PAGE FOUR
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
'J YiUH6y)rlI:, Di: ,Lividarti, 11, 19J;Z
'U Fraternities
& Bias Clauses
JUST A YFAR AGO the "Acacia Plan" was
first ratified by the Interfraternity Coun-
cil with the hope, supposedly, that an edu-
cational rather than a coercive program
could most efficiently remove bias clauses
from the constitutions of campus frater-
nities.
For several months after its passage,
absolutely nothing was done to implement
the Acacia Plan and it became obvious
that the measure 'was being utilized as 'a
cover-up for clause-ridden fraternities.
After the present slate of officers took over,
a different attitude toward the plan was
evidenced, and IFC president Pete Thorpe
took the program to the Big Ten IFC-Panhel
conference where it received approval. Then
the Big Ten Counseling and Information
Service was set up on the Michigan cam-
pus to administer the program as it should
have been done locally some months before.
This happened in May.
Acacia promptly asked the IFC's as-
sistance in removing its clause and was
assisted by the new organization. Not one
of the 13 other houses with clauses both-
ered to ask for help, however, and have
given no evidence of their desire to co-
operate in the program thus far.
Although several fraternities reported
progress toward clause removal at their sum-
mer conventions, and Thorpe has desig-
nated this fall as a "study period" during
which the potentials of the plan may be
analyzed and the current bias clause situa-
tion on other campuses reviewed, the lack
of interest generating from affected houses
is disappointing. 1
Furthermore, when the IFC does finish
its study, the fraternities need not accept
help and are under no responsibility to do
anything about their clauses. Though IC
officials grimace in horror at the mention
of "pressure," four fraternities on the Wis-
Ws consin campus just signed up for the Big-Ten
program when a 1960 time limit was imposed
on houses with clauses.
The greatest weakness of the Acacia
Plan has proven to be its failure to prom
vide any obligation for the fraternities to
sincerely carry through with established
IFO policy. If fraternities decide not to
accept the IFC's help this spring when the
Big Ten Service presents its findings and
offers support to each affected house on
this campus, a revamping of policy will be
clearly called for..
Any change that such negativism is
bound to inspire would necessarily be a move
in the direction of initiating compulsory
cooperation among the houses with clauses.
Assurances that "something will be done"
fall flat after continued inaction, and satis-
factory corrective action may well lie only
in the direction of a time limit or some other
measure of that type. Since the Acacia Plan
was designed to prove that clause removal
can be effected without such pressure, the
houses with clauses should consider the
consequences which would result from ig-
noring their responsibilIty in this matter,
-Harry Lunn
BEHIND THE LINES
* A Note to President Hatcher
By CAL SAMRA of Narcissus egocentricity which is direct-
Daily Editorial Director ed inwards towards the group, rather
HIS WRITE has some very vivid, though than outwards towards the University.
unpleasant, memories of a day two This ice of complacency could conceiv-
years ago when President Alexander G. ably be broken by the individual frater-
Ruthven vetoed a Student Legislature bill nities themselves, but, so far, there is no
which would have required fraternities to evidence that they plan to do so.
remove their bias clauses by 1956 or lose This writer does not intend to drag out the
University recognition. I remember a cer- old arguments for the SL motion. It makes
tain SL President who broke down and cried no great difference whether the clauses are
at the time. George Roumell had pushed the removed by "coercion" or by an educational
plan with the energy of a monomaniac. The process. The important thing is that they
veto was a crushing blow to those in sym3- be removed.
pathy with the plan. Aside from the obvious principle involved,
the University should have a definite inter-
The same thing happened the following est in this problem. For, by erecting arti-
year. This time SL offered a more water- Icial barriers, these fraternities are, in
ed-down bill requiring fraternities to at- effect, divorcing themselves from the Uni-
tempt to remove the clauses at their na- versity, and hindering this institution's ef-
tional conventions by 1956 or lose Uni- forts toward unity and harmony.
