The Daily Tar Heel from Chapel Hill, North Carolina • Page 2

at' OYL Pige 2 Wednesday, March 17, 1965 Aceeiot Deferred' 'MmsIi tminy Tjr Editorial Page i Opinions of the Daily Tar Heel are expressed in its editorials. Letters and columns, covering a wide range of views, reflect the personal opinions of their authors. i- 5:4 LB Shows The Way By STUART BALL The once highly-emotional deferred rush rule, felt. by mam-responsible fraternity men to be a serious threat to their existence, has been subjected to sober re-evaluation in the past four weeks. Fear and apprehensions expressed by many ifc leaders and greek letter men seem to have been replaced by a cautious optimism.

It was just a month ago that second semester rush was held on the Chapel Hill campus for the first time. Apprehension about what to expect from this new method of introducing freshmen to the concept of fraternity life was apparent in all of the 23 social fraternities as they prepared for the coming rounds of handshaking and punch drinking. Ned Martin, past IFC president and one of those instrumental in overseeing the first deferred rush, reflected on the new procedures and said he felt that generally they worked out "pretty well." "Many of our misgivings were unfounded," he said. "One aspect in particular I guess you could say was our fault, but it didn't prove to be too much of then you've got to consider that your particular house would be interested in only a small per cent of those that are left. "We were not worried once we started computing the freshman grades, but that was only a week or so before rush strated.

As it turned out about 60 per cent of the freshmen made their grades and that's way up over the past." Martin said that although no exact figures are kept on the number of people going through rush about 600 to 700 came through this year. "About 1,000 boys were sent invitations this year and we had some 350 that were not picked up. As far as we can tell this is only slightly smaller that the number that has gone through in the past." Dean of Men William G. Long echoed Martin's figures concerning freshmen grades. "Last year I believe 56 per cent of the freshmen made their grades during the fall I won't say that the increase is attributable to deferred rush alone, however.

Admission standards have gone up and this is the smartest freshman class we have ever had according to col- a burden. "We tried to prepare the houses for the fact that they would not have pledges for the first semester -r and wouldn't be getting the revenue they normally provide. We emphasized this over and over but it didn't seem to have much effect." Martin said that a deferred rush fund was set up last fall to help any fraternity that was in financial straits. "The bull-pledge rule was also extended so many boys who would not normally live in the houses and pay full bills became eligible to do A false rumor which swept the campus during the fall concerning allegedly subnormal freshman grades caused visions of empty houses and left-over hors d'oeuvres in the minds of many fraternity leaders. "We were genuinely worried about the grade problem," Martin said.

"The rumor was that only about 45 per cent of the freshmen were going to make their 2.0 averages and be eligible-to rush. If you knock off about ten per cent of those who are not interested in pledging a fraternity, you're down to 35 per cent lege board scores. You can't pin this 'down to one single aspect." Both Martin and Dean Long agree that deferred rush has aspects that may serve to strengthen the fraternity system in the long run. "About 500 rushess have normally pledged up after fall rush in the past," Martin said. "This year around 400 pledged, but we will probably initiate a larger number than in thepast because the grade problem no longers exists." Dean Long was also quick to point out this aspect of second semester rush.

"As far as I've heard, there has been no grumbling from the fraternities since rush week. They're happy with their classes because they know they can initiate very one of the boys they got." A check with various, fraternity presidents and rush chairmen reveals that there is little if any grumbling on the deferred rush question that last year would have been controversial to say the least. Doug Benson, President of Lambda Chi Alpha said his major fear was that there would not be enough boys to go around. "At first I didn't like the idea of deferred rush, but now I'm all for it. Judging from what we heard about freshmen grades we figured there would be only 14 or so rushees to each house.

"As it turned out there were enough, and the type of boys coming through were better. It was one of our better rushes." Dick Jonas of Phi Delta The-ta said he would have preferred to rush in the fall but that second semester rush didn't have an adverse effect on his house. "I prefer having a pledge class all year rather than just half," he said. "It's also hard to conduct summer, rush and then have a whole semester go by before formal rush." "I think the new system worked out pretty well in the long run," commented John Wainio of Pi Kappa Phi. "It seemed like the number of rushees was smaller though," Almost to a man fraternity leaders felt the major weakness in the present system of deferred rush is the strict silence rule.

Some thought it should be made more strict, others felt a complete change was needed. Frank Martin, IFC rush chairman, said he believes the IFC will recommend modifications of strict silence this spring. "There have been three major suggestions for changes in strict silence that will probably be discussed before next fail," ho said. "One is the U. Va.

rule that permits rush weekends at the individual houses but strict silence all other times. Another is a rule we tried last fall but didn't seem to work from 12 midnight Sunday to 12 noon Friday there is strict silence, but from noon Friday to midnight Sundy there can be conversation with freshmen. "The third is a rule permitting conversation with freshmen, but not in dormitories and not about fraternity matters." Ned Martin feels that the IFC was overly protective regarding freshmen and fraternity members this first year of deferred rush. "My biggest regret about the whole concept is that we know little more about how to regulate deferred rush now than we did when we started," he said. "We should have left it wide open for one year, then made changes.

