Seventy-Fifth Year EnrrD A1D MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICm. Truth Will Prevail NEws PHONE: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions 'of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. FRIDAY, 12 MARCH 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: JEFFREY GOODMAN 4''--4 -. 1 L~** ; , ~ . ' . ).J . HAVE YOU HERD? The War in Viet Nam Is No Elephant Joke The Honors Program: Not What It Should Be i ,., ; _ _«.r -," xi 6 .. w.-.. ... ._ _ --- -_ 4.. 0 ... _ i.. THE ULTIMATE IN IRONY occurred last semester: after writing an edi- torial in these pages condemning the honors housing program as elitist, exclu- sive and intellectually snobbish, a Daily staff member participated in a spirited public debate with members of Frost and Blagdon (honors) houses-in which they violently protested that they were every bit as dull, mediocre and normal as everyone else. It was highly significant. Members of the University's honors program were, in effect, declaring that they were as ir- relevant to the program as it was to them. And to tell the embarrassing truth, they were right. Basketball is more popular than Hunt- ley-Brinkley in honors housing; lectures featuring distinguished members of the faculty go relatively unattended (to the point where one house's academic chair- man patrols the corridors at the last mo- ment to obtain a few more listeners); and the major drift of conversation seems more to be pizzas and TG's than politics or Tchaikovsky. AND THE FAILURE of honors housing underscores and reflects the failure of the honors program as a whole. The program has failed because, most important, it has been unable to select- within the University as well as outside it -the caliber of students such a program should attempt to have. The program's selection standard-its first fatal weak- ness-are College Board scores, Merit scores, high school grades and the like --numerical standards similar to those used in judging blocks of wood or cattle, which suggests why many students cur- rently in the honors program defend not their excellence but their normality. Certainly grades and scores connote something. But an interest in the arts, the sciences or world events, originality and creativity-these are the hard-to- define qualities which also make up part of -excellence. Yet these are not qualities in which the honors program seems to be much interested. The easy way out of sta- tistics has'instead caught its fancy. Were the honors program to ask stu- dents admitted by the University to apply for the program, the uninterested would eliminate themselves. The program then - with some difficulty, of course - through interviews, scrutiny of the ap- plicant's record both academic and ex- tracurricular, and perhaps even Fricke scores, could apply qualitative as well as quantitative standards, and thus find excellence. This is difficult to identify, but it is a quality of mind which is found easily enough if the University's program would but adopt it itself. ON THE OTHER HAND, the honors pro- gram, even if it had a better idea of what excellence is, would, as things now stand,}fail to recruit it. This is the pro- gram's second fatal flaw. For the Univer- sity's own freshman honor students, if they heard of the program through offi- cial channels, were notified of its exist- ence only after they were accepted by the University and by the program. One of the efforts, if it can be flat- tered with that appellation, the Univer- sity hopes will remedy the situation is a booklet on the program. "We've used quotes by Samuel Johnson," one program staffer exuded gleefully, apparently de- lighted with the seductive choice. But one of those close to the inner workings, whatever they may be, of the honors program has said that the program makes "a conscious effort to inform, but not re- cruit." The assumption, evidently, is that the "hard sell," which is more effective, is somehow infra dig; that one shouldn't be too eager to have excellent students be- cause some of them will wind up at the University anyway: arrogance is the way to assun:e excellence. But in view of the successes of such "hard-sell" schools as MSU, the honors program view represents -to use Dr. Johnson's own phrase-noth- H. NEIL BERKSON, Editor KENNETH WINTER EDWARD HERSTEIN ing so much as "the triumph of hope over experience." THE HONORS PROGRAM has not only failed to select or to recruit true hon- or students. To a large degree, it has also failed to foster excellence in its own stu- dents, and this is its third grave weakness. Certainly a university should provide as much opportunity as possible for its stu- dents to fulfill their potential and their promise-to achieve excellence. But the honors program seems to view excellence as a quality to be fostered through in- cantation, not exertion. The honors program, in this context, is more an idea than a program. The Great Books course, the only universal honors