c ~ 1r Mie1tiiwuDail Seventy-Fifth Year EDrrED AND MANAGED BY SUDENTS OF TH IUNVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHOQITY OP BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT: Solution to Flint Feud May Be Near Wlxere 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. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2,1965 NIGHT EDITOR: MIPHAEL BADAMO A New Grading System Must Be Instituted IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, a great em- phasis is placed on attaining the su- perficial attributes of success. People are constantly striving to improve them- selves but not for the personal satisfac- tion which is derived from self-improve- ment. This tendency to undervalue the worth of an activity unless positive, tangible re- wards stem from it is so prevalent among adults that it has inevitably been com- municated to our youth. It can be most clearly recognized in our secondary schools and universities. Educators agree that motivation is nec- essary for learning. However, when the sole source of motivation is the desire to re.ceive a high grade, the information is quickly forgotten. Too many teachers are guilty of sheer laziness. It is much easier for them to use the threat of a poor grade to push their students, then to create the proper classroom atmosphere which is conducive to learning for interest's sake. Only a dedicated teacher who truly loves his Byrne Re ort M~ ° May Affect OSA ALTHOUGH THE REGENTS of the Uni- versity of California dismissed the im- portance of the liberal Byrne report on the causes of the student demonstra- tions at Berkeley last fall, the University administration is apparently taking it quite seriously. The study, which was commissioned by the University of California Regents rec- ommends the decentralization of Clark Kerr's empire, the weakening of the pow- er of the regents, a more permissive at- titude toward student activism, and other administrative reforms. Richard Cutler is now in the midst of restructuring and reorienting the Office of Student Affairs to fit his liberal frame of mind. Meanwhile, the Byrne report is being mimeographed in the OSA at the same time: The prospect of permeation of the ideas of the Byrne report into the new OSA looms ominously. --BRUCE WASSERSTEIN work and communicates this enthusiasm to the class can banish the overwhelming attention paid to grades. THE ATTITUDE of the teacher is not the only factor which can have detri- mental effects on the learning process. The grading system which assigns either letters or numbers to levels of achieve- ment has, as its primary effect, the crea- tion of unnecessary pressure and tension which could be alleviated if another sys- tem were put into effect. It is necessary for college and gradu- ate schools to have some means of eval- uating prospective students, but the in- tense competitive attitude which arises from a grading system which ranges from A to E, or from 100 to 0 may be condu- cive to the Olympic Games, but not to the learning situation. Instead of inspiring such statements as, "I want to read this book because it interests me" the more popular remark becomes, "If I do not read this book, I won't do well on the exam and will lose my B average." IT WOULD BE BETTER to install a grad- ing system which would minimize un- due competition and pressure and yet still answer the needs of colleges and universities. By assigning to the student either "high pass," "pass," or "failure," the mo- tivation for learning would still remain, but much of the pressure would be de- creased as he would no longer worry about the differentiation between a B plus and C, an 80 or 90. With the many extra tests that stu- dents are required to take such as Schol- astic Aptitude Tests and Graduate Rec- ords, there is no reason why colleges could not choose their students from the three categories which separate the superior, average, and below average students. INSTALLLING SUCH SYSTEM coupled with interested and dynamic teachers a better learning situation would be cre- ated. Much competition and pressure would disappear as students dedicated themselves to learning in a more intel- lectually stimulating and healthier at- mosphere. -RUTH FEUERSTEIN By JOHN MEREDITH AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS of heated debate, the controversy over expansion of the Univer- sity's Flint branch has quieted down, at least on the surface. The calm may enable the opposing factors to work out ahsolution to avoid an open power struggle be- tween Lansing and 'the individual state universities. Underlying the Flint problem, of course, is the larger issue of state college autopomy. The State Board of Education's Flint deci- sion was the first major "ad- visory opinion" issued by this new authority, and, as such, offers an important indication of how much cooperation the board can expect from the Legislature and state' schools in the future.' The present position of the board is in many ways