4
TRB
14ge £idian Dailij
Eighty-two years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Four more years to weaken
Congress?
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 ail reprints.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1972
SGC: Reefer madness?
STUDENT GOVERNMENT Council, in
its actions Thursday night on the
proposed Dope Co-op has shown once
again why so many students refuse to
take their government seriously, rand
why SGC is perhaps aptly described as a
"sandbox government."
The proposal, as offered by Dave
Hornstein, would have allocated $2,500
of student government funds to a dope
co-op, run by SGC, with the aim of pro-
viding free marijuana for students. The
farce which followed, as planned by the
proponents of the proposal, served to
highlight the amount of time and energy
which SGC devotes to unconstructive ac-
tivities.
After almost an hour of circus-like de-
bate, lobbying, arguing and general un-
ruliness on the part of some members
and the gallery of spectators, SGC Presi-
dent Bill Jacobs finally brought an end to
the foolishness with a decisive "no" vote,
canceling a 6-5 majority in favor of the
proposal, and bringing its defeat under
parliamentary procedure.
PANDEMONIUM did not stop
there, however. A brief recess follow-
ed, during which irate students called for
Jacobs' recall and began formulating
plans to circulate petitions to that ,effect,
charging Jacobs with failure to represent
student interests.
Furthermore, the national news media
have picked up the story and spread the
word that, despite other urgent campus
problems, our student government busies
itself with basically silly business.
The idea of a dope co-op is frivolous.
Marijuana, like it or not, is illegal. Thus,
such a program, regardless of the SGC
vote could not possibly materialize on a
public level. Furthermore, the Regents
would probably put a freeze on the fund-
ing required for the proposition.
To its credit, SGC has instituted some
worthwhile projects, and is working on
others. A legal advocate has been hired
for student representation, and a pro-
gram of low-cost housing for students
is in the works.
Upcoming legislation looks promising.
SGC is trying to get its food co-op rolling,
is interested in establishing a day-care
center and is looking into better grading
systems.
CAN SGC accomplish such goals? Not
while some of its members are in-
terested in playing power politics, dis-
playing strict partisanship, and showing
interest only in matters of interpersonal
intrigue. Individually, the SGC represen-
tatives all seem qualified to sit on Coun-
cil. Collectively however, they appear un-
able to compromise and unite rationally
on important issues.
Nor does President Bill Jacobs escape
blame. To his credit, Jacobs has shown
responsibility where needed, such as in
his vote Thursday night. Though sincere
in his attempts to mold a strong SGC, he
has often failed to project the strong
leadership and self-control needed for
his position.
Furthermore, if the matter of a recall
campaign is to be taken seriously, it is
hoped that its sponsors will have better
motivation for such an action than Ja-
cobs' vote on the dope co-op. There is
such a thing as carrying a joke too far.
GC ELECTIONS ended over a month
ago. Now it is time for its members
to sit down and get to work. A Student
Government Circus we don't need.
-MARTIN STERN
By RICHARD STROUT
WE MAY BE reading Mr. Nixon
wrong but it seems to us that
he's preparing to kick Congress
around as it has rarely been kick-
ed before. The showdown 'may de-
cide if presidential dominance is
here to stay.
For 50 years presidential power
has grown and two-party discipline
has shrunk. But you can't run our
18th century system of checks and
balances without effective p a r t y
structure, short of piling up pres-
idential power. And indeed, that's
what's happened.
Now we may be at a real water-
shed. Ticket-splitting couldn't have
gone farther than it did in 1972
with Mr. Nixon's lonely landslide.
Once more we have two-headed
government in Washington. There
were six years of divided govern-
ment starting in 1954; and n o w
there will be another six years,
counting forward from 1968 to 1974
(and probably, we guess, to 1976).
In more than half of 20 years nei-
ther party has been in charge of
our government.
AT PRESENT Mr. Nixon seems
to be preparing, in a nice way of
course, to show who's boss. Two
days before the election he was
so certain of a landslide that he
outlined to Garnett Horner of the
sympathetic Washington Star-News
his plans for a second term (pub-
lished after the election); on the
domestic front it was a negative
mix against permissiveness and
welfare.
Next came from the White House,
again to the sympathetic Star-
News, the report of a program for
major reorganization of govern-
ment "without approval of C o n-
gress" (as the story said); it was
explained that Mr. Nixon has vast
"powers to make major changes
in the administration of the bur-
eaucracy unless specifically pro-
T
i A
crats are divided and demoraliz-
ed. But powerful as he is he has
certain embarrassments. He can't
run again, and this always dimin-
ishes the Executive's power a bit,
particularly in the final two "ear i.
