Seventy-Third Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN -,4 UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD Thi CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS "Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG.,ANN ARBOR, MIcH., PHONE NO 2-3 241 Truth Will Prevail" Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in al' reprints. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL SATTINGER THE WEEKEND AT THE CINEMA GUILD: Ann Arbor Film Festival: A Thoughtful Critique Education at the University: The Battle of Numbers THE INTELLECTUAL tradition at the University is rapidly dying. What we are told was once the purpose of a uni- versity, expanding a person's intellectual horizons, bringing the world to the stu- dent or convincing the student that he belongs to the world, is being sacrificed on the altar of mass education. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when this was not so. People be- lieved a college education refined a man; it was something that left him better than it found him. Granted, there have always been peo- ple who came to college simply because it was the thing to do, because dad had done it or because it was a prerequisite to a job. But never before have such goals assumed the importance that they assume today. The "educational profiteer," the man who sees education as having no oth- er purpose than to increase a student's market price in the world, is seen in greater quantities at the University than ever before. 'A ND JUST AS IT IS TRUE that there al- ways have been "educational profi- teers," so it is true that today's campus has not been entirely abandoned to them. People may still be found here who are interested in education for its own sake, who are not petty slaves to a grade-point methodology, who believe in a worthwhile university life outside the library and the lecture hall. But they are too few and much too far between. As an example, the much-maligned John Barton Wolgamot Society is "slow- ly folding up." No matter how people personally feel about the Wolgamot So- ciety or its aims, it must be admitted that it consisted of individuals more interested in the intellectual side of the University than in the profiteering side. And the society is dying out, as other such groups, both formal and informal, are dying out all across campus. THE UNIVERSITY, that defender of the intellectual faith, that protector of academic freedom, that stimulator of so- cial criticism and controversy, is becom- ing a four-year cog-manufacturer. In they FAt the Fair THE WORLD'S FAIR, which recently opened in New York, is not the place for civil rights demonstrations. There are a few fields of human en- deavor which should be kept apart from the current social and political problems of the country. The World's Fair is not a part of that struggle and can only be sullied by contact with it. On display are great works of art, sci- ence and literature: the Dead Sea Scrolls, Michaelangelo's "Pieta," an underground house, an enormous twelve-billion candle- power light. Each of these works demon- strates an effort of man to explain, to learn and to understand. BUT ONCE SOMETHING like this has been created, it ceases to be a part of the struggle from which it emerged. The works exhibited are no longer a part of humanity. They are instead the material, and completed proof of its constant striv- ing. The displays speak-of all men and to all men. They are in themselves, as man's creations, a poignant and strong plea for the power of men working to- gether, because they show man at his greatest. The presence of hordes of wierdly-clad and unruly demonstrators at the fair can only lessen the impact of the ex- hibits. People should come to the fair, especially on the first day, to be awed by a universal power, by a beauty, by a ful- fillment of the promise of humanity. They came instead in fear and with a tinge of disgust for people who seem to deny so blatantly the worth of the progress that has already been made. THE FAIR is concerned with achieve- ment, not with what should have been achieved. It is a positive-not a negative- statement of the power of man. Civil rights demonstrators not only lessen the possibility for fair visitors to realize man's achievement, but also lessen come, more than 3000 a year; they're chopped, pressured, fit to size and drop- ped out the exit chute ready and waiting to do a better job of strangling our so- ciety than anyone could have ever dream- ed. For the University's loss is not confined to Ann Arbor alone. The University has a responsibility for infusing fresh new blood into society; when intellectual question- ing, intellectual discussions and intellec- tual stimulation die out in Ann Arbor and in campuses across the nation, they die out in America as well. THE PRIMARY REASON for this loss is the current fetish for mass education. Ten years or so ago, administrators be- gan making future enrollment estimates that rightfully shocked them. These es- timates told of more students by the thou- sands demanding admission to the Uni- versity than could possibly be accom- modated. The tragedy is that University admin- istrators reacted as administrators, not as educators. And for an administrator, almost anything is possible. Given a cer- tain