PAGE FOUR

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1953

FAGE FOUR WEDNLSDAY, MARCH 25, 1953
U


COLUMBIA REPORT:
Illiterate America

AMERICANS are conceited.
They like to pat themselves on the back
constantly and congratulate one another o'n
the fine job they are doing.
In their determination to prove to the
world that democracy is a God-given truth
they have created a folk-lore of rationaliza-
tion.
One of the strongest myths to be con-
cocted is that of universal education.
This myth was shattered Saturday. A
half-forgotten commission, set up by Presi-
dent Eisenhower when he was at the helm
of Columbia University, released a startling
report on education in this country.
After a three year study the Conservation
of Human Resources Project reported. there
are two million five-hundred- thousand il-
literate people in the United States.
The researchers said this situation was
undermining not only our defense effort,
but seriously threatening our economy and
hamstringing the democratic growth of
our civilization.
Briefly these are the major findings and
recommendations of the commission:
1. Although illiteracy is slowly disappear-
ing there is little chance that these gradual
improvements will eradicate the problem of
the uneducated in any reasonable length
of time.
2. Three major groups in our society are
at the lowest literacy level. They are: The
Navajo Indians (the report points out that
this group is a direct ward of the federal
government), an undetermined number of
migratory workers, and the Negro in the
South.
As an example the commission released
a significnt figure regarding Negro educa-
tion in the State of Alabama. The average
value of property, buildings and equipment
used for education was $35 dollars per
pupil. The national average per pupil was
$441.
However, it is not only the Negro who
has suffered from the educational deficit
in this region. Most of the population has
undergone a similar want. The average
expenditures for education on all people
in Mississippi and Arkansas was 71 dollars
and 93 dollars respectively.
This tends to point up the fact that many

Southern States are incapable of educating
their people without some outside aid.
The commission thus suggests that the
richer states and the national government
come to the rescue of these poorer regions.
They suggest Federal grantiin-aids when a
state falls behind the national average spent
on the individual student, but they quickly
warn that in the Southern states the gov-
ernment must "establish certain safeguards
against discriminatory use of these funds."
"Immediate action" is needed by the gov-
ernment where it already has authority.
This would seem to demand a better deal
for the Navajo Indians.
* * *
IN RESPECT to migratory workers the re-
port notes in passing that " it is not
comforting to realize that the Federal Gov-
ernment spends many times as much on
assistance to migratory birds as on assist-
ance to the children of migratory families."
The commission also stresses the fact
that thousands of illiterate men are re-
jected yearly from service in the armed
forces. Instead of military service being
universal only the more educated are fit
to fight for their country.
The commission asks for a training pro-
gram within the armed forces to educate
illiterates. It notes that this was carried out
successfully during the recent war.
. One of the major oversights of the re-
port seems to be its inadequacies in stressing
the role of education and literacy in a dem-
ocratic system. A basic principle of democ-
racy is the belief that given an education all
men are capable of electing and maintaining
a representative government.
Issues, personalities and programs can
be more rationally examined by a literate
population and more satisfactorily settled.
The Conservation and Human Resources
Project has made its report available to
those who want to use it. It is imperative
that these recommendations be acted upon
not only by the Eisenhower Administration
but by the individual states immediately.
If not, universal education shall continue
to be a pleasant, comforting and meaning-
less myth.
-Mark Reader

