College News, 1942-04-15, Vol. 28, No. 21

              The College News
2-816
VOL.   XXVIII,  No. 21
BRYN MAWR and WAYNE, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1942
Thompson Decries
American Fitness
For Long Struggle
Sees  Use  of Land  Corps
As Help to Economic
And Moral Force
Swarthmore, April 10.�Ameri-
ca is not prepared, to meet her en-
emies either spiritually, economic-
ally, morally, or strategically, said
Dorothy Thompson, noted column-
ist now serving as chairman for
the Volunteer Land Corps. Miss
Thompson, speaking in behalf of
the Land Corps at Swarthmore
College, said that we are "up
against it, worse than even we cah
think," and we are in need of some
of our old spirit. She urged stu-
dents to "do the thing nobody else
wants to do;" to work for three
months on a farm in Vermont.
The United States is unprepared
spiritually   because   it   lacks   the
"high sense of the importance, the
sacrament, the high adventure of
Continued on Page Six
B. M. Defense Group
Will Sponsor Movies
For War Relief Fund
The American Defense Group of
Bryn Mawr College and The Alli-
ance are sponsoring a movie benefit
for the week April 22-28, the pro-
ceeds of which are to go to the
British War Relief Society, the
United China Relief, and the Rus-
sian War Relief. Tickets will be
good at the Seville, Suburban, and
Anthony Wayne Theatres for any
performance except those on Sat-
urday, April 25. The program at
the Seville includes Katharine Hep-
burn in,"Woman of the Year" on
April 22 and 23; "Wild Bill Hickok
Rides" on April 24; "Dumbo" on
April 26 and 27; and Ginger Rog-
ers in "Roxie Hart" on April 28.
Tickets must be obtained in ad-
vance from hall representatives of
The Alliance or from the Publicity
Office in Taylor Hall. The price is
forty cents and no charging on
Pay Day is permitted. On the
first thousand tickets sold, the pro-
ceeds available for the three relief
organizations will be 9% cents per
ticket. If more than 1,000 tickets
are sold, the proceeds amount to
twelve cents for each ticket in ex-
cess of 1,000.
Coleman Makes Plea
For Humor, Serenity
Despite War Despair
At the College Assembly on
Monday morning, the Reverend
Michael Coleman, Vicar of All-
Hallows by the Tower, London,
spoke on his experiences in Eng-
land. During such experiences
and similar ones which we are
likely to meet in the present situa-
tion, he believes that a sense of
humor and serenity are valuable
assets.
Father Coleman, since his parish
is in London, and since he is ac-
tively attached to the Demolition
gangs, Bomb Disposal squads, and
other civilian defense groups, '.as
seen "how people in London are
feeling about the essential things
in life." He likened their struggle
to see the Light of God through
the blackness of danger, despair,
and fear, to Christian's search, i-i
Pilgrim's Progress, for the "wick-
et gate"  and  the  "shining light."
What we need most to preserve
in wartime, and what is most like-
ly to be sacrificed, according to
Father Coleman, are our sense of
humor and our serenity. The
British, he asserted, have succeed-
ed in retaining their characteristic
humor during the difficulties and
tragedies of wartime.
As for our sense of serenity,
Father Coleman said that we
Americans, in our "delicious coun-
try," are too likely to be ruled by
the newspaper headlines, while the
British have learned in the course
of the war, not to be unduly im-
pressed by them.
He stated that the most impor-
tant thing to remember is that we
must win the peace after the war.
We won the last war but lost the j
Continued on  rage  Four
Calendar
Thursday, April 16
Spanish Club Tea. Senor
Lassalle. Common Room,
4:00.
Saturday, April  18
Denbigh Dance, 9:00.
Non-Resident Dance, Com-
mon Room, 8:00.
Sunday, April  19
Chapel, Dr. Alberts. Mu-
sic Room, 7:30.
Monday, April 20
Mme. Ludmilla Pitoeff,
dramatic reading. Thea-
tre Workshohp, 8:00.
Tuesday, April 21
Current Events. Common
Room,  7:30.
'Hay Fever' Promises
Laughter and Delight
This year,the germ of spring
fever has a companion in the Hav-
erford-Bryn Mawr production of
Hay Fever, Noel Coward's delight-
fully mad play. The name, to be
sure, has nothing to do with the
plot; but the plot has nothing to
do with anything�a relieving ir-
relevance in this era of tense
drama. Even the most blase in-
tellect is warned against losing his
heart to the artistic rustics who
form the nucleus of the cast.
