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SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 1970
NIGHT EDITOR: ROB BIER
In memorium:
Arthur Max Ross
Red
By ROBERT KRAFTOWITZ
RED WING, Minn.
SLEEPY, JUST like it's supposed
to be.
Peering from the top of the tall,
naked crag which overlooks this
town on one side and the Mis-
sissippi on the other, you think
you're beginning to understand.
Self-sufficient, his father called
it. He's been living here for 31
years, and effuses the tranquility
which he proudly describes Red
Wing.
Looking down, you first see the
river, sitting quietly between Wis-
consin and Minnesota. A sea of
trees and blue-brown water, the
northern Mississippi bears little of
the majesty which is said to em-
bellish its southern branch.
Its border for miles is trees,
dirt, and grass, broken only by a
half-mile stretch of factories on
which Red Wing is anchored.
The factories are old and small,
the visions of Adam Smith in a
world of conglomerates. The brick
walls, stained by years of billowing
exhaust vapors, scar the clean,
quiet beauty which envelops the
rest of Red Wing.
LOOKING AT THE untraffick-
ed Main St., the sculptured
churches, and the comfortable
wood-and-brick homes, it is hard
to detach oneself from a stereo-
type. The people of Red Wing
make it even harder.
"No one's poor here," said my
host's father, "and no one's very
rich, either."
You look in vain for some sign
of need, some sign of contention or
dissatisfaction among the people,
some way to connect the turmoil
of a metropolis with the tran-
quility of this hamlet.
"We take care of our own needs,
pretty much," I'm told. "If one of
the people is having difficulty, he's
helped by his neighbors."
PERHAPS WHAT brings the
turmoil home to the people of Red
Wing is their children, who es-
cape to a metropolitan university
and return home each summer
with doubts, and strange ideas.
A 'small group of them have
started a campaign to elect anti-
war candidates to Congress. But
by-and-largethey stand unno-
ticed, dwarfed by the lavish Me-
morial Day Parade, with its Amer-
ica-has-been-good-to-me atmos-
phere.
And naturally, this is reflected
in the town's public school system,
my friends says, with a note of
bitterness. He speaks of textbooks
and teachers who sugarcoat Amer-
ican history, and barely touch on
racial polarization.
But then again, racial polariza-
tion is non-existent in Red Wing.
The town is white, Christian, and
safe, so why bother students with
the chaos erupting miles away.
And the New York Times can be
found only at the Public Library,
carrying news which the Red Wing
Republican Eagle either published
or didn't publish four days ago,
THE EASTERN GIANTS are
mistrusted by most, and looked
A
wing: America is full of them
WHEN ARTHUR ROSS came to the Uni-
versity in 1968, he spoke fondly of
his new home here at "the University of
California," and soon gained a reputa-
tion as being eccentric, a man with his
head in the clouds.
Many months later he would deny
rumors that he had run up a $2,000 bill
for the University by forgetting to return
a rented car before leaving on a month's
vacation abroad. The myth of the absent-
minded technocrat had taken hold.
But Ross was more than that. He was a
cynic, and like most cynics, an eternal
optimist. He rarely lost his sense of
humor, joking, wryly for example, about
the Legislature'$ "non-support" for the
University during what must have seemed
like just one more frustrating spring in
the state capital.
He pressed forward quietly on behalf
of the University in its perpetual strug-
gle with the Legislature, using his exper-
tise in economics and statistical analysis
with some success to convince state au-
thorities to maintain funding for the
institution he valued highly.
Back in Ann Arbor, he worked quietly,
too, slowly working up what was to be
a revolution in University management
and planning and, prodding others to
seek modernization of their educational
units.
Sometimes the pressures of the vice
presidency for state relations and plan-
ning forced Ross to retreat-he spoke
occasionally, for instance, of spending
hours gardening to relieve the tension.
But always he returned. He was often
skeptical of the prospects for forging re-
forms and improvements, but no less
persistent in their pursuit.
HE BROUGHT a certain humanity to
his job, and succeeded as well, in
avoiding for himself the de-humanization
that the post might have caused.
Arthur Max Ross is dead at 54, a shock
to those who knew him personally and a
great loss for the University. We mourn
his loss, but with a hidden smile for the
warmth and spirit he brought us.
-MARTIN HIRSCHMAN
down upon by some. The cries for
law-and-order are directed out-
side the town, because the crime
statistics inside are too small to
be significant.
A state-operated reformatory on
the outskirts of Red Wing has
been lauded as being among the
most progressive in the country.
The same reformatory evoked a
note of bitterness from Bob Dylan
when he wrote "The Walls of Red
Wing" over a decade ago. But the
walls have since been removed,
and now there is nothing to pre-
vent the inmates from leaving.
THE TOWN IS independent, it
is isolated, and the independence
and isolation feed on each other.
