Sixty-Sixth Year i 'Ain't She A Beaut? n Opinions Are Free, uth WiU Prevail" EDITED AND MANAGED BYS TUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. SUNDAY, MAY 13, 1956 NIGHT EDITOR: TAMMY MORRISON Lack of Communication: NW 14WAY PPRIAM ,- ,AA 4E - : c~octt~l' , MA49 -C.'.e To The Editor Letters to the Editor must be signed and limited to 300 words. The Daily reserves the right to edit or withhold any letter. Unsolved Student-Teacher Problem' T THE RECENT Literary College Steering Committee's conference, the problem of greatest concern was the lack of communica- tion between faculty and student body on this campus. Although this question has been brought to the attention of the University faculty nu- merous times, it is apparent that not enough has been done to improve the situation. Students complain that professors walk out, of their lectures immediately after the forty minute period and any 'attempts to visit the instructor in his office meets with disappoint- ment. THE PROFESSOR either ds not in his office at the scheduled time or, if he happens to be there, he spends little time and effort on the individual and discourages any further communication. Freshmen especially make this complaint. This may be due to the fact that many re- aquired first year courses are lectures which have enrollments of approximately three hun- dred students. It is understandable when a professor cannot achieve the same degree of informality with a class of 300 as he can with a class of 30 but steps should be taken to remedy this problem. Apparently students feel this keenly and as enrollment is increasing, the matter will only get worse.. The question arises as to what the function of a professor is on this campus? Is it his business, in order to train the student's mind, to ac- quaint himself personally with each of his students or is he just supposed to give them the knowledge he has acquired over the years and let them hand it back to him on an ex- amination? JF A PROFESSOR does attempt to under- stand, his student by, getting to know him personally, then he is accomplishing two things. He is not only training the student's mind but he is letting the student know that some- one cares about his opinion and wants to hear hig views. This is so important in a liberal education that it cannot be emphasized enough. A student must be able to discuss his views (even if they are wrong), with someone capable of guiding liis thoughts and drawing it out. Then there is the teacher who encourages no discussions after class, who leaves his lecturn promptly at the forty minute signal. This Al teacher is not giving his students a fair chance to question or develop his thought. Either he takes the professor's word as truth or is left on his own, right back where he started from. Fortunately, there are departments in the Literary School which do recognize this prob- lem and have taken steps in the right direc- tion. For example, the English department has made it a point to have conferences once a week with each student in English 1 and 2. This has been very effective in creating ex- cellent relations between the student and fac- ulty in the department and the freshman leaves his first English course feeling that someone is in there pitching for him. THIS IS ONE of the primary reasons that so many students go to their English 1 and 2 professors for guidance throughout the col- lege years. Having established a firm relation- ship from the beginning, they know the Eng- lish instructor will advise them intelligently and sympathetically. Besides these conferences,. the English de- partment makes it a policy to have its in- structors announce their office hours at the beginning of the semester and to be there at the designated time. It is rare that a student makes an appointment and finds himself with- out a teacher. The department prides itself in attempting to promote close relationships between its faculty and students and it has accomplished this very effectively. It is easy to understand how a professor's life becomes a busy one. He must prepare his lectures, do research on various projects, and is always being asked to speak at some or- ganization or meeting. F A LITTLE MORE time and effort were con- centrated on the student, if the professor would try to stimulate and encourage disdussion after class, the student would have guidance in his thinking and would want to delve further into the problem at hand. As it now stands, the excess energy of a student is left to wan- der into the extra-curricular activities, which some members of the faculty consider wasteful, rather than into creative thinking about their studies. The English department has come up with a good policy and is enforcing it. Can not other departments follow suit? -SUE RAUNHEIM WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND:n Ike's Orders Being Violated By