Sictli Jau DilI
Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNNVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
-- UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

Vietnam: From Tragedy to Disaster?

I

Where Opinions Are Pes' 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth WiU Prevan'

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.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1967

NIGHT EDITOR: WALLACE IMMEN


Abortion Bill: Eliminating
Unjust, Outmoded Laws.

THE BILL to legalize abortion and ster-
ilization under certain conditions in-
troduced in the state Senate this week,
has been described as a "hot potato" by
its sponsor, Sen. John McCauley (D-Wy-
andlotte).
This particular "hot potato" has not
been tossed only on the hapless lap of
the Michigan Senate-it is a highly com-
plex issue which must be faced by the
nation as a whole.
Experts estimate that between one and
two million abortions are performed in
this country every year, 90 per cent of
which are illegal. The University of Cali-
fornia School of Public Health claims
that approximately 5,000-100,00 women
die every year in this country as a re-
sult of abortions.
With the exception of six states, abor-
tions are prohibited for any reason oth-
er than preserving the life of the moth-
er. Thus any woman who desires an abor-
tion for psychological, economic or per-
sonal reasons must seek an illegal, un-
safe operation-performed by black-mar-
ket quacks, midwives and incompetent
doctors.
T1ERE IS ALSO a deliberate disregard
of the law by hospitals and doctors
who are deeply concerned about the dan-
ger of "underground" abortions. In a re-
cent California survey the majority of
hospitals reported that they perform
"therapeutic abortions In certain situ-
ations not recognized as legally justified
under the law of the state."
A safe abortion has a price tag, how-
ever, and it is usually high, due to the,
ris (of losing his license) a doctor takes
by performing the illegal operation. Only
the rich can afford the cost: 10 times as
many abortions are performed in private
hospitals as in public institutions.
On th~e basis of these reports, the
American Law Institute, after 10 years
of study, has proposed a model law for
the revision of existing abortion statutes.
The ALI proposes that abortion be legal-
ized for three causes:
-When . continuation of pregnancy
would gravely impair the physical or men-
tal health of the mother;

--When the child might be born with
grave physical or mental defects, and
-When pregnancy resulted from rape,
incest or other felonious intercourse.
'THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S objection to
abortion is based on the belief that the
fetus possesses a soul from the moment
of conception, any destruction of the fe-
tus therefore being an act of murder.
Others object on similar grounds, al-
though they are concernedwith the hu-
man character of the fetus rather than
its spiritual qualities.
Medical and legal experts have opposed.
this point of view by noting that prior
to the fourth month of pregnancy, when
most abortions are performed, the fetus
has not yet developed "many of the char-
acteristics and recognizable features of
humanity."
With the increasing use of the pill and
other contraceptive measures, many claim
that it is no longer necessary to have an
abortion. They object to an abortion on
the grounds that since it has become rel-
atively easy to prevent the creation of a
fetus, be it human or otherwise, there is
no necessity to destroy it.
Contraceptives are the ultimate solu-
tion to the problem of abortion. However,
there must be a vastly increased system
of sex education and contraceptive educa-
tion before abortions can be completely
eliminated.
THE IMMEDIATE solution lies in the
removal of legislation prohibiting
abortion. Society as a whole cannot make
decisions which lie in the domain of
the individual alone. Society does not
have the right to make child-bearing
compulsory.
The bill before the Michigan Senate
represents an admirable first step in deal-
ing with this social and moral dilemma,
and should be enacted into law. But it is
only a beginning.
It should lead to the eventual abol-
ishment of all arbitrary infringements
of the right of the mother to make her
own decision, whether it is based on psy-
chological, medical, economic or any oth-
er personal reasons.
-PAT O'DONOHUE

