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Eighty years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
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.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1970
NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT KRAFTOWITZ
Heroin: No easy answers
THE ADDICTION of any individual to a
drug such as heroin is not only a sad
commentary on that individual. Each
and every heroin addict is a product of a
society which openly condones drug use
to ease and obfuscate its problems.
It is hard to conceive of our lives -
or those of the rest of America's middle-
,lass - without the presence of drugs.
It is socially acceptable in our society
to use drugs to go to sleep, to wake up,
to ward off anxiety, and generally to
keep going' through the day.
In a society where the mass media urge
us to take aspirin for our aches, No-Doz
for our studying, and liquor for our highs
there should. be little wonder that youth
?has followed the lead of its elders and
just gotten stoned better, faster, and more
permanently.
PERHAPS the ultimate expression of
this social milieu is the unprecedent-
ed growth of heroin addiction across the
nation. Heroin abuse - traditionally re-
zarded as criminal!by our society - must
be seen as a medical and social prob-
lem and dealt with as such.
Certainly, the 'search-and-arrest' tac-
tics used by law enforcement agencies are
totally inadequate responses to heroin
agencies. The random arrest of heroin
users and pushers serves only to increase
the price of the drug and leads to a pro-
portional increase in crime, for an ad-
dict must often engage in criminal ac-
tivity to finance his habit.
Moreover, enforcement of narcotics laws
can lead to the death of heroin users
without stopoing the drug's spread. Po-
ice, try to arrest dealers to prevent them
from hooking more people on the drugs.
However, no number of arrests of dealers
will affect the existing demand for
heroin. When pushers are arrested former
customers quickly find other sources of
sunply.
Numerous amateurs then enter the
market to imake a fast buck by selling
what inevitably is poorly measured hero-
in, cut with anything from aspirin to
Ajax. It is more than a good bet that
the influx of unreliable dealers will lead
to an increase in fatalities.
AND WHILE the dilemma of ending
heroin addiction will never be solved
by increased law-enforcement, it a 1 s o
appears that alternatives like legaliza-
tion or restricted distribution won't solve
the desire to escape.
Heroin's illegality is responsible for
much of the fear that the very mention
of the drug creates. It's illegality is also
responsible for forcing junkies into steal-
ing and other modes of crime - in order
to support a habit which is made artifi-
cally expensive.
However, despite the merits of the as-
sertion that the underlying reason for
the popularity of drugs are their illegal-
ity, the causes of heroin abuse lie far be-
yond its value as a symbol of rebellion.
For even if the drug is legalized, the num-,
ber of addicts and part-time users will
probably increase because, as one doctor
says: "It's simply the best escape there
is."
tN AN ENVIRONMENT in which large
numbers of people seek escape
through drugs, their prohibition by law
is as effective as the liquor prohibition of
the twenties. Keeping drugs illegal clear-
Ly does not eliminate the need to escape.
Addicts and many part-time users will
testify that being high on heroin is a far
superior alternative to the straight world.
And in our society, it is difficult to try
to convince them otherwise. In a nation
which thrives on the most brutal human
emotions, telling an addict to return to
reality rings hollow.
However, there are steps which can
lead to the time when heroin is no long-
er sought out like it is now. Some pro-
osals should be adopted immediately.
Those who are already addicted should be
able to get the drug legally. Treatment
services, both in-patient and out-patient,
should be drastically expanded, offering
methadone maintenance treatment, as
well as other theraneutic approaches to
iea1 with the nsvehological problems un-
I.'vino' the addiction.
Schools especially must become more
sensitive to the conditions which lead
to drug addiction in youth. One area
which cries for attention is support for
students with disturbed family back-
zrounds. More humility and more under-
standing that answers are not easy to
come by are also required.
Cities should expand recreational fa-
2ifities which nermit nersons vulnerable
to addition to find alternate means of ex-
pression.
What is reauired, above all else, is a
thorough re-evaluation of the life-styles
of contemnorary America, out of which
this problem has emerged. Otherwise
there can be little hope that the epidemic
will not accelerate.
