College News, 1931-12-09, Vol. 18, No. 08

              The College News
Vol. XVIII, No. 8
WAYNE AND BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1931
Price, 10 Cent*
Curriculum Committee
Gives Report on Work
Sophomores    Are    Found    To
Work Hardest�Recommend-
dations of Changes Given.
OVERWORK . IS     SHOWN
(Specially   contributed  by  H.   Moore,
Chairman  of  Curriculum   Comtnittce.)
. The Curricujum Committee has com-
pleted its report based on the work
records. It is now prepared to submit
its recommendations to the faculty.
Before this can be done, the student
body as a whole should know what
these are. This article includes a
summary of the most important recom-
mendations. A copy of the report and
all the recommendations will be put
in Taylor so that everyone interested
may see it "in full. If there are any
suggestions or criticisms from students,
they should be reported to any member
of the committee as soon as possible. If
no serious objections are raised, the
report will be submitted to the faculty
at the beginning of next week, so ac-
tion  may  be taken  on  it  before  the
beginning of next semesterr�--------�
The general policy of the committee
is that credit in first-year courses
should not be raised in overworked
courses, therefore the work must be
cut. In advanced courses the amount
of work is, on the whole, up to the
students involved. Therefore in sev-
eral cases where the statistics show
overwork, the committee, after find-
ing that the students taking the codrse
like it as it is, is  making no definite
Mr. Alwyne's Recital
Enjoyed by Audience
Includes in Program Bach, De-
bussy,    Rachmaninow,
Couperin and Berner.
recommendations and is only pointing
out jto the faculty that the course is
overworked.
Three hundred and twenty-eight stu-
dents kept records during the course
of a month. One hundred and thirty-
four of these kept them during the en-
tire month, ninety-six for three weeks,
fifty-five for two weeks, and forty-
three for one week. It is the first two
groups in which we were mainly inter-
ested.
The average number of hours spent
each week on each unit by the student
in the first two groups was 11.395
when the normal is 10.
A comparison of the classes show
that the sophomores  work most, then
Continued   on   I'��e  Fl��
Margaret Bailey Reads
Selections From Her Poems
Although it is two weeks since Mr.
Alwyne's recital, our impression is still
almost as vivid as when we left Good-
hart on November 23, with the feeling
that the evening, which Mr. Alwyne was
kind enough to give us, had been un-
usually enjoyable and for many of
us, his explanation of each selection was
a welcome addition, especially since the
large part of the program was devoted
to "program" music, such as "St. Fran-
cis preaching to the Birds," and even
a Bach selection�"Awake, the voice
commands"�which may be placed in
that category. What we enjoyed
most, however, was the "Chromatic Fan-
tasie and Fugue." Not only is it one of
Bach's greatest works, even foreshadow-
ing, as it does, Tristan and Parsifal, but, I
Undergraduate Fund for
Unemployed Lacks Little
(Specially contributed by H. Moore, '32)
The Student body has pledged $1700
to the fund "for unemployment relief
(not including the amount saved by
giving up desserts, which amounts^to
about $50 per week). To date /tnVre-
ceipts have been as follows:
Rockefeller   ........................   $332.91
Denbigh   ..............................     204.23
Merion   ................................     .174.67
Pern West ..........................     356.56
Pern East ............................     435.22
Vilaphone Prod. Co.........          9.00
College News ....................       33.00
Total ................................ $1545.59
This means that there is about $155
more to be collected. We feel sure
that this amount can be made up
easily. In the first place no pledges
have been received from Wyndham.
