College News, 1939-04-19, Vol. 25, No. 19

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VOL. XXV, No. 19
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BRYN MAWR AND WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19,  1939
Co(fyrt�ht TRUSTEES  OF
RVN   MAWR   COLLEGE,. 1*39
PRICE  10 CENTS
Kurt Koffka ;'. ":;y
^Outlines Four
Art Theories
Aesthetic    Emotion   Results
From Reaction of Ego
With Object
PSYCHOLOGY OF ART
OFFERS    PROBLEMS
Common Room, April 17.�In the
first of two lectures for the Art Sym-
posium on Some Problem* in tAe
Psychology of Art, Kurt Koffka, pro-
fessor of psychology at Smith College,
discussed the work of art, as contain-
ing both -subjective and objective ex-
perience for the observer. "Psychol-
. ogy has to investigate the totality of
experience," said Dr. Koffka, "the
work of art becomes a particular kind
of experienced object and therefore
depends on .both the objective work
and the subjective reaction."
Considering primarily the psychol-
ogy of the "art object" itself, Dr.
Koffka began by pointing out that
some works of art have survived
through the ages while others have
not. The question of why this is true
can be answered only when the prod-
ucts themselves can be investigated.
The art objects determine the emo-
tional reactions of the spectator and
consequently must occupy the central
position in the psychology of art.
Dr. Koffka described four theories
of the relationship of art to the ob-
___ject itself and the emotions_produced
by it. The first is the theory of re-
lease in which the stimulus�the art
object�touches off the emotional re-
sponse of the spectator. The second
theory, that of conditioning, states
that all other emotional responses to
art are merely by-products of these
fundamental emotions. A third the-
ory connects aesthetic enjoyment with
wishful thinking, iir wish fulfillment,
Cop'lnuefl on Page Two
All-College Problems
Debated At Vassar
Plans for Library
Addition Published

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Memorial    Wing    to    Increase
Stack Space and Feature
Redding Room
Final plans for the new Quita
Woodward Memorial Wing of the
Library have been published by the
college authorities, and construction
will begin shortly. The three-story
structure is planned to contain stacks,
classrooms, office space, and a gallery
for display of art material.
Total stack space in the college li-
brary Will be greatly increased
thiough the provision in the new wing
of a standard three-tiered stackroom,
with space for 60,000 volumes. Under
the care of a special librarian and oc-
cupying a major proportion of the
basement and first floors, the stacks
will contain all books, publications and
manuscripts in the field of art and
archaeology and their allied subjects.
It is possible that the entire classics
library will be included. Through
these provisions the serious over-
crowding in the existing library will
be relieved.
A particularly attractive feature of
the first floor will be the Quita Wood-
ward Memorial Reading Room. A
pleasant sunny room with fireplace
and built-in bookcases, it is designed
to be a place" for informal reading and
relaxation. A portrait of Quita
Woodward to hang over the fireplace
is being executed by Miss Violet Oak-
ley, noted Philadelphia artist.
One of the most significant changes
that the completion of the addition to
the library will bring is the removal
of all art and archaeology�classes
from Taylor Hall to the new building.
Two small classrooms are provided as
well as a large lecture room for fifty
students, equipped with a permanently
mounted projector for showing slides.
Continued on Page Pour
(Specially    contributed    by    Anne
Louise Axon, '40.)
Four Bryn Mawr representatives
attended the annual five-college con-
ference of student government presi-
dents, which was held last week-end at
Vassar. Members of the conference
have been, up to now, WeUesley,
Smith; Mt. Holyoke, Vassar, and Bryn
Mawr, but this year Radcliffe sent a
� delegate and was elected to member-
ship at the final session, Bryn Mawr
delegates were Jean Morrill, '39, and
Louise Sharp, '40, Self Government,
and Eleanor Taft, '39, and Anne
Louise Axon, '40, Undergraduate As-
sociation.
