The Michigan Daily
Edited and, managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Tuesday, July 29, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Harvey back on the prowl
'HERE'S TOO many do-gooders around now, and the
trouble is that they're playing with the welfare of the
general public. We've got enough criminals out on the
streets now without releasing more of them from jail."
This noble utterance should serve as a sufficient reminder
to anyone who may have forgotten what Doug Harvey
meant to Washtenaw County back when he was sheriff
in these parts. For a while after that fateful day two
and a half years ago when Deadly Doug was unseated by
that liberal upstart among lawmen, Fred Postill, the
colorful former sheriff defied all odds by attracting as
much controversial ink as during his glory days of head-
busting and harrassment. Not long after his fall from
power, he was busted on a drunk-driving rap up north.
Acquitted of the charge (a cinch) Harvey lately has been
putting the skills he refined during his tenure in office
to their proper use as proprietor of a Saline saloon.
HlARVEY'S PENCHANT for the seamier side of personal
and professional ethics. did not go untapped during
his days in office. For starters, he brought the fine art of
nepotism to a new high by retaining his wife, son and
nephew as underlings on the county payroll. Also, before
his fling with law and order was over, several paternity
suits and rape charges were levelled agaiast him, at least
two of which were settled out of court.
As much as these incidents shaped the Harvey image,
however, nothing molded his reputation among County
residents more than the Harvey method of dealing with
political activists.
Ann Arbor's own police department, which did their
share of roughhousing during the anti-war era, looked
like pacifists compared to Harvey's slap-happy legion
of sheriffs. Infamous for their distinct lack of restraint
during demonstrations, the Harvey sheriffs were event-
ually disinvited from all further Ann Arbor demon-
strations. -
ET, STILL to get in a few last whacks, they did succeed
in rocking a few last heads during the 1972 anti-war
sit-in on I-23 off Washtenaw. And the Washtenaw County
Area Narcotics Team, a Harvey brainchild, continued to
terrorize small-time drug users and abuse larger dealers
until Postill disbanded the County until a few years back
Doug Harvey left an indelible mark on the county'
law-enforcement record, and during his years in office
many local conservatives who first regarded him as a
gung-ho law-and-order man ultimately came to view
him as a social menace intent on spreading his peculia
pathology into the far reaches of county life.
With the passage of time, the Harvey legacy has los
some of its sting; the mention of his name inspires les
fear as his presence quickly fades into the murky past
If memories are short, Doug's prospects for th
future may be better than anyone could have dreamed
possible two years ago. For the word is out that the man
nobody wanted two years ago may be gearing up fo
another run at the sheriff's post in '76. The last thin
this county, especially U-M students, could use is Dou
Harvey running riot on local sensibilities ever again.
E MAN'S PRESENCE within 10 miles is unsettling. Hi
candidacy would be a threat. It should not be treated
lightly.
Editorial Staff
JEFF SORENSEN
Editor
PAUL HASKIN.
Editorial Director
BETH NISSEN ........Editorial Page Ass't
JO MARCOTTY ............. ....Night Edits
ROB MEACHUM .. ..............Night Edito
JEFF RISTINE .........Night Edits
TIM SCHICK ..................Night Edits
DAVID WHITING ... ...... . ........ ..... .. . Night Edito
BILL TURQUE ....... ....... . .. Night Edito
ELAINE FLETCHER ............ .... . Ass't. Night Edito
TRUDY GAYER . . . .. .. Ass't. Night Edits
ANN MARIE LIPINS.I. .. .Asst. Night Edito
PAULIN SI, U ENS ........... ........Asst. Night Editsr
Identity crisis: Babylift aftermath
By RASA GUSTAITIS by mothers who feared alarm- mediate transfer of identifica-
OON AFTER welcoming the ist rumors. One such mother, tion papers to an international
na Tran Tri Bich, 24, heard in Sai- agency that would conduct an
Vietnamese child she hop- gon that when the Commuasts inquiry into the children's iden-
ed to adopt, Elizabeth Brod- came they would murder all tity and status. Help has b e e n
gags saw that something w children with American fathers. offered by the International Un-
tragically amiss. She rushed around the city ion for Child Welfare,a Swiss-
The girl, about six, was sup- seeking someone to rescue her based group that coordinated
posedly an orphan. Yet she talk- sixyear-old son M u h a m e d the return of some 10,000 Niger-
ed of her mother who, weep- Ameen by taking him out of the ian children to families within
ing, had left her with an Amer- country. two months after the end of the
ican doctor who whisked her 10 A priest - she knows nesiher Biafran war. "Fewer than 100
a plane. She spoke of her broth- his name nor his church . - couldn't be returned," an offic-
er, her little sister, the way to agreed- to take him to Amer- ial said. "It was a simple job."
her grandmother's house. ica with a group of about twen- The federal govenment has
Ms. Brodyaga, 34, a Berkeley ty other children. She watched refused to cooperate in an in-
attorney who had applied last this priest write down her ch.ids ternational inquiry for the Baby-
year to adopt a Vietnamese or- name as Ameen, omitting the lift children.
phan, received the girl from Muhamed, then handed him Testimony in the hearing re-
one of the groups in "Operation over. vealed that no central file on
Babylift", April 12. She w a s "I was afraid he would not the children exists withi'i the
told that the child was six, in go with the priest, so I told him Immigration and Naturalization
good health, adoptable, and was he'd be fed and given caidy,,, Service. Photographs and fin-
named Van Thi Ha. But that she told a reporter. "The I ran gerprints, routinely required for
name evoked no response. home. I was afraid he wild see immigrants, are missing. Most
Through an interpreter, the me cry. I thought, if I can ever identification documents are still
child said she was My Hang. come to America, I will look in the hands of private agencies
In the anxious months since, for my son." scattered throughout the coun-
Ns. Brodyaga has tried in vain Ms. Bich wound up at Cop try.
