Michigan State University - Red Cedar Log Yearbook (East Lansing, MI)

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POLITICS AND OPINION , :L re W 1 uf XVilliam F. Mac Mcllrath, Director of Student Publications, counseled his traditional cool view to hot-headed student editors. IO Student Congress made the Thursday morn- ing headlines more than once during the year as their debates covered everything from housing to canoes. The new high-speed rotary press at Cam- pus Press, in spite of a low-speed start, was turning out the campus daily in little over an hour by winter term, allowing more up- to-the-minute news.

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INCIDENTS AND CHANGE One small dividend to come from the harsh winter was a few weeks of free parking. The new parking gates in- stalled during the summer could account for cars, but not snowdrifts. As a result, lots which should have been auto- matically closed for lack of space, remained open, and many hapless commuters drove innocently in. only to pay a dime for nothing more than the drive. As dimes and tempers ran short, the Department of Public Safety con- sidered its own safety and opened the lots to free parking until the snow could be cleared. The only other problem encountered by the mechanical sentinels was that of the wily sports car. Until winter term, when guard bars were installed on each gate, the small, imported auto could pass under while its driver thumbed his nose at the greedy coin boxes. Otherwise the gates functioned smoothly, and if not over- whelmingly popular, were at least received without much complaint. Certainly there was none when the registration fee for cars on campus was reduced from 15 to 2 dollars because of them. Other changes and some lack of change, however, were not so quietly received. The increased academic demands of the university which became so apparent last year were reemphasized by the announcement that graduating seniors would take spring term finals for the first time. The Senior Council challenged the decision, but could not change it, in spite of the compromise suggestion that only students with a B average for the term be exempt. Far noisier, and perhaps less considered. was the ques- tion over compulsory ROTC raised for the first time in over 20 years. Proponents and opponents beat their respective drums, but reason prevailed, and President Hannahis sug- gested Hlong, hard lookw was begun. Some students on campus this year were so hungry for knowledge, or so it seemed, that they stole for it. By winter term the library reported nearly 5,000 books missing. a loss amounting to over 540,000 Several hundred of these were recovered when IFC with their book drive separated the borrowers', from the thieves, but the main problem, that of operating with open stacks and only limited check- ing, remained. In contrast to the delinquent bibliophiles, the members of the Veterans Association. Blue Key and several other student groups gave instead of took, and hundreds of less fortunate Lansing families had a little happier Christmas. During fall term Sparta Claus gathered campus-wide contributions for the project. The money was then spent on food baskets which were distributed by the vets to the families over the holidays. Another successful project completed, but one much longer in the process, concerned married housing. With over 1,900 brick apartments on campus occupied by mar- ried students fall term, the number of temporary barracks units had dwindled to less than 500. During the summer hundreds of others had been torn down, or were sold and hauled away, until the once cluttered views from Harrison Road and Shaw Lane were completely leveled. The 500 survivors were spared only to accommodate student fami- lies leaving this year. The demise of the barracks completes a plan that has been nearly 14 years in the process. Beginning with only the crowded and scarcely adequate trailer village of Fer- tile Valley' 'in 1946, MSU has developed the finest married housing program of any university in the nation. THE BIG NAMES Michigan State alumni, students and stafl' attained na- tional notice in many ways this year. Heading the list of distinguished alumni was Frederick Mueller, class of '14, who in November was sworn in as Undersecretary of Commerce. second in command only to the secretary, Sinclair Weeks. As such, he now super- vises such federal ofiices as the Weather Bureau, the Bureau of Census and the Patent Oflice. More recent alumni to participate in matters of national and international interest include W. Dennis Barton, class of i38, and B. F. 'fSandy Coggan. class of ,39. Barton, a pioneer in the field of structural plastics, designed and supervised construction of the unique and beautiful translucent plastic roof of the U.S. pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair, while Coggan. a vice-president of the Convair division of General Dynamics, played a major role in the Air Force Atlas ICBM program. Paul D. Bagwell, former head of the department of communication skills and currently director of scholar- ships remained leader of Michigan's Republican Party after his vigorous and unexpectedly powerful guberna- torial campaign against the state's popular incumbent, G. Mennen Williams, while President Hannah continued in his role of national service as chairman of President Eisen- howerfs Civil Rights Commission. In spite of a discouraging season for the football team, Sam Williams, team captain and end. became State's 25th All-American, while John Green, co-captain of the uni- versity's brilliant basketball team, took the honors for his championship play. Prominent visitors to campus during the year reflected the university's interest and involvement in the times. From Adlai Stevenson. who spoke at the i958 commence- ment, to Linus Pauling, who brought his controversial cru- sade against radioactive fallout to campus spring term. each visitor found an interested and comprehending audience. It was not the first visit for many. Eleanor Roosevelt. popular at Michigan State since her first appearance over 20 years ago, returned fall term for an informal talk on world affairs and the United Nations. These. then, are a few of the events and names that highlighted the year at MSU. Many more are touched upon in the following pages. But at best. we can only set the scene. The story must be your own. 9

