PAGE TEN THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, DEC. 6, 1942-
University Undergoes Changes During First
Year Of War
O -
Ruthven's First Move on Dec. 8
Was Mobilization of All Campus
By LEE GORDENKER
Excited students told each other that their nation was at war a day
short of a year ago and began their first wartime year in the University-
a year filled with drastic changes, speed-ups and anxieties.
Until that Sunday 364 days ago the campus felt the impending war lit-
tle. A few students had been drafted, but deferments were easily obtained.
There was no pinch in food, coffee or higher prices. Life was the usual
work and study and play.
University Mobilizationh
But on Dec. 8, 1941, President Alexander G. Ruthven mobilized the
University to "total war": "The University of Michigan takes her battle
station as she has in every war."
Every person .on campus was invited to hear Gov. Murray D. Van
Wagoner, President Ruthven and representatives of the armed forces as
.. <., Rn A 14
Maryland Slightly Damaged
school was excused on Dec. 17, 1941.
Hill Auditorium was packed tight by
worried men and women who heard
Gov. Van Wagoner tell them that
they must make up their own minds,
but that it was just as patriotic to
stay in school as to rush to the re-
cruiting station.
Campus Wonders
But the campus still' wonders what
it was to do. Decisions to switch to
engineering school were heard from
lit students while others decided to
sit tight where they were.
A foreshadowing of what was to
come was announced immediately af-
ter Christmas vacation - then still
at its regularly determined date -
as the law school and the business ad-
ministration school announced dras-
tically altered programs to graduate
men more quickly.
Campus leaders organized the short
lived Committee of 1942 to bring the
campus into the war effort. They im-
mediately began the job of distribut-
ing war questionnaires for the Uni-
versity.
OPT Men Go
The Army and Navy issued appeals
on Jan. 9 to all CPT trainees to en-
list in the short-handed air corps
and students already began to feel
the seriousness of America's posi-
tion as their friends enlisted and
were immediately sent into training.
The first University alumnus to
be killed in the war was revealed as
Marine Lieut. George Ham Cannon,
killed on Midway Island, Dec. 7. He
was awarded posthumously the Con-
grgssional Medal of Honor.
Then came the first real cut of
the war: on Jan. 13 the Board of
Regents met, scanned the question-
naires, considered the University at
war and shortened the school year.
The traditional spring vacation was
to be a thing of memory only and
now seniors would don their caps
and gowns on Memorial Day.
Students Join Reserves
Once more students began to re-
alize what they were up against.
They flocked to join the reserve pro-
grams announced one after another
by the armed forces. Mathematics
and physics courses began to over-
flow their usual quotas as new sec-
tions were constantly added.'
ular sessions. after the winter final
When the University resumed reg-
examninations, students found an-
other sensational- announcement
awaiting them: a full third semester
had been added to the academic year.
War had lopped 16 months off the
regular program so that now one
could graduate in 32 months.
A draft registration on Feb. 16
put more men under Selective Serv-
ice and already the University's en-
rollment dropped 9.7 per cent.
War Catalog' Packed
But the remaining students and
incoming freshmen poured over a
catalog packed with courses designed
to be of use to the war effort. Diffi-
cult Japanese language courses were
rare languages were again being
put on an intensive basis while many
taught. .e
Fraternities were warned on Feb.
10 that they "must pull in their "
horns," cut out the frills and fancy
dances, put themselves on a war-
time basis. The University's report
on fraternities showed that they had
suffered during the previous semes-
ter and were told that they must con-
serve their resources if they expec-
ted to continue existence.
Another University poll was an-
nounced to determine the Summer.
Term's enrollment, to plan course
and to advise the Deans. It was cir- The 31,500-ton USS Maryland,
culated in every school and college. USS Oklahoma, which capsized (ri
Friday Permission attack on Pearl Harbor, and was one
Loud squawks of ever-loving an-
quish arose from campus ladies' men jumped to Charles Barnet's rhythm
as the League Council hacked one when the concert was held on April
hour off late Friday permission. 15.
Henceforth, .the Council decided the J-Hop Gives Money
last goodbyes must be said by 12:30 The J-Hop Committee gave the
a.m. Saturday. fund another boost on March 14
Reactions were hardly favorable- when it presented a check for $1,950
and then the blame for the resolu- to Art Rude. These were the profits
tion could not be placed as the re- of the great dance - the last of its
sponsibility was disclaimed by every- kind for the war.
one from the League Council to thek
Dean of Women. But the new hours Soft-muscled men jumped from
stuck, their seats on March 19 when they
Final announcement of the Sum- read Col. William A. Ganoe's charge
mer Term came Feb. 27. The start of that they were "lounge-lizards." The
the semester was set at June 15 and commandant flung charges at them,
its close at Sept. 26. Running con- accusing them of being cream-puffs,
currently would be a regular eight- fit only for sendentary activities.
week Summer Session. He followed up his blast with a
Blackout Plans Made comprehensive program of physical
Air raid precautions were begun exercise to take the slack out of the
soon after the war started and by students' mucsles. We know it now
March 1, a plan for the entire as PEM.
University system was announced. The University considered the pro-
Blackouts were no peril to the school gram, noted its essential nature and
facilities as dormitories and buildings the.Board of Regents passed a resolu-
got their instructions. tion making PEM compulsory for all
A small Abe Lincoln Cooperative men. Four-and-one-half hours per
Aouse partyAbecameaCbig tias week of hard labor was the wartime
House party became a big thg asentence
the Bomber-Scholarship Fund tooks .
hold. The drive to put aside the War Board Created
bonds as. scholarships for the time Badly failing its duties, the Com-
when Johnny comes marching home mittee of 1942 was abolished on
was directed by hard-working Art March 25. Replacing it was the new
Rude, a house member. Soon almost Student War Board, created and
every campus organization was con- granted extensive powers by the Uni-
tributing. versity.
Engineering school facilities were Already existing Naval Reserve
working day and night to train a programs were greatly expanded as
group of civilian ordnance inspectors the .sea-goers established a V-1 plan
for' the nation's booming defense on the Michigan campus. Freshmen
,plants. And as soon as one group and sophomores were to /be put into
was trained another group followed storage - learned variety - when
it in. they enrolled in the program requir-
Housing Plan Made ing math and physics courses. Im-
mediately war-anxious undergradu-
Boom-town Ypsilanti, filling up ates 'hurried to enlist.
with Willow Run workers, got an War itself was not the only worry
answer to its housing shortage when in the first year of the war: the first
Prof. Jean Hebard of the architec- Post-War Council gneec
ture school presented the National discussion of the conference of the
ResourcsiPlannsg Boarfwitheaproblems o h
hReources Planning Board with a peace to come - began on April 17
A storm of protest arose from con- as Dr. Fracis McMahon of Notre
Dame and Prof. J. Donald Kingsley
servative Ann Arbor and Washtenaw of Antioch College spoke to a large
County burghers and the plan was audience. The Council's first large
delayed for month after month, meeting, a success, it voted itself into
Meanwhile, the houseless defense permanent existence and carried on
workers began taking rooms formerly activities through the war's first sumn-
used by students'in Ann Arbor. Rents mer.
rose sharply here while students fore-
saw a shortage which was to hit this Air Force Recruits
fall. The Army Air Force invaded the
The recently f'ormed Bomber-Scho- campus on April 21 with a new pro-
larship Fund projected plans to hold curement plan to recruit students for
a "Swing Concert" in Hill Auditor- ever more important air arm. Here
ium, to collect the admission price again eligible students learned the
for the scholarship fund. Students details, were examined, enlisted sub-
registrars felt very tired after a dayi
of scribbling names.i
"Whitey" Frauman, now a Naval
ensign came back to school on a dif-
ferent mission this time. He tackled
the job of organizing the Wolverine
Squadron, a group of Navy fliers, all
from Michigan. The boys left for
the Iowa pre-flight school soon after-,
ward.
Kenneth Morgan, former SRA di-
rector, on May 14 was appointed di-
rector of a conscientious objector
camp in New Hampshire, gained wide
publicity as the faculty's first CO.
PEM Approved
The Board of Regents approved the,
PEM program for the Summer Term
on May 16 and the University swung,
into action to put its facilities into;
generation of strong men.
top-notch order to turn out a new
On May 30 the first wartime class
graduated to face a world struggling
for freedom. President Ruthven
warned them of their solemn obliga-
tions to push ahead, to win a great
victory, to keep civilization alive.
Some 5,000 students, registered for
the combined Summer Session and
Summer Term, began school on June
15 for a hot, quiet summer.
They sweated and broiled in the
sun as tough PEM instructors put
them through physical exercises that
would toughen Marines. And at the
end of the summer many of those who
sceptically enrolled in their first PEM
course felt like Charles Atlas.
ERC Set Up gere
A new Army Enlisted Reserve pro-
gram was organized to guarantee fin-
ishing school to many who were not
up to other reserve's qualifications.
This program enlisted more men than
any of the others had up to that time.
Adequate housing facilities grew
harder and harder to find as the in-
flux of defense workers grew larger
and larger. Many rooming houses
were converted into war workers'
houses. The fraternities came through
the summer holding their own in
spite of lowered enrollment.
But at the end of the summer,
many a college man felt that he had
had a confused time of it. He took
courses that ran for eight weeks in
'the Summer Session, for eight weeks
in the Summer Term. He found that
it was difficult to find satisfactoryz
courses.
Army Moves In1
The Army moved into campus for
the first time in the war, establishingr
a training school for specialized med-
ical practice in the Medical School
and the Judge Advocate General's,
School in the Law School.
Only seven per cent fewer studentsa
enrolled in a booming fall term at
the end of September. Many of them
felt for the first time the imminence
of army induction, tried hard to get
their education finished before the
day of khaki came.
A new yellow and blue phenomenon
appeared on campus during Orienta-
tion Week as the Wolverines - a pep
organization - sold pots to freshmen
who dutifully wore them until they
were told that it was unnecessary;
Yellow and blue dotted the campus
about 90 per cent less then.
Daill Challenges
The Daily lashed out at what it
called a sleeping campus and chal-
lenged it to work into the war effort.
Front-page editorials read all-over
campus presented the first organized
appraisal of what the campus had
done.
On Oct. 9 The Daily told of the
University's 130 tons of collected
scrap and suggested that that might
be tripled. And Oct. 11 The Daily
suggested the agency: the Manpower
Mobilization Corps.
A day later several campus leaders
met to consider the Manpower Mo-
bilization Corps. It was officially
formed that day. The following day
Mary Borman was appointed its di-
rector.
Pavlichenko Speaks
Russian Lieut. Liudmila Pavli-
chenko spoke to the campus in a huge
United Nations War Rally on Oct. 16.
The famous woman sniper told of the
courage and heroism of her com-
rades-at-arms.
A new committee flashed onto the
war scene as the Board of' Regents
appointed its War Activities Commit-
tee on Oct. 17. It was feared by some
that the committee would invade the
administrative sphere but influential
regents called it purely advisory. Re-
gent Alfred B. Connable, its chair-
man, said on Oct. 22, that the Uni-
versity would not be taken over by
the Army.
The Manpower Mobilization Corps,
after a few days of already vigorous
action, on Oct. 26 hauled in a huge
amount of scrap. And two days later
coeds began a scrap drive of their
own.
Majestic Is Scrap
The old Majestic Theatre was
pointed out as a hotbed of scrap on
Nov. 5 by a Daily reporter. No action
could be accomplished however.
Red-hot Manpower Mobilization
Corps action pushed through a plan
to pick beets. And did those men pick
them. More than 300 volunteer left
for the beet fields on Nov. 9 to stay
for four days.
Another wartime measure came
from the Board of Regents on Nov.
12: Christmas Vacation was changed
to Dec. 18 to 30. New Year's Day is to
be a day of study.
Rumors Circulate
This change was quickly followed
by thousands of varied rumors about
more and more changes to abolish
Christmas Vacation completely.
On Dec. 2 the J-Hop was consid-
erably changed in form to combine
the Senior Ball with the J-Hop. The
new dance to be held between sem-
esters will be called the Victory Ball.
The greatest social event of the
campus had bowed under the weight
of war.
The Post-War Council again held
a large conference with speakers
Norman Thomas and Bertrand Rus-
sell pointirng out the trends. The two
day consideration of the future world
was held on Dec. 4 and 5.
The End of a Year
So went the events of a year at
war.
It was a year filled with hopes
and fears, disappointments and tri-
umphs.
It was a year of war, war that was
not yet victory.
The year to come, too, will be simi-
lar but more revolutionary.
The peace-time University is no
longer existent. It is now a machine
of war and will begin another year
that way tomorow.
battleship moored inboard of the
ight), was damaged slightly in the
aof the first ships to rejoin the fleet.
ject to call at the end of their edu-
cation.
Faculty men going off to the big
fight were given protection of their
jobs by theBoard of Regents on April
25. Any drafted or eilisting man
could come back after the peace and
take over his old teaching duties.
May Day was celebrated by several
hundred students listening to a rep-
resentative of the Navy explain the
newly initiated V-1 Reserve program.
Sugar Blues Come
Rationed sugar blues came the Uni-
versity's way on May 4 as the stu-
dents crowded into Alumni Memorial
Hall to fill out the long applications
required. Inky fingers of volunteer
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VOL. 1, No. 15
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
DECEMBER 6, 1942
3.00-4.95
MICHIGAN OPENS its
1942 basketball season
Monday when the quintet
plays Michigan State in
Yost Field House. . . Coach
Oosterbaan is reported to
have hot squad developing
from six returning letter-
men and promising sopho-
mores.
CHIEF JENNINGS, pet-
ty officer assigned by the
Navy to the University this
summer to supervise calis-
thenics in PEM has been
transferred to Dartmouth
to take charge of their
brand of PEM, and is now
addressed as Lieut. (j.g.)
Jennings.
FIRST CONCRETE evi-
dence of social life de-em-
phasis at Michigan was in-
dicated Thursday when
Men's Judiciary Council
came out with the prece-
dent-smashing announce-
ment that J-Hop will not
be held this year . . . In-
been made to elect junior
and senior co-chairmen of
the affair in addition to a
staff of literary and engi-
neering college students of
both classes:... Dance date
is still tentative, although
it will be between semest-
ers, and no band has been
contracted yet.
CAMPUS SOCIAL LIFE
took another blow Friday
when Student Affairs Com-
mittee announced 'that it
had placed a ban on house
parties by "any campus or-
ganization." ..But the
committee announced at
the same time that frater-
nity pledges can be initia-
ted after Dec. 10 this year
provided} their marks are
up . .. This year's number
of pledges is largest in Uni-
versity history.
UNIVERSITY HOSPI-
TAL, already suffering
from shortage of workers,
temporarily lost the serv-
stepped in to help the Hos-
pital weather its crisis,
which lasted only a day.
BIGGEST BLOOD donor
drive of the year was suc-
cessfully closed yesterday
as more than 300 volun-
teers assured the campus
blood committee of going
over its quota of 200 pints
of blood for the American
Red Cross ... Both men
and women offered blood
as it was learned the need
was especially great be-
cause the Boston night club
fire had depleted stocks of
blood plasma designed for
use overseas.
'MANPOWER CORPS
began this week to fill es-
septial jobs in underman-
ned West Quadrangle as
student volunteers took
jobs as waiters, dish wash-
ers and other kitchen help
... And unpublicized Corps
members have been getting
Daily staff. . . Seltzer's ar-
ticles had been held up for
weeks by Army officials be-
cause of possibility they
would reveal secrets to
Nazis and Japs ... Seltzer
made two trips 'along At-
lantic coast on a tanker ...
Articles indicated Nazi sub-
marine menace in that area
had been reduced since
troubled days last year.
Artur Schnabel, famed
concert pianist, appeared
Thursday night in Hill
Auditorium to play a con-
cert of sonatas by Schubert
and Mozart.. . One of the
season's biggest audiences
applauded the pianist vig-
orously for what was called
by many the best concertI
of the year.
LATE LAST night calls
began swamping The Daily
as students asked for par-
ticulars of the President's
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