“The College Hews VOL. XLVIi, NO. 9 ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1950 Copyright, Trustees of Bryn Mawr College, 1950 PRICE 15 CENTS R. W. Chapman Gives Personal Side of Austen . Spicy Anecdotes Liven Limited Material Of Letters Mr. R. W. Chapman of Oxford University spoke on the letters of the nineteenth-century English novelist, Jane Austen, from the stage of Goodhart Auditorium on Thursday, November 30. He be- gan his address by listing all the reasons why one could not expect to learn much from the letters, which is probably what most crit- ics would say, and then very neat- ly proceeded to present the charm- ing, personal glimpses of Jane Austen which are found only in her letters. He described the expense of writing letters in her. day, and the limitations of space inthem. When a letter found its way into a household along with a supply of cheese, and was then read by all of the family and half the serv- ants, it would naturally contain gossip and chatty bits of news, rather than personal revelations. The letters to Cassandra Austen, Jane’s sister, which one may pre- sume to have been more intimate, were for the most part destroyed by that reserved and proper lady. (Mr. Chapman reminded his _au- dience of Jane Austen’s back- ground; her family was a remark- able one. Tiwo of Jane’s brothers became admirals. Her many live- ly nephews and nieces were among her favorite correspondents. Her advice to a niece who inclined to- ward writing novels states the principles which she herself car- ried out so admirably: “Let the Portmans go to Ireland but as you know nothing of the manners there, you had better not go with them.” Her belief that a writer should write about what he knows best because he has lived with it longest is rephrased another way: . “Three or four families in a coun- try village are the very thing to work upon.” In the letters one is also pleased to find specific references to Miss Austen’s novels. She tells of vis- iting a gallery where she sees a picture of Mrs. Bingley of Pride .and Prejudice in a white dress Chilly by Betty-Jeanne Yorshis, °52 The hall is dark, and cold, and empty. Two silent people sit in the middle of the deserted audi- torium. The only life and animation in the place is centered on the stage, on Deirdre’s (Sue Halperin) golden hair, where she stands, framed by the beginnings of an el- egant but sombre set, supplicating the Fates for happiness with her husband, Naisi. The scene—Rob- erts Hall, Haverford. The time— end of the first act rehearsal. The play—Deirdre of the Sorrows, to UC Loyalty Oath Jeopardizes Right To Free Opinions Specially Contributed by Phil Kunze, ’53 and and Barbara Goldman, ’53 _ for the Alliance With the growing threat of Com- munist infiltration, the citizens of the United States are facing a grave practical dilemma. They must decide whether they would rather curb the activities of per- sons suspected of Communist af- filiations, or permit Communist groups to operate freely in at- tempting to indoctrinate ‘our citizens. We, as students, are par- ticularly interested in the educa- tional aspect of this problem, which has been brought to the fore by the Loyalty Oath at the University of California. We wonder just how many people know what the Oath is all about. .How did it-originate? Who supports it? Why has it caused such a furor in the whole academic world? The oath began its stormy his- tory on March 24th, 1949. At that time, the Regents of the University of California adopted an “oath of loyalty” requiring each faculty member to assert not only that he supported the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, but that he was not a Communist, or con- nected with ideas or enterprises which could render his loyalty doubtful. When this requirement was pre- sented before the Northern section of the Academic Senate (roughly those members of the faculty with three or more years service) it aroused immediate and strong op- position. A Senate committee was appointed to confer with the Presi- with green ornaments. (She had} ent. A revised form of the oath always suspected that green was a favorite color of hers). How ever, she saw no pictures of Mrs. Darcy