Residence Hall Crisis
MODERN FILM:
Serious and Whimsical,
A 'Breathless' Classic
"I've Generously Decided To Stick With You"
THE SITUATION in University residence
halls is serious and apparently deteriorat-
ing.
Students moving in this semester first
found themselves subject to increased room
and board rates-increases which were ef-
fected after contracts had been sent out. Next,
the unexpected enrollment bulge placed near-
ly 500 students in temporary housing. Final-
ly, these students are being accommodated by
converting singles into doubles and doubles
into triples.
Thursday night's intolerable bombing inci-
dent may or may not have originated in the
tensions of the housing problem. If, however,
it signals a general breakdown of order, if it
signals a series of random acts of violence, the
situation will become unbearable.
POOR LIVING CONDITIONS, made
worse by the necessities of study, justify
protest. But protest means nothing in and of
itself; it is worthless unless it leads to solu-
tions.
Dormitory residents and the University
must open channels of communication imme-
diately. Whatever agents are used-whether
the Office of Student Affairs or the business
office, whether IQC and Assembly or the
dorm and quad councils-students and ad-
ministrators must together find ways of al-
leviating pressures now. Students who want
to move into apartments can be released
from their contracts. Dorm rates can be low-
ered by more than $70-an inadequate com-
pensation for the conditions students will
have to endure. Perhaps the University can
purchase apartments or make use of any
empty space in fraternity or sorority houses.
PROMPT ACTION is essential. The prob-
lem cannot wait until next September.
-THE SENIOR EDITORS
Sevwy'Fiftb Year
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN KENNY
Congress Delays HEW Bill;
Education Funds Come Late
At Cinema Guild
RICH AND subtly varied in
theme, boldly experimental in
technique, pulsatingly fresh in
tempo, "Breathless" stands today
as a modern film classic.
It is a classic because it sets a
new standard for the cinema; and
that standard is a passionate love
of the movies as an art and en-
tertainment form. "Breathless"
exudes director Jean-Luc Godard's
love of the movies and is a scin-
tillating visual experience and
great entertainment.
The most striking aspect of this
movie is the apparent technical
crudity. Filmed in the streets of
Paris, curious pedestrians peer in-
to the wobbling, hand-held cam-
era. The editing appears to be
abominable. Someone behind me
said in disgust: "It's all chopped
up." Indeed it is, and deliberately
so.
THE ACTION is skittish and
frantic. Whole sequences are omit-
ted; some are caught only in part.
What we have is an oblique, im-
pressionistic view of the story and
the effect is startling and in-
vigorating. Even the most prosaic
activity bcomes a visual adven-
ture for the audience.
This is all a part of the film's
integrity. A movie should excite
and entertain; hence, dull and
unnecessary footage is left on the
cutting room floor. And so it is
with those curious pedestrians.
This film was not made in a studio
where the walk-ons resemble ani-
mated mannequins. It was made
in the streets and those are real
people you see out there.
Just as the editing appears art-
less, but is carefully contrived, so
the story is not what it appears
to be on the surface. "Breathless"
is a subtle mixture of cynicism
and sentimentality.
CONSIDER THE characters.
Jean-Paul Belmondo is super-
ficially the tough, amoral hood-
lum, killing and stealing as easily
as he lights a cigarette. Jean Se-
berg, the quintessential American
Girl in Paris, meanwhile, is his
sentimental opposite, mooning
over Renoir and Mozart and fret-
ting over love affairs.
But in the resolution of the
story, their characters are revers-
ed. Belmondo, throwing his life
away for a silly romantic attach-
ment, is the genuine sentimental-
ist, while Seberg, betraying him to
the police, is the one without
conscience. Dying on the street,
he can still manage the facial ex-
pressions that are his sign of love,
but she can return only a cold,
blank star.
On a still larger scale "Breath-
less" is the same ambiguous mix-
ture of cynical and sentimental
elements. On one level it is an
amoral celebration of murder,
theft, sex and betrayal. But on
another it is a sentimental love
song to the Humphrey Bogart and
American ganster flicks.
