'I,
OPINION
N
Page4 Wednesday, January 20, 1982 The Michigan Daily
How much do you love Michigan, Bo
By Barry Witt
All hail to valiant Bo-the man who
would not yield to his arch enemy, the
almighty dollar.
"There are things that are more im-
portant than money," Bo told an
assembly of Detroit's and Ann Arbor's
finest sports writers Friday night, "and
one of them is Michigan."
Okay, Bo. Just for a minute, I'll take
your word on this one. I'll pretend that
you really do love Michigan merely
because "Michigan is Michigan." XIl
even go so far as to believe you were
sincere when you told your apostles in
the press that your salary "will not be
out; of line . with what any other
professor on this campus makes."
(PERHAPS THAT'S a conclusion
reached from hanging around the
athletic department too long.)
But you'll have to do one more little
thing to really persuade me. I'm asking
for just one more token gesture on your
part to solidify that devotion to
Mihigan.
Im asking you to take a cut in pay.
For just this year, I'd like to see you
take a token salary, say $1 or
thereabouts, and donate the rest to
some worthy cause-a wayward.
geography professor, the replacement.
of the Economics Building, or maybe a
stuident who can't finance his education
because financial aid is hard to come by
lately.
YOU COULD stand it, Bo. You're our
conquering hero who could bear
something so insignificant as a little
financial hardship.,
Just for the year, don't take the
$60,000 plus the neat little $25,000 raise
you bargained for from the University,
making your salary higher than;
President Shapiro's. Don't take those
thousands of dollars you get for the
.Sunday morning TV show. Don't take
that supplementary income you get for
running the summer football camp.
And just for the year, defer accepting
that $150,000 pizza parlor gift the
Domino's pizza man gave you.
We know you can hack it. If times get
a little tough, I would have you and
Millie over to my place for dinner, and
I'm sure we can find plenty of other
True Blue boosters to take care of you.
I KNOW THIS sounds a little silly.
Even if you did donate all your income
this year to some academic cause, it
really wouldn't help the University's,
er, Michigan's financial plight. But I
wouldn't ask for such a noble effort
from just anybody.
But Bo, you said last week that, to
you, Michigan is more important than
money. It would only be natural for
God's gift to Michigan to indulge in
such philanthropy.
Certainly a man who loves Michigan
not for the money, but because "there's
something special here," would not
want to be seen accepting a pay raise
far above that received by the remain-
der of the University's faculty and staff
this year.
IN CASE YOU haven't heard Ba,
Michigan lost many quality faculty
members this year because they saw no
hope of receiving higher salaries. Some
grumbled a bit but stayed, accepting
the hard times as a fact of life. But they
won't stay for long, and a little
monetary incentive-just a ,little
sacrifice-might keep them here.
Besides, Bo, displaying your
charitable nature would be in keeping
with the new giving spirit of the athletic
department, especially with this Tom
Monaghan, owner of Domino's Pizza
coming onto the scene. You know Tom,
Bo. He's your buddy who just gave you
a pizza franchise worth about $150,000.
When I heard about this guy, I really
was amazed. I figured if he could afford
to give the football coach all that dough,
certainly he must be giving propor-
tional millions, if not billions, to the rest
of the University, er, Michigan. Sure he
is, I figured, especially since he's made
his fortune selling pizzas to University
students.
WHEN I ASKED'the people over at
Michigan's office of development
(they're the people who keep track of
who's, donating what to Michigan)
about Mr. Monaghan, they told me he's
been "very generous." He's donated
$10,000 to Michigan's academic in-
stItution.
Actually, Bo, donating your income to
University academics, may, in an in-
direct way, benefit the athletic depar--
tment.
By pouring money into the institution,
you may be-able to avert the spread of
smaller but better throughout
Michigan. The blueprint for our future
has already affected the basketball
team, which has been getting
somewhat smaller but certainly no bet-
ter. Bigger and dumber is the way for
the football team; otherwise, you're
doomed.
But that's not all. Rumors have been
floating around for a long time that the
School of Education will be the first to
go as smaller but better runs its course.
We know that almost all of your fresh-
man recruits have been safely tucked
away in that school's physical
education department, where they can
romp on the volleyball courts all day
without seriously enlightening their
minds.
Where will you put the future players,
so that you can maintain your fine
record of making sure these
student/athletes graduate?
Really, Bo, $1 should be enough, con-
sidering all those benefits you still have
for just being at Michigan.
