Eighty-two years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Coffin: New spirit for a
barren cross
By ROBERT BURAKOFF
Daily staff writer
OUTSIDERS as well as insiders
-FOR
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552 f
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1972
Supreme Court race
MICHIGAN VOTERS will elect two jus-
tices to the State Supreme Court
Tuesday out of a field of nine. The can-
didates represent a wide spectrum of
judicial abilities, philosophies, parties
and familiar last names.
We find two candidates who stand out
in the race and merit our endorsement--~
Zolton Ferency and Charles Levin.
Ferency, nominated by the Human
Rights Party, would bring a needed and
refreshing perspective to the "stuffy"
halls of justice. He not only insists that
the legal system. be opened up to all
citizens, but also that everyone have a
fair chance within it.
We welcome his proposals to raise the
maximum limit of small claims court
settlements from $300 to $1,000 and have
no doubt that Ferency would also be a
capable and mature justice.
MICHIGAN APPEALS Court J u d g e
Charles Levin is an excellent candi-
date, who would bring a scholarly and
activist approach to the court. He has a
strong record of respect for civil liber-
ties and the rights of the accused. More-
over, Levin has realistic suggestions for
meaningful penal reform, and his deci-
sions on the appeals court bench have
been clear, are well respected and make
sense.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Horace
Gilmore is also a well-qualified candi-
date with a commendable record of civic
service. However, we are concerned
about parts of the revised criminal code
he has painstakingly nurtured, especial-
ly the proposed "indeterminate sen-
tence"-whereby correctional authorities
determine the length of prison terms.
The rest of the candidates are a lack-
luster crew, including Judge Mary Cole-
man, a conservative Republican running
a splashy, "something for everyone" me-
dia campaign.
HEARTILY endorse Zolton Ferency
and Judge Charles Levin for the
State Supreme Court.
This endorsement represents the
majority opinion of The Daily's editor-
ial staff.
there is much reason to despair over
the future of Christianity in America.
One is confronted on one hand with its
country-clubification in the suburbs and
on the other hand by its degeneration in-
to the glazed-eyed, inert Jesus freak
movement on campus.
Indeed, the presence of a fiery St.
Paul or a passionately devote St. Au-
gustine would be sadly out of place
in either of these manifestations of mod-
ern Christianity.
Yet those who heard Rev. William
Sloan Coffin speak at Ann Arbor's First
Presbyterian Church Wednesday night
were refreshed by !another face of the
modern church.
REV. COFFIN, Chaplain of Yale Uni-
versity and long-time anti-war and civil
rights activist, talked, joked, cajoled,
shouted and sermonized to a group of
about two hundred people in the church's
basement. His manner was sincere and
his message was quite simple: that the
Indochina War is immoral and is large-
ly due to the moral and spiritual pov-
erty of the United States. Coffin's talk
was a curious but effective combination
of theological and psychological analy-
sis.
When the microphone started to hum
loudly at the begining of his speech,
Cofin switched it off, left the stage and
stationed himself in the aisle of the
hall. In a strong voice he began:
"The source of America's behavior
in Vietnam is not hard to find: we bleed
internally and are spiritually sick. We
have forgotten that there is something
more lasting than the notions of nation
and culture. Richard Nixon and his
friend Billy Graham in particular, have
made the mistake of thinking that na-
tion and culture are identical to God and
morality. They view moralty as an ex-
tension of national goals. Sometimes it
seems as if the President thinks of going
to heaven as running over the goal line
into the great end zone in the sky."
And so it went for two and a half
hours. Coffin spoke unmistakably as a
Christian minister, but in such a way
as to not exclude non-Christians or even
atheists from the force of his argu-
ments.
INCLUDED in his talk were a slide
show on the role of new technological
weapons in the war (the same show that
sparked the Green controversy last
month) and a tape of a Vietnam veter-
an describing the maiming and destruc-
tion caused by these weapons.
The audience, a mixture of students
and church-members, listened in silence
as the ex-soldier described in a falter-
ing voice how napalm fuses the bodies
of its victims with each other and some-
times makes it hard to distinguish hu-
man from animal remains.
In addition to dealing with the war in
terms of the suffering it has caused and
as an ethical outrage, Coffin discussed
its phychological implications.
