Seventy-First Year EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "Where opinions Are Free UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Truth Will Prevail" STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staf writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. THE YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR: Fragile Project Emerges [TURDAY, MAY 27, 1961 NIGHT EDITOR: HARRY PERLSTADT The World .In a Building FOR ALPRACTICAL PURPOSES, being You learn that, if a staff member is prone City Editor means being in one building to laying out a page unattractively, you get for one year. It is an intensive experience, like results by "suggesting" rearrangements to him. the scholar's. Like him, too, youcome to under- Unfortunately, this subtle authority brings stand many things besides the details you've unwanted byproducts. Give enough "sugges- worked at, because the work uncovers relation- tions" and a person will come to rely on them ships as well as materials, rather than on his own judgments. He will not There've been few restrictions on the days learn. But since he still thinks he's laying out except the necessity for sleep and the ac- pages himself--remember, direction is subtle-- complishment of tasks I set myself. A meal he sees no authority to challenge and no in- comes to be the food you eat when you're dependence to gain. Too often has The Daily hungry and not a time of day to sit down been the loser for this. in front at a table. More often does the University lose by using You begin to wonder why people set many just the same methods on its students. What limits other than these. Yet they are always did the girls on the Hill learn when their restricting themselves, plans to change dress regulations were met with a "suggestion" they be dropped, in effect?, A NIGHT EDITOR approaches, complaining While direction is needed in any organization, he can't work the evening he's supposed to it must guide rather than supplant. because of examinations, papers and stories he has to write. He: None of the other night THE MATERIALS of the city editor's direc- editors can work that night either. Everyone torship are many and obvious-the mail, the else is up to here ... Michael could but he's got daily assignment sheet, the University News to cover a story in Lansing that day. You: Can Service releases, the Ann Arbor News, Detroit Michael's assistant cover the' Lansing story? News and Free Press. No? Can John hand in his paper early .. . or Read and think enough about the news and late? you realize newspapers are amazingly limited. Somehow the situation gives. All the factors They are essentially conservative. Knowing are not as unchanging as assumed. what proved important in the past, they pay This defeatist approach repeats itself, some- attention to the same kind of events again times several times in one day. A reporter and again. While for one paper the formula can't get a story because all his contacts are is big business and murder, for another it is busy. But why not look for another contact? the President and the United Nations. They Speculators say the University administrators speak of countries in "blocs," thus discourag- won't ever change the calendar because the ing a change in international alignments. faculty is against it. But if change is impera- Both the newspapers and the mail flood tive, can't the faculty be swayed? you with information about competing idealo- By assigning a situation too many constant gies, and staff members constantly flex their factors, a person limits his freedom, to move. opinions against other staff members' opinions. In many ways every day a city editor must Is Cuba pro-Communist, or Communist con- question what she faces. A daily critic sheet trolled? Should women have hours, or schedule gets written because she asks herself what's their' own times? Is the University too big, or wrong with articles in the paper, with the way will further expansion bring better service they're played, why some of the news never through further specialization? got into the paper--and why the staff made' If you work at it you discover that opinions these mistakes. The '70-some editorial staff are not doomed to compete forever on equal members have to ask the questions, too. terms. Attack them with questions and you can downgrade one because it isn't consistent, or I CAN'T HELP referring to the city editor as another because it lacks ,basis in fact. "she," although not very many city editors To the people who will always ask the ques- are women. The respect which makes it easier tions, I extend my appreciation for a year as to do a good'Job falls more naturally to a man. city editor and four years at the University. But because a woman must start with less, she -NAN MARKEL builds relations more consciously. City Editor Union Obscures Policy By JOHN ROBERTS Acting Editor THE FACULTY commission on year-round integrated opera- tion, chaired by Prof. William