Page 4-Wednesday, January 10, 1979-The Michigan Daily
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420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom
% Vol LXXXIX, No. 83
Edited and managed by studen
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f. Carter 'and thi
RRESIDENT CARTER'S
ecomonic advisors are busying
s themselves waging a war against
inflation. Recent events indicate that in
doing so they are willing to suspend, at
r : least for a time, the legitimate
a concerns of environmentalists.
Seventeen months ago the President
signed compromise legislation limiting
and controlling the permanent scarring
of Cte nation's countryside by the strip
miners of the coal industry. Although
the controls were not as stringent as
many environmentalists had hoped,
r they were relieved r that the
government was finally taking some
action against the industry's wanton
disregard for the beauty of the land.
They were also encouraged that, when
the President signed the bill, he said he
had hoped the controls would be 'even
stronger."
But now, thanks to the Council of
Economic Advisors, the
implementation of the new limits will
be postponed. The coal mining
industry, which prevented the
Congressional passage of the controls
for years and convinced President
Ford to veto strip mining control bills.
on two occassions, appears to have
convinced the council that the controls
m are inflationary and may not help
protect the environment.
Last week the Environmental Policy
Center, the Natural Resources Defense
Fund, and the National Wildlife
Federation failed in an appeal to
Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus to halt
News Phone: 764-0552
ts at the University of Michigan
e environment
Friday's closed meeting with
economic advisors at which the
postponment of the controls was
granted. When Mr. Andrus came to
office expectations ran high that the
Department of Interior would take on
an environmentalists point of view.
But President Carter's economic
advisors, accepting a great deal of
advice from the coal mining industry,
has won the interdepartmental battle
to postpone the controls. .
The delay apparently came because
Council officials sought to eliminate
one element of the controls - it was too
expensive for the coal companies'
liking. The authors of the controls
contend that the council's figures were
wrong - largely because they
reflected the general opinions of the
coal mining industry.
After the encouraging passage of the
control's and Mr. Carter's expressed
displeasure that the controls were not
more stringent, last week's delay of
their implementation is an unfortunate
setback for the country, for
environmentalists, and represents an
about face - performed by the
Administration.
President Carter should enter the
debate in his administration between
the advisors representing the vested
interests of industry and those seeking
to protect the American countryside
from further unnecessary rape. We
hope that his attitude on the strip
mining controls has not changed, for
the controls are long overdue and
further delay is costly.
One of the most important
political trials in years, the legal
railroading of the Moody Park 3,
will be starting in a few weeks in
Houston, Texas. Their "crime"?
Helping to lead a righteous
struggle against police terror in
Houston, culminating in the
powerful Houston Rebellion last
May.
In May 1977, Joe Torres was
beaten half dead by six Houston
cops, who then threw him in a
bayou outside town, where he
drowned. As one of the cops said
at the time: "Let's see if the wet-
back can swim!" This cold-
blooded murder of Torres, a 23-
year-old Chicano vet, outraged
the people of Houston, leading to
the formation of People United to
,Fight Police Brutality (a com-
mittee that the Revolutionary
Communist Party and the RCYB
played an important role in foun-
ding).
People United told the truth -
that it's not by relying on the
system, but only by fighting it,
and eventually overthrowing it,
that people can do away with
things like police terror. This was
in sharp contrast to the so-called
''respectable'' community
leaders who were telling people
to "keep the faith" while
politicians blew hot air and the
courts slowly ground out
"justice".
In October, the courts put the
value of a Chicano's life at a
dollar when they fined the six
Houston cops a buck eachand put
them on a year's probation. A
later trial in federal court only
continued the whitewash - the
cops got a one-year jail sentence
for "violating" Torres' civil
rights (!), of which they have yet
to serve a single day..
On May 7, 1978, when the
Houston cops tried to hassle some
people at the Cinco de Mayo
celebration (a Mexican national
holiday), the community's anger
The Moody Park 3
Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade
exploded. Thousands rose up
against a lifetime of oppression
as Mexican-Americans, and
especially against the cops who
try to terrorize people into accep-
ting it. For two days, the people
- not the cops - controlled the
North side of Houston. Police
cars were smashed and burned,
and the cops run out of the neigh-
borhood. Slogans like "Justice
for Joe Torres" and "Cops Are
the Tool of the Rich Man's Rule"
were chanted and spray-painted
on walls. For the first time in a
long time, the cops got a taste of
their own medicine.
