Page 4-,-Wednesday, September 14, 1977-The Michigan Daily
1
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Lihigan
Ioalg
Are cops
too so t
Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Vol. LXXXV1II, No. 6
News Phone: 764-0552
IEdited and managed by students at the University of MichiganI
Lace Mustgo, ow!
.on'
By RONNIE LOVLER
and GEORGE ANDERSON
ie
beaters?
B e failu
Y CONTINUING to allow Bert
Lance to remain as head of the large am
Office of Management and Budget ' failu
(OMB), President Carter is doing great the Senat
damage to the credibility of his admin- E D
istration. And he is reneging on his
promise to the American people that his me
federal appointees would set the highest cence of
ethical standards in history. For the is for the
good of the country, Lance must resign, lows the
and Carter must force him to if Lance even the
refuses. over Lan
The facts are not all in on Bert Lan- tolerate
ce. His actions during his tenure as chief sposii
executive officer of the National Bank of sponsibili
Y Georgia, in Atlanta and prior to that as The bl
chief executive officer of the Calhoun Carter. F
First National Bank are still under in- ating hig
I office, an
vestigation. But what has been disclosed Lance s
4 so far seems to us to be more than
enough to impair his ability to function cronyism
administr
as a member of a presidential cabinet. But a]
Among the illicit activities of which shared b
Lance is allegedly guilty are:
" bank overdrafts by Lance from commtt
Calhoun during his chairmanship there ,
for which he was charged no interest, Lance s
" which he used to finance his abortive they did
campaign for governor of Georgia. his qe ca
e using a corporate plane of the na- The c
tional bank for personal trips and de- one for
ducting it from the bank's income as a perately
business expense. hone.y
failure to place all of his assets in people t
trust before taking office. ties with
* overdrawing his personal accounts tarnished
for personal gain too late t
if Lance i
.O
LT
°
v'
" --
__ _.. O
tv2P2 t0 Th
I * -I'
re to disclose personal loans of
ounts.
re to disclose information to
e confirmation committee.
O NOT presume to pass judg-
nt on Lance's guilt or inno-
these and other charges. That
courts to decide, if Carter al-
case to proceed that far. But
charges cast a severe shadow
ce's integrity, and we cannot
a man of questionable integrity
ion of such importance and re-
ity.
ame for this fiasco falls first on
3e broke his promise of nomin-
hly ethical men for appointive
id his nomination of old buddy
macks of the Washington
that has characterized past
rations.
large part of the blame must be
by the Senate confirmation
ee. We find it difficult to fathom
could have missed many of
iscal irregularities - that is if
any kind of a careful check on
ications for office.
ase of Bert Lance is a very bad
an administration trying des-
to establish a reputation for
with a cynical American
3y refusing thus far to cut his
Lance, Carter has severely
d his Administration. It's not
o remedy the situation, but only
s removed now.
IVST A
LEFAT!
When police broke into the New York apart-
ment, they had to pry the husband's hands
from around his wife's throat. The neighbors
who had heard the screams were shouting:
"Arrest him. He'll kill her."
The officers, however, limited themselves
to advising the parties to "keep cool."
But the wife did not keep cool. She eventu-
ally joined 58 other battered wives in a class
action suit - not against their husbands, but
against New York City police officials and
family court personnel. The women charge
that the authorities denied them assistance
either by refusal to arrest their husbands or to
permit themaccess to a judge for a protection
order.
NOW THAT THE problem of battered
wives is coming out of the closet - estimates
range widely from one million victims a year
to as high as one out of every three married
women - abused women and feminist sup-
port organizations are contending that police
and judicial leniency is a contributing factor
to wife beating.
The authorities, the women claim, are re-
luctant to interfere in what the officials often
consider strictly domestic squabbles.
Feminist support groups currently are fo-
cusing national attention on the case of Rox-
anne Gay, a 25-year-old Clementon, N.J.,
student nurse who recently pleaded "not guil-
ty" to the slaying of her husband whom she
says repeatedly beat her.
According to her attorneys, Gay often had
called police when her husband, a burly pro-
fessional football player, brutally attacked
her. The lawyers contend the police only
made the husband leave the house to "cool
off" - after which he would return and beat
her again.
