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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the tidividu4l opinions of staf writers
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DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1960 NIGHT EDITOR: ANDREW HAWLEY
AT HILL:
Messiah
Pompous
THE YEARLY presentation of
the Handel oratorio Messiah
by miscellaneous forces of the
"University" Musical Society took
place last evening. Featured were
Phyllis Curtin, soprano, Evelyn
Beal, contralto, Walter Carringer,
tenor, and Donald Bell, bass. The
350-voice Choral Union was ac-
companied by a 53-piece "pick-up"
orchestra, augmented by organ.
To much of the community, this
event marks the beginning of th
Christmas season. The concert
draws many from surrounding
towns who come to hear °this
glorious musical work. Unfor-
tunately, the Ann Arbor presenta-
tions have never been of the type
or quality which the work de-
serves. Last evening was no excep-
tion.
LESTER McCOY directed a per-
formance devoid of any sense of
musical tradition or good taste.
His conducting gestures forced a
weak instrumental group into in-
sensitive playing. Every soloist
was covered by the accompani-
ment save Miss Curtin, who
delivered the majority of the few
musical phrases in the entire
evening. Her long lines in "Come
Unto Him" were especially com-
mendable.a
Considering its size, the Choral
Union performed quite well. Most
of the polyphonic sections came
through with a minimum of mud-
diness and with text intact. This
is a feat of some caliber, due to
the stodgy tempi chosen consis-
tently by its director. There were
considerable disagreements be-
tween McCoy, soloists and orches-
tra in this same area.
« «
MUSIC SCHOLARS have at-
tempted to point out that this
music is not as pompous as Mr.
McCoy would have it. Exceedingly
slow speeds and retards are not
characteristic of this music. We
did not hear Handel's orches-
tration, phrasing, oramentation, or
much of his formal intentions. The
splicing done with individual num-
bers for sake of time is especially
annoying. One wonders why such
a performance is allowed to use
the name and facilities of an in-
stitution dedicated to the highest
standards of (musical) scholar-
ship.
-Kenneth Roberts
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
Pranks and the Law .. .
To the Editor;
IN THE NOVEMBER 29 issue of
The Daily there was an article
which stated that a group of Ira-
ternity members had blocked
Washtenaw Avenue as a "prank."
Apparently, there is to be no offi-
cial action taken, as the police
"refused to say which fraternities
are involved." This roadblock was
a danger to traffic, and a clear
violation of the law. It is not too
serious, but why do not the police
take action when they apparently
know who the offenders are? Do
the fraternities possess some poli-
tical power or are they naturally
sacrosanct? I have noticed that
the police are always rapid and
efficient in apprehending such
dangerous and desperate wrong-
doers as jaywalkers on State
Street.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Merritt M.
Chambers is a member of the
faculty of the Center for the
Study of Higher Education, at
the University. This esay was
one in a series collected in a
booklet, "The Campus and the
People," on organization, sup-
port and control of higher ed-
cation in the U.S. in the 160's.)
By MERRIT M. CHAMBERS
Prof. of Education
EDUCATION, including col-
lege and university educa-
tion, is a public responsibility.
Although private educational
institutions, especially private
colleges and universities, are
given only the lightest of sur-
veillance by the states and are
allowed practically complete
autonomy in the management
of their fiscal and academic
affairs, their existence is at
the sufference of the states,
and they are required to meet
at least nominal standards
maintained by the states. Gov-
ernments (state and federal)
not only permit them to exist,
but also actively encourage and
assist them by tax exemptions
and numerous other means. All
this is on the theory that they
perform a public function which
otherwise would have to be per-
formed at public expense by
use of tax funds.
Our governments do not set
out to monopolize the function
of education or to make of it
a monolithic public service. In-
stead, they allow private effort
to operate as a partner in the
same enterprise. Thus, we
maintain a pluralistic system.
with maximum freedom of
choice for founders, teachers,
students, parents, and finan-
cial benefactors. That this
makes for strength and rich-
ness and viability scarcely sur-
prises anyone.
