VOTER REGISTRATION:
Seventy-First Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
"Where Opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1961 NIGHT EDITOR: JUDITH OPPENHEIM
SNCC
Leads,
Negro
Dive
Wayne's Dealing Mars
Inter-University Planning
THE ERA of Good Feeling between Michigan
.'colleges and universities was dealt a serious
blow by Wayne State University's offer to
hike tuition in return for matched appropria-
Vions increases from the state Legislature.
On the surface, it may appear that Wayne
state is making a conscientious effort to
help itself With the perennial problem of fi-
nances. But the implications are far more dis-
tastrous to Michigan higher education than
that. Sen. Elmer R. Porter expresses favor
with WSU's intentions, althougl deferring
final judgment until he has further studied
the proposal. In finding favor with Sen.
Porter, long an opponent of increased educa-
tional expenditures, the one result of the
situation is apparent-legislators' objections to
further budget boosts for education will be
substantially strengthened as final talks hp-
proach.
-Educators have long cried that the cost of
higher education was becoming more and more
prohibitive for the qualified but financially
deficient student. Further tuition boosts would
be an extremely serious step to take. But now
that Wayne State has taken the initiative
in proposing a tuition raise, the legislators
can Ilogically turn to the other state institd-
tions and demand the same sort of action be-
fore legislative education budget increases are
considered.-
'T HIS ACTION would relieve one major area
of controversy in the battle over the limited
state budget. The state budget is clearly too
,small for the needs of the state: every agency
request Is cut to the bone. But higher edu-
cation, because it does not possess the lobby
strength that .labor, business and farm in-
terests ,do, always suffers heavily in the ap-
propriations skirnishes. The danger point was
reached last year, many administrators feel,
and a repetition of a mere "cost-of living"
appropriations increase to higher education
would be a severe blow to the concept of low-
cost public education. The demands upon the
institutions of higher education by a growing
student population and the pressures from
other state and private schools for key per-
sonnel make a substantial state appropriation
imperative. Michigan higher education has
been put off too long.
Perhaps from the taxpayer's viewpoint,
WSU's move might appear a favorable as well
-less burden on the general public for the
education of someone else's children.
'BUT WAYN1E STATE'S proposition is basic-
ally harmful to state higher education. In-t
stead of forewarning other schools before
presenting the deal, WSU went straight to the
Legislature. ;John A. Hannah, chairman of
Survey
THE RESIDENCE HALL SURVEY being
planned by the Office of Student Affairs
Study Committee wil probably reveal little
new information as far as the men's quad-
rangles are concerned. Its importance does
not lie in finding out what the residents
think about the system (although it may show
some rather revealing things about what wo-
'ien think of their situation). The significance
of this study is that it is being handled by a
group with power to translate ideas into
action; therefore, this survey can have a
great deal more effect than many of the
ones conducted in .the last five years.
Most of these past surveys had focuses such
as evaluation of the Michigan House Plan in
action. One past attempt, not planned by the
Residence Halls Board of Governors and sup-
pressed (rather embarrassingly so) until last
spring, was the Scheub report, which indicated
there swas large-scale dissatisfaction within
at least one unit "of the men's quadrangle
system. There was quite a bit of excitement
when the report was released, but still nothing
was done. In a rather confused Board of Gov-
ernors meeting at the end of last year, several
members called for a survey of their own
which would be more "statistically valid."
Nothing ever came of this..
Significantly, residence halls are one of
" the first areas the OSA committee is investigat-
ing. And more significantly, the OSA com-
mittee is the -first group whose prerogative
is to do something with what is found out,
rather than letting the report gather dust
in a desk drawer.
-DAVID MARCUS
Editorial Staff'
JOHN ROBERTS. Editor
PHILIP SHERMAN HARVEY MOLOTCH
City Editor Editorial Director
SUSAN FARRELL ........:. Personnel Director
FAITH WEINSTEIN..............Magazine Editor
MICHAEL BURNS...................Sports Editor
PAT GOLDEN................Associate City Editor
RICHARD OSTLING'...... Associate Editorial Director
DAVID ANDREWS ..........Associat" Sports Editor
CLIFF MARKS .......... Associate Sports Editor
the Council of State College Presidents and
President of Michigan State University, and
other top administrators expressed concern that
they' were not informed of Wayne State's
action beforehand. The impression is that
WSU went behind the backs of other state
schools seeking to win the favor of the
Legislature.
