iffyr Airyilan z.ls Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of the author. This must be noted in al reprints. FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552 Rumors inside the news as coImpileI b Ie ax staff A La letoti's poben fesis with the press SENATOR EAGLETON'S hospitalizations has been the front page story on newspapers across the country for the past few days. The original story has been fol- lowed up by reaction stories, analysis, more rumors, and in-depth probes of Eagleton's life. The original story was undeniably news, but it has now been blown up out of proportion. The media has thus boosted Eagleton's past emotional difficulties into a campaign issue. Eagleton should have told Senator McGovern about his problem before McGovern made his vice-presidential nomination. Either McGovern would have chosen some- one else, or Eagleton would not have appeared to the nation as "a man with a past." HOWEVER, Eagleton didn't do so, and the story was unearthed by enterprising reporters. Eagleton was immediately forced to face the press and make a public statement about his background. Investigative reporting is to be commended. Readers want to know the truth behind public figures, especially if the figure is seeking a ton government post. Yet, the story has been treated like an enormous scandal. The papers are sensationalizing the issue. The Detroit Free Press. by printing vesterday morning an ex- cerat from a telegram to McGovern calling Eagleton "a psychotic running mate", only furthered the myths con- cerning mental illness in our country. Eagleton is being smeared with labels, and no real attemat is being made to understand what his past hospitalizations mean to the public naw. WHEN A PERSON is ill, the logical thing to do is seek hela. If Eagleton had seen a doctor for a physical problem, the public would probably never have heard about it. But sinee he had the courage to recognize he needed some emotional help. and to seek it, he is now being called "crazy", "unstable" and a variety of less pleasant terms. Many newvspsners seem to feel it s important ta pander to what they deem is the public's thirst for scandal. IT WOULD BE refreshing if the establishment media would stop focuiam nririent attention on the de- tails of Ea'leton's life. and reconize the public's thirst for the facts on this over-emotionalized event. -MERYL GORDON A thought . . . A STORY IN The Daily this week which noted that Re- publicans lead City Council in absences and tardi- ness has given us an idea. The city traffic' enforcement bureau should erect parking meters at each council members chair. Council members showing up late should be issued a violation, with fines increasing in proportion to the number of minutes or hours they are absent. We also oppose an amnesty period to allow payment by those councilmembers whose tickets mount up. The tickets should be paid promptly, and if not, a further fine should be tacked on the initial amount. LUDICROUS? Perhaps, but this plan might be popular in the Fifth Ward, where Lloyd Fairbanks (R) has missed nearly one-third of all Council sessions since he was re-elected last April. -MAYNARD Fiscal integrity With his "Junior G-Man" style prosecution of the ARM 1,500 con- troversy last year, SGC member Michael Davis gained a reputation as a watchdog of fiscal integrity on the body. It wasn't alway so. Records show that in October, 1967 Davis - then SGC Executive vice president - titreatened to teesg set a ttfft with the council It seems SGC had voted 8-1 to cease shelling out Council fitnds to feed Davis and his fellow executive board mem- bers at their bi-weekly meetings. According to the news story on the incident. Davis said he w as "personally- affronted" by t he council's action and threatened the board would in all probability cease to meet if they had to pay for their own meals. Labor bull Local attorney Perry Bullard, a candidate for State Representative in the August 8 Democratic Pri- mary, has been distributing "Per- ry Bullard for State Rep" stickers marked "Labor Donated." This apparent try for the work- ing-class vote is less than convinc- ing as the stickers were actually made for a fee by Kolossos Print- ers, a non-union shop. The people at Kolossos couldn't explain what labor had been donated and by whom, but suggested that maybe some artist had donated the de- sign. Bollard's office was unable to supply an explanation; the can- didate himself was busy passing out stickers and leaflets and could not be reached for comment. Archibald, Amory, Artichoke? Why has Vice President for Re- search A. Geoffrey Norman hidden his first name from the public? No real reason," says his secre- tary, "it's always been A. Geof- frey, ever since we've known himl." And the A. only stands for Ar- titttr. S(ar-nl face In Monday morning's mail we received our weekly copy of Jack Anderson's syndicated column - and promptly threw it out. The column was worthless because it focused on Andersons' contention that President Nixon was going to dump Spiro Agnew on the No- vember ticket. But while the col- umn was en route from New York, Nixon announced that he was in- deed retaining Agnew. Not to be humiliated, Tuesday we received an updated column from Anderson. This time, An- derson characterized Nixon's de- cision as "a sudden about-face," and stated (apparently with a straight face): "We understand that in private, the President nev- er seriously considered anyone else for the ticket." So much for Anderson's credibil- ity. Henry At last week's Regents meeting, one member of the board asked President Fleming to have a re- port written on damage to Uni- versity facilities during rock con- certs. "1 think Henry