ji AiMt ian Da4 Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Joining the clergy by mail order\ Friday, April 9, 1976 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Swse Transcrip proposal unwise WITH SOME STUDENTS STILL reeling from the implementation last semester of a plus and minus grading system, the LSA faculty ap- proved a plan, Monday which may further increase the viciousness of the undergraduate grade grind. On a student's transcript, along- side the grade for a class, will be listed the average grade of all the students who took the course that term. This system represents an at- tempt by the LSA faculty to facili- tate the evaluation of a person's per- formance in relation to his or her classmates while reducing "grade in- flation." The measure, however, will only serve to magnify the injustices al- ready inherent in the grading sys- tem. Some small, specialized classes tend to attract a majority of stu- dents who are both extremely mo- tivated and are capable of high achievement. These students are al- ready plagued by curve systems de- signed to distribute grades over a wide range, whether or not there is wide variety of performance. So un- der pressure born of this new grade deflation campaign, such students may be forced to seek less challeng- ing classes just to avoid the suffo- cating atmosphere in the areas in which they are interested. And at the other end of the spec- trum, will the average grade in a mamouth lecture class reflect the difference in discussion sections where teachers vary in their effec- tiveness in clarifying lecture mater- ial? It seems the faculty has lost sight of the most important function of the grading system: to provide the student with an efficient means of self-evaluation and to provide gradu- ate schools and employers with a clear and accurate basis for judging a student's academic performance. By TOM STEVENS THERE IS A LEGAL WAY, albeit shady, to get out of paying virtually all taxes and obtain thousands of things free, at discounts and for free, as well as soaking herds of naive peoples for cold, hard cash. Minister Mills operate through the mail. For anywhere from free to a few stamps to $1000 you can become an or- dained clergy member and therefore en- titled to perform marriages, baptisms and anything else a seminary-trained person of the cloth can. I was ordained by both the Church of Gospel Ministry and the Universal Life Church, Gospel Ministry sent me a very nice card (laminated to boot) and a sturdy wall certificate which declare me a legal minister. ULC sent just a card. ULC (which is located in Modesto, California) is the biggest and most blat- ant Minister Mill. It claims 4,000,000 min- isters and 15,000 churches all over the free world. Just a letter saying "please send me information about your minis- try program" brought me an ordination in the form of a thin business card. Once you are ordained, you can ordain count- less more people in turn. More of the cards are available from ULC at ten for a buck, making it easy to pass them out as party favors. Plus, ULC is the church that sort of tells you exactly how to get out of pay- ing taxes. But . . . ah, discreetly. ULC can officially register you with the Federal Government as a non-profit organization and provide you with an exemption from taxes. ULC is run by Kirby Hensley, a man with a sprite Mark Twainish common sense philosophy. What Hensley considers the "ultimate religion" is freedom, food and sex for all human beings. Hensley explains: "You give man his freedom, teach him how to take care of it . . . a man can only eat so much . . . and now I mean you can't just turn him wild; you show him how to use it and you let him free to do as he wants." UABLES. .. LET THEM WORK FOR GOD. And don't doubt that there are lots of people that will actually send their stuff, hoping perhaps for salvation or just brainwashed and thoroughly pickl- ed by such constant "charitable" pleas.., Of the four Mills I dealt with, the Church of Gospel Ministry, Inc. of Mo- desto, California is probably the most reasonable sounding and straightfor- ' ward. Their literature states that all money they receive over and above ex- penses is, given to orphanages or desti- tute colonies for children or lepers in the extreme Southern California and in Mexico just below the border. They'll ordain you for free but ask that if possible you send along even "a stamp . . . or two." For tent dollars you can get the large wall credential which "leaves a few dollars for the nuns to help the children." They ask that you send at least two dollars if you can. After you're ordained by the Church of Gospel Ministry you will probably get follow-up pleas for cash for the children. One letter told of the leper colony that needs money for gauze to bandage the raw sores of the people there. A pic- ture of one of the lepers named Gabriel is included. Whatever their motives, the Mills are clustered and screaming together in lit- tle but loud voices, "Tax us and you've got to tax big churches too! So tax big church like you should be taxing big business!" Head of the Church of Gospel Minis- try Irving 0. Tarbox says, "I think it's obscene that $50 million is spent to erect a giant cathedral in the shadows of which poverty and starvation is ram- pant, when the interest alone on that kind of money could wipe out all that poverty! Amen. The Right Reverend Tom Stevens is a