Seuenty-FiftbhYear EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS LAST GLANCES Activism and a New Breed Where Opinions Are Free, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, Mica. 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, 9 APRIL 1965 NIGHT EDITOR: LEONARD PRATT A Possible Alternative To Johnson S PRESIDENT Lyndon B. Johnson's plan for eventual peace in Viet Nam, as he elucidated it in his Wednesday night speech, will probably never approach reality. This is because Johnson distorted the central facts of the situation in Viet Nam-as the United States government has distorted the situation all along- and then based his conclusions on the dis- tortions. Johnson said that the U.S. is ready to begin, without prior conditions, diplo- matic discussions to end the war. The aim: "An independent South Viet Nam, securely guaranteed and able to shape its own relationships to others, free from outside interference, tied to no alliance, a military base for no other country." FIRST OF ALL, Johnson's statement is doubletalk. The President expressed the wish for an "independent" country able "to shape its own relationships with others." But he then stipulated that it be "tied to no alliance, a military base for no other country." If South Viet Nam is to be truly independent, it must have the right to decide whether or not to ally itself with other 'countries, and must not be required to bow to the wishes of any nation which wants it to be neutral-in- cluding the United States. Johnson's aim ("independent enforced neutrality"?) for South Viet Nam is not only internally contradictory, but also goes against all of the facts of the sit- uation in South Viet Nam today. Most important; Johnson did not say he would negotiate with the National Liberation Front, which, according to an estimate by Walter Lippmann, controls three-quarters of South Viet Nam's land and commands the allegiance of two- thirds of its people in the daytime. At night its control of both land and people becomes more extensive. According to the New York Times, high administra- tion officials ,say that the U.S. will not deal with the Front, calling it only an "agent of North Viet Nam." THE GOVERNMENT" has thus limited itself to dealing with Hanoi. In its own "white paper," however, the govern- ment conceded that more than three- quarters of the Front's personnel is Doubletalk Southern in origin and that more than three-quarters of its weapons are cap- tured from the Southern forces. Can the government hope to halt what it admits is largely an indigenous rebellion by con- ferring with the leaders of a nearby sympathetic country? North Viet Nam's Ho Chi Minh is the morale leader of the Front and does supply it to a limited ex- tent, but experts on Viet Nam say he could not halt the rebellion if he wished because of his limited role. Even if Johnson were to negotiate with the right people-the Front-he certainly could not hope to bargain for neutrality. After all, the South is mostly controlled by the Front now. Why should it wish to give this up for neutrality? THE ONLY WAY the United States can hope to begin effecting a solution in Viet Nam is first to deal directly with the Front, which has the support of most South Vietnamese outside Saigon. Any government of South Viet Nam-to be successful-must include the Front. Second, the U.S. must also start to do what it should have done ten years ago, when it first came to South Viet Nam- pressure the Saigon government into making meaningful social and economic reforms. Dissatisfaction in the country- side because of lack of such reforms and persistence of feudal practices was the central cause of the national liberation movement in the first place. The moderate, reforming elements of Saigon would also be imperative as mem- bers of a coalition government, since they would represent the thousands of pro- U.S. Vietnamese in Saigon. THE U.S. COULD NOT expect such a coalition government to be neutralist; most likely, it would lean far to the left. But if the U.S., along with other powers, were to guarantee the country freedom from external military domination-along with complete policy freedom--the coun- try could survive. This sketch of a solu- tion is surely more feasible than the doubletalking, devious courses outlined by the President Wednesday night. --ROBERT HIPPLER Acting Associate Editorial Director By MARY LOU BUTCHER Contributing Editor, 1964-65 I'HE UNIVERSITY student leads a life which is both envied and criticized but rarely appreciated by anyone outside the halls of the academy. Outside observers reduce his world to books and papers on one hand and parties and ath- letics on the other. He is not thought to have pressing interests divorced from the day-to-day re- quirements of the academic time- table. He is credited with a little knowledge about a lot of things and commended for pursuing a liberal education. He is cited for whatever achievement may be signified by his grade-point aver- age. He is laughed at for his im- maturity and his idealism, but nonetheless encouraged to learn