College News, 1931-02-18, Vol. 17, No. 12

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The College News
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Vol. XVII, No. 12
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WAYNE AND BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18,   1931
Price: 10 Cents
Vachel Lindsay,w i ne
Troubador," Chants
The     "Chipmunk"     Contrasted
With the "Swan" by Means
of the Rhythm.
POETRY       FOR       SWING
Vachel   Lindsay has been  Riven the
appelation of troubador, and* we ina>
judge   from   his   visit  to   Bryn   Mawr
last Thursday, no other term could be
more   fitting.      His   aim   is   to   make
poetry   a   social   exercise,   and   so   his
poems    arc    written    to    be    chanted,
rhetorically   spoken,  or  dancedw   The
poems of the chipmunk and the swan
which he recited on   Thursday evening,
are    good   examples    for   his    theory
Each, he says, must speak, or rustle
for   itself.     And   so   Mr.   Lindsay   ex-
aggerated    the    reading;    "Mr.    Chip-
munk" as a poem is far more reason
�able when slower, says its author, but
then it  would not be characteristic of
"The chipmunk, the chipmunk.
The monkey of the squirrel tribe;
Quivering with monkeyshiiu's
Alert from ear to tail.   �*
In the thimbleberry. raspberry^ huckle-
berry trail,*
In the thimbleberry. raspberry, huckle-
_�____herrv trail/1                        S>.
The swan, on the other hand, is one
of the few things which cannot be
"jazzed up," as Mr. Lindsay says. "A
Swan Is Like a Moon to Me" is espe
cially suited to be danced,
"And if they dance it is so slow
And if they dance it is so slow."
Of dancing Mr. Lindsay has said
that "anything that seems to be poetry,
to the listener can be danced by him
while it is read to him," which seems
logical since it seems to be chiefly by
means of tempo" that he characterizes
'his subject, as he has so admirably
done in the syncopated case "Good-
bye, Jazz Age; I'm Going Home.',' At
any rate it is obvious that interpreta-
tion of one kind or another is necessary
for complete appreciation of his work,
possibly Mr. Lindsay's own at that; his
voice is exceptionally sonorous, and
whether or not one agrees with his
method of using it, one cannot help
feeling the tremendous vitality it has
the power of imparting to the "printed
Continued  on   Pa�e   Four
Noticf!
In the.announcements of altera-
tions in Requirements in the News
of February 11, the word may
should should have read must in
two cases:
1. A student majoring in science
.must substitute for the science re-
quirement a unit of Psychology or
Mathematics, or Economics, or
Politics, or History, or History of
Art.
. 2. A student majoring in Phi-
losophy must offer a unit of Psy-
chology for the fourth unit of re-
quired  work.
Present 'Swelling of Jordan'
Must Be Met with Courage
The Reverend Harold Long, Dr.
Mutch's assistant at the Bryn Mawr
Presbyterian Church, was speaker at
the Vespers service on Sunday, Feb-
ruary 15. In an informal talk Rev-
erend Long discussed the varieties of
physical, intellectual, and moral cour-
age, and a fourth type which means
carrying on 7ft times of trouble and
suffering. The subject was 'chosen
from the allusion in Jeremiah to the
need for courage when the "swelling
of Jordan" came. JThere is courage
in many to meet such times of trouble
but there"are also elements of cow-
ardice which( it is difficult to keep
down�the two are in constant con-
flict! Only children have the divine
recklessness in its pure form. Courage
is also one of the Christian virtues
without which man can face neither
the little or the big things.
Physical courage is not to be looked
down on, for it deals with the whole
man. It is most evident in war which
wastes all of this courage uselessly.
The Apostle Paul and Christ were
both brave men. The next type of
courage is that of the intellect, when a
new idea is not considered something
to fear. Neither St. j?aul nor Jestls
cut hesitated to say what they thought
though it-meant making bitter enemies.
Then there is moral courage, which in
college brings the individual to stand
ouj against the mores of the group.
Older people find this difficult to retain
as  their ideals lose brilliance.
The fourth  type of courage is less
Continued on  P��e  Three
Isabel Cooper Dances
in Charming Recital
A dance recital was given by Miss
Isabel Cooper at the request of the
Department of Physical Education, in
the gymnasium Thursday afternoon,
February 12. Miss Cooper was form-
erly a student at the Elizabeth Duncan
School of Dancing in Salzburg. Ger-
many; she is now holding classes in
dancing in Philadelphia.
A severe background ot gray drap-
eries concentrated all attention upon
the figure of the dancer in her long,
graceful burnt-orange costume. The
program opened with simple illustra-
tions of walking, running and skipping.
