College News, 1945-04-11, Vol. 31, No. 21

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The
COLLEGE
VOL. XLI, NO. 21          ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY,   APRIL 11, 1945
Copyrijht, Truilcei of
Bryn Miwr Collage. 1945
Colleges Discuss
Various Plans
Of Organization
Other Colleges' Rigidity
Contrasts with B. M.'s
Liberalism
Virginia Thomas, Lovina Brend-
linger, Harji Malik, and Patricia
Behrens represented Bryn Mawr
at the Seven College Conference,
an annual meeting of delegates
from the main north-eastern wom-
en's colleges, held during spring
vacation at Smith College. The
main part of this year's meeting
centered on a comparison of the
various organizational . systems
of the colleges represented.
The Conference, composed of
Barnard, Mt. Holyoke, Radcliffe,
Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, and
Bryn Mawr, with Sarah Lawrence
as a guest college, also discussed
such specific problems as war
work, prevalent apathy, and the
practical value of the academic and
social honor .systems of some of
the colleges.
Bryn  Mawr
Absence of faculty and admin-
istration control in SelfjGovern-
ment and extra-curricular fields,
and a generally greater indepen-
dence of organizations and indi-
viduals seem to mark the contrast
between Bryn Mawr and the other
colleges.
Faculty are an integral part of
the    Self - Government    judiciary
boards in many  of the  other col-
Continued on  Page  4
B. M. Represented
At Annual Forum
The Fruits of Victory�1919 vs.
194-? was the comprehensive
topic of the second annual College
Forum meeting last Saturday,
April 8. The Forum, sponsored
by Mademoiselle, met with the pur-
pose of bringing "college women
face to face with the errors of
post-war period of World War I,,'
and acquainting them with their
origin and the steps necessary to
right them.
Delegates from fourteen col-
leges were present at the Forum,
and many distinguished speakers
presented the political and social
problems awaiting solution. Doro-
thy Bruchholz '46 and Nanette
Emery '47 represented Bryn
Mawr.
Following a short discussion of
the problems, the college delegates
presented short reports on their
current campus activities,
programs such as Mtlr' Holyoke's
Fellowship of Faiths and Smith's
Labor Relation Group furnished
testimony that the political theor-
ies of the classroom are being
transformed into community ac-
tion.
Prominent among the speakers
were Carl Van Doren, who dis-
cussed Defeatism; Dr. Margaret
Mead, talking on Social Responsi-
bility toward onr Fellow-men;
Mrs. Vera Micheles Dean, speak-
ing on World Security in the
United States, and Captain Mildred
McAfee, who presented the aims
and techniques of post-war tech-
niques, Lt. John Mason Brown,
U.S.N.R.,   presided.
R. Saltau Analyzes
Conflicting Ideals
Of France Today
Music   Room,   April    5:     "The
problem   of   reconciling    freedom
and    authority    is    the   age-long
problem in all governments in all
countries,"  declared    Mr.     Roger
Soltau in a discussion of "Freedom
and Authority    in    Contemporary
French    Politics."      In      modern
France  this   struggle  has     taken
its particular form as a result of
the   Revolution,   dividing   French
society into Right and Left.
.   "The   Revolution    is   either   an
over-completed   or   under-complet-
ed effect," said Mr. Soltau.    The
Right,  which  reached its    climax
under  the  Vichy   government,  "a
regime of authority and hierarchy,
bu^lt on merit and work," seeks to
undo the work of the    Revolution.
It wishes to    replace    ParliamentJ
with a strong executive which will
not menace the existing structure
of society with the promise of so-
cial reform.    Th�  Left,    alterna-
tively, feels  the    Revolution    has
not gone far enough, particularly
in  the matter  of social    changes,
iiiul   opposes-Parliament   for  this
reason.
"These conflicting ideals some-
how or other became united in the
last great war/" said Mr Soltau;
but shortly thereafter the Russian
revolution and the emergence of
the corporate state in. Italy re-
newed the struggle. There was a
complete reversal of international
policy in both groups, not because
of a changed point of view in the
international field, but because
domestic policy has come to domi-
nate foreign  policy.
