4 Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 25, 1988 VP hopeful for workers BY MICHAEL LUSTIG Would you vote for a person who promised a $10-an-hour minimum wage? Gloria La Riva, vice presidential candidate for the Worker's World Party, is making that promise, but doesn't expect many people to take her up on the offer. "We're obviously not running for the vote," said La Riva in a recent interview with the Daily. She sees her candidacy as a protest against Republican George Bush and Demo- crat Michael Dukakis because she thinks they are not addressing the political and economic concerns of poor and working people. "We see no difference between the policies of Bush and Dukakis." La Riva criticized the presidential campaign as one of empty promises, intentional obscuring of issues, and a "shallow battle of personalities." She added that she expects the economic conditions of poor and working peo- ple to decline. "We say this with certainty." The Workers' World Party is designed to only represent poor and working people, La Riva said. "We offer a way out - through struggle." This struggle will eventually come, she predicted, and it will probably be violent. The struggle cannot begin until poor and working people develop a feeling of group consciousness. Once they realize their common goals and needs, they will join together in the struggle, she said. Corporations are the root of the problems of today's society, La Riva said. They are the cause of racism because they work to keep poor and working people divided. The WWP helped defend Tawana Brawley, a Black New York woman who claimed to have been raped re- peatedly for several days by a group of white men a year ago. A New York state grand jury recently con- cluded her story was false, but La Riva said the state's decision was an attempt to "squelch the Black move- ment for justice." The WWP saw Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign as the begin- ning of a movement paying attention to the needs of poor and working people. Had Jackson been the Demo- cratic presidential nominee, she said, the WWP would have campaigned for him. The focus of the WWP's message is "money for jobs," La Riva said. To pay the $10 an hour minimum wage, she would impose a 100 per- cent tax on corporate profits. Corporations are also to blame for poor environmental conditions, La Riva said, adding that she favors criminal charges for corporate execu- tives of companies that pollute. She supports a complete disman- tling of the Pentagon and ending use of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. In foreign affairs, La Riva said she would end all aid to Israel and South Africa and end military involvement in Central America. She supports demands of Palestinian people for self-determination of their political future. La Riva and her running mate, Larry Holmes, are on the ballot in Michigan and 14 other states. Gloria World La Riva, vice presidential candidate of the Workers' Party, says corporations are the root of many of society's problems. Party aims to help workers, poor BY MICHAEL LUSTIG A little respect and a decent living. Scott Jones didn't think those two things were all that much to ask. And when he realized he wasn't getting them, he found some others who agreed. Jones and 25 people, all workers, banded together to form Workers Against Concessions, a Michigan-based political party aimed at im- proving the living standards of working and poor people. The party formed after a three-month strike against Blue Cross and Blue Shield last year, Jones said, and is comprised of "workers who are fed up with Republicans and Democrats - I'm one of them." Jones, who is running for a seat in the state House in the upcoming elections, said in a recent interview with the Daily that he and the other candidates in WAC would be better able to represent poor and working people politically. "If anybody should speak for workers or the poor, it should be a worker or a poor person." Workers and poor people need parties like WAC, Jones said, because Democrats and Republicans are parties for rich people and corporations. "They haven't earned the right to speak for workers or the poor because they're not and haven't been." Politicians do not know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck, he said. Jones is running in the 53rd House District against Democrat Perry Bullard, the incumbent, and Republican Rich Birkett. The district is comprised of the University and downtown Ann Arbor. The party does not have a set platform, but opposes plant closings, cuts in social services, and cuts to Social Security and pensions. WAC candidates campaign on foot, acquiring funds through sales of buttons and T-shirts. Sally Bier, a clerical worker, is running in the U.S. Senate race; eight people are running for Congressional seats, all in districts in southeastern Michigan; 13 are running for state house seats, mostly in and around Detroit; two are running for the Wayne County Board of Commissioners; and two are running for seats