pfy 4idiga Taily Sixty-Ninth Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MI(-HIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS STUDE-NT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICII. * Phone NO 2-3241 "Lyndon, Could You Say A Few Calming Words To Our Boys Too?" I Ten Opinions Are Free Truth Will Prevail" Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staf writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. LRSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1958 NIGHT EDITOR: LANE VANDERSEICE K d. . r mss., r-^ - Y ... - / / I , // !' _ ^ . MAJOR(TY LEA1PE Special SGC Meetings Need More Organization VHILE no one can deny the essential value of the special Student Government Coun- i Tuesday night meeting on philosophy of udent government, it might be well to consid- some necessary improvements before it sses completely from mind. Whatever is done th these meetings in the future it is well to member that the basic concept is sound. The principle criticism lies in the way the eeting was handled. First of all, there was sizable block of the membership absent. Some .d other more pressing obligations and some erely didn't feel up to it. Surely a meeting in rich the Council is discussing its, own con- pt of student government should be consid- ed as important as a business meeting. This some ways answers the question of whether rC is an administrative or legislative insti- tion in the minds of some members. 'HE SECOND overlooked important facet of the meeting was that, until past the middle the meeting, the fact that valuable and rthwhile criticism and comment can come >m the Council's constituents. It is encourag- g to note that when the Council realized that number of people in the audience willing to scuss the concept of student government, the nainder of the meeting (a little more than lf the time) was made open to them. But Suggestions f ONE AXIOM states education never remains static; its corollary states education under- es improvement. Any course of instruction subject to critical appraisal, be it from fac- y or students, originating in committees or 31 sessions. A mass approach toward criticism educational methods and content was found the student course evaluation forms dis- buted through the literary college last week. Responses to a questionnaire, however, are ly a partial solution to the vital question of w teaching may more effectively be im- oved. The success of the evaluation form thod rests on an -attitude of seriousness on e part of the student and his teacher. If the eet is an outlet for the student's personal re- atment against the teacher or serves the tcher as a means of placating the student, will fall far short of its purposes. Disregarding the element of sincerity, the estionnaire method does not aid the student .o completes these forms. Sealed and locked ay until after final exams, the questionnaires :eive judgment in an atmosphere divorced m the classroom..Whether the instructor in- 'porates the comments and suggestions in y future teaching scheme or discards them npletely will have no bearing on the student sently enrolled in the course. OURSE EVALUATION should be a contin-i uous process. One half hour per semester specific preparation should have been made beforehand to encourage, not only students but interested faculty and perhaps administration personnel to take part in the discussion. Prof. Lionel Laing, for example, would prob- ably have a great many ideas on the subject. Had a vigorous attempt been made to get more students there it would have been valuable to the discussion. If student government is to be construed in any way to be a representation, of students, it must make every possible effort to determine whta its constituency believes. LASTLY, the brainstorming type of meeting is better suited for a seminar group than a public hearing. When a group becomes larger than nine or ten it is difficult to conduct a really productive seminar or debate. Further- more ,a public seminar meeting suffers because everything said is not only for the benefit of the Council but for the public. In such an at- mosphere formality increases and productivity declines. The solution to this and the other problem is to 1) hold larger and better organ- ized meetings by setting up more rigid topics of discussion than the ideal "discussion of the philosophy of student government," and 2) making a stronger effort toward non-Council participation. # --PHILIP MUNCK )r Evaluations will not justify the ideals of the course. Periodi cally (perhaps once a week) the teacher should set aside a few minutes to take stock of the whole situation. Students won't be reluctant to respond to such questions as these: "Am I, as a teacher, presenting logical ar- guments? How are you reacting to my lecture material? Are my illustrations