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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 at* reprints.
IDAY, MARCH 15, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: KENNETH WINTER
* A FACE IN THE CROWD:
A Committee of Expediters
By Ronald Wilton, Editor
University Must Set Criteria
In Accepting Research
VICE-PRESIDENT for Research Ralph
A. Sawyer has announced that $40
million is being spent at the University
this fiscal year for research compared
with $36 million last year and a meager
$1 million as recently as 1940.
These figures are impressive-even daz-
zling-considering that the total expendi-
tures of the University last year was under
$130 million. The great importance of the
research effort at the University has be-
come a matter of fact in the last few
years. But the relationships that are to
be established between research and the
other functions of the University have yet
to be clearly delineated or even under-
stood.
IT IS REASONABLY CLEAR that the
breakneck speed of research growth is
slowing down and moving into line with
the general growth of the University. Re-
search expenditures increased almost $5
million from 1962 to 1963 and are ex-
pected to increase only $4 million in the
current fiscal year.
It has long been the official policy of
the University that the research and
teaching functions of the University are
to be intimately connected and interde-
pendent. This goal has been accomplished
fairly well so far, more successfully per-
haps than in the other great research uni-
versities of the country. Even so, the re-
search and teaching connections of the
Institute of Science and Technology on
North Campus and at Willow Run are ten-
uous at best.
Therebis,tfurthermore, continual pres-
sure to expand research work into areas
that would add superficially to the Uni-
versity's public luster but do little to en-
hance the inner strength of the Univer-
sity's many functions. This pressure comes
from administrators for whom a rapidly
rising figure for research expenditures
works some strange magic of pride and
image; from a State Legislature that ex-
pects present day wizardry from a re-
search program that must be basically
oriented to "pure" research that has little
relation to today's economic or industrial
problems; and from a federal government
that must have results now, not complex
and abstract ideas, to display to its tax-
payers.
THIS IS NOT TO SAY that the Univer-
sity is to play no part in, for example,
advancing the state's economy or con-
tributing to the national scientific effort.
The University is, after all, a great store-
house of talent and facilities that can be
of great use to the state and the nation.
The system whereby University talent is
available to "counsel" Michigan indus-
try is an example of cooperation that does
not interfere with University functions.
The water pollution laboratory scheduled
for North Campus is an example of how
the University can benefit greatly from
federal funds without tying itself to un-
desirable commitments. The lab is to be
owned and operated by the government
but will draw heavily on University tal-
ent and will in turn be a seedbed for
important University research and grad-
uate training.
It is through such means as these that
pressures for expansion of research into
undesirable areas are being met and re-
sisted. It will take increasing fortitude
to resist them in the future as the great
expansion in research slows down and
projects are sought more and more in-
discriminately to keep up the pace.
FORTY MILLION DOLLARS is a stack
of money, no doubt about it, but this
sum carries its own price tag in the form
of indirect costs. By the research vice-
president's own admission, these are
amounting to about $2.5 million for this
year.'that is $2.5 million in extra salaries,
building space and administration that
must be born by the University and is not
paid for by those contracting for research.
For this reason it is doubly important to
make sure that the research done is im-
portant in relation to teaching and to the
advancement of knowledge, and is not
carried on either for its own sake or the
sake of any so-called obligation to the
state or nation.
The area to which the University
should confine itself in accepting and in-
stitutionalizing research is undoubtedly
a hard one to define properly, lines are
fuzzy, and the temptations to stretch
them just a little are great. Nevertheless,
the lines must be firmly drawn and strict-
ly adhered to. The University cannot af-
ford literally or figuratively to commit
any of its vast store of talent and facili-
ties to functions far afield from its in-
tended scope-what someone has called
"discovery and dissemination of new
truth."-ROBERT JOHNSTON
DOES THE UNIVERSITY have
a problem with a deteriorat-
ing intellectual climate? What is
the value of an education and
what is it for? Should the Uni-
versity be an educational or a
vocational institution and which
is it now?
