Page 4-Friday, September 28, 1979-The Michigan Daily Ghe tEIpban t1iQ Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom .. . ......................... .... . . . . . ..r:::n ::n":.-:x:.:.:::..*.::: .r:::": ':..*.r:* v-:: f r ! .! . ..:*.*.* *.*.*. .'.*' ..............................:::::::.":.+:r:::"".::::::::..:... ... .......f:r..}..{,..:r;.::"r"u: :<":rl1. 4.... 4i. A F E LA S....::..1:.::::.::::::::::::................ .... ... .... ... Too late forbrvy ..:..:::::"::: ::....................r....;:...... br an bla chard~ Vol. LXXXX, No. 20 Edited on News Phone: 764-0552 nd managed by students at the University of Michigan A second chance for wage-price guldelines T TOOK the rumblings of a candi- dacy by Sen. Edward Kennedy to do it, but the administration is finally moving to put some teeth into the wage-price guidelines that have so far taken only repeated bruisings from both business and labor. And this time, the Carter ad- ministration is at least making an ef- fort to do it right. Instead of drafting the guidelines and then leaving it up to the good will of employers and em- ployees to comply, the White House economic advisors have finally realized that wage-price guidelines are useless without bringing business and labor leaders into the planning and im- plementation. Unfortunately, it took a year of the current mess for the President to realize his error. The guidelines im- posed a seven per cent wage increase limit and a price increase limit of .5 per cent of a company's previous year's total price hikes. But an in- flation rate closer to 13 per cent made those guidelines virtually meaningless for all sides concerned. When the guidelines took a drubbing in the. AFL-CIO wage settlement, the administration used a complicated form of Murphy's mathematics to twist the defeat into victory. And most recently, when the United Auto Workers pummelled theeguidelines in their high-wage settlement with General Motors, ndot a whisper came from the White House. But when Sen. Kennedy talks, Jim- my Carter listens. And when Sen. Ed- ward Kennedy said that the guidelines, could work if the White House shows a little intestinal fortitude to enforce them, Io and behold Jimmy Carter found his spine. Now, when the new guidelines are finalized, the president is counting on a new board of "national accord" to provide a little backbone for the enfor- cement. Comprised of the leaders of business, big labor, and the public, the board would be able to force cooperation with the new guidelines, provided they are more liberal - and more realistic - than the seven per cent solution. This new strategy is of course part of the president's adopting to political realities - policy, especially economic policy, cannot be made and enforced in' a vacuum. This is the same lesson Mr. Carter learned in his relations with Capitol Hill, that it makes life easier to work with - and not against -- those in a position to make or break policy. Unfortunately, . it took one set of guidelines and a Kennedy challenge to convince the administration of what most people learn in introductory political science - edicts issued from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue do not miraculously become the gospel of all men's minds and souls. The guidelines imposed never had a chance, because the administration tried to issue them as edict, instead of working with the leaders of business and industry. Now with the second set of revamped guidelines, the president, with his board of "national accord," is showing he can learn from his mistakes. It may just be in time to save the nation's wor- sening economy, if not Mr. Carter's presidency. When the night creeps over his wigwam, When the campf ire's burning low,' Ol brare dreants of feast and tor'" tom, Dreams that only old brares know. Memories willleare him nerer, Old brare he is saying yet, Michigamua - now - for'rer, Ildian no forget. -From "Indian No Forget," by old !bren J. Fred (Crazy Loon) Lawton, Class of' 1I. There are a lot of braves around. First, there are 78 years' worth of old braves like Crazy Loon. Then there are 24 "fighting", or active, members of the Tribe of Michigamua (they say it: Mish-a-gahma), 14 athletes and ten organization leaders who meet Monday nights at their "wigwam" atop the Union to talk like their forefathers did. AND FINALLY, there's discussion among some undergraduate women that what's really needed is a secret honorary for their sex. They'll actually be squaws-if they intend to operate with the offensive "Injun" format. So what kinds of dreams are these braves dreaming that Crazy Loon talks about? None of the current braves, as far as I can tell, are dreaming of anything except a nice quiet place to meet, now that HEW has finally decided the University can't continue to donate "wigwam" space to an all-male Michigamua. IT WON'T be a new dream, since in the early days the braves moved regularly before they found a home in the Union 46 years ago. The dreams that would hold some fascination for us, however, would be the meditations of Crazy Loon and his friends. It's not like it used to be with the private society for campus high-flyers. MICHIGAMUA WAS born on a campus 78 years different from this one, when the University was small, like-minded and homogeneous. A fraternity designed to give undergraduate leaders a sense of purpose and identity was probably well suited for the times. Only later would its members be considered sexist for excluding women, racist for their cariacatures of Native Americans and elitist for their self-anointed bigwig ways. In those early years senior men bound for glory all belonged to Michigamua. That was the order of things. The tribe gave its mem- bers nicknares, a language, and set of rituals setting them apart and assuring them they were as special as they felt themselves to be. THE