member of the Daily Editorial Page staff. Farewell to David's If we can achieve this state, and Hensley believes we can, then "90 per cent" of all crime will be wiped out at the point from which is originates. "All the prisons would be put out of business if we follow this," he vouchsafes. On God, Hensley says, "Your idea (of a God) is as good as that of any other." On heaven hell, Hensley says, "Heav- en is when you got what you want and hell is when you don't got what you want." There can't be much sound'theo- logical arguing on that. "Everything is a religion," Hensley says. Another Minister Mill is Calvary Grace of Pennsylvania. The literature they send out is unquestionably the most mud- dy, confusing and seemingly contradic- tory.. They're the ones who'll make you a bishop for a price and that price is $50. Or, if being a bishop doesn't fit your personality, they offer a missionary title for $25. What really shocks in their literature however, is how greedy they come off. A strip of paper enclosed in their infor- mation packet said: SEND ALL YOUR GOLtD TEETH, JEWELRY, GOLD COINS, SPECTACLE WATCHES, VAL- DAVID'S BOOKS will be going out of business within a couple of weeks. Perhaps more than any other busi- ness in Ann Arbor, David Kozubei's book store on Liberty Street held the consumer's interest at heart. Break- ing ranks with the rest of the city's book sellers, David's sold a wide va- riety of new and used books at large discounts. Customers found a relax- ed and trusting atmosphere: they rarely had to produce identification when writing checks, and they could read parts of books before purchas- ing them.. David's boasted the most compre- hensive periodical section in town. And the store housed several smaller businesses: a book bindery, a copying center, and an art gallery. The store attracted a loyal clien- tele -- but a small one. David's wasn't able to take in enough money to stay in the black. Now, David's customers have the opportunity to make their last pur- chases at the store, during a final clearance sale. How unfortunate that David couldn't stay in business to give the buyer the best deal possible. So the store will close up, and the two large emblems, bearing David's photograph, will be taken down from over the store window. "I should have painted a tear on that picture," David said. TODAY'S STAFF: News: Dana Baumann, Phil Bokovoy, Robert Meachum, Kenneth Parsig- ian, Annmarie Schiavi, Timothy Schick, Karen Schulkins, Margaret YaoI Editorial: Susan Ades, Michael Beck- man, Stephen Hersh, Jon Pansius, Tom Stevens Arts: Christopher Kochmanski Photo Technician: Alan Bilinsky " David Kozubei Fditorial Staff ROB MEACHUM BILL TURQUE Co-Editors-in-Chief JEFF RISTINE................ Managing Editor TIM SCHICK Executive Editor STEPHEN HERSH ........... Editorial Director JEFF SORENSEN ................ .. Arts Editor CHERYL PILATE .. Magazine Editor STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Tom Allen, Glen Allerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David Bomquist, James Burns. Kevin Counihan, Tom Godell, Kurt Harmu, Charlotte Heeg, Joni Dimick. Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher, Phil Foley, Mark Friedlander, David Garfinkel, Richard James Lois Josimovich, Tom Kettler. Chris Kochmanski, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu- bens. Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim Nicoll. Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton.tKenPar- sigian, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter,° Anne Marie Sohiavi, Karen Schulkins,,Jeff Selbst, Rick Sobel Tom Stevens, Steve Stojic, Cathi Suyak, Jim Tobin, Jim Valk. Margaret Yao, Andrew Zerman, David Whiting, Michael Beck- man, Jon Panshis and Stephen Kuraman. Senior Business Staff BETH FRIEDMAN ............ Business Manager ANNE KWOK ........... . .. Operations Manger KATHY MULHERN ............ Display Manager DAN BLUGERMAN ..,. .. . . .......Sales Manager DAVE HARLAN ................ Finance Manager S0&), 6S2(t)T5r; WtXX) C( AIM TME A CHW- p6APC16'5 -L FOR LIFC. 5 W AT&P CCOM65 OF LfbL) N .1 WNkT 4W XN Ct,2N. HL-AP2 15 OE6&) /A TO H6 c I'm C RaW 4~SPAPER - 5UwI *r, K U. -J f K) F-2MATlclk) H-AVE }'' 4- 6V O ti -'A 7 gur My lm6 WAS TAK-( O (,(Th{ BVIL6t1&)G" A CARE-R i f 23' HIM CACAO ~ LNCL6e At F PC TftC M N mmpwmm X C if lAD PEA UTS 51 WIe X rOUN oU'r SIMMCAW1 'GM~5 Iikem A O To The Daily: AS PART OF the Coalition to Stop CIA/NSA Recruitment, the SYL urged a "No" vote on the upcoming referendum, sponsor- ed by the MSA, which reads: "Shall the CIA/NSA be allowed to recruit on U of M campus?" We call for students to voice their outrage at the presence of - recruiters f o r imperial- ism's s e c r e t spy agencies on campus. The CIA and NSA cannot be reformed. As institutions of the bourgeois state, they are part of the re- pressive apparatus required by the capitalist class to maintain its rule over the working mass- es. Marxists see that the bour- geois state and its organs can- not be "controlled", "pressur- ed" or otherwise used by the working class and the oppres- sed to serve their interests. The organs of bourgeois repression, including the CIA, NSA, FBI and police must be smashed and replaced by the institutions of worker's rule - the dictator- ship of the proletariat. This perspective is not shared by many self-proclaimed revo- lutionaries. The Young Socialist Alliance, the best defenders