POLITICS OF LSA
Eighty-Four Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Services
Handbook
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1974
Nixon Stumps in the-Thumb
IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY the biggest
event in the history of provincial
Michigan. Bad Axe, a town whose most
famous local event used to be the high
school cage career of Lloyd Schinnerer,
suddenly found itself deluged with na-
tional attention. For the first time in
history (and undoubtedly the last) a
President of the United States was visit-
ing the Thumb area of Michigan.
Richard Nixon took a considerable risk
in scheduling this motorcade through
rural America. It appears that an im-
peachment vote in the House is only a
matter of time, and the President needs
every vote he can get from his own
party in order to avoid forcible eviction
from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
If, as the result of his visit, James
Sparling can dredge up enough votes to
defeat Bob Traxler in the Eighth con-
gressional district race, Republican con-
gressmen will have their native party
loyalty strengthened.
IF, ON THE OTHER HAND, Sparling
becomes the fourth Republican to
bite the dust in a special congressional
election, GOP congressmen will be fall-
ing over each other in their rush to dis-
associate themselves from the President.
Given the issues at stake, it would be
well worth the while of students regis-
tered in the Eighth to make a trip home
on April 16. Sandusky, the last stop on
the Presidential motorcade, was the
birthplace of outlaw Butch Cassidy.
Hopefully, it will also go down in his-
tory as the site of Richard Nixon's last
public appearance as President of the
United States.
-JOHN KAHLER
Bring' out vote in the Eighth
ON TUESDAY, April 16, the residents
of Michigan's Eighth Congressional
District - the scene of King Richard's
Travelling Revue on Wednesday - will
choose between Republican James Spar-
ling and Democrat Robert Traxler for
U. S. Congressman.
The Eighth District has been a bas-
tion of Republican support for over
thirty years. The race is shaping up into
an impeachment referendum and a vic-
Photography Staff
THOMAS GOTTLIEB
Chief Photographer
KEN FINK....................Staff Photographer
STUART HOLLANDER..........Staff Photographer
KAREN KASMAUSKI..........Staff Photographer
DAVID MARGOLICK .... ........ Staff Photographer
ALLISON RUTTAN.............Staff Photographer
JOHN UPTON...................Staff Photographer
Sports Staff
MARC FELDMAN
Sports Editor
GEORGE HASTINGS
Executive Sports Editor
Managing Sports Editor .........ROGER ROSSITER
Associate Sports Editor ............EJOHN KALER
Contributing Sports Editor ..CLARKE COOSDIL
Contributing Sports Editor ........THERESA SWEDO
Editorial Staff
DANIELBIDDLE
Editor in Chief
JUDY RUSKIN and REBECCA WAkNER
Managing Editors
TONY SCHWARTZ................. Sunday Editor
MARTIN PORTER.................. Sunday Editor
SUE STEPHENSON...................Feature Editor
MARNIE HEYN .................Editorial Director
CINDY HILL...........E........xecutive Editor
KENNETH FINK ... .. ..... .....Arts Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Prakash Aswani, Gordon Atcheson,
Laura Berman, Dan Blugermnan, Howard 'Brick,
Bonnie Carnes, Charles Coleman, Barb Cornell,
Jeff Day, Della DiPietro, Mike Duweck, Ted Evan-
off, Matt Gerson, William Heenan, Steve Hersch,
Jack Krost, Andrea Lilly, Mary Long, Jean Love,
Jeff Luxenberg, Josephine Marcotty, Beth Nissen,
Cheryl Pilate, 'Ann Rauima, Sara Rimer, Jim
Schuster, Bob Seidenstein, Stephen Selbst, Chip
Sinclair, Jeff Sorensen, David Stoll, Paul Ter-
williger.
DAILY WEATHER BUREAU: William Marino and Den-
nis Dismachek (forecasters)
tory for Traxler would deal a staggering
blow to pro-Nixon forces nationwide.
This Saturday and again on election
day the Ann Arbor Committee to Im-
peach Nixon will be sending volunteers
to the Eighth District to supplement the
Traxler Campaign forces.
The Ann Arbor contingent will phone
Eighth District residents, urging a large
voter turnout, and distribute leaflets at
business centers.
At this point, most observers feel the
election could go either way. A concerted
effort by Impeachment Committee vol-
unteers could well swing the election
for Traxler and add important impetus
to the impeachment movement.
PEOPLE WISHING TO volunteer their
services to the Impeachment Com-
mittee's Eighth District forces should
call 665-6200 or 662-6671 on Friday, Sat-
urday, or Monday between 10:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m. On Sunday or during eve-
ning hours call 665-4845.
