Stop the presses--I need a haircut
By ANN MARIE LIPINSKI
F A 1OVIE WERE to be made of last week's
1)emocratic Convention it would be tough to
decide who should be cast in the lead role.
Jimmy Carter night seem like the obvious name
to tack on the top of the marquee, but Walter
Cronkite - the prince of press -would un-
doubtedly be the choice of nany who witnessed
that four-day show of shows.
Yes, the Georgia peanut farmer may have
had the run of the entire third floor of the
cast of 10,000 cohorts and cronies had the run
Americana Ilotel but Cronkite and his grandiose
of the city. Like a January snow, they descended
upon New York like so many flakes, saturating
every corner of the convention-crazed city.
Not only did that mass of editors, broadcast-
ers, reporters, photographers, couriers, camera
and copy people outnumber the delegates two-
to-one, but the pampering and mollycoddling they
received was enough to miff any Delaware al-
ternate - the delegates were offered courtesy
charge cards for the week by Macy's, but it
would take only one quick glance in the, gift
horses's mouth to see that that was a meager
present by comparison.
IN ROOM 396 of the Statler Milton Seligman
and Latz, Inc. were running a "Fresh-Up
Lounge." "Press Only," the sign outside the
bustling suite read. For the small cost of your
signature - or "autograph" as one operator
put it - in their guest book, S & L laid at the
feet of the media an array of services fit for.
a candidate. Hair cuts, hair trims, hair sets
and hair-dos, razors, Bufferin and Datril, Ban
anti-perspirant, a first-aid kit, a sewing kit,
foot refreshers, Parker pens, a typewriter, of-
fice supplies, TV sets and "light refreshments
appropriate to the time of day" were given with
a Georgian smile by the S and L beauticians
who were on sabbatical for the convention from
salons located in Bamberger's, lord and Taylor's,
and Saks.
A steady stream of credential-carrying re-
porters flowed through the lounge continuously,
placing themselves in the hands of the expert
cosmetologists who supplied every comfort short
of massage.
Why don't you have a sauna in here?" one
photographer quipped between snips of his beard.
"NO SAUNAS," a beautician answered, "but
we should think about that before Kansas City"
A more appreciative customer - a photog
w ho claimed to be stringing for the Philadel-
phia Bulletin but later admitted he had finagled
credentials "to get my share of the week-long
freeload" - examined his renovated crop of
blown-dry hair.
"You shouldn't have done such a good tb
Carlos," he said to his smiling beauttcian
don't want to have to commute from p'
for my haircuts."
"HAIR DESIGNS," Carlos corrected him
The Statler wasn't the ony place where pr;s
freebies flowed like wine. Across the street at
Madison Square Garden - center stage for n.
vention activity - convention coordinators had
set up the "Railroad Lounge," where the ard-
carrying elite convened to watch Walter o: the
three TV screens and gobble up the bottomtess
platters of ham and roast beef sandwiches. W' I
delegates and other proletarians shelled tat 90
cents a shot at the Garden concession stand, lot
tepid Coke, the Railroad loungers slurped ee
beer and soda to their reportorial heart.s or-
lent.
And when lavish parties were thtowo an t
week in the city - the kind that were chrotited
in print the next day by the New York times
the reported guests didn't only include natres
the likes of Warren Beatty, Bella Abzuy tad
Shirley MacLaine. Equal society page time as
devoted to the social goings-on of Ben Irt
and Hunter Thompson as well.
THE POWER of the convention Pt 1
diaplayed in all its glory last Tuesdat,
noon the Gold Ballroom of the Statler ar
delegates, reporters and gawkers alike h a
sembled for a caucus of left-wing Iett I
which included John Conyers and Toot It _
"I think we're going to have to moe :h
meeting to a larger room," a spokesooa ,or
the caucus told the swelling crowd. "W h
to accommodate more people."
"Like hell tou are," a camerman hi IIf ed
above the crowd. "We've already -et p It
equipment."
"Okay," she acquiesed. "We'll stay i er.
AnnXi tarie iinsi c i Is ere d / tTV)
Na/ional C'c1/ison for T he Daily.
Cronkite: Prince of Press
The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Thursday, July 22, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
WELL, SOARING EAGLE, WE'RE THINK OF IT! TWO HUNDRED
IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR YEARS OF BUILDING THE
BICENTENNIAL YEAR! GREAT AMERICAN DREAM'
Stroll by the Art Fairs
ANN ARBOR HAS AGAIN transformed itself into a sum-
mer playground.
It happens every year. Just take a stroll along the
streets which usually teem with backpack toting stu-
dents, well-groomed professors and casual summer shop-
pers. Then stop and look around.
What you'll see are dusty sculptors turning sticky
plaster into art. White-smocked painters carefully dip-
ping their brushes into coffee cans filled with paint.
Woodcarvers wearing set expressions while shaping hunks
of handsome pine and oak into dainty figurines.
But that's not all you'll see. Watch the people who
come to watch the artists. Notice the awed expressions
on the faces of pre-schoolers. Saunter along the clogged
streets where our elderly residents take in the sun while
enjoying the exhibits. And don't forget about the scores
of familiar faces who lend the campus its own distinctive
charm. They'll be there, too.
And while you're admiring a hand-made craft item
between slurps on a Fudge ripple cone from Miller's, take
time out to listen to the peal of the carillon, the bells
whose clang will be heard by thousands of other summer-
time fairgoers from Main St. to South U.
The Art Fair still has three days left, so do yourself
a favor and pop into one of the three shows. Not only
will you see some of the finest art anywhere, and possi-
bly be tempted to purchase something which captures
your fancy, but you'll see Ann Arbor, as well as Ann Ar-
borites, at its balmy best.
THE MIIWAIKEE I URNAI