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Fidel at the Fair


THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1967

NIGHT EDITOR: JENNIFER RHEA

I

Sacrificing Teachers
On the Political Altar

ON MONDAY the voters of Ann Arbor
rejected a proposed 5 -mill increase
in the school tax designed to improve
teachers' salaries. Since that time there
has been speculation that .the measure
lost not because the citizens of Ann Ar-
bor oppose more money for teachers, but
because this was the first opportunity
the voters had to register their dissatis-
faction with the school boara.
The real tragedy, however, is that the
teachers of Ann Arbor, as well as the
city's children, will be made to suffer be-
cause of a -"credibility gap" between the
school board and the electorate resulting
from the board's inability ;to assess the
attitudes of the voters and provide ade-
quate information as to their reasons for
adopting certain policies.
Indeed, there has been much antagon-
ism with the board resulting from its
policy, instituted last fall, of busing Ne-
gro studentsto white elementary schools
in an attempt to solve the city's de facto
discrimination problem. The estimated
cost of the much-needed second high
school has also been a cause of dissat-
isfaction among taxpayers.
ANN ARBOR'S salaries for teachers are
the lowest in the state for school dis-
tricts of comparable size. Many teachers
live in Ann Arbor but work in such near-
by areas as Wayne, Garden City and Li-
vonia where the pay is higher. Rumors
have also been circulating that at least
two outstanding high school teachers in-
tend to leave if the millage increase need-
ed to raise their salaries is note passed
this year.

School enrollment has been increas-
ing at a faster rate than the population
of the school district. The school board
estimates that over four million addition-
al dollars will be needed next year in or-
der for it to expand its existing programs
and hire new teachers to meet this in-
creasing enrollment and raise salaries for
present teachers. Expansion of the tax
base and additional monies from the fed -
eral and state government can only ac-
count for about half this amount. Thus,
it is essential that the school board ask
for the full 52-mill increase again, and
that it be approved.
THE VOTERS have a right to register
protest against the policies of their
school board. But the rejection of crucial
teacher pay hikes is not the proper means
of expressing this dissatisfaction. Why
not wait until the school board election
on June 12?
Several of the candidates for the board
have applauded the results of the millage
election as an indication of disagreement
with the present board's policies. This
callous use of the teachers' misfortune as
a campaign tactic is deplorable. The elec-
torate should wake up to the crying need
for an increase in salaries and funds for
programs, and not allow itself to be taken
in by candidates who have demonstrated
that they are more concerned with cap-
italizing on the taxpayers desire to save
money than with improving the quality
of education.
-DAVID DUBOFF

By R. M. LANDSMAN
MONTREAL - The fabrications
and lies which have marked both
sides during the cold war have
made meaningful communication
between peoples of opposite sides
either difficult or actually im-
possible. What is needed is an es-
sentially government-free setting
where individuals from different
parts of the world can talk peace-
fully for a time to express their
own conceptions of their society
and nation. Expo '67 can provide
just such a situation for those
who want to take advantage of it.
While the individuals chosen to
staff most of the national pavil-
ions will, of course, be loyal to
their governments and may per-
haps have even been schooled es-
pecially for their jobs, nonethe-
less there will be a strong per-
sonal colorings in all that they
may say about their countries.
Though most tourists ignored
these guides almost completely, a
group of Harvard and Michigan
students took advantage of the
situation to engage college age
guides from Cuba, Czechoslovakia,
Tanzania and Australia in con-
versation about their respective
countries. What they heard was
far from earthshaking news, but
it was a valuable experience none-
theless. Especially in the case of
Cuba, which has been a bugbear
to many conservatives in the U.S.
THE OBVIOUS and important
questions that come up in talking
with a dyed-in-the-wool socialist
lie in the realm of economics and
politics. The Cuban guide was
quick to point out that economic
conditions are much more egali-
tarian now than they were under
Batista. "Under Batista most peo-
ple were very poor and with no
hope. But now, we share equally
all that we have." As in many
Latin American dictatorships and
"republics" today, Batista's Cuba
had a small wealthy oligarchy
which depended heavily on the
United States, in this case for
support of its sugar market. While
that small minority lived well, the
vast majority of Cubans lived un-
deniably poorly on what remained.
Though the country may still not
be well off today, she continued,
at least there is relative sharing
of the wealth.
The immediate response of a
well-indoctrinated American is
"what of the Cuban emigres?"
They are, according to the Cuban
girl, those well off who were dis-
enfranchised by the Castro revo-
lution, and who naturally would
want a return to the old order.
And what of the political prisoners
and escapees? This is a more com-
plex problem and the answer is
not immediately reconcilable with
the current and traditional lib-
eral rhetoric. Cuba needs, like the
"on-going revolution" of Mao Tse-
tung, a high state of national
fervor to maintain its fight against
poverty and Western political
pressure, she contended. This
chauvinism of the masses results
in political intolerance.
The result is both a government
and a people unwilling to hear po-

