The College News eee Vol. L No. 22 BRYN MAWR, PA. ‘65 Freshman Week Schedule Remains Similar to Last Year The Freshman Week schedule for 1965 has been announced by Freshman Week Committee chair- men Cile Yow, Kitty Taylor and Terry Newirth. It is much the Same as last year’s, with music department appointments, gym tunic fittings, the furniture sale, library tours, Deans’ appoint- ments, Miss McBride’s tea, the various social events, and hockey camp running almost continually. These social events have been altered somewhat by changing the Haverford mixer on Friday night to a square dance. The success- ful dinner and dance with Prince- ton on Saturday night will be re- peated, as will coffee for the freshmen in faculty homes. The halls oven to the freshmen on Thursday, September 23, with the Freshman Week Committee returning a day earlier. The rest of the undergraduates will arrive Saturday, September 25. The furni- ture sale, Haverford mixer, and cap and gown fittings are on Friday; the Princeton mixer is Saturday, and Miss McBride’s tea, an Undergrad meeting and coffee with the faculty areSunday. During these four days placement tests will be given for French, Spanish, German and Physics. Monday, Sep- tember 27, will begin with Con- vocation in Goodhart at 8:45, then the beginning of regular classes and that evening, Parade Night. Also during these four days will be parties in the halls, presum- ably so that the girls can meet their fellow students as well as students from Haverford and Princeton. There will also be a required meeting with the English department and a talk withthe gym department. Following the English department meeting at 1:30 on Thursday willbe a panel discussion by some of the faculty on the meaning of a liberal arts educa- tion at Bryn Mawr. In a quote from a letter to the freshmen from the Freshman Week Committee heads, the purpose of these activities is outlined: ‘‘Un- derlying these specific activities is the hope that your first days here will help you to recognize yourself as a part of the college community and that you will achieve some feeling as to how you can fulfill your role as a student here.’’ Topics of Undergrad Meeting Include Exchanges & Calendar At the undergrad meeting on Monday night the Exchange Com- mittee, next year’s Undergrad Eminent Speaker and the student Calendar Committee were among discussion topics. Although Haverford has both a student and faculty Calendar Com- mittee, Bryn Mawr now has only a student committee. It was decided that for the committee to be ef- fective, it should include both fac- ulty and student members, and be under the Curriculum Committee, A sign-up list will be put up for people interested in working on the Calendar Committee. There is no possibility of changing the Seniors Prepare Graduation Plans For May 30, 31 May 30 and 31 are the dates for 1965’s commencement activities, Garden Party will take place Sunday from 3-5 p.m. in Wyndham Garden. Seniors, their parents, Garden Party girls, and the facul- ty will attend, At 6:15 p.m, the same day will be the Baccalaureate service in Goodhart Hall. The procession will form at 5:50 in Taylor Hall. Commencement will be at 10 Monday on Radnor Green, The pro- cession forms at 9:30 at Taylor. On Saturday, May 29, will be a required rehearsal for commence- ment. Seniors should assemble on Taylor steps with their aca- demic caps. In case of rain, they should meet at Goodhart. Bryn Mawr Alumnae Weekend will follow commencement onJune 4, 5, and 6, The alumnae program will in- clude guided tours, dinners in honor of faculty members, lectures, picnics, class meetings, ‘and luncheons, Miss McBride will present a talk on ‘‘ Reworking Edu- cation in the University College.’”’ calendar until next year, but a dorm will be opened this fall for Bryn Mawr students taking Haverford courses, The Exchange Committee needs reorganization; students do not seem interested in it. There were no academic exchanges this year. It was suggested that a more concrete program is needed for the exchange program tobe worth- while. Possibly each year those who go on exchanges could look into a certain area of the col- lege’s life; for example, students could be sent to schools with different calendar systems, and after they returned have a panel discussion, Also discussed was the Under- grad Eminent Speaker for next year. The Polish Ambassador to the U.S, has been suggested, and a list will be put up for more suggestions, MAY 7, 1965 © Trustees of Bryn Mawr College, 1965 25 Cents Old Requirements Get the Boot, Curriculum Aims For F lexibility Next year will see major changes in the Bryn Mawr curriculum, to go into effect with the Class of’69. The Curriculum Study Com- mittee presented three main rea- sons for the changes: 1) College preparation in sec- ondary school has undergone majoy revision in recent years, 2) The rapid expansion of knowl- edge in all areas necessitates several changes in approach on the college level. 