College News, 1939-12-06, Vol. 26, No. 08

              The College News
Z-615
VOL. XXVI, No. 8
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1939
Copyright,
Bryn  Mawr
Princeton,
B. M. Choirs
Unite Talent
cSe*,'iS39     PRICE 10 CENTS
Bach Cantatas Are to be
Led by Willoughby at
Joint   Concerts
The Bryn Mawr Choir and the
Princeton Chapel Choir will com-
bine to give two concerts this week-
end. The first will be given on
Sunday afjtei^oon, December 10, at
4.30 in thev'Princeton Chapel; and
the second, on Monday evening, De-
cember 11, at 8.30 in Goodhart Hall.
Several members of the Philadel-
phia Orchestra-will accompany and
play three selections.                 v.
Ernest Willoughby of Bryn
Mawr will direct both concerts,
since Robert Hufstader, choirmas-
ter and organist of the Princeton
Chapel Choir, has a leave of ab-
sence because of illness. Lindsay
Lafford is substituting in Mr. Huf-
stader's place for this year..
In the Bryn Maw Choir Janet
Russell is acting as manager, Mary
Newberry as assistant manager,
and Annie Emerson as librarian.
In the Princeton Chapel �Choir,
Lindsay Laffosd is choirmaster and
organist, Robert S. Davidson, assis-
tant organist, and George A. Haas,
choir manager.
.        Continued on Page Two
Individual Acting Shines
In 'Time and the Conways'
By Olivia Kahn, '41
In several respects J. B. Priestly's
Time and the Conways might have
been considered a better choice for
the annual three-act play given by
the Players' CJub than last year's
Arms and the Man. It includes
more character roles and is as a
whole less subtle. But it is also so
considerably inferior as a play that
no excellence of acting or produc-
tion could make it a complete
success.
Occasionally, Ktamver, the play
was extremely convincing and^some
of � the individual performances
were really distinguished, espe-
cially thoseS of Ann Updegraff,
Eleanor Emery, and Fifi Garbat.
The most refreshing characteriza-
tion of the evening was that of
Carol, the youngest Conway, as
portrayed by Ann Updegraff. It
was truly unfortunate that she
died before Act II, because she
brightened up the first and last
acts so conspicuously one had more
Doyle Inaugurates
Science Lectures
interest in her further development
than in that of her brothers and
sisters. Eleanor Emery gave her
usual excellent performance, here
in the role of Mrs. Conway. Age
is Miss Emery's forte, the older
the better. She demonstrated pro-
fessional poise in the first act,
playing^ with a wonderfully firm
touch, but she showed even more
comprehension of character in the
second act which takes place 20
years later.
The central role of the play, Kay
Conway. was ably taken by Fifi
Garbat. Miss Garbat had little
scope to show her ability in the
first act, but in the second, she
was excellent. The newspaper
woman she represented became
amazingly real, and although she
can scarcely be said to have domi-
nated the stage she gave the play
a cool dignity that did much to
keep it in balance and effectively
set off the other characters.
Continued on Page Three
Other Professors Inspired To
Tell   Club   of   Private
Research Work
Mail to the Campus
. Included in First
Issue of 'Lantern'
Mail to the campus, only slightly
expurgated and abridged, as col-
lected by Bess Lomax and E. Cro-
zier, '41, is reproduced in the Fall
Issue of The Lantern. The Lan-
tern came out Monday night, and
is available in the Bookshop. Any-
one buying a copy and signing in
the Bookshop can get the subse-
quent issues at a reduced rate. �.
The contents include a burlesque
of Gertrude Stein by Mary Helen
Hardin, '42, and a satire on Bryn
Mawr life by Anne Kearny, Rhoads
maid. Three stories, four poems
and one article, The Price of Paci-
fism, by Emily Cheney, '40, com-
plete the issue.
Common Room, November SO.�
"Enzymes are biological catalysts,
and as such they speed up biologi-
cal reactions," said Mr. Doyle in
his lecture on Enzymes and their
Dimensions. This lecture, the first
Science Club lecture this year, in-
augurated the plan to have /the
faculty tell about their private re-
search. It was so well liked that
afterwards several other profes-
sors offered to tell the club about
their work.
Enzymes are also, called fer-
ments, and fermentations have
been employed, even though their
make-up was not understood, to
make bread and beverages since
prehistoric times. Enzymes, Mr.
Doyle explained, like all other
catalysts have no effect upon the
quantities of the end products of
a reaction. They control only the
rate at which the reaction will take
place.' Differing from other cata-
Contlnued on Page Four
'News' Invades Village in Vain Attempt
To Unveil Mysteries of Local Politics
By Joan Groat, '42
Elizabeth Crazier, '41
Know your Community. Be an
intelligent voter. Know your com-
missioner. Get acquainted with
your town committee-man and learn
the political issues of your town.
