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Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
*1
Green defends showing of anti-war slides
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1972
Dunn: Evil precedent set
By MARK GREEN
T IS the obligation of any teach-
er to explain the revelance of
his or her subject. For example,
some weeks ago I took class time
to explain how a large California
based corporation was using the
science of organic chemistry to
isolate and synthesize insect hor-
mones to produce a new genera-
tion of pest control agents without
the ecological problems associated
w i t h chlorinated hydrocarbons.
This discussion taught no labora-
tary technique but it did make the
subject live-perhaps more worth
studying outside of the coercive
degree or professional school re-
quirement which presently drives
the large majority of students into
our classes.
T h e abundent relevance of
chemistry is obvious-from meth-
adone to Vitamin C organic
chemicals effect every aspect of
our lives and it is my job as a
teacher to impart this relevance
side by side with the precise sub-
ject matter in a manner subject to
an interactive judgement with my
students. We decide together in the
classroom interplay how to get the
details of the course across. This
could be called a living classroom
or an organic approach to learn-
ing.
IT IS TRAGIC but highly rele-
vant that a significant portion of
what is chemical knowledge has
been turned to war - to the Viet-
namese War. Chemistry, as prac-
ticed in large corporations, using
exactly the techniques taught in
Chemistry 227, perfect a substance
made into a leaf mine, which ac-
cording to testimony in the U. S.
Senate has no effect on material
goods but only the strength to
wound or kill living beings.
Thus, teaching distillation, re-
crystallization, chemical identifi-
cation form a direct connection be-
tween the horror in Vietnam and
the University of Michigan. The
war, now highly automated, is
fueled by technology. A new army,
not of underprivileged dog faces,
but of highly paid and highlyre-
spectable scientists and engineers
supplies the expertise to allow a
morally unacceptable situation,
that isamericansoldiers face to
face with an indigenous rural
population, to be transformed into
a morally "acceptable" dehu-
manized scientifically based on-
slaught.
THIS scientific expertise which
is funneled by our largest corpor-
ations, through weapons systems,
ducts - products which influence
the direction o u r government
takes in facing the events around
us. The latter is the politics of ex-
perience.
AGAIN I note: it is the obliga-
tion of any teacher to explain the
relevance of his or her subject.
I therefore permited the Interfaith
Council for Peace time for a high-
ly relevant one-half hour slide ex-
hibition substantially concerned
with the connection between our
lhrgest scientifically based corpor-
ations, hiring our students, and
weapons production such as the
leaf mine and related materials.
What is my crime except to re-
veal that aspect of science usually
ignored. If I had shown a film
from Minneapolis - Honeywell on
their peaceful products would I
be, without a hearing, summarily
suspended from contact with my
students?
AT A UNIVERSITY which for several
years has had a reputation for being
liberal, even radical at times, the actions
over the past week concerning the sus-
pension of Chemistry Prof. Mark Green
should arouse the anger of every stu-
dent and faculty member.
It has gone beyond the question of
whether Green should have shown an
anti-war slide show to his class.
The question is simply, does a profes-
sor have the right to determine what
material, with certain limitations, of
course, he presents to his class. The rele-
vancy of the slide show to Green's class
is certain to be debated over the coming
weeks. But no one can deny Green or any
faculty member the right to choose class
materials.
Acting Chemistry Chairman Thomas
Dunn's actions were dictatorial and ex-
cessively heavy handed.
His first reaction to Green's repeated
showing of the slides was to immediate-
ly suspend Green. There was no debate
as to the relevency of the show, there
was no forum with Green's students on
their feelings, there was really no dis-
cussion before hand at all.
DUNN DECIDED to get rid of a trouble
maker first and then, maybe, dis-
cuss it. He asked LS&A Dean Frank
Rhodes to set up a committee to review
Green's teaching record but Rhodes wise-
ly chose not to get involved in a messy
situation.
Rhodes threw the ball back to Dunn
and told him to set up his own commit-
tee. Dunn then tossed the task to the en-
tire chemistry faculty.
The matter of the review committee
itself is a joke. Dunn has already found
Green guilty and has already punished
Today's staff:
News: P. E. Bauer, Gordon Atcheson,
Meryl Gordon, Paul Travis
Editorial Page: Lindsay Chaney, Fred Shell,
Marty Stern
Photo Technician: Tom Gottlieb
him. Even if the committee reinstated
Green and demanded that Dunn apolo-
gize, as he should, this incident will have
sullied Green's academic standing and
cause unneeded campus unrest.
If- Dunn wished to get rid of Green, as
it appears he does, he could have waited
a few months until Green comes up for
tenure review. Or he could have called
a review hearing before he summarily
suspended Green.