We do have about 400 perople who went through this as rushees, and we're going to use any information we can get from them to improve things for next year." President Johnson spoke- wisely and eloquently in his message on voting rights Monday night, and his suggestions should be taken under immediate consideration by Congress. The history of the past century, especially as reflected in the unrest of recent weeks, makes clear the need for an equitable and immediate solution to the problem of discriminatory registration and voting practices in the Deep South. For where men cannot vote, they are certainly not free, and some Mississippi counties have never had a Negro register to vote. One of the important aspects of the proposed legislation is that it offers states with a record of discrimination in registration and voting an opportunity to put their own houses in order. It does not Our Apologies Endorsement letters are one of the necessary evils of a campaign, and there are times when the Daily Tar Heel manages to foul up someone's letter.

Yesterday we did just that. The letter of endorsement for Rick Kramer, candidate for president of the Carolina Athletic Association, was lacking four names Jim Light, Sonny Pepper, Gayle Raulerson and Larry Miller. Our apologies to him for the oversight, and to his opponents, Joe Churchill and Bob Newlin, for having an error in this. -v. We also noted that all three CAA candidates were endorsed by the same person.

Kramer left the name off his letter, but this must set some sort of a record for Of course, the endorsee in question IS a star athlete, which may entitle him to three votes even call for an end to literacy requirements for voters, except where such requirements are abused and used as a weapon against Negro citizens. The states are required to do nothing, except extend to every citizen his basic right as an American to choose his elected officials. Those who would argue -against such a fair and reasonable request simply do not know the meaning of "freedom." No federal action may be taken except in those counties in which less than 50 per cent of voting age citizens actually cast a ballot in the 1964 elections. In such counties, 20 or more people may protest to a federal district attorney if they have been unfairly denied the right to register. If their complaint is valid, the Federal Civil Service Commission Will be allowed to appoint a federal registrar empowered to sign up voters without administering literacy tests.

We hope that waiving such tests, however, will not mean a total lack of literacy requirements. It seems only reasonable for a person to be required to write his name and perhaps a simple sentence in order to register. Some aspects of the proposed bill may be difficult to administer, and Congress should be especially cognizant of the problems involved when it considers this legislation. But we are confident that the difficulties can and will be ironed out, as indeed they must be. The states have been given ample warning that the color of a manfs skin should not reduce his citizenship, and those who fail to heed that warning should have their procedures corrected.

It is time, then, for Congress to follow the President's lead, so that such correction, if needed, will be available. Silent Sam' Should Leave yv islfe A -XXyX-- x-x--x x-x-i-x-x-rx-x-x-x-x-: -x-x-x-x-x Editors, The Tar Heel: Although it may be argued that the Confederate statue known generally as "Silent Sam" has become a part of the UNC tradition; it certainly cannot be argued that traditions should be maintained for tradition's sake. We must not forget that Silent Sam is a Confederate soldier. The primary purpose of, the "memorial" was to associate a fictitious "honor" with the darkest blot on American history fight of southern racists to keep the Negro peoples in a position of debased subservience. For this they were willing to destroy the Union.

We have all been made painfully aware of the deprivation of inalienable rights effected by Alabama's white bigots on Ne- gores and those who have gone to Alabama for the general welfare. In view of this situation which so lately prevailed in other areas of the country, the existence on the UNC campus of a monument to men who were militant white supremists and extremists of the worst kind is no less an affront to the Negro peoples and the intelligentsia than is the gaudy Confederate "flag flying from the lily-white dome of Alabama's capi-tol. I urge the Daily Tar Heel and the Carolina student body to take up the cause of removing from the campus that shameful commemoration of a disgraceful episode. Al Ribak 407-D E. Franklin St.

The Candidates Face The Campus The et The Incident Cane ment and five minutes for rebuttal. After that, three DTH staffers will quiz the pair for a half hour, and then questions from the floor will be allowed. We hope that this vehicle will bring out the issues, as each candidate will be subject to questions by three people who know the inner workings of Student Government and have the ability to phrase their questions in such a manner that there will be no doubt what they want. In short, the candidates are not going to be able to hedge on anything, as their questioners know enough about the situation not to be fooled. We hope the campus will take advantage of this opportunity to hear Dickson and Carson engage in debate, and will also take the opportunity to toss a few questions their way.

