I
94c t thgan 43 l
Seventy-eight years of editorial f reed oni
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan
Re-ordering the priorities of the movement
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: JUDY SARASOHN
The new vice president
THE MAN who becomes the next vice
president for student affairs will have
a crucial effect on students at this Uni-
versity - yet the student body has played
too little a role in choosing him.
It would be a mistake for students to
ignore the issue as still more bureaucratic
tedium -- because the decision will de-
termine whether the vice president fights
for student interests or becomes a mere
appendage of the Fleming administra-
tion.
Traditionally, executive officers form
a coterie of support for the president,
fighting his battles when he has no time
to fight them himself. Students have sel-
dom been represented in the administra-
tion - and so they can barely imagine a
vice president for student affairs w h o
would truly look out for their interests.
,BUT THE new vice president could be
one of the single most important
forces for students on campus -- since
the office controls nine departments
which control millions of dollars and
makes scores of decisions which affect
student life throughout the University.
With so much at stake, students can
hardly afford to let the University ap-
point a mere administrator - yet this
is precisely what will happen. Fleming
has instructed his search committee to
approve several candidates and leave
the final choice to him. This means, of
course, that the new vice president will
be a Fleming maxi-- someone who is
likely to give the president support and
not opposition.
EVEN IF THE committee did make the
final choice, it would hardly represent
wideipreaid student interest. Fleming
picked the four faculty members and four
students comprising the committee from
a list of candidates proposed by the Stu-
dent Government Council and Senate As-
sembly - thus controlling from the be-
ginning the selection process of the new
vice president.
The "small" students who comprise
most of this university - the students
who have no friends on SGC, who know
no one on top committees, but who still
have a crucial stake in the affairs of the
school -have no influence on the man
or woman who will control the huge por-
tion of the University ostensibly formed
to serve them.
IT IS CRUCIAL that students let the
search committee know that they
exist - and tell it whom they wish to
represent them. The next time the Uni-
versity chooses an administrator, stu-
dents should make sure that they take a
major part in the decision - and not
leave it to the president to decide for
them.
-DANIEL ZWERDLING
By HENRY GRIX
Editor
WITH SO MANY worthwhile
causes begging it is frustra-
ting that so few ever locate cham-
pions. Perhaps if there were more
good men in the world they might
be able to realize and solve more
world problems. Maybe.
But unfortunately too many
good men are inclined to take on
the wrong issues at the wrong
time. And too many are disinclined
to crusade for the right issues at
any tie.
LEST THERE BE any mistake,
this is not to condemn students
who protest against the presence
of ROTC on campus. On the con-
trary, I believe firmly that ROTC
has no place in a community de-
voted to pursuit of reason and
world peace. Not only is ROTC
void of redeeming academic value,
but it is -designed to contribute to
a dangerous military machine, and
does receive, in cold dollars, a
sizeable University contribution of
land and building space. A student
movement aimed at relegating
ROTC to an extracurricular activ-
ceter is
EDITOR'S NOTE: For those of our
readers who have missed out on
all the exciting courses in the
economics department, "ceteris
paribus," the title of Jenny Stiller's
column nicans 'everything else
remaining the same." It usually
dtoes, even after Miss Stiller finishes
riting.
ARTHA'S VINEYARD Island
is a pile of rocks dumped
off Cape Cod by retreating glac-
iers, unknown by most Americans
until Ted Kennedy drove his car
off a bridge there last July.
The Dike's Road bridge acci-
dent which catapulted the Vine-
yard to national fame drew
hoardes of tourists to Edgartown
and to Chappaquiddick, much to
the disgust of the usual summer
residents, who had a hearty dis-
taste for the day tourists to begin
with.
For Martha's Vineyard is more
than an extension of Cape Cod. It
is one of the traditional meccas
of the social, economic and edu-
cational elite of the East Coast -
the summer home of doctors, law-
yers, college professors, and gov-
ernment advisers who have their
year-round residence in Cam-
b r i d g e, Westport, Georgetown,
Westchrster, or Bethesda. Be-
cause it is an island, the summer
people are able to feel very much
at home and among their own
kind there, untroubled by the less
cultured souls who crowd them so
much at home.
Even on the island itself there
are certain clas-type divisions.
although no one takes them terri-
ity is highly commendable. It is a
morally right issue.
