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September 21, 1974 - Image 4

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1974-09-21

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I

a4e £tr IDan Daily
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

Saturday, September 21, 1974

News Phone: 764-0552

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104

The reel student hypocrites

'Dr.iJ
By GORDON ATCHESON
DR. EDWARD PIERCE came
close to pulling off the po-
litical upset of the year - so
close that for about five hours
in the middle of the night he
though he had done it.
But when he got up the next
morning the dream-come-true
had dissolved into a fleeting
hope and then became just a
cruel reminder of what might
have been.
On election night, the party
at Pierce's headquarters went
on until dawn. The emotional
enthusiasm continued to build
all evening. That's the way po-
litical victory bashes are.
Pierce went to bed around
three that morning basking in
the security that winners feel
after a job done well and suc-
cessfully.
Then a ringing telephone shat-
tered the quiet in the Pierce
house later in the day. A young
press aide told the doctor that
he had apparently lost by the

P
ierce
tantalizing, frustrating margin
of five votes.
HOWEVER, THE Ann Arbor
radical Democrat threw a real
scare into John Reuther, the
betting favorite and eventual
winner in' the August congres-
sional primary.
Five votes. If a handfull of
the 40,000 people who cast bal-
lots had voted differently,
Pierce's celebration wouldn't
have been a wake traveling in-
cognito and Reuther could sit
around for months thinking
about whyrhis juggernaut de-
railed.
But early this week, Pierce
accepted the inevitable and con-
ceded the election to Reuther
after a recount showed him
tariling by about 130 votes.
Pierce shouldn't have done
that well, all the experts said.
Too unorthodox - flakey com-
mented those who cared to can
the euphemisms.
His positions supporting un-

loses
conditional amnesty and busing
for racial integration just would
not wash with most of the
people. He didn't have the
money or the organization to
match Reuther's machine.
BUT SOMEONE listened to
the doctor's sensitive voice as
he spoke of feeding the hun-
gry, of economic justice, of
peace and harmony.
Those sentiments were not
empty rhetoric, or merely lofty
platitudestalthough perhaps vi-
sions of a world too rosey for
reality.
Pierce has tried to do what
he can to bring about the needed
change. Over five years ago he
abandoned his private practice
to found a center providing
medical care for people unable
to pay the high price physi-
cians usually exact.
Pierce's campaign began in
May. Reuther started nearly
a year before in some areas.
Working out of a small base-

topoliI
ment office on the city's north lambasti
side, Pierce and his aides map-
ped strategy for what would be In the
an up hill fight all the way. two Der
They had to battle a big Howev
bankroll, a high-octane band- much de
wagon, and maybe as tough as Piercei
anything a name - the Reu- politician
ther name. As the nephew of term on
late United Auto Workers Pres- Councila
ident Walter Reuther, the mayoral
young Democrathadthe large his occur
labor vote in his pocket.
THRUS
ULTIMATELY the little edge big-time
Reuther had here and the pock- age, Re
et of sure support there, proved thinking
too much to overcome. How- like a p
ever, for a few moments on develope
election night the picture look- sciously
ed far different. times si

I
tics,
ng the Republicans.
* * *
ir dislike for Esch, the
nocrats are united.
'er, the contrasts go
eeper than their garb.
is not a professional
n -- sure he served a
the Ann Arbor City
and ran an unsuccessful
p campaign - that's not
zpation.
ST INTO the world of
elections at a tender
euther has grown up
breathing, and living
political heavy. He has
d - probably uncon-
- the easy, some-
lick manner that char-

LAST SEPTEMBER, then Student
Council President Lee Gill told
an assembly of incoming students to
oppose the tuition hike, because they
were being ripped off. At the same
time, SGC now alleges, Lee Gill was
also ripping off students to the tune
of $16,000 and further alleges that
the two previous SGC officers, Da-
vid Shafer and Bill Jacobs were using
student funds for personal purposes.
This summer, in an unrelated in-
cident, but involving the same level
of mores, The Friends of Newsreel, a
student film group, was found to be
$10,000 in debt and the University
was considering denying them space.
George Depue, of New Morning Book-
store stated that he had no connec-
tion with Friends of Newsreel and
charged that the University was ha-
rassing the film group because of
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Cindy Hill, Sara
Rimer, Judy Ruskin, Sue Stephenson
Editorial Page: Peter Blaisdell, P a u I
Haskins, Marnie Heyn, B a r b a r a
Moore, Steve Stojic, Mark Sullivan,
Sue Wilhelm
Arts Page: Ken Fink
Photo Technician: Karen Kasmauski-

