. Wage Six

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Sunday, November 4, 1 973

Page Six THEIIIIIIIIIIM ICH IG ANIII I DAILYI I


PERSPECTIVE
RELAX
scapng the colege rut t OWN

pmaw .mm - nw- =mPRESENT THIS COUPON* -m - - - mm m
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By PETER OSNOS
EDITOR'S NOTE: Peter Osnos is a
reporter for the Washington Post who
is studying Russian at the University.
THIS IS an open letter intended
primarily for two audiences:
first, the undergraduate grind,
those miserable characters who
are convinced that their lives de-
pend on how well they do in
college; and second, to the par-
ents of just about . everybody
else-mamas and papas worried
about why their kids are just
getting by. My advice, based on
experience to be described be-
low, is to relax. The grinds may
well be missing much of the
most important education they
are here to get. And you parents,
I submit that performance as a
student bears little on long-term
success or maturity. Obviously,
there are standards that have to
be met to get into some kinds of
graduate schools. But for most
people, where youxget your de-
grees and how high your grades
were really only matters for that
first job. The greatest challenges
in school, I've come to believe,
are rot in aceing some profes-
sor's idea of an exam, but in
figuring out what it is that you
do best and then focusing on that
because if you like what you d.,
you'll be willing to do the work
involved with doing it well.
Admittedly, what I say carries
no empirical authority whatso-

ever, which is to say there are
no charts, statistical data, bar
graphs and other impenetrables
to back me up. But I do coi-
sider myself a case in point and
so, for what it's worth, here's
my story:
GRADUATED from college-
Brandeis-ten years ago next
June with an academic record of
unexceptionable mediocrity, a
weak B minus, as I recall. I
never flunked anything, however,
and I never took an incomplete.
But in physics, calculus, biology
and one or two particularly dense
psychology courses, I picked up
Ds, D pluses and C minuses. My
best marks and unquestionably
my best work came in the areas
that interested me: contempo-
rary politics, history and litera-
ture.
Looking back now, I recognize
that I was blessed in one very
vital respect: I didn't really care
very much about my grade-point.
Apparently, I had an unconsci-
ous mechanism that directed me
to do the minimum to get
through with what I disliked, but
nothing more. That left me with
time to develop other interests.
In the winter of 1962, I drove
down to Mississippi with a couple
of other people and met Faulk-
ner, Medgar Evers, James Mere-
dith and Gov. Ross Barnett,
among others. For the first time
in my life, I encountered the

country's enormous social prob-
lems and when I came back I
wrote some articles about the
trip for the Brandeis newspaper.
Nobody gave me a grade on
them, but what I learned in the
process of doing them was far
and away the most important
thing that happened to me that
year. And so what if I got a D
plus in Phy-Sci as a result? From
then on, I spent my summers
working in New York City slums
with kids and at school I was
involved in civil rights and re-
lated political activities. Times
have changed, the problems are
different (civil rights is one of
those early sixties terms no one
ever uses anymore) but the prin-
ciple remains the same. My edu-
cation was as much and pos-
sibly more outside the classroom
as in it.
NO ONE SINCE college has
expected me to know any
calculus, but my social sense and
political judgment are being
tested all the time.
When I finished Brandeis I had
a stroke of very good luck and
was acceptedvdespite my record,
at Columbia's graduate school of
journalism (a certain amount of
luck is an everpresent unpredict-
able). My year at Columbia was
terrific and although I don't re-
member telling myself to do it.
I worked harder there than 1

ever had before. The main rea-
son, I think, was because I was
doing what I wanted to. That was
the big change.
NOW AS A newspaperman, I
am as conscientious as my
parents would have liked me to
be in college. With every year
my instinct for achievement be-
comes increasingly well-honed.
It isn't money I'm after, nor do
I suffer from any late-blooming
desire to please my elders. It
is, I'm persuaded, personal pro-
fessional satisfaction that makes
me work.
Coming back to school after a
long break has made me hink
about what I've been saying
here. I'd always considered my-
self a second-rate student com-
pared to the Phi Beta Kappa
and Magnas around me and left
it at that. But now, I understand
why I didn't excel then. In col-
lege, for example, language was
one of my worst subjects (once
in high school I got a 30 as a
mid-term grade in Spanish). But
this year, at the behest of my
paperand through the generosity
of the National Endownment of
the Arts and the University, I
am studying Russian. Memoriz-
ing, I've rediscovered, is dread-
fully tedious and being summon-
ed to the blackboard to prove

GRADUATE STUDENTS WELCOME!

I've done my homework is still
a special form of terror and
humiliation. But because my mo-
tives for learning Russian are
practical and because studying
is a good change of pace, I am
applying myself as I never did
a decade ago.

