Thr Ifirtigan Daily
Sixty-Eighth Year
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
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"When Opinions Are Free
Truth Will Prevail"
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1957 NIGHT EDITOR: JAMES BOW
Athletic Department Should
Yield to Full Semester
"Button, Button, Who Gets The Button?"
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BASE
AT HILL AUDITORIUM:
Williams Captures
Spirit of Thomas
A SINGLE MAN, reciting poetry and prose from a simple wooden
chair in the center of the mammoth stage at Hill Auditorium com-
manded the attentions of a less-than-capacity audience for almost
two and a half hours last night.
The man was Emlyn Williams, a Welsh actor most recently famous
for his bearded readings of the works of Charles Dickens. His subject
was officially titled, "A Boy Growing Up; An Enetertainmert from
the Stories of Dylan Thomas."
Armed with only the above-mentioned chair, a sheaf of notebooks
and manuscripts which he entirely ignored, and a microphone, Mr.
i
THE UNIVERSITY CALENDAR seems to
have come full circle. At least it will have
if the Dean's conference and the President
approve the University Calendar Committee's
recommendation.
In 1953 a Calendar Committee was set up
to devise a school calendar with two fifteen-
week semesters. Five years and two committees
later, we will have a school year with two
14 and one-half week semesters.
The first committee, the 1953 group, reported
its findings to the Board of Regents in May,
1955. It had devised a calendar with fifteen-
week semesters, and further, with the Tuesday-
Thursday-Saturday class sequence as full as
the Monday-Wednesday-Friday one.
Because of some dissatisfaction with this new
calendar, which went into effect in the 1956-57
school year, SGC requested Assistant to the
President Erich Walter to set up a committee
to evaluate this new calendar.
IN JANUARY, 1957, SGC recommended crea-
tion of a new committee to evaluate the
present calendar and submit to the administra-
tion recommendations for changes.
This committee, to date, has done just that.
It heard student complaints of having to return
to school on a Friday after Christmas vacation,
and those two days were dropped.
It heard faculty complaints about starting,
classes the day following registration and this
schedule was altered. However, the group had
also planned to try to work out a new long-term
calendar, a most difficult task.
It seems that the calendar has to be sand-
wiched between a late starting date and an
early concluding date. Add to that a great deal
of time necessary between semesters to carry
out administrative tasks, plus some kind of
Ohrfistmas vacation and there seems to be an
insoluable problem.
The early concluding date appears necessary
for at least two reasons. That time is needed
to carry out administrative tasks before com-
mencement is the first. The second is that stu-
dents have to get out of school early enough to
get good summer jobs. With the increased costs
of education, this becomes of paramount im-
portance.-
Starting school earlier in September seems to
be the only answer to the problem. This way
there could be full length semesters and there
need not be any special rush in between.
The biggest objection it seems would come
from the athletic department. Because of a
Western Conference ruling football practice
cgnnot begin until Septmeber 1. Before school
starts the team is able to get in two or three
practices a day and moving school up a week
might be devastating to the team's showing
against other Big Ten schools.
BUT THE IMPORTANT thing to remember is
that a University is designed to provide an
education. Athletics were at one time anyway
considered an educational adjunct not an edu-
cation and it would seem a shame if this were
the only road-block to a proposal to start
school earlier.
There may be some dispute on the value of
a 15-week semester over a 14 and one-half week
one. But it was interesting to note at the last
calendar committee meeting the vehemence
with which Profs. Dwyer and Steinhoff backed
the full semester.
If one believes in the necessity of a full
semester then it seems the athletic department
would have to take a back seat. For, there is
little place else the extra week could be added,
and there can be no calendar produced which
will please everybody.
--RICHARD TAUB
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND:
Satellite Lag Traced to 1948
By DREW PEARSON
Cotton on the Golf Courses
AMIDALL THE RUCKUS about economy and
at the same time more defense spending,
everyone in Washington has overlooked one of
the most likely places to effect substantial sav-
ings-the, Department of Agriculture's subsidy
programs.
Savings could be made here on a large scale
without impairing any vital government func-
tion, while at the same time restoring a measure
of sanity to our agricultural programs. Recently
the Department announced that it could not go
through with an agreement to pay the Casa
Grande Valley Country Club in Arizona $4,000
not to grow cotton on its golf course.
