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 Under the Influence Ten Years in Circulation of Meredith Eiker - - Where Opinions AreFree, 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. FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: WALLACE IMMEN Sophomore Women's Housing "WHEN THE HARVARD term came to an end, I gave single lectures in a few other universities. Among others I went to Ann Arbor where the president showed me all the new buildings, more especially the library, of which he was very proud. It appeared that the library had the most scientific card-index in the world, and that its method of central heating was extraordinarily up-to-date. Whide he was explaining all this, we were standing in the middle of a large room with admirable desks. 'And does anybody ever read the books?' I asked. He seemed sur- prised, but answered, 'Why, yes, there is a man over there now reading!' We went to look, and found that he was reading a novel." -The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell Chapter 7, page 328 SOPHOMORE WOMEN ARE currently forced to shoulder the debt of the University's housing system that is a result of obligations to fulfill bonding requirements with the federal govern- ment. However, John Feldkamp, Director of University Housing, believes that in "a year or two" the system will be able to operate without the financial aid of sophomore women's rents, While these bond obligations remain outstanding, it will be necessary to make University housing mandatory for sopho- more women. But after this period sopho- more women should be granted off- campus housing permission, and thus given an opportunity for freedom and development. S THE SITUATION exists now, many women join sororities just to avoid The Daily is a mnher of the Associated Press and Colegiate Press Service Fall and winter subscription rate: $4.50 per term by carrier ($5 by mail): $8.00 for regular academic school year ($9 by mail) Daily except Monday during regular academic schoni year. Daily except Sunday and Monday during regular summer session. Second class postage pair at Ann Arbor. Michigan, 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor. Michigan, 48'04. Editorial Staff ROGER RAPOPORT, Editor MEREDITH EIKER, Managing Editor MICHAEL HEFFER ROBERT KLIVANS City Editor Editorial Director dormitory life for their sophomore year. Sophomore women who don't wish to join sororities or co-ops are forced to submit to a massive, impersonal housing struc- tures designed for maximum efficiency and minimum serenity. Sophomore women certainly have the maturity to assume the responsibility for apartment living. While sophomore men are allowed to live outside the University housing system, sophomore women, who dcn't have that freedom, are probably better adaptable to apartment living. Furthermore, if sophomore women were allowed to live off-campus, the environ- mental conditions in University housing 'would be improved. The University would be forced to provide better services in its housing structures to attract students back to the dorms and keep its vacancy rate down. At tne same time, demand pressures on the Ann Arbor housing market are slackening sufficiently to handle the an- ticipated influx of 500 sophomore women without an increase in rental prices. AT A UNIVERSITY which has become a major arena for social change, the protective values that have dictated pol- icy toward women in the past are now obviously outmoded. The University must change this policy and grant sophomore women a choice of residency as soon as financial commitments permit. -DAVID SPURR volumes that students used while in the building. Ten years ago the UGLI's doors were open 100 hours a week- last month student demands extended the library's cur- few and its week is now 121 hours long. THE STATISTICS don't tell the whole UGLI story, however. More than an educational institution, the UGLI is a social institution, complete with a built-in caste system. History of art students find themselves gathered together with the prints on the fourth floor; engineers hover primarily on the third. Fraternities and sororities have house annexes, setting up at the same group of tables every night, and the koffee klatch meets from 9 to 9:30 p.m. The UGLI is also a proving ground for the devious. Students can't toss books out the window as they can at theGeneral Library, but the check-out people haven't checked purses or underwear for years. "Sgt Pepper" album jacket enter empty and leaves the audio room filled with Mozart. Incense was burned during finals and who knows how many women have met their hus- bands over the card catalogue. MIRIAM THE librarian of "The Music Man" would have found the University's facility hard to handle. Not only would she have to put up with adamant students demanding to know why they have had their credits held during registration, but she might also find herself confronted by activists looking for an administrator to hang and protesting the evils of the Ugh system--it forces them into the cold streets after midnight. It would take a genious like D. W. Griffiths to tell the whole story of "Birth of an Ugli" with all its drama and impact, but in the meantime we will have to be satisfied with the humble recantations of this column. AND NOW THAT the second Ugh decade at the University looms near we can look forward to more crowded carrels; longer lines while waiting to check out; less availability of necessary books during finals