r p i urr ...rr
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1970
NIGHT EDITOR: ROB BIER
Grab-bag suggestions
I
As opposed to mo
book review sampling
lection makes no p
gleaning the season's'
ther, it merely represe
of grab-bag approach
who are hard put to
for left-handed oc
aunts or other such
misanthropes.
THE ELEGANT AUCTIONEERS,
st holiday by Wesley Towner, Hill & Wang,
s, this se- $10.00.
retense at This book serves as a case study
"best." Ra- of conspicuous consumpion in
ents a kind America. At the thump of the auc-
for those tioneer's mallet all the jewels and
find gifts glittering junk of aristocrats and
togenarian robber barons is immediately
charming transmuted i n t o cold c a s h.
Whereas Towner seems to take
---R.W.C' great enjoyment in the process,
others will feel only embarrass-
ment,
Where will you be when
AFCEgoes on strike?
For the Nostalgic
AMERICA ADOPTS THE AUTO-
MOBILE, 1895-1910, by.James J.
Flink, MIT.Press, $12.50.
Those wishing to take a trip
back to a time when the horseless
carriage was regarded more often
as a means of salvation than a
course of destruction, will find
that James Flink offers just such
a jaunt. This is not to say Flink
is unaware of current problems,
but rather that by turning to the
popular press of the period the
author is able to give insights into
a period when (for a vast majority
of Americans) the 'virgin' and the
'dynamo' could still be friends.
Forty-six full-page illustrations
substantiate his contentions.
* * *
DEAC MARTIN'S BOOK OF MU-
SICAL AMERICANA, by Deac (C.
T.) Martin, Prentice-Hall, $12.95.
This free-wheeling musical au-
tobiography is filled with ample
doses of Deac Martin's own home-
spun philosophy. To wit: "No need
to be too perturbed or to go hay
wire when we still have 'Up a Lazy
River' and 'White Christmas,' and
hundreds more just as good .,".
And hundreds more, "just as
good," are included for the read-
er's sentimental delectation.
* * *
THE MOVIES, by Richard Grif-
fith and Arthur Mayer, Simon and
Schuster, $19.95.
Late-show addicts will enjoy
this updated version of the 1957
volume by the same title. The "up-
dating" is frankly a disappoint-
ment: other books deal more sub-
stantively with contemporary cin-
ema. On the other hand, the bulk
of the book consists of hundreds of
stills and text for the glamour
that was once Hollywood - pre-
1957, that is.
For the
Anti-Establishmentarian
ACADEMIC GAMESMANSHIP:
HOW TO MAKE A PH.D. PAY,
by Pierre van den Berghe, Abel-
ard-Schuman, $4.95.
Properly speaking, this volume
is not so much for the anti-estab-
lishmentarian as the establish-
mentarian. But it may be used
quite efficiently by forces of both
camps. Those concerned with
"making it" in academia as well
as those concerned with reform-
ing or destroying it altogether will
find ammunition here. Dr. Ber-
ghe's sympathies quite obviously
lie with the latter group.
* * * $
THE INTELLIGENCE ESTAB-
LISHMENT, by Harry Howe Ran-
som, Harvard University Press,
$9.95.
An authoritative inside view is
presented of the CIA, FBI, De-
partment of State, etc. The only
drawback, one fears, is that the
insider's viewpoint may be a bit
too far inside. Dust jacket endorse-
ments come not only from such
"second consciousness" stand-bys
as The New Republic and The New
York Times Book Review but also
(and one can only speculate) Air
Force. Nonetheless, the book does
provide the best factual account
of a realm which is too often ne-
glected by otherwise serious-mind-
ed radicals.
THE POLITICS OF UNREASON:
RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN
AMERICA, 1790-1970, by Seymour
Martin Lipset and Earl Raab,
Harper & Row, $12.50.
