t , r 9 iin Baii j 1
Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNwERSTTY OF MICMGA2
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
. . . . ......
I
THE VIEW FROM HERE
A Greek Coup (Sorority Style)
BY ROBERT KLIVANS
Where Opinions Are Pree. 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBORMicH.
t'rutb Will PrevailA
NEws PHoNE: 764-0552
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Editorials Printed in The Michigan Daily et press the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all rehrmts.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1967
NIGHT EDITOR: NEAL BRUSS
Campus Parking Shortage:
The Horns of a Dilemma
AS A RESULT of administrative short-
sightedness and mismanagement, the
University's Student Vehicle Office has
been forced to institute an arbitrary and
unjust policy of restriction on the num-
ber of student vehicle permits issued this
year. Despite the fact that the Student
Traffic Advisory Board urged a loosening
of credit hour qualifications to allow
more students to drive on campus, lack of
adequate campus parking has brought
the crackdown.
Many students, victims of this iniqui-
tous new policy, are questioning the arbi-
trary system of priorities instituted this
year. For example:
" Is it fair that a second semester
junior be permitted by the University to
drive and park his car on campus when
the student lives two blocks from cam-
pus? It certainly seems reasonable, ex-
cept when one considers that a sopho-
more-living two,, miles from campus in
a fraternity house on land purchased
frpm the University with the understand-
ing that the members would be permitted
to have cars-is denied the very same
privilege.
" Is it fair that students involved in
campus activities be. deprived of avail-
able parking space or, at best, subjected
to time-consuriing Ann Afbor meters?
" Is it fair that students on North.
Campus who are denied driving privileges
be forced to use a bus service which is
only slightly dependable at best, which
stops running at 12:28 a.m., and which
>ften doesn't perform at all on especial-
ly snowy days?
" Is it fair that students, who must
rely on their cars to get to and from
campus and are unable to find legal park-
ing spaces, pay tens of thousands of dol-
lars every school year in parking fines
because not enough authorized student
parking is available?
STUDENT GOVERNMENT Council might
well look into the existing system of
priorities, and make some relevant modi-
fications of that system, rather than ar-
guing about student apathy and a new
SGC constitution. The parking shortage
is a real problem facing the University
today, and ought to be recognized as such.
In fact, the University administration
has turned the entire student transporta-
tion situation into a comic opera. Fore
those students living off campus, and
particularly those on North Campus, the
University bus service is unreliable and
slow at best, and totally inadequate at
other times. For those students' allowed
to have their cars on campus, the park-
ing situation is simply intolerable,
THE UNIVERSITY administration is to
blame for allowing the problem to fes-
ter and grow to its present proportions,
and the administration thus has the re-
sponsibility for finding an immediate and
lasting solution.
Some token attempt is being made at
solving the dilemma, but it is too little
too late. In the final analysis, promises,
of more parking in the future do not ease
the current situation, nor do promises
pay the fines.
--DAVID MANN
LIKE A PACK of lemmings, freshman women are
already rushing sororities in the University's second
consecutive year of experimenting with Panhellenic
madness.
Instituted last fall after a year-long hassle in student
government and administrative meetings, the new system
moved rush up from the cold weeks of January to the
balmy days of September. Thus, campus sorority leaders
have kept the clothes cleaner and the souls purer of
newly-arrived coeds.
How student government leaders were bludgoened
into accepting the first semester sorority rush plan re-
mains a mystery. Except for the pointless weather argu-
ment, there seems to be little a September sorority rush
could contribute to the well-being of University women.
Exposure to two-and-a-half weeks of rush during the
first month of classes is unnecessary and artificial pres-
sure added to all the other problems that could easily
pop up. No time 'is permitted for women to appraise so-
rorities from afar, or, more importantly, to perhaps
weigh the alternatives to sororities offered on campus.
'WOMEN'S RUSH, as it is presently structured, con-
sists of visits to all 26 sororities followed by several
weeks of return trips to a steadily dwindling list of
choices. The routine is long and arduous for both the
actives and the rushees. It rightfully comes early in the
-semester when study loads are lightest.
But the changeover from second to first semester
was a damaging alteration. The only explanation for the
decision seems to be the Panhellenic executive's des-
perate grab to preserve the system by forcing freshmen
to make a decision before a real exposure to the Univer-
sity environment.
