4 OPINION Page 4 Tuesday, March 13, 1984 The Michigan Daily 4 Civil disobedience: Amoral force By Jonathan Ellis Civil disobedience, such as the pro- test of eleven people who were arrested on campus last week, is one of the most dramatic forms of political action, and one which is frequently misjudged. Civil disobedience at its best is not an expression of physical force but of moral force. It does not claim that cer- tain individuals are above the law, or that they should be able to disrupt any activity to which they object. Rather, civil disobedience asserts that citizens have the right, and sometimes the obligation, to force their arrest under very particular circum- stances: (1) when the activity to which they object is, in their belief, an especially serious wrong, a grave in- justice to individuals, or the most dangerous threat to the community as a whole, and (2) when other channels have been ineffective. Certainly the recent sit-ins in the East Engineering building meet these criteria. Whatever one's opinion about military research, the seriousness of the matter cannot be denied, and the regents' disregard of the expressed views of faculty and student represen- tative bodies leaves scant room for conventional political action. There is little danger that such civil disobedience will breed general, lawlessness, as the experience of arrest and jailing is worth only the most im- portant of causes-which eleven people saw first-hand last week. This was no surreptitious crime perpetrated in the dark against the prospect of detection. In the full light of day, those students said: "You cannot continue planning the methods of destruction of everyone we know and everyone we love unless you first have us carried away." There are few more noble acts a citizen can perform. It is easy to brand such activity as rowdy and reckless, especially if one has an interest in discrediting the substance of the protest. The examples of Gandhi and Martin Luther King show that such civil disobedience is most effective when its adherents succeed in remaining peaceful and non-violent-no matter what the physical force used against them. This is no easy task. The events of last week also expose the impact of the proposed new student code of non-academic conduct if enac- ted. Currently, a document called the rules of the university community outlines rights and responsibilities which apply equally to all students, faculty and staff members. Under these rules, since the protestors were arrested and charged Iin court, the University is now prohibited from sub- jecting them to a second prosecutin un- der campus regulations. Even had the University chosen an internal prosecution and not used the police to arrest these students, the campus penalties under the existing rules for such civil disobedience would be censure, fine, or work assignment. The rules of the University community now in effect permit the suspension or expulsion of students only for a violation which "intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict death or serious physical injury." In contrast, the proposed new con- duct code would apply only to students, and civil disobedience could result in tions and where a second set of penalties could be imposed after students had already been arrested and charged in criminal court. This concrete example of how the proposed student conduct code could be 'The examples of Gandhi and Martin Luther King show that such civil disobedience is most effective when its adherents succeed in remaining peaceful and non-violent-no matter what the physical force used again- st them. This is no easy task.' penalties for non-violent protest? The innocence which is alleged in proposing the code is further under- mined by reports that University of- ficials may attempt to have the regents amend their by-laws to permit adoption of the code without the approval of student government, if MSA rejects the code proposal. The basic question involved is: should students be subject to removal from the University community, through suspension or expulsion, solely because they engage in peaceful civil disobedience? I would argue that the willingness of such students to make personal sacrifices in presenting their message, even to be arrested for what they believe, strengthens rather than lessens their claim to membership in the University. In my view, that willingness also in- creases our obligation to listen again to what they are saying. Fls is diector offthe Canterbury Loft. 4 4 suspension or expulsion if it were judged to be "grievous." Further, that judgement would take place in a new University judicial system which does not include many civil liberties protec- used to stifle campus dissent makes hollow the claim that no such intent exists. If there is no intent to use the code against civil disobedience, why does the code permit these new harsh I Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Stewart Vol. XCIV-No. 128 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Baby seals and acid rain THE IMAGE of an adorable baby harp seal being clubbed to death by a callous hunter has brought out the environmentalist and humanitarian in even the most stoic defenders of man's right to kill. In fact, public sentiment prompted the European Economic Community to ban imports of baby seal pelts and urged the United States to threaten a boycott of Canada's $1 billion fishing exports if the hunt was not discontinued. In response to such pressures the Canadian Sealing Association last week called off the hunt and revealed the power of public sentiment to force changes in environmental policy. But this large public outcry also reveals inconsistencies and ignorance surrounding the American public's en- vironmental consciousness. While suprising anger is aroused at the killing of a couple of thousand seals, the