"Just Want To Give You a Little Ballast, Boy" Seventy-First Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "Where Opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD N CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Truth Will Prevail STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, Mcu. Phone NO 2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This mus t be noted in all reprints. FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1961 NIGHT EDITOR: PETER STEINBERGER Confidential Evaluations: Valuable within Limits THE DEANS' OFFICES should, in some re- THE ACADEMIC DEANS and counselors have spects, be supported in their formulation indicated that these reports are extremely and use of confidential residence halls evalua- valuable to them in serving the students. They tion reports to provide better personal and explain that secrecy is necessary in order to academic counseling for students. assure that the dorm or quad counselors may It is to be sharply questioned, however, feel free to make their reports. whether these reports should be used either by It is also needed, they say, so that a counselor the deans or by academic counselors for the may guide a student's thinking and his evalua- purpose of giving recommendations to pros- tion of himself without incurring his anger or pective employers. resistance. Such a reaction would be likely if The reports suffer necessarily from bureau- the evaluation were read to the student, one cratic ills: they try to provide immediate, per- counselor says. sonal information about individuals within a Tefrstesle n h oiyen huge institution. The barriers to such an at- ployed in filling them out are subject to con- temte a mosutin urh ntarr e .shstant criticism and revision by all who use tempt are almost Insurmountable. them, with an eye to their continued improve- THE FORMS are filled out by staff assistants ment. 1 E r As long as the information contained in dormitory counselors, resident advisors and these evaluations remains within the Univer- housemothers. Many such people are ill- sity system, there can be some assurance that qualified to judge personality and character flaws and possible errors will be allowed for by traits. those who must use them. It is a different Each of them has roughly 50 students to matter entirely, however, when the information closely evaluate. The great possibility of error is used for personnel recommendations to pros- in such a system is obvious, and is only slightly pective employers. alleviated by the "on-the-job" training given to When the non-academic deans or counselors staff men and women who are often little are asked to write a recommendation for a older than those they must counsel and eval- student, for either summer or permanent em- uateh ployment, the evaluation report is used as a Both the men'sand the stuen's foacdem i source. Only the deans and counselors see for infot or stud ts, hisdfmia them, and it is up to their discretion to send aldjustment or study habits, his family and employers only that information which is im- community background, his employmentlduring mediately relevant to the job in question. the school year, his activities, his health, his appearance and emotional or social adjustment. IT IS IN SUCH CASES that the great pos- 'Such subjective analyses can pose a tremen- sibility of error can be most dangerous. When dous ethical problem to those who must make the information contained in the reports is them. These qualms have occassionally been used only to guide the student in his academic voiced by counselors or housemothers who feel life and only as the basis for advice to him, he that they do not and cannot know the students retains some check on its effects. well enough to evaluate them fairly. When, however, it is allowed to affect his future, and he is kept from knowing the con- ANOTHER BARRIER to the effectiveness of tents of a recommendation based on such the evaluations is that they are written questionable information, the problem takes every year only for students who live in resi- on a new character. dence halls, co-ops, and sorority houses. Those living in apartments or fraternity houses are HILE UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL can, with not evaluated. after their freshman year. care, remain aware of the likelihood of Information regarding a student's study compounded errors in the reports and in their habits, background, activities (and, for men use within the system, employers cannot. A only, social and scholastic attitudes) is sent recommendation bearing the authoritative to academic counselors upon request. If a stamp of the University should contain only student is in serious academic difficulty, the information about which the University can. balance of the information contained in the speak with authority-a transcript. report may be obtained by his academic coun- It is perhaps unfortunate that the University