VOL. XLIII, NO. 9 ARDMORE and BRYN MAWR, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1957 © Trustees of Bryn Mawr College, 1957 PRICE 20 CENTS Katherine Hepburn In Benefit For B.M. Will Come To City Scholarship Fund Katherine Hepburn, Director John Houseman and Alfred Drake. Katherine Hepburn, noted film and stage actress and Bryn Mawr Alumna will appear with Alfred Drake in a production of Shakes- edre’s Much Ado About Nothing Philadelphia for two weeks. The opening performance on Monday, December 30 at 8:30 p.m. at the Locust Street Theatre will be a benefit performance sponsored by the Bryn Mawr Club of Philadel- phia for the regional scholarship fund. Miss Hepburn and Mr. Drake are again playing the roles in which they were seen this summer at the Stratford, Connecticut Shakespeare Festival. The present production of -Much Ado About Nothing is again being presented by the Amer- ican Shakespeare Festival. Tickets for the benefit perform- ance may be obtained. by writing to Miss Anne Nelson West, 1306 Wyngate Road, Wynnewood, Pa., before December 23. Nancy Dyer Contends With Electric Co. Before Court For Stockholder Democracy by Barbara Broome Ever since the time of M. Carey Thomas, Bryn Mawr has_ been known for producing women who have been innovators. Nancy Dyer is no exception. This time, how- ever, Nancy is not involved in a campus problem but a proxy con- test with the management of a $500 million dollar industry. Nancy, a stockholder in the Un- ion Electric Company, in St. Louis, represents the plantiff in a petition filed by her father in the United States Court of Appeals, which contends that this company, whose actions are being upheld by the Securities and Exchange Com- mission has been crushing “stock- holder democracy.” Two of Nancy’s main points against Union Electric Company are: (1) that advertising of the company, some of the communica- tions sent to the stockholders have been false and (2) that Union’s proxy ballots are ‘restrictive’ ones. On the first point, she contends that Union has sent its stockhold- ers false and deceptive material. The SEC, however, declined to pass this but it did allow Union to exclude from the proxy ballot pro- posed By-Law (which would ban ‘false advertising and false com- munications to stockholders).- The Union Electric Company says that this is a matter for the manage- ment and the SEC has sustained it. On the other hand, _—" — who is a lawyer, says that under Missouri law this is a question for the stockholder to decide. Last March the SEC backed the management of this company up on Nancy’s second point, that of the “restrictive” ballot. The SEC said that it was all right for the company to have a provision in its proxy ballots which state that unless the stockholder votes for or against a particular issue, the proxy agents appointed \by the man- agement could vote as they chose on the proposal. The plaintiff contends in her petition to the U. S. Court of Appeals that such provisions make Union’s proxies ‘bestrictive” prox- ies and in such a way, managment can put into effect anything it likes, bigger salaries, bigger pen- sion plans, etc.-This question_is_an important one because a great many corporations use similar prox- ies and they will have to make a large number of changes if her By-Law is put into effect. (Other articles discussing fur- ther developments in the case will be included in future issues of The News.) ‘ Frank Quinn, professor of English at Haverford, will speak at the next Arts Forum, on Wednesday, January 8 at 7:15 in the Common Room. His topic will be James -Joyce’s Ulysses. Shorter Summers, Revised Schedule, Proposed to B. M. Marshall Plan Aims At More Effective Year by Miriam Beames “Is the Bryn Mawr year, since it is extremely short, overly in- tensive in quality and _ overly crowded in quantity ?” “Is it waste- ful {to have Christmas vacation make the two weeks after it a lump of teaching and cramming, , |when the students are tired?” — In. wrestling with these and other “earth-bound, practical diffi- culties” in the present calendar, -|Mrs. Dorothy Marshall, Dean of the College, has tried to work out a new schedule which would be “fea- sible or appealing” to students and faculty. The ‘Marshall Plan,’ in its pres- ent tentative state, calls for an facademic year beginning one week earlier than at present, with the first semester ending before Christ- mas vacation, which would be lengthened to three weeks of a month. The second semester would end before a. two-week spring va- cation, coming late in the. year; and the remaining several weeks could be used for further teaching, a review of the year’s work, special! projects, or assigned extra reading, with the year ending about a week later than usual. The advantages of