T,1
IICHIGAN DAILY
SATURDAY, _MARCH 4 , 1950
A
F
toin ted Pen
C AMPUS cultural life is in danger of
drastic curtailment unless something is
done to straighten out the calendaring poli-
cy of the SL and the Student Affairs Com-
mittee.- It will be only a question of time
before small groups will disband rather than
face operating in the red.
Thus far, despite the fact that even
some of our largest dances have lost
money, little has been done to straighten
out a calendaring system which permits
three and four activities to compete on
weekend.
A check on other campuses shows that
the same problem has been encountered
elsewhere and at New York University Stu-
dent Government has come up with some
concrete ideas that might well serve as
a basis for investigation by our own SL
calendar sub-committee.
As a basic policy, it was suggested that
no organization has the right, merely be-
cause it exists, to*hold affairs on the campus
to which it charges admission. It would
seem that the interest of the student body,
better expressed in a healthy self-supporting
but protected cultural program than in a
set-up where activities are competitive and
in danger of elimination, should be fore-
most.
The NYU Student Government present-
ed specific considerations for its calendar:
1-That the calendar should be a con-
tinuous schedule always up to date (con-
taining not only those programs actually
okayed by the SAC but other events which
would influence the attendance at them
such as sports events).
2-That the calendar should also judge
the factor of cost to the students. Past ex-
perience here has shown that two big dances
on the same weekend, or any two expensive
events, are liable to cancel one another.
3-That classes and other organizations
should have an opportunity to raise money
-for charities. Purpose for which the function
is being given, in other words, such as for
the benefit of the Fresh Air Camp, should
be a criterion.
4-That in arranging weekend activities
where there is to be more than one function,
consideration be given the the pocketbook
of the student. There should be inexpen-
sive as well as the more expensive events on
any one weekend.
It should be obvious to both SAC and SL
that something must be done.. Student
groups operating in the red are not going
to continue sponsoring social functions.
At the present time there is confusion
as to just whose job it is. SL has a calen-
daring committee but the SAC also oper-
ates in this field. It is my opinion that
the responsibility should rest with the
student government. -
Unless SL is allowed to shoulder the job
of regulating student activities which are for
the benefit of students there is no purpose
for a student government.
-Don McNeil.
editorials published in The Michigan Daily
are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the wiriters only.
NIGHT EDITOR: PAUL BRENTLINGER
CJINJEMA
At The Orpheum
GERMANY YEAR ZERO directed by
Roberto Rossellini, in German with sub-
titles.
THE degeneration and disillusionment of
a 12 year old Berlin boy is shown in this
descriptive semi-documentary which is a
realistic portrayal of post-war Germany, but
leaves something to be desired as drama.
What little plot there is centers around
a family of four - a bed-ridden father and
his three children, Karl-Heinz, an ex-soldier
hiding froi the police; Eva, the sister and
family stabilizer; and the young boy Ed-
mound. Food is even scarcer for this group
than for other under-fed Germans because
,Marl-Heinz, minus ration card, refuses to
surrender to the police or to go out into the
streets to bring home provisions. Thus the
task of stealing, cheating and black-market
selling to add to ,the family's food supply
falls on Edmound.
Interwoven into this skeleton framework
are all the problems of everyday living in
a ruined and defeated Germany-juvenile
delinquency, crowded and almost animal-
like living conditions, remnants of Nazi
ideology exemplified by a former school
teacher and extreme inflation.
The film represents a sincere attempt to
depict a serious problem, but its slow pace,
weak ending, and over-emphasis on pho-
tographing bomb-shattered Berlin result in
an only mediocre movie.
-Roma Lipsky.
Union - Two Proposals
"WHAT SHALL WE DO with the Union?" HOW TO CHOOSE a Union president and
is a perennially popular topic of con- secretary?
troversy around here.
A new solution to this question has
Right no, fire has shifted from the been called for, and is clearly needed. The
"no-women-through-the-front-door" tar- plan must give students a more direct
get to the method of selecting the Union's voice in selection of these officers. But it
must also insure that thoroughly qualified
president and secretary. Some 200 stu- mnaegvntejbadta h
dents have proposed an amendment to men are given the jobs, and that the
the Union constitution which would pro- Union's huge alum membership is not
forgotten.
vide for direct campus-wide election of
the organization's two top officers. The present method of indirect selection
would doubtless be improved by having
As it is, a seven-member selections com- vice-presidents elected by the Union's stu-
mittee chooses these officers. This commit- dent membership as a whole, and by in-
tee includes the Dean of Students, ex- creasing the number of these vice-presidents
officio; three faculty or alumni members;centhe nsbromtee vic-pheses
and three of the Union's six popularly elec- on the selections committee which chooses
ted vice-presidents. The Dean serves as com- But this solution is unlikely to satisf
mittee chairman.B
those who seek direct election of the two
Thus, faculty and alumni members of the top officers.
