Sevntwy-Third Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241
Truth Will Prevail"
I
11
WOMEN & CHILDREN FIRST
Great C easer's Ghost
By DICK POLLINGER
j
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in al; reprints.
URDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1963
NIGHT EDITOR: GERALD STORCHI
Regen Assistance
No Real Help
rHE RECENT TREND of students and
faculty who are dissatisfied with the
Jniversity administration to seek help
from the Regents is potentially danger-
)us.
The Regents are not the University
lure-all which some people think they
re. It is dangerous to look to the Regents
; fill the leadership void at the Univer-
>ty.
The problem arises because many peo-
le do not understand the role of*the re-
ent. A recent Carnegie Foundation study
ndicated that people "conceive of the
oard as the pinnacle of power hierarchy.
rothing could be further from the truth.
'he heart of the university community is
he men and women who carry forward
he university's central tasks of teaching
nd research."
rHE REGENTS delegate administrative
powers to their hired representatives,
hie educational experts-reserving for
hemselves only broad policy making pow-,
rs. Regents do not and should not enter
nto the day-to-day affairs of the Univer-
ity.
Regent Eugene B. Power of Ann Arbor
ointed out during his campaign for re-
lection last spring that the Regents ap-
oint the University administrators to
andle daily problems, and if they are not
atisfied with the results, the board re-
ains the power to replace key personnel.
1'URTHERMORE, at a public institution
like the University, the Regents repre-
ent an arm of the public. They are elect-
I at large on a partisan ticket. As Re-
ent-elect William B. Cudlip of Grosse
ointe said during his campaign last
>ring, the Regent is a University liaison
ith the public.
This link with the public is both good
ad bad. Since Regents are usually com-
unity leaders, they pan plan an impor-
int role in protecting the institution
om "improper pressures or attack and
articularly from outside interference
th legitimate teaching functions," ac-
irding to the Carnegie study.
On the other hand, if the Regent suc-
imbs to public pressures, the Universi-
's 'position of leadership may be jeop-1
'dized. The University's function is to
tide society, not to mirror it.
It is to these people in the Regental
nbo of being neither public servant nor
lucational expert that students and fac-
ty have looked for help.
FOR EXAMPLE, when it was rumored
that the administration was making a
comprehensive study of student activi-
ties, student leaders, tired of evasive an-
swers from administrators, turned to the
Regents for assistance. Last spring during
the Ann Arbor fair housing controversy,.
students and faculty alike held private
consultations with various Regents in
hopes of getting the University to take a
stand on the local ordinance. These ex-
amples are typical of the trend.
With each consultation the Regents are
slowly being brought into closer and clos-
er contact with the day-to-day affairs of
the institution. If the trend continues,
operational decisions could well drift out
of the hands of the supposed educational
experts and into the hands of the quasi-
public servants, the Regents. It is ironic
that students and faculty see the Regents
as more sympathetic toward the educa-
tional goals of the University than the
administration.
THE QUALITY of the University would
decline rapidly if the Regents were to
assume the responsibility for such daily,
obligations as planning curriculum, de-
ciding the relative merits of a residential
'college, choosing research projects or de-
ciding women's closing hours. The Re-
gents, as citizens and'businessmen, simply
don't have the educational know-how to
pilot a great University.
The board can only act in the better in-
terests of the University when it has, com-
petent advice from administrators and
faculty.
OF COURSE, the Regents must be kept
informed about the University. If the
administration doesn't do an adequate
job of feeding the Regents information,
students and faculty should fill them in.'
It is only when students approach the Re-
gents for assistance without understand-
ing the function of the Regent and the
implications of going to a board member
that the danger arises.
Clearly, the Regents should evaluate the
reasons behind the recent barrage of stu-
dent and faculty consultation. If the rea-
sons hinge on student and faculty dissat-
isfaction with the administration, per-
haps it is time for the Regents to seek
some new leaders for the University.
-GAIL EVANS
Associate City Editor
LAST WEEK I played with a small band at an empty bar in Clinton,
Mich., and, there being nothing to do during the breaks, we all went
across the street to the general store and loaded up with Batman and
Superman comics. I am happy to report that what we all suspected
10 or 15 years ago is, in its own quiet way, a stunning reality. Super-
man has survived. Not without some changes, of course, but funda-
mentally it's like you'd never been away.
