The Trimester Experiment: Student Reactions (Third of four articles) By H. NEIL BERKSON and KENNETH WINTER Though it occasionally proved hectic, students like the new calendar. After one term under the trimester system, almost nine out of 10 sophomores, juniors and seniors responding to a Daily sur- vey say they prefer it to the old semester plan. And over half of the approximately 200 respondents "strongly prefer the trimester." Questionnaires, including both multiple-choice questions and space for written commentaries, were mailed to a random sample of University students, most of whom have been here under the old semester system as well. From the responses, several other generalizations seem reasonable: Student Conclusions -By far the most popular feature of the new calendar is the elimination of the January "lame duck" session of the fall term. Students don't seem dismayed over the loss of Christmas vacation as a period for writing papers and studying for finals. Students had expected the new calendar to create greater academic pressures. It did, but not as much as expected. -Increased pressures were most apparent near the end of the term, especially during the shortened final-exam period. -Aside from the last-minute rush, students' major complaint is that instructors failed to adjust their courses to the stepped-up trimester pace. -Students don't mind the curtailed exam period, but would like a few free days before finals to use as a "reading period." -They feel they mastered their courses as well as usual last fall, and their grades remained about the same. Numerous students applauded the long Christmas vacation similar observation, Martin E. Obed, '66M, said the nearly month- long break lets students "look forward to returning to school with a new semester and a fresh outlook on studies." Added Frederick Brown, '65, "if anyone is really interested in education, he could accomplish much over those three weeks. If he is not willing to self-study, he is free to do what he wants to." Not having the Christmas break for catching up on fall semester studies should not be a disaster, "since in the spring there never has been the long break we had at Christmas," Robert C. Abbott, '66E, observed. And "the long break around Christmas provides the student an opportunity to work if he chooses to do so," James M. Oakley, '65E, noted. Some, however, found the Christmas break actually too leisurely. William MacBeth, '66E, declared it "a full week too long," and others noted that social life stagnated after friends from other colleges returned to school early in January. Obed asserted approvingly that "school ends earlier in the spring, which is the most difficult time to study, due to 'mating fever'." Some students did have a tough time under the new calendar. Inauspicious Effects 'I saw a couple of students faint away from drugs and lack of sleep, Peter Jensen, '64, reported. "The tension was almost too much following Thanksgiving vacation," a sophomore com- plained, while another said that "many students found them- selves losing sleep before exams even began." Contributing to tensions was one event unrelated to tri- George C. Miller, '66E, feels "it is easier to endure a fast pace with the end so much nearer than it used to be, and a reasonably long and completely free break to look forward to." Fooled by Short Calendar Others sheepishly admitted the shortened calendar had fooled them. "The change caught me somewhat unprepared. However, this was only because of habits formed during my previous four semesters," Charles E. Thomas, Jr., '65, explained. "The early start and the Indian summer are lame excuses, but I, unfortun- ately, was among those who were duped by them," Harvey M. Kabaker, '64, confessed. A slightly larger group of respondents blamed their teachers rather than themselves. Typical of many comments was that of Nancy Quaife, '66: "All my teachers got way behind in their lec- tures, and in the last week piled on a huge amount of extra read- ing that we were responsible for on the final." Another sophomore estimated that instructors "crammed three weeks of material into the last week of classes." "The instructors should learn to feel that they themselves must cut some of their precious material and stop assuming that it is up to 'those other instructors' to drop some of theirs," Thomas F. Obee, '65, declared. "I hope instructors review their courses so this doesn't happen again," added Bonnie Venook, '66. Faculty To Comply (In The Daily's faculty survey, reported yesterday, five out of six faculty members said they either have heeded or will soon heed Miss Venook's plea.) Though they disagree on whom to blame, the students agreed on which part of the semester was worst: final examination time. "My greatest problem was not in keeping up with my courses through the semester but rather in finding enough time to study for my finals at the end of the semester," J. K. Nielson, '64, recalled. "I got the feeling that just because the exams were shorter it meant that the exams would be easier to study for, less nerve See STUDENTS, Page 2 MARTIN OBED, PETER JENSEN, CHARLES THOMAS, BONNIE VENOOK, ROBERT ABBOTT E. DAN STEVENS NANCY QUAIFE EVELYN FALKENSTEIN More generally, several respondents praised the calendar for giving students more time off throughout the year. Thomas Jen- sent, '66E, said "the longer summer vacation is very beneficial to the student who has to work his way through college." Summer Job But John E. Platt, '67E, dissented on this point: "The tri- mester is very annoying in the fall for students who must return from summer jobs a month earlier than other students. Since most student-oriented summer jobs don't start until mid-June the trimester system is a great cut." mester: the Kennedy assassination. "A few students have told me that while they didn't have any emotional problems over the incident, they found it hard to study due to the general environ- ment in the dorm," John Jack, '66E, recalled; a senior claimed the event "in destroying three or four study days, tipped the scales and caused a panicked rush to finish up papers." E. Dan Stevens, '65E, dismissed such complaints. "Let these people spend less time at the P-Bell and other extracurricular and spend more time studying