fit Muligan Daily &-fW -Third Yeer EDITED AND MANAGED1 Y STUDENTS OF THE UNI VESITY OF M1iC1GAN UNDER AUTHOmrTY OF BOARD i CONTROL OF STUDENT PUEICATOt "WbepIWPOM re Free STUDENT PUrLICATJONS BLDG., ANN AIoMt., MICH., PHONE o 2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. URDAY, SEPTEMBER 21,1963 NIGHT EDITOR: GERALD STORCH TODAY AND TOMORROW: Goldwater's Ideas: A Remodeling Confer ence on the 'U' Promotes Communication RUMBLING is a major student pastime. We all spend a good percentage of our time ding poor teaching, red tape, course and 'ibution requirements, exams, regulations or bever other frustrations we encounter. ifortunately, student complaints seldom go nd the gripe stage. They generally remain formed, irresponsible and ineffective, never d by anyone but roommates and not com- ensive enough to merit consideration by e in power. As such they produce nothing self-pity and more frustration. any of these gripes, of course, are simply inalizations of the griper's own shortcom- Good Show YESTERDAY AFTERNOON'S PLAY in 2553 Administration Bldg. displayed an all-star, ast,. incredibly good acting and a convincing simple plot. Presented in living color, the drama opened n a relatively unexciting note with the words rhe Regents meeting for September will now ome to order," uttered by Harlan Hatcher, ho played the leading role of University Presi- ent. The rest of the show was presented in sim- arly pedestrian fashion, but in all fairness ne must point out that the story line-com- osed of . academic appointments, gifts and :ants, budget items and other such trifles-...- as scrupulously close to historical reality. SOW, THE SCRIPT could have, included some other things-like whether the good d 'U' has cut down on the precentage of out- -state students, whether the Regents liked ie Union-League merger plan dr not, and what ie Regents think about the extra-curricular ctivities probe now under way by the admin- tration. But these things might have caused scussion and debate, and so they were wisely ft out of the plot. The actors were, obviously well-rehearsed. hey evidenced superb timing, with just the oper amount of humorless quips and mean- gless questions to provide variety. They were lemn and lofty enough to persuade anyone at they were actually doing something; their 'portment was like that of real-life Regents id high administrators. Unfortunately, despite the top-notch acting rformances, several members of the audience t the foolish notion that the players were, st going through the motions of a public agents meeting. By some wild stretch of the iagination, they thought that the Regents 3d talked about everything of importance in ivate Thursday night, and then restricted emselves to unanimous trivialities in public i Friday afternoon. No, the actors in yesterday's masquerade did At want anyone to get the impression that a egents' meeting really is a nauseating and sgusting farce, and so they have agreed to ye another performance each month during e rest of the school year. , --GERALD STORCH City Editor ings. But many more, if developed from gripes into workable ideas, could point to significant reforms needed in the University. One of the main reasons they seldom do reach a constructive level is that there are virtually no opportunities for dissatisfied stu- dents-aside from those who have the time to become prominent in activities-to discuss University issues in depth with people who have the knowledge and influence to get things, ,done. AN IMPORTANT EXCEPTION to break in this communication barrier is the second Conference on the University, to be held Oct. 25-27. It is essentially an opportunity for stu- dents, faculty and administrators to air their complaints and--more important-to try to arrive at practical solutions to the problems underlying them. It is undoubtedly the best opportunity the average student has to be heard on these issues. The format is simple. The 200 delegates are divided into 16 discussion groups, each with a particular topic to consider, and each including student, faculty and administration delegates. Brief working papers will give delegates factual background for their discussion. The ensuing discussion will be informal bull sessions, some of which will come up with concrete proposals which will be presented to appropriate author- ities. THE CONFERENCE IDEA has great poten- tial. But it won't succeed automatically on the idea alone. It will need, first of all, the follow-up which the first conference lacked. Only four discussion groups wrote up their recommendations, and even these drifted into oblivion. Though not every discussion group should be expected to achieve a consensus, those that do should make sure that their re- port is written and given to the continuing committee. This :ommittee in turn should make sure the reports are circulated and read- and should keep track of whether the recom- mendations are being'gtaken seriously or ig- nored by the administration. Second, it will need an atmosphere, of free and radical