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Sixty-Seventh Year
-J
"When Opinions Are Free
Truth Will Preval"
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or
the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1957 NIGHT EDITOR: VERNON NAHRGANG
y. . ASL /
AT DAC:
Medea Ends Season
With Brilliance
"jMEDEA," which opened last night at the Dramatic Arts Center,
provides a piece of brilliance for the finish of a season. Euri-
pides' classical tragedy suffered little loss of stature as it was in-
troduced into the Masonic Temple. It is perhaps to Director Joseph
Gistirak that credit is chiefly due; the staging throughout is intelli-
gent and almost everywhere effective.
For "Medea", Gistirak has wisely retreated from the center of the
round to the apron of the regular stage. The entire play is enacted
here on a ramp and a rather complicated set of stairs, establishing
the distance necessary for something the size of Medea. The set,
which is composed of the palace door and steps - paralleling the
original Greek stage - is as clean of props and nearly as simple as
one would wish. From this ground there emerged last night a kind and
An Open Letter
To Russell Kirk
MR. KIRK:
IN YOUR RECENT "National Review" ar-
ticle, you euphemistically called the Uni-
versity's president a liar - a "bladder of
wind" you said. You weren't convincing. This
letter will not attempt to prove that those who
accuse others falsely are themselves fibbers. It
will attempt to examine your own naivete and
the logic of your argument.
First, let us get positions straight. By repu-
tation, you run a poor third to President Hat-
cher as an educator. He has been the spokes-
man of higher education in Michigan for five
years now. He is conversant with the Legisla-
ture and the people of the state. He knows
what the birth rate has been for the last 20
years. He knows that higher education is a
ravenous consumer of tax dollars. He is living
in the world. We understand you are living
on a farm, writing about the world.
As to President Hatcher's integrity ("yet it
is difficult to believe that Dr. Hatcher really
puts his faith in this cant."), you don't know
him well enough to speak about it. Knowing
the requisite qualifications of college presidents
in general, knowing the fine tradition of Uni-
versity presidents, and knowing President
Hatcher in particular, we must say that call-
Ing into the question his integrity is poppy-
cock in its most dangerous form.
Your first point is ludicrous. You imply -
few of your points are explicit - that the
University and Michigan State University are
locked in an enrollment race, the University
trying to maintain its lead. Really. We had
always thought of Presidents Hatcher and
Hannah as educators, not Jockeys.
Next, when President Hatcher said that
University "numerical size is relative," he
meant only that we were 'one of the big uni-
versities 50 years ago and we still are today.
There have been few who argue the Univer-
sity is losing its prestige of late. Grey-haired
administrators point out that persons like
yourself have been crying "wolf" for the past
25 years and the animal has never shown it-
self.
Your observation that President Hatcher
"predicted cheerfully that his University would
have forty thousand students by 1970" is not
completely true. When the President mentions
anything about 40,000 students by 1970, he is
merely expressing a mathematical projection
of present growth rates (1500 a year). He isn't
saying the University will have a doubled en-
rollment by 1970. He is saying the University
is figuring out ways of providing an education
for that many, if the finished products don't
suffer. He isn't saying there is inevitability in
the 40,000 figure. He realizes 1970 is a ways off
and a lot can happen.
In fact, a good deal is happening. The Uni-
versity has pioneered branch school programs
in Flint and Dearborn. These moves were
made not because we didn't want those stu-
dents at Ann Arbor, but, because they would
overburden our "controlled growth". Extended
branch school programs and increased roles
of the State's private colleges might change
the complexion of higher education by 1970.
y OU NEXT call President Hatcher to the
carpet for considering the University as a
factory interested in volume output and then
you make the analogy more absurd by writing
your understanding of the law of diminishing
returns. This is your weakest point.
Disregarding that your analogy is a poor one,
let's examine what you said. You claim if a
university's enrollment keeps increasing, there
is a point where its product - the student -
becomes a cheaper good. You stand on econom-
ically weak ground. When considering effi-
ciency in a firm, you examine the firm inter-
nally - each one of its plants. In the Uni-
versity's case, its plants are its 15 schools. The
University has taken precautions to insure ef-
ficiency in each school. Before each fall, the
separate schools are asked what enrollment
growth they can absorb, without sacrificing
the quality of their instruction. From the re-
plies, the University predicts its future growth.
