Thursday, September 7, 1972
ME MICHIGAN DAILY
rage Three
Thursday, September 7, 1972 FHE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
It is the season
of the student .. .
a time
to frolic .
When the sky is crisp nd the
afternoon mellow, students of-
ten gather at a variety of Uni-
versity spots for meditating,
mingling and frolicking.
Central to campus activity is
the Diagonal, referred to by
students as the "Diag." Bord-
ered by the Harlan Hatcher
Library, Mason Hall and Burton
Tower, the diag is a circular ce-
ment arena surrounded by grass,
trees and cement benches.
In its center is a large metal
plate embossed with1 a huge
golden-"M." Rumor and legend
have it that those who step on
this sacred plate are destined
to flunk their first exam. But
activities common to the diag
have little to do with exams or
academics. With the exception of
/an occassional class that h a s
moved to the green grasses of
the diag for discussion, the area
is more often the site of fris-
bees and guitars, rollerskating
people and loud barking dogs.
The diag is a good market
place. Often seen are people
selling candles, macrame belts
or organic cosmetics. T a b 1 e s
align the edges of the diag,'heap-
ed with political literature es-
pousing the philosophies of a
variety of groups. And the diag
is a central distribution point
for leaflets that advertise every-
thing from planned protests to
sdheduled films.
Campus political action gen-
erates from the diag, where
speakers and rallies attemptNt
raise local consciousness about
current issues.
Music, ranging from hard rock
to classical, occasionally filters
through the diag area. both from
live bands and recordings.
During the winter, many diag
activities move indoors to the
"fishbowl," a large hallway
that connects Mason and Haven
halls. One wall of the fishbowl
is almost entirely built of plate-
glass windows and faces the
diag.
Here students gather between
classes for conversation. It is
not unusual to see Hara Krisnna
dancers or artistic and political
displays in the fishbowl.
Tables are used by various
organizations that advertise a-
tivities ranging from anti-w r
rallies to Sorority Rush to the
annual Girl Scout cookie sale.
Wandering further from cen-
tral campus, students f i n d
the University's Arboretum,
commonly called the "ar'." A
large forested, mecca, the arb
offers isolation from both aca-
demics and politics.
Students gather here both for
its atmosphere 'of intimate pri-
vacy and its open space for
group activities. The Arb affords
a natural refuge for silent ccn-
templation and communication
as well as to fly kites and play
with footballs, frisbees and gn-
tars.
Another, less frequented fath-
ering place for students is th-_
People's Plaza, at one t i ni e
named Regents Plaza by the
University. A circular cement
replica of a sundial, the plaz'a
is bordered by the Michigan Un-
ion and the LSA and Administra-
tion buildings. A huge rotating
cube in its center casts shadows
over the cement and surround-
ing 'trees and grass.
Live bands and im Prumpru
theatre groups occasionally per-
form here. But the plaza, which
rests beside a gushing fountain,
is more commonly the site of
casual lingering by a handful of
people.
The campus is bespeckled with
many other spots that are :on -
ducive to mellow afternoon wan-
derings. Many dormitories, -uc h
as the Law Quad, West Qd,
and Martha Cook, offer pleasant
patches of grass and trees. Noith
Campus offers acres .)f seclud-
ed forested land. And some city
parks are within walking dis-
tance from campus.
Only too rapidly do the sands of a four-year hour-
glass of student life trickle downward and settle into
a pile of distant memories.
The sunshine of idealism, the showers of discon-
tentment and the winds of change are all conditions of
the season of the student.
We dance in People's Plaza, smoke dope on the
Diag, drink wine in the Arb, make love in our rooms
and laugh a singsong mockery to all that is not us.
Our season affords time for contemplation and for
realization.
Cynics will tell us that we are here to study, but
we know differeni. We are here to learn.
Our lessons are taught in Ann Arbor streets as we
march in reaction to governmental blunders, in local
bars and coffeehouses as we meet in conversation, and
in local theatres and art galleries as we gather to share
the experience of artistic expression.
We learn from controversial figures who speak
from our auditorium stages. We learn from the assort-
ment of men and women who walk the familiar path-
ways of our campus.
Ours is a climate of casual encounter and ultimate
experience. We grow in our season until the final grain
of student life falls and we are transplanted to another
more hostile environment.
a t ime
for reassmn
flopped royally, the party
managed to stay alive. And
when a constitutional amend-
m nt gave 18-year-olds the vote
and a State Supreme Court rul-
ing' allowed students to vote in,
their college towns, HRP was
off and running.
A hard campaign of register-
ing students and hustling for
their votes paid off in the '72
city council election when the
new party won in two of the
city's five wards.
