I 14c.fWrdpan Danb Eighty-one years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Reviewing the State of the Fleming 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1972 Fingers for money: Trade? N THE WAKE of the Michigan Union Board of Directors' wise decision to abort manager Stanfield Wells' ill con- ceived' fingerprinting - check cashing scheme, serious questions have been raised about the implementation of such an unfortunate flirtation -with police state tactics. Indiscriminate fingerprinting' versity students is repugnant to ues of this community. of Uni- the val- Tracing fraudulent checks is justified. But in this age when neighbor spies on neighbor and the government spies on everybody, the implications of the Union stocking fingerprints of every student who cashes a check there are scary. This is especially true in light of Wells' amaz- ing admission that he had not considered the necessity of any policy to ensure the confidentiality of the fingerprint file he was so casually collecting. BESIDES, the whole thing just didn't look right. Long lines of students getting fingerprinted in order to cash their $20 checks is, as Union board mem- ber Robert Forman said, "inappropriate in a university community." After cash- ing her check Monday, one freshman wo- man put it t-is way: "It makes me feel like I had done something wrong." Equally as disturbing as 'the decision to fingerprint was Wells' rather cavalier bypassing of his policy board in making it. Though on a purely technical basis, the decision may have been managerial as Wells suggests, it clearly represented a quantum jump from asking for a driv- er's license and a student ID. The board itself is hardly representa- tive of students, composed largely of faculty, administrators and alumni. Moreover, if it is not to be consulted, even .our rather limited control over Union policy will be rendered futile. FEW CASES cry more eloquently than this fingerprinting caper for the re- organization of the Union management. More open management and more stu- dent control are sorely needed. -CHRIS PARKS "If a university is nothing more than a place where one goes to fill career requisites (then We) have been engaged in an exer- cise of futility." -Robben Fleming By WILLIAM ALTERMAN ROBBEN FLEMING, it appears, is currently employed in an exercise of futility. This is t h e most plausible conclusion to be reached from the University Pres- ident's Monday night State of the University Address. In his speech Fleming attacked the decline in recent years in the quality of education received at the University. Chief among his tar- gets were the pass-faii system, the pass-no entry system and the ease with which one can receive a high grade in Qome departments. Decrying the pass-fail system, Fleming compared the student to a surgeon, "When we are about to undergo surgery we readily aban- don any views we may previously have held about all the doctors be- ing the same. Why, then, should we be so reluctant about rating stu- dents?" The pass-no entry idea drew an even sternerorebuke from the Pre- sident. "I view pass-no entry as a far more dubious proposition. An academic experience in which one can never fail is contrary to every other life experience which the stu- dent will have." GRADING, TOO, came in f o r some harsh criticism. "There are (academic) departments in which grade averages have moved up one full grade in the last few years. Is thisbecause thestudentsare so much better? This seems tn- likely." Fleming has apparently decided that grades are indeed the key to success in the outside world. The President already runs a university predicated on competition - where one fights to prove his superiority above another. Even if one accepts the need for some kind of competitive evalua- tion (akphilosophy the University's medical school is doing without) one would have to be a truly naive university President to believe that there is some connection between one's grade point average and one's ability to dgal with life n the future. Indeed a recent study at Harvard - came to the rather start- ling conclusion that personality has- far more to do with success in life than academic achievement. THE PRESIDENT'S c u r i ou s complaint that a rise in g r a d e points in some departments is a sign of academic decline is even more startling.Presumably he is upset because the professors have eased up on their academic stand- ards, allowing the same quality of work to be passed off as worth a better grade. A better theory is that the students are simply doing a better job of "kissing ass." In- stead of thinking, they are regur- gitating word for word what their teacher spews in their ears-a sit- uation which is exacerbated as gradestbecome more and more im- portanit. Even Fleming realizes (t h o u g h perhaps unknowingly) that there is a contradiction between grading and educating, admitting that uni- versities rely on "memorization and recapitulation," which appear not to give students "a capacity to apply information thoughtfully in current context." ". .Somehow the crossover be- tween academic knowledge a n d values, and the application of that knowledge and values simply nev- er took place," he wonders. And yet Fleming cannot see the inherent difficulties in a system based on competition and the al- mighty grade point. All he can ask is "Why? If we knew the answer, I suggest that our educational sys- tem would be a better one." FLEMING'S RIGHT, the system we have now is a failure. It teach- es people to screw each other, which is exactly how they learn to