College News, 1940-03-27, Vol. 26, No. 18

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College News
Z-815
VOL. XXVI, JMo. 18
BRYN MAWR ami WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1940
Copyright, Trustees of
Bryn   Mawr  College,
1940
PRICE 10 CENTS
Frost names
Self-Expression
As Goal of Life
Goodhart, March 25.�"I would
like to make everyone I meet real-
ize that the height of life comes in
moments of expression, either writ-
ten or oral," said Robert Frost
in the last lecture of the College
Entertainment Series. There are
three times, he continued, when
self expression heightens life: in
binding a bargain, in reconciling
a difficulty, and in justifying a
course of action.
An interest in self expression,
said Mr. Frost, should be aroused
through education. In bringing up
children, emphasis should be placed
oil. good poetry as well as on good
prose, although it is difficult to
teach a child set standards by
which to prove that a poem is good
or bad.
Mr. Frost then presented several
tests to which he subjects all
poetry. The first test determines
whether or not the rhyme and
metre fall naturally and spontane-
ously upon the ear. In real poetry
the rhyme word is as inevitable as
the last syllable of a ten syllable
word. For Mr. Frost the form is
important because it adds a certain
zest and challenge to the writing.
"Free verse," he said, "is like
playing tennis with the net down."
Continued on Page Two
College Legislature
Offers Election Plan
March 25.�At the meeting of
the college Legislature, resolutions
were passed concerning the elec-
tions of the presidents and vice-
presidents of the Self-Government
and Undergraduate Associations
and the positions of the Self-Gov-
ernment secretary and treasurer.
Before going into effect these reso-
lutions must be passed by a two-
thirds majority of the college and
approved by the Board of Trustees.
It was felt that with the growth
of the college, the present system
of elaptions is inadequate as well
as confused. Under the proposed
plan, the Junior Class would elect,
at one meeting, four nominees for
each of the offices of Self-Govern-
Contlnued on Pare Three
\News Gnashes
Teeth, Jiewails
Loss of BosseS
ELIZABEHH   POPE
SPENCER TO GIVE
DEANERY LECTURES
ON MODERN POETRY
Theodore Spencer, professor of
English at King's College, Cam-
bridge, and visiting lecturer this
year at Harvard University, will
give a series of three lectures at
the Deanery starting April 9. The
subject will be The Present State
of Poetry.                                *
Mr. Spencer is a recognized au-
thority on modern literature, par-
ticularly poetry, and as a critic has
had many of his essays included in
contemporary anthologies. Besides
this he is interested in Elizabethan
and early seventeenth century po-
etry, and wrote Death and the Eli-
zabethan Tragedy on this subject.
He has also written poetry of his
own, some of which has appeared
in the New Yorker,
The series of lectures will be
given on April 9, 16 and 23 in the
Deanery at 4.30 P. M. Subscrip-
tion tickets are five dollars, but
Bryn Mawr undergraduates will be
admitted free of charge.
L Cheney
r-in-Chief of the News,
Cheney made our little sheet this
year a more vital part of the Col-
lege than it has been for many a
day. How she did it we do not
know, but to carry on her tech-
nique fs one of our more burning
desires.
Practically an "unknown" this
time last year (see News, March
15, 1939), Cheney rapidly blos-
somed into fame. She was half in
charge of the Finland Common
Room discussions and was whip-
cracker to promote Senior activity
in interclass swimming and basket-
ball. We regret to state, however,
that as Rhoads fire-captain she
showed a deplorable temerity every
time the alarm went oft*. Aside
from her participation in the
above-mentioned noteworthy fields,
Cheney is also a member of the A.
S. U., and of the Varsity basket-
ball squad, though this last, they
tell us, is because she is a friend
of the captain.
EMILY   CHENEY
Elections
Undergraduate  Association:
Vice-President, A Stokes.
Peace Council:
President, H. Resor, '42.
Secretary, M. Gumbart, '42.
Laek of Funds Caused Sale
of B.  II. Community Center
By Elizabeth Crozier, '41
One of the volunteers coming
into the Bryn Mawr Community
Center on a busy Saturday morn-
ing in 1917 remarked, "Why, the
Community is so thick that you
can't see the Center!!' A total of
4367 children, or an ajverage of 100
a day, enjoyed the benefits of the
Community Center.