ry~MATTER OF FACT}
}4aBy JOSEPH and STEWART ALSOP.
T1HEMOST likely explanation for the rash said they could not give solid reasons for
of shooting incidents on the Soviet air their view. But they still maintained that
borders lies in a significant moment, of the the masters of the Kremling and their sat-
recent past. ellite leaders had a neurotic sensitivity
It was the time after the Inchon victory, about their borders. Going to the Yalu,
when Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur th:- warned, was getting too close to a
had given President Truman what amount- sensitive border; therefore a reaction must
ed to a promise that the Chinese Commun- be expected.
ists would not intervene in Korea. Every Bohlen's and Kennan's warning was ig-
outward appearance supported Gen. Mac- nored, with tragic consequences. Had the
Arthur's conviction. warning been heeded, the very same Sen-
In July and August, a couple of Chinese ators who are now attacking Kennan and
divisions would have been enough to tip Bohlen as bad judges of Soviet behavior,
the balance against our own hard-pressed would have frothed with indignation because
forces. If they had intervened then, the UN "MacArthur's victory had been thrown
armies might have been thrown out of away."
Korea.
Gen. MacArthur reasoned that if the IT IS AMUSING to reflect on past history
Chinese had already thrown away such in this manner, since several of the
opportunities, they would not enter the same isolationist-extremists have more re-
Korean fighting when Pyongyang was in cently urged a straight policy of scuttle-
our hands and the North Korean armies and-run in Korea. But the incident is not
had utterly disintegrated. For once, in a merely entertaining; it is also meaningful.
way, former Secretary of State Dean G. Ar attack is what the Soviets fear to-
So far as is known, only three leading day (as it is what we shall have to fear
American officials argued for the course before long). The death of Stalin, the
that now, by hindsight, looks so brilliantly strain of the change of government, has
wise-consolidation of our forces on the nar. undoubtedly given the Kremlin a severe
row North Korean "waist," where we would case of nerves. What could be more natural
now give our eye-teeth to be. One was former then, than for the Kremlin to order the
Secretary of the Air Force, Thomas Fin- most stringent patrols of the air borders,
letter, who merely pointed out that we had and to command that any seeming tres-
won what we had set out to win, and had passers be attacked on sight?
better be satisfied. In short, the Soviets may indeed be plan-
The other two were chief American ex- ning something ugly for tomorrow morn-
perts on the Soviet Union, Charles E. ing, as the shooting incidents suggest. But
Bohlen and George F. Kennan. Kennan. by no means do all the signs point in that
and Bohlen admitted it was logical to direction.
think the Chinese would not come in. They (Copyright, 1953, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.)
CIN[MA

Ann Arbor's
Civil Defense
WITH the threat of atomic warfare undi-
minished, Ann Arbor's civil defense pro-
gram is still in the horse and buggy stage.
The main body of the local program is an
outdated plan left over from World War II.
When the Washtenaw County Civil Defense
plan was set up in 1943, no provisions were
included for atomic disasters, unimaginable
at the time. And while improvements are be-
ing made now, it is a dangerously slow.
process.
Apparently the lack of decisive action
in Ann Arbor and the surrounding area
stems from Civil Defense officials' desire to
wait for program expansion on the state
level. The state in turn, seems -to be wait-
ing for action on the federal level.
Yet the hard fact cannot be ignored-Rus-
sia has planes that are capable of dropping
bombs on Sioux Ste. Marie, Detroit or Ann
Arbor at any time.
While Ann Arbor is not likely to be the
object of a direct attack, thousands of ref-
ugees from surrounding bombed-out areas
would pour into town seeking shelter.
Imagine what would happen if a bomb
did fall on Ann Arbor-rightthis minute.
There would be temporary chaos. The Red
Cross and local civil defense groups would
go into action, but first they would have
to stop and call for volunteer workers.
Getting volunteers together and organiz-
ing some kind of a system would take time,
time that could not be spared during an air
attack.
Perhaps the proposed civil defense pro-
gram now being considered by the Nation-
al Security Council will needle the state into
action. This plan would provide deep shel-
ters for the urban population and special
protection for key industries. Action on the
state level then might inspire the local civil
defense organization to come alive.
According to Thomas Fitgerald, chair-
man of the county CD council, Washte-
naw's Civil Defense plan is financially se-
cure. It needs only a sufficient number of
volunteer workers to be more effective.
The University itself has made scanty
preparations for an attack. A whistle can be
sounded in case of an air raid, health service
could offer the services of their two mobile
units, circa 1940, during an attack. The Uni-
versity hospital has no mobile units.
However, immediate results could be got-
ten here by an effective volunteer recruit-
ment program..
Civil defense in Ann Arbor as in the rest
of the nation, is definitely here to stay. Our
survival during an air attack will depend how
we respond here and now. Time is precisely
what we have not.
-Janet Ford
Contemporary Chamber Music
THE MUSIC played at the Composers For-
um was as contemporary as humanly
possible. Only one of the five works, the
Viola Sonata of Darius Milhaud, was not
written this year, and it bears 1946 as its
date.
Sensitively played by Lydia and Robert
Courte, it was also the program's opening
selection. Unlike a sonata and more like a
suite, since it exhibited a tempo structure
of fast-slow-fast-slow, it was cast in a
dance-like style with even a disguised gigue
as a finale. The least modern work of the
evening, its lyric simplicity and eighteenth
century style shed much light on an influ-
enc that has preoccupied the composer
throughout his life.
The Miniatures for Piano by Alexander
Smith presented a capsulized picture of the
composer's style. It was the most contem-

