Seventy-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Letters: National Arts Council Ideas
';
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1966 NIGHT EDITOR: LEONARD PRATT
The. Trimester Machine:
Too Little Thought
IT IS THE HAPPY beginning of a new
term. Finals seem far off. Classes are
new and sometimes refreshing. The work-
load is not immediately overpowering.
Students are in the process of enjoying
the all too rare luxury of a break in the
mercilessly competitive grind of trimes-;
ter.
They can .breathe now, maybe even
think. Temporarily ambitious, they can
involve themselves in activities outside of
the class. They may even learn some-
thing for its own sake and enjoy it.
Soon, though, the binds of the class
schedule will close in. The trimester ma-
chine will drag grade-conscious students
through the pressure of exams and pa-
pers. The former state of relaxation, of
breathingspace will end, giving way to
the anxious struggle to receive the om-
nipotent "A."
NO LONGER will students be inclined
to reflect or to learn on their own:
performance in class Vnhappily becomes
much too precious a commodity for that.
Students seem, fundamentally, to be the
passive receptors of the work load, to be
beings run by the system.
Outside activities, if they exist at all
for the student, become hectic, sporadic
efforts to leave the pressure-cooker in-
stead of pleasurable asides. Undergrad-
uates start to think mechanically, to
churn out papers, and to wait for the
April liberation. They hardly have time
to do otherwise.
The few who really try to break away
from the rigors of the syllabi, who try
for some honest and independent schol-
arship can do so only at the expense of
their schoolwork. And' it is an unfortu-
nate fact of life that. graduate schools
often have the habit of investigating
transcripts more carefully than the in-
tangible, personal efforts of intellectual'
activity.
What can be done to alleviate a situa-
tion in which independent scholarship
is a sacrifice, classroom thought an un-
comfortable obligation?
FIRST OF ALL, perhaps by a survey of
some sort, students should be given a
chance to express their views on the tri+
mester system. One such survey was cir-
culated before trimester's
ception; a new edition is
more as students have now
perience of living with it.
Secondly, given that the
here to stay for a while atl
should be made to lessen
official in-
needed even
had the ex-
trimester is
least, efforts
the burdens
imposed by it. One suggestion is that
certain courses should be offered whose
only "grades would be "fail" or "pass."
These courses would differ from the pres-
ent "official audits" in that credit to-
ward graduation would be given.
Put into effect experimentally at first,,
the scheme ultimately would offer a host
of interesting, popular subjects without
the pressures of the sacred letter mark.
New and intriguing disciplines, former-
ly barred from the student because of
his ,ubiquitous concern with and fear of,
grades, would be open to him.
Other courses still giving grades (in-
cluding concentrate courses) would not
be so pressure-filled and the student
would have more time for extra-curricu-
lar pursuits.
INDEED, ANY STEPS taken to ease the
grind of the trimester machine should
be encouraged. Intellectual breathing
space should not be a monopoly of the
beginning of the term; it should be ex-
tended throughout the year. The suc-
cessful student should be able to say, "I
have thought" instead of the mechanical
"I have produced."
-JOSEPH LITVEN
To the Editor:
THE OPPORTUNITY to receive
a sizable amount of money
from the government in order to
further the cultural activities and
creative arts on our campus is
truly a chance we should not let
slip. Consequently, a very serious
effort must be made in that di-
rection as soon as possible.
This money is being made avail-
able for activities which are pres-
ently in existence and is not in-
tended to foster newv ones. In this
light, we must first determine
those activities which need assist-
ance and then decide what would
be the most worthwhile type of
help.
A list of those activities which
could use assistance of one form
or another would include the fol-
lowing: the Concert Dance Organ-
ization which is presently cramped
in the Barbour Gymnasium, the
Electronic Music Studio located at
the Music School, an avant-garde
experimental film club, and the
ONCE festival which held forth
on the top of the parking struc-
ture last fall.
ALL OF THESE named and
ethers unnamed or unknown
could well use any government
financial assistance that would
oe made available (not to men-'
tion private assistance!).
Brief thought reveals the com-
,non denominator for these various
groups-some building and work-
.hop-theater to house their ac-
tivities. This structure would olve
a multitude of problems and
problems-to-be. It would eliminate
the need for financial support in
some cases and would enable
others to receive the public atten-
tion which is not now readily
captured.
