N
Seventy-Third Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BT STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDE AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
"Where Opinions Are STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241
Truth Wil Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
MANDATORY RETIREMENT:
Y, OCTOBER 10, 1962
NIGHT EDITOR: PHILIP SUTIN
Neutrality
Of the Press
OF'IL'N EFWSPAPERS devote a great num-
ber of column inches to pointing out the
ill considered actions of other sectors of so-
ciety. Rarely do they sit down and consider
what they themselves are doing to deserve
the trust of the public.
Tworecent events have demonstrated clearly
that the press should take a close look at its
own positipn.
Reporters, as the eyes and ears of their read-
ing public, are allowed certain privileges in
order to handle news in depth. They are also
allowed certain economic benefits to insure
their continued independent existence.
With these benefits also go responsibility--
for instance the responsibility to use the priv-
ileges of the press only to disseminate informa-
tion and the responsibility to report all facts
that the public should be informed. News-
papers also have the responsibility to take
editorial stands on issues that affect their
readers.
With their greater background they are
among the most qualified to give opinions.
They are ignoring their duty if they do not
comment.
Thus it falls to a newspaper to censor itself,
or to newspapers to censor each other. This is
a hard thing to do since no newspaper is in
the position to "cast the' first stone."
H OWEVER, in clear cases of violation, a
newspaper should realize what it has done.
The most flagrant violation of the neu-
trality of the press came last week when the
Clarion-Ledger and the Daily News, both of
Jackson, Miss., did not comment editorially
on one of the most controversial and far-
reaching situations to occur in their state-.
the attempt to desegregate the University of
Mississippi in Oxford.
In refusing to comment, they ignored one
of their foremost responsibilities to their public,
that of guiding opinion on a subject in which
they had opportunities to get the whole story,
A MORE SUBTLE violation of the responsi-
bilities of the press came when the Detroit
Free Press, in attempting to get sensational
copy, used the funds and the people of the
press to carry out a politically charged plan.
The rescue of dancer Emese Sklenkay, a
wonderfully human and heroic action, was not
the job of a newspaper. In rescuing her the
newspaper jeopardized the freedom of move-
ment and access to information of all cor-
respondents dealing with the Soviet bloc.
Truth and the free flow of information is
just as vital to the life of democracy as the
regard for human life. Just as the Red Cross
must be apolitical when it moves on battle
fronts to save human life, so must the news-
papers be in their actions to preserve the
freedom of information.
THE SOUTHERN papers could have written
explaining the stand of the South, taking
it out of the plain of emotionality if this was
possible. The Free Press could have referred
the case to any one of many agencies or in-
dividuals able to effect the same ends.
It would have been extremely hard for news-
papers not to engage in these violations, but
for the continued effectiveness of the press,
they should have fulfilled their responsibilities.
-CAROLINE DOW
Personnel Director
IN AN ever widening community of peoples,
no man may be present at each happening
that affects his life. Specialization has been
civilization's answer to this problem-special-
ization in lawmaking, in medicine, and in
knowledge. Yet in democracy, the common
people have retained the reins in order to
make their own decisions about their lives.
Then the decisions became too complex for
individual men to remain abreast of. So in
certain areas they delegate the decision-
making to men more knowledgable than they.
However, they retained the power of deciding
who should make these decisions.
One of the decision-influencing agencies is
the newspaper, with its ability to report the
facts and give opinions on it in its editorial
pages. The people should have the right to
choose whom they read and thus include the
type of decision Influencing that exists. How-
ever, due to the great inertia of a newspaper,
one decision or action ,rarely affects circu-
lation.
A P1
Po liecy
By DENISE WACKER for the
and NEIL COSSMAN fessors
THERE IS a common theory fCuty
that the major goal of a uni- keep ty
versity is the education of its stu- into yh
dents.
