FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1965
THE I I[C I+GA N AIL
PAGE THREE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1985 TIIJ~ MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE THREE
w
Board mDaily
Annals:
By ARTHUR MARKS
A free student newspaper like
The Daily is often not easy to live
with.
The best-laid plans of Univer-
sity public relations men can find
themselves violently derailed as a
student editor insults a legislator,
calls the administration dishonest,
surveys the sexual habits of coeds
or ridicules Gov. Romney.
Fearing such disrailment many
schools use a. simple and direct
approach-censorship. Others are
more subtle. Their newspapers are
either well-stocked with manipul-
able faculty advisors or tucked
safely under the wings of the fac-
ulty-run journalism department.
New Problems.
But when a college or univer-
sity administration conquers one
problem--that of a free if bellig-
erent student newspaper-it often
creates a second one-that of a
poor quality student paper.
Student journalists, shorn of
their decision - making powers,
tend to feel less responsibility to-
ward their publications and put
less work into them. The results
are seen in poor publications.
Generally, the quality of a stu-
dent publication is a function of
the degree of freedom its staff
enjoys.
'U' Attempt
For the past-half century, the
Board in Control of Student Pub-
lications has been the University's
attempt to deal with these and
other student press problems.
The Board is responsible to the
Regents. The Regents' Bylaw
which establishes it somewhat
misleadingly gives it "authority
and control over all nontechnical
newspapers, magazines, periodi-
cals, programs and other publica-
tions, edited, managed or promot-
ed by students or student organi-
zations of the University . .. for
local sale or circulation."
Actually, the Board's function-
ing is a bit more modest than its
charge from the Regents would
seem to indicate. It confines it-
self largely to the publications
emanating from 420 Maynard St.
-the Student Publications Bldg.
Two Functions
The Board has two main func-
tions. The first, of little contro-
versy, is to keep its student pub-
lications solvent and functioning.
This involves reviewing budgets,
providing for building mainten-
ance, underwriting losses by the
various publications and accumu-
lating financial reserves from
profits. It must also see to it that
there is a student staff to main-
tain a newspaper, a yearbook, two
literary magazines, a student di-
rectory and a humor magazine.
The second function involves
the appointment of the editors of
each publication and the impos-
ing of certain editorial controls.
This is the function that leads to
controversy.
Stormy
and seven of the eight appointed
juniors refused their appoint-
ments.
In a front page editorial on
April 21, the seniors charged that
the Board was unjustified in over-
turning t h e recommendations.
The editorial put the decision in
the context of what the seniors
felt was a basic principle underly-.
ing The Daily: "That students,
given proper training and guid-
ance can be trusted to manage a
great newspaper with maturity,
responsibility and good taste."
Within a month a compromise
was arranged between the Board
and the students and since then
there have been no major clashes.
Despite occasional stormy inci-
dents, much evidence indicates
that Board-Daily relations are a
workable synthesis of freedom and
control. The Board actually acts
as a "buffer" between the student
publications and the would-be
ation is censors within the University.
)rs spend Under the Board in Control, the
erviewing student staffs are in real, day-to-
ce them. day control of the newspaper, with
submit- no administrative or faculty "ad-
nds some viser" keeping news articles un-
ior appli- controversial and opinions within
acceptable bounds.
eet, dis- During their lifetime-the above
new sen- incidents notwithstanding - the
hese rec- University's publications by and
oard. In large have enjoyed just what The
rejected Daily's front page proclaims every
day: "seventy-five years of edi-
then quit torial freedom."
CHALLENGE:
See U.S. with Sports
The Daily - a Student Paper for Everyone
The Daily is probably the most
controversy-prone of the Univer-
sity's student publications. Rela-
tions with the Board are extreme-
ly delicate and occasionally, ex-
plosive, as shown by the following
incidents in its history:
0 1937. The Board, possibly be-
cause this was The Daily's most
pro-leftist period, decided that all
editorials must be'signed by their
authors. The editors were disturb-
ed because they felt this was "con-
trary to all newspaper, practice"
and made the "editorial page ap-
pear as a collection of personal
essays rather than the editorial
page of a leading collegiate
journal."
