Saturday, July 31, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three I Austin: Cashing in on a name By PHILLIP BOKOVOY Last in a series of four Michigan Secretary of State Richard Austin has spun a well known name into a decided edge in the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate nomination. Yet his widespread recognition through- out the two peninsulas has also brought a flurry of charges from his three oppo- nents that he is trying to slide through the primary campaign without discussing the issues. THE 64-YEAR-OLD Austin, however, has brushed aside such allegations, main- taining that he indeed had been dis- cussing issues and that his opponents were only attacking him because of his commanding lead in the polls. He claims he has scoured the out-state area, cam- paigning extensively and discussing is- sues with the voters, but frets that few have read about it because he seldom makes the newspages in the Detroit area. But Austin has on more than one occa- sion refused to sign waivers to allow other candidates to debate on television without him. The most prominent show he snubbed was Lou Gordon's, explain- ing he would not appear because Gordon was set to endorse someone else and would only attack him. Gordon endorsed Donald Riegle. Austin, the first black Certified Public Accountant in the state, has emphasized his financial expertise during the cam- paign. He reminds voters that the Senate has yet to see a CPA in its ranks, and adds he could render valuable services in this regard. "WE OUGHT to have at least one CPA on the finance committee to help the lawyers keep the facts straight," he said. Austin, if elected, would also be the first black Democrat in the Senate. Seven years ago, he ran in a hotly con- tested mayoral race in Detroit against Roman Gribbs, and lost. The campaign was marred by racial overtones, the aftermath of the massive race riots just two summers before. AFTER THAT narrow loss, Austin set his sights on the secretary of state post. Many scoffed at his chances because of what they saw as out-state voter reluc- tance to cast a ballot for a black man. Austin, however, swept to victory by about a 20 per cent margin, and won a resounding re-election in 1974. His record as secretary of state has been progressive. He has streamlined the license plate distribution process and has brought branch offices in closer con- tact with the communities by making them vehicles for voter registration and the handling of consumer auto com- plaints. These same branch offices, however, have become the most prominent issue of this campaign. WHEN AUSTIN first entered office, the fee branch manager system was the primary vehicle of patronage in the state. The secretary of state appointed the See AUSTIN, Page 7 Esch: A liberal dose of confidence By JIM TOBIN Last in a series of four "I think we've gotten a very broad base of support. I think we've won it on our own." -Marvin Esch He has not won the Republican nomi- nation for the U. S. Senate yet, of course, but Congressman Marvin Esch's confidence reflects the lead he has taken in almost all polls, And though he claims to have "won it on our own," it is ap- parent that much of Esch's position owes to the quiet but determined back- ing of wealthy Michigan Republican regulars. Rumors have circulated that Gover- nor William Milliken and state party chairman William McLaughlin private- ly support Esch, but McLaughlin said yesterday he is "totally and completely neutral. "I'M READY TO work for whoever wins, he said. I think you have four good candidates and I probably haven't even made ip my mind who I'm going to vote for. To the best of my knowledge the governor feels the same way." Milliken was unavailable for com- ment. Whether the party leaders support Esch or not, it is clear that the ten-year representative is a moderate-to-liberal Republican in the Milliken-Robert Grif- fin mold. While he and his supporters dislike being tagged with the tradition- al label of "liberal," ("I'm not, sure the political continuum exists," he says), Esch has initiated or sponsored domes- tic and international affairs legislation that places him on the left side of the party - manpower training laws, the War Powers Act to limit military pow- ers of the presidency, the Unemploy- ment Compensation Act of 1974, and early disengagement in Vietnam. IN ANY CASE, there is no doubt that Esch is more liberal than his opponents - University Regent Deane Baker of Ann Arbor, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Brennan of Lan- sing, and former Congressman Robert Huber of Troy. His stand is one that appeals to many of the state's influential Republicans and while Esch initiated his campaign with the remark, "We have learned that big politics, like big government, big business, and big labor, doesn't work very well," much of his support comes from well-to-do party members who have made healthy contributions. Esch has received $1,000 contributions from a vice-president of the Chrysler Corporation and the vice-chairman of the S. S. Kresge Company; $500 con- tributions from the chairman of the De- troit Bank and Trust, the chairman of the prominent Detroit advertising firm D'Arcy, MacManus, and Marius, and the chairman of the American Motors Cor- poration; $200 contributions from the chairman of Sears, Roebuck and from the president of the Detroit Bank and r Trust; and $100 contributions from the Cattlemen's Action Legislation Fund, the Agriculture and Dairy Educational Political Trust, the president of the Campbell, Ewald advertising firm, an- See ESCH, Page 10 Esch Judges snag Collins' hopes of murder appeal The killer of a woman st'dent at Eastern Michigan University has failed in his legal battle to overturn his 1970 first-degree murder conviction. John Norman Collins, now 27, is serving a life sentence at the Southern Michigan Prison in Jackeon for the slaying of Karen Beineman, the last of seven women whose bodies were discovered in the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor area during a flurry of eerie murders from 1967 to 1969. A FOUR-JUDGE panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cin- cinnati rejected Collins' claim that pretrial publicity had dashed his hopes of a fair trial. Collins claimed that the publicity tainted the selection of an impartial jury in Washtenaw County. He was convicted by a jury derived from the county, although his defense attorney filed several unsuccessful motions to move the trial out of Washtenaw. :OTT ECCKER Collins had suffered similar rejections by the Michigan Court Matt Phillips of Appeals, U. S. District Court, the District Court of Appeals, in their Wol- and the U. S. Supreme Court, which refused to reopen the case upon Collins' submittance of a petition for review in 1974. Wolverine hopefuls? The hallowed grounds of Michigan Stadium provide the perfect inspiration for1 (center) and his football-playing friends who look like they may be about to follow verine predecessors' footsteps.