discussion. Administrators must abandon euphemisms and secrecy for two days, at least, and delegates must not let themselves be intimidated by the presence of VIP's in their group. Last year's conference did fairly well on this score, but as one of its organizers retro- spectively remarked, "I think we all were a little too polite." BUT MOST IMPORTANT right now, it needs student delegates-both graduate and un- dergraduate. Petitions are available at the SGC office in the SAB. Students from all walks of campus life should petition: the student leaders who can be counted on to participate get plenty of chances all year to proclaim their views-but the rest of the campus doesn't. Student delegates. need not be experts with' ready-to-use ideas for remaking the University.' The only prerequisite is a lively interest in the University and the desire to turn this interest into constructive discussion. -KENNETH WINTER By WALTER LIPPMANN HE PECULIAR GENIUS of American politics, which is to draw candidates away from ex- treme positions, is now working on Senator Goldwater. Like every other man who has ever taken himself seriously as a presiden- tial candidate, the senator is now engaged in remodeling his ideas, in moving away from the far right and toward the more mod- erate center. A striking example of this re- treat from the extreme is his view of the graduated income tax. He still believes, as he said in 1960, that "the graduated income tax is a confiscatory tax" and that we should "abolish the graduated fea- tures of our tax laws" (the bigger the income the higher the rate of taxation), "and the sooner we get at the job, the better." But now in 1963 he is telling the editors of U.S. News & World Re- port that "I won't go that far, but I'm opposed to the theory. I'd like to see some other suggestions made in the whole field." * * * BETWEEN ABOLISHING the graduated income tax and study- ing it, there Is all the difference between a radical and an ex- tremely cautious moderate. The effects of this suction toward the center are breaking out all over the original extremist Goldwater views. Thus he has declared him- self opposed to all federal pro- grams in the field of social wel- fare, education, public power, ag- riculture, public housing and ur- ban renewal. But now it appears the welfare state is to be repealed, but only very slowly. This fudging process is charac- teristic of serious candidates for election. I say serious candidates. For the fringe candidates-Social- ists, Prohibitionists, Vegetarians- are able to keep their views sharp and unfudged, because they are not really running for office, but are talking to influence opinion. But Senator Goldwater, who is, now in big league politics, is well along on the road where he will sound less and less like Goldwater and more and more like Eisen- hower. If he is to be nominated and is to stand any chance of election, he must make himself acceptable to the preponderant mass of the -voters. They are not on the right and they are not on the left, but around the center, a little but not much to the right of it and a little but not much to the left of it. * * * WHAT MAKES this suction to- ward the moderate center so im- presive is that Senator Goldwater is opposed to it. Yet, in spite of himself, he is. being drawn into moderation.;Thus he is not going to ask for the re- peal of the graduated income tax. He is not going to ask for the repeal of Social Security. He is not going to oust Castro by sending American troops to invade Cuba. 4. * * HE IS DOOMED to suffer this evolution as the nominating con- vention draws nearer. It is wrong, but it is going to happen. He says it is the duty of the Republican Party to cease to be "Little Sir Echo" to the Democrats. The party should offer the country a clear choice between right and wrong, good and evil, socialism and indi- vidualism. Moreover, it is bad politics. The party must differentiate itself dis- tinctly and sharply from the Dem- ocrats for there is, he fondly believes, a great majority in the country which is now divided be- tween the two parties. This great majority will vote Republican if the choice is clear and absolute. Yet, we know that when the election comes, the choice will not be clear and absolute. *. * * WHY? Because Senator Gold- water is wrong about the funda- mental facts. The great majority of Americans are not on the ex- tremes, but in the center, and that is why every serious candidate must adapt himself to the modera- tion of the center. This peculiar condition is the basis of the genius of the Ameri- can political system. It forces the people into a consensus even though they are divided. I would say that this is the inner mechan- ism which has enabled the Ameri- can nation to do what has not been done elsewhere at any time -to preserve personal liberty un- der democratic government on a continental scale. There was on terrible exception when the system broke down into a civil war over the issue of slav- ery. But except for that failure, of which we are still