THE MICHIGAN DAILY THURSDAY, FEBRI
I U
TARY 28, 1954
JOHN CROWE RANSOM:
Literary Light Brightens Campus
* * * *
By RICHARD KING
John Crowe Ransom, who has
been lecturing -nd visiting on cam-
pus for the last few days, is a lead-
ing American literary critic.
Lest you be frightened by this
fact and begin conjuring up vis-
ions of a tall, gaunt, unkempt and
arrogant man throwing ,stones at
Shakespeare, it should also be men-
tioned that he is a pleasantly gra-
cious and modest human being.
Further, despite his unassuming
pink-face, and white-haired gen-
iality, he is a brilliant man. His
sixty-four year career is a cata-
logue of literary innovation, ex-
ploration and success.
HAVING graduated from Van-
derbilt University and studied
three yearsas a Rhodes Scholar,
Ransom returned to Nashville,
Tenn., in 1914 where he became a
leading figure among a group of
young poets. Calling themselves
"The Fugitives," the poets pub-
lished their own work in a maga-
zine of that name. What they were
fugitives from, Ransom said yes-
terday, was never determined.
Their poems were widely read
and appreciated and. Ransom's
still occupy a prominent place
in modern poetry. They are ac-
corded the (perhaps dubious)
honor of being included in mostj
contemporary anthologies. j
"After four years," he said, "we
had very nearly worn each other
out in discussion and mutual study
and had the good sense to dis-
solve before we went into debt or
had a serious quarrel."
AFTER THE dissolution, Ran-
som became interested in literary
criticism and has spent his mature
years in this field. And it is as a
critic that his reputation as an
explorer and innovator has been
made.
He took a new, and what is
-Daily-Al Reid
JOHN CROWE RANSON, POET AND CRITIC
still considered radical, approach
to literature. It was essentially
a revolt from the traditional
scholastic criticism, which em-
phasized the historical content
of the poem and the importance
of the poets personality and life
and their influence on the work.
Ransom insisted, and does to-
day, that the critic's prime inter-
est should be on the poem as an
object of art, an end in itself re-
gardless of the time and circum-
stances under which it was written.
Above all, he insisted that the
critic should be lively and inter-
esting; observing that, although
much of traditional criticism might
be sound, it makes pretty dull and
unimaginative reading.
* * *
HE BECAME a proponent of
"close reading"-an intense study
of the metaphors, philosophic par-
adoxes and ironies and metaphysi-
cal implications of each poem. It
is a line by line, word by word ex-
amination and has proved im-
mensely rewarding to nearly all
students of literature.
Soon after Ransom began pub-
lishing his work, other members
of the old Nashville circle took
to criticism also. These included
Cleanth Brooks and Allen Tate,
who wrote in much the same
vein as Raisom.
Soon the critics became known
as the "Southern School" or "new"
critics and Ransom is considered
the founder.
When Ransom became a pro-
fessor at Kenyon College, Ohio, in
1937, he founded, and still edits,
the "Kenyon Review," mouthpiece
for the new criticism. More recent-
ly, he organized what is now the'
Indiana School of Letters. Held
during the summer, leading critics
from arpund the country and from
every sc ool of thought teach and
attend classes in literature.
TYPICAL of Ransom's explora-
tory approach was his lecture
Tuesday entitled "Why Critics Do
Not Go Mad." Though he didn't
pay much attention to his subject,
he attracted a large audience and
told them about a new idea on the
importance of meter which he has
been kicking around recently.
(He later explained that crit-
ics probably don't go mad be-
cause, before they do, they usu-
ally get mad at each other and
work off enough steam in this
way to keep them from tipping
over completely.)
In rough form, here is his new
idea:
Meter is by nature something of
a Platonic esence: it is the form,
or closest mathematical expres-
sion, of music. As a platonic es-
sence, it symbolizes the best single
expression of man's highest-re-
ligious-aspirations. Thus when
meter is applied to verbal expres-
sion, by its nature it gives the
thought a certain authority it
would not otherwise have.