for himself. And on the whole, he is exonerated from responsibility. Such attitudes are responsible for perpetuating the concept of a student as a member of a sub- stratum of society, sealed off from Life. Paradoxically, it is also as- sumed that only the college grad- uate, with degree in hand, is qual- ified to grapple with the tests which contemporary society poses and will continue to pose. How the supposedly-alienated student is ever to comprehend and tackle societal needs after four- five- or eight-year incubation period is not considered, but rather is in- corporated into the general mys- tique of higher education. WITHIN the framework of these narrowly-conceived views, it is no wonder that burgeoning student activism gives cause for surprise and even alarm. Reactions to stu- dent demonstrations, petitions, protests and political endeavors range from utter mystification to rank indignation. Activism is just an extra piece which does not fit the puzzle of student life as it has been theoretically carved out and clung to. What is missing from the out- siders' analyses is the taste of rootlessness which today's stu- dent experiences and the conse- quent acute need for commitment which he senses. Within the last four years the American student has demonstrated within and without the nation. Growing memberships withinstudent di- rect action groups and political parties portend a continuing ac- tivist element within he univer- sities and a lifting of the paralysis which so long existed. Having been reared in a climate of ostensible peace and prosperity, in a society geared to the bright- est and the hardest-working, at a tempo prizing urgency and ef- ficiency, the student observesthat these factors are debilitating to a large proportion of society. And he finds them hollow insofar as they demarcate the environment in which he is to live, work, love. WHEN the network ofdmiddle- class values is stretched to its limit, it fails the student. It re- jects involvement, tolerance, cre- ativity and self-sacrifice out of hand. It promotes in their stead complacency, expediency and-iso- lation. Perceiving that many -of these values are based on fear and in- security, the student is faced with a choice between the unsatisfying but more comfortable path of quietism or the challenging and demanding road of involvement. To avoid the sterility of the ma- terialist ethic, to escape the lim- itations of the classroom, to ne- gate the pursuit of a degree for sake of a degree, to break down barriers among individuals-the student must seek commitment, involvement, responsibility. Impotent though he may be to alter the behavior, convictions or values of older generations, the student yet is accountable for what he purposes to be. And he must bear responsibility for the effect he has both on his peers and on succeeding generations. Fear and/or cynicism can ef- fectively cripple the student's po- tential for effecting social change and finding a purpose. The cult of mass education must inevitably reinforce this unhappy prospect. Competition, anonymity, speciali- zation spell dichotomy-between student and student, student and educator, academy and the Real World. WHAT, THEN, of the activist? What motivates him and enables him to surmount the negative as- pects of the contemporary ethos? How can he affect his peers? Above all, the student activist possesses and cherishes a sense of freedom. It is this disposition whichrliberates him from fear and requires him to engage in responsibility for his own future as well as for his potential con- tribution to the well-being of others is also fundamental. It has been suggested that many a student activist will eventually abandon his present path to re- turn to middle-class origins and institutions-only to subvert them. If this be the sole consequences of his endeavors, it is perhaps the most worthwhile. The best-edu- cated members of our society must not be divorced from the realities of our society-cybernation, il- literacy, poverty, integration, alienation-nor must they re- nounce their roles in effecting change. It is reasonable to assume that the student activist will continue to clamor. His vociferousness has progressively intensified since the "freedom rides,"' the "sit-ins" and the student movement got under- way four years ago. It is upon his peers, however, that the areal burden of change rests; they must listen, think, accept and act. And from them will come many of the educators who will affect succeed- ing generations of students. THE ACTIVIST strain has been fermenting within the University for four years as it has through- out the nation. A new breed of student is emerging. His impact on and off campus should spark much productive thinking-and action. """""""*WHY NOT? Senate Restructuring: An A pproximtation By Jeffrey Goodman IMPRESSIVE (and somewhat undeserved) numbers of hours, im- passioned words and friendships have been staked over the past year on a proposal to restructure the faculty Senate, the basic political organization of the University's 1200 professorial-rank