Seventy-Third Year
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Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. Thh must be noted in all reprints.
NEW YORK NEWSPAPER STRIKE:
Industry, Unions Due for an Awakening
)AY, FEBRUARY 1, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: PHILIP SUTIN
The Regents and The Ban:
Where Does Autonomy End?
[HE REGENTS of the University of Michi-
gan, guardians of the people's interest in
his instittition of higher education, have just
pproved a new bylaw limiting the kind of
peeches which may be given before public
neetings of recognized student organizations.
They approved the policy as offered by the
dministration by a 6-2 vote, shattering a Re-
ental tradition. In the past, the members of
he University's top governing board have
een asked to swallow their differences in pub-
ic and vote along with the majority, working
or compromises at the Regents' informal ses-
situation looks like this: a:
mittee proposes a certain
dorsed by the administr
committee of the faculty
proval as does a majority
ernment. Clearly it is a p
by the University's major
NOW IT COMES to th
approval. If they dec:
not restrictive enough an
ing the right to speak,
raised. The protest is on t
1) An act has been per
The split vote-which found Regents Mur- the University experience
phy and Sorenson 'championing the cause of a because it means restricte
more open forum-is a cause for celebration Regents have acted again
and for deep concern. tion.
It is encouraging to learn that the Regents 2) Protest is also, mad
are involved enough in University issues to Regents have violated t
find that they have disagreements and that University and imposed t
they have enough fortitude to voice a dissent munity.
from a policy which they cannot personally The dilemma occurs wi
endorse. gents hold the policy to b
want to liberalize it furt
THE SPLIT VOTE raises, however, a serious student body or adminis
question which must be answered in a sys- prudent. This is the cas
tematic and coherent manner if members of Regents who opposed the
the community are to participate in the selec- when it came to a vote tw
tion of Regents and if the Regents are to con- Does the member of1
tinue to participate in the affairs of the Uni- munity hail a Regental d
versity. policy and liberalize it o
The problem centers around the concept of criticism? On the one ha
autonomy: how free should the University be acted in this particular c
from the society which provides its financial the interchange of ideas
support and resources? The University is guar- opinions and, thus, have8
anteed constitutional autonomy from the state process.
Legislature; the men in Lansing cannot tell
University officials how to spend their money, ON THE OTHER HAND
select their faculties or determine their cur- mediate consequences
ricula. violated the autonomy of1
The people of the state of Michigan have forcing their own judgme
created a university in Ann Arbor and allow object, it would seem, eve
themselves to be taxed annually to keep it run- way the decision finally
ning. They have some right to determine the satisfying and conducivet
nature of this university and what it will offer For the Regent the p
to the citzlens of the state. They exercise their acute. If he supports the
will through eight elected representatives who by refusing to veto the n
sit on the Board of Regents. The problem which must then endorse a pol
a 6-2 vote on the speaker bylaw poses is how own principles and strikes
autonomous the University itself (the adminis- basic freedom of our soci
tration, faculty and students) should be from If he follows his prin
its Regents.
promise his belief in aut
War case rnnunder discusser
THE REGENTS have traditionally served more ancseneracusi
as guardians of the public interest than as and orofaced the
innovators of change for the University. The ity and their "nay" votes
school of autonomists holds that the policies poiny which ras passed.
of a university should be made by the adminis- the majority, should they
tration and faculty with some degree of parti-way?
cipation by the students. A lay governing board,
not well versed in educational philosophy or EGENTS MURPHY a:
experienced in matters of operating a univer- R did the right thing. T
sity, can best serve as a board in review making .
sure that the policy decisions will not plummet of a university is not w
the University to its ruin and giving the educa- the free pursuit and exa
tional administrator a broader perspective by vote to restrict freedom o
providing insights from the view of the suc- an extent that no amou
cessful businessman with professional and poll- redeem it
tical contacts across the state.e
The general principle, then, is that the Re - But are there still othe
gents follow a policy of noninterference in the ity more important t
daily life of the University and having ascer- operation? Under what
tained that a particular policy proposal raised Regents refuse to pass a
by the administration (speaking for the faculty backing of the rest of the
and perhaps the students) is a reasonable one, Those students, profes
ratify it. A Regent is supposed to decide, "My tons who concern them
duty is to guarantee that the University of University is governedr
Michigan is as fine a university as possible. To position on this problem
achieve this goal, I believe that the University Regents Power and Thurb
must be self-regulating. Therefore, I will sup- mated as candidates tc
port the proposals and recommendations when the Democrats me
brought to the board by the administration candidates who will car
whether or not they happen to please me in must be prepared with a
every detail." seek the citizen's vote in
When applied to a University policy on out- -M
side speakers and student organizations, the Ed
pen' Editorial Pare
faculty-student com-
policy which is en-
ation. The executive
senate gives its ap-
of the student gov-
olicy which is desired
constituent groups.
