Wednesday, July 9, 1975
THE MCHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Group asks end to political freebies
WASHINGTON (') - The staff of the $1,750,000 each exclusive of the donated congressman from Ann Arbor and Ro- THE DRAFT opinion submitted to the
new Federal Election Conimission re- services. beat Tiernan, former Democratic con- panel yesterday included the following
commended yesterday that political par- Robert Straus, Democratic National gressman from Rhode Island, argued language:
ties be prohibited from accepting thous- Chairman, said it would be impossible to that the discussion would be freer if held -Federal law "makes it unlawful
ands of dollars in free services at their put an exact value on the free services in private. for a corporation . . . to make a con-
national conventions, "but they are very substantial." tribution to expenditure in connection
The cost of most of those services - THE STAFF recommended that the with any political convention.."
hotel rooms, convention hall, automo- THE COMMISSION had scheduled an national committees be allowed to ac- -"The phrase "contribution or ex-
biles and even police protection - tra- open meeting to consider the staff re- cept a certain number of free hotel penditure, includes any direct or in-
ditionally has been picked up by cor- commendation. But after a brief debate rooms but no more than is customarily direct payment, distribution, loan, ad-
porations. it voted 4 to 2 to study the proposal in offered any large convention. vance, deposit,- or gift of money, or any
BUT THE election commission staff
advised the panel it believes such cor-
porate contributions violate federal law.
The commission began considering the
proposal yesterday.
In asking the commission for an ad-
visory opinion, the Democratic and Re-
publican National Committees noted
that their 1972 conventions cost about
private. There was no indication how
quickly the panel would act.
Chairman Thomas Curtis, former Re-
publican congressman from Missouri;,
opposed closing the meeting. "It's im-
portant to let the public be educated
right along with the commission," he
said.
But the majority, led by Vice Chair-
man Neil Staebler, former Democratic
Andrew Shea, convention manager for
the Democratic National Committee
(DNC), said the party would withhold
comment until the commission had act-
ed upon the staff recommendations,
The commission was sworn in last
April 14 to administer the Campaign
Reform Act of 1974. It is empowered to
interpret the law, but its opinions can
be challenged in court.
services or anything of value . "
-"Thus, if these transactions convey
any -money or services, or anything of
value from the corporations in connec-
tion with the conventions, they would be
unlawful."
-"The provision of free use of an au-
ditorium or convention center, together
with the goods and services necessary
See FEC, Page 5
Ass't Atty.Gen.
to inspect Ypsi
State Hospital
By DAVID WHITING
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Wheeker will
inspect Ypsilanti State Hospital today in connection
with a lawsuit filed by two mental patients there
who contend their constitutional rights are being
violated by the state.
An attorney representing the two patients, David
Leacock and Fredrick Rattray, filed the suit last
week challenging the Michigan Department of Men-
tal Health's decision to close down the education
and training ward in the hospital.
THEIR DETROIT-BASED legal aid attorney, Larry
Gilbert, argued yesterday that the patients' con-
stitutional right to treatment was being infringed
because "given the level of services on other wards
(where his clients would be moved to) their mental
condition is going to deteriorate."
Ward Cl-3, the ward where Leacock and Rattray
reside, was established in October 1973 as a unit
for training new nursing attendants. The staff-pa-
tient ratio is higher than anywhere else in the hos-
pital-20 staff (on three shifts) to 21 patients--and
a half-time activity therapist, while the two other
activity therapists have caseloads of 105 and 195
patients.
Gilbert contended that his two cilents, who have
been in Ward C1-3 for about a year, have "definitely
made progress since moving there because of the
higher level of treatment they received on the
ward." "It is not their right to live on C1-3-just to Six-year-ol
See ASSISTANT, Page 7 a snooze om
Pa. strike threatens
'deayofbegnefit checks
By The Associated Press
Thousands of office workers who help the jobless find
work remained on strike yesterday, threatening to delay
mailing of more than half Pennsylvania's unemploymentr
checks, state officials said.
The state went to court in an attempt to halt the strike
and a hearing was set for today in federal court in Phila-
delphia.
MEANWHILE, New York City debated whether to impose
nuisance taxes to save city jobs and labor disputes con-
tinued in Connecticut and California.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry Paul Smith
said only 115,000 of almost 300,000 unemployment checks
would go out this week if the strike continued. The average
check is $75.
THE REQUEST for a court injunction was aimed at 2,000
office workers belonging to the Pennsylvania Employment
Security Employes Association or unions honoring its picket
lines.
Also on strike but not named in the court action was the
Pennsylvania Social Services Union, representing 10,000
social workers. Their strike was holding up some case work,
including interviews of new applicants and claims checking,
to the state Welfare Department. Checks, however, were
being sent out as usual.
AP Photo
OUt on a limb
d Kevin Steen of Oberlin, Ohio, finds the broad and sturdy branches of a tree the perfect place for
n a warm afternoon.
Senate unit may question Nixon
WASHINGTON (4-1)-The Sen-
ate intelligence committee will
ask Richard Nixon's lawyer
whether the former president
has information about assassin-
ation plots and other alleged
Central Intelligence Agency
wrongdoing, Chairman Frank
Church, (D-Idaho) said yester-
day.
"At this time we have no
reason to believe that his tes-
timony will be very important
in connection with the assassin-
ation issue," Church told re-
porters. "Beyond the assassin-
ation issue, we will have good
reason to approach Mr. Nixon"
about such matters as White
House plans for illegal intelli-
gence gathering, he said.
AN INFORMED source said
the Rockefeller Commission also
sought to question Nixon in
connection with its probe of the
CIA. The source said Nixon re-
fused to undergo questioning
either under oath or in a staff
interview-
The commission lacked the
power of subpoena and was un-
able to compel Nixon to appear.
The Senate committee does
have the power to subpoena
witnesses.
The committee, meanwhile,
took a deposition from Roswell
Kilpatric, deputy secretary of
defense in the Kennedy admin-
istration, and called retired
Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale to
testify in a closed session in its
investigation of alleged plots to
kill foreign leaders.
LATER this week, the com-
mittee will hear testimony from
former Defense Secretary Rob-
ert McNamara and former Sec-
retary of State Dean Rusk.
In his remarks to reporters,
Church indicated the committee
was interested in whatever in-
formation Nixon migt have
about any plans to assassinate
Cuban Prime Minister Fidel
Castro at the time of the Bay
of Pigs invasion in 1961.
Convicted Watergate burglar
E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA
agent, has written that when
Nixon was vice president he
served as action officer for the
Bay of Pigs planning.
HOWEVER, Church gave no
indication the committee has
any other evidence linking Nix-
on to the Bay of Pigs and re-
peatedly stressed that there was
no indication Nixon might be
involved in assassination plan-
ning.
"At a later date we'll want
to explore Mr. Nixon's connec-
tion with the Huston plan,"
Church said, referring to a pro-
posal by former White House
aide Tom Charles Huston that
included break-ins as a means
of intelligence gathering.
Committee staff members
said they planned to contact
Nixon through his attorney,
Herbert Mviller, Two weeks ago,
Nixon was questioned for the
firstetime under oath by the
W,%atergate grand jury about his
role in the events which ulti-
mately led to his resignation.
The Senate committee's deci-
sion to approach Nixon was
made at a closed meeting,
Church said. "It was really a
low level discussion.