Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
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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, OCTOBER 8, 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: JUDITH WARREN
GreenVile, MSsis1sip:
Conscience in Action,
LESS THAN ONE YEAR AGO, University
students joined other intellectual lib-
erals in personal demonstrations of frus-
tration with prejudiced anti-Negro es-
tablishments in the South. They acted as
directly as possible: they travelled to
scenes of segregation, they marched, pro-
tested, and often fought dramatically
against attitudes and rules they judged to
be wrong.
There is always some surrealism when
groups transcend their own environments
to act in the affairs of others. It is diffi-
cult to gain a credible image of South-
ern towns .today, when so much of their
image has been overshadowed by their
problems-especially those problems at-
tacked by Northerners.
Thus, the Southern way of life in
Northern eyes becomes an image of hel-
meted cops, cattle prods, justly mili-
tant Negroes and laconic but venemous
citizens' councilmen.
THE SOUTHERN WORLD has always
been obscure to Northerners, and it
will probably continue to remain so un-
til Northerners learn to appreciate South-
ern traditions. There is a Southern way
of life, undeniably removed from that
known in the North. In addition, the force
of current events on the Southern way
mires the image all the more.
It is most important for Northerners,
especially-University students, to gain an
appreciation of the Southern way, if only
by occasionally reading the front page of
a Southern newspaper in a library. Oc-
casionally, one can find that the South-
ern world is not as provincial, unyielding
and un-idealistic as conceived.
GREENVILLE, MISSISSIPPI is not a
university town. It could be easily con-
tained in Ann Arbor. Moreover, except
for a rug factory and a few other locally
contained industries, it is economically"
unexciting.
Greenville has a large, uneducated Ne-
gro population, contrasted with an equal-
ly sizable white population which is proud
of its long tradition of residence in
Greenville.
Greenvillians perhaps fail to under-
stand current patterns of behavior. They
state that a civil rights worker absolute-
ly cannot make any positive gains for
any cause if he is "dirty." But what makes
Greenville more than a sleepy Southern
town is its courageous and creative tra-
dition of achievement. For the first time,
Greenville integrated its schools this fall.
IT MAY APPEAR that developments in
Greenville were forced by federal civ-
il rights legislation and the civil rights
movement, now several years old. How-
ever, Greenville residents had planned
integration for several years. Selected
grades were integrated in each level of
the school system to minimize pressure
but effectively inaugurate the new policy.
The move was made by school officials
in planning and by students and citizens
in action. In a tribute to Herman Solo-
mon, principal of E. E. Bass Junior High
School, the Delta Democrat-Times said,
"The impact of social change is felt
first of all by those who had no doubt of
the inevitable collision but who, through
a sense of duty, personal decision and
individual conscience, find themselves on
the front line."
In addition, no major civil rights cam-
paigns have ever taken place in Green-
ville. Either rights workers felt Greenville
did not need their influence or they did
not feel the town was worth the effort.
Nevertheless, without federal marshals
and picketers-and violence or attention
-Greenville integrated its schools this
semester.
GREENVILLE IN FACT, put its pride
andinfact the very strength of its
long-enduring community on an attempt
at integration. It did work quietly, ener-
getically and with some unavoidable dif-
ficulty.
And trouble has occurred since those
first days of school. There were incidents
of violence, as among students carrying
knives. There will be time this semester
and every semester from now on for viol-
ence, and it will occur.
But at least Greenville can now never
again relax in the comfort of segrega-
tion. Its citizens must both change their
attitudes and improve their skills, be-
cause an integrated society implies a
progressive society in which all citizens
are active.
ANY THINKING LIBERAL must realize
that integration can never be easy in
the South. Integration means abandon-
ing a comfortable element of tradition
and introducing tension into a communi-
ty.
As long as conscientious Americans live
in the South, Northerners need not fear
that it is anything else but a vibrant
segment of America.