IS "BREATHLESS" a serious
treatise on morals, or is it just The
Boys having fun with the camera?
Imitating Bogart, is Belmondo re-
creating a genuine social type, or
is he just putting us on?
The answer is that "Breathless"
is both serious and whimsical; it
is art and entertainment mag-
nificently united. To separate
these constituent elements is to
violate the film's integrity.
-Sam Walker
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NEARLY EVERYONE believes in the im-
portance of education. It helps pre-
pare a labor force to keep pace with tech-
nology. It removes the strains of preju-
dice carried by uneducated minds. It
develops a responsible citizenry.
But precisely because it is a benefit so
widely acknowledged, education is kept
waiting for federal assistance. Even its
most avid proponents know that passage
of education bills makes dramatic news
in election years-and the closer to elec-
tion day the better. In Congress, where
it has become a target of stalling tactics,
education is suffering again this year
because of its popularity.
The Health, Education and Welfare De-
partment appropriation bill is still pend-
ing before Congress. In the bill are funds
to implement programs which would pro-
vide student loans, foster vocational edu-
cation and build higher educational fa-
cilities. Passage of the bill should have
come in June.
THE PROGRAMS themselves were au-
thorized last December. Congressional
procedures require, however, that the spe-
cific appropriation for a program be
passed in a second measure.
The multibillion dollar HEW bill was
introduced in March but has played sec-
ond fiddle to everything from the civil
rights bill to medicare. Some election-
minded congressmen have been stalling
passage until just as close as possible to
November. Others, like Sen. Philip Hart
(D-Mich) and Rep. George Meader (R-
Ann Arbor) have fought for more vigor-
ous action. But the bill has moved slow-
ly through committee and floor action
in both houses.
When finally passed, the different
House and Senate versions required con-
ference settlement. A settlement reached,
the bill now awaits quick acceptance in
Congress and the President's signature.
These actions are formalities; thus
passage appears imminent. But that is
not the whole point. By allowing the bill
to remain unpassed until now, Congress
has placed a strain on any institution ex-
pecting or needing funds.
HE STRAIN is quite evident at the
University.
Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich.
The jam-up left the University without
$350,000 in student loan funds which it
expected and which should come through
shortly. Another $350,000 will be provided
second semester if the University gets
its anticipated $700,000 share of the bill's
appropriations. The Office of Education
did provide a tie-over sum of more than
$250,000, but this was clearly inadequate.
The result was that University Direc-
tor of Financial Aids Walter Rea and his
assistant Karl Streiff were left in an un-
tenable situation. They were forced to
resort to emergency funds to meet loan
commitments made during the spring
and summer. (Ironically, when Congress
approves the appropriation, the Univer-
sity will probably receive more than the
projected $700,000 for the year, so Rea is
still interviewing loan applicants.)
But what Congress may pass in three
months could go to help needy students
right now.
ABOUT A BLOCK from the financial
aids office, the evidence of congres-
sional neglect is even more disturbing.
Angell Hall and adjacent science facili-
ties attest to a severe classroom short-
age which Dean William Haber calls the
most crucial problem faced by the literary
college.
To alleviate space shortages all over
the country, Congress passed its $1.2 bil-
lion Higher Education Facilities Act last
year for construction of graduate and
undergraduate buildings. The act spread
this program over a three-year period
starting in the 1963-64 fiscal year, which
runs July through June.
But Congress, by not passing the neces-
sary appropriations, pushed the bill back
a year.
A certain delay is to be expected be-
fore bureaucratic wheels start to turn.
But when Congress, fully cognizant of
the urgency of these funds, extends these
delays for political purposes, the situa-
tion becomes dangerous.
CONGRESS should make sure that the
HEW appropriation passes immediate-
ly, releasing the loan and building funds.
For the future, it is imperative that the
need for education aid be met with the
same urgency provoked by other na-
tional crises.
