Seventy-Third Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER' AUTHOR=T OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
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Truth Will Previl"
ditorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
LATIN AMERICAN AID:
U.S. Backs Status Quo
In Revolutionary Milieu
IV
LY, APRIL 16, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID MARCUS
Tbe Girls' Honoraries:
Not-So-High Ideals
THE SPRING when everything thaws,
niversity honors begin to flow with ever-
reasing volume. Those who don't make it to
Honors Convocation usually receive some
t of award in their housing units. Those
ose talents do not lie primarily in academic
as get appointed to committees or honored
their service to the community.
lonorary organizations march across the
npus at all hours of the night waking dormi-
y residents with their various anthems, and
ig their victims out -of bed to give them
joyous news that they are among the elect.
[he whole business usually reaches a climax
the morning of the Honors Convocation
en a "tribe" of half-naked junior and
dor boys romp around Tappan Oak throwing
ck dust on each other and talking "Indian
ISGUSTING as their rituals are, the boys'
honoraries are not as unfair as the girls'.
Druids and Michigamua members are select-
almost entirely on the basis of their posi-
ns in certain University activities. Only in
-e instances are the persons holding these
sitons not fortunate enough to be dragged
o the street and stripped in acknowledge-
nt of their great service to the campus.
[i the girls' honoraries, however, no, such
sible system is used. Members are supposed
conform to a vaguely stated set of criteria,
: voting is a hit or miss proposition. The
noraries usually send out lists to heads of
using units and student organizations asking
the names of outstanding women. Wyvern
: Mortarboard, junior and senior women's
roraries respectively, then check to see
ether those whose names are sent in meet
grade point requirement. Those who do are
sidered; those who do not are sent on to
other honoraries which do not have a
Lolastic criterion. Then the remaining can-
Lates are discussed and voted on.
HIS SITUATION is slipshod to begin with,
since it is always possible that an individual
using unit or student activity has been over-
Iked in the preliminary solicitation, or that
e house mother or president has forgotten
send in recommendations. When this hap-
as, it is simply a matter of luck if other
iMbers of the organizations come up with
e nominations which have been overlooked.
men comes the process of discussion pre-
ling the voting, according to the practice
the groups. As a resigned member of Mortar-
ird, I am familiar with that group's prac-
es. The national regulations of Mortarboard,
de from minimum grade point, demand that
mbers contribute outstanding service and
,dership to the University.
No one ever proposes to define the term
itstanding" before discussion begins. Every
ting member merely applies it mentally
fore making her decision on the individual
minees.
The voting system is known as unanimous
nsent. Only "yes" votes are permitted. An
stention counts as a "no" vote. This is'
rported to be one of the great assets of the
ganization, as it is supposed to make mem-
rs compromise and cooperate with one an-
her. It is in fact a one-man blackball.
This means in practice that one senior can
ep a prospective member out of the organ-
tion because she does not feel that the
minee is "outstanding." All she has to do
sit there without raising her hand while
eryone else votes in affirmation. The junior
out.
'HE DEBATE on prospective members of
girls' honoraries usually disintegrates into
n-party evaluation. Only a few of the out-
ing seniors know personally any given one
the junior nominees. They read the list
activities, listen to the testimony of the
ember who knows the girl and on this basis
ake up their minds.
Defines Mat
'HE UNIVERSITY began a successful ex-
periment this year-apartment permission
r senior women. Contrary to some pessimistic
ophecies, senior dormitories have not been
anding empty due to a mass exodus, and,
om all indications, immorality has not been
nning rampant.
What has happened is simple; senior women
ho felt cramped and closed in in University
>using have moved out and those who enjoy
oup living have stayed. And there are many
both kinds of women.
However, now that the University has as-
rtained that there are some women who, for
any reasons, dislike living in dorms and
me of them are able to move out, it is time
at it allows junior and sophomore women
do the same.
'HE SAME ARGUMENTS which were aired
at this time last year when senior women
The lists of activities generally include such
services as presidency of a sorority or rush
chairmanship of a house. Many of the nominees
are past or present members of League com-
mittees or central committees for the annual
all-campus frolics. There are also usually a
few Daily night editors.
Suppose a nominee's name is presented. She
has been president of her house. She was' cen-
tral committee of some campus event during
her freshman or sophomore year. Someone
who knows her says, "this is really an out-
standing girl. She did tremendous things for
her house. She has a wonderful personality. She
brings great zest and dedication to every pro-
ject she dndertakes. She deserves to be a
member of this organization."
T HIS IS FINE in so far as it goes. Mortar-
board, for example, is permitted to take up
to 25 members and it would be fairly easy to fill
that complement with the nominated juniors.
But it sometimes happens that members of
the outgoing chapter decide membership in
the organization is being handed out too
lightly. They conclude that there probably are
not 25 really "outstanding" girls on campus
and that it would be a mistake to take some
who are merely "very good" just to fill the
allotted quota.
