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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1969
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID
SPURR
Ho dared to struggle,
he'llwin
"1WAIT UNTIL I'm dead," Ho Chi Minh told the late great Bernard
Fall. "Then you can write about me all you want."
There was plenty for the perceptive chronicler of the Vietnam
conflict to write. Ho was a devious, brilliant leader who seized power
from the French imperialists who demeaningly called him Ba during
his yuoth. He was an ascetic devoted to seeking independence from the
United States and addicted to menthol Salems. But the war obscures
the death of an old man and leaves one with less to say about Uncle Ho
than about the movement at whose vanguard he served.
For Ho was a pragmatic communist engaged in a struggle for na-
tional independence not an ideological struggle. In the twenties he
abandoned socialism in favor of communism because he felt socialist
ideology ignored his nation's plight, "I don't understand a thing about
strategy, tactics and all the other big words you use, but I do under-
stand one thing: The Third International concerns itself a great deal
with the colonial question. Its delegates promise to help the oppressed
colonial peoples to regain their liberty and independence. The ad-
herents of the Second International have not said a word about the
fate of the colonial areas."
AND LATER, in the forties, Ho proclaimed himself only "a member
of the Vietnamese family, nothing else. During and following World
War II, the Vietnamese leader engineered a national movement which
first wrenched control from the Japanese and then from the crippled
French. He riveted national attention upon himself and helped his
people brace for an onslaught from the United States. "You must know
of our resolution," he told the last American journalists to interview
him in 1967. "Not even your nuclear weapons would force us to sur-
render after so long and violent struggle for the independence of our
country."
Ho was right. America sits at the peace table and can not ensure
the "honorable peace" it has shamelessly demanded for so long.
It is clear that this charismatic leader's struggle will not expire
with his demise. Although the White House declines comment on the
man's death, the people of both Vietnams mourn him. Ho leaves behind
a fiercely independent nation and a nagging challenge to the United
States:
"I think I know the American people and I don't understand how
they can support their involvement in this war. Is the Statue of Liberty
standing on her head?"
let's
hope
I1'
I,
I
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1
THE EDITORIAL DIRECTORS
Robben and Marty, an unholy alliance
'4:19 I1, Ac0,'. .,
M)TWW. -meo s3
How the President spent
your summer vacation
THE PECULIAR, often sad, thing about
summer is not that people relax and
nothing happens, but that things happen
and people relax. While almost all
Frenchmen were at the ocean last Aug-
ust, for example, their government de-
valued the franc, for better rather than
worse. For Pompidou's new regime, the
move was a well-timed coup, designed to
improve the sagging economy and to dis-
please as few people as possible.
However, in America, more deplorable
events occurred. While Americans sun-
ned, soldiers died in Vietnam. While
ghetto residents sweated, the President
proposed a theoretically ambitious, but
financially weak, welfare program.
While Detroiters went up north, their
children's school teachers discussed strik-
ing and now one-half million state stu-
dents are still out of school.
MEANWHILE, BACK in South Carolina,
Strom Thurmond sipped mint julip
while the President nominated a South-
ern reactionary to the Supreme Court.
And this act may prove the most far
reaching of all.
Although 'Haynsworth has received
more apologies than the plantation sys-
tem, and called a "mediocre slob" in
Time by a Yale law professor, he has
been denounced by the -AFL-CIO and
civil rights leaders as being anti-union
and racist. Several of his decisions are
questioned, but outstanding is one which
concluded that it is enough for t h e
courts to declare segregation illegal with-
out taking action against school dis-
tricts which practice it. Thus in the
county involved, whites were permitted
to stop funding and close public schools
and set up private institutions for their
children. Black children went without an
education for a year, until the Supreme
Court and the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare intervened, over-
riding Haynsworth.
INDEED, THE bleakest thing about the
Nixon administration is the way it
has conceded to southern demands, in
return for promises of southern support,
and slowed down government action in
the area of civil rights.
