- steve anzalone in quiet desperation Clr Air4tgan DZil Seventy-eight years of editorial freedom Edited ord managed by students of the University of Michigan The late Lincoln Day Dinner 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 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. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1969 NIGHT EDITOR: BILL LAVELYI Language 'requirement: The faculty stalls again THE LITERARY college faculty's deci- sion to stall action on the language requirement yesterday reflects its general attitude in confronting problems in the University. The faculty had commissioned itself by word and deed to resolve the language requirement conflict. It had discounted student views on the requirement with the aloof assurance that it would solve the problem. And for a while it looked as if the fac- ulty was going to pursue its self-given task. Monday a straw vote revealed over- whelming support for a proposal asking for the institution of a general studies program. The proposal was sound and definitive. Far from being hasty, the precise wording of the resolution avoided instituting the program without scrutiny, but asked only that further investigation be conducted and that a draft of the program be for- mally written up and presented to the faculty for further deliberation. A VOTE IN favor of the resolution would not have bound the faculty to any specific general studies program; it would have simply voiced faculty sup- port for the elimination of certain degree requirements. The action taken yesterday-to set up another committee to study a proposal to investigate an idea--is not only ra- tionally baffling, practically cumbersome and totally absurd, it is just another fac- ulty "cop-out." VUE WOULD hope that literary college Dean Hays will appoint to the new committee the men of the ad hoc com- mittee who drafted the general studies proposal. We can only hope that student frus- tration does not peak while the faculty spends time recounting its past and maintaining its indecisive cowardice. -THE EDITORIAL DIRECTORS A DROPOUT FROM the ranks of parti- cipation in party politics faces the depressing fact that it is impossible for him to be anything but a loser. Participation in one of the two major parties offers tempting rewards for the average citizen. Contrary to the common caricature of political payoffs and pork barrel patronage, the greatest rewards that the two parties can promise are not finan- cial. It is painful for anyone to regard him- self as a loser. Sitting with the "winners" at the Washtenaw County Republicans' annual Lincoln Day dinner last Friday, I suppose this explains why I found myself singing happy birthday to State Senator Gilbert Bursley. Like everyone, else I sometimes want to, be part of a cause larger than my own insignificance. And this is politics' greater reward: to make Joe Nobody seem influen- tial by rubbing shoulders with "big shots"; to protect Joe Nobody by affording him the security of a large group; to let him feel that he' is a "winner" by being able to attend such things as victory parties and Lincoln Day dinners. * * * CHARLES GOODELL, the New York Senator who was appointed to fill the seat of the late Robert Kennedy, was the drawing card at last week's dinner at the Union. Goodell is a friend of local Con- gressman Marvin Esch from their days together in the House. His appearance with Marv at a news conference preceeding the dinner made Esch look a little more im- portant to the embarrassingly small num- ber of newsmen in attendance. Two Toledo television newsmen at the conference are a type found at all political press conferences. As a rule, they are con- verted disc jockeys who still dress a little bit too sharp, who like to drop names and boast of getting an invitation to the in- birthday to Gil Bursley: Besides, the four pleasant ladies sitting at my table were genuinely impressed with The Daily. MARVIN ESCH, one of the new Repub- lican "problem solvers" in Congress, was very effusive in his introductory eulogy to Goodell. He said that Goodell was one of the key men who changed the directions of the prostrate Republican Party in 1964 to bring it back to victory in 1966. Goodell, wearing a smart senatorial gray suit and smoking a saddle-bit billiard pipe, followed Esch's warm remarks to the podium. He made the usual grateful and congratulatory overtures to Fletcher and other local officials. Goodell was brought in to dole out the rewards, he did so graci- ously and the local insignificants accepted Goodell's presence and good words as part of their victory spoils. The address was quite perfunctory. He did not speak in the well-choreographed words that seem to mark so many Repub- licans these days. Speaking in the quiet reflective tones of an upstate New Yorker, he told how Nixon had already helped to regenerate self-respect in the country. But minds were wandering; it was enough that he was there. Goodell then lapsed into the standard commencement speech remarks about our nation's young people. He said that they had a great deal to tell the older genera- tion. New ideas were so important, b u t protest should not be pushed too far. It had all been said before. But it didn't make any difference because no one was really listening anyway. Goodell received the expected and un- deserved standing ovation. And after a hasty benediction, the dinner broke up, everyone inspired for another year of party politics. I left with them, content to remain a loser for one more year even though I had sung happy birthday to Gil Bursley. 