The Community Center started
in the spring of 1915. It was
definitely a community undertak-
ing with no one group predomi-
nating to the exclusion of any
other. All parts of the .town sup-
ported it. Dr. David Wilbur Horn,
a Bryn Mawr citizen, was its first
president, and Miss Hilda Smith,
now Director of the Hudson Shore
Labor School, was its first execu-
tive secretary.
The first site of the Community
Center was back of the public
school on the Pike down by the
Diner. Its work for children cov-
ered every conceivable field of ac-
tivity. There were sewing and
cooking classes, a children's dra-
matic class, a Saturday morning
story   hour,   games  and   informal
gymnastics, individual violin and
mandolin lessons, and a penny sav-
ings fund. The Community Center
provided a playground before the
township did, and its activities
were afforded wider scope by the
use of the Baldwin School grounds
kindly given by Miss Johnson,
head of the school.
The Community's work for chil-
dren can be paralleled only by its
work for young people and adults.
Cooking, dressmaking, knitting
and handicraft classes were held.
In 1917, the girls' dramatic class
presented A Pot of Broth by Yeats,
and The Minuet, by Louis N. Park-
er. A debating club for boys met
occasionally, and language classes
in the elements of French, Spanish
and German�a somewhat amaz-
ing thing for the year 1917 in
America�wera conducted for boys
and girts in the seventh and eighth
grades.
The four things of which the
Center might well be proudest are
its Italian Night School, its kin-
dergarten, its school lunches and
its librarv. The Italian Night
Continued on Pace Three
Pop
In her career on the News Pop
rose by sheer merit to the enviable
position of copy editor. She is an
ardent member of the A. S. U.,
writes ninety-page Shakespeare
papers, and plays chess to the tune
of "All God's Chillun Got Shoes."
On her victrola, however, she plays
only classical music and charms
the savage breasts of her uncouth
neighbors.
Pop wears smart brown felt hats
and knows how to spell all words.
She has, moreover, a quotation for
every hour anc^gvery hour in its
place.                       ^.
PENN., TULANE HOLD
EXHIBITION DEBATE
Question   of   Isolation
Policy for U. S. Argued
Common Room, March 26.�An
exhibition debate on the question
of an isolation policy for the
United States was held by the
teams of Pennsylvania and Tulane
Universities at an open meeting
of the International Relations
Club. "Resolved that the United
States should pursue a policy of
strict military and economic isola-
tion in its foreign policy towards
all nations outside the western
hemisphere who are engaged in
international or civil conflict." It
was a non-decision debate, with
one rebuttal from each side.
Mr. Trice, of Tulane University,
stated that the neutrality towards
which the United States is aiming
can only be obtained through an
isolationist policy. Basing his
argument on economic factors, he
said that business booms are ulti-
mately^ as disastrous as depres-
sions, for one inevitably follows
the other. To show statistically
the recent distorted expansion of
Continued on Pa�e Six
AMERICA IN CHINA
WILL BE DISCUSSED
BY OWEN LATTIMORE
Owen Lattimore, Director of the
Walter Hines Page School of In-
ternational Relations at Johns
Hopkins University, and Editor of
Pacific Affairs, will speak Monday,
April 15 on America's Stake in a
Free China. The lecture is being
presented under the auspices of the
Chinese Scholarship Committee.
This committee was organized
by a group of alumnae in 1918. It
has the two-fold purpose of equip-
ping Chinese women with western
training and of creating at Bryn
Mawr, through Chinese Scholars
and lectures, an interest in China
and a wider understanding of Far
Eastern civilization.
Mr. Lattimore, having spent his
childhood in China and returned in
later years for extensive travel
and "research, is an authority on
that country, and on American re-
lations in the Far East. His early
books, The Desert Road to Turk-
estan and High Tartary, combine
aptly _the hardships, humors, and
triumphs of travel, with those of
scientific investigation, while his
later ones, Manchuria, Cradle of
Conflict, and The Mongols of Man-
churia, are important studies in
race, culture, and the influence of
these factors on political relations.