By DAVID WURFEL
Editor's Note:
David Wurfel is a Visiting
Associate Professor in the po-
litical science department. Per-
manently based at the Univer-
sity of Missouri, he has written
chapters in: "Southeast Asia:
Problems in U.S. Policy"; and
in "Government and Politics in
Southeast Asia." He has con-
tributed articles on the Amer-
ican commitment in Vietnam to
various journals. "Vietnam: A
Proposal" appeared in the In-
dia Quarterly's March, 1965,
issue.
This is the first of a two-
part series.
IN VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh has
laid a very ample trap for
Americans. And the Americans'
with flags flying, led by that
doughty General Rusk, have run,
not walked, into its maw.
Rusk has been quite easily en-
ticed into agreeing with Ho, Lin,
Mao and company, that Vietnam
is the battleground which will de-
cide for all time whether "indi-
rect aggression"or "wars of na-
tional liberation" will succeed in
destroying "freedom" or "impe-
rialism." The battleground was
well chosen. There is nowhere in
the world today where the Com-
munists begin with so many ad-
vantages. Their chances of win-
ning what is essentially a political,
not a military, struggle are excel-
lent. Thus, if the Communists are
not to be allowed to win much
more than they deserve, there
must first be a de-escalation of
Washington's rhetoric.
Communist advantages are read-
ily apparent. Some of them have
been unwittingly bestowed by U.S.
policy. To hearken back to 1942
will be sufficient-at the time of
the formation of the Viet Minh
under communist leadership with
material assistance from the US

Office of Strategic Services and
Chiang Kai-Shek. Before the end
of World War II the Vietnamese
Communists had captured the
leadership of the entire nationalist
movement. No other Communist
party in Southeast Asia can make
that claim. It was a skillful and
popular elite which broadcast the
independence of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam in Septem-
ber, 1945, claiming authority over
the South as well as North. Viet-
namese nationalists under the
guidance of Ho Chi Minh, the
father of the country, have been
figthing for that independence
ever since. Many of the "national-
ists" of contemporary Saigon,
however, fought with or supported
the French against the Viet Minh.
NOT ONLY is the Communist
Party in Vietnam backed by a
government in the North, but in
the South it has enjoyed virtual
governmental status in hundreds
of villages for most of the last
twenty years. No non-Communist
administration has had full control
of the entire countryside at any
time since 1945. For nearly a dec-
ade the administration centered
in Saigon was headed by the de-
votee of a minority religion whose
degree of isolation from the coun-
tryside was unique in Southeast
Asia, partly because of previous
Communist control and partly be-
cause of his own limitations. Com-
munist leadership, on the other
hand, though not primarily of
peasant origin, was forced into
the countryside by the French.
They learned to understand peas-
ant psychology and how to man-
ipulate it to their ends out of the
necessity for survival. No other
Communist Party in Southeast
Asia became primarily reliant on
peasant support from the with-
drawal of the colonial power.
The Communists also benefit

from the legacies of geography and
history. The Red River valley in
North Vietnam is the cradle of
Vietnamese civilization. The Me-
kong delta area, on the other
hand, was colonized by the Viet-
namese only shortly before the
arrival of the French. Modern
Saigon originated as a French
commercial and administrative
center. Hanoi, an ancient Viet-
namese city, remained the focus
of political and cultural life
throughout the French era. The
North Vietnamese have for gen-
erations been regarded more in-
dustrious and dynamic than their
Southern brothers, explained in
part by the almost temperate cli-
mate of the North.
Thus, U.S. forces oppose in
South Vietnam the only Commu-
nist party in Southeast Asia which

or understanding those who do,
the Communist themselves have
used more than gentle persuasion
to preserve the rural-urban gap.
If, in fact, we have chosen the
most difficult terrain for making a
stand against Communist-led rev-
olution in Asia, then our victory
would taste especially sweet-its
impact on revolutionary plotters
elsewhere would be powerful. Tra-
gicnlly, however, especially for
those in Vietnam and in America
who have made great sacrifices,
believing deeply in a cause, there
can probably be no victory.
MILITARY VICTORY, i.e. the
destruction of enemy forces, could
in this context mean only the de-
struction of the whole Vietnamese
people, friend and enemy alike.
Americans, though tolerant of

::" "YL.
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"The United States has
tion on the defense of