porary work on the program, mainly since
it was inspired the least by previous eras
and more by the composer's involvment
in present day sounds. Drawing rhythmic
life from jazz, the pieces displayed a subtlq,
penetrating counterpoint of thematic
range and sonority. Lois Gauger perform-
ed them tastefully.
Through melodic inventiveness Courtney
Sherbrooke's Violin Sonata exploited the
lyric intensity of the instrument. Each
phrase was swept with drama. Where in
the Milhaud the. music was simple leaving
intensity to the nature of the stringed in-
strument here that quality was in both, per-
haps indicating a fault. If the music had
striven to say less, the intense moments
would have become more eventful. A more
pronounced fast movement would have given
more emphasis to the lyric drama, and still
have allowed the work to maintain its very
lovely rhapsodic flavor, amply executed by
Nathalie Dale and Nancy Wright.
Norman Gifford's Passacaglia and Fugue
for Piano was played by the composer. The
work was in the academic tradition both
in form and texture. Written expressively
for the piano, it might have had a fresher
interest by a less strict adherence to form
and more daring harmonic exploration. As
a result its well-conceived dynamic plan
would become more exciting.
The concluding work was the Flute Son-
ata of Homer Keller, performed by Mary
Fishburne and Nelson Hauenstein. It con-
tained an interesting quality of metlhod. The
first and last movements were of a solid
harmonic structure allowing the rhythmic
and melodic movements to carry the mood,
while the middle movement achieved mood

"Read It Again"
ApMi~iSTrA~t~ON
4 1
etter4 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.

Is- Chiang Ready? ...
To the Editor:
IN CASE those two rabble-rous-
ing Young Republicans-"Bat-
tling Bill" Halby and "Chinaman
Ed" Levenberg are still around
campus, there is an article in the
March 16 edition of the Detroit
Free Press which should be called
to their attention immediately. It
is titled, "Chiang Isn't Ready For
Mainland Drive."
Ed and Bill-who have cham-
pioned the McCarthy - Taft line
ever since I can remember-used
to go around campus browbeating
people into thinking that the Chi-
nese Nationalists were ready for
an all-out, victorious raid on Red
China. They used to say that
Chiang had over 300,000 men ready
to fight and that Harry Truman
wouldn't accept their help. The
article in the Free Press written
by the Chicago Tribune Foreign
Service (certainly no Fair Deal
champion) proves that Ed and Bill
were just misguided souls.
Just a few quotations from the
article:
"Actually the Chinese on Formo-
sa are in no position to undertake
such a risky venture (invading Red
China), and they may never be."
"Despite heavy American arms
shipments, Chiang is still poorly
equipped for modern war. He has
no jet planes. . .. His best tanks
are old World War II Shermans.
... One experienced military ob-
server rated his 28 divisions as
32 percent combat effective."
"His divisions, which contain
only 10,000 men (as against more
than 18,000 men in an American
division) are armed with half a
dozen rifles of varying types -
American Garands, Springfields,
British, Japanese and Chinese,
rifles." (This creates a serious am-
munition problem, and supply re-
mains a great weakness.)
"Artillery Is still so short that
there are . only a dozen 75 mm.
howitzers for each division.
"The Navy does not amount to
much ... the biggest warship is a
destroyer .. . 1
+ *OUR

