Seventy-Sixth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS U'Student-Community Policy rong 1s Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH. [1 Prevail NEws PmONE: 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. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: PETER SARASOHN The Viet Nam Protestors NMust Educate, Not Alienate rVHE RECENT VIET NAM protests were in a very large part conducted in poor taste, and with little apparent purpose. If the hecklers on the diag were below mention, where, on the other side, was the purpose of 'the final float in the homecoming parade, which bordered on the ludicrous? And where, too,i was the long-range purpose of civil disobedience, infringing on the draft laws and going to jail?1 The entire protest became totally dis- connected from the issue at hand. Where- as two weeks ago student activists were discussing Viet Nam, now they're discuss- ing Katzenbach and fine points of civil law. Whereas two months ago they had reasonably calm, intelligent dialogue, they are now at the, level of name-call- ing and bitter reaction. Demonstrators are supposed to show to their government inherent disagreement With government policies. This the Viet Nam demonstrators have been doing for well on a year now. Petitions have been sent, teach-ins held, demonstrations set off in an orderly, quiet manner. But if the protestors started a movement of ques- tioning, they still apparently have not convinced a number of people large enough to make any significant impres- sion in the White House. THAT PROTESTORS have to go direct- ly to the White House indicates one very large wrong in the system, and has indeed proved a stumbling-block to for- eign policy demonstrators. Essentially, U.S. foreign policy is controlled by a very small body of experts within the State Department, and thus is more an execu- tive matter than a congressional one., For the most part the U.S. relies on small bodies of experts to conduct its foreign affairs, and these men are under the executive branch. Information about foreign affairs goes to Congress through presidential briefings, and of late the President has been reluctant in his dis- pensing of information in an attempt to keep congressional debate at a minimum., So a 'situation develops where a good part of U.S. foreign .policy is well beyond public control, and even congressional control-sometimes even to the point of dangerous semi-autonomy, a happened with the CIA at the Bay of Pigs. Senate and House committees have little real power to affect foreign policy, and the White House stand of late has been to stifle as much as possible any really meaningful congressional debate, which, though of no really direct consequence, does involve the electorate, and the pow- er of the Executive to deal with issues over which Congress does have direct con- trol. The U.S. finds itself and its rep- resentatives basically uninformed out-of-touch on a vital facet of its tional life. and na- OBVIOUSLY there is room for criticism of U.S. policy and policy making. Though there are the obvious consid- erations of security, it seems inconceiv- able that the government could ever jus- tify concealing information which could throw the entire situation in a new light. Nor can there be any justification for allowing a domain so vitally important as foreign policy to have slipped so far from immediate elected public control as it has at this time. BECAUSE OF THEIR essential lack of touch with foreign policy controls, pro- testors can only hope to change Viet Nam policy on a long-range basis-by express- ing their discontent not in Quixotic, of- fensive, and ill-starred actions which tend' to become more and more distant from' the issues themselves as time goes on, but rather by going to the only real source of strength in our system, the, electorate. The whole thing started with meaning- ful, convincing dialogue. It should have continued that way. Thirty-six demon- strators would have better spent 10 days in a quiet, well-researche'd door-to-door campaign aimed at convincing the con- tituency of the rightness of their point than in jail. They should have devoted 36 times $65 to good softly-worded litera- ture aimed at education and distributed to make voters oppose, or at least ques- tion, government policy rather than pos- sibly pouring it down the drain in fines because they engaged in demonstrations which they should have known would alienate more people than they would win over. That our foreign policy should be so far removed from us is wrong, and that we should lack significant information at this stage of the game because the gov- ernment withholds it to the degree which the situation seems now to have carried, is also' wrong. Thus Walter Lippmannr says we should not be surprised when the issues are carried to the streets. But we should indeed be deeply dis- appointed when the demonstration, be-, comes meaningless, and when activists rant and rave and offend when they should be taking the only fruitful course of action open to them-educating the constituency concerning an alternate point of view, encouraging letters to con- gressmen and the President, and shaping the vote to their advantage, instead of to their disadvantage. -HARVEY WASSERMAN By STEPHEN BERKOWITZ Daily Guest Writer T HE ROLE played by the Of- fice of Student Affairs and its representatives in recent confron- tations betweenstudents and the general community is both hypo- critical and foolhardy. If the present typology of pub- licly