College News, 1939-10-25, Vol. 26, No. 03

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The College Mews
Z-615
VOL. XXVI, No. 3
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1939
PRICE 10 CENTS
Dr. Geiringer
Soon to'Sail
For^America
Declaration of War Delays
Visiting Math Lecturer
�      In Portugal
The appointment of Dr. Hilda
Geiringer, distinguished scholar
and ex-professor of mathematics at
Istanbul University, as visiting
lecturer for the year 1940, has just
been announced. Dr. Geiringer
received her Ph.D. degree in Vi-
enna in 1918, was chosen Priva'nt
DozenJ at Berlin in  1927, and in
traordinary Professor there.
Dr. Geiringer is the author of
many books and articles on applied
mathematics, among them Me-
chanik isotroper Korpcr im plas-
tischen Zustand, published in Ber-
lin in 1934, and an article Uber die
Wahr8cheinlichkeit von Hypothe-
Contlnued on Page Six
FACULTY, ALUMNAE CONSIDER
PROBLEMS OF 4 DEPARTMENTS
Professors  Explain
Place of Philosophy
In  College  Courses
The place of philosophy in the
curriculum was the subject of an
alumnae conference conducted by
Mr. Weiss of the Philosophy De-
partment, Miss Dorothy Walsh of
Wells College, and Miss Edna
Shearer of Smith College. 'Two
opposing opinions were presented
by the speakers, one that philoso-
phy should  embrace  education as
1935 accepted the position of .Ex-, a whole and integrate all depart-
Smith Memorial Fund
Sets Up 'Workshops
in Living History"
(Specially contributed by
Helen Cobb, '40)
The William Roy Smith Memo-
rial Fund, given last winter by
Mrs. Smith to "fulfil one of the
wishes that he had not had time
to realize," set up experimental
"Workshops" in five communities
to serve the educational needs of
local workers' groups�both white
collar and industrial�under a com-
mittee headed by Elizabeth D.
Lyle, Bryn Mawr European Fel-
low of the class of 1937.
It is not attempting formal
classes, but projects like Living
Newspaper dramatics, or charts,
maps, and graphs to express such
subjects as unemployment figures
and the union budget in pictorial
form and thereby to induce more
concrete thinking about facts and
their relation to opinion. These
"Workshops in Living History"
should offer practical information
and therefore prove thought-pro-
voking to people unused to aca-
demic theorizing.
Continued on Page Three
ments of study, the other that
members of the Philosophy Depart-
ment should stay in close contact
with one another and not attempt
to  "patch things together."
"The meaning of philosophy is
destroyed if it is merely placed
among other subjects," declared
Mr. Weiss. "Such a process is
equivalent to placing the body on
equal terms with its organs. Col-
leges should have a unifying prin-
ciple, but this is lost when phi-
losophy is set off at one side."
Ethics  are  properly  related  to
the   social   sciences,   aesthetics  to
history of art, and logic to science.
Mr.  Weiss/ advocated,  however,  a
Continued on Page Three
Methods of French
Teaching   Debated
Graduates Offer Proposals for
Coordinating Major and
Allied   Work
Assembly to Define
Background of Play
An assembly will be held in Good-
hart on Friday morning, October
27, at ten o'clock to discuss Educa-
tion In Democracy. Miss Park will
speak for the1 college side of the
question, Miss McBride for the
school side-gnd Miss Carter, Direc-
tor of the *Hudson Shore Labor
School, will discuss workers' edu-
cation.
It is hoped that the assembly
will provide some background for
the better understanding of the
Living Newspaper which the Play-
ers Club is presenting in conjunc-
ion with the Industrial Group and
the A. S. U. on Friday night, since
the production will represent some
>f the theories brought up in the
discussion.
Extra! Extra! Extra! Read All About It;
How What You Read by Us Gets Writ
By Elizabeth Crozier
Death and taxes we have always
with us, remarked a Frenchman
some time ago. To these, we add
the News, which stretches from
week to week.
The News week for the editorial
board starts on Monday at 5.30. At
this time, the editor-in-chief makes
the assignments for the coming
week. Her assignment is each re-
porter's job for the week, and it
must be handed in on the following
Monday.
The reporter has two functions�
not only that of writing up an as-
signment, but also that of actually
putting the News out in its finished
form. This wqrk is done on Mon-
day and Tuesday nights. Part of
the editorial board works the first
night and part the second, while
the three editors are there both
nights.
