94e £ir4igan Dath
Seventy-nine years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
ce~teris
par ibus
Trying times in Daley's Chicago
... ..... ........
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jenny stiller
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.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: STUART GANNES
The bookstore and beyond
THE SEIZURE of the LSA Bldg. last
week, the 107 arrests which followed
so swiftly, the events which led up to the
takeover and the basic issues involved
make this the most critical period in the
history of the University.
While the tactics involved in r e c e n t
demonstrations are surely open to scrut-
iny, there is, nonetheless, a compelling
'need to respect the moral position which
led to such drastic action, to examine
the issues involved and to re-dedicate
the University community to their resolu-
tion.
The issues underlying the present crisis
range far beyond the questions raised in
the controversy over creation of a stu-
dent-run discount bookstore. They in-
volve the fundamental questions of the
role students should play in University
decision-making. These issues must be
dealt with directly.
IN THIS light, the action taken at yes-
terday's special Senate Assembly meet-
ing takes on added significance. The abil-
ity of students to peacefully initiate
meaningful structural changes in t h e
University is extremely limited. The
faculty must take the initiative and begin
effecting a drastic overhaul of decision-
making procedures.
As yesterday's meeting, Assembly ap-
proved a proposal to undertake a re-
examination of this very problem. The
intent of this resolution is laudable. But
it must be followed by action, as quickly
as possible, on specific proposals aimed
at giving students significant institution-
al control over the University decisions
which affect their lives.
For the past three years, of course,
students and faculty members have been
involved in intensive discussions and
negotiations over this very problem. But
even the imminent adoption of regental
bylaw revisions resulting from these dis-
cussions has failed to avert confronta-
tion.
THE FAILURE, however, is not with the
bylaw discussions themselves. In fact,
although the bylaws have not been rati-
fied, some of the proposals they include
have already been adopted to a great ex-
tent. In the Office of Student Affairs, for
example, student-faculty policy boards
have been created and given control over
at least the internal workings of the of-
fice.
The failure of dialogue over the past
three years was not, then, a result of lack
of cooperation or good faith. Rather,
new questions arose while both students
and faculty members continued to ad-
dress themselves to the issues w h i c h
emerged from the Student Power
Movement of 1966,
VHILE NO one can be sure of possess-
ing answers to all the problems that
have arisen, swift action in certain key
areas appears essential:
* Student Government Council's pro-
posal for student-faculty control of the
bookstore is both reasonable and work-
,ble. Now that Senate Assembly has urged
faculty involvement in the issue, the
Senate Advisory Committee on Univer-
sity Affairs should work with students
d administrators to insure immediate
ental adoption of the SGC proposal.
"I The right of stdents to tax them-
es through a referendum, as in the
case of last March's overwhelming vote
for a bookstore levy, must be recognized.
Despite the previous failings of student
elections, they are far more democratic
than the present power of the Regents
over the assessment of student fees. In-
deed, regental recognition of the validity
of such referenda might be just the re-
form needed to increase voter turnouts.
0 The Regents must be barred from
providing general monies (state appro-
priations and tuition) for budget items
which do not involve instruction, aca-
demic services, financial aids, adminis-
tration or maintenance of the physical
plant, without affirmative action by the
students in a referendtim. Specifically,
the following uses of tuition monies re-
quire review.by the students:
--The $5 per term assessment for the
League and the Union;
-The $5 per term assessment for the
In 4 I rhi n nit
athletic department, which is being used
to pay of fthe cost of construction of
the Special Events Bldg.
-The use of accumulated tuition
monies to pay off the cost of construc-
tion of the Administration Bldg.
-The proposed use of a recurring fee
assessment of up to $15 for construction
of two intramural buildings.
* The controversy over the power of
policy boards in the Office of Student
Affairs has revealed at least one thing
clearly: the line between policy-making
and administration is virtually non-exist-
ent. Yet the all-important weekly policy
meeting by the president and the vice
presidents is conducted behind closed
doors.
Immediate alternatives to investing
such power in the executive officers are
not available. But the secrecy of the
process can be easily eliminated. Meet-
ings of the executive officers should be
open to the public, and designated repre-
sentatives of SGC and Assembly should be
allowed full speaking privileges.
