i.
Ejl 3 iclggauu iBail
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. * Phone NO 2-3241
SUMMER HITS GREENWICH VILLAGE:
New York City The Beat Wave Rolls On
"When 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.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1959 NIGHT EDITOR: THOMAS HAYDEN
Response to Assembly-IHC
Orientation Statement
Po .. .
ADJUSTMENT to the University is a vacuous
phrase.
It is unimportant that an incoming student
adjust to the University whole, because in
terms of numbers and area it is inconceivable
that he can.
What is important is that he adjust to the
parts of the University which his environment
and interests rule he will contact. This can
more quickly be accomplished if the Inter-
House Council-Assembly orientation recom-
mendations are taken into account and acted
upon.
Basing their stand on the philosophy behind
the Michigan House Plan - that of dividing
an essentially large community into smaller
social groups - the policy statement asks that
social activities during Orientation Week be
generally restricted to the housing groups in
which {the new students will be living.
HIS HARDLY seems an unreasonable re-
quest. Housing groups lend themselves
beautifully to two orientation activities: social
functions and introduction to University rules
and regulations.
Ceroainly, freshman mixers are more success-
ful in terms of making the students feel at
ease and at home if they are conducted on a,
small intimate level than if they are made into
an all-campus or all-freshmen production.
Those who; attended Union Madriess, as an
example, saw that such a spectacle is not
necessarily adaptable to socializing; in fact, it
seemed directly the opposite, for large crowds,
intense heat and too-soft band music made
dancing and mixing all but impossible.
But a house social, committee makes only a
small noise compared to the gigantic amount
of publicity which large organizations such as
the Union and the League are able to put out.
THE IHC-ASSEMBLY statement Justifiably
claims that Union Forums and League Night,
are unnecessary. Union Forums duplicate the
Information on male conduct rules which the
men's residence halls are able to present much
more effectively. And since many of these rules
deal with conduct in the residence halls them-
selves, it is only appropriate that they are in-
traduced in, house and corridor meetings.
League activities are undeniably important
for University women to know and to under-
stand. But, since social activities are primari-.
ly night-time affairs, there would seem no
reason that the League could not, as the state-
ment suggests, conduct a day-time orientation
similar to those of other major organizaions
on campus.
There is no question of motives here. The
dormitories are under no pressure to "rush"
frehsmen so that they will want toy remain
in the dormitories for longer than a year. The
University is assured of a bright, new crop of
freshmen each semester who have no choice
but to live in the dorms.
Rather, the statement is a laudable attempt
to speed up the freshman's adjustment to the
area where he will spend most of his time. It
is important because adjustment to the dormi-
tories could also turn into a vacuous phrase.
-JUDITH DONER
Con . ..
ORIENTATION at the University has been
for many years a mystic event that was
resurrected twice a year spontaneously it would
seem. The Inter-House Council and Assembly
Association have issued a statement urging re-
visions in the orientation program which bears
notice for its novelty if not its content.
The plan calls for a residence hall-oriented
orientation program. The motivation for the
proposal seems to be a desire to raise the quad-
rangles' and dormitories' prestige in the eyes
of the freshmen. This practically admits that
there exist flaws in the present system. There
are few who would argue with this.
The report calls for a program that would
keep the freshmen almost entirely within the
influence of the residence hall during the first
week. This would offer the halls an excellent.
opportunity for brainwashing, as it were, the
freshmen before they could come in contact
with the other areas of the University.
IT WOULD seem that since, students must
spend at least their first year'in the residence
halls, the advantages of these institutions could
be made quite apparent. But what advantages
are there? After the freshman year, when regi-
mented living may have. its uses, there is little
offered along the lines of educational and so-
cial advantages to the average student in the
quadrangles. And in the dormitories, those
women not fortunate enough to pledge a sor-
ority are virtually prisoners of Dean Bacon.
Assembly and IHC seem to be working to get
the freshmen in their clutches before they can.
run away. And things must be pretty grim if
the freshmen cannot wait a week before run-
ning. Indeed, according to the Union-League
questionnaire, of all the events on the Orienta-
tion schedule, those held in the quadrangles
and dormitories have been through the years
the parts least liked by the freshmen.
