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 7' 'r'1 -71 '1 1 ^\/'4 T-' 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 r r 1 l I 7 1 t a S A 7 J I ! }1 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. 4 4 1 ( 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. ": t f t + ^ , , ' ..,< , _ r' L. r , +, } . , k t k - j { { t k !" Dick Aistrom.......... ..... Business Bob Ilgenfritz ............ Associate Busisess Ken Rogat..................Advertising Manager Manager Manager , :< , tx"p