"The News Doesn't Sound Any Better"
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
t
'en Opinions Are Free
Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or
the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
EESDAY. OCTOBER 2 1956
NIGHT EDITOR: VERNON NAHRGANG
Educational Polcy
Primarily A Faculty Function
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TRA14SATLAATIC
CABLE
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AT THE STATE:
Homosexuality Diluted
In 'Tea and Sympathy'
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UNIVERSITY President-Emeritus Alexander
Ruthven has come up with a suggestion
which institutions of higher education in this
state might well heed. It is particularly re-
vealing coming from a man once intimately
acquainted with education's administrative arm.
In making his proposal for a 17-member com-
mittee with a faculty majority to study and ad-
vise the Legislature on state-supported colleges
and universities, the Univerity's elder states-
man said, "Though it has become a platitude it
is no less a fact that essentially a college or
university is its faculty.
"The academic staff," Dr. Ruthven contin-
ued," is always in the best position to know the
needs of its departments and schools, as well
as the educational needs of society. That in-
stitution functions best in which the adminis-
trative staff*considers itself a service unit to
facilitate, not to direct, the work of the faculty.
This concept is familiar to the academic world
and it is surprising that in this country it has
not been applied, except sporadically,' in the
larger field of state planning of education."
CONSIDMRING this University's administra-
tion's increasing tendency to act before
consulting the faculty, Ruthven's statement is
quite an admission. For while the administra-
tion goes out of its way to point out that the
deans of the various schools exercise almost
complete authority over their schools, it does
not recognize, for instance, that in admitting
ever-increasing numbers of students it is act-
ually limiting the scope of the decisions which
the faculty can make.
The faculty does have the power to decide
policy, true, but only within the perimeter
drawn by the administration. Essentially, the
faculty children can build their mud pies and
roads but they cannot get out of the sandbox
their administrative parents have built for
them.
How sure is the administration that an in-
creased enrollment will have little effect upon
the academic standards of the University? How
often has it consulted the faculty before assur-
ing the Legislature that the University is pre-
pared to handle unprecedented influxes of stu-
dents?
"IT MAY BE true that a business can be run
on the assumption that 'Father knows
best,' " Dr. Ruthten says, "but this is not true
of educational institutions." While the faculty
may not be acquainted with the intricacies of
Legislature log-rolling and lobbying, it does
have some knowledge of what conditions are
necessary in a proper education. It is acquaint-
ed with the advantages and disadvantages of
large classes. It knows what the approximate
amount of personal studenst-faculty' contact
should be. It can contribute fresh, imaginative
ideas on educational policy, unhampered by
considerations of what effectthese ideas will
have on the University's appropriations versus
those of sister institutions.
The faculty has the ability to decide what is
necessary for maximum education, then to
obtain the necessities. The administration, on
the other hand, decides what it can do with
what it can get. Practically, the administrative
approach is the better. But colleges and univer-
sities have not progressed by relying on the
practical approach to educational policy prob-
lems. Institutions have advanced most by solv-
ing their problems imaginatively and enthusi-
astically.
BY COMBINING the talents of the faculties
of all state-supported colleges and univer-
sities, more can be accomplished than by com-
peting with administrations of other schools
for funds. Indeed, as Dr. Ruthven has said, "If
cd-ordination and long-range planning of in-
struction and research are needed in Michigan,
and there is little doubt that they are, the
studies, to be of value, might be made most
successfully by the faculties themselves with
the support of the college administrations, the
legislature and the public."
Recognizing the fact that a college or uni-
versity is truely its faculty, Ruthven's proposal
should be given serious consideration by the
Legislature.
-RICHARD SNYDER
Daily Editor,
IT IS happily clear by now that
the power of the Hollywood cen-
sor is diminishing and that the
antiquated Production Code is be-
ginning to crack. The theme of
homosexuality, hitherto off-limits
in American films, forms the basis
of "Tea and Sympathy" the film
based on the prize-winning play by
Robert Anderson. The spectre of
censorship is still with us, how-
ever, and the film is certainly not
as powerful or consistent as the
stage version was.
Author Anderson has also writ-
ten the screenplay, and although
much of the original is retained,
there have been a number of com-
promises made to mass moral right
that hurt the quality of the film.
By rights a picture should be
judged on its own grounds, but in
this case it is quite necessary to
compare it to the play. There has
been some cutting, some adding, a
great deal of muddling the focal
point; some "loading" of the plot-
it is all to the detriment of the
final product.
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WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND:
I
Could Children Bring Truce?
By DREW PEARSON
Decisive Action in SGC
STUDENT Government Council is well past
the midpoint of its two year trial period,
but occasionally it lumbers along like a turtle.
