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May 13, 1965 - Image 2

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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1965-05-13

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* 0It IMidI4gan Bai1y
Seventy-Fifth Year
EDIT AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATION:
Student Activists Hit Major Setbacks

Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth W~ill Prevail

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, MAY 13, 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL BADAMO
Modern Edueation Gives
Knowledge, No Understanding

THE INCEPTION of new teaching meth
ods in mathematics, involving the nov
el use of symbols for numbers in teachin
mathematical concepts, is exciting - bu
only if it represents the beginning ofi
complete overhaul in American educa
tional methods.
These first meager steps cast into so
ciety students somewhat better equippe
to understand computer age technology
and be such technology good or bad, it i
a fact. One ultimate value of educatio
should be an understanding of at leas
some facets of the contemporary environ
ment.
NOW CONSIDER what should be a re
lated, more general aim of educatio:
-to make the educated man at home i
today's megalopolis - and at once th
glaring flaw in America's entire schoo
system, from kindergarten through PhD
is apparent.
The educated man doesn't feel at hom
and furthermore he doesn't even feel ade
quate if he stops to think about his use
fulness. He should not be considered edu
cated if he fails to consider his adequac
and usefulness or lack of it.
This brings us to what should be th
third aim of education-to give men
sense of their usefulness and instill i
them a desire to be utile.
To reiterate, the first aim is to im
part an understanding of the environ
ment and the second is to give men
basis for evaluating their social ade
quacy.
THE THIRD AIM-to give men a desir
to be useful-is prime, but before dis
cussing methodology for implementing<
system to make men utile, contemplat
for a moment the nature of society, whic
is essentially a maze of problems whic
must be solved lest the disutility of me
set in.
Remember carefully to think of societa
problems only in terms of institutions
Once the welfare of the most minut
parts of society-individuals-become
foremost in consideration in solving th
problems of institutions-a much large
part of society-all is lost, since individ
uals merely represent the problems o
society in microcosm and society's ill
cannot be cured by dealing with the mi
crocosm and its ills but instead with th
sick, societal institutions created b
JUDITH WARREN..... ................. Co-Edto
ROBERT HIPPLER.....................Co-Edit
EDWARD HERSTEIN. ....... .Sports Edito
b JUDITH FIELDS Business Manage
JEFFREY LEEDS.............. Supplement Manage
THOMAS COPI................Circulation Manage
NIGHT EDITORS: W. Rexford Benoit, Michael Ba
damo, Robert Moore, Barbara Seyfried, Bruce Was
serstein.
The Daily is a member of the Associated Press an
Collegiate Press Service.
The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the
use of ali news dispatches credited to it or otherwIs
credited to the newspaper. All rights of re-publicatio
of all other matters here are also reserved.
Subscription rates: $4 for IlIA and B ($4.50 by mai)
$2 for IIA or B ($2.50 by mail).
Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich
Published daily Tuesday through Saturday morning

- myriad millions of aforementioned prob-
- lem-bound microcosms.
g
t SOCIETY SUFFERS because its so-called
a educated men lack first perspective
(remember the trap of treating only the
microcosmic individual); and second,
nonattachment. True, burying the cru-
d sader's axe in a sick societal institution
' is a little like burying same in your own
n mother's head, since the society you as-
t sault is after all the society which spawn-
ed you. But the hands holding the axe
remain steady in their mission of exorcis-
ing the rot, keeping in mind that the
- most effective change comes from with-
n .
n in. .
e Because our society and its culture are
l certainly not all bad, the properly-edu-
, cated modern man will realize the dis-
utility of anarchy. He will attack society
e, only piecemeal instead of seeking means
of total change. The rotten tree will fall;
the landscape remain beautifully intact.
But cultivation of a discerning eye to
y pick out the bad tree requires sedulous
inculcation of perspective on the land-
e scape as a whole. Is the destroyed tree
a really the most offensive in the entire
n landscape, or might its downfall precipi-
tate withering of the whole orchard?
- HAVING BEEN TAUGHT the perspec-
tive which enables him to pick the
_ proper tree, and having completed his
task, the properly-educated man then
stands back feeling at home in his self-
improved surroundings, and senses the
e magnificent extent of his usefulness.
a Why must the properly educated man
e show nonattachment? Because the dead
h tree might be one planted lovingly years
h ago by the same man who chopped it
n down. Let him not dismay. Not only will
his sense of adequacy and achievement
d eventually override such dismay, but cul-
tivation of non-involvement will allow
* him to revel unhindered in the perfec-
e tion of his learned and constructive-de-
S structive deed.
e
r -
- THUS THE IDEAL grand design for
f America's future educational system is
s one which provides men with knowledge
and understanding of society; one which
e puts him at ease in the megalopolis de-
y spite an environment offering fertile
ground for alienation; and one which in-
stills in men a desire to act usefully, even
if this involves destruction-a concept
almost antithetical to teachings of the
present system.
ab A subsidiary necessity for any respect-
or able new system is teaching of nonin-
r
r volvement, since the properly educated
r man following the dictates of the new
r credo may have to destroy that which he
- has been taught to love. The inculcation
of a perspective on total society to pre-
vent ill-considered acts is also impera-
tive.
Se Today's educational system shelters
n its students, and only approximates one
of the above values-knowledge of the
; environment-and this without under-
standing it.k
% - -W. REXFORD BENOIT

