Page 4-Wednesday, May 3, 1976-The Michigan Daily
Nmichigan DAILY
Eighty-eight Years of Editorial Freedom-
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI. 48109
Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 1-S News Phone: 764-0552
Wednesday, May 3, 1978
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Nixon: T
Shouting at VP
out oforder
L AST WEEK'S graduation ceremony was a
happy event for most of those attending. It
was the end of four (in some cases, many more
than that) years of work and marked the begin-
ning of a new period in the lives of the students.
But the speeches and back-patting were marred
by two unfortunate events. The first was a selfish,
poorly considered outburst by a small group of
people who wanted to display their anger over
American and University policy in dealing with
South Africa and its practice of apartheid.
We will continue to support any group which
cries out against the racist regime of Prime
Minister Vorster. But the methods the protestors
employed to gain attention were neither worth-
while nor informative. Screaming at Mondale
midway through his speech could only serve to
disrupt the graduation celebration and antagonize
those in attendance.
This leads to the second, and perhaps more
significant, disturbance at the arena. When a
young man attacked one of the protestors and tore
his sign, the crowd roared in appreciation. Paren-
ts and graduates alike joined in the football after-
noon atmosphere and many seemed eager to
have the banner wavers thrown out forcibly. But
as President Fleming told the group at the end of
the speeches, after Mondale rushed from the
arena on his way to Asia, one of the reasons we
should be proud to take a degree from the Univer-
sity is surely that we are all free to practice
dissent and speak out for those issues in need of
articulation.
Had the protestors just taken advantage of the
large crowd to inform the biggest supporters of
the University budget-that is to say parents-of
the immoral use of their money by passing out
leaflets or talking to the people entering the
arena, that would have been a different situation.
But it is unfortunate that their protest took such a
childish, unproductive form.
SPRING EDITORIAL STAFF
BARBARA ZAHS
Editor-in-Chief
RICHARD BERKE rKEN PARSIGIAN
Co-Editorial Directors
JEFFREY SELBST
Magazine Editor
OWN GLEIBERMAN
Arts Editor
ANDY FREEBERG
JOHN KNOX
PETER SERLING
Photographers
STAFF WRITERS: Mike Arkush, Rene Becker, Brian Blanchard. Elisa Isaac-
son, Dan Oberdorfer. Tom O'Connell Judy Rakowsky, R.J. Smith
BUSINESS STAFF
By Richard Berke
As to be expected, the install-
ments of Richard Nixon's
memoirs currently appearing in
several newspapers sdd little
new input to the saga of
watergate from the former
president. The excerpts merely
serve ss another tool through
which Nixon abuses his position
and the American public.
He admits he misled the public
about his role in the scandal but
blames that on tactical errors,
denying having committed any
high crimes or misdemeanors.
He said he considered the break-
in at first as "just a public
relations problem that only
neeeded a public relations
solution"
NIXON'S ACCOUNT of Water-
gate differs somewhat from
recollections of other top White
House aides, although the former
president fails to deal with the
discrepancies in hisymemoirs.
For instance, Nixon says the day
after he found out about the
Watergate break-in it "was still
the furthest thing from my
mind"
But Charles Colson, special
counsel to the president, in
testimony before the House
Judiciary Committee, said Nixon
was so angered when hearing
that James McCord was among
those arrested that he threw an
ashtray across a room in his Key
Biscayne home.
In his memoirs, Nixon holds to
his earlier statements that he op-
posed paying $120,000 in "hush
money" to E. Howard Hunt, a
convicted Watergate conspirator
and a key figure in the burglary.
But, through examination of
Nixon tapes, the House Judiciary
Committeee concluded other-
wise. At the meeting, Nixon
agreed to meet Hunt's demands.
THOSE ARE but two of several
examples of Nixon's contentions
which conflict with accounts of
numerous other Watergate par-
ticipants. In the past, one might
have said that a former president
would tell only the pure truth and
that his story is surely honest and
accurate. Now we know better.
Through the memoirs and last
year's interview series with
David Frost (which netted Nixon
'he same old story
at least $600,000), we have would protect their boss frg
helplesly allowed the former anything-even public inp
president to expolit the Amercian crucial for an effective lead
public. The unfortunate fact, Nixon's actions throughout 1
hnwpvpr s-thgt Niws hsn't tenure in office showed hints
nvwever, isMac vxon nasnL
even attempted to bring back any ,
semblance of respectability to
the office he held-the highest in
the land.
Nixon has taken unfair 4van-
tage of the public by promoting a
book promising to tell what truly
happened in Watergate as he saw
it. Instead, he joined the ranks of'
his isolation from the public
which was reflected in his poor
judgement.
It's too bad Americans
sometimes elect unstable people
to hold massive power and in-
fluence. But often it is difficult to
detect such personality factors
which ale so easily shielded
om
ut
er.
his
of
n~ 1SAVE n-4e M A w .
John Dean, H.R. Haldeman,
Charles Colson, and other former
Nixon White House cronies who
took to book writing as a multi-
million dollar escape from public
disgrace to public notoriety.
MAYBE ALL this tells us
something about what kind of
person should (or shouldn't) hold
the office of President of the
United States. Nixon was an in-
secure man who tried to
disguise this fact and prove to
himself that he had no enemies
by surrounding himself with yes-
men like John Erlichman who
through public relations efforts.
There's little anyone can do to
stop Nixon and what he stands
for. He has only begun to exploit
the American public with words
of wisdom which are really words
of nothingness. There is one con-
solation, however. We will
always know what to expect from
this former president and hope he
is the last of his kind.
Richard Berke is co-director
of the Spring Daily's editorial
page.
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Denver sparks feedback
To The Daily:
This letter is in response to our
recent attendance of the John
Denver concert at Crisler Arena.
My boyfriend and I took a young
lady in a wheel chair to the con-
cert. Because I am a physical
therapy student, the inac-
cessibility of Crisler Arena to
wheel chairs became blatantly
obvious.
First, there were no specialized
parking areas close to the door
designed for the disabled. Next,
there was a great 'confusion on' -
which door to enter. There were .
also no available outside ramps,
and since one group of handicaps
were told to enter by one door and
we by another, we had to travel
up and down a steep, grassy hill.
Once inside, there were no ramps
or elevators for us to get from one
level to the next, therefore.
leaving only one back door we
could use.
AT THE END of the concert,
officials ushered the wheelchairs
out earlier, and we were not
allowed to enter the back tunnel
where the band was loading up.
The wheelchairs and people in
To The Daily:
The John Denver concert was
terrifie except for some of the un-
thinking, unfeeling "fans" who
attended. By that I mean the ones
who did not heed the request that
there be no picture taking or
smoking.
Flashbulbs popped during the
entire performance and the smell
of cigarettes and marijuana hung
heavy in the air. They didn't ask
people not to drink so that was
also going on: I had drinkers on
NANCY GRAU,.......
JOANNE SCHNEIDER.
MARCY PORTER . . . . . ..
PETE PETERSEN,..
CAROLYN ISRAEL..
BO MANNING.
BOB GRANADIER ......
SHERRIE WEITZMAN.
.Business Manager
.............. Display Manager
.. ....Classified Manager
AdvertisingCo-ordinator
...;...Saes Repsentative
.Sales Representative
.Display Assistant
-Display Assistant
them were left there foa n"rs in
I feel it is a very sad situation
that a school this well known
cannot better accommodate han-
dicapped individuals.
-Janet Wilson
fron. It was totally obnoxious and
a great disservice not only to the
performer but to his serious fans.
Come on concert-goers, act your
ages. -Carol A. Quiroz-
i