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University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1959
Television Controversy
Television is under heavier fire now than at any time in its young life. Congressional investigators dealt a death blow to quiz shows after it was revealed that some of them were rigged.
The publicity accompanying the sordid affair has aroused the public and it is possible that a shake-up affecting the entire industry will be forthcoming.
Suggestions for curing TV of its ills are as numerous as replies to a help-wanted ad during the depression.
Evils complained of are advertiser-oriented programming; an excessive number of westerns; the emphasis on violence, and the disappearance of shows like "Studio One" and "See It Now."
Remedies suggested vary: One proposes censorship. Another backs the idea of a commissioner, with powers similar to the baseball czar. Much has been said favoring government control.
We are opposed to the first and third. But the commissioner idea has possibilities. Some
authority is needed and this would be a reasonable and workable form.
The needed reform must come from two sources. Within, from the television people themselves, and without, from the public.
Television must stop cowering before advertisers and gear its programming to public needs and wants. It has great potential. It could do more to educate and cultivate America than any institution since the public schools. Its directors need to aim for this mark.
But it remains for the average viewer to stop accepting the garbage he's been getting from the networks and demand quality. He should write angry letters when he sees a repulsive show. He should boycott a product when the sponsor's commercial makes him sick.
This is the only way we are ever going to exercise any control over a brilliant invention that is on its way to becoming the monster of our age.
—George DeBord
The Power of the Press
Last week the people who run Watkins Library did what everybody considered was a mighty big thing when they altered their policy concerning faculty-borrowed books.
Now any faculty member possessing an overdue book must return it when the book is put on call by a student. Formerly faculty members were allowed to keep books, no matter how overdue, as long as their inconsiderate hearts desired.
Nearly three weeks ago, a Kansan reporter was assigned to check on the library's method of handling overdue books. The reporter discovered the library's lenient policy and was then told by his editor to investigate the situation.
This effort was performed with such zeal, the reporter almost found himself without a story. For, when he returned to the library, he was informed that the book policy had already been changed to the present circumstances. Confused, the reporter came back to the news room, unaware of the great example of the power of the press he had just witnessed.
He had a story, to be sure, but it was not the one he set out to get. No, he got a different story, one which was unexpected, one which directly
resulted from his curiosity and mere presence. An unfair policy was made fair without a line having reached the typesetter.
Since kings began trembling when the first broadsheets and corantos hit England's cobbled streets, the press has rapidly grown to its present stature as a means of popular opinion and a device for leadership.
That the press has power is certain. That it can have too much power is likewise certain. When a news source automatically changes its policy under fear of adverse publicity, as in the library's case, we can assume there is a possible trend toward a dictatorial press.
The press' function is not to dominate. Its service is to clearly state facts and to interpret news in a way that the reader is forced to think about the subject.
The press will not usurp power from the people as long as the people regard it in its proper place—to keep the reader aware and thinking of the world about him. When the press is feared, it becomes, as would anything else, an enemy. Should that happen, the people would lose their greatest ally.
—John Husar
.. Music Review
By Stuart Levine Instructor in English
Zoltan Rozsnyai conducted the Philharmonia Hungarica in a variei and entertaining concert last night in Hoch Auditorium.
This is not a great orchestra, but
it is a good one; if it does not belong in the class of the Philadelphia or the Minneapolis or even the Rochester, it is certainly in the league of our second-line orchestras, outfits like the Kansas City, the Rhode Island, the Buffalo, the Cincinnati
--and the Hartford Reputable groups all, these are capable of generating a good deal of excitement.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS By Dick Bibler
Von Weber's familiar Oberon Overture opened the program. The performance was nothing to write home about, and when the orchestra opened Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony with a first movement played fifty per cent too fast, it looked like the start of a long evening. The tempo was so fast that the violins, which are not the strongest in the world, were in a constant flurry; so fast that the movement's climaxes never came off.
"SOMETIMES I SUPSECT PROFESSOR SNARFS CRITICISM JUST AWEE BIT HARSH."
Orchestras playing concerts in the woods do things like this. I remember a conductor saying, "The farmers in the audience can't follow the music, so play real fast and let 'em gape at the fiddle-bows flying." But I doubt that the Philharmonia Hungarica was being condescending, especially since the remainder of the symphony was a joy—sinewy and precise.
After the intermission came Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. I've played in orchestras of about this calibre and recognize the kinds of difficulties Mr. Rozsnyai's forces had—passing intonation problems, trouble keeping the violins in tune in exposed high passages, cowardice in entering in rhythmically tricky sections like the Allegro of this piece.
But these did not prevent the Hungarians from delivering a convincing performance of a complex and demanding work.
The program closed with a good reading of Kodaly's lush Peacock Variations.
The big (but not capacity) crowd was thoroughly appreciative. Perhaps it remembered the atrocities perpetrated by the St. Louis Symphony last year.
TORRID—Ann Runge and Jim McMullan get set to embrace in O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms."
By John Husar
One of the better displays of over-all student talent took place last night in the Experimental Theatre when Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms" opened under the wing of the University Players. This was the Players' annual production.
"DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS" is a good vehicle to display the Players' talents. It departs from the traditional melodramas which characterized Players' productions in the past. It is a refreshing break from what had sunk to trite repetition.
An established play, director Phyllis Miller equipped it with a capable cast, rational staging, an unusually realistic setting (for the Experimental Theatre), and acceptable lighting, costumes, etc. That the successful production was done entirely by students is a feather in the drama faculty's cap.
THE PLAY has a torrid plot, basically contrasting the deepest passions within five characters. Not as wierly symbolic as last year's production of "The Great God Brown," it, nevertheless, reflects O'Neill's standard concept of the blind torment affecting human beings, and of the typical violence which results when they finally do express themselves.
Jim McMullan is an effective Eben—boyish, yet quiet with budding maturity. For one giving his first dramatic performance, McMullan's expression is surprisingly temperate and his movements are natural.
ONE ACTOR who will never be typed is Al Rossi. He is one of the few locals who has creditably played diverse parts in many shows. This time, as the old farmer, Ephraim, Rossi's dramatic strength crackles with power and meaning each time he takes the stage.
Ann Runge's idea of Abbie is a bit more of the harlot than, I think, the script defines her. But that is merely a matter of interpretation and does not harm the play. As the wife of Ephraim, but lover of Eben, Miss Runge sympathetically recreates an abundance of womanly charm and passion that even O'Neill might have liked.
BOTH PHIL HARRIS and John Welz, as Eben's half-brothers, show a secure understanding of the depth of their characters. This is Harris' most perceptive performance.
O'Neill built his play around Eben, whose ascent is determined by the interplay of the other characters. Somehow, the KU production has toned down Eben's role, while enlarging the importance of Ephraim and Abbie almost to Eben's plane. While this device enlarges the general character development, it does detract from O'Neill's symbol of "one against many." Miss Miller may have found this retreat feasible, however, in the light of McMullan's dramatic inexperience.
THE PRODUCTION'S technical success relies heavily upon Bill Henry's remarkable setting. Revealing the farmhouse in seven locations, the setting is the largest ever attempted on the Experimental Theatre stage. Even if the play were not enough (which it is), the setting, in itself, would be a treat to see.
Dailu Hansan UNIVERSITY
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