The Board on the other hand,
felt that without the signatures,
the eidtorial page was interpreted
as representing the opinions of the
entire student staff. The Board's
action held.
* 1940. The Board in Control's
structure was changed from four
voting faculty members and three
voting student members to six
voting faculty and three voting
students. An editorial in The Daily
charged the Regents were "pack-
ing" the Board.
The Board's structure change
was the result of a by-law adopted
by certain Regents and faculty
members who were disturbed over
several "radical" editorials which
had appeared in The Daily.
Despite a petition circulated by
the Student Rights Committee
that collected over 4,350 signa-
tures the Regents found no rea-
son to change their position.
* 1943. The Board refused to
appoint Leon Gordenker to a sen-
ior editor position and junior
night editors felt he deserved the
position. This was the spark that
lead to another open fight be-
tween The Daily and the Board
in Control.
A front page editorial criticized
the Board for "the haphazard
manner in which the Board in-
vestigated the applicants." Senior
editors also accused the Board of
I
religious prejudice saying that the
Board did not appoint Gordenker
because he was Jewish. The Board
denied this in an open letter.
In a 'still later editorial the
senior editors demanded the resig-
nation of Prof. G. E. Densmore
from his post as chairman of the
Board on the grounds that he
"did not possess the qualifications
required for the important posi-
tion of chairman of the Board."
No resignations took place on
either The Daily or the Board.
Board member Hobart Coffey said
that "supposed censorship was
( non-existent."
# 1962. Some explan
needed here. Senior edito
a great deal of time int
the juniors who will repla
Srapbooks and essays are
ted and every senior spe
time talking to every juni
cant.
Afterwards, seniors m,
cuss and finally select a
for staff. They forward t
ommendations to the B
April of 1962 the Board
these recommendations.
The 1962 senior staff t
By TOM WEINBERG
Sports Editor
"Special North Central Air-
lines charter for Minneapolis
now boarding Gate 8, Blue Con-
course. All Aboard, please."
With this announcement, two
All-Americans and a dozen other
basketball players, three coaches;
a trainer, a manager and a Daily
reporter gather their baggage and
prepare for a 24-hour jaunt to a
basketball game 700 miles from
Ann Arbor-the National Colle-
giate Athletic Association basket-
ball finals.
But it could be any Michigan
athletic team, traveling almost
anywhere in the country. Wher-
ever the Wolverine teams go, a
Daily reporter follows for on-the-
scene coverage.
But traveling and living with
the Michigan teams is just frost-
ing on the cake for Daily sports
writers.
The sports staff also provides
the stimulation of mingling with
"The Daily people"-some of the
most interesting students on the
campus-and the thrill of work-
ing under the type of pressure
that's only known to a newspaper-
man,
The sports staffer has all the
advantages of The Daily-from
the opportunity to use the open
forum editorial page as a sound-
ing board to becoming addicted to
the nickle cokes and wee hour bull
sessions that characterize The
Daily.
Combining journalism majors
with those who have a flair for
sports, the sports staff has room
to give an opportunity to anyone
who is willing to give it a try.
Unlike any college paper, The
Daily sports coverage stretches
around the nation, with such com-
prehensive coverage of Michigan
sports that many professional
journalists have judged it superior
in quality and scope, not only to
other college papers, but also to
many metropolitan papers as well.
With the latest deadline in the
state, The Daily prints sports news
that is fresher and more compre-
hensive than any metropolitan
paper.
The challenge of sitting next to
well-known sports writers, trying
to outdo him, has inspired many
Daily sports writers to make
journalism their careers and has
launched them into positions that
would be unobtainable were it
not for their Daily experience.
How much time does it take?
Exactly how is the staff organiz-
ed? What does the beginner do
when he first joins the staff?
The freshman, after a period
of training in the fall, becomes a
reporter with his own beat, cover-
ing a particular winter sport. The
trainees and reporters also work
one night a week. on the night
desk, writing headlines, editing
Associated Press copy and reading
proofs so that the night editor
can meet his deadline.
