e,:.,.' r ri.... : En .:a~:.'...,3+. .. .< \ .....,., .h.nom;. .... . ',..;,. ....,.. ' . ..p- 94V A £ir'iitan Daih Eighty-two years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 420 A Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-0552 0 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1973 Nixon's battle of the bud get PRESIDENT NIXON fired the first shot Monday of what will probably be- come , a torturous battle with Congress over federal spending. Nixon, in announc- ing his $268.7 million budget, cited cut- backs which will affect a large number of federal programs, eliminating some entirely. Economists generally agree that infla- tion cannot be stopped with a $25 billion deficit such as exists this year. The pro- posed budget would reduce the deficit to 12.7 billion for fiscal year 1974, which will not halt inflation but is a good start. But checking inflation is not the im- portant issue in the new budget. The sparks are going to fly over the programs that Nixon plans to cut or abandon. The President says that he will at- tempt to do away with many of the "sacred cows"; the popular governmental programs which he believes "have out- lived their time, or have failed." One such program, which Nixon says has outlived its time, is the Hill-Burton act, which has provided funds for hos- pital construction. According to the Pres- ident, "the shortage of hospital beds which existed through the '50s andb'60 has been more than met." That appears to be good news, indeed. Statistically, perhaps the actual number of hospital beds matches the statistical need for beds. But it is misleading to look at those statistics without remembering that the facilities of many hospitals were designed to handle different prob- lems than exist today. For example, pneu- monia was a much greater problem forty years ago than it is now. Yet the same facilities that existed then are being used today. American hospitals may have enough beds now, but those facili- ties are not adequate for the new prob- lems hospitals, presently face. The Office of Economic Opportunity, as well as other Great Society programs, will also meet their doom in the coming weeks. All of these cutbacks are a result of the President's belief in rugged indi- vidualism; that the average American is like a "child" who must be treated firmly or will be spoiled; that it is time "to get big government off your back and out of your pocket." Perhaps it is time to get big government off our backs, but that should mean the end of such actions as illegal wiretaps by the Justice Dept.-not the end of the government's commitment to social justice and equal- ity in this country. PART OF Nixon's philosophy is that putting more power and money in the.hands of state and local governments will mean more efficiency and more progress than can be achieved by bureau- crats far away in Washington. Unfortunately, local politicians and bureaucrats are often more conserva- tive and more short-sighted than bu- reaucrats in Washington. If OEO goes, will state and local governments take up any of the slack? Or is the movement for social reform by government action fin- ishedi in this country? Not that the budget is all bad news. Nixon did call for increased expenditures for pollution control as well as for ex- panded research to deal with drug abuse, cancer and heart disease, and the "ener- gy crisis." But then again, despite some cuts the Defense Department budget will be increased by $2.5 billion to a record high of $79 billion. President Nixon asked all Americans to write their senators and representatives in support of his budget proposal. It would be best if Americans took a look at exactly what programs will be cut or abolished, and which ones will not, be- fore urging their representatives in Washington to support the budget pro- posal. -ERIC SCHOCH Computer madness By ROBERT BARKIN THE UNIVERSITY has recently announced the POINT system, its newest innovation in counseling. Knowing that progress never ceases at the Big U. we can well imag- ine the next great leap forward in counseling service - the com- puter. Computer: Hello, 76-ROBOT. Counseling heads off your problems. Student: I've got a question about a class I want to drop. Computer: Continue. Student: I want to get out of Music in Technology. Could you . Computer: What is your name? Student. Jones, Allan B. Computer: What is your number? Jones: 387-46-2903-7. Computer: Continue. Jones: Like I was saying I want. to drop this class. Could you tell me.. Computer: Class year? Jones: Freshman. Do you think if I'd been here more than two weeks I would lower myself to being counseled by a computer? Computer: Take it easy. Continue. Jones: For the last time, I want to drop Music in Technology. How COMPUTER: Why do you want to drop it? Jones: It's bogue, man. Computer: That does not compute. Jones: It's dull. Computer: Continue. Jones: For God's sake, tell me how to get out of it! Computer: Section number. Jones: 003. Computer: You cannot drop that class. Jones: Why the hell not? Computer: Drop/adds deadline passed a week ago. Jones: Why didn't you tell me that in the beginning, you moron? Computer: That does not compute. JONES: Skip it. Listen, you corroding piece of metal garbage, you can't tell me what to do. Computer: I am not programmed for disobedience. Jones: Well, you can take your computer cards and cram them up your intake valve . . . you! (phone explodes in his ear, removing a good deal of his head and the furniture in the room.) Computer: Remove Jones, Allan B. 387-46-2903-7 from University records. Hello, 76-ROBOT counseling heads off your problems. Begin. '.C' 1 I We have a chance today . . . to ensure better education ...better housing . . . a cleaner environment. ...........?7..":.: ... ................. rr ....NJ, v ..... ........C}... :..