4e Mir4igan Bai
Seventy-niine yeairs of editoril freedonri
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
Checking the ROTC stalemate
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 all reprints.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: JIM NEUBACHER
SCU: In famous footsteps
THE NEWLY formed student-organized
and operated credit union deserves
support. Formed in order to provide loans
to students at reasonable rates of inter-
est and on reasonable terms, the infant
union should be a formidable partner to
the well-established tenants union.
With 660 members and $87,000 in as-
sets, the new union is doing phenomenally
well and may soon be able to provide
large loans to a great number of students.
The union has attracted sizeable gifts
from several campus groups and has se-
cured a charter from the state banking
commission.
As directed by President Gene Smith,
as ordained by the state, the SCU can-
not fail. It has the necessary financial
support to reward its student investors
with as much as a five per cent interest
rate, although it cannot guarantee this.
BUT THE union needs more student sup-
port to be helpful to those students
who now are suffering from the anti-in-
flationary curbs on loans, who are con-
sidered "high risk" and are unable to
secure a bank loan. The union needs more
assets and investors.
The formation of this union is remin-
iscent of the emergence two years ago
of the Tenants Union. It is the product
of the thoughtful work of a few students
wishing to provide a needed community
service. It is another step in the direction
of establishing a successful student co-
operative movement on campus.
-THE EDITORIAL DIRECTORS
By HENRY GRIX
Editor
THE ROTC ISSUE has reached a stalemate.
While President Fleming issues warnings with
alarm clock regularity, the anti-ROTC demonstra-
tors march on buildings with the predictability of
the morning milkman. Meanwhile both sides spend
sleepless nights trying to out guess each other's
tactics, and it appears that nothing of consequence
is going to happen at all.
It is clear, however, that this cat and mouse
game cannot go on forever. How long before the
disintegrating radical coalition attempts one last
act of bravado and doesn't make it out the back
door in time?
How long before President Fleming seizes the
initiative and decides to go the injunction route,
having protesters disorderly arrested at home?
In other words, Monday night's lock-in might
have turned out disastrously if the protesters had
decided to stay, or if the president had not allowed
an escape hatch for the anti-ROTC demonstrators.
The issue has secured too many firm commit-
ments from faculty, students, and administrators
for it to simply drop out of sight, and this stalemate
can only go on for a little while before somebody
gets hurt. A compromise is needed.
IT MUST be accepted as a premise that the ex-
istence of ROTC on this campus is a University is-
sue that must involve the entire community. It
should not degenerate into coy debates between
Barry Bluestone and ROTC officers.
The relative attention-getting success of t h e
anti-ROTC movement - considering its shoddy
leadership and tactics - should indicate that the
initiative on this one may be taken by anyone who
is willing. The recent reluctance of Radical Cau-
cus to tag along with SDS's minority tyranny and
endorse any offensive tactic against ROTC is com-
mendable. Perhaps the caucus may succeed at foc-
using s t u d e n t interest on a program of action
which would appeal to the entire student body. In-
deed it is remarkable that despite days of guerrilla-
style protest, no precise ennuciation of student sen-
timent on the issue has yet been made.
A well-argued and strongly supported student
statement on ROTC should be presented to the
Regents for their October meeting in three weeks.
MEANWHILE, STUDENTS SHOULD pressure
faculty to adopt the strong anti-ROTC position
set forth in the final draft of the Academic Affairs
Committee report. The report, which has been
considered by the committee for several months, is,
in the opinion of several committee members, ready
to go directly to the Senate Assembly. From there,
it may pass to the Regents.
This will necessitate a speeding up of the
faculty's usual tortoise pace of handling issues. But
the ROTC question has been debated for over a
year and merits some quick action to avoid future
disorder.
IF THE REGENTS choose to ignore or stall on
the ROTC question-as they have indicated they
may-the faculty and students should resist. They
can use the proposed classroom strike to propa-
gandize against ROTC, they can call for and at-
tend an open hearing on the ROTC question.
If the Regents fail to act, then militant action is
justified. But the action must be directed against
the intransigent Regents and administrators, not
the unsuspecting ROTC cadets in North Hall, the
already committed faculty, the informed students.
Exemplary action has ceased to create an exam-
ple of how the ROTC question can be resolved. It
has proved a tactical and logical blunder. It must
stop. If the aim is to remove ROTC from campus
as a first step to ending the University's complic-
ity with the defense establishment, a plan of more
direct action is called for.
HOWEVER, THE VITAL question of disciplining
those students who have become involved in the
ROTC issues remains. Fortunately, up to this point,
exemplary "creative non-disruptive disruption" has
not resulted in the intrusion of Sheriff Harvey
and his heavies. But President Fleming has vowed
to take action and his growl has teeth inside.