Next summer may not be so pleasant.
-HENRY GRIX
Editor
By STEVE ANZALONE
Editorial Page Editor
ROBBEN FLEMING is an unus-
ually candid man.
The other night he told incom-
ing freshmen that the University
as an institution was more im-
portant than he is or they are as
individuals.
I have no doubts that m a n y
college presidents genuinely en-
tertain this thought; I did n o t
think that even Mr. Fleming had
the candor to say it in public. But
he did, and inadvertantly it was
one of the most realistic and de-
plorable things that he said all
night.
It is clear that this concern for
the preservation of institutions
over the more immediate concern
for individuals betrays a violation
of traditional democratic thought.
At its most extreme, it becomes
the justification for the existence
of the state above all else, and is
one of the underlying philosoph-
ical assumptions of fascism.
I find it necessary to remind
Mr. Fleming that even liberals ad-
mit that institutions, including
the university, exist only to serve
individuals. As such, the individ-
ual must be considered more im-
portant than the actual structure
of the institution itself. When in-
stitutions no longer meet the
needs of individuals, then it is the
duty of those individuals to either
change the institutions or destroy
it. This is not a radical idea by
any means: it is at the heart of
Jefferson's reasoning in the Dee-
laration of Independence.
OTHER THAN THIS state-
ment, which hopefully was a slip
of the tongue, the President's wel-
come was more or less typical:
the unwarranted standing ova-
tions, the anachronistic school
songs, and the SGC president as
spoiler.
The event reminded me of my
first days as a freshman when
former President Harlan Hatcher
locked horns with erstwhile cam-
pus 'leader Ed Robinson. Hatcher
was decently innocuous and Rob-
inson was decently irreverant.
And as usual, the audience 'liked
both.
Three years have passed since
then, Fleming is now president
and much smarter than Hatcher.
Marty McLaughlin has a better
grasp on the realities of student
power and the structure of the
University than Ed Robinson had.
So, the outcome was destined to
be a temporary stalemate in the
battle between administrator and
student.
The most. important thing that
McLaughlin accomplished Wed-
nesday night w a s to secularize
some student thinking. The ori-
entation experience inevitably
leads new students to see the Uni-
versity in somewhat divine and
heavenly t ermins. McLaughlin
brought some of these people out
of the clouds and back to reality.
tIcLAUGHLIN'S address got off
to a slow start. Some of his phil-
osophical groundwork w a s per-
haps lost on the new students. But
by the end of h i s address
many of them were audibly im-
pressed.
His best moments came in re-
counting the story of how Flem-
ing and the Regents killed the
bookstore idea. This perhaps did
more than anything else to con-
vince students that McLaughlin's
observations of the decision-mak-
ing structure of the University are
indeed in need of repair. By the
response f r o m the audience it
looks like the bookstore could be
a good issue this year.
But McLaughlin did not need
the President's welcome to expand
his constiuency. He need not at-
tract freshmen to radical politics
by oratory. Support will come his
way after students begin their ed-
ucation and events start happen-
ing around them. The President's
welcome is clearly for the Presi-
dent. It is the moment in time
when the class of 1973 w ill be
most impressed by him.
It was Fleming's night and he
was effective. Immediately, he
jocularly informed the audience
that he kicks his dog and beats
his wife. Gross self-deprecation is
always popular; humor always es-
tablishes one as a man of good-
will.
THEN FLEMING repeated his
usual offer to discuss issues with
students and debate anyone at any
time. It is a generous offer from
a sincere man. But at the same
time it is more important as a
crowd pleaser than as a device to
insure real dialogue in the Uni-
versity community.
Another way that Fleming wins
allegiance is by convincing people
that his job is practically impossi-
ble. He portrays his job as a med-
iator between conflicting constit-
uencies - taxpayers, students,
alumni, faculty, and (believe it or
not) parents. One cannot help but
be impressed by a man caught in
the ring of such an impossible ar-
rangement.
