Seventy-Fifth Year EDITEV AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS 1 STEEL NEGOTIATIONS: Wages-Efs on 41 Gold Flow' Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH. Truth Will 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 20, 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT HIPPLER 'U' Must Prepare Students For Specialized World AMERICAN EDUCATION at the univer- sity level is a curious two-part incon- gruity. On the one hand is the old con- cept of the generalized liberal arts edu- cation, which finds form in the under- graduate programs of most of our univer- sities. On the other hand is the highly specialized graduate school. The broad liberal arts education is a relic of the days when the purpose of a college education was to make a young man a gentleman with a wider outlook on the world. The graduate school is the log- ical product of a modern, technological society, with its more specialized jobs and functions. Piled on top of the broad undergradu- ate system of education, the graduate system of education is in many ways contradictory to and in conflict with the old liberal arts idea of generalized educa- tion. YET THE LIBERAL ARTS cllege still serves a purpose in that it helps the undergraduate decide what field to study, by giving him a taste of many subjects. Further, it cannot be denied that educa- tional broadening is necessary. The student in the engineering col- lege, no matter how brilliant in electri- cal circuiting or IBM computing, benefits from exposure to courses in history and literature. The literary college philoso- pher, absorbed only in abstract matters, may acquire a totally different outlook from a good stiff course in physics. Valuable as it is, the four-year liberal arts system has its definite faults. The broad range of courses, and the broad courses themselves, do serve a purpose. But just how much is unnecessary? How many distribution courses are too many? Carrying the question farther, how many courses are just so much waste of time even in a concentration program? One cannot help being reminded of the way the army trained competent pharm- acists in six weeks in World War II (much to the horror of the four-year pharmacy departments in our universities). IT MAY BE POSSIBLE that the overrid- ing problem with the liberal arts edu- cation in its current form is simply that it is too broad. Students today well know that they will be expected to function expertly in a demanding, technological world. And so it may well be that the four U.S. Must Keep Voting Age at 21 WHENEVER THE DEBATE over voting age comes up, the stock argument for lowering the age from 21 to 18 is if a per- son is old enough to fight for the United States, then he's old enough to vote. However, the analogy is unrealistic and ought to be reversed. If a man is old enough to vote, then he is old enough to serve in the armed forces. It is ridiculous to assign a voting age on the basis of the fact that a person can serve in the army. Voting requires an amount of maturity, responsibility and developed intelligence which experience brings. The army also requires a certain amount of maturity, however, it is not the type resulting from experience. It is maturity brought about by the simple process of aging. It is this that should be prerequisite for serving in the army. A GREAT DEAL of the "ugly Americah" impression is created in foreign coun- tries because men in the army do not have this maturity and cannot handle themselves. The importance of the ma- turity of men in the armed forces should not be underestimated. It is more rational to allow men to serve in the armed forces when they can vote. Especially when the maturity of 18- year-olds in the forces has yet to be proven. It is more rational to allow men to serve in the army because they can vote. By reversing the stock argument. there years of broad, unspecific study (often even at the concentration level) are con- tributing to the helpless and often de- spairing states of mind, prevalent among so many university students. When stu- dents start thinking they aren't getting anywhere, they soon feel that their lives are aimless and purposeless. These are the feelings that lead to apathy and espousal of nothingness phil- osophies. Even the most capable and en- ergetic student, rendered helpless by a tangle of too many broad courses, sus- pended as if in a state of prolonged and helpless infancy, may fall prey to such feelings. It is not as if the student could do much of anything to take his mind off the situ- ation. Like it or not, the student must study. Gone are the days when the legend- ary Harvard man, absorbed in a gay round of country club dances, could afford to leave an open suitcase on the floor in the middle of his room and occasionally show up to change his shirt. THOSE WERE THE DAYS to which the liberal arts education was more fitted. Today's student cannot afford to pick up a light smattering