LOST' POSTCARD: Peace Corps and The Image Seventy-First Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "Where Opinions Are Pre CUNDER AUTHORITY OP BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Truth Wil Prevail" STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone No 2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1961 NIGHT EDITOR: HARRY PERLSTADT Moral Censorship Impractical, Immoral ONCE AGAIN our blue-coated guardians of law and order have stepped in to "protect" public morals. In Evanston, Illinois, Henry Miller's controversial and recently-unbanned novel Tropic of Cancer was removed from newsstands and bookstores after a "request" fromz Police Chief Hubert Kelsh. According to The Daily Northwestern, Kelsh simply felt the book should be removed. He has read "most of it." It is probable that the chief sensed thast the novel might encourage sexual sadism and erotic crimes. If this were a proven fact, per- haps his rationale might justify the action on a strictly practical level. Maybe the public interest would outweigh individual ri hts, But, unfortunately, it has never been an established psychological fact that there is a definite correlation between "pornography" and sex crimes. And there is a distinct possibility that the censorship, and not the pornography per se, contributes to immoralities. A generally repressive censory atmosphere . could very likely heighten the need and desire for por- nography and illegal outlets of sexual interests. But a more serious threat is manifested in the attempt to restrict' the dissemination of knowledge and opInion. The basic, assumption of all censorship is that physical consequences of the uncensored idea would be harmful. But can any value judgement be made if the idea cannot be studied? Why should any in- dividual- be forced to accept without any choice or alternatives the value judgements of another person, even though he may be an apparently omnipotent police chief? THE ANSWER, of course, is that there is no right for anyone to restrict the exchange of ideas. If it is a postulate that truth is the ultimate objective of man's existence, and that free dissemination is, the best way to attain or to approach truths, it surely follows that channels of information must be as wide and as deep as possible, and not narrowed by laws or irrational moralizations or even "re-' quests." In such a context, libel and slander laws and standards of grammar are perfectly justifiable because they help to ensure a tan- gibly fair, openminded and a more efficient exercise of thought. Censorship does not make the spread of ideas more just or efficient; since moral values are rested in the individual, there is no one correct or visible standard. It is perfectly possible and just for two honest men with the same access and digestion of information to arrive at opposite conclusions. Censorship does not make dissemination more effective, because the most "correct" synthesis may not be anticipated if certain viewpoints are omitted from the context. This is not to say that there should be no moral responsibility for ideas. Libel and slander laws force an accountability for opinions; they ensure that ideas will not be used with maliciousness or tangible falsity. Censorship obviously does not impose a moral responsibility upon an author, it eliminates it completely. 00 OFTEN attitudes and opinions regard- ing sex have been muzzled in such a cen- sory atmosphere. It seems that, in the United States, at least, the prevailing Judeo- Christian modes are arbitrarily and unthink- ably instilled as the most correct. The ac- tualities of American sex practices make a mockery of these chaste ideals, and it is a 4 gross absurdity to deny in the literary sector what occurs in the real-life portion. Henry Miller's ideals are un-conventional to American middle-class standards, and obviously also to those of a police, chief. But there can be no justification or defense of these Christian ideals when they forcibly pre-empt alternative ethical codes. Book-banning is a despicable blot on 'the academic, moralsand evenpurely religious theories of action. The real crime in Evanston has been committed not by Henry Miller or book-distributors, but by Hubert Kelsh. -GERALD STORCH By ROBERT WAZEKA Daily Staff Writer PEACE CORPS skeptics are be- coming vocal once again. The "post card incident" in Nigeria has revived arguments that the Peace Corps is a fine idea in theory, but not in practice. The Nigerian incident chiefly concerns an American girl, Mar- gery Milchelmnore~ who was one of 37 United States Peace Corps vol- unteers in Nigeria. Miss Michel- more had written a post card to her parents and then had "lost" it. The post card; which described living conditions in Nigeria as "primitive," was found and read by Nigerian students who quickly demanded the removal of all U. S. volunteers. Both the Nigerian and U. S. governments assured the cooling off period which now has followed. Miss Michelmore has been removed from Nigeria and Peace Corps Director R. Sargent Shriver has spoken out mildly in her defense. * * * WE WOULD DO WRONG to take this incident either too ser- iously or too lightly. We learned from the rabid demonstrations which forced the cancellation of President Eisenhower's Japanese visit 16 moths ago what students can do. Certainly