The Right, previously    strongly
Continued on  Page 4
Malik Describes College Council
\As Campus9 Main Unifying Body
The   newly-elected   Under-
Undergraduate Council.
Cowan to Treat
Philosophy, Law
Speaking on "Philosophy and
Law," Dr. Thomas Cowan of the
University of Pennsylvania will
discuss the effect of various classi-
cal philosophic systems on law
and jurisprudence in a lecture
sponsored by the Philosophy club
this Wednesday.
Dr. Cowan intends to show the
limitations to which jurisprudence
was subjected in the jurists' at-
tempt to apply seventeenth cen-
tury Rationalism and eighteenth
century Empiricism to law. Out of
the writings of Peirce and William
James a pragmatic philosophy has
developed in the nineteenth and
twentieth century. These writings
have had an important effect on
many recent jurists, especially
Roscoe Pound of Harvard, under
whom Dr. Cowan has studied.
Dr. Cowsji has had a varied and
(interesting background prior to
his position as Associate Profes-
sor in the Philosophy Department
at the University of Pennsylvania.
Primarily interested in jurispru-
dence and social philosophy, Dr.
Cowan taught jurisprudence at
the Louisiana State University af-
ter taking his doctorate in Phil-
osophy at the University of Penn-
sylvania and his degree in Juris-
prudence at Harvard.
He js also concerned with legal
systems and the formulation of
philosophical jurisprudence in
terms of the system of philosophy
called  "empirical idealism."
Richardson Holds
Red Cross Office
For Campus Uhit
College  Inauguration
Marked 25th Year
of Council
Marge Richai-dson, found by our
reporter buried in distilling ap-
paratus in the Chem. lab after the
news of her election as the new
Campus Red Cross Unit Chair-
man, Tuesday afternoon, was still
a little hesitant at the idea of be-
ing interviewed by the News. In
view of her past record in Park,
she carefully explained, her reluc-
tance was purely "for our own
good." A definite Chemistry ma-
jor, Marge is the first non-histor-
ian on the Alliance Board, and
claims that she hereby resolves to
keep all explosions limited to the
Chem. building.
For next year she foresees a
broader and more varied Red
Cross program. Less emphasis
will be put on work in the line of
bandage rolling, for which, says
Marge, there is obviously little en-
thusiasm at Bryn Mawr, and a
greater emphasis on courses with
more popular appeal, such as
Home Nursing.
Marge has been in charge of
bandage rolling on campus during
this year,�a position which her
nomination write-up described as
helpful in acquiring the psycholo-
gical approach for inducing peo-
ple to work, as well as actually
producing    the     dressings.
Specially   Contributed   by
Harji Malik,  '43
The traditional inauguration
ceremony of the new presidents of
the five main campus organiza-
tions, held in Goodhart on April
4, was especially significant this
year in that it marked the twenty-
fifth anniversary of Bryn Mawr's
College Council.
The College Council is at, the
same time one of the least known
and most important representative
groups on campus. In its role as
the main coordinating body of the
college, it presents the only con-
crete organization for the discus-
sion of all campus problems
�
among representatives of the un-
dergraduates, faculty, administra-
tion and alumnae.
As a body, the Council has no
executive power. Its aim, as stated
in its 1919 constitution, is "to
confer in regard to cooperative
action upon matters of college in-
terest through the various organi-
zations represented." It may rec-
ommend action, but in no way can
it make a definite decision for any
of its constituent groups.
All subjects currently pertain-
ing to the campus�past activities,
future plans, and current prob-
lems alike�are brought up for
discussion at these meetings, pro-
viding an opportunity for all
groups to keep in touch with the
life of all other parts of the col-
lege community.
In addition to the heads of the
five main organizations, and the
editor of the News, who form the
Undergraduate Council, the Col-
lege Council consists of the fol-
lowing representatives: President
of the College, the President of
the Graduate Club, the President
of ""the Alumnae Association, the
presidents of the four classes, the
president of the Non-Residents,
the Head of the Halls, the Director
of the Gymnasium, a faculty rep-
resentative and the Director of
Residence.