-JONATHAN MILLER
--HARVARD VALLANCE
Letters to The aily
Provocateurs
at Ohio State
By JAMES WECHSLER
DURING A RECENT disciplinary hearing at Ohio State University,
pictures taken by the State Highway Patrol were presented in evi-
dence. They portrayed a series of episodes on that campus last April
when black students and Women's Liberation supporters began picket-
ing several buildings.
As the demonstration proceeded, about 200 students marched on
a set of iron gates and closed them to dramatize their threat to shut
down the university unless their demands were met. State highway pa-
trolmen descended on the scene and, after a scuffle and some rock-
throwing, succeeded in reopening the gates. Sporadic clashes continued
throughout the night; National Guardsmen were summoned and about
20 students were wounded by police birdshot.
At the recent hearing a key exhibit was a photograph showing four
young men hanging from the disputed gate and pushing it closed - the
action that touched off the ensuing clashes. Under sober cross-exami-
nation by an often flamboyant barrister, William Kunstler, the patrol's
photographer admitted recognizing two of the four youths.
They were undercover agents of the Highway Patrol.
THIS REMARKABLE REVELATION, contained in a dispatch from
Columbus that was published beneath the bridge column on page 26 of
the Oct. 31 Times, is one more ominous intimation of thegrowing role
of the "agent provocateur."
The Ohio State hearing involved a black student accused of "join-
ing with others to disrupt the activities of the university." He was
eventually acquitted, perhaps partly because of the embarrassment
created by the identification of the two agents. But the questions stir-
red by the disclosure like those aroused by the activities of "Tommy the
Traveler" unveiled some months ago, are many and serious.
How extensive is the business of provocation among the infiltra-
tors? How many of the 1000 FBI men now reportedly assigned to col-
lege campuses will engage in activist agitations to camouflage their
surveillance roles? How many of the hell-raising hecklers whom Presi-
dent Nixon and Vice President Agnew encountered on their campaign
journeys were secret operatives of one sort or another who helped to
foment disturbances and aggressively participated?
Such questions were given new solemnity by the nature of the
Nixon-Agnew crusade that reached its climax in the final hours of the
campaign. For if this was a preview - or trial run - for 1972, there
should be large foreboding about the devices that may be employed to
sustain the specter of domestic peril.
To put it bluntly, Mr. Nixon's exploitation of the San Jose episode
(and what some reporters even regarded as his invitation to disorder)
suggests a readiness to inflame manifestations of violence with crude
political design. As Henry Brandon cabled the London Times, Mr. Nix-
on "did not seem scared or outraged, only triumphant" after the inci-
dent. It is not a long step from that condition to the instigation or in-
vention of anarchic upheaval by planted agents.
IF SUCH APPREHENSIONS seem obsessive or unjust, consider
what has been happening this autumn. On nearly every campus the
far-out left has been isolated and fragmented;' students have either
participated peacefully in the political process or turned away from
politics in despair.
Yet the Administration's two top figures conducted themselves as
if the nation were on the brink of a civil war precipitated by th vio-
lence of the younger generation. They have, of course, taken pains to
proclaim in each outcry that only "a few" youths are responsible for the
trouble. But this qualification is lost in the frenzy of their rhetoric,
and the President himself betrays no self-consciousness about making
a national spectacular out of what he simultaneously describes as fringe
behavior.
What he and his partner have done surely raises the possibility
of even more audacious fakery if Mr. Nixon finds himself in serious
political discomfort when his battle for reelection beghls.
And that is why the prospect of the provocateur's increasing ubi-
quitousness is becoming a clear'and present danger. This year the Ad-
ministration found itself tormented in the last phase of the campaign
by cruel economic news; the diversionary issue became rock-throwing
students. Conceivably 1972 will demand bigger distractions.
