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February 23, 1960 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 1960-02-23

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Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity...

h

Seventieth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. 0 Phone NO 2-3241

bhen Opinions Are Free
Truth Will Prevail"

Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.

T

Y. FEBRUARY 23, 1960

NIGHT EDITOR: THOMAS HAYDEN

sr

Defense Debate Goes
In and Out of This World

SOME RECENT statements of Senator Sym-
inton and Vice-President Nixon seem to
bolster the truism that although figures don't
lie, much can be done with them in the way of
interpretation.
Mr. Nixon, on his excursion into Detroit to
bolster confidence among Republicans and
support for his candidacy, was quoted as hav-
ing assured some worried listeners that there
is "no missile gap of consequence."
Senator Symington is known to be publicy
and vocally concerned over his information
that there is a missile gap, and what is worse,
the United States plans to let it increase to at
least 3 to I in Russia's favor in the next few
years.
P0SIBLY NIXON and Symington differ in
what they consider to be "of consequence."
Either that or their figures are coming from
different sources.
If the Senator is correct in his figures, it
would seem that a 3 to .1 ratio may some day
be of enough consequence to make the differ-
ence between existence and oblivion for quite
a few people, most of them Americans.
It's reasonable to think the missile gap,
present or potential, wouldn't be there if there
were a unified space agency, as Symington has
proposed.
He may or may not be right in suggesting
that efficient business methods would solve

numberless government problems, but the idea
seems applicable in the space and missile fields.
It isn't efficiency to have three or four or more
different services attempting to do similar
things each in its own way. Individualism is
admirable, but not when you're building mis-
siles for the national defense.
AS THINGS ARE NOW any cohesion or co-
ordination is out of the queston. While the
Navy has given the House space sub-committee
a "glowing report"' on the performance of its
Polaris missile and announced that a Polaris-
equipped nuclear submarine will be at sea next
fall, three years ahead of schedule, the AEC's
nuclear powered rocket will be delayed until
1967-69 in its first flight test, two years behind
schedule, because of administrative budget
cuts.
One of the big obstacles to an intelligent
approach to missiles and defense is that there
are too many mansions in the house of space
and missile development; if they're not put
under one roof the United States space and
rocket program can't be expected to prove
efficient either militarily or economically.
"What happens in space," said Symington,
"will greatly influence our security and our
position in the world.
"Or out of it," he might have added.
-ANITA PETROSHUS

It looks darling, and I'm sure it will be more efficient than last year-but shouldn't we try it out just once.

