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Seventieth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSMTY OF MICHIGAN
Ten Opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTRO. OFS TUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Truth WW e'" STUDENT PUBUCATxoNS 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 be noted in all reprints.
.
Y, SEPTEMBER 16, 1960
NIGHT EDITOR: PHILIP SHERMAN
New Student Action
In a World of Crisis
H E HISTORICAL Great Confrontation of
the student and the educational process
recurs for the 123rd time on the University
sq thl week and many of the same old
pIps and characters are employed-the books,
iarriculum, faculty and adininistration. As
isu.il the newest being on the scene is the
frenian, whose business it is to nervously
begin the Confrontation, to examine, evaluate
and eventually nake coherent sense of his new
Bawlonment.- -
xrdlnarily the Confrontation concept is one
the. truly dullest, most tr.ite of :subjects.
Discussion of it is relegated to wild-eyed Daily
eits; Or old professors at the University.
club, the average student never bothering with
3 # i, heis moved to>read long editorial
r. ar commencement addresses. Historically,
siich editorials and speeches have described the
e ucatOna1 process as the confrontation of the
$ti@ent with Ideas, a fierce individual struggle
within the removed, "vory tower" community
of aradem la. This educational notion Implies
I.n fact that universities, in training the stu-
Snjor the realities of his society, have largely
detadhed him. from those realities.
Usually more emphasis has been placed on
development of "awareness" than on actual
student action and many students complete
,!+ir education without real or sufficient train-
ing In the practical ,onduct of public affairs
1W a democracy. True, college administrators
sometimes follow up the John Dewey "learn
1yy d6ig" conceptby trying to involve students
in "act on" through extracurricular activities,
But such 'activities have provided the student
With only token powers in most instances.
P THE PAST YEAR, however, the classical
Idea of the Confrontation has been read-
justed significantly by the student himself, as
strated by a recently-adopted basic policy
edlaration of the United States National Stu-
4ent Association regarding "The Student and
thI Total Community."
While 'the student's primary obligation is to
is academic program according to the USNSA
4dela ation,,his interes.ts and activities should
s661 -roadened to incorporate the "total
oommunty'"-the community not only of the
aiPU; but oif the City, state, nation and
'Orld. -Within this new dimension, essentially
S ..e of political and. social action, the student'
A viewed as a viable force within and with-.
out his campus community, and is charged
with the corollary tasks of intellectual aware-
;ess and practical action. He should seek to
clariy the, purposes of his university, then act
t iove his university ii the direction of those
purposes. With similar dedication to awareness
'di action, the student should approach other
1nstitutions beyond the campus-those within
tohe'tal' community. This orientation should'
be 4ccompaned all the while by emphasis on
e student's academic wor-.
iCIT:AN 'epansin' of the student's role is
not simply theoretical; it has been evi-
,,nced thi ,year by significant .student partici-
patierr in civic affairs all over the world. In
Tarkey students vehemently demonstrated in
protest when they felt their rights, had been
aridged , Their demonstrations were followed
by the army's seizure of the government and
the xstituting of free elections to determine
the country's leadership. In Korea students
*Vblted against mock elections and suppres-
aIon of rights by peacefully assembling in vio-
Iationof the law. Eventually the government of
Sng mar Rhee was eliminated. In Japan stu-
dents were so violent in their protest that a
vt of the American President was cancelled
and the Kishiregime demolished. - ..
Aid in America, the student spoke out and
often' acted with similar -vigor. The most dra-
r tic aspect of the 1960 American stdent
movement; surely, is the Southern "sit-in" pro.-
s which already has resulted in the integra-
tion of lunch counters in 77 cities and the
~izhitratiori of America's need to solve its
tinuing racial problem. Students this year
1ve 'critized other institutions also through
ass action, mostly notably in demonstrations
against the House Un-American Activities
C,.mmIttee. In addition, numerous marches
have demonstrated an urgent student desire
k&r disarmament. Even on less dramatic, but
-equally'effective; levels the American students
have struck out,,e.g., in the widespread criti-
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
KENNETHMcELDOWNEY ,.... Associate City Editor
cism of the loyalty oath and disclaimer afil-
davit provisions of the National Defense Edu-
cation Act, or in the national student campaign
against compulsory ROTC.
