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Page 2 Tuesday, May 4, 1965 Opinions of the Daily Tar Heel are expressed ia its editor ials. Letters and columns, covering a wide range of views, reflect the personal opinions of their authors. i H I Li , - Activists Or Troublemakers? Berkeley came to UNC Sunday night. Free Speech Movement leader Steve Weissman excited wild applause from a small audience, many of them student activists, as he called for student-faculty control of universities. Weissman, a member of Students for a Democratic So ciety, urged students to "organize and force the faculty to speak as a body." He used the Speaker Ban Law as an example, saying that if the faculty banded together, invited a communist speaker to campus and told the General As sembly to deal with them collectively, that the legislators would be unable to enforce the law. Students, he said, should collectively resist the law and create "controversy." Weissman and the FSM crew at Berkeley found dem onstrations and hard demands effective tactics there. This seems to have whetted their desires to continue the "we . . want everything or we'll keep demonstrating until we get it" attitude. What about compromise? The word is a joke to the FSM. Hard, uncompromising demands may have worked at Berkeley, a center for liberal action on the West Coast, But to apply the same rule to UNC or a host of other schools would be a farce. A . Free Speech Movement of sorts was attempted here earlier this year. Even organizer James Gardner had ad mitted the highly-publicized rally was a fiasco. The only result of "collective student action" here against, say the Speaker Ban, would be a further alienation of the General Assembly and a loud cry from many North Carolinians that UNC has fallen prey to communists. In the unlikely event that every student in the state demonstrated against the Ban, every professor went out on strike and the General Assembly repealed the law, where would that leave the University? In the unenviable posi-. tion of being looked upon with great public disdain from the citizens who support it. Is there another way to solve our problems? Yes, and it's being done. Students and representatives of the admin istration are seeking a quiet repeal of amendment of the Gag. The result will be the same for either avenue of ap proach, and perhaps with the latter the people of North Carolina will realize that anyone who protests the Ban isn't really a spokesman for Moscow, and will, come to see the law has no place in the state statutes. But the Gag is only one example. Students here have a great deal of freedom, and they will have more and have it without need of demonstrations. Student government is a forum for students to air grievances, and an effective tool for implementing student desires. Contrary to what Weiss man said Sunday, a student government is not necessarily a body which only effects the mandates of an administra tion. , : r But Weissman is a rebel Some rebels have made a place for themselves, but - only those who were willing to realize that there are others in this complex world and some concessions must be made to live in it concessions which do not necessarily abridge one's freedom. Much good can be gained by employing the old art of compromise and doing more talking and less demonstrat ing. But it's not as exciting, and you can't have Joan Baez sing at rallies. : A Satisfying Jubilee The third Jubilee is over, and nearly everyone agrees it was the best yet. Graham Memorial Director Howard Henry, the man most responsible for the whole show, is "well pleased." The problems which have caused unpleasantness . and trouble at previous Jubilees were kept to a minimum. Campus Police Chief Arthur Beaumont called the weekend a "success from every standpoint." It certainly was, and credit is due in several places. First of all, to Henry and his staff. They worked hun dreds of hours, making plans and putting them into effect. Congratulations to the weatherman, who couldn't have provided better conditions for. the weekend activities. Thanks to the grounds crews who put Polk Place back in order between concerts. . But most of all, congratulations to the students them selves. Conduct at the performances wasn't perfect, but no one expected it to be. But it was reasonably sane which is all that had been asked. UNC students have done them selves a credit 'by showing they aren't as irresponsible as some say they are. The change in the audience was noticeable. Even one of the Four Preps who were here for the 1963 Jubilee mentioned it. "I don't know what you did, but it's sure a lot better," he said Friday night. 11 M II a Star Jfjtfl 72 Years of Editorial Freedom The Daily Tar Heel is the official news publication of the University of North Carolina and is published by students daily except Mondays, examination periods and vacations. Ernie McCrary, editor; Mike Yopp, associate editor; Kerry Sipe, managing editor; John Greenbacker, news editor; Fred Thomas, copy editor; Mike Wiggin, night editor; Fred Seely, sports editor; Richard Smith, asst. sports editor; Andy Myers, John Jennrich, Mary Ellison Strother, Ernest Rob!, Bob Wright, David Rothman, staff writers; Bill Lee Pete Cross, sports writers; Jock Lauterer, photographer; Chip Barnard, art editor; Becky Timberlake, secretary. Jack Harrington, business mgr.; Woody Sobol, advertising mgr.; Tom Clark, subscription mgr.; John Evans, circulation mgr. Second Class postage paid at the post office In Chapel Hill, N. C. Subscription rates: $4.50 per semester; $8 per year. Printed by the Chapel Hill Publishing Co., Inc. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all local news printed in this newspaper as well as all AP news dispatches. . It If I i i 1 I II 3sss I SI The Spring Papers To ward New Liberal Action By JAMES GARDNER And TIMOTHY RAY Last of a Series Two assumptions have clearly shown through our analysis of the local consensus establishment and the failure of liberal ac tions groups to move it to creative dia logue or change growing out of such de bate. - , The first is that radical critiques of ex isting modes of thought and behavior on campus are essential to tba ...life of a free university. A radical critique questions at the core the validity of any existing form in terms of a value judgment which has itself been subject to radical critique and found a suitable base for evaluation. It dif fers from protest somewhat as research differs from application. Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class" or Whyte's 'The Or ganization Man" or Goodman's 'The Com munity of Scholars" are examples of radi cal critique. While such critiques have not historical ly been restricted to universities in origin, they have occurred there frequently enough to become at least rhetorically referred to 66 I Can't Believe 'I'm Still Hung Over. 99 . . ) - - Sv ' : A ' - - tOj ; ? fVw V ' ' IX ' r y ' ' - f n$n, ': Ji M - f !; J m . - Id m . fr! v I r S a I I , I h fir- - - x r L jf I ' ' -A '--l ' - i " 1 ",,-r 1 ) fV$ I :!: Jhv - -' - ' - - fe ' y I SV2 r " " p. - '"" Hi-Hi i I MMtbiUu "wr - ' - 4 In The Mailbox What A Confusing World Shi Editor, The Daily Tar Heel: The Tar Heel editorial page of April 27 ' was perhaps its worst of the year. The two columns on Viet Nam and public accom modations by Tar Heel journalists David Rothman and Wilson Clark Jr., respective ly, were disheartening to say the least, Rothman's column was particularly dis- , turbing. He begins by saying: "Left-wing radicals have launched a sinister cam paign to associate United States actions in . Viet Nam with the slaying of civil rights workers." What on earth does this mean? Are these "radicals" saying that U. S. policy in Viet Nam actually led to the civil rights murders? Rothman shows no evi dence that this is the case. It seems all that has occurred is that Robert Moses of SNCC has urged public protest of U. S. Viet Nam policy, and that SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) doesn't like either seg regation or our approach in Viet Nam. But to Rothman this appears to be a "sinister campaign." What, after all, was the protest march in Washington this Easter all about? Let me quote the New Republic's analysis of the concerns of the marchers: "They are, quite simply revolted by bombing raids in the north and by the use of napalm and other weapons on villages in the south. They ask how Lyndon Johnson can pro pose a billion dollar investment in South east Asia, while spurning all appeals to call off the bombing . . . they ask how the President can ask for 'unconditional nego tiations,' while refusing to sit down with the Viet Cong; they ask how he can claim to support self-determination for the Viet namese, when for nine years the United States has consented to, if not connived in, the postponement of elections prescribed in the Geneva Agreements of 1954." Perhaps there are those among the "radicals" who carry identification with the underdog so far that they "embrace the Viet Cong." This seems to me an in significant matter in comparison with the substance of the marchers' protest the content of their criticism of U. S. policy What was most disturbing about Rothman's approach was his attack by innuendo, by "name - calling," rather than by actually coming to grips with the substance of the protest. It is one thing to find such attacks in newspapers written by corrupt adults like myself,, but it is grim and sad to run across these practices in a student paper. Calling your opponent "sinister" hardly i. disposes of the issues that have been raised. . -f- For just a moment, let me turn to Clark's article. Clark attacks the public ac- 1 1 commodations section of the Civil Rights f Act of 1964 on the grounds that it under- jL . mines "the aged pillar of every freedom we cherish in a free society property rights." This, of course, is a very old argu ment. One might almost say that this ar gument was "the aged pillar" of those that oppose equality. There is not space here . to cover. Clark's article in detail, but let me focus on one of his five conclusions. He says: ". . . desegregation of busi nesses ... was done, in this case, against the property owner's will." But public ac commodations was nothing new in this re spect. So was abolition of child labor done against the property-owner's will; so was the prohibition of fraudulent advertising, of collusion, of inadequate health standards in factories. There are also prohibitions against employers meting out punishments to workers who join unions. And there are such things as minimum wage and maxi mum hour laws. All these . were done against the property-owner's will. Can Clark seriously maintain that such legislation diminished the total of freedom -in cur society? If not, why need public ac commodations necessarily do so? Unfortu nately, Clark has been persuaded of a much too close correspondence between reverence for property rights and genuine freedom. The world, I'm afraid, is not so simple. In the narrow confines of one letter I have now defended civil rights and criti cized U. S. policy in Viet Nam. I can only hope, that this does not make me part of the "sinister campaign" of "left-wing radi cals" that Rothman spoke of. But perhaps those who are called "rad icals" are not always so out of