Page Two PENN STATE COLLEGIAN Published semi-weekly doting the College year. except on halides% ,y students of The Pennsylvania State College, he the Interest of the ;allege, the students, fatuity; alumni, and friends. MEMO CHARLES A. MYERS '34 FREDERICK L. TAYLOR '34 Editor Buoinmo Manager GEORGE A. SCOTT 'l4 HAROLD J. BATSCII '34 Managing Editor Circulation .danger WILLIAM M. STECTIEIER '34 H. EDGAR FURMAN Mt Assistant &Blur Local Advertising Manager IiF.RNARD If. ROSENZWEIG '34 JOHN C. IRWIN '34 News Editor Foreign Advertising Manager JAMES N. SHEEN '34 FRANCIS WACKER '34 Sports Editor Classified Advertising Manager RUTH 51. HARMON. '34 MAE I'. KAPLAN '39 Women :s Editor Womelio Managing Editor EVA 31. lILICHFELDT '34 Women'o News Editor I=l Janie. B. Bratty Jr. '35 John A. Prillaman '35 Phillip W. Fair Sr. '95 A. Conrad iraiges '35 Kenneth C. Ifolrman '35 Burton Rowley Jr. '35 James IS. Watson Ir. '35 Fred W. Wright '35 WOMEN'S ASSOCIATE EDITORS Marcia B. Daniel':)7. Elie M. Doane Margaret'Sf. Kinston W. "Associated Cep* MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 16, 1934 WHAT CAN A COLLEGE PAPER DO? Beginning with the nest issue, a new senior staff %%111 guide the policies of this paper. Like their prede- cessors for countless years, they will enter office filled with new ideas and enthusiasm for change. Like the others, their patience will be tried and their good judg ment tested by the many problems that confront college This year has been no editors' paradise. Attempts to raise the editorial policy above intellectual compla cency have sometimes met with the rebuffs of conflict ing interests. There have also been unwise acts and hasty judgments. There have been moments of futility, moments of satisfaction, moments of regret. An audit of the year is in order. Has the COL LECIAk really done anything? The answer would have to be that it has only partially fulfilled the possibilities open to it. Many things have been left untouched; ethers have been handled with care. Compromises have been made when the whole interest was best served by them. The objective of a live editorial and news policy has fallen short of the mark. Many things have been printed which belonged to the morgue before they reach ed the press. ' Yet there is a feeling that sonic progress has been made. The reduction in the cap and gown fee, with a saving to seniors of $:1.00, passed by Student Board, was the outcome of an initial investigation and sugges tion by this paper. Likewise, several other reforms made this year by student governmental groups were first suggested in these columns: the reduction of class presidents' and dance chairmen's salaries to $5O, limita tion of dance committees, abolition of the afternoon Move-Up Day exercises, and passing of measures to eliminate key cutbacks. Evidences of the militaristic attitude have been opposed, naldonal issues have been discussed when they were of student interest, dishonest and inefficient, student finances have been opposed in all forms, and honoraries, student government, and other student groups have been questioned in the light of their usefulness. All sides of student opinion have been given full voice in the Letter Box. The accusation of a "stodgy student press," how ever, has been a real one. The explanation is not simple. Certainly there has been no administrative censorship of the sort that occasionally appears in other colleges. But there is an unconscious censorship or restraint which is exercised by various student groups. As long as the editor of a college paper is automatically a mem ber of a number of student governmental groups, there is going to be some influence working against the so called "fearless editorial policy." If the editor is one of the boys, he is not going to about face in print when a difference of opinion occurs. On the whole, he is go ing to be. fairly tolerant of the policies and.mistakes of student leaders— , Some of this tolerance may arise, however, from a more complete knowledge of the whole situation gained by intimate contact with those who de- Mile student policies. In many cases, a circumstance which on the surface appears to he a good subject for an editorial tirade, turns out upon investigation to be less susceptible to attack This unconscious (or conscious) influence seems to he typical of newspapers in general. The difference in editorial policy seems to be the difference between the "ins" and the "outs." When Ogden Reid counts Ogden Mills among his close social and personal friends, he is not going to denounce decrepit Republicanism in the editorial columns of his Herald Tribune. But when Clarence Hathaway cannot he spoken of socially or per sonally in the same breath with Mellon or Morgan, his Doily Worker attacks on the international gamblers of Wall Street are not likely to be