suffering. the consequences, the system has worked exceedingly well. * * * WHY IS IT that the making of a consensus when the voters are divided is of paramount impor- tance to the operation of a free and democratic government? Be- cause the inner secret of orderly government is that the minority can and will accept peaceably and with good will the verdict of the majority. Senator Goldwater, who is not a fanatic of the extreme, but an am- bitious politician, is now in the process of reshaping himself for the political realities of this coun- try. It is interesting to watch him and comforting to think that the system is working so well. (c) 1963, The Washington Post Co. .4 1 I .4 $ 4 FISCAL REFORM PLAN: Property Tax Cut Advisable I To Rot or to Russia? T LEAST a partial solution to the continual wheat surplus problem of the United States as appeared. We now have an opportunity to ell wheat to the Soviet Union. Although the State Department has denied ,ny official contact with Russia on the matter, pparently the Russians have approached .merican traders unofficially with offers to do usiness. It would be foolhardy for the gov- rnment not to take advantage of both a logical nd a workable answer to the millions of ushels of surplus wheat rottiig in its bins. At present there is no specific federal law gainst selling wheat to Communist countries. 'he United States sells wheat to Poland and ugoslavia. But government policy is hostile >ward sale to countries unfriendly to the nited States. In the past the Russians have ought their wheat primarily from Western urope and just recently from Canada and T~r* * Australia. Crop difficulties have apparently forced Russia into increasing its import quota. The New York Times reports that Western ob- servers believe that the main purpose behind the increased imports is to enable the Soviet Union to maintain its obligations to Communist countries. The observers expect most of the Canadian and Australian wheat to be re- exported. WHATEVER THE REASON, the opportunity for the United States is clearly one which is to its advantage. Canada cannot cope with any greater increase in exports because of the difficulties involved in preparing and shipping the grain, and the United States is the only other country able to supply the wheat de- mand from Western Europe and the Soviet Union. It seems obvious that there is a good chance for the United States to get rid of a great deal of its extra wheat through sale to both Western Europe and the Soviet Union. The question of whether or not this country should sell to Russia because she is Com- munist is so irrelevant and so hopelessly short- sighted that there is no value in discussing it. If people need food they should be fed. There is the hopeful question of whether any more people will be fed under this new ar- rangement than under the past arrangements. Since there were crop failures in both Western Europe and the Soviet Union this year, it is reasonable to assume that the need for added, wheat is not to feed more of the populace than usual-or feed them better-but just to have the normal amount of wheat on hand. Thus the United State will he maintaining' th (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth in a series of articles investi- gating Gov. George Romney's pro- posed fiscal reform plan.) By STEVEN HAILER HSEVENTH specific legisla- tion included in Gov. George Romney's 12-part plan combines two areas dear to the hearts ,of most of the general public: pro- perty taxes and the financing of education. In a move "intended to give property tax relief," he pro- poses that each taxpayer be grant- ed a 20 per cent reduction in local real and personal property taxes levied for school purposes. An amount totalling 80 per cent of the entire tax bill would be paid by the taxpayer as usual, CINEMA GUILD: 'All Quiet' Excellent W AR WAS GROTESQUE long before Hiroshima gave the public an image of destruction. Whether we are killed slowly as individuals or quickly en masse, the brutality remains: men fight other men like themselves and are destroyed. So it was in World War I. "All Quiet on the Western Front" 1930, is still a ferocious anti-war film, despite its melodramatic treatment. By transcending na- tional patriotism, and focusing on what happens to men at war, Lewis Milestone has somewhat captured the impact of the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. This is a war that offers no possibility for heroism. All that it offers are the trenches, the hos- pital, and the grave. PAUL BAUMER, admirably act- ed by Lewis Ayres, is an eager German student who progresses from anxious enthusiasm to utter disillusionment and death. His first encounter with the insanity of war is with Himmelstoss (John Wray), a sadistic corporal, who as a civilian was a friendly postman. Himmelstoss delights in his role as a drill instructor and his rank which he earned in the reserves. The dehumanizing madness of basic training is only a prelude to the impersonal slaughter of the battlefront. Louis Wolheim as Katazinsky plays a shrewd man-about-war who indoctrinates Paul and the others in the art of survival, and his well-rounded performances su- stains many a scene. * * .'