Seventy-Third Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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CONVENTIONS:
Press Faces Problems Squarely
NY, MAY 1, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR; ELLEN SILVERMAN
University Must Provide
coherent Education
WHILE THE UNIVE SITY may be a leader
in research, it is dragging its feet and
imagination far behind other institutions in
the crucial areas of teaching, course content
and honors programs.
Some moves have been made to improve
these areas. A' significant step forward came
Monday with the creation of a University
Senate Advisory Committee on Conditions for
Staff Excellence. Although this committee will
not discuss the professional qualities of the
faculties in the various schools and colleges,
it will evaluate salaries, promotion rates and
facilities-all important to the preservation of
a good faculty. Moreover, the Center for Learn-
ing and- Teaching has been giving advice on
improving methods.
Yet rumblings continue to come from the
students, especially the undergraduates, who
feel they are being cheated. Is the University
living on its past laurels? Is it trying to give
the students here a consistent, well-ordered
education? I do not think so.
A CASE IN POINT of a school that knows
where it is going-and which is attempting
to guide its students educationally-is St.
John' College, a small school in Annapolis
Cooped Co-ops
HE RECENT MOVE by the Ann Arbor City
Council to reclassify the Inter-Cooperative
Council co-ops from two-family to multi-family
dwellings will prevent ICC from expanding
in residential areas. Because the property is
more expensive in non-residential areas, the
Council's reclassification eliminates, for all
practical purposes,the possibility of expansion
by the student-owned cooperatives.
ICC claims it was told by individuals close to
Council -that co-ops were placed in the multi-
family dwelling category because Council mem-
bers did not understand clearly what an ICC
house was. They assumed that the ICC co-ops
were organized on the same basis as the mam-
moth Oxford Rd. University housing project,
which also includes co-ops. I
AFTER RECEIVING this information, ICC
leaders arranged a meeting with City At-
torney Jacob E. Fahrner last month. At this
time ICC and Fahrner altered the definition of
a cooperative to make a distinction between
the two different types: the huge University
complex of cooperatives and the tiny, student-
owned ICC douses.
The Ann Arbor Planning Commission re-
viewed this definition and accepted it. How-
ever, in what would seem to be an illogical
move, the Commission voted to keep its rec-
ommendation of the multi-family zone for ICC
houses.,
More than 25 University students appeared
at the City Council meeting Monday night to
protest the proposed zoning change, which
came before Council that night for final con-
sideration. Under pressure, the body referred
the matter back to the planning commission.
HOPEFULLY, the Commission will consider
the facts of the ICC case fairly. It has
granted the two-family zoning to fraternities
and sororities which, for zoning purposes, are
structurally .parallel to co-ops: they house 20
to 50 students in single homes. There are com-
mon dining areas and private rooms.
The ICC houses, like fraternities and sorori-
ties, are not a part of a multiple-unit residen-
tial project. They have as much right to the
two-family zoning classification as the affiliates
do. The Planning Commission should realize its
error and submit the proper ICC zoning rec-
ommendations to Council.
-MARILYN KORAL
operating under the great books concept of
education. Unlike the University, which it
seems is committed to research first and
foremost, St. John's is dedicated to the in-
tense, highly academic exploration of the
greatest ideas the world has known.
To achieve its goals-to foster "critical in-
telligence and an awareness of the principles
that govern our behavior and understanding"
-St. John's uses the most honest intellectual
approach available. At the University, and
especially the literary college, the student, in
his first years, is confronted with, bits and
scraps of everything from psychology, philos-
ophy and literature to botany and zoology.
There is no unifying thread. Conversely, stu-
dents at St. John's, through four years, trace
the development of the great ideas In the
Western world, reading significant books in
their entirety. Faculty as well as students must
cope with many new ideas-they cannot rest
on their PhD's. An especially interesting facet
of the programis the Friday evening seminar;
while University students frolic at beer parties
and Spring Weekend and libraries are half-
full, St. John's is stimulating its students in
another and more beneficial way.
AM NOT suggesting that the University
adopt in all its, strenuous and glorious depth
the impressive program' which St. John's is
able to institute rThe University is too large,
too homogeneous to undertake such a task.
But it would be wise, and it certainly is about
time, for the University to consider the direc-
tion in which it is going educationally.
