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OPINION
Page 4
Saturday, October 10, 1981
The Michigan Do
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Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
The origin of the
Victors'
Vol. XCII, No. 27
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
ontroling sin in Florida
Plans are underway to add an ad-
ditionalfight song to a long list of Univer-
sity of Michigan music. The "Victors, "
which Bob Ufer has described as "the
greatest college fight song ever written,"
will still remain as the song most closely
associated with the university. I
The following article from the April
28, 1928 Daily documents the history of
the "Victors":
T HREE CHEERS for University of
Southern Florida President John
Brown.
Brown took the state of Florida to
court after he was informed by the
Florida comptroller that state funds
for USF were going to be eliminated
next week because the university was
supposedly in violation of the state's~
Trask-Bush amendment.-
The Trask-Bush amendment is one
of the Florida legislature's latest at-
tempts to eliminate sin. It includes,
among other things, provisions which
cut off state money to universities
which fund on-campus organizations
advocating sexual relations between
unmarried adults.
It seems the sinners this time are two
groups on the USF campus-the
Student Government Senate and aw
organization called Sigma Epsilon Chi.
Last month, the student government,
in defiance of Trask-Bush, passed a
resolution advocating sex between
consenting, unmarried adults. Sub-
sequently, a group of students forced
Sigma Epsilon Chi-the Greek letters
for SEX-and received provisional
status from the university.
And heaven forbid that the student
government or a student group should
be allowed to stand up for the liberties
of individual students. The state step-
ped in, as provided in the Trask-Bush
amendment, and tried to block con-
tinued state funding of USF.
On Friday, Brown obtained a tem-
porary restraining order preventing
the cutoff of funds, but the fight will
continue for some time.
It is unfortunate that univer-
sities-places where a variety of ideas
and values should be fostered and
developed-must be subjected to cen-
sorship of the students opinions.
-The amendment }has been challenged
twice-unsuccessfully. Perhaps this
time Brown and USF attorneys will be
able to thwart the effects of this am-
endment, which so greatly threatens
the civil liberties of Floridians.
THE "VICTORS."
(The "Victors") was written
by Louis
Replay u
Byy
Will McLean Greeley
Elbel, '00, who before coming to Michigan
was known as the "Wonder Pianist." Elbel
was a musician of talent and studied music
extensively in Germany. His interest in spor-
ts, and in especially football and track, might
have caused him to flavor the "Victors" with
some of the dash and vigor of the games.
The immediate success of the new song was
aided by circumstances. In the spring of 1890
the University of Michigan was mourning its
lack of a band, and all because there was
then no student council, Michigan Union, nor
any other campus organization which cared
to take the financial risks of satisfying a
group of musicians struggling for musical ex-
pression. But one individual saw the light! He
was Otto H. Hans, a law student from South
Bend, Ind., and at that time business
manager of the Michigan Daily. Mr. Hans
suggested a Varsity Minstrel show, the
proceeds of which were to go directly to
benefit the impoverished band. Louis Elbel,
who was also an enterprising South Bender,
was asked to write something original for the
show. That very evening the "Victors" was
born, being written exclusively for the min-
strel show. The night preceeding the show, it
happened that John Phillip Sousa's famous
band was engaged to play in U-Hall. The band
played the "Victors" in public, and the march
was well received.
With promises of better things,. the
University of Michigan band took heart and
was allowed to lead a paradd advertising the
minstrel show. As a result the show played
two nights to packed houses in the old Athens
theater, which later became the Whitney. The
"Victors" march made a decided hit, was
produced and dedicated to the football team
in 1898, and played by the University. or -__
chestra. The words of the march were sung
for the first time by the glee club chorus of the
minstrel show. Edward DuPont, son of a
University professor, was then manager of
the embryo Michigan band. A major portion
of the funds cleared from the minstrel sho*
were turned over to him for the support of the
band. Decrepit instruments were changed for
new, and thread-bare uniforms traded for
respectable ones, suitable to the players of
Michigan's now famous battle song. It is a
paradox that the poverty of the Michigan
band should have given Michigan one of her
strongest marches. But from that time on, the
"Victors" has been our fight song. Yet not
alone our fight song, but the song that in-
spired American soldiers and sailors during
the hectic days of the last great war. Copies of
the "Victors" were sent all over the world by
Mrs. M. M. Root and to battle ships on, every}
sea. When the American band led our soldiers
beneath theArch of Triumph in Paris at the
close of the war, they were playing the "Vic-
tors."
NEXT WEEK: More on Michigan's
First Marching Band.
Greeley's column appears every Satur-
day.
The latest plan for ELF
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By Robert Lence
THE PENTAGON announced on
Thursday that it plans to go ahead
with Project ELF in Wisconsin and
:northern Michigan. Although the
current plan is a drastically reduced
version of earlier proposals, the ELF
project still represents a waste of
precious federal tax dollars and should
be scrapped.
The newest version of Project ELF
~calls for the construction of a 56-mile
mostly overland cable line near the
K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in
Marquette. The cable line would be
used as an antenna to broadcast extra
long frequency radio, waves to sub-
merged nuclear submarines in the
Northern Hemisphere.
Currently, submarines must rise
near the surface of the water to receive
radio messages. The navy claims that
the ELF system will eliminate this
need for surfacing, and will thus make
it harder for the Soviet Union to detect
the location of U.S. submarines.
: 'There are a few problems with the
navy's argument, however. Even with
the construction of Project ELF, there
will still be difficulties in com-
municating with submerged sub-
marines, since ELF signals can only
be detected by submarines traveling at
certain velocities and in certain
"wE i/E BEEN PRTTY
- SO FAC Y A
locations.
The navy will not be getting a fool-
proof communications system, but it
will be giving Michigan a number of
problems. The project will tear up 56
miles of the northern peninsula to in-
stall the antenna.
The project also will give northern
Michigan the dubious distinction of,
being a prime target for Soviet nuclear
missiles.
And finally, when constructed, the
antenna will be exposing the human
and animal populations of the northern
peninsula to low level radiation, the
exact effects of which are as yet
unknown.
Before construction can begin on the
current plan, however, Congress has to
approve funding, and a number of
Senators (including the two from
Michigan) have expressed opposition
to the project.
The ELF project started out in 1959
as Project Sanguine-a semi-fantastic
plan to build a 5000-mile cable grid
system in northern Wisconsin. The
navy has revised the plans several
times since then, each time making the
proposal a little less grandiose.
This time, Congress should consider
helping the navy revise Project ELF
right out of existence.
NEW YORK-At first, Pink-a
17-year-old from Queens-had a
hard time convincing experien-
ced graffiti writers to take her
along on their forays into the
train yards. "You'll slow us
down, you'll scream, you're a
girl," they'd complain.
Her mother wasn't exactly en-
thusiastic about the idea, either:
"Go and buy dresses like your
sister," she ordered. "Act like a
lady."
BUT PINK learned to talk and
walk, or "ditty bop," like a guy,
tucked her braids into her beanie
and ever worse Vaseline on her
face to protect it from spray
paint. And now her work can be
found in the established world of
this city's art museums, as well
as on the subway cars that have
become the personalized can-
vases of its underground culture.
Like Pink, -many New York
graffiti writers are Hispanic, but
very few are female. Her real
name is Sandra, and she lives in
the working-class district of
Astoria, which is populated by an
exotic mix of Greeks, Italians,
Chinese and Hindus, other
Latinos, and blacks. Pink's step-
father is a chemical plant worker
and her mother is a seamstress;
together they earn about $30,000 a
year-enough to keep the family
in a private house rather than one
of the neightborhood projects or
apartment houses.
For a while Pink heard rumors
that she was "6 feet tall, black
and a butch." In fact, she's 5-foot-
2 and weighs about 100 pounds.
Wearing a "Think Pink" sweat-
shirt stamped with a Pink Pan-
ther, she has wavy black hair,
freckles and a broad smile.
PINK'S INITIAL desire was to
gain attention from others when
her former boyfriend, David, or
"Koke," was shipped off to Puer-
to Rico by his mother. Graffiti
writing helped her "to forget the
pain and agony of seeing him
Quality subway'
graffiyti knows
no genders
By Marilyn Mizrahi
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go," she says. Her way of going
about it, however, was unconven-
tional: She joined an all-male.
crew of graffiti writers.
In addition to her personal
motives, Pink says she took up
her art because "graffit means
,I'm here' .. . People think ghet-
to children should be seen and not
heard, that we're supposed to be
born and die in the ghetto. They
want to snub us, but they can't."
Her friend and co-artist, Len-
ny, or "Futura 2000," agrees.
"It's an answer back to our over-
crowded environment, lacking
heat, hot water and money."
LIKE OTHER novices, or
"toys," Pink learned graffiti
techniques through a' kind of ap-
prenticeship system. "First I
began tagging up insides of trains
(writing initials), learning from
David's partner, Ray. Then I met
Seen and Doze in (Manhattan's)
High School of Art and Design,
who taught me- piecing and
colors."
Piece books, 6- or 11-inch ar-
tists' notebooks, are carried
around by graffiti writers to
practice . and invent new let-
terings and designs. These mini-
designs are then transferred onto
larger surfaces using a variety of
markers, spray-paint colors and
nozzles. Nozzles differ. For in-
stance, "skinny caps" are used to
paint thin lines when outlining a
piece. Holding a can upside-down
emits less paint so a thinner line
can be painted.
A toy only a year ago, Pink
considers herself an "artist"
today, someone who can "create
'masterpieces' or 'burners' on
the outsides of cars that require
talent and skill."
DESPITE A chorus of disap-
proal from parents and peers,
she formed her own female graf-
fiti crew, "LOTA," or "Ladies of
the Arts," last November, with
young women from all parts of
the city. Most of the writers are
15 to 16 years old, and the subway
names of its mainstay crew
members are "Lady Pink,"
"Lady Heart," "Lady She II,"
"Lady Lyndah," "Lady Red,"
"Lady Ahnk," and "Ladi Lali"
(Pink's sister). Nine others join
the crew occasionally or are
waiting to become regulars.
Pink and her male friend Paze
also head "Top Quality," a crew
that includes both experienced
male and female writers.
In the past year several artists;
including Pink and Futura, have
had works based on their graffiti
exhibited at various New York
galleries, including the avante-
garde New Museum. :
AS A RESULT, Pink sold an 8-
by-4-piece, comprised of orchids
and lilacs, for $500. Soon, Pink's
parents' feelings about graffiti
were changing rapidly: "My
mom saw the shows and the
'dinero' (money) coming in and
was proud of me. My stepfather
bought me a drafting table end
built me shelves t> store paint;'"
she observes.
Pink also took part in two
showskat the Mudd Club, a New@
York rock club, in March and
April, and at the Contemporary
Arts Center and Optima Studios
in New Orleans in mid-April. She
has been commissioned to do a
mural for $600 in mid-May and
will be the leading actress in a
planned graffiti film.
Fred,. another writer who has
exhibited in museums, says there
are important distinctions bet-
ween graffiti and graffiti-based
art.
"GRAFFITI IS only when you
do it illegally, on the outside of a
building, street, or subway," he
explains. "Graffiti on canvas is
not graffiti because it's not
illegal, but rooted and inspired by
graffiti ... It's done without the
worry of being shot at with salt
guns or attacked by dogs," he
concludes.
"Both types of graffiti, on
trains and canvas, have their own
energy," adds Lady Heart. "With
trains your colors have to be
ready, the lighting's bad and your
fingers freeze in winter. Graffiti
on canvas is more -relaxing and
creative, with less physical
stress."
Mizrahi writes for Pacific
News Service.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
S. 'f , %.
Of
To the Daily:
We read that
opinion and all
this, way to go
'cuz we had
Honors, nerds, and average Joes
They probably don't even take commie tendencies and values who can't cut it in the real world
Honors Program a night off of wimping out at the that you and us and hundreds and like you and us can Shmitzy bud-
we got to say is Grad to rab a few brewskies at thousands more of us who make dy.
D Shmitzy buddy,
a chip on our
the bowling alley and knock off a
couple of frames like us red-
this one helluva great country to
live in have. (God bless her!)
We say its high time us regular
students stand up for our own
rights at this university and put a
:i; o