their political views. Last spring, an
organization to which I belonged or-
ganized a film benefit with Friends
of Newsreel. I made an appointment
with the same George Depue to set
a date for the benefit and determine
which films to book.
SINCE THEN, FRIENDS of Newsreel
has been denied rental space on
campus. However, it seems to be
purely for economic reasons. New
World Film Coop, a group with po-
litical views similar to those of
Friends of Newsreel, was permitted
to again show its films on campus.
These stories are related because
they are examples of graft and de-
ceit done by students. They are beau-
tiful examples of hypocrisy because
Gill and Depue have been alleged
guilty of doing what they had been
criticizing others for: graft and cov-
erup.
The main thing our generation has
criticized our parents' generation for
is hypocrisy and contradiction. Now
people of our generation are doing
the same thing. The question arises:
have we learned anything from the
mistakes of our elders?
-STEVEN ROSS

Speedy Gonzales and the
Junior G-men: Why bother?

Kelly's

folly: More wiretaps

FBI DIRECTOR Clarence Kelley has
requested "broad" wiretap powers
in order that he might deal more ef-
fectively with revolutionaries that
plant bombs. His contention is that
regular methods are inadequate to
halt the threat of bombings, which is
essentially true. The problem lies in
the fact that bomb can be planted
anytime, anywhere, by anyone that
has access to that given building or
gathering place. Hence, the problem
of restricting bombing means the
curtailment of anyone of a number
of broad freedoms.
Restrictions could be placed upon
freedom of action. This is imprac-
tical, however, considering the ubi-
quitous nature of bombs and bomb-
ing threats. Any attempt to halt the
actual "act" of placing a bomb or a
threat would require such a massive
surveillance and restriction of ac-
Editorial Staff
DANIEL BIDDLE
Editor-in-Chief
JUDY RUSKIN and REBECCA WARNERD
Managing Editors
KENNETH FINK ..... Arts Editor
MARNIE HEYN ............. Editorial Director
SUE STEPHENSON .............. Feature Editor
CINDY HILL.................. Executive Director
STAFF WRITERS: Prakash Aswani, Gordon At-
cheson, Laura Berman, Barb Cornell, Jeff Day,
Della DiPietro, William Heenan, Steve Hersh,
Jack Krost, Andrea Lilly, Mary Long, Jeff Lux-
enberg, Josephine Maircotty, Beth Nissen, Cheryl
Pilate, Sara Rimer, Stephen Selbst, Jeff Soren-
son, Paul Terwilliger.

tion that the American public would
never stand for it.
So the authorities move to destroy
the problem closer to its roots, in the
thought and planning stage.
THE MOST PERVASIVE method of
"thought" surveillance yet devis-
ed is that of "bugs" and wire taps.
These are used, supposedly, to stop
the crime before it can be committed.
This is accomplished through a care-
ful watching and inevitable subse-
quent control of the ideas of indi-
viduals. For anytime that a govern-
ment or an agent of that government
gains access to the private ideas and
thoughts of its people it also gains
the power to control those ideas.
The alleged target of the wiretaps
is "revolutionaries." The ambiguity
of this label could be easily used to
quash any political group that holds
ideas differing from those the FBI
or any other part of the administra-
tion, for that matter. Our political
freedom is too precious to be given to
the FBI over the phone.
The ridiculousness of the proposal
lies in the fact that the vast major-
ity of bomb threats come from indi-
viduals rather than organized revolu-
tionary groups. Therefore, it Is quite
likely that the reduction of bombing
threats through this kind of sur-
veillance would be insignificant.
IT IS SAD that while widespread re-
I' striction of action is implausible
in modern America, the restriction of
thought is not. Hopefully we will have
at least ten years before 1984 rolls
around.
-MARK SULLIVAN

By CINDY HILL
"A network allegedly resuonsible for distributing
all illegal amphetamine tables in this country has
been broken, Federal drug officials said last night.
(Federal Drug Enforcement Administration chief
John Bartels) said the network, which he called "a
group of interlocking conspiracies," annually flood-
ed the black market in drugs with three billion
illicit amphetamines known as 'mini bennies'."
-New York Times
Sept. 11, 1974
AND SO THE bad guys have been clapped
into the pokey, and the forces of justice
have triumphed once again in America.
At least, that was the intimation of news items
from the Associated Press, United Press In-
ternational, the New York Times and numerous
other news sources.
Indeed, the Fourth Estate sounded even fatuous
as they described the dramatic drug busts that
indicted 102 people in 11 cities.
It wasn't surprising: The FBI briefed the press
in a special session 24 hours before the bust. It
was the first time they had done so.
And so the press was obviously impressed with
the Dick Tracy style antics. All you have to do
is read their copy.
But somewhere in the intervening hoopla and
cops-and-robbers shennanigans, an important
point was missed by the press, and probably the
vast American public as well.
EVERY JUNKIE in American knows where the
bulk of American speed comes from - and it
ain't small, illegal labs in Mexico churning
"But somewhere in the inter-

