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Sixty-Eighth Year
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orials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
NOVEMBER 22, 1957
NIGHT EDITOR: MICHAEL KRAFT
"ledge Raids,' 'Sweat Sessions'
Not 'Brotherhood-Building'.
"How Did You Say Their Election Came Out?"
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'Birth of a Nai
V/1
TranscendsOIgnorancc
IT WAS A BAD DAY at Piedmont, the day the Yankees mar
through, bringing with them freedom for the Negro slave
"degradation of the South." But love and the Ku Klux Klan con
all, despite incredible odds and hardships.
This is the message of "Birth of a Nation."
For years a subject of great controversy, this film is being ,s:
"solely for the artistic and historical value." Playing with it is a
subject, The Brotherhood of Man, a high-schoolishly simple se
onn equality.
"Birth of a Nation" is basically a Western with the' Negro replo
USUAL WAVE of "pledge raids" and the
ultant "sweat sessions" are presently
ng the majority of Greek letter fraterni-
i campus. Fraternity actives are awaking
. the house's furniture on the front lawn,
pair of shoes in the house missing and
rious parts of the bicycles dangling from
Shunning study and sleep, the recently
. pledges band together for one purpose--
a a raid that will go down in the history
chapter. The understood rules' for a
raid are reviewed: no fair taking the
off the campus; no fair breaking the
iw , on indecent exposure and no fair
g" a raid without first notifying the Ann
Police Department..
weat session" is usually the fraternity's
r to the pledge class "raid." The entire
ilty, minus a few non-conformists who
belive in the value of such antics, meet
uss their course of retaliation. The rules
"sweat session" are previously reviewed:
it punishing the pledges who are not
, no fair "catching" the pledges during
of the day and no fair breaking the
raternity Council's rule on "physical
atment of pledges." Under the helpful
.ce of the elected pledge trainer, the fra-
members prepare for the night's activ-
['his may include building a fire for a
"fire drill" (pledges required to crawl
airs to second floor and return with
fuls of water in order to extinguish fire)-
ring a room for pledge "line-up" (grilling
s to why they dress a certain way, go
:ertain girls or associate with certain
ges seem to be a little confused as to
ason behind their antics. They only
hat it is part of the fraternity tradition,
.tion the present pledge class is expected
y on. Actives are a bit less confused as
to the purpose of the pledge raid. Fraternity
brotherhood, they contend, is being built. The
new pledges are developing a spirit of unity and
at the same time getting to know the actives a
little better. For this reason, they continue, the
pledge raid is a necessary part of effective
fraternity living.
AN OBSERVER is led to wonder why other
means of building fraternity brotherhood
cannot be substituted for the sometimes de-
structive and injurious "pledge raids" and
"sweat sessions." A recent "sweat session" held
by members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity
illustrates tle possible harm of a "sweat ses-
sion." Three of the eight pledges participating
in a chapter "fire drill" had to report to Health
Service the next morning. "Pledge raids" have
also taken their toll in broken furniture, poor
grades and missing clothing.
The many fraternities still sanctioning
"pledge raids" and "sweat sessions" are neglect-
ing a wonderful opportunity to plan their
brotherhood-building" pledge training around
a more constructive program. Fraternity houses
can always use a little more painting, many
churches are in need of help, and other charit-
able organizations are always seeking for
helpful assistance. Unity perhaps could be best
achieved by working together constructively
rather than destructively. It seems a bit silly
for supposedly mature college students to waste'
their time on such childish antics.
Fraternities here are known for their rela-
tively mild pledge programs. Perhaps their
reputation would be a great deal better if'
therewere no forms of hazing at all. A reputa-
tion that is built on worthy and constructive
deeds lasts quite a bit longer than one that is
based on destructive actions.
-BARTON HUTHWAITE
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GILBERT & SULLIVAN:
Twin Bill Delightful, Exuberant
What Role Junior Colleges?
3E UNIVERSITY'S Conference on Higher
Education, held here Tuesday and Wednes-
seems to present fairly good evidence of the
eral concern over the current plight of the
on's colleges and universities. At the same
e, it also seems tb point up the hesitation on
part of educators toward offering any posi-
suggestions or recommendations.
Ithough, as was said at the Conference,
e is no universal panacea, there was general
ement that community-or junior-colleges
ht prove 'to be one solution to the problem
roviding for the tremendous influx of college
licants expected in the next ten years.
niversity President Harlan Hatoher, for in-
ice, said that such a school might serve as
>ther level of selection" in the screening of
pplicants to four-year institutions. He ex-
ned that students unqualified for admission
niversities can be guided into other areas
the two-year community colleges, while
e who find themselves capable of handling
ege work can transfer to four-year insti-
ons.
here are problems, of course, and many of
e were discussed at the conference. Every-
seemed confident a solution could be found
each; many individual speakers advanced
onal theories; many views were held con-
ently by a large majority of the delegates.
