Edited and managed by students.oat the University of Michigan Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints. TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552 Feminists rate the state a washout on equal rights 7 t Exhibition eontests exploit NFL players THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE should be cited for unfair labor practices. Its upper echelon, decid- ing there was big money in pre-season contests, forced the players to start their grueling practices in early July so they would be prepared to endure a half dozen affairs that had no bearing on the regular standings. In the sticky, oppressive heat of July, the gridders must tape themselves up like mummies, then put on knee pads, shoulder pads, hip pads, and the sort of protection before they go through a daily workout that would alarm even the meanest marine. A day doesn't pass without players collapsing from sun stroke or heat exhaustion and occasionally, more serious injuries result. For instance, Los Angeles' ouarterback, Roman Ga- briel, was victimized a week ago by a collapsed lung and had to be rushed to a hospital for surgery. Surely, the heat wasn't te direct cause of the condition, however, the physical activity in the southern California furnace did not help matters any. Although it is not overly publicized, many of the players are unhappy with the early training schedule. Not only does it shorten their summer vacations and in- crease their chances for injury, but the complain that the owners pay them next to nothing for participating in the exhibitions. OWNERS COUNTER by saying the prolonged training period is necessary to get the players into shape for the regular season which starts in mid-September. But the players disagree claiming they can prepare them- selves in half the time. Last season, Joe Namath missed most of the pre- season preparation, then needed only two weeks to ready himself to take over the Jets' offense. Namath is on of the growing list of disgruntled players who would love to do asay with July football. NEVERTHELESS, a standing room only crowd will wit- ness the College All Star game this Friday in swel- tering Chicago, a contest that inaugurates this season's hefty slate of grid exhibitions. The gates from these preliminaries will rival those for the regular season affairs and the owners, who are only interested in fattening their pocketbooks, are using players to achieve their goal. If things stay as they are, player-management relations could reach the boiling point, even when the temperature cools down. -BOB ANDREWS Nixon vs. the press TOWARD THE END of his televised news conference on June 29-the first of its kind to which the Presi- dent had subjected himself in some thirteen months- Mr. Nixon managed to deliver a few revealing re- marks on his attitude toward the press in general and the press conference in particular. "I have to use the press conference," he said, "when I believe that is the best way to communicate or to in- form the people." - Mr. Nixon's notion that the press conference is something to use like the presidential limousine or thO FBI or the Americal Division-helps explain why it is a vanishing institution. Mr. Nixon said he had concluded that to meet the press during the periods preceding and following his trips to Moscow and Peking "was not a useful thing for the President of The United States to engage ljs." JN THE PROCESS of avoiding questions about Moscow and Peking, Mr. Nixon also ducked a few other topics. There was no opoortunitv, during his long period of in- accessibility, to ask about the ITT affair, or about the $10 million raised for his campaign before the new report- ing law went into effect, or about the war he had pro- mised to end long ago, or the sorry performance of his New Economic Plan, or about federal deficits and pros- pects for a tax increase. All these are matters that the President would rather discuss on his own terms--if he discusses them at all --- without rude interruptions from nosy reporters. -THE PROGRESSIVE AUGUST, 1972 Today's Staff.. . News: Dan Fiddle, Meryl Gordon, Carla Rapoport Editorial Poge: Alan Lenhoff 0 ., -n. ;.hiin- aC, Viloni By CARLA RAPOPORT N THE past legislative session, fourteen bills concerning womens' rights came before the State House of Representatives. The score for the session: the Legislature-I, Women-5. According to Mary Hellman, a member of the Women's Political Caucus which compiled the voting survey, "The votes on these bills indicate that women's issues are not fully understood by members of the State House." Fourteen bills were selected for analysis because of their effect either positive or negative, on the ability of women to make decis- ions about their own lives. The results of the survey not only show that women's issues are rarely introduced in the House (only 14 worens' rights issues were considered in an entire legis- lative session), but that the repre- sentatives showed a surprising in- consistency in their voting. For instance, Hellman says "while all but two of the repre- sentatives approved of the "equal pay for equal work" bill, only four voted for an unrestricted bill to prohibit sex discrimination in pub- lic accommodations." Voting scores were poorest for bills which would allow women to control childbirth. According to a member of the womens' caucus, a bill to allow physicians to pre- scribe contraceptives to -minors was "soundly and repeatedly" de- feated until an amendment w a s added restricting the service to those of 16 years or older. T he abortion reform bill was not even brought up this session. The following are brief descrip- tions of the 14 bills and their pro- gress in the house as prepared by the Michigan Women's Political Caucus: HJR LLL: The Equal R i g h t s Amendment Ratification of the ERA w as postponed by the House on four occasions before the first roll call, to postpone the vote again, occur- red. The preferred vote, a "no" on postponement, was based on the belief that 50 years of national debate and t h r e e Michigan hearings (two called by the Sen- .ate and one by the House) w e r e sufficient to inform legislators of women's support for the ERA. Fol- lowing House approval, the Sen- ate also ratified the ERA, on a_ voice vote. H.B. 4138: A bill to prohibit dis- crimination on the basis of sex or marital status in the selling, leas- ing, renting, or financing of per- sonal or real property. Rep. Ferguson, sponsor of the bill, offered amendments from the floor to exclude the leasing a n d renting provisions and to provide that "a person may refuse to loan money to a married person if he is unable to obtain the signatures of both the husband and wife on the note or mortgage." These amendments, which passed on a voice vote; made the bill unaccept- able, in our judgment, because its provisions would