8 y fra ttj 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 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1973 Inaugural Only the start Nixon req By JAMES WECHSLER IN SOME FUTURE memoir Elliot L. Richardson, former law clerk to Learned Hand and later Felix Frankfurter, may dis- close that he secretly shared the wide- spread outrage of humanity over the U.S. terror bombings of North Vietnam. He may explain that his outward acquiescence was the price he had to pay for his appointment as Secretary of Defense, a role in which he visualized himself resolutely resisting military pressures for even more drastic action such as bombing the dikes or a nuclear blow. When Henry Kissinger's private reflec- tions-for which the bidding is already said to be astronomical-become a matter of public record, he may tell us how heart- broken he was after President Nixon re- pudiated his October agreement with Le Duc Tho. He, too, may then confide that he remained steadfastlyathhis post because he was convinced that his presence could avert more terrible destruction. During the most feverish days of Lyndon Johnson's expansion of the U.S. involve- ment, the most plaintive words heard in Washington were, "What this country needs is a good, loud resignation. But each eminent figure found justi- fication for staying on or contemplating nothing more dramatic than a noiseless departure from the stage and an exchange of farewells. Defense Secretary McNamara felt suffi- cient obligation to history-and mankind-to institute the inqlest that ultimately led to the document popularly know as the "Pen- tagon Papers." It must be sadly ob- served that neither Kissinger nor Richard- son, nor others suspected of rationality, have found any urgent message in those archives. IT WILL BE SAID that a successful termi- nation of the current talks will banish memory of all that has gone before and the roles of the participants. Kissinger himself observed long ago that Vietnam will be a "footnote" to the annals of this time of detente with Moscow and Peking. But in many traditionally pro-American parts of the world the saturation bombings- and the threats of more to come-have already left an unforgettable imprint; it is hardly coincidence that the White House yesterday announced indefinite postpone- ime uses intellectuals as foils ODAY is Inauguration day, the time when America officially gives the go- ahead for another four years of the Nixon administration. Since Nixon was elected by one of the greatest majorities in our nation's history, one might believe that he is exactly what our country wants and needs. Whether or not that is true, he is exactly what our country got and we must accept that. Accepting a situation, however, does not mean sitting back and apathetically submitting to the world without any say on our part. To accept the situation is to determine exactly what the situation is and to work our hardest within the framework which is given to bring about 1 responsive and responsible government. The estimated 40,000 protest marchers in Washington today are there to show that Nixon is still only our President, not our King. He is still responsible to the will of the people. This is the true mean- ing behind the inaugural speech, to ans- wer the questions proposed by the march- ers and the people all over the nation: Just what are we to expect in the next four years, Mr. Nixon? The President must realize that he is not just speaking to his "silent majority" but also to the protest marchers, to blacks, Chicanos, American Indians, the poor, the elderly, women, and all other Americans who often find they cannot quite fit them- selves into Nixon's "silent majority." THE INAUGURATION signifies the be- ginning of a new term, but on whose terms is it going to rest? Hopefully, Con- gress still has the powers granted to it by the Constitution. They should not let them go to waste. Through the control of funds, aggressive action to assert their Constitutional powers, and even through the threat of impeachment the President can be limited to his Constitutionally de- fined powers. To borrow a phrase, "now more than ever" a working democracy is needed in this country. If it takes a President like Nixon to bring the Congress to its senses, to make it reverse the trends towards autocracy, to direct it once again to strive to ful- fill the objectives set out in the Consti- tution, then maybe it is worth it. THE NEXT FOUR years should not be allowed to become a repeat of the last four years. Congress and the Ameri- can people should remind the President that while he is in his last term he is still a public servant. -GERALD NANNINGA ment of Mr. Nixon's travels to Western Europe. Indeed Kissinger himself may prove to be the man who cannot win. A peace that turns out to be fragile could render him as vulnerable as the outright failure of his mission; he seems to have been almost set up for the