p
-NICHOLAS VON HOFFMAN-
Now even the teddy bears are resisting
r::l
WASHINGTON
ON PAGE 69 of last Sunday's
New York Times you can see
a very large picture of a moder-
ately. small teddy bear in an ad-
vertisement for Georg Jensen,
the expensive Manhattan spec-
ialty store. The teddy bear has a
wistful expression in his eyes and
on his stuffed arm, fixed with a
safety pin, is a black band of
mourning. The copy reads, "Some
toys hate war . . . no toys teach
you how to hate or kill. Not at
Georg Jensen they don't."
The teddy bear has his toes up
and his heels down, as though his
feet were dug in. The teddy bear
is resisting.
Resistance has spread even to
the stuffed toys in the nursery.
You can feel the stiffening re-
fusal to go along, the incipient
spirit of sabotage, the conversion
of timidly daring thoughts into
daylight defiance. The resisters
are coming among us.
MANY OF THEM were here
last weekend and some of them
took advantage of the chance of
their being in one city to hold a
meeting at St. Stephen and the
Incarnation Church. They were
100 to 150 strong, in the darkened
church looking at eight who sat on
a low platform in front of the al-
tar. Light fell on the eight and
on the large, wooden crucified
Jesus who hung in the air over
their heads.
The eight were "emerging," as
they put it, to tell the others and
the press about what they h ad
done. Michael Donner, a 22-year-
old community organizer from a
crumbly Mexican section of Chi-
cago introduced the others. Jane
Kennedy, a 44-year-old woman
who is the assistant director of
nursing for research and studies
at the University of Chicago hos-
pitals: a young teenage married
couple from Indianapolis; five
others, mostly young, mostly Ro-
man Catholic and resisting.
"We are the Beaver Fifty-
five,'" Michael Donner began
reading from a statement. "We
are single and married, workers
and students, young and old. We
started from different parts of
the country and ended up together
in our actions, in our love and in
our responsibility - a community
of active resistance. We claim re-
sponsibility for the actions against
the Selective Service offices in
Indianapolis on Oct. 31 and the
Dow Chemical Company in Mid-
land, Mich., on Nov. 7.
"Some of us completely de-
stroyed 1-A and 1-D delinquent
draft files and ledger books in 44
local boards in the Indianapolis
metropolitan area. Some of us en-
tered the computation and re-
search center of the Dow Chem-
ical Company and destroyed mag-
netic tapes and processing cards
used to store and process scientific
research into such areas as nerve
gases, napalm, defoliants any oth-
er secret chemical weaponry.
Technical marketing research in-
formation for these materials w a s
also destroyed."
WHEN HE FINISHED speaking
a young man with a yeasty
brogue named Mike Cullen got up
and introduced himself as a mem-
ber of the Milwaukee Fourteen,
another group that says it has de-
stroyed draft records. "I'm proud
to be here as a human being, not
as an Irishman or as an intellec-
tual. It's really a gasser," M i k e
said, more in poetry than precis-
ion. "Any institution of death has
no right to exist . . . It's always
papers, papers in files that are the
instrument of death," he contin-
ued, trying to explain why most
of the people in the room felt
that these assaults on property
were still in the non-violent tradi-
tion.
Perhaps, but Irishmen aren't
Quakers and there is a deter-
mination about these resisters
that's not militant but military.
You could feel it when his talk-
ing words gave out and he fell to
song. It's something to hear the
revolutionary ballad, "Kevin Bar-
ry," sung by an Irishman who
means it. "Shoot me like an Irish
soldier, don't hang me like a dog,
for I fought for Ireland's free-
dom on a dark September morn."
goes the chorus and when he sang
it each time the people in t h e
church would rise to their feet and
silently make the clenched fist.
THIS IS VERY HEAVY, very il-
legal stuff. It is resistance and re-
sistance growing bolder. Calling
a press conference to lay proud
claim to such acts, that's bold.