having long vacations without work and papers due, of liminating the ‘cram ses- sion’ after Christmas, and of bringing the Bryn Mawr girl back to college at the same time as her friends at home are obvious. But there are also many. complications —the student who wéuld like to continue a lucrative summer job as long as possible, the faculty member who needs a long summer for research and travel after the heavy teaching and committee load of the school year, And there are the practical and financial consid- erations involved in keeping the halls open for a longer period, as well as the problem of trying to coordinate Bryn Mawr’s academic year with Haverford’s. The present Yale schedule, which. has been operating for two years, comes nearest the ‘Marshal Plan’ in timing, but Mrs. Marshall has not yet received a report on its effectiveness. Since it has not been officially presented to any group, the ‘Marshall Plan’s’ status at the moment is uncertain; in any case, it cannot go into effect until two years from now. Siepmann Deplores Present Teaching “Many of today’s teachers are unqualified to teach,” said Charles Siepmann,.Professor_of Education at New York University, speak- ing on “The Future of Educational TV” ‘on December 12. ~ | Mr. Siepmann outlined the pre- sent. decadence of the educational system and the growing crisis due to an overwhelming shortage of teachers and the enlarging popu- lation in schools and colleges which will grow worse before it grows better. Many students who are entering the profession now are looking for security, and many girls are look- ing for husbands, This does not make a good teacher, he added The function of the teacher is to Se eentieennieabisiennedeie Camp Discussed Three important_motions were passed by Legislature last Thurs- day evening. It was decided to turn the second floor of Goodhart into a student center. The present Praise Of A Critic Freely Given Godot by ‘Betsy Levering “You’re sure you saw me, you won’t come and tell me tomorrow that you ‘never saw me!” shouts Viadimir in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Had he ‘been addressing the audience they might have answered that that was one of the few things about which they could be sure. That, and the fact that Kenneth Geist’s highly pro- fessional production of Beckett’s tragicomedy on yee sata 14 de- lighted them. Kenneth Geist, divesting Godot as an honors project, was able to skim the cream from the _ local theatrical crock. Moreover, he ap- pears to have insisted on perfect- ion in every aspect of the perform- ance: the play came across with the skill, polish and ease that are only accomplished with careful at- tention to detail, timing, and in- tegration of all the functions, tech- nical and dramatic, that makes a performance out of a jumble of rehearsals. As for individual performances: Kenneth Woodroofe, as Estragon (Gogo), played his part with a chest - expanding, belly - hugging humor that was a cross between an Englishman drawing himself to his full height and Saint Nick. Master of. the straight line, Mr. Woodroofe was able to underscore with: tone the lines the audience Should not miss. Robert Butman’s Vladimir (Didi) was a chap tottering between the comic and tragic, an Emmett Kelly, Continued on Page 2, Col.’ 5 Student Center, USE, Summer by Leaislature Rumpus Room and soda fountain will be refurnished and redocorated under the supervision of a New York architect, and a door will be constructed between the Undergrad room and the rumpus room. The college will provide whatever funds are needed in addition to the $2500 given by~the student body from the surplus in Common Treasury. {This appropriation will leave $1,000 surplus.) The new Student Center will be under the manage- ‘ment of Undergrad. USF Fund | The second item of business in- volved the procedure followed in determining United Service Fund appropriations. On the basis of the apparent'apathy of Legislature- at the USF meeting last month, it was moved to let a joint Alliance- League Board hear the applica- tions of the Various organizations and to consider the appropriations instead of bringing the matter be- fore the legislature. Students, however, will still be free to deter- mine the specific amounts they wish to allot to the individual or- ganizations. Legislature also decided to allow. League to conduct a drive for funds for Summer Camp in the spring, provided it had the personnel to run the camp. Last year only one Bryn Mawr girl served as counsel- or. This year students must make definite committments. The News is pleased to an- nounce the following new elect- ions to its editorial board for the term beginning in February: Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Winsor ’59 Copy Editor Gretchen Jessup ’58 Managing Editor Janet Wolf ’59 Member-at-Large Betsy Levering ’61 Bryn by Martha Bridge and Donna Cochrane The Bryn Mawr delegation to the ‘United States Military Academy’s Ninth Annual Student Conference on United States Affairs (SCUSA) arrived at West Point on December 4 after twelve hours of fighting blinding snow, ably assisted by ten, Annapolis “Middies,” two Johns Hopkins “civvies,” two ladies from Wellesley, and one cadet “drag.” We drifted into this oddly assorted group due to the failure of public transportation and, linking our fate with theirs, weathered the heights above-the-Hudson-in a requisition- ed army: bus. Safely arrived at West Point, we spent the next thirty-dix hours working on the problems of Nation- al security policy, the theme of the conference. The one hundred and sixty students from colleges on the East Coast were divided into nine roundtables, each of which discussed U. S. policy in a certain area of the world . Donna was a member of the East Asia roundtable and was asked to present her group’s report to the final plenary session. Martha worked on the Middle East roundtable and concentrated on writing economic policy for that Sane ae ee's Ce area. — sessions Mawr Delegates To SCUSA (Discuss Security Policy Conferencé were the most substantial (about eight hours a day) and valuable aspect of our experience at the conference. Evening meetings featured talks by well-known figures in the field of foreign affairs. Thursday night’s program was a panel dis- cussion on “the formulation of foreign policy.” Dr. R. R. Bowie of the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Sen- ator Jacob K. Javits of New York, and Mr. Arthur T. Hadley of the New York Herald Tribune, gave their views on the respective roles of the President;-Congress and the — press in policy decisions. Friday night, at a sumptuous banquet in an impressive candlelit hall, Mr. Chester A. Bowles, spoke to con- ference participants on the basic aims towards which, in his opin- ion, our foreign policy should be directed. These speeches, more gen- eral in outlook than our roundtable topics, served to stimulate think- ing with respect to specific issues in the light of fundamental prin- ciples, > We felt that the major value of the SCUSA conference lay in the opportunity it gave us to spend four days working with a varied group of students. On the whole, Continnsd” on Page & = 3 op ee ete aoe pasty hin any ot te Sing ras she gt mea Sm ° : . se ee ae pss, Secon oth aks Seabees ales Saya sebaton aks oe gt THE COLLEGE NEWS Wednesday, December 18, 1957 THE COLLEGE NEWS FOUNDED IN 1914 Published weekly .during the College Year (except during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holidays, and during examina- tion weeks) in the interest of Bryn Mawr College at the Ardmore Printing Company, Ardmore, Pa., and Bryn Mawr College. — The College News is fully protected by copyright. Nothing that appears ed in it may be reprinted wholly or in part without permission of the Editor-in-Chief. P VS o ‘“ EDITORIAL BOARD ‘58 Editor-in-Chief ......-...0ccccssceceeececeeeeseeeees Anna Kisselgoff, Copy Editor ........... sees cece eee ee cnwenewnrnseeee Eleanor Winsor, ‘59 Managing Editor .......2s sce e cece eee eee eee eceeeees Gretchen Jessup, ‘58 Make-up Editor ...........:eseeeeeeeceteeeeeerreeeees Miriam Beames, ‘59 EDITORIAL STAFF Barbara Broome, ‘60; Sue Goodman, ‘60; Tulsa-Kaiser, ‘58; Frederica Koller, 61; Gail Lasdon, ‘61; Betsy Levering, ‘61; Lynne Levick, ‘60; Elizabeth Rennolds, ‘59; Susan Schapiro, ‘60; Judy Stulberg, ‘61; Alex van Wessem, ‘61; Janet Wolf, ‘59; Gail Beckman, ‘59, (Alliance reporter). Interest: A Neglected Prerequisite There is, in certain cases, on the part.of the college and the curricular departments, a tendency to adhere too closely to the rigidity of a general academic rule and pay little at- tention to the exception. This is particulary evidenced in regard to the most advanced courses in the college and the explicitly stated or implied prerequisites that theoretically precede them. . The need for generally requiring that the student pos- sess some background knowledge in a subject before attack- ing a more advanced course in that department is apparent and sensibly recognized. As.a standing condition, such pro- cedure is usually justified; and in cases where a course of a somewhat non-elementary but “start from scratch” charac- ter is offered, such as Oriental Art, an asterisk in the cata- logue denotes admittance for all students. On the other hand, Bryn Mawrters are frequently de- ~ nied access to the “closed” advanced courses on the grounds of inadequate preparation even if the prerequisites are not expressly stated. In most cases, limiting these classes to older students is a wise