he Regents for their
ide that the policy is
d modify it by limit-
cries of protest are
wo grounds:
petrated which makes
a less enriching one
d access to ideas. The
st the goals of educa-
e simply because the
he autonomy of the
heir will on the com.,
hen (and if) the Re-
be too restrictive and
her than the faculty,
trative officers think
se with at least two
e new speaker bylaw
wo weeks ago.
the University com-
ecision to reverse the
r does he register his
nd, the Regents have
ase so as to maximize
and presentation of
aided the educational
, regardless of the im-
s, the Regents have
the University by en-
nts upon it. One must
n if he feels that the
y went is personally
to a better university.
roblem is even more
concept of autonomy
ew speaker bylaw, he
icy which violates his
s out against the most
ety.
ciples, he must com-
onomy. In the partic-
on, Regents Murphy
problem on slightly
hey were in a minor-
would not affect the
But had they been in
have acted the same
rd Sorenson probably
he underlying concept
ho runs it, but rather
mination of ideas. To
of speech is to under-
he University to such
it of "autonomy" can
r aspects of a Univer-
an its autonomy of
conditions would the
policy which has the
University?
sors and administra-
selves with how the
need to clarify their
n. More importantly,
ber, who will be nom-
o succeed themselves
et tomorrow, and the
rry the GOP banner
n answer before they
the April election.
ICHAEL OLINICK
ditor
By PHILIP SUTIN
THENEARLY two month-long
New York newspaper strike
focuses attention on a number of
major problems facing American
newspapers. Whatever solutions
are found to the problems of auto-
mation, featherbedding, the cost
squeeze and competing unions
that underly the long, bitter work
stoppage, it will have wide impact
throughout the nation.
Though little discussed, auto-
mation is the basic issue of the
strike. The galloping nationwide
trend of replacing skilled and
semi-skilled workers with ma-
chines has finally reached the
newspaper industry and portends
major changes which may threat-
en the unions' existence.
Today's daily newspaper is pro-
duced in essentially the same man-
ner it was in 1890. Few techno-
logical changes have been made
in the comparatively slow, costly
operation. Linotypes set the type
which is locked in forms. A paper-
mache mat is pressed and from
this mold a lead page is cast. This
page is placed in a rotary press'
producing several thousand papers
an hour.
The only major technological in-
novation in the average paper is
the Fairchild electronic scanning
process for transforming pictures
into a pattern of dots suitable for
catching ink and printing. An
electronic eye transforms light and
dark portions into dots which are
burnt into plastic. This has re-
placed the zinc-etching processrin
some newspapers, but many still
prefer the older process.
* * *
IN ADDITION to technological
stagnation, featherbedding and
over-organization by the unions
have hurt the newspaper industry.
Every step in the printing process
-from the linotypist who sets the
copy to the mailer who takes the
finished paper off the press-is
manned by a different union
jealously guarding the jobs of its
members. Although there is a good
deal of coordination among news-
paper craft unions, the publisher
is faced with six to 10 different
unions, any one , of which could
shut down the ,entire operation.
However, in recent years, coor-
dination and discipline have brok-
en down and many papers have
been plagued by wildcat strikes.
The element of inter-union
rivalry is hindering New York
newspaper strike settlement. Ber-
tram Powers, president of the in-
fluential striking International
Typographical, Union New York
local, the "Big Six,"is struggling
to make a name for himself and
his union. The ITU has an in-
stitutionalized two-party system
competing for union control. By
reaching an advantageous settle-
ment, Powers hopes to gain ITU
power. As the Reporter Magazine
recently noted, the contract is the
platform from which he runs.
Further, Powers hopes to make
the ITU the pace-setter among
printing trade unions. Currently,
this honor belongs to the News-
paper Guild-the reporters union.
As its contract expires first, Guild
pacts set the pace in wages and
fringe benefits. The other unions
are then whipped into line. The
aggressive Powers wants to have
the ITU contract expire on the
same October date as the Guild's,
capturing at least a share of the
pre-eminent position.
* * *
THE ITU also insists on feather-
bedding, having a quilted cushion
second only to the railroad unions.
For the past 70 years, the stan-
dard ITU contract calls for the
automatic resetting of any ad-
vertisement set, cast or engraved
in another shop. The ad is not
always reset. Rather, the shop
is obliged to create extra work or
hire extra linotypists as an equiv-
alent.
Caught in a cost squeeze due
to declining advertising revenue
and static circulation impinging
on increasing publications costs,
the New York publishers cannot
afford to let featherbedding con-
ditions continue. Nor can they ig-
nore cost - saving technological
change.