But he should not bring police on campus. Nor
should he involve University and college authorities
in prosecuting protesters for breaches of academic
rules. Civil courts, not college administrative boards,
should prosecute. Although legal offences may be
many. (trespass, class disruption, breaking and
entering) the act is a single one. The penalties
for civil wrong are harsh enough.
THE ANTI-ROTC issue did not require militant,
illegal action; its use was both reprehensible and
deleterious to the formation of a united student
front. But the student protesters did raise a valid
issue. And when the Regents abolish ROTC, North
Hall can be used as a student discount bookstore.
College presidents and police:
The halcyon days of yore
THERE ONCE WAS a time when college
presidents at least t o o k precautions
in bringing the police on campus. It was
almost a standard of measurement of
one's shrewdness. The shrewder ones, like
Robben Fleming used to be, would tend
only to use police as a last resort.
But those days are over. College presi-
dents have been engulfed in the public's
"law and order" madness. As police pres-
ence on campus becomes more unpopular
with students, administrators a r e suc-
cumbing ever more frequently to use the
strong arm of the law to crush dissent.
The results are usually catastrophic.
Last spring, when anti-ROTC students
took over University H a 1 1 at Harvard,
Making a pont
REAL ORATORS are hard to come by
these days what with the passing of
the golden-toned senator f r o m Illinois
and all. But the University is fortunate to
have its own rhetorician in the person of
Peter Denton, Rent Strike leader.
And yesterday Peter delivered his well
chosen words once again -- but with one
minor flaw: It's Pierpont, Peter, Pierpont
-- not PierPOINT.
-N. C.
HENRY GRIX, Editor
STEVE NISSEN RON LANDSMAN
City Editor Managing Editor
VARCIA ABRAMSON .. Associate Managing Editor
111ILUP BLOCK ..., .Assiociate Mnag ingc Editor
CHRIS STEELE...............Associate City Editor
STEVE ANZALON .Editorial Page Editor
JENNY STILLER Editorial Page Editor
LESLIE WAYNE.............Arts Editor
JOHN GRAY Literary Editor
LAWRENCE ROBBIN. .. .. . .. Photo Editor
LANIE LIPPINCOTr A.I stan t to the Managing Editor
WALTER SHAPIRO Daily Washini ton Correspondent
MARY R XDTKE Contributing Editor
president Nathan Pusey panicked and
summoned the police to eject the occu-
pants. The police answered the call with
clubs swinging and succeeded in beating
innocent bystanders as they cleared the
building. Pusey's indiscretion threw Har-
vard into a general strike and earned him
the opprobrium of both students and fac-
ulty.
Perhaps Pusey's naivete can be excused
by his obvious lack of familiarity w i t h
such situations. But what about t h o s e
presidents on campuses that have long
been activist?
THERE WAS ONCE a time when "suc-
cessful" college presidents like Rob-
ben Fleming were reluctant to call in po-
lice even as a means of restoring "order."
But lately, the Robben Flemings are de-
ploying police even if they suspect some-
thing is about to happen. Figuring thab
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound
of misery, Fleming locked the doors of
the administration building the other day
and stationed police at the doors to keep
students out. The police were still there
late into the night, long after the book-
store movement had adjourned for the
day.
So 1 a s t Wednesday night, a student
strolling around campus would have seen
the University under guard. The men in
blue were garrisoned at both the Ad
Building and at North Hall. And while
the effect of this police presence is prob-
ably only insulting, the increasing eager-
ness to procure their services for campus
pacification can only lead to trouble.
THERE WAS ONCE a time when college
presidents worried about things like
that.
-STEVE ANZALONE
Editorial Page Editor
- JAMES WECHSLER
Haynsworth:* Support from a
gen tieman'
* MID SIGNS of renewed re-
sistance to the Supreme Court
nomination of Clement F. Hayns-
worth Jr., a mystery story involv-
ing a key witness for Haynsworth
may further cloud the high-pres-
sure confirmation drive.
The witness was John Bolt Cul-
bertson, president of the Green-
ville, S.C., County Bar Assn. and,
more importantly in the setting
of the Haynsworth hearings, an
avowed member of Americans for
Democratic Action, an NAACP
sympathizer" and sometime legal
representative of the Textile
Union.
Not often is Sen. Eastland dis-
posed to listen reverently to the
testimony of a man with such a
background. But last week East-
land, his Southern brethren on the
Judiciary Committee and Hayns-
worth's Justice Dept. sponsors
presented Culbertson as a gentle-
man and a scholar whose words
merited special attention. For he
had come to speak in support of
the nominee despite his disagree-
ment with certain of Haynsworth's
views.
