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Emarm AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNlvERSrrT OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PusucATnos
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Appraises Legislature's Education Appropriations
I
where Opinions Are Fe, 420 MAYNARD ST., ANN ARBOR, MICH.
Truth Will Prevail
NEws PoHNE: 764-0552
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN KENNY
The Trimester Solution
Can't Tame the Monster
TRIMESTER, as run by the University,
is definitely not the solution to the
current overcrowded condition of Ameri-
can universities.
It may be a jump ahead of the past
solution to the problem, which resulted
in the appearance on the American scene
of the monster-sized institutions for high-
er education-the University of Califor-
nia, the University of Wisconsin, the Uni-
versity of Minnesota and, of course, our
own University. But trimester is not an
all-inclusive solution to the enrollment
crisis and its accompanying dilemmas.
In the educators' theories, trimester did
seem wonderful. To handle increasing
numbers of students, the thought ran,
simply adapt the universities to process
more students in less time without all the
tremendous expansion of facilities. Run
the students through one added semester
a year. Or better, add a fourth semester
to the school year. Run the universities on
a full, heavy, waste-less schedule all year
long!
IT LOOKS GOOD, but after three semes-
ters conducted at trimester speed,
more and more students and faculty at
the University are aware that this is not
the^ solution. There is simply , a limit
the amount of material that can be really
learned from any course in a foreshort-
ened period of time. Under the current
trimester system, courses cannot cover
as much material as they should as well
as they should. They cannot adequately
prepare the student for higher-level
courses and for his vocation.
At least one other college besides the
University has found all this quite true.
Smith College in Massachusetts, always
a pioneer in educational experiments,
used to have the shortened terms of the
trimester. Students were expected to ab-
sorb all course material before Christmas.
The result was, as one bright student put
it, "utter chaos. People spent all their
time writing papers and jamming in huge
reading assignments at the last minute
without comprehending anything." Hav-
ing learned from experience that this
schedule does not work, Smith has prof-
ited and for the time being is going back
to a more regular schedule, with exams
after Christmas vacation.
IF TRIMESTER is definitely not the so-
lution to increasing enrollment pres-
sure, what is? Leaders in higher educa-
tion are actively discussing the problem.
One very interesting proposal has been
made, though it is still in the infant
stage and does not yet pretend to be a
final solution.
The proposal involves the development
of a network of junior colleges in every
state. Ideally, a state-run run junior col-
lege of good standing would be within
commuting distance of each student qual-
ified for and desiring higher education.
This system could develop directly out of
the old system of agricultural, normal,
teachers' and state colleges that every
state already has. As a matter of fact,
this system is already developing slowly
and disorganizedly on its own. What it
needs is directional planning, and support
from state legislatures.
The advantage of an organized system
of junior colleges would be that a large
number of students could be handled at
once. Being small and mostly within
commuting distance of homes, the junior
colleges could help eliminate many of
the in loco parentis, alienation and ident-
ity problems that predominate in the first
two years of college, particularly at a
large university.
Students who had completed their first
two years of college could then go on to
the larger institutions of higher educa-
tion with their distribution work com-
pleted and their minds set on a major.
(This alone would eliminate the problem
of the devoted professor who must put
up with whole lecture halls of uninter-
ested students merely taking his course
for distribution requirements.)
NO LONGER would the important uni-
versities be inundated at the lower
levels. They would be free to devote more
time, work-hours and money to the de-
velopment of specialized and graduate fa-
cilities. For it is not only the demands
for more education at the undergraduate
level that have been increasing. Demands
for more, and more specialized, educa-
tion at the graduate level have also been
increasing. (The trend is so marked that
a member of the University psychology
department recently said that education
is heading toward the point where stu-
dents doing graduate work in many fields
in the not-too-distant future can ex-
pect to be at least 30 before they are fin-
ished.)
Moreover, it has been pointed out that'
quite a few universities are not merely
state or national institutions. The work
that goes on at them is vitally important
to the whole world. This means that cer-
tain obligations are involved. Their grad-
uate, specialized and research facilities
cannot'be sacrificed, even in the face of
growing college-age populations.
Trimester is nothing but a stopgap, and
no real answer to the enrollment problem
presently confronting American universi-
ties. And although the supplementary sys-
tem of junior colleges may be no final
answer in itself, educators, administra-
tors and legislators might do well to start
developing it as a step in the right direc-
tion.
