NEW EMPHASIS:
SGC Reading Program
Positive Achievement
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
DAY, DECEMBER 4, 1959 NIGHT EDITOR: JEAN HARTWIG
By STEPHANIE ROUMELL
Daily Staff Writer
ALTHOUGH the SGC election
count hit an all-time low this
fall, other SGC activities had net
wide response. The SGC Reading
and Discussion program is one
such activity.
The program was first attempted
last year; the summer reading list
was made available to students
and discussion sessions over the
books were held in the fall. But
the results were disheartening for
only a small number of students
participated in the readings or
discussions.
But far from discarding the pro-
ject this year, SGC st about plan-
ning and presenting a list of books
and a group of professors to lead
the discussions that would capture
the student's interest to a greater
degree.
*.*
SGC MEMBER Roger Season-
wein, in charge of the program,
chose both the books and the pro-
fessors to discuss them subjective-
ly. Rather than systematically go-
ing through the various academic
departments and choosing a book
and a professor from each, he
instead sat back and made a men-
tal list of the books of current
and general importance that he
himself wanted to read and know
more about.
In choosing faculty members, he
gave thought to those who were
somewhat related with the book
but also he thought about those he
was most interested in hearing and
seeing on a more informal basis
than the classroom.
s*
THUS 400 students went home
last summer and read the seven
intellectually stimulating books
and returned this fall to hAve
competent faculty members ex-
pound on their leisure reading.
The meeting place of the semi-
nars-the honors lounge of the
Undergraduate Library - was well
chosen. Special permission from
Prof.. Robert Angell of the soi-
ology department to use it was
obtained. It was felt that the
library would not be out of any-
one's, way and that people going
by could drop in on the discussion.
THE HONORS lounge lent an
informal atmosphere with every-
one sitting around the long, cen-
tral table and the professor at the
head of it usually delivering i
short lecture and then leading the
discussion. Professors relaxed and
students relaxed, freely entering
into the give and take discussion-
for once having read the assign-
ment beforehand.
* * *
PROFESSORS were sometimes
chosen not for their direct relation
to the subject but for a unique
slant they could bring to bear on
it. Profs. Marston Bates and Law-
rence Slobodkin, both of the zool-
ogy department, led the seminar,
"What Basis for Morality?"
This discussion was purposely
scheduled on a night with several
activities happening _on campus,
such as Bette Davis at Hill Audi-
torium. The intention was to keep
the attendance low so that the
majority present could participate
in the discussion.
But some fifty people packed the
honors lounge and a surprisingly
large number of them actively
participated in the discussion.
Encouraged by the success of
this year's program, SGC is al-
ready planning ways to broaden
the scope of subjects and selecting
likely professors to lead the talks.
* * *
STUDENT Government Council,
then, is showing itself to be by
no means -an inactive or a useless
organization although the area of
its activitiy has perhaps shifted
in recent years. The reversal on
the SGC Sigma Kappa decision
last year convinced the campus, if
not SGC itself, that it lacks
strength as legislative body.
But legislation is only one facet
of student government's activity.
Indeed, it is but one facet of any
government's activity. And now a
large part of SGC's efforts seem
concentrated on adding to the
educational advantages of the
campus. The Reading and Discus-
sion Program is one example of
this, the Independent Study pro-
gram is another.
For one reason or another, the
character of most organization
shift and change, and recently
SGC found good reason to change
the character of its emphasis from
legislation. But the' new Ifocus of
its activities is constructive and
the organization still deserves the
support of the student body-a
support shown by the recent elec-
tion's low ballot returns, to be
wavering immensely.
Musket's .'Carousel' Wobbles
THE FIRST performance of
MUSKET's 1959 production of
"Carousel" emphasized the need
for more rigorous direction and, in
the first place, for more careful
consideration of the choice of
show. Any musical requires equal
excellen.e' in the acting, mime,
movement and dancing as in the
singing. In these respects "Carou-
sel" was a dangerously ambitious
choice; while it undeniably pro-
vided an entertaining evening, it
did not seem to- achieve the suc-
zess which Musket's energies and
talents deserved.
Technically the production
lacked smoothness and precision.
The lighting in particular on the
first night varied from the eclectic
to the nonexistent. Light spilled
onto the side flats and the cyclo-
rama was an arabesque of dis-
tracting shadows. Billy's "Solil-
oquy" which closes the first half
demands to be sung in a concen-
trated area of light, but was
played on a stage generally and
dully lit.