Adlai will be home from his trip
soon with a lot more facts to give
the American people, and the
whole myth of this crusade will
soon be entirely blown up. Yes,
we'll have to bear with it for four
years, but after its over, we will
all appreciate what we had from
1933-1952.
-Gene Mossner '52
POETRY is the language in
which man explores his own
amazement. It is the language in
which he says heaven and earth
in one word. It is the language in
which he speaks of himself and his
predicament as though for the
first time. It has the virtue of be-
ing able to say twice as much as
prose in half the time, and the
drawback, if you don't happen to
give it your full attention, of seem-
ing to say half as much in twice
the time. And, if you accept my
proposition - that reality is alto-
gether different from our stale
view of it, we can' say that poetry
is the language of reality.
-Christopher Fry in the
Saturday Review of Literature

ON THE
WASHINGTON
MERRIY-GO-IIOUND
WITH DREW PEARSON
WASHINGTON-If what Senator Tobey calls "the willful group of
little men" opposing Chip Bohlen to 3pe Ambassador to Moscow
knew all the facts about him, they probably wouldn't be so vehement
in their opposition.
Real fact is that John Foster Dulles, campaigning'for Dewey in
1948 and expecting to be the new Secretary of State, told friends
privately that one of the first things he would do when he took over
the State Department would be to "exile" Bohlen. He had in mind a
long period of service in some pleasant country such as Guatemala
or Tanganyika.
* * * *
THE FACT that Dulles is now strong for Bohlen is due first to the
fact that he recognizes a man of ability; second, the fact that Bohlen
is by all odds the best man to undertake a difficult diplomatic sounding
mission with the new Kremlin.
This sounding is a plan for a Big Three meeting of Eisen-
hower, Malenkov and Churchill.
Even if the Big "Three conference gets nowhere it would have
two important advantages:
1. Ike would get a chance to size up the new boss of Russia..
2. The new boss of Russia would have an opportunity to get
acquainted; to see that we're not as bad as we're made out to be.
Malenkov has never been outside the Soviet, knows few west-
erners, has the reputation of hating Americans.
In addition, political advisers are impatiently reminding the
White House that it has now been three months since he went to
Korea, and four months since he campaigned on a pledge of doing
something definite about Korea. Yet so far nothing definite has
been done. They think a meeting with Malenkov would be politically
advantageous at this time.
CHIP BOHLEN is in the paradoxical position of being suspected
by the McCarthyites for being a New Dealer, yet the New Dealers
never liked him because they suspected he was a reactionary.
A cousin of the famed German munitions-maker, Krupp Von,
Bohlen, he was suspected ,by some of the people 'around Roosevelt
as not wanting to carve up Germany after the war. More recently,
he was also suspected by some of the Acheson people because he
didn't enter into the battle against McCarthy. Yet it's now McCarthy
who's out to smear and defeat him.
Involved in the battle over Bohlen is the fact that John
Foster Dulles started his work as Secretary of State by seeking
to appease certain senators. One of them was McCarthy. He
partially sided with McCarthy during his early Voice of America
probe, did not support his own State Department personnel as
did Acheson.
He also hired the administrative assistant of Senator- Bridges
of New Hampshire to be State Department security director. As
chairman of the Senate Appropriations committee, Bridges is one
of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill and one whose favor is
courted.
However, Dulles is now learning what Acheson learned many
years earlier: 1. That you can't appease Senator McCarthy; the
more he gets the more he wants; 2. When you hire assistants
of senators they sometimes pay more allegiance to their old bosses
than to their new bosses.
* * * *
IN THE BOHLEN CASE, the FBI was called in to check.on a
reported incident in his life which may or may not have happened
many years ago. The FBI could find no substantiation for it, nor
could it find anything serious against his character beyond an
occasion when Sherman Billingsley of the Stork Club asked Bohlen
to leave the club for repeatedly walking from one side of the dance
floor to the other, regardless of dancing couples in his way.
(Copyright, 1953, by the Bell Syndicate)