IT IS FOLLY to assert that there are no underground sects fa-
natically dreaming dreams of violence and building their nightmare
arsenals. There are small units of Weathermen and other political des-
perados who have struck recklessly - sometimes killing an innocent, as
at the University of Wisconsin, sometimes destroying themselves, as
they did on 11th St. here in New York. To deny their existence is hope-
less innocence; to apprehend them is a grim police mission. They could
not care less about who wins elections; they are volunteer Agnew allies
for whom "the worse, the better" is. basic political dogma.
But a society that seems to panic because of their. presence is
doomed. It is in the manufacture and promotion of panic that the
President - despite all his disclaimers - is so adroit. Provocateurs may
be the big secret weapon of the next 24 months.
0 New York Post
Salute to Women
Auto strike settlement
To the Daily:
AFTER VIEWING William Re-
velli's "salute" to women at Mich-
igan last Saturday, we offer the
following scenario for a possible
similar tribute to blacks ... er, ah,
Negroes in the community:
1) The band marches onto the
field, outlines an ante-bellum man-
sion, and launches into a lively
rendition of the "Tara" theme
from Gone With The Wind as Al
Wheeler, Charlie Thomas, a n d
Ezra Rowry pick cotton from a few
plants flown in from Mississippi
especially for the occasion.
2) The band forms a "Stepin
Fetchit" character while playing
selections from "Old Man River"
and "Old Black Joe"; the twirl-
ers, appropriately attired in white
gloves and black face, do some
shuffling and jiving to demon-
strate that "they" sure have rhy-
thm.
3) For the grand finale Herbert
0. Ellis is honored as Ann Ar-
bor's outstanding colored leader;
as he acknowledges the crowd's
applause with a wave of his hand,
the band plays a medley of tunes
from severalaSidney Poitier movies.
HOW UNFORTUNATE it is
that, while the society changes
around us and roles for women
and men are beingredefined, the
Michigan Band cannot match its
unquestioned musical excellence
with an appreciation of the social
realities of the day.
-Richard Barfield
-Susan Schwartz
-Jay Schmiedeskamp
-Nancy A. Baerwaldt
-Katherine Dickinson
-James Morgan
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Victor Ma-
son, a former student at the
University, is currently a grad-
uate student at U.C.L.A.)
By VICTOR MASON
Daily Guest Writer
(AMID widespread astonishment,
it has been rumored that the
University of Michigan intends to
bestow an honorary degree on
Vice-President Spiro Agnew at
this winter's mid-year commence-
ment exercises. But in a departure
from tradition, it is said the uni-
versity has decided to grant Mr.
Agnew a specially created award.
One well-informed source at Mich-
igan, who asked that his name
not be disclosed, consented to the
following exclusive interview.)
Q: Is it correct, sir, that Michi-
gan is making plans to award Vice
President Agnew an honorary de-
gree?
A: Your information is substan-
tially correct.
Q: Would you care to comment
on the nature of that award?
A: Well, there has been no little
disagreement as to what the Vice
President most deserves. As you
have no doubt heard, this will be
a citation unique in academic an-
nals, in recognition of Mr. Ag-
new's singular contributions to the
public life of this country.
Q: Has a specific ;degree been
settled upon?
A: WE'VE NARROWED the
field, but there's still a good deal
of interdepartmental bickering ov-
Impressing HEW
To the Daily:
IF WHOEVER was responsible
for thehalf time band program
last Saturday could not think of
anything better than "There is
Nothing Like a Dame", "Spinnin'
Wheel" and the strip tease theme
to commemorate one hundred
women at the Univeristy, it is
years of academic activity by
time for him, or her, to retire.
I can't believe that HEW was
impressed, either.
--Virginia Davis Nordin
Nov. 10
EnouJhz
To the Daily:
ENOUGH OF this bullshit. I am
referring to the constant articles
about the imperialistic oppressive
state. Israel. I would like to point
out to all the goddamn goyim
reading this letter that it hasn't
seemed to bother them one bit that
the 2%/z million Jews in the Soviet
Union are faced with a calculated
plan of cultural and physical
genocide. Remember that word,
genocide. The first time the world
heard it was when YOUR parents
said nothing as you say nothing
today and six million of our bre--
thren were slaughtered by the
Nazis.
