PAGN CSIX,
ff, E4: MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, MAY 18,194t
THI H GA.A L _JTAiAY1,14
rPed.
ro The V oder' To Perform
At Demonstration Thursday
Amazing Talking Machine
Can Originate Speech,
Imitate Many Sounds
By CHARLES THATCHER
"Pedro the Voder," the amazing
machine that can imitate anything
from the human voice in any pitch,
language or inflection to a locomotive
whistle, an airplane engine or even a
woodpecker, is coming to Ann Arbor!
Quite immodest and with no signs
whatsoever of stage fright, he'll an-
swer questions, sing, recite poetry,
give imitations or follow any of the
other whims of his operator when he
appears at a free lecture-demonstra-
tion here Thursday.
Pedro is really quite a remarkable
fellow - if he may be called such.
He hasn't any vocal cords, any larynx
or any tongue, yet he whispers or
shouts, talks like a man, woman or
child and speaks in any language
- albeit with a slight electrical ac-
cent - with the proper manipulation
of the keyboard by his operator.
Variety of Sounds
Twenty-three different sounds are
possible for Pedro, but the number
used depends on the dexterity of the
operators, who were selected after
extensive tests and subjected to a year
of training before they could make
Pedro talk.
The various sounds of speech are
created by the proper combination
of some of the thirteen black and
white keys controlling vowels and
consonants on the keyboard, an arm-
rest bar being used to transfer from
one to the other.
But the operator's worries don't end
there. Volume must be determined
through the use of a side key, the
pitch is fixed by a control knob and
a foot pedal creates the changes in
inflection which keep Pedro from
sounding too monotonous.
Demonstrates Speech Sounds
Designed for the ; world's fairs in
New York and San Francisco, Pedro
has and is providing quite education-
al, as he demonstrates the formation
of the different speech sounds and
may prove quite helpful in bringing
speech to those born dumb.
With the exception of the afore-
mentioned electrical accent, Pedro's
speech is quite perfect, though he
does have trouble with his "l's." Such
words as "hasenpfeffer" or "comment
allez-vous" give him no trouble what-
ever, but "Bell telephone" comes out
something like "Behrw tehwephone."
Other Sounds, Too
Not content merely to speak, Pedro
can, without too much coaxing, be
made to give forth miraculously ac-
curate imitation of bleating sheep,
lowing cattle, grunting pigs and even
the tat-tat-tat of a woodpecker.
The name "Pedro" came from the
Brazilian emperor Don Pedro, who
heard a voice come over Alexander
Bell's first telephone and exclaimed,
"My God, it talks!" The "voder" is
merely a contraction for "voice opera-
tion demonstrator."
Brought here through the courtesy
of Bell Telephone and under the aus-
pices of the electrical engineering de-
partment, Pedro will be the main at-
traction of Thursday's lecture, "Arti-
ficial Creation of Speech," by Dr. J. O.
Perrine of the American Telephone
and Telegraph.
Seger To Give
Lecture Here
Ex-Member Of Reicbstag
Will SpeakWednesday
Gerhart Seger, former member of
the German Reichstag and. vigorous
opponent of Hitler, will give a public
lecture on "What Confronts Ameri-
ca" at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday in
the Rackham Lecture Hall under the
auspices of the Committee To De-
fend America By Aiding The Allies.
Seger, now editor of the Neuevolk-
zeitung, spoke here last autumn on
"Why Hitler Will Not Win the War"
and "The German Fifth Column."
His political career ended when he
was placed ina Nazi concentration
camp, Seger escaped first to Eng-
land and then to the United States'
He is now a United States citizen and
has continued his fight against fasc-
ism both as a writer and a lecturer.
Haber, Williams To Talk
On War Consequences
The third and last of the Sunday
morning May Forums will be present-
ed this morning at 11 a.m. in the Uni-
tarian Church when Prof. William
Haber and Prof. Mentor Williams will
discuss "Consequences of War.'
Professor Haber will speak on the
consequences to populations, while
Professor Williams will speak on the
consequences to art and literature.
This is the sixth year of the May
Forums, which have been designed to
supplant the usual church service.
Rev. H. P. Marley will act as chair-
man of the meeting and will con-
duct the question period.
Architectural
Group Reveals
Prize Winners
Annual Awards Presented,
To Students For Best
Design Work Of Year
Design awards in the College of
Architecture given by the Architec-
tural Society each year for the best,
designs in every department of the!
college were announced yesterday by
the Architectural Council. '
In class one of architecture which
includes courses eight, nine and ten,I
Ralph D. Peterson, '41A, won first'
prize for his dining club design inI
architecture eight. In class twol
(courses five, six and seven) James
H. McKeown, '43A, received the prize
for his subdivision development in
architecture five. The best decorative
design was by Dale C. Foster, '43A.
A design of the grounds for at
small house by Allen Phelps took
honors in landscape and architecture.
Charles M. Shaw, '41A, was named
winner in the advertising division
with his design for a direct mail
folder.
In ceramics Lois A. McDonald,
42A, gained recognition for her
glazed fruit dish. The industrial de-
sign award went to Emily M. Root,
'42A, for a pewter dish.{
The prizes given are a year's sub-
scription to a magazine. Each winner
receives a subscription to the most
outstanding magazine in his respec-
tive field.
Polonia Society will hold its 2nd
annual picnic today at the organ-
ization's customary place. All
members are invited to attend
and are asked to meet at 2:30 at
the Carillon Tower.
Engineer To Visit ROTC
A representative of the Chief of
Engineers' Office, Captain William
W. Brotherton, will visit the engi-1
neering unit of the ROTC tomorrow1
and Tuesday.
Final Technic
Offers Special
Subscriptions
Offering a special 1941-42 sub-
scription to graduating. seniors, with
delivery guaranteed "if we have to
follow them around the world," the
final issue of the Michigan Technic
S peech Group
To Pay Honor
To Members
Winners Of Detroit Contest
Will Receive Recognition
During Tung Oil Banquet
New Light Shed On Charges
Against School Superintendent
go on sale Tu--sd--y.--In addition to the coveted Cooley
wil go d tnssaseTuesday. Cane and Tung Oil Crown awards,
in tis issues an- the number of smaller special awards
ner articles is "Riding Comfort," by will be given to members of Sigma
Prof. Walter E. Lay of the automo-
tive engineering department. A num- Rho Tau, engineering speech society,
ber of local pictures will add to the at the organization's annual Tung
interest of the story. Oil Banquet to be held Wednesday
. ;, . .in the Union-.
"Cellulose Acetate" by Blame Kuist, As first place winners in the na-
'41E, is the second feature story, while tional speaking competitions held in
"Motion Study and Its Relation to Detroit a week ago, Norman Taylor,
Machine Design" by Guy J. Bates, '42E, S. Che Tang, '42E, Harry Reed,
maste'r mechanic, completes the list '41BAd, and John Hammelef, '42E,
will receive the bronze Sigma Rho
of atractions.Tau Stump.
Of more local interest-and again A second place winner as well,
backed up by a wealth of pictures- Hammelef will also receive the Sigma
are "Open House Highlights," "Glass Rho Tau gavel. The stump and gavel.
Plant Inspection Trip," by Arthur W. awards will also be presented to first
C. Dobson, '42E, and Gordon C. Oster- and second-place winners in the local
strom, '43E, an article on engineerig elimination contests held prior to the
professional and honor societies and national competitions.
the editorial, "Award for Service." Runners-up for the honor of re-
Containing 36 pages instead of the ceiving the Cooley Cane will be given
usual 28, the issue will be on sale the gavel citation. The Cane is an-
Tuesday through Thursday over ththenually awarded to the organizations
Engineering Arch, in the East Engin- most outstanding senior. Last year's
peering Building lobby and in front of winner, Henry C. Billings, will return
the secretary's office, second floor of to Ann Arbor for the presentation.
the West Engineering Building.
Faculty speakers at the banquet will
vie with each other for the Tung
Pistol Instruction Given Oil Crown, presented to the man mak-
At Ypsilanti For Cadets ing the best impromptu speech for
the occasion.
A party of 35 Signal Corps cadets Winner of the crown last year, Prof.
under Capt. B. H. Vollrath spent A. D. Moore of the electrical engineer-
ing department will return this year
yesterday at the range of the 32nd to confer the honor on one of his col-
Signal Company at Ypsilanti in in- leagues. Topics which have been used
formal pistol instruction. in the past and might give an idea
Under the tutelage of Staff Sergt. of what can be expected are "Which
Bonnewell, D.E.M.L., the ROTC men is the butt end of a goat?" or "Which
fired the regular qualification course is more important - the button or
with the cal. .45 automatic. the button-hole?"
Coffee and hot dogs cooked in the Tickets are available to anyone in-
I field served to relieve the effects of terested in attending, and may be
1 a rather chilly wind which interfered obtained from Sigma Rho Tau offi-
only slightly with the accuracy of cers or at the conference room above
I trigger-fingers. the Engineering Arch.
By MORTON MINTZ
and HOMER SWANDER
New light was shed yesterday on
the charge that Superintendent of
Ann Arbor schools Otto Haisley, dis-
missed Wednesday, had "protected" a
former School Board treasurer, Grove
Ray, who 15 years ago misappropri-
ated $12,000 of school funds.
C. C. Crawford, assistant Superin-
tendent, revealed yesterday that at
the time of the embezzlement there
was a dual accounting system under
which Ray was responsible only toj
the Board itself and not to Haisley.
This fact was brought out in con-j
nection with the disclosure that the
misappropriation was not discovered
until after an audit demanded by
Haisley had been taken.
New Budget System
Crawford maintained that under
the budget system inaugurated by
Haisley such laxness with funds would
not be possible.
"Our present budget system, insti-
tuted by Haisley with the best advice,
of Ann Arbor financial experts,"
Crawford asserted, "has rigid control
measures, such as appropriation led-
gers, which are so efficient as to de-
stroy any chance of misappropria-
tions such as the Ray incident."
This statement was supported by
Dr. Lee Thurston, Professor of Edu-
cational Administration at the Uni-
versity of Pittsburgh, who has com-
mended the Ann Arbor system as "one
of the best" in the country and who
each year uses the system's annual
report and budget in his classes.
Budget 'Far Advanced'
Features of the education budget,
said by Crawford to be "far ad-
vanced," 'are that it is "made up in
more minute detail than any other
budget I have ever seen," and that
everyone affected by the budget-
janitors, teachers, principals-are all
consulted about the allocations and
are given opportunity to indicate
their needs.
Crawford pointed out that "no
teachers' salaries, bonds or financial
promises had ever been defaulted."
Board member George Sidwell, an
official of the Michigan Municipal
League who voted to retain Haisley,
backed Crawford's contentions with
this assertion: "As a Municipal
League official I have found that the
Ann Arbor school budgeting plan
compares more favorably with the
best in the state."
~~
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