j

I

DAILY OFFICIALBULLETIN,

1

i 'i

I

(Continued from Page 2)
SL announces that the following is
the tentative list of the Candidate's
Open Houses for the beginning of the
week. Notices will appear every day
during campaigning. All candidates are
invited to attend.
Wednesday, March 25
5-6p.m. Alpha Delta Pi, combination;
6:15-7:15 p.m. Jordan Hall, informal
7:00-8:00 p.m. Martha Cook, informal
Thursday, March 26
6:15-7:15 p.m. Zeta Beta Tau-formal
6:15-7:15 p.m. Stockwell, informal
5:00-5:45 p.m. Yost League House, in-
formal
Any candidate may call Louis Olmsted
at the Delta Gamma House for permis-
sion to speak at dinner there. They will
have no other open house.
Phi Kappa Tau House requests that
candidates call Tom Ricketts for per-
mission to speak at lunch or dinner
any time.
Congregational Disciples Guild. Dis-
cussion on The Theological Implica-
tions in the Field of Biology, 6:45-8:00
p.m.
The W.A.A. Folk and Square Dance
Club will meet from 8 to 10 p.m. in the
W.A.B.
The Linguistics Club will meet at
8 p.m. in the East Confere'nce Room,
Rackham Building. Henry Lee Smith,
Jr. will speak on "Some Aspects of
Metalinguistics." All students and fac-
ulty interested in Linguistics are cor-
dially invited.
Wesley Foundation. Morning Matin
wed., Mar. 25, from 7:30 to 7:50. Re-
fresher tea Wed. from 4 to 5:30.
Russky Chorus. There will be a meet-
ing of the Russky Chorus today at 7:30,
ninth floor of the Bell Tower. All mem-
bers please attend.
ULLR Ski Club will meet tonight at
7:30 p.m. in the Union. The excellent
movie "Ski Chase" will be shown. All
members are urged to attend.
Frosh Weekend. There will be a meet-
ing of the Publicity Committee for the
Blue. Team Wednesday at 5:15 at the
League. Check the bulletin board for
the room number. All members of the
team who are interested are asked to
come.
Badminton Club. Regular meeting to-
night from 7 to 9 in Waterman Gym.
The club tournament will continue.
Literary College Conference. Steering
Committee meeting, 4 p.m., 1010 Angell
Hall.
Michigan Christian Fellowship is

Dr. Wm. S. Baker will give the medita-
tion on "The Communion of the Body
of Christ."
Delta sigma Pi. Meeting at 927 Forest,
7 p.m. Following the meeting Professor
Fine will speak on "The Philosophy of
Business from 1865 to 1900."
Pershing Rifles. Drill meeting for all
actives and pledges at 1925 hrs. in the
Rifle Range. Dress rehearsal for Mili-
tary Ball show will be held at this
time. Attendance is mandatory.
Coming Events
International Center Weekly Tea for
foreign students and American friends
Thurs., Mar. 26, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Miss Barbara Grant, of the American
Friends Service Committee, will be a
guest and will talk to students about
the summer program of the American
Friends Service Committee.
XI Chapter of Pi Lambda Theta will
hold its spring Invitational Tea in the
West Conference Room, Rackham Build-
ing, Thursday evening, Mar. 26, at 7:30
p.m.
Roger Williams Guild. Yoke Fellow-
ship meets at 8 a.m. Thurs., morning
in the Prayer Room of the First Bhp-
tist Church, followed, by breakfast to-
gether in the Guild House. We are