* Ultimately, the Regents must abdi-
cate all but ceremonial control over Uni-
versity policies to an assembly of stu-
dent and faculty representatives. At
present, however, this is neither politi-
cally nor structurally feasible. In t h e
interim, the president and vice presi-
dent of SGC and the chairman and vice
chairman of SACUA should be seated
on the board with full voting rights. It
is understood that this proposal cannot
be formally implemented without an
amendment to the state constitution. But
as an indicaion of good faith, and as a
practical matter, the Regents c o u1 d
easily agree to be bound by a majority
decision which included the votes of
the student and faculty representatives.
* In line with the formal and informal
rulings of Atty. Gen. Frank Kelley last
month, all meetings of the Regents
should be open to the public.
ALTHOUGH THE thrust of the current
crisis centers on the relationship of
students to policies set by the central
administration of the University, it is
clear that the principles involved extend
as well to decision-making practices in
the schools, colleges and academic de-
partments.
While examining possible alterations
in the power of the administration and
the Regents, faculty members also should
think seriously about the problem of aca-
demic decison-making. If only half the
problem is attended to now, the Univer-
sity community will only be leaving itself
open to another tragic crisis of the kind
all parties have provoked this past week.
For the moment, the problem in the
academic area is somewhat less pressing.
In the not so distant future, however,
changes similar to, but more far-reach-
ing than, those recently proposed by
Senate Assembly's Academic Affairs
Committee must be adopted by the Uni-
versity's units:
" Students should be given at least
parity representation with faculty mem-
bers on all bodies which deal with and
have final authority over requirements
and course content. Curriculum decis-
ions profoundly affect a student's educa-
tional experience, and students should
have an equal voice in setting academic
standards. -
* Students should be granted signifi-
cant representation on groups with con-
trol over selection, evaluation and pro-
motion of professors. Although profes-
sors have the undeniable advantage of
expertise in their fields, students have an
equally undeniable stake in evaluating
ths teaching performance of faculty
members. The quality of the faculty is
of great importance to students and the
use of student course evaluations in ten-
ure decisions does not by itself adequate-
ly reflect this interest.
* Students' right to trial by their peers
must be recognized for academic offens-
es. Although questions of academic hon-
esty can remain within the jurisdiction of
the academic units, students should- be
tried by students, professors by o t h e r
professors. Due process must be main-
tained and lines of appeal established.
Of course, discipline for offenses which
are not strictly academic in nature has
no place in the judiciaries of the schools
and colleges.
"And when amid the plaintiff's shrieks,
The ruffianly defendant speaks-
Upon the other side;
What he may say you needn't mind-
From bias free of every kind,
This trial must be tried!"
-W. S. Gilbert
CHICAGO
rTHE TRIAL OF the Chicago Eight is a
comedy, a parody, a circus, "with Judge
Hoffman as the ringmaster," if we are to
believe defendant Rennie Davis on the
subject. The bias of the judge is too ob-
dent, the unsuitability of the jury too ob-
vious. One is tempted at one moment to
rise to one's feet screaming in protest; at
the next, to callapse helpless with laughter.
The defendants have a tendency to do
both, at times, and so do the reporters and
spectators. It hardly seems like one of the
most serious trials of the century, perhaps
of the nation's history.
But it is. What is at stake here is the
very fate of dissent itself; the fate of the
Constitution, and ultimately of us all,
The eight defendants are charged with
conspiring-chiefly with the aid of Ma Bell
and the U.S. Mails-to cross state lines to
incite riot. In addition, each is charged
with a number of overt acts-usually at-
tending meetings and addressing crowds,
though in two cases, demonstrating how to
make a Molotov cocktail.