on the State Board of Education. IN BRIEF Compiled from Associated Press and staff reports Manhattan building caves in A six-story building in Manhattan's Garment District collapsed yester- day afternoon, injuring at least nine people and disrupting rail and subway service, authorities said. The injuries were described as minor, but rescuers were searching for up to five other people possibly trapped in the building when the west wall and the interior structure collapsed, Fire Commissioner Joseph Bruno said. The building, on West 31st Street, housed a handbag manufacturing company and other fashion-related businesses. Fire Department spokes- person Efrain Parrilla said 13 people were believed to have been in the building when it collapsed at about 3 p.m. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, but Parrilla said a trench had been dug along one wall of the building. He said the wall had been propped up with 2-by-4 boards. Banks extend credit to Soviets FRANKFURT, West Germany (AP) - West European bankers are offering the Soviets huge amounts of credit to use in modernizing their consumer economy, but Japan's bankers are holding back. "Credit not only from West Germany but from all of Western Europe will be increasing and expanding in coming years," said Peter Pietsch, a finance and trade expert with West Germany's Commerzbank. Commerzbank is part of a consortium of West German banks that ar- ranged a credit of $1.6 billion to the Soviet Union. Italian and British banks have already offered the Soviets over $2.4 bil- lion in credit, and French banks have proposed a $2 billion credit. Japanese bankers are taking a much more cautious approach. An analyst in Tokyo said similar large credits from private Japanese insti- tutions are unlikely, mainly because of cool Soviet-Japanese relations. EK-Marines to help locate old landmines in Vietnam NEW YORK- Three former Marines extended a peace offering to Vietnam yesterday in advance of a mercy mission to that country in which they will look for land mines that might still be in place 20 years after they planted them. The Americans presented a plaque at the Vietnamese mission to the United Nations saying: "In the hopes of preserving the peace, we come to Vietnam once again, this time to help the preservation of human life. 11th Engineers January 1989." While the nine-day trip to be made by six former Marines from the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, is a private and, in some ways, sentimental journey funded by an anonymous businessman, it had the blessing of both the U.S. and the Vietnamese governments. The January 9 trip is the latest in a series of moves between the two countries to improve relations. Soviets to help trapped whales BARROW, Alaska - Two Soviet icebreakers steamed toward U.S. waters to join the drive to save two stranded whales yesterday, while rescuers at the scene focused on a huge ice ridge blocking the mammals' path to open water. The California gray whales must get over the shoal and through the ice ridge to reach an open lead, or pathway, through the ice. The nearest completely open water is 200 miles away in the Chukchi Sea. The icebreakers, requested by Greenpeace USA, and by the State department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, were expected to arrive during the night. It was hoped that at least one of the Soviet vessels would be able to breach the ice ridge. Biologists said they were considering the possibility they might have to airlift the animals to open water, but were afraid the whales might be injured. EXTRAS MSU bells may ring again Beaumont Tower is silent today, but Michigan State University students who never have heard its 47 bells chiming the Alma Mater want to revive the campus centerpiece. More than 90 percent of the Class of 1989 recently voted to try to raise $128,000 for the first phase of a project aimed at bringing the caril- lon back to life. The plan calls for reorganizing the bells within the tower, recon- ditioning the clappers and headpieces, improving the mechanical part of the carillon, replacing corroded bolts and cables, returning the treble bells and building a new console. "How can you have a more universal project than that?" asked Craig Heldman, one of three members of the Senior Class Gift Committee. "It's the landmark for the campus." The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscription rates: For fall and winter (2 semesters) $25.00 in-town and $35.00 out-of-town, for fall only $15.00 in-town and $20.00 out-of-town. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and the National Student News Service. Editor n Chiefr.............REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN MargicHeinlen Brian Jarv.. an, D. Martin Lowenstein, Managing Editor M .....s,..............MARTHA SEVETSON Mikc Rubin, An iSc ..eider, Lauren Shapiro Chuck News Editor-.