vening

hoopla

and cops-and-

A 1969 study conducted by the Bureau of Nar-
cotics and Dangerous Drugs showed that 92
per cent of the illicit amphetamine and drug
market originated through legitimate manufac-
turers.
Dr. John Griffith of the Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine, an authority in the field,
said: "A few thousand tablets of (of ampheta-
mines) would supply the world medical needs
of the country. In fact, it would be possible for
the government to make and distribute the tab-
lets at very little cost. This way there would be
no outside commercial interests involved."
YET THE amphetamine industry is a multi-
hundred-million-dollar industry. In 1970, the Amer-
ican pharmaceutical industry manufactured
enough speed to provide a month's supply to ev-
ery man, woman and child in the country.
Presumably, we are to believe the drug indus-
try is unaware of these abuses, and that the
multitude of pills that annually slip through
their fingers is inadvertent.
In this light, however, Sen. Thomas Dodd's
comment seems downright malevolent: "Multi-
hundred-million dollar advertising budgets, fre-
quently the most costly ingredientin the price
of a pill, have, pill by pill, led, coaxed and se-
duced post-World II generations into the 'freak-
ed-out' drug culture."
Some claim the pharmaceutical companies are
overshooting their export quotas. The claims are
difficult to prove or disprove. The pharmaceuti-
cal companies are notorious for their tight-lipped
secrecy.
ONE FACT has been discovered: export quotas
have been found on their way back into the
states in unmarked trucks.
The government claims that the problem has
dwindled since the passage of the Controlled
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Con-
trol Act of 1970. However, many of us entered
into the Drug Age after this period.
Many of us have never seen any "homemade
stuff" in our lives.
But the little orange triangular "bennies" and
white cross tablets are more a symbol of mid-
term time at the University than the UGLI re-
serve shelves.
In 1971, an estimated 50 per cent of the more
than 12 billion standard dose amphetamine tab-
lets were diverted to the flourishing black mar-
ket.
Besides, even if the abuse has been dwindling
since 1970, it may as easily be due to diminish-
ing demand. Speed, in the drug culture, is more
or less passe. Downers are the rage. Or, as
Hunter Thompson said, speed is reserved gener-
ally for middle-aged dilletantes. The Pepsi Gen-
eration is into "anything that F....ks You Up."
SO, AT BEST, the FBI's interest in the amphet-
amine market is ill-timed. But it's truly hearten-
ing to know the government is on our side and
that they have our best interests at heart.
They sure didn't back in 1970, when the drug
control bill was under consideration.
Amphetamines became a political football back
then. The American public by and large lost that
round, but score 15 points for the pharmaceutical
industry.
Sen. Thomas Eagleton put it succinctly: "When
th chips were down, the power of the drug
companies was simply more compelling." More
compelling, that it, than the public welfare.
In fact, during the preliminary hearings be-
fore the Subcommittee on Public Health of the
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
nary a question was asked concerning illicit di-
version of drugs when major producers testified.
ONE THING'S for certain. The FBI has bust-
ed the homemade market with 10? alleged drug
kingpins arrested, and 10 laboratories closed. Now
we'll have to get all our amphetamines from
the major pharmaceutical companies.
When comedian activist Dick Gregory was in
town several weeks ago, he related an incident

Appearing at a press confer-
ence to pledge his support for
R e u t h e r after conceding,
Pierce said he "felt no re-
morse" over the narrow defeat.
"That telephonewcall hurt
like hell and then watching the
election gradually slip away
was painful," Pierce admitted.
"Now I can get back to doc-
toring though," he said a smile
cutting across his tired-looking
face.
"We lost the race but in the
long run we won because we
put forward a lot of ideals that
in the past were considered
too far out for the 2nd con-
gressional district electorate,"
Pierce added.
Sitting at the press session-
bathed in hot television lights
-Pierce and Reuther made a
classic study in contrast.
CRAGGY - FACED, w i t h
greying hair, the 44-year-old
Pierce seemed ancient when
he shook hands with the vic-
tor. And Reuther exuded that
winner's security which only
enhanced his boyish good looks.
Pierce, wearing a mock tur-
tle neck shirt, a cardigan
sweater and a conspicuously
placed Reuther button, politely
extolled the virtules of his for-
mer opponent. He wished him
the best of luck against incum-
bent Marvin Esch (R-Ann Ar-
bor) in what promises to be
a hard, close fracas.
Then the smooth Reuther -
decked out in a neat, well-
tailored suit - took his turn at

