Seventy-Sixth Year
r i r
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNVERSITY OF MTTHTGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDFNT PuL itCAT1O0N-
The Enormity of the
Task
ere OjTiniong Are tree. 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR. MICH.
Truthi Will Prevail
NFWS Pr ONU-: '764-557
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily ex
or the editors. This anus
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1966
press the individual opinions of staff writers
t be noted in all repints.;
NIGH' EIOR: SUSAN SC'HNKPP
Student Rights an the Draft.
AReferendum Is tLe Answer
By HARVEY WASSERMAN
Editorial Director
THERE ARE TIMES when, in
fighting for large-scale causes,
small battles are won that make
the whole thing seem worthwhile.
For example, Grenada, Miss.
After James Meredith was shot
the size of his voter registration
march jumped from about 15 to
sizes varying from 100-300 along
the road to Jackson.
IN THE NORTHERN part of
the state. about 80 miles due south
of Memphis, was Grenada. A town
of about 15.000, quiet, sleepy Gre-
nada had a reputation as being
one of the worst towns in the
very worst of states for the Ne-
gro.
Three civil rights workers I
talked to admitted they were
afraid even to set foot in Gre-
nada ,and one said he had been
beaten up there two weeks be-
fore. It was the largest town in
the state without a local civil
rights organization.
But if ever a single event "re -
made' 'a town, the arrival of the
Meredith march in Grenada seem.
ed to do just that. The local
churches had been laying the
groundwork. building up enthu-
siasm. The day the march hit
town it was warm and sunny. The
marchers themselves were in high
spirits - the highest they were
ever to be on the march.
And somehow it carried over to
the town Negroes. Southern Ne-
groes have been schooled by gen-
erations of white pressure to be
apathetic and unaware of their
potential political power, but that
one day black Grenadians joined
the march. They all knew the
Klan was taking pictures of every-
body in the march, and they knew
that each local Negro who was
seen by his white boss or neigh-
bor ran the risk (and it was a
pretty good risk) of being fired
from his job or shot at.
BUT THERE was something in
the air, and join they did. By the
time we got to the square in the
middle of town 400 of them had
committed themselves and the
march was big enough to fill the
town square to overflowing.
After speeches and singing, the
bulk of the marchers gathered
at the entrance of the county
courthouse. At that time 100 Ne-
groes registered to vote for the
first time in their lives. Later
in the afternoon, 50 more register-
ed.
That night. Martin Luther King
announced that the Grenada
county officials had, for the first
time in the town's history, con-
sented to keep the registration fa-
cilities open all evening so that
those who had been unable to reg-
ister in the day would now have
the opportunity.
And the next day people went
from door to door efcouraging
townsneople to vote. There were,
like the previous day, no inci-
dents. Before that day, anyone
identified as a rights worker would
have been afraid to set foot alone
on a Grenada street, day or night.
Now, everyone from the march
was walking around freely.
WHEN THE MARCH left town
over 700 local Negroes had reg-
istered to vote. In a movement
whose trademark is the long inch
forward or two steps forward
one step hack, Grenada seemed
like a real triumph.
It was the high point of the
year for the civil rights move-
ment. Of course. the Grenada
campaign all happened that wav
because racist Gov. Paul Johnson
had willed it. After Meredith was
shot it was Johnson who asked the
white people of Mississippi to "ab-
stain" from any more violence on
the march for fear of attracting
more attention and Northern
marchers. So he packed 50 state
patrolmen around marchers and
the white Grenadians obeyed.
But it still seemed as though
we had accomplished something.
Later on. in Greenwood. there was
violence, but somehow the tri-
umph in Grenada made it seem
less ugly, and a worthwhile price.
The rest of the summer was de-
voted to the northern cities-the
headlines belonged to Black Pow-
er and to Chicago and Omaha and
Cleveland. The South was forgot-
ten after the Mississippi march.
The problexas of the urban ghetto
and of the hate in places like
Cicero were the issues people talk-
ed about.
EXCEPT THAT all summer
there were articles from Grenada
-"Gas Bomb Negro Demonstra-
tors," "Negro Demonstrators Beat-
en," "Negro Pupils Dodge Bricks"
and the like.
So I guess the white benevolence
in Grenada lasted about a day.
Those 700 Negroes are no more
going to vote in the fall elections
than Medgar Evers and Emmett
Till.