DREW PEARSON Ill-informed .. . To the Editor: IT IS ALWAYS enjoyable to see budding young journalists ach- ieve campus prominence by writ- ing an editorial in the Daily. How- ever, before one can express a ma- ture and provocative viewpoint, he should know the facts in the situation. Without correct basic premises a writer will lead the public to believe he ' so ill-in- formed that his opinions are un- worthy of consideration: Mr. Allan Stillwagon's recent editorial on Mayor Cobo and Gov- ernor Williams is without doubt one of the most inaccurate ar- ticles ever to appear in the Daily. Before he displays his lack of knowledge again, I would like to correct some of his erroneous statements: 1. Mr. Stillwagon mentions, not once, not twice, but three times that Governor Williams has been in that office for six (6) years. For Mr. Stillwagon's benefit, ne has been the chief executive for eight (8) years, having been first elected in 1948. 2. The editorial states that in 1952 the GOP took a severe beat- ing. However, of all the Demo- cratic candidates for state admin- istrative offices, only Williams was elected and by less than 10,000 votes out of 2.7 million. Is this a severe beating? * * * HE SAYS that Patrick Mc- Namara defeated incurnbent Sena- tor Ferguson in 1952. To enlight- en Mr. Stillwagon, this occurred in 1954. In 1952 the Republican Charles Potter defeated the in- cumbent Democrat Senator Blair Moody by 50,000 votes. 4. The gentleman of the press further says that in 1954 the Democrats swept through the House and Senate, reducing the GOP to an almost insignificant number of elective offices. It is true the GOP lost all the admin- istrative positions. However, in the Michigan Senate the Repub- licans have 23 members, the Demo- crats 11; in the House the Re- publicans have 59, the Democrats 51 members. If such effective working majorities in both houses are "insignificant" then perhaps there needs to be a redefinition of that word.. 5. Mr. Stillwagon comments that the governor will have more than a nominal fight on his hands in 1956. But in 1948, while Dewey captured Michigan by 35,000 votes, the unknown Williams defeated the incumbent by over 150,00., In 1950 he beat the best vote-getter the Republicans have ever had for governor, Harry Kelly. Two years later, Eisenhower took the state by 320,000 votes, but Williams de- feated the extremely capable Fred M. Alger, Jr. In both 1950 and 1952 there were recounts, the re- sult being so close. Only in 1954 could it be said Soapy had a nomi- nal fight. In order to win in November the Republican Party must obtain the support of the independent voters (of which I am one). If Mr. Stillwagon's editorial is an example of the thought processes of members of the GOP, then the Republicans will lose this import- ant bloc and the state will con- tinue its definite trend into the Democratic fold. One word of advice to this mem- ber of the Fourth Estate-before you decide to write another poli- tical editorial, please trot over to the library and first learn the facts. It will save much embar- rassment later.' -Mark Shaevsky, '56 Conference At Union Bares 'U' Expansion Problems RESIDENT EISENHOWER may not know 'it, but the Defense Department is flagrantly violating his own orders against racial dis- crimination. On Sept. 3, 1954, Ike ordered that a nondiscrimination clause be written into all defense contracts. He dictated an airtight clause, re- quiring Government contractors to agree "not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for em- ployment because of race, religion, color or national origin." The President appointed a spec- ial committee on government con- tracts headed by Vice President Nixon, to make sure his orders were carried out. Except for send- ing circulars to businessmen, how- ever, Nixon has done little to en- force the nondiscrimination clause. THE DEFENSE Department, with no one watching it, has been brazen about flouting the White House order. It is doing business with literally thousands of contrac-, tors who flatly refuse to agree to equal job rights for Negroes. Most are Southern contractors, particu- larly telephone companies and other utilities. The way the Pentagon gets a r o u n d the nondiscrimination clause is to do business on a day- to-day basis and not bother to sign formal contracts which would have to contain a nondiscrimination clause., Nixon has had this open evasion called to his attention, but has taken no effective steps to rectify it. * * * A PROPOSED three-year study to curtail slaughter on the nation's highways was rejected by the, House of Representatives when it passed the gigantic Federal High- way Bill. The study was recom- mended by a Presidential advisory group and was introduced in a Congress by Rep. John A. Blat- nik, (D., Minn.). He is privately fuming over the defeat of the study. Blatnik cites figures