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' (J -.iI .i% ;s: ,rr. .tr / / j ,%.'' rf.f ydY }; ., '" ";"a?.