ICHIGAN DILY ,.s.. II this were to prove impossible, a mr branch of the Dramatics Commit- trol tee would have to undertake the so- solution. Regulation of some sort to is necessary. An investigation of the situation last year returned recommendations which evidently' ch- were not thought applicable to this r campus. For their own good, the dramatic societies must cooperate, .so. with each other, and in this man- ~ard ner satisfy themselves and their 14" fellow-students: IE~ 1W ,IW I NO WEATHER TODAY . j Cullen Kennedy fee uter rna. ksend IA er GOING, GOING-! University of Michigan politics, once one of the most characteristic traits of the Michigan campus, are rapidly becoming extinct, and their chances for an active rejuvenation seem fortunately entirely too infi- nitesimal to give much optimism to even the most ambitious of the campus politicians. The All-Campus elections held Tuesday show this trend. There once was a time when the All-Campus elections were looked 4orward to months in advance by he back-slappers who were inter- ested in seeing the right man get in. Now, it seems, politics are dying a rapid death. Some 231 students, who were either sentimental in believing that such an ancient tradition as the elections should be kept up, or were sincerely interested in seeing their man get into office, voted Tuesday. Several weeks ago when the pro- posal to change the student council was voted on 1,170 cast their ballots, while last year 1,000 voted at the annual elections. When one con- siders that there are more than 9,000 students in attendance, the conclusions are easily reached. That students are losing,. or, have already lost interest in the elec- tions, is common knowledge. Merit systems, nominations by organiza- tions,, and failure of other bodies to function are all causes for this trend. All-Campus elections once were essential in the life of the student. When the campus was small and both students and faculty were of a liberal mind, imbued with the idea of a student government and representative control over campus affairs, the elections served their purpose. Lately they have turned into nothing more than a contest of B. M. O. C.'s to.see who could outdo the other in raking in votes. With the years also have come the T reforms in the several campus or- ganizations. 1 It is not with regret that we note the passing of the elections. If they were important or valuable to the student body, there would be need for a caustic comment; but since the purpose of the event died long before the present politicians be- came active, we look on it as one of the old relics of bygone days, and hence non-essential to present student problems and organiza- tions. er MAY 21, 1931 LAND GOODMAN MATICS .e campus dramatic situationj always, in the past, been the e-t of many futile efforts at ;anization or regulation. Yet,! ite of important changes made' Le beginning of this year, it ars to be no better than it one, or five years ago. is recognized that even on a us the size of Michigan, the ber of actors and actresses who able to give creditable perfor- ces is limited. Consequently, exists, and always has exist- i sort of competition between rarious organizations to obtain best for their individual per- ances. The second problem hi has usually confronted the iatic groups has been the ques- of housing the rehearsals and ictions adequately. With the fer of the Mimes the abre to University, various organiza- besides Play Production have ed their presentations there. construction of the Lydia telssohn' theatre has offered ier solution to the: question., auditorium this year has also used frequently for outside ictions brought here under thet ces of some local group. the main, however, this year een characterized by an abun- c e of dramatic productions, local and professional, and perhaps resulted in a some- lower grade of presentations. ips the need for larger box receipts has actuated this in- e. Nevertheless, the d a t e s to have been arranged last without a view to conflicts, ttractions being presented tlye night, or else following each] so closely that rehearsals of roke in'on the production of ier. only apparent remedy for ituation would be an advance iment of dates by a commit- omposed of members of the is 'organizations, which could into consideration the dates e more or less permanent pro- ns throughout the year. Due d would be given to the nec- amount of tire for rehear- id staging, so as to permitI Group to ernnd its maximumi We have always maintained that7 the Americn Press is fickle and1 now we have positive prpof of it, or at .least it is positive to our way of thinking. Last summer, when there was no rain but plenty of] draught the papers told of nothing but how dry it was (the weather); but now that it rains nearly every, day we never hear about the drought. A good honest, straight-' forward Press would give news of" the drought only during the rainy season, which begins May 20th and usually extends to (and includes) May 23rd of the following year. We really go for the "State Bulle- tins" that appear daily in a promi- nent Ann Arbor morning news- paper. Usually we only spend enough time on them to consume three-quarters of a bowl of cereal and about an inch of coffee (out of one of those thick mugs) but yesterday morning we drank an inch and a