* THE BATTLE SCENES some- times achieve a newsreel-like im- mediacy. Some are extremely hor- rifying, such as the closeups of men charging machine guns and being hand-grenaded to death. The scene where Paul stabs the Frenchman-and then pulls from his pocket a photograph of the wife and child of the man he has slain-is too long and turns into pity rather than psychological ter- ror. The dialogue, written by Max- well Anderson, is often stilted, especially in the hospital scenes. The film does not pretend to be while the state would repay the balance to the local authority. ROMNEY HAS SAID that his plan would give property tax re- lief "across the board, on the same basis to all," at a cost to the state -of $93 million. The governor further notes that the proposal will have several ben- eficial effects: "it will give local school districts maneuverability in their budgets and will materially increase the state's percentage of support for local education. "Yet it will retain in the hands of the individual home-owners and voters the ultimate control and direction of school operations. This is tax justice." The question mark inherent in the governor's proposal, however, is his remark that the plan "is not an attempt to improve the school aid. I expect to make rec- ommendations to improve the school aid formula to the 1964 regular legislative session." *' * * IN OTHER WORDS, everything is tentative. Romney is promising that the state will deliver the goods upon receipt of the taxpay- ers' statements without making any concrete suggestions as to what revisions he plans to call for (if any) to aid in state collection and dispersal of funds. Support for this part of Rom- ney's program can be foreseen from Detroit's Mayor Jerome P. Cavanagh, who has said he'd "like to see the state assume all taxing functions that involve school dis- tricts in this state." The cut will also fit in well with the plans of many citizens of De- troit- who are waging a battle to get the voters to accept a millage proposal. The situation has be- come so severe in that city that the fourth and seventh grades spent the first part of this semes- ter on half-day sessions until re- cently. The first grade still faces this problem. * ACCORDING TO Superinten- dent of Schools Samuel Brownell, the property tax cut will be a great help to the schools. "It means no more money immediately for schools, but it will help our cam- paign because it makes clear to Detroit taxpayers that they must still provide support for their schools," he explains. Still more significance of the property tax cut can be traced to its attractiveness to House Speak- er Allison Green (R-Kingston). Green has said, "I don't think you can sell an income tax without doing something about property taxes." OTHER PROPOSALS concern- ing property tax relief have been submitted and will continue to be submitted for some time to come. Senators Garry E. Brown (R- Schoolcraft) and Emil Lockwood (R-St. Louis) have suggested that a direct credit of 30 per cent of an individual's property tax be allowed against any state income tax. Senate Taxation Committee Chairman Clyde H. Geerlings (R- Holland) has also got into the act with a plan to, exempt special tools used in industry and certain personal property items from local property taxes. WITH SUCH a plethora of plans to choose from, the Legislature will have much to keep it busy when the tax session starts. Hope- fully the 'legislators will come up with a plan just as good as Rom- ney's if they do not accept his; either way, "tax justice" will sure-: ly be the end result. USNSA: 1ooistore 1Bureaucracy By LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM AT A TIME when interest in the United States National Stu- dent Association is practically non- existent, the USNSA co-operative bookstore is not exactly giving les- sons in winning friends or in- fluencing people. Or in making money. USNSA leaders on this campus are the first to acknowledge that the bookstore is in a precarious and worsening financial situation. But their distress hangs more around the image of USNSA which the initial chaos and confusion of its bookstore is lending to the campus. * * * CHIEF SKEPTIC and critic is Howard Abrams, the former Chair- man of the USNSA Michigan re- gion.I His criticisms center around the "incredible morass" which he claims is the direct result of the administrative control of the store being handled from Chicago. Specifically, Abrams has ques- tioned the book ordering system whereby orders go "from here to Chicago to the publisher to Chi- cago to here." Since the book- To The Ed io the $12-a-day loss at which the store is operating. Miss Wigle bemoans her inade- quate power to make decisions while far-removed Chicago ad- ministrators make them for her. "I just don't know anything . . . ex- cept that things are going wrong," she