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October 15, 1960 - Image 4

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Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1960-10-15

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Se ent y-First Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
"When Opinions Are Fre UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
TthWillPmaw STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This sist be noted in all reprints.

Y, OCTOBER 15, 1960,

NIGHT EDITOR: FAITH WEINSTEIN

Should Legislator
Represent University?

A CONTROVERSY which has developed be-
tween the rival candidates for the state
legislative seat in the Washtenaw County First
District is of more significance than a super-
ficial examination might indicate.
The dispute is whether Republican candidate
Gilbert E. Bursley, assistant director of the
University Development Council, is better qual-
ified to represent the interests of this institu-
tion in the State Legislature than his Demo-
cratic opponent, Mrs. Grace Marckwardt.
Bursley argues that his occupational con-
nection with the University has equipped him
with the understanding and knowledge needed
to effectively present the case for higher edu-
cation in the House of Representatives. But
going beyond his individual case, he states that
"There is no representative from the area of
education in the State Legislature and-of
particular importance to Ann Arbor-no one
from higher education. I believe the schools
and universities should encourage qualified
staff members to run for public office, par-
ticularly at the state level. It is the duty of
education to furnish its fair share of public
officials."
fURSLEY thus grounds his candidacy not
only on his personal merits and experience,
but justifies it as part of a larger responsibility
of educators in general. He is therefore vul-
nerable to criticism on both specific and gen-
eral levels, and Mrs. Marckwardt has exploited
this dual opening.
Mrs. Marckwardt, wife of Prof. Albert Marek-
Wardt of the English department, has criticiz-
ed Bursley as an individual on two counts.
First, she says, Bursley is a Republican and
has on several occasions indicated that he
is not only satisfied but "proud" of the rec-
ord of the State Legislature in supporting the
University. He has justified the failure of
Lensing to meet University budget requests by
pointing out that the money asked for by all
state institutions and agencies amounts to
"hundreds of millions more than available
revenues" could cover. Legislators "have a re-
sponsibility to screen all requests and to match
up the most urgent- needs with the available
dollars," Bursley has said, and "the University
will have to fully justify and document every
dollar it asks of Lansing."
MRS. MARCKWARDT states that if the Re-
publican Legislature's record on support for
higher education was as good as Bursley indi-
cates, "the University faculty might be able to
count among its members certain scholars who
are no longer here."
The second focus for Mrs. Marckwardt's per-
sonal criticism of Bursley is the nature of his
Job with the University. As assistant director of
MAX LER N E R _

the Development Council, Bursley necessarily
has frequent contacts with representatives of
big business which may be induced to donate
funds to University projects. Mrs. Marckwardt
states that "one may quite properly question
the appropriateness of sending to the Legisla-
ture a University staff member part of whose
job is to solicit funds from corporations who
. . ,may have lobbyists in Lansing."
On the more general level of the desirability
and responsibility of educators to fight their
owrn battles in the Legislature, Mrs. Marck-
wardt also takes issue with Bursley. "The con-
tention that the interests of this community
and of the University in particular can best be
served by having a member of its staff in the
Legislature is open to serious question. The
important qualifications are a knowledge of
and feeling for, the problems of higher educa-
tion in this state, a willingness to speak out on
behalf of the University irrespective of what
party caucuses may dictate, and the ability to
see the needs andfunctions of higher educa-
tion not just by themselves but in relation to
the total educational picture. Whether or not
such a person is on the payroll of some insti-
tutions is totally irrelevant."
MRS. MARCKWARDT would appear to be on
firmer ground in both aspects of the con-
troversy. I am not an economist, and I con-
cede the possibility that University budgets
are shamelessly blown up and extravagantly
wasteful. But the hegira of top-caliber profes-
sors from the University is an irrefutable fact.
Too many good men are leaving-not just be-
cause of low salaries, though this of course is
a factor-but because of a general and wide-
spread feeling that the University is coming to
a standstill at a time when it cannot stand
still without slipping back. If lack of funds is
a contributing cause of this loss of momentum,
then the record of the Legislature is hardly
something toward which to "point with pride."
As for Bursley's statement that it is the
"duty of education to furnish its fair share of
public officials," I only hope I am misinterpret-
ing -it. Applied only to administrators and
executives connected with the universities, the
proposition has at least a semblance of plaus-
ibility. But if it means, as it seems to, that
our scholars and scientists have a responsibil-
ity to participate in the political processes
which insure them their bread and butter, then
I must disagree. Involvement in politics, ad-
ministration, and red tape is already a major
headache in the academic world, and is posi-
tively odious to a great many otherwise satis-
fied faculty members. I see no moral responsi-
bility of university scholars to dilute their
serious work by engaging in political effort to
justify it to legislators.
-JOHN ROBERTS