BUT THE BATTLE against
ROTC assumed lilliputian propor-
tions yesterday because it is
strikingly ill-timed. Dramatic stu-
dent action against ROTC is ill-
timed when the issue of whether
the University should continue
ROTC programs will probably,
hopefully, be placed before the
Regents at their October meeting.
While a faculty committee pre-
pares a final report on the issue
and as student leaders publicly de-
nounce ROTC, other students who
;would participate in an anti-ROTC
movement must wait to act pend-
ing the outcome of regental action.
Meanwhile, "creative disrup-
tion" can dolittle good, and, pos-
sibly, much harm by clouding the
issue at stake. For creative dis-
ruption is an arbitrary act by a
certain group who feel a certain
"illegitimate" class must not con-
tinue. The disruption of R O T C
classes can be condoned only if
the disruption of any class is per-
mitted.
More concrete student action is
called for if and when the faculty
karibus :ยง>2. .
ignore or reject student senti-
ment on ROTC. And' if and when
Regents ignore or reject faculty
and student deliberations, a real
movement can be directed against
those who now have the final
power to determine the fate of
ROTC,
THE FIRE ON ROTC must
wait until next month. And in the
meantime, students should begin
organizing an effective action
against ROTC then. Judging by
the student response to a worth-
while issue during this semester
last year, there is fertile, ground
at this University for purposeful
radical action. And ,considering
the surprisingly large attendance
at this year's mass meetings of
radical groups, there is reason to
believe that choosing the right
issue at the right time would cata-
lyze many.
However, as one who was fearful
that yesterday's ROTC action
would plunge this campus into
turmoil, I must admit that I
thought the ROTC issue might
have been more antagonistic, had
a ROTC instructor panicked and
called the county sheriff, had De-
troit -DS members provoked a
confrontation, the whole thing
might have turned out differently.
It still may.
WHAT CONCERNED ME then,
and what concerns me now, is that
while the existence of ROTC
programs on campus might be a
worthwhile issue to explore, it
might not really be the issue
which should rest most heavily on
the conscience of the concerned
student. While a visiting Blafran
student fears for the survival of
his nation, while ADC mothers
have too little money to clothe
thtiir children, while the Univer-
sity has inadequate funds for
scholarships to disadvantaged stu-
dents, it is dubious whether the
granting of academic credit or
even University facilities for
ROTC is the issue for concerted
student action.
IT IS POSSIBLE that the
ROTC question has been seized
upon simply because it seemed
like the viable issue on which to
build a student movement. All too
often, however, student move-
ments built solely upon and by a
right issue cannot survive the
resolution of that issue. Besides,
student movement building is not,
in itself, designed to better the
condition of the University com-
munity or the world at large.
This leads me to suspect, along
with Carl Oglesby, that student
leaders must consider re-ordering
their priorities. Although Oglesby
has forced himself into semi-se-
clusion in the radical confines of
Antioch, he came here last year
and pointed out that university-
centered student movements are
selfish and socially useless-re-
volts by, for and of the favored
and affluent.
WHILE NOT discounting the
value of a student movement, I
would argue that it must tran-
scend the university and univer-
sity issues, The Reserve Officers'
Training program is such an issue.
Its relation to the care and feed-
ing of the defense establishment
is clear.
But on a list of priorities, I am
not at all sure that a disruption
of ROTCrclasses should precede
positive support for Washtenaw
County's welfare mothers (if they
want) it, for Biafrans, for the
urban and suburban ghettoes.
Caste in a classless society
jenny stiller
Saving the Everglades
bly seriously. Up-island, Edgar-
town and to a lesser extent Vine-
yard Haven are the homes of the
sober professionals of old-stock
Anglo-Saxon lineage. Oak Bluffs,
n e a r Vineyard Haven, has the
largest Negro population, and has
long been a favored retreat for the
upper echelons of the black bour-
geoisie. , Down-island, Chilmark
and Gay Head are t h e favored
spots of the Jews, the artists, and
the intelligentsia.
But everyone looks pretty much
the s a in e in bermuda shorts or
bathing suits, and most of t h e
sununer people are extradorinarily
tolerant of each other, regardless
of what part of the island they
come from.
TiiE DAY tourists, however, are
something else entirely.
Day tourists are the people who
are spending their vacation at one
of the motels on the Cape, who
decide to come over to the Vine-
yard and have a look around.
They come by car or tourist bus
across the ferry from Wood's Hole,
catch as many of the "sights" as
they can, and disappear again in
the evening, There were always a
lot of them. and now that Chap-
paquiddick is famous, there are
many more.
