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Summer Reading for Relaxation,
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Sixty-Eighth 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
Wil pr
is printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints.
12, 1958
NIGHT EDITOR: SUSAN HOLTZER
UN Fallout Report
Misleadig,, Meaningless
rHAT WAS supposed to be an important
United Nations report on radiation has
n released. The report deserves no atten-
n whatsoever, for the estimates of radiation
nage in it are both heavily padded and so
efully qualified as to be both meaningless
I misleading. In fact, the report actually
ms designed to mislead.
t is nice to find out, as the report asserts,
t fall-out from nuclear weapons tests is a
iger to mankind. We suspected this. But
also suspect that nuclear war would be a
iger to mankind as would hangnails. We
not trying to be facetious; rather, we are
nting out that dangers to mankind vary
mn very important to very trivial.
he whole tone of the committee report
ild lead a naive reader to believe that the
ger from atomic tests was awe-inspiring.
eed, it led the New York Times to say that
committee was "unequivocal in its depic-
a of the danger to generations yet unborn."
HAT DID the report say to bear this out?
It estimated that even if atomic tests were
pped this year, as many as 2,500 to 100,000
4es eventually will be born with major
etic defects.
ve will not even ask what a "major genetic
ect" is. But does "eventually" mean in the
t 10 or the next 1000 years? The number of
rs obviously makes a difference. Also, it
s the general public little good to know
t as many as 2,500 to 100,000 babies will be
ected by fallout.
f the Ann Arbor chief of police predicted
t from three to 1000 peoj.le would be killed.
Ann Arbor traffic his prediction' would be
ghed at, and rightly so, for it would be so
eral as to be meaningless.
Lnd so it is with the report's prediction. If
committee that prepared the report does
know what is going to happen any more
cifically than this, the committee might bet-
have seriously qualified their conclusions
bring them in line with their well-qualified"
cts." It should be noted too, that even the
y low 2,500 number is not the minimum.
phrasing is "as many as 2,500 to 100,000."
nually because of the fall-out. But even such a
comparatively straight-forward prediction as
this was subject to qualification, as the Atomic
Energy Commission pointed out, for after mak-
ing this prediction, the committee could not
say that there is any certainty that the fall-
out will produce any additional cases of leu-
kemia above the 15,000 cases attributed each
year to background radiation.
It is perhaps superfluous 'to point out that
not only is it not certain that any additional
cases of leukemia would be caused by testing
but that the natural rate of leukemia is over
seven times higher than the highest figure pre-
dicted by the report.
It might be interesting to ask how these fig-
ures were arrived at, or, how, the committee
came to its frightening conclusions. "The com-
mittee's conclusions were based on indications
that any added radiation exposure, no matter
how slight, might be injurious. This appeared,
to be most likely in the field of heredity, al-
though in this area, as in most others touched
on by the reports, the evidence was not found
to be conclusive." The quote is from the New
York Times; the emphasis is ours.
YET ON THE basis of this tenuous evidence,
the report was irresponsible enough to say
that the knowledge that man's actions could,
damage his genetic heritage "clearly empha-
sizes the responsibilities of the present genera-
tion, particularly. in view of the social con-
sequences laid on human populations by un-
favorable genes."
But how much can atomic tests contribute
to fall-out. The report says that even if
weapons tests continue, according to one meth-
od of computation, the radiation hazard super-
imposed upon that from natural sources would
not be substantially greater than the hazard
from the natural causes. So the danger the
committee is worried about is no greater than
that caused by natural radiation, which no
one is worried about.
It is unfortunate that a report which will
have a great deal of weight in many areas of.
the world is so isleading as to the actual
dangers involved. We hope that the people of
the United States, with an opportunity to ex-
amine the report by themselves, will see the
inconsistencies it contains.
-LANE VANDERSLICE
America's
Best Plays-
1951I1957
BEST AMERICAN PLAYS: Fourth
Series-1951-1957. Edited with
an Introduction by John Gas-
ner. 648 pp. New York: Crown
Publishers. $5.75.
HERE in one volume are the 17
plays that certainly represent
the "best" work of American play-
wrights in the first half of the
current decade. Although one or
two plays are missing for varied
'legal reasons, "Best American
Plays: Fourth Series" is the au-
thoritative collection of complete
plays for the 1951-57 period.
