TIe 3fr4tigan Badig
Seventy-nine years of editorwil freedorn
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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NIGHT EDITOR: JUDY SARASOHN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1969
Justice in Chicago:
The way it really is
r HE CONDUCT of Judge Julius Hoff-
man in the conspiracy trial of the
Chicago Eight has been from the start
biased and injudicial to a point almost
beyond belief.
Not content with merely leveling ad
hominum remarks against the defense
lawyers, Judge Hoffman has prejudiced
the case in a number of ways:
-By reading the indictment in a man-
ner calculated to imply guilt on the part
of the defendants;
-By refusing to grant a continuance
until chief defense counsel Charles R.
Garry is well and can be present in the
courtroom;
--By refusing to question the prospec-
tive jurors on anything more substantial
than their names ,addresses, occupations,
families, and relations to police and gov-
ernment; and
-By presenting a threatening docu-
inent which a juror had not previously
seen to that juror in open court, thus
disqualifying her for future service.
IN ADDITION, the judge has continually
harrassed the defense lawyers:
-By ordering the arrest of four pre-
trial attorneys;
--By having two of them actually in-
carcerated, without bail, until they were
freed by a higher court;
-By attempting to force the defend-
ants to "ransom" these attorneys by ab-
rogating their own Sixth Amendment
rights;
----By continually ruling against every
defense motion, while sustaining every
prosecution motion, sometimes before the
prosecuting attorney has even had time
to make one;
-By holding one defense attorney
guilty of "contumacious conduct" min-
utes after expressing prejudice against
that lawyer in the statement, "Now we
are going to hear that wild man Wein-
glass;" and
-By impounding a motion by attorneys
Kunstler and Weinglass calling for a mis-
trial, or alternately, for the judge's with-
drawal from the case, and reserving it
for "such consideration as the court may
wish," thus threatening further future
contempt proceedings. ,
rT'HE AD HOC COMMITTEE of Lawyers
to Stop the Trial has formed commit-
tees working for a mistrial and to im-
peach the judge. Defendant Tom Hayden
has called for "any action necessary to
stop the trial." In light of the. blatant
misconduct of the judge (and ignoring
for the moment the US attorneys and the
FBI), it is important that everyone con-
cerned with the fate of civil liberties in
this nation do what he can to help.
The tone such action takes will depend
largely on the degree of committment and
courage possessed by each individual.
Contributions to "The Conspiracy" (28 E.
Jackson Blvd., Chicago), letters urging
impeachment to congressmen, picketing
and civil disobedience in the streets of
Chicago are all possibilities. It is vital
to all of us that each of us does what.
he can, for there are' more than eight of
us on trial in Chicago today.
-JENNY STIILER
-Editorial Page Editor
We ifa re
By LORNA CHEROT
THE FIRST DAY of school is a time of
great relief and high expectations for
most. Mothers' tensions are alleviated, for
now teachers will have to cope with their
little darlings for eight hours a day. Chil-
dren look forward to making new friends
and meeting old buddies as they ride the
school bus sporting brand new outfits.
But for the welfare mothers of Wash-
tenaw County and their children, the
approach of the learning season resurrects
feelings of apprehension, shame and em-
barassment. Anxiously they await the de-
cision of 13 men-the County Board of
Supervisors-who will decide if their chil-
dren will wear new clothes to school like
the other boys and girls, or if it is to be
another year of ill-fitting hand-me-downs.
LAST YEAR THE county board initially
offered the mothers $50 for the entire
year. The mothers deemed this insuffic-
ient, and the Welfare Rights Committee
(WRC) presented an alternative plan call-
ing for the allocation of school clothing
funds on the basis of need and not an*
absolute amount. After much haggling the
supervisors proposed an increase of $12.50.
But from the figure of $62.50 they would
not budgo, claiming any further hike
would deplete county funds.
