Detroit's new charter:
4r lAir4igan Dail
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Citizens speak up
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1971
NIGHT EDITOR: HESTER PULLING
Fleming views academia
IT IS INDEED a rare occasion when a
university president will suggest in-
novations in the academic status quo.
It is even rarer when his suggestions can
stimulate ideas in others' minds; yet this
was precisely the nature of President
Robben Fleming's State of the University
address Monday evening.
It was a speech which recognized the
need for sweeping academic changes,
and it welcomed them. It was a speech
which questioned traditional notions like
the automatic virtue of a four-year de-
gree program. And it was a speech which
raised the issue of expanding Michigan's
universities to admit more low-income
students.
The speech raised more questions than
it could answer, but that is all right. It
has been shameful that men who occupy
positions of leadership within American
universities have ignored for so long
questions concerning the basic function
of universities. Fleming raised some of
these.
V THY, HE asked, must a student receive
a degree only on condition that he
take four years of a specified number of
credit hours? Why not simply certify
students on the basis of work they al-
ready have done? If it is four years, fine.
If a student stays three years, or even
two, let him receive a degree on this
basis.
Certainly, Fleming is looking in the
right direction. It has been the inordi-
nate stress society places upon a degree
as a requisite for employment, that has
pressured so many students into staying
in college four straight years when these
students feel, quite naturally, like leav-
ing a while, experimenting with life on
their own. Because the degree looms so
importantly in the minds of most stu-
dents, dropping out - even for a while-
stings with connotations of never com-
ing back to school, and never receiving a
diploma.
But, if students could 'be certified on
,the basis of the work they have per-
formed in college already, and if this
certification was honored by employers,
surely students would be more inclined
to leave, and return, simply when they
felt like it. As a result, when they were
in school, they would be motivated to
study - hence, they ;would learn more.
MOREOVER, FLEMING .suggests exper-
imenting with more individualized
education. Perhaps, he says, 25 students
could be given access to the library, and
simply study what they wished on their
own for two years.
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
LORRY LEMPERT Associate Managing Editor
ANITA CRONE ................ Arts Edtc,.
JIM IRWIN .. .......... .... ....Associate Arts Editor
JANET FREY Personnel Director
ROBERT CONROW Books Editor
JIM JUDKIS .. Photography Edito
This would, of course, place responsi-
bility squarely on students' shoulders. It
would provide an opportunity to test the
rather pervasive notion that what is
wrong with a university is essentially the
fault of large classes, impersonal, dull
lectures - and that there are an insuf-
ficient number of small seminars and too
few chances for students to work alone.
Fleming's idea would allow students
a fair opportunity to study on their own
-maybe they would learn more this way,
maybe they would learn less, or maybe
they would learn differently. But we need
some experiment to find out, and dis-
cover how far we should go in the rather
amphorus direction of individual educa-
tion.
FLEMING'S SUGGESTION that Michi-
gan might expand its educational
programs to encompass more students
from the lower-income brackets obvious-
ly bears attention. Recognizing the fi-
nancial difficulties that come with at-
tending a school away from one's home,
he suggests methods of attaining a de-
gree which would permit students to live
at home. He points to closed circuit tele-
vision, off campus credit courses and in-
dependent 'study courses as possibilities.
While a sensitive method of dealing
with the problem low-income students
often face, there are questions. Students
educated in this manner will lose the
personalization provided by classes and
chats with professors. They may not
have sufficient motivation to pursue
learning on their own. And the very fact
of their living at home will isolate them
from the education one obtains through
meeting different types of people in a
different environment. Is there a way of
balancing these disadvantages, of pro-
viding the motivation to study and an
opportunity to encounter and learn from
different people?
In other areas, he left questions un-
answered. On what basis should a uni-
versity certify students?' Who should
control the certification process? What
role should this certification have in the
larger society? Should a university be
separate from the larger society; and if
so, should students be given credit for
educational experiences in the outside
society, and how would this be deter-
mined? And more
THE IMPORTANT thing, though, was
that Fleming asked these questions.
