Seventy-Fifth Year' ExroAND MANAGEDSY STENSOF HE UNIVERSTOY 0 MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS THE RECORD IS GOOD ... The Faculty's Role in Policy Making lnions Are ' 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBoR., Mrc. IWinl Prevail NEws PHoNE: 764-0552 ditorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. WY, 26 JANUARY 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: LEONARD PRATT Scrap the Literary College: It Wouldn't Be Missed LITERARY COLLEGE at the Uni- versity is an anachronism and an ob- struction and ought to be abolished-right down to its last vestige of departmental fatuity and organizational antiquarian- ism. The problems are numerous, obvious and generally interrelated. The college is first of all too big. Its faculty is well aware of this and has been vocal in de- scribing the resultant problems. This same faculty, however, has yet to pro- pose any other solution than to retreat by reducing numbers or, at the very least, to stand pat. (The residential college is too far in the future to offer immediate hope, and there is considerable question as to Whether it offers any hope at all.) The idea that the problems of growth can be met squarely-now-rather than cried about seems never to have occurred to anyone in a position to do anything positive. It is a paradox that a collection of great minds such as this University's faculty is unwilling to think about, let alone ac- tually approve, any change in its insti- tutional environment. HERE ARE ADDITIONAL problems that are traceable to the college's ri- diculous organization..Physicists working at the Phoenix Project or the cyclotrons on North Campus have more in common with many parts of the engineering col- lege than they do with humanities or social sciences departments of the liter- ary college. Throwing such myriad departments un- der one head tends to engender consid- erable isolationism. When traditional de-, partmental autonomy is added, the iso- lationism becon es virulent-much to the detriment of the free and spontaneous academic inquiry that supposedly is the heart and soul of the University.' Trying to impose coherence on this great variety of departments is the final knot that strangles the system. The col- lege deteriorates into a series of half-alive organisms that cannot be useful to each other and must rely for their sustenance on the plethora of very active centers and institutes that dominate whatever academic ferment that is taking place on this campus. Occasionally a department does get big enough that it can become a world unto itself, large and exciting enough to ig- nore the deadening structure of the lit- erary college organization. The psychol- ogy and mathematics departments are examples. This, of course, is no help to the other, less imposing departments, or to those without center and institute ties. RYING TO LEND coordination and di- rection to such an aglomeration is an impossibility that has resulted in de- fault to the status quo. Growth, for in- stance, means very different things to the chemistry department and the history de- partment. Different ways of approaching growth would probably be used by these departments in order to meet the prob- lems most effectively. Yet they are put together with several dozen departments of equally diverse interests and problems and expected to collectively approach growth in a coherent, structured manner. They can't. And don't. To the extent growth is being forced onto them from above, the whole system is nearing the brink of collapse. It is simply a problem that can't be dealt with, prepared for and met head on, given the present struc- ture. H. NEIL BERKSON, Editor KENNETH WINTER EDWARD HERSTEIN Managing Editor Editorial Director ANN GWIRTZMAN..Personnel Director BILL BULLARD..................Sports Editor MICHAEL SATTINGER .... Associate Managing Editor JOHN KENNY...........Assistant Managing Editor DEBORAH BEATTIE... Associate Editorial Director LOUISE LIND......Assistant Editorial Director in Charge of the Magazine TOM ROWLAND .........Associate Sports Editor GARY WYNER ..........Associate Sports Editor STEVEN HALER..............Contributing Editor MARY LOU BUTCHER .......... Contributing Editor JAMES KESON................Chief Photographer NIGHT EDITORS: Lauren Bahr, David Block, John Bryant, Robert Johnston, Michael Juliar, Laurence Kirshbaum, Leonard Pratt. ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: William Benoit, Bruce Bigelow, Gail Blumberg, Michael Dean, John Mere- dith, Barbara Seyfried, Judith Warn re. Business Staff FURTHER, departmental isolationism breeds departmental stagnation which in turn results in a static, unyielding curriculum that spells varying degrees of disaster to the education process. Even the faculty become locked into a tedious rut from which there is no easy escape that they can detect within immediate reach. In a sense a given department enshrines itself on an assigned floor of Haven Hall and leaves itself with no channels for intellectual communication and stimulation either in or out. And who is the first to suffer? The undergraduate, of course. He is hand- ed a tasteless, deadening curriculum on a grubby platter. His education is in the form of great, indigestible hunks of raw meat. With luck he survives, and with greater luck he discovers how hecan get involved in the intellectual ferment con- nected with research centers and insti- tutes. It's not easy. The undergraduate world is effectively isolated from the worlds of research, graduate training and general academic excitement. No one cares about the undergraduate position. REPLACING the literary