To that end teachers are hired. soon
They do their jobs and receive would
their pay from the university and The
in this way the school and edu- not be
cation are, for them, a business. forced
number
Like most businesses, the Uni- height
versity has ways of determining' goom"
when an employee is no longer same t
useful to the organization. Often, during
the single most important factor to begi
in determining usefulness is age: Even
at this institution the individual operati
ceases to be beneficial when he actual
reaches 70. many
* * * forcedt
MOST BUSINESSES operate in termedi
this way, forcing their employees to larg
to retire for the good of everyone mester
concerned. But its is obvious that of an
the University differs from most course,
businesses since the success or dents,i
failure, the ability or insufficiency Auditor
of staff members, do not show up termedi
on a financial tally sheet, are for
Now, the working of the Uni- as lect
versity is generally defined in its
Regents bylaws. The bylaws are THE
concerned with the activities of forced t
individuals. as members of the faculty
academic community; most of greater:
their rules are routine and objec- that re
tive, detailing matters of proced- but the
ure or administration. Some, of bers m
course, are not. possible
Controversial in content, though It isr
less known, less discussed, and number
apparently less important to peo- average
ple than a bylaw like 8.11 at the 10 a mo
University, is Regents bylaw 5.20, uation
which defines the policy on facul- chology
ty retirement. ulty m
The bylaw provides a business- could ai
like answer to a totally unbusi- college(
ness-like question: "When should The t
a teacher stop teaching? cuses f
In part, it states that: of older
"The term of service of the these r
President, the administrative offi- with th
cers, and members of the faculties capabili
shall automatically terminate at fessors,
the end of the fiscal year within feelings
which the seventieth birthday The
occurs . . . these y
"No person retired under this and ca
section of the bylaws may be re- their od
employed by the University in any private,
,capacity except by express action cannotl
of the Regents. The term of ap- from th
pointment for any such reemploy-
ment shall not exceed one calen- "WEl
dar year, and may be renewed only posed o
by action of the Regents." room fo
* * *up," Nie
FOR A faculty member facing He a
retirement, but eager to continue knows h
teaching at the University, the the staf
last sentence of bylaw 5.20 repre- years, h
sents a spark of hope. At 70, he the Uni
believes himself to be dynamic the begi
and still inspiring in the class- promote
room-and his students, his col- And
leagues, and the administrations quently,
are cognizant of this ability. ment o
However, this section of the by- plaints
law is somewhat misleading, for, at or n
according to Executive Vice-Pres- slowing
ident Marvin L. Niehuss, it is senility.
rarely applied, "and in no case is Of th
it used for the benefit of the -depar
individual involved." most ar
Exceptions made by the Regents their cL
are almost inevitably for profes- hired by
sors conducting research projects, Universi
or being used as consultants for But, f
projects. "An instructor's being a three ou
fine teacher is insufficient justi- for the s
fication for retaining him here for the Uni
classroom work after he is 70," The p
Niehuss said, the adm
Occasionally, if a department how to1
can prove that a man is an expert educator
in his field, and that a replace- how tdc
ment cannot be found, he may be the cla
retained for a year's appointment. methods
THE PROBLEM is multi-sided antiquat
Harmful
to
University
University and the pro-
and students it affects.
ently, there is an acute
shortage which may well
e University from moving
ear-round operations as
as many administrators
ike.
problem will become worse,
tter, as the University is
to accept an increasing
of students since the
of the post-war "baby
will come at about the
ime as the children born
the Depression are ready
n college teaching.
now, before year-round
n, and before there is an
crisis at the University,
departments have been
o convert elementary or in-
ate recitiation courses in-
e lecture sections. This se-
alone two lecture sections
elementary psychology
each with about 1500 stu-
are being taught in Hill
ium. Elementary and in-
iate mathematics courses
the first time being taught
ire courses.
* * *
E AND other departments
to use a limited number of
members to instruct a
number of studentstrealize
citiations would be better,
shortage of faculty mem-
akes such a reversion im-
at this time.
naturally doubtful that the
of professors retired-they
anywhere from three to
nth-could relieve this sit-
in ,mathematics or psy-
but an added 85-100 fac-
embers a year obviously
d in alleviating the literary
enrollment problems.
University uses several ex-
or forcing the retirement
faculty members. Usually
msons have nothing to do
e intellectual or emotional
ties of 70-year old pro-
but rather concern the
of younger staff men.
University fears losing
younger professors-eager
pable men who respect
der colleagues, but in their
unavoidable thoughts,
help but wish to be free
eir shadow.
* * *
DON'T want a staff com-
nly of old men: we want
r the young men to move
shuss said.
dded that if a professor
is immediate superior on
f is to be retired in four
e will probably remain at
versity, in hopes that at
nning of the fifth, he'll be
d.
then, admittedly infre-
in almost every depart-
r school or college, com-
are lodged that teachers
earing retirement age are
down, showing signs of
ose men retired each year
tment heads generally feel
e capable of continuing
assroom work-many are
other colleges when the
ty forces them to retire.
or the sake of the two or
t of 30 who are senile, and
sake of younger staff men,
'versity forces retirement.
policy is understandable:
inistration does not know
tell a men he is not the
r he was 15 years ago,
order a professor to leave
ssroom or tell him his
are outdated, his texts
ed, his students bored.
AMONG STATE institutions,
the University's retirement policy
is considered liberal. Many state
and some private universities
have a 65 or 68-year retirement
age limit.