These questions have been rais-
ed before but almost always in
small informal groups, students
having a bull session in an apart-
ment, faculty members getting to-
gether socially and in small mixed
groups just talking. They have not
been raised by a substantial seg-
ment of the community. Admin-
istrators are too busy running their
offices, faculty members have to
teach and do research, students
have to study. Small groups like
the Literary College Steering Com-
mittee and the University Senate
subcommittees are limited both
in what they can discuss and the
power they have.
On Thursday the senior and
junior staffs of The Daily had
lunch with Regent Eugene Power
who raised these questions during
the course of the discussion. Some
of the proposals brought forth
merit further study. There is no
doubt that the problem is a real
one. When a Regent starts talking
about a problem, you know it has
arrived.
THE PRESENT institutional
structure of the University does
not provide for anyone to think
about these problems on the in-
tellectual level, relate them to
present practices and then im-
plement changes. Not only does
nobody have the time, but with
the xecption of the President
and the Regents nobody has the
power to implement new ideas.
Everybody is too busy.
The question is whether -the
problem of the intellectual climate
of the University is enough of a
problem or concern to warrant
the creation of a position to deal
with it. The consensus of discus-
sions I've been in indicates that
it is.
The first thought that comes to
mind is the creation of a vice-
president for intellectual climate
or of University reform or some
otherwsuch title. This has numer-
ous drawbacks which rule it out.
One man, no matter how able will
not be able to bring the versitility
required to the job.
Furthermore,, making him a
member of the administration
would tend to make this person
loathe to criticize administrative
practices. Other administrators,
jealous of the power this person
would have to be effective, might
be motivated to undermine this
person or put pressure on him in
some way.
The best method would prob-
ably be a committee. It would be
created by thetRegents and report
directly to them. It would be
composed of students, faculty and
administrators-two or three of
each would be the optimum size
-and would have the power to
make policy as well as recommend
it with only the Regents having a
veto.
THIS IS essential. A group
that can only recommend to
existing administrators will soon
find its work relegated to the
bottom of various office baskets.
In a University of this size and
complexity there are many toes
that are going to be stepped on.
This group must have the power
to do the stepping if these con-
cerns are ever going to be dealt
with.
There are many details to be
worked out. The group would
hopefully meet two or three times
a week at least, which would mean
allowing members to adjust their
schedules around the meetings.
The status of the committee would
probably call for some kind of
financial renumeration. Member-
ship should not be regarded as
just one more thing to do, it
should be the person's main con-
cern while he is part of the group.,
If membership on this committee
cuts into a faculty member's re-
search time or a student's study
time, he should not be penalized.
Thinking about this reminds
me of a science fiction story I
once read. It concerned a Com-
munist country whose production
potential was not being realized,
both because of wrong theoretical
conceptions and numerous bottle-
necks and administrative botch-
ings. The two top leaders found
the average citizen of the country
and created him a "Comerade
Expiditer," with the power to go
around the country and investigate
and change any aspect of the
economy, whether theoretical or
practical, which he felt was act-
ing as a brake on progress. He
started stepping on toes im-
mediately, and when he started
removing the leader's friends from
top positions for inoompetence,
and throwing outnCommunist
theory in favor of capitalist prac-
tices, they decided to remove him.
By this time however the ex-
piditer had talked to workers, en-
gineers and farmers and con-
vinced them that politicians were
just too incompetant to run things
like factories and a national agri-
culture. The story ended with
numerous coups d'etat kicking po-
liticians out of office all across the
country.
IT IS DOUBTFUL that such
an expiditing committee at the
University would bring about the
same result. However the prin-
ciple is still the same. The value
of such a group to the whole
community is more important
than the fear of officially placed
toes.
The above proposal is a solution
from the top. Complementing it
should be a solution acting at the
bottom.
Before every semester entering
students are brought to the Uni-
versity for an orientation period.
