- 7) ~ -, .r U - - -~ - - W.~ - a. F U-IF A -4w A -51- _ y y -WNW .w ~ -~ -A -IPW-- 4 . w -. , Ir. I A -. . a I - Page Twenty-two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, February 7, 1957 Thursday February 7 1957 THE MICH;IGAN DAILY MUSIC REVIEWER: The Criteria eFor Cr iticsm NOT IN TEXTBOOKS: A Look at Politics, Politicians. NORTHERN MICHIGAN Contrast Between the Busy Life of a Resort City and Silent Life of a Hidden Bog (Continued from Page 12) the critic's need for a command of language. It avails little to have a valid judgment if the words and phrases to convey these are lack- ing. Suffice it to say that a fluent habit of word usage is essential. "Heifitz sure played swell!" tells us nothing. But this point is too obvious for further elaboration. What is perhaps overlooked in the minds of many critics is their responsibility to the reader, to the performer, to the composer. Ex- actly what is this responsibility? It is his obligation to render an objective critique of the import- ant aspects of a performance. And why? There may be many reasons, but paramount is respect to the reader, is his intention to sharpen the latter's sense of appreciation of music. He does this, as was said in the beginning, by judgment, by pointing out the good and the bad of any concert. He, the critic, cannot do this by mushy adulation for any perform- er, nor by vindictive glee of de- struction. Destructive criticism only arouses anger, while con- structive criticism incites thought. In this respect, the critic should be chary of superlative criticism on either side. Such superlatives leave room for only unjust com- parisons. There is also a responsibility on the part of the reader. Funda- mentally, he must realize that the critic, however objective, is as in- dividual as himself. The reader cannot, just as the critic cannot, feel that his own opinion is the only one possible. He should give 1 the critic the benefit of the doubt as to sincerity and ability, at least until this trust is violated. YT IS THIS last point which de- serves an additional comment. It comes as no great surprise that not every critic Is a good critic. And this situationushould not be Rallowed to continue unprotested. in collegiate circumstances, this is more easily remedied than in pro- fessional circles. If the reader, after a careful analysis (and the word "careful" is stressed), finds that the critic is misleading, biased, ignorant, or the like, this should definitely be brought to the attention of the editors. This will, or should re- sult in betterment of the critic's reviews, or his removal. Angry dis- cussion with other readers alone will be of no value. Nor will hasty evaluation, heated letters, and equally prejudicial argument. A criticism can be shown to be in- valid only by contrary analysis, not by fiery polemic or stooping to personalities. A final word to both critic and reader. To the critic: the average reader is not a child. He can be trusted to have some degree of acuity, hence there is no need to write fifth-grade explanations. On the other hand, he is not a mu- sicologist. To the reader: some critics are better than others. But it would be unfair to imagine a critic writ- ing for his own literary revels of hateful commentary. It must be understood that, unless conditions accurately point to the contrary, the critic is trying to do a good job of evaluaing what he has seen and heard. His reader can judge the result of his labor, but never his intentions. In conclusion, both reader and critic should realize the other's attitudes, opinions and require- ments. And each should remember the first purpose of any review or criticism of a musical concert, as was pointed out in the beginning of this essay. Ultimately, it is only that we may all hear better music. not too hard to believe that while an official is swindling the public out of some of its money he is al- so interested in good roads on which to drive his Cadillac. THIS IS all basically why the democratic system is best. Cor- ruption is an argument for demo- cracy, rather than one against it. Democracy tends to spread the corruption more evenly and of- fers to everyone the equal oppor- tunity to reap dishonest harvests. More important is the system of checks and balances. Every cor- rupt politician, is a check on ev- ery other corrupt politician. What the other gets means less for him; or, the other, invariably being less clever than himself, presents the danger of attracting attention to the corruption. There are some in- stances of cartels and collaboration between two or more corrupt poli- ticians, but these are not safe from competition either. Another check is the ballot box, which may unexpectely break up such a col- laboration by removing a colla- borator from his office. There are organizations to prevent this, but they face the danger of running up against a stronger