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November 13, 1958 - Image 4

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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1958-11-13

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Sixty-Ninth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICi-uGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATTONS
STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MIcH. * Phone NO 2-3241

Pben Opinitons Are Free
Trutb Will Prev&U"

Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily ex-tress the indh idual opinions of staff itriters
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.

RSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1958

NIGHT EDITOR: RALPH LANGER

Sigma Kappa Decision
Shows Proper Concern

"Obviously Not A Presidential Prospect-They
Seem To Like Him"
46 v/ V,
-r
-t --

rTHE STUDENT Government Council decision
on Sigma Kappa Tuesday deserves praise.
It is, first of all, probably the only course logi-
cally left open to SGC, in view of its decision
finding the sorority still in violation of Univer-
sity regulations. More important, however, it
demonstrated the willingness of the Council
to stand up and be counted on an issue on
which it has found itself in open conflict with
the administration.
Open conflict with the administration, of
course, is not especially a desirable end in itself,
and cooperation and consultation with people
who have been around the University several
times as long as any student has certain obvious
advantages. On the particular issue, however,
SGC would seem to be right and the adminis-
tration wrong: to wit, Sigma Kappa remains in
violation, as twelve members of SGC decided
Oct. 1.
IN VIEW of the Board in Review's unprece-
dented call for a Joint discussion, followed
by the opinion of three administrators that a
letter written by Vice-President Lewis was
administrative policy and anyway SGC's juris-
diction over the area of withdrawing recogni-
tion was only concurrent with the administra-
tion's, plus the probability of another Board
in Review meeting being called as soon as SGC
acted, with the dreaded reversal a distinct

To The Editor

possibility. the Council needed a high amount
of courage-not just bravdo-to act on its
convictions and vote to withdraw recognition.
SGC, thus standing by its own interpretation
of the SGC Plan as well as its belief on the
Sigma Kappa issue, very possibly may have its
wings clipped for its trouble; a Board reversal
would amount to a statement that SGC has no
authority to withdraw recognition when the
administration thinks it shouldn't, and subse-
quent "clarification" of jurisdiction would prob-
ably remove the area from any further con-
sideration by SGC. But, as several Council
members pointed out Tuesday night, SGC had
no business considering what the Board in
Review might do; its concern could solely be
with the issue confronting it, on which it should
act as the members thought right.
[0cDO THIS, seemingly not regarding the
consequences to the Council, is the last
thing a group of professional politicians in a
similar situation would do, and probably the
last thing a University administration would
do. But it was the right thing for SGC to do,
and each Council member can now face the1
-consequences, whatever they may be, with the
knowledge that he can rest easy about the
decision in his own mind.
-JOHN WEICHER
City Editor

6 .~W
T~c SI/aJ N1W$ Pear '.

A Modest Proposal for Perpetuation

TODAY AND TOMORROW:
The Red Challenge and How To Meet It

THE GREAT POWERS of the world are pres-
ently engaged in a long and apparently
hopeless effort to ban atomic and hydrogen
bomb testing.
Since these efforts do not seem likely to
succeed, another solution must be found to the
problem, a solution which will cause as little
harm as possible on this earth. One such solu-
tion would be to eliminate the human race.
Admittedly this proposition sounds fantastic
and absurd-at first, but upon closer examina-
tion it is really quite practical. Should an
atomic war come about, all life could easily
be destroyed on earth, leaving it a barren,
deserted planet. The elimination of only the
human race would prevent such total destruc-
tion and leave the earth still richly populated
and vegetated with all other forms of life.
These could evolve into some other form of
life, with perhaps more sense than man has yet
ATradition?
APFEW WEEKS AGO at the University's first
Hyde Park, one student (among others)
complained about the lack of tradition on this
almost 150-year-old campus.
He asked, and justifiably, what happened to
the quaint old custom of the Engine Arch, the
seal on the Diag, the Union front door? What
has happened to Michigan's links with the past
,-all these things which the ivy-bound schools
have had for years and which the University
seems to be losing at an alarming rate?
But perhaps effigy-hanging is becoming a
way of blowing off steam better than panty
raids and food riots. In any event, it has all the
makings of a full-fledged tradition,,one which
students will be "proud" to continue in years
to come.
--SELMA SAWAWA

