Sevnty-Third Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITrY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BARD mIN CONTROL OF, STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Where Opinions Are Free STUENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBoR, MICH.' PHONE NO 2-3241 Truth Will Prevail" ditorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This mtst by noted in all reprints. UNION-LEAGUE MERGER: Committee Issues Progress Report NDAY, MARCH 17, 1963 NIGHT EDITOR: GAIL EVANS Publications Board Rule Limits Daily's Freedom wX MORNINGS a week The Daily boasts proudly but inaccurately of "Seventy-Two ears of Editorial Freedom." In a general nse, the slogan on the front page miasthead pretty accurate: for a college newspaper, he Daily is remarkably unfettered in its )urnallstic endeavors. In actuality, however, Tat frdedom is denied in several important ays. The day to day operation of this newspaper run by students. Students assign the articles i be researched and written; students create leas for editorials and put them on paper; and udents decide what and how certain news ems will be featured in the paper-all this ithout faculty or administrative precensor- :ip or examination. ' The paper is not a haven of student autono- y, however. A student-faculty-alumni-admin- tration publications board stands over the iblication of The Daily, bearing legal respon- bility for the editors' libels and theoretically percising whatever degree of control it wants. Ortunately the Board in Control of Student dblications has a relatively good position on eedox of operation by the student staff; it Copts a largely protective role, defending the ewspaper from vociferous critics while keep- ' a wary eye on what it would term the Iniversity community's interest" in a fair id accurate newspaper. 'HE BOARD, however, does not grant total freedom of opinon to the students. The aily operates undei a set of publication rles illed The Code of Ethics. It was first drafted 1941 and has been slightly amended during e intervening years as Daily editors niggled v ay at certain sore points. Daily editorial affs are free to suggest revisions in the code, Tough the Board must approve them. The Board has consented to some liberaliza- on of the code over the years, though it re- ains essentially the same document as orig- ally written. The major restriction on opinion is a serious ie in itself because the defense of retaining contains a possibly potential danger to the at of The Daily's freedom. According to the de, " go editorial shall take sides in an elec- on to the board of regents." 'HE ARGUMENT for The Daily publishing * editorials on the Regental candidates is mnple and compelling, but it itself is not the ost important attack on the restriction. The Daily is the newspaper of the University immunity. The newspaper most concerned ad most knowledgeable about the University. s staff is going to know more about and be ore affected by the election of Regents than to staff of any other newspaper. It would be responsible for a newspaper to avoid pub- hing any editorial comment on an issue so tal to the community it serves. The Daily also is one of the few newspapers lere the question of who should be the next agents could be fully discussed and debated the editorial columns. Contrary to the usual ess with its single unified stand for or against certain candidate, The Daily offers an open rum editorial page. NY MEMBER of the staffsmay publish his 'opinion; the editorial columns are open to I poirts of view. Often several editorials on e same general topic will appear in close [cesion, each offering a slightly different. ialysis of the event and its importance. In is manner, The Daily makes the usually llow slogan of 'dialogue' a reality. A member of the University community is posed to many differing opinions, and var- us alternative positions are sketched out for m: he may agree with all or one or none of em. If he wants to enter the discussion he ay do so through the letters to the editor iumn or, if a student, by joining the staff. Nowhere would the Regental candidates and eir platforms be given more coverage and intellectual probings than in the pages of The Daily, Because of the nature of The Daily as a newspaper for the University, it has an obli- gation to report and analyze all events of importance to the University. A Regental elec- tion can not be ignored. SOME PEOPLE will argue that The Daily ought not to publish any editorials which take stands on the Regental candidates. A variety of arguments might be raised to sup- port this contention: student editors can't really know the issues, such editorials would be embarrassing, to the University, and some people might misinterpret an editorial. Such arguments would also be raised against other bodies taking substantive stands on the Regental candidates and the debate would be more or less the same whether one were speak- ing of The Daily, Student Government Council, the Senate Advisory Committee, a speaker at a Young