The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 6

IRe DEAA CONDOM HI AKRON BEACON JOURNAL JOHN 5. MIGHT, Prtsdtnf and Editorial Chairman C. KNIGHT, Pufalitkor, 1W7-1M3 EN MAOEN'BURC Puoisnw WflUiM A. OTT, Gancral Mf nejtr my MOK1W, Mior OifT H. STOWfK, Uitornl Mf I La I I I Court Was Wise To Stay Out Of A Private Fight Publish! Daily and Sunday by fh Beacon Jaurnal Publishing Co.

Founded April 15, 1139 Wednesday, July 12, 1972 A6 Editorials cB. A How Do You Figure This 'Man With The 3 By PERRY MORGAN Editor, Hit Macon Journal The Washington Post flew Into a snit when the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the Democratic delegate challenge cases from Illinois and California. The court, the Post cried, had "run for cover ducked abdicated its responsibility." But even while engaged in this lamentable flight, according to the Post, the "court stuck its hand into party affairs It intervened, pretending non-intervention. Well, I suppose there is some kind of screwy logic in the argument. If a bystander refuses to mix into a brawl, the results may well be influenced.

But in unpredictable ways. Similarly, if he mixes in he might stop the fight, might enlarge it, become the victim of it or, worse, prove so powerful that all future brawls would require his participation. The latter result, I take it, is what the Post craved. We are so accustomed to intervention after a long period of judicial activism that something seems amiss when a verdict is not handed down from on high. A teacher who sends a boy home from school because he is stepping on his curly locks may well find herself in Federal court repenting that she'd not afforded the lad a full and fair hearing.

A police officer searches a car occupied by a man carrying a weapon? Well, it's a Federal case. A kid is kicked off a Little League baseball team because his father wouldn't help rake the diamond? Why, the heavens shake, the Founding Fathers whirl in their graves, and an ever larger magnifying glass is held over the Constitution. We have been in an era, as the Greensboro Daily News notes, when Williams In thi Detroit Pre Press sounds from the grumble level to the shout among the ranks of party wheel-horses left out in the cold at this "reformed" convention. A thousand signs point conventional wisdom to the conclusion that McGovern faces big trouble between now and November. The analysts have been predicting it and will continue to predict it.

And conventional wisdom, again, says they're probably right: The President is a shoo-in. But our confidence in prediction Is shaken. By these same standards, and in the conclusions of these same wise men only a few months ago, McGovern was the fellow kidded for spending a year's work to get from 1 pet. to 3 pet. in the popularity ratings.

Muskie was the almost-sure thing, with Teddy Kennedy as the long-shot. And the convention was going to be an act of party hara-kiri. Then events seemed to follow a different rule-book. This hasn't built great faith in wise words about what parties and candidates and the people will surely do. Something different is happening, and we don't pretend to understand it.

In a way, there's comfort in that. It makes elections a lot more interesting than they'd be if the wise and the computers could really call them. Ohio Passes Of course it was simpler for the chairwoman of the Guam delegation. She had only three votes to account for. So there was no hesitation when Guam's name was called in the convention roll calls Monday night.

The lady rose promptly each time and proclaimed, "One and one-half votes yes, one and one-half votes no." Poor Frank King, on the other hand, had a miserable assignment. As chairman of the Ohio delegation, the erstwhile Toledo bookbinder had to keep track of 153 delegates split among four different presidential candidates. Adding to his burden was the fact that some of the Humphrey delegates were backed up by McGovern alternates, and as a loyal Humphrey man himself he had to be alert against shenanigans. Not to mention the further fact that Frank evidently was not the star, pupil in his third grade arithmetic class. As a result of all this, every time Ohio was called third in the list of states Ohio had to pass.

On some of the roll calls, Ohio passed again and again, and on all of them, as we. recall, Ohio, was the very last state to report. It got to be embarrassing. In fact, we won't be surprised if this is Frank King's last convention. The will of the group was clear early Tuesday, in the whopping vote that gave George McGovern back his 151 contested California delegates.

