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November 12, 1955 - Image 4

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Michigan Daily, 1955-11-12

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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

Good Luck Bennie - The Fans Are Behind You!

DRAMATIC ARTS CENTER
'Sea Gull' Thoughtful,
Admirab le Production
THE Dramatic Arts Center production of Anton Chekhov's "The Sea
Gull" is a thoughtful and ambitious presentation.
The play is difficult to perform, in that much of the action is
static, as are the characters, and physical movement is limited. For
the most part, the D.A.C. has captured the brooding psychological
impact of the play, although they are more effective in the theatrics of
it.
The Russian drama is a study of deluded Society. It is peopled
with characters whose lives are empty because they cling to false

Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily are written by members of The Daily staff,
and represent the views of the writers only. This must be noted in all reprints.

;,

AY, NOVEMBER 12, 1955

NIGHT EDITOR: DICK SNYDER

New Driving Proposal Offers
Realistic Solution

I

BECAUSE OF "a community solution to a
community problem," the University has at
last been offered a concrete proposal to replace
the outmoded driving ban now in effect.
Appointed last spring by Student Govern-
ment Council, the representative study com-
mittee is now putting the final touches on a
plan which should bring to an end the gripes
and groans of those students who have been
tabbed for illegal driving under the present
rules and those, less adventurous, who have left
their cars at home.
If the study group's propositions are accepted
when finally presented to SGC and the Regents,
it will mark the first time in University history
that a committee composed of students, faculty,
administration and townspeople has deliberated
on a problem of common concern and actually
come up with a feasible solution.
If for no other reason than the fact that
the proposal is not an administrative act direct-
ed at students, the proposal is a good one.
However, there are other things in its favor
besides this. Under the present situation, the
plan tentatively approved seems to be the most
practical one available from the standpoint of
acceptance to the student body, the adminis-
tration and Ann Arbor residents.
By CHANGING the driving age limit from
26 to 21 years, the committee recognizes the
unreasonableness of the former limit. By using
21 as a base the committee has conformed to
legal requirements for such activities as re-
sponsibility for conduct and drinking, a prob-
lem which, incidentally, is not too remote from
the problem created by student operated auto-
mobiles at the University of Michigan.
Since an age requirement in itself does not
make a practical and effective regulation, the
committee also recommended retention of the
present system of exempt permits at the
discretion of the Office of Student Affairs.
Students who need cars for health reasons, for
purposes of business, for commuting to and
from campus and for other reasons deemed
proper by the Office may still obtain permits.
Nor did the committee lack wisdom to see
that mere attainment of age 21 would not be
reason enough to approve student application
for permission to drive. Though no definite
studies have been made on the subject, posses-
sion of a 'car would not seem to be an advantage
as far as academic performance is concerned.
The proposed change indicates a cognizance of
this in calling for a two-point average or, in
event that the student is in academic difficul-
ties, permission of the proper authorities in
the school concerned.
Thus the committee has hit upon the basic
problem of student-operated cars at the Uni-
versity. Realizing that enforcement of a desir-
able set of laws is a necessity if the laws are to
be effective, the proposal is backed up by a
series of severe penalties for student driving
violations.
IT IS apparent that the section dealing with
enforcement penalties is going to meet oppo-
sition. Since this section is actually the back-
bone of the proposed regulations, lesser penal-
ties would be a detriment to their effectiveness.
Basic penalty for most violations would be
expulsion' from the University for a semester.
Such actions as drinking while driving and
traffic violations, termed improper use of driv-
ing privilege, are grounds for warning and
withdrawal of privilege.

