Sevent y-Sixth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF TITE UNIVERSITY OF MICTIJGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Letters: Regents Editorial Criticized ere Opinions Are rree. 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN APsOR, MicH. Truth Will Prepail News PhONE: 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. THURSDAY. JANUARY 27, 1966 NIGHT EDITOR: LEONARD PRATT The Free University: Includes Students for a Change WITH CONSIDERABLE fanfare, warm self-congratulation and stifling seri- ousness, the Free University of Ann Arbor has begun registering students for cours- es in everything from historical theory to "Poetry, Now?" A satirical piece which recently appeared on these pages, noting what picturesque difficulties the Free University would have if it were similar to the University, appears to have both tickled and soothed. Evidently the chal- lenge of the Free University has success- fully been ignored, and everyone can now go back to the Cave. But the Free University will not be similar to the University. True, at its worst the Free University is amusing in its delusions of grandeur. But this sim- ply reflects what characterizes the Uni- versity at its worst-a lack of grandeur, its fatigue and its decreasing relevance to the questions of the world in which.it exists. New Power InAlabama IN A HEATED DEBATE last week, the Alabama Democratic Party voted to withdraw its "white supremacy" slogan from the party's ballot emblem. Because of new federal voter laws, the Negroes in Alabama are now for the first time registered in enough strength to pose a real threat to Alabama politi- cians. Negroes will comprise approximate- ly 200,000 of the state's 850,000 voters in this fall's election, and, with federal supervision, their votes are sure to be counted. Thus it becomes evident that no party in the South, if they want to win elec- tions, will ever be able to afford a white supremacy clause again. JUST HOW IMMEDIATELY significant the official removal of such a slogan could be is doubtful. The man who cried "I never thought we'd substitute black supremacy for white supremacy in Ala- bama," and his colleague who resigned the party over this issue obviously feel no different towards Negroes than' they ever have. The politicians who removed the slogan also can be expected to think no differently merely on the basis of purely practical politics. But hopefully, the next generation of Alabama Democrats, after working with Negroes becomes a fact of political life, will not even remember that a "white supremacy" clause ever existed. Con- currently it would be expected that they won't even think in terms of white su- premacy, as this generation did. BIT BY BIT, federal legislation may be leading us where we want it to-to- wards a new vocabulary, and a new mor- ality. -HARVEY WASSERMAN Editorial Staff ROBERT .TOHNSTON. Editor LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM, Managing Editor JUDITH FIELDS ......., Personnel Director LAUREN BAHR.. .... Associate Managing Editor JUDITH WARREN Assistant Managing Editor G3AIL BLEIMBERG. Ma aze Editor TOM WEINBERG................ ... Sports Editor LLOYD GRAFF .............. Associate Sports Editor PETER SARASOHN............ Contributing Editor NIGHT EDITORS: Robert Carney, Clarence Fan to, Mark Kilingeworth, John Meredith, Leonard Pratt. Harvey Wasserman, Bruce Wasserstein; Charlotte Wolter DAY EDITORS: Babette Cohn, Michael Hefter, Merle Jacob, Robert Moore, Roger Rapoport, Dick Wing- .field. ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Alice Bloch, Deborah Blum, Neal Bruss, Gail Jorgenson, Robert Klivans, Laurence Medow, Neil Shister, Joyce Winslow. ASSISTANT DAY EDITORS: Richard Charn. Jane Dreyfus, Susan Elan, Shirley Rosick, Robert Shiller, Alan Valusek. SPORTS NIGHT EDITORS: Rick Fefernan. Jim La- Sovage, Bob McFarland, Gil Samberg, Dale Sielaff, Rick Stern, Jim Tindall, Chuck Vetzner. Published daily Tuesday through Sunday morning. Business Staff CY WELLMAN, Business Manager ALAN GLUECKMAN ...........Advertising Manager SUSAN CRAWFORD ..... Associate Business Manager JOYCE FEINBERG .............Finance Manager MANAGERS: Harry Bloch, Bruce Hillman, Marline Kuelthau, Jeffrey Leeds, Gall Levin, Susan Per- To be sure, the best of the University's formidable talent is in the vanguard of the nation's intellectual elite. But it is precisely because some professors in the University have maintained such a con- sistently high standard of excellence that those who do not are so bitterly disap- pointing to students. Lectures are very often mere exercises in textbook reading. Discussion sections frequently have the vigor and intellectual excitement of an autopsy; indeed, the Honors Program is distinguished for its perennial attempts to rouse itself from rigor mortis. 