A good place to begin would be in the various
honors programs in the literary college. There
are special honors courses such as Psychology
190 and 191, special honors sections of the
larger lecture courses, honors programs such
as political science honors and college honors
courses. No one of these, except the honors
programs, provides an overall honors approach
for the more advanced students. Even the
honors programs are not as intensified as they
could be. Other schools, such as Michigan
State University and the University of Illinois,
equally as large as the University, have man-
aged t6 organize honors programs which allow
a capable student to. take only honors courses
or sections.
The college honors program offers probably
the more interesting intellectual manna in
the literary college. Unfortunately, these
courses are few in relationship to the number
of people equipped to take them. They require
as an instructor a unique faculty person, or
group of people as in the case of Revolution-
ary Ideas in Science, with a variety of interests
and talents. Their scope is broad; they come
the closest in the literary college to being in-
tellectually challenging courses.
If the University were sincerely interested in
improving the quality of undergraduate edu-
cation, it could begin by supplementing. the
college honors courses. Next year two new
courses will be offered: the nature of religion
and the self-concept of the American. The
University should keep adding to the growing
number of these courses; ideally, every under-
graduate Who wished to take one should be
able to without increasing the size of any
course beyond 20, an optimum discussion level.
THIS INSTITUTION cannot afford to rest
on its laurels. Other schools are doing more
than preparing for increased numbers; they
are preparing for an ,increasingly aware and
more well educated college freshman. St. John's
is only one school which has met the demand
for improved education. The University should
follow suit.
-M ARJORIE BRAHMS
Acting Associate Editorial Director
By PHILIP SUTIN
Acting National Concerns Editor
THE NATION'S publishers and
editors, after reviewing the
shambles of the last year, moved
encouragingly toward alleviating
the chronic problems of labor re-
lations and managed news.
Both dilemmas had led to dis-
aster since the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, the American
Newspaper Publishers Association
and the Associated Press Manag-
ing Editors held their concurrent
conventions last April.
In October, the Kennedy admin-
istration manipulated the press
like a puppet and then had the
gall to admit it. Winter brought
the disastrous New York and
Cleveland newspaper strikes.
Reviewing these two problems,
the editors and publishers began
to chart new courses of action
that could go a long way toward
alleviating both of them.
* * *
PERHAPS the most hopeful sign
was the ANPA's decision to con-
duct "a series of studies designed
to preserve free local collective
bargaining," and aimed at main-
taining labor peace. This research
dealing with automation problems
as well as collective bargaining
would be carried out by the AN-
PA's labor relations committee.
The committee might consult
with newspaper union leaders, but
according to ANPA officials, such
meetings are still in a "tenuous"
discussion stage. It hopes to have
an interim report by next April.
The seriousness of the problem
was underscored by reports on the
expanding use of automation in
typesetting and a proposal for a
News Ma
Rematin..s
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the
first in a two-part series about the
techniques of news mnanagement.)
By ROBERTSELWA
MANAGEMENT of the news is
an issue that will not die. No
No matter what the President says
at his press conferences, he can-
not satisfy the critics-many of
whom regard the press confer-
ence itself- as a device for news
management.-
And no wonder-in the general
sense of the term, there is truth
to the charge of attempted news
management. The Kennedy Ad-
ministration does it, and so did
the Eisenhower Administration
and other previous administra-
tions.
But the worst offenders,
throughout the years, have been
the newsmen themselves. Journ-
alists were managing the news
before John F. Kennedy was born.
It was the managed news of Wil-
liam Randolph Hearst and imita-
tors that constituted a major
cause of the war over Cuba in
1898. Today's war over Cuba is
in some part merely management
of news by editors playing up the
sometimes irresponsible charges of
critics of the Kennedy Adminis-
tration.
S* * *
THE DISPUTE about managed
news is partly a matter of par-
tisanship. Many people cite the
President's cancellation of the
White House subscription to the
New York Herald Tribune as an
example of managed news. But
the original managed news in that
affair was carried by the Herald
Tribune as it played up the Re-
publican Party and flailed away
at the Democratic administration.
The dispute about managed
news Is also a nonpartisan concern
of Journalists and the public.
Journalists attending a regional
conference of Sigma Delta Chi
discussed the topic, noting a num-
ber of news management devices.
Since they have been used so
often by so many, they deserve
examination. The devices include:
The Leak, usually from a
deputy assistant secretary, to a
key reporter or to a group of re-
porters, about some development.