This, Ransom candidly admits,
is only a relatively undeveloped
idea and it might be wrong. But
it is a new idea which appears to
have some validity and, he main-
tains, it is worthy of exploration.
Dutch Student
Writes on U
Newspapers of the Netherlands
recently carried a series of articles
written by a student of the Uni-
versity's journalism department.
Anthony Brouwers, a Dutch stu-
dent whose year-long course of
study at the University is being
sponsored by the U.S. Department
of State, submitted the stories on
life at an American university to
his hometown student newspaper.
Ensian Deadline
Tomorrow is the last day
'Ensians may be purchased for
$5.50; Saturday the price rises
to $6.
Since the yearbooks must be
ordered from the printers to-
morrow, Neale Traves, '52, 'En-
sian Business Manager, em-
phasized that if 'Ensians are
not bought now, they might not
be available when the publica-
tion comes out in May.
Stockwell
To Abolish
Pet Peeve
. Stockwell Hall has finally solved
its "lounge problem"-or so the
residents hope.-
The house council decided that
the lounge be patrolled in an at-
tempt to eliminate the problem of
petting in the lounge. A special
committee of students elected by
the residents of the dormitory will
do the patrolling.
THE DECISION came as a re-
sult of a public opinion poll con-
ducted in Stockwell last week by
the house council lounge commit-
tee. Residents were given a
choice of several solutions to the
problem on a multiple choice
questionnaire. Sixty-five per cent
of the women filled out the ques-
tionnaires.
Decisive majorities voted in
favor of the measures later
passed by the council. Seventy-
six per cent of the women vot-
ing supported patrolling the
lounge. Sixty-nine per cent fa-
vored student patrollers, while
thirty per cent preferred the
patrolling to be done by the
house directors. The remaining
group had no opinion.
Residents were given the choice
of the following penalties for
loungeloffenders: social proba-
tion, closing the lounge to the of-
fender for a specified time, clos-
ing the lounge altogether for a
specified time and posting the
names of the offenders. Social
probation and forbidding the use
of the lounge to the offender tied
as preferred penalties.
A special section of the poll,
providing for the establishment of
a "visitors' room" (a "visitors'
room" being defined as one in
which residents could take great
aunts and grandmothers), was
thrown out because it was mis-
understood, according to Gret-
chen Ross, '54, lounge committee
chairman.I
Union To Sponsor'
Detroit Play Trip
The Union will sponsor a stu-
dent trip to Detroit on March 7
to see T. S. Eliot's "The Cocktail
Party," staffman Bill Stason, '53,
announced yesterday.
Tickets for the Union bus trip
will be sold between 3 and 5 p.m.
today through Friday in the Un-
ion lobby. The price, which in-
cludes a ticket and round trip
fare, is $3.50.
Series of College Teaching
Forums To Start Tomorrow
Now the teachers are being
taught. '
The first of a series of five1
forums on college and university
teaching will be held tomorrow
from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Rackham
Amphitheater.
SPONSORED BY the Commit-
tee on College Relations, the for-
ums are designed "to stimulate
Fellowships
Granted by U'
The executive board of the
School of Graduate Studies an-
nounced yesterday 18 summer re-
search fellowships awarded to
members of the University fac-
ulty.
Fellowships were awarded to
the following: Harry Bergholz
and Prof. Francis A. Brown of the
German department; Prof. Gerald
S. Blum of the psychology de-
partment; Prof. Arthur J. Carr,
Prof. Marvin Felheim and Prof.
Henry V. S. Ogden of the English
department; and Prof. Frank
Grace and Daniel S. McHargue of
the political science department.
Other -faculty members receiv-
ing awards were Nelson G. Hairs-
ton of the zoology department;
Prof. Phillip S. Jones and Prof.
Maxwell 0. Reade of the mathe-
matics department; Lawrence B.
Keddle of the romance language
department: Christain S. Ron-
destvedt, Jr. of the chemistry de-
partment; Erich E. Steiner of the
botany department; Prof. Daniel
B. Suits of the economics depart-
ment; and Stanley P. Wyatt, Jr.
of the astronomy department.
