Seventy-Tbird Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNNvERS1TY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
"Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241
Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COMMITMENT:
W ho Is Responsible to Whom for What
r
JRSDAY. MAY 23. 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID MARCUS
'Provincialism Endangers
A 'Liberal' .Daily
IS A swan song.
I hadn't planned it that way, but I'm percep-
ve enough to see that's the way it's turning
)ut.
I had always viewed The Daily as a liberal
nstitution-not liberal in the political sense,
ut rather liberal in its old traditional sense-.
reedom, opportunity. And I joined The Daily
our years ago, and I worked my way up
hrough the ranks, getting experience in the
rt of news handling, in the expectation that;
i the years to come, I might repay The Daily
y putting that experience to its best use-
elping upcoming staffers become better re-
orters and editors and lending it to the pub-
cation of a better newspaper.
But I hadn't reckoned with human nature,
nd when my term as a senior editor drew to
close, I found many of those understaffers
'ho would replace me not only anxious to get
id of me but contemptuous of any experience.
might offer. In short, I'm to be put out to
asture whether I like it or not.
Such is not an unusual procedure, I suppose,
rnd probably I should not be disturbed. A wise
aan once said that "the refined step of the
atin slippers descending the stairway of suc-
ess is obscured by the clatter of the hob-nail
oots rushing up." And he is right, whoever he
, and deep in my heart I must have known
would be thus.
3UT I AM still alarmed-alarmed because it
symbolizes a provincialism, a narrowness
f mind, an egoism, a selfishness, which the
cademic community must fight and fight and
ght.
It manifests itself in so many ways - it
irives on tradition and perpetuates its exist-
nce on blind adherence to that which has gone
efore., It's frightening.
On this campus, it crops up in so many quar-
irs, and in many instances, The Daily has
>ught it vigorously and bitterly. It thrives
ith the faculty-:where men and women of
ast knowledge and experience must retire at
ae arbitrary age of 70, when in too many cases
iey still have so much to offer the academic
orld. It thrives in the fraternity system-
Secrecy
THE BOARD in Control of Intercollegiate
Athletics has followed a course of irrespon-
ibility toward the student body for so long
hat the recent decision to charge students
12 for football tickets next fall is hardly sur-
prising.
The board shows to the public the monolithic
ront of a tightly knit group which formulates
>olicy in great secrecy and with little regard
or student opinion. Students can never under-
tand the financial problems or any other
roblems of the board as long as the board
onducts its deliberations in closed meetings.
kUso, as long as the present system of selecting
tudent members is continued, students will
lave no effective voice in contributing to
athletic policy making.
SESPITE INTERMITTENT criticism over the
years, the board has shown no intention of
hanging its policy of secrecy or of initiating
etter student representation. Up until now,
he board has not realized the harmful effects
f these policies; now it may find that in this
ase its policies' will backfire.
The board has put itself in a position where
he success of its financing plan for the new
asketball arena depends on student accept-
nce of the decision to charge admission to
ootball games. If enough students don't buy
ootball tickets, the board will not be able to
inance the arena unless another source of
noney is found.
The willingness of students to accept this
dded cost is not helped by the knowledge
hat the board has been considering this pro-
osal behind closed doors since last May. No
ublic discussion and reaction from the student
ody was sought to help the board in its
lecision.
RESIDES THIS, the two student representa-
tives on the board have made no attempt
o communicate with the student body or pro-
ose any alternative financing plans to the
oard. Through the efforts of Dean Stephen
3. Spurr of the natural resources school and
hairman of the board's Plant Expansion Com-
mittee, the two student members were appoint-
d to the committee when he became chairman
wo months ago.
But the student members have shown the
ame passive attitude on the committee that
bey have on the board. The student members
lid not even formally approve the committee's
ecommendations to the board; they were
articipating in Druids and Michigauma ini-
Lations.