Four thousand dollars will not build any
rockets, but multiplied by the number of golf
courses which do not grow cotton on the fair-
ways, it mounts up. The incident suggests the
basic absurdity of paying people either to grow
cotton or not to grow cotton (or any of a
half dozen other commodities), at their pleas-
ure. It is to be hoped that the Department re-
$rains from agreeing to any similar lunacies in
the future, but this is not the heart of the "farm
problem."
Basically, the trouble is that there are just
too many farmers and too much land being
used for farm production. Agricultural tech-
nology has so far outstripped population growth
that each new advance in production which
increases supply, lowers price. Nor can the
surplus farm workers be absorbed in industry.
So fast have come the improvements in farming
methods, that manpower is becoming available
from farms at a greater rate than it can be
absorbed by industrial expansion at present.
It is this problem that three administrations
have set themselves to solve through price sup-
ports and similar devices. The farmer finds him-
self living off the government to a large de-
gree; naturally, he is willing to continue doing
so, rather than start all over in a new job. He
stays on, producing or not producing, as the
case may be, building up more surpluses or
taking more money not to build them up, as
the stockpiles pyramid and the Department of
Agricultural chases itself in circles.
CURRENTLY, farm group leaders are talking
"learning to live with surpluses"- using
them for the general good. However, the only
way in which this might be accomplished with-
out reducing prices at home (and thus creating
further problems) would be to sell the crops
Editorial Staff
PETER ECKSTEIN. Editor
JAMES ELSMAN, JR. VERNON NAHRGANG
Editorial Director City Editor
DONNA HANSON ............ Personnel Director
TAM4MY MORRISON .. Magazine Editor
EDWARD GERULDSEN .. Associate Editorial Director
WILLIAM HANEY ......Features Editor
ROSE PERIBERG ..................Activities Editor
CAROL PRINS ...... Associate Personnel Director
JAMES BAAD ..... «............... .. Sports Editor
BRUCE BENNETT............ Associate Sports Editor
JOHN HILLYER.............Associate Sports Editor
CHARLES CURTISS.............Chief Photographer
Business Staff
abroad at the going price in foreign markets.
This might eliminate the problem at home, but
only at the cost of creating additional ones
abroad; foreign markets would then be sub-
jected to periodic disruption, making neither for
stability or goodwill in the zest of the world.
The farmer is caught in the same web of
progress that snared the knight and the black-
smith. To be sure, farmers will always exist, but
only in decreasing numbers, barring a catastro-
phe. One of two things must happen eventually;
either more people must "leave the land," or
farmers must accept lower prices for the crops
they do produce. Neither of these alternatives
is particularly pleasant, but unless farmers are
willing to return to the longer-hours, lower-
yields days, these alternatives are the only ones
which offer any permanent solution.
And until some solution is reached, the coun-
try can do very well without payments to non-
cotton-growing golf courses.
-JOHN WEICHER
A Mature Approach
To An Ugly Film
THE SHOWING of "The Birth of a Nation"
Thursday and Friday represented an im-
portant landmark in attitudes on the campus.
Previous showings of the film had been
marked by rather vigorous 'demonstrations
against its even appearing, and there is serious
question. as to whether the groups involved
helped or hurt the cause of human equality by
'such actions.
This year the local NAACP and the Culture
Club both discussed at some length the impli-
cations of the appearance of the film. Some
members favored a strong protest against its
presentation. But they decided that rather than
align themselves with the forces of censorship
they would attempt to indicate that they con-
sidered the film a not-too-subtle piece of anti-
Negro propaganda and leave the matter at
that.
One can understand why there should be
strong feelings against the film. It describes
and perhaps exaggerates all the excesses of the
Reconstruction period, ignoring completely the
degradation inherent in slavery and the blood-
chilling aspects of its practice before the war.
It depicts every post-war advocate of human
equality as either lecherous, slovenly hypocriti-
cal or completely depraved. The-only favorable
characterizations of Negroes are those of the
"mammy" stereotype who "know their place"
and love and respect their masters. The Klan
is described as the noble savior of the South
and of white supremacy, and its lynching are
described as efforts at a "fair trial."