Applicants are accepted and turned away ac-
Editorial Staff
RICHARD SNYDER, Editor
RICHARD HALLORAN LEE MARKS
Editorial Director City Editor
GAIL GOLDSTEIN ............ Personnel Director
ERNEST THEODOSSIN ............ Magazine Editor
JANET REARICK .... Associate Editorial Director
MARY ANN THOMAS ................ Features Editor
DAVID GREY... ..... *.... Sports Editor
RICHARDCRAMER........Associate Sports Editor
STEPHEN HEILPERN........Associate Sports Editor
VIRGINIA ROBERTSON ........ Women's Editor
JANE FOWLER .......... Associate Women's Editor
ARLINE LEWIS ............ Women's Feature Editor
JOHN HIRTZEL ................ Chief Photographer
Business Staff
DAVID SILVER, Business Manager
MILTON GOLDSTEIN ... Assocaite Business Manager
cordingly, each school adhering to its own
"controlled growth".
This "controlled growth" is postulated on
four factors - faculty, buildings and labora-
tories, libraries, and living quarters. Only the
last factor has become seriously scarce- of
late and the scarcity of living space doesn't
directly affect the quality of education a uni-
versity offers. If teachers or buildings were
becoming scarce factors then you would have
a fair argument for diminishing returns, Mr.
Kirk. Facts show this year's student-teacher
ratio (13.5-1) to be the most favorable since
post-war days. Regarding the facilities fac-
tor, when President Hatcher advocated the
University's budget at Lansing, he put special
emphasis on the needs of student housing as
compared wiht MSU's Hannah who wanted
facilities.
Thus, if the increase in faculty, facilities
and libraries keeps pace with the vaulting en-
rollment in each school, we are still in the
stage of increasing returns.,
IN FAIRNESS, though, it must be admitted
that classes in the liberal arts college seem
to be getting larger. Although the student-
teacher ratio for the University has been nos-
ing down, most of the influx of teachers is
poured into the graduate and specialized areas.
Although depending many times on the popu-
larity of the professor, a considerable number
of 100-series courses have grown beyond what
is considered "recitation" size. Claims that
students have no chance for give-and-take
with the professor are overdone, however.
Is a class of 70 really a mass class, where
students take dictation for 50 minutes, three
times a week? It doesn't have to be. It de-
pends on the instructor, The students in Prof.
George Peek's political science 184 class de-
plored it this year before they saw a mass
class in action. In practice, anyone who has
a question asks it. There aren't as many ques-
tions per-capita as you would find in a smaller
class, but they are good questions. Before an
audience of 70, the ubiquitous member of
smaller sections who monopolizes the conver-
sation with inane remarks, keeps his silence.
There is no necessity that examinations be re-
gurgitations. This too depends on the instruc-
tor.
Implicit in the argument that students
aren't getting properly educated in large
classes is the assumption that you must be
in the classroom to be learning. This isn't valid.
A student can still debate the issues of the
day at those creations of inestimable educa-
tional value - the bull session. Additionally,
the University is becoming increasingly con-
cerned with instituting honors programs to
cultivate the superior student. The libraries
are open to any student who wishes to supple-
ment what he doesn't get in the classroom. Any
student who expects to be spoon-fed by his pro-
fessors shouldn't be at the University.
There are arguments for "bigness" as such,
also. One wonders if the University could at-
tract names like Stason, Angell, Pollock, Saw-
yer, and Furstenburg, if it were a smaller uni-
versity. Whichever way you view it - wheth-
er good, big universities attract good profes-
sors or whether good instructors build big and
good universities, our University has a respon-
sbiility. Because of our superlative facilities
and:faculty, we recognize a responsibility to
expand further and to convey as much of the
best instruction to as many students as advis-
able.
Also, it is highly impossible that we could
afford to invite the leading lecturers in the
arts, sciences, and public life to our campus
if we were a school of 5,000.
NEXT, you don't seem to understand that the
University is a state institution and as such
must bear a share of the state's and the na-
tion's load. If you have glanced at a chart of
the birth rate lately, you must realize what
a job the state has in meeting this demand.
Yes, President Hatcher is doing his best to
"educate everybody," and at the same time
to maintain the quality of that education.
Paul Engle in this month's "Holiday", says
it fairly well: "For of all the things America
has invented - the can opener, jazz, bathing-
beauty contests, television commercials, Mickey
Mouse (and Mickey Finn) - the greatest in-
vention of all may turn out to be the state
university, the university for all of the people."