These, wo thought, were noble
ideas. Wedjdn't know it would be
so hard.
Beginning with the general or-
ganization of the township, we
found ourselves in the outer office
,0; ""rse,vt'-s � l"e UUM;r �'"� date on both tickets. We asked Mr.
of Mr. Evan James. Secretary of ??amDa �,W(> tllo tnwn �,�,�,,���,.-
the   Board   of   Commissioners   of
Lower  Merion  Township.    "Could
we see Mr. James?" . ... if we
would" wait. We sat down. Fin-
ally we were ushered into the inner
office. We were uncertain what to
ask him. Obviously he considered
ns about 14 years of age. We be-
came morn uncertain Hut he an-
swered our questions, though he
kept peering around behind us to
see if anyone else was waiting for
him outside. After a little, while,
we emerged with -�_the following
facts. Bryn Mnwr is a post office
�nothing more. There is no such
thing as an incorporated town of
Bryn Mawr. The administrative
divisions, East and West Bryn
Mawr, make up two of the 13 dis-
tricts of Lower Merion Township.
From each district, a commissioner
is elected by popular vote to the
Board of Commissioners. The
Treasurer, the influential office of
the Commission, is elected at large.
Of the 13 commissioners, 12" are
Republican, and the thirteenth is a
Democrat-Republican,    the    candi-
James  where the town committee
men fitted into the set-up.    "Oh,"
he said.    "Now you're going from
government  info politics."
So we followed this up. Here,
we thought, is where we find out
about the p.-ilitical parties and the
political issues. We called last
night on M . Lacy Gaines in his
cigar store-leer garden on Lan-
caster p;ke. We opened the door,
"cor steins en route to the mouth
were lowered in amazement.
Beyond   t'e. di'-ar   counter,   the
nl->ce looked like a cartoon of tb"
Mi'-He   West   General   Store.     W<
hesitated   ��<'   t'"e  counter   as   Mr
Continued on Pace Three
Mrs. Plum Renders
Songs With Feeling
Sympathetically        Interprets
Finnish Melodies, Strauss,
Brahms' Lieder
Deanery December �?.�Henrietta
Bagger Plum's most enjoyable con-
cert of folksongs and lie<ler revealed
a natural voice of exceptional clar-
ity, and an enviable control of vol-
ume. The Finnish folksongs were
especially good, both in expression
and rendition.
Although the mezzo - soprano
range is a difficult one, Mrs. Plum
handled her soprano tones with as
much ease as her low contralto
notes. This was particularly no-
ticeable in the Saint-Saeus selec-
tion, which, however, was not a
happy choice. The aria is uninter-
esting, and offers do chance for
dramatic expression and sympa-
thetic interpretation. But, Mrs.
Plum's other selections' proved that
she has this ability.
The German lieder were well in-
terpreted and full of feeling. Mi*.
Plum, whose favorite composers are
the lieder writers Brahms and
Richard Strauss, showed that she
understood and loved what she was
singing. Throughout the program
the changes of mood and key were
emphasized by the use of a good
legato and by volume contrasts.
Unfortunately, some of the best ef-
Contlnued on Page Three
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Thursday, December 7.�
Mr. Barnes, director of the
Y. M. C. A. in Ardmore, on
Group Leadership, Common
Room, 5 p. in.
Friday, December 8.�Ju-
nius Bird on Early Man in
South America, Geology Lec-
ture Room, Chemistry and
Geology Building, 8.30. Slides
w:ll be shown..
Sunday, December 10. �
Concert with ancient Chinese
instruments ""by Mr. Chung
Loh Wei, Deanery, 3.30.
Monday, December 11. �
Concert of Cantatas by Bach
and Parry, Princeton and
Brvn Mawr Choirs, Goodhart
Hall, 8.30.
Tuesday, December IS. �
purrent Events, Mr. Fen-
wick, Common  Room, 7.30.
Wednesday, December IS.
�Industrial Group Supper,
Common Room, 6.30.
Director Outlines
Labor School Aims
Explains Curriculum, Selection
Of Workers and Position
Of Undergraduates
Common Room, December 4.�
Miss Jean Carter, director of the
Hudson Shore Labor School, out-
lined the school's program and the
role of the college  student there.
She explained the method of choos-
ing the workers and their plan of
study.
The aim of the Summer School
is to help workers understand
themselves in relation to their so-
cial and economic groups. To ac-
complish this aim the school has
correlated courses in Economics,
English, Dramatics and Science.
Recreation is also included.