But the film's propaganda is much too heavy-
footed to be effective. Cinema Guild was very
careful-perhaps overly so-to disavow any
sympathy with the sentiments of the producers
of the film, presenting it merely as an artistic
milestone, however dubious its claim to that
distinction may seem 40 years later. And the
maturity displayed by the campus' strong pro-
ponents of racial equality in their approach to
this distasteful film is to their credit. It will
serve them well as they attempt to remove
ORIGINAL fault for our lag be-
hind Russia on satellites goes
back to the Pentagon regime of
big, balding, sometimes bumbling
Louey Johnson, whom Truman
fired as secretary of defense.
Under his predecessor, the late
James Forrestal, the Defense De-
partment had begun working on
satellites, and, by pure accident,
let this highly secret fact slip
into his annual report for 1948.
Forrestal was claiming that he
had brought the armed forces un-
der unified command in 1947, and
as an ilustration told of earth sat-
ellite development.
"THE EARTH satellite pro-
gram," he wrote, "which was be-
ing carried out independently by
each military service, was assigned
to the Committee on Guided Mis-
siles for coordination. To provide
an integrated program with re-
sultant elimination of duplication,
the committee recommended that
current efforts in this field be lim-
ited to studies and component de-
signs; well-defined areas of such
research have been allocated to
each of the three military depart-
ments."
An alert security officer should
have deleted this, but he didn't.
The Pentagon still keeps secret
the military records of our revo-
lutionary war 181 years ago, plus
our civil war, so newspapermen
can't ascertain the mistakes of
the past. But it let this vital para-
graph slip into print in December,
1948, for all the world to read.
Since the Russian military care-
fully study every published -docu-
ment from the Pentagon, there's
some reason to believe Moscow
may have got its Sputnik idea
from Forrestal's report. Certainly
it is a fact that Russia began its
satellite program in that year -
1948,
But while the Russians were
going ahead, likable Louey John-
son, who succeeded Forrestal a.
few months later, lopped the sat-
ellite program off. Like the pres-
ent Eisenhower Administration,
he was out to save military money.
IN FAIRNESS, however, it must
be pointed out that Johnson got
100 per cent support for his econo-
my from none other than the then
Chief of Staff, Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower. Eisenhower's testi-
mony before Congress that the
curtailed budget was adequate
made such an impression on sen-
ators that they actually called it
"the Eisenhower Budget."
Gen. Eisenhower, recently re-
turned from Europe as a conquer-
ing hero, was by all odds the most
commanding military personality
on the American scene. His word
carried great weight.
The long-range Intercontinen-
tal Ballistic Missile or ICBM also
got lopped by the Johnson econo-
my wave. It had been started in
1946 as Project MX-774, but cut
in 1948. Later, in 1951, it was re-
vived in the Truman Administra-
tion as Project MX-1593. ^
* * *
IT SHOULD also be pointed
out, however, that Russia, was
making few known technical ad-
vances in Johnson's day, whereas
its advances were well known and
frequently published in techni-
cal journals and in this column
during the Eisenhower Adminis-
tration.
The Eisenhower Administration
had positive proof that Russia had
surpassed us in developing a trig-
ger mechanism for the H-bomb. It
had ample evidence that Russia
had caught up with us in A-bomb
and H-bomb design. It was defi-
nitely known that Russia, in only
a few short years, had caught up
with us in design of jet planes and
out-stripped us in production.
Our technical intelligence made
detailed examinations of Russian
planes which showed that, where-
as Russian technology lagged be-
hind ours up until 1952, since 1952
it has equaled our best efforts and
even surpassed us in some fields.
* * 4'
YET WHEN Trevor Gardner,
the man Ike appointed assistant
secretary in charge of guided mis-
siles, resigned in protest over the
lagging program, the President
immediately reassured the nation
that the United States was ahead
of or keeping abreast of the
world.
(Copyright 1957 by Bell Syndicate Inc.)
Williams faced the audience withi
of the late poet, he captured it
with a minimum of faltering re-
treats.