SUCH WORLDWIDE student participation,
taking all forms from sitting-in to peaceful
lobbying to mob violence, has been conditioned
by the critical world context within which stu-
dents live. It is a world apparently without
leaders, a world of vast confusion, changing
cultures, strained by the nearness of total
war, and it has been in such shape throughout
the life of almost every student. This is the
environment the current freshman class in-
herits-a confused, irritated world in which
the classical educational process has taken on
a vigorous new emphasis because the student
himself has taken on a new, more active, re-
bellious, militant orientation. The active stu-
dent will undoubtedly grope as he moves along
his educational path through a myriad of
surrounding tensions, within a world society
shrinking spatially and temporally but expand-
ing mightily in its capacities for complete de-
struction, wherein numerous, sometimes-con-
flicting ideologies are compressed, wherein races
and cultures interpenetrate with disturbing re-
sult, wherein the sphere of knowledge grows
more rapidly than ever before and extends
itself beyond any human grasp.
All this is understandably awesome to the
freshman, as indeed it is to many other uni-
versity students. And to expand its awesome-
ness, the indvidual entering the university is
already torn by the multiplicity of possibilities
and obligations besides those to his total com-
munity. He is faced with the problems of dis-
covering an academic major, a living unit, a
circle of associates, an extracurricular activity
or two. Further, he must reconcile the demands
of his overlapping roles as son or daughter of
far-off parents, seeker of the post-college voca-
tion, intellectual' in pursuit of truth, citizen
in a local and world community.
CAUGHT AMIDST such complexities many
students are never able to make their edu-
cation and environment personally meaningful
rd coherent and, in the process, a few flunk
out. Many others simply become avodists who
take "gut" courses, turning away from the more
challenging or tortuous possibilities of the Uni-
versity curriculum. Still others "play it cool,"
confining and systerpatizing their horizons in
order to avoid direct attacks on their long-
held values and attitudes.
Despite such temptation and complexity, the
initial and fundamental issues before the stu-
dent today are quite clear: is he capable of
rationally thinking through his position? Is he
responsible? Does he care for others passion-
ately enough to think and act in their inter-
ests? Can he actually bring about change in
soial order, or is he politically impotent?
I YFEELING is that these questions may
be answered affirmatively. The mature
student is no less capable of directing his af-
fairs than other citizens. He can think through
his position, perhaps more capably than most
members of the older generation. He can have
considerable impact and even bring about social
change; witness, for example, the sit-ins and
movements in other countries this year. Such
actions at least indicate thatthe student is
waking up Ito his environment and taking sym-
pathetic interest in his fellows.
Hence, the freshman should not consider
college a relaxation, or a playground. Nor
should he consider it a monastic retreat from
which he will "someday" go forth messiani-
cally. Instead, he should take up his obliga-
tions to the democratic order while in college;
if he fails to gain a sense of self-determination
and responsibility to the human- community
when young, chances are he will fail to develop
such qualities. in later life and thus will take
his place among those blank, uninformed
beings in the "adult" community supposedly
responsible for this nation's intellectual, moral
and political leadership.
It is hardly necessary to add that the stu-
dent should choose his extracurricular activi-
ties by their usefulness in fulfilling the intel-j
lectual purposes of a free university and some-
day, the 'social needs of the total community.
In the words of the USNSA policy declaration,
a student operating in this role is one both
dedicated to truth and to preparing himself
for leadership in a democratic society; he must
be prepared to face the challenges of modern
life and he must be willing to confront the
crucial issues of public policy that affect him'
beyond the classroom and that determine the
course of his society."
There are those who would claim this is too
large and idealistic a task; that it demands too
much commitment, too much intellectual en-
An Archive
Of Valued
Freedoms
By NAN MARKEL
City Editor
STUDENT owners sold The Mich-
igan-Daily News to the Uni-
versity Senate in the spring of
1903. A board at that time , took
control of the publication, last in
a chain of student newspapers be-
gun with The Peninsular Phoenix
and Gazeteer in 1857-58.
Some faculty members hoped
the Board in Control would exer-
cise censorship of the news col-
umns, states "The University of
Michigan, An Encyclopedic Sur-
vey."
But the Board, led by Chair-
man Prof. Fred N. Scott, "quickly
made it clear that it had no in-
tention of doing so, believing that
a certain amount of responsibility
was essential to the development
of the student editors, and that
the paper would lose favor with
its student audience if it were
known that the faculty were cen-
soring it."
* * *
THIS POLICY brougnt the Daily.
to its present independent status,
where all staff members may set
any well-reasoned opinions before
the public on an editorial page
captioned, "When opinions are
free, truth will prevail."
