OWS F 1Y LAO .. V40IWOIF BY SEA... I N I' IP i i iff4c Afr4tgan Dait-H In the European press Eighty-four years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Friday, December 6, 1974 News Phone: 764-0552 420,Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 Maximum John rides herd "MAXIMUM JOHN" SIRICA has spoken. Richard Nixon will not be appearing in this, the first Water- gate cover-up trial. He has taken a risk of reversal by an appeals Court by refusing a defense request that was not entirely unreasonable. Except for twelve ruined Christmases, why not delay the trial one insignificant month to hear the former president? Judge Sirica probably doesn't care that much . about the personal dis- comfort of his jurors, therefore he must feel that Nixon's untaped testi- mony would not be valuable enough to justify stopping the trial. Or, he could be laying a strategy guaranteed to get results. He must know any defense the de- fendant's lawyers draw up will not hinge on new Nixon verbiage. It's im- probable that on the stand, Nixon would have accepted all the blame. So if Maximum John wants to wrap this affair up by Christmas, by God, he's going to do it. And the jury had better not waste any time with that guilty verdict either, or they will face the Judge's righteous wrath. "Aren't the TODAY'S STAFF: News: Dan Biddle, Ken Fink, J u d y Ruskin, Jeff Sorenson, Jim Tobin, David Whiting Editorial Page: Marnie Heyn, Debra Hurwitz, Steve Ross Arts Page: Chris Kochmanski Phato Technician: Karen Kosmauski facts rather OBVIOUS?" he will scream at the doubtful. Nobody goes home for that famous Christian holi- day until the Watergate Three are convicted. HALDEMAN, EHRLICHMAN AND MITCHELL could be holding re- serve tickets for the tennis matches at Lompoc Prison, California, before Santa comes down a single chimney. Not that anyone would be obligated to serve any real time until all the ap- peals had failed. Some tough, conser- vative Republican judge might want to overturn John's conviction but it could take a few years. That leaves Richard Nixon plenty of time to get better and review all the tapes and documents he can find. When he is called to the stand, Nixon should be the healthiest, most Wat- ergate informed private citizen in the entire country. During the appeals, however, some official precautions should be taken. For instance, we don't want to get up in the morning to a photo of Mitchell and the Germans sipping tea with Vesco in Costa Rica. Land of the En- chanted Investor. That would mean they got a total pardon, a totally un- satisfactory ending to this mess. This isn't John Sirica's first Water- gate trial, of course, and he perform- ed admirably the last time. If he says Nixon is unnecessary this round, then let the Defense begin! -WAYNE JOHNSON The Nixon pardon As in the American press, the pardon accorded to Richard Nixon by his successor contin- ues to provoke considerable commentary and criticism in the European news media. Here are some examples of the reac- tions found in the European press: "The most powerful demo- cracy in the world, which on many occasions has showed a certain pity for the poor Euro- pean nations that haven't y e t gotten rid of the vestiges of the feudal era, today gives us a magisterial lesson in princely absolutism. There is no repub- lic on our continent which ac- cords its president a right of pardon as large and irrevocable as that which Mr. Ford has ex- ercised to the benefit of Mr. Nixon. "Mr. Nixon had a narrow es- cape, but' at the price of a new humiliation. Nixon, who hinted the day after his resignation that he could do without favor. able treatment, now seizes the perch which is offered to him to help him climb out of the abyssintowhich hs sank deep- er every day." (from Le Monde, Set. 10, Paris) "The day be became presi- dent, the mission which M r . Ford had to accomplish was very clear: reunite a peole which racial crisis, the protest era, Vietnam, and Watergate have been dividing for ten years now; and show for the country's institutions a most scrupulous respect. The (Nixon) r,ardon went against this program." (from Le Quotidien de Paris, Oct. 10) "When will America learn that "presidential gangs" are a privileged few who must be the first to give the example of integrity? Is that why cur founding fathers fled from poli- tical and religious persecution of monarchal Europe?" (Christian Joubert of Mar- seille, from a letter to the Herald Tribune) "The