tempered by a personal friendship or social imminence. • Those who ask complete freedom from restraint of a college paper, therefore, ask more than they realize. Unless the editors have that mixture of courage and in sanity which few possess, their utterances are bound to he tempered by thoughts of the consequences and considerations of personal contact always present in the inner circles of the student body , . As it is, many times the editors experience a decided cynicism as to what they have already tried to accomplish. Often the oppo sition to a relatively trivial thing is such that they feel like throwing in the towel and saying, "What's the use?" It is only a certain amount of idealism which is strong er than criticism that makes them continue. To expect this idealism to be'complete and searching, however, is leaving out of the equation the human element in the make-up of most college editors. Maybe someday the milleniuin will come. The Penn State COLLEGIAN isn't the only rag that yearns after news to the point of making it up out of their head. Direct proof of the foregoing statement may be found in the columns of the renowned Pittsburgh Press of April 4. One Adele noyer, Press newshawk, clears all wires, and sends a screeching hot dispatch, direct from the ringside of Interfrater nity Ball. Only she calls it Houseparty. It seems that three Pittsburgh maidens were the proud 'possessors of bids from the Phi Gamma Delta house. 'Sister Adele then paints a beeyootiful pitcher of what said maidens were to enjoy. The jolly round of box lunches and horn fries begins Friday evening with a "chain dance" in which "each fraternity holds a dance, and the couples go from one house to another luring; the evening, dancing and lunching a bit at each one.", The three Pittsburgh females would seem to be female Gargantuas if they were to lunch a bit at each of the 54 houses. hitt Vrcso =MEE Saturday morning passes like a dream while the three Pittsburgh females "take, horseback rides or hikes." Attendance at an athletic event and an after noon tea fills the afternoon. Then the formal dinner party is enjoyed by the three Pittsburgh femmes. "After the dinner conies the formal dance. It is then that the visitors look their prettiest, in smart gowns which many of them have purchased just for the houscparty." Probably with Octagon Soap Cou pons. "Sunday morning the young couples go to church. The afternoon is devoted to 'strolls. or con- versation." Fill in your own conversation. Sister Adele rings the curtain down with a tender tableau that tugs at your heartstrings. "The station at Bellefonte is a colorful place at the conclusion of the houseparty week-end with boys bidding their young friends "goodbye" and attractive young girls board ing the train for home"—to mamma and their peace ful afternoons with the stereopticon. We got another item for our book on "Life Among the Aborigines" yesterday. One of our well. known ornaments of higher education came to Doc Dunaway's class under the influence. A fun-loving Rover Boy who sits behind him constructed a pyre under the be fuddled one's seat and set it alight. The flames were shooting skyward and the smoke had well nigh filled the room when the eminent Doctor entered. Drawing himself up and gathering his robes about him, the Doe intoned, "I'll have no smoking in my classroom, please!" .• Doctor Waller is hereby granted' full rights to the item for his book on College Life. The Alpha Chi Sigs and the Phi Sows jined up to do some dancing at the Nittany Lion on Saturday. The Brothers Phi Psi had not recked . with the cunning ways of the Alpha Chi Sign, however. The admission list was drawn up so cleverly that several. Phi Psi's and their "attractive young girls" cooled their heels in an anteroom for an unreasonably long time before the dignitaries at the door admitted them.. They even had fraternity pins and everything. The COLLEGIAN board made a lot of enemies Sun day night. The colossal blowout that follows COI, LEGIAN elections,. for which. COLLEGIAN men starve themselves for weeks in order to eat as•much as they possibly can, is usually held in the Corner Roofs . ' and can easily be located by the swarms of everloving "pals" that surround the . COLLEGIAN booth to eat on the new editor. The 'pals," consisting of everyone in the Corner, were drooling with expectancy at the appointed time.. All the crafty new editor did was to hire a room upstairs and throw his feast there. Nary a "pal" got in. Threats of bloody vengence have been heard on every side. Several Frolic men are going around mumbling in their beards. "Just let those COLLEGIAN guys try to crash the Froth banquet." OLD MANIA lIM=E=MI BOOK SALE Aprill6 to April 21 Publishers Reminders LIBRARY BOOKS SHELF-WORN GENERAL BOOKS All at Greatly Reduced Prices Keeler's Cathaum Theatre Building One week April 16 to April 21 TETE PENN - STATE COLLEGIAN "My Stars," produced by the Penn State Thespians, under the direction of J. Ewing Kennedy, in Schwab audi torium Saturday night. Cast: Bill Morrison Donald H. Dixon _ William A. Mechesney Doc Ralph B. Vance Helen C. Whelan .