is already working on that," Fleming replied. "Henry, who's Henry" demand- ed Regent Gerald Dunn. Henry, as Dunn's fellow Regents explained, is Henry Johnson, the new vice president for s t u d e n t services whom the Regents ap- pointed last month. An ettbarassed Dunn then pro- ceeded to make light of the in- cident. "Ho, ho, ho, imagine that. I didn't know who Henry Johnson was. Who's Henry? Ha, Hat" he continued, poking Regent Gertrude Huebner in the 'ribs. Dunn then smiled at the p r e s s table, as if to say that he had really known all along. Finally he cast a glance at Johnson, who just sunk deeper into his chair. Watering the rain In our highly systematized Uni- versity community, even the sprinkler system is automated. Ingeniously timed to turn central campus area sprinklers on late in the evening (thus preventing street people from sleeping on the front lawn of Angell Hall), sometimes the automated system backfires. Wednesday night, for example, the sprinklers kept going full blast during a heavy rainstorm. "Sometimes we can't get hold of the one non-computerthuman be- ing who works with the system." explains a secretary at the Uni- versity Plant and Maintenance De- partment. I Letters: Cause the GOP grief To The Daily: LATE MONDAY night I receiv- ed a call from one of the organ- izers for the Miami Conventions Coalition -- Rennie Davis. Davis described a series of events plan- ned for the August 21-23 Repub- lican convention, and asked for help in supporting these actions. Here is a brief summary of those events: 1. The Miami Women's Coalition will open a "Free Space" for Wo- men, Aug. 20 and on the 21 there will be a women's march against the genocide and oppression of women in Vietnam and in Amer- ica,. 2. A few days before the open- ing of the convention a march will begin in Northern Florida, led by Vietnam Veterans Against the War; (UVAW) covering 20 miles each day, it will arrive ea the opening day of the convention. :3. A Youth Rally will coincide with the opening of the Conven- tion. The idea of it is similar to the John Sinclair Freedom Rally. 4. A tribunal or investigation will be going on, led by members of the Senior Citizen Commtunity in Miami. Through hearings and presentations from various con- stituencies, it will judge whether the policies of the present admin- istration should be continued. 5. A Vietnamese cultural event, "Let Vietnam Live," also for the Miami senior senior citizens, is to be presented by Vietnamese na- tionals, many of them students. 6. On August 22, Collins A v e- nue, the road which connects the luxury hotels and the convention hall will be renamed the S t r e e t Without Joy (thename given by the French to the strategic High- way No. 1) and delegates will move past a single-file of exhibits of the meaning of the Nixon regime: My Lai, Attica, poverty, and so forth. 7. Also on August 2. as Nixon is nominated there will be a march to the Convention Hall, planned as a demonstration, without civil disobedience. It will demand a minimum program for peace, soc- ial justice, and self determination, 8. On August 23, before the Nix- on acceptance charade, a non-vio- Today's Staff .,. News: Jan Benedetti, Alan Lenhoff, Ralph Vartabedian Editorial Pape: Carla Rapoport Photo Technician: Denny Gainer Summer Staff EDITORIAL STAFF Dan Biddle, Jan Benedetti, Meryl Gordon, Jim Kentch. Lorin Labardee, Alan Lenhoff (co-editor), Diane Levick, Maynard, Chris Parks, Carla Rapoport (co-editor) Marilyn Riley, Gloria Smith, Paul Travis, Ralph Vartabedian. SPORTS STAFF Bob Andrews, Dan Borus, Elliot Legow. BUSINESS STAFF Andy Golding, Business Mgr.; Sherry Kastle, Circulation Mgr.; Karen Laakko, Classified Mgr.; Bill Abbott, Display Mgr.; Diane Carnevale, Supplement Mgr.; Elliott Legow, Deborah Whiting, Carol Wieck, Assistants. --- - a "You know, that thousand dollars a year might come in pretty handy one of these days!' tent, but militant rally outside the Doral Hotel will demand an ac- counting of the charges brought against Nixon and the Republican National Committee. AS A BACKDROP to all these. events -Expose '72" composed of films, plays, exhibits, and raps will attempt to tell the truth abaut the Nixon regime at home a n d abroad. The contrast between the earlier convention where anti-war a n d- anti-poverty forces had a hearing on the inside, and the exclusion of these forces from the Repub- lican affair should be stark. And the discipline and elan of the groups assembling in Miami should hold the line against pro- vocateurs. Finally, an open-ended f a s t , planned to prevent the regime and the election from hidnig the facts of genocide from the people of the country and the world will began. today. ALL TIIESE activities need whatever support we can give theta; even those s-osheec in George McGovern's candidacy a genuine hope for peace should real- ize that it is exactly now that an independent and determined coalis- tion against war and poverty must stay intthe forefront. They all need ftunds to bring the plans to fruit- ation. The Conventions Coalition has put out a serious emergency call for financial support to bring the Vietnamese students to Miami,, to organize the hearings, to rent the hallsato do all the thin asaSch a large and ambitious programn cc- qtire. And raising money in a re- cession when so many hope for the candidacy of Senator McGovern is no easy task. When Davis called, I promnised to send what funds I could today and to continue for the nest ten days or so. Please send checks, in whatever amounts you can, to me, made out to the Miami Convenian Coalition. Though the temptation to eas off is great, the need for deter mination is greater than ver. -Bob Ross Room 5036, ISR July 27