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VOL. LXXV, No. 51 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1964 SEVEN CENTS
SIX PAGES
Sweet Alters Latin Teaching
By SUSAN COLLINS
Educators all over the world
have been paying close attention
in the past ten years to the Uni-
versity's classics department.
During this time the teaching
of Latin in the United States has
undergone a period of extensive
innovation and change.
Almost single handedly respon-
sible for the booming interest in
Latin, and for the sharply increas-
ing numbers of students who are
enthusiastic about the language,
are the revolutionary methods for
its teaching developed at the Uni-
versity.'
ReThe originator and developer of
these new Latin teaching methods
is Prof. Waldo E. Sweet, who
joined the staff of the classics de-
partment in 1953.
On the Way Out
Before Sweet began experiment-
ing in new methods, many ob-
servers thought that teaching of
Latin was on the way out in
the U.S.
There were several reasons for
this :
In the first place, Latin is a
complicated language. For exam-
ple, any noun may have up to ten
different forms, each consisting of
a basic stem plus various suffixes,
In addition, each : verb goes
through a much more complicated
set of forms, depending on tense,
person, and numbers of persons.
A single verb may take up to 300
forms, since the verb endings are
put on stems that also vary.
Combined with all the word
forms and complicated rules there
are hundreds of exceptions and
technical names for everything.
Two Years
Unlike French or Spanish or
other modern languages, it took
one to two' years under ordinary
methods to learn all the grammar
before students could even begin
to read literature. When reading
finally began, it went slowly.
A student beginning his third
year of Latin under the old teach-
ing methods could hope to read
60-80 fairly long lines of poetry
per hour.
Since Latin was considered a
"dead" language, all classroom
activity and recitation was car-
ried on in English, except for
occasional oral pronunciation of"
the text.
Beginning Latin courses often
consisted of solid memorization
and drill work.
Changes in teaching methods
were desperately needed. Twelve
years ago the nearest thing on the
market to a progressive textbook
was a coy volume that told about
a "pickusnickus" on which the
p a r t i c i p an t s drank "cokam-
colam."
Prior to 1957, Sweet experi-
mented with teaching methods
that would improve upon the old
approach to Latin. In 1957, he
published the textbook, "Latin: A
Structural Approach," that set in
er had to spend a year and a half
motion the teaching revolution.
Method
In his book, Sweet described a
method in which students no long-
(or, for college students, a semes-
ter and a half) learning words,
rules, categories and technicalities.
Instead, the student would start
by learning to read whole sen-
tences at a time in Latin. Using
this method, the beginning student
learns to read texts in Latin that
he could not previously tackle un-
til his second year (or semester)
of Latin.
Universities and high schools
all over the nation were quick to
pick up the new teaching method.
It stimulated heated discussions
in classics departments of univer-
sities all over the world.
The next step in the revolution
in Latin teaching methods came
in October of 1958, when B. F.
Skinner published his article in
Science Magazine entitled "Teach-
ing Machines," which laid the
foundations for p r o g r a m m e d
learning.
Members of the University
classics department saw immed-
iately how easily the structural
approach to Latin could fit into
programmed learning.
In an article on teaching ma-
chines published about two years
ago, Sweet illustrated the principle
underlying programmed learning:
"It is a paradox that the more the
master teaches the less the student
learns. In the final analysis, if
learning takes place at all, the
student must do it by himself.
Obscured
"Traditional classroom proced-
ures have often obscured this fact.
The student, in effect, defies us to
teach him. Programmed learning,
on the other hand, makes it crystal
clear to the student that he and
he alone must do the task.-.-.
Programmed learning reduces the
teaching and increases the learn-
ing."
All programmed learning has at
least two specific features. The
first feature is that the material
to be learned is reduced to many
small steps. Each step leads log-
ically to the next, and each is
small, in order to minimize the
chance of error. The student does
not often repeat errors, for he has
correct responses reinforced con-
stantly.
The second feature of program-
med learning is that the student
finds out at once whether he is
right or wrong. He does this by
pulling a lever on a machine or
by sliding a mask in a book.
If the program is good, 90 per
cent of the time the student's
answer will be correct. This im-
mediate reinforcement of the stu-
dent's response increases t h e
chances that he will get the
answer right the next time, even
if the question is phrased a little
differently so that it leads into
another important point in the
material.
Equipment used for program-
med learning i n Latin at the
University includes a booklet, a
mask for the booklet, tape re-
corder (optional) and earphones
(also optional).