selor. The counselor may also ask that a com- must be large and must encounter great bar- plete, new, evaluation be written during the riers in trying to obtain personal information school year if he feels that the existing record about its students. That it must, for the bene- is out of date. fit of the students themselves, obtain such in- Because the reports are confidential-they formaon, by whatever necessarily clumsy are not to be shown or paraphrased to either means, is obvious the student or his parents-it is all too likely But it is equally obvious that the Univer- that students, who suddenly become aware sity is obliged to keep such information within that such evaluations are being made and who its own bounds, and to destroy it when its understand little about them, may react with purpose-that of an aid to student counseling indignation and demand their immediate --is ended and the student has graduated. abolishment. This would be unfortunate. -CORA PALMER TODAY AND TOMORROW Dying Poicy By WALTER LIPPMANN SIDELINE ON SGC Ct Basic Questions Still Unanswered By JUDITH OPPENHEIM WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S Student Government Council discussion of "pink slip" evaluations in the quadrangles raised several interest- ing questions for which no one seemed to have a positive answer. A motion introduced at the meeting by Inter-Quadrangle Council President Thomas Moch, '62, recommends that SGC go on record as supporting the non-academic evaluations and, at the same time, rec- ommend that their existence and nature be made known to quad resi- dents. In explaining the reports, Moch said that if a pink slip advises .4 EDUCATION CRISIS: Blame Rests with Public condtoa aproalordisapproval the following year, the man in- volved must be told of the rec- ommendation and also the reasons for it. s * h+ BRIAN GLICK, '62, asked whether a resident would be noti- fied of the contents of the report only if it were unfavorable enough to jeopardize his readmittance to the quad. He also asked what the benefit of the reports were in cases where the resident was not returning to the quad. Moch said the reports, although kept in each student's permanent file, are rarely used after he leaves the quad. He said that in cases wherethe student's readmission is not in question, notification of the contents of the report is left to the discretion of the staff man. Roger Seasonwein, '61, asked why it is necessary that the re- ports be kept confidential. He agreed there is a need for rec- ommendations on students' read- mission, but objected to the fact that these reports become part of a student's permanent file and contain material which is quite irrelevant to his being in the quad. Seasonwein also questioned the competency of the resident adviser and staff members to write such reports and objected strongly to their being used for job recom- mendations, cases brought before joint judiciary council and the permanent file rather than just the quad records. IT IS OBVIOUS from this dis- cussion that much more detailed information is necessary before SGC can make an intelligent de- cision regarding the value of these slips. The above questions must be answered as well as several others. Precisely what criteria are to be used by the staff men as a guide for filling in the slips? Un- der what conditions are they per- mitted or advised to consult with students or show them the re- ports? In cases where the reports are used for recommendations to prospective employers, are they quoted exactly or simply para- phrased? Are these reports ever used by the judiciaries or by the deans for reasons other than de- cision on readmittance to the dor- mitories? When a student leaves the quad after a year and his re- port is later used, does it indi- cate that he was in residence for only one year? These questions ought to be an- swered by the quad administra- tion before SGC decides on a rec- ommendation. At this point it seems that serious ethical objec- tions can be raised to several as- pects of the pink' slips, but as yet there has been insufficient infor- mation presented to warrant any sound conclusion. AT THE STATE: 'Big Show' Big Drag 'THE BIG SHOW" was a pretty big drag. One could be almost tempted to suspect Ed Sullivan was paid more to plug the mo- vie than was spent on the whole production, cast included. Circus movies have one useful aspect by their very nature-when the story slows down, they can focus on animals or death-defying trapeze artists. They also possess a similarity to conventional West- erns-a setting in which the bad guys can be bumped off if they are in danger of up-staging the hero. Behind the glitter of lights; be- low the terrifying tightropes; in front of the bloodthirsty crowds; above the usual beneath-the-can- vas intrigues; lies a morbidly con- ventional moral movie. The bad guys are punished with horrible death. The good guys are delivered faithful wives and