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December 08, 1964 - Image 14

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1964-12-08

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'~ff Li J.i !nDaily'
Seventy-Puftlb Year
EITED AND MANAG+D iSY STUDENTS OF THE UijmE sfry OF' &mx
UNDER AUnloI.JTYor BOARD INa CON TROL OF' S rir PtmucJr!olts

TRAINING TEMPERS ...

Pervasive Myth of the

Young Radical
...THE ZEST OF YOUTH

420 MAYNAnR S'., Arn ArOR, MicH.

NEWS PHONE: 764-0552

printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.

&BER 8, 1964

NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN KENNY

dents, Administrators Share
Blame for TorebIncident

[E PROBLEMS of the Roosevelt Torch
illustrate what happens when student
malists are too hasty in taking ad-
tage of their freedom to publish and
.ministrators are too hasty in using
ir power to suppress.
he student editors of the Torch have
mntly been dismissed from their posi-
is by the Roosevelt University Student
ivities Board. The board claims the
lents used their journalistic freedom
sponsibly when the Torch published
ory on the "unofficial firing" of Presi-
t Robert Pitchell and the reported de-
e of the university within two years
ause of a h'uge debt.
story with these assertions would
e strong repercussions involving the
lent body, faculty and community.
ce it is located in the heart of Chi-
o, any news of the proportions of the
rersity failing would definitely be
:ed up by the metropolitan papers and
ismitted to the community as a whole.
FORE PUBLISHING such a story,
he student editors had a responsi-
;y to check and double check their in-
aation with the administration and
i the Torch sources to make sure that
as correct. If necessary, the editorial
d should have held off printing the
y until it verified the facts, especially
e its sources for this information
e confidential and would not be
led.
dging from the way the story was
ten and presented in the Torch, the
ors did not check other sources but
t solely by the information given them
heir confidential source. The article
written as a bulletin in bold-face type
gage three. The headline over it read
chell Fired."
E HEADLINE itself is misleading be-,
ause in the story Pitchell was not
d; his administrative powers were
n from him and given to the Ad-
istrative Council, an organization
e up of the deans of the college. The
,le further talks about "the long-
ildering revolt of the deans," the
ersity's demise because Pitchell has

not brought in new funds and the flight
of teachers and "top" officials from the
school. Judging the story just on style,
the language used was crude, and its pres-
entation on the page was journalistically
poor.
If the story was true, as Torch editors
maintain, they used poor Judgment in
presenting it as they did. They also used
poor judgment in rushing/ the story to
press instead of waiting for further veri-
fication that the story was true.'
HOWEVER, the administration's actions
were also irresponsible. Even if the
story were completely false, as the ad-
ministration claims that it is, the admin-
istration did not have the right to con-
fiscate the newspaper. Pitchell himself
said in an interview that he was not in
favor of the Administrative Council's con-
fiscation. The administration should have
let the papers come out and later distrib-
uted a supplement with its statements
of rebuttal.
The council's refusal to return the pa-
pers and its censorship of what would be
printed in the insert were also wrong.
Another irresponsible action was Pitch-
ell's suspension of the student editors
without warning and after the Student
Activities Board had voted to allow the
Torch to keep publishing while it inves-
tfgated the matter.
STUDENTS MUST HAVE the freedom to
publish all news that concerns the
university. No administration has the
right to censor a newspaper simply be-
cause the paper contains stories that may
be unfavorable to the administration. Yet
along with this freedom to publish goes
a deep responsibility. Every story that is
printed must be verified for content
and then written in the best journalistic
style possible.
Stories such as the one in the Torch,
which could have serious repercussions
on the university, must be handled with
care. The Torch editors were irresponsi-
ble in their handling of the Pitchell story,
while the administration was wrong in
dealing with the situation as it did.
-MERLE JACOB