displayed, to fill the environmental niche va-
cated by homo sapiens.
AFTER ALL, why should the human race
be perpetuated? After a million years of
evolution and development man's crowning
achievement is to have discovered a way to
completely destroy life. Given a chance, man
might also manage to discover a means to the
destruction of the entire Universe. Before he
sets his sights quite so high, would it not be
preferable to destroy him?
The task of elimination should not really be
too complicated. Naturally, it should be per-
formed with as little pain or discomfort as
possible. Underground gas chambers would
possibly be the best solution, as these could
serve as both execution chambers and burial
vaults. The energy now concentrated upon the
development and perfection of weapons could
be diverted to the construction of these vaults.
It would, no doubt, take some time to complete
them, but when this time arrived mankind
could simply descend to the vaults, close the
doors on the earth and release the gas.
MANY WILL DOUBTLESS find this proposi-
tion heartless and cold-blooded, but it is
really extremely humane. Mankind seems, by
all his actions, determined to destroy itself,
but this is no excuse for the destruction of
all other life on this planet as well. In addition,
think of all the human pain and suffering
which will be prevented by such an act. No
one will die in pain after long heart-rending
illness, no one will need to mourn the departure
of loved ones since all will depart together.
Perhaps the most important point of all is
that no one will need to fear that he has died
a uselss death. Each and every one will have
given his life for a purpose, a high and ideal-
istic purpose-the perpetuation of life on
earth.
-JANE McCARTHY

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third
of sour articles written after a recent
visit to Moscow)
By WALTER LIPPMANN
N ALMOST ALL the talks I had
in Moscow, not only with Mr.
Khrushchev but with other offici-
als and with Soviet editors, I was
asked what could be done to bring
about better relations between our
two countries.
The question is a hard one to
answer. For the basic issue be-
tween us arises from the fact that
the Soviet Union, and now along-
side it Red China, are well on their
way to achieving the leadership of
Asia and of Africa. At the root of
the profound and abiding suspi-
cion which each of us has for
the other lies this bid for leader-
ship and its challenge to the
Western position and to Western
influence.
There is no reason to think that
the suspicion which divides us, and
makes even modest and partial
solutions difficult, can easily be
talked out of existence. Although
I am one of those who hopes
earnestly that the rivalry can be
kept below the boiling point, I
am, nevertheless, convinced that
even this will require a lot more
than mutual expressions of good
will.
The cause of the bad relations
is the suspicion, felt on each side
of the Iron Curtain, that the other
side intends to commit aggression.
The suspicion arises from a belief
that in the long run neither side
can tolerate the other. The Soviet
Union is now entering upon the
climactic years-the next seven or
ten years-in which it means to
surpass the United States, not in
the material comforts of ordinary
life but in productivity per capita.
The Communist leaders are certain
that as they achieve this goal, the
great mass of the poorer and un-
developed people will rally to them.
No doubt, wherever they can, they
will promote this rally by propa-
ganda and by infiltration and by
subversion.
But we delude ourselves if we do
not realize that the main power of
the Communist states lies not in
their clandestine activity but in
the force of their examle in the
visiblerdemonstration of what the
Soviet Union has achieved in forty
years, of what Red China has
achieved in about ten years.
THE INNER moving force of
Soviet suspicion is the belief that
the United States and the govern-
ments of the non-Communist
countries will, unless compelled to
do so, never allow Russia and
China to consummate the revolu-
tion which they are leading in
Asia and in Africa. In Moccow,
and no doubt also in Peiping, they
do not believe us when we insist
that the rearming of Germany
and of Turkey and the mainte-
nance of a ring pf air bases are
defensive measures against mili-
tary aggression on their part.
For they are certain in their
own minds that they will win the
primacy of Asia and Africa not
by going to war but by avoiding a
war that would ruin their eco-
nomic achievements, They are,

