1te 3rtd an Taily
Eighty-four years of editorial freedon
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
The Joanne Little case
Up against it,
By WENDY WELLS
Southern style
Saturday, February 22, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Gino's Jr.: Motley mutant
A NEW BUILDING is gracing the
campus area. A photomat was
recently erected on South State next
to Gino's, the noted fast food em-
porium. And the much-abused cam-
pus environment has taken another
blow.
The photomat can be described
simply as an eyesore. Sitting in a
sea of concrete, it is a small, box-
like structure topped by an over-
sized roof. The garish Maize and
Blue color scheme gives the building
a remarkable resemblance to Bob
Ufer's outhouse.
The campus area has existed up
until now without a Photomat, and
doubtless could continue to do so
into the indefinite future. But the
Photomat now exists, and does so be-
cause the city of Ann Arbor willed it.
Posted on one of the windows of the
structure is a building permit, signed
and approved.
POSSIBLY BECAUSE environmen-
tal issues get a lot of attention,
people assume that the environmen-
tal movement is concerned with the
preservation of wilderness, clean wa-
ter, and open spaces. But most Amer-
icans do not live in daily contact
with fields and forests. This is an
urban country, and the environment
of the people is overwhelmingly ur-
ban.
The Photomat and Gino's are sym-
bols of recent trends that have gone
far in degrading the urban environ-
ment. .
One is reminded of Oswald Spen-
gler's "Decline of the West" when
passing Gino's. An old, attractive,
historic house was torn down to
make way for this dispensory of plas-
tic food and its newly constructed
companion, the Photomat. True, the
service is fast and the business is pro-
fitable, but no one would have
starved and the capitalist system
would have continued had Gino's
never been built.
THE FAULT, AS WAS stated be-
fore, lies with the city of Ann Ar-
bor for its consistent development
policy of preferring business over en-
vironment. If we must live in Ann
Arbor, we should make it clear to
those in power that a city is a place
to live, and not a spot to turn a few
quick bucks.
JOANNE LITTLE was the only prison-
er in the Beaufort County, N.C.
jail the night she killed the jailer trying
to rape her.
Now, charged with first degree murd-
er, she waits for her trial on death row,
in a state which still has capital punish-
ment. Because her case is riddled with
blatant sexism and racism, it has drawn
the furor of feminist and civil rights
groups across the country.
Lending national support for Little's
case is civil rights leader Julian Bond
and his Southern Anti-Poverty Law Cen-
ter, the National Organization for Wo-
men, the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, the National Alliance
Against Racism and Political Oppression
and the National Church of Christ Com-
mittee for Racial Justice.
These groups are protesting the sex-
ist/racist aura surrounding the incident
and the injustices against Little that be-
gan well before it. The local committee
in Support of Joanne Little will hold a
rally at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Bethel
A.M.E. Church, 900 Plum.
CLARENCE ALLIGOOD, a 62-y e a r-
old f a r m e r and former truck
driver was the only guard on the
midnight shift. He had been do-
ing small favors for the black woman,
- who was in jail for breaking parole
after a burglary conviction - bringing
her sandwiches after jail deadlines. Sex-
ual demands by the all-white, all-male
jailers were common, according to wo-
men who have spent time in the jail,
and since Alligood thought Little was a
prostitute, he decided she should pay
him back that evening for the amenities.
Defense attorneys say Alligood, clutch-
ing an icepick he kept in his drawer,
removed his shoes and pants outside
Little's cell and demanded "I've been
nice, now it's time you came across."
The two struggled and the 110-pound
woman stabbed the 190-pound jailer ele-
ven times before he fell, severely wound-
ed but alive.
Little gathered her clothes and fled,
hiding in the home of a sympathetic
stranger while sheriff's deputies and
their dogs scoured the country. Deputies
three times searched the house in which
she was hiding and nearly smothered
died "in the line of duty" and the media
carried stories of the 'jail-break' before
it was disclosed Alligood was found nak-
ed from the waist down with his shoes
outside the cell.
The dead jailer was a member of a
prominent local family and the grand
jury that indicted Little included several
of Alligood's relatives.
Beaufort County, where Little is to
be tried, is 40 per cent black, but the
courts call few blacks of either sex to
serve on juries. The whites in the area
hold deep-seeded Southern racist atti-
tudes towards black women, their moral-
ity, sexuality and worth. Defense attorn-
ey Jerry Paul sarcastically character-
izes the outlook of the prospective jur-
ors:
"They know a black woman can't get
raped since they're all sex maniacs any-
way, and its all right for the good ole
boys to have a little fun - in (the
juror's) mind, she should have submit-
ted."
DESPITE THE obvious impossibility
of being tried by an impartial jury of
her peers, the court has denied Little
a change of venue.