The mothers endeavored to win public
support by publishing an estimate list of
needed clothing for the year; their cost
averaged $120 per child. Frustrated by a
series of rebuffs from the supervisors to
reconsider the school clothing issues, about
15 mothers and their allies of 200 students
occupied the Washtenaw County Bldg.
lobby.
The protesters were swept away by Pig
Harvey and his pork chops, and all were
dutifully fined (by the "merciful Judge
S. J. Eiden) anywhere from $70 to $120.
But the Board did increase its allotment
to the mothers from $62.50 to $70 per
child.
AND NOW ANOTHER September has
gone, and as the month of October begins
the welfare mothers are hassling with the
county again.
But last year's welfare confrontation
provided interesting lessons to be learned
and questions to be asked of the principles
involved.
The lessons arv relatively simple:
-First, distrust the state when it claims
bankruptcy.
-Second, the administrative elite can-
not ignore the masses for long.
--Third, when you are poor, the authori-
ties don't pay any attention to you.
A question to consider is what are the
attitudinal interrelationships among the
Social Services Board and its director, the
supervisors, the WRC and the Aid to De-
pendent Children mothers?
The goals of the WRC are two-recog-
ntiton as the legal representative negoti-
ative body and distribution of funds on the
basis of need.
GEORGE STEWART, legal counselor
and spokesman for the WRC, explains the
position of the SSB in these terms, "The
county has certain statutory responsibili-
ties and recognition of the WRC would be
the equivalent of delegating these re-
sponsibilities to the committee." So, in
July, Stewart submitted a joint statement
of intention which included 15 recommen-
dations for increasing the role of welfare
recipients in deciding county policy. Stew-
art says the proposal was "designed to get
around the problem of semantics when
considering negotiating and bargaining
agents."
At any rate the proposal was tabled until
the school clothing controversy was settled.
STEWART IS HIGHLY critical of the
SSB's handling of surplus monies last
year. Says tewart, "their hearts were in
the right place but their actions clearly
were not in the best interests of welfare
recipients."
tewart's main objections are that the
social services board did not consult with
the WRC and that the board has yet to
sensitize its procedure to WRC's needs.
Specifically Stewart thinks the surplus
should not have been given to everyone
on welfare in the county, but should have
boen held in reserve for a school clothing
fund. The WRC contends that establish-
ment of a school clothing fund is an "in-
vestment in the future" so welfare chil-
dren won't be embarassed to go to school.
But the WRC is not the only critic of
the SSB. Bent F. Nielsen, chairman of the
County Board of Supervisors, called the
three man board "unimaginative" and
possessing "poor administrative" judgment.
Nielsen said that he also suspected a "lack
of communication between recipients and
the Board and between the Board and the
director (of Social Services).
YET THE QUESTION of who talks to
the mothers is still left unanswered. Niel-
sen explains, "When I said we wouldn't
negotiate with the mothers that didn't
fight:
Questions and lessons
mean we wouldn't talk to them." Anyone
can ask questions after a scheduled meet-
ing. Yet Nielsen remains firm on the posi-
tion that financial negotiations be con-
ducted between the SSB and 'the super-
visors only.
Nielsen also complaines that the super-
visors have been forced to do much of the
work that should be done by the SSB.
Nielsen claims he has made two trips to
Lansing in order to solicit ,more funds
from the state, and that Supervisors Bill
Lands and David Byrd have proposed a
number of plans designed to supplement
the state's meager allotment - $16.50
matched by $11 from the County - for
this year.
ONE PLAN CALLS for the enrollment
of welfare families in the federal, food
stamp program. A family of four would
receive $96 worth of food stamps for $72,
providing an additional $24 a month. In
addition the county would give each fam-
ily a bonu$ of $50 for registering in the
program during the first month and $30
for those who joined in the second month.
Yet criticisms of the food stamp program
are many. One is that psychological prob-
lems are fostered by the program. Welfare
recipients find it demeaning to use the
food stamps. Says Stewart, "The food
stamps single them out as welfare recipi-
ents and they are harassed by clerks."
