1e Mr ign Batt
Vol. LXXXII, No. 62-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, August 12, 1972 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
N. Viets launch
scattered attacks
i Saigon region
HAPPY SOUTH VIETNAMESE troops carry a North Vietnamese heavy machinegun from a bunker
they had just knocked out yesterday. Their assault on the North Vietnamese bunker line cost the
Saigon troops at least two armored personnel carriers and they retreated to a roadside ditch. Their
second assault was beaten back by withering small mortar fire directed at them from the hills and
brush around Highway 1.
LAST MINUTE EFFORT:
HRP turns in signatures for
mayoral preference balloting
SAIGON (A - Communist forces harrassed the Saigon
area yesterday with shelling and sapper attacks against
several military bases and outposts, the South Viet-
namese military command announced.
North Vietnamese troops on the central coast, mov-
ing behind rocket and mortar barrages, overran part of
the city of Cam Ranh, inflicting more than 100 mili-
tary and civilian casualties, field reports said.
Other Communist-led units penetrated the defenses
of a government military base at Lai Khe, 30 miles
north of Saigon, and again cut Highway 13, which links
the capital with An Loc. A South Vietnamese military
spokesman said 38 Communist sappers were killed in the
fighting and two prisoners -
were taken before the base
was cleared. Governmento - n e
casualties were put at four
dead and 28 wounded.
North Vietnamese shellfire rip-
pdthrough four district towns, -
three army outposts, and the big
Cu Chi military base in the Sai-
gon region. The army reported
27 persons were wounded in the lnavepou r
shelling that hit the southern,
northern, and northwestern ap-
proaches to the capital. WASHINGTON (OP) - Housing
Heated tombat was reported and Urban Development (HUD)
throughout the day along High- Secretary George Romney said
way 13, less than two miles from yesterday he plansto leave his
the Lai Khe army base. Cabinet post but has not asked
Officers said they engaged rem- President Nixon to accept his
nants of a North Vietnamese sap- resignation.fmer
per squad which had penetrated The Amer Michigan governor
the base. Propeller-driven U.S. and American Motors president
th de s bastPrafe-draneneU.y.made the statement shortly af-
Skyrider strfed n fenm ter he met with the President to
hunker line only 38 yards fo ics U' fot ofn
the highway, but South Vietnam- housig sfor fortimso in
ese infantry were driven back in housing for flood victims in
Pennsylvania.
two attempts to storm the posi- "I discussedgwith the Presi-
lion, dent months ago my desire t
President Nguyen Van Thieu devote myself in the years just
has predicted a new Communist ahead in a private capacity
offensive aimed at isolating Sai- rather than a public capacity,"
gon, and field reports indicated Romney said.
North Vietnamese units are mov- 'The President asked me to
ins in on the capital. stay on and deal with the prob-
On the northern front, South lers of housing and the cities.
Vietnamese marines were pound- I have done that.
ed by long-range artillery fire in "He has asked me to help
the battle-torn Quang Tri. Fresh secure the federal leadership
fighting was reported near five required to mount an effective
recaptured hamlets southeast of effort in Luzerne County, Pa.
Hue, were North Vietnamese in- I have agreed to do that."
fantry apparently slipped back The HUD secretary said he
into the area after being driven felt the United States was pass-
out earlier in the week. ing through its gravest crisis
In the air war, the U.S. Com- in history and that he could
mand announced eight B52 mis- better serve in a private capa-
sions were flown Thursday city. He said he would work for
against alleged Communist troop Nixon's re-election in the com-
positions about 50 miles from ing months.
Saigon. An undisclosed number Romney declined to say when
See SCATTERED, Page 12 he plans to leave his post.
By CHRIS PARKS
A two and one half month
drive by the Human Rights
Party (HRP) to establish pref-
erential balloting in mayoral
elections cleared its first hurdle
this. week when the party filed
petitions bearing the signatures
of over 3700 persons calling for
the question to be placed on the
ballot.
Now, if the petitions are vali-
dated by the city clerk, and if
the proposal is approved by the
governor, the matter will be put
* before the voters in November.
For a while it looked like the
campaign would be over before
it started.
The petition drive had been
limping along since early June
and on Tuesday, with one day to
go, only about half the neces-
sary signatures had been col-
lected.
An 11th hour effort on Wed-
nesday saved the day, however,
and the completed petitions were
hustled down to city hall and
filed a bare five minutes before
the deadline.
Under the HRP proposal,
voters would indicate a first and
second preference for mayor,
If no candidate received a
majority of the first choice votes
an automatic runoff procedure
would go into effect.
In the runoff, the candidate
receiving the least first choice
votes would be eliminated and
today's weather
It will be partly cloudy today
with the high near 80. There is
a 30 per cent chance of showers
which will decrease to a 10 per
cent chance later tonight. The
skies will clear up later tonight
with the low in the high 50s
On Sunday it will be sunny
and warm with the high in the
upper 80s.
his or her second choice votes
would be distributed among the
top two contenders thus giving
one a majority.
All signatures on the petitions
must now be checked against
the city voting rolls--a process
which will begin Monday ac-
cording to City Clerk Harold
Saunders. "The law gives me 45
days to certify the petitions, but
I hope to have it done sooner
than that," he said.
If the petitions are validated,
the City Council must decide
how to word the proposal for the
November ballot.
The final draft then goes to
Lansing for review by the Gov-
ernor and the state Attorney
General.
No problem is expected in
getting state approval. Accord-
ing to City Attorney Jerold Lax,
the state Home Rule Act gives
the city authority to establish
such a system.
If approved by the voters in
November, preferential balloting
would be in effect for the April,
1973 mayoral election.
Looking at returns from past
elections, most observers agree
chat the plan is likely to benefit
the Democrats.
In last spring's contest-a
non-mayoral election-the Re-
publican candidates received
about 11,700 votes city-wide
while Democrats got roughly
10,600 and HRP 7,300.
See PETITIONS, Page 7
si meters go on strike
By RALPH VARTABEDIAN
A Cool Hand has taken over Ypsilanti's
parking system, leaving the city-with rows
of decapitated parking meters. Is it an
outlandish maverick prank that will land
the culprit in a chain gang, only to gain
noteriety by eating fifty eggs?
Hardly! Ypsilanti's City Manager Peter
Caputo ordered that the City's parking
meters should be shut down for an ex-
perimental period of sixty days begin-
ning last month. The move was directed
at improving business in the downtown
area where parking space is critical and
costly for the leisurely shopper.
The action has produced mixed feel-
ings from the merchants it was intended
to benefit. Some reluctantly admit that
free parking has helped them while others
insist that it hasn't made any difference.
Max Peran, who refused to disclose his
name until he was told that the name of
his store (Peran's Clothing store) would
appear in The Daily, suggests that you
can never tell about how business is do-
ing. He said "I don't run the store, the
store runs me."
Down the block on Michigan, Ypsi-
lanti's main avenue, the bartender at the
Tap Room said free parking has helped
business. According to his casual obser-
vation, people stay at the bar longer now
that they do not have to feed a hungry
meter.
Harry Shaefer, of Shaefer's Hardware,
apparently was expecting to be visited
soon by a reporter. Not a man of hearsay
opinions, Shaefer produced composite
sales records for the past several months
which indicated that business has slump-
ed since the parking meters were put out
of commission.