Maybe the best way to describe
this work is to say that it is all a
lesson in how to say the thing in
the best possible way. It is grubby
work indeed. Corrections are made,
articles are rewritten and retyped,
t rules of punctuation are enforced.
and manuals of good printing form
are constantly quoted (for instance,
numbers from one to ten are to be
spelled out a/id those thereafter to
be rendered as figures).
For many of us, writing head-
lines is the toughest job of all.
Read in a newspaper, they seem
easy and simple. But they are not.
There are several demands laid
down in writing a headline, and all
of them must be fulfilled. A head
should contain the essence of the
article; it should be pure statement
of fact�there should be no edito-
rial or interpretive suggestion in
itt nor should it be misleading; and
it should contain a certain number
of letters�a certain, number and no
more.
When all the copy has been head-
lined and corrected, it is picked up
on Tuesday morning by Philip,
publisher and general contact man
between the printers and the News,
who takes it to the plant in Wayne.
Here the compositor sets up the
type on a linotype machine. (Most
of the printing in America is lino-
Continued on Par* Five
Wyndham, October 21. � Miss
Margaret Gilman, presiding at the
French Conference and discussion
held for the alumnae, gave a brief
iccounlf of the work of the French
Department. She described the re-
quirements of the major and the
aims of the department, outlining
the course work and explaining the
present reorganization of material.
Dr. Helen Patch, Bryn Mawr
Ph.D., and professor of French at
Mt. Holyoke College, spoke on the
work of the French Department
there, stressing the "cooperation of
departments."
Mt. Holyoke students relate their
courses, taking, for instance,
Renaissance History and French
with a joint bibliography. The
freshmen, taking both French and
English, write source themes on
work in both fields. Interrelation
of science and French has been
suggested, but not yet carried out.
Miss Patch also explained the
two-unit system at Mt. Holyoke.
About 15 students, who lived to-
gether in one house under a di-
rector of studies, take two subjects
a year instead of five, and "go
deeply" into them. The students
are under close guidance of the de-
partments and are sent to attend
different classes for any length of
Continued on Page Six
DIEZ SUMMARIZES
GERMAN COURSES
Value  of Politics
Reviewed; Problems
Of Teaching Cited
Taylov Hall, October 21.�Mr.
Wells and Miss Staerk, Politics
.eader during 1938-39, sketched the
History and prohjems of the Poli-
tics department. Miss Harriet
More and Miss Eleanor Fabyan
discussed the Politics major and
its value in post-college life.
Mr. Wells stated the three major
problems confronting the depart-
ment today:   coordinating  Politics
Miss Enters
Will Present
Pantomines
Tragic   and   Comic   Roles
Included  in  Range
Of  Characters
On Thursday evening, October
26, the College Entertainment Com-
mittee will present Angna Enters,
the first performer on the Enter-
tainment Series. Miss Enters is
known as "America's greatest
dance mime" a title which only
feebly expresses the variety and
^cope of her dramatic talents.
All over Europe and America
audiences have flocked to see Miss
Enters' performances because she
with Economics and other subjects; j offers a unique type "of entertain-
giving   enough   graduate   courses,
and evaluating the final examina-
tion in the major subject. Coor-
dination is attained through allied
subjects, through discussion clubs,
and through joint courses given by
professors of Politics and Eco-
nomics. The examination system,
however, is still faulty because it
handicaps the better students, puts
pressure on the weaker students,
and makes honors work suffer. The
Swarthmore system of first, second,
third, and pass degrees works bet-
ter for all students.
Miss   Staerk   outlined   and   dis-
cussed the first year Politics course.
"In   such   a   survey   course,"   she
aid, "the chief problem is to avoid
superficiality and bias."
Continued on Page Two
Need for Conversation
Especially  Emphasized
In a symposium on the place of
German in the Bryn Mawr curricu-
lum, Mr. Max Diez presented three
topics for discussion. These were:
the German "oral" examination,
the revision of the major course,
and the opportunities for German
conversation. The last topic proved
most interesting, especially in its
connection with the necessity for
concentration on reading German,
provided by the examination re-
quirement.
The ability to read German has
been considered essential for the A.
B. degree, especially as a "tool" in
graduate work. Spoken German,
though not so important in this re-
spect was thought extremely desir-
able by many of the group,. Mr.
