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October 08, 1968 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 1968-10-08

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"Onward, my brave lads"

Etie Sfdot$n Dait3
Seventy-eight years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
under authority of Board in Control of Student Publications

Ir = r

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

News Phone: 764-0552

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

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1968

NIGHT EDITOR: PHILIP BLOCK

Cox Report:
An admnistraivt lessfnl

-. mark levin
The education
ol the apathetic
jRONICALLY, THE STUDENT ACTIVISM which so many faculty
members irrationally fear will destroy their beloved academia, is l
the logical result of a liberal education. Instead of fearing student
activism, the faculty should welcome such directions in student
thinking with the conviction that it is an application of their teachings,
not a destructve, nihilistic approach to change.
In reality, the faculty has more to fear from student apathy than
activism. The gospel of liberal education they are spreading is not
having the desired impact. For most students are not concerned about
the institution which currently has the greatest impact on their lives-
the university,
The apathy and even resistance of most students to efforts to
achieve the proper student role in the academic decision-making process
should be alarming to the faculty. For it is indicative of how these same
students will react toward established authority when outside the pro-
tective walls of academic communities.
A free society requires that institutions which exercise power over
men's lives be continually scrutinized. Only eternal vigilance can insure
that these institutions do not overstep the bounds which have been
placed on that authority.
Safeguarding man's freedom of action is only one aspect of ques-
tioring society's institutions. The citizen must also ask normative
questions of society's institutions-.what should they be doing, what
structural change is desirable-not just are they properly performing
their functions within their already defined limits.

THE LONG-AWAITED report of the Cox
Commission On the uprising at Colum-
bia last spring constitutes a harsh, but
totally justified indictment of the school's
administration.
The commission, chaired by former So-
licitor General Archibald Cox, provides .
a 222-page volume of remarkable insight
into the problems Columbia faced and the
causes of the spring disorder.
Since Columbia is the forerunner of a
new era in student, disorders, the report
should be studied by those interested in
avoiding a similar crisis on their campus.
For many of the lessons learned at Morn-
ingside Heights are equally applicable to
hundreds of 'campuses across the nation.
NOR WERE the disruptions at Columbia
the result of isolated temporary situa-i
tions. Administrators! and faculty nmust
overcone their parochial biases and look,
to the Cox Commission Report as a guide
which cansput them on the right path to,
responsible, enlightened higher educal
tion.
As the Cox Commission's report clearly
shows, at every turn, both in the long run
and the short run, the administration
made disasterous mistakes: '
There was, for example, a long series
of demonstrations' 'beginning in 1965
which' foreshadowed the major uprising
last spring.Yet the administration made
no constructive move to head off a pos-
sible crisis.
Furthermore, although disruptive ac-
tivity was planned by a very small num-
much smaller than the membership of
Columbia's Students for a Democratic So-
ciety) it hit upon this groundwell of "la-
tent dissatisfaction" with the adminis-
tration.
"PROBABLY a majority of the students'
supported the uprising.
A n d the Columbia administration
adopted a position that could only invite
further dissatisfaction. "At a timne when
the spirit of self-determination is run-
ning strongly, the administration of Co-
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Editorial Slat f
MARK LEVIN; Editor
STEPHEN WILDSTROM , URBAN LEHNER
Managing Editor Editorial Director
DAVID KNOKE, Executive Editor
WALLACE IMMEN...................News Editor'
PAT O'DONOHUE...................News-Editor
CAROLYN MIEGEL'...... Associate Managing Editor
DANIEL OKRENT........ . .. Feature Editor
WALTER SHAPIRO' .......Associate Editorial Director'