Opening with a slight introduc-
tion, Emlyn Williams, as Thomas,
recited selections from "Quite
Early One Morning" and "Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Dog"
dealing with the poet's memories
of his early childhood.
After a ten minute intermission,
he continued the impersonation
with four stories of Thomas'
adolescence; the third and last
part of the program consisted of
a later self-portrait, a fantasy
called "Adventures in the Skin
Trade," and "A Memory of Older
Youth."
* * *
FOR THE most part,the longer
pieces went over better than the
short ones. Mr. Williams' inter-
pretations were full of sympathy
and vigor, but the size of Hill
Hill Auditorium was destructive to
the atmosphere of intimacy that
his voice and his subject matter
would naturally encourage.
The listener there must be
wooed for a time, before he will
give his complete attention to a
story, and the very short reminis-
cences were, unfortunately, over
before their humor o their emo-
tion could find any real response.
The works of Dylan Thomas are
extremely well suited to this kind
of presentation. Rich with adjec-
tives and careful alliteration, the
prose chosen was sprinkled with
bits of humor and unexpected in-
congruities throghout. Even the
simplest essays seemed to be con-
structed dramatically.
* * *
WILLIAMS, apparently trained
by Thomas for the first produc-
tion of that author's play, "Under
Milk Wood," impersonated him
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
ho sent In TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ing, before 2 p.m. the day preceding
publication. Notices for Sunday
Daily due at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1957
VOL. LXVIII, NO. 58
General Notices
Late Permission: Women students
who attend Fortnite on Mon., Nov. 25,
will have 45 minute permission at the
end of the event,
Women's Hours: women students
have 11:00 p.m. permission on Tues.,
Nov. 26 and Wed., Nov. 27.
The D e t r o i t Edison Uper-Class
Scholarships. Applicants must be resi-
dents of the State of Michigan and
have completed at least one year of
study in the Universityin a field that
relates to the electric utility industry
such as mechanical or electrical engi-
neering, economics, accounting, busi-
ness, and personnel administration.
Scholastic ability, character and per-
sonality, citizenship, extra-curricular
activity, seriousness of purpose, and fi-
nancial need will be considered by the
selection committee, Applications may
be obtained at 2011 Student Activities
Building and should be on file by Dec.
I.
Concerts
The Michigan Men's Glee club will
present its 6th Annual Combined Con-
cert tonight at 8:30 p.m. In Hill Audi-
torium. The guest club this year is
Ohio State. Tickets will be on sale at
the Hill Auditorium Box Office from
9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and from 4:00
p.m. until concert time.
Academic Notices
Analysis Seminar, auspices of the
Department of Mathematics. Prof.
(Continued on Page 5)
smiling bravado and, in the guise
with his face, his hands, and his
flexible voice.
Although the more serious parts
of the program, notably the be-
ginning of "Just Like Little Dogs"
in the second act, threatened at
times to become more dull than
necessary, an excellent job of
spotlighting added to their ef-
fectiveness and saved enough of
the requisite atmosphere to make
the overall impression of the
evening a favorable one.
-Jean Willoughby
AT HILL AUD.:
Symphony,
Exciting
H E UNIVERSITY Symphony
orchestra, under the direction
of Prof. Josef Blatt, presented a
varied program of works by Stra-
vinsky, Mozart, and Berlioz in
Hill Auditorium Thursday even-
ing.
Each year finds this group im-
proved and nearer to the goal
of an excellent ensemble of pro-
fessional calibre. Unfortunately,
the orchestra has not reached that
goal as yet, but the trend is def-
initely in that direction.
The program opened with Stra-
vinsky's short and exciting "Feu
d'artifice" ("Fireworks," not to be
confused with his famous "Fire-
bird Suite".) This is a colorful
complicated work which demands
great technical precision and im-
mense tonal color.
The orchestra members gave
their all in a truly exciting and en-
thusiastic performance. The ex-
cellence of their work in this piece
gave strong indications of splen-
did things to come, not all of
which were realized.
* * *
THE SPLENDOR and excite-
ment of such a work as the Stra-
vinsky opus calls upon the full re-
sources of an orchestra, but it is
a symphony of Mozart which pro-
vides the real test of the quality of
the string section, which is, after
all, the main body of any sym-
phony orchestra.
