EAGE FOUR THE MICHIGAN DAILY 1 ULSDAY, OCTOBER 7,195Z N a ' -- -- __.. . ... ..... . ... .. .. . . { 1 T~ t~ b D A ~ O C-OB E - 7, 195 A Defense of Sorority Rushing DORIS FLEESON: A STRANGE and rather distorted picture of sorority rushing, written by Donna Hendleman, appeared Sunday in the edi- torial columns of The Daily, attempting to picture a horrible Panhellenic Association reaching out and forcing innocent fresh- man women to be chained to the life of Greek Sisterhood. There were many factors which Pan- hellenic considered before it decided to abolish the previous system of deferred rushing, many of which were omtted from Miss Hendleman's list. For one, Panhellenic assumed that fresh- man coeds upon entering the University were intelligent, grown-up women. capable of deciding for themselves whether they would choose to become affiliated with a small campus group or remain in the Uni- versity dormitories. In addition, it was felt that fall rushing would give freshman coeds the opportunity to compare smultaneously, the sorority sys- tem with the dormitory system. Under the deferred rushing program, women in the dormitories were subjected to a semester of rumors and wild gossip about the evils of sorority life. The fall system was purposely set up so that it would not interfere with orien- tation week activities. There were two free days during the period to allow coeds to catch up in their work. The new sets of outdoor suppers, which would be impos- sible in February, were during the dinner hour, permitting rushees to spend only a little more time at the sorority houses than they would at dinner in the dorm. There was no reason why any rushee should have been overly tired. In fact, the out-door parties and more re- laxed atmosphere of this year's new rush- ing program have made rushing more en- joyable than ever before. Meanwhile, rushees have made hundreds of new acquaintances. This could hardly be a "painful process' to campus women. Even those coeds who went through rush- ing, but who, for lack of accommodations were not able to pledge a house, have added to their list of friendships. Contrary to pop- ular opinion, no true sorority woman would scorn a coed she had met in rushing because that person was not pledged. As to having the door to social success closed in the faces of the unpledged, that idea has long since been out-dated. Opportunities for independ- ent women are still abundant. The sororities sincerely feel that with fall rushing they can help their new pledges to become even more happily ori- ented to Michigan. Sororities will make every effort to see that fewer freshman women fail to make their academic grades by helping them to become adjust- ed to this institution. (Sororities consist- antly maintain a higher scholastic average than independent dormitories.) The entire idea of the contact rules was treated lightly by Miss Hendleman. She failed to see that the abolishment of these rules was important enough to be a deciding factor in starting the new rushing system. The sorority women felt that these rules were more than merely "poor"-they felt such rules should be eliminated entirely, ex- cept during the rushing period. No one relished the idea that under a deferred rushing system, affiliates and in- dependents alike were forced to remain in their own circle of friends. Now, the contact rules are gone and sorority wom- en can go into the dormitories and renew or find new friendships with independent women without the threat of a fine. It would seem that this fact alone would warrant the change in the rushing system. All in all, it seems that fall rushing is an innovation which has abolished many of the weaker points of the sorority system. Daily Associate Women's Editor -Mary Jane Mills MATTER OF FACT: Democratic Strategy Going Awry; Adlai Not Registering Indignant HST Lamb asts Ike ABOARD TRUMAN TRAIN-When and why did President Truman decide that it was morally defensible and politically pru- dent to draw a bead on General Eisenhower's halo? Is it "just politics" or does he really mean it? Informed sources aboard this train as- sert that the President knows exactly what he is doing, that he feels General Eisen- hower asked for it-and not just by a- cepting the Republican nomination for the presidency, either. It was not, after all, too long ago that Mr. Truman planned to appeal for Ike's election from the same back platform which dally resounds to his charges that the Gen- eral is a pliant captive of special interests, ignorant of the public business, and cold to the human needs of the American people. Mr. Truman is a partisan Democrat, vast- ly stimulated by the hustings and the seas of upturned faces. Yet he is equally famous for another quality-loyalty to his friends. It is his cross and his crown. The General, of course, rebuffed the Democrats and embraced the party that the President says firmly never did right by our Nell and never will. When he blazes away at Ike, however, there is no trace of a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger mood about Mr. Truman: mayhem is his object and he clearly hopes to attain it. Aides report that the President first be- came disillusioned with his five-star