A q44 V.. V .JRX.L0 "11.
lumbia's affairs too often conveyed an at-
titude ofauthoritarianism a n d invited
distrust."
Furthermore, President Grayson Kirk
made one, of most potentially dangerous
kinds of' proclamations early in the
academic year-a restriction which could
easily be interpreted by students as an
infringement of free speech.
"Without consulation with students,
and apparently without prior discussion
with faculty members," Kirk banned all
indoor demonstrations.
Then, when some 100 students broke
this; rule in early April to take a petition
to Kirlk, another and more disasterous
error was perpetrated - the school sus-
pended only the six radical leaders of the
demonstration. The leaders became in ef-
fect, the ,vitims of political persecution'
in the eyes of the students.
Furthermore, these students were sus-
pended from school without the public
hearing they demanded - an apparent
violation of their civil liberties.
"THE DESIRE for student power, while
scarcely articulated as a cause for
seizing the campus building, was a pow-
erful element of the explosion." The ban
on demonstrations and the mishandling
of the political leaders' suspensions only
intensified the students' desire for con-
trol over their own lives.
\ "The government of a university de-
pends, even more than that of a political
-community upon the consent of all the
governed to accept decisions reached by
its constitutional processes.
"Administrative intractability and re-
sistance to change contribute to the
breakdown of law and order." '
But the Columbia administration ~was
totally intransigent, both on the question
ofstudent decision-making authority and
on specific issues.
Such unwillingness to treat students
as !members of the community rather
than products in a factory is character-
istiq of the most dangerous stage of re-
cent university development around the
country. That Columbia was in this stage
for so long made a serious contribution
to the crisis.
WILL UNIVERSITY administrators sud-
denly wake up and see the light? Un-
likely. In fact, their initial reaction to
Columbia was in many cases to tighten
up regulations.'
And, as the Cox Commission has shown,
this reaction can only further aggravate-
existing situations.
For those who take a sensible attitude
toward student power, there will be, little
trouble. But for those entrenched in the
status quo, digging in deeper means plant-
ing the seeds of one, two ,or many Colum-
bia's in the near future.
-MARTIN HIRSCHMAN

Letters to the Editor

Dissenters
To the Editor:
ON NMONDAY, September 30,
I was handed ahandbill at the
Rackham Building- by one of the
individuals protesting t h e exis-
tence of the University and its
method of supplying higher edu-
cation.
The University is accused of be-
ing a ""brain trust command post
that produces technicians to push
the buttons of this technological
society. Anq this society oppresses
people."
The handbill asks, "Who asked
the U.S. into tleir country (Viet
Nam), to decide how they can
live their lives?" And further
states that "We will not accept
any system which channels our
bodies into the army or our minds
into anf authoritarian and inhu-
mane bureaucracy.
TO THE BEST of my knowledge
these dissenting individuals had
to apply for admission to the Uni-
versity if indeed they are students.
The University does not sent out
invitations nor does it force any-
one to remain a student.
There are many students and
members of the University staff
who are deeply concerned about
the injustices in our society and
the misery throughout the world,
and they are here at the Univer-
sity to seek solutions to t h e s e
problems and correct the wrongs.
They feel that the University is
doing more than "training stu-
dents to perform functions for a,
machine society whose policies are
out of, our hands."
IT IS COMMENDABLE that you
too are aware of the many prob-
lems in our society and that you

wish to help solve them. But why
must we forfit our education so
that you may have an education
tailored to your "o w n- interests
and desires?" Why must you first
destroy before you b'uild?
If you cannot change to fit Into
this university's culture or if you
do not have the fortitude or the
patience to try to effect a change
and improve the existing system
for the, good of everyone involved
and not just a few individuals,
then why don't you get out and
find a school that will satisfy your
need for individuality or, better
yet, start your own? 'Or are your
energiesonly for destruction? yDo
you in reality lack the initiative
and desire to function construc-
tively in any society?
-William Berg, grad.
Oct. 12,
Research
To the Editor:
THESE are troubled times in-
deed.
The same voice that calls for
criteria of consistency and cohcr-
ence in our judgment of the good,
condemns their use as shackles on
freedom. The same voice that
praises t h e unfettered spirit of
basic research, deplores the aby .-
mal gap between its findings and
applications. The same voice that
urges Academia's involvement in
All lettersd ust 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.