And he was departing from the relative-
ly passive role as university president he
has pursued in the past - where he
acted as, a peacemaker, rather than an
activist; and a stabilizer instead of an
innovator.
This is indeed encouraging. We hope
Fleming will pursue these ideas further.
He should not be content with merely
stating them in an annual address. He
should appoint a panel to discuss the
issues in hopes of coming up with spe-
cific recommendations that, he, the fa-
culty, and students can mull over - and
implement.
The time, as always, is now. And hope-
fully, this is what President Fleming has
realized.
-RICK PERLOFF
Associate Editorial Page Editor
By GLORIA JANE SMITH
J N A BIOLOGY lab in Detroit's
Southeastern High S c h o o I
last week, television experts from
WTVS-TV, Channel 56, f o u g h t
time, working to create a control
room amid creatures floating in
jars of formaldehyde and charts
explaining the wonders of biologi-
cal science.
On stage, one member of the
television crew was hanging a
huge baby blue sign that spelled
out the words CHARTER REVIS-
ION COMMISSION.
Commission staff members
treaded through deserted h a 11 s,
posting signs that directed people
to the auditorium for the C h a rt-
er Revision Commission's public
community hearing.
In the one and a half hours
that followed, the citizens of De-
troit were given the opportunity
to testify before the members of
the Charter Revision Commission,
explaining what they thought
should be incorporated in a new
city charter, and asking questions
about aspects of the charter which
they did not understand.
It was the second in a series of
eight open hearings scheduled by
the Charter Revision Commission
this fall to involve the citizens of
Detroit in the proces of revising
their City Charter.
A CHARTER IS the basic law
under which a city is authorized
by the people to govern itself. City
charters outline the laws for cit-
ies in much the same way that the
United States Constitution estab-
lishes the nation's basic laws.
By describing the powers a n d
duties of the mayor, council and
other city officials, city charters
outline the framework of a local
government. They contain t h e
rules for choosing city officials and
the rules within which those of-
ficials must operate.
Although a charter cannot
guarantee that city problems will
be immediately solved, it can pro-
vide the mechanism through
which solutions to the problems
can be more easily found.
Detroit's current Charter w a s
adopted in 1918 and, since then,
has been amended almost 2 0 0
times.
The 53-year-old document was
written when the City was much
smaller and faced different social
and physical problems than it does
today.
In the late 1960's, the feeling
that Detroit's charter was out-
dated was publicly expressed by
many people.
A CHARTER STUDY Commit-
tee was appointed by former May-
or Jerome P. Cavanagh in 1969,
and it was unanimously recom-
mended that a Charter Revision
Commission be elected and that
the Charter be completely rewrit-
ten.
In the August 1970 primary, the
committee's recommendation was
approved and in November nine
men were elected to the commis-
sion.
Since that election, the Com-
mission has been critized for the
absence of women members. Com-
mission Chairman "Bernie" Klein
responds that although w o m e n
voters outnumber men in D e -
troit, they failed to vote for the
women who appeared on the bal-
lot.
During the past several months,
the Commission has divided itself
into committees to research the
eight basic Charter areas of con-
cern, namely culture and recrea-
tion, economic development, e n-
vironment and health, finance,
housing and urban development,
human rights and resources, pub-
lic safety and transportation.
WORKING WITH the informa-
tion gained both from their in-
depth research and the citizen's
testimony heard at the open hear-
ings, the Commissiop plans to pre-
sent definite Charter proposals for
public discussion by the spring
of 1972.
In the November 1972 general
election, the Charter Revision
Commission's proposed charter
will be submitted to the voters for
approval.
The Charter Revision Commis-
sion in Detroit is unique in i t s
community-oriented approach to
re-writing its City Charter.
Often cities hire a professional
company to analyze their charter
and regurgitate a sparkling n e w
document.
Critics of this system say it
overlooks the fact that the people
can be one of the best sources for
information and advice about
their city.
It is the people who live in the
cities. And they are the ones who
are hurt by ineffective and out-
dated government structures,
when=it hinders officials in their
work to solve city problems.
DETROIT'S CHARTER Revis-
ion Commission has not overlook-
ed the importantarole which the
community can play - in the re-
writing of their City Charter.
