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A sad commentary on love and lonliness

Eighty-two years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

News Phone: 764-0552


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1973

Film regulations needed

By PETE HAMILL
ALL WINTER, Levinsky had waited for
the snow. At night, lying with Sandra in
the apartment on Bank St., he would stare
out at the blue-black sky, cursing the pre-
sence of the stars, longing for storms and
whiteness. But it was a winter empty of
snow. And so he would lie there and try to
explain it to her, this long California girl
who had chosen, incredibly, to love him.
"The best one of all was in 1947," he said.
"It snowed for two days, and the backyards
were filled up, right to the fences. You
couldn't open the doors to the roofs, they
were so piled up with snow. Traffic stopped,
there were no trolleys ..."
"What are trolleys?" she said.
"They were these long electric cars, with
a thing on the back that connected to elec-
tric power-lines. Sort of shaped like stream-
lined railroad trains . . . I don't know, it's
hard to explain."
AND SO WAS the snow: the chimneys
helmeted by the snow; a cat moving across
the whiteness; the silence falling on Brook-
lyn, as the traffic vanished under the white
blanket, and the snow squeaking when you
walked. In 1947, there were mountains of
snow on all the corners and they carved ice
tunnels into their white hearts, and made
noises to each other like Eskimos. Sandra:

golden California girl: he could not explain
that to her, or Livonia Av. either.
"It doesn't matter," she would say,
wnenever he tried to explain about himself
or his life. And to Levinsky, that was the
beauty part. She loved Levinsky! Incred-
ible! And the details did not matter. She
loved Levinsky, who had always been too
short for the women he desired; Levinsky,
who had moved into his 30s bursting with
love and no one to give it to; Levinsky, who
poured his energies into the shirt business,
who was kind to his employes, but who ate
too many dinners alone, watched too many
Late Shows, and could not make it any
more with hookers.
And then Sandra had arrived. She ans-
wered a model call one day and asked him
to buy her dinner and went home with him
that night and stayed. As simple as that.
She filled the place with flowers, a huge
brass pot they bought at the Hamptons, an
antique woden pepper grinder, record al-
bums, framed prints, books, and more. It
was the more that made Levinsky glow
through the days at the office: the more was
the sense of feminine merger she brought to
his life: cosmetics, perfumes, oils, myster-
ious tubes, powders, hair conditioners and
lotions crowded the top of his once barren
dresser. The bureau drawers were filled
with stockings, panties, filmy things; the

closet had dresses hanging like joyous multi-
colored skins among his sombre suits; all
of it feeding Levinsky's astonished heart.
* * * * *
AND NOW, on this February afternoon
at the office, he even had the snow. He said
goodnight to everyone, and went out onto
28th St. and started walking to the Village.
The snow was falling in huge wet flakes;
he skimmed a finger over the snow gather-
ed on the hood of a car and thought: good
packing,,it'll stick, beautiful. She had never
seen New York under snow, and it remind-
ed him again that he only knew her for
three months, and had already asked her
to marry him two nights before. He had
trembled when he asked her; she was after
all, 15 years younger than he was, and a
shiksa at that; but she smiled, she didn't say
no. Maybe the snow was all that he needed.
It was dark when he reached Bank St.,
and as he made the turn he started packing
a snowball from the snow on top of a Buick.
When he reached the house, he threw the
snowball up at the second-floor window.
And then realized that the apartment was
dark. A scribble of panic moved through
him as he rushed up the stairs.
"Sandra?" he said. But the huge Leonard
Baskin print was gone from over the fire-
place, and the Cuevas was missing from
the wall beside the bookcase where she had

h'mng it. The brass pot was gone, and the
paper flowers, and there were black slots
in t:heI bookcases where books once stood,
and gashes in the rows of record albums.
Her bureau was empty, and a card lay on
top .of the barren dresser. It said: "Love.
Understand. And thanks. Sandra."
HE COULD FEEL the sound moving up
from inside him, before he heard it: deep,
animal, wounded, as he moved frantically
around the bedroom, opening drawers, look-
ing behind the dresser, opening the closet.
The suits hung neatly, but she was gone.
He tore at the suits, knocking them to the
floor, hurled the neckties across the room,
ripped at the slacks. Until he saw one last,
forgotten dress, yellow and summery, hang-
ing in solitude behind a raincoat. He lifted it
gently, feeling the feminine fabric. And
then he held it to himself, embracing it,
hugging it, until he fell back on the bed,
bawling out his injury and his loss. After a
while, he could cry no more, and he lay very
still, watching the snow fall through the
dark night.