By ARNOLD S. KAUFMAN
ONE OF the pervasive myths of
our culture is that the young
are radical and grow conservative.
Occasional outbursts of frustration
and a tendency to high jinks are
mistaken for genuine expressions
of radicalism. Those who com-
plain that universities encourage
wide-spread disaffection and dis-
sent have nothing to fear. The
typical American university re-
inforces a cautious, "moderate"
temper of mind. Marvin Felheim
expressed my sentiment perfect-
ly. "We are," he said, "all middle-
aged. The zest of youth is tem-
pered by the same processes which
dilute the mellowness of age.
Everybody is a vice-president."
The university is a great engine
for creating vice-presidents and
the. technicians they direct.
Before I am misunderstood, let
me hasten to explain. I have
nothing against vice-presidents or
technicians. Some of my best
friends are vice-presidents. And I
am as much in need of the serv-
ices of expert technicians as the
next person. We all want the
health of our families and our-
selves well cared for. We all want
competent legal counsel. We all
want the companies in which we
own stock to be well managed. We
all want the benefits of the en-
gineering marvels of this age. It
is a simple policy of prudence
that we encourage the university
to produce the trained personnel
who will fill the functionally vital
slots of a stable society. This
hardly needs to be said, for every-
one takes it for granted.
MOREOVER, the cautiousness
of the vast majority of students
seems to me inevitable. How could
it be otherwise? College students
are just emerging from the pro-
tective cocoon of paternal family
life. They are necessarily insecure
and anxious-their powers in te
process of development, their fu-
tures uncertain. Consolidation opf
a moderate cast of mind is use-
ful. It may put a life of genuine
invention, social creativity and
joy beyond one's reach; but it
puts most graduates beyond reach
of the thoughtless politics of ex-
tremism. (Thoughtless politics is
what I mean by "extremism.")
I do not carp. I accord due re-
spect to the virtues of our "stable
center." Indeed it was a source
of inspiration to witness that solid
core react like granite when vital
institutions of this Republic, the
product of a painful evolutionary
p r o e s s, were subjected to
thoughtless attack by powerful
political forces.
YET, the prudent man does well
to calculate the cost of these ad-
vantages-and to suggest ways
to cut our losses. It is in this
spirit that I suggest that the
University is doing less than it
could and rshould to support
thoughtful radicalism. And stu-
dents are doing less than they
could and should to participate in
such a perspective. For, as Britain
has discovered during the last
century, the price that may be
paid for a conservatively liberal
consensus is more stagnation, ugli-
ness and injustice than an indus-
trial democracy needs or can
afford.
Students in our colleges and
universities are a unique ,con-
temporary resource. They com-
bine in a higher degree than any
other group (including ministers
and college professors) freedom
from contaminating personal in-
terests and fullest access to the
disciplines of reason and its pro-
ducts. It is absurd to suppose
that mature men set down in a
network of institutional pressures
that bear on their personal am-
bitions in complex ways can es-
cape the process by which moral
vision is dulled and distorted.
Whatever truth there is in the

myth of youthful radicalism flows,
I believe, from the fact of the
relative immunity of the young in
this respect. It is a precious im-
munity that society should learn
to exploit more successfully than
it does.
I am not arguing that the Uni-
versity should aim at inculcating
a particular political outlook. Such
a goal is alien to my conception
of a university. Rather it should
do more than it now does to
support the development of a
certain temper of mind, a certain
approach to the problems of so-
ciety. There are biases inherent
in the structure of institutions.
These biases should not all tend
in one direction. The social uses
of intelligent radicalism are as
great as the social uses of intel-
ligent conservatism.
* * *
WHAT SHOULD the University
be doing that it is not now doing
to encourage such growth? (The
following are not necessarily list-
'ROUSTABOUT':
E II

ed in, order of priority.)
I. The University Community
as a Classroafn
The University ought to be do-
ing much more than it now does
to educate students in citizenship.
Of pre-eminent importance is a
fuller participation in the deci-
sion-making processes that affect
a student's life. There are, of
course, areas in which the stu-
dent has no legitimate decision-
making role to play, for example,
the establishment of academic
standards. But there are other
areas in which their influence is
small and could be expanded. The
Student Government Council is
presently concerned with little
more than) house-keeping func-
tions. Disruptive personality con-
flicts are often symptomatic of
chronic communal disorders for
which a fuller participative con-

a way which enables it to profit
from the experience. The resi-
dential college is a step in the
right direction.
IV. "Carve at the Joints"
As Prof. Kaplan emphasizes, the
University should "carve at the
joints." The absurdities of bureau-
cracy dictated departmentalization
should be counteracted by a vig-
orous University policy that has
the opposite tendency. It will do
no good to leave matters in the
hands of department. The exist-
ing system of pressures turns in-
ward. A system of incentives Is
needed if any significant steps
are to be taken in the opposite
direction. There is scope for imag-
ination and invention here.
V. Anarchy of Academic
Production
The administration's bribe for
faculty noninterference in basic

