I
Sixty-Sixth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG. * ANN ARBOR, MICH. * Phone NO 2-3241
Onward And Upward"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff
and represent the views of the writers only. This mus't be noted in all reprints.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1955
NIGHT EDITOR: MARY LEE DINGLER
Campus 'Districts' Could Solve
SGC Election Problems
ONCE again in the history of University stu-
dent government, the number of candidates
for open posts is at a discouraging low.
This small amount of participation in these
campus posts indicates a definite need for a
new system of elections-a need which can best
be met through the method of districting stu-
dent voters.
With five Student Government Council elec-
tive positions being vacated next month, only
12 students from a campus with more than
20,000 have submitted their petitions within
the required deadline. Mathematically, this
means out of each group of approximately
1,650 students, only one has chosen to run as
an SGC candidate. Furthermore, there is every
indication that this trend in student candidate
interest is never going to become much better
under the present election system.
As for any concrete remedy to thiszproblem,
it should be noted that many ideas, all equally
fallacious, have been presented over a period
which has seen one government transfer its
functions to another. However, there are two
basic facts which, though they have definite
bearing upon the problem, are often glossed
over by proponents of the present elective
setup.
THE first session of the Council, which will
end with the all-campus elections Novem-
ber 15, is very distinctly an unrepresentative
body. While it claims to represent the students
from the entire campus, it attempts to recon-
cile this claim with the fact that 10 out of the
.11 elected members are affiliates.
Contrary to what this year's representation
figures would suggest, however, the independ-
ents have the overwhelming majority of stu-
dent population. This seems especially diffi-
*cult to explain when one well-organized Greek
house can elect a man to SGC almost as easily
as they would choose the most popular man in
the house. Nevertheless, this is a true picture
of the present situation.
Stemming directly from this inconsistency in
student government is the problem of attract-
ing suitable candidates. With only a two to
one ratio of candidates to open posts, it is ob-
vious that not all qualified students are enter-
ing the race.
This same ratio, under the present election
system, indicates that, considering the time
and money spent, the chances for victory are
not encouraging enough to merit candidacy.
Certainly, the independent student who does
not think twice of the present SGC housing
group ratio and his chances for victory is the
exception and not the rule.
Both these problems-inability to attract
candidates and the basic unrepresentativeness
of those candidates elected-point to the need
of a new election system. Unless consideration
is given to a setup assuring both qualified and
representative candidates, the long-debated
problem of attracting students will continue.
Therefore, it seems logical that discussion be
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given to a system of districting voters. Under
such a system, the campus would be divided
into equally populated areas with one repre-
sentative elected by the voters in each area.
This system could easily be accommodated un-
der the present Student Government Council
structure.
BENEFITS from a districting setup would be
innumerable, most important of which
would be the assurance of a representative gov-
ernment and the ability to attract more quali-
fied candidates.
Such a system would also be a very big step
in the correction of apathy toward SGC., now
prevalent among University students. With
one elected representative per district, the
Council would become much closer to the stu-
dent body, probably leading to more interest in
its programs.
A districting system should not relate to the
present ex-officio members of the Council be-
cause of their immeasurable value in the field
of student leadership and government. These
seven ex-officio members, for the most part,
are able to look at student government matters
from an all-campus viewpoint and are a strong-
point in the present system which should be
retained.
If Student Government Council is to be a
truly representative and effective body, strong
consideration should be given to a method of
districting as soon as it is feasible.
-DICK SNYDER
'Direct From Broadway,
The English 1 Hour'
LIKE most large universities in the country,
New York University is struggling with a
solution to the problem of first-year'English
composition courses.
The U of M has solved the problem of bigness
through 106 small sections. But at NYU
they've worked out a new answer.
One English instructor sits in a small Uni-
versity television studio, while students in seven
separate classrooms watch on large -television
screens. Each room contains about 40 students,
and two 24 inch screens.
Although meeting protests by both students
and faculty, Dr. Oscar Cargill,. chairman of
NYU's English department says the program is
"doing well as expected" and suggested it might
be an answer to the expected teacher shortage
in 1960.
That might well be, and perhaps by 1970,
some other educational genius might invent,
"teaching robots" which could be adjusted to
speak at a volume loud enough for classes held
at football stadiums.
