Edited and managed by students at the
University oftMichigan
Editorials printed in The Michigan Dady express the individual
opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints
WEDNESDAY MAY 17 1972 News Phone: 764-0552
Toward legal pot
CITY COUNCIL should be highly commended for pass-
ing an extremely liberal marijuana ordinance Mon-
day night.
The new ordinance, which sets a fine of five dollars
for the use or sale of marijuana, is a radical departure
from a previous city law which allowed for a high fine
and imprisonment for use of the drug.
The new law makes marijuana use equivalent to
parking or building code violations. Marijuana users will
no longer be considered criminals under the law.
MARIJUANA use in this country has been rising rapid-
ly in the past few years. Studies have been unable
to find any serious medical danger in marijuana use.
The- laws governing marijuana use and possession have
been widely outdated, calling for severe penalties and
imprisonment.
Arrests for marijuana use have become political
gestures. The law has been used to show antagonism to-
ward a lifestyle, rather than to show concern for citi-
zens' health. When the law isn't responsive to the be-
liefs of the people, the people lose respect for the law.
City Council's action is an imaginative use of the
law, bringing the law in line with the spirit of the peo-
ple. In our community, where marijuana use is rampant,
the few people arrested under the new law will no longer
be given severe sentences to make examples of them..
THE RAINBOW People's Party is presently sponsoring a
state petition drive to place the question of mari-
juana legalization on Michigan's Aug. 8 ballot.
The new city ordinance is a positive move for the
present, but we can and should take the next step and
act to legalize marijuana now. Support the Michigan
Marijuana Initiative and sign the petitions.
-MERYL GORDON
NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT BARKIN
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: ARTHUR LERNER
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITOR: DIANE LEVICK
PHOTO TECHNICIAN: DENNY GAINER
Summer Staff
City's retirement und:
Where the money goes
Ta EaCI YINVaSTS resident tax monies and employe deduc-
tion funds in ITT, which doesn't supply phone service in the
United States, but has connections overseas.
money is being spent, 'however.
If you are a city fireman, for
example, with doubts about n-
vesting in a corpany that supplied
the napahn used in Vietnam Dow
Chemical), you can complain to
Ralph Teeter, your representative
on the board.
If you are a member of AFS-
CME, cencerned ever retiring on
dividends froemBell Telephone Co.
or ATT, contact Nelson Watling,
the union's board member.
If you are a city policeman, con-
fused over investing part of your
salary in Abbott Laboratories,
whenapharmaceutical companies
are accused of aggravating E h e
problem of drug abuse, you should
talk to Richard Crygen, the
board's police representative.
If you are an Ann Arbor citi-
zen, curious as to whether y o u r
stock will be used to support Cam-
paign GM, a drive to maue GM
disclose its operations to the pub-
lic, contact Melvin Fiegel, Carl
Fisher, William Broucek, 'sr Laur-
en Jedele all of whom represent
your interests on the board.
According to Jedele, the board
has been quite "conservative" in
purchasing stock in the past, and
some of' its members feel that the
board should invest in stocks more
heavily. If you want to give your
opinions on city investments direct-
ly to the board members, they will
hold a meeting, open to the pub-
lic, next Wednesday at 3:30 in
City Hall.
By JIM O'BRIEN
"The Vietnam sconeit is another
important factor which has creat-
ed urgent requirements during the
year for specialized electronics
equipment. ITT's world-wide elec-
tronic and teleonmnunication cap-
abilities have enabled ii to respond
to these needs by supplying com-
munication, air navigation, and
othed tactical rquipmrnt for uses
by our land, sea, and air forces
in junrgle warfare."