His lecture will be of particular
interest in view of the fact that he
is a brother of Mr. Lattimore of
the Greek Department.
Calendar
Thursday, March 28.�
.Graduate Fellowships.
Dr. Keppel to speak on
American Philanthropy
and the Advancement of
Learning, Goodhart at
12.00.
Friday, March 29.�
Spring Vacation begins.
Monday, April 8.�
Spring Vacation ends.
Continued on  Page Five    ,
Alumnae meet
At Bryn Mawr
On April 12, 13, 14, the Bryn
Mawr Alumnae Association will
hold an Alumnae Council. The
purpose of the Council is to "co-
ordinate Alumnae activities and
further the understanding between
the Alumnae and the College." In
addition to the regular Alumnae
directors, councillors, and commit-
tee members there are certain other
representatives who change each
year. This year Miss DeLaguna
will represent the Faculty, Doro-
thy Nepper the Graduate Students,
Ann Louise Axon the undergradu-
ates, and Ann Toll the class last to
be graduated. An open meeting
will be held in the Deanery on Fri-
day, April 12, to which all alumnae
in the district are invited. On Sat-
urday afternoon there will be a
meeting at "Longwood" near Wil-
mington, of the Delaware alumnae.
On Saturday evening at Bryn
Mawr there will be a joint supper
and meeting for the Alumnae and
College Councils. This is the first
time -since 1934 that the annual
Alumnae Council has been held at
Bryn Mawr. Representatives will
attend from all over  the country.
Poll reflects
Entertainment
Opinions of 285
The entertainment questionnaire
distributed after the recent college
assembly reflected a pronounced
and reassuring interest in the
problems of college entertainment.
It also afforded a fairly concrete
basis upon which a future commit-
tee could develop its functions.
The answers indicated, above all,
a general desire for a share in the
choice of entertainment and for a
more efficient means of controlling
an overcrowded schedule.
The questionnaires were an-
swered by 285 people, of whom all
but one favored the proposed com-
mittee. Of that number, 233
favored an elected rather than an
appointed committee supporting
the argument that the democratic
method promotes the widest in-
terest. 110 students favored elec-
tion by halls, 75 by classes, and
33 by student organizations. 233
voted for a faculty representative
on   the  committee.
Student opinion revealed an avid
desire for weekend diversion, with
235 affirmative votes. The opposi-
tion numbered 30, of whom 12
were seen to be inhabitants of
Pembroke West. The majority of
weekend supporters favored en-
tertainment scheduled on Friday
night and Sunday afternoon.
The Entertainment Series re-
ceived substantial support with a
count of 256 to 29. Dissenting
opinions were based for the most
part on our nearness to Philadel-
phia, the price of the Series ticket,
Continued  on   Page   Five
Peggy Squibb Voted
Athletic President
Peggy Squibb, newly elected
head of the Athletic Association,
was graduated from the Putney
School after expert training in the
care and feeding of pigs. At col-
lege she has sustained her love of
the great outdoors and has figured
substantially on the hockey, base-
ball and basketball teams. This
year she was vice-president of the
Athletic Association.
In non-athletic fields, Peggy has
participated modestly, though ef-
fectively, in two French plays and
in The Living Newspaper. A rath-
er sinister aspect of her career is
that she has held a monopoly on
the position of A. S. U. treasurer
for three years. Her roommate
will only hint darkly of possible
secret embezzlements or even of
political graft.
Peggy is a biology major and
may be seen on almost any after-
noon, together with her room-
mate, passing patiently to and fro
between Dalton and the New
Science Building. This spring will
find her a shy, though eager, peer
in the chorus of Iolanthe.
Self Government�
The Hall presidents for
next year will be elected the
first week after vacation. It^
should be remembered that
their position is most impor-
tant in relation to Self- Gov-
ernment. They are generally
responsible to the Executive
Board for the conduct of
their halls and are continu-
ally called upon for advice
and information on hall and
campus problems.
Louise Sharp, '40,
President of the Self-Gov-
.   ernment Association.
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