of this and a touch of that. Neither can he settle for "the gentleman's C." Thus the student grinds away too many hours over too many courses which are too broad and which do not touch upon his field. Obviously, the liberal arts education cannot be totally abolished. And ob- viously, the amount of work and the pres- sure are here to stay. They are integral parts of today's world, and students must get used to them. Pressure and hard work are by no means the evils some try to paint them. But what could be done to adjust the situation in education, particularly at the University? First, required distribu- tion course hours should be cut further; and cut drastically in the cases of stu- dents who have had excellent broaden- ing courses in top high schools. SECOND, it should be made easier for gifted undergraduates, who know what they want, to enter graduate schools after a year or two of undergraduate work. Third, and most important, are changes which should come within the depart- ment programs themselves. Undergradu- ate programs should be more specialized in two ways. First, more specialized cours- es should be made available. Many de- parements are sadly lacking in such courses. The University's famed psychol- ogy department, for example, currently has no course in which undergraduates can even observe from behind a one-way window the human behavior about which they spend so much time passively read- ing and studying. No glimpses are given into the actual work of a real psychol- ogist. Besides the addition of specialized courses, there is a second way in which programs should be specialized. Vocation- al counseling should not be left entirely to the harried members of the faculty, installed in the little cubicles in the many counseling offices throughout the Univer- sity. Why shouldn't instructors regard it as important to tell their students, "This is a good broad course. Learn the material, because it is good background. But you will not need most of the material of this course when you are working." STUDENTS OUGHT TO BE told specific- ally what to learn for specific jobs. They should be formally briefed, for in- stance in political science courses, on what each kind of lawyer does and what specific pieces of learning would be most useful for each. There is nothing shameful about the fact that hopefully every student will one day hold down a specific job, with certain tasks and duties expected from him. Why must students turn to relatives and family friends in order to get infor- mation on job specifics? It seems both logical and important for students to find out about such things right along By LEONARD PRATT CURRENT contract negotiations in the steel industry have been given great attention by govern- ment economists becauseaof their relation to America's balance of payments, an issue of great con- cern to the United States. To understand the relation be- tween the United States steel in- dustry and the world economy, it is necessary to know a bit of American and world economic history. Before World War I, Eng- land was both the world's greatest "creditor nation"-a nation rich enough to loan money to others- and the world's "banker." The pound sterling was the world's chief currency; it was considered "as good as gold" for purposes of international pay- ments and for guaranteeing the worth of other currencies. BUT THE WAR effected a ma- jor redistribution of the world's gold stocks. The U.S. was able to build its industry at an unheard- of rate in order to supply its al- lies. The allies paid for these sup- plies, in sums as immense as American output. U.S. gold stocks rose from $1.2 billion in 1913 to more than $4.5 billion just after the war. America thus, in the short space of four years, became the world's chief "creditor" nation . Yet America was far from a position in which it could assume England's role as world banker. The U.S. was just emerging from the struggle of developing its econ- omy and was entirely unprepared to lend out the gold. THE 1929 DEPRESSION further cut down on American loans abroad and hence increased the gold hoard; the recovery was thus as bad as the depression since American lending fell from $17 billion in 1933 to $12.3 billion in 1940 and the gold stores rose ac- cordingly. World War II duplicated this experience, but on a much larger scale. The only thing which managed to get the world's economy in mo- tion again was the Marshall Plan. This "donation" of $100 billion from America to the world's econ- omy was not quite as generous as it might sound. In practice it was the only way the world's capital- ist nations could have enough money to purchase goods and the only way theaeconomic collapse predicted by the Communists could have been prevented. TO FINANCE this excess of im- ports over exports, America "ex- ports dollars." That is, the U.S. pays for the goods by turning over dollars payable in gold on demand, to foreign nations. And the gold