show- ing that more Americans have been killed in auto accidents in the last seven years than were killed in World War II. The study wouldn't have cost a cent in new appropriations, since the Commerce Department already has the money but lacks the auth- ority to spend it on salaries for accident experts. Rep. George A. Dondero (R., Mich.), who led op- position to the safety study, also led an unsuccessful drive to knock fair labor standards out of the road bill. Dondero tried to elimi- nate Davis-Bacon Act provisions which bar the use of "cut rate" labor on road projects getting Fed- eral aid. . . most publicly owned utilities and cooperatives will get Federal expense money for moving their poles when the new wider highways are built, but a success- ful amendment by Rep. Robert E. Jones (D., Ala.) eliminates wind- fall profits for the big privately owned utilities. AT&T had lobbied for an earlier version of the bill that would have required Federal reimbursements to utilities even when contrary to state law. * * * BECAUSE THE Nasser Govern- ment of Egypt feels that it is now under strong British attack, it has decided-"for the time being" -to halt further criticism of United States policies by the Egyptian press and radio. The decision was made by Nas- ser after a recent major meeting of his "council of revolution" to discuss the subject of Egypt's in- ternational position. * Before British policy became so vigorously anti-Nasser, the coun- cil felt that it could maintain its public hostility to the "Anglo- American-French-Zionist front." Now, however, Nasser fears that the British campaign may influ- ence United States policy and turn it against Egypt. Internal and ex- ternal pressures on the Nasser re- gime are increasing all the time; and the real loss of, American sup- port would be a mortal blow to his regime. * * * IT ISN'T supposed to be known, but U.S. Ambassador Hank By- roade has assured Nasser that the United States does not intend to support the British Anti-Nasser, position. He's warned, however, that continuing Egyptian press and radio attacks on the United States, together with Egyptian rapproche- ment with Russia, have gone so far as to jeopardize the Western offer to finance the Aswan Dam. Egyptian Ambassador Hussein, in Washington, also warned Nas- ser that Egyptian attacks on the United States are particularly dangerous in an election year when American Government of- ficials are especially sensitive to such things. So, for the next few months, the main theme of Egyptian press and radio attack will be against the combined "Anglo-French-Zionist" front-with the word "American" dropped for the time being. (Copyright 1956, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Union Opera . .. To the Editor: AS A PERSON who has been con- cerned for the last three years with the production of the Union *Opera (at various times as cast member, lyric writer, and script author). I was intensely interested in the Daily's two articles Sunday, regarding the passing of this in- stitution. I would like to take this opportunity to agree whole-heart- edly with the viewpoints expressed, and commend the sources (Assis- tant Program Chairman Jane iolben and editorialist Virginia Robertson for their perception. Miss Holben's comments in par- ticular were interesting to me, es- pecially her statement that with the broadening of the show to in- clude both men and women, "Now they will be able to accept sce- narios from girls and therefore get better talent." I must confess that I have seen Union Operas and JGP productions now for four years totally unconscious of the obvious fact that talents and abili- ties of such staggering magnitude were being witheld from both pro- ductions. It is gratifying that the unfortunate situation has now been remedied, and I am indebted immensely to the Assistant Pro- gram Chairman for the revelation. As for Miss Virginia Robertson's perceptive evaluations of the de- mise of the institution as a tradi- tion, no one could find fault with her reasoning. Admittedly the Op- era was as outdated as a mastodon. Female impersonation as an ar went out with the death of Julian Eltinge, and the close of an era such as Alexander Wolcott de- scribes: "When women were wo- men, and men, by a coincidence then more dependable, were men." HOWEVER, to be strictly fair I feel that one must note in pass- ing that the death of the Opera was due not so much to the de- terioration of the not inconsider- able talents which have always gone into the show (especially dur- ing its heyday of the Twenties), but to a changing viewpoint on the part of the audience in regard to this type of entertainmrent; a change which, though more real- istic in its outlook, raises some doubts through its intensity, and an uncomfortable suspicion that someone doth protest too much. It was exactly this type of en- tertainment that a