G:hg Aillan &aly Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD $T., ANN ARBOR, MICH. Truth Will Prevail NEWS PHONE: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. I SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: STEPHEN WILDSTROM I The 'Hole' Truth HE "HOLE" IN the Washtenaw County jail is an anachronism, a chamber of dark horrors which should be perma- nently closed. Sheriff Douglas Harvey, members of the sheriff's committee of the County Board of Supervisors, and tk-e Ann Arbor News defend the hole because they do not want criminals coddled. As they see it, the same tendency to anti-social be- havior which originally necessitates jail- ing the inmates will occasionally find ex- pression within prison walls. They thus contend that the hole helps preserve order within the jail. But the Washtenaw County jail is not adequate to provide rehabilitation for the prisoners. Even Harvey says he has been asking for a new jail for some time now. The jail, like many small jails, has no recreational facilities-no yard for the prisoners to play catch with a baseball, no garden for the prisoners to cultivate, no shop for the prisoners to work in. The prisoners, in short are provided with little exercise or constructive activities. Is it therefore unusual in these circumstances that they will take out pent-up aggres- sions on fellow-inmates or turnkeys? JAIL OFFICIALS are obligated to protect everyone concerned by isolating the aggressive inmate, but should he be treated no better than an animal? The prisoner is not just confined; he is thrown into a black 6 by 7 foot cement pit which has no bed, no toilet or floor-drain, which receives air only from tiny holes above the door which, in fact is stripped of everything but two pipes along the ceiling. Nor is banishment to the hole re- stricted to the violent inmate. Two groups of anti-war protesters, serving a 1965 trespassing conviction, were recently thrown into the hole because they were caught with small toilet paper fires in their cells. For this offense (both fires- used to make hot chocolate-were set by a "regular" who wasn't a protester), one group of 7 was subjected to a week of punishment-two days in the hole,' and 5 days in the "steel cell." While impossible to prove that either group was "set up," one of the turnkeys (before the incident) said he was going to "get' the prisoners. Even more disturbing is the case of a University law student placed into the incorrigible cell for making a wisecrack. Although not arraigned or even informed with what he would be charged with, he was thrown into the hole for a night when he asked an officer'who was marking an information card "W" for "Color" whether "that was significant for the dispensation of justice around here." IN BOTH incidents, people were thrown in the hole and were denied access to toilet facilities. When the law student hollered for a turnkey, no one responded; when the protesters asked to be let out, they were told to "do it in your pants" and "use the floor." The experience of the protesters and the law student exemplify the practical problems connected with the hole. Police- men being what they are, the decision to place an inmate in the hole is often arbi- trary. Studies of policemen consistently demonstrate that the person who joins the police force usually has an authori- tarian personality, and a black and white view of right and wrong. These person- ality traits affect his notion of his own role; and the constitution and the law are often considered impediments to his work. Because his ideal world is highly ordered and rigidly structured, he is an- noyed by non-conformity. Because he is an arbiter of good and evil, he resents what he conceives as threats to his authority. While no studies have been made of the Washtenaw County Police, these elements don't seem to be missing here. The law student, because he was a law student and because he refused to be cowed (he re- calls, "He gave me the distinct impres- sion that if I would just apologize and admit I was wrong he would have taken me home and dropped the whole thing") had to be taught a lesson. SOMETHING NEEDS to be done, prefer- ably something which will protect in- mates from these eccentricities of the police personality without hindering po- lice efforts to protect other prisoners. ,Minute by minute outside supervision of the internal administration of the prison would place the police in an awkward position; it would indeed undermine their authority. The solution is to insist that brutal forms of police punishment be abolished, especially the hole. If solitary confinement is necessary, it should be under conditions which do not resemble the psychological terror tactics of Stalin and the Gestapo. -STEPHEN FIRSHEIN Associate Managing Editor, '67-'68 -URBAN LEHNER Editorial Director "It's a Running Battle, But We Here at the University Prefer to Consider it an 'Academic' Pursuit." NO, SCHOOL isn't out and summer vacation hasn't begun, but for the outgoing Senior Editors the year is over. The twelve months we spent in office have been, for us, one extended and exciting experience, but a new and talented administration has taken command and all we can do is reminisce on the year that was. We are caught up in the midst of an important era at the University, one in which definite indications have begun to form of the way the multiversity is seeking to find its identity. Ann Arbor has always been an interest- ing place to go to school, not only for students but for faculty members and administrators. But for me the University has proven to be an amorphous mass; one is unable to conquer it as an individual and tends to suc- cumb to its enormous size and complexity. People attempt to mask their alienation in various manners: some seclude themselves in libraries 12 hours a day, some spend their time at sports events or in front of the tube, some join fraternities and sororities, some be- come involved in campus activities, and some join The Daily. They work to convince themselves that everything is rosy, that college can be a utopia of sorts, but none seem to be prepared to cope with life when they graduate. Last year at this time I began looking forward