Page Two
PENN STATE COLLEGIAN
Successor to The Free Lance, established 1887
Published svmi-weekly durinc the College year, except on holidays,
by students of The Pennsylvania State College, In the interest of the
College, the students, fnculty, niumni, and friends.
THE MANAGING BOARD
JOHNSON BRENNEMAN ’37 ALAN L. SMITH ’37
Editor Business Manager
E. TOWNSEND SWALM *37 KENNETH W. ENGEL ’37
Managing Editor Advertising Manager
PHILIP S. HEISLEIt *37 PHILIP A. SCHWARTZ *37
News Editor Promotion Manager
W. ROBERT GRUBB *37 GEORGE W. BIRD ’37
Sports Editor Circulation Manager
RICHARD LEWIS *37 IRWIN ROTH ’37
Fenturo Editor Foreign Advertising Manager
MARION A. RINGER ’37 JEAN C. HOOVER ’37
Women's Editor Secretary
M. WINIFRED WILLIAMS '37 REGINA J. RYAN '37
Women’s Managing Editor Women’s News Editor
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Woodrow \V. Bierly '33 Fmnch H. Szymeznk '3B
Jerome Weinstein '33 Charles M. Wheeler jr. ’3B
ASSOCIATE BUSINESS MANAGERS
Jay H. Daniels *3B Carl W. Diehl '3B Robert E. Elliott ir. MS
Kathryn M. Jenrdxgs '33 Robert S. MoKclyey ’33 John G. Sabella *3B
WOMEN'S ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Shirley R. Heims '3B Georgia H. Powers ’3B Caroline Tyson '3B
Managing Editor This Issuer-
News Editor This Issue...
Tuesday, October 13, 1936
BLAZES AND BLUNDERS
EVENTS Friday night, proved two things. First,
that the student body as a whole has realized that
bonfires costing more than a thousand dollars are not
worth it. Second, that town* children are probably as
much to blame as students when such things do occur.
The crowd on Co-op conier from 8 until about 9:15
was mildly interested in seeing if anyone was going to
start a fire, but scarcely anyone, except for a few town
children, did anything about it. The three small blazes
which did start were quickly checked by students and
by 9:30 the crowd had decided there would be no fire.
That they were wrong was not the fault of stu
dents. According to those who were present when the
fire on Burrowes street and College avenue started it
was again high school students who were chiefly respon
sible. Fortunately the blaze was small and short-lived so
that the damage was slight. If the borough attempts
to collect any -damages from the College there should be
a vigorous protest.
(Aside to the Centre Daily Times:- It was not the
first time in five but in three years that students re
frained from building a bonfire, on Co-op Corner. As
we have mentioned above it was not students who built
it and it was not stopped by a sudden shower but by
several local policemen and Burgess Leitzel—as a re
quest by several students who went to the Burgess’
home shortly after they learned that there had been a
fire.
(We understand how easy it is for errors to get
into stories and we do not offer this as a criticism. We
simply feel that the actual facts would not have seemed
quite so damaging to townspeople who read your paper
as the story which you printed.)
THE WPA AND
COLLEGE PLAYWRIGHTS
ONE OP THE few divisions of thc WPA to escape
the criticism of the Republican press has been the
Federal Theatre Project. Planned primai'ily to aid
actors and others connected with the theatre who were
unemployed, this project is Tapidly proving that those
wh<‘» were so critical of the plan last winter were wrong.
Many at that time claimed that any. sort of government
backed theatre would lack vitality and life and would
be a failure artistically. Actually neither was the case.
Handicapped by limited funds; forced to take actors,
directors, and stage hands whom the commercial thea
tre did not want; and ’•equired, for the most part, to
work with scripts which Broadway producers refused
to use; the Federal Theatre Project, in less than nine
months, has presented some of the Lest shows in New
York. The run of “Murder in the Cathedral” was held
over because iof the large numbers who wanted to see it.
