Seventy-Second Year_
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241
Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
"I Don't Know If It's Solid Enough To Hold Both Of Us"
-,r/
-0
UNDERSCORE:
Survival Transcends
Questions of Politics
AY, JANUARY 7, 1962
NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAL HARRAH'
'U' Admissions Must Keep
Personalized Quality
A NATURAL TARGET for criticism, the Of-
fice of Admissions is always one of the
first University departments hit when .blame
must be placed somewhere in a hurry.,
In making decisions on freshman applica-
tions, the Office of Admissions must keep in
mind an ideal picture which it strives to create,
if its policies are to make sense. Nevertheless,
it is difficult to reach a consensus either on
an ideal result or on the best way to achieve it.
It becomes increasingly difficult for high
school graduates to enter college as the ad-
missions office chooses - between better and
better qualified candidates. It also chooses
between various criteria of qualification, which
determine the fate of individual applicants.
THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE says its sole
criterion is probability of success, which
is certainly sensible. But there are different
kinds of success. Strictly academic success may
be predicted by high school grades and exam
scores, but there are some very capable and
creative individuals whose potential is difficult
to evaluate and who may derive benefits from
a college education which is not commensur-
able with letter grades.
A well-balanced class should have some of
this type student. Who is to determine the
extent of their ability and say that they
should be admitted at the expense of students
who have an impressive record of grades and
college board scores? The admissions office
must make the decision and then take the
blame when the disappointed faction points
out, quite rightly, that it is not fair to make
such decisions.
Within the group of students with good
grades and scores, additional selection must be
made. Thus far, the University has been able
W accept almost all the "qualified" out-state
students applying, while still adhering to its
practice of keeping out-state admission to 30
per cent of the total.
Nevertheless, last year 400 qualified out of
state applicants to the literary college had to
be turned away and if University facilities do
no't expand sufficiently, the number will in-
crease each succeeding year.
THE PROBLEM then becomes one of chosing
between students who are, as far as the
admissions office can tell, equally well quali-
fied and equally likely to succeed. The decision
then must be made on factors such as geo-
graphical representation, recommendation of
high school administrators and whether or
not the applicant's parents are alumni.
. Over factors such as these the student has
no control. It is natural to put stock in
recommendations of counselors from high
schools the admissions office knows, but it
is also only fair to give the good student from
an unknown or inferior high school the benefit
of the doubt.
There is something to be said for the claim
of priority of a good student whose parents
attended the University and are now helping
to support it. But; the child obviously cannot
do anything about his background and it does
not seem quite fair to penalize him for some-
thing which is nothing more than a matter
of luck.
AS PRESSURE INCREASES. it will become
more and more difficult to make decisions,
and there will be a great temptation to decide
admissions questions on the basis of mathe-
matics, letting fractional differences in college
board scores and high school!averages become
crucial and eliminating the subjective factor
entirely.
This would be the easiest way of settling the
issue and relieving the headaches of the ad-
missions officers, but it is a dangerous solu-
tion. As long as the University is concerned
with the individual, with his particular wel-
fare and the effect he and the University will
have on each other, he must be considered as
an individual person. There will be time enough
for him to become a statistic when he joins
the mass rank-and-file of the dormitory-
quadrangle society.
In the fight against total depersonalization
of his University career, the freshman must at
least be accorded the dignity of admission on
other than purely objective reasons.
The admissions office must continue its
policy of minute scrutiny of all aspects of the
application form and if anything, make its
policy more flexible rather than tighter.
NO ONE will envy the officers their job,
particularly as time goes on; but judgments
they make will at least be, human judgments
and the resulting University picture will be
one based on human decisions calculated to
raise the calibre of the institution and its
product.
Of course, primary responsibility for the
future of the Universitylies withthe legis-
lature's ability to recognize the need for ex-
pansion and increased enrollment. But in the
meantime, the admissions office will have to
make do with a policy that allows for the
greatest flexibility and readiness to recognize
the extenuating circumstance.
.-JUDITH OPPENHEIM
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By MARTHA MacNEAl,
Daily Staff Writer
ETT'ERRED than dead" is
one of the most unfortunately
misunderstood slogans of the cold
war controversy. A surge of emo-
tionalism against these words has
clouded the issue involved in two
basic ways: first, in the failure
to appreciate its basic rationale,
and secondly, in the assumption
that those who accept this idea
can see no other alternatives.
