She t cd tan Daily
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1973
More tape ehicanery
PRESIDENT NIXON'S sudden decision
to turn over nine Watergate tapes to
Federal Judge John Sirica came as some-
thing of a surprise to' many observers.
The move seemed out of character for a
President .who had fought so long for his
precious "executive privilege."
The assertion gesterday that the two
key tapes of the nine do not exist seemed
more in line with the Nixon we have
come to know over the years.
According to White House lawyer Fred
Buzhardt, the tapes in questions never
were made, due in one case to the mal-
functioning of the Presidential system
and in the other because the President
made a phone call from an extension not
connected to the system.
An administration with untarnished
credibility would have difficulty in mak-
ing this implausible story sound credi-
ble. President Nixon's recent record, how-
ever, makes Buzhardt's account almost
laughable.
PERHAPS IF THE non-existence of
these particular tapes had been an-
nounced five months ago before the bat-
tle over their release began it might have
been more readily accepted. But, coming
as it does after the President had done
everything in his power to maintain the
secrecy of the tapes, yesterday's disclos-
ure only serves as new evidence of Nixon's
desire to obstruct justice in the Watergate
case.
According to Sen. Sam Ervin (D-N.C.),
chairman of the Senate Watergate Com-
mittee, the White House had assured him
Editorial Staff
CHRISTOPHER PARKS and EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editors in Chief-
DIANE LEVICK .................... ...Arts Editor
MARTIN PORTER ............. ...Sunday Editor
MARILYN RILEY ...Associate Managing Editor
ZACHARY SCHILLER.... ....ditorial .Drector
ERIC SCHOCH ......Editorial Director
TONY SCHWARTZ..................Sunday Editor
CHARLES STEIN .............. .....City Editor
TED STEIN ......... ....... Executive Editor
RoLFE TESSEM ......... ......... Managing Editor
STAFF WRrEs: .rakasb awani, Gordon Atcheson,
Dan Bidde, Penny Blank, Dan Blugerman, Howard
Brick, Dave Burhenn, Bonnie Carnes, Charles Cole-
m~an, Mike Duweck, Teti Evanoff, Deborah Good,
william Heenan, Cindy Bill, Jack Krost, Jean Love-
Josephine Marcotty, Cheryl Pilate, Judy Ruskin,
Ann Rauma, Bob Seidenstein Stephen Selbst, Jeff
Sorensen, Sue tjtephepson, David Stoll, Rebecca
Warner
DAILY WEATHER BUREAU: William Marino and,
Dennis Dismacnek (forecasters)
Photography Staff
DAVID MARGOLICK
Chief Photographer
as late as Oct. 19, that all the tapes ex-
isted.'
Assistant Atty. Gen. Henry Petersen's
testimony before the Watergate Commit-
tee also contradicts the administration's
story on the tapes. On Aug. 7 of this year,
Petersen told the committee that the
President had offered to let him listen
to one of the tapes in question.
THE IMPRESSION that the President
decided to release the tapes in order
to head off impeachment efforts in the
Congress, while at the same time keeping
incriminating evidence out of Judge Siri-
ca's hands is unavoidable.
It is a familiar Nixon technique for
dealing with pressure from the public or
Capitol Hill: The President makes what
appears to be a significant concession,
then later guts the concession of its es-
sence. The appointment of Special Prose-
cutor Archibald Cox and the subsequent
limitations placed on his supposedly "in-
dependent" investigation is one exam-
ple 'of this "give and take back" tech-
nique.
This latest development over the Wat-
ergate tapes should make it clear to
the Congress that Richard Nixon does not
intend to allow the interests of justice to
stand in theway of his Presidency.
Fortunately, Nixon's decision to release
the tapes did not bring an end to im-
peachment efforts in the Congress. Now,
there is more reason than ever for these
efforts to be carried to the necessary con-
clusion: the impeachment of the Presi-
dent.
And now Bebe
WHILE ON THE subject of'credibility, it
is interesting to note the remarks of
President Nixon's close personal friend
Bebe Rebozo in an interview with the Mi-
ami Herald Wednesday.
Talking about the $100,000 contribution
which he received from Howard Hughes
in 1970 for the 1972 Nixon campaign, Re-
bozo said that he did not tell Nixon about
the contribution until after the election.
