THE MICHIGAN DAILY SLU American Oriental Society Holds Writing Symposium By SUSAN FARRELL The American Oriental Society, this year having its national meet- ing at the University, held a sym- posium on the uses of writing Thursday night. Prof.Leo Oppeheim of the Uni- versity of Chicago said although the idea of making thoughts con- form to writing was not developed in the Near East, writing is a char- acteristic feature of the area. Since the ancient Near East was an im- portant center of cultural diffusion the idea of writing spread from there, he noted Writing Maintained Traditions According to Prof. Oppeheim. writing was 'used to record data* such as administrative records, sacredilaw, scholarly research and codiflid laws for future use. Writing was also used for com- munication purposes Inscriptions on pyramids and mortuary writipgs, he explained, were addressed to the gods and not intended for human eyes. They protected the dead person and made his actions effective. The uses of writing for such purposes is alien to the Western tradition, Prof. Oppenheim said. Arabic Uses Unlimited Prof. Franz Rosenthal of Yale University said that the true pur- pose of writing in the Islamic Near East was for the writing of the Koran and other useful and desir- able things. But Arabic writing was never limited, he explained. It ranged from lofty philosophi- cal writings on the nature of God to the bills and records of mer- chants to the vulgar scribblings on walls, in accordance with the divergent forms of Arabic speech. Even though writing was used for practical, utilitarian purposes, the peculiar and remarkable char- acteristic of Arabic writing is its sacredness, Prof. Rosenthal said. Emphasized Sacred Books The sacredness of writing was due to the Koran's emphasis on religious books and, the Islamic concept of the meaning of the "word of God," he said. Writing was also a highly es- teemed form of artistic expression, he said, and was used in the dec- oration of buildings and rugs. Prof. Paul Thieme, also of Yale, explained the ancient Indian method of preserving their litera- ture from century to century by committment to memory. Ancient Poems Intact The tradition of oral transmis- sion of literary works has left an- cient poems unaltered to the pres- ent day except for a few slight changes in sounds and sound se- quences. These poems contain antiquisms DIAL Nd 8-6416 STARTING TODAY "SEE FERNANDEL'S PARIS AND DIE - LAUGHING!" --NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE FERNANDEL IN JULIEN DUVIVIER S Comedy Thriller iN ol "The MEan of grammar, syntax and inflec- tion which couldn't have been in- troduced later, he emphasized . This oral method of instruction persists in India to the present day, Prof. Thieme said. The first step is memorization, the second explanation by the teacher, and then understanding and use by the pupil. Chinese Script Patterned Prof. Peter Boodberg of the Uni- versity of California said that Chinese script was homologous to Egyptian and cuneiform writing in pictorography, rebus writing and semantic signals; but at this point Chinese script parts company with the others. The Chinese conceive the whole world as a swarm of markings, Prof. Boodberg said. The pattern of lines and delineations which is the core of Chinese writing reflects their idea that beauty is some- thing well-marked. Prof. Boodberg commented on the aesthetic yearning of the Chi- nese for equidimensionalism in their writing. All graphs are of equal size and an equal distance from each other no matter how they are arranged. This gives each word a special dignity, he said. "Chinese script is motion re- expressed in tranquility," Prof. Boodberg explained. "It is a re- lease of power, transcending space and time." Composers To Present ele tions A "Music Composer's Forum," presented under the auspices of the University music school, will be held at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow in Auditorium A of Angell Hall. The forum, held three times each year, gives student composers an opportunity to have their com- positions presented in public and to get a public response to them. . The music school has 15 to 20 composition majors, but not all of them will be represented on the program. The forum will open with a bass number by the famous American composer Wallingford Riegder. Since the majority of the program is with string instruments, the opening bass number will present variety. A'n unaccompanied viola