v
Seventy-Fifth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BYS TUDENTS OF THE UNWERSTY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
"If We Stood Up To Them, They Might
Be Offended"
BRITISH PARALLEL:
Reviving the Republican Party
Wher Opinions Are r 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MicH.
Truth Witt 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, DECEMBER 4, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT JOHNSTON
Greeks and SGC: Time
To Get Together
THE ISSUE of discrimination in frater-
nities and sororities has been height-
ened by misunderstandings about the re-
lationship between the Greek system and
the University; stalled by an administra-
tion which was for years unwilling to
meet the issues head-on; and now buried
in a confusing legalistic document which
goes by the innocuous title, "Regulations
on Membership Selection in Student Or-
ganizations."
It is unfortunate that the tension and
confusion have only served to obscure the
main issue: whether fraternities and
sororities discriminate and how to elimi-
nate it if they do.
Some 15 years after the University's
first ruling which denied recognition to
student groups guilty of discrimination, it
is clearly time for SGC and the Greek
system to discard their antagonisms and
legalistic relationships-and sit down to
work together toward the elimination of
discrimination.
IT IS DIFFICULT to understand exact-
ly where the relationship between the
University and its fraternity system goes
astray.
Initially, you take a private social club,
the fraternity or sorority, and insert into
a higher education institution. The Uni-
versity agrees to "recognize" that social
club, which means it can have its own
house, use University facilities for club
functions, even join with other social
clubs to establish formal organizations
for their mutual benefit.
In return, the University places one
major stipulation: the club and its mem-
bers are responsible for observing the
University's regulations.
This proves to be an acceptable ar-
rangement and the Greek system becomes
an integral part of the institution.
BUT THIS HARMONIOUS picture is
shattered by the entrance of that ex-
plosive issue: membership selection.
That's exactly what happened here.
The University passed a regulation in
1949 which stated that no student group
can be recognized if its membership selec-
tion is based on racial or religious
grounds. The faculty-student committee
which was assigned to watchdog this pro-
vision hadby 1954evolved into an all-
student group, Student Government
Council.
By 1956 it had found a potential viola-
tor, Sigma Kappa sorority. In 1958 SGC
voted to "withdraw recognition" of Sigma
Kappa and the docile Greek-University
relationship began to explode.
Suddenly, fraternity alumni were call-
ing upon lawyers to explain that students
didn't have the right to watchdog their
houses. The administration, overturning
the SGC decision and re-evaluating SGC
authority generally, was now not so sure
that the body could withdraw recognition.
The students appealed to the Regents for
support but had to wait until 1963 before
it was finally ruled that SGC does have
the power to recognize and withdraw rec-
ognition; that in the enforcement of an-
ti-discrimination rulings here it may
summon any fraternity or sorority docu-
ments which might help in resolving con-
troversies.
BUT THE PROBLEMS were just begin-
ning. When SGC called for a filing of
statements this year, numerous houses
missed deadlines and many filed inade-
quate statements. Yesterday, the chair-
man of the SGC membership committee,
which does the spade work in this area,
went to speak to a meeting of sorority
presidents. He explained that sororities
will now have to submit their alumni rec-
ommendation forms, those documents on
which alumni members of a sorority re-
cord their impressions of girls coming
through rush. Critics of the alumni rec-
ommendation system claim it puts pres-
sure on the local groups which should be
determining their membership without
non-local pressures.
Sorority presidents, who only recently
learned of this new requirement, express-
ed their disapproval. Our national orga-
nizations may not approve, they chanted.
Eventually, of course, the statements
will be forthcoming, but no doubt follow-
ing a period of extended deadlines, for-
mal protests-and more hostilities from
the sororities. The membership commit-
tee, realizing the outcry which was sure
to be raised, did not even set a deadline
yet although they could be required with-
in a short period of time.
BUT THE POINT is that the question
of discrimination has been obliterated
and the campus will quickly tire of the
parliamentary struggles for statements
which are never made public anyway.
The end to the 15-year nonsense will
come only when representatives from SGC
and the Greek system sit down and re-
evaluate the unnecessary problems caus-
ed by their antagonism toward one an-
other.
Both sides would have to come prepared
to cooperate. SGC might agree to abandon
its cumbersome membership regulations
for a more simple set of rules without
the threats of deadlines and investigat-
ing committees and prosecuting tribunals.
The fraternities and sororities, on the
o.ther hand, could agree to allow all mem-
bership statements to be made public.