teachers. If the proposal is passed at Monday's Senate meeting, the faculty could end up with a noticeably, if not too significantly, improved voice in the conduct of general University affairs. There is widespread faculty agreement that the Senate as it now operates is at best unsatisfactory, at worst inconsequential. Con- vening only once a semester and rarely attracting more than 12 per cent of its eligible members, the body is too large for meaningful debate and too small for its decisions to represent anything approxi- mating "the faculty." Its time is cluttered with hearing and passing usually outdated committee recommendations about which few know anything and fewer care, and any administrator to whom the recommendations are directed is quick to learn he need not take them seriously. Whatevervoice "the faculty" exercises is through its 15 or so subcommittees and their parent, the 19-man Senate Advisory Com- mittee on University Affairs. The subcommittees are continually engaged in studying vital University conditions and trends, writing resolutions and advising vice-presidents; SACUA receives their reports at its monthly sessions; reviews them and-a recent development-- approves them, disapproves them or passes them on without comment to the next Senate meeting. The subcommittee members gain a good deal of knowledge in their areas, and their small size (the average is 10) facilitates intimate discussion; their evaluations and advice, however, carry the weight of only 10 men. If SACUA upholds one of its subcommittees, more weight is added, yet officially, SACUA also speaks only for itself. Unless and until the Senate puts its questionable mark of approval on a given resolution, still no one can claim The Faculty Has Spoken, ENTER THE SUBCOMMITTEE on University Freedom and Re- sponsibility, which feels quite emphatically The Faculty Should Be Able To Speak. The subcommittee would have the Senate elect-at large but with proportional representation across all schools and colleges-a 65-man Assembly. Like SACUA, the Assembly would meet monthly and more often in emergencies. Unlike SACUA, whose composition is far less coincident with the relative sizes of the schools and colleges, the Assembly would be specifically empowered to speak as a representative of the faculty. And its actions would become actions of the Senate if not revoked at the next Senate gathering. THE BASIC ISSUE separating the proposal's supporters and ,its detractors is whether the Assembly would be any different from a slightly reformed SACUA. The detractors claim SACUA is more and more willing to proclaim its collective opinion on conditions at the University as reflected in reports of its subcommittees. De facto, these statements are often taken as statements of the faculty, not simply for the faculty, since both faculty and administration respect SACUA's reasonableness and its reflection of general faculty views. Just as subcommittee resolutions are rarely reversed or radically amended by the Senate, so it is safe to predict SACUA can continue to enjoy the same privilege. If the Assembly's functions can be per- formed by SACUA, the detractors argue, it would be foolish to burden the faculty with a 65-man body instead of a 19-man one, simply because debate becomes less meaningful as the size of a group increases. . 6 & LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Messiness Stifles Education f1 mnester x- Aj Alumnae Control or Autonomy? To the Editor: LEONARD PRATT'S editorial on Prof. Rice contains one state- ment of fact that isnbound to be misleading: during Rice's tenure as chairman of the English De- partment "the salaries of (de- partment) teaching fellows have remained among the University's lowest." Thisgis true only because all teaching fellows' salaries are among the University's lowest. The stipend is the same from depart- ment to department. It may not be generally known, incidentally, that Prof. Rice has worked consistently and success- fully to improve the financial po- sition of teaching fellows. LEST MY singling out one state- ment of fact for correction leave the impression that I concur with Pratt's statements of opinion, let me say flatly that they answer to nothing in my 10 years' experience in the English department. I would add that, like Prof. Rice, I too regard the teacher's function as extending beyond the trans- mission of a specific subject mat- ter. The "restoration of discipline" in its best sense would not be punitive or "repressive." It would be the rounding out of- a liberal education, they supplying of a lack that students now feel when they speak of faculty indifferenceto teaching. In the meantime, littered build- ings, mudpaths across the green- sward, slovenly dress and the like are not merely displeasing; they are distinct impediments to edu- cation. -Prof. H. M. English Chairman, freshman English Pierogatives To the Editor: N HIS recent Memorandum, Prof. Rice prefaces his con- clusion with the phrase, "In my old fashioned way of thinking;" and the reply by Prof. McConnell poignantly confirms the