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January 23, 1968 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 1968-01-23

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jr Ar4tgat D aily
Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

m. - .

Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth Will Prevail

NEWS PHONE: 764-0552

Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1968

NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID KNOKE

The 8 Month Lease

STUDENTS MUST stop signing apart-
ment leases for next fall.
It is the only way to protect their
interests, and protect the interest of
other students seeking. off-campus
housing.
Ever since the formation of the
Rental Property Association and the
simultaneous appearance of the omni-
present twelve month lease for stu-
dents, students have been the victims
of exorbitant rent increases for medi-
ocre housing that now places Ann
Arbor second in the country for rent
rates. The students' indifference to
this opportunist action by apartment
owners has now forced responsible stu-
dent organizations to demand that the
silence be ended.
NO PLACE IN the country has as
poor student-landlord relations as
Ann Arbor. The infamous stubbornness
of many leading real estate firms here
in dealing with problems raised by
tenants has almost become a legend.
Heating that never works, water that
is filled with rust, apartments left un-
clear, for new tenants, garbage that
is untouched, construction that ob-
structs movement-all are evidence of
the helplessness of students in dealing
with landlords.
The seemingly cooperative action in
ignoring tenant requests coupled with
the shady simultaneous and regular
rent increases over the past eight
years leaves much to be questioned
concerning the integrity of Ann Arbor
apartment operations.
But fortunately, apartment owners
have begun to hang themselves with
their own rope. In their exhuberance
with the rich profit possibilities in the
Ann Arbor market, they began several
years ago to build many more apart-
ments. Sky-scraper apartments now
dot the campus area, finally creating
this year more apartments than avail-
able tenants. One estimate had 700
vacancies in September of last year. A
rumor has circulated that correspon-
dence between Director of Housing
John Feldkamp and a University
vice-president anticipates 2000 apart-
ment vacancies for next September.
VHUS,THE present situation which
threatens to crumble apartment
owners' sturdy hold over what has
been a rich market is forcing them to
take a second look at their situation.
Student Gvernment Council has draft-
ed a new "eight month" lease. All Uni-
versity approved housing must use this
lease. Section 2(A) of the lease would
be signed for tenant occupation of
eight months only. Section 2(B) car-

ries an optional extention for an ad-
ditional four months. Students must
not be tricked into signing both sec-
tions; the option will now be theirs.
Already, apartment owner Herbert
Wickersham has agreed to lease apart-
ments out using only section 2(A)
agreement, or in other words, for eight
months only and without added pay-
ments. Other firms who have not yet
officially agreed to use the 2(A) sec-
tion only, but are presently operating
under such an agreement with some
tenants include Patrick Pulte, Inc.,
Walden Management, Packard Man-
agement, McKinley Associates, and
Oakand A p a r t m e n t s. (University
Towers now operates using the eight-
month lease without added payments.)
These firms were forced to offer stu-
dents lower rents and eight-month
leases without added payments.
Jim Boyer of Walden Enterprises
told The Daily that students "could
have a better chance" if they held off
signing leases. Patrick Pulte attributed
last year's lower rents to apartment
managers "who ran chicken." He said
because of the saturation of present
student housing, "I wouldn't think of
building anymore student housing."
THEFACT THAT owners did offer
eight-month leases, the fact that
one manager has accepted the new
lease relatively early in the apart-
ment-seeking season, and the fact that
there could be 2000 vacant apartments
in September with the finishing of the
new 26-story sky-scraper (at the cor-
ner of Maynard and William) is proof
that landlords will be forced into a
buyer's market unimagined several
years ago. And competition will lower
the prices, increase the services, and
perhaps do something to smooth over
a rough and tangled student-landlord
relationship.
Numbers are numbers. It doesn't
take an economist to understand that
if students wait they will get a better
deal. Next year everyone will have a
place of his choice in which to live-
whether or not they sign now or in
September. And with each month that
passes, more and more landlords will
have to surrender to the eight-month
lease. In the end, no apartment firm
will be able to survive without chang-
ing.
Thus, a concerted effort on the part
of students to wait until the landlords
realize they have no alternative to the
eight-month lease without added pay-
ment will assure each student the
apartment of his choice on more rea-
sonable terms.
-JIM HECK

