Page 4-Wednesday, February 1, 1978-The Michigan Daily

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420 Maynard St.,d
Vol. LXXXVIII, No.'101
Edited and managed by studen

of Editorial Freedom
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
News Phone: 764-0552
ts at the University of Michigan

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Turning tides for treaties
r HE CONGRESSIONAL storm ships to the head of any procession en-
clouds that gathered over the tering the canal during a time of inter-
Panama Canal treaties during the fall national crisis.
nd early winter have apparently be- The amendment, which embodies
3un to dissipate. The Senate Foreign the language of a statement released
lelations Committee passed a bill ap- last October 14 after a meeting between
>roving the treaties by a 14-1 margin President Carter and General Omar
onday. We are encouraged by the Torrijos of Panama, should eliminate
verwhelming majority and hope that it the fears of senators who are overly
s a foreshadowing of the final Senate concerned with national security.
vote. But in making further amendments
Surprisingly, the apparent change of on the floor of the Senate, due caution
attitude on the part of some conserva- should be exercised. The Senate is
ive senators was not brought about by charged with either ratifying the
a massive program of persuasion on the treaties or not ratifying them. They
>art of the White House. Increasing op- have no legal right to rewrite them.
imism on the part of the treaties' pro- Senators on the Foreign Relations
)onents has developed because of the Committee exhibited this caution. The
fforts of Senators Robert Byrd and recently approved amendment was not
Joward Baker. merely tacked onto the treaties; it was
Baker and Byrd appeared to be op- thoughtfully integrated into the
>osed to the treaties in the early run- language of the treaties.
Sing. But later after both had made Although the distinction is subtle, it
rips to Panama and after the formula- is nevertheless important. Radical
ion of an important amendment that changes in the treaties will cause the
alleviated many of their concerns, both Panamanians to hold another
enators have been able to convince plebiscite, thus threatening to start the
heir colleagues that the treaties are an treaty process all over again. The
mportant national initiative. Panamanians may reject the treaties
While the actual treaties provide for altogether.
he transfer of control ove' the canal The treaties should be passed as
rom the U.S. to Panama by the year they now stand. It will be a sign to all of
|000, the new portion spells out the right South America that we are now willing
if the U.S. to defend the canal after that to respect their sovereign rights of
rear and the right to move American nationhood.
Good fuel forskeptics

As everyone knows by now, the
Illinois Supreme Court ruled last
week that Nazis are allowed to
carry their banners with their
swastikas and march through the
streets of predominantly Jewish
Skokie, Illinois. That they should
be so allowed has been argued
one way and another, back and
forth, up and down the first
amendment. Free speech seems
to be the issue here. But is it?
There is quite a case to be
made for disallowing this march
on the basis of the U.S. Supreme
Court's obscenity ruling some
years ago. This ruling (whether a
good or bad ruling is not argued
here) held that local com-
munities could determine what
they consider obscene, and that a
community need not tolerate that
which is so considered.
It comes down to an inter-
pretation of obscenity. Sex is not
obscene. The portrayal of
genitals or any kind of sex act is
not obscene, since even at its
lowest it is an expression of life.
What is obscene is murder, and
the Nazi party advocates mur-
der.k
The policies of the original Nazi
party (an acronym for the Ger-
man which meant National
Socialist Party) advocated mur-
der; its adherents practiced it.
For any American, party to take
the name of this group as their
own, as well as its symbology, is
simply to ally themselves im-
plicity with their aims. A Nazi
must be a Nazi; were he merely
to believe in male supremacy, or
white supremacy, or whatever,
there would be a number of other

names from which to choose. So a
Nazi-American, German, or
whatever, is a Nazi-and this
means that he believes in mur-
der.
So there is an argument to be
made that the Nazis, should be
banned from Skokie. Why not?
After all, the residents of Skokie
clearly disapprove of the
Nazis-they themselves, many of
them, are survivors of concen-
tration camps-almost all have
relatives who died under Nazi
oppression. Assuming the U.S.
Supreme Court's ruling on ob-
scenity to be law, why can Skokie
not ban Nazis?
The prevailing idea is some
misguided one of free speech. It
would be easy to dismiss this, and
yet it does have some validity. It
is contrary to thesprinciples of the
United States to arrest someone
for standing on a street corner
and shouting that Carter is a pig
and should be removed from of-