Many of its projects, eargely initiated, get
bogged down in committee wrangles and wind
tip being tabled or referred back to committee.
A good example of decisive action came last
week, however, when SGC refused to accept a
recommendation from th Campus Chest com-
mittee. Since its inception last spring, the com-
mittee has met with many disappointments.
Several campus organizations are unhappy
about a combined campus fund-raising project,
despite the fact that it would simplify their
administrative problems and pacify both stu-
dents and faculty. There is good reason to be-
lieve that, a combined appeal would net more
cash in the long run, since members of the
campus community would be "hit" only once a
'year, and would be carefully educated as to
the purpose, nature and goals of the drive.
However, because it is impossbile to combine
this appeal with the Ann Arbor Community
Chest this fall, revenue from a spring drive
may be less than the committee' eventual hopes.
For this reason, the committee proposed that
the Campus Chest drive be postponed until
next fall, when cooperation with the Commu-
nity Chest is feasible.
BUT SGC said no, and with good reason.
The committee has six months to work on
a concerted drive which could conceivably
bring in a good deal more money than the five
or six drives which have operated on the cam-
pus in the past. The Council felt that some-
thing like Campus Chest could be put off in-
definitely while people waited for the "proper"
time to arrive, and that Campus Chest is im-
portant enough to be started immediately.
If the committee accepts SGC's recommenda-
tion and starts Campus Chest rolling immedi-
ately, the drive could very well be a credit to
the Council and the campus.
Other SGC action, however, shows signs of
dragging on forever.
A motion to co-sponsor United Nations Week
with the International Student Association has
been tabled for two weeks, mainly for study
by the finance committee. The time has long
passed when SGC's co-sponsorship could be
of help to ISA in obtaining speakers. SGC
should take the initiative in supporting that
most neglected segment of the University com-
munity, foreign students.
A STUDY of the Sigma Kappa situation may
come up this week. If it does, the Council
should be given a pat on the back for quick ac-
tion, action which may have a decisive effect
on how many girls pledge that sorority next
Sunday, However, if the study, proposed last
week, drags on, for another week, it will do
Sigma Kappa very little good and possibly a
great deal of harm.
SGC has been quick, yet careful in important
action such as deferred rush and the driving
ban. It can keep on doing so and finish out
its trial period in an unheard-of blaze of
prestige, if it avoids falling victim to lethargy
and let's-put-it-off-itis.
-TAMMY MORRISON
Washington, D.C.
Sept. 29, 1956
Dear Drew,
I AM NOW home from the Holy
Land, and I still haven't written
you about the camels I saw over
there. I saw them in Beersheba in
the south of Israel which is where
Abraham used to bring his sheep
and his camels and his goats to
get water.
In the Beersheba market I saw
some Arabs loading camels onto a
truck. The Arabs seem to be quite
up to date and carry their camels
by truck. But this truck already
had three camels in it, which is a
lot of camels for one truck; so a
fourth camel just didn't want to
get in. I didn't blame her. Because
there wasn't room.
But the Arabs beat that poor
camel and y a n k e d heri and
whipped her, until finally she
squeezed into the truck on top
of the other camels. Later I saw
the camels being unloaded at the
farm of Sheik Souleman outside
the city. They looked happier
when they got out of that -truck.
* * *
AS I told you in my last letter,
there are lots of Arabs living in
Israel in peace with the Jews. It's
the Arabs outside Israel who don't
live in peace.
Probably you have seen the
headlines in the newspapers lately
about the shooting between the
Arabs and the Jews who don't live
in peace on the opposite sides of
their border. Some of the worst
of this shooting has been around
Jerusalem, the Holy City where
Christ was buried.
* * *
JUST A FEW weeks ago, your
granddaddy was in Jerusalem and
talked to a Jewish immigrant from
Algiers who had a ladder tied to
the balcony in front of his house.
I saw the ladder and asked him
why he had it in such a peculiar
place. He explained that the main
entrance to his house faced an
Arab machine-gun nest and that
sometimes the Arabs shot at him
as he went in his front door. So,
when they were in a shooting
mood, he didn't use his main en-
trance, but lowered the ladder
from his balcony and went in and
out of his house that way.
I looked at the main entrance
to his house and there, all around
the doorway, were bullet holes.
The Arab machine-gun nest
was only about as far away as
across the street. But the Arabs
were not in a shooting mood that
day. And inasmuch as it was a hot
day and cool on that side of the
house, we sat down beside his
main entrance to take a rest.
Nothing happened. No Arabs shot
at us. In fact, most of the time in
Jerusalem they don't shoot.