versity recognition. Your veto of a bill Finally, the unpleasant fact remains that
which had tremendous campus support those whom fraternities reject on grounds
fell like a guillotine on the heads of stu- of creed or color often need the help of a
dent leaders. Most everyone threw up his fraternity far more than those whom they
hands in despair. Since then, an issue accept.
which once meant so much to so many The issue, then, has far broader impli-
has been rarely considered. cations than one would suppose at first
As the result of your veto, the problem has glance.
been thrown into the laps of the individual If, by next fall, there is no notable
fraternities. It was hoped that these four- progress made by the fraternities in the
teen fraternities would make every effort to removal of the clauses, its would seem that
remove the clauses on their own. a time-limit measure would be entirely
To date, there has unfortunately been a warranted. In that event, your veto of the
grinding lack of progress in this respect. The SL motion would bear serious reconsider-
fraternities in question have apparently re- ation.
lapsed into the vortex of indifference. An air of finality about anything is not
It must have been evident to you when healthy in a college community which rec-
you vetoed the SL bill that the fraternity ognizes an empirical approach to its prob-
system, by its very nature, nurtures a kind lems.
Field Pack
.tetteP4 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 wili
be condensed, edited or withheld from publication at the discretion of the
editors.
,e'
s G ayenM. ... + S v
_. .. .... ___. .... 1. ..:..3.3t _ _ .. :YS'1
MATTER OF
FACT.
Union Opera
NO COVER
Union Opera.
CHARGE-33rd Annual
4AGNIFICENTLY conceived and superbly
performed, this year's version of the
Union Opera offers Ann Arbor audiences
one of the top entertainment specials of the
year.
It is difficult to single out any one factor
that made the show so memorable. Fred
Evans careful direction brought out every
nuance in Howie Nemerovski's clever book.
The individual performances were marked
by superb casting, well-nigh professional act-
ing and keen stage sense.
The story concerns the Dean of an bast-
ern Girls school, who inherits half in in-
terest in a Chicago version of the Latin
Quarter. In order to win over her partner,
a crude, but loveable hood, she poses as a
"revolver mollie" and wins both his con-
fidence and his affections.
As the two principals, Irv Tobocman and
Bill Schreiner stood out as clever and imag-
inative performers. Tobacman, a sort of jun-
DRAMA
THE BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES, present- acted as a foil to Rosen's clowning, and
ed by the Department of Speech. provided more than a few laughs himself.
Of, the minor actors-almost all of them
a FINE CAST and imaginative staging were good-a few practically stole the show
have been combined to produce one of during their brief appearances. A poet, John
the most delightful local dramatic presen- Haney, probably Aristophanes' satiric por-
tations in some time. Admittedly this ver- trait of Sophocles or Euripedes, strode about
sion of "'he Birds" is not completely true ' he stage affecting Byronic poses and utter-
to Aristophanes; the original form of the ing profound poetic sighs to the delight of
play would have made it at points quite in- everyone. Teetah Dondero, as the small-
comprehensible and dull to the modern au- time goddess Iris, and Carlaine Baldef, as
dience. Rather the comedy has been almost Juno, both received their share of laughter;
rewritten, using modern jokes and refer- and James Umphrey brought down the house
ences wherever Aristophanes would have ap- as an over-zealous messenger, a parody of
peared cloudy or obscure. the traditional tragic figure.
The stage setting of "constructivist" de-
As a result the play moved quickly and sign showed imagination and skill, al-
seemed in most part to capture the fancy though its occasional wobbles ominously
of the house. One of the most enthusi- threatened a collapse at any moment. The
astic, and therefore convincing players choral dancing was good, but because of
was Ken Rosen, who acted in the role of the "beaks" they wore the members were
Pithetaerus, the mortal who grew tired of not able to deliver their lines clearly.
life in Athens and went to live with the However, these few flaws were not able
bird-king. He has a natural talent and zest to mar the overall effect; "The Birds" is a
for acting which make him stand out in a satirical farce which merits attention both
cast of excellent performers. His partner as an effort and as an evening of delight-
Eulpides, played by Conrad Stolzenbach, ful entertainment. --Tom Arp
C URRE NTm M\OVIES
for Jimmy Durante, rasps his way through
the script with confidence and high aud-
ience appeal. Schreiner captures both the
initial prudery and later gangland sophisti-
cation of the Dean turned moll. They both
put their musical numbers across with a
happy vivaciousness.