THESE ACTIONS of Dunn's should
make every faculty member fearful
of the day when his or her department
chairman takes issue with the material
taught in' class.
Dunn's actions have set an ominous
precedent. They clearly point out the
power of department chairmen to sus-
pend any professor for any flimsy rea-
son they can dream up.
The faculty and students should speak
out strongly and condemn Dunn's to-
tally unjustifiable actions.
-PAUL TRAVIS
Associate Managing Editor
A black iaf ia:
The media myth
THE PUBLIC seems to be infatuated
with the idea that organized crime
is now run by blacks. Media coverage of
small-time hustlers, pushers, and nar-
cotic wholesalers who just happen to be
black merely lends creedence to this con-
cept of a "black mafia." This discrimina-
tory belief only serves to perpetuate ill
feelings towards the black race, and
should be exposed for the blatant mis-
conceptions that it presents.
One would be led to believe that the
black man has finally been accepted into
the hierarchy of organized crime. In
reality, however, the black man's posi-
tion in dope traffic has changed very
little in the past decade.
He is still subservient to the top men
in control who, incidentally, are white.
In fact, the black mafioso is nothing
more than a pawn. He is skillfully ma-
nipulatd into situations where he will
be the target of police "crackdowns" or
dope busts. He is the patsy to the mafia's
games and the scapegoat for the law
enforcement's scorn.
It is time for the hero worship to end..
The black community must recognize the
black racketeers for what they are-per-
petrators of the same illegal drug traffic
that has plagued the community for
years. These people are not heroes. Pro-
gress has not been made.
Black underworld figures are only be-
ing used to more effectively exploit the
black community. Only now blacks are
aiding in the destruction of their own
communities. The evidence is in every
large city in America. A giant step back-
wards has been taken.
-DENISE GRAY
Prof. Green
to the military arm of the United
States, finds its wellspring in ev-
ery university community at which
scientists work on the cutting edge
of their disciplines and teach.
coursesilike Chemistry 227. Every
day at the University of Michigan
the established attitude lends an
aura of respectability to these cor-
porations and their miltary pro-
Editorial Staff
SARA FITZGERALD
Editor
PAT BAUER............Associate Managing Edi
LINDSAY CHANEY..............Editorial Direc
MARK DILLEN .. ,.. .............. Magazine Edi'
LINDA DREEBEN.......Associate Managing Edi
TAMMY JACOBS................Managing Edi
LORIN LABARDEE.............Personnel Direc
ARTHUR LERNER................Editorial Direc!
JONATHAN MILLER...............Feature Edi
ROBERT SCHREINER............Editorial Direc
GLORIA SMITH .. Arts Edil
ED SUROVELL ....................... Books Edil
PAUL TRAVIS...........Associate Managing Edi
NIGHT EDITORS: Robert Barkin, Jan Benedei
Chris Parks, Gene Robinson, Zachary Schiller, 2I
Stein.
COPY EDITORS: Diane Levick, Jim O'Brien, Char
Stein, Marcia Zoslaw.
DAY EDITORS: Dave Burhenn, Daniel Jacobs, J'
Kenteh, Marilyn Riley, Nancy Rosenbaum, Jt
Ruskin, Paul Ruskin, Sue Stephenson, Karen Tir
lenberg, Becky warner.
ASSISTANT .NIGHT EDITORS: Susan Brown, J
Frisinger, Matt Gerson, Nancy Hackmeler, Cir
Hill, John Marston, Linda Rosenthal, Eric Schoc
Marty Stern, David Stoll, Doris Waltz.
Letters:
To The Daily:
DOES A DEPARTMENT chair-
man have any responsibility to see
thtat stated purposes of his de-
partment are fulfilled? I would
think so. And it seems to me the
acting chairman of the Chemis-
try Department, Thomas Dunn,
was exercising his responsibility
when he relieved Professor Mark
Green of his teaching assignment.
In Professor Dunn's opinion, what
he had witnessed in Professor
Green's class was not relevant to
the course. Note also that the ac-
tion followed a warning.
Professor Dunn may have in-
correctly exercised his responsi-
bility. His judgment may have
been in error. A review of his ac-
tion is being made by members
of the Chemistry Department -
that is, by Professor Green's col-
leagues. This review is endorsed
by the dean of the college and the
vice president for academic af-
fairs.
What is it that angers you? A
person in a position of responsi-
bility considers the evidence,
makes a judgment, acts. He may
be wrong. His superiors in the ad-
ministrative hierarchy, rather than
,-anricinslv y unnortine or con-
I a -l comment 2
A failure at best: The
Nixon economic record
By GARDNER ACKLEY
THERE CAN BE no denying that the economy today is considerably
healthier than it was a year ago. It had better be! For a year ago,
our economic situation was, all told, worse than at any time since
World War De. Thus, you must go all the way back to the days of
the Great Depression to find worse 'times.