-SUSAN COLLINS
To the Editor:
THE FINE editorial answer by
Leonard Pratt to the earlier
ridiculous assertions by Thomas
Copi concerning the Governor and
education was a bit too defensive.
A brief look at the Romney record
will explain.
The figures positively show that
Governor Romney has been a boon
to education and has given it
greater priority than any other
part of the budget.
According to statistics in both
Challenge magazine, the official
publication of the Michigan
Chamber of Commerce, and Sen-
ator Stanley Thayer's 1964 legis-
lative summary, the increase in
the Administration and Opera-
tions Budget from '63-'64 (the
last Swainson budget) to '64-'65
(the present Romney budget) was
approximately 16.5 per cent,
whereas the increase in state ap-
propriations to higher education
was approximately 35 per cent.
AS FOR Copi's uninformed as-
sertion that a state surplus was
kept for political purposes, if he
were to acquaint himself with
both the new constitution and
some materials dealing with state
financing, he would find that the
problems in budgeting are more
complex than the wheeler-dealers'
cry of "spend, spend, spend."
For instance, in The Daily of
Dec. 3, the stae comptroller said
that "the entire surplus, however,
cannot be pumped into, the state
spending program in any one
year." This seems to be a con-
stitutional limitation.
Furthermore, he noted that "we
would be in trouble in the coming
year if we spent the entire sur-
plus this year. By adding large
sums to the budget, you build up
programs that will not decrease
in the coming years: you build up
repetitive demands."
Hence, it is clear that Copi is
wrong about the reasons und. r-
lying the presence of the surplus
and the procedure for appropriat-
ing.
OBVIOUSLY, Copi does not
realize that Nov. 3 has passed and
the people of Michigan have over-
whelmingly rejected both his
theories and the candidate who
so forcefully (?) expounded them.
-Alan M. Sager.
Executive Director,
Michigan Federation of
College Republicans
Peacemaker
To the Editor:
"HE PEACEMAKER," now on
stagerat Trueblood, deserves a
little more careful attention than
your reviewer gave it. I found it
the first presentation of this sea-
son which did not evaporate a
few minutes after leaving the
theatre. Neither the play itself,
nor the direction, can be serious-
ly faulted. If there is a weakness,
it is in the character of the peace-
maker himself, not as written,
but as played.
It is an extremely tricky role,
and, at least in the premiere per-
formance, suffered in comparison
to the performances which so
fully brought to life the leaders
of the two clans.
Garret, although the central
character, is not himself a moving
force in the events of the play,
It was essential, therefore, that
he make his personal dilemna
clear and believable to the audi-
ence. This he failed to do.
Hn
THE incredibly skillful constru-
tion of the play can be seen in
just one example relating to Gar-
ret, the peacemaker. It is made
abundantly plain that all the
events on stage could have been
triggered by the first thoughtless
knifing of Hatfield's brother by
the young McCoys. The fact that
Garret himself shot Harmon Mc-
Coy two years earlier is completely
extraneous to the course of the
action. But it is Garret's own
flaw which involves him in the
feud, which makes him the peace-
maker and eventually leads to his
death.
The power of Ogiesby's play
would be obvious simply by read-
ing it. But "The Peacemaker" is
theatre. It has been superbly di-
rected and staged. And for the
most part, the cast brings out
every dimension of the characters.
-Michael Eisler
Punishment
To the Editor:
IN A RECENT Daily article, the
National Association of Manu-
facturers commented on J. Edgar
Hoover's recent appraisal of what
needs to be done to combat "the
rise in crime-which has been
greatest in our cities."
This association, one which rep-
resents a major victim of U.S.
crime, i.e. business, concurred with
Mr. Hoover's belief that crime
can best be suppressed by:
1) a more punitive approach
by the support for law-enforce-
ment officials who arrest;
2) a reversal of "the tendency
to treat ham-handed, 200 pound,
bewhiskered young men as 'ju-
veniles,' no matter how awful and
repetitive their offenses."
THE ASSOCIATION, in para-
phrasing the F.B.I. chief, paints
a vivid picture-a picture to which
unfortunatelyvtoo many people
respond positively.
I refer to this as being unfor-
tunate because Hoover's two sug-
gestions for the suppression of
crime are not only contrary to the
protection of Americans through
civil rights as defined by the
courts and demanded by the
people, but also give evidence of
lack of knowledge as to the causes
of crime, conditions which main-
tam it, and the directions in which
efforts must be made in order to
reduce it.