--NEAL BRUSS
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is
second of two articles on a con-
ference on U.S. Southeast Asian
foreign policy held in Racine,
Wis.
By ROBERT HIPPLER
Associate Editorial Director
Special To The Daily
RACINE -The conference here
two weeks ago was apparently
planned to give a comprehensive
treatment to Southeast Asia.
The first day concentrated on
history and current conditions of
the area; the second day, on the
extent and nature of U.S. in-
terests in Southeast Asia and the
role of regional development
there; the third day, on the pos-
sibilities for resolving current con-
flicts in Southeast Asia.
But despite this schedule, a
comprehensive treatment was not
what emerged. First, the confer-
ence had the faults mentioned in
yesterday's article: It stifled con-
versation by putting too many
people around one table, and it
shortchanged some topics by try-
ing to cover too great an area. It
had in addition a third major
shortcoming-it tended to treat
only certain aspects of situations
and to leave other equally impor-
tant ones untouched.
FOLLOWING are some examples
of this:
" The C e n t r a 1 Intelligence
Agency has been accused of in-
volvement in the recent rebellion
in Indonesia, is strongly rumored
of complicity in affairs in Laos,
and is certain to have played a
part in the birth and demise of.
many South Vietnamese govern-
ments. The U.S. has admitted the
CIA offered Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew of Singapore a bribe of
$3 million in 1961 for political
reasons. Several authors have
charged that the CIA operates al-
most independently of the U.S.
government and is continually un-
dermining U.S. foreign policy
throughout the world.
Yet the CIA was never brought
up at the conference until the
third day. At that time, Prof. Gil-
bert F. White of the University of
Chicago commented that "no men-
tion has been made" of the CIA,
which had seemed "omnipresent"
to inhabitants of Saigon when he
was there. That was all the com-
ment on the CIA; White's criti-
cism was never answered.
" Amrom Katz, a senior officer'
of the RAND Corp., noted that
with regard to Thailand, partici-
pants hadediscussed the Mekong
river project (two dams are being
started now in Thailand, but the
effect of the project won't be felt
until the 1970's), and the im-
provement of counter-insurgency
facilities, but that little had been
said about what could be done
now in the way of social and
economic projects in that country
to reduce the discontent on which
rebellion feeds. (Last year, China
announced the establishment of a
National Liberation Front in Thai-
land).
Katz' complaint about the treat-
ment of Thailand could be ap-'
plied to the whole conference. In
general, there was not enough dis-
cussion of what the United States
should do now to stop subversion
and guerrilla actions in places
other than Viet Nam. 1
* There have been allegations
recently that within the United
States government there are ele-
ments which desire to involve the
North Vietnamese regular army-
or the Chinese-in the war. Yet
the Defense Department represen-
tative denied that there was any
"substantial disagreement" in
either the Defense or State De-
partments or between the depart-
ments. Charges of dissension with-
in the government have been com-
mon enough that the matter
should have been discussed fur-
ther.
* One of the two or three dis-
senters from the fundamental
thrust of U.S. policies in Viet
Nam was Prof. Hans Morgenthau
of the University of Chicago. He
contended that U.S. policy-"nib-
iling away at China by military
means "-has not prevented Com-
munists from gaining influence in
Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand
and the Philippines.
There was too little discussion
at the conference of this general
argument-that the U.S. Is over-
emphasizing military programs in
Southeast Asia in dealing with
situations better suited to political
and economic techniques.
0 The U.S. gives great amounts
of aid to South Viet Nam and de-
signs for the country large pro-
grams-military, civil service, and
land reform. It helps the South
Vietnamese fight the war with
U.S. arms, and has in fact de-
signed the South Vietnamese arm-
ed forces. It has trained many
South Vietnamese military offi-
cers; it uses U.S. troops in battle
to fight the Viet Cong. It has al-
most certainly been involved in
many if not all of the changes
of government in the last few
years. U.S. dollars make or break
the entire South Vietnamese econ-
omy, and are the reason Saigon
is now outwardly a "boom town."
