Seventy-First Year EVrrIED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "When Opinions Ate Fre UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Truth Will Z STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO,2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must he noted in all reprints. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1960 NIGHT EDITOR: SUSAN FARRELL Rush- ad or Meanin I Rushees Evaluate Pros, Cons, Bids By HARRY PERLSTADT. Daily Staff Writer AT TWO o'clock this afternoon the University's 44 fraternities will open their doors, living rooms and refrigerators to the unaffiliated men wishing to gain knowledge about fraternity life. The rushees may visit any of the fraternity houses without invita- tion during open houses this week; 2-5 and 7-9:30 today and 7-9:30 on Monday and Tuesday evenings. After going through the house, the rushee will usually receive an invitation back to a smoker, lunch or dinner at the fraternity house. The smokers begin on Tuesdays, the luncheons on Wednesday and dinners on the second Monday of rush. As the week wears on, the rushee will find that he does not have I The Fraternity System And the Individual A FRATERNITY is not somethin'g crystallized' it is a changing form which may be influ- enced in at least five ways: By traditional no- tions associated with fraternal living, by the university and societal context in which the fraternity operates, by past and present gen- erations of fraternity men and by the individ- ual who threads his way through the rush ceremonies which officially begin today. People often assume stasis where fraternities are concerned and thus discussion degenerates into a series of cliches, e.g., fraternities breed conformity, fraternities breed leadership, pledging is an individual decision, fraternities develop a balanced educational experience for someone, fraternities are integral to the educa- tional process, fraternities are ritualistic rot. IN ALL THESE declarations some truth may , exist; but those who make the declarations seem to forget that such truth is fleeting, that it changes as fraternities evolve, and most im- portant, that tfie individual can actually in- fluence that evolution. Take a local fraternity case, for instance. The house is labelled a "jock house" because of a preponderance of athletes who have pledg- ed in recent years. This being the case, several conditions are gradually set up: First, a ma- jority of the individuals rushing the house tend to be athletes since "the word is out"; second, rushees who are competent in every- thing but athletics are liable to pass the house up; third, individuals in the house are forced to somehow rearrange the internal emphasis of the house and also seek out good men among the non-athletic rushees; fourth, even if the "athlete" complexion of the house begins to change, the label remains for several years. ANOTHER ambiguous condition, equally awk- ward, prevails generally among fraternities. Many houses are gradually attempting to shake off the old "rah-rah, raccoon coat" labels and replace them with the currently more respectable label of "scholarship." But, in fact, neither the "rah-rah" nor "scholastic" labels are fully characteristic of either the system or of various houses within the system. What is often forgotten amidst the labels is the impact the individual can have on a sys- tem-be it the fraternity, the classroom, the University, the general society. What is for- gotten is that the burden of clarification or the burden of change is so often on the in- dividual. IFC President Jon Trost and Pan- hellenic President Barbara Greenberg, for ex- ample, are working hard to remold the local system so that it is more meaningfully within the confines of liberal education. Whether they succeed will largely depend on other individ- uals. IN OTHER WORDS, one may assert some- thing broader than simply "rushing and pledging is an individual decision," true though that sentence might be. One should further as- sert that the future of the fraternity system depends incredibly on the individual: The Pres- ident of the University, the Dean of Men, the President of IFC, the fraternity member, above all, the kind of individuals who rush or do not rush, who pledge or do not pledge. Perhaps, in fact, the Interfraternity Council should organize a "roundtable of individuals" in the near future: Not individuals who wish to sound off, but individuals who care to evalu- ate the present condition and future direction of the fraternity system. -THOMAS HAYDEN Editor Extended Suffrage: Not Soon AT THE CAMPUS: Fateful Pursuit "AN EYE For an Eye" is a good movie, extremely well done by Andre Cayette, starring Curt Jur- gens. The development is somewhat slow, the actors somewhat awk- ward, but this should not bother the American audience, for the subtitles are there to help. One rainy night, after a heavy day, Dr. Walter was listening to a Beirut concern over the radio, when the phone rang. The woman had a stomach ache ... Dr. Walter was too busy and the woman went away . . . and died in the hospital. IN TIE MORNING, it seems to be just another unfortunate thing like those that happen every day, but Dr. Walter is now in the hands of Fate. Fate, which is personified by the dead woman's husband, Mr. Bartak; Fate. which spies, wan- ders and finxally gets a hold on Dr. Walter. It is Fate that commands What will tomorrow bring to me? It is Fate's secret. But Fate has no answer. Mr. Bartak is silent, following him, and Dr. Walter is intrigued. He wants to find out. Find out what? He is not, sure. Maybe by follow- ing Mr. Bartak, he will find a cer- tain