...and The

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Geneva, the Atom, the Future
SARAPKIN, the Soviet delegate at concurred, in part, with these objections one
va, has long been hinting that the wonders what the AEC actually told the
tates is trying to sabotage the Geneva President to make him so angry.
order to fulfill our ambitions to con-
e development of nuclear weapons. SHORTLY AFTER completion of the Hard-
horrendous charge, but even worse tack tests, President Eisenhower appointed
accusation itself is the mounting evi- the Berkner panel of scientists to review the
show that there seems some truth feasibility of improving the detection agreed
upon at Geneva in 1958. The committee came
, the United States, United Kingdom through with a research proposal aimed at
ian scientists agreed upon a test ban restoring the efficiency of the original agree-
ar weapons under a system of control ment. In shattering contrast to the speed with.
inspection. Despite chronic and deep- which theHardtack series was carried out,
usslan reluctance, the outlines of an the Berkner panel's recommendations were
t were made whereby inspection sta- not only shelved, but they seem to have gotten
the Soviet Union would be manned lost.'
ational inspection teams. This situation would indeed be funny were
it not for the urgency of success of the Geneva
ON MARCH 30 of last year the Rand talks. If the talks fail, we lose. For whatever
ration, often an active proponent of the military advantage of the so-called tactical
ig the weapons race, released the weapons, we can be sure that if we continue
a study which had evidently been testing the damnation of the uncommitted
completion amidst an air of classified nations will be upon us.
On the same day that the study was
ed, the Atomic Energy Commission IGNORING the genetic consequences and the
2 a summary of the findings. In this increased incidence of leukemia in children,
was the indication that new evidence there remain the dangers of increased mem-
uffling of underground explosions had bership in the nuclear club. France, not politi-
e prior Geneva agreement vitually cally mature enough to maintain a stable
9. government, is now a nuclear power. How safe
igry attack upon these findings by the will the bomb be in the hands of Germany
cientist, Federov, played right into after Adenauer's death? How safe in the hands
is of the Atomic Energy Commission of China? Of the United Arab Republic? Of
es not want a ban on nuclear weap- Cuba?
last December 30, President Eisen- If the Geneva talks fail, the entire process of
ngrily rebuked the Soviet scientists controlled disarmament negotiations will be
g guided by political considerations, seriously discredited, and with this discrediting
nnounced that the United States con- the prospect of mankind's eradicating itself in
elf free to continue nuclear tests. This a mushroom cloud increases.
than one month after we had taken
the 78-0 United Nations vote against CONSIDERING the stakes, the apparent atti-
ng tests. tude of the AEC and the Pentagon, that it
is all right to end the talks if we can just
THE AMERICAN research and the blame the Russians for it, is highly unaccept-
t criticism are worth examining. The able. Since any inspection system carries risk
findings under question represent of evasion, and the Russians will not agree to
seismic recordings of the "Hardtack" a less than total ban, what sensible action
und tests and a theoretical extension might be taken?
findings to bear upon the detection of Senator Humphrey proposed, in a speech in
blasts carried out in large underground Michigan, that the United States should press
s. for a ban on all tests above 5 kilotons. In
ing to the theory, a 100 kiloton blast addition, he said we should agree to a two-year
s still a small explosion compared to moratorium on smaller blasts, during which
megaton H bombs) could be effectively time we should engage in a joint study project
in a large hole in the ground. How to improve detection of smaller blasts.
hole is an interesting problem. The Scientists of the National Committee for a
uld require the removal of 20,000,000 Sane Nuclear Policy have suggested that a
lard rock from the earth. This is more quota of 30 veto-free inspections a year of seis-
e total amount of anthracite coal mic signals .of any size (selected at random)
a year in the United States and there would make the risk of detection too great a
0 men employed in that task. A hole "calculated risk" for any continued evasion.
e has never been dug. Blasts, small enough to avoid detection con-
tinually, would be too small to be of signifi-
DING to what this writer could find, cance either militarily or to public health.
Soviet scientists' criticism seems to
he following four points. INSTEAD of pressing for one of the above
the hardtack series used seismometers positions, the United States has not yet been
ere not adjusted for sensitivity in the willing to discuss a complete test ban and has
ended frequency range. The seismom- not yet brought up the topic of seismic re-
ed were not calibrated. Second, none search to improve detection of underground
venty-eight stations used ten seismom- tests. Even more striking is the statement by
The number agreed upon for each one American scientist that the United States
n the inspection system), delegates have been instructed not to bring up
inferences which the United States the topic of improving the inspection system
m data in the "shadow zone," a poor by the use of additional unmanned stations.
In seismology, led to a severe under- One ought to reflect on the historical and
n of the blast which gives a detectable international significance of the Geneva Con-
'sing the same raw data offered by the ference. To understand the case somewhat, it
ns, Soviet scientists came up with a seems likely that as long as vested interests in
ferent estimate. Fourth, the hardtack the AEC and the Pentagon keep writing the
nored adequate mathematical formu- script for the United States delegates at

