Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
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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 all reprints.
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1972
NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT SCHREINER
An empty research policy
WHAT IS there left to say?
After a year of debate over classified
research at the University, the Regents
have finally reached a decision on a new
policy - one which would allow all but
a few of the campus classified projects
to continue.
In fact, the new policy assures that be-
tween 95 and 98 per cent of the current
classified research projects will continue
to be carried out for the Department of
Defense and other federal agencies.
Ironically, the Regents took painstak-
ing care in developing this new policy,
demanding that student and faculty op-
ponents of classified research provide
them with detailed reports and lengthy
speeches on the subject.
The result has been a monumental
waste of time for all parties involved and
a deception of the University community
-which had been led to believe that the
University was willing to take a firm
stand against war research.
WHAT WAS perhaps most disturbing
about the entire episode was the to-
tal lack of knowledge that the Regents
displayed about University classified re-
search.
For example, Regent Gerald Dunn (D-
Flushing) told an open hearing last
month he though that the University had
banned all war research in 1968. And yes-
terday Regent Robert Cudlip (R-Detroit)
asked if Assembly's Classified Research
Committee and its Research Policies
Committee-which played key roles in
the faculty research debate - were ac-
tually the same group.
As disparaging as it sounds, in many
ways it would be more desirable for the
University to have no policy on classified
research rather than to be burdened with
the new regental measure. Certainly, hav-
ing no policy would be a more honest
way of acknowledging the University's
commitment to aiding the military.
In addition, having no research policy
would allow the University to dismantle
some of the costly research administra-
tion bureaucracy and public relations of-
fices which attempt to cover up the ex-
tent of the University's entanglement in
war research.
WHILE NO ONE IS advocating throwing
out the new policy, the University
community should be aware of the micro-
scopic depth of this new measure. Un-
fortunately, the University still has miles
to go before it ends its involvement in the
destruction of human life in Indochina,
and other theaters where the success of
our foreign policy is measured by body-
counts.
-ALAN LENHOFF
Editor
George
By LINDSAY CHANEY
BY GRABBING a healthy 37 per cent
of the vote in New Hampshire
George McGovern went a long way to-
ward stopping the Muskie bandwagon.
"New Hampshire proves what we've
been saying for over a year-that George
McGovern is a serious candidate for the
presidency," a jubilant aide declared
after the vote totals had come in. "Now
maybe the press will stop treating us
like a Don Quixote."
Although McGovern posted an expect-
ed poor showing in the Florida primary,
and is still trailing Edmund Muskie,
New Hampshire seems to have solved one
problem that has dogged him since he
became a candidate for the presidency
on January 18, 1971.
That problem was, simply, that no one
seemed to take him seriously.
During the first year of campaigning,
McGovern's standing in the polls never
rose above six per cent. For the first
six months, his recognition factor - the
percentage of people who could identify
him as a politician or a Democrat-did
not go over 50 per cent, meaning he was
completely unknown to over half the
people in the county.
EVEN THE people who did know who
he was, in fact, even people who admitted
he was the best man to be President, did
not actively support his campaign be-
cause they said he didn't have a chance
to win.
Why couldn't he win? He didn't have
charisma. He was a stalking horse for
Ted Kennedy. He was too decent. He
wasn't tough enough.
McGovern and his advisors admit that
at least one of these criticisms-his lack
of charisma - might be valid, but they
deny that it eliminates him from con-
tention in the race.
"I think the American people are get-
ting a little fed up with what's called
charisma and image-making and all the
posturing that some of you writers and
television people think is all-important
in politics," the senator told an inter-
viewer last summer.
Because of his inflapable tempera-
ment - the last time he yelled at his
aides was several years ago--and an al-
most professorial manner of speaking,
some critics say McGovern is too gentle
and does not have the leadership ability
or toughness to put his programs into
action.
The candidate feels this criticism is
entirely undeserved. "They say I'm too
MCG over
tax reform, welfare, poverty, the mili-
tary, unemployment, minority rights and
education.