And now the summer is over.
Stokely's in jail, the movement
is broke and is expending valu-
able energy on superficial seman-
tics. The white liberals have bolt-
ed to where they wanted to go in
the first place except for their
shallow consciences.
The Southern Negro lives in pov-
erty, ignorance and fear and the
Northern Negro lives in poverty,
ignorance and twisted despair. And
the whites hate no more and no
less than they ever have.
"DID YOUR UNIVERSITY'S regis-
tration building remind you of a
draft board? Mine did." Maybe it was
just a branch office.
rT E GR!DING SYSTEM has never been
;e1 In the past students have had
their careors determined to a large ex-
tent b-, ystem which is based on spot-
c4'hecks, oir often inaccurate and irrelevant
#s. o LTnt.teacher compatibility.
Now the draft boards have adopted that
samre system to see who serves in the
army and who doesn't, perhaps ultimate-
ly who lives and who dies.
If the University administration wants
to become a branch of the Selective
Service Board that -is its own business.
But not at the expense of the student.
In a decision whose weight rests wholly
on the student as an individual and not
on the University as an institution, the
student has the right to be consulted.
The University is in no way affected
by the compilation of class rank, but
the' students are. It is the students who
are forced to compete for grades under,
the threat of being drafted. It is the stu-
dents who must live in an atmosphere
where the values and goals of education
are perverted by a desire to keep a stu-
dent deferment.
AND AS THINGS stand now the stu-
dents have no choice but to submit
their class ranks to their draft boards.
Most students are submitting their grades
-an individual's refusal to do so is noth-
ing but a sacrificial protest.
A draft referendum would give the
students a real choice-a choice that
rightfully belongs to them since it is
their fates that are to be decided.
The majority decision on the referen-
dum must be the guideline for action by
the administration. The University must
make its first commitment to its stu-
dents and not to the draft boards.
And thus the referendum would at last
set a precedent for students making their
own decision on questions which direct-
ly j eooardize their fate.
Both Student Government Council and
Voice political party are considering sug-
gestions to hold a student referendum on
the draft. Ideally, the referendum should
be set up by SGC, as the representative
voice of the student body, with all inter-
ested groups and individuals contribut-
ing their support.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY of SGC to
give the students the opportunity to
voice their opinions. And then it becomes
the responsibility of the University ad-
ministration to let them decide their own
fate. -SUSAN ELAN
Viet Nam Elections: Fraud and Fancy
A Bad Start "or IlA
By nv ""D OBOFF
AN ESTIMATED 80.6 per cent
of the registered voters of
South Viet Nam turneddout for
the elections Sundav, d-snite're-
ports of increased Viet Cong ter-
rorism. The purpose of the elec-
tions is simply to choose repre-
sentatives to an assembly which
will draft a new constitution for
the war-torn country-with the
real power still in the hands of
the ruling military junta, at least
until the election of a civilian
government exoected to take place
some time next year. Nevertheless,
the unexoectedly large turnout has
been hailed by U.S. officials and
the Saigon government as a re-
affirmation of the extensive poli-
cal control o fthe government and
of the desire of the South Viet-
namese people for a truly demo-
cratic government in the Western
tradition.
However, if we examine more
closely the conditions under which
the elections took place, several
questions arise which cast consid-
erable doubt on the extent to,
which these claims may actually
be considered valid.
THE FIRST question concerns
the validity of the government's
claim of an 80.6 per cent turn-
out, and the significance, if any.
of this figure. It is a recognized
fact that in elections of this na-
ture, where the image of the gov-
ernment in power could be en-
hanced by a large turnout, con-
siderable pressure will be placed
on local officials to make a good
showing. The Associated Press of
Sept. 12 states that: "There was
evidence that some provincial and
district officials-under pressure
from Saigon-had reported some
padded totals. At one point, in-
formation officials in the central
voting office in Saigon had a pro-
vincial voting total with an ob-
vious error of more than a million
votes."
Thus, even with the professod
efforts of the government to run
"a fair and democratic" election,
the extraordinarily high figures, -
which jumped from 70-74 per cent
on Monday to 80.6 per cent on
Wednesday, seem to have no real
validity.