YET, really, not a single bit of action will re-
sul$ from the entire Conference.
This was "not an action conference," as Prof.
Algo Henderson, General Director of the con-
ference, put it, but was merely for the exchange
of ideas.
This is, of course, a "laudable purpose, and
yet perhaps what is needed here is something
a great deal more positive than simply an ex-
change of ideas. If the heads of Michigan's
community colleges really feel they have a
possible, answer to one of education's basic
problems, they ought to say so-firmly and
positively, and to the right people.
One possibly might be another, higher-level
conference-perhaps a meeting of the heads
of the community colleges-out of which would
come definite statements of policy, definite
requests for whatever action they agree upon,
definite suggestions for ironing the kinks out
of their own programs and those of higher edu-
cation in general.
Much information came out of this week's
Conference- important and useful information,
pointing to many definite conclusions. All that
is yrequired now is the presentation of these
conclusions in the form of recommendations by
the specific institutions involved. Then and
only then will the programs and actions desired
be forthcoming.
=-SUSAN HfOLTZER
IT'S GOTTEN to the point where
Daily reviewers can almost (as
many readers suspect them of do-
ing anyway) write reviews of Gil-
bert & Sullivan Society produc-
tions without seeing them; they
are consistently excellent. But it
seems doubtful that any reviewer
would throw away the chance to
sit through two and a half hours
of some of the most delightful and
exhuberant theater produced on
this campus.
The double bill at Lydia Men-
delssohn is not only true to form,
it may possibly be the best overall
G & S production of the last few
years. But, paradoxically enough,
it expends more than half its
energy on one of the least good
operettas on which the famous
Victorian team collaborated.
* * *
"THE SO1CERER" was the
team's second work and, luckily,
they went on to better things. The
plot is, as usual, ephemeral: Alexis
Pointdextre (Jerry'Langenkamp),
betrothed to Aline Sangazure
(Lynn Tannel), decides that love
is such a marvelous thing that he
employs the love portion of sor-
cerer John Wellington (David
Newman) on the whole village.
Everybody falls in love according
to plan but, 'of course, with the
wrong people. Alexis puts up with
mismating in the name of love
until Aline falls for the town
notary (Richard Kretchmar); then
he decides that Something Must
Be Done. Unfortunately, the spell
can be broken only if he or Wells
dies, and it doesn't take the as-
sembled multitude long to decide'
between them. The sorcerer dis-
patches himself humbly and the
gay betrothal feast goes on, with"
everyone in love with the right
person. The usual G & S gaiety is
missing from the finale, however,
at least for the audience, which
regards the summary dismissal of
Wells as unnecessary and entirely
out of keeping with the spirit of
the rest of the operetta. The effect
is totally spoiled.
* * 4'
THE BLAME, however, falls on
the two, men who have long since
met the fate of J. W. Wells; the
local Society gives the operetta its
best, and its best is very good
indeed. The chorus, the best in
three years, is loud, clear, ani-
mated and, for the most part,
understandable, and the work of
the principals matches it beauti-
fully. All of them can act well and,
though all the singing is adequate,
some of it, notably that of Miss
Tannel, Langenkamp (particularly
in "Thou Mast the Power"), New-
man and James Ueberhost (Dr.
Daly), is superb. Gilbert's gleeful
gibe at "decorous" (and therefore
unfulfilled) love is perfectly real-
ized by Ernest Kramer (Sir Mar-
maduke Pointdextre) and Alice
Dutcher (Lady Sangazure). Mrs.
Partlet (Ann Olson) and daughter.
Constance (Sandra Reid) are com-
petent and gay; Miss Reid and
Kretchmar are especially sparkling
in "Dear Friends, Take Pity." In
the past, its been easy to say that
David Newman steals the show;
this time, although he turns in his
usual slick and face-contorted
performance, he is matched for
acting honors with Ueberhorst and
Miss Tannel.
At least part of the credit for a
well-done job on ill-done material
goes to the lighting crew, which
made the incantation scene spooky
indeed and the special effects crew,
which handled all but its last job
with grace.
* *' *
TRIAL BY AJRY is a different
matter entirely, because it was aj
well-done job with well-done ma-j
terial. When Gilbert pokes fun at
Victorian trials, his pen drips with
acid, but it is riotously funny acid.