course, is the perpetual joke of many of its students. Honors sections in regular courses, distinguished primarily because they require more reading and somewhat more discussion; seem to be no less crowd- ed than others. Particularly in the first two years of undergraduate education, the honors student often finds little or no advantage, save the word on his tran- script, for being in the program at all. THE IDEA of a "community ofscholars" has completely collapsed after a few years of atrophy in the present honors setup. The student steering committee has sent out two newsletters all year. "We're kind of nebulous," one member ad- mits. More must be done with the honors program. There must be more honors sec- tions and more honors courses. There should be a smaller student-teacher ra- tio. And, most essential, there must be an entire honors curriculum, so that the excellent College Honors courses are an integral part of the honors student's program instead of what he takes when he has satisfied all his requirements. This, of course, all takes money. But even without money there is much that can be done and, in an embryonic sort of way, is being done. In honors econom- ics, for example, students sometimes work with professors on research prob- lems, which can clearly be more exciting and more relevant than the much more sterile fare of everyday class work. Perhaps, indeed, research and edu- cation are not incompatible but, as the best professors have found, mutually re- inforcing. This admirable policy should be broadened and extended. A vigorous student honors steering committee must replace the present mouldering organism; hopefully the petitioning ending this aft- ernoon will bring some new faces and some new ideas. EMASCULATED IN PRINCIPLE by its view of excellence and crippled in practice by its inaction in administra- tion, the honors program is, in sum, neither honors nor a program. Rather than select excellence, it examines statis- tics. Rather than recruit excellence, it attempts to "inform." Rather than foster excellence, it fails to act. It is an elab- orate charade with overtones of a wake. This university has a call to greatness which it must, some day, answer, or go the way of such schools as the University of Chicago. And until the University's honors program replaces its complacent sloth with a conscious policy of seeking and stimulating excellence, the honors student will view the honors program as Dr. Johnson viewed his erstwhile patron, Lord Chesterfield: "Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to any favorer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less; for I have long awak- ened from that dream of hope in which I once boasted myself with so much exul- tation." -MARK R. KILLINGSWORTH Tegucigalpa LAST WEEK Yale's philosophy depart- ment decided to reverse its unanimous recommendation of tenure for Richard Bernstein. A member of the department said that one of the reasons he changed his deci- cinn maa +the a moof ,nd'etnt nontPCtfi nh- '41, -7-7 t t' 1 1035 4"- " T HE \NOR LD'S TAL LEST ROOST E R LETTERS T O THE EDITOR: .Ge.o 4 ma us ice ' o 'Bey-444'4.4 By ROGER RAPOPORT B-57 air strikes against the Viet Cong have been halted in a Mekong delta area after the American bombers accidentally killed four South Vietnamese troops and wounded 13. -Associated Press, March 1 An air strike was ordered against a herd of 20 elephants sighted 12 miles northwest of Da Nanz. Military officials felt the Viet Cong might be using the lumbering beasts to haul arms for an attack on the base. -Associated Press, March 9 THE UNITED States has chang- ed its tactics in Viet Nam. An attack upon North Vietnamese elephants reflects a bold new of- fensive in the 10-year-old war ef- fort. How is the American public re- acting to this new course of ac- tion? Here is what they have to say:r RALPH RINGLEY (Chairman of the Board, Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus): The Vietnamese jungles have always been a major source of raw ele- phant material for our circuses. Therefore -we have always staunchly backed the American effort in Viet Nam. But by shooting elephants the government is depriving us of a necessary resource. Consequently I call for an immediate cessation of this senseless tactic. TOM TUSK (President, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York)g: I know things have not been going well for our men in Viet Nam. But just because they can't kill Viet Cong soldiers is no justification for us- ing elephants as scapegoats." MARY CONTRARY (3rd grad- er, Trunk Elementary School, De- troit): My daddy told me. I think it's terrible to kill those poor de fen'seless elephants. They wouldn't want to hurt anyone; why would anyone want to hurt them? 1 M' STONED (Journalist, Washington): I wrote last week that 98 per cent of all Viet Cong weapons are unwittingly supplied by the United States through loss, theft or sale by enterprising South Vietnamese. It