College News, 1941-09-26, Vol. 28, No. 01

              \
The College IVews
*-� i
_L_!----
��+-
VOL. XXVIII, No. 1
=f
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1941
Copyright, Truiteet of
Bryn   Mawr College,   1940
kS
PRICE  10 CENTS
BK  ^
Polls, War Relief,
Fire and Forums
Mark Year'40-'41
Extra - Curricular Activities
Important Part of Life
Of   Students
This is the story of a year, the
week-to-week headlHes and the
threads of tangled opinion and
olive-drab wool that was Bryn
Mawr 1940-1941. Call it a kaleido-
scope. This is to let you know,
'45, what you have got yourselves
into.
Of course, we are not intimating
that it could happen again. We
don't see how it could.
It started with a torchlight pa-
rade. O'ren Root came to Bryn
Mawr with a Willkie button. After
stopping for a poll, 25 per cent of
the faculty and 75 per cent of the
students, including proportionately
less upperclassmen who listened
proportionately less to their fath-
ers, were swept enthusiastically
into line, behind Mr. Root and the
village band. There were forums
in the Common Room; they started
with "facts and figures" and end-
ed with people crying "dictator-
ship" or "laissez faire, huh" at each
other.
Then, on the night of Nov. 4,
the Common Room stayed open un-
til 1.00. Coffee was served, and
the radio revealed, bit by bit�but
we don't talk about that.
Suddenly there was a new slogan.
Unity. Foreign policy was the
issue of the day. Students Give
Britain Check for Ambulance.
Vincent Sheean Presents Views on
War. Hans Kohn Speaks to Mass
Assembly Topic Selected is Vnder-
etanding    Our   Time.      Committee
Continued on   Page   Two
THE    V1LL
Quarantine!
Because of a quarantine for
Infantile Paralysis, students
are requested not to attend
movies or theatres or eating
places off campus. This rul-
ing has been made as a pre-
cautionary measure, and will
be lifted early next week.
Sophomores to Give
Traditional Lanterns
B.U...... �;.),....

Also: Philip Harrison Shop, next to the SUBURBAN; lfx G.  Cuffs,
radios ami electrical supplies: The Creek's, Hrvn Miner Confectionery
Village Offers Shops
For Freshmen Needs
From Yarn to Radios
What do you need? You'll find
it in the Vill. Sweaters and skirts
from Abercrombie and Fitch of
New York can be had at Jeanne
Retts. Less expensive sportswear
at the Philip Harrison Store, and
at Kitty McLean's.    Yarn for that
sweater you'll be* knitting in off
'lours comes from Dinah Frost's.
Gifts for yourself at Richard Stock-
ton's. If you want a radio, or if
you "want some new records, try
Cuff's, or Foster Hammonds. Soft,
'j g chairs for your room you can
vet at Hobson Owens. If you want
beauty, go to Rene Marcel or
Maison Adolphe. Flowers from
Jeannette's, or Conelly's.
If you're feeling adventurous,
the bus will take you to Ardmore,
where you'll find clothes at Best's,
Lewis's, Jane Engle's and Dorothy
Continued  on   Page  Two
Tea, Lunch, Dinners,
Bands, Juleps, Beer
Are Described Below
Author's note: This is an au-
thoritative and exhaustive article
on where to go and wnen which
every freshman should paste se-
curely to the lining of her new
black purse.
Local: if you sleep through
breakfast, if you're starved at four
or if Aunt Jenny shows up unex-
pectedly at lunch or dinner you'll
go to the College Inn. For more
elaborate teas, there are, within
walking distance, The Community
Kitchen, the Chatterbox and the
Bit of a Shop all on Lancaster
Pike, and the Cottage on Mont-
gomery  (also for lunch or dinner).
If you must have food before you
go to bed, try Meth's for ice cream
and sticky buns or the Greeks for
beer and hamburgers.
Continued   in   Page   Two
New High Seen Ahead
Tennis Tournament
in Sports Activity;
Opens 1941 Fall Season
By Anne Denny, '43
A great year is coming in Bryn
Mawr sports. Material, spirit, and
good supervision � everything
points to a successful '41-'42. Al-
ready the class of '45 shows ambi-
tious murmurings in the line of
tennis players, and '44 has brought
forth its hockey talent long ago.
