Seventy-Sixth Year
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The Free University Movement
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT CARNEY
Candidates for SGC:
Endorsements
EDITOR'S NOTE: Starting
this week, The Daily will run a
weekly column by Paul Good-
man. Goodman is author of the
novels Making Do and The
Facts of Life, and criticism such
as People or Personnel, Com-
pulsory Mis-Education and The
Community of Scholars.
AT A CONFERENCE at Time-
Life, where they are preparing
a series on "Youth," I was sur-
prised that they hadn't heard of
the Free University movement
though small dissenting colleges
have sprung up in probably sev-
eral dozen this year. (I myself
have been invited to a dozen.)
That is, the Time-Life part of
the Establishment is no more in
touch with what is going on than,
say, the Central Intelligence
Agency is in touch with Latin
America, or the Federal Arts
Council is in touch with living
theater.
Yet how would they know, given
the company they keep? So let me
spell out this news for a column.
During the Cold War, American
education has been increasingly
tightly harnessed to (not very
ideal) National Goals; it is not
unfair to speak of the Factory-
University, powered by govern-
ment, foundation and corporation
money, and processing students.
Inevitably therefore, there are at-
tempts to set up small indepen-
dent enterprises of higher educa-
NOBODY IS CLAIMING that Student
Government Council has done a great
job this fall, but its recent work on the
bookstore project, housing conditions and
academic affairs indicates it is, in con-
trast to previous years, of some import-
ance.
SGC is beginning to find an identity.
The vigor and high level of interest of
the large number of candidates this fall
are signs of life, even though SGC has
faced and will continue to face many
problems. (Anyone who has ever tried
to sit through a meeting is aware of
how boring and irrelevant it often is.)
The cumbersome committee structure,
however, has begun to produce something
besides chairmanship titles for students'
records. A well-run committee system is
the heart of a functioning legislative sys-.
tem. Its job is to take the problems SGC
wants to tackle and convert them into
a program that SGC can undertake or
policies it can press for.
This has to be done through extensive
info-mation gathering, sorting of facts,
interaction with interested council mem-
bers who must eventually pass on the
program and work throughout the Uni-
versity to get it accepted and imple-
mented.
Issues which have or should be getting
this sort of attention from SGC include
housing, grading and curriculum reform,
counseling, administrative consultation
with students in making decisions, costs
in Ann Arbor, parking and driving and
student regulations and their enforce-
ment.
SGC IS ULTIMATELY dependent, of
course, on two things for its vitality
and importance: The quality of its
elected members and the breadth of stu-
dent concerns these members can really
do something about.
The first is related to the second in
that good members can carve out new
areas of concern, as has been done with
housing, "student economic welfare" (and
the host of issues that includes), and is
now being done with academically orient-
ed issues and the general concern for
student participation in the "decision
making process."
GROUP and UMSEU have inspired
much of SGC's current activity through
their active concern4 for student eco-
nomic and academic welfare and their
heavy commitments to discussing issues
beyond those normally ascribed to a stu-
dent government.
WITH THESE CONSIDERATIONS in
mind, we set up the following criteria
for evaluating the current crop of SGC
candidates:
-Interest in and commitment to SGC;
-Knowledge and grasp of issues SGC
is currently concerned with and ideas for
new issues to tackle;
-Grasp of SGC's function as a student,
political body which must represent stu-
dent wants and needs to administrators
and faculty and, just as importantly, lead
the way toward more student action and
understanding of complex University
problems with which they are or ought
to be associated, and
-Interest in being a leader rather than
a follower, reflector or representative of
student opinion (which for the most
- part is either nonexistent or poorly
thought out).
Twelve candidates are running for six
positions (students may vote for four)
and SGC has a total voting membership
of 18. Using the above criteria, the 12
divide fairly easily into three categories,
well-qualified, acceptable and clearly un-
qualified.
WELL-QUALIFIED (in order of prefer-
ence):
--Ed Robinson, '67 (GROUP), is one of
the brightest lights among the candi-
dates. He is knowledgeable about the com-
plex housing problem, and will clearly
make a positive contribution toward get-
ting SGC involved in many different is-
sues than it has, including activities more
politically oriented than parking and food
service.
tion, generally in or next to big
established institutions.
OUR SITUATION has histori-
cal analogies. In 18th century
England there sprang up tiny dis-
senting academies to escape the
Test Acts, a kind of loyalty oaths.
During the Renaissance, the col-
leges of Oxford and Cambridge
withdrew from the Universities,
which had rigidified. The very be-
ginning of our present higher
education, during the rise of the
towns in the 12th and 13th cen-
turies, was the founding of tiny
universities of free scholars and
clerics in the face of the feudal
church.