. The play, a light froth which has
Continued on  Page Five
Valuable Gems Stolen From Science Building;
Thief Trapped by Watson and Detectives
Mr. Watson has proved a good
deal more discerning than niB*
Sherlock Holmesian namesake. Be-
coming suspicious of a frequent
visitor to the mineral collection in
the New Science Building, he in-
vestigated, discovering that a large
number of valuable specimens were
missing, including some of gold
and platinum.                   ~   ' -
The thief, an "amateur mineral
collector," thirty six* year old
George K. Peterson, worked with
the Philadelphia Suburban Water
Company. Informing Mr. Watson
that he was interested in the Bryn
Mawr College Collection, he ob-
tained permission to visit it every
da^ in his lunch hour.
After about twenty of these
visits had been made, Mr. Watson
became suspicious and checked the
collection with the catalogue which
was completed last summer. He
found that in addition to gold and
platinum many valuable gems were
missing.
In collaboration, Mr. Watson
and the detectives set an ingenious
trap. They moved a coat closet,
resembling the cupboards in which
the minerals were kept into the
mineral room. Hiding in the closet,
'Detective   Tierney   of  the   Lower
| Merion Police was able to observe
Mr.  Peterson  appropriating valu-
�aWe minerals  with  the   aid. of  a
i handkerchief.
On this actual evidence, the thief
was caught. Rocks bearing the
minerals were found in his room.
There was also a list of well-known
mineral collections, including that
of the Museum of Natural History
in New York. Peterson signed a
confession and admitted having
stolen from other collections. His
method was to convince prospec-
tive employers of his qualifications
as a mineral analyst.
Research Fellowship
Given by Foundation
To Miss Oppenheimer
One of the awards of the seven-
teenth annual series of Guggenheim
Fellowships went to Miss Oppen-
heimer of the- Bryn Mawr Biology
Department. These fellowships are
granted to research workers, schol-
ars, artists, and others who by
their previous work have shown
themselves to be unusually able.
Miss Oppenheimer hopes to go to
Cornell Medical School to make an
experimental analysis of the struc-
ture and function of the bony fish
central nervous system. Most of
the research projects �f the Fel-
lows are long-range, and the Gug-
genheim Foundation believes that
interruption of the continuity of
such fundamental work would re-
sult in unestimable loss.
Miss Oppenheimer's work is al-
ready started, and the fellowship
has been given to her specifically
to enable her to continue. She has
collected and fertilized eggs from
the bony fish, fundulus heteroclitus,
and has operated on and preserved
embryos in various stages of de-
velopment. It remains for her,
next year, to section these embryos
and make a study of them.
Fundulus heteroclitus, a small
minnow, lives in the New Haven
harbor. Miss Oppenheimer has
caught many in a wire trap baited
with a bone. In the laboratory,
she operates microscopically on the
fertilized eggs at different stages
of their embryological development,
cutting the tissues before the or-
gans are formed in such a way as
to produce abnormal formation of
the brain.
Copyright,  Trustees of       PRICF   1(1   CENTS
Bryn   Mawr  College,. 1942     rKI*-c   tu   V-crt l J
Elections
Bryn  Mawr League:
Secretary-Treasurer, Gra-
ham Hobson, '44.
Chairman of Chapel Com-
mittee, Dora Beriedict, '44.
Assistant, Pat Brown, '44.
Players' Club:
President,    Anne    Denny,
'43.         '     '
Vice-President,   Lynn   Ha-
den, '43.
Business   Manager,  Lucile
Mott, '43.
Reading Committee, Louise
Horwood, '44; Mary Ellis,
'44.
Non-Residents:
President, Edith Schmid,
'44. �#
Student Leaders Inaugurated
At Traditional Mass Meeting
Detailed Description Given
Of Work of Clubs
And Committees
In the reports given at the in-
auguration last week there was
time for only a brief mention of
the many clubs and committees on
campus whose activities, although
perhaps unrealized by some, are if
general   interest   and   importance.
Several organizations are new this
year, and the foremost of these is
the Alliance, formed as a commit-
tee of the Undergraduate Associa-
tion. Its object has been to coordi-
nate all defense activities under
one association in cooperation with
the Faculty Defense Group, and it
has taken the place of last year's
Forum. The Alliance board was
elected at a college mass meeting,
with Mary Gumbart for chairman.