The general trend of the last few
years is toward louder cheering
and more "oomph" on all sides, but
this year should be the begining of
a new high in sports activity.
The Freshman tournament starts
everything off with ^ a prayer for
good weather, and no matter how
the score comes out most Fresh-
men enjoy a rousing game of "Do
You Know' with their opponents.
If the finalists are as good
as we prophesy, the upperclass-
men might even pull out the old
Greek cheer for the winner.
Miss Grant will snatch all ex-
cess Freshman energy for hockey
practice as soon as she can. Three
o'clock any afternoon expects to
find a good crowd of stick swing-
ers. Bryn Mawr is lucky to be near
some of the best hockey teams in
the   country,   well-drilled    college
teams and club teams packed with
Ail-American players. The Var-
sity undergoes several "shellack-
ings" each year but only because
brilliant play is spoiled by a fast-
disappearing lack of practice.
Whether you play Varsity hockey
or just hockey, there are plenty of
good games. The interclass games
inspire a good-natured class riv-
alry, at the end of the season.
Most popular with the watchers,
are the Haverford games, when the
sticks fly and it invariably rains
or snows.
Tennis goes on all fall and all
spring. Tryouts are held at both
seasons, and the Varsity has lately
moved into a higher bracket of
inter-club play. The matches usu-
ally include many of the "Na-
tionals" players.
Dancing enthusiasts will find
two alternatives at Bryn Mawr.
The Modern Dance Club provides
excellent instruction.    Miss Schin-
Miss Petts teaches the Isadora
Duncan type of dancing. Last
year, a performance of Sleeping
Beauty flitted in front of the "Gym
Castle," in a semi-comical version.
Continued on Page Four
Calendar
Saturday September 27
Reading Test, Rooms F
and G, Taylor Hall. At-
tendance required of all
freshmen, 9 and 10 A. M.
Instruction about the use
of the library, 11.30 to 12
Noon.
Hockey, 3 P. M.
Tea will be served in Good-
hart Hall for freshmen and
their parents, 4 to 6 P. M.
Buffet supper at Wyrtd-
ham, followed by Athletic
Association, League and
Undergraduate Association
meeting, 6 P. M.
Sunday, September 28
President's Reception for
the entering class, at the
Deanery, 4 P. M.
Halls of residence open to
returning students, 8 P. M.
Sunday evening service in
the Music Rodhi Of Good-
hart Hall, 8 P. M.
Monday, September 29
Advanced Standing exam-
inations in Spanish and in
Italian, Room M, 9 A. M.
Modern Dance Recital.
Self-Government Examina-
tion in Room F, Taylor
Hall. Attendance requir-
ed, 7.30 P. M.
Cloisters to Serve as Scene of
Ceremony for Inducting
Incoming Class
At Bryn Mawr, the third Friday
in October is appointed as a night
of solemn ceremony. On Lantern
Night the Sophomores formally
welcome the incoming class in
what is perhaps the oldest and
most characteristic of all the col-
lege traditions.
Freshmen and Sophomores as-
semble in two separate groups out-
side the library. Silent and invis-
ible in their black caps and gowns,
the Freshmen file into the night
blackness of the Cloisters. They
form a semi-circle, standing in the
grass with their back to the li-
brary. As they stand, the Sopho-
mores enter; the only light is the
long muted flares from the lan-
terns that swing, one from the
hand of each Sophomore. As they
walk they sing their Greek hymn,
invoking Pallas Athene, goddess of
wisdom, to make holy the lan-
terns they bear; to change dark-
ness into light. At first the hymn
is faint, but the voices increase
and the music echoes from arch
to arch, from wall to wall.
The Sophomores form a second
semi-circle inside the first. The
song is done; each hands her lan-
tern to the closest Freshman and
runs. Gathered in a corner they
sing their song once again. The
Continued on  Page Four
Freshmen  Will Cast
Decisive Vote in New
May Day Referendum
Big May Day is an Elizabethan
pageant customarily presented by
Bryn Mawr every four years.
