THE MICIHGAN DAILY



_. .

GESSNER SPEAKS:
Movies, TV 'Drowned in Mediocrity'

-Daily-Michael Rontal
IRANIAN VISITOR -- Former Iranian Minister of Education"
Mahmoud Mehran visited the University in a tour of American
colleges.
Iranian Visitors Study
Education in America

By CAROLINE DOW
To avoid "drowning in the me-
diocrity" of mass produced TV
and movie productions, our gen-
eration must learn to analyze
what they are seeing, Prof. Rob-
ert Gessner of the motion picture
department of New York Univer-
sity said yesterday.
"The best weapon against; trash
is taste," Gessner maintained.
This taste is lacking in the ma-.
jority of the nation, however, and
schools are putting out "visually'
illiterate" graduates. -
Unable to Discriminate
The average person, in whose
home the TV is on 6 hours a day,
finds that he is unable to dis-
criminate between the art and the
trash because he is constantly sub-
jected to trite cliches and bad
plots, Gessner said.
The. bad art and productions
are allowed' to continue because
the viewer is not considered as
an audience but as a potential
customer. The "ad men" have the
first say, Gessner said.
The answer to being forced to
watch bad TV is a simple one,
he said. "Just turn the switch
off." Learning when to switch off'
is where the taste comes in, he
said.
We must look upon the "mov-
ing image" media as an art and
understand it as an art form, he
said. Imagery has four appeals
to the people. The first is that 90
per cent of man's knowledge
comes from the eye. The eye is
important and the use of it be-
comes dynamic when there is mo-
tion.

urge to capture motion, or in a
sense, capture the essence of life.
The moving image comes closest
to this, he said.
The third power is sociological:
That men see the same thing in
mpoving images. The togetherness
of sharing the same sight is im-
portant. The fourth power he
mentioned is comprehension --
T alk T o Con4d er
Soaring Sixiies'
Prof. J. Philip Wernette of the
business administration school will
speak on "IHas Something Happen-
ed to Those Soating Sixties?" at
1 p.m. today in the ballroom of the
Michigan League.
Prof. Wernette will address a
luncheon, given as part of the con-
ference and workshop on hospital
financial management which be-
gan Tuesday sponsored, by the
Michigan chapters ,of the Ameri-
can Association of Hospital Ac-
countants, -the business edmninis-
tration school and 'the Michigan
Hospital Association.
:::p=8

that one sees an image, and one
"sees" what is meant.
Gessner said that to gain good
taste in this field one must" be
familiar with the techniques of it.
He recommended criterions by
which to analyze and judge "mov-
ing image" media.
Interaction Makes Art
The interaction of four qualities
makes the art, he said. The qual-
ity of the presence or omission
of conflict or fusion of the four
make or break the product The
qualities are "objective" and "sub-
jective" elements, "movement"
and "content." Each quality is
subdivided into techniques.
The four 'objective' elements
are animate (actors, make-up and
costume), inanimate (furnishings
and local sets), composition (light,
color, size and perspective) and
auditory (voice, music and sound),
he said.
The subjective qualities 'deal
with the craf~t part of the art.
They are descriptive, - narrative,
informational and symbolistic
types of work. Intermixing these
the intangible elements of talent
and taste.

By SUSAN HERSHBERG j
"We are here to study your over-1
all educational system and its re-
lation to your life," Mahmoud1
Mehran,'former Minister of Edu-
cation in Iran said yesterday.-
He is the guest of the State
Department under the Inter-;
national Education Exchange Pro-
gram for Foreign Leaders.
Traveling in his party is Mrs.
Touran Aalam, Head of the
Teacher Training Program of the
Iranian Ministry of Education. She
is a grantee under the state de-.
partment's specialist program.
To Visit 13 Cities
They will be in the United States
for 60 days, traveling to 13 cities
to visit all types of education in-
stitutions. Mehran is interested in
the over-all picture of American
education, but particularly in
teacher training.
Teacher training is important
for several reasons, Mehran said.
"There is a great need for greater
number of teachers and there is.
an increasing demand for them.
Also we need to insure the quality,
of our teachers."
"We have three different pro-
grams for teacher training in
Iran," Mehran said. Normal schools
train teachers for elementary
schools. Teachers' colleges traini
others. Summer and night courses
are furnished to teachers already
in service.
Returning Students Teach
"Students who come back from
abroad teach," added Mehran.
However, they must have a
bachelor's degree to teach in pri-
mary and secondary schools.
Illiteracy is a great problem In
Iran, although a national cam-
paign to combat illiteracy has
been in full swing for four years.
Each year, 500,000 adults graduate