An Entertainment for Everybody
Beneficial To All
, 4 '
f .4 ~ - - ~
Dailyq ,rryJc
o otelctrocefedfrmhrol a
"personal secretary"
TO THE EDITOR:
Note-Taking Questions
yrStill Unanswered

Trces
By JUDITH SATTLER
Daily Staff Writer
"A WORK of art is a tangible
record of experience trans-
formed by imagination," Prof.
Marvin Eisenberg, of the history
of art department, said.
And, whether we talk about art
of the fifth, seventeenth, or twen-
tieth century, its actual nature
remains the same, but its function
changes," he added in a lecture
sponsored by the Forsythe Gallery.
Looking at modern art from
the viewpoint of the art historian,
Prof. Eisenberg demonstrated sim-
ilarities in form, treatment, and
composition between works from
radically differing cultures.
4 PAINTING BY Jackson Pol-
lack and a page from a liturgical
book of the Dark Ages shared
intricate interweaving of lines and
colors. Intense personal emotion,
and passion were portrayed in
both a Rouault head of Christ,
and a German Medieval sculpture
of the same subject.
Geometrical arrangement, and a
pervading order were present in
a deHooch genre painting of the
seventeenth century, and in a
completely geometrical painting
by Mondrian, in which "the bones
are taken out" of the natural
forms.
The sheltering quality of the
mountain which dominates one of
Cezanne's landscapes was also
found in a fifteenth century
painting of a madonna with a
sheltering cape, painted by Piero
della Francesca.
In his portrayal of Christ's
descent into limbo, Donnatello
achieves the same emotional ten-
sion and "vast pulling movements"
of Picasso's "Guernica".
* * *
WHILE THE ELEMENTS of art
remain constant, its function in
society is a variable. The art of
the pre-Renaissance times had
different uses, themes. and en-
vironments than that coming
afterward.
Before the Renaissance, art was
produced by societies with definite
values, strong religions, and power-
ful monarchies. Because of this,
art centered around three types
of structures which embodied
those values, Prof. Eisenberg noted.
The tomb, such as the Egyptian
pyramid was one center, as a
nexus of religious and social
values ;temples symbolized the
unified ideas of society, and in
such examples as the Greek
temple, held the highest in art.
In the Medieval worlds cathedral,
works of art were teachers of
ideas as well as creators of plea-
sure.
Art in these times was a 'part
of its setting and so tended to
stay in one place; this made
sculpture the dominant art form,
Prof. Eisenberg explained.
WITH THE Renaissance and
the rise of the middle class, more
people became involved in art,
and so artists had more variety,
more themes. Since art was no
longer purely institutional, a more
movable form was needed, and so
painting became the dominant
form, he added.
Caravaggio painted the descent
from the cross with an everyday
quality, making religion imme-
diate, the art historian pointed
out. Rysdale, Vermeer, and others
painted part of the world because
of "delight and love for things
in themselves."
The scientific influence caused
painters like Courbet, in "The
Stonebreakers," to want to record

Cutural Prals
life precisely, until the camera feels pulses, and thesc
came into use, science prove them"

FORSYTHE GALLERY:

A NUMBER OF developing for-
ces have freed the artist in modern
times from traditional bonds. The
loss of patronage, the loss of strict,
well-defined societal values, and
the loss of the necessity to record
reality have all reduced society's
demands on the artist, Prof. lEis"1i-
berg asserted.
A more complex and secular
society made more themes avail-
able, and loss of public function
has made art more private, he
noted.
"But even though divorced from,
society, the artist is engaged in
prophesying the future. The artist

PROF. EISENBERG found ex-
amples of this in such things as
Van Gogh's "Starry Night," in
which the spiralling light fore-
shadowed the later discovery of
the spiral nebulae; in Mondria'n's
purity and order reflected in the
severe forms of modern architec-
ture, and in the "neon-like" pic-
tures by Leger, which foretold so
well the pyrotechnic lighting of
the modern city.
But, even with this prophesying
function, he commented, the art
work is not a central image; "in
our time, the picture is without
a home."

Aety and

FOLKLORE SOCIETY:
Drawls and Twa ngs'
Punctuate Performance.
LOOKING vaguely like Abe Lincoln, Mike Seeger mounted the stage
of the Union Ballroom carrying a banjo in one hand and a bottle
of pop in the other.
The informality of his introduction continued through a thoroughly
enjoyable evening of country music. His definition of "country" ranges
from pure hillbilly through English ballads, with blues and novelty
numbers interspersed.
Seeger renders his mountain music in a variety of drawls and
twangs. His own speech is more precise than his singing. For an
English ballad called "Johnson Jinkson" he adds a pronounced
hillbilly twang with good effect.
Throughout the performance Seeger adlibbed to his very responsive
audience about politics, his family, and his music,
* * *
THE MOST UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTATION he achieves is the
combination of autoharp and harmonica. The autoharp gives a very
full accompaniment to his singing, but there was a striking similarity
in the arrangements he used for "Man of Constant Sorrow" and
"Lonesome Road Blues."
Seeger is perhaps least effective on the fiddle. He admits he
does not play it well. "The Old Fish Song," a long Biblical ballad,
was perhaps the only number of the show which dragged. He accom-
panied it on the fiddle by simply following the melody line through
seemingly endless verses.
On banjo and guitar, however, Seeger is enchanting. Both "Cum-
berland Gap" and "John Hardy" demonstrated hi sability at scrugs.
style banjo. His fast and fancy picking' was enhanced by the switch
in the middle of both numbers to strumming without finger picks.
The two outstanding guitar selections of the evening were both
songs Seeger learned from the family housekeeper, Elizabeth Cotton.
These numbers feature intricate guitar melodies which he plays more
softly than any others. For both he was forced to stand up in order
to be heard. (He played without any microphone throughout.) "Lone-
some Road Blues" is a plaintive ballad with interesting , lyrics;
"Freight Train" has rather weak lyrics, but a familiar and simple
melody which Seeger dressed up so that his audience was spellbound.
-Pat Golden
SIDELINE ON SGC:

7r7-17. 7",

Nixon's Personality

77

AS THE PRESIDENTIAL campaign rolls into
its final weeks, surviving the World Series
and the UN excitement, most Americans are
likely to forget the torrent of figures, issues, ar-
guments, in the succession of speeches by both
candidates. In the end what will stay in their
minds is the two men themselves.
It is time to take the measure of them. I
start with Richard Nixon in this piece bec3use
for at least a decade his personality has evoked
wide discussion. Never terribly puzzling. Nixon
as a personality has become pretty clear dur-
ing the campaign weeks.
MY SHARPEST impression is of a man who
has made cleverness the inmost law of his
being. I am not speaking here of other qualities
whose meanings may seem to shade into clever-
ness-whether shrewdness or astuteness, wit or
brilliance or wisdom. I mean cleverness.
A clever man, in my meaning, is one who is
so absorbed with all the ingenious tactical hows
that he has nothing left over for the what fors.
He is a man of skillful maneuver, who wins his
little triumphs by being smart and quick about
means, and who is alert to what any new situa-
tion may demand of him. I might add that there
must be a dash of cleverness in every political
leader, and some have a big splash of it, but
that cleverness is not greatness.
I don't suppose that many people, even his
collaborators, have ever seriously accused Rich-
ard Nixon of greatness. Eisenhower was for a
time incensed at him because of the 1952 "Nix-
on Fund" episode, played for a while in 1956
with the notion of ditching him, and has
ended in 1960 with praise of him. But at no
point does he show the kind of feeling about
him that Gandhi, for example, had about his
disciple and lieutenant, Nehru. Nelson Rocke-
feller fought Nixon when he was a free man,
and then was taken cleverly into tow by him,