The development may be a new
policy that the secretary of state
is thinking of pursuing. Since he
is worried about the response of
the American people or especially
of Congress, he prefers to keep the
Idea unofficial. If the idea is
praised, he can announce it of-
ficially. If the idea is criticized,
he might decide to reject it.
The leak is a form of news man-
agement and a legitimate form. It
is legitimate when it serves to
advance public debate about gov-
ernmental policy without bind-
ing the government to a policy.
that is inadequately thought out.
Government policies should be
subjected to intense analysis both
before and after they are adopted.
The leak is a good way of getting
this analysis beforehand.
-THE EXCLUSIVE Story. It is
interesting to note that a man
known for getting exclusive stories
is one of the foremost critics of
,
"labor court" to arbitrate publish-
er-union disputes.
Publishers are progressing be-
yond the typesetting-by-comput-
ing stage and are looking forward
to the time when all mechanical
work will be automated. Compu-
ters are also being used in the
clerical and business sides of the
newspaper. Often, a computer will
punch teletypesetting tape and
record classified ad sales.
Researchers are now studying
electronic photographic newspaper
reproduction. One system would
use columns of type photographed
from a cathode-ray tube. Another
would reproduce newspapers by
charging electronically sensitive
paper. Both of these methods have
serious drawbacks, but researchers
are confident these can be elimin-
ated within a few years.
* *~ *
HAROLD C. DURBIN of ANPA's
Research Institute summed up this
trend: "Wherever possible routine
human tasks will be eliminated.
Manual control of hyphenation,
justification and even capitaliza-
tion (still a function of human
computer-typist) may be relegated
to newspaper - printing history
books."
Fortunately for the printing
craft unions, automation is limit-
ed to a few papers. Most unions
are desperately fighting against
this trend, but automation's cost
advantages in a tight-budget in-
dustry may drive publishers to
breaking the union to savethe
business. The unions which have
stood in the way of technological
progress for 70 years can no longer
afford to do so.
The suggestion of newly-elected
ANPA President Irwin Maier for a
three-sided "labor court" may
nagement
Live, Issue'
such stories promote discussion of
national policy, they are a positive
form of managed news. When an
exclusive story is used to harm
someone unjustly-such° as the
Saturday Evening Post exposeof
Adlai Stevenson's alleged "soft-
ness" during the Cuban crisis-
this becomes a bad form of man-
aged news.
-The Background Conference
and the Unofficial Spokesman.
President Kennedy gave a back-
ground conference to a group of
reporters in becember and it con-
cerned "What the President is
thinking at the end of the year,
according to thg most authorita-
tive source." The 'authtiritatve
source" was the President himself,
and he later released the tran-
script of the conference, getting
his ideas about foreign affairs a
second play as an added benefit
of making the conference official.
* * *
IDEALLY there should be no
need for the nonidentification of
the source involved in this sort
of thing. But the sensitivity of
prime ministers and presidents
and premiers and nations is such
that a mis-stated remark can
overturn a government or can dis-
rupt the normal procedures of
foreign relations. International
delicacy demands at times the
news management device of the
Background Conference.
It can be dangerous when it
gives too much influence to the
party in power. But it can also be
beneficial when it enables report-
ers to write more intelligent
stories.'
point the way out of this intract-
able situation. He suggested that
the publishers and unions agree
to a no-strike, no-lockout contract
with the court, consisting of indus-
try, union and public members set-
tling the unresolved issues.
SUCH A PROPOSAL is ill-ad-
vised as both sides would tend to
wait for the final verdict rather
than bargain collectively to solve
their disagreements. Yet, this sort
of three-sided body could be used
to study the automation problem
and devise new solutions for it.
The publishers were in a con-
ciliatory mood and seemed to un-
derstand the union's job security
fears. "I would guess that few, if
any, publishers would contenance
the wholesale and abrupt dismissal
of long-service employes because
of the introduction of improved
mechanical processes," Maier de-
clared.
Hopefully, the publisher's con-
ciliatory mood will be matched by
the printing craft unions.
** *
THE EDITORS and publishers
also faced up to the managed news
problem.
"We hold in our hands the
weapon with which to conquer
managed news; and get at the
truth still . . . What is that weap-
on? It is the newspaper reporter.
As long as we have competent re-
porters and as long as publishers
and editors back those reporters
all the way the news will not be
managed very long."
