{ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Z4sr 1Micriigan Dail Seventy-nine years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan 'The wind-up New Mobe member doll' 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. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1969. NIGHT EDITOR: JUDY SARASOHN Judge Crockett revisited: Keeping the law in order 'HITE DETROIT'S favorite scapegoat, Recorder's Court Judge G e o r g e Crockett, is "making trouble" again. As usual, Crockett has outraged the Detroit Police Officers Association with his strict adherence to law and order--the real law, that is, On Saturday, Crockett ordered the re- lease of two suspects who were being held without warrants in an armed robbery case. Their attorney asked him to sign a write of habeas corpus and hold an open hearing to determine if there was prob- able cause to believe they were guilty. The officers involved claimed they were holding the men until a "show up" --identification from a line up-could be arranged. The suspects had already been held over night without a "show up," and Crockett said he had no legal choice but to hold the hearing. AT THAT hearing, Crockett offered the police every possible chance to prove probable c,, se for holding the suspects. But for sonre reason, perhaps stupidity, p e r h a p s a desire to discredit Judge Crockett by creating more "trouble," the officers involved simply refused to go along with the hearing. Court records show that Crockett asked Anapple KUDOS TO psychology Prof. Richard D. Mann, who managed to become $10,000 richer yesterday for --- of all things -- teaching. By AAUP standards, Prof. Mann would now rank in a salary category com- parable to that of those professors who spend most of their time in Washington cloisters or Defense Department labs. In this age of publish or perish, it is comforting to know that the Danforth Foundation sees fit to reward a teacher who says "I'd rather have the kids learn a few things in a way they'll never forget than a lot of disorganized stuff they'll soon forget," Preparing for the coming exam week, we wholeheartedly agree. --H.G. and J.S. I- j,/rtirl StrrfT HENRY GRIX Editor SIEVE NISSEN RON LANDSMAN City Editor aninEditor STEVE ANZALONE Edtori Page Editor CUIISST EEdIitorial Pa.'e Editor JlNNY STILLEREitorial Page Editor M ARtCLARA%MSO.....soiaeManaging Editor LAME LIPPINCOTT A.. ociate Managing Editor LESLIE WAYNE Arts Editor JOHN GRAY .Literary Editor PHIL BL.OC K .. Contributing Editor DRFEW Fk-T!G Al ..contributing Editor MARY RAn'imE .Contributing Editor TwRENCE RUII3INS .. Photo Editor WALTER 5H1APIRO Daily Washington Correspondent a detective how he planned to prove probable cause, and the detective replied that witnesses were at that time "on the fourth floor of police headquarters wait- ing for a show up." The judge then suggested-not once but three times-that the witnesses be brought to court to make identification of the s u s p e c t s. But the police, who brought in an assistant county prosecutor for a reinforcement, insisted they had to hold their own, private show up. "We were not prepared to do it that way," was all the detective involved would say afterward. The same detective also told Crockett he did not understand the legal procedure of the writ and the hear- ing. WHY DID THE police refuse to allow their witnesses into Crockett's court- room? This is an interesting question that raises serious doubts about the con- duct of police "show ups." The detective refused to discuss it with the press. Crockett couldn't understand it at all, and he decided that, since probable cause could not be proven, the men had to be released. Of course, the police began to yell about that, and racially - divided Detroit was quick to break into the usual camps. For the white conservatives, Crockett is a ir- responsible militant who uses the law to unleash black criminals on the law-abid- the whites. Only the black community and the few enlightened whites understand how important Crockett's attempt to make the law fair really is. ONLY RECENTLY, Crockett was cleared by a 5-4 vote of the state judicial tenure commission on charges of im- proper conduct in the New Bethel Church shoot-out affair of last spring. At that time, and under similar circumstances, Crockett ordered the release of a small group of men being held without probable cause. All Detroit was in a uproar over that, and the vote to clear him was close --much too close. With one less human being on the tenure commission (which includes, of all people, the University's dear departed Harlan Hatcher), Judge Crockett would have been out. THERE ARE not very many encourag- ing signs in this society. If there are any arguments at all for the preservation of the established system, Judge Crockett is the only one that means anything in real terms. But there are not very many Judge Crocketts, and hard-core white Detroit keeps trying to make it one less. -MARCIA ABRAMSON' Associate Managing Editor To the Editor: THE NEW MOBE steering com- nmttee has a pre-Christmas sale going on right now for any of its 20 members. They're selling, at bargain prices, that new mechan- ical toy, "The Wind-Up, New Mobe Member Doll." The instruc- tions with it are simple; merely use it for whatever you like. Suggestions are added at no ex- tra. cost: 1. Petitioning. The New Mobe Doll will run out and knock on doors, answer any old questions, keep pencils sharpened, and basic- ally bust its ass for new candidates dedicated to peace - men like Johnson in '64 and McCarthy in '68 (that fellow who gave his seat up on the Foreign Relations Com- mittpe for super-hawk Gale Mc- Gee). 