IT'S EASY to arrive at the con-
clusion that every criminal who
is incarcerated in a penitentiary
means one less criminal out in
the general population. t's even
easier,chowever, to disregard the
statistics which indicate high
rates of recidivism, the commis-
sion of new offenses, for the men
released from the prisons.
The difficult approach is the
one which social scientists have
taken in examining the differen-
tial effects of imprisonment as
opposed to such methods as al-
lowing a man to remain in the
community under probationary
supervision, or the sentencing of
an offender to a short prison
term which is followed by parole
supervision in the community.
These latter methods not only
cut public expense many times
over but also give evidence of
much greater success than long-
term imprisonment, especially
with the recent development of
rehabilitative facilities located in
the community, i.e. "half-way
houses."
THE INCREASINGLY evident
practices of the courts, which Mr.
Hoover terms "leniency," are a
response to current knowledge re-
garding the relative efficacy of
the various alternatives. The oc-
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casional difficulties which law-
enforcement officers face in court
are no different from those which
other "expert" witnesses such as
psychiatrists and social workers
experience in presenting testi-
mony; the courts are concerned
with "due process of law" which
is guaranteed constitutionally to
every person coming before the
bench.
Just as other "expert" witnesses
need to adjust their presentation
of evidence to this requirement, so
must law-enforcement officials. if
it is true that occasionally of-
fenders are "let off" due to tech-
nical errors in the presentation
of charges or other aspects of
formal legal procedure, :ert anly
t h e Constitutional protections
were meant to be afforded to all
the people, not only those who
never come before a court.
IN REFERENCE to Hoover's
paraphrased characterization of
the "ham-handed, 200 pound, be-
whiskered young men," the evolu-
tion of the current philosophy
which affords minors protection
of the state rather than punish-
ment is a product of the fact
that a child is not considered to
be in full attainment of adult
capacities to determine behavior.
(the age of adult responsibility
is 17 in Michigan).
The court dealing with a de-
linquent youth views itself as a
substitute parent for a child in
need of guidance and supporting
help. The era of imprisoning
children in jails intended for
adults is passed and has been
followed by a more enlightened
philosophy towards providing the
kind of control and treatment
which such children need. Indeed,
current legislation permits com-
mitment of delinquent youth for
terms of treatment and control
that frequently are longer in dura-
tion than comparative sentences
for adults.
*. *
IN CONCLUSION, the problems
of crime causation and prevention
are multi-faceted. The "softness"
which the National Association of
Manufacturers decried is not satis-
factory to this association be-
cause it does not result in ab-
solute protection to business.
Neither would compulsory long-
term institutionalization.
More is needed in order to ef-
fectively combat crime and ju-
venile delinquency, but effects of
a positive nature are unlikely
whenhthe assumption that harsh
punishment will deter criminals
is taken as true.
-Roger A. Roffman, '65SW
'LOS OLVIDADOS':
Bunuel Fails To Deliver
Message of Pessimism
At the Cinema Guild
LUIS BUNUEL, the Spaniard-in-
exile film-maker, has been
shocking audiences for years with
his wierd and macabre movies.
Earlier this .year, the Cinema
Guild brought his very early,
short, silent film, "Le Chien An-
dalou" to the campus and it
shocked many in the audience,
even in today's milieu of violence
on television and prurience in
novels.
A close-up of a man slitting a
woman's eyeball is not common
fare on the screen or in life. In
this case, Bunuel, in conjunction
with the surrealist painter, Sal-
vador Dali, was not attempting
to "say" much, but rather to
create an emotion. One's nerves
were made so taut with expecta-
tion of further such "events" that
Bunuel didn't have to do any-
thing terrifying, he only had' to
hint that he might do it at any
Economics and Out-of-Staters
IN ANY DISCUSSION of out-of-state un-
dergraduate students, it is assumed by
all parties that such students represent
an economic burden to the state. The
state, through the University, diverts its
resources and capital to the education of
other states' students; this loss is com-
pensated for by higher tuitions, but not
completely. In exchange for paying the
difference, the University achieves a "cos-
mopolitan" atmosphere.
But must the battle for more or fewer
out-of-state students be fought on the
basis of whether or not the "cosmopoli-
tan" atmosphere is worth it? Or are there
reasons to question the assumption that
out-of-state students cost the state mon-
ey?