THEY ARE A MIXED bag, these de-
fendants: David Dellinger, 53, a balding
middle-aged Quaker who spent World Wax
II in jail for refusing to register for the
draft; Michigan's own Tom Hayden, for-
mer Daily editor and drafter- of the Port
Huron Statement for the original SDS, free
lance organizer, a loner, no one's man but
his own; Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman,
founders of the Yippies, and mad cap
pranksters with an inscrutable gift for
leadership; Rennie Davis, draft protester
extraordinaire and organizer of the orig-
inal Mobilization, quiet, pragmatic, a very
together person; Bobbie Seale, co-founder
and chairman of the Black Panther Party
for Self-Defense, currently under arrest for
murder, tense, powerful, incredibly mag-
netic; Lee Weiner and John Froines, the
firebugs whom no one ever heard of before
the trial-Weiner laughing and cavorting
with Abbie Hoffman before the TV
cameras; Froines who didn't even cross a
state line to come to Chicago, detached,
intense and aloof.
STRANGELY enough, the tensest mo-
ments of the first few days of the trial
have been provided not by the defend-
ants but by the treatment of their law-
yers.
Four attorneys originally engaged to help
prepare the pre-trial motions faced ar-
rest late last week when Judge Julius
Hoffman refused to accept their telegrams
notifying the court of their withdrawal
from the case. One, Michael E. Tigar, was
arrested in Los Angeles and conveyed to
the Cook County lockup in the custody
of two U.S. marshals. Another, G e r a 1 d
Lefcourt, came voluntarily to Chicago
where he was also immediately incarcerat-
ed, fingerprinted and photographed.
Although both men were released from
jail by a higher court and contempt
charges against them were dropped by
Judge Hoffman, considerable expense was
incurred and their reputations will un-
doubtedly suffer in some quarters from
the experience. The two other pre-trial
lawyers, Michael Kennedy and Dennis Ro-
berts, would have been arrested Friday
night. had not Hoffman's warrants been
quashed by another court.
ALL FOUR WERE in Chicago yesterday
morning to protest their treatment, and
they were joined by concerned lawyers
from New York and Boston, Washington
and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami.
There were even a few from Chicago. "We
just dropped everything and came," one of
them explained. "The trial has been mark-
ed by judicial attacks upon lawyers un-
precedented in American history."
The lawyers are justly concerned over
the judges attempts to chastise the defend-
ants through their lawyers and to bribe
the defense counsel to waive their clients'
rights to keep themselves out of jail. Even
though this kind of attack on the lawyers
is hardly surprising in a city (dare we say
nation?) which would even attempt to jail
men for dissenting, it is somehow still
shocking.
FOR THE MOMENT the higher courts
have come through like the U.S. Cavalry
to save the day-as they are expected to
do, should the middle aged, lower middle
class jury decide to convict. The nightmare,
of course, is that they might not; these
eight men might go to jail. Then the snark
would indeed be a boojum; and our free-
dom to speak out will "softly and suddenly
vanish away" as if it had never pien.
For now, the trial is a circus, a parody,
a comedy. But the line between high
comedy and high tragedy is a thin one;
one we may step over yet in this court-
room -- in Mayor Daley's Chicago.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Liberal conscience and
the
To the Editor:
IT IS TRUE that the student
bookstore is a pretext or, if you
will, a symbol. It is true also that
the students who would realize it
by occupation of university build-
ings (force) and by strike (dis-
ruption) are violating humane and
democratic values of the Univer-
sity; while professors who would
oppose these tactics so uphold
these values-and not only, it
must seem, in defense of the uni-
versity but of the society.
Yet if two such evident truths
torture conscience, they must
somehow violate intelligence. They
are at a deeper level inconsistent.
Liberal professors are main vic-
tims of the contradiction, just as
they are the main victims of con-
science.
One has to analyze the students'
attack in its meaning and form,
and from that context, the con-
tradictions of the professorial de-
fense.
The bookstore is both symbol
and pretext. Symbol, as in its
largest sense the issue is direct
control by the people concerned
of the economic and political con-
ditions of their existence. Symbol
of a democratic socialism.
Pretext, on one hand, because
it combines and disguises a variety
of disparate protests against con-
ditions of the campus: ROTC,
student rents, course requirements.
war research. Pretext, then, be-
caiuse in uniting these issues of
the campus, it obviously aims at
the society: at the high-handed
rights of capital in general and
the military-industrial complex in
particular, at the oppression of
blacks, at all those malaises of
American democracy whose high-
est current expression is the
slaughter of Vietnamesepeasants.
