought all the
time" by business interests.
Hruska ought to know. He has
taken over as the Senate cham-
pion of the special interests and
has diligently defended the drug,
insurance, auto and cattle inter-
ests. He has done his best to scut-
tle consumer legislation. And, as
part owner of a chain of bawdy
movie houses, he has worked be-
hind the scenes to deseat anti-
pornography bills.
Now, the senator's br,)thsr, Vic-
tor, has turned ip as Bead of
volunteer programs for the elder-
ly. Victor reecently retired from
the Prudential Insurance Company.
His handsome retirement bene-
fits will now be supplemented by
a $33,000-a-year government sal-
ary.
Our sources tell us 'hat Victor
Hruska was recruited by the White
House. His brother in th Sen-
ate, said a spokesman. had noth-
ing to do with Victor's appoint-
ment.
"However," the spokesman add-
ed with a twinkle, "I am sure the
senator didn't blackball his bro-
ther."
The same attitude, say I. h e
women, pervades the entire ad-
ministration. They claim Nixon's
men are insensitive to their prob-
lems and cite this example: Last
February, the women's affairs ad-
viser to Senator Edmund Muskie,
Dr. Irene Murphy, was invited to
speak to the White House Fellows
ion the subject of women in poli-
Otics. Afterward, she -eceived a
tetter of thanks from a White
'House Fellow named Glen Kendall.
He told Dr. Murphy that if wom-
en want to work in government,
they have to start on the local
level. After all, he wrote, "Y o u
can't make a purse from a pig's
ear overnight."
It's unlikely the White House
will win the distaff vote by equat-
ing women with pigs' ears.
'Illegal Campaign Cash-
' It is illegal to spend public
funds for political purposes. Nev-
'ertheless, the administration is us-
tng the resources of the federal
'overnment to promote President
ONixon's re-election.
We have uncovered an especially
'flagrant use of the public purse for
'presidential promotion. It's an ela-
'oorate, illustrated booklet entitled,
"For Purple Mountain Majesties
Above The Fruited Plain." The
subtitle is more to the point,. It
reads, "President Nixon's Pro-
gram for Building a Better En-
vironment. "
The book makes Daniel Boone
look like an indoorsman compar-
ed to Presdient Nixon. In only 24
pages, the President is mentioned
no fewer than 78 times as a
staunch defender of mother 'sature.
This doesn't count the times he is
referred to simply as "he."
The booklet is the joint pro-
duct of several agencies and it
cost about $11,000 to print it. This
figure excludes the cost of pre-
paring and writing the book which
no one can even estimate.
Officials insist this is a routine
document that has nothing to do
with pushing the President's re-
election.
But the White House staff mem-
ber in charge of distributing the
15,000 copies already off the press,
concedes it is so blatant that it
might not be distributed after all.
Copyright, 1972, by
United Features
Henry Kissinger
-Pig's Ears-
President Nixon is in troub-
le with the women and he can't
understand why. He sailed into
office on a wave of promises that
he would improve the lot of Amer-
ican womanhood. And he truth is.
he has done a lot.
The president has, for exam-
ple, appointed numerous women to
high-level government positions.
He has named many o t 1in r s to
advisory boards and conmmissons.
He has even elevated military
women to general's rank.
Despite his record, the Presi-
dent has managed to alienate niiost
women's groups. It's Isis attitude,
they say, which turns ttems off.
Nixon has made it plain he pre-
fers women who confine their ac-
tivities to the home and hearth.
Letters to The Daily
Vietnam Moonscape
IN THE SEVEN years between 1965 and 1971 the U. S.
military forces exploded 13 billion tons of munitions
in Indochina, half from the air and half from weapons
on the ground.4
This staggering weight of explosives equals the
energy of 450 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. For the area and
people of Indochina, it represents an average of 142
pounds of explosive per acre of land and 584 pounds per
person. It means that over the seven-year period the
average rate of detonation was 118 pounds per second.