ASNE President Herbert Bruck-
er's statement struck at the heart
of the managed news problem.
Hopefully, he drove the, point home
to his fellow editors. The press is
essentially its own victim. The
Washington press corps, especially
Pentagon reporters, have not been
critical enough of the system and
thus went along for the ride when
the Administration managed the
news.
Brucker also pointed out the
dangers of the Cold War. He warn-
ed that "in a war, each side tends
to adopt the meanest character-
istics of the enemy." Managed
news policies, he noted, reflect this
trend.
IN A CONTEST with the Soviet
Union, past masters of news sup-
pression, the United States can
only come out second best. The
long American tradition of open-
ness would not permit heavily con-
trolled news.
Maier also directed his ire at
government secrecy. He warned
that when the government spreads
misinformation, it corrodes its
popular trust.
It was encouraging to hear the
leading editors and publishers talk
this way. Perhaps they can lead
the press out of the managed news
dilemma. More reportorial initia-
tive combined with probing analy-
sis is needed.
The Associated Press is making
progress in this direction. Under
its new general manager Wes Gal-
lagher, the AP has instituted new
Washington and international
news roundup columns and' is on a
five-year program to deepen its
news coverage.
The managed news problem has
received attention from the Moss
Committee in Congress as well as
Sigma Delta Chi and other jour-
nalistic organizations. Congres-
sional interest is a significant step
forward.
The outlook for the press seems
encouraging if the brave and
forthright speechmaking can be
matched by brav/and forthright
deeds.
PTP
'Virginia Woolf'
CompellingBrua
"WHO'S AFRAID of Virginia Woolf?" the latest barbed feather in
the cap of the University's Professional Theatre Program, is an
excruciating theatrical experience, written at a fevered pitch, directed
with brutal precision, and played with all the stops out. In the finest
traditions of drama, this play does not subtly compel its audience to
a specific end, but it wrenches-forcing laughter, exposing nerve ends,
and finally plunging actor and playgoer into the ice cold reality of a
final resolution. It is not pretty.
It is undeniably theatrical.
The cast, uniformly excellent, is
moved by director Alan Schneider
in patterns of caged animals, cir-
cumventing, attacking on new
flanks; re-evaluating in an in-
tellectual chess that is played
with explosives.
* e s
KATE REID, known in this
community for her frequent ap-
pearances at Stratford, Ontario,
comes on like seventy, when sixty-
five would do nicely, but when
she settles down into the first act,
she runs a very taut ship. If she
rises above the pitch of activity
a bit too far from time to time, it
is an understandable if unfor-
tunate reaction to a stimulus of KATE REM
actors and author. She is brutally .AT R E
powerful, now coy, now feline, and *.'brutal power
now reminiscent of a charging bull, and she sustains her characteriza-
tion with unbelievable stamina.
Sheppard Strudwick is a superb foil for this kind of pyrotechnics.
He is smooth, understated and her unqualified equal in this matching
of wits. Bill Berger and Eileen Fulton are accurate counterpoints to
the ferocity of the two leads, land the only negative comment to be
leveled at the actors is a mention of projection problems in the
cavernous Michigan Theatre. Both the actors and the audience are
placed at an unforgivable disadvantage by the acoustical problems.
AS A PLAYWRIGHT, Albee has come a long way from "Zoo Story,"
but perhaps it is a bit early to give him the unrestricted praise that
will undoubtedly come with later and more controlled works. "Vir-
ginia Woolf" is a mature piece of stagecraft, and stands quite rightly
in the first line of recent American contributions to dramatic litera-
ture. But when he releases the twisted energy of George and Martha,
on stage, he is reluctant to let them' work themselves out, and as a
result he can be seen carefully manipulating, restating, sand over-
stating from time to time, and getting occasionally in the way of the
four characters on stage.
George claims he and Martha are "exercising what is left of their
wits." What is left is considerable, and Albee need not underscore
what becomes diabolically evident in their characters shortly into the
first act.
He sets the pace at a frenetic level, and one is constantly as-
tounded to learn, as he gathers his breath at each intermission, that
remarkable little consequential action has occurred in the previous act.
It is language and passion that Albee manipulates, and perhaps his
skill in editing his own work will soon match his skill in handling the
language. Nevertheless, what evolves is a kind of enormous intellec-
tually sick joke that remains, if marred by occasional flaws, a bravura
evening of compelling and stunning theatre.