Oh yes, NYU's $52,000 financial support for
the TV programs comes from the Fund for the.
Advancement of Education.
Advancement, phooey.
--M.F.
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND:
e-w Secrecy in WashEington
-BY DREW PEA.RSON
CINEMA GUILD:
'Razor'
Tries Old
Recipe
" JHE Razor's Edge" is a 1946
concoction designed to perpet-
uate an old, traditional Hollywood
recipe. The recipe: take a fa-
mous novel by a famous author,
cast with a half-dozen famous ac-
tors, and serve as a serious dra-
matic meal,
The dinner to which Twentieth-
Century-Fox invites its audience
in "The Razor's Edge" takes more
than two hours to finish, and the
only really serious aspect is a
side-order plot about a naive girl
who becomes an alcoholic degen-
erate. The part is played with
handsome integrity by Anne Bax-
ter, who won an Academy Award
for her performance.
Unfortunately, the main dish-
an abstract, complex study of lost-
generation souls seeking stability
and enlightenment in a disorganiz-
ed world-tastes most like burnt
drama because of the plebian phil-
osophizing of author Somerset
Maugham.
TYRONE POWER is an ex-First
World War soldier who refuses to
marry Gene Tierney until he finds
the truth about life. He bums
around the world for a while,
eventually f i n d i n g consolation
against a painted Himalayan back-
drop when an old wiseman mut-
ters, "The sharp edge of a razor
is difficult to pass over; thus the
wise say the path of Salvation is
hard." Exactly what the "path"
is the picture does not bother to
elaborate on, but it does elaborate
on the tiresome Tierney-Power
emotional conflict the latter en-
gages in upon return to Western
civilization.
With the exception of Miss Bax-
ter, the actors rely on the script-
writer to supply emotion. The
scriptwriter, in turn, relies on Mr.
Maugham's philosophizing, which
is aboutas lucid and invigorating
as yesterday's coffee grounds. "The
Razor's Edge" was vapid melodra-
ma in 1946; nine years' aging has
not improved it much.
-Ernest Theodossin
LETTERS
to theA
EDITOR ...
Poor Fans..,
To the Editor:
AFTER watching five football
games, it is very hard to keep
quiet much longer. It is' posi-
tively disgusting to see the so-
called "football fans."
It was most evident after our
game with Minnesota that the
students who pretend to know
football simply do not recognize
championship playing when they
see it. When a top-rated team is
down 13-0 in the first half and
then succeeds in. fighting back to
a 14-13 victory, that is champion-
ship play. We can all be thank-
ful-thankful that our determined
Wolverines don't have the defeat-
est attitude of its fans.
After Minnesota made their first
touchdown . . . and then their
second, the TV audience diminish-
ed, and radios were turned off. In
general, a cloud of doom prevail-
ed over the Michigan campus. This
same cloud could have been seen
over Memorial Stadium, but our
Wlverinsrfsdt sei.I
Woave rhes foug tad suced
in doing what everyone thought
was the impossible. It is a further
compliment to the team that they
can fight and defend the Univer-
sity's prestige when the student
body is not behind them.
A fan should support his team
not only when it is winning .. -
but, nore important, when it is
losing. It seems that our "fans"
are not aware of this.
Whatever happens in the next
four Saturdays, Michigan should
be very proud of its champions .. .
and, for a change, let's show it!
-Davey Krasney '58
Louise Lasker 158
THE Daily Official Bulletin Is an
official publication of the University
of Michigan for which the Michigan
Daily assumes no editorial responsi-
bility. Notices should be sent in
TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3553
Administration Building before 2 p.m.
the day preceding publication. Notices
for the Sunday edition must be In
by 2 p.m. Friday.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1955
VOL. LXVII, NO. 29
General Notices
Meeting of the University Sta,
General staff meeting at 4:15 p.m..,
Mon., Oct. 31, in Rackham Lecture
Hall. President Hatcher and the Vice-
Presidents will discuss the state of the
University. All members of the Uni-
versity staff, academic and non-aca-
demic, are invited.