Simmons ^otes
Czarist Heritage
OfSovietjSociety
First  in  Lecture  Series
Given on Civilization
Of Russia
The history of the development
of the autocratic Czarist regime
as instrumental in an understand-
ing of modern Russia, was discuss-
ed by Dr. Ernest J. Simmons un-
der the topic of Church and State.
This lecture,-the first in a series
of five on the subject of the
Spirit of Russian Civilization and
Thought, is part of a larger series
given by the class of 1897, to bet-
ter acquaint the students and the
community with some of the non-
western  civilizations.
Dr Simmons pointed out that
the time lag of Russia at the end
of the fifteenth and the begin-
ning of the sixteenth centuries,
when it turned its back ,on the
civilizing influence of the West,
explains a great deal of the
further course of the history of
this country.
Because of its complete resist-
ance to any forms of learning and
intellectual activity, the Russian
Church became a perfect tool for
the state, explained Simmons.
This Church, cut off from its cen-
ter at Constantinople through
many invasions, kept its power
over the people because of the ig-
norance of its priests, and its ac-
tive hostility to Western learning.
Dr. Simmons pointed out that
from the tenth to the thirteenth
centuries, Kiev, the capital of Rus-
sia, had a brilliant intellectual
culture, in contact with Greek and
Western civilizations, but in the
next two centuries, the Tartar
hordes completely destroyed this
culture. When the Russians fi-
nally threw off the domination of
the Mongols, Simmons emphasized
that their civilization faced East
and not West. Ivan, the Terrible,
in the sixteenth century was the
first ruler to open Russia to West-
ern influence through commercial
relations with England, and "in-
itiated a movement that was to
continue to Russia's advantage for
the next two  hundred  years."
Calendar
Friday, April  13
4:30 First of Marriage Coun-
cil Lecture Series, Com-
mon Room.
8:30 Production of Arms and
the Man, Roberts Hall,
Haverford.
8:00 Dress Rehearsal, Arsenic
and Old Lace, Goodhart.
Saturday, April 14
8:30 Civil Service Exam, in
Room F.
9:00 Hygiene Examination, in
Room G.
8:30 Maids' and Porters' pro-
duction of Arsenic and
Old Lace.
8:30 Arms and the Man, Hav-
erford.
Sunday, ApriL,J5
7:30 Chapel, Canon Ernest C.
Earp.
Monday, April 16
7:30 Current Events, Common
Room.
8:00 Simmons' lecture on Rus-
sia, Goodhart.
Tuesday, April 17
4:30 Second of Marriage Coun-
cil Lecture Series, Com-
mon Room.
Student Drivers Transport Navy,
Battle Way Through Phila. Traffic
by  Rosina  Bateson '47
Women drivers may have been
jeered at in the past, but times
have changed. The Navy at least,
seems to be all in favor of the idea
as long as the lady chauffeur can
distinguish port frdm starboard,
and knows when to tack. With
these qualifications, three Bryn
Mawr licensed experts report to
the Philadelphia Navy Yard at
8:00 one day a week where they
are on call until 4:00 to convoy
officers to  their destinations.
The secrecy of their missions
causes the curious to wonder how
much they can't and how much
they won't tell. Evidently the dri-
ver is not supposed to speak until
spoken to, which according to
Betty Gunderson, '46, inevitably
happens sooner or later, perhaps
because some technical aspects of
the job present difficulty.
Inadvertently parking in a com-
mander's favorite space caused
Libby Bagley, '48, a few uncom-
fortable moments, and the prob-
lem of navigating in Philadelphia
is a tough one. Driving the wrong
way on one way streets and be-
coming hopelessly lost while look-
ing for a certain Filbert Street is
an all too common occupation.
Authentic uniforms, the JJride
and joy of the A. W. S. - Bryn
Mawrites, have not only caused
their friends to label them "street
car conductors" but have incited
much confusion outside the clois-
tered walls. The first time she
wore hers, two sailors stopped
Alison Merrill, '45, and asked her
whether she would take their
pulse. They claimed they thought
she was a cadet nurse.
And now all three are determin-
ed to get into a movie at the serv-
icemens half-price, which makes
one wonder if all their saluting
hasn't gone to their heads.
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