This work represents no ordi-
nary "search and destroy" mis-
Sion. Rather, by combining his-
torical analysis with contempor-
ary insights, it provides an extra
ordinarily thorough analysis of
right-wing patterns and tactics
WHEN STUDENTS come back to school
next semester, they may be confront-
ed by a "different" University. It is pos-
sible that food will not be served In dorm
cafeterias, the Union, the League, or the
hospital. It is possible that 'University
buildings will not be cleaned for days. It
is, also possible that campus buses will no
longer run.
This may be the University we come
back to if a contract settlement between
the University and Local 2583 of the
American Federation of S t a t e, Munici-
pal, and County Employes (AFSOME) is
not reached by their Dec. 31 deadline.
Though the union may work without a
contract well into the new term, if AFS-
GME eventually decides to .s t r i k e, the
University community will be faced with
a decision.
We must decide whether we will sup-
port the workers and their demands,
whether we will honor their picket lines,
and whether we will refuse to scab if the
University asks us to.
Before deciding, students should study
the arguments of both sides..
On the wage increase issue, the Uni-
versity position seems dictated by its poor
financial situation. The University has al-
ready asked all departments to cut their.
budgets by three per cent, and has fore-.
casted a $150 increase in dorm rates next
year with the possibility existing that the
figure could go even higher. The Univer-
sity has also been listed by the Carnegie
Commission on Higher Education as one
of several universities facing "severe fi-
nancial crises.'s To support the workers
wage demands, from this point of view, is
only to ask for higher housing and tuition
rates.
HOWEVER, the "severe financial crises"
of the 2,700 service and maintenance
employes at the University cannot be ig-
nored. After enduring months of an in-
flationary spiral, t h e union member is
still working for the same wages he was
getting two years ago. There has been no
cost-of-living adjustment since that time.
Editorial Staf
MARTIN A. HIRSCHMAN, Editor
STUART GANNES JUDY SARASOHN
Editorial Director Managing Editor
NADINE COHODAS ..... ....Feature Editor
JIM NEUBACHER . Editorial Page Editor
ROB BIER............AssociateManaging Editor
LAURIE HARRIS - Arts Editor
JUDY KAHN .. Personnel Director
DANIEL ZWERDLrNG .. Magazine. Editor.
ROBERT CONROW.Books Editor
JIM JUDKIS....... .......Photography Editor
EDITORIAL NIGHT EDITORS: Jim Beattie, Lindsay
Chaney, Steve Koppman, Pat Mahoney, Rick Peroff,
NIGHT EDITORS: Jim Beattie, Dave Chudwin, steve
Koppman, Robert Kraftowitz, Larry Lempert, Lynn
Weiner.
DAY EDITORS: Rose Berstein, Mark Dillen, S a r a
Fitzgerald, Art Lerner, Jim McFerson, Jonathan
Miller, Hannah Morrison. Bob Schreiner, W. E.
Sc~hrock.
With an average wage of $2.69 an hour,
(75 per cent of the union works at $2.90
an hour or less) a large number of union
members are forced to take supplemen-
tary steps to ensure that they can pro-
vide for their families.
For some workers, this means holding
down two jobs, sometimes working 12 to
16 hours a day. For 70 per cent of the un-
ion it means commuting to their j o b s
from tpwns as far away as Detroit be-
cause it is too expensive to live in Ann
Arbor. For others it means getting food
stamps from welfare agencies.
It means going without new clothes or
adequate medical attention in order to
make ends meet.
THERE ARE OTHER reasons the work-
ers should be supported besides their
great need for a substantial w a g e in-
crease. Despite the importance of these
workers to - the University, they lag far
behind administrative and academic em-
ployes in the benefits they receive. Their
Blue Cross insurance plan is inadequate
to meet their needs and is inferior to the
one other University employes, especially
the faculty, are now covered by. While va-
cation and sick time stipulations are fair-
ly flexible for non-union employes, the
AFSCME member cannot claim doctor's
appointments as sick time.
The current contract also spells out an
extremely awkward system for filing un-
ion grievances which puts off the com-
plaints of the workers for several months.