The other two fellowships went
to members of the Medical School
faculty: Prof. Alexander Barry,
and Prof. E. Edward Evans.
interest among graduate students
preparing for teaching and to
stimulate instructors and faculty
to do a better job of teaching,"
according to chairman of the for-
ums, Prof. Algo D. Henderson of
the education school.
The committee attempted to'
bring together a group of fac-
ulty who are generally recog-
nized as being superior teachers
to discuss problems and phases
of instruction, Prof. Henderson
said.
This week's panel will include
Prof. Francis X. Braun of ' the
German department, Prof. Sidney
Fine of the history department,
Prof. Clayton, Hill of the indus-
trial relations department, Prof.
Hazel M. Losh of the astronomy
department and Prof. Walter Sad-
ler of the civil engineering de-
partment.
They will discuss "What Makes
Good College Teaching?"
Questions to be 'dealt with in-
clude "How do you plan a
course?", "How do you guage whe-
ther your teaching is meaning-
ful?", "How do you define the ob-
jectives of a course?"
The participating faculty mem-
bers were chosen after consulta-
tion with the deans of the various
school and the president of Stu-
dent Legislature who made an in-
formal study of student opinion.
MSC Game Ticket
Sale EndsToday
Tickets for the Wolverine Club-
sponsored trip to Lansing for the
Michigan-Michigan State hockey
game will be on sale for the last
time from 1 to 4:30 p.m. today
in the Administration Bldg.
The price, which includes a
round-trip to Lansing by bus and
admission to the game, is $2.90.
WASHINdTON -(P)- Fifteen'
Eisenhower-for-President leaders
from 11 Southern states organized
here yesterday and said the South
is ready to go Republican in No-.
vember if the GOP nominee is
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"The South is today ready, for
the first time in history," a joint
statement said, "to give a majority
of its 128 electoral votes to a Re-
publican nominee for President-
if that man be Eisenhower."
* * *
THE STATEMENT referred to a
region where Senator Taft of Ohio
has mustered strong support for
the Presidential nomination in the
past. Without mentioning Taft's
1952 Southern effort by name, the
Eisenhower group said:
"Old guard die-hard leaders
in the North are striving in
every way to dominate the Re-
publican party machinery in the
South. The people of the South
are determined to throw off this
old guard Republican yoke just
as they are determined to strike
off the fetters of Trumanism."
Coincident with the Eisenhower
meeting, David S. Ingalls, a Taft
'campaign manager, issued a state-
ment taking exception to one by
Senator Lodge (R-Mass.), na-
tional director of the Eisenhower
campaign, that the General's con-
vention' delegate strength is "on
the upsurge" in the Midwest.
"If there is any upsurge, it
has probably been the best kept
secret of the campaign," Ingalls
said.
Lodge had pointed to Iowa; Illi-
nois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri
and South Dakota as states where
he said there is "rapidly develop-
ing strength" for the General.
Forecasting a "landslide victory,"
he estimated that Republicans
would gain eight or nine new
Senate seats and 50 to 60 In the
House, giving the GOP control of
both houses.
Ingallschallenged what he said
was Lodge's claim that Eisenhower
would aid Republicans in winning
Congres control. He said a Novem-
ber. poll of House Republicans
showed Taft leading Eisenhower
71 to 54 and on Feb. 10 a second
poll showed Taft widening his lead
to 81 to 37.
*4
Churchill's
Disclosures1
Hit Laborites
LONDON -(A)-- Parliamentary
observers generally agreed yester-
day that Labor Party unity suf-
fered a damaging blow from Win-
ston Churchill's disclosures in for-
eign policy debate.
According to this view, Chur-
chill did more than successfully
defend the Korean record of his
Conservative government in the
House of Commons Tuesday.