The scene changes of the last
half, which owing to the play's
disjointed construction are neces-
sarily frequent, were executed
slowly and the orchestra did not
even' attempt to disguise such
delays, but allowed the audience'
to enjoy the ghastly silences un-
disturbed. The lack of precision
was further emphasized by stray
glimpses of stage crew slipping
into Julie's cottage by the back
door and removing chairs in broad
daylight
* * *,
THE SIZE of the stage itself
imposed severe limitations. Despite
the evident singing abilities of the
chorus, their acting and movement
in a limited area was often uneven,
tentative and at times wooden.
The opening "Carousel Waltz,"'
SENIOR COLUMN:
1
Student ActivitiesMachine
V
HE CONTROVERSIAL student pub closed
its doors and faded into obscurity, the irate
member of the clergy was put quietly' to rest
in his grave and the dry days of Prohibition
came and went. But the antiquated "East of
Division Beer Ban" still remains. The reason
why it does lies buried somewhere in the slowly
yellowing records of the Ann' Arbor City Coun-
cil.
But the liquor drinker has had an even
rougher time. With the end of the Volstead
Prohibition Act era in sight, the liquor drinker
wetted his lips in anticipation of a smooth
Manhattan, mixed by an experienced bar-
Who.
"THEY'RE trying to get us to push the
panic button," State Senator John,
Smeekens (R-Coldwater) said yesterday
about the State' Administrative Board's
worry over the tax crisis. "The Governor
and the Administrative Board haven't
had dime store clerk experience in run-
ning a billion-dollar state government
,business."
Just who has the dime. store clerk atti-
tude toward state government, Senator
Smeekens?
CONNOISSEURS of the "hard stuff" resigned
themselves to their fate, drove a few miles
out of town to more progressive communities
and weaved home with a contented "I'll show
them" smile on their faces. Students mixed
their own in the seclusion of their apartments
and package liquor stores took on extra help
to handle the youthful load. Restaurants of a
more sophisticated nature moved out of town
in order to have cocktail lounges and the Ann
Arbor community was left with second-rate
eateries. !
-Now twenty-five owners of local restau-
rants and bars have formed a corporation,
the Ann Arbor Licensee's Association, to finally
do something about the archiac "No Liquor by
the Glass" ruling. Opposition to their drive
will probably be limited to conservative tee-
totalers, elderly Ann Arbor spinsters and other
citizens of the Prohibition era type.
SUPPORT OF THE "wet" proposal should;
come from the student body-sick of being
considered adolescents incapable of downing a
highball without "corrupting their morals."
And then there is the argument that adopting
the "Liquor by the Glass" proposal will remove
part of the drinking from apartments and
move it into bars where the University would
have closer tabs on the students.
The Ann Arbor chapter of Alcoholics Anony-
mous would certainly be able to handle the
" excessive" element that the Womens' Christian
Temperance Union (WCTU) will probably raise
their feminine whines against.
' The days of Prohibition, speakeasies and hip
pocket flasks faded with the Model A Ford.
It's time for a "dry" Ann Arbor to wake up
and realize that being "wet" isn't so bad after
all.
-BARTON HUTHWAITE
Features Editor
By JOAN KAATZ
Magazine Editor
ACADEMICS vs. Student A
ties? - this pertinent que
will be posed tomorrow at
annual Student-Faculty-Adm
tration Conference.
Undoubtedly the topic wi
related in certain acpects tov
some call "the decline in stu
activities this year" and o
refer to as "what increased
demic pressures have done to
dent organizations."
But one can only wonder i
real problem of the decline-
does exist-lies in increased;
demis studies or is it inheren
the nature of the specific acti
WITH THE increasing siz
the University and its wide d
sity of students, the respons
ties and scope of any single
tivity must necessarily incr
This is most accurately exhi
in the development of the ide
student government.
This concept, as embodie
Student Legislature, implied;
ernment in the form of repr
tation of student opinion wit
real legislative power. In the
dent Government Council, the
of responsibility was expande
ctivi-
stion
the
Linis-
11 be
what
ident
thers
aca- EACH LEAGUE Executive Coun-
stu- -il member is in charge of one
realm of League activities. Within
f the these areas are committees and
-if it these are subdivided into specific
aca- activities which are further re-
nt in duced to committees within the
ivity? activity.
Large masses of bureaucracy
ze of are thus developing within all stu-
iver- dent activities.'
ibili- And the student involved in any
ac- one organization begins to feel
ease. insignificant as he invades this
bited machine-like structure. Limits are
ea of set on all his ideas, and he begins
to lose any desire for creativity.
d in Like most machines, this then,
gov- may be what is lacking in student
esen- activities - the human element
;hout with all its ramifications of in-
Stu- spiration, creativity and enthusi-
area asm.
d be- But student enthusiasm and
unique ideas are lacking. The or-
ganization man sees insurmount-
able obstacles to any real discus-
sion and resolutionof the issues:
"It's not a problem for students
to resolve;" "Does the student
body really want action on this
issue;" "Are we prepared to un-
yond the reception of opinion to
acting upon that opinion.