On Saturday, April 13, a bus will leave
for the Eighth District at 9:00 a.m. from
the side door of the Michigan Union and
will return by 7:00 p.m.
Two buses will be leaving from the
side door of the Union on Tuesday, Ap-
ril 16, at 8:30 a.m., and will return by
10:00 p.m.
Transportation and food will be pro-
vided for volunteers.
-MARNIE IHEYN
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Della DiPietro, Cindy Hill, Sa r a
Rimer, Tim Schick, Jeff Sorensen, Sue
Stephenson, Becky Warner
Editorial Page: Paul Haskins, Marnie
Heyn
Arts Page: David Blomquist, Ken Fink,
Sara Rimer
Photo Technician: David Margolick
By MARNIE HEYN
SURROUNDING THE b a s i c college organization
formula of faculty, students, a registrar to deal
with money and getting diplomas printed, and an
assorted dean or two, there are two huge bureau-
cratic mushroom patches at this University. One is
called Research, which is a topic for several books.
The other is called, loosely, Services. The following
is a rudimentary map for finding the help you need.
Whenever you feel a need and can't identify where
to go to fill it, a good place to start is with 76-GUIDE
(764-8433, Union first floor), the student ombudsper-
son (763-4182, 339 Union), or one of the advocates
(information 763-4182, 338 Union).
Most students come here in an attempt to pursue
scholastic interests. If your problem is academic,
both faculty- and student-organized counseling is gen-
erally available. Call the dean's or director's office
in your school or college (U operator, 764-1817, '0'
from Centrex phones has the number) for the appro-
priate faculty office; the Student Counseling Office,
a student-operated office (763-1552, 1018 Angell), can
refer you to a helpful group of students in your
interest-area.
MANY SCHOOLS and colleges have special library
and research facilities that are available to students.
The place to start looking for the information you
need is with the reference librarians in the Grad
Library, and in a pinch at the UGLI.
Specialized collections range from Art History to
Zoology. In addition, therUniversity housesdozens
of museums in a spectrum that runs from Archaeol-
ogy to the University Herbarium. Chances are you'll
find what you need; ask the University operator for
the library or museum phone number in the perti-
nent discipline.
Also, no matter how arcane your area of inquiry,
there is probably a faculty member who's doing or
has recently done research in that field. Ask the
departmental secretary (numbers from University
operator) which faculty member has the most ex-
pertise in the subject you need to know about.
And do not be shy about asking teachers to help
you learn. They may think they have more important
things to do, but we know better. Besides, we help
subsidize their survival by paying tuition.
IF YOU FEEL that you are deficient in learning
or studying skills, there are several offices that can
help you do remedial studies, improve your reading
speed, give you supportive services if you have per-
ceptual or other handicaps, or help you find a tutor
for a tough subject. Ask the people at 76-GUIDE
to direct you to the right service.
Many times students feel that the regular course
offerings don't correspond to their educational needs.
If that description fits you, consider one of the many
irregular ways you can get academic credit for what
you want to learn from life. The University sponsors
study/travel abroad programs, Course Mart, Project
Community, independent studies and tutorials, and is
even open to student-initiated courses. The Course
Mart folks and the Honors Council can give you di-
rection in your search for knowledge on your way
to a degree.
COUNSELING FOR non-academic quandaries is
is available from a whole slew of sources, some
free, some inexpensive, some formal, some casual,
some good, some less than mediocre. The place to
start looking for help is with 76-GUIDE; they can
refer you to the most appropriate source of assist-
ance. GUIDE also does personal crisis counseling,
as do several other agencies in Ann Arbor.
Minority students, foreign students, female stu-
dents, and other constituencies can have special prob-
lems and needs; these needs have a special answer:
the constituency advocates, located on the third floor
of the Union, will lend an empathetic ear and help
you unravel the bureaucratic and personal knots.
They do the work they do because they like students
and understand the kind of grief you live with. They
are a good place to start solving any of your
problems.
STUDENTS ARE notoriously unwealthy. If you
need funds, the University offers several ways to
get at them. Financial Aid, on the second floor of
the Student Activities Building, administers scholar-
ships, loans, and grants. Work/Study, a ffederally
subsidized student employment program, istacross
the hall. Guaranteed Bank Loans is around the cor-
ner. All these offices usually operate on the level of
planning for the next year; but if you need money
in a crunch, Financial Aid does give emergency
personal short-term loans of up to $250.
The University also has a Temporary Employment
office and a Summer Placement program (only for
jobs outside Ann Arbor) that can help you organize
some income for A limited period of time.