amount of money, a certain estimat- ed number of students and a certain pro- gram, a mass university, such as this one has become, is the logical administrative answer. THE ONLY PROBLEM arises when peo- ple realize that the correct administra- tive solution is not the correct education- al solution. Everything in mass education that is an attribute from an administra- tive point of view is sheer folly from an educational viewpoint. Centralized administration and simpli- fied curriculum controls are necessary only if the. ends of the University are presumed to be efficiency and adminis- trative control. And yet these are not the ends of the University-or should not be. Cheaper and non-duplicated facilities are necessary only if society commits itself to a policy of sacrificing quality educa- tion to the heavy hand of the legislator. (F COURSE, compromises between the ideal and the practical can be made; an election-conscious legislator can hard- ly be expected to be more concerned about education than about his reputation for frugality at election time. Yet when compromises must be made, they should be made from an education- al, rather than an administrative stand- point. The purpose of the University is education, not the excellence of its fil- ing system or the abilities of its clerk- typists. The University community must stop looking at this institution as an ad- ministrative entity and start regarding it as an educational entity, if the commu- nity itself is to survive. WHATARE THE SOLUTIONS? It is clear that the University must either reduce in size or diversify itself to such a great extent that the vast press of numbers is no longer felt by students, educators or administrators. The residential college is a step in the latter direction. But the University cannot afford to stop there. The present propos- ed residential college will only hold some 3000 people; where will the other 40,000 or so students be in 1970? Will they still be living in dormitory hives studying to be good little drones? If so, the Univer- sity will be even a greater failure intel- lectually than it is now. IF THE UNIVERSITY cannot further di- versify, it must stop growing and fil- ter the excess students off to institutions that have room to grow. If the University community continues to allow itself to be pushed to a higher and higher enrollment level, there is nothing but intellectual stagnation left for all, student, educator and administra- tor alike. The University has already gone too far. AN AIR OF INTELLECTUAL freedom and questioning cannot develop in an institution whose sole concern is the phys- ical accommodation of ever-larger num- bers of students. The University must re- turn itself to a state in which it is a promoter of intellectuality, rather than a EDITOR'S NOTE: The following two articles constitute ? compre- hensive review of the four-day film festival held in Ann Arbor last weekend. The second annual event, co-sponsored by the Cinema Guild and the Dramatic Arts Center, fea- tured films of a creative and ex- perimental nature from Canada and the United States. 87 Ideas' A FEW YEARS AGO, a critic in "Cahiers du Cinema" claimed that "no one should begin to make short films without having listed 87 general ideas." I should like to take this as my text in making some general remarks about the Ann Arbor Film Festival held last weekend. For me, this second annual af- fair was an object lesson in just what is wrong with the films of those young independent directors associated with the movement or tendency that has been dubbed "The New American Cinema." To see the problem, one -lea~d only compare the films of Bruce Baillie (a festival prize-winner now ac- tive in California) and George Manupelli (a local film maker) with any of the four shorts en- tered in the festival by directors affiliated with the National Film Board of Canada. The Canadian films exploit the ability of cinema to touch both physical and human reality with a directness not available to artists in other media. And what is more, this immediacy is realized with a sense of dramatic coherence-if" not explicitly narrative, then at least based on an idea that dic- tates the choice and pattern of images. * ',, AN EXAMPLE of this latter sort of film is Christopher Chap- man's "The Persistent Sped." The idea is simple, even simplistic. It is not a novelty to suggest that nature is being destroyed as man carves his own technological world, even if there is some small heroism in nature's resistance. The film is often precious but Chap- man can boast of an eye for detail, a finely-modulated sound track and perhaps the best color of the weekend. "The Persistent Seed" is admittedly not unforgettable, but sandwiched in between Baillie's "A Hurrah for Soldiers" and Manupelli's "My May," it's sim- plicity was most attractive. If Chapman's film was often precious, Arthur Lamothe's "Man- touane River Lumberjacks" often stung in describing the French Canadians of its title who work for large lumber companies in a wildnerness for virtually no money. A subsistence living and loneliness need little commentary -and in the typical deadpan style of National Film Board offerings, there wasn't much beyond a few facts, a translation of a song about the intensity of the