It was Richard Nixon himself who reminded us all of this compari-
son, when he described his New Economic Policy of one year ago
as the most revolutionary policy change since Franklin Roosevelt's
New Deal. For both Presidents, the times demanded a drastic shift
of economic policy - because both times we were on the brink of eco-
nomic disaster.
And if history assigns - as it does - even part of the blame for
the disaster of the Great Depression to the mistaken policies of Herbert
Hoover, it will also have to assign much of the blame for the sad
state of our economic affairs a year ago to the mistaken policies of
Richard Nixon. Given what we have learned about economics since
1929, one can well argue that the Nixon policy failures were far more
inexcusable than Hoover's.
The Nixon Administration inherited an unemployment rate of
3i%2 per cent. But it then sat back and watched the unemployment rate
climb to 6 per cent - where it remained stuck for 18 months, until
it finally started to edge down just 5 months ago. The latest figure
(August) still shows 5.6 per cent of our work force unemployed.
TO BE SURE, the Nixon Administration had also inherited a trouble-
some inflation. But it confidently claimed that a little rise - a very little
rise - in unemployment would quickly bring that inflation under con-
trol. Indeed, it said that the only extra unemployment needed was the
unemployment of President Johnson's economic advisers. Instead, it
watched the rate of price increase accelerate during most or all of the
first two and a half years of its stewardship. Only after the Administra-
tion applied the drastic medicine of compulsory wage and price con-
trols did the rate of increase of prices clearly begin to slow down.
The consequences of this unprecedented combination of high un-
employment and rapid inflation has been a reduction of real incomes
for many segments of our population. But, as is often the case, the
larger part of the cost has been paid by the low-paid, the weak and
unorganized, the racial ard ethnic minorities, the young workers seek-
ing their first jobs or attempting to get solid starts on career and
family.
During eight years of Democratic administration, the number of
Americans with family incomes in the officially-defined poverty range
had fallen every year, from 40 million in 1960 to 24.3 million in
1969. Over the next two years the number in poverty increased by
one and a half million.
We have heard a lot about the national dishonor of accepting defeat
in the War in Vietnam. But not a word about the national dishonor of
accepting defeat in the war against poverty - an enemy which still
holds as prisoner 10 million American children - six million white and
four million black - dooming them to a grossly unequal start in the
contest of life.
Here, then, is how the Nixon economic record stacks up. In less
than four years of the Nixon Administration:
* Consumer prices have risen by 18 per cent, about as much
as over the entire 8 previous years of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson;
a We have sacrificed nearly $175 billioin worth of the production
of goods and services that would have been produced if the unemploy-
ment rate had stayed at 4 per cent;
,@ There has been the irretrievable loss of more than 6 million
man-years of labor, which could have been put to productive use if
unemployment had stayed at its level of early 1969;
. Total corporate profits after taxes over the four years 1969-1972
will probably actually be less than over the four previous years
1965-68, despite a substantial growth of invested capital between these
two periods; this will represent the first four-year stagnation of profits
since the 1930's;
" The average growth rate of our total output has been about
2/ per cent a year, and of our industrial output less than 1 per cent
a year; only the United Kingdom among the major industrial countries
has done so poorly; and
0 An Administration which has preached the evils of Federal
deficits has in 3 years equalled the combined deficits of the 16 pre-
ceding years under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson.
THIS IS NOT the economic record that the Administration's
spokesmen have been beaming to the American public. Rather, we
only hear that output is now increasing; that employment is grow-
ing and unemployment at last declining; and that inflation is
finally slowing down.
All of this is true. To which, the American people's reply should
be, first, "It's about time things began to improve"; second,
"There's still an awfully long way to go"; and, third, "On the
basis of your four-year record, why should we trust you to keep
the economy moving forward?"
It is not even clear to this economist that the improvement which
we have finally begun to get in our economic situation owes much
to any affirmative action taken by the Administration.
About the best one can say is that the Administration has
finally stopped doing some of the wrong things - has stopped
I
SUSPENSION STORY
Disturbing the sacred cow
By BILL LEAVITT
SUSPENSIONS are not unique to
universities. In fact history is
full of them. Here is a rather ob-
scure one I found.
"What's the problem Moses?"
"I've been suspended as t h e
leader of the Children of Israel.
They got some new guy to replace
me: Aaron-somebody."
"Why were you suspended?"
