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EDrED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNiVERSITY Of MICHiGAN
UNDER AUTHORiT OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUMLXcATON!
Where Opinions Are STUDENT PUwjCATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBRp, MICH., PtiONE wo 2-3241
Tith Will Proeni"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
'URDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1963 NIGHT EDITOR: MARILYN KORAL
"Harry, I Don't Think You're Going To
Like This One Any Better"
~WOMEN& CHILDREN FIRST
Superdog in Jail
By Dick Pollinger
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Oh Brave New World
That Has Such, People in It
rfWENTIETH-CENTURY men are con-
stantly being told that "science is
about to revolutionize your life!" Because
this proclamation ,Is made so frequently
and, for such trivial reasons, it has to a
large extent lost its impact.
But today this prediction is more mean-
ingful than ever before. Within this cen-
tury, we can expect scientific break-
throughs of unpr cedented human sig-
nificance - discoveries which will give
men the power to control the basic nature
of man himself.
The direction of research in two scien-
tific fields has especially significant im-
plications.
IN BIOLOGY, experiments with basic
genetic factors such as DNA are bring-
ing us closer to the day when the in-
herited characteristics of future genera-
tions will be under human control. And
the controversial attempts to create life
chemically put the day of "test-tube
babies" not far beyond that.
In psychology, researchers are discov-
ering more and more about how to ma-
nipulate behavior. "Within 30 years we
will be fully able to engineer human be-
havior," a University behavioral psychol-
ogist told his class recently.
Thus science is learning how to manip-
ulate the two forces-heredity and en-
vironment-which shape the nature of
men. These forces, of course, have always
been decisive, but they have always hit
the individual more or less at random.
Even the most determined parents do
a relatively sloppy job of molding their
children's minds. But wih these factors
neatly identified, classified and ready to
use, men with the right resources at their
disposal will be able to manufacture just
about whatever kind of humans they
want.
THE KNOWLEDGE which these re-
searchers will yield is itself neutral:
whether it becomes a curse or a blessing
will depend upon how it is used. The
frightening possibility is that these dis-
coveries will be preseited to a world
which is in moral chaos and woefully un-
prepared to decide what to do with them.
History isn't too reassuring. Atomic
energy, for example, was a major scien-
tific milestone-and whether the world
will survive that particular discovery re-
mains to be seen. Even so humanitarian
a development as medicine has been a
major factorin producing the population
explosion, an equally grave threat to
man's future. Aid the potential effects
of the discoveries now on the horizon are
much greater.
THE EASIEST dangers to spot are the
obvious evils. If, for example, at Hitler-
like tyrant got a hold of these biological
and psychological techniques, he could
use them in some selfish and cruel way.
Few will deny that such designs should be
opposed.
But this is an extreme case. As we move
away from such overtly nasty possibili-
ties, the question of whether a particular
use for these techniques represents a
tremendous humanitarian advance or an
insidious evil becomes harder to answer.
Knowledge of genetics, for example,
can be applied to preventing disfiguring
mutations. Fine. Why not take it a step
further and prevent the birth of too-fat,
too-thin, too-short and too-tall people?
And then should we go all the way and
turn out a whole human race of perfect
specimens? If not, why not? What would
we lose by doing it?
THE BEHAVIORAL techniques present
even stickier dilemmas. Psychology
now attacks problems such as mental ill-
ness by helping people adjust to their
environment. Well, why not make the ad-
justment asperfect as possible, by con-
ditioning people- to want only what they
can have? True, this would mean an end
to progress, but with everyone happy,
what other goals remain toward which to
progress?'
Perhaps the most staggering implica-
tions of all arise from the recent discov-
ery of "pleasure centers" in the brain.
Experiments have shown that when, a
certain part =of a rat's brain is stimulated
electrically, the rat will seek this stimu-
lation above all other rewards. He will
perform any stunts he can to get this
stimulation, even braving punishments he
would never undergo to get food or drink.
And if the stimulation is continued, he
will pass up food and drink completely,
simply lying there until he dies-presum-
ably in a state of ecstasy.
F THE FACTS suggested by these exper-
iments turn out. to be real, this is a
direct line to human happiness. So why
mess around with indirect routes? Why
shouldn't we all sit down, "plug ourselves
in," and follow the rats' blissful example?
After all, isn't happiness what we have
been seeking? True, the human race
would stop reproducing itself and die out,
but so what? Those who are alive and
"plugged in" would be happy, those who
were never born would never know the
difference.
