r i MIir4gatt Datg 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 E~ePly 1~tAnd Sweta en Opinions Are Free, Truth Will Prevail w^?" A +St i ' '_v Z : _'C ' ~ .. ._.._ " f1i 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. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1956 NIGHT EDITOR: LEW HAMBURGER Landlords Abusing Critical Demand For Housing ALTHOUGH THERE are no conclusive sta- to provide added housing it will not be able to tistics by which to judge, reliable estimates keep up with anticipated enrollment increases. place Ann Arbor rents a minimum 15 per cent above the national average. IF NO control of any sort-either statutory or Instances of rents so high as to be utterly 1 from asburd area not uncommon. Several Ann Arbor withm the real estate profession-is landlords have raised their rents in the middle exercised many will find the economic pinch of a semester, knowing the student had little unbearable as rents continue to rise in the face alternative but to pay. of acute need for apartments. The element of While it is likely the bulk of local realtors competition is gone and with it any chance for maintain the expected standards of integrity free market play to keep rents within reason- and fairness, the group of rent gougers taking able bounds. unfair advantage of a town gripped by a severe Rent controls in Ann Arbor were abolished housing shortage is giving the profession a June 18, 1951. It was the feeling at that time, black name, and the feeling is still prevalent in real estate The reasons given for the excessive rent are circles, that the controls were unfair to realtors. twofold: 1.) the cost of living in Ann Arbor is It may well be that official rent control is not among the highest in the country, and,2.) there the answer. is a tremendous scarcity of apartments. It is Internal control, however, is needed. When only natural, landlords claim, to raise the price rent controls were lifted a grievance board was of goods that are scarce. To a limited extent set up to hear cases of abuse by landlords. A the reasoning is valid. study last year revealed the committee heard But when the price reflects not the value ,few abuses and eventually died a natural death. of the good but simply the temporary advan- City officials and local realtors should give tage the rentor has over the rentee it is unfair serious consideration to probing the rental and unethical. situation and attempting to restrain those land- The situation is particularly serious now lords who are placing an unfair burden on Uni- because there is every reason to believe the versity students, as well as placing themselves, housing shortage will loom larger next fall' the city of Ann Arbor, and the realtors in a and the fall after and the fall after that. bad light, Despite the attempts the University is making -LEE MARKS Competing for Men's Minds r-", .. .*t* *.. 0 h- 4a -umio4 or WAR, IT seems, is "now" impractical. With the advent of inter-Continental mis- siles and hydrogen bombs the military-mite politics of East and West have lessened in significance. A corollary of this atomic stalemate has been a change in the tactics of East-West diplomacy to a phase-possibly to last for half a century-of "complete coexistence." The Communists have mane the transition to "competitive" diplomacy with the ease char- acteristic of totalitarian foreign policy. Krush- chev, Bulganin, Mao Tse-tung and lesser Red stars wait not a second for public opinion to crystallize behind }policy. Moral considerations, are not an obstacle. The expediency of the moment is their guide. This period of competitive diplomacy hasn't altered the Cfmnu1nist long-range aim of world domination. It has, however, altered their strategy. Krushchev and Co. have proved formidable diplomats. Their recent successful masquerade through Asia as "peacemakers" proves the point. They inveighed against "imperialism" and "capitalist warmongers" and received both literal and figurative red carpets for their thoughts.r THE CAPSTONES of their junket were aid offers to India, Burma, and Afganistan. Shortly before, Egypt had agreed to do business. The foot was now in the Arab-Asian door. On the other hand, American foreign policy hasn't made the sale, chiefly because it hasn't attempted, specifically because of leth- argy. The country seems preoccupied with its own economic properity, farmer's gripes, and Communists in the press. Thus, our foreign policy has taken the rigidity of Gibraltor, emphasizing military con- tainment, nearly oblivious to the demands of the competitive cpexistance of East and West. The planes and tanks we send abroad aren't feeding stomachs or providing capital equip- ment. The point is not that we haven't given anything to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; we haven't given enough and given it in useful forms. The