General during the fight last spring for the military security budget. Senator Taft had rallied his forces for a deep cut; a $1,000,000 com- promise was in the air. The Administration, battling hard, waited hopefully for Eisen- hower's word, doubly important since he was both NATO commander and a potential pre- sident with increased influence among Re- publicans. * * * General Eisenhower, they now recall, sent a tepid message which the President felt in- consistent with his command position and his stated belief in collective security. It seemed to the President then that he Gen- eral was playing politics with a foreign pol- icy he had helped to shape and which he was duty bound to protect and defend. Far from improving in that respect, in the Truman view, the General has increas- ingly adopted the Taft Republican line on foreign policy. The General's domestic con- servatism compounds the felony, as seen by the President. It has also made it possible for Truman to rake him fore and aft with his best whistle-stopping technique. The President continues relaxed and confident. His attacks on the General vary but they are not the more restrained. At Seattle he bored into Eisenhower as a Taft captive in foreign affairs wh o made no spectacular economies when Chief of Staff; at Tacoma he needled him as a beneficiary of a socially secure military system who doesn't want others to have security. Until Seattle at least he was heckled only once when he turpentined Ike. At Wenat- chee a small group of boys about high-school age visibly resented it and replied sharply. Certainly he is taking a political risk, but people are listening and with close attention. (Copyright, 1952, by the Bell Syndicate) "THE RELATION of the sexes ... is really the invisible central point of all action and conduct, and peeps out everywhere in Spite of all veils thrown over it. It is the cause of war and the end of peace; the basis of what is serious, and the aim of the jest; the inexhaustible source of wit, the key of all allusions, and the maning of all mysterious hints." -Schopenhauer Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff and represent the views of the writer only. This must be noted in all reprints. NIGHT EDITOR: HARRY LUNN --Daily-Allen Jackson Daily Critic By JOSEPH ALSOP )BOARD THE PRESIDENT'S CAMPAIGN TRAIN -Aboard this extraordinary train of Harry S. Truman's, it is frankly ad- mitted that the Democratic campaign stra- tegy has gone slightly awyr. The idea, of course, was for Gov. Adlal E. Stevenson to make his mark with the voters during September, while the Presi- dent kept silent. Then, with Stevenson' already established as a major national personality, the President was to get in his licks, as he is now doing. What has gone wrong is that the Illinois Governor has somehow failed to register really vividly with the broad mass of the electorate. You discover this failure among the amazing crowds that run out every- where for Truman. Although the President himself is unfailingly generous, the Steven- son failure is acknowledged by the more realistic members of Truman's own entour- age. It has been much discussed by the Democratic candidates and attendant poli- ticiarA who have swarmed through this train from Montana onwards. The truth is that out in this part of the country at least, Adlai Stevenson still re- mains a fairly dim figure to most of the people who will go to the polls only a month from now. The trouble does not seem to be that Ste- venson's speeches have been too elevated or too "high level," although a tough, more po- litical pugnacity might have helped. Judg- ing by all the signs, the trouble is that only a few of the voters have either heard or read what Stevenson has had to say. In part, it had better be confessed, the blame lies with the newspapers and allied businesses. They have gone all-out to build up Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, while merely according Stevenson the limited privilege of a chilly hearing. Eisenhower was a nationally advertised product long before the campaign began. Stevenson was not well-known except in Illinois, and had no ready-made audience. Thus the almost unanimous coldness of the engines of publicity has been a particularly heavy handicap to the Illinois Governor. In part, however, the fault is clearly Ste- venson's. His handicap was plain from the start. The way to overcome the handicap was also plain-by vigorously and imagina- tively exploiting Stevenson's remarkable ra- dio and television personality from the be- ginning. He ought to have built his cam- paign around regular and frequent fireside chats, plus perhaps national question pro- grams. These would have concentrated at- tention on him, and have gfven meaning to the scattered shots of his cross country cam- paigning. The value of this method was early discussed at Stevenson headquarters. It has at last been recognized, according to report, because of the success of Steven- son's fireside talk from Springfield a few days- ago. It is a bit late now, however, to get the original Stevenson-Truman strategy into working order again. Truman is stumping now, and with great effectiveness if one can judge by his huge and enthusiastic