Lloyd Evans captured the imbecillic wit
of a Judy Holliday in his fine portrayal of
Ice Pick Sadie. Jay Mills, as Tobocman's
St. Louis counterpart, carried his lines and
musical numbers with ghsto. Bud Strout's
slinky cigarette girl brought down the house.
Andy White again displayed his dazzling
talent as an acrobatic tap dancer and his per-
formance should delight both the Michigan
Theater audiences and those on the road.
Don Rosenberg's comic dancing was de-
lightful as was that of Don Ghareeb, who
seemed tied down with a poor role.
The performance was at all times fast
moving, a tribute to the fine direction of
both the singing and dancing choruses and
of the principals.
Such light songs as Paul McDonough's
"Etiquette" and "The Twenties Were Fabu-
lous Days" and Red Johnson's "Prison Days"
and "Let's Live a Little" were catchy and
well sung.
Of the slower numbers, only McDon-
ough's "You, Just You" stood out. It was
nicely rendered by Gordon Epding and
Andy Cooley, who had seemed shy in their
earlier numbers,
Space doesn't permit me to mention all
the others whose efforts made the show so
sprightly. But their product will be remem-
bered as one of the zippiest, funniest and
beautifully staged of all Union Operas.
-Harland Britz
Books at the Library
Buckler, Ernest - THE MOUNTAIN
AND THE VALLEY. New York, Henry Holt
& Co., 1952.
Gosnell, Harold F.-CHAMPION CAM-
PAIGNER: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
New York, Macmillan Co., 1952.
Keyes, Frances Parkinson - STEAM-
BOAT GOTHIC. New York, Julian Mess-
ner, 1952.
Lea, Tom-THE WONDERFUL COUN-
TRY. Boston, Little, Brown, 1952.
Sarton, May-A SHOWER OF SUM-
MER DAYS. New York, Rinehart & Co.,
1952.
Wilder, Robert-AUTUMN THUNDER.
New York, G. P. Putnam's, 1952.
THE CONSPICUOUS fact about the inter-
national scene today is the passing of
power from western Europe: for the first
time for many centuries western Europe is
no longer the center of the globe. Even our
conventional geographical terminology has
become obsolete and inappropriate. In a
world whose focus of power is in Washing-
ton, our modern Far East lies somewhere in
the countries of the so-called Iron Curtain,
and our Far West along the eastern coast-
line of Asia. The vast land mass of Europe
and Asia located between these two lines
has become a terra incognita almost im..
pervious either to our military or to our mis-
sionary efforts, and resembling one of those
no-man's-lands of early maps which the
cartographers used to decorate with the
comprehensive and sweeping inscription
Truman's Farewell
Speech
By STEWART ALSOP
WASHINGTON-Washington is a city peopled by ghosts. The new
great-the men who will soon wield immense power in this capi-
tal of the free world-are almost all elsewhere. The former great, the
movers and shakers of only a few weeks ago, now seem actually to
have shrunk in physical size, and even to have become faintly trans-
parent, so that one looks nervously at a Cabinet officer, to make cer-
tain that the furniture behind him does not show through.
The ghostliest of all the former great is, of course, President
Truman. And it is symptomatic of the Washington atmosphere
during this curious interregnum that the chief business these
days in the White House, that epicenter of world power, is the
writing of a speech for the President.
This is to be Truman's Farewell Address-and President Truman
evidently hopes that it will be called just that in the future. For the
speech is being written with the history books firmly in mind. No
other Truman speech has received such careful thought and anguished
attention. This is the speech, apparently, for which Truman hopes he
is to be remembered, and in the light of which his seven-year tenure
of office is to be judged.
