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Seventy-Second Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
ere Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH., Phone NO 2-3241
Truth WUil revail"
PN^
UNION OPPOSITION:
Merit Ratings Stir
Teaching Controversy
t'N
I
By PATRICIA O'CONNOR
ditorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
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MARCH 23, 1962
NIGHT EDITOR: JUDITH.BLEIER
The Future of SGC-
Let's Go On From Here
._
AVIA)
Fy&y.
" ESGC elections are over.
,No one will ever be able to untangle the
skein of irregularities and misdeeds that ac-
companied these elections. Many, including this
newspaper, share the blame. Who can say
whether certain candidates were not unfairly
eliminated, that certain others were not un-
deservedly elected due to farcical rules and po-
litically motivated inconsistencies in the Rules
and Credentials Qommittee?
'This campaign has exposed Council in all of
its most glaring weaknesses. Unswerving 'fac.-
tionalism reached its ultimate in the Stanley
Lubin decision - setting off a chain reaction
of events in which one Council member was of-
ficially censured and many others should re-
evaluate their own actions and attitudes.
The meager field of candidates displayed no
outstanding personality, no highly qualified in-
dividual, and many with no promise whatso-
evir. Campus interest reflected the field. About
15 per cent of the students voted; had it not
been for all the write-ins the figure would have
been lower.
B UT AS ridiculous as this whole campaign
was, it is foolish to try to do it over. Stu-
dent Government Council is facing extinction.
The newly elected members have all said they
want to help Council. They have all charac-
terized themselves as "individual thinkers,"
committed to no bloc. Now they must prove it.
Ken Miller has told everyone throughout the
campaign of his faith in the ability of students
About Face
THE WIND of public opinion has done an
about face in the case of the 155,000 reserv-
ists called to active duty last October. Ori-
ginally the subject of great sympathies for their
broken careers and interrupted .studies, they
are now castigated by Congressmen and the
press because their sacrifice is insignificant
compared to those who have given their lives
in defense of the nation.
But perhaps the reservists' recurrent com-
plaints are not so much based on a reluctance
to serve their country, but upon confusion
caused by the administration's meaningless
answers to their queries. Like "why are we
still here?" Answer: "To let the Russians know
that America isn't kidding."
W HO'S KIDDING who? The "ready reserv-
ists" have now been on duty almost six
months. They were supposed to be "battle
ready" within three weeks of the allup. Today,
many units are still eves unable to keep up
their own day to day existence of maintaining
files and procuring supplies, much less parti-
cipate in any real military challenge.
The Berlin Call-up has demonstrated nothing
more than the complete uselessness of the pres-
ent reserve program as an asset to American
defense. Rather than show our strength, it
vividly demonstrated to the entire world (which
happens to include the Soviet Union and Red
China) that the reserve units which bolster
our might on paper. are almost meaningless en-
tities in a realistic situation.
There is a well-circulated Washington theory
that this is exactly what Kennedy had in mind
and that he beautifully engineered the whole
affair in order to reorganize the reserve pro-
gram (i.e., weaken it) and divert its funds into
the two new Army divisions which are soon to
become a reality. .
T IS unfortunate that many men's lives had
to be "reorganized" in the process.,
Sp.4 H. MOLOTCH
to handle responsibility. The responsibility is
now his to handle.
Katy Ford was given a seat on Council by
a lot of people who thought she got a raw
deal. But if she wants to make a constructive
contribution to Council she must show that
she does have a fresh outlook, one that will
not be restricted by any preconceptions made
before a knowledge of facts.
Fred BatIle, too, has declared that he will
not vote any line. Batlle, especially toward the
end of the campaign, has shown much promise.
He must live up to this promise on Council.
Howard Abrams will no doubt hew the lib-
eral line. One can only hope that he will not
become dogmatic, that his mind will be open as
he considers the varied problems facing Coun-
cil.
Richard G'sell has bemoaned Council's po-
larity throughout the campaign. G'sell, him-
self, will probably not offer much help. Voting
records show that the only time he voted with
the liberals and against the conservatives last
semester was on a motion to extend adjour'n-
ment to 1:30 a.m.
Larry Monberg has mouthed the same
phrases as the rest of..the candidates. He often
spoke off the top of his head and when caught,
as he was at the Panhel open house by League
President Bea Nemlaha, his insolence flared
unchecked. His candidacy was marred by at
least one, if not more, violations.
HIS IS the ambivalent group coming onto
Council. They have much work ahead of
them. Election rules and procedures should be
completely overhauled. The Hare system is
unfair and illogical. A candidate can get every
second place vote and be dropped after the first
ballot. Such a system must be replaced.
