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The War: Making the World Safe for What?
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
r. ,_ rte "-= ..1
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.
10
FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR: ROB BEATTIE
,..,.......... 1
Kennedy vs. McCarthy:
The Best Man Who Can Win
"THERE IS A holy mistaken zeal in
politics," wrote a centuries-old po-
litical scholar. "By persuading others, we
convince ourselves." This forgivable but
no less fatal flaw-now being practiced
by the McCarthy backers-could wreck
any hope of success the growing anti-
Johnson forces have. To preserve the
unity of the anti-Vietnam Democratic
faction and to insure a serious threat to
the re-nomination of Lyndon Johnson,
Eugene McCarthy should withdraw from
the primary race following the Wisconsin
contest.
Such a proposition raises a wail among
the exuberant followers of the. Minnesota
Senator who have lifted their hero into
the national political spotlight. Yet Mc-
Carthy himself announced his candidacy
last fall by declaring his intention to
alter the administrations policies but
not the policymakers. It is now apparent.
that the two can not be so easily sepa-
rated, and that to end the war and re-
direct the priorities of America, the:
nation needs a new president.
McCarthy's campaign can embarrass
the President and reveal his enormous
weaknesses, but it can not, in all objec-
tivity, deprive him of re-nomination. The
appearance of Robert Kennedy, despite
all the confusion and split allegainces
it has created among dissident Demo-
crats, offers a timely opportunity to deny
Johnson the Democratic mantle. The
most immediate obstacle appears the
divided energy of the anti-war forces and
not the imposing roadblock of dethroning
the incumbent.
THE INDIGNANT righteousness dis-
played by McCarthy forces since
Kennedy's announcement have .tempo-
rarily weakened the anti-Johnson jug-
gernaut. Naive charges of "cynicism and
opportunism" have been levelled at Ken-
nedy by people who should be united in
trying to defeat Johnson, -not their own
cause. Certainly Kennedy was "opportun-
ist"; what politician isn't?
Who is to say that Kennedy is any less
idealistic and courageous than McCarthy;
after all, political courage is merely a
function of risk, sacrifice, and the possi-
bility of success. Last fall McCarthy
sensed the frustration of youth and the
growing sentiment against Johnson. He
was a secure Senator (not facing re-elec-
tion soon), with little national recogni-
tion or future, whose home state would
be protected against federal revenge by
Vice - President Humphrey. "Gambler"
McCarthy threw his few chips into the
political pot and challenged the Presi-
dent's hand; Bobby Kennedy, once he
made his move, put almost every cent of
an immense political potential on the
line. Kennedy's motives were no more
selfish because they came later, his con-
victions no less sincere because he hesi-
tated. It is certainly unfortunate that his
challenge threatens to fracture the peace
movement. But what is done is done. This
ever-growing segment of the Democratic
-and Republican-party must not be
destroyed through internal blood-letting.
IN THE APRIL 2 Wisconsin primary,
there must be a total effort to rebuke
Johnson through a massive McCarthy
vote. The effect of a success may only
re-enforce McCarthy supporters who
could next turn to Kennedy as the oppo-
nent of their greying hero. There is
hardly a Democrat of significance who
thinks McCarthy has the slightest chance
of unseating Johnson, but Kennedy-
with his name, his passion, his organiza-
tion--offers a compelling alternative to
the haggard and defamed face of LBJ.
Following Wisconsin, if McCarthy were
to throw his support to Kennedy, the
realists and idealists, the old pros and
the young guard would all have a com-
mon end through a common means.
SENATOR McCARTHY is an admirable
and inspiring figure on the political
stage, and his contribution-whether he
wins or loses-will not be quickly for-
gotten. But if he has the best interests of
his country and supporters at heart, he
should realize that after Wisconsin the
inevitable confrontation must occur.
With Kennedy and McCarthy splitting
the anti-administration vote, Johnson
would have plurality, if not a majority,
dropped in his lap. As Rev. Coffin said
here Tuesday, "Gene McCarthy repre-
sents a moral threat to Johnson; Bobby
Kennedy represents a mortal threat."