By FAITH WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Writer
IN BEDRAGGLED, wet - footed
lines, the groups of hopeful
freshmen snake down Washtenaw,
up Hill, and back to Oxford, taking
their parts in the massive ritual of
rush. Like a Greek choric dance,
each participant has an individual,
stylized role in complex, amazingly
non-personal process. The best
dancers win.
Intense formalization is the pri-
mary problem with rush; the regu-
lated parties for specified lengths
of time, the deliberately indistin-
guishable refreshments from house
to house, the stereotyped conversa-
tions all tend to vitiate the basic
purpose of rush, the mutual seek-
ing out of affiliates and girls who
will enjoy living with each other.
As one rushee from last year said
in retrospect, "You couldn't find
a congenial girl at those parties if
you fell over one." Many of the
affiliates feel the same way.
THE PRESENT rush system
seems to bother everybody: the
affiliates, the rushees, their pro-
fessors, their boy friends.
For the affiliate it means three
weeks of sheer hell, greeting, im-
pressing and admiring dozens of
girls whom she may personally not
give a damn about, for the "good
of the sorority."
This is preceded by weeks of
learning procedure (everything
from songs to significant hand
signals, and followed by long
nights of hash and days of sleep-
ing through important classes be-
cause they simply can't get up. No
feelings of superiority being on
the choosing end of the system
can make this process entirely a
pleasure.
"I think rush could be handled
differently," one affiliate said.
"There must be some way to cut
down on the wear and tear." The
rationale behind the multitude of
rush parties is that more girls
will get to know each other better
by being exposed to each other in
small, semi-intimate groups of
about fifty each. "But you really
don't get to know anyone in the
six minutes you might talk to
them," she complained.
IT IS LITTLE less hard on the
rushees. Their physical deteriora-
tion is less, even when cold and
slushy, primarily because their
hours are shorter, andbecause the
affiliates go out of their way to
make them comfortable. If the
question arises of who gets a chair,.
the affiliate or the rushee, the
rushee will invariably get it as
long as it forms a group of at least
four, the required, quasi-magical
minimum. With the institution of
busses for transport between the
farthest houses this year, it is even
easier for the rushee.
But the rushees have another
problem to cope with. The psychic,
emotional wear and tear can be at
least equally damaging as the phy-
sical.
Rushing is a little like getting
engaged: you commit yourself to a
way of life, in front of your fam-
ily, your friends and your entire
social group. The specter of get-
ting dropped is, in a minor key,
like the fear of being jilted at the
altar. It has happened to people
before, but that doesn't make it
any easier for you.
S , ,
THE RUSHEE is in an unhappy
emotional situation. She has com-
mitted her social status, with her
friends, with her dates, and with
herself to the whims and fancies
of groups of girls to whom she
may be totally unsuited.
The spectre of being dropped
hangs over the most confident of
girls with the result that many go
into rush with a semi-defiant atti-
tude, a position of "I'm not really
rushing seriously, I just want to
see what they are like," as a sort

one rushee, a girl who has never
been through rush before, put it:
"If there were any way to get the
prestige of being in a sorority
without all that rigamarole, I
wouldn't rush. "But as it is now,
there isn't anything else to do."
* * *
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL situation
for the affiliate is much less trau-
matic. From this angle, about the
worst thing they have to face is
being unable to pledge a friend. As
far as worrying about the girls
who are disappointed in the game,
most of them simply don't. "It
idoesn't really bother you that
much," one affiliate said. "They
learn that they can do without
sororities."
But if the general theory of rush
parties is ghastly, the specific par-
ties are a special species of horror.
It is in the individual houses that
the ritual reaches its ultimate
flight.
It begins with the long lines
outside the door, and the regula-
tion greeting: "Hi, I'm Susie
Smith, the rush chairman for
Beta Beta Beta. This is the first
bit of useful information of the
evening, as it is hard to tell the
players without a program and
the rushee may be a bit confused
if this is the fourth house of the
evening. The lines continue: "And
this is your hostess for the eve-
ning." Stiff smiles (look genuine
girls!) are exchanged.
*. * *
IT IS SAID that a rather non-
enthusiastic rushee once broke the
ritual by squealing, before the rush
chairman had a chance to open
her mouth: "Hi, You're Susie
Smith!" on the regularized inflec-
tion. The poor rush chairman
nearly fell off the porch, and
didn't recover accurate delivery of
her lines until three girls later.
The unfortunate rusee may have
been drowned in the punch bowl.
Then there are forty minutes to
kill, in idle conversation calculated
to allow you to get to know at least,
five, and probably more girls. This
is patently impossible, and the
ritual takes over the conversation-
al topics immediately. The stakes
are too high, or at least they seem
to be during rush, to just say any-
thing to a prospective sister, and
the original, penetrating remarks
peter out after the first few par-
ties.
* * *
THE CONVERSATIONAL prob-
lem is one of the worst in rush.
As one affiliate said: "Rush does
horrible things to people because
you sit around saying such inane
things for two whole weeks that
it can ruin your conversations for
the rest of the year."
And as one rushee reacted to
the first week of the trial: "I'm so
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR
Bought? .
To the Editor:
1N THE EYES of the University
of Michigan Student Committee
for Repeal of 1001 (f), I am one
of the "bought" students who has
"compromised his constitutional
right to accept a Federal loan."
First, I don't think that I, as a.
recipient of the loan, have been
coerced into performing an act
which violates my constitutional
rights. Is it not true that we all
pledge our allegiance to our coun-
try when we say the pledge to the
Flag? Or must we rule out the
pledge to the Flag as being an-
other "unconstitutional" act?
*. * *
ALSO, it was brought out in
the Student Committee's letter
that other classes of people receiv-

