4 M ,420 Mayr Elle t digan 43 t 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 SAO NEV 6 II AT ol 7 0 A 6A ,. . " ai r Y r Vat 4ASOLIN 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 ~ ~