Enlarged scope and responsi-
bility naturally forces the activity
to function with more care and
organization than previously. Be-
cause of this, bureaucratic pro-
cedures are highly developed and
the resulting red tape is frighten-
ing.
S* * *
PERHAPS one way of breaking
the tie of the activities man to
the red tape is by narrowing the
scope of each organization. Groups
should try to deal thoroughly in
two or three areas rather than
irregularly in several.
Activities which 'the organiza-
tions continue to sponsor because
of their traditional value and not
because of their wide support
could be eliminated and replaced
with new interrelated functions in
one area. Why not replace the sev-
eral dying dances with another
big successful weekend such as
Michigrasr
A second approach might be to
relate the activities more specifi-
cally with academic areas. Each
organization could undertake the
planning of functions dealing with
specific schools and colleges.
This would entail a complete
reorganization and redirection of,
all campus activities but it might
relieve the problem of academic
pressures driving student out of
the Union and into the Library.
EACH OF THESE suggestions
would create more opportunity for
student thought and reduce some
of the administrative problems
involved in the many all-campus
activities. The groups' scope would
be reduced. allowing more time for
developing new ideas.
If the decline in activities ex-
ists, as most student organiza-
tions cry, then students must
either accept it or devise a new
solution. Perhaps the latter :will
begin to put the dynamic human
element into the student activities
machinery.
colorful and exciting, was spoiled
by clumsy grouping and posi-
tioning and the animated mime of
the amusement park was at times
awkward and forced: the impres-
sion was primarily one of students
trying hard rather than of New
Englanders having themselves a
ball.
Grouping and positioning were
the poorest aspects of this produc-
tion. Bill's death was staged too
far to one side and the regimented
line of spectators on the other
disastrous The first half closed
with Billy almost off right and
Jigger appearing diffidently left-
neither emphasized, if they had
to be far apart, by spotlights. It
was also strange that "When
Children Are Asleep" was also
played practically offstage.
* * *
THAT THIS SONG was one of
the best moments of the evening
was due to the brilliantly assured
performances of Judy Heric as
Carrie Pipperidge and Jack
O'Brien as Enoch Snow. Both
moved well, sang well, 'and, even
when singing, acted well. Both
maintained' throughout the eve-
ring a quite professional presence,
and Snow's Hulot-like first scene
was hilarious.
Neither Jerry Lawrence as Billy
Bigelow nor Diane Franjac as
Julie Jordan possessed this final
polish and confidence, although
their performances were well sung
'and acted; in the csse of Bigelow
the acting was not sufficiently sus-
tained during the "songs. Robert
Denison's Starkeeper, a non-sing-
ing role, was a delightful cameo.
THE CHOREOGRAPHY showed
exciting ideas, but the men were
generally unable to execute them
and apart from the ballet (where
Ann Weldon as Louise was de-
lightful) the dancers never had
enough room and seemed to lack
sufficient rehearsal. The orches-
tra's tempi were erratic and
often slow - congratulations to
Muriel Greenspon for managing
finally to liven up the opening
number of the last half. Ed La-
mance, the conductor, could also
well have smoothed out certain of
the awkward phrasings in the
songs.
The final onus with a musical
is upon the coordinating handof
the director. This, I think, was
largely unapparent. Although
Clarence Stephenson could draw
upon good singing, costumes and
such scenery as space allowed, he
somehow failed to integrate the
principals, chorus (as singers and
actors), dancers and above all the
orchestra. Such is the consequence
of attempting such a difficult
show, which my program informs
me is 'Now a significant part of
our rich heritage in the American
Theatre.'
-John Dixon Hunt
I,,
LDAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
GC IN REVIEW:
Meeting: Shows I'mmaturity
IT IS A SAD situation when more Tesponsi-
bility and maturity are shown by new mem-
bers of an organiation than by the old guard,
but with Student Government Council this
seems to be the case.
Wednesday night can serve as a good ex-
ample. In one of the shortest meetings of the
last year, motions were taken up, discussed,
and disposed of quickly, without much time
being wasted. If this had been the entire sub-
stance of the meeting it would have been an
important step forward, in efficiency, but it
wasn't,
IN MEMBERS' time, one Council member saw
fit to attack mispelled words in the freshman
English proposal. His purpose seemed to point
out that little time was spent on the motion.
While this might have been true, his attitude
was a purely negative one. Matters such as this
can only make new Council members hesitant
to bring up ideas in the future.
IT SEEMS strange that members of the Coun-
cil, after fighting for more power and re-
About the only significant motion to come
out of the meeting was the one dealing with
the .Student Book Exchange. But here the
important question seems to be not whether
a project to sell new books is legal but whether
this is a proper function for SGC to become
involved in.