The other problems are practical. Re-
cipients can only buy the stamps on the
second and fourth Mondays of the month,
and they only are obtainable from the Ann
Arbor Bank.
Also, $36 worth of stamps must be pur-
chased each time-if not the family is
dropped from the program. This accounts
for much waste of food, if the family has
no place to store $36 worth of food. Out
of 12.000 families only 114 registered.
NOR WERE the mothers amenable to
Supervisor Lands' plan for a cooperative
clothing store fashioned after the one in
Detroit. The mothers objected to this on
the basis that the one in Detroit was
nothing more than an "ecumenical rum-
mage sale". Clothing donations are made
by local churches and the mothers selected
what they wanted.
The mothers were equally contemptuous
of a suggestion that they buy their cloth-
ing from the Salvation Army. Ena Burton
of Ypsilanti queied, "If he had a daughter
going to high school would he want her to
wear Salvation Army clothes?"
THE MOTHERS FEEL put upon because
their fate is decided by men not cognizant
of their position and needs. Nielsen claims
his board searches for men with adminis-
trative ability who are sensitive to the
problem. Nielsen cites the appointment of
Rev. Emmet Green, of the Second Baptist
Church and the first Negro appointee to
the Social Services Board, as an attempt
to provide representation for the black
community.
But the mothers find Green completely
inaccessible. Some suspect he is controlled
by Social Services Board Chairman Brose
Barnett, others consider him an Uncle
Tom only interested in his political future.
Meanwhile, no one thinks the state's
appropriation of $27.50 adequate. Says
Nielsen. "I personally don't think $27.50 is
enough. When asked if he thought $27.50
sufficient to clothe children for the year,
Barnett replied "certainly not."
Welfare mothers have been shamelessly
ignored by the state legislature, Governor
William Milliken and the State Director
of Social Services Bernard Houston. The
legislature passed a bill last year which
gave power to declare emergencies to
Houston rather than Atty. Gen. Frank
Kelley. So far Houston has failed to do as
Kelley did last year.
One-hundred welfare mothers were ar-
rested in Lansing while protesting ADC
allotments. Mothers have been arrested
in Detroit for the same reason. The
mothers are tired of being ignored and
shuffled from department to department.
Referring to last year's demonstration,
Gloria Fuller, a WRC representative, says,
"We've got to scare the money out of
them."
There has been no change in welfare
allotments in the state of Michigan since
1959.
THE MOTHERS have exhausted all
means of redress provided under demo-
cratic processes. When asked about the
possibility of demonstrations and the
amount of support expected, Thelma Klein
said in reference to the citizens committee,
"It's hard to say. They're new and haven't
been tested." Miss Klein, who is working
with the welfare mothers of her own ac-
cord went on to comment that, "We need
faces and bodies."
One thing is certain, the state and
county has money somewhere. They lied
last year when they said they didn't have
money. As it turned out there was a $50,000
surplus, but it took force to compel the
supervisors and state to release it.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ANOTHER OPINION
Note to white, pocket book revolutionaries
A voice from the provinces
HOODLUMS WHO are vandalizing Uni-
versity of Michigan buildings to force
establishment of a so-called "discount"
bookstore might do well to take a look at
the experience of Berrien county's Lake
Michigan College.
On its handsome new campus, occupied
just this fall, LMC has a beautiful book-
store -- one that is operated by Fowlett's
(sic) book store of Ann Arbor, home of
the University of Michigan.
LMC operated its own bookstore f o r
several years -- and lost money, quite a
bit of it. So the board and administration
contracted with Fowlett's (sic) to operate
the LMC store. And the private concern
can sell books at the same prices LMC did,
offer wider and better service, and make
a profit.
Says Dr. James Lehman, president of
LMC:
"We learned by experience. We are in
the business of education and not in the
business of retailing. We a r e happy to
hand over the job of book-selling to qual-
ified merchants who are much more pro-
ficient at it than we are."
