The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, May 23, 1978-Page 7 Local arms race watchers gather By BRIAN BLANCHARD , It will be a determined group of area residents that travels to the United Nations's special session on disar- mament Thursday to express support for national and global weapons reduc- tion, if Saturday's community forum on the issue was any indication. Reps Carl Pursell (R-Mich.) and Robert Carr (D-Mich.) and University Political Science Prof. David Singer agreed on the need for closer public scrutiny of the Defense Department's budget and more local participation in national arms decisions during the course of the day-long teach-in. THE WELL-ATTENDED, free forum, entitled "A Call to Arms Con- trol," was sponsored by 14 organi- zations, eight with religious affilia- tion, and was held in the First Meth- odist Church. During an interview held atter toe forum, Ann Arbor's Rep. Pursell ex- pressed support for the Senate's recent approval of arms sales to Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Most of those in at- tendance at the forum seemed opposed to the Senate action. He noted that the three Mideast coun- tries have agreed the planes "could not be used for offensive purposes." Pur- sell said the Carter Administration con- siders the sales part of an attempt to "balance" forces in the Mideast to prepare the way for peace talks. PROF. DAVID SINGER opened the morning session, attended by about 50 citizens, with an hour-long talk entitled "The Cassandra Calculus and National Security Requirements." "People like myself, who have been studying this problem for three decades or so, generally are surprised that World War III has not occurred yet," Singer said. Singer, who has undertaken a study of international conflicts since the Congress of Vienna, said, the "Casan- dras" who determine American foreign policy and military objectives are fulfilling their own dire prophecies and that interest groups are using "propaganda" to support weapons in- creases. THE PRESENT American position was established during the 1959-60 reports of a "missile gap" between the Soviet Union and the U.S., according to Singer. "The fact (is) that the West en- joys this tremendous superiority in strategic weapons, a slight inferiorty in conventional weapons, but nothing dramatic. It (the gap) wasn't dramatic then, and it's not dramatic today - despite what you read in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Ann Arbor News, and particularly these terrible articles by UPI correspondents." Singer safd the U.S. has made a mistaken attempt to achieve the "technologically impossible" first strike capability - the ability to knock out the enemy country with nuclear weapons so that it is unable to respond. He recommended the U.S. work only to maintain second strike - retaliatory - powers, noting that "It's a cinch, and it's cheap" to do so. Singer said the U.S. should "begin to cut back on the production of these (weapons) and see what our friends in See ARMS, Page 10 Doily Photo by JOHN KNOX REP. ROBERT CARR (D-Mich.) speaks at a forum on disarmament as Rep. Carl Pursell (R-Mich.) looks on intently. * * * U.N. arms UNITED NATIONS (AP) -, Statespeople and diplomats gathered here yesterday for a special General Assembly session on disarmament, the first time since 1932 that virtually all countries of the world have met to discuss the issue. The objective of the five-week exer- cise, starting today, is to map strategy l to halt the nuclear weapons race and seek ways to divert nearly $400 billion spent annually on arms toward assistance to developing nations. DOZENS OF new proposals are ex- pected from more than 20 heads of government, 50 government ministers and other envoys representing the. United Nations' 149 member countries as well as private citizens' groups. The conference, which has been in preparation for 11 years, satisfies the long-sought demands of Third World countries for a large public forum to put pressure on the big powers for a reduc- tion in their nuclear arsenals and con- ventional arms spending. In a series of resolutions during the past few years, the 90 smaller and politically nonaligned nations have ex- pressed growing frustration with what they regard as slow progress in disar- mament. They want to see the super- powers take steps beyond SALT II and the comprehensive test ban, halt their ,nuclear buildup and actually begin ar- ms reduction. BUT U.N. disarmament experts an- ticipate no new agreements on any sub- WHERE DO I MAIL MY j RESUMES? Iterational's 82 pg COP. DIECTRYt Ilitng orethan 700 li~g U.S. and Overseas C,,-. portions; complete names and addresses for direct ' Send 5.95 + .5 pstg/h sndig . (OscounorQoantey Orders) I session starts today stantive issues. Unlike the 1932 Geneva not to attend has diminished hopes Disarmament Conference which ended among diplomats that the United States inconclusively, however, the special would unveil a major new initiative. session is expected to produce a The President has pledged a strong program of action to guide multilateral U.S. contribution to the special session, disarmament negotiations in the future. gOthers in the U.S. delegation include "The idea is to come up with a sense Ambassadors Andrew Young and W. of the world resolution, expression our outrage, and let everybody put a blood McGovern (S-S.D.), and Charles seal on it and make it morally binding," Mathias (R-Md.), and actor Paul said a U.N. disarmament official. Newman. Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Among the statesmen who will ad- Gromyko is again expected to bring a dress the session are President Valery new proposal or two and press Giscard d'Estaing of France, Chan- Moscow's anti-neutron bomb cam- cellar Helmut Schmidt of West Ger- paign. But he will be watched mostly many, Prime Minister Elliott Trudeau for his parallel talks with Secretary of of Canada, Prime Minister James State Cyrus Vance on the unresolved Callaghan of Britain, Prime Minister issues in a new U.S.-Soviet strategic Morarji Desai of India, President arms limitation treaty. Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, VICE-PRESIDENT Walter Mondale Premier Lopo Fortunator do will deliver the U.S. speech tomorrow. Minister Tjorhorn Faldn of Swdrime But the decision by President Carter Thu Ann Arbor Film Cuopert'u presents af AUD. A Tuesday, May 23-ADMISSION FREE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (Howard Hawks, 1934) 7 ONLY-AUD. A The great JOHN BARRYMORE plays on egomaniac producer after CAROLE LOMBARD as his protegee Lily Garland (nee Mildred Plotka). The supporting cast of this wisecracking force about theatrical personalities includes some of Hollywood's finest character actors-WALTER CONNOLLY, ROSCOE KARNS, EDGAR KENNEDY, EDWARD GARGAN, and HERMAN SING. The legendary writing team, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, did the screenplay. "The director, Howard Hawks, represents the American commercial film at its best-fast, unpretentious, entertaining, with a sophisticated and 'hardboiled' attitude toward sex and money."-Pauline Kael. Tomorrow: Ronoir's "THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE" and "LOWER DEPTHS"