And there is an important anal-
ogy in our own times. The para-
colleges are like the para-politics
of the Freedom Democratic Party
in Mississippi to by-pass a system
of injustice, the para-sociology of
militant community development
to combat the patronizing social
work of the Welfare State, or even
the para-way of life of the Beats
to escape the rate race. And these
para-movements tend to overlap.
People who object to credits and
grading are likely to object to
gray flannel suits and to police
brutality.
All the para-colleges have com-
mon themes. They object to the
impersonality of faculty-student
relations, cash-accounting credits
and grading, high tuition fees, ad-
-Don Resnick, '68 (incumbent from
GROUP and president of UMSEU), needs
to break away from some of the stand-
ardized thinking of UMSEU, but clearly
has the ability to formulate new ideas
and approaches to the problems of "stu-
dent economic welfare," and, in his at-
tempts to work through SGC (as he
should) to implement some of these ideas
will end up improving both the ideas and
SGC.
-Ruth Baumann, '68 (GROUP), has
neither extensive experience nor too many
signs of thought-through ideas about
SGC and its role on campus to offer; but
she is concerned with a broad range of
important issues, and a few months of
work on SGC should translate some of
her evident interest and enthusiasm and
political mindedness into positive ideas
and action.
-Bob Bodkin, '67 (independent in-
cumbent), has been a disappointment this
fall on SGC after his excellent work last
spring on housing. Our endorsement is re-
luctant in view of his deliberate obstruc-
tion yesterday of debate on placing the
Viet Nam opinion poll on tomorrow's bal-
lot and because of a lack of other quali-
fied candidates. But he is clearly ex-
perienced and can, if he decides to make
the effort, work to take SGC into new
areas besides housing as well as continue
to chip away at that very extensive prob-
lem.
ACCEPTABLE:
-Al Goodwin, '66 (REACH), has shown
remarkable enthusiasm and ability in
putting together and running the REACH
organization, qualities which are of some
use on SGC if he is really interested and
willing to put them to work there; though
his susceptibility to political expediency
may be a threat to SGC's present, weak
momentum.
-Pat McCarty, '67 (REACH), seems
knowledgeable and apparently possesses
both poise and an ability to know how
to tackle the complex problems of an SGC
member. Unfortunately, her rigid adher-
ence to the REACH platform may indi-
Fate a lack of constructive concern and
original ideas concerning University-wide
interests. She also has extensive com-
mitments in other activities.
-Neill Hollenshead, '67 (REACH) has
a good record of organizational activity
within the SGC committee system and
could make positive contributions to
keeping the organization running well.
But he is unable to really discuss specific
issues knowledgeably.
-Joan Irwin, '66 (independent), makes
the "acceptable" list only by virtue of her
constructive record with Joint Judic and
experience in working with the many-
headed Office of Student Affairs. Her
understanding of issues is often incom-
plete and distorted, and she lacks orga-
nizational savoir-faire almost completely.
CLEARLY UNQUALIFIED:
Darryl Alexander, '69 (GROUP), Bob
Smith, '67 (REACH), Ed Mauer, '67 (in-
dependent), and Jim Wall, '67 (independ-
ent).
Miss Alexander, while she demonstrates
some grasp of University problems, sticks
rather closely to the GROUP platform
and simply hasn't been on campus long
enough to gather enough experience for
SGC.
Mauer demonstrates literally no knowl-
edge of issues which are vital to anyone
serving on SGC (such as student union
activity or the legislative audit of Uni-
versity books). He has interesting ideas
but no conception of what campus prob-
lems are.
Smith's experience mainly includes the
running of entertainment programs for
campus groups (Winter Weekend, Home-
coming). This may indicate some orga-
nizational ability, but he demonstrates no
specific knowledge of campus issues and
is incapable of expressing himself well,
a vital qualification for a council mem-
ber.
Wall runs a close second to Mauer in
ignorance of campus issues and can pre-
sent no coherent philosophy of SGC or
programs for it to follow.
Paul
Goodmn
ministrative paternalism, extra-
mural interference with freedom
of speech and inquiry and morals,
irrelevant bigness in the rather
simple function of teaching and
learning.
Positively, the dissenters want
community, curriculum directly
related to social and personal real-
ity, a say in making decisions, in-
trinsic motivations to study, and
tailoring the schedule to indi-
vidual needs and stages of devel-
opment.