audi- ences. With the President marching across the county, pouring it on the Republicans with inexhaustible vigor, it will be hard for to see and hear Truman plainly remember that the General has been saying some pret- ty hard things about the President. They see nothing improper in Truman giving as good as he has got. They also note a lot of unpleasant truth in Tru- man's untiring recitals of the record of the Republicans in Congress on such lo- cally burning issues as public power. Thus far, Truman's homely, tough campaign. ing looks to be going over big. Meanwhile other Democratic big guns are beginning to fire, and some of them, especially Senator Estes Kefauver, will have great importance out here. This is happening, moreover, at a time when the decision of the electorate appears to balance on a knife edge. Most of the poll- sters say this is not the case, reporting a wide lead for Gen. Eisenhower. Only Elmo Roper has announced that fully half the electorate has not finally made up its mind, with the other half dividing 27 per cent for Eisenhower and 23 per cent for Stevenson. Roper may be alone among the professionals, of the polling art. But his analysis exactly coincides with the findings of this reporter and the many other reporters on the Tru- man train. Between them, the large group of re- porters on this train must have asked a good many thousands of people about their voting intentions in these last weeks. All agree that the proportion of undecided answers (some, of course, showing lean- ings in one direction or the other) is at least half of the total. Maybe this huge undecided mass of voters will at last be won over by Gen. Eisenhow- er's ringing denunciations of corruption, Communism and bungling. But it is also possible that continued sounding of these somewhat general themes, mingled with ap- peals to the Taft Republicans, will cause the undecided voters to grow suspicious of Republican intentions. The President is working hard to implant just such suspi- cions. (Copyright, 1952, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.) LOS ANGELES-Here are the inside facts on General Eisenhower's book, "Crusade in Europe," and the much-discussed capital- gains tax which the Bureau of Internal Revenue granted him. The ruling is estimated to have saved Ike in the neighborhood of half a million dollars. Later, Congress adopted an amendment closing the loophole. After a preliminary talk with Internal Revenue, Eisenhower wrote a letter to Undersecretary of the Treasury Archibald Wiggins on Dec. 20, 1947 outlining the following facts: "Certain publishers have urged me to write a personal memoir of the war years. "The proposal is that the publisher take in one transaction the complete bundle of rights. The sale would completely divorce me from further control over the manuscript. It would produce no fur- ther income to me. "I am not a professional writer in any sense of the word. "I am anxious to comply with every requirement of the law." Eisenhower then asked the question: "Will the Treasury De- partment regard this transaction as a capital gains or as income?" On Dec. 22, 1947-two days later-which was extremely fast action for the Treasury, Commissioner of Internal Revenue Scho- eneman gave Eisenhower a reply. Ordinarily a reply on a matter of this kind does not come for a month-frequently longer. Schoeneman wrote that Eisenhower's book looked like a capital asset transaction, but pointed out that. Ike would have to hold the completed manuscript six months after its completion before selling it, if he was to get a capital gain. RICHBERG IKE'S "ADVISER" QEVEN DAYS LATER, on Dec. 29, Donald Richberg, a partner of Ambassador Joseph E. Davies who first suggested the capital- gains tax to Eisenhower, wrote Commissioner.Schoeneman: "I am acting as volunteer adviser to General Eisenhower in re- gard to his memoirs." Richberg then proceeded to raise some technical questions about the capital-gains tax, apparently to make sure that Ike's contract with the publishers would contain the clauses necessary to insure a capital-gains tax. The General then waited nearly a year. In this time the book was completed, and, after completion, it was held six additional months. Then he wrote another letter to Internal Revenue. Com- missioner Schoeneman replied, Dec. 7, 1948: "You state you completed 'Crusade in Europe' on March 24, 1948, that you held the manuscript and all rights for more than six months after completion, and that on Oct. 1, 1948 you sold the book to Double- day and Doran, Inc... . all rights to the book. "In view of the above you request that the gains be classified as long-term capital gains. "This office will recommend the approval of a closing agree- ment on the following basis: "The manuscript entitled 'Crusade in Europe' completed by you on March 24, 1948, was a capital asset within the meaning of Sect. 117 (A) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the amount of $635,000 received by you upon the sale of the manuscript constitutes a long- term capital gain," U.S. OF AMERICA VS. U. OF S. AFRICA IT HAS BEEN carefully hushed up, but South Africa has threatened to pull her troops out of Korea. The reason, far