-LAURENCE KIRSHBAUM
WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED:
Candidates' Views Evolve Under Political Pressure
4
By HAROLD WOLMAN
DESPITE HEATED denials by
both Republicans and Demo-
crats, civil rights and the white
backlash are already part of the
1964 campaign.
In the popular mind, President
Johnson and his running mate
jhubert Humphrey, who was a mov-
ing force in the passage of the
1964 Civil Rights Act, represent
approval of the Negro effort to
gain equality. Senator Goldwater,
on the other hand, is seen as an
opponent of the accelerated Negro
drive for civil rights. Any verbal
efforts to dispel this image in the
popular mind are not likely to suc-
ceed. For the remainder of this
campaign, in simple terms, John-
son will attract supporters of the
Report has recently compared
Johnson's and Goldwater's voting
on civil rights issues. A study of
these voting records and accom-
panying statements by the can-
didates presents a fascinating pic-
ture of the evolution of thought
forced by the pressure of politics.
Johnson entered the House in
1937 and from that time until
1956, he performed the role of a
Southern congressman. Through-
out these years, on matters which
the Congressional Quarterly con-
siders related to civil rights, John-
son agreed with the Southern posi-
tion 100 per cent of the time.
During this period Johnson's
speeches, as reported by the Con-
gress'ional Quarterly, reflected his
voting behaviour. On May 22,
1948, in Austin, Texas, he said,
"This civil rights program, about
which you have heard so much is
a farce and a sham-an effort to
set up a police state in the guise
of liberty. I am opposed to this
program. I fought it in Congress.
It is the province of the state to
run its own elections . . . I am
against the Fair Employment
Practices Commission because if
a man can tell you whom you
must hire, he can tell you whom
you cannot employ."
LATER, IN 1949, Johnson ex-
plained his opposition to FEPC.
"This to me is the least meritor-
ious proposal of the whole civil
rights program . . . Such a law
would necessitate a system of fed-
eral police officers such as we
havernever before seen. It would
require the policing of every busi-
ness institution, every transaction
made between an employer and
employe, and virtually every hour
of an employer's and employe's
association while at work. We in
the Senate should learn the facts
of life. We cannot legislate love."
It is interesting to note, and
detractors of Johnson are certain
to do so, that this statement is
strikingly similar to those Gold-
water made in a Senate speech
before the passage of this year's
Civil Rights Act. Referring to the
FEPC and public accommodations
sections, Goldwater said, "To give
genuine effect to the prohibitions
Gone West .. .
of this bill will require the crea-
tion of a federal police force of
mammouth proportions. It also
bids fair to result in the develop-
ment of an informer psychology
in great areas of our national life
... These, the federal police force
and an informer psychology are
the hallmarks of a police state
and landmarks in the destruction
of a free society. I believe that
though the problem is fundamen-
tally one of the heart, some law
can help-but not a law that em-
bodies features like these pro-
visions which fly in the face of the
Constitution and which require
for the effective execution, the
creation of a police state."
FROM 1956 to 1960, however,
Johnson's desire for national of-
fice impelled him to shift from his
strong identification with the
Southern bloc. He attempted to
identify more with the West than
with the South, voting in the
Senate, as the Congressional Quar-
terly notes, 49 per cent of the
time with Westerners and 40 per
cent with Southerners. He took
no stand the remainder of the
time. In this role, the then Texas
MAN:
Wisp in
The Wind
AMONG THE f o r cees which
sweep and play throughout
the universe, untutored man is
but a wisp in the wind. Our civili-
zation is still in a middle stage,
scarcely beast, in that it is no
longer wholly guided by instinct;
scarcely human, in that it is not
yet wholly guided by reason.
On the tiger no responsibility
rests. We see him aligned by na-
ture with the forces of life-he
is born into their keeping and
without thought he is protected.
We see man far removed from the
lairs of the jungles, his innate
instincts dulled by too nearan
approach to free-will, his free-'
will not sufficiently developed to
replace his instincts and afford
him perfect guidance. He is be-
coming too wise to hearken al-
ways to instincts and desires; he
is still too weak to always pre-
vail against them.
