Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Indulgent parents spoil Kids
Friday, October 25, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
Frye forces life into GRC
THREE WEEKS AGO, faculty apathy
threatened to stop the Gradua-
tion Requirements C o m m i s s i o n
(GRC) report dead in its tracks. A
literary college faculty meeting call-
ed to discuss the GRC failed to mus-
ter enough strength for a quorum.
When LSA Acting Dean Billy Frye
adjourned the meeting with a plea
for "everyone to bring along two or
three people to the next meeting," it
sounded like a feeble attempt to drum
up spirit at a lackluster pep rally. No
one seemed anxious to tackle the
massive, 10-part review of the under-
graduate experience. Maybe if they
battered the report with enough te-
dious debate and bureaucratic shuf-
fling, it would conveniently go away,
the faculty seemed to.be saying.
But Frye is keeping the report visi-
ble. He clearly means business when
he declares, "The GRC takes prece-,
dence over all else. It ought to be
adopted before Christmas in order to
have some impact." Demonstrating
his concern for speedy consideration
of the GRC, Frye called a special
meeting last Monday evening to dis-
cuss the report.
CONCLUDING that the previous sys-
tem of voting tentatively on sec-
tions pending final review of the re-
port "had quite unintentionally caus-
ed a stultifying pace of discussion
and an inability to take definitive
action on specific recommendations
until final consideration of the re-
port," Frye recommended that the
faculty "definitely discuss, amend,
and vote on each individual recom-
mendation."
Frye also suggested that some sort
of time limit be placed on debate.
With the faculty behind him, Frye
got the report moving again. The
meeting hung on for over three hours
of debate that focused on degree re-
quirements. The participants' forti-
tude demonstrated a renewed con-
cern for the GRC's plea for innova-
tion. The faculty did not rush the re-
port through with a burst of speed,
but they did manage to vote on half
the section centering on residency
and distribution requirements. They
opted for flexibility and change in
distribution rules. After the long
meeting, several faculty members
congratulated Frye on his success. It
is no small achievement to generate
enough faculty support for a quorum.
FIVE FULL SECTIONS still await
faculty consideration, but what
formerly loomed as an endless debate
now seems like a realistic task. The
report is back off the shelf and onto
the faculty floor for discussion. Frye
may yet meet his Christmas dead-
line, and if the report makes it to the
Regents this summer, some of us
may feel the gentle repercussions of
its recommendations for change.
-SARA RIMER
By BETH NISSEN
IT ISN'T THAT I dislike children. They
have a definite charm when they
gurgle on strained carrots, take their
wobbly first stumbles in little ortho-
pedic shoes, sleep embracing a torn
blanket, or quesion with hugh wonder-
filled eyes. But my tolerance for any
child under the age of 12 has decreased
markedly in the last few years.
The days when children had some idea
of what it meant to behave themselves
in public seems well past. A child who
quietly follows parental. orders is su-
spected of having a restricted tyranni-
cal parents mnd a crippled imagination.
The vast majority of children now on
the loose in public have parental per-
missionsto dotnearly whatever they
please so that they can develop freely
and live an idyllic life of unrestricted
play. Given that inch of maternal and
paternal indulgence, the young oppor-
tunists take the proverbial mile and go
beserk.
MY REACTION to flagrant brattiness
combines disgust and jealousy. As a
child, I was never allowed to determine
behavioral policy; I followed the dic-
tates of my parents or suffered the con-
sequences. In public, we were told to
"behave," a blanket term which meant
that we sat still, did not fidget, bite our
nails or pick our noses, didn't demand
anything, but politely asked, did not pull
a sibling's hair regardless of provo-
cation, and did not cry unless we were
mortally injured or under the age of
11 months. In the presence of adults, we
listened to the 'conversation or quietly
talked to the nearest sibling or peer.
If we were in an audience and the main
'My reaction to flagrant brattiness combines disgust
and jealousy. As a child, I was never allowed to deter-
mine behavioral policy; I followed the dictates of my
parents or suffered the consequences. In public, we were
told to "behave," a blanket term which meant that we
sat still, did not fidget, bite our nails or pick our noses,
didn't demand anything but politely asked, did not pull
a sibling's hair regardless of provocation, and did not
action bored us, we were not to yawn,
squirm or complain, but patiently sit
through it and watch our peers yawn,
squirm and complain.
IF WE WERE guilty of any infractions
of these rules, my mother was on hand
with two effective public warnings. The
first was The Look, a maternal glare
guaranteed to put you six feet under if
.children, and she was proud of compli-
ment on how well-behaved we were. She
was often asked the secret of her suc-
cess. Which child psychologist did she
follow? Having read Dr. Spock thorougn-
ly, she used him frequently (usually in
hardcover book form, applied to the
same part of our backsides as h e r
pinch).