removed from Korea, is racial segregation. The threat will be carried out, Premier Malan has warned, if the United States supports the Arab demand for an investiga- tion of racial segregation in South Africa. The loss of the South African troops would have little effect on the UN military strength in Korea. But it would be the first break in the united front, and a severe psychological blow. Inside story is that the Arab nations-including also India, Pak- istan, Indonesia and Burma-have asked the United Nations to in- vestigate the South African policy of "apartheid," or discrimination against nonwhites. This is a hot domestic issue in South Africa, so, in an effort to block the UN investigation, Premier Malan has resorted to diplomatic blackmail, threatening to pull his troops out of Korea and embarrass the United States before the world if we support the Arab move. The issue is still hanging over the heads of the American delega- tion at the United Nations. KOREA BECOMES "CHINA" IT HASN'T leaked out to the public, but Russia has turned Korea over to the Chinese Communists as a "military protectorate." This was the chief result to the Sino-Russian talks in Moscow last month. What all this adds up to is that Korea, in the Communist scheme of things, is not a province of Red China. In other words, even the satellites are acquiring their own satellites now. (Copyright, 1952, by the Bell Syndicate) Sororities .. . To the Editor: I WISH I had a nickel for every letter The Daily is going to get in regard to Donna Hendleman's editorial on rushing. Well, here's one more vehement reply. As a member of a sorority, let me say I more than agree with Miss Hendleman's letter, and I say more than agree because I have a few things to add. First, may I take this time to congratulate all of the sororities on making their quo- tas through fall rushing, but may I add that it isn't worth it on ei- ther side! From the sorority's point of view, there are far too many girls to pick from. I met hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of wonderful, sweet, charming girls at rushing, and when it came time for me to chose the ones I wanted to live with, I was so confused I almost decided to close my eyes and chose blindly. But because I had to lim- it my choice, about five out of eight girls got the door "closed in their faces," and not too politely or gently as Miss Hendelman said in her editorial. From the rushee's standpoint, there is no chance to decide be- tween dorm and sorority life. Many of the girls who were hurt by being turned out would have, by February decided to remain in the dorm where they were quite happy their first semester. Fur- thermore, by February the girls would have made friends in the dorms and wouldn't feel so alone when refused by the sororities. As it stands now, the rushhees who were dropped, in many instances didn't have a close friend in the dorm to help them mend their damaged pride. If soroities are on their way out, then let them die naturally. They will pyway, no matter what Pan- hellenic does to try and save them. If it's more important for the so- rorities to fill their quotas at all cost to the befuddled rushee, then I'm against the whole mess, and would rather see sororities abol- ished. The funny thing is I've loved ev- ery moment of my sorority living, but the fact is I probably would have loved every moment of dorm living too. So let the rushee choose between independence and affilia- tion-and give them time to do it!! Back to February rushing. -Ann Lewis '53 * * - Sororities , , , 'o the Editor: HIS IS IN PROTEST to Donna Hendleman's article, "Sorority Rushing." You refer, Miss Hendleman, to Pan-Hellenic Association as an "avaricious grasping" group "fear- ful for its life." There is nothing whatever to stand behind this bit- ing mis-statement. You say the "victims" (rushees) were "forced" to rush - Sorority rushing is entirely a free-will proposition. Then you describe the series of parties as "gruelling, often degrad- ing and frenzied." This is a tiring process, it does have some unhap- py results for both rushees and rushers, and certainly there are pressing moments of indecision which cause confusion. However, in your attempt to produce a forceful article, you have increased the intensity of your adjectives to untruth. Miss Hendleman, have you ever gone through rushing yourself? Many independent women with no desire to pledge, go to the first two sets of parties just for the op- portunity of meeting people and making friends. If rushing were truly a "prey on confusion, ignor- ance and helplessness," as you claim it to be, they would not do this. Now, we come to the point which you claim is the basis for your vicious attack . . . that deferred rushing would be the "lesser evil" and therefore better than the new system. Your obvious underlying reason for this, throughout the whole article, is that with deferred rushing less people "sign them- selves over to a life of Greek sis- terhood." In your estimation this is good. How can you even dare to insinuate such a thing when you have no comprehension of what living in a so-called "Greek sis- terhood" is like? With the new sytem of rushing, the length of time