'This leads to another point. If the residence
halls can't run an enjoyable .mixer, how can
they run an effective orientation? The Union
and the"League have proven their ability. IHC
and Assembly cannot. For, although Assembly
may be organizationally stable, IHC most su e-
ly is not, and is. considering a re-organization.
To trust anything as vital as orientation to such
a group would be folly.
F IHC and Assembly feel they are being shut
out of orientation and don't want the Union
and League to run it, SGC would seem to be*
the logical group to approach.
But as they say in "Teahouse of the August
Moon," "We not want to end discrimination -
wewant some too." IHC and Assembly do not
want to prevent abuses in the Orientation sys-
tem; they just want to be the ones to bend it
in their favor.
These groups could better spend their time
making the residence halls live up to a frac-
tion of their potential. If they could be made
worthwhile to even a large minority of stu-
dents, they could hold their own against any
kind of orientation. Let IHC and Assembly look
to their own houses before they start suggest-
ing how things should be run.
-THOMAS KABAKER
Xy ANN DONIGER
Generation ,Co-Editor
NEW YORK CITY was at high
tide all summer long. The heat
wave swelled early in July and fi-
nally broke in mid-September. The
crime wave followed almost direct-
ly inin its wake; and there was lit-
tle that the authorities scould do
about either.
Secretaries left their- steaming
apartments at dawn and slept at
air-conditioned desks until nine.
The police force swore in rookie
cops in all districts so that when
there was a rumble at 13th Street
and Avenue B, there were at least
eight officers of the law on the cor-
ner of 14th Street and Avenue A. It
was impossible to beat the heat
and the Puerto Ricans beat the
Negroes and the cops beat Miles
Davis.
There is always the question of
action and reaction and who knows
if there might have been fewer
incidences of brutality under a
lower temperature-humidity index.
* * *
BUT THERE WAS a third cur-
rent which, though not Hof such
cataclysmic proportions, still con-
tributed to the general undertow:
The Beat Wave. Originating on the
west coast ,it trickled into the great
inland seas of the middle west and
rolled fiercely into Greenwich Vil-
lage shortly after the schools -
high schools - let out this June.
For some years, people have been
wailing, or rejoicing, over the fact
that the "real" artists have evacu-
ated the Village - though many
traveled only the few short blocks
across Washington Square, where
do Kooning, Franz Kline, Ginsburg
and Gregory Corso could be seen
with some regularity in the Cedar
Bar (though one might question
the "reality" of the last three).
But a new phenomenon took hold
of the Village this year, under the
banner of "Readings by the Poets
of the Beat Generation." And some
of the police force was diverted
from the danger zones of Central
Park and the lower East Side, in a
mass effort to KEEP THE POETS
OFF THE STREETS. City officials
even announced that they would
keep the fountains in Washington
Square running longer than usual
in order that folksingers might be
prevented from congregating in the
basins.
WITH A FEW uptown excep-
tions, most of these soirees were
concentrated in the Village at such
establishments as the Gaslight, the
Cafe Roue, the Epitome, and one or
two more too esoteric to reproduce
in newsprint. There, nightly, week-
ly, or whenever the Spirit moved,
outside these small espresso shops
were hordes of youngsters, spraw-
led on stoops, slung over wrought-
iron railings, or propped up against
parked vespas in such droves that
the sidewalks and streets were en-
tirely obstructed.
On several occassions, the police
force swooped several-the dirtiest
-up into the back of a van, but
this never seemed to make a dent.
Strangely enough, these followers
of "the poets of the Beat Genera-
tion" were rarely to be found inside
those places where, their spokes-
men ranted-places which charged
exorbitant minimums for a vari-
ety of tantalizing-sounding names
for a brew which never varied, was
always bitter, always cost at least
fifty cents, and had the inevitable
consistency of mud.