Union have more to say about the choice
of the president and secretary than do stu- Here, then, is a suggested compromise.-
dents. Since students are here all the time It :would combine the best features of the
to use the Union's facilities in large num- two plans of absolute election and in-
bers, it seems that students should be given direct selection. It would be an improve-
greater voice in the selection of the Union ment over both.
' 'Tis But Thy Nane That Is My
! Be Sonic Other Name: What's
Enem'; ?
In AName?"
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
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ette/ TO THE EDITOR
The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of
general interest, and will publish all letters which are signed by the writer
and in good taste. Letters exceeding 300 words in length, defamatory or
libelous letters, and letters which for any reason are not in good taste will
be condensed, edited, or withheld from publication at the discretion of the
editors.
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(Continued from Page 2)
"The Work of Special Devices.Cen-
ter."
Doctoral Examination for Rolfe
Alden Haatvedt, Classical Studies:
Latin: thesis: "Coins from Karan-
is," Sat., Mar. 4, 2009 Angell Hall,
9:30 a. m. Chairman, J. G. Win-
ter.
Events Today
All students: Briefing meeting
for students interested in solici-
ting for WSSF, 2 p.m., Lane Hall.
I.S.A.: Open House, 8-12 p.m.,
International Center.
Inter-Arts Union: Meeting, 1
p.m., 500 BMT.
U. of M. Hostel Club: Member-
ship dance, potluck supper, and
community sing, 6 to 11 p.m.,
Jones School. For potluck reser-
vations call Jane Finkbeiner, 7804.
Bring eating utensils. All dance
admissions applicable toward the
cost of membership if bought
within 30 days.
Coming Events
All Students: Briefing meeting
for all students on campus inter-
ested in soliciting for WSSF, 3 p.-
m., Sun., Mar. 5, Lane Hall.
Grad Outing Club: Meet for to-
bogganing Sun., Mar. 5, 2:15 p.m.,
northwest entrance, R a c k h a m
Bldg.
Naval Research Reserve Unit:
Meeting, Mon., Mar. 6, 7:30 p.m.,
18 Angell Hall. Mr. H. H. Goode:
L i b r a r y Science Discussion
Group: Meeting, 7:45 p.m., Mon.,
Mar. 6, East Conference Room,
Rackham Bldg. Speaker: Profes-
sor Gooch. Topic: Library Publi-
city Through Displays and Posters.
Women's Research Club: 8 p.m.
Mon., Mar. 6, West Lecture Room,
Rackham Building. Mrs. Dorothy
R. Neuhaus will speak on "Pro-
duction of Opacity of Soft Tissues
to X-rays by Iodinated Com-
pounds."
Sigma Alpha Iota: Meeting,
Mon., Mar. 6, 7:15 p.m., League.
Compulsory attendance for all ac-
tives.
U. of M. Sailing Club: New
members will sell tickets Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday in the
Administration Building (instead
of the League). Other members
pick up tickets. from 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. Tues., Mar. 7, League.
Ballet Club: Meeting, Mon., Mar.
6, Dance Studio, Barbour Gym.
Bring practice clothes.
I.Z.F.A. Hillel: Hebrew Circle
meeting, 11 a.m., Sun., Mar. 5, Un-
ion.
IZFA Purim Carnival: 7:30 p.m.,
Sun., Hillel Foundation.
Newman Club Drama Group:
Meeting, 8 p.m., Mon., Mar. 6,
Chapel office. Bring copy of "You
Can't Take It With You."
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leaders.
The proposed constiutional change
would rectify this weakness. But it still
is far from satisfactory on many counts.
To begin with, it fails to consider the
interests of the Union's 30,000 alumni mem-
bers, manyFof whom are quite interested in
the affairs of the club.
But more important, it is inadequate from
the standpoint of inner administration. The
jobs in question require a considerable
amount of knowledge of what goes on in
the Union, not to mention administrative
and managerial abilities. Also, their exist-
ence serves as incentive to junior staff mem-
bers.
A campus-wide electorate could hardly
be expected to have enough information
about the available candidates, even if they
were limited to Union staff members, to
make the wisest choice.
What then can be done to reflect grass-
roots sentiment and still provide for ef-
fective functioning of the Union?
Another Constitutional amendment,
currently being considered by the Union
board of directors, might solve the probe
lem.