stated moral beliefs is to be taken as both descriptive of the policy of the Office of Student Affairs, and indicative of the policy to be pursued by the Uni- versity administration in regard to the relationship between stu- dents and the surrounding com- munity in the future, the growth in the quality of student life at this campus has experienced in recent years will be subjected to the greatest threat to its existence since the resignation of former Dean of Women Deborah Bacon. DURING THE LAST several years, the OSA has done much to improve the lot of the student at'- the University. Under the administration of Vice-President Richard L. Cutler the conception arose that the OSA ought to perform-de facto-those counseling functions which-de jure-it had been supposed to ful- fill for a long time. To this end the OSA under- went an extensive reorganization which introduced a greater degree of rationalization into its organ- izational structure than it had ever enjoyed before. In large measure this has resulted in a more efficient and professional functioning of the office. It is clear, however, that-as in so many other cases-legal-rational organization has not come to the OSA as an entirely unmixed bless- ing. Together with the growth in specialization-with the greater division of labor among various component groups within the of- fice-has come a view of the exist- ence of "administration" per se, as a skill independent of the qualitative aspects of the process itself. Increasingly, the Office of Student Affairs has come to view itself, within the last several months, in much the same way as the dean's office at the Univer- sity of California at Berkeley con- ceived of itself-as a device where- by the effect of student actions upon the larger community was neutralized. THIS ROLE never was - nor ought it to be-a sufficient one for the OSA. It is necessary that the University act reactively-in response to some sorts of pres- sures outside itself; but unless the University pursues' a proactivd role in the terms of the commun-, ity-one which seeks to diminish the structural proclivity of the extra-University system to apply these sorts of pressures-it will not succeed. Perhaps the best argument that may be offered in opposition to the role that the University pres- ently seeks to adopt is that it is essentially an unmanageable one. Student action are going to both affect and antagonize a com- munity such as Ann Arbor. The disparity between the students' conduct and values and those of the community as a whole is a function of the conflict between the life patterns of each of them: the city scarcely becoming urban -the students, in many cases, coming from urban environments; the city, living in contemplation of a rural past-the students look- ing towards an urban future; the city, viewing its patterns of life as likely to persevere-and the students, by contrast, looking to- wards different patterns of cul- ture, temporal organization and value. Thoseconflicts, by virtue of the existence of the university as an alien body in the midst of a hos- tile and rural context, are un- avoidable.° Consequently, it never was-nor is it likely to be-the function of the Office of Si udent Affairs to simply justify or rectify the effects of student-city antagonism. On the contrary, if' the University is to play any role at all, it must be a proactive one. Living in con- templation of the unavoidability of conflict between the two halves of the community, the University must seek to separate and re- strain them. In part, this idea may be seen as "paternalism"-"-and indeed, it is the desire to avoid this role, as expressed by members of the OSA, which has been offered against what is proposed here. This begs the essential point: what functional or conflict chan- neling role did the proactive orien- tation of the University admin- istration in the past (seeking to settle grievances between students and townspeople out of court; seeking to bring pressure to bear when the Ann Arbor police 'engag- ed in unnecessarily repressive be- havior, etc.) fulfill in maintaining the University as a place for con- templation, confrontation and serious scholarship? I WOULD SUBMIT that (a) it is in the interests of the Univer- sity community generally and the students in particular that the OSA seek to limit points of waste- ful and unproductive friction be- tween the student body and the city proper and (b) that the pres- ent policies of, the OSA are both hypocritical and unlikely to ac- complish this goal. In the first instance, Vice- President Cutler has adopted the view that the University ought to function as a qualitatively moral institution. Fine. As an individual. he has taken stands against apar- theid, segregation, etc. Fine. He has attempted-both personally. and with the context of his of- fice-to treat the student in a more adult manner than some of his predecessors. Fine. These points, I would maintain, are irrelevant. In much the way that "the law, in its divine ma- jesty, prohibits equally the rich man and the poor man from sleeping on a park bench"-the functional outcome of the policies pursued by the OSA has been to expose the student to greater community sanction - without seeking to provide him with the means whereby he can exercise an effectively adult role. Without means, he lacks power to offset these sanctions. In much the manner that the Negro in the South has access to judicial pro- ceedure-but lacks the means to effectively pursue his rights through this mechanism (a