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

Looking beyond

the

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

News Phone: 764-0552


WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1973


Goons and gutter rats

By KATHLEEN RICKE
Editorial Director
IN THE 40's we went to war and people
supported it. It the sixties we burned
our draft cards and people cheered. For
centuries women were burned at the stake
for practicing midwifery and people stood
by, watching.
Today women in this community will burn
a medical textbook as a symbol of protest
against some oppressive and unfounded
practices taught in this university on the
medical treatment of women, and people
compare it to the Nazi book burnings of the
1930's.
Today's action is a symbolic act protest-
ing the mandatory use of a textbook. The
Nazis book burning was done on a massive
scale with the intention of removing as
many copies of the book from circulation
as possible. While the actions are similar,
the intent and reasoning are not.
THE BURNING OF this book is just one
small part of a saga that has been develop-
ing for years. In this instance there is well-
founded oposition to requiring medical stu-
dents to use a textbook called Obstetrics
and Gynecology (1971) by J. Robert Willson
-a University medical profesor-to learn
about feminine psyche, or as the book calls
it "components of mature feminine person-
ality."

These components cited in the boik are
'narcissism, masochism and passivity." Ac-
cording to this textbook a "mature" roman
"concerns herself with beauty to attract
men", "allows male to conquer" and "sac-
rifices own personality to build up that
of (her) husband."
This is not a matter in which students
have the right to discuss and choose what

burning of
public. Some of the passages from Obstet- THE
rics and Gynecology should be made public bly not
-if more people were made aware of how causea
ridiculous they are, it might be easier to demicc
get through to the University to have the counter
book reviewed. book bu
Presently a class action suit is teing Thep
filed against the publisher to replace some women,
sections of the book. Members of t h e birth

TACTIC OF book burning is probar
the best one that could be used be-
of the feelings it arouses in an aca-
community. The results may prove
-productive if the issue becomes the
urning, and not the book.
public shows no violent reaction to
dying from improper care -at child-
illegal abortions, being taned by
, or being sent to psychiatrists for
3 problems. But when women re-
by burning one book as a symbol
the oppression of women by the
I profession they cry "Nazi."

a

"This is not a matter in which students have the right to
discuss and choose what they will absorb from a book.
This a case where students are required to study a book
containing many questionable passages ..."
{:'{?.i..sa = r s J?. ?vf,;WY " t:ntM M M M M1" :l"u": a..

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doctors,
medical
spond 1
against
medical

book

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COME INTERESTING statements were
made Monday at a Congressional
hearing regarding the Indian takeover of
Wounded Knee that provide insights into
the attitude of the American govern-
ment towards American Indians.
Rep. James Haley (D-Fla.) accused
American Indian Movement (AIM) lead-
er Russell Means of leading "a group of
goons or gutter rats" into the South Da-
kota hamlet.
Haley also asked Means "How do you
figure you have a perfect right to go out
and break the law?" Haley also wanted
to know how Means and his "bunch of
hoodlums" planned to reimburse people
for any destroyed property.
It is ludicrous-although obviously not
to Rep. Haley-for the government to
chastise Indians for breaking the law,
when the federal government has done
nothing but break its own laws in its
dealings with the Indians for nearly two
hundred years. It is hard for us to see
how the government can demand that
Indians be "law-abiding" when it feels
it does not have to be, and when the
laws serve to oppress the Indian popula-
tion.
SUCH AN ATTITUDE would be paih-
fully funny if the consequences
weren't so tragic.
The federal government has spent two
hundred years confiscating Indian land
-and continues to do so--often with
little or no reimbursement. Yet Rep.
Haley's only concern seems to be whe-
ther AIM plans to re-imburse a few peo-

pie at Wounded Knee for destruction of
property.
During the Eisenhower administration
the policy towards Indians was labeled
"termination." The policy was intended
to force Indians off the reservations and
terminate the tribal system. Services to
Indians were cut, making their situation
even worse than it had been previously.
The American gdvernment no longer
officially holds to the "termination" poli-
cy, but assimilation of Indians into the
white American mainstream - making
Indians white - is still the goal of such
people as Haley and the House Indian
affairs subcommittee on which he sits.
Such an attitude, with no thought given
to the physical, spiritual and economic
atrocities perpetrated a g a i n s t In-
dians previously, can only lead to more
incidents like Wounded Knee.
Few Indians today want to be assimi-
lated, or even find much meaning in the
term. Nor can they be forced to assimi-
late, at least according to the treaties the
government has signed with Indian
tribes. In most of the treaties, the tribes
are "nations" or "sovereign." A 1959 court
decision ruled that Indian tribes have
greater sovereign powers than do the
states. Yet the government treats Indians
as it pleases, as though they have no,
rights at all.
GOVERNMENT officials such as Rep.
Haley should look at themselves,
their attitudes and their policies before
labeling people goons, gutter rats and
hoodlums.I