NATURALLY, however, each
spontaneous group has its own
emphases and style. Graduate stu-
dents at Columbia feel that au-
thentic scholarship is impossible
in the routine in which they are
getting their degrees, so in their
"free university" they set up night
courses to which they invite schol-
ars they respect to teach them
real subjects for real.
The graduate students at Ber-
keley, on the other hand, are
suspicious of "anybody over 30";
they feel they can direct their own
studies, and they are especially
interested in political subjects
avoided in the regular curriculum
including direct action projects
like organizing migrant farm labor.
An enterprising group at Ohio
University (Athens) is after foun-
dation support to hire its own
professors; and I have been of-
fered a princely salary by a group
of students at San Francisco
State (I don't know where the
money comes from).
In these cases, it seems that
what is studied will be an agree-
ment of what the teachers want to
teach and the students want to
learn; but in other cases the
curriculum is determined entirely
by the students. For example, in
the Guild of Independent Stu-
dents started by a drop out of
Swarthmore, each one studies on
his own and presents his work to
the others, but admired "veterans"
are invited to visit, criticize, and
inspire. At Monteith, undergrad-
uates, remaining within the school,
choose from their own number
teachers who they think have a
particular competence and whom
they can of course depose.
At the new Free University at
Rice, professors are welcome but
"the problem is to explain to them
that we don't want to be taught
anything, we want the chance to
learn." The free university con-
ference of Students for a Demo-
cratic Society, centered in Ann
Arbor, has heavily stressed the
beneficent effect of interpersonal
confrontation, an emphasis com-
ing. no doubt, from the remark-
able SDS experiences in corrnun-
ity development in poor neigh-
borhoods.
A PROBLEM rises in the odd
relation of the para-colleges and
the regular institutions they are
in or next to. President Alden of
Ohio has seemed eager for the
students to try on their own, so
long as it doesn't cost the state
anything. When Meyerson was
acting chancellor at Berkeley, he
told me he would give academic
credit for the para-courses if they
could prove themselves.
At Rice, however, there seems to
be ill feeling and rivalry. Swarth-
more cannot (Sept. 21) make up
its mind if the independent Guild
can use the library. At Rice and
Columbia it is, interestingly, re-
ligious organizations on the cam-
pus that sponsor the dissenters
and provide shelter or money.
Meantime, the para-colleges en-
thusiastically branch out into all
kinds of extra-curricular com-
munity projects, from political
and social direct actions (these
are sometimes curricular, under
the heading "pragmatic sociol-
ogy") to coffee houses, little
theaters, literary and political
journals, co-op bookstores, stu-
dent housing. What a beautiful
Do-It-Yourself populism! What a
pity they are so young and in-
experienced. If not they, who?
Copyright, Paul Goodman, 1965
Letters: Debate Grows as Election Nears,
40
To the Editor:
WHILE THE two campus poli-
tical parties continue to at-
tract the most attention with their
hollow debate over methodology
there is one independent candidate
worthy of serious consideration
and a vote. That candidate is
Joan Irwin.
At the beginning of the cam-
paign Miss Irwin was the only
candidate to offer substantive is-
sues. Her concern about North
Campus development, student
parking and the student parking
"fund," LSA administrative and
discipline procedures, and espe-
cially the philosophy and pro-
cedures of the Office of Student
Affairs indicate that she would
be an active and worthy member
of Student Government Council.
It is to Miss Irwin's credit that
these issues have been pickeddup
by many of the other candidates,
and it is due to Miss Irwin's ef-
forts that substantive issues have
taken any place in this campaign.
AT A TIME when SGC threat-
ens to forego the advances of the
past few months and become mir-
ed in debate over methodology
and off-campus issues it is neces-
sary to overcome this tendency
with the election of candidates
like Miss Irwin.
The four major campus organ-
izations, IFC, Panhel, IQC, and
Assembly, realize this and have
endorsed Miss Irwin. Joan Irwin
deserves the endorsement of the
voters on election day.
-Doug Brook, '65
Past President, SGC
To the Editor:
WHILE GROUPer Eisenberg is
wandering around campus
turning toads into GROUP can-
didates with his unusual kiss and
trying to run SGC by the book
(Hans Christian Anderson and
The Grimm Brothers), GROUP
president Kane, in his own sopho-
moric (literally) way is throwing
challenges from his white charg-
er. This letter is in answer to his
challenge that REACH demon-
strate "any concrete action de-
sign."