One reason for Superman's super-adaptivity (and Batman's as
well) is probably that his powers, as great as they were, were none-
theless limited, and he had to act ingeniously in using them to solve
seemingly impossible problems. Not like,. say, Green Arrow (and
Speedy), who had an arrow ex machina for any situation-I remember
one which actually robbed a bank and spread tear gas. It was bril-
liant while it lasted, but boundless fantasy is ultimately quite un-
gratifying, and the Green Arrow is no longer among the front ranks.
* *' * *
ANOTHER REASON probably was Superman's naturalness of
character. Good and evil existed as real choices, of course, but Super-
man (or Batman) was a little vain, and he could dish out some hos-
tility when he felt like it, too. Not the selfless goodly-goodiness of
Captain Marvel, nor the artificial ethic of Shazman and all that that
stood for. I remember that Parents' Magazine endorsed Captain Mar-
vel because of his purity. One is never too young to recognize a kiss
of death, especially a terrific one like that. The good Captain has
never quite recovered, nor did Parents' Magazine.
Together, Superman and Batman trod the narrow path of sur-
vival, ascending tortously through the thickets of luridness (remem-
ber "Tales of the Crypt?) across the bivouacs of several wars (remem-
ber reading "RAKATAKATAKATAKA" aloud, with feeling?), past
Riverdale (who ever really read Archie, anyway?), and into the Goth-
am and Metropolis of today. The Mirror has folded but the Daily Planet
is better than ever. Why?
* * * *
BECAUSE StJPERMAN and Batman (and Lois Lane, Jimmy Ol-
sen, Superboy, Robin, The Joker, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Jor-El, even Lana
Lang) did for American war babies almost what Wagner did for
Germans of another era, what Faulkner did for English graduate stu-
dents, or what Tolkein or Millne did for kids with hipper parents..
The Superman episodes of today are very strongly science-fiction-
alized, which only reflects what captures the fancy of imaginative,
intelligent adolescents (Superman's author has probably remained 17
for longer than most). But, strangely, today's episodes are dispro-
portionately concerned with the waning of, and threats of, Superman's
powers. I leave it to the clinical psychologists to infer what they wish
about a comic strip like Superman whose author is probably into middle
age.
All in all, though there's no keeping a good' thing down. It may be
a trivial archetype, but too many people know who said "Great Caesar's
ghost" for the Superman-Batman myth ever to recede into final
obscurity.
CINEMA GUILD:
'Rules of the Game':
{I
l
Ai
SIDELINE ON SGC:
The Last of the Technicalities
By MARY LOU BUTCHER
AFTER careful consideration of
the Committee on Referral's
report and recommendations, Stu-
dent Governmefit Council unani-
mously adopted a slightly revised
version of its Regulations on Mem-
bership in Student Organizations.
Hopefully, Council has encounter-
ed the last of objections based on
procedural technicalities and will
soon be able to implement the
membership selection plan.
Implementation of the plan is
contingent on the aproval of Vice-
President for Student Affairs
James A. Lewis. His acceptance or
rejection of the plan must be made
within one week.
The Committee on Referral had
imposed a stay of action on Coun-
cil's adoption on Oct. 2 of the
original membership selection plan
in order to study provisions which
were "of questionable validity."
Council dealt with the referral
committee's criticisms in a manner
which reflects a mature consid-
eration of the issues involved and
suggests a genuine desire on the
part of Council to insure a fair
and technicality-free procedural
guide to its Membership Commit-
tee.
WHILE REJECTING the refer-
ral committee's contention that
SGC does not have the authority
to appoint a nop-student member
to its proposed membership tri-
bunal, Council did vote to omit
Middle Way Evanorates
'HE BREAKING POINT is nearing in
America's racial crisis. Recent civil
ghts demonstrations have become in-
easingly violent. Recent events in Birm-
gham indicate the day may have passed
ien demonstrations, in that city and
rhaps elsewhere, can remain peaceful.