The amount of writing and time
that a freshman-or anyone-de-
votes to the sports staff is based
on his interest and the effort he
wants to make. But, as in any
extracurricular activity, as the
interest develops and the respon-
sibility mounts, so too, the bene-
fits increase.
By the end of a sports staffer's
sophomore year, he is usually
ready to be a night editor. Each
of the six NE's works once a week.
At the end of the junior year,
a night editor can submit a peti-
tion to the Board In Control of
Student Publications for selection
by the board and the current sen-
ior staff to a senior position-
either sports editor or one of his
associates.
Following a career of working
on The Daily sports staff, an
ability to edit, to critically analyze
and interpret an event and to ex-
press a sense of creation that can
only be derived from constant
writing is something that no other
campus activity affords.
Sports Staffer Grabs Yawn after Deadline
DANGEROUS GAME:
Reviewers Run Risk for Art
By ROBERT MOORE
A notably artistic Italian prov-
ince has a folk parable about
three old hermits who lived on a
mountain: a farmer, an artist and
an astronomer. Every evening,
each would go out to his own
private rock and watch the sun-
set. "I love the light," the artist
would say. "I know the light,"
the astronomer would say.
.Everything was fine on the is-
land until one day they met and
decided to get together and dis-
cuss the night's sunset. They met
on the top of the mountain, the
farmer with his hoe, the painter
with his brush, and the astrono-
mer with his glass.
They talked; but they became
so confused over their different
views of the same sunset that
they started fighting and, by the
time they had stopped, all their
instruments were broken. They
went back to their caves, the
story says, to mourn and die.
Involves Difficulties
Reviewing for The Daily isn't
mortally dangerous but it does
involve the difficulties illustrat-
ed in this story. The good re-
viewer must combine the prac-
tical, the personal and the poetic
into one cohesive viewpoint of
objective and subjective descrip-
tion.
The Daily offers opportunities
for reviewers in many fields. 4
There are capitalistic, practical
advantages in reviewing for The
Daily. Movie, concert and play re-
viewers get two free tickets for
every performance they cover.
Book and record reviewers are al-
lowed to keep the books or rec-
ords they review.
A Daily reviewer learns to write
intelligently interestingly, a n d
quickly (under the pressure of a
deadline-conscious editorial direc-
tor).
Freedom to express yourself is
practically unlimited.
But reviewing for The Daily is
not the same as writing an Eng-
lish paper. There is an iniqui-
tous, invisible monster called a
"deadline" that lives in the lino-
type machines in the Student Pub-
lications Building. Editors must
"lock" pages by a certain time to
get the paper finished on time.
Coat and Tie
A typical reviewer rolls into
420 Maynard about 9:30 dressed
in a coat and tie, smelling clean,
relaxed' in body and thoughtful
in mind after a pleasant evening.
Somebody grabs him.
"We need 10 inches of copy by
10:30. Real bad. Good-grief-hurry-
it - up - where - have - you-
been-oh-woe-are-we!"
The reviewer will react like a
nun in a locker room and head
for the Daily library; where the
noise is less painful. By 10:45, he
has pounded out two and a quar-
ter pages of triple-spaced copy.
By 11:10, he has handed it in,
received a quick critique on it.
The next morning the truth-
seeking reviewer will pick up his
Daily (ignoring wars, education
bills, and athletic championships)
and turn to the editorial page
where he will read and re-read
an eight-inch, one-column review
with his name at the bottom.
He will regret statements. ("Why
did I ever say it was the most
'jam-packed knee-knocker of the
cinematic decade'?")
But he may experience a kind
of newspaperman's pride that
there are about 30,000 people read-
ing his words, "knee-knocker" and
all.
If you're interested come on
over to the Daily offices and talk
to us about reviewing. We welcome
you and will give you a chance
to be on the regular reviewing
staff of The Michigan Daily.
Make WAH R'S your
headquarters
for all your textbook
and college supplies
SERVING U OF M STUDENTS SINCE 1883
I
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KARSH, STEICHEN:
Follow Road to Photo Fame
By JAMES KESON
Just before the Second World
War (the real one not the one
starring John Wayne and Fabian),
a pleasant-looking young sopho-
more wandered into The Michigan
Daily looking for adventure,, ex-
citement, and a purpose in life.