touch with things. It was groups of "radicals" who long ago called for a test-ban treaty and lo and behold, it was approved by more than four-fifths of the Senate in 1963. Some years ago, it was certain "agita tors" who were singing "We Shall Over come," but only two months ago the Presi dent . himself was echoing their words. A confusing world! f Lewis Lipsitz Political Science Dept. Letters The Daily Tar Heel welcomes let ters to the editor on any subject, par ticularly on matters of local or Uni versity interest. Letters should be typed, double spaced and include the name and address of sender. Names will not be omitted in publication. Letters should be kept as brief as possible. The DTH reserves the right to edit for length. as one of the intrinsic functions of the uni versity in western society. One may ob serve today that many universities exist whose intrinsic functions do not in fact in-s cHide significant radical critique. It is an open question if the modern university any longer is the real -home of creatively radical social criticism.- Foundation - sup ported "centers," "institutes" and "study groups" along with their ancillary publi cations only peripherally related to univer sities today perform many of the critical functions once largely restricted to the campus. All but a few campuses stress vocation al training, quite pragmatically oriented research, and serve in essence as care takers for middle - class undergraduates too young or too untrained to enter the . economy and. i troublesome to keep at home after high school. We believe, how ever that the university is still the best, home for critical thought "because its hu mane traditionalism provides the most con centrated, catholic, and tolerant counter balance to radical critique and social re " orientation. Our second assumption is that some not all radical critique leads the ethical man to . the imperative of action. If, as Socrates said, "the unexamined life is not worth living," an extremely radical claim we hold with Camus that worthy living must involve the commitment to ac tion if one is to avoid being the "execu tioner" or his "victim." For some time now this campus has seen almost no social action rooted in lo cally developed critiques. The tiny, inef fectual action groups have derived their goals and tactics from centers of critical thought distant from Chapel Hill in space and time. Only, perhaps, in certain branch es of medicine, communication and the so cial sciences here can radically creative thought said to be going on. The bulk of our university structures, goals, and methods are not self-generated but derivative. Who can name one major attribute of our local consensus establishment nation ally or internationally known as a peculiar- ly Chapel Hillian quality, methodology, ac complishment, feature, etc. other than the rapidly disappearing charm of our small town community setting? Where we err, we invite correction. In the one area where we might have antiicpated even named an national trend the creative resolu tion of racial crisis in a university com munity, the consensus establishment failed, as John- Ehle's "The Free Men" amply documents. Like most campuses we lack .identity. We now wish to claim that ineffectually challenged our local ' consensus establish ment functions, however randomly, to viti ate critique and stifle its application. For mer Gov. Terry Sanford's creative "brain trust" whose contribution to the state is a wonder of southern politics was made up to a large extent of critics and refugees from our local consensus establishment. While there exists within our "constab" many excellent men at all levels they have not been organized into free critical debate nor have they acted effectively out of derived, much less locally developed, radical critique. Our "constab" seems com mitted to undefined "excellence," unexam ' ined competition for national status, and, in . general, quantitatively defined goals. Seemingly incapable of defining our own distinctive identity, the majority of the University seems ignorant of what kind of university elsewhere we want to be like. We evidently do not wish to copy the mas-' sive campus at Berkeley, as our adoption of the hardly original idea of resident col lege complexes within the campus indi cates. But what is our model? We propose that we must challenge the best elements of our "constab" into life. This task is traditionally the work of radi cally oriented critical dialogue. Independ ent of, but helpfully augmenting, the "sin gle cause" groups CORE, NAACP, SPU, The Open Platform, we suggest the forma tion of a broadly based liberal research and action movement. It should be nation ally affiliated, but free to address local university and community problems in -an autonomous manner. This broad new liberal movement should have, as its primary task, the research necessary to the introduction of intelligent critical dialogue on all levels of the Uni versity, but particularly within the faculty and graduate student bodies, whose lead ership can draw undergraduates into its - fold. Its next task must be to challenge the "constab" to meaningful debate which it cannot, with any intellectual propriety de cline. Its next task will then be the gather ing of forces, sufficiently informed and re spectably enough supported, to constitute a politically effective liberal-radical bloc, capable of influencing University and state policy. ' Here it can.be aided by similar move ments similarly evolved on the five major campuses within an hour's drive of Chapel HUL The strength of such a well coordinat ed five-campus liberal bloc could be aston ishing. It could