Because of this lower retire-
ment age at other institutions, the
University sometimes profits by
hiring faculty members, who
would otherwise be retired, for a
two or three-year period.
However, Niehuss said that the
University would "almost never
offer a teaching position to some-
one over 70 from another college."
* * *
THUS THE University's policy
toward retirement is fairly inflex-
ible, and although a staff mem-
ber can retire at 65, with only
slight loss in retirement benefits,
he is never forced to retire until
he is 70. This policy is somewhat
questionable, for it means that if
a staff member shows signs of
senility at 58 or 62 or 67, he can-
not be forced to retire, "although
there are pressures such as lack
of promotion we can use to con-
vince the man to give up classroom
work," Niehuss said.
He added that professors who
have continued their teaching
work at other colleges-usually
small, private liberal arts colleges
-after retirement from the Uni-
versity "are usually happy in their
new positions.
"Many professors view their re-
tirement as an opportunity to start
a different and interesting life,"
Niehuss said.
* * *
DIFFERING SLIGHTLY from
Niehuss' viepoint, Professor-emer.
itus Preston W. Slosson, formerly
of the history department, felt
that forced retirement was neither
just, nor a good way for a faculty
member to find a new life.
"Most of the men who are
forced to retire do not find jobs
elsewhere. Some do, of course.
Some have done great things
after retirement from the Univer-
sity."
After retirement, Prof. Slosson
accepted the Epply Chair, a year-
long appointment at the Culver
Military Academy. This year, he is
teaching at the University of
South Carolina in Greensboro. He
is going to be 71.
In the spring of 1961, Prof.
Slosson was forced to retire. He
went to see Prof. John Bowditch,
history department chairman, and
volunteered to work here for only
his retirement benefits instead of
full-time salary. "Prof. Bowditch
took the matter to Dean Roger
Heyns, and my offer was rejected:
the ruling wouldn't let me work."
* * *
PROF. SLOSSON added that
the men who don't find jobs "live
on their pensions, which, in Mich-
igan, are very generous."
He added that "the question
is not one of justice to the pro-
fessor-he knows about the re-
tirement age before he takes the
job. But, it simply isn't fair to
students.
"If the University can squeeze
a little juice out of professors, it
certainly ought to. Students are
the ones who are injured.
"I would certainly miss the op-
portunity to teach, somewhere. It's
always possible for a scientist past
retirement to find a laboratory to
work at; it's possible for a re-
searcher to use libraries; but the
classroom-this is another ques-
tion for someone forced to retire,"
Prof. Slosson said.
"NATURALLY, SOME profes-
sors, who don't enjoy teaching
anyway, and who have a real in-
terest in research, find retirement
a relief from the burden ofteach-
ing. Others, like me, prefer to go
on so long as' we keep our
strength," Prof. Slosson said.
He said that sometimes profes-
sors are given the chance to work
at the University Extension Ser-
vice.
Niehuss concurred, saying that
the Extension Service provided a
"fine means for a teacher who
cannot go on -educating in the
normal manner at the University."
Everett Soop, Extension Service
director, said that since the estab-
lishment of the Extension Service,
"retired faculty members have
been hired, contributing their time
and energy as much, and in some
cases more than their younger
colleagues."
* * *
HE CITED P r o f. Clarance
Meader, 95 years old, who con-
ducts a class in semantics, and
Prof. Leroy Waterman, who teach-
es a course in Semitics, and, like
Prof. Meader, is beyond the nor-
mal retirement age, as examples
of "invaluable faculty workers.
He added that the Extension
Service receives departments' rec-
in a particular field is needed.
These men are approved by the
Regents, although such appoint-
ments do not cause debate or con-
cern, as might a full-time appoint-
ment for the same man, with the
same qualifications, teaching the
same subject matter.
NIEHUSS SAID the University's
retirement policy also applies to
the administration: the president,
the vice-presidents, and individual
deans.
He noted that a compulsory re-
tirement ruling is perhaps more
valid for administrators than for
members of the teaching staff,
since an administrator who begins
to slow down is unquestionably go-
ing to be more detrimental to the
University than is an ineffective
professor.
Since quality of the faculty is,
in effect, the quality of education
at the University, and since 70
is purely arbitrary age at which
most faculty members are still
quite abel to teach, a radical
change in bylaw 5.20 must be con-
sidered. The policy must be made
more flexible.
PERHAPS OPTIONAL retire-
ment, with full retirement bene-
fits should be offered for those
who at 65 feel the last five years
of teaching would be a strain. But,
for others, like Prof. Slosson or
Prof. Meader, or others who, for
lack of offerings, have been un-
able to find work although they'd
like to go on educating, a flexi-
bility at the other end of the re-
tirement scale ought to be estab-
lished.