scapegoat part. Why else, one wonders, did Mr. Nixon designate him to break the news that "peace is at hand"- and then require him to assume the bur- den of the grim retraction? Earlier in his regime Mr. Nixon appeared to have disarmed many critics in the academies by making Kissinger and Pat Moynihan major counselors in the realms of foreign and domestic policy. Surely, it was said, these selections demonstrated his esteem for the intellectual manpower. Certainly he has made use of intellectuals, but the community of the mind must have some deep forebodings about the con- sequences. For while Kissinger finds himself the central figure in the bloody horror of the Vietnam entrapment, Moynihan, architect of the once-heralded Family Assistance Plan, has been dispatched to India. In view of our deteriorated relations with New Delhi, Moynihan may be the cherubic charmer needed in the post. His departure, however, inevitably symbolizes the fading of Mr. Nixon's interest in anything seriously resembling the original program. Yet Moynihan, who remained stoically silent during the campaign (and stirred furtive hopes of defection), is leaving be- hind a testament in which he largely ab- solves the President of any responsibility for the collapse of the FAP dream. The book will be published shortly and a three- part preview, starting in the current New Yorker, indicates the thrust of the work: liberals in general and George Wiley's National Welfare Rights Organization are major villains. Certainly there were serious and injurious divisions among welfare re- form supporters. But Moynihan's charity for the President is boundless and might 11 Elliot Richardson almost be called a handout-matched only by his generous abstention from public com- ment on the bombings. And now Elliot Richardson becomes the front-man for Mr. Nixon's military policies and the Pentagon establishment. A onetime president of the Harvard Law Review, he is new rebuttal to the thesis that the Ivy League is a monolithic anti-Nixon nest. There were moments when I thought the bombings would shake intellectuals who had embraced Mr. Nixon even if Kissinger re- mained "a good soldier." I recalled the ad that 45 Nixon adherents had published in The Times in mid-October declaring: "Of the two major candidates for the Presidency of the United States, we believe Richard Nixon has demonstrated the su- perior capacity for prudent and responsible leadership." "Prudent" and "responsible?" How many of the 45 would choose those words to justify their decision now? But how many have articulated any protest? James Wechsler is the editorial page editor of the New York Post. Copyright 1973, New York Post Corporation.- XI a AI ,I Daniel Moynihan Henry Kissinger Letters: Factions threaten to divide HRP State funds and local schools "MAY YOU. LIVE in interesting times" is an ancient Chinese curse which is applicable now. A serious dichotomy ex- ists between proponents of state control of public schools and its natural counter- part, those clamoring for firm local au- tonomy. Nowhere is this more clearly visible than in your neighboring city of Detroit where the state government may have to take over local educational funding. Detroit residents have repeatedly voted down various and sundry millage pro- posals. The Detroit school system is vir- tually bankrupt. Money is desperately required to run the educational system. Without financing, the result is obvious: The system shuts down. The only alternative that has been proposed is the old and familiar "have the state help us." This is frightening for a number of reasons. It goes without saying that it is im- possible to get something for nothing. The money will have to come from some- where and in the final analysis the peo- ple will be paying. A free gift from the state would deft- Today's staff: News: Debbie Allen, Angela Balk, Bill Heenan, John Kahler, Terry Martin, Jerry Nanninga, Chris Parks, Judy Ruskin Editorial Page: Linda Rosenthal, Eric Schoch, Martin Stern, David Yalowitz Arts Page: Herb Bowie Photo Technician: Torm Gottlieb Photography Staff PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF DAVID MARGOLICK ............Chief Photographer ROLFE TESSEM . .............Picture Editor DENNY GAINER ... ...Staff Photographer THOMAS GOTTLIEB............Staff Photographer KAREN KASMAUSKI............Staff Photographer Business Staff ANDY GOLDING Business Manager STEVE EVSEEFF .......... . .... Circulation Manager SHERRY KASTLE..............Advertising Manager PAUL WENZLOFF .... Promotions Manager nitely be a sorely needed present, but would it end there? Hand in hand with state financial responsibility would be state control. Much of the reasoning behind local educational autonomy has been fear of rampant mass bureaucracy and to insure the richness and variety local autonomy would provide. As Lt. Gov. James Brickley has said, "Some districts which because of