Experts here say that SGC could re-
quire that they be made public right now,
but if the Greek system would volunteer
them a great deal of antipathy might be
avoided.
WITH THE DOCUMENTS in the spot-
light of publicity, campus opinion
would quickly and effectively condemn
any group which had discriminatory pro-
visions far more effectively than an SGC
tribunal with its secret documents ever
could.
Slowly the confusing issue of discrimi-
nation would become clear, unraveled by
the joint efforts of the Greek and non-
Greek governments.
Then, the University and Greek insti-
tutions could resume an untroubled rela-
tionship.
-LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM
DOUBLE FEATURE:
'Silent Spring': Too
Important To Miss
At the Cinema Guild
OF THE TWO movies being
shown in the Architecture
Auditorium this evening, neither
can really be called a "short sub-
ject," since both are approximate-
ly the same length. The question
of their relative merit, however,
is far more clear-cut: one is of
surpassing importance and one is
an abomination.
The abomination is Ben Mad-
dow's "The Savage Eye." Describ-
ed as "a challenging film" by the
advance publicity, it seemed to
be mere pretentious delirium.
As the movie begins, a divorcee
gets off a plane in Los Angeles
while the camera exposes every
pore of the faces of the hugging,
kissing people who are greeting
each other at the airport.
THEN, out of a clear blue sky,
the announcer, calling himself her
"conscience," butts in and asks
her all sort of impertinent ques-
tions, the answers to which really
aren't any of his business. The
rest of the picture is torn between
her own monotonous activities and
the cameraman's feverish attempts
to take sneaky pictures of every
whore and homosexual in town.
It all adds up to a sort of "Can-
did Camera" without laughs; in
short, a crashing bore.
The important picture on this
twin-bill-indeed, the reason to
bother sitting through "The Sav-
age Eye" at all-wasn't even a
motion pictureto begin with, but
rather a television show: "The
Silent Spring" is a documentary,
based on the late Rachel Carson's
book and originally presented by
"CBS Reports."
WHETHER the usual crowd of
snickering people who always
laugh in the wrong spots at Cin-
ema Guild productions realizes it
or not, "The Silent Spring" is
important. Although it starts out
as if it were really going to end
up on an undecided note, the
evidence condemning the current
pesticide problem is too over-
whelming.
Hopefully, some who see this
film or who have already read
Miss Carson's book will be able
to influence the future in favor
of generations yet unborn; it is
for this reason that I cannot
recommend "The Silent Spring"
highly 'enough. Sit through "The
Savage Eye" to see it if you have
to, but see it.
-Steven Haller
By HAROLD WOLMAN
THE REPUBLICAN Party is now
seriously ill, but predictions of
its imminent demise as a strong
political force in this country
seem quite premature.
Such predictions were made for
Britain's Labor Party after a
shattering defeat in 1959, but a
mere five years later Labor had
not only survived but had re-
covered sufficiently to win the
next general election.
In fact Labor's troubles after
the 1959 election in some ways
strikingly resemble the current
problems of the GOP. After the
election of 1959, Labor found it-
self badly split between an ideo-
logical left wing which staunchly
expounded traditional socialism
and a more pragmatic modern
wing which preferred to win elec-
tions.
* * *
THE MORE MILITANT socialist
left wing was similar to the cur-
rent Republican right wing in at
least one important particular:
the policies both groups espoused
were viewed by the electorate as
outmoded if not clearly irrelevent.
While Barry Goldwater and his
followers called for the federal
government to sell TVA and for
military commanders in the field
to have some control over nu-
clear weapons, the left wing labor-
ites had advocated nationalization
of industry and unilateral disarm-
ament.
To cries of anguish from more
moderate Laborites that such a
program would make it impossible
for Labor to ever win an election,
the militants replied that to do
anything but support these pro-
grams would be a desecration of
the principles for which the party
had traditionally stood.
R. H. S. CROSSMAN, one of the
less militant of the militants was
moved to say, "The best way for
an opposition to survive a period
of unpopularity is to stand by its
principles in the confidence that
W hit e
Heat
WHEN William A. Kepnr, long-
time professor of invertebrate
zoology at the University of Vir-
ginia was asked why his final
examinations usually consisted of
one "fact" question and one "es-
say" question designed to explore
relationships not even mentioned
in class, he remarked that the
only time an undergraduate' s
mind works at white heat is dur-
ing an examination, and that he
considered it much more impor-
tant to insert a concept than to
extract a fact at such a time.