F YOU ASK why, you strike a cue to Nixon's
character.
Nixon is a good example or a man who in his
development has tried out a number of roles
for fit. I am willing to believe that he has
"grown" in the sense that he found some of
these roles no longer useful to him, and perhaps
even harmful. But if growth means a deepen-
ing and a taking on of strong beliefs, I doubt
the growth in this -ase. His rapid change of
roles has made many wonder whethier there is
in fact a Nixon.
I think there is a Nixon; in fact, that there
are two. One is the Nixon who is oriented to
every shift in the winds of political favor, and
is sensitive to currents of thought around him.
The other is thin-skinned, introverted, moody,
easily depressed. One is confident and attuned
to the crowd, the other withdrawn, anxious,
doubt-ridden. We have all met such contra-
dictory polar personalities. They are not par-
ticularly complex, and once you have probed
their pattern they are not even particularly
interesting.
But you feel about them, as I do about Nixon,
that with all their experience of life they have
not reached a sense of their identity.
EVERY OBSERVER of Nixon has his own
score of incidents to confirm how he feels
about him. In the second TV debate, for ex-
ample, I didn't like his saying that the people
on Quemoy and Matsu "are not too important."
It was an unwary remark, but suddenly a whole
universe of value was revealed in it.
More seriously I didn't like his taking a stand
on the defense of Quemoy and Matsu on moral-
istic grounds, as high "principle," when the
question of what is defensible in a farflung
defense line is always a matter of balanced
calculation and judgment. Nor did I like his
asserting America's "moral right" to the U-2
intelligence flights. Always a nation must do
things by necessity which it must disown by the

To The Editor:
AM dismayed to note that to
date no letter or editorial has
appeared which answers my ques-
tions, other than those which have
boggled down in peripheral quag-
mires. Mr. McEldowney's editorial
of Oct. 12 appeared rather puerile
in that he merely objected to
criticisms of the note-taking ven-
ture. No mention of resistance to
change, sacredness of education,
morality, or corruption appeared
in my letter. His editorial suggests
a "straw man" approach in his
use of motive words and phrases.
I do have " ... personal negative
reactions . . . " at present because
Mr. McEldowney mentioned in
passing only one of my main
questions (No. 2 below); and he
didn't even fully comphehend that
one. The "pro" letters were of low
caliber and quite irrelevant; the
writers of them were unable to
make pertinent comments regard-
ing the criticisms of the issue, and
were forced to use ridicule.
In light of Prof. Peek's views
(The Daily, Oct. 13) in regard to
copyright infringement and my
above comments, I would like to
restate my original and ignored
queries SIMPLY.
1) A STUDENT-managed busi-
ness is in operation, providing
notes on large lecture courses for
a fee.
2) How fair ("ethical") is it
to realize a monetary profit from
AT CINEMA GUILD:
Song
And .Dance
IF YOU'VE had your fill of sex
in suburbia and "problem" pic-
tures, if movies have been doing,
to your mind what Coricidin does
to your nose, then take off to
"American in Paris" at the inema
Guild.
"Amercan in Paris is pure enter-
tainment. Its melancholy plot can
never be takentoo seriously and
all turns out happy in the end
anyway (except for one discarded
Frenchman)
The famous ballet scene at the
end of the picture is well worth
the walk to the Architecture Aud-
itorium. It is exciting, colorful,
beautiful ballet - the likes of
which have not been seen on the
screen before or since. You may
very well wish that the entire
picture had been done in this
format,
THE MUSIC IS GERSHWIN at
his greatest. ' O'r Love is Here
to Stay," "S'Wonderful," "I Got
Rhythm," "An American in Paris,"
and "The Concerto in F" are a
few of the melodies which you
will come out singing.
Gene Kelly's dancing, Leslie
Caron's near-beauty, and Oscar
Levant's facial expressions are
enough to entertain you in them-
selves. Coupled with the Gershwin
tunes, the color, the views of
Paris, and the dancing -- you have