But I am sure that most stu-
dents would be glad to share some
of the decision-making responsi-
bility and relieve Fleming of the
tremendous burden that rests on
his shoulders.
NEVERTHELESS, the freshmen
left Hill Aud. probably impressed
by both McLaughlin and Fleming.
But such an unholy alliance in
one's mind c a n lead to schizo-
phrenia, and it will be soon time
to choose sides.
Sen. Huber and 'U':
Creating a cause for hysteria
JOURNALISTIC pejoratives have long
been inadequate to describe the dark
forces of unreason that are represented
in the State Senate by the presence of
Robert Huber. Huber's tenure in state
government is a constant reminder of
how much repression and reaction
threaten the University community.
Huber's committee to investigate
"campus disorders" was forged out of a
combination of Huber's right-wing fan-
aticism and his personal desires for poli-
tical aggrandizement through witchhunt
grandstanding.
By complying with Huber's request for
information concerning campus political
groups, the University has failed to take
a stand against the despicable anti-in-
tellectual forces that consume Huber.
Only under order of subpoena should the
University ever even consider giving this
committee so much as the time of day
as long as Huber's motives so clearly in-
dicate that he is bent on destroying the
University and the civil liberties of its
students and faculty.
the administration not to breach the
codes it has established prohibiting the
release of documents which "relate to
the student's loyalty and patriotism, his
political, religious and moral outlook, or
his private life."
The University should make these
guidelines more explicit and tell the com-
mittee that no privileged information
will be released.
Students and faculty have a right to
demand these more concrete guidelines
from the administration because the Uni-
versity's behavior in the past on such
issues has not been commendable. It
must be remembered that the University
once buckled under during the McCarthy
hysteria and silently dismissed several
professors accused of communist s y m-
pathies. More recently, the University
also complied with an order to release
information to the HUAC including
membership lists of certain student or-
ganizations.
ALTHOUGH PRESIDENT Fleming's ad-
In hebeginning
By MICHAEL THORYN
Contributing Editor
A LOT OF PEOPLE were looking this week.
Many were looking for a new drug dealer since Jack felt the heat.
About 30 freshmen men were looking for pants Tuesday night
in a disappointing raid. They got four at Stockwell Hall as this reporter
watched.
"We want pants, we want pants," they chanted. Lights went on
in the Hall. I grabbed the arm of an apparent leader. "What do you
really want," I asked. "We really want pants," he said.
Probably they had failed at the giant mixer of the evening. Thou-
sands cram into the Union Ballroom, spilling out onto Regents' Plaza.
The men eye the women. She looks interesting. No, the nose is too big.
Or she's too tall.
But maybe the fellow his the strength to stand the heat and the
guts to make a approach. The questions. What's your name, where are
you from, oh you're a freshman, really?
UPPERCLASSMEN CALL THEM cattle shows and stay away. But
men do not like to be alone and women are often unattatched on
September 3. So people choose a costume and bounce to the ball.
Veterans of the pcene spend time looking up frineds. The questions,
therefore, are different. How did you like Europe, did you have a nice
summer. I didn't know you were dating her.
Sometimes it's hard to reach your friend. His apartment doesn't
have a telephone yet. And of course you could meet him during one of
the-tasks required of returning students.
REGISTRATION
Sit at a key spot, talk to a pretty checker, count your acquain-
tances as they go by frowning.
Books.
Hear the clerk say, "Your professor hasn't turned in his list so
we don't have them. Or, the section was cancelled so there aren't any
books.
Classes.
"I didn't know you were interested in Germany from 1870 to
1871."
Almost everyone's roommate tries to avoid crucial jobs. Unpacking
and cleaning up. His stuff is laying around. The kitchen is already
a mess. Nobody wants to cook and the fellow at the Chatterbox is
smiling because his business will finally pick up.