Page 4-Saturday, February 2, 1980-The Michigan Daily Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom A '60s activist views crises confrontingAmerica in 1980 Vol. XC, No. 101 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan New editorial policies At a time when Jimmy Carter, his Democratic and Republican rivals for the presidency, the Congress, and the news media all agree about the danger to the United States posed by events in far away places, it is well to remember the experiences of the 1960s. In the sixties, events in distant Vietnam were deemed crucial to American interests. If we did not stop Communism there, we were told, nation after nation would fall until we were left to fight alone. The government and the news media gave us only a very distorted picture of the origins of A S THE NEW. editors of this page assume office, the time would seem right to clarify and explain our editorial policies. There are four fundamental categories into which editorial page material falls: left side editorials, right side editorials, letters, and car- toons. Of these, only the first appears every day of publication. The "leftside" is the opinion of a majority of the Daily editorial board members and is therefore unsigued. The issues covered range from University matters to international relations. The political stances represented, of course, will reflect the changing composition of the staff. The right side of the editorial page is a forum for the thoughts of individual staffers, students, faculty, and com- munity members, plus some material from national press syndicates. "Rightsides" are signed and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editors or the editorial board. As the purpose of the right side is to provide as broad a spectrum of ideas as possible, submissions are accep- ted for publication virtually without regard to the opinions of the writer. A note of clarification: "Rightsides" occasionally appear spanning the top of the page, rather than in the spot their name would indicate. Letters to the editor serve ap- proximately the same purpose as rightsides. Often, they address in- dividual points in pieces that have previously appeared, rather than examining an issue in a more thorough fashion. In the past, some rightsides and let- ters have been signed by organizations, rather than by the par- ticular authors. Henceforth, individual signatures will appear. On the rare occasions that a writer's situation warrants it, letters will ap- pear with the author's name withheld. All correspondents, however, must identify themselves to the editors. Letters and rightsides must be typed, triple-spaced, with 3/4 inch margins. The editors reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, length, grammar, and spelling. The last, and perhaps the most popular feature of the editorial page, is cartoons. Though cartoons sometimes illustrate left- or rightsides, they are normally not to be construed as representing the Daily's opinion, no matter where on the page they appear. We look forward to response from our readers on matters of policy or politics, and hope we may never be ac- cused of being immune to criticism. THOUSANDS OF DEMONSTRATORS gathered inDWashington, D.C. to protest the war in Vietnam during the 60s. the Vietnam conflict in the early days of American involvement. In 1964 President Johnson secured from Congress the Tonkin Gulf resolution condemning North Vietnam for an alleged attack on an American ship in the waters off Vietnam and bringing a major escalation of America's role in the war. Even- tually the facts surrounding the Tonkin Gulf resolution were revealed in the Pentagon Papers: The United States had for two mon- ths been waging a covert war against North Vietnam; the Johnson administration had a. Congressional resolution prepared long before the incident in the Tonkin Gulf. .Today we are told that events in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf are crucial to American interests. We are asked to become enraged over an alleged Soviet in- vasion of Afghanistan. We are told that we must revive registration for the draft and renew cold war confrontation with the Soviet Union. Even before some future Pentagon Papers reveal, the full story of Carter ad- ministration planning in the present situation, it is already evident that this administration had taken numerous moves to return to the Cold War before latching onto the Iran and Afghanistan events to create the climate for officially proclaiming the new policy of con- frontation and preparation for military inter- vention. THE PROTESTS against the Vietnam War were limited at first because most people ac- cepted the explanations of the government on k the morality of fighting communism. Fifty thousand American youth and one million Vietnamese died before the United States withdrew from that country. Since then, By Marty Halpern politicians have expressed awareness that most Americans do not want to become in- volved in foreign adventures against com- munism or other societies our government does not like. The militaristic-minded have complained about this "post-Vietnam syn- drome." Most Americans did, in fact, become much more skeptical about our government's truthfulness as a result of the experience of the Vietnam War. The war meant not only terrible destruction of Vietnam but great harm to U.S. soldiers and Americans at home. The war brought inflation and economic crisis, an ending of the "war on poverty," and a slowing of progress on civil rights. The termination of the war did not bring an end to these problems, in large part because of the continuing enormous increases in military expenditures and the "guns not butter" focus of government policy. The two presidents we have had since the ending of the war were both strong suppor- ters of American involvement in Vietnam. Carter and company did not learn the lesson that it was futile for the United States to try to be the world policeman. Instead, Carter and his advisors set out to merely '"repackage" our foreign policy. Well, the similarities are just too obvious to thosewho lived through the Vietnam war: * Young people are once again forced to register for the draft; a Another holy crusade is being made against communism; .