100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

July 03, 1969 - Image 4

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1969-07-03

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

:

£a-B-
Seventy-eight years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students of the University of Michigan

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

News Phone: 764-0552

Editorials printed in The Michigan Doily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.

..

THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1969

NIGHT EDITOR: DANIEL ZWERDLING

.

Cutting the strings
on the budget bill

EGISLATIVE action last week on the
higher education appropriations bill
can evoke at best only mixed reaction
from the University community.
Indeed, the bill passed by the State
douse of Representatives would provide
enough funds for the University to avoid
an increase in tuition this year.
But at the same time, amendments
tacked onto the bill can only be charac-
terized as foolish and, in some cases,
clearly unconstitutional.
The state constitution gives the Re-
gents (as well as the governing boards of
Michigan State and Wayne State) "gen-
eral supervision of its institution and
control and direction of all expenditures
from the institution's funds."
UT DESPITE this constitutional pro-
vision, three of the amendments
passed by the House last week would have
a direct, coercive influence on the Re
gents in their handling of the financial
operations of the University.
The most widely publicized of these is
tde amendment which would have the
effect of barring therRegents (as well as
tl~e governing boards of "other state-
supported schools) from instituting an
increase in tuitior
On its face, thi amendment appears. to
be one which most students would readily
endorse. And indeed, with a state ppro-
priation at the level which the House ap-
proved, University officials say no tuition
increase would be needed'-
The principle underlying such legisla-
tion is, however, dangerous in applica-
tion, and simplistic in approach.
Accompanied *by a lower appropria-
tion - a distinct possibility even this
year because the Senate bill passed in
May would give the University $4 million
less than the House bill - the tuition-
limitation could compel cutbacks in edu-
cational programs which would seriously
undermine the quality of University edu-
cation.'
IN FACT,.another of the House amend-
ments would direct the Regents to cut
back programs if current sources of reve-
nue prove inadequate to meet the present
levekof expe ditures
the Ki's
xren
RICHARD NIXON recently appointed
William J. Casey to a high-ranking
position in the Arms Control and Dis-
armament Agecy, the same man who
conducted a nation-wide poll for ABM
and who subsequently claimed that 84
per cent of the nation supported it. Six
former Presidents of the American As-
sociation for Public Opinion Research
thought his methodology "damaging" to
the reputation of the profession.
-DREW BOGEMA

. And a third amendment even casts
doubt upon the sincerity of the House in
requesting additional funds for the Uni-
versity. Under this provision, such com-
ponents of the University's budget as un-
restricted alumni contributions would
be negated by corresponding cuts in the
state appropriation. This provision could
seriously undercut the effects of an in-
creased state appropriation..
The direct threat implicit in ' the
amendments to the quality of University
education is bad enough. What is worse
is the concept, inherent in the amend-
ments, that the Legislature - not the
Regents - should have control of Uni-
versity finances.
THE RIGHT to limit the gross amount
of the state appropriation to the Uni-
versity already gives the Legislature con-
siderable power in affecting the course
higher education will take at the Univer-
sity. And given the political nature of
the Legislature vis-a-vis the University,
administration - and even the Regents
- this power is already too great.
The specter of political manipulation
by the Legislature tends, even, now, to
influence an all too wide range of Uni-
versity decisions - everything from the
performance of plays with nudity to the
granting of tenure to a controversial as-
sistant professor.
Decisions at an institution of higher
education should be based on their aca-
demic merit, not upon political expe-
diency. The threat of increased legisla-
tive influence in University decision-
making is a sad omen indeed for those
who seek an institution dedicated to lib-
eral education and an atmosphere of free
and open academhic inquiry.
A FOURTH amendment- to the higher
education appropriations bill under-
lines the unfortunate determination and
even paranoia of the Legislature in its
quest for greaterf influence in the Uni-
versity.
Under the amendment, all state ap-
propriations to the University would be
immediately suspended if ,the University
challenged in the courts the constitu-
tionality of one or all the provisions in,
the appropriations bill.
Hopefully, the absurdity of at least
this last amendment will be exposed
when Atty. Gen. Frank Kelley rules on
the legality of provisions added to the
bill by the House.
But the attorney general's office is al-
ready defending the Legislature in a suit
brought by the University, WSU and MSU
concerning provisions in 'former appro-
priations laws which are similar to the
limitation on tuition and other financial
restrictions. It is, therefore, unlikely that
Kelley will rule those restrictions uncon-
stitutional.