V,

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THE STUDENT GOVERNMENT Council
tonight will vote on a wide ranging
set of rules regulating and licensing cam-
pus film groups.
The rules are intended, according to
SGC President Bill Jacobs, to clear up the
present state of confusion surrounding
the multitude of film groups which have
sprung up on campus over the past sev-
eral years.
TIE DAILY agrees withl Jacobs that
some type of regulation is neces-
sary. We have watched with something
approaching horror as certain groups
seem to have flaunted their student or-
ganization status to line the pockets of
their members.
Only codification of the presently ad
hoc rules regulating these groups-and
that includes a licensing requirement-
will end the present unsatisfactory situ-
ation.
We do not, however, agree that the
set of rules which will be presented to
council tonight adequately safeguards
the rights of the film groups, the film
distributors or the student body itself.
This is because the proposed legisla-
tion fails to establish procedures for li-
censing and regulation which meet ba-
sic requirements of due process and re-
spect for the first amendment.
FURTHER, we feel that the proposed
regulations are in many ways inade-
quate to prevent circumvention by de-
termined persons.
Specifically, The Daily is concerned
by the proposed criteria for licensing. The
decision whether to license or not to
license rests In the hands of a special
board appointed by SGC. Unfortunately,
the proposed rules give little, if any, guid-
ance to the members of this board on
what criteria, if any, should be used to
determine the eligibility of a student
group to show movies.
The proposed rules will regrettably
leave the board free to operate without a
set of procedures ensuring due process
and adequate representation of the film
groups involved.
Another cause for concern is the pro-
posed requirement that SGC be informed
at least ten days in advance of the
showing of any particular film. The in-
tent of this rule is to ensure that phony
bookings of University auditoriums are
not made in efforts to sabotage the
screenings of competitive groups. This
could, we feel, be more effectively en-
sured by requiring groups to pay, say, a
$50 returnable deposit upon the reserva-
tion of an auditorium, the money to be
forfeit if the film is not shown without
good reason.
IT DISTURBS US that the proposed reg-
ulatory agency have the power to

reject schedules of screenings, as we
feel this violates the free speech safe-
guards of the first amendment to the
United States Constitution.
We hope also that SGC will not place
difficult barriers in the way of student
groups hoping to break into the business
of showing movies, as this would tend
to limit the entertainment available to
students on campus.
SGC's attempt to standardize ticketing
procedures is commendable. Under the
proposed rules, all film groups will have
to get their tickets from the same place.
The serial numbers can then be re-
corded and an accurate accounting of
monies received by individual groups can
be made. This will, hopefully, lead to in-
creased confidence in local film groups by
the motion picture distributors, who
have been somewhat disturbed in recent
months by inadequate accounting pro-
cedures.
We would not wish our position on this
issue to be taken as an attack on film
groups per se.
The Daily is pleased at the contribu-
tion made by film groups to the cultural
life of the campus. The groups have
vastly increased the entertainment op-
tions available to students, at more rea-
sonable prices than those charged by the
commercial theatres. The groups have
shown a refreshing willingness to experi-
ment, show the movies of lesser known
directors and even stage such education-
al events as the recent Frank Capra film
festival.-
We would chide the groups, however,
for their apparent inability at self-regu-
lation and their often immature atti-
tude towards competition. We find it de-
plorable that acts of sabotage and decep-
tion, often involving outside companies,
have been perpetrated.
PERHAPS IF the film groups themselves
had shown more responsibility we
would not have to agree to the need for
licensing and rulemaking. They haven't,
and so we are forced into the somewhat
uncomfortable position of urging govern-
mental intervention.
We call on campus film groups to get
it together and form some type of or-
ganization to ensure high standards in
the showing of campus films.
But at the same time, we urge SGC
to continue with its attempt to bring the
situation under control. We simply ask
that much more attention is paid to the
proposed regulations before they come
to a vote, and we urge full consultation
with members of the film groups and
the University community in general be-
fore such wide ranging proposals are im-
plemented.

4

A


Pete Hamill is a columnist for the New
York Post. Copyright 1973, the New York
Post Corporation.

 not insane

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THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL Pubshers-HaTfl s cat.e, 1972
You ... mean... Im no longer the John
Wayne of the money market?'

