Rickover Suggests Changes in American &
chools
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Vice Adm. H. G. Rickover, one of the most
outspoken men of the times and also one of the most articulate, is
unhappy about the state of American education. Here he bluntly
states what he thinks is wrong with education and educators, and
what he thinks ought to be done.)
By VICE ADM. H. G. RICKOVER
Copyright 1963, by the Associated Press
American education just isn't good enough.
That statement is true whether we look at it:from the point of
view of the kind of educated youth we need in our complex society,
or from the point of view of our competitive position in education
vis-a-vis other advanced nations.
Every American wants the best for our children. In education,
the best we can give them is the chance to stretch their minds and
reach the highest goal their intellect can encompass. They do not
get this chance in "progressive" schools and permissive homes.
Special Excellence
"Democracy," wrote the late Dorothy Thompson, "is not to be
conceived of as an invitation to share a common mediocrity, but a
system that allows each to express and live up to the special ex-
cellence that is in him."
"Professionalism" educators often accuse me of wanting to
foist a foreign school system on our children. Some are going about
the country claiming I intend to "militarize" education. Evidently,
none has ever read what I have been saying.
Any sensible person, recognizing the need for improvement,
would look into the ways other democratic nations go about edu-
cating their children.
The time is past when we were in the uniquely favorable cir-
cumstance of being able to get along with schools that were
markedly inferior to those of countries with which we were com-
peting economically or politically or both.
We can no longer afford to waste time and money on an
inadequate school system.
We do not have the immense wealth in land and resources that
in the past offset our educational deficiencies. Of course, we are
still a rich country: our resources still exceed those of Europe and
perhaps even of Russia. But we should recall this observation by
Woodrow Wilson half a century ago:
New Life
"The stage of America grows crowded like the stage of Europe.
The life of the new world grows as complex as the life of the old."
What, then, is to be done to improve American education?
Well, local communities and state governments have the power
to increase the amount of classroom instruction per school year.
We have the shortest school day and school year among leading
nations.
They could eliminate from the curricula everything that can
be learned elsewhere. We are the only advanced country where
precious school hours are wasted teaching children how to make
fudge, twirl batons, drive cars, budget income, handle the tele-
phone, catch fish, and similar trivia that any reasonably normal
person picks up on his own or learns at home.
Teacher Qualifications
Most important of all, they could improve teacher qualifica-
tions, bringing them up to the level existing abroad, and they
could then put the educational enterprise under the supervision of
our best teachers, giving them the necessary clerical and adminis-
trative assistance.
We are the only country where teachers are bossed by educa-
tional administrators who often as not can lay no claim to scholar-
ship, superior intelligence or higher education, and who may not
even have had experience in classroom teaching.
All this is important, but I am convinced we cannot put
through a really effective reform program unless we set up a
national scholastic standard.
This would be a permissive standard, of course, but neverthe-
less potentially a great influence for good. We are the only ad-
vanced national without a national scholastic standard.
Now the word "standard" has many connotations. I use it in
the sense that comes first to mind: a specific requirement or level
of excellence deemed worthy of esteem or reward.
I do not use it in the sense of a law, enforceable in the courts:
falling below standard would not put one in jail.
Nor do I use it in the sense of a conventional rule imposed by
society: failure to meet the standard would not get one socially
ostracized.
Determine Value
No one HAS to live up to the standard I propose. It is simply
an optional criterion for determining the value of an act or ac-
complishment.
Everyone benefits when there is a standard. At one stroke it
does away with misleading educational labels so that any layman
has the means to judge whether a school or college is doing its job
properly. By offering a reward of a certified diploma to our
children, many who now drift through school would be encouraged
to aspire to higher academic goals.
See RICKOVER, Page 8
BOARD LIMITS
DAILY'S FREEDOM
See Editorial Page
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Seventy-Two
Years of Editorial Freedom
VOL. LXXIII, No. 127
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EJIHT PAGES
9
King Denies Threat
Of Neighboring War
Hussein Predicts Jordan To Join
Projected Arab States Federation
AMMAN, Jordan (A')-King Abdullah Hussein of Jordan said
yesterday he sees no menace to his throne in the revolutions in
neighboring Syria and Iraq.1
He said, "I think they do not menace the stability of Jordan in
any way. The Jordan family knows what its objectives are . . . we
are trying to improve things."