Martyn Green himself would
have been pleased at Gershom
Morningstar's Judge. Morningstar
is in complete control of a wonder-
fully rubbery face and equally
plastic legs, and he invests the
traditional business with new
freshness and hilarity, particularly,
in "When I, Good Friends, Was
Called to the Bar." His perform-
ance is very nearly excelled by
Robert Denison as the usher, who
earnestly begged for, and never
got, "Silence in the Court!" Griffin
Griffin; the defendant is properly
supercilious and John Vavroch,
the counsel for the plaintiff, prop-
erly lugubrious. Charlotte'Schuster
(the plaintiff), a freshman new-
comer to the Society, is lovely, a
competent actress and possessed of
a very fine voice.
Chorus work was, if possible,
better than that in "The Sor-
cerer;" its business and expression
was perfectly timed and executed.
Lenore Davis' sets both were beau-
tifully done, that for "Trial by
Jury" was particularly imaginative
and pleasing.
All in all, the Society -as again
provided the campus with three
evenings-of professional, sprightly
Gilbert & Sullivan.
-Tammy Morrison
the naive but brutal Red Man and
the valiant Cavalry. Amusement is
the obvious and natural reaction
to such a switch
Produced in the age of melo-
drama, the silent film is typical,
in most of its portrayals, of the
sigh-sob-choke-sneer acting of its
day. The villians, the carpetbag-
gets, not the newly freed slaves,
are moustache-twirlers sans mous-
tache. The heroes are more like
Percy Dovetonsils than Rock Hud-
son.
* * *
OCCASIONALLY in the acting,
but much more often in the pro-
duction aspects, there is that qual-
ity which makes "Birth of a Na-
tion" a classic, despite the under-
lying ignorance of its theme and"
outmoded style of dramatization.
In the preface, this D. W. Grif-
fith production is called "the yard-
stick by which all great motion
pictures are measured." This is
hardly accurate by certain modern
standards such as measuring the
greatness of the movie by the size
of the heroine's bustline.
Realism which would disturb
movie audiences today is used in
the battle and mob scenes, con-
vincing one that "viciousness
brought forth by war is common to
all races." Particularly brutal is a
shot following the caption, "the
price of war." It could be the
picture of any battlefield after the
"glory" is past.
* * *
IF THE MODERN viewer can
forget that the majority of the
captions are quaintly humorous
and can forget the ridiculousness
of certain character concepts, he
can see some dramatic techniques
just on the 1915 side of genius. The
best scene is one less than thirty
seconds long, during the emotion-
stifled "return of the soldier from
the wars" bit.
Many observers wvill be greatly
amused by "Birth of a Nation." A
few will be upset by an outdated,
naive attempt to instill prejudice.
Fewer still, perhaps, will realize
that art is always measured by
the same yardstick. In portions;
D. W. Griffith used that measure-
ment.
-Jo Hardee
AT THE STATE:
Colossal
Nonsense
HE STATE THEATRE has at-
tracted two new so-called scien-
tific films, much as a fragment of
decaying meat attracts eager mag-
gots.
We can dismiss "Cat Girl" with
a few remarks. A fairly decent
looking girl, who sleeps without
clothes it later develops, has been
born into a family of cat people.
Once she reaches an appropriate
age, her aged uncle gives her the
cat curse, and dies horribly.
This girlais now doomed to wan-
der around in a cat-like split per-
sonality; half of her a silly girl,
the other half, a snarling cat.
Fortunately, with the help :f a
pasty-faced psychiatrist, she ends
her schizofeline existence, and all
else.
This film is an example which
should end the myth that all
British films are good. "Cat Girl" is
deplorable through and through.
* * *
HOWEVER BAD the British
may do, leave it to Hollywood to
do worse. "The Amazing Colossal
Man" has finally combined the,
worst elements of all the recent
attempts at this sort of thing into
one monster fraud. Radiation, plu-
tonium, secrecy, medicine, physics
-it is all there in a vast and
putrid package.
Colonel Glenn Manning acci-
dentally stands in front of a Plu-
tcnium bomb, just as it explodes.
To the amazement of doctors,
scientists, logicians, and philoso-
phers, his burns heal overnight.
Then, to the amazement of his
doctors, the dismay of his fiancee,
and the jeers of the audience, he
begins to grow and Grow and
GROW.
After a fortnight of this grop-
ing, he really begins to get upset.
The army puts him in a secret
hospital, eventually /gets him a
tent, and Swift & Co. make daily
deliveries of meat to keep his
appetite satisfied.