Fulbright Applications and all sup-
porting material must be received in
the Graduate School, Room 1020, Rack-
ham Building by 4:00 p.m. Mon., Oct.
31. This is the closing date for the
1955-56 competition and will not be
extended.
Social Science Research Council fel-
lowships and grants to be offered in
1956: Research Training Fellowships;
Undergraduate Research Stipends; Fac-
ulty Research Fellowships; Grants-In-
Aid of Research; special grants for
projects in History of American Mili-
tary Policy, Slavic and East, European
Studies, and research on state polities;
Summer Research Training Institutes.
Available to citizens of the United
States and Canada. Applications due
early in Jan. Further information in
office of the Graduate School. Appli-
cation blanks may be obtained from
the Social Research Council, 726 Jack-
son Place N.W. Washington 6, D. C.
Student Government Council: Sum-
mary of action taken at meeting of
October 26, 1955:
Approved: Minutes of the meeting of
October 19. No replacements for va-
cancy on Council because of proximity
of Student Government Council elec-
tions to be held on November 15, 16.
Appointments: Committee to study
SGC structure; to report at meeting
of November 23-Donna Netzer, chair-
man. Bill Diamond, Phil Berry, Tom
Bleha. Orientation Director: Phil Berry
(temporary); Mary Jo Parks.
Activities: Michigan Christian Fel-
lowship Conference, Oct. 21-23 (Sum-
mary action). J. Hop plans for Feb.
10 dance in I. M. Building. Panhelleni
Ball, November 11, plans and budget
as submitted. Student Religious Asso-
ciation, work camp project, Nov. 4.
Drives: Recommendation of the al-
endaring Committee that Galens Drive
be scheduled for Dec. 2, 3; that the
Fresh Air Camp Tag Day Drive be
calendared in the spring term.
Lectures
Dr. Adolph L. Sahs, Professor of
Neurology at the State University of
Iowa College of Medicine. University
Lecture sponsored by the Department
of Neurology, Fri., Oct. 28. "Problems
in Lymphocytic Meningitis." University
Hospital amphitheater at 2:30 p.m.
Astronomy Department Visitors' Night.
(For children and adults; individual
children must be accompanied by
adults, dnd in the case of groups of
school children, there must be at least
one adult for every five children.)
Fri., Oct. 28, 8:00 p.m., Room 2003
Angell Hall. Dr. William Liller, "As-
tronomers at Work." Student Observa-
tory, fifth floor Angell Hall, will be
open for inspection and for telescopic
observations of the Moon.
Lecture-"The Intra-cellular Growth
of Bacteriaphage" by Dr. A. D. Her-
shey, Carnegie Institution of Washing-
ton. Co-sponsored by the Dept. of
Bacteriology and the Michigan Society
of American Bacteriologists. Mon., Oct.
31, 8:00 p.m., Rackham Bldg.
Concerts
Organ Recital: Robert Noehren, Uni-
versity Organist, final program in the
fall series of Sunday afternoon recitals
at 4:15 p.m., Oct. 30, in Hill Auditorium.
Another group of four programs will be
heard in March, continuing the organ
music by Bach.
Academic Notices
Law School Admission Test. Applica-
tion blanks for the Nov. 12 administra-
tion of the Law School Admission Test
are now available at 110 Rackham Build-
ing. Application blanks are due in
Princeton, N. J. not later than Nov. 2,
1955,
Psychology Colloquium. Dr. E. Lowell
Kelly. "Personality Changes in Husbands
and Wives." (with slides) Fri., Oct. 28.
2402 Mason Hall. Open to the public.
Doctoral Examination for Bernard J.
Fridsma, Germanic Languages and
Literatures: thesis: "Social and Cul-
tural Criticism in the Works of Ernst
Wiechert," Fri., Oct. 28, 102D Tappan
Hall, at 2:00 p.m. Chairman, F. B.
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
1I
INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
Acheson Picks Wrong Time
By J. M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
DEAN Acheson was one of America's great
secretaries of state during a very danger-
ous period in its history.
Before that, he contributed importantly to
some of the nation's most constructive policies,
such as the Marshall Plan. He made a few
mistakes. He al'so avoided a vast number which
might have been made in a period of great un-
certainty.
