STHE MICHIGAN DAILY
WIRDNESDAY,
I.," I
Th1
0 " a
top lie t e
"Fire I
COMMUNISTS IN THE university. Dis-
crimination in the university. Freedom
pech in the university.
the controversies about these well-worn
ubjects prove anything, it is that university
fe cannot be divorced from the surround-
ng social order. And yet, despite the bar-
age of verbal brickbats flying back and
orth about the Welfare State, hardly a
vord has been said about the Welfare Uni-
tersity.
THE WELFARE UNIVERSITY
CAREFUL examination of the rules and
procedures instituted by the University
administration in the past few decades would
'eveal tremendous emphasis on the welfare
>f students - an emphasis that might be
oharacterized, if it were in a political con-
ext, as "socialistic."
The government of the University com-
nunity furnishes low-cost medical care to
.ts citizens. The University has had for
nany years an extensive retirement pro-
tram for faculty and staff members. The1
University assumes responsibilities for the
tiousing of its students, and makes sure
bhat they have adequate living arrange-
rnents. The University will not recognize
newly-formed student groups that have a
onstitution excluding people on grounds
f race or religion; further steps against
racial and religious prejudice will probably
be taken this year. And the University at-
emipts to make up for economic inequality
among its students by providing scholar-
ships and loan funds.
Policies similar to these, on the national
level, are under furious debate during
every campaign for public office. Invari-
ably, those who are in favor of them in-
sist that government has a responsibility
to all citizens to provide at least a mini-
mum of welfare. Invariably, the opposi-
tion maintains that such emphasis on
welfare leads to "socialism" or some other
bugaboo.
Yet in this conservative institution, locat-
ed in a Republican state and governed by
a. Republican Board of Regents, the basic
idea of the Welfare State is gradually but
steadily being applied to university life.
This has not happened without protest.
The administration, for example, has ruled
that students shall not have liquor in their
residences. This is for their welfare. It is
supposed to protect students from their owl
indiscretion. The same reason is given for
the regulations governing women's hours,
use of automobiles, and approval of student-
sponsored social events - that students
need the protection of rules to prevent them
from bringing discredit upon the Univer-
sity.
Such rules are often bitterly resented by
those lo must obey them. It is felt that
they infringe on individual choice. If the
price of welfare is freedom, the students
often claim thatt he University is over-
charging.
THE LUCID INTERVAL
FEFARE,OF COURSE, can be intellec-
tual as well as physical. A reasonable
argument can be presented for the point of
view that some, at least, of the present
widespread, banning of movies, publications,
and speakers is due to the same kind of de-
sre for security to which the Welfare State
.appeals.
The kind of defense against Com-
miunism that is so frequently adopted -
bawing the Daily Worker, jailing Com-
munist propagandists, and prohibiting
Communists to speak - represents simply
a misapplication of the basic idea of the
Welfare State, which is to protect its citi-
zers by government action. Such mea-
sures have been adopted in the Univer-
sity, .too, in opposition to the principles
which ought to guide it.
A university is an unexampled opportun-
ity for the individuals who attend it. For
all the years of their childhood, they obey
the authority of their parents. For most of
the years of their adult life, they yield to
the pressures of the economic system and
the social order in which they live. But
in the university they are free to exercise
their intelligence upon any problem that
may present itself. They can criticize with-
out fear. They can think about the world
without being confused and coerced by its
insistent, nagging pressure for immediate
action. They can enjoy a lucid interval be-
tween periods of subjection.
* * *
THE PROBLEM
THE IDEAL OF THE Welfare University
appeals. to us. It is safe. It is comfort-
ble. It is free from a certa.n kind of
anger the danger of physical hardship.
The ideal of the Lucid Interval appeals
to us also. It is exciting because it leaves
us in constant peril of being in error. It is
free from another kind of danger - the
danger of obedience to the Word and in-
tellectual stagnation.
The problem we face in a university is
not really so different from the one we
face in a nation. It is how to combine
these two ideals - of freedom and secur-
ity, of reliance on the citizen and pro-
tection for the individual - with a mini-
muir of sacrifice.
We can solve this problem, if we are
aware that it exists. We cn nvmhinP the
By JIM BROWN
aT WAS the immortal Horace Greeley who
once said that a newspaper should be "a
perfect mirror of everything which the cit-
izens ought to know." And with the peoples
of the world once again rushing headlong
toward the brink of another disastrous cat-
aclysm, it is more than ever incumbent upon
a newspaper to place all of the vital issues
before its readers in a calm and clearly rea-
soned manner.
