Eighty-one years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan deep greens and blues All that is revolution is not sweet #i 4 by harry henpert 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-05521 Editorials printed in The Michigan Doily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1971 NIGHT EDITOR: MARK DILLEN The case of John Sinclair THROUGHOUT THEIR collective his- tory, Americans have been a people plagued by fear.. They fear the Indian, the Asian, the black man, the communist - and they have tried everything in their power, in- cluding murder, to eradicate from their collective conscience the fear these groups instill. The basis for this fear, while quite ir- rational, may lie in the uncanny appre- hension Americans feel for anyone who lives differently from them. Anyone who wears different clothes or comes from a different background or holds a differing set of beliefs has "foreigner" branded across his soul; and he is tuckey away In the conscience as somehow theaten- ing the peculiarly American individual- ism so many have cultivated, and come to cherish. Most recently, many youhg people have come to fit this classification; for their sensitivity to American commercializa- tion -- wherein people, the environment, and basic values are treated as market- able commodities - has caused in them a revulsion to American culture and, as a consequence, they have sought a life- style which insists fundamentally upon respect. But, like other groups who have refused to calmly boil in the melting pot, the young have had to. pay a price. IN MANY WAYS John Sinclair is an example. A poet, a founder of the De- troit Artists' Workshop - a center for writers, artists and musicians creating new culture motifs - and a founder of the commune, TransLove Energies, Sin- clair can be seen as an exemplar for what is very best about the new culture. And yet he presents a threat to the American culture, for Americans have learned to distrust people, to keep to themselves, to live in cubicles hopelessly Editorial Staff ROBERT KRAFTOWITZ Editor JIM BEATTIE DAVE CHUDWIN Executive Editor Managing Editor STEVE KOPPMAN Editorial Page Editor RICK PERLOFF Associate Editorial Page Edito PAT MAHONEY Assistant Editorial Page Editor LYNN WEINER . Associate Managing Editor L CRRY LEMPERT .. Associate Managing Editor ANITA CRONE .. .............. Arts Edito JIM IRWIN ............ ........ Associate Arts Editor JANET FREY .. ...... ..Personnel Director ROBERT CONROW .. Books Editor JIM JUDKIS .. . ...... Photography Edito NIGHT EDITORS: Rose Sue Berstein, Mark Dilen, Sara Fitzgerald, Tammy Jacobs, Alan Lenhoff, Jonathan Miller, Hester Pulling, Carla Rapoport, Robert Schreiner, W. E. Schrock, Geri Sprung. COPY EDITORS: Lindsay Chaney, Art Lerner, Debra Tha, DAY EDITORS: Pat Bauer, Linda Dreeben, Jim Irwin, Hannah Morrison, Chris Parks, Gene Robinson, Zachary Schiller. ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Ric Bohy, Kenneth Cohn, John Mitchell, Beth Oberfelder, Kristin Ring- strom, Kenneth Schulze, Tony Schwartz, Jay Sheye- vitz, Gloria Jane Smith, Sue Stark, Ted Stein, Paul Travis, Marcia Zoslaw. Business Staff JAMES M. STOREY, Business Manager RICHARD RADCLIFFE SUZANNE BOSHAN Advertising Manager Sales Manager JOHN SOMMERS ............ .. Finance Manager ANDY GOLDING .......... ...Circulation Manager Sports Staff MORT -NOVECK, Sports Editor JIM KEVRA, Executive Sports Editor RICK CORNFELD ...... Associate Sports Editor TERRI FOUCHEY . Contributing Sports Editor BETSY MAHON .....,. .. Senior Night Editor SPORTS NIGHT EDITORS: Bill Alterman, Bob An- drews, Sandi Genis, Joel Greer, Elliot Legow, John Papanex, Randy Phillips, Al Shackelford. separate from one another. But Sinclair, in his communal living, his zest for crea- tion, his dedication to change, opposes all this - intensely. He lives differently - very differently - from most Americans. Because he is different, he is feared. And at least it can be rationally under- stood why John Sinclair has been sent- enced to a term of 91/2-10 years on the charges that he possessed two marijuana cigarettes. THE STATE SUPREME Court recently agreed to hear an appeal of Sin- clair's case, after refusing to do so two years ago. And while on Thursday the court denied Sinclair release on bond, Sinclair's lawyers have expressed some optimism that the court will rule favor- ably on the appeal. Indeed it should. A man is sentenced to ten years in jail because he possessed what the state be- lieves to be a narcotic, a dangerous drug. And yet, most medical authorities do not classify marijuana as "dangerous"; at best they are skeptical of its dangers - and ten years is a long punishment for possessing something whose danger is un- proven, unclear; and quite likely, imag- inary. This also is the view of 27 state govern- ments, which have modiifed their mari- juana laws. And it is also the belief of Gov. William Milliken. Milliken has proposed drug legislation which would change the crime for pos- session of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor and would lower the pen- alty for first-time possession to 90 days in jail or a maximum fine of $500. MILLIKEN'S PROPOSAL passed t h e House in May and is expected to pass the Senate by a close vote. And yet, un- less the court decided to abide by the spirit of the new law, or the Governor commutes the sentence, Sincair will re- main a victim of the archaic law that im- prisoned him over two years ago. He will remain a victim of a law which also jails a person 20 years 'for selling heroin - a drug whose danger is f a r clearer. Sinclair has been punished in a "cruel and unusual manner;" and this marks a violation of the U.S. constitu- tional ban on such punishments. Originally, Sinclair was charged with dispensing marijuana to an undercover agent, but this charge was, thrown out because it was based upon evidence ob- tained illegally - the agent trapped Sin- clair into selling him the joints. But the possession charge stuck - though based on evidence obtained in exactly the same manner. That is indeed interesting. Clearly the Detroit Recorders C o u r t and its judge, Robert Colombo, grew des- perate when it became clear the dispens- ing charge just would not stick; for it then submitted to bending the law in order to nab its man. As Colombo said himself, prior to the sentencing: "J o h n Sinclair is out to show that he and his ilk (can) violate the law with impunity. Well, his day has come. You may laugh, but you will have a long time to laugh." HOW LONG THIS prejudice will last is uncertain. One can only hope the State Supreme Court will consider t h e issue, the law and the man who has been convicted and then judge accordingly. -RICK PERLOFF Associate Editorial Page Editor DON'T GET ME wrong, s o n. My name isn't Aesop and I'm not in the business of telling par- ables with a big punch-line moral at the end. You want to charge out a n d change the world and I want you to be prepared; it's not as easy as you think. But that's neither here nor there - I'm not telling you this to make a point or any- thing. I'm telling you this because it's true, son, that's all. And the truth isn't something you should thumb your nose at. You may not believe this, but I was young once, I had i d e a 1 s. But people get older and t h e y lose a lot of their ideals. There's an old saying of your Un c 1 e Herman, son - "Fine ideals don't get you meals." But that's neitherup nordown. People's don't lose their ideals by letting them slip behind the sofa or by leaving them behind at the library by mistake. They lose them, usually, when one big, ugly pin pops the old balloon. Y e s, something big happens and it dis- courages you, makes you lose your faith in fellow man. And as a matter of fact, it was yourUncle Herman who popped my balloon, your Uncle Herman and a candy machine. Do they teach you in school about the Great Wage-Price Freeze of "71? Yes, it was a long time ago. I'll never forget it - they kept telling us things were getting better, but each month, the cost of living climbed higher. The Freeze lasted for well over six years, as I recall. But that's nei- ther right nor left. IT WAS IN '71 that Herman led the campaign against the can- dy machine. They'd conquered most of the other outposts around the University already. The dorms, the Union, Angell Hall. We at The Daily building were the only holdout. Do they teach you in school about the Alamo? Well, we were like the Alamo - the last stronghold of the 10-cent candy bar. Christ, thehworld knew it too. We used to have kids coming' in there at all hours of the day and night - used to trip over the little bastards half the time. But what could we do - it was the price we had to pay for a relic of the past.aBetween t h e candy machine and the nickel Coke machine - that's right, can you imagine Coke for a nickel? - well, The Daily would have ground to a halt without those machines, that's all there was to it. We worked hard at The Daily, that summer of '71. We worked so hard, as a matter of fact, that they snuck in the 15-cent candy machine while no one was look- ing. They must have been warned in advance about the Great Freeze, because they made the switch just before the Freeze froze. A n d Christ, did they catch us off guard. We'd heard