they will absorb from a book.
This is a case where students are req
to study a book containing many que
able passages on the medical treat
of women. This protest is against t
medical practices being taught in a c
able medical school.
THE PEOPLE INVOLVED have c
fully made the distinction between
symbolic burning of one copy of a
and the historical book burnings which
place to keep written knowledge fran
ai favor:

community, including some lawyers, have
uired also voiced their objections to the book
stion- through Willson.
tment The Advocates for Medical Information
unfair have been called "fascists" for the initiation
redit- of this book burning, and have been com-
pared to Nazis.
a r e- Yet a group (AMI) that advocates the
their repeal of laws against pornography and
book, prostitution on the grounds that they vio-
took late personal freedom is hardly compar-
n the able to Nazis.
Decline o

Willson not only represents the textbook
he wrote. He also represents the discrim-
ination against women in health careers.
.z ileas like "she (the woman) is
likely to feel that she is animal-ike" and
"the idea of suffering is an essential part
of everyawoman's lifeare hardly; encour-
aging to women pursuing a medical career.
Nor are they conducive to respect from
her associates who also study .the book.
Women have the right to good health care,
including respect from physicians. This is
hardly evident from the teaching practices
in the University medical school.
When examining this issue let's look past
the act of burning a book to see the whole
picture behind it.
the OFO

Fall /
Editor's note: This is the se-
cond in a series of overview ar-
ticles on the Office of Economic
Opportunity.
* * *
By DAVID YALOWITZ
THE OFFICE OF Economic Op-
portunity (OEO) was a prime
example of the Johnson Admin-
istration's "Great Society" ap-
proach to eliminating poverty. It
is an understantement to assert
that President Nixon has b e e n
critical of this course.
The Nixon Administration posi-
tion has been presented by Daniel
Moynihan writing recently in the
New Yorker. Moynihan, a propon-
ent of the guaranteed annual in-
come, states that the social legis-
lation of the early 1960s had un-
satisfactorally defined the prob-
lems of the poor and did not pro-
vide adequate solutions.
Indeed, he caustically quotes Wil-
bur J. Cohen, the last secretary

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these allegations is mitigated by a
consideration of the evidence.
The population increase in u r b a n
ghettos reached explosive propor-
tions in the 1960's. This rise was
attributable to a great migration
of over one million blacks f r o m
southern agriculture to northern
cities in 1949-55. The ensuing pop-
ulation explosion in the black ghet-
tos coupled with a deterioration
of urban life and lack of adequate
economic opportunities fostered
widespread poverty. It was no mys-
tery that the welfare rolls increas-
ed - the environment of the urban
ghetto could lead to nothing else.
Moynihan also intimates that the
increasing attractiveness of wel-
fare (the average monthly benefit
per ADC family was $105 in 1960
and $168 in 1968) was a factor in
the metoreic rice of the welfare
rolls. The economic realities, how-
ever, fail to substantiate his claim.
Increasing benefits, (excluding New

Un f1inished bus iness

wom.:I: s ::::ssi.V.}m'me.sIA"\1."AW. . 4.. ,.., ..4 .. "H": l .L 11. . .'4S .

"Disenchantment with

the poverty program

JOHN DOE'S EIGHTEEN year stay in
Michigan state mental institutions
came to an end Monday after a panel of
Wayne County circuit judges ruled that
Doe's confinement was a violation of his
constitutional rights and after testi-
mony by his psychiatrist that he was
no longer a menace to society.
Eighteen years ago Doe, whose real
name was not given during the course of
the lawsuit, admitted to the murder and
rape of a Kalamazoo student nurse. Doe
was judged to be a criminal sexual psy-
chopath and under law was assigned to
a mental institution. The criminal sex-
ual psychopath law was then repealed in
1968.
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Donald
Tofday's siff:
News: Tammy Jacobs, Kathleen Ricke,
Stephen Selbst, Ted Stein, Dave Un-
newehr, Rebecca Warner
Editorial Page: Eric Schoch
Arts Page: Kathryn Racette, Jeff Sorensen

Burge has said he is considering prose-
cuting Doe for the eighteen-year-old
crime if it is legal to do so.
If Doe is no longer a menace to so-
ciety, however, prosecution for the crime
now would seem to be pointless.
DOE'S CASE WAS publicized after he
volunteered for brain surgery de-
signed to curb his aggressive impulses.
A lawsuit was filed to prevent the sur-
gery, describing it as experimental, and
possibly fatal. The lawsuit asserted that
Doe had not been informed as to the ex-
perimental nature of the surgery and
the possible dangers involved.
The constitutionality of such surgery
is probably the most important aspect of
the lawsuit, and the panel of judges has
yet to make a decision in that area.
The ability of a state to perform such
operations on the people it has institu-
tionalized is a frightening possibility,
even if performed only on "volunteers."
Such surgery - not yet proven either
safe or effective - seems only to bring
Orwell's "Big Brother" society even
closer.
This most important aspect of the
John Doe law suit merits very careful
consideration from the judges.