At this University, Mr. Kirk, we turn out a
well-rounded product. Our education is part
of a lviing experience. There are no ivy walls
that keep us away from the outside world. We
mix with the townspeople an dmerchants of
Ann Arbor. Within our campus we mix with
the largest foreign student population in the
country. Yes, we also mix with fellow students
who run a spectrum of intelligence. And for
this, we learn a tolerance, peculiar only to in-
stitutions the likes of us, something peculiar
to democracy. Someone once called our Uni-
versity "all-American" which I will toss out to
you and not. define.
Regarding your last salvo, that President
level of drama rarely attempted, 0
but in this fortunate case, high-
ly successful.
As Medea, Audrey Ward gave by
far her best performance of the
year. If she was somewhat in-
clined at the start to pose, roll
and slide about the set, she none-
theless displayed by the close of
the play the emotional range and
strength of a truly fine actress.
The scene in which Medea hesi-
tates and momentarily defects
from her plan to murder her chil-
dren is done with great subtlety
and control by Miss Ward.
Again, in the closing scene as a
woman who has gone beyond the
suffering of anger and anguish,
she is extremely effective. In all,
this role, perhaps one of the most
difficult and taxing in the history
of the theater, is more than com-
petently met by Miss Ward.
* * *
JOHN MACKAY'S Jason, while
not exciting, was sufficient in
strength and sympathy to func-
tion well as Medea's foil. Among
the smaller parts, David Metcalf,
as the messenger who brings the
news of the terrible death of Ja-
son's new wife, was particularly
outstanding. it was from the mo-
ment of his account of the death
that the play as a whole sprung
into high drama.
Though it is a minor point, I do
take issue with Ralph Drischell's
Aegeus; the appearance of this
simple King of Athens is the single
moment of relief from the press of
tragic events-humor, or simply
an initial light-heartedness on the
part of Aegeus would have worn
well.
The decision not to try to spirit
Medea away by any physical means
at the end of the plhy was most
fortunate. This final exchange be-
tween Medea and Jason was play-
ed with a force that certainly
would have been marred by the
creaking intrusion of any deus x
machina.
* C *
AS GREEK drama is not often
attempted in Ann Arbor, the DAC
deserves credit; insofar as Medea
was highly successful they deserve
praise and attention.
The presentation of "Medea"
does much to brighten an other-
wise mediocre season, yet in its
very success it makes all the more
unhappy the recent notice that in
two weeks the DAC is to close for
good.
-Eric Lndbloom
t .
.1 1
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Where Angels Fear To Tread?
AT THE ORPHEUM:
Salzburg Films
A Fine Don Giovanni
Gandhi and King.. .
To the Editor: ,
R. JAMES ELSMAN chose a
fine subject Feb. 26 when he
started to write about the excellent
work of Rev. Martin Luther King
of Montgomery, Ala., but he should
have restrained his enthusiasm to
compare and evaluate Gandhism
not as Gandhi preached it but as
he understands it. However, he
rushes in with the zeal of a mis-
sionary where angels fear to tread.
In his editorial Mr. Elsman says
"Kingism," that form of passive
resistance practiced by the Negro
baptist Reverend Martin Luther
King, Jr., involves no sedition or
insurrection. It takes its root not
from Gandhi but from the words
of Christianity's founder."
Unfortunately Reverend King
does not see eye to eye with Mr.
Elsman on this point. Allows us to
quote from the cover article in
Time, from which he has profusely
borrowed otherwise. "Above all he
(Rev. King) read and re-read
everything he could find about
India's Gandhi. Even now,' says
King, 'in reading Gandhi's words
I am given inspiration. The spirit
of passive resistance came to me
from the Bible and the teachings
of Jesus Christ, the technique of
execution came from Gandhi'."
Thisis only to put the record
straight: the inspiration to com-
bat segregation is more important
than the source of inspiration. Nor
is this to detract any glory from
the Founder of Christianity for
whom our respect is as high as
that of anyone else.
-Sharad Shah, Grad.
-B. C. Desai, Grad.
No Stage"..
To the Editor:
A GREAT NUMBER of editorials
and articles bewailing the death
of the D.A.C. and the lack of good
theater productions have appeared
recently. One factor has been
neglected, I believe, the crying
lack of theater facilities at the
University.
Union Opera died, and Musket
too, I believe, will die, because
there is no place to put on a show
without paying union crew and
orchestra costs as well as high
rent, except little Lydia Mendels-
sohn.
In Lydia, League and Speech
department productions, and other
University curricular organizations
(Spanish Club, etc.) have prefer-
ence over amateur groups, which
must take the dates left over, if
there are any.