*
4

-Associated Press

P FAITH BABIES//

Letters to the Editor

Ode on a Grecian (Overt)urn

FIE VICTORIOUS Greek coup Tuesday
night banned bearded, long-haired, or
impoverished tourists from entering the
country. This is merely ano.ther move by
the junta to enforce uniformity of
thought, dress and action; already the
military regime has decreed mandatory
church attendance for children, and out-
lawed the mini-skirt.
At the same time President Johnson
has joined leading American economists,
including John Kenneth Galbraith, in
asking the junta not to execute Andreas
Papandreou, the deposed prime minis-
ter's son, and a former professor at Berke-
ley.
This Johnson appeal for clemency in
no way lessens the shame of America's
tacit acceptance of the new regime. Amer-
ica, as is our custom with all rightist
coups, sadly announced its regrets and
then immediately decided to bow to poli-
tical expediency and accept the new gov-
ernment as a loyal NATO partner. The
State Department did not even choose
to suspend diplomatic recognition for 30
days, a procedure usually followed after
Latin American coups. And thus the na-
tion which claims to be the world's great-
est democracy has now become an acces-
sory to the funeral of the world's oldest
democracy.
DESPITE AMERICAN disclaimers of
powerlessness in the matter, there are
several areas in which this country can
still take effective action against the coup
if it so chose.
As Senator Wayne Morse revealed last
week, the coup was carried out with

planes and tanks donated to the Greek
army as part of U.S. military aid. These
weapons have been used in the past by
Greece in her near-war with Turkey over
Cyprus. The reasoning behind our mili-
tary aid in this case is incredibly specious.
First it is doubtful that any foreign na-
tion has territorial designs on Greece.
The aid is based on that paranoid Ameri-
can fear of Communist attack. But sec-
ond, it is the alliance with the United
States and not an overpowering Greek
army which would deter any contemplat-
ed Russian military adventure.
Despite the coup, the United States has
chosen to continue its $100 million contri-
bution to the Greek defense budget. This
is far from surprising for the United
States also contributes heavily to such
European bastions of free thought as Sal-
azar's Portugal and Franco's Spain.
THE OTHER KEY American prop to the
new regime is the heavy influx of
American tourist dollars.
If the United States government felt in-
clined to press for changes in the Greek
government, discouraging this tourist
flow would be a prime method of attack.
Even without official U.S. action, it would
be an encouraging spectacle, indeed, for
all American tourists in Europe to boycott
the country.
The central point of the matter is that
the United States will only take action
against leftist takeovers. We seem to feel
that polite regrets are the best we can
muster against quasi-fascism.
-WALTER SHAPIRO