Mozart's Symphony No. 34 in C
major is not one of his most fa-
mous works, but it is a fine work
and one which deserves many
more performances than it re-
ceives.
From the first movement of the
Mozart through the third move-
ment of the Berlioz, the intona-
tion of the higher strings was not
all it should have been. This is the
major fault of most non-profes-
sional orchestras.
Aside from this major defect,
the performance had a good deal
of spirit and beauty. The develop-
ment section of the first move-
ment found the first violins rush-
ing, which was the only important
fault in their otherwise excellent,
rhythm.
If Mozart in general shows the
strength of the strings, his slow
movements are the absolute test.
Again, intorn at i on problems
plagued the upper strings.
The whirlwind finale to this
work was given an energetic read-
ing.
* * *
AFTER THE intermission, the
orchestra returned to perform the
major work of the program, Ber-
lioz' "Symphonie Fantastique."
Berlioz was one of the greatest
masters of orchestration in the
history of the orchestra; this sym-
phony is all the proof needed for
that. The work is a real tour de
force for any orchestra and de-
mands nearly everything except
the proverbial kitchen sink.
Most school orchestras refrain
from taking on this immense and
challenging work. Therefore, all,
the more credit should go to Mr.
Blatt and his organization for
their daring and initiative in un-
dertaking it.
All in all, it was an excellent
performance. When I look back
over the total work, I must give
much praise for their playing.
Again, poor intonation made
the violins ragged and a little dull.
The performance got off to a slow
start, but picked up as it went
along. The second movement
waltz really lacked sparkle, which
was unfortunate.
* * *
THE THIRD movement opened
with a lovely dialogue between the
English horn and oboe, which was
beautifully performed. From there
on, the rest of the ensemble be-
gan to show more and more in-
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Soph Show Defended
To the Editor:
IN REPLY to Mr. Jan K. Tannen-
baum, we feel that there are a
few points to be stressed in Soph
Show's defense.
First, r eg a rd i n g production
costs. A show comparable to this
year's is impossible to produce on
a small budget and still maintain
the desired quality, costumes,
scenery and script.
This is evidenced by other so
called (to use Mr. Tannenbaum's
expression) "bush league" produc-
tions which charge as much as, or
more than Soph Show and are al-
ways widely accepted on campus,
Mr. Tannenbaum's criticism ob-
viously represented a minority
view. Soph Show turned away
over 200 people from full houses,
illustrating that there is a place
for this type of show on campus
and that people will pay $1.50 to
see it.
We feel that Mr. Tannenbaum
displayed a prejudiced and unin-
formed criticism of Soph Show.
Still, what else could be expected
from someone whom we know for
a fact didn't even see the produc-
tion?
-Soph Show Central Committee
To Block '.11' *
To the Editor:
WHILE OUR season has been
ine Club, and the University some-
thing of which we can be proud.
-Block "M" Central Committee
Compliments ***
To the Editor:
AS A devoted subscriber to The
Daily, I would like to compli-
ment the staff upon the recent
series of articles devoted to the
much maligned landlords and
landladies of this city.
There has been a great deal of
general abuse and complaint di-
rected against those who so gen-
erously provide the housing which
shelters our students here at Ann
Arbor, cultural oasis of the mid-
west. Your sensitive portrayals
of these good people will certainly
help to correct much of the cur-
rent misunderstanding on the
part of the student population
here at the University.
I firmly believe that in general
the landlords and landladies of
this city typify the "American way
of life" as well as Christian toler-
ance and brotherhood.
--Don Shore, Grad.
Sardines . .
To the Editor:
I'VE SEEN overflow crowds be-
fore - I've never seen them
Finally, somebody got up to an-
nounce that the Michigan fire
laws did not permit this; every-
body in the aisles would have to
leave.
Remember the visit of e. e. cum-
mings? The Rackham Hall lobby
was packed, effectively blocking
most exits. And then the overflow
crowd was misdirected to Hill
Auditorium.
Must close in the traditional
way, now. Something must be
done .
-Dainis Bisenieks, '60
_I.
'Hey, Benny!'
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