-M"mmm r4e ifr~igau Datlij 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 Deans, dirty words and college press 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Doily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: JIM HECKI By FRANK BROWNING First of Two Parts FOR SOME REASON the pro- cess of creating life always seems to embarrass "responsible men"-especially the presidents, deans, publication boards, and taste-makers of public decency at a broad swatch of Midwestern uni- versities, where a number of nor- mally mild-mannered college dai- lies have dared this fall to include "f--k" as acceptable vocabulary. "F--k" is ostensibly the most heinous culprit for the hackled administrators. But at almost every paper involved, the editors maintain that crackdowns on the so-called obscenity only consti- tues a veil for far more pervasive attempts at social control through manipulation of journalistic pol- icy. To date : -The:Minnesota Daily was called to task by students, par- -The Kentucky Kernel has sustained a barrage of attacks from conservative students, an alumni group (headed by profes- sional basketball player Frank Ramsey) and state citizens dis- satisfied with the paper's cover- age of left-wing news; surrepti- tious threats regarding editorial policy and appointments have fil- tered down from university ad- ministrators, too. -The Indiana Daily Student is reportedly being sued by the In- diana University campus police for $750,000 after the paper labelled them "the dregs of society." -A media committee report at this University recommended the Board in Control of Student Pub- lications take a more direct hand in selecting editors for The Mich- igan Daily, although that provi- sion was defeated yesterday. All the papers are dailies which are at least 50 per cent self-sup- porting. The Minnesota Daily with Regents and Panhel: Delayed reaction IF CERTAIN national sororities were outraged by the Regents' decision Fri- day ruling use of binding and required, pledge recommendations in violation of University policy, their chagrin must have been shared by left-Jeaning students appalled at; the University's apparent commitment to ending discrimination. Traditionally slow' to act, administra- tors and Regents have fruitlessly pond- ered the issue of fraternity-sorority dis- crimination for almost two decades. Their action and peculiar alliance 'with Pan- hellenic Association and Student Gov- ertment Council-at the risk of alumnae wrath-is commendable, if overdue. Since 1949, when the war torn con- science of the nation first became aware of the necessity of ending discrimination, the University has responded only meekly to external pressures. In 1949, the Re- gents ruled that no groups could be rec- ognized, if they discriminated in mem- bership selection. However, sororities and fraternities were treated as organizations apart, not subject to University regulations. BUT WITHIN two years, liberal ele- ments in the community were press- ing for abolition of discrimination in sororities, including the binding and re- quired recommendations for membership. It is now clear that a tougher stand 15 years ago might have eliminated the em- barrassing situation of having to fight for a minute piece of anti-discrimination legislation four years after the enactment of major civil rights legislation. Nevertheless, early , attempts at com- bL ating even the most blatant methods of, discrimination in fraternities and sorori- ties were stymied by the administration. In 1951, a forerunner of SGC, the Student Affairs Committee called for the aboli- tion of discriminatory clauses in organi- zation constitutions, but was overruled first by then President Ruthevan, and later by former President Hatcher. AS LATE as 1958, the University was maintaining-with some difficulty- a "hands-off" policy on sorority affairs. Al- though SGC questioned the effect of a suspension by the national of two Sigma Kappa chapters which had recently pledged black girls on the local chapter, the administration did not respond,' When Council withdrew recognition from the local chapter of the sorority for tightening their membership require- ments, a University administrative board overruled SGC. Having no other recourse, Council ap- pealed to the Regents, citing the 1949 ruling prohibiting recognition of groups which discriminated. But the Regents ducked the issue: they could concern thlemselves only with general University policy, not with the circumstances of a particular case. But by 1959, the questions about the nature of sororities and fraternities de- manded an answer. Controversy centered around both general University policy and immediate legality of individual cases: second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mlrhigan, 420 Maynard St.. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 48104. yDaily except Monday during regular academi school year, -Are sororities and fraternities to be considered student organizations rather than private organizations? -Do the Regents have legal authority to require fraternities and sororities to comply with membership regulations? -May the Regents delegate the ad- ministration of its regulations to sub- ordinate groups-and has this authority been delegated to SGC? CONSISTENT Regental inaction, how- ever, suggested that change would have to come from SGC, if it were to come at all. Four years later, in 1963, the Regents finally passed the buck to Council, granting student government the powei to recognize-or withdraw rec- ognition-from student organizations. But Council was in a delicate situation, and Panhel knew it. While Council hoped the sororities would abolish discrimina- tion on their own, the sororities hesi- tated, fearing opposition from national chapters. The sororities were faced with the chance of-losing their recognition as acceptable University housing, or losing the equally important financial lifeline, with dominating national chapters. Not until this gear, did Panhel dare to de- mand Regental backing for their action. In 1968, Regental backing of local 'chapters was essential\ to ending the power of binding 'recommendations, the power of alumnae, over local chapters. Without Regental backing, the sororities stood alone. HOWEVER, by 1968, only six houses at the University still honored' binding recommendations. And the weak Panhel resolution endorsed by the Regents only compels sororities to file all recommen- dations with SGC. How recommendations will be deemed discriminatory is yet to be decided. So, under scrutiny, the Regents of 1968 have not behaved so differently from the Regents of 1951. In the last analysis, it is obvious, the only commendation the Regents should receive is for not over- ruling the Panhel resolution. The lack of Regental initiative in the light of nearly two decades of Regental dawd- dling is inexcusable. To begin to classify this change as progressive would be a sad misrepresen- tation of its true worth. To consider it a panecea to the problem of discrimina- tion in sororities would be tragic distor- tion. PLAINLY, discrimination is inherent in the sorority system. Any member of any local house still has the power to accept or reject new members. All that differs, is that alumni cannot be pinned for any charges of discrimination. Hopefully, the sororities will prove they are sincere and will abide by the plati- tudes expressed with the resolution. Per- haps they will drop any narrow minded attitudes in selecting future members. If not, no amount of legislation can end sorority discrimination. And certainly no University body, not even the Regents, will-or can be ex- pected to-act to change the sorority system. -LESLIE WAYNE "Is intellectual scatology in the columns of newspapers less offensive to the sensibilities of the public than any of the material appearing in college newspapers in recent weeks?"' :.".x. . . ..m. . . a.vs SY":":":":'"""SS a >:SSSSf the student newspaper, the Ex- ponent, and have terminated his association with this newspaper in any capacity." That was a Friday. Saturday an extra edition of the Exponent came out reporting what had hap- pened, complete with letters from: outraged faculty, a statement of support for the paper from the Student Government, and a de- claration of the Exponent's senior staff to continue publication with- out any change in policy. Monday, the staff declared Smoot would continue as editor, and the administration retaliated by demanding the entire staff re- sign. A subsequent compromise left Smoot in office while a special study committee prepares a report for release Dec. 1. The climax to the Exponent case apparently came Nov. 7 when the paper published a poem in a literary section which made open reference to people f--king. Earlier a colum entitled "Black Book" noted that Purdue's preside.nt was not "anal-retentive," that he had indeed "dumped on students" and that while the student senate was "combing the presidential feces out of its hair, (the president out of its hai'.... (the president) is wiping his ass with the philoso- phy department's petitions (for curricular reform)." Exponent managing editor, Paul Buser, is confident that the uni- versity's action was really a cul- mination of anger toward and un- happiness with the Exponent. The paper has held a politically active editorial voice this year, and ac- cording to Buser, Purdue's Presi- dent Fred Hovde had cited "alum- ni pressure" as one reason for the crackdown. Mallett denied the charge in an explanatory state- ment. Prof. Harry Targ of Purdue's political s c i e n c e department charged "the reaction has been engendered by the editorial stand w h i c h has been maintained throughout the year and not be- cause of any obscenity." In a letter-to-the-editor, Prof. Joseph Rubinstein of Purdue's psychology department, asked, "Is intellec- tual scatology in the columns of city newspapers less offensive to the sensibilities of the public than any of the material appearing in the Exponent in recent weeks?" Apparently so. And especially so when the owners of those city .r " 4 ents, legislators, professional jour- nalists, and some queasy admin- istrators for using the word di- rectly and displaying it in front- page picture coverage of a campus "obscenity" controversy. -The Wisconsin Daily Cardinal, a financially independent paper, printed a CPS story which in- cluded so-called obscene words; its editor was ordered to appear before an upcoming regents meet- ing and present policy guidelines to guard against such usage in the future;. -Purdue University's Exponent had its editor suspended (and later reinstated pending a study committee's report after publish- ing a supposedly obscene poem and a column which declared the university's president had "wiped his ass" with a faculty petition for academic changes. -Three of the top editors of The State News at Michigan State University had salary cuts threat- ened by the paper's adviser (Gen- eral