f
l4e SMiir4gn Dailit
Eighty years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
halancing teacups
The valentine as instrument of social change
ndine cohoda_
420 Maynord St., Ann Arbor, Mich
News Phone: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michipan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1971
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVE CHUDWIN
Protesting the A&P firn
l'O e 1R 1'rins
TWO YEARS AGO, the A&P store on.
Huron was forced to stop selling
California grapes when a boycott of the
store reduced its total sales 20 per cent.
Today, as the store attempts to oppress
long-haired young people, a similar ac-
tion is needed.
The store has said that unless five of
its employes cut their hair before the be-
ginning of the week, they will be fired
for violation of a company dress code
which calls for hair that is "trimmed and
combed, properly tapered above shirt col-
lar" and "not below half-way down the
forehead."
The store's managers say enforcement
of the dress code is necessary because
those currently violating it are driving
away customers. But the facts show quite
clearly that this argument is false, and
that the actual motive of the store man-
agement is a prejudice against the em-
ployes' appearance and the life style that
appearance represents.,
In the first place, at least some of the
workers being fired do not even work
when the store is open and could there-
fore not possibly have an adverse effect
on the number of customers. Further-
more, statistics show that the Huron St.
A&P is doing an excellent business.
The Huron A&P, for instance, is the
only A&P store in the entire Ann Arbor
area at which sales have increased rather
than decreased during recent months.
AS A DEFENSE, some of the workers
have begun wearing wigs from which
most of the hair has been cut. The wigs,
according to the store manager, will sub-
stitute for short hair. But this does not
really eliminate the problem at all-it
merely perpetuates it. For clearly, it is
the freedom of the workers to determine
the nature of their appearance th'at is
at stake.
The dress policy is not a new one for
the A&P. About a year ago, for instance,
the store attempted to fire one of the
same workers whose job is in question
this year. In that case, the union backed
the worker and forced the store to back
down.
Unfortunately, thesame union backing
may not be forthcoming on this occas-
ion. For the union claims that a recent
Seattle court decision upholding r e t a i 1
dealers' perogative to fire workers for the
length of their hair has undercut any
legal basis for their support.
THE ONLY way to end the, store's dis-
criminatory policy is therefore to
fight it economically, as was done during
the grape boycott. This could be done
in many ways. Most obviously, students
could cease to buy food at the A&P on
Huron St.
Such a course of action is of course
problematic because the Huron St. store
is the only food market within walking
distance of many students. Since the
store charges higher prices than most
other markets, the existence of a captive
consumer body is the only reason the
store does so well in the first place. To
circumvent this problem, students might
well organize car pools to allow them
to purchase food elsewhere.
In addition, students have been urged
by the workers under - attack to picket
the store and to encourage customers to
shop elsewhere. Finally, and most im-
mediately, the workers have called for a
peaceful protest at the store beginning at
1 p.m. today.
THE WORKERS suggest that the protest
might involve filling shopping carts,
joining check-out lines, but walking out
without actually buying the groceries. Al-
though this should be executed peace-
fully, the store must be convinced to end
its discriminatory policies. The A&P
should not make money from those whom
it will not employ.
-JIM BEATTIE
VALENTINE'S DAY as we know it is for sending cards,
candy, stuffed animals or any other kind of goodies
to the One You Love. Usually this is confined to boy
friends or girl friends, husbands or wives, aunts or uncles,
grandparents and third grade teachers. But the custom
seriously minimizes the possibilities for spreading joy and
good cheer throughout the world every Feb. 14.
Think, for example, of the local, national and inter-
national tensions that might be eased if the powers-that-
be sent valentiens to one another tomorrow.
What if the leader of Laos sent a valentine to
President Nixon? It might so something like this:
I'm at a Laos without you-what more can I say?
You make me quiver all through the day.
I've felt like this right from the start-
Face it, Dick, you've invaded my heart.
Happy Valentines Day,
Souvana Phouma
Or if President Robben Fleming sent a valentine to
FOCUS, one of the women's rights groups on campus?
I've got HEW under my skin.
I don't know where to begin,
So my funny valentine, I'll try not to sob,
But would you be mine if I give you a job?
Love,
Robben
Or if Mrs. Laird sent her husband, Secretary of Defense
Melvin, an original ditty?
I can't get no satisfaction
Until you stop protective reaction.
Bri~arwood: A
wishcs to head University negotiator James Thiry?
AFSCMIE if I love 't.
I know the question's rash.
But I could be your valentine
For the right amount of cash.
God bless our union.
Charlie
Or if the President of South Vietnam sent a valentine
to the President of the United States?