President's recent statement that the administration will ask for $2.2 billion increase in foreign aid appropriations ,indicates that the shortcomings of our foreign policy are being sensed. When Ike talks of the necessity of a "long-range" program he is intimating an insight of his-the United States must make a greater sacrifice than she now is to "compete" for the minds and stomachs of men. -JIM ELSMAN WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND: More McKay Giveaways By DREW PEARSON IF a Senate Committee ever digs deep enough it will find some in- teresting White House friends in the background of the oil lease recently given to the Frankfort Oil Company to drill in the Lacas- sine Wildlife ,Refuge, hitherto barred for oil exploration. Among them are two high offi- cials of Seagrams Whiskey, one of them Ellis Slater, very close to Eisenhower. The Lacassine Waterfowl Re- fuge in the Tidelands Oil Area of Southern Louisiana is one of the Federal reserves set aside by the Interior Department under an act of Congress to protect wildlife. It dates back to 1935 and is consid- ered one of the most important bird refuges in the country. Hith- erto these refuges have not been open to oil drilling, though re- peated attempts were made by the oil companies to acquire leases. * * * IN THE CASE of the Lacassine Refuge, four attempts were made to drill for oil while Oscar Chap- man, Democrat, was Secretary of the Interior, the last application having been made by E. A. Mc- Kenna on Oct. 2, 1952, just a month before Eisenhower was elected. His application was rejected by Chapman on the ground that oil prospecting and drilling would in- jure the purpose for which Con- gress had set aside the refuge. Some months passed, and with the Eisenhower Administration now in office, McKenna applied again, June 10, 1953. This time he appealed direct to Secretary of the Interior "Generous Doug" Mc- Kay. * * * AT THAT TIME conservation groups, 'worried o v e r possible changes by the new Administra- tion, made various representations to the Interior Department, and although several oil leases for game refuges were prepared and on the desk of Orme Lewis, Assistant Sec- retary of the Interior, no oil leases were actually signed during 1953- 54. The pressure of the conserva- tionists was too great. Meanwhile independent oil man McKenna decided he was not in- fluential enough to budge the In- terior Department. So he inter-j ested the Frankfort Oil Company, a subsidiary of powerful Seagrams Distillers, one of the big three of the liquor business. * * * AFTER THE Seagrams-Frank- fort officials took over McKenna's oil applications, things began to move. First McKenna called at the Interior Department on July 7, 1955, with various Frankfort offi- cials to introduce them. Then on Sept. 30, 1955, the Frankfort people moved in full force. They were so confident of success that they submitted an operation plan for oil drilling in the Lacassine Game Refuge.' Career officials in the Fish and Wildlife Service were flabbergast-1 ed. They had served through many years when their chiefs above had steadfastly made their decisions on the basis ofurecommendations down below. But now the oppo- site was true. GEN. FRANK Schwengel, the very top man in Seagrams, now called personally at the Interior Department. He visited only the top brass. Officials down below still re- sisted, but it was obvious they were being by-passed. In No- vember, Gen. Schwengel, not con- tent with the progress, called again. This time he got what he wanted. About one week later the In- terior Department OK'd the oil- prospecting plans of' the Frank- fort Oil Company for 12,000 acres of the Lacassine Game Refuge, near the Gulf of Mexico in South Central Louisiana. Almost simultaneously, Secre- tary McKay came up with new regulations authorizing oil and gas leasing on 252 of the other 264 game refuges. All 252 were open- ed to oil drilling. THE NEW RULES were a com- plete surprise to game-refuge ex- perts in the Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice, who never saw them until they were sprung at a meeting of McKay's Advisory Committee on Conservation. The regulations were signed by "Generous Doug" McKay on the same day, and minutes later Har- ry J. Donohue, Interior Depart- ment Special Assistant, was on the telephone. The Bureau, said Donohue, was to place the pending oil-gas ap- plications for game refuges ahead of all other business. At that point the Frankfort- Seagrams group was the only ap- plicanit with an approved operat- ing plan, so its leases were the only ones involved. It took only two working days to process them, and they were finally issued on Dec. 6 with a back date to Dec. 1. (Copyright, 1956, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) New Crime Thrillers Lively SAMPLING the current crop of detective