It not only ran 185 votes past the number needed for passage under the chair ruling disputed by anti-McGovern forces it rolled up to 109 more than a majority of the whole convention. Hubert Humphrey's withdrawal Tuesday afternoon shattered the last pretense' of hope in the stop-McGovern alliance. And Edmund Muskie was only underlining the evident when he called McGovern "obviously the choice" of the Democratic Convention and urged the party to close ranks in support of its candidate. So the tension rating of the show drops abruptly. The prairie "radical" from South Dakota, laughed off as a joke by the pundits and the pros a few months back, has the nomination in his pocket and without the predicted spilling of rivers of Democratic blood across millions of color TV screens.

There was blood enough, but well short of the massive public carnage many had foreseen. The slugging over the platform last night was no love feast but then, not many voters take platforms seriously; it's a rare one who remembers all the splendid rhetoric when he steps into the voting booth and picks his man. There is more reason to consider graver wounds left as the shouting dies: George Wallace and many of his supporters will be less than ecstatic at the outcome. It does not seem reasonable for McGovern to expect thumping support from that quarter. Chicago's Boss Dick Daley and his people, despite McGovern's efforts toward compromise, were given the bum's rush, and at least one angry supporter stormed that the machine's precinct workers will turn on McGovern.

Reporter Mike Royko un- impressed by the "amateurs'" loud confidence that they can deliver McGovern the big Chicago vote he'll need. Nobody can know, he said "Daley has never let the machine take a dive in a presidential election before." The AFL-CIO's top political strategists, conceding defeat in their effort to stop McGovern, were starting to walk away mad Tuesday. They indicated that their leadership will sit out the election; George Meany's hostility to President Nixon is apparently ex actly balanced by his hostility to McGovern. There have been cries nearing pan- ic level from some in Congress predicting disastrous losses of Democratic seats there through a McGovern nominationthe loudest coming from those most strongly supporting other candidates or most vigorously opposed to McGovern's views. And there have been ominous, angry Voice Of The People Sex Bias Charge Requires Scrutiny every "political thicket has had a black-robed Frank Buck thrashing within it." If this era is now ending and a new one beginning in which individuals, factions and parties are forced to settle some of their own conflicts through political processes, the country and, especially, the court likely will benefit Consider, for example, the delegate case that so pained the Post, and the question that so beset that journal: If not the courts," the Post said, "(who) is going to make political parties play by their own rules and who is going to see that basic fairness is imbedded in the most important public process in the country?" Well, the answer is now in.

The delegates themselves settled the Illinois and California cases and, interestingly enough, settled them in precisely the fashion that the Post thought the courts should prescribe. The convention ousted the Daley delegation from Illinois, upholding its credentials committee, and gave all California delegates to George McGovern, overruling the committee. It's arguable perhaps whether the cases were settled fairly. The more important point is that the conflict arose from party reforms designed without help or impetus from the courts to provide a fair share of convention power to groups heretofore excluded. With those groups present and voting peacefully and in good order, the delegate conflict was concluded.

And nobody can be- heard crying foul. Had the Supreme Court intervened, however, there would have been plenty of howls, and justifiably so. Intervention would have made precedent and the precedent an invitation to trot all squabbles into the courts where, as the Daily News notes, "all too many judges are inventive enough to find 'constitutional' reasons for imposing their personal preferences." Moreover, there would have been additional nourishment for the notion that, say, a Warren Burger or a William 0. Douglas is a better judge of political fairness than an Oliver Oca-sek' or an Eddie Davis. What supports that notion? Nothing that I can imagine.

