Seventy-Third Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNrvERSrrY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
"Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241
Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the, editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1962 NIGHT EDITOR: MALINDA BERRY
Cuba. and the M onroe Doctrine
"Another Historic First!"
Oh Goodness,
Oh Gracious,
THERE IS a concerted tradition of "gracious nails and your clothes all deserve attention
living" which has begun to pervade every before you ever go to the dining room ...
facet of life in women's residence halls, from for dinners you owe yourself the relaxation
habits of personal cleanliness to enforced pro- which comes from a bath or shower ..."
priety at mass bread breaking. "The singing of grace is always much
The tradition evidently is the University's more sincere and reverent if it is preceded
way of endorsing and encouraging midwestern, and followed by a moment of absolute
middle class standards-of social excellence and silence. The head of the dining room will
acceptability, and it marks one of the more give the signal for starting grace by bowing
obnoxious aspects of manditory group living, her head."
One particularly repulsive syndrome of "gra- (Subtitled: 'Passing and Serving Food')
cious living" is the sit-down meal, a charming "For the most part, the easiest way to
ceremony initiated in women' residence halls pass a dish is to accept it in your right
durimny t eateofDenofnsWrosenDebrhl hand, transfer it to your left, help your-
during the term of Dean of Women Deborahsef n astedshaogt orrgt
Bacon, which occurs -thrice weekly on the Hill self, and pass the dish along to your right
and with even greater frequency in other Uni- "People who have 'been around' like al-
andrithevn gmreer fmost all sorts of food-they have cultivated
a cosmopolitan taste. Don't miss the oppor-
HE SIT-DOWN is a formal meal during tunity to cultivate your sense of taste along
H , with your other educational activities.
which food is served to each woman by a . And remember how you are going to
waitress. In return for this service, and to feel about a 'man who is hard to cook for'
show appreciation for the theoretically im-
proved quality of food, each dineress is expected because he doesn't like any of your favor-
to look and act a little more lady-like than she ites. The enjoyment of the meal for a whole
normally might atable may be spoiled by one girl who
'doesn't like' this or that. Silence is golden."
About a year ago a Markley housemother (Subtitled: 'Silverware')
defended the sit-downs by saying that through Betsy Barbour Silverware is fairly simple
these gracious meals girls who come from rural to use-you can't go very far wrong with
areas (where the livin' is ofttimes easy and, it.
evidently from the University's point of view, ,In general, for conveying food to the
pretty slovenly) to acquire all the skills of mouth, the fork or spoon isheldllightly
their urban sisters-skills which are, in effect,
quite necessary for bagging the right kind of with the thumb and first two fingers--
man and being, for him, the most functional of prongs (or bowl) up.
"Watch your little finger when you
all possible wives. handle glass, cup, or plate. Don't let it get
The way in which the sit-down is carried out byitself in an affected pose ..."
out is left pretty much to the discretion of the os i ted pos')
housemother of each dormitory. Last year at (Subtitled: Napkins')
Markley an attempt was made to have the "Unfold your napkin to one-half its size
as soon as you are seated . .. Don't forget
sit-downs become ,a means to an international to use it during the meal as nothing can
education, so that when "German" food (veal tract f ur dignity mo d aa
cutlet mit sauerkraut) was served, the wait- detract from your dgty more devastat-
resses wore Iederhosen or other folksy outfits. ingly than a crumb on your chin."
(Subtitled: 'Posture and Conversation')
The dormitory also piped into its dining rooms "Know your Time, Life, New Yorkers,
a recording of a chorus of German men singing Harpers, and the New York Times Book
stein songs. A similarly terrifying episode oc- Review section . .. or at least know some-
curred when "Italian" food was listed on the thing about them ... The excuse that you
menu. have 'no time to read' doesn't help you
learn the art of table conversation.
NOW, AT BETSY BARBOUR House, the wait- and that art is one of the most valuable
resses' dress remains quite new-world, re- things you can acquire in college."
gardless of the origins of the main course. But The booklet ends here.
the sit-down itself is carried to something of
an extreme: it happens seven times a weekTHE BOOK ITSELF is a disgusting attempt
come rain or shine, flood or famine,1 to exert pressure on the women to conform
Concerned that the Barbourites might go -to be silent if they don't like something, to
through 300 days of sit-downs and still remain accept standard mores and ethics and a way of
boorish, an anonymous author has made avail- life which is vapid and shallow and as much
able to them a concise booklet containing like everyone else's as possible-without ever
everything a modern Michigan female ought questioning any part of the conformity.