"Americans have traditionally ignored
their shadow side - the negative aspects
of their family and national life." he
said. "We insist on our own innocence
to the point where our egos get unjusti-
fiably identified with our ideals. In this
respect, President Nixon is totally Amer-
ican; he is simultaneously the greatest
victim and the greatest champion of the
American dream. He believes himself
when he says, as he has said, that Amer-
ica is not only the most powerful but
also the most compassionate of modern
nations because he and the great major-
ity of the American people have trans-
ferred all of our own evils to some-
thing we call 'the enemy'."
"WE DEFINITELY have to sacrifice
this picture of our own innocence," he
said. "We have to crme to grips with
what is ugly in ourselves as well as what
is beautiful. This means, for example,
that we have to recognize that our coun-
try was founded in the blood of 10 mil-
lion Indians and the sweat of 40 million
black slaves.
"If we begin to accept the existence
of evil in ourselves then perhaps we will
be more capable of dealing with the
existence of evil in the world without
having to resort to scapegoat psychol-
ogy."
The thing that impresses one most
about this man, however, is not his in-
sight into the particular topic he dis-
cusses but rather how he comes to grips
with it head on, summoning not only
his knowledge of the situation but also
involving all his moral sensibility and
energy to deal with it.
Coffin sees the dispute over the In-
dochina War as not only an appropriate
arena of religious involvement, b u t
perhaps as the most appropriate.
His application of religious energy to
political and social problems is by no
means a recent phenomenon inspired
by the fadish for "relevancy" of the
Christian clergy. He was a freedom rider
in Alabama during the early 60's and in-
strumental in early attempts to organ-
ize the clergy against the war. In 1970
he was convicted of conspiracy in aiding"
and abetting young men to resist the
draft. Most recently he was one of
the anti-war activists that escorted the
three released American POW's home
from Hanoi.
COFFIN'S BRAND of Christianity,
then, presents us with a third alterna-
tive for American religion. It lacks the
docility and complacent other-worldli-
ness found among Jesus freaks and the
preoccupation with ethnocentric stabil-
ity found in the suburban church. It
involves a passionate engagement of
Christian ethics and energy to the very
real problems of our world.
3,
r
Saflade for prosecutor
F POLITICAL contests were decided by
appearance alone, William Delhey
would have to be our choice for Pro-
secuting Attorney. With his rugged good
looks and distinguished grey hair he is
a dead ringer for the tough crime fight-
ing DA of the Humphrey Bogart era.
Unfortunately Delhey's record does not
compare with his image. He has presided
over the law enforcement sector of
Washtenaw County while its crime rate
has soared faster than any other county
in the state' of Michigan.
He has demonstrated an insensitivity
to penal reform and minority rights
while concentrating his efforts in the
area of victimless crime.
In short he has failed to deliver on his'
many law and order promises.
GEORGE SALLADE, Delhey's Demo-
cratic opponent, has on the other
hand, based his campaign on the need
tc change the tone of law enforcement.
He has promised to stop prosecution
of marijuana cases, and will instead, di-
vert the energy of the department into
fighting serious crime.
Sallade has further pledged his com-
mitment to an affirmative action pro-
gram for hiring minority group person-
nel.
With such a clear cut choice, we sup-
port the candidacy of George Sallade
for Prosecuting Attorney.
This endorsement represents the
majority opinion of The Daily's editor-
ial staff.
Conunissioner contest
WITH A BUDGET of some $22 million,
and the authority to control the
sheriff's department and various social
welfare agencies, the Washtenaw County
Board of Commissioners is truly a pow-
erful organization.
In the past it has been dominated by
Republican chamber of commerce types
who have done virtually nothing to help
either students or the poor.
This year, however, with the addition
of the student vote and a reapportion-
ment plan, there is a chance to move
the board at least a step in the right di-
rection. This is particularly true in the
new 14th and 15th districts.
In both of these key districts, we en-
dorse the candidates of the Human
Rights Party, Susan Newell and Susan
Winning.
Both women are knowledgeable and
articulate individuals and most import-
antly both are tied to the HRP platform.
That platform'guarantees they will re-
main committed to the ideas of radical
change both on the board and in the
community as a whole.