fiction titles is a usually entertaining if not always rewarding way of occupying one's leisure moments. On the scene of crime today, with the attack of the Spillane school at last (inevitably) ren- dered impotent, with the old mas- ters still bent on bloodshed, and with a new generation of crime writers , making their presence known, things are as lively and spirited as ever, For the temptation of the cramming student, then, whose reading interests could easily turn,j In desperation, to lighter subjects, here is a brief hit-and-rundown of what's new on the detective fic- tion shelves. * * * THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith (Coward- McCann). This is the new novel by the author of the notably successful Stranger on a Train; and it is an- other "offbeat" story which this time tells the storyi of young Tom Ripley who is sent to Europe by Herbert Greenleaf, an American who wants Ripley to talk his young, rebellious son into return- ing to the States. This commission by Greenleaf, the reader observes, amounts to the turning point in Tom Ripley's life. What happens to young Greenleaf on the continent when Ripley arrives exemplifies what constitutes the latter's new-found "talent." This is a strangely unreal butj compelling story of youthful per- sonalities, laid against a color- fully observed European back- ground. Miss Highsnith's star is on the rise. NO TEARS FOR SHIRLEY MIN- TON by Kenneth Lowe (Double- day). Looking back on it, poor Shir- ley Minton didn't have a friend in the world. Even the man who was making love to her at the moment when she was shot has fallen in love with someone else before her pretty corpse is scarce- ly cold.- And when her whining, spineless Daddy, is killed we are tempted to'say, "So what?" But all this makes for a big mystery in Shady Creek, and, of Icourse, it has to get solved. The nabbing and subsequent confession at the end of the story should rightfully rank high on the list of nominations for the Most Un- satisfactory a n d Unconvincng Mystery Climax of the Year. THE MAN OUT OF THE RAIN by John MacDonald (Doubleday). I John MacDonald's last collec- tion of stories, Something to Hide, got the votes in 1952 as the top collection of short mysteries for the year. The present collection is good - practically anything published in short story form in hardback today has to be good- but certainly it is not up to the level of its predecessor. MacDon- ald ranges far afield-imaginative- ly-in these six new stories, a very welcome tendency in a writ- er many of whose colleagues are presenty causing the genre to suf- fer from its unnecessarily limiting characteristics. However, lacking here is the polished brilliance of the earlier group. By the common yardstick, though, the collection rates well above average. INNOCENT BYSTRANDER by Barbara Frost (Coward McCann). The sleuth in this, the third mystery by publicity writer Frost, is a woman lawyer named Marka de Lancey. Fortunately, in the process of unmasking the true, cold-blooded killer and thereby exonerating an Italian, violin- playing bit of husband material, spinster lawyer Marka avoids the self-conscious, horror-strewn path followed by so many distaff de- tectives. Marka derLancey is pleasantly' down to earth. Below par writ- ing, however, does its part to make the competently sketched story a rather slow-moving affair. --Donald A. Yates LETTERS to the EDITOR Not Enticing... To the Editor: T HE Pentagon proposition to cut the armed forces to two and one-half million men and to abol- ish the peacetime draft law by 1960-if the incumbent President, ex-general Eisenhower is re-elect- ed-doesn't entice me. When the peacetime Selective Service Act was passed in June, 194, the count was hardly one. and one-half mil- THE Daily Official Bulletin Is an official publication of the University of Michigan for which the Michiga 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. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1956 VOL. LXVII, NO. 73 General Notices Examination Period: Please note that final examinations at the end of the first semester of the University year 1955-M6 begin on Mon.. Jan. 23, and end on Thurs., Feb. 2. The final day of regularly scheduled classes is Sat., Jan. 21. There will, for this semester, be no "dead period" between the end of classes and the examination period. TO: All students who are Selective Service registrants. The Selective Serv- ice Qualification Test will be given on campus Thurs., April 19, 1956. Students may apply for the applications between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m.tand 5:00 p.m., Mon. through Fri., at the Local Board No. 85, 10 West Washington Street, Ann Arbor. The deadline for securing the applica- tion from Local Board No. 85 is 5:00 p.m., March 5, 1956. To be eligible to take the Selective Service College