s , Seventy-Third Year EDITE AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNTVERSITT OW MX'T-MAN _ IV - _UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS "Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241 Truth Will Prevail" Editorialsprinted in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. WEDNESDAY, JULY 29. 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL HARRAH ECONOMIC RESEARCH AND ACTION PROJECT Organizing an Alliance o the Poor New Appointment Spells Research De-Emphasis HEADS OF LARGE universities have be- come less sure lately about something they once categorically accepted: the value of research. They are wondering how a professor may be inspired to teach when he is rewarded for his laboratory work and ignored for his classroom ef- forts. The, Regents, reflecting this growing concern, have privately discussed this par- adox. Their theoretical answer: acceler- ate academics, de-emphasize research. But last Friday, they turned theory into practice. They appointed a vice-president for research as a subordinate to the vice- president for academic affairs. The entire process of appointing A. Geoffrey Norman took about one minute. There was no mention of where he would fit in the hierarchy of command. But after the meeting, officials hinted that research had been "put back in its place." And that place, it was clearly explained, was under Vice-President for Academic Affairs Roger W. Heyns. CLAMPING DOWN on research would have seemed neither feasible nor possi- ble in past years. The retiring research vice-president, Ralph Sawyer exercised tight-fisted control on both the financial and educational machinery involved in operative research. 'Under his guidance as research vice-president, contracts have sprouted to provide $42 million. Under his guidance as dean of the graduate school, research could be defended and hoarded as a valuable educational activity. No one wanted to question him. After all, how bad can any enterprise be that grosses $42 million? This money nour- ishes an underpaid faculty. It pays for facilities, experiments, equipment which graduate students use. The money brings prestige to the University, and attracts private industry. In short, research stim- ulates the University and state economy and brings more research. But there's the hitch. Like profits for a corporation, research grants for a uni- versity are sought in greater and greater commodities at greater and greater ex- pense to principles. In this case, the prin- ciples are teaching. FOR RESEARCH, despite its fringe benefits, hits squarely at the under- graduate teacher. He works to revise cur- riculum, he up-dates his courses, he leaves his office open for an exchange of ideas with students. But come promotion time, the researcher and semi-teacher with his publications lining obscure journals is the one who gets the raise, The ultimate victim is the student. He must sit through insipid classes while the lecturer-researcher itches to return to his earthworms. Like a narcotic, research activity is a difficult habit to restrain. It remains un- checked unless someone goes to the roots. That's precisely what the Regents have tried to do. True, they have not structurally de- fined how Heyns will restrain research in the name of academics. It may not even be necessary. As a new vice-president, Norman- will naturally be timid in his ap- proach. His office is being moved to the administration building, home of the aca- demic affairs office. Sawyer was situated in a virtual castle within the Rackham Bldg. THERE ARE ALSO personal factors which will weigh strongly against the past supremacy of research. Heyns, as one of the most respected members of the University community and a top pol- icy-maker, exercises influence already far outstripping his office. His "unofficial" checks on Norman would be stronger anyway than any structural bonds set up by the Regents. The final result cannot be surmised. Forty-two million dollars is not to be scoffed at. It will be difficult for Heyns, no matter how determined, to differen- tiate between research which is educa- tional and research which is detrimental to teaching. But the Regents have made an impor- tant reassessment of research policies, so long unquestioned. The University may be headed back toward its raison d'etre- teaching. -LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of articles on the Eco- nomic Research and Action Project. ERAP, organized under the auspices of the Students for a Democratic Society, seeks an "interracial move- ment of the poor." By JEFFREY GOODMAN "POOR PEOPLE-Negroes and whites-must organize around specific economic grievances.... There is a natural alliance among all poor in their common need for jobs or income." Students for a Democratic So- ciety, through its Economic Re- search and Action Project, is seek- ing to make that conviction a reality. Motivated by the belief that "a serious rearrangement of Ameri- can economic priorities is needed if the problems of poverty are to be solved," nearly 150 liberal stu- dents are working this summer to organize politically active alliances among the poor of varying col- ors, ages and ethnic origins in 10 different cities. THEIR WORK will, they hope, lay the groundwork for an "in- terracial movement of the poor" that will harness the momentum of the Negro freedom movement and forge a broad instrument for radical social change. The students seeking to build this alliance are currently living and working on a subsistence lev- el in the midst of some of the