Even a superficial insight into the plight of
Ann Arbor should every student bring his car
to town indicates the impossibility of no ban
and no enforcement. The student survey taken
during this fall's registration clearly showed
that a great increase in cars on campus would
occur without some form of restriction. Addi-
tional burdens upon its present facilities for
parking and traffic would turn the city's present
"mild' problem" into a nightmare.
The strength which the penalties lend to the
proposed regulations comes from the fact that
student incentive to operate a car illegally
would be greatly reduced. The more risk in-
volved, the less will ineligible student drivers
be tempted into seeing if they can get away
with driving.
To have any reasonable effect on regulated
student driving, restrictions must be backed
up by stringent enforcement measures. One of
the basic problems with the current ban is
that enforcement is on a rather sketchy basis,
resulting in injustices to many and adding to
the boasts of those who haven't been caught.
As Dean Rea has said, "The present regula-
tions punish those who tell the truth." In the
eyes of most illegal drivers, a fifteen dollar
fine is much better than cab fare for an
evening.
If the proposed restrictions are carried out
by the proper authorities and are backed up by
an adequate enforcement staff with severe
penalties for violations, the city and campus
will at least have a reasonable and effective
driving regulatibn.
-DICK SNYDER
Need Less, Not 'More
Michigan Madness'
DEFENSELESS students are now going to be
blasted out of their favorite coffee spots
by four and a half minutes of African War
songs and unintelligible babble.
The publicity election committee of the Stu-
dent Government Committee have issued a
record entitled "More Michigan Madness" and
placed it in the jukeboxes of seven campus
eating places. The record, aimed at getting
students to vote in SGC elections, consist of
African War chants, a great deal of verbalizing,
cuts from Glee Club and Marching Band rec-
ords, and a rendition of American folk songs.
In most political organizations, people have
a say in the type and amount of campaigning
they are subjected to. They can attend cam-
paign programs, read paid political advertise-
ments, or choose their radio politicing.
THIS is no longer the case at the University
'of Michigan. Now students, faculty, towns-
people, and alumni and football fans will be
subjected to a "get-out-the-vote" campaign
four days before election time - all this while
they're eating.
Effective communication between students
and administration is certainly worth driving
for, and SGC has potentialities of establishing
this communication.
However it is hurting itself while it is still
in its formative state. It may be trying to
promote awareness of its elections, which is
definitely what the University needs, but "More
Michigan Madness" succeeds only in creating
a negative attitude toward the elections.
-JANET REARICK

WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND:
GOP Trouble With Strobel1
By DREWI PEARSON

IT isn't supposed to be known out-
side the White House, but Assist-
ant President Sherman Adams has
decided to get rid of public build-
ings boss Peter Strobel as grace-
fully as possible.
Strobel's outside business acti-
vities, Adams concluded, violated
the Administration's 'code of ethics
which requires employees to "so
conduct themselves as to permit
no possible basis for suspicion of
unethical business practices."
Strobel has been running a con-
sulting engineering firm whose
private customers have received
government contracts from Stro-
bel. One client, Serge Petroff, got
a $16,300 government contract the
day after Strobel "recommended"
him to a subordinate in govern-
ment. The subordinate testified
that Strobel left the impression
the contract was to go to Petroff
and no other firm. Petroff, inci-
dentally, was hired to do architec-
tural work, which government ar-
chitects normally do.
* * *
STROBEL also used his influ-
ence as a top administration offi-
cial to pressure the army engin-
eers into paying his firm an extra
$7,500 for past work. The record
shows several other incidents that
suggest a conflict between Stro-
bel's private interests and his gov-
ernment duties: His personal in-
come from his firm, incidentally,
dropped from $86,964 in 1953 to
$34,599 in 1954. No figures are
available on how much he has re-
ceived from the firm since he be-
came Public Buildings Commis-
sioner on July 1, 1954. However,
the firm has been working on an
overtime basis in recent months.
Strobel's outside activities were

first exposed in this column on
September 1, later investigated by
Brooklyn Congressman "Manny"
Celler's Judiciary Committee. These
hearings finally convinced the
White House that Strobel must go.
Note: The Strobel hearings also
set off A round of political jokes
on Capitol Hill. One is the
new Republican lament: "Nobody
knows the Strobel I'm in." Another
concerns a Republican who moans
to a Democrat: "You think you
have trouble? We have Strobel."
CONGRESSMAN James Roose-
velt of California was quietly at-
tending a hearing of the House
Small Business Committee when
he was startled to hear testimony
that his father, the late President,
had not been responsible for Pearl
Harbor.
He was also startled to learn
that an official army finding that
FDR was in no way to blame for
Pearl Harbor had been censored
out of the final Army Pearl Har-
bor report.
Congressman Roosevelt's sur-
prise was not because he ever
thought his father was respon-
sible for Pearl Harbor. Some Re-
publicans, of course, did make
that charge. The congressman's
surprise was rather at the manner
in which the army had suppressed
a conclusion which completely ex-
onerated his father.
* * *
THE SURPRISE testimony came
from Harry A. Toulmin, Jr., a
Dayton, Ohio, lawyer who was tes-
tifying about government investi-
gations.
"To give you the experience I
had when I was appointed a mem-
ber of the army Pearl Harbor

