Seventy-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD TN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS 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. THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: MARK LEVIN Publie Housing: Anywhere But Ann Arbor' J'HE CRISIS Ann Arbor faces as it pre- pares to accept or reject the Housing Commission's proposal for 200 low-rent public housing units throughout the city is one of conscience.. By going ahead with the plan, City Council will liberate improverished fam- ilies from dilapidated dwellings and pro- vide them with $3.6 million in attractive apartments they can afford to rent. By turning from the plan, City Council may condemn the entire project to death - and shut the doors once and for all on citizens who cannot cope with Ann Ar- bor's staggering cost of living. Public housing is in trouble because nobody seems to want it. Present plans which call for building and purchasing 200 units on seven sites, are broad enlough to threaten the residents of seven different locations. Some sincere and concerned citizens at Monday's open hearing justifiably condemned the Housing Commission for lack of sociological insight. As proof, they cited the plans to locate three 39-unit sites within a single square mile. BUT MOST OTHER critics at the hear- ing took an entirely different tack. Clustering the three sites together, they charged, will doom the surrounding neighborhoods to social decay and des- pair -- not to mention preventing low income families from effectively as- similating into the healthier middle class neighborhoods. What they really tried to say, how- ever, was masked in the rhetoric of social politesse. That message is, simply, pub- lic housing is a fine thing. But not for Ann Arbor. And certainly not for my neighborhood. The message came through when a young doctor praised Ann Arbor's image as the "All-American city," claiming, "This ypublic housing will be the first tarnishing of that image." The message came through in the housewife's plea, "Give us few enough (low-income fam- ilies) so we with outreached hands can help them. Do not overwhelm us." It came through when a woman warned "Business near the three sites will not be as pleasureable anymore." And the message came through a citizen's gloomy predicitions of garbage in the streets, de- cl ne in property values, and ultimately, creation of an ugly ghetto. THE REMEDY, citizens stressed, lies in buying more sites and building fewer units on each site. Suen homeowners are less concerned with the number of families moving into their P rea than they are frightened by the incomes and color of the new resi- dents. Objective appraisal of public housing projects throughout the nation clearly in- dicates that cluster housing does notj aiways spell failure. Successful housing developments in Philadelphia, New Ha- vea, and Cleveland, cluster over 100 units as the rule, not the exception. In view of the limited feasible alternitives, what's wrong with the plan in Ann Arbor? ALMOST THREE YEARS of struggling for public housing tell the story. Ann Arborites voted to establish a' public housing commission in 1965 by only a three per cent majority, so enthusiasm was scarce to begin with. When Mayor Hulcher appointed a commission of four businessmen and one housewife, public housing advocates prepared themselves for the worst. And that, say some, city officials, is exactly what they got. Ann Arbor could have a better hous- ing plan, but since the city must begin construction by June 30 or lose federal funds, there is no time to provide it. Ann Arbor lost its chance for a better proposal in 1965 when Mayor Hulcher appointed a commission only half-committed to the task. Furthermore, Ann Arbor lost its chance for more public housing when the city council refused a federal offer of 464 units and asked instead for 200. But all this is past history, and Ann Arbor faces the crisis now. If a special delegation to Washington can, as some have suggested, win more money and an extension of time, it should certainly try. UNLESS AND UNTIL the promise comes, however, Ann Arbor must work to pro- vide low-rent public housing for the poor under the proposal it currently has. Any- thing less will mean no public housing at al:. --DANIEL ZWERDLING The By ROBERT KLIVANS Editorial Director SO MUCH attention has been focused on the area of student behavior and decision-making that education itself has been virtually overlooked. The college steering committees and course evaluation group operate in virtual obscurity, over shadowed by the publicized power machinations of student government and their allies. Of course, many of these groups dealing with curricular reform have been disappointing in their performance and rather silent about any achievements. Yet the need for improving the classroom experience ,is as important 'as the recent advances in dorm living. Now that students have so effec- tively flexed their new-found muscles in