Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 23, 1991

420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Edited and Managed
by Students at the
University of Michigan

ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN
Editor in Chief
STEPHEN HENDERSON
Opinion Editor

TEEK
Teek comes off the bench to lead the
Wolverines to the most dramatic
victory in Rose Bowl history...
/ f.
U r

Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board.
All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily.
COMMUNITY CRISIS
-o We at the Daily have noticed a disturbing trend in the community this fall - a crisis,
if you will. Students and police officers seem to clash every weekend, sometimes
resulting in violence. Today, we devote the "From the Daily" section to a discussion
of some of these events, and what we think they mean.

by Thomas Keenan
That's it.no more couch naps between classes!

Teek, do you take Christie
Brinkley to be your lawfully
wedded w&?

Is this

a trick question?

I /

South 'U' incident

Despite widespread community outrage at po-
lice Macing and tear gassing of studens on
South University two weeks ago Saturday, Univer-
sity officials will not be investigating the incident.
University police, in addition to officers from
Ann Arbor, Washtenaw county, Ypsilanti, and
Michigan State police were all on the scene early
Saturday morning. As the events unravel, it ap-
pears that police actions escalated, rathered than
dispelled disruption.
When the Ann Arbor Fire Chief closed down
South University bars because of over-crowding,
thrusting hundreds of students into the streets, a
volatile situation was produced. The boisterous-
ness of the crowd prompted University officers to
call up other police to help handle the situation.
This constitutes the first major mistake of the
Cops & parties
T his fall, students have been surprised by the
new party-busting tactics of the Ann Arbor
Police Department.
These tactics include the use of"21 Jump Street"
style undercover police officers. Over the past
couple of weeks, these undercover officers have
entered several different fraternity and other house
parties, and have issued citations and arrest war-
rants.
The use of undercover officers, wielding fake
party invitations and phony student I.D.'s may
seem like a gross violation of privacy, but, tech-
nically, police do have limited power to use such
methods. In an article which appeared in the Daily
on Sept. 20, "Police, students at odds over parties,"
LieutenantAllen Hartwig of the AAPD commented
that the police were using proper procedure when
entering fraternity parties.
Last Saturday, though, two undercover officers

evening. As more and more police arrived in their
squad cars, tensions spiraled and a confrontational
situation developed. With the addition of each
uniformed officer, fear grew in the minds of both
students and police.
While it is unclear weather a student or an
officer "cast the first stone," better judgement on
the part of the police could have averted the melee
that followed. Local, State, and County police tear
gassed the crowd, and randomly Maced and beat
individual students with clubs.
The University should be outraged at these
events. An investigation would be a minimal step
that might clear up to what extent students were
violated. Furthermore, University officials must
refrain from blaming the incident on alcohol, thus
dodging the real issue - possible police error.

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Daily errs in Israel editorial

attempted to enter a party at the Chi Phi fraternity
house. One male and one female officer produced
student I.D.'s, but did not have invitations to the
party. Fraternity members informed them that they
could not enter the party.
The officers then sat on the porch of the house
and pouted for 15 minutes. This pitiful display
eventually invoked the sympathy of the Chi Phi
social chair who allowed the two to enter the party.
Upon entering the party, the police cited people for
underage drinking, and issued a warrant for the
arrest of the fraternity's president.
In this instance, it is certainly questionable
whether the police acted "according to procedure."
By appealing to the sympathy of the fraternity
members after initially being turned away, the
officers clearly acted in a dishonest and under-
handed manner, and may even have subscribed to
methods of entrapment.

To the Daily:
Having read the Daily
editorial on the issue of U.S.
loan guarantees to Israel
("Israel: U.S. aid is inappropri-
ate, unavailable," Daily, Sept.
19, 1991), we are concerned
with what we see as a misrep-
resentation of the truth of the
matter.
The editorial argues that
"U.S. aid is inappropriate,
unavailable." The word "aid"
is a misnomer. Israel has
requested loan guarantees over
a period of five years. not aid.
Aid implies that the United
States is simply handing
money to Israel. The Daily
claims that the United States is
financially strapped and "...can
ill-afford such a large drain on
its coffers." The editorial
supports this by stating, "Israel
is asking for $10 billion
dollars gratis," as "even the
most conservative economists
concede Israel's inability to
repay this giant loan."
Nothing could be further
from the truth.
What Israel is actually
requesting is a co-signing of a
$10 billion loan for which it is

