.. .5 ! N :. ' Position papers Seventy-seven years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan under authority of Board in Control of Student Publications 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-05521 Editorials printed inThe Michigan Daily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. I' WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1968 NIGHT EDITOR: STEVE NISSEN -- -- Not by realism' alone shall the poor people live ,---.._ . . . r 2 1 F} ao 1 ~ g V '7 WITH A severe budget cut a near cer- tainty and with an army of poor people encamped in Washington to de- mand redress of grievances, President Johnson Monday gave an 'optimistic analysis of America's social problems. "The age-old ills which agitate our communities can be solved," Johnson argued. "They will not be solved if we give way to crippling despair. "They will be solved," he continued, "by realism, by determination, by com- mitment, by hope and by self-discipline. They will be solved by the impatience of the American people - but not by pessimism." They will be solved, the President ne- glected to mention, at least in part by money. And the chances of additional money ~(or even the same amount of money) going to creative s'ocial pro- grams this year seem rather dim. TOCOGMBAT inflation, the President is pushing an income tax surcharge. To win that surcharge, he will accept large budget cuts. A man with the Pres- ident's intimate knowledge of the ways of Congress knows from which programs funds will be cut: not from national de- fense, which eats up the lion's share of Federal moneys; not from the pork- barrel projects which make Congress- men politically fat; not from unneeded subsidies to .rich farmers, the spoils- victors of an earlier lobbying campaign. The money will come from programs to cure "The age-old ills which agitate our communities." President Johnson is voting for "real- ism, determination, commitment, hope and self-discipline" to solve poverty in the same spirit as the butcher pats the pig affectionately before chopping his head off. At a time when more creative (and more expensive) programs are needed to solve poverty, the President only has nice-sounding words to offer. THAT IS why the presence in Wash- ington of the Poor People's Campaign will serve as an embarrassing reminder to the Congress and the President that the poor are tired of waiting for "realism, determination, etc." The working men have organized, and Congress has passed legislation in their behalf. Farmers have organized, and Congress has sent money. This, :protectors of the status quo insist, is the American way. Now the poor are organized. They have gone forth unto their representatives with petitions, and they will not return until their voices have been heard. For a society as ridiculously rich as: ours to let their pleas go unheeded would estab- lish beyond question "the fatal sickness in our society" which the President in his speech so vehemently denied. THEIR CRIES itiust not go unheeded. Men who seek social justice must lend their hands. Students especially must join -the poor in their campaign. In an article appearing on this page, Wallace D. Loh, a volunteer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who are organizing the Campaign, explains the role students can and are playing in the capital. A rally to organize a caravan of Uni- versity students to join the Poor People's Campaign and the Poor People's Uni- versity will be held at noon today on the diag. For those who are unable to attend, further information can be obtained by calling 761-8943, 668-8124 or 663-8376. The poor have waited too long. -LUCY KENNEDY -URBAN LEHNER Poor People's U: 'Anew curriculum G I) hia t t ! Il yam "' ,... ... t .. ....... ..:.;. .;.n:::, ... . . . . . . a.:..... .. .. . :.. .. Today and Tomorrow ... By Walter Lippmann Americ '~s-nw~rol The last hurrah 4O NELSON Rockefeller, who learned very well in 1964 How to Lose Friends and Alienate Republicans, is taking a new tack in 1968 - the course of politi- cal expediency. Chasing the presidential prize with non-committal statements and ideological wavering, his recent over- tures to Ronald Reagan have clearly marked him as an American politician. The inevitable first reaction to Rocke- feller's assertion that he finds "little ideological difference" between himself and Reagan is disappointment. It was to be hoped that the Republicans would of- fer a prominent national figure who could be respected for his politics and his personal virtue. You can only shake your head glumly at the prostituting require- ments of American politics. "He doesn't