notes and comments
I
On
'
'radicalization
I
3,
THE WORD 'radicalization' h a s fallen.
out of vogue, though the idea hasn't,
nor has the reality of it.
Radicalization, as I understand it, us-
ually means the personal experience un-
dergone by some people t h a t converts
them from son~e degree of liberalism or
even conservatism to outright radicalism.
The big deal here and on other campus-
es last year was to do something t h a t
would prompt administration overreac-
tion, with kids getting hassled and beaten,
bringing about a very authentic and deep-
seated reaction against those directly -
not indirectly - responsible.
That scenario of radicalization is over-
ly simple and the process can take place
in other ways.
Early in the controversy between the
black students and the R e g e n t s last
spring then-law student Dave Lewis (he is
now U.S. District Judge Theodore Levin's
law clerk and a member of the Board of
Governors of Oakland University, no small
pair of accomplishments) presented a pro-
posal for tuition waivers for. minority stu-
dents who couldn't afford the cost of edu-
cation here.t
Lewis had done a quite respectable job
of researching the legal basis for tuition
waivers.
When the administration heard the pro-
posal, Lewis recalled, they gave a quick
answer: No.
The reason was the fact that the Legis-
lature in the previous appropriation bill
had specifically barred the Regents from
granting tuition waivers (or granting
them only at the expense of i losing state
appropriations equal to the amount of tu-
ition waived).
TO LEWIS, and to any reasonable per-
son in his position, he was being slighted
in a serious way. He was being lied to, the
most degrading of all experiences when
you know it's happening.
There were in fact plausible reasons not
'to employ tuition waivers. To use them
would require a legal fight over autonomy,
the fourth in as many years. More serious,
even were the University to win quickly,
would be the bad political effect on the
school's standing in Lansing.
In light of the relatively painless ways
to achieve most of what tuition waivers
would yield - extensive use of scholar-
ships and loans - there was no pompel-
ling reason to go to court.
But Lewis and the BAM leadership were
not told that at first. They were given a
superficial, deceptive answer that t h e y
knew to be as much lie as truth.
The result: Lewis was 'radicalized' and
moved much more easily toward support
of what BAM did.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE. Last year during
the bookstore controversy (small time
compared to w h a t followed), President
Fleming arranged a press conference in
Detroit to give the word to the state about
what was happening on campus.
Now, that in itself isn't so bad, except
that the result was that Fleming had a
field of pliant and'unquestioning reporters
who didn't know enough about the situa-
tion to question him intelligently. The re-
sult was great for Fleming and the ad-
ministration and a huge black eye for the
students' independent of the merits.
What hurt was the failure of the admin-
istration to inform, The Daily, which did
have reporters who knew what was going
on.
The explanation was that it was just
an oversight on their part, that it was eas-
ier fo' Fleming to go to Detroit to accom-
modate the media, and that there was no
intent to avoid The Daily.
At that time, I was managing editor of
The Daily, so I felt most affected, and my
reaction was one of simple disgust. That
incident, more than anything else, turned
me toward support of the strike.
I was, in the terminology, radicalized. I
Pad been unscrupulously shafted by the
administration.
THESE TWO TALES have a common
and obvious conclusion. It is true that ad-
ministrations must split radical from lib-
lanidsiuan
eral and moderate to maintain the func-
tioning of their schools, but more than
process or facade is involved.
If liberal administrators want to keep
their schools away from the terrors that
have hit Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia and
Kent State, then they had better be au-
thentically liberal.
That doesn't mean they must be sops
when the pressure is on. It means a com-
mitment to a certain type and degree of
openness and honesty, honesty that indi-
cates mutual respect.
It also means a different state of mind
for administrators. Standards of "follow-
ship" among college students have chang-
ed, there is a real campus constituency
now. If administrators don't take them in-
to account in more than a manipulative
way, they'll find nothing but grief, for
themselves and their institutions.
The indicators now say the University
administration is going in exactly the op-
posite direction out of sheer political nec-
essity. It seems that Fleming, if he chose
to, could continue to steer a middle-lib-
eral course, meeting students' fair demands
without throwing the Legislature into a
political tantrum.
But whether he'll choose to play, it that
carefully is yet to be seen. The eventual
cost will be great if he plays it wrong -
either by Legislative repression or his own.
