W ! , " I I I I
tict pun t
Seventy-eight years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
Asking for
Judge Crockett's head
A
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: JIM NEUBACHER
... i __ {
Exciting possibilities
for the new degree
THE LITERARY COLLEGE faculty out-
smarted itself when it approved the
Bachelor of General Studies degree at its
special meeting Thursday. It tried to take
a reasonable student deniand and under-
mine it by giving the degree a name it
felt no one would respect.
But the potential flexibility the degree
offers students is so significant that the
students are the ultimate winners of
Thursday's meeting.
The drive for a new degree, a degree
without language, distribution or concen-
tration requirements, was an honest at-
tempt at a valid educatiorfal experiment.
Some professors sought to grant students
reasonable control over their own educa-
tions, assigning the responsibility to stu-
dents rather than letting it lie in old
requirements and an insensitive academic
bureacuracy.
The tactic of those opposed to this
experiment was to discredit the new de-
gree as much as possible by giving it a
title bereft of academic esteem.
IT SEEMEDRATHER clear at Thursday's
meeting that the new degree was ap-
proved only because it had a "dubious"
title. It garnered the necessary support
from two diverse groups-those who hon-
estly supported the experiment and those
who were satisfied to see it crippled.
Obviously the faculty did not believe
Endorsements
THE SENIOR EDITORS endorse the
following candidates in Monday's
city election:
MAYOR
Robert Harris, Democrat
CITY COUNCIL
First Ward: H. C. Curry, Democrat
Second Ward: Robert Faber,
Democrat
Third Ward: Nicholas Kazarinoff,
Democrat
Fourth Ward: Doris Caddell,
Democrat
Fifth Ward: Henry Stadler,
Democrat
The election will be Monday, April
7 and polling places remain open from
7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
-THE SENIOR EDITORS
Business Staff
GEORGE BRISTOL.,Busines Manager
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BRUCE HAYDON,..................Finance Manager
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Editorial Sta ft
HENRY G8IX, Editor
STEVE NISSEN RON LANDSMAN
M: City Editor Managing Editor
MARCIA ABRAMSON ....Associate Managing Editor
PHILIP BLOCK ...... , ... Associate Managing Editor
STEVE ANZALONE ............ Editorial Page Editor
JIM HECK . ... .. Editorial Page Editor
JENNY STILLER ............... Editorial Page Editor
LESLIE WAYNE ...... ..................Arts Editor
AJOHN GRAY... .............Literary Editor
ANDY SACKS ....... ......Photo Editor
its students were quite ready to take on
the responsibility of structuring their
own educations. For if the faculty had
really wished to give students the inde-
pendence so important in attaining an
education, they would certainly not have
attached the BGS label to the degree.
Instead the degree might have been an
alternative degee program of the Bache-
lor of Arts or perhaps an option in a re-
structured Bachelor of Science degree.
Some professors objected that, for .ex-
ample, a "Bachelor of Science in English"
was an anomaly; its mention was greeted
by laughter at the meeting. But it is cer-
tainly no more unsound than a Bachelor
of Arts in Physics or any number of de-
grees offered here and elsewhere.
The obsession with the importance of
names does not stand on firm ground. A
few professors who have served on gradu-
ate admissions committees noted after
Thursday's meeting that they never look
at the names of degrees. Rather, they
scrutinize grades, the school which grant-
ed the degree, and-most importantly-
under whom the student studied. They
noted that letters of recommendation
also play a major role in graduate admis-
sions.
Opponents of the new degree may have
been hoping that under the weaker title
fewer students would opt for the BGS de-
gree. But if studentsunderstand the situ-
ation, if they are made aware of how
insignificant titles are, then the BGS will
be the strong degree that it deserves to be.
jT IS ABSURD for some faculty members
to argue that only the BA can furnish
a student with the rudiments of a liberal
education. Quite the contrary, it is uni-
versally understood that the liberal edu-
cation is personal and without fixed defi-
nition.
The liberal nature of a degree cannot
be determined by its requirements.