Republican sponsored rally, or the Regents themselves. The critical point separating The Daily from these other groups is this: SGC or the SAC are free to take such a policy, position if they - decide to; The Daily is not. WHETHER or not one agrees that The Daily. should print editorials about Regental can- didates, one should agree that this decision should be made by the editors themselves, not made for them before they even .consider the issue. Essential to the notion of the University is that all ideas are open for study and for debate. The individual is free to accept or reject any idea or not even to consider a particular idea. He may decide he has nothing to say about an idea or that what he thinks is best left unsaid. This is his decision, however. Any regulation which says, "You may not discuss idea X" in- hibits each individual from a full development of his education and harms society by reducing the possibilities for improvement. We can not say that an idea has absolutely no worth. As Mill so eloquently phrases it, even if we could, stifling it would weaken the strength by which good ideas are held: "The peculiar evil of silencing the ex- pression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race,' posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of ex- changing error for truth; if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier im- pression of truth, produced by its colli- sion with error." THE DAILY is the only forum in the Uni- versity where speakers are forbidden to engage in a discusson of the worth of the Regental candidates. Not only is this an in- consistent position, but it eliminates use of the major means of open public debate; edi- torials in The Daily are not the proclamations of a legislative body charged with representing the student body of the University. They are the statements of the individuals affixing their names to them. The reasons given in defense of the current policy are either of the "Here is why you shouldn't do this" and fail to justify the re- striction of opinion or if they try to justify the restriction they are in terms which could be applied with equal merit to justify further constraints on the subject matter available to editorial writers. Editorials now can deal with issues as touchy and potentially dangerous as the Regental candidates: endorsement of stu- dent candidates for the publications board it- self or criticism of the actions of the Regents to name just two. AT PRESENT there is no move to prohibit other University agencies from taking a stand on the Regental elections and I suspect that those who might do so place a high enough value on freedom of expression of opinion not to prohibit SOC from doing so even though the Council is veering danger- ously close to the edge. An admission that some area is so sensitive as to require precensorship and restriction is an admission that free speech and a free press can never be guaranteed at the University. You can not draw a firm line and say there is where freedom ends and restriction begins using the criteria that "here is where the short term affects may be harmful or em- barrassing." If this is the policy, the student's or the professor's right to speak his mind be- comes dependent on the political situation. Yet, where the situation deteriorates to a point when dissent is most needed, it is toler- ated jleast. Civil liberties and academic free- dom were not designed for such temporal adjustments. The libel laws provide clear and extensive protection for the individual against a mali- cious or inaccurate press. This is all the restrintinn a demnratic snoety can reason- By LOUISE LIND LAST WEEK, the Michigan Un- ion-Women's League Study Committee came out with a writ- ten recommendation that "the Union and League and their facili- ties become one organization." The recommendation, as far as it goes, is a good one. It represents the first paper coming from the committee to take a definite stand on the ques- tion of a merger between the two organizations. While the docu- ment is, by no means, the final report of the committee, but only a first-draft working paper meant for further discussion and revision before it is formally presented to the Union and League governing boards for ultimate approval later in the semester, it does represent a per consensus of the commit- tee and indicates the general trend in the proceedings since they began in October of last year. At that time, the governing boards of the two groups were both anxious to carry on a study to discover whether there might be other, more effective means of providing their services and, to consider the possible desirability of a merger between the two or- ganizations. They agreed to in- stitute a joint 13-member study committee consisting of the exe- cutive officers and faculty and alumni representatives from both governing boards. * * * UNDER THE leadership of Dean James H. Robertson, of the literary college, the committee carried on an exhaustive study, incorporat- ing as many methods as it