College News, 1945-04-25, Vol. 31, No. 23

              y-
The college Mews
VOL. XLI, NO. 23
ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY,   APRIL 25, 1945
�,    ----------------------------,     ......-------..,   .�.�,___________________BrynM
/     ==
Society of Contemporary Russia
Described in Simmons9 Lectures
B^ScXr'.SU     PRICE 10 CENTS
�^r
Maids, Porters'
Play Presented
WithOriginality
Goodhart, April 21. "An amazing
understanding of the special hu-
mor of the play pervaded the en-
tire Maids and Porters' produc-
tion of Joseph Kesselring's Ar-
senic and Old Lace. The tone of
*b,e play differed from that of the
original chiefly in removing the
�action from the plane of the ma-
cabre to that of equally appro-
priate fantasia.
In spite of the handicap of the
prevalent man-power shortage,
and the understandable deficien-
cies in pace, the spirit of the play
alone could "Have made it a suc-
cess.
Louise Jones and Pearl Edmunds
as the two Brewster sisters,
brought a remarkable understand-
ing to their roles, showing an ex-
cellent stage presence. Their ges-
tures and inflections were in per-
Conmuti on Ptgt i
Simmons Urges
Study of Russia
M Own Solution
"Russia is a peace-loving na-
tion." With this rather startling
statement Dr. Ernest J. Simmons,
current lecturer on Russia, open-
ed his self-conducted interview
for the News. Leaning back on
the Deanery couch with a slight
smile, he aded, "I know, you are
non-plussed. You don't believe it.
You fear Russia�you and all the
rank and file of Americans. You
fear her because you really know
nothing about her."
Dr. Simmons, Associate Profes-
sor of Russian Language and Lit-
erature at Cornell, explained that
while information and propaganda
have been plentiful, education
about Russia has not.
"Our feeling toward Russia,"
Dr. Simmons said, "is like our feel-
ing when we get into bed at night
and see a white blotch on the wall.
It might be a ghost. And as we
He there in the dark it troubles us
and we cannot sleep�because we
don't know what it is. When we
just get up, and turn on the light,
and see what is actually there,
then at least we know whether our
fear is grounded or not."
Elaborating on this first state-
ment that Russia was "a peace-
loving nation," Dr. Simmons ex-
plained that he did not mean "that
Russia was a Father Divine yell-
ing 'Peace, it's wonderful'" but
that it had found peace to be in
its own interest.
The present attitude of the ma-
jority of Americans toward Russia
he attributed to "German propa-
ganda unconsciously retailed by
the press for American consump-
tion" and to the fact that the
United States has "never come
around to the acceptance of Rus-
sia's right to have any economic
system she wants, an attitude
which has unfortunately deter-
mined our diplomatic  policy."
The answer to the whole prob-
lem lies in education, according
to Dr. Simmons. Praising Bryn
Mawr's administration for insti-
tuting this series of lectures on
non-western civilizations, he em-
Continued on Page *
Broughton, Moore
Win Fellowships
For Achievements
Included among the fifty-five
civilian recipients of the Guggen-
heim fellowships, were Dr. Thomas
Robert Shannon Broughton, assoc-
iate professor of Latin at Bryn
Mawr, and Miss Marianne Moore,
graduate of Bryn Mawr. The fel-
lowships are given to finance
achievements in writing, research,
science, art, poetry and music
composition.
In compiling a list of all Roman
magistrates, minor magistrates,
and priests, Dr. Broughton hopes
to create a reference book that
will give by years, a brief sum-
mary of the life, dates, and works
of important Romans. Dr. Brough-
ton has been teaching at Bryn
Mawr for seventeen years and
started to work on his list approx-
imately three years ago. As he
has won the Fellowship, he expects
the work to  advance quickly.
Miss Marianne Moore won the
Guggenheim Fellowship for poetry
and fiction. She said she "had not
planned anything very imposing"
but she was going to do a trans-
lation in verse of Stister's Adle-
burg, in collaboration with Miss
Elizabeth Mayer. Miss Moore had
nothing definite in mind when she
was awarded the Fellowship, in
fact she seems to have preferred
doing book reviews, but as the
idea of the translation was well
received, she expects to start in at
once.
Adherence   to   Marxism
In Soviet Policy
�       Stressed
Nursing School to
Reopen Soon
The Bryn Mawr College Sum-
mer School of .Nursing, discontin-
ued in 1944, will open again this
year in its fourth session at the
specific request of the participat-
ing schools of nursing, Columbia-
Presbyterian, Johns Hopkins and
Lincoln- Hospitals.