time; increased frequency of stumbling over bodies in the rear stairwell; and more romances being started in the coffee room, where Ban could certainly take the worry out of being close. But for those who prefer to heed the call of Marshall McLuhan and give up the Ugli's tomes of guttenburg media for the more advanced technological message that can be wrought from today's electronic means of communication, this next decade will always offer Thursday night at the movies. WHEN BERTRAND RUSSELL visited the University earlier in the century he probably saw the then new General Library which has aged for a good many years on the Diag and is currently having its insides rearranged and expanded. What Bertrand Russell didn't see is the Undergraduate Library which had an annual attendance during 1967 of 1,949,694 and will celebrate its tenth birth- day next Tuesday. According to varioush rumors circulating along with the books, the UGLI is the second busiest libary in the country-second only to New York City's 42nd St. bib- liotheque. Miss Faucher, head librarian at the UGLI, re- ports that 806 course reading lists were serviced through the library last year and 48,129 volumes were kept on closed reserve. The UGLI boasts 70,000 different titles and a total of 135,000 books, had a home circulation of 267,088 during - 1967 and figures that library personnel reshelved 661,312 ,~~ . . ....... .... . .. .** >::: .. ...W. Wt4....t ..::'< ,:':~::i:_ !_'>.rWt..,:::lflV. I:x a: ; VEs .. .. .A S ,:,. . . . ......a... .. ..a''# :7.<;vb ' :S" .. .....".vn"!{:":":$'x;" k;";rdi":"::{:": d$+?}:": r.+"'r:"1.::";{r,".w. "' M1 T: "" ' ..... ": Y.i iir.":":".:v,":::":":}}:"::v}.'u:":-0ti.}:"}:wia triiiuir:S:'.:".} ti : : .o' The By RHOADS MURPHEY MR. CHAIRMAN, Congressmen Whatever may be the mili- tary prospects in Vietnam, the problem there is primarily politi- cal, tp which military force can at best provide only a temporary answer. The immediate issue of insurgency has divertedsatten- tion from the more fundamental issues which are not, only key factors in the insurgency but which will remain after the fight- ing stops, Unless we somehow reach a workable political solu- tilon, even the most complete military conclusion will be of no lasting effect. There are two overriding poli- tical issues. The first is Vietna- mese nationalism. This is cer- taihly the most important. The drive for genuine independence from all forms of outside domi- nation. This is a very ancient struggle, fought successfully for many centuries against the Chi- nese state, then against the French and the Japanese. The United States has now re- placed the French as an outside power attempting to exercise a major influence. Although we may have no wish to build a perma- nent position of control, this is not clearly seen by many, perhaps most, Vietnamese, who see instead the growth of the U.S. military establishment in their country, the permanent look of U.S. bases, and the important American influence on the government of Saigon. The second of these two issues is the need for a political order which represents the aspirations of the people and which makes at least an honest effort to attack the problems which result from economic underdevelopment which have been grossly magnified by the destruction of a generation of warfare. Vietnam has been at war for at least 25 years. But economic growth cannot take place without political stability, and without the cooperation of most of the popu- lation. Any successful government must be broadly representative of the people as a whole, and must win their confidence through its willingness to confront these long- neglected problems. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE to exam- ine the nature of possible political settlements at this point. It can be realistically suggested, though, that without a deescalation of combat in the South, together with the cessation of bombing in the North, it will never be possible for the combatants in Vietnam to explore a durable political settle- ment. If the present course of combat ietnam uation of possible alternative op- tions must be rigorously pursued. We should not be bemused by the newly-found vigor with which optimistic projections of "victory" are now presented to us. We can- not suppress our skepticism inter- minably nor shrink from the des- truction that persists because of our doubts. In a choice between the opti- mistic southsaying of Administra- tion and the general welfare of the suffering Vietnamese, we must not be too credulous about official claims of skill at playing the numbers game. TO WHAT EXTENT does the present government of South Viet- nam meet either of these issues? The United States has in effect put all its money on the Saigon government, as the sole vehicle through which American objec- tives in Vietnam are to be achiev- ed. But that government's role as a leader of Vietnamese nationalism, which I think is the key factor, is compromised by its dependence on American military assistance and influence. And it falls far short of representing, in its com- position or its actions, more than a small sector of the country's people. Despite its announced policies and despite a great deal of Amer- ican effort, it has accomplished next to nothing in promoting eco- nomic development or in pursu- ing the vital job of land reform, as Congressman Riegle made clear in his discussion with Mr. Poats of AID before the Foreign Opera- tions Subcommittee last May. It has not won substantial