I TUESDAY, AUGUST 25,1964
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE F1 V
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1964 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE FIVE
Michiganensian To Emphasize
'Twenty-Year Look' in 1965
A HISTORY OF CONTROVERSY:
'Board in Control Oversees Student Press
By ROBERT HIPPLER
Robert J. Shenken, editor of the
1965 Michiganensian, has empha-
sized one aim toward which he
will direct his efforts on the year-
book in the coming year. He hopes
to stylize the book using a "20-
year approach" whereby "it will
evoke an accurate picture of Uni-
versity life to the reader who picks
it +up 20 years from now."
To accomplish this role, he said,
the yearbook "will not always
picture the pleasureable side of
campus life." Above all, he con-
tinued, it will try to avoid "cut-
and-dried yearbook traits" such as
group pictures in order "to reflect
most accurately the spirit of the
University."
Change has been the most sig-
nificant aspect of the 'Ensian over
the past two years. Most notice-
able has been the "editorializa-
tion" of the yearbook. The writers
have commented extensively on
campus.life and personalities, and
tried to place them in a historical
context. 'Ensian business manager
Michael A. Galle, '64, emphasized
this while advocating a "carica-
ture approach" which presents
and intrprets the campus com-
munity with "an eye to the future
and an eye to the past."
Informal Tone
Last year's 'Ensian, which start-
ed with a full-page color picture
of the late President John F. Ken-
nedy, was informal in tone. It was
not clearly divided into separate
sections as are most yearbooks,
but had sections "phased" into
one another. It was sold with a
soft-cover supplement.
Posed group pictures were elim-
inated from the 'Ensian, with
candid shots of students or dormi-
tory or housing facilities taking
their place. Last year's 'Ensian was
224 pages, 48 pages more than the
previous one.
As in other years, the principal
clients of the yearbook were the
seniors. Separate, individual pic-
tures along with names and de-
gree awarded, have been and will
continue to be a main feature of
the yearbook.
Attempt To Merge
The informal format of the
yearbook is intended, along with
"phased" sections and unified edi-
torial comment, to merge the book
into a whole. Last year's yearbook
began with a photographic color
summary of the University. Its
pictures ranged from traditional
scenes to modern laboratories and
included sports and living unit
shots.
The next section dealt with the
. U
By KENNETH WINTER
Managing Editor
The student press isn't easy to
live with.
Student journalists usually man-
age--intentionally or otherwise-
to create plenty of headaches for
the university which harbors them.
The best-laid plans of public-
relations men find themselves
violently derailed as a student
editor insults a legislator, calls
the administration dishonest, sur-
veys coeds' sexual habits or ridi-
cules J. Edgar Hoover before a
conservative public.
Fearing such rockings of the
institutional boat, many schools'
administrators take a direct ap-
proach, simply censoring the pub-
lications' contents. Others, more
subtle, work through manipulable
faculty advisors or by keeping
their publications safely under the
wings of the journalism depart-
ment.
The problem is that such con-
trols generally yield an insipid
product: shorn of their decision-
making power, student journalists
tend to feel less responsibility
toward their publications and put
less work into them-and the pub-
lications show it. Generally speak-
ing, the quality of a student pub-
lication seems to be related pretty
closely to the degree of freedom
its student staff enjoys.
Complexities
There are further complexities
in the relationship between a uni-
versity and its student publica-
tions. The fact that student writ-
ers come and go every year creates
problems of continuity: it's dif-
ficult to maintain a competent
staff from year to year, and some-
times even getting out the next
day's paper is an uphill struggle.
Also, no matter how enthusias-
tically they disclaim responsibility,
university officials can't seem to
succeed in getting the public to
realize the distinction between
what the student paper says and
what is.official policy.
For the past half century, the
University's answer to these and
other student-press dilemmas has
been the Board in Control of
Student Publications.
The Board is a non-profit cor-
poration responsible to the Re-
gents.. The Regents' Bylaw which
establishes it somewhat mislead-
ingly gives it "authority and con-
trol over all nontechnical news-
papers, magazines, periodicals,
programs and other publications,
edited, managed or promoted by
students or student organizations
of the University . . . for local
sale or circulation." Actually, the
Board's functioning is a bit more
modest than its charge from the
Regents indicates. It confines it-
self largely to the publications
emanating from 420 Maynard St.