The clientele consisted mainly of
tourists coming down to inspect, to
see just what tricks the young
generation was up to, and occas-
sionally a scout from Evergreen
Review, and Mardou Fox-of Ke-
rouac notoriety-who turned out
to be named Jane after all.
* . *
BUT EXACTLY what the young
folks were up to was unfortunately"
Last Retort
-Daily--James Richman
"SO WHAT? OUR BAND CAN BEAT YOUR BAND."'
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Football Game Produces Various Comments.
To The Editor:
AS AN ALUMNUS of the Univer-
sity of Michigan, I was greatly
disturbed at the Michigan-Michi-
gan State football game when, be-
tween halves, several students
paraded around the field carrying
a banner which read "Hate State."
I have long been a loyal Michi-
gan man, proud of my past af-
filiations with the University, and
I must say that I was thoroughly
ashamed of such a display of poor
taste and bad manners before
103,000 people Saturdayafternoon,
I refuse to believe that this in-
cident is condoned by the student
body as a whole although I couldn't
help but wonder, following the out-
burst of cheers, as the banner
passed in review before the cheer-
ing section.
Furthermore, a most distressing
part of the situation is that the
occurance must have had at least
semi-official sanction in order for
the banner bearers to have gained
admittance to the playing field.
Let us not permit a few irrespon-
sible adolescent youths to com-
municate this kind of archaic
thinking with respect to Michigan
State University or any other or-
ganization. Let us rather, promote
high ideals of good citizenship
which the University of Michigan
has traditionally long upheld.
which University of Michigan has
traditionally long upheld.
"Beat State," yes-but not "Hate
State!"
-Edward R. Snell, '28BAd
Worried .
To The Editor:
HAVING JUST returned from
your "learned" campus, I find
myself worried that your "schol-
arly" students may find it difficult
to explain their nauseating conduct
of last Saturday to a number of
outsiders (i.e. "unenlightened
ones").
Therefore, I've come up with
some suggestions that might help
during the remainder of your foot-
ball season. They are:
1) Prepare hundreds of clever
signs, welcoming the visiting fans.
This will, without a doubt, show
off Michigan's inherent intellectual
superiority.
2) Paint yellow "M"'s in con-
spicuous places on the other
school's campus. This demonstrates
the traditional Michigan brand of
ingenuity.
3) Throw beer bottles on the
field. This indicates that Michi-
gan's athletic prowess is still all-
prevailing.
4) Sing several choruses of any
given nursery rhyme. "The Vic-
tors" sounds quite out of place
when the home team is trailing
badly.
5) Spend weeks preparing a
good, obscene humor magazine
that berates the other school as
much as possible. This makes
Michigan look infallible, which, of
course, is true.
6) HATE STATE-the more the
better! They're all a band of
marauders that should have their
hands slapped, anyway.
7) Belittle the opposition's cheer-
leaders. After all, they have
(gasp!) girls on the squad, and this
Felicitations
To The Editor:
FELICITATIONS: To Sec. 23,
, Row 23, Seat 7 and adjacent
cohorts
The fun lies not in occupying a
seat other than one's own-the
real trick is in not relinquishing it
while only minimally impinging
on the rights of the owner.
Employing greater numbers and
utilizing concerted effort, success
was realized by these males in the
frustration of the rights and plead-
ings of the ticket-holder with only
diminutive violation of the ac-
cepted rules of good conduct and
manners in social relations. Their
efficacious methods consisted
merely of pretended amblyopsia.
when shown her ticket proving
ownership, and by displaying
aphasia when asked to get up so
she could locate her seat number,
a few misdirections and no small
amount of laughter.
She though, like a fox, picked up
her number 7 from the row be-
hind. This of' course necessitated
the extemporizing of some funnies
by the singled-out gentleman, but
he came through with a good bit
of parrying and she shortly left,
only slightly embarassed.
So once again the weaker sex.
has, with tact and finesse, been
made acutely cognizant of its place
in society. This beautiful bit of
gallantry, evinced early in the first
period, though adroitly restricted
to a verbal encounter, corroborates
once again the principle that
Might makes Right.
