e 4-Tuesday, November 22, 1977-The Michigan Daily
Eig/ty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom
CIVIL LIBERTIES NOTEBOOK
Free to orm student groups
LXXXVIII, No. 65
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
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QUESTION: Can school officials keep stu-
ents from forming an after-school club hav-
.ng a dissident point of view?
ANSWER: No, unless the officials can
how that the club will "materially and sub-
stantially" disrupt school activities.'
The right to form groups and associations
as for years been recognized by the courts to
be an important aspect of one's right to ex-
press one's views. For example, forming a
club in school might allow you to use various
school facilities, such as bulletin boards, loud-
speakers, and meeting rooms, or allow you to
present a school assembly. One school had a
policy barring clubs that expressed a "parti-
san" point of view and wouldn't give recogni-
tion to a high school chapter of the Student
Mobilization Committee. A court overruled
the school administration, saying that the or-
ganization would make a substantial contri-
bution to the educational provess through the
expression of its point of view. I
The Supreme Court has ruled in a similar
case that a college could not deny official rec-
ognition to a chapter of Students for a Demo-
cratic Society unless it could be shown that
the aims of the chapter were to disrupt the
school.
Another court ruled that while the admini-
strators of a state college could lawfully re-
fuse to give official recognition to a gay stu-
dents' organization in order to "protect the
campus from anti-social influences," it could
not refuse to afford the organization "those
privileges of recognition necessary to assure
the ability of the organization to engage in
meaningful debate, maintain open channels
of communication with the students and
generally pursue its purpose." Some of the
privileges considered necessary by the court
included listing and description of the organi-
zation in the student directory, exclusive
availability of meeting space in university fa-
cilities, free access to the campus newspaper,
radio station and official bulletin boards and
maintenance of an orientation booth during
semester registration.
QUESTION: Can the school prevent a stu-
dent organization from holding a social
event?
ANSWER: In a case brought by a gay stu-
dents' organization, a federal court of appeals
held that a university's prohibition against
the organization's holding social functions on
campus denied gay students their First
Amendment right of free association. The uni-
versity administrators argued that as long as
they permitted the group to hold meetings,
they could ban social events which they
believed to be "not among the class of pro-
tected associational activities." The court
disagreed, however, citing the "important
role that social events can play in individuals'
efforts to associate and further their common
beliefs."
QUESTION: Can the school prevent stu-
dents from inviting a speaker to their club
meeting because he or she is too controver-
sial?
ANSWER: No. If clubs are allowed to meet
and to decide upon their own programs then
they cannot be denied the right to invite a par-
ticular speaker because of his views, unless
the school can show that the speech is likely to
create disorder at the school. The fear of dis-
order, moreover, must be founded on "clear
and convincing" evidence and not on specula-
tion based on the speaker's known radical
views.
QUESTION: Can a school prohibit studen-
ts from handing out all literature, including
underground newspapers, on school proper-
ty?
ANSWER: No. This would violate the Su-
preme Court's decision in Tinker. Literature
may be barred from school property only if its
distribution materially and substantially in-
terferes with school activities, and even some
disruption in handing out the literature does
not justify banning the literature completely.
As one court said, "It is their misconduct in
the manner in which they distributed the
paper which should have been stopped, not
the idea of printing newspapers itself."
That same court emphasized the point that
minor disruptions could be tolerated to ac-
commodate the right of students to express
their views. A word of advice: although a rule
prohibiting all distribution of literature on
school property is unconstitutional, you
should ask school officials to change the rule
before deciding to deny it.
The above material is excerpted from
an American Civil Liberties Union hand-
book, The Rights of Students, by Alan
H. Levine and Eve Cary. The paperback
is available from American Civil Liberties
Union, 234 State Street, #808, Detroit,
MI 48226.
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Expanding goals for women
The Daily
T HE END of the National Women's
conference in Houston yesterday
marks the beginning of a new growth
of the women's rights movement in
this country.
The conference, sponsored by Inter-
national Women's Year, was a show-
case of constructive proposals and co-
operative spirit. In all, the conference
approved resolutions encouraging ac-
tion on child care, child abuse, bat-
tered women, employment opportuni-
ties for women in cultural fields, busi-
ness and the media, help for disabled
women, the elderly, and reforms on
rape laws. But the brightest accom-
plishment was tlIb womens affirma-
-tion of a new concern : aiding groups
not previously associated with the
womens' movement.
The three-day gathering showed the
conference's willingness to reach out
to minorities who suffer "double dis-
crimination" - Black, Hispanic,
Asian-American, Native American,
and lesbian women. In opening their
doors to these hither-to unspoken for
groups, the National Women's Con-
ference is refuting arguments which
label the liberated woman as self-cen-
tered and unconcerned with the quality
of the rest of society.