really believe that," you think. "He only wants Reagan because he needs him if he wants to win." Yet this stance hds proven historically dangerous. In the past four years, we have had only too many "good" politi- cians who at first "went along" with anthropomorphic political repugnancies and then turned chameleon-like into the same kind of abominable creatures. With the Democrats likely to offer us the prime example of this type of politician, it is all the more discouraging that the Re- publicans may come up with an equally disappointing product of coalition. What's worse, a Rockefeller-turned-toady for the conservative vote still seems more appealing than the other Republican choice. RUTGOVERNOR Rockefeller's move is more than disappointing, and it is particularly discouraging that his court- ship of Gov. Reagan is so blatantly com- promising. It will become much worse if the p'olitical compromise turns into a moral compromise as well. Don't forget Hubert Humphrey. -DANIEL OKRENT THE IDEA of taking a vacation and getting away from it all is, I now realize, becoming old- fashioned and out-of-date. For "it" is everywhere. It is the great mass of modern men who are not at home in the world they are making. It is some comfort, and surely it is useful, to realize that while the Europeans are not at war in Southeast Asia and do not have to confront the evil consequences of Negro slavery, they are, lik:e us, worried and bewildered and anxious men. They also do not have beliefs that sustain them or leaders on whom they rely while they try to find their way through the crises of modern life and the revolution of this age. The word revolution carries with it today a far deeper mean- ing than it did when many of us were younger. For the modern revolution is engulfing not only ancient institutions and estab- lished beliefs and the ancestral order of the family and the com- munity which survived for so long despite political disorder. The common assumptions are in many ways becoming out- dated and irrelevant. For they were addressed to a ksocial order that is passing away more rapidly than any of the conventional rev- olutionists, such as the Commun- ists, can undermine and replace them. Italy, where I am writing this ,article,,is in the throes of an elec- tion campaign. As at home, the feeling one en- counters everywhere is that the problems of Italy in the modern age may not be soluble by con- ventional political methods. IN THESE old centers of West- ern civilization no one can fail to realize that the disorders and the riots and the vandalism which appall and frighten us have al- most always been prevalent. We have mistakenly come to regard as normal the peace and order which prevailed for a time in the years of our fathers. The few decades before World War I were, in fact abnormally secure and quiet. Only for a short time was it safe for men to walk about alone and unarmed in cities at night. And only for a very short time did masses with griev- ances wait patiently for redress by way of long-winded debates and the counting of heads. But while war and disorder have been the normal condition of mankind, the modern revolu- tion is far deeper and more over- whelming, more rapid and more unpredictable than any other' general experience of the human race. The attempt, for example, of a city like Florence, which was laid out in the Middle Ages, to ac- commodate itself to the automo- bile of the 20th century is an ob- vious and visually dramatic dem- onstration of the problem. The traffic problem, which is over- whelming Florence and -strangling the traffic, is a crude example of what is going' on. Just as the old cities cannot take modern automobiles, so the whole accepted apparatus of our conventions and our beliefs and our ideas is being overcome by the dazzling and liberating and lucra- tive results of science and tech- nology and business enterprise. The pill, for example, which has broken the connection hbe- tween sexual enjoyment and the procreation of children, is revolu- tionizing the family and educa- tion and the literature of human emotion. Astronomy and histo cal re- search are bringing about a tran- valuation of religious experience, of which the innovations of Pope John XXIII are only the first and not the last phase. Above all, the general accep- tance of the notion that the prog- ress of science is unlimited and that it is still in its early begin- niings fills modern men with the feeling that almost nothing they think today about social, political and worldly morals is sure to be valid in 30 years.1 THE 'ROUBLES of the U S. during the past year have had, for me at least, an