While Muskie, Humphrey and Lind-
say have spoken in generalities, McGov-
ern has been specific.
One of the most widely praised Mc-
Govern blueprintes is his alternative de-
fense budget, which would trim military
spending from the present $87.3 billion
to $54.8 billion in estimated 1975 dollars.
The McGovern budget has the distinc-
tive feature of being calculated from a
"zero-base". That is, instead of start-
ing with the present budget as a base
and adding or subtracting from it, the
McGovern planners started from a zero
base and budgeted what they felt was
absolutely necessary.
The proposed reductions, McGovern
says, remove fat, not muscle, from the
military machine, and leave sufficient
nuclear and conventional weapons to
"fully protect this country against ex-
ternal threats of any kind."
The cuts are mostly in hardware and
manpower. McGovern would reduce per-
sonnel from 2.4 million to 1.7 million,
scrap the Safeguard-ABM missile system,
and cancel several proposed new bomb-
er and fighter plane programs.
The candidate says our present mili-
tary program is characterized by a type
of "paranoia" which consists of "thinkiig
we're stronger when we can kill the ene-
my ten times over instead of killing the
enemy five times over."
THE OTHER MAJOR plank in the
McGovern platform that goes further
than any of his rival Democrats is a
plan-really a series of programs-which
would achieve a substantial redistribu-
tion of income in the country.
He proposes to close all loopholes in
upper tax brackets, and increase incomg
taxes by eliminating depreciation allow-
ances and investment tax credits.
McGovern would increase purchasing
power and provide economic stimulus by
large amounts of government contract-
ing in areas such as pollution control,
housing and mass transportation sys-
tems.
In the area of welfare, McGovern ad-
vocates government provision of a cash
grant to every family with an income be-
low a certain level. If a family of four
had no income, the government would
give them $4,000.
The government supplement would de-
crease on a sliding scale as the family's
income increased. According to this pro-
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Black housing inaction
T E REGENTS' refusal to act on the
proposed Afro-American and African
Cultural Living Units yesterday indicated
once again a lack of preparation as well
as an unwillingness to publicly deal with
a controversial issue.
The delay came in the face of over-
riding sentiment for immediate action
on the measure. The Regents heard tes-
timony from state, local and University
organizations indicating support for the
plan.
The proposal had the blessings of John
Feldkamp, director of housing, the facul-
ty Civil Liberties Board, the Coalition for
Sports Staff
JOHN PAPANEK
Sports Editor
ELLIOT LEGOW
Executive Sports Editor
BILL ALTERMAN............ Associate Sports Editor
AL SHACKELFORD .......... Associate Sports Editor
BOB ANDREWS .............Assistant Sports Editor
SANDI GENIS............... Assistant Sports Editor
MICHAEL OLIN ... Contributing Sports Editor
RANDY PHILLIPS........Contributing Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Chuck Bloom, Dan Borus, Chuck
Drukis, Joel Greer, Frank Longo, Bob McGinn.
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Mark Feldman, Rob
Halvahs, George Hastings, Roger Rossiter, Rich
SStuck.
the Use of Learning Skills, the Univer-
sity's Commission on Minority Groups,
the Center for Afro-American and Afri-
can Studies, and other University organ-
izations.
The plan was analyzed by the Detroit
Urban League, the Michigan Civil
Rights Commission and the Ann Arbor
branch of the American Civil Liberties
Union. All these groups found nothing
wrong with the plan legally and went
on to endorse it, at least in principle.
It appeared that had the Regents taken
a vote on the issue, they would have been
split. They have scheduled a special
meeting on March 29 to discuss the issue,
and perhaps work out a compromise plan.
By REFUSING to confront the issue, the
Regents have for the present left ad-
ministrators and housing officials up in
the air on fall housing plans. More im-
portantly, they have left many interested
students uncertain of where they will be
living in the fall.