Rebozo also said that he told Rose Mary
Woods, Nixon's longtime personal secre-
tary, about the donation shortly after he
received it, but that she did not inform
the President either.
Thus we are to believe that Nixon's
best friend and his personal secretary did
not mention such a large contribution,
even casually, for two years.
Last summer, former Atty. Gen. and
Nixon campaign manager John Mitchell
asked an incredulous country to believe
that after the Watergate break-in, and
even after reports of possible White House
involvement, Mitchell and the President
never once talked about the Watergate
"matter" with each other.
Thus Americans are asked to accept as
credible the notion that the President re-
frains from discussing such important
matters with his aides and friends, and
that they do likewise. Such a notion -
like the Nixon Presidency itself - it pret-
ty incredible.
Calling for
LSA reforms
Editor's note: The following is the
second of two articles on LSA govern-
ance reform.
By CHUCK BARQUIST
THE FAILURE of the LSA faculty to act
to change grading last year was a tragic
abdication of responsibility and, e v e n
worse, an ostrich-like effort to hide from
the established fact that grading has never
fulfilled its supposed educational purposes.
But the issue is even more serious for what
it reveals about the paralyzing contradic-
tions built into the present political struc-
ture of the College,
Practically as well as morally, the fun-
damental problem with LSA today involv-
es the organization and composition of the
so-called Governing Faculty. It meets only
once a month for about 90 minutes and,
although perhaps 1100 faculty are eligible
to attend, it rarely exceeds its 100-man
quorum by very much.
Those who attend are a small self-
appointed elite - mostly department chair-
men and others who feel officially obligat-
ed to attend but are not primarily inter-
ested in or committed to College legislat-
ing per se. Those who attend are mostly
aging, white, and male (seemingly much
more so thanthe faculty at large), and
formally accountable to no one under this
"community government" system. Private-
ly, even many conservative faculty admit
that, except when it bestirs itself to re-
ject reforms, the Governing Faculty is an
anachronistic farce which reigns but does
not rule.
THE OTHER FUNDAMENTAL inconss-
tency in LSA governance is the inclusion
of students on many committees but rot
in the legislative process. Students have a
'democratic right to participate in any de-
cisions affecting them, the more so since
they outnumber their faculty tenfold. Each
faculty rejection of reasonable reforms in-
creases student awareness of their com-
mon rights and interests, and no student
who attends a faculty meeting ever be-
lieves again that the faculty have a man-
date to rule the College based on exper-
tise, intelligence or moral superiority. You
may experience this for yourself on Mon-
day, November 5 at 4:00 in Angell Hall
Auditorium A.
The Governance Proposal, introduced by
English Professor Marvin Felheim and my-.
self and which is on the Faculty's Novem-
ber agenda, has been conceived to meet
these two fundamental problems. It calls
for a representative assembly of 50 faculty
members and 50 students which would as-
sume authority for. the conduct of the
affairs at the College.
The new Governing Assembly should, by
its representative nature, more accurately
reflect the whole of faculty opinion. Though
its streamlined size and procedures, t h e
Assembly will be more efficient and respon-
sive to the pressing needs of the College.
MORE IMPORTANT, however, t h a n
these structural modifications, is the in-
clusion of LSA undergraduates into t h e
formal decision-making procedure. Their
inclusion is a first step in the process of
making the College responsive to the real
educational needs of its students and the
larger society.
Realization of this fact will signal an im-
portant shift in teacher-student relation-
ships, making education the cooperative
venture it should be. We must begin to
dismiss the notion that "education" is what
some people (faculty) do to others (stu-
dents).
THERE ARE indications that the Faculty
may again abdicate its responsibilities in
its consideration of the Governance Propos-
al by hastily disposing of it without ser-
ious debate on the issues involved. Des-
pite their protestations about the import-
ance of student "input," it is likely they
will attempt to ignore the issues of Col-
lege governance reform, in spite of stu-
dent co-sponsoring of the proposal and
the fact that governance reform has been
the central policy goal of LSA Student
Government for over a year.