Exam madness:
Ugly UGLI art

Letters to The Daily

Israeli atrocity inexcusable

IT WAS DISHEARTENING to wake up
yesterday morning to find that Is-
raeli fighter planes had forced down a
Libyan airliner, killing 70 passengers.
The aircraft, which was on a routine
flight from Benghazi to Cairo, had ap-
parently strayed from its course and
was flying over the Israeli-occupied Sinai
desert when it was intercepted by Israe-
li warplanes and ordered to land.
The Israeli, air force said the pilot of
the plane, an American made Boeing
T-oday's staff:
News: Terry Martin, Gerald Nanninga,
Christopher Parks
Editorial Page: Bill Heenan, C h a r I e s
Herrington, Martin Stern
Arts Page: Sara Rimer, Gloria Jane Smith
Photo Technician: John Upton
CHRISTOPHER PARKS and EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editors in Chief
ROBERT BARKIN ................. Feature Editor
DIANE LEVICK . ...............Associate Arts Editor

727, refused to heed the order. The Is-
raeli jets then brought the plane down
with terrible loss of life.
WE FIND IT HARD to deny the Israeli's
their right to survival. For a long
time we have almost bent over backwards
to understand their motives in launch-
ing strikes against her Arab neighbors.
We are saddened by the unrealistic atti-
tude of the Arab states towards the ex-
istence of Israel, and we long for a set-
tlement that can lead to both peoples
living in peace.
But our support of Israel cannot extend
to an acceptance of an atrocity such as
the one perpetrated yesterday over Sinai.
We find it hard to believe that the sea-
soned pilots of the Israeli air force were
unable to distinguish a clearly-marked
civilian airliner from a hostile warplane.
For the same reason that we cannot
accept the killing by police of a fleeing
suspect unless the suspect presents a
clear and present danger to the lives of
innocent people, we cannot accept the
destruction of a civilian airplane pre-
senting no threat to the integrity of Is-
rael, whether or not it had invaded Is-
raeli airspace.
We hope that the Israeli government

Gay harassment
To The Daily:
MOST HOMOSEXUALS in Ann
Arbor restrict themselves to t h e
one gay bar in town, a shoddy, ill-
kept establishment which has ex-
ploited its captive clientele for
years. This bar remains in poor
condition - in spite of its being
one of the largest money-making
bars in town - simply because the
owner knows he does not need an
attractive atmosphere to keep the
customers coming back. Most gay
people feel that they have no other
place to go.-10
We are oppressed by a society
which wants us to stay with "our
own kind" and not mix with so-
called "normal" people.
Many of us who have been at-
tending the meetings of the Gav
Liberation Front have raised our
eay consciousness enough to be
radicalized by the onpression we
feel from the straight world.
Twice this week groups of us
have gone to straight bars to
drink and dance just like any other
free citizens who have the right
to pursue a peaceful and happy
existence. Homosexuals had been
hassled at these bars before and
we wanted both the bar owners and
patrons to know that we will no
longer be intimidated by their un-
reasonable rejection of us.
Let me make it clear that we
acted in no way different from the
other customers. We paid our cov-
er charges, we checked our coats,
we sat at tables, ordered drinks,
and danced when the band play-
ed. Men dancing with men brought
some curious stares, raised eve-
brows and amused smiles. TPhis
much we expected and really didn't
mind. At least being a novelty is
perhaps one step toward being ac-
cepted.
On our second "liberation visit"

that took place:
"Do you guys really mind our
being here?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you make me sick.
You're sick."
"We're not bothering you. We
just want to be left alone to enjoy
ourselves just like you do."
"You're sick. You should see a
psychiatrist."
"I did. Now I'm happy about
being gay."
"Well, you should see another
one because that first guy didn't
do you any good." Etc., etc.
By this time about six of these
"studs" were gathered around two
of us, much to the amusement of
the onlookers.
"If we ever see you guys in
here again we're gonna kick your
ass."
After a bit more verbal chest
beating my friend and I turned
away, realizing that no amount of
lialogue could convince these warp-
ed, narrow minds that they had
nothing to fear. For a while the
he-men stalked us, probably antici-
pating the chance to "beat up those
faggots" once we got outside. For-
tunately the bar staff warned
them not to make trouble and they
left without any further attempts
at defending their masculinity or
whatever it was they felt was at
stake.
I WAS SHOCKED by the whole
scene because I had never before
encountered such hostility. What
reason did these men have to hate
us? We were minding our own
business, we were enjoying our-
selves, and we were in no way im-
posing our sexuality on anyone
else. The blind, ugly prejudice
of the ignorance is the main ob-
stacle to achieving a truly enlight-
ened society.
Live and let live. Love and let