In short, as science gives us more and
more basic control over our world and
ourselves, we are driven to reconsidering
our most basic values. And with such
powers falling into our hands, we will
find the answers which sufficed when
such questions were merely academic to
be inadequate. It is not enough to throw
up our hands and exclaim "how hor-
rible!" when we hear of "test-tube bab-
ies" and engineered behavior. On the
other hand, the smug assumption that
this is simply "progress," and therefore
wonderful, is equally dangerous.
I AM NOT ready to propose definite
answers to these questions. But clearly
an acute awareness and widespread dis-
cussion of them is needed. And this Uni-
versity - where many of these monu-
mental discoveries have been and will
be made-is the place where the debate
should begin.
-KENNETH WINTER
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NATIONAL STUDENT CONGRESS:
Moderates Win Out at USNSA4
The Truth, The Whole Truth
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the
third in a series of articles by Uni-
versity students who attended the
Sixteenth National Student Con-
gress last summer at Indiana Uni-
versity. Raymond L. Rusnak Jr. is
President of the Michigan Union
and an ex-officio member of Stu-
dent Government Council.)
By RAYMOND L. RUSNASK, JR.
Daily Guest Writer
AT THIS YEAR'S United States
National Student Association
Congress a strange twist occurred.
Student opinion changed as to the
benefits of the University's con-
tinued membership in the Nation-
al Student's Association. Many of
the people who last year advocat-
ed the University's withdrawal are
now actively working to improve
USNSA, while some of those who
argued to remain in USNSA are
now talking of withdrawal.
To understand this change, it is
necessary to examine the two op-
posing concepts of national unions
of students. The first concept, and
the more liberal of the two, starts
on the premise that students are
a class in themselves and as such
there exists certain unique rights
and privileges to which the stu-
dent class is entitled. To obtain
these rights they are striving to
form a "student movement" to act
as a political pressure group. This
is the form that is taken by many
unions of students in other coun-
tries.
THE MORE moderate of the
two concepts recognizes that this
type of movement may often be
necessary in countries where op-
position to the ruling forces is
difficult, but in this country the
same problems do not exist, for
there are many avenues for dis-
sent. The moderates feel that a
student's role is not as a member
of a homogeneous class, but rather
is only in the form of a commit-
ment to his intellectual develop-
ment. Consequently,asea student
he should only be concerned with
e v e n t s outside the University
which affect him directly as a
student.
Political expression on other
matters is considered necessary,
but this should be expressed
through one's role as a citizen, not
as a student, and there are many
groups that one can join in this
capacity, such as the Young Re-
publicans, Youn g Democrats.
Young Socialist Alliance or even
then Communist youth organiza-
tion.
To the moderates, then, USNSA
should become a forum of all opin-
ions, for in fact, students vary too
greatly in their ideology to have
any one position on matters of a
political nature. USNSA should
concentrate on the areas that di-
rectly affect students and student
governments, for in these areas
there can be consensus.
WITH THESE TWO basic phi-
losphies in mind, the question of
why the moderates wished to
withdraw from USNSA last year
may arise. There are basically
three reasons. First, a very astute
group of politicians had gained
control of the liberal group and,
through this group,\the National
that had not been considered by
the whole body and to keep other
legislation from the Congress floor.
The third objection concerns
the legislation itself. In the past,
this legislation came to the floor
in such great amounts that no
Congress delegate could truly be
informed on all these issues, and
most delegates, having never dis-
cussed issues of national.or inter-
national concern, were incapable
of any meaningful debate on any
of the issues. This allowed a very
few people to maneuver the whole
Congress into views that were not
representative.
In addition, the controversial
legislation came from committees
which were invariably dominated
by" students with vested interests,
while the average Congress rep-
resentative joined committees such
as "Student Welfare." This often
allowed the controversial issues to
be distorted to a particular view-
point. For example, the fact sec-
tion of these motions usually was
a set of half-truths only giving
half of the picture. The necessary
conclusions that were to be drawn
from the fact section, then, could
not be distinguished by someone
unaware of the problem as being
irresponsible, as they often were.
* * *
WITH THIS precedent in mind;
what were the changes that made
the moderates this year decide to
encourage people to stay in
USNSA? For one, the liberal lead-
ership collapsed; consequently,
without having liberal pressure
applied, the delegates voted more
moderately and the quality of the
legislation was more responsible.