Day tourists are the plain, dull,
hardworking middle class people
who the summer people usually
see only as faces in a crowd or
statistics on a page. They are the
people with American flag decals
on their car windows. They are
P r e s i d e nt Nixon's "forgotten
Americans." They are, heaven
help us, the great American mid-
dle. And they are the antithesis
of everything the brokers in their
Edgartown mansions and the in-
tellectuals in their glassed-in A-
frames stand for and believe in.
THE SUMMER people think of
themselves as enlightened and
liberal. They treat the rich Ne-
groes at Oak Bluffs with exag-
gerated equality, deal easily with
the 600 or so really native Vine-
yarders, and would be horrified at
the accusation of harboring class
prejudices. Nonetheless, they ral-
lied four years ago to oppose in-
troduction of cheap hydrofoil
transportation across Vineyard
Sound, and even now many of
their cars sport bumper stickers
urging the county government to
"Ban Big Busses." Lacking con-
scious class-consciousness, t h e
summer people are nonetheless
very sure of where they stand with
regard to the day tourists, whom
they consider a nuisance at best,
at worst a pestilential invasion.
ON THE LARGER, national
scale, the day tourists - the
American norm - are aware of
this sentiment and resent it. The
wealthy, educated elite who are
so anxious - perhaps understand-
ably - to preserve their summer
haven for themselves and their
social and intellectual equals are
to a large extent the same people
who have been close to the seats
of power more or less since the
Roosevelt administration. They
have everything the man in the
street does not - money, power,
grace, and position. Since many
if not most of them pulled them-
selves up from the poverty of the
Depression, they feel justified in
assuming that they deserve the
things they have, and that others
-especially other whites - would
have the same things if they had
had the talent or the drive to ach-
ieve them.
The Vineyard elite honestly do
not think of themselves as a n y
different from the day tourists
they despise so much. They de-
scribe themselves as "middle
class," even though they often
make twice as much money as the
true middle. Intelligent and edu-
cated as they are, it somehow re-
mains very necessary to their
psyches that they do not define
themselves as either rich or pow-
erful. If they were to admit that
their lot is among the best in
the nation, and knowing how
much power they actually do
wield, they would perhaps feel
that they had failed to achieve
true power or even true material
contentment.
THE LITTLE two-car ferry
chugs back and forth to Chappa-
quiddick Island, while the day
tourists line tip dozens deep to
wait their turn to drive over and
see the bridge into which some-
one has carved "Teddy Loves Mary
Jo." The newsman crowd i n t o
Edgartown for the inquest - cir-
cus-like but nonetheless easy for
the summer people to understand.
Labor Day has gone, and most
of the summer people have left
the island. But their inability to
comprehend their own class pre-
judices persists, as do their senti-
ments regarding those people who
are "not like us." Their hypo-
crisy is no less deep for being un-
intentional, and the middle class
senses this and is insulted and
offended. If such class distinc-
tions must persist in this country
we should be willing to recognize
them for what they are; the pre-
tense of a classless society is far
'nore harmful than the actual ex-
istence of classes.
.gVERGLADES National Park has sur-
vived the latest threat to its exist-
ence so far. At a news conference in
Washington on Wednesday, Interior Sec-
retary Walter Hickel, Transportation
Secretary John Volpe and Florida Gov-
ernor Claude Kirk announced that they
were united in their resolve to prevent
construction of a new jetport that would
destroy the Everglades.
The huge jetport was proposed by the
Dade County Port Authority to alleviate
congestion at Miami International Air-
port. The site of the jetport is only six
miles from the northern boundary of
Everglades National Park, the only sub-
tropical park in the United States. It is
a sanctuary for 22 endangered wild-
species, some of which are unique to the
area.
r HE EVERGLADES ecosystem is very
fragile and totally dependent u p o n
water. The proposed jetport would have
changed the drainage pattern of the
water coming into the national park
from Big Cypress Swamp which supplies
38 per cent of the park's water. If the
jetport were allowed to be put into oper-
ation, the Everglades ecosystem would
undoubtedly suffer irreparable damage,
including the elimination of some plant
and animal species.
The controversy over the fate of the
Everglades mushroomed into national
importance last summer. The Dade Coun-
ty Port Authority had previously select-
ed the airport site and - without holding
public hearings - had begun construc-
tion of the first runway. Dade County has
announced that this runway, which will
be used as a flight-training facility, will
be opened in early October.