I took several of these highly
original and confidence-shatter-
ing tests. You had to study facts.
You never knew which of a se-
mcollection he would call
for in question I.
THE reward for this toil was
the magnificent opportunity, in
question II, of seeing some of
these facts from a new point of
view-of considering connections
between things previously kept in
separate compartments in the
mind. These challenging exam-
inations never bored anyone. They
are the only ones in seven years
of college attendance that I still
remember 30 years later.
-Hilah Thomas in a letter to
Science Magazine
history will prove it right .. . The
Labor Party should, therefore, re-
main a revolutionary party, bid-
ing its time until the electors are
in a revolutionary mood."
This sounds strangely similar
to a comment by Montana Gov.
Tim Babcock, a staunch Gold-
water supporter who recently dis-
missed the GOP defeat by saying,
"The country simply wasn't ready
for Goldwater." But, as Republican
National Committee Chairman
Dean Burch proclaimed, "We will
not stop fighting until we bring,
this government back where it
belongs."
* **
AT THE 1960 Labor Party Con-
ference the dispute intensified as
moderate Laborites devoted their
energies to an unsuccessful at-
tack upon Clause 4 of the Labor
Party constitution which com-
mitted the party to nationalization
as its ultimate aim.
The strategy of attacking na-
tionalization, one of the symbols
of the dissident left, appears to
be the same one moderate Repub-
licans are now employing when
they call for the resignation of
GOP National Committee Chair-
man Dean Burch, who has be-
come a symbol of the ideological
right.
Possibilities of success along
these lines seems as dubious for
the GOP as they proved to be
for Labor. However, despite their
inability to rid themselves of an
electoral albatross in the form of
Clause 4. Labor was able to sur-
vive.
THE REPUBLICANS should be
able to do likewise, regardless of
whether Mr. Burch is successfully
deposed.
Some accommodation will likely
I
LABOR'S GAITSKELL AND WILSON: Can the Republicans do as well?
be arranged even if it is no more
than an uneasy truce between the
two wings by the 1968 elections.
Parties, both in this country and
in England do not die that easily.
However, the real question is
not whether the. Republican Party
will survive, but in what condition
it will survive. Can the GOP
emerge as the winner in the next
election in much the same way
that Labor triumphed in the elec-
tion following its disastrous 1959
defeat?
* * *
LABOR WAS able to revivify it-
self primarily because it was bless-
ed with leadership of an extra-
ordinary calibre. Hugh Gaitskell
started his party on the road to
unity immedately after the dis-
aster at the 1960 conference by
negotiating a mutually satisfy-
ing, if meaningless, compromise
on the nationalization issue. The
split was well on its way to being
healed when Gaitskell died in
early 1963.
Despite predictions that the
schism would reopen, the new
Labor leader, Harold Wilson, prov-
ed even more astute than Gait-
skell in placating all factions.
Wilson, whose ideological predilec-
tions veer leftward, was nonethe-
less able to appeal to all sections
of the party as a practical poli-
ticiandwhose main interest was
in leading the party to victory, a
feat which he has indeed accom-
plished.
Can the Republicans emulate
Labor's success? The answer may
depend on whether the GOP can
unearth from among the myriads
of politicians now flailing away
at each other a spokesman of the
caliber of Gaitskell or Wilson. And
this will not be an easy task, for
that caliber is very high indeed.
'THE OUTRAGE':
It Might Be Appealing
To Newman Fan Clubs
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Repulsive Ticket Policy:
Good Thing There's TV
Strengthening the Ordinance
FIRST WARD City Councilwoman Eu-
nice Burns, Democrat, recently pro-
posed several amendments to Ann Arbor's
Fair Housing Ordinance which were re-
ferred to the city's Human Relations
Commission for study.
All the amendments are designed to
strengthen the ordinance. One would
extend its coverage to all buildings con-
taining more than two housing units (the
present law covers buildings with five or
more units). Another would prohibit dis-
criminatory practices by realtors such as
the notorious practice of "blockbusting"-
spreading rumors that property values in
a neighborhood are about to drop be-
cause Negroes are moving into the area.
This amendment also would outlaw "re-
fusing to sell, exhibit, lease or otherwise
denying to or withholding from any per-
son any real property."
