420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Edited and managed by students at the
University of Michigan
Editorials printed in The Michigen Daily expres the indiidual
opinions of the author. T[is must be noted in all reprints.
Saturday, May 22, 1971 News Phone: 764-0552
NIGHT EDITOR: GERI SPRUNG
SST aftermath
THE CONTROVERSIAL supersonic transport program
once again met defeat Wednesday as the Senate
killed a bill passed by the House to resume funding for
the SST which Congress had voted in March to dis-
continue.
Though the Senate acted wisely in voting not to
revive the program, the chief reasons which prompted
the House move to restart the SST - laid-off workers
and feared decline of the aerospace industry - should
not be ignored.
The government does have a responsibility to help
the workers hurt by the cancellation of the SST pro-
gram. They had no reason to anticipate the Con-
gressional decision and are having several difficulties in
coping with the consequences.
There is a wide variety of talent and hardware
available to the aerospace industry, and cancellation of
the SST need not force it into a decline. The government
ought to subsidize the companies to deal with problems
such as efficient mass transportation and air pollution
control.
Assistant Secretary of the Housing and Urban De-
velopment Department Harold Finger has said, "The
aerospace industry's capability in hardware, software,
management, planning, evaluation, analysis and pro-
gramming - all can be applied to the national problems
of housing, pollution, and waste management."
The industry is already handling some $2.5 billion
worth of non-aerosnace business annually in such fields
as urban studies, pollution control and housing, accord-
ing to Aerospace Association president Karl Harr, Jr.
Also, there are ways to help the American aerospace
industry face competition from foreign aerospace enter-
prises that will be marketing SST's.
If SST's were banned from landing in or flying over
the United States, as they should be until it has been
shown that they are not ecologically harmful, the market
for any foreign SST's would be severely limited and the
American aerospace industry relatively unharmed.
Bills that would ban the SST are already pending in
most state legislatures, including Michigan's. The U.S.
government ought to make it clear to foreign builders
of the plane that it regards the noise and air pollution
of supersonic flight as intolerable and does not welcome
SST's in its airports.
The Nixon administration, in its dealings abroad,
has not heeded Congress' decision. American Ambassa-
dors to France and England have assured those govern-
ments that the supersonic Concorde will. be allowed to
land in New York and have encouraged them to go ahead
with their program.
ENVIRONMENTAL ARGUMENTS against the American
SST weigh as heavily against the Concorde and the
Russian supersonic transport.
Many scientists have pointed out the hazardous ef-
fects the SST would be likely to have in terms of noise
and atmospheric pollution. A University of California
scientist has said that the upper atmosphere's ozone
shield protecting the Earth from the sun's ultraviolet
rays would be cut in half in two years by a fleet of SSTs.
Though the extent of such effects may not yet be
known conclusively, the scientific prediction of these
hazards is reason enough not to produce the plane until
adequate solutions can be worked out. The SST is not
worth building to discover its dangers only after they
have already had their disastrous effects.
In the last few years, environmentalists have made
us increasingly aware of the dangers that accompany
technological progress that is allowed to pursue a random
course without regards for. its consequences to life on
this planet. Technological advancement must be seen
in terms of achieving a level of human activity where all
components of population, economics, ecology, technol-
ogy, and natural resources are balanced and consistent.
This applies clearly to the SST.
This nation has needs far more vital than helping a
relatively small number of wealthy passengers reach
London or Paris a few hours earlier. Our cities are de-
caying; welfare costs are soaring; the environment is
in serious trouble.
THE SST should not be built u n t iil we can
afford it and it is proven to.be safe to the environ-
ment. In the meantime, the talent and resources of the
aerospace industry ought to be put to work on projects
Home in good old Detroit
By PAt . TRAVIS
DE~TROIT.
HE DARK BLUE Firebird eas;d up to the red
'ighl Tine driver gunned his engine a few times
to get the attention of the silver Mustang already
waiting at. the light. The Mustangs driver glanced
at the Firebird for a few seconds, nodded and re-
sumed staring at the light. As the whine of the
engines grew so did the eyes of the three little kids
standing on the corner. The light turned green aud
with smoking exhausts, screaming tires, and a
hearty hi-o silver the two cars disappeared down
the road.
I had come home to Detroit for the sumnmer.
