College News, 1937-10-20, Vol. 24, No. 03

              THE  COLLEGE
VOL. XXIV, No. 3
BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1937
Copyright   TRUSTEES OF
BRYN    MAWR   COLLEGE,   1*37
PRICE 10 CENTS
Council  Discusses
Freshman Week,
Also Final Exams
More   Advising   Upperclassmen
And Entertainment "Needed
In  First ^Week
LENGTHENING COLLEGE
YEAR     IS     SUGGESTED
President'8 House, October H.��
The success of this fall's freshman
week and last spring's Comprehen-
sives- formed the two main topics of
conversation at the first meeting of
the College Courfctl. Discussion fol-
lowed supper in Miss Park's living
room, and at about ten o'clock, the
members of the Council repaired to the
dining- room, where Miss Howe ex-
plained the blue prints of the new
dormitory which had just been, de-
livered to Miss Park during the day.
The undergraduates who had
formed the Reception Committee for
freshman week felt that on the whole
the four days' program had been suc-
cessful. The President, Miss Ward,
and the girls who had stood guard
outside their offices all felt that the
innovation of having those who live
in the vicinity report a day earlier
than the others for appointments was
a good one. Everyone agreed that
the delays which did occur in the
routine of appointments were una-
voidable, and that freshmen in future
yeava. .should be warned not to make
appointments with different people
too close together. In the halls, some
people felt, there should have been
more upperclassmen who would npt be
busy all day, to give advice in between
appointments, and to suggest things
to do. On the whole, Priscilla Little,
'41 Class Chairman reported, fresh-
men had found the time well filled,
but she agreed with Sue Williams that
Friday evening was a rather "dreary
spot" and that plans for some sort of
entertainment might help anothar
year.
Miss Petts and Mildred Bakewell
said that a Sunday morning walk
seemed to have been much appreci-
ated, and that the tennis tournaments
and hockey practices might be supple-
mented by more walks next year.
Mrs. Manning brought with her
some statistics she had just compiled
from the questionnaires given to last
year's seniors just after Comprehen-
sives. Her summary of the results of
this questionnaire is published on p.�.
Continued on fuge Three
Miss Ward Gives Report
On  Freshman Statistics
Varied     Preparation     and     Large
Number  Distinguish   1941
Music Room, October 14 and 19.�
Miss Ward, in reading freshman sta-
tistics,' revealed two interesting facts
about the class of 1941. 'The number
of new students amounts to 144, which
brings the college enrollment to 423,
even greater than the 1929 high mark.
These freshmen have been prepared
by 99 different schools, a great ad-
vantage because of the variation in
their ideas and background.
The different plans for entrance
also make it possible to admit fresh-
men with varied preparation. Eight
per cent were admitted under plan A,
in which examinations in 15 subjects
are offered. The majority of the class
offered four examinations under plan
B. A smaller per cent of the students
entered on the basisj of rank in their
class, on Regents' Examinations and
on the progressive school experiment
which requires no examination and no
fulfillment of the required curriculum.
' The geographical distribution Is
split between 23 different states, the
District of Columbia and three for-
eign countries, but over 50 per cent
of the students come from the "home
quadrangle bounded by New York on
the North, Washington on the South
and Paoli on the West."
Among the freshmen are 13 alum-
nae daughters. Also significant in
this class is the low average age of 17
years and 10 months. Since the col-
lege no longer requires 20 tihits for
admission, it takes a year less to pre-
pare for examinations.
The score of the applicants, Miss
Ward explained, is made up of two
items; the Scholastic Aptitude test,
and the College Board Examinations,
which are now reported on a scale of
SO') instead of the former scale of
100. According to this method the
student's percentile rate is computed
not individually, but in relation to
the rates of all the other students
throughout the country who take the
examinations.