Big May Day is marked by
its costumes, Elizabethan plays,
white ^oxen, and dances. Color
and gaiety are flung across the
campus, alumnae come back from
everywhere and Bryn Mawr goes
on parade in Elizabethan trap-
pings.
The first Big May Day was held
in l'JOO; the last in 1936. The
next one, to have been presented
in 194Q, was postponed because
of the financial situation resulting
from the outbreak of war. Last
Continued  on  1'age Two
Parade Night to
Feature Bonfire,
Songs, Struggles
Torchlights   Will    Flicker
To Mark Traditional
Procession
Parade Night, with its boister-
ous bouts between Freshmen and
Sophomores, is in the offing. As
the first tradition involving rivalry
between the two classes, it is the
antithesis of Lantern Night. The
rivalry is expressed in the Sopho-
more attempt to discover and par-
ody the Freshman song. Equally
opposed to the ceremonious ritual
of Lantern Night is its wild snake
dance around a roaring bonfire
on the hockey field, the Freshman
parade down Senior row in the
glow of sputtering red torches,
and the blasting of the Bryn Mawr
band in the background.
Parade Night celebrates the first
day of classes. Tuesday night
will witness the repetition of the
tradition which has a long history
of violent song-snatchings and
rough house.
In the primeaval days, it was
celebrated with artificial materials
and showed a violence unknown
today. In 1914 the three upper
classes dressed as wierd devils,
witches, or strang beasts. Every-
one danced around a huge bonfire
on the lower hockey field while
"Freshie" was burned in effigy.
The costumes, in the ensuing strug-
gles, were not fully appreciated,
however.
With the aid of that old Sopho-
more stand-by: "I wasn't at the
meeting yesterday. What is the
tune?", the Sophomores were en-
abled to taunt the Freshmen vig-
orously:
Look at them straggling into view
Bawling  for home  with  loud boo-
hoo
See how they shrink before the red
Falling away in reverent dread
Why all those tears
Poor little dears
Oh, they should be in bed
Your song is weak
Yotir voices squeak
Oh,   11)18,  oh,   1918.
Roman    candles    gave    way    to
Continued on I'ane Three
Many a Monday Night Did Inspire Deeply
Many a Freshman Now Gone With the Dew
With Tuesday, classes begin, and
in order not to neglect Bryn Mawr's
scholastic aspect, The News pre-
sents a picture of the course on
every course slip: English Compo-
sition.
As will soon be discovered, this
course requires one composition
every Tuesday morning at 9 A. M.,
written slightly before this time.
The compositions when corrected
are hidden away in an inaccessible
boh' in Taylor basement to be dug
up and returned at the end of sen-
ior year. Those returned to sen-
iors last spring reveal the variety
and color concealed in the dust of
Taylor.
One composition, The Vicious
Circle, begins: "The first reading�
the cast lying around in the living
room�cigarette smoke dropping
wistfully. From Lee's lipsticked
mouth saying, "It's ever such a
lovely day, madam,' on to the re-
hearsals with Bob, who wasn't very
good, but he didn't care because he
was in love with R:cky."   Comment
by professor: "Be careful not to
overwork these disjointed efforts."
"Oh God, Agnes," breaks out some-
one from the midst of another com-
position.
The library somehow aroused a
nostalgic liking in another who
wrote a composition entitled:
"Again Glad Radiance� A Voice
Burst Forth (this. last crossed
out)", beginning: "Down in the
depths of the library, the atmos-
phere of the stacks soothed her."
"A crash is heard and one sees
the dignified' but heavy principal
lying on the floor with his feet
cj^ngling in the air. The chair has
completely collapsed with each leg
thrust in a different direction and
the seat and the back flattened out,"
was a stage direction of the play
written by a freshman in 1938 and
called, "The Principal's Fall."
"As, he is stuck, he tries to get
momentum by kicking his feet.
After a moment of complete silence,
a moan is heard from Miss Shane.
Continued on Face Four