-ITT Annual Report, 15
* INTERNATIONAL Telephone
and Telegraph, the company re-
cently accused of interfering in
Chile's national elections and a,
long-time weapons supplier for the
Vietnam War;
* General Motors, another large
supplier of war material, and a
tacit supporter of South Africa's
"apartheid" policy;
* Georgia Pacific, cited by
many environmentalists as one of
the nation's major polluters;
If you work for the city of Ann
Arbor, you pay at least three per
cent of your salary to invest in
these companies. If you own pro-
perty in the city of Ann Arbor, 2.5
mills of your tax money is used
to invest in them.
You have invested in Shell Oil,
Texaco, Standard Oil of N e w
Jersey, Pacific Gas and Electric,
and United States Steel.
The list of your investments goes
on for seventeen pages - the an-
nual report of the city of Ann Ar-
bor's employe retirement system.
THE SYSTEM uses salary de-
ductions from city employes and
tax money to make investments in
corporate and public utility bondu,
stocks and mutual funds totalling
76 per cent of the fund's nearly
$11 million current market value.
Investments for the fund are the
responsibility of the City Retire-
ment Board, an independent body
not answerable to city govern-
ment, according to one of its mem-
hers, Lauren Jedele, the city con-
troller.
Stocks are discussed thoroughly
by the board before purchase, both
corporate interests and products,
but there is no process 'or review-
ing the stocks afterwards, accord-
ing to Jedele.
What this means is that once a
stock is bought by the fund it can
stay there, regardless of the com-
pany's policies or lack of profit
(as in the case of ITT) until the
board sees fit to sell it.
THERE IS a way for you to
express concern over the vay your
i
To Th
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80th C
Letters to The Daily
ERA support. cilitate sharing the responsibili-
ties of citizenship more equit-
e Daily: ably.
The purpose of the amendment
EQUAL RIGHTS amend- is not to reduce the benefits for
is necessary to the dignity one sex, but to extend them to
nen and men. We urge its both sexes.
passage. It has been stud- The amendment is needed. It
r more than 48 years and is sound, and we have delayed
ed favorably by the Senate too long. Please urge your state
ary Committee since the representative and senator to rat-
ongress. ify the ERA soon.
BOB ANDREWS ....
ROBERT BARKIN
JAN BENEDETTI.
ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
DANIEL BORUS ..
ROBERT CONROW.
LINDA DREEBEN .
DENNY GAINER ..
ANDY t'OLD5ING
MERYL GORDON.
HARRY HIRSCH.-,
TAMMY JACOBS.-
SHERRY KASTLE
KAREN LAAKKO.
ELLIOT LEGOW
ARTE CRLERNER.
DIANE LEVICK ..
DAVID MARGOLICK.
SHEILA MARTIN
JIM OBRIEN
NANCY ROSENBAUss.
ROLFE TESSEM,..
PAUL'TRAVIS ...
GARY VILLANI :.-,-.
JIM WALLACE
RORERT WARO
DEBORAH WHITING.
CAROL WIECK-..-......
MARCIA ZOSLAW ,..--
. . --. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Associate Sports Editor
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Photography Editor
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Display Manager
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Classified Manager
......Sports Editor
Co-Editor
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.htographe
General Business Assistant
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By failing to take action on this
amendment, we have allowed the
women of our country to suffer
the burdens of second - class
citizenship - burdens which are
not justifiable and can no longer
be tolerated.
By law, women have been ex-
cluded from juries; sentenced
more harshly than men for some
crimes; not permitted and often
restricted in their right to con-
tract and to sign leases; "pro-
tected" right out of supervisory
jobs and meaningful advance-
ment.
The ERA would not eliminate
natural physiological differences
between the sexes but would fa-
-Debbie Hagerty, Vicki
Quist, Christine Hall,
Nancy Schauer
May 13
Letters to The Daily should
be mailed to the Editorial Di-
rector or delivered to M a r-y
Rafferty in the Student Pub-
lications business office in the
Michigan Daily building. Let-
ters should be typed, double-
spaced and normally should
.not exceed 250 words. The
Editorial Directors reserve the
right to edit all letters sub-
mitted.
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