It then becomes a question of drawing the
fine line between "very good" and "really out-
standing," a difficult task since nobody has
ever defined "outstanding.
In the end, then, it comes down to one or
two specific girls who keep out by the blackball
one or two other specific girls. They may not
even know the girls they are vetoing; they
simply feel that they have a great moral
responsibility to the organization to uphold
its standards of excellence.
THEIR ARGUMENTS GO, "Is this a charity
institution? Are we taking girls because they
ought to be outstanding or because they are
outstanding?" and they sit on their hands,
thus blackballing prospective members in order
to uphold that chapter's values.
Those who oppose the blackball may not
know the individuals in question either. Their
argument is that if it is impossible to deter-
mine objectively whether a girl is "really
outstanding" or "just very good," the thing to
do is take her. Their position is that it is im-
possible to sit in judgment on a girl they do
not know when the crucial decision is based on
such a tenuous distinction. They maintain
further that the current members of the
chapter, themselves included, are not so "out-
standing" that they have any right to make
such pronouncements about others.
And as a final argument, they maintain that
even if the proposed "tapee" is indeed "just
very good" and not "really outstanding" it is
better to take her than make her unhappy.
The quality of the organization is not so high
to begin with that acceptance of a few girls
who are not "really outstanding" would harm
it in the least.
There is nothing "outstanding" about the
campus honoraries. They generally do nothing
except consider whether they ought to "do
something" (which they rarely do) and then
accomplish the business of perpetuating them-
selves. It means very little to become a mem-
ber of Mortarboard, Wyvern, Senior Society,
Scroll or any other of the honoraries on cam-
pus. They have prestige only because they keep
some people out, thus making them jealous
of the people who are accepted, thus placing
value on membership in the organization.
Members of the honoraries look very im-
pressive when they walk solemnly down the
halls of the dormitories in their various uni-
forms singing about the high ideals they up-
hold. It is a great pity that in a university of
the calibre of this one, "high ideals" does not
mean something much higher than what the
honoraries stand for.
-JUDITH OPPENHEIM
Editorial Director
urity Arbitrarily
women find themselves. But for some reason,
senior women are "more mature" than their
lower class sisters and because of this, under-
classmen endure many unhappy dorm years.
But age in itself is no criterion 'of maturity.
The maturation which comes through learn-
ing cannot be measured. In one year at the
University the freshman is exposed to many
- new experiences. During this year he learns
to budget his time and his money, to keep up
in a competitive academic situation and to
make decisions.
That he is merely the same age as all of the
other freshmen does not make the new student
equal to his classmates in maturity. Each 18
year old is different and the level of maturity
which he has attained is likewise different.
THE UNIVERSITY should recognize that a
woman who- has been admitted is of the
highest calibre; she is intelligent and respon-
sible. She is capable of running an apartment
dw&
. ' NY '%yu TRY A 50oMLE I KE AND A (\OLD S4OWE.R?
TODAY AND TOMORROW:
Gamble on Foreign Aid
By ELLEN SILVERMAN'
PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S recent
trip to Central America was a
new effort to strengthen relations
between hemispheric neighbors
and aid the money-starved Latin
American states. By combining
personal diplomacy with a pro-
gram of foreign aid, the admin-
istration is hoping to achieve
something'which historically has
been one of the hardest things
for the hemisphere ,to achieve; a
strongly democratic, highly in-
dustrialized Latin America.
This trip is significant in that
it is one of a series of efforts
made by American diplomats to
strengthen the "little brothers of
the South." Beginning with James
G. Blaine's first call for a Pan-
American meeting, the United
Stateshas been interested in
South and Central American and
concerned with their well being.
Since Blaine's time, American
presidents have attempted to give
support to Latin America in her
struggle with European colonial-
ism. Although this had often had
the opposite effect of imposing
upon Latin Americans the burden
of throwing off American domina-
tion and interference, the United
States has attempted to strength-
en the countries in order to in-
sure a strongly loyal southern
hemisphere with a fairly strong
economic base.
* * *
EACH PRESIDENT has had his
own method of doing this: Theo-
dore Roosevelt used the "Roose-
velt Corollary" to the Monroe Doc-
trine in order to curb European
interference in the hemisphere.
At the same time, however, he
laid the United States open to
charges of imperialism with ac-
tions in Cuba, Panama and Vene-
zuela. His idea of "carrying a big
stick" kept Europeans from acting
rashly but it did not aid the Latin
Americans who were being sub-
jected to American interference
in internal affairs and, in Cuba,
American domination.
President Taft's economic im-
perialism, which is mostly asso-
ciated with the Far East also seep-
ed down to the Latin American
nations. Here again, the American
influence was a force in stimulat-
ing a country's economy, however,
the stimulus did not come from
the individual states. President
Wilson's use of troops in relation
to Mexico also resulted in little
concrete progress by the Latin
Americans themselves and for the
most paft aided only in producing
bad feeling toward the United
States.