Conferring, with or without formal
conference sessions, was the chief
business of the week-end. The sub-
jects of formal discussion included
financing of undergraduate organiza-
tions, over-soliciting for charities, re-
lations of small clubs to such organi-
zations as the Undergraduate Asso-
ciation, management of college news-
papers, the National Students' Feder-
ation of America, and some dozen
others. All the colleges represented
had similar views on most subjects,
with notable exception of self-govern-
ment rules. Argument on this score
waxed hot in the meetings, and con-
tinued even into dinner, until finally
a Vassar senior, deciding to end the
whole thing, said solemnly to her
neighbor,
"And what about suicides�do you
punish them very severely?"
"Oh, no!" said the other, distressed;
' "As a matter of fact, we have little
trouble with them."
The conference is regarded as a
very valuable one, especially to in-
coming student officers. The similarity
of the problems of the six colleges
makes discussions lively, pointed and
helpful. Next spring the conference
will be held at Bryn Mawr,
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Wednesday, April 19.�Dr.
Kurt Koffka on Problems in the
Psychology of Art, Muslb Room,
8.15.
Thursday, April SO.�Peace
Assembly, Pennington Haile on
The United States and the
World Crisis, Goodhart Hall, 11
a. m. Carl Sandburg on Anter-
ioan Folk Songs and Tall Tales,
Goodhart Hall, 8.30.
Friday, April SI.�Haverford
Spring Play, The Devil Passes,
Roberts Hall, 8.30.
Saturday, April 22,�Indus-
trial Group Supper, Common'
Room, 6 p. m.    �.'*��             l>t
Sunday, April S3.�Philoso-
phy Club. Mortimer Adler on
Plurality of Logicst Common
Room, 3 p. m. Jonathan Griffin
on The Ukraine and Hitler,
Deanery. Tea at 4 p. m. Lec-
ture at 5 p. m., Chapel. C. Les-
lie Glenn, Music Room, 7.30.
Monday, April Sh.�Mr. Mil-
ton Nahm on Form and Func-
tion in AT?, Music Room, 8.15.
Tuesday, April 25.�Hetty
Goldman on Aspects of Early
Anatolian Civilization, Music
Room, 4.30. Current Events,
Mr. Fenwick, Common Room,
7.30. Last lecture on Art Sym-
posium, Mr. Nahm' on Form and
Function in Art, Music Room,
8.15.
Wednesday, April 26.�Indus-
trial Group Supper and Meeting,
Common Room, 6.30.
College Dance
The Undergraduate dance,
after the Saturday performance
of The Gondoliers, will be held
from ten to two in the gymna-
sium. Tickets are on sale in the
halls at $1.75 a couple and $1.25
stag. Frankie Day, who has
proved popular at several hall
dances, will provide a 12-piece
orchestra and vocalist.
Madge Lazo, '41, with the
help of a committee composed of
Babe Black, Eleanor Wood and
Helen Macintosh, all '41, has
planned decorations to follow
the Gondolieri theme of the eve-
ning.
Bryn Mawr Portrays
Rumania at  League
Rosenheim    Heads    Delegation
To Bucknell University
Political   Parley
Leviisburg, April IS, 14, 15. �
Headed by Joy Rosenheim, '40, presi-
dent of the International Relations
Club, a group of Bryn Mawr students
represented Rumania at the Model
League of Nations at Bucknell Uni-
versity. They reported a successful
trip, both diplomatically and socially.
Joy Rosenheim served as rapporteur
at one of the conferences and also read
a paper entitled Thoughts from Gene-
va by Louise Morley, '40. Haverford
College, as France, won first prize, a
cup, for the presentation and prepara-
tion, while Temple University, The
United Kingdom, took second place.
The meeting was opened by a report
from the president of the council, a
delegate from Denmark (Cornell),
who showed the decline of the League's
authority since 1931. "Problems con-
Continued on Page Five
Bryn Mawrters' Pursuit
As~ Stokowski Aids
Flops, Bouquet Fails
Disney's Rapid Flight
Celebrity Rushes to Hollywood
Unaware of Brilliant Plan
For   Spanish  Aid
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Mr. Walt Disney came to Philadel-
phia two weeks ago with the inten-
tion of getting some work done on his
new. feature-length production in
which Mickey Mouse, assisted by Sto-
kowski and the Philadelphia Sym-
phony Orchestra, will give a ring-side
seat to the "stuffed-shirt" variety of
music.