While North Carolina authorities refuse
to discuss the case, the state is expect-
ed to argue that Little lured Alligood
into the cell and then stabbed him to
death: a prostitute plying her trade to
win her freedom.
Judging from the pre-trial publicity,
the prejudices of the potential jurors and
the hostility of law enforcement agen-
cies, the state's ploy may succeed. Un-
less a chance of venue is granted
through an appellate court, Little will be
tried not on the facts of the case, but
on the sexist racist bias of southern
whites who do not recognize a woman's
right to protect herself against sexual
oppression.
THE IMAGE of the non-violent, pas-
sive woman who must submit to sexual
demands as an intrinsic component of
her role will be the standard against
which the jurors will measure Little.
Under these conditions, a guilty verdict
and a sentence of death are predictable.
Wendy Wells is a Daily staff writer.
JOANNE LITTLE: Her attorney sarcastically characterizes the outlook of the
prospective jurors as being, "They know a black woman can't get raped since
they're all sex maniacs anyway, and its all right for the good ole boys to
Keeping the facts straight
have a little fun - in (the juror's)
her when they sat on a mattress under
which she was hiding.
LITTLE CONTACTED her attorney
who convinced her to turn herself in
before county officials declared her an
"outlaw" and the legal target of any
shotgun-toting citizen who spotted her.
Little was immediately charged with
first degree murder, even though the
state medical examiner corroborates her
self-defense plea warranting a lesser
charge. The autopsy found Alligood had
recently ejaculated and discovered stab
wounds in Alligood's legs but not his
pants, suggesting his pants were not on
when he was attacked.
State law enforcement officials are
mind, she should have submitted."
thwarting all attempts for objective jus-
tice even before Little's trial begins.
For example:
0 The state refuses to hire a criminol-
ogist to re-construct the crime and pro-
vide vital testimony to Little's defense.
* The jailer's clothing and other crit-
ical evidence has been scattered among
county agencies, exacerbating attempts
by the defense to examine the materials.
Requests for establishing a safe, central
location for the evidence have been
denied.
THESE INCIDENCES are mild, how-
ever, when compared with the actions of
the press and the judiciary.
Editorials peppering the newspapers
herald Alligood as a fine citizen who
WHILE THE DAILY maintains its
position of emphatic support of
the GEO's fight for a just contract
with the University,' it must be
pointed out that both sides involved
in the negotiations have misrepre-
sented issues to their supporters in
the past two weeks and are on the
verge of betraying the trust of those
supporters.
It is fully recognized that both the
GEO leadership and the University
have axes to grind in the matter,
and that both, parties have a clear
right to rouse support for their re-
spective positions.
However, the weight of that sup-
port carries with it an additional
burden of responsibility. The crucial
issues at hand demand fair represen-
tation to the public. All factions af-
fected by the strike - graduate stu-
dents, faculty, and particularly the
undergraduates - do not deserve
to be misled given the high stakes
involved.
Both sides have on occasion
misrepresented issues concerning the
status of the strike and negotiations.
Unfortunately, whether or not the
inaccuracies were intentional doesn't
change their undesirable
consequences. Either way, the public
is swayed unfairly.
FOR EXAMPLE, the day before the
strike President Fleming appear-
ed before the faculty Senate Assem-
bly to urge that bargaining was
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Barb Cornell, Chuck Lipsitz,
Sara Rimer, Tim Schick, Curt
Smith, Jeff Sorensen, Jim Tobin
Editorial Paae: Peter Blaisdell, Paul
Haskins, Debra Hurwitz, C h e r y 1
Pilate %
Arts Paqe: David Blomquist
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
"down to the final ingredients" and
that walkouts under such circum-
stances were highly unusual and il-
logical.
Fleming's "final ingredients" in-
cluded major divisions on six re-
maining disputes. The faculty rep-
resentatives were unmoved, however,
and voted to urge the GEO to post-
pone their strike deadline for forty-
eight hours in the hope that a settle-
ment could be reached without ex-
treme action.
Even under the threat of a post-
poned strike deadline, it seems
doubtful that a settlement could
have been reached during the two
day extension. President Fleming and
the University negotiators have been
aware of the GEO's strike deadline
since October.
Certain GEO leaders, in their zeal
to build support for the walkout,
have exagerated situations to their
members.
AT THE MASS MEETING before
the strike vote, union leader Mark
Kaplan apparently perceived a threat
to the burgeoning strike momentum
when several members voiced con-
cern about the true degree of sup-
port which the powerful Teamsters'
union had pledged to the GEO. Kap-
lan leaned to the microphone and
declared, "There ain't gonna be no
truck that's gonna cross our picket
lines," and "The Teamsters have all
the trucking."