During his term America built up a foreign
policy, the principal points of which were to.
prevent Russia from gobbling the world piece
by piece, while developing the strength of the
Editorial Staff
Dave Baad .. ...................... Managing Editor
Jim Dygert -......................... City Editor
Murry Frymer .....,.......... Editorial Director
Debra urhslag............... Magazine Editor
David Kaplan . ..........,.......... Feature Editor
Jane Howard ....................... Associate Editor
Louise Tyor .. ................ Associate Editor
Phil Douglis............... Sports Editor
Alan Eisenberg ..,,............ Associate Sports Editor
Jack Horwitz ................. Associate Sports Editor
Mary Helithaler ...............W.... Women's Editor
Elaine Edmonds ............ Associate Women's Editor
John Hirtzel ........ ..... Chief Photographer
Business Staff
free world to where it could force a change in
Russian strategy.
Right now that policy is being credited with
putting a new face on Russian tactics, if not
yet on her intentions.
WHILE doing these things, Acheson was sub-
jected to bitter criticism by many Republi-
cans and some members of his own party. It
was a time of uncertainty when differences of
opinion were natural, and they were freely
expressed. It would be superhuman to expect
Acheson to forget.
But it was also a time in which the United
States solidified her leadership of the; Free
World. Acheson's stature in that world is very
high.
It is, then, somewhat disappointing that he
should choose this time, when even his own
party is giving strong nonpartisan support to
an American foreign policy fundamentally like
his own, for partisan criticism, the dangers
of which he knows so well.
IT IS particularly unfortunate that this criti-
cism, however accidentally, should come at
a moment when Foster Dulles is actively trying
to take advantage of the "position of strength"
which Acheson was so influential in building;
when the President is ill, and it has been nec-
essary for him to give written assurance that
the secretary of state has full power to speak
for the nation in exceedingly grave negotia-
tions.
Acheson has written a book. This is the
season for publishing books on weighty mat=
ters, as well as the season for good Democrats
and Republicans to be at each other's throats
prior to election of a president. The book un-
doubtedly was under way before the Geneva
conference was planned and will not appear
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ONE of the hardest jobs for a
newspaperman in Washington
today is to find out the truth. This
has long been the case among
politicians. But today when de-
nials,, counter-denials, official
statements, and off-the-recod
press conferences are the standard
technique of the present adminis-
tration, it is even more difficult.
The result is to put the reading
public in a maze of confusion and
destroy confidence both in the
press and in government officials.
In the past week, for instance,
the public has been confused by
conflicting statements by the De-
fence Department that three Sen-
ators did and then did not order
two plush pressurized airplanes to
bring them home from Europe;
also by documentary proof issued
by the Pentagon that General
MacArthur had definitely favored
entry of Russia into the war
against Japan, followed by an
indignant denial by MacArthur.
* *.
ONE REASON for all this is a
deliberate attempt by some to
deceive the public. A high official
gets caught in an embarrassing
position and he issues a denial. If
he issues it with enough vigor and
if friendly newspapers give it
enough prominence, he figures
part of- the public will believe it.
General MacArthur was in this
position last week.
Another reason for the confu-
sion is -the difficulty of checking
news stories in this Administration
in which there is more secrecy
than at any time in a quarter of a
century-even during World War
II.
When President Eisenhower was
stricken, for instance, the Iron
News Curtain really clamped down
over everything pertaining to him.
Even when newsmen in Denver
made an arrangement to get a
friendly human-interest story from
Ik6's nurse it was abruptly can-
celed by Press Secretary Hagerty.
At an Army hospital there is the
tightest possible restriction on in-
formation, and some of the details
regarding the President have come
not from Denver but from Dr. Paul
D. White's office in Boston-much
to the consternation of Press Sec-
retary Jim Hagerty.
One denial technique is to pick
out one or two details in a news
story and deny them in an attempt
to discredit the entirety. Immedi-
ately after the President's illness
I reported that Secretary Dulles
had conferred with Vice President
Nixon at the home of acting Attor-
ney General Rogers. This was in
error. I later found that Dulles
had not been present in person,
and that his conference with Nix-
on was done by telephone. This
detail has been used in part by
certain issuers-of-denials to dis-
credit my far more important ac-
count of Nixon's desire to become
acting President during Eisen-
hower's illness.