Therefore, it m a k e s no difference
whether the liberal studies degree focuses
on one field of concentration.
Indeed, the one drawback of the gen-
eral studies program is that it does not
allow for ' concentration. While many
students neither need nor have any in-
terest in degree requirements, they often
desire to specialize.
Under the BGS, they cannot. The fac-
ulty was presented with a proposal which
would have permitted individual depart-
ments to set their own degree require-
ments, but this was overwhelmingly re-
jected.
The faculty can reconsider the degree
this Monday, however, and amend it to
allow for concentration. Or they may also
drop it altogether.
WHILE THERE are flaws in the adopted
degree, it would be tragic for the
faculty to take a step backward and
renege on their sound and academically
adventurous decision.
-RON LANDSMAN
Managing Editor
-RICK PERLOFF
Letters to the Editor
Daily oligarchy
To the Editor:
W E JOIN The Daily in seeking
a new society - a society in
which each individual has a say
in the determination of his destiny.
We applaud your pious efforts to
expose and rectify all forms of
oppression and to guarantee each
man a vote on every issue which
concerns him.
But, the time has come to blow
the whistle on the self-perpetu-
ating oligarchy sometimes called
the Senior Editors. It was John
Adams who said that "all power
thinks it has a great soul." The
system in which they are enmesh-'
ed makes tyrants of even these
well-intentioned young men. It
is time for them to heed their own
advice. The Daily must have a
truly representative governing
board. All those whose lives it in-
fluenoes must have avoice in its
decisions. We, therefore, propose
the creation of a governing board
made up of the following:
-3 faculty membersd(1 '2 ten-
ured; 112 non-tenured);
-3 representatives of the ad-
ministration (1 %/2 white collar;
1 % blue collar)
-3 students (1 % male; 1 r2
female)
-3 Ann Arbor representatives
(John C. Stegeman, Walter Kras-
ny, and the President of the Ann
Arbor JC's)
IN CASE OF a tie, the senior
representative of the military-in-
dustrial complex at that time, bar-
ricaded in the West Engineering
Building will cast the deciding
vote.
-Prof. Joel D. Aberbach
-Prof. Jack L. Walker
Political Science department
March 29u
Remembering Ike
To the Editor:
THE FOLLOWING LETTER was
sent to President Robben
Fleming. We make its contents
public because we think it involved
an important matter:
Although, as most students, we
are perfectly willing to accept oc-
casions when classes are called
off, decisions to recognize such
occasions should be very care-
fully made. We do not argue the
reasoning behind the curtailment
of classes on Good Friday at 11
a.m. for the Reverend Martin
Luther King's memorial service.
What we do argue is that a policy
of consistency should be followed.
We question whether it was.
While the entire University was
compelled to recognize one great
leader, no such recognition was
made of another great leader,
Dwight David Eisenhower, even
when the President of the United
States declared a national day of
mourning. Somehow consistency is
lacking.
OBVIOUSLY, many University
students were great admirers of
the late Reverend King. However,
we maintain that many were ad-
mirers of General Eisenhower.
We suggest, President Fleming,
that while the former group of
students may have been more
vociferbus than the latter group,
the decision which was reached
shouldn't have taken that into.
account. In the interest of fair
play, we ask that you try to be
more objective in the future.
-U-M Republican
Executive Board,
April 2
King memorial,
To the Editor:
I FEEL DEEPLY grateful to
those who spoke, sang and
danced at the Martin Luther King
memorial. While recalling the sad-
ness of a tragic loss, the program
had ebullience and hope as well
as dignity and artistic quality. It
renewed the inspiration which I
derived from Martin Luther King
while he lived.
-Arthur M. Ross
Vice President
State Relations and Planning
April 14
Balzhiser
To the Editor:
I N DEBATING BEFORE the
Chamber of Commerce, the
Republican candidate for mayor,
according to the Ann Arbor News
(March 27), said ". . . after he was,
presented with the facts, he sup-
ported both creation of the Hous-
ing Commission and the 200 unit
proposal."