HIGHER EDUCATION is a
public obligation because so-
ciety as a whole is its principal
beneficiary.
Of course, the duty to de-
velop his own talents to the
optimum level sets squarely
upon each individual, and to
say that education is a public
function does not relieve him
of that. From him must come
the consuming motive; from
society should come the provi-
sion of the opportunity. For
many persons in the earlier
years of college this means ac-
cessibility within commuting
distance of their homes; and
for many it means the main-
tenance of free tuition or low
fees. This is why the local pub-
lic junior college--or commu-
nity college-is undergoing a
tremendous expansion today
and why a great many state
universities and colleges have
kept their fees at modest lev-
els.
-.
PARTLY BECAUSE of these
reasons, about 60 per cent of
all college students in the Unit-
ed States are now in public
institutions and 40 per cent in
private ones. The balance is
shifting and will continue to
shift; but this does not at all
imply that private institutions
will become any less numerous,
or any smaller, or have any
fewer students or less financial
support than they have today.
In fact, the total of private
gifts is steadily increasing, and
the private colleges may rea-
sonably expect to see their in-
comes grow, their students be-
Higher Education: Public Obligatior
come somewhat more numer-
ous, and their physical facili-
ties expand a little. But this,
will take place at a rather re-
strained pace; and only to a
very minor extent will it cope
with what half a decade ago
was aptly and widely named
"the tidal wave of students" in
the 1960's. There are few
among the 50 states in which
it has not been reliably esti-
mated that the numbers of
college students will be dou-
bled by 1970; and in several,
such as California, Nevada,
Arizona, and Florida, there is
good reason to believe they will
be tripled.
The bulk of the job will fall
on the public institutions -
from junior colleges to grad-
uate school; and the propor-
tion of all students in private
colleges may decline from to-
day's 40 per cent to perhaps 20.
per cent. This will be no
calamity. There will be greater
opportunity for the private col-,
leges to be more selective and
to continue their role of mak-
ing the national picture of
higher education more diversi-
fied than it would be without
them. This role will always be
important.
THE PRESIDENT'S Commis-
sion on Higher Education in
1947 found that half of the
college-age population of the
U.S. was intellectually capable
of deriving substantial benefit{
from at least two years of col-
lege education and that one-
third of the whole college-age
group could complete four years
of college with success. The
younger of the college-age peo-
ple of 1970 are already enrolled
in the second and third grades
of the elementary schools. Their
total numbers can be estimated
with accuracy. Why must we
provide two years of college
for half of them and four for
a third of them, plus advanced
graduate and professional ed-
ucation f o r unprecedented
numbers? Why can we not
be more selective and choose
only those who have the mon-
ey to pay high fees, plus those
who are in the upper three per
cent or five per cent in intel-
lectual capacity as measured by
tests?
* * *
WE SHALL follow no such
short-sighted restrictive poli-
cies because they primarily are
THESE FACTS need no doc-
umentation, but let us com-
pare them with the recently
published paper of an assist-
ant secretary of labor in the
current, conservative national
administration who, looking at
the 1960's, said, "There will be
a rise in the level of training
and educational requirements
of jobs all across the board,"
and "professional workers will
be by far the fastest growing
of all the major occupational
THERE IS NO question as to
whether we shall provide high-
quality education for relatively
small numbers of the best
brains or whether we shall af-
ford appropriate types of edu-
cation for larger and larger
numbers of competent young
persons who are not rated in
the topmost intelectual strata.
We shall do both. We cannot
do less if we are to maintain
leadership in the Space Age.
In 1900, four per cent of the
college-age population were at-
tending college. By 1960, the
percentage has moved up to
well above 30. It will move on
up to 40 and 50 before it levels
off. Long ago have we left
behind us the concept of high-
er education as a narrow ladder
for a stringently selected few,
destined only for a handful of
"prestige professions," chiefly
law, medicine and theology.