sick of smiling, and being polite
and admiring people's houses and
skirts and hairdoes . . . Well, you
never meet the real people." This
attitude is echoed from both sides.
The conversation ritual goes
something like this: After the
opening remarks, (Where are you
from, what is your major, oh isn't
that interesting, Susie, see, that
girl on the couch in Ted, she's
majoring in Elementary Ed too),
the discussion neatly divides itself
into specified gambits. These cover
the general topics of Rush, its
physical and social attributes; The
House, with innumerable adjec-
tives, Classes, and Social Life.
These, in turn, are severely lim-
ited to those sub-topics which do
not directly pertain to the subject
uppermost in everyone's mind,
whether or not the rushee will be
asked back. This forces the con-
versation into a strained, artificial
pattern so restricting that one
affiliate approached a tired rushee
by saying, "I wish I could think
of something witty and original
to say, but I just can't." The
rushee replied, "Neither can I, so
why don't we just shut up."
The two then lapsed into a
grateful silence, broken only when
it came time to change partners.
This kind of thing surely does
nothing to advance the supposed
purpose of rush parties.
* * *
THE NIGHT'S round of parties
ends, the rushees head home for
a few minutes study and bed, and
the, actives for severl hours of
hash. Some, dissatisfied with the
1-5 evaluation system (and heaven
help you if you get a zero) have
come to feel that hash is "grossly
unfair."
One affiliate said: "You begin to
cut people on the flimsiest things
after a while . . . a tired expres-
sion on someone's face becomes
translated as boredom, and they
get cut immediately. You begin to
judge on dress, and ability to make
small talk. But there just doesn't
seem to be any way around it."
And the girls who get cut? Most-
ly they seem to get over it. Many
of the rushees who were dropped
after the second or third set last
year (the ones who will admit it)
feel now that sorority life would
have been a mistake for them.
"Not that I don't have a lot of
friends in sororities," one girl said,
"but I could never take all that
rigamarole they put you through
if you join."
While this may be, in part, a
defense reaction akin to the "Im'
just looking them over" sentiment,
many of them are right. Sororities,
as most affiliates will readily ad-
mit, are not for everyone, but for
a certain type of girl who can
adjust to and enjoy a certain way
of life.
* * * *
THE PROBLEMS involved in the
principle and practice of rush are
complex, and perhaps unsur-
mountable. It is possible, however,
that a good deal of the physical
and psychological agony could be
eliminated.
Rush could be simplified, and
probably improved, by removing
some of the extreme formality and
ritualism. They could eliminate the
"honor code" which, as one former
rushee noted, "assumes in advance
that all affiliates and rushees are
sneaky, nasty and uuntrustwor-
thy."
They could repeal the refresh-
ment and entertainment rules
which make each house almost
indistinguishable from the enor-
mous, happy, Pan-hellish whole,
on the theory that most sororities
are proud enough of themselves to
want to be judged on their merits

and not on the quality of their
cookies, and that most rushees will
not be taken in by the amount of
crepe paper/on the walls.
* * *
RUSH COULD be vastly simpli-

lancer
reducing the number of parties to
five, and perhaps shortening the
length of rush.
The traditional argument against
the former suggestion is that the
girls would not get to see all
of the houses, in the most demo-
cratic possible procedure. This is
a disadvantage to be sure, but the
time, nerves and scholastic aver-
ages saved on both sides could
make up for the slight disadvan-
tage. It is doubtful that the soror-
ity system would be harmed by
this. The fraternities have obvi-
ously not atrophied.
* * *
THE SECOND suggestion is re-
jected on the theory that five sets
of parties are the minimum re-
quired for the rushee and the
affiliates to get to know each other
well enough to decide on a perm-
anent relationship. If, however,
the parties themselves could be re-
organized so that the rushee, in-
stead of being shunted from active
to active like a smiling ping-pong
ball, would talk to two, or at most
three girls at one party. Since
sororities are usually made up of
girls with similar personalities,
tastes and interests, the opinions