With the Human Rights Roll Call
-sounding over the campus, Frances
Lewis and Doris Dana, '41, took up
the cause of the European war vic-
tims with a vengeance. They decided
to get an appointment with Disney
through Stokowski, and ask him to
talk at Bryn Mawr for the benefit of
the Spanish Refugees. Knowing Miss
Ely to be a good friend of Leopold's,
the two conspirators went to her for
advice. Miss Ely (who had given up
smoking for the time) champed a
purple flower between her teeth and,
stalking the floor, said, "Good idea,
girls, good idea. We've got to get
Disney."                                _^
Our first glimpse of the campaign
was Lewis and Dana, collared by an-
gry guards, being thrust unceremoni-
ously out of the stage entrance of the
Academy of Music during intermis-
sion. Musicians who witnessed the
incident were not stinting in their
scornful remarks, concerning youth
and idolatory. Later, huddled in a
corner of the smoky lobby and weigh-
ing the prospects of getting to Dis-
ney, they failed to see the cartoonist
himself as he brushed by them.
After the concert, the girls hurried
over to 1716 Rittenhouse Square, Sto-
kowski's little nest perched atop a
quaint antique-shop. At their knock
the door was opened by some mechani-
cal contrivance, and a pair of steep,
green stairs all but hif them in* the
face. At the top of the stairs, a
blonde woman faced them. (She did
not wear dark glasses and she had
small feet.) Polite, but confused, she
answered their questions (without a
trace of a Swedish accent). Could
they see Stokowski? He wasn't back
yet from the Stadium.�Disney?�He
was out of town, too.�Mickey Mouse?
�well, she'd ask him when he came
in. Dana and Lewis, half-wriggling
their way up the steep, steep stairs,
/    Continued on Pace Six
Murder Play Stars
'Detective  Whitaker
Rapid Action and Good Comedy
Sustained With Sleuthing
And Shooting
Goodhart Hall, April 14.�As their
yearly play, the maids and porters,
under the competent direction of Fifi
Garbat, '41, presented Murder in Re-
hearsal, a lively, action-filled mystefy
farce by Austin Goetz. Throughout
the intricate exposition of crime and
detection, the actors maintained a
rapid pace, seldom dropping out of
part and interspersing suspense with
some of the best straight comedy seen
on Goodhart stage in a long time.
To outline the plot-within-a-plot, a
director (Robert Bryan, Rhoads), is
poisoned while playing the part of the
hero in his play, when, at the same
moment, two offstage shots are fired
by his rival (John Warren, Pem-
broke). Shortly afterwards, Sheriff
Cullen (John Whittakcr, Denbigh),
arrives and takes control, spending the
rest of the three acts in unprofitable
sleuthing, accusing each of the cast
in turn, even himself. The climax
comes as a debacle when it is revealed
to the audience that this was no crime
at all, but merely the play in re-
hearsal.
From the moment he appeared at
the back of the auditorium in ten-gal-
lon hat and large gold badge, John
Whittaker was the outstanding per-
former of the evening. With much
head-scratching and suspender snap-
ping, he energetically and ingeniously
carried out his investigations despite
bad boy Chubby Forbes (Doris Davis,
Denbigh), who managed to throw a
monkey wrench into, each of his
theories as they sprang from his con-
fused but fertile brain.
In corduroy pants and orange sweat
shirt, Doris Davis was so convincing
in this role, that many non-Denbigh-
Continued on Page Five
SANDBURG'S PROGRAM
TO INCLUDE POETRY
AND    FOLK    CHANTS
On Thursday, April 20, Carl Sand-
burg will give a recital in Goodhart at
8.30 for the benefit of the Mrs. Otis
Skinner Theater Workshop. The ex-
act program is as yet unknown, but
Mr. Sandburg has entitled his lecture:
American . Folk Songs and Tall
Tales. It will consist of readings
from his own poetry, and American
folk songs, rendered in his particular
recitative, with guitar accompaniment.