Diez advocated training in conver-
sation in the preparatory schools,
but if this proves impossible there
is still opportunity here through
the German Club, German House,
and the junior year abroad. (Even
a summer in Germany was helpful
to this year's group.) In college
there is not enough time for ele-
mentary conversation courses, but
the Wagner course, which has been
added this year, provides some oral
training and bridges the gap be-
tween the elementary reading
course and more advanced work.
Janet Sloane
The News wishes to con-
gratulate Mr. and Mrs. Jos-
eph Sloane on the birth of a
daughter. Janet Sloane was
born Monday, October 23, and
weighs six pounds, 11 ounces.
CALENDAR
Thursday, October 26.-'
Angna Enters, Goodhart
Hall, 8.30 p. m.
Friday, October 27.�As-
sembly on Education inDg-
mocracy, Goodhart Hall, 10
a. m. Living Newspaper play
on same subject, Gymnasium,
8 p. m.
Saturday, October 28. �
Square Dance, Gymnasium, 9
p. m.
Tuesday, October 31.�Mr.
Alwyne will speak on The
Music and Dancing of the
Inland of Bali, Music Room,
5.15 p. m. Current Events
by Mr. Fenwick, Common
Room, 7.30 p. m.
ment. She has the power to see
beneath the surface of human na-
ture, and the ability to represent
characters and situations in panto-
mine in such a way that others are
electrified by their truth. She can
create the cruel sadism of an Ital-
ian cardinal of the Inquisition as
Continued on Page Six
Cube Root of Boys
From Syracuse Will
Be 1939 Latin Play
The Latin Play season has rolled
around again and the Bryn Mawr
budiones announce, with consider-
able pride, the presentation of The
Cube Root of tfie Boys From Syra-
cuse, on November 4. The transla-
tion and lyrics are by Louise Allen
and Betty Frazier, both '42. The
music, according to,tradition, is by
Arthur Sullivan.
The authors, when interviewed,
confessed to a certain freedom of
translation. Beyond that they
would give no information except'
to promise that the play will speak
for itself. A furtive visit to a re-
hearsal revealed a generous amount
of ribaldry, allusions to the Duke
of Windsor and the Lone Ranger,
and accompanying motifs played on
a recorder offstage.
The Ludiones regret that, con-
trary to the tradition of the Latin
Play, they are forced to charge ad-
mission to the performance. The
college fund which has formerly
Continued on Page Five
Aspersions Cast on Rhoads Fire Chief;
Accused Writes Apologia Pro Vita Sua
(In explanation of unsettled con-
ditions in Rhoads Hall during the
past week, the News has secured
the following eye-witness report
from Emily Cheney, '40, Rhoads
fire captain.)
Some three weeks ago college
opened and Rhoads I was supposed
to have a fire drill. I, being fire
captain, went around and drafted
the requisite number of lieuten-
ants and heelers, and the gong
was scheduled to sound early on
a Thursday morning. The only
trouble with that was that the
key to the bell was lost.
Time passed, and on the after-
noon of Wednesday; October 17,
I found the new key, which Miss
Hait had had made, in my mail box.
Betty Crozier, second lieutenant,
will support mf in this. She was
there. Without a moment's hesita-
tion, I realized that it was my duty
to call a fire drill next morning.
But, simply as a matter of rou-
tine, the bell had to be tested first.
I inserted the key in the firebox,
but nothing happened and, as I am
naturally timid about electrical ap-
pliances,  I  told  my  lieutenant to
do it. Miss Crozier threw home
the switch, the glass fell on the
floor (this fact was not noticed
until later) and the bell rang. Self-
satisfied, Miss Crozier returned the
key to me, evidently under the
impression that she was only re-
sponsible for turning the bell on.
The bell kept ringing, and dur-
ing the first minute of this bedlam
I felt strongly that something
should be done. At the end of the
second minute I knew that I was
not the girl to do it. And since
no one else had any suggestions
to make, we all went on being
alarmed until finally Miss Hait
stuffed cardboard into the mechan-
ism, which did the trick.
This is absolutely all I know
about the Rhoads fire bell. I admit
that since the first crisis, at least
four similar eruptions have taken
place, but I was not present at
any -of them. Furthermore,�and
I put this in just to keep the
record straight�when I and my
two lieutenants, Betty Crozier and
Kristi Putnam, tried to have a real
fire drill a few days later, none
of the bells worked at all.
r\