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Page 4 Saturday October 27,13984 The Michigan Daily
Weapons research debate goes to trial
research (At that time most weapons culminating in the adoption of non- suchrresearcthepfsto thte ant
By Tom Marx work was classified, which is not the classified weapons research restric- Thecorthasruedtht w wn' b
case now.) lions by the Michigan Student Assem-Tecuthsrldta ewntb able to talk about why we did what we
Two days after the November 6 In 1971, the student member of the bly and the Faculty Assembly in the dd hssesqieujs.Ia
nuclear free zone vote another impor- Panel examining classified research Spring of 1983. Then, to the surprise of w i, Tissemstnd te unrmybju s um
tant event in the local anti-weapons broke a story to the Daily showing the most everyone involved in the issue, Iin should bestn able tlt or eliefshyumy
research. debate will occur. The first guidelines weren't working and that the regents voted aganst the eiescsdmexl ai why mdd.'
trial of the 11 PSN members arrested plenty of weapons work was still being guidelnes, 7-1, thus leaving the Univer-belienca smto t thole wId id.hiss
for non-violent protest of weapons dn.AerlgeProet n ek iY wt nyth 192rsrtis I never thought I would be jailed
research on campus is scheduled for long hunger strike by some faculty, the against classified weapons research.eas fi.Btteatos(n nc
8:30 a.m. at City Hall. We urge all those regents, in 1972, adopted stricter Thus the regents have condoned ion) ofbeasthi.u the administration( and the con,
in avo ofdisrmmen an anendtoguidelines and divested from Willow weapons research on campus against tiutnoftswrkhsordmet
the University's participation in the Run labs (now ERIM, a non-profit, the wishes of the students and the tk tn.Iws intne o u
arms race to come and show your sup- private corporation which does manly faculty. Iakdo. Newnweapowis int nedhnoogyu
port. Department of Defense research and IN THE FALL of 1983 the Progressive I .Ngse eaposehologirsrk
On March 6 of this year, after ha ist ueosUiest tdn ewr PN, oeo h and accidental nnuclear war. We have a'
almost three years of debate and an un- professors). Immediately, DoD resear- main organizers for guidelines, decided responsibility, a was made clear in the
democratic rejection of weapons ch at the University dropped from this issue of the University's moral Nuremberg trials of Nazi War
research guidelines by the regents, I third in the nation to negligible amoun- responsibility was too important to let criminals, to take action against or
felt it was necessary to put my body on ts. die. We began a series of informative government's preparations for the final,
the line to try and stop our University's THE CONTROVERSY arose again in vigils on the Diag, lasting in total overwr.Wsstdnsadmm rso
involvement in the arms race. Eleven 1981 when George Gamota was hired. 140 hours. Seeing much support but lit- >sthr eUnasesitydetsnmm be o
of usb ok d d hed rof hew p ns F r ry a Pentagon research ad- tle action we decided it was tim e to seU iavrsp biity o m tyw rka geans
research lab of George Haddad, and ministator, Gamota was hired to head directly confront weapons research,s the University's involvement in the in
were arrested and charged with the Institute of Science and Technology and we began a campaign of non- sane arms race. There are many difs
trespassafterrefusingtoleave. (IST). He announced his intentions to violent civil disobedience in the entwytodthsW.msta.
TWANT nesdesinndheincrease the University's share of the tradition of peace and social justice ferenoway our os is. We. must all.b
consequence of our action has been a DoD research pie, despite the movements everywhere. In November, Nkgit ytnes s orefa m
disruption of our lives, harassment, guidelines. He has been very suc- through a peaceful blockade, we shut Last spring eleven members of the Progressive Student Networ were guitybtand qerski, youthrelferean im-
a challenging of our postion, and an cessful. In the past few years, DoD down Thomas Senior's lab, where arrested for a sit-n staged to protest weapons research. Their case comes to pontclear ques tomorrowo, fthrwhaetcyo u
examination of our beliefs and our role research has more than doubled, to a stealth technology for such items as the trial early next month. sayrasagns fyoia cane dridio fgreofabu 65relinvolasnntris isilt? Ivloedfndsathudieo reensweIfte nse
has caused some controversy and bth fiscal year 1983., . ilindllr rsearch into hardenenng missls and presure, no acions have been initiated ceqenh cs which could include ithing, r mldae ieither you not
cause Ian d litoexas ineprthe intrntonbsdstudens and Gaculty tromagnetic pulse)tetfects o a nclea Thus, on Marchrese1rof us entered SINCE OUR ARREST there have We'll have our day in court. The
his.Iyouhedebatoexmnthereethe began investigating weapons research blast is performed. The blockade lasted the lab of George Haddad. We came to been numerous pre-trial hearings and University will continuopse wea pons
Mh6ryofahedbate, the sumntsize at the University and found that it was 48 hours and effectively raised the issue temporarily stop his work on the one set of trails was postponed with the research. Wel otnet PPos
ahywefeelduractionaneessaryz indeed making quite a comeback. Most of weapons research again Phoenix Missile, soon to be equipped November 8 date set. We have sub- We will change things because we must
any justfied.u cinwa eesr projects are non-classified, so they do In January of 1984, again through with a nuclear warhead. We accept the poenaed President Shapiro and some of change things. It is your responsibilit
Thd just fi theU.ve ,it'sotr fall within the 1972 guidelines civil disobedience we got University consequences of our actions. We acted the regents. We claim our action and mine. None of us are "inocent,
thiisstion i the Unms iacesint ar- against classified weapons work. President Harold Shapiro to attend a out of a belief that peace begins at was justified and legal because we were and none of us will escape the effects of
onTicpto he irstr""efiscusotn (However, these guidelines are being forum on military research. We had home, that if we are to disarm, we must acting out of necessity, a legal defense. WWIII. Please attend the trial and
begn Th irsr7,ndh'ncamduspecessac- violated, as classified weapons resear- been trying for two years to get an ad- work locally and nationally. We acted We feel a direct and personal threat to show your support. Protest and s--
begavists 19roeste hnivempsty'sdirect ch is still being done here, including an- ministrator to such a forum. It took because we felt we are all responsible our lives from nuclear weapons and vive.
