"It's Easier If You Keep Your Eyes Closed" Sixty-Seventh 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 Fbea gnfmus Are Free TrutbilWl Prevai" Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily exp ress the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This mnst be noted in all reprints. DAY, MAY 10, 195"- NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN WEICHER Censorship In Its Place zA ~ (O~1 J "I'Ap i L~ all&-~ p AT THE CAMPUS:s 'La Strada' Sensitive, Original creation FEDERICO FELLINI'S La Strada (The Road), now showing at the Campus Theater is, in our opinion, one of the most sensitive and original creations in the trend away from orthodox neo-realism in Italian movie-making, along the lines of attempting to transcend mere documentation and irrelevant sentimentality and move, towards a more generalized and universal synthesis of human experience. And, rarest of all qualities nowadays, La Strada is a true movie, conceived and executed not as an adapted novel or play on a plodding verbal level, but as a work which makes full use of the unique magic of implicitly expressive details and situations which constitutes the distinctive power of the film medium. Like some of the gentler stories of Franz Kafka, La Strada is a kind of parable about man's fate. A brutish and cowardly vaudeville performer (Anthony Quinn), traveling about the country in a ram. CENSORSHIP, particularly of newspapers, books and motion pictures, has become a very controversial subject in recent months. A wide variety of organizations and "decency committees" has lately arisen to do battle against whatever they choose to define as "in- decent" or "obscene." State legislatures and local law enforcement agencies, often under pressure from these self- appointed guardians of the public welfare, have passed obscenity laws, banned books and closed burlesque houses-for the public welfare. Many of these laws and bans of one sort or another have been declared unconstitutional or unlaw- ful, but this doesn't seem to have dampened the current enthusiasm for censorship. CENSORSHIP properly directed and adminis- tered, is useful and often necessary. When, however, a group of self-righteous purists set themselves up to dictate public morality, to impose their own moral codes, their own defi- nitions of "indecency," their own tastes in literature and entertainment on the entire pop- ulace they violate the rights of all of us to choose for ourselves what we shall read or see. Censorship aimed, for example, at'protecting children from exposure to indecency is justi- fied-children are not capable of properly choosing for themselves or distinguishing pro- ducts of an author's imagination from reality. Too many censorship groups, however, seem to regard the average Americanadult as an intellectual child who also must be protected from from his own indiscretion or lack of discrimination. Again, censorship of publications which thrive on gossip, tearing down reputations and libeling individuals cannot be argued ,against. Such publications themselves infringe on the rights and the privacy of others and deserve to be condemned. Scandal magazines-the most notorious of them "Confidential"-fall into this category. But when self-appointed "protectors of the public morality" take upon themselves author- ity to "protect" the public from even such con- temporary greats as Hemingway Huxley, Stein- beck, Buck, O'Hara and Orwell, they infringe on the personal freedom of all of us. EVEN SUCH extreme censorship would be acceptable were it limited to merely screen- ing and recommendation. There is little room for objection to someone simply suggesting that a certain book or movie would be better not read or seen, or alerting us to the moral evils in our environment. But too many of our censors refuse to stop there. They endeavor to force us to conform by forcing out of our reach all they consider unfit for our consumption-threatening and organizing boycotts against theatres, publishers and dealers-all without proper justification. Censorship in its place is a fine thing; cen- sorship, mistaken and misdirected, is as dan- gerous as that which it seeks to protect us against. EDWARD GERULDSEN ' yv :: M ' " f,; ti: ,:. ,:..