TOP ATHLETES, student gover- nment movers and shakers, organizational hotshots, Daily editors - all men - enjoyed in their weekly meetings the warmth of camaraderie that comes when the right sorts of shoulders rub. They compared observations about campus goings on, Saturday's game, the editorials, the big party. Since they were all "'regular guys", they sat and drank when the occasion demanded. Both the Michigamua of tradition and the Michigamua of today are hard for outsiders to understand, even for outsiders who have the interest. When.I consider Crazy Loon's day, though, I like to think he considered his induc- tion the highest honor of his life, that a day never passed after his graduation on which he didn't recall his moment at the top. . "IT LOOKS HONORARY," said an old brave, a former activities organizer, recen- tly. "But when you're in it, you realize how much of a social club it is." He said he's never quite grasped the purpose of the modern day Michigamua, "But I enjoyed it anyway." Crazy Loon, on the other hand, was honored, downright indebted. He wrote: When the tribe is on the war path; When the tribe sing war whoop song, Fighting brare he must remember. He must keep tradition strong, Fighting brare he will Ie loyal, Fighting brare he owes a debt, To the noble Michigam n, Inheian no lorget. In his time, the tribe was a familiar group on campus. Its initiations were held on spring afternoons around the Tappan - Oak on the Diag. The names of new braves were publicized; if you were in, those around you were likely to know it. . IT WAS PUBLIC-MINDED. Michigamua sponsored dances and campus projects of dif- ferent kinds. The once-influential Michigan Union organization - as well as the first student government at the University - were both begun with the help of Michigamua members. The Union building itself was first thought of by braves. Above all, Michigamua was proud. Its members felt they had the best interests of the University in mind and they, after all, were in positions to make a difference. They met in their "wigwam" to talkum big talkum. As in board rooms across the country today, it wasn't always the officially adopted policy:so much as the informal exchange between the heads of different organizations that would somewhere down the line influence student programs and activities. The dream couldn't last. Over the last decade or two, the once well-known, public- spirited and proud tradition has become a vir- tually ignored anachronism. Michigamua wasn't made to exist on a large campus in the later half of the century. FRATERNITIES MANAGED to weather the sixties much better than did Michigamua. Michigamua has never had anything to offer but its tradition. A fraternity is a building at least. Even as the mystique of the Greek system begins to lose its appeal, the con- venience remains. But if every year there aren't enough junior men who want to strip nearly naked and get splashed with mustard powder and roughed up so they can earn their right to meet with their male peers once a week, then Michigamua is in trouble. The braves, though, don't seem to feel thlt their declining image is of much concern. "WE'RE A PRIVATE organization," said one "fighting" braye recently after news came from Washington of the HEW decision. "We don't exist for the University," he said. "It's too bad that people are upset about it (the sex discrimination), but the whole deals that we're a private organization." It's like the Boy Scouts, he explained. THE KIDS WITH all the Merit Badges can meet whenever they want and do whatever they want and it's really no one else's business. In fact, said one former brave, the sex issue is a red herring. "The problem with Michigamua," he said, "isn't the sex discrimination. That doesn't wash with me. The problem is the super-jock trip. "They sit around and really get into the 'Ugg, Buck Brave' stuff," he added. It's the Buck Brave stuff that has, for the first time over the last few years, made Michigamua less appealing to candidates. At least twice in the last two:years, initiated braves have quit the tribe after discoveriig that discussion around the big table in the Union didn't interest them much. Gone are the days when the kids with all the merit badges dreamed the same dreams. Brian Blanchard is the Daily's Univer- sity Editor. R.O.T.C. needs course credi Work/study recives boost AS UNIVERSITY administrators brace themselves for the 1980s-a decade sure to be dominated by con- stant budget cutbacks-a piece of good news came forth recently which adds light to an otherwise dark forecast. Due to the Middle Income Assistance Act passed last November, the federal government has substantially in- creased its allocation to the nation's universities for the work/study program. A generous amount of $2.5 million has been distributed to the University this year, compared with $1,740,000 last year. This healthy raise will enable many more students to par- ticipate in the program, an en- couraging sign that highet education is near the top of the government's priority list. As the Regents pass the automatic hedvy increase in tuition and housing rates each summer, the cost of higher education has become dangerously high. No longer is it easy for middle class and even upper middle class families to send all of their children to this University; it costs too much. Nowhere has that been so evident as in the countless requests the University receives annually from students desperate for financial aid. Amidst that bleak background, the additional allotments for work/study may not turn the tide, but should make it much easier for many students on the border line. For if those students are given good jobs at the University, they will thus be able to profit the school through their work, receive the funds keeping them here, and learn about their careers. Many