Win

of these two or three girls should
be reasonably valid for the whole
group. At worst, the opinion of
two girls who have talked to a
rushee fairly seriously for a while
is better than that of ten who have
talked to her about nothing for
two minutes each.
For the rushee, the converse
should be true.
* * *
CERTAINLY, mistakes would be
made, as apparently they are made
now, where the variables caused
by exhaustion, misunderstanding
through speed, and especially the
extreme artifice and ritualization
that make rush the gauntlet it is
now.
Something should be done to
better the system, and since per-
fection is impossible, the best
thing to do is find a reasonable
compromise.
But meanwhile, the tired rushees
wade through the slush and cold
in heels and loafers (without
boots, because there is something
uncouth about boots) and the af-
liates wait to greet them, the
specified smiles fixed on their
faces, after two solid weeks of
specified smiles.

INTERPRETING:
Formosa Shows.
Rapid Growth'
By J. M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
WHEN PRESIDENT EISENHOWER cited the Formosan economic
development program as one which could be turned into a show
window for the non-Communist system he picked a case that the un-
derdeveloped countries can easily understand.
The problems are common and the approach to their, solutions are
typical.
** * *
FIRST, AFTER the 1948 dismemberment and the establishment
of the Nationalist government and the Nationalist army on Formosa,

there had to be agricultural ex-
pansion and land reform.
Large Japanese landholdings
were broken up and made avail-
able for easy-term purchase by
the former tenant farmers. Some
large Formosan holdings were
bought by the government and
put on the market the same way.
Rentals were lowered. Thus a so-
cial and an economic problem
were attacked at once. Farm in-
come has almost doubled.
Construction and development
of industry had to start almost
from the bottom, the island's Jap-
anese-developed industry having
been virtually destroyed by war-
time bombing. It was almost the
same as if they were just start-
ing, as in underdeveloped coun-
tries.
IN 1954 measures were adopted
to attract foreign investment and
gradually industry has grown un-
til Formosa now has an excess of
exports over imports. There has
been an 80 per cent increase in
production.
The economy is not yet self-
sustaining, however. American aid
is still required to offset the ex-
pense of military defense, un-
usually heavy because of the con-
stant threat from the far more
powerful mainland section of
China controlled by the Commun-
ists, and frequent attacks on the
offshore islands.
* * *
GREAT progress has been made
in reorganizing the army both as
to weapons and manpower. After
the transfer from the mainland,
advancing age became a serious
threat to the army's effectiveness.
In the last few years the average
age has been reduced from 28 to
25 through recruiting.
A new four-year program has

DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 2)
"Central Intelligence in National Se-
curity," Wed., Feb. 24, 4:10 p.m.. Aud. A.
Lecture: w. A. Andreae, Science Serv-
ice Laboratory, London, Ontario, Can-
ada, will speak on "Auxin Metabolism
and Growth" on Wed., Feb. 24 at 4:15
p.m., Rackham Amphitheater.
Academic Notices
Sociology colloquium: Otis Dudley
Duncan, University of Chicago, "The
Metropolitan Structure of the United
States," Wed., Feb. 24, 1960, 4:15 p.m.,
E. Conference im., Rackham Bldg.
Seminar: "The Beliefs of Islam," led
by Mr. Mohammed Ghaly, doctoral
candidate in linguistics. Tues., Feb. 23,
4:15 p.m. Lane Hall Library.
Doctoral Examination for William
Thomas Weeks, Physics; thesis: "In-
version-Vibration and Inversion-Rota-
tion Interactions in the Ammonia
Molecule," Tues., Feb. 23, 2046 Ran-
dall Lab. at 2:30 p.m. Chairman, K. T.
Hecht.
Placement Notices
Summer Placement:
Cedar Lake Camp, Chelsea, Mich.,
Huron valley Girl Scouts representative
interviewing, Tues., Feb. 23.
Irish Hills Supermarket, Mich; Larry
Burns interviewing, Tues., Feb. 23.
Ann Arbor YM-YWCA;'Miss Budd In-
terviewing, for Camp Takona, and Mr.
Dittman interviewing for Camp Birk-
ett, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Thurs., Feb.
25.
Detroit Council of Boy Scouts, De-
troit, Mich.; Mr. Leith interviewing,
Thurs., Feb. 25.
The Summer Placement Service is
open every Tues, and Thurs. from 1:00
to 5:00 p.m. and Fri. morning from 8:30
to 12 noon in Rin. D528 of the SAB.

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