The only problem alleviated by the de-
lay is the problem of the Regents' own
lack of preparation. It is tragic when
members of the governing board of the
University lack the initiative or concern
to inform themselves about issues before
they are scheduled to vote on them.
-GENE ROBINSON
"The candidate is at his best campaigning on streetcor-
ners in the style that made him a winner in South Dakota
politics. An introduction, handshake, brief chat - the soft
one-on-one technique which manages to convey an impres-
sion of concern and honesty."
9 .,.flm'.'.v..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
soft, not tough enough," McGovern com-
ments. "Somehow people have the notion
that unless you're an obviously tough
guy, you can't solve the country's prob-
lems. The obvious answer is that you
can't get elected in a tough Republican
state like South Dakota without tough-
ness of mind and tenacity."
IT IS McGOVERN'S progressive and
explicit stands on the issues which sepa-
rates him from all the other candidates,
both Democratic and Republican..
"We don't tell people to 'Trust McGov-
ern' without telling them why they
should," an aide says.
During the past year, McGovern and
his staff have researched and released
a series of detailed position papers on
posal, a family of four would receive
some government supplement unless its
income reached $12,000.
McGovern's overall income redistribu-
tion plan would transfer $29 billion from
those at the top to those on the bottom.
ON MINORITY rights and women's
issues, McGovern has a consistently pro-
gressive record and he has co-sponsored
every piece of civil rights legislation en-
acted during the past decade. He was the
principle sponsor of the Omnibus Civil
Rights Bill of 1969, the School Lunch
Program of 1970, and the Food Stamp
Reform Act of 1970.
He has introduced legislation which
would make Martin Luther King's birth-
day a national holiday.
Leaders of the women's movement
have also endorsed McGovern. The first
issue of Ms. magazine rated McGovern
as the best of the Democratic candidates,
and Gloria Steinhem called him the "best
white male available."
Although McGovern has always held
views considered "progressive," "liberal"
or even "radical" on all the major social
issues of the day, it has been his con-
tinued opposition to the Vietnam war
since 1965 that placed him prominently
on the left fringe of Congress--and gave
him a stubborn image of being a one-
issue candidate.
THE FIERY rhetoric of McGovern's
Senate speeches often seems out of char-
acter with his normal calm temperament.
Moments before the Senate voted 55-
39 against his Vietnam withdrawal
amendment in the fall of 1970, the
SouthsDakota senator lambasted his col-
leagues:
"We have foolishly assumed that
the war was too complicated to
be trusted to the people's forum
- the Congress of the United
States. The result has been the
cruelest, the most barbaric, and
the most stupid war in our na-
tional history. And every Sena-
tor in this chamber is partly re-
sponsible for sending 50,000
young Americans to an early
grave, This chamber reeks of
blood!
"Every Senator here is partly
responsible for that human
wreckage at Walter Reed and
Betheseda Naval and all across
our land - young boys without
legs or arms or genitals or faces
or hopes. Don't talk to them
about bugging out or national
honor or courage. It doesn't take
any courage at all for a Con-
gressman or a Senator or a
President to wrap himself in the
flag and say we're staying in
Vietnam. Because it isn't our
blood that is being shed."
To rid himself of his "one-issue"
image, McGovern now emphasizes his
stands on domestic issues as well as
the war.
McGOVERN'S CHANCES of being
nominated improved considerably after
the New Hampshire primary. But he is
still considered a long-shot-which is
nothing new for him.
In 1953, while a professor at Dakota
Wesleyan, McGovern accepted the posi-
tion of South Dakota Democratic party
executive secretary, against the advice
of all his friends.
At that' time, the state Democratic
party was a shambles. Of 110 seats in
the state legislature, the Democrats held
two.
During the next three years he toured
the rural areas of the state, talking to
farmers, discussing their problems, sug-
gesting solutions. His simple honesty be-
gan to win supporters for the Demo-
crats, and little by little, a rudimentary
party organization began to take shape.
In 1956, again against the advice of
his friends who told him it was too early,
he ran for Congress, and South Dakota
had its first Democratic Congressman
in over 20 years.