Under its sponsorship an exten-
sive and highly successful program
of defense courses has been offered
to the students and to outside mem-
bers of the community, and an op-
portunity has been provided to
learn and discuss the issues of the
Continued  on   Page   Two
Disciplinary Problems
Discussed  in  Meeting
fin   n      j            pit     �                  Vivi French's report on the Un-
Ut    Minimi    Lbairmeil dergraduate   Association's   activi-
Outgoing  Officers   Report
On Activities of Year
For Their Groups
Goodliart, Thursday, April 9.�
Incoming presidents of the Self-
Government and Undergraduate
Associations, the Bryn Mawr
League and the Athletic Associa-
tion, formally took office last
Thursday, donning the gowns of
their predecessors in the tradition-
al ceremony. Frances Matthai was
inaugurated as President of the
Self-Government Association, Sal-
ly Matteson of the Undergraduate
Association, Helen Eichelberger of
the Bryn Mawr League, and Luda
Hedge received the Athletic associ-
ation gavel for the absent presi-
dent, Mimi Boal. The out-going
presidents gave their reports.
After Diana Lucas, Treasurer of
the Self-Government Association,
had reported, Kitty McClellan, ex-
president of the Association gave a
summary of the year's activities.
She expressed her disappointment
at the unimpressive record of the
past year and the hope that the
coming year would prove a worthy
start for the next fifty years of
Self-Government.
ties for the year followed that of
Arnie Heyniger, treasurer of the
Association.     Vivi   spoke   of   the
In keeping with the times, the
delegates to the annual Seven Col-
lege Conference met in an official! amendments of the constitution,
air raid shelter of Radcliffe Col-!the assemblies, and the mass meet-
lege last Sunday. Student disci-j'ngs, which have included one on
pline, social  organization  and ex- Mav Day, and one on the Alliance.
tra-curricular activities were dis-
cussed by delegates from Radcliffe,
Smith, Vassar,. Wellesley, Mount
Holyoke", Barnard and Bryn Mawr,
with Bennington as the guest col-
lege.
Familiar to Bryn Mawr eyes
were splints and bandages, for the
room, in the basement of Barnard
Hall, is also used for First Aid
courses.
Most of the morning discussion
dealt with social regulation: ju-
dicial courts, fines and penalties.
These considerations, which pre-
sent the greatest problems to all
the seven colleges, do not seem to
She explained the origin and pur-
pose of the Alliance and announced
the dissolution of the Entertain-
ment Committee owing to its fail-
ure this year. There will be no big
entertainment next year since the
Undergraduate Association does
not wish to repeat such financial
risk.
Continued on  Page Three
Concert   Presented
By Schola Cantorum
By Posy Kent, '45
Goodliart, April 7.�A group of
command attention at Bennington,J singers from the Schola Cantorum
where emphasis is more upon en- in New York presented a concert
lightenment and integration of the in the Auditorium under the direc-
individual than upon discipline.
Continued  -in   Page  Two
Favorable   Reception
Given German Movie
tion of Mr. Hugh Ross. The pro-
gram, consisting of three Spanish
songs, a Bach cantata, and ex-
cerpts from the C Minor Mass of
Mozart, gave opportunity for great
variety of expression.
______                             Due to unevenness  of  perform-
Students of German enthusiastic-, ance- the evening was somewhat
ally received "Der Hauptmann von disappointing, considering that
Koepnick" today in the Theatre these singers have the reputation
Workshop. The movie, complete of b�ing members of one of the
with English subtitles, is a satire outstanding choral societies of to-
of German militarism in 1906, be- day- A lack of balance between
fore the first World War.                  tne soprano and tenor sections and
The 70-minute length of the pic- a certain want of enthusiasm gen-
ture was relieved by the sometimes orally could not be overcome by
robust humor of it, and broken by technical proficiency alone. As to
an intermission. *he plot is some- P'tch, attack, and articulation, the
what involved and tricky, and was singers gave all the evidence of a
perhaps the weakest point of the professionally trained proup, and. *
picture; while the comic scenes, for this Mr. Ross is to be highly
especially those in the police sta- congratulated. His excellent con-
tion, were much appreciated by UlA **� particularly evident in the
the audience.                                       passages  which called  for sudden
The plot of the movie centers crescendo or dimiiun���tufa.
around a eobbler, just out of pri-| Of the three Spanish songs, the
son, who has noticed that soldiers O }'os Omnes of Vittoria' was the
seem to get their own way about best suited to the singers' abili-
everything; he assumes the uni- tics. The cathedral - like atnms-
form of a captain, calling himself phere of the music was very well 0
the Hauptmann von Koepnick, im- sustained. In this and the four-
prisons the mayor of the town,1 teenth century A Mimd,- of the
Continued on Page rilght                              O.neiniied  on  r�e  Two
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