the University com- munity, the problems of educa- tional quality deserve more con- cerned and active study. There are now several experi- ments at the University that sup- ply the possibility of exciting new educational techniques. They run the gamut from the much-hailed Residential College, now completing its first year, to the already en- trenched Honors Program, which in the last few years has begun to strike out independently with broad curricular innovations. All these prospects for improvement deserve carefuly study: " The ResidentialnCollege is really not a new concept at all, but rather a nostalgic search for the kind of personalization and in- timacy that higher education of- fered before the swelling post-war numbers. It is an answer to the increasing criticism about "big- ness" and offers, perhaps, the close familiarity and faculty associa- tions of an Amherst or Williams with the imposing facilities and diversity of a huge multiversity, instead of the small New England town. The Residential College concept, which is being tried at a number of other large universities around the nation, comes under sharp fire from legislators and education-ef- ficiency buffs, who correctly argue that the Residential College, in its present form, is an inordinate al- location of faculty resources which deprives other students of the at- tention that the RC participants receive. THE ULTIMATE worth of the Residential College hinges on a critical evaluation of the present undergraduate education. If stu- dents are not really being chal- lenged, stimulated, educated, then the money and time being invested in the Residential College experi- ment are necessary. And as the rising tide of discontent focuses on many of the academic aber- rations created by universities growing too big too fast, the ur- gency of new educational answers becomes apparent. The Residential College may not be the final solution to the inade- quacies of undergraduate educa- tion. There are simply not enough resources-at least with the prior- ites our nation now has-to give every freshman a small seminar in every class with a professor liv- ing down the hall. But it presents a workable alternative of restruc- turing the university to provide a more stimulating environment; it the limits of the computerized time schedule. WHILE NONE of this is truly radical reform, such changes may eventually filter throughout the literary college, offering all stu- dents the opportunities now en- joyed by honors pupils. And as the Honors Program itself grows stronger and its student steering committee increases in influence, the program can become an excel- lent workshop for innovations on the curricular scene. 0 Interdepartmental Courses are beginning to pop up here and there, such as the "College Hon- ors" courses that presently exist in departmental limbo. The basic most abundant, more independent student-professor summer courses are arising which permit the pair to work out a subject area that the student wishes to investigate. This system will most often cre- ate fruitful results, for it coun- ters the distasteful threat of a summer academic load with the student's personal interest and involvement in the course's cre- ation. 4 Pass-Fail Grading offers students an opportunity to exper- iment in strange academic fields without the danger of puncturing the mystical grade-point. These courses are usually chosen be- cause of a special interest, and therefore are not easy victims for which only now shows signs of possible stability, is evidence of what can happen if the students do not take the iniative in cru- sading for their "rights" to a quality education. It is not that the education here is bad, but rather the machinery for con- stant improvement must be in operation, and, as with so much else, the job of watchdog will fall upon student shoulders. The second threat to academ- ic innovation is administrative disinterest. If the administrators become more concerned with the cost-efficiency aspects of educa- tion than its ultimate affect on a student's life, the University's academic quality will begin to suf- University Vii - H:L Tomorrow The Planned Residential College: Martyr To Cost-Efficiency? also is an ideal laboratory for ex- perimenting with new curricular changes {RC now has a freshman schedule substantially different from the first-year literary college student. ! The Honors Program is, de- spite its elitist composition, blazing the trail for innovations that can be transferred, if not extended, to the remaining 90 per cent of the literary college. While the "honors concentration" sphere of the pro- gram varies in quality between de- partments and individual coun- selors, the special honors courses have bridged the gap which tra- ditional departmentalization has caused. Thus, small seminars are offered on a range of topics from Nietzsche to Fitzgerald and from American Self-evaluation to Revo- lution. In addition, the student can take "independent study" courses with the guidance of pro- fessors, pursuing interests outside inhibiting factor presently seems to be the computer, which appar- ently regurgitates the schedules of those who trespass department- al boundaries. The 15-hour inner- city course, which is planned for next year, is one attempt to shat- ter strict lines of college author- ity. ANOTHER SUGGESTION re- cently proposed was the creation of an "Interdepartmental Depart- ment," which would-pardon the excesses-departmentalize the de- partmentless courses. Perhaps by institutionaling the mutant, stu- dents would be more aware of the availability of those interesting but sometimes forbidden half-breed course offerings. 