wealth or other reasons would walk away from the problems of school financing are do- ing a great disservice to the principle of administrative decentralization of edu- cation." It is ironic that at a time when many are decrying the plight of the schools, the ever-quickening approach of 1984 and the encroachment of government into private life, people can still vote down the money requisite for education. Eventually the voters will face a choice of either paying for education via local taxes or state taxes. Either way, the people will be paying. Should they choose the first option, they will have the opportunity to control their chil- dren's educational destiny. If they don't they may lose that chance while still footing the bill. -LINDA ROSENTHAL A new test Recently the Nixon administration an- nounced it would be willing to grant federal money for local pilot programs that would test the urine of grade school and high school students for traces of drugs. The first such program, starting Feb. 1 at an intermediate school in New York's Harlem district, will not force students to submit to the tests. However, administra- tion officials have said that they would also be willing to provide funds for com- pulsory programs. A government spokesperson acknowl- edged that the program is "a last resort," but defended it by saying that "when kids are dying it may be time for last resorts." That could possibly be true, but com- pulsory (or even noncompulsory) urine tests for drugs is not on the same level of privacy as mandatory eye-examina- To The Daily: OBSERVING last night's HRP mass meeting, something became obvious to me that I hope everyone realizes: There are two very dif- ferent factions within the party with about comparable strength. One, the Rainbow People, is com- mitted to building an Ann Arbor party that will destroy and re- place the local Democratic party, because it will represent "the peo- ple" better. They feel the party must realign with its real constitu- ency of street freeks, rainbow merchants, etc., and build f r o m there. It is absolutely essential to win in April and any amount of money and energy must be spent for that purpose. Apparently, they see nothing wrong with the inter- nal structure of the other t w o parties, or their practice of buy- ing elections. The other force, the "regulars", is trying to build a statewide rad- ical third party, affiliated with the Nat. People's Party. Two parties can never effectively represent all views in this country - issues will always be mushed. This group wouldn't want to replace the con- servative-liberal Democrat coali- tion. It wouldn't try to represent everyone or "get elected to g e t things done". It can only honestly represent those who want to dras- tically change the entire system into a system of mass participation where people directly control po- lice, schools, health care, corpora- tions, etc. (i.e., democratic social- ism). The most important longterm reason for campaigns, working on City Council, and other non-elec- toral "service" activities is to rad- icalize and organize people. Every group outside of the present sys- tem - workers, students, women and other minorities must organize and demand what they need a n d want. No party or elected official no matter how well-intentioned will ever be able to give it to them. Collective decision-making does not mean everyone has to agree. It means intelligent, rational indi- viduals sharing their opinions and reasoning, and then a vote decid- ing the prevailing view. U n 1 i k e "democratic" centralism, disagree- ment is legitimate. Last night would have been democracy in ac- tion exceptthatneither g r o u p seemed to be listening to the oth- er. RPP sees the "regulars" as too intellectual, straight, and re- volutionary to deal with, and what the latter thinks of some of the ideas of the former isn't worth printing. Whoever cares, support the idea of your choice. -Ruth Caplan Jan. 19 South Quad To The Daily: CONSIDERABLE confusion has arisen lately over the credibility of a recent Daily article on South Quad. It is my hope at this time to clear up some of the confusion surrounding both the article a n d the South Quad situation. Let me first point out that a telephone conversation I had with the author provided much of the basis for the article. I wish to make it clear, however, that the context of the comments as they appeared in the article was altered consider- ably from what was intended. Whe- ther this resulted from a misun- derstanding or a deliberate misre- presentation I cannot say. My pri- mary concern is to set the record straight. This is not an attempt to cover anything up and I will not deny that some of the problems outlined in the article do exist. My intent is merely to place these issues in their proper perspective, as The Daily failed to do. There is little question that the Daily article was extremely inaccurate, but you