4 Marv Abe auguration, and who invariably talk about those press conferences where free drinks are served. But politics even rewards Toledo news- men. One of them got a chance to impress the others at the conference with his News- week knowledge of Biafra. And the other got the chance to make a dolt of himself by gently pushing Goodell out of the path of a spotlight while they were filming Esch. * * *. THE DINNER ITSELF was a festive af- fair. Since it was "victory celebration," a convocation of about every elected official in the area, ho one seemed to mind the tired culinary replay of the traditional Michigan Union banquet repast. At first I thought it was some kind of joke when they announced that District Judge S. J. Elden would sing the Star Spangled Banner. But Elden proved to be more of a virtuoso than his deceptive per- sonal appearance would lead one to believe, and he belted out the anthem with true gusto. Ann Arbor's czar of traffic violations was not the only virtuoso of the evening. Master of ceremonies was Peter Fletcher (Ypsi- lanti Fats as he calls himself), a party leader who i the precinct worker answer to Wally Weber. Fletcher indulged the crowd with the fat man's usual self-de- precation and with a steady stream of snazzy syntax. It was this gaiety and camaraderie that led me to join in the singing of happy English faculty takes a step THE REFORMS in the English depart- ment curriculum have beenachieved too quietly to attract much attention, but they illustrate the kind of constructive action and faculty-student cooperation that other departments might well emu- late. By working together instead of against each other, faculty members and students have been able to put two relatively sig- nificant proposals into effect. The first, and by far the most impor- tant, allows students to get credit and a grade for any course except a composi- tion course by taking a special exam con- structed by the department for this pur- pose. T h e second allows undergraduates, with written permission from the instruc- tor, to enroll in courses which until now have been limited to graduate students. Priority is given first to graduates and then to undergraduate English majors. ALTHOUGH BOTH PROPOSALS allevi- ate certain immediate stresses with- in the department, they constitute only the first small step toward the broad and innovative restructuring which the Eng- lish curriculum so desperately needs. The first proposal represents an ini- tial step toward the elimination of re- quired courses by allowing students to pass out of them if they can demonstrate competence in the course material.,How- ever, the proposal does nothing to elimi- nate required knowledge and the enforced familiarity with certain areas of litera- ture.. A program designed for those planning to teach English may be quite irrelevant to the needs and desires of someone who wants to write poetry. These and other non-professional students a r e quick to point out that all the concentration re- quirements are geared to pre-profession- al studies. Furthermore, students who are major- ing in English simply because they like it will continue to seek the freedom to limit their studies to poetry or to drama or to contemporary novels. They argue - with some justification - that real in- terest in their own limited field will. even- tually lead them to courses in other areas. They prefer to be led rather than driven. Students also voice almost unanimous,*- dissatisfaction with the required survey courses, which pack centuries of English literature into two terms of frantic read- ing. The department's policy of rigidly superimposing its own organization and its own pace upon a student's mastery of the material cannot continue indefin- itely. THE NEW POLICY OF ALLOWING stu- dents to receive credit for work done on their own is a step, but a small one, toward the kind of restructuring of the survey which is needed. A large segment of the faculty is deeply entrenched in traditional teach- ing methods and strongly imbued with a traditional concept of its discipline. And there is a lack of unanimity behind any specific alternative, even among t h o s e pressing for change, which will make re- structuring the survey a difficult task. But the department will eventually have to