McGovern was re-elected to Congress
in 1958, and in 1960 he ran for the Sen-
ate seat held by Republican Karl Mundt.
Since Jack Kennedy was considered a
000 votes; McGovern lost by 15,000.
ALTHOUGH HIS vigorous campaign-
ing for Kennedy may have cost McGov-
ern a Senate seat, it earned him the
directorship of the Food for Peace Pro-
gram when the new President took of-
fice. He continued in that position until
1962, when he ran for the Senate again
and won by 597 votes
In 1968, after an unsuccessful 18-day
campaign for the Democratic presiden-
tial nomination, McGovern was re-elect-
ed to his Senate seat in a landslide -
38.000 votes or 57 per cent of the elec-
torate.
In his re-election campaign, McGovern
played to perfection a technique that he
had developed during his 12 years in
public office and which explained how
he, as a liberal Democrat, could be so
popular in a predominantly conserva-
tive, Republican state
The technique was simple - "total and
complete honesty" as his aides are fond
of saying.
His Republican foes agree with this
assessment. Said one, explaining Mc-
Govern's popularity, "It's mostly per-
sonal, not ideological. He's done a lot for
the farmers, and people see him as a fine
man with high moral standards."
THE McGOVERN presidential cam-
paign, which tries to center around is-
sues, rather than slogans or, personality,
is not well adapted to the media, espe-
cially television. As an alternative, Mc-
Govern relies heavily on a well-organized
telephone and mailing campaign.
After he announced his candidacy, Mc-
Govern sent out 300,000 letters and re-
ceived back $250,000 in small contribu-
tions.
In regions of the country where Mc-
Govern is concentrating his campaign
efforts, aides contact voters by phone,
then follow the phone call with a mail
packet of position papers on issues dis-
cussed.
"If I have learned anything worth
passing on to others in 15 years 'of
active political life, it is the importance
of saying what one believes rather
than trying to tell the other fellow what
he may want to hear at the moment.
I have kept silent or modified my views
a time or two because I feared public
reaction, but I was wrong in doing so
from the standpoint of my peace of
mind; furthermore it is bad politics.
The people prefer straight talk to the
'credibility gap.
-George McGovern, 1968
The candidate is at his best campaign-
ing on streetcorners in the style that
made him a winner in South Dakota
politics. An introduction, handshake,
brief chat -- the soft one-on-one tech-
nique which manages to convey an im-
pression of concern and honesty.
McGOVERN HAS BEEN somewhat
handicapped by a lack of endorsements
from major political figures, labor groups
and business leaders.
There have been a few notable ex-
ceptions. Progressive magazine endorsed
McGovern in their March issue saying
"unlike many candidates, he dares pro-
pose specific alternatives to present poli-
cies - and to make them radical enough,
-to use that word in its most affirmative
sense, to strike at the roots of the urgent
problems that confront us."
0
M
Letters:
TU candidate
To The Daily:
IN RESPONSE to the Daily Sen-
ior Editor's evaluation of o u r
campaign proposals yesterday, I
would like to offer the following
clarifications:
If we are unrealistic, it is be-
cause we aim to be innovative, ac-
cepting the challenges of the stu-
dent body whose interests h a v e
drowned in a sea of commonplace
"proposals" th~t do not effect
their lives. We seek to accomplish
programs inside and outside the
University structure with which
students can relate.
As representatives of the Ann
Arbor Tenants' Union, we have
accomplished a great deal
towards giving students control of
their housing through legal ac-
tion, rent freeze, general informa-
tion and personal assistance to
tenants with landlord problems.
This pressure will increase with
our election until students can
realize full control of the Ann Ar-
bor Housing Market.
Dorm-wide cable TV is no more
unrealistic than the present WCBN
dormitory radio network. Consult
any engineer or student in the TV-
Radio department for verification
of the feasibility of dorm-wide
cable TV.
Non-endorsed candidates reply
and unique collection of leadership
experience and viewpoint.