RAAMLU

Letters to the Editor

.--mTRAN VAN DINH
The Peace Corps:
Past and Present
WASHINGTON-At its birth in 1961, the Peace Corps was close to
my heart, for I am a great believer in human fraternity.
I am also convinced that no progress and no change in a com-
munity of men can be made by cold rhetoric or sanitized govern-
ments-it is only possible with a personal commitment at the grass-
roots level. And human fraternity is a reality only when man's ideas
and hopes cross geographical and racial frontiers to engage other
men into action.
The Peace Corps also somehow fits into the Kennedy era, which
seemed to usher the U.S. and the world into a climate of under-
standing.
Finally, the name of the organization attracts me: the problem
of mankind has been always war and only man himself can eradicate
war by dedicating his daily work to Peace. But even back in 1961,
I had suspected that the basic weakness of the Peace Corps lay within
its own structure As a federal institution, it is tied up to a bureaucracy.
Recently the fundamental weakness of the Peace Corps was revealed
by two events: the war in Vietnam and the disclosure of the CIA
penetration into apparently independent organizations such as the
National Student Association.
THE WAR IN Vietnam, the most
atrocious and the most brutal of N
all wars, should have automatically
writen off the existence of the
Peace Corps. How can a country <
which sends its planes to dropy
anti-personnel and napalm bombs
on the Vietnamese people claim it
is sending under the same author-
ity its young citizens to work for
peace elsewhere?
This existential contradiction at
first was not perceived but it was $>
gradually felt by the Peace Corps
volunteers themselves. One needs
only to recall here the position
paper circulated by the returned
volnteers in May 1967. The papeiyy3
gave the following reasons for
their opposition to the war in
Vietnam:
1. It destroys in one developing
country what we have worked to x
build in so many other developing
countries. Jack Hood Vaughn
2. It has largely destroyed in-
digenous leadership responsive to the needs and desires of the people.
3. It undercuts the democratic ideals for which we worked abroad
and which we uphold within the U.S.
4. The anti-communist rhetoric used to justify our actions there
obscures the fact that the basic division in the world today is between
the rich and the poor.
5. It renders difficult, if not impossible, domestic efforts to
eliminate poverty and to assure the civil rights of all U.S. citizens.
6. In spite of assurances to the contrary, our actions daily bring
us closer to an all-out war with China or Russia, or both.
THE WAR THAT destroys Vietnamese women and children is
getting to the Peace Corps volunteers as well. Corps Director Jack
Vaughn said on November 19, 1967: "The problem of induction notices
to overseas solunteers is becoming a major concern for us. Pulling
a volunteer off a productive job at mid-tour is unfair to the nation,
the host country, the Peace Corps and the individual."
Mr. Vaughn did not mention, besides fairness, the problem of
the conscience of the volunteer in the field. How can a volunteer who
si helping a Thai boy grow and learn and live reconcile himself to the
knowledge that in the next few months he will kill a Vietnamese boy,
not so far from Thailand? The B-52's taking off from the Thai airfields
to bomb North and South Vietnam should be a constant reminder to
the volunteer of this agonizing reality.
The disclosure of the CIA infiltration of several foundations and
the NSA creates an illogical situation that will be difficult to overcome.
If the CIA can infiltrate many independent organizations at home
and abroad, why not then the Peace Corps?
I have no evidence that the CIA infiltrates the Peace Corps and
will concede that it doesn't. But how can a Peace Corps volunteer
answer an Asian of an African when he is asked to explain this
anomaly: "How, in an organized bureaucracy, does one agency not
exchange information and ideas with another one under the same
command?"
THE ONLY LOGICAL answer would seem to be: What is wrong
with the CIA? But one doesn't need to tell the people in the developing
countries of what is wrong with the CIA.
How, then do we solve the Peace Corps dilemma?
During the last two years, in my lectures in universities and col-
leges in this country, I have often been asked my opinion about the
Peace Corps. After analyzing the dilemma, I have proposed these
changes:
1. The Congress should make the service in the Peace Corps a
substitute for military service. A young American of draft age should
be able to choose either service in the Peace Corps or in the Armed

froces.
2. The Peace Corps should be internationalized through this
process.
Without basic changes and without the internationalization of
its structure, I am afraid the Peace Corps will degenerate into an-
other unimaginative federal agency, forgotten at home and mistrusted
abroad. If this happens, it is indeed unfair to so many young Amer-
icans who in the last few years have dedicated their efforts to peace
and human fraternity.