They did it to use the press as a
means of telling people what they
were doing and recruiting more
into their work.
This puts us of the press In a
tight position. We should not be
anybody's organ to play music
on, but these assaults are grow-
ing. A couple of years ago, a Mol-
otov cocktail tossed at the Berke-
ley draft board was a piece of
insane uniqueness, but now, in
addition to the Catonsville Nine,
the Chicago Fifteen, the New York
Eight, the Baltimore Four, t h e
Boston Eight and the D.C. Nine,
we're getting bombings and who
knows what else.
The media has with no little
reason been reluctant to advertise
and glamorize these acts, so we
don't know much about them ex-
cept that they appear to grow in
volume even without publicity.
People are talking about dyna-
mite, people who never did think
that way in the past, so we're ob-
liged to look at resistance in all
its forms.
A NOTHER FORM it's tak-
ing is in the military. Anybody
wandering around Washington
this past weekend couldn't help
but be struck by the number of
soldiers - National Guardsmen
presumably - who were flashing
the V at the demonstrators. Other
signs ought to be noted: a soldier
with an anti-war button under hips
uniform lapel; another soldier in-
side the Department of Commerce,
which he was apparently guard-
ing, with his own, home-made
"Peace Now" sign in a window.
A true resister won't ever give
up. You have to shoot him to
stop him. Dr. Howard Levy, the
Army captain who was court mar-
tialed and sent to Leavenworth,
never ceased resisting. "I tell
soldiers that being in Leavenworth
is no joy, but then again neither
is being in Vietnam. You can live
through a stay at Leavenworth.
It isn't that horrendous. You do it
by political organizing," s a y s
Levy. "The key is to resist. You
can resist in one of two ways.
You can resist overtly or you can
resist by educating yourself. Eld-
ridge Cleaver said prison creates
great poets or great revolutionists.
For myself I can tell you my
poetry didn't improve a damn af-
ter 24 months in jail."
Now that he's out, Levy's still
resisting by working with the G.I.
Coffee House Movement. There
are currently six of these houses
next to bases where soldiers can
come to learn peace and radical-
ism. Three more will be opened
soon, according to the doctor, who
goes from base to base, c r i s s -
crossing the country working with
soldiers who're resisting, organiz-
ing and radicalizing from with-
in. Remember that several years
ago some of the most left groups
switched tactics and began ac-
cepting induction into the Army
as a means of penetrating and
overthrowing it.
"WE'RE STILL QUITE a way
from insurrection, but you have to
realize that if 10 per cent of G.I.'s
oppose the war in Vietnam in an
organized fashion, the Army's in
trouble; it's not like a college
community where you need 90 or
100 per cent of the college stu-
dents for effective action," s a y s
Levy. "The longer the time goes
on, the closer we're going to come
to that percentage.
"Most G.I.'s do oppose the war.
The Army is relying on intimidat-
ion and threat to quell attempts
at organization, but gradually
we're eroding away that fear,
through the courts, the under-
ground newspapers, the coffee
houses, through rallies, and just
by showing a G.I. he can stand up
for his beliefs and high rights."
The government denies all these
claims, but how does the govern-
ment know? Does it have the in-
formation to tell it if a National
Guard unit has become politically
unreliable? Can it be sure the
M.P.'s will tear gas the next Army
base demonstration? Howard
Levy says his side is making in-
roads into M.P. formations.
YOU CAN'T TAKE a Gallup poll
on something like this. You'll only
know for sure that a company or a
battalion has switched over to the
peace demonstrators if and when
it happens. They're not going to
tell ahead of time, because t h e y
probably don't know themselves.
What we know for sure is that
with all the talk about the gov-
ernment not permitting policy to
be made on the streets, it's the
streets that have the initiative.
The resisters are out in public
and audacious while in the White
House they rifle through a n d
count their telegrams of support
when not abstracted by faith heal-
ing and football.