At the commission's first open
hearing, one young man suggested
that the commission consider de-
leting age limitations for elected
officials from the Charter, since
18-year-olds can now vote.
He also criticized the Commis-
sion for not having an 18-year-old
member.
Benj. Stanczyk, who at 24 is
the youngest commissioner, sug-
gested that a Youth Advisory
Board be. established, allowing for
the Commission to be in contact
with the opinions of Detroit youth.
ESTABLISHING A community
laison ombudsman, setting up an
office of deputy mayor and de-
ciding whether elections s h o ul d
be partisan or nonpartisan a r e
examples of the type of issues dis-
cussed at public hearings.
The commissioners are able to
see the city through the eyes of
its people, and in turn, the citi-
zens are able to learn more about
their city charter.
These opportunities are neces-
sities is a new city charter, which
will effectively speak to the needs
of a future Detroit, is to be writ-
ten.
0
01
JAMES WECHSLER
Lindsay confronts
the real issues
JOHN LINDSAY'S performance at the New York Democratic Party's
conclave in Syracuse has been acclaimed as a success in the
political reviews. But reports of the wide acceptance he apparently
won have overshadowed the substance of the speech he delivered
there. What he said, in a certain sense, makes the positive response
especially notable.
For he brashly violated many essential Scammon-Watenberg
rules of centrist caution. He argued in effect that the great issue
confronting the country in 1972 is the widening gap between the haves
and have-nots in our society and the apathy of men in high places to
new and old inequities. His remarks were titled "The Roads to Attica"
(not to be confused with a lecture on highway construction) and
their spirit was reflected in these lines:
"I speak of what we had better damn well start doing about
these roads if we want to avoid the hatred and heartache so tragically
seen this week . . . There is virtually no vital issue which will be
before the nation ,next year that is not inevitable entwined w i t h
Attica. And perhaps the greatest issue is the failure to care: that is
at the heart of our time, when all the issues dividing us four years
ago, festering, ignored by our national leadership, now bring fresh
tragedy and sorrow
"All of the work we have left
undone in America-all of the
wreckage spawned by blindness
and fear and the failure to care
-we can see in the ruins of At-
tica "
MUCH OF WHAT Lindsay
said about "the intolerable p r o-
cess of neglect and rage that sends
men to prey on innocent citizens"
was an elaboration of themes he
and others have sounded before.
But at this time and in this set-
ting, it was clearly a preview of
the ground on which he will take
his stand in the coming months.
In the aftermath of Attica,
President Nixon's hasty endorse-
ment of Gov. Rockefeller's role
obviously reflected the judgment
that Attica's bloodshed had given Mayor Lindsay
new impetus to simplistic "law-
and-order" slogans. The refusal of many Attica residents to believe
the medical examiner's report, showing that the hostages had been
shot down by the troopers along with the prisoners, epitomized the
instincts to which the Administration has so ignobly appealed.
Plainly Lindsay was reaffirming his own belief that a stunned, sad-
dened people may be ready to listen to the case for reason and human-
ity that he has been pleading during much of his mayoralty.
THIS WAS HOW he spelled out the two-level nature of a social
crisis that transforms inmates, police and guards into simultaneous
victims:
"I have walked the breeding grounds of Attica every day I have
been Mayor. I have seen the hospitals where the future inmates are
born, and where their mothers and fathers wait hours for medical
care. I have seen the schools where teachers break their hearts trying
to turn around generations of despair in the few years before the
enthusiasm and resilience of a child takes on the hard, cynical edge
of an embittered youth. I have seen the streets of rubble and filth,
the open markget for heroin, the whole intolerable process of neglect
and rage that sends men to prey on innocent citizens.
"Around this country, I have seen the policemen who struggle
against this vicious plague villified, assaulted, shot dead in c i t y
streets, yet told to protect us from the inevitable consequences of in-
difference - as though a man with a badge and a gun could by
himself compensate for what the rest of us have failed to do. I have
seen courts clogged with human lives, reduced to so many forms and
files. And I have seen correction centers that do not correct, but send
three of every four of their graduates on an endless cycle of crime
and punishment - in a nation that tries exactly one rehabilitation
worker for every 2,000 people it puts into prison.