I hear you knockin'
But you can't come in
Unless I give you the Ky.
But you can't have the Ky
Till you say you'll be true
And promise to love me Thieu.
Happy Valentines Day
Nguyen Van Thieu
Or if Ann Arbor Police Chief Walter Krasny sent a
valentine to the people he has recently arrested on drug
charges?
I don't really like to bust you.
It hurts my soul a lot.
But how can I ever trust you
When your life has gone to pot?
I'd like you for my valentine,
But goodness, what's the point?
For when I send my love to you,
You'll send me back a joint.
Oh, dear .. .
Chief Krasny
So come on, Mel, get on the stick
And give my Valentine a kick,
Anxiously,
Barbara
Or if AFSCME leader Charles McCracken sent his
b igge r,
better
A rborla ndP
wS
4
By PAT MAHONEY
PROBLEM: Residents of Wash-
tenaw County are shopping at
Westland and anotherhcenter in
metropolitan Detroit. The local
sales area has lost its competitive
position. As a result, increases in
local retail sales have not kept pace
with the rise in family income and
population growth.
SOLUTION: Build a regional
shopping center in a prime location
that willaattract customers from
Jackson and Brighton as well as
Washtenaw County.
That is the formula Hudson's,
Penny's and Sears have come up
with to solve a problem they have
"discovered" in Washtenaw Coun-
ty. Near the intersection of I-94
and State Road, the three major
retailers plan to build a shopping
center, to be named Briarwood,
which will be three times the size
of Arborland.
Construction, however, is not
automatic. First the city :rust
change the current agricultural
zoning of that section to commer-
cial status before development can
begin. The Planning Commission
approved the zoning change Tues-
day by a seven to one margin. City
Council will hold its first reading
on the question next Tuesday.
Retailers backing the local pro-
ject have spared no effort to make
it a success. Over three years ago,
they hired the Taubman Corpora-
tion to analyze the proposed cen-
ter. Of course, the Taubman study
had one underlying goal. As the
first sentence points out, "The pur-
pose of this analysis is to estab-
lish the desirability of locating
a regional retail complex in the
Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area."
PROCEEDING ON this prenise,
the Taubman Corporation made
three assumptions.
-Incomes in Washtenaw have
risen faster than retail sales.
-The population of Washtenaw
County is great enough to support
Briarwood.
Arborland
The mayoral primary
MONDAY'S PRIMARY election for Ma-
yor of Ann Arbor is a typical illus-
tration of how the two-party system in
this country has alienated so many young
Americans from the electoral process.
Though students make up nearly one
quarter of the city's population not one
candidate for mayor on Monday's ballot
can be considered a "student's" candidate
in any sense.
The A n n Arbor Radical Independent
Party has entered Doug Cornell as an al-
ternative candidate for mayor. The par-
ty's platform includes programs dealing
with problems of racism, sexism, housing,
ecology and other issues of great con-
cern to both the student and street com-
munity.
But Doug Cornell's name will not ap-
pear on the ballot Monday or in April's
general election because or a state law
that clearly and effectively discourages
the formation of third parties. The law
stipulates that any new party must pre-
sent petitions signed by one per cent of
the number of votes cast statewide for
Secretary of State in the last election, in
order to be placed on the ballot.,
The effect of this law is that any party
which intends to nominate candidates for
local offices must be a statewide party.
This clearly explains why third parties
have been rare in Michigan, and it has
forced the local radical party to rely upon
a write-in campaign for the April gen-
eral election.
THE DEMOCRATIC and Republican
ranks, meanwhile, have not provided
candidates acceptable to the student
community.
i layor Robert Harris is running unop-
posed for the Democratic mayoral nomi-
nation.
Harris has attempted to appeal to both
the student community and the larger
Ann Arbor community by continually
shifting his policy approaches from lib-
eral to conservative and back again. Har-
ris demands investigations of police bru-
tality. but refunes to prosecute. He pro-
poses making marijuana povsession a mis-
Jack Garris is running on a platform
of "law and order." Garris promises that
if elected he will "help curb the commis-
sion of crime" by asking judges to set bail
bonds and impose sentences "commen-
surate with the nature of the crimes so
that they will be a deterrent to the com-
mission of further crime.
GARRIS IS THE founder and leader of
the Concerned Citizens of Ann Arbor,
a right-wing group dedicated to keeping
Ann Arbor free of undesirables. Two years
ago the group sent out letters warning
Ann Arbor citizens that the White Pan-
thers were advocating "a diabolical polit-
ical philosophy, and that rock and roll
was the medium through which t h e y
could poison and destroy the minds of
your children."