could envision to get at the facts of the matter; to discover if a merged group might be the best way to manage the work presently carried out by two student groups-one for men and one for women. The committee sent questionnaires to all member schools of the Western Conference, seeking to learn the facts about student activity struc- turing on other campuses. It in- terviewed the appropriate admin- istrators; such as Vice-President for Student Affairs James A. Lewis and Vice-President for Business and Finance Wilbur K. Pierpont; questioned faculty mem- bers, Prof. Richard Cutler, chair- man of the Student Relations Committee of the Faculty Senate; and met with prominent student leaders. It met as a whole and in committees. Halfway through its proceedings each member of the group sub- mitted a written recommenda- tion on the merger issue to the committee. From these papers, which showed an expected con- trast of opinion, the committee gathered those principles on which it agreed. Discussions on these: principles continued, each week's session narrowing further the area of points still in dispute until a degree of consensus was obtained. THIS SEMESTER of extensive study and discussion yielded the first sample of its ultimate, and hopefully more bountiful harvest last week: a two-page "progress report," the antecedent of the final document which will sum- marize more extensively the find- ings of seven months of intense study. The tentative recommendation, as it stands, is essentially a four- part one. First of all, to implement the merger, the committee recom- mends that "the -present -Union and League student activities pro- grams be merged into a single co- educational structure." It estab- lishes the composition of this structure-four senior officers and eight committee chairmen-and directly specifies its duties: "The student activities committee should be solely responsible for the planning and programming of student activities for the new or- ganization, and it should be ,fi- nanced by revenues allocated to it by the governing board of the merged organization." But it warns not to rush too hastily into such a changeover and not to rob both the group's up-coming junior officers of the posts they have been working for. The committee also recommends that the stu- dent officers of both groups work closely together to structure the new activities program. Thus, the final authority for the establish- ment of the new group is left in the hands of the present Union and League junior officers, who, by the time the implementation is begun, will be senior officers. They will, "determine the space needs for the student activities for the new organization as well as the detailed nature of the activities program." THIS FIRST section of the recommendation is a sound pro- position. A move to merge the present Union and League ac- tivities programs would necessitate a nearly complete restructuring: present duplications in the activi- ties offered by the two separate groups would be elinjinated; ob- solete programs would be dis-, carded; and new ones would be initiated. From the study com- mittee's present vantage point, it is impossible to determine what powers a combined student wc- tivities committee would need or how much of the existing facilities it would require to operate effi- ciently. Thus, the committee has wisely left these particulars in the hands of the present junior officers, com- petent three-year veterans of the Union and League hierarchies who have been trained for such admin- istrative tasks. They would nor- mally assume office this month for a full year's term, had there never been a move to merge the Union and League. Yet, while allowing for a cer- tain degree of flexibility in the structuring of the student activi- ties committee, the study commit- tee has set up enough specifics to stabilize the process. It states def- initively what the composition of the committee should be and out- lines the duties it should be dele- gated. These specifics will serve as a guide for officers who ulti- mately do decide the entire struc- turing of the student activities committee. They will provide a skeletal framework within which the student officers can work, as- sured of a certain amount of pre- established stability. * * * THE SECOND section of the recommendation directs the stu- dent activities committee to co- ordinate its efforts with the Office of Student Affairs and other stu-. dent groups in establishing an all-campus committee. Such a committee would be composed of representatives from all major stu- dent organizations and would, in the study committee's terms, "cal- endar, oversee, and administer the activities of student organiza- tions." The initiation of an all-campus committee would establish a much-needed service for this cam- pus. It would prevent the mis- management of the calendering powers held by an already over- burdened Student Government Council and the unnecessary over-. lapping of campus services that frequently occurs. The third section of the docu- ment