share- cropper in conflict with a land- lord for instance), the student is unable to effectively make con- test: ITEM: Several students were arrested within the last month for hawking tickets in the Michi- gan Union above the stated ticket price. There seems some evidence for the belief that these arrests involve entrapment-the students at least wanted to contest the arrests on these grounds. The OSA's purported answer: "Get a lawyer."' The students found this financially unfeasible. ITEM: The Ann Arbor police have been sending a group of plainclothesmen into the Michi- gan Union for some time now. Due to both the frequency and the apparently directionless nature of their wandering about, it seems likely that they are simply "on cleanup"-seeking out unspecified persons involved in hypothetical illegal activity; homosexuality, dope traffic or whatever. In as much as this behavior would not seem to be directed towards any specific complaint-but rather to- wards "evil" generally, is this to be condoned? What might be the effects of this surveillance on the University's role as an intellectual establishment? The OSA reply: the Ann Arbor police have the right to do what they are doing. (Is this true?), ITEM: The Ann Arbor police, in seeking out one of the students arrested recently for allegedly selling marijuana, wandered about Angell and Mason Halls waiting for him to attend class. What would have been the effect on the "academic environment" if he had been arrested in class? Is it both right and proper for the police to interrupt a class to arrest one of the participants? The OSA reply: No comment. ITEM: According to news ac- counts, it was on the basis of a query from Vice President Cutler as to whether or not students be- longing to a group called "the Committee to Aid the Vietna- mese" "should be registered as agents of a foreign government" that the FBI and the Michigan State Police's "ned Squad" de- cided to investigate the group. Pursuant to its newly envisioned role of neutrality, the OSA did not seek to establish for the public even the basic facts in the case- despite the fact that the question of the legality of the group was brought up by another group ac- tively in favor of the present pol- icy in Viet Nam. ITEM: During the last several weeks, the Ann Arbor Police have been present-at the invitation of the University-at several demon- strations regarding the war in Viet Nam. They have openly and blatantly photographed students and faculty members speaking against the war. Despite a state- ment by an OSA spokesman that this practice, seen as highly in- timidating by those affected, would be stopped, it was not. The. OSA, which was responsible for calling in the police, said: We're in contact with the police and we're trying. The University stu- dents interviewed thought it un- feasible to seek an injunction. ITEM: The Ann Arbor police sent representatives to several stu- dent meetings held by those against the war in Viet Nam. Ac- cording to a spokesman for'the OSA, he asked the_ Ann ;Arbor Police not to send plainclothes- men to one meeting in the Under- graduate Library (there seemed to be no probable cause to believe that a crime would be coin itted at any of these meetings). The OSA's answer: it was a public meeting. IN VIEW of this information, then, is the role of the Office of Student Affairs in these situatiois, de facto, to be seen as one of bu- reaucratic neutrality-"we can't support paternalism in any form" -or, in fact, has the OSA simply abnegated its role? Three essential questions emerge: Firstly: why has the law' en- forcement apparatus become so interested in investigating stu- dents at this particular point in time? Secondly, what is likely to be the outcome of these investiga- tions in view of their history thus far? And thirdly, what sort of image of society does the OSA seem to have in mind? It seems clear that the recent land-office trade being done in the law enforcement business may be seen as a function of two fac- tors: the abnegation of the OSA's traditional role as an active po- litical agent in promoting the stu- dents' welfare and, secondarily, the general crackdown on youth being undertaken by law enforce- ment agencies all over the coun- try. These officials see youth as a "dangerously radical and disrup- tive force." They view the youth culture as an alien and antagon- istic one (glance through issues of the "Police Chief," the official publication of the International Association of Chiefs of Police). THE QUESTION remains, how- ever, why here?' Why now? Why' have the AnnArbor police become so active recently? Why have some activities deliberately overlooked in the past (moderately noisy drinking parties, ticket selling), become the center of so much at- tention? The answer, I believe, is that there is no effective countervailing force-no effective political force in opposition to unnecessary or disruptive police activity. In the game of "if you give an inch, they'll take a yard"--the Univer- sity has been giving yards. The logical 'outcome of these perpetual investigations, of course, is likely to be the undermining of the welfare of both the University and the students-and, paradox- ically, the "liberals" such as Dr. Cutler. If that great neolithic beast, the State Legislature, rises' from its primevil slumber, who knows what unthinking damage may be done? WHAT emerges from all of this, of course, is a not very pleasant notion of the-nature-of-society- cum-Office of Student Affairs. Are we to live in a society overrun by police? Are we to allow the police --like great wild dogs let in off the street-to range about the University without the possibility of restraint? Are we to tolerate an atmosphere of fear and intimida- tion as a university? Dr. Cutler, is this terribly responsible? FINALLY, in pursuit of "effi- ciency" has the Office of Student Affairs discarded efficacy? Has the increase in organization at the Student Activities Building been coupled to a growth in anti-value? Most importantly, can a Universi- ty grow to a greater sense of mor- ality if it merely espouses one be- lief-but acts, effectively, in terms of another? 