This pre-cliriical school, spons-
ored by the American Red Cross
and approved by the United States
Public Health Service, will enable
the participating nursing schools
at present overburdened, to admit
Conthnti   on   Psgt   i
Goodhart, April 23. Refuting the
present theory that Russia is turn-
ing toward capitalism, Dr. Ernest
J. Simmons in his last lecture,
"Russia Today, A Changing Civili-
zation", emphasized that Russian
development is rather the histori-
cal evolution of Marxist ideals. Dr.
Simmons asserted that erroneous
convictions about Russian policy
arise from an Ignorance of that
country which must be combated
by education.
The only fundamental alteration
in the doctrine proclaimed by the
revolutionists of 1917 has been
that introduced with the first Five
Year Plan in 1928, when Russia
turned from the aim of world revo-
lution to constructing a socialist
state within Russia. The Comin-
tern, terror of the western na-
tions, lost its significance at this
time, but was preserved as "an in-
strument of Russia's foreign pol-
icy.
The effects of the concentration
upon Russian internal development
appeared in the revival of Russian
nationalism. Studies of Russian
history were introduced into the
schools, but were always taught
with reference to the Communist
revolution. The recognition of re-
ligion at about the same time was
the result of a changed attitude
on the part of the Church. "The
government has not been hostile
L to any force within the country
that would wholeheartedly accept
its rule," Dr. Simmons said.
Calendar
Thursday, April 26
12:00 P.M.    Dr.    Greet,   Dic-
tion  Lecture, Music Room.
4:00 P. M.    Alliance Tea, Dr.
Wells,      "Dumbarton     Oaks,"
Common  Room.
8:30 P. M.    Spanish Club Rec-
ord     Concert,     Mr.    Hellmer
speaking, Common  Room.
Friday, April 27
8:15 P.M.    Catholic Club, Dr.
Bonner,   Common   Room.
Saturday, April 28
9:00 A.M.    Spanish  and Ital-
ian Orals.
8:15 P.M.    Glee     Club    Con-
cert,  Goodhart.
Sunday, April 29    .
7:30 P. M.    Chapel,    Reverend
Vernon     W.     Cooke,     Music
Room.
Monday, April 30
8:00 P.M. Art Club Lecture,
Mr. James Sweeney, "The Vic-
torian Background of Contem-
porary Art," Music Room.
7:15 P.M. Current Events,
Common  Room.
Tuesday,  May  1
May Day
8:30 P. M.   Capping of  Nurs-
es' Aides, Goodhart.
Wednesday, May 2
"6:00 P.M.    College  Council.
Taylor    Awarded
Scholastic  Honor
Lily Ross Taylor, professor of
Latin at Bryn Mawr since 1927
and Dean of the Graduate School,
has just been elected a member
of the American Philosophical So-
ciety, one of the highest scholas-
tic honors in the world and com-
parable to the British Royal So-
ciety.
Miss Taylor graduated from the
University of Wisconsin in. 1906
and received her doctor's degree
from Bryn Mawr in 1912. Recent-
ly she has been appointed a trus-
tee of Wellesley College and dele-
gate to the American Council of
Learned Societies. She is also
president of the American Philo-
logical Society. Besides contrib-
uting to various philological and
archaeological journals, Miss Tay-
lor has written two books, Local
Cults in Etruria and The Divinity
of the Roman Emperors.
Questioned about the American
Philosophical Society, Miss Taylor
said, "1 don't know very much
aoout it except that it was found-
ed by Benjamin Franklin." The
organization, largely scientific and
"founded for the promotion of use-
ful knowledge," encourages re-
search and helps to publish aca-
demic books* At the large open
meetings in Philadelphia in April
and November, outstanding schol-
ars and scientists read papers on
their work and explain new dis-
coveries in various fields. David
Rittenhouse, John Bartram, and
Thomas Jefferson are but a few
of its  many famous members.
Soviet Literature  Called
Reflection of New
Social Order
Goodhart, April 19, 1945. "Sovi-
et literature is not propaganda. It
is a truthful picture of a new kind
of social order. No modern lit-
erature gives a better reflection of
the country in which it is written,"
declared Dr. Ernest Simmons in
his lecture on Soviet Russian Lit-
erature, fourth in a series on Rus-
sia. One inspiration for the pro-
lificness and excellence of Soviet
literature, he felt, was the demand
of the newly-literate millions for
poetry, fiction and drama dignify-
ing and justifying their sacrifices
for a new world.
As a result, a study of the liter-
ature of these 25 years is a good
historical study as well as an ar-
tistic one. The war literature, for
instance, is that of a total people.