college is al- most too easy compared with the prob- lems being dealt with now. The Califor- nia State College at Palos Verdes, open- ing this year, is organizing its liberal arts and sciences into three schools. They are natural science and math, humanities an fine arts, and social and behavior sciences. At this university the humanities and fine arts departments could plan to va- cate Central Campus in favor of a plush, wooded location near the music school on North Campus. Or this classification might be further divided into two schools, with the fine arts people keeping the music school company and the humanities groupKstaying close to their campus li- braries. The natural sciences and math, with some exceptions, are pretty well estab- lished on Central Campus. Giving them a coherent organization within which they can work together profitably mright pro- duce outstanding results. Finally there are the social and be- havior sciences. Putting these in close proximity and providing them with ra- tional organization able to devote itself to their needs and problems could pro- duce truly spectacular results, rather akin to atomic fission. THE PROBLEM yet remaining is the lost undergraduate. Again, the solution is at hand. The graduate school approach would seem applicable. Why not an un- dergraduate school? Given a strong ad- ministrative organization devoted to get- ting undergraduates educated, maybe they would-for a change. This of course presupposes considerably more interest in undergraduate education than now exists. However, it is an ex- citing possibility - an undergraduate school devoted to shepherding the stu- dent through the new array of colleges presented to him, devoted to fostering and encouraging great, new experiments in college and inter-college curriculum. It might even engender enough excitement in enough people that it could really be put across and made to work well. THE REST of the University is passing the literary college by. Growth is about to destroy what is left. The excitement, the fervor, the interest, the possibilities inherent in a complete academic revolu- tion would be well worth the risks and the intervening chaos. Why wait? -ROBERT JOHNSTON The Protest LAST WEEKEND'S colossal movie sit- ins ended on a predictable note of wet indifference. The SGC proposal-or per- haps request-inspired few and impressed none, and the rabid participation of habitual campus malcontents such as Voice kept others away. SOC wants to negotiate with the But- terfieli management. But without the By WILBERT J. McKEACHIE rFE OPERATION of an insti- tuition of the size and com- plexity of the University requires the skilled services of many in- dividuals devoting their full en- ergy and talents to administration. Although major University ad- ministrators are largely drawn from faculty ranks, a move west across State Street is often view- ed by the faculty with the sort of attitude appropriate for a con- vent whose Mother Superior had moved across the street to a house of ill fame.n Our suspicion of administration extends to faculty committees. On the one hand we complain of lack of involvement of faculty in decision making and at the, same time we complain about the amount of time committee meet- ings steal from our research and teaching. The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs' position is similary doubted. Is it a company union which the ad- ministration uses to win faculty acceptance of the "administra- tion's" policies, or is the chair- man of the committee to play the role of Walter Reuther in mobil- izing the power of the faculty as a counterpoise to the power of the administration? I have purposely spoken in ex- aggerated terms because I do not believe that these polarities are appropriate in an academic com- munity. Administrative officials and faculty members share the goals of extending knowledge and enriching beauty through scholar- ship and creative activities and of transmitting to new generations our hard-won cultural heritage. We faculty members are likely to be particularly conscious of the needs of our own departments and our own disciplines. In our dis- ciplinary provincialism we are likely to be to little aware of the importance of a healthful uni- versity climate for the vigor of our field. We can blithely discuss the establishment of new research or- ganizations outside the University, but how many such organizations are really as productive as their University counterpart? We can dream about renting a house and establishing our own community of teachers and students' but how well would we teach without li- braries, laboratories, or even our much maligned plant department? * * * THE UNIVERSITY has a long tradition of faculty participation in decision making. Faculty exec- utive committees function more or less effectively at the level of the departments and colleges. The Senate Advisory Committee for University Affairs has been evolv- ing a pattern of increasing ef- fectiveness during the past several years. It appears that faculty com- mittees have often failed to func- tion effectively for lack of pos- sible alternatives. Increasingly our colleagues in administrative posi- tions are providing staff support for faculty committees so that these committees can use their time to suggest directions for in- vestigation, evaluate the informa- tion given and suggest and react to proposals for action. This means that the subcom- mittees of SACUA have come to have increasingly close relation- ships to administrative offices. Thus the Committee on Educa- tional Policies has become the ad- visory committee for Vice-Presi- dent for Academic