most depressed poor white and Ne- gro communities in the country. The cities in which they are re- searching, organizing and demon- 3trating were selected for high un- employment, prior existence of community groups which could be organized around economic mis- fortunes, prior knowledge of the general power structure and cur- rent issues of the community, and 1 predominance of low income peo- ple, both colored and white. The communities include Bos- ton, Baltimore, Chester, Pa., Chi- cago, Cleveland, Hazard, Ky., Lou- isville, Newark, Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J. * EACH PROJECT seeks generally to acquaint leaders and small groups of people with SDS ideol- ogy and from there to apply the organizational techniques of the civil rights movement toward uni- fying these dispossessed elements. For the summer, whites and Ne- groes are being approached and organized separately to avoid the complication of racial tensions. Many projects include appealsato middle class elements in an at- tempt to weld an even broader consensus. Specific methods center on seek- ing and stimulating present com- munity leaders, organization meet- ings on a block or neighborhood level, canvassing, small-scale, sym- bolic demonstrations on short- range issues, arousal of sentiment and education on more basic prob- lems, preliminary investigation in- to the various alliances possible and research on the needs of each community in relation to its pow- er structure. "THE AIM of the summer is .to lay a base in community con- tacts and organization so that eventually each area can con- tinue its efforts with only four or five full-time ERAP people," Ren- nie Davis, national ERAP director, explains. "Fundamentally what is needed is the organization of people to protect and achieve their econom- ic rights and security, to insure decent working conditions, to de- mand a share in the fantastic profits made possible by automa- tion, to demand public Investment in the social capital needed for human development," he says. "This means the organization of workers, of Negroes, of youth, of the unemployed, of white collar and professional employes." In its present operations and lon- range plans, ERAP is further seeking to give practical content to SDS ideology. An ERAP pam- phlet puts that ideology in these terms: "OUR HOPE is human freedom. We seek a society in which men have, at last, the chance to make the decisions which shape their lives. Our quest is for a political and economic order in which power and plenty are used for the widest social benefit, a participatory democracy in which men can come to know each oth- er and themselves as human be- ings in the fullest sense." As an action program, ERAP began in September, 1963, when SDS President Tom Hayden re- quested and received a grant from the United Auto Workers. Con- cerned that not enough awareness of economic problems existed on the university campuses where SDS chapters were located, Hay- den asked the union for funds to carry on various educational pro- grams. At about the same time, an ex-University student, Joseph Cha- bot, journeyed to Chicago and established himself among un- emnloved white vouths there to broad demand for desegregation, full employment, public housing, free schools and free hospital care. In December the idea of ex- panding the organization's efforts into communityhaction programs caught on at the SDS National Council. From that meeting came a broad statement of the goals such an expansion might seek. Excitement grew to such pro- portions after these events that over 1000 students gathered for five training conferences held around the country this spring. From the more than 250 students who applied to work in various projects this summer, 150 were chosen. THESE STUDENTS, plus some full-time staffers-many of whom will continue on their projects when school begins-have set up at least one office in each proj-, ect community and rented houses in which to live. They are paid on a subsistence level out of ERAP funds. The money comes almost total- ly from donations. Largest donors are labor organizations such as the UAW and various trade and local unions. Foundations and in- dividuals make up most of the rest, and students themselves have contributed through fund raising, both on their campuses and in the project communities. It's an expensive operation: this summer's budget alone is over $20.- 000. BUT THE WORK of ERAP is largely exploratory at present, pri- marily because the approach is so novel. Essentially, ERAP is the first organization since the 1930's to conceive the possibility - and necessity-of generating a massive local and national protest among the poor. And it is the first and only or- ganization to recognize the possi- bility of harnessing the energy, ex- perience and direction of the civil rights movement: f ~~ i t A T) t Y~~fl Ny, q. k.lF t , i 1 rg+ l y Y rte 4 , \ BichSoiey lu 1Bo "The civil rights movement i now the most powerful force for social change in America. Yet it lacks the active support of its potential allies: the unemployed white, the undereducated youth, the aged, trade union people who know the consequences of a nar- rowing job market and the many intellectuals who realize that the present government p r o g r a m against poverty is only a tem- porary ameliorative to the crisis of economic displacement, unem- ployment and automation into which we are now entering. "The Negro freedom movement may face increasing isolation and frustration if it cannot soon forge links to local movements