the affairs of the world, denou
applied research as stultifyin
the promethean curiosity thi
the privilege 'and redeemirg q
ity of the iyory tower.
"Basic" and "applied" reses
are both, terms which suffer
result of b e i n g juxtaposed,
more substantive meaning is
tained by either than is conta
in their deliberately laudatory
derogatory connotations. Jud
the worth of a research proje
a complex task whose principa
pacts are obfuscated when#
universe is dichotomized int
goodand a bad half depending
whether or not the project
practical applications.'
THERE, IS NOTHING int
sically good or bad in a resew
problem. Such values accruet
problem from the manner
which the questions are posed,
acumen and perpicacity of the
terrogator, a nd the intellecl
and technical competence thE
brought to bear on the issues.
needs only to recall the natur
Pasteur's contributions to scie
as he undertook to solve the'
plied problems of the French w:
silk, and sheep industries.
Judgments are often difficu
render. However, when they
made in the public domain, as,
the case in Browning's recentE
torial regarding MHRI, on
fundamental an issue in tod
universities as "basic vbs. app]
research" they should at least
flect more factual inforinat
thought, and concern than to
ing seems to have b'een able to
vote to the topic.
-Sylvan Kornblu
Sept. 30 .

IN THE CLOSING 'MONTHS of his presidential campaign, Robert
Kennedy frequently ended his speeches with a quote from George
Bernard Shaw. "You see things as they are and ask why? I dream
things that never were and ask why not?"
How does one insure that both questions will always be asked?
Admittedly, it is far more complicated than plugging students into the
University decision-making process. But encouraging students to ex-
amine educational institutions is a beginning.
Since most faculty do not "dream things as they never were and
ask why not," it is difficult to say students will gain anything on this
account. For faculty are wallowing in ine'rtia on their many commit-
tees. But it is .implicit in the argument' for student representation in
academic decision-making that new functions will be performed.
Committees must be redefined. The faculty must begin using-their
imaginations in educational instead of just) scholastic directions. The
committees students want to sit on will no longer be as dull as they
currently are because they will be planning for the future-attempting
to anticipate new fields of scholarship before society's new needs are
pressed upon the University and searching out neglected areas of study.
These potentially imaginative functions will be new functions.
nces
g to FOR EXAMPLE, executive committees would do more than merely'
at is worry about the status of their department. They would examine pro-
ual- gram development and,teaching methods. The energies of both faculty
and students would be tapped for experiments for the future.
On a small scale, this type of student-faculty responsibility exists
arch noar in the Residential College. Possibly the most attractive feature
as a about the RC is that it places students in such positions where they
o must think about the type of education they are receiving.
ined The academic architects of this controversial experiment realized,
and from the beginning of their planning. that it is educationally desirable
ging to include students qn all levels of decision-making, if the college hopes
ct is to produce socially responsible citizens.
1 ts- .In this respect, the rest of the University can inexpensively learn
t h e from the RC.
o The multiversity is not challenging the unquestioning, authoritarian
s on student. The multiversity is only responsive to ,those who can make
has
it work for them. It is, in effect, responsive to those who can subvert
its rules and bureaucracy.
trin-
arch PRESIDENT FLEMING says he is not dissatisfied with the multi-
to a versity because it does provide a better education than the institutions
in of higher leajrning in his own generation. ,ILfind this hard to dispute.
the lut I don't find it too meaningful to judge educational excellence in
in-~ relative terms.
3tual What Fleming's argument does not take into 'consideration is
OIs the deliterious effect of the size of the institution on the quality of
One
e of education outside ,the classroom. Its physical sprawl fosters apathy and
ence discourages communication.
ap- Faculty and administrators are failing as educators if they delude
vine, themselves with this kind of logic. They must address .themselves to
these problems.
It to Putting students into positions of responsibility on all levels of
are University decision-making is not the panacea. But it is a step in
was encouraging the critical responses and concern which are essential to
edi- improve the University and to maintain a free society.

*
;

Ar

as
lay's
)lied
re-
ion,
wn -
de-
m

UNFORTUNATELY, many educators point out proudly that stV-
dent activism and dissent represents only a small minority of the
students on campus. This, for some reason, is supposed to mean they
are doing a good job. More likely it means they have not succeeded
as teachers.
The activists are asking the really important questions about
society. These students are rightfully angry and disillusioned about
the values and direction of American society.