* Once again we must police a distant area (this time the Persian Gulf) to prevent "out- siders" from taking over. "Persian Gulf oil-a vital interest"-this is the "practical" reason we are supposed to swallow as the basis for our fighting the new cold war. It is not just a crusade against communism; it's in the interests of the average Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth. If there really were a war between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Persian Gulf, this would lead at least to the destruction of the oil fields if not the nuclear annihilation of the U.S., U.S.S.R., and the rest of the world. Carter is saying for public consumption that it's an outside big power threat to the Persian Gulf that con- cerns us, just as his predecessors said they feared an expansion of Chinese power if the "communists" won in Vietnam. But as was the case in Vietnam, Carter's real fear is that the ordinary peoples of the Persian Gulf will take full control of the resources of that region, including oil, undermining the power which the U.S. and West European oil com- panies still retain over the distribution of much of the world's oil supply. This issue is the one that really underlay the Vietnam con- flict-the U.S. government's desire to keep open as many regions of the world as possible for the U.S. corporations to do business on their own terms. THE STAKES MAY be higher now because the profits of the oil companies are un- believably great. For the rest of us, however, protecting oil company control of Middle East oil supplies will mean only sacrifice of lives and money. In fact, the success of such an ef- fort will make it even more difficult to control the oil company monster at home. How can we cry for the oil companies when EXXON alone made a reported four billion dollars in profits last year? How can we jump t6 the aid of the oil companies when they're robbing us at the gas pump and when we try to heat our homes? The times call for a crusade, not against the people of the Persian Gulf, but against the oil company stranglehold on the American government and American foreign and domestic policy. It may take a while for all the issues to emerge clearly, but eventually we will have to solve the problems created by the Carter policy turn in a way opposite to that proposed by Carter: No draft; no foreign adventures;* respect each country's right to control its own resources and develop fair trade relations on that basis; move forward again on arms negotiations with the Soviet Union, leading to nuclear disarmament; nationalize the oil companies; reduce the military budget and put these tremendous funds toward programs to guarantee jobs for all; health care as a matter of right; rebuilding the cities; im- proving education and protecting the en- vironment. Carter has calculated that we have forgot- ten the lessons of the Vietnam War. A united mass movement can prove him wrong. A welcome'vi olation of international law' in Iran Y ET ANOTHER party was accused of a "blatant violation of inter- national law" in connection with the Iran situation Wednesday. This time,, Iranian Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotzbadeh assailed the Canadian government for its' rescue of six American diplomats trapped in Tehran when the hostages were taken' at the U.S. embassy. After hiding the Americans for 12 weeks in their embassy, the Canadians provided them with fake passports, and then spirited them out of Iran while the Islamic regime was occupied with national elections. The Canadian embassy staff and government are to be commended for unflinchingly involving themselves in a situation that endangered them both physically and, perhaps, financially, should the Iranians take punitive ac- tion. The rescue may have been useful to the U.S. in several ways. The Iranian response to the move again brought to the fore the stark absurdity of Khomeini's and the militants' position. Ghotz badeh's railing against the Canadians must have looked rather foolish in the world's eyes, in view of the fact that the initial Iranian violatiori of international law is what necessitated the rescue in the first place. Ghotzbadeh's version of inter- national law seems to be that the U.S., having brought the Shah to power, should now be deprived of any legal protection, whereas Iranians may pick and choose those elements of the law that appeal to them, in whichever situations suit their fancy. It is relatively rare that governmen- tal claims ofthe need for secrecy are justified, but the Carter ad- ministration's decision to keep the whole affair under wraps was clearly the only possible course of action. It is in fact a relief in this case that all who knew about the Americans in hiding were persuaded to hold their tongues. Had Khomeini or the militant mobs even gotten word of the Americans' presence in the Canadian embassy, blood might well have been the cost. Until the Iranian crisis began;* Americans had been feeling more and, more despised by other nations. We have earned some of that hostility. Reza Pahlevi was not the first totalitarian ruler this country has sup- ported; Pakistani president Zia will evidently be the next. But in this in- stance, the U.S. is clearly in the right. It is gratifying that Canada,'by its bold rescue, has recognized that simple truth. STUDENTS AT ONE anti-war protest wave an upside-down American flag to signify their dislike of American policies. Marty Halpern was a member of the Steering Committee of the- Ann Arbor New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. He was also chairman of the Moratorium Day rally on Oct. 15, 1969 in Michigan Stadium. Currently, he is a graduate student in history. 