.HOWARD KOHN
To the firmament
NOW WHEN the earth was still alive, there came a ruler out of the
west with great herds of sheep and asses.
And he was called America, the son of General Electric, the prince
of the Pentagon.
And America gathered unto him wise men and generals who had
nerves of steel and steeds of nerve gas. And he made them his man-
servants to carry his teachings into every land.
AND THEY went and slew false prophets and pulled down idols
and scattered the heathen across the face of the earth - which was
then barren and desolate and without form from the great winds of
pollution.
ButAmerica showed mercy in his anger and brought heathen cap-
tives to his land and gave them refuge.
And the heathen captives came with the sheep and the asses to
give thanks to America, who had saved them.
AND AMERICA was pleased and he bade the generals to dream
great dreams.
And so it came to pass that America called together all his people,
his sheep and asses, and his heathen captives, and he spake upto them.
Behold me, I have done great deeds. I have cured men of living
and built national cemeteries.. I have taken alms from beggars and
built holy fortresses.
I have stilled the songs of birds in the valley and slain the bear
where he sleeps in his lair.
I have destroyed mountains and turned rivers into sewers.
I have slain thousands upon thousands of my enemies and brought
peace to this land.
Now this I promise ye - who are of so little faith that ye tremble
in my shadow - I shall fill the heavens with my armament and the
moon shall be my armor-bearer.
AND THEY marvelled at his words, for he'spake things of won-
derment: And they returned to their homes and were glad.
But America kept all these things in his head.
And he sent his tax collectors among his people and they gathered
in tithes and offerings of gold and silver. And he sent his laborers into
the mountains to hew round stones out of the rock.
And he commanded them to build a staircase of steps leading to
the sky and to adorn each step with precious stones,
AND THEY gathered in great crowds to watch America ascend the
staircase with his chariot.
Now the chariot was drawn by three golden stallions and driven
by three white horsemen. One was from the tribe of Army and had
slain a hundred enemies in one day, and one was from the, tribe of Air
Force and had burned five cities in one day, and one was from the tribe
Fof Navy and had lost two ships and a submarine in one day.
And America was exceedingly joyful and shouted to his people, Lo,
I am more majestic than any ruler and stronger than any god.
AND GOD looked down from the heavens and saw the people bow-
ing and kneeling and worshiping America.
' And he saw America ride his chariot through the firmament.
And he spake softly, Fool thou art, and fool thou shalt always be.

*te I

Photograph taken from Apollo 10

w l

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Cooperating on, housing

To the Editor:
AS YOU MAY or may not know,
Northwood - Terrace Association
(N/TA) has been negotiating with
the Housing Office for the past
few months in order to determine
the Northwood's a n d University
Terrace r e n t structure for the
1969-70 year. On the negotiating
committee were two N/TA repre-

4
r
f
t
s
L

aJAMI E S W E C S e J d e ad.

DAY AFTER day for too many
recent years the newspapers
of the land have carried a small
notation such as the one that be-
gan this way in the New York
Post the other day.
WASHINGTON UP) - The
Defense Dept. has released
the namesaof116 servicemen
killed in action in Vietnam.
There usually ensues a list of
those who came from the area in
which the paper is published. In-
termittently there are feature
stories describing the grief of the
individual families, and special
remembrances. But usually there
is only a single line of type, with-
out elaboration; the names are of
youth who will forever remain
faceless and forgotten except to
relatives and friends.
Now, in an extraordinary jour-
nalistic exercise, Life magazine
has imparted a dramatic new di-
mension to these bleak rosters. Its
current issue devotes 12 pages to
portraits of the 242 Americans'
who perished in Vietnam during
the week of May 28 through June
3. As Life observes, "the numbers
of the dead are average for any
seven-day period during this stage
of the war."I
No document that has been pub-
fished on this conflict is likely
to have as much impact as this
gallery, assembled in the fashion
of a college year-book, but with
the somber reminder that, for all
of those whose countenances ap-
pear, time has cruelly and pre-
maturely run out in the Vietnam
wasteland.

