THE
Summer Daily
Suieier E:dilios of
TiE MIC'IIIGAN DAlY
Edited and managed by students at the
University of Michigan
Saturday, May 19, 1973 News Phone 764-0552
LetF's make this perfectly clear...
A reform school
for disruptors'.
]THE PLAN proposed by school board trustee Cecil War-
ner to send "disruptive" students to an alternative
school seems to have some merit. Yet we are frightened
by the strong possibility that such a plan would be
abused, resulting in a non-rehabilitative reform school
for those whom society deems "misfits."
Warner is convinced that there "needs to be a place
for kids who can't operate in a normal school environ-
ment." Accordinslv, actions such as use of a weapon in
school or assaulting a teacher would be sufficient
grounds to label a student "disruptive" enough for as-
signment to a senarate school. The goals of this school
would be to socialize properly those who don't show re-
spect for other neonle and their property, and to develop
the skills of these students, possibly through extra reme-
dial help ini vocational training.
We reeocnize that in recent months there has been a
rash of crime in our city's schools. Furthermore, non-
disruptive students are penalized when their teachers
must waste clazsroom time to deal with troublemakers.
VET, ANY plan to sevregate some students from others
must he enrafuill' examined.
One imnortant c"virdiration is that of staff. Where
will An" Arhor find rl-ified nersonnel to staff such an
"alternative" schooi? quoh nerons should be patient,
understanclin" and a',,oir to heln their students. We fear
however that this t-'a ido school would attract teachers
of the reform school. militrv academy. or gvm class va-
riety, who would not he effective in fulfilling the goals of
the school.
Another owidrl-'tion is what criteria will be used
in selectins "disruptive" students. Does one assault on a
teacher or one uasee of a weapon automatically deter-
mine that a studient is a "bona-fide" disruptor? Would
rebellious school children with "bad attitudes" or minor
problems be cast out to the alternative school?
And oerhaps most imnortantly, it's very possible that
segregation of the "bad apples" would only further in-
crease their negative tendencies. If they are made to
see themselves as an inferior group, they are more likley
than not to be crippled by this self-image.
WE AGREE THAT some individual attention is required
for those who can't function in school, but we hope
that administrators will look towards rehabilitation with-
in the existing school structure rather than outside of it.
By GORDON ATCHESON
To SUPPOSE the extent of these
alleged crimes is greater than
might otherwise be anparent given
all the indications which are still
onerative does not reflect the in-
telligence the American p u b Ii c
possesses to realistically compre-
hend the situation. Needless to say,
however, that statement must be
qualified in that just exactly what
the American public does possess
has never been conclusively delin-
eated.
Another factor that deserves sim-
ilar consideration is that those in
positions of authority should not
be held responsible for the actions
of subordinates whose clearly well-
intentioned actions go beyond the
realm of legality, especially if the
superiors tend to be oblivious to
the actions in question. It would be
dangerous, though, to infer that
any given action, be it hypothe-
tically or actual, deviating from
the standard path of legality ne-
cessarily traverses the line differ-
entiating legal from illegal.
To clarify that statement: cer-
tain endeavors while not existing
in the white realm of legality or
the black realm or illegality may
exist in a gray area somewhere
issue at hand.
MOREOVER TO state as fact
that the superiors in question tend
to be oblivious seems rather pre-
sumptuous given certain circum-
stances could render the judgment
arbitrary at best. Still whether
those circumstances do exist or
might exist in the future probably
is itself subjective. However, no
assumption ought to be made to
the effect that the superiors did
have definite knowledge of what
occurred during the specific gray
matter previously mentioned.
In fact, one could say with ab-
solute certainty, and I might be
amis if I did not say, that if such
a degree of positive understand-
ing could exist within such an ill-
defined frame of reference, then
the superiors have never had cause
to associate with any kind of gray
matter and certainly have never
had any gray matter of their own.
BUT IS the President guilty, Mr.
Ziegler?
Gordon "R.Z." Atcheson is re-
puled to be a writir for The Daily,
fut if the White House calls, we've
nei er heard of him.
Ronald Ziegler:
A gift for words
in between and hence must be
considered gray matters rather
than crimes. Please do not assume
any connotations from the example
which are not intended. The color
scheme alluded to could have util-
ized blue and yellow but then the
area "in between" would have been
green rather than gray which might
be more confusing than the actual
Post-war reconstruction o home:
Legislatures lacking in initiative
By PETE HAMILL
rINAKEN ONE at a time, some of
the politicians who inhabit the
St-ste Legislature are charming, in-
telligent, dedicated human beings,
fun to be around, possessed of
irony, taste, and the gift of laugh-
ter. But something seems to hap-
pen to them when they assemble.
