Wednesday, June 25, 19~/5
THE !MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Wednesday, June 25, 1975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
GEO defense calls arrests
By TIM SCHICK
The prosecution in the pre-trial hear-
ing for 44 Graduate Employes Organiz-
ation (GEO) members was caught off.
guard yesterday as the defense moved
to dismiss charges against half of the
group. The defense attorney claimed the
University official requesting the arrests
was not authorized to do so.
The GEO members were arrested for
trespassing in February during their
month-long strike as they picketed out-
side the University Plant Department.
The 24 pickets arrested on the 27th were
taken into custody at the request of
Richard Wedge, Manager of Maintenance
and Construction.
DEFENSE Attorney Donald Koster
during his closing arguments pointed out
that in a list of stipulations introduced
earlier, Wedge is not named as being
authorized to -request arrests.
The list was introduced to the court
with the approval of Prosecuting Attor-
ney David Schwartz and signed by the
the General Council for the University.
Apparently Schwartz allowed the in-
troduction of the stipulations not realiz-
ing Wedge lacked authority to request
arrests.
FOLLOWING the proceedings Koster
told defendants: "The prosecutor thinks
I knifed him in the back. It's not my
fault that the General Council for the
University and the prosecutor can't read
legal papers."
Koster - indicated that the University
provided him with the vital information
in the first place.
Under state law the president of the
University (Robben Fleming) can desig-
nate people to act tinder his authority
to order arrests. "Mr. Wedge . . . did
not have the authority to invoke the
trespass act under the authority of Rob-
ben Fleming," Koster added.
EARLIER, Fred Veigel, a field inves-
tigator for the Michigan Building and
Trades Council, testified that the picket.
lines were orderly and did not break
any law.
Veigel, who occasionally instructs
strikers on proper picket line activity,
testified as an expert on labor disputes.
He indicated the only good location to
place a picket line at the plant depart-
ment would be in the same driveway
where the GEO members were arrested.
He said strikers frequently picket on
their employers land and that the GEO
mproper
case was the first time he has known
pickets to be arrested for trespassing.
He pointed to a Supreme Court ruling
allowing strikers at shopping centers
which are private property, to picket in-
side enclosed malls if no one blocks the
flow of traffic.
THE DEFENSE has argued that tres-
passing is an improper charge against
the defendants.
Veigel also testified that the GEO
pickets followed a procedure which he
would recommend to potential strikers.
"You keep. moving, hold up your signs
so that you can be identified, talk to
drivers and let them through if they
want to proceed," he stated.
He added that that the GEO picket
line was "orderly . . . did not break any
law and was well behaved."
See GEO, Page 7
Sheriff deputies defended
in 'Blue Magic' incident
By DAVID WHITING
The union steward for two
sheriff deputies who were fired
for alleged brutality w h i 1 e
searching a rock band last
month defended the former offi-
cers yesterday and blasted
their dismissals as unjustified.
Raymond Zakrzewski, an offi-
cer and arbitrator for the depu-
ties' union, Teamsters Local
214, declared that the fired men
"are not a couple of rub-a-dub
bad cops . . . the accusations
against these guys are really
into dreamland."
THE BLUE Magic band was
stopped May 10 by some 12
county sheriff deputies and city
policemen, who had received
reports that one member of
the group was carrying a con-
cealed long-barrelled gun.
Six band members later filed
a $12 million civil lawsuit, con-
tending they suffered physical
and verbal abuse from two
deputies, Randy Evans and Wil-
liam Tommelein, and two city
police officers. However, the
musicians could identify only
the county deputies by name.
Sheriff Fred Postill fired
Evans a n d Tommelein two
weeks ago after conducting an
investigation into the incident
which he f e 1lt substantiated
charges that the deputies had
"grossly and negligently mis-
handled" both the band and its
property.
LIEUT. Laird Harris, who
conducted the sheriff's investi-
gation, has stated that Evans
and Tommelein were also guilty
of "submitting false reports .. .
and withholding material and
information from the Washte-
naw County Sheriff Depart-
ment."
