College News, 1940-03-13, Vol. 26, No. 16

              The College News
Z-615
VOL. XXVI, No. 16
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1940
Rubin Dario
Leads Revolt
of Modernists
Dr. Torres-Rioseco
Cites    Recent    Trends
In Latin-American  Poetry
Music Room, March 11. � Dr.
Arturo Torres-Rioseco, in the fifth
lecture of the Flexner series, dis-
cussed The Cosmopolitans�Ruben
Dario and Modernism. The South
American poets moved from a ro-
mantic to a cosmopolitan and mod-
ernistic trend in, poetry, followed
after 1918 by a "post war" period.
The variety of poetic interests re-
vealed the artistic expression of the
Latin-Americans, for, Dr. Torres-
Rioseco said, although material
wealth  may   decay,  the  countries
will never lose the splendid culture
inherited from sixteenth and seven-
teenth century Spain.
The^xebellion against romanti-
cism wmch was started by the
young poets in 1882 resulted from a
dissatisfaction with the over-exu-
berance and tropical nature of the
romantic poetry. The pioneers
sought new worlds and wanted,
above all, to be original. They had
for their fundamental aim "art for
art's sake" and, as their name
�"modernists" suggests, veered away
from all traditional forms and con-
cepts of poetry. The French, who
had long been the "masters of aes-
thetic thought in Europe," were in-
fluential, but with a cosmopolitan
outlook they also turned to Japan,
Scandinavian mythology, Pre - Ra-
phaelite England, Chinese symbol-
ism, and numerous other foreign
cultures, for their inspiration.
Ruben Dario, one of the leading
figures of the movement, turned
fj^m^ contemporary Spain to the
ymiiddle ages, then to Victor Hugo,
Shakespeare, Whitman, Poe and
other sources for his poetic theme.
Later, in seeking the meaning of
Continued on Page Four
Self-Government
The Self-Government As-
sociation takes great pleas-
ure in announcing the elec-
tion of Virginia Nicholls for
president next year.
Reverend Stewart
Leads League Group
Man Must Seek to Approach
Ideals of Christian Life
In Non-Ideal World
Common Room, March 9. �
"Christianity is dangerous," stated
the Reverend Donald Stewart, rec-
tor of the First ^Presbyterian
Church, Chapel Hill, North Caro-
lina, in an informal talk opening
the Bryn Mawr League Confer-
ence. A picnic Sunday noon and a
chapel service completed the con-
ference.
Pointing out the idealism of
Christianity, Dr. Stewart demon-
strate that we must make an
endless compromise between our
ideals and the conditions of a non-
ideal world. There is danger in
taking refuge in the tranquility of
the Christian faith.
The relation of the church to
the community is affected by the
nature of man. Man is not spirit
alone, but is subject to the needs
of the flesh. Within him there is
a continual struggle between the
pride of human knowledge and
power, and the fear of economic
insecurity. "Rugged individual-
ism usually results in ragged in-
dividuals," for society is built on
man's greed for power. The re-
sult is always an unequal distri-
Contlnued on Page Six
Copyright, Trutteet of
Bryn   Mawr  College,  1940
PRICE 10 CENTS
�7-----------------------:---------------
COLLEGE CALENDAR
Thursday, March 14. �
Fannie Ratchford on The
Web of Childhood, Deanery,
4.30. Industrial Group Sup-
per, Common Room, 6.30.
Friday, March 1.5.�Maids
and Porters present Porgy
and Bess, Goodhart Hall,
8.30.
Saturday, March 16. �
Basketball with Rosemont,
Gym, 10 a. m. Porgy and
Bess, Goodhart Hall, 8.30.
Dance for the maids and por-
ters in the Common Room af-
ter the play. German House
supper before and dance af-
ter the play. Graduate dance,
Gym, 9-1.
Sunday, March 17. � Art
Club tea and exhibition of
Francis B. Hall, Common
Room, 4.30. Chapel, music
service, Music Room, 7.30.
Monday, March 18.�Flex-
ner lecture, Dr. Torres-Rio-
seco on Social Trends in the
Spanish - American Novel,
Music Room, 8 p. m.
Tuesday March, 19.�Cur-
rent Events, Common Room,
7.30. Science Club, Mr. Pat-
terson on Qrystal Structure,
Room III, Dalton, 8.15.
Wednesday, March 20. �
Biology department movies,
biology lecture room, Dalton,
7.45.