In addition, the national offices,
in setting up this year's Congress,
broke the controversial 'areas up
into more committees so that the
liberals could not put all of their
strength into packing one com-
mittee and controlling its legisla-
tion as had been done in the past.
Perhaps the m o s t striking
changes that took place at this
year's Congress were the reforms
that the national office suggested
and the Congress adopted. Signi-
ficant among these reforms were
those that abolished the National
Executive Committee and limited
the number of items that could
come before the Congress. These
reforms do not make USNSA the
representative type of organiza-
tion that we would like it to be.
But for the first time it is now in
the position to bring about any
additional reforms from within, a
feat formerly impossible with the
existing power structures.
* * *
IN ORDER TO bring USNSA
back within the consensus of the
group that it purports to repre-
sent-the American students-it
is necessary for the moderates to
act now bef ore the radical ele-
ments - liberal and reactionary
alike-have a chance to rebuild
their power.,
To this end, I have organized
a group called the "Committee to
Stimulate Interest in USNSA." It.
is composed of 12 students, most
of whom are student body presi-
dents of their schools. These stu-
dents geographically r e p r e s e n t
most major areas in the United
States. In the next few months
they/will be writing to the student
governments of the schools that
have withdrawn from' USNSA and
other large non-member schools
urging them to reconsider joining
USNSA, pointing out the reforms
that have been made and the
benefits of membership. They will
also be offering their services as
speakers at schools in their area.
The initial reaction has been
favorable, as evidenced by a letter
I received yesterday from Greg
Gallo, current USNSA President,.
who said:
"It pleases me that the group
you contacted is of no particular
political persuasion. To do the
type of work you are setting out
for the committee, it is crucial.
that their commitment be to the,
furthering of the Association as
a forum of student opinion, and
as a meaningful educational or-
ganization, rather than as a
platform for a certain political
persuasion. I think that the
group that you have brought
together for this task is notable
for its long-term commitment to
the Association, and therefore
should be able to do an out-
standing job."
This admittedly is just a first
step but, along with additional re-
forms from within, USNSA in the
next few years will be able to meet
its potential for serving the
American college student.
M Y SIXTH GRADE teacher had
two unshakeable aesthetic
postulates, from which all art
proceeded: the most beautiful
phrase in the English language is
"cellar door," and the Coke bottle
is an ultimate visual triumph. She
died, unfortunately, several years
before this country was ready for
the truth of her viewpoint, and
never knew just how close, she
came.
I tried to imagine how she would
guide me yesterday, when I stop-
ped at the University art museum
to watch the hanging of the Pop
Art show which opens next Wed-
nesday. When I arrived, two very
natty gentlemen were grappling
with a vasty crate and only barely
winning the battle.
* * *
"I'M SAMUEL SACHS and
that's Bob Israel and we'll be with
you in a minute," said one.
"Mr. Sachs is the assistant di-
rector of the museum," Mr. Israel
allowed, "I just help. We're trying
to unpack these paintings from
New York." He attacked the edge
of the crate with a hammer and
crowbar.
Around the room were paintings
that had already been unpacked.
One especially striking one was
apparently a child's drawing of
three people and a truck (actually
entitled, I later found out, "Three
Figures and One Bus") which
featured the middle person expos-
tulating "RARAVO," and which
bore the legend "Tarzan" in an
intricate and original lettering
style. Next to it was a painting
of five slices of pumpkin pie on
an automat tray. Across the room
was an ink drawing of three lead-
ing collar styles, from a possible
Van Heusen shirt advertisement.
To one side was a pedestal sup-
porting a flowered machine (full
of gears visible through a little
window) topped with a bronze
bowling trophy, with another
opening on the machine designed
for a speaker, in fact encircled by
a pair of lips on which were etched
"FOOEY. "
I waited anxiously to see what
would be in the crate.
* * *
"THIS IS just a fraction of the
exhibit," said Mr. Sachs, and gin-
gerly unwrapped the first painting.
It was done in black and grey oil
and was divided halfway-down.
One half was a mechanical draw-
ing of a key in a lock. The other
half showed a pair of feet and legs
overprinted with the numerals 214.
As it stood on the floor, the 214
was upside down.
"I think it's upside down," said
Sachs."
'No," said Israel around back of
the canvas, "I think it must be
right side up, look at the arrow
back here."
"Well, maybe the arrow is point-
ing down"
"But arrows never point down,
besides, here's the title and date
written in this direction. The artist
wouldn't write it upside down."'
"Well, that's not the way they
showed it in the New York cata-
log.