0 Summer Reading Courses are finding wider acceptance, but still suffer from their novelty and the lingering doubt of their ef- fectiveness. W h11e structured summer reading courses are the the student who wishes to whiz through without involving him- self at all. Begun as a limited ex- periment, pass-fail grading has spread to more classes, and should soon become an opportunity available to all University stu- dents. THE PRECEDING list con- tained some of the more notable educational "experiments" now contemplated or in progress here. Their success is as important as any victories won on the battle- fields of student-administration wars. The greatest threats to ex- panding these academic innova- tions and creating new ones come from two sources. The first pit- fall may be the students them- selves, who can easily fall vic- tim to indifference in the pursuit of a better education. The long and sad history of the Univer- sity's course evaluation booklet, fer. For example, the Residential College's fiscally rocky beginning has led to speculation that per- haps it will be a victim to the bureaucratic axe. THE FUTURE of a vibrant aca- demic environment here hinges on an understanding, by all stu- dents, faculty, and the new ad- ministration, that education is at the basis the University. And education, despite the term's vagueness and abstraction, must not be interpreted in numbers, in ratios, in percentages. "No university can develop in sensible ways," wrote Cornell's President James K. Perkins, "un- less a general consensus has been achieved at the heart of its in- stitutional life among those con- cerned with its future." On the issue of educational excellence, there must be no compromise in the consensus. C FEIFFER Is Pass-Fail Safe? YOU MAY REALLY try to beat the sys- tem, but at times it seems as if you just can't. Take grades, for example. You may sign up for a pass-fail course, but in the end you end up studying for a letter grade as if it really counted. At least from the results of a study of the first group of seniors who took courses on a pass-fail basis, it seems that the student is a creature of "grade-grub- bing" habit. The study, conducted by Charles Pas- cal for the Center for Research on Learn- ing and Teaching, indicated that the vast majority of students taking pass-fail courses would have otherwise received A's or B's in the courses. THAT STUDENTS fared so well in the pass-fail program is surprising. One would expect that the second semester senior, even if he is a "good student" ridden with a "high level of test anxiety," would be seeking maximum knowledge while expending a minimum of effort. But as Pascal reported in a subjective analysis of his data, the student did not prove "adept" at beating the system this way. While making a last ditch effort to "liberalize" his education the senior still felt compelled to achieve a good grade. Pascal explained that perhaps one tends "to underestimate the effects of about eight or more years of academic conditioning. Even though the idea of getting a C in a pass-fail course brings about a sense of relief, an A or B student has little experience in studying for C's." So it appears that the student can't beat the grading system, simply because he doesn't know how to function without the system of rewards or punishments called grades. signed to free the student from the "fear" of grades. But experience shows, pass- fail is unable to dispel the unhealthy notion that to be valuable, learning must be "academically successful." The student on pass-fail-as well as the ordinary student-feels that a suc- cessful grade is the only measure of aca- demic progress. Pass-fail courses, since they are like all the other courses at the University, demand that the student fulfill require- ments and meet goals. And while, re- quirements and goals are essential to rote learning, they are incompatible with the creative learning that pass-fail was con- ceived to inspire. IT IS EXPECTING too much to hope that pass-fail might revolutionize the grading philosophy of the University. But it is ignoring the potential of a pass-fail program to relegate it to the role of "grading innovation." Pass-fail was never designed to be the mechanics which would free undergrad- uate education from its inordinate em- phasis on grades. And the