They take a battery of tests, are
shown the campus and attend
mixers. They are told what a great
University this is but they are not
really told why. They are also not
brought into contact with any-
thing relevant to the values or
purposes of education or the Uni-
versity.
What is called for is the creation
of a class, either required or elec-
tive, at the freshman level. It
would be given for credit but
without a grade. It would devote
itself to trying to stimulate in
the student's mind thought on why
he is up here, what education is,
why it is a good thing and why
universities are around.
EDUCATION can be viewed in
a number of ways. It is a means
of training people to fill voca-
tional slots in society. It is also
a means whereby today's gen-
eration is acquainted with the
whole history of man's struggle
against his environment and the
knowledge he has accumulated
during this struggle. It prepares
the student to carry on the
struggle and to add his genera-
tion's contribution to this his-
tory. It is this definition of edu-
cation which makes the student
feel a relationship to the whole
of humanity and which breaks
down barriers between men.
It is this definition of educa-
tion which is downplayed at this
University while the first defini-
tion gets the emphasis. It is be-
cause of this emphasis on voca-
tional education and the financial
and material rewards it brings that
questions have been raised about
intellectual climate, motivation,
stimulation and purpose. It is the
second definition which must be-
come a significant part of the
University's foundation.
The creation of the proposed
class would help accomplish this
aim. It would be taught in 'small
sections to maximize discussion.
Discussion leaders would be stu-
dents, faculty and administrators
whose main purpose would be to
present knowledge about reality
and to stimulate thought. The
most outlandish ideas would be
encouraged. The end result would
hopefully be a greater commit-
ment to knowledge and education
as ends in themselves rather than
as means to future rewards. Such
a class would take money to set
up. The members of an education-
al community should be convinced
that such a result is worth what-
ever amount of money is needed.
REGENT Power's interest and
concern about the problem of
the University's intellectual cli-
mate is commendable and must
be encouraged. But the whole
job is not his. Other concerned
individuals must step forth and
confront the community with
the problem.
The two solutions offered here
are not the only ones, others must
be presented and discussed. What
is needed perhaps more than any-
thing else is a sense of urgency
which will change the context of
discussion from that of an in-
teresting intellectual exercise to
that of a definite reality which
must be acted on soon.
WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST:
Science Marches On
By DICK POLLINGER
THIS WEEK I was going to write about ear-piercing as an unconscious
symbol of defloration among college girls, but I was advised that it
would almost Certainly constitute a breach of the kind of good taste
which always characterizes student publications.
The practice of having one's ears pierced presents new evidence
in support of the largely ignored Aural Stage of development, espoused
by a small group of psychoanalysts (most of whom practice in college1
towns, curiously enough). It should be clear, of course, that there is
something significant going on just from looking at which girls pierce
their ears, which girls don't, which ones want to but are afraid, when
the piercing is done, and under what conditions, and the consequent
feelings of mixed wordliness, pride, and guilt.
The motives and rationales supporting the act are even more re-
vealing but ought, I suppose, to await complete exposition in a more
appropriately clinical setting.
INSTEAD, because of the impending spring weather which threat-
ens to empty the fishbowl out onto the diag, it is possible to be topical
and yet continue in the same spirit of social science as before. That is,
I would like briefly to fill you in on the latest research findings of my
social scientist friend (the one, you may remember, who did the little
experiment on class-note rigidity and self-reference grammar which
I reported in this column several months ago) which this time is about,
racial immigration patterns at the University.
To be brief, he finds that there is a continuous gradient from the
crowd at the news-board end of the fishbowl, which is nearly 100 per
cent Jewish, to the Angell Hall end of the connecting corridor, which
is nearly 100 per cent Gentile (and thus mistakenly; though commonly,
called the "Gaza Strip"). A topologically equivalent space, he finds, is
the area between the library steps and the north diag benches.
The'gradual change in religious complexion he attributes to a
phenomenon which he calls the Adolescent Cultural Normative Ex-
change (ACNE). This "exchange" represents, to quote the report, "the
tendency of youth, when spatially emancipated from its family back-
ground, to explore the folkways of a different, previously forbidden sub-
culture which, as a consequence, assumes an overpowering glamour.