31ORE IMPORTANT, in the last analy- sis, than its loss of vigor is the Uni- versity's loss of relevance. At its worst, the University teaches not ethics, but techniques; not ends, but means. Eco- nomics courses become exercises in "ob- jective" analysis of the status quo-a sort of pecuniary taxidermy - rather than an evaluation of its desirability. Political science courses become statis- tical exercises in voting behavior rather than an examination of the questions of the day. Literature courses descend into an arcane evaluation of spondees rather than a discussion of the issues their texts raise. At its best, the University's grad- uate is a liberally-educated man. At its worst, he is a Certified Public Accountant. At its best, therefore, the Free Uni- versity. offers an exciting change from the dismal realities of the University at its worst. The Free University will scarce- ly be dull, and it may represent an excit- ing return to educational relevance. Its focus on such modern artists as Luigi Nono and Gunther Schuller may, for example, bring amused smiles of con- tempt to the faces of traditionalists. But tradition is often an unfortunate disre- gard of the relevant present for an exclu- sive and deadening preoccupation with the defunct-the democracy of the dead. The Free University's economics cours- es, to continue, do not merely analyze economic matters, but relate them to their social and political context - and evaluate them. This approach may find little sympathy from so-called "new" economists, or even old ones; they are all satisfied in proving the eminent virtue of thrust brassieres and Toronadoes by not- ing the increment they bring to the Gross National Product. But the Free Univer- sity's approach to subjects like economics may appeal to students. Juding from ex- perience, it already has. IN SHORT, the Free University is, in some degree at least, not simply a change, but a challenge. It indicates by actions, not words, that the University must regain vigor and relevance. For all its faddishness and esoterica, this is the essence of the Free University and its implication for the University. Education without virtue-relevance to society-is like pearls on a dunghill, Cervantes ob- served; and, at its worst, such is the sit- uation in the University today. Hence the need for action. The Univer- sity appears in some respects to be a long way from the days when an econom- ics class literally wrote Michigan welfare laws. But it has shown that, at its best, it is surpassed by no other institution in intellectual and moral excellence. Its taste, then, is to extend this excellence throughout its activities by regaining the relevance and vigor, of which it appears to have been.losing sight. ONE IMPORTANT WAY to regain vigor and relevance in the process of educa- tion at the University is to establish stu- dent advisory committees in each depart- ment of the University. Composed of graduate students and upperclassmen majoring in the department, the com- mittee would give counsel to the depart- ment on matters ranging from course offerings, content and assignments to faculty tenure. Such committees would add the in- sights of responsible and able students on matters which, needless to say, are vi- tally important to them and of which they have intimate knowledge. Such committees would constructively mobilize. the interest of all students in their edu- cation-something which, as establish- ment of the Free University indicates, is sometimes their desneration. To the Editor: PEOPLE who value The Daily as a medium of communication and of constructive criticism sore- ly needed in a large and complex university, who take pride in the quality of the product which has been typical of it in the past, and who admire its young staff for the ability and the effort which they devote to their tasks, were cruelly disappointed when it cast away, as it did Sunday,. its claim to be taken seriously by the com- munity. For there should be no illusion: not just the individual writer, but The Daily itself, and its entire staff, are judged each day on the reportorial competence and maturity of judgment exhibit- ed in each story and editorial ap- pearing in its pages. Sunday's editorial was a perfect example of juvenile criticism. It purported to report thoughts and motivations of others, to which the writer could not possibly be privy. It painted an unbelievably naive picture of administrative of- fiacers and Regents of this univer- sity as bad guys dangling from strings. In its lack of sensitivity and decent respect for the dig- nity of others, it was childish. NOBODY at this University questions the right and duty of Daily writers to' criticize the deci- sions of the faculty, the admin- istration, the Regents, or any oth- er decision-making group on this campus, if they believe those deci- sions unsound. A fundamental principle of discourse in an aca- demic community, however, is