through breakfast in time to make our
8 o'clock classes. This is an opportuni-
ty for all Baptist students on campus
to meet together for quiet thought and
prayer.
Kappa Phi. Supper in the Upper Room
will be Thursday at 5:15. Members and
pledges will not want to miss this
meeting.
Modern Poetry Club Meeting, Thurs-
day, 8 p.m. at the League. Room will be
posted. Discussion of Dylan Thomas'
poetry. There will be recordings of Dy-
lan Thomas reading the following
poems: Fern Hill, Child's Christmas in
Wales, Do Not Go Gentle, In the White
Giant's Thigh, Ballad of the Long-
Legged Bait, Ceremony After a Fire
Raid, Poem in October, In My Craft or
Sullen Art. Anyone interested is wel-
come.,
Christian Science Organization. Tes-
timonial meeting at 7:30, Thurs., Mar.
26, Fireside Room, Lane $lall.
f
La Petite Causette will meet tomor-
row from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the North
Cafeteria, Union. All interested stu-
dents invited.
Alpha Phi Omega will meet on Thurs.,
Mar. 26, 7 p.m., at the Michigan Union.
A meeting of all committees will follow
the general meeting.

i


Little Man On Campus

by Bibler

At the Orpheum.. .
THE PENNY WHISTLE BLUES
LIKE Miracle in Milan, this is a movie
with a moral: the poor should inherit
the earth, though they very seldom do. The
Italian picture, however, 'embodied a good
deal of subtlety and complexity which The
Penny Whietle Blues does not attempt.
Its structure has, in fact, the simplicity
of a fairy tale. A thief steals forty pounds
from a church and while /being pursued
caches it under a pumpkin. Before he can
return, a poor family finds the money and
converts it into baskets of worldly goody
and a credit note at the general store. So
the thief self-righteously steals his money
again. Several similar episodes follow,
brightening the lives of unfortunate but
worthy people in the same straightfor-
ward way.

In having amateurs act these roles, the
producers hit on perhaps the only way
the picture could be brought off. The all
Negro cast, from the area in Johannes-
burg which is the movie's locale, gives
just the right hesitancies and exaggera-
tions to the roles. In a faily tale, with its
irrational actions and catastrophically de-
livered justice, nothing could be better.
The picture has, nevertheless, connections
with reality that add greatly to its interest.
Though. not senteniously pointed at, the
contrasts in the life of partially european-
ized South African natives is dramatically
handled. For instance, a shot of a marriage
festival dance shows the slow stamp and
shuffle of an old tradition-and one dancer
has on white and black spectator shoes.
Occasionally, an attempt is made to give
this comedy the glossy pattern of an Amer-
ican musical. These don't fit in. of course.

Sixty-Third Year
Edited and managed by students of
the University of Michigan under the
authority of the Board in Control of
Student Publications.
Editorial Staff
Crawford Young........Managing Editor
Barnes Connable............City Editor
Cal Samra............Editorial Director
Zander Hollander.......Feature Editor
Sid Klaus........Associate City Editor
Harland Britz........Associate Editor
Donna Hendleman.....Associate Editor
Ed Whipple..... ........Sports Editor
John Jenks.....Associate Sports Editor
Dick Sewel,.....Associate Sports Editor
Lorraine Butler.. ...Women's Editor
Mary Jane Mills, Assoc. Women's Editor
Don Campbell .... Chief Photographer
Business Staff
Al Green...... Business Manager
Milt Goetz...'...Advertising Manager
Liane Johnston....Assoc. Business Mgr.
Judy Loehnberg... Finance Manager
Harlan Hankin .... Circulation Manager

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