Isie Eidgin aihj Eighty-one years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigar. 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. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1972 Reviewing the tenure system Social By ALAN HARRIS HAD I NOT been previously ex- posed to the ideas propound- ed in a recent editorial page arti- cle (Daily, Oct. 10), I would have been appalled by the philosophy it advocates therein. (The article, by Scott Zimmerman, discussed man's potential for abusing h i s "freedom.") Just as physicians must intri- cately study cancer cells in order to find a cure for the disease, so must advocates of individual liber- ty examine the evil monstrosity which the article attempts to pass off as calm philosophical reflection, in order to be able to respond ef- fectively, and rationally to t h e premises he advocates. Throughout most of recent his- tory, advocates of socialism argued against capitalism on the grounds that it did not truly provide for the material well-being of all mem- bers of society. Though proponents of this position erroneously blamed capitalism for the problems created by governmental economic inter- vention, at least they gave proper attention to the importance of ma- terial well-being; they viewed hap- piness on earth as a virtue, even though unaware of the socio-econ- omic principles which provide for its existence. In the latter part of the 20th century, no rational person could fail to observe the unspeakably horrible material and spiritual de- cay present wherever socialism freedon has been imposed. The argument that socialism provides greater overall prosperity was met with massive evidence to the c o n- trary. THERE WAS only one way by which advocates of totalitarianism could defend their philosophy: by damning material well-being as evil. This is the hidden premise which Mr. Zimmerman and those of his ilk refuse to fully identify. Underlying the notion that free- dom is outmoded is the premise that happiness on earth is evil, that man must totally renounce his de- sires for the alleged good of "so- ciety," that man must live at the mercy of super-planners. This is a philosophy, not of life, but of death. The above mentioned hidden pre- mise is strongly hinted at in a paragraph from the Daily article. The author, in decrying our "con- sumer-oriented" (i.e., pro-life) so- ciety, is disturbed by the alleged endless proliferation of material goods, "most of which are not vital to the support of the life process." I would remind the writer that, the only material goods "vital to the support of life processes" are a dank cave, a bearskin, and a chunk of raw meat, which is pre- visely the state to which the reali- zation bf Mr. Zimmerman's plans would bring us. Mr. Zimmerman decries as evil the fact that tech- nological advances have constant- Philosophy of death threat to a capitalistic society. Quite to the contrary, a capitalist economy expands in order to ac- In evalliatir g the humanito commodate population increase. In evaluating the humanitarianism of Mr. Zimmerman's philosophy, consider that, in the name of,"zero population growth," those couples who have more than their allotted number of children would have to be jailed and their child w o u l d have to be exterminated, to d i s- courage other such "transgres- sions. Only under socialism, under which individuals demand that ma- terial sustenance be provided to them by right, is an expanding population deemed a threat. Under socialism, individuals re- gard the existence of others as a mortgage upon their own liveli- hoods, because they are thereby cheated out of a huger chunk of "society's" resources. By raising the false issues of overpopulation and resource de- pletion (in fact, there are h u g e untapped sources of raw maer- ials), Mr. Zimmerman proposes that we renounce our claim to free- dom and that we abandon our de- sires, and instead submit to slav- ery. I, for one, refuse to do so. Alan Harris, University student, is the Conservative, Party candi- date for 53rd District State Leg- islature. THE PRESENT controversy in the chemistry department does not stop in Prof. Mark Green's classroom, but 'raises far-reaching points about what appears more and more to be a subject closely related to the case-the system of tenure at the University. Tenure - which assures a faculty member of a lifelong career at the insti- tution from which he receives it (barring any ethical breeches) - is, for that rea- son, highly prized and extremely hard to acquire. Those who have it are protective of it, and those who do not have it treat it as the ultimate priority. The standards by which a junior fac- ulty member after several years' scrutiny is or is not granted tenure are determin- ed departmentally, but for the most part include the general energy level of the candidate, teaching ability, and quanti- ty (more often than quality) of publica- tions. Unfortunately, the stress in most departments appears to be on the pub- lication factor rather than teaching abil- ity. Furthermore, not only the standards but the system of tenure itself can get out of