The essential naturalness and restraint
in Miss Cooper's technique was at
once apparent. All her movements
seemed to merge in an upward lift cen-
tered in the torso, eliminating the ex-
travagant motions of arms and legs
that characterize so much of modern
dancing. There was strength, smooth-
ness and unusual lightness, in the
co-ordination of her body.
In the more complicated dances that
followed, one could mark the develop-
ment from the simpler elements in Miss
Cooper's dancing. The emphasis was
upon controlled continuity of move-
ment rather than upon the execution of
minute patterns. Her interpretations,
though spirited, did not attempt to be
pseudo-dramatic, though originating
from-the same basic idea, they were
never  monotonous.
Because Miss Cooper does not aban-
Continued on Pace Three
Mrs. Manning Announces
Details of "Requireds"
(This account of Chapel on Thursday.
February   12,  has  been% contributed  from
the Peon's office. I
W'Ik-ii tin- Faculty adopted the new
plan for the required work they voted
that it should go into effect immedi-
ately for those students who wish to
arrangejheir work accordingly. There
are some points which must be em-
phasized, however, especially to the
students who have already decided to
drop, from their schedule Latin, Eng-
lish Literature or Psychology.
in general, students must choose be
tween the old and the new. plan. If the)
wish 'to abandon sonic one of the old
"required" subjects they lpust comply
with the new requirement of three and
one half U!ttts in the major subject, and
also with the new special requirements
for students majoring in Science, in
English. Latin or Greek and in Phil-
osophy. Thus a science student may
not drop her Latin or English Liter-
ature in order to devote all of her time
to work in Dalton Hall unless she has
already completed a full course in Psy-
chology, the Social Sciences, or His-
tory of Art. This provision in the
new plan was made at the suggestion
of some scientist on the Faculty who
feared thefe would be too great spe-
cialization on the part of the science
students when the other requirements
for the degree were reduced. And
again it is rash for a freshman to de-
cide   that   she   may   as   well   drop   her
i niiiliiiiiil   on   Time   Four
Freshmen Present Animal Show to Juniors
and Reveal Grasshopper as Class Beast
"The Road to Mars" Has Original Plot, But Is Diverted From
Main Theme to Centre Interest on Individual
Characterization.
EXCELLENT LEADS COMPENSATE FOR LACK OF UNITY
Reception for Summer
School Was in Deanery
President Emeritus Thomas Re-
ceives    Students,    and
Industrial Workers.
A    PLEA    FOR    SUPPORT
President Emeritus Thomas was
hostess last Tuesday, February 10, at a
reception in the deanery to which all
students were invited. Speeches by
Miss Thomas, Miss Hilda S.mith, head
of the Bryn Mawr Summer School for
Women Workers in Industry, and
three former students of the school
preceded the refreshments.
Miss Thomas spoke first, urging
student support of the summer school.
Jt was started, she said, in 1921 and
is the pioneer among the four sutrrmcr
schools for women workers that now
exist. The three others are: one at
Barnard, one in the South, and a co-
educational one in Wisconsin.    *
One of the greatest happinesses, said
President Thomas, is to work in a
coming movement. When she grew up
the struggle was for college education
of women. The next step was the
achievement, by the sacrifice of the
lives of thousands of women, of wom-
en's suffrage. Now we must learn to
share with most of the world, with its
workers, the opportunity we have to
gain wisdom, knowledge and .under-
standing. A fine example of co-opera-
tion between college women and
women workers may be seen in the
arts and crafts movement in New
York.    The great joy of the summer
Continued on- Pa�e  Three
Dr. Kirsopp Lake to
Be Flexner Lecturer
'The Roman Empire As Seen in
the- New Testament' Is Sub-
ject for Publication.
WILL   HOLD   SEMINARIES
Announcement has recently been made
of the Mary Flexner Lecturer for next
year. Dr. Kirsopp Lake, at present"
Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History
at Harvard University, will follow Dr.
Breasted, Dr. Whitehead and M. Paul
Hazard in this capacity. Dr. Lake will
come to Bryn Mawr early in the second
semester and will give public lectures on
two subjects: .9/. Paul and the Text of
the New Testament. The joint seminary
of* the graduate students under Dr. Cad-
bury and Dr. Taylor on Contacts of
Christianity and Paganism will be taken
over for six weeks" by Dr. Lake, whose
contribution will cover The Roman Em-
pire as seen in the New Testament.    Dr.
Continued on I'mcr -I
1934, for the first time an organized
whole, presented its show. "The Road
to Mars." (0 the.Juniors, and revealed
the class animal last.Saturday night in
(ioodhart Auditorium. The Freshmen
are to be congratulated on 'a produc-
tion possessing a reasonable minimum
of amateur defects, and showing to ad-
vantage the varied talents of the class
The plot, though original and prom-
ising for an "animal show." failed to
develop the animal theme. The empha-
sis, so predominant in the first act,
was completely diverted in the second
and became only incidental. The
theme of Marsian feminism and the
dual love interest, originally subor-
dinate, usurped its place. In short,
we received the impression that the
dark blue grasshopper was only a
means to an end. not the end in itself,
as tradition has had it.