The rationale of "better Red
than dead" is based on four of the
most important premises of our
modern age:
1) Some of the fundamental
values of life exist independently
of any political system.
2) All political systems change,
so that even tyranny would not be
a permanent way of life.
3) Nuclear warfare would be
likely to annihilate all human life,
or at least all organized society.
4) The existence of any political
ideal necessarily depends upon the
existence of human minds and of
human society.
* * *
THE FIRST POINT mean that
no political system, including dic-
tatorship, can completely stifle the
human mind or human enjoyment
of life. Even the Russians see
beauty in life, as is obvious from
many Russian films. The Russians
are still producing art, dance,
music and literature on a high
level.
The Russians are still turnmng
their minds to one of man's great-
est dreams-the conquest of space.
The exultation of the Russian
people on Gagarin's return shows
how, much joy continues to exist
under this particular Communist
government. Many of the deepest
non-political human values sur-
vive even if people are Red. They
cannot exist if people are dead,
or if society is destroyed.
If, as the second point states, all
political systems are subject to
change, then, even under tyranny,
there remains the possibility of
evolution or revolution towards
eventual freedom. Poland is a good
example of a culture which has
been tremendously liberalized un-
der a Communist government.-
Thus, the possibility of eventual
freedom, however small, does exist
even in a Red society. The possi-
bility of freedom does not exist at
all if the human species is dead,
or if society is destroyed.
* * *
WHETHER nuclear warfare
would in fact annihilate every hu-
man being is a disputed point,
simply because no one can predict
the extent of a possible nuclear
war, nor is enough known about
fallout to make speculations re-
liable. Nevertheless, the complete
extinction of the human species
does exist as an extreme possi-
bility. World Communism does not
contain that possibility. World war
does.
Even if the human race were
not totally destroyed, most author-
ities agree that the destruction of
aas4 -L..O4 iktd
organized society is probable, if
not inevitable.
Much unfortunate and danger-
ous propaganda has served to ex-
tend the impression that approxi-
mately two weeks after The Bomb
we will all emerge from our shel-
ters, trot down to the corner gro-
cery store, and take up business
as usual.
* * *
THIS CONCEPT is shockingly
unrealistic. The corner grocery will
not exist. Cities will be devastated.
Food and water may be contam-
inated. Transportation, communi-
cation facilities will be destroyed,
and thus effective social admInis-
tration will be impossible. There
will be no law, except that of each
individual's Darwinistic struggle
to survive.
The destruction of functioning
society is the destruction of rep-
resentative government. If society
perishes, the ideals of the Ameri-
can constitution will be annthi-
lated along with those of the Com-
munist Manifesto. The United
States is founded on freedom, bt
freedom is founded upon the exist-
tence of organized society.
It is obvious that the existence
of the human mind functioning in
a society is prerequisite to the
existence of a political concept
of human dignity, human rights,
and human freedom. World Com-
munism could stifle these ideals
for a certain period of time. But
only nuclear warfare could destroy
them utterly.
* * *.
THE TRUTH of any one of
these four points is sufficent to
justify the "better Red than dead"
objection to nuclear war. From
each of these points it follows
logically that those who advocate
or acquiesce to nuclear warfare
for any reason whatsoever, are,
in effect, those who are seeking to
destroy all hope of democracy on
this planet, in spite of their pious
insistence that they wish to de-
fend it.
"Better Red than dead" is an
ideological extreme, and should
never be considered as the basic
standpoint of those who are forced,
in discussion, to support it. The
basic standpoint is that of the
desire to live, in the fundamental
belief of hope inherent in human
life.
The most important conclusion
to follow from the premise that
human life must be preserved is
that we must have peace, peace
and co-existence with other poli-
tical systems. "Better Red tha'i
dead" is, hopefully, a purely
theoretical concept. It is a con-
cept that has been forced to exist
in opposition to another extreme,
and hopefully theoretical alter-
native-that of nuclear war.
Neither of these theories should
ever be allowed to become prac-
tical reality. Peace must continue
to be the focus of all practical
consideration. But, if by some in-
calculably tragic human failure
these two extremes were to become
the only alternatives, then "better
Red than dead" is the one that
must be chosen.
SUPPORT OR CENSORSHIP?
Government and the Arts
Conl'formity' and Freedom
MSU-O'S FAILURE to renew Prof. Justis Pear-.
son's contract was a violation of academic
freedom in spite of the American Association
of University Professors local chapter's con-
tentions to the contrary.