His recital was clearly visualized
as a final blow to the ADA-labor-
civil rights coalition aligned against
the nominee. In a performance
that the Associated Press described
as "homespun" and "colorful" and
that the TV cameras recorded at
length. Culbertson delivered a
glowing testimonial to Hayns-
worth's character, integrity and
legal equipment.
While asserting that Hayns-
worth would not have been his
choice for the post because of the
former's conservatism, Culbertson
declared he could not remain
silent while Haynsworth was "cru-
cified."
WHAT HE DID not say-and
what remains to be revealed be-
fore the committee-is that, ac-
cording to the sworn affidavits of
two respected ADA and AFL-CIO
officials, Culbertson "enthusias-
tically" encouraged the ADA cam-
paign to block the nomination and
offered advice to an AFL-CIO
emissary assembling data against
Haynsworth.
On Aug. 17, two days before
Haynsworth's widely forecast nom-
ination was announced, Leon
Shull, national director of ADA,
telephoned Culbertson about the
prospective choice. In view of Cul-
bertson's ADA affiliation (such
memberships are few in South
Carolina) he seemed an obvious
source,
In a sworn statement dictated
(on the basis of notes) on Sept.
17, when news of Culbertson's im-
pending appearances in Hayns-
worth's behalf reached ADA, Shull
describes Culbertson as having
been ardently anti-Haynsworth
for his "anti-civil rights ... an-
ti-labor" biases and his close ties
with the "reactionary Southern
establishment."
According to Shull. Culbertson
vigorously encouraged ADA to
press the fight.
THE PARALLEL AFFIDAVIT
comes from E. T. Keher, a South-
ern attorney associated with the
AFL-CIO's Civil Rights Dept.
Kehrer reports t h a t he visited
Culbertson at the latter's law of-
fice on Sept. 4 to discuss the rum-
ored Haynsworth appointment.
Culbertson, according to Kehrer.
voiced "great concern" over the
reports; he said Haynsworth's se-
lection would be "one more step"
toward imposing conservative rule
on the high court. He mentioned
the names of two men who might
furnish Kehrer ammunition for
the anti-Haynsworth campaign.
During t h a t meeting, Kehrer
states, Culbertson intimated that
he might have to offer pro-forma
approval of Haynsworth because
the Greenville Bar Assn. had vot-
ed to endorse
the failure of
representativef
him. He lamented
the NAACP's local
to attend the meet-
ing at which the vote was taken
and depicted himself as highly
"embarrassed" o v e r the bar
group's stand. Culbertson assert -
edly pledged that he would "do as
little as possible" to help Hayns-
worth. As in his talk with Shull.
he appeared to be a warm spiri-
tual ally of the anti-Haynsworth
forces.
Nothing he said. as described
in the affidavits, was consistent
with the euphoria of the tributes
he recked to Haynsworth when
he took the stand.
L.ATE L.AST WEEK, whe'n the
opposition to Haynsworth seemed
to be fading, Sen. Birch Bayh tD-
Ind.) is understood to have pri-
v a t e 1 y confronted Culbertson
with the affidavits and encounter-
ed broad disclaimers. At that
juncture Bayh. dispirited by the
lack of Senate suport, chose not
to invite a collision under oath
between Culbertson and the two
men who swear he cheered them
into battle.
But the new furor stirred by dis-
closure of Haynsworth's role in
the Brunswick Corp. affair - his
purchase of stock before public is-
suance of a court ruling in which
he participated -- may invite re-
examination of Culbertson's testi-
tony.
The seeming discrepancy in
Culbertson's public a n d private
demeanor is primarily relevant to
the credibility of the massive ef-
fort - jointly staged by members
of the Justice Dept. and the East-
land committee - to blunt all
criticism of the nominee.
That Culbertson may have been
a victim of infatuation with his
own rhetoric once he began testi-
fying may be the most charitable
explanation of his exercise. But it
is not wholly satisfying.
THE ISSUES ARE infinitely
larger than the Culbertson affair.
Most basically they concern the
apparent double standard with
which the vital phrase - "the
appearance of impropriety" - is
applied by the Senate and t h e
Justice Dept. Was there one ethi-
cal criterion for Fortas and an-
'other for Haynsworth? That ques-
tion shadows many phases of
these proceedings, including the
unresolved role of barrister Cul-
bertson.
i rNew York Post
Letters:
Responding to
Nissen's
'attack'
on
Mayor
Harris
77 77-77'"
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To the Editor:
STEVE NISSEN'S attack on
Mayor Harris in The Daily (Sept.
