National Reports

...This year, some manufacturers utilized feminine announcers, whose trilling trebles could be heard extolling the mechanical virtues of their sponsor's car or, in the case of Plymouth, the harmonious colors of the upholstery and interior trim...

...Park Livingston, recently resigned chairman of the University of Illinois's board of trustees and runner-up to Governor Stratton in the 1952 GOP Gubernatorial primary...

...Ford and Nash had two each...

...Not many school systems are handicapped as severely as Boston's by political considerations...

...Many leaders in civic reform regard Dr...

...Nine of them here expressed a desire to battle for the Senate seat at present occupied by Democrat Paul Douglas, who is unopposed in the April 13 balloting...

...Roadblocks to School Reform National Reports Atlanta: Joseph R. Fiszman...

...Richmond: Lawrence King...

...His first try was not very broad in scope...

...San Francisco: Frank Mankiewicz By Courtney R. Sheldon Boston The extent to which violent crosscurrents of pressure-group opinion interfere with school administration was hinted at recently in a Harvard University team survey...

...Voters hit upon it every once in a while when they elect a man of integrity who can turn a deaf ear to bad suggestions?­especially those of his supporters...

...There have been various efforts to lift them, notably the broad-gauge Strayer report and the Sargent school-building modernization program...

...Austin L. Wyman, former head of the Chicago Crime Commission and official candidate of the local Citizens for Eisenhower group...

...It found that Massachusetts school superintendents were subject to pressures from 17 types of community groups...

...Ignoring the political axiom that one should avoid unnecessary controversy in an election year, they rushed through a long-range, overall school-consolidation program that should have been attended to decades ago...

...Louis: William Wyant Jr...

...a Chevrolet, modestly-priced at $3,800...

...New Orleans: Stephen Ryan...

...Haley as an expendable obstacle in the path of improved schools...

...The conventional models, on the other hand, seem to be following Ford's styling and are getting more box-like...

...Haley now kicked a hole in his blueprint...

...The new school board gave Dr...

...The problems caused by this situation when it is not handled firmly and wisely are well illustrated currently in Boston...

...Parents, of course, led the list, along with teachers, school-board members and local politicians...

...However, the Harvard survey found enough unsavory incidents in school board--superintendent??relationships to make the following its Number 2 recommendation: "In those communities where school-board members engage in nefarious practices which are detrimental to the welfare of the children and the morale of the school staff, new ways must be developed to make certain that future school-board members will be individuals of the highest caliber, who cannot be pressured and will not pressure the superintendent...

...GOP Primary in Illinois By Albert N. Votaw Chicago SPRING HERE here is traditionally accompanied by two sideshow attractions to the main climatic feature...

...This was done against the advice of Boston Superintendent of Schools Dennis C. Haley, an appointee of a previous school committee who is not highly regarded by those seeking drastic changes in Boston schools...

...Auto design seems to be turning full circle...

...It will be interesting to see what impresses Republican voters in this 18th District more--the lower farm prices emphasized by Allison or Velde's Red hunt...

...and a new $1,500 Nash...

...An ex-serviceman who votes for a Democrat should hang his head in shame when he marches next Memorial Day??to the cemetery where his dead comrades are buried," Hayes said in 1938...

...Twelve companies presented their version of the "dream car...

...Here Representative Harold H. Velde of the House Un-American Activities Committee is opposed by State Representative Robert H. Allison...

...In a few years...

...But the groups drawn into the picture by the Haley issue, together with the perennial reaction against NBC "do-gooders," administered a humiliating defeat to those school-committee members who courageously voted for consolidation...

...They prefer a fresh outlook and a new start on the problem...

...President of the State Federation of Retailers, Meek entered the primary with a ready-made following, especially strong downstate, and an early start along the handshaking trail...

...These are the primary elections (local in the odd years, state and national in the even) and the Auto Show...

...The five other contenders are not credited with much strength...

...Buick, whose "car of the future" was the hit of the 1951 show, presented none...

...This, apparently, is considered ultra-modern...

...Lest this be considered prophetic of the future for American sports cars, it should be pointed out that three of the "dream cars" exhibited are actually in production...

...That "new way" is, of course, not particularly new...

...Moreover, school-committee positions customarily are used as stepping stones to other political offices...

...Traditionally, this has consisted of several impractically gowned models, who sit in autos displayed on a slowly revolving stage...

...This last, unveiled midway in the show, drew attention from Ford's radical experimental model, which featured two control-sticks in place of the steering wheel and radar antennae on the headlights...

...The 46th annual Auto Show, drawing its usual crowd of about 500,000, emphasized Continental styling and experimental sports cars...

...His present campaign indicates that time has not mellowed his opinions...

...The subsequent row, heightened by overwrought newspaper editorials and protests from parents who objected to individual school closings, brought to the fore a smoldering issue: whether the Boston system needed a new superintendent...

...electioneering has been noisy and rough...

...So far, in fact, most of this state's spring warmth has been generated electorally by the Republicans, whose primaries are usually more lively than the Democrats...

...The NBC and a three-man majority on the school committee took a plunge shortly before the 1953 election...

...Haley the go-ahead to propose his own limited school-consolidation program...

...They range from an Eisenhower supporter to a hardy-perennial "America Firster...

...While retaining the massive chrome trim and sweeping bumpers introduced in the postwar era, their fenders have been raised--in most instances running horizontally to the rear of the car--and their front profiles have been squared away...

...Other strong contenders, in probable finishing order, include: Edward A. Hayes, past National Commander of the American Legion and a strong McCarthy backer...

...The second sideshow, a regular spring feature, was welcomed by all in Chicago...

...Over the years, Boston's school system has slipped from once-high standards...

...Something new was added to the female contribution, too...

...Front-runner appears to be Joseph T. Meek, an original Taft man, who now announces his general support of President Eisenhower...

...The weather, despite a few spells of remarkably splendid warmth and sunshine at the end of winter, turned windy, rainy, grey and thirtyish after the vernal equinox...

...Nevertheless, the same type of groups that had earlier supported Dr...

...Most of these, it would appear, have a fairly legitimate interest in the operation of the superintendent's office...

...Some of them present an ugly, scoop-like grill similar to the air intake of a jet engine...

...One downstate Republican primary is of interest...

...The categories of pressure sources, however, extended to such classifications as "personal friends" (37 per cent of the superintendents were so pressured), "old line" families (31 per cent), and "economically influential individuals" (44 per cent...

...These include a Kaiser...

...Despite this, there have been in recent years a few hopeful signs of civic conscience in Boston politics--nurtured largely by the New Boston Committee, an independent citizen-action group...

...Even those regular models displayed ran to convertibles and hard tops...

...None of the three has been unusual...

...The state administration has no "regular" candidate...

...Most of the recommendations in these reports, however, have been ignored by politically-minded Boston school committees...

...Allison has labor support, a strong following among farmers--who have become increasingly critical of Velde's lack of interest in their problems--and the backing of most Protestant clergymen...

...So loud were the outcries of one parent and student group that, in a showdown vote, the so-called Haley school committee deserted him...

...Senator Everett M. Dirksen, who comes from Velde's home town of Pekin, is also said to look with disfavor upon his younger colleague...

...The experimental autos are, for the most part, low and rounded...

...we may see a return to the classic, square lines of the prewar Packard, the Rolls-Royce?­and the Model...

...Education needs rise to the surface only if they fit the personal ambitions of school-committee members...