(Actually, only one play in this
anthology opened in New York
later than 1955, and that one,
Eugene O'Neill's "A Moon for the
Misbegotten," was written In
1943.)
Three writers are represented
twice each in this fifth volume of
John Gassner's collections of
American theatre. William Inge's
"Picnic" (1953) and "Bus Stop"
(1955) are included, along with
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
(1953) and, in the new expanded
version, "A View from the Bridge"
(1955).
Tennessee Williams' "The Rose
Tattoo" (1951) is one of the 17,
along with his "Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof" (1955) with both versions
of the' third act, as the author
saw it and as the director saw it.
* * *
THE OTHER plays, with the
dates of their Broadway openings,
are:.
Jan do Hartog's "The Four-
poster" (1951), John van Druten's
"I Am a Camera" (1951), George
Axelrod's "The Seven Year Itch"
(1952), Robert Anderson's "Tea
and Sympathy" (1953), Herman
Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny Court-
Martial" (1954).
George S. Kaufman & Howard
Teichmann's "The Solid Gold Cad-
illac" (1954), Jerome Lawrence &
Robert E. Lee's "Inherit the Wind"
(1955), Ira Levin & Mac Hyman's-
"No Time for Sergeants" (1955),
Thornton Wilder's "The Match-
maker" (1955) and Michael Gaz-
zo's "A Hatful of Rain" (1955).
* * *
AS IN the earlier "Best Plays"
volumes, which chronicle Ameri-
can theatre. from 1916 to 1951 with
79 .outstanding dramas, editor
Gassner has contributed an in-
formative introduction and com-
mentary on the period, as well as
a select bibliography and list of
supplementary plays that did not
quite make the "best" list.
Not only is the new "Fourth
Series" a valuable volume with
many hours of reading pleasure,
but so is the whole set of five
volumes, covering 40 years of
American drama with 96 plays-
an undertaking of which Gassner
can be proud and to which the
reader can look with great antici-
pation.
-Vernon Nahrgang'
DAILY
. OFFICIAL
BULLETIN__
The Daily Official Bulletin i an
official publication of the Univer-
sity of Michigan, for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no editor-
ial responsibility. Notices should be
set in "TYPEWRITTEN form t'
Room 3519 Administration Build-
ing, before 2 p.m., the day preced-
ing publication.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1958
VOL. LXVIII, NO. 34S
General Notices
The General Library will observe the
following hours from Aug. 10 through
Sept. 21, 1958:
OPEN: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon. through
Fri.
CLOSED: Sat. and Sun.
:Divisional libraries on shortened
schedules will have their hours posted
on the doors. Divisional libraries which,
remain closed (including the Under-
graduate Library) will be serviced by
the Circulation Dept. of the General
Library.
Students under Public Law 550 (Korea
,.1. Bill) and Public Law 634 (Orphans'
Bill)' who expect to change training in-
stitution, or change course of study at
the end of the Summer Session, should
make application: for approval of such
change before leaving campaus. Applica-
tions for approval are available in the
Office of veterans' Affairs, 555 Admin.
Bldg.
All 8-week session students who ex-
pect to receive education and training
allowance under Public Law 550 (Korea
G.I. Bill) or Public Law 634 (Orphans'
Bill) must fill inrVeterans Administra-
tion Monthly Certifications in the Of-
fice of veterans' Affairs, 555 Admin.
Bldg., between Aug. 13 and 15. These
certifications may be filled in 8:30-11:00.
a$.m. and 1:30-3:30 pam. only.
Al 8-week session students who ex-
pect education and training allowanoo
under Public Law 550 (Korea G.I. Bill)
or Public Law 634 (Orphans' Bill) must
get instructors' signatures for August
(finals) at last class meetings or final
examinations. Completed DEAN'S
MONTHLY CERTIFICATION forms
should be turned in to the Dean's Of-
Tice by 5:00 p.m. Aug. 15.
'The Co ntende'-
A Searching Novel
'PICNIC'-A scene from William Inge's "Picnic." The play is one
of the collection in "Best American Plays: 1951-1957."
'HOTEL ROOM,' 'VIOLENCE':
Woo ich's Works
Not Mere Mytre
THE CONTENDERS. By Jlohn
Wain. 179 pp. New York: St.
Martin's Press. $3.95.