Yet U.S. officials leave many
decisions about the war-and
many more about how the country
is run-almost entirely in the
hands of the South Vietnamese.
One result of this, according to the
State Department official at the
conference was that the U.S. had
designed an entire civil service
program for the South Vietnamese
"but I'll be happy to see one
tenth of it go into effect."
TO HAVE so much control over
the fate of Viet Nam and then to
leave a great part of the crucial
military and political decisions
up to a military clique no closer
in contact with the situation than
the Americans is a highly foolish
division of labor-we supply the
money and then you decide how
to spend it.
It would seem that if the U.S.
is going to invest so heavily in
the war it should try much harder
than it does now-through eco-
nomic pressure or through for-
malized lines of command-to in-
fluence decisions thataffect the
war crucially and are now left
almost completely up to the Viet-
namese.
Many times participants de-
fended failures in Viet Nam with
the excuse that the South Viet-
namese ignored U.S. advice and
made the wrong move or discarded
the wrong program. The sensibility
of letting the Vietnamese do these
things was questioned only once
or twice by participants; it was
never thoroughly discussed.
ALL THESE CRITICISMS are
not intended as an indictment of
the conference, for its accom-
plishments were great-the gath-
ering of so many authorities on
Southeast Asia was a rare event,
the facilities offered for the con-
ference were considerable, and the
discussion showed great familiar-
ity and expertise in the area.
Yet all the subjects mentioned
above were ignored or only slight-
ly treated. The probable reason
for this was that the participants
in the conference for the most
part came from 'somewhat similar
backgrounds in relation to South-
east Asia-25 of the 35 had served
in the U.S. government, and most
of these had been involved in
government policy in Southeast
Asia. Intentionally or not, they
seemed to look at things from a
similar point of view.
THE SOLUTION to this prob-
lem might have been quite simple:
diversify the conference by invit-
ing, say, 10 or 12 people from the
teach-in movement to participate.
Some might argue that repre-
sentatives from the teach-in move-
ment would be on the whole less
knowledgeable in Southeast Asian
affairs than the other partici-
pants, and not as qualified to
comment. While this criticism
might have some validity, several
factors reduce its importance.
First, many teach-in partici-
pants, such as historian Bernard
Fall and writer Jules Roy, do
have a great deal of expertise on
Southeast Asian matters. In ad-
dition, some others in the move-
ment, while not specialists have
read widely on Southeast Asia,
traveled there, and talked at great
length to many who are expert
on the area.
Finally, it can be asserted that
an extreme degree of expertise is
not needed to comment usefully
on Southeast Asia. Amrom Kati,
who was not concerned with
Southeast Asia until he accepted
an assignment from RAND to
study it last , year, made what
were conceded by participants
some of the most enlightening ob-
servations of the conference.
THERE WAS very strong anti-
teach-in sentiment at the con-
ference; the general feeling was
that discussions at the teach-ins
were too narrow, opinions all in
agreement or near-agreement, and
dialogue stilted. Perhaps the par-
ticipants in this criticism were
seeing-correctly-in others the
most glaring faults of their own
conference.
p
V
Generation, Ill-Oges by on
Viet Nam
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the
third of three reviews of the
current issue of Generation.
By PROF. RHOADS MURPHEY
Geography Department
THE ISSUE of Generation which
went on sale this week carries
a long article by Carl Ogelsby
titled "The Viet Nam War: World
Revolution and American Contain-
ment." Its nearly 50 pages in-
clude a detailed critique of the
government white paper, a discus-
sion of the policy of the "hawks"
and of the domino theory and a
concluding section on the Chinese
"menace" and how to meet it.
There is a lot of meat here, and
many valid arguments; the white
paper bites the dust yet again.
But the article's effectiveness is
in my opinion reduced by its
strident tone and insistently
black-and-white portrayal of a
problem which urgently needs
widespread reasoned discussion if
current American policies are to
be altered.