that it shall consist of the exchange of reasoned views ratherthan of vituperation. Sunday's editorial writer has apparently not learned this. It would be regrettable if the subjects of his attack were to al- low it to affect their sense of re- ward derived from service to the University, or their zest for the problems they face every day. For- tunately their sense of proportion, as it has in the past, will probably protect them. There is nothing, however, to protect The Daily from the griev- ous -injury that has been done to its standing as a medium of ma- ture criticism and persuasion; nor is there anything to protect the other members of the staff from the adverse reflections that have been cast upon them. It is a pity. THE SIGNERS of this letter are all members of the Executive Com- mittee of the Board in Control of Student Publications. In this let- ter, however, they have chosen and intend only to express their indi- vidual opinions. -Prof. John W. Atkinson, Psychology Dept. -Prof. Oliver A. Edel Music School --Prof. Luke K. Cooperrider, Law School To the Editor: EVERYTHING is out of propor- tion in Roger Rapoport's full- column epic editorial Sunday. Ra- poport writes like the shocked, naive child who believed storks de- livered babies when first told the facts of life. Outrange and in- credulity are not in order; rather, a searching overview of the sys- tem which houses Regents, ad- ministrators, faculty and students, followed by thorough analysis of particular issues. The Regents are charged by the state constitution with "general supervision of its institution and control and direction of all ex- penditures from the institution's funds." They are elected by the people of Michigan and represent the people's ownership of this in- stitution. Reply THE DAILY is accused above of running an intemperate edi- torial ("The University's Re- gents: Resignations Are in Or- der," by Roger Rapoport, Sun- day). The three members of the Exec- utive Committee of the Board in Control of Student Publications state in their letter, "Sunday's editorial was a - perfect example of juvenile criticism . .. In its lack of sensitivity and decent respect for the dignity of others, it was childish." L. Hart Wright, a distinguished professor in the Law School, writes, "I consider Sunday's edi- torial attacking the Board of Re- gents and senior officials of the University irresponsible on several counts." SUPPOSE, first, that we grant this criticism-admit that there were elements of undisciplined in- temperance in the editorial. Then, rather than argue about exactly which words and phrases are in- temperate and which aren't, which vituperative and which not, we are in a position to review the facts presented in the editorial (those offered seriously and not However, the Regents quite wisely have chosen to delegate the running of the University to the administration. They will set the institution's general policy while the administration runs it. This is the basic arrangement of Uni- versity government here. It is the lynchpin of policymaking, the cen- terpiece around which University politics revolve. IF THE REGENTS chose to ac- tively run the University, their jobs would become full time ones. Even then, they could not obtain the necessary information to ef- fectively administer. So the Regents meet two days monthly and in occasional special sessions. They meet in secret Thursday night at Inglis House and Friday morning in the Ad- ministration Bldg. and hash out all the policy issues brought before them by the administration. Then on Friday afternoons, all concerned stage a little drama for press and public. With the debate concluded and the decisions made, the Regents and administration announce, usually with joyous unanimity, what they've done. They use the opportunity to pro- mote the University in the public eye. But nobody really knows why the decision was made, what al- ternatives were available, who stood for what and why and the manner the decisionwas reached. Was it rammed down minority Regents 'throats, was it a com- promise, did the administration snow the Regents into doing some- thing they didn't know about or understand ? REALLY ACTIVE, aggressive Regents under these conditions would be a disaster for the Uni- versity. Most Regents don't know and lack the time. to find out about the University community. They don't share the community's values-they are much more utili- tarian. Rapoport surely doesn't want Regental interference in academic or civil freedoms of students and faculty: nor would he want the University tied any closer to the "military, industrial complex" than it now is. What he wants are Re- gents with different attitudes and outlooks-Regents who read Paul Goodman instead of Adam Smith, These seven men and one woman needn't work any harder than they now do. Regental outlook translates it- self into