Newell's Democratic opponent Kathy
Fojtik is a progressive candidate with
some good ideas in the area of health
care. Unfortunately she has not demon-
strated a great deal of political sophis-
tication, and as such is not likely to be
as an effective commissioner as Newell.
Elizabeth Taylor, t h e Democratic
hopeful in the 15th, is also a rather at-
tractive candidate with a truly impres-
sive list of credentials in the field of so-
cial activism.
Taylor, however, has stressed through-
out her campaign that she is running
strictly as an individual and has prom-
ised to take that same approach as an
elected commissioner. This strong in-
dividualistic bent could, very likely alien-
ate certain elements, in the community
and could in the long run, act as an ob-
stacle to social change.
FOR THESE reasons we enthusiastically
endorse the candidacies of Susan
Newell and Susan Winning in their race
for county commissioner seats in the 14th
and 15th districts.
This endorsement represents the
majority opinion of The Daily's editor-
ial staff.
Lette
To The Editor:
THERE HAS been a great deal
of controversy in the race for the
53rd legislative district which in-
cludes the city of Ann Arbor. Most
of the bitterness has centered in
the conflict between Perry Bul-
lard (Dem.) and Steve Burghardt
(HRP). As gay people we feel it
necesary to inform the public why
we feel Steve Burghardt and other
HRP candidates as well are the
only possible choice in this elec-
tion.
The HRP has consistently been
in the forefront of the struggle for
full civil rights as well as human
dignity for gay people. HRP has
positively and forcefullyrendorsed
the concdpt of gay liberation and
considers it an important part of
the necessary changes in American
life that need to occur. In addi-
tion the HRP and Mr.- Burghardt
have indicated support for chang-
ing the laws in Michigan dealing
with homosexuality.
Mr. Bullard on the other hand is
a member of the Democratic party,
one of the two major instruments
of oppression of gay people. in
America; the other being the Re-
publican party. Mr. Bullard's liter-
ature makes token reference to
victimless crimes and freedom of
expression on the basis of sexual
preference.
This is evidenced by both Sena-
tor McGovern and Mr. Bullard's
selective use of the gay issues in
selective areas. Talking about gay-
ness in New York but not in Ten-
nessee as in Ann Arbor but not in
outlying areas is tokenism of the
worst kind and should not be tol-
erated.
We urge all those interested or
involved in the gay struggle to
support HRP and Mr. Burghardt.
They represent the only real alter-
native for gay people.
-Harry M. Kevorkian
-David C. Bendle
Members of Ann Arbor
Gay Liberation Front
Oct. 31
Credit due
To The Daily:
UNFORTUNATELY for me and
fortunately for my HRP opponent,
people are constantly confusing the
two of us. Even the Ann A r b o r
News on Wednesday, November 1,
1972 confused our candidacies.
Since before the August 8th pri-
mary, my major campaign pro-
posal has been the establishment
of a county wide health care sys-
tem; however, the Ann Arbor News
attributed this to my opponent.
I only ask for the credit that
is my due, and because I cannot
afford large ads, I have to hope
that the voters and the media will
remember that I have the specif-
ic proposals for fundamental social
change, now.
-Kathleen M. Fojtik
Candidate for County
Commissioner
District 14, Democrat
Nov. 3
Stempien record
To The Daily:
IT IS OBVIOUS that the Daily
recognizes the superior candidate
in the 2nd Congressional District
race when it indicates editorially
that MarvStempien has a "better
record" than his GOP opponent
and that severalscritical Stempien
positions "merit commendation."
Yet the conclusion, "no endorse-
ment," seems contradictory to the
oppose decriminalization and the
eventual legalization of marijuana.
He has voted consistently in his
tenure as a state legislator to re-
duce marijuana penalties and he
has stated publicly that marijuana
should be controlled and regulated
in a manner similar to. alcohol.
Secondly, Mary Stepmien is not
the rabid "anti-buser" which t h e
Daily attempts to portray him as
He was one of five non-black state
legislators to vote against the
BowmansResolution ingthe state
house which called "for a consti-
tutional amendment to ban busing.
