- -~ -~ . ). ~ , ", _ { . . t -,1 !- ,,. ,w n=# _,i -, ,. .a ,rr a - . x ' _,.,,. _.,t .. ,ak- .S A - , .. , .,. w . _:z. ,r .r ,. . .. .( "' '. .i.,. .ter.. ,.. . .a. t Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE Sunday, March 30, 1958 Sunday, March 30,1958 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE RUSSIAN BORDER PENETRATED A Presidential NomineeJ BY TWO UNIVERSITY COEDS Democrat Looms Strong Contender By DAVID KESSEL ONE AFTERNOON last year, two University coeds were sit- ting at a quiet table in the Union Grill. Suddenly they decided: why just sit there? Let's go somewhere. How many people have -made similar decisions, only to forget them an hour and six lemonades later? No so, this time. The two girls actually walked out, went home, packed eight trunks and set out for the mysterious land of intrigue and danger: Russia. Actually, it is fairly easy to travel to Russia, if you're a stu- dent, if you haven't been con- nected with any off-color organi- zations and primarily if you have plenty of money. So Izora Corpman and Patricia Doss, two literary school juniors from Detroit and Saginaw re- spectively, set out on a trip which is now described in no uncertain terms. The plane ride from Willow Run to Helsinki, Finland, was unevent- ful, but long. Non-stop? "We may have gotten out once or twice," says Pat, "I don't recall." THE PLANE landed in Helsinki late at night. "The city," says Pat, "was damaged considerably during the war, but much has been rebuilt." She remembers the im- pressiveness of the new Olympic Stadium there, but memories of the train ride to Leningrad are pretty grim. Their description of the journey sounds like a Burton Holmes nightmare: coaches like cattle# cars, soot blowing in through win- dows, rotten fish sandwiches, and guards at the Russian border searching baggage and confiscat- ing cameras. "We got some pictures of the guards," says Izora. Imagine the plight of a Univer- sity administration faced with coeds who can sneak pictures of Russian border guards. Small won- der Dean Bacon has been looking tired, lately. THE LENINGRAD station was full of people who, Pat claims,1 must have found out somehow, that two American girls were ar- riving on the train. They were whisked off to a hotel by the secret service and put on ice for the night. Leningrad provided Pat and Izora with their first glimpse of the Russian scene: parks filled with people, cultural opportunities everywhere, but housing, and es- pecially clothing, poor. Izora bought a hat at a depart- ment store which she still has and occasionally shows to close friends. A woman in the store spoke ex- cellent English, which she claimed to have learned from a friend. "She spoke far too well for that," observes Iz, who suspected the woman was a spy, planted by the NKVD. But then, she suspect- ed everyone who followed her for a block and a half. PAT DROPPED in at a puppet show being shown in one of the extensive Leningrad parks. "The houses are so crowded that every- one goes to the parks whenever they can," she says, The puppet show entertained the crowd, but not Pat, who doesn't speak Russian. She wandered off, eventually becoming the center of a gathering of about 40 curious Russians, a few of whom spoke English. "A teacher asked me about workers in the United States, but wouldn't translate for the crowd David Kessel, a graduate student in biochemistry, a fre- quent contributor to the Maga- zine, reveals in this issue the experience of two University coeds during their recent trip to the U.S.S.R. equivocates. For the issue of Pro- hibition combined itself with that of Smith's religion in the mind of the voter in a way difficult to conceive of happening to Kennedy regarding any issue, SOCIOLOGISTS W. F. Ogburn and N. S. Talbot, writing in Social Forces, attempted to ascer- tain the extent to which the vari- ous strikes against'Smith actual- ly worked against him. Selecting 173 counties at random from the states of Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Montana and California they polled voters. Then they coi piled their data to show the effect each factor would have on the Democratic vote if it alone were increased ten per cent. Factor: Foreign born Urban population Democratic voters Catholics Wet Voters Increase: .5% -.8% 1.8% 2.8% 4.1% ted by Kansas journalist William Allen White, the cranks on religion and morality of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant. native-born American variety leveled charges of drunk- enness in public, of support of state prostitution and of gambling against Smith. The classic story of the Pope digging a transatlantic tunnel from the Vatican to Washington, D.C. in the event a Catholic be- came president was widely cir- culated. And as a result Alfred E. Smith of New York carried only eight states. The chances of young Senator Kennedy meeting the same fate today have been and continue to be widely debated. Several im- portant changes since 1928 are obvious, however, and were out- lined by Helen Hill Miller in New Republic. FIRSTMrs. Miller points out, in 1928American' Catholic were mostly immigrants: Irish, Ger- mans, or southern and eastern Europeans. Such a composition of the Catholic population, coupled with the fact Smith was from the Catholic-Jewish melting pot New York City, aroused all the nativism of non-metropolitan America. Second, the Ku Klux Klan was in full revival in the Twenties, a more powerful factor on a na- tional scale than the White Citi- zens Councils