-G.M.S.
Objection . .
To the Editor:
AS A MEMBER of IHC who does
not agreewith the policy state-
ment issued concerning social
orientation I wish to express my
opinion and disclose a few perti-
nent facts.
The action of the IHC and As-
sembly Association reveals plainly
the lack of wisdom in many of our
so-called campus leaders. Little if
any research went into the ques-
tion of whether all campus activi-
ties have a deleterious effect on
the Michigan House Plan. When
it was suggested that the freshmen
be consulted as to their opinion a
high IHC officer retorted that
freshmen cannot judge their own
needs and therefore could not
advise on the IHC policy state-
ment.
The attitude of'the IHC is blind
and unreasonable. I feel this atbi-
tute is consistent with the general
assumption that the IHC is moti-
vated by fear-fear that their
position is being usurped by the
more successful student organiza-
tions. Thus the IHC apparently
needs to drop a bomb now and
then to make itself felt.
* *
THE IMPACT of all campus
social events during orientation on
the Michigan House Plan is in my
opinion very slight. Proper sched-
uling can overcome many conflicts
between house and campus social
affairs. The president's message
and church night are the only two
activities that preclude house
functions. This , leaves five eve-
House Plan or allow the develop-
ment of the complete individual.
In conclusion, a word of advice
is necessary. Don't forget that IHC
is a representative body subject
to pressure from the men it serves.
The IHC has grown complacent
and is in dire need of helpful
prodding. If the men in the resi-
dence halls will express forceful
opinions and suggestions to their
house presidents through the
house councils and follow up these
suggestions and opinions, IHC will
become a more effective and repre-
sentative body.
-Ronald A. Bortman,
'Vice-President
Strauss House, E.Q.
Modernity .
To the Editor;
IWISH TO commend the variety
of student organizations at the
University of Michigan which have
undertaken to bring the University
classrooms into conformance with
the times. I am referring in par-
ticular to the blessing which they
bestowed on all-faculty, students,
and janitors-by bringing Madison
Avenue into the classroom. No
longer need one seek out maga-
zines, TV, or billboards to gain his
weekly quota of advertising; no
longer must he strain his eyeballs
at the movies in endeavoring to
perceive the subliminal commer-
cials; no longer need he listen to
the "Gargoyle" huxters on the
Diag.
No, how he need never stir from
the classroom to know that it's
what's up' front that counts, for
there, only a quarter-inch away, is
the blackboard, covered from end
to end with announcements of
student meetings, ads for student
magazines, and pleas for student
volunteers to attend the student
meetings and write the student
magazines.
Not only are these burgeoning
blackboard blatancies of great
service in keeping informed an
audience which could be reached
in no other way; but they provide
the students with an additional
blessing. For, as a result of this
creeping classroom commercialism,
students may now claim total ig-
norance of assignments, quiz an-
nouncements (unless they are to
be written in 25 words or less and
handed in with a boxtop), formu-
lae, and other information hither-
to considered an essential part of
a college education; if they see.
such on the board at all, they can
always claim that they mistook it.
for part of the ad-a testimonial
perhaps.
And chances are, that they will
not even have to give this excuse,
for the formidable array of an-
nouncements will no doubt intimi-
date the professors so thoroughly
that they will be unable to write
on the board at all-assuning that
a column inch of room remains.
-Lynn Bloom, Grad.
disturbing. Every night visitors to
the Village could see, seated in
front of a furniture shop, an idiot
who played with the same top, fas-
cinated by the perpetual motion
of this toy. Coming around the
corner, they might run head-long
into a shoe shine boy with a de-
formed spine and artificial spiders
clinging to the back of his tattered
shirt.
And the tricks of the poets who
read for love and money bore some
resemblance to both, like someone
wandering around, half-dazed with
open sores on his back. The poetry
which was being read was, for the
most part, long-winded, explosive
self - revelation. Neither critical
probing nor questioning, which
must have some value no matter
what the effect, but uncensored
outbursts - baring of souls, in
verse, verse-prose, verse-drama, or
sometimes Just "skatted" (with the
introduction that this was "written
for the ear and not for the printed
page." One wonders what the
printed page did to deserve this
and how one might arrange to be
similarly privileged.) From the
ear's point of view this was not
even bad art; it was just embar-
rassing.