English
In the two semesters that I
have been a student at the Uni-
versity it has been my great mis-
fortune to have been enrolled in
two courses offered by the Eng-
lish department. I found both to
be totally devoid of any intellec-
tual value or merit.
Unlike the English courses I so
thoroughly enjoyed in high school,
English 123 and English 235 were
both boring and a total waste of
time. The texts employed in Eng-
lish 123 were totally immature
and ill-chosen. Nothing could have
been more boring than reading
over 20 pages of distinction be-
tween "cow"and "bull" than per-
haps Sheridan Baker's assinine,
"The Practical Stylist." The work
proves to the reader only that
Baker is definitely not practical
and notwmuch of a stylist either.
In his work the worthy profes-
sor attempts to "snow" the read-
er with his command of struc-
ture and grammar; but succeeds
only in boring the reader to tears
and proving himself to be an "ab-
solute ass." I presume the only
reason his text is used is because
Baker is a member of the de-
partment.
THE ORGANIZATION of the
courses was an equally mediocre
companion to the texts. After all
I had heard and expected of the
University, I never thought that a
professor wouldappear each and
every class period with the catch-
all of every lazy and ill-prepared
instructor, "Well class, what do;
you want to talk about today?"
Never before had I instructors
so intent upon stifling creative

ideas. Never before had I dread-
ed attending an English class.
Never before, until now, had I
slept through a lecture due to
sheer boredom and lack of in-
tellectual stimulation.
I assure you, gentlemen, that I
have a grudge to bear with the
English department. I thorough-
ly enjoyed the subject in high
school, and I find an uncommon
beauty and poetry in our lan-
guage. However, the way English
courses are organized and "taught"
at the University of Michigan
leaves me disappointed and dis-
gusted.
-LeRoy A. Hickel, '70
Gosh Darn!
The recent fining of three stu-
dents over $70 apiece for (1) "us-
ing one obscene word" to a meter
maid on receiving a parking tick-
et or (2) writing "obscene words"
on payment for traffic tickets
raises certain questions: Are some
words, in their physical form, in-
herently obscene under the law?
If so, Prof. Wilhelm Fucks of Ger-
many would be in trouble in Ann
Arbor. Or is the conventional use
of certain words to express anger
or frustration a crime, when the
use of other words to express equal
anger or frustration (e.g., "I hope
you lose your job!") is presum-
ably not a crime? If so, why is a
conventional, impersonal obscene
expression considered worse than
a more original or more carefully
chosen expression?
CERTAINLY the policeman, po-
licewoman. and court clerks con-
cerned with the enforcement of
traffic laws must get tired of deal-

ing with irate violators day after
day, but isn't it extremely petty
of the judge to set so high a pen-
alty for such a relatively harm-
less reaction to the frustration of
a traffic ticket as the use of com-
mon expletive? Would physical
violence be preferred to more ver-
bal release?
In any case, I hope I will have
enough presence of mind to limit
myself to remarks such as "Cut
police salaries!" or "Defeat Judge
Elden!" when I am confronted
with a traffic summons.
-James A. Mason, Grad
Carson
I am aghast that Mr Firshein
feels that Johnny Carson is
"wishy-washy." If anything is
wishy-washy, it is his article.
Carson is the all-American boy.
You, I believe are the all-Ameri-
can boob. I can't figure your ar-
ticle out, and, besides, Martha
Raye is tremendous.
Why shouldn't she sing the
praises of our "fight against
aggression?" If you consider this
flaig-raising, can you think of a
better country to raise it for?
MR. FIRSHEIN, your head must
be wedged. If you are really a
"reluctant addict" as you call
yourself, and if the show is so
lousy why do you even watch?
Are you sure you're not addict-
ed to LSD, and not Carson? Your
thinking is commendably fuzzy.
Come over and see my flying
saucer some day: It's more real
than your beef.
-Rob Saltzstein '68