rumors about a new Coke machine, and we focused all our defensive strategy on that. The Cokes were more outrageous- ly cheap, so we thought they'd strike there first. That's your first lesson, son: never underestimate the establishment. Now, have you ever seen y o u r Uncle Herman's teeth, son? That's right, he doesn't have any. And do you know why? He's a candy freak, that's why, always has been. AND OF ALL the candy bars in the world, Herman's an abso- lute sucker for a Payday. They made them smaller, he didn't care. The FDA found rat hairs in them, he didn't care. He just couldn't resist a Payday. Along with everything else, the price of Paydays rose to 15 cents. Rat hair was one thing, but more money was another. Herman had his principles - we all did; back then - and it was Herman who immediately rose to lead the op- position. "No violence!" he cried as we rallied, Coke bottles in our hands. ready to trash the insultinghmetal intruder. Holding us back, Herman sug- gested we hide the machine in the girls' jon downstairs. We did, but it was back up the next morn- ing, laughing at us with haughty, 15-cent Chuckles. We gathered, muttering obscen- ities, and someone gave the ma- chine a swift kick from the rear, But Herman called for patience in the ranks. With a sweeping ges- ture, he slapped a sign over the front of the machine- B O Y- COTT. A tense, determined atmosphere settled over the building. We went about our work, always ready to snap into action, waiting for a move from the other side. We waited a week, two weeks, and The Great Freeze began. "Look at the bright side," said Herman, "They can't raise the price a n y higher." BUT HERMAN was suffering more than anyone. We organized as the seige continued, sent out details to buy large quanitities at a discount. But no store in town was carrying Paydays - it must have been a conspiracy. Herman grit his teeth -- he had teeth then - and tried to suppress his desire. Meanwhile, those goddam candy people had all the time in the world. They figured we'd break down sooner or later. I won't draw this out, son - you can imagine what happened, We were working late one night, I took a break from my t y p e- writer for a brief foray to the jon. And what did I find when I went downstairs? I opened the door to the toilet stall, and there was Herman, huddled behind the toilet, nervously and quickly shov- ing a Payday into his mouth. Herman was our leader - when he broke, we all began to break, One by one, we'd steal over in- conspicously and drop our coins into the waiting slot. Thehboycott fell apart - we knew when we were beaten. We stuffed our mouths with 15-cent candy, awaiting the day, soon to come, when they'd move in a 15- cent Coke machine. d 4 Left-handed people:, victims of prejudice By LINDSAY CHANEY GEORGE CADAVER, local restaurant proprietor, has recently been criticized for allegedly refusing to serve lefthanded customers. To get his side of the story, we talked to him at his restaurant, located in the basement of the School of Music. "Mr. Cadaver, you have been." "Please call me George." "All right, George. You have been accused of refusing to serve lefthanded potential customers. Is this true?" "Absolutely not. That used to be our policy, but we changed when the University promulgated its dextrosity equality ruling. "So now you serve lefthanded as well as righthanded people." "That's right. We serve lefthanders just like they were normal people." "I see. But tell me George, I notice on your sign at the entrance - Rules of the House - rule 25 says: 'No Lefthanded Person Will Be Served.' Why do you have that sign, if, indeed, you serve left- handers as well as righthanders?" "Well, it's all a question of loot. We didn't have enough money to make a new sign, so we had to make do with the old one. And after all, most of the sign is still correct. Only one rule out of 30 is wrong." "BUT DOESN'T that tend to discourage lefthanded people from coming here?" "I honestly couldn't tell you. We don't have many lefthanders who want to come here-they don't seem to fit in very well." "I see, George. How many lefthanders have you served, since the University passed the dextrosity equality rule?" "Well, actually, none. That is, none that we know of. There may have been a few' ambidextrous patrons, but they're normal enough to get by." "Have you had many lefthanders apply to the restaurant?" "Yes, we've had a few, but they were all disqualified for other reasons." "You mean they weren't conforming to one of the Rules of the House." "Yes, that's correct. For example, the other day, we had a left- handed fellow come up here who wanted to eat. But he