* * * x
EVENTUALLY, Colossal decides
that there is very little hope for
him. His fiancee has started look-
ing for someone more her size.
And so colossal, 55 feet tall .and
stil grnwing_ c nf a +'r.Tan
the Ku Klux Klan in the role of
VARIETY:
'Garoye'
t0
A musing'-
HTPRESENT Gargoyle claims
"an ancient and glorious trai-
tion of bumptious obscenity and
literary wit," and the magazine
does seem to have some such dual
nature. At least it often shocks u
into sudden laughter, bumptious
or not, and sometimesrstarts smiles
the ripple into meaning.
One can hardly do more with
items in the former or sudden-
laugh category than point to them
and say that they are indeed likely
to touch off spasms of mirth.
I was especially amused by Kon
Tiki's wistful report from the
desert island. From the point
where he and the third.grade
teacher with suction pads on her
feet climb to the tops of coconut
trees to the point where he cries
out "stop stop stop," we have
Gargoy e humor at its best.
A few of the things in "Around
the Huron . . ." and "L'etat, c'est
moist" and about half the jokes
and drawings are also good for
immediate laughs.
AFTER WE have gleaned these
laughs, we are or ought to be left
with "literary wit" or with humor
which issues in meaning. The most
consciously literary story in the
issue is Wallace Parr's "The Park-
ers of Philadelphia," which starts
out, it seems to me, to be a
pointed and timely satire on the
casual and sophisticated reminis-
cences we so often find in The New
Yorker.
It remains amusing to the end,
even though it presently forgets
whether it is supposed to be liter-
arily witty or bumptiously obscene
after all. The anonymous fantasy
"Felicity," somewhat in the Perel-
man manner, has better tonal con-
trol. It remains, finally, for a mot-
ley page on a mythical fraternity
"Alpha Cholera," and occasional
strokes in the patchwork article
"Is this a theme I see before me?"
to show that the contributors
sometime take an intelligent inter-
est in the University.
ALL IN ALL, the present issue,
like the others, leaves this reviewer
bemused. The only really telling
satire, the Alpha Cholera spread,
is marred by mere grotesqueness
and a trace of spite. The gifts of
style which are liberally manifest
in the editorial columns are wasted
on "the oily mass of Union food?
The Gargoyle staff seems, at dif-
ferent times, to possess all the
qualities which make for superior
humor: a lively sense of incon-
gruity, the gift of language, an
underlying earnestness. But the
sense of inconugruity might he
brought in to sharper forcus, the
earnestness held in finer poise. The
verbal sense is lively, the matter is
too often conventional or idle.
-Alexander Allison
Department of English
DAILY
OFFICIAL
BULLETIN
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of the Univer-
sity of Michigan for which the
Michigan Daily assumes no edi-
torial responsibility. Notices should
be sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ing, before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication. Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:O p.m. Friday.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1957
VOL. LXVIII, NO. 57
General Notices
Senior Board, January graduation
announcement orders taken, Nov. 21,
22, 12 noon-5:00 p.m., SAB.
Summary, Action taken by Student
Government Council at its meeting of
Nov. 20, 1957. .
Aproved minutes of .revious meeting
as corrected.
Seated as voting members on the
Council: One year terms: John J. Col-
lins, Maynard Goldman, Bert Getz, Dan
Belin, Linda Rainwater, One-half year
term: Lois Wurster.
Endorsed interim action on following
petitions: Nov. 10, University Christian
Federation, Address by Dr. Howard
Thurman, 7 p.m. Nov. 18, Panhellenic
Association, "Jazz for Moderns," 8:00
p.m.
Approved petitions for the following
activities: Nov. 23, Men's Glee Club,
Combined Glee Club Concert, Hill, 8:30
n.m. Nov. 25. Arab Club. Cultural
INTERPRETING THE NEWS:
The Game of Bluff ;
COUNCIL COMMENTARY:
SGC To Study Dorm Financing
By J, M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
)NE OF RUSSIA'S most intensive propaganda
campaigns has failed, at least insofar as
urope is ;concerned.
For two years she has been trying to convince
nerica's allies that if they accepted atomic
eapons or provided bases for their use they
>uld subject themselves to being wiped out
'st thing in event of war.
This campaign has been conducted not only
rough the usual propaganda channels of
oadpasts and official statements, ut has also
volved direct diplomatic exchanges with some
untries.
