ZONING PLAN UNSOUND See Editorial Page ,1: r e Eighty-Three Years of Editorial Freedom A6F :43 a t I# SHOWERY High-49 Low-30 See Today for detail. Vol. LXXXIV, No. 49 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, November 1, 1973 Ten Cents Ten Pages rYCU SEENESHPPE CL' County appeals ruling Washtenaw County has begun an appeal of a ruling made earlier -this month by the State Tax Commission that would force all county jurisdictions-including Ann Arbor-to raise property valuations. A hike in the valua- tions would cause a sizeable increase in local property taxes, amounting to a 5 per cent increase here. The Tax Commission ruled earlier that property assessments in the county are uniformly low. " Cox dismissal legal? University law Prof. Joseph Vining contends in a recent paper that the firing of special Watergate Prose- cutor Archibold Cox by Acting Attorey General Robert Bork may not have been legal. Vining argues that federal statutes give only the attorney general power to fire such a prosecutor, and do not give that power to an acting attorney general. Vining suggests that the best way to go about the Watergate investigation is to assume that Cox "has never been dismissed by anyone with authority to do so," and that Cox remains special prosecutor. Bon voyage... The crowd on S. State got a little Halloween treat yesterday when Dick Purtan, a disc jockey from WXYZ in Detroit, came to emcee the prize drawing in the Mr. Tony's contest. Purtan called the drawing "the highlight of my career, except for the drawing I did at the Detroit, House of Corrections." The winner, John Fetser, received a free eight-day trip to the Bahamas. Bon voyage.. 0 Happenings . . . include an organizational meeting for the new campus-wide Hawaiian students' group. All interested Hawaiians are invited to meet tonight at 8 in Rm. 4202 of the Union . . . there will be a poetry reading by Carolyn Kizer in Aud. 4 of the MLB at 4:10 p.m. . . . tonight is international night at the League Cafeteria. This week, food from the British Isles is featured, from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. , .. South Quad Films is showing M*A*S*H in Dining Rm. 2 of South Quad at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. . . . and there will be an introductory lecture on transcendental meditation tonight at 8 in the Multipurpose Rm. of the UGLI. . . . the Hungarian Language Society meets tonight at 8 in the Union As- sembly Hall. O Oops! In our Thursday, Oct. 25 issue, we quoted Milwaukee Journal cartoonist -Bill Sanders as saying that Nixon turned over the Watergatetapes to Judge Sirica because he faced "death or impeachment." The quotation should have read that Nixon was faced with "doing that (turning over the tapes) or impeachment." Nixjon to regulate fuel The Nixon administration is preparing legislative proposals for nationwide fuel-saving, but does not favor the kind of mandatory rationing suggested by Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-Wash.). According to sources, the plan when finalized will give the President "flexi- bility" in deciding when and where to ration fuel. s Brush fire controlled Los Angeles fire fighters appeared to be gaining the upper hand yesterday against a fierce brush fire that drove hundreds of persons from their canyon homes on the outskirts of the city. Although 700 homes have been evacuated, none has yet been damaged by the 1,700-acre fire. Billowing clouds of black smoke from the blaze are currently visible throughout most of metropolitan Los Angeles. 0 Comptroller hits sexism The comptroller of the currency, James Smith, said yesterday his agency would support legislation to outlaw discrimination by sex and marital status in the granting of loans. He said a recent study indicated widespread sexism in the granting of loans to both single and married women. Ile said his agency has the power to enforce anti-discrimination legislation. On the inside .. . ...The Arts Page features a review of Tuesday night's Edgar Winter concert . . . the Editorial Page features an article by Jonathan Kline on student input in LSA decision-making . . . and the Sports Pages will feature a story on the man who makes the game films for Bo. 0 Tuition By DAN BIDDLE Described by Student Government Council dent Lee Gill as "the rumblings of soniethin might be big" the tuition strike seems to have g to almost a complete halt just two months aft inception. Called to protest the massive 24 per centI hike levied over the summer, the strike att a great deal of publicity in its first few w enough to force top University administrators and publicly explain the rationale behind the boost in fees. SINCE THAT TIME, however, student apat] White strike ies; questions linger the University's refusal to comment on the strike's effect have combined