act in their relations with their community and their world. One of the first steps to a less competitive system is the one Fleming derided Monday night- the elimination of grades. It might be interesting to note what Flem- ing himself once said: "I think you can make a good argument that when you start off "reading, writing and 'rithmetic" - an assembly line for the white collar workers of the future. Oddly enough, in last year's State of the University Address, Fleming seemed more recepcive to innovation, admitting, "I have seen enough of the world of work to know that specific training c a n tion exceedingly precarious. H i s characterization of "student ac- tivists" of a few years back as "arrogant and totalitarian" was pointless land only serves to open old wounds. In fact this campus, except for a brief flurry last April, has been quieter this past year than at any time since Fleming angerous rug ealngs' "When we are about to under- go surgery we.readily abandon any views we may previously h a v e held about all the doctors being the same. Why then, should we be so r e l u i a n t bout rating stu- lents?" Robben Fleming, 1972 G", ; ",When youi start off with good s ti u d e n t s like we have at Michigan you could get off very well without grades. A simple pass- fail system might work." -Robben Fleming, 1968 JOHN INGERSOLL, director of the Bu- reau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, demonstrated, last week that the administration is still bogged down in an absurd and awkward battle.against drug usage. Commenting on marijuana decrimi- nalization and heroin maintenance pro- posals, Ingersoll evinced a deplorable lack of sensitivity toward the "whys" of the drug culture, intimating that simply cutting off the supply will diminish the demand. Speaking before the annual confer- ence of the Maryland Chiefs of Police last week, Ingersoll denounced both de- criminalization of marijuana and the legal distribution of heroin to addicts. JNGERSOLL STRESSED that "remov- ing the prohibition against' the pos- session of marijuana"-as the National Marijuana Commission recommended- would only "encourage" its use. To thus insist that everything that is not illegal is "encouraged" denotes both a sweeping conception of the government's prescrip- tive role and a shallow view of human na- ture. Rat poison is legal. Yet few, if any, persons smoke or eat it. The government has continually em- phasized that studies have not conclu- sively shown that marijuana is not harm- ful. At the same time, other agencies, like the Food and Drug Administration, refuse to pull "therapeutic" drugs off the market unless they are conclusively proven to be injurious. THE NATION'S chief "nare" shuddered in his speech at the thought of in- dividuals being poisoned daily with legal heroin. And he subsequently bragged of administration success in cutting down the flow of heroin and forcing heroin prices on the underground circuit to sky- rocket. But Ingersoll ignored the human ques- tion of his agency's work-whether the administration has reduced not the amount of pure heroin, but the number of addicts; or what effect soaring prices have had on the quality of "horse" and additives that addicts are'shooting them- selves up with. Nor does Ingersoll mention how ad- dicts are raising the money to pay for their more and more expensive habit; he offers no evidence that large numbers are kicking the habit. The establishment of heroin mainte- nance clinics, while not -solving the drug problem, would at least take many ad- dicts off the streets and guarantee a less dangerous habit, with "cleaner jones"- uncut with strychnine or other street supplements. INGERSOLL CITED charts, ratios and numbers to prove the administra- tion's case. Statistics can lie, we all know by now, but one set of figures-which only add up in one direction-he side- stepped: The number of heroin addicts in the country has doubled in three years. -MARTIN STERN Daily Photo by DENNY GAINER until the administration realizes that this kind of education does not necessarily "prepare one for life." Granted the proper alterna- tive is an illusive thing. But per- haps Fleming should heed his own words "There is no guarantee t h a t change will be good or bad, but it is the law of life and it is in- escanable . . . If we are confident of our own talent and our own ed- icational capacity, we will not fear change or be reluctant to ex- periment with new devices." AS THE STANDARD educational process retreats further and fur- ther from reality the University will become more and more cor- rupt. Flening's speech of a year ago hinted at a restructuring of the educational process: But change must bring affirmative action from the administration, admittedly not an easy step in, a large state uni- versity, but neverthelesstone ne- cessary in order to produce a pro- gressive system. Unfortunately, the president's speech on Monday calls into ques- tion his dedication to any' real changein the structore. If he con- tinues to stick by the old mores it will be the students, and ulti- mately our society, which will suf- fer. William Alterman hr an asso- ciate sports editor for The Daily and a frequent contributor to this page. .. . .. *. *. *. . . . . .* .