18) is so dishonest as to make one
wonder about Nissen's "moral re-
sponsibility." It is Nissen's state-
ment, not Harris', which is "packed
with lies and incredible distortions
of the facts."
--Nissen quotes Harris as having
referred to street people as an
'unwashed non-student minority."
I have carefully examined the,
newspaper reports of last summer's
street incident and cannot find
this statement.
-Ni stentputs "long-haired
weirdos" in quotation marks in a
sentence discussing a Harris state-
ment, thus implying that these are
Harris' words, which again is not
the case.
-NISSEN ATTACKS Harris'
statement of praise for police re-
straint during the street incidents,
ignoring the fact that Harris' com-
ments were explicitly descriptive
of the actions of the Ann Arbor
Police Department, and not of the
Washtenaw County Sheriff's De-
partment, over which Harris has
no control. Most observers, includ-
ing the Ann Arbor Argus, are
agreed that it was the Sheriff's
TPnrmlwihvnc +Via - - i-
Harris of duplicity. It might also
be pointed out that Harris' work
with the New Detroit Committee
played a part in the enactment
of the legislation which made the
rent strike possible.
-NISSEN REFERS to "pressure
. . for action against so-called
obscenity,' " ignoring the fact that
the Mayor has resisted this pres-
sure, leading the other Democrats
on council in a unanimous vote
against an anti-obscenity ordi-
nance sponsored by council Re-
publicans. Indeed, it is Harris' and
the other Democrats' position on
this issue which is one of the two
principal grievances of those who
are attempting to remove them
from office. (The other grievance
is the Democrats' willingness to
permit rock concerts in Ann Ar-
bor. which the predecessor Repub-
lican council prohibited)
NISSEN'S COLUMN also ignores
some of the positive accomplish-
ments of the mayor in the areas
about which Nissen seems con-
cerned. Last summer's street con-
frontations and beating of street
people ended in part because be-
cause Harris was able to persuade
the police to get off the street--
something for which he was vio-
thing, he has been criticized for
being too straight-forward and
forthright.
Radical political analysis does
not consist of manufacturing facts
to fit one's ideological framework.
There may be a legitimate argu-
ment to be made against efforts
to limit polarization and conflict,
but Nissen hasn't made it.
-Prof. Eugene Feingold
Sept. 18
Sit-i nstatement
To the Editor:
FOR THE PAST year and a half
the University has maintained a
difficult but real peace. The Uni-
versity community has maintained
that peace by honestly facing, dis-
cussing, and resolving issues
through a process which has ap-
proximated majority rule. From
women's hours to driving regula-
tions and the establishment of
SGC's University Discount Store,
the evident sentiment of the stu-
dent body has been mirrored in
the decisions of the University.
The bookstore represented the
first major break in that practice.
The bookstore had the overwhelm-
ing support of the student body
_ A , . .,. , . t n
ignored our proposals, and pro-
ceeded with a secrecy that made a
rational commentary impossible.
Today a student rally requested
that President Fleming try to call
a special Regents meeting to dis-
cuss the bookstore. Fleming re-
jected it saying, "No, the issue is
dead."
THE ADMINISTRATION broke
the peace. Nowv the community is
faced with the consequences. We
do not like the use of force. We
do not like inconveniencing other
people, We prefer negotiation to
bloodshed. But we cannot con-
demn our fellow students-exas-
perated, insulted, and humiliated
by the Regents, the president, and
the rest of the executive officers.
We can only hope that at this
time the administration, faculty,
and student body have each learn-
ed a lesson: the administration,
that when they do not act reason-
ably and with a decent concern
for the student body, they will
provoke us to acts which they as
well as we will regret; the faculty,
that they simply cannot stand
aside on an issue which is impor-
tant to two-thirds of the Univer-
sity community: and the student
body, that unless we can make
Galer
T'Io the Editor:
BERNARD GALLER should read
The Language of Computers more
carefully when he does politics,
especially the remarks on the na-
ture of parameters and standard-
ization of imputs.
I too was at North Hall Monday
evening, from beginning to end,
and having seen more demonstrat-
tions than Mr. Galler, I think I
would tend to agree with The
Daily's crowd judgment, both in
size and response.
As far as the nature and inten-
sity of student support, I am cer-
tain Mr. Galler is more than aware
of the problems involved in mak-
ing samples, or for that matter.
interpreting them. I would not go
so far as to say students of Com-
munication Science are less than
politically active or morally con-
cerned, but the sociology of their
situation suggests their response to
the anti-ROTC action is scarcely
more than representative.
FINALLY. THE FACT that they
were Mr. Galler's class, that we
are not told the diction of the
questioning, or the possibility of
response, makes his generaliza-
i
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