lumber- jacks' loneliness, some anecdotes about individual men. The beauty of the images-the opening truck ride through the snow or the log slides into the river, for example-and the frank- ly human interest of scenes in the barracks were all the com- mentary that was necessary, with one qualification. The films of the National Film Board often indite with little else than a selective camera and re- corder. And "Lumberjacks" does communicate the poverty and loneliness of these men effectively. so effectively that we are compelled to ask why anyone would want to leave his home and family for al- most no compensation. One de- mands of honest documentary that it not leave questions like this unanswered. Despite this flaw, however, "Lumberjacks" remains, along with Kenneth Anger's "Scorpio Rising," the most impres- sive film of the weekend. * * s THE American director's study of a homosexual, quasi-fascist motorcycle cult has recently be- come somewhat of a cause cele- bre. One of its exhibitors is being tried in Los Angeles within the month. As a result of its notoriety, there initially seemed to be some question whether it would be on Sunday's program. "Scorpio Rising" doesn't need the ponpous defense that Arthur Knight published in the Saturday Review recently. It is certainly not a piece of social criticism. Nor is it pornography. Anger's film should be known and seen not for its depiction of perversion, but for its sense of humor. Anything that could be called visualy obscene is effectively undercut by a sound track (a series of rock and roll hits) broadly hilarious counter- point with the images. For example, the camera loving- ly pans-up a cyclist with gorgeous blond hair as he pulls on a ski- tight black shirt; the sound track plaintively wails: 'She wore blue velvet." The humor is broad and often vulgar-the crosscutting be- tween the scrambling scenes and the clip of Christ's, Palm Sunday ride on the mule, for example, is pretty crude stuff. But it's always funny-and vital. IT WOULD BE misleading to call Arthur Lipset's '21-87," the National Film Board's final offer- ing, a documentary at all. Stylis- tically, it probably has less at- finities with any of the films I've discussed so far than with Bail- lie's "Mass." Neither film has much dramatic coherence; they are constructed from individual images and short sequences some of which recur. But "21-87" has a vitalityiof image that becones dramatic. For example, the cameracus and pans in filled city streets as we hear a fragmentary mnterview on the sound track-some women testify to their religious faith in terms that are both ludicrous and touching. The telephoto lens is used to advantage in catching the reactions of a series of individuais rising to the top step of an es- calator. The film is very effective as dramatic collage. The films of Baillie and Manu- pelli, however, are, for me at least, totally without dramatic effect. And here we return to the text from "Cahiers." Beyond the obvious economic problems, often admirably overcome, these film- makers lack the dramatic sense, the ideas, to make good short films. They are fine photographers- the black and white of 'My May," for example, is extraordinarily rich. Manupelli, has this kind of genius. But an eye is not enough in making a film-when there is no mind behind the camera. To interpret these films, to say sorae- thing correct (much less intel- ligent) about anything beyond bare technique is impossible. S * * * AFTER ONE of the programs, a friend suggested that Baillie and Manupelli were trying to make films that aspire to the condition of music, that create mood at the expense of dramatic content or structure, and he svent on to say that this is precisely what is wrong with them. This is vey plausible, with one reservation. Even an entirely non-discursive art like music has a logic of its :,wn -which is more than I am able to find in many of the tilms by the young independent American directors. -David Zimmerman Flood of Variety FRIDAY and Saturday at the Ann Arbor Film Festival the expected festival themes were ap- parent: documentary, dance, "so- cial symbolism," off-beat comedy, pure experiment (which, with de- pressing regularity, usually meant a form of double exposure), stream of image. Amid this flood of va- riety, one might have expected a certain relaxing predictability from the new producers who en- tered more than 'ne film. But no, these had as much variation in style and value as the rest. Of Ed Emshwiller's two films, for instance "Totem" 's experimen- talism consisted in an over- devotion to a single stylistic gim- mick (a split-screen, with one half mirroring the other), a lot of overtly significant ballet dancing and the inevitable musique con- crete. Yet his other film, "Scrambles," was one of the best of the festival. It was a straightforward ,1by fes- tival standards, practically sim- plistic) study of cross country motorcycle racing. It had tre- mendous pace, visual action and a soundtrack which excitingly combined the roar of the cycle engines with some ferocious mod- ern jazz. * * * IN EMSHWILLER'S CASE, the degree of pretention seemed-by inverse proportion-to deter:mine the degree of success. Bruce Bali- lie's films are "pure image," un- cluttered by narrative or dramatic convention. In a Baillie