relevantIto the subject being discussed? How would you, as a teacher, handle topics so the students will be most appreciative of them?" THIS ARRANGEMENT is most adaptable to a small class in which the students are highly knowledgeable in regard to the course material. Even a large freshman lecture course would benefit from this method of evaluation by framing questions geared to the level of the students enrolled. If there is reciprocity between student and teacher over the subject matter, what precludes comparable reciprocity over discussion of inY. structional methods? A professor has his short- comings and his courses may have pitfalls; it would be. more helpful to all concerned if students had the opportunity to express their specific views on such defects. Before the course evaluation questionnaire setup becomes a mechanical routine, it should be revised to allow for direct student discus- sion. -GILBERT WINER fr.xt "s~ t; I/ b 1 A 4 ? . KHRUSHCHEV 'COURT': Kremlin Hierarchy Repeats Pattern By ROY ESSOYAN Associated Press Writer ][HE MEN around Nikita Khrushchev, the crown princes of Russia today, are practically faceless. They are able, hard-working and dedicated, but in the Soviet Union individuality is suspect and today only Khrushchev can afford a'personality. Khrushchev, however, is not immorral and history has a way of repeating itself in Russia. Barring a coup, Khrushchev's passing will be followed by another scramble for power. This probably will be settled by another temporary truce, in the form of a so-called "collective leadership," while one of the unknowns now around Khrushchev gathers enough character and strength to shoulder his way to the fore. This was the pattern after Stalin's death and there is no reason to believe it will be much different after Khrushchev's. THE STRUGGLE for power after Stalin's death took more than four years to settle. It was still nip and tuck before the June and October Kremlin shakeups last year, when Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganovich and Marshal Zhukov were sent off to the present-day equivalent of Siberia. Their removal apparently left no one with sufficient stature and following to threaten Khrushchev directly. But one can never tell. So much in Russia is under the surface. Mikhail Suslov, the dour, ascetic "Stalinist" in the Kremlin, is still a potential threat. He is relatively isolated and would have been dropped by now, but his ideas have powerful support in Communist China's Mao Tse-Tung, who may eventually out-Stalin Stalin. THE ONLY OTHER MAN of stature left in the Kremlin Is Anastase Mikoyan, the Soviet's trade wizard. He is able, agile and too smart to seem over-ambitious. Mikoyan is the only Kremlin leader, besides Khrushchev, who shows occasiavial flashes of personality in public. All the other men in the Kremlin are either too old to be dangerous or were handpicked by Khrushchev. Two of the latter stand out, not so much for their personality, but on thei records and through a process of elimination. Frol Kozlov, 50, is handsome, greying and quiet. His main claim to fame is his meteoric rise since Stalin's death. The son of a peasant, he was a relative unknown, working his way through the provincial party apparatus, until last year. Then in January he was named a cabinet member of the ruling party presidium. Four months later he made full member. * * * * IN THE GOVERNMENT set-up he is a first deputy premier, second only to Mikoyan. At diplomatic receptions he has been shy and ill at ease, sorfar. Alexei Kirichenko, also 50, is a bid, burly Ukrainian who was named to the Presidium two years ahead of Kozlov and has been in the publi eye even longer. Give Kozlov 10 more years of worry and a goatee and he could pass for former Premier Bulganin. Kirichenko, given a chance, could develop a Khrushchev type of personality, though he is less subtle than Khrushchev in his sense of humor, public appearance, private maneuver- ability and physique. If history wanted to repeat itself again, Kozlov and Kirichenko could make a post-Khrushchev soft-shoe team, just as Khrushchev and Bulganin did in the heyday of the post-Stalin campaign of sweetness and light. INTERPRETING THE NEWS: 4!4 7vz-j-L~4c MESSIAH: Handel, Hoops and Hallelujah TODAY AND TOMORROW: Initiative inBerlin IN 1742 BEFORE the first per- formance of Handel's Messiah in Dublin, ladies were requested to leave their hoops at home so that as many music lovers as possible might be squeezed in. Such ex- treme measures were not requested of co-eds two weekends ago. Never- theless, Hill Auditorium was filled to capacity and the enthusiasm of the audience seemed to be just as intense as it was two hundred and sixteen years ago. Such a con- sistently popular work seems to de- serve a few words concerning its genesis and original nature. Through the