THE DECISION to support the workers
rests particularly on the shoulders of
student workers in the dorms. If the un-
ion decides to strike, these students could
put great pressure on the University by
not working; pressure which could lead
to a settlement favorable to the union.
These are the students, the kitchen
help, the student janitors and busdrivers
who must realize that w h e n their co-
workers come to work, they have to pay
for parking spaces out of their take-home
pay. They should remember that while
student employe uniforms are free, non-
student workers must pay for both the
uniforms and the cleaning of their work
clothes.
Student employes should also consider
that their dorm-kitchen co-workers have
to pay for their meals during their work-
ing hours - even if they don't eat them.
They should remember that what for
them may be j u s t the money to go to
Europe for the summer, is for their co-
workers a livelihood.
The outstanding characteristic of the
AFSCME positions on strike issues is their
modesty. The day is far in the f u t u r e
when AFSCME will be making greedy de-
mands for luxuries and fringes. Now they
are dealing with the cold reality of mak-
in a living wave anr1 nhtaininedirnity
in America. The authors, whose
credentials are clearly in order,
display a peculiar (though seem-
ingly necessary) insistence on
footnotes and various satistical
charts.
* * *
For the Psychic
Investigator
THE HUMANOIDS: A SURVEY
OF WORLDWIDE REPORTS OF
L A N D INGS OF UNCONVEN-
TIONAL AERIAL OBJECTS AND
THEIR OCCUPANTS, edited by
Charles Bowen, Henry Regnery,
$5.95.
When the Air Force-sponsored
Condon Committee set itself up at
Colorado University in 1966 to in-
vestigate flying saucers, a group
of civilians got together to form
their own investigating team. The
Flying Saucer Review became their
voicepiece with which they con-
stantly bombarded the negative
findings of the Condon Commit-
tee with "positive" findings of
their own. The Humanoids repre-
sents the fruits of their endeav-
ors. The accounts are unending,
but the credibility often staggers
even the most willing of imagina-
tions.
* * *
THE SHADOW OF THE UN-
KNOWN, by Coral E. Lorenzen,
Signet, 75 cents.
This is a bargain book at 75c,
although it is'not worth much
more. When Mrs. Lorenzen was
in high school her teacher told
her, "If you're curious, Coral -
inquire!" And since then, that
is what she's been doing wheth-
er her particular subject hap-
pens to be "Things from Out of
Nowhere" or "Airborne Anom-
alies" (these are sample chap-
ter headings). This is interest-
ing first-person detective work.
For the 19th Century
Anglophile
MUDIE'S CIRCULATING LI-
BRARY AND THE VICTORIAN
NOVEL, by Guinevere L. Griest,
Indiana University Press, $8.95.
In the latter half of 19th Cen-
tury England, three-decker novels
were virtually as popular amongst
a large part of the middle class
ViSUUi
The Mastery of Mary of Burgun-
dy, George Braziller, $20.00.
Peter McIntyre's West, Sunset
Books, $19.50.
Yasuichi Awakawa, Zen Painting,
Kodansha, $15.00.
Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Ori-
ental Art, New York Graphic
Society, $27.50.
Georgia O'Keefe, Praeger, $18.50.
By R. A. PERRY
For past holiday giving, some of
the finest art books were supplied
by the publisher George Braziller,
whose Hours of Catherine of Clev-
es and The Tres Riches Heures of
Jean, Duke of Berry highlighted
the seasons. Braziller has this year
published another distinctive il-
luminated manuscript, a fifteenth
century Book of Hours by an un-
known Flemish artist referred to
by art historians as The Master of
Mary of Burgandy. In this new of-
fering, the 115 plates, in four col-
ors plus gold, are small in close
approximation to the original
manuscript, and are faced by leg-
ends written by J. J. G. Alexander
who also provides a lengthy pre-
face discussing the history and
style of the manuscript.