FOWLETT'S (sic) the LMC bookstore
operator, is one of six private b o o k
stores in Ann Arbor selling books to Uni-
versity of Michigan students. Some U-M
students think the prices for books are
too high. For the past eight years there
has been an intermittent effort to estab-
lish a student-operated book store which
would provide books at lower cost.
In March U-M students voted 4 to 1 in
a referendum to 1 e v y themselves $1.75
each to establish the store. The Univer-
sity Regents failed to recognize the ref-
erendum.
The Regents proposed that a business-
man be appointed to run the store and
decide whether to g i v e discounts. The
student government has proposed instead
that a student-faculty committee run the
bookstore with the advice of an adminis-
trator.
Last Thursday night, several dozen peo-
ple staged a sit-in at the Literature,
Science & Arts building in support of de-
mands for a bookstore operated by stu-
dents and faculty. They held the building
for 12 hours and caused an estimated $1,-
300 damage. Robben W. Fleming, Univer-
sity president, failed to convince them to
'nin nit i- rlfin l n1 -illa iA -n nl inn
viction for which could bring $100 fine,
90 days in jail, or both. Police said they
could identify immediately o n ly 43 of
those arrested as University of Michigan
students. They included the president and
vice president of t h e Student Govern-
ment Council.
Fleming said afterward:
"We didn't w a n t police action if we
could avoid it. Nothing is more agonizing
than to make that decision about the po-
lice."
Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey, who helped
roust the demonstrators - and wanted to
do it much earlier, had a different view.
He said:
"If Fleming had not b e e n so wishy-
washy to start with, he would not now
have to face the damae those young peo-
ple have done to the inside of the build-
ing."
Fleming agonized further that evicting
the demonstrators "may erode student
confidence in me" . . . and "may destroy
me ."
Crew-cut Sheriff Harvey, who may nev-
er have read Hamlet, didn't agonize over
his political prospects. He just figured it
was his job to maintain order.
And he was a lot closer to the truth of
the situation than Fleming.
Vandals deserve to be treated like van-
dals, not mollycoddled. To pussyfoot sim-
ply suggests weakness and invites more
assaults on the administration.
'THE FACT IS that toe student bookstore
issue is a phony one. From time im-
memorial, students have been griping
about three main issues - the price of
books, food and housing. Every student
would like to get something for nothing
- it's human nature. Rabble rousers bent
on disruption purely for its own s a k e,
play upon these traditional areas of stu-
dent discontent. When they say t h e y
want books at a discount, what they're
really saying is that they want books be-
low cost. If that happens the taxpayer
will have to foot the subsidy.
Michigan taxpayers already are shell-
ing out plenty -- huge amounts - to sub-
sidize a great statewide system of higher
education. Students pay only, an estimat-
ed one-third, perhaps less, of w h a t it
costs to educate them. The vast majority
aDnreiate theo nnortunity nrna on ri_
To the Editor:
JIM FORRESTER was essen-
tially correct when he said that:
"Michigan is a pocket-book
school" (Daily, Oct. 1). Point of
information: it was and still is
'both to student conservatives and
to so-called student radicals. The
real telling point in the stance of
the student "radical" as opposed
to that of the student conser-
vative is his non-conformist, con-
formist acceptance of the ancient
American art or imagery in polit-
ical matters. If he does not shave,
or better yet,,grows a beard; if he
lets his hair grow long enough to
curl; if he wears dirty old blue
jeans: and maybe no shoes today;
and is extremely adept as slogan-
eering (Right on, huh?), then 1,e
really knows where it's at. Or does
he? I doubt it. The same student
radical who can say; "The prob-
lems of blacks, workers, and other
oppressed people in the society are
systematically, bureaucratic a 11 y
shuffled to the bottom of the
deck," can be as two-timey as
Mom and Dad.