Ha- ber, released its preliminary re- port Wednesday morning. Pref- acing the report was a letter to President Hatcher, which con- tained this very revealing state- ment: ". ..As you know, the .members of the commission undertook the task reluctantly and with some skepticism. That we complete our work convinced that the Univer- sity should proceed to implement a plan of year-round operation is a tribute to your leadership in having inspired this enquiry" While this admission of reluc- tance and skepticism is admirable in its frankness, it minimizes the misunderstanding and disagree- ment which obviously prevailed at the time the commission was ap- pointed. Year-round operation has long been a touchy subject, It should have been approached with great tact and caution. Instead the early stages of the adminis- tration's actions were so ill-han- dled that the present happy end- ing is a minor miracle. + , * THE REGENTS discussed the question of year-round operation at their January meeting. Faced with mounting enrollment pres- sure and the public demand for more efficient use of educational facilities, and saddled with n awkward and inflexible calendar, the University was clearly in an embarrassing pasition. The deci- sion was made in principle to be- gin full-year operation as soon as feasible. Given the circumstances, it is difficult to see how this de- cision could have engendered much debate. But there was evidently much pulling and hauling over ways to implement this decision. Three faculty committees had in recent years considered calendar revi- sions. None had concluded that a move to full-year operation was necessary, though all had con- ceded that this decision might be warranted in the future. Rather than risk another such inconclu- siverandtime-consuming study, there was probably some senti- ment among the policy makers to institute the change by simple fiat. r . t CHECKING this sentiment was the understanding that any abrupt move would meet resistance. A sizable portion of the faculty has a profound and often irrational distrust of anything called full- year operation. Part of this stems from a sound concern for educa- tional principles, and part of it from the traumatic experience of the University with such a pro- gram during World War II. There was a powerful case for placat- ing this distrust before taking any final steps. + s s AS A RESULT of this give- and- take, it was decided to meet with the faculty Senate Advisory Com- mittee and appoint a faculty com- mission on year-round operation. These gestures of friendliness were, however, calculatedhby the underlying conviction of the poli- cy makers that the present cal- endar was indefensible and had to be changed. The situation was thus a very delicate one. While maintaining firmly their decision to institute a full-year operation, the Regents and ad- ministrationhad to seek the sug- gestions and support of persons who were not convinced of the need for such a change. It was, as I say, a delicate situation and one in which some misunderstand- ing would have arisen even if well handled. The situation was, in fact, handled very badly and re- lations needlessly exacerbated. * * * STATEMENTS about the Jan- uary meeting of the Regents with the Senate Advisory Committee are one example. No one has ever reported exactly what transpired. It is very likely that a good-hum- ored but relatively vague discus- sionwas held, in which the Re- gents got across their intentions and those faculty members with misgivings got them out in the open. It is doubtful that any for- mal vote of approval or disap- proval was taken. Nevertheless, Regent Eugene Power reported two months later that the SAC, chaired by Prof. Wesley Maurer, had given its "overwhelming" support tovthe de- cisions of the Regents. Told of Power's statement, Prof. Maurer first denied it, then refused to say anything. Other members of the committee likewise remained silent and the "overwhelming" support which Regent Power reported was suddenly replaced by clipped state- ments of "no comment." * * * PRESIDENT HATCHER'S orig- inal, statement establishing the commission charged it to study ways to "implement the policy of a full-year schedule." This made it clear that the faculty group was to accept the policy of full-year operation as given and work from there. Neverthe- less the statement was worded in Regents would consider in May or June. Regent Power added that he supposed the commission could say no to full-year operation in general, but doubted that they would. * * * THIS, then, was the situation into which the commission was thrust. As representatives of a faculty harboring much distrust of calendaring changes, and as true scholars, they could hardly accept a policy of full-year oper- ation as an unquestioned "given." But the directive by President Hatcher and the subsequent re- marks by Regent Power indicated that this policy had already been set and that the commission's principal job