He also talked about "hundreds of thousands of working people
for whom every day getting to and from their work is a nightmare of
heat and filth and physical danger because our laws mandate $60
billion for interstate highways and virtually nothing for mass transit
within cities and between city and suburb."
And to those who have fled the cities seeking serenity, he cites the
snread of suburban drug addiction. crime and mounting welfare rolls.
04
-Daily-Jim Judkis
Anachronisms in Detroit
Letters to, The Daily
Shah of Iran
To The Daily:
REFERENCE IS MADE to a
picture of the Shah of Iran on
skiis in Sept. 26 issue. The cap-
tion ends with a question; ')on't
we all wish we were there?
We have good reason to oelieve
that anyone who knows enough
about Iran will consider it a dis-
grace to be in the Shah's com-
pany.
The pressing problems of Iran-
ian mass-housing, food, healhh,
education, etc. have not been
touched upon even superficially
after ten years of the "White
Revolution", masterminded and
coined by the Shah in 1962.
Pleased with the "success" of
his "revolution", the Shah, Iran's
dictator for 30 years, "King of
Kings". "Light of the Aryians"
and "Shadow of the Gods" will
celebrate the legacy of 25 cen-
turies of the Iranian monarchy
October 10 thru 18 and will pro-
mote his contentions that: (1)
monarchy is the best form of gov-
ernment for Iran, and (2 ihat he
is equal to. if not greater than,
Cyrus the Great; the founder of
the Persian Empire.
The royal dictatorship in Iran
has survived by exercising re-
pressive politics and smashing
every democratic opposition at its
very birth. Medieval torture of the
A great indication of fascist prior-
ities, indeed!
Recent statistics show that the
people of Teheran, ,he capitol of
Iran, on the average coasume less
than 2.7 pounds of meat per per-
son per month. We have only
11.7 hospital beds for each 10,000
people (compared to 100-140 beds
in developed countries) and one
physician for every 3,223 patients.
Conservative government statis-
ties show very little success re-
sulting from the "revelutionary"
health plans.
The fourth development plan al-
locates $70 millions to the Minis-
try of Health as compared to "580
,millions to the Iranian armed
forces (SAVAK expenses not in-
cluded).
According to the New York
Times of July 25, 1971, our peace-
ful nation will give $2.6 billion to
western banks byv1975. This sum
is incurred due to our arms pur-
chases from the West. With over
70 per cent illiteracy, -he budget
for education is very lw. Over
50 per cent of the Iranian chil-
dren between the ages of 7 to 14
are wage earners. They work 12
hours per day for 15-20 cens par-
tially because of the unavailabili-
ty of educational facilities, but
mainly due to their destituteness.
It is under these conditions that
over 200 world dignitaries, kings
and queens, presidents and heads
of states (including Spiro '. Ag-
owners and by imposing sur-
charges on public utilities, etc.
It is because of these facts and
many more - that need more
space to be stated - that we
have no desire to join His Royal
Highness in his exotic pleasures.
We strongly disapprove of such
celebrations and oppose the royal
dictatorship'sarepressive and in-
human practices.
-The Concerned Iranian
Students
Sept. 27
Anti-war (Icities
(
To The Daily:
WE WISH TO thank Gene
Robinson and Marcia Zoslow of
the Daily staff for the fine ar-
ticles which they have written re-
cently in the Daily concerning
plans and events of the Foll Anti-
war Offensive.
There are several things we
would like to clear up, however, on
the sponsorship and origins of this
Fall's U of M campus anti-war
activities. The theme suggestion
for Homecoming "Bring all t h e
Troops HomeNew" "actually came
out of the planing of a coalition
of groups, the first of which be-
gan this summer, and the Home-
coming Theme petition drive was
carried on by one of the groups
on behalf of all the groups and
individuals working on the F a 1]
Offensive. Likewise the planning
for an Anti-war Halftime Show at
. .
4.
, :
MrNA
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