See SHERIFF, Page 11
Birdwatchers keep
eye on conservation
By CATHERINE REUTTER
Imagine yourself waiting be-
hind a bush somewhere, deep in
the heart of the Arb. Suddenly,
a scarlet tanager fliesby, hug-
ging the ground. You dash mad-
ly after him, clutching your
high-powered binoculars in one
hand, while your other sweaty
palm grasps your camera with
its special zoom lens.
If this is your impression of
what it's like to spend an aft-
ernoon "in the field," watching
for birds, you're wrong.
THE WASHTENAW Audubon
Society (WAS) sponsors a num-
ber of field trips to area parks
throughout the year, and few
of the people who attend are
little old men and women in
pith helmets and walking
shorts. Field trip crowds are
composed of anybody from
grade school kids to middle-
aged couples. ,
WAS plans their next field
trip to Oakwoods Metropark this
Sunday, to be-led by the super-
vising naturalist of the recent-
ly -, opened park.
A report in the most recent
WAS newsletter includes the
dry stereotypical tabulation of
species sighted, including "a
possible yellow - rumped warb-
ler". Another report reveals
the more sardonic side of "bird-
ing", when it talks of "twenty-
three rain-drenched fanatics."
WAS, part of the Michigan
Audubon Society and the na-
tional organization, is also ac-
tive in the political sphere. At
present, the Audubon societies
are opposing the appointments
of two anti-conservationimen to
key governmental posts.
C O N S E R V A T I O N
groups across the nation, in-
cluding the Society, unsuccess-
fully opposed the appointment
of Stanley Hathaway as Secre-
tary of the Interior. They con-
tended the former Wyoming
governor was an advocate of
strip mining and predator poi-
sons.
Closer to home, WAS is also
disenchanted with the selection
of Upper Peninsula Senator Jo-
seph Mack as chairman of the
Michigan Senate's Conservation
Committee. They contend Mack
is no friend of the conservation
movement.
"Mack is not an environment-
alist," says Doris Behling, a
WAS member, adding, "he's
been involved in many shady
things, but he's slippery." Mack
supports the mining interests
in the U. P., hoping to improve
that area's depressed economy.
So the next time you go trek-
ing into the woods with your
Field Guide to Birds tucked
under your arm, go with a
group. But be careful - you;
may find yourself in a political
argument.
AP Photo
Gandhi pleased with court's ruling
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi receives well-wishers in New Delhi yesterday after learn-
ing that the Indian Supreme Court gave her approval to remain as head of the government
while appealing her conviction for corrupt elec toral practices.
State senate to vote on
l I a "
U'budgetapropitons
By BILL TURQUE Milliken's office and members of the Appro-
The Senate Appropriations Committee yester- priations Committee, who originally recommended
-day recommended $109.4 million in state funding a higher education budget $16 million in excess
for the University in fiscal 1975-76. of the governor's projection.
The figure represents a slight reduction from "We kind of got caught in the crossfire," said
the expected $110.7 million allocation due to Kennedy.
two last minute, across-the-board funding cuts
for state colleges and universities. The appro- AMY SCHNETZLER, committee clerk, indi-
priation is, in any event, a cut of nearly $16 cated that the bill "was rewritten to an extent."
million from the University's original fiscal re- She said the committee membership had drafted
quest to the lawmakers. a list of budgetary issues they wished to discuss
with the governor, which they did.
ACCORDING to Richard Kennedy, University The specific -provisions of the bill will not be
vice president for state relations, the last minute made public until it is formally sent to the
trimming resulted in a $1.1 million reduction in Senate, probably tomorrow.
utilities funding for the Unversity. Kennedy added Kennedy estimated that it might be the last
that an additional $200,000 in funds for the School week in July before the University's financial
of Education was also slashed. picture jells. It will probably necessitate a spe-
The final cuts, Kennedy said, are the out- cial Regents meeting to resolve financial issues,
growth of an ongoing conflict between Governor including a probable fall tuition hike.