Program Failed
In his article on programmed
learning, Sweet says that "if the
student gives a wrong answer, the
program has failed to teach this
particular point. It has been said,
only in jest, that there are no
wrong answers, only wrong ques-
tions. It is the function of the
programmer to reduce the number
of errors as far as seems prac-
tical."
Sweet adds that "while the
writer of a textbook has no real
way of knowing where his book is
weak, the programmer's own be-
havior in composing the program
is constantly modified in a way
that a textbook can never be."
Sweet maintains that program-
med learning in Latin offers sev-
eral distinct advantages over text-
book learning. In an ordinary
classroom, a student may make
See SWEET, Page 2
Britain Threatens
Southern Rhodesia
LONDON ()-Britain told Rhodesia yesterday it will be guilty
of treason and banished from the Commonwealth if it declares itself
independent. The white rulers of the East African territory reacted
angrily.
Prime Minister Ian Smith of Southern Rhodesia accused the new
British Labor government of breaking an understanding worked out
with the Conservative government.
STEPHEN F. IDEMA
IFC7 Group
Sets, Fines
The Executive Committee of
Interfraternity Council disciplined
Sigma Phi and Evans Scholars
last night for co-sponsoring a
party at which alcoholic bever-
ages were consumed.
Sigma Phi received a $350 fine
with $150 suspended until the end
of the fall semester in 1965, and
Evans Scholars was fined $150
with $75 suspended for the same
period.
"The size of the fines depended
in part' on the size of the two
chapters' membership," IFC Ex-
ecutive Vice-President Stephen F.
Idema, '65, explained. "Evans
Scholars is a considerably smaller
house than Sigma Phi."
The party in question was held
at the Sigma Phi house on Oct. 2.
A University investigating offi-
cer stopped to check the house
and, upon entering, noticed a
trail of beer on the floor leading
to a closet door. Sigma Phi mem-
bers admitted that beer was
present, but said that no one in
the house at the time had a key to
the closet.
The officer considered the
liquid on the floor to be sufficient
evidence and reported the incident
to the Office of Student Affairs.
The two fraternities assumed
equal responsibility for the party.
PRIME MINISTER SMITH
Suggest Add
To Language'
Requirement
By SHIRLEY ROSICK
Students on the literary college
steering committee recently dis-
cussed adding an extra year to
the language requirement for those
students who place out of all four
semesters of language now re-
quired.
Some of the committee mem-
bers suggested the extra year for
the purpose of exposing all stu-
dents to college-level language
courses.
The steering committee has
been discussing the foreign lan-
guage distribution requirements
for some time. Chairman Edward
Mehler, '65, said that the steering
committee will probably submit
a report to the faculty curriculum
committee within a few weeks.
Mehler said the committee
members were generally dissatis-
fied with the fourth-semester
language classes and recommend-
ed that the literature and culture
of a language be emphasized more
tan grammar. One committee
member said that although pres-
ent fourth-semester courses do
expose students to literature, it is
generally literature of a fifth-
grade level.
The steering committee has al-
so discussed establishing two new
types of advanced language
courses. One would be aimed at
improving conversational ability.
The other would offer students a
chance to use foreign language in
their specific fields of study.
The conversational course would
be a one-credit seminar, possibly
taughi by graduate students from
the language department and
would meet two hours a week. A
few books might be assigned. This
course would be aimed specifically
at those students who do not have
time for the work required in the
three-credit literature courses now
available.
The course would be conducted
on a "pass or fail" basis; that is,
credit Auid be given, but a grade
from the course would not be
used in computing scholastic
averages.
Cognate courses, the second new
type suggested by the committee,
would be independent of the lan-
guage department.
He told the Rhodesian Parliament
the British want tosee, African
nationalists lead Southern Rho-
desia.
Southern Rhodesia's ambassa-
dor in London said Britain and his
country are "rapidly getting to
the point of no return." Commis-
sioner Evan Campbell told report-
ers: "Frankly, at the moment I
cannot see a way out."
Last Remnant{
Southern Rhodesia is the last
remnant of the now dissolved
Central African Federation. It is
an East African territory of 3.6
million Africans and 221,500
whites under white rule.
The British government, Con-
servative as well as Laborite, has
demanded that the entire popula-
tion of .voting age be allowed to
select a government, as was done
in the case of the two other mem-
bers of the old federation that
achieved independence, Northern
Rhodesia, now Zambia, and Nyas-
alandfi now Malawi.