ideal. As a democratically elected arm of the state government, it can eas- ily command the public respect that tends to flow toward official organizations. Yet, it cannot enforce its rulings on individual institutions except by appealing to the Legislature- and the Legislature's power to act in the internal affairs of state universities is quite limited. THUS, the board is compara- tively free from the temptations of excessive involvement in matters not really of statewide concern, but it must act carefully and respectfully if it is to maintain the respect that naturally ad- heres to it. The board'saFlint ruling is un- questionably a carefully thought out, responsible decision. While its conclusions are debatable, they are supported by a substantial body of evidence. There is, more- over, no doubt whatsoever that branch expansion has statewide implications which can properly be dealt with by the board. Hence, the board deserves the cooperation of the Legislature, the University and the citizens of Flint in their attempt to imple- ment this ruling. If supporters of the Univer- sity's Flint venture refuse to go along with the board, they will open the door for a needless poli- tical feud over the form of ex- pansion in Flint. which would considerably delay the badly need- ed expansion itself. MORE IMPORTANT, stubborn resistance to the board's Flint stand would invite the imposition of stricter state controls on high- er education. Earlier this year, several prom- inent legislators supported a pro- posed constitutional amendment which would have made the state board's decisions binding on de- gree-granting state schools and would have given it the authority to intervene more directly in the internal business of individual in- stitutions-precisely the kind of arbitrary authority that many contend has created serious prob- lems in such states as California where similar arrangements exist. Theamendment was eventually withdrawn, mainly because many people-including board President Thomas Brennan-wanted to give the new board a chance to prove itself under the present system. However, the supporters of the amendment clearly implied that they will be interested in backing. more centralized control of state education if expected cooperation with the board is not forthcoming. Thus, it is imperative that the University act in accordance with the board's Flint recommendation. Brennan, in submitting a com- plete explanation of the Flint rul- ing to the Regents °a week and half ago, has given the University an opportunity to do this grace- fully. THE UNIVERSITY'S BRANCH at Flint has been the object of much controversy between the State Board of Education, the Legislature and University administrators. However, the issue of the Flint expansion seems to have been recently pushed out of the limelight of publicity. It is hoped that perhaps this new quiet can induce a solution WHILE REITERRATING the board's position that the Univer- sity can admit freshmen at its previous two-year senior branch this fall only and must soon allow the branch to be replaced by an autonomous state college, Bren- nan's statement clearly embodies an element of flexibility. This is most noticeable in the conclusion of the document, which states in part: "This recommenda- tion contemplates that the Uni- versity will continue to operate its branch in Flint for at least four years. It is hoped that at that time the new autonomous univer- sity has reached fruition.' "In the implementation of its decision, the board desires to avoid any gaps in the educational process of the community and to this end would consider possible adjustments consistent with its recommendations." In short, the statement invites the University to participate in Flint's orderly transition from branch college to independent school, while removing from the board's recommendation the aura of rigidity that many feared might create "gaps" in Flint's higher education. The University accepted the document quietly and sent an un- published acknowledgement to Brennan. THE UNIVERSITY is not as committed to its long-range ex- pansion of the Flint branch as it was to admitting freshmen this fall. With the issue removed, for the moment, from the political spotlight, there is real hope that an agreement with the board can be reached. MATTER OF FACT: Impressions of Viet Nam--The Men, The War Trouble in Livingston County By JOSEPH ALSOP PLEIKU, Viet Nam - It may seem odd that a superficially incoherent experience can leave an exceedingly vivid impression. But consider these notes on a day's helicopter trip to the end of the line, here in Viet Nam's high plateau, to see a few score brave, quite possibly doomed men. 9 A.M.