Asked if Jordan would consider joining the projected federation
of Arab states on a "proper ;basis," Hussein replied, "Certainly. We
tare sure this will be the ultimate
AHC Seeks
To Clarify
Right to Act
By MARY LOU BUTCHER
Romney Wants Delay
on Delta;
Starts
State-Wide
Needs
'U' Completes
Transaction
The University has completed
preliminary arrangements with
Sylvania Electric Products Inc.
to acquire by donation and pur-
chase the former Argus Camera
property in Ann Arbor.
The announcement, made yes-
terday, states that Sylvania will
donate to the University a two-
thirds acre parking lot located be-
tween Murray Ave. and Third St.
and also that the University will
purchase for $265,000 three build-
ings, a residence, and a smaller
parking lot, all fronting S. Fou.th
St. The three have 173,000' square
feet of space on a site of three
and one-half acres.
Vice-President for Business and
Finance Wilbur K. Plerpont said1
the agreement reached with Syl-1
vania will permit the University
to plan for the removal from the
central campus area of many ac-
tivities not directly related to the
teaching of students.
Vice-President Pierpont later
pointed out that due to the as yet
tentative nature of the agreement
the "activities" slated for removal
have not yet been named.
Vice-President Pierport said the
shift of the activities to the new
location would free space on thet
central camas needed to provide
room for the enrollment increases
anticipated ir the next few years.
Only one of the three buildings
will become available immediatelyl
for University use, Vice-President
Pierpont said.
The transfer is subject to leasef
arrangements currently in effecti
with Conductron Corporation and
with Argus' Inc. for two of thes
buildings.s
end. I hope it will be achieved in
the future. We always have want-
ed unity on a sound basis. I hope
it can be achieved with a mini-
mum of delay and a minimum of
mistakes.
No Obstacle
"I will never stand as an ob-
stacle to Arab unity," he added.
He was asked if this meant he
would step down if necessary. He
replied, "Yes, if-necessary and pro-
vided it would be Arab unity on
a proper basis . . . the fact that I
am head of this state will never
be an obstacle."
Meanwhile in Cairo, three-power
talks among Syria, Iraq and the
United Arab Republic unexpectedly
broke up last night and will re-
sume "in a few days" to achieve
the unity which Arab people "in-
sist upon," a joint communique
said.
Adjourn
The communique said the Syrian
and Iraqi delegations would return
to Damascus and Baghdad, and
then return here to resume talks
at an unannounced date.
Sessions over the past three days
"ended with clear and complete
identity of view,' the communique
said without specifying agree-
ments reached.
The King said other Arab states
are now coming to realize that his,
warning in years past on the dan-
gers of Communism were right-
"our friends in the Arab world who
criticized us at the time have come
to our way of thinking."
Hussein said, "The Arab nation
is passing through a phase where
we are making mistakes and try-;
ing to profit from lessons we have
learned. It is a healthy period."i
The monarch said he saw no
reason for Jordan to be excludedi
from the Arab federation because1
it was a monarchy.c
"If our aims are the same, thenc
sooner or later we shall meet," he t
said. c
Assembly House Council repre-
sentatives and members of Presi-
dent's Council were present at a
special meeting yesterday called
by Assembly Association President
Mary Beth Norton, '64, to discuss
its statement of authority.
The statement of authority,
which defined new powers for
Assembly, was drawn up by mem-
bers of the Executive Board and
was submitted to the Officeof
Student Affairs for approval in
February. Unfavorable reaction
caused Miss Norton and Execu-
tive Vice-President Lois Fisher,
'64, to request that the OSA delay
in considering the statement of
authority.
At the meeting yesterday, the
president of Martha Cook hall
proposed, as a substitute for the
statement of authority, an addi-
tion to Assembly's constitution
which specified its jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction, according to
the proposal, would include the
establishment of communication
channels between Assembly and
the individual residence halls, and
the making of policy recommen-
dations concerning the women in
the residence halls to the OSA.
The proposed addition also call-
ed for "the determining of policy
in those areas designated by the
Vice-President of Student Affairs
as lying in the area of jurisdiction
of the resident hall governments
and which the individual house
governments have agreed, through
a two-thirds approval of the in-
dividual houses, should be dele-
gated to Assembly rather than
being retained by themselves."
A motion calling for support of
the proposed constitutional change
was defeated. A substitute motion
stating that the power should pass
from Assembly down to the indi-
vidual houses, not subject to house
approval, was passed 13-8. The
motion, however, is not bindinghon
AHC representatives and will have
to be taken up at one of its reg-
ular meetings.