number will then be performed, written by Henry Onderdonk, a doctoral stu- dent. It will be followed by an unaccompanied violin number by David Bates. Another composition by Bates, "Fantasy for Violin and Piano" will then be played, and the pro- gram will conclude with "Sonata for Flute and Piano" by Gerald Humel, Grad., and six songs for Viola and String Trio by Robert Ashley, Grad. N. .r ,E : -Daily-Robert Dennis IONESCO ANTI-PLAY-The Dramatic Arts Center is readying "The Bald Soprano" for presen- tation at the Creative Arts Festival. The play is billed as an anti-play and concerns British life. lonesco One-Act Plays To BeaPresented HUMAN ADJUSTMENT: Institute Advances Teaching, Research of Gerontology 1 i a 1 1 r (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the sec- ond in a series of articles dealing with the Institute for Human Ad- justment.) By CHARLES KOZOLL "Growing old usefully" may re- place "growing old gracefully" through work of the gerontology division of the Institute for Hu- man adjustment. Begun in 1947, this division deals with research, study and training relative to the problem of old age in this country. Under a; request by former University Pres- ident Alexander Ruthven, the di- vision began its study by inter- viewing 100 elderly Ann Arbor residents on their difficulties en- countered in growing older. Plan Studies Based on results of this origin- al, the division mapped out gen- eral areas of importance to deal with and have based their projects on these. The first study also launched national attention on this problem through a former di- rector of the division who heads the national agency on aging. In addition, the division began a training course for retirement in 1948 which has been duplicated in many parts of the country. Ex- panding work later that year, the division sponsored a first national conference on aging. Hold Conferences This conference, points out Mrs. Wilma T. Donohue, division direc- tor, has become a fixture and has convened here since 1948. Lead- ership from all over the country comes to Ann Arbor to participate in meetings and discussions on specific problems of aging. Leisure time activities, employ- ment and religious welfare also come up before a convention body of up to 1,300 people. In certain 4\- _ cases, the conference will put out books dealing with conclusions reached by the participants. At the present time the division is also working on several projects dealing with specific problem areas. One such field research ex- periment deals with the physical rehabilitation and mental stimu- lation of older people. Work With Medical School Working with the University medical school, the division is as-, sessing various techniques em- ployed to stimulate work and so- cial programs among the aged. Operated along with research, the Inter-University t r a i n i n g project in social gerontology, sup- ported by the National Institute of Health, aims at bringing to- gether and systematizing knowl- edge in this field. Besides prepar- ing books, the project also oper- ates a one month summer training session for faculty members from different universities. Stimulate Teaching The total aim of the segment of the division is to promote teach- ing all over the country, Mrs. Donahue pointed out. This fol- lows, she went on to say, the gen- eral trend toward more and more work with the aged. Much of the time is spent with unions and community groups, training leaders and expanding on programs which aim toward re- tirement, Mrs. Donahue explained. Since the project originally be- gan by working with Ann Arbor residents; it has resulted in the starting of many senior citizens groups in the city. By JUDITH DONER Two plays by the French play- wright who currently has the theatre world agog will be offered for viewing this week, one as part of the CreativeArts Festival. Eugene Ionesco's "Victim of Duty" will be presented on the speech department's one-act bill at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday in True- blood Auditorium in connection with the Festival. The Dramatic Arts Center will give "The Bald Soprano" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Lane Hall Auditorium. 