They have failed to consider one of the
greatest dangers to academic freedom in
modern America. This danger lies in considera-
tion of the universities in terms of business
corporations putting efficiency over the free
play and tolerance of ideas. Prof. Pearson was
let go because he was "uncooperative" in his'
Advice
IN THE FINAL CONFERENCE at Palm Beach
which decided upon the sixteen-division
Army, the President and Vice-President, the
Secretary of Defense and his deputy, and Gen.
Maxwell D. Taylor, the President's military
adviser, discussed the fate of the Army-with-
out the benefit of professional and legally
responsible advice from the service affected.
Secretary of the Army Stahr was not present.
Neither-until the next day when all the
members of the Joint Chiefs gathered for dis-
cussions of other subjects-were Gen. George
H. Decker, chief of staff of the Army, or Gen.
Lyman L. Lemnitzer, chairman of the joint
chiefs. Taylor, despite his Army background,
cannot be said today to represent the Army,
either in fact or in law.
THIS MAY WELL BE the President's prefer-
red method of doing business, with all au-
thority centralized in Secretary of Defense Mc-
Namara and in his own advisers. Yet it has
led to bad mistakes in the past. McNamara, a
man of great ability, has also evidenced great
stubbornness. His present endorsement of the
sixteen-division Army concept represents a di-
rect reversal of his prior stand: he had to be
shown by the National Guard and Reserve
call-up that he was wrong.
There is no substitute for detailed and con-
tinuous professional military advice; the sec-
retary or the President who ignores this will
find himself in certain difficulty.
-THE NEW YORK TIMES
persistent attempts to change the University
methods of teaching linguistics.
A CORPORATION, dedicated to efficient
service to the consumer, would be perfectly
justified in failing to renew a contract of
someone they considered a general nuisance.'
A university, dedicated to the creation,
promulgation and free play of ideas, does not
have that unrestricted right. In fact, the uni-
versity should be seeking for people who do
not agree with the rest, since they are pos-
sibly creative.
When a man is termed uncooperative, it
generally means that the rest of the group
does not agree with him. Many of the greatest
men have faced the disagreement of the rest
of the group only to have their ideas even-
tually accepted. This will not happen with
Prof. Pearson's ideas. Most likely, his ideas
will never be heard of again. With this
"trouble" with a former employer, he may not
be' able to teach elsewhere. After all, who
wants a known trouble maker on the campus?
A school that does not agree with his ideas
will be hesitant to employ him and few
schools will accept his point of view.
THE ONLY EXCUSE that a University can
use to oust a man is that they can get
a better man or that he, (the one discharged)
is not a good teacher or scholar. It is doubtful
that Prof. Pearson is not a good teacher-his
students circulated a petition to keep him. He
is a leader in the field of linguistics research
so an incompetence charge would be invalid.
Michigan State University. in failing to
renew his contract, is saying that they do not
want a free play of new ideas, In effect, they
are sacrificing the freedom of ideas for ef-
feciency,, the trademark of the modern cor-
poration.
Although efficiency is the key to a sucessful
corporation, efficiency, if it produces supression
of ideas would kill a university. Academic free-
dom is based on the assumption that the
truth is found in the free interaction of ideas.
MSU-O is denying Prof. Justis Person this
basis of academic freedom.
-CAROLINE DOW
By MALINDA BERRY
Daily Staff Writer
rH ERE is a revival of national,
state and even civic interest in
the "arts." Everyone is out to "get
culture." This does not just mean
they just want more books pub-
lished, or plays produced, but also
want these artisti endeavors to
be government-sponsored.
The recreation director of the
city of Ann Arbor, Walter Gillett,
is investigating ways and means
for developing a fine arts center
in the city. The money for this
center would probably come from
the recreation department's bud-
get for 1962-63; that is, from city
taxes.
On the state level, the Michigan
Cultural Commission has met and
drawn up recommendations for
the state's cultural facilities. It
has urged that Michigan partici-
pate in the 1964 World's Fair in
New York, and that it hold an arts
festival of its own.
The purpose of the Commission,
according to former Michigan
Governor G. Mennen Williams, its
creator, "is to determine the
proper role for the government of
the State in assisting in the full
expression of our culture.
And in New York, the League of
New York Theatres has asked that
the revenues of the broadcasting
industry be taxed five per cent to
raise $100 million a year to sub-
sidize the live theatre.