YET IT GOES under the name
Of poetry: they call themselves,
poets and call to their defense the
support of the Beat Generation
both notoriously ill-defined terms;
yet between the two groups they
made a lot of noise and covered
considerable spatial area, so that-
they cannot be overlooked.
At least two questions arise: why
does this show draw such a faith-
ful following; and what are those
followers following anyway? As for
the latter, this art, such as it is, is
at once irresponsible and confused.
,On the one hand there were
totally isolated egocentric lyrics of
the' sexual tribulations and ec-
stacies which this and, as a matter
of 'fact,' an overwhelming number
of past generations have and will
continue to face. This variety was
not so interesting to me, in spite
of the fact that the incidence of
dirty words in contrast to those
less highly-charged, was higher.
They represent, In an articulated
form, some stage in the normal de-
velopment of every adolescent.
But there was a second variety,
a more socially-oriented, though
no more socialized art, the poetry
of the people, which expressed no
credo really, but the painful long-
ings for such a credo which no
one seemed to be able to formulate.
* . *
.ONE SUCH playwright, stooped
from the weight of his inflated so-
cial consciousness was all for the
ill-fed and the Illiterate. Betweei
'sets' of readings, he told me that
he would kill all 'those idiots who's
never heard of Van Gogh (or who
referred to him as 'oh you mean
the one without the ear) with no
guilt at all. What emerged was a
terrific distortion of values; the
desire for world revolution staged
in factories and a cultured elite in
one breath.
But neither are thought - out,
genuine causes. They are tired of
all the old causes and no one has
come up with a new one towards
which all this diffuse energy can
be directed. I think that perhaps
if someone did, something might
come out of it. There is a great
deal of ferment and fury going on,
which will have to have some re-
sult. Right now, however, it is
mostly shell, and ritual with little
content or form, self-indulgence
rather than self expression with
no restraint at all.
ART NEED NOT have a cause
other than itself. It may have; and
indeed there is a great deal to be
said for "social" art and for artis-
tic movements in general. But
movement, by definition, must be
headed in some direction.
What this crowd which overran
the Village. this summer is at-.
tempting seems tome to be a
geographical as well as artistic im-
possibility. They are moving away
from something, at an unre-
strained velocity, towards nothing.,
And when this speed is temporarily
checked, this facade begins to
crumble. For what they are doing
in this group spirit is hiding be-
hind something which is bigger
than themselves which they do
not comprehend, and at which
there has been no attempt at un-
derstanding.
The causes themselves are fine,.
but the flimsiness of their defense
tends to lower them in our esteem.
Rather, the poems have nothing
to do with what ,they purport to
support, if they are poems at all.
A poem need not be bigger than a
People; but then it need not try to
compete.
THE PROBLEM is one of co-
herence. If the Beatniks insist on
being a generation, rather, on in-
tensifying this fact with which
they really had nothing to do, then
there 'niust be something at the
core, some fundamental point of
agreement from which to advance,
or retreat. With such, much can
be accomplished; 'even if the poems
are bad, there are other areas to
be conquered, which - can only be
taken by group forces. But nothing
I
±4
I
.1
A
4
4
SCHOOL'S TASK:
Delinquency Program
Must Begin Early
4
I
I
INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
Cento' Meeting in U.S.
I
4
i
By J. M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
W HILE SEATO. considers its obligations to
Laos in case of continued Communist at-,
tack, and NATO considers the possibilities of a
sumimit conference, Cento is meeting this week
to take up more tactical problems.
If this doesn't mean anything to you it isn't
surprising, since Cento is a new word in the
great maze of political and military treaty or-
ganizations to which the United States belongs
or is affiliated with in one way or another.
Indeed, although the ministers representing
the Cento nations are meeting in Washington,
this is one treaty organization of which the
United States is not a member.