The transition in rush has a history that leaves all
parties-excepting the much maligned Vice-President
for Student Affairs-in a bad light.
The plan was adopted in 1966 by Panhellenic Presi-
dents Council through an unfortunate voting arrange-
ment that gives the executive council seven votes added
to the individual votes of the sororities involved. The
proposal to switch rush from January to September was
opposed by a majority of the voting sororities on campus,
but was endorsed by Panhellenic anyway. Strike One.
THE PLAN WAS passed on to Student Government
Council. and, under the gospel of organizational auto-
nomy, SGC approved it. SGC leaders argued that Pan-
hellenic had the right to determine its own inner-work-
ings and felt that "those most directly concerned should
make the decision."
Unfortunately, SGC abdiated its responsibility to
speak for those who were actually most affected by the
decision-the freshman women. They failed to recognize
the inconveniences the plan could cause in the early
days of adjusting to the University. They failed to chal-
lenge Panhellenic, perhaps in the fear of causing an
inter-student organization feud. And, in the end, they
failed to act as the last realistic obstacle to the new fall
rush plan. Strike Two.
ONLY WHEN THE fall rush proposal came before
Vice-President for Student Affairs Richard L. Cutler did
it receive any serious opposition. He referred the pro-
posal back for re-examination, voicing serious reserva-
tions about the soundness of the new system, but the
plan was re-endorsed anyway, more in the spirit of re-
sisting administrative interference (the vice-president
couldn't actually be correct when he dabbled in student
affairs, could he?) than of considering the feasibility of
subjecting freshmen to a September rush. The plan was
passed and Panhellenic shifted into high gear with their
new-found salvation. Strike Three.
NOW IN ITS second year. the plan still seems to be
unpopular in many sororities. No one is quite sure how
freshman women feel about the plan, though they have
nothing to measure it against. The dominant excuse, of
course, is that fall rush is now spilled milk, so stop
weeping. But it isn't really too late at all if SGC has
enough backbone to speak up for the disenfranchised
freshmen who are being herded like cattle through
sorority houses within a week of their arrival in Ann
Arbor.
It is obvious that Vice-President Cutler's office is in
a bad position to suggest reconsideration of the rush
plan. After last fall's demonstrations, the Office of
Student Affairs and SGC have a strained-albeit non-
existent-relationship. This time the initiative must
come from the student leaders themselves.
The very best source of reconsideration, of course.
is Panhellenic'Council. Are a majority of the sororities
still opposed to the first semester rush? Have sorority
leaders fully weighed the problem of freshman women
while determining their rush schedule? Are the best
interests of the campus served by an extensive rush
practically upon arrival in the dormitory room?
SORORITIES, AND probably fraternities also, should
reconsider their policies of first semester rush. If the
Greek. system offers a worthwhile alternative to other
forms of campus living and activities, it certainly will
not suffer during a semester's delay. But the present
system, particularly in sororities, appears as an exercise
in fear, with the sororities afraid that a semester's ex-
posure to college, life may reveal something Panhellenic
would rather hide.
n Vietnam
Reporting the Other War I
The Rushees Are Coing,
The Rushees Are Coring
Mary Berry, an assistant professor
of history at Central MichiganUni-
versity, has been traveling in Viet-
nam for over a month. She is at-
tempting. to gain a general impres-
sion of the United States commit-
ment and its effects on this Asian
"nation. She received her PhD from
the University, and her specialty is
U.S. constitutional history.
By MARY F. BERRY
Last of a Two-Part Series
LONG XUYEN - The contrast
between the pacification pro-
grams carried on by. the army and
marines and that which is oper-
ated by the Agency for Interna-
tional Development in Vietnam is
sobering and striking. One begins
to understand why the civilian
side maintains that the military
programs are not really designed
for pacification and development
but merely another means of try-
ing to kill Viet Cong. A visit to
the delta provinces of An Giang\
and Sadec in IV corps area serves
to illustrate the contrast.
An Giang province is reportedly
93 per cent pacified, the most
peaceful province in South Viet-
nam. There are some 469.753 per-
sons mainly of the Hoa Hao sect
living in the 5 districts and 38 vil-
lages of the province. The Hoa
Hao religion, essentially a reform
Buddhist movement is the pri-
mary cohesive force in the pro-
vince. After 1956 the Hoa Had
were firmly allied to the central
government and since the No-
vember, 1963, and February, 1964,
coup d'etats, the alliance has been
cemented,
The area is blessed with ade-
quate water communications and
very fertile soil on which rice and
a wide variety of vegetable crops
are grown. Because of the security
that the area enjoys, the govern-
ment functions normally and the
roads and waterways are travelled
quite freely. It is one of the few
places in Vietnam where one can
ride around in a jeep without a
military escort.