acterizes a perpetual candidate
for office.
He has a standard answer for
the standard question and a
non-commital one for the un-
anticipated quiry.
He always smiles and is
ready to shake an out-stretched
hand.
If elected, Reuther will vote
much the way Pierce would on
many very critical issues such
as cutting defense spending and
rechanneling that money to so-
cial programs.
But there would be a marked
difference in style on the House
floor. Like the good politician
he is, Reuther knows enough
not to make waves and buck
the leadership.
Pierce, instead, speaks out in
no uncertain terms. His opposi-
tion to the Vietnam War began
when that conflict was still pal-
atable to most Americans and
presumably the doctor would
not be cow-towed by the hal-
Vowed halls of the Capitol or the
icey stares of hoary House
members.
THAT'S ALL speculation, of
course. And that's all it can be
because the great political up-
set never really came to pass.
For awhile Pierce believed
it happened. That he and his
zealous staff defied the num-
bers and slew Golaith. That a
genuinely idealistic voice - not
just another "liberal" one -
might shout out "Mr. Speak-
er ..."
But then the telephone rang.

Daily Photo by KEN FINK

robbers shenanigans, an import-
ant. point was missed by the
press, and probably the vast
American public as well.
Every junkie in America knows
where the bulk of speed comes
from - and it ain't small, illegal

- si eswiipes
Richard and the Rogues
at the Clements Library
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN -

II A ~'

labs in. Mexico

churning out

Christmas trees, as apparently
'they' would have us believe."
out Christmas tress, as apparently "they" would
have us believe.
According to Federal Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration chief John Bartels, the seized am.
phetamines were made illegally in Mexico, us-
ually with amphetamine sulphate originating in
Europe, then smuggled into the country.
And thus rises a new American bogeyman: it's
not our fault we've got all these drugs, man,
it's those crazy speed freaks in Mexico and their
bathroom labs.
The real American bogey man, of course,
remains unscathed, and only the most naive of us
at this point thought the FBI would include names
like Smith, Kline, & French and Pennwalt in the
102 indictments.

RICHARD NIXON and the
constitution killers acted in
a somewhat vile, wanton and
heinous manner but they are
just the latest in a long line of
American scoundrels, rascals
and rapscallions.
Like every other nation the
United States has a seamier
side of its history salted with
scalawags whose exploits are
sure to send shivers down even
the most blase of backbones.
Some such malefactors were
featured at the Clements Li-
brary's recently concluded pre-
sentation entitled "Rogues in
American History, 1510-1865."
Take for instance an infamous
resident of the first state to
ratify the constitution:
"FOR PURE viciousness,
few of early America's crimi-
nals could match the diabolical
Patty Cannon of Sussex County,
Delaware. In company with her
family of vicious criminal she
used her tavern situated con-
veniently on the Delaware-
Maryland border, as a front
for a career of kidnapping and
murder," the display main-
tained.
It seems that Patty had the
rather nasty habit of kidnap-
ping free blacks in order to
sell them into slaveryrand of
murdering slave traders she
dealt with who possessed loose
tongues. "Patty is reputed to

fore -he could be brought to
trial.
AMERICAN voters by no
means made their first mistake
in 1972. Take for example the
political and criminal career
of the following Californian, as
related by the library.
"While town marshall in Ne-
vada City, California, in the
1850's, Henry Plummer mur-
dered a man with whose wife
he was romantically involved.
He was convicted but not sent
to prison. Between 1861 and his
death in 1864, Plummer estab-
lished a legendary record of
seduction, rowdiness, murder
and jail-breaking in Washing-
ton and Idaho.
"Elected sheriff of Mannack,
Montana, in 1862, he and his
gang terrorized the entire ter-
ritory, murdering over 100 per-
sons within months. He was
captured and hanged by a com-
mittee of vigilantes."
IN PLUMMER'S case disaf-
fected voters held their own
kind of impeachment inquiry.
There were others, of course,
like William Walker, who with
the help of rebels and an Amer-
ican shipping company had
himself inaugurated as presi-
dent of Nicaragua in 1856.
His career sounds like a
scenario dreamed up by the
Committee to Re-Elect the

f

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