SADLY, ANN ARBOR has more physicians than
Carter's has pills, but finding one quick and for
cheap is a herculean task. So, if you get sick, the
easiest thing to do is to go to Health Service and
insist that they make you well. "Feeling okay" is
not a substitute for good health, however, so keep
insisting on courteous service until you really are
well. Remember: surviving your education is just
as-and maybe even more-important than getting
it in the first place.
* * *
TO REITERATE: whatever needs you feel, there
are probably services to help you fill those needs.
The burden of finding the right person or place is
on you, and 76-GUIDE is willing to lighten that
load. Do not hesitate to seek help because you think
your problem is small or insignificant; it's a problem
if you think it is. And you pay the piper; you may
as well call the tune you want to-or need to--hear.
Confessions o
med school dropout
This interview with Tomn Kuzma was conducted by the Free Peo-
ple's Clinic. Reprinted from the Ann Arbor Sun.
FPC: Why did you originally go to medical school? Why did you
drop out?
Tom: I felt that the MD degree could be a powerful tool to aid
people in times of serious life problems, and that it would give me the
credibility to begin to criticize the present social structure and be
taken seriously. Unfortunately, once, I got into the process, I realized
that what had motivated me was a sort of romanticism, a love of the
idea of being an MD, but at the same time I began to feel personal
dissonance caused by the process of being filtered, indoctrinated and
resocialized into the roles that the institution had designed for us.
FPC: How does it feel to be in medical school?
Tom: Rotten. Medical school is destructive of the individual, as
evidenced by the high degree of anxiety in the in the students. It's a
lot like a fraternity: first they greet you with the old "Welcome, col-
leagues, you're one of us now." Then there's hell week. In a frat,
hell week often consists of some herculean physical labor and/or abuse;
in medical school it's a mental flogging and it goes on for four years.
They overwhelm you with more information than you can possibly
assimilate. It's uncoordinated and mindless. Medical school obscures
the forest for the trees. Instead of looking at the whole human being
and the environment it exists within, and their mutual interactions, they
focus in on the smallest of details. Now, this is fine and necessary on an
abstract level of organizing facts, but they never get back to under-
standing and relating to the whole person.
FPC: What does this say about how doctors trained in this manner
treat patients?
Tom: It comes down to being a tender violence, a manipulation.
Doctors try to establish a warm relationship with the patient, one of
trust, but it's usually phony, the kind of trust relationship you might
have with a salesman. Doctors aren't open with patients but withhold
information. They have a professional language that they use freely
among themselves. They talk over the patient's head and don't explain
things.
I've found most doctors to be essentially mistrustful of patients.
I say this because, again, like in the academic world - and I'm
speaking from my experiences at U-M Medical Center - the doctors
are not primarily interested in understanding a body of knowledge
and applying it to anybody's welfare, but in maintaining and further-
ing their own position in that system. The patient .becomes a pawn
in the doctors' elaborate hierarchy game: I'm above this one, but
below that one. The notion of hierarchy is fundamental to the medical
school. They see the world as up and down, never across. It's not the
kind of situation where there's room for trust, because real trust is
between equals.
It's areflection of this culture that puts the individual in:opposition
to the rest of the cosmos., You're constantly competing with everyone
else: all the people who might beat you out for that scarce spot
in medical school, score better on a test, or push you out of that
precarious internship. And the attainment of these goals is seen as
conquest: conquest over Nature, poverty, racial and sexual conquest;
conquest over disease.
What it comes down to is that the patient perceives that the doctor
is relating to him/her as a thing rather than as a human being. The
doctor has been taught to analyze and understand the mechanics of the
body, while his training has burnt him out emotionally. The plane on
which a doctor is taught to perceive the body is a mechanical plane.
The person inside the body is invisible.
FPC: How about the person inside the medical student?
Tom: Well, medical students want the MD degree, but no one
enjoys the processing you have to endure to get it. From what I've
seen in others, and what I've felt in myself, medical school is really
a lack-love situation. There's a feeling of being inadequate to the
task set before you. And when you want to take time out, to be human,
to recharge your batteries, you feel guilty for taing a moment from
the pursuit of the task which they keep telling you is so vital.
The medical school work is overwhelming. You have to put so
much time into trying to keep up with the work there's no time
to ask: what's it all about? What are its underlying values? Where is
it coming from? Are there any other, equally valid approaches? There's
no time for that. You're on an assembly line that's processing you
into an MD, and specifically, a specialized doctor in the context of the
present medical care system. This processing refuses to deal with
acupuncture, herb medicines, psychic healing, real nutrition, and
chiropractic: In the end, it refuses to deal with the problems of
human beings.