and concluded that her hus- band was so fond of her that he kept all her portraits at home away from the prying eyes of other men. Mr. Chapman had somewhat limited material to deal with, and much of it was already familiar to a good part of the audience. For these disadvantages, however, his careful presentation and charming anecdotes were excellent compen- sation. His friendly feeling, not only for Jane Austen but all of her: associates, both real and fic- tional, made the evening a pleas- ant addition to one’s experience was apparently agreed upon be- tween them, and June 24th, this form was accepted by the Regents. During the summer it became obvious, however, that the new form was not at all acceptable to the faculty. A new committee was asked to meet with the Regents on September 29th and 30th, and a new revision slightly different from the previous one was framed. The entire Senate, North and South, voted, in February, two resolutions. One rejected the spe- cial oath; the other suggested as an alternative that aside from the Constitutional Oath, faculty con- tracts contain a statement of the non-communist policy and that the faculty member accept his position ‘subject to this condition of employ- in the literary field. Continued on Page 5, Col. 4 ‘Deirdre’ Rehearsals Anticipa A Warm and Enjoyable Opening Night be given December 8 and 9 at te 8:30. We had come much earlier than 8:30 to watch the rehearsal of this Synge play, based on the turbulent history of Ireland. We were driv- en over by the energetic and om- niscient director, Margery Low, who, every night at seven, ferries her entourage in shifts to Roberts Hall where the Haverford section of the cast is met, and the rehear- sal begins. Costumes are tried on, and soon the cast emerges, meta- monphosed from a college group to a set of Irish nobles and peas- ants. But there is only a semi, transformation. Naisi wears a flowing red cape, but the rest of him resembles Haverford. Deirdre, likewise dressed in red, shows her plaid skirt and lumber jacket un- derneath. Only Conchubar, (Jiggs Kunkel) the King of Aidan, is ful- ly costumed, but even he is not complete, for his large stature is too much for his Anglo-Saxon dress which is fine in front, but is split in the back. The stage crew, meanwhile, rambles around oblivious to every- thing but their own special busi- ness, looking after the wants of the production. The minor char- acters ‘busy themselves over a Continued on Page 3, Col. 4 CALENDAR Wednesday, December 6 Alliance Discussion (Group, ‘Mr.-Charles Walker, “Is Paci- fism Valid Today?” ‘Common Room, 8:45 p.m. Thursday, December 7 Dr. Leo Strauss, Professor of Political Science at the Univer- sity of Chicago, “Can There be an Ethically Neutral Social Science?” Common Room, 8:30 p. m. Friday, December 8 Synge’s Deirdre of the Sor- rows, presented by the Bryn ‘Mawr College Theatre and Hav- erford Cap and Bells Club, Rob- erts Hall, 8:30 p. m. Saturday, December 9 Deirdre of the Sorrows, sec- ond performance, Roberts Hall, 8:30 p. m. Farber Expounds On Transcendence And Philosophies On Tuesday, November 21, in the Common Room, Dr. Marvin Farber, Chairman of the Philoso- phy Department at the Univer- sity of Buffalo, delivered a lecture on “Transcendence and Experi- ence”, under the auspices of the Bryn Mawr Philosophy Depart- ment. Mr. Farber began by expound- ing the position of the phenomen- alist as exemplified in the phil- osophy of Edmund Husserl. Any philosophy of experience must answer the’ questions where is ex- perience, when is experience, what are its causal conditions, and what are its boundaries. It must also deal with what is beyond ex- perience. This problem of trans- cendence is a central one in his philosophy. “The term ‘beyond’ is as intriguing as it is useful. When the immediate environment is sufficiently penplexing or em- barrassing, we must press ‘be- yond’ it . .. thus, ‘transcendence’ may refer to the limits not of hu- ‘man taboos, prejudices, or vested interests. ‘Freedom’ then lies in the ‘beyond’. Under a dictatorship that may be one of the few poss ible devices for conveying the as- pirations of deliverance.” Since the procedure of phenom- enology is