Qualification Test, an applicant, - (1) Must be a Selective Service regis- trant who intends to request occupa- tional deferment as a student; (2) Must be satisfactorily pursuing a full-time college course, undergraduate or graduate, leading to audegree; (3) Must not previously have taken the test. Correction:Note Change of Date Attention February Graduates: Col- lege of Literature, Science, and the Arts, School of Education, School of Music, School of Public Health, and School of Business Administration - students are advised not to request grades of I or X in February. When such grades are absolutely imperative,, the work must be made up in time to allow your instructor to report the make-up grade not later than 8:30 a.m. Mon., Feb. 6, 1956, instead of Jan. 30, as originally published. Grades received after that time may defer the student's graduation until a later date. Correction: Note Change of Date: Recommendations for Departmental Honors: Teaching departments wishing to recommend tentative February grad- uates from the College of Literature, 'Science, and the Arts, and the School of Education for departmental honor (or high honors in the College of LS.&A.) should recommend such stu- dents in a letter sent to the Office of Registration and Records, Room 1513 Administration Building, by 8:30 am., Mon., Feb. 6, 1956, instead of JIan. SD, as originally published. Agenda, Student Government Coun- til: Jan. 11, 1956, Michigan Union, 7:30 p.m. Minutes for the previous meeting. Officer's reports: President, Meeting with Regents, Little SGC meeting Mo- day afternoon, Letters; Vice President: picture.- Administrative Wing-Don Cood. Committee Reports: Finance - Bill Adams; Elections-Tom Sawyer; Coor- dinating and Counseling-calendaring and constitutions procedures Rod Comstock; Campus Affairs, progress re- port-Joe Collins. Rushing Study Committee -- progres report. Activities: Cinema Guild Board.. movie, February 6, Architecture Audi. torium (for freshmen). Old and New Business. Member and Constituents time. Adjournment. Lectures Dr. Aziz S. Atiya, President of the Institute of Coptic Studies, Cairo, Egypt, will speak on "The World's Debate in the Middle Ages: New Light on the History of the Crusades," Jan. 12, Aud. B, Angell Hall at 4:00 p.m., auspices of the Department of Near Eastern Studies. Open to public. Academic'Notices Junior Engineers: Technical work experience in a choice of 21 foreign countries available during summer va- cation through the Institute for Inter- national Education. Detailed informa- tion and application blanks at the En- gineering Placement Office, Room 347 West Engineering Building. Students who are definitely planning to transfer to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, School of Educa- tion, School of Music, School of Nurs- ing, or the College of Pharmacy in February from another campus unit should come to the Office of Admis- sions, 1524 Administration Building immediately to make application for transfer. Application Blanks for the course In Recreational Leadership, offered by the Department of Physical Education 'for Women, second semester, now available in Room 15, Barbour Gymnasium. Botanical Seminar. Dr. Lincoln Elli- son, chife, Division of Range Research, United States Forest Service will speak on "Ecological Studies on a Hillside Site in Central Utah." 4:15 p.m., wed. Jan. 11, East Lecture Room No. 1, Mez- zanine, Rackham Building. Sociology Colloquium. Prof. Werner Landecker will speak on "Class Crystal- lization and Class Boundaries in De- troit," Wed., Jan. 11 at 4:10 p.m. in Eat Conference Room at the Rackham Building. Open Lecture. Journal -Club of the Department of Romance Languages will meet Thurs., Jan. 12, at 4:15 p.m., West Conference Room,, Rackham Building. Prof. Paul, Spurlin, who spent last year in France, will present a paper on "Higher Educa- tion in France." Open to the public. Engineering Seminar: "So You're an Aiumnus!"-T. Hawley Tapping, Gen- ,OFFICA BULLETIN I .3 a1 4 .1 4 '1 __ _ -___ _ _ _ _ _ _-_ 1 . IN THIS CORNER: A Retreat From Freedom By MURRY FRYMER , T'S ALWAYS hard to take when a particular idol drops lower in your estimation. The New York Times has been such an idol. It has stood for more than an individual newspaper printing "all the news that's fit to print," but an example of what American jour- nalism can accomplish at its finest. This past week it still stood as a fine institution, only it was leaning a bit. Along with many other fine American newspapers, the Times nas found the concept, action, and results of the modern Communist- hunting congressional committees something - less than appealing. Where and when necessary it has voiced its feelings on these issues, and given strength to the up and down cause of modern liberalism. STHE SENATOR James O. Eastland, a Mis- sissippi Democrat, began his investigation into what he called "the significant effort on the part of Communists to penetrate leading American newspapers." That this is a job for : Congress is questionable. But that the proud American press could be made to cower through such an investigation is horrifying. . The Times had taken a strong and definite b stand on the question of congressional hearings and its defendants last May 25, when it said: " .