EDITOR'S NOTE: In today's ar-
ticle, the seventh in a series, Phil-
ip Sutin, Grad, continues to trace
the path of student activism at the
University from 1960 to the present.
By PHILIP SUTIN
DURING 1962, A year in which
The Daily was sapped of much
of its crusading fervor by the in-
terference of the Board in Control
of Student Publications in ap-
pointments, the student activist
movement suffered other major
setbacks.
Voice fell under the strong-will-
ed domination of Robert Ross,
who became its chairman in
March, 1962. His nine-month reign
intensified V o i c e 's leadership
problems.
From its beginning Voice has
been run-to some degree-by a
small tightly-knit group. When
Voice was first established, some
refused to actively join Voice be-
cause it was run by a clique.
IN ADDITION, the Political
Issues Committee, most of whose
members objected to Voice on
these grounds, also wished to
maintain its discussion and speak-
er program, which it feared Voice
would not continue. The commit-
tee continued to function sporadi-
cally until spring, 1962.
This diffidence never reached
the status of a feud, but illustrated
Voice's chronic leadership prob-
lem. Ross intensified this problem
with his strong personality, ex-
pansive vision and glowing ambi-
tion. Voice was his personal in-
strument.
"There was a dampening of
leadership. He was way ahead of

Challenge also died out. Its last
program was the ,Challenge of
Higher Education, held in con-
junction with the Conference on
the University. It withered at both
its extremities and center. The
seminar sessions were ill attended.
Its leadership remained static,
failing to attract new and young-
er blood. Many - such as Ralph
Kaplan - were involved in Voice
and other organizations. As they
left Challenge, they were not re-
placed.
AFTER THE spring of'1962, the
decline of activism was rapid,
although the activist era was not
to expire until the following
spring.
NSA, that transmitter of the
activist ideal, came under contin-
uing fire from the right. It was
criticized for venturing into po-
litical areas which were beyond
the association's business. Critics
said that the association was un-
representative of its membership.
They attacked the NSA procedure
of allowing its executive board to
pass legislation unfinished by the
annual congress. They portrayed
NSA as being far removed from
students, an expensive burden.
The far right, notably Young
Americans for Freedom, made the
most vociferous attacks and at-
tempted to disrupt NSA congress-
es. But the more incideous threat
lay with moderate conservatives.
They believed that NSA was lit-
erally "an association of student
governments" which should not
act politically except to strengthen

SEATED AT A 1962 Student Government Council meeting are, from left to right, Executive Vice-Presi-
dent Thomas Brown, President Steven Stockmeyer--who was also head of the campus Young Repub-
licans, and Union President Robert Finke, who was head of the anti-NSA organization Better Off Out.
Second from right is Robert Ross, whose tight leadership created problems in Voice in 1962.

to campus. Instead, SGC set up an
NSA committee to tightly control
NSA activities on campus.
On Oct. 25, 1962, anti-NSA pro-
ponents failed to get a two-thirds
council vote to put the issue to a
referendum. A week later, the
nucleus of a group later to be
known as Better Off Out raised
1100 signatures to put NSA on the
Nov. 14 election ballot.
An intense two-week campaign
was held. NSA supporters brought
the NSA national leadership to
campus. The Daily devoted much
news and editorial space in a
manner generally favorable to the
association.
The Young Republicans, the
council conservatives and to some
extent IFC and IQC were mar-
shalled on the other side.
THE NSA referendum drew the
largest turnout in SGC history.
Some 7150 persons voted. on NSA
while 7193 voted in the SGC race.
The University's membership in
the association was sustained by
184 votes, much to the surprise of
its supporters. They credit the
victory to foreign students and
house - to - house canvassing on
election day which brought out
the crucial votes.
Stockmeyer, however, led Ross
in the SGC election.
NSA, the following summer,
split the powerful national execu-
tive board into a national super-
visory board and a congress stag-
ing committee and reduced these
group's policy - making powers.
NSA leadership also drifted right-
ward, activists being replaced with
moderate liberals. These moderate
sentiments more accurately re-
flected NSA's student government
constituency; the leadership of
NSA byactivists was a somewhat
unnatural thing.
TOM HAYDEN returned to
campus after a year's absence that
fall, but with little campus im-
pact. He established the Social
Action Center which was located
in the basement of his apartment.
He brought Paul Potter, a for-
mer NSA vice-president, and sev-
eral other leading SDS figures
with him. They established Ann
Arbor as the heart of SDS al-