ANYONE who has ever glanced
through a high school year-
book and stopped to read what
followed the graduates' names will
probably recall an earnest, youth-
ful desire, reflected under the
heading of "ambition," for some-
thing called success.
Some of the students have
written that they wish to be "a
successful engineer," others have
sought "success in college," and
still others have simply hoped,
perhaps less assuredly, for "suc-
cess."
If "The Contenders" were an
American novel, it could accur-
ately be interpreted as a search,
on the part of three young men,
for that quality called success. But
"The Contenders" is not Aneri-
can; it is a British novel, and it
consequently deals with a greater,
more meaningful and more search-
in~g quest that even comes to
examine the definition of success.
0* *
THE THREE young men are
Robert Lamb, Ned Roper, and Joe
Shaw, the latter "narrating" the
story of the other two and play-
ing the part of best friend. Lamb
and Roper are the contenders for
-well, lacking a better term,.let'.
call it success.
Each has an idea of what he
wants to do that is determined
by his famnily and small - town
background. Lamb will be an art-
ist, Roper will take over his fathi-
er's pottery factory. But one's way
of life is not so easily followei
there are other conditions that,
knowing human nature, will have
their influence.
There is London-the city that
represents "class" and "society"
and what is "correct" and "best"
for the small town people. Most of
all for Roper, there is Lamb and
what he will think; for Lamb,
there is the need to show up
Roper.
quantity. One of the most me
able moments is of Shaw sta
ing about London for a day, d
R'AIN'S scattered minor
acters, from the aged actress
mistress Celia to the aloe
schoolteacher and Lamb's g
cans (the "walrus" and
"seal"), are all drawn brilli
in few words, leaving wonde
lasting impressions.
"The Contenders" is a thorc
ly entertaining, studied exar
tion of some representatives c
last younger generation in
land, a searching novel that
deed of its time.
--Vernon Nabr
WOLFE, OTHERS:
Mystery
Suggestioi
THE STOPPED CLOCK B
Townsley Rogers. New 1Yer
mon and Schuster.
JUST HOW GOOD a myste
suspense novel is "The St
Clock" is never clear unti
end-when the reader realii
he is nt sure there has N
murder committed, even tho
vcious, killer has been caugh
Por the mystery and suspe
"The Stopped Clock" is all 1
telling of the stor'y, -a Job
Joel. Townsley Rogers ese
with a forceful excellence tht
ternately shocks and stuns
reader.
The story of a one-time I
wood star whose past sud
catches up with the obacur
which she has been living for
years, the new Rogers non
guilty at times of much too
coincidence in the happenin
the last days of Nina Wandle
of much more prolonged per
tion into her past.
But two strikes don't pu
book out, and while Rogers' p
tion is lengthy, it is very rewa
at every surprising turn of the
There is no detective in this
and very little detection--ye
narrative formula, with the
of a beaten and dying w
strong throughout, leads to a
matic and satisfactory concl
as impossiblycoincidental
maybe.
STRONG POISON. By Dorot
Saers. 1930. New York:K
& Bros.
RT estimated that between 400
leukemia cases will develop an.
HOTEL ROOM. By Cornell Wool-
rich. 205 pp. New York: Random
House. $3.50.
VIOLENCE. By Cornell Woolrich.
246 pp. New York: Dodd, Mead
& Co. $2.95.
THERE is an American coun-
terpart of England's Graham
Greene, it is Cornell Woolrich, a
mystery and suspense writer of
long standing and firm reputation
for tense novels and short stories
written under his own name and
that of William Irish.
Woolrich's latest work, however,'
is no mystery novel-not in the
usual sense. Hardly a novel, either,
for its episodes resemble short
stories. "Hotel Room" is what the
dust jacket (but not title page)
labels it-"an entertainment."
For Greene, the "entertainment"
form is one of novel or novelette
length that seems at first to be a
well-constructed mystery or sus-
pense story and that displays on
reading a deeper, usually religious
significance or ieaning. :
* 4, *
"HOTEL ROOM" is that. A series
of seven episodes in the history
of a single room (number 923) in
a New York hotel from opening
day in 1869 to closing day in 1957,
"Hotel Room" reflects the major
times and events of 20th century
America while probing gently the
faiths of an assortment of Ameri-
cans.
