4 OPINION Page4Tuesday, January 18, 1983 The Michigan Daily 4 Running the 'U' like the Germans do By Robert Hon igman "Iprotest to you, gentlemen, that if I had to choose between a so-called university, which dispensed with residence and tutorial superintendence, and gave its degree to any person who passed an examination in a wide range of subjects, and a university which had no professors or examinations at all, but merely brought a number of young men together for three or four years and then sent them away ... I have no hesitation in giving the preference to that university which did nothing, over that which exacted of its members an acquain- tance with every science under the sun." -John Henry Cardinal Newman A little more than 125 years ago, Cardinal Newman shocked the Catholics of Dublin with his ideas of a university. At the same time, Henry Tappan, president of the University of Michigan, was abolishing dormitories and con- verting the University to the German ideal of research and advanced graduate-level studies. Later in the century, beginning with John Hopkins University and followed by Harvard, other leading universities adopted the German ideal, grafting it onto their undergraduate programs. Harvard led the way, using graduate students to teach undergraduates in order to relieve its renowned faculty from un- dergraduate teaching chores, and devoting part of its undergraduate tuitions and its vast endowments to support enpensive, but prestigious, graduate programs. THE GERMAN ideal of a university dispen- sed with residence halls. It had no concern for the moral or social development of its studen- ts; it is believed only in specialized studies and advanced research. German science and scholarship transformed Germany into a world power. Prior to World War I, thousands of young Americans went to Germany to com- plete their educations with advanced studies, especially in science and medicine. After the war, there was a reaction against the German ideal. With Yale and Harvard in the lead in the 1930s, residence halls for un- dergraduates were reintroduced as a integral part of undergraduate life. The residential ideal became part of American higher education again through the '30s, '40s, and '50s, until the student rebellions of the 1960s signalled the end of university concern for housing students. Today, the German university ideal of research and advanced studies clearly dominates American higher education. A com- prehensive residence hall philosophy seems like a remnant of an earlier, era, with the university of today supplying housing only as a last resort. SOME EDUCATORS imagine that we have combined the best aspects of the English and German ideals by having residence halls for undergraduate students. But the German system-with its large impersonal lectures-is really being applied to undergraduates, while the English system-which stressed personal tutoring-is now given almost exclusively to advanced graduate students. This is certainly not what Tappan had in mind, since he firmly believed that younger students needed more at- tention and direction than older, more mature, students. The trouble with the German tradition has been that it does not produce wise leaders or mature citizens capable of distinguishing real authority from false-as two world wars have amply demonstrated. German professors allied themselves with authority and upheld authority, because specialized education made the educated adult dependent on the state. Nevertheless, the American university is blindly following the lead of the German university tradition. Of the many things which constitute a great university, faculty and ad- ministrators are pursuing only those things which match their own personal goals and values, research and prestige. Money spent on student housing can't be spent on graduate education, research, faculty pay raises, or university hospitals. BUT RESIDENTIAL values, and a strong and viable student community, are a legitimate part of our universitytradition. Sin- ce those values match student values, perhaps it's time to give our students a major share in determining university goals and values. What may appear to academicians as self- indulgence, the play-time and rough-house of 4 student culture, may indeed be more important than acquainting students with every science under the sun. Honigman, an attorney, is a graduate of the University. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Sinclair I Vol. XCIII, No. 88 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board A necessary tax hike r / - , i I JAI . -i 4 N OBODY LIKES A tax hike. Those legislators who do, usually don't get to stay in Lansing very long. But now that the state budget dificit may top $750 million, a tax increase is crucial to the viability of Michigan and its institutions - whether state lawmakers like it or not. In the face of such a huge deficit, the state simply cannot rely on budget cuts alone to balance its books. State Senate Majority Leader William Faust maintains that even if the state were to lay off all its employees now, it still would not be able to balance its budget by the end of the fiscal year. In response to the crisis, Faust plans to propose a two percent income tax hike later this month. Without approval of Faust's proposal the sheer magnitude of the-deficit en- sures that virtually no state-funded program will remain untouched by severe cuts. Already this institution has suffered a $26 million "deferral" in state aid. Add that to the cuts likely to come and you'll get the amount of money the University may never see if the deferral turns into a cut - an -amount that makes haggling over the University's plan to reallocate $20 million pale in comparison. The University represents just one of the areas that will suffer such losses without a tax hike. Yet despite