,..

t k

_. x

6atonsville Nine: Solidarity against war and

racism

By DAVID DUBOFF
A MOVEMENT APPEARS to be grow-
ing among church activists aimed at'
impressing upon the American people
the need for militant, direct action to
protest the immorality of the war and
the draft. At least four times in the last
year, this con cern has led to public de-
struction of traft records, sub jecting
the participants to severe recriminations
from the government.
e Last October, four men, including
a Catholic priest and a Unitarian min--
ister, entered the Customs H o u s e in
Baltimore and poured blood on draft
files. Three of the f d u r are 'already
serving prison sentences for this act.
" On May 17, seven men and two
women entered Local Board No. 33 in
Catonsville, Maryland, a suburb of Bal-
timore, removed files from the office
and burned them outside the Board with
napalm they manufactured from a ree-
ipe in the Special Forces Handbook. Two
of the nine had already been convicted
for their involvement in the October
action.t
" On June 4 of this year'two young
people entered a Boston draft board and
poured black paint on approximately
700 files. Last Wednesday, they went on
trial in Boston federal court for de-
struction of federal property and ob-

YESTERDAY, the "Cantonsville Nine"
- as they have termed themselves -
went on trial in Baltimore federal court.
Under federal statutes, they face up to
twenty-three years apiece for destruc-
tion of Selective Service property. The
County of, Baltimore is also charging
them with crimes ranging from robbery
and assault to sabotage. This would
bring their sentence to a possible grand
total of 54 years apiece for destroying
mere pieces of paper.
The "Baltimore Saints," as the latest
issue of Ramparts termed t h e m, are
clergy and laymen with deep religious
convictions. Among them are: Fr. Dan-
iel Berrigan, S. J. a poet, theologian and
lecturer; Fr. Philip Berrigan,' S.J., a7
chairman and founder of Catholic Peace
Fellowship,.now serving a six-year pris-
on sentence for pouring blood on Balti-
more draft files; Thomes L e w i s, a
founder of the Baltimore 'Interfaith
Peace Mission, also serving a six-year
sentence for the same offense.
Their reasons for destroying the files
are best enumerated in their own words.
The, following is an excerpt from the
statement issued by all nine of the de-
fendants at the time of their arrest:
"We destroy these draft records not
only, because they exploit our young

trial to last only 4-5 days. The defense
will be organized primarily to maintain
and underline the political stand taken
by the Nine.,
But this week's trial cannot be view-
ed as an isolated incident. All four ac-
tions, while seperated geographically,
appears to be part of a growing move-
ment. A press release issued by t h e
Boston Two said they were motivated
by the action of the Baltimore Four and
the Catonsville Nine.
The motivating force behind all of
these actions seems to lie in the relig-
ious background of the participants, arid
in their concern for taking positive ac-
tion to combat injustice. The following
excerpts from the statement of the Mil-
waukee 14, which included five Catholic
priests, a Protestant minister, a Christ-
ian brother and a co-chairman of the
Catholic Peace Fellowship, serve to illu-
strate their concern:
"Our action is not an end in itself.
We invite those who are ready to lay
aside fear and economic addiction in
order to join in the struggle to con-
front injustice in a word and deed, to
build a community worthy of men made
in the image and likeness of God,. .
a society in which it is easier for men
to be human."

pants attempted to escape. While the
actions themselves were simple, clear
and unequivocal, they serve to call at-
tention to the important issues of our
time, and suggest a means to deal with
these problems.
THE ISSUES which compelled t h e
Catonsville Nine and the others to act-
poverty, war, a n d racism, are issues
which confront every American citizen.
In an attempt to bring these issues;
before the Americ'an people, the Catons-
ville Nine Defense Committee" has is-
sued a nationwide -call for people to
converge on Baltimore this week to ex-
press solidarity with the defendants.
,MANY CRITICS 'have argued t h a t
these people have rendered themselves
totally ineffective by bringing d o w n
severe punishment on themselves for
an act which has little if any'effect on
the operation of Selective Service.
But we must remember that- the ac-
tions were taken not to keep particular
men from being drafted, but to demon-
strate a committment to aid the victims
of American oppression around the
world. Whatever we may thinkof their
tactics, we cannot forget that the Nine
and their successors have demonstrated
the courage o ~ffther'.coa~nvictions n iwhatf

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