Page Iwo THE MICHIGAN DAILY WednPsdnv lnniinrv 7-7 1 9F9 Page iwo THE MICHIGAN DAILY '.,A/uric,4ur Ju!rrlu u,v'.LLB 177~ lectures Voniegut: Humor to cope with suffering DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN ', ....... ' R *L. n. aka .:ti:tiY^"."i"L:ti{tititi": '1M . ... .. .............t.............,..:::1': }::ti": J.^.'. }J:v:: '.: 1':"t L ' LV :R":r:::::":{"ti^: ': ..{. L.. t..:1":ti".:V . {.;ti. { ,a'. ;.t : ?:... 1^.1.^.....1ti.5". x2. . !iv.V:1 k :t 'a :,' '' ? a ka"*fi.LL ". By MARCIA ABRAMSON If Kurt Vonnegut had not made it as a writer he could have been a great comic. The same wry humor that pervades his books is the visible essence; of this whimsical-looking man with the big mustache.. s. But beneath the exterior is the infinite sensitivity and com- passion that makes Vonnegut not a comedian buta man who knows our times well enough to detest them and move towards finding a way to preserve man from the overgrowths of "civil- ization." And that was what Vonnegut and Prof. Marvin Felheim talk- ed about yesterday noon at Can- terbury House instead of "The Paranoid Vision in American Literature" as scheduled. After some vague rambling about Celine and paranoia, Von- negut brought in his theory that "humor is a way of coping with real trouble." Humor comes be- cause you can do nothing else but laugh. This gave Vonnegut the op- portunity to explain his point in the terms he knows best. "My next book,"' he explained, "is a comedy. It is about the largest massacre in the history of Eur- ope." In his first lecture Vonnegut called his forthcoming book, The Slaughterhouse Five, his masterpiece. The novel takes its name from the underground meat locker where Vonnegut spent the bombing of Dresden. Vonnegut was a prisoner of war working in a factory in Dresden, which was supposedly a non-target' city and was not fortified. When Dresden became an allied target, 135,000 people died. "More people than at Hiroshima," Vonnegut said.r He discounted the calculated, long-range extermination of the Nazis, because, like the previous Writer-in-Residence Jerzy Kos- inski, Vonnegut realizes that massacre on such a scale simply does not register with the mind.' Vonnegut knows all about the careful bombing of Dresden, and he tells it, drily, although under- neath the steadiness there is an intensity in his voice that ex- plains why he said earlier, "Don't kill. Don't even kill in self-defense." After Dresden, Vonnegut found himself unable to write about what had hap- pened until 1966, in an intro- duction to Mother Knight.' First came a load of high ex- plosives which provided kindling and drove the firemen into shelters. Then a load of a spe- cial new incendiary. As the little fires joined and began their destruction, more explosives were dropped to keep the fire- men underground. After the war, Vonnegut wrote the Air Force to ask them why. In 1962, the Air Force finally sent Vonnegut a response: the information on Dresden is clas- sified. Classified? said Vonnegut. Classified from whom? The Germans? They know about it. The Russians? They probably know about it too, since they occupied what was left. At this point Felheim sym- pathetically put in that he re- membered, he had been in 'the Air Force. "Oh. Were you on the raid?" Vonnegut answered immediate- ly. He continued, "Today, we'vq gone on to napalm. I was at Harvard when they were pro- testing against some guy from Dow. He was treated very badly, I thought. "But walking through that crowd was the professor who invented napalm, and don't think they didn't know it." And then Vonnegut raised the apparently dormant issue of war research to an audience that supposedly included the self- avowed opponents of war in this society. "Why is it you guys don't go after him, the man who invents the napalm? The Dow recruiter might as well have been an usher at the Roxy. Let's go out and find who's really doing the bad stuff." Vonnegut had one other thing to say, since literary pretenses