public's back is turned as legislators, and especially the Reagan administration, ignore a much more dire environmental injustice-acid rain. The problem is that lakes and trees aren't cute. They don't whimper as they die, and sulfuric dioxide emissions are not as symbolically powerful as a spiked club. Though more subtle and diffuse, the death of lakes and trees poses a threat to the ecosystem in- finitely greater than the killing of young harp seals. While governors and congressmen haggle over funding for measures that would reduce emissions and President Reagan avoids those measures altogether simply calling for more studies, the entire Eastern' Seaboard is threatened by a severe en- vironmental sickness. The acidity of eastern lakes has in- creased alarmingly over the last few years and has resulted in the literal "death" of many bodies of water. In addition, recent studies conducted by the National Academy of Sciences and one commissioned by Reagan's own science advisor have revealed an un- suspected, menacing deterioration of forests throughout the East Coast and have called for action, not more "studies" and endless debate. The evidence exposes damaged foliage and retarded growth in eastern forests, and large areas where trees are actually dead or dying. And all of the evidence points to acid rain as the cause. The solution is to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by one half through the use of low-sulfur coal or scrubbers in power plants and industrial burners. The legislative difficulty arises out of the cost of such measures and the fact that acid rain is viewed as the problem of eastern states, not of the nation as a whole. But such widespread ecological damage is not regional and its cost cannot be couched in monetary or even social terms. The health of a planet and its mutually dependent organisms is at stake. An end to this poisoning of the en- vironment should not be put off in or- der to placate those who are uncom- fortable with difficult and costly an- swers. The American public's boycott of Canadian fish products largely con- tributed to the end of the seal slaughter. Large hurdles were over- come in order to protect cute and cud- dly baby seals. Large hurdles need to be overcome in order to protect the fundamental ecological components that acid rain threatens. =VOTING % II \ d ./ : if '. $°O . ,; l,> . , . ::' "" ; M1 / .t .. ' .:. w mow V 44 ) $2$ < I I ----:__ c ' 1 1 '84 y LETTERS TO THE DAILY: 14 Nazis not worthy of sanctuary To the Daily: Once again southeastern Michigan's small band of Nazi- Klan terror-mongers has announ- ced its intention of "demon- strating" in celebration of Hitler's birthday at Ann Arbor's City Hall. People calling them- selves the "S.S. Action Group" put flyers on car windshields parked next to the AnnArbor Public Library while a Sunday meeting of the New Jewish Agen- da group was in progress. If the "S.S. Action Group" arrives for its annual bravado display of murder-politics on the 17th of March, Ann Arbor will no doubt once again spend thousan- ds of dollars to welcome them with mass police protection. The rationale for this expense is that we are supporting the right of Nazis and Klansmen to exercise their "freedom of speech." I can only wonder if the police and city government would offer similar support to a group publicly calling on young men to commit rape to prove their manhood. Many people are directly at- tacked . by Nazi propagan- da - death to Jews, to Blacks, to gays, and to the rights of labor is their basic platform. Many feel strongly enough to try to force the Nazis to shut up. In both 1982 and 1983 those promoters of genocide who came to town were attacked by counter-demonstrators. When from the justified anger of their proposed victims. The hate- campaign of the Nazis is not mere words, after all. Michigan's "nightriders" con- tinue to deface the property and threaten the persons of local Jewish and black families and organizations. I understand a home off Platt road was vic- timized recently. And even when Nazi-Klan aggression is "merely verbal," its terrorizing purpose is obvious-they thrust it in the faces of the people it attacks. At the least Ann Arbor could easily stop this annual circus by not offering sanctuary for publicity-minded Nazis. If they don't find police protection in 1984, I'm willing to bet they won't be back in 1985. A few bruised Fascists seems a small price for a community safe from race- hatred propaganda. 4 Homosexual rights should concern all To the Daily: Hitler started a purge of homosexuals in 1934, removing thousands of them from their jobs and putting them in concen- tration camps along with Jews, Communists, gypsies, and others. Rev. Martin Niemoeller, a German pastor whom the fascists imprisoned in Dachau, BLOOM COUNTY said: "They came for the Com- munists and I didn't protest because I wasn't a Communist. They came for the trade- unionists and I didn't protest because I wasn't a trade- unionist. They came for the Jews and I didn't protest because I wasn't a Jew. They came for the Catholics and I didn't protest because I wasn't a Catholic. And then they came for me-but by that time there wasn't anyone left to protest." Human rights for gays at the University is everyone's con- cern-both gays and non-gays alike. - Joseph Denny March 12 by Berke Breathed I -M6YY W RS M~ .E.D 6oS~t %roAOurL \ a eh nZ guT I'M A PPY To REogR 'NAT EWS FOUN4D F PLACE OF REFU6E . ARE WV? 1E55 WR . Vi'flE4 TO MAKE! a C I I F M5'SAN " yTV MY.. SUCH PRC*.iOTION.. A N EXOTIC AN[D OVER TWt5 LOCATION. YOUR< SPECIAL. I GiEST5STAR ... upt NtrF M FrC -rPfAI T1M1P- r _.. _ _ +/ _ 1 l ' i +. . . . ,, ' .± . , ..d,, k+ ia;, r, H5O'SI3 EXACTLY :) "5TfN& ' IE f1 1\ AND Y0% NOT EXA1CTLY BEVERLY 5(1145. NOW 60 SHARVE YOUR PIT5, BEAR. ~r AREN'T YOUI (ol it f ILL NG bPMWV 1 HI&7J4 ', 1')L"l Je