I have been very interested in
the low cost housing orogram, so
I took the trouble to refresh my
memory. Here is what happened,
according to the City Council Min-
utes for the meeting of April 38,
1965. Councilman Balzhiser moved
that the application for 200 units
be cut to 100. Another conservative
Republican seconded the motion.
Then came the vote. The model ate
Republicans and Democrats joined
to defeat the Balzhiser motion
nine votes to two.
Then the same liberal coalition
moved that we apply for 200 units.
It was at this time that Balzhiser
joined the majority to approve the
200 units. Was Balzhiser "pre-
sented with the facts" between the
time he tried to chop the program
in half and then voted for :t?
During that five or six minute
interval the only fact presented
to him was that he would be un-
able to achieve his goal of cutting
the housing program in half.
Why can't candidates fo* of-
fice level with the public? Ater
dragging his feet as much as he
could at the time,Balzhiserhnow
wants us to believe that he sup-
ported low cost housing all along.
If he has changed his mind let
him say so, and we would all ad-
mire his honesty.
-Prof. Daniel R. Fusfeld
Economics department
April 1
SDS and the law
To the Editor:
THE APRIL 2 issue of The Daily
reported SDS's rejection of,
an offer by Lawyers Guild to help
in the defense at their upcoming
hearing. The Daily article left the
clear but grossly inaccurate im-
pression that the Lawyers Guild
wanted to get SDS acquitted on a
technicality.
As the Lawyers Guild represent-
ative present at Tuesday night's
SDS meeting I want to make it
very clear that the position of
Lawyers Guild on this case and on
all political cases is not to try to
get people off on technicalities.
The role of the movement law-
yer is to initially spell out all the
available alternatives and then to
use his legal skills to enable the
defendant to say what he has to
say at the trial.
If the defendant want to get
off onha technicalityw(and their
are times when this is politicallly
the best choice), then the lawyer
should try to do so, but where, as
here, the defendant has chosen to
use the forum for a discussion
of the political questions, it is the
lawyer's obligation to provide a
legal context which will enable the
defendant to carry on the political
discussion.
-Ken Mogill, "71L
Lawyers Guild
Harris candidacy
To the Editor:
SINCE WE DID not have a
chance, as did some of our
colleagues, to sigrr the recent ad
suporting Bob Harris for Mayor,
we would like to take this means
to reflect our warm support for
his candidacy.
-Prof. Russell A. Smith
-Prof. William J. Pierce
-Prof. Robert L. Knauss
-Prof. Yale Kamisar
-Prof. Arthur R. Miller
-Prof. Paul D. Carrington
-Prof. James J. White
-Prof.'Douglas A. Kahn
-Prof. Roger A. Cunningham
The Law School
By STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM
Managing Editor.1968-69
ONE YOUNG POLICEMAN is dead, Another, along with four civil-
ians, lies wounded. That much is clear about last Saturday night's
shoot-out at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit's West Side
ghetto.
From the evidence that has been made public so far, it seems ap-
parent that the two cops who went to have a closer look at men they
saw carrying rifles outside a meeting of the Republic of New Africa
were ambushed. The dead man, Patrolman Michael Czapski, never got
his gun out of its holster. Aid his partner, Patrolman Richard Woro-
bec, reportedly also never fired.
What happened next is difficult to ascertain. It is clear from the
profusion of bullet holes in the pews and walls of the church, that the
massive police force that converged on the scene after the initial shoot-
ings entered the church with guns blazing.
The police claim they were fired upon from inside the*churcp.
Local black leader and Milton Henry, the de facto leader of the Re-
public (its "president" is Robert Williams who has exiled himself to
Peking) claim that no shots were fired from inside the building. None
of the witnesses present in the church whe the police entered have
come forward to testify, perhaps out of fear of self-incrimination, per-
haps dut of loyalty to their black brothers, perhaps for other reasons.
