-Friday, October 21, 1977-The Michigan ily
TENANTS CORNER
Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
CXVIII, No. 37 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
More dorm space needed
Vol. LX)
M1ack rule in South Africa
von't come without force
1 OUTH AFRICA'S white rulers have
) made clear their plans for the fu-
re of that country - and those plans
)n't include relinquishing any power
the black majority.
In a massive surprise attack Wed-
esday morning, Prime Minister John
orster banned every major black or-
anization, closed two influencial
ack newspapers, and arrested more
an 40 blacks and white liberals.
In recent months, U.S., British and
ven South African officials have
)ped for an easing of white paranois
i South Africa. While carefully warn-
ig that change will be slow, they have
>netheless assured us that it will
)me, and without violence.
And many liberals both in South
frica and around the world were re-
eved. Finally, they thought, there
as a solution to the racial problem
iat didn't involve armed struggle.
But they were all duped..
The Vorster regime has no intention
paving the way for black majority
ile. Wednesday's action makes it
ainfully clear that the only way
lacks are going to gain control is to
eke it. We sent Andrew Young there,
nd Britain sent Foreign Minister
'avid Owen to convince Vorster that
is time is running short, and that
lack rule is inevitable. But while nod-
ing his head in public, Vorster has
een plotting behind everyone's backs,
nd the result was Wednesday's crack-
own.
Vorster and his cohorts are running
cared, but they aren't afraid of the
.S. or Britain. Vorster knows he can
ppease the two powers with some fast
ilking and empty promises. No, they
re afraid of the blacks within their
ountry. And not just the revolutionary
lacks - they fear the moderate and
rhite liberals as well. This is evi-
enced by the fact that the 18 black and
itegrated organizations banned were
enerally regarded as moderate and
onviolent.
Justice Minister James Kruger ex-
ibited his government's fear when he
aid: "The government is determined
) ensure that the peaceful coexistence
f peoples in South Africa is, not dis-
turbed by a small group of anarch-
ists." Kruger also indicated that Wed-
nesday's crackdown was a forewarn-'
ing of even stricter government policy.
T IS EVIDENT that the Vorster
I government will not give in to black
rule unless forced. Summit confer-
ences and threats from foreign powers
like the U.S. and Britain have had no
effect on the South African gover-
nment. Vorster has told the world to
keep its nose out of his country's busi-
ness, and this latest incident of vulgar
racism has shown he means business.
If there is to be any change in South
Africa, the U.S., Britain and other
Editor's note
There has been a great deal of confusion over
an article which ran on this page Wednesday,
written by Rod Kosann, which I would like to
clear up. It seems that many readers thought
that the story (headlined "Hypocrisies on human
rights) represented the opinion of the Daily staff,
since it was noted at the end of the article that
Rod Kosann is the sales manager of the Daily
business staff. In fact, this story was solely the
opinion of Rod Kosann. The orily editorials that
represent the opinion of the Daily are those that
are unsigned, and appear on the left side of the
Editorial Page. Any editorial that carries a by-
line is the opinion of the person named. I
apologize if anyone was misled by the Kosann
article, or by any other'article that has appeared
on the Editorial Page.
Ken Parsigian,
Editorial Director
countries must sever all economic and
diplomatic ties with South Africa. In-
dependent corporations must pull out
their funds - the lifeblood of the white
regime. And private and public in-
vestors - the University, for example.
- must disinvest in those corpora-
tions that remain a party to the racist
apartheid government of South Africa.
But even this may not be enough.
Vorster's attack shows he is deter-
mined to subjugate black South Afri-
cans at any cost. And although we can
never condone violence, it may well be
that only armed struggle will win for
the blacks the freedom that is right-
fully theirs.
By STEPHEN HERSH
Well the University build some
more student housing? It's up to
the Regents to decide.
Hardly any one in town dis-
putes the fact that there is a
shortage of University housing'.
At the beginning of the current
semester, the dormitories were
so crowded they had all the hectic
quality of a television situation
comedy. Dorm residents were
jammed into whatever tempor-
ary 'living space was .available,
storing their belongings in boxes
and suitcases, waiting day to day
for the order to move into new
makeshift accommodations. By
the endsof September, all dorm
residents had either been placed
in regular dorm rooms, or been
told that their temporary accom-
modations were reclassified as
permanent. But despite the fact
that each dorm resident now has
a room to call home, the student
housing shortage is still simmer-
ing, ready to cause new problems
in years to come.
THE SHORTAGE of dorm
space does more than inconveni-
ence students who are kept wait-
ing for their dorm accommoda-
tions - it also forces the Uni-
versity to turn away thousands of
students who would like to live in
University housing. Those
students must enter the city's
over-crowded and over-priced
private rental market.