The exchange reaches its peak, apparently, about the end of the
sophomore year.
* * * *
OF COURSE this is all mathematically derived, but I frankly don't
understand the mathematics, nor do I feel it necessary to pass them
on to you. The really important thing, it seems to me, is to understand
that even next week, when one day you will wake up to smell the air
outside and know that it is spring irrevocably, social science is march-
ing onward to make our world a more orderly place in which to live.
UNION SHOW:
Student Artists Lack
Serious Searching
THE EXHIBITION of student art work to be viewed currently at the
Michigan Union is on the whole very disappointing. Unfortunately,
the selection committee's standards were exceedingly flexible: the
quality of the work varied from the vulgar and insipid to a few well-
conceived and finely executed items.
The graphics and sculpture generally are the most rewarding.
Thomas Minkler's series of character sketches, or rather caricatures,
reveal a delightful yet sarcastic approach to the portrayal of the
Landlady, the Student and several other types. Al Loving's intaglio
has a wonderful, warm, coloristic treatment of blacks to create an
intimate and profound abstract composition. Karen Eufinger's wood-
cut, "L'Enchante," carries a sense of mystery and nostalgia through the
simple forms of a house and tree.
THE SCULPTURE, for the most part well-executed, lacks life and
expressiveness. Karen Peterson's "Family" links torsos in Rodin-like
organic movement. There is a searching here for smoothly flowing
articulated surfaces which are pleasing and emotionally moving. Wi-
liam Mandt's metal constructions are the most finished and fully
evolved works in this category.
The better paintings reveal a more embryonic state of development
in which most of these student- artists' attempts can be placed. Very
few of them appear to be developing along any path at all or to be
seriously searching for a way.
Mike Liberman's 'Mike's Side" reveals a good sense of strong color
juxtapositions to create space and mood. "Beatrice" by Marti Mun
captures in a vibrating personal image the romantic figure of Dante's
love. Ilze Prikulis and Minkler also have paintings in the show which
can be classified above the general low quality.
THE EXHIBITION itself reveals a tendency toward academicism
for which university art schools are infamous. Too many of the works
depend on imitation of a particular artist's style without any attempt
to understand or explore the actual implications of it.
What is needed is not outward appearances-and even that is,
lacking in these works whose greatest sin is poor technical quality-
but a genuine, honest and personal search for an artistic mode.
-Miriam Levin
'PICNIC ON THE GRASS':
Wise, Old Nature
f
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
To the Editor:
MICHAEL ZWEIG has added his
own contribution to the "ple-
thora of shallow criticisms con-
tinuously hurled at The Daily." It
is a little longer perhaps than the
usual criticism but certainly no
deeper.
-Jon S. Shepherd, '64
Sleep-.-
To the Editor:
J WOULD like to take this op-
portunity to thank the women's
honorary circle for graciously al-
lowing me two hours' sleep
Wednesday night.
Once again the pre-dawn seren-
ade, calculated to wake as many
people as possible, was successful.
* * *
I AM NOT begrudging the wo-
men students their deserved rec-
ognition, but I do believe the hon-
oraries could show a little respect
for others and a little common
courtesy. Quiet hours are enforced
and all guests are required to leave
before closing, so why should the
honoraries be given the sole privi-
lege of breaking University rules?
-Holly Parmentier, '65Ph.
-
,.
UNDERSCORE:
UN Needs Flexible, Force
IN THE WAKE of the Cyprus crisis, Har-
lan Cleveland, assistant secretary of
state for international organization af-
fairs, called for a flexible international
peace force, well financed and ready on
moment's notice to put out any interna-
tional fires.
Action should be taken to implement"
Cleveland's proposal immediately. The Cy-
prus crisis has proved that the United
Nations' peace keeping machinery is in-
adequate to meet fast developing interna-
tional crises.