Admittedly, Wayne State received the worst
treatment from the legislators last year. They
were the only school cut below their appro-
priation of the previous year, despite a con-
sistent enrollment figure. (WSU got $15.58
million for 1961-62 and $15.79 million the
year before.) It would appear to need a larger
increase in legislative appropriations than other
schools, if its costs rose in the same propor-
tion, in order to keep up with the rest.
But in running to the Legislature with its
proposition, Wayne State jeopardized the hold-
firm position of the other state institutions on
tuition. The Detroit school could have talked
over its situation with them, presented its
case and warned the other state schools what
path it was going to take. Instead, all state
schools now can look forward to an ultimatum
from the Legislature to raise tuition before
seeking further increases in appropriations.
And Wayne State, in admitting that it could
stand a tuition boost, is virtually committing
itself to such action whether it gets the
matching appropriation from the Legislature
or not; it has no assurance that its position
will improve at all, as some legislators have
Indicated.
THE SITUATION points out the serious in-
ability of state schools to cooperate despite
the formation of the Council of State College
Presidents and the esablishment of an execu-
tive director by the grorp. The organization is
intended to coordinate, on a voluntary basis,
common activties and to discuss common prob-
lems. On paper, it looks fine. But the action
of Wayne State Wednesday aptly emphasizes
the point that cooperation and coordination
is a long way off. Finances seem to be the
same dog-eat-dog fight as they are every year
and cooperation and coordination of budget
requests appers a distant dream.
True, the Council should not be exclusively
a pressure group and a lobbyist organization.
But its function in presenting a consistent and
coordinated policy for state higher education.
cannot be abdicated without destroying the
raison d'tre of the organiztion. And logi-
cally, the finances of all institutions are a
majo concern of the Council. If budget re-
quests and needs cannot be ironed out by
the member colleges in advance and presented
to the Legislature in a coordinated manner,
the basic reason for coordination has been
neglected. The Council is not serving its pur-
pose.
It has developed a standardized procedure
for- determining enrollment figures by credit
hours but this was only in compliance with a
legislative bill requiring standardised figures.
The Council only last month approved a uni-
form procedure for listing budgetary and ac-
counting figures. This seemed to indicate an
increased atmosphere of cooperation, but the
blockbuster announcement by WSU appears to
overshadow this attempt.
The Council is by no means dead, and some
agreement has been reached in other areas.
But until coordination and cooperation on the
basic financial problems of state institutions
of higher education have been achieved, the
back-stabbing and individual bickering for
more legislative aid will continue to mar any
attempts at cooperation on less basic issues.
-MICHAEL BURNS
Sports Editor
New Spirit
T IS INDEED refreshing to see that the
University residence halls staff and' stu-
dents can successfully work together to bring
about change without verbal harangues or
physical revolt.
The fact that Stockwell Hall residents were
able to change their dress regulations without
a terrific administrative battle may indicate
that a new, co-operative attitude will now
prevail btween staff and students.
Unlike last year's fracas over Alice Lloyd
dress regulations, an atmosphere of calmness
and acceptance prevailed this year. The new
Stockwell rules, the most liberal of all rules
on the Hill, allow women to wear bermudas
and slacks to lunch and breakfast. The rules
are now 'in effect on a trial basis for one
week.
T HE NEW STOCKWELL RULES went into
effect without a first approval from the Dean
of Women's Office, in contrast to the pro-
ceedure followed at Lloyd. Rather, they were
initiated onlythrough the inter-dormitory
channels of business staff, house directors and
residents.
This is in conjunction with the Assembly
Dormitory Council philosophy, and a good one
(EDITOR'S NOTE-This is the
first of two articles dealing with
the voter registration project for
southern Negroes. Tomorrow's in-
stallment will consider the future
course of the movement.)
By JOHN ROBERTS
Editor
and FAITH WEINSTEIN
Magazine Editor
IN ALL THE PAMPHLETS, in
all the speeches, the leaders of
the Southern Movement say that
the voter registration drive is go-
ing 'to revolutionize the South.