Union the authority of Lenin, as
currently interpreted by the pow-
ers that-be, is treated as infallible
and more than human. Our policy
of military containment with its
forward positions on their own
borders is in their minds conclu-
sive proof that Lenin was right.
They suspect us profoundly, and
that is why they are stubbornly
reluctant to negotiate any conces-
sion which would give us even a
slight tactical, much less a stra-
tegic, advantage in case of war.
IN THIS RESISTANCE to agree-
ment with us they are helped by
many provocative and bellicose
things that have been said at one
time or another by the talkative
brass in the Pentagon. They are
hardened also in their convictions,
it must be said, by the propensity
of Mr. Dulles, and in lesser degree
of the President himself, to treat
the conflict, not as one of empires
and great states but as a religious
war in which the contending posi-
tions are absolute. For this con-
firms their view that we are brac-
ing ourselves for an ideological or
religious war, that this war will
take place unless they make them-
selves so powerful that it cannot
take place.
The corresponding suspicion on
our side arises, as we know, from
the belief that insofar as the
Soviet Union and Red China gain
in military power, they are cer-
tainly bound to use it as an instru-
nent of policy in order to complete
their domination of Asia and of
Africa. This suspicion is, I have
no doubt, well founded and it is a
conclusive reason for making sure
that we do not lose the race of
armaments.
Our problem here is not whether
we can afford to keep up the race.
It is absurd to say that we cannot
afford it. Nor does the problem
arise from any irreparable tech-
nological inferiority on our part.
For us, the crucial problem of
armaments is political and psy-
chological: how to keep the Amer-
ican and West European democ-
racies ready and willing to support
armaments without their becom-
ing so obsessed with weapons that
they have neither the means nor
the understanding nor the will to
meet the real Soviet challenge to
Asia.
The Soviet oligarchy can spend
on armaments what it wants, and
no questions asked. With us, the
necessary appropriations cannot
be had, or so our political leaders
think, without a great scare cam-
paign. But this scare campaign
offends and alienates the pacifists
and the neutralists who are the
overwhelming majority in the rest
of the world.
* * *
NO ONE CAN DOUBT that the
Soviet challenge is very formidable
indeed. Even to a casual visitor it
is evident that the only safe as-
sumption is that the Russians
have mastered modern technology
and that their bureaucracy, di-
rected by a powerful government
and working on an obedient popu-
lation, is capable of achieving what
they have set themselves to do.
Theirs is a grim and purposeful
society. No doubt the vast machine

I have come home convinced
that the issue is the Russian and
Chinese challenge for the leader-
ship of Asia and of Africa. If we
are to meet it with reasonable
success, we must, I am sure, aban-
don the notion that the Russian
and Chinese revolutions can be
reversed or that the spread of
Communism in the surrounding
countries can be contained by giv-
ing armaments to the local mili-
tary commanders and by estab-
lishing our own bases.
Needed is an agonizing reap-
praisal of our own habits and no-
tions. We must learn to keep our-
selves armed without working our-
selves up into a frenzy of threats
and of fear. This is not easy for
a democracy to do, but it is neces-
sary and, once the reason for it is
understood by the leaders of Amer-
ican opinion, it can be done.
We must, I have been convinced,
reappraise and review the policy
of foreign aid. As it is now prac-
ticed, it is fair to describe it as a
program of subsidies to govern-
ments which are threatened with
the rise of Communism among
their people. Without meaning to
say that all or even that some of
these subsidies should be discon-
tinued, I submit that we shall not
meet the Soviet challenge unless
we stop looking at the underde-
veloped nations as militarydbul-
warks and bastions and adopt a
new and different objective in the
uncommitted world.
* * *
THE COMMUNISTS are ex-
panding in Asia because they are
demonstrating a way, at present
the only obviously effective way, of
raising quickly the power and the
standard of living of a backward
people. The only convincing an-
swer to that must be a demon-
stration by the non-Communist
nations that there is another and
more humane way of overcoming
the immemorial poverty and weak-
ness of the Asian peoples.
This demonstration can best be
made in India, and there is little
doubt in my mind that if we and
our Western partners could under-
write and assure the success of
Indian development, it would make
a world of difference. It might be
decisive in turning the tide. It
would putnan end to the enervat-
ing feeling of fatality and of in-
evitability, to the sense that Com-
munism is the only wave of the
future, that there is only one way
of internal salvation, and that the
West is impotent and too lazy to
do anything but let the future go
by default.
There are a number of reasons
why I think India is the key coun-
try. It is, for one thing, a very
big country known to all of Asia
as a land of deep poverty. To make
a showplace of a small island like
Formosa or for that matter of
Puerto Rico is a good thing to do.
But it is not convincing. For the
Communists are proving their case
in big countries like Russia and
China. We shall have to prove our
case, that material progress can
be had with civil liberty, in a big
country.
** *
FOR ANOTHER THING, India!
has the necessary structure, in-