Witt is a Daily staff writer.
a
6
q
Bo Schembechler
S I
Edited and managed by students at The University.of Michigan
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
World car essen'tial to UA Wfuture
Vol. XCII, No. 90
420 Moynard St.
Ann Arbor, ME 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
- a
Retrenchmen
HE UNIVERSITY administration
has proven once again that it can
swiftly and efficiently implement its
"smaller but better" retrenchment
program. But it still remains to be seen
whether this program will secure a
sound academic foundation for the
future.
LSA Dean Peter Steiner completed
tle first phase of the program when he
announced Monday that he had
relocated eight of the nine tenured
geography professors in new Univer-
sity departments.
But there is more of the program to
come, since Dean Steiner announced to
the January LSA faculty assembly that
the College of LSA would be slated for
a proposed 7 percent reduction in its
1982-83 overall operating budget. Just
last year, 6 percent was cut from the
college, and that reduction totalled $1.9
million.
The reductions are all additions to
the University's smaller but better
plan. But this plan may contain some
inherent dangers which so far have
been overlooked. Although the Univer-
sity is saving $100,000 this year by
eliminating the geography depar-
tment, the savings may not be worth
the effects the action has produced. A
little immediate savings may not be
equal to the harmful long-term results
of the retrenchment plan.
To implement their . plan, the ad-
iministration had to step on quite a few
ides. The LSA faculty vote last spring
opposing the discontinuance of the
geography department was ignored by
the executive officers; Individual
it side effects
protests were also expressed to no
avail. The administration did what it
pleased, and it did so with amazing ef-
ficiency.
The University faculty watched ap-
prehensively as Dean Steiner tried to
relocate, the homeless geography
professors. The faculty has manifested
its nervousness in various forms, all of
which should send a warning to of-
ficials at the Fleming building.'
There is now talk of forming a
faculty union, and interest in it seems
to be increasing. Faculty defections to
other institutions are already frequent,
and they may become worse. Wherf the
Medical School promoted four
assistant professors to associate
professors without tenure, protests
were voiced defending the sanctity of
the tenure system.
But the future could be worse. Along
with the proposed LSA cuts have come
recommendations to reduce the num-
ber of teaching positions within the
college. Departments within the
college have designated 53 teaching
jobs which could be eliminated. The
loss of"these teachers could present the
University with a dangerous situation:
a shrinking faculty with a stable
student population.
The administration has succeeded
with its immediate goal-eliminating a
department without ruining the
academic foundations of the Univer-
sity. But the executive officers should
step back for a moment and evaluate
the damage done by their retrench-
ment policies, before the consequences
become irreversable.
To the Daily:
The January 10 Michigan Daily
editorial praising the United
Automobile Workers' decision to
renegotiate their contracts with
Ford and General Motors is both
naive and erroneous.
The editorial provides three
reasons why the UAW must
seriously consider concessions :
first, concessions might save
jobs; second, concessions
strengthen the UAW's bargaining
position because they will over-
come their negative press of
recent years, which has at-
tributed declining productivity to
the quality of work performed by
UAW members; and finally, the
UAW must be willing to con-
tribute to the revitalization of the
ailing industry.
This position demonstrates that
the Daily is not fully aware of the
issues facing the industr'y and its
employees. The automobile in-
dustry is currently engaged in a
massive structural transfor-
mation, symbolized by the
"world car," a downsized, ef-
ficient automobile manufactured
and markeed world-wide. From
design to production, the methods
and organization for the
manufacture, of world cars are
radically different from those
employed previously. General
Motors' S car is a case in point.
The S car, scheduled to arrive
world-wide in 1984, 'will be the
smallest car in the GM fleet.
Computer-aided design will
significantly reduce the
necessary engineering time for
Helsinki and enslavement
To the Daily:
I wish to congratulate the Daily
for printing the article by Don
McLeod entitled "Poland crises
spurs new conflict over Yalta Ac-
cords" (Daily, Jan. 10). I also
appreciated the editorial cartoon
of a prison with 'Red Square in the
background. It's about time that
the Soviet Union gets a slap on
the wrist on your editorial page.
The unfortunate truth is that
the Soviet Union is running the
crackdown in Poland. Every
Polish dissident in the West can
verify that claim. The recent op-
pression in Poland is just another
sequel to the terror that the
Soviet Communist system needs
to keep itself and proxies in
power.