significantly alter the pol icy of our universities, effectively support, liberal candidates for public office, and initiate creative programs of liberal action within the Piedmont Crescents Most signif icantly, on a long range basis, this organ ized liberal power bloc can have its say in the political, economic, and social re orientation of those undergraduates who will form the future society of the stale. Let us hope that this new society would never tolerate a speaker ban law, a Ray mond Mallard, or a university content to operate as a consensus establishment, rath er than as a creative arena for free dia logue and the home of free men who will not be exiled from this region. H Peace Movement: Where To Next? By MIKE YOPP DTH Associate Editor Instead of a climax to the student peac? movement, the April 17 march ou Wash ington is being' viewed as a springboard for a flurry of increased anti-war activity. Students for a Democratic Society, which coordinated the march, has emerged as the probable leader in the planned stop up in activity. SDS officials met in Wash ington after the demonstration and calls ! for nationwide protests this week of United States presence in Southeast Asia. Many northeastern colleges (where SDS strength is concentrated) are expected to answer th call along with some West Coast ins'lt.; tions. An outgrowth of the same meeting vh the formation of a five-man committee t.- draw up plans for student actioa in '-retaliation" for continued U. S. bombing i ,f North Viet Nam and any attempts t) furth er the war. Representatives of a number of ponce groups will gather Sunday at Swathinore College to discuss further actioa oppo.su' ig the war. UNC will be one institution taking p2rt in an SDS - sponsored protest May 15. The program, billed as a "nationwide (ea ch in," will originate from Washington and be brought to campuses by leased telephcr.o hook-up. Peace demonstrations, especially on campuses, have increased along with the war in Viet Nam. There have been rum blings from peace groups throughout the tense nuclear chess game of the past tw& decades, but previous pleas were confined mostly to disarmament and an end to nuclear weapon development. Peace groups still foster these goals, but the emphasis of their protests have shifted toward the conflict in Southeast Asia. An immediate goal has taken prece dence over long range ones. And because getting the U. S. out of Viet Nam is both an immediate and a very real goal, it has served to unify anti-war organizations. So where are students headed in their peace movement and what will be its suc cess. To answer this, it must be realized that the movement is made up of individu als, many of whom are engaged in other activist groups. An SDS member might also belong to the Free Speech Movement, and a Student Peace Union official might be president of the local CORE chapter. Many such groups have overlapping in terests, but, and perhaps most important, all are protest organizations, and protests of one fashion or another, are much the mode of collegiate life. On many campuses, including this one, the same people might protest discrimination on Monday, march against the war in Viet Nam on Tuesday and circulate a free speech petition on Wednesday. There is a usually small group, the activists, around which a peace protest must center on any campus. This will nec essarily limit the initial membership. What about recruiting others? It is normally a difficult task for on many campuses, espe cially in the south, the peace marchers are associated with beatniks and "far left" elements. Attempts have been made to associate the peace movement with the civil rights movement to provide it with a ready-made membership. These efforts have met with some success, but it is doubtful that the peace movement could ever gain the suc cess and widespread public sympathy of civil rights work in this country. It was not so long ago that civil rights activists were looked upon with the same disdain as the national press heaped upon the Washington marchers. But the civil rights movement has found favor with most of the nation's press, thousands of its .leaders and millions of its people. And fewer and fewer "communist - backed" charges are leveled against rights groups. Responsible rights leaders would riik a great deal of public approval if they en couraged their followers and sympathizers to help such organizations as SDS which describes itself as "non-communist, but radical." So peace groups must recruit from among the ranks of the activists and hop? for college faculty support so they can pro duce something like a teach-in which v. ill protest the Viet Nam war and hopefully .add a few members to the ranks. But many Americans are now locking at Viet Nam with questioning eyes, and, indeed, there are many questions to be an swered. But the answers, some of them, will come soon. For President Johnson, with an eye toward 1963, will not allov any unnecessary discontent to be fostered. But the Washington march probably didn't bother the President. He, as most Americans, must realize the organized peace movement is of small proportions if only 25,000 students could be organized to march from colleges throughout the nation. So those who espouse peace will march and those who protest the Viet Nam w ar will demonstrate, and their numbers may increase some in the planned flurry of ac tivity, but, unable to enlist vid:sprea d support, their voice will continue to be a small one indeed.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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May 4, 1965, edition 1
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