Foul!?
To the Editor:
AFTER reading Miss Jean Wil-
loughby's "survey and evalua-
tion" of local drama in last Sun-
day's Michigan Daily, I have come
to the point where discretion is
tossed to the winds and I have to
cry "foul!" I don't believe that it
is proper to allow her thesis to go
undenied, not only for the welfare
of the University Drama Season,
with which I am connected, but
in the interests of all the theater
organizations in Ann Arbor that
strive to fill the area stages in the
face of her scorn.
To get down to cases, The Daily
article had the following to say
about the Drama Season: "There
is little excuse for what has hap-
pened to Drama Season. The
choice of plays is at times good,
more often,. bad. Aging prima
donnas and don juans play the
leading roles with generally in-
competent support for their in-
competent performances. The
whole series seems to be aimed
far below the average level of
comprehension or intelligent ap-
preciation."
Now there are several things
that disturb me about these
charges, the most obvious one be-
ing that I don't think they are
true. Similar attacks in similar
surveys have been repeated with
regularity in The Daily, as if the
writers were trying to convince
themselves that they were espous-
ing the true and beautiful by see-
ing it in print so often.
In addition, the article decided
against backing up its one-sided
attack with that which might
have made it worthy of serious at-
tention. Where are the facts? the
names? the plays? All I see are
a few sentences glaring with gen-
eralities.
*" * *
THE ARTICLE did not men-
tion a single example, but I would
like to. In choosing their plays
and performers, the Drama Sea-
son strives to please a variety of
tastes - after all, people other
than The Michigan Daily critics
come to see the spring produc-
tions.
Since its post-war revival in
1949, the Drama Season has pre-
sented the works of Shakespeare,
Shaw. O'Neill, Pirandello, Ratti-
gan, Anouilh, Fry, Eliot, Barrie,
Maugham, Inge, van Druten, Mil-
ler, Langston Hughes, Anderson,
McCullers, Giraudoux and
Schnitzler. Surely plays like "As
You Desire Me," "The Tempest,"
"Tiger at the Gates," "The Chalk
Garden," "The Affairs of Anatol,"
"In the Summer House," "The
"Cocktail Party,' and "The Cru-
cible" did not find their way on
the bill because they are soothing,
please-everybody froth.
As for the "aging prima donnas
and don juans" - who are they?
Are they Helen Hayes, Katharine
Cornell, Judith Anderson, Eva
LeGallienne, Ethel Waters, Sir
Cedric Harwicke, Burgess Mere-
dith, Edward Everett Horton,
E. G. Marshall, Luther Adler and
Hurd Hatfield?
And the "generally incompetent
support" must refer to Kim Stan-
ley, Christopher Plummer, Grace
Kelly, Arthur Treacher, Margar-
et Phillips, John Baragrey, Mil-
dred Dunnock, Iggie Wolfington,
Tamara Geva, Jerome Kilty, Enid
Markey, Hiram Sherman, Lydia
St. Clair, Parker Fennelly, Betsy
von Furstenberg, Bradford Dill-
man, Joan McCracken, Ralph
Purdum, Ann Hillary and Ann
Shoemaker. Actors like these ap-
parently walk right in off the
streets.
The article said that good the-
ater "depends upon the mainten-
ance of a finely working inter-
relationship between the creative
and responsive forces." While
slamming the organizations that

perform the actual labor of put-
ting plays on the stage, it failed
to describe the manner in which
The Michigan Daily, as one of the
responsive forces, should act out
its role in this necessary inter-
relationship.
* , *
THE ARTICLE regretted the
demise of the Dramatic Arts Cen-
ter - one enterprise that bene-
fited from Daily support, and still
the one enterprise that failed to
sustain itself. Is the reason The
Daily takes to task organizations
where its influence has been nil
that it has been proven so inef-
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Dally Official Bulletin is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Miichigan for which The
Michigan Dailv assumes no edi-
torial responsibility. Notices should
be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room0'a19 Administration Build-
ing,,before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication. Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
THURSDAY, NOVEBR13, 1958
VOL. LXI\. NO. 50

fective in promoting what it con-
siders good theater?
I should like to esk The Daily
critics if in the future they will
deal with specifics, if they will
demonstrate some knowledge and
understanding of the complex
problems of producing a play pro-
fessionally, if they will consider
both the good and bad sides of
all issues, and if they will state
what they are for with the vehe-
mence of that they are against.
Until then, I am sick and tired
of self-imposed and self-import-
ant drama critics and writers " who
have not taken the time and ef-
fort to prepare themselves for
their tasks.
The Daily devotes so much of
its space to these narrow-minded,
similarly slanted discussions opt
the Ann Arbor theater scene,
each saying precisely the same
thing as its predecessor.
At the same time it has tended
to ignore the all-important posi-
tive relationship between the cre-
iltive and critical forces. I urge
The Daily-to re-examine this area
of endeavor so that it may more
efectively assist in the promotion
of rewarding theater experiences
f or all audiences.
Finally, as" one individual,
might I perhaps suggest that
there is not so much wrong with
the local theater scene as with
the eye of the agitated beholder.
Not to say that the Drama Season
and other organizations do not
have room for improvement. But
how can they improve without the
benefit of knowledgeable, respon-
sible, fair-minded criticism?
--Ronald Muchick
Big Red...
To the Editor:
ONCE AGAIN the "Big Red"
(i.e., Gomberg House) has
reached down into its naughty
bag of tricks to win its "B" foot-
ball game against Allen-Rumsey.
Theecrime as charged by Mr.
Rosenthal of West Quad ;in
Wednesday's, Daily was loading
the "B" team with "A" material.
This, says Mr. Rosenthal, was
only the culmination of several
years of poor sportsmanship on
the part of Gomberg House.
If Mr. Rosenthal would take
some time to add things up, he
would find that the "A" cham-
pionship is worth 150 all-year
intramural points, whereas the
"B" championship is worth only
75 points-the same as ping-pon.
Therefore, any house which delib-
erately stacks its "B" team to the
detriment of its "A" team is com-
mitting mathematical suicide.
Gomberg has not won five of the
last six all-year championships by
using that sort of arithmetic.,'
Perhaps Mr. Rosenthal's lack of
understanding of I. M. competi-
tion can be excused, but his
charge that this is merely another
example of the Big Red's "several
years of bad sportsmanship" can-
not be dismissed so easily.
-Martin Adelman G.
-Dennis Jablonski, '60
-Hugh Witemeyer, '61
Forgery *. .
To the Editor:
Re: "Letters" c o lum n of
10/12/58 - No thanks for the
given misnomer. Hang someone
else.
-Richard Rosenthal, '63, A&D
(the real one)
STATE:
S tree tcar'
Still Moves
A TRULY GREAT motion pic-
ture, Tennessee William's "A