litical dissension at the present
time. An individual who dares de-
nounce the government publicly
risks not only government police
action but also violent public re-
taliation, not unlike what anti-
war and civil rights protestors
have faced in this country.
THIS POLITICALLY limited at-
mosphere in Cuba, the guide add-
ed, is somewhat offset by the
grass-roots democracy which does
exist for those who accept the
government's mandate. This di-
rect participation is occupation-
based; within the bounds of gen-
eral government policy, associa-
tions of workers in each industry
can determine at mass meetings
what type of programs they will
pursue. Perhaps not perfect de-
mocracy, but a far cry from Ba-
tista's reactionary government.
A last point that the guide
made, and which is especially rele-
vant, considering both Vietnanese
and other South American juntas,
concerns the origin of the Cuban
revolution. She claimed that Fi-
del Castro began, not as a Commu-
nist, but as an anti-Batista Cub-
an nationalist. This position, es-
sentially that of Ho Chi Minh in
Vietiam as an anti-French na-
tionalist after World War II. is
more verifiable in Ho's case than
in Castro's. Nonetheless, the
charge that Cuba went Commu-
nist only because of refusal of the
American government to recog-
nize political and economic real-
ties in Cuba should serve as
warning enough. Clearly, with the
obvious inevitabity of social and
political revolution in most of
South America, it is a serious tac-
tical error for the U.S. to con-
tinue supporting governments
which will, in time, fall, and at
the same time antagonize those
elements of the population which
will some day rule those countries.

r

Fire T his Time

Today and Tomorrow... By Waiter Lippmann
Britain's Second Bid

Congratulations

WE NEVER CEASE to be amazed by bu-
reaucratic self-glorification. Take the
following dlispatch:
DETROIT (A - Dr. John Hanlon,
city health commissioner, said re-
cently that a report ranking Detroit
second in the nation in the number of
syphilis cases proves only "that the
The Daily is a member of the Associated Press and
Collegiate Press Servtc
Summer subscription rate: $2.00 per term by car-
rier; ($2.50 by mail) $4.00 for entire summer ($4.50

city at present is doing the most
thorough job in the country in find-
ing and reporting syphilis cases."
A report from the National Com-
municable Disease Center showed
only Newark, N.J., with more re-
ported cases of syphilis than Detroit.
The figures showed Detroit report-
ed 665 cases of infectious syphilis in
1965 and 1,060 in 196, a gain of al-
most 40 per cent. In the nation as a
whole, the number was down 8.4 per
cent.
"In addition to physicians being re-
quired by law to report syphilis cases
to the health department, laborator-
ies, too, must report suspected cases
nfter lon ino. hnnr tt" Th THn-

Britain's second bid for mem-
bership in the Common Market is
being made by a government
whose prime minister opposed the
first bid. This is a measure of
how much the situation has chang-
ed in the past four years. Because
of the many changes in Britain,
on the Continent and in the Unit-
ed States, the prospects of the
eventual admission of Britain to
the Common Market have improv-
ed radically.
In these four years it has been
borne in upon the British people
that their role as a global power is
over. During World War II the
noble fight of the British people
and the aura of Winston Church-
ill's greatness made the world be-
lieve that the British Empire, over
whose liquidation he refused to
preside, would continue to be one
of the three superpowers directing
the peace of the world.
It was this unrealistic exagger-
ation of Britain's postwar power
that accounts more than anything
else for Franklin D. Roosevelt's
miscalculations in his dealings
with Josef Stalin at Teheran and
Yalu-

Charles de Gaulle's veto of the
first bid.
The illusion and the pretense
since then have been almost wash-
ed away, and Britain today is ap-
plying for membership as the na-
tion which inhabits the islands
that are geographically a part of
Europe. There linger on shreds
of the old imperial position from
Cyprus to Malaysia, but it is ob-
vious to all that Britain knows
that it cannot really afford to sus-
tain that role and that in the
next few years a decently phased
disengagement is certain.
DURING THESE same four
years there has been a radical
change in the relations between
Western Europe and the United
States. At the time of the first bid
it was tacitly assumed, and not
very tacitly at that, that Britain
would speak for the United States
in the Common Market. It was as-
sumed at the same time that West
Germany would be the principal
military satellite of the United
States within the NATO alliance.
These assumptions are gone.
West Germany has broken out of
the satellite position and is em-
harked nn a. noliv o f nntinentil