3) The increased number of col- lege students planning to go on to graduate school means _ that ’ the majority of present students have different expectations: from those of previous years. The Committee has devised the following program to meet these challenges and to provide as much flexibility as possible for the in- coming students. The present system of require- ments has been abolished and anew ‘‘eroup’’? system established in its place. Beginning next year’ two semesters of Freshman Comp will be required, OR, proficiency at this level may be established by The cast of College Theater's production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD, by Anton Chekhov, to be presented this Friday and Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Roberts Hall, Haverford. Tickets are $1.00 for students, $1.50 for others, and may be purchased at the box office. Faculty Additions Announced In Classics and Social Sciences Bryn Mawr has added four new names to its list of faculty ap- pointments for next year in the anthropology, sociology, Latin, and history of religion departments. The new Latin instructor is Self-Gov Smoking Poll Shows Lack of Interest The results of the Smoking Poll taken by Self-Gov., show no intense interest among students ON the question of smoking in Rhoads and Erdman. Returned polls, only 452 out of the over 700 distributed, ran slightly in favor of a rule change. Two types of questionnaires were handed out: general, for the campus at large, and special, for future residents of Rhoads and Erdman, Questionnaires from seniors were also separated, since they would not be here to live under any such change, The results of the general poll (incl. Seniors) were 67% Yes out This is the last regular issue of THE COLLEGE NEWS for 1964-65. See you in the fall! of 325; General Seniors only, 63% out of 99; Rhoads Specials (incl. Seniors), 57% out of 87; Rhoads Special Seniors only, 54% out of 24; and Erdman, 56% out of 48. Comments from the general polls tended to be the type heard around campus. Those opposed feared for damage to rooms and furniture. Those in favor felt Simply that there was no reason to Oppose smoking if it was safe. The special polls included a check list of objections. The two most checked were that if per- mitted, the non-smoker would find freedom from smoke nowhere in her dorm, and that more smoker space could handle the problem. Selv Gov says that these polls were taken purely to collect opinion. Any decision will be the result of meetings with the Ad- ministration who must also con- sider insurance and other prac- ticalities. Francis Esterhill, who is now a candidate for the Ph.D, at Columbia University. Dr. Martin Oppenheimer, now assistant pro- fessor of sociology at Haverford, will cross the tracks and lecture in sociology at Bryn Mawr next year. Morton S, Enslin, Th.D., D.D., new lecturer in history of re- ligion, received his AB from Har- vard; previous to his latest posi- tion at St. Lawrence University’s Theological School, he taught at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa., &at Philadelphia Divinity School, and at the grad- uate school at the University of Pennsylvania. Herbert L, Alexander, Jr., the new anthropology lecturer, will receive his Ph.D, from the Uni- versity of Oregon in 1966, where he has been a teaching assis- tant since 1963. He graduated BA from the University of Texas in 1954 and MA from Yale in 1962. While in Texas, he and a group of students made some excava- tions and discovered a Paleo- Indian rock shelter. He has been published twice in ‘American Antiquity’? in 1963 and 1964. Carrying on Miss de Leguna’s tradition of research in Brooks Range, Alaska, he has spent two seasons working there. a placement exam to be taken upon arrival, or by advanced place- ment. Also, additional sections of Freshman Comp are being in- stituted, to be announced at a later date, The language requirement has been expanded to offer three alternatives: proficiency in two languages, proficiency in one lan- guage and in mathematics, or pro- ficiency in one language throug the 300-level. Major plans are under the group system. The four groups are as follows: GROUP I -- History, Philoso- phy, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and Psychology. GROUP II -- Biology, Chemis- try, Geology, Physics, and Math- ematics. GROUP III -- English, Modern Literatures, Classical Litera- tures, and the foreign literatures at the level presently permitted under the literature requirement. GROUP IV -- History, Philoso- phy, Archaelogy, History of Art, History of Music, and History of Religion. Students will be required to take four courses (two half-courses may be substituted for one full course), one chosen from each division. A student not majoring in subjects under Group I! mdy™ take a second course under Group II as an alternative to one of the other divisional requirements. Math may be chosen as this sec- ond course but does not fulfill the Group II requirement if only one course in that group is taken. No course satisfies more than one divisional requirement. For example, a course in History or Philosophy fulfills either the Group I or the Group IV requirement, but not both. Also, divisional re- quirements are separate from the Freshman Comp and language re- quirements, The committee has also pro- posed two other changes: (1) that 16 units rather than the present 15 1/2 be required for the A,B, degree, and (2) that a limit of six courses (i.e. twelve semesters) in the major subject be set as maximum for any undergraduate. Hall Improvement Due This Summer Bryn Mawr’s halls will receive a much-needed face lifting with improvements to be made in the course of the summer, The additional space to be pro- vided by Erdman will allow all the halls toun-double many rooms. All halls except Rhoads will also have more public space for quiet and for smoking. Rockefeller’s inhabitants will no longer have to climb across the roof to Pembroke to take showers, as the bathrooms of Rock will all be completely redone, and showers will be included in the new facili- ties, Pembroke East will have all new flooring in students’ rooms and new wall-to-wall carpeting in the corridors, The College Inn will be turned over to students more than ever, with the second floor providing offices and possibly assembly rooms, College Inn will take over some of the functions of Goodhart in providing room for various meetings. rage Iwo VVLLEVE NENW cvwuewsyF FgVveuvrw THE COLLEGE NEWS Subscription $3.75 — Mailing price $5.00—Subscriptions may begin at any time, Entered as second class matter at the Bryn Mawr, Pa. Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879. aa for re-entry at the Bryn Mawr, Pa Post Office filed October 1st,1963. Second Class Postage paid at Bryn Mawr, Pa. FOUNDED IN 1914 | Publisned weckly during the College Year (except during Thanks- Gens. Christmas and Easter holidays, and during examination weeks) Uf’ in the interest of Bryn Mawr College at the Regional Printing Com uu pany, Inc, Bryn Mawr. Pa., and Bryn Mawr College, The College News is fully protected by copyright. Nothing that appears in it may be reprinted wholly or in part without p:r.ussion of the Editor-in-Chief.. EDITORIAL BOARD MTOM Ne E oa icns 5 sencaeosscnsseasdais ongpeUMblocthiinsysscfbdbhc nphost. soncetpaees Associate Editor .... Managing Editor ... Copy Editor............ Lynne Lackenbach, ’66 . Karen Durbin, ’66 eae Pam Barald, ’67 Nanette Holben, ‘6a Make-up Editor oc cceccecceeen ES ER SES a ae Jeanne La Sala, ’°6% Member-at-Large ........ eee, cadvacssas SA MERE CMEIRIG bre ces congdeovaneae eG « Laura Krugman, ’67 Contributing Editors 0.00.0. os Anne Lovgren, °66 and Edna Perkins, ’66 Business MAnagers | o....5i. .5...0cccstaten. Janie Taylor, 68 and Nancy Geist, ’66 Subscription - Circulation Manager Ellen Simonoff, °67 Opinions expressed in editorials do not necessarily represent those of the entire editorial board. Unjustified For many months a significant minority of the country has been up in arms over U, S, intervention in Vietnam. The complaints put forth are mainly that this country has no justification for entering the affairs of an independent nation, and that it has sent troops to join what is essentially. a civil war in which the U.S, has no con- cern, except that one side has been supported by Communist interests. Yet last week, when President Johnson sent troops into another country torn by civil war, there was little or no opposition to his move, The Dominican Republic existed as a dictatorship for almost thirty years with full diplomatic recognition by the U.S, But suddenly, after the Trujillo regime had been overthrown by Dominicans, and after two coups had failed to provide responsible government, this country felt it imperative to throw U, S, marines into the fray. No one quarreled , and rightly so, with the need to protect U, S, citizens in Santo Domingo. But are 20,000 American troops, more than half the number currently fighting in Vietnam, really necessary to protect a few hundred nationals? Washington believes that preventing the threat of another Cuba-like Communist stronghold in the western hemisphere is justification enough for taking over a country. And it is true that General Wessin did ask for U.S. assistance. For a country that supposedly believes in self-determination and the in- violakle independence of free nations, however, this position is un- tenable. We had no binding commitments in the Dominican Republic as we do in Vietnam, no troops or supplies already involved in a struggle that could not continue without our aid. In short, we had no legal or moral justification for intervening in the internal affairs of an unoccupied nation, whatever its geographical location. It is not enough to declare that the U. S, has a right to force itself or its system upon a nation situated near our coasts in order to protect itself and its way of life. . A cease-fire has now been arranged in Santo Domingo. Whether it succeeds or not, only time will tell, but whether this one,or the next one.or a far later one manages to end the bloodshed in the Dominican Republic, one important question must remain to be answered. How long will U, S, military forces continue to occupy the country, and what part will they play in establishing a new government? The U. S. may well be one of the most powerful countries in the world today. But there are some things that even the U.S, cannot do without incurring the wrath of free citizens everywhere. The longer the U, S,. continues to stay in the Dominican Republic, the more harm it will do to its already-tarnished world image. Hurray! In that infamous Mademoiselle article, ‘‘The Barefoot Intellectuals’’ (October, 1962), an unnamed administrative official at Bryn Mawr was quoted as saying, in regard to our academic program, ‘‘Bryn Mawr never makes changes. We just stand still and wait for the others to catch up.’