'Real' World Unreal Believing in the unreality of the "real" world, Ionesco attempts to show this dramatically by "pre- senting, familiar characters in a familiar world-usually in familiar theatrical convention." Then he lets the unfamiliar erupt through the picture until it disintegrates and what is .left. is an illogical world in which the familiar and the unfamiliar, the logical and the illogical coexist but can never cor- respond. Ionesco makes it clear that for him words gain in significance as they lose in meaning. Luckily, as they do so, they also tend to pro- voke laughter. Thus, his style often produces comedy, although it does much more. "The Bald Soprano," also trans- lated as "the Bald Prima Donna;" is an anti-play which has as its scene "a middle-class English in- terior, with English armchairs. An English evening. Mr. Smith, an Englishman, seated in his English armchair and wearing English slippers, is smoking his English pipe and reading an English news- paper, near an English fire." From this'description, one would expect that the Englishness of the play is important to it, but it has some details that seem uncharac- teristic of an English audience, Documentaryp To Be Shown A University television docu-. mentary on the importance of reading will be presented at 9:45 a.m. /today on WXYZ-TV (Chan- nel 7, Detroit). * Vignettes, electronic and other effects on the University television office's program, "Go, Little Book," show how reading widens horizons. and develops inner re- sources. Presented in conjunction with National Library Week, the kine- scoped production shows how books enable "you to meet people you rever would meet in real life, travel o lands you never would see." and some references that are speci- fically French. Ionesco was learning English at the time of the play, and he has said that "if he had been learning Spanish, the play would have been set in Spain." The play is generally illogical and full of almost surrealistic hu- mor. "You may sit down on the chair, when the chair hasn't any" or "I'd rather see a bird in a field than a marrow in a wheel- barrow" are typical of the pliks and nonsense expressed in the play. Uses Higher Style However, Ionesco also uses a higher style. When he desires to convey his vision of "muddy slime" or "airy spendour," conventional romanticism characterizes his vo- cabulary and a new regularity of rhythm heightens the effect. This is particularly evident in "Victims of Duty." "Hangs Over Thy Head," an original one-act will also be pre- sented at 4:10 p.m. tomorrow in T ueblood Auditorium. f r '1 I1 im - ~ I HILLEL SUPPER CLUB tonight-6 p.m. 1429 Hill Street April 15-16, 1959 Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre 8 P.M. All Seats 75c University of Michigan presents: 9th Annual Spring DANCE',CONCERT* TICKETS ON SALE: Michigan Union--7:30 A.M. --12 midnight (On April 13-16) at Lydia Mendelssohn Box Office 12 noon-4:30 P.M. and 7 P.M. on performance'nights -'Ij I_ r--- Organization Notices ._.,, A Congregational-Disciples Guild, April 12, 8 p.m., Hillel Foundation. Speaker: Dr. Naphtal Wiesner, "What Is Man?" u * s Eastern Orthodox Student Soc., April 12, 3 p.m., Union, Rm. 3-MN. Speaker: Dr. George C. Chamis, psychologist. Gamma Delta: Luth. Stud. Club, Sup- per and Program, April,12, 6 p.m. Luth. Stud. Center, 1511 Washtenaw. Speaker Pastor, "MarriageProblems Most Com- monly Encountered." Graduate Outing Club, Hiking, April 12, 2 p.m., Meet in back of Rackham (n.w.}entrance). SGC Public Relations Comm., Meet- ing, April 14, 4 p.m., 1548 SAB. m* * Lutheran Student Assoc., Dinner-4 p.m., followed by faculty discussion, April 12, Luth. Stud. Center, Forest & Hill. Speakers: Profs. Mendenhall, Len- ski, and Hildebrandt, "How We View the Students." The World Travel and Adventure Series presents The PREMIERE SHOWING of Aubert Lavastida's New Color Film Production FORBIDDEN ISLANDS Featuring intimate documentation of life on the unspoiled, tourist tabu Samoan Island of Upolu, and an adventurous copra boat trip to the exotic Fiji Islands, where strange ceremonies, traditional dances and festivities, and many unusual and exciting experiences are sure to delight you. TODAY at 3:00 Admission, $1.00 -Students, 60c HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM 601 West Stadium Blvd. U DIAL NO 2-3136. STARTING TODAY Only on the huge State Theatre screen can you enjoy the colorful and action- l packed epic greatness of "Tempest." OVERWHELMING AS THE ELEMENTS PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESENTS A DINO DELAURENTIIS PRODUCTION 4 LIMITED TIME ONLY LP RECORD KALE SAVE 40% Westminster, Verve Regular 4.98 . . . Now 2.98 RCA Victor, Mercury and other Stereo Reg. 5.98 . . . Now 3.98 cAVe )nfl :.;, I ANW -WU