BUT THE FACTS OF THE matter are largely irrelevant to what
followed. In a procedure not unreasonable considering the circum-
stances and the police belief that persons in the church fired at them,
everyone present in the building was arrested and taken to police head-
quarters. Recorder's Court Judge George Crockett, a black of radical
leanings, happened to be the judge on night' duty and he went to head-
quarters, which is located in a building adjoining the courthouse, after
being called by State Rep. James Del Rio, another black.
Crockett was prepared to arraign the prisoners and he asked
Wayne County Prosecutor William Cahalan to present him with a list
of prisoners and the charges to be lodged Against them. When Cahalan
did not produce the list, Crockett released all but two of the over 100
persons arrested. on writs of habeus corpus.
It is difficult at this time to say whether or not Crockett acted
properly,
BUT WHILE THE PRECISE NATURE of the incident and the cor-
rectness of the actions by various public officials involved remains ob-
scure, the reaction to it illuminated the deep and abiding racial and po-
litical biases permeating governments, particularly on the state level.
Both houses of the State Legislature have asked for Crockett's
head. The Senate has officially censured him while the House has asked
the new Judicial Tenure Commission to look into Crockett's fitness.
Several organizations have called for his impeachment and there seems
to be some support for just such a move.
Most of the people out to get Crockett probably sincerely feel that
the judge's actions early Sunday ;norning were imnroper and in fact
impeded the judicial procedure. One might expect that they would al-
ways react this way to blatantly bad decisions by judges. This, sadly,
is not the case.
For example, when a defendent %being examined on a charge aris-
ing from the 1967 Detroit riot protested that he was innocent until
proven guilty,'Recorder's Judge Robert Colombo informed him not to
worry, that the court would prove him guilty.
FEW OF THOSE in Lansing now crying for blood stepped for-
ward to suggest that Colombo be censured for such a shocking breach
of judicial practice. Few concerned themselves with the massive vio-
lations of individual rights inflicted on defendents during -the riot,
ranging from assembly line processing of cases to the setting of out-
rageous bail for minor offenses such as curfew violation.
The fact is that because Crockett is black, because he is politically
well to the left of the Legislature and because his action released black
militants whereas most other Recorder's Court judges would have cru-
cified them, he is fair game.
If the good legislators are so concerned with judges impeding the
judicial process and not just with making sure that black militants
get what's coming to them, they ought to take a closer look at Record-
er's Court and see what normally passes for justice at the hands of the
white, conservative judges who comprise the majority of the bench.
IN ADDITION TO MUCH confusion, there is true irony in the
events of Saturday night. Had the weather been otherwise, w a r m
enough for people to come pouring into' the streets, the incident might
not have ended so peacefully. What is ironic is that the potentially riot-
provoking incident took place at a church that probably saved the city
from a riot last summer.
In May,. the midwest leg of the Poor People's March rolled into
town to spend the night. To kill time, a rally was held at Cobo Hall in
the heart of downtown. Late in the afternoon, in an incident that has
yet to be fully explained, mounted police charged into a c r o w d of
marchers surrounding a parked car in a driveway.
The crowd retreated to an exhibition hall as tensions rose rapidly.
It was a hot day and even the air conditioning couldn't k e e p the
crowded room cool. The building was ringed with police and police
lines in the hallway kept the crowd from moving around the building.
WHILE MARCH LEADERS debated what to do next, a number of
young militants decided on their own. They discovered a large number
of folding card tables stacked. in the back of the hall and they began
to tear the legs from-them. The steel legs made frightening; and I am
sure effective, weapons. March marshals attempted to cool the situa-
tion but it obviously could have gotten out of hand very quickly.
T h e n the Rev. C. L. Franklin, Southern Christian Leadership
Council Detroit coordinator ad pastor of New Bethel, proposed that
the marchers adjourn to his church to discuss strategy.
The marchers moved in buses to the church and all whites not
directly affiliated with the march were excluded from the meeting'in-
side. The police, apparently acting under some sort of agreement with
SCLCofficials, kept their distance.
The night passed quietly.