board," he told the Small Business
Committee, "that was originally
formed and appointed by the De-
partment of the Army with three
generals. After they had been go-
ing on a considerable period of
some weeks and they were under
joint mandate of the House and
Senate in their investigation, I
was brought from the Pacific area
and put in there as another mem-
ber of the Board charged with the
duty of conducting the investiga-
tion and writing the report.
"I was charged with secrecy
nder a double oath," Toulmin con-
tinued. "In that investigation I
had log sheets with complete
breakdowns of the witnesses, with
every fact testified to, with col-
umns this long and sheets this
deep.
* * *
"I DID not put my own opinions
in it nor did the Board," said Toul-
min. "We made a finding of fact
as best we knew how. Everything
appears .of record in that report
with one exception which I would
mention as long as I am before
Congress under oath. Mr. Roose-
velt will be interested in this.
"I made a finding and submitted
it to the Board and was concurred
in by the Board but was not put
in the report because they thought
it was indelicate for them to com-
ment on the President of the Unit-
ed States, your father.
"I made a finding," said Toul-
min, "that there was not a scrap
of information, not a fact, not an
inference in any way, shape or
form that showed Mr. Roosevelt
was guilty of Pearl Harbor. I am
glad to make that of public rec-
ord."
(copyright, 1955, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.)

hopes, false illusions of the world
and unreal ideas about themselves.
The sea gull, a bird who sails free-
ly and beautifully, is symbolized
by Nina, the aspiring actress.
She dreams of fame while deca-
dence is all around her in the form
of others who have tasted fame
and found it wanting. She too
fails in life, and in the end, is
hopelessly entangled between two
worlds-the real and the unreal--
both of which have failed her.
Kostya, her young lover, clings to
a hope that he ca nrevolutionize
the literary world with new forms,
and finds that he himself is be-
coming conventional.
EACH CHARACTER in the play
is a deep study in decadence, and
unfortunately there is no space to
delve into their singular situations.
Even the one man who seems to
be a solid practical figure is in
reality a weak and shallow per-
son when confronted with his own
problem.
One magnetic force controls
them all-Madame Arkadina, a fa-
mous actress and leading member
ists on a frail standard of values
of the community circle. She ex-
and only superficially can she
maintain a balance. Her respon-
sibilities are inwardly neglected.
Katherine Sergava, as the ac-
tress, dominates her scenes and
brings a needed vitality to the
colorful figure.dPerhaps the most
studied and effective performance
is given by Sidney Walker as the
doctor to whom all turn to, but
who-is actually a weak man. Ann
Gregory, playing a woman embit-
tered by unrequited love, and Ric
Lavin as the tortured Kostya are
both highly moving, although the
latter is given to overly-histrionic
effects in his more emotional
scenes.
Elaine Sinclair, as Nina the
young girl whose dreams are prov-
ed false, plays thoughtfully in the
first three acts, but depends upon
theatrical mannerisms to show her
change of character in the final
act, and her performance suffers
in this. Jay Lanin, in the- import-
ant role of the established author
who is guided by others' stronger
wills, lacks a depth of understand-
ing in his important scenes, but he
maintains a good level of perform-
ance in the rest of the play.
* * *
CURTISS COWAN'S settings,
the garden and the interior, are
ingenious and economically done,
and Joseph Gistirak's direction
ging-always a danger with Chek-
keeps the performance from lag-
hov.
"The Sea Gull" is carefully done,
and the imperfections do not no-
ticably detract. It is an admirable
production.
-David Newman
LETTERS
to the
EDITOR