question arises whether in any circumstances, and wnat- ever the consequences, a man should be put above the law becausebhe is president. "The granting of the pardon to Mr. Nixon could set as terrifying a precedent as his exposure and sacking has set a good one." (from the Daily Telegraph, London) "Ford does not have it in mind to give unconditional am- nesty to Americans who oppos- ed the Vietnam war and were forced to leave their coury. But Nixon - guilty of tie Viet- nam war, Watergate, and other big crimes - shall be protect- ed, otherwise the system w'uld break down ...' (from Aftonblaet, Stockholm) President Giscard "The laziness of (French President) Giscard is beginning to provoke gossip. At the Elysee Palace, they no longer keep track of the number of audiences he has refused to grant to cabinet members and civil servants who wished to re- ceive some guidelines or simply to get their names in the paper. Giscard doesn't like to receive visitors; he hates, busy sched- ules; he wants to be able to leave the Elysee Palace when- ever he wants. And without a (secret service) escort. (from an article titled "The Lazy King" in Le Canard enchaine, Paris) Ford's economics "In the eyes of many ob- servers, Richard Nixon merely maneuvered around inflation, and economic policies had no boss. Gerald Ford was reputed to be a man of simple but straight ideas, who would adopt pure and hard attitudes that would be sufficient to do away with the inflationary mcon- ster. "The new tenant of the White House began by f'orming the commendable project of inform- ing himself about the matter and consulting the experts. At the end of his consultations, he seems to have drawn two con- clusions which aren't necessar- ily foregone: 1) There is no miracle solu- tion. Many economists think that monetary restric- tions and budgetary controls will have only a medbcre ef- fect upon the price of wheat and oil. 2) There exists a great danger of recession. This forecast was completely confirmed by the upsurge of unemployment dur- ing the month of September .. . from 5.4 per cent to 5.7 per cent." Euroeconomy "In these days of soaring in- flation, British millionaire Jim Slater advises investing in cans of baked beans. You cannot eat stock certificates or fine art, but even if the bottom falls out of the baked bean market, you won't go hungry, Mr. Slater claims. "In Aquino, a small town near Rome, grocer Antonio del Duca complains: 'People here now raise pigs and hens n their back yard. They buy their own grapes and make their own wine . . . and even manage to prepare a homemade kind of soap. 'Believe me, we're back :o a war economy like in 1943. It's come to that.' " (from an article by Fred Coleman, Associated ress- Europe, HT) Trudeau in France "Ten years have passed since the last visit of former Canadian Prime Minister Pearson, and in 1967, General DeGaulle echoed to a large crowd in Montreal the battle cry of Quebec separa- tionists: 'VIVE LE QUEBEC LIBRE!' (Long Live Free Que- bec). Franco-Canadian rela- tions have never recovered from this 'scandal.' In 1971, Mr. Schumann, then minister of foreign affairs, renewed friend- ly relations with the Ottawa government. It is now up to Mr. Trudeau, (Canadian P r i m e Minister), to reconcile any af- terthoughts which might r e - main." (Le Monde, 22 October, Paris) Cojnmentary Chile Both the Spanish magaznle Triunfo and the New York Times, among others, have re- ported that the CIA tried to spend several millionhdollars Ro support extreme right wing (i.e., neo-fascist) oposition groups in Chile, among them the National Party and its af- filiate, Patria y Libertad, a re- actionary group which openly boasts of having contributed to the military destruction of the constitutionally elected Alen- de government. An article dat- ed October 21 in the Times states that one million dollars was authorized for ontribrion to these anti-Allende groups in August, 1973, but that the mili- tary takeover the following month caused he total contribu- tion to be 50,000 dollars at most. Triunfo, in an article titled "The CIA and Chile, a dictator- ship for 11 million dollars," traces the contributions and in- volvements of the CIA in the Chilean coup, and claims that the current policy of th1e- U.S. is that ofrrestoring a kind of semi- dictatorship with a democratic front, similar to the Turkish government. yOne might interpret this in- formation as meaning that de- spite the considerable sums contributed