to know about mealtime, with the exception of And the women of Barbour, despite a few
the actual preparation thereof. who chuckled or scowled at the idea, have
The booklet is entitled "Betsy Barbour Dining taken the booklet and the idea behind it seri-
Customs," and is so incredibly pompous, so ously. It is a thoroughly shaking experience to
typical of everything which is wrong with the attend a sit-down in Barbour and note the
attitude of residence hall personnel that no actions of the women-those who have ac-
commentary is necessary-the booklet speaks cepted this incredible set of rules-as they make
well for itself. an effort to keep their little fingers from pop-
ping up, as they discuss the latest issue of
"MEAL TIME in the Residence Halls is about "Look" or "Mademoiselle" or the "New York
the best time of the day," it begins. "The Times Book Review Section." Their nails are
service is simple, yet dignified and the food is filed, their hair combed, they are fresh out of
excellent," Thus, the style and pace of the bro- a pre-dinner tub. In a word, they are immacu-
chure: late in body, mind and spirit, ready to eat
(Subtitled: whatever is put before them with a grace it
Personal Appearance at Mealtime') sure as hell does not deserve.
"Your face, your hair, your hands, your -DENISE WACKER
The Real Trouble with Red China
; .
.r
.= .'
By ROBERT SELWA
THERE IS hypocrisy in the pres-
ent American interpretation
and application of the Monroe
Doctrine. The hypocrisy is the re-
sult of contradiction and omission.
The omission is most glaring in
Time magazine's cover story on
the Monroe Doctrine.
But narrow-sightedness about
the Monroe Doctrine is not pecu-
liar to Time magazine; it has also
been evident in the nation's cap-
ital.
Time magazine and Capitol Hill
quote and argue these lines of the
Monroe Doctrine:
"THE OCCASION has been
judged proper for asserting, as a
principle in which the rights and
interests of the United States are
involved, that the American con-
tinents, by the free and indepen-
dent condition which they have
assumed and maintain, are hence-
forth not to be considered as sub-
jects for future colonization by any
European powers." Since the po-
litical system of European coun-
tries is "essentially different" from
that of America, "we should con-
sider any attempt, on their part
to extend their system to any
portion of this hemisphere as dan-
gerous to our peace and safety."
What this part of the Monroe
Doctrine says in short is, "Euro-
pean countries-keep out of the
Americas."
What Time magaine and Con-
gressmen have overlooked is the
following part of the Monroe Doc-
trine:
* * *
"OUR POLICY in regard to
Europe, which was adopted at an
early stage of the wars which have
so long agitated that quarter of
the globe, nevertheless remains the
same, which is, not to interfere in
the internal concerns of any of
its powers, to consider the govern-
ment de facto as the legitimate
government for us; to cultivate
friendly relations with it; and to
preserve those relations by a frank,
firm and manly policy, meeting in
all instances the just claims of
every power, submitting to in-
juries from none."
What this part of the Monroe
Doctrine says in short is, "And
while you are keeping out of the
Americas, we'll stay out of Eur-
ope."
Have we kept out of Europe? Do
not our military bases "interfere
in the internal concerns of any
of its powers?" And what is the
purpose of. the Kennedy Adminis-
tration's trade pill, but to achieve
closer economic integration with
the European Economic Commun-
ity? And how about the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, our
military alliance with several
European countries?
And according to the More
Doctrine, the United States shall
"consider the government de
facto as the legitimate government
for us." Is this what we are doing
with East Germany and Com-
munist China?
*' * *
THE POINT IS that the "keep
out of Europe" part of the Mon-
roe Doctrine is in direct con-
tradiction to many important
United States policies today. Arid
it is no wonder: when the Monroe
Doctrine was announced in 1823,
the Uninted States was a develop-
ing neutralist country using isola.
tionism as a protection for its
growth. Today the United States
as the leader of the Western world
can no longer afford to be isola-
tionist; we are internationalist by
necessity as well as by choice.
But the hypocrisy remains: we
are internationalist towaid the
rest of the world but we expect
the rest of the world to be isola-
tionist toward the Americas; we
reiterate one part of the Monroe
Doctrine and repudiate the other.
If we are to be faithful to the
Monroe Doctrine, we should stay
out of Europe as well as try to
have European (and Asiatic)
countries (such as Russia) stay
out of the Americas. If our de-
fense is that Europe wants us
there and that European countries
want our military forces to be
based there, how then could we
justify interfering with Cuba's re-
quests for"Russian military forces?