In fact, neither of these claims
were totally true. While Kanlan may
have been misinformed on the situa-
tion himself, he nevertheless had no
business presenting these imoortant
statements as undeniable facts.
Leaders of the two sides are only
jeopardizing their own positions with
distorted rhetoric. Profound distrust
can be the only result.
Letters: Silent majority ripped by 'U'
trash feeble attempts to arouse : h e
- many prejudices that students
To The Daily: may have. If this is the type .f
SOME OF THE trash that the editorials we are going t3 be
Daily accepts as legitimate edi- subjected to in the future, I'm
torial opinion prevents the sure the comic pages of other
Daily from achieving a status legitimate newspapers will at-
anything above second rate. tract much of your former read-
Wayne Johnson's editorial in the ers. At least the comics make
February 13 issue written by no attempt to tell a logical
Wayne Johnson is exactly such story, something Johnson ex-
trash. I wouldn't be surprised pects us to believe he is doing.
to find that the honorable Mr.
Johnson has trouble thinking his THE GEO needs student sup-
way through the daily comic port, and they will get i:, as
page. His logic reminds me very long as students can suc :ess-
much of Zero in the "Beetle fully ignore "zeros" like Jo'n-
Bailey" strip. son, and as long as they can
The graduate employees are weed they're way through Daily
engaged in a struggle that is editorials that make no attempt
indeed serious. Johnson's all is- to be logical.
ions to Arab money and United -Mark Pontoni, '77
Negro College Fund money are February 13
sidcswipcs
I
Burgers, roadsters
go way of the bulls
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN -
LOOSEBU\\ \
t 11 jt t"LIA jJ;i \
\\ V
i#~ /1
TRUT FUND , -'
f,
i.
I
..r
('©CAUSING A
SUJMP IN
.MPLtoYMENr ,® pRO lPINj
;5q1) ' ME AAVFTO
i
®NWATCH4WIL.
INCREA6E
HIGjHWAY'
CfNiTUC17ON 60
©IATILA
UP 1ci'.
RE
MERRILL LYNCH is still bullish on America, even
though the last time they felt that way they filmed their
television commercial in Mexico.
The older version of the revived commercial, in which a
thundering herd of bulls runs across a parcel of land
too dry to support a solitary cactus, was Richard Nixon's
favorite advertisement at one time.
However, since the American economy has gone the way
of Nixon recently, the commercial obviously needed a new
twist.
So, we are told that the Wall Streeters can offer us invest-
ment ideas for a "changing" economy.
WE SHOULD applaud their creative use of the English
language and their willingness to admit that things are not
necessarily the same as they were during the days the
economy was being propped up by a little scuffle over in
Asia.
Let's face it, we too may as well admit that things are
changing. We all can recall those happy days when change
was something we got back from our dollar enabling us to
buy Alka-Seltzers after we invaded our stomachs with those
rubber cheeseburgers we ate by the billions. But those
times are no more.
Things have not only changed, they have, as a few
purveyors of pessimism might claim, gotten worse.
Fortunately we have not yet reached the times we might
refer to as "worst." We are not yet selling apples on street-
corners, although no one has ever satisfactorily explained
in an economic sense where all the apples were coming
from, who was buying them and whether competition drove
down their price.
INSTEAD OF DEALING with fruit, we are unsuccessfully
trying to hawk overpriced roadsters to each other. One
outrage
To The Daily:
THE FEBRUARY 12, 19 7 5
Daily carried an outrageous let-
ter to the Editor signed by
Everett Ehrlich and Jerry Cap-
rio, two graduate employees
who attempt to rationalize their
scabbing on the GEO strike
with a barrage of fake leftist
prases. Ehrlich's and Caprio's
strike-breaking is a dangerous
example of what Lenin called
"infantile leftism.'
Marxists recognize that stu-
dents generally come from
"privileged" backgrounds and
are heading for "privileged"
futures. But Marxists also con-
sistently support student pro-
tests agaist their own oppres-
sion and the oppression of oth-
ers. As Lenin put it, "we must
make it our concern to direct
the thoughts of those who are
dissatisfied only with conditions
at the University, or in t hbe
Zemstvo, etc., to the idea toat
the entire political system is
worthless . . . our task is to
utilize every manifestatibn of
discontent, and to gather and
turn, to the best account every
protest, however small."
During the period of school
and "getting established,"
GSA's are subject to genuine
unemployment, genuine exploi-
tation, and often genuinely op-
pressive working conditions.