A PRETTY SECRETARY came
in and asked "Has 'Superman and
Superdog in Jail' arrived yet?"
"Well, it's here, but we can't
get it until the University writes
a check for the extra shippng
charges. Put it on the list any-
way," said Sachs.
A gentleman with several large
cameras introduced himself to us
as a University Newt Service
photographer, and after shaking
hands all around, started slowly
circling the room taking light
meter readings.
"Look at this one," said Sachs
and plugged in a disassembled
radio mounted on plastic with a
motor which continually changed
the station. "It's called WNYR-9,
but we had to re-tune it to Ann
Arbor stations, since we can't pick
up WNYR, which is in New York.
These paintings here," he gestured
to three movie-magazine collages
in electric colors, "are by Rosalyn
Drexler, whouused to be a lady
wrestler. But she has a good
knack for organizing the canvas.
I suppose I should explain that
these paintings are part of our
supplementary pop art exhibit.
The primary exhibit was put to-
gether at the Guggenheim and is
travelling around the county. But
it's an exhibit of just six artists,
so we organized this one to show
more fully what's going on in pop
art. Both of them open Wednes-
day. Here, look." He handed me a
catalog from the Guggenheim
show. The text, by the museum's
curator, Gordon Alloway, offered
the ,following trenchant observa-
tions:
Object-makers, like the produ-
cers of happenings (often they
are the same person), work to-
wards the dissolution of formal
boundaries and sponsor para-
doxical cross-overs between art
and nature . . . mass media
figures are relished for their
physical grandeur, for their
pervasiveness . . . and for the
drama of common intimacy they
offer their consumers. n
I asked Sachs to explain more
about pop art.
* *
"WELL, for one thing, pop art
is a reaction to abstract expres-
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"Exactly," said Sachs, "but it's
more too. There is a dualism be-
tween the parody and the use of
mass cultural element as a part
of a larger artistic expression.
One objective is to make a real
object look like a reproduction.
Its a curious paradox between the
real and the unreal."
* * *
JUST BEFORE the museum
closed, I asked Carlos E. Clarke,
the museum's carpenter, what he
thought of the show.
"Well . .. it's different, is what
it is, actually it's fantastic, if you
know what I mean."
I asked which painting was his
favorite.
"Now I'm not much of an artist,
if you know what I mean, and
they all fascinate me, but I think
that this one is my favorite," he
pointed to the five pieces of pump-
kin pie. "It'sa my favorite kind of
pie, too."
CINEMA GUILD:
'Grapes'
"THE GRAPES OF WRATH" is
a maddening film. It demands
consideration as a serious movie,
but the final achievement falls
short of its aspirations.
Ironically, the basic flaw is that
it is too beautiful. Filled with
marvelously expressive photo-
graphy, it is a virtuoso perform-
ahce by Director John Ford. But in
the end it is a little too "pretty"
Little feeling of squalor and des-
peration is evoked.
FORD HAS DONE a superb job
in the studio of creating dark and
brooding landscapes, upon which
men appear as anonymous specks.
The script by Nunnally Johnson is
authentic, never falling into the
cliched "hillbilly" style. The char-
acters are well drawn and the
acting competent. But it is too
slick; we are not emotionallyin-
volved in this desperate situation.
The political message of the
novel has been retained, surpris-
ingly enough, but it has been sub-
ordinated and muted. We are pre-
sented with little people caught
in a situation they do not com-
prehend. Their plight is well ex-
pressed by the dispossed farmer
who cries: "Well then, who do we
shoot?"
But in only one scene are we
emotionally involved in the Okies'
plight. A labor organizer is brut-
ally slain by the'Fascist-like police
force employed by a peach grower
who is paying subsistence wages.
Tom Joad, the protagonist, kills
the murderer in return and must
flee. Fortuitously, he happens up-
on a federal farm co-operative,
which is a haven In a chaotic'
world. The political lesson is clear
and we are emotionally moved to
accept it.
THE GREATEST FAILURE of
the film is that it runs five min-
utes too long. It should have
ended with Tom Jpad fleeing the
government farm to escape arrest
for homicide. The mood at this
point is appropriately one of des-
peration and doubt.
Unfortunately, an anti-climactic
episode is tacked onto the end and
the final line is an optimistic
"We're the people, we'll go on
forever." The novel was a call to
arms; the film is a sedative.
DESPITE these flaws, "The
Grapes of Wrath" is one of Holly-
wood's finest productions. It
stands as a beautiful film and one
of the best adaptations of a novel.