The office of President of the Student Body is the most powerful on campus, and the person who will succeed Bob Spearman must know what he is doing and the best method of doing it. You are voting for a student who will represent your views and best interests. Your vote should be cast for the person who is best for the post, and you just might find out Friday night at. the With the spring campaign progressing at a somewhat hurried clip, we were hesitant to undertake sponsorship of a debate between the candidates for President of the Student Body, Paul Dickson and Don Carson. The two candidates have done an excellent job of getting around to see the students.

They have pounded on doors, they have spoken at residence hall meetings and they have made themselves available for questions and discussion at all times. However, we have noticed that the residence hall meetings have left something to be desired the questions to the two candidates have not always been pertinent, and too often were merely sniping from the lips of party hacks who follow the entourage from hall to hall. With this in mind, we set about planning a debate which would be fair to both men, yet would provide the best opportunity possible for digging out the issues. Thus the DTH Debate was born, and we hope it will prove to be an annual affair. It is set for 7:30 p.m.

Friday at Gerrard Hall, and should not last more than an hour or so. Each candidate will be given seven minutes for an opening state Action Needed From Southern Press might have been in altogether an inadequate state of mind to remember, during the investigations, the precise pattern of their behavior at the party. The report was subsequently made to me that a member of the fraternity had made a statement precisely to this effect In the presence of the Dean of Men. I have asked both that fraternity member and the Dean if this statement were made, and neither remembered the statement. The fraternity member, however, recalled that he had told the Dean that persons at the party were drinking.

He did cot, however, believe that any of them were drunk, nor even severely "intoxicated" (I suppose that this is a meaningful distinction). The Dean, on the other hand, said, "Some of them may have been that drunk, though, for all I know. I have been complaining to the Interfraternity Council about the public drunkenness of fraternity parties for years." I asked, "May I quote you on that" To which he replied "Yes, you certainly may." The record which the Dean indicates of repeated public drunkenness on the part of fraternities raises additional doubts about the efficacy of any investigative procedures whatever. Despite the almost frightening thoroughness of the F. B.

(to which persons who have attempted to secure government iobs will readily testify; I believe that even Hoover's agents might te baffled at the invincible power that the malt has always possessed to secure forever events in human history from public scrutiny. In a subsequent article of this series, I plan to describe the unsatisfactory and misleading reactions of the press to Gardner's actions. I will attempt to make clear the effects of those reactions in creating widespread confusion in the University community regarding Gardner and his Free Speech Movement activities. an especially thorough one, which included privately questioning each member of the fraternity, and assuring i that he could answer simply in terms of whether he had heard insults, without being required to indicate their origin (which I am inclined to regard an interesting assurance, under the circumstances). My impression is that the investigative procedures involved have been somewhat unorthodox: the most thorough of all of the investigations, it seems, was the one carried out by a member of the accused fraternity," and this was also the official Interfraternity Council investigation.

Not wanting to cast aspersions on the zeal or thoroughness of this student official, I must, however, remark that this style of procedure is unlike what the term "investigation" has come to suggest in recent times. I wish no comparison between this fraternity and less desirable organizations, but one hesitates to think, for example, that Hoover, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, would commission Gus Hall of the Communist Party, or the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan to investigate those respective organizations. In spite of this, I do not wish to quibble. The procedure of a federal agency may be entirely inappropriate to our situation. I merely wish to point out that it is certainly conceivable that errors may have inadvertently resulted from the procedures that were used, and that one cannot infer that the lack of more fruitful results of these investigations indicates that' the original charges were excessive.

The thought occurred to me that, if the. fraternity party in process at the time of the occurrence of the incident resembles fraternity parties that I once attended with foolish regularity on another campus, or a "beer bust" at Carolina which I visited during my undergraduate days, the celebrants The blackness and foreignness of Hage were, however, considered very significant by the Dean, making it more important that steps be carried out at once to remedy the situation. Gardner's view was that persons had been insulted by an organization connected with the University, and that this was the important matter of principle, rather than discriminations and distinctions regarding the race and nationality of the guest. After it was made explicit that Hage is African, steps were taken by the Administration to issue apologies to him. Meanwhile Gardner sought to calm Hage, which was not altogether easy to do, as the incident had frightened him quite a bit, rendering "him, at the time, afraid for his personal physical safety.

I believe that Hage's fears were inappropriate to the situation and that he was in no bodily danger, but, as a person used to perhaps somewhat different customs, he might reasonably have considered the insulting language to be a prelude to physical violence. A former fraternity officer, when interviewed, said that the situation had been investigated by the fraternity involved, by the Interfraternity Council, by the Student Body Attorney General, and by the Assistant to the Dean of Men. As this person had, himself, carried out the fraternity's investigation, I asked who had investigated for the Interfraternity Council. His reply was that the Dean had asked that he investigate, as an officer of the Interfraternity Council. I have tried to obtain information about the content and method of the investigations.