This could be a year-to-year ap-
pointment, as it is now, though
not only for researchers or con-
sultants, but for professors by vir-
tue of their ability in the class-
room or lecture hall.
If it were understood that the
retired professor were applying at
the risk of being turned down-
the risk of being told that there
finally and for good, were no place
for him here-it is likely that only
the 90 per cent who are quali-
fied at retirement to continue
teaching would ask to continue.
In any case, the present policy
is at best an e'xcessively imperson-
al way of handling the problem,
and can only, in the long run, be
detrimental to the University and
ledge
SGC MOTION:
Move Would Cripple
Membership Committee
ONE CIARLES Mooshian, editor of an un-
likely little newspaper called the Carroll
County (Maryland) Times, has introduced as
an intriguing innovation to politics in that
state an oath for political aspirants he calls
"A Candidate's Pledge for Freedom of Informa-
tion." The pledge, to be taken by candidates
for public office, reads, in part, like this:
"I pledge that, if elected . . ., all activities
of my office will be fully publicized in all
newspapers and other information media,
realizing that as a public official, what I do,
say, or write belongs to the public.
" .. I pledge that I will at all times avail-
able to the press . . ., and will at all times
release to the media anything my office does,
good or bad, allowing the media to judge
its newsworthiness.
"As a public official, I pledge I shall never
use the 'executive session' as a means of keep-
ing the press ... out of a meeting. I will use
the 'executive session' only to discuss per-
sonnel and other related problems.
". ..I will at all times yield to the fact
that my business, as a public official, is the
public's business as well. While in public office
I shall never forget this fact."
THOSE AGREEING to sign the pledge,
Mooshian reports in Publishers Auxiliary,
range from a county, appointee to a United
States Senator.
It is not Mr. Mooshian's contention that
every action, every off-the-cuff remark of
everyone in a position of importance should
be splashed across a newspaper page. Often,
meticulous reporting of groundwork being laid
for an important event can sabotage the event
itself, and information revealed too soon can
do irreparable damage. No journalist worthy
of the name rushes into print with everything
he knows about the actions and plans of every-
one in a position of responsibility.
But all this does not change the indisputable
fact that people do have the right to know-
and journalists the duty to report-just what
the ladies and gentlement charged with formu-
lating and administering policy are up to.
And that right, at this University, is all too
often frightfully abused. To choose briefly
from among many, many examples:
IT HAS recently been decreed that hence-
forth until some hazy, unspecified time, no
Daily reporter shall set an unwholesome, non-
Greek foot in an Interfraternity Council Execu-
tive Committee meeting. IFC President John
Meyerholz, to say the least, has never stormed
a barricade in defense of student rights, and
he often experiences difficulty in concealing
a thorough contempt for The Daily. and its
staff members. thought The Dailv hna heen
1
cares how IFC members spend their time, and
that most don't even care whether IFC (or
John Meyerholz, for that matter) continues
to exist. But other examples can be found in
which this argument is clearly false.
Of these, an important one is the brand-
new Union-League Study Committee. Chaired
by an extremely responsible University official
--Associate Dean of the literary college James
H. Robertson-this long-anticipated group has
been formed to take a hard look at the relation
of Union and League to the University and
to each other, and to consider methods of
improving these relationships.
To what extent this important body intends
to respect this community's right to know be-
came graphically apparent Tuesday at the
committee's very first meeting.
EING INGLORIOUSLY ejected from meet-
ings of various sorts by Union ,presidents
has become somewhat of a tradition among
Daily reporters, and can be laughed off with
relative ease. Being told that such action was
requested by Dean Robertson when Dean Rob-
ertson apparently requested no such thing is
less mirth-provoking, however; and being later
informed by Dean Robertson himself that "it
is the desire of the committee" to shroud
itself in dark secrecy-lightened only by such
innocuous and trivial handouts as this ex-
tremely nervous body sees fit to 'reveal-is
just not funny at all.
It is axiomatic ;that the application on this
campus of policies similar to those suggested by
the editor of the Carroll County Times would
be of immense benefit to The Daily, since a
reporter vitally needs the background material
available only through forthright, "off-the-
record" honesty of qualified sources if he is
to write an important story intelligently and
well.
And once this is accepted-as it will be by
anyone who has ever tried to write without
sufficient knowledge of his subject-it is also
clear that respect for the right of journalistic
inquiry is beneficial to concerned readers, and
even, assuming their intentions are honorable,
to the officials themselves.