The predicted score is worked out
from a formula combining the Schol-
astic Aptitude test and a straight
average of the College Board Exami-
nations. It � represents the student's
probable ability in college work. It
does not pretend, however, to predict
a student's maturity, industry, am-
bition or intellectual curiosity, which
are in themselves important in college
Continued on  Page  Six
O Tempera! O Mores!" Say Alumnae
Recalling Cheering Galleries at Hockey
No literary comment so aptly char-
acterizes comments gleaned from visit-
ing alumnae as the old hackneyed out-
burst, "0 Temporal O MoresIs' Time
was, they say, when hockey games
were played before a cheering gallery;
when woman's suffrage was the prpb-
lem of the hour and wide-eyed stu-
dents planned careers�though trous-
ers never graced the undergraduate
female form.
Mary Mendonhall Mullin, '96, com-
mented that 1937 students "are much
more poised and at ease than we
were." She also thought that they
were far better prepared for college
'academically than were her contem-
poraries.
The night rules of the 1900's had
their finer points, as described by H.
Jean Crawford, '02. Girls who had
to spend a night in Philadelphia could
stay only at the Christian Associa-
tion. Those who returned after dark
on the Paoli Local were not trusted
to the escort of a mere "lantern man."
Instead, the so-called "Black Maria,"
a horse-drawn bus, carried late revel-
ers back to college. Extras, for the
bus was small, sat on the roof, or even
had to walk alongside in convict-like
lines.
In the age of 1908 "a man was an
event on the campus," said Dorothy
Strauss and Alice Sachs Plaut, both
of that year. It was flattering to hear
that they thought the situation  was
otherwise today. The battles of wom-
an suffrage, rather than- those of
world peace, were fought in conversa-
tion. These alumnae were shocked at
our ignorance of the leaders in the
struggle for women's rights, but ad-
mitted that world affairs were out-
side the ken of 1908 students. There
was one copy of the New York Times
in all Pembroke West.
Dorothea Baldwin McCollester and
Yvonne Stoddard Hayes, both gradu-
ated in 1913, found three striking in-
novations in present day Bryn Mawr:
the painting and lighting in Pembroke
East; the yellow tunics of the var-
sity; the braids of the freshmen. They
also found the freshman Lantern
Night song a great improvement over
the various tunes which were chosen
yearly by the newcomers in their day,
and thought that it was sung better
than the Pallas Athene of the Sopho-
mores.
Mrs. Hayes, who was the European
Scholar of 1913, related with some an-
noyance that the sole music facilities,
of the college used to consist of four
little piano rooms in the basement of
Dalton. No instruction was available.
Art studies were probably not even
mentioned in mixed company, and cer-
tainly no such thing existed at Bryn
Mawr. Music and art were officially
frowned on, while languages and so-
cial sciences ranked as the chief ma-
jors.
Continued on  Page Four
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Thursday, October 21.�Doris
Humphrey's dancing class. Gym-
nasium,  5.00.
Friday October 22. � Senior
Party for the Freshmen. Gym-
nasium.
Monday, October 25.� Third
Flexner Lecture.  Goodhart, 8.20.
Tuesday, October 26. �� Lec-
ture by Professor The Svedberg.
Goodhart, 8.20.
Wednesday, October 27.�Lec-
ture by Miss Gardiner on Her-
edity.    Common  Room, 8.30.
Thursday, October 28. � In-
dustrial Group Supper. Com-
mon Room, 6.30.'
Doris Humphrey's dancing
class.   Gymnasium, 5.00.
Friday, October 29.�Denbigh
Dance.
Saturday, October SO.�Latin
Play.    Goodhart, 8.20.
Monday, November 1.�
Fourth. Flexner Lecture. Good-
hart, 8.20.            *V^-w
Tuesday, November 2.�Inter-
national Club Meeting. Com-
mon  Room,  4.00.    �
�Wednesday, November 3.�
Lecture by Dr. Miller on Mas-
yryk.    Goodhart, 8.20.
Senior Questionnaire
Results Made Public
Many    Constructive    Criticisms
Offered, Only Five Oppose
Comprehensives/
BIG MAJORITY FAVORS
SPRING READING PERIOD
(Especiiillii contributed by Dean
Manning.)
The questionnaire on the final ex-
amination which all the members of
the Class of 1937 were urged to fill
out contained six questions: The first
on the unit of preparation, the second
and third on the problem of the read-
ing period and the final review, the
fourth on the examination papers
themselves, the fifth and sixth invit-
ing criticisms favorable or unfavor-
able and asking for suggestions.