A motion was also passed rec-
ommending that members of AHC
should set up a committee to re-
define the powers which AssemblyE
is seeking and present them in the
form of constitutional amend-x
ments. It also recommended thatt
Assembly request that the grantI
of authority which it is requestingN
of the Residence Hall Board of1
Governors be incorporated into its v
constitution. s
Harden Sees 'Near Anarchys
Among Michigan's Colleges
Attempts to achieve voluntary co-ordination among Michigan's
colleges and universities have failed, leaving the state's higher edu-
cation system in "a state of near anarchy," Northern Michigan
University President Edgar L. Harden charged Friday.
Harden suggested "with great reluctance" that an "over-all plan-
ning board for higher education" will have to do the job.
His assertions were strongly denied yesterday by Regent Eugene
B. Power of Ann Arbor, a prime,
EUGENE B. POWER
S... supports co-ordination
AMENDMENT:
State's YRs
Stage Battle
On Unit Rule
Special To The Daily
abvocate of voluntary--rather than
" compulsory-co-operation between
the state's institutions..
Lauds Purpose
Power is chairman of the Mich-
igan Co-Ordinating Council for
Public Higher Education, whose
purpose is to avoid destructive
inter-university conflict by volun-
tary agreements between t h e
schools involved.
He said that such a concept "is
not dead at all," and predicted
that compulsory co-ordination by
a "super-board" would lower the
quality of the state's institutions.
"The arena of competition
would simply ibe transferred from
the Legislature to the super-
board," Power added.
Inadequate Appropriation
He claimed that competition
between Michigan's schools has
been caused by inadequate legis-
lative appropriations.
"It has forced the institutions
into a competitive position, against
their natural inclinations, in order
to survive," Power remarked.
Power's Co-Ordinating Council,
which failed Thursday to reach a
consensus on the University-
branch plan for Delta College,
"was not ready to take on a prob-
lem of this sort, as it had not
established procedures to handle
it," Power admitted.
"This failure does not mean
that we should give up, nor that
the process of discussion on this
issue has not, in some ways, been
helpful."1
But he pointed out that "volun-1
tary co-operation in Michigan is
a new effort and we are feelingt
our way and learning to work
with each other. It is a develop-
ing process and learning is always
attended by success and failures."
<Legislature
1 May Drop
Programs
The two existing plans for
giving the Delta College area a
degree-granting college may be
abandoned in this year's Legis-
lature on Gov. George Romney's
request, two key law-makers said
last night.
Both pointed out that they had
not received formal requests to
delay action on the matter, which
Romney would like to have his
new "blue-ribbon citizens' com-
mittee' study on a statewide basis
before a decision is made.
Sen. William Leppien (R-Sag-
inaw), sponsor of a resolution
backing the University's plan to
set up a four-year branch at
Delta, said re personally would
agree to the delay-if it doesn't
last too long.
However, he said he couldn't
estimate the attitude of the Sen-
ate, or the Senate Business Cjm-
mittee, where the bill is now be-
ing considered, towards the Rom-
ney request.
"Maybe we should be given the
authority to go ahead on a pilot
program this fall anyway. Then if
the Romney group decided against
it, a change might be made. In
the meanwhile we wouldn't have
spent a lot of money, but would
have served some students."
The other Delta plan, to set up
an independent state senior col-
lege in the area, is now in the
House Committee on Ways and
Means. Its chairman, Rep. Arnell
Engstrom (R-Traverse City), said
that his committee had intended
to report out this bill tomorrow,;
with amendments to "strengthen
its language."
"However, it -would be all right
with us not to consider it now," if
the governor has good reasons for
the delay, Engstrom commented.
Engstrom noted, however, that
the ways and means committeel
"'rather favors" this plan, and
would have reported it out Fridayt
were it not for a technical slip-i
up.
HATCHER:
Voice Act
Backs Stand
On Housing
The Voice Executive Committee
passed a motion yesterday endors-
ing University President Harlan
Hatcher's statement on Ann Ar-
bor fair housing legislation.
The motion praised "the force-
ful and long. awaited action of
the President in publicly inform-
ing Mayor Cecil 0. Creal of the
University's stand on fair housing
legislation."
It added, however, that Voice
regreted that the President did
not "take the positive action most
needed now-urging the passage
of the fair housing ordinance
presently before the City Council."
The Young Democratic Club
also endorsed the President's
stand in a statement issued
Friday.
The ordinance would ban dis-
crimination by multi-unit dwell-
ing owners, financial institutions
and with public funds.