Another amendment would prohibit
retaliation and discriminatory practices
against persons who support the ordi-
nance and its amendments-this would
which was passed 14 months ago and has
been in effect for 11 months, has had
minimal impact on Negro families and
provided no coverage for 75 per cent of
Ann Arbor.
She originally voted against the Fair
Housing Ordinance on the grounds that
it was far too weak and incomplete in its
coverage. She also stated at the time that
if such a weak ordinance were passed it.
would hamstring any future efforts to
pass a stronger ordinance or to strength-
en the weak one.
It appears that the amendments she
has proposed will be a test of this hypoth-
esis. Mrs. Burns, aware that there are
five Democrats on the Council and that
six votes are necessary for passage of
these amendments, is pessimistic about
the chances for any strengthening of the
ordinance at present.
IT IS STIPULATED in the ordinance
that the HRC must review the ordi-
nance at least once a year, and as yet it
hasn't done so this year. It is expected
At the State Theatre
THE MOST outrageous thing
about "The Outrage" is that
it has been released for public
viewing. A movie as poor as this
one should only be shown to Paul
Newman fan clubs and young
directors learning what not to do.
This could have been an ex-
cellent movie. This was proven in
the fine film "Rashomon" "The
Outrage" takes the same plot and
sets it in post-Civil War Arizona.
However, director Martin Ritt has
removed not only the Japanese,
but the artistic and universal
value of "Rashomon" and replac-
ed it with only a stilted western.
The blame must fall on the direc-
tor.
The story is still that of a ban-
dit (Paul Newman) stopping a
young couple. He rapes the wife
and then murders the husband.
Or does he? Each of the people in-
volvel gives a different version of
what happened.
HOWEVER, each of the fanta-
sies no longer depicts characters
of heroic goodness and badness;
they are just entertaining stories
and reality has become a comedy,
not an exposure of man's pettiness.
Under other directors most of
the cast of this movie have turned
in good performances. Now the
only worthwhile performance is
that of Paul Newman. The others
are at best fair-such as that of
Clair Bloom as the wife, or bad-
such as Edward G. Robinson and
Howard da Silva. Robinson acts
like a ham in an amateur produc-
tion, while da Silva's performance
is so wooden and labored that it
is almost laughable. Laurence
Harvey, it must be admitted, is
not too bad, but then, he is tied
to a tree and gagged during most
of the film.
The camera work is better than
the acting is. Its major fault is
that at times it goes in for too
much "artistry" as in the drown-
t 4
involved in the movie really be-
lieves this. The actors are in-
terested only in being in front
of a camera, the cameraman only
wants to get "artistic" shots, and
even the screenplay writer must
make the plot turn on mechanical
contrivences to make it "come
out right."
-Martha Eldridge
To the Editor:
WHATEVER HAPPENED to the
students' illustrious represen-
tative on Fritz Crisler's autocratic
athletic committee (I do remem-
ber a "Tom Weinberg" who so
vehemently campaigned for his
position on a platform of really
speaking for the student body)?
I
I am a bitter person-bitter be-
cause of the methods of those who
formulate certain policies. It hurt
when Mr. Crisler's group informed
us during second-semester finals
('62) that football ticket prices
were raised from $1 to $12. It
hurt when Mr. Crisler's group in-
formed us during second-semester
finals ('63) that to see a basket-
balJ game would cost a bit more
than a cold wait in line. -
And it really hurts that Mr.
Crisler's group did not inform us
that those "available" (Mr. Wein-
berg's term) season tickets (at
about $2.50 per game) were to
eliminate completely the entire
easter bleacher section of smoke-
filled Yost Fieldhouse. It was
never explained that these extra
tickets did not simply fill the
usually reserved balcony section.
So, the fight for seats will grow
more intense.
THE POLICY of charging "all
the traffic will bear" because we
have a top team as instituted by
the' athletic policymakers repels
me. At least for this student, a
policy of being tossed around has
lessened my enjoyment of Michi-
gan sports; and I refuse to pay
for a fieldhouse. I shall never see.
Since television and radio are not
so bad, there will be at least a
few more inches of hard bench
to fight over, for those who are
willing.
-Charles E. Kent, '65
i
Only Sev)en
ao
To the Editor:
WE WOULD LIKE to express our
appreciation to the editorial
staff of Tlie Daily for informing
us that our flight from Chicago
O'Hare to Los Angeles was can-
celled.
Although the inconvenience is
unexpected, we are resigned to it
because our main desire is to be
in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. It
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