to begin with the self and its experience of phenomena, Husserlis—-confronted with the difficulty of how to ground the giv- en by means of the given. Phen- omenology meets this problem by raising the phenomena into the Continued on Page 5, Col. 1 Common Treasury Dues Set at $7.40 Common Treasury dues for the year, 1950-1951, have been fixed at $7.40 per person. The dues will be put on the December 13 Pay Day of every undergraduate and will be allotted as follows: $3.25 Undergrad 1.65 Alliance Sunday, December 10 Bryn Mawr Music Club Con- cert, Wyndham Music Room, 5:00 p. m. Sunday Evening Chapel Serv- ice, Rabbi Morris S. Lazaron of Baltimore, Music Room, 7:30 p. m. : Monday, December 11 Current Events, Mr. Reid of Haverford, “South Africa”, Common Room, 7:15 p. m. English Department, Dr. Rhys Carpenter, “Two Legends in Verse”, Art Lecture Room, 8:30 p. m. Tuesday, December 12 . Hugo von Hosmannsthal’s Je- dermann, presented by the Ger- man Club, Skinner Workshop, 8:30 p. m. Wednesday, December 13 Wednesday Morning Assem- bly, Dr. Joseph C. Sloane, “The Diamond Jubilee Exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art”, Goodhart, 8:45 a. m. Film on_ Skiing, Common -75 =Self-Govt. 45 N.S. A. 1.00 A. A. 30 Drama Guild ' The Common Treasury is an amalgamation of the treasuries of Self-Govt., Undergrad, Alliance League, and most of the clubs The League is financed by the Ac. tivities Drive; and the clubs, with the exceptions of N. S. A. and A. A., are supported by separately collected dues. The remaining or- ganizations, however, are financed almost entirely by Common Trea- sury dues. Since every student is “ipso facto” a member of Self Govt., Undergrad, Alliance, Lea- gue, and A. A., and has a right to participate in any of their activi- ties or in the activities of any other student organization, it is felt that the method of charging each student a fixed amount is the most equitable. In order to clarify the present apportionment of money among the organizations, an approxima- Room, 4:15 p. m. A. A. Produces Dance Numbers And Two Plays ‘Lady Precious Stream’ And ‘The Night’ Outstanding by Helen Katz, ’53 If the performances put on by Actresses Anonymous last Friday and Saturday nights were, as Trish Richardson, production man- ager, said, ‘not attempts at a fin- ished production, but merely out- lets for their creative energies”, then the group can well be proud of its attempts, its creativeness, and its energies. The dance se- quences, the one-act play Over- tones, and the first act of Lady Precious Stream were an amusing . though, at first, slow evening’s en-~ tertainment. The first piece, Alice Gersten- burg’s Overtones, was interesting in the cleverness of the lines; the idea of two women and their inner selves all appearing on stage at once was intriguing. It was Mai- sie Kennedy, as Harriet, who held the production together, and au- dience interest seemed to center about her. Her shadow, Patsy Price, was excellent in her por- trayal, but at times too enthusias- tic. One wished that Chris Scha- vier, as the second woman, would have projected her lines more con- sistently, but toward the end, she gained confidence and was- better heard. Perhaps it was the bar- renness of the stage, the iback- stage noise, or the lack of rehear- sal time, but somehow the produc- tion lacked sparkle. By the time the intermission was over, the Workshop was com- pletely filled, and the first number, danced toa Debussy string quartet, begian. As the curtain opened the Continued on Page 5, Col. 2 U-Grad Suggests Mayday Program The proposed program for Mid- dle-sized May Day, to be present- ed on Saturday, April 28, 1961, is as follows: 8:00 A.M. Sophomores wake the seniors. Hymn to the Son 9:00 a.m. Breakfast. 10:15 a.m. Academic Assembly. 11:15 a.m. Hooprolling. Singing at top of Senior Row. 1:00 (P.M. Lunch. 2:30 p.m. College Parade led by Fireman’s : Band. Maypole Dancing. Crowning of Senioz President as May Queen and her speech, Miss McBride’s speech, 3:30-6:00 p.m. Sophomore nival. 6:30 p.m. Dinner. 8:30 p.m. Arts Night. 10:30 p.m. Hall or informa} dance. The voting will be on Thursday, Car. Continued on Page 6, Col. 3 December 14, after lunch. - ~