Student concern on this issue has been
adequately demonstrated. Students voted
overwhelmingly for student-faculty parity
on all College Committees and decision-
making bodies in an LSA-SG election last
year. Students are urged to once again voice
that concern by attending the Faculty meet-
ing on 'Nov. 5, 4:00 Angell Hall, Auditorium
A. It is now up to the Faculty to seriously
consider the problems of governance. To do'
otherwise is to court revolution.
Chuck Barquist is a junior and Vice
President of LSA Student Government.
, J
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COOK, WE CANT ALLOW AN
INDEPENDENT' PROSECUY0R POKING
ARCUNL TN~e WHIFF U01i§E EVE.RY 11Me
A PEIEN15 SACCUSEP OF A
SERIOUS CRIME!
About the
VY14AT KIND2 OF GOVERNMENT WOULD
WE N IAVE UNDER THOS0E CONDITION5 ?
OR FEDERAL COURTS INSPECTING
PRES~IDENTIAL RE.CORDS THAT MAY
BE INCRMNATING!
A i)AAn/ DrAt0 I IAt....7 1
A YtMU(-KA( Y, MAYBE ?
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'I'IIE 'MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
PuiIshersHall Syndicate, 1979
By MARCIA ZOSLAW . the affair, its figures encapsulated, and s
WE ASCENDED the still-green hill onto interesting to contemplate in party chat
the columned porch of a stately brick ter. The gray news flashed, changed, Kis'
mansion - manor house to all that extend- singer intoning about the crisis in the Mid
ed in the vague dark; party at Xanadu, so dle East.
the word went. High in the house on the hill, assurne
Parked cars cluttered the streets as if to be in America, we deplored the tragedy
the whole world had heard he rumor acknowledged the imminence of cataciys'
of the Great Party and one and all agreed and the ,judgment day: Nixon would b~
to come celebrate. Their shiny cars, color.- tried, impeached, the world in a b'x-
ful abandoned husks, emptied their share
of cramped passengers who made haste to SERPENTINE CORRIDORS, room door
approach the secluded spot. shut, wound around the upper floor, attest
The orc pilars gleae~istauchl ing that the house was built to be livec
. Th poch illas geam~d saunhly in, built originally to cocoon cashmere -
white in the filmy night. The air smelt sf ooiywmna hymtrdt
pleasantly of marijuan-a cigarette smoke; marriarge age, shelteredas they grace et
on the fragrant porch the people stretched tyadwahhe.Blwthgrndfo
themselves, relaxed, conversant with lu-lay the basement, a cavernous place
inous starbright eyes. They invited us in where a low drone of unlikely conversatior
with wid sweepingegestures as if rto say wafted from a couch in one room, where
ther wa mor whre tey ame rom further on in bluish light a ping pong matcl
On the mansion's ground floor, fathoming took place as two against two battled th~
the maze from room to room, people pick- globe of their concentration. Jokes wer4
ed up freshly washed cups from the kitch- made about the disastrous possibilities o
en to search for the pleasantry of wine or tomorrow: 'Nixon bans popcorn, ping pong
beer, until everything was empty ex~cept There were visions to be had: Kissing
for a few seasons of girapefruits dregs left er kissing the dancers in the red light
at the bottom of the bowl. In the vast Nixon hiding out in a toilet stall, hogging
dining room lay some bland brown rice all the popcorn to himself.
pudding and a mysterious cake that could P d it re
dar fogn constituted our awetmospee.oe ande dsengaging with strangers and fried
darkfog onsttute ouratmopher. until early daylight filtered through, caugh
With the best of taste Xanadu mansion the gleam of the TV set and exposed us
provided signs to describe the activity ta'k- a dwindling crowd. Glory be to the housi
ing place mn each room. Where the beer on the hill, glory to its largesse, shrin
barrel was, the sign and arrow painited of that all-imotant festivity o'rgo
to BAR; the room adjoining was labeled time: imperatve to thank the host but Gats
DANCE; there a life band encouraged ex- ysee ohv iapae utte
hilarant movement despite the fact that by se dtohvdiaprdjuthn
one and all enjoyed a space quite small.