I doubt that many readers who
are not already convinced on the
points Mr. Ogelsby urges will be
influenced by his article to change
their minds. Readers who prefer
to make their own judgments may
also resent being subjected to an
emotional harangue.
I AM MYSELF sharply critical
of the American position and ac-
tions in Viet Nam and probably
as concerned personally as Mr.
Ogelsby is about its immediate
and wider consequences. This
makes me regret the more that I
cannot see his article as a useful
effort toward involving more
people in intelligent discussion.
Preaching to the convinced will
change things little, nor will in-
censed appeals to the necessarily
small radical group who may find
Mr. Ogelsby's sermon palatable.
A lot of fundamental change is
needed, and this article will not
do much to advance it.
"THE VIET NAM WAR" is in
some ways a mirror image of the
white paper, matching its "Ameri-
cans can do no wrong" with a
similar conspiratorial melodrama
on the theme "Americans can do-
no right." Fortunately or unfor-
tunately, things are not that
simple, nor - is American policy
that consistent and immutable,
let alone coherently planned.
Mr. Ogelsby does say as much
at one point, only to return to his
Jeremiad against a monolithic
image-"The West, that vaunted
civilization, that aim of history,
made more ravenous by its own
deceit, devoured its promises and
vomited war."
This is not a fruitful form of
debate, nor does it do much to
illumine the forces behind the
tragic events in Viet Nam, forces
which we must try to unravel and
to understand if we are concerned
with improving the future rather
than allotting blame for the past.
AS THE SAMPLE above may
suggest, the article is ponderously
over-written, sometimes grandilo-
quent, sometimes slangy/folksy
but. usually awkward, too often
obscure and irritationgly pejora-
tive. It is an angry broadsheet
rather than a discussion, which
may help to explain the frequent
lapses of grammar and even of
spelling.
Perhaps I should have anticipat-
ed this better after reading the
opening paragraph: "... the great
tormented metaphysics of Ameri-
can foreign policy has there
brought itself again to the brink
of its inherent consequences. We
will try to reach into the heart of
this torment." But I perversely
kept looking for some clear and
reasoned argument; here and,
there valid and relevant points are
made, but on the whole I did not
find what I sought.
The polemical language, the
loaded words, the selection and
twisting of facts (China endured
"more than two hundred years of
nonstop rape at the hands of
Western economic powers") and
the lack even of any effort at
objective assessment remind one
of contemporary Chinese propa-
ganda.
Perhaps this is intentional, but"
although flat assertions and crude
insinuations about bad guys and
good guys may stir-emotions, they
do not inspire confidence in what
is throughout an excessively sim-
plistic treatment.
IN SEVERAL sections the rea-
soning is as strange as the Ian-
guage. If I understand correctly
one obscure passage, it argues that
South Viet Nam has been corrupt
and undemocratic because of the
frequent changes in personnel in
power, while the North has, at
least by implication, been more
popularly supported and more
stable (presumably a virtue) be-
cause the Northern leadership is
still fundamentally the same as
when the "liberation movement,
was founded in Canton in 1927."
There is good sense in stating
the unwisdom of perpetuating a
policy of unreasoning hostility to-
ward China, but the proof-by-
assertion about the disinterested
concern of Chinese and other
Communists for peasant welfare
is unconvincing.
"Communism is for Asians .. .
the one best-proved approach to
their special kinds of problems."
Non-Communist India, by con-
trast, "remains grounded In its
backwardness." The drive for poli-
tical power is no respecter of poli-
tical, parties, nor is it ever quite
all of the explanation of all poli-
tical phenomena. But considerat,
tions which Mr. Ogelsby urges on
behalf of the Chinese he clearly
suggests are not appropriate for
the Americans.
"American businessmen have no
justification except profit." Does
this distinguish them from other
kinds of businessmen?
