4
Page 4-Wednesday, April 2, 1980-The Michigan Daily
The Hash Bash mass: Why are they here?
Stan Kachusky, a 14-year-old high school
student from Romulus, took a long drag from a
joint someone had handed him. He retained the
smoke until his face began to blush, then
exhaled thie stale air.
"Man, this is the beginning of a revolution,"
he said, as he re-tied the leather lace around
his forehead. "I don't want to miss it, you
know?"
STAN GRABBED a flourgscent-orange
frisbee, spun around, and whipped it into the
cold, damp, April air. The frisbee immediately
turned vertically and dived into the soft, mud-
dy ground. It wobbled around for a moment,
then rested upside down.
Stan is not here to tour the Natural Science
museum. He is not here because of older
siblings at the University. Stan is not here to
eat at Brown Jug.
~C Y
"I'm here to get high, man," he explained.
"Yeah."
Stan chased a frisbee with out-reached arms,
and missed it by an embarrassing margin. He
then tripped over his frayed jean bottoms,
already caked with mud, and slammed into an
eight-foot high birch tree.
STAN WIPED some mud from his eye. "The
HIash Bash," he said groggily, "Man, it's the
greatest thing. Can you dig it?"
Stan was one of just seve-al hundred people
to show up at the Ninth Annual Hash Bash
yesterday.
Another participant was Naomi Lailot, a
bleached-blonde 17-year-old from Garden City.
Why was she here?
"What else is there to do?" she asked. "It's
like, the whole school scene is screwed.
By Nick Katsarelas
School's bullshit, anyway." Naomi is missing
two front teeth. They were knocked out in a
fight with her best friend over confusion as to
who was supposed to stand in line for Kiss
tickets. She is a little overweight, and her
paunch hung over the quart of Colt 45 she
cradled between her thighs.
"MY BOYFRIEND Bart, man, he wants to
hassle the cops," she boasted. I
Bart sat next to her, his eyes staring blankly
ahead. He rocked slowly while mumbling "It's-
my-party-and-I'll-cry-if-I-want-to." Bart is
29-years old, and is an unemployed gas station
attendant.
"Bart and me," said Naomi, caressing the
Harley-Davidson insignia on the back of Bart's
Levi jacket, "We're gonna get married as soon
as I get pregnant."'
The Hash Bash was conceived nine years ago
by student activists, and was attended mostly
by University students. But in the past several
years, the only people who have participated
have been high school students and non-
University people. Who are these people, and
how can they stand wearing wet jeans all day?
"These kids are in an abnormally-long,
rather extended period of puberty," explained
Dr. Garret Piajung, a professor of child
psychology at the University. "They'll stay
this way for God knows how long."
DR. PIAJUNG administered name
recognition tests to a group of 60 bashers from
last year's festivities. Thirteen per cent
recognized the name of Pope John II, 34 per
cent knew the name of President Carter, while
99 per cent recognized the name of Ted Nugent,
although some thought he was the pope.
The typical bashers have long hair, head
bands, Levi bell-bottom jeans, Levi-vests, and
Levi jackets. The names or pictures of rock
stars grace their black or red T-shirts, from
Led Zeppelin and Blondie to Pink Floyd and
The Who. Their bell bottoms drag the ,round,
and water slowly creeps up the calf of their
jeans.
No alligator shirts. No crew-cut sweaters. No
topsiders. Noadesigner jeans.
The Diag became slightly more congested as
the bashers rolled in during the day. University
students waded through the small crowd,
staring at the long-haired, Levi-clad
youngsters like motorists gawking at accident
scenes.
"ALL THESE LITTLE druggies running
around make me sick," complained Allen
Greenblue, a graduate -student in the Business
Schoool. "The cops should nuke them."
"I don't really care about them," stated Gina
Jin, an LSA sophomore. "Really, I don't care,
as long as they don't use our bathrooms."
They are called bashers. Druggies. Punks.
Freaks. Veiners (from where they ingest their
drugs).
But are they the Leaders of Tomorrow?
"Probably not," replied Dr. Piajung.
- Fred Phreik, all of 11-years old, claimed this
is his third appearance at the Hash Bash. Did
he show up for the dope?
"YEAH, THAT AND some good-looking
chicks.. yeah, that's why I'm here," he said.
Danny DeParidelio hitchhiked to the Hash
Bash with three of his "buddies." Danny heard
that a local disc jockey was going to be present,
and he spent most of the morning looking for
him. He walked around, asked people their
names, and frequently glanced around the
Diag.
"I guess I'll keep looking for him," he said
glumly. "I mean, h said he was going to be
here."
Stan Kachusky doesn't want to miss the
revolution.
Naomi Lailot wants to get pregnant, then
married.
Danny DeParidelio wants to find his disc
jockey hero.
Nick Katsarelas received more than afew
phone calls from sorority members last
week. His column appears every Wednes-
day on this page.