It would increase the number of elected
vice-presidents from six to seven. Five of
these would be elected by the undergraduate
student members as a whole, while the other
two would be chosen by students in the
graduate schools.
Under this plan, each vice-president would
be chosen by a large portion of the Union's
membership. Now, students are permitted to
vote only for a candidate from their own
school or college or group of schools. Each
vice-president now represents only a limited
number of students-not the membership
as a whole.
This proposal in itself would express stu-
dent wishes better. If, in addition, one or two
more of these popularly elected vice-presi-
dents were placed on the selections commit-
tee, all should be well.
This selections committee would still
be a small group, capable of carefully
studying the qualifications of the candi-
dates. This small group, however, would
represent a sizeable proportion of the stu-
dent members, if four or five of its mem-
bers were elected by most of the student
body.
By changing the balance of power in the
selections committee, this proposal should
give student members of the Union a great-
er voice in selection of their officers. At the
same time, it might provide a much needed
"kick in the pants" to supply increased stu-
dent interest in the affairs of their Union.
-Paul Brentlinger.
Let the Union student members elect the
president and secretary. But have the pre-
sent selections committee nominate the can-
didates for each office - two or three for
each position, according to the committee's
sentiments as to how many people are
qualified for the jobs.
The president and secretary would thus
be nominated by an informed committee
capable of measuring their qualifications.
They would be elected by a student body
which would be given an opportunity to
select those candidates which best repre-
sent its views.
Democracy would be served, but so
would efficiency.
nI
Mencken
0 *
If the president and secretary were to be
elected on the basis of popularity without
any thought as to their qualifications, with-
out a screening by a Union committee, the
positions would soon degenerate to mere
honors sought for their attendant publicity
and prestige. Conceivably, officers could be
chosen who had never even been in the
Union.
Highly qualified men are needed to man-
age the complicated affairs of the Uni-
versity's huge men's club. If the Union's
student officers proved to- be unworthy of
their responsibility, control would drift
away from students, leaving the club's man-
agement completely in the hands of pro-
fessionals or others who, while technically
capable of filling their positions, might not
heed student opinion in the operation of
the students' own club.
Such a situation might very possibly re-
sult if officers were elected for popularity
rather than for ability.
Direct election without a Union selec-
tions committee would take incentive away
from the Union staff. These people would
hardly be encouraged in their tasks if they
knew that their chance at top offices de-
pended entirely on the results of a popu-
larity contest.
The modified method of election sug-
gested would bring the presidential can-
didates to the students, making them more
available for suggestions on future policy.
However, let us hope that the selections
committee picks candidates of sufficient
integrity to resist making campaign is-
sues of policy questions which can only
be decided after thoughtful deliberation.
If the electorate has gripes, let them be
aired. But creation of false issues by the
candidates will only harm the Union and
the student members.
Direct election of Union officers is de-
sirable - but only on the basis of qualifi-
cation for the job and reward for effort.
The best choice can be made by the use
of democracy, but it must be an informed
democracy.
-James Gregory.
"other story. The point is that both
need to act on faith.
-Don Ervin
To The Editor:,
THE SQUIB from Mencken in
Sunday's Daily about faith
would hardly be worth a comment
except that it is so typical of some
of the muddled thinking about re-
ligion that goes on these days.
Such thinking is apt to assume as
Mencken does that a faith in God
is something pathological and so
ends up with not much of any
faith in a philosophy of life at
all. We need to realize just what
role faith can play in our rela-
tionship to the nature of things
around us.
To begin with faith is a very
important kind of attitude for the
scientist. In fact if it weren't for
faith, we wouldn't have scientific
knowledge, because the building
of this knowledge began with a
faith thattcertain things were like
certain other things and that
these two sets of things could be
compared and relationships be-
tween them established. When
scientists began to construct the-
oretical systems, they again acted
on faith-a faith that their sys-
tems were relevant to the prob-
lems being studied, and that if hy-
potheses from these systems were
tested in experiment, the results
would reveal knowledge about
these problems.
A faith in God is strikingly
similar to the faith necessary in
science. I was amused recently in
class when the instructor was be-
ing a little dogmatic, but neces-
sarily so, about some concepts
needed in a particular theoretical
system. A student cracked under
his breath, "There is a God, be-
cause there is a God, because there
is a God."