^.... ........................EVE BECKER Skaune,.Ma.k.Swartz..Us.aTunalaNabeelaberi. University Editor ..............ANDREW MILLS Photo Editors............KAREN HANDELMAN NEWS STAFF: Victoria Bauer, Scott Chaplin, Miguel JOHN MUNSON Cruz, Marion Davis, Noah Finkel, Alex Gordon, Stacy PHOTO STAFF: Alexandra Brenz, Jessica Greene, Jose Gray, Tara Gruzen, Donna ladipsolo, Stewvper, Mar Juarez, Robin Loznak, David Lublimer, Lia Wax. Kolar, Ed Krachner, Scott Lalide, Kristine LaLonde, Rose Weekend Editor..................STEPHEN GREGORY Lightbourn, Michael Lustig, Alyssa Lustigman. Mark Associate Weekend Editor ..............BRIAN BONET Mendelis, Lisa Pollak, Micahi Schmnit, David Schwartz, WEKND STAFF: Johna Shea. Joniathan Scott, Anna Senkevitch, Noele Shadwick, Nicole Lis Editor .............................Angela Michaels s Sha, atan mihRyan Tutak, Mark Wcisbrot, Lis Manager ........................JEIN KIM I I I_ Council Continued from Page 1 positive impact on the city. However, Councilmember Ann Marie Coleman (D-First Ward) said, "I think any of these groups, if they had a quarter of a million dollars, would make an impact on the com- munity." City Clerk Winifred Northcross made a plea to the council, en- couraging councilmembers to help solicit workers for election day, Nov. 8. Northcross said the clerk's office still needs more than 100 people to help with the election. Zia s death shadows Pakistani elections Brater ... endorses Proposals C and D FROM THE PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE With the prospect of national elections on Nov.16, Pakistan stands at a crossroads only two months after the death of President Zia Ul-Haq in a plane crash. Although at first considered accidental, the official finding is that the plane crash re- sulted from sabotage. Zia was the linchpin of a political order which had become thoroughly militarized over years of U.S.-backed army rule. Now for the first time in 11 years, the positions of president and army chief are separate. Acting President Ghulam Ishaq Khan could become Pakistan's first popularly elected civilian president. But the people in general and the op- position parties in particular remain suspicious of how the army will be- have. It was Zia who developed an ide- ology that gave free rein to the mili- tary's aggrandizement. He regarded the military as his sole constituency, and argued that is had to safeguard not only the country's territory but also it's Islamic character. Although Zia failed to persuade the National Assembly to set up a National Security Council of army officials with veto power over all other state organs, the appointment of a 13-member Emergency Council after his death accomplishes the same thing. The council includes three army chiefs and four of the five civilian members are retired generals. Not surprisingly, veteran politi- cian Nawabzada Nasrullah has warned that unless the Emergency Council is disbanded soon, it could become a precedent for shaping the political future of Pakistan. Zia's decade of militarization also damaged Pakistan's overall economy. Even though Pakistan has a $13 bil- lion foreign debt and 44.5 percent of the budget goes to defense, the mili- tary has resisted efforts to cut its budget. Some $42 billion in U.S. aid hardly goes beyond supplying mili- tary hardware. With election scheduled for Nov. 16, the Supreme Court recently guaranteed the opposition the right to campaign. But whether civilian rule can emerge remains in doubt. BEA:AR::: TE:EW ...... JOIN> The RAND Graduate School (RGS) Invites applications for its doctoral degree program in policy analysis. Deadline for submitting appli- cations for 1989-1990 is February 1, 1989. RGS, which is fully accredited by the Western Associa- tion of Schools and Colleges, is an integral part of The RAND Corporation. Its curriculum consists of multidisciplinary course work and policy workshops, combined with on-the-job training (OJT), leading to the dissertation and award of the Ph.D. in Policy Analysis. Sub-fields of specialization include health policy, national security policy and Soviet studies. Students typically receive OJT support equivalent to donctoral fellowshins_ Fellowshins are also nvnilahle fir annliennte with sneria1 interPatc Opinion Page Editors............JEFFREY RUTHERFORD CALE SOUTHWORTH Associate Opinion Page Editor........AMY HARMON OPINION STAFF: Muza mil A hmed, Elizabeth Esch, Bill Gladstone, Kristin Hoffman, Roie Hudson, Marc Klein, 1. Matthew Miller. Rebecca Novick, Marcia Ochoa, Elizabeth Paige, Henry Park, Sandra Steingraber. Sports Editor ....................J..........EFF RUSH AssociateSpouts Editors .........JULIE HOLLMAN ADAM SO-EFTER Assistant Business Manager ............PAM BULLOCK Display Sales Manager ... .........JACKIE MILLER Assistant Display Sales Manager..........TAMARA CHIlSTIE Special Sectiona Coordinator........LISA GEORGE Classified Manager..............MEREDITH POLLACK Assistant Classified Manager. DAVID EDINGER Finance Manager........................JODI FRIEND Credit Manager ................HYUN JOO F Classified Finance Manager.............JEFFREY S DISPLAY SALES STAFF: Alyssa Altman, Paul flori y, i A