The ineffective student membership on the
oard is a direct result of electing well-known
thletes to the board. Because the athlete
oes not have to exert any effort to be nomi-
ated or elected, it is seldom that he shows
nv interest in narticinating in the board's
where so many houses on campus view their
entire existence in and of themselves and in-
volve themselves solely and selfishly in their
own private pursuits, offering nothing to the
rest of the campus. And it exists at The Daily,
where most stories are written just as they were
last year, where most news is played the same
way it was last year, where most stories and
editorials are written in the accepted form,
where most thoughts and expressions are
forced into prevailing channels.
In a way this provincialism at The Daily is
far more ugly than any of the others, for it
stifles that most important thing we have left-
individualism.
Unconsciously, The Daily exists in a narrow
provincialism that chokes its opposition, not
through malice but through ignorance, not by
deed but by contempt. I have seen Letters to
the Editor and editorials rejected because "no
one cares about that," while long rambling
pieces are printed because they happen to take
,the fancy of the Editorial Director. I have seen
news stories suppressed or run the same way
at the whim of the City Editor or the Night
Editor.
YET IT IS not their suppression which alarms
me; it is the definiteness and finality with
which it is done, as though there could be
no question at all about the decision.
When I Joined The Daily four years ago, I
was tabbed a conservative, a title to which I
did not then aspire and which I do not now
claim. But whatever my philosophy, I seemed
to be alone with it at The Daily. Many Daily
readers were honestly convinced that I was a
figment of the Daily Editor's imagination, so
out of step were my opinions. My editorials
would invariably elicit a deluge of Letters to
the Editor, filled with invective and hate,
written in contempt and spite, but rarely in
refutation.
Today, as I step aside, my philosophical place
will not stand empty, and I'm glad of that. But
I am wondering who will continue to fight and
lash out at the intolerance and the provincial-
ism that I hated. I wonder who will speak
sharply when The Daily Fraternity Haters go
through their embarrassing little act in front
of new staff members, many of them drawn to
a fraternity. I wonder who will speak up when
such men as Eisenhower, Churchill and Mac-
Arthur are slandered irrationally by some
greenhorn with one semester of political
science. I wonder who will speak up when
Barry Goldwater is denounced as a mad tyrant
or a neanderthal fascist.
THIS IS THE type of negative thinking which
must be stamped out in an intelligent com-
munity-it's union hall stuff, Westbrook Peg-
lar tactics, and not worthy of an organization
such as The Daily or indeed of any part of this
University community. It is the type of think-
ing which stifles progress-it is the type of
thinking which obstructed the theories of
Columbus, Galileo, Franklin and so many
others.
And this same selfish outlook rejects the
experience of others for fear someone else
might get a bit of the credit. It ostracizes and
belittles anyone the least bit different, because
the very existence of such a person challenges
the supremacy of the existing regime. It
breeds conformity, obsequiousness and narrow-
ness of mind, which in turn can only perpetu-
ate itself.
It stifles individuality, and that is the most
terrifying aspect of it. The City Editor of The
Daily, charged with the collection and coordi-
nation of all news copy, tends to foster this
by directing all operations right down to the
last detail, thereby developing a staff of people
who can only work by total direction, unable
to seek out matters for themselves.
NEEDLESS TO POINT OUT this limits the
scope of The Daily to the scope of the City
Editor, when in fact it should be as wide as
the far-flung scope of all its staff members and
beyond.
I have fought this type of provincialism, both
as a staff member and as City Editor; I at-
tempted to return the burden of responsibility
to each individual staff member and to draw
upon the experience of any and all who would
offer it. It was a difficult policy, too often un-
rewarding and- just as often violently contro-
versial. But, had I to do it again, I would not
alter my course, for it gave to The Daily, and
those of its staff members who would accept it,
a scope, an individuality which is priceless,
and it naturally saddens me to see this ground-
work undone.
Yet perhaps it is I who should change. Any-
one so firmly committed to the doctrine of
progress as I must be ready to accept this no
matter how much it hurts. Perhaps my experi-
ence is no longer a worthwhile part of The
Daily tradition. While I do not believe this, I
must be open-minded enough to explore its
possibility, and not like the Daily Editor who
would reject it out of hand.