and there still are some people in other
halls who have said that they intend to
pledge.    Secondly, the luxury tax will
with  its  mingling  of styles,  as  for ex- i continue, along with the private enter-
ample, the recitative and the toccata, it
provides opportunity for the full display
of Mr. Alwyne's talent, which does it so
much justice as well as the expert
technique evinced in the clarity of the
runs and in the .integrity of the voices
of the fugue. One could not but wonder
at his power of adaptation to mood and
his control is so perfect that his changes
are hardly perceptible. Although he
played the Turkish March twice, how he
obtained the illusion of sound approach-
ing and receding remains a mystery, so
subtle is his use of dynamics.          . �
The richness of Mr. Alwyne's tonal
quality was especially apparent in that
loveliest of chorale-preludes, / Call on
Thee, Lord. But if we would rather
hear Mr. Alwyne give an entire program
of Bach, we also took great pleasure in
his interpretation of such numbers as
Rachmaninow's Prelude in B Minor,
"fiery exaltation," and Debussy's Prelude,
for there seems to be no end to Mr.
Alwyne's versatility. Couperin's "ten-
dre Nanette," the frilly court lady, and
Lord Berner's "Poisson d'Or," "turning
sad and solitary in his crystal bowl,"
were portrayed with a keen sense for the
comic, which often to our surprise plays
no small part in the  realm of music.
We hope that Mr. Alwyne will give
another recital before too long, so
greatly was this one appreciated.           <*
L. C.
prises such as selling orange juice.
Finally, we understand that the Sopho-
mores are giving to the fund part^of
the amount they would normally spend
on their party for the Freshmen and
simplifying the party by having a Vila-
phone skit and games- (which, by the
way, seems an excellent innovation
aside from the benefits of the fund.)
The reason that it was necessary to
pledge more than we have at the mo-
ment is that the drive closed on Mon-
day and in order to have the full
amount of our gift, which is not due in
cash until the first of June, included in
the drive we had to estimate what we
will receive in the future. We are con-
fident that this $155 will soon be made
up.     --------
fBerkeley Square'
Upholds Traditions
Laurels of Joint Performance Go
to Miss MacMasters as.....
Helen Pettigrew.
MR. TRUEX  CONVINCING
Last Thursday night a group of Bryn
Mawr students had the privilege of hear-
ing the newest Bryn Mawr celebrity.
Margaret Emerson Bailey, read and
comment on the poems of her first pub-
lished collection, H'hite Christina/. Cntil
two years ago Miss Bailey's promising
literary career had been confined to prose
writing: special newspaper articles, lit-
erary criticism, Robin Hood's Barn, a
book of essays, and numerous short
stories, published in Harper's, and other
monthly magazines. She began writing
verse during her convalescence from a
serious illness. She says of this begin-
ning that her greatest inspiration was
her mother's skeptical remark, "What
makes you think you are Dante?" Her
first poem, "Higher Mathematics," was
written as a response to this challenge.
Miss Bailey reacTsome twenty odd se-
lections from IVhite Christmas, and a
few unpublished poems, prefacing each
with a 'comment or an illuminating anec-
dote. She told of walking in a wood and
finding herself suddenly hardly a foot
away from a great owl, whose blindness
inspired "Black and White"; of finding
the source of "Wise Man's Holiday" in
a Platonic dialogue; of seeing, in a room
in the Metropolitan, a riotously colorful
Frans Hals opposite a sombre, medita-
tive Rembrandt, and noticing the contrast
of which she writes in "Frans Hals
Grown Old"; and of seeing a child on
a train, being silenced abruptly when he
asked the inevitable "How and Why."
Of her poem, "Poor House Road," she
says that she "reversed all the New Eng-
land proverbs" concerning this via lacri-
mosa. "I wrote 'Dead Language'," she
said, "because I think one ought to show
one's age in poetry, and I very much
object to people my age who write
verses in the terms of the twenties."
And of "Hard Teaching," in which she
acknowledged her debt to her exactiiiR
grandmother, she said, "I might say that
I think in addition to my grandmother's
teaching, that that was the way Eng-
lish was taught at Bryn Mawr."
Miss Bailey read her poems better
than anyone else could possibly have
read them�and this is even more sel-
dom true of poets than of writers of
prose. Her simple, firm, and uncon-
sciously charming delivery is exactly in
the tone of the work itself. Reading
her poetry after hearing her, one can
catch in it the cadences and inflections
of her natural speech. This natural-
ness, this setting down in verse, almost
unmodified, not only the images of her
mind, but the image of her personality
is the most striking quality of her work.