* . ..... . ....:.. . with good studentslike we have at Michigan you could get off very well without grades. A simple pass- fail system might work. "If that argument were made to me I would take it very serious- ly. I think it might be rightly done. However, I don't think it could be sold to the faculty." NOW THAT pass-fail has gained some headway with the facuilty, however, Fleming has backed off. His speech Monday appears to put a damper on any inovative p r o- gras'tiri the near future and fore- shadows a return to a pallor of usually be acquired on tlje Job." Possibly the University's current financial crisis is the reason fir the President's turnabout. The ex- pansion of the University's minor- ity admissions program i which should be duly applaured) com- bined with a drop off in revenues, has forced the University into a financial squeeze. But innovation! should not stop merely because funds are tight. Pass-fail is not going to co-4t mrF' ey, experiments such as the Pilot Program do not cost moIev. Or it could be that Fleming is just mad at a student body which over the years has made his posi- first arrived in 1968. WHATEVER THE reason f o r Fleming's apparent change, it bodes ill for'the University of Mich- igan. American institutions of high- er learning have been expanding at an incredible rate in the past fewayears.eSadly, the institutions' response to this growth has been an ever higher degree of institu- tionalization. Final upon final, grade upon grade, papertupon pap- er, degree upon degree, the system has taken a very Fort-range view of education. Get them in and get them out. The University will continue to produce such standardized products .i Pat: Hatchet woman with a soft stroke i . "". ,,, . "ice t -"" .- .a ' < , ., . ; ,. r iN 4," ' 2>' Freeing California weed I CALIFORNIA CITIZENS will vote on legalization of marijuana in Novem- ber. But the California Marijuana Initia- tive is in trouble. Little money is coming -in to help fi- nance the campaign and not enough people are donating their time to inform people of the proposition or to register new voters. Without an effective media campaign, which requires money, and a person to person canvassing drive, which requires 'j~ Atc4t1afl Btty, Business Staff ANDY GOLDING Business Manager BILL ABBOTT ............Associate Business Manager HARRY HIRSCH .............Advertising Manager FRANCINE SCHERGER ...........Personnel Manager MANE CARNEVALE .................Sales Manager PAUL WENZLOFF ...............Promotions Manager STEVE EVSEEFF ..............Circulation Manager DEPARTMENT MANAGERS, ASSOCIATES, AND AS- SISTANTS: William Blackford, Sherry Kastle, Ray Catalino, Linda Coleman, Jim Dykema, Sandy Fien- berg, L'Tanya Haith, Dave Lawson, Elliot Legow. STAFF AND TRAINEES: Joan Ades, Esat Ali, Dawn Bare, Michele Becker, Roy Chernus, Linda Cycow- ski, Donald East, Michele Engel, Harriet Erlick, Deborah Gelstein, Gregg Gunnel, Bo Hartrick, Nancy Karp, Cynthia Kaufman, Alan Klein, Steve LeMire, Beryl Levine, Jon Licht, Mike Luerich, Joyce Mc- Clendon, Carol Meyer, Paula Schwach, Valerie Sief- man, Ton Siykhouse, Edward Stieg, John Totte. Darai Voss, Debra Weglarz, Jonnie Williams, San- dra Wronski. STAFF ARTIST: Denny Dittmar. SALEM: Dave Burleson, Bob Fischer, Karen Laakko, Ray Nurmi, Alexandra Paul, Ricki Rusting. Mike Treblin, Debbie Whiting. Sports Staff people, the proposition faces a steep up- hill battle. Certainly there are enough smokers in the sun and fun state. But many of those who back the initiative may feel that giv- ing money to the effort is a "giveaway" not only of money, but also of a finan- cial status they would rather not admit- that is, having left over money. Nonethe- less, marijuana is not a cheap hobby; it's more expensive than licorice. Opponents of drug reform argue that marijuana users smoke the weed to es- cape the harsh realities of life. They go further, suggesting that marijuana in- ures one against the pressures of a helter skelter world-making the individual placid and content, unable to act. UNDECIDED VOTERS are assaulted with this set of arguments about marijuana use, and observing but sparse activity on the part of "the freaks", may fall prey to this vacuous line of logic. The only way for California's dope smokers to shake voters loose of these beliefs is to give freely and to actively support the Marijuana Initiative. -GERALD NANNINGA Whither work? REFLECTING the layoffs in the auto- mobile industry unemployment (in MichienI irned un to reaeh 392.000 or .. p r" -. i )J\J IJ I" soldiers from the war zone, it has never repudiated our reason for entering such a conflict in the first place. In suoting all of the same old Cold War rhetoric about free- dom and communism, Ms. Nixon is guilty of either gross ignorance or deceit: how can she possibly equate "freedomn" with the clos- ing of onposition newspapers, he end of village and hamlet elections, and rule by virtual decree? Still, Pat and Julie (the one who doesn't wear the white Cinderella dresses) have said that they would give their lives for the Thieu regime. IN ONE of her rare public refer- ences to her husband, Pat Nixon remarked last week that she had the "best guy" in the world. Though some may view this as an inusially controversial statement for the President's, wife to dike, this compatibility can readily be seen: for like her illustrious hus- band, the more Ms. Nixon speaks, the more discredited she becomes. Her husband has learned to cur- tail this dangerous tendency by plasticizing everything he has to say well beforehand and subse- quently burying himself under the opinion polls. Let us be thankful that he has thus far kept Pat on the political a se circuit, so that at least- a little Sthe truth can inadvertently s h i n e ghts. through. she ________ Ap- was Davld Margolick is a staff pho- kin- tog rapher for The Daily. I4 - ,', '.'. f+ xesia. a . :.. o.. Syndi