Prime Minister Harold Wilson's
government was reported to be
seeking u n i t e d Commonwealth
backing for its grave warning that
a declaration of independence by
the Salisbury government was
treason and rebellion.
Flies Home
Commonwealth Secretary Arthur
Bottomley flew home from Lusaka,
Zambia's capital, to report to the
cabinet on his talks about the
serious Rhodesian situation with
the leaders of Kenya, Uganda,
Zambia and other Commonwealth
countries.
Bottomley told reporters the
government still hoped to find a
solution to the crisis through ne-
gotiation. He said the Rhodesian
government already had shown
defiance by rejecting Wilson's re-
quest, made Sunday night, for
assurance that a unilateral dec-
laration of independence would
not be made.
Smith's reply that he could not
give this assurance was received
in London late Monday night, in
formants said, and this decided
Wilson to issue his warning that:
' 'Open Act'
"A declaration of independence
would be an open act of rebellion
and it would be treasonable to
take steps to give effect to it.
"An illegal declaration of inde-
pendence in Southern Rhodesia
would bring to an end relation-
ships between her and Britain,
would cut her off from the rest
of the Commonwealth, from most
foreign governments and from in-
ternational or'ganizations, would
inflict disastrous economic dam-
age upon her and would leave her
isolated and virtually friendless in
a largely hostile continent." j
School Fails
To Reinstate
Protestors
By BRUCE WASSERSTEIN
E. W. Strong, Chancellor of the
University of California at Berke-
ley, has refused to temporarily
reinstate the eight students who
were suspended for violating a
ban on political activity Susan
Johnson, editor of the Daily Cali-
fornian, told the Daily last night.
This decision was made despite
the recommendation last Saturday
of the ad hoc committee of the;
Academic (faculty) Senate, which
is charged with reviewing the stu-
dents' suspensions, that the stu-
dents be reinstated till the com-
mittee is able to complete its
study.
Srong's stand has touched off)
considerable reaction. Ernest Be-c
sig, executive director of the,
Northern California Branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union,
who, as counsel for the suspended
students, originally brought up the
issue of temporarily reinstating
the students, said that if necessary
he will "bring the case to court."'
Dissatisfied
Meanwhile, leaders of the Free'
Speech Movement, which sponsor-
ed the original political demon-
strations, are now dissatisfied
again with the "faith" of the ad-'
ministration in carrying out its
promises "in action and not just
on paper," the program which
University of California President
Clark Kerr announced at the uni-
versity's regents meeting recently.'
Kerr's major points were:
-The addition of two more
members of the administration,
two more members of the faculty
who will be appointed by the
Academic (faculty) Senate, and
two more students to the Faculty
Study Committee which is charged
with reviewing the broad question
of political activity at Bergeley.
-An ad hoc committee of the
Academic Senate will be establish-
ed to review the cases of eight
students who were suspended from
Berkeley for violating the ban on
political activity.
F.S.M. leaders allege that Kerr
is now trying to lobby a bill in
the California legislature which
would make the ban against direct
political action on the Berkeley
campus into a state law.
Peter Franck, one of the F.S.M.'s
lawyers claims that the adminis-
tration is determined to "put
teeth into the anti-political ban."
Resort To Action
The F.S.M. now threatens to
resort to action if the administra-
tion continues to act in "bad
faith" and refuses to grant the
following four freedoms:
-Freedom to advocate off cam-
pus political action on the Berkeley
campus;
-Freedom to recruit on campus
for off campus political organiza-
tions;
-Freedom to solicit funds on
campus for all campus political or-
ganizations and
-Freedom from harassment.
Board Approves
New Publication
'Offset' Gets Permission To Print
One Issue; To Observe Operations
By IRA SHOR
The Board in Control of Student Publications last night granted
Offset, a planned campus literary magazine, permission to publish one
issue. Further publication will depend on the success of the maga-
zine's operations.
"We are concerned with the financial soundness of the venture
and with its impact on the other recognized publications of the Board.
"We want to see how it will work out," Prof. Luke K. Cooperrider of
the Law School, chairman of the board, said.
George White, '65, editor of Generation, opposed the new maga-
zine. "I foresee many conflicts and the eventual dissolution of what
I have been trying to build with
literary magazine of which this
campus, its writers and the Uni-
versity can be proud," he said.
