Seventy-Sixth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD m CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLiCATIONS Orientation: Getting Into the Know By THOMAS COPI _.. - .., Where Opinions Are Free, Truth Will Premal 0 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. TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 1967 NIGHT EDITOR: PAT O'DONOHUE A Johnson on the Middle East: Of Grits and Homilies IT WAS A DEPRESSING morning for all those who nurtured some hope that the major powers might have learned something from the recent cataclysm in the Middle East. Yesterday's speeches by President Johnson and Russian Pre- mier Alexei Kosygin only proved how in- capable they are of seeing any issue out- side the traditional framework of East- West conflict. Each bloc leader emerged as a sort of super-cheerleader for one of the bel- ligerent war camps. Kosygin's pro-Arab speech said little of any consequence whatsoever and probably could have been written by the Associated Press as soon as the Soviet leader announced he was coming to the United Nations. In a way Johnson's speech in support of Israel was far more infuriating since its promises and performance clashed so viv- idly. It was a pretentious pronouncement which juxtaposed repeated appeals for flexibility with cliche-ridden justifica- tions of American foreign policy which mirrored the ponderous prose of Dean Rusk. The President gave the world yester- day morning his "five great principles of peace." These principles are noteworthy only as illustration of our failure to per- ceive that our national interest is synon- ymous with peace in the Middle East. And they indicate once again Johnson's lack of courage to make the political sacrifices which a peace effort requires. iHE FIRST "and greatest" of these epic credos is the vacuous contention that "every nation . . . has a fundamen- tal right to live." Obviously this global declaration ignores Vietnam, and does little more than provide another vague American assurance that Israel should not be pushed into the Mediterranean. Johnson's second point breaks with Is- ;ael far enough to proclaim "the nations of the Middle East must at least address themselves to the plight of those who have been displaced by wars." It is signifi- cant that all this proviso says is that Is- rael should notice that there is some sort of problem with displaced persons. The President seems totally devoid of ideas for aiding these refugees, a term which Johnson carefully avoided using. At no time it is certain, did Johnson counten-_ ance the idea of American aid to the more than a million Arabs huddled in make-shift camps. Ignoring our mid-ocean blockade dur- ing the missile crisis of 1962, Johnson's third principle proclaims that "maritime rights must be respected." However, Washington appears no closer to determ- ining how to protect these rights than during the Gulf of Aqaba crisis. In fact, today's statement was less specific than our futile pronouncements before the war. Johnson also declared that "this last conflict has demonstrated the danger of the Middle Eastern arms race of the last 12 years." Brushing quickly over the substantial American contribution to this military buildup, Johnson unveiled his sweeping and comprehensive plan for ending the arms spiral. He suggested that all nations register their Middle Eastern arms shipments with the United Na- tions. Not only would this provide ample deterrent to arms sales, but it would make use of the same clerical skills ex- hibited when the UN served as a reposi- tory for Arab surrender notices during the recent war. THE LAST POINT was clouded with per- haps deliberate ambiguit'r as the Pres- ident declared in his unforgettable drawl, "The crisis underlines the critical im- portance of respect for political inde- pendence and territorial integrity of all the states in the area." When combined with support elsewhere in the speech for the Israeli position that troop withdraw- als must be linked with general settle- ment, this leaves America in the flexible position of having no clear policy what- soever on this central point. Johnson's failure to enunciate a work- able peace proposal represents a lost opportunity. Kosygin's performance can at least be understood by the necessity for Russia to regain standing in the Arab world after the recent diplomatic break- downs. America was in the rare position of having committed no major blunders during the current crisis. We avoided military intervention, except in the para- noid visions of Nasser, and Israel, our semi-ally, still managed to score a mas- sive victory. Yesterday gave America a rare chance to take a statesmanlike ap- proach to the troubled Middle East. As usual, Johnson chose political platitudes instead. -WALTER SHAPIRO 0-ri-en-ta-tion - determina- tion or sense of one's position in relation to some particular person, thing, field of knowledge, etc. -- Webster's International Dictionary. Yes, orientation lets you know where you stand. And at the University, the