IT IS ALL, in short, a matter
of where you are in life that
determines how much you work
and how well. When you're 18
or 19 or 20, the worst thing you
can do is to confine yourself to
that narrow track between the
classroom and the library.

"ow'

GRAD
COFFEE
HOUR
WEDNESDAY
8-10 p.m.
West Conference
Room, 4th Floor
RACKHAM

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY PLAYERS
PRESENT
CARL STERNHEIM'S
THE STRONGBOX
WED., NOVEMBER 7-SAT., NOVEMBER 10.
8:00 P.M. MENDELSSOHN THEATRE
Tickets available at Mendelssohn Theatre Box Office
Hours: Mon. & Tues., 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m.,
Wed.-Sat., 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m.

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U.M.
STUDENT BLOOD BANK

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Mon., Nov.

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Phone: 764-1085


LOOKING BACK

BIG and TALL


Tues., Nov. 6
Wed., Nov. 7
Thurs., Nov. 8
11 A.M.-5 P.M.
SECOND FLOOR
MICHIGAN UNION

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Number four
Columbia University's statis-
ticians have come up with a bit
of trivia that makes Michigan's
graduate school look good. U of
M is one of the four universities
in the country, along with Har-
vard, Columbia,aand Chicago,
which have the greatest number
of top-rated professional schools.
For the benefit of those who
like to keep track of these things,
U-M's top ranked schools are:
law (tied for third in the na-
tion), dentistry (second place),
engineering (tied for fith), soc-
ial work (third place), public
health (tied for second place),
pharmacy (tied for fith), and
library science (fifth place).
The Columbia professional
schools study is based on a
survey of 1,180 deans, who were
asked to name the five most out-
standing schools in their own
profesions. Responses were ob.
tained from 76 per cent of the
deans who were sent question-
naires. Most of the deans who
did not respond, to the survey
were in such prestigious fields as
medicine and law. So few deans
of medicine responded that it
was impossible to rate medical
schools.
Oldest Soph
After spending the last six
years of his life in a North Viet-
namese prison camp, James
Warner has a lot to get off his
chest.
Warner, a 32 year old Univer-
sity sophomore gave a talk about
his prison expriences, this week,
to a crowd of College Republi-
cans.
While recounting innumerable
horror stories that he had seea
and heard while captive, he stre -
sed a more general theme. "We
must oppose every tr'ansgression
on human liberty," he said.
He later applied this concept
to both Watergate and to the
Thieu government in S o u t h
Vietnam.
In regard to questions about
his personal adjustments to the
world and the University since
his release Warner respond:d,
"When I got'back I tried to catch
up . . . but I still feel like the
oldest sophomore in the world.'

we -could but the students just
wouldn't pick up the ball."
Meanwhile Vice President of
Academic Affairs Allan Smith
conceded that the tuition, strike
was brought about at least one
unofficial decision: there will be
no fee hike next year.
I guess we should thank our
lucky stars.
Local fighting
A reminder that the tensin
and bitterness that has fostered
the recent Mideast war is not
so far away from home.
Violence nearly broke ou*, this
week, during a Mideast forum on
Zionist aggression. A man leaped
up from the audience and ges-
tured to a banner that stated,
"Death to Zionism." The m a n
cried, "I am a Zionist . . . does
this mean death to me?"
He was quickly removed from
the premises along with fou:°
other Jews. One of the chair-
persons of the Afro-Asian Amer-
ican People's Solidarity Forum,
that sponsored the meeting, an-
nounced that "Zionists are not
allowed at this meeting.'
One disgruntled person explain-
ed how he was grabb,'d by the
arm and forcibly removed from
the room.
The meeting continued despite
the disruption. And now with the
room rid of all oppositipa a chair-
person boldly stated that "Zion-
isi is a total fascist counter re-
volutionary movement."
Faroh Boycott
The list of boycott items seems
to be growing every day. Firs:
came grapes and lettuce; later
Welch's grape jelly and Califor-

Gill

nia wines. A boycotter sat on the
diag last week contemplating it
all: Soon there'll be nothing left
to eat," she said. "Baore long
I'll be munching on moy blue
jeans." But even that f o o d
source seems to be drying up
now. Groups of picketmrs gather-
ed outside of three local clothing
stores this week, urging boycott
of Farah slacks and the establish-
ments that sell them.
The local boycott driv: is part
of a national campaign to force
Willie Farah, owner of Farah
Clothes, to recognize the Amal-
gamated Clothing Workers Un-
ion (ACWU) as the bargaining
agent for workers in his Texas
plant.
Demonstrators at Fiegel's
Clothing Store, Marty's, and
Checkmate apparently succeeded
in reducing the numbers of cus-
tomers in the 'stores. Ann Ar-
bor police visited the Fiegel's
location after that demonstrati'n
began, and told the picketers tj
move on.
Marty Bush, owner of Marty's,
retorted that he had compliedl
with an ACWU request to ha't.
Farah advertising. The manage"
of Fiegel's wasn't quite as co-
operative: "I don't say anything
to those people down at the
Daily; they're all communists.'
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talls to size 2x
O SUITS and SPORT COATS
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SHIRTS to 38" sleeve

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INFO CALL 76-GUIDE

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Ahzn 4 -o'i
211 S. MAIN Jack and Betty Fagan

CHILE
a recen full-length feature film
in English & Spanish
QUE HACER
"WHAT IS TO BE DONE"
Directed by young filmmakers from Chile & the U.S., including
Saul Landau (Fidel). A fictionalized story of a Peace Corps
woman, a murdered priest, a CIA agent & a political kidnapping
set against the reality of Chile during the 1970 election of
Allende. "A spy story musical documentary" with music by
Country Joe McDonald.
CANNES SELECTION 1972 DIRECTORS FORTNIGHT
NAT. 5(C. AUD.-SUNDAY, NOV. 4
7:30 & 9:30 (added showing)
$1.25 CONTRIBUTION

t

Newspapers all across the coun-
try picked up the story. SGC Pre-
sident Lee Gill described it as
"the rumblings of something
big." But nonetheless, the tuition
strike. has fallen flat on its face.
Called to protest the massive
24 per cent tuition hike levied
over thecsummer,thehstrike died
a quiet death due to student apa-
thy and the University's refusal
to comment on the strike's effect.
The Student Action Commit-
tee which had taken the initia-
tive of organizing the strike of
ficially maintains that the "Strike
Continues." But one disenchanted
SAC member admitted, "We're
really at a point where we don't'
know what to do."
Gill was equally pessimistic
when he added, "we did what


- ;l I 1:1=jw
HELD OVER- 5:30, 7:15, 9
"VERY FUNNY.
One that will provide great
pleasure whatever your
sexual habits."
-Martin Mitchell, After Dark
"C HARMING.
Proves that sex is not just
fun but that it also can
be very funny."
-Kevin Sanders, WABC-TV

a .. j
Hr' iy i 1
+iiiflz{
Pont

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SPONSORED BY THE CHILE SUPPORT COALITION

11


SPECIAL KIDDIE SHOW Sunday afternoon-1, 2:30
SANTA & THE THREE BEARS
CHILDREN 50c, ADULTS $1 .00

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[(F-DAYSTAR presents
on the lost day of classes:

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Join The Daily Ad Staff
Phone 764-0558

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SUPER ARBY'S'
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S1 2 mile west of Arborland Across from K-Mart near Golfside a
---.r.r - r ir -.m.OFFER EXPIRES NOVEMBER 30, 1973---------- J

1

Requiem
It seemed like

a great idea.


"TOPS HIS OWN 'DIRTY HARRY'. IT
IS ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS'
-Land,
"I HAD A TERRIFIC TIME" Gene
"AN ATTENTION-GRABBER!"
Ann Guarino,
Charley
Varrick
Then
Last
pof the ;
Inde -
pe nd ents + $® i

on Sunday Mirror
Shalit, WNBC-TV
N.Y. Daily News

CINEMA I I
SUNDAY FRENCH CINEMA
JEAN-LUC GODARD'S
Baedo AbetCONTEMPT 1964
Based on Albert Maravia's GHOST AT NOON, the film depicts the break-up of
the marriage of a young writer and his wife, featuring the bold colorful camera-
work of Raoul Coutard. Ultimately the film zeros in upon lack of communication
among participants and absence of any sense of intimacy. Brigitte Bardot, Jack
Pa lance, Fritz Lang. Subtitled.
a ud a angel lhall 7:00 & 9:00 nov4 $1.00
NEXT WEEKEND: EMPEROR JONES, DINNER AT EIGHT, MOUCHETTE
SATYAJIT RAY WEEKEND
THE ADVERSITY
This recent film concerns a young man4
full of rage looking for a degrading job
in the urban jungle.
It opened in New York last summer to
critical raves. First run in Ann Arbor.

I

SUN. and WED. Open
12:45 with
Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 p.m.
MON. isTUES. Open 6:45
Shows at 7 & 9 p.m.
JIMI HENDRIX AT HIS
PEAK-MEMORIAL DAY 1970
"JIMI PLAYS
RD V1EI EV "

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1973
CRISLER ARENA 8:00 P.M.
$6.50, $6.00, $4.50 (rear stage)
all seats reserved
AVAILABLE ONLY BY MAIL ORDER
BRGINIG WITH SAT.. NOV. 3 d AiSTAR



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1: . :. ....3etR. ht :. '


III