E GE EIGHT THE MICHIGAN DAILY MO11 WAS INTERVIEWED? K i,'~ : ~''w Prof . Abbot Turns Tables on Reporter 1 .x.r 'T h'.V fl V F \ 9a\ Wet \\ . \ 4 . r\ : ,. \\ ai -Photo Courtesy University News Service WALDO ABBOT ... dislikes profiles. By DONNA HANSON "Go out and get a profile on Prof. Waldo Abbot." Just another profile, I thought to myself after I read the assign- ment sheet and made an appoint- ment to see Prof. Abbot. So, duly equipped with pencil and notebook, I approached the WUOM Director in his office in the Administration Bldg. "How do you do, sir," I said. "I would like to write a profile on you." I sat down in a chair that my host offered me and took out my pencil and paper expectantly. "Very glad to meet you," he said, graciously. His next words stun- ned me. "I don't like profiles. I've had several written about me al-, ready and they're all alike. Ij haven't done anything you could print,-since the last one that was written about me." "Let's Talk" As I sat there with my mouth gaping, Prof. Abbot sat at his desk and took out a cigarette. "Let's Just talk," he said. Well, I'll fool him, I thought to myself. I'll get him to talk about himself and then I'll have my pro- file. "Why -did you turn from journalism to radio work?" I ask- ed, pencil poised. "Put away that paper and pen- cil," the man ordered. Then, settl- ing back in his chair he told me about the time he was an assist- ant editor on the Michigan Alum- IIF l nus here at the University. "I used to dig back, looking for stories which usually ended up being about radio work. So, when they decided to appoint a man to work with the radio station here, they picked me. No pay, of course." Enjoyed Conversation I tried frantically to memorize everything that was said and fin- ally decided it was an impossi- bility. So, I leaned back in my chair, threw my pad and pencil on the floor and enjoyed the con- versation. We talked about oil drums, hotels, wind tunnels and me. Somewhere in the midst of the conversation I felt as if I were the interviewee and Prof. Abbot was on the quest of a profile. His conversation was as witty and humorous as it was informal. After a while, I insisted that we talk about him and he divulged a few of his accomplishments. Prof. Abbot had attended the Literary College and the Law Schools at the University and was graduated in 1913 with an L.L.B. degree. Almost upon graduation, he .served as Assistant Prosecutor of Washtenaw County, "but I couldn't charge anyone because I knew them too well." Appointed Broadcasting Director At the University, Prof. Abbot worked as an instructor in rhetoric and in 1925 was appointed Director of the Broadcasting Service. He is also an assistant professor of Eng- lish and speech. Most of this factual data about Prof. Abbot, I must guiltily admit, was secured from a biography, not from him. I was desperate! He did tell me, however, about the time he worked on the staff of the Christian Science Monitor. "I worked on The Daily, too," he went on to say. "In those days, it was located in a hole in the University Press Building and there were no women on the staff." At this, I blushed selfconsciously. "Enough of this talk," he contin- ued. "I'll show you around the studio." Studio on Springs Leaving my pad and pencil be- hind, I was propelled toward a glass-enclosed room that was set above the hall floor level. "This room is set on springs." he ex- plained, "so that no outside vibra- tions can be picked up by the mic- rophone. It would sound awfully funny if we were doing a broadcast about Washington at Valley Forge and an airplane could be heard flying overhead." After the tour of the WUOM station, I felt as if I knew more about radio broadcasting than Prof. Abbot. Upon reentering his office, the WUOM director showed me his scrapbooks containing stories about the studio, his accom- plishments and various well-known radio and television personalities that he had known. First Book on Broadcasting Then Prof. Abbot showed the book that he had written about broadcasting and said he was edit- ing it for its fourth edition. The book, entitled "Handbook of Broad- casting" was written in 1930. "Darn book is good," the Professor said, "because it is .the first book to come out on broadcasting. One hundred and some odd universities are now using the book," he added. Time had flown, and so had my profile, I thought. I hated to end the fascinating conversation, but classes beckoned. "It's been aw- fully interesting talking to you Prof. Abbot," I said. ' "If I can interest you, you can interest others," he answered. To Give Recital University Organist R o b e r t Noehren will present his fourth program in the current series of public Sunday .afternoon organ recitals today at 4:15 in Hill Aud- itorium. The entire series is devoted to the