to pry loose from the sponsoring Pendleton, California, wih her MATSON, Assistant nmigra-
agency, Friends of Children- in two younger children. S h e ion and Naturalization Cami-
Vietnam, some documents that wants her son back. All sh hats sioner for Investigation, told the
could help her answer My for her search is a year o I d court that on June 19 he had
Hang's questions about her fam- photograph and the aid of not- ordered that all Babylift children
ily. The child has already for- unteer attorneys. be photographed, finger or foot-
gotten most of her native tongue, printed, and that all those ld
though she does not yet com- NOBODY nas a central file on enough to talk be interviewed.
mand English. Painfully, Ms. the Babylift children. Agen- He said he expected the task to
Brodyaga watches as the child cies involved have refused t) be mostly finished within 90
collects. treasures in a raper give Ms. Bich's attorneys access, days. But he acknowledged that
bag to take to her mother. pleading the right to privacy this was his "personal target
traditional to adoption cases. date" and his staff was not in-
MY HANG is one of an tn- After Ms. Bich told her stery formed of it.
known - but possibly large - in District Court here last week, Morton P. Cohen, an attorney
number of children whose idea- a high Immigration Serice of- for the plaintiff, accused the
tities and histories have been ficial, John E. Matson, told a Immigration Service of drag-
lost in the panic of Operation reporter: "We will certainly ging its feet. He pointed out the
Babylift. look into her case. Of course, issue theoretically already had
Authorities broke all the rules this may be just another story. "priority" status with the Serv-
of adoption and immigration in There may be a valid release.' ice, yet it had taken Matson
rushing more than 2,000 child- Ms. Bich and Ms. Brodyaga more than two months to order
I ren here some three months testified last week in a class the inquiry.
ago. Now they invoke such rules action suit brought by the Com- Justice Spencer Williams cr-
in failing to aid victims of the mittee to Protect the Rights of dered Matson to complete t h e
confusion. The Immigration and Vietnamese Children, aa ad hoc job within the three months, to
Naturalization Service only last group formed during Operation report to him periodically on
week took a first-and halting- Babylift in reaction to stores progress, and to work out fur-
step toward sorting out the mis- told by some children to Viet- ther procedures. He did n o t
placed youngsters. namese-speaking volutters. grant the plaintiff's request for
Meanwhile, as childish me- Thomas R. Miller, an attorney an injunction.
mories fade and facps change, and spokesman for the Commit- Both sides are expeced to -p-
the chances of reunion wi'h fan- tee, said youngsters told ofrbe- peal.
ilies wane. ing accidentally separated from
A four-year-old child may for- parents, placed in orphanages MEANWHILE, Elizabeth Bro-
get his language completely dur- and brought here against their dyaga, knowing she ano My
- ing months in an alien environ- wishes. Some were apparently Hang will continue in limbo,
s ment, according to Joseph Reid, randomly assigned names and tells the child she is trying to
president of the Child Welfare identities. find her'mother. "I feel I have
League of America. "If t h is "SOME CHILDREN came with her in trust," she says. bWhen
drags on for six months or a five I.D bracelets, some with she fills at p thattpaper bag, I
r year, it's a hopeless case. No- noe"Mller said "Bein child don't know what to tell her."
body will be able to astertain ren, they had traded. Some girls
the truth." It's already too late had boys' names, so, when beg Rosa Gustaitas teaches
t for infants, hesaid pointed that out, they were giv- journalism of the University
THERE ARE strong india- A en other names." of California-Berkeley, a n d
. t ERE tatRe matrn wdlcbe A nurse has testified that, cntributes frequently to the
e tions that the matter will be upon command, she had switch- conq dy Ne
stalled in courts for months to ed the bracelets of two Babylift Washington Post and New
come. children. Times. Copyright, Pacific
Some children were sent away The Committee seeks the im- News Service, 1975.
r
g
g Letters to The Daily
I Working class teliget than Warren Hecht, and own.
they have a lot. more to offer
To The Daily: than he ever will. RIGHT NOW, as a matter of
I WAS astounded that y o u r In a lot of ways, the fact tat fact, a new Communist Party
reviewer could actually construe this play was witten is no ac- (no relation to the old one), is
Warren Hecht's and Peter An- cident, because no matter what coming into being, the bulk of
derson's play, "The Janitors", opinions you may have about whose members are going to be
as in any way 'glorifying' t h e the question of the working class advanced workers -- that is,
working-class - the only way - who they are, and what role workers who have come f o r-
that wouldbe possible is if your they're going to play - is more ward in the struggle in the last
reviewer has an even lower opin- and more out there, whereas a couple of years to take up the
ion of working people than the few years ago a -lot of people fight against the bosses and for
authors of the play. On the con- didn't even admit to the exist- their class.
trary, what the play did was to ence of a working class. And so, in conclusion, I'd just
dredge up every rotten, worn- Now, that's not to say that like to say that the only part of
. out stereotype it could find and there's going to be a workers' the play I could really relate to
r they try to pass that off as the revolution tomorrow or the next was the part where the Toilets
r 'real thing'. After. seeing it, I day (the references zo revolu- tore up the aspiring playwright's
was tempted to demand equal lion, I'm sure, were for satiric play - too bad Warren Heht
>r time'After all, I'm a janitor effect only), but the fact of the didn't do us a favor and do the
r myself and I work with maids matter is, that whether Warren same.
r and janitors every day, and they ,Hecht likes it or not (and he
g are a thousand times more de- probably doesn't), the working -Don Alexander
r cent, hard-working, kind and in- class is starting to come into its July 28