administration 'in two crucial ways. The most important is through appointments-partic- ularly the President. The Regents elect the President, then turn the University over to him. If the President is liberal, then the Uni- versity will be liberal, conserva- tive Regents being only a mild influence. If the President is con- servative, liberal Regents will serve as only a mild prod. The president willethen appoint men he trusts, respects and feels congenial with to top administra- tive positions. And so on down the administrative line. Thus the tone is determined and range of policy alternatives is narrowed. Regents also set policy by en- couraging certain types of activi- ties, men or ideas and discourag- ing others. If they did their a pointing well, they will never re- ject a decision the administra- tion makes, for they are all men of the same mind. If not, policies and administration decisions do get rejected. THUS CRITICISM of the Uni- versity should really focus on the administration. The Regents don't have the information and really -rightfully - don't care to be dragged into the institution's day- to-day operations. If students want to change a policy, they should argue it out with admin- istrators who really decide. If they want to dump an adminis- trator, they should make his po- sition untenable, a la Berkeley. To avoid the risk of Regental interference, students should not appeal to Regents except in the direst of emergencies.cUsually, if students win over the administra- tion, they can ram a policy through the Regents. Students must enter the state's political arena to influence the Regental outlook. They would most importantly have to fight battles at state party conventions to get men and women of the proper orientation nominated for Re- gents. Then they would have to elect their candidates. Unfortunately, most students are too young to vote. Only in a very tight election would students, their parents and other poten- tial allies contribute enough votes to make the parties take notice, However, only a small percentage of Potential student voters and their allies are liberal. WITHIN this framework, let's look at some of specific issues Rapoport raises: * The Daily and Wilbur K. Pierpont, vice-president for busi- ness and finance, suffer from a serious communications problem- particularly The Daily. It is doubt- ful that the two will agree on very much, but Pierpont cannot be effectively criticized unless The Daily sheds the stereotype it holds about him. Calling him a "Calvin Coolidge businessman," Rapoport clearly sketches the stereotype: "Pierpont has consistently enunciated a pol- icy of fiscal conservatism which impedes progress and innovation at the University. A penurious type, he systematically excludes faculty and administrators from any policy decisions involving money." . Pierpont is committed to the basic values of the University Unlike many others who might have filled his role, he can com- prehend that the University is not simply an education corporation and that the University should foster some immaterial values, even at the cost of much money Any attempt to pressure Pierpont from his job takes the serious risk of replacing him with a busi- nessman who is much more nar- row-minded. The Residential College seems more stalled by the administra- tion's inability to make a commit- ment to it and then to round up the necessary funds. Pierpont is probably not opposed to it, but the entire administration can't de- cide whether to make the effort and sacrifices elsewhere for the college. MEETING over lunch with the 1963-64 senior editors, Pierpont ex- Pressed a lively interest and un- derstanding of the University's aims and non-fiscal problems. Per- haps another candid and search- ing meeting is in order. 0 Neither the administration nor the Regents 4 alone can be blamed alone for the University's failure to comprehend the need to defend the students' economic interests. Roadblocks abound ev- erywhere and UMSEU is right seeking to lower them through statewide lobbying and influence. The first thing students will have to fight is the concept that public enterprises should not com- pete with private ones. This is ver- balized in the Regents 1929 rul- ing, but is much more widely held. Three Republican Regents are businessmen or executives, the fourth is a prominent corporation lawyer. The Democrats boast one large businessman, one small business- woman ,an educator with UAW connections and an engineer cur- rently in Spain. Thus a majority of Regents are unlikely to sanc- tion anything that would com- pete and possibly ruin a major Ann Arbor industry. Only pressure from the outside or from the ad- ministration could force a change. REGENTS with this back- ground are indifferent to student economic welfare almost by tem- perment, and certainly by class background. The poor, who can't afford