The pain and alienation from the process of being in medical
school leads to all sorts of attempts to compensate for it on the
outside through various kinds of escapism: romantic love (though
the divorce rate among medical students is higher than that for the
general population) spectator sports, acquisition of more and more
material possessions, drugs, alcohol, etc. - all sorts of things which
are an attempt to gain the fulfillment that is denied you in school.
Within my own class, I've heard that 10 per cent of my class-
mates are on valium. A large number of first and second year stu-
dents seek psychiatric counseling because of the pressure they feel.
So they go to the shrink, who's been through it all himself, and he
runs this beautiful trip of "Well, that's the way things are, and you've
got to adjust to it. Everyone's got to endure pain, and it's only
righ that you should, too." But, this ignores the question of why so
many people feel this pain to begin with. No one ever asks questions
about the merit or lack of merit of a system that does this to people.
TOMORROW: Western medioine, the food industry,
and physicians and disease.
GRAFFITI
Modern America speaks out
By BILL HEENAN
QPEARHEADED by the police
"graffiti squad," Philadelphia
expended over $4 million in 1972
to combat the ravages of the city's
ever-elusive "wall-wreckers."
Meanwhile, at this University,
numerous custodians spend an in-
ordinate amount of time erasing
the written battle scars every stu-
dent vacation, and await the next
onslaught.
Graffiti has persisted for over
5,000 years, even emerging f r o m
the ruins of Pompeii. The 'U' set-
ting is profusely endowed with wall
scrawls which leap out from stair-
wells, elevator shafts, on the mor-
tar between bricks, and even on
bathroom ceilings.
Consisting chiefly of unintelli-
bible symbolsandyinitials, a few
key phrases emerge, expressing
the writer's beliefs, aspirations,
Today, many individuals lack
the courage to state their frustra-
tions or unpopular ideas through
the conventional mass media. Of-
ten, because of space limitations
and unequal access, a person can-
not air his views anyway. How-
ever, the bathroom walls offer
everyone - from angry intellec-
tuals to pubescent high s c h o o 1
students - an equal opportunity to
express themselves.
TOP-BREAKING national, inter-
national, and local news have al-
ways stimulated hordes of bath-
room commentary. Such graffiti is
fascinating because it captures the
was devoted to the Mideast War.
Other areas of campus zeroed in
on the war as less than a week
after its outbreak on Oct. 6.
"Israel controls 70 per cent of
Congress."
(underneath)
"No, the U.S. controls 70 per
cent of Israel."
-Alice Lloyd, 10-10-73
Take a Palestinian guerrilla
out to lunch today!"
-UGLI 10-11-73
"End the war - mine Soviet
harbors!"
(underneath)
"Right on! Shit here for the
Israel Defense Fund. They need
your hole-hearted support."
-UGLI 10-11-73
After two lesbians were forced
by the owner to leave the Rubiyat,
a local nightclub, gays demon-
strated at City Hall March 3. The
next day, the building's lavatories
were covered with their graffiti:
"Gay is great," and the planetary
symbols for male and female
homosexuals were prevalent.
Externally-stimulated g r a f f iti
turned into vandalism as visiting
Ohio State fans spray-painted sev-
eral University buildings before
the Ohio-Michigan football g a m e
November 22.
CERTAINLY, political analysts
and pollsters would gain by exam-
ining the walls for indications of
political trends.
A .. . . , .... .. - A r.
son claimed that more people were
informed of the Hast Fest through
graffiti than through other media.
Graffiti is a measure of other
social fixations. Free from the re-
strains of the outside world, the
bathroom allows physical and psy-
chological "dirt" to be discussed
freely. Such wall writing concern-
ing sex is called "latrinalia."
Two social scientists have ex-
plored this. John Bleibtreu, attri-
butes wall scrawlings to people's
primitive instinct to establish ter-
ritory. According to him, graffiti
serves to warn off the same sex
while attracting the opposite sex.
Dr. Alan Dundes of UCLA claims
that the urge to scrawl is related
to childhood toilet-training. If par-
ents repress the child's desire to
handle feces, his or her desire is
manifested on the walls later in
life.
GRAFFITI KNOWS no social
class boundaries, but sexual dif-
ferences are tremendous.
Men scrawl in stalls because they
envy pregnancy says John Bettle-
heim. He contends that males are
pushed by society to "put out, to
make something of himself." Thus
men "give birth" to witty writings.
History has been cruel to graf-
fiti. A constant war has been wag-
ed between the management who
desire clean bathrooms, and t h e
ingenious wall writer. Employing
sand-based black paints, they hope
to stunt creativitv. Usually t h e
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Sepate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
. -C2 MA-- . aM Q.a* fA. 'anita