of the jobs students take when they arrive in Ann Arbor are directly related to their eventual career aspirations. But even if they're not, those jobs are essential to the academic livelihood of many college :students. Coming from relatively poor areas in the state, many of these students need a job, or else would be confined to cheaper in- stitutions that they can afford, and 'thus miss the great opportunities this school offers. Theutuition and housing crunch of this outgoing decade have been hard blows to absorb. Taking into account other consequences of inflation, the situation becomes dramatically worse. The work/study program is just one method of alleviating that crisis. Unfortunately, budget restraints are another, as will be seen in the next few years. President-designate Harold Shapiro deeply understands the situation, and is probably considering such plans right now. More than just a few programs are expected to be cut in the Shapiro era. Until the inevitable happens, however, it's refreshing to see the federal government concerned, and the students benefitted by new positions for work/study applicants. It is time to reexamine the fun- ction of the R.O.T.C. in the Universityand to take measures to reinstate the course credit within the LSA college. The faculty of that school originally revoked the 12 credits given students taking these classes it March 1970, in the midst of the Vietnam crisis. Today's LSA students enrolled in these same courses still receive no credit, although they are required to pay tuition at the standard rate. The Engineering college rein- stated credit for R.O.T.C. classes as recently as April 23, 1979, and now is's LSA's turn to look at the issue. The majority of Army, Navy and Air Force officers entering active military duty each year come directly from R.O.T.C. units across the nation. Hence, in order to maintain an acceptable cross section of open minded military leaders, the R.O.T.C. programmust be kept on college campuses. IN THIS manner, students not desiring the rigid atmosphere in a military academy are en- couraged to pursue their degree in a normal university environment while concurrently earning a military commission. Since the installation of the fir- st R.O.T.C. program at the University in 1916, over 500 of- ficers have entered the military from this campus. In -granting credit for academically sound R.Q.T.C. courses, more students may be encouraged to take ad- vantage of this opportunity. SINCE THE CLOSE of the Vietnam era, the Department of. Defense has attained a new image and a peacetime role. The R.O.T.C. curriculum is geared to produce officers capable of managing people within their field, be it science, engineering, medicine, etc. In order to prevent war, skilled leaders are required to run the military-industrial complex. The R.O.T.C. environ- ment stresses this ideal, contrary to the war-seeking foot soldier stereotype of the sixties. In short, R.O.T.C. is designed to turn out professionals in every career field. The material presented in the R.O.T.C. program can be divided into two categories: Lower and upper classmen curriculum. The first two yearsninR.O.T.C. vary, depending on the service, but in general, contain coursework in military history in addition to military indoctrination and drill. These initial two years of classroom work and drill are not being considered for academic credit, rather they present the student with an overview of the military. Anyone may disenroll at any time during this period and incur no military obligation. THE 'SECOND category of R.O.T.C. curriculum includes the management and political scien- ce material taught to the upper classmen. These courses comprise a total of 12 credit hours distributed over four By L Wayne Brasure semesters. Classes in this category deserve analysis to determine their academic value. Such a study was concludedby the LSA Curriculum Committee in February 1975. This group recommended that the LSA faculty reinstate the credit which the classes once carried. The propsal was defeated by- a majority vote. hours through the R.O.T.C. must pay additional tuition, but not receive additional credit. A student wishing to avoid academic. overloads usually postpones {graduation for a semester, thereby accruing ad- ded expenses. The LSA college must begin to take action on the R.O.T.C. issue. As the size of the program con- tinues to increase, more pressure evolves for academic- recognition. If the classes are determined intellectually sound 'Because of the LSA faculty's decision to refuse credit for R. O. T. C. courses, the effected student incurs an academic and financial burden. The LSA student desiring a commission is forced into course overloads in order to accommodate the 12 credit hours through R. O. T. C. Because of the LSA faculty's decision to refuse credit for R.O.T.C. courses, the effected student incurs an. academic and financial burden. The LSA student desiring a commission is forced into course overloads in order to accommodate the 12 credit hours through R.O.T.C. Tuition is charged on a credit hour basis for this overload, even though no credit is granted by LSA. Therefore, a student taking 16 hours through LSA and three by the LSA Curriculum Commit tee, credit status should be gran- ted. Nearly all colleges and univer- sities which similarly discon- tinued credit recognition during the Vietnam era have reversed their actions. The University of Michigan must now reconsider its stance. L. Wayne Brasure is an LSA Senior. l 8ETT'Eg SWITCH CA/ THE ~Tk6 gCToK 3TgtPPEDA6AI I! .t /t)if1 li rhtdiin . patl EDITORIAL STAFF Sue Warner .................... .............................EDITOR-IN-CIIIEF Richard Berke. Julie Rovner.... ............................. MANAGING EDITORS Michael Arkush. Keith Richburg............................EDITORIAl, DIRECTORS