members of the studena organiza-
tion Mad Hatter's Tea Party, wish
to state our wholehearted support
f or our fellow student organiza-
tions, and to decry Schaper's at-
tempt to impose imposible strict
regulations on the film societies.
We feel that any group of stu-
dents who wish to join together
within the University community
should be alowed to do within rea-
sonable guidelines - not the re-
stricting regulations which Schap-
er seeks to impose. The purpose of
SGC and the Student Organizations
Board should be to assist and helo
coordinate activities of student
groups - not to restrict them.
Since David Schaper entered SGC
as Treasurer in March 1972, the
code of student legislation has been
needlessly expanded out of rea-
sonable proportions by chapters
authored by him. Student govern-
ment should seek to eliminate bur-
eaucracy rather than make it!
As was said by a Daily reporter
to a Mad Hatter's Tea Party mem-
ber, "If all the paper in the world
caught fire, Dave Schaper would
rise like a phoenix from the flam-
es with a new compiled code."
We, of Mad Hatter's Tea Party
stand unswervingly against the
proposed new rules against film
groups. We wish to express our
support for, and urge the attend-
ance of concerned students at the
New Morning Media Cooperative
rally in the Fishbowl on Thurs-
day. We also urge our fellow stu-
dents to show support for their
right to organize freely by coming
to the Student Organizations Board
hearings on the proposed rules,
Thursday night in third floor Mich-
igan Union. We support our fellow
student organizations and urge all
concerned students to do the same.
-Candace Massey
Elliott Chikofsky
Anne Missavage
Mad Hatter's Tea Party

By BOB BARKIN
"Y YGOD, THEY all look the same."
Such is the anguished cry that reverberates throughout the 4th
floor of the Undergraduate Library. For it is that floor which is the
repository for the bane of art historians - the print - study gallery,
One can appreciate the full extent of the terror of the print gallery
only in the face of an oncoming exam. It is then that the agoning
fear of failure becomes real.
Of course, terror before exams is not the sole possession of art
historians, but they know it better than most. Staring at those ugly
papered walls the student of the masters wanders from one print to
another asking himself how each is different. But after close examina-
tion, notes in one hand, and textbook in the other, the conclusion is
always the same - how the hell do I know?
HOWEVER, THERE IS solace in the fact that there are others
gazing at the prints. A vacous stare is their common bond. Shuttling
along, looking at prints, they suddenly stop, and as total confusion
grips their bodies, they wonder aloud at the intent of a particular
artist.
rI think he is an Orphist," says one.
'Yeh, but what is an Orphist?" asks the other.
But this is not always the case. There are the enlightened who
become so engrossed with the artist that they feel they have a direct
insight into his work and spare no pains to demonstrate their prowess.
"An Orphist," says the art afficianado, "is an offshoot of the cubist
style. In some ways, the Orphist is a reaction to the blandness and lack
of color which pervades the cubist paintings."
The others, stunned by this intellectual appraisal of the painting-
at-hand, take a step back, raise their hands to frame the painting,
and say:
"Yes, Orphism is clear to me now. But what is a cubist?"
THE COMPLEXITY OF life is all around us. Entering the print
gallery only adds one more dimension to the day's insanity. Here a
layman, one who feels that he has some minute portion of intelligence,
is reduced to a mental midget because of pieces of paper randomly
plastered on the wall, supposed replicas of the works of great masters.
Leaving the gallery you stop to see that ohelast print, trying
to grasp in that final moment what it is all about. You stare, look
at your notes and stare again.
"My God, this one is staring back."
It's then that you realize that it is time to depart, and hope
when safely at home and lying in bed you see the painting and not
the handwriting on the wall.
Sylvia s Signs
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1973
Pisces Persons Prefer Sunshine to Darkness
Pisces. (Feb. 19 - March 20) Take credit
where it is due. Keep your price high while
you have the monopoly. Unsuspecting class-
mates make good customers if product is
desirable.
. Aries. (March 21 - April 19) Don't go to
extremes if you want to keep your sanity.
SWear the color blue to express your mod-
eration. Find new friends in the UGLI
lounge.
Taurus. (April 20 - May 20) Check over mid-terms well. Ten-
dency to make careless errors can hurt grades. Same errors
may generalize into your lovelife. Be cautious if your love really
matters.
Gemini. (May 21 - June 20) A lover my be leading you on.
Confront him or her and discover real intentions. Your opinion
will influence the outcome. New loves not hard to find in large
lectures.
Cancer. (June 21 - July 22) Be open minded if you wish to
solve your own problems. Expand your point of view. Join an
organization where others share your position, liberate your-
self.
Leo. (July 23 - Aug. 22) Surround vourself with unusual and
interesting individuals. Enter into a locale you have generally
avoided. Introduce yourself to a mysterious stranger.
Virgo. (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22) There are those who covet your
position. Be cautious and avoid being over zealous. Remember to
aprotect yourself in any fashion that your situation deems
necessary.
Libra. (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22) Complete a difficult task without do-
ing' anything out of the ordinary. Follow a general routine. Be
mentally prepared to enter into a Future World.
Scorpio. (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21) Today seems uneventful but bear
with it. Don't look for excitement by stirring up trouble. It pos-
sible stay in bed; you can't get into mischief there.
Sagittarius. (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21) Mind your own business. Be

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