po- pular support. Even its army is at best half-hearted in meeting the emergency military demands of defense against insurgency. There seems little doubt that if Ameri- can support were withdrawn, the Saigon government would not only be unable to continue the war but would quickly collapse. THE ELECTIONS OF last Sep- tember 3 which have been vari- ously interpreted but have their most important message in reveal- ing the weakness of the Saigon government. With the powerful leverage of office - holding, the elimination from the contest of the strongest candidates and of all politically suspect voters (suspect is inter- preted to mean "neutralist" as well as "leftist" although these things were not defined) and the virtually automatic votes of the armed forces, the official ticket received only about one third of the total ballots. Con lict-IL A Political Settlement? The following article, the third in a six-part series, is an analysis of the political situation in Vietnam by Prof. Rhoads Murhpey of the Univer- sity's Geography Department. It was originally pre- sented on Nov. 28, 1967, in Washington before a 19-man Congressional study group. The hearing was initiated by Rep. Donald W. Riegle, Jr., a Re- publican from Flint who requested the testimony f rom five Asian scholars, four from the University, headed by Prof. Alexander Eckstein, director of the University's Center for Chinese Studies. Prof. Murphey is a member of the Executive Committee of the Center for Chinese Studies and is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Asian Studies. He has published three books on China, lived and worked for six years in different parts of Asia, and visited Saigon and Southeast Asia in 1964. Rhoads Murphey chantment with the war, but it reinforces the need to begin think- ing now about Vietnam's political future. If the United States is to achieve its aims in Vietnam, it must direct its efforts toward increasing the chances for a viable and stable government once the American presence is withdrawn. No solu- tion which depends on permanent American military involvement would be acceptable to either the American or the Vietnamese peo- ple, nor could it be made to work. THE POLITICAL landscape of Vietnam is highly complex. In addition, to the interests repre- sented in the Saigon government, there is a variety of Buddhist sects with an equal variety of political orientations, a Catholic group in- digenous to the south plus the roughly one million largely Cath- olic refugees from the north, a bewildering assortment of non-Vi- etnamese tribal and mountain peo- ple ("Montagnards" as the French called them), and a substantial number of Khmers, closely related to the people of Cambodia, and, like the Montagnards, not Vietna- mese, although they are all inclu- ded within the present borders of the Vietnamese state. The Khmers are down here, in this delta landscape, which I have visited twice, and which I would maintain, in response to the point raised earlier, does present a seri- ous military problem for any at- tacking force. It is not just that the area is heavily cultivated and densely settled, but that it is in- thickets and other tree clumps for village use) provide in addition 'excellent cover, especially once the crop is reasonably higlU for guerrilla action. To try to put a military force of tanks, airplanes, or ground troops alone into such a landscape is, I think to invite the kind of, bloody stalemate which guerrilla operations are ideally suited to create, and to maintain a sticky military situation from the point of view of an attacking force al- most indefinitely. Most of the groups I have men- tioned above, and many other smaller ones, have little or no rep- resentation in the present govern- ment. But no government which does not take at least some ac- count of their interests can rest on a secure basis without massive out- side support. FINALLY, THERE IS the Na- tional Liberation Front, which still controls most of South Vietnam's area (by one definition or another, it depends on how you want to read this word "controls") and has the enforced, willing, or tacit support of a large share of the population as a whole. It is, without much question, politicaly the strongest and most effective group in the country. Re- sentment of the American pres- ence, the ugrency and bitterness of the socio-economic problems, and dissatisfaction with the Sai- gon government's ineffective re- sponse to those problems have in- fluenced large numbers of the normally indifferent masses of the but, despite these handicaps, it has captured the political leader- ship in South Vietnam, as the principal head of what is increas- ingly seen as a nationalist effort against American intervention on the one hand and against reaction and corruption in Saigon on the other. To produce from this complex assortment of divergent groups a stable representative, and effective government is in effect the task which we have undertaken as a result of our intervention. There is. no need to underline its diffi- culty. But there can be no hope of permanent success unless the po- litical arena is opened to all po- litically important groups. This is not just something they can subscribe to on the basis of arising out of our belief in the democratic process, but it seems to be an essential condition for the emergence of an essentially stable political solution. This would result, at least to be- gin with, in a good deal of disorder and confusion. It would be