Streetcar Named Desire," directed
by Elia Kazan, is currently being
shown at the State. The picture
still possesses the emotional wal-
lop and impact that earned it five
Academy Awards when first re-
leased in 1951.
The author once stated that his
drama's meaning was, "You'd bet-
ter watch out or the apes will take
over." As the chief ape, Stanly
(Marlon Brando) turns in a per-
formance that is the very em-
bodiment of this quality, grunt
for grunt and scratch for scratch.
Once before Vivien Liegh played
a daughter of the aristrocratic
South whose name was a color,
Scarlet, but here the comparison
ends because the heroine of "Gone
With the Wind" overcame her ob-
stacles by sheer determination;
whereas Blanche Du Bois retreats
farther and farther into a world
fliled with comforting fancies
when she is faced by external
adversity.
With her tremendously moving
performance Miss Leigh has de-
monstrated that a classically
trained actress can achieve great-
ness in an "earthy" story. Perhaps
this classical background is the
most noteworthy factor of a re-
markable characterization because
it removes Blanche from her sor-
did environment and allows the

INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
Germany: Pawn in Red Game

By J. M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
THE INTERNATIONAL Communists, having
marched up the hill and then down again
through recent crises in the Middle and Far
East, are now monkeying with a situation which
really could produce a new world war.
The posture of Germany in Europe is vital
to both sides in the East-West conflict. Both
have promised to fight over it if necessary. Any
attempt by either side to change the situation
in its favor is grimly explosive.
As the Communists shift back to Europe in
their tactic of keeping a crisis going all the
time, the one hopeful aspect is that neither
side wants a war now, and that the Reds will
carefully avoid the last provocating act, just as
they have elsewhere.
By threatening to end four-power control of
Berlin, remove their troops from East Germany
and force the West to deal with the puppet
regime there, the Kremlin is pursuing the re-
cent Peiping tactic of reminding that it holds
the initiative for peace or war.
JT IS ALSO an effort to gain greater political
recognition for the puppet regime, which has
been one of Peiping's objectives at Quemoy.
There are many fundamentals in the back-
ground' of this latest propaganda crisis.
West Germany occupies a major position in

the affairs of Western Europe and the world.
East Germany operates merely as a province of
Russia.
All Germans except the self-seeking Com-
munist puppets take great pride in West Ger-
many's reconquest of the nation's former eco-
nomic and political position. East Germany is
merely a reminder of defeat and a roadblock on
the road to revival.
One factor in the whole European situation
is that Russia and Eastern Europe sincerely
fear this revival.
The depth of Allied determination that Ger-
many shall not fall into Communism's hands
is attested, on the other hand, by the Anglo-
French willingness to submerge their own fears
of a revived Germany in order to present a
common front.
East Germany is to have an election soon.
The hope of Russian troop withdrawal is calcu-
lated to lessen the possibility that an irritated
people would use the campaign to demonstrate.
THE PUPPETS still tremble in memory of the
. revolt of 1953, The Kremlin wants a four-
power conference as a propaganda platform.
They got one at Geneva by agreeing to talk
about reunification of Germany. But the Allies
are doubly wary of that bait after the first
experience. The pressure is on again, however.
Fear of Germany has led Poland to pick up
the tld RuWPii,,eavhall of . 1 Mi1iti'c.A 'vj)P

.I

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