Recognizing its peculiar responsibility to
the students of this University who are pre-
paring to meet the tremendous problems
facing the world today, The Michigan Daily
will strive during the coming year to report
all of the news in a fair and unbiased man-
ner - balanced by carefully considered edi-
torial comment.
EDITORIAL OPINIONS
STAFFED by more than 150 students drawn
from all segments of the campus, The
Daily will attempt to reflect the myriad pat-
terns of student "opinion" in its editorial
columns. While it cannot, and certainly
student, its large and heterogeneous staff
would not want to claim to present the
personal philosophies and ideologies of every
should represent a fair sampling of the ever-
moving stream of student thought.
Reader impressions and further insights
on all matters from any viewpoint will be
expressed through the letters to the edi-
tor column - which will be open to all
readers.
In addition, prize-winning political car-
toonist Herblock and columnists Thomas L.
Stokes and Drew Pearson will provide a
further view of the national and interna-
tional scene.
* **
*
Ii!
IT SO HAPPENS
oAnn A rboreals
I. '
OUT OF DOORS it's crowded these fine
autumn evenings. Couples have taken to
climbing trees to find space. _
But this form of ancestor-worship has its
dangers,, as one up-in-the-air couple dis-
covered the other evening while out for a
stroll in the Arboretum. They were perched
on a slender branch 20 feet off the ground,
when the lady suddenly found herself dang-
ling precariously.
Her date offered to climb down and
catch her as she jumped. But at the 12-
foot level he thought he was all the way
down.
He landed, unceremoniously, on another
couple who happened to be resting under
the tree. Net result: three sore backs, a few
short, crisp words, and one not-so-stranded
coed who got down without a scratch.
NEWS REPORTS
WHILE particular emphasis on the news
pages will be placed on complete cover-
age of campus events - both academic and
extra-curricular.
The Daily will also strive to keep its rea-
ders abreast of world events through the
services of the Associated Press.
The facts will be presented and stressed
solely according to their importance.
Daily writers will aim at accurate and
concise reports of the news.
A PERFECT MIRROR
ALTHOUGH criticism of student and Uni-
versity policies will naturally develop.
The Daily will make every effort to present
only the truth. Slanderous accusations by
any individual will not be printed at any
time.
While The Daily can harly hope to im-
mediately become "a perfect mirror of
everything the citizens ought to know,"
it will strive with this ideal in mind to
be of real service to the University com-
munity.
We hope in addition that all students and
faculty members will exercise their right to
freedom of expression utilizing the columns
of The Daily, and thus help to make it a
truly representative publication.
et teA4 TO TH E 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.
THOMAS L. STOKES:
Social Change, U.S. Style
WASHINGTON-It is a good time now just as we are warming up
for our biennial Congressional elections, when there will be the
usual amount of screaming and shrieking, exaggeration and false
issues, to take stock of our situation and see just how well our system
of compromise and checks-and-balances serves us, despite the parti-
san cries that one or the other party has wrecked, or will wreck, the
nation. a.
We have made progress and most of us are satisfied with it. Boti
parties have contributed and so have groups with diverse views wliio
have clashed publicly, like spitting cats on the back fence -at night.
A TEXT IS OAFERED just now in the bill to expand our Social
Security system.
We are adopting no new principle. This law merely expands the
original Social Security Act approved 15 years ago, in 1935, as a
"Roosevelt New Deal reform," and with considerable bitter resistance
at that time. There is virtually no resistance now. Since then we
have come generally to recognize that protection of our people in
times of unemployment and in their old age is an obligation of our
mechanized and complex society.
As a matter of fact, business generally this time was for
extension of the Federal system in order to relieve pressure from
labor unions for private systems or increased benefits under exist-
ing private systems. Many strikes have resulted from this search
of workers for security through their unions.
From this, let us go to other "Fair Deal" reforms, really only'
extension of "New Deal" reforms or application of "New Deal" ideas,,
about which there is hue and cry without any attempt at analysis.
Despite all the noise, there are only three others which Congress has
approvedduring the five years of the Truman Administration.