Summer Orienta- tion Program brings home to the prospective freshmen the fact that they're moving from the top of their totem poles to the bottom of a much larger one. It tells them they're moving from a small pond to a large one in no uncer- tain terms. Sometimes by de- sign, but more often by accident, the orientation program lets the incoming freshmen know that they don't know it all-in fact, they know next to nothing about this big, wonderful, diverse University. Realizing that experience is the best-and sometimes the only - teacher, the orientation program, under the aegis of Herbert S. Sig- man, does what it can to lessen the unavoidable cultural shock of the switch from high school to the University. "The 80 per cent below you is gone now," the orientees are told in Aud. B grouprcounseling ses- sion. "You may get your first 'C's and 'D's here-but don't feel badly-you won't be alone." But still confident, they look around to see who the speaker .is talking to-"It can't be me..." "Some of you may find by the end of the first term that you've flunked out," he's saying. It's like water off a duck's back now, but it's also something that may be remembered too late, when that first fateful transcript goes home in December. FROM THE FIRST day's "cen- tral campus tour," where they're shown the Fishbowl and the Law Club, to their meeting with their counselor on the last day, the new freshmen are rushed pell- mell through two days of "get- ting to know the University." "Even with all the things that are wrong with the orientation program," says one member of the class of '71, "it's a lot better than making us come up here cold in the fall. We get some idea of what's going on here, of what the place is like." It's confusing, for one. Big, for another. -But mostly, simply un- familiar. Something one has to take time to learn about. Some- thing one can't really be told. But they try. FOUR GUYS in coats and ties give a slide show in an attempt to tell what the University Ac- tivity Center is all about. Terms like "sesquicentennial escort serv- ice" and "Sesquigras" roll off the UAC men's tongues with ease. But prospective students in the audi- ence are polite and besides, they don't want to be the one to ask the "stupid" question. Then comes the movie. The introduction: "This is the sesqui- masa.Jimasasiema asAiRRY GOLDWA TER ms au ........asa e Th Cedbiiy apAgi No sooner had war erupted in the Middle East than a disturb- ing rash of rumors erupted in Washington. That they could hang so persistently on the Washington grapevine is a sad commentary on the lack of confidence that has developed regarding the ad- ministration's public statements as opposed to private actions. The rumors concerned certain "package deals" with which the administration would try to buy Soviet help in calling off the war against Israel-a war most agree could not and would not have begun without the full co- operation of the Soviets with Egypt's socialist empire builder, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Despite variations in detail, the main contesgt of the package ru- mors involves Vietnam: :the Unit- ed States would halt its bombing of North Vietnam in return for the Soviets halting their support of Nasser, thus forcing an end to the fighting. Such a deal would have had two profound effects. First would be the obvious effect in Vietnam where a halt of the bombing would turn the war. into an endless quag- mire of jungle fighting. It would enable the Communists to continue the war at their own pace and on their own terms until they ready to negotiate an end all-presumably on their terms. were to it own THE SECOND would be the ma- jor impact on the world at large. Should the Soviets have taken any action to cool the fighting, you can bet your boots they would have taken the most ex- travagant public credit for it, becoming overnight the world's greatest peacemaker. Deal or no deal, the Soviet Union stands to come out the winner in the Middle East war if for no other reason than hav- ing shattered every tie this nation had built up with the various Arab nations. Their weapon was the cold, cal- culated, tactical decision that they would gladly see the nation of Is- rael wiped off the face of the earth if it would advance by a foot the plans of Communist con- quest. This country, on the other hand, has attempted in all its diplomacy to avoid facing the blunt fact that Arab nations have never been talking about any- thing less than exterminating Is- rael. OUR DIPLOMACY, had it been realistic, would have openly ac- A Metamorphosis? knowledged this and then have taken every firm step possible to bring the Arab world around to acknowledging, whether they hated us for the effort or not, that Arabs and Israelis would have to learn to live together and that an act of virtual genocide against Israel could not be tolerated. At the same time, all legitimate Arab claims against Israel, as. for instance,sthe plight of the Pal- estinian refugees, would have to be faced with equal frankness. Instead, the situation has been permitted to drift-with inept se- cret diplomacy substituting for open firmness. War has been the result. It would be comforting to be able to scoff at all such rumors as a secret deal to gain Soviet aid in ending that war. That is diffi- cult to do, however, when to this day the terms of the settlement of the Cuban missile crisis re- main under a cloud and when, de- spite all official denials, the strange fact is that this nation did dismantle various of its mis- sile bases after the Soviets took down its launchers in Cuba. This, too, is part of the cred- ibility gap in Washington. Copyright. 