Nazi, march:
A freedom
of obscenity
By Jeffrey Selbst

fice. It is a crime to shout that
Carter must be killed. This will
earn one (at least) surveillance
should this person come close to
the President; one can be im-
prisoned for this.
What is the deciding differen-
ce? Well, Americans (officially)
never have approved of dissent
suppression. Any viewpoint, no
matter how offensive to the
public, no matter how wacky, can
and must be expressed. Is there a
line to be drawn? Can a line be
drawn? Emphatically.
It doesn't matter what religious
belief a person holds, or even
whether one holds beliefs of this
sort at all. Murder is wrong. It is
the most wrong thing imaginable.
To take someone else's life is
simply inadmissible, in deed or
even in word.
And therein lies the crux of the
issue. To advocate murder is to
make oneself responsible for all
acts of murder that take place

undet the aegis of such advocacy.
This goes for Nazis as-for anyone
else.
Therefore, the display of the
swastika, as a symbol of Nazism
and a symbol of murder, is ob-
scene. There is precedent in
American jurisprudence for the
consideration of certain symbols
or gestures as obscene. Certainly
one case, though no longer so
considered (and obviously mild
in comparison) is the gesture
known as the "finger," for which
many have been jailed in the last
decade. The issue is not whether
the "finger" is an obscene
gesture, but whetheraor not there
is precedent for considering cer-
tain symbols obscene. And there
is.
And if there is, nothing could be
more obscene (nor more locally
offensive in Skokie) than the
display of the swastika. It
represents a policy of
systematized death, and death of
only certain group of
people-those considered "unfit"
by those who display the hated
symbol.
And so, it seems that the
Illinois Supreme Court's decision
was one judged not wrongly, but
on altogether the wrong grounds.
It occurs that perhaps there
would have been a different
ruling had the trial been brought
on these grounds. Certainly there
is reason now to do so.
Jeffrey Se/bst is a frequent
contributor to the Daily's Edi-
torial page.


LETTERS TO THE DAILY

New ballot for Township 20 'silly

PANEL OF EXPERTS advised
AZ Secretary of Health, Education
and Welfare (HEW) Joseph Califano
yesterday to initiate a vaccine program
against the so-called Russian flu which
would first go to those persons under 25
;Tears old, and eventually be made,
available to the general population.
But when those inoculation clinics
open their big white doors this spring,
-doctors shouldn't be surprised if there
is no one outside anxiously awaiting
their flu shots.
People have lost a lot a confidence in
public vaccine programs over the past
few years. And with good reason. A
panel of health experts might prefer to
forget the blundering which character-
ized the so-called swine flu inoculation
program in the latter part of 1976, but
' the average citizen will long remember
' -that highly publicized, highly disorgan-
sized federal campaign.
The swine flu program, just like the
;'proposed Russian flu program, was de-
 vised by a qualified panel of "experts."
From their apparently faulty scientific
evidence, these people prophesied dark
y days of disease raking the country: A
w vicious virus would become the next
"worldwide" type.
Well, it didn't happen. And the HEW
folks sure made fools of themselves,
battling the vaccine companies in court
over liability insurance, buckling under
from distribution problems, and
assuring us the medicine was absolute-
ly safe despite the mysterious deaths of
dozens of inoculated people.
P
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F Idpfi$'

This time, at least there is substan-
tial evidence that the flu program
might not be in vain. The Russian flu
reportedly arrived in the U.S. about two
weeks ago, after infecting a good por-
tion of the Soviet Union. Scientists are
saying with more certainty now that
this virus could be around for a number
of flu seasons. The U.S. won't feel the
real effects of the flu until next winter,
they add.
There is little sense in discarding
decades of good scientific research
over a few amateurish goofs, and so
HEW officials should not hesitate to in-
itiate this proposed new inoculation
program. But if department officials
should have learned anything from the
swine flu mishap, it was that scientific
excitement must not get in the way of.
good old rationality, especially when
one is involved with a project affecting
millions of people.
As they plan next year's menu of
inoculations for national consumption,
health experts should be wary of just
what they are going to serve. The first
Russian flu shots will be distributed be-
ginning in March to the under-25 crowd,
but according to reports, heavier dis-
tribution will begin next fall. By that
time, officials should be absolutely cer-
tain that the vaccine can be produced,
distributed and insured properly, and
most important, that the medicine is
absolutely safe for general use.
If people actually show up to get
their Russian flu shots, it will be a
credit to HEW's painstaking scrutiny.