Even a cursory study of elec-
tion returns leaves no doubt
that student voters - and a
large number of them - put
HRP over in both the wards in
which they were successful.
Interpretations of this mas-
sive student support vary, with
some calling it a base for fur-
political efforts and others dis-
missing it as a protest vote.
A round of elections due in
vember and another city elec-
November and another . city
election in April will test whe-
ther HRP can emerge as a
strong campus force or go the
way of other left-groups and
die out of disinterest.
Three weeks after HRP's as-
tounding ballot box victory,
however, an event took place
which shocked the community,
the police, and perhaps the stu-
dents themselves.
On Friday, April 2-2, over
1,000 young people. rallied on
the Diag to protest the resumed
bombing of North Vietnam. The
crowd, although not large by
the standards of a few years
ago, was probably the biggest
of the year.
As the march moved past the
Navy and Air Force recruiting
offices, rocks came flying out
of the crowd, shattering the
plate glass facades of the ad-
joining offices.
From there, things began to
happen fast. Having tasted
blood at the recruiters office,
a time
to question .. .
By GLORIA JANE SMITH
Supplement Co-Editor
In the light and tumble jour-
ney through the University, stu-
dents often find the need to
contemplate the cosmic ques-
tions of existence, of life's basic
meaning. For many, this search
eventually involves some com-
mittment to a religious group.
Ranging from Christian cru-
sades and communities to East-
ern mediation societies, many of
these groups have only recently
appeared on campus during the
past four years.
Since then, many have ex-
panded their memberships at a
growth rate reflecting a nation-
al trend toward spiritual aware-
ness among students.
"We are experiencing a stu-
dent culture climate change,"
explains Ted Kachel, program
director of the University's Of-
fice of Religious Affairs. "Stu-
dents are implicitly reflecting
on God with an emphasis on
spiritual, as opposed to material
reality.
One of the most visible dem
onstrations of this trend is seen
in the Word of God Community
in the Charismatic Renewal of
the Church, locally referred to
as the Pentecostals.
Begun in an apartment in
1967 by four students from No-
tre Dame, the Word of God has
grown to include over 500 mem-
bers who meet weekly in the
local St. Thomas auditorium.
Prayer takes many forms dur-
ing thes weekly community
Christ, first instituted in Cali-
fornia 20 years ago, has been
in the city for four years. It
sponsors "living-unit" meetings
which are informative panel
discussions held in dorms, fra-
ternities and sororities.
Last April, evangelist Josh
McDowell, the "international
spokesman" for Campus Cru-
sade visited campus. Following
an intensive leaflet and black-
board campaign, hundreds of
students attended his speeches.
Another Christian alternative
is found at the Episcopal Stu-
dent Foundation's Canterbury
House, where each Sunday peo-
ple gather for an informal
Communion service in a room
on the second floor of a William
street building.
In contrast to the heavily
emotional and missionary focus
of the crusading groups, an un-
programmed hour based on si-
lence constitutes the weekly
meeting of the Quakers, the So-
ciety of Friends.
Eastern religions are also
flourishing on campus, although
these are not primarily a group
phenomenon.
The Student's International
Meditation Society and the Ha-
ra Krishna Consciousness group
are both attracting students.
Established groups such as
Judaism's Bnai B'rith Hillel
Foundation and St. Mary's Ro-
man Catholic Student Chapel,
report a change in focus to meet
changing student needs, as evi-
denced in the Jewish Creative
Services and the Catholic Folk
Mass.
By CHRIS PARKS
With the heavy intoxication
of revolution no longer coursing
like adrenaline through its veins,
the campus today is like a
strung-out junkie - confused
and disoriented, trying some-
thing new, reaching back for
just one more fix, but mostly
indulging in self pity and apa-
thy.
The collapse of the left-wing
activist on campuses across the
nation has left a vacuum. Stu-
dent activism has fractured,
splintered and degenei'ated into
a vast morass of Jesus freaks,
libertarians, and "rock and roll
revolutionaries" - a veritable
political menagerie.
Despite the confusion two
things can clearly be said about
campus politics: , (1) the left-
liberals, radicals and revolu-
tionaries - remains the strong-
est, most active segment of the
campus body. politic, and (2)
the majority of students are
not politically active themselves
although they may sympathize
with the acts of others.
It is obvious to even the most
casual observer that activism
has lost ground in Ann Arbor.
The 1971-72 academic year pro-
duced few strikes, movements or
demonstrations which w e r e
worthy of note.
This can be accredited to a
number of factors. among them
a crises of leadership.
SDS, if not completely buried
and gone. is more a joke than a
political force, and nothing else
has risen to take its place.