spent at so- rorities was less than before; how- ever, the actual time spent getting to know the girls was greatly in- creased by the fact that no time was wasted on skits. The informal- ity and better weather are assets to the new plan which can't be ig- nored. With rushing placed in the fall, twice as many girls were able to take part. With rushing placed in the fall, girls will be free for a much needed vacation after first semester final exams. With rush- ing placed in the fall, all tension is now over with. With rushing placed in the fall there is no long- er the wall of contact rules which previously existed for half the year between independent and af- filiated women. I feel sure that such an on- slaught of unfair and untrue words as Miss Hendleman put forth can not attract believers. I strongly advocate the new system of rushing and hope it will con- tinue. -Mary Ann Alexander * * * Full Speed Ahead... To the Editor CONTRARY to what one of The Daily critics wrote of the cur- rent movie "Fearless Fagen," I be- lieve it was terrific. Nowadays, we have enough of deep conflicts, murderers, cowboys, and Indians, and just plain cheap muck. I think that "Fearless Fagen" is a wel- come change. Not only was it light, cute, and had a good touch of hu- mor; but I think, very clever. I think the lion has Lassie beat by a mile and doesn't try to draw your sympathy quite so much. It was very realistic to me because Janet Leigh didn't fall for the lion-friendship story for a long time. And she really neededucon- vincing as we certainly would in our every day life. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the American public needs a lot more pictures like "Fearless Fag- en" and its wonderful lightheart- edness. -Alison Thomas T p Try. . To the Editor: CORRECTION PLEASE! A few Dailies back, there was an edi- torial, bemoaning the lack of a non-partisan political organization on campus. The new Campus League of Women Voters is set up to help fulfill this need. The C.L.W.V. attempts to stimulate in- terest in government irrespective of party affiliation. Not only is the C.L.W.V. interested in national politics, but in state, local and campus government as well. Our present project is voter's service in the coming election, which will include such activities as absentee ballot information, and instruction in using the new voting machines. The C.L.W.V. gives all women students, regardless of age, a chance to become well-informed citizens. Isn't this the type of Y-I the campus is looking for? -Marie Abendrotts Acting President, C.L.W.V. 3ir~~gtnhof tP. t I~t tI etteP4 TO THE EDITOR The Daily welcomes communications from its readers on matters of general interest, and will publish ail 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. 4 I a ^ CURRENTMOViES 14 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 Cal Samra.........Editorial Director Zander Holander......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 Sewell ....Associate Sports Editor Lorraine Butler ....... Women's Editor Mary Jane Mills, Assoc. Women's Editor - Business Staf f Al Green ...........Business Manager Milt Goetz......Advertising Manager Diane Johnston ...Assoc. Business Mgr. Judy Loehnberg.Finance Manager Tom Treeger ,...Circulation Manager Telephone 23-24-1 Member of The Associated Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to it or otherwise credited to thisnewspaper. All rights of republication of all other matters herein are also reserved. Entered at the Post Office at Ann Arbor, Michigan, as second-class mal matter. Subscription during regular school year: by carrier, $6.00; by mail, $7.00. At The Michigar... JUST FOR YOU, with Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. PRESENTING the usual lavish outlay of songs and dances, this musical is con- cerned with the family difficulties of a fa- mous songwriter. Bing Crosby realizes on the opening night of his latest Brodway hit that he is not being a very successful parent to his motherless childen. - His eighteen year old son, who yearns to be a songwriter, resents his father's mo- nopoly on the family fame. His daughter wants to be admitted to a very exclusive girls school, and is discouraged by her fa- ther's low standing with The Five Hundred. The son further complicates matters by fall- ing in love with Jane Wyman, who is al- ready solidly attached to Crosby. Bing solves his daughter's problem fair- ly easily by captivating Ethel Barrymore, headmistress of the elite school, and per- suading her to admit the girl. The son, however, has to be made into a man by the Air Force before he can get along with father Bing. The whole picture is made somewhat ri- diculous by the son's preposterous callow- ness. Added to this is Crosby's inability to portray anything but lovable, casual old Bing. Although this trait is pleasantly en- tertaining by itself, it doesn't make for a very cohesive dramatic structure. The more extravagant musical portions of the movie have practically no connection with the plot, other than providing a meas- ure of relief from it. For example, one elab- orate dance tells the story of a Mexican peon y SMALL WORLD ::;{. ::: ;. <. .: -. .::>. >; 1!iI f I f"n, M1y. ' I