At first glance. Detroit had not changed much
during the time I was away getting my higher edu-
cation. The "hot wheels" were still roaring down
the streets. Detroit was in the middle of another
one of its gasoline price wars. Mammoth trailers
filled with new cars on their way to somewhere were
still parked at the corner restaurant while their
drivers got a cup of coffee. There were noticeably
fewer trailers than in past years but it was reassur-
ing to see at least a few.
The shopping centers were still packed on week-
ends with teenagers who had no money but plenty
of time to spend. The hair was longer, the bras
fewer.
At first glance, Detroit had not changed much.
But as I drove my parents' car around the city, doing
errands or just cruising I began to notice a few un-
settling things.
For the first time I noticed the smell of the air.
It may sound funny but it was the first time the
smell ever made an impression on me. It smelled
bad, really bad.
I BEGAN TO notice other things. Things like the
division between what was called the "bad" area
of town and the "good" area had moved further out.
There were more "For Sale" signs-everywhere. The
dreaded creeping "urban blight" which is talked
about so often but is not readily visible when you're
part of it became obvious to me.
Areas of Detroit are so bad that the U.S. De-
partment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
tried to bar FHA mortgage insurance for parts of
the city. HUD felt that certain areas had deterio-
rated too far to risk issuing insurance. When the
ensuing publicity grew out of hand, they recinded
the order.
I guess Detroit really is changing. Some things
still remain the same. They still make the best pizza
a few blocks away. They still make the best potato
-Dniy-uary aViani
chips a mile or two away. Thinsgs like that haven't
changed yet. But pizza and potato chips don't make
up for the rising crime rate, the absurd murder
rate, and the ever-spreading slums.
Which is why I've noticed more talk by people
of moving, to the suburbs, to the country, anywhere,
just as long as it's out of the city.
AND I CAN'T really blame them. I felt cheated
by the city also. One incident brought it all home
for me. I was driving down the street towards the
show that the whole neighborhood gang used to walk
to every Sunday afternoon. Memories of King Kong,
of Tarzan, of Godzilla, flooded my mind.
But, like the city, the show had changed -
changed into one of the many porno-shows that now
probably outnumber the "family" shows. It's sort
of sad that my little brother will never walk to
that show on Sunday as he grows up.
Letters to The Daily
I
Student employes
To the Daily:
THE FOLLOWING letter has
been sent to HEW Secretary Eliot
Richardson:
We are writing with regard to
the crucial issue now before you:
to decide whether or not HEW has
jurisdiction under Executive Order
11246 over admissions to graduate
programs at the University of
Michigan (and, by implication, at
many other universities).
We, the elected government of
the Rackham School of Graduate,
Studies (which includes all pre-
doctoral students) at the Univer-
sity of Michigan believe that the
University Administration is try-
ing to deny jurisdiction in this
area to HEW because it does not
want to recognize the fact that
graduate student' workers are em-
ployes. It seems obvious to us
that teaching fellows, research
assistants, and staff assistants are
employes. They perform impor-
tantacademic services for the
University and receive salaries in
compensation. Although many de-
gree programs demand research or
teaching experience as part of
one's training for the degree, most
graduate employes work at these
jobs in order to support themselves
while going to graduate school;
they often work longer at them
than is required to satisfy the pre-
i-if/
Off
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fr b
requisites for their particular de-
grees, and they pay taxes on their
salaries after the requirements are
completed.
Moreover, t he University Ad-
ministration has implicitly con-
ceded that teaching fellows, re-
search assistants, and staff assist-
ants are employes, since they are
eligible for Blue Cross-Blue Shield
Health Insurance and for Life In-
surance benefits which are not
available to graduate students re-
ceving grants or stipends. The
University Administration's claim
that monies received by teaching
fellows, research assistants, and
s t a f f assistants are stipends is
thus inconsistent with its own
practice.
We also believe that the Uni-
versity Administration is taking
this position even though it knows
very well that there is discrimina-
tion against women in graduate
°admissions, because it does not
want HEW to interfere. That such
discrimination exists is known to
every undergraduate woman who
has even thought of applying to
graduate school, and to every
graduate woman who has man-
aged to gain admission in spite of
it. Efforts to eliminate discrimina-
tion against women in occupations
which require a graduate degree
will be to no avail as longs s
women can be denied equal access
to these jobs indirectly, by the
simple expedient of denying their.
equal opportunity to achieve that
degree.
WE URGE YOU to bring the
power of the United States Federal
Government to bear in eliminating
these inequities.
Rackhaw Student
r
4
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Sr