Unlike Greene, Woolrich does
not probe deeply nor does he con-
struct in"greatddetail. His stories
are simply and broadly told, in
universals that all are familiar
with if not a little tired of. His
"tour de force" is the creation of
mood and feeling, through a tense
simplicity that breeds passion and
violence and often all the effects
of a very bad nightmare.
* * *
WOOLRICH'S short stories, a
new volume of which has just
been pubished under the title "Vio-
lence," are masterful writings that
best reflect this ability to create
the violent and powerful.
In six stories, Woolrich explores
the passions of flight, of unre-
quited love, of suspicion., and. of a
primitive moon-wor'ship.
The "endings" are always effec-'
tive, but the fun is in getting there,
in racing the clock to see whether
the executioner will die of poison
before he can send off the con-
demned man, in wondering wheth-
er that man you knew personally
did kill his wife.
Like Greene, Woolrich creates
the deepest of suspense and mys-
tery in a matter of sentences.
And, as in his earlier books, "The
Bride Wore Black" and "The
Phantom Lady,", both classics,.
Woolrich never fails to pull off an
effective climax arAd conclusion.
* * *
IF, AS IN "Hotel Room," Wool-
rich's characters are never deeply
or carefully developed, it is be-
cause we recognize them instantly,
-- and because these universals,
have universal problems,uand uni-
versal passions with which we are
to be concerned.
Thus the story of Room 923 be-
comes the story of people, and vice
versa. With marriage, death, and
faith inside its door, the room be-
comes a church, a symbol of life
and all that it means. Yet "Hotel
Room" is not a religious novel; it
is simply an "entertainment."
--Vernon Nahrgang
THUS THERE are the con
tenders, the two disturbed yours
men whose tempestuous friend
ship keeps them one step ahead
each other, communicating an
watching through intermediar
Joe-Shaw, and finally doing a sot
of primitive but distant battle i
which they use wivet as trump.
In the end, only Good Ole Jc
Shaw seems to realize that "suc
cess" is only as complicated a
one makes it, that the measuring
stick is personally and individuall
fashioned.
"The Contenders" is certainly
serious novel, but it is also ligh
and humorous. Author Joh
Wain's most enjoyable scenes hav
that magie ingredient that pro
vides great humor - liquor -i
J-
ag
rt
c-
ws
ft
China Policy Reasonable
a INTERESTING that the State Depart-
it should issue a 5,000 word statement
iy the United States government should
vill not extend diplomatic recognition to
aunist China just when a new drive by
a to get her Far Eastern partner into the
d Nations is expected.,,Government offi--.
have denied there is any connection, but
s is so, the coincidence is indeed curious.
statement, which says nothing that
and his crew have not said before, con-
a number of plausible arguments for the
I States' stand on China. The policy ba-
is that extending recognition would
uce no tangible benefits ... and would be
terial assistance to Chinese Communist s
pts to extend Communist dominion
ghout Asia."
arguments presented in support of this
develop a strong case. Recognition of the
se regime probably would do much to un-
ne governments of Far Eastern countries
are struggling to remain separate from
It is also claimed, again with a certain
of validity, that the decline in the Na-
ist regime on Formosa would cause many
eas" Chinese to switch their loyalties to
ommunist side.
part of the government's argument that
ikest is the contention that non-recog-
may help hasten the fall of the regime
on the mainland. It is Mr. Dulles' belief that
the regime will one day pass from the scene.
While this may someday happen, although
we doubt it, when the time comes it will prob-
ably be so far in the future that a complete
overhaul of American policy toward China will
long before have been needed, if not accom-
plished.
THE COMMUNIST Chinese regime is settled,
in the Fad East for "many years to come..
The best the West can now hope to do is con-
tinue to frustrate its attempts to expand. It
is, of course, hoped the West will be more suc-'
cessful than it has been in the last 10 years..
t While the United States' policy appears to
be the most satisfactory alternative for the
present, there will come a time, quite prob-
ably in the not too distant future, when new
ideas and new policies will be needed.
The State Department's statement says that
the physical existence of China is not being
ignored by the American government, and, In
fact, U.S. policies in the Far East are deter-
mined by this existence. It is hoped that when
'it becomes necessary and convenient to diplo-
matically recognize China, this country will be
ready to do so without the sacrifice of pres-
tige or influence in that area of the world.