at best an uncertain situation in which a variety of groups jockeyed for power, and there could be no as- surance that violence would be absent. But I don't think there is any need to assume that the presently most effective group, the NLF would automatically win out un- opposed. In a contest for political power, efforts would have to be concentrated on winning the widest possible support. Given the political variety of South Vietnam rhist and other non-communist groups currently outside the gov- ernment could also be counted on to exert influence on any solution. IF AN INTERNATIONAL frame- work of guarantee and supervision could be established, then a free political field in South Vietnam might be ensured. Here the American role would be vital, but would be most effectively exercised in cooperation either with rep- resentatives of the Geneva powers or with a newly appointed inter- national commission. The outcome of any free political choice in Vietnam would almost certainly be, in international terms, some shade of neutraliza- tion. Such an outcome, and the opportuity of free political choice, have already been accepted, expli- citly or in principe, as compatible with U.S. objectives in Vietnam, and they also coincide with the interests and wishes of the great majority of the Vietnamese people. Nevertheless, it would probably be necessary to obtain in advance, through private discussions, the agreement of the Soviet Union, China, and North Vietnam to ac- cept where they cannot actively support the opening of the political arena in South Vietnam and the ultimate neutralization of the country. From both the Russian and the Chinese points of view, as from our own, these should be accepta- ble solutions, threatening no vital national interests and providing a viable means for the disengage- ment of the present pattern of, multiple intervention and conflict. China's reaction is of course the most problematical; but it is far from inconceivable that even now the Chinese could tacitly accept the neutralization of Vietnam and the consequent- removal of Amer- ican forces whose active role close to China's borders contains as much embarrassment from the Chinese point of view as it does propaganda value. As Professor Eckstein has al- ready pointed out the Chinese state is militarily weak, especially in terms of any conflict with U.S. power, and it has been unwilling to respond to what are clearly provocative actions, from its point of view. FREEDOM OF POLITICAL ma- neuver in South Vietnam and the emergence of some form of coali- tion government could lead to overtures to the Hanoi govern- ment, or even to participation of that government in the southern political arena. We might be confronted with a situation which in some respects resembled that in 1954 at the conclusion of the Geneva Confer- artificially divided. The division is unstable, given the uniformity of Vietnamese national aspira- tions; even now as I am sure you gentlemen are well aware, many northerners including Marshall Ky, occupy prominent positions in the Saigon government and its army. If the division can be resolved by any means short of war, long-run stability will be ensured as it can by nothing else. For a variety of reasons, the Korean case is not parallel; and no Korean type solu- tion can be imposed on Vietnam except at the, cost of continued violence. A unified Vietnam would leave many questions open as far as internal political alignments were concerned, but the issue of neu- tralization externally would not be in serious doubt. Whether a unitary government of Vietnam were communist, anti-communist, or based on a broad coalition, and whatever its formal relations with China, it would focus its external relations on the maintenance of independence from China and freedom of Vietnamese political maneuver. All of the long course of Vietnamese history testifies to this, including the history and actions of the present government in Hanoi. WHATEVER REGIME emerged from the political process in Viet- nam, under the supervision of an international commission, could be offerred military guarantees by the United States, or preferably by an international alliance of powers, to protect the present borders of Vietnam against outside aggression. A m e ri c a n and/or United Nations economic and technical assistance could also be. powerful asset for the succes of any Vietnamese government, but outside military commitments to the internal support of any given regime could only be coun- terproductive of the long-run stability and progress which are our aims in Vietnam. Theresisnsome risk that a left- dominated government in the south, or in a unified Vietnam, might take reprisals especially against the million or more reli- gious and political refugees who fled south in 1954 and later. The effort to command the widest pos- sible support would presumably militate against any such action. But if the risk became real, the United States would have a clear obligation to arrange external sanctuary for all who saw them- selves in jeopardy, since they be- came refugees originally on the strength of an American guar- antee. IN SUM, we must give primary attention to the political aspects of what is above all a political > k ;, ,: . . <: :" " Y;- tti: '.":' l h ' 4, t} : !}e } i ': f: ate *s { % i ,{ :}J : j : "1 -:{ K' : ~ ? 'fi'r r: r.i r ?:;'r ytfs rrS ;,c Y" } $} ;:",:;< #Cy tik i ' . .SJj r. "4, "i4 ::M j '{. F.ti t? {:'; +Y: r; h{, r v: v:: °{:, f :4: f . r1 i: 4' . {. J. ' . I