GEO was formed in reaction to
precisely these cireumstan-es,
as the GEO contract demands
demonstrate. Even after they
are out of school and establish-
ed as professionals and te;hnic-
ians, former GSA's who main-
tain some integrity will suffer
the genuine oppression ef hav-
ing to sell themselves to the
bonrgeousie in order to make
a living and having to d- the
work that capitalist society is
willing to pay for, rather than
the work they know is neejed.
STUDENTS will be drawn to
the side of the working cl ss )r
to an anti-capitalist position
only to the extent that they
themselves engage in sruggles
against specific capitalist abus-
es and come to realize that the
entire bourgeous order is at
fault.
It is of no use for Ehrlich
and Caprio to argue that suc-
cess of the GEO strike "entails
the reproduction of the society
around it" or will not work
"against the systematic class
and raising the political level
of their participants that a re-
volutionary program can ever
be achieved.
A GEO victory will make it
financially more possible for
working class and minority stu-
dents to work their way through
the U of M. Obviously ths re-
form will not alter the bour-
geois nature of the University.
But neither will the reforms
proposed by Ehrlich and Caprio.
Certainly breaking the G E C
strike will only set back t h e
struggle.
Instead of calling for scauhing
on the GEO strike, Marxists
should be calling for a unit-id
and coordinated strike of all the
unions at the University, plus
students and non-union em-
ployees, behind a program for
their common needs and the
transformation of the Univer-
sity (and ultimately socie y) i
a "truly progressive" way.
-Peter Solenberger
February 16, 1975
support
To The Daily:
AT ITS Wednesday n ig h t
meeting, the LSA Student Gov-
ernment Executive C-uncil
passed a resolution supporting
the initial six demands made
by the Third World Coa':ti n
Council. The motion read: "That
the LSA-SG express our sup-
port for the original 6 demands
of the TWCC." By roll-call vote
the motion passed 8-6. Six Aca-
demic Action Party members
on the Executive Council voted
against this motion.
While all of us are in principle
supportive of the TWCC's de-
mands, we found ourselves un-
able to support the motion be-
cause of the unsatisfactory na-
ture of the first two demands.
They were: (1) "That the
TWCC be recognized as the
sole bargaining agent to peo-
ple of color in the Unive "sity.
and (2) "That Cleopatra Lyons
be re-instated in the Nursing
School."
The AAP concern aboit the
first demand is directed :,gains;
the constitution of the TWCC it-
self. We rcognize the lWCC
represents the views of a signi-
ficant number of minority stu-
dents on this campus. However.
the TWCC is not democrari -.ly
elected by the Peonie it pro-
fesses to represent, so it cannot
claim to be the legitimate bar-
gaining agent of those ne )ie
We sympathize with the need to
establish a representative or-
,-mni e t ., armriy 4t e n
statement to the Nursing School.
However, we demand a proper
investigation of the student's
dismissal. We will support the
decision resulting from such an
investigation concerning h e r
eligibility for continued enroll-
ment in the School of Nursing.
We support the four remain-
ing original demands and hope
our position has not been mis-
construed as opposition to the
TWCC's efforts. We join in
spirit the movement to remedy
all racial and minority discrim-
inations as practiced by t h e
University Administration, and
hope for a meaningful negot-
iated settlement of the current
conflict.
Nate Fulk, Tom Hammond,
Stephanie Hazelton, K a t h y
Hunter, Rick Pattison, Jeanne
Sellnau.
--Academic Action Party
February 19
To: Michigan Daily:
WE, THE clericals of t h e
School of Social Work, have
found it difficult to continue
"business as usual" in view of
the GEO strikers who are pick-
eting the Frieze Building. We
hold the administration, not
GEO, responsible and ask for
a speedy settlement in favor of
GEO.
Deborah J. Helbig, Helen Col-
by-Bernstein, Pamela Rands,
Nola Ward, Alaine Mussett,
Joette Goudie, Nancy E. Still-
well, Emily Warren, Sue Meyer,
Carol Sulkes, Evelyn DeSmet,
Sandra Banks, Deborah Moore-
head, Penelope Frey, Sharon
Jones, Sandy Rod.
February 17
lan guage
To The Daily:
WE ARE writing to ask you,
President Fleming, to settle the
dispute with the Graduate Em-
ployees Organization.
Currently we are students at
the English Language Institute.
We have come a long way to
the United States to study Eng-
lish. Learning English is very
important for us because we
plan to attend the University.
We have (or our governments
have) paid a lot of monsy for
this course.
We hope that this problem is
solved as soon as possible.
Takako Yadomae (Japan),
William Cruz (Venezuela), Om-
aira Cruz R. (Venezuela), R. A.
Zenaidy (Saudi Arabia), F r o
Uah Rafi-Tahrni (Tran) .Tn
MMUS,
. 0
. N\l
Rk
s
.ca\J