patiit o(throhreer hadisbmrnywrar sdblisiirec . d t action before they finally agreed for the actions of this University, and nuclear weapons research. We tried the
prariigprog rm)ug hreeammd i-sil ubmane,)arfaeadbaisc re3 e opepakdth edltn that if we don't work to sto weapons legal channels available to us and were Mr a n ftoearse
WrIn196rgrams)gntsothe edam hest uidensadflybgane.)oomr35 oeke dteendetonsk research then we are responsible for unfairly denied. Thus we felt it Mr n ftoearse
Wgridlnsins68thclasifegensaostodgTheinstudentsudfcuyrea, uRons to hagaihedespite thiortsf the consequences of such research necessary to take direct action aganst and is a graduate of the Universit.:
guidlme agmst lasifid wapon oraniingagaist uchreserch qustins. ut gai, dspit ths srtq
th ihgan t il
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Sinclair
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e
Vol. XCV, No. 45
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Morton Grove's success
0 N TUESDAY two students were
shot inside a Detroit high school.
The students were involved in a fight
that went beyond the verbal abuse and
fistfight stage. Wne youth broke away
from the fighters, drew a handgun, and
ffired. The superintendent of the
Detroit schools said that there are
many strict security measures in place
in the schools : police and security
guards watch the area and students
who carry guns are expelled. Yet, as
the superintendent rightly noted, "The
situation which occurred... was
unavoidable in light of the availability
of guns in our society."
Last week the Illinois Supreme Court
upheld the nation's first handgun ban
in the Chicago suburb of Morton
Grove. This affirmation of com-
munities' right to regulate the use of
handguns should be a signal to other
cities around the country that citizens
can at least attempt to limit the over-
whelming prevalence of guns in this
society. It may be that if Detroit had a
handgun law Tuesday's shooting would
still have occurred. But at .least the
residents could feel they had taken
some measure likely to save a few
lives.
In Morton Grove, four residents
challenged the 1981 law, contending
that it violated their state con-
stitutional guarantee of the right to
bear arms and was not in the scope of
local officials' authority. The ordinan-
ce permits the possession of rifles and
shotguns but restricts handguns to law
officers and security guards. The
judge, however, ruled that as long as
not all guns are outlawed it is perfectly
legal. More importantly, the judge said
that the law was justified "because of
the ease with which handguns can be
concealed and handled, as compared
with other types of weapons." This is
an important distinction to make.
Shotguns are large, difficult to
conceal, and are used primarily to
hunt game. In contrast, the primary
purpose of handguns is to kill or wound
another human being. They are small
and all too easily hidden in a pocket.
Detroit, with the nation's worst mur-
der rate and third worst violent crime
rate, has good reason to prohibit the
possession of the latter more
dangerous weapon.
So far the Morton Grove law has
resulted in three arrests.. These three
people might not have taken the lives
of others. Then again, they very well
could have. When a community has a
history of handguns being wrongfully
used to commit crimes and murders,
it's time to take action as Morton
Grove did.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY
4
Little choice for the American voter
TAftter wthing the debates on
Sunday, it became clear to me
that with regards to foreign
policy, the American voter has no
choice on November 6.
''nde ciballed Che Guevara
that he (Guevara), is a figure of
heroic dimensions in the eyes of
Modl;scting ofathis man as
contemptible, would be
equivalent to de la Madrid (the
current president of Mexico)
calling Martin Luther King
despicable. The parallels bet-
ween these two men's lives are
our har d earned dollars into
staged democracies and election
masquerades, not to mention the
millions that will go into forging
this pseudo-reality out of per-
sistent military agression and the
senseles death-toll of thousands
The Mondale-Ferraro ticket,
like the Reagan-Bush ticket, will
dependent spirit and the right to
self-determination of each and
every one of these countries.
They all perceive any kind of
BLOOM COUNTY
revolutionary spirit in terms of f a n t a s t i c
simplistic ideological conflict,
and in doing so demonstrate a
Unsigned editorials ap-
of this page represen t a
Daily's Editorial Board.
i gn or a n ce.
-Tamara Williams
October 23
' p"3
NOW
by Berke Breathed
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