* * *
THAT illustrates what I wrote
you before, that there should be
no real trouble between the Arabs
and the Jews. As the chief rabbi of
Jerusalem reminded me, the Jews
and Arabs are cousins. They both
are descended from Abraham -
the Jews from his son Isaac and
the Arabs from his son Ishmael.
Yet today, Maj. Gen. E. L. M.
Burns, the Canadian who heads
the United Nations truce commis-
sion, has been cabling the State
Department that war between Is-
rael and the Arab States is more
tai be feared than ever. He is ter-
ribly worried about it and has in-
f o r m e d Secretary Dulles that
something drastic must be done.
The Jews have given the world
some of the greatest scientists,
some of the greatest artists, great-
est writers, greatest businessmen.
But so far they haven't been able
to solve this greatest problem of
all - peace. The word Jerusalem
comes from the old Hebrew "Jeru-
sholayem," which means "peace."
But today in Jerusalem there is
no peace.
And I was thinking that per-
haps the solution to this trouble,
the way to bring peace, might be
quite simple - just to stop shoot-
ing, arrange a real truce, and be-
gin working at some people-to-
people friendship. Perhaps if the
statesmen of the world won't push
this, maybe it could be inspired by
little boys like you.
* * *
IF, FOR instance, the little boys
of Israel and the Arab states de-
manded of their fathers that this
constant shooting back and forth
across the border stop, then it
might stop. Perhaps if they de-
manded that it stop for at least
30 days, and that no one on either
side lift a finger for 30 days 4o
matter what the provocation, then
fr6m that 30 days of thinking
about peace, there might come
more peace.
That's true too of the little boys
in Israel and thq Arab States. I
-don't know exactly how we could
get the idea across to them, but if
they all demanded an end to this
useless shooting back and forth
across the land from which came
the Man who wanted to bring us
peace, then perhaps His dream
might be fulfilled. After all, it was
He who taught that a little child
shall lead them.
Perhaps this is a foolish idea of
mine. But where the statesmen
and soldiers and diplomats of the
Holy Land have failed, maybe the
children might succeed.
I hope to see you quite soon.
Love from
Your Grandfather.
(Copyright 1956, by Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
THE STORY concerns an ado-
lescent boy in a prep school who
is thought "odd" by his fellow stu-
dents. Tom Lee is very different
from the rest: a product of a bro-
ken home, he keeps to himself
much of the time, eschews sports
and dating, prefers to listen to
classical music and is well-versed
in womanly arts taught to him by
a servant when he was a child. Al-
though the word "homosexual" is
never used in the film, the boys
call him "sister-boy." They find
him increasingly feminine because
of his walk, his attitude and, es-
sentially, his particular charac-
teristics. It is the author's point
that he is not an homosexual, but
an unloved boy who has traveled a
singular road because of events in
his life.
In any case, the only one who
shows love and affection for him
is the wife of the headmaster of
his rooming house. She is more
sensitive than the rest, more per-
ceptive, and knows from experi-
ence the things that can torment
a young, troubled boy. As Tom's
school life grows increasingly
painful and horrible because of
the social and sexual stigma at-
tached to him, he attempts to
prove that he is a man, in the
sexual sense, by sleeping with a
town slut. When this fails, for
various reasons, he tries to kill
himself. What finally redeems
him, and saves him, is the love
of the headmaster's wife, who of-
fers herself to him in affection
and understanding.
IT IS NECESSARY to go into
this much plot in order to point
out the failings of the picture.
Perhaps the biggest failure is the
muddy obscuring of the most im-
portant point of the story. There
is no time, in the film, when Tom
seems to kge afraid he really is a
homosexual. In the play, the mo-
tivation for his action was, after a
certain transitional point, that he
feared this in himself.
The flim, however, seems to
skirt this, or in any case never
makes it clear until the last scene.
As a result, the last scene does not
make any real sense. The confes-
sion from Tom that he is worried
about his sexuality comes like a
bolt from the blue, because the
emphasis during the rest of the
film was on the increasing an-
guish he felt when taunted.
The big scene with Ellie, the
loose-moralled girl, does not come
off at all for'that reason. When, as
he is about to take the sexual ini-
tiative, she makes reference to
his hands being "soft as a girl's,"
one has the feeling that his sub-
sequent crack-up comes as a re-
sult of this being the final insult
he can bear.
ADDITIONALLY, the film has
seen fit to completely leave out
the important part of the play
c o n c e r n i n g the latent actual
homosexuality of the headmaster.
This is a tremendously important
facet in the entire scheme of the
story, because it gives meaning to
the troubles of the marriage be-
tween he and his wife and because
it accounts for his outward dis-
gust with Tom.