Lewis Ernst is a 64-year-old retiree who
is somewhat of an enigma in local poli-
tics. On the one hand, he is sympathetic
to students, opposes the war, and has cir-
culated petitions to end the draft. But he
also says things like "Ozone House has to
go - we have to stop drugs! Like I said
in October, we have to get Chief (Walter)
Krasny and his staff right on the ball."
Ernst speaks of appointing "specially
Designated Officers," a sort of community
vigilante group that would have the pow-
er to hold suspects until police could be
summoned. "That would chop off much
crime, and I know it," he says.
LOUIS BELCHER, who has the support
of most prominent local Republicans,
jumps on the ecology bandwagon, calling
for the formation of an Environmental
Impact Commission that would have a
role in all city planning. "It would not be
a commission providing lip service," he
says, but he adds that he would not let
the commission "interfere w i t h the
growth of Ann Arbor in any way."
In reference to the recent drug arrests
in the city, Belcher says that police should
"vigorously enforce the law e v e n if it
means raiding the communes o n c e a
week." He adds that he thinks Harris has
been restraining the police, and says if
elected he would give the police a free
hand.
-With recommended improve-
ments, the current road structare
will be adequate.
In both 1958 and 1969, county resi-
dents spent 13 per cent of their ef-
fective buying income on general
merchandise, furniture and ap-
parel (GAF) in the county. The
fact that the level of GAF buying
in Washtenaw County has remained
constant shows that growth in sales
has paralled growth in income.
Taubman claimed that "there
were some indications" from 1967
Census of Business of data for 1967
and 1969 state tax reports that re-
tail sales had increased more slow-
ly than incomes. Washtenaw Coun-
ty, however, is not a normal sales
area. Incomes here are among the
highest in the country. Last year.
the median income per household
was $13,435, up from $6,890 in cur-
rent dollars in 1960, according to
U.S. Department of Commerce. As
the incomes rise, people spend a
smaller percentage on Reneral me r-
chandise, furniture and apparel.
While underestimating local con--
sumers' use of Washtenaw County
stores, Taubman exaggerated pop-
ulation projections to support its
contention that the county popula-
tion will be great enough to support
Briarwood. From 1960 to 1970. the
annual population growth rate in
Washtenaw County was three per
cent. However, for the next decade
Taubman predicts an annual in-
crease of 4.75 per cent. The city
planning department Arbor's grow
th rate to be 3.53 per cent over the
next 20 years.
NO MATTER how much the
county grows, Briarwood will at-
tract shoppers from all over Ann
Arbor. Taubman's plans call for
road improvements only in the im-
mediate area of the center. For ex-
ample, under the plan State Road
from I-94 to Waters Road will be
widened to six lanes and Waters
'Road will become a six lane park-
way 'from State to Main.
The road changes are 1990 pro-
jections. Nothing is said in the
Taubman report about traffic jams
that might develop between 1973,
when the first stores open, and the
time when new roads are co.n-
pleted. The developer also ne-
glected to, plan for thetraffic con-
gestion likely to occur ini other
parts of Ann Arbor as large nuin-
hers of people try to reach Briar-
wood by car.
Other omissions in the Taubman
report show its bias toward the de-
veloper 's objectives of promoting
Briarwood. What will happen to the
entire downtown area if, the shop-
ping center is built? Only this year,
the city administrator's office hired
an independent group of planners to
conduct a market survey of the
Ann Arbor area and the effects
Briarwood would have on the cen-
tral business district and Washte-
naw County. Hopefully, this report
will be completed by Tuesday.
City assessor Wayne Johnson has
estimated that at the current tax
rate Ann Arbor would receive
$439,350 in taxes from Briarwood
in 1980. What both the developer
and the city have not discussed is
the possibility that Briarwood may
build a tax base in one area while
destroying it downtown.
LAST NOVEMBER, Ann Arbor
voters approved a $3 million bond
issue to improve flood control and
provide new water recreational ta-
cilities on the Huron River by cre-
ating a series of ponds. Briar-
wood's three million square toot
parking lot would threaten the
quality of water in the river and
reduce the recreational potential
of the ponds. Gasoline, cil, lead and
dangerous carbon compounds will
ruin from the parking lot into a
drain and eventually reach the
Huron River. As the runoff moves
through to drains and a creek be-
fore reaching the river, it will also
pick up sediment.
Building a parking structure in-
stead of a flat lot would substanti-
ally reduce the runoff, but it would
also be more expensive.
In addition to causing this en-
vironmental damage, Briarwood's
parking lot may be obsolete before
it is built. Between 1976 and 1980,
the construction of ten office build-
ings, 434 apartment units and a
theater is anticipated as part of
the Briarwood project. This devel-
opment will be separated from the
shopping area by the parking lot.