Much thought is being given in the White House to the appropri-
ate form for the farewell address. One school of thought favors an
address to Congress, between the time when the new Congress con-
venes and Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as President. The
halls of Congress, it is argued, will provide the appropriate aura of
dignity and history-in-the-making. The trouble is, according to a
second school of thought in the White House, that very few citizens
will hear the President's historic words, since an address to Congress
cannot be delivered at a good radio-listening hour. This second
school favors a farewell address in the form of a fireside chat, at a
time when the citizens will be handy to their radios.
Clearly, if Truman's farewell address is to have the' impact
over the years which he hopes, both the violent partisanship
which has characterized Truman's political utterances, and the
dullness which has often marked his more serious efforts musta
be avoided. Advance reports suggest that the note of humility
which marked the President's public statements seven long years
ago and which has since been buried under the famous Presiden-
tial cockiness will be introduced again in the farewell address.
All in all, Truman's farewell address should be worth hearing, if
only as a final ;measure of the man who, almost wholly by accident,
has been President of the United States during seven of the most
exciting and most dangerous years in American history. One even
suspects that the now ghostly President's familiar fiat voice and posi-
tive tone, of which so many people have grown so tired, may arouse a
certain odd sense of nostalgia and even some sense of loss, in some
of his hearers.
(Copyright, 1952, New York Herald Tribune, Inc.)
Howard Fast.. ..
To the Editor:
THIS IS in answer to Howard
Fast, Schor (a recent letter
writer to the Daily) and others.
1) Why do you consistently sup-
port the victims of "American op-
pression"-the Rosenbergs, etc.-
and yet consistently ignore the
victims of Soviet oppression -
Slansky, Zionists, etc.
2) Why-Howard Fast-do you
lament (quite properly) the bars
that under Nazism nearly "a hun-
dred professors lost their posts,
that "more than three hundred
American professors" have been
removed, for political reasons. Yet
nary a tear do you shed over the
fact that a multitude of Czech
professors were purged, and the
rest required to pass loyalty",
tests.
3) Why were there thousands1
of American tourists in Paris last
summer, (and in any other place
they could get into), but not a
single Soviet tourist anywhere.
Is it that oppression does not
interest you except when it can
be used to attack America? Is it
that long ago you have burnt
your humanitarian bridges behind
you to remain on the Shone) of
Pro-Sovietism. Is it that you have
become like the Nazi "intellec-
tuals" who found time to mock
"decadent" America while remain-
ing anaesthetic to the odors of
the crematorium.
, -R. Mitchell
Howard Fast .. .
To the Editor:
AFTER HEARING Howard Fast
at a closed meeting at the
Unitarian Church, it is rather ob-
vious that he bears the same rela-
tion to true art as Lysenko does to
true genetics. While his talk was
pitched to a student body politi-
cally immature and literarily un-
informed, he nevertheless manag-
ed to create a sense of personal
ridiculousness in his black and
white interpretation of Soviet and
American writing. Unbelievably,
he held that no anti-Communist
writer could be a true artist. He
was unaware that Balzac-an arch
reactionary-was considered by
Marx to be worth a thousand
Zolas. In his contention that the
artist could not produce without
freedom (which of course the ar-
tist has in the Soviet Union), he
was unable to explain why the
great Russian writers wrote under
the despotism of the Czar and not
under the Soviet Union,awhich,
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 2)
Counterrevolution in Monetary Theory
and Policy." All staff members and stu-
dents in Economics and Business Ad-
ministration are invited. Others who
are interested will also be welcome.
The Modern Dance Club will meet
at 7:30 in Barbour Gymnasium. Wil the
members and all others interested in
the club please attend.
U. of M. Aviation Club will meet at
7:30 p.m. in 1500 East Engineering
Building. Anyone interested in learn-
ing to fly and getting cross-country
time, both at reduced rates, are cordial-
ly invited. For any additional Informa-
tion please call Dick Fox, 3-0521, Ext.
310.