to send their children here, pay as little attention to Regental elections as the rest of the citi- zenry. Inthe case of the bookstore, the proposed venture is dubious at best, and thus drew little or no administration support. Priorities count. Should the University spend money it could use elsewhere, say for purchase of library books, to make up a bookstore's deficit? Re- peated studies have indicated that savings to students - particular- ly on new books-do not merit the proposed bookstore's cost to the University. The discerning fighter for bet- ter economic conditions for stu- dents should not flail at adminis- tration or Regent "devils." This may gratify the ego, but not bring results. Rather he should develop the most effective pro- gram possible and then develop a variety of strategies and tactics to achieve it. " The University made the wrong choice when Roger Heyns was offered the chancellorship of the University of California at Berkeley. The chancellorship there is equivalent to the presidency here. While Berkeley is somewhat smaller than the University, it has much more stature than the Uni- versity and many more problems. It was a hard offer to turn down. To keep Heyns, the Regents would have had to make him in effect president-elect, the heir to Hatcher. Hatcher then would be- come a lame duck in his two re- maining years in office. If The Daily's information is correct, it is unfortunate that Hatcher cut the Regents off from weighing this choice. However, this status context both here and at Berkeley must be consideredwhen making judg- ments about the Heyns affair THUS the crucial issues focus around the administration and Regental orientation. Dumping the Regents is no solution. -Philip Sutin, Grad. To the Editor: CONSIDER Sunday's editorial attacking the Board of Regents and senior officials of the Uni- versity irresponsible on several counts among which was reliance on a number of non-sequiturs. Per- haps it Is because I am a law professor thatIuwas most pro- foundly disturbed by your writer's tendency to attribute shameful motives and inner feelings to a number of those castigated. The editorial itself offered no proof regarding the attributed im- proper motivation and feelings. Thus, there surely is a serious risk that your writer has thought- lessly damaged the most precious attributes of those human beings, their integrity and decency. Many of us in the academic community know a few of our senior officials fairly well, but others scarcely or not at all. Nor- mally, our attitude toward only the latter category is likely to be significantly affected by The Daily's appraisals. In consequence, I can best Illustrate the potential damage which most concerns me by referring to comments your writer made concerning officials with whom I am not acquainted. FIRST. of Vice-President Cut- ler, the editorial said: "Cutler who originally favored the bookstore, changed his mind after learning of the financial problems of oth- er university bookstores and the opposition of Pierpont and the Re- gents" Use of the conjunction, "and," clearly implies that Mr. Cutler, in shaping his own personal recom- mendation regarding the book store, was affected at least in part by a desire to cater to a colleague and to certain Board members, as distinguished from acting sole- ly on the basis of personal con- viction. Does your writer really know Mr. Cutler was in fact so indecently motivated? Again, the writer categorically asserts: "And the Regents view the students with contempt-they have no real respect for their views or interests." Further inr assessing the Regents' private dis- cussion regarding the University's effort "in recruiting and support- ing the economically disadvan- taxed," your writer concluded: "They did not want to give the impression of being too strong about it." Is it even remotely pos- sible your editorialist knows each member of the Board so intimate- ly that he is able to accurately assess their inner feelings? Free and open discussion of dif- ferences regarding substantive is- sues is imperative. But when we carry on our dialogue, integrity and devotion to the University- absent proof to the contrary - ought not to be considered the attributes of a select few, say the editorial writers of The Daily and some members of the faculty. The educational environment in which our discussion takes place surely suggests that all of us should conform to a standard more demanding than that of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy., --Prof. L. Hart Wright Law School -z Parking To the editor: HEARTILY endorse Professor Shaffer's protest against auto- mobiles without Paid -Permits hogging into the University park- ing structures. My rough count is that they occupy about 40 per cent of total space between Monday and Friday. My guess, based upon elevator eaves-dropping, is that most of these