outfldw is caused by for- eign demands that the U.S. make good on our promise, imbodied in our dollars, to pay a certain amount of gold to them if they wish. In the first place, foreign aid involving gold transfers is under- going thorough analysis by key congressmen; hence the increas- ed discussion of such aid methods as gifts of surplus wheat. IN THE SECOND place, mili- tary aid is also subject to this close congressional scrutiny. Ex- cept for such outstanding excep- tions as Viet Nam, these U.S. gold drains appear in the process of constriction. The third major drain on U.S. gold has been foreign investment of funds by private Americans and corporations. Hence President PRESIDENT-ELECT I. W. ABEL of the United Steel Workers, center, and former president David J. McDonald, right, talk with R. Conrad Cooper, left, chief negotiator for the basic steel industry, in Pittsburgh Tuesday where it was announced that contract talks would be resumed immediately, after a recess since April 28. A RISE in steel prices would force producers to raise their prices in order to cover their costs. And if prices rise, what will fol- low? Wage increases and the in- creases in export spending which will greatly upset the balance of payments stability which is now beginning to appear attainable. The last step in the causal chain is to ask what might cause such an inflationary wage-price rise. And it is here that the steel contract negotiations enter the is- sue. The late President John F. Ken- nedy forced the steel industry to back down on a price rise once before. Johnson may be able to repeat Kennedy's success. But it is antinescapable fact that even- tually the steel industry may be so squeezed by union demands for increased wages, unmatched by in- creases in productivity that they will have to raise prices and thus create inflation. CONSIDERING current steel productivity increases, Johnso- has set a maximum of 3.2 per cer for steel wage increases; beyona this, wage hikes would be infla- tionary. The U.S. balance of payments situation is entering a critical stage which offers the possibility of ending the "run" on American gold at the same time that it ad- mits that a policy miscalculation could make such a settlement im- possible. Johnson's allowing steel unions to obtain more than a 3.2 per cent wage increase would be as great a policy miscalculation as Kennedy's allowing the steel price rise to take place. IT IS TO BE HOPED that John- son's action will be the same as Kennedy's if the need arises. * Lyndon B. Johnson's appeal to private business to voluntarily cur- tail its foreign investment. In all three of these cases, indi- cations are that the "run" on the U.S. dollar will be halted well short of any dangerous decreases in the gold stocks. That is, barring one circumstance. That circumstance is inflation, and this is where the steel talks enter the picture. Inflation has been markedly absent from the U.S. economy during the 1960's. PRICE STABILITY, and hence lack of inflation, has a great calming effect on the balance of payments deficit. When prices are held down, so are wages; and when wages are held down, there is much less tendency for people to -buy expensive imports whose purchase results in the eventual "dollar export." By the same token, wage-price stability discourages foreigners from trying to sell in U.S. mar- kets, because prices are not ris- ing as rapidly as in the 1940's and 1950's, and hence profits are not as great. Taking the causal relation be- tween' a rise in the wage-price spiral and the encouragement of a payments deficit as an estab- lished fact, the next question is just what might cause such a rise. Steel prices fill the bill. This is because, in the modern economy, there are few single items as im- portant as steel. *4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Political Realism-The Other Side To the Editor: I READ, with great concern, Mr. Pratt's article on "Arabs Learn Political Realism" publishedhin The Daily on May 7. Its whole theme and his main purpose seems to be to launch a mean attack on Nasser and to give the layman a false picture of the Arab National Movement. Unfortunately, he sees Arab pol- itics through the personality of Arab leaders while ignoring the political role of the Arab intel- ligentsia. Mr.,Pratt's argument could have been true before the 1950's. but definitely not now. There is no such thing as Nasser's "party line," as Mr. Pratt asserts. Al- though Nasser appeared in the early fifties, the Arab National Movement was long before thE:- shaping and directing Arab goals and interests. However, the emergence o Nas- ser and his adoption of th& cen- trai ideas and aims of the move- ment gave it the concrete political form that it needed. IN FACT one may suggest that Nasser never engineered the poli- cies of the movement; rather, Nasser's Arab policies were dic- tated and directed by the de- mands of the movement for Arab national