was to detail plans to implement it. It is easy to un- derstand the "reluctance" of mem- bers of the commission. The group acted immediately to assert its autonomy. One day after Regent Power's comments, the group had its first meeting and issued a statement pledging an "objective and scholarly in- quiry into the feasibility of full- year operation." In a list of three understood functions, the com- mission listed as number one the following: 1) The question as to whether or not a basic change in this University's long-es- tablished academic routine is . justified and desirable. The commission, then, was not going to merely implement anew program, but decide for itself whether this program was needed or advisable. In a subsequent meeting with President Hatcher, members of the group secured his reluctant admission that they had the right to return a report un- favorable to the whole notion of expanded operation. It is not clear where such a ver- dict might have left the adminis- tration, which was faced with im- plementing the Regents' January decision-in-principle. But Presi- dent Hatcher's acquiescence al- lowed the commission the lati- tude it needed for its own self- Freedom Or Not? FOR A COUNTRY whose leaders sometimes seem to be itching to get into war somewhere-any- where-in defense of freedom, we seem remarkably composed about possible dangers to the spirit of liberty at home. We cite a few items: * * * 1. ONE OF the marks of a coun- try which is falling into totalitarian ways is that the secret police be- come sacrosanct. Here in Wash- ington reporters are accustomed to ask impertinent questions of officials from the President down. But not a single newspaper has had the temerity to ask FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover to comment on the verdict in the Meisenbach case. Mr. Hoover, as you recall, blamed the San Francisco student riots on a student who (he said) attacked an officer. This is also the version given by the Un-American Activi- ties Committee narrator in "Oper- ation Abolition." But when this student, Robert J. Meisenbach, was brought to trial the jury acquitted him. Meisenbach claimed it was the other way around-that the officer hit him. If it were any other public official than Mr. Hoover, the press would have been demanding that he explain. 2. ONE MARK of a totalitarian society is that the government decides what you can read, and puts down an iron curtain particu- larly on publications from abroad. Two months ago President Ken- nedy, to his credit, stopped the practice by which our postal offici- als have been impounding foreign publications containing ideas they consider dangerous. Chairman Walter of House Un-Americans at once put in a bill to reinstate this practice. Last Sunday the Wash- ington Post warned that the bill was on the consent calendar and might slip through the house Mon- day. It called for "a torrent of ob- jections." There was an objection, but it took the feeblest possible form. Had one member been bold enough to stand up and object, and then gotten two other members to ob- pect with him the next time the bill came up, it could have been knocked off the consent calender altogether and sent back to wait its turn under normal procedures. 3. FREE SOCIETIES jealous of their freedom are wary of peace- time sedition laws. The Smith Act was our first since the hated Alien and Sedition Acts of John Adams. In the Yates case, Mr. Justic Har- lan reduced the number of possible prosecutions under the Act by strictly interpreting the word "or- ganize." When a bill to widen the mean- ing of the term came up on the consent calendar earlier this ses- sion, Mr. James Roosevelt blocked passage by objecting. When it came up again next Monday, Mr. respect and for effective commu- nication with students and fac- ulty. * * * THE COMMISSION then began its work. In a series of twenty- five meetings, plus appearances before the Faculty Senate and Student Government Council, it gathered an ordered the relevant evidence. At the same time, by its voluntary consultations and easy accessibility, the commission prob- ably succeeded in soothing the faculty distrust and resentment so manifest in the days after President Hatcher's announce- ment. Its efforts culminated in the report released Wednesday which, though labeled "preliminary," will undoubtedly form the basis for future actions by the Regents. The report's first conclusion- that year-round operation of the University is necessary and desir- able-is revealing in the light of its original charge, which assumed this conclusion. * * * THE REMAINING recommen- dations dela with the establish- ment, by 1965, of a noved "split semester" full year program, fea- turing a summer semester divided into two parts for those who so desire. While sliding over the prob- lems involved in any calendar change - problems of athletic scheduling, final exam periods, housing arrangements, scholar- ships and student activities-the commission