THE
Summer Daily
Vol. LXXXI If, No. 65-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, August 18, 1973 Ten Cents Eight Pages
Cites past public support
Schlesiger clals Nixon could
get approval for Viet bombi'gs
WASHINGTON () -- Secretary of
Defense James Schlesinger claimed
< .yesterday that President Nixon pro-
b bably could get congressional and
popular support to resume bombing
if North Vietnam launched a new
all-out military push against the
F s south.
UFW mourners
Traffic is brought to a virtual standstill in Delano, California yesterday as thousands of United Farm Workers (UFW) and
sympathizers march through town mourning the death of UFW member Nagi Daifullah. Daifullah was killed Tuesday during
a fight with police.
BS case
where crime maypa
Such a move, Schlesinger said,
would be viewed in the United
States as a gross violation of the
Vietnam peace agreement negotiated
last winter. He added: "It would be
ill-advised of Hanoi to make a mis-
judgment in that regard."
A WARNING to this effect was given
North Vietnam by President Nixon after
the U. S. bombing of Cambodia was ended
Wednesday, closing out the United
States' combat role in Indochina.
Schlesinger told a news conference it
appears likely that Hanoi intends to stick
by the agreement at least by refraining
from a new massive attack against Sai-
gon's forces.
But he said the cutoff of all U. S. bomb-
ing was "an erosion" of the U. S. position
that could lead the North Vietnamese to
think they had a "free ride" for such a
move.
"THAT IS an erroneous inference and
we want to make it clear that it would
be a mistaken inference," Schlesinger said.
Schlesinger said talks are continuing
with Thailand toward reduction of U.S.
forces still in that country and American
military interest is now certain to shift
to other areas, notably the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) commitment.
But "the United States will leave suffic-
ient air power in Southeast Asia to deal
with a recrudescence of overt North Viet-
namese aggression," he said, adding that
these forces would be subject to rein-
forcement as the situation demanded.
HE RULED OUT any U. S. intervention
with ground troops, saying American ac-
tivity would be limited strictly to the air.
The United States will continue to fur-
nish military aid to Cambodia and non-
military aid to Laos, he said, and in
Cambodia, it forsees the possibility of
working with a "unity government made
up of elements of opposing factions.
Schlesinger said that his confidence that
Congress and the U. S. public would back
a resumption of bombing was based to
some degree on support given to South
Vietnam when it faced a maximum inva-
sion from the north in the spring of 1972.
HE SAID he felt this was true even
though the United States no longer has any
forces of its own in Vietnam and no priso-
ners known to be held by the Communist
side, as was the case last year.
Schlesinger said he was not aware of
any "broad program" by Saigon to train
what a questioner described as "merce-
naries" of ethnic Cambodian descent to
fight in Cambodia against the Khmer in-
surgent forces.
Reports from Saigon have said South
Vietnam was planning to send as many
as 10,000 troops of Khmer ancestry to
fight in Cambodia. Some areas of the Me-
kong Delta are populated largely by ethnic
Cambodians.
By JACK KROST
Most city residents realize that bicycle
theft is a problem in Ann Arbor. Few,
however, are aware of the dimensions this
crime has assumed locally.
According to police reports, bicycle
thefts in Washtenaw County have in-
creased by more than 50 per cent since
1967. In 1972 reported and confirmed
thefts rose to a total of 1,099.
RECENTLY DISCLOSED FBI statistics
indicate Ann Arbor seems to be following
national trends in bicycle theft. An FBI
report shows an increase in thefts by
57 per cent between 1966 and 1971, with
a 30 per cent hike in 1971 alone.-
Locally a sharp rise in total value of
property lost, probably caused by the con-
temporary popularity of ten-speed bikes,
has shot the losses taken by unfortunate
owners from under $21,000 in 1967 to over
$96,000.
When bicycles disappear, optimistic own-
ers may make their way to the city police
station to report the theft. However, police
statistics show an almost non-existent re-
trieval rate for stolen bikes,
"I WOULD -estimate that in 1500 re-
ported thefts, there may be about a half
dozen apprehensions," says Lieutenant
Hill's estimate is borne out by statis-
tics on retrieved bicycles. In 1972 only 12
of the 1099 bikes reported stolen were
"cleared by arrest or exception," ac-
cording to the police department's annual
report.
City Police Chief Walter Krasny is one
of the few people still smiling in the face
of this adversity. Krasny claims that theft
percentages are padded by an increase in
total ownership of bicycles. Of discourag-
ing theft retrieval rates, he retorts, "There
have been cases where bicycles were
returned, but no arrests were made."
BOTH HILL and police Sergeant Harold
Tinsey profess ignorance of whether most
city bicycle theft is done individually or
by gangs. Tinsey cites a lack of statistical
data on the subject.
Krasny, however, claims, "The type
of people that we catch are organized
groups that steal bikes and then sell them
in other communities,"
Despite criticism from some quarters,
Krasny insists, "I don't see how they can
say we aren't doing our job. It's the care-
lessness of the owners that is most often
at fault, by not'locking their bicycles."
THE POLICE FORCE assigns no spe-
cialists to the problem of bicycle theft.
"Everybody has a part of the respon-
sibility," Tinsey claims.
Police say the theft problem is partially
caused by the city's bicycle registration
rate. The City Clerk reports the number
of bicycles currently registered in Ann
Arbor at 17,939. No figures are available
on the total number. of non-registered
bicycles.
Hill remarks, "I won't say anything
about the probability of recovery of li-
censed bikes, but I will say that the
chances of recovery are a hell of a lot
better than if the bike is not licensed."
"THE MAJORITY of bikes that are re-
covered are licensed bikes that were
abandoned," Hill says.
See BIKE, Page 5