coupled with the Vietnam-induced budget
squeeze forced Congress to adopt a hard-nosed
attitude to OEO . . . 'Cool it' programs that
would take youths off the streets became the
order of the day."
. : :."} .;':::::::::.:.}}":::.4} .}fsai.}' V.} 44 : :Y.,. : .:: } "Y""?}"

gram coupled with the Vietnam-in-
duced budget squeeze forced Can-
gress to adopt a hard-nosed atti-
tude to OEO.
A succession of 'long hot sum-
mers' fostered Congressional feel-
ing that the social experimenta-
tion in which OEO was so heavily
engaged was a luxury a tense na-
tion could no longer afford. Funds
originally allocated to local CAAs
became earmarked by Congress fer
nationally oriented OEO programs
such as Head Start. 'Cool it' pro-
grams that would take youths o± f
the city streets became the order
of the day.
OEO, as a new and inexperienced
agency was subject to inevitable
waste, criticism, and even scandal.
In 1968, $900,000 was paid to two
Chicago street gangs for j o b -
training. Almost no training w a s
given, but there was stockpiling
of weapons and collected k i c k-
backs from enrollees.
THE MORE INFORMED among
OEO's critics would question not
OEO's decision to try and reach
Chicago gang youth, but its lack
of supervision of this and o t h e r
high risk projects.
Another theme in the continuing
controversy surrounding the agency
was the charge of administrative
mismanagement and disorganiza-
tion. To some extent this criticism
was a by-product of the speed wirh
which OEO went to work.
Sargent Shriver's thilosophy af-
ter OEO was created was to quick-
ly institute as many large p x o-
grams as possible. He to-k pride
in pointing out the large scale
operations that had been initiated
and the numbers of people thus be-
ing reached.
Early critics of the CAAs charg-
ed that efforts to seek power for
the poor through community action
organization antagonized 1 o c a I
municipal officers by challenging
authority without improving pover-
ty conditions. Perhaps no ques-
tions have provoked more debate
than the issues of who shall con-
trol CAAs and where they should
fit into the structure of local gov-
ernment.
FOR THE MOST part, local
strug-gles for control were gener-
ated from one of two sources: local
advocates of power for the poor
or local government itself. Strug-
gles generated by advocates of
power for the poor were often mar-

"Just trimming a little fat."

L

~CA

of Health Education and Welfare
(HEW) in the Johnson administra-
tion (and currently, Dean of the
School of Education here at the
University) to the effect that "the
OEO program . . . has probably
taken three people out of poverty
since 1964."
As evidence of failure, Moynihan
underscores the fact that through-
out the latter half of the 1960's
welfare rolls had continued to rise
at an astounding rate. He labels
this phenomenon an "essential mys-
tery" in the midst of economic
prosperity. Moynihan adds t h a t
"where this might have brought
about a reconsideration of estab-
lished doctrine, it brought instead
further hardening of established
views. The administration, distract-
ed by the Vietnam War, respond-
ed to the evident failure of domes-
tic programs by devising ever more
futile versions of those already in
place."
IN THE MAIN the thrust of

York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and
New Jersey, which distribute 25
per cent of the total welfare pay-
ments), did not exceed the increase
in wages of unskilled factory work-
ers. In most states welfare pay-
ments rose more slowly than the
wages of unskilled factory labor.
Clearly, it was not a calculated de-
sign on the part of the poor to
get a free ride off the welfare
system.
Given the pervasive conditions
of poverty, it is inconceivable that
in such a short time span the var-
ious OEO-related service programs
could have made any serious in-
roads. The primary problem, how-
ever, was not time but money. The
all out 'war on poverty' declared
by Congress had a history of being
overadver sed and underfunded.
IN 1964, funding commenced at
an annual level of $2 billion and
was to increase to a projected S6
billion a year in 1969. But disen-
chantment with the poverty pro-

red by a factionalism based on a
desire for personal power or in-
dividuals with special axes to
grind. These internal conflicts in-
evitably detracted from the pri-
mary battle against poverty.
Some CAAs have been subsid-
iaries of local government, others
have been independent allies, and
a few have been opponents. CAAs
necessarily have had to play the
role of the gadfly. They served as
a reminder to demurring local of-
ficials of the need to mobilize and
focus existing resources on pro-
grams designed to break the cycle
of poverty and repression.
Recent newspaper articles have
revealed how OEO funds had aid-
ed radical anti-poverty organiza-
tions. Numerous examples h a v e
been cited in which funds w e r e
used for political purposes.
These allegations belie the fact
that CAAs were designed to help
organize the poor --to make them
more aware of their rights and es-
tablish a self-identity. To this end,
political power has evolved as the
most potent non-violent means of
expression. Charges of 'radical'
political behavior can only be bas-
ed on subjective opinion.