Difficulties
"My successor will be saddled
with difficulties he should not
face - a rival publication that
would divide, rather than unite,
creative effort," White added.
Michael Handelman, '66, editor
of Offset, feels that the scope of
Generation is no longer wide
enough to cover the expanded Uni-
versity. While the campus has
doubled, Generation has remained
approximately the same size, he
said. While Generation concen-
trates on artistic writings, Offset
will be composed almost entirely
of essays on political, social and
economical topics.
Contrary to Handelman, White
does not believe that Generation
is an inadequate outlet for the
creativity on, campus.
'Fills No Gap'
"I see no gap that Offset fills,
unless it sticks to publishing ex-
actly what it first proposed -
honors essays. Generation has
looked for such materials, but
never found them forthcoming;'
White said.
Prof. Marvin Felheim of the
English department and faculty
sponsor of Offset, is a proponent
of the new magazine.
Offset, which was first organ-
ized last May, has applied to the
board for permission to publish
but not for financial aid. The staff
of the new magazine is raising
funds through the sale of pens
and through a Cinema Guild
sponsorship.
Law Club Poll
Elects Johnson
A mock election conducted by
the Lawyers Club yesterday for
students and faculty members of
the Law School resulted in a vic-
tory for President Lyndon B.
Johnson.
A total of 552 students voted for
Johnson, 228 for Barry Goldwater
and 13 for neither candidate.
Twenty - eight faculty members
voted for Johnson, one for Gold-'
water and one for neither.
Generation - that is, a quality
League Council1
Discusses SGC
Ticket Plans
By CAROL HASKILL
. League Council last night dis-
cussed several proposals from Stu-
dent Government Council to al-
leviate the "unfair and confused"
situation which resulted from the
sale of block tickets for the Home-
coming performance of The
Mitchell Trio.
Criticism centered on the prob-
lem .of long lines. Many students
waited days for tickets, but were
{
Residence College Faculty Committee.
Discusses Alternatives for Curriculum
PROF. COOPERRIDER
Sees Qualit
In Current,
Freshmen
By RICHARD WOLFE
This year's 6300-student fresh-
man class is the most intelligent,
best prepared and largest group
ever to enter the Universtty, ac-
cording to Bryon L. Groesbeck, as-
sociate director of admissin&
His judgment is based on ob-
jective criteria comparing last
year's freshman class with the '68
group. The criteria include high
school class rank, aptitude and
achievement tests, and advanced
placement credit.
Groesbeck observed that the
applications surge combined with
better admissions techniqsues have
contributed to bringing a much
more selective class to Ann Arbor.
"All of the colleges on campus
are becoming selective," Groesbeck
pointed out. In past years only
the literary college has had to re-
ject students in extensive num-
bers. But starting last' spring,
qualified out-of-state students
were rejected from most of the
schools and colleges here, he said.
Groesbeck attributed the tough-
ening of admission policies to the
increasing ratio of applicants to
acceptances.
In 1963, 9000 students applied,
and 5500 gained admission. In
1964, 11,000 students applied, an
increase of 22 per cent over last
year. But only 6300 were accepted,
an increase of 15 per cent.
Another growing trend in new
freshman classes lies in the in-
creased participation of students
in the College Board Advanced
Placement Program. Some 629
members of the current freshman
class have taken advanced place-
ment courses in high school, as
opposed to last year's figure of
407, and 333 the year before.
For the first time nearly 60
per cent of all freshmen gradu-
ated in the upper 10 per cent of
their high school classes, and over
90 per cent came from the tpp
quarter of their classes, Groes-
beck said.
SGC To, Hear
Diag Motions
Student Government C oun c il
tonight will consider motions by
Barry Bluestone, '66, concernfig
the use of the Diag for rallies and
the distribution of literature.
Council will also consider a sub-
stitute for Bluestone's motion, pro-
posed by Sherry Miller, '65. Her
motion recommends that SGC ex-
ercize authority in the name of
Vice-President Wilbur K. Pierpont
to anrove the use of the Diag for
Group Seeks Improvement
In Study of Social Sciences
By ADALINE ADAMS
By JEFFREY GOODMAN
Discussion on how to teach
various courses in the residential
college led its faculty planning
committee into a preliminary in-
vestigation last night of what
should be taught in the first
place.