-the Student Publications Bldg.
-the publications described in this
!section.
Two Functions
The Board, in practice, has two
major functions. The first is rela-
tively uncontroversial: keeping all
the publications solvent and
functioning. This involves review-
ing budgets, providing for building
maintenance and improvement
and underwriting losses periodi-
cally incurred by the Board's var-
ious publications by drawing on
its financial reserves, accumulated
THE ENSIAN staff rushes around the yearbook's office prepar-
ing the new edition. Their goals are the "twenty-year look,"
meaningful commentary on life at the University, pictorial ex-
cellence and a fitting tribute to the graduating seniors.
academic units of the University.
Formal pictures were here replaced
by candid shots. Athletic pictures
in last year's 'Ensian differed from
those of previous years in that
none were posed, and a greater
number and variety were included.
Types of Student
Last year's yearbook featui'ed -a
section of depicting the several
types of student on campus. This
section was liked by some and de-
plored by others, but it drew at-
tention, along with a few letters
to the editor of The Daily.
This highlighted the "editorial-
ization" of the yearbook. The types
of student pictured and described
were the popular "all-campus
girl," knowing how to live life en-
joyably but in possible danger of
failing to adjust to the adult
world; the "thinker," giving most
of his efforts to studying; the
"doer," a leader of radical stu-
dent movements and protests; and
the troubled person, having dif-
ficulty emerging into the adult
world as well as conflicts and
worries in present student life.
The University was the first
large school to try the modern
layout and design plan, and be-
cause of its success at its intro-
duction three years ago, the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, Michigan
State University and Purdue Uni-
versity are all considering changes
in their yearbooks.
Positions Open
Work on the 'Ensian, goes on on
the second floor of the Student
Publications Bldg.
Many positions are open on the
'Ensian staff. Working on the
yearbook, a student gets a broaderj
view of campus life, an oppor-
tunity to comment on and evalu-
ate the performance of the Uni-
versity, and often comes into con-
tact with important people, Shen-
kin noted.
"Working on the 'Ensian is an
important and valuable experience
for anyone who is interested in
photography, art, writing or busi-
ness," Shenkin added. Freshmen
are needed to fill the places of
members of the staff who were
promoted last year.
Gargoyle Strives for Humor
from past publications profits.1
Finally, to provide the student
manpower necessary to keep a'
daily newspaper, a yearbook, a
literary magazine, a student direc-
tory and (sometimes) a humorI
magazine going, the Board every
year appoints the editors of eachl
publication.
This practice leads to the sec-
ond - more controversial - func-
tion: the Board's involvement in
the content of the publications it
oversees. In practice, the Board
leaves the student staffs with vir-
tually complete autonomy-but in
theory, it can at any time step in'
and change whatever it wishes,
since it is in effect the "pub-
lisher."
History of Relationship
However, when the Board does
step in--or when' the student
staffs think it's trying to do so-
its action generally precipitates
an avalanche of protest. Particu-
larly with The Daily, its most
controversy - prone organ, the
Board's relationship is delicate
and, as the following incidents in
its history show, occasionally ex-
plosive:
-In 1937, possibly worried by
the most pro-Communist period
in The Daily's history, the Board
decided that Daily editorials
should thereafter be signed by
their writers. The student staff 1torial page--and particularly to
declared that the policy would be
"contrary to all newspaper prac-
tice . . . it makes the editorial
page appear as a collection of
personal essays rather than the
editorial page of a leading col-
legiate journal." But the Board
stood firm. The "collection of
personal essays" editorial page
survived and became popular with
The Daily's staff, whose members
now more flatteringly describe it
as the "open forum" editorial
page..
-In 1940, still disturbed by
"radical" editorials, the Regents
quietly restructured the Board,
cutting student voting power on
it and adding more faculty mem-
bers and alumni. The move was
kept secret until 1941, when it
drew student staffers' charges
that the Board was being "pack-
ed" and a protest by the Student
Senate of that day. But again "the
establishment" prevailed and the
remodeled Board became a per-,
manent institution.