HER DISCIPLINE was based on intui-
and rule free life. Instead of raising
sunny, optimistic and free-thinking child-
ren, the result of such non-parenting
seems to be an entire herd of demand-
ing, obnoxious, brassy brats who think
only of themselves if they think at all.
These self-centered little cyclones are
present everywhere - whining and din-
ing in restaurants, loudly talking and
demanding a third box of popcorn in
movies, screaming up and down aisles
- ermarkets and pillaging merchan-
dise in department stores.
IT ISN'T SIMPLY that these child-
ren are growing without good guidance
or any guidance; they are being guided
into the depths of unreality. Their egos
have grown obese with a steady diet of
yes, gifts, and never having to com-
promise. Manydof these childrentare bad
playmates, with no' comprehension of
sharing and less of giving. They are
growing up with the expectation that the
rest of -the world is just an expanded
carbon copy of their parents' home, smil-
ing at them and their cute if ex'cessive
demands and glady providing bouneous-
demands and gladly providing bount-
eously.
Reality has to hit rather hard when
the world no longer sees or cares if
they are cut and does not hear, let alone
heed, their demands.
With the natural progression of time,
these over-pampered children that de-
mand the public attention, promise to
grow into adults who will have diffi-
culty functioning and living with their
neighbors.
Beth Nissen is a writer for The Daily's
Editorial Page.
cry unless we were mortally
1 months.'
injured or under the age oft
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looks could really kill. It assured us
that if we continued doing what we were
doing (and somehow we always knew
what ia was we were doing to incur The
Look), we would have the wrath and
perhaps the hand of my mother to face.
If The Look was insufficient and our
behavior did not improve due to intol-
erable conditions and extreme bordom,
my mother's pinching fingers would find
the appropriate place on our behinds. It
did not solve anything to sit as far away
from her as possible; she had a pinching
arm that extended nine and a half feet.
My mother believed in disciplined
tion, anger, love and expectations. She
loved us, we knew that, even though none
of us ever understood that she was about
to smack us because she loved us so
much. She expected us to learn quickly
how to be self-controlled and respon-
sible children. When we didn't live up to
those expectations, she reacted angrily
and intuitively belted us one.
An entire subsection of modern par-
ents are convinced that. use of discipline
will make their children hate them. In-
secure in their own roles, they love their
children by never saying "no", and pre-
sent them with a giftwrapped trouble
Letters
to
The
Ford slips toward Nixon
ONECAN ONLY HOPE that Gerald
Ford's latest campaign charges
emanate more from his own demon-
strated stupidity than from philo-
sophical conviction. Speaking in Ok-
lahoma City this week, Ford claimed
that the election of a Democratic
Congress with the "wrong philoso-
phy" could conceivably endanger
world peace.
This association of opponent in the
political arena with treason or war-
mongering lends substance to the be-
lief that the worst aspects of the
Nixon presidency are being slowly
resurrected. Hopefully, Ford was just
trying to attract votes, got carried
away and put his foot in his mouth.
Most of the illusions surrounding
Gerald Ford are dead by this time.
His unconscionable pardon of Nixon,
and his assent to U. S.involvement in
Chile have revealed his true colors
to the American public. He is not the
shining knight he was made out to
be in the first month of his presi-
dency.
F COURSE, ANYONE familiar
with Ford's congressional voting
record would hardly haxe expected
hirn to emerge as a new saviour. He
was a hack politician selected for the.
vice presidency primarily because he
had an outstanding record of per-
sonal loyalty to the White House and
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Jeff Day, Cindy Hill, Mary Kel-
leher, Anne Marie Lipinski, Jeff
Ristine, Judy Ruskin, Jeff Sorensen,
David Whiting
Editorial Page: Clifford Brown, Debra
Hurwitz, Becky Warner
Arts Page: David Blomquist, Ch r i s
Kochmanski
Photo Technician: Ken Fink
had done relatively little to offend
anyone.
It was a sad reflection on the mor-
ale of the nation that he was so im-
mediately lionized. We were all so
desperate for someone we could trust,
even if we couldn't agree with him,
that Ford seemed attractive. In retro-
spect, such gushing adolescent ad-
miration appears naive. But Ford
seemed to have all the right attri-
butes - a desire for honesty and
openness, and a stated intention to
introduce a wider spectrum of po-
litical views into his.circle of inner
advisers. He claimed he wanted to
work things out with Congress, and
we believed him because he had spent
so much time there.
Best of all, he didn't seem to have
the same vitriolic streak that Nixon
possessed. He had friends in the
House on both sides of the aisle. He
was partisan, yes, but he realized that
others had their own views and were
entitled to them. He was reported to
be a man of few enemies.
TT IS FORD'S RETREAT from this
position that is'disturbing. Few
observers expected miracles from
Gerald Ford: frankly, we expected to
disagree with most of his decisions.