> n, 2 t a t r- , .w.w.,..rar. .. y-. , ' " x' f-- - r4qk a WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND: Furcolo Proposes Loan Fund By DREW PEARSON A Faculty Should Fulfill AAUP Resolution IT IS USUALLY unwise to say a stated opin- of segregation" - lack of motivation to fur- ion of a national group reflects a condition ther better human relations by integration that exists in every local group composing the or whatever methods may be advisable. national. But neither is it wise for the local We would suggest the faculty use the Resi- group to ignore such an opinion - particular- dence Halls as a starting point, because there it ly one like that passed recently by the annual would be easy to see there is no desire for a convention of the American Association of policy of integration. It would be hoped, that University Professors. should they find the Residence Hall system, or The opinion was a resolution criticizihg any other area of the University lacking, they schools where pressure is brought against stu- could use their considerable influence to im- dents and faculty members who belong to or- prove the situation. ganizations seeking the lawful elimination of This assumes, of course, two conditions: segregation in education. first: that faculty members believe integration For some areas of the country this resolu- tionwasnottoo trog; he Asocatin's as a method of improving human relations is tion was not too strong; the Associatione desirable and can be profitable at this Uni- committee on academic freedom reported some versity; second, that they are not fearful of faculty members in the South had been dis- overt or subtle pressures from their colleagues missed because of their views on desegrega- or department superiors. This latter considera- tion. But for many institutions, particularly tion was indicated by the Association in its northbern ones such as this University, the resolution, and should be the greatest concern stand of the Association only hints at an the facly equally important problem - tacit approval to aculy. of segregation in the institution. ITIS UNFORTUNATE the administration WHILE it is doubtful the situation the reso- will not take the initiative to improve the lution descried exists at this school, the unsatisfactory situation in the Residence Halls, faculty here would be showing a lack of con- but it has become evident they will not. And cern for the school if it were not to reflect until the faculty gives some attention to the on the status of human relations here at the problem it is rather unlikely anything will University. The reflecting might well be done change. on another interpretation of "tacit approval -DAVID TARR Power of the Atom FOSTER FURCOLO, dynamic young governor of Massachu- setts, paid a call on President Eisenhower last week. He laid before Ike a plan for the federal government to set $3,000,- 000,000 aside from which the states could borrow at two per cent interest to build school build- ings and various public works. "What the 48 states are up against, Mr. Eisenhower," ex- plained Democratic Governor Fur- co, "is the highest interest rate in years. We have to pay four or four and one-half per cent on bonds to build schools, hospitals and highways. "It's prohibitive.Theresult is that a lot of states just aren't going to build. HOWEVER, the governor con- tinued, "If the federal government set aside $3,000,000,000 from which the states could borrow at two per cent, the banks would probably lower their interest rates." Furcolo told Ike that he had queried the other state governors. on the idea and about half seemed to favor the plan. President Eisenhower, however, was noncommittal. He listened at- tentively, but made no comment. Later the Massachusetts gover- nor tried the idea out on Speaker Sam Rayburn and Congressman John McCormack of Boston, the Democratic Iouse leader. He got a much more favorable reaction. * * * DEMOCRATIC LEADERS made no effort to hide their irritation with Sen. Lyndon Johnson, the so- called Democratic leader of the Senate, for leaving Washington when the former President of the United States, the Democratic can- didate for president and other top leaders of the party came to at- tend-a money-raising dinner and confer on Democratic strategy. In addition to being irked at Lyndon's boycott they learned that he is secretly grooming Sen. George Smathers of Florida to re- place Paul Butler as Democratic Chairman when Butler retires to run for the Senate from Indiana. Smathers, one of the handsom- est senators, sometimes referred to as a member of the "Lyndon John- son Charm School," is well re- membered by Adlai Stevenson for the way he sat on his hands in Florida in 1952. Smathers made not one speech for Stevenson, did not lift a fin- ger in that election. Finally, to- ward the end of the campaign, he was asked to introduce Steven- son at a Democratic rally in Tam- pa, but refused-unless he were permitted to make a speech during his introduction explaining why he differed with Stevenson. In brief, he wanted to make a speech against Stevenson before Steven- son spoke. This was rejected. Smathers did come to Tampa and sat on the platform. When asked to take a bow he was greet- ed with long, loud and continuous boos. This is the man Lyndon John- son wants to push as chairman of the Democratic National Com- mittee. Note-to atone for his past, Lyn- don pushed Smathers into the post of money-raiser for Democratic senators last year. But Democratic leaders point out that Smathers' activities helped Lyndon's senate friends, not the national ticket. 