-The American advisors' quarters at Pleiku, target of the famous attack last February, has now been repainted a charming faded pink. The senior sector ad- visor, Col. Theodore Metaxas, is an intelligent, tough man of Greek stock, and like all Greeks of good family, his tribal memory extends further than most-the family founder, it appears escaped from Constantinople in an Italian gal- ley when the city fell to the Turks. Reflecting on these improbabili- ties, with one's ear all but over- powered by the helipcopter's stone- crusher racket, it is a bit hard to keep one's mind on the colonel's bellowed summary of the situa- tion hereabouts. To the right are the jungle-clad mountains of the Annamite chain -solid Viet Cong country. To the left are the jungles of Laos. The trough of the high pla- teau lies between. The colonel is pointing straight down and shout- ing emphatically, "The VC can cut that road whenever and pretty nearly wherever they want to!" That is the sort of remark to make a wandering mind concen- trate. For "that road" is highway 14, the only artery running north through the populated plateau trough, with its little rice fields, its patches of jungle scarred by slash-and-burn planting, and its kindly primitive mountain tribes. If the VC have this capability, it will be bad for the people at the end of the line. 11 A.M. -After a couple of meaningless stops, here we are just short of the end of the line, which we cannot reach because "the VC weather is beginning al- ready," as Col. Nguyen Vinh of the Vietnamese 22nd Division rather somberly puts it. This is Dak Sut, the last dis- trict post before highway 14 tails off into elephant country. The plateau country, is hilly this far north, and the little mud fort lies on a knob above a saddle, with an ideal Chinese bamboo-stream landscape spread out below. The stocky .little district chief, Capt. Phoc Viet Bang, leads us into the fort and gives one of the curious imitations of the standard U.S. Army briefing. The fort has been much harassed. "We think there will be a big attack soon," he says in a grim tone that the interpreter almost manages to reproduce. "But we will hang on as long as we live!" 4 P.M.-Plei Mrong is a special forces camp-another isolated fort, also very remote and lonely. The C.O., Capt. John Sanaker, has just been dropped near the Laos border with a company of Hiu irregular troops recuited among the mountain people, six days march from his camp. Lt. Alfred Wilhelm tells us that "Radia con- tact has not yet been established." "But don't worry, the captain will be all right, for he sure knows his business," Wilhelm adds. Col. Metaxas looks more doubt- ful but observes, "Well, if they run into bad trouble, we'll know where the VC are holed up." 7 P.M.-There is a little cele- bration in the Pleiku mess tonight, in honor of Ranger Lt. Alanson Bartholomew and his army chap- lain-father, who has flown here at his own expense to visit his son. The Vietnamese Ranger Bat- talion which Bartholomew advises recently ran into a VC regimental headquarters in the jungle toward the Laos border. The ensuing fight lasted two days. The Vietnamese Rangers kept it up until they had no more food or ammunition or water. And still resisted retreat. because they could not carry out their dead-23 of theirs against 82 counter dead VC. Bartholomew, three other Amer- ican officers who had gone along to see the show and a helicopter crew downed on a supply mission, became separated from the Viet- namese during the night retreat because they were slowed by a badly wounded man. Bartholomew then led them all out through jungle so thick that it took an hour to crawl a hun- dred yards and close to two days to reach safe ground. He is a stocky fellow, aggressively crewcut and not very loquacious. Asked about his feat, he answers, "Hell, I just remembered Ranger train- ing and followed the book." But when one of the Pleiku staff condifes to the chaplain- father that his sot has been rec- ommended for the Silver Star, the old man rather unexpectedy re- plies: "You know, I've always worried because he isn't a good churchgoer, but now I won't worry any more." BUT WHAT impression does all this add up to, it may well be asked. Perhaps the answer is that Vietnamese seem different away from Saigon and Americans seem ever more different this far from the voices of the twaddle mer- chants. 04 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: U' Must Take Public Stand on Apartheid 4 LAST THURSDAY the hot, bitter law- suit between the two factions of near- by Livingston County's Democratic party was settled. Hold a new convention, the judge ruled, since the last convention was broken up by a he-hit-me-first riot ,and later conventions were illegal. But Judge Lea Bebau's fair and legal- a little more fair than legal-decision does not solve, or even really admit, the question that lies implicit in the testi- mony of person after person-what is wrong in Livingston County's Democratic party? Or is there anything wrong at all? It is hard for an outsider to be cer- tain. There was testimony alleging threats of financial "ruin" at political conventions; physical brutality (".. .then Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor. Mich. Published dailyTuesday