Possibly, to the discerning audi-
ence, this factor is still in the
story. But there is no use kidding
--Hollywood has junked it at the
expense of the film's complete
moral statement.
Finally, an epilogue has been
added that is really objectionable.
It serves to punish the wife slight-
ly for doing an immoral thing by
Hollywood standards, to let us
know that Tom turned out to be
Jack Armstrong, the All-Male Boy.
What is essentially paradoxical
is that it takes the edge off the
film's thesis, and suddenly forces
old-fashioned moral judgement on
a film that tries to point out the
failings of that same old-fash-
ioned moral judgment.
* * *
ALL THIS is not to imply that
there is not much on the credit
side in "Tea and Sympathy."
Much of the original script is re-
tained and has great distinction.
The actors, most of them from
the original Broadway cast, do a
superb job, and this is especially
notable in the case of Deborah
Kerr whose performance is ont of
the finest to emerge from the
screen in a long while. As the wo-
man who loves and understands
Tom, she plays with great depth
and thought in her characteinsa-
tion. John Kerr is admirable. Leif
Erikson makes the husband a
much-more three d i m e n s i o n-
a"l character than the film does.
Vincente Minelli has directed
with respect for the twilight at-
mosphere that pervadedthe lay.
The gentle, poetic qualities of the
film far outprove the sensation-
alism suggested by the ads.
"Tea and Sympathy" is a step
in the right direction, but it Is
very regrettable that Hollywood
cannot yet call a spade a spade.
-David Newman
DAIL'Y
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
4
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Dewey's Speech Draws Comment
The Daily Official Bulletin is an of-
ficial publication of the University of
Michigan for which the Michigan Daily
assumes no editorial responsibility. No-
tices should be sent in TYPEWRITTEN
form to Room 3553 Administration
Building before 2 p.m. the day preced-
ing publication.
TUESDAY, OcTC BER 2, 1956
VOL. LXVII, NO. 12
General Notices
Regents' Meeting: Fri., Oct. 26. Com-
munications for consideration at this
meeting must be in the President's
hands by Oct. 17.
University Directory. All additions and
corrections for listings already sent in
must be reported by Fri., Oct. 5. For
further information, call Florence Boyd,
ext. 2152.
Blue Cross Group Hospitalization,
Medical and Surgical Service Programs
for staff members will be open from
Oct. 8 Jhtru Oct. 19, 1956, for new ap-
plications and changes in contracts now
in effect. Staff members who wish to
include surgical and medical services
should make such changes in the Per-
sonnel Office, Room 3012 Administra-
tion Building. New applications and
changes will be effective Dec. 5, with the
first deduction on Nov. 30. After Oct.
I19, no new applications or changes can
be accepted until April, 1957.
University Choral Union -- first re-
hearsal Tues. Oct. 2, at 7:00 p.m. sharp,
in Aud. A, Angell Hall. All members are
requested to arrive early enough to be
seated on time.
Applications for Phoenix Project Re-
search Grants. Faculty members who
wish to apply for grants from the Mich-
igan Memorial-Phoenix Project Re-
search in peacetime applications and
implications of nuclear energy should.
file applications in the Phoenix Re-
search Office, 118 Rackham Building,
by Wed., Oct. 3, 1956. Application forms
will be mailed on request. Telephone
2560.
Application for Grants in support of
Research Projects: Faculty members
who-wish to apply for grants from the
Research Funds to support research pro-
jects should file their applications in
the office of the Graduate School not
later than Wed.,. Oct. 3. Application
forms are available in Room 1006, Rack-
ham Building.
Applications for Summer Faculty Re-
search Fellowships: Faculty members
who wish to apply for Summer Faculty
Research Fellowships for the Summer
Sess~n of 1957 may still secure applica-
tion forms from the Office of the Grad-
uate School, Room 1006, Rackham
Building. They must be filed in the Of-
fice of the Graduate School by Wed.,
Oct. 3.