If this be the case, I am ready to move on,
lend my experience elsewhere, grateful to The
Daily for the experience it has given me. Edna
St. Vincent Millay, I think, has expressed it
best, as she always did, when she wrote:
By JUDITH OPPENHEIM
Editorial Director
ON A CAMPUS where every little
sect and schism has its own
jargon or at least its own vocab-
ulary of abstract moral and poli-
tical terminology, one of the few
words everybody throws around is
"responsibility."
Everyone on campus is concern-
ed with responsibility-liberals,
conservatives, moderates, faculty
and administrators. Everyone ap-
plies the word a little differently
and when pressed for a definition
no one seems to have one on
hand.
*s * *
WHEN LIBERAL SGC candi-
dates talk about responsibility,
they speak in terms of "the re-
sponsibility of the individual to
the total community" which means
everyone should come out to pick-
et.
When conservatives speak of the
responsibility of students they say
"when students have shown that
they are responsible, then and
only then should they be granted
the privileges they request."
When professors speak of re-
sponsibility they mean that stu-
dents should turn in their papers
on time and not ask for makeup
exams. And when administrators
talk of responsibility they are in-
distinguishable from conservative
Student Government Council can-
didates.
Every faction understands how
the whole campus is or should be
responsible to its particular values
and programs, but there seems
little evidence of willingness on
the part of the different groups
to combine their working defini-
tions into a full understanding of
the responsibility of the University
to its students and its students to
the University and themselves.
r* *
FOR STUDENTS of college age,
responsibility should mean simply
understanding at least one's im-
mediate goals, planning what one
wants to do and then doing it,
calculating possible risks and ad-
vantages beforehand and expect-
ing to assume the burden of the
consequences.
The University should strive to
foster the courage this kind of
responsibility requires and the in-
tellectual maturity upon which it
must be based. It is not a disci-
plinary kind of responsibility
which gives students "freedom" to
do what they like so long as they
independently elect to do what
would otherwise be required by
regulations, turning the whole
campus into a kind of "honor
system dormitory" so long as the
young people are on good be-
havior.
This kind of responsibility is an
open-minded intellectual freedom
which is not "granted" as a "priv-
ilege" but recognized as a strength
of human character and, within
the limit of actual state and fed-
eral law, given the widest range
of growth and expression.
The responsibility of a university
to its students is also its respon-
sibility to its society. An American
university, particularly a state
university such as this one, owes
allegiance not to the narrow par-
tisan interests of a body such as
the state Legislature which con-
tinually calls for mouthing of pa-
triotic platitudes, but to the prin-
ciples on which American civiliza-
tion is grounded. These are the
principles of freedom of speech
and association and of the right
of the individual not only to be
counted and provided for, but to
be regarded as sacred.
s s s
THE UNIVERSITY'S obligation
is to recognize the responsibility
of the individual to formulate his
own values' and to arrive himself
at the means he considers right
for implementing them.
It is the University's responsi-
bility to help its students realize
for themselves what their individ-
ual responsibilities are, and to dis-
cover for themselves the best ways
of leading their lives according to
those responsibilities.
Yet this is a sort or responsibil-
ity we so begrudge! others. Every-
one on campus has a notion of
what everyone else on campus
ought to be doing, and generally
tells him so. Nobody ever leaves
anybody else's values alone.
* * *
STUDENTS who wish to spend
their four yearsdin the libraries,
their rooms and the pleasantly
dusty air of Haven Hal's upper
stories are hounded by the campus
liberals who feel they should get
out of their ivory tower and enlist
in the total community.
Students who are totally dedi-
cated to politics and philosophies,
who miss classes and flunk exams
because of all-night discussions
on segregation in the South, Fas-
cism in the West and speaker bans
on campus are scoffed at by those
who spend all their time studying,
those who spend all their time
playing, and those who spend ail
their time figuring out how to
have the best of both worlds.