staked its global reputa-
a regime whose leaders

a non-Communist government in
Saigon-then there is nothing the
United States can do to bring it
about. The outcome will be de-
termined by a test of wills and of
skills between Saigon and the Na-
tional Liberation Front. The pur-
pose of the U.S. role has some-
times been described as that of
bolstering Saigon's will. We can,
indeed, prevent Ky's surrender,
but we cannot manufacture the
discipline and dedication neces-
sary to build a popular and ef-
fective government. The present
one is not even recognized as
legitimate. In fact, the kind of
persons who might have had such
a potential within them for dedi-
cation and discipline are increas-
ingly alienated by the pervasive
American dominance.
Not only is the massive use of
American military power irrele-
vant-nay, hostile-to the task of
nation-building, but any foreign
power, by definition, is incapable
of stimulating patriotism, least of
all against a nationajist move-
ment. We have not even been able
to persuade the Vietnamese to
establish the kind of institutional
structure, e.g. village self-gov-
ernment, or provided them with
the political context, e.g. inde-
pendence, in which patriotism can
grow.
WE HAVE, on the contrary, in-
sured that cooperation with us is
based in most cases on short-term
minimization of; personal sacri-
fice-not the stuff of which heroes
are made. No government com-
posed of our present collaborators
would stand in Saigon more than
a few months after our departure
-whether in 1967 of 1984. To
fight on with other hopes would
be much less than wise. Loyalty
to impossible objectives may be
courage for an individual, but for
a nation it is disaster.

9

have never found support in the countryside-

and never will as long
survival without it."

as U.S. support allows

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fights for half a nation under the
leadership of the most revered
national hero who rules the other
half, a party which through very
highly motivated cadre was mo-
bilizing, indoctrinating and some-
times governing the peasantry for
nearly twenty years before the
Americans arrived. The United
States has staked its global repu-
tation on the defense of a regime
whose leaders have never found
support in the countryside-and
never will as long as U.S. support
allows survival without it. As if
the U.S.-financed air-conditioned
comfort of Saigon were not enough
to deter Mr. Ky and his friends
from sloggging'in the rice paddies

much cruelty, do not have a stom-
ach for that. Political victory,
defined as merely denying to tfhe
Communists the achievement of
their goal-political dominance in
South Vietnam-could perhaps be
achieved through indefinite oc-
cupation of Vietnam by several
h u n d r e d thousand American
troops. But, in so far as Amer-
icans have genuinely abandoned
colonialist ambitions, this does not
seem to be a policy designed to
win elections.
If victory is defined, however.
as achievement of the goal which
seems to undergird all of Wash-
ington's decisions-preservation of

M

Letters: In Defense of Voice Hecklers'

To the Editor:
MISS EIKER says two contradic-
tory things in her editorial on
the disruption of the Hart-Ford
panel discussion in 'tuesday's
Daily. She submits that. "Unfor-
tunately the only way they (the
students) could be heard was to
interrupt the question period."
Then she says that, "The behavior
of the students was neither becom-
ing nor wholly justified." And la-
ter, "the students, afraid that they
would not be heard, brought dis-
credit to the student community."
The format of written questions
was set up precisely to define dis-
cussion of issues from the floor as
disruption. So when the attempt
was made to discuss the war, this
attempt was attacked as mere dis-
ruption. In this way Hart and
Ford avoided the content of the
questions and hid their complicity
in penocide behind a mask of de-
cency and courtesy. The University
administration used this method
during the ranking sit-ins last tri-
mester. They divided the students
by diverting us to an argument ov-
er maturity. As a result, today we
have a mature committee and no
change in ranking policy.
IF, AS Miss Eiker admits, the
actions of the students were neces-
sary, then it is irrelevant whether
or ont it was becoming, and in-
consistent to say that it was not
wholly justified. Far from bring-
ing discredit, the ability of these
students to see through a hoax

brought them great credit as did
their courage in standing up to
those who are attempting to ter-
rorize and annihilate the people of
Vietnam.
Miss Eiker explicitly gives the
justification for the disruption,
but then condemns the students.
As Jacques Roux says in the final
lines of Marat/Sade:
"When will you learn to see?
"When will you learn to take
sides?"
-Karen Sacks, Grad
William Sacks, Research
Associate
Esther Heitler, Grad
James Heitler, Grad
Leni Solinger, Grad
Alan Solinger, Grad
Airplane Tragedy
To the Editor:
N TUESDAY (March 7) a
short article appeared on the
last page of The Daily noting that
three of the passengers aboard
the airliner which crashed near
Marseilles, Ohio, last Sunday were
University students. It was quite
a shock to see that The Daily,
while filling the greater portion of
its front page with everyday ar-
ticles on alumni drives, petition
deadlines, and student hecklers,
could fins' but three inches of
space between the calendar of the
day and a page-long story on
Musket's next production, for three
students who met such a sudden
and tragic death.