Knowledge of law does not necessarily instill fairness or give insight into the texture of human attitudes, needs and emotions that comprise what we call politics. The Post is correct in asserting that "the institutions and procedures through which America is governed (are being) questioned as rarely before," and that "public confidence in the way the place is run is shaky." What should not be overlooked is that the Democratic Party itself has responded, through the participation of thousands of citizens and the reform of its own rules, to that problem. It has a right to be the judge of its own rules, and especially on points of fairness, because it is accountable to the people, the ultimate keepers of the Constitution, in a manner barred to any court. The Supreme Court has understood that and acted accordingly. It has refused to interfere with that "training in liberty" which the late Justice Frankfurter used to cite as the people's surest safeguard.

two were from women who met the criterion of having a Ph.D. or having completed it by September. Of these, one favorably compared in qualifications to the male applicants we considered; the other did not. If women are clustered at the lower end of the salary and status scale and if they are underrepresented on university faculties, it is at least In part due to the fact that many have not completed doctoral work in their respective fields. WITH REGARD to the charge of discrimination in female professors' salaries, it is true that it may have been a problem here at AU as in most other universities.

It is only fair to point out, however, that the university has been attempting to correct any such injustices. This year, for example, a larger increase in salary was allowed for female faculty members than for our male counterparts. The above I write as a member of AU's academic community. In closing I wish to speak as a professional sociologist who has done research and publishing in the area of women's roles in society. In my research, I have found that many professionally employed women do not work as long hours as their male counterparts.

They are more likely to be confined to a particular geographic location, have interrupted careers, and get their terminal degrees (if they receive one at all) later in life than do men. Marriage and motherhood take a toll on a woman's career that a man's need not suffer. THESE FACTS undoubtedly account for some of the salary discriminations that statistics demonstrate. In addition to this, female academicians (due in part to past discrimination) have clustered in fields that have not drawn the higher salaries. A law professor, for example, can command a salary that an English professor cannot.

What I am suggesting is that caution be used in interpreting statistics presented by WEAL I am aware that there are some problems of sex bias in some areas of the university, but a blanket indictment of the entire institution is of little value. MARGARET M. POLOMA, Ph.D. 575 Delaware av. Assistant Professor of Sociology Well Said, Mr.

O'Brien To The Editor: As a female faculty member in the department of sociology at the University of Akron, I would like to respond to the charge of sex bias at the university by Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) as you reported July 6. It would be a ridiculous assertion for me to state that women in academe have not met with discrimination. Studies are abundant demonstrating that they have. Yet figures (such as those used by the American Association of University Professors and WEAL) on the nature and extent of such discrimination may be extremely misleading. Having been active as a member of my department's executive committee and partially responsible for hiring new members of our department for the next academic year, I can better appreciate the problems of administrators who are accused of sex bias in hiring.

All of our new recruits for next Fall are young men (leaving us wide open to charges of sex discrimination), yet I can honestly state that our committee evaluated all applications received. Of the 70-plus applications, only Seiberling Cut Army Red Tape To The Editor: One sometimes gets the feeling that government agencies and individuals involved are not responsive to the needs of citizens. Congressman Seiberling has shown this isn't always true. He has been especially helpful to me. I was obligated to participate in Army Summer camp training and had an emergency occur just prior to reporting.

Congressman Seiberling and his Akron staff assisted me in cutting Army red tape and resolving my problem in a matter of days." Maybe if citizens would participate actively in the election process and support our. representatives, we would have more competent men in public office like John Seiberling and receive speedy assistance when we need it. RICHARD W. FERRELL JR. 3350 Elmwood St.

Cuyahoga Falls INTERCEPTED LETTERS PRESIDENT NIXON San Clemente Dear Dick: I don't get it. You visited Peking and Moscow with great fanfare, yet your administration seems ashamed to admit that four Americans were allowed to attend an oceanographers' conference in Havana. AKRON', Jr. 'Been recalled Son Last Seen At Rock Concert of Brecksville said her two children attended the concert and their car was damaged. Her children were not in the gate-crashing, pot smoking group.