Council does not need the anticlimactic two-
day elections. Many colleges, like Syracuse,
borrow voting machines from surrounding
cities. Without the Hare system, SGC could do
the same, thus streamlining the election pro-
cess. While cheating is still possible with ma-
chines, ballot stuffing is such a tradition now
that anything would be an improvement.
COUNCIL'S past polarity must give way to
more ,willingness to listen and to compro-
mise when necessary.
The Council must communicate with its
campus. Candidates always say that they will
improve communications, but they are missing
the point. Council members need not go to
groups; groups should approach Council mem-
bers. IFC and Panhel could perform a great
service if they organize a program in which
SGC members would be invited to houses to
speak and debate about current issues and
general philosophies.
THESE are some of the areas where positive
improvements can be made. Much depends
on the members of Council themselves. They
must get away from the level of pettiness
which has characterized Council for so long.
Not only must they communicate with the
campus, they must learn to communicate with
each other. They must try to 'understand this
University and their role within it. They must
face issues squarely, rather than talking around
them.E
Student Government Council still has a
chance. If the new members, elected and ex-
officio, will earnestly go to work, they can re-
verse the negative current which has engulfed
SGC for so long. But the time is growing short.
The campus will only mock SGC for so long
before it stops laughing and forgets the group
altogether.
-H. NEIL BERKSON
, .
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' Ais~lci,
P)IVI 1N(G
Ror,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
SGC Housecleaning in, Order
THE AMERICAN Federation of
Teachers called an extraordi-
nary one-day national conference
last Saturday to open a drive
against "the growing education
cancer called merit rating." This
"cancerous" merit rating involves
paying some teachers of outstand-
ing ability and service salaries
above the regular scale or advanc-
ing them beyond the normal
"steps"
Although few communities now
offer merit pay, the AFT (mem-
bership of 75,000) claims that
many more are planning to intro-
duce it. The National Educational
Association (788,000 members)
also opposes merit rating.
* * *
THE AFT in an apparently un-
compromising stand views merit
rating as nothing but an effort to
keep pay scales low, while disguis-
ing the truth for publicity pur-
poses by handing out a few sub-
stantial pay checks to administra-
tors' pets. To the argument that
business executives gladly compete
for merit pay the AFT replies that
they "are not required by law to
obtain specified education degrees
and obtain certification after
graduation as are teachers'f
"Two basic questions have never
been answered satisfactorily," says
an official AFT statement. "One
revolves around the question of
what is a merit teacher. The sec-
ond is the method of selection.
Who is going to sit in judgment
and what criteria will be used?"
The AFT sees the inevitable con-
sequences as low politics and even
lower morale.
, * *
THOSE WHO honestly call for
merit pay In the interest of better
education, and not merely as a
dodge to undermine teachers' sal-
aries, tend to argue:
-Only the promise of relatively
unlimited advancement can bring
a large number of ambitious career
professionals into teaching. The
actual number of those who reach
very high pay in industry and
other professions is relatively
small, but the incentive is there.
DAILY OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin Is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Michian for whieh The
Michigan Daily assumes no editorial
responsibility. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room. 3564 Administration Building
before 2 p.m.,' two days preceding
publication.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23
General Notices
Applications for the Selective Service
college qualification test are now being
distributed at t e Ann Arbor Selective
Service Board. 103 East Liberty. Appli-
cationsmust'be in by March 27, 1962.
U.S. Rubber Company Scholarships:
These scholarshipseare open to rsen
students 'in Engineering or Business
Administration who have completed
a minimum of two years work at The
University of Michigan and whose vo-
cational, goal is the entering of some
type of work in industry. An academic
avrage of 3.0 or better is expected.
Recipients must agree to repay one-
fourth of the stipend to this scholar-
ship fund within a three-year period
after graduation unless other arrange-
ments are made. Stipends are variable
depending on financial need. Applica-'
tion forms for thisnscholarship are
available, at the Scholarship Office,
2011 Student Activities Bldg.
The University of Michigan Blood
Bank Association, in cooperation with
'the American Red Cross, will have its
regular Blood ank Clinic on March
28, 1962. The Clinic hours are 10:00
a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:00 to 3:30
p.m. Any full-time or part-time reg-
ularly emplyed staff member of the
University interested in becoming a
(Continued on Page )
-A scale with a ceiling creates
a mixture of a labor and civil
service atmosphere which Offends
some able people who object to
what seems to be the assumption
of equal abilities or the disregard
of superior abilities.
-By denying that it is possible
to "tell a good teacher," the edu-
cators are flying in the face of
their own basic theories aboutthe
importance of individual diffe-
ences in human beings. They dis-
criminate against the most able by
making all equal.
-Absence of merit pay drives
many who would prefer to remain
teachers into the ranks of the ad-
ministration, merely for financial
reasons.
-If neither the Judgment of
school administrators not the
opinions of teachers' peers can be
trusted with the task of determin-
ing merit, without the certainty of
favoritism, politics and corruption,
'can the profession be considered
qualified to preside over education
itself?2
PERHAPS THESE advocates of
merit rating tend to resolve too
easily the question of how one,
determines a good teacher. The
NEA a year ago sponsored re-.
search into the question, "Who Is
A Good Teacher?" The discussions
were held jointly with the NEA's
department of classroom teachers
and the American Association of
School Administrators as well as
the National School Boards Asso-
ciation. They reached no conclu-
sions resolving the merit rating
issue. They found'it easier to tell
when a teacher is not very good
\and why.
The AF T, however, seems, mis-
taken in its blind opposition to
merit rating. To argue that teach-
ers should not be exposed to com-
petition for merit pay because
they are "required by law to ob-
tain specified education degrees
and obtain certification after
ing their adversaries argument
that the 'disregard of superior
abilities becomes established with-
out merit pay.
An education degree and a' cer-
tificate to teach should not become
the means of providing oneself
with a secure living for as long as
one wishes to teach with no dis-
turbing thoughts of competition
through excellence.
,* * 4
THE AFT, currently engaged in
a strong organizational.campaign,
would probably view compromise
unfavorably.
The NEA, which includes among
its membership classroom teachers
as well as administrators, might be
more inclined toward a less rigid
outlook. The NEA, however, is also
fighting for an increase of its
membership. Little change can be
expected until some clearer indi-
cation enterges on how strongly
the rank/and file of teachers feel
about the issue.
The intrinsic changes in school
organization may lead, to eventual
compromises. If team teaching
puts special responsibility on some
team leaders or if television makes
some teachers' outstanding talents
both recognizable and more widely
distributed, merit pay may easily
come into undisputed existence.
Special rewards for outstanding
teacherq may also emerge in cases
of dealing with slum schools, gifted
or retarded children, and other
special problems.
* * *
MEANWHILE, energy might bet-
ter be devoted to resolving the
issue of how one determines a good
teacher and how a merit plan
could work rather than flatly re-
fusing to hear of its implementa-
tion.
To the Editor:
IT WOULD seem that this most
recent Campus Controversy, i.e.,
the SGC election procedures, mer-
its at least as much. if not more
consideration than other topics re-
cently gracing the pages of The
Daily. SGC must, in -theory at
least, rank as the most significant
student , organization of campus
scope presently in existence. It
supposedly represents s t u d e n t
opinion and thinking at the
broadest level, although in reality
even its most enraptured support-
ers will admit it does not. The re-
sponsibility it has to the student
body, however, is no less real be-
cause it is not truly representative,
and its recent actions measure up
in no way with its obligations.
More specifically, it is time that
SGC, collectively and individually,
ceases pointing fingers at the rest
of the universe and focuses atten-
tion upon itself. Housecleaning is
in order, and nowhere is this more
obvious than in events of the past
few days. However hypocritical it
may seem to some for SGC to dis-
qualify one candidate for improp-
er petitioning procedure one day,
and discover the next that one of
its agents aided another candidate
in doing the same thing, the more
essential point is the inherent
structural and operational flaws
in the Council organization itself.
Present election regulations are
petty in reasoning and absurd in
logic. I am not qualified by ex-
perience with or knowledge of
SGC to suggest detailed changes,
but surely a re-evaluation of pol-
icy and procedure not only of elec-
tion methods but of the whole of
SGC should be undertaken.
This, I suspect, would prove far
more valuable to both SGC and
the student body (something rare
at present, in view of the Council's
actions for the past four years)
than name-calling, declaration-
writing, discrimination-investigat-
ing, and the multitude of other
activities with which SGC typical-
ly concerns itself. I've been look-
ing for this plank in someone's
platform for some time, and have
yet to find it. (Since I am about
to go and vote, perhaps I'll have
better luck this time.)'
-James Lovett, '62 A&D
Protest..."
To the Editor:
Y ADD my .protest to the SGC
rules and elections committee.
At 11:30 p.m. Wednesday that
group went into a secret session,
supposedly to consider charged
ballot-stuffing for Lawrence Mon-
berg. The contents of this meet-
ing were never announced. If
there were violations, the commit-
tee should make public its deci-
sion; if not, it is only fair to Mr
Monberg to formally clear him.
-Joe Feldman, '64
Ludicrous...
To the Editor:
AMONG many, I share the sen-
ior editors' opinion that, "This
SGC election has been ludicrous"
But only those apathetic
vacuums which completely lack a
clearunderstanding of Student
Government Council and of cam-
pus politics in general will take an
entirely negative attitude toward
SGC's current difficulties.
Two features support an oppo-
mous essay on comedy that laugh-'
ter is above all a corrective.
Applying this to the present SC
comedy of errors and to the re-
flected condition of that frganiza-
tion, perhaps we may ,ure folly
with folly.
-Ron Newman, '63
Proposal...
To the Editor:
BEING a humble and contrite
soul, I should like to propose
what seems to me to be an unsur-
passable solution for the woes be-
setting the SGC campaign com-
mittee: Henceforth, any would-be
council member who takes out a
petition of candidacy, will be im-
mediately, and irrevokably dis-
qualified from running.
The virtues of this plan are
many; but most important, since
no one could run for office and
take out a petition, all ballots
would be entirely write-in votes.
Obviously, since there can be less
chance of fraud in write-in votes,
there would be no more of this
nauseous chaos which now pre-
vails over what was once to be a
most rational election procedure.
In this manner the wonderful
Hare System would operate effi-
ciently, and SGC would no longer
be the center of campus ridicule.
I think that my suggestion
should be immediately accepted,
and should be made retroactive
to this election. Then, of course,
it would have to be held again,
and everyone would have an equal
opportunity; and I might be in-
duced to vote for the first time in
four years.
-Kermit Krueger, '62 LSA
No Informtio
To the Editor:
FEEL A COMPULSION to voice
my evaluation of the elections
which have taken place these past
two days, the regulations pertain-
ing to them and the publicity af-
forded the candidates. It appears
that the basic cause of the ballot-
ing difficulties was the complete
inefficiency of the University bu-
reaucracy in
(1) not having produced IDs
which give pertinent iinformation
as to class and school,
(2) not being able to remedy
this situation by providing check
lists of such information for use
at the polls in order to determine
who should have which ballots,.
and
(3) causing the elections com-
mittee of SGC to spend hundreds
of hours attempting to solve these
problems in order that an effective
and democratic election could be
conducted.
As a result of this diversion of
attention to matters which proved
beyond their control, the election
officials did not have the time to
properly recruit or instruct poll
workers. Many friends who plan-
ned to vote for me remarked either
"They (the poll workers) said we
(grad students) couldn't vote in
the Publications Board election"
or "When do we vote for you?"
(after voting for SGC candidates,
but not receiving the other bal-
lots).
THEELECTION regulations es-
tablished by SGC appear to en-
courage campus-wide apathy to-
Perhaps the 40 per cent of the
total University who are graduate
students, and nearly all living 'in
private housing, are not entitled
to know who is running and that
elections pertain to areas other
than SGC itself. If so, why not
limit the vote to undergraduates?
Rather than the present un-
limited number of posters limited
to certain areas, I suggest that a
limit be placed on the number of
posters but that their location be
at the discretion of the candidate.
For even the official SGC posters,
which included only candidates for
SGC, are not readily visible to the
passing student, being buried with
dozens of other posters on bulletin
boards such as in the Union base-
ment.
The interest of thousands of
additional students could be stim-
ulated by colorful signs and dis-
plays strategically placed through-
out the campus. This change
might also, discourage the drab
commercially printed placards
which most candidates, myself in-
cluded, have placed in merchants'
windows and encourage colorful,
informative campaign announce-
ments which would challenge'the
voters to investigate the candi-
dates background, purpose and
platform."
* * *
WITHOUT COMMENT on the
coverage given SGC candidates, I
believe that The Daily negligently
omitted any discussion through
news or editorial channels of can-
didates for publications board (the
very board which elects The
Daily's vital staff personnl), the
Union Board, the athletic board,
and the various senior board posts.
Mentioning names, classes, and
.schools is not sufficient in a uni-
versity the size of Michigan. Each
candidate- submitted a qualifica-
tion sheet and the information
thereon should have' been con-
veyed to the student body through
the official University news organ.
Further, it seems to be more
than an oversight that The Daily
has totally neglected to stress that
all students within the University
may vote in the elections-at least
for SGC and publicationsboard
positions. Most graduate students
from whom I have solicited sup-
port have been quite amazed to
learn that they are eligible to vote
in these supposed "campus wide"
elections.
The purpose of informing seems
to be overlooked or ignored by The
Daily in this arearand yet it com-
plains of student apathy and ig-
norance. Or is this the situation
that The Daily and a majority of
SGC members wold prefer to see
exist among the graduate stu-
dents?
It can only be hoped that SGC
and The Daily will soon realize
their responsibility to graduate
students - whom night editor
Michael Olinick predicts will be
in a vast majority by 1982-and
students living outside of the Uni-
versity housing system.
-Art Frederick, '64L
Illusion . .
To the Editor:
I HAD THE unfortunate experi-
ence of reading your 'editorial
"Progress" printed recently, and
had it destroy an illusion that you
had a sophisticated paper. No
doubt Harrah has keen insight
CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL:
'i
__
TODAY AND TOMORROW
Crisis in 'Argentina
By WALTER LIPPMANN
rHE CRISIS in the Argentine boiled up when
President Frondizi took the risk of permit-
Lng a free election. Since the' fall of Peron in
955, his followers have been forbidden to run
or public office. In Sunday's election President
rondizi lifted this ban and pulled the cork
ut of the bottle. The Peronista candidates
olled something like 40 per cent of the vote.
'hey won in ten provinces, including Buenos
ires where a third of the population lives.,
The military, who had deposed Peron in 1955,
eacted at once and President Frondizi is now
he head, or perhaps the prisoner of a civilian-
ailitary coalition which is cancelling the re-
ults of the election and barring the Peronista
andidates from taking office in the provinces.
rHE ELECTION has shown that at present in
the Argentine democracy and free elections
re not workable. For within the electorate
here is a revolutionary mass which is so large
rnd so strong that the real choice is between
wo kinds of dictatorships-one in the style of
eron and the, other the rule of the armed
orces. There is, it would appear, no middle
arty between the extremes which is big and
trong enough to govern the country.
Peronism's idenngical souree is not commu-
tro. We shall be missing the point unless we
realize that there is in the Argentine a highly
discontented and semi-revolutionary native mi-
nority of at least 40 per cent, and that while it
can be disenfranchised; it is not likely soon to
be liquidated.
THERE IS no way way to disguise the fact
that what has happened in the Argentine is a
searching challenge to the Alliance for Prog-
ress and 'to the basis of our Latin American
policy. Our hope is that there will take place
in Latin America a peaceable but radical social
reform, conducted according to sound financial
principles and carried on without violence and
without revolutionary expropriation, by demo
cratic governments freely elected.
The Argentine, which is the richest and in
many ways the'most advanced country in Latin
America, has found it impossible to live accord-
ing to this formula
There is such discontent even in this ad-
vanced Latin American country that when al-
lowed to express itself in a free election, it
opened the way immediately to the restoration
of a distatorship.
THE ARGENTINE, at least, and probably oth-
Hooker Beats Out Blues
IRock'n Roll Style
J OHN LEE HOOKER rides somewhere between Bo Diddley and
Brownie MaGhee on the Blues Line Inc.
His train commutes between city and country blues on a rock'n
roll gauge track and he gives his passengers a good ride. "Hobo Blues"
with the haunting refrain "Freight Train-Take Care of My Child,"
showed Hooker at his best blues last night while "Have a Ball Boogie"
and "Baby Let's Make It" were delivered with 12 bar rock'n roll
aplomb.
The only man to appear at both the Newport Jazz Festival and
the Newport Folk Festival, Hooker has struck his own 'distinctive
style of reality monologue--first-person dissertations on real life.
They become blues when accompanied by a slow, beat and rock'n roll
when -speeded: up.
HIS ELECTRIC "GUITAR playing is expressionistic in a similar
sense to expressionistic painting-erratic but a form of communica-
tion. Even more erratic was his presentation of songs. They were
not ordered or announced, which left a "stream of consciousness" im-
pression.
Starting' out with "I Just Love to See You Off" hbe faded into a
rock version of "I'm in the Mood for Love." He then gave a traditional
rendition of "Tupelo," making a disaster in Tupelo, Miss., real to a
college audience.
Next came the city blues, heavily accented with rock'n roll. In
this trend came the "Don't Break the Rules-Keep on to School" a
temptation dialogue and "Have a Ball-Boogie," spiced with the local
touch of Hastings Street, Detroit.
The request numbers-"Traveling Blues," "Please Don't Go," "Long
the Avenue" and "Arkansas" were excellent. Sociologists and an-