And so it may, but not in any of
LETTERS
to the,
EDITOR
Rush
I .*
To the Editor:
IT IS TIME to thank another
member of the "Let's Destroy
Fraternities" club, Michigan Daily
chapter, for an illuminating les-
son in irrelevance, inaccuracy, in-
competence and innuendo. Thank
you, Mr. McReynolds, for your
educational editorial, misleadingly
entitled, "Wide-Open Rushing Will
Save Small Houses."
Had Mr. McReynolds stuck to
his topic, there would be no need
for this letter. He certainly has
every right to a constructive view-
point concerning the present and
future of small houses on this
campus. In 'the very second sen-
tence, however, he inexplainably
strays from his acknowledged topic
to deliver a commentary on "true
fraternity dress patterns."
MR. 'McREYNOLDS, perhaps
you might show me, in print, the
survey you made which allows you
to, state that one "will often find
the sweatshirt, rather than the
well-pressed suits of rush, the rule
of dress." Then, if you can prove
the above, tell me 1) its inherent
virulence, and 2) what possible
relevance it has to your editorial.
What figures have you, Mr. Mc-
Reynolds, to back up your state-
ment on depledging? How can
you (merely from a possibly bitter
personal experience) blithely list
the criteria by which all rushees
judge a house? Most rushees I
know wish it were that easy, but
realise that it isn't.
Finally, is it your factual ob-
servation that smaller fraternities
offer "closer brotherhood, more
spirit, and more quiet for study-
ing?" Why is it then, for instance,
that out of the top ten houses
academically, only two have as
few as thirty active members?
* * *
THE MICHIGAN DAILY boasts
"seventy-one years of editorial
freedom." There is a vast differ-
ence, however, between editorial
freedom and editorial license. I
suggest that it is time to seriously
reevaluate a policy that permits
irresponsible fiction to hide be-
hind the venerable shield of
editorial freedom.
There can be no complaint over
a newspaper's words as long as
truth and accuracy are its aims,
in theory and in practice. When,
however, these rules are glossed
over in the deadline rush, a news-
paper, to use an old cliche, is not
worth the paper it is printed on.
-Richard Young, '63
-Michael D. Levin, '64
the publicly planned directions,
nor by any of the openly stated
means.
Voter registration will be a long,
frustratingly slow process, stained
more by defeats than laureled with
victories. The length of the pro-
cess has been guaranteed by the
very nature of the project-the
South has done its work well, in
making Negro voter registration
next to impossible.
But the voter registration drive
will be the turning point in the
Southern revolution-acting as a
catalyst, it will change the direc-
tionhof student action in the
South.
VOTER REGISTRATION, as a
student project, was adopted last
June by the Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee, the most
active student group in the South.
SNCC was not originally designed
to take on such a project-it was
set up in April, 1960, to serve as
a loosely - knit communications
network for the various student
action groups in the South com-
mitted to non-violent direct ac-
tion.
It had to be the kind of or-
ganization which could both con-
tain and withstand a revolution-
flexible, broad, relatively power-
less. And for over a year it played
that role.
But voter registration completely
revolutionized SNCC. The meet-
ings we attended in Atlanta were
not meetings of a loosely-organ-
ized communications committee.
They were top-level strategy
meetings of a well-organized pro-
fessional revolutionary cabal-the
most dedicated, students in the
South met to plan the overthrow
of the deepest-rooted caste system
in the country.
LAST JUNE, SNCC delegates
accepted voter registration as a
project. They accepted it care-
fully, almost reluctantly. These
students had devoted their en-
ergies to direct action against pri-
vate concernsfor years, and had
found it successful. They were hes-
itant to turn to something new.
There was a basic philosophical
split. If SNCC was to turn to
voter registration, direct action
would have to be more or less
neglected; at least by the SNCC
delegates involved in the project.
A question of relative values arose.
Some argued that before the Ne-
gro needed the vote he needed the
sense of dignity which cones from
minimal social equality-desegre-
gation of stores, -of buses-all the
things that the direct action
people worked for. Once this sense
of personal dignity was estab-
lished, the average Negro would
then be willing to fight for his
vote.