Affairs, Roger W. Heyns; the Committee on Re- search Policy works with Vice- President for Research A. Geof- frey Norman; the Committees on Campus Planning and Economic Status of the Faculty work closely with the staff of Vice-President for Business and Finance Wilbur K. Pierpont; the Committee on Student Relations is part of the advisory committee for Vice- President for Student Affairs Richard L. Cutler; the committee on Public Information works with Vice-President for University Re- lations Michael Radock. These arrangements vary in ef- fectiveness. Where they have been ineffective it is often not so much from a lack of willingness to have faculty participation as from the lack of willingness on the part of the administrator to spend time discussing a problem whose solu- tion is already clear to him and ..AND CAN BE BETTER r1. .r r I e F . his staff. And the administrator's ennui in this relationship is us- ually attributable to faculty will- ingness to sit back and listen to the latest developments on the west side of State Street but lack of willingness to do the work necessary to make any useful con- tributions. * * * STUDENTS and faculty mem- bers sometimes speak about the mittee is highly respected and ef- fective. The faculty meetings themselves give every faculty member an opportunity to express himself when he is concerned about issues. But these mechan- isms are likely to become over- loaded as the college becomes larger. More and more of the executive committee's time is like- ly to be devoted to new appoint- ments and promotions with less PROF. WILBERT J. McKEACHIE, chair- man of the psychology department, is a former chairman of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs. In his present post, to quote a colleague, he has "maintained the unity of a group whose counterparts elsewhere have often frag- mented"--the world's largest psychology department. d r . .y ,, '' lack of power of the faculty. Theye see University policies as emerg-c ing from the pushing and shovingt of various power blocs interestedI in the University.r This description seems to me tos be grossly inadequate. In my ex- perience, policy making here isx usually a rational, problem solving activity in which creativity, weigh-t ing of pros and cons, amassing ofI relevant evidenceand clarity ofc reason are much more important than power.< Student and faculty committeesz often fail to have influence, notI because they lack power or be-i cause the administration refusesi to listen, but because the com-- mittee has failed to do its home-I work. Many senate committees meet once a month and do littleI between meetings. Is it any won- der that decisions sometimes haveI to be made before the faculty committee has made up its mind? Nevertheless the record of fac- ulty participation is bright. Even though the fruits of faculty par- ticipation are not always visible,I we can point to several significant recent achievements. One of these is the establishment of the Center on Research in Learning and Teaching. The creation of the center was suggested by the Sen- ate Committee on Improvement of Instruction and that recommen- dation was endorsed and extended by an, ad hoc faculty ,committee under the chairmanship of Pro- fessor Walker. * * * THE REORGANIZATION of the Office of Student Affairs is at- tributed to the work of the Senate Committee dn Student Relations and an ad hoc committee under the chairmanship of Professor John Reed, formerly of the law school. The regulations governing invi- tations to outside speakers rep- resent a significant advance in our commitment to the principle of free inquiry. We take pride in the fact that the work of Prof Samuel Estep and his committee became the policy not only of the University but of all state col- leges and universities. Those who are familiar with University organization will recog- nize that I am pointing to the achievements of faculty participa- tionboth withinand outdof the structure of SACUA. I do this deliberately, because I believe that one of the strengths of faculty participation here is that we are not bound by rigid organizational protocol or hidebound procedures. We tackle problems in whatever manner seems most likely to be productive. 150 senate members are now. working on one or another ofthe committees related to SACUA. It is tempting to think that one can leave the University's problems in their hands with confidence that the faculty will be well represent- ed. It will. Nevertheless, on many major policy issues, too great a number of faculty members feel uninformed and resentful about not having been consulted. Some faculty members and students be- lieve that it is less effective to work through established mechan- isms than to talk directly to a regent. This practice contributes to the regents' sense of knowing the fac- ulty viewpoint (and we appreciate their willingness to listen), but it tends to complicate and disrupt established mechanisms of policy making. (Nor, I suspect, is it ap- preciated by the responsible ad- ministrators.) The problem of ap- propriate communication channels and sense of participation in de- cision making is, I believe, a prob- lem the faculty must solve for itself. Certainly the possibility of direct communication to regents is one we should not abandon lightly, but it should be used only when normal channels have failed, not as a routine way to circum- vent the checks and balances of. our system of organization. * * * IN THE UNIVERSITY of the future I expect the faculty to con- tinue to play a strong role in planning at the departmental and college levels. The increasing size and less time remaining for