With the selling of new books, the aspect of
commercialism creeps in no matter how much
the service aspect is stressed. Under the present
system of acting as an agent for the students
wishing to sell their books the service angle
can't be questioned.
IN A UNIVERSITY such as this one, service
projects such as the bike auction and the
SBX are good because of the money saved for
the student. Now instead of selling their books
to a bookstore for a small fraction of the
original cost they are able to sell them to
other students and receive a large share of
their investment.
But with the Council selling new books, it
would be hard for the student to save more
than 40 or 50 cents on a book; and even then
the plan is only to sell a fraction of the books
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of The Univer-
sity of Michigan for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no edi-
torial responsibility. Notices should
be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ing, before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication. Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1959
VOL. LXX, NO. 60
General Notices
Astronomy Dept. Visitors' Night: Fri.,
Dec. 4, 8:00 p.m., Rm. 2003 Angell Hall.
Dr. Lawrence H. Aller will speak on
"The Moon." After the lecture the Stu-
dent Observatory on the fifth floor of
Angell Hall will be open for inspection
and for telescopic observations of the
Moon, Double Star and Orion Nebula.
Children welcomed, but must be ac-,
companied by adults.
Women Students who do not shave a
housing commitment for the spring
semester may apply now at the Office
of the Dean of Women, 1011 SAB, for
residence hall or supplementary hous-
ing.
U.S. Rubber Co. Foundation Schol-
arship applications are now available.
This scholarship is open to students
who have completed at least two years
of college and have plans for a career
in industry. Selection made on the
basis of academic achievement, finan-
cial need, leadership, and educational
goal. Recipients must be willing to as-
sume moral obligation to repay over a
reasonable period at least 25 per cent
of the scholarship aid. Stipends are
variable to fit individual need factors.
Applications may be obtained at the
Scholarship Office, 2011 SAB. They
should be returned no later than Dec.
11 to be assured of consideration.
The Stearns Collection of Musical
Instruments will be open on Tuesdays
and Fridays from 3 to 4 p.m. Enter at
East Circle Drive (across from the
League).
Last Day -- for January graduates to
order commencement announcements.
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., SAB.
students who are blood descendants of
American veterans of World War IL
Application forms may be obtained at
2011 Student Activities Bldg.
The following student-sponsored so-
cial events have been approved for the
coming weekend. Social chairmen are
reminded that requests for approval
for social events are due in the Office
of Student Affairs not later than 12
noon on Tuesday prior-to the event.
Dec. 4: Alpha Chi Sigma, Alpha Gam-
ma Delta, Betsy Barbour Hse., Blagdon
Hse., Helen Newberry, Jordan & Adams
Hses., ;Kleinstueck Hse., Phi Delta Phi,
Phi Mu, Williams Hse., Zeta Tau Al-
pha, Phi Sigma Delta.
Dec. 5: (one o'clock closing hour) Al-
pha Delta Phi, Alpha Tau Omega, Chi
Phi, Chi Psi, Delta Chi, Delta Sigma
Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon,
Greene Hse., Lambda Chi Alpha, Mich.
Christian Fellowship, Nu Sigma Nu,
Phi Chi, Phi Delta Phi, Phi Gamma
Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Tau,
Philippine-Mich. Club, Pi Lambda Phi,
Psi Upsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma
Nu, Stockwell Hall, Tau Delta Phi,
Triangle, Zeta Psi, Delta Sigma Pi.
Summary action taken by SGC at
its meeting Dec. 2.
Approved minutes of previous meet-
Ing.
Approved the following appoint.
ments:
IFC-IHC Joint Rush Committee -
Tom Turner; Regents' By-laws Com-
mittee - Bret Bissel, Babs Miller, Phil
Power, Phil Zook; Nat'l and Internat'i
Committee - M.A. Shah, Associate
Chairman; Education and Student
Welfare Committee - Babs Miller, As-
sociate Chairman; Student Activities
Committee - Jeff Jenks, Associate
Chairman; Cinema Guild ,- 1 year (un-
til next Dec.) - Rochelle Goodman,
Jeff Jenks, Norris B. Lyle, Anne C.
Speer; 1 semester (until this coming
May) - Maxine Apple, Marc Allen Za-
goren.
Received financial report as of Nov.
30.
Defeated motion to rescind Nov. 5
action authorizing mailing of minutes
to housing units.
Calendared Tax Crisis debate (pre-
viously approved) for Dec. 3 in the
Multi-Purpose Rm., Undergrad. Library.
Approved placement of suggestion
dertake this job;" and "Isn't this
a job of another organization."
Sharpest Needle of All
'Y 'l ,,>xy it r- ° . x# ._.