still makes a strong case for the proposed revision. It would appear to be a very commendable plan, eliminating the slack of the present calendar while still maintaining full-length semesters and adequate rest per- iods. Greater rationality and flex- ibility, as well as greater efficien- cy, would be made possible. There are no compromises of educational standards in the plan, and it is hedged with reservation against compulsory full-year attendance or increased teaching load. . Al- though it is nevertheless possible that this change will beget oth- ers, also producing more "effi- ciency" but not as sound aca- demically. FACULTY MEMBERS, when they study the plan, should be reassured. The Regents should be satisfied. Even President Hatcher, long an advocate of the quarter system, has heaped praise on the proposed plan, stating that "The University is indebted to the com- mission for a splendid report, reached after the most careful consideration. S* * CALENDAR REFORM is cer- tainly needed. An obligation to the students of the state requires that the University do what it can to relieve enrollment pressures with- out sacrificing quality of educa- tion. And the present calendar with its "lame duck" January ses- sion and relative in flexibility, is not defensible. The Regents right- ly reached the same conclusion. So did the faculty commission. And while it may well be true that members were appointed to the present commission because of suspected sympathy towards cal- endar revision, any faculty group pledged to a scholarly inquiry would have so concluded. It is un- fortunate that this situation was not allowed to speak for itself. Needless pressure was applied to the faculty commission at the out- set, generating misunderstanding and making the work of the com- mission that much more difficult. class white goddess, Katherine Hepburn, is to marry again, this time a man who had made it- the hard way--a comer in politics -who can't even saddle a horse- who really worships his angelic wife because she behaves-and who wants his wedding written- up in Spy (you know, like Confi- dential). Former Hubby-the gently un- derstanding, amusing, never-to- be - appreciated - until - he's-mar- ried - a - second - time = by - the same-woman Cary Grant-who is saving her father from shame by bringing in Spy correspondents and photographers. Re ally, though, he is still in love with his ex and is trying to win her back. * * * FATHER DROPS IN from a whirl in the City of big lights and chides his daughter for his, infidelity because she is robbing him of his yearned-for youth by not being warm and womanly. Let's try again, because his daugh- ter doesn't smother him with un- questioned love, his philandering is her fault. Then, daughter drops her re- assurance and gets drunk. The rest of the in-group, i.e., the fam- ily and correspondents, drop their pretenses and get busy getting rid' of George, the husband to be.' Miss Hepburn, so put; out by all the criticism, comes on with the journalist, who has rules about women under the weather. The hour of the nuptials draws near. Miss Hepburn can't remem- ber what happens. George still demands an explanation, but since the publisher of Spy is present, he is willing to forego apologies till later. But Miss Hepburn is catch- ing on, a new life of fulfillment is open to her and since Cary Grant has been so understand- ing, he deserves to share it with her. SINCE MISS HEPBURN didn't really do it, she is still a goddess, tainted with humanity if not with sirr. Moreover, everybody learns that the upper class people can be as nice as lower class people. (When was this necessary to say?) This might be funny the first time around. It remains intellec- tual pap fed by the standard the- ater to those wishing titillation rather- than thought; and ration- alization for moral vacuity rather than stimulation for self-criti- cism. Hollywood showed common sense in making it a musical. -Thomas Brien Issue THE CUBAN tragedy has raised a domestic issue that is likely to come up again and again ... Is a democratic government in an open society such -as ours ever justified in deceiving its own people? Neither prudence nor ethics can justify any administration in tell- ing the public things that are not so. -The New York Times AT THE MICHIGAN: .rPeyton' Baed Nws "IT BEGINS where 'Peyton Place' left off," screams the gaudy advertisement; "It looks into the face of the town . . . down' its streets where shame became fa- mous." The publicity for "Return to Peyton Place" is obviously gauged to appeal to the type of person whose main diversion is writing on bathroom walls. However, the ads are about the , only thing concerned with this flick that will appeal to them: "Return to Peyton Place" is a crushing bore! (That's what I said . . . bore!) It's basically nothing but slightly sexed-up soap-opera with- out the commercials. (Anid after two hours in Peyton Place, even commercials will be a welcome change.) Probably