peace of mind. . . TilE PROBLEM IS that while follovig M . Bartak, thus obey- ing his own impulse, Dr. Walter is simply being led by the hand to his destiny. And till the very end of the pursuit, we can't know who really has the upper hand. But there is always a hope, and by hoping, by asking, maybe to- morrow will bring the answer and a means to escape. There is al- ways that hope-but Fate has a law: "An eye for an eye." Apart from the story itself, there are some excellent elements: the Syrian mountains, the Arabic hamlets, the tanned calm faces and the god-forsaken holes, far from everything. -Christiane Angeli the time to visit all the houses he visited during the smokers. "The best way of breaking earlier dates is to tell the rushing chairman of the preferred house to break the date at the other house for you," Robert Peterson, '61, rushing chairman, said. "But don't be pressured into breaking dates. Break them onlyhwhen you really want to break them." Meanwhile the fraternities will be eliminating rushees in "hash" meetings held after the house closes for the evening. The rushing chairman will inform rushees that the fra- ternity has broken the date. * * * - BY SATURDAY OF the first week some of the houses will be ready to extend bids to potential pledges. Although Saturday is often considered too early a date to bid, many of the smaller houses have already decided on their pledge class and a few houses are afraid to lose pledges to other houses. "Once a bid has been extended it is good for the remainder of the rushing period," Jonathan Trost, '61, IFC President, said. "The bid rushee does not have to accept the bid on the spot, and may visit other houses in an at- tempt to secure other bids. The original bid, however, is still valid if the rushee chooses to accept it before the end of the rushing per- iod." * * *. RUSHING IS coordinated by /the Interfraternity Council. The IFC is responsible for publicizing fraternity rush, the mass rush meeting, getting a list of the rush- ees and checking on possible viola- tions of the rushing bylaws. The main purpose of the IFC during the rushing period is to ad- vise the rushees on rushing pro- cedure and what to look for in a fraternity. They urge the rushee to inquire about the academic, athletic and social aspects of the fraternity. They point out the ad- vantages of living in a small liv- ing unit and making close friends of people with similar interests. They usually avoid other perti- nent questions such as undercover drinking, the "fine" system, and the extraordinary pressures on the member as far as athletics, activi- ties, and dating are concerned. Of course, the fraternities could ask the rushee if he plans to live in the house for the remainder of his university career or move out into the apartment after the soph- omore year. Does the rushee really want to participate in the "Greek Way of Life" or does he want honor and prestige? Often the an- swers to these questions come after the decision to pledge or not has been made. * * *' UNLIKE THE SORORITY sys- tem, the IFC has nothing to do with giving out bids. The first time that the IFC learns who has pledged what fraternity is when the fraternity president hands in the filled out bid cards and a list of the complete pledge class. The cards and the lists are available on Wednesday of the second week but are not due back at the IFC office until the following Monday. The freedom which the frater- nity and the rushee have in the matter of bidding often has cha- otic results. The fraternities are eager to get the best rushees for their house and are willing to get a "hot" rushee into the fold as soon as possible. This leads to mass early bidding, most of which is done on Friday of the first week of rush. THIS YEAR, as in past years, the IFC was and is determined to change the rushing system. But a proposal to curb early bidding failed and the possibility of early bids and dirty rush increases with each setback. The last time the IFC made a thorough study of rush was back in 1956. The possi- bilities of delayed rush and pledg- ing were included. Apparently these ideas have not been totally considered. The main arguments against these proposals were that the rushee has a certain anxiety to rush and pledge a fraternity and that delaying this would frustrate the rushees and hinder their University adjustment. The fraternities, on the other hand, often need the income from pledge dues and initiation fees to carry their house through another year. Also the rushee would re- ceive "biased" information on cer- tain fraternities or get a distorted view of the system because of the frequent publicity which a, few houses get. The problem of keep- ing the fraternity men from con- tacting potential rushees and in- fluencing them arises. * * * THE ADVANTAGES of defer- ring either rush or pledging are that the rushee would be "adjust- ed" to the University, have an idea about his academic standing and a better idea of what the fra- ternities on campus actually do and contribute to the University as a whole. The rushee would then be able to choose a frater- nity on a more concrete basis. It appears that if the fraternity system does not change its rush- ing procedure, early bidding and dirty rush will become more and more common place. The IFC has followed the Pla- tonic ideal that through rushee education the problems of rush will be lessened. However, the fra- ternities are far from being the individual utopias which such a system would demand. The prob- lem must be looked into once again and this time a workable solution reached. ALTHOUGH interest in the 18-year-old vote has increased from the dormancy of non- election year, the question remains: what will be accomplished in this area in the near future? The forces acting both for and against the proposal must be examined and evaluated. One fact seems certain - the future of the lowered voting age limit will not rest on the weight and logic of one side's argument or on the "inherent moral right" of either position. Both sides have justifiable and rational argu- ments to support their positions, and believe in them, The forces and attitudes present in our society will be the crucial factors in deter- mining the future of the 18 year-year-old vote. For these elements will be the major stimuli of the uncommitted masses and will deter- mine their direction. 