of un- employed farm hands, displaced miners and others who share a common economic tragedy," Davis writes in an introduction to ERAP prepared for the spring training conferences. YET TO DERIVE day-to-day practices, specific facts and con- crete organizational techniques from such broad policies requires much trial and error. much pain- staking experimentation, long ex- perience. If nothing else, ERAP's summer projects will furnish this necessary background. "We need answers to tough questions," Davis writes: "How do we work with un- organized white people to create motion and change? -"To which classes and groups do we appeal and against which do we fight? -"On what political program and social vision do we rely? --"All recognize the need to identify leaders among the unem- ployed and other poor, but how long-if at all-should we hold off mass recruitment? -"And what are we recruiting for? High-visibility demonstrations (such as the apple-selling in down- town Chicago by the Jobs or In- come Now organization)? Mass demonstrations which would pres- sure the power structure into com- pliance with our demands? Di- rection into electoral action? -"How to relate the middle class to the lower class? Whites to Negroes? Rural to urban to suburban? "Time and experience, research and self-education are critical in answering those who question the viability of our programor label us as visionary students charg- ing off into the Other America. We know of no satisfactory blue- print for full employment, shared abundance, equality and democ- racy." BUT WHAT the ERA? workers lack in foreknowledge they make up in dedication. Davis continues: "Certainly there is the convic- tion among us that without this effort to bring poor whites into a loose alliance with the Negro free- dom movement on economic is- sues, the country faces the alter- native of increasing racial viol- ence. "In no major city today can one fail to find a steady strengthen-' ing of despair and anti-white sen- timent among organized Negroes and a growing perception in the unorganized white ghettos that the Negroes are on the move for white jobs, white schools and white neighborhoods. "Against this we believe it is possible to develop a perception of common interests leading to the formation of political action organizations capable of encom- passing the full range of needs of the deprived community." (TOMORROW: More specific reflections on the need for an "interracial movement of the poor," the groups most likely to respond to the call for such a movement and basic methods of organizing them. A review of an essay by Tom Hayden, ERAP executive committee member and past editor of The Daily, and Carl Wittman, former president of Swarthmore SDS and currently a national offi- cer.) union Drive: More 'U' Silence UJNIVERSITY LOCAL 1583 of the AFL- CIO launched a drive Thursday to or- ganize the University's 4000 non-teaching and non-management employes. Over 100 employes voiced their complaints at a mass meeting and listened to plans for a six-week recruiting campaign. The union has several hurdles to clear. To be successful, it must sign up half of the University's eligible employes; suc- cessfully petition to the National Labor Relations Board for a. representation election; and get permission from State Attorney General Frank Kelley to bargain as a publicly employed union. None of these steps is insurmountable. But most interesting at present are not the union's chances for success, but the reactions its drive has drawn from the University community. Responses have fallen into two general categories. From students and faculty have come complaints; and from the administration has come silence. The complaints have followed this gen- eral line: "A union would just take a lot of money away from state appropriations for faculty salaries. I'm against it." It is true that a University union will probably raise the income of its members-they will have more power bargaining to- gether than pleading for raises separately. B UT THE ASSERTION that these high- er wages will take much money away from faculty salaries is questionable. It is hard to believe that the legislators in Lansing would entirely ignore the fact that the University had a union when appropriations time came around. If no- body else reminded them, the University lobbyists would. In addition, experience in industry has shown that unionization most often leads to increases in efficiency and quality in work as employes set up standards of be- havior among themselves and establish better relationships with their employers. It is entirely possible that much of the money "lost" to the University through wage increases would be compensated for by increased efficiency and higher standards and morale among employes. WHILE COMPLAINTS against the un- ion drive can be argued both ways, the silence of the administration with regard to it is inexcusable. For texample, a Daily reporter called Vice-President for Business and Finance Wilbur K. Pierpont yesterday for comment on the union ef- forts-and didn't even get past his secre- tary. Pierpont refused comment without coming to the phone. In light of the apparently widespread employe concern with the union drive, this silence is appalling. But what makes it especially pitiful is that it typifies ad- ministration response to student and personnel complaints of the last few months. The immediate and stony silence of the administration with respect to the recent parking protests was another example. Only after three weeks of employe pro- test