Collectively, the seven daily
newspapers are losing money with
only the' Times and Daily News
securely in the black. Even with
a favorable settlement, the
chances of one or possibly two of
the papers folding shortly the
strike, are great.
* * *
VARIOUS technological, cost-
saving changes are now available
or are being researched. Tele-
typesetting, available for the last
30 years, is gaining in popularity.
This process eliminates linotypists
as the wire services provide a
punched tape to be fed into a
linotype machine which then sets
the justified lines. Recently, the
Associated Press abandoned its
national sports wire in favor of
a national teletypesetter sports
wire.
In an ominous warning to the
striking linotypists, the Los An-
geles Times-the traditional non-
union bastion of the newspaper
industry-announced a type-set-
ting system that does away with
all operators except one or two to
set correction lines.
The reporter writes his story
on an electric typewriter which
punches a perforated tape. The
typewritten version of the story
is edited by a copy editor who
punches a correction tape which
is spliced with the original. A
computer, compiling the two tapes
and justifying the lines including.
the proper breaking of words,
punches out another tape which
The Press
r r 6 '
is fed into a linotype. The copy is
set at about three times the speed
of a human operator.
The new system, while costly to
set up, can substantially reduce
labor costs, speed newspaper pro-
duction and make possible an in-
crease in newspaper size. It would,
however, take a heavy toll of lino-
typists and, if widespread, make
that skilled trade assobsoletetas
blacksmithing. This is what the
ITU fears, yet it has not come
up with any alternative approach
to the necessary automation.
* * *
YET THERE ARE cold type
systems of printing that are even
cheaper and could eliminate most
of the current newspaper skilled
'THE CASTAWAYS':
Frolic on the High Seas
NEEDLESS TO SAY, Maurice
Chevalier, Hayley Mills, Mauri
tribesmen and the clipper ships
make an odd combination, but
Walt Disney fearlessly lumps them
all together into one film, with
a dash of song and philosophy,
and behold-we have a beguiling
blend which bears a faint re-
semblence to a Jules Verne novel.
"In Search of The Castaways"
was adopted for the screen from
Verne's "Captain Grant's Child-
ren" and the result is high ad-
venture treatedsquite lightly. Un-
like otherVerne films ("Journey
to the Center of the Earth,"
"Five Weeks in a Balloon"), the
"Castaways" is quite reassuring.
Nothing bad could happen to the
likes of M. Chevalier or Hayley
Mills.
Disney, as usual, makes good use
of Technicolor and breathtaking
scenery to compensate for what
his films more often than not lack
in plot.
* * *
PROF. Jacques Paganel (Che-
valier) and Captain Grant's child-
ren (Miss Mills and Keith Ham-
shere) seek to persuade a British
shipping magnate (Sir Wilfred
Hyde White) to set sail for the
Pacific, in search of Captain Grant
who has vanished into part un-
known.
Paganel it seems has come upon
a note in a bottle which appears
to be from Grant, and the child-
ren are anxious to search for their
father.
* * *
OFF TROUPES the little band,
first high into the Andes on a
false alarm ("Ah'm 'tupid,'' la-
ments geographer Chevalier),
where a marvelous earthquake
("C'est magnifique," Chevalier ex-
claims) drops the party into a
hair-raising toboggan ride
On the way, however, our heroic
searchers get tangled up with the
perfect villan (George Sanders),
who seems to be more interested in
gun-running than rescues, and
they soon find themselves set
adrift off the New Zealand coast,
with their only prospect being cap-
ture by the warlike Mauri tribes
on shore (who also get the guns
incidentally).
BUT ALL'S WELL that ends
well,- after a flight shielded by
an erupting volcano and a really
rousing shipboard donnybrook,
and Captain Grant, who has been
reluctantly aiding the gun-run-
ners, is freed.
As adventures go, this one is
perhaps a bit happy-go-lucky, but
it is fun nevertheless. Maurice
Chevalier pervades the whole af-
fair, naturally, skillfully twisting
his inimitable singing among the
sequences of high adventure.
Even Miss Mills, who isn't really
a singer as far as that goes, slips
into the familiar Chevalier style,
* * *
Also expert in his own little way
is Keith Hamshere, who promises
to be every bit the delightful per-
former that made such youngs ers
as Jackie Cooper famous.
The film exudes the Disney
touch, which hasn't been exactly
unsuccessful of course, and the
viewer might as well resign him-
self to that. But in the process he
will discover a refreshing hour
and a half, which should mnake up
for whatever else "The Castaways"
might be lacking.
-Michael Harrah
trades. Offset is the most familiar
of these, but there are even more
advanced photograhpic reproduc-
tion techniques available. News-
paper publishers have been cool to
converting to these methods for
it would mean abandoning mil-
lions of dollars worth of invest-
ment in linotypes, lead pots and
printing presses.