procedure but to apply blindly such conditions to all and especially to particularly unusual re- quests for admittance to such a course is to obviate the indi- vidual attention Bryn Mawr’s smallness is meant to make possible and at the same time, intellectually discourage an in- terested student. The basis for considering these requests unusual and denying them resides in the fact that they are made by a student majoring in one department wishing to take the advanced course in a field in which she has taken a minimum of courses iof not none at all. The earliest and most frequent reaction of the Dean’s office or the Department chairmen is one of applying the general rule of prerequisites, and in the instance of the sciences and of freshmen and sophomores, there is a likelihood the rule will still hold true. Yet there is little reason why a junior and especially a senior with a satsfactory general average should have to struggle to take a course outside of her department in which she evidences interest. Presumably, the fact that she is outside the department is held against her. Yet this very condition of being on the outside looking in is actually a point in the student’s favor. The more advanced courses are frequently requirements wihitn the major, requirements sometimes not too hap- pily accepted .by that department’s students. What fre- quently occurs is that the professor is faced by a group of bored captives. An interested student, to whom the depart- ment as well the the course itself is novel, will often show enthusiasm and attention no longer present in the minds of those conditioned to a certain inherent repetition within their own department. The question of whether such a new stu- dent is genuinely interested or not is almost academic. If she is willing to take a course totally new to her, outside her field, involving no little amount of work because of its ad-' vanced nature and which, incidentally, might also jeopardize the standard of her satisfactory average, she obviously fore- sees the effort she will have to put into proving herself worthy of the task. If this is not interest, what is? Certain- ly, there is as much, if not more, likelihood of such a student doing as well as the regular major students for the reason that she is conscious of having less preparation than the others and subsequently feeling she must work somewhat harder than in her own department. .... At present, any student who has finally convinced the Dean’s Office and the department ‘chairmen that she is cap- able of taking the course, is even more conscious of her sta- tus because of the “struggle” frequently preceding her suc- cess. The entire idea of preparing to do battle in such a sit- uation is an unnatural one. Moreover, many of the advanced courses are not so intimately linked with their prerequisites that a certain amount-of background reading assiduously done by “The Outsider” may not serve the purpose. A good student should be encouraged and not driven away from tak- ing an advanced course outside of her major. ~~~"Helidays And Such A season of Yule with a nutmeg of song; a flourish of silk dresses to herald the red and green evening; that poig- nant last patch of snow and the pungent first hope of vaca- tion; Christmas ‘players, semester papers (the pinch of ev- eryday given to sober us - - slightly), cranberries, capons, -and interspersed capers; a sudden uprising of toastmistress- es, diversions, and jokes, and a hasty assembling of ten pounds of baggage with twenty of books: they all add up to a genuine fir-tree treat, the best of the year. The familiar festivity of December is gathered about us ,and in such a situation even .the most oppressive burden of “date-dues” must be lightened, even the fiercest of seniors must be less curmudgeonly than usual, and Scrooging without Claus the Legislature rightly declares to be not allowed. So take heed, take heart, and hurry to the holly; in leaving you, rather in leaving -each other, we can only offer: shop early, speak kind- ly, travel lightly, and -- a very Merry Christmas! the gloom.” There was silence and “Twe discover the Gouvernante-(Elka+ “ “Pm late, I’m late, I’m late,” moaned a low dismal voice from deep in the dank den, “And they’re waiting for me, all of them, just sitting there waiting, while I’m caught in the gloom, the gloom, then the sound of screaming bats, breaking ‘boxes, and the slither of the dread sloth as he slipped off the slippery willow into the primeaval 00ze, “Nothing but bats, bats, bats and sometimes rats,” rumbled from out the cave mouth and then Wonk, ker flunk, klonk. He seemed toy have tripped over something. ‘Vile shrub, I’ll make you shriek. Out, out root.” The hapless root must have come out for something cer- tainly