automobiles belong to townspeople who avail them- selves of what is really a Univer- sity subsidy in order to park all day for fifty cents-a real bar- gain in this town. it would be helpful to those of us with season tickets if we knew what we ought to do when the structures (and the lots) are full. Perhaps the University has a fund which covers the costs of parking violations by faculty who have been unable to devise a way of teaching classes without being in the classroom. A colleague has suggested to me. an alternative. "NO PARKING- NO TEACHING." This seems like a drastic remedy for amminor virus. It would not take a special act of the Legislature to restrict the number of non-permit auto- mobiles which would be allowed in the parking structures. A TELEPHONE call from some- body would do it. -Prof. Cecil D. Eby Engineering College 4i 'a, 1o . This University Is Ill-Served' vin Coolidge businessman and a sesquicentennial obsessed Presi- dent the Regents are kept in the dark"; -THEY "HAVE chosen to vir- tually ignore every crucial prob- lem faced by the University"; -"IN LARGE measure they act in ignorance, few of them talk seriously with students, and fewer pay any attention to what they do say": -"QUIETLY acquiescing to the irrelevant whims of President Hatcher, the Regents seldom check, question, or propose with force enough to get answers or get things done", -"LAST SUMMER ... the Re- gents were ready to remake Heyns' position here to make it more attractive. But Hatcher dis- suaded them and handled the matter himself. He let Heyns, who was receiving more University- wide acclamation than he ever had, know that his welcome here had worn thin"; --"FROM THE START most of the Regents, along with Vice-Pres- ident Pierpont, staunchly opposed the bookstore," and way if there are quarrels with any of them. At this point, if we accept these facts, at least for the sake of ar- gument, we are ready to begin a "free and open discussion of sub- stantive issues," to use Prof. Wright's phrase. We are ready, to quote the letter of Profs. At- kinson, Edel and Cooperrider, "to criticize [or applaud] the deci- sions of the faculty, the adminis- tration, the Regents, or any oth- er decision-making group on this campus, if [we] believe those de- cisions unsound. This, however, is the first and basic substantive issue on which the official views lof the admin- istration (referring here to Presi- dent Hatcher and the Regents) diverge from those of Daily edi- toral writers, including myself. THAT IS, it takes two to dis- cuss, and thus far The Daily, fac- ulty interested in similar issues, and less well-placed administra- tors have alternately coaxed, shouted, begged, pleaded, de- manded, accused and cried-to no avail. It is impossible to criticize de, cisions if one is both unable to ing as a stimulus to dialog. No such dialog presently exists - and not for lack of criticisms. President Hatcher and the Re- gents do not acknowledge the right of the students-and they subvert through secrecy and mis- information the right of the fac- ulty-to have any effect (not di- rect control but just influence) on the decision-making process (even when the decisions involve these groups directly) through free, open and honest discussion of issues, problems and alternatives. EXAMPLES:h -Is there going to be a theatre built using Regent Power's $1 mil- lion pledge, and where will the remainder of the funds (probably $2-3 million) come from? -How are student fees allocat- ed and what policies govern their allocation? -How much money does the University receive for indirect cost reimbursement and how i s it spent? -What are the various "other University sources" given in the University's financial report for sources of money for most of the new buildings being constructed sity intend to pursue with respect to growth? THESE ARE A FEW issues that presently lie buried in the depths of the administration's decision- making process. And it would probably be a good bet that for every one The Daily knows about several others are yet uncovered. Weare interested in discussion of these issues. As the University grows ever larger and more com- plex the more views and perspec- tives that can be brought to bear on any problem of policy or choice among alternatives, the better the' ultimate decisions will be. There can be no such discus- sion if secrecy is the general rule of administrative operation and if violation of this secrecy and at- tempt at criticism of both it and what it hides is taken for insult and systematically ignored public- ly and passed off privately as misinformed and misdirected. In such an environment com- munication aimed at analysis and furtherance of the University's best interests is effectively stym- ied, yet it is with the protection of the University's vital interests that- everyone here must surely be concerned with. *1 * *4 a