____,lane A. Parker Babe Helen E. Taylor Spike Hoyt John E. Binns Pooch Riddell James S. Norris Jake Wiggins Mahlon L. Heist Bill Morrison Donald H. Dixon Polly Walters Frances Christine Elmer Samuel Wolfson Babs Wilson 11. Grace Baer Fluffy Fiske____William B. Edwards Professor Louis Benson_Jules Vernik Colonel Tomlinson_Richard W. Grant Tom, Dick, Howie__Norman Holland, Isadore Levinson, Ira Sendroff. Taking a cast of over seventy-five musicians, dancers, singers, and prin cipals, and moulding the mass into a complete, satisfactory entetainrnent is no easy task. In "My Stars," presented to an appreciative Interfraternity Ball week-end audience Saturday night, "Sock" Kennedy did just that. The plot, an overworn college life affair, was, to say the least, weak-kneed, but, interspersed with plenty of singing, dancing and Jimmy Norris' well handled though perhaps rather musty gags, provided two hours of entertain ment. • . As Babs Wilson, ingenue lead, Grace Baer did an excellent job of playing the 'little innocent,' while the only fault of. Don Dixon, as her hard-won football hero, was that he just wasn't quite perfect enough to fill the role of the absurdly popular stage hero. The fault, however, seems to us to lie more with the role than with the actor. 'Bill. Morrison' was a too ha possible person. Judgment of spec tators seemed to be that Dixon did as good a job of attempting to humanize the role as could be expected. As the villainess who turns out to have a heart of gold at the end, Fran ces Christine, borrowed from the Glee Club for the occasion, did noble work. Her excellent voice put over the one scene that would otherwise have been pretty much of a flop, the "There Must Be a Santa Claus" number: As Polly Walters, a vamp extraordinary, she neatly trampled on the not-too tender toes of the hero for a sufficient amount of plot time to satisfy the members of the audience who were anxious to be dubious as to the end of it all. Helen Taylor and Bill Edwards, comedy leads, were vivacious enough to carry their parts, and yet almost reserved enough to remind us of peo ple we .know hereabouts. We liked them: , a bet' arid' if their return bow 'at the. ere of ; ; their "I'm All Agog" number meant:'anything, the rest of the audieriCe certainly did too. Probabli% the most conVincing cast member . Was the super-super-super toughie, Spike' Hoyt, who just didn't like the idea of losing his 'gal,' Babe (Helen Ta * Ylor). The contrast of his bulk opposed to the slender Bill Ed wards put the dormitory room scene (Helen waS, under the bed) over as one of theest set-ups of the show. Thiee scenes out of the ten pro- On Other Campuses A new discovery by an Ohio State University scientist:. "Too much studying and close work are the major causes for the weak and strained eyes of many students," stated Dr.;, Clarence R. Ellis, of the department of applied optics. A "Penny Toaster"—marshmallow roast with: an one-cent cover charge —was held'at Oberlin College 'to raise funds to buy ping pong equipment. They don't believe in old-fashioned superstitions at Carleton College. Thirteen seniors have just been elec ted to their chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Co-eds Beware! A librarian of the British Phrenological Society recent ly maintained. that flat-headed men are conceited and faithless. West Virginia University faculty members conduct annual fire schools to aid in training village firemen throughout the state. Co-eds at the Michigan State Normal College have organized their own prom.. This year they are call ing it "County Fair." A vote is being conducted on the West Virginia University campus to determine the size of the diplomas the seniors'will . receive at graduation. The present college girl is a well balanced picture of courtesy, en thusiasin, cheerfulness, and courage, according to Dean V. C. Gildersleeve, of Barnard College. FERA _ projects at 'Westminster College include window washing and floor polishing. Dr.. H. B. Schaeffer, president of Lenoir-Rhyne College, resigned re cently because the • board of trustees Footlights duced seemed out of place. "There' Must Be A Santa Claus," and "Drink A Bromo," although well-enough done, just didn't seem to have any spot in the production. They were separate entities,' good enough by themselves, but seemingly inserted for no par ticular reason. The other dubious scene, noted on the program as "Beta Phi Theta Initiation", although the best staged number in the show left the audience at a loss as to just what they were looking at. Even when