seems rather hard to understand why we would want to kill our own elephants. CARVER WASHING'TON (Chairman of the Board, Tuske- gee Peanut Co.): Nuts. ROY BLESSED (Chairman, Re- publican P a r t y, Washington): Don't be fooled for a minute. Why, it would be sheer lunacy to attack elephants. In my mind there is no doubt that the whole effort was a Johnson administra- tion smear on the very symbol of the Republican Party. DR. BENJAMIN SPOKE (Child Psychiatrist, Cleveland): What no one has toldhus is thatsthis new tactic may have serious effects upon the mental stability of our American soldiers in Viet Nam. In their minds an elephant is inti- mately associated wtih circuses and childhood. Kill the elephant and you kill their childhood. HAROLD HANNIBAL (Director, Bronx Zoo, New York): I believe we are carrying this war too far when we kill elephants. We should limit ourselves to human beings. peace In the IAsylum Collegiate Press Service A 23-YEAR-OLD Polish student, threatened with a mental breakdown, was confined to an in- sane asylum near Warsaw. After a few months of tranquility the youth recovered and returned to his dorm. At that point the stu- dent realized that patients in the sanitarium enjoyed certain ad- vantages: they weren't overcrowd- ed and they had time to them- selves. The nostalgic inmate managed to get himself readmitted to the hospital. There he was able to study peacefully and later passed all his examinations with flying colors. After that he was released from the asylum. 'I 'I To the Editor: T HE RECENT events in Selma these past few weeks have dramatized the difficulty of regis- tration for the Negro in the South and the role of the white power structure in creat'ng obstacles to registration. Unfortunately it took the violence of last Sunday to prompt many Americans to act toe ameliorate a situation which for many Negroes in the South is an everyday occurrence. Hopefully the vigorous interes~t in racial eauality displayed ths past week is not transient and will not confine itself to racial injustice here in the United States. It would be tragic if we allowed the example of Selma to fade without acting against the repres- sive policy of apartheid in South Africa before it explodes in our face. WE ARE particularly responsible ,for apartheid because of the role played by U.S. corporations and financial institutions in support- ing that system. Our banks and corporations are literally writing U.S. policy toward South Africa with the acquiescence of the State Department. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 and the econom- ic instability which followed, U.S. bank made extensive credit ac- commodations to the South Afri- can government and American companies drastically increased their inve!tnent in the South African economy. Today we are the second largest investor in South Africa and the white South Afr'can has the third highest standard of living in the world. The U.S. government nas con- sistently opposed a total boycott of all South African goods en- dorsed by over two-thirds of the members of the United Nations and has by its opposition contra- dicted the ideals of justice and equality of the "American ex- ample" so often emphasized to the emerging nations as a necessary concomitant of economic develop- ment. THE INDIGNATION expressed in the United States over what happened in Selma will ring hel- low unless we strive to correct the injustices created by the dollar in South Africa. I can think of no finer way to limit the U.S. un- favorable balance of trade than a curtailment of investment in South Africa. -Dave Wallace Education Library Staff IQC Controversy To the Editor: T UESDAY NIGHT the all-white Inter-Quadrangle Council held its weekly meeting in the Greene House Lounge. After covering gen- 'NOTHING BUT A MAN': A Sensitive Portrayal Of Man's Limitations, At the Campus Theatre "NOTHING BUT A MAN" is a sensitive movie about a man trying to keep his integrity, and relative freedom within a deficient society. The fact that the young man is Negro and that the society is, the South of today adds a greater sense of urgency to this drama, but doesn't obscure the universality of its theme. Without slipping into sentimentality, "Nothing But a Man" follows Duff Anderson as he tries to become a responsible adult. He is confident and hopeful and the fact that all the people around him failed to achieve respectability or comfort without the high price of humiliation, doesn't deter him at first. Soon he is faced with hatred, cowardice, venality and poverty-to name some of the few things which plague the so-called "real world," and his strength begins to diminish. However, at the point where others give in, he determines to renew his effort, and the movie ends. All the movie seems to promise is the continued struggle. It doesn't assure us of any success. IF THIS STORY sounds like a continuous tale of woe, it is not presented that way in the film. "Nothing But a Man" is