Page 4-Tuesday, July 25, 1978-The Michigan Daily wmichigan DAILY Eighty-eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M. 48109 Vol. XXXVII, No. 50-S News Phone: 764-0552 Tuesday, July 25, 1978 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan A2 fast, high, strong S INCE THE MAYORS of Los Angeles, Detroit, and Windsor are involved in well- publicized debates over possible bids for the 1984 Olympic Games, we feel compelled to present the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with another option. Why not Ann Arbor? We became gradually convinced last week while watching the campus area washed over by wave upon wave- of hot Art Fair participants that, if only one section of the city should support that much random activity, the organized frenzy of the Games would be a holiday. Then we recalled the legions of Ann Arbor's finest keeping the peace during the spring Hash Bash and the security which reigned during Gerald Ford's visits and realized that local law enforcement officials could answer any questions of safety which past international gatherings have raised. Visitors from Paris could be housed in South Quad and sample the "ground round," Japanese tourists might ride the city's new double decker buses while Italian motorists enjoy testing their equiment on the chewed-up streets. Picture kayaking on the Huron River, archery in the Arb, waterpolo in Bell Pool or boxing, not in any smoke-filled arena, but on the sun-soaked Diag. The city could add a new dimension to the long jump contest and solve its excess sludge problem at the same time by holding the run- and-jump event out at the sewage treatment plant before appreciative crowds. And just as Detroit has it s Windsor and Dallas its Fort Worth, Ann Arbor can call on the resources of Ypsilanti just in case Mayor )3elcher and President Fleming need some extra space or support. Perhaps the marathon could be run in to downtown Ypsilanti and back to give the competitors some sample American Midwest to watch as they pull through the long miles. Considering the virtues of Ann Arbor it's sur- prising to us that the city hasn't yet been tapped as an Olympic site. But 1984 isn't too far away to start planning. gOu'd -~ ruon a N boetter _ Y1-b cn 9rdthon °f be4er YF you ber e- TRLLER /SWere l A SORTER m"w Cancer issue could take fore in politics By Al Goodman Many experts say a cancer epidemic is here - and that it could become an explosive political issue in the coming years. Even now, the potential "cancer constituency" is vast: The disease strikes one in every four Americans and kills almost 400,000 annually. Its political futire, however, lies with the belief now held in the scientific community that up to 90 per cent of human cancer is environmentally caused by man and is not, as was formerly thought, the result of a virus that could be isolated and cured. "The public may feel that everything causes cancer. Therefore, people take the at- titude of 'screw it. I'll live a carefree life.' -Bob Harris, Environmental Defense Fund. DESPITE THESE facts, however, cancer remains a cloudy, back-burner issue. Citing one key reason, Dr. Samual Epstein of the University of Illinois' School of Public Health, said the public hasn't realized that "the problems of cancer are political and economic, not scientific." Epstein, an authority on cancer resulting from chemical pollution, stressed, "We have plenty of in- formation on the scientific problems. We need to see it reflected in decision-making." He points out that the true costs of cancer have not yet come before public scrutiny. For 1975 alone, the government calculated the real costs of cancer, in- cluding medical treatment and loss of man-hours and earnings, at a whopping $18 billion. Epstein claimed the money needed to regulate cancer would be far less, even with strict guidelines for car- cinogens (cancer-causing substances) and adequate prior testing of chemicals before they reach the market. THE PROBLEM is compounded, said University of California biochemist Joyce McCann, because carcinogens have been turning up like wildfire in nearly everything in America. "The carcinogen of the week isnt fiction," said McCann, who is curren- tly researching cancer possibilities from lipstick dyes. "they all add up." "But the public may feel that everything causes cancer,' according to Bob Harris of the Environ- mental Defense Fund (EDF). "Therefore, people take the attitude of 'screw-it. I'll live a carefree life.' Their attitudes of confusion or helplessness about cancer have been fueled by industry, critics assert. AT LEAST ONE industry has taken the political potential of cancer seriously and has already gone on the offensive. The St. Louis-based chemical conglomerate Monsanto is now sponsoring a $4-$6 million national TV and multi-media as campaign which, in the words of EDF's Harris, "is trying to convince the public that not everything causes cancer, and of those chemicals that do, the benefits outweigh the liabilities." Monsanto spokesman Ken Clark denied the allegation, saying, "the rpogram is a very candid, no b-s approach, trying to restore a sense of balan- ce in the public mind about chemicals." Clark said.the campaign is a reaction to "chemo- phobia." which he defined as "an irrational fear of everything having to do with chemicals. After all, life is chemical," he said. THE AMERICAN Cancer Society (ACS) may be cancer, but mainly from the curing - not preven- tative - end of it. But if the ACS is intent on cure, others are begin- ning to look into the politics of cancer. The seeds for a political movement to prevent the environmental causes do seem to exist. The 1973 strike against Shell Oil Company, when Oil, Chemical and SAtomic Workers Union (OCAW) workers went out for six months, was specifically over work hazards. Although the conflict ended in a stand-off, according to Mazzocchi, "it was the first time carcinogenic conditions in the workplace were made widely known." IN WASHINGTON, a group called the Public In- terest Roundtable has been meeting monthly for more than a year to hammer out policis to attack cancer. It includes laborleaders, academicians and environmentalists, and has quietly lobbied for ap- pointees to.the National Cancer Institute, Environ- mental Protection Agency and otger pertinent agencies. The Roundtable may be a preface to a growing coalition on the cancer frontier between environ- mentalists and unionists. With cancer as the target, the traditional differences between the middle class dominated environmental groups and the blue- collar unions may be overcome. Even now, a coalition of the two concerns is pul- ling for passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA). proposed generic standards for carcinogens in the workplace. OSHA currently regulates a mere 17 carcinogenic chemicals and that as the result of lobbying by the OCAW and Ralph Nader's Health Research Group in the early 1970s. THE NEW OSHA standards would break down carcinogens into four categories and eliminate many problems of the currently used chemical-by- chemical regulation process, With hearings due in May, industry opponents have already geared up for the fight, forming the American Industrial Health Association. Mazzocchi estimates the Association has raised some $350 million for lobbying and media campaigns directed against the new OSHA standards. While the fight shapes up, it is interesting that some of the most effective cancer-related politics have come from largely conservative groups seeking to legalize Latrile. Although generally regarded by the medical profession as aecancer placebo, pro-Laetrile forces such as the Committee for Freedom of Choice in Cancer Therapy - based in Los Altos, California and claiming 500 chapters nationwide - have used intense lobbying to secure legalization for the controversial drug in 15 states, with more expected to follow. w Cancer prevention politicos can hardly claim such impressive legislative records, but they are devising strategies to raise public awareness and funnel a chunk of the millions of government and foundation cancer research dollars -into effective cancer prevention. If successful, big changes could lie ahead for numerous products now on the market andmin countless workplaces. Unionist Mazzocchi thinks a "Right to Know" law is imperative. "We're never going to prevent can- cer in the neighborhoods unless people know what they're working with." "I think people will be mobilized over their children," said EDF's Bob Harris, pointing to Tris, the carcinogenic flame retardent in children's pajamas, and to contaminants showing up in breast milk. One research scientist, however, thinks the politics of cancer may just pop up naturally if the disease continues to spread, as figures now indicate it will. "Clearly, if there is a big increase in can- cer," he said, "I don't think you'll need to worry about a coalition against it. It will just happen.