"HE ISSUES at stake in the fight to
save the Everglades go deeper than
ust saving one unique ecosystem. The
fight embodies the struggle to b r i n g
regional planning into natural resource
decisions. Conservationists have long
urged careful coordination of these de-
cisions to eliminate some of the more
blatant developmental errors. The Ever-
glades jetport is a classic example of
planning which does not consider the na-
tural environment and the alternatives
which would allow the needed develop-
ment without automatically destroying
valuable and unique ecosystems.
The Republicans' announcement seems
to be a victory for the conservationists.
The original site picked by Dade County
now appears to be almost certainly ruled
out, removing the immediate threat to
the Everglades from the airport. Still,
this does not mean total victory, because
the area will still be open to development
by private interests.
The announcement may also mean
that the Nixon administration will be
increasingly interested in preserving the
environment. Last fall, conservationists
were disturbed by the appointment of
Walter Hickel as Secretary of the Inter-
ior. During the nomination hearings,
Hickel pledged support of conservation.
Since then, many skeptical conservation
fanatics have watched Hickel's moves
closely waiting for him to keep his prom-
ise. Hickel's hardline on the Everglades
jetport issue hopefully signals his con-
version to the cause of conservation.
[HE EVERGLADES decision sh o u lc
mark the beginning of the era of close
coordination of government projects in-
volving the environment and natural re-
sources. Its importance lies not only in
the preservation of a unique and beauti-
ful ecosystem but also in the introduc-
tion of an approach which will preserve
the rare ecosystems and still allow ex-
pansion of development needed to en-
compass increased demands on the na-
tion's valuable resources.
-JOHN R. LUTON
_ _ _~
Letters to the Editor
U.S. troops continue to be withdrawn
from South Vietnam.
News item.
- 1
- . -
Tennits
To the Editor:
ANN ARBOR LANDLORDS have
found a new weapon in blaming
the Ann Arbor Tenants Union for
this year's housing crush. (Daily,
Sept. 5) Barnhill and Renken now
claim the rent strike has made the
student housing market "extreme-
ly insecure, discouraging new con-
struction."
Even without questioning the
landlord's analysis of the housing
market we can see that the rent
strike could not possibly have any
effect on this year's housing avail-
ability. Housing requires several
year's planning and building; the
decisions which failed, to result in
adequate housing this year were
made at least five years ago, long
before the Tenant's Union was
even a dream. The collusion and
agreements which created this
year's sellers' market were in full
swing without the help of the Ten-
ants Union.
Barnhill and Renken speak of
an "extremely insecure" student
housing narket. This is mislead-
ing. There is hardly anything in
the business world so sure as the
booming demand for student
apartmemts in Ann Arbor. With
their captive market, Ann Arbor
landlords do not worry about leas-
ing apartments even at incredible
rents, and demand can safely be
expected to grow steadily and pr'e-
dictably. With this kind of market
it is no surprise that rents am'e
high, maintenance bad anid profits
enormous.
THE TENANTS UNION is not
ultimately a disruptive force. The
role of the Tenants Union is to
equalize the disparity of bargaining
power between landlord and ten-
ant so that leases can be nego-
tiated between economically mo'e
equal pamties. Omice the landlords
have reognized the Tenants Union
as a bargaining agent. leases will
mnore equitably balance tenants
ability to pay and need for decent
housing with landlords craving for
profits.
Long-term residents of Ann Ar-
bor know this year's housing crisis
is no recent development. Ann Ar-
but is in fact a great victory and
demonstration ofnthe strength of
theim' organization.
THE RENT STRIKE is the only
hope for breaking landlord mono-
poly power in Ann Arbor. Thus,
rather than being the cause of
apartment problems in Ann Arbo',
it is the only solution. The Ten-
ants Union has from its begin-
nings pushed for low-cost public
housing and co-operative housing.
We should know by now that the
landlords will not by themselves
oppose their own interests end
provide enough apartments in Ann
Arbor.
-Stephen Marston
Sept. 7
No vioIlce
To the Editor:
IT WAS VERY disappointing to
read Mr. James Graf's letter in
the Sept. 9 issue as he did an ex-
cellent job of reaching the right
conclusion for the wrong reasons.
I agree wholeheartedly with. Mr.
