Ghe ichianDail# 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 all reprints. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552 Holes i the ssem WITH THE dismissal of charges against Jon Goldman, we are hopefully seeing the beginning of the end of the "Crater Four" case. The idea of anybody getting arrested for digging holes to protest the war is kind of stupid. That the University should single out four people for their role in organizing the event, rather than arresting everybody who "willfully and maliciously" dug the holes, is ridiculous. But to drag the case out for nearly three months as the prosecution tries to forestall the inevitable is out- rageous. As it turned out, the prosecution cooked its own goose. At the original July 20 trial date, everyone was ready to get down to business when out of the legal blue came a request for a pretrial on August 7. Judge Elden granted the request, which allowed the prosecution several days to file an amendment to the original charge of "willful and malicious destruction of property." THE AMENDMENT was about as laughable as the rest of the case: it would have charged the "Crater Four" with violating an ancient statute that outlaws messing up. other people's cranberry and huckleberry groves. Somebody in the county prosecutor's office forgot to. look at the calendar and the "cranberry law" amendment came in a few days late-hence it was legally unpresent- able. THAT PRODUCED a lot of amazed laughter among those who figure the State runs a tight ship. One Human Rigshts Party member accounted the simple timing blun- der to "brain damage." Another exclaimed, "This system is so perverted that sometimes it screws itself." But the laughter stops upon remembering that a lot of people's time and taxpayer's money is being spent on prosecuting people for digging holes. These holes may not be the best form of protest ever invented, but neither are they worthy of four arrests and three months of proceed- ings. Hopefully Judge Elden will waste no more time in dismissing charges against the three remaining diggers. -DAN BIDDLE Today's Staff .. . News: Alan Lenhoff, Paul Travis, Ralph Vartabedian Editorial Page: Carla Rapoport Photo Technician: Gary Villani Recyci By JOHN KOZA THE GOVERNING board of the University of Michigan surely must be one of the strangest gov- erning bodies to be found in our society. The Regents govern a com- munity of 39,600 fully legal adults, employ approximately 13,000 em- ployes, and are responsible for a budget of $272,000,000. This quar- ter billion-dollar budget makes the Regents the second largest govern- ment in Michigan - second only to Detroit. This budget is larger than the entire state budgets of 13 states. Yet in spite of the size and com- plexity of the constituency being governed, the Regents of the Uni- versity of Michigan meet no more frequently than the Michigan State Cemetery Commission - a body that has an annual budget of $74,- 000, five employes, and no living constituents. ThetBoard of Regents is unique among governing bodies in our society because no one from its constituency is part of it. The Regents unlike almost any other governing body, almost never hold advance public hearings or pub- licize contemplated actions. Regents almost never serve on drafting or study committees that write and develop their own legis- lation. Regents rarely have any contact with the people being af- fected by their decisiins. And by age, wealth, and station in life, they do not even remotely resem- ble the persons they govern. the Regents no one. The full-time University execu- tives tell the students, faculty, and University employes that they are accountable to the Regents and the people of Michigan. They also tell the part-time Regents, w h o lack the time, information, and in- clination to run the University, to defer to their expertise. THE SOLUTION to the problems inherent in the present colonial . system of government of higher education is the introduction of democracy into Universities. A Board of Regents setting pol- icy at the top is a sound concept - provided the Board consists of ". . ..in spite of the size and complexity of the constituency being governed, the Regents ... meet no more frequently than the Michigan State Cemetery Commission-a body that has five employes, an annual budget of $74,000, and no living constituents." Four faculty members could be elected on. a like basis. And, four public members could be elected by the State of Michigan -- per- haps using the present system, but with two elected every two years for four-year terms. University employees could also be represented. A key element here is that the particular formula not be rigid, as is the case now. THIS PROPOSAL, which re- quires a state constitutional amendment, may be more feas- ible than it first appears. In the first place, the federal govern- ment will probably move soon to compel democratization of t h e nation's universities ("federal aid brings federal control"t. This February, for example, the U.S. Senate voted 66-28 that "It is the sense of Congress that... there shiould be at least one (vot- ingt student member on the gov- erning board of every institution of Higher Education in America." I believe this year's "sense of Congress" resolution foreshadows future mandatory structural re- form in the government of o u r nation's universities. If and when this federal pressure comes to bear on Michigan, it will be im- portant, of course, to amend the state constitution to get more than taken studen input. That is why a flexible home rule amendment for all state universities should be undertaken now. In long-gone times in England, a Regent was summoned while the rightful ruler was under-age. The University community is now of age, and it is time for the Re- gents, as we know them, to go. John Koza is a former member of Student Govern- ment Council, a PhD candi- date in computer sciences and a candidate for the democratic nomniation ; for Regent this year. Coming to Ann Arbor once a month, the Regents remain se- quested like a jury, while the full- time executives of the University maintain a virtual monopoly over presenting information to them and shaping the issues for their decis- ion. Making all real decisions in sec- ret - in violation of both the 1963 state constitution and subse- quent Attorney General's rulings -the Regents later perfunctorily pass hundreds of pages of resolu- tions referred to by number only at the so-called public meeting. THE NET EFFECT is that this board of outsiders cannot begin to keep on top of things. Far from being the representatives of the people of Michigan and overseeing the operations of the University, the Regents have, in fact, lost most actual policy-making power to an entrenched and sprawling bureaucracy this is accountable to persons from the constituency be- ing governed, who are informed about the constituency they a r e trying to govern, and who spend the time necesary to do the gov- erning. I would think that a good Board of Regents would meet about as of- ten as a typical city council of a medium-sized city, perhaps once or tyice a week, with the council' members spending perhaps half- time overall in their duties in of- fice. On a long term basis, a board of 12 Regents consisting of per- haps four students, four faculty members, and four public mem- bers might be a good mix. The terms of office should be re- duced from the prsent quasi-judi- cial 8-year terms to two or four year terms. Specifically, one might have four students elected by the student body in a state-administered elec- tion for a two-year term on a stag- gered basis (one each semester.t TXAW MYMOH ER ITAK MY'.-6A- IA5K MVYFATHER tOtNY I CAK)TGO CH toHVfHvH6 tl C)T AMDPPLAN' H1AVE V I'iHO- oI KS WUI-Ivs 176A b 7O5 HMOF. A W156./ ~96CAS06 AAA I-ASK 7H AfP-Y tHY? I. IASK MY 5'EPL3MOT I&X3? A Mc. /l - A'K H6 POCTO( 5 ASK -FU PRESItOT WHY iM WI§. [-W AT THE MEAMI OF I-IFE. / s . / fil Cj 7!