.Ait4r1 igaxt
BEaiIj
Vol. LXXX, N) 1 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, August 27, 1969
Ten Pages
STUDENT
ACTIVITIES
0 .
Student government
fights local merchants
By LORNA (C'HEROT
\\ITH THE FIGHT against non-academic
University rules completed victorious-
ly, Student Government Council has turn-
ed to consumer protection and academic
reform as its major areas of concern.
Notoriously high Ann Arbor prices
prompted Council members to prepare for
a strong battle with local merchants. By
March, SGC was ready to take two key
steps toward making the city a less expen-
sive place to live.
The first move was a successful boycott
of Stephan's, a local store selling mostly
candy, toiletries and non-prescription
drugs. A preliminary price survey conduct-
ed by SGC had shown that the cost of a
random list of items at Stephan's was 34
percent higher than those outside Ann Ar-
bor and the highest in the city.
l 'NDER PRESSURE from the boycott
Which had drawn support from such
apolitical organizations as Panhellenic As-
sociation and Interfraternity Council --
Haikaz Stephan, owner of the store, agreed
to reduce his prices somewhat.
Meanwhile, SGC took an even more
dramatic step with the opening of a Dis-
count Store in the Student Activities Bldg.
The store sells notebooks, typing paper,
cigarettes, records and other student sup-
plies at prices 10 percent lower than other
stores in the University area.
In addition, the store offers a discount
of up to 80 percent below local cost on art
supplies.
And the Discount Store has met an en-
thusiastic response from bargain conscious
students. Within a month a second branch
was opened to sell only records.
But the Discount Store is only part of
SGC's business plans. Council members
now hope to set up a fully-supplied book-
store to provide students with an alterna-
tive to the high prices charged at the few
bookstores in the University area.
IN LAST MARCH'S SGC elections, stu-
dents voted overwhelming support for a
one-time $1.75 additional tuition assess-
mnent to provide Council with sufficient
capital to begin the proposed bookstore.
The assessment proposal awaits Regental
approval as this supplement goes to press.
Council is also actively seeking approv-
al from the State Legislature for the for-
mation of a Student Credit Union which
would be able to grant loans and credit
cards to University students and faculty
members.
Council'has also taken a secondary role
in the Ann Arbor rent strike with its fi-
nancial contributions to the Tenants' Un-
ion and its offer to become a co-defendant
in a suit pending against the strikers.
Individually and collectively, Council
members have also taken an active role in
attempting to secure academic reforms.
SGC joined with Radical Caucus in circu-
lating petitions opposing the literary col-
lege's language and distribution require-
ments, and individual members pushed for
liberalization of the college's degree re-
quirements.
'JTHE ACTIVIST nature of Council is, to a
large extent, the result of the liberal
and radical politics of the victors of recent
elections. At present, for example, Council
includes several members of the Radical
Caucus-a group which last fall splintered
off from the local SDS chapter in a dis-
agreement over priorities and tactics.
The biggest success of Radical Caucus
came in the heavily disputed March elec-
tions. An ambiguity in the SGC bylaws
threw the presidential-vice presidential
race into the Credentials and' Rules com-
mittee when none of the seven candidates
received a majority.
The committee decided to hold a run-
off between the three leading tickets. But
the leading candidate withdrew, claiming
he had already been elected. Credentials
and Rules Committee members said he had
not received the majority vote required in
the bylaws.
THE WINNERS OF the runoff--President
Martin McLaughlin and Vice President
Marc Van Der Hout-are both prominent
members of Radical Caucus.
And this fall, McLaughlin's Council will
have to face a series of issues which will
probably set the tone for student activism
in the coming year.
McLaughlin is presently studying the
problems of students in various schools
and departments and hopes to offer SGC's
help to those groups seeking increased
power in academic decision-making.
See STUDENT, Page 2
'Dionysus in 69': Indecent exposure or artistic freedom?
Ra dical aucus
versus
SDS
By HAROLD ROSENTHAL
HILE DOZENS of campuses across the country have
been struck by a wave of demonstrations and disrup-
tion, the University - once considered a "hot bed" of
radicalism - has remained surprisingly quiet.-
A number of factors have been suggested as reasons
for this phenomenon - notably the apparent ability of
President Robben Fleming to alleviate tensions within the
University community.
But perhaps more significant has been the unique
nature and internal squabbles of Ann Arbor's radical stu-
dents.
Until last fall, the University had one relatively large,
multi-issued group - Voice-SDS. But with disagreement
mounting over tactics, ideology and priorities. Voice mem-
bers lined up on opposite ends of a series of issues. Finally,
the more moderate Radical Caucus split off from the larger
body.
And with this splintering off, there came a concomnni-
tant diminishing of the influence of radical students in the
University community, and a decrease in their ability to
organize and stage demonstrations.
The seccession of the Radical Caucus - which includ-
ed the long-time student radical leadership - from Voice,
left a group then called the Jesse James Gang in control.
T THE TIME of the split, the Jesse James Gang favored
a program of disrupting classes as a means of building a
base of support for Voice's programs. "The old line leaders
have lost touch with the radical tempo of the National
SDS movement," said one Jesse James Gang member in
explaining the schism.
But Radical Caucus members remained firm in their
belief that such tactics were improper and would gain
little support for radicalism.
"Any tactic which involves outside groups in the class-
room against the wishes of the students involved is anti-
democratic and authoritarian," said Radical Caucus mem-
ber Marty McLaughlin, now president of Student Govern-
ment Council. "Not only is it ethically wrong, but it will
alienate people that the radical movement must seek as
a base."
"We're not against confrontation," said Bruce Levine,
another prominent member of Radical Caucus, "but we
don't go into the streets just to go into the streets. Con-
frontations must be culminations of long, careful ground-
work and planning."
l EVINE CHARACTERIZED the James gang as "people
who have no policies at all - just a lot of rhetoric which
-w ,