These average figures, however, give no indication
of actual concentration; most of the bombardment was
concentrated in time (within the years from 1967 on)
and in area. Of the 13 billion tons, 10.5 billion were ex-
ploded in South Vietnam, half billion in North Vietnam
and 1.3 billion in southern Laos. The bombardment in
South Vietnam represented an over-all average of 497
pounds of-bombs per acre and 1,215 pounds per person;
the major part was focused on two regions: the five
Northern provinces and the region around Saigon.
("RATERS POCK every area of South Vietnam: forests,
swamps, fields, paddies, roadsides. Certain areas,
notable the "free fire" or "specified strike" zones, show
severe cratering.
-"Scientific American," May, 1972
Happy worlers?
To The Daily:
THE ARTICLE in the July 10,
1972, issue of UM News, "Job Sat-
isfaction Depends on How Y o u
Feel About Yourself," subtitled
"Unhappy in ,job? Examine feel-
ings about yourself," is an insult
to every worker at the Univer-
sity.
I have been receiving this "UM
News" for months, and have been
at times amused or annoyed at the
various pro-management propa
ganda articles. This one, however,
is the most offensive I have ever
read here.
I must admit that the example
of a light-bulb packer is q u i t e
appropriate to the degree of mean-
ingfulness and satisfaction to be
found in an average University
job. I merely want to make my
point: the workers are not posses-
sed of character defects when we
do not. find "fulfillment" in mean-
ingless and repetitive tasks. This
canned line was handed to me in
exactly the same form by one
professor I worked for here: "ful-
fillment" takes the place of fair
wages.
This is the real purpose behind
this abstrd articlec--tto bolster
to muanagetment's control of the
lives of the workers, even to the
extent of getting inside their minds
and convincing the workers t h a t
it is they who are at fault if
the work is degrading and mean-
ingless.
This is what we mean by "ris-
ing workers' consciousness," that.
we begin to understand some of
these things, and I give you fair
warning. "UM News," the people
are getting wise to this kind of
mtatnipulation.
--Mary S. Roth
July 1
Defending Orange'
To The Daily:
IN RESPONSE to Christopher
Phillips review of "Clockwork
Orange," I think that to write a
film .reviewe in light of your own
personal opinion is legitimate. But
to blatantly presume to be a
spokesman for everyone's stand-
ards is poor journalism.
I do support your right to re-
view "Clockwork Orange" a n d
state your own feelings, I do ad-
mit that I disagree with y o ur
evaluation of the film. But to say,
"If anything, 'Clockwork Orange'
is depressing and tiresome - a
failure by anyone's standards" is
an affront to tiy right to an opin-
ion and to my standards.
As a more than frequent fit to-
aer, I found Kubrick's latest work
to be a competent. representation
of Burgess' novel. In fact, he gave
it life and color that was exhil-
arating. Granted the themes and
ideas presented were somewhat
Today's Staff .
frightening and depressing. but
they might well have been over-
whelming without the bizarre
plastic sets, the musical dancing
violence, and the caricatures ra-
ther than characters. The movie
seemed designed to take you away
from reality, to put you in an im-
aginary though possible world of
ideas and the future. The people
had to be one-dimensional, for any
further character development
would have detracted from the en-
tirity of the work.
It is possible to respect a film
as a work of art without agreeing
with or enjoying the message.
-Robin Smith
July 12
Blatant
To The Daily:
THE JULY 7 review of Port-
noy's Complaint contains "How--
this is a technical question--d i d
you arrange the furniture so that
we see about two seconds of tit,
TWO LOUSEY (sic) SEC-
ONDSM?" A remark such as this
is blatantly sexist and demeaning
to women. This is not responsible
journalism.
-Lynn Gaynier
James Klopper
July 7
News: Jim Kentch, Alan Lenhoff, Diane Levirk
Editorial Page: Carla Rapoport
Phot Technician: Denny Gainer