IF EVERYONE of importance at the Univer-
sity were to take such a pledge, the results
would probably not be revolutionary. President
Hatcher would continue to speak in enigmatic
ambiguities. Important figures -in the Office. of
Student Affairs would still palm off Daily re-
porters on one another like red hot pennies.
IFC would remain as mysterious to outsiders as
the Mafia, and the pulse of Union President
Robert Finke (for example) would still increase
almost audibly at the sight of someone from
tha Ct..ar- Vis n..s a U. ..nc~
By GAIL EVANS
TONIGHT Student Government
Council may consider a motion
to redefine the functions of the
Committee on Membership in Stu-
dent Organizations.
The proposed motion from
Thomas Brown is unnecessarily
restrictive and possibly detrimental
to Council's enforcement of Uni-
versity regulations regarding mem-
bership:
Thesuggested change comes at
an opportune time, however, for
if the Committee on Membership
were made a relatively innocuous
body, the five sororities which
have failed to submit adequate
membership selection practice
statements might turn in the out-
"On Your Toes, Now. I Want All Of You Clean And Fit"
~~r
IKOM,
n
standing statements before hear-
ings begin.
At this point questions arise as
to just what the Committee on
Membership is and what does it
do and what are the proposed
changes.
THE COMMITTEE on Member-
ship is composed of seven mem-
bers, four students and three fac-
ulty members or administrators
with at least one member coming
from each. This body is concerned
with the charge in the University
regulation which states that:
"All recognized student organ-
izations shall select membership
and afford opportunities to mem-
bers on the basis of personal merit
and not race, color, religion, creed,
nationality, or ancestry. (All cases
of possible violation of this regu-
lation shall be referred to the
Student Government Council's
Committee on Membership in Stu-
dent Organizations)"
The functions of the committee
are further deliniated to include
the formulation of policy in "fur-
therance of the purposes of this
regulation and to make recom-
mendations to SGC in aid of such
purposes and policies." This is
presently implemented by the
committee's ability to 1) "receive
and investigate charges of, viola-
tion of this regulation, and 2) "to
initiate investigation and inquiry
of any group as to possible viola-
tion."
* * *
THE BROWN motion asks that
these last two functions be re-
placed by: 1) "To investigate any
written clauses which are directly
discriminatory," and 2) "To in-
vestigate any cases in which a
written and signed complaint
about one organization is deemed
worthy of investigation."
The differences between these
two statements of function are both
obvious on the technical level and
subtle in implication. In Brown's
motion the complaint or charge of
violation must be written and sign-
ed and it must deal with one or-
ganization only. The present word-
ing will allow an investigation of
several organizations accused of
a similar violation to take place
concurrently. The suggested
change would prohibit investiga-
tion stemming from an anonymous
charge-the most likely way a
cnmnnint would he levied
that the clause might contain a
"possible violation," would no
longer be sufficient grounds for
a study of the situation.
It is the understanding of this
writer that as far as sororities are
concerned there should be no ques-
tion of violation of any written
sort. Yet the possibility of discrim-
ination on the part of the sorority
due to external pressures cannot
be universally denied. Under the'
proposed Brown motion investi-
gation of this latter kind of prob-
lem would be very difficult.
In favor of the Brown motion
John Meyerholz, president of In-
ter-Fraternity Council, says that
by clarifying the position the com-
mittee is taking it shows sororities
and fraternities that SGC and the
committee will not be constantly
examining statements and con-
stantly harassing Greek organiza-
tions. He emphasized that the pro-
posed change would demonstrate
to national contingents of the
local organizations that SGC is
not concerned with eliminating
fraternities and sororities but:
wants to eliminate discrimination.
Meyerholz asserted that SGC's
role should be to help the local
chapters get along with their na-
tionals.
* *
ANN MecMILLAN, presidentuof
Panhellenic Association,' also sup-
ports the Brown motion.' She
maintains that because the com-
mittee has a "nebulous charge" it
is difficult to work with sororities
on both local and national levels.
She believes that the committee's
"purpose is fulfilled when written
discrimination is eliminated." She
says that other consideration like
the recommendation system. need
clarification, but that the locals
are now "educating their nation-
als" about the situation at the
University. She said that sorori-
ties will work for the elimination
of discrimination without being
threatened or pushed."
Miss McMillan maintains that
the "best thing Council could do
to showsfraternities and sororities
that SGC is working with them
would be to pass Brown's motion."
William Gomez, a student on the
Committee on Membership says
that it is his belief that the "mo-
tion will not hinder the commit-
tee's functions." At present the
committee is missing two members
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