Symbol and pretext, the book-
store really means a political
struggle .Which explains its forms.
They are forms of political pres-
sure-of which force and disrup-
tion are the historically normal
continua tion.
OPPOSING FORCE and disrup-
tion, the liberal professors stand
up against fascism. They defend
freedom within the enclosure of
the university, on pain of its des-
truction throughout the society,
They will uphold their respon-
sibilities-on the campus thus to
the world.
The reflexive and mistaken as-
sumption in this stand is imme-
diately clear: that if "fascist tac-
ticts" are not opposed here, in this
one important area the taint will
spread like a spot of oil on water
until it covers us all, everywhere.
But the fascist tactics already are
everywhere: in the structure of
the society and the 'brutality of
its police, foreign and domestic.
Defending thus democratic values
on the campus, the liberal pro-
fessors counterpose themselves to
the struggle against the fascization
of the society. This is their basic
contradiction.
In taking more seriously their
narrow responsibilities of acade-
mic freedom, they must neglect
their larger responsibility to free-
dom as such. In the end, if they
succeed in repressing the force
and disruption, they can only by
an inverse proof invalidate their
own political axiom: the spot of
oil does not spread. A peaceful,
law-abiding university can live
"freely" within a totalitarian so-
ciety, without menace to that so-
ciety. As in the Soviet Union.
-Frithjof H. Bergmann
-Robert Hefner
r
_ i~~~~~','J ._._. _ --'- . i4y m"
w1.
r4
r I.
r, WE BAVE MORE OMACI
YII
* r1 ,bttSydM
bookstore
Later that, afternoon, these
same students entered the LSA
-- building. In the course of their
occupation my office was forcibly
I. entered, one window broken after
entry w a s gained, my personal
files rifled, mundane supplies and
ten dollars in cash taken from my
desk, one expensive slide projec-
torestolen, and an office wall de-
faced with a "thank you" note
written in permanent ink.
SUCH BEHAVIOR is exceed-
ingly difficult to reconcile with
these students' pronouncements
and my own) regarding their
mature capacities.
-James C. Moore, Jr.
Prof. Sociology dept.
Sept. 29
Voice of 'reaction'
- To the Editor:
THE CURRENT bookstore up-
rising makes it apparent that an
unfortunately large number of
students suffer from gross mis-
conceptions concerning the na-
ture and purpose of a university.
Therefore, using simple terms so
that simple minds might under-
stand, I will explain themi
We are not here so that we may
enjoy four years of idleness, but to
be trained to fulfill useful func-
tions in society. The fact that we
are in college is an admission by
us that we do not have the abil-
ity to take our place in the ranks
of productive citizens.
To run the university, we have
been provided with an adminis-
tration comprised of men exper-
ienced in the field of educatio&
The combined wisdom of 35,000
ignorant students does n o t ap-
such force. proach that of even one member.
nay disagree Therefore, the entire concept of
method and student demands is ludicrous.
all express
leadership. ANY LEGITIMATE requests ar
to be taken to the proper author-
en ities where they will be considerel
len on their merits, but under no cir-
ishop, Jr. cumstances are students to usurp'
er the adinistration's prerogatives.
ngton Being on a higher plane, the pres-
ard ident of the University needs not
errider answer to the students any more
mton than d o e s a prison warden to
ningham criminal inmates.
hue, Jr. The forceful seizure of a uni-
tep versity building by dissidents
ay shows the bankruptcy of their
el cause. Unable through 1 a c k of
son reason to convince the Regents,
in they chose a m o r e animal-like
ahn methodein anattempt to impose
r their demands. A more honorable
er course of action would have been
nedy for them to resign, making space
auss for those m o r e appreciative of
IcCauley what Michigan has to offer.
iler
I DO NOT expect this letter to
mer be printed, since it contains ob-
erce viously "reactionary" overtones
lnt tactually Confucian). However, it
sky would be a pleasant surprise.
oley -Lai Ta-wei
t Sept. 29
gan
t. Antoine Concerned GOP
idalow
da1 To the Editor:
ith THE EDITORIAL about the
Concerned Citizens recall cam-
er paign which appeared in the Sep-
atson tember 23 edition of The Daily
7ellman states by innuendo that the Re-
te publican Party is involved in that
ht recall. That statement is untrue.
ourd On August 28, 1969, I released the
following statement to the press:
The Ann Arbor Republican
1;11",r n 9 City Committe iso nnnnna t
LSA Student Assembly
To the Editor:
THE EVENTS of the past week
have demonstrated the inadequacy
of student involvement in Univer -
sity affairs. This applies for the
problems within the colleges and
departments as well as for Uni-
versity-wide issues like the book-
store.
