I Shot An Arrow Into The Air-" Ehelmirlijan &it& Sixty-Seventh Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3 241 'S , "When Opinions Are Free Truth Will Prevail" AT THE MICHIGAN: 'Power and the Prize' '$64,000,000 or Bust DUST OFF your grey flannel suits, boys; Hollywood has done it again. "The Power and the Prize" is all about big business. BIG, BIG, BIG business. You know the story. First, there's the Chairman of the Board (Burl Ives). He's fat, rich, ruthless, oh, so powerful and he's emulating the business credo of P. T. Barnum. Sure, there's a bright, ambitious young executive, trained to suc- ceed the Chairman. He's Robert 'Taylor (if MGM says you're young, yo'eyg ) n aualhr Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individuat opinions of staff writers or ' the editors. This must be noted in alt reprints. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1957 NIGHT EDITOR: WILLIAM HANEY Increase in Sales Tax Not Financial Panacea. GOVERNMENT has been complicated through should be determined where the fat is in the the ages by the pdper-ideas of, men from budget and it should be cut accordingly. Do ed- Aristotle to Lippman, but there is one govern- ucation, highways, welfare, mental health, pub- mental issue which brings men down to earth lic health, and conservation really need so -public finance. You don't have good govern- much dough? Who. says so? More locally, for ment without sufficient income. instance, does the University really need the The state of Michigan is face to face with full amount of its budget request? Does it this fact now. Taxpayers are yelling for more need money more than the state's mental hos- services. The Governor is recommending they pitals? There must be some corners that can get them. And this leaves the Legislature the be cut. problem of raising the dollars. This year they Second, the state would better tax those who can't raise enough money to meet Soapy's bud- have the money or the "abilityto pay". This get. would involve either the institution of a "pro- Grapevine eavesdroppers in Lansing say a gressive" income tax similar to the federal gov- group of GOP congressmen are now drumming ernment's or a corporation profit tax, Gov. up support for a hike on the 3% sales tax. Williams' brainstorm. Either of these schemes This doesn't seem to be the way toerase the would involve some public selling and some deficit. First, to be honest, this proposal won't bucking of pressure groups but seem to be get to first base in the Legislatu~re as a legis- the most intelligent approaches. latively proposed constitutional amendment Third, it would be best to get away from must muster two-thirds of both houses. Demo- "earmarking" funds to the local unitsand to crats shy away from taxation which does not et them stand on their own two financial smack of the "ability to pay" principle and feet. The answer is to give the local units under the regressive sales tax Joe Factory- (school districts) greater taxing powers so worker would pay the same percentage of his they can support themselves. The first step grocery bill to the state as Culver Capitalist. in this direction would be the rescinding of Second, by increasing the sales tax which is the constitutional amendment which puts a doled out under the sales tax diversion amend- 15-mill ceiling on local governments meal anent (78% is earmarked to local school dis- ticket - the property tax. tricts), the Legislature is intensifying a bad Additionally, the local units could be given situation. As it now stands, the Legislature greater lee-way in the areas of use and gross- can use discretion on only one-third of the receipts taxes (maybe a tax on football tick- money they collect. Local units have Lansing's ets in Ann Arbor). hands tied. And even if a sales tax increase helps the schbools over the hump, what about PUBLIC concern must provide the needed mental health, roads, and other crucial areas political impetus in this area so that citi- of need? tens of this state can receive the necessary services from their government without giv- THE ANSWER to the state's fiscal problems ing their whole paycheck to it. seems to lie in three other areas. First, it -JAMES ELSMAN .. Calendar Misses Of Residences Human Factor And Retaliation NEXT YEAR'S calendar, "the one the stu- THERE'S A new way to break room contracts dents wanted," shows the absurd lengths at the Universtiy. to which people will go to maintain the 15 week After being denied permission to break a semester. contract, all one has to do is make remarks School will re-open after Christnas vacation about food which get quoted in Detroit news- on Friday, Jan. 3. papers around , food riot time. Pretty soon It would appear that the calendaring com- the dissenters will get a- letter from the Quad It w a rthatusy theglng:figurcalendngycom resident director calling him an "undesirable mitteeargot t ere were pe le in oles and days resident" and asking him to leave "for the good of the community' For the out-of-state student, this means a Then the wonderful world of Ann Arbor long journey for a day or two of classes fol- roming houses and apartments is opened. lowed by a week-end. It means three days cut Of course, there is a disadvantage to this out of vacation for a few class periods. system. The "undesireable" status goes on into .Of course, students will probably solve the the permanent college record. entire problem. They Just won't come back to And there are other disadvantages which school uptil Sunday. apply to the University itself, a university that This year saw a great many cuts when school has received an unusual amount of bad' pub- began on Thursday. The cut increase will pro- licity of late. Such a university, which rightly bably be proportionately greater next season. opposes expressions of student exhuberance Teachers can prohibit cuts by scheduling like panty raids and food riots, might possibly tests and papers for those days. But this will come under fire for displaying a little im- not solve the problem. maturity of its own. It is still early enough to make a calendar A university with the academic reputation change. The group responsible should act now, of Michigan would do better by tolerating and to prevent patchwork classes and ill feeling rectifying student complaints instead of in- next January. dulging in petty retaliation on the student level. --RICHARD TAUB -TAMMY MORRI$BON INTERPRETING THE NEWS: Economic Gamble on Poland