N( set editorial policy governs
the editorial page ,or the news
columns. This is unusual in col-
lege papers.
The Board added all student
publications to its area of control
in Nov. 24, 1908. The board in
Control of Student Publications
was headed by Prof. Scott for 24
years until his retirement in 1927,
after "his tolerant and sympa-
thetic guidinghand had started
the board on its successful career
and had helped many generations
of student editors," the survey r&
ports.
SINCE 1919, the Board has con-
sisted of four members selected
from the faculty by the University
President, two alumni, and three
students elected by the student
body.
The Student Publications Bldg.,
which houses offices for the Mich-
iganensian (yearbook) and Gen-
eration (literary magaZine) and a
large city room and $25,000 print-
ing plant for the Daily, was com-
pleted in 1932.
The 132-foot Maynard St.prop-
erty, (total cost $60,000) and the
125-foot by 50-foot building (cost
$74,000) and the printing plant
were financed entirely out of prof-
its from student publications.
The Daily is financially self-
supporting.
* * *
THE FEW PROFESSORS, who
In 1903 hoped for censorship con-
trol of the paper. beause they
were opposed to its former man-
agement, have obviously made
little headway.
Yet, the Daily is hardly the im-
age of one forerunner, The Chron-
icle, set up in September, 1869,
which "throughout its relatively
long and successful life.. .main-
tained a policy of frank and out-
spoken antagonism to the faculty
and the Board of Regents of the
University."
Somewhere between the poles of
irresponsible independence and
University control rests the Daily.
The satisfactory balance which
has been achieved may be chalked
up to both the faculty and stu-
dents. Continued responsible criti-
cal questioning of the Daily from
all sides will keep it there.
How
Ar e
Wie
Orienfec
'0
(EiOR'rS NOTE: This i the
first in p three-part series dcia-
ins orientation as a Univety
By JEAN SPENCER
Editorial Director
CONSIDERATION of the bien-
nial student - administration
tension period - orientation - is
complicated because students and
administrators conceive of the
problem quite differently,
Administrators envision the new
student's ritualistic, semi-mystic
initiation into e maze of the
University as a feat of efficient
manipulation performed on mial-
leable hordes of humanity.
Students construe the daling
pragmatic functioning of adipln-
istrative machinery as a wrench-
ing social and intellectual rite of
passage between "high school"
and membership in the campus
community as he knows 11,
Since the ultimate experience of
orientation is confusing to every-
one who undergoes it, the ten-
dency in discussing it is to mini-
rnise or glide over differences in
standpoint.
* * *
ALL THE CONCERN, all the
confusion, all the scheduled intr-
ductory procedure stems from the
earnest mutual desire to make
new students feel at'home in the
University community.
But this feeling of ease in ones
environment is not easy to grasp
and expose to the clear light of
reason.r
It is probable, in fact, that In-
coming students have no idea by
what means to fit themselves sat-
isfactorily into the University
milieu-and that administrators
entertain the misconceptions of
what will be good for the students
which appear to be an occupa-
tional hazard of administration.
THE PHYSICAL PLANT of the
University is maze enough to de-
mand a certain period of formal
initiation from any entering stu-
dent. After this fact, orientation
leaders and students alike fall in-
to relieved agreement arni ac-
quiescent lockstep.
Touts of the campus are, after
all, eafy to make and fun to use.
So much for sheer physical oriem
tation.
Social orientation, such as it
is, is recognized by all as desirable
and necessary, but incurs more
controversy. Obviously the stu-
dent's need to know where he is
socially is more open to interpre-
tation than his need to know
where he is physically. In such
situations, a bare minimum of
introduction to social patterns is
the most feasible answer-give the
new student a broad social
grounding in which (or to which)
he may react as an individual.
Coke dates - an inexplicabl
and uncompromising phenomenon
which appears on the orientation
prospectus-serve to Introduce the
student to a concept, if nothing
else. Mixers, it has 'been said,
provide a broad social grounding
comparable only to that of a par-
ticipant in the flesh trade, or in
dances after high school athletic
events.
The women's residence halls
"big sister" program is uneven,
but perhaps the most viable of
the orientation instruments, Its
valuable points are direct personal
contact on a one-to-one level an
informality, both of which are
essential to achieving the feeling
of ease in a new environment,
* * *
THE OVERALL problem in
these two areas of orientation is
not the number of questions which
arise, on how the process Is fal-
ing, on what could be done to
improve It. The problem is a too-
ready answer-"orientation to the
wholly-new context of the Univer-
sity is an individual problem that
can't possibly be accomplished In
a week."