9
-0
lie M tgatt t
Eighty years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
. JAMES WECHSLERW.
Battle for control of Dems gets underway
0 I
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individuei opinions of staff writers
or the editors.:This must be noted in all reprints.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1970
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVE CHUDWIN
Travels with Nixon:
Ignoring domestic problems
HE STRUGGLE for control of
the national Democratic Party
that became .inevitable in the
aftermath of the 1968 defeat has
exploded suddenly and irretriev-
ably-and ahead of schedule. In
the mellow absent-mindedness of
a Labor.Day weekend, the begin-
nings of the conflict evoked little
notice. But the battle is on, and
its outcome may determine both
the identity of the next Demo-
cratic Presidential nominee and
the fate of a prospective fourth
party movement (assuming that
Wallace keeps his third in the
field).
The man who has triggered the
confrontation is a conservative
Texas Democrat named Robert
Strauss. He emerged as Demo-
cratic treasurerdcoincident with
Larry O'Brien~'s designation as na-
tional chairman.
Strauss, in an action inconsis-
tent with the traditionally ecu-
menical role of party fund-raiser,
told columnist Robert Novak that
he was resolved to strip John
Kenneth Galbraith, a major voice
of Democratic progressivism, of
any prestigious credentials in the
Democratic structure.
AS REPORTED b y N o v a k,
Strauss complained that Gal-
braith's maverick mind and in-
dependent demeanor were-among
other things-costing the Demo-
cats money. "I blame people like
me," said Strauss, "who-let Gal-
braith and his type use the party
as a podium."
S t r a u s s' mini-declaration of
war was provocative enough. But
its impact was enlarged by Novak's
assertion - still undenied,- that
chairman O'Brien shared the
Strauss view. The episode assumed
even larger dimensions against the
background of AFL-CIO president
George Meany's surly lamentations
on the decline of Democratic Party
machines-"only Daley (of Chi-
cago) has sort of held on"-and
about the increased influence 9f
Americans for Democratic Action
over which Galbraith presided for
two lively 'years.
Galbraith, commenting on the
Strauss surge program, described
his detractor as a representative
of the "rich tax refugees in the
Democratic Party" and cheerfully
invited full-fledged combat.
Simultaneously, ADA vice chair-
man Joe Rauh urged liberals to
suspend contributions to the
Strauss-run operation and give
directly to liberal candidates.
ONE IMMEDIATE result of the
furor will be a decline in liberal
contributions to the National
Committee. The practical econo-
mics of the Strauss plan may be
as vulnerable as his long-range
politics. Now it can be told that
one regular donor to the Demo-
crats-Jim Loeb, publisher of the
Adirondack Enterprise and long-
time ADA executive-privately in-
formed O'Brien shortly after
Strauss' advent that he would no
longer help to subsidize the na-
tional organization because of
Strauss' identification with the
anti-Yarborough forces in Texas.
Now thatrthegissues have been
publicly drawn, Loeb's example
will be widely imitated and Strauss'
will have to dig deep into the
heart of Texas to compensate for
even a fraction of the losses.
But much more than fiscal mat-
ters are involved. It is conceivable
that the Strauss approach will
touch the pocketbooks of some
hitherto reluctant conservative
moneybags. But what kind of
Democratic Party is envisaged by,
the right-wing -Texans for whom
Strauss speaks-and who destroy-
ed that decent, humane liberal,
Ralph Yarborough, in their jparty's
primary?
That is what the argument is
essentially about.
PERHAPS IT IS dangerous for
politicians to read a book - espe-
cially if it is the only one they
read in the course of a year. For
nearly half of his term Richard
Nixon's Administration has been
intermittently paralyzed and dis-
credited by its reverence for Kevin
Phillips' discovery of a "Southern
strategy." Now some Democratic
eminences are said to be hypnotized
by the Scammon-Wattenberg vol-
ume on "The Real Majority," a
Meanyesque analysis that echoes
Phillips' disdain, for the political
power of the young, the poor and
the black and depicts a machinist's
wife in Dayton as the voter to be
wooed above all.
But if the un-youpg, the un-
poor and the un-black are to be-
come the chief objects of both
Republican and Democratic soli-
tude, one thing is virtually certain.