calls for the establishment of an implementation committee, under the present Union and League governing boards. This committee would work with the present Union and League gov- erning boards to "determine the specifics of the proposed merger." These specifics are defined by the study committee within an over- flowing pair of parenthesel as "the final disposition of any present Union and League facilities deem- ed unnecessary to the new organ- ization, the structure and function of the governing board, method of management, constitution and by- laws, et al." This committee, the document specifies, shoud be. composed of students, faculty and alumni, equally representing the Union and League, and should consult with representatives of the OSA and the Office of Business and Fi- nance when necessary.' IF THIS IS how the final rec- ommendation issuing from the tentative report is to stand, then the study committee has abdicated its charge. In this first-draft doc- ument, it has so sketchily defined how the governing boards should be merged that the so-called im- plementation committee would be helpless to combine the boards until it had done an independent study of its own. In effect then, by neglecting to specify how the merged governing board should be constituted or what its range of powers should be, the study committee has done nothing more than set up a second, and perhaps less-informed study committee. Thus, this first-draft recommen- dation works like a series of mir- rors-it reflects a study commit- tee which sets up another study committee which may set up an- other and another until the orig- inal issue, the merger, is lost. Surely, this was not the intent of the present group. * * . THE IDEA of an implementa- tion committee is not in itself a bad one. Such a committee could devote more time to the actual implementation of a merger than the present group can afford. Yet if the implementation committee is not given a more specific out- line to follow than this first "ec- ommendation has presented, it would be unable to apply itself to the immediate problem. If it had to frame for itself a series of guid- ing principles, it would flounder and perhaps be lost before it could ever decide the specific de- tails of a merger between the gov- erning boards. Hopefully, the second or third drafts of the recommendation will be more specific in this area, as certain members of the study com- mittee, notably those from the Union group, have requested. Finally, the document recom- mends that "the Union Board of Directors and the Michigan League Board of Governors become one governing board when deemed ap- propriate, responsible for super- vising, in close cooperation with the University, the over-all opera- tion and management of whatever physical facilities are at its com- mand." * * * THIS REQUEST for joining the two boards is certainly implicit in the idea of a Union-League merger and the committee was wise to make this clear. Yet, once more, while stating the obvious generalities, the committee has failet to be specific. A more de- tailed explanation of this process should come from the committee. Hopefully, when the study com- mittee revises and amends its first-draft recommendation later this semester, it will realize the consequences of a poorly-defined report. Hopefully, it will turn out a more precise and detailed rec- ommendation that will make the task of merging the Union and League a simple and well-directed one. The committee thus far has not shirked its duty; its exhaus- tive efforts have been much more than commendable. Hopefully, it will continue its work in the fine tradition in which it began. UNDERSCORE: U.S. Must Re-examine 'Presence in Vietnam By MALINDA BERRY THE UNITED STATES could use somne lessons in how to pick the regimes they support. In many countries we are backing not only unpopular, but downright despotic dictatorships, because they, claim to be "anti-Communist." The government is inclined to think of everything in terms of black and white-if a leader is anti-Communist, then by the rea- soning of the state department he is also pro-democratic. In the past the United States has-_supported such unpopular and sometimes hated leaders as Batista, Trujillo, Syngman Rhee and Chiang Kai- shek. Now they are backing the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem 'of South Vietnam. There seems to be a split in our international philosophy, when we advocate from the podium of the United Nations and in enor- mous press releases that the United States supports government of, by and for the people at the exact same time that we are con- tributing to the support of a man who would be defeated in a popu- lar election. This has the ear- marks of paternalism and even worse, shades of "the white man's burden-"We know better than, you, what's good for you." It seems inconsistent to have the United States involved in an all- out, but undeclared, war to save an unpopular government from an inevitable overthrow. DIEM'S PROBLEM, and con- sequently since we are