ion-often but inaccurately called
Gaullism-which looks forward to
the creation of a greater European
community that is no longer de-
pendent on Washington.
IN THE COURSE of these four
years the continental Europeans,
who now constitute the six of
the Common Market, have come to
realize that while they are profit-
ing greatly from the Common
Market arrangements they are,
as compared with the United
States and as compared with the
high potential of the Soviet Union,
not yet in sight of equality of
power.
The fact that Britain, despite
all her problems at home and her
debts abroad, is very strong in in-
dustrial know-how, in the man-
agement of modern industry, in
technological genius, in the con-
duct of international shipping, in-
surance and banking makes her
a very strong addition to the Eu-
ropean community. It is being
realized on the Continent that if
the British have much to gain
from membership they have also
much to contribute.
It is, I believe, generally agreed
that many diustments will have

By JOEL WEISHAUS
Collegiate Press Service
THE FURIOUS PASSAGE OF
JAMES BALDWIN, by Fern Ma-
ria Eckman. New York: M. Ev-
ans & Co.. Inc.
Several years ago, the morning
sun wasmomentarily blownout
by a cold lambent wind, as a
ferry boat threw itself against its
moorings like a crazed waterbeast.
Uptown, in a Manhattan apart-
ment, another man, who could
have been the boatman's twin, was
awakening to a breakfast of cof-
fee, and a day he'd greet as a
gift long hoped for but never ex-
pected.
For the father of four novels,
three books of essays, two plays,
and a host of assorted writing and
speeches, had passed his 40th year
as an American Negro who refuses
not to be one. Still, somehow
warding off the insanity that, kill-
ed his stepfather, somehow, still
surviving the introvertivehspotlight
of a tendentious intelligence.
VENETIAN BLINDS squeeze out
the bright sunlight, stimulating
his favorite mood of day, twi-
light.
He sips his coffee, lights an-
other cigarette, and begins to fill
a reel of recording tape in a halt-
ing melodic cadence . . . . "The
reason I never will hate anybody
again is that it's-it's too-too de-
meaning a confession, you know,
on your own part, if you need to
hate somebody. It means that
you're afraid of the other thing,
y'know-which is love and be lov-
ed, which is another confession."
At first sight, it seems preco-
cious to write the biography of
a writer still very much alive. But
this isn't an ordinary biography,
as James Baldwin isn't an ordi-
nary writer. If the artist has no
choice but to be an artist. Bald-

own words, "distinguished from all
other responsible actors in socie-
ty ... by the fact that he is his
own test tube, his own laboratory,
working according to very rigor-
ous rules, however unstated these
may be, and cannot allow any
consideration to supersede his re-
sponsibility to reveal all that he
can possibly discover concerning
the mystery of the human being."
THUS, the man and his work
are one, and both must be scrut-
inized.
For more than 29 months, Fern
Marja Eckman, a prize-winning
feature writer for the New York
Post, followed Baldwin around the
country, making tape recordings of
his speeches and remarks. These,
along with long, searching talk
sessions held in a relaxed milieu,
is what makes this book a unique
one.
James Baldwin's writings, par-
ticularly his novels, may be far
from being "great literature," but
his gift is that of revelation, a
gift of prophecy.
A preacher while still in his
teens, a would-be actor, Baldwin
became shaman to the Black Peo-
ple of America, working the magic
of intellectual catharsis; and guru,
a teacher to America's Caucasians.
For ". . . no general, no states-
man, no priest and no saint can
bear witness to the human condi-
tion as the artist must." As "one
must be aware of the possibilities
of the humar spirit and, by watch-
ing, tell what we could--if we
only dared-become."
The reel of tape is finally ex-
hausted, James Baldwin sits back,
and the ferry is finally calmed of
its passengers. Now one must look
very closely to be able to see where
the boat leaves off and the pier
begins.
And the little black man, who
tied the het unwn has disan-

A

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