Israeli Dance and Folk Group. Organ-
ization and future programs will be
discussed, along with a regular program
at 7:30 at the Hilel Building. Refresh-
ments. Everyone is invited.
International Center Weekly Tea for
foreign students and American friends,
4-6 p.m.
Kappa Phi. Cabinet meeting at 5:15 in
the Wesley Lounge. All cabinet mem-
bers please be present.
Coming Events
Motion Pictures, auspices of Uni-
versity Museums, "Beach and Sea Ani-
mals," "Born to Die," and "The Sea,"
7:30 p.m., Fri., Dec. 12, Kellogg Audi-
torium. No admission charge.
The Newman Club is sponsoring a
Christmas Party Warm-up Fri., Dec. 12,
There will be caroling, dancing, etc.,
8:30 to 12 p.m. All Newmanites, facul-
ty, and friends are invited.
Hillel. Friday evening services will be
held at 7:45 at the Hillel Building at
1429 Hill Street, Following services .Na-
than Pearlmutter, RegionalsDirector of
Anti-Defamation League, will speak on
"Anti-Semeticism in America."
International Coffee Hour (Depart-
ment of Conservation). Foreign and
American students are invited to dis-
cuss "Foreign Investments and Inter-
national Development" at an informal
coffee hour Fri., Dec. 12, 4:30 to 6 at
300 West Medical Building (Office of
Dept. of Conservation). All welcome.
Wesley Foundation. Christmas Party,
Fri., Dec. 12, Wesley Lounge.
barren as is the current American
literary scene, is an avowed desert
from an objective critical criteria.
Mr. Fast was less than honest in
the question world. He twisted and
evaded. He tried to convey the
impression that the Russian writ-
er was free by the example of Ilya
Ehrenbourg who vitriolically cri-
ticized a literary commissar-no
doubt an unusual act of bravery in
the Soviet Union and one not like-
ly to be undertaken except by the
well-known who are firmly en-
trenched-for his poor taste and
bad writing. When I pointed, out
that Ehrenbourg could criticize an
individual but not communism,
Mr. Fast passed quickly-and with
his usual smoothness-to the next
question.
In the incredibly short time that
Mr. Fast was supposed to be dis-
cussing American writing and pub-
lishing-he validly charged the
latter with cowardice and cower-
ing before native totalitarians-
he rang in the whole communist
line from the capitalistic exploi-
tation of the war in Korea to the
World Peace Congress staged in
Vienna.
The Unitarian church is to be
commended for giving Mr. Fast a
chance to speak with a roof over
his head. It is unfortunate that
Mr. Fast could not speak before
an open meeting. Presumably the
University of Michigan has teach-
ers of literature who would have
made a shambles of Mr. Fast's
contentions. It is by driving the
Fasts into private meetings that
we give the notion to the public
that they have ideas too pqwerful
to be refuted in debate.
-E. R. Karr
YP Troubles*...
To The Editor.
IN THE DAYS of old when The
Daily was bold, the Y.P.'s were
investigated once a year. It came
regularly, just like the Mondoon.
Towards the end of the Spring se-
mester, just when it came time to
settle down and cram for exams-
the inevitable would happen: "Y.P.
Responsibility To Be Re-exam-
ined" (Daily, very typical). Then
the merry-go-round would start to
revolve. The S.A.C., the Lecture
Committee, The Office of Student
Affairs, The Sub Committee on
Discipline, a whole glittering
building full of administrators;
one, some or all would simultane-
ously start to investigate this one
little student organization. In the
end the answer was always grudg-
ingly the same; "The Y.P.'s are
O.K.-that is so far, tentatively,
ahem, as long as they maintain
their-ah-integrity."
But now a new precedent has
been set, it's only the first semes-
ter and the heat is on the Y.P.A
already! About what is the fuss
this time? First it was the oe
standby of "responsibility," but-
now it's a question of "tightening
internal procedure." To be sure
there are valid criticisms of Y.P.A.
and some of S.A.C.'s points may be
well taken-but why always pick
on the Y.P.'s? Anybody who is in
the know will tell you that there
are student organizations which
only meet once a semester, and
then without a quorum, that there
exist organizations almost com-
pletely out of touch with their
faculty sponsors, that some rec-
ognized organizations have far
less than the,30 member minimum.