If there had been one more
League or University group putting
on a show in the Lydia, the Gilbert
and Sullivan Society would have
been unable to put on a show last
fall.
Aside from that, Lydia is too
small for a show with campus-wide
appeal, and can't compare with a
good high school auditorium (like
the one at Ann Arbor High).
A great deal of money has been
spent lately on new buildings (the
Union addition, the SAB, and new
athletic buildings), and on re-
building the old Ann Arbor High
(which had a slightly delapidated
stage, which I understand they
are not rebuilding).
There are enough meeting rooms
on campus for two universities,
but not one good stage!
-Dick Booth, '57
Critics Never Win--
To the Editor:
BRENDAN LIDDELL'S review of
Mayne Miller's performance of
Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4
with the CincinnatinSymphony
Orchestra last Tuesday night left
much of importance to be said.
It is true that Mr. Miller ren-
dered a very tender and delicate
interpretation of Beethoven's work,
and his technique, as far as I was
aware, was nearly perfect, except
perhaps when he seemed to have
difficulty with some complex de-
scending argeggios in the third
movement.
It was indeed very interesting to
watch him, because of this appar-
ent intent concern for bringing
out the intricate beauty of each
phrase.
Nevertheless, Mr. Miller failed
completely to bring out the power-
ful quality which is a necessary
characteristic of Beethoven's
Fourth Concerto. His concern for
the deliberately beautiful dualities
of the Concerto was unfortunately
accompanied by a lack of force-
fulness in his playing.
The orchestra was not too loud,
but it often distracted one's atten-
tion from the proper balance be-
tween piano and orchestra, and
thus overpowered the piano. Mr.
Miller's touch lacked strength,
vigor, and potency. The result was,
particularly in regard to the first
and third movements, a weak, deli-
cate, fragile impression of a bold,
mighty, powerful work.
-John Bay, '59
(Letters to the editor must be in
good taste and should not exceed
300 words in length. The Daily re-
serves the right to delete material
for space considerations.)
THE Don Giovanni at the Or-
pheum is a filming of an opera
as actually produc. on a rather
large stage, in this case the Rei-
tenschule of Salzburg. This being
the case, one sees the actual phy-
sical struggle of singing and most
of the stilted gesturing of operatic
direction. Most of this cannot be
helped, since, of course, the whole
of a singer's efforts are expended
on realizing the vocal line which
takes no small amount of concen-
tration.
The action actually takes place
on a stage-and although it is'spa-
cious, the range of movement is of
necessity limited. The result is
some monotony of action, as well
as the absurdity of having Don
Giovanni and Donna Elvira in-
habiting neighboring apartments.
This is less of a disadvantage
than the conventional stage light-
ing which Was utilized. Mdst of it
was unpleasant, and detracted
from the beauty of what was oth-
erwise warm color photography.
* * *
THE OPERA is conducted by W.
Fuertwanger, who is shown con-
ducting the overture. One gets
used to the limited range of the
sound reproduction of the movie
house-though it is quite evident
that the sound track contains a
great range of sounds that the
equipment of the theatre is incap-
able of realizing.
By the time the overture is over,
one is used to the poor sound and
begins to recognize the typically
silker strings of the Vienna Phil-
harmonic, and then, the attract-
ive qualities of the voices of every
one of the principles.
The acting is uniformly con-
vincing, although there is an ob-
vious variety in the physical at-
tribuates of the singers.
Cesare Siepi is the Don; E.
Grummer is Donna Anna; Lisa
della Casa sings Donna Elvira:
Anton Dermota, Don Ottavio; and
the peasant couple are Erna Ber-
ger and Walter Berry.
The singing is gen rally of very
high quality. Unfortunately, the
wonderful white and cutting quali-
ty of Elizabeth Grummer's voice
which is capable of ringing out in
the ensembles is lost in the sound
reproduction box. The orchestra
occasionally emerges in a muddled
tone from the same source. The
sound, otherwise, matches the col-
or photography in its beauty.
There are a number of very im-
portant cuts in the score.
-A. Tsugawa.
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication for which the
Michigan Daily assumes no editorial
responsibility. Notices should be sent
in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room
3553 Administration Building, before
2 p.m. the day preceding publication.
Notices for Sunday Daily due at 2:00
p.m. Friday.