? Whether or not the lady in question was quoted accurately (and, in light of the rest of the article, we doubt it), the day has finally arrived when such acomment can be happily laughedinto the oblivion it deserves. For, as of this year, Bryn Mawr has indeed made changes, and they’re good ones. The Curriculum Study Committee is to be applauded for the new requirements program, going into effect next year. By eliminating the rigidity of certain aspects of the old system --i. e. you HAD to take Freshman Comp.; you HAD to prove yourself at least mediocre in two languages, ad nauseam -- and at the same time broadening the range of the requirements, they have indeed succeeded in providing a real flexibility for the incoming undergraduates. The program is commendable, too, for its concentration on diver sifi- cation, and subsequent safeguards against over-specialization. In general, it appears to be a well reasoned and much needed measure, and we can only say, as upperclassmen, we’re jealous! Open Issue Periodically a rash of robberies andriflingshitsone dorm or another on campus and serves as a reminder that the apparatus for protecting our valuable personal belongings is scarcely adequate, Rooms do not have locks on the doors -- only closets do. It is absurd for a student to gather up all phonographs, radios, cameras, wallets, and similar treasures any time she departsfrom the premises. Yet this is the only course open to her if she wishes to safeguard against the small thefts that occur while students are away for the weekend or even for part of a day. Window locks are similarly important for anyone who values her privacy. On May Day Eve a student on the ground floor of Rhoads had to persuade some Haverford visitors against entering through her window. Granted that this is an unfortunate once-a-year-phenomenon -- it still makes a va'id point. The spirit of Bryn Mawr is one of personal responsibility, Each girl is expected as a matter of course to be capable of running her own life. We are entrusted with an extensive academic and social honor system tnat demands some degree of maturity for its successful operation, Do we really believe that the prerogative of locking our rooms belongs to an even higher plateau of responsibilities beyond our reach? | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Concealed To the Editor: May I ask the courtesy of your columns to reply briefly to the letter from Grace Hamilton, Bar- bara Mann, and Debby Unger de- fending the State Department’s in- terpretation of events in South Vietnam? Their letter reveals an unawareness of the role inter- pretation plays in ‘‘getting the facts.”’ They write: ‘‘If advan- tage were taken of the informa- tion publicly offered by the State Dept., questions and criticisms would indeed be answered.’’ But of course what the State Dept. offers is not raw ‘‘information’’ (there’s no such thing) but selected, arranged, interpreted information which must be subjected to critical analysis. This is one of the prin- cipal issues in the current debate, that our government has deliber- ately and continuously deluded it- self. Correspondents and field officers for the USIA have com- plained publicly that reports have systematically (and for years!) been ‘‘sanitized,’’ each echelon telling those superior what they thought they wanted to hear. Thus it is unwise, for instance, to assume that the arguments of such a scholar as Helen Lamb can be dismissed merely by re- asserting the government’s posi- tion. Administration officials are victims not only of the ‘‘gulli- bility’? they impute to their critics, but of self-righteousness which is leading to an escalation of self-justification, The pitying contempt with which criticism has been dismissed is misdirected and professors and students have the right and the duty to say so. Ann Berthoff (Mrs. Warner Berthoff) Overt To the Editor: I was very happy to note that literature from the State Depart- ment on the US’s position in Viet Nam has been available in Taylor. As the authors of ‘‘Objectivity’’ say, students must examine both positions intensely, However, I disagree with several of their assumptions about students Sceptical Senior Tests Value of Honors Paper The following article was written by a seniorhonors candi- date, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of THE COLLEGE NEWS-ed. At this time of year, when sen- iors have just finished correcting the 100th page of the third carbon of their honors papers, and juniors are still glowing from the ecstasy of receiving the coveted invitation, is a good time to consider the entire subject of honors projects. This spring, as every other spring, many honors seniors are coming to the end of nine months of continual tension, punctuated by weekly traumatic conferences with an over-demanding advisor, Others, who have worked less doggedly, are having to probe both intellect and conscience ina frantic effort to produce 100 pages of inspiration in six weeks, Neither group is in a particularly good humor, Set against this appealing pic- ture is an even more attractive one: the juniors, both those who have been asked to do honors | applebee o to be a questionnaire to make everybody care... about community issues do you say kleenex or tissues? check one or both or write in here. are you in favor of pretzels and beer? if not, when did you enter this country? do you like spring or do you consider it effrontery? do you prefer silver or stainless steel? how do you feel about chamber music for the glockenspiel? or any alternate plan of your own would you support a bi-college phone or subway or cricket match? if so, which bi-colleges do you have in mind? please return to applebee and those who haven't. Those who have been invitedare often so impressed with the