REACH has already taken ac-
tion in the area of student eco-
nomic welfare. 1) Reach has sent
letters to Robert Hall, J. L. Hud-
son Co., and K Mart encouraging
them to investigate the possibility
of locating in the campus area and
to inform us of what they con-
sider the feasibility and major
problems of doing so. 2) Reach
has completed and submitted for
publication by SGC a price list
of restaurants in the campus area
(including such factors as price,
atmosphere, quantity, quality, and
variety of food, service etc), and
is currentlycompleting a similar
study of laundry facilities, drug
stores and super markets (which
information Reach will pass on to
the Ann Arbor Welfare Depart-
ment since it has been requested).
3) Reach has law students scru-
tinizing economic practices in Ann
Arbor. 4) We are not waiting for
the happy ever after of Mr. Eisen-
berg's never, neverland university
bookstore. We are encouraging the
students to patronize the here and
now Centicore - Student Book
Service discount arrangement
which offers the students all the
discount book services the SGC
report demands. If this arrange-
ment proves to be less than it now
seems to be, after a semester trial,
then REACH will: a) Seek to
bring in national discount book
Reach would approach the
League about using its extensive
capital (which must be spent soon
or be taxed heavily) to house such
a store.
Reach would present a full busi-
ness report to all administrators
and the regents.
Reach would not force the issue
until enough public relations and
politicking had been done to en-
sure the support of most of the
regents before it were presented
officially.
At present a viable solution
exists and REACH heartily en-
courages it. If, after a fair trial,
it proves to be unsatisfactory, we
will take further action as out-
lined above. I challenge GROUP
to help us inform the students
that they can get much cheaper
books and supplies now at Centi-
core and the Student Book Service.
A SECOND and possibly more
important major area of student
welfare is that of student isola-
tion. Mr. Eisenberg at least is a
psych major and yet I have not
heard him speak out once about
the problem even though the li-
terature in psych and social psych
is replete with examples of the
-City and construction workers
tying up roads during rush per-
iods.
-Where the $5 for an E sticker
goes.
-Noise in the UGLI.
-Transportation to North Cam-
pus and Arbor Land.
-Traffic lights at SU and EU,
and by the Dentistry School.
-The Board of Health Law
requiring fraternities to provide
500 sq. ft. per man in the dorms.
-Integrating foreign students.
Organizations on campus also
have issues they would like dealt
with:
-The Rifle and Chess clubs
compete in Big 10 competition for
Michigan. They would like varsity
recognition or a chance to raise
funds to cover travel expenses to
meets.
-The Women's Athletic Asso-
ciation depends on the League for
funds. With the UAC merger there
has been some budgeting confusion
which needs straightening out.
-The Men's Chess Club would.
like some Daily coverage to ex-
plain what it's about..
-The Cervantes club needs
publicity it can't afford.
"As Nearly As We Can Translate, It Says: 'We Are
Agreed In Principle On Preventing The Spread
Of Nuclear Weapons; However .. .' "
its
have it barred from the ballot as
ill conceived, and have proposed
that a thorough survey be con-
ducted at the only time when all
the students are in one place at
about the same time: namely dur-
ing registration in January.
We have offered our personnel
to conduct such an SGC spon-
sored student service, not because
dur organization has a specific
it would palm off as the last word,
but because it is a student service
and as such is a matter of con-
cern to us.
IN BRIEF, Reach has spoken
with grads and undergrads, single
and married students, foreign stu-
dents and Ann Arbor residents
and because we have taken the
time to inform ourselves, we re-
fuse to take a simple-minded,
fairy-tale approach to the .com-
plex issues of the multiversity
-Michael A. Bergin, '66
President of REACH
To the Editor:
AFTER hearing the various
claims GROUP has made dur-
this campaign, it has become evi-
dent to us that they are misrepre-
senting their accomlishments on
this campus. They are making
unsubstantiated assertions about
their successes which often result
in exaggeration and fabrication.
In light of this we question
GROUP's contention that they de-
serve the credit for SGCs increas-
ing effectiveness. They seem to
have ignored completely the hard
work and effort exerted by SGC's
executive committee, many of
the non-GROUP council members,
the ex-officios, and SGC's com-
mittee members.
We feel that GROUP's state-
ments have been particularly mis-
leading on the following points:
1) In a paid advertisement in
the Nov. 10 issue of The Daily,
GROUP claimed that they had
succeeded in "initiating" low cost
housing this year after demand-
ing it last year. But take a look
around Ann Arbor. Where is the
low cost housing? Not only is
GROUP unable to point to ex-
amples of their low cost housing,
but they have remained silent
about the stagnation of the SGC
Off-Campus House Advisory
Board (OCHAB)) and its degen-
eration from its former high lev-
el of activity and success. Who
was largely responsible for shuffl-
ing the problem of housing out
of the hands of SGC early this se-
mester? Was it not GROUP's Russ
Linden, chairman of the OCHAB?