Editorial Staff
THOMAS TURNER, Editor
PHILIP POWER ROBERT JUNKER
Editorial Director City Editor'
CHARLES KOZOLL ..........,. Personnel Director
JOAN KAATZ ,.................Magazine Editor
BARTON HUTHWAITE............. Features Editor
JIM BENAGH ........................ Sports Editor
SELMA SAWAYA.... Associate Personnel Director
JAMES BOW ...... ... Associate City Editor
SUSAN HOLTZEr.........Associate Editorial Director
PETER DAWSON............... Contributing Editor
DAVE LYON ................. Associate Sports Editor
FRED KATZ................ Associate ports Editor
Business Staff
Cento stands for Central Treaty Organiza-
tion, which used to be the Baghdad Pact before
revolutionary Premier Abdel Karim Kassem
took Baghdad out of it.
ITS PRESENT members are Britain, Turkey,
Pakistan and Iran. The United States,
through John Foster Dulles, started it. She has
binding defense treaties with all of its members
specifically as members of the pact and over and
above the mutual aid, SEATO and NATO trea-a
ties she had with all of them except Iran. She
is a member of all the working committees.
But to assuage the discontent of the Arab
states, and such neutral- countries as India
which agitate against all such pacts, the United
States didn't actually join.
The pact, originally known as the "Northern
Tier" arrangement by which Dulles completed
partial encirclement of the Communist sphere
from Bangkok to the western border of India,
was partly designed as a lure by which it was
hoped the Arab states would be led into the free
world defense camp.
DESPITE IRAQ'S adherence, this never proved
out, and more resentment than good will
was created.
When Iraq pulled out, it was necessary to do
something to hold the organization together.
The United States signed binding defense trea-
ties with the three eastern members.
This brought the wrath of the Soviet Union
down on Iran, and that country has been sub-
jected to bitter Soviet propaganda ever since.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the
third in a series of articles from
the Associated Press dealing with
constructive efforts to fight juven-
Ile delinquency.)
By G. K. HODENFIELD
Associated Press Education Writer
AN OUNCE of effort to prevent
juvenile delinquency is worth a
pound of treatment that comes
too late.
Many high schools, particularly
in the big cities where delinquen-
cy is rampant, have excellent pro-
grams for wayward youths. But
the twig has already been bent -
by adolescence a youngerster's
personality and way of life are,
fairly well set.
To be truly effective, a program
for maladjusted and emotionally
disturbed children must be start-
ed at the earliest possible school
level.
These often-overlooked points
are stressed in a research report
published here by the National
Education Association.
A program starting in the ele-
mentary grades and continuing
through high school obviously is
going to cost a lot of money.
But only in this way, says the
report, can the community hope
to avoid an even heavier cost -
that which must be paid when the
youngster carries his physical, so-
cial or emotional problems into
adult life.
The report lists four ways by
which the school can fight juven-
ly bright and the extremely dull,
as well as for those with sever
physical handicaps.
"The teacher's part in helping
the delinquent is always crucial
and potentially beneficial," says
the report, "but it is never simple
and easy."
To be effective, a teacher must
have a strong desire to work with
children and young people - even
difficult and dirty youngsters. An
antagonistic teacher only aggra-
vates the situation. On the other
hand, children are merciless with
teachers who appear weak.
Perhaps the teacher's hardest
Job: to instill in a youngster from
a lower class family a pride in his'
past, a confidence in his present,
and a hope for his future.
A flexible school program is es-
sential in the fight against juven-
ile delinquency, the report says.
The report set forth these guide-
lines:
The curriculum must be adapt-
able to the individual pupil's abil-
ities, special talents, interests,
prior achievements, goals and as-
pirations. It must provide reme-
dial instruction for the slow learn-
er. It must include a special pre-
employment program for those
who can't adjust to school and
plan to drop out before gradua-
tion.
-When an emotionally disturbed
or maladjusted youngster needs
help, he needs it right away. And
a classroom teacher should not
4
fl
k k