THIS IS PROBABLY what
scares him into hastily seeking
issues to pounce on systematic
bureaucrats about. He may not
have a very significant issue. His
priorities may be as lop-sided as
those of any son or daughter of a
forgotten" American in terms of
improving conditions for the riass
of truly oppressed blacks and poor
people. Deep down, he believes that
whatever they win, he loses. And
maybe this is his essential prob-
lem.
There is a tremendous am-
bivalence on the part of most so-
called student radicals. The tre
cause of their haste in supiosedly
seeking "power to the people" is
their fear that if they do not
change society by the +ins, that
they must retreat from the sanc-
tuary of the Big "U, ' they will
have to symbolically and literally
cut their-hair.
AND WHAT WAS Samson N ith-
out his hair? These Samsons know
that deep down, there is a car~zon
copy of Mom and Dad inside, and
when that hair comes off, out
steps another Big Daddy Regent.
And what's so bad about being a
Regent twenty years from llow?
Fraud fluence was as weak as the ex-
cuses of the Regents as to why the
To the Editor:i idea should not be given a trial.
CATCHING UP with such non- At the same time, the Regents pro-
sense as Steve Nissen offered in fess to want student participation
his "Fraud of University Open- but they really do *1ot want Mich
ness" on Thursday is virtually im- participation in any worthwhile
possible, but the following m a y amount.
helst, he complans about sup- HOW CAN OUR University be
pression of the University survey great if our students are merely
on drug use. By the time this let- units in an educational production
ter is published, the public already line?
will have read the story. The Uni- In every life, and in the life of
versity News Service attempts to every group there are moments of
givetall media a fair b r e a k on truth when either there is an
stories from the University. That awareness of the importance of a
is why the drug use survey was situation, followed by action, or
given to the News Service to write they succumb and acceptalower
a news release. The full survey and inferior way of life.
was also offered to media, along The University is great because
with the summary release. Simul- its students, both past and present,
taneous release is common prac- have something of the element of
tive in t h e field of information greatness. Our University is being
and media relations, as Mr. Nissen weakened and harmed, its prestige
surely ought to realize, even as a diminished by the Regents' belief
student journalist, that the student body is too un-
As Mr. Nissen says, the Regents aware, too concerned with their
discussed the question of the book- own personal interests, too afraid
store in private and came to an to become involved.
agreement on a compromise. That Should this be proven true, it is
was after consultation with many some evidence that we no longer
people in the University commun- have a great University.'
ity, several studies made public, -A. Huxley Priebe, '30 Law
and public discussions and hear- Prosecuting Attorney
ings. Subsequently, in public ses- Benzie County, Michia
sion, the compromise was put on Sept 30
the table and the Regents public-
ly explained their positions. That
hardly seems suppression. For ROTC
MR. NISSEN also complains o the Editor;
that - without telling students THE LOCAL CROP of Left
-- the administration was gather- radicals - hiding its internal
ing non-confidential information bickering behind an "Ad Hoc
about the University at the re- Committee to End ROTC" - has
quest of the Huber investigating hit upon a pseudo-issue to justify
committee. What the Huber com- another season of disruptive mis-
mittee is investigating and the in- behavior. Their letter to this pa-
formation it has been seeking per, with all its sophistries a n d
have hardly been secret, as a per- rhetorical bumbling, leaves little
usal of many newspapers for the doubt that ROTC is merely an ex-
last several months would reveal. cuse for radical aggrandizement.