2) GROUP has stated that a
freshman or sophomore can influ-
ence SGC only if freshmen and
sophomores are elected to Coun-
cil. This assertion is absurd be-
cause it overlooks the necessity of
qualifications. REACH believes
that freshmen and sophomores
should be an integral part of SGC,
not only because they are essen-
tial to insure the continuity of
operation, but also because under-
classmen are obviously an import-
ant part of the university. The
SGC committee structure, which
GROUP rejects, can serve the pur-
pose of training underclassmen
as potential representatives and
at the same time give them ex-
tensive influenc over SOC policy.
3) Another one of GROUP's
listed accomplishments is the
achievement of the $1.25 minimum
wage for students. However, it
must be noted that this success
was due to the action of the Uni-
versity of Michigan Student's Em-
ployees Union, not SGC. Thus we
heartily commend the efforts of
speaking engagements they de-
plore the fact that Regents won't
talk to SGC and that administra-
tors are too hard-nosed to accept
a well thought-out proposal from
students Consequently, we have to
ask how honest the GROUP ad-
vertisement really is and how ef-
fective the student-Regent com-
munications which they have ini-
tiated really are.
5) GROUP advocates apartment
permission for sophomore women.
This would have drastic effects on
the off-campus housing market.
The junior women apartment priv-
ileges have already strengthened
the position of the Ann Arbor
realtors by insuring a larger sell-
er's market. The addition of
sophomore women now would sky-
rocket prices even more. Yet,
doesn't GROUP claim that they
are concerned about high housing
costs?
6) Mr. Eisenberg of GROUP
claims that the purpose of SGC
is government, not advertising.
This would be fine if the student
body were comprised solely of the
twenty people closely associated
with SGC. But there are approxi-
mately 30,000 other students on
this campus who don't attend SGC
meetings, and who may not read
the Daily's reports or the SGC
minutes.
In view of this fact, it is the
responsibility of SGC to carry on
a massive public relations cam-
paign, not only during elections
but throughout the entire year It
is not only impractical and un-
realistic of Mr. Eisenberg to as-
sume that the sole responsibility
of SGC is government, to the ex-
clusion of public relations;
7) Finally, we must seriously
question GROUP's theory of rep-
resentative government. They in-
sist that the student must have a
voice in university policy making,
and yet they reject the SGC com-
mittee system and ignore the cru-
cial problem of the lack of stu-
dent participation in student gov-
ernment. Perhaps GROUP mem-
bers feel they are the only stu-
dents who should be allowed to
speak out. Why have they ignored
the 30,000 other students on this
campus?
--Marvin J.Freedman, '67
REACH Campaign
Coordinator
Schutze's
Corner:
Holiday
WITH Ballyhoo, foofaraw, cheers
and giggling, The SGC cam-
paign has taken over the Diag.
Reach is handing out balloons.
Group has a loudspeaker. Someone
else has a transient chorus line
singing her worth up and down
the cement walks. Everyone is be-
ing loudly political, and a little
bit amused.
Enjoyably, the chief function of
Student Government Council is
campaigning. A mad and furious-
ly noisy campaign for office is
SGC's raison d'etre: an entire se-
mester in office is the campaign's
anticlimatic aftermath.
AND THE campaign is a lot of
fun. What's more, it's instructive.
We are learning about democracy,
you see, in an accidental sort of
way. We are learning that politics
cann be fun. ah Barret of 1az~hazaa
damage, personal and social, caus-
ed by a sense of isolation or
alienation. This problem is almost
the characteristic of today's large
universities. The students have
the feeling that they are just IBM
numbers and that evaluation so
often comes close to being true.
REACH, with its gripe line, tele-
phone survey and organizational
liaison network is the first or-
ganization on this campus to take
the problem seriously and do
something effective about it. Since
it is the students everyone wants
to represent I ask just how much
of what the students want does
GROUP know about?
The following is a sampling of
points students have pointed to
as issues over and above housing,
IN MANY of these and other
cases of student concern the solu-
tions have to go through certain
channels if anything is to be done.
The practical implication of this is
that friendly working relations
must be established with admin-
istrators and effective communica-
tion and coordination must be
established and actively maintain-
ed. This is one of many realistic
approaches to vital issues for
which REACH has been criticized
by GROUP.
In answering Mr. Kane's chal-
lenge there is one further area
which I feel must be covered.
Students have expressed mixed
feeling on whether or not SOC
should deal with world issues like
Viet Nam. One recurrent sugges-
0
I