Manager) after it used "f--k" in a story about censorship cases at Wisconsin and Purdue. By ROBERT L, JACOBSON NEW YORK (CPS)-The Col- lege Entrance Examination Board appears ready to concede that its admissions testing pro- gram is geared primarily to serv- ing institutions of higher educa- tion and that, as a result, an im- balance exists between this service and the individual needs of stu- dents who want to continue their education beyond high school. But the board does not seem prepared to make any radical de- partures in its basic program of aptitude and achievement tests, without which few students can be admitted to colleges and uni- Iversities. Its emphasis more likely will be on offering additional services to help students make more real- istic judgments about themselves and the educational institutions they might attend. THAT WAS the impression left at the ,board's annual meeting by its president, Richard Pearson, ,and by the chairman of its com- mission on tests. The 21-member commission was appointed in 1967 to conduct a "broad review" of the theory and practice of the College Board's testing program. It was charged with gathering "evidence of the need for change" and deciding what new examina- tions might be needed in the fu- ture. So far the commission has been unable to reconcile widely diver- gent views among its members. But Pearson, in his annual report 40,000 readers proclaims itself the world's largest circulated college daily; although it gets free shop composition from the university, *isconsin's Daily Cardinal has been an independent corporation since the early 1930's. The State News boasts the largest budget of any campus paper in the country- $600,000. And The Michigan Daily is the only college paper publish- ing six days a week. So far, at least, the Purdue Ex- ponent represents the most blatant censorship case. Usually univer- sity administrations have learned to soft-pedal their attempts at muffling the student press all the while maintaining heartfelt al- legiance to "free expression." But in a signed statement Nov. 8, Purdue Vice President for Stu- dent Services Donald R. Mallett declared: "By the authority vested in me by the Board of Trustees and the president of Purdue University, and acting in my position as Vice President for Student Services, I have today removed Mr. William R. Smoot II as editor-in-chief of -Daily-Larry Robbins papers and their colleagues con- tribute substantially to the uni- versity's support. Probably the most telling issue at The Minne- sota Daily case this fall was the fear that the university might suffer a legislative cutback in its next appropriation due to the pub- lication of "f--k. At least one local commercial newspaper col- umnist uttered his disgust for the "juvenile" journalism and de- clared he would no longer make contributions to the university. (Newspapermen's wealth and in- fluence being what they are, that probably doesn't worry Minnesota P. esident Malcolm Moos too much.) What does worry him and other university people is a precedent set several years ago when the state legislature did cut support after The Daily printed another naughty word:,"damn." The mat- ter so concerned university ad- ministrators and The Daily staff that Editor Paul Gauchow prom- ised he would do everything in his power to counteract the bad ef- fects with the legislature. TOMORROW: More of the same at Wisconsin, Kentucky, MSU and the University.' mrng - to the College Board, saidl understanding of the comr intention was that "it lo new tests and inventorie would give students a bet derstanding of themselv the board's traditional t and also for better inforr publications and compute ed guidance to give stu better basis for choice an sion" about colleges. Seeing this as a "long-t fort of program developme Pearson went on to voice ' sumption at the present ti that much, though perhaps of this developmental work on outside the admissions program." BUT SOME MEMBERS tests commission. at leas not revising his own 'Thresher said there was a "wide quite a nission's diversity" of opinion on the com- du'es." )oks for Descr es that mission, rangig from "bland con- ly conse tter un- tentment at one end to fulnina- althoug es than ting discontent at the other." the idea ests do, given mw national .HE SAID the group had shown leges, h r-assist- a willingness "to contemplate and cipitous dents a seriously consider a variety of in- establis id deci- novative and experimental propos- out car als which go far beyond the erm ef- board's present, conventional pro- YET nt," Mr' grams." Some of these ideas are seemed his "as- so "radical," Tresher added, that tion tha isne s they could be introduced only success not all, gradually. Said' k will go But an indication of how a compar testing radical approach might be resisted tests m came from another commission self-fulf member, John B. Carroll, who dents w of the commented in an interview that tests als st, have "We're probably going to keep whichi MW, A the CEEB lot of the current proce- ibing himself as "general- ervative," Carroll said that h he could go along with a ,that students need to be iore information about col- he would not favor "pre- " changes in the board's hed testing program with- eful research. TIEDMAN and Thresher to take issues with the no- at a predictor of academic is necessarily relevant. Thresher: "Discriminatory isons in scholastic aptitude' ay in part bring, about a filling prophecy. Those stu- rho do well