Not only the army's valor but that
of the workers, guerillas, and civ-
ilians is expressed. A hatred of
war and a desire to return to the
life they love is a dominant theme
�illustrated by such works 83
Simyonov's Wait for Me.
The note of optimism and faith
in the future is not however, lack-
ing here. This note, the speaker
said, has characterized Soviet lit-
erature from its birth, and runs
through every stage of its evolu-
tion. Even Soviet "realism" con-
sists in regarding man with all
the optimism possible; its human-
ism shows the individual and the
community as no longer hostile
but complementary forces.
The literature of the confused
revolutionary and civil war per-
iod, chiefly poetry, was "drab" and
destructive in spirit. This mood,
well represented by the gargantuan
Ma'yakovsky, was short lived. A
fine and more mature picture of
the birth pangs of the USSR is
Sholakovs novel Quiet Flows the
Don.
After a period of post-revolution-
ary disillusionment, came strict
regimentation under the first Five
Year Plan. The folly of this strict-
ness was soon realized and "liter-
ature was given back to the au-
thors." The nationalist spirit ar-
oused by the prospect of war was
reflected in a flood of brilliant
historical  novels.
Wells Clarifies
Background of
Security Plans
by R. H. Wells,
Professor of Political  Science
Gd. Note: This article In the first in a
series on current national and inter-
national questions written by mem-
bers of the faculty. This article is
being: printed by the College New*
In cooperation with the program
outlined by several members of the
faculty and student body in a Let-
. ter to the Editor last week. This
program, aiming at understanding
�f the problems facing the nation,
and participation by students In
their solution, also outlined a sys-
tem for educating undergraduates in
the basic issues Involved in those
problems.
As the great Security Confer-
ence of the United Nations con-
venes in San Francisco, the spot-
light of world attention is focus-
ed upon the assembled delegates
representing forty-six states. This
is not the first time that the United
Nations have gathered together
for common deliberation and ac-
tion. One recalls the Conference
on Food and Agriculture (Hot
Springs, Virginia, May, 1943); the
launching of UNRRA (Washing-
ton and Atlantic City, November,
1943); and the Monetary and
Financial Conference (Bretton
Woods, yew Hampshire, July,
1944) to say nothing of recent in-
ternational conferences not spec-
ifically held under the aegis of
the United Nations (for example,
the International Labor Organi-
zation Conference, Philadelphia,
April, 1944: and the International
Civil Aviation Conference, Chi-
cago, 1944). Without minimizing
these earlier gatherings, it is safe
to say that the San Francisco Con-
ference is the most crucial of them
all. Its task is nothing less than
the establishment of a general in-
ternational organization for the
collective maintenance of peace
and the development of coopera-
tion between the nations.
An important factor in the suc-
cess or failure of an international
conference is the amount of pre-
paratory work and preliminary
discussion which precede the for-
mal meeting. In general, the
spade work for San Francisco has
been well done. The preparation
did not begin at Dumbarton Oaks
Continued on   rage  4
"As You Like It" Roams Campus
On  Vigorous  Wild Sheep Chase
by Rosina Bateson '47
Whether you like it or not, the
rehearsals of As You Like It are
rather elusive. Scheduled for
Wyndham garden, they may be
found almost anywhere. A lyric
note, pinned to a stake behind the
French House reads "go to the
dell behind Goodhart."
There is no dell behind Good-
hart. A gulley perhaps, to quib-
ble, but evidently the cast couldn't
find one either. After consider-
able wandering which included a
rather noisy interruption of 1)
Russia in the Common Room and
2) Russia on the stage, it was dis-
covered that the cast of As You
Like It had sneaked back into the
Common Room after Russia had
left.
Kate Rand '45, and Jean Swit-
tendick '48, as Rosalind and Or-
lando, were in the process of en-
acting a rather tender love scene.
After bluntly stating that she
would prefer a snail to a tardy
lover, Rosalind encountered trou-
ble when she gracefully walked
around the bench to secure a more
advantageous position, only to be
interrupted by loud cries from the
stage crew that she was where
she couldn't possibly be, because
it was a tree.    Supposedly . . .
The property manager is hav-
ing a difficult time, trying to de-
cide whether the aforementioned
crew could be camouflaged as mis-
cellaneous stumps. Also, the cry
has gone out for a herd of sheep
and a horse.
Anyone who knows someone who
could get the joyous word to their
butcher before the day of slaugh-
ter is hereby urged to take action.
The flavor of lamb-chops has long
since been forgotten, and now the
main object is sheep as you like it
�on the hoof. Suggestions, please!
_