Those who are on campus to
earn a gentleman's C average,
pledge a sorority or fraternity,
pick up a husband or get the
foundation laid for a business
career, although apparently the
least sensitive to attack, are the
most persecuted of all. But perhaps
this at least is justified. These "stu-
dents" are the only ones who
have no claim to the advantages of
a university education and should
be living their lives as they please
-elsewhere.
BUT FOR OTHERS, there is a
right to choose between what
Daily jargon calls "public vs. pri-
vate commitment." Public commit-
ment generally means primary de-
votion to some aspect of the "pub-
lic good." It can mean involve-
ment in The Daily, Student Gov-
ernment Council, Voice Political
Party or any other political or
social organization, movement or
campaign to the extent where this
dedication is greater than one's
dedication to personal comfort, ad-
vancement or profit.
Public commitment means that
one is willing to sacrifice sleep,
vacations, social life and grade
point to the cause one is working
for, and there is nothing "phony"
about anyone who is genuinely
committed in this way. Those who
are engaged in such activities-
and they are almost exclusively
the campus liberals-will fre-
quently point out that they "learn
more'* by doing what they do than
they would by attending class five
days a week.
This has always seemed to me a
dubious and irrelevant claim. Cer-
tainly what one learns from four
years as a Daily staff member is
different from what one learns
from four years as a full time
English major-but does it matter
in which way one learns "more?"
The point is not whether the sub-
stitute for an academic life is
"equal" to it. The point is that
for the individual involved there
is seldom a conscious choice. He
does what he feels compelled to
do for what seem to him sound
and compelling reasons; he simply
cannot do otherwise.
* * *
THE "PUBLICLY committed in-
dividuals" I know best, those who
work on The Daily and the various
liberal organizations on campus
are carrying out what they con-
sider their responsibility. Very of-
ten what they do is "neither safe
nor prudent." Very often specific
projects have seemed to me down-
right silly and an enormous waste
of time. Yet there is a feeling that
something must be done and that
it is our responsibility to do it.
Those of us who are blamed for
constant criticism of the Univer-
sity love it far better and are
more "responsible" about it than
those like Director of University
Relations Michael Radock, who
wince every time we point out a
flaw. This is because our respon-
sibility is to the true idea of what
a university ought to be, while his
is only to an image which he must
manufacture the way the Ford
Motor Company manufactures
cars.
BUT THERE is the other kind
of life too, the. life of the "pri-
vately committed individual," and
the desire to lead such a life is no
less legitimate than the desire to
devote all one's energies to the
current public good.
A great deal must be said for
concentrating one's four years at
this University on acquiringrthe
broadest possible academic educa-
tion. This does not mean that one
must hide entirely from what is
going on around him, but it is
perfectly valid to decline participa-
tion in campus activities by de-
ciding that studies hold the fore-
most claim on one's time.
It is possible to obtain as ex-
cellent an education here as any-
where in the country, and any
student who takes full advantage
of such an opportunity is to be
commended, not censured.
* * *
IF SONSI students are inclined
to the ivory tower existence, they
should have it with all thepeace,
strength and beauty attendant up-
on it. Some of the greatest pro-
fessors I have ever met live very
decidedly in an ivory tower which
seems only remotely affected by
the forces of the "outside world"
in which the publicly committed
are involved.
But these "ivory tower profes-
sors," who were most likely "ivory
tower students" in other days,
have undoubtedly provided a great
deal of the inspiration which will
help many of their most "publicly
committed" students effect the
realization of their goals for so-
ciety.
Surely this type of "private com-
mitment" is no less beneficial to
the world at large in the long run
than the "public commitment" of
those who may be, of a more
g nerous spirit.
* *" *
THE DIFFERENCE is solely one
of personal conviction, a sense
of right which causes the dif-
ference' in the way individuals see
their responsibility. It is the same
with religion. It is the same with
morality. It is the same even with
politics. We may try to persuade
others to change their minds on
issues which are really open, but
unless we have really convinced
them, an attempt to make them
behave as we believe they ought to
behave is an attempt to make
them behave irresponsibly.