through Saturday morning. I was kicked in the groin and dragged . .."); blatantly illegal delegate certifi- cations by a county clerk. But most was irrelevant to the basic suit; it was ruled out, and little counter-testimony was pre- sented. THE WASHTENAW COUNTY Democrat- ic party must take action. It should find out for sure whether there is a Martin Lavan money-and-in- fluence machine that hinders the Demo- cratic party in that county-as some ob- servers, including someon the State Cen- tral Committee, believe-and, if there is, the Washtenaw Democrats should spend money, time and manpower in remedying whatever may lie in the peaceful towns about 50 miles outside of Ann Arbor. -ROBERT MOORE To the Editor: ALTHOUGH The Daily editorial of May 27 places the role of United States investments in the proper perspective: i.e. the sup- port which these investments give apartheid, it falls short of offer- ing specific means for changing conditions in that country. The $10 million (a relatively minor portion of its total invest- ment fund) which the University has invested in companies which have subsidiaries in South Africa is a good target for student action and raises fundamental questions as to where the decision-making power should lie in a university The University administration has been exhorted to take a pub- lic stand and to urge that the companies with which it has in- vestments equalize the differential between black and white in their South African subsidiaries or face the loss of University investments. While there is widespread ac- ceptability among administrators that apartheid is wrong, the ma- jority of themp are reluctant for the University to assume a leading role in social issues. IN THE PAST the University has failed to lobby for a local fair housing ordinance and is presently too fearful of exciting extramural interests to act as an agent for social change in South Africa. It is abhorrent to me that the traditional goals of the Univer- sity, historically a storehouse of knowledge and source of values, have been subordinated to the goals of administration and con- sensual management. The pursuit of truth in a uni- versity should not be 'divorced from involvement in the com- munity. The use of University in- vestments as a means of attempt- ing to bring about a change in the wage differential in South Africa would set a valuable pre- cedent in the academic community and aid in the effort to end a long standing injustice. -David Wallace Education Library Staff Teach-In To the Editor: IN THE LATEST of his generally excellent series 'of articles on ficial connection between our- selves and Young Republicans, of which there was none. SINCE THIS is one of three times our club has been briefly mentioned in ten articles on stu- dent activism (an oversight which FEIFFER 003 NEEDt TO BENRVOUS' &vS fnie QX$T(CM' X IAK VOUAW£ SIMP{. TO DETERMIN~E 1~xieRe GGT A 7OBWITH TH60V- PWiAE S9EP jIN'HERSFOR appears indefensible), pleace cor- rect this immediately. We hardly want to go down in history hand-in-hand with those fascist war-mongering Young Republicans. -Michael Grondin, '66 President RN:MOW TRY T4 P MAY tILItMJ L160 Y9 ,F TMA/E 1 M'4& 0 YOU R ' 1 15~J." I' f~1~y Po YX t) PAPEL WTS~ ~t~A5,06Q IYOUR~ A tJ RMAL- u OVE UFr f MM~O~kX~U11' S&JL2 V,L MOTG~4 G ! ! SR. e " ~w you, HAV5 M~Y FCb RII.,6 TCo BAD HEALTH EWUCA- TIM& AND RE5 PE$ffRATELY &Eev5 A LOVE THE ITALIAN WAY: Confusing, Overdone But Humorous At the Campus Theatre FLOATING ON the glamour of high Roman society and a luxurious Mediterranean cruise, "Love The Italian Way" exploits the some- what overdone theme of Italian adultery and debuachery in a fairly humoxous story of love, hate, and stolen chicken dinners. It all starts when someone gets tired of his wife-does this sound familiar?? ?-and stars an affair with an attractive magazine editor who is apparently better in bed than in the office, After financing her business for some undisclosed period, he decides to ditch the wife (a famous opera star who spends ninety per cent of her time cursing the critics) and marry his sweetheart. The man she picks to take his place just happens to be the former husband of his present lover-the magazine editor, that is. Next, a cruise, intended to provide a setting for some fashion photographs, is planned; among the guests are the aforementioned interrelated lovers, spouses, etc. (Are you following all this?) Papa invites a curvacious model along in the hopes of lighting a spark of passion in his son's sound -but unfeeling heart. Finishing off the company is a girl-hungry photographer who gladly comes along to shake a clinging girlfriend who apparently is cramping his style ashore. The fireworks start when the beguiling magazine editor realizes that the man her lover has picked to solve all their problems is in fact the same man who has evidently caused her many already-namely her former husband. The athletic son ignores the seductive model and starts out to * FQVQ. SHT AL I