the misleading advertising will fool quite a few of the low humor people into going to this film, and I'm not the least bit sorry for them: they'll get just what they deserve. two solid hours of unmitigated junk. THE ONLY MERIT of this film, which supposedly tell the story of what happened'to Graces Metal- ious after writing "Peyton Place," is the excellent color photography of New England in various seasons that accompanied the trite title song as background for the credits. Throughout the film there are occasional glimpses of nice seen- ey, especially in the skiing scenes, but this is not enough to save such a poorly-scripted film. The plot is predictable, and the lines are trite and stilted. The best section is the short series of parodies of television per- sonalities who interview the authoress, and these are only oc- cassionally effective, for the most part being general and uninspired satire almost as bad as Skit Night. * * * THE direction and acting are on a par with the script. I got the impression that nobody was really trying, but with the lines they had to read I don't really blame them. (Paraphrases of "you just don't understand young people" are as abundant here as in most of the trite cinema and television about "Youth," the next time I hear that line Lswear Ill . . . ) Oh, well, I suppose it's not a total loss: the scenic shots could be spliced together to make a fairly good ten-minute travelogue At, least that might not be -totally dull., --John Smead *Brink WORKING at the edge of the development of human society is to work on the brink of the unknown., Much of what is done will one day prove to have been of little avail. That is no excuse for the failure to act in accordance with our best understanding, in recognition of its limits but with faith in the ultimate 'result of the creative evolution in which it is our privilege to cooperate. --Dag Hammarskjold AT CINEMA GUILD: Rich Goddess Wins And Who Cares? - 'THE PHILADELPHIA STORY" may be better remembered by its more recent name, "High Society." There seems to have been little change in the newer version, but at least it had music. The moral of the movie is this: "We all go haywire at times, and I don't think it's at all bad if we do." And to round out Phillip Barry's inane conclusion, you're either a prig or there is something wrong with you if you don't. SINCE THERE IS little more to this left-over post Victorian swim- ming pool comedy than plot, we might just as well begin. An upper (j .4 T HURSDAY'S Union Board of Director's meeting finally made clear just what kind of policy the directors of the Michigan Union want. To accomplish this end, many of the bylaw changes which were passed were made purposely vague or intentionally obscure. They did nothing to clarify Union policy as a whole but' only raised additiopal questions. The most important new bylaw gives the house committee authority to grant or deny (apparently at whim) non-members the use of Union facilities. A member of the board requested an anmendment be added requiring the committee to explain ejection from Union facilities to the non-member affected. This motion to ammend died for want of a second but the subsequent discussion was enlightening. One Union official claimed that the Union is a private club and can accept or reject whomever it pleases whenever it wishes. Whether or not the Union is a private club, which is a subject quite worthy of discussion, this is certainly no reason to deny an explana- tion of why people cannot use semi-public facilities.' IT IS POSSIBLE to juxtapose this statement with the Union's recent cry for improved "communications". Good communications in- volve full and clear knowledge of what is being done, the context in which it is 'being .done, and the total implications of its effects.. If no clear communication is' made, the Union will constantly be hounded by rumors and half-truths which will certainly impair its effectiveness on campus. Certainly the Union does have the right, whether it is a private club or a public business, to remove those people who are in violation of house rules, civil law or reasonable standards of conduct. If these are the reasons for the evic- tions and will be the basis of actions based on house rules in the future, then there should be no hesitancy in flatly saying so. Perhaps this hesitancy and vagueness is an assertion of the supposed "private club" status. But is the Union really a club in the sense of the word they intend? It is not. It does not elect members. All male students at the University are required to pay a portion of their tuition for its support. The only .means to justify this status is to create a "right to join" clause making member- ship optional. But the Union surely does not want this. THE PRACTICAL COURSE of action for the Union is an evaluation of its relations with the community. People are dissatisfied with the Union because actions are taken without any satisfactory explanation. Last