Page Six
T HE M IC H IGA N DA IL Y
1--S 7 1n -
Page Six THF Mlit-4lG tI~n, LWfL.lunday, January 15, 1956
t
Activities Men
.r
"BIG RED"
Dirty Shirts & Beer Busts
THE REPRESENTATIVE: Usually really good only when shaking
hands with someone . .. undeniably a grand guy and often a
great one for parties.
(Cotisnod from P'.' 5)-
doesn't do him much good to toke
a stand on anything. because few
pay him any serious attention.
.TIEl 111TLER is foreverr
bringing up new things and atIr- -
rug up new controversIes. ordin-
arily on or nepr-the top of his
org nrzaton, he is sure of himself -
and sincerely int resi ci in con-
structive ccomps sln s bfor the S
'eltre of studients, which re-f
main s, a subjectivej
matter.R
He usutly keeps an open mind
on the issues that arise. o takes
a strong stand once he decies hisl
side Uscmlly disatisfied with the -
way things are, he works ihrd to
improve them, evcn in his ows i
organization. These are among
the qualities that made him a suc-
cess in his organization.
He thrives an controversy and
1i, in some ways, like The Agita- THE HUSTLER: Sure of him-
tor. He certainly enjoys the pub- self, thrives on controversy, in-
licity he gets and takes at least terested in constructive accomp-
some satisfaction in a sense of lishments.
accomplishment and in the feeling
of power that accompanies it. cause he has been more success-
Although he may have a very ful than they. However, they do
pleasant personality, he is some- not let this show, because of prag-
times unpopular with other "cam-notletchsshdwratecnsendfnt to
pus leaders," both because he up- ate on tons atnn
sets their complacency and be- a feer of antagonizing him.
By FRED STEINGOLD "Big Red" is the shortened form
THE MEN of Gomberg House ,of the "Big Red Machine," Gom-
South Quad, are proud of their berg's official nickname. The house
house and their spirit for the colors of red and white appear in
house is expressed in everything Gomberg jackets, derbies, and beer
they do. mugs.
If their praise of Gomberg Even when they are not made
seems boastful at times, it's only conspicuous by their red jackets,
because the men have developed. Gomberg men can be singled out
a high degree of self-confidence of a group. Their house usually
based on their outstanding has the largest block of seats at
achievements in practically every such events as Gulantics and
phase of student activity. pera.
Dean of Men Walter B. Rea LESS FORMAL socializing is
says that Gomberg is a unique practiced by the 34 members
house and represents the type of of the GOE-Gomberg Older Ele-
house the University is seeking to ment. The only qualification for
develop. He calls attention to the membership in that organization
house "spirit and loyalty." is that the member be 21 years
The spirit has paid off in many old. The chief functions of the
ways. Evidence of it is seen in organization are "spontaneous"
the Gomberg trophy case which is meetings at local taverns.
filled with 18 awards ranging from Another event which makes live-
a three-year intra-mural sports ly conversation for Gomberg men
championship trophy to a plaque is the famed Gomberg Dirty Shirt
for having the third highest contest which began in September
grade-point average for men's of 1952.
houses last year. Participants had to wear the
oversized Gomberg shirt for a full
SUCCESS IS part of the Gomberg day whenever their name was
tradition which was begun in drawn by lot. The incentive was
1951 by Gil McMahon, Gomberg's a pot into which each contestant
first resident advisor. He was re-
sponsible for inte'r(sting Gomberg
men in extir,-tusicular activitie.
and they's hcii interested eve
since.
The di yto11, s ) t ar an-
otti 'how. up in .list ics as
selt , s is Stlitiecinceivors. Two
yer "0 a roup of flre-hIen in
the io1 Were tl('iii _ with
difficu', for a cheimisy blue-
book.
Bernie Berman, then a pre-icmd
student, brought a large' ;ack
board into the lounge ad fr
thre e nht he lectured to the
fireshmen on che mistry, Their
pr oimiance on the esi iraised
the grading curve considcrably.
TEAM WORK plyed an import-
ant part in Gomberg's victory
in a tug-of-war last October. The
participants in the contest bor-
rowed a rope from the Detroit
Police department. They practiced
for several nights and when the
tug-of-war came they pulled the
heavier opposing team into the
Huron River.
The whole house usually turns
out when Gomberg is participating
in a competitive event. Shouts of HOUSE LOYALTY sometimes
"Do Big Red" till the air as Gom- GmegDrySitCnsw
berg men cheer the team on to Gomberg Dirty Shi Contest,
what they hope will be another of contestants, resulted in a 25
victory for the house. odoriferous shirt for the loser.
put 50 cents. As time went on the
shirt got dirtier and dirtier and
the wearer often found that he
was a social outcast.
Men dropped out of the contest
when they had to wear the shirt
on a date. Finally, in April of 1953
one brave man won himself the
25 dollar pot.
The runner-up received the
shirt.
A MORE serious expression of
Gomberg spirit is demonstrated
by the Kelsey Memorial Award
which the house has set up in
memory of Jack Kelsey.