broke rule 21 -Male Patrons Must Have An Average Hair Length Between One Inch and Three Inches." "His hair was too long?" "NO, IT WAS too short. He had a crew cut. Looked like a real deviant." "A question just occurred to me, George. Exactly how do you tell whether a person is lefthanded or righthanded?" "Well, that's been something of a trade secret, but I'll tell you if you promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone." "My lips are sealed." "Okay. We do it by rule 19-All Patrons Must Copy The Pledge Of Allegiance In The Guest Book Before Being Served. We can tell whether they're lefthanded or righthanded by which hand they use when they're copying." "That's pretty clever, George. I would have never thought of 1* 19 4 that." "Well, when you've been in the restaurant business as long as I've been, you pick up a few of these tricks." "I have just one more question, George. How did you start this business of excluding lefthanders from your restaurant?" Letters to The Daily Invitation To The Daily: WE WOULD LIKE to reply to the invitation of Prof. Warren T. Norman, chairman of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA), to attend the Sept. 27 SACUA meeting. We are women, four of many on the fac- ulty and staff of the University of Michigan. As such we are offended by the continual invitations and an- nouncements sent to all Univer- sity employes on the assumption that we are men. We have no wives to bring to functions such as this, nor to join a "wives' club." We feel very strongly that the University should begin to in- vite "spouses" to its official and social functions, and that it should find out the sex of each faculty and staff member before inviting his or her wife to join an organization of wives. Beverly J. Lingle, Assistant in Research School of Public Health Alvera Barton, Adminis- trative Secretary School of Public Health Metta Lansdale, Assistant Librarian School of Public Health Enid V. Errante School of Public Health' (olf course To The Daily: WE GET SO little to laugh out loud at these days that I am deep- ly grateful to you for publishing Professor Easter's letter of pro- test against the use of the golf course as a parking lot on foot- ball Saturdays. I have been snickering obscenely ever since I read it at the mental images it conjures up. Imagine the faculty duffers seething as the cars roll across the turf. It would be almost worth it to pay the fee just to drive out on it and spin my wheels a few times. I can only hope it rains so "the ruts and bare patches" that Professor Easter dreads will be burned in plenty deep. For my money one set of fana- tics is as good as another, and between football fans and golfers I see little to choose in terms of virtue, so I see no reason why sheer numbers should not precail. There are obviously more football fans than golfers, so I say let the cars have it. If a profit can be made into the bargain, why Right On I say, pave over the whole golf course and park 'em everywhere. I hope no one will be deterred by such self- righteous posturings as Professor Easter's. He needs to get his priorities straight. The football team contributes a whole lot more to the University than the golf course. Think of that alumni pride, those contributions. Maybe if the Athletic Department makes enough money parking cars they will build a decent swimming pool "NOW THAT'S A hard question to answer. I guess it's mostly tradition. Traditionally, we have excluded lefthanders. "Is there any other reason?" "Yes. Traditionally, only righthanders have eaten here. Tradi- tionally, we have served only righthanders." "Is there anything else, George?" "No, not really. But I would like to say that, in general, I have found lefthanders to be a very disgusting group of people." "How is that?" "They're usually lazy, unambitious, rude, impolite, dirty, imperti- nent, don't appreciate anything you do for them, they're dishonest, and untrustworthy." "Quite a remarkable observation, George. Is there anything else?" "Yes. They're stupid, disrespectful, sloppy, foolish, childish, selfish, immoral, and complete degenerates." "I take it you don't like lefthanded people too much." "Now, that's not true at all. I don't want you thinking I'm prejudiced against lefthanders or anything like that. In fact, some of my best friends are lefthanders." "But . . "AND I EVEN hire lefthanders. Of course, not to wait on tables, where the public can see them. But lots of my kitchen help is left- handed. No sir. Nobody can call me a bigot. 4 lOti-t-60 h--, LxWd (5 d @9G G HOSCOW. N 4 s R n y :n :a p 41,J -l 4:: 9 Z v { L fPRA5 2 I 1 U 0HAVAtNJ \. BUTT ITW 60 O )A J I