Such an arrangement will only im-
pede transportation in the Briar-
wood area by dividing it into
groups of buildings separated by
parking areas.
The developer anticipates that
the parking lot will eventually be
bought up for use for office and
apartment buildings at some point
in the future. However, when
asked, the City _Planning Depart-
ment could not show a single place
in the United States where this has
happened outside a central business
district.
"ONCE THE parking lots are
there, it is difficult to ehange them.
What we are getting is a shopping
cente rout of date by 20 years,"
says Mrs. Ethel Lews, the only
member of the City Planning
Commission who voted against
Briarwood. Northland's history
provides an example of what is
likely to happen at Briarwood.
Since the original shopping area
was opened in the 1950s, additional
stores, office buildings and apai t-
ments have risen on the outskirts
of the development. The size of the
parking lot surrounding the first
group of stores has not been re-
duced.
But new difficulties have become
evident. The Northland complex is
so sprawling that transportation
by foot is almost impossible. For
example, the person in an office
who wants to go out to lunch may
have to drive three miles to find
a restaurant. This reliance on cars
only adds to traffic congestion and
the need for more parking lots.
Realizing these inconveniences,
some developers are planning a
new center farther from Detroit.
"What we envision is a true re-
gional center-a spinal column with
additions radiating off the sides
and a high rise complex at the
core," says Paul Mason, whose
real estate company is developing
the new area.
"Northland," says Mason, "is a
planning abortion. It's a series of
blops. Shopping here. A hospital
there. Apartments over this way.
Blop. Blop. Blop."
IS THAT what Ann Arbor needs?
r
Letters to The Daily
Military research
To The Daily:
I WOULD LIKE to take this op-
poitunity toapplaudnthe action
taken by Michael Knox with re-
spect to his letter published in the
Daily of February 9, and to lend
support, as a faculty member of
this university, to his view that
the role of the University of Mich-
igan in war research receive a
frank and open examination. If, as
Mr. Knox claims, our university is
conducting research to perfect
weapon systems which, are being
used to kill and incapacitate hu-
mans, then we must consider our-
selves, as a community, guilty as
accessories to such crimes against
humanity. I would suggest that this
sad and evil situation has been al-
lowed to exist despite the guaran-
tees contained in the charge to the
Senate Assembly Classified Re-
search Committee that their prime
function is to repect just such re-
search support. If Michael Knox's
contentions are true then, clearly,
the members of the Classified Re-
search Committee have been dere-
lict in their duty and have failed
to uphold the trust which this un-
versity community has placed in
thet.
Several courses of action would
Classified Research Committee to
a) make public summaries of clas-
sified military research, and b) to
reject research programs designed
to provide systems whose purpose
is to kill humans. Third, those con-
cerned should insist that member-
ship on the Committee be broad-
ened to include undergraduates, as
well as graduate students, selected
by a procedure more democratic
than the careful selection process
presently used by the Committee.
THE WELL-PUBLICIZED hor-
rors which are part of our military
escapades in southeast Asia, and
elsewhere, provide ample proof
that our military-executive branch
of government will use almost any
means to squash social revolutions
which do not coincide with their
distorted foreign policy. This uni-
versity must no longer be allowed
to lend its technical expertise to
provide the death machines for
such immoral uses. If the Univer-
sity must lose the income from
such contracts in order to get out
of the death business, the ,the
choice should be clear, shouldn't
it?
-Prof. Robert E. Beyer
Department of Zoology
Feb. 12
a student must first be accepted
in LSA, and must state on their
application that they are interest-
ed in entering the Residential Col-
lege. At this point, there is a
random selection of students, the
students covering the same range
of academic interests as do the
students of LS&A. In fact, the se-
lections are made so as to deliver
the same ratio of men to women
as does LS&A. In other words, the
Residential College is merely a
distributional microcosm of LS&A.
Second, there were in the fall
term 74 teachers in the Residen-
tial College, most of these being
part time teachers and teaching
fellows. Many of these teachers al-
ready devote a good part of their
time to teach in LS&A. Hence, the
other 95 per cent of the LS&A stu-
dents have the services of nearly
all the teachers in RC.
Third. let me point out that the
Residential College is an experi-
ment in higher learning. T h e
smaller classes, pass-fail evalua-
tions, and freshman seminars are
all part of this experiment. By
existing in this medium we are
only following the guidelines set
up by LS&A.
FINALLY, allow me to invite
Mr. Scott as well as anyone else
confu~sed as to the objectives of
#1
.7 7-
_________ - ~ 2,