Last Monday, Rev. Martin Luther King,
. and Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth an-
unced that demonstrations would re-
me in Birmingham if the city failed to
et their demands that it hire Negro
licemen. Tuesday the Associated Press
ported: "Negro leaders held up renewal
mass demonstrations yesterday to give
y officials more time to consider re-
ests that Negro policemen be hired."
King was quoted as saying: "If Negro
licemen are hired in a reasonable time,
will not demonstrate." However, the
tile said the Negro leaders were not
ting any deadline in order "to avoid
e impression of using undue pressure."
HIS IS A RATHER remarkable position
for men desiring to improve the posi-
n of their race in a city, that has done
thing without "undue pressure" and
y little even with it. There must have
n more behind the decision to postpone
demonstration than the almost hum-
us notion that simply more time would
enough to get the city to alter its posi-
n.
t is not very difficult to guess what the
I reason must be; Negro leaders know
t further demonstrations will be viol-
ones. Their last planned protest sev-
I weeks ago had to be called off at the
..,..,.
~r '4
,l
t
2
c
jA
{{t
l
last minute when demonstrators showed
up with rifles and threatened to start
open shooting at the first sign of police
provocation. They knew the same thing
could be expected if another demonstra-
tion were held now.
A dilemma to which there is no easy
solution is faced by both moderate Negro
leaders and Negroes in general. If even
peaceful protests are no longer possible,
the leaders must choose between a policy
of urging improvement in the Negroes'
position from whites who have never
listened to them at the risk of losing their,
leadership to more militant men-or they
themselves will have to sanction what{
they know will be violence.
The individual Negro will be faced with
an equally difficult dilemma. He must
either agree to be passive, and thus be
quite certain of gaining nothing in his
struggle for equality for a long time to
come, or he must act in a manner that
may well hurt him much more than help
him.
THE MIDDLE ALTERNATIVE, the one
that would get this nation safely out of'
the consequences of these dilemmas, is
rapidly evaporating. Peaceful demonstra-
tion, the type of protest that is non-viol-
entbut effective, is no longer possible, at
least in some places.
Before the possibility is gone entirely,
the Negro must be shown that his peace-
ful efforts using this method have not
been in vain. A strong civil rights bill
must be passed by Congress. Negroes must
be allowed to secure their voting rights.
The economy must be beefed up to the
point that it is able to absorb the 10 per
cent of the nation's Negroes that are un-
employed-about three times the national
average. Throughout the North, as well as
the South, white leaders must begin to
SVETLOVA:
Faulty
Mixture
THE PERFORMANCE of the
Marina Svetlova Dance En-
semble was neither here nor there,
but everywhere with everything.
I have been watching elegant,
mature artists, of obvious talent
and vast experience whose whole
performance was undermined by
faulty programming and inade-
quate facilities.
Strangely enough, each per-
former was quite good. Marina
Svetlova displayed the artless
grace and ease which mark the
true prima ballerina. In addition,
she is a skillful actress who uni-
fies movement and facial expres-
sion to create the proper mood.
Partnered by Oleg Briansky, whom
I could not help feeling would
have been better at another time
or another place, Svetlova per-
formed several greats of the clas-
sical ballet. Outstanding was her
short, but poignant performance
of Saint-Saens' "Dying Swan."
THE TOP PERFORMER of the
evening was Jose Barrera, an
aristocrat of Flamenco dancing
who gave a flawless performance,
proving his versatility with the
magnificent classical Spanish
dancing of "Vira Navarra" by
Larregia. Completing the company
was Theodor Haig, accompanist
and pianists, playing three solo
concert pieces that might just as
sections establishing an appeal
procedure to the vice-president for
student affairs.
The referral committee objected
to the provision of the member-
shipregulations which authorize
"a Membership Tribunal composed
of three members of the Univer-
sity selected by SGC" but speci-
fies only that "at least two of the
members shall be selected from
the student body." The implication
is that the third member might
be selected from the faculty.
The committee noted that ac-
cording to the terms of the Stu-
dent Government Council Plan
adopted by the Regents on Nov.
20, 1959, Council is authorized "to
serve as an appointing body for
the selection of student commit-
tees and student representatives
to University committees."