GRANTING that the turnout.
while not as high as stated, prob-
ably represented a majority of
the registered voters, one must
still ouestion what seament of the
population is actually represented
by those who voted. The Saieon
government has claimed that the
areas with the greatest turnout
were those supposedly controlled
by the Viet Cong. If we take a
closer look. however, we find that
these are the areas with the larg-
est military outoosts. 1n addition,
because the Communists prohibit-
ed their supporters from taking
part in the elections, the per cent
of the people registered in these
areas is small and almost entirely
anti-Communist.
LASTLY, the fact that many
voters turned out despite threats
of Communist reprisals has been
cited as evidence that the major-
ity of the South Vietnamese are
committed to the ideals of de-
mocracy and to the war against
the Communists. However, the
New York Times of September 13
points out that, "many South Viet-
namese, it was acknowledged, un-
doubtedly went to the polls not
out of choice but because of a de-
sire not to offend village chiefs
carrying out the government's or-
ders for a large turnout."
This raises a question of mo-
tives. If many were simply acting
under pressure or a desire to
please, and considering the fact
that the Vietnamese people have
little knowledse of the democrat-
ic process or its ideals in the first
place, commitment to democracy'
can hardly be discussed in these
circumstances.
What all this means is that,
while the government's claims of
political predominance may be
valid, there is considerable doubt
that the election was either a
plebiscite supporting a constitu-
tional, representative government
or the expression of a strong an-
ti-Communist sentiment. A con-
stitution convention, on way or
another, was set up. That's all.
WHAT, THEN, are the actual
long-range implications of the
election? First, the mere fact that
the elections were held lends a
sens' of lepitimacy to the military
government, which has been rul-
ing for the past 15 months with-
out any constitutional power. Al-
so, by providing for popular elec-
tions and the possibility of a dem-
ocratic civilian government, the
government has tried to show the
world that it is concerned with
the welfare of the people. It now
hopes to be able to prosecute the
war without opposition from those
who claim that the war should
take a back seat to efforts to bet-
ter the economic. social and poli-
tical conditions of the country.
Second, no radical change in
policy can be expected merely be-
cause elections for a constitutional
convention were held. All of the
117 delegates to the convention are
anti-Communist, because the can-
didates were carefully screened by
the government. Communists and
neutralists were prohibited from
runnin-:. By the same token, any
government which results from
the convention will be adamenntlv
onposed by the Viet Cong. who
have claimed that the elections.
were a "fraud." meant to perpe-
trate the military regime in pow-
er, entrench the U.S. military pres-
ence, and dull the discontent of
the people.
Therefore. it is evident that the
war will be prosecuted as stronp-
ly as ever, desoite claims by the
successful candidates that they
will work to better the economic
and social conditions of the peas-
ants, whose lives and property are
being destroyed by war sunoosedly
being foucrht in their best inter-
ests.
FINALLY, while many of the
elected representatives have ex-
pressed dissatisfaction with the
military government, and only 20
of the 117 are military men, it is
highly unlikely that a democratic
government will arise out of the'
constitutional convention. In es-
tablishing the elections, the mili-
tary government included provi-
sions stating that it would have
to approve anything that came
out of the convention. that its
own proposals would have top pri-
ority in debate, and that it would
retain full governing power until
possible presidential elections can
be held some time in 1967.
Yet even if elections are held
for a civilian government, it is
highly unlikely that this govern-
ment will reresent the people. As
a noted political scientist who has
lived for many years in Viet Nam
points out. the majority of those
who voted probably didn't know
what an election was, and were
just carrying out the orders of the
village chief or provincial leader.
IN THE LAST analysis, we must
conclude that the election in it-
self does not provide the answer
to the real problems facing South
Viet Nam: the need for the estab-
lishment of a true peace and of a
government through which the
Vietnamese people can regulate
their own lives, without coercion
or foreign intervention.
We must not allow ourselves to
be fooled into believing that eith-
er the Saigon government or our
own has the best interests of the
people at heart merely because
one exercise in popular govern-
ment was allowed to take place.
The war will undoubtedly be re-
newed 'with increasing vigor, as
shown by the stepped-up military
campaigns in the past few days,
The elections can offer the prom-
ise of a bright future for Viet
Nam. but only if concerned citi-
zens in this country and around
the world maintain a concerted ef-
fort to ensure that the professed
goals of-and not the ulterior mo-
tives behind - the elections are
turned into reality.