(Specially contributed by Miss Norton.)
When the rising curtain revealed
Miss Barber's very effective setting
for "Berkeley Square." one was uncon-
sciously reminded of an evening seven
years ago. in the Bryn Mawr gym-
nasium when, aifiid great excitement,
the curtain rose on another scene of
the eighteenth century. Sheridan's
"School for Scandal." the first produc-
tion of Varsity Dramatics. It was a
thrilling moment for those who had
been dissatisfied with class plays and
wanted a new organization, permitting;
the best dramatic expression possible
at   Bryn   Mawr.
That the ideals which produced Var-
sity Dramatics are still predominant,
is illustrated by the recent production.
The co-operation of the Haverford
Cap and Bells have of recent years
given a more professional appearance
to the performances. This year the
desire to attempt a difficult thing, pre-
senting interesting problems to grapple
with,   was   revealed   in   the   choice   of
Continued   on   Page Five    ~*
Stabilization of Industry Is Subject of
Economic Conference Held at Bryn Mawr
Meetings Held Under Auspices of College and of Women's Trade
Union League�Miss Van Kleeck Strikes High Note in Em-
phasis on New Significance of High Standard of Living.
COMMUNITY       RESPONSIBILITY       IS       REQUIRED
of the "buggy age." while we let thou-
sands of persons live in New York
in houses long ago condemned as un-
fit for habitation. Some Limited Divi-
dend Corporations have been organ-
ized to A>uild better small houses and
apartments. A Housing Board, estab-
lished by the New York State Hous-
ing Law, grants tax exemption to
model communities built on approved
plans. So far this has only been ap-
plied to apartments and has saved the
tenant two dollars a month on an
eleven-dollar room. The law also
gives, the right of eminent domain in
the absence of purchasable laud. Two
model communities, one for white per-
sons and one fen. negroes, have been
built in Newark, and "aided indirectly
by the city which bought land be-
tween two rows of houses and made it
into a park. Clearing the slums, which
menace health and breed gangs, is a
problem so large as to need govern- -
ment handling. Slides were shown of
the plans and houses of Sunnyside
and Radburn. Each house has a view '
of the garden or playground, combin-
ing beauty with light and ventilation.
In Sunnyside each block has a garden
in charge of a committee. Radburn is
within twenty-five miles of New York
City but automobiles approach each
house by a blind lane, underpasses or
bridges are built for pedestrians at
each main highway, and paths are put
through the garden so that children
can walk to school without crossing
any motor roads. Pittsburgh has built
one of these communities, based on
social and economic research, where
workers can afford to rent suitable
houses.
The problem today is to make plan-
ning a public concern, and to operate
building and its finance so that more
than a small one-third of the popula-
tion can have adequate housing.
Colonel Wetherill urged farsighted
planning for whole regions as well as
for communities, with the co-opera-
tion of business and political interests.
It was also mentioned how slowly
America is waking up to the housing
problem. Pennsylvania is just now
backing a housing act similar to, rnat
of New York State.
�Underwood   and   Underwood.
MARY  VAN  KLEECK
Faculty Shows Speed and Concentration, But
\a Lacks Co-operation as Varsity Wins Melee
On Monday, November 23, the
faculty and the Varsity hockey teams
engaged in their annual melee. The
score was: Varsity, 3; Faculty,"O, al-
though the faculty scored numerous
times on the feet and shins of Varsity.
The faculty, unable to work out their
energies on the ball, preyed- upon any-
thing that met the eye, or the stick.
They lacked co-operatipn, but their
concentration was unlimited, all mem-
bers of the team flocking at once to
where they thought the ball ought to
be, and leaving Varsity unguarded and
unmolested. They did their best work
on  the defense,  the method of attack
being to storm en masse the Varsity
ballcarrier.     It   must   be   said  for  the
individual   players  that  tliey   ran   with   community they are to live  in.
inspired speed, and, in fact, often ar-
rived at their destination long before
the ball got there. At the end the
spirit of our athletic intellectual men-
tors was as unbroken as ever�as for
Varsity we have been unable to gather
any coherent opinions, but there seems
to be an opinion current that the vic-
tory was dearly bought.