AP Photo by Loren Portnow
A YOUNG HASH BASH participant takes a toke from her pipe as she celebrates with several
hundred April Fools Day revelers. The Diag was overrun yesterday with high school students
and other foreigneis to the University community, each of whom had his or her own special
reasons for being there.
Y
}
oIJ 3E14 U I
Nine lv ICirs (P4fEdlitorial I'rvetloii
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Time for a serious look at PIRGIM
I
Vol. XC, No. 144
News Phone: 764-055
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
ron -an Owens' eath
TE SCORED an outstanding
H athletic and political triumph in
the 1936 Berlin Olympic games,
destroying Hitler's plans for an Aryan
.athletic showcase. He broke five world
records within 45 minutes. And on
Monday, Jesse Owens, perhaps the
greatest, most famous athlete in track
history, died of lung cancer.
Of his death, President Carter said
:*"Perhaps no athlete better symbolized
Twobirth c
IRTH CONTROL matters came
up in the news twice this week,
with one bit of information offering
cause for hope and the other making
"good old American know-how" look
awful.
SThe good news is that the Midwest
whas left the nation's usual trendsetters
An the East and West Coasts behind in
drawing just a hair's breadth away
"from a Zero Population Growth rate.
The psychological effect on the
Anation of hearing that the Midwest has
ceased adding further burdens to our
limited resources could inspire others
;to head in that direction,.too.
Less cheery tidings came from the
the human struggle against tyranny,
poverty, and racial bigotry."
It's sadly ironic that Carter can
pronounce such a eulogy at the same
time he is clamping down on trade to
enforce his backward Olympic boycott
decision. A boycott of the Soviet Olym-
pics closes completely the opportunity
for any other athlete to repeat the
moral victories of Jesse Owens.
;ontrol notes
U.S. Agency for International
Development (AID), which has been
promoting birth control and voluntary
sterilization overseas.
The Richmond, Va. Times-Dispatch
reports that some AID workers have
been pressuring people to undergo
sterilization.
If the reports are true, the gover-
nment must quickly clamp controls on
the field workers who committed these
ethical violations. The availability of
sterilization might well be able to ease
some of the Third World's problems,
but that doesn't mean the operations
should be done on anything less than
a wholly volitional basis.
To the Daily:
In light of its recent involve-
ment in the anti-draft movement,
I think it is time to take a serious
look at the Public Interest
Research Group In Michigan
(PIRGIM).
PIRGIM has played an integral
part in organizing rallies and a
teach-in promoting the anti-draft
issue. I went to the PIRGIM of-
fice and asked how they decided
to become involved in the anti-
draft movement. I was told that
this past summer the state board
of PIRGIM voted to pass a
resolution against registration
for the draft in peacetime
following the lead of the
American Civil Liberties Union. I
was not told that they took a poll
to see how students felt about it.
As it turns out, a nation-wide poll
conducted in February by
Today's Student newspaper
showedthat 52.7 per cent of the
students interviewed actually
favored the registration for the
draft. While 10.3 per cent were un-
decided, only 35.8 per cent were
opposed to registration. Clearly,
PIRGIM's involvement in the an-
Knight story
To the Daily:
I have to hand it to the editors
of the Daily for their unique jour-
nalistic techniques. I bet you
guys even scooped the Chicago
Tribune on the Dewey victory.;
C'mon gang. Did Bobby Knight
really, really apply? Just
checking, you know.
I have a suggestion for you in-
formed folk in the make-up-the-
news room. Please list all of the
names of applicants that your
"informed sources" tell you
about so that we readers can keep
on top of the nonsense that gets
disseminated throughout the
University. Just print the (tames
of everyone who was probably
dying to "apply" along with Bob-
by Knight: Prince Charles,
Secretariat, Bani -Sadr, Joel
Thompson (good student, great
leaper), and Denny Crum.
TV has no place in my life; all
the Detroit papers are, well,
Detroit papers, full of typically
Detroit-style reporting; the New
York Times is too affected lately;
Attacks hit
To the Daily:
I'd like to say that I don't give
two shits about: Raoul Kopelman;
his arguments with J. L. Allen;
Mr. Allen's "attack" of Prof.
Cohen; Cohen's complaints with
Mr. H. Scott Prosterman's ar-
ticle; or Mr. Prosterman, who
started the whole thing by writ-
ti-draft movement has not been in
accordance with the sentiments
of the majority of students.
PIRGIM is supposed to be a
public interest research group.
Its prospectus after its first year
of operation states, "It is in ob-
taining well- documented, highly
objective research material that
PIRGIM performs its most im-
portant educational function.
Concomitantly, it is in its
capacity to translate this infor-
mation to the community in well-
understood, and yet not oversim-
plified terms, in raising the
community's awareness of a
problem, and in turn affecting
major policy decisions, that
PIRGIM can serve its chief
public interest role."