There will be a new party in 1972.
In a four-way contest it would al-
most surely doom the Democrats
and it could just possibly win with
the support of those vast numbers
of independent voters who do not
wear any party's collar. This is not
a wholly pleasing prospect because
the task of governing that would
confront a victorious minority
party would be full of peril (as it
would be if George Wallace some-
how came in first). No Democrat
dare delude himself, however.
about what will happen if the
Strauss doctrine prevails in the
party's top councils.
Of course that machinist's wife
is important. But as Joe Duffey is
showing in Connecticut, no iron
law makes her inaccessible to a
liberal Democratic voice if its tone
is at once rational and dedicated.
What spells sure death for the
Democrats is an attempt to become
so "respectable" that they lose
all identity and spirit. A Demo-
cratic Party that tries to exile Ken
Galbraith will be such a party.
(c) New York Post
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS have a pecu-
liar fascination w-i t h foreign policy.
They love to ignore troublesome domestic
problems and concentrate on manipulat-
ing other countries.
The Nixon Administration, like almost
all of its predecessors in this century, is
no exception.
Later this month President Nixon will
leave the country for an eight-day Euro-
pean tour. Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler
says the trip will "afford the President an
opportunity to undertake 'a full exchange
of views "with his respective hosts a n d
with our officials in an effort to strength-
en the structure for peace and give im-
petus 'to the President's efforts to bring
about an era of negotiations."
But the excursion also has political im-
plications because of its proximity to the
'November elections and raises questions
about U.S. fpreign policy.
From the beginning, the President will
appeal to the Catholic vote by landing in
Rome and promptly seeing Pope Paul VI,
the second such visit in 18 months.
To suggest there is some hope in the
stalled Paris peace talks, the chief execu-
tive will get together with Ambassadors
David Bruce and Philip Habib, U.S. rep-
resentatives at the talks.
This pountry's strong support for the
repressive regime of Generalissimo Fran-
cisco Franco will be shown again when
Nixon visits the Spanish chief of state.
Spain has requested political incentives
for the continuing use of its territory for
U.S. air and naval bases. As a result, the
United States has pushed for Spain's en-
try into NATO and included Spain on the
itinerary of a Presidential trip while
Franco continues to stifle his native op-
position.
Nixon's biggest coup of this foreign ad-
venture is his stop in Yugoslovia. No oth-
er American president has visited this re-
bellious Communist nation and Nixon
hopes it will be a good follow-up to his
enthusiastic reception in Rumania 1 a s t
summer.
MEANWHILE two of the President's key
domestic advisers I e f t yesterday to
Editorial Staff
MARTIN A. HIRSCHMAN, Editor
STUART GANNES JUDY SARASOHN
Editorial Director Managing Editor
NADINE COHODAS .... .. Feature Editor
JIM NEUBACHER A E ditorial Page Editor
ROB BIER........Associate Managing Editor
LAURIE HARRIS ... .... .... Arts Editor
JUDY KAHN .. ... . Personnel Director
DANIEL ZWERDLING . ...... .... Magazine Editor
ROBERT CONROW ... .... ...... Books Editor
Rucis.... Cs .
check on things in South Vietnam, Japan
and Hong Kong. John D. Erlichman, head
of the Domestic Council, and George
Schultz, director of the Office of Man-
agement and Budget, will discuss post-
war economic development in South Viet-
nam, Japan's economic development and
Hong Kong's public housing complexes.
Schultz's participation in -this trip may
be necessary to examine economic condi-
tions in other countries, but Ehrlichman's
inclusion is inexcusable. His job suppos-
edly consists of coordination of domestic
programs and a foreign trip can only re-
duce the Administration's already weak
efforts to deal with social problems here
at home.
Also questionable is t h e inclusion of
Daniel P. Moynihan in Nixon's entourage
on the European extravaganza. Now
holding the title of counselor to the Pres-
ident, M:oynihan's field of expertise has
always been urban studies in the United
States.
FURTHER EVIDENCE of the Nixon Ad-
ministration's failure to comprehend
the seriousness and urgency of domestic
problems has come from Vice President
Spiro Agnew's cross-country campaign
trip and the President's speech at Man-
hattan, Kan.