half of coffee and fin- ished jour cereal and three bites of toast (well-buttered, thanks) be- fore this particular section was dis- posed of. As a result we are or- ganizing a political party to cam- paign for changing the name of this department from "State Bulle- tins" to "The Riddle Box." If we continue being puzzled every morn- ing as much as yesterday we won't even have time to read (and laugh at) our own column before we have to rush off to our ten o'clock. * * * * * Last night both town and* gown were disturbed by a large troop of horse. .They, the troop, ambled about Ithe streets of Ann Arbor at a fearful gait and shrieked and yelled just as though they were racing about at breakneck speed, jumping over stone walls and things. Its really one of our better tradi- tions but we fear for it. Some- one is almost sure to become alarmed at seeing so many horses at once and will- report the whole affair to the authori- ties. Then there will be anoth- er terrible mess and the "Gar- goyle" will have something to write "Campus Talk" about. * * * * * We just found out that Ralph Barton, who draws caricatures for well-known magazines, shot him self. We canthelp feelingdepress- ed about the affair, not because we are sorry for Ralph, for anyone who kills himself because of a love problem deserves to be dead, but be- cause' we will miss his very clever and amusing art work.' There is no doubt but what American humor has sustained a very real loss. - ** * * OH BOY! A NIFTY A recent classified ad reveals the f oll o w i n g "Moths -Flame - Thrives! Yourfur." The ad carries little or no interest for bus as we have very little fur, (our friends will testify to this statement if .neces- sary), and even if we had a lot we wouldn't have the slightest fear of Moths, or flames, though we're not so sure about the thrives. Maybe it's something like fleas. * * * * * . We certainly admire the B&G boys. They're digging in a new place now, under sidewalks and everything, just back of Angell Hall . beside the Law building. The delvers are most consider- ate. Yesterday they carefully dug all around a big thick root that stretched across the path of their excavation. Its little things like this that will save I. the country from another eco- nomic depression. * * * -* * The other day we went on a tour of inspection of the grounds of the new Law Quadrangle and were dis- tinctly reminded of the battlefields of France. (No, but. we've seen pic- tures of them, you dope). There was a small army of men (10) working on the landscape and they were en- gaged in planting trees and bushes around in corners and nooks, just like we used to hide Easter Eggs. It all looked so utterly futile that we. decided to give them a little assist- ance. There was a little bright red tag wired to each and every plant. so we got out our pencil and began to label the plants either "tree" or' "bush," as the case might or might not be. ' Wherever possible we as- certained and recorded the sex of the various shrubs. This was no doubt a great service to the work- ers, for now they will be able to situate the shrubs.. in accordance with God's great plan. Determining the sex of a plant is no mean job, as it involves a thorough knowl- JMUfSIC AND DRA STUDENT PLAYS Friday and Saturday evenings of this weept will see the production by Play Production in the Labora- tory Theatre of the four student plays eligible for two minor awards in the Avery Hopwood contest. The program for Friday evening in- cludes three one-actplays: "Swamp Mud" by Harold Courlander, a play of negro life; "Gin Joint" by Hober-t Skidmore, a slice of cabaret life with its forced gaieties; and "The Well" by Richard Humphries, a farce in commedia dell'arte style. Saturday evening, "The Blue An- chor," a five-act play by Richard Humphries will be produced. This is an historical play of American Revolution intrigue. These four plays were selected for production and final elimination by the three judges: Thomas Dickin- son; Paul Osborne, author of the "Vinegar Tree" and Daniel Quirk, director ofTthe Ypsilanti Little Theatre. These judges will be pre- sent at the productions Friday and Saturday evening and will select two of the four plays for awards of $250. Tickets for this production are available free of charge at the box office of the Laboratory Thea- tre. FESTIVAL RECORDS By a peculiar coincidence, tlii9 Brunswick list for June contains the means by which two of the best musical experiences in the recent Festival can in some sense be per- petuated. I refer to the Beethoven Second symphony and the Handel Aria "Dank Se Dir, Herr' sung by Eleanor Reynolds. Stock's exciting performance of the Beethoven sec- ond must have reaffirmed for many of us, who had perhaps forgotten, not only the symphony's "eight- eenth-century" beauty, but, subtly fused with that beauty, the very interesting anticipations of the more familiar, more dynamic Beethoven that was to appear only a, year later. It is certainly an etraordin- ary symphony and its Larghetto probably ranks among the best of Beethoven's slow movements. Erich Kleiber, one of the guest conductors of the New York Philharmonic Symphony this past season, leads the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, supposedly the best orchestra in Europe, in an excellent reading that is as nicely adapted to the gramo- phone as any symphonic recbrding of recent date. It is contained on Brunswick Records 90140-90143. The Handel Aria with a powerful, slowly unfolding melodic line is sung very well by Emmi Leisner, a German contralto. On the other side of this single record 90160 is the more familiar, but no less love- ly, Largo and the Recitative from "Xerxes." Both selections have the organ and orchestral accompani- ments. Of course, two of the arias with which Lily Pons opened the Festi- val are available on Victor Records. The "Bell Song" from Delibes' 'Lakme" is on a small record; and she thereon sings it with more cer- tainty and more precision than she did here. A large record issued last month contains two of Gilda's arias from "Rigoletto," the "Caro Nome" and "Tutte Le Feste." Mme. Pons has also recorded two arias from "Lucia di Lammermoor." DRAMA CAMP The recently announced Lake Charlevoix Dramatic Camp that is to be conducted near Charlevoix Michigan from June 27 to August 23 is attracting nationwide atten- tion because of its connection with the National Shakespere Memorial Competition for Amateurs which is to be held for the first time as a feature of the Chicago World's Fair in 1933. The participants in this competition will be represent- ative of the best work that is be- ing done in the speech arts in var- ious local communities in the Unit- ed States, and the selection of the first Memorial Company of Ama- teurs will be a culmination to the educational exhibitminathe speech arts. The whole project, of which this competition is a part, is intended to serve as a patron for all the spoken arts of literature. It seeks to coordinate and to integrate all work in the speech arts into a com- prehensive national program. When completely worked out, the plan will bring into participation young people of all ages and will provide various activities in the spoken arts of literature, from the speaking of lyric and dramatic poetry by in- dividuals, to the most finished work of complete theatrical pro- talent of advanced amateurs is Mom" S T E PPINGt ""p" Scientist and Salesman M J y 1 THE MODE' RN PARTNERSHI P I \ i~j . 'N Like every other modern industry, the Bell System requires the' combined effort of scien- tist and salesman. The commercial man has again and again shown the public how to u'se new products of the telephone laboratory, and how to make new uses of existing apparatus. Transmitting pictures and typewritten mes- sages over telephone wires arc services right now being actively promoted. Scientific selling by long distance is among many ideas origi- nated to increase the telephone's usefulness. In short telephony is a business, with prob- lems that stimulate commercially minded men and a breadth of opportunity in step with the fast moving world of industry today. "' BELL SYSTEM r '_ ,t$,P4 'S srCAEc 1 A NATTON-WIDE SYSTEM OF MORE THAN 20,000.000 INTER-CONNECTING TELEPHONES INTO A .. M---=- I Foremost in Dollar for Dollar Value . 1y." YY .". ',4.4 y x"44 1JJY1"J 1\ Y'4{ "" y 4 Y461}" . 'YEAR f . E El J Editorial Comment I KNOWLEDGE OR GRADES? . (The Daily Kansan) A young person graduating from a college or a university today is judged largely on the grades he received while in school. At any rate, when he applies for a position he is more likely to be accepted if he has been a B student while in school than if he has 'been a C stu- dent. This method of classifying col- lege grades might be very useful to the student and benefical to the employer if grading systems could be standardized and grades were an actual measure of a graduate's po- tential knowledge. Neither is true, however. Just as no two students are alike, no two instructors can be expected to think and act alike. One person who graduates from college as a B student may be ,po rated because his knowledge of the subjects justifies such a grade. An- other person thinks slowly and does not learn easily, but at the end of each semester he is given B's be- cause of the effort' put forth. Still another takes his work seriously, makes an honest effort to improve, and does good work. He also is rated as a : student. The only suitable solution for this problem, and many others that arise in'connection with grading systems, is a complete doing away with grades. This would be very impractical and almost impossible with the system of higher educa tion now in use, ut would approach an ideal under some others. When a boy or girl graduates from high school and' expects to attendhacollege he could be re- quired to take a two-year course. similar to that of the junior col- r 3 \. LL PRICES are actually lower and General Electric's great new 3 Year Guarantee protects you fully against upkeep expense for three long years. Inspect the new sliding shelves ... the new porcelain interiors ... the finger-tip door latches. All - steel cabinets provide multiple refrigerating service . . separate zones of cold, accessible temperature control for fast-freezing, maximum food storage space and other advantages. Low operating cost is assured by the compact Monitor Top mecha- nism . . . hermetically sealed . . self-oiled . carefree and attention free. There is a General Electric model ideally suited to your home. See it at our showrooms today. 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