And on the national level the
Kennedy administration is investi-
gating the possibility of raising $75
million for a National Cultural
Center in Washington, which
would be a series of buildings to
"house the 'arts."
*. * *
THERE WOULD be many ad-
vantages of government subsidized
art. Foremost, the prices for tickets
to a hit production on Broadway
are exorbitant. When seats are
obtainable to a newly-opened hit,
their prices often range up to $20
apiece. And ofter these musicals
are not the important productions
available. With the fantastic prices
of on-Broadway productions, much
DAILY OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Michigan for which The
Michigan Daiy assumes no editorial
responsibility. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room3564 Administration Building
before 2 p.m., two days preceding
publication.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7
General Notices
Corrected LD. Cards: Replacement I.
D. cards have been made for all those
students who were enrolled spring, 1961
and whose I.D. card has the given
name printed before the surname (fam-
ily name), e.g., Gloria Ann smith rath-
er than smith, Gloria Ann. Exchange
*may be made Jan. 8-12, hours 8:30-12
and 1-4:30 in Room 1510 of the Ad-
ministration Building. No charge will
be made for the exchange. All cards,
to be valid spring Semester, must have
the surname precede the given name.
Student Leadership Exchange Fellow-
shin at University of London: Applica-
of the theatre is dying because it
can't afford to support itself.
In Ann Arbor the big cultural
event of the year is the May Fes-
tival. The tickets for these con-
certs are rather stiff, especially for
a student, especially if buying for
two. The prices range from $8.00
to $18.00 per seat for the Festival.
And this is not at all outrageous
considering what is presented, and
when it is compared to the prices
in New York or Chicago.'
* * *
THE OBVIOUS answer is let
the government-state, municipal
or federal-pay for it. But this
raises two objections:
First, the National Association
of Manufacturers believes that
"The live theatre is important to
our culture beyond doubt, but this
is no argument for subsidizing un-
successful plays and musicals at
a time when it is clear that a
well-made play, well-produced, has
every chance of earning its own
way."
Second, there is always the pos-
sibility of increased censorship if
the government gets in on the act.
Brooks Atkinson, a syndicated
theatre critic, has voiced concern
over what theatre would be like
which is sponsored by the govern-
ment. Music, he says, has long
been respectable and more or less
non-political. However, the theatre
is something else.
FOR THE THEATRE to fulfill
its function of satirizing and rais-
ing questions about established
political and moral conventions, it
needs to be free from the necessity
of any censorship or approval by
the government or anyone else.
"The House of Representatives
appropriates the money. In these
circumstances we would have to
have a theatre on the cultural level
of the House of Representatives,"
says Atkinson.
And the popular theatre, its
people, and its attitude- has never
been extremely popular with Con-
gress. It is hard to imagine the
theatre rising totally above the
level of politics. "I would not trust
his [Charles A. Halleck of Indiana]I
judgment on the works of Ten-
nessee Williams, Arthur Miller,
O'Neill, Brecht and Shaw; or, for
that matter, the works of Igor
Fedorovich Stravinsky and Aaron
Copland. Very likely,. he and his
partner, Senator Everett M. Dirk-
sen of Illinois, are sound on
Shakespeare, who has been dead
more than three centuries and no
longer threatens the Republican
party," Atkinson says.
IF DIRECT government subsidy
isn't the way to help culture, per-
haps education is. We have to
expose the children to that unde-
finable "culture" when they are
too young to have any innate
prejudices. There are 9 million
public school pupils studying music
now. Starting with them, the whole
cultural philosophy of the United
States can be changed, perhaps to
be more like that of Europe.
In Europe every little town and
village has its own band and music
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Death Too Good for Eichmann?
To the Editor:
MISS MacNEAL'S editorial con-
cerning the Eichmann trial
was disturbing in that in an article
inundated with Jewish decisions,
she meticulously avoids any dis-
tinctly Jewish principles which
may underlie the trial and its sub-
sequent verdict.
Human life, according to Jewish
tradition, cannot be measured in
mere numbers. To Eichniann's
judges, the six-million to one ratio
was completely irrelevant. The
existence of the Eichmann trial
proved nothing more than the
desire of the Israeli government to
see its enemies tried by due process
of law.
Man is at best a feeble creature.