to dig the fledging movement's political grave. Though the student strike appears to have died a quiet death, it has sparked a new, serious movement among the University's teaching fellows who may wind up organizing a strike of their own. And in the strike's wake, a number of key financial ques- tions remain unanswered. The Student Action Committee (SAC), which had earlier taken a key role in organizing the strike, recently issued a leaflet declaring, "The Tuition Strike Continues," but one SAC steering committee member has admitted, "There isn't much left of the strike. We're really at a point where we don't know what to do." STUDENT GOVERNMENT COUNCIL, the group that kicked off the strike in early September, has not taken any official aption on the tuition issue for nearly a month. Several boxes of unused "Don't Pay Tuition" leaflets still sit idly in an SGC office. "Unfortunately, the thing has become a failure," admits Gill. "We did what we could, but students just wouldn't pick up the ball." University officials have repeatedly refused to indicate whether the movement to withhold Septem- ber tuition payments in protest of the massive fee hike has had any effect on the University's budget, as strike organizers hoped it would. SGC CLAIMED TO have gathered some 6,000 sig- natures pledging refusal to pay the September fee assessment. But the number of students who have or haven't paid is a well-kept University secret. "That information isn't available, it hasn't been compiled yet," a Student Accounts Office staffer told The Daily yesterday. "And if it has been compiled, it is not public." Vice President for Academic Affairs Allan Smith pleaded ignorance on the topic of tuition payments See TUITION, Page 10 crucial House claims two Watergate tapes never existed Error attributed to system malfunction By AP and Reuter WASHINGTON - White House lawyer Fred Buzhardt yes- terday claimed two key Watergate tapes that could shed light on President Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover-up never existed. Buzhardt told U. S. District Court Judge John Sirica there is no recording of what former Atty. Gen. John Mitchell told Nixon in their first reported conversation following the Water- gate break-in, nor of a meeting in which Nixon allegedly ad- mitted to John Dean that he discussed an offer of clemency as part of the Watergate cover-up. BUZHARDT SAID Mitchell's four-minute talk with Nixon on June 20, 1972 had been made on a telephone extention without a recording de- AP Photo THE PRESSURES OF war and peace are reflected in the faces of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister Golda Meir. Soon after this picture was taken, Meir flew to the United States for talks with President Nixon concerning a Middle East settlement. Sadat defines conditions Mideast peace settlemen By AP and Reuter the peace table to negotiate a per- sure Israel into making excessive head of Al Fa President Anwar Sadat yesterday manent settlement in the wake of concessions at the bargaining table. estinian organ spelled out Egypt's terms for Mid- the October war. the movement dIe East peace talks and said an Most of that activity was coming FINALLY SECRETARY of State hold of a new essential precondition was an Is- from Washington where President Henry Kissinger announced plans quire an histo raeli withdrawal to lines they oc- Nixon met with Egyptian Foreign for a major tour of the Mideast. cupied at the Oct. 22 ceasefire. Minister Ishmael Fahmy to discuss Kissinger is expected to hold talks THE PALE1 If the Israelis failed to withdraw ways of strengthening the still- in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Saudia has been oppo to these positions on the western shaky Mideast ceasefire. Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. of a Palestini bank of the Suez Canal he would Later in the day Israeli Prime On the international front, a the 25 year d allow his military forces to deal Minister Golda Meir arrived in Beirut newspaper, Al Moharrer, an- east. A reve with the situation, he told a Cairo Washington for her scheduled talks nounced yesterday that the com- could pave the press conference. today with the President. Meir's mand of the Palestinian guerrilla tiation. visit, which was announced sud- movement may be retreating from SADAT'S WARNING came amid denly Tuesday is seen here as a their opposition to the existence of In his news a flurry of diplomatic effort aimed reflection of Israeli concern that a separate Palestinian states. day, his first at bringing Israel and Egypt to the United States will try to pres- The paper quoted Yasir Arafat, rather ambigi regards to the P ick fl ,, On the one 1 Pikeer 7or riskmita Hother, he said hear what Dr. c when he visits SADAT STF "fwas unable to C presenceof I + the canal. y "I told Nixc