not assure finan- cial independence for married wo- men. The bill is now in the Senate State Affairs committee. H.B. 4139: A bill to prohibit sex discrimination in public accommo- dations. On the vote to concur with the Senate-passed bill, we preferred a "yes" vote without reservation. The Senate deleted House amend- ments and restored the bill to its original form.: The House did not concur, and the bill went to a con- ference committee, which restor- ed public educational institutions as places of public accommoda- tion and excluded restrooms, lock- er rooms, and rooming facilities. The conferees' bill passed b o t h House and Senate and is now law. H.B. 4899: Prohibited discrimina- tion between sexes in the payment of wages for equal work. A cumbersome title for the "equal pay for equal work" bill. It passed both House and Senate and was signed into law by the governor. H.B. 4576: A bill to abolish women's dower rights. Our preferred vote was a "no" on the ground that inequities can be corrected by extending rights as well as by abolishing privileges. ' If a Constitutional amendment is necessary to extend the equivalent of downer rights to men, the legis- lature should have proposed it. The bill, after passage, was returned to the House Judiciary Committee on a motion by its sponsor, Rep. Traxler. H.B. 5084: A bill to allow physic- ians to prescribe contraceptives for minors under certain conditions and without parental consent. The vote on passage of the ori- ginal bill failed, but the bill as amended (restricting "birth con- trol pills (and) other contracep- tives" to minors 16 years of age and older) finally passed. Our approval of the Senate-pass- ed version is, again, without qual- ification. The Senate bill would allow physicians licensed to prac- tice in Michigan to provide birth control services to minors. When the House did not concur, the bill went to a conference committee, which, along with everyone else, has adjourned to run for re-elec- tion. S.B. 3: A bill to allow physicians to perform abortions under certain circumstances. The votes on this bill were pro- cedural rather than substantive; that is, they did- not deal specif- ically with the passage of S.B. 3. Nevertheless, we favored "yes" votes on all three roll calls be- cause we felt that the Legislature had an obligation to vote on this bill. S.B. 1106: A bill to prohibit sex discrimination in non-contact, in- terscholastic athletic activities. Eight separate votes were re- corded before the bill passed and went to the governor for his signa- ture, Ann Arbor's representative, Ray- mond Smit outdid the majority of his comrades on women's rights, scoring a favorable nine out of 14 possible votes for womens' rights. The scores for each party's lead- ers were as follows: Democrats: Speaker William Ryan, 3/14; Speaker pro tem Stanley Davis, 4/14; Floor leader Marvin Stemp- ien, 5/14; Caucus chairman John Kelsey, 5/14. Republicans: Minority leader Clifford Smart, 4/14; Assistant leader Thomas Ford 5/14; F 1 o o r leaded Roy Spencer, 5/14; Caucus chairman James Heinze, 10/14. /t Letters to The Daily To The Daily: I LEARNED in a newspaper re- port that you are putting the "bee" on your university authorities to release faculty salary data. I hope you are successful. I wish to suggest that you push on in your quest for information about higher education in Michi- gan, not just at U. of M. --Prof. Ralph Lewis Dept. of Natural Science Michigan State University July 21 Salaries : Yes To The Daily: WE OF THE Michigan Women in Science, a recently formed group of women in some 23 sci- ence-related departments in the University, strongly support t h e request by AlanLenhoff to Pres- ident Fleming that the name, sex, minority code, salary, years of service and job title for all admin- istrators, faculty and staff of the University be published and made available to individuals. We fur- ther agree with his proposed court action if this should be necessary to obtain release of this informa- tion, , This disclosure is an important means toward documenting dis- criminatory practices against wo- men within the University, and al- though it won't correct them, it will signal a willingness on the part of the administration to ser- iously begin the process. -Michigan Women in Scince July 20 , . Salaries : No To The Daily: MEMBERS OF SACUA oppose the publication of names and sal- aries of University personnel. Such listings will serve no useful pur- pose without a thorough under- standing of the very complex and highly variable factors which go into the determination of individ- ual's salaries over a period _of time. To discuss all of those factors in each individual case would not only be impossible, but would in- volve an intolerable invasion of pri- vacy. Therefore, a complete un- derstanding of this process by the public is simply not within the realm of possibility. We are surprised that the same institution, The Michigan Daily, which has decried the divulgence of student records as an intoler- able invasion of privacy and there- fore a violation of civil r i g h ts should take the opposite point of view in their present demands. Has not the public, who is sup- porting student education with tax dollars, just as much right to know the records of individual students, as to know the income of their in- structors. Perhaps it makes a dif- ference whose rights are being vio- lated. -). L. 5hinernan Chairman of SACIUA July 21 iv es fe stival 'o T' Dtily: AS FORMER MEMBERS of the central planning committee of the Ann Arbor Blues Festivals of 1969 and 1970, we would like to make clear that the Ann Arbor B lu e s and Jazz Festival scheduled for this fall is in no way an exten- sion or revival of the 1969-70 Blues Festivals. We feel that the un- derlying concept, behind this fall's festival differs profoundly from the concept behind the Blues Fes- tivals. We wish the Jazz and Blues Festival good luck. -Mark Platt Chris Seltsam and five others July 23 Toothpaste protest To The Daily: IT'S FINALLY happened. No longer are we to be a nation di- vided in the pursuit of our own toothpaste - rolling methods. My new tube of Crest bears the fol- lowing message in bright, b ol d colors: "For best results, squseeze tube from the bottom and flatten it as you go up." Note the clever way the manu- facturers have avoided an out- right totalitarian order. But the phrase "for best resas ' will nave such an effect anyway, as bath- rooms-full of competitive brushers scramble to get more 'pt of their tube than anyone else on the block. One more bastion of free will has collapsed. Of course, some will pay no attention, and grimly continue rolling their tubes, or, worse yet, squeezing indiscriminately. These misguided souls are probably the same ones who complain that it always rains after they wash their car. , -Donald Sosin July 57