IN MINNEAPOLIS, the Harriet Tubman
Shelter for Battered Women reports that a 19-
year-old wife came in with 17 stitches in her
upper lip after her husband beat her and
threatened her mother. Although she filed
charges against her husband, no action had
yet been taken when she showed up at the
shelter the next afternoon.
And in Chicago, a woman told a task force
on battered wives that she was denied help by
police even after her husband gave her a beat-
ing so bad she had to be hospitalized for a
week.
The police respond
In New York, the accused police officers
and family court staffers deny the charges
made against them by the battered wives.
Joseph Halpern, attorney for the accused, de-
scribed them as "sympathetic to women in
these cases."
On the West Coast, Lt. Patrick Boyle of the
Richmond, Ca., Police Department says that
in his 20 years of experience responding to do-
mestic fights, "If anything, we take the wom-
an's part." The problem, Boyle explains, is
that the wife usually drops the charges after
the husband has been hauled off to jail.
One high-ranking police official, however,
maintains that most police officers approach
the problem not with sympathy but with a set
of preconceptions prejudicial to the wife. In a
speech before the American Bar Association,
James Bannon, commander of the Detroit
Police Department, said that police officers,
most of whom are males, have been
"socialized to regard females in general as
subordinate."
AS A RESULT, those who respond to do-
mestic disturbance calls are liable to arrive
with a mind-set of the husband as the right-
fully dominant partner.
Emily Goodman, a New York attorney who
has handled battered wives cases, contends
that some police officers actively discourage
the pressing of charges by posing such ques-
tions as: Who will support you? What did you
do to make him hit you in the first place? Do
you realize what he may do to you the next
time if you make trouble now?
Support groups such as the New Jersey
Women's Resource Center maintain that the
problem of domestic violence is exacerbated
by "selective law enforcement." They con-
tend that home violence could be sharply re-
duced if the community demanded that police
devote more manpower, training and auxili-
ary services to domestic disturbances.
A JANUARY NBC News poll indicated that
60 per cent of all police calls are responses to
domestic disturbances.
The women's organizations also maintain
that domestic homicides - such as the Gay
case - could be prevented in many cases if
police took more decisive action.
The women underline the implication of a
1971 study made in Kansas City, Mo. The in-
vestigation found that in 85 per cent of all
domestic homicides within the city, police
had been called in at least once beforehand;
in 50 per cent of the murders police had been
called five or more times previously.
Prejudice from the bench
Women's organizations are also accusing
judges of prejudicial conduct and excessive
leniency toward husbands.
A Montgomery County, Md., task force
cites the case of a woman whose husband
knocked out four of her teeth with a radio
when she woke him for work. The Judge who,
heard the case ruled that the husband had
been "provoked" and therefore that his con-
duct did not constitute assault.
Even when a man is found guilty, it is
unusual for a judge to send him to jail.
IN NEW YORK STATE, for example,
where 80 per cent of the 7,000 cases in the.
family court in 1975 were assault charges
filed by wives against their husbands, only 34
resulted in conviction, usually with suspended
sentences.
In one Washington, D.C.-area case, a
retired army colonel repeatedly struck his
wife and then threw her down a flight of stairs
in front of two onlookers. This attack had been
preceded by six others during the previous
year, including an attempt at strangulation.
The judge handed down a $500 fine and a 30-
day suspended sentence.
The wife in this instance had witnesses --
rare in such cases since beatings ordinarily
take place in the privacy of the home and at
night.
NO NATIONWIDE statistics for wife beat-
ing arrests or convictions exist, and local sta-
tistics are rare. The U.S. Justice Depart-
ment's research division explains that police
departments and district attorney offices gen-
erally lump such cases with overall felony
assault and misdemeanor battery totals -
another indication, women charge, of official
insensitivity to the problem.
A San Diego judge, however, has won the
plaudits of women's groups. In what local of-
ficers of the National Organitation for
Women call a landmark, Superior Court
Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund says he will tgry
to discourage domestic violence by awarding
immediate temporary restraining orders to
victims.