Although there is much in The
Master of Mary of Burgundy man-
uscript - numerous trompe r oel
borders of flowers, birds, butter-
flies, and jewels on gold ground,
and of course dramatic tableaux in
narrative panels - to titillate the
connoisseur and to fascinate the
art historian, I think that this new
Braziller volume fails to 'come up
to the standards of the previous,
above mentioned, manuscripts on
two counts.
First of all, at least 57 of the 117
pages reproduced .are text pages
with ornamented margins, an d
while these ornamentations-both
floral designs and brief hawking
and tournament scenes - a r e
mildly delightful, they are basi-
cally repetitive and of minor in-
terest compared to the fully il-
luminated pages. In this respect,
'I
From NO KNOWN SURVIVORS: DAVID LEVINE'S POLITICAL
PLANK, a book of David Levine's caricatures with an introduc-
tion by J. K. Galbraith, Gambit, $7.95.
&i
a
*
as three-decker hamburgers are
in America today. The story of
the rise of Mudie's is, in a sense,
the story of the rise of the Vic-
torian novel. George Eliot, Troll-
ope, and Thackeray are but a few
of the better-known (to say noth-
ing of the lesser-known) who made
their way to literary prominence
via Mudie's Circulating Library. A
subscription could be had at the
going rate of a guinea a year.,
VICTORIAN STUDIES IN SCAR-
LET: MURDERS AND MANNERS
IN THE AGE OF VICTORIA, by
Richard Atlick, Norton, $7.95.
Besides those Victorians who
read the three-decker novels, there
were those who read the penny
broadsheets. Or, perhaps more of-
ten than we like to think, there
were those who read both. Even
more surprising, however, are
English professors such as Rich-
ard Altick who read both today.
The first three chapters are de-
voted to a professorial study of
the Victorian delight in murder
stories as a "social phenomenon.?'
The remaining sixteen chapters
show Mr. Altick's delight in retell'
ing them. The last part is best-
or, one should qualify, it is best if
murders happen to be your par-
ticular cup of tea.
-0
Books for potters
experiences,
a
Daniel Rhodes, STONEWARE
AND PORCELAIN: THE ART
OFHIGH-FIRED POTTERY.
Chilton, $7.50.
Daniel Rhodes, CLAY AND GLAZ-
ES FOR THE POTTER, Chilton,
$7.50.
Daniel Rhodes, KILNS: DESIGN,
CONSTRUCTION AND FIR-
ING, Chilton, $10.00.
By GINNY CONROW
The potter today does not have
an unusually wide selection of tru-
ly good books. But it seems that
the three Daniel Rhodes books -
standing together or on their own
-ofer the student or studio potter
an excellent reference work, tech-
nical guide, or inspiration. None of
these three books is new. Each
has been reprinted numerous times
since publication.
Stoneware and Porcelain: The
Art ofeHigh-Fired Pottery is the
most general of the three and most
adequate for the newcomer to the
craft. Highlighting the book is a
portfolio of illustrations, with pot-
tery ranging from T'ang dynasty
to contemporary. Here, in pictorial
form, Rhodes illustrates the con-
tinuity between European and Or-
iental tradition-which he defines
in his opening chapters. He also
stresses the influences and philo-
sophies shaping contemporary
high-fire ceramics, or to put it
in other terms, those pots which
are fired at a higher temperature
to make them more durable.
His chapters on clay and glazes
underline his concern with the art
of pottery-making, the individual-
ity and vitality that make a pot
beautiful. The new potter, the
frustrated potter, or the searching
potter can undoubtedly turn to
the book not only for help and re-
lief, but for inspiration.
Daniel Rhodes' other two books
serve mainly as technical guides.
Clay and Glazes for the Potter
may be initially overwhelming for
tended usage -throwing, casting,
modeling, or pressing - and body,
stoneware, earthenware, or porce-
lain.
He discusses glazes in similar
detail, beginning with the nature
and types of glazes. After describ-
ing the glaze materials, he ex-
plains glaze calculations, origina-
tion, usage and firing techniques.
There can be no doubt that this
book is indispensable for the ser-
ious potter, or rather, that potter
whose knowledge of sound techni-
que makes spontaneity possible.