years, the Messiah has undergone such drastic changes in the size of the chorus and orchestra, in instrumentation, and in conductorial treatment, not to mention cuts, that the original version has become a mere musical skeleton upon which these "im- provements" have been super- imposed. Many will be surprised to find out that the total number of performers in the original Mes- siah was less than one hundred, Including acomplete chorus of forty with an orchestra of roughly the same size. Instrumentally, the Messiah was basically a string work, having two solo violins pitted against a tutti section in true con- certo grosso style. The continuo with cello and bass reinforcement was used. And the arias, if this can be imagined, were more highly ornamented than at the present time. And of course, the liberties taken now as to cuts did not exist. Although Handel wrote the Mes- siah in three weeks, he did not leave us an incomplete work, upon which additions and alterations were to be imposed, but a complete masterpiece which was to be.per- formed as written. It is true that Handel would have preferred the chorus to be somewhat larger than it was, but he intended nothing so large as choruses of today. SOME twenty - five years after Handel's death, radical changes began to appear in the Messiah. Performers began to number in the thousands. Certain arias and recitatives, necessary for the con- tinuity of the work; were cut. Later the more ornate arias were sim- plified and new orchestrations were used to replace the fast dis- appearing continuo accompani- ment. In our own century during the early twenties, spurious Mes- siahs with four thousand perform- ers mhade their appearance. Within the last thirty years we have witnessed a revival of the Baroque tradition with a new ap- preciation of its style. We hear more and more Brandenburgs played by chamber groups instead of by larye orchestras. Several years ago, the Messiah itself was restored to its original form in the Coopersmith edition which, so far, has received comparatively little attention. Most conductors still tend to ignore it and favor the "pseudo - Handelian" versions to which they are too accustomed to change. * * * IN REFERENCE to the local performance, we do not propose a completely restored Messiah for next year, but some suggestions do come to light; Why not select the fifty most capable voices in the Choral Union and have an or- chestra of the same size? The sing- ing would be much less muddy and the strings would be clearer on the runs. It is surprising how many times in Handel that one stacatto voice pronouncement is followed by a second, more flowing pro- nouncement, while the third and fourth voices remain silent. Only in the "Hallelujah," "Wonderful," and a few other spots do we hear all four voices at the same time. For this reason, the choral parts in the Messiah are easier to put together than, say, similar parts in the "St. Matthew Passion." With the fifty best singers in the chorus, it would be easier to speed LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Suggestions for Imprt up the tempo without losing clar- ity. Why on earth "And He Shall Purify" and "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" should drag is beyond this writer. Rarely do we hear a fresh, crisp attack on "Why Do the Na- tions" and "Oh Death, Where Is Thy Sting," Musicians and audi- ence alike seem to feel that these dragged out affairs make the Mes- siah dignified. On the contrary, the Messiah has dignity only when its correct tempo is observed. The "awe" of the Messiah lies in its very construction, and only by a musically faithful execution does the Messiah have power. Sheer volume is not enough. There is probably not a singer alive today who could do justice to the arias of the Messiah as they were originally, so that as far as soloists are concerned, little change can be hoped for. Two welcome additions to this year's performance were "Potter's Vessel" and "Oh Death, Where Is Thy Sting." It is doubtful that any new additions will appear next year. Cuts are here to stay, the concert version of the Messiah being now "the desired length." -Michael Cohen WAS EVIDENT from the beginn ; to say since the first Soviet anksgiving Day, that the propos lin could not be and would not be the Western powers. The position Alin as an island deep inside the So >ccupation is indeed, as Mr. Khrush s, "abnormal." hit this abnormality derives from t Berlin, the whole of it, was in the >ourid again in the future to be th of East Germany or of West Gem a reunited Germany. The Wester I the Western obligations in Be mIy on this obligation to restore I capital of Germany. 