organ music of Johaan Se- bastian Bach and will cover two academic years, 1955-56 and'1956- 57. SECRET SERVICE WORRIED: Public Denies Ilse Privacy at Farm : -Daily-Dick Gaskill -Daily-Dick Gaskill DERBY-CLAD men from Gomberg House (left) pull in unison, forcing their Taylor House opponents off the muddy bank and into the Huron River. In less than one minute after it had begun, the first annual Gomberg-Taylor Tug-of-War was over, leaving Gomberg the high-and-dry victor. Early morning rain dampened the ground, but failed to dampep team spirits. Taylor men got the first edge over their opponenfs, but when they started losing ground they never stopped until each man was in the cold river and the rope was off the bank. Upon regaining dry land, the Taylor team promptly gave a Gomberg cheer. GETTYSBURG, Pa., Oct. 29 (P) --Country living generally means relaxed living, plenty of privacy and freedom of movement. And living on a 400-acre farm should give one plenty of all three -unless you're the President of the United States. Even though the President will be recuperating here from his heart attack last month, the prob- lems of privacy and freedom of movement will be big ones at his sprawling, rolling farm on the edge of Gettysburg's famous Civil War battlefield. Authorities Try To Help Trying to help, however, are Gettysburg Battlefield Park au- thorities and the Civil Aeronautics Administration-with an under- standing assist from residents of this historic town. and surrounding farm countryside. First step toward assuring the President's privacy came when park authorities offered to close, to all battlefield. tourists, one of the half dozen observation towers which dot the battlefield. This particular tower is along Confederate Ave., about a half mile from President Eisenhower's front door. A tourist, even with the naked eye, can see what's going on at the farm. And, with the aid of even medium powered glasses or - -- binoculars, he can tell what color dress Mrs. Eisenhower is wearing. Secret Service Concerned The Secret Service reportedly was concerned when it.took a good look at the situation and realized a crackpop with a high-powered rifle, equipped with a telescope lens, could endanger the President os members of his family. So it was decided to close, the tower when the President stays at the farm. Later this was modified and, dur- ing President Eisenhower's visits here, the tower will be open-but under survellience. Meanwhile, the CAA has not posted the area as a section over which aircraft may not fly, it has issued a memorandum in which it notes "that air traffic in the immediate vicinity of the Eisen- hower farm has steadily increas- ed and at unnecessarily low alti- tudes." Much of this traffic, it pointed out, was from local planes apparently hired by tourists who want an aerial look at the farm. As a result, the CAA has asked the cooperation of airport opper- ators and pilots in the vicinity to avoid sightseeing trips. They have been cooperating to the extent it is virtually impossible to get a pilot to fly you over or near the ,Eis- enhower farm. Public Roads Kept Open Traffic on regular public roads around the farm continues as us- ual-and that's the way President Eisenhower reportedly wants it. His home is reached by a long lane off Waterworks Road but the entrance now is blocked by a heavy gate and a sentry box, occupied by Secret Service personnel when he's at the farm. Meanwhile, work on putting- the farm in top operating shape ,on- tinues. When President Eisenhow- er purchased the farm it com- prised 189 acres, in not-too-good shape. Today his holdings total nearly 400 acres and with the en- larged house, remodeled bard, im- proved lands, addition of a farm pond, it is an A-1 farm according- to strict Pennsylvania D u t c h standards. GENEVA (P) -. Soviet Foreign Minister V. M. Molotov-the grim nyet-man of many international meetings-is behaving at Geneva like a Jolly Volga boatman on a Saturday night off. He smiles. He laughs. He even makes jokes. "I've never seen him so relaxed," said an American delegate who has known Molotov for at least nine years, "and while he still says 'nyet' no, he says it with a smile." British Foreign Secretary Har- old Macmillan is reported to have commented to his ministerial col- leagues about Molotov's easy man- ners around the conference table- and his mellowness in the con- ference bar. After Macmillan fol- lowed French Moreign Minister Antoine Pinay in the conference chairman's chair, Molotov is re- ported to have quipped: "Mr. Macmillan is a better chair- man-he let's me talk. Mr. Pinay shuts me up." Asked if anyone at the confer- ence table has questioned Molotov about his reported intention to re- veal at Geneva his plans about re- tiring, the spokesman for the American delegation