shrieked. “They’re waiting, they’re wait- ing. Oooh, ooooh, salvation.” A series of groans ensued, each one more melancholy than the last. Whether it was pity for himself or his’awaiters we can only con- jecture; let it suffice that his misery was beyond all human capa- city. When the groans died away a squeaking, sloshing noise could be heard like the sound of suction pipes and plungers. “:Confounded ‘Am What Am by. Debby Ham not.” The sands breathed like 10,000 inhaling vampires, but evidently he wasn’t sunk, for a weak cry came from out the cave mouth, “ah, saved for now.” What further horrors lay in the path of this unfortunate pilgrim shall remain untold, for at this moment his awaiters demand at- tention lest they vanish entirely. An abject bunch they were, lame, ragged and scrofulous. “What are you doing now?” said one to another. who obviously wasn’t doing anything. “Waiting.” “Oh,” said the first. “What are you doing ” said the second who wasn’t doing anything. “Waiting,” said the first. “Oh,” said the second. “That’s enough,” roared the third and wielding an enormous bull whip he thundereth after them. With a hobbling clatter they left the scene. And it’s too bad they did, for just then there was a loud whack followed by a dirgeful, “ooooh my head,” and the trap door opened revealing Godot who instantly col- lapsed on the stagé wailing, “It’s just as I thought, it’s just as I sands, you'll not sink me, you'll thought. They didn’t wait.” Dress Rehearsal of by Alex van Wessem (Ed. Note: Our reporter, unable to attend the performance of the German Club play Friday, presents her contribution on the dress re~ hearsal.) Elegant pages, graceful ladies in full make-up, and Herr Seyppel in shirtsleeves greeted me as I wandered into the Skinner Work- shop on the night before the big production of Leonce und Leona, by ‘Georg Buechner. A few \bewildered-looking Ger- man I--students- were huddled to- gether inthe first row, desperately trying to learn the words to O Tannenbaum in five minutes. Be- fore I knew what was happening, I was standing with them, facing an imaginary audience and warb- ling Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht! to the wistful flute of Nina Broek- huysen, soloist. Soon a hushed silence fell. The Diener (Betsy Emerson, Nancy Farwell), brought the bench on to the stage, not unlike a Wilder pro- duction, with its setting of a blue sky, a house, and a sun. An ominous voice from behind the curtain recited some biograph- ical information on Georg Buech- ner. Then the first scene opened, during which the Prince (Dieter- Kuhn), a romantic hero with the Weltschmerz bug languishes, while his friend, Valerio (Steve Klineberg), makes merry with the bottle. Next we meet the King (Michael Dohan), a Great Philo- sopher, whose Aim in Life is to THINK, or rather, THIMK, and Rosetta (Cynthia Stone), the for- lorn mistress of the bored Leonce. Now the scene switches to the kingdom across the frontier, where Scott), who is mourning because her ward, Lena (Carola Teegan). is being sacrificed to a political marriage. To round out the cast we have the President (Jack Rhoads), the Hofmeister (John Hershey), and the Zeremonienmeister (Ted Mechling), all portrayed as de- lightfully stupid people. The plot—boy meets girl and marries her after having fled from her—is relatively trivial, especially since Buechner employs Valerio as the deus ex machina. What makes this play different. |from many light-hearted comedies is its good character delineation, which comes out in spite of the inet Diners ioremsmmcmmemcnsin “Teonce und Lena” Pleases Reporter With Elegance, Grace After the happy-end final scene, I slipped out as quietly as I had come, leaving Herr Seyppel to dis- cuss last-minute points with his cast. It appeared German Club had worked long and hard:on this production, and the choice of play, casting, make-up, costumes, and sound effects—complete with Jane Higginbottom’s dramatic flourish on the French horn—were all very pleasing, indeed. e Siepmann Continued from Page 1 ‘elicit enthusiasm and to create an environment of wider purposes.” TV as an educational resource can help alleviate the teacher shortage by having large groups taught by a superior teacher by television. TV can also bring edu- cation to students who follow the courses at home. These st ts might not otherwise be able to attend college for lack of money or because of home responsibilities. Experiments have consistently proven that such teaching methods are very euccessful, Institutions can also pool their resources to offer better classes through a superior teacher to larger groups. "TV has also helped community relations because it gives parents an idea of what is happening in school. Experiments have shown that parents have even