Bits and pieces
Iay a1:
By ERIC SCHOCH
A HOMECOMING THEME of nostalgia for
the thirties? Nostalgia for the thirties?
Well, I guess the good people at UAC de-
cided that if nostalgia was good one year
(the fifties last year) it would be just as
good the next.
I personally find it hard to wax nostal-
gia about the Great Depression, bank closings,
Hoovervilles, Huey Long and people b e i n g
shot at the end of dance marathons -' it
would be wise to remember that people did
not participate in grueling dance marathons
for the fun of it, but because they desperately
needed the money. For a true "trip back to
the thirties", it would have been appropriate
to set up, a mock bread line.
But the object of nostalgia, of course, is to
play up what was good about the past, and
forget the bad. And the object of homecom-
ing is to have fun, so I won't go on kicking
what is down - no one showed up for the
look-alike contest.
WHAT IS DISTURBING is that organized
nostalgia, whether it be the nationwide cele-
bration of the fifties or a local look at the
thirties, implies a strong need felt by many
people to escape from the present.
In the late sixties, a highly politicized stu-
dent body found a homecoming complete with
queens and tissue paper floats to be irrele-
vant in light of the serious contemporary is-
sues.
That feeling is gone now, but the issues, such
as racism, sexism, imperialism, misuse of
government power and war, continue to fester.
One suspects that people will get tired of
this apathetic "breather" rather soon.
* * *
HOWEVER, FROM other quarters comes
disagreement. One Howard Tolley, Jr., an
assistant professor of political science at Wil-
betforce University, conducted a survey of
2,677 children in grades three to eight in New
York, New Jersey and Maryland, and has
come up with some rather disturbing con-
clusions.
At the time these children were interviewed,
Vietnam was still an abrasive and highly pub-
licized issue. These children had lived their
entire lives in a war environment. They were
the first generation to have observed tele-
vised combat. And they had been exposed to
the anti-war movement in the schools during
the sixties.
Having lived in these situations, one might
jump to the conclusion that these children
would have fairly strong anti-war feelings.
However, the survey results show pretty
much the opposite. Almost all of the children
thought war was bad, but 54 per cent agreed
that war "is sometimes necessary." In addi-
tion, fully a third of the children believe
that war is good if it results in the defeat of
communism.
IT WOULD SEEM that the policy of detente
has not trickled down very far into the general
population. Tolley's study shows that media
coverage has improved children's factual
knowledge of Vietnam, but parents and teach-
ers are a greater influence on their opinion.
It appears that parents and teachers in this
country are still teaching their children that
war is inevitable and that war against com-
munists is good, despite the threat of nuclear
war, despite detente, and despite Vietnam.
Tolley concludes that it is up to the nation's
universities and colleges to foster a higher
order of political and social orientation against
war in their educational scheme, for by the
1980's these children will be adults. Some of
them will be creating and implementing policy
for this country.
THIS NEED for universities to act is in
direct contrast to the actions of the Univer-
sity of Michigan. For years this university
engaged in considerable classified research for
the Department of Defense, adding much so-
phistication to American weaponry used in
Indochina, although such research has sup-
posedly been drastically curtailed, especially
with the disposal of Willow Run laboratories.
In addition, in 1971 the University closed
down the Center for Conflict Resolution,
claiming lack of funds. There were those, how-
ever, who felt that political considerations led
to the decision to save money at the expense
of the CCR, rather than some other programs.
* * *
DESPITE THE wishes of those who might
like it to just "go away," the race issue con-
tinues to fester in this country, as the recent
murders and racial violence in Boston indi-
cate.
On Tuesday, Oct. 2, a young white woman
was found in predominantly black Roxbury,
having been burned to death by six youths.
Her attackers had forced her to douse her-
self with gasoline she was carrying back to
her car, and then set her afire. Less than 48
hours later an elderly white man was killed
near a housing project. There followed a
series of racial clashes in Boston schools, with
reports of groups of whites attacking black
women.
It is apparent that life in- city cores is not
improving for blacks, despite the hapless
efforts of anti-poverty programs of the John-
son administration and the not-so-benign
neglect of the Nixon administration.
White America apparently hasn't learned
that problems won't- go away if they are ig-
nored.
* * *
THE BURNING of the young woman in Bos-
ton has also raised another issue, that of vio-
lence on television. Only a few days before
the murder, the movie Fuzz was aired. In-
cluded in this "incisive" view of cops are
gangs of youths who roam about dousing
drunks with gasoline and setting them afire.
Any connection between the movie and the
Boston murder? It certainly doesn't seem un-
likely.
But like racism, media violence is an issue
which gets a lot of publicity and argument for
a while, then dies down, a victim of the gen-
eral public's (and media's) short attention
span.
* * *
STUDENT GOVERNMENT Council met for
the first time in its expanded version 1 a s t
Thursday night, and it is obvious that back
biting has returned.
Spurred on by an overwhelming mandate of
some 950 valid student votes, most members
feel that their primary responsibility is to put
their political enemy and Council President
Lee Gill to the test of a campus recall vote.
That's all SGC needs, another election.