* * *
AS A BEAST, the forces of life
aligned him with them; as a man,
he has not yet wholly learned to
align himself with the forces. In
this intermediate stage he wavers
-neither drawn in harmony with
nature by his instincts nor yet
wisely putting himself into har-
mony by his own free-will. He is
even as a wisp in the wind, moved
by every breath of passion, acting
now by his will and now by his
instincts, erring with one, only
to retrieve by the other, falling
by one, only to rise by the other-
a creature of incalculable vari-
ability.
We have the consolation of
knowing that evolution is ever
in action. that the ideal is a
senator was instrumental in the
passage of both the Civil Rights
Acts of 1957 and of 1960. He vot-
ed for both, but at the same time
he voted several times for amend-
ments which weakened these bills.,
As Vice-President, Johnson fur-
ther shed his Southern identifica-
tion and become more closely as-
sociated with the cause of civil
rights. As chairman of President
Kennedy's Committee on Equal
Employment Opportunities, he be-
came known in Washington as
one of the most effective workers
for the civil rights cause. Yet
Johnsoi came under fire from civil
rights leaders for his refusal to
rule from the chair of the Senate
that it was in effect unconstitu-
tional to filibuster an attempt to
change the Senate rules at the
outset of a congressional session.
Paralyzed by this ruling, Senate
liberals were unable to revise the
cloture rule in what they con-
sidered a meaningful way.
When he assumed the presi-
dency, however, Johnson became
a truly national figure. He accept-
ed completely the Kennedy civil
rights program and even was able
to strengthen it when it passed
through Congress.
* . * .,
UNLIKE JOHNSON, Barry Gold-
water was known in his earlier
political career as a strong sup-
porter of civil rights. According to
the Congressional Quarterly, he
helped to desegregate the Arizona
National Guard, Phoenix public
schools and businesses, and his
own family's business. He once
gave $500 to the NAACP, and in
1950 he joined the Urban League,
of which he is still a member.
Early in 1953, Goldwater was
a co-sponsor of a bill advocated
by the NAACP which would have
made discrimination by an em-
ployer or labor organization
against a worker because of race
an unfair practice under the Taft-
Hartly Act. Under the bill, the
federal government would have
had full power to stop such dis-
criminatory practices. This is di-
rectly opposed to the Arizona sen-
ator's stand on the FEPC portion.
of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
GOLDWATER voted for both
the 1957 and 1960 civil rights
bills; in fact, the Congressional
Quarterly notes that from 1957-
1960 the voting records of John-
son and Goldwater on civil rights
issues were strikingly similar. It
is also interesting to note that
during the entire period when
they served together in the Sen-
ate the two candidates took the
same stand on 42 of the 52 civil
rights votes which occurred and
differed on 5 others.
However, Goldwater's refusal to
vote for cloture as a matter of
principle (since Arizona's admis-
sion to the union, no senator from
that state has ever voted for
cloture), his strong ideological be-
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civil rights drive, Goldwater its
opponents.
Yet there is good reason to be-
lieve that the public image of
both candidates in the field of
civil rights is oversimplified and
in some cases plainly incorrect.
Certainly Lyndon Johnson has not
always been the champion of Ne-
gro civil rights that he is today,
nor is Barry Goldwater close, in
his personal views, to being a
segregationist.
IN AN EFFORT to clarify the
positions of the candidates, the
Congressional Quarterly Weekly
lief in state's rights, and the in-
creased identification of his poli-
tical fortunes with the Southern
states caused him to react pro-
gressively less favorably to civil
rights measures and this year he
voted against the Civil Rights
Act in the Senate.
It is perhaps ironic that the
former Southerner, Johnson, is
now a national leader because he
cast his fortune with the West,
while the former Westerner, Gold-
water, finds that his aspirations
of becoming a national leader de-
pend to a great extent on becom-
ing identified with the South.
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