hand, when, for example, it is used as a tool for keeping departmental salary lists low during a budget crisis. A tenured faculty member is obviously paid more than a non-tenured one, and there are those who suspect that some faculty members have been denied tenure for just that reason. Prof. Green himself is due for tenure consideration in Novem- ber. WHILE THE entire tenure system may need revamping, however, one thing to be considered to improve the situation is to provide for student parity-or at the very least some substantive student input-ont departmental tenure commit- tees. There are virtually no students on tenure committees at the present time, although students do sit in fairly large numbers on other departmental com- mittees, mostly dealing with curricula. That many faculty members are strongly opposed to trusting students in matters closely concerning themselves is evident by the recent actions of the com- mittee established to review Prof. Green's teaching record. The committee, orig- inally composed of three faculty mem- bers, agreed under pressure Thursday to demands for student parity. Yesterday, however, the committee decided to add another faculty member, thus restoring the Faculty edge. The question of student parity on ten- ure committees is usually put down by faculty members because they say stu- dents are transient, unconcerned, not really affected by the process, and rela- tively immature in such matters. How- ever, these points seem capable of refu- tation. JNDIVIDUAL STUDENTS are transient, but this should not be confused with the collective concept of students. Taken as a whole, students are not transient at all. Indeed, if they were, the Univer- sity would run the risk of becoming de- funct sometime in the future. Students are concerned with such mat- ters - as the Green case points out - and moreover, are definitely affected by any process which determines to an ex- tent which faculty members are selected to remain at the University to teach their peers. And if students are considered un- trustworthy when it comes to questions of tenure, then the faculty members who oppose them are guilty of arrogance for letting these same untrustworthy stu- dents have a significant say in matters of curricula, and the like. It is time that students and faculty. members meet seriously to discuss-with every intention of acting upon-the ques- tion of student input on tenure commit- tees. "Capitalism? Who needs capitalism?" ly provided more and more hap- piness to a steadily greater num- ber of people. One of the greatest and most sal- ient results of the rise of capital- ism in the 19th century was the astoundingly dramatic reduction in infant and child mortality which it brought. If we are to believe Mr. Zimmerman, an increase in population is an evil, and event- ually causes great social distress. WHY, THEN, was the sudden and dramatic rise in population fostered by capitalism accompan- ied by the greater increase in material well-being for all ever to have occurred in recorded history? An increase in population is no _ - 1/ -ROBERT SCHREINER Editorial Director Nixon's southern trickery THE WOWING Nixon campaign rally of over half a million persons in At- lanta, Georgia Thursday seems to for- bode the end of the South as a Democra- tic stronghold. Nixon responded to his warm recep- tion by inviting the South to join his "new American majority." In a subsequent closed meeting with Southern leaders Thursday he stressed that the South's concerns were those of the nation as a whole. He listed the ma- jor points in his American strategy in the order that he - the new majority's spokesman - perceived them. The Number One issue as Nixon per- ceives it is that "Americans want their country to be strong." Other astute points listed in descending order are: -peace with honor; -good jobs; -respect for law and order; -crime; -progress; -character; and1 --patriotism. NIXON'S RANKING of the issues re- flects his own nature with charac- ter near the bottom of the list. Further- more, his accomplishments of the past four years belie any commitment to his very ideals.. He has, for example, authorized a bombing bloodbath in Vietnam to achieve "peace with honor" and still has not managed to achieve the peace he promised during his election campaign four years ago. He-has outlined the need for jobs without appreciably alleviating the recession. Similarly, he proclaims the goal of law and order while he presides over rising crime statistics and the con- tinuing deterioration of America's cities. Nixon now speaks of the "new Ameri-_ can majority" who, endorses him. For- merly he referred to them as the "silent majority." Nixon's alleged campaign mo- mentum, if true, is frightening. His is a cynical characterization of the American people permitting his rise to power. He postulates Americans as silent, gullible to his platitudes and approving of his be- nign neglect of the country's real con- cerns. -MARCIA ZOSLAW National dfne look'at the record By DAVID FRADIN "NATIONAL DEFENSE" has so frequently been labeled the "bad guy" responsible for our social and economic ills