0i Che Michigan's five major utility companies spend at least $6 million annually to get rate in- creases, and these expenditures are charged to their customers. With well-trained, full-time staf- fs specializing in public service hearings, these utilities pursue the energy and rate policies they desire. At hearings of the Michigan Public Service Com- mission (MPSC), the state's utility regulatory body, in- dividual ratepayers and citizens groups may challenge the rate increases and energy alter- natives proposed by thes~e utilities. Yet PIRGIM, and this year, the Michigan Citizen Lobby, are the only groups that consistently in- tervene on behalf of residential ratepayers. It is clear that utility intervention groups must be maintained and strengthened to insure that a harmony of the public's and the utilities' in- terests can be achieved. Effec- tive utility intervention can help insure that public needs, as well as private interests, are a factor in the formulation of utility prac- tices and policies. THE PRESENT system is severely biased towards the in- terests of the utilities. Rate struc- ture and determination, as well as the choice of energy alter- natives, all take place in forums designed to promote the com- panies' wishes. Consumers Power Company has 19 attorneys working full-time on hearings at the MPSC. The Michigan Attor- ney General has only 3 lawyers to cover all five utilities represen- ting residential, commercial and industrial ratepayers. PIRGIM has only one full-time attorney. Certain MPSC procedures also favor the utilities. For many cking u Michigan's five major utilities asked for rate hikes of $826 million in 1979. They pursue energy policies that are highly controversial. And they charge their customers for the costs of promoting these policies, both before the MPSC and outside of the MPSG in local communities. Who advocates the interests of individuals in the complex arena of utility intervention? PIRGIM'S UTILITY Interven- tion Project (UIP) has inter-. vened in every major electric rate case since 1974. Staffed by an attorney, professional legal researchers, and students, UIP participation has included formal intervention, presentation of ex- pert's testimony, and submission of briefs and other pleadings. This on-goihg effort has challenged both simple rate increase requests and more complex questions of rate structure and energy policy. Through an examination of two current cases, we can see the scope and intent of PIRGIM's UIP. Detroit Edison Securities Case (MPSC No. U-6217) deals with Edison's proposed financing of new power plant construction. Edison contends that it must meet future power demands through the construction of cen- tral station nuclear power plants. The proposed Greenwood nuclear project (near Port Huron) can be financed through the sale of securities only with the per- mission of the MPSC. PIRGIM has challenged this proposal, claiming that Edison's future power load does not justify this new construction. All utilities must try to project power loads to estimate future needs. Accurate demand forecasting is essential to assure tihty power (for example, nuclear plants run about a billion dollars each these days), discourages conservation, and ultimately is an added cost to ratepayers. ACCORDING TO Ron Knechyt of the California Energy Com- mission (expert witness for~ PTRGIM in this case), utilities have failed to respond to changes in the energy "climate." By using old planning assumptions that assume continual growth in power demand, utilities ignore indeniable trends towards less growth and increased energy conservation.And they could end up with expensive, unheeded power as a result. PIRGIM has challenged the excessive reserve margins and inflated demands forecasts used by Detroit Edison Co. to justify the Greenwood project. This con- , struction, if approved, would ultimately be financed by Edison's ratepayers. With a fixed profit rate of 10-12 per cent on construction, Edison could ex- pect approximately $100 million in guaranteed profit on this program, while passing the risks (and thus the costs) of over- building to its ratepayers. This case, begun in 1978, should be decided sometime this year. The second case to consider is Consumers Power Rate No. U- 5979. In this matter, PIRGIM has criticized the content of promotional films used by the Consumers Power Company. "Energy Today and Tomorrow' ding the programs. "SOLAR ENERGY and You" is another movie used by Con- sumers Power. It contains misleading and erroneous infor- mation on the feasibility and practicality of solar energy. Another PIRGIM witness, Ed Kelley of Sunstructures in Ann Arbor, feels that the film inac- curately treats solar energy as feasible only in the "misty- distant" future. The film goes on to advocate the use of nuclear and coal energy. PIRGIM has argued that both programs should be revised, or replaced by more accurate films. In* addition, such "energy promotion" should be charged to Consumers' stockholders, rather than its ratepayers. This case, too, is still pending before the MPSC. The efforts of PIRGIM'S UIP are not blind to the great service and convenience offered by Michigan's utilities. But effective utility intervention addresses a structure of decision-making and representation that leaves in- dividual ratepayers with little or no impact. The complexity of these issues requires legal and technical knowledge unavailable to most people. PIRGIM's ad- vocacy before the Michigan Public Service Commission has the resources and know-how to be effective in this setting, and to see that utilities' interests are not the only consideration in decision-making. Many have claimed that public interest advocacy has no meaning, or that it represents the view of only a minority. But to protect the rate-paying consumer from overbuilding, unfair rate structures and misleading promotional films is not &ENINiifNH YOK Ye. AMMWAYW ;A v .w e 1 ' E 1S RA C10t ,~ _ - _-- .. ' z :>, a / y / i Tua " I1/%%/"!