A red glow illuminated .the far corner THEN IT SEEMED that one by one th
of the dance floor, world deserted Xanadu, picking home thei
separate ways, pinned huddled back mt
THE NEXT ROOM could have b e e n shells of cars, poined, pinched and con
labelled LOUNGE or TELEVISION. En- strained to the general traffic. The dope be
tranced party-ers watched a dire film, a came effective now, the faces of the peopl
spectacle of the progressive decline of lovely in the evening shrunk to grim smil
their government, one nation under God. ing skullheads. Their thougths were anx
To their taut stillness, excited dotted im- ious, they couldn't wait to read the morn
ages spoke - grieving, critical, inhibited, ing paper. As they left, a few of,the danc
the downed voice of the people's former ers, in a last gesture of liberation, too
prosecutor, fired for his vigor of prosecu- off their jewels and threw them high
tion, the resigned, nervous, exhausted, the air where they caught in the hill
ready-to-cry faces of the two recent Jus- sky and shone like stars.
tice Department heads Richardson a n d
Ruckleshous. Marcia Zoslaw is a staff writer for Th
The television lent a low undertone to Daily.
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great alert
By PETE HAMILL
OCT. 26 - I was in Nathan's at 43d St.
and Broadway; eating a hotdog and
watching the pimps move around on the
sidewalk, when the paper came up with
the news of the alert. Guy after guy arriv-
ed at the newsstand; looked at the head-
line, laughed, and then turned to the rac-
ing news. Nobody believes Richard 'Nixon,
even when he's waving the atom bomb
around.
I mean, these guys really laughed. The
paper said that American troops were on a
"general alert," and the Strategic Air Com-
mand was flying around, doing their Jim-
my Stewart act, and the Marines in the
Mediterranean were .in full combat gear,
and leaves were cancelled, and they had
closed off McGuire Air Force Base. It
sounded like the missile crisis, or the end
of the world, but New Yorkers were laugh-
ing. You saw images of stern Russian troops
arriving in the desert, and the American
Marines storming ashore, and shots fired,
and missiles, and then . . . laughter.
"This guy is really unbelievable," said a
chuckling, heavy-set man named Alphonso
Thomas. "I mean, he'd do anything to make
us forget them tapes."
GOD KNOWSewhat Americans think out
there in the Beloved Heartland, but here
in New Yor, it was some wierd day. No-
body I talked to believed what Nixon was
doing. The details kept leaking out: Nixon
meeting the National Security Council at 3
in the morning to respond to what turned
out to be a rumor that the Russians were
coming to the Middle East. The planes sent
into the skies. Kissinger getting on TV with
his usual exercise in ambiguity; explaining
that Nixon was sending the planes into the
air and placing troops on alert as "a pre-"
caution" and then trying to assure us that
Nixon wasn't really serious. It was like
having an inside look at Creedmoor.
The trouble is that Nixon's little Presiden-
tial act is over now, and nobody will ever
believe him again. Walking around Broad-
way, before the peacekeeping details were
worked out at the UN, you saw life go on.
Tixon couldtell you there was a, Mongol
horde of Forsyth St., and you wouldn't both-
er taking a look.
The New Yorkers I talked-to didn't really
care. They've given up on this character.
Some of them were just worried that he
doesn't pull a Samson routine, and pull the
whole temple down with him. It could hap-
pen. After all, this is a, man whose two
closest advisers atthe moment are an Ar-
my general and a former Disneyland guide.
If you had something serious to do would
you ask Ron Ziegler what he thought? And
if von were in a domestic jam in a denoc-
racy wold you have General Haig handle
it' for vo?
WE'VE GONE so far these days that
when the President .f the United States
takes actions that could be the prelude to
clfr war, yon look for some angle that
in-~olves domestic criminality.
It was no accident, I would presume,
that Nixon's 3 a.m. decision to place the
American armed forces on general alert
cane after the early editions of The Wash-
ington Post carried a story about Bebe Re-
hozo and $91,000 worth of stolen securities he
s alleged to have cashed, knowing they
were stolen. Nixon has done worse things
in his life than faking a crisis.