film, you are left to draw your own private reaction from the procession of sensitively-oomposed frames that does duty for form; this is the realism of the subjective, and lit- erally beyond criticism. I found his "To Parsifal" one of the most delightful events of the festival: to a background of excerpts from the Wagner opera, the camera strayed over images of summer, water, flowers, faces. in a range of blue tones occasion- ally disrupted by a vivid shock of red. But Baillie's other films,- for all their visual ingenuity- which was considerable-bored me with heavy symbolism, lack -f cohesive- ness. THE MORE modest films, per- haps depressingly, paid off the best. In "Three Dances," Eugene L. Friedman experimented most successfully with a short lens, deploying its disadvantages, par- ticularly perspective distortion, to unexpected effect. The documentaries of the Na- tional Film Board of Canada were tasteful, competent, even en- thralling. But possibly the best film of all was a collage of film clips, drawings and still ploto- graphs by Stan Vanderbeek called "Breath-Death." The perennial atom bomb was there again, which normally is a pity but here wafs part and parcel of an unremitting onslaught -upon our imagnat'on. In fact, so helterskelter was the invention that one's ultimate im- pression is of delight, but be- wilderment. What it was all about (social comment?) is neither here nor there; it was sheer entertain- ment, from the foot poking through Nixon's mouth to the woman making love to the tele- vision set. * * * AS FOR THE REST, I can only say that a lot of it was fortunate in its audience. In "An Interior," the camera scrambled silently and at interminable length about a profoundly uninteresting house, with jump-cuts, clumsy framing, periods of black screen. The au- dience displayed great charity by laughing at it--or with it?-for it seemed towards the end to be straining for some kind of long- winded joke. If this tedium must be per- petrated on a captive audience, I recommend George Manupelli's "Five Short Films," the first of which, "For Hooded Projector," consisted of about two minutes of black screen (but only two min- utes, thank God). -Robin Duval I "Gues. We Made It Again, I Hope" LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Regent Hits Daily 'Ignorance' L UNIVERSITY PLAYERS: Music, Banners Herald Opening of Henry WITH LOTS OF MUSIC and many banners, Henry the Fifth stormed across the stage in Trueblood Aud. last night to conquer France, win the hand of a noble Princess and help celebrate the birthday of William Shakespeare. For the most part, John Allan Macunovich as Henry was valiant as a warrior and dignified as a victor. He showed himself as sym- pathetic, yet stern with his soldiers and awkward, yet manly with his not quite vanquished Katherine. In short, he comported himself as a King, a warrior and a man. But even Harry, King of England, could not accomplish all that is written into this play, so he brought with him to France. a few to help. And though the nobles in his army were braver, they certainly were not funnier than the ragged, boisterous Pistol, Bardolph and Nym. STEPHEN WYMAN, Michael Gerlach and Michael Schapiro hollered, stumbled and ran about with great hilarity. Enthusiastic in their parts, they provided excellent foils to the more sturdy characters of Gower and Fluellen played by Arthur Bakewell and David-Rhy Anderson. Meanwhile, in the French court and camp, the enemy was either skulking or bragging. Charles the Sixth, played by Rod Bladel, was rendered as a weak ruler whose only recouse after defeat was a blatant sarcasm. ROBERT KRAUS as the Dauphin flamed briefly as his desire To the Editor: DEEPLY regret the circum- stances that compel me co write this letter. I have been most disturbed and distressed by var- ious articles in The Daily in re- cent weeks which have cast very unjust aspersions upon members of our state Legislature and upon at least one member of the execu- tive branch. These articles have been written without knowledge of the facts. I am personally acquainted with these men and have worked with them and others in the state Legislature on matters involving the University long before I be- came a member of the Univer- sity's Board of Regents. Since be- coming a Regent, I have had ad- ditional working experience with members of both houses of the Legislature, as they studied ap- propriations for the University. HAVING likewise had personal experience in public office at the county, city and state level, I rec- ognize the many problems con- fronting the Legislature in de- terming the necessary priorities in allocating appropriations to meet the considerably greater de- mands of the many boards, com- missions, departments, agencies, services and institutions which re- ceive state funds. I recommend such experience for those who find it easy to criticize govern- ment officials. I have known and worked with. members of our state government for many years and can testify that members of the Legislature have been, and are today, dedi- cated men who work with sincer- ity and honesty to reach judg- ments in the public interest. They realize that they are fair game for critics with special interests and they expect differences of opinion over their decisions, but