1' * * WHEN CALIFORNIA Demo- cratic Committeeman Paul Zifron introduced the resolution banning a right-to-work bill he told fellow Democrats: "A right-to-work bill has no more place in a civil rights bill than a right-to-live amend- ment has in the national defense appropriation" . . . Alabama's Committeewoman Thomas urged that the segregationist questions be reconsidered at Washington be- cause the press had been present at the San Francisco Democratic meetings, so delegates could not express themselves freely. Col. Jack Arvey, kingpin of Chicago Democrats, voiced Lyndon John- son's earlier squawk that "Drew Pearson published the record of our closed-door sessions. How do you suppose Drew gets it?" Arvey asked. It was no accident that the Southerners stayed home, almost en masse, from last week's $100- a-plate Democratic dinner. Senate Leader Lyndon Johnson organized a "passive boycott" as a deliberate snub to the Democratic National Committee . . . He believes the committee is dominated by north- ern liberals but should be run by Southern congressional leaders - meaning himself primarily . EX-PRESIDENT Truman's pri- vate reaction to Senator McCar- thy's death was slightly different than his public statement. Upon learning of the news, Truman told fellow Democrats: "I am sorry to hear of McCarthy's death, but I am always sorry when a critic of the Eisenhower Administration dies.",... Both Truman and Adlai Stevenson swiped a gag from Min- nesota's Governor Freeman, who wisecracked , at a private break- fast: "When President Eisenhower goes on the air to defend his bud- get, the Republicans will probably ask for equal time." . . . Truman liked the crack so well that he planned to use it, in his public speech. But Stevenson was called on first and beat Truman to the punchline. Michigan's Gov. G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams was the final featured speaker. The other speeches dragged out so long that only a tenth of the audience stay- ed to hear 'him. While Williams was still talking the waiters began folding up the tables. Then a moving van drove into the huge armory to haul away the tables and chairs. This was the last straw. The exasperated Williams snorted: "I can understand the waiters clearing the tables and even folding them. But when they bring in stretchers to take out the audience, that's too much." (Copyright 1957 by Bell Syndicate, Inc.) shackle motorcycle van, buys him- self a girl assistant (Giulietta Ma- sina) who becomes his docile and suffering stooge in a series of nondescript slapstick and weight- lifting acts. He treats the girl cruelly, train- ing her with whip lashes, and re- mains callously indifferent to her strange devotion and her child- like wonderment in the face of the simplest and most ordinary things of life. Upon joining a rov- ing circus, they encounter a clownish young acrobat (Richard Basehart) who torments the clumsy weight-lifter with jibes and pranks. After a fight, both parties are banished from the circus and continue on their separate ways. Unfortunately, they meet again on the road and the acrobat is murdered by the vengeful strong- man. The gi, horrified, loses her reason and is abandoned by her master. Many years later, he learns that she has died, and suddenly he knows - as she had known al- ways - how lonely he is, and he weeps. ALTHOUGH this strange and moving story takes place in the vague present and its Italian vil- lage and country scenes are re- produced with absolute fidelity, it could very well be set in any period or locale. Its photographic realism serves more as a means of making the superimposed "fable" more imme- diate and accessible, than as the necessary expression of a 'narra- tive arising from given social cir- cumstances. Fellini's symbolism in La Strada is not religious but seems to re- fer more to the fundamental exis- tentialism which underlies so much of modern literature. All men are inescapably lonely and their fleeting comprehension of one another comes to naught. .S * * GOODNESS, strength and ar- tistic talent reside together in no one, but are fragmented amongst separate individuals and are ren- dered negative or ineffectual in meekness, cruelty and frivolity. And we all live on the precarious brink of a vast and alien universe, like the sea on whose sunlit shores the girl first appears and at whose edge the strongman collapses in darkness in the final scene. Sucha film, whatever its nega- tive implications, cannot be viewed other than as a profound and sincere expression of . our troubled times and of modern man's sense of