cour- teous little letter with the depart- ment’s small but tasteful letterhead that they cannot do otherwise than accept. And perhaps they should. Graduating with honors makes any record look more impressive. There is no overt pressure to accept the invitation, Many seniors, realizing that they gothrough agon- ies with every five-page paper, wisely do not undertake one 20 times that length. Others simply don’t want the extra work. Or the self-discipline. Nevertheless, once a_ student has been asked, there is, in the very nature of the invitation, a subtle pressure. It’s not easy to resist the honor of being selected from those with only 84,9 aver- ages. The fact that only a limited number of students are chosenen- hances the prestige. But what about those who were not asked? Is the attainment of a certain average a valid indication of a student’s ability to work independently? A lower average may merely show that she does too MUCH work on her own, per- haps reading beyond class assign- ments and consequently doing just fairly on an exam covering only the assigned coursework? As the system exists now, hon- ors has two major flaws: it is often an unfairly given reward, or it is a cumbersome burden, Stu- dents unable to handle the inde- pendence of an honors project regardless oftheir average, should not be induced by its prestige value to accept it. And students sincerely interested in working with a certain teacher on a special project should be allowed to, re- gardless of their grades. The fact that so many seniors regret having done honors, in spite of its un- deniable rewards, and the fact that so many juniors suffer from not being asked, indicates a need for revision of the system, There is no way to eliminate the division in many departments be- tween honors and non-honors sen- iors, But it might be possible to institute, on a large scale, project courses (already in existence in certain departments), In that way, students desiring to work inde- pendently would have the oppor- tunity. If more students worked on project courses, less superficial prestige might be attached to hon- ors, And both juniors and seniors would benefit from the placement of proper emphasis on a valuable opportunity, who overtly support positions other than the Government’s. First of all, it is unfair to assume that, simply because these students were not at Haverford to hear the State Department speaker, they have not taken the opportunity to inform themselves of his posi- tion. The US Government position is stated in press conferences, speeches, releases, and in news bulletins in the daily newspapers, to a far greater extent than the opposing positions are stated, In addition, anyone who has tried to explain what the authors of the letter call ‘‘the SDS position,” has had a great deal of practice in confronting defendents of the government policy and knows it well, Just incidentially -- I say ‘‘the SDS position’’ because this position is by no- means limited to SDS adherents, nor was SDS the first to profess it, Here the term is a convenience for a po- sition we all know about, but I caution against its future use as an all-encompassing handle for many shades of other-than-Gov- ernment positions, In short, I find no justification for implying that SAC, SDS and others of non-government position have not taken care to inform them- selves of both sides, as is possible in, and indeed vital to, a demo- cratic society. Objectivity of ob- servation is necessary for a true evaluation of the situation; how- ever, once a position has been taken, I prefer ‘‘blatant’’ and *fovert’? support of it, to timid and vacillating support. That is another necessity in a democratic society - that we not be afraid to stand up for anything we think, Marion Scoon, ’68 Interpretation To the Editor: We are disturbed to find that our comments have been misinter- preted. We intended to put ‘‘dis- _ senters’’ on the defensive -- not because we object to their position but because we object to their method. If we have provoked them into examining the government’s position more closely before criti- cizing it, our ‘*mission’’ has been successful, though misunderstood. We have found that the govern- ment’s position has been ignored. Those who criticize it have neglected to label opinions as such and to suggest proofs for their statements. We have tried to avoid this carelessness. The proofs for our statements have admittedly been from the govern- ment; our attempt has been merely to restate its position. We tend to respect the govern- ment ‘‘propaganda’’ for two rea- sons; (1) we feel that the people speaking on the_ subject are specialists -- they are the ones who spend ALL their time study- ing the situation, facts as well as theories; (2) the opposition has resorted so often to sensa- tionalism and blanket statements that we find it hard to sympathize. Most strongly we object to ab- solute statements declaring that the US government is deliberately deceiving its people. We ques- tion that those who make such claims (most of whom spend the majority of their time and energy on other matters than Viet-Nam, in comparison to the government full-time specialists) can place place themselves in such a posi- tion of omniscience. Grace S, Hamilton, ’66 Barbara Mann, ’68 Debby Unger, ’67 “Watch for your chance to order the Commencement Issue of th COLLEGE _ NEWS. 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