THERE ARE. First-and most cynically
--there is the money such students
bring into the state-$2400 a year apiece,
approximately. And to support 1000 out-
of-state students, it is estimated that
3600 more faculty, staff and townspeople
H. NEIL BERKSON, Editor
KENNETH WINTER EDWARD HERSTEIN
Managing Editor Editorial Director
ANN GWIRTZMAN..............Personnel Director
MILL BULLARD ..... ..........Sports Editor
MICHAEL SATTINGER .... Associate Managing Editor
are needed, resulting in a multiplier ef-
fect on the state's product. In this re-
spect - and perhaps in others - higher
education is like the tourist trade.
Second, admitting out-of-state stu-
dents has long-range effects on the
state's economy. One must first escape
from the dogmatic idea that it is inher-
ently right and correct to educate any
student who comes from Michigan rath-
er than a student from another state.
Consider two students: one is raised here,
goes to a Michigan college or university
and then gets a job in some other state;
the second is raised in some other state,
goes to school in Michigan and ends up
working here.
Which student should a state institu-
tion have an obligation to educate?
Which benefits the state of Michigan
more? Which student is the state edu-
cating for someone else? If the state's
commitment is to its future-to an ex-
panded economy -then the answer is
clearly the second, the out-of-state stu-
dent who stays in Michigan.
THE LACK OF CERTAINTY in knowing
which student will ultimately prove
advantageous to Michigan's economy
makes it imperative that the state not
regard out-of-state students as parasites.
Other uncertainties challenge the as-
sumption that out-of-state students are
FOLKLORE SOCIETY:
Folk Music Well Presented in Three Acts
moment. This is one way he com-
municates to us his belief that
"this is not the best of all possible
worlds."
"LOS OLVIDADOS" (literally,
"The Forgotten," and titled for
English speaking audiences, "The
Young and the Damned") is the
story of juvenile delinquents in a
Mexico City slum. The acting is
erratic. It is sometimes good be-
cause of the energy exhibited by
the young actors but more often it
is only leery and violent.
A great part of the blame -for
the faults goes to the scriptwriter
and Bunuel himself, who, I am
sure, never let the writer wander
away from his own conceptions
and ideas. There is the expected
amount of violence from the kids
-several brutal beatings and one
taunting and robbery of a blind
man-but it is never shocking,
moving or meaningful. "The Un-
touchables" have exhibited a finer
finesse with violence than Bunuel
accomplishes in this motion pic-
ture.
*< * *
THE STORIES of the delin-
quents sometimes hint that they
may be verging on the tragic,
but this is never fully exploited.
Bunuel only manages to engender
a weak feeling of pity, which is
as far from tragedy as it is from
comedy. In fact, Bunuel says most
emphatically that love is what
the boys need. Love would solve
all their problems and they would
not be delinquents anymore-at
least some of them wouldn't.
Haven't we seen this message
countless times before from Holly-
wood and the television industry?
Howdy Doody was preaching the
same sermon when Bunuel made
this film. We can only marvel
at the delicate camera work and
the fine pacing of the picture.
But Bunuel is not the man to
deliver the message of pessimism
he so believes in and has diffi-
culty putting across to his audi-
ence.
HIS earlier films have shocked
us with their freedom in subject
matter and approach. His later
films have not shown that he has
grown and developed through the
years, up to 1950. However, I can
THE UNIVERSITY Folklore Society concert last night featured just
three acts, but all were excellent.
Rick Ruskin is a Blues singer and guitar-picker of tremendous skill.
Folkniks who remember him from last year's Folk Festival were amazed
at how much he has relaxed and improved his style since then. His
explicit first-rate guitar and voice cover the fact that too often his
songs are done in completely neutral style, devoid of the wry, tired,
philosophical, Blues feeling.
But he does sometimes come up with real Blues feeling, notably on
songs he's learned from Reverend Gary Davis such as "You've Got
to Move." Presently, much of his performance is beautiful but empty-
like a finely-engraved, solid-silver wassail cup with no wassail in it.
But this will pass,
JIM WESLEY, I'm convinced, is the male counterpart to Joan Baez,
with his magnificent baritone voice and flamboyant guitar. His only
problem, the opposite of Ruskin's, is in toning down the feeling in his
voice so as not to overwhelm the story which rarely happens. He
squarely hits the mark-a sense of resigned, bleak loneliness with an
undercurrent of awe for this big nation-in "I'm a Drifter" and the
powerful "High Flyin' Bird."
Bob Dylan's "Times They Are A-Changin' " and "I Shall Be Free"
(both versions blended) have never been done better, even by Dylan
himself. Wesley's voice rings out like a trumpet on the choruses, his
guitar bounces and drives the song and his harmonica punctuates the
text with notes even Dylan didn't think of.
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