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Eighty-Four Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students at theUniversity of Michigan
Putting the
POLITICS OF LSA
ideal course'
together
nard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
'N
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1974
MaryEse: .Reelection looms
CONGRESSMAN MARVIN ESCH would
like nothing better than to get Rich-
ard Nixon off the ballot this fall.
His political future has been in doubt
ever since the Second Congressional Dis-
trict's boundaries were redrawn to in-
clude large portions of normally-Demo-
cratic Livonia and Monroe County.
An underdog in 1972, he saved his seat
only through a strange concatenation of
factors which included a wishy-washy
opposition to the Vietnam War (even
though he consistently voted for Defense
Department appropriations while the
bombs were falling), a politically popular
position against - cross-district busing,
the McGovern debacle, and a very weak
opponent.'
Of these, only the busing issue offers
him any promise this year, and it's in-
teresting to note that President Nixon
made a special effort recently to praise
the Michigan Congressman's noble ef-
forts to keep black kids bottled up in in-
ferior schools where they'll pose no
threat to the white middle class.
While loudly publicizing a succession
of "peace plans" several years ago, Esch
has consistently supported Nixon's de-
fense budget requests, and It was support
such as this which allowed the President
to get away with his hokey "peace with
honor."
This is a man who had the gall to
pose as a "dove" while quietly casting
House votes for the ABM and the. Air
Force's B-1 bomber, and came out with
a public endorsement of Nixon's 1972
candidacy.
More recently, Esch has played a de-
vious role in the impeachment contro-
versy, cleverly claiming to withhold
judgement until the evidence is in, but
willing to consider the President's pos-
sible rejection of House subpoenas as a
grounds for impeachment.
' Needless to say, the White House
would love to battle for Mr. Nixon's po-
litical survival on such a tangential issue,
knowing that there's no way two-thirds
of the Senate would vote to change pres-
idents on this ground alone.
WE CAN EXPECT more maneuvering
from Esch in the months ahead. Al-
ready, he has begun to do strange
things like voting against some Defense
Department appropriations, knowing
full well his vote won't change anything
and will give him an extra line of type
to add to his paid political announce-
ments.
We can expect him to claim to be a
leader in the peace, environmental and
reform movements this area is supposed
to groove on. Just as in 1972, we can ex-
pect him to make a very careful selec-
tion from his voting record, and to pre-
sent it in deceptively smooth language.
He might even oppose the President
every now and then.
ANN ARBOR VOTERS are supposed to
be sophisticated. This November,
they will have a beautiful opportunity to
prove it, and to vote themselves a new
Congressman.
-CLARKE COGSDILL
By JOHN LANDE
I SUBMIT the following, not as
"the perfect course," or a pan-
acea for all the course problems
that have developed in university
history, but rather as a set of
suggestions that might improve the
course experience if both students
and faculty are interested.
Objectives of the.
courses
As its primary goal, e a c h
course should explicitly affirm
the stimulation of creative, chal-
lenging, critical and active think-
ing.Too many courses operate on
an ingestion-regurgitation model of
thinking.
Courses ought to pose more
"Why" and "What can I do?" ques-
tions rather than seeking only an-
swers to "how" and "what".
The objectives and means of
evaluating student and teacher
course work should be based on a
subjective agreement between stu-
dents and teachers. The assign-
ment of grades similarly ought to
be an agreement between student
and teacher.
In cases of impossible disagree-
ment, a mechanism of binding ar-
bitration in the Administrative
Board should be used.
Grades should be the recognition
of -creative and active thinking,
not administratively convenient
thinking, or the number of pages
in a term paper, or, worse yet,
whether a paper is typed or not.
Course work
AFTER THE first week of class,
each student 'should file an initial
plan with the teacher, describing
what the student intends to ac-
complish over the term and speci-
fically how he or she intends 'o
accomplish these goals.
The plan would be discussed or
be the subject of a written ex-
change between student and teach-
er until both were satisfied. This
plan could be changed at any time
the student and instructor agree.
Throughout the term, each stu-
dent would produce the agreed
work and submit one copy forpthe
teacher's file and keep one copy
for a personal -"file. The teacher
might ask students to create spe-
cific projects and might ask dif-
ferent students to create different
projects.
Both students and instructocs
should make active , attempts to
relate course work to work done
in previous courses, and some work
should be viewed as the ground-
work for specific later courses.
All student work submitted should
describe how it relates to the
student's original plan, and a seif-
evaluation of the work should in-
clude a suggested grade.
Instructor evaluations should
suggest expansions, clarifications
and examples for the development
of specific lines of thought. Work
that is subniitted should not ne-
cesarily be viewed as the final
effort, but should be understood
to be only a draft which the stu-
dent and the instructor would dis-
cuss and develop.