Sixty-three out of 84 seniors who took
the examinations answered the ques-
tionnaire. Of these only five mem-
In is of the class expressed themselves
as definitely opposed to the plan of
the final examination to the major
subject. A number of others, perhaps
a half dozen, were se critical of the
details of the plan that they would
probably vote against the final exami-
nation if they were asked to give a
,ves-or-no answer. The great major-
ity of the class, however, have made
criticisms which are thoroughly con-
structive and seem to assume that
there should be some form of final
examination and that it can be ad-
ministered in such a way as to ac-
complish a. useful purpose.
Of the seniors who were opposed to
the final examination as such, one of
them, a very brilliant member of the
class, remarks: "I can't see that the
final examinations are of much use.
A reasonable amount of work in
Contlnuea on  Page  Five
Lantern Night Follows
Traditional   Ceremony
Alumnae    Throng    Cloister    Roof
To Hear Greek Hymns
Favored, this year by clear skies
and no wind, the freshman class re-
ceived its lanterns from the sopho-
more class. - The ceremony followed
the traditional form: Seven seniors
swung dark-blue lights from the
arches of the cloisters while the
sophomores filed in, swinging their
scarlet lanterns to the rhythm of their
Greek lantern hymn._ Seven juniors
with green lights then replaced the
seniors in the arches as the Class of
1940 filed out, carrying its new lan-
terns and singing Sophias philae
par omen.                              '
An unusually large crowd watched
the ceremony from the roof of the
cloisters. It included most of the
alumnae staying at the college for
the weekend. Two of them revealed
that their class�the Glass of 1924�
would have been the first to sing the
freshman lantern hymn, but that their
Greek words had not proved quite
satisfactory and had to be recast in
their present form. Except for this,
their ritual had been exactly the same,
"only," as one of them put it, "we
didn't start on time."
After the presentation of the lan-
terns, the four classes sang under
Pembroke Arch. The freshmen initi-
ated their class song�an unusually
long one, set to the music of Mozart's
Magic Flute. When the singing was
over, as many of the freshmen as
could be captured went to the cloisters
to pose for photographs for the Year
Book.
MR. 9AUNDERS LENDS
BARN TO PICNICKERS
Notice to Organizations
The Planning Committee
wishes to re-explain the pro-
cedure of reserving the Common
Room for a meeting, and of ar-
ranging for a speaker at col-
lege. The speaker's name must
be submitted to Miss Park for
approval first, then the-date of
tne engagement can be settled
with Miss MacDonald, Miss
Park's secretary, who keeps the
records of all extra-curricular
events. The president of the
Undergraduate Association
should be notified next, and in
case Miss MacDonald is not,
available, dates for the use of
the Common Room may be ar-
ranged with her instead. Miss
Barnitz in the office of Public
Relations is the person to -see
about arrangements for tickets
and publicity.
(Especially contributed by Mildred
I take well, '38.)
When the great urge to hike, camp,
and picnic struck the world and
Youth Hostels sprang up like mush-
rooms over night, the Athletic Asso-
ciation pricked up its ears and stall-
ed an investigation of hiking and
hostcling around Bryn Mawr. We
were considerably dampened to- dis-
cover that the nearest hostel was at
Valley Forge, and that the toft day's
walk was 16 �niles. That, to those of
us whose walking is done entirely be-
tween Taylor, the Library, and the
Greek's, was a blow. We decided that
what we really needed was a barn,
and Miss Petts and Sylvia Evans
spent much of their spare time, and
some that was not so spare, in a vain
search for one. It is surprising how
difficult it is to find such a common-
place thing. Those that they did find
were too remote, or were monopolized
by cattle.
Then, out of a hot summer sky, a
barn fell into our very laps, so to
speak, a barn that far exceeds all
other barns, a very paragon of barns.
Mr. Lawrence Saunders, the owner,
has very kindly offered it to Bryn
Mawr students-for picnics, steak fries,
eating spinach or anything else.