GENERAL CONSENSUS of opinion in
the residence halls is that Inter-House
Assembly does nothing. If Monday night's
meeting is any indication of the coming
year, that consensus will be proven cor-
rect.
President Sherry Meyer, '69, called the
meeting for 7:30 p.m. She then proceeded
to announce that she was due at another
meeting--at 7:30 p.m. Rushing through
the business at hand, the group dispensed
with the minutes from the lastpeeting
lat year and sat tight while the presi-
dent zipped through her prospectus.
Unfortunately, she had no concrete
plans to outline; rather Miss Meyer mere-
ly mentionel some of the things that
would be coming under discussion in the
future. It is doubtful that any meaning-
ful plans will come out of an organiza-
tion that did not even have an executive
board meeting before the first meeting of
the year.
BUT THE MAJOR disappointment of
the evening was the opposition to and
consequent withdrawal of a motion made
by Steve Brown, '69, who is running an
excellent speaker program in South Quad
this year. He. asked for $15 to help with
publicity costs.
It hardly seems plausible that an orga-
nization set up to aid and advise the resi-
dence hall governments and to "continue
the learning process outside the class-
room" should turn down a proposal such
as Brown's, especially when it has as much
money as IHA does. It would be to the
benefit of all students for IHA to back
South Quad's program with any funds or
assistance SQC might need.
MORE SERIOUSLY, IHA's refusal points
to a weak organization. Excluding
Student Government Council, IHA has
jurisdiction over more students than any
other campus organization. Each dorm
resident pays 50 cents to IHA through his
dorm house, allowing IHA to finance its
substantial projected budget of $4,211.
But IHA is a new organization and has
its problems. First, a valuable source of
strength is being missed as upperclass-
men who could offer the organization
much-needed leadership and guidance
do not seem to be much interested in the
organization. If IHA could attract their
interest it would help.
But IHA isn't going to be attracting
much of anything until its executive
board pulls together. Miss Meyer and her
officers had better develop a means of
communication with each other and stop
bickering or there will be a whole year
of meetings like Monday's--hardly worth
the bother.
And there is certainly no lacking for
potential programs. There is a conclave
of residence \hall officers in October, for
example. South Quad's idea for the
speaker program could be taken up by
IHA and made into an all-campus pro-
gram. Resources could be pooled for sem-
inars and for study groups.
Perhaps some community work as well
-Miss Meyer mentioned one project con-
cerning the Jones school, another for a
bucket drive. Perhaps IHA could use its
resources to mobilize support for the tu-
torial project, or provide programs of
its own for the community.
THE CHIEF RATIONALE for merging
the men's Inter-Quadrangle Council
with women's Assembly Association was
for the sake of efficiency and added pow-
er. Monday's meeting was quite an unim-
pressive start on IHA's first full year. At
50 cents a head, dorm residents deserve
much more.
-DEBBIE REAVEN
LETTERS 'T O' HE EDITOR:
Obeying the Law What About Unions?
To the Editor:
pRESIDENT HATCHER'S de-
fense of the University's re-
lease of organization membership
lists to HUAC, as quoted by The
Daily, is that: "The University
must obey the law. It cannot sup-
port those portions of the law
which it is willing to accept and
discard the others."
This has not always been the
University's position. For exam-
ple, there is a state law requiring
that the University bargain col-'
lectively with its employes. The
University has refused to obey
this law and is challenging it in
court. There is another state law
which gives state officials the
right to review the plans for build-
ings constructed with state funds.
The University has circumvented
this law by seeking other sources
of funds.
THE UNIVERSITY has chal-
lenged and circumvented these
laws, at no small material and
political cost to itself, in order to
uphold the principle of the Uni-
versity's constitutional independ-
ence. Is not the principle of in-
tellectual freedom worthy of sim-
ilar defense?
-Eugene Feingold
Associate Professor
Course Evaluation
To the Editor:
YOUR "Questions Please" request
on the front page of the Sep-
tember 13th issue of The Michi-
gan Daily seems a godsend. It as-
sures your readers that you will
come to their rescue in "their
dealings with that bureaucratic
jungle known as the multiversity,"
Reaehinvr the RightW ay
PROJECT OUTREACH represents the
kind of revolutionary approach to edu-
cation that the large university too often
lacks.