THE MOVE WOULD eliminate the need for
San Diego County victims to file for divorce or
criminal charges of assault and battery, cur-
rently a necessary precondition for securing
such an order.
"The focus is as much on children," Ehren-
freund said, explaining his plan that would as-
sign county conciliators to the couple after the
order is granted. "I'm worried about the ef-
fect these fights and beatings have on chil-
dren."
Promoted principally by feminist support
groups, some dozen shelters for battered
women have now opened up across the U.S.
The demand for their services - housing, le-
gal aid and counseling - far exceeds the fa-
cilities available.
And state legislatures are beginning to act.
In Brooklyn, the Center for the Elimination of
Violence in the Family received $200,000 from
the state government. Ten bills related to bat-
tered women are currently pending in New
York with four others under consideration in
New Jersey.
The efforts are "just a beginning," as one
woman put it; "but at least now we're on our
way.
Ronnie Lovler is a New York-based
freelance writer. George Anderson, a Je-
suit priest who does chaplaincy work at
New York City'v Rykers Island house of
detention, writes regularly for America
magazine on social justice issues.
fit
ID
Health Service Handbook
QUESTION: My boyfriend and
I have an active sex life but he
also masturbates sometimes. I
feel bad about that because I
think it means that I don't satisfy
him but he says it's just another
sexual outlet which he enjoys and
it has nothing to do with our sex
life together. Is that true or is he
snowing me?
ANSWER: In our culture mas-
turbation has been fraught with
complex mythology for centur-
ies. Although there are some
signs of change, females are
taught much less about self-
pleasuring than males and thus
are given less permission to
become comfortable with mas-
turbation. As a result, myths per-
taining to self-pleasuring during
a relationship are permitted to
flourish. Females often believe
themselves to be unappealing if
their partners masturbate or
worry that they are sexually in-
adequate women. Males also re-
act in a shocked, ego-deflated
manner if they find their mates
engaging in manual stimulation
because they feel that inter-
course with them should certain-
ly be sufficient to satisfy a fe-
male.
All of these myths derive from
miseducation and lack of edu-
cation in our society about male
and female sexuality. With more
research being done and more
openness about the subject re-
cently, we are becoming more
and more aware that human be-
ings, like other animals, are sus-
ceptible to numerous sexual stim-
uli. Masturbation is only one of
many, and so your boyfriend is
right - it is just another sexual
outlet when your sex life together
is satisfactory.
Masters and Johnson found
that the most intense orgasms
are achieved through masturba-
tion but that the greatest emo-
tional satisfaction is derived
from sexual interaction with a
partner. Recently, for women
who find it difficult to experience
orgasm, programs in masturba-
tory techniques have been used to
teach both self-pleasuring and as
a means of communicating to a
partner what their sexual needs
are.
Legitimizing both self and
mutual masturbation can really
enhance a sexual encounter be-
tween two people by providing
not only variety but an increased
probability of orgasm, particu-
larly for the female. It can also
act as a satisfying sexual outlet
for people who are not yet on a
birth control method. Sexuality
can be enjoyed without neces-
sarily engaging in intromission.
In some cultures, young males
are taught by the elders how to
use masturbation to delay ejacu-
lation, making them top notch
experts at withdrawal. One of the
main reasons why withdrawal as
a birth control method is so
negated in our society is that
males are not taught control.
QUESTION: Do you know of
any programs for cigarette
smokers who would like to break
the habit?
ANSWER: You're in luck. On
Thursday, September 15th at 7:00
p.m., the Ann Arbor Smoking
Withdrawal Clinic, which is join-
tly sponsored by the University
Health Service and the Michigan
Lung Association, will hold a
public meeting in the basement
conference room (Room No. 5) at
Health Service. The primary pur-
pose of the meeting is to explain
what will be involved if you wish
to join our upcoming program
which will begin on September
19th and last for 4-weeks (12 ses-
sions). The public meeting is free
of charge and all interested com-
munity members are invited to
attend. So note the evening of
September 15th. Come and find
out what the program will consist
of,' what costs may be involved,
who the leaders will be, and other
important facts about smoking
withdrawal.
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