it was over, no one knew just why they'd been permitted a view into the pseudo innermost sanctums of a pseudo soror ity in a pseudo college. With the singers, we have no par ticular quarrel, except to remark (as did many other spectators) that it's too bad that Grace Baer couldn't have been used for more musical parts. Prances Christine was good, and car ried roff her pats with ease. ° But in spite of the noble attempts made by Jane Parker, she just didn't seem to be able to get either her words or her personality beyond the first seven or eight rows. We were greatly pleased with the trick set-up for the "End Run" view. Although not a new idea, it worked to perfection in this instance. The glory for, the success of this number should go to the persons who snapped the action onto the stage so quickly after the discussion preceding it. That's what made it good. When we looked at the ten-scene schedule as listed on the program, we visualized endless waits for a lacka daisical stage crew to get the scenery shifted. We didn't find them. Whether it was the excellent music of Duke Morris's aggregation, the speed of the crew, or the atmosphere, we don't know. We'll hazard a large red apple for the stage crew, although we think that Emery May's trombone soloing and James Minium's keyboard tick , lings, aided and abbetted by the Ryan, Dyer, Kiere violins may have had a lot to do with the shortening the longest waits. • Chorus work seems to have dropped off a great deal. There were more • famous names in - the women's chorus but there seemed . to be fewer good dancers. The names look good in an nouncements and on the program, but': dancing looks good on the stage, and', the women's chorus only' once (in the I "Take The Tempo,") seemed able to forget their worries, and their posi tions, and dance. Lil Etters, Sammy McKee, and. Helen Hinebaugh, stood l out like, professionals in the dancing crew. The men's chorus 'was poor, I as Thespian's men's choruses usually 'seem to be. The gentlemen can't seem to forget that they're campus leaders.. The men's glee club singers were Inconapicions, perhaps it was better•that Individual - men, Ralph • Vance and Bill Mechesney did excellent work— they actually seemed to: have a little life. The Baer-Vance-Mechesney im promptu dance was the most realistic of the whole program. Altogether, however, we'll repeat what we started out with .. . not as good as previous shows, perhaps, but . excellent entertainment for the week end. In Our Faculty . 'Versatile' is the adjective which comes closest to describing Dr. Eugene 'C. Wieodruff„ of the department of electrical engineering. He has several noteworthy electrical inventions to his credit; he owns and operates one of the most complete amateur radio sta tions in the State; he. is one of the three members of the Engineering te nuity who have doctor's degrees; and he Is a talented musician. '. Among his inventions which have ,;wide commercial use are a control de '.vice for multiple unit electrical cars, Land an improved method of trans 'former coupling hi radio. Dr. Woodruff is also fond of inventing gadgets which I 'would make Rube Goldberg turn green with envy, One of his favorites is an Invention which he made for his automobile to I Insure against its being stolen. In order ' to unlock the transmission. one' must give the horn a loud and resounding honk, turn the key, and then sound the horn' again. 'Before the recent depression hit the automobile industry, he received a free Dusenberg each year as partial pay ment for devices which he invented for that car, As a Musician, Dr. Woodruff can play competently on nearly a dozen Instruments, Before his hands were injured a few years ago, he was the regular organist at Sunday chapel, refused to eliminate football as an intercollegiate sport at that institu tion. • "Resolved: We are becoming a race of lunatics," was the subject of a recent freshman-sophomore debate at Albany (N.Y.) State. College for Teachers. They've found him at last! "An thony Adverse Is Now in College,p brary," is a headline in the Western State Teacher's College paper. ' The Campus, student newspaper at the College of -the City 'of New York, is making arrangements with a fish dealer to sell back issues of its paper to the merchant for wrappings for herrings. National Student Federation Completes Expansion Plans NEW YORK, (NSFA)—Plans for expansion of the National Student Federation, authorized by the dele gates to the Ninth Congress held in Washington last December, have been completed, according...to an announce ment by' John A. Lang; President of the Federation. The plan provides for the appointnient of an Executive Secretary to coordinate the work of the four projected departments of the Central Office, and a travelling secre tary: to facilitate the work of_ the, local committees in the member col leges. "Once this step has been taken," said \fr.