from the two-year courses estab-
lished to further this effort.
In addition to training teachers,
Iran has problems 'in obtaining
satisfactory buildings and equip-
ment, Mehran said. In Iran, the
schools are completely government
supported.
Haber, Cohen
Consider Aid'
Ino N1ew Book

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MEMBERS and FRIENDS
of BILL McADOO only
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Another great double
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-TIME MAGAZINE SAYS!

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Motion Appeals
The second appeal or power is
that man has always had the

Economic freedom and secur-
ity are not incompatible, two
University professors say in a
new book: "Social Security: Pro-
grams, Problems, and Policies,"
Just published.
The book's editors, Professors
William Haber of the economics
department and Wilbur J. Cohen
of the social work school, explain
'that a sound and effective pro-
gram of unemployment insurance
can promote efficient use of
human resources.
"In general, any insurance or
benefit plan which enables per-
sons to avoid large losses frees
them from worry and uncertaintyj
while promoting maximum pro-
ductivity," Professors Haber and
Cohen say.
"Assistance or relief programs
which prevent the breakup of the
family, minimize the deterioration
of skills and sustain the hopes of
individuals contribute to the na-
tional welfare and security," the
editors write.
"Security and freedom are part
of the same problem. Freedom
without security is the freedom
to starve, the freedom to be
homeless, dependent or sick. Se-
curity without freedom is the
security of the prison and concen-
tration camp."
Lab Playbill
Set ToBegi

"Funniest
Movie
Since 'Some
Like It Hot'!"

LABORATORY PLAYBILL
TODAY 4:10 P.M. Department of Speech
Scenes from
THE PRIVATE LIFE.
OF THE MASTER RACE
by BERTHOLD BRECHT


Trueblood Auditorium

Noadmission charge

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Young Democrats
Students for Kennedy
present
The first Michigan showing of
NIEW FRONTIERS
Starring
JOHN F. KENNEDY
Thurs., Oct. 20
3r3 floor conference room -Union
FREE TO ALL

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The first production of the
speech department Laboratory
Playbill series will be scenes from
Bertold Brecht's "The Private Life
of the Master Race" at 4:10 p.m.
today in Trueblood Aud.
The play being presented today
deals with Germany under Hitler
in the thirties. In It, Brecht used
a naturalistic method, rather than
his experimental epic drama form.
It was originally entitled "The
Fears and Miseries of the Third
Reich."
The Playbill series will present
dramas every Thursday druing
the academic year. About 20 pro-
ductions are planned, in which
30 plays will be given.
All performances take place
either in Trueblood Aud., or in the
Arena Theatre. Admission is free.
Program To End
With Panel, Talk
This year's Student Government
Council Freshman Reading and
Discussion program will climax its
study of "Crime and Punishment"
with an open panel discussion at
4:15 p.m. today in the Honors
Lounge of the Undergraduate
Library,
The panel for the discussion
will include the professors who
led the previous discussions in the
series.

SGC
Homecoming -Wlerine Clu
sponsor
PEP RLLY
* Marching Band * Team & Cheerleaders
* Dean Rea . * IFC Champion Singers
* Psurfs * Acacia Dixieland Band
* Wanderers * Trampoline Cowns
YELL LIKE HELL CONTEST
Friday, October 21-- 8:00. P.M'-. IAG

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NO 5-6290

S.G.C. Citena quI
TONIGHT and Friday at 7 and 9 Saturday and SundayQat 7 and 9:15
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