someone else, who has put forth
the -effort which makes such a
venture possible?
3) How true are the claims of
this service as to "expert" and
"complete" notes? More important,
what credentials of competence
do they offer?
4) Can a professor publish the
same material in the future with-
out the permission of this busi-
ness? What will be done in the
case of guest lecturers?
To these questions there have
been no replies except for shouts
that there is resistance to new
innovations, that students are
being martyred, that private en-
terprize is bein restricted, ad
nauseum. The managers of this
service have yet to answer these
questions themselves, and so far,
they have presented nothing other
than an innocent desire to aid
their fellows - for a price.
" * *
I- THINK THAT notes which are
really complete, compiled by per-
sons with above-average training
in the field, can be excellent study
aids. I don't feel that one can be
stimulated by a lecture and relax
at the same time. Any second-rate
attempt at providing lecture notes
is, in some respects, nothing more
than a student placebo: some-
thing to allay his fears of failing
the course. If first-rate notes are
published, this should be done
by the instructor or by qualified
persons with proven competence
in the field. The profits should
go to them.
-C. E. Eyman

B
The n
now
and a
The r
the par
entirec
voice o
platforr
is possi
certain
the ent
the pl
specific
In it4
or at le
florid d
phrases

"Tricks Or Treaties"

r
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Party Platform
ess Than Partisan
y PHILIP SHERMAN overworked expression, and "he
Daily Staff Writer must passionately care" referring
ew campus political party to , the student's consciousness of
vhas a name -"Voice" - his role in the world.
tentative platform. THE FIRST CRITICISM of the
name is a good one, and if platform preamble is one of its
ty is not the voice of the tone. It is now the time for the
campus, it certainly is the American college student to realize
f a good part of it. The his obligations and work, even
m is also good, because it crusade, for the betterment of the
ble to disagree with it on nation as a whole and the Uni-
points without repudiating versity community. Such thoughts
tire document. In general can be overdone, and it is hoped
latform concentrates on that this ,tone will be modified.
issues, as it ought to. "Voice" is hardly the sole word
s first draft, the platform, from on high, calling Michigan
ast its preamble, is a rather students to their sacred duty.
locument. It includes such There is one other criticism in
as "total community", an tone: in several parts qf the plat-
form, specific planks seem to say
"The 20-year-old American college
student knows enough and is ex-
perienced enough to determine
his own future." This may be over-
stating the case, but the party's
desire that the University never
communicate with students' par-
ents without telling the students,
and that students express their
opinions to committees which de-
cide on matters of "student con-
cern" (almost everything that
goes on here is of student concern,
the writer would add) and that
student organizations do not neces-
sarily need faculty advisers, all
seem to imply a small tone of
z ~student .arrogance.
This writer doesn't think that
students in general are either that
mature or that experienced.
BUT THIS MIGHT have been
expected. What is really good
about the platform is that one
can disagree on' specifics. This
writer would take issue, for in-
stance, on the party's stand on
loyalty oaths.
How much difference the plat-
form will make is a moot question.
If the party gets good candidates,
asthey certainly will, how will
they be able to determine how
much effect the party itself, and
its platform, will -have on the
election? Party men say this ques-
tion is irrelevant, for if they elect
candidates, no matter how, they
will consider their efforts a suc-
cess.
This is probably right. But the
platform should not be Left out
! of consideration. It is something
a candidate can run on, and run
ho,.a e,,Ann- ,vter s ,hnl,4 keen

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