2. Teach-Ins. First, this item is expansively covered in the sug- gestions, mainly because the Dolls will be forced to do a lot of men- ial work for the steering commit- tee without any of the glory fil- tering down upon their busy little heads. Second, teach-ins, as most pro- fessors are tired of talking about this 20-year war, will need speak- ers, and toy manufacturers like Gene Gladstone lust for the op- portunity to perform in front of the thousands of people who so far have yet to hear about Vietnam. 3. Concerts. Dolls love concerts, as they directly affect the War Machine in this country. As it will be difficult to get fresh singing talent these days for such ven- tures, the steering committee members are advised to wind the Dolls up extra tightly, for perhaps a group of them will get together to sing songs for peace. One should be careful, h o w- ever; the Original American Bar- bie Dolls, the "Up With People" group, may see the Mobe singers as a threat and storm the show. Gosh forbid anyone would get an- gry!) IT'S OBVIOUS that the New Mobe steering committee will buy th i s commodity without hesita- tion. After attending a so-called "General Membership" meeting and one steering committee meet- ing, I have noticed an incredible condenscension on the part of the Mobe leaders toward its so-called constituency. Two "leaders" said that a gen- eral meeting to discuss policy was impossible, for nothing would get done. One said, that their mem- bership would go along with what- ever these 20 decided to do. To top it all off, the committee vetoed the one motion passed at the previous general meeting - to have a large policy-deciding as- sembly for all members to air their views -- saying the "real" mem- bership didn't feel that way. In other words, if you disagree, you're not a member; if you agree, even though you haven't expressed yourself or been consulted on de- cisions, you're a Doll. WHAT THE steering committee doesn't realize is that people who are against the war, those who have marched, and sang, and be- come angry at the reasons why blood comes splashing across their tv screens nightly, those people are not dolls. They think, they feel and they react. And they will destroy the Toy Industrial Com- plex that is attempting to exploit them, too. -Steve Burghardt, Grad Dec. 5 Tea and sympathy To the Editor: AFTER READING Judy S a r a- sohn's article on the role of resi- dence hall educational staff con- cerning drugs, counseling, a n d student power (Daily, Dec. 2), I could not help but feel that there were at least two problems with the article: its failure to recog- nize the inherent problems of any counseling process, and the in- ference that the student's protec- tion was due to staff "inaction" and administrative "circumlocu- tion." During my telephone conversa- tion with Miss Sarasohn I prefac- ed my statements with the com- ment that I didn't feel that Hous- ing Director Feldkamp's memos constitute a threat to student rights or privacy. I pointed out several modifica- tions and clarifications of prev- ious policies made during the sum- mer and presented to the staff at its orientation. An example was the search war- rant policy which prohibits t h e staff from using master keys to allow police with a warrant to enter student rooms. IN THE CONTEXT of staff orientation and subsequent me- mos, it has appeared that the in- tention of the memos cited in the article was to state the factors which are inherent in the posi- tion of Resident Advisor. For example, the R.A.-student counseling situation, unlike the physician-patient situation, is not protected by law, the legal re- sponsibility of the Regents is de- rived from the state constitution, and resident advisors should not try to handle situations in which they are incompetent. The R. A. is hired to serve in counseling situations. Since it is probable that if a student goes to his R.A. for coun- seling he expects good advice, it would seem reasonable for the R.A. to seek advice from competent pro- fesionals when he feels incom- petent to handle the problem him- self. ANOTHER CASE where it may seem reasonable to discuss prob- lems occurring in a living unit is when policies are being proposed or reviewed. Different situations and trends have evolved in the residence halls and realistic policies can only be A am the ghost of Vietnam past... formulated through discussion of past experiences and problems. What this article has pointed out is the desire of the staff to respect student rights and privacy while at the same time to provide the best possible service. It also shows the staff's commit- ment to protect confidentiality in policy discussions and when more competent advice is sought. This process is far from a threat to the student or "mutiny" or "inac- tion." FINALLY, MY statement on student power was aimed at apathy, that there is a commit- ment to encourage residents to make known their ideas, needs and convictions and to participate in the proper channels. The residence halls often take on a "commuity spirit" and it would be difficult to expect those in decision-making p o s i t i o n s, whether students, staff, or admin- istrators, to know what was want- ed unless they receive input. The visitation policy is an example