the Nigerian in- cident has neither the depth nor the Communist support that the Japanese incident had, but we know that the Communists would like the Peace Corps out, and we obviously cannot rule out the possibility that they are attempt- ing to do so now in Nigeria. The fact still remains, as Pro- fessor George Peek of the political science department pointed out, that no one in Nigeria has charged that what Miss Michelmore said was false. And still there are stu- dents demanding the removal of the Peace Corps. Why? THE ROOTS of the problem can be traced back to that strangely plastic and indefinable thing, the American image. The new nations such as Nigeria pic- ture us as wealthy, soft, lazy and adamant. One of the reasons for having a -Peace Corps at all, in addition to the oft-mentioned humane objectives, is to change this image-to show the under- developed nations that we do care for them and that we will make sacrifices for them. But in the eyes of some, we have already failed. The Nigerians probably picture Miss Michelmore as the prime example of the American image - rich girl, superficially humane, who cannot live at ease apart from her soft life. Her actions were interpreted in this light be- cause of a preconception of Ameri- ca - a preconception created at least in part by relentless attacks by our adversaries. COMPROMISE: The Ins and Outs Of Berlin OUR OPPENENT'S vehicle is propaganda, that naughty word we righteous Americans associate with the Russians. And this is precisely why we have failed -- not enough American propaganda. We need not distort our message; we can create a favorable image by just presenting the facts; but we haven't done that, or at least not enough of it. While we listen to soap com- mercials, Helen Trent, and Elvis Presley over the radio, many people in many foreign countries are lis- tening to Soviet propaganda broadcasts. Perhaps these broad- casts are in Singhalese or Ben- gali, languages which are spoken by 100,000,000 people in the world, languages in which this country hasnot one qualified linguist. * * * OTHER FACTS are more shock- ing. The USSR has facilities to teach two and one-half times as many foreign languages as the U. S. All Soviet pupils are studying a foreign language by the third grade. The highly-secret Soviet Diplo- matic School trains hundreds of men in foreign languages, litera- tures and cultures each year. The Soviets and the Red Chinese together are the leading book books are widely-distributed and publishers in the world and these read in foreign countries. Joseph Stalin is the best-selling author in the world, the Bible is second, and three Communist authors fol- low. The production of Soviet pro- paganda films has quadrupled in the last five years. The Soviet Union spends $2 bil- lion a year for propaganda and probably twice that much in- directly. The' U. S. spends less than five per cent of that. WHAT .DO WE do about it? Money, often used as a panacea or an easy way out, for once seems to be the answer. 'ore money is needed, especially for the Unitedh'States Information Agency, which almost had its funds cut by an unawake Congress this year - money to spread the American image and American ideals overseas, money to teach foreign students what democracy is. More teaching of foreign lan- guages in this country is in order. And perhaps. as Senator Stuart Symington suggests, so also is a foreign service academy, which could operate much like the mili- tary academies, its purpose being to train foreign service officers. But these things would be needed even if the "post card in- cident" had not occurred. And yet we cannot forget what did happen. * * MAYBE Miss Michelmore was rash or perhaps unwise, but never- theless, she was free to say what she wanted and she could well have been perfectly correct. We have done wrong by not defending her clearly and openly when we could have. We could have shown to the Nigerians that free expres- sion, including privacy of the mail is not merely a meaningless thing in this country, even with the mis- directed efforts of Communist speaker bans and the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Peace Corps still has a purpose and still can carry it out. The incident was a problem, but not a crisis - and no one expected the Peace Corps to be completely free from problems. Boston Symphony: Excellence per Usual THE IMPECCABLE BOSTON SYMPHONY opened a well received concert last night with American Howard Hanson's contemporary, "Elegy in memory of Serge Koussevitzky." As one learns to expect from the Bostonians, splendid orchestral sonority and balance highlighted this lyrical and subtly colored work. Nevertheless, in all probability, it will not become an enduring example of American orchestral writing, although hints of extreme originality were evident-notably in the haunting close of the work. In Saint-Saens popular Violincello Concerto No. 1, soloist Samuel Mayes displayed a warm, vibrant tone but not always precise intonation. The French "joie de Vie" which permeates much of Saint-Saens' music was not at all times apparent, although in the darker, lyrical passages, Mayes revealed much depth and rhapsdic flow of line. At times it is difficult to say whether dramatic lapses in this work were the fault of the composer or the conductor; one is inclined to say that