In time, the wounds Churchill
inflicted conceivably could help
promote an open break between
the leader of Labor's left wing,
Aneurin Bevan, and the leaders of
the moderate faction, Clement
Attlee and Herbert Morrison. Con-
servative strategy was clear:
REPUBLICANS CONFIDENT:
Southern Group Set To Back Eisenhower
U' To Study
Army BuVin
Procedures
TRY AGAIN:
Huber House Compromise
Foreseen in Near Future
V
A study of the effectiveness of
the present system of Army mili-
tary vehicle purchases will be
conducted by the School of Bus-
iness Administration for the Mu-
nitions Board of the Defense De-
partment.
Prof. Merwin H. Waterman of
the School of Business Adminis.
tration will direct the project
which is known officially as the
Tank - Automotive Procurement.
Study.
Under present procedure, which'
has been in effect since April,
1948, the Army purchases all
types of motor vehicles for all
services. Object of the study will
be to determine just how well the
plan is working out.
Procurement operations will be
studied at Army, Navy, and Mar-
ine headquarters in Washington,
at the ir Material Command at
Wright Field in Dayton, 0., at the
Ordnance Tank-Automotive Cen-
ter in Detroit, and at several of
the Ordnance Districts through-+
out the country.
Freshmen To Get
HopwoodAwards
Presentation of awards to win-'
ners of the Avery A. Hopwood+
writing contest for freshmen will
be made at 4:15 p.m. today in
Rackham Amphitheatre.
Prof. Marvin Felheim of the
English department will be the
principal speaker.
According to Prof. Roy Cowden
of the English department, about
50 manuscripts were judged, a
total less than last year's.
Prizes of $50, $30, and $20 will
be awarded in the essay, fiction
and poetry divisions of the con-
test.
SL Wing To Meet
The newly formed Administra-
tive Wing of Student Legislature
will meet at 3:30 p.m. today in
the Union.
The meeting is open to all stu-
dents interested in learning about
student government activities.
Office Equipment Co.
215 E. Liberty St.
Phone 2-1213
UNUSUAL
Gifts and Novelties
The great "Huber House Com-
promise" is in sight.
After several weeks of bickering
over an assessment to raise funds
for social and business funds,
which ended in a fiasco, a new
money-raising project is underway.
Last weekend, a petition was cir-
Refusals Snag
Detroit Inquiry
(Continued from Page I)
hearings will be closely scrutinized
for potential contempt citation,
observers saw little chance of such
noves in the light of current in-
terpretation of what evidence con-
stitutes "self-incrimination."
"A witness may refuse to answer
any question which might be a
'link in a chain of evidence' that
would serve for an indictment, ac-
cording to the Supreme Court,"
Prof. Kauper asserted.
As long as this 'broad interpre-
tatin persists or until Congress
grants complete immunity to wit-
nesses at such hearings (in which
case witnesses would face almost
automatic contempt charges if
they refused) Congressional in-
quiries will have lots of bark but
almost no bite.
culated to call a special house
meeting. At this meeting, a new
assessment was to be discussed
pending a vote last night. f
THE MEETING came and went
Monday night without a quorum.
In order to bring the assess-
ment question to a house vote,
another special meeting must be
called, and obstacles to postpone
this meeting have inadvertently
arisen.
House president Jerry Strauch.
'54, is reportedly resigning from
his position. If this be the case,
the money problem will hang fire
until another meeting is called to
introduce the candidates for his
office and an election is held. The
assessment question will then fall
into the new president's lap.
However, if current sentiment
remains, the assessment seems as-
sured of success. Fifty signatures
were needed on the petition to call
a house meeting on the matter,
and 77 were obtained. Of the men
contacted to sign, only ten refused.
The last assessment proposal,
calling for $2.25 from each man,
was rejected on the grounds of
being unconstitutional.
At present, the house treasury
contains only 44 dollars, and house
social functions face possible ex-
tinction unless the, new assess-
ment is adopted.
If Labor's surface appearance
of unity is ever shattered, the
Laborites might wander in A
political wilderness for years be-
fore they could hope to gain of-
fice again.
Churchill said that when the
Laborites themselves were in pow-
er last year they agreed to as-
sociate Britain with the United
States in action "not confined to
Korea" in the event of certain neW
belligerent acts by the Chinese
Communists.
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