was any agreement reached concern- ing personnel complaints. And Thursday, when accused of chang- ing residence halls fees without the ap- proval of the residence halls board of governors--an illegal move-neither Pier- pont nor Executive Vice-President Mar- vin L. Niehuss would say a word in de- fense of his actions. THERE WILL BE those who will con- tend that the union drive is not jus- tifiable, even though last year the Uni- versity received the highest state funds allocation increase in recent years. This will be argued hotly in the coming months. And it is possible that the union drive may never even get off the ground, To the Editor: SHOULD LIKE to applaud James McEvoy's letter in the July 24 issue of The Daily. I too believe that all people who are concerned with the future of this nation should read the Blue Book of the John Birch Society. How- ever, they should not stop there, but go on to gain as much edu- cation on all political and non- political organizations, their phi- losophies, goals, activities-and learn directly "from the horse's mouth," rather than by accepting &ie opinionated interpretations of other people. I should like to applaud McEvoy but I cannot do so. It is in fact such thinking and action as he displays which not only make see- ing the truth most difficult, but also entice people not to seek further than opinionated inter- pretations. I am referring directly to Mc Evoy'~s use of a quote from the Blue Book, "democracy is merely a deceptive phrase, a weapon of demagoguery, and a perennial fraud." This quote is only a part of a sentence which has been pull- ed completely out of context to add weight to McEvoy's opinions. THE BLUE BOOK is actually not written as a book, but rather, it is the text of a speech given in Indianapolis in December of 1958. Without foreword to that which has preceeded, it is extreme- ly unjust to use a quote such as he has done. Moreover, in view of the design for oral presenta- tion of the material contained in the Blue Book, it is in fact im- possible to gain complete under- standing of what is being set forth in any one part without knowledge of the entire speech in proper sequence. In conclusion, I am not a mem- 1- of4.- T-,% _ ' h A i m.rhil ance of the piecemeal, distorted opinions of others. -R. A. Rosenbaum, Grad 'True Believer?' To the Editor: IN HIS EDITORIAL on July 22, Robert Hippler characterizes Senator Goldwater as one of Eric Hoffer's "true believers," stand- ing by eternal principles with ab- solute certainty. This at best dis- torts and over-simplifies what the San Francisco longshoreman- philosopher means by his con- cept of the "true believer." The "true believer" is "the man of fanatical faith who is ready to sacrifice his life (and yours) for a holy cause." He fears com- promise and moderation because "his passionate attachment is more vital than the cause to which he is attached." He is "the fanatical contemner of the pres- ent," who, "groping for extremes," wages a bitter and chaotic struggle with things-as-they-are, preach- ing that victory can be won only by unthinking unity and self- immolation. I WOULD AGREE that Senator Goldwater is the "true believer" leader of a mass movement, if we use the phrase as Hoffer does. He means a noncreative leader who generates in his adherents "a readiness to die and a proclivity for united action; all of them, irrespective of the doctrine they preach and the program they pro- ject, breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intoler- ance." -Charles M. Rehmus Department of Political Science State Apportionment To the Editor: R ECENTLY Senator Everett ideals. There is no strong moral argument to support the notion that legislators should represent cows, trees, or acres as well as representing men. If we are going to give representation to cows, trees, and acres which are plenti- ful in the countryside, how can we deny representation to tele- phone poles, street lights, and traffic signals which are plenti- ful in urban areas? SIMPLY BECAUSE a man lives in the country instead of in the cities or suburbs, his judgment is no more astute than that of his urban counterpart. The demo- cratic principle of "One Man, One Vote", cannot be denied to the voters of this great country of ours. Therefore, I urge the sound defeat of this proposed constitu- tional amendment. -James K. Sayre, 64E STEREOTYPED PLOT Stripped of Sex, 'Carpetbaggers' Inane At the Michigan Theatre JOSEPH E. LEVINE does it again. Yes, friends and neighbors, the man who mutilated "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" and imported such wonders as "Mondo Cane" (not a Walt Disney dog story al- though it has points in common) and "Women of the World" has now molded "The Carpetbaggers," into another Must-Miss-Movie. What a Loser! To begin with, the book wasn't any red hot literary masterpiece, but it at least had the saving grace (no matter how morally dubious) of having some really spiffy sex scenes. Not so with the movie. Just for ex- it is much like a middle-aged lady in a sheer blouse-you don't want to look. , YET EVEN the inane plot and dialogue could have been saved by direction or acting. Uh-uh. The film is "peppard" with atrocious acting minus one. Carroll Baker is atrocious; perhaps all her abil- ity actually does lie in her thumb. And on down the list. But even in the highest dung heap a pearl may be found; be- draggled and surrounded by rot as she is, Elizabeth Ashley is a wonder to watch. The only times that the film comes alive, that the dialogue seems related to reality.