AT THE MICHIGAN:
Johnson
Tries Hard
For years people have tried to
do things with Van Johnson.
In the early forties Mr. John-
son grinned his way through war-
time exploits and Esther Williams
swimming routines. Then he was
everybody's kid brother, the friend-
ly personality.
Last year, in "The Last Time I
Saw Paris," Mr. Johnson made
his debut as a dramatic actor, lov-
ing and losing Elizabeth Taylor;
this year he loves and loses De-
borah Kerr in "The End of the
Affair," a British theological-type
romance.
Miss Kerr, interviewed after her
return from Englald where "Af-
fair" was shot, reported that Mr.
Johnson sometimes did not either
eat or sleep if it was necessary
that he look haggard for the next
day's filming. Such celebetic de-
votion to his art has, unfortunate-
ly, done nothing for Mr. 'Johnson's
talents. He still looks as whole-
some and clean-living as the boy
on the cereal box.
And it is Mr. Johnson's whole-
someness which destroys part of
the meagre drama in "Affair," the
remainder being hampered by its
nineteenth-century, blistering-pas-
sion - versus - moral - courage
tale.
MISS KERR is a married lady
who takes up romantically with
Johnson and then experiences
guilt feelings. Her husband, though
tediously boring and dully exas-
perating, is a kindly soul. And Miss
Kerr has to make up her mind
whether it is better to be moral
and miserable or immoral and
sensuous. She takes about two
hours to make up her mind, in a
series of endlessly talky scenes
where the most strenuous action
is expressed by the performer's
lips, either jabbering or kissing.
Just when she is about to make
that final decision-she up and
catches cold and dies in the ,tra-
dition-soaked style of opera he-
roines.
MISS KERR tries admirably and
Mr. Johnson has his big moment
in a tear-drenched finale. But
neither achieve any dramatic states
ure and the picture mostly re-
sembles second-rate daytime tele-
vision drama.
The trouble with "End of the
Affair" is that it fnds too late.
-Ernest Theodossin

i

IN THIS CORNER:
No Time For Idealism

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
Sees Danger In Population Growth

yByy
IT PASSED so quietly that you may not have'
noticed, but yesterday was Armistice Day.
They call it Veterans Day now, but officially
.the 11th of November was celebrated to com-
memorate the signing of peace after World
War I.
But yesterday no one was particularly aware
of this, or if they were, the com1memoration
had lost most of its meaning.
It wasn't always 'this way, at least for me.
In the elementary grades I remember there
was quite a point made about the eleventh
hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month
of 1918.' We would all gather in the large main
corridor where the principal of the school would
give a serious speech.
Editorial Staff
Dave Baad......................... Managing Editor
Jim Dygeat ........................... .City Editor,
Murry Frym er ....................Editorial Director
Debra Durchslag .................... Magazine Editor
David Kaplan .......................... Feature Editor
Jane Howard ......................... Associate Editor
Louise Tyor ....................... Associate Editor

MURRY FRYMER
He would talk about the "Yanks" who fought
"to make the world safe for democracy." And
he spoke of the hope that men in 1918 then
had about ending world strife forever.
Perhaps it was because an even greater war;
was then in progress that the idea of a world
of perpetual peace made such an impression on
me. I didn't even have a very clear recollection
then of what the country without war would
be like, when there were no more ration books,
when Superman was no longer fighting Nazis
and Japs, and when the daily newspapers were
no longer filled with maps showing allied ad-
vances and retreats.
AFTER the principal's speech, the school
chorus would sing "America," there would
be a prayer for the allies now fighting through-
out the world, and then with a lump in every-
one's throat, we would proudly sing the Star
Spangled Banner.
The second World War did end, and ration
books did disappear, and for a while-maybe
it was only a few months-everlasting peace
did seem like a possibility. Armistice Day in
1945 had a great deal of meaning.
Yesterday, ten years later, the world had
changed a lot. Former President Herbert
Hoover placed a wreath on the tomb of the