College Entertainment
Discussed in Assembly
Advisory Committee Elected by Students
Suggested  as  Cure  for  Present
Overlapping of Lectures
Goodhart Hall, March 13. � In
the assembly entitled Time and
Variety, Barbara Auchincloss, '40;
Virginia Nichols, '41'; Virginia
Sherwood, '41; Pennell Crosby, '41;
and Sheila Gamble, '42; discussed
the general dissatisfaction and
problems relating to college enter-
tainment. Despite the scant at-
tendance at recent events, the nuhT^
ber  of events was not considered
Frank Traces Ideas of Faith,
Reason Through Middle Ages
St. Augustine Fuses    Circle of Philosophy
Faith With Reason Drawn From Anselm,
Augustine  to  Hegel
Music Room, March 6.�In his
third lecture, A-)i</it*tiitc and Greek
Thought, Mr. Erich Frank traced
the origins of the conflict between
faith and reason to the philosophy
jf Augustine. Faced with the prob-
lem of reconciling Greek reason
with the mysticism and revelation
of the Christian doctrine, Augus-
tine parsed through many crises
before he was able to formulate
the philosophy which established
him as the founder of Christian
metaphysics.
After Greek philosophy reached
its climax with Plato and Aristotle,
the various schools which arose
Continued on Page Five
Rosetta Stones on Taylor Desks Offer
Fragments Rich With Literary Thought
By Elizabeth Crozier, '41
We have been presented with
the raw materials of literature on
the desks of Taylor where people
have given intimations of their
souls. These are the basic things.
Nothing can be done with any
reality or truth without them. And
the kind of person that can be
drawn from them depends entirely
on the kind of expressions put
down. Some will be better than
others because they contain that
ineffable quality that makes litera-
ture great or a phrase unforget-
table, because it is piercing with
thought. Others will remain little
more than statements of fact.
Many things can be learned by
the student of literature from the
carvings on the desks in Taylor.
For instance, the passing scene
and the moods caused by it can be
detected by the changes in verse.
There js an aroma of the naive
past, an immaturity, in the follow-
ing lines of verse, recognizable to
the keen eye and mind as written
many years ago (even without the
external evidence: R. H. M. 1925):
I've found a friend
Oh, such a friend
I loved him ere I knew him.
Compare that then with the sharp
neatness and suspence of this Ger-
man verse.    The contrast is clear:
Heute nur heute    '
Bin ich so schbn  .   .   .
(The rest of this was lost because
it was not cut deeply enough.)
Then there is the attempt to es-
tablish spiritual communion with
the other incumbents of the same
seat. At one desk, the attempt in-
cluded the whole day. There has
been written Who sits here at,- and
spaces have been left for the dif-
ferent hours. After eight o'clock
K. Hepburn is written. From that
one line alone, we learn the vastly
important fact that in the early
'twenties classes began at eight in-
stead of nine.
All these things are interesting
as indicative of many things, but]
most provocative and interesting of
all are the inscriptions of people's
names. The plain names and noth-
ing more. They form landmarks
Continued on Pax* Three
Goodhart, March 12.�"The con-
flict between faith and reason was
the main stimulus of medieval
philosophy and is still raging in
one of its most decisive phases to-
day," declared Erich Frank in the
last of his series of four lectures.
Mr. Frank traced the development
of the faith-reason problem from
Augustine to modern philosophy,
showing how belief in religion has
served to strengthen metaphysical
theory.
According to Augustine, we be-
lieve in order that we may under-
stand. The convers* <loes not hold,
although understanding is neces-
sary for faith. Anselm, who lived
at the end of the 11th century, was
the most famous exponent of this
idea. His chief concern was an
ontological proof of the existence
of God, which he based on faith.
The philosophy of Abelard was
based wholly on reason. Because
he attempted to understand faith
in a pagan way, comparing the
trinity to the conceptions of Plato,
his philosophy was resolved into
dialectic. At this time, Mr. Frank
Continued on Page Six
BRYN MAWRTERS
MARK HIGH SPOTS
OF NMU EXCURSION
HEALTH   PROBLEM
TO BE  DISCUSSED
BY DR. HAMILTON
Dr. Alice Hamilton will speak
on Health in Industry at an indus-
trial group supper Thursday night,
March 14. Having engaged in an
extended survey of industrial pot-
sons between the years 1910 and
1921 for the United States Depart-
ment of Labor and having been
assistant professor of industrial
medicine at Harvard Medical
School, Dr. Hamilton is particu-
larly able to speak on this subject.
She is in addition the author of a
book on Jane Addams and several
others on industrial conditions.