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1957
VOL. LXVII, NO. 105
General Notices
Selective Service College Qualiflea-
tion Test will be given on campus
Thurs., April 18, 1957. Students may
apply for the applications between 8:00
a.m. and 12:00 noon, 1:00 and 5:00
p.m., Mon. through Fri., at Local Board
No. 85, Room 212, 103, East Liberty,
Ann Arbor. The deadline for securing
applications from Local Board No. 85
is 5:00 p.m. Tues., March 5, 1957.
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 of instruc-
tion, undergraduate or graduate, lead-
ing to a degree;
(3) Must not previously have taken
the test.
Late Permission: All women students;
who. attended the Travelogue at Hill
Auditorium on Thurs., Feb. 28, had late
permission until 11:15 p.m.
Student Government Couneil, Sum-
mary of action taken at meeting of
Feb. 27, 1957.
Approved: Minutes of previous meeting.
Recommendation from Finance Com-
mittee: 2 yr. supply of M-Handbook,
12,000 copies fro'm University Press
at estimated price of $2910.
Amendment of all-campus Election
Rules, Item 7 by substitution of "All
students presently holding a Student
Government Council position by elee-
tion need not obtain 350 signatures"
for "Incumbents running for re-
election need not obtain 350 signa..,
tures."
41
#1
EXCERPTS FROM KIRK ARTICLE:
Universities, Presidents Swollen Like Balloons
ik
(The following is the excerpted es-
sence of Russell Kirk's article, "How
Big is a University President?", ap-
pearing in the March 2, issue of Na-
tional Review. Mr. Kirk, author of
"The Conservative Mind", once was
a professor at Michigan State Uni-
versity.)
THERE IS a difference between
growth and inflation. Most of
out American universities are
swollen like balloons today, but
they are not great universities.
And many of our university presi-
dents similarly are puffed up, but
they are not strong presidents.
Dr. Harlan Hatcher assumed the
presidency of the University of
Michigan about four years ago.
That university, in many ways, for
a long time has been thn most
reputable and influential of state
universities. It has endured certain
vicissitudes in recent years, and it
needs a strong and intelligent pres-
ident to preserve its reputation in
this difficult hour. President
Hatcher is an historian, an able
speaker, and a man of presence.
When he came to the university,
he spoke out rather courageously
dignity in the discharge of certain
Communists or fellow travelers
from the staff of the University.
All in all, he seemed to be one of
the better state university presi-
dents, in a time when many such
are either timid or braggart.
BUT OF LATE President Hat-
cher has been saying some silly
things. We cannot know the heart;
yet it is difficult to believe that
Dr. Hatcher really puts his faith
in this cant. It is true that he is
in a difficult situation. In Michi-
gan, an unfortunat and injurious
competition has been carried on,
for more than a decade, between
the old University and the newly-
named Michigan State University
at East Lansing, formerly called
Michigan State College. The latter
institution has been trying to excel
the former in size, and has com-
peted hotly for appropriations
from the state legislature.
The enrollment at the University
of Michigan is now 22,000; at
Michigan State, 19,000. MSU wants
desperately to surpass the Univer-
people, defending the vast DuPont
interests, also employs the phrase
"size is relative." Possibly Dr.
Hatcher found his inspiration in
that quarter. If so, he has joined
the crowd of superficial "educa-
tors" who pretend that the art of
education is identical with a man-
ufacturing process, and that a
university ought to be a factory
turning out an increasing number
of units annually.
NOW THERE are limits to the
optimum size of many sorts of in-
dustrial plants. When those limits
are passed, in many industrial
undertakings, the law of diminish-
ing returns sets in and efficiency
diminishes, until some work of
decentralization become urgently
necessary.
This is truer still of universities,
and the law of diminishing returns
begins to operate discernably when
certain fairly narrow limits of
enrollment are passed. If there
really are many more students
eager and able to profit from uni-
versity studies, then separate insti-
sity of Chicago is small compared
with the giants of Michigan.
* * * '
ANY REFLECTIVE person who
has been a university professor, let
alone a president, knows that once
the enrollment becomes really
large, the work of both professor
and student declines markedly in
quality. Oxford and Cambridge,
with some six or seven thousand
students each, intelligently com-
plain that they find great difficulty
in doing their old appointed work
in such swollen conditions.
Think, then, of a university with
twenty thousand students, or forty
thousand. The member of the fac-
ulty of a single department cannot
know each other properly, not to
mention acquaintance with the
members of other departments.
The control of the university's pol-
icies devolves inevitably upon that
peculiar order, the university ad-
ministrators, divorced from the
realities of study and teaching.
The students become a faceless
crowd, with the psychological
characteristics of people who move
always in mobs. The classes grow
I
j