"It's a long story. It started when
I was working a Bar Mitzvah in
Egypt, and I showed a slide pre-
sentation on the atrocities the
Egyptians were committing - you
know, beating the Israelites, mak-
ing them work long hours, over-
charging them for Mogen David
wine, thattkind of stuff."
"What happened?"
"Well, I got a threatening letter
from the Pharaoh, telling me that
kind of stuff was better off "out-
side the pyramids." I just barely
got out of that one; you don't know
Green controversy examined
To The Daily:
THIS LETTER has been origi-
nated by the Graduate Student
Council in Chemistry in an effort
to clarify a few distinct points in
the controversy concerning Dr.
Mark Green. The salient points
are:
" Dr. Green has been relieved
from his teaching duties in Chem-
istry 227 only.
* Dr. Green has not been sus-
pended by the Chemistry Depart-
ment and therefore he retains all
rights and privileges offered by
the Chemistry Department which
include:
1. Free access to the Chemistry
building which encompasses free
usage of all facilities in the build-
ing.
2. Encouragement to continue all
research goals and other duties
other than teaching Chem. 227.
3. Continuation of full salary ang
university benefits.
! Dean Rhodes requested that a
Departmental Committee be con-
vened as soon as possible to re-
views the events which led to the
relief of Prof. Green's teaching
duties in Chem. 227. The Chemis-
try Faculty elected three repre-
sentatives on Thurs. Oct. 12, which
includet ten rnea nA A non-
follow the injuiry in all stages
and will issue further statements
as the occasion presents itself.
-Graduate Student Council
Chemistry Department
Oct. 12 °
To The Daily:
THE PRESENT efforts by Dean
Rhodes and Professor Dunn to es-
tablish an advisory committee
made up of both tenured and non-
tenured faculty is another exam-
ple of the strong using members
of a less powerful group to disci-
pline themselves. The junior mem-
bers of the faculty should realize
that this committee can also be
turned against them and, should
the commitee advise to re-instate
the faculty member in question,
the tenured chairman, like Dunn,
can overrule the advisory commit-
tees recommendation and fire the
dissenting faculty member.
Junior faculty should realize they
are powerless people being used
to legitimize this kangaroo court.
The junior faculty should unite
against being used this way -
they should refuse to serve on or
vote for this or like committees.
In the short run they should also
begin to unite with other unten-
ured fncnlty to consider a faculty
institutionalized domestic racism
and repression etc;.
-Rich Levy
Joe Goldensonr
Oct. 12
'Butterflies'
To The Daily:
I FEEL THE review of "But-
terflies" by Richard Glatzer (Daily
Oct. 10) is a most unfortunate ex-
pression of negative attitudes to-
ward the handicapped rampant on
this campus and in society in gen-
eral. If The Michigan Daily were
available in braille, Talking Book
or on tape, the "Don Bakers"
(male and female) would be able
to respond for themselves and as-
sure Mr. Glatzer that they can in-
deed move in their apartments
with "ease"; "unselfconsiously.
joke about" . . . (their) disabili-
ties (many do not consider their
disability a handicap!); and "walk
to the store" and "walk back from
the store" independently.
Instead of expressing negative
views about the disabled, Glatzer
and other Daily writers might join
forces with the newly formed SGC
Committee to aid the handicapped
infahtin dcmnnti-nn prnn
what a life saver some of those
plagues were. Too bad they messed
up that last plague."
"What do you mean?"
"They were supposed to give the
first born Egyptian sons horrible
body odor, but some of the angels
misunderstood and killed them. It
worked anyway."
"Then what happened?"
"WELL, EVERYTHING w e n t
fine until we got to the desert. I
was speaking on the proper way
to dress when entering the Prom-
ised Land, and I tried presenting
the Ten Commandments. That's
what got me suspended."
"I don't understand."
"Well some of the tribal leader
of the Children of Israel decided
that the Ten Commandments were
"irrelevant" to the desert situation,
and that I was presenting them
'under the pretext' of leading
everyone to the Promised Land."
"But aren't the Ten Command-
ments going to be pretty import-
ant?"
"Yes, they are very important,
but it's hard for them to compete
against Golden Calves. Golden Cal-
ves are really popular this exodus,
and the Ten Commandments for-
bid Golden Calves."
"What is a Golden Calf?"
"It's a metaphor."
"Well anyway, isn't there any-
one else who will present the Ten
Commandments?"
"Oh yes, there are the ten lost
tribes. But you see, my tribe is
especially concerned with making
Golden Calves. And besides, not
everyone wants the Ten Command-
ments. I hear some of those guys
from Judea are really into wife
swapping."
'You mean you got suspended be-
cause you disagreed with the idea
of Golden Calves?"
"Well, I don't totally disagree-
.I do like pork chops. But t h e
Children resent my irreverence."