GEORGE ROMNEY
... "citizens' committee"
Study
Picks Heads
Of Citizens'
Committee
Group To Evaluate
Educational System,
Report To Governor
By KENNETH WINTER
Gov. George Romney took the
first steps yesterday toward set-
ting up his "blue-ribbon citizens
committee" to study Michigan's
higher-education system, and has
asked that a decision on the Delta
College - expansion question be
postponed until this group con-
siders it in a statewide context.
He appointed the top three
members ow the committee, which
will "evaluate, mature and ex-
tend higher education needs in
Michigan, and recommend specific
building and operations programs,
ranked on a priority basis, for the
10-year period beginning fall, 1964.
The rest of the 50-man commit-
tee will be appointed within two
weeks. Romney said.
Citizens Group
One of his aides, Charles Orle-
beke, added last night that it
would be a "representative group"
of state citizens, but will not in-
clude presently-employed profes-
sional educators.
Its chairman will be former
Con-Con delegate Dan E. Karn
(R-Jackson), retired president of
Consumers Power Co., American
Motors Corp. Vice-President Ed-
ward L. Cushman, '37, and admin-
istrative assistant Irving Blue-
stone of the United Auto Work-
ers Union were announced as vice-
chairmen.
Romney cited the "disruptive
and bitter disagfireement" con-
cerning the plans for setting up
a degree-granting institution at
Delta as one controversy which
the "blue-ribbon committee might
successfully resolve.
State-Wide Goal
The Governor wants to make
sure the Delta decision is in the
best interests of the whole state,
which is why he wants the new
committee to look it over before
final action is taken, Orlebeke ex-
plained.
"He feels that this question
could not be considered in an iso-
lated way. Since every other pub-
lic college in the state has gone
on record against the University-
branch plan, there is a real dis-'
pute to be resolved nere," the
Romney aide commented.
Orlebeke also discussed how the
"blue-ribbon" group will operate.
He said that after the members
are allenamed, a more specific
statement of its aims will be set
forth, and then the group will be
on its own to organize its inquiries
-"The Governor will not seek to
structure the committee himself."
Recommendations
SOPHISTICATION:
Brubeck ImprovisesMusic
By BURTON MICHAELS
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
brought its subtle, sophisticated
sounds to Hill Aud. last night for r
the Development Council's con-
tribution to the Creative Arts Fes-
tival.
And creative Brubeck is. "We
improvise about 90 per cent of
what we play. Whoever starts
playing, plays as long as he wants
then someone else takes . over,
Brubeck said.
T l3e improvisations assume
many forms. For the first half of
the show Brubeck promised toV
such attention, but more probably
it is his mellow and moving alto
saxophone, he said.
Brubeck began playing when
15, in dance bands. But the dis-
appearance of good dance bands
means "colleges are going to take
over as centers of jazz-in fact,
of all culture-in America," he
said.
"Here we cannot sponsor art,
as they do in socialist countries;
yet we can prove that great art-
ists come out of government spon-
sorship, as in Poland. This leaves
o
b
Ii
it
Iis
LANSING-Heated words mark-
ed the first executive board meet-
ing of the State College Young Re-
publicans conducted here yester-
day by newly-elected chairman
Alan Howell of Wayne State Uni-
versity. An amendment to the
Federation's constitution t h a t
would prohibit unit-rule voting at
state conventions touched off a
battle between the chair and lead-
ng moderates and reform ele-
ments in the Federation.
The amendment was finally re-
jected by -a vote of 19-12, but a
committee formed after the meet-
ng to carry an "anti-unit rule
nessage to clubs throughout the
state." The committee is tempor-
arily headed by Dale Warner,
Grad.
Warner said unit rule impinges
>n the rights of the individual and
s contrary to convention practices
>f the senior GOP. Conservative
Carl Lady of Michigan State Uni-
versity argued that the system is
an effective control on delegation-
stacking at convention time.
Arthur Elliott, chairman of the
GOP State Central Committee,
was scheduled to address a morn-
ing session of the board but was
unable to appear.
Board members also approved
Lim elighters To Tape,, Concert'
The Limelighters will appear in
Ann Arbor on Wednesday to tape
a concert as part of a new televi-
sion series called "Hootnanny."
They will be here under the
auspices of the Michigan Union
Creative Arts Festival.
Appearing with the Limelight-
ers in the concert will be Elan
Stuart, Josh White, the New Lost
City Ramblers, Bonnie Dobson,
Bud and Travis and Bob Gibson.
There may be some local groups
included in the concert also.
All the tickets for the main per-
formance which will begin at 7:45
p.m. in the Union Ballroom have
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