What was considered only a few
years ago by politicians and others as a
radical feminist organization has now
taken on national proportions and an
influential voice.
In addition to the formalized stand
on minorities, the conference also
voiced support for the equal rights
amendment - an action which could
have considerable impact on its
passage in coming years.
THE NUMEROUS resolutions pass-
ed at the weekend's conference
will not go unheeded, either. The
National Women's Conference is guar-
anteed attention from Congress, which
allocated $5 million in Federal funds to
make it possible for the group to study
women's problems in this country. The
Congress at the same time gave the
Conference a major responsibility for
identifying barriers to equality for
women. The resolutions will be for-
warded not only to Congress, but to
President Carter as well.
One of the group's final actions was
the defeat of aproposal to push for a
Cabinet-level women's department in
the federal government. While this
issue may certainly come before the
Women's Conference again in the
future, it would best notbe adapted. A
Cabinet-level department for women
alone would not seem reasonable
without similar departments for
Blacks, Hispanics and other groups.
Cabinet-level positions should be used
to promote legislation and benefits for
all citizens, not for a select group. The
Cabinet should not be transformed into
a pedestal for advocate opinions.
Women all over the U.S. will no
doubt be feeling good from the con-
structive spirit of this Conference.
Soon they will also be feeling the power
of constructive legislation.
on killing infants
To The Daily :
The article on Prof. R. B.
Brandt's advocacy of the "ter-
mination" of "defective" infants
(Mich. Daily, Nov. 10) was com-
pelling reading. Our eyes were
caught bythe headline, andwour
progress through the article was
not impaired by incredulity at
seeing an influential and learned
man advocate the same
inhumane and uncritically con-
ceived measures as those that
have been shunned by all nations
except the one fashioned by Hit-
ler. Whyswere -we not incredu-
lous? Because we have seen our
society accept one horror after
another, not reluctantly but ex-
uberantly; because euphemisms
and facile assertions on the part
of social "planners" that their
practices and plans are for the
good of all have failed to hide the
fact that we are creating the kind
of dystopian society feared in the
past and decried in the novels of
Huxley and Orwell. But the fact
that we almost knew it was com-
ing does not mean that we do not
feel compelled to express our
disagreement with Professor
Brandt's opinion. We wish it to be
publicly known that some, at
least, of the faculty and staff of
their university disagree strongly
with him and will devote our ut-
most efforts to prevent the legali-
zation of infanticide or of eutha-
nasia for the "defective" or the
socially burdensome.
-Roy R. Barkley, Ph.D.
Asst. Research Editor
Middle English Dictionary
-Robert C. Rice, Ph.D.
Asst. Research Editor
Middle English Dictionary
-David W. Rusch, Ph.D.
Asst. Research Scientist
Space Physics
Research Laboratory
-Chris A. Bregenzer
Supervisor 1
Accounting
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to respect other people. Those
frats need to learn that there are
other people in this world than
white people.
The revised penalties do not
alter a thing.
- Harold R. Smith
Secret votes
To The Daily:
In regards to the Voting Case, if
the Daily would like a lesson in
the law, I would suggest that they
take a look at Proposed Federal
Rule of Evidence 507 and
Uniform Rule of Evidence 506,
both of which state as a privi-
leged matter a person's vote, ex-
cept if it is cast illegally. The first
is a rule that was promulgated by
the United States Supreme Court
for use in the federal courts, but
which was subsequently not
passed by Congress, while the
second is part of a set of pro-
posed rules to be passed in all
states to uniformly codify rules of
evidence. The notes to Proposed
FRE 507 state how at common
law and tradition, no privilege
has even been recognized for an
illegally-cast vote, and that only
in case of criminal liability (not
present in this case) might one
conceivably not reveal their vote
under the rule against self-
incrimination. Buteven hereat
least Michigan has appeared to
reject this notion in the 1929 and
1931 cases.
What is particularly interesting
about FRE 507 is that the Su-
preme Court must approve the
rule before it is sent to Congress
for passage. Apparently, the
Court didn't feel there was such
an egregious constitutional viola-
tion that they couldn't have a rule
not providing for a privilege
against disclosure of an illegal
vote. Also, the reason Congress
didn't pass it was not because
they felt there was any constitu-
tional question, but rather
because the proposed exception
was one of a number of such ex-
ceptions, and the Congress didn't
feel they should dictate matters
relating to voting rights
traditionally left to the states! On
this basis, I would reject the
Daily's position that the forced
disclosure of these votes is again-
st the "basic principles of de-
mocracy." Impliedly, neither the
U.S. Congress, Supreme Court,
nor numerous legal scholars who
put together these sets of rules
would seem to agree.