A
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Bicycles Are Ever With Us
SIDEWALKS and street crossings in Ann Ar-
bor are no longer safe for pedestrain traffic,
Editorial Staff
RICHARD SNYDER,
RICHARD HALLORAN
Editorial Director
Managing Editor
LEE MARKS
City Editor
GAIL GOLDSTEIN............ Personnel Director
ERNEST THEODOSSIN ............ Magazine Editor
JANET REARICK.... .. Associate Editorial Director
MARY ANN THOMAS ............ Features Editor
DAVID GREY .................. Sports Editor
RICHARD CRAMER ..........,Associate Sports Editor
STEPHEN HEILPERN ........ Associate Sports Editor
VIRGINIA ROBERTSON....... ... Women's Editor
JANE FOWLER............Associate Women's Editor
ARLINE LEWIS .......,.... Wonin's Feature Editor
VERNON SODEN .............. Chief Photographer
Business Staff
DAVID SILVER, Business Manager
MILTON GOLDSTEIN .... Associate Business Manager
WILLIAM PUSCH ............ Advertising Manager
c'HARLES WILSON. ...........Finance Manager
PATRICIA LAMBERIS ..........Accounts Manager
HENRY MOSES.....Circulation Manager
Bicycle riders have become the number one
menace to public safety.
Although the light is green and the cars all
stopped, whoever ventures to cross the street
takese his life in his hands. Those bicycles in
the opposite direction down the street may be
a few yards away, but they have no sight for
a red light and don't know how to slow down.
Equally unknown to bike riders, in any case
completely disregarded is the Stop sign. Turns
from South University to State Street are made
without flinching and without the slightest
cessation of speed.
These demons on wheels have also found a
new delight - the newly-completed Union
driveway, which allows West Quad and other,
back street dwellers to reach their respective
domains at a mininium of time and a maximum
of speed merely by turning off State Street into
the passing crowd.
THIS is truly a greater problem than that of
parking; given a hundred bicycles piled in
front of the General Library, odds are the stu-
dent will eventually be able to pass the blockade
at no danger to his physical self.
Personality Criticism?
To the Editor:
HAVING brought Tom Dewey, a
well-known Michigan Alumnus
and former editor of The Michi-
gan Daily, to Hill Auditorium,
the Young Republicans must feel
sadly let down.
Undoubtedly, many of the people
present, who heard the talk by this
twice-defeated candidate for the
presidency, went out of curiosity
and out of loyalty to the Republi-
can party to hear what Dewey had
to add to the national campaign
which up to now has been on a
fairly high level.
What we did hear was a rehash
of Dewey's speeches in his un-
successful campaigns of 1944 and
1948. Nothing was added. It was
just another of his typical, low
harangue harking back to dead
issues and low criticisms of per-
sonalities.
Only when he described the de-
plorable conditions which exist in
some of the areas of Asia and the
Near East did he reach a level
Dewey gained his reputation as
a prosecutor of criminals in New
York and his speech resembled
that of a prosecutor,not that of a
statesman.
I hope that when the Young
Democrats bring a speaker to Hill
Auditorium he will discuss the is-
sues facing our national life and
not mere carping criticisms of
personalities.
-Lewis C. Reimann, '56
Foreign Policy .
To the Editor:
RECENT rumors of efforts in
Russia to oust the Khrushchev
administration suggest deficiency
in our foreign policy and in the
handling by the press of Russia's
position with respect to the West.
Regardless of his motive,
whether it be to relax Western
defense, to provide a basis for
propaganda to conquer underde-
veloped parts of the world, or
genuinely to establish a founda-
tion forpeacefulacoexistence, it is
a fact that Khrushchev has af-
Western good will cannot fail to
reach the Russian mind, more
cynical and discerning than before.
It seems that we are slow to
take advantage; does not produce
the desired response in the West,
namely a higher regard for Russia
and full exploitation of the possi-
bilities of coexistence and mutually',
profitable exchanges of all kinds,
hostile elements in Moscow who
believe that the only fruitful poli-
cies are rigid domination of its
own people and antagonism toward
the West, may gain considerable
strength, and once again come
into power. A well posed smile re-
turned to Russia might preserve
its interest without risking seduc-
tion, and might conceivably dispel
some. of the awkwardness in East-
West relations.
-Charles Riley
Amen ...
To the Editor:
FOR THE June 1956 graduate
now battling the exigencies of
ally with quotes from Dewey's
speech, the article stated that he
received a 'standing ovation" from
an audience of over 4000 'enhtusi-
astic receivers" who interrupted
his speech twenty-six times for
applause. If this is true, it can
only demonstrate the grimly real
fact that even Ann Arbor has its-
share of people who don't think.
There are, no doubt, reasons for
being a Republican. If one is a
captain of industry, unhampered
by any historical vision, unfettered
by any social prospective and tan-
concerned for things other than
business here and business now,
he should vote Republican.
/ But Ann Arbor is a university
community. Its essential reason
for existing is to develop the indi-
vidual student's ability .to think,
with some prospective, about the
world. His education is the tool
he uses to place his times, his na-
tion and his social role into a total
configuration.
This election year, in Adlai
Stevenson, we have a candidate
wxhn nncac tn* hoapn n, MClitiwhi ch
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