Talk of revolution is received with
a polite laugh.
Standing at the top of the bluff,
one thinks of all the Red Wings
in America, a large collection of
entities, all separate and equal,
with limited ties to each other.
But then, looking down, you per-
ceive the Red Wing Shoe Com-
pany, a small, red brick building,
not much larger than its retailer
in downtown Ann Arbor.
1l
LETTERS TrO THE EDITOR
ARM-Phase II: Try to. stop it
The police blew it again
r1IE STATE of Mississippi says it's of-
ficial now-police acted in self-de-
fense in killing two young blacks during
a confrontation last month with students
at Jackson State College.
In a television report Thursday night
the governor said the police were fired
on by snipers and asserted that the of-
ficers opened up with 200 to 300 rifle and
sh'otgun rounds only after encountering
physical assaults, gunfire and verbal
abuse. Any blame should fall "on the
peace-breakers, not on the peacekeep-
ers," Williams said.
Further, the governor stated, his re-
port was based on a complete and im-
partial investigation by the state "with-
out interference or influence on my part."
THIS ENTIRE announcement reminds
one of a similar occurrence in Chicago
last year when officials swore up and
down that a group of Black Panthers,
among them leader Fred Hampton, fired
on police before police shot Hampton in
his bed. Their evidence-bullets allegedly
fired by the Panthers-later turned out
to be from police gpns. Williams' conten-
tion that a muzzle blast was seen on the
side of the street behind the offices, and
that a gun muzzle was seen protruding
from a dormitory window were about as
persuasive.
The implications of Williams' asser-
tion that the police fired back only after
encountering gunfire, physical assaults
Summer Business Staff
IAN WRIGHT ...... Business Manager
PHYLLIS HURWITZ .. ....Freshman Supplement
BARBARA SCHULZ.... ......Display Advertising
RICHARD RADCLIFFE . Classified Advertising-,
DAVID BELL.. ... Circulation
ASSISTANTrS: Suzi Bosch an, Debby Moore
and verbal abuse is upsetting. Is one shot
to be answered by a hail of gunfire shat-
tering the entire front of the dormitory?
Is a tin can or even a brick hurtling
through the air justification for killing
the person who might have thrown it?
Is a string of expletives significant prova-
cation for shooting soneone?
ADMITTEDLY no one likes to be struck
by a brick or can, and being called a
host of uncomplimentary things is cer-
tainly unpleasant. But that these things
justify murder is totally unacceptable.
The question of gunfire presents addi-
tional problems stemming from William's
assertion that gunfire was reported from
the area behind the policemen. If it is
true, one wonders why the police would
fire at the dormitory which was in front
of them; and not behind them where
the sniper was allegedly located.
THAT WILLIAMS can claim the report,
investigated and written by Mississippi
state officials, is "impartial" is ludicrous.
How could an incident pitting young,
angered and frustrated blacks against
good, hardworking, law-abiding southern
white folk possibly be seen in any other
light than putting the whites in the
right?
One only hopes that the investigation
by the federal government--personally
checked on by Attorney General John
Mitchell-will be even more "impartial"
than Mississippi's.
But then given the policies of the cur-
rent administration, one realizes this is
nothing but wishful thinking.
--NADINE COHODAS
To the Editor:
WE ARE WRITING to inform
you and your readers of the re-
sults of our petition drive cam-
paign here in Ann Arbor to Stop
ABM-Phase II. We have collected
10,000 signatures from residents
of Ann Arbor. Approximately eight
thousand of these were collected
during three days of solicitation,
May 7-9, in front of Ann Arbor
supermarkets. The other t w o
thousand were collected at var-
ious community and student func-
tions.
We know that there are still
thousands of residents who have
not had the chance to voice their
opposition to ABM. However, we
believe the support we have re-
ceived to date is a strong repre-
sentation of t h e opposition to
ABM in this community. Conse-
quently, we are now preparing to
deliver these signatures to o u r
representatives in Washington:
Congressman Esch, Senators Hart
and Griffin, and President Nixon.
Since our limited resources will
not permit an individual expres-
sion of appreciation to everyone
who has helped in the anti-ABM
drive, we use this means to ex-
press our public thanks to you
now. Upon invitation from repre-
sentatives of other communities in
the Second Congressional Dis-
trict, additional efforts to gain
signatures will be made. In the
meantime we urge all who a r e
able to spare time. to work in sup-
port of the McGovern-Hatfield
Amendment to end t h e war in
Indo-China.
-Charles Cell,
Second Congressional
District Coalition
to STOP ABM
May 29
Prejudice
To the Editor:
PREJUDICE IT SEEMS can
sometimes take surprising forms.
So it seemed to me this past Sat-
urday when my date and I were
refused entrance to Bimbo's here
in Ann Arbor because she was
accompanied by her leader dog.