By election day, Agnew may have re-
vived more words than any other vice
president, but in the process he will have
revealed only his -own inflexibility.
Constantly the vice president condemns
his opponents in the most vile language
he can imagine. Speaking yesterday it'
Michigan, Agnew called U.S. Sen. Philip
A. Hart "a radical liberal."
Even more disturbing to Agnew were
the jeers of hecklers and demonstrators,
the first the VP has encountered on his
six-state campaign swing. In desperation,
Agnew responded by promising that "the
carpers, the complainers, t h e runners-
down, will not run this country."
Such expressions of overconfidence
about the United States ignore housing
shortages, the breakdown in public trans-
portation, racial tensions and other ur-
ban problems and swell the ranks of Ag-
new's opponents.
Speaking at Kansas State University
yesterday, Nixon himself said that a
"cancerous disease" was spreading across
the country and added that "no cause
justifies violence in the name of change."
To halt this movement Nixon called on
"responsible university and college ad-
ministrators, faculty and student leaders
to stand up and be counted."
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Soistis School doesn't intend
to
lie
To the Editor:
IN REPLY TO Kathy Loeb's
letter of September 10:
The Solstis School spokesmen
have conscientiously tried to keep
their statements free from in-
nuendo, rhetoric, and falsehood.
The "lies" Mrs. Loeb mentions are
certainly not intentional.
When University inspectors re-
viewed the condition of 706 Oak-
land recently, one of them remark-
ed that the furnace was at most
no more than two years old. Per-
haps he was mistaken; I regret
Mrs. Loeb's impression that we
lied. As for the other building de-
ficiencies that her letter men-
tioned - we are uncomfortably
aware of these. We do feel, how-
ever, that if the University had,
$1460 to demolish the building, it
might be able to find at least that
much to contribute toward its re-
quired renovation. .
MRS. LOEB FEELS that Solstis
"owes the University a great deal
of thanks" for letting it use the
building (although members of
the administration neglected to
tell us that a fire could have start-
ed any time from exposed wires in
the attic). In addition, she tells
us that we ought to again thank
them for preventing us from oc-
cupying "a potential fire trap"
(after they accepted $200 in rent
for that firetrap). Gratitude is
difficult at the present time.
It's hard to reconcile the fury
of Mrs. Loeb's accusations with
her purported concern for t h e
welfare of the school. The insin-
uations of her letter appear far
out of proportion to the inaccura-
cies she wishes to correct.
-Paul Keenan
Staff Member,
The Stoistis School
Sept. 16
Strike support
To the Editor:
WITH THE ADVENT of the
auto workers strike, I am writing
this letter in hopes that the ideas
expressed will be disseminated
among the student community. My
aim is to propose a student-work-
er understanding that, instead of
trying to woo American labor to
the cause of the student left, at-
tempts to enlistsstudent support
for labor's efforts.
It seems the left has embraced
the widest range of struggles, in-
cluding the various liberations
(Black. 'women's, Vietnamese,
gay), the fight against pollution,
repression, militarism, etc. But in
all this we have somehow over-
looked the problems and aspira-
tions of the American blue-collar
worker. Perhaps the reason for
this - something which students
must try to change-is the very
mental image we have of Amer-
ican labor. We accuse organized
labor of being limited in outlook
and guided only by self-interest.
Yet, when analysed, the several
causes of the left have originated
from self-Interest, only to be
made into a crusade by white,
middle-class youth. And if labor
sees its enemy as only the em-
ployer, not the entire- American
system, that should not n e g a t e
the validity and justness of labor's
demands. Workers, through union-
ism, are simply trying to improve
their situation through means that
are understandable and relevant
to them.
AS STUDENTS, we should also
drop the notion that we have a
monopoly on radicalism. The his-
tory of labor in America is the
most violent, continuing struggle
our society has known. Perhaps
the blue-collar worker today is
not aware of his historical back-
grou nd.bt the nrinrinl mannn
1\\
I4
\ \ { \%
- -
'4
"It's good to see someone working within the system !"
conditions for himself and his fel-
low workers. This kind of immed-
corporation's products might also
be effective. And we should go
FINALLY, I am proposing all
this not for a self-gratification,