The anti-war faction in this country
must not be misguided by its own persua-
sion. Its numbers are neither so large nor
the country's opposition so deep that the
movement could withstand a lengthy di-
vision of men, money, and enthusiasm.
The object is not just The Best Man, but
The Best Man Who Can Win.
-ROBERT KLIVANS
Editorial Director, 1967-68
S4
The Trenches at Khe Sanh
44
Storming Saigon's Radio' Station
The War To Stay Out Of: The
War
. .
0
The Way of the Future
EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is a
copyrighted article which appeared
in the March 20 Wall Street Jour-
nal. It is reprinted by permission.
A HAPPY soldier is Pfc. Jack
S. On' a recent leave, his
spleen was removed by a Chicago
surgeon. Since the spleen would
replace red blood cells if Jack ever
got malaria, Army medics have
assured him that its absence means
he will never be sent to Vietnam.
There was nothing wrong with
the spleen, a generally useless
organ. The soldier was merely
gambling-correctly, it seems-that
its removal would guarantee that
he would never go to Vietnam.
The surgery was performed for a
small fee by a doctor who opposes
the war. He sent the bills for
"emergency surgery" to the Army.
Not many young men would go
as far as Jack did to avoid Viet-
nam, but soldiers increasingly are
devising other exotic schemes to
spend their two years' service in
stateside posts. While ways to
avoid the draft-like moving to
Canada or feigning homosexuality
-are more publicized, they tend
to get a young man in trouble or
to stigmatize him. But simply
being drafted and then working
to stay out of Vietnam seldom has
legal or social ramification-
though some might question the
morality of ducking combat duty.
Although military officials say
they can't estimate how many sol-
diers are using their wits to avoid
combat duty, the practice ap-
parently is wide spread. "Give me
a guy with a college degree, a fast
tongue and a poker face, and it's
better than fifty-fifty I'll find a
way for him never to go," says a
personnel specialist at one base.
THE PLOYS are many and
varied. Perhaps the ultimate one
was developed by a draftee from
Festus, Mo. The plan: Find an
orphan in the Army who wants
to go to Vietnam and have your
parents adopt him. Army regula-
tions say that only one member of
a family can be in Vietnam at a
time (unless the others volunteer),
so the natural son wouldn't have
to go. That scheme hasn't been
tried yet, but several others have.
These include:
* The Christian Science Ploy:
A 23-year-old Virginian received
Vietnam orders and was told to
report for pre-shipment inocula-
tions. When he announced he had
been converted to Christian Sci-
ence and refused to take either
shots or pills, he was waved away
by frustrated doctors.
* The Crazy Letter Ploy. A
corporal from Brooklyn wrote let-
ters to Sen. Robert Kennedy and,
Sen. Jacob Javits, Gov:. Nelson
Rockefeller. his Congressman and
several other prominent officials,
claiming he preferred suicide to
Vietnam and pointing out the ef-
fects of his death on his mother.
Two weeks later a Senatorial aide
notified him his Vietnam orders
had been canceled.
* The Card-Burning Ploy. A
basic trainee faked a picture of
himself burning a draft card on
the Berkeley campus and sent it
to his commanding general with
an anonymous note. A security
check was ordered, and the sol-
diers's two years were drawing
peacefully to a close by the time
the dust had settled.
* The LSD Ploy. A glib Cleve-
lander strolled into his post psy-
chiatrist's office, claiming numer-
ous LSD experiences had unbal-
anced his mind. Regular visits
thereafter assured his stay at a
Midwestern post.
THE SUGGESTION that the city sub-
sidize a system of mass transportation
deserves consideration:
No one will deny that the existing city
bus arrangements are woefully inadequ-
ate. Unless there is promise that the set-
up will improve materially in the im-
mediate future, the city should definitely
consider taking the responsibility upon
its own shoulders either by subsidization
or running its own system.