Graf's conclusion as to the futility
of more campus demonstrations at
the present time. Ram'ely indeed
has the Left fashioned so suicidal
a technique; rarely has anything
been so well designed to alienate
the American working class from
the educated youth of our nation.
It appears to be anomalous that
those desiring a worker-student
alliance should choose tactics that
ensum'e thme continuing animosity
between the two groups,
However, to put the case for
campus peace in terms of Dlacat-
ing conservative politicians so
that University funds are not
jeopardized, as Mr. G r a f does,
smacks of selling ourselves "for a
mess of porridge." If the Univer-
sity and its faculty and students
ame to emain silent on matters of
great moral significance (e. g.
Vietnam, white racism, political
prisoners) so as not to threaten its
material and academic wealth.
then it is as guilty of the immoral
conduct as those who perpetrate
it. The "crime of silence" of the
timid majority in the face of im-
moral acts can make omission as
T'ttA}n }Ln r nr tiirc
Pro-ROTE
To the Editor:
UNFORTUNATELY, given t h e
state of mankind at present, an
army seems to be necessary to the
protection and security of a na-
tion as large and influential as
our own. Further, in the right cir-
cumstances the U.S. Army, or'at
least the threat of its involvement,
can still be used to help create a
better world order.
In the main. serious objections
against the army are raised not
on the question of its existence,
but on how aid whe'e it should
be used. Decisionis of this sor't am'e
imade or influenced largely by
military leaders themselves, and'
the effectiveness with which they
are carried out depends on these
leaders.
It should be obvious, then, that
we need the best, most competent
men, especially those w it h the
broadest possible perspectives to
run our army. Such are exactly
the somt of men to be found at a
university. It follows that the tini-
versity has an obligation to allow
those men who desire it the op-
portunity to train f o r military
leadership. Such training requires
much work and time invested, and
thus must be endowed with aca-
demic credit if it is to be feasible
for an individual.
ROTC must be maintained on
campus.
--Robert Loewenstein, '7I1
Sept, II
Ticketing bikes
To the Editor:
TJHIS MORNING a4 9 a.m. I
parked my b i k e behind the
bench which is in front of Kres-
ge's. I as given a ticket by the
A. A. police for' parkinig omi the
sidewalk.
I went downtown and pointed
out that the city removed its bike
racks last year. The only racks
remaining are those owned by the
U. of M.
I was told that t he State Sttreet
merchamts have complained to the
police because of bikes parked on
Reflections on a ROTC disruption
By PHILIP BLOCK
Associate Managing Editor
r1"HOUGH SOME observers might feel
that 'esterday's anti-ROTC action
was more like a T-group meeting than
a political confrontation. the incident
did afford s o m e interesting observa-
tions:
0 The ROTC instructors, except for
Col. Reynolds, exhibited an unusual de-
gree of self-control. One officer in par-
ticular, C a p t. Stanley McLaughlin,
showed that t h e demostrators were
not up agaimnst a group of unthinking,
0 The students who participated in
the disruption also acted with precision
and self-restraint - with perhaps one
exception. At the beginning of e a c h
class that was to be disrupted, there
was some argument over whether Daily
photographers should be "permitted" to
take pictures. Some of the disrupters
tried frantically to hold books or coats
in front of the cameras, as if being
photographed would mean certain pros-
ecution by Univer'sity or civil author-
ities. Such paranoia was hardly war-
ranted by the situation.
Tieir easons fo' wanting to stop the
0 It now appears that the ROTC dis-
ruptions/discussions may turn into open
forums on the war in general. At one
point during yesterday's Military Sci-
ence 401 class, a middle-aged l a d y
standing at the back of the crowded
classroom took time floor. Most of those
present expected her to deliver a tirade
against the "commie-hippie-freaks"
who were trying to disrupt the hallowed
education of our country's fighting men
Much to everyone's surprise Mrs.
Thelma Miller from Oak Pamk, Mich.,
gave a stirring speech against the evils
0 It is difficult to conceive of the
final outcome of the anti-ROTC dis-
ruptions. The coalition will probably
continue to disrupt military science
classes until confrontation with Uni-
versity or ROTC authorities is reached.
Even though several members of the
,oalition feel that further disruptions
would not help the anti-ROTC drive any
further, the more militant elements are
sure to renew calls for a physical shut-
down of ROTC activities on campus.
The ROTC comimandanits may
decide to let the action wither away at
the exnense of oneo r two weeks of lost