'he present situation of West Berli mal because the present division ay is abnormal. There is no way1 situation can be normalized excep nification of Germany. Until tha plished the Western allies are be 4jr Si44w Ii By W ALTER LIPPMANNI ing, that they have just said once more in Paris, to note on maintain their presence in Berlin. If they are al about to maintain their presence, they must have accepted free access to West Berlin by road, rail, water, of West and air. rviet zone ichev in- THE CRUCIAL question then is whether the future of Berlin can be discussed separately from the reunification of Germany -- which the fact is what Khrushchev seems to be proposing - past and or only as part of the negotiations for an all- e capital, German settlement - which is our position. aany, but The problem of the statesmen is to find some 'n rights way of building a bridge of negotiation between rlin rest these two positions. Berlin as If this can be done at all under present con- ditions, it will come from the unwillingness of in is ab- either side to let a collision with military vio- of Ger- lence take place around Berlin. But both sides in which have now gone very far in staking their pres- t by the tige. Assuming that by May or earlier the So- t is ac- viet government hands over its powers to the ound, as East German government, the avoidance of a collision will depend on how Moscow instructs the East Germans to exercise their powers. Moscow knows that a blockade, denying free f access to West Berlin, will be resisted by the West. The question is whether East Germany-- if and when it is given the powers now exer- cised by the Soviet government - will in fact use those powers to interfere with free access. WEICHEr HE BEST that could come of such a devel- y Editor . opment would be a prolongation of the status quo in a condition of chronic crisis. The I r co better way to prevent a collision in Berlin )rt Didrector rt E would be to set in motion a campaign for a Ity Editor settlement of the German question. This is, I Director of course, easier said that done. For there is rts Editor rts Editor no such unanimity of opinion in the West on itographer the German question as there is on not sur- To the Editor: THE CHORUS of the "Messiah" (particularly the women's sec- tions) was well-drilled, and showed at its best, I believe, in "His Yoke is Easy," which was well executed, and emotionally intense. Yet why must a group sing "are" when "our" is written in the score? Why teach a chorus to disjoint such words as "flesh" and "see" and "born" so that they become "fleh- heh-hesh" and "see-hee" and "boh -hoh - hoh - hoh - horn" (this looks no cruder than it sounded)? I know that such a large group is difficult to control in florid pass- ages, yet the runs on "easy" in "His Yoke is Easy" were admirably sung in most instances, so we may assume that the chorus is capable of singing "flesh." I might add that of course no one who tries to pronounce words as he should will be inspired to his best when he hears a soloist singing of "the sound of the 'trumpit' ". ,The orchestra performed its dif- ficult task capably at most times, yet it often played with such volume that the soloists, good musicians all, were scarcely au- dible. Miss Kopleff, who deserves better treatment (I have heard her sing Bach extremely well), was the most abused in this respect. It should be noted, of course, that Mr. McCoy is not alone in his failure to provide correct orches- tral accompaniment; Mr. Paray treated Miss Mattiwilda Dobbs in the same fashion when she sang a Bach cantata in Detroit last season. I suppose that Mr. McCoy uses the Mozart revision of the orchestral score; I think that this gilds the lily (perhaps it does not). At least, may, not the lines that Hnde m sed forhis-siers formed? So much deletion and eli- sion makes one think of an adaptation for television of a Broadway drama. I must complain, in particular, of the great dis- service Mr. McCoy does Handel and his audience, in two instances. At the end of "All they that see Him" the tenor sings the cus- tomary leap of a fourth, in this case from E-flat to B-flat. One expects, then, a V-I cadence in E-flat. However, the tenor's B-flat is at once followed, brutally, by a C (the first note of the next number). This was most annoy- ing to my ear, at least. Almost as disturbing was the end of "Be.' hold and See." Mr. McCoy omitted two measures in order that "Why' do the Nations" might follow with less abruptness than it would have if "Behold and See" had been completed on a B major triad. However, the conclusion as we heard it seemed most inconclusive. *-* 9s MIGHT WE not have been given "But Thou didst not leave"? The change from A major to C major would have been less unpleasant than what was offered us (and the contrast in thought i and mood would have been perhaps less jolt- ing, though certainly not ideal). I might add that by the time we reached the "Amen" chorus I was so inured to unpleasant surprises that the