face the philosophical issues involved. Thus far, the widespread student de- sire for change has failed to produce pro- posals of any broader scope than the two already passed by the department's executive committee. It has, however, produced an effec- tive process of student-faculty collabora- tion which can work to offset the tradi- tional obstacles to change. Student participation will p r o b a b l y provide the needed impetus to force the department to face those issues and will certainly strengthen the hands of those faculty members who are seeking re- form. THE PROCESS WHICH brought the be- ginners of reform to the English de- partment is calm, deliberative, tinged with academia. But it has resulted in concrete changes, and more importantly, it has established a tradition of coopera- tion between students and faculty. Perhaps further interaction between the two groups and the consensus method of operation will ultimately lead to the solution of the curriculum problems that still face the English department. --ANN MUNSTER -MARY RADTKE Vista: Frustration, inexperience and hope By TOBE LEV THE VISTA program has already survived its fifth year, long enough for 10-15,000 volunteers to return home from black ghettos, Indian reservations, and Appala- chian farms. About 40 ex-Vista volunteers have filtered back into anonymity in Southeastern Michigan, a few even in the University. Former volunteers have settled down somewhat reluctantly to "civilian life." Of the 40 former "Vistas" in the area a remarkable number have changed their career plans in mixed reaction to their Vista experience. Returning volunteers are cri- tical of many aspects of Vista. The initial complaint they regis- ter with the program is directed against the inadequate training provided. Training courses cover social dynamics when they should be considering thermal. Nobody told John Marcovic, now a grad in the University's social work school, how to breed pigs for his assignment in East Tennessee. And Gerald Rozanski was never prepared to move an entire In- dian village one mile back from a river expected to overflow its banks. And when Allan Frank arrived in Oregon after his training per- iod in Boston, his supervisors told him to disregard whatever in- struction he had received. BUT THE REAL problems begin in the field. Many volunteers com- plain that Vista sends volunteers to areas for which they are un- suited and where they are un- happy. Connie Kiselyk, a Vista social worker in Atlanta, suggests volun- teers should be able to choose t h e i r assignments, and then choose their specific training to prepare for it. But apparently, this ideal could not be made a reality under Vis- ta's present rigid bureaucratic structure. Besides, there just aren't enough instructors to teach special skills. Much more serious than inade- quate or irrelevant training was the lack of experienced supervisors from Washington once the Vistas were out in the field. None of the volunteers Wanted a supervisor scrutinizing their work every min- ute of the day. However, nearly all the former Vistas emphasize the need for ad- vice when they run into problems, and the general need for support from above should they have to be bailed out from serious diffi- culties. GERALD DAJNOWICZ asked to have his term extended so he could help orient his replacements to. the program he had initiated in the ~Pittsburgh ghetto. Wash- ington refused an extension, how- ever, and his program suffered. Merle Niemi, a Vista teacher in the Virgin Islands, and her Vista co-workers, spent several hundred dollars of their own money be- cause of inadequate funds from Washington. The Virgin Islands Vistas repeatedly requested Wash- ington to remove an incompetent supervisor who continually frus-. trated their efforts on the island. Washington again did nothing. Perhaps the major obstacle of Vista, however, and quite expect- edly-so, is the incredible ignor- ance, apathy and cynicism of the poor. Pauline Ross, a nurse at an as- signment in Appalachia, says adults had to be driven to the health clinic because they were still afraid of doctors and medi- cine. She adds that the poor were constantly exploited by local mer- chants and businessmen. ROZANSKI ADDS that the apathy and reluctance of the reservation Indians to make radi- cal change limited the scope of his efforts. Their own culture de- stroyed, they were content to live day to day in a cultural limbo. Rozanski and Miss Ross agree that in situations like these, Vistas have to work within the structure of the community and make what changes they can. They entertain no illusions that a radical trans- formation in a people's way of life could not be brought about by a handful of Vistas in a matter of months. "It does very little good to buck the power structure for a year and then pull out. You are only wast- ing your time," Miss Ross says. 0 0 t. -Daily-Jay Cassidy Apparently, however, the ghettos