stores.See By CHIP SINCLAIR " 0 A small group of protestors rV IS carrying signs and chanting slogans picketed Fiegel's Clothing Stor-, on S Main St yesterday urging peo- ple to boycott Farah Slacks end the stores that sell them. ;:: Other groups demonstrated at the S. State storefronts of men's By CHAR clothing stores Marty's and Check Constitutiona mateBlasi told a g mae.dents last nigh PROMOTED LOCALLY by ne 's failure t Attica Brigade, the boycott :s pi'rt ... si , American inv of a nation-wide campaign to f'rce ,dia constitute fense. for atah, the largest Pal- ization as saying that t "is on the thresh- stage that would re- ric decision." STINIAN movement osed to the existence ian state throughout deadlock in the Mid- rsal of that stance e way to direct nego- s conference yester- in three years as at continued to make ous comments with cease-fire. hand, he warned the hey should withdraw ry retaliation. On the d he was waiting to Kissinger has to say Egypt next week. RESSED that Egypt accept the continued sraeli forces west of on and Brezhnev we ADAT, Page 2 vice attached. And he said Nixon's meeting with then White House, counsel Dean on April 15, 1973, "was not recorded due to a rare malfunctioning of the system or the inadequacy of the system." Sirica heard open - court testi- mony yesterday from a Secret Service technician who said the White House records had been checked daily on weekdays, and that the April 15 malfunction was the only recorder failure he knew of. HE SAID HIDDEN microphones in presidential offices had been ex- tremely sensitive, capable of pick- ing up all but whispered conver- sations. Further doubt was cast on the White House claim by Asst. Atty. General Henry Petersen, who has testified that President Nixon once offered to let him hear the now- missing Dean tape. Peterson made the claim at the Aug. 7 session of the Senate Wat- ergate hearings. At the time he was involved in the Justice De- partment's probe of the scandal. Petersen, however, declined to hear the tape. The new development, which is sure to trigger further calls for impeachment, was made public yesterday, though Buzhardt had in- formed Sirica of the situation pri- vately on Tuesday. It was the first time the White House had said any of the contro- versial tape recordings do not ex- ist. Sen. Sam Ervin (D-N.C.) said yesterday he had been assured as recently as October 19 the tapes were intact. ERVIN, WHO CHAIRS the Sen- ate's Watergate Committee has been trying to gain access to the tapes for several months. Archibald Cox, former Watergate special prosecutor told a similar story. Cox, however, said he heard of possible technical problems in the April 15 tape a day or so before he was fired. See WATERGATE, Page 2 k IdkNew data on Ford uncovered WASHINGTON (P) - The chair- man of the Senate Rules Committee said yesterday the FBI probe of Vice President - designate Gerald Ford (R-Mich.). has disclosed ."things that will certainly' raise questions" when his confirmation hearings open today. However, the panel's ranking Republican said he has seen noth- ing in the FBI files that. will jeopardize congressional approval of Ford as the successor to the resigned Spiro Agnew. SEN. HOWARD CANNON (D- 'Nev.) the chairman, and Sen. Mar- low Cook (R-Ky.) talked to report- ers after a closed session of the committee. Cannon has read more than 1,700 pages of raw FBI data on Ford, and Cannon is still read- ing them. Cannon said the questions deal with "the laundering of campaign funds" and other matters: Cannon used the phrase "laun- dering" in reference to a 1970 campaign contribution of some $11,000 which - Ford passed on to the Republican Congressional Com- mittee. FORD HAS SAID he did not report the contributions because they were passed on to the com-.; mitteewandsitswas"purely coin- cidental" that a similar amount was later pumped by the commit- tee into his own district. Cannon declined to say if he would vote for Ford on the basis of what he knows. Asked if he had found anything in the FBI files that might be embarrassing to Ford, he replied, "I don't think I should make a comment about that." ing law prof speaks on edures for impeachment LES COLEMAN al law Prof. Vince roup of about 35 stu- ht that President Nix- o adequately explain olvement in Cambo- s an impeachable of- Blasi warned the audience that a dangerous situation will exist if "people are reluctant about using constitutional provisions for im- peachment." He claimed that the feeling there's nothing to do but put up with the President for three more vears shows that our cnnsti- would have regarded it as fantasy. He stressed that impeachment now is "not beyond the realm of pos- sibility. Blasi described impeachment as the act of formally charging the president with "high crimes and misdemeanors." H o w e v e r.