cut (or cuts-after the first I ceased to listen) therein did nothing more than convince me of Mr. McCoy's ill intentions (or good intentions, wrongly ap- plied), Mr. McCoy has fine forces as his disposal; he drills them well. Yet I think that many aspects of the performance were not in good eO Tze-TungStilon Top By THOMAS P. WHITNEY Associated Press Foreign 'News Analyst T HE KEY fact in the position of Mao Tze-Tung is that although he is going to step down as head of the government he will remain the head of the Communist party. Mao has held two official positions. He has been chairman of the government-the job he is resigning. He is also chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist party. This position he retains. It seems quite possible that a main reason for Mao's quitting as president is to dissassociate Mao's personal prestige and reputation in some degree from acts of the Chinese Communist government. The most important thing going on in Communist China today is the nationwide organization of Peoples' Communes. These radical Com- munist semimilitary rural districts, each embracing some tens of thousands of people and running all economic, cultural, political and military activity within their o iJ me nbounds. Orewement - THE DRIVE to organize these Communes constitutes a drastic Courtesy . . . social revolution. It is much more To the Editor: far-reaching than the drive to TW} YEARS AGO the Pakistan organize collective farms in Rus- Students' Association of the sitin the 1528-32 period. University of Michigan sponsored Such a revolution cannot be car- a debate on Kashmir. Anyone who ried out without resistance. It dis- wanted to speak was given a chance turbs traditional patterns of social although the speakers weren't al- relationships in rural China. It lowed more than five minutes, The strikes at the Chinese family, the Indians were invited to send a dfundamental institution of the speaker and he was given the same nation. amount of time given the Paki- In order to carry through the stani speaker - 15 minutes. Ap- drive for organization of Com- plauding the impartiality of the munes the Chinese Communist debate, The Michigan Daily, in an government must suppress discon- editorial entitled Kashmir Debate tent on a nationwide scale. of Real Educational Value, called The measures which the govern it "of real educational value" and ment is ging to have to take are "a service to the University com- not the kind which are likely to en- munity." hance any political leader's popu- In marked contrast was the sym- larity. posium on India's foreign policy It is of importance to the Chinese held last Thursday at the Union. Communist party to keep as un- Only speakers invited by the India sullied as possible the image of Students' Association, sponsors of Mao Tze-Tung as father to the the debate, were allowed to speak, masses. The efforts of the Pakistani ktu- mTherefore it is timely for Mao dents to get an invitation to speak Tze-Tung to leave the post of at the symposium were thwarted chairman of the government. But by the sponsoring group. At the he will remain, it seems certain, symposium itself, a Pakistani the key figure in Red China. Editorial Staff RICHAR1D TAUB, Editor EL KRAFT JO ial Director )HN City wanted to speak but wasn't al- lowed. A curious role was played by the moderator. In explaining why he wouldn't allow a Pakistani to speak, he said that already a few speakers had been selected (by the sponsors of the symposium) and that "there are 82 other mem- bers in the United Nations and they cannot all speak." The mod- erator, who was expected to have at least some rudimentary knowl- edge of India and Pakistan, thus made the incredible implication that, as far as India's foreign policy is concerned, Pakistan was no more important than any of the 82 other members of the DAVID TARR Associate Editor DAIY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily Official Bulletin is oS official publication of The Univer- sity of Michigan for which The Michigan Daily assumes no edi- torlal responsibility. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3519 Administration Build- ing, before 2 p.m. the day preceding publication, Notices for Sunday Daily due at 2:00 pm. Friday. TUURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1958 5CANTOR....... .......Personnel WILLOUGHBY ..... Associate Editoria JONES ............ Spo A JORGENSON......... Associate C BETH ERSKINE....Associate Personne RISEAN................Associate Spo )LEMAN ..............Associate Spr D ARNOLD................. Chief Phoi MOSCOW - Red Star yesterday told the story of an Ai-my of- ficer who reaped 200,000 rubles in a big swindle by using soldiers under his command for private work, Worse still, said the Army newspaper, the officer pulled the wno ove-th a'e rP i f rnrnuigia I