cherubic chil- dren. S* * s BIG PAPPA started by swing- ing from lamp. posts . . . well, somewhere in Germany, and fin ally built an empire in Munchen --his own circus ring. One son and one daughter are the apples of his eye. Three sons are spineless slobs, but one is a treacherous coward and therein lies the drama. The coward is originally reject- ed because he is afraid of high places, so he becomes a knife- thrower. Don't be fooled, though, this is only for viewers who read mystery stories. The act doesn't please Pappa, so son tries to marry himself to a lady trying to climb in the circus world. Pappa disapproves of this also, so he marries the daughter' of the biggest menagerie in Europe. Aft- er a bit of hatred, the rejected circus climber is hurt by' faulty rigging, which makes Big Pappy guilty of manslaughter, or at the least, liable. Sociological determinism has set the environment for moral pressures to come to the fore. Proud son takes the blame and serves Pappa's prison sentence. And eventually the bad guys are all killed. The only surprise in the movie came when they took Esther Wil- liams out of the water after only about 15 seconds. The only thing learned was the fact that Euro- pean's think the polar bear the most dangerous circus animal. --Thomas Brien of a student's return to the quad THE REVOLUTION in Iran and the revolu- tion in South Korea are warning signs about the situation on the periphery of Asia. They are warnings that it is not only in Laos that there is trouble for the American client states. IN IRAN, the revolution is a desperate at- temp at the top, with the blessing of the Shah, to reform the regime before it is overthrown from below. The present revolution is not anti- Western, anti-American, or pro-Communist. But it may well be all of these things in the end if the reforms which it has begun do not go deep enough. The hour is late in Iran. In South Korea the revolution is the work of the Army, and it is not now anti-Western, anti-American, or pro-Communist. But this new military government, although it is not anti-American in theory, is in fact defying and ignoring our embassy and the American Army commander. The revolutions in South Korea and Iran, following the disorders in Laos and South Viet- nam, are a warning that in Asia the policy of containment by American satellite states is breaking down. In all four of these countries the governments have been our clients, indeed they have been our creations. All of them are crumbling, and in the last analysis they are all crumbling for the same reason. In reflection to the rising popular feeling of independence Editorial Staff THOMAS HAYDEN, Editor NAN MARKEL JEAN SPENCER City Editor Editorial Director and the rising popular expectations of material welfare, these American client states are not only corrupt but they are intolerably reaction- ary. The fact that they are also under the protection of a foreign and non-Asian power is an additional liability. The Kennedy administration did not form the policy of setting up on the periphery of Asia a semi-circle of American military clients. But it is now confronted with the breakdown of that policy, with the disorders, the dangers, and the pains of having to pick up the pieces. This is an experience which the American people have never had before and it is one for which their leaders have not prepared them. They have not been told by anyone in authority that there has been a radical change in the military situation and what the consequences of that change are. They have not been told that the military situation which existed when John Foster Dulles established this policy no longer exists. They have not been told that he made it work by shaking the bomb at the Communists. That is why so many of them suppose that Mr. Kennedy can make it work with a few Marines and by shaking his fist. Our moral and intellectual unpreparedness for the reality of things is causing widespread demoralization among' us. We must not let ourselves be overcome by it. We can do that best, I think, by recognizing that our present experience on the periphery of Asia is the American equivalent of what the British and the French are experiencing during the liquida- tion of their colonial empires. For what we are witnessing is the dissolution of the Dulles system of Asian protectorates. THERE ARE DIEHARDS in France who would like to overthrow Gen. de Gaulle in ode . usthme think- fM kren Aleoria renrh By PHILIP SHERMAN Acting City Editor THE DEBACLE in the Legisla- ture this year makes it quite clearthat higher education is in trouble in Michigan. Yet the root of the problem is not in the state Legislature itself, but rather in the people it rep- resents. It is the people's opposi- tion, indifference or misunder- standing of higher education which has resulted in the inadequate support which has been demon- strated. Higher education has failed to sell itself to enough Michigan voters - constituents who could have pressured the Legislature in- to providing backing, either finan- cial or moral. WHAT IT THAT CURRENT of public opinion on higher education which has failed to make a strong and favorable impression. Vice- President for University Relations Lyle M. Nelson last fall described the results of a Survey Research Center study of the problem. Only about five per cent of the population are "active supporters" of higher education, he said. This group holds favorable attitudes towards professors and strongly urges concentration on funda- mental subjects, particularly in high school. It is aware of higher education's non-teaching functions and is most likely to urge greater tax support. To this group should be added "The Hopeful," the 30per cent who know a little about higher education and hold favorable at- titudes towards it. They are, how- ever, unsure about what a parent should do to help his children prepare for college. ON THE OTHER SIDE ARE: 1) "The Isolated," (20 per cent) who have had little or no contact with higher education but are not heavily opposed to its support. 2) "The Uninterested" (30 per cent) who see little "responsibility in their roles as parents for the encouragement and support of their children's education." 3) "The Disaffected" (15 per cent) have attended college with no marked success, are the non- contributors to their colleges and take no active part in education on any level until their own child- ren are affected. "There is more opposition for expanding college enrollment in this group than in any others," the SRC report says. THE FIGURES don't say enough. DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of The Univer- sity of Michigan for which The Michigan Daily assumes no editorial responsibility. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3519 Administration Building, before 2 p.m., two days preceding publication. FRIDAY MAY 19 The popular view of higher edu- cation in Michigan and elsewhere, has traditionally been one of mis- trust, even of dislike for "smart" professors who "know all the an- swers." Congressional hearings on "subversive" professors do little to improve this image. This view is more likely to be held in rural rather than urban areas (though city dwellers have nothing to brag about in their appreciation of higher education.) But, in Michigan, conservative rural legislators dominate both houses and one of the great par- ties. The $200,000 cut in the Wayne State University budget may in fact be interpreted in this light.: the lawmaker's action on the speaker ban was a move of petty revenge against a liberalising pol- icy. Offsetting this distrust of edu- cators are the many non-college graduates who have a real desire to educate their children as a means to economic and social ad- vancement. At the very least, they will support aid for undergraduate college education and oppose tui- tion boosts because of the drain on their own limited pocketbooks. But their attitudes on out-of-state stu- dents and graduate education may be something else, as may oe their views on liberal intellectuals. PUBLIC OPINION is so vitally important because of the extreme sensitivity of most state legislators to their constituents' opinions. One Democrat, who favors a limit on out-of-state enrollment says he does so only because the 250,000 people of his urban district want it. THE CONTEXT of indifference or misunderstanding cuts across party lines in the Legislature, and, presumably, in the state. Both Republicans and Democrats favor- ed out-of-state enrollment limits. The Republicans support a tuition boost much more strongly, but it is not always clear that the Demo- crats oppose this on educational or political grounds. If formulated on the latter basis, their attitude is as potentially damaging as the Re- publicans'. But on the subject of appropria- tions, there is a more clear-cut split. 1) The Republican Old Guard apparently set a ceiling on spend- ing at the beginning of the ses- sion and stuck to it. They assumed they had been mandated to dis- continue the nuisance taxes, and this they did. The problem of course could have been solved to an extent by comprehensive tax reform, but the right-wing lawmakers apparently ruled this out as well for the past session. 