the fault lies with Saint-Saens. Nevertheless, the intense lyricism of this work became immensely moving through the romantic and sensitive interpre- tation that one expects and invariably gets from Munch. IN THE FAMILIAR Brahms Symphony No. 1, Munch revealed an inspired reading that was at once songful yet dramatic, sensitively lyrical yet driving with strong, forceful energy. There was a feeling of stature and musical proportion throughout. Perhaps the only fault was the inevitable tendency of many conductors to flatten out the familiar C-major melody in the last movement into something lachry- mose and sentimental. But never did Munch let his French sensuousness and lyricism allow the destruction of the noble, strong and sweeping Teutonic splendor that belongs to Brahms at his greatest. -Alan Gillmor p#eptUPe Dy818 end of Illusion N FARRELL, Personnel Director THIS UNIVERSITY is slowly being squeezed dry. To meet even its minimum critical needs for the coming year, the University must receive $45.9 million from the Legislature. And the state, very simply, does not have that much: money to allocate. Yet all faculty salaries must be substantially raised if the University is not to be drained of great minds-its most precious resource. Greatly increased student fees are the only' significant alternative source of income. But the University has a deep and long-standing commitment to low-cost public education-a commitment it has already been forced to somewhat compromise. AND SO THE DILEMMA: if fees aren't raised, professors will be lured away in increasing numbers and the quality of the faculty vitiated;. if fees are raised enough to have a significant, long-run effect on University operations, many students must leave. The choice is a sharply tragic one: to collaborate in the decay of a great university or to abandon the function the University was created to serve. And either alternative is immoral. So the Regents raise tuition a little bit (not enough to prevent students from returning) in order to match outside offers to professors (who 'leave anyway because they feel the University has not future). When tuition was raised a year and a half -ago, the sentiments of the majority of the Regents were voiced by Regent Eugene Power. "We would like to keep fees as low as possible," he explained. "But over and above our respon- sibility to the state and its young people, we have the responsibility of. the preservation of the University of ,Michigan as a first-class uni- versity.. If we fall in this we are as derelict in our duty as if we didn't consider the students ... we have no other alternative" than to in- crease fees.. ND THERE WAS no other alternative. There may be none this year ... and the next . and the next ... Slowly, the University is being destroyed- destroyed by a state which, though legally responsible for its support, has abdicated this responsibility. Low-cost, high quality education seems an impossibility. If quality education comes only' at high cost, then there is little choice. But if this is true, the tragedy transcends the prob- lems of this University. For the bright vision of centuries of men will have been proved not at all a vision, but only a mirage. By ROBERT SELWA Daily Staff Writer WALTER LIPPMANN has in the past spoken of the Ins and the Outs in political policy-mak- ing. The Ins are those who make the policy, who debate, discuss and decide on a course of action. The Outs are those who can contri- bute to the decision-making pro- cess by criticism and suggestions but who do not actually make the decisions. In the compromise crisis over Berlin and Germany, the Ins are people like President Kennedy, Premier Khrushchev, Prime Min- ister Macmillan, Chancellor Aden- haier, Secretary Rusk, Foreign Minister Gromyko, the Earl of Home, :and ambassador Llewellyn Thompson. They are the men who meet in Washington or New York or Paris or Bonn or London or Vienna and who send each other telegrams and notes and letters, some of which they publish, some of which they keep secret (like the letter Kennedy sent Adenauer last Saturday). THE INS in the West have been seeking to prepare public opinion so the Outs will not object to a reasonable and balanced ac- commodation on Berlin and Ger- many with Khrushchev. But the Outs have often reacted nega- tively to this, particularily in West Germany,, where there is fear of a sell-out to Khrushchev. "The situation," an influential SGC? "... N ORDER to maintain his status and his privileges, the student is supposed to keep out of trouble. His politics, like his other extracurricular activi- ties, must be conducted in approv- ed ways. And the way most ap-, proved is a mock version of adult national party politics called "stu- dent government." This is en- couraged, not to give the students an opportunity to govern them- selves, but as a way of rendering genuine political interest innoc- uous. "Student government is most acceptable when it mimics-indeed parodies-adult politics: the fur- ious campus election campaigns, complete with posters, speeches, parties, factions, jockeying for office. All the political trimmings are there except the real issues and the real relation between ac- tion and power which are the very substance of politics .., "Anything approaching serious and controversial politics runs the danger of