institution of some pass-fail grading here should not deter others from seeking more adven- turous approaches to altering the phi- losophy behind undergraduate education. Despite its less than radical nature, pass-fail grading is not being utilized nearly as much as possible here at the University. By arranging for freshmen to f alfill their distribution requirements on a pass-fail basis, by planning pass-fail sections geared to the non-specialist, and by concentrating on offering a truly liberal education for students who want one, the University could become a more intellectually stimulating environment. AND MEANWHILE, as Student Govern-' -THe DtM)TCWIEES~ MN, THE 84M8 - 1MG OF NA1PHOC J HARBOR, TAMP WtAR R)TO ~ CAN8091A, LAO , el 1At'O TH 1VIETK)AM, TH12C9E056 PE ?PT :200,000 Hop U - f4E&), A T6'NFOPAP7 H{ALE" Illi ALL BOMB"-q IME', AWP TEKFOM ' ISCA[lA1IO U5 CAMP 0l2(A AMPt LADS T WIVE-'M THE ELCCTPQOMC aAP I . 9UMU; AL A THOR6- LAMP R6ECODS~ ~ 45-0000HOPE6 ME&Q, THE 60H6106 OF NA1PNON36 - ' HAgFOR AMC'H E5CAL-A06,~TH W)AR 10d~O-101OOA, W5OS, AM P 3oTH V MM Y ECS IO 15 FOB 400 000 MORE& MHE QTHE 1OU0MG __ OF1-fA(PHO&K9HAQ- THE~ WAR UIWO CAUMOl2(A, 0f My NOT PURSUIT 17 THE STATE DPT~~ RECO MMEMP12 375, 000) MORE Mfg) THE BONM6 OF HAIPHOND -- USCALT(MG TH ttAR ioro CAM- THE HALCS AWP . -- -. ---- ", r ./ ..J : , 1 ..,,, , ,i f 141 Debt. ?ubHdmm*ftan SyMjm ! ON BOOKS: The Making of a Podhoretz By NEIL SHISTER Magazine Editor MakingIt, by Norman Podhor- etz, Random House, 1968. 360 pp. $6.95. NORMON PODHORETZ has written a strangely embar- rassing book in "Making It." More than anything else it is an exercise in guilt, for he realizes that at 39 he wants what every- body else does - fame and for- tune - and that the spirit of his intellectual soul is a lot less dif- ferent from that of the bourgeois rank-and-file than he -had been bred to believe. So "Making It" comes through as a try at self- therapy as he attempts to ex- plain, probably more to himself than his reader, why it's okay that he wants what he does and how it doesn't compromise his what the old era of critics writes continues to lose relevance. This is, of course, an overstatement, but the truth of the matter is that, other than The New York Review of Books, there are few major publications doing serious work that still have verve. Whichmaybe is why Podhor- etz' autobiography is lacking. He too seems to lack verve, but this is appropriate since magazines strongly reflect the personality of their editor. He portrays himself with an air of innocence that, in the end, seems by its purity to be an admission of calculated guile. It becomes irritating after a while, for he can't understand how anybody could possibly mis- construe or resent his success since it was motivated by such a guiltless conscience. Allthe time he is waging the battle of student worthy of personal atten- tion, and he progresses on from teacher to teacher. At Columbia Lionell Trilling, the eminent lit- erary critic, picks him up, and then Podhoretz gets a fellowship to study at Cambridge. He re- turns to New York as a bright young comer in its literary world. He makes his reputation on the basis of a review, a critical one, of Bellow's "Augie March". The review was startling and upset- ting to the New York World, for Bellow was the family's (as Pod- horetz describes the largely Jew- ish in-group of critics and edi- tors) prodigal son, their 'white hope' who was competing for the heavyweight championship of fiction. It is revealing that Pod- horetz writes of how he deliber- ated before submitting the article, wondering if he should temper be it is because deep-down he doesn't feel so clean. The book is dull. The ideas are few and when he writes of per- sonalities, it is as if he is drawing his portraits with the felt-tip pens currently in vogue. The strokes are broad and thick, hardly acute or penetrating. He is praising in a most casual man- ner and is not bitter or outraged towards anybody really, except his unnamed adversary on Com- mentary. HE DOES take on James Bald- win, telling how he had talked through with Baldwin the idea for a piece on Black Muslims, en- couraged him to do it and kept his spirits high. Then, when Baldwin finally finished what was to be "A Letter from a Re- gion of My Mind" ("The Fire them down. Which, of course, he did. BUT THE New York World - where the action is and where the writers as concerned with be- ing celebrities as concerned with writing want to be - finally re- duces itself down to a trip to Huntington Hartford's Paradise Island for Podhoretz. There he sunned and dined and drank with the beautiful and famous, since he ,was invited by virtue of his contributions to Hartford's Show Magazine. And there he decided that the good life wasn't so bad after all, and maybe it was what he always dreamed secretly of having. There is nothing inher- ently bad about such a realiza- tion. Just that Podhoretz had to feel that he had come up with some great revelation in discov-