% : ..... ? ;: k*l ku ;Y,: T,. " hi ... -..::..: ..............: ....v... .:::.-:........:::-::::..'v..........:::.v. ..+. ..G.... ::. r:--.:4.:.:.44.4N r .........:::. .. :. .:" ..... . wu. }h :ii. ........... N.: ':?. Robert Bark in is a night editor for The Daily. The Vietnam aftermath: Who kept score? A potential blow to justice ACTING head of the FBI Patrick Gray has the potential' to render Ameri- can justice a crippling blow. In an ad- dress last Thursday to the Justice De- partment's Law Enforcement and Assist- ante Administration, he emphasized that the object of the criminal justice system should be "the protection of society," not -just the protection of the rights of the accused." Gray is advocating that the' rights of society should be elevated at the expense of individual freedoms-the right to a fair trial specifically. The premises on Editorial Staff SARA FITZGERALD Editor PAT BAUER. ........Associate Managing Editor LINDSAY CHANEY ............. .. Edtorial Director MARK DILLEN ...... .......... Magazine Editor LINDA DREEBEN.........Associate Managing Editor TAMMY JACOBS ............ ..... Managing Editor ARTHUR LERNER.......... .... Editorial Director ROBERT SCEREINER.......Editorial Director GLORIA JANE SMITH.............. Arts Editor PAUl. TRAVIS....... Associate Managing Editor ED SUROVELL .....Books Editor ARTS STAFF: Herb Bowie, Rich Glatzer, Donald Sosin. NIQHT EDITORS: Robert Barkin. Jan Benedetti, Di- ane Levick, Jim O'Brien, Chris Parks, Charles Stein, Ted Stein. COPY EDITORS: Meryl Gordon, Debra Thai. which this nation was founded could be in serious trouble if such logic is fol- lowed. Furthermore, he continues by saying that it might be wiser not to rehabilitate criminals, but to "protect society" by keeping them in prison. Hence, the whole purpose of the correctional system comes under direct attack. Convicted criminals would continue to be virtually written off as productive human beings by dooming them to lengthy terms of "punishment"; rehabilitation would be unlikely inside of one of those repressive institutions. Patrick Gray's proposals would only succeed in pushing the justice system into a horrible regression, reminiscent of feudal times. As our complex government grows more distant from the people, the individual must guard again the sup- pression of his unalienable rights by a ponderous, conforming society. -BILL HEENAN Todlay's staff: Today's Staff: Dan Blugerman, C h r i s Parks, Sue Stephenson, David Stoll. Editorial Page: Bill Heenan, Martin Stern, David Yalowitz. Arts Page: Gloria Jane Smith. Photo Technician: David Margolick. By JAMES WECHSLER rTHE AMERICAN atmosphere in the aftermath of the ceasefire announcement resembles the home crowd after its heavily-favored football team has finished playing a long, exhanusting scoreless t i e against a "fourth-rate" opponent. Desnite Coach Nixon's attempt to depictethe outcome as something of a triumph - or at least a' moral victory - there were no snake dances in the local streets. The only festivity was reported oc- curring among residents of Hanoi, which, in a way, was understand- able; they could validly see their side as underdogs who had fought a celebrated big-name outfit to a standstill, and held on even when they were being badly battered in the closing minutes. It was a little like Oklahoma having to settle for a draw with Hofstra. Athletic analogies have their flaws, and this one is no exception. Obviously there will e along ar- guxments about who finally did what to whom in the Paris talks, and the clearest truth is that the result is still to be determined. There is no time-clock in Vietnam's conflict. Bt the deenr malaise (relieved only by the immediate prospect that some Americans entranned in the war will be reunited with their families, and that the Vietnamese have won a reprieve from bombs and mass killing) reflects the am- bivalence of the American soirit as well as the uncertainty of the future. FOR A diminished number of Americans the ceasefire is a let- down because nothing short of a crushing score against Hanoi would have seemed a fitting climax to the U.S. investment of blood and treasure. It is they who m o s t acutely feel the frustration of the aforementioned Oklahoma fan; like Gen. MacArthur, they still believe there is no substitute for victory, whether against Hofstra or Ne- braska. But for a largernumber,the war long ago' lost the simplistic aspect of a gridiron struggle in which James Wechsler is the Editorial Page Editor for the New York Post. Copyright 1973-New York Post Corporation. any true partisan could clearly identify the forces of light and darkness. Tt had become a grim, tragic, crinnlinR national obses- sion - an adventure at once waste- f-l of our human and material re- sonrs, destructive of our self- egteem and a duhious blessing to the Vietnamese. Sorth and North. Amid even the temoorarv neace th-t has been achieved, relief and sntisfa('tion are tempered by a realization of how many years of our national life were squandered before this recarious truce now at hand. As far back as 1964, the iss-e of large-scale U.S. interven- tion had seemingly been resolved when Lyndon Johnson routed Barrv. Goldwater, whom he branded an advocate of mindless escalation. Refection of the war was appar- eritlv reaffirmed in 1968, when LB.J withdrew and Mr. Nixon vied with Hubert Humphrey in pledges to end the war promptly. Nevertheless, in December, 1972, after another national plebiscite, in which any reescalation of our role was deemedunthinkable, the Pres- ident unleashed