-Jack G. O'Brien
CINEMA GUILD:
Lack of Imagination
.Ruins'ROMe,'o'
ONE WOULD expect with spec-
tacle, stars, Shakespeare and
the strains of Tchaikovsky a grand
if not glorious movie could be
made. But the opulence and melo-
drama that characterised many
of the big productions of the
thirties, watered ddwn and grossly
colored William Shakespeare's
"Romeo and Juliet."
Playing at the Cinema Guild for
an unusual three night stand from
tonight until Friday, this over-
blown but dramatically frail movie
was concocted in the best tradi-
tions of the big productions.
But the dull thuds of wooden
swords, wooden action and often
wooden delivery of' Shakespeare's
t
A Worthwhile Challenge
poetry proves that a spectacular
physical manifestation of a play is
not enough to compensate for the
distinct lack of imagination.
* * *
"IMAGINATION" is key word
to what is wrong with this "Romeo
and Juliet." There is no vigor or
real sense of feeling engendered
by the actors, even though they
are the big names. Edna Mae
Oliver as Juliet's nurse is the only
person on the screen who gives a
living performance.
John Barrymore as Mercutio is
satisfying but the rest of the crew
only lives up to a stiff standard.
Norma Shearer as Juliet resem-
bles through most of the movie
the fawn she is shown feeding at
the beginning. Only towards the
end, when the real tragedy of the
Capulet-Montague feud "is form-
ing, does she display some talent.
Leslie Howard, looking more like
a brisk; forty-year old than the
young lover, works hard but only
presents a stilted Romeo.
The actors provide no feeling of
excitement to the viewer; the sets
and over-lavishness of the pro-
duction bog the action down. Yet
Shakespeare's beautiful p o e t r y
comes through. In fact, it is the
only item of worth in the movie.
ONE PROBLEM with seeing this
production of the tlirties is that
a differentidea was held as to how
a play should be transferred to
the screen. The melodrama is
heavily emphasized. Little touches
of action or setting are used to
make it obvious to the unintelli-
gent viewer certain characteris-
tics of the personalities. As pre-
viously mentioned, Juliet is shown,
the very first time she is on the
screen, feeding a fawn in the
idyllic garden of her home. What
else is this but a way to show
innocence and youth? All too of-
ten, the camera concentrates on
Norma Shearer's smile and clear,
white face to emphasize supposed-
ly the striking beauty of the her-
oine. The only reaction an intel-
ligent' movie-goer and play-lover
can have is one of revolt.
IN THE FUEL scenes, the
camera plays from the action of
the combatants to the enthralled
crowd watching the fight. This is
to give the impression of com-
UNLESS SOMEONE comes up with a new
idea by Friday the University will see
Challenge peter out. According to spokesman
Ronald Newman, '63, "If at least the embryo
of a presentable program is not presented by
3 p.m. Friday it is likely" that Challenge will
die.
The March 23 issue of Saturday Review
praised this ,student sponsored seminar and
lecture series as "one of the most active"
groups currently promoting student social
awareness. Its passing would be a significant
loss to the University.
The first three Challenge programs, civil
liberties, emerging nations and nuclear war
proved to be controversial and stimulating.
However, the series encountered difficulties
when it presented "The Challenge of Higher
Editorial Staff
MICHAEL OLINICK, Editor
JUDITH OPPENHEIM MICHAEL HARRAH
Editorial Director City Editor
Education." Interest waned and attendance
was embarassingly poor.
THIS SEMESTER Newman encountered some
difficulty in getting funds from the Uni-
versity. However, the University coughed up a
$3000 appropriation for "The Complexion of
American Morality."
Unfortunately, the series was not presented,
and the money was returned. Little explanation
was made other than an apathetic public and
a disinterested organization.
True, it would have been difficult to pre-
sent a stimulating,hcoherent series of seminars
on such a broad abstract topic. The failure
of the previous series which was, if anything,
more concrete, presented a real problem. How-
ever it is the business of effective, alert leader-
ship to solve such problems.
Newman also complains of organizational
difficulties. For example, there is a lack of
continuity from one series to another.
The- establishment of a relatively permanent
staff, interested' in Challenge, rather than any
specific issue would alleviate this situation.
Including underclasmen on this staff would
acquaint them with the problems of lining up
speakers and organizing a program.
i
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