Ely ir 4 ipun Datll Eighty-one years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan futures past Behind the classified research conflict by dave ehuwin - 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 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. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1971 NIGHT EDITOR: HESTER PULLING Amchiitka: Playing with fire THERE WAS a certain lack of justice in Sunday morning's headlines. "N-Blast A Success." A success, be- cause we hammered the earth's crust in an earthquake zone with the force of five million tons of TNT - and got away with it. "U.S. triggers bomb test without serious effects." Without serious effects, because no radiation appeared to leak to the sur- face immediately, although leakage could occur any time in the future. Nothing went wrong, at least nothing we could point to right away - no earth- quake, no tidal wave. Then what was that strange feeling lingering in our minds at 5:01 Saturday afternoon, one minute after the Atomic Energy Commission de- tonated its massive nuclear warhead? It was not disappointment that taint- onspiracy A DASTARDLY plot has been discovered among wild-eyed madmen - people even more dangerous than the Berrigans, Angela Davis, and the dozens of "con-, spirators" locked into jail on weak charg- es, in order to get them off the streets. Where the ordinary extremists o n 1 y intend to subvert sections of one nation --these people intend to blow up the world. And so we urge an indictment of the "Conspiracy Government" - on the evi- dence of the Amchitka test - for they possess the intent and the weapons to eventually destroy the earth. -MAYNARD ed our sighs of relief. How could we be disappointed at the absence of a disaster? Nonetheless, the sense pervaded that something shoud have happened, t h a t our escape from punishment was unde- served. There was a certain sense of in- justice in those headlines boasting of suc- cess. SHAKING OUR heads, we're faced with countless questions. Who did, we ex- pect to applaud this latest flexing of our nuclear muscle? Japan, because we didn't engulf it with a massive tidal wave? Can- ada, because an earthquake didn't shake its shores after all? Did we hope to awe other countries by our disregard of internal and external outcry, to impress the people of the third world, who are more concerned with food than with bombs? The government met these questions with only one answer - national secur- ity - as if prolonging the arms race will make us more secure than a strict ban on all these carriers of megaton murder. When a child plays with fire, he usually gets burned. And that pain will keep him from the temptation of brighter, hotter flames. We played with fire Saturday - as we have played 520 times since a now-primi- tive bomb exploded in the desert of New Mexico in 1945. And we didn't get burned - this time. A mixed blessing, indeed, for without that pain, can we ever learn not to play with fire again? -LARRY LEMPERT Associate Managing Editor A S THE POWERS that be with- in the University grapple with the question of a new policy on classified research, there's moie beneath the surface than meets the eye. A whole series of Machievellian maneuvers by forces opposed to and in favor of classified research was triggered by the vote of the Senate Assembly, the faculty re- presentative body, to recommend to the Regents that the Univer- sity generally bar research the re- sults of which cannot be publish- ed. While not much has been hap- pening in public since the vote, behind the scenes there have been moves to overrule the Assembly action, attempts by both sides to influence key decision makers. confidential reports plus a lot of private meetings andquiet poli- ticing. As news of these events filter out, the elements that might lead to the denouement of the con- troversy are slowly becoming more apparent. These center around the faculty, President Robben Flem- ing and the Regents. Within the faculty, despite the overwhelming Senate Assembly ac- tion, there is vehement opposition to further restrictions on classified research on the part of a small, but influential, minority. The opposition, which is center- ed in the engineering college, seems to be using three strategies to either defeat or delay adoption of the Senate Assembly policy. FIRST, LAST Friday, t h r e e 4 Pres. Fleming year to 18 months duration of the contracts. To postpone an early cutoff of contracts, the engineering college, has sent a resolution to Fleming asking for time to study the ef- fects of the proposed policy on the college's operation, despite the fact that they have had several weeks already for such a study. Furthermore, opponents of the Assembly policy are demanding that the question of classified re- search and proprietary research- projects done for industrial firms -be considered together. Assembly members point out that the two are separate questions V.P. Norman V.P. Smith Dean Van Wylen Fleming, under pressure from both sides, will shortly release a statement, and the infor- mation section is expected to oppose the As- sembly policy on the grounds that the Univer- sity would lose a significant amount of money. Nixon s nominees and the law WV HAVE BEEN