The absence of VC activity in
the area can be. explained by the
absence of geographic cover, a
good system of well-manned out-
posts, and the seemingly adamant
anti-communism of the Hoa Hao.
The villagers insist that the VC
would not dare to try to come into
their' areas-they would throw
them out. The development pro-
gram instituted in An Giang by
the Vietnam Government and the
United States is expected to show
complete success because of the
favorable situation which already
exists.
H. AUBREY ELLIOTT, the Pro-
vincial Senior Advisor, told me
that the development program in
An Giang is operated as if no war
existed. The emphasis is placed
on increasing rice production,
building schools, roads and bridges
and improving the administrative
capacity of the local government.'
The program seems to be success-
ful. The province produced enough
rice for its own needs and export-
ed 100.000 tons last year, soybean
production has been tripled in the
last two years, and rock produc-
tion-important for road building
and other construction-was dou-
bled in the last year. Things
were so peaceful in An Giang that
almost the entire AID mission was
preparing for a Saturday after-
noon cook-out and looking for-
ward to a peaceful Sunday at
home.
WHEN TRAVELING through
the villages one must have a mili-
tary escort since there are many
VC in the area. The government
controls most of the hamlets in
the three western villages of the
province but the VC are heavily
concentratel in Duc Ton on the
Qast and are scattered throughout
the province. One hamlet very
near Sadec city in the center is a
strong VC area surrounded by
hamlets under South Vietnam
government control This situation
results from the fact that this
hamlet is a stopping point on a
route used by VC traveling from
north to south and vice versa.
There are four New Life De-
velopment hamlets in Sadec. The
NLD hamlets are what was re-
ferred to as "strategic hamjlets"
before 19 6. When the strategic
hamlet pronr'i failed the name
was changied and other neasures
introduced to insure probable suc-
cess in the operation.
In an evolutionary sense a ham-
let may first be VC controlled,
then contested, then pacified mili-
tarily, then a NLD hamlet and
finally a government functioning
hamlet. After military activity has
ceased and the VC political in-
frastructure has been destroyed,
the New Life Development should
proceed in an orderly fashion. In
Sadec province, despite VC activ-
ity, schools are being built, agri-
cultural production has been hold-
ing its own, and road and bridge
construction are underway.
DESPITE the obvious contrast
between the military pacification
programs and U.S. AID operations,
even the!latter have great diffi-
culties. There is great danger in
assuming that because a part of
the program works in An Giang
province with its unique situation,
it will work elsewhere. Also there
might be great danger in operat-
ing a program in a. country at
war, even in a "secure" area as
if there were no war. The peace3
may be only temporary.
In Sadec, the obvious threat
of large VC concentrations is om-
inous. Since IV Corps area is one
df almost complete responsibility
for the South Vietnam Army, we
must rely on ARVN troops to clear
the area. An expedition into north-
ern Due Ton to clear and de-
stroy VC was planned for August
21. One civilian American offi-
cial indicated that he ,had little
faith in the outcome. ARVN's idea
of warfare he said, is to build
a few watch towers and station
a man here and there at a bridge
and avoid as much actual combat
as possible.
IT IS CLEAR indeed that the
evolutionary development of the
AID-GVN programs cannot go
forward until the VC are more
daequately suppressed. The AID-
GVN programs may not create
governmental loyalty and there-
by contribute to the defeat of the
VC. It may not always be true
that people will discard ideology
in exchange for more consumer
goods, roads, bridges and schools,
and this has been the rationale
of the programs.
It can be hoped, 'however, that
the people can be made to think
the South Vietnamese government
is great and good: it gave me
this food, schools, and so on, or
at least made it possible for me
to acquire them.
TONIGHT AT 6:45 formal sorority rush
begins for 1,154 University women.
Of these rushees, 82 are freshmen.
Their ears are still ringing with the sin-
cerity of the directive in the Panhellenic
Rush Manual, "You should evaluate the
sorority membership and the individual
chapters on the basis of your own values
and objectives."