the most frenzied air assault of this interminable war. IN THOSE long "nights of hell," one had the sense that everything written and spoken by opponents of the war, every parade and protest and vigil and fast had been futile. A President who had dared to adopt in late 1972 the bombing pol- icy advocated by Barry Goldwater in 1964 must have assumed the U.S. conscience was numbed be- yond revival. When the madness finally stop- ped and negotiations were resum- ed, we were thereupon told that the mission had been accomplish- ed: we had bombed Hanoi back to its senses. Highly respectable voic- es in print and politics are now 1 engaged in solemn semantic exer- cise to demonstrate that this al- leged end had justified the hideous means, as if any verbal acrobatics about "sovereignty" could alter the basic fact that Hanoi is still permitted - as it was in the Oc- tober agreement - to keep 145,000 troops in South Vietnam. And the ultimate proof of our virtue is said to be that we have given G e n . Thieu "a chance to survive"-even while we helped him to resist pro- posals for liberation of thousands of prisoners in his jails, many guil- ty of advocating peace. Consumed as we had become with the slogan of insuring Thieu's continuance in office, a goal tem- porarily accomplished, the nature of his oppressive regime apparent- lv ceased to be a matter Worthy of serious debate. Even as these morose lines are written, I know there is something more that milst be said. It is about the young Americans, who initially raised the antiwar banners and fin- ally stirred so many of their elders -who had silently watched the drift to wider war. One does not demean those who died in battle by saluting those who spoke out for life and reason. Thousands of American homes would be brighter today if the peace warriors h a d prevailed. BUT NEITHER did they march in a wholly lost cause. We have come through eight dreadful years; yet they could have been worse- and the damage and the shame even less retrievable - if there had been no protest ignited by that generation of "premature" anti- war crusaders. Perhaps we glimp- sed in mid-December just how much worse things might h a v e been if there had been no young men and women at Kent State and innumerable other places who sang "give peace a chance." "ONE DOES NOT demean those who died in battle by saluting those who spoke out for life and reason." Letters: Sport fans inconsiderate To The Daily: THE RELATIONSHIP of Michi- gan basketball fans to this year's team, although not as earth-shak- ing as a sundry list of other issues, AQ -r 73. L T1 VAL-~ VA, aXh)RK IhC wi . ,--% ---aC ". - THE iR6 TCr c*TPL~or- ('~ IC&YIST ETHIC. has angered me to the point of writing. The booing of Campy Rus- sell for his play in Saturday's game against Indiana was the last straw. While standing in line for basket- ball tickets in November, I got into an argument with a couple of other standees. (All three of us are white.) The two had mentioned that another black player had quit the team and therefore, they con- cluded, (although both admitted not knowing either players or coaches) that this was further proof that the black players hat- ed, but tolerated, coach Johnny Orr. Having a casual acquaintance with some players and coaches, I pointed out to these two that the player in question quit or was cut because he just wouldn't be play- ing this year. The standees ignor- ed my point and then rattled o f f more names of blacks who h a d quit. I countered with thernames of whites who, for similar reasons, had either quit or had been cut - Ashworth, Bazelon, Rea, Roberts (and later Kantner and Meyers). This group of players would make a suburban high school coach or- gasm. a smart-alec reporter's remarks in Sports Illustrated who questioned Orr's coaching ability - as if Sports Illustrated is some sort of basketball gospel. THE PLAYERS, especially t h e blacks, think the world of and respect Johnny Orr. The players wonder why the fans boo the se- cond they get behind; they wonder why the fans can't suoport them win or lose. I agreed with the nlav- ers. Michigan fans have to be the world's greatest frontrunners. I sho ld add that I sit in the stu- dent section and most of the boos and gossip I hear come from this area. I thought the booing of Russell Saturday was reprehensible. He is capable of playing-a bad game just as any fan and/or student is cap- able of doing poorly on a test. Russell works with one disadvant- age - he is usually double-teamed. Knowing Russell only on the com- ments of his teammates and coa,-h- es I can say that he is mat'ire enough to ignore the boos, b u t what is the fans' problem? Michigan fans and/or students pride themselves on being decent. Mattis remembered To the Daily: THE UNTIMELY death of a friend moves me to share the lit- tle I knew of him with those who lived and worked around him and never had the chance to know Pet- er Mattis. I was by no means his closest friend or even his closest student. But I was a friend, and we all knew the humanity in the man. I can't remember when he didn't have a minute for someone, or was without that little grin on h i s face. He always had -a warm chuckle he passed along with some answer or observation. And ' he was concerned about problems, this world, and us. I will always have this d e e p feeling of gratitude to Peter. He didn't really teach me that much - he helped me to learn. That was the style of this man. There will be a very empty feel- ing from now on, on the fourth floor of West Quad, where Peter's office was. And there are a lot of us who are going to miss him. -Jeff Kovacs Jan. 27 s' 111 4l 7WI It{Y IG')3T IT- XrT&6 APAhY' MTIc. YRAJ. -.4 i L