of democratic rights", refuses to call for the abolition of the CIA, NSA and FBI because it doesn't want to offend the lib- erals it tails after, and similar- ly seeking "respectability" the Young Worker's Liberation League members in MSA voted down a rewording of the refer- endum proposed by the Coali- tion to Stop CIA/NSA Recruit- ment which explicitly condemn- ed the CIA/NSA. The YSA ac- cents that the bourgeois state will remain intact, and in fact The Revolutionary Student Brigade denounces the referen- dum as "right-wing" but made no bones about lining up with the real right-wing forces in the recent war in Angola, in- cluding the South African army and the CIA! The RSB also hails the right-wing "fight- back" anti-busing movement in Boston. They shamelessly fol- low Mao's line that the USSR is the No. 1 enemy, and sup- port the build-up of imperial- ism's armed forces, including NATO, to smash the Soviet Un- ion. Mass protests and exposure can stop recruiting on campus. Last term's rally of 500 on the Diag scared CIA recruiters off campus, and the Coalition's sit- in at the Career Planning and Placement office this term suc- cessfully prevented NSA inter- views. The SYL has likewise played a leading role in similar unitedifront actions across the country, including Berkeley, Los Angeles and Madison. As in Ann Arbor, we nointed out that workers revohtion. led by a Leninist - Trotskyist vanguard 1partv. is the only way to smash the CIA/NSA and any other in- stitlitions of repression the bour- geoisie creates. The SYL is fighting to build such a revol'i- tionarv n arty, mobilizing work- ers and the onpressed arond a concrete nrogram of anti-cani- talist demandcs, a winningO'sra- tegv for smashing canitalist in- perialicm and replacing it with worker's rile! Srartacus Youth ,enagne April 4, 1976 To The Daily: this in mind, that [ address the remainder of my leitter specific- a'y to the OAS. There are many supporters of Israel, Jews and non-Jews alike, who share knost of your feelings concerning settlement in the occupied territories. Yet when you call for the destruc- tion of Israel, our support for your cause comes to an abrupt end. There must be compromise and recognition on. both sides if peace is ever to be a viable reality. Israel mUst recognize the national aspirations of the Palestinians and their right to a homeland in the now occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. In addition, the Arabs must come to grips with the reality of the existence of Israel and recog- nize her right to also exist as a sovereign state. If both ac- tions are not undertaken simul- taneously, we will continue to live in an atmosphere of mis- trust and hatred - an atmos- phere which will never be con- dcive to lasting peace. Israel can exist and Pales- tine can exist, but only if we work together in a snirit of compromise and co-existence. Let those of us ire the Mid-West set an example for our sisters and brothers in the Mid-East. Cheri Fom- March 31 Coinpamesimn To The Daily: THERE IS ONE word which I would like to attach to the already massive vocabularv of drama critic Jeffrey Selbst: the word is compassion. Six weeks ago I *was the victim of his critical attack.bNo feel- igs were spared, but I took it in str'id. thinkzrnctha2t tis be as biting as possible. To dis- like a show is one thing, but to take personal attacks upon those in the show is absolutely, uncalled for. It surprises me that the Daily editors would al- low such material to be printed. Obviously, Mr. Selbst is not ready to restrain himself, so maybe someone else should., Mr. Selbst seems to be, suf- fering from delusions of Rex Reed. Perhaps if he would re- member that he is merely a college student criticizing acting students, some of the venom which he seems to distribute so freely could be harnessed. John McCarthy April 3, 1976 apathy To The Daily: IN MY FOUR years in Ann Arbor, I have seen a once. po- litically aware and active stu- dent body degenerate to the lowest imaginable abyss. The election of Republican Wendell Allen in the First Ward Mon- day was directly attributable to the apathy of the ward's large student contingent. What made this so sad was that the voters in West Quad and Quad had less than a two1 walk on the way to and class to reach the polls. I'm leaving this town in May and going back to Detroit, a city with many problems but al- so with people who are trying to formulate constructive solu- tions to these problems. I hope the University student body en- joys living in its $5 pot - fine ivory tower talking of revolu- tion and social change while watching the world go by on the six o'clock news. When the stu- dents gripe about repression by the Republican city council, let them remember who was responsible for the make-up of the council. Whatever the stu- dents get, they richly deserve. Maybe. some day they will grow up and realize that they have a responsibility for their actions and inactions and that they must at least be willing to spend five minutes at the polls occasionally if they wish to bring about any meaningful change in their world. Mike Reynolds April 6 South block from Letters should be typed and limited to 400 words. The Daily reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. Contact your reps- Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), 253 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515. t -4, - . ~ M UI#t