It's rare that University admin-
istrators and students agree on so
controversial a topic as housing,
but the general sentiment among
both now seems to be that more
student housing should be built. A
typical student view .was ex-
pressed a couple of weeks ago by
freshperson Tracy Moir, a
resident of a Markley Hall lounge
converted into a bedroom. Said
Moir; "I would say they should
either build more dorms or ac-
cept fewer people in University
housing. But housing is horrible
all over the city, and if they ac-
cept fewer people in dorms, it's
just throwing them into the Ann
Arbor housing market."
And the University's Housing
Information Director, John Finn;
had this to say about student
housing: "We would (ike to see
more of it built, and I agree that
there's a need for more housing
in Ann Arbor."
ONE MIGHT ask why the Uni-
versity doesn't just go ahead and
start construction. The procedure
for getting construction under-
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way is relatively simple. It starts
with the University's housing of-
fice, which is the administrative
unit charged with designing plans
for new University housing. Act-
ing Director of Housing Robert
Hughes said earlier this week
that his office is "intensifying ef-
forts to put together a package."
He speculated that the plan may
be completed "within the next
month."
Once the plan is drawn up, it's
sent off to the federal department
of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment (HUD), where it is decided
whether the government will loan
the money to finance the project.
"There is money available from
HUD," Hughes said. "The
College Housing Program has
been extended for a year. I would
guess we would stand a pretty
good chance of getting a HUD
loan."
But before a plan for new stu-
dent housing can be submitted to
HUD, it must be approved by the
Regents. And it's questionable
whether the Regents will back
such a plan. They simply have
not considered good student hous-
ing to be a high priority in recent
years.
THE REGENTS may now be
swayed by the currently popular
argument that the size of the stu-
dent body will drop over the next
few years, and so any new hous-
ing will cause a surplus. Pro-
ponents of that argument point to
recent population studies which
show that the number of college-
age Michigan citizens will de-
cline in coming years.
But those population studies do
not prove that the University's
enrollment will shrink. Hughes
said that the number of students
will "not necessarily" drop.
"There are differing views on
what the figures mean," he said.
"It's a very iffy situation. I don't
think anybody really knows
what's going to happen."
Associate Director of Housing
Peter Ostafin notes, "There's a
difference between gross demo-
graphic figures and institutional
enrollments. The demand for
quality institutions is going to in-
crease."
AND IN HIS recent State df the
University address University
President Robben Fleming point-
ed out, "Despite the availability
of so many facts and statistics
(on population trends), actual
college enrollments remain
speculative." He added that cut-
ting the size of the student body
would be "painful" for the Uni-
versity - there is incentive, he
said, to take strong measures to
keep enrollment from declining.
Fleming said, "reduced enroll-
ments would pose extremely dif-
ficult staff and faculty problems.
Not only would reductions in per-
sonnel be unavoidable, but the
problem which troubles us now of
how to bring in new young faculty
would be exacerbated." One way
Fleming .suggested the Univer-
sity could maintain enrollment at
its cutrent level by accepting
more women, minorities, and
people "beyond the normal
college age."
Thus, it's likely that the student
body will not shrink in coming
decades. And the current supply
of housing is too small to accom-
modate the current local popula-
tion. Students who choose not to
live in dorms, or who are turned
away from dorms, face a private
housing market in the city whose
rate of vacant rental units is only
0.7 per cent. According to HUD,
seven per cent - ten times the
Ann Arbor rate - is the mini-
mum vacancy figure necessary
for a healthy housing market.
The housing shortage is what
makes the cost of local housing so
high, and its quality so low.
The need for more University
housing is'urgent. If University
officials want to insure that any
new housing they approve doesn't
go unused in coming years, they
should follow the example of the
colleges which have taken to
building student apartments in-
stead of new dorms. When those
colleges can't find enough
students to fill the apartments,
they rent them out to community
residents, at a profit.
HUD can offer the University
money for new housing. And the
University can work its way
around the risk that the housing
will go unused. It's up to the
Regents to make the next move.
Stephen Hersh is a former
Daily editor who now works
for the MSA Housing Law Re-
form Project.
Letters to
The Daily
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flening
To The Daily:
I read the State of the Uni-
versity address delivered by
President Robben Fleming in the
University Record and would like
to respond to a particular phrase
that President Fleming chose to
convey his displeasure with the
present chornic underfunding of
institutions of higher education.