On the Faculty team were: War-
burg, King, Dryden, Brady, Blanch-
ar.d, Carlson, Watson, Nahm, Reeht-
myer,  Hedlund,  Crenshaw.
k
Stabilization of industry is possible
but it can only be accomplished if the
community takes the responsibility for
the individual. 'In the long run, oven
a nation cannot stabilize industry
alone; world planning is necessary.
This was the. conclusion reached at
the economic conference on "Commu-
nity Responsibility for the Stabiliza-
tion of Industry" held at Bryn Mawr
on Saturday. December 5, under the
auspices of the Women's Ttade Union
League of Philadelphia and Bryn
Mawr College. This conference was
planned for the purpose of bringing
together representatives of the wom-
an's organizations of the State that
they .might become informed on the
subjects of the conference. A very
large audience attended the meetings.
Miss Lillian M. Gilbreth, industrial
engineer and a member of the Presi-
dent's Commission on Unemployment,
spoke at lunch in the Pembroke din-
ing room. She said she had visited
communities to see in what way
people without employment might be
fitted into other jobs. As a result of
her observations, she emphasized the
need for proper vocational education
and guidance. People able to hold
jobs were the people who had re-
tained mental alertness, and had not
considered that when their formal edu-
cation was finished, they were through
with study} They have continued to
study along the lines in which they
were interested. Also people who, are
emotionally able to make adjustments
are better able to keep job-.
Clarence Stein '
After lunch Clarence Stein, archi-
tect, spoke on Home Building. Mr.
Stein felt that President Hoover's con-
ference on Home Owning and Home
Building stressed home ownership
rather than the adaptation of homes
to human needs. In planning houtfifl
their relation to-tite. cttnmiunity must
be considere'd! for they are economi-
cally bound to the city by the cost of
land, paving, sewers, water, and trans-
portation. The present real estate
company's practice of buying farm
land and cutting it into lots before
it is even built upon not only increases
municipal taxes unnecessarily, but
dictates to future builders the type of
The colossal production of houses in
the last ten years has been almost en-
tirely for the one-third of the com-
munity that has a high income, yet
these houses have been badly placed,
badly planned, badly constructed, and
wastefully financed and sold. House
building is one of the largest industries
in the United States^ yet it is one of
the few that has not decreased its
costs by large scale operation. We
still think a house is an independent
unit and plan communities after towns
Social Legislation
The afternoon discussion' of the
Women's Trade Union League was
on the subject of Social Legislation.
Charlotte Carr, deputy secretary, De-
partment of Labor and Industry of
Pennsylvania, spoke on "The Kmploy-
ment Exchange"; John Edelman, Di-
rector of Research. American Federa-
tion of Full Fashioned Hosiery-
Workers, spoke on "The Shorter Day,
and the Shorter Week." and Mary
Van Kleeck. director of Industrial
Studies. Russell Sage Foundation,
brought out "The New Significance of
Standards of Living." The afternoon's
discussion was opened by Mary An-
derson.     Director    Women's    Bureau.
Ccatlaaed ��  Pagr  Three
No Autos Allowed
Miss Park called to the attention of
the students in chapel on November
24 that the regulation which Bryn
Mawr like a  number of other colleges
has made that "resident students are
not permitted to keep motor cars in
Bryn Mawr or vicinity" is a college
not a Self-Gbvernment ruling. The
college regards its regulation as im-
portant and is not prepared to make
any exception to it. Miss Park thinks
that misunderstanding of the regula-
tion is hardly possible. From now on
if a student brings a car to Bryn Mawr
she must expect to have it sent home
at once by the college or put into
storage and to meet any cost incurred
in the process.