The most natural location for
such a structure would be on North
Campus towards which the center
of campus life is slowly gravitat-
ing. What this building is to con-
tain would be a matter of suppo-
sition.
The University is at present a
center for research in the physical
and social sciences as well as
medicine. Every year we notice a
new building in Ann Arbor: a
laboratory on North Campus or
the Institute for Social Research
near the heart of central campus.
But we must 'also be sure that
modern and exciting creative arts
do not suffer because of a dan-
gerous and myopic one sidedness.
A GREAT DEAL of discussion
and swift, but not hasty, action
is surely necessary for progress.
-Michael J:Gotskind, '68
Creative Arts Committee,
University Activities Center
To the Editor:
THE IDEALS and ideas of the
National Council on the Arts,
as reported by Joyce Winslow in
Sunday's Daily, are very com-
mendable. I wish to suggest two
means by which Architecture,
"The Mother of the Arts," might
best be assisted.
First, apprenticeship programs
should be established in archi-
tectural offices throughout the
country. Apprenticeship, once the
primary system for training ar-
chitects, is now practically extinct
in this country. Architects can
seldom afford the time and over-
head necessary to do the task that
the colleges have assumed. A uni-
form curriculum too often, leaves
large gaps in certain areas of
professional concern which can
only be learned through extensive
and expensive individual effort
outside the hallowed halls.
Indeed, my best assistants have
been those who were willing to
start over. This problem is inten-
sified in my case, for I specialize
in the practice of urban design, a
discipline which has, until recently,
been ignored in the schools of
architecture.
Secondly, design research should
be furthered in professional of-
fices. I know of only one archi-
tecture and planning firm that
subsidizes such a program, and
that office is in London. When
one considers the many things
related to architecture to which
architects and schools of archi-
tecture give little or no attention,
the potential for design research
is realized (mobile homes, rapid
transit systems, parking podiums,
the influence of zoning regula-
tions on design, and "roadtowns,"
to mention just a few).
I SUBMIT that these two goals
might best be attained by com-
bining them into experimental ap-
prenticeship - design research
teams of perhaps five apprentices
each, under the direction of a
group of professionals. There
would be several junior appren-
tices just out of high school who
would take academic courses in
the morning at the university or
a community college. Afternoons
would be spent at the office. Three
types of projects would be under-
taken-those which the office is
commissioned to do (for which the
apprentices would be paid by the
office), those of a purely educa-
tional character in which the ap-
prentice hascomplete freedom to
explore whatsoever he will, and
those of a design-research nature.
One or two senior apprentices
would devote half of their time to
design research and supervision
of the junior apprentices. The pro-
fessional practitioners would de-
vise the programs, collaborate on
design and supervise the appren-
tices. Any funds expended on
design research projects that
might eventually result in com-
missions would require the office
to return those funds with interest
to the apprenticeship-design re-
search program- Most research
projects would be published.
The funds required for such a
program need not be great. $15,000,
the majority of which would be
for the apprentices and overhead,
would produce handsome results.
My own office has, for the past
two and one half years, subsidized
a modest program, partially
through the C.O.T. (Cooperative
Occupational Training) of the lo-
cal high schools. For example, one
study investigated how Stadium
Boulevard "got to be that way";
(there is need for a second to
show how Plymouth Road and
Jackson Road can be prevented
from getting that way!).
A PROGRAM as here described*
would seem to satisfy the basic
criteria for involvement of the
National Council on th Art ; it
would
-Help to bridge the gap be-
tween the students and the pro-
fessionals.
-Result in coverage of areas of
great design importance that are
neglected, with some projects be-
ing implemented, hopefully on a
broad scale.
-Produce qualified personnel
oriented towards the creative ap-
proach to design, yet disciplined
in the realities of office practice.
-Enable practicing architects
and retired, yet alert, professors
who could not otherwise bind
themselves to the limitations of an
academic curriculum, to be in-
volved in the educational process
and in stimulating research.
-Results in publications, lec-
tures and displays that would
help to bridge the gap between the
professionals and the public at
large.
IT IS HARDLY necessary to
add that our office would be eager
to undertake a pilot program of
such a nature; I am confident
that other offices would similarly
welcome such an opportunity. It
is conceivable that it could prove
so advantageous to the practition-
er that many firms throughout
the country would eventually
adopt an apprenticeship-design
research program without a sub-
sidy. It is at least worth the ex-
periment to ascertain the pros
and cons.