said: "No, that question hasn't come up ." Early Decision By Margaret? Princess Margaret and Peter townsend kept a well-guarded weekend rendezvous Saturday with millions of Britons believing their hour of decision is near. The 25-year-old princess and her 40-year-old divorced war hero friend pondered their problems in a secluded mansion on the rol- ling Sussex Downs. The impression spread that this is the climactic weekend in the romance of the lovely princess and the handsome pilot. London news- papers stressed belief they were now fully briefed on all the mo- mentous issues of state that would face any decision to marry. f Molotov Taking On Happy Air During Geneva Proceedings 4 SPANISH FESTIVAL: Bull Run Starts at Dawn 2nd Big Week Of Our 80th Anniversary Sale 30,000 volumes of fiction, non-fiction and reference books of all kind on sale Priced at 9 and up "A TREASURE HOUSE OF BOOKS" Many out of print titles selected from the largest privately owned stock in the United States. NEW TITLES STILL BEING ADDED DAILY BULLS START THEIR RUN THROUGH THE STREETS (EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an interpretive story written by for- mer Daily staff member Shirley Klein during her stay in Spain for her jun- ior year of college.) No one needs an alarm clock in Pamplona, Spain during the vio- lent, emotional festival of San Fer- min. Beginning with Vespers on the eve of July 6, and ending two weeks later; the fiesta combines wild merrymaking with the sol- emnity of, a religious processional and High Mass on the seventh of July, "The Day of San Fermin." Saint Honored The celebration honors Saint' Fermin, first bishop of the city of Pamplona and patron saint of the province of Navarra. Included in the sacred proces- sion are sculpted images, relics, church and civic officials, and bib- lical caricatures with huge papier- mache heads. But the especially renown part of the festival is the "encierro" or running of the bulls through the enclosed streets to the bull- ring.. Ernest Hemingway, in his novel, "The Sun Also Rises," made famous to Americans the "encier- ros," and, as one Spanish writer said, "convinced them that to be integrally valient, one must run before the bulls of San Fermin." Called "barbarous" and "sav- age" by many humanitarians, the "running" is rumored each year to have had its last fling. Festival Starts Early Festivities begin at 5:45 a.m. with the pound of drums, tweak of flutes, and shrill laughter of other instruments. Bands of ex- huberant youngsters (everyone is young in spirit during San Fer- min), dancing, hopping, as they go, pour toward the solitary barred-off streets. Quickly, nervously, the crowd squashes into streets, onto balco- nies, stepladders, shoulders, and utility poles. Another mob over- flows the balconies of the bull- ring, the terminating point in the "encierro." Pulsing tension beats and swirls within the onlookers. A pistol is, fired, and the race is on, The courageous, or "stupid," as one spectator remarked, participants run for their lives in front of the maddening, thundering hoofs of these savage beasts. Sometimes the ring is reached without mis- hap. Sometimes it isn't.- Nowdays, fatalities are rare for "toros mansos" or bulls that do not charge, run, as a somewhat calming influence, with the brave bulls. Nevertheless, a silent, unit- ed sigh is felt by the public as the bulls are rushed through the ring to their stalls behind. Comedy Follows The day's drama is over. Now for the comedy. Young, sleek cows lacking the fierce horns of their elder brothers, are let into the ring. Half the young people of Pamplona -and elsewhere - try their luck at "toreando" with his jacket or maybe a special home- made cape just for the occasion. After minor skirmishes, the young men join their friends to drink wine, dance the "jota" (a regional favorite), and sing in the streets. Many refuse even a couple of hour's sleep each night. The whole town is one incessant,. booming, rhythmic noise. Sidewalk cafes are far fuller than bottles of wine. Much of the popu- lace is dressed in the traditional white suit, red neck-scarf, and red and white rope-soled shoes, In the afternoon are the bull fights when the morning's "ty- rants" snort to their final esca- pade. Street venders cry to the tourists to buy their "life-sized" dolls which, dressed as gypsies, move their heads from side to side as they walk. Revels Continue Nightfall brings the addition of fireworks, public dancing with an orchestra in the main square, and continued reveling in the streets, cafes and bars. "San Fermin" visitors would never recognize Pamplona as the capital of the ancient reign of Navarra nestles, serene and soft, in the winter snows of the Py- rennes Mountains. t WOODEN FENCES IN THE STREET PROVIDE EASY ESCAPE I -1-1- u - 1 1 .'.