The report stated that the com-
mittee "is of the opinion that the
provisions of the SGC Plan quoted
above limits the SGC to selecting
'students' as members of student
committees."
.S *S **
HOWEVER, a dissenting opinion
submitted with the report by Ken-
neth B. McEldowney, Grad, noted
that a "'student' committee' only
signifies that a given committee is
responsible to a student body, in
this case SGC, not that the mem-
bership should be restricted only
to students."
Retiring President Thomas
Brown, '66L, agreed with Mc-
Eldowney's opinion, pointing out
that Prof. Richard L. Cutler,
Chairman of the Student Rela-
tions Committee in a letter to
the Committee on Referral stated
that the SRC had adopted a reso-
lution declaring it "has no objec-
tion to a faculty member being
requested to serve and agreeing
to serve on the Membership Tri-
bunal, so long as it is clearly un-
derstood that the faculty member
is not acting as an official rep-
resentative of the faculty."
Brown also pointed out that
Council is bound by the wording
of the SGC Plan and cannot de-
cide on the intention of the plan.
The plan does not specify that
only students may be appointed to
student committees.
S. 5
COUNCIL'S VOTE to eliminate
the sections dealing with the ap-
peal process was based on a desire
to remove any question of future
legal technicalities.
The report concluded that "the
proposed appeals system is clearly
beyond the competence of the SGC
to establish under its present char-
ter of authority.
"It cannot vest a veto authority
in the vice-president for student
affairs that will operate before the
SGC has had an opportunity to
assume the responsibility for the
action vetoed.
"It cannot specify criteria for
the exercise of his veto other than
those specified in the SGC Plan,
and in so doing eliminate the
functioning of the Committee on
Referral as an advisory agency in
the operations of the SGC."
IF THE SECTIONS dealing with
the appeals had been retained,
there might be "a conflict of ju-
dicial procedure" at a later time
the vice-president prefer to re-
verse his initial ruling once Coun-
cil had either accepted or rejected
the tribunal's conclusions.
Brown noted that the three
criteria which the original mem-
bership regulations specified for
appeals were: whether there was
sufficient evidence to justify the
tribunal's decision; whether there
was prejudicial error committed
by the tribunal in interpreting and
applying the membership selection
rules; and whether the penalty
was too severe.
Council decided that to leave
the appeals section in would ac-
tually be forcing the vice-president
to decide an organization's guilt
or innocence on the basis of ju-
dicial technicalities and not on
the question of its violation of
membership selection regulations.
* * *
ANOTHER CRITICISM raised
by the referral committee was the
provision in the membership plan
specifying: "All sanctions must be
immediately imposed by SGC and
cannot be altered by the Coun-
- cil."
The committee noted that it "is
of the opinion that the language
of this paragraph should be re-
vised so as to indicate that SGC
assumes the responsibility to re-
view and accept, reject or modify
the penalties recommended by the
Membership Tribunal."
THE PROVISION criticized by
the referral committee does not
prevent Council from rejecting the
tribunal's decision on any case
but, rather, from altering the pen-
alty recommended by the tribunal
in any case. This stipulation thus
reserves the judicial function to
the Membership Tribunal.
Wednesday's Council discussion
clearly indicated that SGC is con-
cerned with establishing the fair-
est and most expiditious proce-
dures for applying to student or-
ganizations Regents Bylaw 2.14
which prohibits discriminatory
membership policy.
* * *
'AFTER A YEAR of working out
explicit procedural details and re-
solving controversial legal ques-
tions, Council has taken a great
step forward in adopting the fin-
ished draft of its membership
regulations.
The question of whether SGC is
to take the most crucial step of
all-the actial implementation of
the regulations-now rests with
Vice-President Lewis.'
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
To the Editor:
THE HEADLINE above the ar-
ticle concerning the Michigan
Union Board of Directors meeting
in Friday's Daily was misleading
and I feel that a few comments
may be helpful. The headline read:
"Board accepts proposal on Union-
League Merger." No such proposal
A Modriao
WE NEED TAKE Jean Renoir's
disclaimer no more seriously
than Twain's when the director
insists that his social fantasy,
"The Rules of the Game," is not
social criticism, but merely an
entertainment. It is true that
"Rules" is neither as anti-war as
"The Grand Illusion" nor as anti-
science as "Picnic in the Grass."