-In 1962, after a year marked
by uneasy Board-Daily relations,
the Board refused to accept the
recommendations of the outgoing
(1962-63) senior staff. The staff
charged that the Board's decision
was an attempt to impose a more
moderate tone on The Daily's edi-
cool down the paper's attacks on
the Office of Student Affairs,
against which The Daily had wag-
ed a vigorous reform campaign.
The outgoing senior staff resigned
in protest; the new appointees
refused to accept their appoint-
ments. They stayed on as a "task
force" to put out the paper. With-
in a month, a compromise was
reached and the new editors
finally accepted their positions.
Workable
Despite the Board's occasionally
stormy history, much evidence in-
dicates that it is a workable syn-
thesis of freedom and control. The
Board acts as a "buffer" between
the student publications and
would-be censors within the Uni-
versity.
Under it, the student staffs are
in real, day-to-day control of the
newspaper, with no administrative
or faculty "advisor" keeping news
articles uncontroversial and opin-
ions within acceptable bounds.
During its lifetime-the above in-
cidents notwithstanding-the Uni-
versity's publications by and large
have enjoyed what The Daily's
front page proclaims every day:
"seventy-four years of editorial
freedom."
Gargoyle-the campus humor
magazine-is an ancient and hal-
lowed tradition at the University,
but the present version of the
magazine is only two years old.
The original version was banned
from the campus several years ago,
mainly for making fun of in-
appropriate people in obscene
wayr.
The new version is distinguish-
ed from the older in one big
way-where the old was subtle
and devious, the new has often
been characterized as heavy-
handed and forthright. As last
year's editor commented, "I don't
think that sophisticated humor
would go on this campus because
we still have undergraduates. You
could print New Yorkers and you
would not sell any more copies
than Generation (the campus lit-
erary magazine) does. Besides, the
kids here don't know the people
around who could be satirized."
Well! Last year the Gargoyle
was, as it has been since its re-
birth, a financial success. In fact,
some issues were exported to (and
sold out at) Michigan State Uni-
versity and Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity.
Welcome
Back
Students
"Your Hair Problems"
are Our Care !"
VISIT
The Dascola Barbers
(near Michigan Theatre)
or
The U of M Barbers
(North U. near Kresge's)
Many have claimed that the
Gargoyle has fallen back into old
habits of obscenity. Although.
there may have been undue em-;
phasis on such themes as nudity,
homosexuality and vulgarity last;
year, it is evident that the in-
fractions were not as serious as
in the past. The evidence is that
the Gargoyle is still around.
Last year, Gargoyle's high points
were satires on the University
football team, a feature on the
similarity of Michigan and Mich-
igan State, and two humorous if
offensive treatises on religious
prejudice. Its low points were sev-
eral pointless cartoons resembling
those of Jules Fieffer an undue
emphasis on sorority and frater-
nity jokes, and many cases of
exceedingly bad art work.
The question around campus is
whether the Garg can complete its
comeback-whether it can ever
come close to the humorous qual-
ity of its banned antecedent. If
it continues to have financial suc-
cess, perhaps its editors can con-
centrate on content instead of fi-
nances, which have often been a
concern in the past.
Originality
Whereas last year and the year
before most Jokes were common
knowledge or stolen from othes
campus humor magazines, this
year the Garg hopes to come up
with more original material. In the
past, often the most hilarious as-
pect of the Garg has been its
advertisements. These are almost
always done in a humorous motif,
and when contrasted against the
normal advertisements of the same
merchants, do crack the humor
barrier occasionally.
Il
The most critical need of the
Gargoyle this year will be for
more personnel. Last year, for ex-
ample, in one issue the five larg-
est stories were done by one per-
son. Thus, the Garg begs you to
join the staff. There are several
advantages: 1) meet people; 2)
make some money; 3) see your
name in print.
The first issue of the Garg this
year will appear in a few weeks.
The office is on the first floor at
420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor,
otherwise known as the Student
Publications Bldg. It also houses
The Daily.
wel
[cOmCe Freshmen
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