being considered "off- campus" and not sterile enough for student participation." -Philip Rieff in Harper's West German newspaper, The Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote last week, "has become 'so difficult partly because of the talkativeness of some influential Americans, talkativeness that has caused so much confusion as to give rise to the spreading of the dreadful view that the Americans are about to 'sell out' Germany." The talkativeness referred to included General Clay's casual re- marks during a party in West Berlin. Later denied, the remarks were reported to'have indicated that the United States is con- sidering de facto recognition of East Germany. * * * THAT THE INS are considering some sort of recognition of East Germany is really no secret, just as the possibility of a practical reunion of East and West Ger- many, although often said by both West and East to be their goal, is nearly zero. But on both of these matters there is a strong negative emotional response among the Outs of West Germany. De facto, partial recognition of East Germany is a card held by the Ins of the West, a card the Ins might be willing to toss on the table if the Ins of 'the Soviet Union! toss out a card of equal Value, perhaps a card containing a written guarantee of the West- ern rights of access to West Ber- lin. Taking into account that the Soviet Ins are not sincere and that they do violate written and spo- ken agreements at will, according to the expediency of the momenta we must realize that same exped- iency' also causes them to adhere to agreements, at least for a limited period of time after they have made them. For the Soviet Ins are world propagandists as well as national imperialists, and realize that to violate an agree- ment too shortly after making it is to incur an unnecessary nega- tive world reaction. THUS,' AN AGREEMENT on Berlin and Germany would have temporary meaning and effect. But such a compromise is neces- sary to prevent war. To state the obvious, the basic crisis stems from the refusal of both sides to yield on basic points. The points that clash are the vital economic and political ties of West Berlin with West Germany and of West Germany with the North Atlantic Alliance. The So- viet Ins want these ties cut and the Western Ins, backed by the spirit of the Western Outs, want them maintained. The Ins of the West stress that they 'will not let these ties be' broken; and they hope that the Ins of the East realize this and will stop jeopar- dizing the peace. On this hope rests the success of a satisfactory, temporary resolution of a crisis that will not end in Berlin. Munch ... last local concerts AT THE STATE: rPit, Pendulum,' Horrible, Horror IF HOME1COMING seemed a little tame this year or if you've got a rich uncle with a weak heart, examine the fu'nctional merits of "The Pit and the Pendulum." Bearing no resemblance to the short story of the same name by Edgar Allen Poe, the film combines in living (and ghoulish) color the suspense and shock that made Poe the master of horror. The opening scene leads the viewer to anticipate another third- class Vincent Price horror flick: a young man is driven to the edge of a seaside manor, complete with foreboding castle enshrouded in mist; the driver of the carriage refuses to go any further; said young' man walks up and raps on the door and is refused admittance by a hostile servant. * * * * THE UNWELCOME VISITOR is John Kerr seeking to view the grave of his sister (Price's wife) who died of rather mysterious causes. Price's manor manner gives him no reason to allay his suspicions. But from this point on, the plot picks up and the, result is genuine, imag- inative horror-medieval tortures, ghosts and insanity. Viewers who have read Poe's masterpiece will be waiting for its plot to be injected into the, film, but it never is. Instead Vincent Price, his mind completely snapped, chains Kerr to a stone table and starts his razor-sharp pendulum moving toward Kerr's solar plexus (not his heart, as the ads say). Of course, the blade only nicks him and Kerr is saved by Luana Anders, who plays Price's sister. She walks away from the torture chamber in horrified disbelief. Kerr just holds his stomach. -Michael Burns LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Dual-Front Southern Campaign, Slums Need More Than Schools FORMER HARVARD UNIVERSITY President James B. Conant stated the danger to democracy of the slum areas and called for a complete overhaul of public education as a remedy for these areas in his book "Slums and, Suburbs" released Monday. His remedy of an adapted curriculum and vocational training in the schools is extremely naive considering the scope of the problem. Schools alone cannot hope to remedy the sit- uation because the slums are growing faster than the power of the schools in the commu- nity. A child is .nfluenced by his environment; he spends only seven or eight hours in the. school' atmosphere. The remainder of his life is spent in noisy tenements or even more sordid places. If the school hopes to influence a child it must first reach into his environment. ,In other words, extensive adult education and control must take place before any curriculum can really reach the children. DULTS IN THE SLUMS must be educated to see and learn the consequences of their actions. Adult