They are the so-called Full Employment Act of 1946, which
set up the Council of Economic Advisers for the President to
watch and report on the economic health of the nation; the long-
range housing bill with its provision for slum clearance and public
housing, a principle approved already by Congress in the 1937
Housing Act; and an increase of the minimum wage from 40 to
75 cents an hour under the Wages and Hours Act passed by
Congress in 1938 and in effect since that time.
That's the story-not an alarming one. It represents nothing
revolutionary, but slow change "which has served our economy and
our people well. It would be har to find many businessmen or Re
publicans, even the most hard-shelled of either, who would want to
repeal them.
* * * *
SENATOR ROBERT A. TAFT voted for all these, in fact personally
sponsored the housing bill. Yet, in a political speech, he cries out
that President Truman is ruining the country, thus giving a cue ,that
will be followed by many others, as throughout our history in political
campaigns. There are, of course, other things proposed about which
they are complaining, things that haven't happened. They are the
subject of great differences of opinion, among Democrats as well as
Republicans.
Such, for example, as the President's health insurance plan
and the Brannan farm plan, to mention two of the most contro-
versial.
They are the subject of debate now and will be so during the
campaign. But the thing to remember, whatever party you belong
to or vote for, is that these must, in the end, go through the slowly
grinding mill of Congress, with its delays and its compromises, and
that both parties will be involved in this process.
It is safe to predict now that you will see the mcome out in some
form or other, in time-not tomorrow surely, or even next inth, or
even next year perhaps, but eventually. For the world has moved to
the point where we are going to do such things for our people. If
you are against them, it is your duty to raise your voice and vote
accordingly; if you are for them, you will, too, and just as loudly.
That is our system. But it is a system based on patience and com-
promise and it is useless to lose your perspective or your sense of bal-
ance in hysteria.
(Copyright 1950, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
4
1
Fi
h
III
ON THE
Washington Merry-Go-Round
WITH DREW PEARSON
Welcome from SL,
To the Editor:
ON BEHALF of the Student Leg-
islature, I would like to ex-
tend a sincere and hearty welcome
to all incoming students.
In choosing the University of
Michigan, you have picked the best
possible school.
In coming to college, you have
assumed a tremendous respon-
sibility. The world is full of prob-
lems that need to be solved by
new and farsighted leaders, lead-
ers who are very apt to come from
our college freshman classes.
As your first few weeks here
pass, you will begin to realize more
fully what I mean. The stimulat-
ing atmosphere at the University
will help you to realize this res-
ponsibility and to accept its chal-
lenge.
In this connection, the part to
be played by the Student Legisla-
ture in your life at the University
can be of immense importance.
The Student Legislature'is the
all-campus s t u d e n t governing
:ody. Its 50 members are elected
every semester by you, the stu-
dents. The SL deals with many vi-
tal problems that affect the cam-
pus and your education. Natural-
ly, its emphasis is on the student
viewpoint.
But the student viewpoint is not
considered by the Student Legisla-
ture apart from the interest of
students in the University and
world community aswa whole. Nor
is the present role of students in
relation to current world prob-
lems ignored.
Rather, the Student Legislature
emphasizes the opportunities for
students to learn to meet these
problems - and similar problems
which will arise in the future by
dealing with them now in terms
of the lives of University students
now.
The Student Legislature is not
simply a training ground in demo-
cracy. It is democracy in action.
-George Roumell, President
Student Legislature
11-_
1ll.
WASHINGTON - In order to keep the
United States on the road to prosperity,
Leon Keyserling, the President's chief econ-
omist, has warned that the public must in-
crease its comsumption of commodities by 3
per cent each year. This can be done, he
suggested, by improving living standards,
But if farm and factory surpluses are not
absorbed,,the country will find itself on the
road to depression.
Keyserling presented his formula for pros-
perity behind closed doors of the Joint Con-
gressional Committee on the Economic Re-
port.
"You have to ,have a growing economy
to remain stable, because your labor force
grows, your population grows, your tech-
nology is increasing," he told the Con-
gressmen. "We roughly compute an annual
increase of about 3 per cent in output to
be absorbed by the domestic economy. So,
broadly speaking," he continued, "if we are
at a $260 billion economy-it was $258
billion in 1949-a 3 per cent increase
would be $7.8 billion as the increase in all
kinds of effective demand necessary to
maintain full employment."