DURING HIS FIRST term of of-
fice, Nixon apparently tried to
grant local officials more control
over OEO. To quote from a recent
OEO publication, the Nixon al-
ministration "sought to strengthen
the relationship between OEO and
state and local governments in or-
der to create the broadest possible
alliance of money and common
purpose against poverty." To fulhtl
this oiective, CAM wero instru -t-
ed to become more dependent upcn
local resources. This meant more
reliance on aid from churches, civ-
ic organizations and charity groups,
as well as working with local offic-
ials in planning revenue sharing
allocaticns.
A primary goal of OEO was to
'develop programs, which, up )n
reaching sufficient maturity were
to be operated through other agen..-
ies. N4.on increasingly stressed
this goal during his firs term. In
retrospzzt it seems that this was
the first step in Nixon's plan t
dismantle OEO.
David Yalowiti is a staff writer
for the Daily.

Photo Technicians:
Upton

Rolfe Tessem, J o h n


Letters
To The Daily:
WHAT IS ALL this garbage about
Advocates for Medical Information
being an SS Hitler group out to
burn every book in the land?
What sensationalism The Daily
invented just to sell its paper!
It may interest the editors of
The Daily that A.M.I. is con-
ducting a symbolic protest the
medical profession's refusal to pro-
vide good health care in this coun-
try. Books such as Obstetrics &
Gynecology are a danger to life
and limb. By teaching medical stu-
dents that women's ailments a r e
"emotional in nature" rather than
physiological, doctors do not diag-
nose diseases in their early stages.
Rather, female patients are sent
to psychiatrists (not specialists)
when tehey complain of pain or
headaches.
The Daily (for some unknon 
reason) has mistakenly equated a
medical consumer advocacy group
for a mob of people out to eradi-
cate sexism. How naive! This
"mob" just doesn't exist.
When Advocates for Medical In-

Book burning sensationalized

against certain textbook publishers.
But The Daily has conveniently ig-
nored this fact in favor of sensa-
tional, yellow-press journalism.
-Belita Cowan
April 10
Forgery
To The Daily:
I WAS FASCINATED to read a
letter over my name printed in The
Daily of a week ago Saturday,
since I did not write it. I trust you
will apologize for baldly assuming
everything you receive with my
name on it is indeed mine and
also establish some foolproof,
though admittedly expensive, sig-
nature verification procedures that
give credit to authors whom credit
is due and not to whom it is not
due.
-David W. Smith Grad
SGC Member-at-large
April 9
Anais Nin
To The Daily:

Sirens would really do a lot to inspire and
help these hours that seem like
To The Daily: days pass faster. Thank you, and
DEAR MR. CANHAM: I am dis- peace.
turbed by your use of Air Raid -Archie Baker 119674
Sirens to signal the end of activi- P.O. Box E
ties periods in the Intramurals Jackson, Michigan
Building. April 5
I guess sirens have got their place
but I think we all, go a little Picking flowers
queasy when they sound. And no
wonder! Sirens mean alert! Fire! To The Daily:
Bombs! Death! LUCKY FOR Bianca Fiore, she
So how come you blow those now has flowers in her hair. Too
things just to announce that volley- bad for the rest of us who would
ball activities are commencing? It have enjoyed seeing the flowers.
makes me furious. I mean you It is deplorable when someone sub-
have got a perfectly good loud- verts what little beauty there is
speaker system. Use it please. You on campus, but it is even more
don't have to blow our heads off disgusting when The Daily publish-
to get our attention. If you must es and tacitly endorses the action.
add a flourish, why not chimes? -Bob Hume '74
Keep up the good work. April 6
-Jonathan S. Kantor
April 2Z.
Getting credit
Prison request To The Daily:
DURING THE past year, much
To The Daily: attention has been focused upon
I'M AN INMATE in Jackson, the difficulties of women in estab-

area women who feel that tl'ey
have been discriminated against in
their dealings with Ann Arbor cre-
dit or lending institutions (depart-
ment stores, banks, loan offices,
credit unions, etc.), If you care
to help us, please call the Con-
sumer Action Center at 66S-4451
between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
--Leslye Guttenberg
Sharon Bender
Consumer Action Center
April 6
Sexist caption
To The Daily:
ON BEHALF of myself and other
women, I am asking you, the peo-
ple at The Daily, to be mire selec-
tive in your choice of words. I *m
writing specifically in regards to
the belittling, sexist comment be-
low my photo in the Friday, April
6 Daily; not to mention the older
misinformation involved.
The statement read, "Spring In
My Lady's Hair . . . sports some
of the first daffodils of spring in


2

MW-E47IK I N A. UN W WI '1WI

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