-Richard D. Ahern
Architect-town planner
To the Editor:
I WOULD LIKE to suggest that
the National Council on the
Arts consider giving the Associa-
tion of Producing Artists agrant.
The Daily article said Gregory
Peck stated that they wanted to
support established talented pro-
fessional groups since these would
be most likely to do the most good
with their limited funds.
I think that anyone who has
seen the APA will agree that they
are very talented professionals
and they certainly do have es-
tablished audience appeal both
here and in New York. But this is
not all.
When the APA was founded it
was hoped that they would fulfill
an educational purpose. They have,
done so very well, and not just in
the limited sense of training a'few
young actors in the company. I
feel that the audiences have learn-
ed a great deal from the APA.
THE QUALITY of the produc-
tions has increased significantly
since the start of the APA. It
seems reasonable that one can
not learn something as subtle as
acting from a book. Although act-
ing can only be learned by acting,
as in every field it is possible to
improve one's own performance by
watching the style and method of
better actors and local student
talent seems to have done this.
Those of us in the audiences
who don't act have still benefited
from the APA in that our cultural
background has been broaded by
a wide variety of good plays.
It is possible these days'to get
concert-hall quality music at home
for a reasonable amount of money.
It is not possible to enjoy pro-
fessional drama outside the thea-
tre.
THUS I THINK that profes-
sional repertory theatres far from
New York (of which the APA is
one of the best) represent one of
the best possible uses of the coun-
cil's funds.
-Stan Pruss, Grad
To the Editor:
IN RESPONSE to the request for
ideas of the National Council on
the Arts, I have thought of two
places where money to promote
the national culture could be put
to good use.
As was pointed out during the
forum, education of the general
public, especially the young, is the
best way to raise the national cul-
tural level. The recreation depart-
ment of Ann Arbor provides a.
Creative Activities Program of
high quality in dance, drama, art
and writing. If programs of this
kind were supported in communi-
ties which wanted them, children
could learn to appreciate and ex-
press themselves in the arts under
the guidance of people dedicated
to these fields.
Also important in providing cul-
tural experience to the public, is
television, now providing exper-
ience in soap opera life and eight
ways to rehash James Bond.
(Count them!) The better shows,
dramas, controversial commen-
taries, classical music, and the
like, are frequently lost when they
loose the "rating game." If the
National Council could sponsor
some of these programs for those
"few?" that are interested they
would serve those Americans who
are interested in more than situa-
tion comedies and that audience
might, in time, grow.
The open forum of the National
Council on the Arts was a worth-
while opportunity for anyone in-
terested in the arts, but unfor-
tunately it was not recognized in
advance.
FEW PEOPLE were prepared
with ideas and few come "off the
top of your head," when a sup-
posed lecture turns into a dis-
cussion. Why didn't the Daily
publicize the forum on the arts
beforehand?
-Diana Page, '68
EDITOR'S NOE: For two days
prior to the forum, advance notice
of it was printed in The Daily's
page one digest of capsule news.
-R..
To the Editor:
ONE CANNOT HELP thinking
of the National Academy of
Arts and Humanities that it is,
or at least should be, a saviour
come in the nick of time.
We live in a society where, for
the first time in human history,
artistic quality is being actively
opposed by large and powerful
commercial (i.e., nonartistic) in-
terests. Literally billions of dollars
have been invested in conditioning
the public, using all the psycholog-
ical weapons at the command
of modern advertising, to accept
-indeed, to demand-trash. Why?
Certainly not for any artistic
reasons. More money can be made
from trash; it can be turned out
faster and in greater amounts than
quality. Anyone who doubts that
the popular music industry, for
example, is concerned with money
and not artistry need only look
into their trade journals (e.g. Bill-
board).
BY NOW the situation is so bad
that not only does the general
public consider that the "thing to
do",is to listen to popular music
or go to a baseball game, but
even a student in a major center
of learning can stand up and say,
I am sure from honest belief, that
jazz is the "only American music."
I would venture to predict that
90 per cent of the American public
believes that "classical" music is
something entirely produced by
composers who died centuries ago,
and that the only contemporary
music is the popular junk.
The irony of this is that, thanks
to modern communications, edu-
cation and leisure, we live in the
first period of history where great
art could be the common treasure
of everyone; and contemporary art
should (as it always did in past
centuries) stan'd at the forefront
of public interest.