to the downfall of Allende, the destruction of his government saved America money in more ways than one. One might further conclude that the defense of economic inter- ests in South America is a more important concern to the Amer- ican government than support- ing what was one of the few democratic regimes in L a t i n America. -PAUL O'DONNELL 23 October By TONY DUENAS OUR SUMMER is now completely over with its cans of beer, - warm breezes, topless fellas and gals, outdoor concerts and our casual- ties as well, thank God! Perhaps now the casualties wil not be on as large a scale as during the first months of Fall term. Certainly the numbers of accidents and reported claims should decrease markedly. The statistic for the stretch of pavement from Mason Hall to Waterman Gym on the Diag was up 15 per cent this year over last. In real figures, more than 239 students met their match on that bloody stretch of sidewalk. There were more serious collisions involving the faster, bigger, more powerful gear-speed bicycles than in previous semesters accordnig to these same statistics. The total collisions among 10- speeds were alarmingly high. In fact so high the B.B.B. (Busted, Broken Bicycle Club of Michigan) increased their insurance rates by an average of 35 per cent last term! The campus police reports also corrborated the fact these high-flying demons were involved in the severest accidents. The 10-bicycle pile- up last month during that unusually .warm spell was the worst in five years. Several 10-speeds were completely totaled and several persons suf- fered scraped knees, skined elbows; one vic- tim landed on his nose and is now nicknamed "pekingese". Of course, there were the usual reports of lost combs, contacts and class notes which were never recovered. Among the re- covered but unclaimed debris in the Property Division are several shoes, a tube of rubber ce- ment, a Tiny Tim autobiography, a box of Ovral, and a partial upper plate, although several "lids" were quickly reclaimed, a clerk said. THE UNTHINKING gawkers appeared to have received the worst of it, however. Invariably a gawker looking at a collision between a Schwinn and a Peugeot would run over a toe, go off to the side and into the photographers booth in front of the North Graduate library. One gawker missed a turn and ran straight into a kiosk last week. In the past, gawkers have frequently tied up all 24 lanes of sidewalk traffic going in all 24 directions causing many to be late for class. There were many pedestrians involved in ac- cidents as well, according to B.B.B. reports. One female was thrown up and into a bicycle's bas- ket and carried 67 feet before the cyclist came to a halt. He quickly turned his bike over, dumped her off to the side, and pedalled away from the scene of the accident. These hit and runs were the most prevalent types of reported accidents, statistics indicate. There were many run-over toes and a number of 'side swipes" in which the bicyclist merely turned, nooded his head and smiled back at the victim. Rear end collisions occurred with greater frequency during the hourly rush per- iods between classes. One male pedestrian re- ported being struck from behind and said the female bicyclist looked back over her shoulder and yelled as she pulled away: "Why the &A4i don't you look where you're walking!" THE WORST recorded case involving pedes- trians occurred during the first week of classes when a fresh-person suddenly stopped and stoop- ed over to tie his shoe. An oncoming pedestrian, daydreaming on the sidewalk, tripped over him, scattering clipboards, texts, slide rules, lip- stick, AMUROL diet cookies, hair rollers, and other debris across the sidewalk. Both fallen pe- destrians were subsequently run over by a bi- cyclist, who claimed he didn't see them in time and catapulted over the Natural Science glass- house, a la Evel Knievel. Another cyclist's hand- brakes failed and he swerved over to the south- west bound lane into a U-M band member car- rying his tuba home from practice. Fortunately, rescuers were able to extract the cyclist from the tuba before his brains were blown out. In variably the gawkers heading on the north-west and south-east bound lanes were distracted and caused an eight cycle pile-up on that side. One member said he lost control when his tire blew after running over a hair-curler on the pave- ,rrl,,-,a ,u.11.