organiza- tion. No one is safe. IMIS explains most of the cor- ruption that'makes the papers. It's next to impossible for a re- porter to dig out corruption by himself. If he is unable to find an enemy of those he wishes to expose, an enemy who knows what's going on and can prove it, he will rarely get his story. He must be lucky enough to find someone who will talk, which is made possible by the democratic system of letting anyone who has an axe to grind grind it. Even the democratic system, with its checks and balances, can- not eliminate corruption from politics. Two reasons are that the vast majority of those eligible to participate in politics do not, and the power and influence obtain- able in politics will always be at- tractive to the unscrupulous. All that the democratic system can do is take into account the selfishness of men and turn some of it, however, deviously, toward the general good, and keep cor- ruption circulating among dif- ferent individuals for the most part, thereby making it improb- able for one man or group to ev- er gain dangerous predominance over the whole. In fact, the best form of govern- ment would be a democracy in which only intelligent and honest men are elected with the checks and balances to handle occasional moral weaknesses in face of temp- tation. So far, intelligent and hon- Mr. Dygert is a former Daily Cite Editor. He is currently the editor of a weekly in Belleville, Yichigan. He was graduated from the University of Michi- gan in 1957. est men have avoided the ugli- ness of politics, and, as a result, know little or nothing about its realities. What they do know, they know only in a vague way. YET, intelligent and honest men should go into politics. For, be- ing intelligent, they would know how to use all the tricks and ton- niving of politics to accomplish things which, because they are honest, would be motivated to- ward the general good or at least not contrary to legal or moral right. But, unfortunately, the intelli- gent and honest men who know little or nothing about politics are busy teaching political science. By JANET REARICK Daily Staff writer CONTRAST an exclusive toy shop featuring imported toys -life-life stuffed lions priced at almost $300-and a weather- beaten antique shop housed in a rickety old gasoline station. Con- trast the sound of life in a busy resort city with the silence of life in a hidden bog. Northern Michigan, or the *'Tip-'o-the Mitten," as it has been dubbed a propos its shape and location, presents a different facade to everyone who knows the area. To the traveler to the upper peninsula, it is a surface picture -_ a continuous line of woods, lakes, and cross-road towns streaking past at 70 miles an hour; to the resorter, Northern Michigan is a place to which he can escape, lie on narrow beaches;. be generally uncomfortable, and if he is .a member of a summer colony, attend and hold a daily round of cocktails parties to an extent to which he cannot indulge at home. To the year-round resident, it is home-where he ekes out a meager living from the infertile land; it is the biologist's Paradise, and a scenic attraction to the tourist. T HREE islands in the Straits of Mackinac (with the city, the island and the straits all pro- nounced Mackinaw according to local usage -- the best-informed authority -- present extremes in occupancy. Tiny Round Island in the center holds nothing -more than a deserted light house stand- ing on a rapidly shrinking sandy land extension. Mackinac -- Mecca for tour- ists and college students seeking summer jobs - is the northern and westernmost of the three. It can be seen from the ferries that ply the Straits-a dark blob with its Grand Hotel pasted on its side shining, when touched by the sun like a piece of white marble. The old fort high atop the hill ... The specialty shops and museums at tne foot of the island are the major attractions for visitors. And twice each summer, excitement and partying in the small "vil- lage" attains excessive heights, For two of the longest fresh- water yacht races in the world, the Port Huron and the Chicago- Mackinac races, have as their finish line this juncture of the inland seas of Lakes Michigan and Huron. The exhausted winners of imagi ate be of dri finish igan wine boat, board sand. AND the old an deteri and t the now matic But< h to th can g have 1957 Hei liant join the 1 event The ious j a driv ward beyon not ev free mass- Mac functi and e Penin the op holida must hours must does. "Dine green outsic S SCENIC HIGHWAYS ...gives travelers access to sights of Northern Michigan the three day endurance test are treated with steak dinners, and the Mackinac tourist is also provided with a treat. He can spend many hours staring at the graceful lines of some of the most beautiful pleasure craft on earth. THE TINY AREA at the south of the island is crowded; to the north and west -- nothing. A gravel road runs around the is- land and on it, an occasional bi- cycle rider and carriage-trans- ported group pass one another. Each, it seems, pities -the other his mode of transportation. Lying just a mile or so west of Mackinac is "Bobolo" or Bols Blanc Island, six times as long, and about 100 times more "prim- itive" than its neighbor. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac boasts of being the largest summer hotel in the world - having the longest porch in the world. The poor little hotel at Pointe aux Pines on Bo- bolo probably couldn't even fab- ricate -a spectacular claim. The closest it could come would be to say, "Our front porch has the friendliest dogs in the world." The puppies and the children are equally engaging - with the four-footed youngsters being far the braver of the group. Any new visitor is a curiosity, since the ma- jority of the summer cottage oc- cupants spend the entire season on the island, and only fabout twenty families - most of them county employees - live there through the winter. - All cars must be transported by ferry from Cheboygan -- at $25 one way -- so these, too,.are at a minimum. One usable road runs from the sparsely settled southern shore of the island for six miles to the uninhabited northern shore. Here, fronting extensive marsh- es and thick stands of virgin tim- ber is a completely deserted rock- covered beach. Crunching through the heavy mat of stones north- ward to a point of land that calls, "Come, see what is around the corner!" is a small-scale discov- ery trip. The wave-washed shore yields treasures to delight the MULTIPLE VITAMINS with Folic Acid and B-12 THE AVERAGE CITIZEN ... even he doesn't know TWO OPPOSING VIEWS: Austi~n Warren's 'NewEnglndSaints' 100 .... Reg. ..... ... $3.00 200..$...... 500... . . . . . . .....".$.00 50UU ... f. .. .... . ... 1. 00 Now $2.25 $4.00 $8.90 Wikel -Drug Company 1101 South University Mona Lisa should have shopped here One never knows whether the Mona Lisa is happy or sad. But you can always tell the mood of our customers. They have that happy look of just having found exictly what they want at the price they wanted to pay! Get the happy habit of shopping here regularly! MATN AT LIBERTY ANN ARBOR Only the finest quality at prices that are fair (Continued from Page 9 of literature, the sections a of discoveries, points ofe tion and illumination whic up in unexpected places. For instance, Professor N concludes after his section Puritan poets: "The currer ory that poetry must, at 1 word order, concur with t prose is only current theo Dislocation (as well as ellip well as the currently outmo version) is, like alliterative or accented verse, simply9 to be learned, a taste to quired." Throughout, the reader f the writer an awareness 9) are full edifica- h turn Warren amounts to expectancy of the mi- raculous. No organization or pat- tern is-superimposed to the detri- ment of the material, but instead a form and a design emerge from the sequential studies. r ... - . STUDENT HEADQUARTERS FOR YARNS on the IN his immense respect for the nt the- character. of his saints, Profes- east in sor Warren does not stop our ears hat cf to the grace notes of wit. The Or- ry . . .phic Sayings of Bronson Alcott he psis; as suggests are the "intimations, ded in- vatic utterances, revelations from e verse the soul to the soul." a style And when he takes up that lus- be ac- ty, punning preacher, the Protes- tant Father Taylor, grace notes eels in turn to the fortissimo of humor. s that The greater the sense of Divinity, the more tolerance is to be found for the humanity in man. The obligation to judge, not merely to appraise and least of all merely to see, speaks out from every page. The subject matter is starkly represented by the snow- white paper jacket of the book, bearing a railed fence and barren tree. This is New England from which both saints and sinners have sprung; this is the source, the constancy of the book. But its author has spread over his scene a revivifying warmth out of his own abundant mind. Assuming a common fund of knowledge among his readers, he has written his book so that it requires, in places, an automatic translation, an ABC of the New England character. Yet readers, themselves not en- dowed like him with this personal and this spiritual ancestry, will discover here the timelessness and the regionless-ness of all who, to make them saints, owe their reck- e less integrity to divine origin and earthly cultivation. MONTH LY BIRTHDAY CARDS ane I SALE 'OF HANiJ-FINIS GiRAINEDP CALF M1 S regularly Save now on these ramblers with cus and soft, fc classic li trdclow on th f ront, Br "' Lured calfskin with1 and KNITTING SUP-PLIES * Shetland skirt and sweater paks- 0 Argyle sock kits * Yarn in all weights and colors.. YaArncrafEt SEhop W OMAN'S EXCHANGE } 314 SOUTH STATE Phone NO 2-0303 10 Nickels Arcad