needn't take my word for this. A simple survey of South Quad resi- dents will quickly verify this feel- ing. The response that I h a v e encountered has been nearly unan- imous dissatisfaction with the ar- ticle and often outrage. Racial and security problems do exist in South Quad and to deny this would be foolish, for they must be recognized to be dealt with. Furthermore, they are being dealt with. These problems have no simple solutions but definite progress is being made through the efforts of a number of individuals and organ- izations. In any case, the situa- tion is in no way as extreme as The Daily article suggests. Resi- dents here generally do not live in fear and anxiety, but carry on much the same living styles you would expect to find elsewhere on campus. STILL, THE relatively high turn- over rate does indicate some dis- satisfaction with South Quad and this question must be addressed. It is most certainly not my belief that this dissatisfaction stems pri- marily from racial tension. I am shocked that such a com- ment was attributed to me, since I have by no means ever expressed such a belief. Instead I have found most complaints to center around such things as too much noise, poor food, a stagnant social situa- tion . . . in short the kinds of problems a large dorm such as South Quad is particularly suscept- able to. Even such problems as these are being dealt with. Speaking for South Quad Council, I would like to emphasize that our primary oal throughout this year has been to respond to student needs and de- sires. As a result, a variety of av- tivities and improvements have come forth with a far greater num- ber yet to follow. Perhaps life in South Quad could never appeal to certain people, but it is our hope that more and more residents are able to find in South Quad the kind of living situation they are looking for. Furthermore, South Quad Council is by no means the only source contributing to this end. It is unfortunate that such a negative image of South Quad was projected in The Daily article and it is my hope that people realize that such an image is un- deserved. -Rich Bonny President, South Quad Council January 18 Hamburgers To The Daily: HAMBURGER FANS be advised that you will be given an opportun- ity to maintain the image of your favorite repast by keeping its sala in an appropriate context. There will be a public hearing on Tues- day, January 23, 1973 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber on locat- ing a Burger King building on the southwest corner of Maynard and Liberty Streets (across Maynard St. from Jacobson's). Is this an appropriate location for such a fa- cility? Make your feelings known at the hearing. -Edward V. Olencki Member of Board, Citizens Association of Area Planning Jan. 18 Letters to The Daily should be mailed to the Editorial Di- rector or delivered to Mary Rafferty in the Student Pub- lications business office in the Michigan Daily building. Letters should be typed, double-spaced and normally should not exceed 250 words. The Editorial Direc- tors reserve the right to edit dil letters submitted. X. I .4 4 I Students express views toward President Nixon (Editor's note: In honor of President Richard Nixon's inaugura- tion, The Daily sought out the viewpoints of "the average University student" towards the President. The following are some of the remarks obtained in a somewhat random sampling of students:) "It's evident that (Nixon's) full of shit." DOROTHY RASTHE, '76. "The American people forget about everything Nixon does the day after he does it. And now he's pulling the Watergate Affair under the rug. Everybody's giving up." JANET GRADY, '74. "I'm feeling a great deal of paranoia." STEVE MARTIN, 'U' em- ployee. "I'm scared of what's going to happen. Right now, it seems like he's a dictator. He literally has all of the power in the world. If anyone is going to start World War Three, he's going to be the one." PAULA MACLEOD,. '75. "If he accomplishes one half as much as he did last year, it will be to some benefit. JACK (requested to be unidentified), '74. "I'm going to leave the country as soon as possible." LYNN ROSEN, '74. "I think he's ruining our democratic system by his failure to tell our Congress or the public about anything. People just don't know what's happening. His inauguration is more of a coronation. He's ready to crown himself." JOHN STANISZEWSKI, '74. "I'm all for four more years." AIMEE, (requested to be uniden- tified), '76. "(The inauguration) is the worst thing that ever happened." TIMO- THY CARTER, Grad. "(The inauguration) is a sign of doomsday. America is in the biggest trouble we've ever been in." SUSAN MURRAY. '73. "A definite change of his consciousness is needed." KATHY BAAD, '74. "He's gotten the mandate from the people to get the peace in Vietnam." (requested to be unidentified), '73. (Doing an M & M candy routine): "Peace is at hand. Which hand? I ,; L. -I