of the large cities are a different matter. Gary Johnson and his Vistas trained members of the Kansas City Tenant's Association in methods and techniques of negotiation with city officials. The results were good. NEIL BUSH, who was a volunteer in a Pittsburgh ghetto, says that one of his goals was to find frus- trated people and tell them of the possibility of their getting power. He adds, however, that the need for whites to take the political initiative in the ghettos has ended. Moreover, according to Miss Schwab, Vista is under political pressure not to "stir poor people up." This emphasis of Vista in the ghettos is not politically oriented but directed toward social case- work, Bush says. In an effort to handle cases more effectively, Vista is placing emphasis on team programs, where each volunteer works on a specific project but receives help from others. Gary Johnson says "If you continually count on individuals to do a job without group support they won't succeed unless they either have a lot of experience or beat their brains out every day trying to accomplish something." JUST HOW MUCH then do the Vistas accomplish? Miss Schwab feels she did not "make any radi- cal transformation in anyone's life" and likened many aspects of her work to "putting a band-aid on a huge sore." But Bush claims that many of the volunteers he knew got com- pletely frustrated by the minimal achievements they were making and withdrew entirely from con- tact with poor people or political affiliations of any kind. None of the Vistas I talked to, however, were nearly so frustrated Most agreed with Gerald Dajnow- icz who felt he had "truly accom- plished something, "or with Gerald Rozanski who believed he "did some good." 11 . -T Y - .X 7 . 4 ,, , . -1, 4,- sult of their Vista experience. Clearly one of the chief accom- plishments of Vista is inspiring young people to work in the field of poverty for the rest of their lives. This in itself makes Vista a suc- cess. As far as the actual work during their stint in Vista is con- cerned, the volunteers can never know just how much they have contributed to social change. AT BEST VISTA can only hope to be the advance guard of any war on poverty. Volunteers can only try to inspire poor people to solve their own problems, and even the job of inspiration can be only partially accomplished during the course of a brief year. The accomplishments of the Vista volunteer in his specific assignment are limited, and often they dwindle to nothing' in the passage of a few years. Vista is a young program, and hasn't the staff or resources to insure that programs initiated today are car- ried through tomorrow. HOWEVER, the veteran Vista can accomplish as much as the Vista actually working in the field by sensitizing his neighbors and friends in the middle class to the problems and needs of the poor. This can be a life long project, promoted through involvement in a career related to social change, and even bringing a Vista educa- tional approach into the suburbs. Letters to the Editor r+T--y l10 A YEAR'. j I, C P T 0 EaT A~Ke('r OT To {w tt45H's G [AU'f f4AV M)'T tT N Y' 0 W6 goFREE,. I Liberties To the Editor: rVHE DAILY'S report of the Civil Liberties Board resolution sup- porting the "Dionysius in '69" Le- gal Defense Fund was in part er- roneous and the error clouds the reputation of a good hard-work- ing member. You quote Prof. Tom McClure of the fine arts department say- ing, "On the basis of simple dol- lars and cents lost from my de- partment (because of the public flurries over events like "Dionysius in '69"), I can hardly support this resolution." He did not say that. What Prof. McClure said was that for these reasons, "It is hard for me to support this resolution." And then he went on to vote in favor of it. His was, I believe a principled and long-sighted deci- sion which deserved accurate and full reporting. Especially insofar as it sets a noteworthy example for our Re- gents. versity serious about offering such a course under the conditions cited and yet hoping it would be an "objective research course"? The first mistake is the name given the course-"Interdiscipli- nary Seminar in Jewish-Arab rela- tions." The "explosive Mideast" is not due to a conflict of Jews and Arabs, but a Zionist-Arab repul- sion. The seminar leader Mr. J. Ben Dak was said to have been in charge of Arab affairs for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. He is also a devoted Zionist and took part in the June, 1967, war; with such a background one would hardly ex- pect objectivity or a true scientific analysis of the conflict. One may agree, however, that the course will be an attempt at "game simu- lation" of the conflict. I WISH TO point out to the parties involved in the preparation of this seminar that the Palestin- ian problem or Mideast Relations, is not so simple as to "experiment" 9 FAH165 1K) iRE 9FPOM OUR I1 AV&W A FTF~ Ur1w. M iL UMT& O/ 14 \