state- ment. Yes, Mr. Rice is very old fash- ioned. One finds in his essay con- stant reference to such outdated concepts as character, decorum, taste, manners, obligations, re- spect. This antiquated outlook is re- flected also in the choice of au- thorities he cites-Spencer, Milton, Blake. They have been dead for years! And as Prof. McConnell points out, what about Churchill, the drunkard; Picaso, the lecher and Hemingway, the suicide. Evidently, what Mr. Rice doesn't realize is that in this community of scholars all of us - faculty, teaching fellows and students-are on the same level of intelligence and accomplishment with any genius, modern as well as ancient. So. if Einstein wore tennis shoes and no tie or if Picasso kept a mistress, we should be allowed the same prerogatives. AND PROF. McConnell's sug- gestion to go back to the Greek gymnasium is a sparkling plan. (Plan, from the Latin planus- flat). The psychology department could provide the Whipbearers, and with appropriate stimuli to the caudal regions of the ephebi the intellectual aspects of the University would be emphasized. -Bede Mitchell, Grad. IN A UNIVERSITY community the intel- lectual atmosphere perpetuated by the student organizations is indeed import- ant. However, concentration on a "lack of intellectualism" in sororities ignores the crucial problem that the Greek system will have to face this year. That is the issue of self-determination as raised by the recent request for recommendation forms by the Membership Committee of SGC. But the true orientation of social sororities is by definition primarily so- cial, and if the University were to deter- mine the future of housing units on the basis of intellectual productivity, the dor- mitory system itself would be the first unit to be thrust off campus. IF THE SORORITIES are to be threat- ened with excommunication from the campus community, it is far more likely that the reason will be the recommenda- tion system. Most houses require the re- ceipt of a recommendation before a rushee is pledged. This "recommend" is secured from alumnae of the sorority liv- ing in that area. Although the function of such a recommendation is not clear- ly defined, even the most pious purposes can be distorted by its mechanical pres- ence in the process of membership selec- tion. SGC's request for recommendation forms follows its investigation of discrim- inatory clauses in the constitutions and bylaws of campus organizations. This is not merely a coincidental ordering of events, for within the recommendation system there are possibilities for mem- bership discrimination. If a recommendation is neeaed to pledge a girl, the absence of such a form auto- matically negates her possibilities for adisioin. Since ~the ". recommendation Fitch, '65, president of Panhellenic, has summarized the dilemma: the problem becomes one of whether or not the local chapters have the right to assert an in- dependent opinion, and if they do have this right, whether or not they want to use it and accept the responsibility it implies. Sorority membership is composed of college women from the ages of 18 to 22. Therefore, the assumptions of the final responsibility of membership selection in the local chapters does not appear an im- posing one. One of the attributes of the Greek sys- tem is the opportunity for the students to assume organizational responsibility for group activities. Expanding this priv- ilege and obligation would be very edu- cationally beneficial for the members of, this system, and expansion in the area of membership selection, which is the propagating force of the system, would provide a particularly meaningful oppor- tunity for the exercise of responsible in- tellects. Of course these problems are not ab- sent from Panhellenic's perception. This issue has been discussed in its circles for many years. Last weekend a resolution on the rec- ommendation system was passed by the delegates to the Panhellenic and IFC Big Ten Conference which concluded: "We feel that collegiate chapters should have the right of final decision in member- ship selection." THE FACT that action on the recom- mendation system has been initiated by Panhellenic leadership evidences a positive direction which will aid greatly in solving the problem. In all problems of change, when a pro- ar fiv nI'c~t x7A rn frnntc t rn 10f~i-. To the Editor: AS THE TRIMESTER draws to close, school gets ever more hectic. That is rather a shame, when you think about it. The Greek original for the word 'school' is skole, meaning leisure. Once upon a time, it seems, people at school had leisure-leisure to read, discuss, maybe even to think. Admittedly, this notion was in- cubated in ancient Greece where the free citizens owed much of their time for culture to the large number of unfree men.and women who did their drudgery. Still, the concept of leisure as the basis of culture does have a way of per- sisting. For students at the Uni- versity perhaps it is only wishful thinking. In the trimester frame- work, the possibility of leisure (not playtime, but a mature academic