support- ing him, ours, is that he is out of contact with the country. He and his family who comprise the vast majority of his staff are Catholics in a predominantly Buddhist coun- try. Also, Diem has no roots in the peasant villages. In the past government has meant only, bad things to the illiterate villagers. They' see a police state which oppresses them. Their only con- tracts with the government has been through tax collecting offi- cials and on national holidays when the politicians make patrio- tic speeches and then disappear back into the woodwork. To the illiterate masses the tra- ditionalDemocratic ideals mean little when placed beside those values being offered bysthe Com- munists. Food and tools are far more important to them and seem more immediately attainable than democratic ideals such as free glec- tions and freedom of speech. The United States is equated in the eyes of the Vietnamese man in the street with this corrupt and unpopular regime. And their un- happy concept of the West aiding Diem is intensified by the fact that the peasants see the Vietcong daily. THE BULK of the Communist guerillas are drawn from the masses. They make promises, in the country. More than $1 million a day is spent to fight the war. The armed forces of Vietnam are divided among the 200,000 men of the regular army, a civil guard of 100,000 men, and a self-defense corps of 75,000. The United States has taken on the mission of saving the world from Communism to justify the expenditure of money and men. It feels it must save the peninsula of Southeast Asia from the Com- munists. The administration thinks that if Vietnam goes, then Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Bur- ma, Cambodia, and all the rest of the area will ultimately come un- der the control of the Commun- ists. Here the Americans have come into conflict with themsellrs. They seem to be more concerned with stopping Communism than with helping the people become educated to the point where they can protect themselves. THE AMERICANS and the South Vietnamese forces are up against an -enemy that is hard to find. The terrain is on the side of the rebels. The mountains are rugged, and the endless swamps and seven foot high elephant grass are perfect camouflage for the rebels, who are inspired and supported by the Viet Minh Com- munists of the North. What are the chances of the United States for a victory? Wash- ington and the official organs in Saigon are overly optimistic. Re- porters who have penerated to the soldiers in the jungles are a good deal more pessimistic. They see the war as making little head- way. Without the support of the peasantry, which will be hard to gain, there isn't much of a chance. And the peasants aren't likely to be very willing to die for a re- gime which has given them little but corruption. There, is a major gap in Viet Nam between the style of life of the urban elite and the peasantry. There exists now no organized leadership of the peasantry which would give the United States some clue as to how they really feel. They tolerate the Communists and sometimes aid them, because there is no or- gan in the governmental structure which permits protest of the Diem government. Though simple tol- eration doesn't indicate an en- thusiasm for the rebels. The United States should re- examine the purpose of its pres- ence in South Vietnam. Is it there to maintain the imperfect status quo, or is it there to aid the people in their striving for a better life? On Liberty I F THE received opinion be not only true, but the whole truth; SIDELINE ON STUDENT GOVERNMENT: People, Parties and Politics By GLORIA BOWLES THE POWER of organization in electoral \campaigns was dem-' monstrated in Wednesday's Stu- dent Government Council elec- tions, as two candidates scored an upset victory in what otherwise was a very normal spring election. Few expected the 681 first ballot victory of Michael Knapp, and the good showing of conservative Sherry Miller was a surprise. Or- ganization and person-to-person contact proved to be the winning formula for both. Knapp seemed to stand a mid- dling;to poor chance for election with John Rutheford generally considered the most competent of the fraternity candidates, and the most likely to be elected. However, Knapp's formula included a cam- paign manager who had the whole Lambda Chi house in a "get out the vote" fury. Friends contacted friends, and kept in touch with them. ** * BUT more importantly, Knapp scored in the sororities, and he frankly admits this base of sup- port. The women were obviously impressed by the good looking young man with the engaging Tony Perkinssmile. On the other hand, Rutherford-somewhat a rookie in the system having only pledged this year-proved to be too politically sophisticated for the Greek system, a group that is ba- sically apolitical and generally joins in a view that sees politics as inherently evil and politicians, as inherently bad. Some fraternity leaders deny outright designation of Knapp as the first choice fraternity can- didate, but other informed sources note that Interfraternity Council did make the big push for Knapp, at the same time urging votes for Rutherford and Frederick Rhines, the most mediocre of the three who found difficulties in expounding views during cam- paign interviews and had to pause for long moments to come out with garbled answers to pertinent ques- tions. Knapp is sincere and should be a hard-working Council member, 1-4 is..-- - --_A -- --11 4- tional skill as she mustered sup- port in her own gigantic dormi- tory, Mary Markley, and }pulled enough votes to also win a first place position. The quadrangle vote may also have been instrumental in her vic- tory. The number of quadrangle polling places was increased, and so was their, accessibility. Most residents could not go to their rooms or to meals without passing an indoor polling station. And Miss Miller, with conservative to mod- erate attitudes and administrative experience on Council's Committee on Student Concerns was able to make a convincing appeal for the quadrangle votes. THE LIBERALS looked down- cast on an election count night which saw only a small crowd gathered in the Michigan Union ballroom. It was a far cry from the numbers that turned out to await results of the referendum on the United Stated National Student Association last fall. Only the party loyal, the militants, the can- didates and their close friends braved the long, tiring count night session, Wednesday. Referendum results were the first announced and the Voice political party supporters disap- pointed over the majority "No" vote on a question that seemed to be phrased in a way that would make "no" impossible. The liberals sensed an impending turn for the worst with the release of these totals. In the end, Voice elected three of its five endorsed SGC candidates and was disappointed snot to have elected at least a fourth. However, Voice enjoyed relative success in terms of the political orientation of the Uni- versity, as this is a campus that votes in favor of Romney and Nixon in mock elections. The liberals are most concerned about the conservative - liberal split on Council and the problems created by an election that return- ed a conservative Council, and re- elected Kenneth Miller only in fifth position. Miller has inherited tho leadershim nf the lhiral and ing their' men to get out and vote. In some houses, members were de- prived of dinner if they did not come home with a punched ID. Miller, particularly, was hurt by taking the straight Voice party line on a campus which in a few circles breeds antagonism toward the party. However, Miller's con- victions would not have permitted any other campaign strategy and he, more than any other Voice candidate, emphasized the worth of the party system on the campus political level. Liberals were overconfident as they predicted a liberal majority which saw reactions from both sides, in increased votes among conservatives and moderates and a "stay at home, we're in anyway" attitude among, liberals. Such at- titudes may have been relevant in the surprising defeat of Assem- bly president Mary Beth Norton, whose first and second place votes were also taken by the other dormitory candidate, Miss Miller. THE EX-OFFICIO issue did not seem important enough to get some liberals out to vote;, the radical wing, for example, may have been discouraged by what they considered the nebulous na- ture of the referendum. Though graduate students came out in larger numbers than usual to vote for Edwin Sasaki, for er Graduate Student Council p rsi- dent, the bad weather kept many of them at home. However, they did managed to bring Sasaki in on the second ballot. He was the first Voice candidate to be elected, seating a graduate who should bring a great deal of maturity and wisdom to the body. In the end, the liberals should not be disheartened: they can took forward to increased success in the fall, and with pride to the issue orientation of the campaign which they promoted. Voice is also building up a constituency. Ran- dom samplings show a consistency in Voice voting; Voice supporters vote deliberately and are appar- ent well informed on the political orientations of candidates. It ap- pears, for example, that the same nonnR who cast vnte fnr Unic Plaudit HE INTER-UNIVERSITY Faculty Cgmmit-, tee on Constitutional Revision and the six Jniversity professors on it deserve the applause f Michigan voters for' probably the most ex- ert dissection yet presented of the proposed tate Constitution. On their own time and .expense, they've >ublished, in limited quantity, booklets con- aining probing analyses of eight major sections n the document: apportionment, civil rights, -ducation, the executive branch, finance and axation, highways, the judiciary' and local overnment. At a time when Zolton Ferency and the League of Women Voters are 'flooding the state Kith propaganda on how awful and how won- lerful (respectively) the new document is, he faculty committee is asserting that each ection must be evaluated on impartial grounds -~4 :....