PROF. ARNOLD KAUFMAN of the philos-
ophy department is a specialist In poli-
tical philosophy with emphasis on moral
and legal responsibility. He obtained his
doctorate from Columbia University, and
has studied at the London School of Eco-
nomics and Oxford University. He has pub-
lished a number of articles in the field of
philosophy, and has written a book on mor-
al and legal responsibility.

liberately held.) In practice, the
assessment of the deliberativeness
with which a prospective speaker
holds a position ought to be de-
cided by the inviting organization.
From this point of view, our
speakers' policy ought not to con-
tain a formal rule of disqualifica-
tion. If any group abuses this'
power of invitation, they will hear,
from the rest of us. We do not
require formal constraints.
Correspondingly, the sole tests
of University employment-aca-
demic and nonacademic-ought
to be competence and civility.
These tests should be applied case
by case.
IX. Freedom Implies a "Kicker"
Any good thing" involves a
"kicker." If the University is going
to encourage the self-confidence'
and maturity without which in-
telligent radicalism is impossible,
then it must establish appropriate
rules and standards and apply
them stringently. Too many stu-
dents have already acquired the
preoccupation with self, devious-
ness and manipulative tendencies
of their adult models. Students
must learn quickly and effectively
that their business at the Uni-
versity is serious. If in loco paren-.
tis is to be made obsolete, then
paternalesentimentalism must go
the same way. Stringent academic
standards, stringent rules of
scholarly honesty, faithful per-
formance of nonacademic duties
undertaken voluntarily ought to
be required of every student.
True, this involves some im-
personality - but, justice and
judgments of responsibility are
impersonal. The gain is worth the
losses-even the tragic losses. Too
many students express grievances
without seriously assuming the
responsibilities appropriate to the
situation in which remedy of those
grievances is attempted. They
should appreciate that the ulti-
mate by'product of sentimental
humanitarianism is manipulative
paternalism.
* * *
STUDENTS, thus, have an im-
portant responsibility to assist in,
the development of a more in-
vigorating University community.
It goes without saying that if they
are students solely in order tb
increase their future, earning
power, they do not belong here.

It is a pity that no criterion of
admission, other than intellectual
power and achievement, exists. I
would much prefer to have a stu-
dent who is not bright but is
serious, than one who is very
bright but is simply serving time
until he gets that almighty in-
come ticket.
If students demand greater
freedom from University con-
straint, they must be prepared to
accept more responsibility. If they
voice grievances, though they
need niot propose remedies, they
must make sure that these griev-
ances are precise and factual.
They should be prepared to assist
earnestly in the development of
remedies. And they must be pre-
pared to assist in the administra-
tion of those remedies.
Above all, students should re-
member that -it is precisely be-
cause they are' a transitory popu-
lation that they have a special
obligation to future generations of
students. It is too easy for suc-
cessive student generations col-
lectively to adopt an attitude of
"I'm all right .Jack." One of the
basic virtues of civilized society
is regard for the yet unborn. The
uniquely transitory nature of stu-
dent populations provides an
equally unique opportunity for the
development* of his perspective.
FINALLY, students should avoid
equating "responsibility" w i t h
"realism." It is putting it mildly
to say that "realism" is the domi-
nant style of American politics--
but, it is a form of "realism"
which is often profoundly un-
realistic. Its marks are a certain
tendency to role playing and an-
ticipatory surrender. When a ne-
gotiable conflict arises, the ten-
dency of many is to adopt the
view point of those at the center
of power ("What would I do if
I were President?") This is role
playing and accommodating that
perspective by scaling down one's
objectives in advance of negotia-
tion (anticipatory surrender). We
all like to feel important, and, in
the absence of genuine power,
nothing makes us feel more im-
portant than pretending that we
have the power we lack. In the
process, we exercise less influence
than we possess less effectively
than we are able.