The editorial argues
that "U.S. aid is
inappropriate, un-
available." The word
"aid " is a misnomer.
Israel has requested
loan guarantees over
a period of five
years, not aid.
applying to sources other than
the U.S. government. The
United States will set aside a
small percentage of the full
sum ($150 million or so) as
guarantees that Israel will pay
backthe money. Israel,
holding a perfect credit rating,
is one of only two nations in
the world that has never
defaulted on a loan. Every
indication shows that it will
pay back the loan, costing the
United States nothing.
The editorial also suggests
that the problem could be
solved by bringing Soviet and
Ethiopian refugees to the U.S.
This claim is unrealistic.
The Ethiopians, who
dreamed for centuries of going

to the holy land, had no desire
to go anywhere but Israel. To
the Soviets, Israel is the nation
that rescued them and the only
nation which has been con-
stantly willing to take them in.
Furthermore, we fail to see how
asking the United States to pay
directly (not just co-sign a loan)
for the resettlement of refugees
in America will save money.
Israel is currently facing the
huge task of absorbing a
number of immigrants equal to
one quarter of its population.
Israel is attacking the problem
with everything it has, straining
its resources to the limit. It
needs the loans, not only for
housing, but for food, clothing,
employment and education.
These refugees have
nowhere to go. They cannot go
back to the perilous situations
they left behind. They cannot
all come to the U.S., despite the
Daily's generous offer. They
must go to their homeland -
their only sure refuge on this
planet.
Jeremy Litt
Eric Berkman
LSA seniors

.

Cops with guns on campus

Last Tuesday, University police officers chased
a suspected felon from the Central Campus
Recreation Building (CCRB) to Angell Hall, where
they wrestled him to the ground, pulled their guns
and arrested him. The Department of Public Safety
is investigating the incident to determine whether
the officers followed proper procedure.
The officers began chasing the suspect - who
is not a student - after he tried to get into the
CCRB with a Michigan driver's license. A back-
ground check on the license revealed three out-
standing warrants: one felony and two misde-
meanors. The felony charge was for delivery of
marijuana/possession with the intent to deliver; the
misdemeanor charges were for traffic violations.
The police subdued the suspect in Angell Hall,
just outside CRISP, and then drew their guns

before arresting him.
But the suspect never posed a threat to police or
students -neither through his actions that day nor
through his previous violations. And it wasn't until
after he had been brought to the ground that the
officers pulled their guns.
Campus police policy dictates that officers
should use their guns only to protect others from
serious injury or death, or when their is no fore-
seeable alternative. University officials say they
believe procedure was followed.
Regardless of police procedure, these officers
exhibited a tremendous lack of judgment. Their
decision to draw firearms in what clearly was a
non-threatening situation once again raises the
question of whether University police should be
armed with guns at all.


What does all of this mean?

T hese and other incidents involving police and
students this term suggest to us that law en-
forcementoflicers are taking an increasingly hostile
stance towards students. Police are directing greater
energy toward breaking up parties, isuing noise
violations, and giving out tickets for innappropriate
and drunken behavior.
And in at least two instances, police have over-
reacted to a situation, endangering students' lives
instead of protecting them.
The veritable army ofpolice officers that formed
on South University is undeniably to blame for
intesifying the situation and fueling the riot that
ensued. They needlesly resorted to use of their
weapons by gassing a largely non-threatening
crowd. The end result was an increase in criminal
behavior, not prevention of it. Angry students
began throwing rocks .and bottles that damaged
property and injured officers, while hostile police
lashed out at students with clubs and injured in-
nocent people.
And by breaking up innocuous houses parties
-fraternity and otherwise - police have reached
new heights in their intolerance of normal student
behavior. Breaking up parties, sneaking around in
undercover patrols and issuing an over-abundance

of noise violations will not curb student-partying.
By contrast, it will enanger students and exacerbate
existing tensions.
Admitedly, students must strive to control
themselves and further check their own disorderly
behavior on the weekends. But police must realize
that it is not their job to continuously circle Ann
Arbor issuing petty noise violations to students.
Furthermore, when a legitimate disturbance does
occur, and either student or community safety is at
stake, police musthandle these situations with cool
heads and even cooler trigger-fingers. Groups of
law-breaking students can be ticketed or arrested
as individuals, but there is no excuse for police to
attack a group of of students just for being students,
or just for being drunk.
If police, students and Ann Arbor residents are
to peaceful co-exist in this community, we all must
work harder to avoid confrontation. Students must
police their own and each other's behavior, and
take extra precautions when dealing with intoxi-
cants.
But the police must also lay-off benign student
activities, and respond to genuinely dangerous
situations involving students with less hostility
and more understanding.