Our council candidates w e r e
selected not on the basis of con-
formity to a party line, rather on
the basis of their own unique ,al-
ents and the variety of perspec-
tives they offer that would make
SGC a truly representative body.
Our experience includes Hous-
ing Policy Committee, Ozone
House, Classified Research Study,
Dormitory Rate Committee, Fam-
ily Housing Rate Committee, Viet-
nam Veterans Against the War,
Tribal Council, Community Food
Co-op, Liberated Press Editor,
PESC, PIRGIM and Ann A r b c r
Tenants Union.
However, Rick Steinberg and
myself feel confident that our flex-
ibility will enable us to effective-
ly co-ordinate policy decision mak-
ing with other members running
for council should our own candi-
dates fail to be elected.
If anyone desire further informa-
tion jn these or any other Student
Tenants' Union Coalition issue,
read this weeks copy of the Ann
Arbor Sun, call the Ann A r b o r
Tenants' Union at 763-3012 or feel
free to call Rick Steinberg and
myself at 769-4891 between 5:33
and 6:30.
-Scott Seligman
coupled with lack of experience in
student governments, this year of-
fer the student body more of the
same. In accordance with t h e i r
typical knee-jerk liberal response
pattern, the Daily has endorsed a
candidate who speaks of strength-
ening student power, protecting
minority rights, etc., in very vague
terms and offers no concrete pro-
posals for SGC action.
It is my belief, and the belief
of my running mate on the
GROUP slate, that the time has
passed for Diag rallies, inflam-
matory oratory and irrelevant
philosophical statements. Those
tactics were appropriate for the
1960's when many students were
unaware of thepolitical situation
in the University.
But the 1960's are gone. Lou
Glazier and I believe that talk
is cheap, that the U of M campus
presently requires an SGC com-
posed of people who have been
working for students on tangible
projects - not rhetoric.
According to The Daily "neither
Jacobs nor Glazer have demon-
strated any underlying political
philosophy which they would ap-
ply to situations that might occur
during the year." This statement
is categorically untrue. Our phil-
osophy is that students s h o u 1 d
GROUP proposes that the best
way to make an intelligent decis-
ion is to look at the record. What
has GROUP done for you, and
more specifically, what have Bill
Jacobs and Lou Glazer, GROUP
candidates for President and Vice
President, been doing for the stu-
dent body? The list of our accomp-
lishments is available in our liter-
ature, and cannot be fully ex-
plained here, due to a lack of
space. (Note that our opponents
do not provide you with similar
credentials.)
However, there are two prom-
inent examples of the sort of con-
structive action GROUP members
have been engaged in. First, the
SGC Meat Co-op. The meat co-
op, instituted as a pilot project
and experiment, has been highly
successful despite The Daily's
comments to the contrary (s e e
letter to the editor in the March
17 issue). Moreover, this has been
accomplished at the minimal cost
of $300 - not the $1500 figure
falsely reported by The Daily and
my opponents. Second, the open-
ing of the FM station of WCBN.
Lou Glazier has been working on
WCBN for six years, in various
capacities, including station man-
ager for two years, and was in-
strumental in the establishment
the official record for information,
rather than to The Daily's prejudi-
cial opinion. We strongly urge the
voters to make their own decisions
according to their own needs -
after all, that is what a democratic
student government election is all
about.
-Bill Jacobs
GROUP Candidate for
SGC President
March 17
Ml'oon
To The Daily: -
IN THIS morning's Daily (March
14)~ you have a- picture of la,4t
night's ice storm, with the caption
"Last night, the city became shim-
mery as the treed icicles glisten-
ed under the Moon."
You should be aware that the
Moon is a thin waning crescent,
almost new, and did not rise un-il
5:30 Tuesday morning, well into
morning twilight. Furthermore, it
was not visible because of t n e
clouds.
Please be more careful about
the things that matter.
-James A. Loudon
Lecturer (astronomy)
Residential College
March 14
"
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