Each investigator, I have been assured by both this officer and the Dean, questioned a great many persons, and some investigations included interviews with persons in other fraternities as well as the one originally mentioned. The investigation carried out er, I have been informed, was Hage, and the two men proceed-by this student officer, howev-ed to cross Columbia St. diagonally, towards the Carolina Inn, as Gardner's car was parked there. When the men were part way across the street, they were insulted, and the two men continued across the street to Gardner's car. Leaving Hage in the car, Gardner entered the Inn in order to call the Chapel Hill Police, and then walked to the plaza of the Scuttlebutt where he sat watching the situation at the fraternity houses across the street.

Gardner then called the Dean of Men, who said that he would call Gardner back at some later time during that day. I presently believe that an assistant of the Dean did, after the call to the Dean took place (which "was, by then, some time after the incident took place) arrive on the scene. As Gardner had not received the expected call by 11 p.m., he telephoned the Dean again, apologizing for the lateness of the hour. The reason that the Dean had not called back was, it seems, that he did not consider it important to do so at that time. I want to make clear two crucial points.

The first is that there is independent corroborating evidence of the claim that Mr. Hage was insulted. Persons questioned by students and by the Dean's assistant heard insults given, though they did not report hearing all of the insults that they were asked about nor did they report on the origin of the insults. The second point is that, entirely contrary to the popular Confused impression, it was Gardner's strong intention to refrain from exploiting the racial aspects of the incident. It was for this reason that, in his first conversation with the Dean of Men, he said only that he and a guest of his had been insulted, rather than making an issue of the fact that Hage is African.

By TIMOTHY RAY Sixth in a Series Thus far during this series, I have tended to concentrate on the more positive aspects of the Free Speech Movement, both here and elsewhere, in terms of the fruitful and timely topics "for discussion which this movement has and have avoid-! ed entering the labyrinth of complexity, involved in the events surroundings the incident the insults given Wilmot Hage of Monrovia, Liberia, a delegate to the UNC Model United Nations from Benedict College, in Columbia, South Carolina. It is necessary, however, to attempt to deal with certain aspects of that incident, in order to make it evident that the impressions received by many people during that time that charges involved were, trumped up in order to create an excuse for an attack on certain persons and organizations of the University are mistaken. I do not desire to stir up again whatever hurt feelings were involved for the sake of venting personal animosity. My purpose is simply to clarify the record in some respects if I am able. The background of the incident is that James Gardner was asked if he would receive delegates to the Model U.

N. as house guests. He replied that he would. The two students who arrived were Negro, and one of the two was Hage. Gardner had not previously known either of the two persons.

Upon leaving Mr. Gardner's home for the campus Feb. .12 Hage asked if Gardner was planning to drive back in the afternoon, so that he could obtain a ride. Gardner said yes. During the afternoon, Gardner entered Abernethy Hall, and while, there, spoke with Dwight Rhine; assistant director of the Extension Division (Gardner presently teaches in the Evening College, through that division) Upon leaving Abernethy Hall by the front steps, Gardner saw of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, federal legislation on voting seems assured.

No Leadership They do not have the moderate leadership which has enabled other Southern states such as North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia to, for the large part, avoid severe racial confrontations. And while the rest of the South, and the nation, has some way to go toward achieving equality for all Americans, Alabama has barely begun. The future of the Deep South in the 20th century will ultimately rest with its citizens. But courageous, forward-looking leadership must arise now, and with a strong voice. If governmental agencies will not provide this, it becomes the duty and responsibility of the press to do so.

The question is: How many James Reebs will it take until the initiative is could have worked out a practical course to follow many months ago. We too must assume a portion of the neglect." But the moderate tone is somewhat disrupted by the assertion: it is obvious that King, recipient of the Nobel Peace Award, has declared war on the people of Alabama." Perhaps it would be financially unwise for a newspaper, knowing that hard core segregationists would probably drop advertising, to take a firm stand against resistance. Nevertheless, it would be a sad thing for the Southern press to have to bear any more blame for the deaths of some and the injustices to many. So Alabamans are perhaps confused. Their actions have, for years, been condoned by their government and overlooked by their press.

Now, on the heels (Continued from Page 1) working and God fearing people, send back stories which distort the facts, or worse, disregard the facts completely." "After last year's turmoil and strife," he wrote, "the people in Selma had come to the conclusion that they must obey the law as best they could." Moderate Note On the day of the last Montgomery march attempt, the conservative Sehna Times-Journal struck a note of moderation and placed some of the blame on local government officials wnd on itself. 0 The March 9 lead editorial reads in part: "Despite the normal expectation of vocal expressions -to the contrary, the Times Journal steadfastly reaffirms our opinion that racial disturbances here have not been met by foresight and practical planning by our public officials, whOj we are convinced, pi "v'': "7 rr.