Although I had never known
any of the three students and real-
ize that The Daily's traditional
policy has been to play down ar-
ticles of tragic nature, I still find
it hard to accept the fact that
the immediate loss of three under-
graduates could be treated so
minimally. Not one word of sym-
pathy was expressed on the part
of the student newspaper, and I
wonder whether some of the mem-
bers of our computerized campus
world have become cold enough to
show more concern for social ac-
tivities and community affairs
than for the very lives of the in-
dividuals in that community.
--Robert James Connelly, '67
Editor's Note: The Daily has
had a consistent policy of not
printing student death an-
nouncements. In this instance,
however, we felt that an excep-
tion to the policy was justified.
although not for page one nor
with the details of the tragedy.
The complete story was carried
by other news media available
to the University community.
The members of The Daily staff
will take this opportunity to
epress its sympathies to the fam-
ilies of these students; however,
we believe that it is not the
function of a newspaper to con-
vey condolences. -R.K.
Honor Code
To the Editor:
AS A VETERAN of four years of
commissioned service, includ-

ing two as an instructor of mid-
shipmen at the U.S. Naval Aca-
demy, I would like to take issue
with Jim Heck's editorial on the
USAFA Honor Code.
To begin, it should be noted
that one of the first things that
happens to a young man who joins
the Cadet Wing, or the Brigade at
Annapolis, or the Corps at West
Point, is thatshe is no longer a
civilian. He has joined, of his own
free will, the military establish-
ment, and as such is governed by
the Uniform Code of Military Jus-
tice.
In doing this he gives up many
comon rights that are taken for
granted, for example, the right to
go and come when he pleases (we
have all heard of "being AWOL").
In passing it should be noted that
in the main the rules of that code
are not enforced upon these stu-
dents, except where they commit
acts which would be punishable in
a civil or criminal court. Rather,
at each academy, the students are
governed by a set of regulations
drawn specifically to (1) ade-
quate govern the daily routine,
(2) provide disciplinary measures
where necessary, and (3) instill in
the students those attributes
which are deemed indispensible to
a military officer.
IT IS HARD to foresee what sort
of pressures young men may en-
counter in the future defense of
our country, but if the past and
present are any guide, they may be

extreme.,Should loyalty to a friend
be an acceptable reason for not
ordering him to what may be al-
most certain death-this vaay be
the crucial test. Obedience in the
service is a basic concept, simply
because in many situations there
does not exist either the time to
explain a decision or the chance
for each individual to weigh the
alternatives and choose his own
path. More particularly, those
charged with making decisions, if
only from the standpoint of the
importance of human life, should
be men of the highest caliber.
Finally, the fact that these ca-
dets chose this way of life, in fact,
asked for and competed for this
opportunity to become the leaders
of our military should not be for-
gotten. I submit that the mentality
which deplores the "no tolerance"
rule stems from an improper focus
upon base motives and poor judg-
ment. These are traits which we do
not wish to ascribe to our military
leaders, nor which, I believe, they
wish to possess either individually
or collectively.
-John H. Logie, '69L
All letters must be typed,
double-spaced and should be no
longer than 300 words..All let-
ters are subject to editing;
those over 300 words will gen-
erally be shortened. No unsign-
ed letters will be printed.

m

A Word Before Elections.

. .

STUDENT GOVERNMENT Council re-
ceived a good deal of deserved pub-
licity last semester because some of its
potential power and influence finally
came to the surface.
The draft referendum, the "student
power movement" and the establishment
of the vice-presidential advisory boards
were not disconnected events. Through
them all, Council, with campus support,
raised issues of vital importance to the
whole University-where does the student,
fit -in, what is his ;role and what is his
proper sphere of power.
()NE POSSIBLE ANSWER to the ques-
tion of the students' role is the ad-
visory board system. Council recently ap-
pointed students to fill boards to four
vice-presidents. It will be up to the new
Council to evaluate this system and ulti-
mately to decide its fate.
Most important, however, is the spe-
cial commission on decision-making, es-
tablished by President Hatcher in the
midst of the student power movement.
It will be an important job of the new