They forget entirely why they are
in office, and they become mem-
hers of the largest group of spine-
less hambones in the country.
One at a time, they will admit
to you that our cities are up
against the wall. They know that
we are under attack from t h e
Nixon Corporation, that we a r e
drowning in welfare, drugs, a n d
crime. They speak about such mat-
ters with anger and compassion.
Bit they simply refuse to do any-
thing about any of them. Instead,
they end up dealing. They deal with
Pete Hamill is a writer for the
New York Post. Copyright 1973
by theNeic York Post Corpora-
tion.
the wealthy. They deal for con-
tracts for their law firms. They
deal for reelection. Somewhere on
the trip to the Capitol, their pas-
sion, and frequently their integrity,
undergo a sea change.
AND YET THERE are certain
things which could realty be ac-
complished, right now, in t-h i s
session of the Legislature, t h a t
would clear the decks for s o m e
real change in our lives. They are
not radical dreams; they are prac-
tical measures. They would allowe
us to get on with the postwar re-
construction of our cities, and
would'be in the mood of concilia-
tion, and repair that should follow
every war. Among these things:
* Legalization of all gambling.
Instead of doing this piecemeal, it
should be done all at once in an
Omnibus Gambling Law. This
would legalize numbers, all sports
betting, and casino gambling. Such
a move would immediately end
one of the principal sotirces of po-
lice corruption. It would hit the
Mafia where it should be hit, in
its secret bank balance. And it
would set up the framework for an
enormous increase of revenue, to
replace some of the money that
has been cut in the Nixon budget.
We need revenue, without increas-
ing the tax levied on the middle
class; legalized gambling is what
the French call "the sweet tax.'
* The elimination of all "victim-
less crime" laws. While muggers
run around free, thousands of cops
are still wasting their time raid-
ing pornography shops, locking up
prostitutes, trailing 'subversives,"
harassing homosexuals, and .even
enforcing Blue Laws. All of this
wasteful nonsense could be elim-
inated in one day. Legalized regu-
lated prostitution, for example,
would do more to clean up our
streets than twelve battalions of
cops, and it would also feed the
tax coffers. Only the pimps are
desperately against legalization.
along with a certain segment of
blue-nosed puritans who have al-
ways been more concerned with
the sexual activity of strangers
than with the sources of violence.
0 Legalization of iarijuana.
Even Consumers Union and William
F. Buckley Jr. are now for de-
criminalization of marijuana use.
But full legalization would be even
better. It would provide amnesty
for all those now in jails for using,
and those who acquired police re-
cords along the way. It would al-
low marijuana to be openly sold in
stores, the way liquor is sold, per-
haps with the same kind of regu-
lations about age, driving under
the influence, etc. There is so
much marijuana in use now that
it cannot be eradicated short of
using the atom bomb, and probably
should not be. The argument
against marijuana was always
an argument about life styles.
But in a democracy, an individual
should have the right to whatever
life style he or she chooses. Pot-
heads should not be subject to
jailing by juiceheads. Legalizing
pot now, simply because of the
life-style aspect, would be a tre-
mendous gesture of reconciliation,
especially of the generations.
THERE ARE MANY other mrat-
ters that must be attended to be-
fore we can obtain true recovery.
but these can at least be a begin-
ning, an act of faith in each other.
All can be accomplished through
our own initiative, without the per-
mission of the federal govern-
ment and, most sweetly, in open de-
fiance of the mean, crabbed spirit
of the government. All would break
us out of the sludge, and prove to
citizens that the members of the
Legislature can, in fact, act in the
interests of positive change, in-
stead of the self-interests of each
other.
Letters to The Daily
Anti-war activity
To The Daily:
While many Americans believe
that the war in Indochina is over,
hostilities continue, and the bomb-
ing of Cambodia has occurred
every single day since the cease-
fire in January. Over 80,000 tons
of bombs have been dropped on
Cambodia, causing a high civilian
casualty toll.
Secretary of Defense Richardson
has said that the bombing of Cam-
bodia will continue - President
Nixon says that his policy is aimed
at bringing a cease-fire in Cam-
bodia. Congress is in the process of
dealing with legislation which will
cut off the funds for further mili-
tary action in South East Asia.
Even some crew members of the
B-52 bombers are objecting to the
bombing of Cambodia.
Members of the Interfaith Coun-
cil will be passing out leaflets in
front of the Air Force Recruiting
Office in an effort to make it clear
that the war in Indochina is con-
tinuing; and that support must be
mobilized to let Congress know that
it must take responsibility and as-
sert its constitutional authority to
end our involvement in what con-
stitutes a new war.
-osterfaith Couoeil of Peace
May 17
Will Iget to see Disneyland? Certainly, I'm
going to Washington.'