Thsstatement is obvious and
none too helpful, in the face of
two valid assumptions : First, some
kind of orientation is vital to new
students, and second, improve-
ments in the process are neces-
sary and possible.
-Daily-Jtmes Warneka
Artes - Scientia -"Veritas
WALTER LIPPMANN:
why We Owe Foreign Aid
There may well be specific
reasons, which we do not now
know, for Mr. Khrushchev's deci-
sion -to attend the General As-
sembly in New York. But there is
a broad reason which in itself
would explain the decision. It is
'that outside of Western Europe
and North America there has very
recently and very suddenly been
a dramatic expansion of Soviet
influence. At the General As-
sembly of the U. N. fifteen new
African nations are about to be
admitted, and by the end of this
year there will probably be still
more. In the main the Soviet
Union has the inside track in
dealing with these new nations.
Moreover, it has broken into the
Western Hemisphere. Inside the
U. N. the influence of the Soviet
Union, which for years was in a
tiny minority, has increased
greatly, and Mr. Khrushchev will
be in New York to make the most
of it.
serious
Assemb
War
which
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the An
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are ill
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class of
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Then
ur own influence has declinedthe Soviet Union and even the
ly. In the first General Chinese have the inside track.
They do not stand for democracy,
bly after the end of World which is impossible in most of
II the. American nations, these countries, or for free and
then voted together, had private enterprise, which is also
cent of the votes. This was impossible. They stand for die-
on which to build an easy, tatorships using technicians. The
ty with the Western Euro-. handful of educated leaders in,
and in itself was quite suf- the backward countries, and also
to exercise a veto. Now, in countries not so backward, can
mnerican states-even apart imagine themselves following the
Cuba's defection-are less Soviet pattern. But they cannot
quarter of the total- imagine themselves following the
* * political pattern of Eisenhower
THE GENERAL Assembly and Nixon and Kennedy and
;he world which it represents: Johnson, of General Motors and
ponderant majority of the U. S. Steel.
ies are very poor, have a All this poses for us the grave
ive economy and are highly problem of how, despite the Soviet
tented with their condition, initial advantage, the Western
treat masses of the people powers can exert enough influence
iterate and the country is to maintain their vital interests.
ate if it has even a small Anyone, in my opinion, is a tool
f educated menvand trained who thinks that there is. an ob-
ervants. vious and easy solution to this
rerisnoys.problem. What is certain is that
re is no mystery as to why the solution, if there is one, will
not be found by thrashing around
wildly, looking for scapegoats, and
trying to find someone in the
foreign service to blame for the
faet that Castro and Lumumba
"Pray Keep Moving, Brother"
4',-
exist.
'
,j
_ a.
'
;
,:lr
f ,#
It IS CLEAR enough, I think,
that on the whole and increasingly
we shall have to deal through in-
ternational institutions 'in Asia,
Africa, and the Americas.
Throughout these vast territories
there is underway an historic
revolution against poverty and
against social and political in-
feriority to the Western white
man.
We cannot act successfully when
we act alone, because we are un-
able to divest ourselves of the
suspicion that we are the great
counter-revolutionary power.
Within international institutions,
tht U, N., the 0. A. S., the World
Bank and the like we can have
a certain immunity, and can have
influence because we have so much
to contribute.
The first item, then, in a solu-
tion of the problem of our rela-
tionship with the more or less
revolutionary countries of Asia,
Africa, and America, is to turn
from unilateral action to action
through the international insti-
tutions.
THE SECOND ITEM is, I believe
to take the leadership of the
highly developed countries in per-
suading them to accept the prin-
ciple that it is the duty of the
haves to finance the have-nots in
order that they may break the
vicious circle of their backward-
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
Singes 'Crust' .
To the Editor:
The Season is again with us-
more people, more traffie and
more noise-college is opening.
For years the problem has been
increasing and since Ann Arbor
is a city without the influx of
college students, I believe we as
citizens and property owners have
some rights which the city papers
and The Daily could emphasize:
we do have a right to come and
go from our garages, our front and
back doors. This means the drive-
way approach and walks should be
clear (by three feet, the law
states).
WE HAVE to maintain our