frustration and de- sire for transcendance. Its * * * JUDGED as an example of film art and technique, La Strada is a work of unusual accomplishment. Under Fellini's direction, the per- formances rendered by Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart are so fine as to make these artists unidentifiable with their usual American roles. Both of them, however, must take a back seat to the extraor- dinary Giulietta Masina, in whose interpretation of the girl Gelso- mina the distinction between ac- tor and imaginary personage al- most entirely disappears, so com- plete is her mastery of gesture and mute expression. --James E. Irby AT THE STATE- Radiation Sickness FAMOUS scientists wander about in dirty clothes, speak in ob- scure dialects, and call each other "doctor." Female scientists have heaving bosoms and long hair. Monsters are created by ubiquitous atomic radiation, and they kill everyone but the female scientist and her cute boy friend, who flunked Zoology 1, but she loves him anyhow. This is the curious world set forth in "Attack of the Crab Mon- sters," a film filled to the'very brim with glaring inconsistencies, charming nonsense, invigorating violations of many of the hitherto accepted concepts of physics, chemistry, logic, common sene, billiards, and what not. Of course the monster~ gets the girl in the end and they ooze off into the sunset, but until then it's pure rot, all the way down. * * * NOT OF THIS EARTH is actu- ally not so bad. The beginning is actually mediocre. The screen credits are shown to a background of real good amateur spook draw- ings. The actors are people just like us; in other words not pro- fessionals. The film describes in bloody de- tail how a strange man from outer space, wearing dark glasses and carrying a little suitcase, wanders here and there, unobtrusively gathering blood samples to send back to the home office Where they are having radiation trouble. He meets a kindly MD who provides blood transfusions for free to keep his withered arteries full. A nurse even helps with 'the needle. The alien is eventually knocked off in an auto accident (a good argument against safe driv- ing), but another alien soon ar- rives, so the earthmen don't quite win this film. HOW FORTUNATE, that the State Theatre arranged to have a nurse in the lobby to care for frightened spectators, During the course of the horror-filled after- noon, much of the audience was transformed into a bloody mass of groping protoplasm, restrained from hysteria and degredation only by the fortuitous presence of the nurse and sixteen stout ushers, each armed with a bucket of sand, a pipe wrench, an umbrella and a set of leg irons. Thus are the weak of heart warned in advance that these films are dangerous. -David Kessel Nehrutralism NEHRU HAS offended the Hin- dus by saying he did not think more of a cow than a horse, Friends of the Hindus can only counsel patience. Everyone knows about Nehru's old habit of carry- ing neutralism too far. -National Review DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN The Daily official Bulletin Is a official publication of the University of Michigan for which the Michi- gan Daily assumes no editorial re- sponsibility. Notices should be sent. in TYPEWRITTEN form to Room 3519 Administration Building, be- fore 2 p.m. the day preceding publication. Notices for Sunday Daily due at 2:00 pm. Friday. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 195 VOL. LXVII, NO. 156 General Notices Undergraduate Honors Convocation, The annual Convocation recognizing undergraduate honor students will be held at 11 a.m. Fri., May 10, in Hill Auditorium. Dr. Robert F. Goheen, President-elect of Princeton University, will speak on "The Not So Serene Temples of Learning." Honor students will be excused from attending their 10:00 classes. All classes, with the exception of clinics and grad. uate seminars, will be dismissed at 10:45 for the Convocation. However, seniors, may be excused from clinics and semi- nars. Academic costume will be worn by faculty members, who will robe back- t« ,{ THE FUTURE of Europe's industry will de- pend on the extent to which nuclear power is utilized. A report, recently submitted to the Atomic Energy Commission, outlined Europe's increas- ing power demands and increasing inability to fill these demands from her own resources. Europe's growing dependence on the Middle East for oil was emphasized. With the cur- rent rising nationalism and the political in- stability of this region, Europe's assurance of sufficient oil to power her industries becomes weaker. T THE PRESENT time, the bulk of Europe's oil and coal imports are used to produce electricity. Only one-third of the increased demand for power in the next twenty years Editorial Staff RICHARD SNYDER. Editor will be filled if