Now this particular system has
been very fruitful for research and
was set forth in the first place be-
cause the founder was bold enough
to propose outrageous concepts
and methods of theorizing, i. e., to
,have faith in them. If, then, faith
in scientific theories can pay off,
what is so very unreasonable about
having a faith in God? The one
is very necessary and the other,
though more difficult to achieve,
is equally necessary. A scientist
cannot make progress into the un-
known without beginning with a
fairly well structured idea of what
the unknown is apt to be like. How
do we expect to make our progress
into our own unknown futures if
we do not proceed likewise? Since
our lives are related to the whole
nature of things about us, we
need a highly integrated theoreti-
cal system to produce this fruit-
fulness in our lives.
A religious person puts God at
the head of such a system, and, of
course, establishes a relationship
to God which makes his system-
philosophy of life, if you like-
more than something purely intel-
lectual. Some atheists have phil-
osophies of life equally well organ-
ized and also founded on faith,
the main difference being that
they deny the exsitence of God.
Both the philosophy of the atheist
and the philosophy of the religious
person are fraught with difficul-
ties which stem from their own
personalities and their relation-
ships to groups, but that is an-
Discrimination
0 *
To the Editor:
The issue of the students vs. an
administration which perpetu-
ates and carries out the most vile
Jim-Crow practices is becoming
more acute. Undoubtedly the ov-
erwhelming amount of students
have no clear-cut concept of the
scope of these practices which de-
grade and humiliate the Negro
people.
Let us take a few concrete ex-
amples and ask if the administra-
tion can answer these questions:
Why are such surgeons as Dr.
Sullenberger, who struck and in-
sulted a Negro woman employee,
allowed to practice in the Univer-
sity Hospital? Why has there been
a constant intimidation of all the
Negro woman elevator operators
with regard to this case?
And why, we ask, after one year
of existence of the Committee to
End Discrimination, does the Uni-
versity still refuse to remove dis-
criminatory questions from appli-
cation blanks? Why do these ques-
tions exist on j application
blanks and why does the Univer-
sity aid and condone segregated
housing? Why is it that the Uni-
versity Library has no subscription
to any Negro newspaper although
many of them outsell a number of
those displayed and purchased?
Why does a dental laboratory set
one small corner aside for a Negro
dentist who works exclusively on
Negro patients? And finally we
must ask why certain history in-
structors are allowed to slander
and distort the contributions that
Negro people have made to Amer-
ican life?
We live in a University corrupt-
ed by these evil practices. How, in
the context of this college society,
can the Young Republicans dare
to put forth the slogan of fan "op-
portunity state"? And how im-
portant can this be to the Young
Democrats who have decided to
fight fiercely this semester for
cleaner toilet bowls!?
It is time that campus groups
and University officials woke to
the fact that students can not
long endure the dismissal of their
most basic demands.
-Hy Bershad
Quota System . .
To the Editor:
THE STUDENT Legislature has
taken action on thequota sys-
tem. This combined with support
from individual campus groups,
the National Students Association
which has chapters all over the
country, and the Committee to
End Discrimination composed of
36 campus organizations, show
united student solidarity on this
issue. Petitions being circulated
among the faculty are receiving
very favorable response. Yet noth-
ing has happened. The questions
are still on the blank!
We are fortunate at the U. of M.
to be able to place the blame
squarely on the committee. In the
current campaign on the Med.
school, Dr. Whittaker and his.
committee :on admissions (mem-
bership made secret several years
ago) have the final decision on
what questions they would like to
ask to aid in the selection of can-
didates. There can be no cries nor
complaining that the regents or
the state legislature is responsible,
although -passage of Sen. Blondy's
Fair Educational Practices Act
would make the entire affair a
criminal offense as it is in New
Jersey, Massachussetts, and New
York.
The Student Legislature in its
recent resolution has hopes of
achieving the removal of these
questions by peaceful, academic,
and polite .methods. It's up to Dr.
Whittaker to determine if thisis
sufficient. Nobody wants the name
of our alma mater involved in a
national controversy. students on
other campuses have taken much
more drastic action to promote the
cause of racial and religious equal-
ity. Dr. Whittaker and the admis-
sions committee can avoid any
further unfortunate publicity and
repudiate that which now exists
by removing the information asked
for in the SL resolution. Dr. Whit-
taker has said, as reported in the
Dec. 24 issue of The Michigan
Daily, "I think that all these ques-
tions might be deleted without
hampering the work of the admis-
sions committee immeasurably."
There seems no doubt in my
mind that these questions can and
must be removed now-right now.
-Gordon MacDougall
* * *
President and a Federal Judge, de-
cide simply whether to use or not
to use the one method of action
available to them under the pre-
sent law when fact finding is ex-
hausted, Morse would have the
President certify to Congress the
existance of a labor dispute which
is or may imperil the national
health or safety, leaving to Con-
gress the decision as to what ac-
tion should be taken by the gov-
ernment.