to summer, a job and some trips around the country. I wanted to forget that which I couldn't comprehend and lose myself in the 'corporeal' world. I had almost succeeded in convincing myself that all was fine. BUT NOW THINGS are different. Summer no longer means escape, but brings into reality a fear of being drafted. For the first time in my life I feel like I'm under the point of the gun, and I'm scared. For seniors, the universal atmosphere is one of extreme apprehension. "Spring Cleaning, Mr. Pierpont ?" THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS The enlightenment or knowledge that I have gained here at the University have not really prepared me for what awaits graduating seniors this May. But most stu- dents will be returning next fall. Byron Groesbeck, as- sistant dean of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, assures us that about only one out of six graduate stu- dents here will be subject to conscription. Many students will continue their deferments in medical or dental school. Most undergraduates will remain undergraduates. The cartoons on this page are intended for those who will be here next fall. THE ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR was done by, Jan Hol- comb, a friend of mine, who already has done two covers for the sometimes-published Daily Magazine, and who, more recently did the SGC caricatures for Gargoyle. The illustrations demonstrate some of the high points of cam- pus activity this year and pretty well speak for them- selves. The Fleming cartoon, takes us back to last October's revelation that the University, supposedly a bastion of academic freedom, was conducting a million dollar secret counter-insurgency project in Thailand. This was fol- lowed by a sit-in teach-in at the Administration Build- ing, and more recently the Elderfield Committee's faculty report that classified research was all right as long as it didn't kill anyone .... The Pierpont caricature brings to mind some of the mistakes of the University's vice-president and chief financial officer: his determination to fight Public Act 379, his involvement in last spring's Unversity land sale to the Stepar Corporation, and the failure of his pre- sentation to. the state' Legislature to garner the needed appropriations. The cartoon inthe lower right-hand corner illustrates the failure of city of Ann Arbor to allow students to take part in the municipal' decision-making process, and the difficulty students have in even registering to vote. The ApartmentseLimited joke needs no explanation. It speaks well for itself. THE FOOTBALL CARICATURE brings to mind The Daily's most sensitive news story of the past year. It amazes me that one is able to pick on almost anyone in society at almost anytime. But when the University's football team is placed under investigation everyone seems to go wild. It really makes me wonder what our society is all about. There were other important stories on campus this year, it is true. These are just a sample. -JOHN LOTTIER Asst. Editorial Director, '67-'68 4 On Immediate Withdrawal IT IS EXTREMELY depressing to note that even at this late date in the his- tory of the Vietnam war there has yet to- arise a truly meaningful dialogue con- cerning the rationale of the initial U.S. military presence there and throughout the rest of the Third World. Thus far the bulk of the Vietnam de- bate has dealt with "more practical" problems: can we win? should we halt the bombing? how strong is the National Liberation Front? what about the "peace feelers?" etc. The "dove" campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy continues in its expected failure to transcend the tactical arguments-we find him in basic support of the U.S. commitment in Asia and, in his argument that Vietnam is a bad vwar for tactical reasons, he remains in basic support of the rhetoric and practice of hard-line cold-war anti-coml- munism. In short, McCarthy argues that Viet- Fail and winter subscription rate: $4.50 per term by carrier ($5 by mail); $8.00 for regular academic school year ($9 by mail). The Dally is a member of the Associated Press and Collegiate Press Service.} Daily except Monday during regular academic school year. Daily except Sunday and Monday during regular summer session. 'Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor,4Michigan, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48104. Editorial Staff MARK LEVIN, Editor STEPHEN WILDSTROM URBAN LEHNER Managing Editor) Editorial Director DAVID KNOKE, Executive Editor WALLACE IMMEN ...................... News Editor PAT O'DONOHUE .................. .. News Editor DANIEL OKRENT.F.......... .eature Editor LUCY KENNEDY................ Personnel Director nam is too costly a war ($35 billion per year) and maybe we should get out so that we don't over-extend ourselves. But if American hegemony can prevail rela- tively cheaply in Bolivia, South Africa and Thailand, then indeed it should. There has yet to come the challenge of this government's right to "fight for freedom" ("protect corporate order") wherever it can do so quietly. 'THIS CLEARLY will not do. The U.S. government has placed itself, partly in the name of anti-communism and partly in the name of a social scientists' preoccupation with the world's reform, in the position of opposing revolution and supporting military rule throughout the world. To be sure this is not wholly by choice. If the world's poor would only keep quiet and "wait" until this government's de- mands for liberal, reformist democracy can be fulfilled, then perhaps there would be no military rules. But people are not waiting, not in Africa, not in Asia, not in Latin America. And when push comes to shove, our own "liberal democracy" will favor the mili- tary every time in order to protect the status quo. Americans must now decide, while the issue is clearly at hand, whether we wish to continue throughout the rest of the world the role we are now playing in Vietnam. If not, then the only rational and realistic argument to make about Vietnam is to call for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. 'troops, and to acknowledge once and for Taking Candy from a Baby: Ann Arbor Style WW~ I :: ":.:: ::. i.