In the literary college, efforts
to promote student participation
have culminated in the develop-
ment of Student Assembly. Its
purpose is to provide an open or-
ganized caucus to discuss anything
relevant to LSA curricula and ad-
ministration.
Whilesthe Student Assembly
maintains its identity as an auto-
nomous student organization, it
also functions with the most crit-
ical bodies of the colleges' deci-
sion-making process, the curricu-
lum committee, and administrative
board, and the admission commit-
tee.
IT IS NOW time for the devel-
opment of a student organization
that is devoted to raising and ex-
amining problems in the curricula
and the administration of literary
college. Obviously there are areas
that warrant close attention.
The movement to abolish ROTC
grew out of efforts in the cur-
riculum committee to strip it of its
academic credit. In addition, the
discussions resulting in the elimi-
nation of needless distribution re-
quirements and the formation of
the bachelors of general studies
degree were also held in the cur-
riculum committee.
There are still problems, how-
ever, that haven't been acted upon
by students. The administrative
board, for example, cannot decide
..hnf fn ri n A ..rs. - ninn rc
es close too soon and too frequent-
ly, etc.
THE STUDENT Assemblybem-
phasizes accessibility to a broad
base of students. Accordingly, it
has incorporated students from
the partmental committee as well
as an increase in number of in-
terested LSA students. With its
diversity and initiative, the As-
sembly is approaching the kind of
structure that can effectively deal
with the numerous problems in-
herent in a College of this size.
The first policy statement con-
cerning disciplinary action in the
administrative board will be dis-
cussed on Tuesday, Sept. 30, in
Room 1017 Angell Hall. All LSA
students 'are encouraged to join
the Assembly then.
-Ken Lasser
Sept. 29
LawI faculty statentent
To the Editor:
THE UNDERSIGNED a'e mei-
bers of the University of Michigan
law faculty. We speak here as in-
dividual members of the Univer-
sity community. Although we are
of divergent minds on most public
issues of the day, we unite in de-
ploring the recent efforts of some
student government leaders to
provoke a forceful confrontation
with the University.
Many of us are dissatisfied with
the structure of the ROTC pro-
gram and some of us would prefer
its abolition. Many of us are dis-
satisfied with existing modes of
student participation in university
government and some support the
idea of a student-run bookstore.
But none of us perceives a justi-
fication for the use of force to ad-
-a-rr #hpe nnl.i nartvi nmvs
has a duty to resist
While some of us m
with the particularr
timing employed, we
our support for his i
-Francis A. All
-Layman E. Al
-William W. B
-Olin L.- Browd
-Paul D. Carri
-Alfred F. Con
-Luke K. Coop
-Roger C. Cran
-Roger A. Cun
-Charles Dona
-Samuel D. Est
-Whitmore Gr
-Jerold H. Isra
-John H. Jacks
-Joseph R. Jul
-Douglas A. Ka
-Yale Kamisar
-Paul G. Kaup
-Frank R. Ken
-Robert L. Kna
-Matthew P. M
-Arthur R. Mill
-Grant Nelson
-George E. Pal
-William J. Pi
-Marcus L. Pla
-Alan N. Polasl
-Beverley J. Po
-Roy F. Proffit
-John W. Reed
-Donald H. Re
-Theodore J. S
-Terrance San
-Stanley Siegel
-Russell A. Smi
-Eric Stein
-Peter 0. Stein
-Andrew S. W
-Richard. V. W(
-James J. Whi
-L. Hart Wrigh
-Kenneth L. Y
Sept. 29
l)