4 """ saTHE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, MARRCH 10, 1949 GHOSTS TO EVACUATE: Parking Lot Will Replace Movie ByFRANIVICRand 4? * * JAKEHIJRWITZ The ghosts of Rudolph Valen- tino and Theda Bara will soon be evicted from their favorite Ann Arbor haunt when the old walls . of the once proud Majestic Thea- tre settle in the dust of a new city parking lot. The Maj of today keeps all knowledge of its former self locked in the memories of alumni and reminiscent townspeople, of whom only a few will remember House that the Maj made its debut as a roller-skating rink next door to Granger's Dance Academy, cur- rently a funeral home. Roller Skates to Grease Paint Roller-skates gave way to grease-paint on Dec. 19, 1907, when the Majestic Theatre opened with the musical "Girl of the Golden West." For several years following this burgeoning, the Maj was considered the finest theatre in the city. In keeping with its reputation, the Maj sported the largest elec- tric sign in Ann Arbor, which peo- ple came from Ypsi and Chelsea to gaze upon. Today, merely a shell of the re- splendant movie house which played host to 35 years of the na- tion's best films, countless vaude- ville acts and stage plays, the Maj is slowly crumbling apart. Fallen plaster litters all sur- faces in the building where the Fred Waring Orchestra had its first theatre engagement. The carpeting which many students tread to see Cary Grant perform as a stilt-walker is now merely food for healthy growths of fungi. Hand-Organ Era Down in the orchestra pit, the gilt hand-organ is now tarnished and harshly out-of-tune. The curtain that has spelled an eve- ning's entertainment to thousands hangs limp over the stage, pro- claiming "Asbestos Fire Curtain" through its many holes. Even after movies stole the show in 1919, stage shows were some- Daily-Mecready. PARKING LOT-The old Majestic Theatre, soon to be abandoned by the ghosts of Tom Mix and Marguerite Clark, steeps in mold while waiting for the demolition crew to clear its site on Maynard St. for a future parking lot. Originally a roller-skating rink, the Maj hit its peak as a popular movie theatre in the 20's. times booked at the theatre. In one .ad a unique way of showing their AIM's Drive For Members In 2nd Week Most of Rlesidence H-lalls Now Affiliated 'The Association o Independ- ent Men's 10th anniversary meni- bership drive moved into its sec- ond week Monday as Norris Do- mangue,npresident, announced that a concerted effort. is being made to bring representatives of co-op and rooming houses into the organization. Among the University residence halls, 13 of the 19 houses have al- ready affiliated with the recent- ly reorganized independent group which had its beginning on cam- pus in March, 1938. Congress Formed At that time an organization known as the congress was formed in the interests of independent men. The campus was divided into wards, each ward sending one rep- resentative to the congress. This body flourished until May, 1942 when the drain on manpower forced it into inactivity. During its existence it established a num- ber of activities for independent men, most of which were taken over by various campus organi- zations in 1942. AIM was organized last semes- ter to perpetuate some of the de- funct congress. It received offi- cial University recognition in Jan- uary and is now affiliated with the National Independent Stu- dents Association. Coordinate Independents Specifically, AIM will attempt to "coordinate all . . activities among independent men, make available residence hall facilities . .., give adequate representation in campus affairs to all independent men and crystallize .. . the opin- ions of all independent men into an effective voice on campus is- sues." AIM's membership drive will continue through March. Inter- ested parties are urged to attend the next meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Union or to contact Domangue, 319 Lloyd House, West Quad.. Monte Carlo' Party Planned The International Students As- sociation will sponsor a Monte Carlo Party from 8 p.m. to mid- night Saturday in the Rackham Assembly Hall. According to Fred Ray, ISA president, the party will feature a continental atmosphere. The pro- gram includes dancing and a num- ber of special games for which a grand prize will be awarded. Re- freshments will include caviar canapes and punch, "vintage 1948." Tickets can be purchased for 50 cents at the International Center. Ray announced that all students may attend. of these were the Australian Waits, who devoted their free time one afternoon to teaching Benny Oosterbaan the are of throwing a boomerang. Burton Holmes was "ogueing" his travels back in those days, too. His shorts appeared with pictures starring Mary Pickfprd, William S. Hart, Marguerite Clark, Charlie Chaplin and Wallace Reid, the Great's of silent films. The thousands of students who attended the theatre in its prime I DALE RI EPE PHILOSOPHY TUTOR approbation or disproval. When an attractive girl was on the stage, they would laugh uproariously at each word she said, cheering lus- tily at her every gesture. When the male member of the team came to the fore, the entire male audience would start reading their news- papers. During this period of present- ing both vaudeville and silent films, the "Freshman Bible" con- tained an injunction to new stu- dents against sitting in the first six rows of the Maj, on threat of ejection. Legend has it that our academic ancestors would not tol- erate hamstringing of their spoon- ing by the neophytes. Along this familiar vein, the Maj advertised itself as the "cozy playhouse" or the "pretty little family theatre" and at other times as the "rah-rah theatre." How- ever, its entertainment was "polite, high-classed and advanced." End of the Road The day came, however, when the cozy playhouse became too homey to satisfy city building reg- ulations, and the Maj had to cease operation. In its place, the State Theatre was opened March 18, 1942, the day after the final cur- tain came down at the Majestic Theatre. Though there was hope at the time that the Maj would be re- paired, no work was done, and the building was fnally sold to the city. Today, as the'Maj sits steep- ing in memories of its former greatness, F. C. Creal, City Coun- cil president, sits waiting for local contractors to return their esti- mates on demolition of the thea- tre. Calendar Cultural and Educational Com- mittee-Studenit Legislature, 5 p.m. Union. NSA u Cminittie--Student Leg- islature 4:30 p n., Union. Engineering Council-Elect ion, 7:30 p.m.. 111. 24:1 Wes Fni- neering. Expetant Mothers' Lecture - "Hygiene of Pregnancy," 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., Child Health Bldg. Medical Lecture-Dr. Jonas Ml- ler of Calif. State Department of Health in regular meeting of As- sociation of Interns and Medical Students, 8 p.m.. Rm. 305, Union. Junior Girls' Play - Make-up Committee, 4 p.m., League. Radio-"Today's World and Lo- cal Problems," Prof. Robert S. Ford, 5:45 p.m., WPAG Michigan Theatre - "Captain from Castile," 1, 3:31, 6:09 and 8:45 p.m. State Theatre-"Ride the Pink Horse," 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 p.m. Signal Corps Issues Call for Trained Men A shortage of technically qual- ified officers to fill Signal Corps requirements has made it neces- sary to authorize the Chief of Signal Corps to recall a limited number of company grade officers to active duty. The most urgent need at pres- ent, according to Major Howard E. Porter, assistant professor of military science and tactics, Sig- nal Corps, is for officers qualified in the following specialties; Sig- nal Center operation, photog- raphy, telephone, radar, radio, signal supply, and repair and maintenance. The shortage exists in both the engineering and operating fields, and includes a need for well-qual- ified instructors to serve with RO- TC, National Guard and ORC units. Current Signal Corps policies affecting officers recalled to ac- tive duty is to assign overseas those credited with less than 27 months overseas service. Others are assigned in accordance with their expressed desires insofar as is possible. Any Signal Corps officer who is qualified in one of the listed specialties and is interested in be- ing recalled to active duty should notify Major Porter at ROTC Headquarters, 512 S. State. 'Marine Class Closes Today Men interested in the Marine Corps' Platoon Leaders Class will have their last opportunity to con- tact Captain Raymond L. Val- ente today, since the current phyical is being given for the last time. Connected with the reserve of- ficers program, the class is open to all qualified veteran and non- veteran freshmen and sophomores, and veteran juniors. The class operates only during the summer and gives students a chance to receive reservescommis- sions in the United States Marine Corps without sacrificing any of their college education. ! Hopwood Wimners To Be Interviewed Winners of this year's freshmen Hopwood awards will be inter- viewed today by E. G. Burrows of the University Broadcasting Serv- ice on "The Hopwood Room," at 2:30 p.m. today over WKAR. Dan Waldron, who stood first in both fiction and poetry, will tell how he came to write his group of three stories, "The Man Who Couldn't Resist People," "The Capitulation," and "The Misbegot- ten." Dale Boesky, winner in the es- say division, and Mary Kay Wank, winner of the third award in fic- tion, will also be interviewed. Scholarship Wonl A scholarship of $1,866 has been awarded to Geraldine Skin- ner, '40SN, former assistant di- rector of the 'U' Hospital nursing staff, by the National Founda- tion of Infantile Paralysis for study in orthopedics at Boston University. b. A By DOLORES PAL.ANKER So you think man controls the course of civilization. Well, you're wrong! At least, this is the belief of Prof. Leslie A. White, chairman of the anthropology department and consultant in ethnology in the Museum of Anthropology. Prof. White has expounded his theory at last in a magazine arti- cle. "Man's Control Over Culture -An Anthropocentric Illusion," which appears in the March issue of Scientific Monthly. "Man must be there to make the existence of the culture process possible," Prof. White says in his article, "but the nature and be- havior of the process itself is self- determined. Culture Self-Determined "They," -Prof. White refers to the forces of culture-"will be to- morrow what their trend of devel- opment in the past dictates. We can only trot along with them, hoping to keep up," he continues. Prof. White believes that the statement that education of man- kind is the only means of attain- ing a lasting peace is erroneous. "Strictly speaking," he declares education . . .. is what culture is doing to people, namely, equipping them with ideas, beliefs, codes of conduct, tools and machines. Culture Unconscious "Culture has been evolving as an unconscious, blind, bloody, bru- tal, tropismatic process so far," continues the articles"; . . . it has not yet reached a point where in- telligence, self-consciousness and understanding are very conspicu- ous." Prof. White concludes that a sci- ence of culture will not enable us to control civilization, but will help us to adjust to it. The anthropologist has recently returned after a semester's leave of absence during which he was Health Service Treats 13,040 Total Termed 'Not . Unusual' for Season The University Health Service has treated 13,040 students during the month of February. The condition of student health was reported as not unusual as judged from past records, Pneu- monia and appendicitis cases were doubled, but this is partially at- tributed to the fact that enroll- ment has increased in the past yeair. Provisions recently made for chest X-ray examinations of em- ployees in contact wtih students in fraternities and sororities met with little response. Students are well protected against acquiring tuberculosis from eath other, but they are not protected from pos- sible disease in non-student con- tacts, a spokesman said. Delta Chi Officers The new pledge class of Delta Chi, recently reactivated campus social fraternity, has elected offi- cers for the semester. They are: Fred Morrow, presi- dent; Claude Batuk, secretary; John Gryzbowski, social chair- man; Nick Oliver, rushing chair- man; Walt Dobbs, publicity chair- man; Jay Bunker, athletic chair- man; and Fred Atiyeh, historian. lli iCn+~:7L __________________ I visiting professor at Yale Univer- sity where he conducted a gradu- ate seminar in ethnological theory. He also le tured at Har- vard and Columbia and addressed the Philadelphia Anthropologic4l Society in addition to doing re- search work for a book which he hopes will be published within a year. Europe To Get Textbook Aid, Textbooks - puny, ponderous. new, dog-eared, fetching, repell- ing-all are considered valuable by the Inter-Guild social action committee, now conducting a dive to restock the barren book- shelves of European universities. Textbooks suffering from isola- tion and neglect will get a new lease on life in the hands of Eu- ropean students, according to Betty Lou Zwemer, chairman of the committee. She insists that almost any textbook between cov- ers will get a warm reception. The book drive will center in the various guilds and will last for two weeks. Any other campus or- ganizations desiring to contribute texts are requested to contact Miss Zwemer at 2-4561. All books will be stamped, "Inter-Guild, University of Michigan" and be boxed March 20 at the Presby- terian Church. NOT THE DRIVER: Man Unable To Control His Culture, Prof. White Declares "" Charge Labor Law Permits BiasedHiring INDIANAPOLIS, Mar. 9--W)-A witness for the International Ty- pographical Union testified in federal court today that he told Detroit newspaper publishers the Taft-Hartley Law allows them to reject a job applicant because of race, religion, or kind of clothing. A government lawyer who is seeking an injunction against the ITU promptly accused the witness, Max Burns, of proposing "excuses" by which publishers could get out of hiring non-union men. Burns denied this. He said he was only making an observation to show the publishers "the wrong- ness of the law." He said Congress prohibited dis- crimination against non-ur.'n men when it should have been pro- hibiting discrimination against people for racial, or 'religious rea- sons. Burns is president of the Detroit Mailers Union, an ITU local. The Office of the General Coun- sel of the National Labor Rela- tions Board has asked Federal Judge Luther M. Swygert to order the ITU not to try to cause news- paper publishers to discriminate against non-union men in hiring workers, Burns was asked what would happen if a newspaper hired a non-union printer. He replied that if anything oc- curred through no fault of the publisher-that is if forced by the law to hire a non-union man-- "we'd be darned fools to upset the apple cart." Phone 2-8461 ,.. .nom F.., . 'I IMPORTED HNDMf4DE IJ A&gA 0..0 330 Manardsree U