though its national office was in
New York.
The Social Action Center had a
diverting effect on Voice, which
joined SRS after nearly two years
of sometimes agonizing debate.
The hesitancy of picking up the
SDS membership from the defunct
Political Issues Committee was
caused by a fear of losing campus
contact by joining a national stu-
dent organization.
THIS, IN fact, did happen. As
the McEldowneys note in their cri-
tical history of Voice, "This (SDS
membership) further increased the
tendency to look outside the cam-
pus for issues and programs. . . .
The orientation became quite
clearly one in which demonstra-
tions and campus education pro-
grams (on national issues) became
the primary concern."
The Social Action Center and
later SDS's Economic Research
and Action Project created a schi-
zophrenia within Voice. There was
a strong pull toward national SDS,
as represented by the center.
Voice's role and identity became
cloudy, to its detriment.
The center also recruited people
who might otherwise have gone to
Voice.
Voice was heard from only
occasionally, putting out plat-
forms that stressed SDS positions
on national and world questions
rather than local issues.
CANDIDATES were run inter-
mittently. Voice stopped running
candidates per se, but rather en-
dorsed them. Less of the organiza-
tion was committed in election
campaigns. With the exception of
last spring, Voice maintained its
hold on the third of the electorate
guaranteed by the proportional
representation Hare System. Last
spring the liberal sector included
Student Government Reform Un-
ion, a one-shot political group.
Meanwhile, the OSA reforms
unfolded. In July, 1962, Vice-
President James A. Lewis an-
nounced the reorganization of his
office. It was divided into four
basic units - housing, discipline
and student organizations, finan-
cial aid and counseling.
An OSA-Board of Governors

study committee recommended co-
ed housing for South Quad and
Mary Markley. After some intense
South Quad debate over its divi-
sion for co-ed housing, a vertical
division was established.
The co-ed facilities opened in
the fall of 196' with great success.
HOURS WERE lifted for senior
women as they received permis-
sion to live in apartments. Junior
women now have no hours on
weekends.
The men's, women's and all-
campus judiciaries were combined.
A new faculty appeals committee
replaced the defunct Committee
on Standards and Conduct. Due
process procedures were adopted.
The OSA gave women's organi-
zations a little more leeway, free-
ing them somewhat from the
shackles of close supervision of
the Bacon days. Assembly Dormi-
tory Council reorganized into As-
sembly House Council, getting a
strengthened definition of author-
ity approved by the OSA.
A new pattern of OSA-student
relations developed. Changes were
being made on a consultative bas-
is. The organizations of the ef-
fected students-such as AHC or
IQC-are consulted. The member-
ship is polled about possible re-
form by the organization. Most
popularly-approved moderate pro-
posals are adopted.
THE ACTIVISTS were forced
into a wait-ano-see position dur-
ing the 1962-63 school year as the
OSA had to logically be given
time to institute reforms it prom-
ised, by implication, in the Reed
Report.
In some ways, the reforms went
beyond what the activists sought
in the previous two years and
some-like co-ed housing-struck
at the roots of old evils.
The heat that was on the OSA
diminished and with it some of
the driving force of the activist
movement. Its campus existence
had centered around OSA reform;
Miss Bacon and Lewis had been
its devils.
TOMORROW: The campus
activist movement continues in
its path of decline.

*'

SEATED AT AN SGC meeting last year were Sherry Miller, Thomas
Smithson and Michael Knapp. None of these were affiliated with
the old-line campus organizations, such as Voice and The Daily,
which had led the way during the activist period.