There should be no stigma in sub-
mitting two or three drafts of the
same work.
Class sessions
AT LEAST some class sessions
should be places where active and
interactive thinking goes on. Too
often 'they tend to be hour-long
periods of deadening ie-exposure to
pre-digested ideas.
In some courses, the structure of
the course ought to develop as
that particular offering of that
particular course develops.
Some courses might operate as
a committee with a major task.
They might break up into subcom-
mittees to work on individual parts
of the task.
Records of each session could be
made by different students at each
session, and be reproduced and dis-
tributed at later sessions. T h i s
would free students from their
roles of scribes of deathless prose.
This would also ser~ve an imp wrtant
feedback function for the ini ruc-
tor.
In courses with more students
than the total number of meet-
ings during the term, several stu-
dents can take notes on the same
meeting, thus providing several
perspectives on the same session.
These notes should contain eval-
uations of the sessions with sug-
gestions for later sessions and
should themselves be the subject
of evaluation.
These notes could also include
student-suggested readng and ideas
and could perform an important
function of communication between
students within a course.
Student and faculty
roles
STUDENTS PAY a lot of money
for their educations. We should
make sure we get our money's
worth.
Education should primarily be a
service for students. Facuity bene-
fits should not have as high a
priority as student services. Facul-
ty should treat us as more than
irritants who pay their salaries -
and who interrupt their "real"
work of research and publicatio'i.
Students should be interested in
actively .creating their educations.
Every student should either be in-
terested .n the subject matter of
their courses or be interested in
becoming interested.
Students should be responsible for
their thinking and their actions.
Course work should be requested of
students rather than required.
Students should recognize t h a t
we are working withi a large
University with many advantages
and disadvantages. One of the ad-
vantages is that we have hired a
group of professional "knowers".
If you want to know something,
you should feel free to call them
up and ask them where to find it.
There is, a great unrealized po-
tential for communication between
students. At the beginning of every
course, a list of interested stu-
dents' phone numbers, addresses,
interests and other relevant in-
formation can b~e collected and
distributed to the C1333.
MANY OF TIlE suggestions in
this piece have been based on an
assumption of student interest. Un-
fortunately, my experience in the
Gas pain: No cure
i except whiskey
past has too often been that stu-
dents have not been seriously in-
terested in even the best courses.
I think that students must share
the blame with our entire system
of education that mass produces
education and treats students like
mindless sheep.
Social psychologists can tell you
that if you are consistently treat-
ed like a sheep for an extended
period of time, you will begin to
act like a sheep. Coaverselv, if
students are treated with respect
and dignity and as if they are ma-
ture and intelligent adults, they
will also react in kind,
Many might react to these sug-
gestions that they are impossible
because students and faculty are
not as they have been described
here and that is exaxrly the point.
Students and faculty are not, by
and large, as I have assumed and
described. This does not mean
that they can never be.
THE GOOD News
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Law School and. ethics,
Vote for School Board
W HEN PEOPLE TALK about Ann Ar-
bor's "student community," they us-
ually aren't thinking about the popula-
tion in the Ann Arbor public schools. But
for 19,446 young people the public
schools are a daily reality.
This reality is often unpleasant and
repressive. Unlike University students,
most public school students - or in-
mates, as they sometimes refer to them-
selves - are required by law to be there.
Public school students are deprived of
the rights of due process in disciplinary
matters, and lack other basic rights such
as freedom of speech, freedom of assem-
bly and freedom of the press.
Because most students in the public
schools cannot vote, they have no voice
in the choice of those who are responsi-
ble for the major decisions that affect
their lives-the Ann Arbor Board of Edu-
cation.
School Board elections are held every
year in June (this year on June 10.)
Since this a time when many University
students are out of town, these elections
are dominated by conservative forces,
and the Board of Education has a clear-
ly right-wing slant. This can, however,
change.
If enough University students take out
absentee ballot applications, mail them
in, and vote this June, the character of
the School Board can be significantly
changed - and the lives of public school
students can be measurably improved.
You can pick up absentee ballot ap-
plications at The Daily offices at 420
Maynard St., or at the Student Govern-
ment Council offices on the third floor
of the Michigan Union, or the League of
Women Voters on 333 S. Fourth Ave.
(open 9 to 11 a.m., 1 to 3 p.m.).
THE STUDENTS in the public schools
are unrepresented. They depend on
you to help change this. Don't ignore
their need. Take out an absentee ballot
application and vote June 10.
-THE DAILY STAFF
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Jeff Day, Mary Long,
Sue Stephenson, Becky Warner, David
Whiting
Editorial Page: Cindy Hil, Alan Kettler
By BETH NISSEN
F R SEVERAL years now I
have told parents, friends,
counselors and University comput-
er forms that I was bound for law
school.