If the reaction in New York was any ex-
ample, there is nothing more that Nixon can
do to save his hide. He has finally bank-
rupted whatever reservoir of respect and
honor comes from the simple fact of being
President. He is perceived now for what he
is: a man trapped in a bunker, lashing out,
making plans and then cancelling them,
seeking advice from mediocrities, flailing
around for something large enough to scare
Americans with, so that his own acts will
pale by comparison. After all, what are
some altered tapes compared with nuclear
holocaust? What is a burglary at the Wat-
ergate compared with 100-mllion dead?
The planes are back in the hangars, for
tfe moment, and Nixon will no doubt go on
TV and tell us how firm and steady and
tough he was under pressure. But it's a
phony. Anybody could look good solving a
nhony crisis. Especially if you have the
willing cooneration of your opponents.
The audience doesn't always know what
they're seeing, but Nixon is now so suspect
that the audience is looking to yell at him
even before he goes in the tank. It's all
over. Tt's a bad act. And it's time to get it
off the boards forever.
Pete Hamil is a columnist for the New
York. Post. Copyright 1973-The New
York Post Corporation.
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KEN FINK...................Staffl
THOMAS GOTLIEB ............Staff1
STOVE KAGAN .............. Staff ]
K~AREN KASMAUSKI-----------.Staff
TERRY McCARTHY............Staff
JOHN UPTON . .....Staff
Photographer
Photographer
Photographer
Photographer
Photographer
Photographer
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Blugerman, Chris Parks, Judy
Rijkin, Jim Schuster, Ted Stein
Editorial Page: Paul Gallagher, Ted Hart-
zell, Marnie Heyn, Eric Schoch
Arts Page: Diane Levick
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
<imzw2.
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4AIPN
To The Daily:
I AM WRITIN
naw Neighborh
about the propos
R2B district to
use officially in
poses this action
Letters: Zoning proposal
Park Association, the South Uni- Some of these alternatives a r e ness was rely
G for the Washte- versity Neighborhood Association, already being used, successfully. fellow prisoner
food Association or even Mr. Carl Schmuldt, wh) I urge your readers o tell their The "lively
ed rezoning of the wrote the original R2B Report. Council members to-require a more was lively on
let rooming-house Nor was any effort made to tes! careful treatment of +his issue. gentlemen, wh
. Our group op- whether the decline of fraternity -William Shepherd never been in
at this time. In- and sorority membership is con- Prof. of Economics sole quoted r
l h i tinuous. Oct. 28.
tooi
ated to him by a
debate" afterward
one side only. Two
ho admittedly h a d
Vietnam, and whose
eference- was a mia-
h'asty
raised, though, such as his legal-
ity in being in S. Vietnam (the war
criminal question), and where the
Viet Cong and the North Vietnam-
ese drew their support, were dealt
with.
Over the years, The Michigan
Daily has acquired the unfortunate
reputation of being a poliic-rd pap-
er unable to see beyond its own
biases. If The Daily wishes to
become more than just another ty-
nical student newspaper, it should
learn to keep its biases on t h e
Editorial Page where peopie ex-
pect them; and even there it
would be good to get edi" ) ial staff
and col'imnists from various p:)ins
nn .- nnmtiel na ..~. int ,
stead, councii wouia e wise to
put the whole R2B question - if
indeed there is one - to a serious
study, with wide neighborhood and
other participation. The present
proposal is, by contrast, a hasty,
shallow, and potentially quite
harmful action.
The case for the present rezon-
ing proposal is, as we understand
it. that fraternity and sorority
Our conclusion is that the is-
sues are much bigger and the al-
ternatives much wider than the
proposal even remotely recognizes.
The R2B Report has been brus -
ed aside, and probably the worst
single change has become the
first and only one to be made. A
fabric as delicate and valuable as
the Washtenaw neighborhood and
To The Daily:
YOUR ARTICLE on James
Warner's lecture ("Fa mer POW
. . ", Oct. 31), was accurate ;n
detail, but not in tone. The fac:
that the speech was not inflamma-
tory, but was a slow (s,>metimes
amntdnoinol ..ni to,.qsn-
gazine with a title somehing like
the "China Peace News" (I can-
not remember the exat title, but
it was close, and contaiied that
wording), charged that Mr. Warn-.
er was a war criminal, shoujiu
have been killed on the spot (both
of which were stated directly), and
was a liar (implied thra'ighout). As
your article says, he avoided emo-
tionalism in response.
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