But he has a right to his beliefs, and
respect for other views seems to be
at the heart of our political system.
Believing that one's opponents are
morally wrong, that anything is jus-
tifiable in the name of preserving the
reign of the present rulers, led to the
mentality which produced Watergate.
And for obvious reasons, the return
of that mentality is far more fright-
ening than the actual campaign mud-
slinging itself.
-STEPHEN SELBST
Fojtik
To The Daily:
THREE CHEERS for Liz Tay-
lor for telling it like it is about
Kathy Fojtik. It's too bad, Liz
couldn't have beaten Perry Bul-
lard in the primary, because
then we would have an effec-
tive, independent state repre-
sentative in Lansing.
I voted for Liz in '72 against
the HRP candidate, but this
year I have th misfortune to be
living in the district of Ms.
Fojtik. And after reading Foj-
tik's remarks in the Daily I
must agree with Taylor that
Fojtik is one candidate who can
justifiably be called a hpocrite,
who deserves to be defeated.
What was really irksome was
not so much that Fojtik had
spent all of that money on con-
vention junketeering. She could
have admitted that and said big
deal. But Fojtik got hysterical
and attacked Taylor and HRP
for making public information
public.
And when she actually said,
"It isn't any fun going to Miami
Beach in July" I couldn't be-
lieve my eyes. Is that why
BOTH political parties held their
conventions there at that time
in 1972?
THE FINAL straw, though,
was when Fojtik arrogantly said
that "the money is better than
sent on me" than some of the
other Commissioners. Yecchh.
-Cassie Smith
October 17
To The Daily:
I HAVE BEEN involved in
the grape, lettuce, and Gallo
wine boycott for the past 18
months, have picketed nearly
every week, and have served as
co-ordinator of the local boycott
committee. I was shocked at al-
legations by three fellow boy-
cotters that Kathy Fojtik is try-
ing to make political capitalbout
of tokenistic support of the boy-
cott, and that she has picketed
only once in the past year and a
half. These statements are sim-
ply untrue. Consider the follow-
ing facts:
1. Kathy picketed weekly at
the Plymouth Road A&P dur-
ing the summer of 1973, and has
picketed in support of nie boy-
cott on a number of occasions
since.
2. She has supported resolu-
tions in support of the boycott
on the County Board of Com-
missioners.
3. Late last year, she risked
arrest by picketing with the Uni-
ted Farm Workers in defiance
of an injunction against our
picket of A&P.
4. She has also made finan-
cial contributions to the United
Farm Workers in support of 'be
boycott.
IT IS TRUE that in recent
months she has been less in-
volved with the boycott because
of her other political activities
such as the County Board of
Commissioners and the National
Organization for Women. How-
ever, two of the three authors
of the letter criticizing is. Foj-
Stik have also been less involved
because of other activities in re-
cent months.
Perhaps the motivation of the
letter-writers becomes clearer
when one considers that all
three are active members of
HRP. Kathy Fojtik's efforts on
behalf of farmworkers h a v e
been considerably greater than
many other candidates who have
claimed credit for boycott sup-
port, including some in HRP.
A look at Kathy Fojtik's record
in support of farmworkers shows
that she has been an active
UFW supporter. I wonder if the
same can be said of har HRP
opponent.
-John Farley
October 21
duplication
To The Daily:
IN A LETTER published in
the September 26 Michigan
Daily, Mr. Charles Hagen wrote
of his experiences with t h e
copying machines and the Photo-
duplication Service of the Grad-
uate Library.
In an effort to provide rapid
library service to all areas of
the campus the University Lib-
rary has installed 28 coin-oper-
ated copying machines in i t s
library facilities on the Central
Campus and the North C a m-
pus. These are standard copiers
which operate at low cost and
which are serviced by technhc-
ians each day, night, weekend,
and holiday that the library is
open. However, this system for
providing service in numerous
convenient locations nas bu lt-
in disadvantages. The copiers
are set at an exposure designed
to obtain readable copy from
as many different types of ma-
terials as possible. Obviously
the result will vary depending
on the original. In the case of
some originals, no copy is pos-
siblbe through the use of these
machines.
Admittedly, there are times
when the operation of the ma-
chines is faulty, or when the
material being copied is moved
during the exposure period. In
such instances money is refund-
ed to the user at the library cir-
culation desk without question.
Action has been taken to insure
that both full and part-time staff
will respond courteously to re-
qusts for refunds.
THE PHOTODUPLICATION
Service staff of the Graduate
Library is available for special-
ized copying services, which are
not possible on self-serve ma-
Dal
tems and equipment and will
welcome relocation in lhe Grad-
uate Library after completio of
the renovation now in progress.