2) Generally, the Democrats' record is better. Gov. Swainson recommended increases for higher education, but these were based on a more sanguine-and probably inflated-estimate of state rev- enues. The Legislature refused to accept the estimates and passed a lower appropriation. * * * To the Editor: IN MY OPINION, Gerald Storch's editorial in Sunday's Daily was one of the worst to appear in The Daily this year. First, Storch goes along with a recent trend I have noticed of calling rational criticism of Israel "anti-Semitism." The basic ques- tions concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict were left unanswered in the editorial. If the Arab was right, there are no grounds for objection; if he was wrong, intelli- gent discussion should bring out the fact. In any case, much criti- cism does not make a speech anti- Semitic any more than rational but emotional criticism of Ade- nauer's policies would make a speech "anti-German." Perhaps Storch's comments on the "Operation Abolition" debate were even worse. The only evidence of the crowd becoming "incensed" at the speaker's controversial statement was hissing from a def- inite minority of those present. Later, the "largely hostile audi- ence" applauded enthusiastically as Fulton Lewis scored tellingly against Seasonwein's highly repe- titious attack on the film. And are college students so devoted to the status quo that we must worry about possible "tragic" crowd be- havior during a speech advocating treason or violent revolution? Let us hope that such editor- ials, or preferably such writers are left out in the future so that we may be spared the misleading propaganda which Mr. Storch de- plores. -Gary DeYoung, '64 TlP fnn -- titude towards Arabs as well as Jews. He correctly claims that both Arabs and Jews belong to the Se- mitic race. However, if he had bothered to look up the term "anti-Semitic" in Webster's Ap- proved Dictionary, he would have found tha tits correct definition is: "One who favors the social and political persecution of Jews." No mention of Arabs ... Thus Gerald Storch is justified, if he wishes, to go on calling Arab consulate officials anti-Semites. -Imants E. Golts, 62E Zionists . To the Editor: I WISH TO COMMENT on your editorial published in your news- paper on Sunday, May 14, written by Gerald Storch, entitled "Prob- lems of Free Speech." Mr. Storch said, "the speaker constantly equated the Jewish people with Zionists." In the speech which I delivered at the University of Michigan on May 11, 1961 at 8:00 p.m.. I said the following: "Before the British mandate, early Jewish immigrants lived in peace and friendship with their Arab neigh- bors. Jews through the Arab world enjoyed complete religious, social and political freedom. Many men held top governmental posts." I went on to say by quoting Mr. Elias Cohen's letter to Rabbi Berger, which was published in Rabbi Berger's book "Who Knows Better Must Say So" on page 14, the following: " . . . as a matter of fact the Egyptian Jews never felt anti-semitism or discrimination." IN THE LATTER PART of my, joyed full political and religious freedom. This was re-emphasized in World War II when Arab states "opened their doors" to any Jews fleeing from Germany." It is apparent that Mr. Storch is contradicting himself. -Fawzi Abu-Diab Midwest Director Arab Information Center Ignorance ... To the Editor: T HE SHORT EDITORIAL in Sunday's Daily concerning Mr. Toynbee and the Jews was but one further example of the recent trend toward irresponsible journal. ism on the part of the Daily. Miss Winter's article shows a lack of knowledge of both Mr. Toynbee's position as well as the traditional values and purposes of the Jewish way of life. The references to the Jews as a race are scientifically unfounded, and any scrutinization will show the Jews are anything but a -pure stock. The suggestion that Judaism opposes intermarriage for the sake of propagating a "pure race shows a total ignorance of the motives of not only Judiasm but of all great religions which strive to maintain a continuity of belief, tradition and dynamism through the bonds of the family. The analogy of the Jewish posi- tion opposing assimilation as being akin to that of the Aryan-race theory of Nazi Germany is but another appalling example, of the unclear logic and uninformed thinking on the part of the writer. THE FACT that an editorial such as this could be written is nne thing hut that it conld hA Swainson came around later, but too late. The GOP moderates might have then joined the Democrats but by then they felt a necessity for party loyalty to preserve their effectiveness. Nevertheless, Swainson has been a great deal better than his oppo- sition on the issue of higher edu- cation. His bonding proposal for construction of state buildings has won the approval of the univer- sities and colleges. And his belated program of tax revision would have allowed subsequent expansion of revenue sources to facilitate high- er education appropriations. The situation is therefore not totally dark. But the Democrats too show certain misunderstand- ings of higher education-as in their attitude towards out-of-state enrollment limits. And the old line GOP, which still controls the Legislature, is far, far worse. The moderate Republicans offer a hope that this control can be broken. If it can, a major break- through will have been made. But although serious, the prob- lem for higher education as a whole may not be insurmountable. The problem at this University may indeed be insurmountable. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Arab Speech Stirs Campus 'I