The film is Renoir's twentieth-
century adaptation of Beaumar-
chais' "The Marriage of Figaro."
As a result the critical dimension
is submerged in the form, and is
less explicit than in the other
films. It may be the case, however,
that this choice of form provides
the most helpful key to all three
films.
Jean Renoir has the fullness of
an eighteenth century sensibility,
but an equally clear perception of
contemporary society. The same
tension exists in his art as that
of writers like Cervantes and Flau-
bert. He is traditionalist while re-
maining a realist. It is his twen-
tieth century treatment of an
eighteenth century form that
brings out and resolves both sides
of this tension. -In this respect
"Rules"mis Renoir's greatest
achievement.
"RULES" is a comedy of mar-
riage and morals-at least osten-
sibly. An aviator, Andre, has fallen
in love with a marquise while the
marquis is having an affair with
another woman. A friend, Octave
(played by Renoir) ;invites -the
aviator to the country home of
the marquis for a holiday. The,
contre-temps begin.
Renoir has retained the joie de
vivre of Beaumarchais' original.
He has chosen a vocabulary that
allows him to communicate a
sense of fullness. His camera, for
example, is always unobtrusive. In
the final party sequence, where
the machinery of coincidence and
discovery is playing itself out, he
allows several very long takes
without a cut.
The emphasis is on a mobile
camera and movement within the
frame. He has little sense of static
composition. There is always a
sense of improvisation in his
handling of the actors for ex-
ample. As a result, Renoir's cin-
ema is neither montage-oriented,
like that of the Russian silent
directors, or more recently God-
ard, nor is it image-ori ted like
that of Antonioni or Begmann.
* * *
RENOIR HIMSELF undercuts
the affirmative side of his art in
the handling of the final se-
quence. In Beaumarchais the
Countess and Maid exchange cos-
tumes, and their marriages are
saved. Mistaken identity is an
engine for comedy.
Renoir however makes it some-
thing quite different. The mar-
quise realizes that she wants to
own. As Andre goes running up
the path to the greenhouse he is
shot by the angry husband and
falls "like a rabbit."
The scene, gets much of its
force because Renoir has fore-
shadowed it so brilliantly in the
hunting sequence. Human bestial-
ity is the keynote, as the rabbits
run, are shot, and die twitching.
In "Rules," as well as in "The
Grand Illusion," Renior shows a
synipathy for the aristocracy. Men
like the Marquis, La Fensnay, have
a code, a set of rules, which is in
many ways noble. The "accident"
in the final sequence, however,
follows logically from the hunting
sequence. The pastime of a class
provides the metaphor for a final
bestiality. The rules of the game
are no longer viable.
-David Zimmerman
MICHIGAN:
In Sac
0
Of Love
/
A WARM beautiful, disappoint-
ed youngj woman enters the
dingy English streets and a de-
praved houseful of boarders look-
ing for a love which she has never
found.
Living among the boarders is a
young writer who has also sought
and never discovered that clean
type of love. They meet, and Les-
lie Caron and Tom Bell prove
evil is impotent when two people
mean something to each other.
"THE L-SHAPED ROOM" could
be a great love story. If one can
ignore the contrived obstacle that
the screen playwrite has placed
in the path of these two people,
and concentrate instead on the
way that they rise above a spir-
itual stench of their surroundings,
then -one can experience and en-
joy an intense film a little remi-
niscent of "Phaedra."
But the film never quite tran-
scends the pettiness of realism. If
you have ever witnessed the de-
struction of something fine, then
you will understand the grotes-
queness of a plot which hampers
and thwarts two potentially great
artists. One wishes the sound
were turned off so only the visual
part, excellently acted and ably
directed, would remain.
There is plenty of comedy and
pathos in the boarding house, but
none of it is allowed to blanket
the somewhat bizarre artifact that
is itself smothering both love and
laughter. The credits do not all
go to the actors and actresses.
There is some imagery and sym-
bolism, not philosophical, which is
truly outstanding. The director has
.1
i
r
,