told by our president that the men nominated for t w o open positions on the Supreme Court have impeccable credentials. One is the president's "lawyer's lawyer," as Nixon puts it, while the other is a former presi- dent of the American Bar Association. But who are the men behind the legal facades? Does their confirmation have any implications for the American people as a whole? THE ELDER Nixon appointee, Virginian Lewis Powell, is one of the wealthiest men ever nominated to the Supreme Court. He owns shares in 30 corpora- tions, amounting to well over $1 mil- lion. These include such diverse holdings as General Electric and Xerox, Standard Oil of New Jersey and International Business Machines, Phillip Morris and International Telephone and Telegraph, Sperry and Hutchinson, in which Pow- ell owns over $300,000 of stock, came be- fore the court as recently as last year. We know that a justice is supposed to disqualify himself in cases involving his own financial interests - but what does this stock ownership bode of Powell's overall political outlook? Can one expect him to be unsympathetic with the inter- ests of other stockholders? What kind of attitude will he take on the constitu- tionality of the wage freeze, a case he might very well have jurisdiction over? Generally, what stance will he take in cases involving business and labor? It should be obvious what that stance will be. Powell, commenting on the arrest of 12,000 anti-war protesters in the nation's capital last May, says that, "The vast majority of those arrested were released. as evidence adequate to convict a parti- cular individual is almost impossible to obtain in a faceless mob." In other words, the 'mob' as a whole is guilty, and never mind the rights of each individual. The 'mob' has to be lock- ed up en masse, and later we can worry about whether this act can be justified legally. - "America is not a repressive society," says Powell, adding that "There is in turn no significant threat to individual freedom in this country by law enforce- ment." When hundreds of people are held in prison simply because they cannot afford to pay their way out, w h e n tens of prisoners are murdered because they demand basic humandecency, and when espionage and spying of citizens grows unchecked, Powell gleefully points to the Left as "the greatest danger to human liberty in America." DOES THE OTHER nominee, William Rehnquist, promise 'us better t h a n Powell? What has his stance been on questions involving civil liberties? When the Phoenix City Council was considering an ordinance in 1964 to make all establishments serve everyone regard- less of race or national origin, Rehnquist opposed it in the name of individual lib- erty.. Writing on a move to eradicate de facto segregation in Phoenix schools, R e h n- quist said, "The school's job is to educate children. They should not be saddled with a task of fostering social change which may lessen their ability to perform their primary job." The law is an objective force, which need not and should not concern itself with "the task of fostering social change." What does it matter to Rehnquist t h a t thousands of black children receive mis- educations even he would frown upon? Rehnquist also said that, "We are no more dedicated to an 'integrated' society than we are to a 'segregated' society. We are instead dedicated to a free society, in which each man is equal before the law, but in which each man is accorded a maximum amount of freedom of choice in his individual activities." WE WILL HAVE to agree with Rehn- quist's pronouncement that all peo- ple are equal before the law. T h e weal- thy white man with a feather bed in a warm house and the poor vagrant are equally prohibited from finding a place to sleep under a bridge. The law is neutral in either case, But, says Rehnquist, there are some times when even this neutral law must be suspended - such as during 1 a s t May's anti-war protest in the capitol. Po- lice officials "have the authority to de- tain individuals during the period of an emergency without being required to bring them before a committing magis- trate and filing charges against them." The statements of Rehnquist and Pow- ell speak for themselves. Neither has much concern for the basic freedoms pro- vided in the Constitution, and both have been vigorous opponents even of mild civil rights legislation. But these men must not be condemn- ed personally; they are simply represen- tatives of the highest echelon of our legal system. As members of the highest court in the land, they will surely allow wire- tapping, further extended rights of the professors engaged in classified research filed a request to appeal the Assembly vote for "the con- sideration and review" of the Uni- versity Senate - composed of all faculty members and some librar- ians and research assistants. This move is unprecedented since the full Senate rarely meets and then only for ceremonial functions. By trying to pack the meeting of the Senate, scheduled for Nov. 22, opponents of the Assembly ac- tion hope to overrule or emascu- late the Assembly resolution. Be- cause of the exact wording of the request by the three professors, it would take a two-thirds vote of the Senate to overrule the