like a student should . . . When one doesn't have time to waste, one does not waste time." And GUERRILLA WARFARE OVER MED SCHOOL See Editorial Page C, r d~ir iOa :4l aitA9 COLDER High-32 Low-23 Fair and colder with little change Friday Seventy-Three Years of Editorial Freedom VOL. LXXIV, No. 112 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1964 SEVEN CENTS SIX PAGES Expose Cuban Plot in Caracas WASHINGTON (A) - An inter- American commission has found Cuba guilty of acts aimed at over- throwing the Venezuelan govern- ment of President Romulo Betan- court, a qualified sources reported yesterday. The Council of the Organization of American States was summoned for next Monday to receive the commission's report. To Establish Study Group By MARY LOU BUTCHER Student Government Council last night mandated that an ad hoc committee to study non-aca- demic rules and regulations be set up next week, and also extended temporary recognition to two re- cently-organized campus political parties. Following a committee of the whole discussion of possible op- erating procedures to be used in implementing Council's proposed expanded rule-making initiative, members agreed to establish a committee to study the problem more carefully. Council President Russell Ep- ker, '64 BAd, pointed out that be- fore SGC can come before the ad- ministration with a request for greater authority in formulating non-academic rules it must con- sider: Considerations -Whether SGC believes that it should have such authority; -Whether in seeking such authority, SGC should give the power it is requesting a broad or a specific definition; -The operating procedures that would accompany a request for additional power. Howard Schechter, '66, noted that it is important that Council decide on a definition of non-aca- demic rules and regulations in or- der to "have a solid basis to stand on" when submitting its proposal to the Office of Student Affairs. Broad Definition He suggested that a broad defi- nition should be formulated, cov- ering other areas than those list- ed in the University's rule book- let "Standards for Students." Council waived all regulations to recognize the newly-formed po- litical parties, the Student Gov- erment Reform Union and Stu- dents United for Responsible Gov- ernment. Council members also agreed to allow party endorsements to be placed on the ballot after candi- dates' names in the forthcoming SGC elections March 4. Offers Threat r - ID -I4L D 11] According to the source, the commission found Prime Minister Fidel Castro's Cuban regime: 1) Carried on a systematic cam- paign over Havana radio stations to discredit Betancourt's adminis- tration while urging the Venezue- lan population to engage in sub- versive activities: 2) Supplied the money for these subversive activities in Venezuela; 3) Trained Venezuelans for ter- rorist activities in Caracas and guerrilla warfare in the country- side; Arms Cache 4) Smuggled into Venezuela a three-ton cache of arms; 5) Bought from a Toronto, Can- ada, firm on Oct. 1, 1963, an out- board motor - its serial number the same as that on the motor of a boat used to smuggle the arms into Venezuela and found aban- doned on a nearby beach; 6) Drew up a plan to take over Caracas through a popular upris- ing. The commission, headed by Am- bassador Rodolfo A. Weidmann of Argentina, found the arms sup- posed to be used to take over Ca- racas were of the type found in the three-ton cache. Cuba's Foreign Minister Raul Roa was quoted by Havana radio Dec. 3 as saying the arms found in Venezuela came from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. But the commission has found, the source added, that the arms were in Cuban hands before reaching Venezuela. Some of them were specially or- dered by Castro's army and deliv- ered to it by a Belgium arms factory in 1959 and other were sold by an Italian factory to Cuba in 1960. United States arms in the cache were provided to Cuba by the United States before Cas- tro's take-over. Plot Fails The plot to take over Caracas was described as aimed at pre- venting the election of a new 'Venezuelan president. It failed and the Venezuelan election was completed Dec. 1 without major trouble. Raul Leoni, candidate of President Betancourt's Democratic Action Party, was declared victor. Leoni will be inaugurated March 11. Asks State ToEstablish Student Aid By THOMAS COPI A plan to set up a $300,000 state scholarship fund to send 500 Michigan high school graduates to college each year was intro- duced yesterday in the House by Rep. Gilbert Bursley (R-Ann Arbor). The program would allocate tuition money for students proved qualified through competitive ex- aminations to attend public and private colleges in the state. The chief factor in the awarding of financial assistance would be prov- en need on the part of the stu- dent. The scholarships would be ad ministered by the Higher Educa- tion A sistance Authority, which presently handles student loans Encourage Private Schooling Bursley said that "the scholar- ships would encourage students to go to private colleges which they might otherwise not be able to afford, thus taking some of the increasing enrollment pressures off of the state's public colleges. Presently, according to Bursley, about 85 per cent of the state's college enrollment is concentrated in public schools. Bursley said that the scholarship fund might provide a partial solution to the problem of enabling private col- leges in the state to carry a larger percentage of the students., Under Bursley's plan, 400 of the scholarships would go to high school graduates, the other 100 go- ing to transfer students. Distribut- ing 300 of the high school gradu- ates' scholarships at two per cent per House District, and the other 100 on an at-large basis, would insure equal distribution of the grants throughout the state, Burs- ley added. $600 or Tuition The plan sets a limit of $600 or full tuition to a college, whichever is less, on each scholarship award- ed. Bursley noted that the Legisla- ture would have to appropriate the funds necessary for the schol- arship program, and that for this reason the bill might have some trouble passing this year. Senate, House Committee Reaches Tax Bill Accord 6-YEAR PROGRAM: To Alter Architecture Studiesj