Europe employs only conven- tional power sources. Europe, therefore, must begin to construct nuclear power stations immediately or face the possibility of sharply limiting her future industrial development. At the moment there is no excuse for the European nations to let atomic power pass them by. The United States, Britain and Can- ada have offered to train technicians and sell fissionable materials with the stipulation they will be used only for peaceful purposes. ENGLAND has already shown the practical- ity of atomic power plants. English atomic electrical stations are no longer experimental projects but commercial actualities. The only apparent difference between England and the rest of Europe is that Britain has been more far-sighted. Atomic power will not soon entirely replace the need for coal in many important indus- trial processes, but production electricity, the biggest consumer of conventional power ma- terials, could be handled entirely by nuclear power plants. If Europe is to maintain a competitive po- sition in the present and future world she must begin immediate development of atomic power sources. -PHILIP MUNCK New Books at the Library Brown, Joe E. - Laughter Is a Wonderful Thing; NY, A. S. Barnes, 1957. Fitzlyon, April - The Libertine Librettist; NY, Abelard-Schuman, 1957. COUNCIL COMMENTARY: SGC Debates Spring Rush Calendars-At Length RICHARD HALLORAN Editorial Director LEE MARKS City Editor By RICHARD TAUB Daily Staff Writer IN STRONG CONTRAST to last week's SGC meeting, the Council meeting Wednesday night was a shoddy affair. Debate on the two different rushing calendars was long, in- volved and repetitious. Almost every Council member saw fit to emphasize several times that the Council should take the individual into consideration that Junior Girls' Play was or was not so im- portant, and that Panhel had the right to administer its own intern- al affairs. Jean Scruggs, in a remarkably candid speech during members time, underlined the problems of the meeting. She felt the "fiiss was unnecessary" and was actually a "question of ethics." * *o then there was Panhel's method of introducing the minority calen- dar. Following their Monday meet- ing, Joe Collins, chairman of the SGC Spring Rush Committee, thought there had been complete accord within the committee over the recommended spring rush cal- endar. He thought all the problems had been worked out. And then, about an hour before Wednesday's SGC meeting, mem- bers of the Council learned that Panhel was dissatisfied, and a new report was to be introduced. And there was the way figures were tossed around. Miss Houck told the Council delegates- had approved the minority calendar by a vote of 21-0. The vote was not 21-0. People kept talking about the 2400 girls involved in rushing. About 1400 girls actually do rush Maynard Goldman introduced a slight change to the majority cal- endar which seemed to satisfy most of the objections of Panhel and the League, but it neverthe-' less proved unsatisfactory to Pan- hel. What it really amounted to was that the fight over the two calen- dars probably weren't fights over calendar programs at all. Panhel, it appears, introduced its report for two reasons. The first and probably most important, was to save face. The second was to preserve internal responsibility for their organization. It would have looked bad indeed, if, after this group couldn't pro-' duce a calendar, SGC came up with one. And certainly no group wants some outside body dictating its ativities- JUDGING by its report to the Council, one group ,which should contribute a great deal to the activities of SGC in the future is the Education and Social Welfare Committee, headed by Gerald Blackstone. There may be disagreement over some of the areas the committee plans to study, but one thing is sure: The committee's work will be highly stimulating and pro- vocative, both for the Council and the campus at large. The committee plans studies of the University marking system, causes and possible cures of aca- demic' failure, library hours, schol- arships, student-faculty commit- tees on academic policy, and the Alumni Lecture Series. Investigation of comprehensive exams, revamping of the grade point system or even abolishing it, may not reisut in any croncrete A -J .. -, GAIL GOLDSTEIN.... ....Personnel Director ERNEST THEODOSSIN ....Magazine Editor JANET REARICHK . Associate Editorial Director MARY ANN THOMAS..............Features Editor DAVID GREY...............Sports Editor RICHARD CRAMER ........ Associate Sports Editor STEPHEN HEILPERN ........ Associate Sports Editor JANE FOWLER and ARLINE LEWIS .............. Women's Co-Editors JOHN HIRTZEL ................ Chief Photographer Business Staff DAVID SILVER, Business Manager MILTON GOLDSTEIN ... Associate Business Manager 2,.-