This unique psychology experiment, ini-
tiated last year by teaching fellows from
the psychology department, allows stu-,
dents in over half the sections of Psy-
chology 101 and 191 to substitute practi-
cal experience in mental hospitals, dis-
cussion groups, and various social proj-
ects for one of their four class hours.
The project is a step towards the type
of education that progressive educators
are now calling for: an education in more
than facts and figures, an education en-
lightening people's relations with each
other.
PRESIDENT HATCHER talked of this
type of education in his address at
Hill Auditorium. He urged students to
and the 17 who have started the project
this year.
Much of the present Project Outreach's
success can be attributed to the extant
freedom which teaching fellows enjoy:
freedom to employ new teaching methods
with little restriction by the department.
This heritage renovation is what makes
the University great.
BUT THAT PROJECT Outreach is "start-
ed" is not enough. Robert Rosensein,
Outreach coordinator, has said he would
like to see the program extended by
teaching fellows in the sociology, politi-
cal science, history, anthropology, and
economics departments. We agree.
A program in economics courses, for in-
stance, which would allow students to ob-
serve the workings of the Federal Reserve
System or of the stock exchange; a proj-
ect in political science giving credit for
M-S
promising them that you "could
deal with" all sorts of beastly
questions which administration,
faculty, and students have been
struggling to cope with for years.
Bless you, but before you be-
gin, could you untangle for us
your own explanation ofThe
Daily's part in the Student
Evaluate Courses" booklet, pub-
lished by you August 30th?
I refer, in particular, to your
response to Prof. Freedman's let-
ter (September 8) questioning the
validity of the booklet. To avoid
any confusion, your "Editor's
Note" must be reprinted in full:
The exact status of last se-
mester's Course Evaluation
Booklet has been hard to de-
termine. There was an agree-
ment between Student Govern-
ment Council and The Daily,
and the task was undertaken by
a former Daily staff member, but
he was no longer a Daily editor
at the time. Except for sporadic
part-time labor and the fact
that the shop of the Student
Publications Building did the
printing, there was no on-going
connection between the booklet
and the staff of the Daily.
THIS IS DIFFICULT to inter-
pret. What, exactly, do you mean
by the "exact status" of the book-
let? Even though my name was
not chosen by this mysterious
"former Daily staff member"'
(though "no longer a Daily edi-
tor at the time"), I was inter-
ested in ThesDaily's selection of
faculty names and its attempts
to interpret the opinions of the
meager number of students who
responded to the call (shades of
the HUAC affair). But, as far as
the "status" of the booklet is con -
cerned, I took it to be a piece of
reporting grossly beneath the dig-
nity of a respectable newspaper,
for it printed as news what was
clearly an interpretive piece of
writing, and did it, as Prof. Freed-
man pointed out, without making
it to be the responsibility of The
Daily?
YOUR BUREAUCRACY baffles
me. Do come to my rescue. These
are "distress cries" from one mem-
ber of the University who still
enjoys wandering through the
jungle known as The Michigan
Daily.
-Arthur J. Harris
Assistant Professor of English
RFK
To the Editor:
DAVID BERSON'S editorial on
Sen. Robert Kennedy is a fine
example of a critical weakness
which is prevalent among the New
Left. It is an astounding political
naivete.
Mr. Berson accepts LBJ's "cold-
blooded" political maneuverings as
part of the President's image.
yet expresses astonishment at the
thougrht of Bobby acting likewise.
In other words, it's OK for that
crafty, ole' Texan to get his hands
dirty, but Bobby, author of three
books, conqueror of Big Bad Hof-
fa-my God, not Bobby! Not one
of us!
Exaggerated idealism has no
place in practical politics. The op-
eration of government and the me-
chanics of diplomacy involve hu-
man intercourse. When the power
stak-s are hinh, politicians and
diplomats don't behave as if they
were attending a Hatcher tea.
I'M NOT condoning blackmail
or payoffs, but I don't understand
how so intelligent a student as
Mr. Brson can describe Sen. Ken-
nedy's intervention in the N.Y.
judicial race as "petty politick-
ing." Man, them's the rules of
the game. Play by 'em or die a
lonely death. How else could RFK
have -monstrated his ability to
cor., tol th'n vast Domocratic party
machinery in N.Y.?
This is not to say that men of
hi-h ideals have no place in our
poltical system. I would, be the
first to prostrate myself Wefore
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