I liked the image of Champion
of Justice, defender of the uniust-
ly accused. Law was a way of
righting wrongs, of effective pub-
lic service and a logical level-
headed answer to those who de-
voutly believed the best way to
change anything was to ignite
something explosive under it.
In academic fantasies, I could
easily see myself studying dili-
gently far into the nightin the
cathedral-like law library, writing
pertinent legal facts on pad atfer
pad of lined too-long yellow paper.
The gothic Early Harvard build-
ings of the law quad with their var-
icose vines fingering the walls
seemed solid and dignifie I, t h e
cornerstones of fulfilled and useful
lives.
Yet after carefulsexamination,
the dream of law as tha perfect
humanitarian career has faded
like jeans in a Clorox rinsa cycle.
There are dark chasms of unare
swered, ignored and postponed
questions. How ethical is the
practice of law? How available is
justice to the poor? What is re-
quired of those claiming proficiency
in law to practice it at high hrurly
rates?
LIKE OTHER professions, law
is a game, with rules cited in
heavy case books. And the object
of the game is more often a find-
ing of "not guilty" for the paying
client rather than the finding of
justice.
Legal Parcheesi has more than
a few pitfalls and penalties await-
ing both players and their client
game pieces.
Entrance into the law game is
expensive. Law is a very healthy
branch on the money tree.
Law can be a tool to change
rusty and cobwebbed inequities, but
it is a tool that is not easiy ac-
cessible to those with anemic wal-
lets or drained First Fed3-al ac-
counts.
If lawyers win their cases, they
can collect up to one-third of their
client's toward. The only people
to whom the doors of justice and
legal reparation swing open easily
are those who own the do,)rs and
hinges; the poor and middle Class
have little access to good defense
unless they are lucky enough to be
seriously injured by a defendant
with a tonnage of insurance.
Even if legal tender is avail-
able in great quantities, :here is
still the westion of the competence
of the retained counsel. M-)r3 is at
stake in mcst cases than a legal
batting average. The law gani~e
gambles with time and mncy, the
amount depending on which law
has been broken and to what ex-
tent. More can be lost than a
case; fumbling moves in the game
can ax an unnecessary ten to
twenty year hole in someone's life.
THREE YEARS and a bar exam-
ination seem inadequate insurance
that a law student will be able to
utter a grammatically correct Eng-
lish sentence before a judge and
jury upon graduation.
The darkest twilight zone in the
legal universe deals with the eth-
ics of law., Legal cases don't al-
ways have flashy Perry Mason so-
lutions' where the least suspected
witness finally confesses under
counsel's knife-edged questions.
The legal attitude toward a guil-
ty client seems as firm as soft-
set jello. The Champion of Jus-
tice can be asked to lool the other
way while the shysterish 1 6 g a 1
Fagin bargains on the justice black
market to get the client a lesser
chargekandtfive fewer years with-
out a key to their door.
The defense of the defendant is
too often emphasized over t li e
defense of justice.
Law is the fastest growing ca-
reer in the country. With the mass-
es clamoring for a handful af open-
ings in the nation's law schools,
there is perhaps more hope that at
least a few of them will be aware
of these gummy legal swamps and
either avoid them or work to fill
them in.
The most viable changes will be
made by those now within the le-
gal structure. They have the burd-
en of proving themselves legitimate
jurists with a working conscience,
and the responsibility to work to-
ward public access to inexpensive,
competent legal representation.
CLARENCE DARROW once said,
"Lawyers are the trouble w it h
law and government." Without
careful searching of the legal soul
to produce some new working de-
finitions of law, the legal profes-
sion remains guilty as charged.
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN
"FILL 'ER UP please. Premium." Sixty cents a gallon! Oh
well, the car won't run on Boone's Farm.
"Can't you read, mac! We're only filling cars with even
numbered license plates! What makes you so special?"
"Oh come on, friend. I've got to go all the way back
to Michigan today.",
"That's your tough luck buddy."
He had me there. "You mean to tell me I can't get gas in
this damn ' state on an even day even with out-of-state plates?"
"That's the way it is kid."
He was the only one working at the station. I would have
run him over, stuck the hose down his throat, and started
pumping except the gas cost too much.
"No way I can get gas here?"
"Hey, you're catching on! You must be one of them college
kids or something."
"Yeah, I must be. Anyway, can I have the key to your
rest room?"
"Uh uh."
"Why not?"
"LISTEN MR. College Kid, I already told you it's an even
day and you've got odd plates! What are you, stupid or some-
thing?"
"I can't even go to the bathroom?"
"That's right kid, state law."
"Well, piss on your state law!" I wished I could.
He started, after me with a tire jack, but I was back
on the road before he could smash my windshield.
I was so mad that when the state trooper tried to pull me
over I almost didn't notice him.
