1Nednesday, July 16, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
R eagan campaign
organization for
1976 announced,
PALLBEARERS carry the flag-draped cdsket of Ypsilanti policeman Douglas Downing who was
killed Friday afternoon in a bank robbery in Ypsilanti. Downing was the first Ypsilanti police .
offier killed in the line of duty. Over 400 law enforcement officers from Michigan and Ohio -
attended the services.
Police atend funeral of
ain Ysiant officer
By STEPHEN SELBST
Special To The Datty
WASHINGTON-Former Cali-
fornia Gov. Ronald Reagan all
but formally admitted he will
be a candidate for the Repub-
lican presidential nomination in
1976 by authorizing a committee
to be formed to raise funds on
his behalf.
Called "Citizens For Reagan,"
the committee is headed by Sen-
ator Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), who
immediately challenged Presi-
dent Ford to enter the presi-
dential primaries to battle Rea-
gan for the nomination.
THE STATED purpose of the
committee is to convince the ex-
movie star-turned-politician to
seek the nomination and to raise
money so that if Reagan makes
a bid, resources will be avail-
able.
Joining Laxalt on the com-
mittee are former Gov. Louis
Nunn of Kentucky, John Sears,
a Washington attorney who
worked on the 1968 Nixon pres-
idential campaign, and a for-
mer GOP national committee-
woman from California, Stan-
hope Ring.
A Nebraska insurance mag-
nate, George Cook, and a re-
tired conservative congressman,
HI. N. Gross of Iowa, round-tsut
the group.
IN THE CROWDED press
conference held at a fashisn-
able downtown hotel, Laxalt
admitted the committee will not
have much trouble convincing
Reagan to hid for the nomina-
lion. "The likelihood is nine on
a scale of ten that he'll run,"
Laxalt said.
Citizens For Reagan needed
the former governor's consent in
order to file the necessary
papers with the Federal Election
Commission certifying the legit-
imacy of the committee.
Speaking of Reagan as if his
candidacy w a s already an-
nounced, Laxalt prained Presi-
dent Ford, hut said that the ex-
matinee idol Reagan "would
bring to the job independence
needed to make the changes
necessary in American life."
THE PROBLEM with Ford,
Laxalt claimed, is that "for too
long he has been part of the
Washington scene. We question
sincerely whether he has the
degree of independence to do
the job."
In issuing the call to Ford to
run in the presidential primaries,
Laxalt noted that the chiaf ex-
ecutive has never waged i na-
tional campaign. The Nevada
senator contended that if Ford
ran in the primaries and won,
this would make him a stronger,
more legitimate candidate for
the Republican party.
Speaking again of the Reagan
candidacy, in the present tense,
Laxalt claimed the conserva-
tive's chances to win the nom-
ination are good.
HE COMPARED the situation
to February, 1972, when Maine
Senator Edmund Muskie led all
other candidates for the Demo-
cratic presidential nomination by
a wide margin.
Ford, Laxalt contended, cur-
rently enjoys the same popular-
ity in the polls as Muskie did,
adding that Reagan's popularity
is much better now than George
McGovern's was at that time.
"When you consider he's been
out of office for a long time,
he's doisg well. His popilarity
rating has stayed right up there
at absaut 20 per cent for two
years," Laxalt claimed.
LAXALT gave his opinion that
that Reagan is "40-60 on the
short side" to win the nomina-
tion. He buttressed his predic-
tions saying, "When you have
a Ronald Reagan-type candi-
date, yoti can't poreclude him
from turning this thing arouod."
A s k e d by re'orters what
would make a Reagan presi-
dency different from the Ford
administration he just finished
lauding, Laxalt said American
foreign policy "would come un-
der a complete re-examination."
He admitted however, that Rea-
gan has travelled little overseas,
has met no heads of state re-
cently and has no plans to do
"Like any other inexperienced
person, he would rely on getting
good advice," the silvered-hair-
ed solon told the press corps.
LAXALT also told rep)orters
"I had no indication from Gov.
Reagan that he is interes ed in
the vice-presidency."