~- . the Fifth amendment is an important and historic element in the charter of our liber- ties; and if it is to protect the best of us it * must also stand ready to be used even by the worst. The erosion of our own freedom begins when we deprive of its guarantees those whom we most hate and despise." But these editorial words are much easier to say than actually use, as many employers and college presidents have found. Maybe the Times had no expectation of having to employ this policy when it spoke as it did. But it did get such an opportunity. And the Times was particularly vociferous concerning what it felt was the subcommittee's impinging on the freedom of the press as a guarantee in the first amendment. "We have judged these men, and shall continue to judge them, by the quality of their work and by our confidence in their ability to perform that work satisfactorily," the Times said. "It is our business to decide whom we shall employ and not employ. We do not propose to hand over that function to the Eastland com- mittee." What happened? Nathan Aleskovsky, as- sistant book editor of the Times was subpoened. He lost his job; later said he was "forced" to resign. Jack Shafer, a copyreader on the Times, pleaded the Fifth Amendment. He, too, is out of a job. Admittedly not all of the Times men called were dismissed. Clayton Knowles, a member of the news staff, gave toie committee a listing of his cell members when working for the Long Island Press, and admitted membership himself until 1939. There were others. PUT THAT any firings took place at all opens the door for new doubt in the stronghold of liberal American journalism. There is another case in point. Melvin L. Barnet was fired by tthe Times last month because of certain political "facts." Last week Mr. Barnet, a former copyreader, quoted in 'Nation' his letter of dismissal: Louis Loeb, Times attorney wrote him-' . You were discharged because of the facts which your furnished me . . . in confidence at a meeting in my office, November 17, 1955, sub- ject to the understanding that I would pass them on to my client, the management of the New York Times. :a BRIEFCASES AND SKI TRIPS: Daily University Life in West Berlin V; -4 (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one in a series of articles by David Learned, a University student who is studying at the Free University of Berlin.) By DAVID LEARNED BERLINWhat is daily univer- sity life, in America like com- pared to university life here at the Free University of Berlin? The relatively confined questions that students come up with in conver- sations make a long and interest- ing article of comparison. The fol- lowing are some of them. Instead of tests and some classes beginning at 7:30, none begin here before 9 a.m. But some classes last from 6 or 7 to 8 p.m. At this university and town briefcases are put to practical use. First graders up through university students and older workers carry them.nWhat's the gimmick? They a r a s,. ihpr 11ehs_ mabe a live and go to the university in the West. It can take them up to an hour and a half to get to the university. A lot come by bus and subway, a lot by bicycle, and some by motorbikes and scooters. Because so many live so far away one can see in the 15 minutes be- fore the noon classes start many students pulling out a couple of sandwiches to eat before the pro- fessor arrives. - When the pro- fessor does arrive, the students all knock on the writing boards or chairs. They do this also at the end of the lecture. S* * * HERETHE students groups are really able to plan some excellent trips of various sorts during the vacations. In the winter and spring vacations-two weeks and two months, respectively, or as ing clubs will even plan quite ex- tended cruises on the ocean. Of course there's also the usual en- thusiasm here in Europe for hiking and climbing. I SHOULD INCLUDE something of how the university student lives here4 The vast majority of the tudents have private rooms. Often the room will be heated with a tall china stove. These are really a sight to see, and seem to heat as horribly as they look. In most cases there is no cook- ing allowed in the room. The stu- dent will have a bag of sausage, cheese, bread and margerine stash- ed in a corner somewhere for his sandwiches; he can, also buy a. good hot meal cheaply at the stu- dent cafeteria at noon, where they also sell beer and wine. There are only two places that .4 ,,A