Mr. Sandburg was born of Swedish
parents in Illinois in 1878. His early
school education was fairly sketchy
because it was necessary for him to
start earning his living, at an early
age. After school he spent several
years doing odd jobs and rambling
around the middle west, working as
he went. Throughout his youth he
read as much as he could, and after
serving for* eight months in the Span-
ish-American War, he completed his
education at Lombard College (at the
age of 20). After matriculation from
college Mr. Sandburg became a jour-
nalist and eventually a lecturer and
poet.
Mr. Sandburg's original work re-
flects his knowledge of labor, and his
understanding of simple people. He
presents the rugged side of the Ameri-
can scene, both in its rural and urban
aspects; his rendering is often harsh,
sometimes bitter, and always power-
ful and direct. As a lecturer he is
unique. His voice adds tremendously
to the poetry he reads, and his chant-
ing of American folk songs (collected
in his peregrinations about the coun-
try) has become famous.
New President!
On Saturday night, April 12,
the college may have been star-
tled to hear over station WOR
that Mr. Fenwick, who was tes-
tifying in Washington, was an-
nounced as "President of Bryn
Mawr College."
College Council
Discusses Plan v
For Assemblies
Bryn Mawr to Raise #3,411
Before Beginning Plan
Of Workshop
ATHLETIC BUILDING
PROJECT ADVANCES
At the first College Council meet-;
ing attended by newly' elected officers:
of campus organizations, the morning''
assemblies and May Day, the new
Athletic building, and : the Theatre
Workshop were the main subjects of
discussion.
It was agreed that the Graduate
Day aTtd May Day assemblies had
been successful,, though more time
might have been left for questions
and discussion at the last meeting.
Mrs. Manning and Mrs. Collins re-
ported that they would be glad to
have a small group come to them to
ask further questions before the hall
discussions on May Day are held.
The suggestion was maa!e that next
year a schedule for the whole series
of assemblies should be made out in
advance so as to assure a "balanced
ration." For instance, one meeting
might be held every year on current
curriculum problems. It was also
suggested that the hymn might now
be omitted since the meeting is no
longer a chapel in any sense. In
Miss Park's opinion, one of the chief
values of the assembly plan should be
to demonstrate the importance of ex-
act information, ami to teach the
method of defining a problem quickly"
and directly.
Mrs. Collins reported that if $3,941
can be raised by the college for the
Theatre Workshop before June, Bald-
win has promised to raise $2,500 to
make up the $6,441 still needed so
that work can be started this sum-
mer and the building opened in the
fall. The Baldwin School, Mrs.
Collins stated, has, this winter, raised
a largerjjum than the college.
Baldwin very generously has given
not only  the barn but  also an  acre
Continued on Pan Six
Hofmatin Interprets
All-Chopin Program
Goodliart, April H-j-Perhaps the-
most noticeable feature of Josef Hof-
mann's All-Chopin concert was the
perfect assurance with which .he
played each piece. He executed diffi-
cult passages with the same ease and
precision as the simple ones. Bril-
liancy was coupled with emotional in-
sight. Dr. Hofmann's freedom of
interpretation and contrasts of mood
within the selections showed a thor-
ough understanding of the -spirit of
Chopin.
After a brief talk on Chopin by
Carlton S. Smith, Dr. Hofmann
opened with a series of five short
pieces. The Polonaise Fantasie is
well-named, as Mr. Smith pointed out,
as its form is free. Dr. Hofmann
brought out the short, quickly chang-
ing themes, making a nice contrast
with the following Impromptu in A
flat major. This was very light and
required a perfection of technical de-
tail. Throughout the evening, Dr.
Hofmann showed his command of such
technique.
In the Mazurkas (F sharp minor
and C mnjor), the left hand kept up
the rhythmic % beat, while the right
hand hesitated and rhapsodized in the
true Chopin style. The more serious
Ballade in G minor closed the first
group. The climaxes and crashing
chords, and especially the brilliant
close with its forte runs, showed the
true genius of the performer. This
Ballade represents a struggle ending
in defeat, Mr. Smith explained, and
Dr. Hofmann emphasized the gradual
loss of hope in his renditien.
The   remarkable  control   that  Dr.
Hofmann   has   over   his   hands   wa�
Continued on Pace Six
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