Keyserling's theory raised the bushy eye-
brows of chairman Joseph C. O'Mahoney of
Wyoming, who pointed out: "During the war
we were shooting away our production. In
the effort to relabilitate Europe and to car-
ry on the war, we have now been giving it
away. Now, what I am concerned about is
how are we to provide the market-the
free-enterprise market-that will absorb our
productivity without shooting it away or
giving it away?"
* * *
WEIGHTY WORDS
SETTLING BACK in the witness chair,
Keyserling measured his words carefully.
"With development of atomic energy,"
he said, "it is conceivable at some future
time we might have in this country what
I call genuine surpluses-in other words,
a general situation where we are really
producing so much that we have to trans-
late more and more of our productive
capacity into leisure rather than consump-
tion of goods.
"Mankind," he added, gravely, "will have
a real problem then."
However, Keyserling pointed out that the
President's Council of Economic Advisers did
not foresee this for some time. Rather, he
explained: "We felt there is much room in
the United States - putting aside foreign
countries entirely - for the lifting of stan-
dards of living among the people generally"
He gave as an example the problem of
farm production.
"We commonly hear about farm surplus-
es," the economist observed. "Yet we reach-,
ed the conclusion that to furnish the people
in our country with a nutritious and varied
diet and to furnish our industrial plants
with the fibers and other materials needed
for production at full employment, we need
an increase in over-all agricultural output
over the next four years running at least 1
per cent a year."
* * * '
"THE BROKEN RECORD"
THROUGHOUT Keyserling's closed-door
discussion, he was heckled and harassed
by Pennsylvania's Congressman Robert Rich,
who is best known as the broken phono-
graph record, always shouting:., "Where are
we going to get the money?"
At one point, Rich decided that Keyser-
ling's explanations were too windy. So the
Congressman from Pennsylvania puffed up
and exploded: "We don't want to listen to,
you talk all day... I don't want to spend
all day listening to you ramify without the
privilege of asking questions."
The President's chief economist gulped,
and chairman O'Mahoney tried to soothe
the storm. But Rich raved on: "I told Sena-
tor O'Mahoney I was not going to sit here
all day and listen to you talk. I have no ani-
mosity, but I am spending my time here,
and I think my time is just as valuable as
yours is to the committee or to somebody
else."
"Of course," agreed O'Mahoney sweetly,,
"but suppose we let him develop the 50 per
cent of his views which you say has been
good."
Rich was irritated chiefly over the Mar-
shall Plan.
"Are we giving away $6,000,000,000 worth
of stuff in order to keep up our economy?"
he demanded.
"The Council has never taken that posi-
tion, Congressman Rich," retorted Keyser-
ling, bristling slightly. "We have always
taken the position that we had to find ways
within our domestic economy to keep pro-
duction and demand in balance."
* * *
GETTING IT STRAIGHT
RICH ALSO SNAPPED at O'Mahoney for
using the broad term "we," and demand-
ed to know whether he meant the federal
government or private industry.
111 rm R rTwl a o oaa in. I am=
ADVICE TO FRESHMEN:
Introduction to the Literary College
COLLEGE is primarily an op-
portunity for the individual to
develop his own potentialities.
At least, most students remem-
ber being told that as entering
freshmen, and remember the at-
titude of disbelief with which they
received it.
Coming into a University of 21,-
000 students, it is easy to feel
that nobody cares what happens
to you, and that you cannot pos-
sibly find your way around-and
this is especially true of those who
enter the University's largest and
most imposingly named unit, the
College of Literature, Science, and
the Arts.
Nevertheless, some students
are not simply pushed from one
classroom to another and finally
and unceremoniously out of col-
lege by the back door or the
commencement platform. To a
certain limited extent, it is pos-
sible to manage a college career,
instead of allowing it to manage
you. The difficulty in getting
along in college is that it is a
practical art. People generally
come to college without much
opportunity to practice it.
The high school routine is not
a difficult one to get along in. The
college routine is not especially
difficult either, but it is different.
For one thing, instead of plan-
ning 24 hours ahead to take care
of daily classes and nightly home-
work, students in college live from
week to week-or from exam to
exam.
Another difference between high
school and college is the increased
amount of choice. College students
take a more active part in choosing
their curriculum and in deciding
how and when to meet the various
academic obligations.
Further, everything is made
more complex and impersonal in
college by the size of the place. A,
high school teacher may be a
friend, but professors and deans,
for a time'.at.least, are likely to
remain objects for distant respect
(or disrespect).