FURTHERMORE, jazz fans, it
happens that the best composers
of good music in the world today
live in this country. (Some names
at random: Elliott Carter, Roger
Sessions, Milton Babbitt, George
Perle, Hugo Weisgall, George
Rochberg, Henry Weinberg, Ralph
Shapey.) And the best performers
are here as well.
I would like to suggest that the
Academy divide whatever it in-
tends to spend on music about 40-
60 between commissions of new
works and performances and re-
cordings of the half-century back-
log of music that has been com-
posed but is not available to the
public. (The usual fate of a new
commissioned work-even if it is
universally agreed to be a good
one-is to be performed once and
forgotten.)
The recordings are important; a
single recording subsidy can ex-
pose more people to a given work
than the same funds spent on a
dozen unrecorded concerts. The
subsidies should include lavish
amounts for rehearsals. It is per-
haps not generally known that the
usual practice of recording com-
panies is to have only two or three
rehearsals (which, are expensive),
then record several performances
and try to patch together the right
notes from them by tape splicing.
(By comparison, I know of a
recent string quartet which is so
difficult that its premiere required
--and, for once, was given-no less
than forty rehearsals' Even then,
the performance, though very
good, was not perfect. Need I add
that no one bothered to record it?)
AS A RESULT of this pro-
cedure (and some poor choices
for performers), about half of
what modern music has been re-
corded is only available in per-
formances so poor as actually to
misrepresent the music.
-James A. Loudon, Grad
No Accelerator
To the Editor:
IT DOES NOT take great imag-
ination to foresee the conse-
quences of establishing the AEC
atom racetrack near Ann Arbor.
Not only will 5000 acres of rich
Michigan farmland be permanent-
ly taken out of production, but it
will be the beginning o fa vast
development of all the land from
north of Ann Arbor, across Whit-
more Lake, through Ypsilanti, Li-
vonia, and Pontiac, to Detroit, and
the merging of the whole region
into one urban-industrial and
suburban complex.
This will force a completely dif-
ferent way of life upon the people
of this region. Instead of a pro-
portional mixture of rural and
urban living which still maintains
a sense of community life, there
will be a sprawling criss-cross of
roads, of jerry-built housing, of
gas stations, bars, drive ins, and
motels, and of other buildings
which invariably follow all de-
velopment projects.
In eight years time many of the
roads will look just like Detroit's
Woodward Avenue. One doesn't
need many examples to see how
this has happened: the Los An-
geles area, the New York City-
northeastern New Jersey area, the
Cape Kennedy area.
ALTHOUGH this is a national
project, the people have had noth-
ing to say about it. We have not
heard about any discussions in
Congress, nor in the state legis-
latures, nor have there been pub-
lic hearings. "Discussions occurred
behind closed doors." (Ann Arbor
News, Nov. Z0.) The public does
not know if urban, agriculture and
land consultants are included in
AEC planning sessions.
Yet, the selection of a choice
rests, as do atomic tests, with the
AEC recommendations to the
President. This means that only
the final proposal, but not al-
ternatives, are brought forward
for final approval.
Are the politicians considering
the future effects which a project
like this will have on the land, on
the people, and on the communi-
ties?
THE PROBLEM within America
is not one of trying to become
developed, since we already are,
but why, where, and how future
development should take place.
We have seen enough destruction
of the countryside and of urban-
factory sprawl since World War II
to cry Halt! and to ask, "Just
what are we doing?"
The argument that the site
should be attractive to scientists
is not precise, because it is known
that the scientists will go wherever
the site is located, as they did at
Los Alamos. It seems to me a
callous view that political, ecologi-
cal and social considerations are
being ignored and that one of the
inspection committees wanted to
finish the job of selection "and
get on with it." (Mich. Daily, Jan.
8) As if such a selection could be
decided in a hurry!
Why should this choice, which
will ultimately affect so many
people, be determined by a hand-
ful of advisors? Why should con-
siderations of alternatives be in-
fluenced by one type of scientific
interest, when others also have
important views on the matter?
Why are alternatives being de-
cided solely on considerations of
what is good for the, AEC, without
considerations of effects on the
land, on the communities, and on
the people?