For the United States to block
Russian shipments to Cuba would
be to invite the Russians justifi-
ably to block American shipments
to Europe. Either way it would be
an act of war; and if military aid
is itself an act of war, then both
sides have already been provoking
each other aggressively.
* * *
THE MONROE DOCTRINE may
have been intended to prevent ag-
gression, but it has been used as
an umbrella for aggression. Wit-
ness the United States military
and economic aggressions in La-
tin America at the end of the
last century and throughout much
of this century. So much of the
hate Latin Americans have for
us is the result of our activities,
especially by President Teddy
Roosevelt, under the Monroe Doc-
trine. It is no wonder that a
recent book by a LatinAmei',an
about us deals with "The Shark
and the Sardines."
Today, many Congressmen, such
as Senator Barry Goldwater would
have us be militarily aggressive
again in Latin America in the
name of the Monroe Doctrine. But
we could make no greater error
in Latin America than to unleash
our vast military power upon a
weak little nation like Cuba.
* * *
WHAT WOULD RESULT? All
the old and bitter anti-Yankee
emotions would arise again-the
emotions that only a few Years ago
caused the vice-president of the
United States to be greeted with
stones and spit. These emotions
could cause the failure of the fra-
gile Alliance for Progress.
And if we inxaded Cuba and
overthrew Castro and killed
people, in the name of the Monroe
Doctrine or in the name of our
security, what would we nave?
We would have to set up a regime
or a government, and no matter
how democratic or how popular it
were, insurgency would iemain,
and rebels would gather guns for
new rebellions, and we would have
to keep suppressing dissidents and
fighting new Castros and new
popular leaders.
It is necessary that we refrain
from using military aggression.
And it is necessary that we aban-
don the Monroe Doctrine because
it is antidated and isolationst
and because it tends to prompt
rash unilateral, aggressive action.
Our emphasis should not be on
the Monroe Doctrine but on col-
lective hemisphere defense like
that which the Organization of
American States can provide.
The Communists continually ac-
cuse of us being imperialistic.
These accusations would have been
true a half century ago. They have
not been true in recent times:
President Truman halted General
MacArthur's offense in Northern
Korea; President Kennedy cancel-
led United States air participation
in the invasion of Cuba by anti-
Castro Cubans last year.
The Truman-Kennedy doctrine
is the better doctrine: the only war
we shall fight shall be defensive.
.4
4
4
I
I
Cuban Policy Muddled
By PHILIP SUTIN
and GLORIA BOWLES
THE UNITED States reached a
new peak of hysteria this week
when the Senate coupled a declara-
tion of hostility against Cuba with
a request by President John F.
Kennedy to call up 150,000 re-
serves if necessary.
The declaration asserted this
country's determination "to pre-
vent by whatever means may be
necessary, including the use of
arms, the Marxist-Leninist re-
gime in Cuba from extending by
force or threat of force its aggres-
sive or subversive activities to any
part of this hemisphere."
The document drew two policy
lines for the United States to fol-
low. One is to prevent the threat
of Cuba endangering the security
of this country. The other bids
the United States to work with
other hemisphere nations to end
this threat.
* * * '
THIS declaration is milder than
the many proposals advanced by
American political leaders. In the
past week ill-considered sugges-
tions which could lead the United
States to war have been proposed
by a number of politicians.
Among them was Senator
George A. Smathers (D-Fla.), who
asked for an inter-American mili-
tary alliance to crush "Commun-
ist" Cuba, and recognition for a
Cuban government-in-exile.
Former Vice-President Richard
M. Nixon, running for governor in
California, pledged his support to
a quarantine of Cuba to halt the
flow of Soviet arms by blockade of
the island. He also asked for a
commitment by United States al-
lies that their ships would not be
used for Soviet shipments.
* * *
SMATHERS, in his hysteria, has
forgotten the fact that inter-
American alliances already do ex-
ist. His proposal for recognition of
a Cuban government-in-exile is
unfeasible; the advantages of such
recognition are not clear at this
point, nor is it possible to recog-
nize all groups claiming legitimacy,
all of them with different political
orientations ranging from moder-
ate left to extreme right.
Both the Smathers and Nixon
statementsare examples of hastily
contrived political pronounce-
ments. A naval blockade, in in-
ternational law, is an act of war,
and supposes that the blockading
nation is ready to make good the
blockade if it is challenged by the
ships of any nation.
If this tactic is to succeed, the
U.S. would have to use force not
only against Cuban shipping, but
also those of its NATO allies, and
the Soviet bloc. To convey its aid
to Cuba, the Russians have char-
tered British, Norwegian and
Greek ships. Any action against
this shipping would create crises
and tensions far more dangerous
than thevcurrentiCuban situation.
