Daily fgp Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXVI, Number 27	Los Angeles, California	Thursday, October 25, 1973
Israeli Aide Calls Sadat an Attacker
Officials^ Ethics ^ ill Be Topic At Roundtable
“Public Officials: Personal Ethics and Public Behavior’ will be discussed today by William May, associate dean ofthe Graduate School.
The discussion, one in a continuing series of noontime roundtable talks with distinguished USC scholars, will be held in the Upper Commons Dining Room.
BY ALIX RILEY
An Israeli consul aide said Wednesday that Anwar Sadat, president of the United Arab Republic, ordered his forces to attack Israeli troops earlier this month in order to focus attention on the Middle East situation.
Aaron Zeidenberg. the Information Assistant to the Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles, speaking to a noon-
time gathering at the Hillel House, said he was speaking as an individual and not necessarily expressing his government’s views.
The Arabs attacked perhaps as a matter of pride, and Sadat “didn’t care if his people got killed as long as it brought attention to the Middle East." said Zeidenberg.
HE EXPRESSED hopes
that, besides saving lives, the cease-fire which began yesterday would bring about an exchange of prisoners and a start of direct negotiations regarding the conflict.
“I hope the talk of direct negotiations can be pursued further,” he said. “There will have to be a direct confrontation of Israeli and Arab leaders.”
Zeidenberg was critical of
the Arabian decision to reduce oil supplies to the United States.
“The Arab countries felt they could arm-twist the U.S. into accepting their way,” he said. “In the long run, it’s going to backfire. A big country can’t allow itself to be arm-twisted.”
Zeidenberg sees no immediate solution to the Middle East situation.
“IT’S TOO emotionally charged,” he said. “There are not enough good feelings left to solve things on a humanitarian basis.”
CHARGE RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Socialists Discuss Suing of U.S
CAMPAIGNER—Herb Hafif, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for governor, spoke to a class here Wednesday. Hafif is focusing his candidacy on the issue of advocacy of consumer rights. DT photo by Michael Sedano.
Student Caucus Best Government—Appleton
BY KEVIN McKENNA
Assistant City Editor
James R. Appleton, vice president for student affairs, has issued a personal position paper on student government recommending that the student caucus of the University Council take upon itselfthe responsibility of student representation, it was learned Wednesday.
But Appleton’s recommendations drew a strong reaction from Stu Mollrich, one of the backers of the Voluntary Student Association (VSA) proposal approved in last spring’s governance referendum, who said Appleton's plan was undemocratic.
Appleton's statement recommended the establishment of a new fee allocations board to be appointed by the University Council, and the continuance of the $4.50 student programming fee until students petition for its discontinuance.
“I’VE BEEN here 10 months, and it’s come to the point where my interest in continuing student programming outweighs my interest in waiting for the student government issue to be solved,” Appleton said in an interview Wednesday.
Appleton said his statement was not official policy, but a response to a request for his personal feelings
about the student governance situation.
“I don’t think the spring assembly (which recommended the proposals that appeared on the May referendum) considered the potential of the University Council,” Appleton said. “I see the student caucus as the best device for student participation in the decisionmaking process of the university.”
But Appleton said the fee allocations board, not the caucus, should concern itself with the actual responsibilities of programming. He will recommend that the fee board be composed of
(Continued on page 2)
BY JULIE BECKLUND
A$27-million suit against the United States government was discussed on campus Wednesday, when Syd Stapleton, national secretary ofthe Political Rights Defense Fund, and Mike Alewitz, president of the Los Angeles chapter ofthe Young Socialists Alliance, met with students in SAC 202.
The class-action suit, filed jointly by the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialists Alliance accuses government officials, including the President and the attorney general, of violating individual constitutional rights.
The suit includes accusations that members and supporters of the two socialist organizations were interrogated and spied upon.
“ONCE YOU grant the government the right to discriminate against people, then you give officials the opportunity to arrest and investigate without charges,” said Stapleton.
The suit goes on to state that the FBI used tactics such as bribery and threats in attempt to induce Socialist Worker Party members to withdraw their support from the group and even become agents themselves.
Accusations of violence such as government-induced bombings, armed threats and break-ins are also part of the civil suit, which has not been served to every defendant except former Attorney General John Mitchell who keeps changing his address.
All defendants are required to respond by mid-November. Stapleton predicts the suit will take about two-and-a-half years to complete.
“WATERGATE revelations have had an
impact in convincing the American public that the government has been spying on political activists,” said Stapleton.
“In the fifties, there was an atmosphere of intimidation. Everybody was either convicted or ostracized.”
But lately, said Stapleton, times have changed and people such as Dr. Benjamin Spock, Angela Davis and the Gainesville Eight have been acquitted.
“The juries are now taking into consideration that some cases are based solely on information from government informers,” said Stapleton. “And they’re pronouncing them not guilty.’ ”
ALEWITZ said he knew of many instances where YSA members in Los Angeles have had their telephones tapped and their mail opened.
“It’s done because we’re a radical organization,” said Alewitz. “We’re young people who are looking for alternatives to the way this government is run, and they’ll do anything to stop YSA and what it represents.”
Alewitz went on to say that there is nothing in the constitution that states when people are “dangerous.” He, like Stapleton, finds it impossible to draw a line where the government is able to infringe on a person’s constitutional rights.
“If the government only wiretapped phones of notorious mafia members and dope peddlers, there wouldn’t be any suits,” said Stapleton.
STAPLETON and Alewitz cited several examples where they feel government agents started violence on the nation's campuses.
(Continued on page 3)
SOCIALIST SPEAKS—Syd Stapleton, national secretary of the Political Rights Defense Fund, discussed on campus Wednesday the $27-million suit brought against the United States government by two Socialist groups. DT photo by Audrey Chan.