Continuing their consideration
of curriculum for the small liberal
arts college, where living and
learning will be closely integrated,
the committee heard a report from
Prof. Henry Ogden of the English
department on the great books
course. This course had been rec-
disappointed when the first few
people in line quickly bought them
all. Many tickets were subsequent-
ly resold at large markups. SGC
proposals included the following:
-Establishment -of a longer
selling period - possibly three
weeks-during which each living
unit could buy a maximum of two
tickets per member.
-A proposal that general ad-
mittance tickets only be sold for a
three week period preceding the
Homecoming performance. Sales
will be limted to six tickets per
person.
Several Council members had
the following suggestions:
--A proposal that two extra box
offices be used in cases of last
minute rushes in ticket sales. One
member suggested that location
of the extra box offices be kept
secret until 24 hours before they;
open.
-During the discussion, dis-
agreement arose over the defini-
tion of "block." League Council
President indicated that she will
discuss such a definition with
SGC members in the coming week.
A new survey of women's regu-
As a member of the Social Scien
Midwestern Universities, the University
a major cooperative effort, to improve
A developmental grant of $115,697
recently by the United States Office of
will be used for publication and rese
through Purdue University. They-
consortium was formed in 1963 atl
a meeting sponsored by the Com-
mittee on Institutional Coopera-
tion-a group of university of-
ficials which fosters inter-univer-
sity activities and coordination-
and now operates independently.
It includes members from all Big
Ten schools, the University of
Chicago, the North Central As-
sociation of Colleges and Secon-
dary Schools and several smaller
schools.
Prof. Ronald Lippit, project di-
rector of the Institutes for Social
Science Research, is chairman of h
the group. Prof. Robert S. Fox,
of the education school also rep-
resents the University on the con-
sortium.
The group is currently attacking
ce Education Consortium of
is currently participating in
social science education.
was made to the consortium
Education. The grant, which
arch, is to be administered
)NTEMPORARY
RELIGION:
ommended as required study by
the faculty group which wrote the
original drafts for the college last
year and the year before.
Ogden told the planning com-
mittee that it has constantly been
difficult to find competent teach-
ers for the great books course,
since the course covers such a
broad range of material.
Recommends Structure
He recommended structuring
the course the way it is presently
taught to honors students--a few
large lectures, with sections taught
by pre-doctoral instructors-in-
stead of the way it is taught to
nonhonors students-only sections,
and these taught by relatively
high level faculty. He said the
former method would require fewer
teachers; thus the competition
for staff, which the residential
college will most likely generate,
could be reduced.
While no decision was reached
on how to organize the course,
some members of the planning
committee objected to the large
lecture method, saying they favor-
ed the small-group approach.
Part of the committee wonder-
ed, however, if the course should
be required at all. Ogden noted
that students wihh a highly tech-
nical high school background
often derive less from great books
and are less interested in it than
those who have had greater ex-
posure to the humanities.
Valuable
these procedural questions, the
committee eventually decided to
retreat a step and consider just
what ought to be included in the
curriculum. In order not to repeat
many of the discussions by the
committee which originally out-
lined the residential college, the
planners decided to probe these
reports from last year to see how
final curriculum recommendations
were derived. It will then con-
tinue its discussions at its next
meeting. ,R
General Points
Those recommendations, ac-
cording to a report dated April,
1963, include the following general
points:
-Existing literary college dis-
tribution and concentration re-
quirements would be essentially re-
tained.
-The total number of courses
offered in each department would
generally be smaller than in the
literary college; thus a greater
emphasis than in the literary col-
lege would be placed on directed
reading courses.'
Built from Scratch
-Since much of the curriculum
might be built from scratch, some
of the "uneconomical and educa-
tionally dubious repetition of ma-
terial which has grown up" in
present courses might be avoided.
This might be done by greater
"cooperation and communication"
between staff members and by
establishing various interdisciplin-
Van Buren Cites Man's Role
By MERLE JACOB
"Man has difficulty in talking about the things that matter most
to him. The more he tries to explain such things-as what makes a
good party or what is love-the further he gets from what he means,".
Prof. Paul Van Buren of Temple University said last night.
The lecture was part of the Office of Religious Affairs series on
"Challenges to Religious Faith in a Century of Revolution." Prof. Van
Buren's was the first in a series of three talks on "The Challenge of
Contemporary to Traditional Theology."
He explained that men talk about their commitments, such as
the battle of the free world, the idea of freedom for all, without being
able to define in precise terms what they mean. Not being able to
talk about, or define, the components of what really "matters to man