Furthermore, there is dissension
within the GOP between conserva-
tives and liberals and it runs pret-
ty deep.
There is sullen criticism of Mr.
Nixon himself by some conserva-
tives for not aiding Republicans in
Congress; in particular the defeat-
ed Senator Gordon Allott of Col-
orado who asked vainly for Mr.
Nixon's help when he found he was
in trouble. The President, how-
ever, didn't go; he sensed a land
slide and didn't want to give Mc-
Govern any openings.
Finally, there's that little mat-
ter of the Watergate. Where it will
lead, knows God, but we will have
public hearings come January. Sev-
eral of the Watergate White House
figures appear to be quietly leav-
ing.
So now let's look at the unhappy
Democrats.
On December 3, the Democratic
governors and governors-elect from
31 states assemble in St. Louis,
and on December 9 the Democratic
National Committee holds a post
mortem here in Washington. Most
press discussion turns on person-
alities, and whether Jean Westwood
would continue as national chair-
man. She is associated with t h e
McGovern fiasco and it's human
nature to seek a sacrifice.
THE REAL STAKES we think,
go far deeper. They come down
to whether the Democrats can pull
themselves together and modernize
themselves and thereby reaffirm
the system of checks and balances
a anst the encroaching W h i t e
HIue. It's now :>r never, we think,
on party responsibility. Can they
a'so modernize procedure in Con-
gress?
Democrats at Miami Beach ten-
tatively voted to set up a 100-
nember charter commission to
vwrite a formal charter for the
party, and to authorize the N a-
tional Committee to call i ga ter-
ing, or convention, two years hence,
"on Democratic organizatioa and
pnlicy." This could be the first
mia-term convention in history
'rtish political parties ho'd con-
ventions every, year. American
parties meet for a few days every
four yearsand then go back to
skep again.
Democrats put in far-reaching re-
forms on delegate selection pro-
cedures at Miami Beach and pro-
bably carried them too far, but
something had to be done after the
Chicago 1968 debacle. Now the
question is whether Democrats will
simply turn the clock back.
Former chairman Larry O'Brien
had sapient words at Miami Beach:
"What I have seen through my
adult life is the deterioration of
party organizations at all levels. '
Now, he went on, Democrats are
out to reform. They are the oldest
party in the Western world. Norm-
ally, he said, "parties reach a point
where massive reform is neces-
sary for political survival. Almost
always they have chosen to die
- we have chosen to live." Is that
correct? That's the real issue to-
day.
Richard Strout writes the syn-
dicated TRB colnia. Reprinted
by permission of New Republic.
Copyright 1972, Harrison - Blaine,
of New Jersey, Inc.
hibited by prior act of Congress."
Challenge to Congress Number
One An earlier and more serious
challenge is still on the books:
before the election Mr. Nixon let
it be known that he would im-
pound (withhold) major funds
which Congress had already voted.
He would move strongly, it was
announced, into a constitutional
shadowland of authority by apply-
ing, in effect, an item veto. Almost
certainly this means a fierce bat-
tle.
Next the President unexpectedly
requested the pro forma resigna-
tion of presidential appointees down
to the commission level, including
several thousand top officials.
Something of this sort is always
done between terms but never, in
our recollection, with such osten-
tatious brutality.
There was also the sudden ouster
of Father Hesburgh, for t h r e e
years chairman of the US Civil
Rights Commission, and the watch-
dog of civil rights enforcement. He
seemed to be a fixture here and
we always supposed he had inde-
pendent status; maybe he did; he
didn't choose to exercise it. Many
and many a time he has seemed
to us to be the conscience of Amer-
ica; he called busing a "phony
issue." Every black in America
must get the message of this ouster
- with the sinking feeling that fol-
lowed Reverend Martin L u t h e r
King's death.
MR. NIXON is making ever} -
thing shipshape while the Demo-
Por, and
Relations with Cuba
THE LACK of diplomatic relations with
Cuba is yet another tragic example
of America's misguided "ping-pong" di-
plomacy. This island, a mere 90 miles
from our nation is all but neglected in
V. S. foreign policy.
Close parallels can be drawn between
Cuba and other nations in which the
United States has sought to quell the
"Red tide of Communism," while at the
same time suppressing real nationalistic
movements.