THE REPEATED grotesque car-
icaturing of Americans and Amer-
ican aims and actions reminds one
again of the grim cartoons in the
Chinese popular press showing a
bloated Uncle San baring a mor-
ster's teeth and with hands drip-
ping blood. Cartoons and caraca-
tures are necessarily based on
some element of reality, but in-
telligent readers will soon weary
of such transparent part-truth,
presented with the heavy-handed
histrionics of a Welch preacher
and at similarly intolerable length.
I am sorry the article left me
feeling this way. God knows the
emotions which, in my view, de-
stroy its effectiveness are under-
standable.
U' Store and the Regents
A UNIVERSITY-OPERATED bookstore
"would put people (i.e., local mer-
chants) out of business," Birmingham's
Regent Irene Murphy said Wednesday
night. Her comment symbolized what may
become a case of the most tragic under-
standing to hit this campus in a long
time.
It is tragic because, if Regent Murphy's
comment stands the slightest chance of
representing the general opinion of the
Regents, it will be a long time before this
campus sees a University bookstore.
It is a misunderstanding because the
implicit premises of Regent Murphy's view
of the bookstore movement are so over-
simplified: first, that students are be-
ing moved solely by a concern for their
own monetary welfare and, second, that
that welfare must, of necessity, be op-
posed to that of the local merchants.
CONCERN WITH THE PRICE of books
is, however, only the surface manifes-
tation of the larger issue: students' con-
cern with the extent to which their wel-
fare is. controlled by local financial in-
terests.
In its larger context, the issue is a
part of the current search on the part
of many students for their rightful place
in society.
Moreover, there is no reason why stu-
dents' economic welfare should not be
commensurate with the economic wel-
fare of the local merchants. Private and
University-sponsored housing projects
coexist successfully, so why not private
and Ulniversitv-snonsored bookstores? In
if not most of the Regents. This is espe-
cially dangerous because no one seems
to be making a really serious attempt to
counteract these understandable reac-
tions. All the student support in the
world will not do the ,movement any
good if the Regents misunderstand its
desires.
It is a shame that no one has explained
Regent Murphy's errors to her and, pre-
sumably, to other Regents as well. It is
significant that Mrs. Murphy has had a
copy of the original bookstore report for
several days and that it has not helped
her grasp the situation one bit.
ACTION TO DISPELL these illusions is
immediately necessary from both
sides of the fence.
For their part, the Regents must exert
every effort to understand the realities
of the matter. They have already turned
down invitations to a luncheon at which
the bookstore movement's coordinators
would have explained their goals. By do-
ing so, the Regents ignored 10,000 stu-
dents.
But the Regents' is a passive responsi-
bility. The responsibility for clarifying
the issues which rest with the bookstore
movement itself must be an active one.
MOVEMENT SOURCES have said they
have no plans for contacting the Re-
gents before their Oct. 21 meeting, when
the bookstore petitions will be presented.
Clearly, something is in great danger of
going amiss.
Somewhere between the approval of
WCIBN Staff Member Blasts Daily Editorial Criticism
4
*
4
To the Editor:
AS A STAFF member of WCBN,
I should like to express a few
opinions and comments in regard
to Robert Johnson's "Michigan
MAD" editorial in last Saturday's
Daily, in which, after a superb
example of the psychological de-
fense mechanism of rationaliza-
tion for the Daily's faux pas
regarding Regent Power's gift, he
then gave a supreme demonstra-
tion of sour grapes concerning
WCBN's new studios.
I have been a WCBN station
member for three years and have
beenemployed by thestationas
secretary for two, and thus I have
seen much of the transformation
of WCBN from "quaddie radio,"
about which few people knew and
even fewer cared, to the fine sta-
tion and facilities that comprise
it today-a transformation which,
as Johnston said in what was
perhaps the only accurate state-
ment in the entire editorial, was
truly amazing.