this bleak situation, many legislators predict that a tax hike has little chance of being _approved. The governor self has yet to show support for any in- crease. Whyare many representatives still holding out in the face of such pressing circumstances? Opponents to the hike charge that the state's taxes already are too high and that an increase will only scare away the new businesses vital to economic recovery. Michigan's taxes are not that high,, however, in comparson to other states. Tennessee, where many Midwestern firms are relocating, has an income tax rate of 25 percent higher than Michigan's.Fears about the effects of higher taxes are legitimate. But Faust's proposal represents the best solution to a problemthat offers no painless way out. Without it, in- stitutions that have taken years to build - such as the University - will be chipped away if the state simply relies on cuts. A tax hike is an unpleasant reality. But for a state already besieged with budget problems, it may be the only way to keep Michigan from being inundated in a tidal wave of red ink. A \ .. ..a ... . . = , , .. a 41, SAUIR Y A LETTERS TO THE DAILY: I I Michigan fans worst in the Big Ten 4 To the Daily: I would like to congratulate John Kerr for his recent column j exposing Crisler Arena for what it really is-a study hall (Kerrse Words," Daily, Jan. 14). I couldn't agree with you more, John. I honestly believe that Michigan fans, not just basket- ball fans either, are the worst in the Big Ten, maybe even the nation. You'd think they were playing chess down on the har- dwood the way the fans react during the games. I've been going to games regularly for the last four years and during that time there have been only three or four games where I felt the fans actually got behind the team and helped them to a victory. As it was pointed out in the column, this sort of thing takes place frequently at the other 11 ' 'i , Take heart, copiers arenas in the Big Ten. At other schools, the home court can be worth at least five or six points because the noise can be so un- nerving to the visitors. But playing at Crisler is like playing at a neutral site; sometimes I think other teams must even feel they have the home court advan- tage, since our fan support is so pitifully weak. I think the best point made in the column was the observation that Michigan fans feel they should never have to stand up. I don't know whether the seats are too comfortable or whether people are just too lazy and don't care to stand up, but have you ever tried to stand up and cheer for the squad at Crisler? Im- mediately, you're inundated with cries of "Down in front! ", or you are beseiged by people tugging at your clothing trying to get you to sit down. I guess people figure they paid for that seat and, by golly, they're going to use it. I feel sorry for the people who sit behind me and refuse to stand up; I think this is the best way to show sup- port for your team. My other gripe with Michigan fans is their negative attitude. Michigan is one of the few places in the country where a player can be booed lustily on his home court for an entire season just because he committed a few errors earlier in the year. I'm not saying Dan Pelekoudas and Tim Mc- Cormick deserve to get a stan- ding ovation every time they en- ter a game, but they certainly don't deserve to be booed either. These guys are playing as hard as they can and a little fan sup- port would go a long way toward building their confidence. I hope the fans at Michigan realize the disservice they're doing to the teams they're sup- posed to be supporting. Michigan has a great athletic program and the players deserve better fans than the ones here. -Doug Holmes January 16 To the Daily: You seem to have fallen prey to the old canard that borrowing constitutes plagiarism "if a professor can prove- that a student's work is not original and that the student was aware of it" ("Firm offers relief from term paper nightmares," Daily, Jan. 13). Please set the minds of your readers at ease. The powers that be always assume that the student is not "aware of it"-lest he be so absent-minded and self- destructive as to append a foot- note letting his professor know that from here on he is using someone else's material, with the express intent to deceive. In other words, the use of any material is permitted as long as the student does not use it in or- der to deceive intentionally - just unintentionallly. Take heart , there is not possibly anything between the always that Frenchman Moliere to testify that you took what was yours anyway, and "if arts and schools reply, give arts and schools the lie." It is true, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations still describes plagiarism as "repeating another's sentences as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else's arguments as your own, or even presenting someone else's line of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own." The definition of this stuffy publication, however, is long superannuated and even such stalwart, law-abiding folks as graduate deans snicker at it and don't think it's worth shucks anymore in a bar fight, leave alone one in U.S. District Court. Therefore, please don't frighten your readers un- Sportswriter slips 4 To the Daily: I read with interest your "Tipoff '83" basketball sup- plement (Daily, Jan. 12). Does the Daily have two Larry Freed's on the sports staff, or is he just hedging his bets? In his column "Freedian Slips" (truer words were never spoken), he predicts that Indiana, Iowa, pages later, in "Freed's Follies" (does he have a reputation?), he predicts Purdue and Minnesota to finish seventh and eighth respectively in the Big Ten stan- dings. This would make them unlikely recipients of NCAA bids. Well, which is it Larry, or don't you think the NCAA will notice? i__ J