Before he could make it over to
the photography editor's desk, he
was clapped on the shoulder by
the friendly personnel director,
steered in the general direction of
the night desk, and told that he
was about to embark on a bril-
liant career in the literary racket.
Unfortunately for the young
soph, one Arthur Miller, there was
never time enough, for him to
meander over to the bright (f. 5.6,
1/125) little corner of the city
room in which the photographic
nerve center of The Daily is lo-
Scated, so he has struggled along
take a left into the city room, and
stride manfully (if you're a coed,
do the best you can) to the desk
of the photo editor, tug your fore-
lock, and announce to him that
you're looking for adventure, ex-
citement, and a purpose in life.
Looking up from his littered
desk where he has been adjusting
his Hasselblad with a 10 inch Phil-
lips screwdriver, he will no doubt
struggle against the emotion
welling in his throat, and, stretch-
ing forth a gnarled hand in a
silent'welcome, invite you to be-
come a member of one of the
University's oldest institutions,
The Michigan Daily photo staff.
Controversy
Actually, since The Michigan
Daily photo staff was founded by
Louis Jacques Daguerre in 1813,
or four years before the University
itself, there has been a good deal
of spirited controversy as to
whether Daguerre's group found-
ed the University or vice-versa.
Those who argue post hoc, ergo
proctor hoc, contend that The
Michigan Daily photo staff should'
in fact be receiving a yearly ap-
propriation of $50 million frgm
the state Legislature and the Uni-
versity should be given a beat-up
Speed Graphic and the odd lens
cap.
As with most campus controver-
sies, this one shows no signs of
being settled, and Daguerre (who
will be 177 next year) appears to
be growing discouraged.
Opportunities
After shaking his hoary locks at
the memory of this ancient feud,
the photo editor will begin to tell
you of the responsibilities and op-
portunities of a staff member.
Wiping his rimless spectacles, he
will explain the schedule in which
one photographer works either one
afternoon or one evening a week,
averaging about an hour and a
half each time.
Shaking his dewlaps, he will
expound on the onortunity for
negative is developed, printed,
engraved, and brought to press.
Blinking his watery eyes, he. will
elucidate the feeble remuneration
system of The Daily. Warming his
chilblained hands against a hiss-
ing radiator, he will ask you if
you are prepared to devote time
and thought to an effort that will
help lower your grade point aver-
age and heighten your aversion to
phone calls.
If at the end of this long reci-
tation, the photo editor grabs your
hand in his wrinkled paw and
gives it a curt shake, congratula-
tions. You're in. The rest is up to
you.
I
Ann Arbor's
only Exclusive Camera Shop
AUTHORIZED DEALER
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Want To Join?
By JUDITH WARREN
Personnel Director
Freshmen trainees form the lifeblood of The Daily. Each
year around 40 freshmen take the plunge into the chaotic world
of the Student Publications Bldg. at 420 Maynard St. to learn
journalistic jargon, work night desk, get their first beat assign-
ment and their first byline.
The first introduction will come at the mass meeting held
early in the fall where the senior editors will explain the "ins
and outs" of putting out a daily paper.
Trainees have their choice of five staffs-editorial, busi-
ness, sports, reviewing, and photography.
Editorial staffers have three responsibilities to The Daily-
writing accurate, perceptive news stories, writing well thought-
out, logical editorials and working night desk once a week.
Trainees will go through an intensive training program so,
never fear, no writing experience is needed.
The business staff is for people with an interest in finance,
advertising, page layout and fighting with the editorial staff who
always want more room for copy.
The sports staff is for anyone (they even have girls) who
has a passion for sports, both collegiate and professional.
No writing experience is needed since the sports staff also
has a training program. This is a wonderful opportunity to see
both home, and often away, games at The Daily's expense.
The reviewing staff is the only staff which does require
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THOMAS R. SNAPSHOT
all his life on the meager proceeds
of his literary endeavors, never
knowing where his next Pulitizer
Prize was coming from.
Avoid This Fate!
Avoid the fate which befell this
howilmprr ..indentl Tns +ta +he
/
II
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