that it is no surprise that a protest in the form of a documented rebuttal has been recently released. A study by the Department of Defense presents in some 200 pages a perspective of national security generally absent from public com- munications on the subject. It concentrates on. statistics - "a look at the record" - to convey how defense relates to national priorities, to the economy, to public spending. The statistics are impressive, sufficiently so to warrant examina- tion in this space of a few of the findings that attempt to separate the myths from the realities about defense-related spending. In order to achieve a valid comparison of figures from various years, the Department of Defense uses the value of the dollar in the non-war year of 1958 as a base. Here are some findings: -Defense spending in fiscal year (FY) 1973 will be the lowest, in real terms, since FY 1951; -Since the wartime peak (FY 1968), defense manpower (military, civil service, defense-related industry) has declined by 35 per cent, or 2.8 million people; -During the same period, Defense purchases from industry have fallen by 40 per cent, or $22 billion; -During the last nine years, funds for procurement, research and development, and military construction have increased by 4 per cent, or $900 million. In terms of real buying power this actually represents a decrease of 24 per cent in these funds; -In FY 1973, Defense will account for about 20 per cent of public spending, about 21 per cent of all public employment, and just over 6 per cent of our gross national product. These are the lowest shares in more than 20 years; -In FY 1973, state and local spending will amount to $182.5 billion, or 2.3 times the National Defense budget. (These funds come from the same taxpayers, either directly or, in large share, from the Federal budget.); -This year scial and economic spending will be $145 billion and Defense spending wil be $44 billion. This is very close to a complete reversal of the 1945 situation when, in 1958 prices, Defense spending was $153 billion and spending on social and economic programs was $34 billion; -Similarly, of total public employment in 1945 of 19 million, 78 per cent went to Defense. In 1973 the total of 16 million has 79 per cent devoted to non-Defense purposes; and -With massive defense cuts since the peak war year of 1968 representing potential savings of $24 billion why has the budget only dropped $1.5 billion? The study points to $16.3 billion in pay increases to military and civil service personnel and $6.2 billion eaten up by general inflation of purchased goods and services. CONCLUDING SECTIONS of the study discuss such concerns as cost overruns, contractor profits and industry productivity. The alleged overruns stem mainly from comparing current estimates for com- pletion of a weapons system with very early "planning estimates." Such cost increases are common in every aspect of our society. For example, the Washington Monument took 100 years to build at several times the original cost. As to profits, contractors realize only 2.3 per cent after taxes - according to a General Accounting Office study - or about half of pro- fits realized'by industry generally. Tribute is paid the aircraft industry for productivity increases nearly double the average and for having the best balance-of-trade record in the U.S. economy. David Fradin, '73, is chairman of 'the Federation of Americans Supporting Science and Technology. A ' In the T.V. wasteland Putting off the busing issue By LOUIE MILLER RAPE! The audience is a pas- sive female, seduced and screwed by the perverted products of pop- ular moviedom. Total distain, dis- respect and contempt for t h e audience, a lewd Dean Martin ap- peal, characterises Hollywood's equivalent to sexism. .It's amazing that such pandering is tolerated, that some sort of voy- erism still draws hordes to this commercialpap. For meseeing Raquel Welch on the screen goes beyond personal embarassment; she is molesting the child in me and every ounce of human feeling wants to vomit out of my mind and cover the screen. That people masochistically stomach this abuse of shit smeared on the screen is incredible, and yet most Americans do eat it up. The mass-eye socket has been violated and the mass mind figur- atively lobotomized by the big op- erators, the non-traveling salesmen who control the media, and thereby subtly shape the values which peo- ple have been mislead to think are their own. Worst of all are the "Three Marketeers" (sic), - ABC, NBC, and CBS, - with their movies for the "weak", indistinguishable from the commercials, peddling an American dream of successful consumerism, creating a society that will buy anything from t h e secret prize in a Cracker Jacks box to a secret plan to end the war. THE PHENOMENON that creates the illusion of reality in popular visual entertainments is a gen- eral persistence of blindness to the media's treacherous conditioning. Americans are disarmed by a de- humanization which constitutes the real violence purveyed by the tube and the screen. Viewers are molded into conven- ience products which can be