By JANET REARICK
Daily Staff Writer
When asked about his major
field of study, Marston Bates
laughingly says that his pat an-
swer is, "As little as possible."
Actually the zoology professor
is actively engaged in his teaching
and in writing. His most recent
published work is "The Prevalence
of People."
Professor Bates came to the
University in 1952 from the staff
of the International Health Divi-
sion where he studied the human
population problem.
Presented here are his views on
some of the phases of this prob-
lem.
Q: What is the "Human Popu-
lation Problem?"
A: Essentially that our birth.
rate is all out of skew with our
death rate: people are increasing
at a tremendous rate. This can't
go on forever. In fact, the popu-
lation is increasing 1% per year.
At that rate in 1000 years there'll
be one person for every square yard
of space-including the Sahara
desert. This just doesn't look

Q: What fields of research should
be developed and expanded in the
study of human population?
A: There should be more re-
search on methods of controlling
reproduction. There is research
being done, but it's being done by
the drug companies who are only
interested in something that they
can sell.
Q: Isn't there some danger of
treading on "thin ice" regarding
religious beliefs and attitudes?
A: That seems to be a situation
peculiar to Christianity. Beyond
this, a great deal of study should
be carried out on attitudes to-
ward children. India and Japan
are understandably very interest-
ed in this problem.
Q: What is being done about
the problem in these countries?
A: The Indian government has
set up a commission to study the
situation. At a recent meeting at
Princeton University, a scientist
from India (a woman) asked if
the West had any ideas on the
problem. No one had an answer
for her.
Q: What is the present plan for
the problem in the United States?
A* In Western Eurone and the

Terse Comment.
To the Editor:
BENNY MUST go,
He lost one in a row.
-Gerald 0. Losey, Grad.
Rally Was Needed...
To the Editor:
IN regard to Friday afternoon's
"Pep Rally," some of the people
commenting on the subject seemed
to indicate that they thought that
such a show of enthusiasm was
beneath the dignity of the Univer-
sity of Michigan.
To my mind what the University
needs is more spontaneous shows
of enthusiasm on the part of the
student body. It seems to me that
the "student leaders" were too
quick to assume that the rally
would be a failure. Perhaps they
are not in quite as close touch with
student opinion as they seem to
think they are and should be.
To try and thwart the rally as
was done may prove to have more
disastrous results, than if it was
allowed to be carried through as
conceived. The team was expect-
ing the students and it leaves a,
rather negative attitude toward
student support when no group
showed up to voice their support.
Contrary to the-opinions of some
"student leaders," some of the
football team felt that such an ex-
pression of student enthusiasm
would be welcome and not be an
interrnntinn of their nractice. It

DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
THE Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of the University
of Michigan for which the Michigan
Daily assumes no editorial responsi;
bitity. Notices should be sent in
TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3553
Administration Building before 2 p.m.
the day preceding publication. Notices
f or the Sunday edition must be in.
by 2 p.m. Friday.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1?, 1955
VOL. LXVII,, NO, 41
General Notices
Chest Clinic. The Michigan Depart-
ment of Health will have a mobile
X-Ray unit available from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 pm. on Nov. 14. and from 8:30
to 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 15 for staff mem-
bers of the University who wish to have
a, chest X-Ray. This service is free.
The mobile unit will be parked in the
rear of the Student Health Service.
Staff members will register in Room
No. 58 of the Health Service Bldg.
Late Permission for women students
who attended the Philharnionia Sym-
phony Orchestra Concert wed., Nov. 9
will be no later that 11:15 p.m.
Concerts
Nathan Milstein, violinist with Artur
Balsam at the piano, will give the
fourth concert in the Choral Union
Series, in Hill Auditorium, Mon., Nov.
14, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets on sale daily
at the offices of the University Musi-
cal Society in Burton Tower and the
night of the concert at the Hill Audi-
torium box office after 7:00.
Academic Notices
Music Literature 125 (American Music)
will meet on Sat. in WUOM Studio, not
in Burton Tower.
Doctoral Examination for Gladys Is-

r

:

PROF. MARSTON BATES
. . . "birth rate all out of skew"
vaccines that decrease mortality
rates.
Q: Where do you feel eugenics
(the science of improving the he-
reditary qualities of the human
rai) enters into this nian?

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