Though unity is not to be expected
of a musical comedy, what little there
is, is usually provided by the chorus.
In this case, the chorus did not fulfill
its part, and it was necessary for tin
leads to assume full responsibility.
Fortunately, as the play was written
around them, this was not of over-
whelming difficulty.
Tlfis should not be construed a- be-
littling the histrionic ability of the
stars, in particular, Miss Jones, as
Reggie Sniythe. a typical I'. G. Wode-
house hero. Despite an English ac-
cent far from convincing. Miss Jones
made the most of a, role which gave
full scope to her. undoubted ability to
amuse. From her first appearance oh
the scene, she is featured, although the
context of her dialogue leads one to
expert Miss Rightcr. as Jnumic Wynne,
to carry the leading part. "It is hard
To imagine what Would have been the
outcome had Miss Jones not been cast
in this rather ambiguous character,
whether, had Miss Righter's role.been
more amply developed, Miss Junes
would still have walked away with the
play. W� think that, despite Miss
Jones' charm and personality. Miss
Righter is "potentially the abher actress.
Miss Righter's poise and Stage pres-
ence distinguished her, and enhanced
an otherwise colorless role. It is re-
grettable that her talent should have
been wasted in providing a foil to Miss
Jones, however ( effective the joint
effort. Apart from her acting, she has
a   remarkably   sweet   and   well-pitched
MARY WIGMAN COMING ON FEBRUARY 25
voice,  as  evidenced   by  "Once  in   Far
Cathay,'- her duct with  Miss Culbert-
sou.
� -.
Miss Culbcrtsoji and  Miss  Schwab,
as Connie Stevenson. Bryn Mawr, '34,
and "her clumi," Hcp/ihah Jones, filled
rather incidental parts with ease and
grace. Miss I'olachek had a surpris-
ingly meagre share as president of the
class of '34 at Rwaif Xyrb, and, al-
though she herself has a true and well-
sustained voice, she received no tup-
port  from cast or chorus.
The Freshmeq are fortunate in hav-
ing someone who can contribute in
three different ways to a musical pro-
duction. Miriam Cornish not only
performed two particularly good spe-
cialty dances, but als.> trained the
chorus, and composed a large part of
the music. The dancing chorus, which
was not especially good, suffered more,
we believe, from badly timed entrances
than from any fault of her directing. ,
She provided the only really profes-
sional touch in her own dancing which
was justly encored. In fact, we won-
der that Miss Cornish did not supply
the deficiency of the "animal" finale
by executing a symbolic dance, to in-
troduce the discovery of the grass-
hopper.
The music was slightly negligible/
possibly because of the tack of an or-
chestra (which may also account for
the weakness of "the chorus) although
Miss Snyder did as much as possible
to provide a musical background* from
the depths of the pit. It remains only
to comment on the scenery and light-
ing. By far the most effective staging
was in the second scene of the first
act, "The Road to afars, Night." The
lighting was ambitious, and, on the
whole, very successful.;
Despite certain obvious imperfec-
tions, the Freshmen put on their show
with a spirit and verve "which inclines
one to the belief that it is the best
offering of^its kind of the present col-
lege geHwirfion.                            S. N.
Program of Spirituals
by Hampton Quartet
Negro Songs Are/�xpression of
Musical IrfttLiduality
in America.
AUDIENCE     IS    PLEASED
Once again Bryn Mawr has had the
pleasure of hearing the Hampton Quar-
tet; on Monday evening they presented
four groups of songs among them, as
usual, Juba, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,
and Water Roy. Although it seems
superfluous, we cannot refrain from re-
marking that through the effortlessness
of crescendo, smoothness of phrase, and
fullness ni tune, these singers have com-
bined the healthy sentimentality inherent
jn the spiritual itself with the restrain^
characteristic of the interpretation of the
true art-form. Upon no occasion is the
program allowed to become subordinate
to the music, despite the temptation
offered by such a song as Roil, Jordan,
Roll, which deals with death in a naively
sentimentalized form. With such singers
as these of the Hampton Quartet the ap-
peal of the music depends \i\� m natural
expressiveness rather than startling
effects of interpretation. Juba, of course,
being an exception, for its effectiveness
depends upon its successful dramatization.
And so. the literary value of the spirit-
uals is not obscured, and what could be
more delightful than Oh. Mary, don't
you weep, don't you moan, because
Pharaohs army got drowned, or Kzekiel
saw  the wheel 'way up in the middle of
(/(��tinned ��   l"n�r  4