dis- cussion of broad policy issues. Similarly, as the faculty becomes larger, the individual faculty member is likely to feel that his voice and vote are less important and faculty meetings will come more and more to represent only those who like to hear themselves argue. (Judging from extent participation in debate,I'n, ione of this group.) One of the major arguments for creating new small colleges ad- ministratively independent of the literary college is that such a move would enable us to preserve the virtues of our present system of faculty participation in decision making. Adding more students and staff to our present college will almost inevitably mean the ad- dition of cumbersome layers of ad- ministration. * * * AT THE University level the effects of large size have already become apparent in the woeful lack of attendance and participa- tion in senate meetings. SACUA and its sub-committees are, de- spite the inadequacies to which I have alluded, reasonably good representatives of the faculty. Moreover, I believe that the SA- CUA system is becoming increas- ingly effective. As for the senate meetings themselvesrIam ambivalet. like the ritualistic nd symbolic aspects of the calling together of the University faculties for ,uph occasions as the State of the Udi - versity address and the annual reports of SACUA committees. I like the availabilityo f the enate as a pbtntfal mn'haiam' for bringing the whole weight of the faculty behind some issue about which there is vital concern. And when an issue is vital, the faculty will turn out. Lack of attendanc may be a sign of confidence rather than of failure. I would hope that communication between fac- ulty committees and admiistra- tors would be such that senate meetings could continue to be rather dull and uneventful. But I should be reluctant to give up the potentially great power of a resolution passed by the assembled faculties. Despite the problems to which I've alluded, I am optimistic about the role of the faculty in decsion, making. Wehave a good tradition and healthy contemporary rela- tionships. These are exciting times for higher education. They are especially exciting for one in an institution like the University.We have tremendous resources of hu- man talent both in the faculty and in the student body we are educating. In his address to the Illinois Citizen's Committee some time ago, President Hatcher spoke of the fruitful partnership between conscientious teachers and ded- cated laymen. If faculty, students and administration join in this partnership, I am confident that together we can help the Univer- sity lead our civilization into a new and greater era. NEXT WEEK: Michel Benamou LETTERS: Cheating To the Editor: IN HIS Jan. 23 editorial M. Sat- tinger critizes the Air Force Academy for being "hypocritical" and "overreactive" in its attitude toward the recent resignations on the part of several cadets who ad- mitted to breaking the honor code. He then calls for the academies to abandon the "showcase of mor- ality." Mr. Sattinger apparently does not realize that the academies have a purpose beyond the grant- ing of bachelor's degrees. They ar intended to develop military officers who must be, and for the most part are, example of gentle- mendand all that we should be proud of in Americans. The acad- emies are perhaps the only insti- tutions left where the honor code SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL: What May Be Forgotten . . . By DICK WINGFIELD SIR WINSTON sat in a respect- able pub in London. In his jolly British manner he had grown quite mellow on his favorite bev- erage, brandy. As the evening wore on, Si. Winston and his friends grew more fraternal, and fell under the critical eye of a Mrs. Braddock, a large, rotund, unattractive Member, of Parlia- ment representing the Labor Party from the district of Liverpool. "Bessy," as Sir Winston affection- ately called her, had also become more glib, and had built up the courage to quip the Conservative gentleman. "Winston, my dear sir," she said, "you're drunk; you're very, very drunk." "Bessy, my dear," Sir Winston is to have replied, "you're ugly; you're very, very ugly. But to- morrow morning I'll be sober, and you'll still be ugly." They both laughed. TODAY, as the world morns Winston Churchill, much of what was Churchill will not be remem- bered. It will not be forgotten that he wrote "A History of the English Speaking Peoples." But those who read the volumes will not regard them as a history, but -- - -,.. . -n v.roi.ti painting and of affection for his pet cat. Behind his sagacity and precocity, there was also the stub- born boyishness which persisted in keeping him above ground during part of the German blitz. More- over, he smoked only the finest cigars-and plenty of them, and was a connoisseur of brandy and cognac. BRITONS will take pride for centuries to come in their stand against the Germans in the Sec- ond World War, in what the world has come to know as "Her finest hour." The father image of Churchill is foremost in the minds of many, the leader who guided and inspired his nation. However, Prof. James K. Pollock of the political science department recently pointed out that while Churchill was more sagacious than Roosevelt and other contempor- aries, he was not always heeded. According to Pollock, Churchill was one of the first and most accurate in "identifying and de- fining the Communist challenge." He warned the world, much as he had warned Britain to arm against the Germans, that Com- munism was spreading, and that Germany should not be divided, leaving one half open to the East and Russia. He warned, at an -- A + +hn +h