-John Lawson
and 21 others
Nov. 1
Difference
To The Daily:
THE EDITORIAL and news col-.
umns of the Daily suggest t h a t
there is little difference between
the Democratic and Republican
candidates for Congress on legis-
lative issues. Your readers may be
interested in their differences on
constitutional issues.
Esch favors a constitutional
amendment to prohibit busing;
Stempien opposessuchan amend-
ment. Esch also favors a consti-
tutional amendment to reverse the
Supreme Court and provide for
prayers in the public schools;
Stempien opposes such an amend-
ment.
On the state level, Stempien fav-
ors a constitutional amendment to
provide for a graduate income tax;
Esch opposes that.
These differences do give im-
portant clues to the inclinations of
the two candidates.
--Gerhard Weinberg
Profesor of history
Nov. 1
Up life
To The Daily:
I HAVE JUST finished reading
an enlightening pamphlet that was
thrust under my door. It is an
anti-abortion thing called "Life or
Death", complete with beautiful
color pictures. Since I could no
longer finish my dinner, I thought
world are cruelly disposed of ev-
ery month in that terrible periodic
bloodbath of menstruation. Few
stop to consider that each pitiable
abandoned ovum contains the
beginnings of those precious little
feet, those darling little hands.
Don't be fooled; those are human
lives being destroyed!
As horrible as this may sound, it
doesn't even compare with the
awesome holocaust caused by male
masturbation. T h i s pernicious
deed leaves untold billions of po-
tential human beings - the same
as you and I once were - shame-
lessly stranded to die on bed-
sheets, flushed down shower drains
to drown, and wherever else those
insidious people commit their form
of genocide.
It is clearly our duty to rescue
every ovum, every sperm, and to
artificially fertilize all of them.
Please preserve theirlives; they
can survive in test tubes if need
be.
Certainly we can find loving
homes for the billions of children
we will save, and even if we don't,
can they be any worse off than
us? Menstruation and masturba-
tion are as wicked as abortion or
picking up babies with pitch-
forks.
It must be stopped. Up with life,
at any cost.
-Steve Smith
Oct. 28
Esch's trick
To The Daily:
CONGRESSMAN ESCH had a
tricky little ad in this morning's
Daily (Nov. 2) which deserves
some comment.
Esch claimed he led the fight
against Reserve Mining Company
for dumping garbage into Lake Su-
perior. Well, last week Senator
Griffin claimed he led that fight.
Who knows how many otherRe-
publican Congressmen and Sena-
tors are claiming that they led the
fight against Reserve Mining, and
asking voters to take that as proof
that they have a good record on
the environment.
The facts are that sometime last
year most Michigan and other
Great Lakes Republicans, most of
The Committee to Re-elect the President
Crossing the Watergate
work side by side with President
Nixon for four more years to pro-
tect hundreds of far bigger pol-
luters like Inland Steel, General
Motors, and you-name-it from the
public interest in environment.
-Walt Scheider
Nov. 2
Editor resigns
To The Daily:
I WOULD like to take this op-
portunity to tender my resignation
as LSA Editor of the Michigan
Student News. With this regisna-
tion, the LSA Student Government
withdraws any support it has giv-
en or had contemplated giving this
publication.
I feel the MSN has been an inef-
fective news medium on this cam-
pus. The paper has devoted too
much time and space to party poli-
tics and pettydisputes with the
Michigan Daily, and not enough
to important issues such as grad-
ing reform and student parity on
University boards.
I think the concept of an inde-
pendent student newsletter which
would report on student govern-
ment matters is excellent. How-
ever, the Michigan Student News
does not fulfill the requirements
of such a newsletter.
Because of this, the LSA Student
Government has withdrawn its sup-
port from the publication, and I
feel I must resign as LSA editor.
-Chris Daniels
Nov. 1
15th race
To The Daily:
IT IS A RARE political race
when a feminist faces a feminist.
Such is the case in the 15th County
Commissioner's district where Liz
Taylor (Democrat) is running
against Susan Winning (HRP).
Both women have similar profes-
sional criteria (degrees, past work
experience, etc.) Both have been
activists and organizers. Both are
feminists. Who do we choose?
Susan Winning is running on a
platform worked out by many peo-
ple. The direction of her campaign
and her actions if elected are de-
termined openly by a collective
group of people - those people
who consider themselves in basic
agreement with the Human Rights
Party.