action of Assembly, its representative unit. To counter this move, support- ers of the Assembly policy hope to conduct a "get out the vote" cam- paign to urge those faculty mem- bers on their side to attend the usually deserted Senate meeting. In addition, there is a provision in the Senate rules for a mail vote of the entire faculty. Both sides could use this provision if they see themselves going down to de- feat,tbut no one is sure what the result would be. THE SECOND strategy employ- ed by the opponents is to delay a decision on the matter for several months. In the meantime, t h e University is receiving millions of dollars in new and renewed con- tracts for classified research that would keep secret research here going at the same level for the involving different principles and conditions and policies concerning each should be discussed separ- ately. To this end, an Assembly committee is studying proprietary research, but the committee will not finish its report for several weeks and Assembly action on it could take months. THE FINAL effort by support- ers of classified research is to in- fluence important University of- ficials to kill or drastically modify the Assembly policy. President Fleming, the Regents, and some of the deans have been the targets of a persuasion cam- paignrbythose in favor of classi- fied research both by mail and in person. In this effort they have out- spoken allies in engineering college Dean Gordon VanWylen, Vice President for Research A. Geof- frey Norman and Vice President for Academic Affairs Allan Smith, among others. Each of these men is influential with Fleming and provide him with much of the information he has on the subject; each is vehe- mently against the adoption of the Assembly restrictions on class- ified research Supporters of Assembly's action, however, have also been active in discussing the subject with Flem- ing and others. Some key deans, department chairmen, and highly- respected faculty members are op- ponents of classified research and presumably will make their views known. Other expressions of support for restricting classified research will probably be expressed at a -ublic forum before the Regents rched- uled for Nov. 18. In the meantime, the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) Assembly's ex - ecutive unit, privately met w i t h Fleming last week to push t h e Assembly resolution. Psychology Prof. Warren Norm- an, SACUA chairman, has also reportedly discussed the question, apparently unsuccessfully, w ith engineering college representatives The man caught in the middle of this faculty wrangling isdFlem- ing, and for good reason. His views on controversial questions carry significant weight with the Regents end may be the deciding factor when the matter is brought before them. UNDER PRESSURE from both sides, Fleming is still hopeful "the issue will be handled satisfactor- ily to the great majority on cam- pus." He met. privately with his vice presidents to discuss the ques- tion last week. Fleming himself has mixed feel- ings about the whole classified re- search issue. While he believes the freedom to publish is quite im- portant, he quickly dismisses ar- guments concerning the military aspects of classified research as "no basis on which to make a policy decision." On the other hand, Fleming is a skilled politician and realiz- es that it would be dangerous for him to buck the majority of fa- culty members and students who either through their representa- tives or in a referendum have in- dicated opposition to classified re- search. Sources who have heard Flem- ing on the subject are of mixed opinion as to what his views on Assembly policy are. The answer, however, will probably come later this week or early next when Fleming will release a statement on the subject. The first part of this statement, according to Fleming, will contain previously confidential informa- tion on how much implementation of the Assembly policy would cost the University. Believed to be prepared by Smith and Norman's office, the informa- tion section is expected to oppose the Assembly policy on the grounds that the University would lose a significant amount of money, es- pecially in the form of govern- ment reimbursement for indirect costs of research. THE SECOND PART will con- tain Fleming's own questions Concerning the truth o Taylor's testimony By BRIAN SPEARS The author is a former member of Student Government Council and an organizer of the People's Peace Treaty Conference last winter. BRAD TAYLOR, a member of Student Government Council, testified before the House Internal Security Committee (HISC) on July 14 and 15. His testimony concerned the Student and Youth Conference on a Peoples Peace, held in Ann Arbor last February. He presented to the Committee volumes of "facts" about the speeches, the people; the literature, the decorations, and the conversations of the Confer- ence. Because of his "testimony" he is now the subject of .a recall campaign. The campaign involves a number of issues. One of the most im- portant issues is that of Taylor's aid to the subversive HISC. Last May and July, the HISC carried out investigations into anti-war or- ganizations, and the Peoples Peace Treaty. HISC is the direct descen- dant