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