Even for crimes of the most hei-
nous nature, final judgement is
denied him. So it was with Eich-
mann. The judgment rendered
against him was not a Judgement
at all but rather the court's way
of recognizing him as an enemy
of humanity of such magniture
that capital punishment-insuffi-
cient as it is-is all that befits him.
It would be sophistry paramount
to Ghandi's suggestion that all
the Jews in Hitler's Europe com-
mit suicide in order to prove their
nobility and innocence, -to infer
that Eichmann's sentence is in
any way an atonement for his
crimes.
Israeli law does not allow for
capital punishment for civil
crimes. It must, as every state
must, reserve a penalty of this
nature for its corporate enemies
and must when its principles are
challenged, use this weapon of
"warfare."
Alas, one point about Miss Mac-
Np1' .rfilp nnf+sm mH n
German atrocities to be "expiated
and forgotten."
First of all, Miss MacNeal claims
that, "The Jews martyred under
Hitler gained a kind of dignity ..:-
She says that Eichmann's crimes
were so great that, "Now the Is-
raelis have robbed them of that
dignity by seeking to contain the
crimes of Adolph Eichmann with-
in legal definition."
This idea is absurd; there is no
dignity in being a victim of mass
genocide. Therefore, the question
of dignity in death is not the issue;
it is a matter of justice. One can
only give the Jewish people praise
for their treatment of Eichmann,
a men who did not live according
to the principles of justice.
Miss MacNeal's allegation that
the charge of "crimes against hu-
manity," excluded the Jewish
people from humanity is prepos-
terous. Eichmann's crimes were
not only against the Jews, they
were against the entire world in
that right to life and justice were
denied.
Miss MacNeal even has the nerve
to label the Jewish action as "re-
venge." It is not a question of an
"eye for an eye" or "evening the
score" as it is one of abiding by
the principles of freedom and jus-
tice. What Eichmann did was un-
deniably wrong. He must pay for
his crimes. If he were allowed a
commuted sentence, then those
who argue that "every Jew mur-
dered by Hitler was only one six-
millionth a human being," would
find new grounds to rationalize'
against Israeli justice.
Eichmann's trial was fair. Re-
gardless whether or not he is fin-
ally sentenced to hang, one must
never make the mistake of think-
of "fuzzy" thinking in his view
that U.S. policy forced Cuba into
the Communist orbit. I am not
quite sure what "fuzzy thinking"
is, since Mr. Ostling does not de-
fine it for us. However I think I
can recognize omissions of fact
when I see them, and I saw plenty
of them in Mr. Ostling's editorial.
Mr. Ostling seems to be under
the impression that it is not neces-
sary to state all the facts; he seems
to feel that it is sufficient to state
those which back up his position.
I would like to mention just two
which he neglected.
In the first place, our cutting
of the Cuban sugar quota came
' after Castro seized the American
oil refineries. There may not be a
casual relation between these two
events, but at least a great many
reporters and commentators from
both the so-called liberal and con-
servative publications seemed to
think that there was. Castro seized
the refineries because they refused
to process Russian crude oil which
Cuba bought, for a cheaper price
(and remember the economic con-
dition of Cuba at that time) than
she had been paying.
Secondly, the United States Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency spent $45
million in the financing of an in-
vasion of Cuba last April, an in-
vasion which was led by right-
wing Cubans and many Battisti-
anos. Even left-wing anti-Castro
forces were left out of the plans.
I do not wish to pretend that
these two points prove anything;
but they are important and must
be taken into consideration. For a
thorough picture of what hap-
pened in Cuba, I recommend the
many books on the subject, and,
especially a thorough perusal of
the N.Y. Times for the months
is an integral part of every per-
son's life, said Jerry Bilik, ar-
ranger for the Michigan Marching
Band.
Perhaps there is the seed of the
European system in our many ex-
cellent high school bands and or-
chestras, however much is needed
to make them the large part of
town life that they are on the
continent.
Some state and local funds will
have to be used. "Perhaps a state
sponsored band could travel to
state parks every summer and
give concerts to the campers," Bilik
suggested.
THE PROBLEM resolves itself
into a discussion of the possibility
of government support becoming
government control. It is good to
have state support in some areas
such as civic bands, orchestras, and
concerts. These are relatively a-
political; music is not likely to
offend any politicians.
The theatre, however, should re-
main out of the clutches of "those
men in Washington," because of
the possibility of governmental in-
fluence on the writers of the plays,
and the possibility that plays and
playwriters will lose their vital
autonomy.
Hobby