4
I
4
A
4
Rent strike tenants go to court:
The verdict is yours
By JUDY SARASOHN
THE STRIKING TENANTS who
have already been brought to
court have won reduction in. their
rent and in some cases have won
possession of their apartments. But
there are some people-especially
landlords-who argue that the cases
have not been victories for the ten-
ants.
It seems obvious that the tenants
have indeed won. They have con-
vinced a jury that their complaints
of housing code violations are more
than just discontented whining.
Although the tenants are the de-
fendants in the eviction proceed-
ings, it is they who have brought the
landlords to court. And it has been
a landlord, Edward Kloian of Arbor
Management, who has been found.
guilty by the court.
IN THE FIRST THREE eviction
that the landlord may not evict him
if the tenant does not pay his back
rent within ten days but must sue
for damages-it again shows that all
of the back rent and possession of
the apartment within the present
lease does not necessarily revert ton
the landlord.
THE ANN ARBOR DISRICT Court
awarded $480 out of $880 in back rent
and possession of the apartment to
Elizabeth Hertz, '70, and her four
roommates at 1520 Hill St. The jury
also stipulated that this judgment
has no bearing on the damage deposit
held by the landlord.
Kloian's original claim was for
$1000 but he reduced it by $120 be-
cause of an oil bill that Miss Hertz
had paid for. Acording to her lease,
she and her roommates were respon-
sible for only one third of the bill.
In court Thursday, Miss Hertz and
Jack Becker, Kloian's attorney,
claimed heating was never stopped.
However, the tenants replied that it
would have been stopped within
hours had they not called Huntington
-themselves and started a new ac-
count. ?
KLOIAN'S TENANTS also charged
that he had not informed them that
their apartment was zoned in such a
way that no more than four un-
related people were allowed to live
there. They said they were not told
this until a building inspector was
scheduled to look at the apartment.
At that time in December, they
claimed Kloian' told them to lie to
the inspector about the number of
teriants and make the apartment look
as if there were only four living there.
They also claimed Kloian said he
would write a letter to them and the
city concerning their occupancy
had engaged in several conversations
with Kloian concerning the number
of tenants allowed to live there by
the zoning law.
Mrs. Rhinehart claimed she .spe-
cifically told Kloian that no more
than four unrelated tenants may live:
there and he told her there, were
"ways to get around the law."
Kloian denied ever saying this to
Mrs. Rhinehart, although he ad-
mitted he might have had some con-
versations concerning the zoning
laws. But he said he was unsure of
what was actually said and he
thought that it might have been
about a different apartment.'
Glotta asked Kloian why he didn't
have a certificate of compliance from
the city-the lack of which is a code
violation in itself. Kloian testified
that he could not apply for one until
all necessary repairs were finished.
However. Kloian said he has started
been
hart.
done, according to Mrs. Rhine-
By FEBRUARY 1969 WHEN Miss
Hertz and her roommates began to
withhold rent, nothing had been done
to repair either the inexpensive minor
code violations or the serious ones.
Glotta contended that before an
apartment is rented it ought 'first be
fit to live in. Glotta charged that
this was not the case of 1520 Hill St.
The other violations the tenants
charged Kloian guilty of include:
-no second escape from the second
and third floors in case of fire;
-rotted rear porch and steps;
-rotted electrical wiring outside
of the house;
-roof, walls and floor in disrepair;
-broken tiles in the bathroom;
-poor water pressure and almost
no hot water; .
plugged up 'drains.
calling a father of one of the tenants
at 11:30 one night.
However, Dr. David Bohr testified
that he received a call from someone
who said he was Edward Kloian, this
daughter's landlord.
IN HIS SUMMATION, Becker said
that it had not been proved that
Kloian was not thehowner of ° the
apartment and thus he should have
possession and the full amount of
rent owed him.
Glotta claimed that "extensive
code violations," bad faith on the;
part of the landlord, and harassment
of the tenants had been established
and charged that the landlord de-
served neither back rent nor posses-
sion of the apartment.
Glotta claimed Kloian "lied in the
past and is lying now in order to
make a profit." Of course Kloian and
his attorney categorically denied he
ever had lied or was then lying.