To The Daily:
In its recent editorial commen-
tary on the 1977 mayoral election,
the Daily has overlooked several
points. First, Ann Arbor has a
mayor. His name is Albert H.
Wheeler and his election was cer-
tified by the Board of Canvas-
sers. The Republican Party and,
apparently, the Daily do not like
this fact. The Republicans, with
the encouragement of the Daily,
are attempting to reverse the
election through the courts. Since
the Republicans have another
shot at the mayorality in a little
over a year, it is hard to imagine
why they are engaging in an ex-
pensive legal action which is like-
ly to last almost that long.
In addition, the famous twenty
voters aren't illegal, merely in-
advertent. They registered in
good faith and their right to vote
in Ann Arbor was certified by the
City's highest election officer.
They have no more done anything
illegal than the motorist who does
not stop at an intersection where
there is supposed to be a stop
sign, but isn't.
The Daily's proposal for a
mock ballot of the twenty voters
is silly. First, there were twenty-
three inadvertent voters, not
twenty. By the time the case got
to court, three had moved from
Ann Arbor. More may have left
the city since then. Second, the
results of that ballot would be
highly suspect. Any strongly par-
tisan person would be tempted to
vote for the candidate he/she did
not favor, since the one who gets
the most votes loses. There would
be no real way to tell. A mock
ballot would generate more fees
for the lawyers, but nothing else.
Behind the rhetoric of the Daily
and the Republican Party about
the twenty voters is the assump-
tion that this matter somehow in-
validates an otherwise perfect or
perfectable election. However
the Republicans and the Daily
must certainly know that in every
election there are an unknown
number of small mistakes. Here
are two common types. A few
new voters are turned away from
the polls because their registra-
tion records have been mis-
placed. One or more voting ma-
chines malfunction and their
results are in error. Such occur-
ances are inevitable.
In any close election the uncer-
tainty due to minor foul-ups and
malfunctions may well be
greater than the margin which
separates the candidates. That,
unfortunately, just happens.
When the election is over, it's
over. Unless the Daily is willing
to call for repeated new elections
until one candidate or the other
receives a huge majority, it
should admit that Al Wheeler won
by one vote. Editorial reminders
of "Landslide Wheeler's" victory
before the next few elections
might encourage better turnouts.

a modern society is a testimony
to the failure of that society to
fully integrate the notion of "hu-
manity" and "equality" into it's
citizens. That any such group
should be supported by the court
system of that country is an
abomination; a rape of an insti-
tution designed to protect the peb-
ple.
In this light, the Illinois Su-
preme Court's decision to allow
Nazis to brandish swastikas in
deranged pomposity through the
streets of a Jewish suburb filled
with Holocaust victims in partic-
ularly odious. The court ruled
that the swastika is protected by
the First Amendment because it
cannot be banned, "solely be-
cause that display will provoke a
violent reaction by those who
view it." Why does the court not
just allow the Nazis to carry the
corpses of the Skokie Holocaust
victims' murdered sisters, broth-
ers, and parents for display pur-
poses too? For survivors of the
Holocaust who often still bear the
Concentration Camp numbers on
their arms, the connection to the
swastika is that direct.
The Illinois COurt claims the
swastika is neither "offensive"

hor "peace threatening to the
public." I might agree if that
public contained only Neo-Nazis.
Yet what about the, so-called 'in-
ferior races' - blacks, orien-
tals, Jews, Poles, homosexuals,
etc. - who were considered im-
purities in the Aryan world and
who were thought to require
mass deportation and extermina-
tion? Will not such victims be
'moved to violence' as the
Skokie Village claims? Where
are these people's rights? Where
is the safety which the U.S. of-
fered to the "huddled masses"?
A prevalent theme for the post-
Holocaust realizations was "Re-
member." One can only hope that
if the Nazis are allowed to march,
the remembrance of the survi-

vors will be one of action.
- Jeffrey Borkan
/"
To The Daily:
The Daily's conclusion of its
editorial "Civil Rights For All'
was appalling! The idea of ignor-
ing the Nazis is insane. Will socie-
ties never learn that history re-
peats itself? The last time the
Nazis were ignored, six million
Jews were exterminated. The
Nazi party in the U.S. doesn't just
want publicity, they're testing
out new territory, finding out just
how far we'll let them go. Lets not
ignore them - when we look back
it may be too late.
- Nancy Lynn Abramson

Submissions of essay and opinion to the
Daily's Editorial page should be typed and
triple spaced. They will be returned to the
author only if a request is made to do so. Pub-
lication is based on conciseness, clarity oJ
thought and writing, and overall appeal.

