]AY. APRIL' 23, 1959 THE MICHIGAN DAILY RAY. APRIL 23, 1959 TUE MICHIGAN IiAILY SW, ~ .~ . Professor Says Man Faced With Conflicts on Religion SIMICH 'STILL BUSY': Asks Perceptive Joint Judic BY PHILIP POWER ~ t Collection Of U.S. Art On Display By CHARLAINE ACKERMAN "Man is presently faced with many conflicts involving religion," Prof. George E. Mendenhall of the Near Eastern Studies Department said last night, concluding the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation's series, "Religion As I See It in Mid-20th Century." A major crisis of our time, Prof. Mendenhall held, is founded in, values, with Biblical ethics refus- ing to grant prestige to power, wealth and knowledge for its ownI sake. Modern man also finds himself in conflict . with society, which presses him into a mold of con- formity, he said. "Religion creates the conception of human responsi- bility, rendering man more than a mere adjustment mechanism; yet, this inner-controlled person- ality finds himself in conflict with his environment." The systematic attempt to make religion objective also creates ten- sion, Prof. Mendenhall affirmed. This goes contrary to the subjec- tive nature of religion, he pointed out, as man accepts supreme values without empirical evidence, tran- scending partisan interests. "The friction between scientific and religious thinking, very promi- nent on a university campus, really has no foundation," he contended, contrasting real with false con- flicts. "As many leading theologi- ans believe, this seeming conflict really deals with two major but different factors, values and facts." Citing religon's search for a more adequate system of expres- PROF. GEORGE MENDENHALL ... speaks on religion sion, Prof. Mendenhall asserted that this problem of communica- tions also occurs between disci- plines in the University, between the University and the community. The conflict of organized versus private religion is erased, he con- tinued, when the individual learns about the institutions he is criti- cizing. Knowledge also explodes the myth of religion's "evils," he said, as no religious community presently defends historical acts sanctioned in religious guise. Contrary to normal expectation for retired "campus leaders," Ste- ven Simich, '59E, former chairman of Joint Judiciary Council, finds himself even busier this semeser than last, when he was in active duty on the Council. Simich's calm an dsoft-spoken behavior belie the fact that he is now occupied with 18 hours of courses (15 of them in graduate school) a 12-hour-a-week job as student assistant to a professor in the engineering department, a meal job and "trying to live a normal social life." Friends say his store of energy, enthusiasm and interest in people remains inexhaustible through it all. 'Super Senior' Sitting quietly relaxed for a mo- ment, Simich noted that his aca- demic situation is rather complex. Not officially a graduate student, since he does not yet have his undergraduate degree, he charac- terizes himself as a "sort of a super senior," a fifth year student in the engineering college. Simich explained that in June he will be getting a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engi- neering and will have attained three quarters of a master's degree in business administration. Reflecting on his original inter- est in Joint Judic, he ascribed it to two main motivations. First, he had always been in- terested in the educational and constructive advantages offered by participation in activities at Mich- igan. Wanted Stimulus But, further, he wanted to do something "of a more intellec- tually stimulating nature" than his previous activities. Before he became interested in the Council, he had worked "on subcommittees of _.subcommittees in general," as business manager of the Michiganensian as a soph- omore and as chairman of J-Hop as a junior. Through members of his fra- ternity, Phi Gamma Delta, who had been connected with Joint Judic, he learned what working on the Council involved and "a little of just what the group was trying to accomplish on the cam- pus." Joining the Council in Feb. 1958, he was elected to the chair in the spring of 1958, and served as chairman until this February, when Allen Stillwagon, '60, was selected as his successor. Must See Problems Thinking for a minute, he point- ed out, "When a person first comes on the Council, he is over- whelmed with his new responsi- bilities," and thus he may lose sight of what is his most import- t l f s a { i l 3 l -Daily-Allan Winder FORMER CHAIRMAN-Steve Simich, retired chairman of Joint Judiciary, sits casually, belying his still very active life. Selections from the collection of the late Edward Root, 47 works by 23 contemporary American artists, are currently on exhibit at the University Museum of Art. Upon his death in 1956, Root bequeathed a collection of modern American paintings to the Mun- son-Williams-Proctor Institute of Utica, New York. Richard McLan- athan, director of the Community Arts Program of the Institute, in consultation with Root's widow, has made the selections now on display at the University Museum. Root was one of the outstanding patrons of American art of this generation, and known particu- larly for his encouragement and support of young and unknown artists. Most of the artists of the cur- rent exhibit are represented by only one or two works, although there are several by Charles E. Burchfield, Theodoros Stamos and Mark Tobey. 