'FIRST, one finds the student movement -. questionable in power and nationwide organiza- tion, its influence in the Southern sit-ins can- not be underestimated. It is a potentially effective force which could greatly aid the cause of the 18-year-old vote, should it receive a "mandate from youth" and a definite sense of direction, Next, one finds that voting restrictions are being decreased rather than increased in most states. The national trend is toward the exten- sion of suffrage, and this philosophy will prove useful in aiding the movement. A third factor which perhaps summarizes the two previous attitudes is the rise of liberalism among the nation as a whole. The United States is more inclined than ever to accept the liberal viewpoint. Included in this outlook is the general acceptance of today's youth as basically more intelligent than pre- vious generations. Spols System SGC has been in the market for a nickel-coke machine for the SAB. It hasn't been able to get one. Last night, it was announced members may buy nickel cokes at meetings from cases spe- cially obtained, To the victors belong the spoils. -SHERMAN Editorial Staff THOMAS HAYDEN, Editor NAN MARKEL JEAN SPENCER City Editor Editorial Director JUDITH DONER ....,............Personnel Director THOMAS KABAKER ,............. Magazine Editor THOMAS WITECKI ....... ... ......... Sports Editor K~ENNETH MoELDOWNEY .. .. Associate City Editor KATHLEEN MOORE .Associate EditorialDirector HAROLD APPLEBAUM........ Associate Sports Editor, MICHAEL GILLMAN........Associate Sports Editor This may be due to the increasing level of public education or simply to the liberal view that the species is intellectually improving with time. Whether this assumption on the part of the American public is justified or not, it appears to exist. 7J7HIS abstract liberal viewpoint would not be important in its own right, for it is embraced by many who do not care one way or the other about extension of the ballot, but coupled with other factors which could provide the necessary impetus, it may prove very potent. ON THE CON side of the proposition there are also important forces and attitudes supporting its arguments. The forces of change are slow, even more so when a group without power attempts to influence the group holding such power to grant it to them. This is the barrier the 18-21 yearold faction faces at present. It is indeed a formidable hurdle. The rationale of those opposed to lowering the voting age requirement appears justified to them. And their beliefs will be strongly impressed on the nation should the question become one of wide national concern. Their attitudes will affect the uncommitted, tradi- tionally hard to convince to change the status quo, despite the rise of liberalism. The time for change is closer than ever before. The trends appear to show this. The 18-year-old cannot forever be kept from voting in the majority of these United States. But the next 10 years, envisioned as a period of great change in this country, will probably not see the passage of legislation granting suff- rage to the 18-21 group. The elements against the proposition are strong. They will fail to respond to the pleas of those supporting the proposition. THE FAULT, however, does not lie entirely upon the opponents in the "voting group", but upon the passive and unconcerned attitude of many of those excluded from voting by age. There are those who have once fought and argued fervently for the right to vote. But beaten and discouraged by previous indiffer- ence, they too have become passive and dejected. The opposition from many of the 18- 21 age element has been most disheartening to those actively interested in obtaining suff- rage. The opposition has come largely from some of the more intelligent members of that age, also. There are, then, two attitudes within the 18-21 age group which are opposed to obtaining suffrage at the earlier level. First, those op- posed in principle and secondly, those once active but now indifferent and too aware of earlier failures to help the new crusade. THIS IS probably the greatest factor prevent- ing the extension of suffrage to the 18- year-old, and added to the other opposing fnrces. the nrnnnsl seems dnnmed for at least selection practices for organizations did not touch on the activities of groups already enjoying recog- nition status. THE REGULATION adopted by the Council reads: "All recognized student organizations shall select membership and afford oppor- tunities to members on the basis of personal merit and not race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry." The immediate effects of this changed climate on rush may be an increase in the numbers of Negroes rushing, and in the number of Jews rushing primarily non-Jewish houses. An SGC committee on discrim- inatory membership practices in student organizations is in the formative stages, and will arbi- trate cases where violations