By GLORIA JANE SMITH
John Mayall has been called the
"Pied Piper of two generations
of musicians" - an observation
that is not often argued.
During the past ten years, his
London-originated blues band has
been in constant fluctuation (with
personnel changes as often as
every three months). Numerous
members that have come and gone
include some of the best musicians
in the bWsiness . . . names 1 i k e
Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce
(Cream); Mick Taylor (Rolling
Stones); Peter Green (Fleetwood
Mac) and Jon Mark and Johnny
Almond (Mark-Almond).
"I choose compatible musicians
Iing
in order to create something . . .
my bands have always been a very
free vehicle for people to just ex-
press themselves," explained the
40-year-old artist in a private in-
terview before his recent perform-
ance at Detroit's Masonic Audi-
torium. "If everything is impro-
vised, there's a limitation on how
far things can go . . . the longer
ARTS3
ofRh
you stay together, the nearer you
get to stagnation." '
"You express yourself . . . you
do something . . . it's an outlet,"
he said rather definitively, as if
there were no other possible way
to explain the successful efforts of
more than 30 musicians who have
recdrded with him on well over a
dozen albums.
Current personnel include Fred-
dy Robinson (guitar); Victor Gas-
kin (string bass); Keef Hartley
(drums); Blue Mitchell (trumpet)
and Red Holloway (saxophone and
flute).
An unimposing yet striking man,
Mayall is tall and lean with should-
er-length hair, and he wears
mounds of turquoise and silver
jewelry (New Mexican Navajo). In
conversation, he is a seemingly
tranquil person -his voice is quiet
and his words direct. On stage, he
ignites at the keys of his electriz
piano with his harp around his
neck and creates some preiv
mean, pretty volatile blues.
He, purchased his first - electric
guitar for $25 in Tokyo while on
leave from service duty in Korea.
After the war, he went to college
and then to work for an advertising
firm in his Manchester hometown.
In 1963 he moved to London ind
began to build a following for his
group - the Bluesbreakers.
In those early days, 10 years
ago, Mayall says he thought it
would "be a miracle if I staved
in business another week." He
wasstill juggling his music with
full-time work in graphic design,
this time for a London advertising
firm. "Music was always there -
so was art - but you could earn
a living at art and not the other."
Now, he listens to those- early
tapings with mixed feelings. "They
sound archaic . . . funny . . . pret-
ty embarrassing." On thegother
hand, he finds it "very gra..fv-
ing" to see himself "reach dif-
ferent levels of maturity as time
goes on."
He has notably directed h-s
bands through various phases,
such as playing minus drums
around 1969 and his more recent
jazz-blues fusion.
Adept at electric piano, guitar
and harp, -John Mayall neither
reads nor writes music. Becoming
a musician has been for him a
"process that evolves sort of na-
turally if you're doing what you
want to do.. ."
Today, he is a stylized artist and
the composer of 90 per cent of the
material recorded on his albums
"Things that shaped my style were
mixtures of everything I ever
heard . . . could be anything from
Ravel's Bolero to any kind of
music." He says it's for "other
people to work out technical or
artistic comparisons."
Inside the musician looms a mel-
low human being who cites as oth-
er interests simply a "love of
life." He is a man who lives with
a minimum of planned regularity.
"To me, every day is different. If
days turned out to be average, I'd
be worried."
He's the sort of person who says
of Manchester and his present
Los Angeles home "If I moved
again, it would be to someplace
else entirely . . . I imagine that
seems to be the pattern of niy
life . . ."
For the past ten years, if not
longer, there has been only one
continuum for John Mayafl - his
music . . . "Ive devoted my whole
life to it."
A H a r v a r d University
representative will be on
campus 24 October 1973
to discuss the Harvard
MBA program. Students
interested in discussing a
career in administration
should contact the Place-
ment Office to arrange a
time.
tes
r1
Daily Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKI
The best in Blues with B. B. King
presents B.B. King and Radio King and his Court of Rhythm with the Soulful Soulmates
UAC-Daystar
in Daystar's
at Hill at 8,
first concert of the year
also for homecoming.
for homecoming last night. Tonight Judy Collins performs
TV
highlights
6:30 56 Folk 1970 - 1970 Philadelphia
Folk Festival with John Den-
ver, Dave Bromberg, John
Hartford, Dave Van Ronk, and
Doc and Merle Watson
7:30 56 Masterpiece Theatre - "Clouds
of Witness" - part 2
8 2 All in the Family
50 Harvest Festival-Della Reese
and Burl Ives join the Rev.
Oral Roberts in Oklahoma.
8:30 7 Six Million Dollar Man - Lee
Majors stars as a super-human
9 4 Movie - "The Great Northfield,
Minnesota Raid" with Cliff
Robertson and Robert Duvall.
9:30 56 Bill Cosby on Prejudice - a
grim satiric monologue.
11 50 Movie - "The Wasp Woman"
56 Birth and Death of a Star -
drama of a star's life cycle.
11:30 2 Movie - "Genghis Khan" with
Omar Sharif, Stephen Boyd,
James Mason, and Telly Sava-
las,
7 Movie - "36 Hours" - melodra-
ma about a 1944 German plot
to make an American reveal
plans of the invasion.
1:30 2 Movie - "Torture Ship"
t Movie - "Code Name: Red
Roses" - war movie.
RELIABLE
ABORTION SERVICE
Clinic in Mich -1 to 24bweek'
pregnancies terminated by li-
censed obstetrician gynecolo-
gist. Quick services will be or-
ranged Low rates.
CALL COLLECT
(216) 281-6060.
24 HOUR SERVICE
Attention Grad* Stude'nts
Take a more active role in
your student government
Rackham Student Government is announc-
ing the formation of Committees for Grad-
uate Affairs.
THESE COMMITTEES INCLUDE:
I
i
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
MOVIE-UAC presents Black Pirate, Son of the Shiek, Metro-
polis, The Original Adventures of Tarzan, and Eternal
Tramp tonight in Markley at 7, 9; Cinema II shows Hus-
ton's Across the Pacific tonight and Marker's Le Joli Mai
tomorrow night in Aud. A at 7, 9; Cinema Guild plays The
Spider Strategm tonight and tomorrow at Arch. Aud. at 7,
9:05; Mediatrics presents Angels with Dirty Faces and Kid
Galahad at 7, 9:30 tonight in Nat. Sci. Aud.; India Stu-
dents Assoc. presents Sipp's Seeta Aur Geeta in Aud. E of
P&A at 3, 6:30 tomorrow.
DRAMA-The Braided Theatre presents Journey through Time
and Space tomorrow at Power Center at 8.
MUSIC-Ark presents Bob Gibson tonight and tomorrow at
8:30; Bonaparte's Retreat presents the Oakridge Ram-
blers tonight at 8:30; UAC-Daystar presents Judy Collins
in concert at Hill at 8 tonight; Musical Society presents
Ballet West, USA with William F. Christensen as choreog-
rapher tonight in Power at 8 and tomorrow Julian Bream
plays guitar and lute at Hill at 2:30.
MUSIC SCHOOL-Sterns Collection Concert tomorrow in Cady
Music Rm. at 8.
Communications Women
Foreign Students Univ
Program Planning
n in the
versity
Read and Use
Daily Classifieds
For further information contact Rackham Stu-
dent Government, or call 763-0109
Elections
Finance
Teaching &
Teaching Fellows
420 Maynard St, Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1973
A HOMECOMING SPECIAL
TONI TE ONLY!
KID GALLAHAD
w EDWARD G. ROBINSON and BETTE DAVIS
AND
ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES
w JAMES CAGNEY, HUMPHREY BOGART, and the BOWERY BOYS
7:00 and 9:30 $1.00-N-t. Sci. Aud.
Branding a man for life
THE NIXON administration has made
much of the valor and patriotism of
Vietnam veterans. In fact, the President's
firm resistance to even the most limited
form of amnesty for draft evaders is us-
ually predicated on the argument that
such a pardon would demean those who
did fight in the Indochina war.
Often these Nixon arguments have been
rendered almost laughable, however, by
an unpublicized and little-known Depart-
ment of Defense listing of "SPNs"-sepa-
ration program number designators.
These SPNs which are listed on a vet-
eran's discharge form, may serve to dis-
qualify a former serviceman from em-
ployment.
Among the various tags SPNs can label
an individual with are "unfitness-un-
sanitary habits," "marginal producer,"
"interest of national security," "sexual
deviate," and "nonsupport of depen-
dents."
WILLIAM PRANKRATIUS, an authority
on the classification system, has said
that "virtually every large corporation in
America has access" to at least earlier ver-
sions of the codes, which were revised
about a year ago.
Even gn honorable discharge can in-
clude a bad SPN designator. One veter-
him having seen his SPN, found out from
Pankratius that his number meant a dis-
charge for "disloyal or subversive security
program." It seems that he had received
anti-war literature in the mail.
SPN designations are not the only
mark that can brand a veteran, making
employment and life in general difficult.
There is also the discharge itself.
During unofficial hearings in Washing-
ton Thursday, 22-year-old Dwight Green
testified that his undesirable - not dis-
honorable - discharge had resulted in
his being denied unemployment benefits,
V. A. benefits and a decent job. Green
and others said that it was their opposi-
tion to the war and racism in the armed
forces which had earned them their un-
favorable discharge treatment.
THIS HARASSMENT of political dissi-
dents and nonconformists within
Army ranks makes a mockery of the
Nixon administration's laudatory procla-
mations of our troops issued with such
gusto early this year.
It is further evidence of the repressive
way in which. the government continues
to treat those whom it considers a moral
or political threat.
Rep. Edward Koch (D-N.Y.) .has in-
tU oduced legislation which would reduce
4
A MUST FOR ALL SERIOUS MOVIEGOERS.
Donald J. Mayerson, Cue Magazine.
AN INCREDIBLE FEAT. A HEROIC FILM.
-Liz Smith, Cosmopolitan
Produced by Stan Marguies Executive Producer: David L. Wolper - Original Music by Henry Mancini
[An;ginalSound TracaP _}meyiUA---eco-s]
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