Fidel Castro was, more or less, pushed
to embrace Communism. He has said that
"the American reaction to his agrarian
reforms of May 1959 made me realize
that there was no chance to reach an
accommodation with the United States."
America's intervention and consequent
T oday'sstaff:
News: Penny Blank, Dave Burhenn, Linda
Dreebes, Debbie Knox, Nancy Rosen-
baum, Paul Travis
Editorial Page: Arthur Lerner, Eric Schoch
Arts Page: Jeff Sorenson, Gloria Jane
Smith
Photo technician: David Margolick
manipulation of Cuban internal affairs
merely caused unnecessary antagonism.
Later, a long silence between the United
States and Cuba followed the missile
crisis, interrupted only by sporadic hi-
j ackings.
Castro is truly lionized in his country.
Unknown to many of us, he has made
exceptional progress building on the
state of affairs left by his predecessor.
Formerly landless peasants now own
farm plots, illiteracy is all but eliminated
and the 20 per cent unemployment un-
der former dictator Batista has been
erased.
What will it take to normalize rela-
tionships with other nations? Terrorism?
The specter of nuclear destruction? Or
a worldwide holocaust of pollution?
OUR NATION must remove its one-way
eyeglasses and regard nations from
a much less selfish point of view. We
should take this opportunity to answer
Cuba's "ping" about outlawing hijackings
with our own "pong" of normalizing dip-
lomatic relations.
-BILL HEENAN
By ROBERT WILSON
A NUMBER of weeks ago I re-
solved to make my last semes-
ter of exams and study a memor-
able learning experience so I
would have some basis of truth in
telling my children what a fine and
uprighteous student their father
had been.
-My early entnusiasm ror a terma
paper due in two months was re-
warded as I found that all-too-eva-
sive volume which by coincidence
follows one's proposed outline fair-
ly closely. I studiously took some
rather general notes, not bother-
ing to be precise in the recording
of page references, and I marked
out a number of those concise,
sometimes eloquent passages which
tend to fit so nicely into t e r m
papers. "Why should I waste time
copying all this stuff out," I won-
dered innocently, "I can always
refer back to the book during the
typing stage."
A FEW DAYS before the book
was due, I visited the bustling lib-
rary office and asked if I could
renew it for another three weeks.
I was greeted with a cheery smile
that camouflaged a negative re-
sTnonse. After clearing the h o I d
files, the due date was noticed and
I was told I must wait until then
before requesting an extended per-
iod of grace. This struck me as~
little more than a slight inconven-
ience and I gave the prospect of
returning two days hence barely
a grumble.
The prescribed day arrived and
I dutifully strode into a situation
which, upon later reflection, clear-
ly bore ominous tones of an ordeal.
I was informed that since my last
visit the book had been placed on
call and before I could acknowledge
the turn of events, the volume was
} { ';. 1
' I S
1
vI
a
-w
'i
{ t
r t
'.
,
terr,
the desk and asked for the three-
dimensional version. My anticipa-
tion know no bounds and my ex-
pectations grew hard with smold-
ering suspense.
But the anxiety was not yet to
end. "It's out on grad-reserve right
now but if yolu want, we can have
him bring it inand you can pick
it up in five days or so."
Somehow, this did not sound all
that bad at the time, so I agreed
and shufled my disheviled spirits
out the door.
I decided to allow a few days
extra so I did not return to the
scene ofhthe book exchange for at
least eight days. My second inquiry
ended like the first.
This time I encountered t h e
head matron of the library who
grimaced at my motley appearance
(not from lack of grooming, I miy
add, but from the rigors and ten-
sions of academic life) and correct-
lv deduced that I was an alien to
the Tapoan and Monroe Street do-
main. She contemplatively perus-
ed her files, pausing intermittent-
ly to transmit a rueful glance or
two.
She informed me that it had been
out for just two weeks and it was
only right to'allow the present hold-
er the minimum of three, "like in
laced the grad library. And by the way,
name. don't they have a copy over there"'
lit of The mere suggestion of that oth-
eficial er place telegraphed a tremble
ie for through my nerves and a quiver
d and of my skin. "No", was my mealy-
spira- mouthed reply which for some rea-
itv son, did not seem to adequately
-t a masquerade my inner feelings.
n an After dodging any discussion of
ndant my immediately past experiences,
logic. Iconsidered what she hid said
r has initially. I weighed the notion that
Sad the other fellow probably had run
the reserve desk
I marched in (not quite sure of
what tactic to employ) and settled
myself for a brief moment before
approaching the balustrade of bat-
tle. I asked a pretty young miss if
Economic Concentration had check-
ed in yet, but after rummaging
through her files she nodded nega-
tively.