Quoting from the text of the ar-
ticle which summarized the
President's presentation:
"He blamed that underfunding
on a variety of factors, including
the campus turbulence of the
1960's and early 1970's (many of
the mindless activities of that
period have not only hurt higher
education badly in terms of
public support, but have also
tarred education's image"),
rising unemployment and a sag-
ging automobile industry."
One might well wonder which
of the many activities which oc-
curred on campus in the mid-and
late-sixties and early seventies
President Fleming referred to in
his assertion. Was he particularly
vexed because those mindless ac-
tivities brought public attention
and ethical considerations to the
allocation of University funds for
research into new and better
ways to make war? Does he be-
moan the loss of the Willow Run
facility, where many of the high-
technology devices that unerring-
ly guided the bullets & bombs to
their strategic (read innocent
men, women, and children)
targets were developed and test-
ed? Is he saddened that the Black
Action Movement Strike in the
Winter of 1970 forced upon his
administration the first
meaningful affirmative action
obliged to avoid the use of inflam-
matory rhetoric in his public ad-
dresses. His presentation should
have been one based upon fact,
not veiled inuendo. They fact is
that the only carryover of mind-
lessness extant on campus today
resides within the cranial con-
fines of Fleming himself. Had it
not been for those tumultuous 60's
the paper you read today would
be controlled by the admini-
stration, there would be few
minority students on campus,
there would be few women in
positions of meaningful em-
ployment in the University as
faculty and administrators, and
there would be only sanctioned
student input into the policy
promulgation process in the
various schools and departments
of which the campus is com-
prised.
That the University is in a
sorry state few can deny.. To what
extent Fleming's tepid and over-
cautious "leadership" (I use the
term loosely) has led to a decline
in the respect for the higher edu-
cation process here at Michigan
and a concomitant loss in State
funding should be the topic of in-
creasingly penetrating analyses
in the next year or so. I look for-
ward to hearing Fleming's defen-
se of his low-profile approach to
the University Presidency.
Maybe it's time we had a Presi-
dent who could go to Lansing and
take the arguments for higher
education to the legislators di-
rectly. In anirera of decreasingly
available real dollars to pay for
increasingly inflated salaries and
research programs only an effec-
tive higher education lobby will
get the job done.
Another President tired to
As President of the University
of Michigan Robben Fleming is
ing. I took you for a bigger man
than that.
-Larry Fink
goblins
To The Daily:
While walking home from the.
library last night, I encountered a
most peculiar group of people. I
had just started to cross a bridge
when all of a sudden, I thought I
heard voices coming from under-
neath the bridge. I stopped and
tracked the ghostly voices to a
carefully hidden spot underneath
the bridge. I approached very
cautiously and what did I find but
seven goblins of the Revolution-
ary Goblins Brigade.
They were closely gathered
around and were staring into a
single candle of philosophy which
illuminated them with the colors
of red and yellow. Around them
were other candles of different
philosophies but they never
looked at them except when fail-
ing to snuff them out.
Every now and then, one or
more of the goblins would turn to
the river behind them and begin
to speak. The goblin(s) spoke a
strange dialect filled with words
and phases like "the revolution,"
Victory for the exploited-oppress-
ed masses!! !," "capital imper-
ialist," "We demand an end to
the housing crisis caused by the
money-hungry evil business-
persons or else!! !" and "Save
Kent State!" to name a few. Yet,
no matter how many goblins
spoke, the river flowed on. It
made little changes, ignoring the
noise that came from the east
Chorus:
Fight this!?
Fight that!
Fight everything we can't hack!
Fight imperialism!!!
(Hey, let's go fight for South
Africa or Kent State and convert
them to our revolutionary relig-
ion. Even if they don't want to be
converted or fought for!)
Chorus
Fight capitalism!!!
(Hey man, would you care to buy
some books on revolutionary
thought? Only 50 each or
3/$1.00.)
Chorus
Fight facism and oppression!!!
("Hey Lenny, after we take over
are we going to allow our enemies
the capitalist-imperialists to
speak freely."
"Holy Marx, are you kidding?
We'll kill all the men, rape all the
women and brainwash all they
kids in the name of our holy revo-
lution."
"Well, Lenny, can't we reform
any of them?"
"Some of them, but not many.
The only .good capitalist-imperi-
alist is a dead capitalist-imperial-
ist!')
Chorus:
Fight this!
Fight that!
Fight everything we can't hack!
Except non-violence. That is
something we can honestly and
sincerely believe in.
Fight
At this point, my tape ran out.
However, for those of you who
are interested, the rest of the
Revolutionary Goblins Brigade
chant pretty much goes the same
way; a statement of an illusion
followed by a statement of reali-