had by this time been aban- doned. He insisted that his gen- eration is not only the father of this one, but the brothers as well. My children have been with me half my life," he ex- plained. "Don't think we don't hate what you do. We've worked for the machines, too." Whether Vonnegut is right if of course another question. Per- haps what he said unfortunate- ly applies only to Vonnegut, who is not a normal member of his generation. Incidentally, Vonnegut was not the entire show. Much credit should be given to Felheim for attempting to guide the conver- sation as scheduled and for abandoning the attempt when he realized that Vonnegut had something else he really wanted to talk about. Perhaps it would have been better if Vonnegut had talked about the paranoid vision in American literature, since he will have other opportunities to discuss social responsibility and human ethics. But what he had to say was worth hearing. Also, the program schedulers should be forced to spend an hour in Canterbury House with 500 other people, half of whom are carrying around boiling paper cups of soup. The seating was totally inadequate, the acoustics terrible, the room stif- ling. Vonnegut could certainly be expected to draw an extreme- ly large crowd, and other facil- ities should have been arranged since Canterbury House was also conducting its usual noon soup kitchen. The Daily Official Bulletin is an official publication of the Univer- sity of Michigan for which The Michigan Daily assumes no edi- torial responsibility. Notices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3528 LSA Bldg. before 2 pm. Friday for Saturday and Sunday. General Notices may be published a maximum of two times on request; Day Calendar items appear once only, Student organization notices are not accepted for publication: For more information call 764-9270. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22 General Notices Interdepartmental F'luid Mechanic Seminar: Prof. Chia-Shun Yih, Er gineering Mechanics Dept.. Universit of Michigan, "Proof of the Principlet Exchange of Stabilities for Taylor Vo t ices", Wed., Jan. 22, Room 315 We. Eng. Bldg., 4:00 p.m. (Coffee 3:30 p.m Room 214 W.E.). Department of Chemistry: John M Stoddard, Dept. of Chemistry. Univer city of Michigan. "Eight-Membere Cyclic Azo Compounds", Room 13( Chem. Bldg., 4:00 p.m. . Department of Zoology Seminar: D Martin Michener, Shintron Compan; Cambridge, Massachusetts, "P i g e o Homing: Pursuit by Plane and Radio 1400 Chemistry Building, 4:00 p.m. Classical Studies and History Le( ture, Prof. Sir Ronald Syme, Camde Prof. of Ancient History, Oxford Uni versity, England, "Julius Caesai Drama, Legend, History", Auditoriur B, Angell Hall, 4:00 p.m. Comparative Studies in History: Proj Paul Lucas, washington Universit) "The Influence of Legal Systems upo7 Economic Developinent: A Comparison Mental Health Research Institute dofFrance and England, ca. 1700-1840". Seminar, Thursday, Jan. 23. Daniel B. Wed., Jan. 22. Michigan Room of the j Suits. Dept. of Economics, University Mich. League. 4:15 p.m. of Michigan: "Economic Analysis and Botany Seminar: Dr. Otto T. Solbrig. Forecasting: A Look at 1969", R oo m Dept. of Botany, U. of M. will speak o? 1057, 3:45 p.m. Tea for those attending "Systematic and Evolutionary Impli- at 3:15 p.m. Room 2059. cations of Iscenzymes" Wed.. Jan,22, 1969 at 4:15 pm., 1139 Nat. S J. B 2ldg, Broadcasting Service: WUOM R a d i o Cinema Guild: D. W. Griffith's Or- { 1.7 Mc. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, phans of the Storm: Architecture Aud- {Wednesday 11 a.m. The Eleventh i p torium, 7:00 and 9:0 ~mHour (repeated at 7 p.m.) Ed Burrows Thet hou Stanley Quartet: Gilbert Ross, tion about the arts and terare. Violin: Gustave Rosseels, Violin; Ho- Get az uhrtuate onr. bert Courte, Viola; Jerome Jelinek, Cel- Gut:.Jazz authority Father O'Connor. 10: Rackham Lecture Hall, 8:00 p.m. Wednesday. 