In many of these activities,
PIRGIM follows these guidelines.
Examples are banking and
grocery surveys, bottle bill
studies, and tenants rights. But
on other issues the information
collected and translated is by no
means highly objective. The anti-
draft movement is proof. Another
example is PIRGIM's active in-
volvement in the
a real scoop.
and radio is full of Kansas, Jour-
ney, and the Bay City Rollers
ever since WIQB died. Look at
my plight! My only connection
with the real world is the Daily.
Leave the real world issues to the
people who know how to write
stories: UPI, AP, and Reuters.
Better yet, simply print pictures.
Your graphics are beautiful.
-Bill Robinson
March 27
decriminalization of marijuana.
At the University of Ontario in
Windsor, students felt that the
Ontario Public.. Research Group
was not actually acting in the
public interest. Many dissatisfied
students demanded the return of
the money collected from them at
the beginning of the semester and
got it.
According to a PIRGIM
worker, PIRGIM collects bet-
weeen $12,000 and $21,000 each,
semester via the box students
check off at registration. This is
fine for a group that does resear-
ch in the public interest. But for a
group with specific political in-
terests that do not necessarily
represent the opinions of students
to enjoy this privilege is unfair to
other political interest groups on,-
campus. Either other political
groups should have their names
on a checklist at registration, or
PIRGIM should stop using our
money to pursue its own political,
interests. I favor the latter. If it,
doesn't, the registration checklist
privilege should be revoked.
Something has to be changed
because.,things are definitely
wrong the way they are.
-Art Humbert
Treasurer, CARP
(Collegiate Association for the
Research of Principles)
March-28
Olympic boycott immoral
To the Daily:
When the Russians invaded
Afghanistan, President Carter
not only struck back at them
through trade sanctions, he also
struck out at an innocent third
party which happened to be doing
business with the Russians-the
Olympics.
In labor relations this is called
a "secondary boycott,' and has
been illegal for decades. In my
opinion it is always immoral.
Now it appears that most
European countries will besen-
ding their athletes to Moscow,
and that just about the only ally
Carter has is the right-wing
prime minister of Great Britain.
But Carter is still issuing tight-
lipped statements that "it has
been decided" that the U.S. team
is not going. It is a pity that the
man hasn't yet learned that the
U.S. president has no direct con-
trol over private activities like-
the Olympics.
Press discussion has centered
on only two more steps Carter
can take. He can try to bully the
U.S. Olympic Committee (the
gloup with the power) into going
along with his wishes. Weshave
already witnessed that sorry
spectacle once. Or, since he can't
cancel the athletes' visas, he can
revoke their passports. What a
truly noble step for a president to
take.
There is one more step,
however, which would be in
keeping with his general ap-
proach. Carter can always have
the athletes arrested for treason.
President Johnson would hav
loved it.
-David Cahill
March 24
Profs concerned about Stegeman plan
lk
OEEIN GLAD YD1V G T EOU A SjAE
C
TM T RkE A , ..gy
orflO !
To the Daily:
Despite growing opposition, the
University's Regents have voted
to sell Mr. Stegeman the crucial
piece of land for his skyscraper
building, which will be twice as
high as the present University
Towers, and one-third the height
of the Empire State Building. We
suspect that much of the Univer-
sity community is surprised
about and opposed to this,
preferring to see instead a
careful study and a more sensible
residential development of the
area. With this letter we wish to
help give that sentiment a focus.
Impact on the University. The
building would be an enormous
intrusion, close to the center of
the learning-commercial-living
environment of our University. It
will have permanent effects. The
campus' appearance and views,
The Phantom Project. Mr.
Stegeman has never presented
more than a few vague ideas and
a crude model of his "proposal."
Therefore, the University com-
munity has had no tangible
project to which to respond.
Many members of the University
were taken unaware by the
Regents' recent revival of this
matter, thinking it had been
shelved-while others of us
believed it impossible that it
would receive enough Regental
votes ever to come to the present
situation. In any event, the
Regents lacked the factual basis
for making a responsible
decision.
Careful Planning and
Safeguards. The Regents have
provided virtually no safeguards
against an unfavorable building
on this site. There has been little
bers of the University are also
concerned about this matter (from
any point of view). If you are,
please contact one of us and
/or voice your concerns directly
to President Shapiro and other
University officers.
Gardner Ackley, Department
of Economics; John A. Bailey,
Department of Near Eastern
Studies; Harry B. Benford,
Department of Naval Architec-
ture and Marine Engineering;
Harvey E. Brazer, Department
of Economics; Frank P. Casa
Department of Romance
Languages and Literatures;
Douglas D. Crary, Department of
Geography; Samuel J. Elder-
sveld, Department of Political
Science; David C. Huntington,
Department of History and Art;
Movses J. Kaldjian, Department
of Naval Architecture and
Marine Engineering; Michael D.
ii.I iii , A 1 f/l N//IIIIE - . .