writer of an- other age referred to when he wrote: "Works of this'sort are like a mirror; if an ass looks in, how can you expect an angel to look out?" Nevertheless, we are grateful to the ladies for looking into the mat- ter. In all events, it is heartening to note the messianic zeal which the ladies are prepared to bring to this superannuated institution, and I for one will be looking forward eagerly to the professional reviews of next year's show, and expecting the highest results from this for- tuitous collaboration of blind mas- culine enthusiasm and condescend- ingly superior feminine intelli- gence. Co-Author, 1955 Union Opera -Russ Brown, '56 Disappointing Debate . . To the Editor: THE DEBATE between Dr. Paul Sweezy and Prof. Kennth Boul- ding was extremely disappointing in terms of what it might have been. Dr. Sweezy was evidently tired after his month-long tour, and he spoke in generalities much of the time. Many times he failed to take advantage of opportunities to attack the arguments of Prof. Boulding. Perhaps his long isola- tion from the University atmos- phere and his fight with the New Hampshire Supreme Court may account for his wariness. But there was no excuse for Prof. Boulding's performance, un- less in reality he has no good argu- ments to support capitalism. His talk was more like an after dinner speech calculated to entertain those who disagreed with Dr. Sweezy a priori. Rather than de- bating fundamental economic questions such as America's pros- perity based on war, Prof. Bould- ing indulged in whimsical fancies about original sin, archangels, patriarchal societies, and father figures. Even those inclined to agree with Prof. Boulding could hardly be impressed by his nebu- lous and unscientific statements. His program for economic re- covery in case of an Amerigan de- pression was glib and unrealistic; his argument that people are un- able to plan wisely in a socialist state presupposes that people are unable to learn anything by ex- perience. It would be interesting to find out how Prof. Boulding would explain the fact that Russia recovered from the depression of the 30's while Americans did not; or, if and how General Motors would build houses instead of tanks if we were to switch from a miili- +tart+ nn4-ia ry. Pnnnmv - r why t "7 .9 '1 rI4 )i 4.. TWO FACTS pervaded the Student-Faculty- Administration Conference yesterday: the University has growing-pains problems; and students, faculty, and administrators share these problems.j Problem-wise the University' and community n\ust provide facilities for the 40,000 students expected here by 1970. Doubling the present enrollment by that year assumes that Univer- sity admissions requirements will not be altered. This is a safe assumption. Out-state enrollment buttresses the Uni- versity's reputation and will likely continue to contribute one-third to our admissions. In- state, the University must continue its obliga- tion to Michigan taxpayers-admitting any ap- plicant who stands in the top third of his high school class. COMBINE University admissions policy with sociological facts-the number of college- age people is climbing and the number of these seeking a college education is soaring-and the problem is defined for students, faculty, and administrators. How is the University meeting the problem in the short-run? Present plans indicate that it is applying a rather long short-run corrective. There is too much reliance that Ann Ar- bor's high rents will attract private housing capital and siphon off some over-crowding. But, building costs that average 25% higher than elsewhere in the state offset the attrac- tiveness of high rents.. UJNDER the self-liquidating dorm program which can't keep its head above red ink, a women's dormitory at Washington Heights may be ready to ease the enrollment burden in three years. On North Campus, the coed dormitory should not be ready "for more than five years" ac- cording to Francis Shiel, University director of service enterprises. Besides being tardy, the two projects are inadequate-planned to house only 3,200 stu- dents between them. Shiel's admission at the Conference that there is "some possibility of remodeling single and double dormitory rooms to increase capacity next fall," indicates that the University isn't meeting the short-run situation. The present is hard to avoid when you talk in terms of long-run planning. N FIVE YEARS, the University and com- munity must provide -housing for an addi- tional 7,000 students and present plans could accommodate, at best, 4,000. That is only the University's housing prob- lem of the present and near future. Classroom space and business facilities for an extra 20,000 students by 1970 is an equal problem. In short, the University and community must become twice their present size and do it in the next 14 years. - One administrator confessed yesterday that he