More on b-ball
To the Daily.
I just read John Seal's letter
concerning putting parking meters
in the North Campus commuter
lot ("'U' parking woes," Daily,
Sept. 20, 1991).
He questioned what the
University administration could*
have been thinking and whether
they considered that such a move
would prevent people like himself
form coming to campus to be
available or students above and
beyond his required office hours.
Although I have no stake in
the parking meter issue, I too am
wondering why the administra-
tion, in this particular case the
athletic administration, wants to
make going to basketball games
so difficult. Like the parking
meters, didn't anyone think this
through?
This is my third year here as a
graduate student and I have
bought season basketball tickets
each of the past two years. Going
to game has shown me that
Michigan is just not a basketball
school.
This may rile some people, but
if you can't sell out the building
for every game the year after a
national championship with four
returning starters, than you don't
have a basketball school.
Coach Steve Fisher's desire to
make Crisler Arena louder is
commendable. But the system
makes little sense. Although
having to wait in line to purchase
a student pass at midnight is an
inconvenience, I would be willing
to do it. But that should be the
end of it. I should be able to take
that pass, show it at any door,
gain admittance and then sit in the
student section on a first come,
first serve basis.
But as I understand the new

game.
As for noise, how can Dick
Vitale say, "They're rockin in
Ann Arbor, baby," when people
aren't going to be there in
sufficient numbers to rock.
Steve Skalka
Rackham graduate student
Students not at
fault on South 'U'
To the Daily:
I am quite disturbed about
what I read in the Sept. 16 article
"City officials to look into
gassing incident."
At first glance, I believed this
article would describe an unbi-
ased investigation by the City of
Ann Arbor into the tear gassing
incident on South University.
However, upon reading the
article, I have come to realize that
the students have already been
tried and convicted in this case.
I was appalled at the actions
taken by the police on South
University, and I am even more
distressed by the reactions of city
officials to the incident.
Mayor Liz B rater has said that
"the root of the problem was a
number of intoxicated people in
the area." Several City Council
members also feel that the
unfortunate outcome of that
night's events was directly due to
drunken students.
Brater asserts that "alcohol
abuse is a major cause of disrup-
tion and disturbance in this
community." I do not necessarily
disagree with this. What concerns
me is the trend I see in which the
excuse of "drunken, riotous
students" is repeatedly used to
justify unnecessarily abusive
behavior by the police.
In this cne I feel the nrhblems

the police had to confront an
already riotous crowd, two weeks
ago they incited one. I am
concerned not only with the
actions taken by the police, but
also with the response of the
powers-that-be to the incident.
Diane Salitan
LSA senior
Research and 'U'
To the Daily:
It seems to be heresy to
question or cast doubt upon the
University of Michigan about its
charges concerning research
funds.
The local press has written
more in the defense of the
University than needs to be said,
while many things in the audit are
left begging for explanations. The
press and local politicians have
followed the University's lead
and is emphasizing the technical
aspects of the federal research
guidelines.
The anger over the "leak" of
the audit to the pres and the press'
subsequent implications of
impropriety are both legitimate
and a strategy to direct the public
away from two other problems
that have to concern the Univer-
sity: how it conducts its business
and how it spends its money.
As a taxpayer, it does not
matter to me if the audit was
leaked. If the University had been
the "responsible steward of
research funds," as Regent Philip
Power (D-Ann Arbor) claims, it
would not have thrown everything
(including the kitchen sink) into
the audit. This forces the federal
government to either spend large
ticket items while hundreds of
thousands of dollars in small
items slip through.
Is this being responsible? I

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Nuts and Bolts
-/AMON Tfl.EY'faRE ON '}-y
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'METRE NAOUEAT1NGJ
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by Judd Winick
WNAT? NO COot?
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