My 16-year-old son very well could To The Editor: After reading the letter to the editor "Rock Concerts Should be Banned" (July 10) I felt I must write. too, must agree but for a different reason. Mrs. Alfredo Ayala On Equal Rights It is naive to take at face value the words spoken at a political it is understandable that seasoned reporters simply skip over a lot of them. They must, or they'd drown in the verbiage, most of it empty.

Even so, it seems from here that Democratic Chairman Lawrence O'Brien's remarks at the start of his party's convention rate more of a salute than they got in the coverage of the night's doings. They added up to It's About Time Two Confederate flags, captured by the 81st Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, will be returned to Georgia on Monday. Other captured flags were returned to the South in 1905. But two more taken from the 1st and 51st Georgia Volunteers at the Battle of Atlanta in 1864 were found when the Ohio Historical Society moved into new quarters. So Ohio's adjutant general will take them to Atlanta and hand them over to his Georgia counterpart in appropriate ceremonies.

The Ohio delegation will include the Sons of Union Veterans Fife and Drum Corps of Mt. Vernon. Ohioans in Union uniforms will be greeted by Georgians in Confederate attire and an Atlanta band will play "Dixie." And with that unless additional trophies turn up unexpectedly the Civil War will be over as far as Ohio is concerned. the most extraordinary political convention tone-setter in memory. We could tell people that they need only throw Nixon out of the White House and elect our man and all their problems would be solved, he said in substance except that it is not true, and they know it is not true.

The gap between the usual promises and real performance, he said, has led people to distrust both parties, and with justice. Neither has the power and the wisdom to cure all ills; there are no miracle short-cuts to the perfect society. Offering them only adds to people's suspicion that the whole political system is built on sham and lies, and fails to respond to real needs. It's time, he said, to level with the American people to promise no more than can be and then deliver it; to open up politics and government; to admit that solving problems requires work and sacrifice, in the faith that people are willing to sacrifice for goals they understand and can believe in. There was more; most probably heard it all, so there's little value in repeating it.

All of it was a kind of low-key realism departing sharply from the usual high-flown bombast that rolls at conventions. If either major American party actually applied O'Brien's advice, the result would be revolutionary a kind of revolution that would make the country a great deal healthier. But don't look for it today or tomorrow. have been. I can't say for sure because I haven't seen him, as of now, for 11 very long days and worried lonesome nights the empty room, too much milk in the refrigerator, one less plate at the table.

We only heard from someone else that he was seen there. We know he had no money. We love him, we want to help him and most of all, we want him back. I agree wholeheartedly with Mrs. Ayala, but thank God only her car was damaged.

MRS. G.E.M. Tallmadge Bobby Fischer Defended To The Editor: If Bobby Fischer were subsidized by our government, as Boris Spassky is by his, then people would not consider him an "Ugly American," as one writer to you put it. His challenging for the world championship of chess gives laymen a pleasure. KENNETH J.

SHAFFER 404 Stanford st. and those protective laws which benefit women will be extended to men. CAROL CONKLIN 5694 Lasater NW Canton To The Editor: Doesn't anyone care that if the equal rights amendment is passed, girls will have to register for the draft at age 18? I thought we were trying to get our boys out of Vietnam and now it seems some are trying to add the girls to the list. Had Councilman Capron been familiar with the issues and had he known girls will have to register for the draft, I wonder if his vote would have been yes, knowing he has a wife and five daughters at home. We won't have equal rights we'll have no rights at all.

MRS. HAROLD CAPLINGER 1 385 Stetler av. To The Editor: I commend Akron City Council on its resolution in support of the equal rights amendment. This amendment will guarantee legal equality for all women and all women will finally be recognized as first-class citizens under the Constitution, through the passage of the amendment and the legal equality that will be afforded women, the social and economic discrimination women face will be rectified. If more people, especially women, would take the time to read the many positive factors of the amendment, they would see the benefit to women and men.

It will not deprive, threaten or downgrade women. In particular, outmoded protective laws which force women out of jobs will be repealed.