Elizabeth Taylor is running as an
individual. She will take into con-
sideration what her constituents
say, but she will vote/act her con-
science. Her constituents will have
potential influence if she is elect-
ed, but she alone will have con-
trol.
The Human Rights Party has a
structure which fights sexism. The
steering committee is composed
equally of men and women, and
women have taken strong roles in
the party - running for office,
co-ordinating positions, etc. The
Democratic party is using women
locally - in Ann Arbor it is po-
litically advantageous to run a
woman. But Democratic party can-
didates are all forced to support
the entire Democratic ticket -- in-
cluding such 'heroes' as Frank
Kelley who has officially taken no
stand on the abortion question and
inofficially told several catholic
groups he opposes it.
As a woman and as a feminist,
I will not support a candidate, fe-
male or male, on faith. Women
have long enough been shut out
of power. We should now work and
vote for those candidates who
leave the power with-us, those who
trust us to make decisions for our-
selves. Susan Winning is such a
candidate.
-Kathy Kozachenko
Nov. 1
Early choice
To The Daily:
IN YOUR editorial, " Abortion
Reform: Vote Yes", one of the
reasons given for supporting this
bill was that the woman should be
able to decide what to do with
her own body. She had that right
before she involved another pos-
sible person.
If an unwanted pregnancy was
going to be such a traumatic ex-
perience for her that she feels it
necessary to abort, why didn't she
take the necessary precautions like
having her tubes tied, pills, foam,
etc. The media has been very ef-
fective in educating the masses on
birth control.
In a society such as our that con-
siders murder the most horrendous
crime against society, that in some
states is punishable by death it-
self, how can a rational human be-
ing so lightly decide the fate of an
innocent victim of someone elses
irresponsibility?
--Jeanne Shryock
Oct. 24
Parlor raids
To The Daily:
WE, THE WOMEN of the Femin-
ist House (Women's Communitv
Center) endorse the statement of
the Ad Hoc Committee of Femin-
ists condemning The Daily's in-
volvement in the recent massage
parlor raids. (The Daily, Oct. 22).
Many people have not updated
their thinking on the issue of pros-
stitution in relation to woman's
eneral exploitation by society.
'Therefore, we would like to invite
women to our next general meeting
on Thursday, November 2, 8 p.m.,
where we will have an open dis-
cussion of this issue.
-Feminist House
Oct. 26
225 East Liberty, Room 203
The Editorial Page of The
Michigan Daily is open to any-
one who wishes toksubmit
articles. Generally speaking, all
articles should be less than 1,000
words.
{
rs: Gays urge support of HRP
,l
Circuit Court race
ERE ARE four candidates for Cir-
cuit Court. There are two vacancies.
We are endorsing only one of the candi-
dates - District Judge Patrick Conlin.
The four rivals have distinct campaign
styles. Conlin has presented, to go along
with his solid record as a district court
judge, a substantial and straightforward
platform, devoid of fluff. He proposes
eased public access to court records, re-
form of the bail bond system and an
expansion of the Public Defender's Of-
fice.
District Judge Edward Deake has been
campaigning on his image as a solid
judge with 22 years of bench experience.
zen" testimonials, a supporter notes
that "Shirley Burgoyne believes that
sexual preference and possession of mari-
juana cases should not even be taking up
the court's time."
But Burgoyne does not brandish her
admission that even if she is elected,
such cases will still take up court time.
Nor does she advertise that as an active
member of the Republican Party she has
supported candidates who have refused
to change the repressive laws Burgoyne
would have to enforce as a judge.
The fourth candidate, District Judge
Sandorf Elden is capitalizing on his rep-
utation for law and order and his deci-
Election pickings
1
I can here them now: "Aw, I knew it was gonna happen this
way." All those cigar-chomping, back-room, smoke-filled readers will
not be surprised at all about the fallen chips. So this is your chance,
you armchair mystics - pick the winners, drop 'em off at 420 Maynard
and see if you can be the piquant politico picker.
Win a trip to the White House - at your own expense - an "I like
Ike" button, a Cottage Inn Pizza,
h~rv H -ill
or a 'bottle of Boone's Farm Straw-