They have been saturated with the
"development of the individual" thesis
which Panhel stressed this year in the
"Sororities at Michigan" booklet sent to
freshmen during the summer.
They have learned through the Panhel
publicity efforts and zealous rush coun-
selors that "the sorority is composed of
individuals," with its goal "the fulfill-,
ment of the potential for individual de-
velopment," and that "individuality is
the strength of the sorority system." -
The freshman has heard of the chance
for individual reflection, individual ex-
pression, individual personaldevelopment
and individual accomplishment.
How much of this hard-sell propagan-
da can the freshman accept as true?
THE ANSWER is simple. The potential
for individualism within the sorority
system is as real as the potential for
individualism in the girl.
Any girl who has a real respect and,
belief in her own individuality will find
that sorority life can and does provide
the opportunity to encourage and pre-
serve this uniqueness.,
The sorority makes no demands on the
member to surrender her selfhood; the
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Editorial Staff
ROGER RAPOPORT, Editor
MEREDITH EIKER, Managing Editor
MICHAEL HEFFER ROBERT KLIVANS
City ,Editor' Editorial Director
SUSAN ELAN.Associate Managing Editor
STEPHEN FIRSFII .... Associate Managing Editor
LAURENCE MEDOW ...... Associate Managing Editor
RONALD KLEMPNER .... Associate Editorial Director
JOHN LTTIER........Associate Editorial Director
SUSAN SCHNEPP..............Personnel Director
NEIL. SHISrTErR ...... ..... ffaea ,, i t~or~
girl who resents being "labelled" by a
pin is only displaying an inability to
project with conviction her own per-
sonality.
While the sorority system is infused
with both tradition and trivia-candle-
light ceremonies, T.G.'s, endless house
meetings and homecoming floats-these
Greek institutions do not define the lim-
its of the sorority woman's college exper-
ience. Certainly there are those who sat-
isfy themselves with the opinions of, their
roommates and think no further than
the dinner-table discussions of classes,
acceptingcheerfully the bill of fare pro-
vided by the social and activity commit-
tees.
But these are also the same people who
will assimilate themselves into the an-
onymity of a dorm or apartment or co-op.
The real individual will remain an in-
dividual wherever she goes.
WHAT THE 828 FRESHMEN have to
realize when they begin mixers to-
night is this: being an individual in-
cludes the ability to harbor tremendous
loyalty and love for a group while at
the same time keeping a grip on that
entity called "self" or "me" or "what I,
myself stand for."
In this respect, sorority life presents
a challenge, but a challenge that any
other living situation presents, which is:
the member must have the judgment to
relegate each concern to its own level
of importance. The dimensions which the
sorority routine assumes in a person's
schedule depends not on pressure from
the chapter but on the values of the per-
son.
IN SHORT, the freshmen can pretty
much accept what Panhel has been
telling them about the opportunities for
individual growth in the sorority. The.
opportunity is there, but it must be taken
advantage of, for it is no guarantee.
It takes work to be "yourself" in any
institution.
If the rushees choose the Greek sys-
tem as their "proving grounds" for self-
hood, they will find no bigger obstacles
than in any other group, and may find
lots of encouragement along the way.
-ANNE BUESSER
Is Nothing
9
4
New Politics Convention: Blacks and Whites Together
By WALTER SHAPIRO
The National Conference for
New Politics (NCNP) Convention
just held in Chicago was a study
in contrasts. Dissident Democrats
and radical organizers. Talk of
revolution beneath the glittering
chandeliers of the Palmer House.
SNCC militants and shuffling
bellboys. But throughout the four
day convention, the primary con-
flict was between black and
white.
And yet when the convention
ended Monday afternoon, two bi-
racial committees on local organ-
izing and electoral politics had
been established to direct further
NCNP operations. Twice the white
majority prevented a walkout by
the Black Caucus by accepting
their demands with votes of over
2-1. The convention succeeded in
destroying the obstacles which
blocked a dialogue and working
arrangement between white and
black radicals.
In light of a happy ending for
a convention which seemed cer-
tain to end in discord, it is im-
portant to understand the im-
plications of the NCNP conven-
tion for both white and black
radicals. And to pierce some of the
euphoria, it is also necessary to
realize the forces which still may
split NCNP asunder.
FOR MANY OF the whites pres-
ent, the convention was a direct
exposure to the realities of that
much abused term - black power.