I fidgeted only the time of a
camera click as my whitened
knuckles on the counter top stead-
ied my involuntary sway. I main-
tained a calm exterior and ques-
tioned in a plaintive voice if she
had any idea of when it might
be returned.
Her nose dissolved into the files
and when it reappeared a smile of
discovery underlined the proturber-
ance. "It came in Monday and
someone checked it out already..."
EVERY LIFE force withia me
froze as what composure I had
pasted on my face a moment be-
fore became unglued and melted
away. My eyes swam through a
sea of red and the tremor of my
hearthsent seismic waves through
that heap of tile and mortar on
i Tappan Ave.
The normally placid environment
of a place of study and meditation
bellowed- menacingly in my ears.
My voice sputtered forth in inco-
herent protestations as my- mind
erupted in what is commonly term-
ed a rage, but what I prefer to call
an inhuman explosion of primitive
emotions, a display of unmitigated
violence, a destruction of all ra-
tional norms of behavior.
As I stalked from that depository
of bedevilment, a staccato v o i c e
trailed after me: "I'm szrrv but
I only work here and I agree that
this system n t
I stumbled into the fresh air,
Y
f" yam' ' 4*u4G, f*TL - TS.- Sr dl-
If God were a library, Adam and Eve could not
have even "taken out" the apple.
whisked from my grasp, stamped,
codified, re-issue and promptly de-
posited on the reservedshelf.
"But", I mumbled, out of lack
for anything else to say, "I should
at least have it for the rest of the
day "
"I'm sorry, it's too late now,'
was the rejoinder.
With plenty of time left in tale
semester and term paper dead-
lines seemingly as remote as tulips
and the Stanley Cup, I simply
shrugged my dissenting shoulders
and moved over to the reserve
Letters: Dope c o-op
To The Daily:
IT IS TOO bad that in its article Dec.
1 about the SGC vote on a dope co-op
The Daily did not explain the real moti-
vating force behind some of the people
supporting the idea. It was difficult to
do so because of the bizarre nature of
the meeting, so I will try to explain it
now.
Many of us who spoke in favor of the
dope co-op agreed with the position of
Marcia Fishman as expressed in yester-
day's Daily about better Rises for SGC
funds. I would prefer to spend t b e
money on hundreds of other more worth-
while problems. In the past, with only
25 per cent of the budget SGC now
has, we did just the things that a r e
now being suggested. And SGC should
continue to support these activities. How-
ever, the present middle of the road ma-
jority on SGC is unwilling to work on this
type of project, and prefers to deal with
increasing the size of the SGC bureau-
cracy and wasting money on adminis-
trative activities.
In the eleven months since GROUP
have been four new vice presidents add-
ed to the SGC executive board since
GROUP was first elected, at a salary
of 480 dollars per year.
When serious and substantive propos-
als are brought to SGC, they are often
very sloppy and show very little thought.
It would be nice to go back to the time
just a year and a half ago when SGC
ran a moderately funded (around $100)
free film series for a number of weeks.
When the motion to support the series
was brought up, every penny that was to
be spent was itemized and explained so
that there would be no waste. It was
possible to hold rational discussions be-
tween people of differing political view-
points on whether to support the plan.
Now the middle of the road majority has
made this imposible because they try
to railroad things through without a n y
thought.
The University Housing Council prob-
lem with the OSSPB student members is
just one example. The GROUP-Integrity
power block on SGC rammed the idea
.through with no real discussion, and if
pops bure
co-op. David Hornstein did an excellent
job of pointing out the absurdity of the
GROUP-Integrity position on SGC by
writing up a proposal for a dope co-op
that was more sensible than anything that
the Bill Jacobs regime had accomplish-
ed. Jacobs rose to the occasion by de-
veloping his own rules of order when
Robert's Rules of Order violated what
he wanted to do; he prompted the SGC
treasurer to lie to a question that had
been asked by Bill Dobbs; and he threat-
ened to "beat the shit out of" various
people who disagreed with him.