,,Los Angeles Times Syndicate
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
9r £ir4ignn ailj
Seventy-nine years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
The conspiracy of the Ohio State 22,000
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 oil reprints.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: ALEXA CANADY
Tlhe atrocity trial:
Everyone is guilty
IN A STORY on the Army's investigation
into Lt. William L. Calley Jr.'s alleged
massacre of 109 South Vietnamese civil-
ians, the Associated Press reported Mon-
day:
"Army legal experts h a v e said that
Calley could be charged with premeditat-
ed murder if he issued an order leading
to the killing and did not do the actual
firing himself."
"The Calley case may be unprecedented
so far as the magnitude of the alleged
crimes is concerned. Army officers said
they could not recall another c a s e in
previous wars where an Army man was
accused of killing so many civilians."
IF THOSE forgetful army officers want
a few names of notorious mass mur-
derers they can start with the men who
dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, and t h e terror bombers
who destroyed Dresden in World War II.
Perhaps they should consider the case of
Lyndon Johnson, or Richard Nixon, or
Harry Truman, each of whom "issued an
order leading to the killing, and did not
do the actual firing himself."
The point is that citizens should not be
shocked suddenly by publicity of a single
atrocity in a war which is itself an atro-
city.
And the war is immoral for all involv-
ed. It is impossible to condone the actions
of a soldier who pulls the trigger on civil-
ians. But it is equally impossible to con-
done the actions of the command officers
who order their pilots to incinerate a 6-
year old Vietnamese boy in a napalming
raid, or to demolish a North Vietnamese
peasant whose rice paddy is next to a
strategic railroad line.
PERHAPS, however, the news of t h e
atrocity and the pending trial of Lt.
Calley will be a lesson to the American
people. Radical analysts and religious
leaders have constantly contended that
Johnson and now Nixon are, in f a c t,
murderers as guilty of pursuing the war
as the generals in Vietnam. Hopefully,
the trial will remind Americans that all
members of society - and particularly
national leaders - share the war guilt
and responsibility for the tragic folly of
Vietnam,
-JIM NEUBACHER
To the Editor:
THE PUBLIC SAFETY and re-
spect for the law have been vio-
lated again by a small group of
extremists, waving banners, taking
over the streets, and creating a
riot which engulfed the whole of
Ann Arbor last Saturday, Nov. 22.
This must not go unchallenged by
the Department of Justice. The
disorder and violence which swept
this town on Saturday had been
carefully planned months in ad-
vance, by a small group operating
across state lines; a major base
from which rioters were recruited
was in another state, and the ac-
tions of Nov. 22 clearly centered
on violence, inside and outside of
the stadium.
AS WAS ONLY to be expected,
the publicly proclaimed moral
standards of the American people
were flouted by acts of gross in-
decency, and the lives of everyone
who attempted to use the roads
were endangered by the crazed and
drunken mob which took them
over. The police were utterly un-
able to prevent or control these
flagrant violations of law, decency,
and public order, nor could we ex-
pect them to have done so in the
face of an interstate conspiracy
of this magnitude.
The Ann Arbor-Columbus con-
spiracy cries out for prosecution!
-Prof. Rhoads Murphey
Center for Chinese Studies
Nov. 24
Waiting
To the Editor:
WAIT till next year.
-Richard Ries
--Richard Wood
Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 22
Survival
To the Editor:
THE ARTICLE LAST Sunday
entitled "On the End" pointed to
the extent of the ecological crises
which threaten to engulf us. Many
knowledgeable scientists have in-
deed predicted major catastrophes,
particularly in population out-
stripping food supplies.
As ecologists, we would argue
with many of the details in the
article, but not with the message
of approaching disaster.