But the consideration of a mass trans-
portation system should not be divorced
from a careful rethinking of another
problem with which the community will
have to come to grips in the next few
years: humanizing the conditions of
automobile traffic in Ann Arbor.
Anyone who has attempted to drive
anywhere within five blocks of campus
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Sports Staff
DAVE WEIR........................Sports, Editor
HOWARD KOHN ............ Executive Sports Editor
DOUG HELLER.............Associate Sports Editor
BOB LEES. ...... ...... Associate Sports Editor
BILL LEVIS................. Associate Sports Editor
Business Staff
RANDY RISSMAN, Business Manager
KEN KRAUS ............. Associate Business Manager
DAVE PFEFFER.............. Advertising Manager
JEFF BROWN............ Senior Circulation Manager
JANE LUXON.................. Personnel Manager
during rush hour realizes that there are
just too many cars in this city. Smog is
starting to become a problem. Around
campus cars interfere with the free flow
of pedestrians. And the situation is no
more pleasant for the drivers.
Within the next quarter of a century,
as smog and traffic become national
problems of serious enough proportions
to demand large-scale action, the auto-
mobile as we now know it, if not the
whole concept of individual responsibil-
ity for transportation, may become out-
moded.
ANN ARBOR could be in the vanguard
of that movement. Next year East
University Street between North Univer-
sity and South University will be closed
to traffic and other streets will be closed
in subsequent years. This is a significant
first step.
The University now has a shuttle bus
system so that administrators and stu-
dents can park their cars in lots on the
rim of campus and take a bus into their
offices and classes. That-coupled with
improved University or city bus service,
more parking lots and more streets
closed at least to automobile traffic may
be the only long run solution to Ann
Arbor's traffic problems.
As long as driving around the central
areas of Ann Arbor continues to be a
reality, students should not be denied
their equal right to drive. But the long-
range best way out may be to discrimi-
nate against students, faculty, adminis-
trators and citizens equally.
-URBAN LEHNER
THERE ARE OTHERS. One lad
tried to remove every trace of
himself from Army records-at his
own post, at the Pentagon, at the
Army computer center in Indiana
-but he was caught when he was
on the verge of success. A Fort
Dix soldier applied simultaneously
for a commission and a hardship
discharge; it so confused things
that he was kept right at Dix-
where he wanted to be.
Confusion is the key to nearly
every ploy. Army regulations are
voluminous, and if your records
get fouled up, you're in the clear.
Company clerks at Fort Benning,
Ga., estimate that a sixth of the
college graduates in their com-
panies wriggle out of their Viet-
-nam orders. The college graduate
qualification is significant. These
are the soldiers who are most likely
to hold an administrative job,
which is the best place to throw
a monkey wrench into the works.
Also, these men generally have
the intelligence and poise to carry
off a ploy.
"I can't wait until they start
drafting grad students," says one
Stanford graduate who loves to
fight the Army, "and the whole
Army is filled with people like us."
THE ARMY is already filled with
draftees; that's one reason the
Vietnam-dodging works. Almost
every successful ploy is based on
paper work: The reams of direc-
tives, reports and applications
that define, grant and deny Viet-
nam eligibility. Not only are the
clerks who handle these papers
draftees, but their supervisors also
are generally draftees or two-year-
only lieutenants who occasionally
are willing to look the other way.
Veteran Vietnam-dodgers assert
the ponderous Army bureaucracy
is easy to outfox. Arcane notations
typed on a morning report by a
cooperative clerk can grant over-
seas immunity; the code "7-2," for
instance, means that a soldier is
ineligible for overseas duty for
various reasons. Not even a con-
scientious scrutiny could easily
track down such fiddling with
records.
For most soldiers, the crucial
consideration isthe margin be-
tween the time they have left
in the Army and the 180-day mini-
mum Vietnam tour. An effective
ploy should fill as much of that
period as possible.