Remember the word ghetto. The
first time you heard it you pro-
bably forgot that Jews invented
that word. That it was two thous-
and years of oppression and mur-
der that we have suffered that has
spawned the word ghetto. Remem-
ber this also, we will not be op-
pressed again. We have a land
where we can stand as men and
we shall never give it up. Do not
ask us to rely on your promises.
The Jewish cemeteries are filled
with the results of your promises.
Remember Auschwitz, Remember
Dachau, Remember the W a r s a w
Ghetto - Remember our martyred
fathers, "And thine eye shall not
pity: life for a life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand,
foot for foot."
-David Fauman
Nov. 10
Hi, Joe
To the Daily:
THIS MORNING I was showing
a movie in Aud. A's projection
booth. While I was operating the
projector, two maintenance men
from the University came into the
booth to see if any light bulbs
needed to be replaced. As they
were leaving one of them saw the
movie and asked what it was. (on
the screen was a long haired king
of England). I said it was the
Peasant's Revolt of 1831, to which
he then replied to his workmate
that they shouldn't show that to
those crazy kids and fill their
heads with ideas. Then as they
were walking out of the booth, he
further replied that if they ever
come around his house, he's got
a couple of shotguns and an auto-
matic waiting for them.
I couldn't believe it. Joe isn't
just at the Fifth Forum, he's in
the University, too.
--Julian Krajewski '72
Nov. 10
The Editorial Page of The
Michigan Daily is open to any-
one who wishes to submit
articles. Generally speaking, all
articles should be less than
1,000 words.
1 A'I
pA
THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT nego-
tiated by the UAW and General Mot-
ors puts the auto workers in a position
slightly better than it was before the
strike began.
The principal union gain was a return
to the unlimited cost-of-living allowance
(COLA). This allowance, pegged to the
Consumer Price Index, has been limited
for the past three years to eight cents
an hour annually. Under the new con-
tract, COLA, will be adjusted every three
months, in contrast to annual adjust-
ments in the past.
The concessions for the COLA, how-
ever, involved both the union s w a g e
demands and the '30-and-out' retirement
plan. The UAW compromised on its de-
mand for a 61.5 cents an hour wage in-
crease in the first year, settling for a 51
cent hike (26 cents of which compensates
for money lost in inflation in the last
three years), in addition to three per
cent hikes in the second and third years
of the contract.
Editorial Staff
MARTIN A. HIRSCHMAN, Editor
STUART GANNES JUDY SARASOHN
Editorial Director Managing Editor
NADINE COHODAS Feature Editor
JIM NEUBACHER Editorial Page Editor
ROB BIER........ Associate Managing Editor
LAURIE HARRIS . , Arts Editor
JUDY KAHN' Personnel Director
DANIEL ZWERDLING Magazine Editor
ROBERT CONROW .. Books Editor
JIM JUDKIS...Photography Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Dave Chuawin. Erika Hoff. Steve
The UAW had also been asking t h a t
workers receive a $500 monthly pension
after retirement with 30 years of work
for the company, regardless of age.
GM offered a $500 pension after 30
years. provided the worker was 58 years
old. The compromise was GM's offer with
the addition that in the third year of the
contract, workers may retire with t h e
$500 pension at age 56 with 30 years
service.
EVEN THESE compromised issues, how-
ever. are not insignificant. The 30
year program is still far superior to other
industry retirement plans, and may pro-
vide a model to be sought by other unions.
The wage increase, too, is one of the
largest in recent times.
The effects of the settlement on the
economy are still unknown factors. It is
certain that GM will run its plants at full
steam for a few weeks after the workers
return, thus providing workers and sup-
pliers with overtime pay, giving some
stimulus to the economy. In addition, the
automakers in general are expected to
begin stockpiling steel in anticipation of
a steelworkers strike next summer.
This increased economic activity can
be expected to alleviate the unemploy-
ment situation somewhat. However, there
is also the possibility that it will create
a temporary "artificial boom". The af-
termath of such a "boom" would again
be unemployment and probably increas-
ed inflation.