Kilns: Design, Construction and
tooled to copy the original yet hav-
ing a plastic feel - has to be
severely bent open in order to ap-
preciate fully some of the pages.
These may seem petty quibbles.
in a book that offers much plea-
sure, but I do believe that when
one considers a book on art one
must also consider the art of the
book. Braziller's price does not
preclude such thoughts.
In what may be seen as an in-
version of the values of flraziller's,
little volume, Sunset Books have
produced in Peter McIntyre's West
an art book in which the book-
making itself is of higher quality
than its contents. McIntyre, a New
Zealander, was .invited by Sunset
to illustrate the sights of Amer-
ica's old and new West. Fifty-six
of Mr. McIntyre's oils and watsr-
colors have been reproduced in six
colors (most processes use only
four) by Kyodo of Tokyo, and the
plates have, the illusion of tac-
tility and the sublety of coloration
that marks the best Japanese
printing. En face to the plates are
line, charcoal, and ink wash draw-
ings from the artist's sketchbooks,
in addition to written commentar-
ies.
There is very little that could
be called artistically exploratory
in Mr. McIntyre's productions,
ranging as they do from the mildly
impressionistic to the clearly re-
presentational. Technically they
appear accomplished, but at no
time does the artist transform the
landscape into anything but cal-
endar-style scenery, nor does sheer
techniaue take one's .breath away,"
as in the case of Wyeth. Some of
the pen-and-ink drawings are en-
gaging, others merely busy. The
text, written by Mr. McIntyre him-
self, reads like a collection of banal
postcards. Reasonably priced for
the quality offered. Peter McIn-
tyre's West is a good coffee-table
book to give to friends who have
never heard of Claes Oldenberg.
What is a Zen painting: Is any
painting by a Zen monk a "Zen
naintirn" n can anaintina by a
number of unfamiliar paintings
from private Japanese collections
that will enthrall anyone interest-
ed in Japanese art. Sengai and
Hakuin receive special attention,
though older masters such as
Sesshu and Chinese painters such
as Liang K'ai and the ephemeral
Mu Ch'i are included. Each of the
139 plates are briefly though often
vacuously annotated (Sesson's use
of line and composition "all sug-
gest the masterpiece of a man liv-
ing in seclusion") and a biograph-
ical sketch of each painter is
offered.
Surprisingly, Kodansha; one of
the world's finest publishers of
beautiful art books, has here pre-
sented poor plates that never cap-
ture the contrast of rich black ink
on white silk or paper, because the
"backgrounds" are uniformly gray,
Many paintings are thus deprived
of their potential impact and
their true beauty.
Again, to contrast qualitymIn
book-making, we have the most
sumptuous tome, Museum of Fine
Arts Boston: Oriental Art, a book
distributed by the New York
Graphic Society and printed by
Kodansha at the highest level of
color reproduction. The Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston has undis-
putedly the finest Asian art col-
lection in this country and cura-
tor Jan Fontein, along with Pra-
tapaditya Pal, has chosen the fin-
est Persian, Indian, Chinese, and
Japanese objects for Kodansha's
lavish and exacting color repro-
ductions. Considering that many
of the illustrated masterpieces are
better seen in this book than in
the Boston Museum, where dark
corners and reflecting cover glass
too often frustrate viewing, this
oversize volume is especially wel-
come. My only quibble is that
many 'of the fine Japanese cer-
amics in the Morse Collection-
kept in a dusty attic-have not
been represented.
Finally, Praeger has brought
out a new volume on Georgia
Keef' e.the nionger annesait.
0
4
t
Operation offers both a how-to
and a brief history of kiln mak-
ing. This is the only - certainly
the best - book specifically on
kiln-building. While one chapter
in Stoneware and Porcelain brief-
ly describes the high-fire kiln,
Kilns guides the reader through
the process of building and under-
standing his kiln. In fact, it is
highly doubtful that very many
potters today would dare under-
take such an operation without a
copy of Rhodes on hand.
I