1967, Los Angeles Tumes centennial film, made in honor of the University's 150th birthday. It's been shown around the coun- try and around the world, and you people are lucky enough to see it now." "So show it already." "Oh, boy ...' "How come we're so lucky?" The movie's only real weak- ness is its dialogue. Sometimes trite, sometimes simply inane, the movie is another attempt to in- troduce these people to the Uni- versity. It paints a very bright picture. Some of the very forget- table narration: 'This, then, is the University of Michigan, where the rough edges of thought are smoothed and polished by the friction of one mind against an- other" BUT JUST to set the orientees straight, just to give them the real nitty-gritty of what the big "U" is all about, Student Govern- ment Council President Bruce Kahn takes a turn. It is hardly overpowering.He ready a speech about how one of the major problems of the University is that students are being robbed of the informality of personal contact. He didn't even read any speech- es during his campaign for office. Kahn, like nearly everyone else involved in the orientation pro- gram, touched on problems with which he is familiar, but about which the incoming freshmen know nothing. In the smaller meeting which followed the evening's fun and games, one of the orientation counselors gave instructions to the group for the following day's. ac- tivities. I couldn't understand them. No one could understand them. I think they went something like this: "Tomorrow at 8:30, go to 1315 Angell Hall, unless you're in nurs- _____the c ryst ing or engineering, in which case you go to 2718 Mason Hall or 3619 Natural Resources, respective- ly, or unless you've been noti- fied that your appointment is after noon, in which case you should go to see your counselor an hour early,tunless you're in the pilot project or in honors, in whch case you might as well go an hour late.. ONE OF THE freshmen played it smart. He asked at the begin- ning if the instructions would be posted anywhere. Since theanswer was yes, he simply ignor"ed the verbal maze the orientation leader drew, and satisfied himself with throwing paper wads at the blonde sitting in front of him. I wondered for a while if any- one were listening, but discovered occasionally that there were some, as someone would interrupt with a question that would set the en- tire lecture back a good 10 min- utes. Then there was a mixer. It may have been their first, but it cer- tainly won't be their last. Too bad, A mixer, however, gives them an opportunity to talk: "What courses are you going to be taking?" "I don't know . . . I guess I'll take what I have to . .. I wonder which are the best ones to take .. . it doesn't sound like we get much choice .. ." One of the major complaints about the orientation program is that there is too much emphasis on extracurricular activities. The orientation people don't want the kids to get the idea that they have to be bookworms here, so they tell them about all the other nice things there are to do BUT THEY GO overboard. Some of the kids really do want to know about the academic side of the University. And to assuhe that their counselors are going to tell them is to be unbelievably naive. Which' courses are the best? Does it really matter which teach- er you get? What should you do if you think the teaching .fellow leading your recitation is terri- ble? Are office hours really only for complaining about tests and grades? After all, the vast majority of the people who come to the Uni- versity come to learn. And as bright as they are, it's still a new, unfamiliar environment, and they need help in learning how to take advantage of all the op- portunities' for learning that are here. Some of these questions are an- swered in the semi-organized "bull" sessions which are conduct- ed each night of orientation. But, according to many of the incom- ing freshmen, not enough. All letters must 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. 