When Jabocs finally voted against the
dope co-op to cause its defeat, the "boist-
erous crowd" immediately= started the
spontaneous chant of "Recall, Pecall, Re-
call." This was not a completely serious
plan for a recall, but rather an expres-
sion of disgust at the way Jacobs and
GROUP-Integrity as a whole had been
acting in the past year.
When we started filling out the forms
to begin a student organization to Recall
Bill Jacobs we were really trying to mag-
- i<> - -" _m +$n> e ty[ :a -
aucracy?
resources. One example is the proposed
SGC term paper co-op which will help
students in their research projects and
will run the term-paper-for-hire compan-
ies out of business without encouraging
plagarism. Another is the reviving of the
plan to build low cost housing units for
students with federal subsidies on North
Campus, an idea which has already been
well received by various offices in Wash-
ington but which was caned by a mid-
dle-of-the-road and conservative alliance
on SGC late last year.
-Jay Hack, '73
Dec. 1
Editor's note noted
To The Daily:
I AM SORRY to see The Daily stoop-
ing to editorial cynicism and a personal
attack on the president of SGC. Neither
is it the proper space for an editorial
editors note, nor does it exhibit proper
journalistic objectivism.
I hope The Daily realizes that a "Let-
ters to the erditor" column is inst that:
desk. I requested a hold be Ip
on the literary gem in my n
optimistically figuring a wa:
three weeks might be ben
in the long run, allowing tim
me to digest what I had rea
provide an opportunity for in
tion to fill in my cranial cav!
"I'm lorry, you can t pi
call on this", the patient atte
explained with unswervingl
"As of right now the compute
your identity number on fil
it won't make sense for the
number to have it on hold.1
back in a couple of day, afte
42-0156 (or was it 65? . canz
remember names.) has picked
and wiped you from the reco
"I 'see, I think", I said.
Despite the unpleasant met
of the picture of myself be
wiped from anything, I re
an agreeable, if perhaps c
ed, demeanor and resolved to
back in a few days. Which
But I wish I hadn't. "Ye
book has been checked out
I'm sorry, someone else ha
it on hold."
I LEFT the depository
somewhat empty state of min
the prospect of waiting sixv
until I could retrieve the k
rejuvenation for my now lan
ing essay began io fill my ce
void with gloom.
Sometime during the next
or two, as I began to- once
harbor worries over the tw
grades of my jeopardizing r er
card, I organized my thought
enough to plan an explorator
cursion to the Business Ad
tration Library in search of
them copy of the elusive volu
Partially because I had ne
visitedathisbestablishm,;nt b
and partially because I felt a
ed of myself for not thinki
such an ohvious course oft
same
Come
r 391-
never
it up
o.cls."
aphor
e i n g
rained
onfu,-
come
I did.
s, the
it but
is put
in a
d, but
weeks
ey to
guish-
rebral
week
again
uilight
p o r t
s long
ry ex-
mnMis-
f ano-
me.
~v e r
before
sham-
ng of
nction
"Every life force within me froze as what
comnpusure Ihad pasted on my face a moment
before became unglued, and melted away. My
eyes swam through a sea of red and the tremor
of my heart sent seismic waves through that
heap of tile and mortar on Tappan Ave."
into some of the same difficulties
I had, so I , thought, "Okay, he
should keep it for the full three
week period. It's only fair.
Upon coming to what I consid-
ered an eminently equitable decis-
ion (of Solomon-type logic), I voic-
ed my intentions to return follow-
ing Thanksgiving vacation, allow-
ing for yet another vigil If seven
days.
The not so eagerly responsive
book clerk did not warm to what
appeared in my eyes to be such
ultimate wisdom and equanimity.
She wiggled into a non-comrm.ttal
pose and the words "I'll try" or
"We'll see" dripped from the cot p-
ers of her lips. In the interest of
peace and in accordance with mny
the furious activity of my mental
and physical faculties subsiding
into a chronic sense of dissatisfac-
tion, a stupor of frustration. The
despairing factor was that I could
think of no one individual involved
in this minor personal ordeal who
was deserving of a punch in the
nose or at the very least, a wail-
ing of vocal fury.
Just to complete the saga, I
checked once more at the grad
library and found out Economic
Concentration was next due in on
the 13th of December. And you
guessed it, that's not the only thing
due on the 13th.
While I sit here lamenting my
fate, I grimace when I picture my
good professor puzzling over my
paner in honest bemusement as he