None of the huge coalitions
which once coordinated a wide
spectrum of leftists in anti-war
activities hold any particular
sway on campus anymore.
And Student Government
Council - once an agent cata-
lyst for the student power move-
ment at the University sits
moribund. Wracked by scandal
and politically splintered, SGC
has neither thesability to coor-
dinate action nor the confidence
of the students to serve as a
leader.
So few battles in the student
power arena are being won
these days, that no one even
bothers to count them anymore.
ROTC, classified research, the
language requirement a n d
many other targets of power ag-
itation remain intact and vir-
tually unchallenged.
Yet, in a year not notable for
student political activity, two
events stand out. Although both
occured in April, these events
present a stark contrast - one
marking a new direction and
the other looking back to old
tactics ,
The biggest political news of
the year was the emergence of
the Human Rights Party - a
leftist electorial alliance - as
perhaps the only viable political
group on campus.
HRP, formed in the winter of
1971 as the Radical Independ-
ent Party, is seeking a new di-
rection, moving away from
street confrontation, to estab-
lish a permanent left voice in
city politics.
Although their first cam-
paign - a write-in effort in
the 1971 city council race-
the crowd-charged and ready
to "kick ass" - descended on
the campus ROTC building and
ransacked it doing around $5,-
000 damage.
Still the police didn't come,
so the marchers swung out onto
Washtenaw and headed for the
Flint-Toledo highway. Finally,
on a highway bridge on the out-
skirts of town, they met the
cops in force.
In the confrontation which
ensued there was much club-
bing, hitting, shoving, and use
of police dogs as weary dem-
onstrators slowly fell back down
Washtenaw a n d eventually
straggled back into town
The whole incident - near-
ly four hours of marching,
trashing and confrontation -
left police, city and University
officials and the students them-
selves confused and surprised.
No one had expected such a
violent confrontation. The po-
lice simply didn't believe that
the marchers would attack the
recruiters office or ROTC and
University President Robben
Fleming was clearly caught off
guard as were hundreds of the
protesters who were caught up
in the momentum.
The anger was still there.
People were angry enough to
stage. a rather successful riot.
Whether this was the last
grasp at political action or whe-
ther there will be more is as
uncertain as the fate of HRP.
All the sweeping statements
bandiedhabout in the press-
the students will forget rioting
and vote, students are all be-
coming conservatives, the cam-
puses are dead-many are ap-
plicable in all instances, all are
applicable in some instances.
Political activism and the
campus mood are changeable.
Events and circumstances can
enflame old passions or excite
people towards seeking new di-
rections. And although the left
on campus ain't what it used to
be we are still feeling the ef-
fects of the revolutionary six-
ties and may for some time to
come.
The Law library is a sedate,
distinguished place to study.
Rumors have it that before wo-
men were liberated, they came
here to look for potential hus-
bands.
There are still a variety of
alternatives for studying, in-
cluding the med school, the
dental school, the Natural Sci-
once Building, the Music School,
and most departments in the
literary college have some sort
of library.
Most students, by the ltime
t h e y 'r e upperclassmen have
found some favorite placeAto
read a good book or scan the
New York Times. Dorms also
prove libraries. South Quad's
is probably the best. Most re-
cent magazines of interest are
there, and the record collection
is very complete as far as rock
goes. As far as small libraries
a time f or
'studying"..
(especially UGLI refugees) find
the silence nervewracking and
more distracting than the UGLI
chatter.
The older section of the sec-
ond floor is equipped with an
impressive open reference room
good for quiet study and the
fact that you can see other faces
across the table from you makes
it a little less lonely than the
carrels. You'll hear a lot about
the bizarre, confusing stacks
that make up much of the older
sections of the building. A friend
of mine once told me you can
do anything in the stacks for
hours and never worry about
onlookers. As for finding books,
,searching the old stacks is some-
times frustrating, but always an
adventure,
Almost aiy in-depth research
requires a trip to this library.
Among other things, there's a
fine microfilm collection, a good
By RICHARD GLATZER
"Bob! I haven't seen you since
April! How's Judy? And Joby?
Seen any aardvarks lately? Etc.,
etc., etc. . ..
If you're like me, you'll absorb
more of other people's conver-
sations at the Undergraduate
Library (UGLI) than you will
the book you're supposed to be
reading. The atmosphere is so-
ciable, to put it mildly. Study
they have no further use for
them ).a lounge, and a snack
room in the basement replete
with soda and candy machires.
Take History of Art 101 and
you'll probably end up at the
print - study gallery sometime.
Music Appreciation professors
will most likely ask you to visit
the audio room.
Contrasting greatly with the
UGLI, the Harlan Hatcher Li-