begun learning with their children. They have also taken an added interest in the activities of the school. This -has_resulted_in an alleviating of the burden of the schools which now have many functions’ that should be carried on in the homes. Teachers can also learn by ob- serving superior teachers in action and by adopting their teaching tec es. The TV teacher can also ‘spend more time on prepara- tion of the lesson. The burden of the regular teacher is also light- ened, allowing more time to be spent on the quality of the class- room teaching and on. individual attention, Mr. Siepmann concluded with the idea that by supporting education we are supporting democracy. If we fail to do so we will lose the race rather copious cuts in the play. for survival. RTE Ee Spanish Tradition Featured at Darty Monday evening, December 16, the Spanish Club held its annual Christmas party. Present at the rumpus room festivities, in addi- tion to the regular Spanish Club- bers, were members of the Spanish department and their children, and several guests from Philadelphia. The students read Christmas poems by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega, and sang Spanish Christmas carols. The high point of the entertain- ment was the traditional pinata, a large wire-and-crepe-paper fig- ure (in this case a bird) contain- ing candy and favors which scat- ter out and cause a scramble when a blind-folded player succeeds in smashing the pinata with a long stick. Godot Review Continued from Page 1 sad with the pathos that makes children scream with laughter, and adults chuckle hesitatingly. The part was clearly a difficult one: it demanded a range of emotion and response that lifted it away from the highly characterized, and there- fore .somewhat easier, parts of Estragon, Pozzo, and Lucky. Mr. Butman adapted himself admir- ably, and almost always consistent- ly. Pozzo, red-coated hyper-gentle- man, was placed lucidly by Gerald Goodman, His first act display of highly burnished and adroit force- fulness of character was a strik- ing contrast with the second act bafflment and feebleness he gave to the now blind Pozzo. Harvey Phillips as Lucky de- serves at least the adjective re- markable. Playing a fantastic pan- tomine counterpoint to the bluster- ing Pozzo, he maintained himself in character throughout, as well as in some astounding positions. But the most startling moments in a startling play were those of Lucky’s one speech. Harvey Phil- lip’s mastery of a long difficult, non-sensical speech, his control over a voice that was unbelievable in its variety and agility, his orig- inality in organization and inter- pretation that were almost musical in nature, all can hardly be too highly praised. mention because he is the fifth and last chararacter in the play, and because he came on stage, said “Yes, sir” several times quite con- vincingly, and bounded off the stage very well. I have saved two aspects of the play: the set and lighting. They that much of the credit for the remarkable drift - wood-like tree, sun-moon, and rocks goes to Will- iam Bertolet, who is the designer acknowledged on the program. Lights, {the illumination of the sun-moon and the varying stages of twilight were most effective, thanks presumably to Peter Arnow. propriate, and are duly noted. What of the meaning of the play? I have to admit that between scure, definitive, and most of all that I think it impossible to pick one and say “this surely is what the’ play was about.” Let it.suffice to say that Godot was provocative in the extreme. Godot contained a line that is of considerable embarrassment to me at this moment. Didi and Gogo exchange insults: “ ‘Moron!’ ‘Ver- min!’ ‘Abortion!’ ‘Morpion!’ ‘Sewer- finality): CRITIC! Didi: Oh! He wilts, vanquished, and turns away. Despite Beckett’s dislike (justified, perhaps, by Godot’s short runs in professional theatre) I was delight- ed with play and production, and critic as I am, I am willing to admit so. , Costumes, props, etc., were ap-" rat!’ ‘Curate!’ ‘Cretin!’ Gogo (with The boy, Alan Paskow, deserves - were certainly inspired. I suspect , the acts I heard such learned, ob- . }-varied,..opinions from the audience ee s ore mete artnet rca thc “ot ‘Wednesday, December 18, 1957 ‘THE COLLEGE NEWS Page Three ‘News Poll of Faculty Members on Possibility of Strong Swing Towards Sciences Uncovers Diversity of Opinions The College News has polled members of the faculty on the fol- lowing questions: 1) IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVE- MENTS AND THE CONSE- QUENT TENDENCY TO REAP- PRAISE AMERICAN EDUCA- TION, DO ‘YOU THINK THERE WILL BE A STRONG SWING TO- WARD THE SCIENCES TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE HU- MANITIES? 2)HOW DO YOU THINK THIS WILL AFFECT