Kelsey was a Gomberger who
made a valuable contribution to
the house and the school through
his work in many student organi-
zations. He died last April just
two months after graduation.
The Award provides an annual
stipend for she Gomberg man who
is most outstanding in "citizen-
ship, scholarship, and versitility
of aptitude."
"This award," says Dean Rea,
"is representative of Gomberg's
group solidarity and affection -
that bond which means so much
to a living group."
--Daily--ChuckKseey
turns out like this. The famed
'hich ran through seven months
dollar bill for the winner--the
The British Philosopher Took His Tea There
By RICHARD LAING
THE South Cafeteria of the
Michigan Union will never be
the same.
The carved-top tables will still
be there and so will the "captain's
chairs," those "beefed-up" bow-
back Windsors painted in solid
blues and reds and yellows.
It will still be a cafeteria; the
alums in fall top-coats will still
(during mealtimes) be able to
find the really famous carvings.
The record of the Rose Bowl games
of 1902 and of 1948 and 1951 and
names like "Germany" Schultz
and Willie Heston will still be
there.
I suppose even those scores that
have been altered by disgruntled
anti-Michigan fans will still be
there, the 6 points their team
made cleverly converted to 36 or
to 61.
All this will still be there and
people will still eat there. 'What
then is lost or missing? Well, the
between-meals loungers will no
longer be there. The old south
side is to become part of a nice
neat meal-time-only cafeteria. And
it was never the mealtime-only
people that made the place what
it was,
ANY mid-afternoon a few years the Armenian fight for independ- "captain's chairs," legs hanging
ago, one might, in looking for ence did his writing there. over the arm.
some especially famous table top, The young man who pulled the His companions kept talking
find near the scores of the '48 wires out of the public address and he kept reading. One day he
games another carving for that "squawk-box" was there along with announced to them that he was
year. It would be down at the a friend who did the same thing leaving to take a teaching appoint-
far end, opposite from where the a few weeks later. Dozens of dis- ment in an eastern university.
professor is examining photostats sertations were begun and finished While they had quarreled over
of Alexandrian papyri. there and scores of graduate stu- the state of the nation, the nature
At that far end, near the foot- dents studied there for prelimin- of reality, and women of Belleville,
ball records we find that "G.G. ary exams for the PhD. he had quietly secured his PhD.
'84" has somehow anachronisti- Several Hopwood Award win-
cally managed to carve "War is ning manuscripts were written Reality & Ridicule
Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignor- there. Every evening a depart- Scores of men date their in-
ance is Truth." ment chairman had a dish of but- tellectual growth from the occa-
Evidently 1948 was some sort of ternut ice cream and read the next sion of some particularly intense
strange topsy-turvy world in which morning's Free Press. discussion there. There were those
more than that Rose Bowl game A visiting British philosopher that backed off from life and those
occurred. found the place on his second day that dove head first into it without
Someone must have been a bit in town and after that always prior examination of the depth of
annoyed about something then, had tea and cookies there at 3:30 the water.
but the Professor of Classical p.m. Now and then things were quite
Studies seems unperturbed. He Cab-drivers, would-be lawyers, grim. There were those who had
is somewhat more the scholar than candidates for the Neuro-Psychia- tried to get rid of themselves.
the rebel. Perhaps his scholar- tric Institute, mathematicians, and There were missing places for
ship is a rebellion. For the princi- the student who carved the Or- those who had succeeded. Some-
pal "loungers" of the South Cafe- well slogans all sat at the same one was always writing a play, ex-
teria were rebels or scholars. Most round-table. plaining it,
were a bit of both. FTEN it was difficult to separ- TPE NEW cafeteria will be neat-
Tea & Yitriol ate the scholars from the reb- er, cleaner, and better lighted.
els. This was made more difficult It will be open only during meal-
THE clergyman who had proved because some were hybrids. At time. There will be an all-hours
that the world was flat used the same table with the rebels tap-room but it will include TV,
to sit there. The man with the there was a young man who used radio, and juke-box.
unpublished, uncompleted novel on to sit cross-ways in one of those It will appeal to the mass of
the students. Most of the South
Cafeteria hangers-on have gone
off somewhere else, and the new
tap room will not suit them.
But the tall, and the short and
the medium sized classical scholars
are still in town. The professor
of history, and the department
head who had his ice cream there
every evening are still around.
So are the two professors of ro-
mance languages, and the student
who studied for prelims with his
gloves on, and the teachers of
English who had their conferences
with students there.
THERE are still some of the
graduate students about who
found that their writing was bet-
ter in this place where though
there were other humans nearby
--those humans did not shout to
assert their presence.
One of the young men who tore
the wires out of the P.A. system
is still around and so is the Union
house-man who every night flicked
the lights at 11:10 p.m. and began
putting the red and blue and yel-
low chairs up on the carved tables.
Maybe the student I once saw
there, who carefully salted his
newspaper, page by page as he
read it is still around. There must
be a place for him somewhere.