Any overt action against Cuba
either by the United States or ref-
.-.-- -.-.
regain the sympathies of many of
its former supporters who are sus-
picious of the "Colossus of the
North." The United States' worth-
while projects like the Peace Corps
and the Alliance for Progress
would be negated by a reaction
more bitter than the outcry
against last year's ill-fated Bay
of Pigs invasion.
Like the Cuban crisis of the
1890's that culminated in the
Spanish-American war, the cur-
rent hysteria is the result of in-
complete and faulty information.
Diplomatic and cultural relations
with Cuba have been cut for al-
most two years. The American
news media are severely limited
in Cuba and rely for much of their
news on television broadcasts mon-
itored in Key West, Fla., dispatches
from reporters of two or three
"sensationalist" London papers,
and news releases by Cuban refu-
gee groups.
Travel by Americans to Cuba
has been greatly reduced and the
public cannot benefit from eye-
witness reports about the country.
At the same time the govern-
ment has not divulged the infor-
mation gained by its intelligence
sources which is the basis for the
current watch-and-wait policy.
* * *
AS A RESULT, a number of
American politicians, notably Sen.
Kenneth Keating (R-NY), have
spread exaggerated claims about
the strength and scope of Soviet
operations in Cuba.
Keating and others do not have
reliable sources of information.
One source is reports of refugee
groups like the Cuban Student Di-
rectorate who dedicated their en-
tire Aug. 24 news release to the
landings because "the landings of
Russian troops and heavy arma-
ment on Cuban soil, and the pres-
ence there of an International Bri-
gade implies extra-continental in-
tervention.
In that issue the directorate de-
tails its claims that the Russians
have landed at least 7600 soldiers
and heavy equipment in the month
previous to the report. It also as-
serts that heavy equipment and
missiles have also been imported.
THE ACCURACY of such groups
is dubious in view of their bias and
Tactics
Q. How do the Communists
work?
A. A Communist group at Ohio
college tried very hard to bring
into itsaranks a young Phi Beta
Kappa and an officer of the Stu-
dent Council.
W h e n ideological arguments
failed, he was invited to a house
off the campus where drinks were
served lavishly. He was then told
he could bring a girl to the house
any time he wanted to, provided
he joined the group.
If he didn't know any girls
without bourgeois ideas of moral-
if am r. , nilfihpi,,rnr,,npri+in nn
the resultant human tendency' to
exaggerate information that will
help their cause.
Other factors enter into the cur-
rent hysteria. Many of the most
vehement critics of "administra-
tion in action" have been politi-
cians runnnig for election this
year. In a stiff election fight an
appeal to Americanism will garner
many votes.
The situation is further compli-
cated by the cries of those who
want to return to the status quo
of the Batista regime where Amer-
ican economic interests ruled and
milked the island. Smathers, long
an opponent of Castro and his re-
forms, is leading the fight for an-
other Cuban invasion.
* ,* *
MOST Americans fail to see the
defensive nature of the Soviet
commitment and the geograph-
ically untenable position of the
Russians. The sketchy intelligence
reports released by the United
States indicate that the bulk of
Soviet equipment is of a defen-
sive nature and designed to quell
the hotbed of discontent inside
Cuba and' to shore up the Cuban
economy.
These Soviet soldiers seem to
function in fashion similar to the
United States military "advisors"
in South Viet Nam. They may lead
and direct, but they do not fuel
large scale offensive undertakings.
In the same way the Soviets may
have committed themselves to a
similar sort of endless and costly
entanglement.
The Russian forces in Cuba do
help to deter American invasion.
There is not a clear-cut question
of superiority or inferiority, but a
question of the amount of damage
the Cubans could inflict on the
invading force. Soviet assistance
raises the price of an invasion. The
Cubans are genuinely afraid of
invasion. They are simply buying
insurance.
* * *
THE United States is faced with
a number of alternative courses
of action. It could act with overt
belligerence, but the costs and
risks are too great.
A blockade of arms shipments
from Cuba to other Latin Ameri-
can nations might be instituted
with the aid of a naval patrol, and
the support of these nations.
This watch could be placed in a
general framework of arms con-
trol in Latin America where arms
smuggling contributes to disorders
and revolts, notably in the back-
lands of Columbia. This concerted
hemispheric action could possibly
ensure Latin American peace that
would endure long after the Cas-
tro threat disappears.