The barn is exactly two'miles north
of college, and is at the beginning of
a trail through the woods to Valley
Forge. There is a loft full of hay,
there is running spring water in the
barn, and a complete supply of cook-
ing utensils including a charcoal
stove. The Schuylkill river is a
stone's throw�if you have a strong
Continued on Page Two
Panofsky   Analyzes
Piero di Cosimo's
Work,   Character
Finds      Florentine      Interesting
Because of His Obsession
For Primitive
PAINTER THINKS LINK
TO NATURE ESSENTIAL
Dr. Aldrich to Speak
Dr. Donald B. Aldrich, from
New York, will speak in chapel
this week. He will form a sharp
contrast to the fundamentalist
speaker of last week, not only
in his ideas, but also in his quiet
manner of address. Dr. Aid-
rich is coming twice this- au-
tumn, October 23 and Novem-
ber 7. He is well known in New
York, and has given courses to
many of the Brearley girls on
campus, most of^whom have
asked to have him here. He also
gave the Baccalaureate address
at the 1936 Commencement.
dotxlhart, October 18.�In his sec-
ond lecture, Mr. Panofsky described
the work and analysed the character
of Piero di Cosimo, a Florentine paint-
er who was not great, but was par-'
ticularly interesting because of his
obsession for the primitive. This ex-
cessive interest was expressed by a
series of panels, representing the Vul-
can, Prometheus, and Bacchic myths,
and the contribution of the three gods
toward human development   /"'
The first painting of the Vulcan
series shows a reclining youth being
assisted by nymph-like maidens. The
youth was thought to be Hylas, but
in Piero di Cosimo's kindly picture
there is n<V"evidence of amorousness
on the part"of"1he maidens and re*
luctance on the part of the youth,
whitik- are usually associated with the
Hylas myth. More likely, it depicts
the first misfortune of the god, Vul-
can, who was dropped from Mount
Olympus, onto the island of Lemnos.
The nymphs are something of a prob-
lem. Early Renaissance knowledge of
classical mythology was drawn from
post-classical sources, and Piero di
Cosimo had a choice of either apes
or nymphs for the upbringing of Vul-
can.. Boccaccio accepted apes, the al-
legorical expression of the fact that
man (in primitive form an ape) can-
not live without keeping fire alive.
He quotes Vitruvius, whose doctrine
is not orthodox but Epicurean, a doc-
trine in terms of spontaneous pro-
gress, and agrees with him in think-
ing that the beginning of human asr
sociation was made with the discov-
ery of fire. Boccaccio believed in
"hard" primitivism, a bestial stage es-
caped from by technical progress, as
opposed to "soft" primitivism which
idealizes man's'original condition. He
conceived of a spontaneous forest fire,
the approach of some men and the
flight of others, the beginning of
speech and the erection of houses.
The classical representative of the
philosophy of enlightenment took this
Continued on  Page  Six
Movies Are Innovation
For  Freshman   English
Films       to       Indicate       Technical
And Dramatic Growth
(Especially contributed by Miss K.
Laurence Stapletim and Miss Hettina
I Ann.)
A new approach to the problems''of
narrative and dramatic expression
will be made in the Freshman Compo-
sition Course with its first use of ttie"
moving pictures. Several famous
movies will be shown on campus this
semester in connection with the read-
ing of drama itt the course. The pro-
grams, arranged with the cooperation
of the Museum of Modern Art Film
Library, will include examples of dif-
ferent countries and epochs in film-
making, and of the work of a few
famous producers and directors. The
purpose is to show through- a simple
study of film technique the important
relationships between the movies and
other modern forms of communica-
tion.                                        �-
The film, of course, will not be se-
lected for their stars, nor to fijl the
screen in Goodhart Hall withYJ-men,
He-men, and It-women. There will be
no Mickey Mouse. The programs will
show different screen stories, methods
of film Pfuatjye, and some technical
deveio^Me-nTsMn the use of the mov-
ing camera, cutting, and sound. Be-
sides dramatic films, one ,or two docu-
mentary films will be shown.
All students and members of the
faculty will be welcome in the audi-
ence for a very small membership fee.
Dates and titles will be announced in
next week's' News.