education money for teams of social .r ... A ar.l nv ..4,,,p, +4rw n.1 + aini ngm i funds recognize the need will the money be available. OWEVER, the problem of controlling the growth of slums while re-education takes place is a more knotty problem. The existence of slums and their products is dangerous to our democratic system, for as Conant says, "what can words, like 'freedom,' 'liberty' and 'equality of opportunity' mean to the unem- ployed of the slums?" Slums must be cleaned up to save democracy but can democratic methods be employed? To control 'slums: (1) Children that are un- manageable due to a home situation should be taken away from their parents. (2) Aid to Dependent Children should stop at the second illegitimate child and the alternative of ster- ilization or discontinuance of all ADC should be offered to the mother. The first two chil- dren may be accidents but society should not have to support three "mistakes." These andt other measures, such as putting the unem- ployed to work on welfare projects, should be taken and even enforced by the state. THE PROCESS of re-education without con- trol of the present situation will be useless To the Editor: I THINK that John Roberts and Faith Weinstein have an inade- quate understanding of the mak- ings of social revolution in Mis- sissippi. There is no conflict between voter registration and direct ac- tion that organized and resource- ful people cannot solve. Even more important, itis in the dual thrust of voter registration and direct action 'that maximum effective- ness may be achieved, * * * IF MR. 'ROBERTS and Miss Weinstein think that revolution -a basic change in the relations between men - will ever come about by voter registration, they have not been keen to their North- ern environment. Basic relations between Negro and white are still marked by status distinction based upon color. The Negro popu- lation can vote, and does, in the North, but still is faced with si- lent segregation. What the combination of direct action and voter registration does is to assist with direct action the dignity, the refusal to be fright- ened of these young people, while voter registration is a device which may allow, their people to begin to assert power within the legal structure. But do not think that one replaces the other. If the gov- ernment of Mississippi can be cpi1,ar , by rnnn4rtA NP~r-n h no happened this month, but to realize that excitement for vot-, ing and for direct action is gen- erated by the same conditions and seeks the same goal: in Don Gad- son's words, FREEDOM NOW. SNCC MAY WELL indeed have to develop a more adequate rev- olutionary strategy to deal with both these weapons as coordinate,' not mutually exclusive tactics. Legal structures and social in- stitutions of bigotry have a definite relationship; maybe a more so-, phisiticated understanding of the dynamics of this relationship is needed in the Atlanta and Mc- Comb offices of SNCC. But let us not bring our own reformist men- talities to revolutionary causes, and then make confused judge- ments. Mr. Roberts and Miss Wein- stein are to be commended for. their attempt to analyze a situa- tion with which I know they identify. For this. attempt alone, their article is an example of the kind of thinking that needs to be done on our part in the North. This time, though, they seemed to have brought the North with them, and misunderstood Southern dynamics. -Robert Ross, '63 Loud Voice .. To the Editor: T HTAVE NO.TED nf Tlte the reg- articles on the front page dealt with the candidates of Voice Po- litical Party. No other space was alloted to any other candidate. Now I am sure that the. Michi- gan Daily finds it hard to rec- ognize that any thing else but Voice Political Party and the Michigan Daily exist on this cam- pus and perhaps in the world. But such an open avowal of this policy seems in conflict with the usual slant of the Michigan Daily. Per- haps we may expect some merger' between Voice Political Party and the Michigan Daily in the coming days. Perhaps we can expect the Daily election editorial to be no- thing more than a restatement of the Voice Political Party platform. Perhaps we can expect the Daily motto: "Where Opinions are Free, Truth Will Prevail," to be changed ,to "Where Opinions are :Free, Truth ,Will Prevail According to Party Line." I would hope that some re- examination of the Michigan Daily's role as a campus news- paper would be forth coming. -Per K. Hanson,'62 Slacks To the Editor: WE WERE very interested in your front-page article on the change in Stockwell's dress regulations. Congratulations to them! I must admit it was of special interest 'to Jordan Hall. DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN, The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of The Univer- sity of Michigan for which The Michigan Daily assumes no editorial responsibility. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3519 Administration Building before 2 p.m., two days preceding publication. ginning Oct. 25. All departments and offices received, early in September, a notice indicating the number of di- rectories assigned to them (one for each telephone). Additional copies for departmental use may be ordered at $1.00 each. Please send requisitions to University Publications, 3564 Adminis- tration Bldg. Copies for home use by