Editorial Staff
PETER ECKSTEIN, Editor
JAMES ELSMAN, JR. VERNON NAHRGANG
Editorial Director City Editor
)NNA HANSON...............Personnel Director
kMMY MORRISON.............. Magazine Editor
SWARD GERULDSEN .. Associate Editorial Director
ILLIAM HANEY .................... Features Editor
)SE PERLBERG .................. Activities Editor
LROL PRINS...... Associate PersonnelsDirector
MES BAAD)... .. ,. ,.....Sports Editor
RUCE BENNETT............Associate Sports Editor
>HN HILLYER ............ Associate Sports Editor
3ARLES CURTISS ......,...,.Chief Photographer
" R ,d-arcc .f
Gen. Lauris Norstad, NATO commander, now
reports that the allies have decided the weapons
are more of a safety-factor than a danger.
THE REASONS for this are obvious. The
entire NATO effort is designed as a deterrent
rather than a preparation for war. Anything
that cuts down the chances of success for an
aggressor is insurance against Russian action.
NATO is short of ground strength because of.
French commitment of her forces to Algeria.
Britain and the United States would like to cut
down their forces as the new German army
develops.
Atomic weapons are the accepted reliance as
the free nations seek to insure that continued
Russian sabre rattling will not force them to
drain their economies to the danger point. They
recognize that Russia hopes to expand her world
conquest by economic means if that is possible.
The West has also come to realize that
by reacting to every bit of Russian propaganda
it plays into her hands.
Russia plays a strange game, seeming to
adopt propaganda lines wholesale without re-
gard for their integration.
THE CAMPAIGN against NATO, against
American bases abroad and against Allied
acceptance of atomic weapons has gone hand
in hand with a bombastic-attempt to produce
fear. The Reds seek to wheedle and frighten at
the same time.
By RICHARD TAUB
Daily Staff Writer
THERE WERE four new faces at
the Student Government Coun-
cil meeting Wednesday night, and
three of the old people were miss-
ing. This, as it should, served to
remind us of the changing nature
of SGC and of the beginning of a
new Council term. V
The new term got off to a pretty
good start. The Council passed two
especially worthwhile motions, and.
procedurally was not far from its
best.-
The first decision of the Council,
to study residence hall financing
and its implications in the light of
expansion and rising enrollments,
was an important one.
The present method of financing
can only become more and more
burdensome to the student as costs
go up. The way it stands now,
approximately $200 of each stu-
dent's rent goes for financing new
dormitories. But costs are going
up, and the time may not be far
away when the cost of a college
education will be prohibitive. Un-
doubtedly, there are probably
many students who are being
priced out of an education already.
* * *
THE MOTION to appoint stu-
dents to the University Hous-
ing Committee and to encourage it
to meet was also. we believe.
Generally, the Council meetings
run late, women cannot stay until
the end, and many other people do
not wish to.
Committee reports were not ac-
cepted by the Council Wednesday,
night unless they had been pre-
pared adequately beforehand. This
procedure has a great many ad-
vantages. Meeting time is not
taken up with reports, which some-
times take as long as an hour to
read, and Council members will
have an opportunity to study the
reports carefully and talk with
committee heads before the meet-
ings. This should provide for very
much more efficient activity.
And finally, the Council mem-
bers will be able to tell committee
heads what they would like to see
in the reports, making them more
comprehensive.
The Council's decision to study
ways SGC candidates could more
effectively reach the electorate de-
serves much more qualified praise.
'1 * * .
CERTAINLY, such a study will
help make for better informed
students. But it seems to miss the
real reasons for the lack of inter-
est in the last SGC election.
Lois Wurster came closer to the
truth when she noted that the
means existed for students to in-
form themselves about the elec-
tions. She cited the open houses
and the SGC candidates forum as
because they feel that SGC really
does not have enough to offer
them.
Peter Eckstein noted this and
presented a number of suggestions
he thought the group might soon
consider.
These include: that SGC express
itself on federal aid to education;
that the Council look into placing
of students on curriculum commit-
tees; and that the Council do some
work with the Board in Control
of Inter-Collegiate Athletics, hous-
ing, discrimination, and student
parking.
He also discussed the possibility
of having a representative of the
International Student Association
on the Council, a student science
advisory committee, and more
work in student counsiling, final
examinations and revision of the
regulations booklet. He pointed out
the drinking rule as an example
of an area to be studied.
** *
IT SHOULD be noted here that
many of these proposals were ideas
of other SGC members and that
Eckstein just put them together.
It seems, we believe, that if SOC
works in these areas, voters will
make it their business to become
better informed.
Janet Neary gave her farewell
speech to the Council Wednesday
night. Miss Neary has been pretty
deennv invnlved in student nu.