Council to keep in contact with the com-
mission and to offer ideas for its consid-
eration.
This is vital, because it will be largely
up to the new Council to react to the
commission's suggestions and to present
them to the student body.
It is no secret that the commission is
examining SGC and might well suggest
a complete overhaul of the present struc-
ture. It will be the decision of the new
Council if and how to reviseSGdC.
THE~SE DECISIONS' -- on the advisory
boards, the, commission's suggestions
and the restructuring of SGC-are prob-
ably the most important ones Council
will be making next year, and their im-
plications are immense.
The issues, in short, will determine
the future place of students at this Uni-
versity and their representative voice in
the form of a student government.
They are worth a lot of thought by all
SGC candidates.
-SUSAN SCHNEPP
Acting Personnel Director

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Dr. Mannpelli and His Famous Experiments

'Bizneyland'

By DAN OKRENT
"FILM IS the most important
art form of the Twentieth
Century. It is the art which em-
bodies the technical developments.
in the modern world."
So speaks Prof. Marvin Felheim
of the, English department, an
avid cinema devotee and an ama-
teur expert. The subject of which
he speaks, the film, is currently
enjoying the use of its own gal-
lery, as the Cinema Guild's Ann
ArboraFilm Festival moves into
the fourth day of its five-day
stand.
Originated five years and mas-
terminded then and now by
George Manupelli, a faculty mem-
ber in the College of Architecture
and Design, the AAFF has grown
to proportions reaching far out
past the confines of Southeastern
Michigan and enjoying the recog-
nition of international experi-
mental films circles.
Oddly, however, the Festival is
little known here in Ann Arbor
itself. As English teaching fellow
Edward Germain points out, the
AAFF is one of the world's two
largest experimental film pro-
grams, yet retains its solvency
(the Festival this year is award-
ing $6,000 in prize money) chiefly
by farming the program out on
the academic circuit.

what is generally considered to be
pornographic by pointing out that
it is no worse for an audience to
watch "Flaming Creatures" than
it is for the public to view similar
"obscenity" in painting or sculp-
ture. Or than for American book-
buyers to read vivid description in
black and white in countless dime
novels.
Felheim calls for an increased
awareness in film, to supplant
purely teclinical filmmaking. He
points out that there are but two
courses in the University dealing
with motion pictures, both (one
in the Speech dept., the other in
the A&D School) devotedsto tech-
nical production. F'ilm as an art,
he says, "is neglected in higher
education across the nation."
Presumably, the Ann Arbor
Film Festival seeks to fill the "ed-
ucational void" that Felheim is
critical of. After the last of the
movies is projected on the Archi-
tecture Auditorium screen tomor-
row night, the show will be picked
up intact and "road companied"
across the nation, with a schedule
including major universities and
art museums from Boston to
California.
BY THE END of the current
five-day run, 2,500 'people will
have paid to see the festival's en-
tries, selected from a preliminary

4

0

IE STATUS of big business on college
campuses across the country has been
dropping steadily during recent years. One
poll shows that in 1964 only 14 per cent
of the Harvard senior class entered busi-
ness, down from 39 per cent in 1960. And
a 1966 survey has found that only 12 per
cent of all American college students want
to enter business.
Accordingly, the University of Michi-
gan has decided it's time to glorify, if not
beautify, the corporate image with a "Bus-
iness Hall of Fame."
dimwn w st eeWra im1 -.. RnnA Apn n nt

the hall will cause visitors to pause and
reflect upon their heritage; that it will
inspire respect for the great entrepreneurs
who have done so much to build our na-
tion. Ideally, the hall will make one feel
that he is in the presence of greatness."
Lewis suggests that attractive contend-
ers for nomination in 1968 are Henry Ford,
Andrew Carnegie, J. Pierpont Morgan,
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., James B. Duke,
James J. Hill and Edward H. Harriman.
(NE REQUIREMENT for membership in
Bizneyland is that a nominee must be
dead for at least three years. The direc-

Andy Warhol (center, wearing shades) and The Velvet Underground

structor emphasizes that the
AAFF differs from the famous fes-
tivals (Cannes, Berlin) in that
it deals entirely and exclusively
with experimental screenings.
EXACTLY WHAT is an experi-

The exponents of technique might
say that subject matter is tech-
nique, that the film that consists
of nine minutes of flickering
"countdown" signals is indeed a
film with the technique as the
subject,

applauds the popularity that the
four local commercial theaters
have garnered as a good sign of
the recognition of film as culture!.
he himself deplores the current
rash of Antonioni or Fellini pic-
tures which metropolitan critics
might clasify as expeimental. No

4