National Maritime Union's Phil-
adelphia local found its weekly
meeting invaded by ten landlubbers
from Bryn Mawr last Monday
night. The group, mainly A.S.U.
but of capitalistic appearance,
were looked on with some suspicion
at No. 7 South Street, until Kristi
Putnam, '40, flashed a Philadel-
phia C. I. O. Industrial Council
membership card.
Gathered in a prominent huddle
on the front benches of the smoky
hall, the Bryn Mawrters were, by
acclamation, allowed to listen�
without "voice or vote." The main
issue of the evening, a problem
involving N.M.U. investigation of
west coast union strife, left the
college representation somewhat
lost, until the chairman personally
clarified the situation for them
after the meeting.
Most impressive feature of the
meeting was the strict parliamen-
tary procedure, which was not
simply imposed by the chairman,
but known and followed by the
whole membership. Winding up
the meeting, the chairman retailed
the prize "beef" of the week:
Bos'n Johnnie, carrying over 200
pounds and measuring five feet 11
inches, refused a berth with a U.
S. Fruit Liner because the one
offered was five foot six long and
26 inches wide.
too great. The speakers suggested
the institution of a small effective
entertainment committee. Such a co-
ordinating and advisory group
could improve scheduling, and see
that the places on the campus are
put to better use and that better
publicity is arranged for non-Good-
hart entertainment.
Virginia Nichols, speaking on
the choice of entertainments, sug-
jgested that there be a better rep-
resentation of student opinion. She
proposed a committee to consist
of five members consisting of one
sophomore, one junior, two seniors
and one graduate student. The
I president of the Undergraduate
Association should be on the board,
but should not act as chairman,
i This group should bear more re- ,
sponsibility than does' the present
entertainment committee. Its chief
function would lie in its advisory
and correlating capacities. As an
advisor, it would help to gauge
student reaction to speakers and
.entertainments proposed by any
individuals, clubs, or departments.
The final decision would not rest
with this committee, because of the
mechanics of bringing a speaker to
the campus and because of the lack
of college funds for entertainment.
It would also act to correlate pro-
grams of clubs, vocational commit-
tees and entertainment series.
"The problem is not so much to
augment or decrease the present
amount of entertainment," said
Virginia Sherwood, in her discus-
sion of the variety and extent in
the present program, "but rather
to create a balance." In the past
Continued on Page Six
Author to Discuss
Brontes' Childhood
Miss Fannie Ratchford will
speak on The Web of Childlwod in
the Deanery on Thursday at five
o'clock. The lecture shows how the
game of Branwell's wooden soldiers
grew into Charlotte and Emily;
Bronte's dream world out of which
came their novels. The talk
will be illustrated by manuscripts
loaned by Mrs. Henry H. Bonnell,
of Chestnut Hill. Miss Ratchford is
is the librarian of the Wrenn Li-
brary of Texas University, and is
the author of Legends of Angria
and Two Poems by Emily Bronte.
Tea will be served at 4.30.
Ping-Pong  Balls
To Help Science
On Tuesday, March 19,
there will be a Science Club
meeting at 8.15, in Room III,
Dalton. Mr. Patterson will
talk on Crystal Structure.
He plans to illustrate his
talk with some rtwelve dozen
ping-pong balls.
Mr. Patterson's special
field is X-ray analysis of
crystals, but his lecture will
cover the more general as-
pects of crystal structure.
Members of the Science Club
are asked to remain after the
meeting for elections.
Biological "Flicks"   .
The biology department
will present three moving pic-
ture films in the biology lec-
ture room, Dalton, next Wed-
nesday, March 20. The pic-
tures show: Invertebrates
of a coral reef, Invertebrates
of the Gulf of Maine, and
Color changes in fish and
squid. All members of the
college community who are
interested    are    invited    to
I
come.
Art Club to Exhibit
Hall's Campus Views
On Sunday, March 17, the Art
Club will hold an exhibition of
paintings by Mr. Francis B. Hall.
Tea will be served. These pic-
tures should be of interest to the
college because the content is en-
tirely campus views and affairs.
Mr. Hall, who has long had con-
nections' with the college, has
painted every building oh the
campus and such events as the
May Day procession and Parade
Night One particularly interest-
ing picture represents a night
scene of two girls walking through
Rock Arch with the Lantern Man
in the background.
Mr. Hall held an exhibition in
Philadelphia two weeks ago at the
Business Men's Art Club. He is
professionally a tailor of English
riding clothes, but as a hobby, he
is a magician and an artist.
V