says. Not quite the pessimist that Abrams is, she is boldly maintain- ing the philosophy of "trying to find some way to make the store work." But without sufficient knowledge or authority she can only helplessly watch what she calls "the people in Chicago sac- rificing the store for the sake of the other three (USNSA co- operatives)." SLAUGHTER, not sacrifice seems to be more apt phrasing of the situation. Contrasting with the glaring inadequacy of books, the little personal customer touches are subtly absent. There is no copy of Books in Print in the store, basic paper supplies are not sold and deliveries are running a week later than the promised two week period. Despite these grandiose and To the Editor: FIFTY-ONE demonstrators con- nected with the University have been arrested for loitering in the Ann Arbor City Council chambers. They openly invited prosecution to dramatize their desire for a bet- ter anti-discrimination ordinance. They seem quite willing to obey laws which they themselves favor; but as for laws which have no im- mediate value to them, they seem ready to disregard them. I doubt if these people feel any kinship with the governor of Alabama; yet this is precisely his attitude on laws, especially racial ones. I AM APPALLED at'the rapidity with which a certain idea is spreading over the country, mainly as a result of the racial crisis-- the idea that people can claim the protection of laws without re- specting them. call it "civil disobedience," call it "following a higher laws"-the main point is that this idea denies the objective value of law, puts to contempt the democratic process of formulating it and altering it, and destroys the moral basis of those who fight for change in the way of our fifty-one. The anti-trespassing ordinance is legitimate; violating it is a sign that the demonstrators have either forgotten or never understood their obligation to respect the instru- ment they would use for their ends. Actually, their irresponsible act has proved only one thing: The answer to this country's race problem does not lie in laws, but in the minds of men. Until a consensus, and an ac- ceptable one, is reached, there will be continuing violence, disorder and "civil disobedience." Law is not a solution but the expression of a solution. We have not yet reached it. I AM ENOUGH of an optimist to believe that these fifty-one demonstrators, or most of them, will live to see the solution. But I. wonder if they will not look back when it comes and reflect how they hindered the cause they were trying to advance. American troops in Cuba or my role as "just a part . . ..of Fidel's efficient propaganda system." These remarks were obviously ab- surd, irrational and, more than that, part of the- smear campaign against our trip, being carried on by Kennedy and his system of racist, cold-war lackeys, of which Mr. Hendel is "just a part" (and a pretty ineffective part at that). * * * HOWEVER his-comment on the civil liberties situation in Cuba is well taken and deserves attention. Although I never said all Cubans are behind their government (I would say the vast majority are), Mr. Hendel is correct when he says organized channels of dissent are needed. Most students .on the trip were disturbed by the lack of these organs of dissent. All we could do is try and understand why this situation exists. One reason is the actual exist- ence of widespread unity of pur- pose and support of the leader- ship; a fact overly-critical West- erners cannot seem to fathom. Nevertheless, Cubans admit that their society is a, dictatorship, necessitated because they feel threatened in a very physical way i.e. bombings, attacks, sabotage, by Cuban elements who are not with the revolution. In Cuba dissidents do not just publish or demonstrate; they also kill and destroy. Dissenters are usually persons who have lost con- siderable status, power, wealth; in effect, their whole way of life. Thus, to them dissent is no game; it is war. * * * SO, just as I would see the need for the United States government to suppress saboteurs, so do I see that same need in Cuba. As for those who want to dis- sent verbally and in writing with- in the framework of the revolution or without taking up arms, this freedom exists in Cuba now (I talked to several people who hated the regime) with modifications, because the island is, in fact, be- ing bombed, blockaded, and iso- lated-factors that would cause tension in any society. Because of this strain and other ''4 Editorial Staff RONALD WILTON, Editor. VID MARCUS GERALD STORCH toria1 Director City Editor SARA LAZARUa .............. Personnel Director IP SUTIN.............National Concerns Editor EVANS................Associate City Editor JORIE BRAHMS ...... Associate Editorial Director RIA BO WLES................... Magazine Editor [NDA BERRY ............... Contributing Editor E GOOD .. ..................Sports Editor E BLOCK ................ Associate Sports Editor BERUER..............Associate Sports Editor Z WIN C K. .:........ Contributing Sports Editor k