- Kent Schielke
To The Daily:
The key question in the
VanHattum voting case is direc-
ted to the questioning judge. It is:
"Why do you want to know how I
voted?" I believe the judge can
give no reasonable answer. He
can not say, I want to determine
who was actually elected,
ballot, there is no way of
checkingon the validityof the
statements made or to be made.
by the 20 voters. And no judge can
give these 20 arbitrary power
over the election.
-Feargus Charter
To The Daily:
As a graduate student at the
University of Michigan, I com-
mend you for fairness in not in-
volving the name of the unfor-
tunate visiting judge who drew
the case, in your report on the
Nov. 9 news conference held by
the ACLU lawyers,
This judge, who probably
couldn't care less who is mayor of
Ann Arbor,. called the law as he
saw it, and the correctness of his
view was upheld by all threeof
the Appeals Court judges who
received the case (By the way,
are you getting any lunatic let-
ters taking pot shots at* those
judges, naming them and hating
them?)
Let's grow up and realize that
the law has defined boundaries,
just like mathematics. And ex-
perts in the law (just like math).
Intelligent people should not
spew out hate at a guy who's
doing his assigned job in the most
correct way possible.
Once again, congratulations on
your fairness and good taste.
-Anne Hubble
gays in society
To The Daily: ,
As a, graduate student and a
homosexual (bisexual) American
male I want to make strenuous
objection to a letter by Gregory
Hill, "Anita", which appeared in
The Daily of November 10 in
response to an earlier letter by
my fellow homosexual Mark
Huck.
Greg Hill's violent condem-
nation of homosexual men and
women has been verbalized a
thousand times by those whose
minds are as predictably bigoted
and unthinkingly closed to new
ideas as is Hill's. A vast majority
of those who hold views parallel
to this young man's have their
roots in extreme right wing fun-
damentalist religion.
A ridiculous example: Hill in
his letter equates homosexuals
with "prostitutes, exhibitionists,
sado-masochists, rapists and
murderers". Has no one everain-
formed Greg that numbered per-
sons in our time and in the past
who were "gay and proud"
are/were some of the most
creative and talented members
of society? Included in that group
are the painter Michelangelo, the
writer Oscar Wilde, the first
Secretary-General of the United
Nations-Dag Hammarskjold plus
contemporary creators such as
Elton John and hundreds of
thousands of others in the enter-
minds in the light of 20th century
truth regarding human sexuality.
Americans, for example, should
assimilate the important
message sent a while back by the
Annual Meetings of the American
Psychologiccal Association and
the American Psychiatric
Association. For long years these
groups and their therapist mem-
bers had listed homosexuality as
"mental illness". No more-their
national meetings and now local
therapists for the most part see
gayness as an alternative sexual
life style and not a mental
malady. A number of
municipalities, including Ann
Arbor have passed ordinances
protecting the rights of gays as
have a growing number of States.
I have a strong faith that the
day will dawn when our coun-
trymen will spurn the bigotry of
the religious right wing and con-
tinue the progress that Chas
already been made in welcoming
gays like myself into the main-
stream of American life. The
phrase that is popular on campus
says it all, "DIFFERENT
STROKES FOR DIFFERENT
FOLKS"!
-Craig S. Wilder
loft rules
To The Daily:
Concerning your November 17
article entitled "Dorm Dwellers
fret over U's Lofty Plans":
We believe the article was not
representative of the student
issue involved. Too little em-
phasis was placed upon student
concern over the policy of lofts
and room additions. A fuller
development of our position
becomes necessary.
Whereas housing has given us
an indication of the non-
seriousness of the situation, it is a
matter of concern to all students
who own lofts and room additions
as well as those who plan to pur-
chase or build either. Students
have sizeable investments in these
possessions. The question exten-
ds beyond economics, though, to
the matter of room conditions
and living comfort of students.
True, the policy has not been
ratified, but it will be near the end
of January, before this year's
decision on lottery policy. We are
not "overreacting", but
organizing an effort to increase
student input-which Housing
has stated it desires-in the short
time span which has been alloted
to us.
The principle we uphold applies
to every residentat the Univer-
sity. Comfortable, livable quar-
ters are essential. We are
striving to maintain the present
standard for students.
-Patricia M. Beffel
-Timothy R.J. Lambert;
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'racism'
To The Daily:
The racial epitaphs issued by
the Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma
Alpha Epsilon fraternities were
unwarranted and totally uncalled
for. It is terrible when, in 1977, a
Black official is verbally abused
for doing her job and exercising
her duties. The puerile
exhibitions of anger by the two
frats should have been expended
at some frat drunk, not at a com-
petent official. Racism or dis-
crimination were not factors in
the interruption of play, so
racism should not have been
showed as a reaction to the of-
ficials' actions. This shows the in-
herent racism in white social in-
stitutions, especially the frats. I
think it's sick!
The reporters' calling the nen-
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