could possibly be. For one thing the Klan itself was strong outside the South-one of its citadels was Indiana. For an- other, anti-Catholic prejudice was a major concern of the Klan, in contrast to the situation today when there is no organization with the ability or inclination to dis- seminate anti - Catholic propa- ganda on such a wide-spread scale. Further, she continues, Catholics are no longer a minority or even a well - defined group outside the South. She lists admittedly im- perfect statistics for the 50% of the United States population with church affiliation. In New England three-fourths are Catholic, in the Mid-Atlantic states five-eighths, in the North Central states five- twelfths in the South only one- fifth, but one-half in the West with the margin slightly higher on the Pacific coast. (OBVIOUS OBJECTIONS can be raised to these figures. Chief among them is the fact that the half of the population not pro- fessing any affiliation is over- whelmingly Protestant in back- ground and can be expected to have the same type of prejudice as active Protestants. DESPITE the "handicap" of rich family background, which has been overcome by presidents from George Washington to F. D. R., Senator Kennedy has gained a great deal of support from coast to coast. A liberal with a voting record called "83 per cent liberal" by the' Americans for Democratic Action, he is well-received by con- servatives who know his father. He is acknowledged by Democratic leaders in Kansas and Oklahoma to be the leading presidential can- didate. Recently he supported the Supreme Court at a Jackson, Miss. dinner and won a standing ovation for his speech, not to mention the blessings of Gov. James P. Cole- man. The South had lent him considerable support for the vice-a presidential nomination. Midwest support is quite significant, how- ever, since his vote against 90 perl cent of parity rigid farm price supports had cost him his place] on the 1956 ticket. KENNEDY'S supporters and the Senator himself realize his boom is gathering speed and he needs good Republican competi- tion in 1958. "If the Republicans run against us, he'll eat the slate," a Kennedy advisor said. And Kennedy will still have to enter primaries to demonstrate hisl strength outside the East. He faces1 also the jinx that only Warren Ha re Se sic wi P0 po fa ed cle ma tic co St wl ke to: He so perfect for that Easter dtown. South .. . THE KREMLIN--While in Moscow, Pat and Izora photographed the Kremlin, visited the Stalin-Lenin Mausoleum and suffered through a heat wave. Thus, according to Ogbugn and Talbot, Prohibition as a voting issue was the most significant fac- tor in defeating Smith, nearly half again as important as his religion. These findings, however, are subject to two obvious criticisms. First they ignore the South, five states of which went Republican in what seems more anti-Smith voting than pro-Hoover. Second, the body of anti-Catholic prejudice is not directly proportional to the number of Catholics in the popu- lation, although this enters in. BE THAT, as it may, Smith was subjected to a whispering cam- paign unlike any ever seen. Abet- a '' when I told him they were far better off than Russian workers," says Pat. She heard a soldier shout something about wanting to visit America, but he was shouted down by the crowd.- At the Opera one night, Izora observed a basic propaganda theme : "The plot of the opera concerned peasants otherthrowing the bourgeosie." Also a curious custom: During the intermission, people in the audience walked around in a large circle in the lobby, talking." Her high heels attracted much attention from onlookers, since Russian shoes are large and un- wieldy, almost indescribable. Throwing cigarettes on the lob- by floor was distinctly no good, Izora discovered when she did, and got so many fierce stares from, soldiers she retrieved the butt and tossed it in the basket provided for such refuse. PAT RECALLS her strangest ex- perience in Leningrad: walking down a street, she wandered into a shop after buying a ticket at the door. The room was filled with people waiting for something; a few eating ice cream. She had no idea what the place was, everyone seemed to be waiting quietly, and a large variety of cats were walk- ing around and jumping on the tables. She left without ever dis- covering where she had been. Probably at a cat show. The girls were taken to the train for Moscow by a flock of Russian students, many presumably planted by the police. Earlier in the day, a friend had taken Pat to see a famous Russian film star. "He was ugly," was her comment. THE TRAIN to Moscow was filled with Chinese Communists and North Korean soldiers who all put on pajamas en route to better withstand this 11-day journey. The excellent Russian Vodka was. found to be most useful in forti- . .. .:. . . . . . . . . . . ..... ....:."::::r: .S C ..........,'....-...- . . ., . . YOUR DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTION FILLED I FINEST Y QUALITY MATERIALS Goddess Wherever you are, Whoever you are! It's distinctive to wear Saffell & Bush Saffell & Bush Clothes. There is a great Spring and Summer season ahead. See our new smart and different style apparel for ni~en. You'll look so beautiful in this ! striking simplicity. The skirt is a g pleats; the bodice is cross-drapec manner. And the luxurious Ciella-A and drips-dry in two hours'- no dress that can go around the wort Sizes 8 to 18, $17.95. 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