trol in important functions is the
most important remedy.
The surest guarantee of the
development of a responsible radi-
calism is the development of those
virtues which Walter Lippmann
calls "the tradition of civility."
Fuller participation is the most
important condition of such per-
sonal growth. It would be useful
if the administration or the sen-
ate were to appoint a faculty-
student committee charged with
developing proposals dealing with
this subject.
II. A Liberal Education
in Every Pot
Every undergraduate who re-
ceives a degree at the University
should receive a liberal education.
The standards and content of such
an education should be controlled
by those who are professionally
competent in these areas. It would'
be absurd to give professors of.
English control over courses in
engineering or business admin-
istration. It is no less absurd to
give persons trained in engineer-
ing or business administration
control over the extent, nature
and standards of the liberal arts
courses their undergraduates are
expected to take.
The experience and accomplish-
ments of the Harvard Business
School and the Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology could per-
haps provide a model here. (For
an excellent discussion of the
problems that arise in schools
of business administration, see
this month's issue of Fortune
Magazine.)
III. Chaos of Growth and
the Consolations of Intimacy
I recognize that ultimate reme-
dies for the problems of unre-
stricted growth of the University
lie elsewhere. (See the articles in
this series by Regent Sorenson
and Prof. Kazarinoff, in this rem-
gard.) But, as Professors New-
comb and Thuma insist, we must
devise means of controlling growth
so as to combine the vices of
scale with the virtues of intimacy.
I suppose scale has virtues-but
they are so exaggerated, I hesi-
tate to acknowledge them. If the
University must be raped, it at
least should receive the assault in

policy making is departmental
laissez-faire. And the department's
concession to that internal peace
that passes all convenience is
often faculty laissez-faire. The re-
suit is a largely unreflective ex-
pansion of the total University
commitnent to research and
graduate studies at the expense:
of undergraduate education. Much
can be done to reverse this often
pernicious process of resource re-
allocation without undermining
legitimate faculty autonomy.
VI. Good Soldiers and
Good Administrators
The basis of selection of ad-
ministrators should include in-
dependence of mind and genuine,
commitment to a meaningful edu-
cational experience. Good soldiers
have their utility, but not in key
administrative roles.
VII. Civility is Heterogeneous
The University should try to
reflect the marvelous heterogene-
ity of our national community. It
is a pity that what is an inspira-
tion to the whole world should be
regarded as a burden by so many
Americans. The issues of course
extend far beyond the out-state-
in-state ratio. The program of the
University recenty inaugurated to
increase the proportion of Negro
students is correct and meaning-
ful. Commitment to the principle
of human dignity and its civil
rights corollaries should pervade
both the academic and non-
academic divisions of the Univer-
sity.
It might be useful to establish
a senate committee charged 'with
periodic review of University per-
formance in the area of ;civil
rights. This would both reassure
the larger community and give
the administration, as such, some
immunity from unwarranted criti-
cism.
VIII. Freedom is a Warm Puppy
Every barrier to presentation of
deliberatively held views ought to
be eliminated. Not only should the
widest possible range of moral
and aesthetic opinion be permit-
ted; it should be positively en-
couraged. (Yes-I mean Commun-
ists and Nazis-if a case can be
made for the claim that their
views are, however mistaken, de-

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Co-Chairmen Explain..
Challenge' Program.

Berkeley Protests Go Too far

UR SOCIETY, or any society, is to
vive and prosper, it must exist in a
te which recognizes peaceful and
ly means of dealing with controver-
ssues. Lawlessness and disrespect
uthority can lead only to disorder,
sion and chaos in such a climate,'
ciety can properly function or be
ained.
ortunately, the disturbances at
ley in the past several days serve
to underline and substantiate this
Helmeted police Thursday reported-
ested 900 persons who sprawled all
in the University of California ad-
ration building in a "free speech"
istration described by the state's
ior as "anarchy."
ZK KERR, president of the univer-
y, issued a statement the next day
ing that the Free Speech Move-
represented an "understandable
-n" last September, but that it "has
ecome an instrument of anarchy
. personal aggrandizement." He ac-
the Free Speech Movement of viol-
the law, of intolerance, distortion
truth, irrationality, indecency and
1.
in a speech at a4counter-rally, the
Cork Times reports that a student
'My husband and I have just re-
1 from overseas. I see the same
here who I saw over there. There
supported Red China and talked
the Congolese imperialists. Here
ilk about free speech and lead their,
sheep."
A CONDEMNATION of the Berk-
students is too harsh. However,
ear that the situation at the Uni-
of California has gotten out of
Lawlessness and disrespect for au-
have clearly lead to disorder, con-
and chaos. Evidence of this fact