What's the advantage of that?
Simply that the people of the
United States through the pres-
sure of public opinion would de-
cide the action, not within the
confines of a single attempted re-
medy such as the TDaft act pro-
vides but from all possible reme-
dies after a Congressional debate
in which the issues could be clear-
ly and coherently presented to the
country.
This probably wouldn't solve alp
our problems. Yet it is time that
we adopted a policy which, instead
of simply trying to coerce one of
the parties, provides for a realistic
consideration of each national
emergency on its own facts. Such
a debate and decision by Congress
in which the American public
would be the jury, would be much
more likely to command the res-
pect of the parties involved.
-Tom Walsh
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ICoal Strife
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CURRENTf MlO0vIES,
THE HISTORICAL FILMS Joan of Arc
and Henry V exemplify the faults and
virtues of their genre. The latter is success-
ful because it turned history into plausible
fiction. The former is unsuccessful because it
divorced the history from the people who
made it thereby substituting walking ideas
for men.
History being to most a persisting ro-
mance bred in children's books, one can
expect and demand that it be dramatized en-
tertainingly. Facts for facts' sake aren't
enough. And knowing that a writer and
a historian aren't the same thing, we should
insist that a speech only sound as if it were
spoken at the time the film is set. Historical
films must have then as the greater part of
the dialogue general truths of human na-
ture (platitudes), because dialogue that is
too specific tends to be either twentieth
century ideas put into historical-sounding
'lingo; or historical facts transposed lifeless-
ly from the text to the script. The validly
conceived platitude can transcend time and
so I prefer it to the inaccurately applied
speech that might have been spoken by
someone (not necessarily the character)
during the period. It's the appearance of
reality that pleases us.
To the audience the visual immediacy
combined with the transitory nature of the
film i.e., what you see you can't stop and
check for facts, allow the film to achieve
a realism that fiction is not so easily capable
of. Costumes and sets are seldom responsible
for the failure of historical films. Their
failure has to do with:
1 - An underemphasis of the exciting
quality of valid observations concerning the
behavior of men in the .past (Joan of Arc)
and
2 - An overemphasis of a contrived plot
blooming with buttoxes and bosoms (Christ-
opher Columbus). In other words, the way
men would act is distorted for the sake of
the story; and twentieth century miscon-
ceptions of the past are substituted for
transcending truths concerning the way
man acts.
History is always kind enough to supply
the story. In a good film the author supplies
his characters with the right reactions to
it.
-S. J. Winebaum.
To the Editor:
AS THE coal miners continue to
sit idle without a contract
while schools are closing and
emergency rations are doled out,
the time is appropriate to con-
sider the demerits of the Taft-
Hartley Act's injunction provisions
as a means of settling a national
emergency strike.
At this writing it seems clear
that injunctions and probably ev-
en fines against the union are not
going to force the miners to work
in a situation which they consider
involuntary servitude and which
would mean victory for the mine
owners.
The press has been prompt to
point out that one of the gravest
concerns in the coal strike picture
is the fact. that the situation has
produced large scale disregard for
Federal baw.
A maverick Republican, Senator
Wayne Morse who spoke here last
year pointed out that a wise leg-
islator does not pass laws which
are liable to be openly flaunted
and disregarded by any large seg-
ment of. the population. The fact
that the miners' passive resist-
ance to the Fedetal Court order is
weakening the status of the gov-
ernment is one of the most scath-
ing indictments of Taft's formula
for dealing with John L. Lewis.
Senator Morse had a construc-
tive alternative to Taft's patent
little formula which we would do
well to consider during this chilly
period.
Rather than have two men, the
A
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Fifty-Ninth Year
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Student Pubications.
a
Editorial Staff
Leon Jaroff.........Managing Editor
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Philip Dawson....... Editorial Director
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Jo Misner...........Associate Editor
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Wally Barth......Photography Editor
Pres Holmes .......... Sports Co-Editor
Merle Levin..........Sports Co-Editor
Roger Goelz.. Associate Sports Editor
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Joyce Clark........Assistant Librarian
Business Staff
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BARNABY
Here's a neat touch, Barnaby-When the
Refrigerator Pixie is not refrigerating,
You've been talking so much, Mr.
n'Ara, a e.try/ _anHlen
("15 r t rp$nr ( of < 1' Pni
Wake him up! So
.1,1,. . |
You can't fire me, O'Malley.1
.-...|
We'll see
-nh thi ! a. _ . tA JR I 1. a+. ..
Don't worry about the radio,
Barnaby. Your Fairy Godfather
i