1"t)04 00C= )0 < J LADIES' HAIR STYLING Mr. Johnson - formerly of Ladies' Barber Shop now at ebaane'6J. rtr0 { The only barber in town who is a Licensed Ladies' Hair Stylist 115 WESTHURON PHONE NO 8-7516 " dn( tc±10=)O<=tc=>tc- 4=>0 s0==>soo0o ant function, "to see into student problems, perceptively, as a stu- dent." The problem of selecting stu- dents to serve on the Council is a difficult one, he remarked. New members are chosen in interviews with the Council, and serve for a year before election to an office. "The Council certainly isn't looking for a completely righteous and pious person in all his thoughts and actions, but one who has an understanding of -what's happening on campus and in the students' minds," he remarked.z "I think 'righteous' is a derog- atory way to describe a member of the Council," he continued. The best thing for a member to do is to see things in their true per- spective as students. Council Mediates Simich reflectively commented on Joint Judic's function within the campus community. "The Council acts as an intermediary between the administration and the students," he explained. The administration sets up the rules and regulations saying what Organizin Notices Christian Science Org., testimony meeting, April 23, 7:30 p.m., League : see bulletin board in main lobby for rm. no. * . . Deutscher Verein, meeting, VERSE von Eugen Roth. dem bekannten Hu- moristen und Dichter, werden von Pro- fessor Doktor Walter Puchwein vorgel- esen und besprochen. Italian Club, coffee hour, April 23, 3-5 p.m., 3050 FB. All welcome. ........ 24-HOUR SERVICE.. . from Yellow & Checker TAXI Service "ANYWHERE ANYTIME" NO 3-4244 NO 3-2424 society should be, he remarked, and these affect the students who, make up the society. There is an interaction between these two groups, which gives rise to some problems which must be settled. It is the function of Joint Judic, he said, to bridge the gap so formed. The Council can under- stand what administrative policy and its implications are, and at the same time can preserve a feel- ing for the individual and his cir- cumstances in the community, he noted. 'Twilight' Areas Probably the most valuable area for Joint Judic to operate in, he said, is that where the violation is not one of specific laws or rules, but where none apply directly. The Council, being composed of students, can understand more fully student conduct in such "twi- light" areas, and come to a more just decision than other bodies. In response to the common ac- cusation attacking Council mem- bers of their "holier than thou" attitude, Simich remarked that Joint Judie is a stuednt organiza- tion, and those students on the Council are just as human as oth- ers. But their position on the Council increases their responsi- bility, however, both to themselves and to the University. "It is this that poses the big problem," he added. Reflecting on his career, Simich mused that his work in Joint Ju- dic was "everything I expected it to be." He noted as especially val- uable his personal interaction with students, faculty and administra- tive personnel, and his experience in analyzing and understanding people and their motivations. Faces Difficulty A curious difficulty faced while acting as chairman, he said, was that he had to learn to speak and think as "the Chair" instead of as himself, which demanded "real concentration and awareness of the weight attached to what I had to say."~ Simich, who was also elected president of Vulcans, an engineer- ing honorary society, will enter the Navy as an officer from the regular NROTC program at the end of this semester. He hopes to return here after his three-year hitch and complete his master's degree. Eventually, he plans to go into industrial sales, probably in capi- tal goods. He remarked that his experience on the Council should help him here, for it has taught him "to understand people, their motivations and what they want," and sales largely involves deter- mining the same things. "Anyway," he added, "it's been a real challenge, and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of it." 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