in the aptitude so do well in the curriculum is geared to the tests." Butdhe saidit ' is "common knowledge that college grades have little relation to later social effectiveness in non-academic oc- cupations." "If the curriculum itself is somewhat irrelevant and therefore provies a criterion of questionable value for test validation, screen- ing and selecting, the resulting meritocracy becomes d i v e r t e d from rational human purpose," he said. Tiedman urged recognition of the view that "the linking of ap- titude test scores with collegiate grading has made aptitude tests a feedback mechanism Instead of a feed-forward mechanism." The tests show what has existed but not what could exist, he said. (with the permission of The Chronicle of, Higher Education) been greatly impressed by de- mands for fundamental realign- ments within the testing program itself, and it is on this point per- haps more than any other that the commission is stalemated. David V. Tiedman, chairman of the commission, believes it will ul- timately call for some "evolution- ary" changes in board activities rather than "revolutionary' ap- proaches to testing. Neither he nor the commission's vice-chairman, B. Alden Thresher, were able to say in a "progress report," however, that the com- mission had resolved its differ-, ences over such basic questions as whether the board should continue the testing program more or less as it stands. Letters to the Editor FEIFFER 401Z* Howe- tAO165 AkJL26aoTE- H %0 OF V6 1(JORYt- kE Ap 6 '3 AIOt ' I ER Eo U' OMU? ItT 5E M5 ~~ r- ~UST U~'AT ^ C T W1V 6 6UAT P07 0- TIAU BUT bNOFOLLOW THROUGNf. el ;AVM C T~~(U ~~j ~AI vcsL PERA& A IE1JA) T POKYT KNtJJLWHAT LOVE ALU 5RIO05 RELAToW- Neanderthals.? To the Editor: MUCH OF THE recent discus- sion seeking the abolition of foreign language requirements for an. undergraduate degree seems to me to have ignored some essen- tial matters in its eagerness to identify a 'weak link in the alleged structure of academic compulsion. To put it briefly, the monolingual- ism of most Americans has play- ed its part in establishing the pat- tern of condescension, mampula- tion, and sometimes violence that has characterized our relations with other nations in recent de- cades. Inability to understand and communicate with foreigners (en- emy, client, or ally) in their own, terms easily feeds the already, present disposition to make the world over in the American shape. Once the others are like us, of course, all problems will disappear. THAT STUDENTS who claim political sensitivity and abhor great power imperialism should want to perpetuate the shambles created by one-way communica- tion calls for their basic commit- ments into question. Of course, foreign languages are often badly taught in the schools, and 'sometimes the universities are not much better. T h i s failing, where it exists, is a practical and not an ideological magttei; it can be corrected. The gut fact is that ground to the neanderthals, fan- farons, jingoists, and militarists. -Prof. Albert Feuerwerker, History department Nov. 15 Consumer's cartel To the Editor: WOULD LIKE TO clarify the the following point which ap- peared in a Daily article Nov. 13, regarding Inter-house Assembly's objections to SGC's Student Con- sumers Union proposal for dormi- tory laundry service. IHA's objection to the proposed contract does not mean that the contract idea is killed. There has been no sufficient mandate for or against the contract even on the basis of the IHA vote. The basic objections to the contract were: FIRST, THE STUDENTS a r e presently trapped in a sellers monopoly. The contract is an at- tempt to establish a situation more advantageous to buyers. The con- tract will be awarded on the basis of competitive bidding. Second, there is no legal com- punction for t h e University to sign the contract even if bids are sent out. If prices' do not suffi- ciently alter the current status quo, the University canr refuse to enter into the contract. The worst outcome from the proposal would, be the maintenance of the status quo. In addition, if prices elicited from the launderers are not suffi- ciently lower than present rates, SCU will strongly object to sign- ing contract. Third. a multi-year contract dorm s t a f f members to handle laundry money and boolkeeping for up to five different firms. Con- tract reduces duplication of these efforts resulting in a net 'saving to the dorm system which can be better spent in other' areas (i. e. better meals). It is my feeling that Jack Myers and John Feldkamp have tried to sell h o u s e presidents a bill of goods. Myers has made a political football out of this issue using it to 'enhance his position in line with the negativistic stance he has ordained for IHA.: Feldkamp has constipated ,the process by failing to fulfill his commitment to poll all the houses on this matter. To this date he has not sent out bal- lots he promised to send out three weeks ago. A great many argu- ments against the contract are based on half-truths and misin- formation. -Gene Smith Chairman Student Consumers Union Nov. 15 Graduate Assembly To the Editor: THIS IS an open-letter to the graduate students of the Uni- versity: The Graduate Assembly has been used already to promote SDS's University -'wide student strike during the national elec- tions. Each department is constitu- tionally allowed its own represen- tatives - one f o r 25 graduate students in a department, two for 101, three for 201. 4 ti G -- } r