of where this happened. Thus, I would suggest that "in- action" and "mutiny" are inac- curate terms for describing the residence hall scene. I think the student's best security is the desire of everyone involved to respect the needs, the rights and the pri- vacy of the student. -Carl Winberg Asst. Resident Adams House, Dec. 4 Director West Quad .JAMES WECHSLER: Mistaking senses of duty for self-interest FEW EPISODES more painfully dramatize the gap between the Nixon Administration and many thoughtful young Americans than the apparent assumption in Washington that the draft lottery has dealt a devastating blow to the peace movement. What the cool calculators seem to have forgotten is that the first major offensives against the Viet- nam war were undertaken by un- dergraduate leaders - campus presidents and editors -- at a time when they had no reason to fear induction. They faced the moral question of whether to declare themselves as draft-resisters and thereby voluntarily expose themselves to trouble. But nearly all of them could look forward to indefinite periods of immunity from actual service or harassment if they be- haved like scholars and little gentlemen. Indeed, in many cases it was a sense of guilt about their privileged position that intensified their in- volvement in the protest. IN THOSE TERMS nothing is drastically altered now for those to whom the war presents deep issues of conscience. Those issues have been cruelly confirmed by the My Lai horror, and the hints of other disclosures to come. The point offered here is neither an argument for or against the lottery; it result will bring com- fort to many anxious families and concern to others, but it has no crucial bearing on the origins and significance of the campus up- heaval. Of course there were some to whom the draft was a clear and present nightmare and whose en- listment under anti-war banners was motivated wholly by private dread. But anyone who has met many of the key spirits in the university anti-war drive knows that these young men were not stirred by considerations of personal safety. They had many easy escape-routes open to them. For each "lucky number" who now regards the war as an irrele- vance, there are likely to be as many or more who find their good fortune an added burden. NO ONE CAN define arith- metically exactly how m a n y youths have been deeply com- mitted to the anti-war cause, and what their precise numerical' strength will be now that a cer- tain number have won a per- manent reprieve. For 17- and 18-year-olds the suspense has been increased rather than diminished. But all such evaluations sadly miss the moral fervor that has animated so many of the pro- testers. What is so memorable about many with whom I have talked at length is that they are, if they will forgive the expressions, so "respectable" in background and so "normal" in demeanor. They have not been fighting to save their own skins; they care about their souls. That, I think, is why they were so enormously effective in their political endeavors last year, why the Moratorium originally envis- aged as a campus exercise spread through so many cities and com- munities and why even the left- swing sponsors of the Mobilization were overshadowed by the broad sweep of the insurgence. THESE YOUNG people repre- sent a new political generation, unfettered by ancient factional feuds and stirred by profoundly moral impulses. It is an ignorance and an af- front to suggest that their ranks will be decimated by the turn of a wheel. They may be only an unsilent minority, but they have shown re- markable qualities of leadership and resilience. (It was largely they who took command of the logistics of the Mobilization when it became clear that some of the veteran leftists were unaccustomed to dealing with large numbers of people in motion.) They will be heard from again. IN RETROSPECT one of the grim turning points of Mr. Nixon's Administration may prove to be his failure to recognize how high a percentage of the youths who, marched in Washington constitute a new breed of insurgent that will loom large in the politics of the coming decade as well as in battles of the immediate future. Perhaps the clearest measure of the estrangement was suggested in one of Vice President Agnew's recent addresses shrilly rejecting any thought of amnesty for those in prison or exile as a result of their anti-war stand. In the view of many of their contemporaries, they exhibited the courage of others' convictions, and were ahead of their time in chal- lenging a war now so generally loathed (even by many who do not favor abrupt withdrawal). The incapacity to detect any valor in the conduct of any of these resisters is an unhappy por- tent. Were their crimes larger than those committed at My Lal and elsewhere by those whose defense may be that they blindly followed orders? When a moral assessment of this war is finally offered, will heroism be easily identifiable? Will the villains be those who cried out against the killing? Will we ultimately revere those who preached prolongation of the conflict - or those who risked ostracism to end it? IT IS ONE of our country's few glories in a melancholy time that so many young men and women have stood up for civilized values and protested what they viewed as madness. - To believe that many of the survivors can be bought off by a lottery is to misunderstand every- thing they have been trying to say. C' New York Post Paving the way