had no answer as to how the University could meet this problem. Although the Conference provided no cure for the University's expansion ills, students were at least allowed to share the ulcers of faculty members and administrators. -JIM ELSMAN 4 4 TALKING ON TELEVISION: TV Commercials-A Necessary Burden INTERPRETING THE NEWS: A Unified Europe. By LARRY EINHORN Daily Television Writer ThHOSE /&$' /% commercials! They're too long and there's too many of 'em!" Television commercials - spon- sors love them; viewers hate them; Arthur Godfrey makes funl of them; the men in the grey flannel suits can afford grey flannel suits because of them; products are sold because of them and viewers make mad dashes to the kitchen because of them. Every year hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on radio and television advertising. This money pays for about 99% of our "free entertainment" RADIO AND television commer- cials cannot be unnoticed. This is why they are the most effective forms of advertising. When you read a newspaper of a magazine you don't have to look at the ads. You don't have to look at bill- boards. You don't even have to look at skywriting. But you can't get away from TV commercials. P" L. . .. .4 . ... « .. - .J L. L .B the program time. Any profitable newspaper will fill up its available space with much more than 10 per cent of advertising, And the most read magazines carry more advertising copy than reading copy. * * * WITHOUT commercial advertis- ing television would have to be supported by the government. This would necessitate a special tax on receivers or an increase in general taxes. Many foreign governments subsidize television in this manner. But such an action is imperative to our free enterprise system. The main factor in the growth of television in this country to its high productive level has been commercial advertising. Without it or some type of governmental assistance television programs, if we had them at all, would be as plentiful as a sunny day in Ann Arbor. Television advertising has cer- tainly been a boom to our econ- omy-Because of its un-noticeable feature television commercials can and do sell almost anything even men's products to take advantage of the male portion of their audi- ence.) We all remember the Charles Antell commercials. This was prob- ably the first time a new product was introduced nationally via tele- vision. Their sudcess only further demonstrates that television view- ers pay a lot more attention to commercials than they admit. Hundreds of car dealers and ap- pliance stores are what they are today because of local television commercials. This holds true for all types of retailers and Manu- facturers who have advertised on television. You could even extend this to account for a portion of higher overall production, more employment and a higher standard of living. * * * BUT EVEN though we have indicated the economical and practical advantages of television commercials they will probably re- main forever in the class of moth- ers-in-law, Army life and dormi- tory food. Certain avoidable factors do un- J . «.. ... .. l ... .. . . .... . . 1 . . have allocated a portion of their commercial time to informative discussions about industry, health or public service. Lucky Strike can have a clever entertaining song by the Sportsmen serve the purpose of a commercial.; * * * NATIONAL companies or large local chains can afford to pre- sent animated cartoons to demon- strate their products. All of these devices have proved beneficial to the companies concerned. But of course we can't expect this type of advertising from a used car dealer or a sewing ma- chine distributor where the hard- sell concept best serves the pur- pose. And the cost of such com- mercials are oft times too burden- some for a small company. One element which should defi- nitely be barred from television commercials is the appearance of actors dressed up as doctors, den- tists or pharmacists who are demonstrating medicinal or relat- ed products. Ir Y1 ;1 By J. M. ROBERTS Associated Press News Analyst WINSTON CHURCHILL'S dream of a unified Europe including Soviet Russia is just that -a dream. Churchill suggested in a speech in Germany Thursday that things would really settle down when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had been extended into a unified Europe in- cluding Russia and her satellites. The a-ed British statesman seem sto think were attempted within such an organization instead of between separate blocs. S A DREAML it's wonderful, as a possibility, don't bet even a small amount of money on it. First and foremost, Russia is not a European state. Her culture, except a small surface portion absorbed from France when that coun- try was a world criterion, is far more Oriental than European. Vast numbers of her peoples actually are Ori- ... _ __ !_ Z . -, - i'...4- - r s( i