-John G. Gantt
Ntanager, Photodupli-
cation Service-
University Library
October 7
clericals
To The Daily:
A MAJOR considera+hon in
the upcoming union representa-
tion election for the clerical
staff at the University is the
fact that the University is de-
pendent, for the most part, on
allocations from the state. Join-
ing the UAW will not add money
to the budget and excessively
high wage demands will result
in a reduction in staff, If the
University has to tighten i1 s
belt, the reduction will probably
be in the support staff in view
of President Fleming's state-
ment that "faculty members are
our most important asset and
we know it." The purpose of the
UM is to educate students and
although the clerical staff is
very important to the Univer-
sity, ours is a supparting role
and we should notlose sight of
,that fact.
Contrary to pro-union allega-
tions, we are not a front for the
University administrationn-r
are we members of the admin-
istration. We are dedicated sec-
retaries and clerks who are vit-
ally concerned that the effects
the UAW will have on wages,
benefits, jobs and employ mr-
ale will be negative.
WE URGE everyone to vote in
the election. Be honest with
yourself and vote your convc-
tions. A "no" vote is in the
best interests of the clerical
staff at this time.
--Secretaries for
Nonunionization
(formerly Concerned
Secretaries)
ethics
To The Daily:
AS A MEMBER of the faculty
of this University I would lke
to protest that treatment ac-
corded two students in an inter-
view given by football coach
Jerry Hanlon to John Kahler in
the Daily on Tuesday, October
8th. The students in question,
Greg Boik and Gary Zolociak
(neither of whom I know), are
singled out by name as having
left the team this fall, and then
are criticized by their coach. I
give the quotation:
"They lost the desire to piav,"
says Hanlon with a touch of
disappointment in his voice.
"Most kids who come here are
willing to accept the challenge
and work to achieve somethng.
Freshmen come in here, find
they can't play right away, and
become impatient. But that does
not necessarily mean that you
quit. You just keep on working
to get better."
I DON'T KNOW why the two
left the team, but I presume
there is still freedom of action
for students here without their
having to be publicly accused
of being quitters. I think it is in
very bad taste and not in ac-
cord with Michigan tradition that
Mr. Hanlon, who is an instruc-
tor, hence a member of the
faculty, should single out two
young men in the way that he
did and with the innuendo im-
plicit in his statements. I con-
sider the matter disturbing
enough to bring to the attention
of the campus and to ask that
Coach Hanlon publicly apologize
to Messrs. Boik and Zolciak.
-Louis J. Orlin
Dept. of Near Eastern
Studies
October 9
swami
To The Daily:
ALL THE PR in the world
will not a sovior make. I too
was one of the interested who
came to hear Baba Muktananda
speak a few weeks ago, and I
have seen many "gurus" over
the last few years, and have
been hoping to find one who at
fast commanded a certai
amount of human respect and
warmth. Alas, the Swami was
not one. It was his responsibil-
ity to be personally convincing,
and he flunked: such people of-
ten claim their audience is riot
receptive - it's a self-enclosed
system the Swami lives in. What
I saw, however, was a nervous,
impatient, rather bored o 1 d
man who sat there twitching,
rubbing himself, grimacing, try-
ing to upstage whatever else
was going on, talking his Ind-
ian gibberish through a trans-
lator (through whom even a
phone book would sound apo-
calyptic), a man who didn't
even care enough to communi-
cate directly, who projected lit-
tle warmth, compassion, fascin-
ation with anything other than
his own presence, who "played"
with people the way any auto-
crat does, and whose message
was strewn with esoteric refer-
ences, such as "cleansing the
body's 72,000 c h a n n e ls," (I
count only 71,343 in my (wn)
rather than anything we might
be able to relate to. The fol-
lowing night, however, a man
did speak, Diego Dias Porta,
who did project a great deal of
caring, common sense, arother-
hood, humor and tolerance. But
then, he was Mexican, not from
the mysterious East. The news
media, of course, depend on a
certain degree of superficial bra-
vado to provide them with a
good story. One of these days,
maybe someone will publisn in
to student's own Daily a per-
spective on these self-proclaim-
ed saviors that is less tnan re-
spectful.
-Paul B. Wiener
October 7
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FOP,
Fleming
chines. These services include
photographic or electrostatic
copying of problem malerials
involving, if desired enlarge-
ment or reduction in size some-
times requiring trial copies (at
no cost to the customer) before
an acceptable copy is produced.
Individualized services, of well-
paid skilled specialists the use
of highly technical equipment,
and the preponderance of re-
quests for single copies rather
than multiple copies, necessi-
tate a higher charge to the cus-
tomer than the charge for use
of a self-copying machine or the
charge made by some private
local businesses. The cost to the
Library's Photoduplication Serv-
ice for the fee to the Xerox
Co. and for supplies exceeds
five cents per copy. A compari-
son of rates charged on other
campuses shows that our rares
are comparable. Mr. Hagen as-
serts that "at the University of
Washington, the main library
copying service provides single
Xerox copies at about 5 cents
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