* * *
OTHERS FELT that voter regis-
tration was the most important
single project in the South. With
even a minimal number of votes,
the Southern Negroes could reg-
ularly vote out the incumbents
in Congress and the state legis-
lature, breaking up the power of
the Southern segregationist bloc
and keeping the Southern Sena-
tors new and weak until the Negro
voters could put up their own
candidates.
These people said that only
through the, vote could the basic
legal changes be made.
Moreover, by adopting the voter
registration project, SNCC stood
to gain considerable adult help-
particularly from Harry Belafonte,
who offered them considerable
financing for voter registration
work, and for voter registration
work alone. Less directly, the
federal justice department offered
them all the help it could provide
-or at least, all it was willing to
provide.
* * *
SNCC FINALLY STRUCK a bal-
ance between the two sides, and
picked Mississippi, clearly the
most solidly barricaded state in
the South, as its first target. It
hired Diane Nash, who had been
doing civil rights work in Nash-
ville, to head a direct action pro-
gram in Jackson, the state capi-
tal. Pressure from police forced
her to abandon her first attempt.
She has since 4returned to try
again.
In August, Bob Moses was hired
by SNCC to head a voter regis-
tration project in the Pike County
area-probably the toughest see-
tion to crack in Mississippi. Moses
and his staff set up a center in
McComb, the, largest city in the
area, and began the drive.
He met with obstacles all along
the way. Mississippi has a series
of obstructive laws governing reg-
istration which are pulled out only
when a Negro tries to register.
SNCC had to deal with these laws.
Moses worked 'door to door,
talking Negroes into paying their
poll tax, convincing them to take
the risks of registration. Three
schools were set up in the area
to teach Negroes the detailed
knowledge of the Mississippi Con-
stitution necessary to pass the
registration test.
* * 4*
ONCE THE NEGROES knew the
constitution well enougl to pass
the test, Moses would accompany
them to the registration clerk and
stand by them as they registered.
Several got through, and then the
registration clerks realized that
these Negroes were part. of an
organized drive, and began to balk.
There was trouble.
A gun went off near the regis-
tration office in Amite County,
terrifying the Negroes who were
trying to register. A Negro with
a master's degree in political
science was failed in a registra-
tion test. Members of the SNCC
staff were arrested, beaten, pistol-
whipped. Finally there was a
shooting-a Negro farmer named
Herbert Lee, who had been active
in the NAACP and voter registra-
tion was killed by his next-door
neighbor, State Representative
Eugene Hurst.
THE NEGROES in Pike, Amite
and Walthall counties have reason
to be scared. The full fury of the
white community is roused against
them. SNCC is asking these ill-
educated farmers to risk their eco-
nomic security, their slim social
standing, even perhaps their lives
for the chance to register for a
vote which they may never be
allowed to cast, and which, if
cast, may never be counted.
And there is another complica-
tion. Voter registration has be-
come entangled with direct ac-
tion. Moses had kids from the
local Burgland Negro High School
out working with him on voter
registration. They inevitably got
excited about civil rights and se-
gration issues-and this excite-
ment demanded an outlet.
SNCC-organized action came in
summer, sit-ins at the Wool-
worth's and the local bus depot.
Student-initiated action came two
weeks ago, with the Burgland
walk-out protesting the expulsion
of two students arrested in the
sit-ins.
* * *
SNCC CAN'T be expected to
stop this kind of action--indeed
it is under tremendous pressure
to encourage it. The SNCC staff
members all started out as direct
actionists, and their sympathies
still lie in that direction. The stu-
dents expect SNCC support and
guidance in planning direct ac-
tion projects. No matter how much
Moses may have feared that direct
action would interfere with voter
registration as a project, he knew
that it was SNCC which had
stirred these kids up, and it was
up to SNCC to guide them.
When Moses, Charlie Jones, Bob
Zellner and the others went to
Atlanta for strategy meetings, af-
ter the Burgland arrests, the stu-
dents suspected desertion. They
posted a sign on the SNCC office
door in McComb: SNCC DONE
SNUCK. Charles McDew, the one
SNCC staff member left in Mc-
Comb, immediately put up an-
other sign: NO, SNCC DONE
STUCK. In the minds of the
SNCC staffers, they must stick
-it is even more important than
voter registration.