perly avoids any labored editorial
manifesto and specifically d is-
claims any intention "to speak for
the dead" in any doctrinaire
terms.
In muted accompanying mater-
ial - based on interviews with
the families of the victims and
examination of letters from t h e
front - it documents the diver-
sity of view among those who were
slain, ranging from those who
deeply believed in the U.S. effort.
to those who were "desperate to
come home."
There were those who had re-
enlisted and those like the one
who, in the words of an aunt who
had raised him, felt "it was a ter-
rible thought going into the Army
and winding up in Vietnam and
shooting people who hadn't done
anything to him."
Amid all the varied tones and
nuances of comment, it is the pic-
tures that cumulatively cry out a
message of poignancy and waste.
Some of those portrayed are white
and others are black; they come
from every area of the nation.
Some wear smiles that lend addi-
tional retroactive sadness to the
exhibition, and some seem to dis-
play a somber premonition.
BUT THE REMINDER that sha-
dows each page is that a com-
parable collection of the lost could
be published again next week, or
the week thereafter-and could
have appeared during so m a n y
other weeks that have slipped
away during this interminable en-
trapment.
Despite Life's disclaimer of edi-
torial design, it is hard to believe
that even the most hawkish die-

ANot this face

Editorial Stafr
MARCIA ABRAMSON...............Co-Editor
STEVE ANZALONE .........Co-Editor
MARTIN HIRSCHMAN .. Summer Supplement Editor
JIM FORRESTER.........,Summer Sports Editor
PHIL HERTZ.......Associate Summer Sports Editor
ERIC PERGEAUX, JAY CASSIDY.......Photo Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Joel Block, Nadine Cohodas Harold
Rosenthal, Judy Sarasohn.

FOR THE moment, the University can
only sit on the sidelines and await the
results of Senate-House conference com-
mittee negotiations on the appropriations
bill.
But if restrictions on the Regents re-
main in the final bill, the University may
once more be forced to turn to the courts
to seek reaffirmation of the autonomy
that is so explicitly granted to them in
the state constitution.
-MARTIN HIRSCHMAN

THE MAGAZINE QUITE

pro-

hard will be able to look at this
presentation without internal an-
guish and some instinct of re-
appraisal. Surely anyone who
ponders these pages must be im-
pelled to ask how many more
must die to enable Mr. Nixon to
"buy time" or "save face."
All wars are hell. What makes
this album so unusually tragic
and devastating is that this war
has been perpetuated by so many
misconceptions and miscalcula-
tions and that the sacrifice goes
on despite growing national
awareness - avowedly shared by
the President -that military vic-
tory cannot be won.
Thus each additional casualty
becomes increasingly indefensible.
Long ago Gen. Gavin urged an
"enclave" policy under which our
troops would, in effect, have
fought only in self-defense while
we pursued the quest for a set-
tlement. Was he wront? H o w
many lives might have been spar-
ed if we had at least reduced our
commitment to the level he urg-
ed?
INSTEAD, EVEN AT this late
hour, when most of the earlier
military delusions have been ex-
ploded, young men are still sent
up. Hamburger Hill and into val-
leys of death to maintain what is
called a "posture of strength" at
the negotiating table.
Whom are we kidding?
The other side has fought for'
more than 20 years; does anyone
seriously believe it will be intimi-
dated if we continue to send 242
young men to their deaths each
week until late 1970? Does anyone
really suggest that the American
people will tolerate this spectacle
for an indefinite period?

sentativeq; two Student Advisory
Committee on Housing represent-
atives, and two sta ff members
from the Housing Office.
All facets of the picture that
were mentioned, were discussed
and studied, and after concluding
its study, the Rent Study Commit-
tee issued a report pointing out
that it is both feasible and desir-
able to keep rents in Northwood.
and University Terrace at the
present rates. At no time was re-
quested information witheld from
the Rent Study Committee.
THE RENT STUDY REPORT
was then submitted to the Student
Advisory Committee on Housing
(SACH) which is chaired by John
Feldkamp, director of University.
housing, and composed of students
representing on and off-campus
housing facilities and married and
single students. SACH agreed to
the report's conclusions with the
only exceptions coming from Feld-
kamp and a student representative
from the dorms.
The report was then, submitted
to the Student Affairs Policy Com-
mittee (SAPC), which consists of
four students and four staff or
faculty and is chaired by M rs.
Barbara Newell, vice president for
student affairs.
Mr. Feldkamp, at the same time,
wrote a letter to Mrs. Newell, of
which he sent a copy to all mem-
bers of SACH and the Rent.Study
Committee, in which he mention-
ed that SACH had supported the
report but that he still favored a
$5 rent increase.
Mrs. New'ell also provided her
SAPC members with a copy of the
letter thus giving them a broader
picture than the report alone rep-
resented. After consideration of
the Rent Study Report and Feld-
kamp's letter, SAPC unanimously
voted to support the report.
THE REASON for this rather
lengthy and possibly boring nar-
rative is to g i v e you a factual
background upon which to judge
my following comments.
The SAPC then decided to con-
demn Feldkamp f o r supporting
his own opinion, through his open
letter to Mrs. Newell, as opposed
to abandoning his o w n opinion
and fully supporting the report.
The majority of SAPC obviously
feel that staff and faculty chair-i
men should not have the right to
openly and honestly, as was the
case at hand, disagree with their
student a d v i so r y committees,
'Thinly-veiled
To the Editor:
IT APPEARS THAT our liberal
mayor, Robert Harris, has been
working behind the scenes or is
incredibly lax on the job.
For the past two weeks there
has been a surfeit of police pa-
trolling in the two block area from
East University to South Forest. I
have conferred with the managers
of business establishments in that
area who maintain that up to 9
or 10 policemen have been pres-
ent each night, armed with riot
sticks. Saturday night, I saw a po-
liceman wave a riot stick threat-
eningly at a youth seated between
two parked cars near the sidewalk.
That same night I distinctly re-
member seeing no more than 15
people on each side of the street
per block, the majority of them
eating ice cream cones. There was

which leads directly to the aboli-
tion of minority opinions.
The fact that SAPC condemned
Feidkamp in an attempt to cen-
sure him, smacks at bigger and
more important things t h a n
whether his opinion was right or
wrong.
Over the past few years many
students, staff, and faculty have
been working hard to establish a
meaningful and cooperative rela-
tionship,so students may partici-
pate more actively in University
affairs. The basic reason given is
that until very recently students
have had virtually no voice In im-
portant matters concerning'them.
The student advisory committees
were established and are still be-
ing molded to provide a means fqr
the three groups to work coopera-
tively.
I HAVE FOUND, through many
dealings with the Housing Office
staff, and it was particularly
pointed out during the rent study
deliberations, t h a t the Housing
Office is truely attempting to work
openly and honestly with us. The
fact that our rent study report
has succeeded as far as it h a s
demonstrates that the student ad-
visory system is effective.
It appears to me that if we con
tinue to allow committees such as
SAPC to condemn people who are
actually making a constructive ef-
fort at adding to the student-fac-
ulty relationship, that these people
will eventually - sooner than lat-
er- desert the student commun-
ity thus leaving us where we were
before the student advisory com-
mittees were established.
Only this time the lack of com-
munication will be due to the stu-
dents we allowed to lead us, rath-
er than the lack of staff and fac-
ulty interest.
I cannot condone or support
the actions of any committee
which attempts to remove the
freedom' of constructive dissent
from any person whether he be
student. staff, faculty, or other,
nor can 'I support any group that
intentionally tries to remove the
open and honest type of commun-
ication that has been established
between students - married stu-
dents in particular - and the ad-
ministration over, the past f e w
years.
-Alan D. Mast,
President, N/TA;
Rent Study Commit-
tee member;
SACH member
June 27
m artial law
tention has been diverted? Does
Mayor Harris really feel it is that
easy to fool the people of Ann Ar-
bor into believing him a man of
"authority and reason"? It is my'
feeling that if Harris intends to
maintain South University as a
"gestapo z o n e" while he makes
"liberal" statements to the press,
he should at least make that pub-
lic.
To all the students and people
of Ann Arbor who worked very
hard to elect a good liberal mayor
like Robert Harris, I would ad-
dress one question: Who among
you believes that it would be pos-
sible to bring Harris and the ex-
tra patrolmen to court under the
federal offense of "Incitement to
Riot"?
-Barb Addison, '70
July 1

10

4

4

C'

rn~

4

AMR~
I

OAT PO
YOU CALLF
TWH1?

-

I

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan