THE M;ITIGA'N DATILY WED

It SDA.V.

XPEDITION TO IRAN:
'U' Professor Unlocks Secrets of Ancient Inseriplion


By PICK M tOY
(Daily City Editor)
Prof. George Cameron is. livinf
proof that the old saying abou'
professors leading a quiet life i
little more than a myth.
He is back in the quiet comfor'
of a classroom teaching Nea
Eastern culture now. But for the
past five months he's been clam-
boring about a wind-swept moun-
tain in Iran hundreds of feet in
the air while doing valuable re-
search on ancient inscriptions.
THE INSCRIPTIONS tell of the
conquests of the Persian King
Darius who held sway over the
entire known world -- with the
exception of Greece--back in 516
B.C.
The ancient dictator evident-
ly was anxious that a record of
his doings be preserved, accord-
ing to Cameron. Because a foot-
note to the hlstorical record
contains a plea that following
generations preserve the in-
scription.
It also promises that the gods
would shine on those who helped
preserve the monument and
threatens those who helped pre-
serve the monument and threat-
ens those who would destroy the
inscription with the god's anger.
BUT OLD King Darius didn't
entrust his historical record en-
tirely to the gods. After his work-
men and sculptors had completed
their carving on the sheer clifft
wall high in the air, he had them
carefully destroy all approaches to
the monument.
Prof. Cameron discovered
traces of the ancient ap-
proaches during his research on
the spot. For his work it was
necessary to constructra system
of steel cables attached to a
narrow scaffold which could be
lowered 200 feet to the carv-
ings.
The results of his five-month
expedition were made public last
week. At a press conference the
lean, six-footer said his work
resulted in the solutions of the
last remaining problems sur-
rounding this inscription.
BECAUSE IT was written in
three languages it has provided
scientists with a valuable key to
understanding certain heretofore
unknown alphabets.
Research on this particular
inscription was begun a century
ago.
Utilizing a special liquid rub-
ber material, Cameron was able to
make inmpressions of the in-
scriptions which could be brought
home easily for leisurely study.
* * *
HIS HAZARDOUS work high
in the air gave him several nar-

Easing Off
Of Housing
Jal11 Seeni
Despite soaring sprintg enroll-
inents, opening of the new wom-
en's dorm and the drop in vet-
e-rans enrollment appear to be
eosin:; the University's housing
headaches this semester.
University officials report that
the over-crowded conditions which
forced scores of students into
basement dormitory rooms last
fall have been alleviated.
- THE NEW. WOMEN'S dorm,
still unnamed and uncompleted, is
ah eady housing 290 women. ac-
cording to Assistant Dean of
Women Mary C. Bromage .
They include women who
lived at Victor Vaughan House
last semester, 40 emigrants from
the now-closed Willow Run dor-
mitory, and freshman women.
The return of the Vaughan
exiles has in turn helped quad
officials find room abovedground
for their basement dwellers.
JOHN E. BINGLEY, chief resi-
dent adviser of East Quad, and
Peter A. Ostafin, chief West Quad
adviser, said all men had been
removed from the temporary
quarters.
At Willow Village, Richard A.
Correll, director of the Veterans
Service Bureau, reported that only
six Willow Run dormitories for
single men are now open.
Debate Society
MeetsToday
Plan ,Intercollegiate
Schedule for Spring
An organizational meeting for
University debate activities, which


ATTENTION!. . . University Students
Save yourselves time and money
The Ann Arbor Business School
offers you classes in
SHORTHAND and TYPING
Before completing your next semester's schedule arrange a convenient time
for your typing and shorthand classes offered during the day or evenings.
For full particulars call in person or phone the
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FATHER AND SON-Prof. George Cameron and h's son Tom, 15, examine a photograph of ancient
inscriptions placed on a sheer cliff in Iran by or ler of the Persian King Darius in 516 B.C. Both
have just returned from a five-month expedition 0 the Near East where they studied the inscriptions
while clinging to a scaffold high in the air.

135 RECORD ALBUMS

(all classical

music)

row brushes with death. Once heE
nearly toppled from the narrow.
swaying platform when a native
helper mistunderstood directions
and allowed one side of the plat-
form to tilt dangerously.
Besides natural erosion dam-
age from 2,400 years of natural
weathering, the ancient in-
scriptions have taken quite aj
beating from rifle fire in the
past 25 years.
Cameron said troops billeted
nearby during World Wars ieand
II apparently used the lofty sculp-
ture for target practice.
ONE OF THE most valuablel
contributions of the Darius in-
scription to human knowledge is
in providing a key to cuneiform
(wedge shaped) writing. The
Darius inscription was done in
three different languages.
13y comparing known lan-
guages with the cuneiform writ-
ing the researchers have been

E able to decipher this previously
unintelligible form.
Stressing the importance of
this, Cameron pointed out that
from 3500 B.C. to the time of
Alexander the Great all written
materials were in cuneiform. The
key to this form will in turn aid
other researchers who have been
working on still earlier historical
records.

PROF. CAMERON said his new
study emphasizes the great value
of the Near East to us as the only
place on the face of the earthI
where the entire history of man


can be studied.
The economic
portance of this
recognized, but
significance in

will include contests with several
and military im- other universities will be held at
area is generally 7:30 p.m. today in Rm. 4203, An-
we overlook its gell Hall.


at
40%/oDISCOUNT

the history of

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mankind, according to Cameron.

'U' Site Refusal Fails To Dim
NSA Hopes for Congress Here

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The campus chapter of the Na-
tional Students Association has
not given up hope of eventually
holding a national NSA Congress
here despite the University's re-
fusal to apptove the meeting for
next summer.
NSA is requesting facilities for
the convention during the summer

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SECOND SEMESTER
New and Used
TKS
for all courses

of 1950, Arlynn Rosen, '49, SL
NSA committee chairman, an-
nounced.
DENIAL OF THE earlier date
came in a letter to Miss Rosenf
from Herbert G. Watkins, secre-
tary and assistant vice president.1
"The Committee on Budget
Administration feels that the
University's facilities during thet
summer of 1949 will not permits
granting the request," he said. I
He pointed out that open pe- I
arods before and after summerI
session would be used to renovate
residence hall quarters that NSA
had requested. Use of Hill .Audi-
torium was denied because new
seats are to be installed and Rack-
ham Lecture Hall would not be
available for the week or 10 days
NSA had requested.
THE REQUEST for 1950 will
mark the third attempt of local
NSA leaders to bring the annual
convention to Ann Arbor.
The first request was granted{
by the University but was turnedI
down by the NSA National Execu-
tives and eventually held last Au-
gust at the University of Wiscon-
in.
The proposed Congress in 1950
would be the third one held by
NSA and would bring more than
700 delegates and alternates here
from colleges in 45 states.

Debate activities are open to
all interested students. Teams to
meet the visiting debaters are
chosen on a tryout basis.
Coach Ray Nadeau will present
plans for preliminary contests in
April for two national oratorical
contests at the meeting.
Intercollegiate debates already
arranged for this semester are:
Toronto University, Feb. 14, here;
Central Michigan College of Edu-
cation, Feb. 18 at Flint; Cam-
bridge University, March 23 here;
Cornell, March 28 here; and Uni-
versity of Pittsburgh, March 29
here.
An invitational tournament
with teams attending from Dem-
son University, Alma College, Uni-
versity of Detroit, Wayne Univer-
sity, Western Michigan College of
Education and Michigan State
Normal College has been sched-
uled fer Feb. 25 at the University.

IMy


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BUT 1949 IS STILL HERE-and so are you. Your chance to
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is open for business, and that business is you. The welcome mat will
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