night's move is clearly another example. The total effect was only to bring the realities of the Union operation into a closer relation with the bylaws and rules. But the discussion surrounding the revisions displayed the typical ambiguity of Union policies. The real problems facing this organization have never been discussed. Is the Union having financial problems? Are its facilities outdated? The recent actions of the Board have unques- tionably been aimed at some total goal. Un- questionably, those involved in the administra- tion of the Union feel these actions are in the best interests of both the Union and the Campus as a whole. Perhaps they are. But so long as an outdated concept of the Union remains in the minds of its officers and so long as vagueness prevails in the public actions of the Union, the Michigan Union is impairing its own effectiveness on campus. THERE are several specific courses of action which can be taken to alleviate the situa- tion. First, there is the proposal, now being studied by the board, of opening its meetings to the public. Even if only members are admitted, the general dissemination of information would vastly increase. Further, by having a period in which people attending could speak, there would be means, presently lacking. by which a person could communicate directly with the board. Thus the board would be one step closer to the opinions and needs, of its patrons. Board meetings would be transformed from an isolated dinner-discussion into the public administrative proceeding that it should be. ANOTHER DEFINITE NEED is for the ad- ministrative officers of the Union to feel a public obligation to explain their actions and statements at any time. The Union is a public. not a private, institution. Anyone participating in it has a public trust to uphold and should not feel insulted if and when requested to explain his actions. Finally, there should be a definitive state- ment of the privileges and rights of both non- members and members. Perhaps the house FACULTY MURDER: Spring Wolgamot, Has Deeper Meaning THERE IS SOMETHING about spring, and Hopwood time, that brings out the absolutely fantastic in that ordinarily unbelievable group-- the John Barton Wolgamot Society. Last year it was John Dixon Hunt's Aardvark lecture. This year it is a play, Christian-Dietrich Grabbe's "Comedy, Satire, Irony & Deeper Meaning," which will continue tonight at the Unitarian Church. While it is certainly not as intrinsically funny a production as the Aardvark lecture (the audience from that is still waiting breathlessly for the announcement of the next one, tentatively entitled "Jesus Christ as a Christ Figure in the Book of John"), this year's spring effort has its definite merits. AS A PLAY; "Comedy, Satire, etc." is the sort of work that brings up serious questions-why was it ever translated, how did those incred- ible English puns creep in from the German (at one point a character wards off the devil with a piece of a choir stall-the devil leaps back in horror, holding his nose and crying "Pew"), why the Wolgamot players chose to bring it out of the oblivion it had so beautifully secured for itself. But the play has several very funny lines, some sounding strangely as though they were stolen from Gilbert and Sullivan, who wrote years later than Grabbe. The plot is unrelatable, and possibly non-existent. The play is wrapped loosely around a central concept given by the author-that "life is a comedy thrown together' by a jackanapes of an angel on a school holiday." As deep and sincere believers in this pre- cept, the Wolgamot Society played it to the hilt. * * * * THE GROUP gave the lines all they were worth and then some- and when the lines were wrung dry they turned to slapstick, and good slapstick at that, to fill in the gaps. If the gaps sometimes remained and the play began to drag a little, nobody really minded. Vast vats of blood were spilled-from slightly embarrassed members of the faculty who were murdered violently with plastic flintstone base- ball bats. The devil slid down a pole in the middle of the third act. The DAILY OFFICIAL BUL LETIN (Continued from Page 2) can be made in the Non-Academic Per- sonnel Office, Room 1020 Administration Building, during, the following hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.I Employers desirous of hiring part- time or temporary employees should contact Jack Lardie at NO 3-1511, ext. 2939. Students' desiring miscellaneous jobs should consult the bulletin board in Room 1020. daily. . MALE 4-Grade messengers, June 1 thru June 16 or 19. 3-Meal jobs. 16*-Psychlogical subjects; hours to be arranged. 2-Salesmen, commission basis, must have car. 1-Waiter, every day at noon, for one . hour. 3-Experienced full-time day camp counselors. 1-Inventory clerk, full-time from May 28 thru June 1 or 2. 3-Psychological subjects, for one 2 hour session, May 29, 2-3 p.m. or 3-5 p.m., or Wednesday May 31 3-5 p.m. ;A j7hp Mirhirln" '41 tlir