interest. His sending troops to Yemen was one of many such moves to protect national rights. To under- standthe not too intricateepolicies of the Arab world it is essential to take into consideration the goals of the movement and not to mistake the personalities of the "leaders"rfor what the movement stands for. Mr. Pratt pointed out that Bourgiba's speech "shows that the seeds of this political realism are widespread." May we point out to the "writer" that such "seeds" are alien to the movement and the aspirations of the Arab people. That Bourgiba's "realism" is an abstruse remnant of neo-colonial- ism that aims to keep the Arabs divided and exploited. Arab political realism is neither the self-interest of the bourgeoise nor of the leaders. Arab "realism" is identifiable with the political and national interest of the Arab Nation which excludes all reac- tionary elements such as Bour- giba's. MR. PRATT also committed a few factual errors that show the "depth" of his article. The Egyp- tian revolution of 1952 did not offer the "Russians an excellent chance to obtain power in the Middle East." It was rather the unj,-stifiable interference of 'concerne ." West- ern mandatory powers in the Arab countries who offered that chance. The colonial record of France in the Levant and North Africa is self-explanatory to the informed, not to comment with the same breath on the British gift of Palestine to world Zionism. Moreover, the policies of Mr. Dulles, according to many Ameri- can diplomats and observers, is to blame for alienating Nasser and the Arab National Movement, and not Nasser's recognition of Com- munist China. Mr. Pratt continued to claim that Nasser, "backed by Com- munist power," created the UAR. One wonders from which source did he derive his information. Khalid Bakdash, the Secretary General of the OP of Syria and its Deputy in the House of Rep- resentatives, opposed the forma- tion of the UAR and fled his coun- try to Czechoslovakia. Besides, Khrushchev denounced the UAR in December 1958 and January 1959. PROF. DAVID DALLIN, an American expert on Russian af- fairs, stated in his book Soviet Foreign Policy After Stalin that a "merger, federation, or inte- gration of Arab states was not in Moscow's interests." Needless to say that although China had then very little to do with Arab politics, it supported Abdul-Karim Qasim of Iraq against Arab national self-interest. Mr. Pratt's third point was that "all through the struggle for Arab unity, the key Nasser rallying point has been Israel." This is a false argument and has always been reiterated by many Western writers who either ignore or do not know that the Arabs have sought their independence and unity since the turn of the present century. One can go on pointing out such historical mistakes in Mr. Pratt's article upon which, obviously, he hoped to build his "article." In conclusion I would just re- mind Mr. Pratt that his "ecstatic happiness" ' over the "political realism" in Arab politics, as he understands it, will not last long. BOURGIBA'S LAST fallacy is the last relic of the colonial policy in the school of Nuri al-Said of Iraq. The Arab movement under- took to rid the country of such "leaders" and their prostrations of "political realism." -Ahmed H. Joudah Department of History To the Editor: IN AN ARTICLE by Leonard Pratt in the Daily, May 7, the image of the Arab world is being createdy bygpurposeful and false stereotyping. Attacks are being leveled against the Arabs, and particularly against Nasser, de- pending on whichever label suits the climate of the moment. President Nasser has been de- picted as the "Dictator of the Nile" and invariably portrayed as the leader of that brand of Arab nationalism which sought to con- quer the neighboring Arab states. The Zionist version of the Arab image and his learning of political realism is very much in vogue in the United States. The picture has been developed in the most subtie style of brainwashing which has already claimed an enormous number of American victims. The prevalent, almost pathological passion, to conform has simplified the process. Ironically and contrary to Lin- coln, Zionism today can fool all the people all the tine, by con- trolling the media of information. WHAT AMERICANS are losing is perspectiveness and a reliable set of values. This moral decline was sensed by former President Eisenhower when he said, "Only America, only America ever hurt us." Earlier, Franklin Roosevelt voic- ed a similar expression, "All we have to fear Is fear itself." In America today, honest doubts, ob- jective inquiry and critical exam- ination are all blacked out. Zionism and its style of mis- information becomes the order of the day. Control of the press and other media of information was indispensable to their plans. One commentator-on the Ameri- can scene, a strong Zionist him- self, noted, "The American press is reporting the Middle East as strongly pro-Jewish, because in America