I have the greatest admiration
for those with whom I have work-
ed on The Daily. I am sure that
they did right in dedicating their
four years to the causes they be-
lieved in.
I have the greatest admiration
for those I met in my classes-
particularly my English classes-
who dedicated their four years to
learning everything they could
from the great teachershand great
books at the University.
* * *
FOR MYSELF, I have spent four
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
IBetancourt Regime
Shows Progress
To the Editor:
I READ the controversial article
on Venezuela by Ronald W.
Kenyon in The Daily on May 12
and the letter by a group of five
Venezuelan students in The Daily
attacking his fine article.
Aocording to this quintet, "the
only positive achievement of the
regime has been in the construc-
tion of schools, but how can a stu-
dent go to an ultramodern class-
room when he has no food or
shoes?" However, the following
data tell us that students it Vene-
zuela go to school whether they
have shoes or not. In 1958 the
number of students iu primary
school was 917,000. In 1962 this,
figure increased to 1,357,000. In
secondary education, 16,000 in
1958 changed to 32,000 in 1962.
In the last four years education
in Venezuela has increased 90 per
cent Then concerning the so-called
"hungry students," official Vene-
zuelan government figures show
that from 1949 to 1957 the mortal-
ity due to malnutrition was 12.4
per thousand. But in the three
years from 1959 to 1962, this num-
ber went down to 6.5 per thousand.
Furthermore, the Venezuelan
government operates a school
lunch program (Comedores es-
colares) similar to that in the
United States. In 1962, 180,000
primary school children were given
food by 1,276 food centers, com-
pared to 334 centers which exist-
ed before Betancourt government.
THE VENEZUELAN quintet re-
fers to Article 66 of the Vene-
zuelan Constitution by which the
government was "forbidding any
newspaper, radio station or tele-
vision station to print or talk
about the guerrillas and the FLN"
However, I will be very glad to
show anyone copies of the major
Venezuelan dailies and magazines,
which I receive here almostuevery
week, all of which give full in-
formation, including photographs,
of the operation of the subversive
groups.
I agree with the quintet in rela-
tion to the high cost of the Agrar-
ian Reform. However, the reason
for this is quite simple: in Vene-
zuela the 1,533,074 hectares of
land distributed to 56,772 peasants
as of February 12, 1963 were
bought by the government and not
confiscated or stolen as was the
case in Cuba. Official government
data shows Venezuelan agricul-
tural production from 1958 to 1962
went up 6.9 per cent whereas in
the eight years from 1950 to 1958
the agricultural rate went up only
5.1 per cent.
Furthermore, agrarian reforms
are slow and patient processes, as
anyone who studies the Mexican
Reform will immediately recognize.
The Venezuelan plan is only three
years old; and it is far too early
to reach any kind of conclusion
concerning the success or failure
of this plan.
* 4' *
NEXT, CONCERNING so-called'
"concentration camps." Let the
w" ~~~~~~~. . - - _-1-- t--- .1.,-I
years in the limbo of those who
yearn for the best of both worlds
and so are never really at home
in either.
I have been too involved with
politics and policies for a full
academic commitment. And yet
I have been 'unwilling to forego
academics to devote all my time
to the projects I really passionately
believed in.
I had hoped that by the time I
graduated I would be able to have
decided for myself which of the
two ways is right, and so to pass
judgment on my four years and
determine what I ought to have
done. I cannot do that even now.
* * *
MY VEELINGS on leaving the
University are. as they have al-
ways been, mixed. I leave with a
hearty contempt for a great many
things and several people. I will
be very glad if Mr. Radock even-
tully decides to return to making
images for commercial firms and
leave universities to those who
understand ideas.
I will be equally pleased when
Vice-President for Student Affairs
James A.' Lewis' post is abolished
because the University at last un-
derstands it has no right to dic-
tate morals and mores.