So that the reading public will
know how these denials and coun-
ter-denials operate, let's take a
look at what happened backstage
when the recent hullabaloo over
the two special airplanes requested.
for three Senators broke over the
news horizon. The story was first
written by Jim Lucas, highly com-
petent writer for the Scripps-
Howard newspapers, who, while in
Europe, secured a copy of a cable
asking for the two planes.
HE SENT the cable to his office
in Washington for checking, and
it, in turn, received an admission
from Assistant Secretary of De-
fense Robert T. Ross, in charge
of keeping Congress happy, that
the planes had been requested and
were being sent. He added that
the request had come from Maj.
Gen. Robert Moore, the Pentagon
chaperon or escort officer accom-
panying the Senators and also in
charge of keeping them happy.
His confirmation was complete
justification for the Jim Lucas
story, published in all Scripps-
Howard newspapers and later sub-
stantiated by an official statement
from the Defense Department.
However, there were some back-
stage factors in the picture. One
is the fact that General Moore,
the Pentagon chaperon accom-
panying the Senators, enjoys such
chummy relations with them that
there is little they won't do for
him or he for them.
* * *
DENNIS CHAVEZ of New Mex-
ico, Chairman of the junketing
subcommittee, is a good Senator
who should have joined the Mar-
ines. He just loves to travel. He
enjoys it so much that he encour-
aged every escort officer o'f the
Army, Navy, and Air Force, going
with the junketing Senators, to
bring his wife along to Europe,
Africa and Asia. General Moore,
listening to Chavez' advice,
brought his secretary, though, fol-
lowing the hullabaloo over the
planes, they are coming home on
the SS America-also at the tax-j
payers 'expense.
When Col. Ralph Watson, one
of the escort officers with the
Senators in Europe, got word from
Washington that no planes were
available for three or four days
to 'bring the Senators home, he
contacted Senator McClellan of
Arkansas. McClellan replied that
he could not wait but would go
home by commercial plane.
COLONEL WATSON didn't
bother to talk to Senator Stennis
of Mississippi, but notified Sena-
tor Chavez, then in Rome, of the
situation. He got word from
Chavez that the plan to bring the
Senators home at a later date was
unacceptable.
It was after this that Colonel
Watson, with the approval of Gen-
eral Moore, promoted by law by
these same Senators over the head
of the White House, cabled the De-
fense Department that the two
special planes must be dispatched
pronto. It was following all this
that the Defense Department, ever
mindful of the money-voting pow-
er of Congress, humbly ate crow
and apologized.
Copyright, 1955, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.
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Louise Lasker '58 Wahr.
STRESS PRIVATE FAITH:
New Theme For 'Reformation' Day
On Campus
-by Dirk Snel
By GEORGE W. CORNELL
Associated Press Writer
MANY churches today are the
result of an accident that oc-
curred a long time ago. But it
was no ordinary accident. It sent
shock waves around the world. And
it still acts as a beacon on the un-
even sea of Protestantism.
This Sunday, thousands of
churches celebrate the fortuitous
turn of events which 437 years ago
touched off the Protestant Refor-
mation and changed the face of
modern Christendom.
As they do so, new beams and
He said the trend marks a turn-
ing point in post-Reformation his-
tory.
"It must be based," he said, "up-
on a new and mutual appreciation
and cooperation among both the
so-called older a n d younger
churches throughout the inhabited
world."
Although the Reformation un-
leashed a freedom of faith that
still is the heartbeat of Protestant-
ism, it also produced a vast pot-
pourri of denominations that
sometimes fought each other fur-
iously.
"The age of our divisiveness is
over," says the Rev. O. Walter
Wagner, executive director of the
Metropolitan Church Federation of
Greater St. Louis.
BUT THE BIG theme of the an-
niversary is the once-daring con-
cept that each man alone must
find his own way-by his private
faith-to God.
It was this idea with which Mar-
tin Luther, by a mishap, sparked
the Reformation on Oct. 31, 1517.
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Dick Aistrom.......... ..... Business
Bob Ilgenfritz ............ Associate Busisess
Ken Rogat..................Advertising
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