After the rebellion, the rulers of
Houston counter-attacked. Over
50 people were arrested - mostly
at random; and three- the Moody
Park 3 - were singled out for
special prosecution. The three
were leaders of People United to
Fight Police Brutality, which had
helped to organize and lead the
struggle for justice for Joe
Torres. While many politicians
and self-styled community
leaders were ducking for cover
because of the rebellion, these
three, along with others, upheld
it. As Travis Morales, one of the
Moody Park 3 and spokesman for
People United, said: "It was
great what the people did to the
police. The police got a little bit of
the justice they deserve. I don't
think this will be the last time."
News of the rebellion has since
spread all over the country, and
has been a tremendous in-
spiration to Chicano people
everywhere. The ruling class, on
the other hand, is trying to crush
the rebellion and all it represents
by singling out three of its leaders
and attempting to salt them away
for virtually the rest of their
lives. The three are charged un-
der the Texas "felony riot" act
which makes anyone present
during a riot (defined as any
gathering of seven or more
people during which a felony is
committed) guilty of any crimes
which occur. Even though the
three didn't commit any specific
crime, they were originally held
on $500,000 bail. The charges they
face add up to 20 years in prison
each.
The police killings that people
rebelled against in Houston are
not unique to that city, nor are
they the work of a few bad cops.
In Detroit a few years back, we
saw the police use the infamous
STRESS murder 'squads to
terrorize people. A righteous
wave of struggle by thousands of
people forced the disbanding of
STRESS. But today, police terror
is on the rise again, aimed in
Detroit especially at black
people, and most especially at
youth. Op Nov. 2nd, 17-year-old
Ulysses Sutherland was gunned
down on Detroit's east side. Why?
Because he ran after cops threw
him up against a car to be frisked
and then pulled guns on him. For
being young, black and afraid,
Ulysses got blown away, and for
murdering him, the cop got a
desk job.
Why do the cops ride roughshod
through the black community of
Detroit, and through the barrios
of Houston? Because minority
workers represent a source of
cheap labor for the rich, and they
benefit from keeping them in
even more depressed conditions
than the rest of the working class.
The cops are there to prevent
people from stepping out of line,
or resisting the lot that
capitalism offers them - ram-
shackle housing, the worst of bad
health care, decaying schools,
and all the rest.
The tremendous thing about
the Houston Rebellion is that, by
rising up, the Chicano people of
Houston showed that the only
way to deal with discrimination,
killer cops, and the capitalists'
"justice" system is to take things
into our own hands and out of the
hands of the rich. While.liberal
and "respectable" community
leaders said: crawl and whimper
and hope that the powers-that-be
will become kind and caring - in
a word, that it's right to beg -
People United, the Moody Park 3,
and the masses of Chicano
people, by their actions, were
saying: rely on our own struggle,
on our own strength and
organization - it's right to rebel,
it's right to fight back against op-
pression!
The Houston authorities would
like nothing better than to
railroad the Moody Park 3 into
some hell hole of a prison for
years, as a vindication of their
line that it's wrong to rebel, that
those who stand up will get
crushed. We can turn this thing
around, but it's going to take
more than just passive support,
Let's learn from the spirit of the
Chicano people of Houston in
saying: to hell with their justice
system! We're going to fight like
hell this railroad of the Moody
Park 3, and spread the spirit of
rebellion all over this'land. Join
us in Houston this Saturday for a
major national demonstration in
defense of the three and in defen-
se of the Rebellion. For infor-
mation about rides, or to make a
donation towards helping others
to go down, call us at 763-3896 or
662-7739.
5-
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Good luck Allan Smith
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4:: -Ow lg;za
LTHOUGH MANY students may
not know or will not realize the
difference, the University has a new
president. Robben Fleming quietly left
Ann Arbor over the holiday break and
Allan Smith moved into his office on
the second floor of the Administration
Building on Monday.
President Smith is not expected to
hold the position long; most observers
say the University will have a new
president by fall term. That is another
issue which willbe addressed soon.
What we wish to do now is convey our
hope-that, while he holds the office,
President Smith will provide the kind
of leadership, make the kind of
decisions which.will best benefit the
entire University community.
Most of the problems he will face are
not new. Everyone knows where Mr.
Fleming stood on the issues. We do not
expect President Smith to merely
carry on the wishes of his predecessor
until a more permanent leader is
chosen. We encourage him to follow his
own conscience and not to shy away
from a controversial decision.
As a beginning President Smith
should impose on the University com-
munity the Civil Liberties Board's
proposed guidelines with respect to in-
telligence agencies. The president
should also readdress the issue of
divestiture from corporations which
operate in South Africa. And at the,
next Regents' meeting we hope that
President Smith would strongly voice
his approval for turning the Union over
to students, including the hotel.
On these and other issues we can
only hope that President Smith will
always consider the students' welfare
first and last.