The days the United States
could unilaterally enforce the
Monroe Doctrine, add corollaries
sanctioning U.S. intervention in
Latin American affairs and by it-
self keep foreign influences and
power out of the hemisphere have
long since ended.
Effective actionn aeainst the
TIE TROUBLE with Red China is that we
keep getting soft about the whole thing. It-
takes a lot of convincing to keep Americans re-
minded that the People's Republic of China does
not exist. It takes a lot of convincing, because
it looks pretty real to the naked eye.
Another variable that clouds the issue is Gen-
eralissimo Chiang Kai-chek, who unfortunately
is a most disagreeable messiah with a rather
discouraging record.
And so the talk is beginning to crop up
again: Red China has 650 million of-the earth's
people. Why doesn't the United States recog-
nize this, and why aren't these people repre-
sented in the United Nations?
THE ANSWERS, of course, are simple, but
they keep getting obliterated. The United
States can't recognize anything which isn't
there, and all those people are already repre-
sented in the UN.
We cannot forget the history of the Commu-
nist takeover in China. As the forties drew to
a close, Chiang had been doing a sloppy job of
running the Chinese nation. To be sure, he was
far more concerned with the welfare of the
Chiang family than with the Chinese people,
and as a result things were going fairly badly.
The Communists seized upon this opportuni-
ty and routed Chiang's forces to the island of
',. . eft
Formosa, setting themselves up in power. But
the Chinese people were never consulted in the
matter, and they have not been consulted to
this day.
BECAUSE AMERICA is a democratic nation,
we cannot recognize any undemocratic as-
sumption of power, for to do so would be to dis-
card the sacred principles of our own republic.
(Granted we have done so in the past, but that
does not mean we should continue a bad prac-
tice.) Since the Chinese people have not been
given the opportunity to choose between Chiang
and the Communists, we are left with no choice
but to ignore the existence of the Communist
regime.
To overlook the Communists, however, does
not mean we are overlooking the Chinese. Their
legally chosen ruler today, as it was fifteen
years ago, is still Chiang Kai-shek, and when
he speaks, he speaks for all China. This will
continue to be true until the Chinese have a
fair chance to express themselves otherwise.
Thus, to grant any recognition to the Reds
would be to give them the respectability they
so badly need.
Consequently, the United States does indeed
recognize the legal government of China, and
the United Nations, as a league dedicated to
peaceful settlement of disputes, would betray
itself by allowing an unabashed aggressor na-
tion to sit among its members.
THUS, WE MUST REMEMBER, when tending
to become maudlin about those 650,000,000
Chinesp nennle. that the United Natinns and the
AT THE CAMPUS:
Visconti Rocco':
Too Much Realism?
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS is a story of a peasant family that
migrates to the big city from the primitive, poverty-stricken south
of Italy. The first hour of Visconti's three hour epic is nothing short
of superb. Here the tone is set: one of heightened realism in which
performance and camerawork are emotionally and dramatically inten-
sified, while the aim remains fundamentally naturalistic. Here are the
warmth, dignity, and hellishness of a large family living together, uni-
fied by the vigorous pathos of Katina Paxinou's mother, and all set
against a bustling yet depressing city background.
Visconti has an unerring eye for the right mood, and the
narrative construction is masterly in the way it works the threads of
its characters personal stories into the almost imperceptible ground-
work of an epic. The real and romantic, the profane and demonic
combine; and the firmly established characters and their relationships
promise legitimate dramatic explosions.
But they fail to become more than just promises, for the simi$e
reason that Visconti's heightened realism overreaches itself. The film
never actually loses its grip on one, never falters in its fascinating tech-
nical command; the disorder lies elsewhere. Brilliance mingles with
sensationalism, refinement with crudity, until the whole thing begins
to look and sound like some enormous compendium of human emotions.
Sacrifice begets self-sacrifice, and monologues about the future and
the family's lost happiness are uttered in portentous close-ups. Nino
Rota's score lets up for barely a moment.
CHRONOLOGICALLY, the film's deterioration can be traced to the
moment when Rocco is brought to the foreground. Alain Delon's in-
terpretation is not convincing: a dreamy-eyed mediator, all silent suf-
fering, guilt complexes, and Ganymedean charm.
His potentiality as a boxer is highly doubtful and his reaction to
the rape (to break off with Nadia) lacks motivation; unless Visconti
sees Rocco as a kind of Dostoievskian character, another Prince Mysh-
kin returning good for evil. But Visconti is not Dostoievsky. And when
the floodlights of the boxing ring are ceremoniously lit un as if to