they are entitled to ask that criticism be based on fact, not on surmise or opinion. Ill-founded criticism is destructive of confidence in gov- ernment, and is certainly not in keeping with the intellectual standards of the University. THE DAILY might remember that the achievements of this great University during its many years of existence bear testimony to the high regard in which gen- erations of legislators have held this institution. I might further add that The Daily is guilty of poor judgment and of lack of consideration when it persists in telephoning legisla- tors in the wee hours of the morn- ing, especially when these men have been involved in many hours Without disrespect to Re bel, I find his own critic "ill-founded" than that reporters. Reporter Laurei baum, who wrote one o torials Goebel is referrin at the capitol throughout on which the University tion came out of comn received his information from several members of propriations committees - Sen. Beadle. Kirshbaum, fc a substantial 'tknowledg facts." As for the "persistent" calls in "the wee hours of ing," Goebel again has his tion wrong. The Daily w work right up to its 2 a lineto uncover stories im the University community only been necessary once t when the appropriations4 itself met until nearly 1 a. rumors that the Universi priation was about to be c Finally, no Daily edit purports to be anythingr th- opinion of the individ I trust Regent Goebel's 1 the same. Official Connne To the Editor: ONE OF THE Univers I interviewed for my and the College Girl" warded to me clipping recent series, "The Sex r Jeffrey Goodman's cc sion of that dilemma is4 egent Goe- cided beforehand by all four cism mo groups-APA and three student nce Kirsh- groups-and was thus agreed upon. f the, edi- Though not all representatives ig to, was were entirely satisfied with the appropria- decisions, everyone was present nnittee. He when they were made. firsthand * * * including THIS YEAR no such meetings or one, has were held. The APA, through Mr. e of the Robert Schnitzer, head of the telephone Professional Theatre Program, de- the morn- cided to use Mendelssohn. Their s informa- intentions were conveyed to Vice- vil always President for Academic Affairs .m. dead- portant to Roger Heyns, and were then sent . This has to the Office of Student Affairs. this year- During the period of two weeks or committee so that APA's request circulated ity appro- to the OSA, our belief was that ut. scheduling similar to last year's orial ever would be used. None of the stu- more than al 'writer, dent groups, nor their sponsoring letter does organizations, were consulted or even notified of #PA's decision. .B. On April 20, we were told that ridation either we move to the spring, find on another theatre, or take Mendels- sohn when we could get it., i.e. up ity women against Thanksgiving, and exams. book, "Sex This necessitated a drastic revi- has for- sion of our plans, which previously s of your had been set, and left doubt.as to Dilemma." the place and dates of th3 show. omprehen- Our surprise and subsequent in- impressive quiries led us nowhere. and his four-part essay is bal- anced, graceful and thoroughly professional in the writing. His thesis and its publication in a college newspaper reflects what Christopher Jencks has taken me to task (in the New Republic) for calling a "revolution" in sexual atmosphere. In my impetuous journalistic fervor I chose the term "revolution," but if I were to open my dictionary a bit more often, I would have discarded that term for the less sensational and more accurate word, "evolution." * * * FOR "EVOLUTION" it is and when radio interviewers, book re- viewers for the daily press and headline writers describe my book and that "evolution" on the cam- pus in terms of "unleashed promis- cuity," "sex orgies" and "immor- ality run rampant," I shall put out my clippings of Jeffrey Goodman's series as a persuasive example of the idealism, intelligence and uncompromising morality of to- day's college students. Please thank Mr. Goodman for his kind comments on my book. -Gael Greene New York, N.Y. A Question of Priority To he .itor. A GREATER PROBLEM than; merely our own lies beneath all of this: the priority of groups on this campus. We are well aware of the APA's contributions to the Uni- versity, particularly the speech department. What we object to is their ultimatum of a complete takeover of Mendelssohn Thea- tre, the only proper facility for musicals, or nothing. No discus- sion ensued; no conferences or agreements were arranged, no af- fected organizations consulted. APA simply told Vice-President Heyns of its wishes, and that was that. Do student groups, such as our own, have anything to say about their arrangements? Apparently not. And as scheduling becomes tighter and tighter due to the new calendars, so openings become more and more difficult to find. This we understand; what we fail to comprehend is that a group not so closely bound to the University and its students has the power to issue an edict which precludes any further discussion of the mat- ter. It is true that a priority list exists, placing APA in the high- est group (this too we question). But does such a list imply an ir- revocable decision with not even any conmunication to the lower-