Both of these resulted in inter-
ference in the internal workings of
By WALTER LIPPMANN
THE FOREIGN AID program,
which began with the Marshall
Plan in 1948, has always been a
gamble, has never been a sure
thing. In Europe, it has been a
brilliant success. But 15 years ago,
nobody could know that it would
be. In fact, such were the poverty
and paralysis of France, Italy and
Germany that there was a serious
possibility of a general collapse
into Communism. The Marshall
Plan was expensive. But because it
worked, all would agree today that
it was cheap at the price.
Now we are concerned with for-
eign aid in this hemisphere. The
problem is not what it was in post-
war Europe. There thedpurpose of
aid was to enable advanced and
highly-developedrcountries to re-
cover from the world war. Our pur-
pose in this hemisphere is more
complicated and difficult.
Broadly speaking, it is to help
our neighbors achieve peaceably,
and with liberty if not with de-
mocracy, a revolution'out of their
semi-feudal past. Our hope is that
they will in fact achieve by pro-
gressive government what, failing
that, their people will attempt to
achieve by revolutionary Commu-
nism.
**.*
OUR POLICY is not only diffi-
cult to carry out, but also it is
difficult to explain. It is rather
like attempting ,to explain why,
in order to protect children from
polio, we inoculate them with the
polio virus. Our Latin-American
policy would be easier to explain
if we forgot about peaceable rev-
olution and concentrated on the
simple task of giving unlimited
military support to any govern-
ment, indeed to any dictator, who
was unqualifiedly anti-Communist.
Such a policy would earn much
applause in certain quarters. The
trouble is that it wouldn't last very
long. For this is an age when the
mass of men will no longer put
up with their ancient poverty and
servitude.
Knowing this, we are looking to
the progressive governments, as
in Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela,
Colombia and Brazil, to carry out
the progressive revolutions which
are the alternative to the Castro-
ite kind of revolution. It is, of
course, a gamble, and nothing is
easier than to think up the many
reasons why it may be lost.
* * *
THE BIGGEST GAMBLE in all
our foreign aid in this hemisphere
is in Brazil.
If the progressive revolution
fails in Brazil and the country
descends into revolutionary viol-
ence, the whole continent is cer-
tain to become involved.
On the other hand, the prospects
of success in Brazil are bright and
alluring. For while Brazil has its
desperately poor masses, it is not
a primitive and undeveloped coun-
try. It has a certain resemblance
to Italy before its brilliant recov-
ery when there was desperate pov-
erty and backwardness in the
south and high technical progress
in the north.
What is more, Brazil has good
political habits in that it has
learned how to change its gov-
ernment without violence. In this
century, one Brazilian president
has committed suicide and one has
resigned. There has been none of,
the shooting and exiling and im-
prisonment which has taken place
in other countries. In Brazil, there
is corruption, there is some infil-
tration, there are special privileges
and all that. But Brazil is blessed
with the habit of domestic peace
and of respect and obedience to
the constituted authorities.
* * *
IF WE STUDY the agreement
just worked out in Washington be-
tween Brazilian Finance Minister
Dantas and Mr. Bell, who now
manages foreign aid, we are bound
to marvel at the political courage
of the Goulart government. To
end the inflation and to re-estab-
lish its international credit-wor-
thiness, the Brazilian government
has adopted a program which only
a very strong government, strong
in its hold on popular support,
would dare to undertake.
The Goulart government is go-
ing to raise tax collections by 25
per cent. It has eliminated the
subsidy of wheat, which has dou-
bled the price of bread. It has
eliminated the subsidy of petro-
leum products, which raised the'
price of gasoline 80 per cent. It
has increased commuter railroad
fares five times. It is cutting down
the expansion of bank credit to a
third of what it has been. It is
freezing government employment
and is trying to freeze government
pay.
It is an astonishing program.
Yet it is said that the Goulart gov-
ernment, which is left of center,
is strong enough to carry out the
program. We must hope that it will
be, and surely the administration
has been right in deciding to help
it. For it would be hard to name
any item in our whole global for-
eign aid program which, if it suc-,
ceeds, will do so much good.
(c) 1963, The Washington Post Co.
the Latin American countries and
where this could not be accom-
plished, in at least a strong at-
tempt.
PRESIDENT Franklin D. Roose-
velt's Good Neighbor Program be-
gan to rebuild the broken ties
between the two hemispheres. But
the World War II intervened and
the program was cut off.
Under President Truman, the
aid programs which worked well
in Europe were applied in a limited
way to Latin America. With the
Republican administration under
President Eisenhower full blown
aid to South America emerged.