Are the Y.P.'s troubles due to
other, perhaps more political, rea-
sons? Heavens No! Banish the
thought, we here at the University
are very impartial in politics! To
many observers, then, the yearly,
or perhaps semesterly now, Y.P.A.
investigations form an unexplain..
able paradox of nature.
-Valentine Birds
It
r
MAGAZINES
At the State
THE THIEF, with Ray Milland
T HAS BEEN some years since the day
when Warner Brothers uncorked the Vi-
taphone and the Amazon of words com-
menced to flow. Although Hollywood has
not always had a lot to say with the voice
Warners gave it, the mixed blessing of
sound seems here to stay. Recently, how-'
ever, an independent producer, Harry Pop-
kin, got together with writer-director Rich-
ard Rouse to try doing a film the old way,
The result is "The Thief," an atomic spy
movie of far more than ordinary skill and
interest.
The ads are quite honest; "not a word
of dialogue is spoken.' Ray Milland, a
mererly sporting it on its lapel. Its designers
have understood that the silent film gained
a certain intensity by its absence of dia-
logue. so it has approached the film strict-
ly from the level of the protagonist, and left
the tired documentary techniques to others,
It also has various advantages that the
films of the silent era did not have, most im-
portant of which is a sound track for built-in
musical score and rich special effects. This
helps no little.
The "silence" bore one other advantage
for "The Thief." It expressed through its
"silence" the complete friendlessness of
its central character. Lacking the warmth
which a human voice could have commu-
nicated, the plight of the hero must be
deenly felt. His symbolic isolation from
AS USUAL THIS MONTH the art work in Gargoyle is far superior
to the written material. The most noteworthy of the drawings is
a parody on the typical girlie calendar-in this case, the "Garga
Girl." It stands out as the best feature of the whole issue, in both ori-
ginality and execution.
For the rest of the magazine the drawings for advertisements,
and the pseudo-advertisements, form the most enjoyable portion.
They are in two distinct and antithetical styles: simple, direct
and bare; and highly ornate and complex. The pity is that in
the simpler cartoons, excellent while they remain in good taste,
occasionally the style is so debased as to produce the center two-
page detail of the interior of a department store, a juvenile and
obvious attempt which is hardly funny.
Perhaps the best of the stories is the one aptly entitled "0 Henry,
Won't You Please Come Home," a parody on both Conan Doyle and
0. Henry. While there are the customary fiat puns and repeated
jokes, the author does seem to be acquainted with the works of both
his models. He takes 0. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" and gives it
a dash of Sherlock Holmes, seasoning the whole with the Gargoyle's
own special brand of humor; admittedly a potpourri, but the most
enjoyable one in the issue.
The other stories include the case-history of a neurotic young
man, descriptions of a few nonsensical party games, the old "Who
Stole My Dinosaur?" done up as a play, and a Mickey Spillane ver-
sion of the Santa Claus story. There is for the most part no deviation
from the old pattern of unsubtle wise-cracking.
It might be pointed out to the Gargoyle that there are more
humorous things than sex and violence. Vulgarity can evoke
laughter up to a point, and from there it may be shocking but it
is not funny. Up to now the gag technique of Gargoyle has relied
mostly on parody and vulgar suggestiveness. Parody is successful
if the author knows what aspect of another man's work he is go-
ing to poke fun at, and sticks to his theme. Some of the greatest
Sixty-Third Year
Edited and managed by students 0C
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 Sewelli.Associate Sports Editor
Lorraine Butler........ Wowen's Editor
Mary Jane Mills, Assoc. Women's Editor
Business Staff
Al Green...........Business Manager
Milt Goetz.......Advertising Manager
Diane Johnston. . .. Assoc. Business Mgr.
Judy Loehnberg .... Finance Manager
Tom Treeger......Circulation Manager
t"