THE CYPRUS FORCE is the third UN
peace force. The first two-stationed
around the Israeli border and in the
Congo-were relatively simple to raise
and were immediately dispatched to the
trouble scene.
However, the effort to raise troops for
Cyprus almost collapsed, and Mediter-
ranean war between Greece and Turkey
was narrowly averted. The smaller powers
that usually contribute troops for such
efforts were reticent for they could not
meet the expense themselves. Only after
the United States, Britain and the West
European powers agreed to supply the
needed $6 million, downpayment, did
Editorial Staff
RONALD WILTON, Editor
DAVID MARCUS GERALD STOROH
Editorial Director City Editor
BARBARA LAZARUS............Personnel Director
PF-TT.TP gTTTT9 T inn *i,,n..1 n a itor~.
Canada, Finland and others rush troops
to the embattled island.
Thus neither troops nor their financial
support were available at the speed nec-
essary to keep the peace. In the several
days after the Security Council had au-
thorized the force, the Cyprus armed
peace deteriorated with the internecine
massacre of Greek and Turkish Cypriots
'continuing. Turkish troops seemed to
mass for an invasion and the Greeks
seemed ready to counter it. Secretary-
General U Thant's inability to raise the
peace force served to intensify the crisis.
THIS SLIDE toward war could have
been averted had the United Nations
been able to move immediately. Cleve-
land's proposal is a step in the right di-
rection. Every nation should designate at
least 5000 men for immediate call to UN
duty. These troops should be trained in
riot control and peace keeping tech-
niques. The, major powers such as the
United States, Britain, France and the So-
viet Union should not supply troops but
supplies and transportation since they
are better equipped for these operations
than other nations.
Further, a large special fund should
be established to maintain these forces.
The cost should be pro-rated among all
United Nations members according to
their ability to pay.
THE UN is already structured to handle
a reserve peace force. Under the UN
Charter, the Security Council should have
a military staff committee to advise it.
At the Cinema Guild
'PICNIC on the Grass" presents
a rare and bewildering critical
task. It is quite simply a great
film and a great comedy, and be-
fore it one's critical faculties are
blunted into unequivocal and
pious admiration.
Renoir's mastery of light sa-
tirical badinage was apparent as
far back as "Rules of the Game"
in 1939. And in that film, and
less spectacularly, in the earlier
"Great Illusion," he developed a
rich vein of piercing social com-
mentary. In "Picnic on the Grass,'
these elements unite twenty years
later, with a density of verbal
wit that I can never recollect
having encountered in the cinema
before. Social comment and satire
link hands in a fantasy woven
around the real and Huxleyan
menace of mass human procrea-
tion by artificial insemination
(A.I.D.
THE STORYLINE has the kind
of illusory simplicity that permits
Renoir to peg almost any relevant
observation to it, however gaudy
or brilliant. An eminent geneticist
is running for the Presidency of
Europe (and the slight-but only
slight-unreality of this notion is
at another the - scientist is a
charming, unsophisticated booby,
as ignorant of the meaning of life
as he is alive to its reason. But
Renoir's chief juxtaposition is
simply of nature against art.
LIKE, for instance, Antonioni,
he trepresents this in symbols. But
unlike Antonioni, his symbols do
not consist in quick allusions: they
are firm startling images, used
narratively. The hurricane that
introduces the geneticist to roman-
tic passion is evoked by a goatherd
playing a flute (not Pan-pipes,
curiously) beneath the columns of
a crumbling Greek temple. "Prog-
ress" is transient, but nature, like
the ancient oak-trees that appear
at intervals throughout the film,
is as old as wisdom.
This solemn message paradox-
cally provides one of the chief
components of the comic brilliance
of the film. For comedy, to be
great:-as this is-it must flourish
from a root furrow of seriousness
and truth. For further evidence of
this, witness the funniest moments
in Chaplin (the factory sequence
in "Modern Times" or the boot
stew in "The Gold Rush"), all
tinctured with the wry suggestion
of reality.