his time and his mind was above
everyone else's. $ut reports that
he was dictatorial were exagger-
ated. People complained about his
personal style," one member noted.
VOICE LOST the class of 1964
-the freshmen who made up
Voice's original membership base.
Some drifted to The Daily. Others
left activities. By the fall of 1962
there were only two of that class
active.
A discontinuency was created-
a gap that weakened the organi-
zation. Leadership was in the
hands of seniors and sophomores
at the time Ross resigned in De-
cember.
He was quite candid about
Voice's leadership problems. "I do
not think my style of political
leadership is any longer repre-
sentative of the membership. . . .
The issue about my not giving
people room will also be elimi-
nated."
ROSS'S tight - fisted, t h o u g h
charismatic leadership opened a
gap in the Voice structure that
weakened it. The original Voice
leadership retired or entered
semi-retirement.
The new group lacked the fire
and experience of the older group.
Voice was to sink to near oblivion
as far as campus affairs was con-
cerned.

student governments nationally.
IN FEBRUARY, 1962, there was
introduced in SGC an NSA refer-
endum motion under the newly
established SGC initiative and
referendum procedure. However,
SGC president and former NSA
executive board member John
Feldkamp, then a resident advisor
in South Quadrangle, talked the
member who submitted the motion
out of his proposal, stressing the
chaos the far-rightists could bring

#1

TODAY AND TOMORROW:
U.S. Must Encourage, Not Lead Europe

4

By WALTER LIPPMANN

THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY of
the Nazi surrender has come
and gone in a whirl of words
which has done nothing to clarify
and much to muddle up the un-
settled problems remaining from
the world war.
There has been, for example, the
demand of the Erhard government
for an Allied statement on the
reunification of Germany. Why
was this demand made? Quite
evidently, as part of Dr. Erhard's

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election campaign and for the
purpose of identifying him as the
active champion of a united Ger-
many.
Yet it was quite evident from
the beginning that the wit of
man could not devise a formula
which all four of the victorious
Allies would sign, nor, as a matter
of fact, one which all three West-
ern Allies would sign.
THE AMBASSADORIAL steer-
ing group in Washington has been
wrangling for several weeks as to
whether German reunification was
in the interest of "all European
peoples" or was in the interest of
"the peoples of the whole world."
The result of the exercise has been
to sharpen and harden unneces-
sarily and gratuitously the dif-
ferences which divide France and
America and the Soviet Union.
The compulsion of politicians
to talk too much is in our day a
very big obstacle to accomplishing
what they all say they want to do.
For this compulsive talking has
conjured up the fundamentally
unreal conflict between national-
ism and what is now called Atlan-
ticism.
I call it unreal, for surely the
truth of the matter is that the
national state on the one hand,
the Atlantic community on the
other, are elementary and indel-
ible realities for all the peoples
who belong to Western civilization.
TO SUPPOSE that nationalism

Churchill, British nationalism
saved Great Britain, Europe and
the world. In the person of Charles
de Gaulle, nationalism has raised
the French people out of 'defeat
and degradation, In Eastern Eur-
ope, including the Soviet Union
itself, nationalism is the strongest
force working against global revo-
lutionary communism.
There is no irreconcilable con-
flict, in fact there is no real con-
flict, between greater Europe as a
community or concert of sovereign
national states and therinevitable
fact of history and geography that
Europe and the Americas are tied
together in their ultimate in-
terests because they are connected
by the Atlantic Ocean.
IF THE POLITICIANS would
stop reading speeches consisting
of the stereotypes and rubber
stamps of a period that is passing,
they would assist the peaceful
developments which are now tak-
ing place.
What is happening in Europe is
the beginning of an attempt to
transform the little Europe of
the cold war of the 1950s into a
greater Europe which will heal the
divisions of Europe and the di-
vision of Germany.
Insofar as there is a conflict
between Gen. de Gaulle and the
United States, it rises out of his
objection to special relationships
-for which we seem to have a
special propensity - between
Washington on the one hand,

Debate

I'M GLAD the university students
of this country are getting in-
volved in the argument (over Viet
Nam), even though I've recently
been bombarded by students from
here and elsewhere for suggesting
that some of the recent teach-ins
sounded more like demonstrations
than debates.
Let me make my point clear. I'm
all for demonstrations or debates
or protest meetings or anything
else except indifference. But what
I am trying to say is that this
new kind of war confronts us all
with the most careful problem of
analysis if we are to reach sound
judgments about the consequences
of action or inaction. Nothing is
going to be easier in judging policy

reunification of the two Germanys
as long as Bonn has a special
military relationship with the
United States.
In my view, the sound European
policy for this country is to give
up the idea of leading Europe and,
quietly, to assist and encourage
the movement toward that greater
Europe which is actually under
way.
For our own highest interest in
Europe is that Europe should
flourish and, in its own way, play
a part in the. world.
(c),1965, The Washington Post Co.

N

AND 2THCN) THEtPOP-

(Q1 SIC WOKSAMP) 60
1"o REVIVAbS OF O MOVIES,

I

- 11-1-

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