there has been no strong public demand for a full presenta- tion of the Arab point of view." THE CHRISTIAN desire to make some amends for the per- secution of European Jewry and to ease Jewish-Christian relations swept away any obstacle to the fullest compliance with Zionist demands for news coverage. Supplementing the hundreds of stories praising Israel and damn- ing the Arabs were endless items purporting alleged anti-Jewish bigotry. An atmosphere was creat- ed in which it was only natural for the American, with his reverence for what he presumes to be the underdog, to accept Zionist pro- paganda as gospel. It is not difficult to under- stand Mr. Pratt's errors in re- counting events in history. For example, Nasser did not set out to press for the creation of the United Arab Republic-the Syrians did. Being a great leader, Nasser responded to the Arab people's call for reunifying the Arab world. He was not backed by the Communist power, but rather, he had the overwhelming majority of the Arab people solidly supporting his drive for Arab unity. JORDAN, contrary to Mr. Pratt's claim, did not join Bour- giba against Nasser. Bourgiba, the Tunisian head of state, is not only ostracized, but also is feeling the impact of his mental deficien- cies as he craves the spot light. On the other hand, Mr. Pratt has failed in learning about poli- tical realism, His repugnance to- ward thinking has become match- ed by his resentment of challenge. When Bourgiba refused to recog- nize the legitimate right of the Palestinian Arab refugees, and breaks away from the Arab ideol- ogy, he is similar to Gov. Wallace who adamantly refused to imple- ment the bill of human rights. Moreover, Americans, unlike the Arabs, although lacking in com- mon heritage, are united in one nation, each form a single people with a common destiny. Needless to say that King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the deposed Iman E1-Badr of Yemen, Tunisia's Bourgiba will not change the course of the Arab peoples movement for unity of their drive to achieve hufaan rights for the Palestinian Arab refugees.hGov. Wallace will not change the fact that the people of America are united, nor will they thwart the Negroes' drive to achieve human and civil rights. POLITICAL REALISM, Mr. Pratt, is something you should study carefully. -Salah El Dareer, Medical School f Ait 40 TODAY AND TOMORROW: U.S., OAS Must Back Legitimate Governmrnt By WALTER LIPPMANN T HERE IS, we can be sure, no quick way out of the Domini- can affair. There is no solution available which will not, even with the best of luck, take a long time. There is no prospect of our being able to withdraw soon, leaving behind some sort of reasonably democratic and stable government. The reason why the future is so difficult is that during the 30 years in which Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic he extermi- nated or drove into exile or into hiding all the educated .onmnptent is the reactionary military junta, which represents a revival of the Trujillist oligarchy. and there are the Constitutionalists, who repre- sent the bitter discontent of the Dominican masses. THEY ARE without practical experience in government and vul- nerable, therefore, to infiltration from agents of or sympathizers with Castro. Between these two groups there is nothing-no middle group of eminent and respectable men who could provide a care- taker government. The nredicment of the TTnited is not acceptable in the modern world. Another alternative, which has been favored by the State Depart- ment, is a coalition government. Caamano could represent the Constitutionalists and Imbert the military junta. Almost certainly, this is not really a valid option. IT PROPOSES to ignore the depth and the width of the con- flict between those who are fight- ing to perpetuate the inheritance of Trujillo and those for whom life is intolerable without far- reaching reforms. and respect of the Dominican masses. It is no doubt true that Dr. Bosch was a weak president. But he is the only Dominican who has ever been genuinely elected, and, therefore, the political succession from him to Caamano should be respected and observed. THE GOVERNMENT which the OAS backs, and we along with it, should have as its cornerstone the Constitutionalist Party. It would be strange indeed if there were no Communists in the rConstittniet. Portyut+ +htrr There are two great advantages to be had from treating the Con- stitutionalist Party as the corner- stone of a new government. The first is that with good advice from its Latin-American neighbors, and with plentiful economic assistance from us, such a government would be the one most likely to succeed. The second advantage is that this decision on our part is the only one that can prove our good faith, which is profoundly sus- pected throughout the hemisphere. For the decision to make the Con- stitutionalists the cornerstone will 'h ra.fin rnnffha 7.rai f 4 Ai,