1:00 p.m. Latin America Univrsiy Msicl Soiet ArhurLecture Series - "The Peasant in Latin Univers sicl Set: A r American Church and Society Today" Rubinstein, pianist: Special Recital, at with Ivan Illich, founder and Direc- Hill Auditorium, 8:30 p.m. tor, Intercultural Documentation Cent- cr. Cuerdnavaca, Mexico; and, E r r 0 n- Day Calendar Wolf. U-M anthropologist. Wednesday ty a 4:45 pm Campus News, produced by of ;students in the speech department. Regents Meeting: Feb. 21. Communi- Wednesday 5:00 p.m. The Press and Reet'Mein:Fb 1 World :Affairs, with Prof. Ben Yablon- Stcations for consideration at this meet- ing must be in the President's hands ky. Wednesday 8:00 p.m. Stanley Quar- no later than February 6. (Continued on Page 3) N. r-( The make-tp exa i conlomics 201 I Jo r. n C- n f. an for any student who received an X in the Fall term and whose absence has been excused will be given on Tues- day.mJanuary 28th at 7:30 p.m. in Room 207 Economics Building. Direct all inquiries to Mrs. Shulman. Rhododendron Discussion G r o u p meeting. U. of M. Botanical Gardens, Thursday,: Jan. 23, 8 p.m. Public wel- come. Department of Chemistry: Dr.' 0. Bastiansen, University of Oslo, "Elec- tron Diffraction and Intramolecular Motion". Thursday, Jan. 23, Room 1300 Rent your Roommate with a Classified Ad S 4, 100- ATTEND: Students, professors debate language requirement at Hill kithen Chem. Bldg., 8:00 p.m. Studentsask change in resources school U ' i i 11 Cr Festival 4'i (Continued from Page 1) go to the john' and when to put their heads on the desks," he said. He accused the faculty of be- lieving that "given half the chance, students will ignore class- es and- required courses." Levine argued against what he called the "top-down relationship between faculty and students," and suggested that the faculty try to "solve educational problems educationally and not bureaucrat- ically." Following Levine, Prof. Lowell Kelly of the psychology depart- Healt h service chan ges polic Those seemingly endless waits to see a doctor at Health Service will be a,, thing of the past if a' new method of operation is suc- cessful. On Jan. 12, Health Service be- gan' seeing students on an ap- pointment basis for the first time since its creation in 1913. Under ordinary circumstances, a student should now call Health Service to make an appointment before go- ing there for treatment. In the past, students, simply went to the center and waited for a doctor on a first-come, first-served basis. A number of appointments will always be kept open for emergency walk-in cases, however. General information on. doctors and appointments is available to students by calling 764-8230. Ap- pointments may be made by call- ing 764-8325. Something To Swap? Try oily Classifieds ..S,{"f:e w~ i:.:...vt.. n n . v., . n' 4 .."...... ment spoke at Dean Hays' request in defense of the requirement. "There has always been an ap- prenticeship-type relation be- tween those who know and those who don't know," he argued. "I see this problem as a chal- lenge' to be creative," Kelly said. He suggested the creation of an alternate degree to the existing bachelor of arts. "Perhaps we could have another B.A." he said, "Bachelor of At- tendance, or B.P.C.-Bachelor of Personal Choice" if the require- ments were dropped. On the less hilosophical side, Prof. George Piranian of the math department suggested the estab- lishment of a bachelor's degree granted by student organizations such as SGC. "Students could meet and de- cide what requirements they want- ed for this degree," Piranian ex- 'plained. "Many' have complained about -the lack of relevance in their educations," he added. "Let those with strong feelings about relevance proopse a degree and in- stitute it." In addition to Piranian's pro- posal, other suggestions were of- fered in floor debate to solve the problem. James Noble, '71, sug- gested the college try an "experi- ment" in which ten per cent of the students would be granted degrees 'without having fulfilled the language requirement. "The college