ALSO, the Army doesn't like
to send a man to Vietnam even if
he has 180 days left if there is a
chance it will have to bring him
back right away. Soliders capital-
ize on this by applying for special
+raining imnortant enoAh tn keenp
leg is now recovered and on his
way to Vietnam. Already there:
A Pfc. who took every pill he could
find before staggering into the
overseas replacement depot at
Oakland. Medics simply pumped
his stomach and pointed him to-
ward Vietnam.
Bribery also is out. Personnel
clerks who will risk court-martiyl
to help a friend of a friend disdain
financial offers. Going over the
hill wont help either. When he re-
turns, the AWOL soldier is often
dismayed to find he is sent to the
front instead of the stockade.
FRIENDSHIPS are important
in the modern-day ploy. It some-
times helps if a friendly clerk will
alter dates on various forms for
Letters to the Editor
you. And it helps to know in ad-
vance that people in your specialty
are about to be called to Vietnam;
forewarned is forearmed, and you
can change your job classification
-say, from supply clerk to truck
driver.
Why do the draftees plot their
ploys? Most admit that fear of
being killed or wounded or unwill-
ingness to leave a comfortable
situation'are more important than
pure political opposition to the
war. But there is also an element
of revenge.
"They forced me to join the
Army," explains a Missouri youth
now at Fort Knox, "and they can
make me do anything they want.
Now, I'm causing a little trouble
for them."
Copyright, 1968, The wall Street Journal
'~
Referenda Revisited
To the Editor:
WAS THERE a scheme to de-
feat the referenda? Surely
there was no explicit attempt to
coerce people to vote one way or
the other. Yet there were three
polling stations set up in the En-
gineering buildings - one in East
Engine, one in West Engine, and
one in the Engine Arch. All were
very diligently manned from 8-5
p.m. on both voting days. This is
a real tribute to the energy and
determination of the engineers. If
only by convenience, if not in-
terest, engineers voted in far high-
er. proportion than in past SGC
elections.
Contrast these efforts to the
- failure to set up other necessary
polling stations. There were no
;voting stations in Markley, West
Quad or Bursley on Tuesday, the
first day of voting. It was 10 a.m.
Wednesday before a polling station
was ready in Bursley. It was not
until 2:30 p.m. that I discovered
the West Quad polling station was
non-existent and forced the elec-
tions director to set one up. The
polling table in the General Lib-
rary was not manned until 4 p.m.
Wesdnesday! (The ballots, how-
ever, had been sitting for 6 hours
in the library office.)
Why certain polling places were
manned and others not. is still
unclear. Transfer of workers to
needed places could have been ar-
ranged. By inadvertance, neglect
or planning, students in residence
halls, and a number of graduate
students were literally robbed of
their vote.
At any rate, the classified re-
search and IDA referenda were
by particular interest groups -
must be initiated. Too many stu-
dents are still unclear about the
issues in the referenda. Event-
ually, it will take another, more
selective referendum to elicit the
response of an informed, critical
student body.
-Mark Schreiber
Student Government
CouncilMember
Lost Idealism
To the Editor:
YOUR EDITORIAL (March 14)
denouncing Bobby Kennedy as
a "cynical opportunist" is typical
of the misguided idealism which
has repeatedly robbed American
youth of any hope for political
success.
Is it impossible to be sincere and
realistic at the same time? Ken-
nedy has openly verbalized his op-
position to the war, but has real-
ized, perhaps, that a political
blunder at this time might ruin
his chances for ever putting his
ideas into practice.
Unfortunately, politics do not
operate on the principle that the
man with the best ideas always
wins. Earlier this year, Johnson
seemed so deeply entrenched that
no one could wrest the nomina-
tion from him.
NOW THE NEW HAMPSHIRE'
primary has indicated that Amer-
ica may be ready for a peace can-
didate. Does Kennedy become a
hypocrite .because he _has waited
to insure that running in '68 will
not be merely butting his head
against a brick wall?
I attach no stigma to being real-
istic. Kennedy will have to be real-
istic to ever get elected, and even
4
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