unexpected effect on European opinion. There is, of course, a precipitate decline in American prestige as a world power. Our inability to win the war in Vietnam, the insoluble racial conflict, the crisis of the dollar and the uncertaid1 and in- decisive tone of our public dis- cussion have wiped out the Image of an all-powerful, invulnerable, wise and benevolent, dependable leader and protector of civiliza- tion. We have, as one Italian histor- ian put it to me, come down from the pedestal and entered history. We have become like the other nations: we have become one among many nations who have troubles, insoluble problems and who suffer defeats.x This decline in. our prestige is however, reducing the fear, the envy, the resentmentof our pow- er and of our wealth and of our inexperience which are the in- gredients of the anti-Americanism which is so prevalent. The mighty have not really fallen down all the way. But they have come down to earth and they are seen to be human. There has been wide and general sympathy in place of awe and respect and resentment. Although we are not at the present time looked upon with admiration as the undoubted leader of mankind, there exists, I think I have detected, no feeling that because our prestige has de- clined we have ceased to count. WE ARE still enormously pow- erful. The Europeans, moreover, have learned not to expect any nation to enjoy continuous suc- cess and unbroken victory. While we shall not again return to the artificially high position of lead- ership and domination which we occupied in the postwar years, we can recover a great influence in human affairs. We can do that by the force of our example - not, as we have thought we could, by the force of our arms and of our money. America can exert its greatest influence in the outer world by demonstrating at home that the largest and most complex modern society can solve the problems of modernity. Then what all the world is struggling with will be shown to be soluble. Example, and not intervention and firepower, has been the historic instrument of American influence on man- kind, and never has it been more necessary and more urgent to realize this truth. By WALLACE D. LOH Daily Guest Writer EDITOR'S NOTE: The au- thor, f a volunteer worker for the Southern Christian Leader- ship Conference, is a graduate student in psychology. WHILE NATIONAL attention is now focused on Resurrection City sprawled along the Reflect- ing Pool and 17th Street, a few blocks away in the relative ob- scurity of the basement of Con- cordia United Church of Christ, on 20th and "G" Streets, final plans 'are being drawn-up this week by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Student & Campus Activities staff for a stu- dent adjunct ofhthe Poor People's Campaign: the Poor People's University. Earlier this month, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy issued an ap- peal to students across the coun- try to Join America's poo in Washington, D.C. "Students, both black and white, have provided great physical, moral, and intel- lectual suport for human rights movements in the past," he said,, "and it was students who were shock troops through sit-ins, Freedom Rides, the Birmingham and Selma movements. We are now confident that they will join their poor brothers and sisters of all races, faiths, and nationali- ties in this Campaign." The Poor People's 'University p r ov id es the organizational framework for student involve- ment in the Campaign. It will officially commence on May 29th, on the eve of the massive Memo- rial Day Rally, and will continue for about three weeks. The motto of the University is "Come, Par- ticipate, Learn." It is essentially an extended Freedom School, or prolonged Teach-in, with the aim of providing an intensive work- study program to educate stu- dents in the problems of racism and poverty. The hope is that the University would stimulate and equip stu- dents to carry on the efforts be- gun in Washington to their own hom eand campus' communities, To this end, a Summer Task Force will be recruited among the student participants, so that they will follow-up the Washington experience by alerting and con- fronting people in their own com- munities of the social and econ- omic injustices in this country. THE ORIGINATOR and or- ganizer of the Poor People's Uni- versity is Stoney Cooks, the young, soft-spoken national direc- tor for student affairs of SCLC. While travelling around -the na- tion in the past months recruit- ing students for the Campaign, he began to sense "a new mood on campuses -- a 'mood that transcends ideology anddsimply asks the question: What .can I do?" He also felt there was a tragic alienation of academic people and poor people, and therefore decided to open a Uni- versity that will accommodate in- dividuals of varying educational and social-economic backgrounds where "all participants can be united in the common goal of positive, concerted action." The Poor People's University is primarily for students, though undoubtedly many in the Poor People's Campaign will also be participating. It is, also entirely organized by students. Cooks' core staff consists of 31 students from Berkeley, UCLA, and Stan- ford, who are spending the sum- mer as volunteer workers for SCLC and receiving academic credit since their work is con- sidered a field study project. Pre- liminary inquiries indicate that between 5000 to 15,000 students will converge on Washington dur- ing the length of the University. The program of the University will revolve around large lectures, filmn presentations, small seminars and discussion groups, and work- shops. Topics to be considered in- clude The Urb'an Ghetto and Su- burban Escape; The Economics of Welfare and Poverty; Capitalism and Poverty; Racism and Colo- nialism; Philosophy and Tactics of Non-Violence; History of Sla-. very; The Draft and Minority Groups; Poverty and the Vietnam War. In the past two weeks, letters have been sent to over 100 peo- ple-politicians, government of- ficials, professors-inviting them to speak it the Poor People's Uni-, versity. As of last week-end, com- mitments to come have been made by Eugene McCarthy, Bayard Rustin, Joan Baez, Dave Dellinger, Michael Harrington, Lerone Ben- net Jr., and I. F. Stone, as well as by different leaders and par- ticipants in the Campaign. BUT THE University, like the Campaign, is not without its trou- bles. The college volunteer staff at the basement of Concordia Church is an enthusiastic but amateurish group with respect to qrganizational efficiency, so be- tween brief periods of frenzied activity, there are also long lapses of disorganizationl, confusion, and shifting of responsibility from one committee to another. Stu- dents from neighboring schools who come down for the week-end to help out are often at a loss as to what is going on and leaye with the frustrated feeling that their time and abilities had not been fully utilized. But the primary obstacles yet to be overcome concern housing and classroom facilities. In a meeting with Stoney Cooks last week, representatives of the Con- sortiurri of Universitiesf of the Washington D.C. Area-Howard, George Washington, Georgetows American, and Catholic Univer- sity-were reluctant to open-up dormitory facilties for the several thousand students expected to attend the Poor People's Univer- sity. Their apprehension at having waves of outside students pouring into their campuses is under- standable given the current prac- tice of seizing and occupying school buildings. However, some classroom ' facilities were made available for the seminars and lectures. Des~ite these organizational problems which plague any large scale volunteer operation, the pro- gress made in setting-up the Poor People's University and the en- thusiasm it has generated are re- markable. There are no tuition fees for attending the University, but students are expected to de- fray their own transportation and living costs. COOKS EMPHASIZES that this is not a repeat of the Washington 'March of 1963 or of the October Pentagon Mobilization, where peo- ple had a one-day catharsis or got beat on the head and then went home. This time a non-violent army of thousands is going to come and remain in Washington to ,study and to engage in direct action. People who can come for only a day or two are certainly not discouraged, but they are urged to stay for as long as they can. Students w1 o choose to engage in direct action-militant non- violent demonstrations can be ex- pected wtih increasing intensity after Memorial Day if e Gov- ernment makes no constructive response to the demands ,of the poor-will sign a pledge to observe and to submit to the discipline of non-violence. This pledge, reads, in part: "I understand the fol- lowing considerations: 0 I may suffer privation, ex- posure, and imprisonment as a re- sult of my action: " The method of non-violence may subject me to insults and in- juries to which I must not re- taliate; "* This Campaign is a major ef- fort to concern people to the con' tinuous struggle with those forces which perpetuate poverty." As one Stanford student sums it up, "the Poor People's University will be a rather unusual educa- tional process." And indeed it will be: for in trying to sensitize stu- dents