could then check on them ten years later to see whether the lack of a language had hurt their careers," he said. Michael Davis, a teaching fellow in the philosophy department, accused faculty members of "un- dertaking to coerce people with-: out giving a reason for it. The faculty has only given very strong evidence that the system of re- quirements has failed," Davis said. Perhaps the prevailing faculty attitude toward the matter was expressed by Prof. Louis Orlin of the Near Eastern languages de- partment. "We must consider the philoso- phical tradition and intent be- hind the requirements," Orlin said. "The study of a language should make the student some- thing else besides a provincial. You must allow us to produce the best and most creative thoughts of man." - - (Continued from Page 1) must equip its students to meet the requirements set by the job market. Consequently, faculty agree that only they have the practical pro- fessional knowledge to determine what is necessary for advancement in the natural resources field, McCullough says. McCullough suggests that stu- dents can best effect change by offering solutions that would at- tempt to restructure courses rath- er than eliminate them. He says that students might plan changes which would eliminate redund- ancy in the curriculum. Under the present format, for example, wildlife students take courses in big game and in up- land waterfowl. Both courses study the population dynamics and ecology of specific animal .groups, The program could be re- structured, McCullough suggests, so that students would cover the principles in general rather than in relation to different life forms. McCullough says the faculty will not act before receiving recom- mendations from the students, however. The guerrilla conserva- tionists ale expected to present their demands to the faculty this week. The students say they are op- timistic. But 'Rothenberg believes the conservationists should have a plan of retaliation if the de- mands are not met. presents anyone who wan/s to know where 'modern theater is going, will have to see it." N. Y. Times, JANUARY 26 and 8:30 P.M. Union Ballroom 27 $2 student $ 3 non-student READ BOOKS' Every Sunday inl Tickets available in Fishbowl and CAF offices, 3rd floor League SUBSCRIBER TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE _'i 141 It.GO/ - - Ma ize! Airetha Franklin Tickets Still Available in the SAB I 11 WeN ave It ave It! nil - _ -- I TONIGHT HOOT' Thursday--T-LABS" A confrontation dialogue-prostand cons of sensitivity training FRIDAY and SATURDAY- 1421 Hill St. 8:30 P.M. 4 MON.-FRI. NOW " -OXZATE RNTHEaTRESiN :091 SHOWING FOX ILL E SATSUN 375 No. MAPLE RD. "769.130(} 2:15-4 ;30-. 6:159400 KHMMEROSS m MAE NANSOMA The incredible mind and music of BOB FRANKE and his Eclectic Non-Band i !- - =1 I I I i YeI I IWU S6fl8PIO r I Ending Wednesday -TiMMUM V--&'7na 1 yj I jag Dial 8-6416 Mad Marvin Invites You to Trip with him Sand his friends I in his 2nd colossal laugh program Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.-11:00 P.M. Vth Forum-separate admission Christopher Plummer Orson Welles Lilli Palmer I I © KING FEATURES SYNDICATE- SUBAFILMS LTD. 1968 IIae BEALBS New, Albua Yellow Subxiaartuae An unsurpassed cast in one of the great plays of the ages! OEDIPUS THE KING A Crossroads Film Production/Universal Pictures Production A UNIVERSAL RELEASE * TECHNICOLOR I I I Thank you for making last weekend's program No. 1 such a success. If you missed program No. 1 because of the sold-out shows be sure to come early for program No. 2-It's equally hilarious. THE COMEDY GREATS-Program No. 2 W. C. FIELDS-"The Pharmacist" LAUREL & HARDY-"Double Whoopeee" a really great one featuring an appear- ance by JEAN HARLOW. CHARLIE CHAPLIN-"Easy Street" The best knowns of his Mutual Series, a sub- R EC O.0 R.D S SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE A149, I I RADICAL CAUCUS s j u@nt records, iNC. 1235 S. University-300 S. State U' I I i I III I I i I