of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). HUAC became famous in the 1950's through the action of such men as Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon, who helped generate a red scare of witch-hunt proportions throughout our society. about the Senate Assembly resolu- tion. The best guess is that Flem- ing, an arbitrator by profession, will support some compromise ver- sion of the Assembly plan. There is speculation that Flem- ing will do this by proposing eith- er wider loopholes in the Assembly resolution or delaying the effec- tive date of the policy until chang- es have been made in the status of University laboratories engag- ed in classified research. Whatever the content of Flem- ing's statement - his views will serve as a basis for further nego- tiations among the faculty with the Regents, who ultimately Have the authority to make any chang- es on classified research policies. The Regents first public oppor- tunity to enter the controversy will be at the public forum on Nov. 18. However, the issue has come up in a related way several times over the last few years as the Regents have privately dis- cussed with Fleming the future of Willow Run Laboratories, the home of most of the University's classified research. In public, the Regents d e n y much knowledge about the con- troversy, waiting for the faculty and Fleming to make their opin- ions known. They are expected to discuss the question privately at their monthly November meeting, but Fleming discounts the po s- sibility of any public debate by the Regents before December at the earliest. With a clear majority of the Board either liberal or moderate, the Regents would likely approve changes in policy endorsed by Fleming and the faculty if the negotiation process is kept low key and without an anti-military theme. -41 HE USED HIS opportunity be- fore the committee to make false and misleading statements, pro- tected by the fact that laws against perjury do not apply to "testimony" in Congress. He charged that I placed the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam on the stage of Hill. Aud. Taylor's testimony was a fabrication, clear and simple. And Taylor's testimony directly and senselessly undermined the security of Robert Williams, a black teacher in the Chinese Stu- dies Dept. Williams, a former NAACP organizer, still faces pos- sible extradition to North Caro- lina. The more adverse publicity directedagainst him, the greater the chance he will be returned to North Carolina. Taylor made par- ticular mention - and false men- tion - of Williams in his testi- mony. He claimed that Williams conference, when in fact Williams 0; AO Brad Taylor M was booed when he spoke at the received an ovation. Letters to The Daily TAYLOR HAS EXPOSED HIMSELF as the opposite of a person who wishes to insure the rights and independence of students. He allowed himself to play with the lives and rights of others. Another issue involves the effect of Taylor's action on the work- ings of Student Government Council. SGC always consists of people of differing political philosophies. In order for SGC to remain a vital organization, the members of SGC must act in ways which bring the political issues they face to the student body. Brad Taylor's use of HISC to attack anti-war SGC members is an example of the politics of competition and destruction. That kind of political activity will result in an embittered and torn SGC. THE RECALL CAMPAIGN has brought to the fore the issue of Taylor's effect on the Peoples Peace Treaty. Taylor "testified" on the National Student and Youth Conference on the Peoples Peace Treaty. The students of the University ratified a Peace Treaty referendum last spring. The Peoples Peace Treaty was subject to governmental attack from the time of the Conference in February until the HISC investi- gations this summer. The committee had its own investigator collect information about the Conference. And later it called on Brad Taylor to add to its collection of miscellaneous allegations. The question now becomes-will an electorate which supports the Peoples Peace Treaty allow itself to be represented by a student who aids the govern- ment campaign against it. WITHIN THE PRESENT STRUCTURE of SGC, the obvious and legitimate response to Brad Taylor is a recall campaign. Schenk To The Daily: IT WAS WITH an acute sen- sation of nausea that I read Sun- day's profile of "Becca" Schenk. It is becominkyincreasingly o b - vious that today's campus poobah enters into campus politics pri- marily for the sake of his or her self-image. Miss Schenk's exag- gerated sense of her own import- see you and those of your ilk as the conceited prigs you really are, -Patrick McLain '72 Nov. 1 Income tax To The Daily: I WAS GREATLY disappointed at the Human Rights Party's re- cent statement of the opposition to the prononed city irnmetax. parties never think of. In t h i s case, they propose a lobbying ef- fort to remove the state prohibi- tion of a progressive income tax being passed in a Michigan city Apparently they are aware that such efforts are being carried on by the city's Democrats. They are also naive to think that such ac- tipn will be imminently rewarded. Optimistic observers feel that the