By PAULINE LUBENS
Nearly 150 police patrol cars blocked two city
streets yesterday as some 350 law enforcement
representatives attended an afternoon funeral
service for Ypsilanti officer Douglas Downing,
who was fatally shot while on duty last week.
The officers, some of whom had come from
as far as Toledo or Kent, Ohio, assumed military-
like stances in front of the Muehlig Funeral
Chapel at 403 S. 4th Ave., while television cameras
rolled inches from thir faces capturing the funeral
service on film.
CURIOUS bystanders criticized the event, call-
ing it a parade. Several of the street's residents
questioned the blocking of their street anticipating
the possibility of an emergency arising- needing
the street for immediate access.
Downing was shot while walking through the
rear door of National Bank of Ypsilanti, 300 E.
Michigan Ave., after answering a burglar alarm.
One of the alleged burglars was shot on the
scene by one of the two officers who arrived
to help Downing and the remaining three sus-
pects have been taken into custody-one by the
Detroit Police Department and two by the Ypsi-
lanti police.
"Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass against us," said Rev. Leonard
Koeninger, emphasizing the second half of the
phrase, as if to capture the bitterness the police
officers might have felt.
OCCASIONALLY a member of the crowd would
leave to sit in the shade and recover from what
seemed to be either over-exposure to the intense
heat or grief.
Upon the conclusion of the reverend's speech,
a small brass band at the far end of the police
line softly played a slow funeral tune.
Military commands of "attention" further broke
the silence and the officers straightened up in
preparation for the casket.
DIGNITARIES and friends lined a special path
for the white-gloved pall bearers who proceeded
slowly, carrying the flag-draped casket.
A siren rang elsewhere in the city and many
officers shifted their eyes back and forth as the
coffin was placed into the hearse.
The officers then returned for a long wait in
their patrol cars as the procession began.
MOST OF THE officers attending the funeral
indicated they had volunteered for what they
admitted was a courtesy call.
"We take care of our own," said James Feyr-
rens of the Pontiac Police Department.
"It is comforting to have other officers who
are concerned," said Ypsilanti Sgt. Duane Moran,
who was one of the pall bearers along with Sgt.
David Mernor, Sgt. Edward Smith, Ypsilanti
Police Chief Elwood Detloff, Roger Parker, and
Inkster police officer Sandy Killins.
"It is good for the populous to see officers
concerned about someone who gave his life for
the same thing they're working for," Moran
continued.
Association seeks to dispel!
American myths about China
By TIM SCHICK
The experiences of two Amer-
icans who recently traveled to
China and a third who grew up
there, were related to a group
of about 200 last night, as a part
of efforts by the U.S.-China
Friendship Association to dispel
myths about the People's Re-.
public of China.
Chris Gilmartin and Richard
Gorden refuted what they
thought to be American miscon-
ceptions about China.
THEY blasted the popular no-
tion that communes have split
up the Chinese family. Rural
Chinese peasants still live in the
traditional extended families, in
the middle of modern com-
munes, according to Gilmartin
and Gorden.
Another common misconcep-
tion depicts the Chinese as a
people under the rigid control
of a government that dictates
every aspect of their day-to-day
lives,
Gilmartin and Gorden, in an
interview earlier yesterday, said
they were surprised at the
amount of freedom average
Chinese workers have over their
lives.
"THE VILLAGE elects its
own officials and makes its own
decisions," said Gorden.
Gilmartin and Gorden spent
two months in the famous show-
csae Tachai commune and a
Shanghai factory earlier this
year. They talked about their
experiences on a trip which was
designed to help them become
familiar with China through
part-time work among farmers
and workers.
Carma Hinton was born in
China just after the 1949 liber-
ation by the Communists. She
lived there until 1971, receiVing
her education in Chinese schools
and participating in the Cultural
See AMERICAN, Page 10
Doily Photo by KEN FINK
CHRIS GILMARTIN, who tecently visited the People's Repub-
lic of China, holds a copy of "New China," only magazine
produced by Americans which deals with China. The maga-
zine is a publication of the U.S.-China friendship association
which sponsored her trip.