full of lively humor alternating with warmth and gentleness. The photography and the music evoke at times the quaintness of the "good old days" of wholesomeness and courage: the small towns, the wide open field and the ever-expanding railroad. It is consequently contrasted with the slums, the omnipresent popular music and the resignation on the many faces. The movie was written, directed and photographed by two young men, Michael Roemer and Robert Young, without the benefit of experience in Hollywood. This may explain the modesty and simplicity with which they handle their story. The acting, too. is powerful eral business, the council came to Member and Constituents time. Within minutes the council was in an uproar. With Acting - Chairman Lee Hornberger pounding. away at the gavel, generally unable to under- stand what was happening, order ceased to became the order of the day. We wish to ask Mr. Hornberger what it was that he was objecting to so strenuously! It could not have been that the constituents were speaking too long for they were limited to five minutes by a belated order of the council. Per- haps then it was something the constituents said that so upset Mr. Hornberger? WHAT THE constituents were insisting on was simply that tne legality has no meaning unless the morality is behind it. IQC is a link between the stu- dent body and the administration. The administration, that great nebulous body, controls the in- terest of the University in South Africa. South Africa is supporting a program of apartheid. There- fore the University is indirectly supporting this program of apar- theid. The constituents of the all-white IQC, finding this program to be morally objectionable, went before IQC with a letter addressed to President Hatcher asking him to justify the University's interest in South Africa and indirectly in the apartheid program. * * * IQC REFUSED to sign this let- ter. It was only then that the Ann Arbor Civil Liberties Com- mittee felt that further action should be taken, therefore when the council left the Greene Lounge for the small East Quad council room, first a sit-in was organized to block the entrances to the council room and then a filibuster followed. The council members, obviousjy resentful of their time being "wasted," censured the consti- tuents by imposing a five minute speaking limit on each speaker. Even this gross infringement of the constituents rights failed to satiate the council. The consti- tuents were constantly heckled and the council chairman was all put impartial in his use of the gavel. The meeting ended with the council patting its own back, and everyone went his way. For the constituents, the main value of the meeting was the insightful look at their "representatives" in action. Among those who attend- ed, and there were a score or more who sat through all or most of the meeting, there was a gen- eral consensus that the quicKer IQC abolished itself and started all over again many years from now the better off the general student population would be. ONE LAST THING: IQC wanted constituents to attend its meet- ings. Last night constituents did attend its meeting. They will at- tend them in the future. -Ann Arbor Civil Liberties Union "It's A Bitter War - Brothers Against Brothers, Democrats Against Democrats, Republicans Against Republicans -" . y +' ' jr ,I, i rt44.~ s4,M44W$J I o f ,. ,, r fr } a r +/ t}' I I . 4, r ANN ARBOR FESTIVAL: Chance To See: Are A hnFilms 'Only Art Left?' At the Cinema Guild THE THIRD Ann Arbor Film Festival opened last night with 45 minutes of proceedings. Mr. Gregory Markopoulos of New York, pinch-hitting for Jonas Mekas, another New York filmmaker, had unfortunately not had time to prepare a talk. His extemporaneous remarks were interrupted by a rather undisciplined crew of spectators, who preferred watching movies to hearing talks. Between hisses and claps, Mr. Markopoulos did say some rather remarkable things. His conviction "that all the arts are dead except film" will be vigorously tested by the eight programs given this weekend in Ann Arbor. Between the ONCE Festival, the Film Festival and the Creative Arts Festival, local audiences have as much chance to judge the living arts as any audiences in the world. The seven o'clock show last night, consisting of four short films, hardly supported Mr. Markopoulos' view. First on the program was "Handheat," by Don Lederberg, a somewhat digestible mixture of "advanced" film techniques. Individual shots and sequences were effective, but the overall design, which obviously aimed at cohesiveness, somehow never quite made it. "Skullduggery" by Stan Vanderbeek followed. A delightful spoof on contemporary history, it was just long enough to remain refreshing. Through a technique of overlaps, Vanderbeek put a horned Churchill into a bullfight, showed what Eisenhower really said, and pulled Stalin out of the piano. "Skullduggery" was the second of a Vander- beek series of similar films.