of the regulation is charged. In the words of the rule, it "receives evidence and personal complaints of violation". s S * ORGANIZATIONS which are found by the committee to violate the regulations may then be placed in a category of "special recog- nition", which obliges them to "work through all possible chan- nels and with all possible speed in order to bring their organiza- tion into full accord with the Council regulation. In particular, it must report semesterly to and work in conjunction with the duly appointed Council agency." The kinds of evidence enumerat- ed fall into two points of Univer- sity concern: first, that the or- ganization does not discriminate, and second, that the organization is under no external pressure or influence to do so. Fraternities which appear most likely to come under the commit- tee's scrutiny in the near future are Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu and Alpha Tau Omega - all of which have discriminatory clauses writ- ten into their constitutions. In granting recognition, SOC is sub- mitted a copy of the constitution, which must meet its recognition standards. Under the new regula- tion, these three organizations clearly do not meet these stan- dards, although last year their status was unclear. Besides this kind of constitu- tional restriction on discrimina- tory bases, several University fraternities allegedly employ "hid- den" restrictions -- part of the fraternity ritualor bylaws which implies discrimination on now- illegal bases. * 4,* THERE SEEMS LITTLE ques- tion that participation in rush will be affected by the new regu- lation and the widespread con- sideration of it taking place on the campus. The local NAACP distributed a letter to Negro men on campus last week, informing them of some of the implications of the ruling. It reads in part, "We of the NAACP are of course concerned with the matter, and we feel that we have certain responsibilities in this situation. The central point of the letter is as follows: "Very few Negroes have ever rushed non-Negro fra- ternities on this campus. The new policy which has been adopted will be meaningless if Negroes do not take an interest in non-Negro groups. The fraternities for their part are questioning their posi- tion, and many of their leaders will stand behind the new policy and work for the acceptance of seeking recognition, but the rules LETERS to the EDITOR Band Stand ..* To The Editor: IN RESPONSE to the letter to the editor which was published in the September 30th edition of The Michigan Daily I have sev- eral points to bring to the atten- tion of Mr. Krachenberg and Mr. Zeff concerning The University of Michigan Marching Band. First of all it seems as though the two previously named persons were the only two people in the entire University of Michigan Stadium who disapproved of the selections and marching ability of the so- called "Michigan Prancing Band," by the reaction and tremendous acclaim given to the band for its outstanding performance, Next I ask what other band, or orchestra, have you heard that can play Gershwin like the Michi- gan Band, even without marching or "prancing." What other band anywhere can dance like the Michigan band and inspire like the Michigan marching band? ANY BAND anywhere can come up with a rendition of Marches by Sousa, Goldman, Alford, and the rest. By the way, what would you call the "Victors" and 'Var- sity," if not marches? Anyone who could be so "la- mentably uninspired" by the Michigan Band's performance last week must be pretty dull and un- inspireds to begin with. And you say you want the brass and percussion sections to go wild, what would you presumably call the demonstration put on by the percussion section last week, which if I recall correctly had to be played twice because it was liked so well? Let's face facts, any time you can find a marching band as versatile and inspiring as the Uni- versity of Michigan Marching Band, you- have really accomp- lished something, Douglas C. Roach, '64 DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of The Univer- sity of Michigan for which The Michigan Daily assumes no editorial responsibility. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3519 Administration Building, before 2 p.m. two days preceding publication. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 General Notices Regents' Meeting: Fri., Oct. 28. Com- munications for consideration at this mneeting must be in the President's hands not later than October 18. Faculty Meeting-College of Litera- ture, Science and the Arts will be held on Mon., Oct. 3, at 410 p.m., in An- gell Hal Aud. A. University Faculty and Staff Meeting. President Hatcher will give his annual "State of the University" address on Mon., Oct. 3, at 8:00 p.m., In the Rack- ham lecture Hall. All staff members and their wives are invited. In addition to the five distinguished Faculty Achieve- ment Awards, four Distinguised Serv- Ice Awards for Instructors and Assist- ant Professors will be presented for the first time. A reception will be held in SGC Regulation Tests 'Good Faith' By JEAN SPENCER Editorial Director MEMBERS of University fraternity chapters - and perhaps to a lesser extent the campus community - will be sharply aware during the coming week of a strong new influence 'on rushing activities. The core of this new awareness is that this is the first rush period under last May's SOC regulation, which effectively defines bases which may be used in membership selection and outlaws arbitrary criteria. Formerly, University regulations precluded biased 'membership )I 4I I "WhichDid You Say Are The New Nations?" } 4 4v6 17-- --/ g ~ A A I