"Okay Mister, where's the fire?"
All state troopers have great senses of humor. "In my
bladder," I replied.
"None ofryour lip kid! Do you know you were going 53 in
a 50 miles per hour zone? Don't you know there's an energy
crisis?"
"I know."
"Well then slow down," he said while writing out the ticket.
AFTER SOME THOUGHT I said, "Look, this is an even
day and I've got odd numbered plates. You can't give me
a ticket."
"The hell I can't wise guy," he said before speeding away.
f I would have stopped for a belt of whiskey, but I couldn't.
The bars were closed on even days.
Nuclear power:
Is the price too great?
By MARK MITCHELL
'THE FUTURE OF nuclear pow-
er in this country is really on
the line in 1974.
Later this year the United States
Congress will reportedly consider
whether to extend the application
of the Price-Anderson Act anoth-
er ten years.
If this relatively obscure law is
not renewed, and if comparable
substitute legislation is not intro-
duced, there is good reason to be-
lieve that the nuclear power indus-
try in this country will not survive.
The importance of the Price-An-
derson Act lies in the insurance
protection it provides public utility
companies operating nuclear pow-
er plants against the risks of a
nuclear accident.
At the present time, protection
is limited to $560 million, of which
$95 million is borne by the private
insurance industry with the re-
maining $465 million underwrit-
ten by the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion (AEC).
The nuclear industry is absolv-
ed of liability beyond $560 million.
greater than any public liability
policy ever written before for a
single American industrial plant.
While the insurance industry has
increased its participation in this
program (as recently as 1972 pro-
tection was increased $13 million),
the private sector alone is not only
unwilling but in fact unable to un-
derwrite the expenses of the entire
program.
Although there is considerable
disagreement about the potential
costs of a major nuclear accident,
the likelihood of damages in excess
of the maximum $560 million of
insurance protection is very great.
In 1957, the Brookhaven National
Laboratory, at the request of the
AEC, conducted a study on the po-
tential effects of an accident in-
volving a release of all accumu-
lated fission products from a sin-
gle nuclear power plant.
Their report predicted damages
of seven billion dollars to property
alone. Their estimates of human
suffering included as many as 3,-
400 deaths and 43,000 non-fatal in-
juries.
Price - Anderson Act held in the
mid-sixties, the AEC directed the
Brookhaven National Laboratory
to update its 1957 report.
The results of the revised study
were finally released last year
under threat of a lawsuit based on
the Freedom of Information Act.
The new estimate conceded the
possibility of 45,000 deaths along
with $18 million in property dam-
age and radioactive contamina-
tion of an area the size of the state
of Pennsylvania.
The battle for access to secret
information about the nuclear
power industry is now being wag-
ed by Ralph Nader and the Union
of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
among others. Nader has publicly
charged that the Joint Congres-
sional Committee on Atomic Ener-
gy, which is responsible for the
initial Price - Anderson legislation,
must share the blame with the
industry and the AEC for the sup-
pression of vital information.. Both
Nader and UCS have strongly re-
commended the dissolution of the
Joint Committee and the creation
completely contradicted official
AEC positions on the safety issue.
The report indicated that during
a seventeen month period begin-
ning January 1, 1972, approximate-
ly 850 "abnormal occurrences"
were reported to the AEC, many
of which were considered "signifi-
cant" and required follow-up in-
vestigation. The report concluded
that a large number of such inci-
dents, coupled with the signifi-
cance of their effect on safety,
"raises a serious question regard-
ing the current review and inspec-
tion practices both on the part of
the nuclear industry and the
AEC.
Whatever the future of nuclear
power in this country, legislation
of the Price-Anderson type is ill-
equipped to deal with it. The Act
seeks to assure compensation to
the victims of a nuclear accident
but due to the nature of the effects
of radiation exposure, the victims
are sometimes not known for
many years beyond the time when
valid legal actions could be pro-
secuted.
particular injury.
Although coverage under the
Price - Anderson Act does not ex-
pire until 1977, the Congress, as
mentioned above, is expected to
consider a ten-year extension some-
time this year. So now is the time
to oppose this bill ands any simi-
lar legislation. If it ; is not renew-
ed, the prospects are bright that
private industry, at least, will be
forced to bow out of the nuclear
power area. The industry simply
cannot afford to undergo the risks
of. nuclear power without a sub-
stantial indemnification guarantee
by the federal government.
ONLY THE MOST starry-eyed
optimists can doubt that a serious
incident will one day occur. That
such an incident will probably
lead to a public outcry against fur-
ther development of nuclear pow-
er can be of scant comfort to those
already affected.
Opposition to the Price - Ander-
son Act is really only a beginning.
If you oppose nuclear power, write
mi-vr renepntativrps in the Cotn-
'n 3 ~ ~