* * *
MOST OF THESE differences be-
tween high school and college
have only temporary effect. After
six months or a year, one gets used
to the size and machinery, learns
to regard techers and administra-
tors as people who are here to
help, not simply to be admired, and
becomes accustomed to registra-
tion, lectures, assignments, and,
perhaps, exams.
But there is one aspect of college
life that many students never get
used to, and that is the necessity
for long-range planning. In high
school, almostall thought and
study are concentrated on the sub-
ject matter that is to be learned.
In college, there is still the sub-
stance of four or five courses to
master, but also the problem of
fitting courses in with each other,
putting them together so that each
semester's program is balanced and
coherent, and synthesizing what
you learn in order to give each,
piece of knowledge a place in the
whole of your education.
The beginning of each semes-
ter is a crucial time. Whether you
take a course simply because you
need the credit or because it bears
some relation to what you al-
ready know and want to learn,
will determine whether it is va-
luable.
The end of the semester -s an-
other crucial period, because final
exams play a large part in de-
termining marks. There is no rea-
son why learning should be li-
mited to what is necessary to earn
a high mark; it is almost true
that some students are successful
while others are Phi Beta Kap-
pa's.
Toward the end of each semes-
ter, the facts ought to form them-
selves in your mind in a coherent
way. Each course should begin to
appear in sensible relation to the °r:._} --.: '.
others. As this happens, you will t
be learning something worth while,
whether you get all A's or not. And
it can only happen with a programth a b e o ni e rt
that has been chosen in the firstSxtehYa
lace so that the work is integrated Sixtieth Year
place so that the work is integrated Edited and managed by students 1
and leads easily into the work of the University of Michigan udder ti
the next semester. Student Publications.
* * * _________ __
EXTRA-CURRICULAR activities Editorial Staff
here are unlike those in high Jim Brown........Managing Edit
school in being professionalized. Roma Lipsky...... EditorialDrect
Athletes, musicians, and actors are Paul Brentlinger...........City Edit
Dave Thomas........ ..Feature Edit4
not paid, but they are good enough Janet watts.......Associate Edit
to be paid. For that reason, it is Ed Kozrna...n......Photography Edit
Bill Connolly...... . ..". Sports Edit,
la good idea to pick one activity Bob Sandell.. . .Associate Sports Edit
and stick to it; frantic attempts Bill Brenton.... Associate Sports Edit
to be a big wheel here lead off the BarbaraSmith......Women's Edit
Pa rownson .Associate Women's Edit
highway and into the woods-and
may contribute to a nasty smash- Business Staff
up.
Extra-curricular activities too RobertDaniels.... ..Business Man
waiter -Shapero .' Assoc. Business o
often are unrelated to anything Donna Cady. Advertising Mana
else the student will ever do. Most Bob Merserau......Finance Manag
Carl Breikreitz.... Circulation. Msnag
people should be able to get more
than fun from an activity. Of
course, it is essential to chooseSupplement Staff
something that will be fun, but it Philip Dawson...............Edit
is also well to choose something Peter Hotn..'... .....Asote t
Pres Holmes.....ports..dt
from which to learn-the two go Pat Brownson.......Women's Edit
together. Roger Wellington....s Business
Anoter tingof vlue hatWaiter Shapero. . .Assoc. Business
Another thing of value that contributors: Nancy Bylan, John Pale
many get from activities is a circle Mary Letsis, Paul Marx, Rosemary o,
of fiend. Sme my fnd teiren, Larry Rothman, Paula Strawbecki
of friends. Some may find their cal Samra.
social group in the dormitory, but
many students probably will make Telephone 2-3241
their friends in an activity.
The literary college can be re- Member of The Associated Pres;
garded as a number of extra-cur- The Associated Press isexclusivi
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each other and with the life of mater.
Subscription during regular sch
scholarly learning. year: by carrier, $6.00; by mail, $7.
i
h it
Looking Back
60 YEARS AGO
1TE EMICHIGAN DAILY began publication.
20 YEARS AGO
While President Herbert Hoover prepared
to deliver four major addresses around the
country, the depression-stricken University
S
BARNABY
Go brush up on your Greek syntax, m'boy-
I' h rmmiln n.. ,ist; . ; t, e thiAnas
I've finished the list, Barnaby. If your
onnd nfther will write me a check I'll. . I
Tuition-$300. Typical living expenses-$1,600.
Raccoon coat-$450. Stutz Bearcal-$3,500. 1