It was accomplished through the
hard and unceasing work of the
WCBN staff under the leadership
of John Evans (who, incidentally,
to get you up to date, is now
"Station Manager" rather than
"Chairman of the Board") after
many disappointments, setbacks
and obstacles that probably would
have stopped at least 90 per cent
of the population (including the
Daily staff).
As a result WCBN is now higher
in quality and better equipped
tha ,,nny brofsinal stateions
with, say, God.
In addition, one must remember
that this is a loan--not a gift, lost
to the University forever, as John-
ston seems to imply-which means
that it is to be paid back.
Moreover, it will be paid back,
and this is why the loan was
authorized in the first place, be-
cause WCBN-as opposed to some
campus communications media-
is making a profit. In other words,
WCBN is a good credit risk for the
University.
Of course nobody is offering
(loaning or giving? Please be spe-
cific) any money for a bookstore-
Have you forgotten, Mr. Johnston,
that a University bookstore is still
illegal? Why not devote your su-
perior editorializing talents to this
subject?
AND, I would like to know, what
is so horrible or crooked about
Evans Products Co., Ford, UPI,
or other companies giving money
or materials to WCBN? Johnston
makes these donations sound like
the scandal of the century. For
his edification, WCBN is not now
nor has it even been under the
control or influence of big busi-
ness, nor is Mr. Evans a "big
University contributor" pulling
strings and making administrators
jump to give his son a new play-
thing, as Johnston implies.
JOHNSTON then goes on to
hint at dark doings concerning the
University Plant Department and
an "unusual fixed-bid contract,"
Street, but then he does work so
much harder than anyone at
WCBN, sitting there pecking away
at his typewriter and straining
his brain to decide whom or what
to criticize next.
THE MUCH-ballyhooed dress
regulations - which ask simply
that girls wear skirts and boys be
dressed in reasonably clean attire
- exist simply so that WCBN
setaff members will look like hu-
man beings in the brand new stu-
dios, and not like, say, a Daily
staff member who wandered in
by mistake.
Incidentally, we all noticed and
appreciated the Daily's sending a
photographer by during the dedi-
cation ceremony-or at any rate,
noticed him anyway-You couldn't
mis him, there with his sweatshirt
and fiveo-clock shadow amidst the
President of the University, rep-
resentatives of industry and broad-
casting around the state, and the
representative of Gov. Romney.
But then, I guess the Daily has its
image to maintain too.
Speaking of sweatshirts, there
is nothing like quoting out of
context to make a point. That
statement about clear sweatshirts
was made simply as a humorous
remark at a station meeting.
IN REGARD to the "huge space"
WCBN got in the SAB-If you
add up the space we had in the
three quads and on the second
floor of the SAB before, you will
find that the new complex oc-
person of Mr. Johnston.
Well, I suppose we had better
get busy and start dusting out the
hallway outside the studio door
to prepare for the onslaught of
Johnston and his pickets (or per-
haps, in this case, we should bring
some dust in. Service is our middle
name.)
WHILE THEY are militantly
marching around carrying their
banners on high, we at WCBN
will be glad to play requests and
dedications for them and in par-
ticular will make a special dedi-
cation to Mr. Johnston of the song
"I Can't Get No Satisfaction."
-Pat Murray, '66
Secretary, WCBN Radio
EDITOR'S NOTE: 1) The edi-
torial on Regent Power's gift was
no faux pas; 2) The Daily isn't here
to make a profit, but its Board in
-Control nevertheless is in excel-,
lentfinancial condition, and with
absolutely no subsidy; 3) A Uni-
versity bookstore is not illegal; 4)
The Board in Control of Student
Publications paid for our building,
so I would say we're entitled to
occupy all of it we want; 5) 1800
square feet in the SAB is 1800
square feet in the SAB no matter
how you look at it. If it was
space you were after you didn't
have to move.
--R.J.
"I Move We 'Close The Window ---
It's Getting Too Breezy"
3i
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tty
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