I will be happy to read that the
speaker ban has been lifted and
that the Board in Control of Stu-
dent Publications has been dis-
banded.
I will be happy to hear that all
restrictions on hours and housing
permission have been abolished
and that recognition has been,
withdrawn from sororities and fra-
ternities, making them standard
University housing with no sub-
jective selection criteria. I regret
that I will -not be here to help
in the achievement of these vic-
tories over administrative pettiness
on the campus.
BUT THERE IS so much he
that I think must be almost t
best in the world-so much a:
so many people to whom, almost
much as to my parents, I o'
everything good that I am
hope to become.
When I remember college I w'
remember sitting on window ledg
on the first and second floor
Haven Hall, breathing in the boo
ish and sacred atmosphere of t
English department as I wait
to talk with one professor or a
other.
I will remember sitting on t
floor of my room in Martha Co
debating with my roomate the v:
tues and shortcomings of Geor
Romney.
And most of all, I will rememb
leaning on my elbows in T
Daily's shop at 2 o'clock in t
morning reading a front page th-
I had put together all by myse
while a fellow staff member cri
cized professionally over my shoi
der. I said when I was a freshma
that printer's ink washed out
one's blood but never out of on
clothes. I think now that it w
never wash out of either.
* * *
PERHAPS I have learned le
than others during my four yea
here. I have not learned wi
certainty, at least what my i
sponsibilities are, or whether
am finally a "publicly or "prival
ly" committed individual. But
have learned a great deal, I thin
about what counts in the woi
and for how much and why. It w
be on the basis of these ideas tlh
I finally do realize what my grea
est responsibilities must be, a:
for the understanding of ma
of these ideas I owe an immeasui
able debt of love and gratitude.
those who are for me the Unive
sity of Michigan.
Regarding unemployment:
granted that the percentage is
high; yet the Betancourt demo-
cratic regime, seeing this problem,
has acted rapidly. A government
institution known as INCE, has
been created to retrain unskilled
workers; before the end of the
year 50,000 workers will be re-
trained in technical skills.
4' * *
FINALLY,. concerning the "ir-
regular band of organized thugs,"
that has maintained Betancourt
in the government, perhaps the
quintet is referring to the thou-
sands of humble Venezuelan peas-
ants, who, stand ready with their
machetes and stones to crush any
revolt that would try to destroy
the second popular government in
their country's history.
-Marcial Huggins Quintero, '63E
No Cliches ..
To the Editor:
F OR THE PAST 12 years I have
directed summer workshops in
high school and college yearbook
production, but this will be the
first year that I am able to use
the Michiganensian as an example
of a good yearbook.
At last the old nineteenth cen-
tury cliches of senior activity list-
ings, group organization shots, dull
advertising sections, and artificial
"divisions" have been eliminated,
and the book does what yearbooks
are supposed to do: tells the story
of the school year in pictures and,
words, mostly pictures.
This year's Michiganensian staff
is to be congratulated for produc-
ing the University's first modern
yearbook, and it is no wonder that
it is a total sell-out. It takes tre-
mendous courage to break with
tradition, which is one reason why
progress is so difficult.
-Prof. John V. Field
Journalism Department
Liberals
To the Editor:
A NEGRO learns early in life
that talk is cheap. It is un-
fortunate that liberals in their
zeal to let the Negro know that
they are liberals and are "for the
cause" feel compelled to rant on
and on about the injustice of the
situation. It takes no great profun-
dity nor sensitivity to realize that
"something must be done about
the racial problem." I'm sure that
the rabid segregationist would be
the first to agree. that indeed
something must be done--and
done immediately.
The professed liberal, the cau-
tious liberal, and the ignorant lib-
eral whom I meet daily on this
campus fill me with pity and dis-
pair. For it seems to me that they
are more enraptured with the lofty
thought than the practicing real-
ity. Acting Daily Editor Ronald
Wilton's article on the northern
liberals deficiencies deserves
praise. He says many things which
have been said before but need
tn h said again and again. It is
r'
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