- Health Service Handbook


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By Sylvia Hacker
and Nancy Palchik
QUESTION: What, exactly, are the chances of
pregnancy during menstruation (without any con-
traception)? I know that sometimes an egg is
fertilized anyway. How can you tell? If you had
intercourse during menstruation and did become
pregnant, would your period stop immediately,
or would it finish as usual?
Also, sometimes I find I am afraid to let loose
when climaxing-even if I emptied my bladder,
I have the sensation, or fear, of having to urinate.
Is this uncommon? What could it be? (Pressure
on the bladder?)
ANSWER: Dr. Barbara Adams, our favorite
consultant in such matters, answers as follows:
Normal menstrual cycles range in length from
21 to 35 days, and ovulation usually occurs 14-16
days before the onset of the next menstrual period.
Therefore, ovulation could occur during men-
struation if, for example, one had a 21 day cycle
with 7 days of menstrual flow, and pregnancy is
certainly possible under these conditions. What
are your chances? If you play Russian Roulette,
you can calculate chances exactly, but with
Reproductive Roulette (sometimes knownf as
"rhythm"), you don't have that privilege.
Whenever you use no contraception during any
part of the menstrual cycle, you are relying on the
oldest, and least effective (60 per cent failure
rate) method of birth control. I speak here of the
garden variety rhythm method, practiced with a
guess and a prayer, and not of the more scientific
Billings method which uses basal body tem-
perature and cervical mucus changes to predict
ovulation.
The trick with rhythm is getting the beat-
i.e., knowing when you ovulate. If you know this
with certainty, you can avoid unprotected inter-
course in the most fertile period which extends
from 48 hours before to 72 hours after ovulation.
But most women can only estimate the timing of
ovulation as 14 to 16 days before the next menses
begin. Obviously, if you are a fortune teller, you

It is neither uncommon nor abnormal to have
the sensation of needing to urinate when you, near
orgasm. This is due, in part, to pressure on the
bladder, in part to heightened sensation in the
tissues surrounding the vagina and the urethra,
and in part to the involuntary rhythmic spasm of
all the pelvic muscular structures during orgasm.
By emptying your bladder before intercourse, you
should be able to alleviate the fear of urinating, as
well as avoiding the inconvenience of a puddle.
* * *
QUESTION: What's all the fuss about the liquid
protein diet?
ANSWER: It seems that the only thing good
about the liquid protein diet is that it provides
protein without having to eat foods that are also
rich in fat and cholesterol. One of the problems,
however, is that whenever you severely restrict
carbohydrate, you mobilize the stored fat in the
body for energy. "Isn't that good?%', you might
ask? Yes, if it is gradual, but excess rapid
mobilization of fat may cause serious side effects
including kidney and liver damage. Low
potassium levels may result and several deaths
from heart disturbances have been attributed to
this complication.
Chemical imbalance, loss of salt, water, and
other minerals lead to weakness, faintness and
other undesirable side effects. In addition, it is
thought that the excess minerals and salts are
conducive to kidney stone formation. What's wor-
se, because patients do not learn the proper way of
eating, in a long term study of such diets, only one-
third of the patients were able to keep the fat off
after 18 months away from the special diet. This is
why all the "fad" diets are not effective over the
long run. It is clear that one must change one's life
style in regard to eating or failure is inevitable.
The key to long-term prevention of obesity is lear-
ning how to eat and exercise properly (and doing
it).
The point is that if you have a caloric deficit of
too great a magnitude for too long,it will affect the
normal functions of the body adversely. If one
needs to diet, it must be a balanced diet that
doesn't cause weight loss too fast. While dieting,
you can heln nrevent nrotein or muscle loss by

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