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 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, Mich: 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 al: reprints. 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 STEVE ELMAN Administrative Advertising Manager SUE LERNER..,...........,...Senior Sales Manager LUCY PAPP............... Senior Sales Manager NANCY ASIN.........Senior Circulation Manager BRUCE HAYDON,..................Finance Manager DARIA KROGUILKI.......Associate Finance Manager BARBARA SCHULZ............Personnel Manager 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.