Now there are literally scores
-even hundreds-of occupa-
tions in which some college
training is either a prerequisite
or a decided advantage. High-
er education in America is be-
coming a vast and varied sys-
tem, with courses of study
varying from a few weeks to
eight or ten years in duration
and of types and levels suited
to different intellectual quali-
ties and aptitudes as well as
diverse occupational choices.
There are honorable exits at
the end of two years, four
years, five years, and at in-
termediate points for those who
wish to terminate their formal
schooling early.
* * *
SINCE THE EDUCATED per-
son is a better producer and a
better consumer, the increase
in productivity and in buying
power adds more than enough
to the national income to re-
coup the loss of education.
Eventually, the states and the
federal government will work
together as partners, as they
already do to some extent, in
providing the necessary ex-
pansion of facilities for public
higher education. The national
urgency of the purpose justi-
fies a relative increase in the
federal ,share, which will be
forthcoming. We shall have
more and better education for
more people than ever before,
and the high points of excel-
lence will be higher than hith-
erto. The prospect ought not
to be regarded with misgivings,
but with confidence and en-
thusiasm.
X
MERRITT. M. CHAMBERS
-Andrew Sabersky, '63
"We Extend Our Hand To All Still Struggling
. Under Colonialism"
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
The Daily Offlcal Bulletin is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Michigan for which, The
Michigan Daily assumes no editorial
responsibility. Notices should be,
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Building,
before 2 p.m. two days preceding
publication.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4
General Notices
Collection of Student Opinion of
Courses and Teaching, College of LS&A:
The College will collect student opinion
of courses and teaching during the
coming week. Questionnaire forms,
which will be distributed in all classes,
Include the fbllowlng:
"To the Student: Because learning
and teaching are reciprocal activities,
it is appropriate to review quite deli-
berately the relations between stu-
dents and teachers in our courses.
"It Is clear that a college aducation
ought to challenge the student to in-
creasingly mature achievement by ex-
tending his power to reach informed
andy independent judgments. But be-
cause the arts of gaining and imparting
knowledge are subtle and complex, the
act of evaluating educational progress
is not simple, either for the teacher
or the student.
"In answering the questions that
follow, it may be helpful to consider
that a teacher's central aim, beyond
the immediate communication of his
subject-matter, is to encourage lively
critical thinking. At the same time a
teacher's most obvious merits or even
his obvious defects may not really
determine the ultimate educational
value of a course, and the essential
but not so apparent labors of course-
design and development are often no
less significant than a teacher's con-
would be inclined to pursue interests
in this area? Explain.
"5. Keeping in mind that returna
from this questionnaire will be used
by the instructor in the process of
improving his teaching, please mention
any other aspects of the course or in-
structor (such as, for example, clarity
of presentation) not covered in pre-
vious questions, which you consider to
be especially good or poor, and offer
any suggestions which you have for
the improvement of the course."
Completed forms will be returned
to the instructor after course grades
have been reported for the semester.
Marcel Marceau here tomorrow night.
The French pantomimist, Marcel Mar-
ceau, will present his program of
c b m i c and tragic interpretations
through the art of pantomime to-
morrow, 8:30 p.m. in Hill Aud. Tickets
will be on sale tomorrow 10 a.m.-8:30
pan. at the Aud. box office. Students
are given a 30% reduction on all
tickets.
Events Monday
Social Work-Social Science Collo-
quium presents Prof. David Wineman,
Wayne State School of Social Work,
speaking on "Implications of the Milieu
Approach with Aggressive Children on
Agency-based Practice," Mon. Dec. 5,
4:15 p.m., second floor aud., Frieze
Bldg. Coffee at 3:45 in the fourth
floor lounge.
Automatic Programming and Numeri-
cal Analysis Seminar: "Problems of
Programming of Restricted Serial Com-
puters," by Webb T. Comfort on Mon.,
Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. in Computing Center
Seminar Room.
'vents Tuesday
Faculty Recital - Commentary: "The