An interesting example of man's
ecological ineptitude comes to us
from the World Health Organiza-
tion. DDT was used to control mo-
squitos in Borneo, but failed be-
cause of resistant mutations. How-
ever, the DDT was eaten by in-
sects, which were in turn the prey
of lizards, until finally the insec-
ticide reached house cats. Rats,
freed from predation by cats in
the city, multiplied a n d spread
disease. (Concentration of DDT
through the food chain wiped out
most of the predators.) Caterpil-
lers also suffered lower predation,
and as they increased they con-
sumed the thatching from t h e
roofs in the villages. Finally, cats
were parachuted in to restore bal-
ance and control the rats.
And this is only one, blatant
example of ecosystem disturbance.
THE GREATEST perturbation
of them all is the world popula-
tion problem coupled with t h e
heavy exploitation that industrial
nations find necessary to support
their high standard of living. The
true cost of goods goes fare be-
yond the cost that the industries
and the people pay. It must also
include completing the cycleaof
utilization by returning clean wa-
ter to the rivers, by recycling
wastes, by being efficient in the
long run, not the short run to
which our economy is geared.
Prediction of the extinction of
Homo sapiens (incidentally, that
means "intelligent -man"!) are
probably extreme. But there is no
doubt that the setting for human
life is decaying rapidly. Ironically,
the very adaptability that led to
man's rapid advance makes him
insensible to the equally quick de-
cline in environmental quality.
There exist only the beginnings
of a concerned citizenry ready to
deal with these issues. And this
points up the necessity of a strong
commitment from the University
community.
AS THE DAILY has already re-
ported, a student organization re-
cently formed out of concern over
these issues. Environmental Action
for Survival, or ENACT, is stag-
ing a massive Teach-In on the
Environment March 11-14. Hope-
fully, this will not only educate,
but also mobilize both the Uni-
versity and the community. A per-
manent organization must emerge
out of these efforts. Those inter-
ested may stop by 2543 SAB or
146F SNR for more information.
-David Allan
-Doug Scott
Co-Chairmen,
Teach-In on the
Environment
Nov. 25
To the Editor:
ARLENE WEISZ, the Daily's
guest writer 'Nov. 22) certainly
scored some cogent criticisms of
The Daily's "fashion features."
I would like to underscore her
criticisms: The Daily's fashion
articles cater to the worst in
sycophant female imagery, as per-
petuated by the Madison Avenue
manipulators. Women become
newsworthy only as mannequins:
an unobtrusive prop for headline
fashions. How scintilating: we
have nothing to lose but our
clothes (although your writers pre-
ter the sophomoric titillation of
mere-bralessness) . . .
SUCH INCANTATIONS to fe-
male conformity are atavistic. The
Daily is simplicity a co-conspirator
in the continuing subjugation of
American women. This stand
seems in complete contradiction to
The Daily's usual position on im-
portant socio-political problems.
-Linda Greenberg, Grad
Nov. 23
Academ ic cartel
To the Editor:
AS A ROOKIE Faculty Coun-
selor in the Freshman-Sophomore
Office, my work has been aided
continually by the work of the
Student Counseling Office in An-
gell Hall and students should be
urged to become familiar with the
services afforded by this office.
Their advice to students (and
Faculty Counselors) has consis-
tently been on-point and respon-
sible.
No one in any academic com-
munity has a monopoly on advice.
The requirement system used by
this University as a basis for
granting degrees has an almost
bewildering number of in's and
out's (the often cited "alterna-
tives") and in many situations
there are different ways of look-
ing at things that represent hon-
est difference of opinion and not
effort to mislead.
The Student Counseling Office
then provides another channel of
communication, an important new
dimension of service available to
the University community.
IT IS unfortunate that The
Daily article did not mention that
Cause Evaluation is available ex-
clusively through Student-Coun-
seling,
This information is very useful
to students who are seeking some
quatitative index of student re-
action to courses. Its only draw-
back is that all courses have not
been evaluated.