-Sam Walker
LETTERS j
to the_ I
EDITOR
To the Editor:
I AM WRITING this letter in
response to the editorial
"Prize?" This intriguing disserta-
tion on a-itomotive engineering
is certainly worthy of a prize it-
self-the booby prize. Though this
gem, written in a humorous (?)
and sarcastic vein, seemed to be
ambiguous when I first read it, it
seemed more so after a later
perusal.
Michael Harrah r e fe rs to
"idiot lights," an unfortunate
choice in terminology which has
a number of possible meanings.
The most common use of the term
applies to the red warning lights
which replace the oil and am-
meter gauges on most newer cars.
I assume he refers to the head-
lights, though it is the parking
lights which "one sees squarely
planted in the midst of the grill-
work of occasionally oncoming
cars."
IN VIEW of the significant
work being done in the field of
automotive lighting and safety
(i.e., amber turn signals for bet-
ter day-night visability no w
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" !O M
PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S optimistic ap-
praisal of the course of the war 'in
Vietnam following the return of the Mc-
Namara-Taylor mission will be verified
or disproved by history. It may abate, but
is certainly will not silence, criticism.
There are bound to be, in so tangled a
situation as that in Vietnam, major dif-
ferences of opinion not only about what
we should do but also about how well or
badly we are doing. About on key aspect
of the Vietnamese situation, however,
there can be no valid disagreement. The
war in South Vietnam-no matter how
judged-is a long-drawn-out war of at-
trition, as, indeed, all counter-guerrilla
or counter-insurgency wars are. In any
such war, all authorities are agreed, a
democratic gover'nment, if it is to have
Editorial Staff
RONALD WILTON, Editor
DAVID MARCUS GERALD STORCH
Editorial Director City Editor
BARBARA LAZARUS.............Personnel Director
PHILIP SUTIN............ National Concerns Editor
GAIL EVANS ................ Associate City Editor
MARJORIE BRAHMS ......Associate Editorial Director
GLORIA BOWLES.................. Magazine Editor
MALINDA BERRY.............Contributing Editor
DAVE GOOD. ............ .....Sports Editor
MIKE BLOCK.................Associate Sports Editor
JIM BERGER...............Associate Sports Editor
BOB zwINCK ...........Contributing Sports Editor
hopes of ultimate victory, must have the
support of an informed public opinion.
The confusion, cynicism and frustra-
tion of the American public about the
Vietnamese conflict are by no means
solely due to the nature of the Diem re-
gime or its differences with the Bud-
dhists. The public relations policies of
both the United States and the Saigon
governments have been, since the be-
ginning, responsible for much of the con-
fusion.
The Diem regime, in common with
nearly all Asian governments, operates
in an aura of secrecy. Its answer to cri-
ticism is more secrecy. But the United
States government should be far more
frank with its citizens. During the first
part of the United States military build-
up in South Vietnam both our public re-
lations policies and personnel there were
lacking in candor. Official policy, as re-
vealed by a House committee, was delib-
erately restrictive; essential facts were
withheld, others distorted. It took some
very high-level visits to Vietnam to cor-
rect, in part, these initial mistakes.
But, as recent events have shown, the
United States government's accounting
to .its people is still far from frank. Off.i-
cial spokesmen do not hesitate to gild the
lily, without providing facts to sustain
their statements. The vital statistics of
victory or defeat-the numbers of weap-
ons captured and lost by both sides; the
defectors from both sides; the casualties,
and so on-are still "classified" in Wash-
ington. Even the number of United States
9
AT HILL:
Startling Trumpeting
AL HIRT, Michigan's Band-Aid, was a heaving success at Hill Aud.
last night. Those familiar with his playing through television and
recordings were treated to two hours of startling trumpeting and
happy entertainment.
Without having to wade through an hour of Ed Sullivan's circus
acts, the audience heard and saw the Al Hirt Sextet hop through:
modern Dixie: "Swanee River," "Down by the Riverside," "South
Rampart Street Parade"; run up bluesy ballads: "Make Love to Me,'
"I Can't Get Started" and "Round Midnight; and sparkle with crowd,
pleasers: "Holiday for Trumpet," "Frankie and Johnny" and a choreo-
gravated "I Love Paris."
* ~ * *
EVERYONE IN the sextet soloed well: the drummer kicking and
pounding in "Rampart"; the pianist mooding through Monk's "Mid-
night" and cooking "Love for Sale"; the trombonist, Hirt's brother
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