U Paternalism Seen n 'No Man's Land' By RONALD WILTON The question of University paternalism and responsibility towarc students has come in for much discussion around campus ever since the examination of the Office of Student Affairs was started; yet nothing concrete has ever come out of these discussions because legally the area is a "no-man's land." This no-man's land in large part stems from the fact that the University, somewhat uniquely, has a "constitutional corporation' governing it, Prof. William J. Pierce of the Law School, director of the Legislative Research Center explains. "It has been interpreted by the courts that The Regents are free from legislative interference. This has been carried even further re- cently by Attorney General Frank Kelley's recent ruling that a rider on the University appropriations bill is unconstitutional." Delegate Authority Thus the Regents are the governing body of the University. As such they are allowed to delegate their authority but they cannot abdicate their ultimate responsibility for the University. They are its final 'law-making' authority, but their laws governing the Uni- versity community are only regarded as rules and regulations by the state. When someone thinks these rules and regulations come into conflict with the state constitution, "nasty problems arise." Prof. Pierce explained that a student who wants to test ' the consitutionality of a University 'law' would !have a difficult time. "The student would first have to break the regulation and be disci- plined for it. He would then have to go to court and get a ruling on whether the regulation applies in, that specific case. Thus the judge- ment would be on the constitutionality of the law as applied to a specific case as such and not on the constitutionality of the Uni- versity rule.", He added that a Iuling on a specific case would set a prece- dent which might well influence future cases, but that these prece- dents are open to an interpretation of what the court actually meant and what the extensions of the ruling are. "This is what lawyers fight about. The question is where do you draw the line between con- stitutionality and what is best for the student." Submit Letters He cited as an example a state mental hospital which requires its patients to submit for examination by the hospital staff any letters they send out. "This is done to protect the patient later on from any mistakes he might make while ill. Yet it is still outright censor- ship, and thus contrary to the constitution. Something like this can only be reasonably decided on a case to case basis." Some states have a procedure whereby an existing or proposed law can be submitted to a court for an opinion on its constitutionality. Before this was adopted, courts followed the lead of the Supreme Court in not hearing any hypothetical cases unless there was no controversy. As such, Michigan follows the Declaratory Judgment Procedure, "but it has been very strictly interpreted to the point where you al- most need a controversy to get a ruling." Legal Rights The question of whether there are any legal rights which have been violated is also a difficult one, he added. It's true that the 14th Amendment does not limit itself to adults, but if something is called a privilege then it does not apply. The University can decide to close one of its buildings to stu- dents, because student use of the building is only a privilege. It de- pends on what is considered a reasonable regulation from the stand- point of the University operation. Turning to the problem of illegal search, Pierce pointed out that if the police force their way into one's house and secure evi- dence to use against him in a criminal jproceeding, he can have that evidence suppressed. Students also have this protection. Criminal Proceedings However "students do. not have this protection against Uni- versity investigators, because, the law only applies to criminal pro- ceedings Since the University is a constitutional body, it can make up another name for disciplinary proceedings and expel a person just like a fraternal organization. Michigan also has an Administrative Pro- cedure Act which outlines the procedure for holding hearings on government agencies and officers, but the University is not bound by this either." Bringing in an additional factor, he pointed out that, in most cases, neither the student nor the University wants the publicity which would result from a court case, and "this is a very important consideration.' He summarized the situation by noting that the University considers itself a "benevolent fiduciary"-a guardian to a ward- because of the pressures from parents and the Legislature. "With the tremendous demand for money from all parts of the state, it is relatively insignificant things like student action which may influence whether the University will get adequate financial support." Send Protest FRATERNITY LIFE : Volence Urges Incr To Ben Bella. ALGIERS (A') -Five Frenchmen .and an Algerian were killed in :::<:::.4 , :>:::>::: three violent incidents in Orleans- :, . ville yesterday, resulting in a vig- orous diplomatic protest by France to Premier Ahmed Ben Bella s government. The incidents came only four ?:,.:~}? *days after the French government <