But direct action has made Pike
County virtually untenable for
voter registration work. Moses and
his staff have been charged with
contributing to the delinquency of
a minor-a legally unbeatable
charge which is one of tie un-
avoidable risks of a student move-
ment-and face up to two years
in prison.
But even before these trials,
McComb has been made impos-
sible for them. Moses and Jones
tried to go back after the Burg-
land walk-out-and were forced
to remain in hiding for fear of
being lynched. Fatal violence is
so near the surface in McComb
that little productive work can be
done.
4
V
x i
14 1
N
"Hmm---I Have A Kind Of 20-Year Plan Too"
-Daly-Larry Vanice
CIVIC THEATRE:
May Day!MayDeay
'Roberts', Fl1oun4ders
'HE ANN ARBOR DRAMA SEASON officially made its debut last
night with a production of the Thomas Heggins-Joshua Logan
World War II comedy smash, "Mr. Roerts." But the first offering of
the drama season can in no way' be considered" Its first hit.
Like Garson Kaiiin's "Born Yesterday," "Mr Roberts" poses the
most difficult of assignments for community theatre-difficult be-
cause there has been a memorable Henry Fonda-Jack Lemmon per-
formance which received mass consumption. Comparison to the original \-
is inevitable.
* *. * 4'
AND COMPARISON to the Logan production was especially dis-
astrous to last night's outing. Director Robert Lovell has imbued his
piece with an absolute minimum of inventiveness and bogged it down
with some embarrassing and highly ueven pacing.
Instead of presenting his audience with the perfectly paced pro-'
duction so necessary to a comedy of its genre, the work is conceived
in episodes-palm tree episode, shore leave episode, laundry episode-
with little or no consideration to the necessary unifying elements.
NOT THAT THE EVENING is totally without its brighter moments.
David Smaller acquits himself quite admirably throughout, especially
in the frenetic shore leave ruckus. And Fred Oulette's Ensign Puller
scores successfully at least part of the time. Suanna Burris makes an
attractive and effective addition to the whole.
But none of these performances is able to balance the stolid, un-
affective interpretation of Stan Woodson's Mr. Roberts. The part is an
extremely difficult one to manage successfully and Mr. Woodson clear-
ly cannot rise to the occasion.
* s' 4w 4'
BUT THE BLAME for a disappointing evening lies primarily with
Mr. ,Lovell. Only infrequently does he achieve the slam-bang, riproar-
ing, rousing whoop and holler preduction the Heggins-Logan script
demands. Mostly all the shouting and running about the stage left me
yawning-yawning and fondly recalling the Broadway original.
-Marc Alan Zagoren
CHORAL UNION SERIES:
Chorale Shows
Drama, Varety
THE ROGER WAGNER CHORALE, renowned, ensemble which has
won international acclaim, sang to an enthusiastic audience last
night in Hill Auditorium.
The Chorale opened the program with four Renaissance selections
by the Italian composer Vittoria, the Netherlands organist Jan Swee-
link, and Clement Jannequin of the French school. These were followed
by two songs by Josef Haydn and then by "Queen Mab" from the opera
"Romeo and Juliet" of the Romantic composer Hector Berlioz.
The major work of the evening was the contemporary English ora-
torio "Belshazzar's Feast" by William Walton. An encore, J. S. Bach's
chorale "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," completed the first -portion of
the program.
* * * *
THE REMAINDER of the program was composed of Debussy chan-
sons; a charming group of English, American and French folk songs,
and Negro spirituals, many of which were arranged by Mr. Wagner.
The closing selection was a rousing rendition of "Alouette."
Drama and a wide range of dynamic levels characterized the music
on the program and were appropriate in most of the selections, with
the exception of the Renaissance group in which the dynamic levels
' were somewhat extreme. However, the pieces were well-executed-and
exciting in spite of the Romantic interpretation.
THE ENSE1BLE of the group, though generally excellent,-was dis-
torted at times by the shell behind the singers. 'Entrances were well-
delineated but sometimes at the expense of the other parts which did
not come through.
Blend and balance were, in general, quite good. The chorale pos-
a
A