0 0 * I Needed on Viet Nam: Tolerance Reason GROUP for SGC AMONG THE PRODIGIOUS number of, candidacies and supposedly imagina- tive and original programs that propose to represent the "whole" student body and offer final solutions to the tudent's problems, the candidates and platform of GROUP for the coming election stand out simply because of the understanding and experience they would bring to SGC. The platform proposed by GROUP em- phasizes above all the need for action, well-researched, carefully executed ac- tion, in the effort to confront and solve the most pressing problems *of students and the University in general. Equally impressive is the comprehen- siveness of the programs GROUP offers. The platform is organized around four basic areas in which the GROUP candi- dates believe extensive work must be done: " In the area of economic concerns, GROUP proposes to continue the cam- paign for a University bookstore, to fur- ther study the needs for student housing, and to begin work in several other areas, notably plans for a student store modeled loosely after the Co-Op at Harvard. * Academic issues to be considered are the possibility of eliminating the grading system, at least in the Residential Col- lege if not in the Literary College, a re- evaluation of the credit hour system and consideration of giving credit for certain apartment permission for sophomore women, and the elimination of hours for freshman women which would be decided by an all-University referendum. s In the relation of the campus to the outside community, GROUP candidates believe that the members of SGC should, representing the student body, express opinions on national and international matters. In addition, they wish to initiate further study of the problems of aca- demic freedom on this and other cam- puses. THIS PLATFORM represents a contin- uation of the thoughtful and original programming that has characterized the work of GROUP in SGC since the election of five of their candidates last year. By far, the major programs of SGC in this period have been those initiated and ad- ministered by GROUP members, The candidates themselves reflect the continually high standard of the work done by GROUP on SGC. Don Resnick, 68, newly elected president of the Uni- versity of Michigan Student Economic Union (UMSEU), has already demonstrat- ed great ability during his current term on SGC. Ed Robinson, '67, is chairman of the contemporary discussion committee of UAC, responsible for the speaker pro- grams offered throughout the year, and By LEONARD PRATT AMERICA HAS CHANGED a deal -in the last year. There have been two basic changes, one internal and one ex- ternal, both related to the war in Viet Nam. The first has been a greatly changed American position in the Far East, the second a, greatly changed domestic situa- tion centering around the objec- tions to American policies. Unless there is some sort of con- structive reaction to each of these changes and to their interaction, America's potential as a construc- tive power in the Far East, as op- posed to its recent heavy-handed and short-sighted policies there, will surely be destroyed. THE UNITED STATES' position in East Asia underwent in the last year probably the most dramatic change of its century-long career. The U.S. altered its character from the dabbler in Asia to the in- terventionist, from the advisor to the tacit power-behind-the-throne. In many ways, of course, this change was undesirable. Perhaps the worst facet of it was that, in effect, the decision to make the change was made largely in secret, leaving the American people-at-' large left out of the process alto- gether. The decision itself was also wrong because military force is the worst possible choice of means to stop the spread of communism in an underdeveloped country, espe- cially when there are at least as many if not more native Commu- nists in the country than there are cadres "imported" from bor- dering nations. It got, rather, the "new" Amer- ica, the America taking a direct hand in Asia, and it's stuck with it. The important thing to realize now is that America's citizens are now stuck with it as well. The base the U.S. is now build- ing at Camranh Bay will be the largest air-naval installation in Asia, the New York Times has re- ported. Clearly such an installa- tion is only a symbol of the power that President Johnson has taken in America's behalf. Whether or THIS IS WHERE the second is- sue, the domestic situation center-, ing around the objections to the President's Viet Nam policies, be- comes important. 