In summary, Mr. Nissen seems Their message, shorn of ver-
to be unhappy that he didn't get biage, is: ROTC "symbolizes" the
an exclusivenonathe drug survey, military and supplies most of its
that he is not a member of the officers; the military does unde-
Board of Regents, and that he sirable things; thus, by getting rid
missed some stories on the Huber of ROTC we reduce t h e officer
committee. corps and, with it, America's ca-
-Jack H. Ha'milton pacity to wage war. The argument
is so slovenly that any of a num-
Assistant Director her of arguments easily crushes it:
University Relations
1. THE FACT THAT the mili-
tary may currently be used to sup-
Student power port bad policies is no excuse for
To the Editor: preventing it from supporting any
policies. ROTC and the a r m e d
IS THE UNIVERSITY here for forces are ethically neutral in
the students or for the Board of themselvpee xepnt to n aifists -
major manpower procurement
method, its destruction would
merely shift the burden from
ROTC volunteers to enslaved
draftees. ROTC is valuable a n d
vulnerable precisely because it is
voluntary, and usesrincentives in-
stead of force: destroy it, and the
almost - indestructable Selective
Service System will fill the gap in
a far more brutal and totalitarian
manner. Everybody of draft age
should be doing everything possi-
ble to encourage volunteering; we
are cutting our own throats by
harassing people out of ROTC. Af-
ter all, where is the logical place
to look to replace college-educated
ROTC men? College, obviously;
and while SDS. and the Radical
Caucus may glory in their martyr-
dom, the rest of us shouldn't have
to be nailed up next to them.
3. ROTC DOES provide certain
positive benefits to this Univers-
ity. It offers a number of gener-
ouis scholarships which assist
many students; and it is, after all.
a kind of career training - which
a university with a law school and
a dental, school' can hardly criti-
cize (isn't the legal system an in-
tegral part of the Establishment?).
Rather than persecute ROTC
and its instructors, we should be
reassured that many of our mili-
tary officers will have spent four
years in liberal universities rather
than in the military academies --
many m o r e of which could be
built; and, unlike this University,
they would be u n d e r Pentagon
control. The final radical absurd-
ity is that their attack on ROTC
would provide an excuse-in fact,
make it necessary - for the mili-
tary-industrial complex to further
augment its already - excessive
power.
-Robert C. Black
Sept. 10
Diversion
To the Editor:
THE SEIZURE of the LSA
building was a childish act. It did
obtain publicity, but the wrong
kind. Most people probably look
upon this as more of a childish
tantrum than an act of intelli-
gence. This act is a serious mis-
take in Michigan, where the up-
tight white legislature just made
an "investigation into campus un-
rest." President Fleming's child-
ish decision was influenced by it.
tional potential by striking on
Monday.
INSTEAD, WE should let the
voters of Michigan know that we
are frustrated by t h e Regents'
contemptuous attitude and !fail-
ure to respond to the needs of the
community which they serve. We
should inform the taxpayers that
the Regents' failure to act on such
basic matters is costing money,
that they are virtually supporting
a monopoly in the Ann Arbor ar-
ea which is causing an excess rise
in the cost of education to both
the student and the taxpayer.
As a registered voter in Michi-
gan, I plan on informing my
friends and relatives of the situa-
tion ond putting political pres-
sure on the state government. I
also plan on doing everything in
my power to prevent the Regents
from being re-elected. If others
do the same, we shall see the true
meaning of Student Power.
-Gregory P. Andrus
Sept. 29
Watching heads
To the Editor:
TO A LARGE extent, University
and public reaction to the occu-
pation of the LSA Bldg. and the
use of police to evacuate it has
been tempered by the general be-
lief that the evacuation did not
result in widespread violence or
personal injury.
But at least nine people were
brought to the first-aid station at
the SAB with injuries resulting
directly from the police action. Of
the nine, seven had head injuries.
These people were clubbed. And
one other had been slammed in
the shoulder with a rifle butt. The
ninth person fell and scraped his
knees badly while moving away
from the building when the police
arrived.
This last individual was the only
one not sent to the hospital for
stitcheseor further examination by
a physician.
ADMITTEDLY, the medical stu-
dents directing the operation of
the first aid station were less con-
servative about advising further
care to the injured than they
might have been if there had been
more injuries. But there is little
room for nonchalence under these
circumstances. Blows to the head
are no joke. Invisible injuries to
the head can, and do, cause severe
disability and death