6n<
.W dwwNM~! MgMI"PoK77140 ..-1la
Letters to
the' Daily
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Sharp comments
To the Daily:
Regarding Anne Sharp's
comments in your letters column
on December 7.
Ms. Sharp's letter is a first rate
example of the very naive and
limited views among today's
youth on modern society and
politics that she denies exist. She
claims that students nowadays
are more intelligent and socially
conscious than those of ten years
ago because 'we refuse things in
our society that we can't change"
and "we have social consciences
like everybody else, we simply
don't show them off."
Sadly for Sharp and the
majority of the youth of 1978, they
have succumbed to a couple of
delusions that frequently afflict
and threaten to destroy
deomcratic societies: that all
needed reforms can be
accomplished within the existing
political structure and that
individual citizens, through open
and aggressive confrontation,
cannot make a significant
contribution to society and
government. Such an attitude is
understandable, given that
students nowadays don't have the
draft board breathing down their
necks and that many of the most
grievious forms of social
oppression of the past are being
alleviated, but it is not excusable.
Our society is far from ideal
and the fight against oppression,
in all its forms, is never over. The
"powers that be" would have us
believe that the most democratic
vehicle of government has
One of the most powerful
lessons that history teaches us,
and which Sharp seems to have
forgotten, is that there is nothing
we can't change. Social
institutions are products of
people's needs, and when these
institutions no longer further, but
instead jeopardize, peoples'
needs, the people should
dismantle the institutions and
build better ones. Also, what's the
good of having a social
conscience if you don't "show it
off"? How can a person who
keeps his moral and political
convictions to himseld and
doesn't express them be of any
benefit to society? In that case
may we truthfully call it a social
conscience?
History shows that society
doesn't progress and improve
under the power of an automatic
and impersonal "invisible hand,"
but through the conscious
cooperation of interested
individuals who publicize their
social consciences and set about
to right what they see to be
wrong. If we don't try to influence
the political and economic
decisions that affect our lives,
somebody else will make these
decisions for us.
Ms. Sharp's "social
conscience" seems to me to mean
acquiescence.
She is right, though, in
asserting that hers are the
principles which govern most of
today's students in their day-to-
day activities, but their
consciences are another story.
Many, if not most, of the students
I have met are aware of the
nrnhlem that enfrnnt nur
recognizes, but their major aims
- to eliminate social oppression,
to expand the extent of
participatory democracy in our
society's institutions, and to
enhance the citizen's discussions
of himself as a vital member of
society - are more important
than ever in the sluggish
seventies. It's not that today's
young person is any more "stupid
and selfish" than any previous
generation, it's just that we're
more confused.
-James Kobielus
LSA Junior
Freedom is dying
To the Daily:
In the haste to topple the Shah,
one thing has been
overlooked-what is his
replacement? That the, Shah
undoubtedly ruins a police state
with the help of SAVAK and
probably the CIA no one would
argue against, but as with so
many other changes in
government via the coup d'etat,
the successors usually turn out to
be as bad as those they replaced.
Chile and Cuba come to mind.
The replacement's partisans
however, dismiss the new
repression as "needed to expunge
elements of the ancient regime,"
a rather spurious argument.
To return to Iran, just what
are the alternatives? That the
Peacock Throne may soon be
vacant is a foregone conclusion.
Even with a British-style
constitutional monarchy, the
Shah represents certain ills. To
his left are the socialists and
marxists who want to set up a
npnnle's renublic .Unfortunatelv
given women by the Shah.
Women would again become the
vassals they were in medieval
times.Apparently they are bent
on establishing a Church-State.
No liberal or Libertarian desires
to see this happen.
Freedom is dying in Iran. -No
matter who comes out on top,
Fascist Shah, Communist or
Born-again Moslem, freedom is
dying, and Americans are
helping to kill it.
-James R. Greenshields
"
Third Ward seat
To the Daily:
Last Friday's story about the
upcoming Ann.Arbor city election
inadvertently failed to mention
the Democratic candidate for the
Third Ward Council seat, Halley
S. Faust.
The Third Ward has been a
kind of "rotten borough" in that
whoever the GOP has put up for
election has fairly easily won the
seat. As a result, the Third Ward
has been poorly served and no
more so than by the current
incumbent, Louis Senunas, who is
up for re-election. Third Ward
Republicans have traditionally
been insensitive to the needs of
their own constituents, a fact that
was demonstrated again a week
ago when Senunas voted against
the Kimberly Neighborhood
Association's efforts to preserve
a natural area as parkland with
privately raised donations and a
grant from DNR.
Halley Faust intends to change
all that. He is going to wage a
vigorous campaign and restore
representation to Third Ward
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