causes and the dropping of charges
against four leaders involved in previous
administrations." President Kerr denied
in his last statement that freedom of
speech had ever been an issue, and said,
"The protest has been over organizing
political action on campus."
HE BERKELEY ISSUE, in fact, just
concerns the prohibition of soliciting
members and money for off-campus po-
litical purposes. Students there still have
the right to express their thoughts and
opinions openly.
Obviously, then, the scope of the issue
has assumed exaggerated proportions, and
one wonders whether the means justify
the ends. In this light, protest leader
Mario Savio's promise that "this univer-
sity shall not run" is ridiculously out of
place.
Furthermore, in carrying the issue to
such dimensions, the demonstrators are
depriving the majority of unconcerned
students of their right to attend classes.
Significant opposition to the Free Speech
Movement has been in evidence all along.
Some students standing at the noon rally
last Thursday reportedly held signs read-
ing "Law Not Anarchy-The Majority of
Students Do Not Support This Demon-
stration."
THE MINORITY of students have been
too impatient. It has only been five or
six weeks since the administration made
its initial change in regulations. Every-
one knows that it takes time to make far-
reaching changes and reforms.
Now that their initial demands have
been recognized, the dissatisfied students
at Berkeley should concentrate on more
orderly methods of presenting their views.
The Student Employes Union on this cam-
pus has proved that small, personal meet-
ings are more effective and receive more
respet at this noint in a nrntest

To the Editor:
RECENT EDITORIALS and let-
ters to the editor discussing
the lack of real substance and
spirit in the student rat race have
prompted this letter. We feel that
the "Challenge" program, if it is
properly used by the student body,
can serve to relieve these lacks.
We would like to explain what
Challenge is and what it can
become.
First we would like to emphasize,
the concept of Challenge. Our
constitution notes:
"As university students today,
we find that our environment does
not enable us to understand these
contemporary challenges. Our
concern and our sensitivity become
intellectualized and fragmented to

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the point where we cannot feel
the significance of, or respond
creatively to, the most crucial is-
sues . . . Students all over the
country and at Michigan need and
are demanding a program to help
them explore these issues with
depth and vigor. Challenge is such
a program."
TO IMPLEMENT this concept,
Challenge chooses each semester
one significant problem which
challenges the imagination of the
University community. This prob-
lem is explored in depth. The
strategy is to invite a series of
prominent speakers to consider
different aspects of the problem.
The issues raised by these speak-
ers are considered in a series of
discussion groups.
This spring our subject is "The
Challenge of Communist China."
The timeliness of the problem is
evident. We expect through lec-
tures to consider Communist
China within the framework of
world ideology, international poli-
tics, Chinese and American policy
objectives and the preceptions mo-
tivating those policies.
Also we will devote attention to
unique aspects of China's social
structure and historical exper-
ience; we in the West have scanty
knowledge of the unique in China,
but it is only through understand-
ing the ways China differs that
we may appreciate the complexity
of her challenge to the ;world. In
the meeting of two civilizations
we see questions fundamental to
man's future and his qualities as
man.
* * *
FINALLY we think that the
campus as a whole could partici-
pate in the choice of new Chal-
lenge programs. We have now
formulated a program for the fall
of 1965, and thus encourage all who
have a challenge they would like
to see explored-be it poverty in
the U.S., sex on campus, the
American Establishment, the state
of the arts, or what have you-to
come and work with us in the
development of our future pro-
grams.
Challenge will be holding its
final organizational meeting in
preparation for the coming pro-

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