And then Vice-President Richard
Nixon's intended trip indicated
that this program was to be im-
plemented with a personal contact
policy.
Americans suddenly began to
read of Spanish-sounding names
who were regular visitors at the
White House. And then the White
House went to visit Central and
South America. But the result,
again, was not a panacea. Nixon
was stoned in the streets of Cara-
cas and the instability of the
Latin American nations continued.
* * *
KENNEDY'S Alliance for Pro-
gress Program is an extention of
the massive aid program now
available to South American na-
tions. Yet this too is not proving
its worth. Like the programs which
preceded it, it is plagued by the
realities of South American poli-
tics; realities which Americans
seem to blithely ignore when plan-
ning aid programs.
In the first place, the United
States often finds itself having
to support dictatorships in order
to keep foreign influence out and
provide aid. When revolutions oc-
cur, and they are not infrequent
in Latin America, the new govern-
ment is often hostile to the United
States for aiding its predecessor.
Or the new regime is opposed to
the efforts of the deposed govern-
ment and quickly acts to negate '
many steps taken during the first
term. ,
Therefore the United States is
often placed in the position of
supporting the status quo in a
hemisphere where the status quo
is not ideal. Social revolution in
Latin America is moving along
quickly and the aid programs
which the United States sets up
are not applicable to nations which
are in the throes of revolution.
* * *.
IN SHORT, the United States is
caught in a trap. She wants to
aid the Latin American nations.
yet she is unable to set up aid
programs which are in the tra-
dition of the social revolution
which is going on within each
country. She is all too often put
in the position of supporting a
government which does not hive
the support of the people or which
is firmly entrenched due to non-
democratic politics.
There exists an enigma for the
Latin American policy makers-
should the United States support
anyone in spite of the factthat
the changes wrought by social
revolution are so great they often
nullify the plans of the aid pro-
gram or should she allow the
social change to occur without
giving any aid and stand the
chance of letting the Castro-
,Communists infiltrate the entire
hemisphere and pose a threat to
the internal security of the nation?
OF COURSE, there are no clear-
cut answers to the problem. But
today United States foreign policy
planners seem to be treading a
fine line between the two ex-
tremes. And the success of the
programs which they have put
into force is negligible. The Al-
liance for Progress is not suited
for Latin America; it has not
lived up to the expectations of
the Americans who formed it
The facts of Latin American
society and the rapid change
which is occuring there must be
considered by the planners before
any usable program can be formu-
lated which will aid the Latin
Americans. But the facts must be
taken into account as soon as
possible if the ideals are ever to
be achieved.
f
>,," ._
SPECTACLE:
Long Day'. Lingers On
"THE LONGEST DAY," Darryl
F. Zanuck's panoramic view of
D-Day, has ' been described in
varying terms: "brilliant;" "spec-
tacular;" "stupendous;" "over-
done;" "overlong."
The latter two adjectives are
mine.
It is overdone because Mr. Zan-
uck has been fit to do a Mike Todd
and load as many name actors
and actresses into the film as pos-
sible, without regard to their act-
ing ability; thus, we have such a
pastiche as Tommy Sands and
Fabian and Richard Beymer and
Henry Fonda and Curt Jurgens.
* * *
IN OTHER WORDS, the gamut
is run. These "cameo perform-
ances," as Todd would have called
them, serve little purpose other
than to draw audiences by sheer
volume of lettering on the mar-
quee. As a matter of fact, they
tend to detract from the quality of
this film by fragmenting it and
not really focusing on any one
set of characters. This is gen-
erally one of the problems of a
spectacular film. Especially when
one adds too many stars with per-
sonalities that cannot be sub-
merged in a plot.
There were some good perform-
ances - Curt Jurgens, Richard
Burton, and a few others. There
were some fair ones - Edmund
O'Brien, Eddie Albeit. There were
many bad ones -- John Wayne,
who is the very definition of the
word typecast, Peter Lawford run-
ning around the beach with a
turtle-neck sweater, etc.
The dialogue was not very great
-"Well, Ike, what do you think?"
"I don't know, Monty."
Or this prize piece directed to
Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt-
"You're the son of a President.
Your father went up San Juan
Hill with the Rough Riders."
* *s *
BUT DIALOGUE and characters
are not the essential thing in such
a film, or so Mr. Zanuck seems
to think. It is the spectacle that
counts, and this is done well. The
stereophonic sound will blast your
ears if you happen to sit near a
speaker; the camera shots are of
course magnificent.
And as far as I can tell, the
film is for the most part histor-
ically accurate. The mass .scenes,
with thousands of Twentieth Cen-
tury Fox's finest storming the
beaches, are overwhelming.
It seems to me, however, that
after a little while, the spectacle
begins to wear down. I felt that
after the second hour, even that
part of the film was getting tire-
some. Diminishing returns on gun-
fire?
--M. Steven Hendel
FEIFFER
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