'The protests went worng in a number of ways. Originally, their methods of rallies and teach-ins were necessitated by the govern- ment's refusal to inform the cit- izens about either what was hap- pening in Viet Nam or what its plans were there. This was the first tragedy of the teach-ins,.and it was the govern- ment's fault. By refusing to allow those objecting to government policy any legitimate means of contacting the government, John- son's administration effectively isolated the movement from Amer- ican political influence and made it a largely social force. Being a social rather than po- litical movement, the protest soon developed its own selected "in- crowd." It began and has since continued, to speak and write al- most exclusively by itself and for itself. THE FIRST EFFECT this had was to ,create a good deal of sus- picion about the movement among the "out-crowd." Not knowing exactly what was being discussed or why, the vast majority of Amer- icans simply ignored the move- ment and went on suporting the President as always, never realiz- ing that one of the central issues was, in fact, whether or not the President deserved support. The second effect of the move- ment's centripetal tendencies was- the alienation of "radical moder- ates" from its ranks. Those who disagreed with Johnson, but who still felt, for example, that com- plete American withdrawal was impossible, found themselves set upon by both sides. They were Communists and compromisers at the same time and so they grad- ually drifted away from the pro- test. As a result, American public opinion polarized into now well- accepted split. To make matters worse, the public correctly identified the pro- test movement with the Berkeley more intelligent bases than their length. The final result of the protests thus may well have been to make discussion of the U.S. involvement in, Asia impossible. THE EXTENT of the problem becomes evident when one com- bines the effects of both of the last year's changes on America. On the one hand the country has within its grasp a very extensive network of sheer power and in- fluence in Asia, and on the other, the protests have made public dis- cussion as to the use of that pow- er impossible. Asia's fate, and with it the world's, thus stand in danger of being determined by the 100 to 200 men who have direct contact with the President as he formu- lates U.S. foreign policy. At best such a situation is un- democratic. At worst it breeds the stagnation and repetiveness which is the easiest way to misuse America's immense power in the Far East: To say that the situation in the Far East is delicate is the height of understatement. Each country rests on a knife edge and the slightest shock sets it trembling precariously. Under such condi- tions U.S. foreign policies must be ones of change, of degree and of understanding. Such policies can only result, not if plebiscites are taken on governmental policies, but if the government listens to the com- ments of an enlightened public. TWO CHANGES in the current domestic situation are thus called for. First, the government must begin listening to the comments of its critics, and second, those comments must begin to be much more germaine than they have been recently. Those who would ignore all cri- ticism cannot help America. Their policy alternatives are based in a past that should never have exist- ed and inevitably lead to a war with China which could not be won in any sense of the word. Neither can the vast mass of today's "protestors" help much. itself and about the forces cur- rently at work there. TO EXPECT HELP from the government is unreasonable. Of-, ficials from the President down have turned such a cold shoulder on the protestors that they can- not be expected to encourage other forms of dissent. In another light, encouraging criticism of govern- ment policies is tantamount to saying that those policies need improving-clearly a fact, but one that the government cannot be expected to admit. There are possibilities that a television network like the Colum- bia Broadcasting System might do a series of "specials" on the 'his- tory of Asia and forces at work there. The greatest hopes, however, must lie with private groups such as the recently-formed Americans for Reappraisal of Far Eastern Policy. Discussion forums and question-and-answer sessions such as this group has begun to spon- sor in Ann Arbor and elsewhere can provide a great means of in- forming the public at large. Of course such groups run the' risk of becoming an ideological "in crowd" as did the original teach ins, and for much the same reasons. If, however, through ex- tensive publicity for their furic- tions and the maintenance of a rational attitude toward those who oppose them, they can prevent themselves from becoming isolated from the rest of the nation, such groups may be very helpful WHETHER OR NOT these spe- cific prescriptions are adopted, it is obvious that something must be done to close the gap between American power and American education. If those who are edu- cated in Far Eastern matters do not immediately begin -to teach those, both in and out of power, who are not, then the new U.S. power in the Far East will soon become a juggernaut without goals or guidence which cannot help out drain American resources and lives in fly-by-night Asian struggles. The government must be encour- aged to become more tolerant, the protestors to scream less about morality and more about viable future actions in Asia and the public to exercise its potential ability and responsibility to com- bine American power with rele- vant knowledge. Only in that- way will the U.S. have a truly "reasonable" policy in the Far East. ii "Nonsense-They See Eyeball To Eyeball" s 5 . 'T . ' E, _ ,, z ' 4f 4 n 6 y t 1 r., : r ._:: . : . .:. :, 'I9 W.HI' ~~K M UWZL~ I LF1'~.J zininiiiirr ZA