Black History
To the Editor:
THE RECENT letter of Mr.
Willcox, chairman of the his-
tory department, which appeared
in The Daily, contained a series
of unwarrantednassertions, un-
substantiated generalizations, and
patent untruths. It is unfortunate
that Mr. Willcox permitted his
zeal to ward off the spectre of
teaching Negro History to lead
him into disregard for the truth:
*There are, of course, two
sides to the question of whether
Negro History should be taught.
A view different from Willcox's
is that the role of Negroes is rare-
ly examined in any great detail
in American History courses be-
cause most historians have neith-
er the training nor the interest
in the subject.
Some graduate courses in the
major universities ignore the sub-
ject entirely. We would be happy
- to have all students who take his-
tory exposed to knowledge of the
Negro's role in and contributions
to American society. Since this
is not done, however, a separate
course seems to be the only an-
swer.
* Mr. Willcox asserts that if a
Negro history course were taught
the teacher should "ideally" be a
Negro. Perhaps, but if that is
true, then only Russians should
teach Russian History, and Chi-
nese, Chinese History. There are
a few white persons who have
taken graduate work at progres-
tive universities and who have
had training and research exper-
ience in Negro History. For ex-
ample, August Meier of Kent
All letters must be typed,
double-spaced and should be no
longer than 300 words. All let-
ters are subject to editing;
those over 300 words will gen-
erally be shortened. No unsign-
ed letters will be printed.

State University and Gilbert
Osofsky of the University of Il-
linois (Chicago).
* Willcox further asserts that
the Department is "more than
ready to recruit one (a qualified
Negro) if we could find him." It
is unfortunate that the Univer-
sity of Chicago found it possible
to recruit a qualified Negro for
the department there; even MSU
found it possible to recruit a
qualified Negro for their history
department; but poor, poor Mich-
igan cannot compete with these
universities eitherin recruiting or
the ability to ferret out Negroes.
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! No wonder the
University's history department
was not listed among the top ten
in the last ACE survey of grad-
uate education.
9 Mr. Willcox maintains also
that "graduate education of Ne-
groes is so poor, that well-quali-
fied PhDs are virtually unobtain-
able." Is Mr. Willcox unaware of
the existence of John Hope
Franklin, chairman of the His-
tory department at Chicago with
a PhD from Harvard; or Benja-
min Quarles, presently at Morgan
State University with a PhD from
Wisconsin.
He must know Quarles exists.
He was a visiting professor in
this department for two summers
recently. Perhaps the scholarly
production of these two men is
too meagre or poor in quality.
Academic critics have, nonethe-
less, heaped praise upon their
work which far exceeds that gen-
erated by the activities of any
present member of the American
History faculty of Michigan. I
wonder if they ever offered these
two men permanent positions on
this campus.
There are also, bright, young
Negroes being trained presently
in doctoral programs at major
universities. Did the University
approach John Blassingame, just
completing doctoral work at
Yale? The answer, of course, is
no.

There have,bmoreover, been
Negroes who obtained PhDs in
history at Michigan. One woman,
for example, received a degree
only two years ago. One man is
presently in the doctoral pro-
gram. Did the University and is
the University preparing them to
be unqualified Negro historians?
Shame! Shame!
* Finally, Willcox avers that
the remedy is to give special
training in good graduate schools
to "promising Negroes." Negroes
are being trained in history in
good graduate schools across the
country at present. Of course nat
all of them are interested in
teaching only Negro history, but
perhaps some are.
THE REMEDY, Mr. Willcox to
the contrary notwithstanding, is
to stop hiding behind the same
old saws which are too reminis-
cent of the pro-slavery argu-
ments of the 19th century and
admit that the University's his-
tory department has a decided
anti-Negro bias. This bias even
extended to deprecating theac-
complishments of one of the most
scholarly men who ever served in
the department, because he wrote
sympathetically about Negroes
and abolitionists.
A further statement on the is-
sue of whether Negro history
should be taught will be forth-
coming if The Daily will publish
it. However, an urgent reply to
Mr Willcox's insulting fabrica-
tions was mandatory
-Richard X, '68
Afro-American
Liberation Movement
OPINION
The Daily has begun accept-
ing articles from faculty, ad-
ministration, and students on
subjects of their choice. They
are to be 600-900 words in
length and should be submitted
to the Editorial Director.