leisure) looks hopelessly Utopian. BUT MAYBE the idea of leisure should not be abandoned without a fight. A case can be made for the human mind's not being like a. factory, which can be kept run- ning night andedayandbe made to work at ever greater speeds. There might even be some correla- tion between the trimester's high compression and a certain dull bewilderment in the student body (as well as absenteeism in class and a severe drop-off in extra- curricular campus activities). Maybe the trimester as now oper- ated is not an awfully good idea from the student's viewpoint. --Rev. James Torrens, Grad. T ri SUPPORTERS OF the restructuring, on the other hand, claim the Assembly could wield considerably more influence than SACUA. Its more explicitly representative composition than SACUA would enable it to present a wider cross-section of faculty interests to the administration. It would be specifically mandated to speak out as a faculty representative, whereas SACUA, not so authorized, would always be hesitant about overstepping its legal bounds. The Assembly would be reversed or corrected as rarely as SACUA, largely as a function of its stature within the Senate, its formal authority and its being three times as large (thus perhaps three times as important) as SACUA. Though both sides are arguing largely speculatively, the Assembly does come out looking better. If its initial years would be chaotic and stumbling and if the extra influence it would provide the faculty is definitely not earthshaking, nevertheless there is just enough justi- fication for the attempt. UNFORTUNATELY, the proposed cure is only infinitesimally ade- quate to the real disease. To the extent faculty non-involvement in directing the University-too little participation in or feeling of re- sponsibility for vital policies-is a function of individual emotional and ethical capitulations to our allegedly complex super-society, structural changes can do little. Men who have become content-by- default to let administrators make important decisions and who are indifferent both to the decisions and to those few who still try to change them cannot be brought to life by revamping organizations. But to the extent that the lack of adequate structures has hurried and magnified these capitulations, what is ultimately needed is formal representation for responsible, elected faculty within the administrative offices where policies are set. But this requires change in the larger organization-the University itself-rather than in mere components of that structure; it must rest on formal power, not prestige. SENATE RESTRUCTURING can make voices louder and perhaps stimulate concern for prerogatives among a wider group of men. Maybe this is sufficient, for most, especially as many faculty claim their professional duties come first. Yet teaching, counselling, writing, research, etc., are irrevocably tied to the administration of the Uni- versity in the broader sense, and in the long run those functions will flourish only if administrations are legally bound to serve them. a, i a I Teac-in Brings PLEASANT: 6Th 14' 11 ) 1 Mushrooming Cloud i .. .. '.'* A ' J1 . .. !att. 1 . } i7 N rr. . l 3. .'.'i - Y. '- " q A - : '1 '.' To the Editor: WE HAVE just written our first annual donation check to the University Alumni fund. We'd probably not have written it at all had it not been for the letter of Mr. and Mrs. George Wolf (Daily, April 1) in which they cut off their share of the University's alumni support for the Univer- sity's refusal discreetly to close its faculty's mouth and leave discus- sion of Southeast Asia to the poli- ticians and the Army. WE WERE overjoyed to see the University again taking its place as the locus of free investigation -without predetermined conclu- sions-of vital political andtmoral issues, and doing it in its tra- ditional way: visionary yet moder- ate, avoiding both the extremes of a professors' strike and a Dra- conian legislative suppression of discussion more worthy of other *Hetetows RKates As Light Comedy At the Michigan Theatre STRANGE BEDFELLOWS" is yet another in the seemingly endless stream of "sophisticated comedy" films which are definitely not meant for the small fry and yet hold no particular worth for their parents either. Gina Lollobrigida and Rock Hudson play a couple whose peace- ful separation for seven years is shattered when he has to present a good family-man image to win a promotion. Back in each other's arms after meeting again in the divorce counselor's office, they separate and rejoin each other several times throughout the rest of the movie. Complications are provided by her bearded boyfriend, who resents the intrusion of the husband just when things were going so smoothly, and by her tendency to picket for any imaginable cause (which is what broke up Rock and Gina to begin with). When she plans to don a flesh-colored suit of long johns and ride, protest in hand, upon the American embassy (a la Lady Godiva), he pretends to receive a phone call from his boss sending him to some God-forsaken land 4 4 4 41. . I. r;, F ..