As McLeod's article implies,
the Communist governments of
Eastern Europe did not come into
power by using the legitimate
ways guaranteed by the Yalta
Agreement. The United States
failed to act back then to counter
the violation. But that's nothing
new. Then Helsinki was signed,
and the fate of Eastern Europe
was sealed. Of course, the terms
of the Helsinki agreement are
violated every day by the Soviets,
and any action to counter that
would be considered "interferen-
ce in the internal matters" . of
another country, based on the
same, treaty. Even though the
governments of the Soviet
colonies in Eastern Europe are
illegitimate, the Helsinki Accords
virtually guarantee the en-
slavement of half of Europe.
It would be interesting to see
what would happen if
U.N.-supervised free elections
were held in Eastern Europe..
These elections are held in the
developing Third World
whenever a colony becomes in-
dependent.
So if the people of Eastern
Europe really want the Soviet
Army and their political system
on their soil, let them tell the
world. The revolutions in
Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Afghanistan, Poland and the
Soviet dissidents already let us
know what the result of such an
election would be.
I believe no more proof is
required, of the inhumanity and
viciousness of the Soviet system.
Many revolutions have been
crushed, but the defeats just in-
spire more attempts to throw off
the shackles of the hammer and
sickle. ,
The spirit of freedom prevailed
over Nazi Germany. Let us hope.
that this time the threat will be
noticed before it is too late.
-Charles Jokay
January 11
the,S car, eliminating some fun-
ctions completely (like drafting),
while greatly simplifying others.
GM hopes that automated
assembly for the S car will cut its
current fastest production time in
half, from 18 to 10 direct hours for
each vehicle. This, automation
will' include industrial robots,.
which can be programmed to
perform several tasks (replacing
costly and cumbersome dies),
computer-controlled parts
retrieval, and computerized
scanning devices for quality con-
trol. Finally, production of the S
car will employ a strategy known
in the industry as "foreign sour-
cing." Parts production and sub-
assemblies for the S car will be
performed in no less than a dozen
countries,where labor costs are
low and materials are readily
availbable, providing GM with
the ability to exploiteconomies of
scale and to shift work from one
facility to another in care of labor
or equipment difficulties.
The price tag to design and
produce world cars is enormous,
and only those companies that
can manage to make the capital
outlays will survive in this highly
competitive race. U.S.
automakers plan to spend more
than $80 billion by 1985 to produce
world cars. Firms like Chrysler
will be forced to merge with
other firms if they are to stay
afloat.
This scenario points in one
direction: the automobile in-
dustry and related industries,
which employ one-sixth of -the
U.S. workforce in the 1950s and
60s, will require far fewer
workers torproduce the same
number of cars, and in-
creasingly, those jobs will leave
this country in search of lower
wages and expanding markets.-
Even the Reagan administration
recognizes this trend. Robert
Derick, an official in the com-
mence department, declared two
days ago that 550,000 fewer jobs
will exist in the auto industry
when it recovers, compared to
the 1978 levels.
In this context, wage con-
Letters and columns rep
individual author(s) and d(
attitudes or beliefs of the D
cessions will not save jobs, even
if short-term sales increase.
Rather, concessions are simply a
way of, providing short-term
capital to a short-sighted in-
dustry that did not respond to
market signals in the early 1970s.
In the long run, concessions are a
way in which UAW members can,
if they so choosei fihance their
own layoffs. And while con-
cessions might ' overcome the
union's publicity problem and
ultimately strengthen their
bargaining position, as the Daily
editorial suggests, the question
becomes: bargaining fors whom?
Most likely, ;for a down-sized
union that will represent only
those domestic workers who sur'
vive the race towards the world
car, not those 550,000 workers
who will remain permanently
unemployed.
The decision on the part of the,
UAW leadership to renegotiate '
the contracts clearly does not
represent the interests of . its
members. Instead of running ad-
vertisements on national news
programs affirming their com-
mitment to building better cars
and "making America strong
again,"the UAW must search for
political, resolutions to the
problems associated with the
permanent restructuring of the
industrial base. The union could
work to organize those people
hardest hit by the permanent loss
in industrial jobs. and demand a
reorientation of national goals,
which assume"that free market
enterprise will eventually re-
employra staggering number of
structurally unemployed people.
They cQuld also work to create
stronger ties with other unions
worldwide. The UAW could
demand a greater voice in the in-
troduction of new technology, in-
vestment decisions, and plant
closings. Perhaps the Daily could
contribute to a search for real
solutions, rather than simply en-
dorsing a retrogressive move on
the part of a stagnant UAW
leadership.
-Carol Isen
January 14
present the opinions of the
a not necessarily reflect the
)aily.
By Robert Lence'
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