4

.r.... . - ----

The Ross-Fleming Team:
Corporation Administration

ANYONE WHO attended University
President Robben W. Fleming's first
public Regents' meeting last Friday could
see that things around here are going to
be run differently.
Under President Hatcher, meetings
had a casual meandering tone. A good
deal of time was spent on amusing, but
irrelevant banter. Friday's meeting was
totally business-like and, for the first
time in recent memory, it started pre-
cisely at 2 p.m.
Perhaps the meeting's most auspicious
sign of things to come was the appoint-
ment of Arthur Ross to the newly created
post of vice-president for state relations
and planning.
In many ways, the background of Ross,
who is stepping down as commissioner
of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to
take the job, is strikingly similar to that
of Fleming. Like the University's Presi-
dent, he has extensive experience in
mediation. Both men have served as di-
rectors of university institutes on labor
relations and both have acted in a me-,
diational capacity during student-ad-
ministration conflicts; Fleming at Wis-
consin and Ross at Berkeley.
mriT. e AWMWN i 4. l -_

as a scholar, it is being increasingly de-
termined today by his skill as a mediator
and broker.
As the state university has grown into
a vast and multifaceted organization, it
has increasingly become the job of the
administrator to balance the interests of
the students, the faculty, the Legislature,
and the administrative bureaucracy.
To this job, Arthur Ross brings im-
pressive credentials. His particular prov-
ince here will be relations with the state
Legislature and Ross' experience with
Congrss as commissioner - of labor sta-
tistics should prove invaluable. Since
continued academic excellence of the
University is in large measure dependent
upon extracting ever larger levels of sup-
port from the Legislature, Ross' job will
be of critical importance.
FURTHERMORE, with the conception
of the vice-president for state rela-
tions and planning as a "senior adviser
and consultant" on matters of academic
and physical planning, and in view of the
similarity between Ross' and Fleming's
backgrounds, Ross could easily become
the President's right-hand man.
The Ross-Fleming team, if it develops,
would undoubtedly lead to increased

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THE VIEW FROM HERE

Turning the Tables on the Regents
BY ROBERT KLIVANS

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"ORDER, ORDER," thunders the stu-
dent moderator, pounding his gavel
to hush the 4,000 people packed into Hill
Auditorium. "The Students' Open Hearing
of the Regents will come to order. Most
honored Regents, if you have any state-
ments to make, you may do so now.
Otherwise, we will begin our hearing into
the new Regents' Visitation Policy and
Regents' Behavior."
The eight Regents and President Flem-
ing sit passively awaiting the probes of
infuriated student leaders. The tables cer-
tainly have turned since that Open Hear-
ing in January, when the Regents con-
ducted a formal hearing into student-
made rules. Student leaders had called for
more meetings, but the Regents never
rlr aa - t nilr m p lkP hi

in your behavior. We students question
whether this permissiveness should con-
tinue unchecked. And thus, as the most'
powerful rule-making body in the Uni-
versity, we have called you here to find
out exactly what goes on behind these
closed doors."
"But Mr. Kahn," says one dignified
Regent, "you must understand that those
meetings are secret."
"Aha!" wails Kahn. "Secrecy! Can't you
people understand that is no excuse.
Why, SGC receives more letters from the
children of your constituents about Re-
gental behavior behind closed doors than
practically any other subject. We must
clear up this hanky-panky! Let's get down
to the truth: Regent Goebel has your
gu.,,n hPn nnriinLr ln&oi.h o.. ..-

"But Mr. Kahn," answers Regent Smith,
"we have given students right to make
their own rules."
The gavel sounds. "We are here to in-
vestigate Regental behavior, Regent
Smith, so please confine your comments
to that subject," retorts the moderator.
"Go ahead, Mr. Kahn."
"Thank you, Mr. Moderator," continues
Kahn "But I'd like to turn over the ques-
tioning to Mr. Chester."
Voice leader Eric Chester clicks on his
microphone, casting a fatal glance at the
shivering Regents:
"Most honored Regents. Your children
and all concerned children of Michigan
are understandably upset about the in-
creasingly permissive behavior of the Re-

protested, disturbed, and even violated
the ..."
"Regent Cudlip," interjects the student
moderator, "will you please keep your
comments to Regental behavior. If you
wish to discuss students affairs you may
arrange another time to speak with us.
But we are much too busy running this
University to be a captive audience to
your peripheral interests."
"All right," continues the moderator,
"we will come to a vote on the subject.
All students in favor of the Regents con-
tinuing their Visitation policy and living,
their own lives by their own rules, please
signify by saying 'Aye'."
A resouding 'aye' echoes through the
auditorium.
"The resolution Dasses. The meeting is

4

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