The college undergraduates,
seven in all from various colleges,
Continued on Pane Three
A. Cook Aids
Seniors Plan
For Business
Naturalism Reborn
Says Weiss Article
The promise of American philo-
sophy today lies in the revivifica-
tion of naturalism and idealism,
states Paul Weiss in an article on
The Year in PhftoBtrphy appearing
in the December 6 issue of the NtW
Republic. As evidence. Mr. Weiss
briefly traces the rise and fall of
logical positivism, a school of
thought which grew out of the
post-war despondency and which
was based on the premise that pres-
ent clarity is preferable to ultimate
truth.
The positivists rejected metaphy-
sics, contending that only those as-
sertions were significant which
could he checked by modern science.
Today, however, metaphysicians
such as Whitehead an a1 the modern
Thomi.W are powerful despite this
opposition. Its decline is largely a
result of John Dewey's pragma-
tism, for although Dewey is anti-
metaphysical his views are more
flexible than those of the positivists.
This genei*al movement is indica-
tive of the progress of philosophy,
Mi-., Weiss postulates, as such prog-
ress depends upon the willingness
of the philosopher to retreat to
first principles.
PROPAGANDA SNARE
REVEALED BY WELLS

Education Endangered
By  Emotional  Appeal
Common Room, Ducertiber 5.�
"Propaganda is the deliberate at-
tempt to influence public opinion
and thus produce certain attitudes
and actions," declared Roger
Wells, addrecsing the International
Relations Club in the first of a
series of le?tures on propaganda.
Mr. Wells discussed the dissemina-
tion of propaganda, and the way in
which it can be differentiated from
education.
Propaganda is-spread by means
of the printed word, cartoons, ma�s
meetings, songs, and whispering
campaigns. Mr. Wells postulated
four axioms by which propaganda
agents may be detected. If a per-
son spreading certain doctrines
�eeks to conceal his identHry "there
is a strong presumption that what
he is""saying is propaganda."
Secondly, if there is a direct
resort to falsehood, as in the atro-
city stories printed during the war,
we may assume that propaganda is
being; employed. The presentation
of only a part of the truth is Mr.
Wells' third axiom, and finally the
��tress on the emotional rather than
Continued on Pajte Four
Internship   plan   Provides
Two Months' Training    *
In Technique
Graduates of womerKq colleges,
filing out every June, usually have
three alternatives in mind: secre�- '
tarial school, marriage, or Macy's.
Alice Rice Cook, director of the
Graduate Center in New York, de-
voted her informal talk with jun-
iors and seniors to descriptions of
possibilities outside these three,
particularly to the experience at-
tainable through a business intern-
ship.
Started two years ago, the busi-
ness internship plan is based on
the belief that women college grad-
uates need an opportunity to ex-
plore arid prove their skills, and to
acquire that first requirement of
all "employers: experience. The
pban provides two weeks' training
in routine office techniques, coupled
with study and definition of the
exact field and concern in which
the student wishes to take the fol-
lowing two-month internship.   .
Statistics on the success of past
interns show 85 i>er cent of the
last TO girls now occupying regu1-
iar positions. Final clinching of
the job in every case depends on
the individual's initiative in prov-
ing herself necessary to the con-
cern training her,- or in using the
Continued on Page Four
Assistant Curator
Slated To Discuss
Patagonian Culture
On Friday night at 8.30, Mr.
Junius Rird, assistant curator of
the American Museum in New York
will give a lecture on Early Man in
South Ann rica in the Geology Lec-
ture room.
Mr. Bird ha-, done extensive re-
search in anthropology. His first
field work was with Captain Bob
Bartlett in Hudson Bay and Green-
land, where he made collections for
the Museum of the American In-
dian in New York.     ,
In 1932 and 1934 he was sent to
Patagonia by the American Mu-
seum of Natural History. He ex-
cavated at the most southern tip of
Patagonia, an inhospitable and
primitive section, and made some
Very important discoveries. On his
second trip he was accompanied by
his wife and they worked with very
little equipment, almost entirely
alone.
In Patagonia be traced a contin-
uous series of cultures back to an
age contemporary with the last gla:
cial period or just after. It is this
phase of his work which he is going
to discuss?
Distribution Begun
Of Activities Fund
Thirteen hundred and one dollars ^
have now been paid out of the Ac-
tivities Drive Fund. The Bryn
Mawr League and ^he Varsity
Players Club have received the full
amount of their scheduled allot-
ment, 300 dollars and 400 dollars
respectively. The Bryn Mawr Sum-
mer School has received 400 dollars
out of their 1400 dollars, the Peace
Council 175 dollars out of 800 dol-
lars. Besides this. 26.51 dollars
was spent on the Latin Play and
9.50 dollars on the expenses in-
curred bv the Activities Drive.
'     J