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After a year of renewed national interest in the business of politics and public opinion, an election year complete with campaigns and TV coverage, a revived spirit seemed to stir on campus. Old Man Apathy loosened his hold more than once and by spring term seemed almost on his way out. Student elections, in direct contradiction to the prophets of indifference, drew over 5,000 voters to the polls in April, while such topics as ROTC, men's dorm dress regu- lations and student housing regulations were discussed and debated with renewed vigor. Spring had indeed sprung. But this atmosphere did not appear without priming. Student Government, the State News and student groups from IFC to MHA did much to bring home student interest during fall and winter term. TH URSDAY'S CHILD The 1958-59 Student Government, one of the best or- ganized and, canoe acts notwithstanding, one of the most effective of recent years, began with a legacy of confusion which left them a long way to go fall term. When viewed in retrospect, the elections for class ofli- cers, Student Congress and the AUSG president in spring of '58 seem almost ludicrous. The confusion demonstrated by Student Government over its own elections regulations was epic. Tensions rose and tempers flared hotly over minor technical points, until it was a wonder that there was any election at all. The big mix-up began three days before the primary, when Elections Commissioner Herb Harman resigned un- der pressure from Student Government President Marne Gleason after Dean Pappas violated the rules in his cam- paign for senior class president. Gleason claimed Harman was too liberal in his interpretation of the regulations, and Harman refused to continue without complete control over election procedures. Gleason then appointed Barrie Alley to replace Harman. Two days later, on the eve of the primary, two candi- dates for Student Government president disqualihed them- selves by campaigning over Brody radio without leaving comparable time for the third candidate. Then candidate three decided to use the radio too, but since this left the first two without time comparable to his, he too was dis- qualified. Result, no candidates . . . a cut and dried affair. But the plot thickened. The Elections Review Board decided the whole business had been mishandled and ruled all three candidates still eligible. This might have ended it, but the next day Glea- son stopped the primary when he discovered that one candidate's name had been left off the ballot, and held things up until the oversight could be corrected. Somehow, the final election was held without any notable complications the following week. When the dust finally settled, Chuck Walther was president, Gleason and Alley graduated, and, sure enough, Harman reappeared, this time as executive vice-president. By fall term, however, things had settled down, and the politicians stuck pretty much to business for the rest of the year. SPARTAN SPIRIT RE-VISITED Fall was relatively free of major controversy on campus, for football was upon us and everyone worked off steam in the stadium. Even such aroused public clamor as that of the Brody residents the previous spring over the big stinkf' from the Red Cedar sewage disposal plant faded in the cool fall air. But football brought its own problems in terms of unsuccessful Big l0 competition, Spartan Spirit for lack of ith and the philosophy of pep rallies. Pep rallies came under fire from several directions. If they were plain, old-fashioned shout sessions, they didn't attract enough student participation, but if they had pro- fessional entertainment, they were not pep rallies, but simply shows. All of this, coupled with a hard luck season for the team, seemed to create a feeling that State's foot- ball reputation was collapsing beyond repair. But the feeling was temporary. Kansas State was mauled in the last game 26 to 7, Sam Williams made All-Ameri- can, Biggie and Duffy stayed friends and football pep raliles were forgotten for another year. Borrowing from Mark Twain, Sparty could claim without much argument that rumors of his death were grossly exaggerated. NEWS AND REVIEWS It will be a long time before the State News can match its classic confusion of vets fmedicall with vets fmilitaryl, when two years ago they reported a tuition increase to 130-odd dollars for the vets instead of the vets. In fact, as a mirror and sounding board of student opinion as well as a reporter of facts, the S'News does an unusually accu- rate and competent job. There are, however, occasional slips. With the coming of the snows, campus controversies took on a more serious atmosphere, and the State News joined in. Dr. Stanley Idzerda, Director of the Honors College and more than an interested spectator, challenged conformity among students in general and the Greeks in particular at the IFC-Pan Hel convocation. The State News lent added drama to this already explosive attack by one small error. In their hurry to make their press dead- line they omitted the word f'intellectual from Dr. Idzerda's description of fraternities as an intellectual skid row. In contrast to this was the papers coverage of the com- pulsory ROTC question. Without identifying themselves with any person's or group's opinion on the matter, they printed nearly all such opinions which they felt were sub- mitted in good faith, canvassed the Board of Trustees on the question and over a period of several weeks, had cov- ered the problem in its broadest possible sense. Politics and opinion from canoes to the National Student Association, dormitory dress regulations to ROTC. amused, provoked and sometimes enlightened us through- out the year. The details will doubtless fade in time, but the spirit will be remembered as long as the year is. I1