•Long, "we feel sure front the increasing. support which students have given the work of the N.S.F.A. during the last nine years that they will be sufficiently interested in it to make financially possible the estab lishment of the larger organization. Thus we are at present attempting to finance, through outside, means, only the services of the Executive Secre tary and the Travelling Secretary." The four departinents to be set up Neiv Library - ' - This is .the third of,a. series of letters by .Willard P. - 'Lewis, Col lege-librarian.. This article deals with the - necessity of adequate reading rooms. In order -to fulfill its function ode_ quately 'and efficiently in the college and university of today, the library must provide quiet, co. - nfortable, ade quately, heated, lighted and ventilated reading-room facilities so that from one fifth to one fourth of the student body may be cared for at one time. That this is a low estimate is. agreed by library;building authorities and larger provision is being made in the recent ly erected building. In the Pennsylvania Mate College library there are reading-room ac commodations atlhe present time for approximately six hundred readers in cluding the facilities at - the central library and branches. Considering our present study body of approximttely 4500 and resident - faculty, of approxi mately 700 ithere-should be at least 1000 seats in-the central library alone instead - of 350. In addition, to crowded conditions during certain hours of the day, the heating and ventilating arrangements are out of `date, inefficient, and'unsat isfactory. The main reading room is open 'to the roof- and the alcove rooms open into it - resulting in an echo of all conversation and other noises. All bor rowers entering hy.the front door must. —First Nighter Selling by telephone gets results. In many lines of.business, salesmen are finding they can cover more customers more often—and close more sales at lower cost—by telephone. • Bell System men have worked out a• number of plans for systematic market coverage by Long Distance telephone. They have also devised tele phone plans for more efficient handling of pro diction, purchasing, administration, distribution; collections. Because Bell System service is•fast,- economi cal, adaptable to specific needs, business more and More . turns to the telephone.. BELL -TELEPHONE SYSTEM • • si mai :. WHY NOT SAY "HELLO.' TO MOTHER AND DAD? , 'immin t RATES'ARE LOWEST AFTER 8:30 P. N. . . • Monday Evening, April 16, 1934 in the Central Office will provide for the apportionment of the work al ready being done and the addition of a number of services,. which the'Ped erotica has so far had no facilities to initiate. National Affairs, Interna tional Affairs, Campus Affairs , and Publicity will each be in the charge of a secretary who will be under the supervision of the Executive •Secre tary. Local committees in the mem ber colleges will comprise representa tives for each of the departments in the Central Office, utilizing where ever, possible organizations already, existing on the campus, such' as in ternational clubs, civic organizations, etc. "An essential part of the entire program," according to Mr. Long, "is cooperation with other• student groups working in the field; for we do not seek to duplicate, but rather to co ordinate the efforts of many groups into a larger .prograM," The plan is being submitted to. the members of :the 'N.S.F.A. •for:their consideration: . Igo through thisreading room to get to .the charging desk which adds to the I noise and generaf.contusion. In the reserve " book , room in the basement. the • floor is concrete which adds greatly to the noise and Ms- I turbance of readers and MIT again the ventilation and' heating and also the lighting are unsatisfactory. It is high !'ly important that , we provide adequate and hygienically'satisfactory conditions In Order that the: readers may achieve the best results. KIRK, WYLAND•WILL ADDRESS PITTTSB'GH EDUCATION SOCIETY. • Profs, Mabel E. Kirk and Mary Jane . Wyland;. •the department of education and psychology, will. speak at, a meeting of the Progressive Edu cation • association which will be held in the William P6m hotel,' Pittsburgh, April 20-21. Plans for desirable edu cational adjustments' will •be made at the Convention. Professor Kirk : will speak on "Adapting Changing . Educational Methods to. Public Schools." "She will also talk on "The:New Teacher.!!'lte direction of Sanctuary Education" is the topic which'Professor Wyland will discuss. William -S. Hoffman, College regis trar, left yesterday for.. Cincinnati where he 'will . attend• a convention of I the American,: Association •of ,Col -1 legiate Registrars; ~Q,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers