Seventy-Second Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
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Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials 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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4yf ~r ...
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~~ .
SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1962
NIGHT EDITOR: JUDITH OPPENHEIM
Reapportionment:
Two Views
Population Only ... Random Districts .. .
HiE 1960 CENSUS gave Michigan one more
congressman. The Beadle reapportionment
bill, providing the new district for him to run
in, now lies/on the governor's desk, awaiting
his action. It will be vetoed.
Thus, in November, Michigan will have a
congressman-at-large.
Reapportionment of congressional districts
should be a simple thing. The law in the matter
is quite clear-the state shall be split up into
districts, each having populations as nearly
equal as possible.
There is no mention of gerrymandering,
rotten boroughs, partisan composition, rural-
city splits, or any of the other age-old saws
that opponents of apportionment plans always
use.
THEREFORE, the law can be interpreted to
mean that as long as the population is
divided as equally as possible, other consider-
ations are unimportant, regardless of the pas-
sion with which they are debated.
Michigan's present apportionment, due to
population shifts in the last decade, is quite
inequitable. One congressman in Oakland
County represents 690,000 people, while a col-
league in the Upper Peninsula has only 150,000
constituents (the smallest district in the na-
tion, incidentally).
The Beadle bill, however, does little to correct
this. Instead it carves the new district out
of the corners of a few old ones. For the most
part, the state's apportionment is unchanged.
UNFORTUNATELY, this situation is largely
a result of political pressure. The incum-,
bent Republican congressmen, who outnumber
their Democratic counterparts 11 to 7, prac-
tically ordered the GOP-dominated Legislature
to leave the present apportionment alone. But
the Democrats, through the Governor's veto,
are determined to block any plan which would
not make the new seat Democratic.
Somehow the people lost out, and it seems
to be due to the selfish interests of the GOP
Washington delegation. The Lansing Repub-
licans had many proposed district plans sub-
mitted to them. Among those plans were
several that saved the seats of every incumbent
while apportioning strictly by population and
according to the law.
These plans were blocked at the insistence
of the Washington GOP, however, for they
not only wanted their seats saved, but they
wanted their entire districts unchanged.
T HIS INEQUITY could have been corrected
had the Republicans cared one whit about
the law. But they chose, instead, the easy
way out. They passed a plan they knew would
draw the Governor's veto, thus leaving their
precious districts unchanged for the GOP con-
gressmen.
Thus a congressman-at-large is created-
temporarily at least. Which party will get the
seat is most unclear. If George Romney is
able to run as strong as his supporters pre-
dict, then perhaps he can carry the rest of
the GOP statewide candidates in with him,
reversing the Democratic trend which has pre-
vailed for the last 10 years.
The job itself will be somewhat precarious.
Its ,tenure will depend upon how long it takes
the Legislature to come up with a satisfactory
apportionment, at which time it will be erased,
And this leaves the incumbent out in the cold.
But more important than that, this political
manuevering breaks faith with the people, for
it is a dereliction of duty on the part of the
Legislature.
It also perpetuates the Washington congress-
men,. who. are apparently terrified- at the
thought of having to appeal to any new voters.
And if these congressmen are so afraid to have
districts altered a bit, they must not be very
good representatives of the people.
THERE IS only one way to settle the issue,
The law must be amended to state that
reapportionment must be accomplished every
10 years, regardless of whether a state gains
or loses seats, in order to keep the population
division as equal as possible. If the Legislature
is unable to do so, then some third party will
have to be delegated to do it for them until
such time as they are once again able to do
it themselves.
The people are entitled by law to equal
representation, and legislators and governors
have no more right to break that law than
anyonle else. Above all, the selfish interests of
incumbent congressmen should not be a con-
sideration.
Good congressmen, you see, are prepared to
run on their records, which doesn't say much
for Michigan's Washington delegation.
--MICHAEL HARRAH
Editorial Staff
JOHN ROBERTS. Editor
FAIR REPRESENTATION depends on more
factors than equal division by population.
The belief that representation on the basis of
population alone is sufficient is the fallacy of
present discussion of re-apportionment.
This fallacy has led to open gerrymandering,
creating over-representation of a political
minority controlled by cheap politicians whose
interests are nothing like those of the people
of the district they are supposed to represent.
Indeed, equal numbers of people in each
district are essential. However, this has no
meaning unless the boundaries are chosen in
such a way that the political composition of
the district is randomly determined.
Politicians often hide behind the cloak of
apportionment by equal population and
create a situation in which a political minority
can keep control of an uninformed electorate.
Such is the situation in the state of Michi-
gan, and the political minority which has
duped the people is the Republican party.
Here is a hypothetical example which demon-
strates how the people may be duped by a
political minority:
LET'S SAY the state Republican party wants
to re-apportion Michigan's representatives
to Congress. They realize that, at present,
many of their own representatives are from
rural areas which have not grown as fast as
the large cities. These areas, which are pre-
dominantly Republican, are over-represented.
Also they know that the Governor and both
Senators are Democrats and are the only
state-wide elected officials.
The people in the state are aware of the
obvious inequities and are clamouring for
fair representation.
The good Republicans broach a solution. The
state is to be re-apportioned according to a
population basis. All hail the Republican party.
The Republican majority, in the Legislature
passes the bill, and the public lies dormant, ap-
peased by the fact that the state has been
indeed "fairly represented."
Funny thing, the Republicans received more
seats in the house of representatives the next
year.
THE DEMOCRATIC party is confused. They
remember that when the districts were
formed they were to be composed of an equal
number of people. They remember that the
districts were so arranged in Detroit that four
Democratic congressmen would retain their
seats. They remember agreeing with the Re-
publican politicians that this was indeed a good
idea as not only would there be equal rep-
resentation, but the seats of all the hard
working congressmen would be carefully pre-
served by appropriate choice of district boun-
daries. So what if one district is 90 miles wide
and runs from the upper peninsula down to
the city of Detroit.
What has happened is clear. The Republicans
have drawn the district boundaries so that
they have guaranteed their continued majority
representation even though a minority of the
people are Republican. The Democrats accepted
the plan because of personal pressures to re-
tain their existing seats. Indeed, the Democrats
were naive enough to let the Republicans
present a plan in which most Democratic seats
are "judiciously" preserved, as well as the
Republican control.
THE FOUNDERS of our country believed that
if 60 per cent of the population has a par-
ticular view and 40 per cent another, the
ratio of representatives holding that view in
a legislative body should be 60-40 not 80-20.
They believed this could be achieved by
breaking an area up into small population units
in areas of approximately equal size. It was
hoped that by making the areas small enough
and due to the unbiased choice of district
boundaries the majority-minority ratio would
be fairly represented in the legislative body.
It was obvious to the framers of our constitu-
tion that the key to the whole matter of attain-
ing fair representation is the unbiased choice
of district boundaries. Equality of population
was never considered sufficient. When districts
boundaries are chosen in a random manner,
chance guarantees fair representation.
THIS PRINCIPLE has been slowly lost over
the years due to increased political maneu-
vering.
Indeed, the problem today is not just one
of a forgotten principle. The legislators of this
state are toying with the destruction of some-
thing we believe in. For if the people are not
fairly represented we are creating a situation
which will lead to minority suppression and
the ultimate corruption of democracy.
If we do not claim our right to be represent-
ed, we give up other freedoms we have fought
so long to maintain.
THE STATE of Michigan has a last chance
to speak for itself. It is framing a new
constitution and thereby initiating a new poli-
AT THE MICHIGAN:
Farce-and-B loodshed
"SERGEANTS THREE" suffers from a curious imbalance. It stare
Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and the rest
of the Hollywood Clan, better known as the Washington D. C. away
from Washington D. C. From the ads and the coming attractions, it
promises to be an enjoyable romp in Union blue.
It is, in part. There are several hilarious moments in the picture,
the best being when Dean Martin (as Sergeant Dale) casually strides
up alone to the head of 50-odd rioting Indians, who are running
around brandishing hatchets, and-sans gun-proclaims: "In the
name of the President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, you're
all under arrest."
Sergeants Dale, Merry and Barrett (Martin, Sinatra, Lawford),
three grown-up East Side kids if there ever were ones, are sent out
on a mission to rout out and destroy the Ghost Dancers, a renegade
band of Indians. The Ghost Dancers, whom Dale eventually finds
himself in the middle of, are dedicated to wiping out the white man
and bringing back the days of the hunting ground.
BUT THE IMBALANCE intrudes itself constantly, and we cannot
believe that all the killing and blood-some of it literally as bad (or
good, depending on how you look at it) as "Ben Hur"-is to be
regarded as just part of the general fun.
For instance, Sammy Davis, a freed slave who tags along with
the mission, gets an arrow in such a way and at such a moment that
it shocks and throws the whole picture out of kilter, no matter how
much we tell ourselves that this is supposed to be a farce.
Several other disconcerting things like this are spread throughout
the film. It tries too much to be a melodrama AND a farce-comedy
AND a cavalry and Indians picture. It is funny when it is a farce,
but it loses that quality when it switches to melodrama. It is touching,
in its own way, when it concentrates on melodrama, but quickly drops
that.
It's too bad they couldn't make up their minds.
-Steven Hendel
AT CHURCH:
God's Work Undone
THE WRATH OF GOD failed to descend upon The Unitarian Church
last night as the hypothetical curtain rose at the Ann Arbor
premiere of Paul Goodman's satire on the world's best seller.
Never performed by a professional group since it was published
in 1945, and destined never to be in the forseeable future, "Jonah"
was given the treatment it deserved last night by the unprofessional,
undramatical and thoroughly entertaining John Barton Wolgamot
Society Players. "Jonah" shares the plight of the more serious literary
works by social commentator Goodman-the Western world is not
yet ready for a play which poignantly and laughingly thrashes out
at those who still close their sin-ridden day with "now I lay me down
to sleep."
SPECIFICALLY, Goodman chose the tale of Jonah and the Whale
in a sort of "what is Jonah really like?" investigation. Jonah is a
fat little Jewish tailor on, intimate grounds with the "Ambassador
of an Absolute Power" who is rather dismayed with the trials and
tribulations that fate has cast upon an unwilling prophet. He never
knows for sure whether his doom-filled prophesies will come true and
thus he never knows whether he will he held in contempt by the
few survivors or made into a laughing stock and a liar by the
rejoicing survivors. Either way, he can't win. Thus Jonah is reluctant
to warn the people of Ninevah that in Forty Days and Forty Nights
their city will be destroyed and its is in attempting to avoid this
divinely-inspired duty that he modifies his itinerary and is caught
in the storm at sea which tosses him into the mouth of a sensitive
and belching whale.
* * * *
JONAH, effectively portrayed by yiddish-accented William P.
Kenney, uninspired by his sometimes Mumford High School-accented
wife (Gail Roggin), -wends his way through the Biblical plot and
alternately has to face An Angel of the Lord (George Kennedy), the
Captain of a Ship (Prof. Donald Hall), the Judge (Prof. Marvin
Felheim), The King of Nineveh (Prof. O. L. Chavarria-Aguilar) along
with a bevy of campus beauties, spies, a Sensitive Man, An Atrocious
Worm and an Archetype Ninevite. Interspersed are garden and steam-
room variety Jewish jokes.
And with slight departure from the original, the entire potpourri
blessed in the end and the multitudes of Nineveh, "repentent," but
drunk, are allowed to go on with their inner-directed society of
devout acrobatics, carnal experimentation and affluent pleasure much
to the audible delight of all onlookers-believers and skeptics alike.
-Harvey Molotch
°
WELENSKY'S FEDERATION:
Winds of Change in Africa
(EDITOR'S NOTE-The writer of
this interpretive is an international
student from Nigeria.)
By ISAAC ADALEMO
Daily Staff Writer
THE RECENT policy of Sir Roy
Welensky of the Federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland is bound
to add to the troubles in Africa.
He has made clear his intention
to perpetuate the rule of the white
minority in Central Africa by
keeping intact the arbitrarily im-
posed Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland.
Welensky's reason for sticking to
this policy is to prevent another
Congo situation. He does not rea-
lize, however, that his policy may
give rise to another Algerian situa-
tion. His ill-boding statement to
the British government is as
threatening as the determined at-
tempt of the OAS to forestall Al-
gerian independence at the ex-
pense of human lives :
"To protect the Federation," he
threatened, "I mean going the
whole hog ... I would take every
step necessary to carry out the
policy I wish to carry out and use
force if necessary."
WHAT WORRIES people is that
minority rule is directly opposite
to the democracy which Welen-
sky claims to be practising. The
ease with which these settlers in
Africa threaten to sacrifice human
lives for their own ends-the prin-
ciple of "the end justifies the
means"_won't do.
Their policy is creating trouble
in Africa and is the chief factor
breaking up the continent. How-
ever, it also constitutes a unifying
factor-unifying the oppressed Af-
fricans into a force which will
eventually oust imperialism in all
its forms.
Instead of trying to continue
with the exploitation of these
people, the wisest line ofdaction
any white minority could take
would be to train them gradually
to take over the administration of
their respective countries. This
would create an atmosphere of
friendly feeling and prevent
troubles more effectively than
forced rule.
THE FEDERATION of Rhodesia
and Nyasaland and the attempt
to perpetuate it against the wishes
of the people is one example of the
wrong way to handle the African
situation.
Nyasaland, the smallest of the
three states in the doomed federa-
tion, wants to quit. Northern Rho-
desia may soon have an autono-
mous government; leaving South-
ern Rhodesia alone. In each of
these states, there is an African
majority: Nyasaland has 2.8 mil-
lion Africanssand 21,400 whites;
Northern Rhodesia has 2.3 million
Africans and 84,900 whites; South-
ern Rhodesia has 2.8 million Afri-
cans and 243,800 whites.
THE ARGUMENT here is not
that a grouping of small states
into federations is against the
African political sense. But such
a federation against the wish of
the people is revolting.
A country may feel that she can
go it alone. There is no point in
forcing such a country into a
federation. The creation and con-
tinuance of a federation should be
based on willing consent.
This is the point Welensky fails
to consider. He is still under the
illusion that Africans cannot rule
themselves effectively and tnere-
fore needyto be kept willy-nilly
under a system of semi-apartheid,
with the white minority ruling
the black majority. Of course they
cannot rule themselves as long
as people like Welensky keep sub-
jecting them to minoiity rules.
* * *
BUT THIS does not mean ac-
ceptance of Roy Welensky's con-
tention.
Before the infiltration of Euro-
pean culture into Africa there had
been stable and well organized
kingdoms in Africa. The Yoruba,
Benin, Ghana and Mali kingdoms
in the West were established under
the most refined democratic prin-
ciples ever evolved. Each of them
possessed a sophisticated culture
long admired by Europeans them-
selves.
The East African cultures had
their glories. But when the Euro-
peans came in with the slave
trade and the gradual imposition
of a new culture by force of con-
quest and domination these gov-
ernments collapsed and the cul-
tures became corrupted.
* * *
THE NEW immigrants were too
interested in exploitation and did
not bother to introduce the new
culture which they had brought
with them in the proper manner.
To train the Africans to be able
to take up the newly imposed po-
litical system and therefore rule
themselves would mean jeopardiz-
ing their chances of exploitation.
It was not expected that a time
is coming when these "uncivilized"
people will become "civilized" and
lay claim to their rights.
And when that time came it met
the exploiters unprepared to
handle the situation properly. This
sometimes resulted in their being
thrown out, leaving the poorly
prepared Africans to handle the
situation as best they could. The
creation of a friendly atmosphere
on the grounds previously sug-
gested would have prevented the
troubles in Africa today.
IF PEOPLE like Roy Welensky
desire to live in Africa and enjoyj
her natural wealth-not by any
means fully exploited' yet- why
can't they forget all about color?
Why can't they forget all the past
glories connected with domina-
tion? They should settle down
without an aim of exploiting and,
dominating. They should attempt
to help Africans build up Africa
rather than help ruin it.
The greatest mistake of all
whites in Africa-in Algeria, East
Africa, the Rhodesias, and the
Republic of South Africa-is that
they still retain the past associa-
tion with the colonial overlords.
They overlook the fact that a wind
of change is blowing across Africa.
In order not to be blown off
course, they should move along
with the change.
It will be better for Africa and
for the whole world if Welensky
would drop his plan of preventing
the British government from
granting independence to' nations
that deserve it. Otherwise, he will
create a new Algeria.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Ford Pledges' Best Effort
To the Editor:
THIS LETTER is addressed to
anyone who supported me dur-
ing this election. I regret that I
am not articulate enough to voice
my genuine appreciation-simply
saying "thank you" is so inade-
quate. However, actions do speak
louder than words.
. Therefore, I will endeavor dur-
ing my term on Council to prove
that your faith was not misplaced.
I urge all who have any questions,
complaints, misconceptions, con-
structive proposals or general
problem areas to be clarified about
the Council to discuss them with
me. Communication'must be in-
creased if your voice is to be
heard.
I believe this Council can be
strong. It can be effective. It can
be worthwhile. I will work to
achieve this, and I hope you will
help me to make it so. Presently,
all I can say is thank you to my
friends, the other candidates,
Council members, and the many
whom I have not met who have
helped me so much during this
campaign.
-Katherine Ford, '64
Mockery ...
To the Editor:
IT SEEMS to me that repetition
of the embarrassment and ill-
feeling surounding the disqualifi-
cations of Stanley Lubin and
Katherine Ford from the recent
SGC election could be avoided if
the SGC Rules and Credentials
Committee adopted the policy of
accepting no new challenges of
candidates' petitions after the
Drintingt of the ballots.
occur, then next time the filing
date should be somewhat earlier.
Once a candidate's name is on
the ballot, he should be disqual-
ified only for malpractices in his
actual campaign. Again, there
should be a deadline, say some
three days after the balloting, af-
ter which no new challenges of
a candidate's campaign practices
will be accepted.
Under the present policy, it
seems that a candidate can be
disqualified for an illegal peti-
tion several months after he has
taken office. What mockery this
makes of the election!
Michael Margolis, Grad
Disclaimer . ..
To the Editor:
"THE OPINIONS expressed on
Headlines and Bylines are
those of the commentators, and
do not necessarily reflect the views
of either WCBN or its advertisers."
This statement is read by one
of us at the close of every edition
of the editorial show given such
kind accord in The Daily of Thurs-
day, March 22. Yet, The Daily
seemingly oblivious of this fact,
chose to use a misleading headline
on its story concerning our show
reading "WCBNSeeks New Con-
test."
In addition, while Ostling's
story accurately reflected our
opinion at 7:30 Wednesday even-
ing, it did not reflect our opinion
when The Daily hit the streets
Thursday morning. The Daily
doesn't seem to realize the fact
that opinions expressed over the
air on subjects which are rapidiy
changing do not remain static.
We are still of the opinion that
the election was handled with
cil and the campus which re-
sulted from factual errors in The
Daily, and a lack of communica-
tions from the Council.
We feel it should be the right
of every voter to decide whether
the actions of a candidate will
affect the way in which a stu-
dent votes. It does not seem to
be the province of the Committee
on Credentials and Rules to de-
cide whether or not the voters
should be allowed to know the
nature of any given violation.
This is our opinion at the pres-
ent time. This opinion is subject
to change in view of new facts
which may come to light in the
future.
-Harry L. Doerr, '64
-Robert W. Price, '64
WCBN Editorial Directors
Starvtion...
To the Editor:
VOICES, FACES and tons of
letters containing joy, happi-
ness and even hopes for the final
breakdown of Cuba due to the
shortage of food can be heard,
seen or read in these days when
Castro announced publicly that
food rationing had to be imposed
in Cuba for a while until they can
overcome this shortage.
By reading or listening to these
outbursts of euforia, a very simple
question comes to my mind. Where
are those who claim to be human-
itarians? Where are those con-
cerned with the greatest ideals
about human existence and wel-
fare? Then I go on wondering
whether people because of having
a different government and ideol-
ogy not suitable to others, do not
have the right to fulfill every
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responsibility. Notices should be
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