To date, these methods are un-
popularand their full potential
has not been fully realized. Had
the New York publishers carried
out their threat to use these pro-
cesses, these methods would have,
been given a substantial boost.
The threat of these competing
techniques still hangs over the
printing trade unions. Their
cheapness of operation is attrac-
tive to a publisher caught in a cost
squeeze. If a fast process com-
bining electronic typesetting with
photographic reproduction is de-
veloped, the printing trades will
be all but finished. Publishers can
then economically abandon their
current, slow and somewhat ob-
solete equipment and leave their
workers and the proliferation (f
unions in the cold.
* * *
THE STRIKE has had ramifica-
tions that extend beyond the
newspaper industry and into the
competing media. By causing a
dislocation in the news and pub-
licity channels of New York, the
strike has forced tie expansion of
alternative media and has given
them the chance to enhance their
position against the newspaper.
So far, the other media have fail-
ed to meet the challenge. They
have expanded under pressure, but
have limited themselves to stop-
gap measures. Radio and tele-
vision have found that currently
they cannot present all news the
public demands of a newspaper.
The other printed media-such as
magazines-are too limited in
scope to replace the seven high-
curculation newspapers.
However, old myths are being
tested and questions have been
raised about the efficacy of news-
papers and the other media. It is
a time for creative innovation. Tf
the strike continues indefinitely,
the alternative media will be forc-
ed into expanded development and
new techniques that will threaten
the newspapers once they return.
The strike has been a boon to
suburban newspapers. Always un-
der the shadow of the metro-
politan dailies, these newspapers
stand alone and have won many
new and permanent readers. They
have always provided the . local
news the bigger newspapers can-
not handle, given local advertisers
the space it would be impractical
to buy in a big metropolitan paper
and add enough wire service copy
to keep the community informed
and the paper filled. Many subur-
banites subscribe to both a metro-
politan and a local paper. The
strike emphasizes the value of
the latter and permanently cuts
into the circulation of the former.
* * *
SUCH IS the larger context of
the New York newspaper strike.
In the midst of their narrow
battle, both sides fail to see they
are sowing the seeds of their own
destruction. Metropolitan news-
papers are atrophying at a rapid
rate and have thus far been un-
willing or unable to meet the
challenges of the other media.
Their failure to provide adequate
information quickly has forced
many readers to abandon them
for speed of radio and televisioh
and the depth of the news and
comment magazines.
Meanwhile, production costs are
rising, being pressured up by an-
tique techniques and jealous un-
ions. These factors complicate the
newspapers' battle for survival.
While circulation edges up slightly,
the number of newspapers remains
static at approximately 1750.
Pressed by production costs and
competing media, newspapers are
due for change. The current bat-
tling between publishers and un-
ions to maintain' the status quo
only forestalls necessary innova-
tion and makes the needed re-
visions more difficult. The longer
they feud, the more disasterous
the implications of the needed in-
novations become. It's time that.
the newspaper industry and unions
wake up.
IF YOU ARE NEW to the campus, this issue
of The Daily is probably your introduction
to one of the best and most controversial
student publications in the country.
During the time you are a baily reader, you
will find in these columns opinions on a varie-
ty of subjects ranging from the broadest
philosophical questions to the most minute
campus issues. You will probably agree heart-
ily with some of these opinions and find some
others outrageous and insolent. But you will
never find any article on the editorial page
which is not signed by the writer. Daily policy
holds that the reader has a right to know at
all times whose opinion he is reading.
The Daily is one of the few newspapers in
the country with a "signed editorial policy"
and this policy is the foundation on which
The Daily's tradition as a free newspaper is
based,
A SIGNED editorial policy means that The
Daily, as a newspaper, never takes "a,
stand" either on a particular issue or on a more
fit Lihunt Rttlu
general question. Every member of The Daily's
staff is entitled to have his opinions published
in the editorial columns as long as they are
clearly and logically expressed and are not
in violation of The Daily's code of ethics
which prohibits the newspaper from taking a
stand on elections to the Board of Regents.
This is the only restriction on expression of
opinion on this page, and most staff members
hope to see it lifted in the near future.
When a staff member writes an editorial, he
submits it to the editorial director and asso-
ciate editorial director who try to see that each
writer understands the point he is making
and is expressing it as well as he is able.
Writers may be asked to modify their editor-
ials if the editor feels they are poorly or
vaguely written, but no piece of writing is ever.
rejected because of its point of view, even
when the senior editors disagree strongly
with the writer.
When two staff members disagree or are
interested in different aspects of an issue, they
may publish their opinions as a "pro-con" or
"two-views" team. Frequently senior editors
and sophomores or even freshman staff mem-
bers are on opposing sides of a "pro-con."
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