-ndnwxrd Ifemale wc' al~kin towa, tr him Fall crash rate thnhigher tanever THE HIGHEST claim paid by the B.B.B. to date was $375 for a victim's second vasectomy. The claimant charged that his potency had been restored after he ran into a well-endowed pedes- trian. The Ann Arbor Environmental Safety Commis- sion has started a campaign to urge bicyclists to heed rights-of-way for pedestrians and to "strap-up" for safety. Safety figures prove more cyclists go down with their bikes if they strap their feet to the pedals, their legs to the frame, and their arms onto the handle-bars. Several designs for pedestrian catchers have been submitted by the Engineering school but all have failed to pass minimum safety standards. Apparently, this is why the testing and proving grounds -have been confined to fields outside the corporate city limits. Several cases have been assigned to the Muni- cipal small claims courts. Judge I.M. Pettifog- ger II of. the 613th Court of Appeals says the dockets have been rapidly backing up even in his court. Negligence and public liability torts have been the most common cases sent to his courtroom. ONE COMPLAINANT was awarded the de- fendant's 50-yard line football ticket, his apart- ment, and his girl friend all rent-free in the big- gest judgment accorded to date. Another plain- tiff's lawyer successively got an out-of-court set- tlement of dinner at Win Schuler's, unlimited use of a Fisher portable stereo and two tokes. There is a case pending in Judge Aloysius O'Houllihan's docket where a young coed is asking for restitution from a bicyclist for "loss of af- fection'. She states her young male companion has not been the same since a head-on collision with said defendant. Many civil, public, and private groups have long urged increased enforcement of th right- to-walk laws with stiffer penalties for 20th, 30th and 50th offenders. Pedestrians have been warned to post illuminated signs both front and back with peep-holes on themselves and fluorescent bike flags in the interest of self-preservation. However, many have also taken the added pre- caution of wearing pre-World War I Bismark helmets in self-defense. Lower gear-speeds have been proposed by the B.B.B. although tandem cyclists claim this will increase energy used, slow down traffic over- all, and create worse hazards than presently exist. QUENTIN DUCKWORTH, self-proclaimed en- ergy czar, admitted this innovation would in- crease energy expenditures but would more than be made up by safer sidewalks for our walking student body. Mr. Shimano of Fuji Cycle Re- search and Development disagrees, however. He says it will mean earlier starts from home, sleep- ier, unattentive drivers, heavier traffic during pre-dawn darkness, and a fall in efficiency dur- ing the first three morning classes rather than just during the first class, as is the case now. He also feels the pile-ups could be worse during evening rush hour darkness as well. Several traffic associations feel that a better cyclist education program would be more bene- ficial to both the cyclist and pedestrian. Skidding horizontally, front-end wheelies, and peddling with greater scooping efficiency should be stressed for cyclists, one authority said. Other sources claim an educational program for pedestrians should include dodging, darting, falling gracefully, and spinning in place. With newer and faster models coming out from Japan, England and Addison there appears to be an increasing need for some type of Side- walk Safety program but none have been agreed to yet. Public officials claim the rising tide of collisions will not be stemmed until such a program is instituted. They fear that possible maiming, crippling injuries and even dropping of classes may result from a lack of such a safety program. University administration offic- ials fear the overall enrollment may drop to the detriment of the school's funding from the Lan- sing legislature, and this the administration will not tolerate! THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL Publishers-Halt Syndicate, 1974 Paul O'Donnell is a European Correspondent for The Daily, who spends most of his scholarship money sending us articles from Aix- en-Provence, France. I etters to Hart To The Daily: I WOULD like to remind you and your readers that in 1976 a the Opngt t a no ccnned The Daily that he will be defeated. How- ever, if he. decides not to run it is likely that he will be suc- ceeded by a less responsive, more conservative politician. If this concerns you, I urge you to watch for the petition 4W'F ~L