-David Rodgers
The ay it is on E. Ann St., Ann Arbor
R igh1t on, professor
WHEN VICE PRESIDENT Agnew made
his homespun blast at television two
weeks ago, little did he know or suspect
he would create a new cult, which James
Reston calls "Agnewsticism." Imagine his
surprise, therefore, when he opened the
Boston Globe last Tuesday and read how
he had driven a Nobel Prize winner to
invest in the tube.
The Associated Press reports:
A Nobel Prize winner says he has
bought his first television set because of
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's criticism
of television news coverage.
Prof. S. E. Luria of Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology, who two months
ago shared the Nobel Prize in medicine,
wrote a letter to the Boston Globe savini:
weeks ago, when I received the Nobel
Prize for medicine, I was one of the few
remaining 'effete snobs' who had gone
through life without watching television.
"rODAY, AFTER reading Mr. Agnew's
speech in The Globe, I bought myself
a cute little television set. I look forward
to watching TV network news from now
on, and get my fill of those 'distortions'
that roused Mr. Agnew's bile so much."
"Keep up the good work, TV networks,"
Luria's letter concluded.
Happy
rpj _ u*
By DREW BOGEMA
I T'S NOT the most popular or picturesque block in Ann Arbor. The case
could easily be made that for as long as automobiles and concrete
plague the public passion no American city will be able to restore
beauty to the condition of the urban man. But this is a question for
the future. On this block lies the sorrow of the past.
Its shabby, decayed appearance presents a stark contrast to the
glitter of those gaudy architectural monstrosities that so infect the
city's flourishing commercial center. Chancing upon it, one won't see
a continual parade of fashionably-clad businessmen and bureaucrats
hurrying to make a conference or meet a client.
And, their stylish, urbane women, always seemingly bustling about
for the latest artifact of high-priced craftsmen, wouldn't brave fate for
all the treasures in the world and walk down this block.
The city dicks, perhaps recognizing the explosive potential of their
presence, avoid the area like a plague, except when the booze flows too
fast, glass litters the street outside, and the street folk get uppity, and
then, its riot-helmets, night-sticks, deathly terror (Will the blacks rise
and cut off our heads?).
Nor, for that matter, will one find a large collection of white,
hipsters or long-hairs among the clientele when the evening comes
and thekbars begin to swing. Love and good times here come only
for blacks.
FOR THIS IS East Ann, one block off Main. On its westernmost
corner lies the Red Shield store, where the Salvation Army diggers
disetribute l p atias iprtc ~eof t+e mirir1._r14.c 4to+ the nnn .uht
material deprivation of the Ann Street misfits but the merchants and
managers of an expanding commercial center,
One block west is the County Jail, home for Doug Harvey's elite
cadre of brownshirted storm-troopers. It's not the best of locations and
in the Derby one might chance to hear the long-standing line that the
influx of the municipal honkie has severely lowered property values.
BUT THE BLACKS who come here somehow make do. They're
not the latest models of the corporate-groomed Negro bourgeoisie, but
the always-invisible, trampled-upon, kicked-around proletariat. Their
only opportunities lie in the personal dealings of their own tightly-knit
social commune and they're numb to the language of material and
geographic adventure that the honkie speaks.
They're loud and irreverent, belligerent and aggressive, tense and
angry. It seems as though the crushing legacy of poverty, racism. and
exploitation has crowded most into a maze of frustration. "And all the
doors are shut baby." comes the reply, "all the doors are shut."
"If you're black. stay back,.. goes the phrase. But somehow they
make do.
A radical transformation of the Babylonian distribution of wealth
could come about tomorrow, should come about tomorrow, will come
about tomorrow. And the most tragic consequence may very well be the
peculiar joys of black congregation, unless the cold, inhumane manner
of the urban white man is somehow destroyed, unless this fiercely
competitive private search for wealth that is called life in this country
is somehow abolished.
It's not easily described and many may not even notice the loss.
One feels its depth equally in a black Baptist church and in an all-black