to the major issues of man- kind, and in trying to relate rele- vant knowledge to personal action, the Poor People University will be creating a situation where mean- ingful learning can take place. ;' 4 1-0 ANOTHER VIEW The premises behind the loopholes SENATOR Robert F. Kennedy is clearly right when he says the Federal tax law is in need of reform. And he is equally right when he adds that genuine reform will take a great deal of time to achieve. The basic trouble is that one man's "loophole" is another man's idea of simple justice. In an effort to chart a course between divergent pressure groups Congress has engaged in a great deal of slapdash tax surgery over the years. It's true further, as Senator Kennedy says, that some of the well-to-do wind up paying relatively less tax than those with lower incomes. One reason is that they are more likely to bq able to hire lawyers to locate useful tax rules in the legal maze. Perhaps it's well to remember, though, that the tax provisions the lawyers find were not supposed to have been inserted to help rich Americans or any other spe- cial income group. The petroleum deple- tion allowance, for example, was intend- ed to encourage domestic oil output. At least that was what was said in Congress, tax provisions. Certainly it would be pref- e'rable to Senator Kennedy's proposal of an immediate "minimum income tax" of at least 20 per cent on all higher-income Americans. After all, it's just that sort of hasty, ill-considered action that has made the present tax law the confusing mess that it is. -The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 1968 Minor league?* THE ANN ARBOR NEWS yesterday quoted two of "Six University of Mich- igan coeds, making a quick tour of Europe during a semester break," who "were nearly stranded in strike-ravaged France Monday night. "'We love Paris, but this is a little ridiculous,' Chris Meyers of the Detroit suburb of Farmington told a newsman as the girls sat waiting for a bus. "Liz Wainstock of Detroit asked a re- Summer jobs for radical students ,v4 Lir} f:ti"ti: ' :":t"... ' "'t.^S ......k"?.vY.?XS...??....":".X4" ;"?3:?'":":.::"::.:?:e.:".?.. . . . . . . . . . . .,..vc r :A:ti ::Y. ' "''i r... i v .r+v; }."^:"a "cr"?"\"+.'.. ..:::?..:.:.,..4h{ :. I..rS":..L. '"W.. \.^.~'.1 ..aittt':""::i:!",t""'":ti :" 2""' ...:t":t.l1.G . .A By D. MICHAEL SHAPIRO CHICAGO - The summer of '68 promises not to let any fledg- ling young activist down for lack of projects to work on. There are group efforts catering to a myriad of subjects, from white racism to draft resistance. The midwest is especially involved this season - what with University rebellions, riots, the Democratic convention in Chicago, the Yippie gathering, and so on. It was inevitable that Chicago, "butcher of hogs," would become a center of much of the action. A visit to 407 . Madison, a nondescript building being rapidly inhabited by the radicals, produced a wealth of in- formation on little-known sum- mer projects. By far one of the most impres- sive and imaginative of the pro- grams being initiated is the/ places such as Ft. Benning will be included. This "USO for Peace" idea is being promoted by many notables including Rev. Coffin, Marlon Brando, Dave Dillenger, Phil Oachs, ]dward Albee, Dustin Hoffman and Admiral Arnold Drew. The organizers are looking for about one hundred people to staff the coffee houses. Contact "Summer of Support," Rm. 315, 407 S. Dearborn, Chicago, Ill., 60605. Subsistence will be -pro- vided. Funds are privately raised. IF DOMESTIC socio-economic issues appeal more to your fancy, the National Community Union sponsors the "Summer in Transi- tion" program where one works and lives with poor working whites in order to gain a better understanding of the conditions and life-style of this group. Rap- Now that white racism has been officially acknowledged, programs to deal specifically with that problem have been set up by the PeoplecAgainst Racism organiza- tion centered in Detroit. They need people to be trained for community organizing in Cleve- land, Boston, Los Angeles rend Chicago. For more information write the People Against Racism, 2631 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48201. AMONG THE larger and bet- ter-organized draft resistance movements is the "Summer Of- fensive" based in Wisconsin. Op- erating entirely within the borders of the state, the sponsors need organizers to form an anti-draft ,aravan which would travel around the state like an Old Eng- lish minstrel show, disseminat- ing anti-draft literature and gos- 6 1i- ,,, .,., r "t ._ .. . '- ; l r + i '!r ri1Ml ! . f.... ยง r -;.i! S4 A