-DAVID TARRU
Co-Editor
'The Elizabethans'
HE present year is the 400th anniversary of the accession of Quee
Elizabeth I to the throne of England. At Stratford-upon-Avon, th
Shakespeare Birthplace Trustees are marking the occasion with a
exhibition of books and related things under the general heading o
"The Elizabethans."
Among the items on display are first editions of Spenser's "Th
Faerie Queen" and Shakespeare's "Lucrece," and an undated book o
Psalms, with final page bearing an inscription and the signature o
Elizabeth I. To complete the cycle, this last was loaned to the exhibitio
by her namesake, Elizabeth II.
The fifth Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival also is going forwar
now, its emphasis on Elizabethan poetry.
-The New York Times Book Review
"Testing-Aggressor! Imperialist! Assassin! Testing-"-
61.' N I R i lir
it THE FIVE RED HERRINGS.
in. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1931.1
York:.Harper & Bros
One of the- most famous and
mired of detectives in the 1i)1
of mystery fiction 'is a Bri
nobleman, Lord Peter Wimsey
name, a creation of Dorothy
n Sayers, one of the most admire
e mystery writers.
n The Lord Peter Wimsey no
f are currently being returned
print, two at a time and ehro
e logically. Four have so far been
fissued: "Whose Body?", "Clo
Sof Witness," "Unnatural Dea
and "The Unpleasantness at
n Bellona Club."Nowthe total is
to six with "Strong, Poison"
d "The Five Red Herrings."
In "Strong Poison," Win
takes on romantic entanglem'
when he works to prove the ir
cence of a young lady detectl
story writer.
In "The Five Red Herrin
-WimweT sifts a Scottish village
find the artist-killer of an aor
victim. Both novels, character
ically of their time, are devote(
solving crimes and not to crea;
penetrating characterizations.
*, * *
AS A RESULT, the modern re
may find these novels quite un
anything he has read lately.
"The Five Red Herrings,"
reader must juggle a cast of
male artists, the suspects, who
pear only briefly, and six or se
assorted officers, constables,
spectors and sergeants who I
equal space and a similar ni
her of theories to be heard.
Throughout the novel ther
a good deal of timetable and m
tal calisthenics-and the solU
depends on little more,
I
iTERPRETING THE NEWS:
B
Vest Uniting on Middle East
By J. M. ROBERTS
Associated Press News Analyst
HE NATIONS take their stances for the
ted Nations Middle East debate the West
to be pulling closer and closer together
posals for settlements while the Soviet
:lings to its propaganda line.
a few days ago the West appeared to be
;ted to a merely argumentative confron-
of the Soviet charges connected with
and American military intervention.
sed of aggression, they developed the.
I that indirect aggression was the real
i-which it is.
this line of approach merely promised
both sides on the defensive and produce
to which would circle and re-circle all
differences of attitude.
THE WEST, in a search for some form
initiative, has discovered that it can
i fairly uniform approach to a joint
7 and economic program for the Middle
close together on proposals which would give
the United Nations a police force and an eco-
nomic development program designed to elimi-
nate some of the tug of war between the big
powers and seek to change Arab militancy into
Arab cooperation.
There is strong doubt that any such package
can be voted, or that it could be made to work,
amid the tensions of the area. Fundamentally,
Nasserism seeks to exploit Arab nationalism for.
its own purposes while the Soviet Union seeks
to exploit both. The West seeks to halt such
exfloitation to defend its own interests in the
cold war. Nobody sticks solely to the best inter-
ests of the Middle East.
EGARDLESS of the practicality of the West-
ern proposals however, they promise to
leave the Soviet Union chasing windmills in
the debate unless it comes up with its own
version of a seemingly constructive program.
This is not impossible, despite Soviet Foreign
Minister Andrei Gromyko's addiction to his.
V. f. ~E4E1AL ASEM
;c E4~
i
} OWN
Ila lk
THE MOST striking thing
this novel, however, is the a]
ness and illogical reasoning
which the forces of justice wo
catch a murderer.
The construction of a hypot
cal solution to see if it fit
facts, and then proving it, I
unusual in today's mystery
suspense novels, but it was all
irregular in the early 1934's, a
because it pretends to be a Ic
procedure while it is actua
hit-or-miss tactic.
Yet both "Strong Poison'
"'The Five Red Herrings") ar
_;.. \ "a
k
--