4 4 4 4 SUPPORTERS OF THE WAR in Viet- nam have been making a major issue out of the Vietnamn doves' hard line pos- ture in the recent Middle East crisis. Have we witnessed an indefensible contradic- tion-intervene for Israel but not for South Vietnam? No. The similarities between the two situations are slight and largely irrele- vant. Those who claim that the U.S. com- commitment the U.S. has to Vietnam mese are the same are off-base. The only commitment the U.S. has to iVetnam takes the form of our informal promise written by Eisenhower to dictator Ngo Dinh Diem 10 years ago. The U.S. chose to inherit the French colonial position in 1954 in the name of "anti-Commu- nism," but the prophecy of a Communist takeover in Vietnam was self-fulfilling once the West tried to stop the primarily social revolution which coincided with and followed World War II. So the U.S. today supports an obnox- ious military regime with only a most shabby facade of democracy. Further, we are trying violently to suppress an indig- enous, social revolution which wants to achieve only what the U.S. has itself achieved internally. Such a victory in Vietnam would not have been harmful to the U.S.-had our government not chosen to make it so. How is this similar to Israel? Purely in terms of "commitment," the difference is undeniable. The U.S. commitment to maintain the territorial integrity of Israel was made to a clearly democratic and in- digenously supported government whose validity cannot be denied on those terms. to exist? Clearly, if anyone had envision- ed these problems 50 or 100 years ago, another place might have been found for the Jews. However, in their 20 years of official nationhood, the Israelis have earned the right to their existence. Bill Mauldin's comparison in his recent arti- cle was apropos. Where once Palestine supported 800,000 Arabs in a meager hand-to-mouth existence, Israel now sup- ports three times as many Jews far more comfortably, though not luxuriously. ON THE BASIS of the present situa- tion-the presence of 2/2 million Jews who have no place else to go, while the Arabs have vast lands-the Israelis ask that their national existence be assured. The Arabs must eventually be willing to admit the existence of Israel as a fait accompli and to deal with the present situation, which differs from the one that existed 20 years ago. The U.S. position, equivocal as it is, recognizes that fact. It does not want Israel destroyed any more than it wants Israel to claim all or even any significant part of the land it won in the recent conflict. O THE NATURE of the doves' position is not so odd as some newspapers, no- ticably the Detroit News, would make it seem. The U.S. has blundered in Viet- nam, and rather than continue a war which is internationally frowned upon, not only by the Communists but by most of our own allies, from Japan to France, who would like to see an honorable with- draw. Israel also failed to receive much support, but the reasons were obviously more economic than ideological, i.e., France's desire to protect its oil interests tal palIace- An LSD Primer _ ai y . r vim' . 4g > a J Y .S }$. r .f : :2 Y7 . ' ' ".:L Y. X JA. i s' - °o' 2 % i' '. - ]3 , :.f , , 'fir . ,. , ' >: o , < ,. .f'% r. r!','. t{iti: ' f -a'ej i . ,. i v $ S t f Z 1 ty r f 'tr 3 ', . >" . r T # : h T ,t a ' : . ;t i ,r ,. "" , " , +'.'.' r s .,, ; 1''y 11 {' 7k - . " ,. , y. By DAVID KNOKE Four acid heads lose reading vision after staring at sun under influence of LSD .. . Donovan croons: Sunshine came softly Through my window today Could have tripped out easy But I've changed my ways. Do acid heads ever .have bad trips? Hear a real dialogueb: Paul Krassner: I've had six trip in the past two years-all of them good. Why don't I have any bad trips? Timothy Leary (PhD): You've had all the bad ones already. "EUGENE ()-A University of Oregon geneticist yesterday re- ported an unusually high inci- dence of genetic damage in cells of a small group of persons who have taken the mind expanding drug LSD..." * * * "Fantastic visions of extraordi- narily vividness." Dr. Albert Hof- mann of Sandoz Ltd., Basel, Swit- zerland, 1943, sniffs samples of ergot. Presto the first LSD-25 high. Ergot, a dark, purple fungus. All beautiful things from ugliness come. * * * NEW YORK PHYSICIAN DE- MANDS STRONG ANTI - LSD LAW. ply of towns like Levittown. Castro can "turn on, tune in and drop out" more .people than Leary could hope to. The good doctor, rudely de- frocked of his titles, wants to "turn on mon and dad." If he gets a following, he has a religion, acid is the sacrament and he beats the federal rap. If the Native American Church of New Mexico can use peyote buttons, why can't a hippie say his prayers while blowing his mind? "One pound of LSD can provide trips for 4.5 million people." And their chromosomes. * * * Bellevue admitted 100 "psychot- ic" cases in 18 months from ef- fects of LSD. "One per cent use it," says Bellevue's head. That's 200,000 people. Two hundred agents of the FDA's Bureau of Drug Abuse-Con- trol swarm undercover on cam- puses. FDA Commissioner James Goddard asks "aid in eliminating the illegal use of hallucinogenic and stimulant drugs." But LSD sale only is prohibit- ed; possession for individual use is not a criminal act. All sources of the pure acidt I.e., Sandoz) are dried up; what's left is homemade or comes in from Mexico with grass. After 20 years of "research," *1 p. *1 / V' 4 j '" ;,,.