for auto-oppression in the United Strips of 4sphalt By DREW BOGEMA THE SECLUDED suburbanite observes the accelerating growth of the black population in the cities with terror, lest the crime rates of the ghetto flood the tranquility of the periphery. The. guilt-bound liberal cries in anguish at the maddening birth rates around the globe and at the dwindling prospects of adequate food and shelter to meet future needs. The beleaguered nationalist watches the populations of China and the Soviet Union far outstrip that of the American and pessimistically predicts the day when invading hordes will occupy everbody's living room. CLEARLY ALL three have gone astray, neglecting a phenomenon that threatens to destroy us all, if it hasn't done so already. The auto- mobile has, virtually unnoticed, conquered and enslaved the urban industrial man. There will come a day when the nation's spirit is not wreaked with frustration, discontent, and anxiety. That will be the day when we all get caught in one massive traffic jam, pull the emergency brake, and start all over again. And it's possible that we may get caught. The current national figure of operable automobiles would probably astound and defy the imagination if it were available. Way back in the early sixties, at the time of the last attempted vehicular census, the number was arbitrarily fixed at two per household, the three for the upper-uppers offsetting the one for the proletariat. Wherever you step, then, there's bound to be one in your path. And, it is also likely that wherever you step, there will be an auto- mobile path. Not a path designed for human scale, mind you, but one solely engineered for these fire-breathing industrial-aged dragons of speed. MOREOVER, THE automobile not only daily jeopardizes in- dividual life and limb, it also acts as a destructive influence upon the community life as a whole. First it siphons off half of the available land for its roads, then it periodically demands half of the sparse political energies and resources, simply for care and upkeep. When the community becomes overcrowded and it is necessary for it to expand. concrete and asphalt-pardon the pun-pave the way. It is tragically ironic for a society that inanely vents its wrath at alleged youth addiction to marijuana, that the obvious addiction to automobiles escapes notice. Well, what's good for General Motors must be good for the country. Without an automobile, one can scarcely live, or at least live in the manner which has been dictated by the technology of the twen- tieth century. The shopping center and store are hardly within walking distance, except for the fortunate few. Work is likely to be ten times as far away as the store. Then there are the relatives and friends, the two-week vacation, the kids off to college or to camp, that party across town. Ninety per cent of the members of this society spend ten to twenty per cent of their time behind the wheel. ANYONE WHO HAS ever spent a great deal of time walking, riding a bicycle, tripping on trains, or enjoying the multitudinous pleasures of the subway quickly becomes passionately committed to this most peculiar way of life. Anything seen from behind the windshield is only observed-it is not felt. In contrast to the automobile, the simplest modes of transpor- tation vastly heighten one's emotional involvement with the environ- ment, with the community, with the region. A walk through a park can be one of the most invigorating and pfrpshing natirmpcm known ti man .if ony the indivianl ran alnw One of the most powerful and persevering themes running through such literature is that of the genius of man creating omnipotent and omniscient machines that once and for all abolish labor from the plight of mankind. As the society foregoes rugged individualism and the sturdy work ethic, the machines conspire to seize absolute power and relegate mankind back to serfdom. The theme is so powerful that it may have even played a role in the public demise of Robert MacNamara. It could happen. It is happening. It has happened. Perhaps McLuhan's-and before him Marx's-most important ob- servation was that changes in the technological environment severely alter social relationships. APPLIED TO THE automobile, this axiom simply observes that the vehicle has outlived its usefulness and public control of transportation where the public is most dense is beneficial to the happiness of us all. There are those that refuse to accept this. If people die in auto- mobile accidents, then it is because of bad driving, not because of'the conflict between the vehicle and the environment. If traffic patterns of the metropolis are congested, then we can relieve the pressure by building more roads. If the number of automobiles produces hassles everywhere, we can shorten the size of the car, install electric engines, and the like. If the automobile pollutes thet atmosphere, then install a device that will prevent it. If accidents occur, then improve the safety devices on the car, so maybe only forty thousand will die, not fifty. That there are incompatibilities they will agree, but these are only temporary, and the fault, they insist, lies in poor city planning, too many political fingers in the pie; and besides that is caught up in the racial matter, wholly unpredictable, of white flight to the suburbs. The remedy can be found in a more suitable rearrangement of the environment to permit faster transit rather than outright abolition.