The delegates, almost unanim-
ously sympathetic to black mil-
itance, had little concrete under-
standing of the extents and limit-
ations of an alliance with black
radicals. And even more, they
were unprepared for the hostility
and solidarity of the Black Cau-
cus, representing almost all the
cAonventinn'is Neoe
thing and the whites can do the
white thing."
BESIDES BEING encumbered
by some degreee of prejudice,
whites too often found the milit-
ant Negro inscrutable. As James
Forman t o 1 d the gathering,
"White progressives and radicals
are still white and cannot under-
stand the effects of racism on
us."
What was most incomprehen-
sible to the whites present was
that peculiar admixture of super-
iority and inferiority, arrogance
and suspicion, which represented
the behavior of the Black Caucus.
Two votes, each described as
"tests of white sincerity," were
demanded of the convention by
the Black Caucus.
Inherent within both votes was
the question of whether white
radicals were willing to sacrifice
white values and prejudices and
meet the Black Caucus on equal
terms. The first vote required
whites to give up any sentimental
attachments to Israel and any
remnants of the belief that the
white community represented any
standard of civilized behavior. The
second vote on equal voting power
for' the Black Caucus demanded
that whites abandon ingrained
concepts of democracy and fair
play.
FOR RECENTLY RENEGADE
Democrats the attack on white
values struck too close to home to
be swallowed lightly. For many
radicals, who rejected the hypo-
crisy of middle class life and
American politics, any break with
one's principles smacked too much
of the "old politics" to be toler-
ated at a "new politics" conven-
tion.
In the end, however, most
lahiaCt aiy- lth t ...nr .lrnit .b
expenses covered by NCNP "white
liberal money," the convention
provided them with an opportun-
ity to further delineate 1 black
power. But without the recent
Newark Black Power Conference.
it is unlikely that a coalition
stretching from the SCLC to SN-
CC would have been able to re-
solve its differences in private
and present a "united black front"
to the convention.
The emergence of Carlos Rus-
sell, the architect of a "united
front" at this convention, as a
major black leader may have been
one of the unhearalded accom-
plishments of this gathering. Rus-
sell, who claims affiliation with,
no organization, was born in Pan-
ama and said he "came to the
convention from New York repre-
senting only myself."
Observers within the Black
Caucus, said that Russell was in
"complete tactical control" and
described him as a "guerrila
leader on the verge of a major
battle."
BUT THE MOST important im-
plication of this convention for
black militants was that some
contact was maintained with a
white group. A dialogue with
white radicals will stress that the
common enemy is white society
and white values rather than the
white man. A walkout by the
Black Caucus would h a v e
strengthened black separatism as
an end in itself, rather than a
road to eventual equality.
However, it is difficult to be
completely optimistic when as-
sessing the outcome of the con-
vention and the implications it
holds for the future. Since the
dialogue between white and black
radicals has not yet begun, it is
impossible to predict whether the
tactical concerns of the two
or rebellions which have engulfed
our major cities. It would be naive
to expect James Forman to take
any other attitude toward the
riots than to say, "If a brother
wants to throw a molotov cock-
tail, that's his business."
But for Forman to say, "I real-
ize there are pacifists in the aud-
ience, but do not forget that this
was the first country to break
away from colonialism by armed
revolutionary struggle," is to skirt
the issue with pious rhetoric
worthy of Lyndon Johnson at his
best.
There were white groups at the
convention which sew urban vio-
lence as the key to overthrowing
the power structure. But the ma-
jority of the delegates, while they
understood the riots, and would
not condemn the participants,
were not wildly enthusiastic for
repeated outbreaks.
"Can't You Dig Up A
Show That Kind of
The convention's focus on the
relationship between black and
white radicals meant scant at-
tention paid to cleavages between
middle-aged' leftists and the
young radical community organi-
zers. But these differences may
result more from mutual ignor-
ance than ideological differences.
For example, Simon Cassady,
California CNP leader, admitted
during the convention his total
ignorance of the meaning of local
organizing. Another gathering is
necessary to delineate the rela-
tionship between local organizing
and electoral politics.
BUT THE MAJOR weakness of
the NCNP coalition is the amor-
phous quality of its goals. As
someone meekly asked during the
local organizers' caucus; "Organ-
ize for what?"
Treaty Or Something To
Commitment To Us?"
V
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