Sunday, November 24, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five Sunday, November 24, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five PERSPECTIVE AFTER WATERGATE On the popularity of conspiracy theories By TONY SCHWARTZ FOR YEARS, even most radi- cals had forgotten about at- tempts to pursue a conspiracy theory of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Today, more than a decade after the presi- dent's death, the tide may be shifting. And Jeff Cohen - a thin, dark haired and intense young member of the bluntly titled 'Assassination Informa-' tion Bureau' - is proof of the pudding. In fact, it has been a particularly satisfying week for the radical 23 year old and the cause he has been promoting during the last fifteen months. Cohen's theories about con- spiracies behind the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King will be appearing for the next few weeks in local underground papers including the black-oriented Michigan Chronicle, the Ann Arbor Sun and the Fifth Estate. The ba- sic idea is that the country is divided up between two major groups of power brokers, the Yankees (the eastern rich) and the Cowboys (the new western rich), who use a variety of, methods, including the under- cover use of government agen- cies like the CIA and FBI, tot force their will. They will not! stop short of assassination, ei-' ther. Cohen finds his views in1 demand and is getting increas- ing coverage from the estab- lishment (or as he calls it 'cor-i porate') media. But perhaps the most satisfy-l ing recent event was the turnout for his talk three nights ago. Cohen came to campus an un- known, and his publicity amounted to nothing more than+ token campus leafletting and a couple of small notices in the1 Daily.l NO MATTER. On what wast fittingly the eleventh eve ofc John Kennedy's assassination,l an enthusiastic crowd number-: ing over 1000 packed Rackham auditorium. That is an almost1 unheard of turnout for a po- litical event in these cynical1 times.i Over breakfast Friday Cohenl speculated that some people might have been attracted to the event as flashy entertain-i ment, others to the notion oft learning about "the biggest un-1 solved murder case of the cen- tury." But probably most im- portant, he said, it has been1 the revelations of Watergate which have made people more and more open to theories of atrocity and corruption at gov-l ernment's highest levels. l To speculate ominously about: the 'dirty tricks' of the CIA, school and immediately became even as little as five years a radical organizer there. He ago, seemed far-fetched to was kicked out for a period, most. Today Watergate has and enrolled at Michigan in the made the links between the fall of '69. He joined SDS during powerful sectors of American orientation, but lasted only society seem closer than ever. three weeks here, finding it ir- Intertwined closely with the relevant, and set out on the whole corrupt fabric of the Nix- road. on Administration, Cohen points For the last four years he has out, were such business moguls traveled and worked with radi- as Howard Hughes and BeBe cal groups around the country. Rebozo, CIA operatives like It was in August of last year, Howard Hunt and James Mc- while in New Orleans research- Cord, and FBI higher-ups in- ing a book on CIA infiltration cluding Pat Gray and Richard of the civil rights movement, Kleindienst. that he happened on Jim Gar- COHEN'S PURPOSE is to rison. make people aware of the links between Watergate and the GARRISON IS the man who string of assassinations begin- first pursued the Kennedy ning with Kennedy and includ- conspiracy theory back in the ing Martin Luther King, Bobby mid-sixties, as a rising young Kennedy and Malcolm X. "We liberal DA from New Orleans. want to radicalize people," he Called an opportunist at the says. "This is a tool to organ- time, his abortive attempt to ize people, to show them what prosecute businessman Clay the state is about. We'd like to Shaw ironically nipped a rising build a nationwide network of political career in the bud. The researchers and political acti- government, in turn, later at- vists. The police state issue will tempted to prosecute him on a be as big an issue for students gambling conspiracy scheme. as the Vietnam war was in the Cohen, who was covering the CohE sixties." latter trial for the underground nation Cohen's own path has been a press, met Garrison there. He ested peripatetic one. He grew up in gained some minor celebrity by at Bo Detroit, moved to North Farm getting an interview with Garri- of Ja ington at the beginning of high son, and in the process became the in fascinated by the Kennedy case while, He has been researching the ly on subject for the last year. a slid( 'ssWANT PEOPLE to know popuk what the government is all 'merci People's Medical Clia l d)Lbts about," he explains, "even whether anything has changed. though nothing can really hap- To "The BAM demands still have pen until there are radical contr2 not been met..The Regents are changes in the ruling structure." azine. wcbn 89.5 fm ipectacular iundayl -> 12 NOON GLOBAL VILLAGE 4:30 P.M. THE FILM EXPERIENCE host Colleen Chauvin will discuss "The Impact of Adult Films" with Professor Frank Beaver 8 P.M. THE DOO-WOPP PROGRAM Some views of an act (Continued from Page 3) ialist wing to replace our two1 the first such actions in the totally identical capitalist par- country. ties," he says. HRP's future ~i lies in broadening its base 'toy en also plans to be at a al meeting of those inter- in conspiracy, scheduled ston University at the end nuary. His associates at formation bureau, mean- continue to lecture wide- JFK's death. They give e show which Cohen calls y convincing, and is so ar it is handled by a corn- al lecture agency. ny Schwartz is a frequent bulor to the Suday Mag- host Gary de K features "The Drifters: 1953-1965" CIRAVEL MICH. UNION 763-21 CALIFORNIA SPECIAL DEC. 31-JAN. 7, 1975 _ 3 CITIES BOOK SALE ONLY $345,00 v0See Saturday's Papers vj INCLUDES: For Details of Round trip airfare on American Airlines, CENTICORE'S Huge (1 7 nights double accommodations as follows: One ay SLE 03 NIGHTS LOS ANGELES 3CfA ny 0 1 NIGHT SANTA CRUZ TA IIJL nlyl, s24.3 NIGHTS SAN FRANCISCO {) Round trip transfers between hotels and airport (nticoreBus transportation along the Pacific coast highway between L.A. and S.F. Bookshop6MYI 336 MAYNAID DEADLINE--DEC. 6 Baut nei mie Peter DLiiorenzi, took exception to violence, draw- ing the line at civil disobed- ience. "It wasn't long after the sit-in,' he says, "before laws were not being broken symboli- cally anymore, but with the in- tent of doing harm to the sys- tem. I never considered doing anything physically. My tactics were more personal. I wasn't ready to bomb things." NOW, HE SAYS, "I'm a cen- trist, I'm not much of a diA .l " H t d foi Zr ltn -- A -A.. a: I attract the sincere and dedicat- still here. So Nixon s out. Now I ed liberal who is willing to ac- we have Jerry Ford. So what." cept that the Democrats are a She believes the Movement's dead end road." most lasting legacy may be the Nissen says he's not parti- creation of a culture with alter- cularly interested n activism native lifestyles, the kinds of in the medical field. "I'll leave things that make Ann Arbar at-' that for the liberals. I'm after tractive to Martin Shackleford bigger shakeups." rte does say and Al Valusek. he will work for the Free Peo- Marnie Heyn, another former, ple's Clinic "as soon as I can member, disagrees. She says be of some help to thern," but SDS endedathendraft, and sie he emphasizes his puruitof. cites the attention John Mit- "more drastic changes." ! chell's Justice Departmant paid The University of Michigan Theatre Showcase presents The Sty of the Blind Pig by PHILLIP HAYES DEAN s Wed.-Sat., Dec. 4-7 8:00 p.m. ra a c a i r e v e a wr L iL D I'ed o f Ferency for governor because AVID FENTON, editar of he believes Ferency is "one of the Ann Arbor Sun, was the most outspoken people I also in SDS, dropping out of the know of, when you consider he Bronx High School of Science rose through the Democratic j at 17 to join the local chapter. party." After working for SDS full- . time as a Liberation News Ser- bauk tcoo, take s f aoin vice photographer, he left d~s 1 bac scho, maybe as ear illusioned in 1971. He travelled ly as this spring, and his fu:ure for some time, eventually corn seems solidly planted in town. ing to Ann Arbor. c He likes it here, because "many of the things I've become inter- it rtill bui es tha iem- ested in are far more likely to be around here." sible," but says "it's useless to even try to start it unless a AS A CONTRAST to people majority of Americans support TikeAl aluek, her ar the revolution." In the mean- like Steve Nissen, who time he says radicals "have to peoplebe very sensible, very respect- still 'consider themselves ac-bevrsnilvry spct tivists, and who plan to continue able, and very credible, the op- radical activities in the future. Ipoite of the Weatherman ap- Nissen is a medical student, proach." "Old radicals wouold'{ but he doesn't consider that the say that's reformist, he says, focus of his life. "17e;pjte the and would urge viweunce. But alleged rigors of medic.il school Fenton says, "I think he fact I've still been able to put 51 that people aren't out burning per cent plus of my energy n Bo things is a sign of progress. the being an activist." Burpin thins i man ights Party iound 1e I- There's no general agreement on the effect SDS had. Carla Lowing SDS's demise here. - Rapoport, who works w i t hI lieving that "the P~emocratic Mihe atea tteFe party is the scourge of the hu- Michael Castleman at the Free man race from top to bottom." Originally Nissen says he didn't' expect HRP to win any elec- 5th annual U- tions because "we were just' running to try to fick up Ine Democrats." But now he says "Electoral politics ain't as raci- cal on its face as sitting in and BUY O getting busted, but for my part NEW OR USED ALPIN I'm not willing to say that elec- toral politics is reformist." EQUIPMENT, CL And his strategy has changed WHERE: Former Hocke some too. "What America needs y is to create a viable social demo at Hill St. near Fingerle cratic party with a- strong soc- TO SELL: Bring items t Dec. 6, 2-9 p.m. There IS a * TO BUY: Come browse difference!!! * day, Dec. 7, 9 a.m.-8 p.r E INFO call 668-7323 or 663-4 PREPAREvOR: y Sales commission charged to he 0 over 35 years : ofR experience _ to SDS as an indicationi of its importance. And Mark (not his real name), a graduate studemt in psychology who was active in SDS as an undergraduate at Cornell, sees something else as important. "I'm not active any more, but I wouldn't say I've changed my values. None of my friends are working for Chase Manhattan or Standard Oil, or are interested in a big house in thesuburbs. None of these people believe in society, and' none of us have any regrets about what we did." GRAD STUDENTS and WORKING WOMEN meet and share your concerns with other women MON'DAY, NOV. 25 7:30 p.m.-9:00 HILLEL-1429 Hill 663-33363 ARENA THEATRE TICKETS NOW ON SALE at ticket office in Mendelssohn Lobby, 764-0450 Decide How Your Money Will Be Spent OPEN STUDENT MEETING TO WRITE FINAL DRAFT OF SGC BUDGET Mon., Nov. 25 at 7:30-11:30 p.m. 3rd Fl. Michigan Union-SGC offices Junior Year in France at Aix-en-Provence First Informational Meeting Wed.-Dec. 4, 1974-8:00 p.m. West Conference Room-RACKHAII All undergraduates interested in applying for U of M program in Aix for 1975-76 are urged to attend this meeting. U NIVE RSITY OF MICH IGA N CL E RICA LS FIRST GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING CCFAIUAW Monday, Nov. 25 7:30 p.m. Michigan Union Ballroom AGENDA: Election of Bargaining Committee Please be prepared to present some form of identification that states you are a clerical employee at the University. - - SK