SPECULATION ON the effects of the
)ffe rs Agnew a chair to sit ons
erary Letters, or just plain old
B.U.L.L.
Q: Would you care to explain
sir, some of the motivation behind
this effort?
A: Well, as you probably know,
the Vice President's widely report-
ed reproach to this school's plan
to increase minority-group enroll-
ment through compensatory edu-
cation has caused no little bit of
soul-searching here in Ann Ar-
bor. Partly in response, we have
taken this well-intentioned criti-
cism to heart, and I am now au-
thorized to make the first public
disclosure of this university's in-
tention to establish a specially en-
dowed chair: t h e Spiro Agnew
Professorship for the Promotion
of Popular Ideas, Political Unity,
Unflagging Patriotism and a Fair
Press (SAPPO-PIPUUPFP).
Q: And has anyone been select-
ed for this prestigious position yet?
A: As I said, this is a very spec-
ial post.
Q: You don't mean-the VEEP
himself is to fill it.
A: I do.
Q: That is an honor. Then he
would be present for the official
announcement this winter and the
chair would be left until his de-
parture from public office.
A: NOT AT ALL. We would like
him to come immediately.
Q: But this is early November.
Isn't commencement just before
Christmas?
A: Yes. Six weeks should give
him plenty of time to get in a few
prerequisites. You know, basics in
government, politics, and English
grammar. Then the degree.
Q: But what's the purpose of
the chair?
A: Why, for him to sit. What
does an ordinary person usually do
with a chair? After all that ex-
haustive barnstorming this fall,
he should welcome the chance to
just sit tight for a while - and
listen to somebody else.
Q: But wouldn't he also be
teaching?
A: You might call it that, yes.
We'll work in a seminar on Gov-
ernment and Press (GAP 001) for
him, and try to get it accredited.
Q: But isn't' it rather unusual
for an official to hold down an
academic position while occupy-
ing high public office?
A: YOU MUST UNDERSTAND
these are unusual times calling
for unusual men with new ideas
and bold programs for the allevia-
tion of our chronic social and po-
litical problems.
What we need here, my young
friend (rising to the occasion), is
someone to teach the troglodytic
truants of our country's combat-
the leadership of history's most
powerful nation.
Q: Then there are certain limi-
tations on the kinds of men who
could be expected to hold down
the SAPPO-PIPUUPFP chair.
A: EXACTLY. As the represent-
ative of the common man on this
campus, the occupant of this seat
would be presumed to have the
temerity to eschew some of the
niceties attaching to those attri-
butes of scholarly distinction and
detached viewpoint that promote
the unsullied and disinterested
pursuit of knowledge and the
concomitant acquisition of wis-
dom. Thus, one of the required
texts for GAP 001 would of course
be Mr. Agnew's own rewriting of
Tom Paine's little classic, Com-
m o n Sense. Another would no
doubt be How to Succeed in Poli-
tics Without Really Trying.
Q: Can you be more specific
about some of the qualities in Mr.
Agnew that make you think his
nomination for t h i s position a
happy one?
A: Certainly. It is clear in Mr.
Agnew's use of the English lang-
uage that he has been trying to
join the intellectuals, alas, with-
out success. Tnable to join them,
(brightening) he h a s taken to
beating them, to considerable
popular acclaim.
Q: Then you're just trying to
co-opt him.
A: Perhaps you're right. But
we're dedicated to the pursuit of
truth. you know. With the Vice
'Os.~ - + ar nala n-,.iie
the florid flush of purple prose
emanating f r o m the mealy-
mouthed misfits who strut t h e
stage of political opportunism in
these tortuously turbulent times.
The VEEP has shown he can put
down the nit-picking neoisolation-
ists and t h e nattering nervous
Nellies nostalgic for t h e know-
nothing negativism of the now-
forgotten nineteen-thirties.
Q: I can understand why you're
so excited about this development
here at Michigan. But somehow
I can't help but feel there's more
to it than what you've said. Could
you elaborate further on the rea-
sons for the creation of this un-
4