This particularly surprised me as
the dog and her mistress h a v e
gone to a large number of the-
atres, restaurants, and taverns in
the Ann Arbor area without inci-
dent and without question. These
included the Village Bell, and
Pretzel Bell. Only Bimbo's h a s
been so shortsighted to fail to
realize that to the blind these an-
imals represent something more
than a family pet. I find this pol-
icy of Bimbo's to exclude the blind
with leader dogs to be petty, cruel,
insulting, and reprehensible. It is
fortunate that most establish-
ments are more understanding
and humane in their dealings.
I would hope that there are
some, capable of compassion and
empathy, who would also censure
such thoughtless behavior on be-
half of an institution that sup-
posedly encourages good times
and comradeship.
-Larry R. Tate
May 26
Letters to the Editor should I
be mailed to the Editorial D~i-
rector or delivered to Mary
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 submitted.
Al4
"Richard, remember when you said if yOu had any money
you'd be buying stocks ... well, I took our savings and ...
0V
The
'
should have self-government
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article is a
portion of the author's testimony before the
Special Committee on Total Citizen Participa-
tion Student Bill of Rights. The author is a
member of Central Student Judiciary.)
By MICHAEL DAVIS
I SHOULD TODAY LIKE to discuss two
related questions I think my credentials
entitle me to speak on: First, w h a t is
wrong with the University in particular
with most large universities in general;
and second, what legislation this commit-
tee should recommend to help put things
right.
If the University were a city, it would be
one of Michigan's larger ones, with a pop-
ulation of about 40,000. The population
consists of two kinds of people: students
(30,000) and employes (10,000). There are
three kinds of employes: nonacademic
staff (6,000-7,000); faculty (3,000); and
administrators (300). Nonacademic staff
are the people who keep the physical plant
of the University operating; faculty, the
people who teach; and administrators, the
people who control most of the Univer-
sity's budget, who make most major pol-
icy decisions, and whom outsiders think
of when t h e y say "The University
wants "
UNLIKE A CITY, the legal authority to
And, because they lack adequate sources
of information of their own, they must de-
pend upon the judgment of others when-
ever they come to campus to govern. The
people they depend on are the adminis-
trators. The Regents depend on them be-
cause administrators have a near monop-
oly on the Regents' attention.
There are many reasons for that near
monopoly, but the most important is that
certain administrators - the President of
the University, the Vice Presidents, and
anyone else the President invites - sit
with the Board of Regents during the day
and a half of secret deliberations that pre-
cede the two-hour open session at which
they announce their decisions. Students,
faculty, and nonacademic staff must reach
the Regents either through brief formal
hearings or through the administration.
Even the Regents' agenda is under the
control of the administration. The admin-
istration can open and close channels al-
most at will.
THE ADMINISTRATION is itself hier-
archically organized. At the' top of that
hierarchy are the President and his eight
Vice Presidents. They in fact generally
govern the University. The University's in-
ternal structure is in no sense democratic.
The University is a h i g h I y centralized
University follows the policies the legis-
lature wants.
UNFORTUNATELY, the University com-
munity has no one to look after its in-
terests in the same way. Let me give an
example. For several years the University
argued that the state had no right to re-
quire the University to submit architectu-
ral plans to the state for approval as a
condition of receiving state money for con-
struction. T h e legislature responded by
withholding funds for construction until
the University submitted. In that way the
state got some voice in the design of Uni-
versity buildings.
Meanwhile, the administration raised
tuition and used two-an-a-half million of
that raise to build a new air-conditioned
administration building. (The old one was,
you understand, nearly twenty years old) .
That money could have been better spent
to raise faculty salaries (which become
less competitive), to build needed class-
rooms (which had a lower unit cost), or to
increase scholarships to poor students. I
doubt the legislature would have allowed
the administration to spend money f o r
such a building. The University community
had no lawful means of preventing that
use of student money.
unrest on campus simply because there is
no democracy there. What I mean to say
is that it is that fact together with most
people's, but especially students,' admir-
able willingness to stand and fight for
what they believe right. Members of a
University community could live sullenly
under even an extremely oppressive ad-
ministration or, at least, like some Brazil-
ian aborigines, leave whenever they felt
oppressed. They could do that, but you
would not want them to do it.
You would not want them to do that
because it would be good neither for them
nor for society. It would not be good for
them because, if they stayed and were
obedient, they would lose their self-respect
and become shallow manipulated crea-
tures; and, if they left, they would either
have to go to another school much like
the one they left or drop out and give up
the good life that follows a college educa-
tion. It would not be good for society be-
cause, if they stayed and were obedient,
they would lose the habit of self-govern-
ment and the freedom of each of us de-
pends in large part on our neighbor's being
used to being free; and, if they left and
dropped out, society would have to do
without talent and skill it needs.
IF THEN, IT is the lack of democracy
4
W