--T. A. Brindlpy'
A
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9,
Housing: Too Dogmatic
TT NOW APPEARS that after six months
of consultation and argument, the
Student Advisory Board on Housing will
soon: release a program report outlining
the various projects that it considers
necessary to relieve the present press
for adequate housing.
This lengthy debate has unfortunate-
ly been marked by one factor which may
harm the possibility for further student
participation in decision-making at the
University. This is the unwillingness of
the students on the Housing Board to
compromise, to discuss, to modify their
proposals to make them economically,
and administratively feasible.
Ratter, the students have expected
administration officials in the Office of
Student Affairs to accept their proposals
without this necessary close examination
and reconsideration, and have cried, "For
shame! " when their demands were not
met.
Perhaps the unwillingness of the stu-
dents to compromise is natural consid-
ering the long battle for student par-
ticipation of any kind In University af-
fairs and the tenuous position that it
holds even now.
IT APPEARS THAT, to them, compro-
mise is a sign of weakness, or an in-
dication that their participation is only
token without any real decision-making
power.
This, however, has yet to be proved. If
they find that none of their advice is ac-
cepted by administration officials, or
that "program reports" submitted by
them go ignored in the general scheme
of University planning, then they have a
legitimate complaint.
UNTIL THIS HAPPENS, the resistance
of the members of the Housing Board
through discussion and negotiating, fear
of a loss of power or any other reason,
can only be detrimental to the cause of
student participation in University poli-
cy-making.
CHARLOTTE A. WOLTER
*
Rep. Ford and Viet Nam
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Gerald R.
Ford's performance during the Repub-
lican "State of the Union" message Mon-
day evening was another convincing dem-
onstration of the fatal contradictions on
which the minority party-and Mr. Ford
-seems to have a monopoly.
Ford told the nation that the cost of
the Viet Nam war effort should be met
by abandoning "low-priority" domestic
programs of the Great Society. "We will
not sacrifice poor people. We will sacri-
fice poor programs, poorly conceived and
poorly carried out," he said. One of the
main ones, he added, is the poverty pro-
gram.
How "poorly carried out" actually is the
poverty program? It is instructive to
take one of Ford's own standards and
see. On August 5 of this year he con-
demned the administration because while
"it is now more than four years since the
Council on (sic) Economic Advisers set
an unemplovment level of four per cent
for unemployment. They have not at-
tacked the administration's stated goal."
Alas, Ford spoke hastily. Unemploy-
ment today stands at 4.1 per cent of those
seeking work. And nearly half the drop
in unemployment from the five per cent
figure Ford quoted to its present level is
due to just two programs, both in the
poverty war: first, the work-study pro-
gram, and second, the Neighborhood
Youth Corps.
The 270,000 participants in both pro-
grams are now counted as employed. And
approximately 270,000 more young people
have taken advantage of scholarship and
loan programs-many of them coming
from Great Society bills - and aren't
working, thus opening 270,000 more jobs
for the unemployed. All these 540,000-
or an equivalent number-would be job-
less if these programs were cut back, as
Ford would have it.
ON THE OTHER HAND, perhaps Ford's
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Schutze's Corner:
Violent Sexual Revolt
F
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G
S1,
I READ RECENTLY in a well-
known magazine that today's
college campuses are engulfed in
violent sexual, revolution. Of
course I received this as agreeable
news, and immediately left my
apartment for the campus, a slyly
revolutionary, grin playing at the
corners of my mouth.
The first two girls who passed
me directed thinly veiled smiles
in my direction, which I interpret-
ed as eruptions of irresistible lust
and moral rebellion. But an un-
easy suspicion directed my glance
to my feet where I discovered that,
once again, I had dressed in one
cowboy boot and one galosh.
That's what comes of waking be-
fore noon.
Barely able to conquer my dis-
her naughtily in the shoulder
blade. She stopped, turned, and
glared at me.
"Are you in a fraternity," she
asked, "or are you just another
unbelievable campus psychotic?"
After a full minute of considera-
tion, I decided not to dignify her
question with a response. Instead,
I wheeled and marched away with-
out uttering a syllable, my frigid
silence only slightly marred by
the clop-jingle clop-jingle of my
foot apparel. Twenty paces later,
I dared to glance back over my'
shoulder. Shewas still standing
there staring at me.
"Oh well," I theorized. "It
seems," I went on to myself, "that
another revolution has passed me
1
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