pack- morality, but by a positively en- forced, prefabricated esthetic that keeps them returning for more of the same 'moral re-armament'. Alex learns to be repulsed by Beethoven, but after his exper- ience he should have learned equal- ly wel Ito be repulsed by the mov- ies. Meanwhile in our case, a sub- tle manipulation draws the public back again and again for the de- meaning castration of freedom and dignity television and pop films of- fer. THE T.V. DINNER that young eyes eat up is a narcotic that will hook them. A tranquilizing downer to which they will be psychologi- cally addicted the rest of their lives. Obviously it would be difficult to return to the pre-conditioned state of innocent visual perception. It is absolutely impossible as long as the viewing public remains se- duced by the misconception that visions like rapes, should be ac- cepted passively, with no defensive struggle; that the viewer like the Lettenf To The Daily: SUNDAY NIGHT Eastern Mich- igan University held its annual Homecoming Queen Contest. This year, in another attempt to put themselves on the map, they held a "bathing suit final". The gathering was attended rather sparsely by the Eastern "elite" sorority people. Amid their cheers the girls paraded in their look-alike green and white bath- ing suits - identical suits to pre- vent anyone from taking an un- fair advantage by showing more skin than another. (You wouldn't wanft to girl ton on ,w~the. hnig victim is a non-participating spec- tator with no role in creating the experience. Misconception's abor- tion is necessary before its de- formities are borne irrevocable in- to our culture. Happily there is a means to reawaken long dormant optical in- stincts, to resensitize one's eyes to the variety of visual stimula which constitute the mind's most communicative link with the out- side world. It involves exercising one's optic nerves with a type of visual experience that respects people, that expects them to be- come actively involved,nquestion- ing, looking closely, ignoring the connotations of language labels that stereotype the infinity of rich- ly diverse visions. It is a way to rebuild one's power of observa- tion before eyes become superfu- lous and are claimed by the atro- phy of evolution. We have the 'un- derground film', the independent non-commercial cinema 'of nour- ishment waiting to be devoured. Eat it while its hot! 5.EMU. stuffing and panty raids, Eastern takes a giant step backwards. Come on Eastern, it's time you grew up! -Chuck Baylis, Grad October 10 1IRP split? To The Daily: THE FRONT page article by Chris Parks in Wednesday's Daily entitled "Dems Split on Backing Bullard" is misleading. The im- pression this article seeks to con- vey is that Democrats are ser- 4 IN VOTING Thursday to put off consid- eration of the House-passed anti- busing bill until next year, the Senate finally helped to squelch emotions that have already been fanned too much by a campaign year. Not surprisingly, Senate members who have based much of their campaigns on the issue were busy making statements on the cloture vote. Michigan's Sena- tor Griffin said of the vote, "If ever there was a situation where Congress is not being responsive to the will of the peo- ple, this is it." But notwithstanding Sen. Griffin, it is fortunate the busing proposal was put off until January. Over the last few months the busing issue has become .one packed with emotion, giving the problem inor- ALTHOUGH busing will remain an is- sue from now until election day, hopefully the removal of the issue from Senate debate will help to diminish its emotional impact on voters. Perhaps now more attention will be given to other, more pressing issues. It would be unfortunate for our coun- try if political opportunists are swept into office for two and six years this No- vember on the force of an issue that will be settled by early next year. The public would then be left with many represen- tatives whose thoughts may not reflect their constituancies for the remainder of their terms. America is a diverse, complex nation. Any candidate seeking national office should base his campaign on all the is- ;teps backward ed a mouse despite the fact that scores of persons were contacted, some as many as three and four times. The fourteen wyho were gar- nered include no current elected or party office-holders. They do in- clude personal friends of the HRP candidate and former Democratic party officials personally vindictive towards Bullard; -The article points out w h i c h Democrats in Bullard's own en- dorsement letter are "conspicuous" by their absence, but fails to note those conspicuous by their pre- sence, most notably Bullard's prin- this group's support (or lack of it) must be. Moreover, issue 39 of the Sun (RPP's paper) quotes one of the HRP candidate's principal op- ponents for the nomination as re- garding his candidacy as "illegiti- mate". When these facts are put back into the picture, we find that the Democrats are nowhere near "split". If there is indeed a serious split anywhere, it is within t h e HRP's coalition. -Prof. Marc Ross Department of Physics no.t 11 I