“Triple A Plowed Under” had a good run. “Injunction
Granted,” despite bad notices (principally, we feel, be
cause the play takes some rather nasty cracks at a
number of newspaper sacred cows) is still playing, al
though it opened about the middle of the summer.
One of the latest projects of the group should be of
particular interest to college students.
This is an announcement by Francis Bosworth, di
rector of the Project’s Piay Bureau, that during the
coming year it will conduct a nation-wide campaign to
encourage undergraduate playwrights. They are urging
students to submit plays to them. Those that they con
sider worthy will he produced in units throughout the
counry. Others will be given by the WPA Studio The
atre simply for the author's benefit that he may see the
flaws and mistakes in his play. For plays accepted the
author receives $5O per week and retains sole possession.
This is an excellent opportunity for amateur play
wrights on this or on other college campuses. It is an
other instance where the present administration has
shown itself to be sympathetic toward youth by offering
it a chance to help itself.
ALUMNI AND STUDENTS AGAIN complain of
the difficulty of getting their proper places when they
hold reserved seat tickets. If the thirty-odd members
of Blue Key, in addition to the special ushers, cannot
see to it that people sit where they are supposed to, then
they should be replaced cr given some assistants.
BLUE KEY, WHICH WAS OFTEN criticized for
failure to follow the provisions of its Constitution in
several matters, has apparently managed to silence its
critics. It has been decided not to have the Constitution.
WE NOTE WITH PLEASURE the recent revival
of “The Letterbox.” Contributions are always wel
come, although writers should remember that our limi
tations of space may make it necessary to shorten any
letters of more than 250 words.
Workings of the Administrative
Ten or so years pass during which it becomes
increasingly apparent that for some unascertainablc
reason more—many move—girls want to go here than
will go around, dormitorially speaking. As this be
comes more and more increasingly apparent the. ad
ministrative mind ponders it more and move increas
ingly until, several years ago, the-Mind decides at
the risk of being thought terribly unoriginal that a
new dormitory (for women) would be nice. So let
ters are written, '-onferences held, opinions aired,
ideas formed, architects interviewed, sites picked,
sites rejected, plans drawn, blueprints blueprinted, fig
ures figured.
After the smeke clears the Mind has decided that
about $2,000,000 worth <*f building and accessories
should do right by our Nells and Holmes Field, on or
about the Theta shack, is a hell of a smart spot for
the new chez femme- So far so good. But here the
Mind reached an impasse. How to break the news to
an eager—and probably unbelieving—world ? How
the Mind solved that neat little question is revealed
by a headline in the Collegian for Tuesday, October
G:
Parents To Petition New
Jeronio Weir stein '3S
Francis If. Szymeznk MS
Super, Super, Super
Why not an Olympic Games movie? Something
like “United Artists present ADOLF HITLER’S
production of Deutschland’s Olympic Games of 1936
co-starring JESSE OWENS and MRS. ELEANOR
HOLMES JARRETT.” It’d be collosal! “With a
supporting cast of millions including .Goering, Gccb
bels, and the whole Germany army ...” It’s a
natural!
Any Charge for This Service, Doc?
Sign on a blackboard in room on the fourth floor
of Old Main: “Do you have a baby in your home?
If not, see Dr. Ritenour.”
Society Note
Chuck Hughes, Bob Beddow, and Dick Clements,
phipsi stooges, drove down’to the Birmingham School
for Gals the other day in search of a little social life.
It seems that as they drove into the drive practic
ally every window in the place became alive with Bir
mingham beauties in various stages of dress and un
dress. Greatly heartened by the stir they had cre
ated our heroes entered the sanctum, only to re-ap
pear immediately, having been informed by the Bir
mingham Powers That Be “not tonight, Josie,” or
something. Our dejected heroes climbed sadly into
their car and giving a last glance at old “Birm” were
startled to discover hanging out of the window on the
third floor where nothing had been before a pair of
women’s pink silk pants.
Correspondence: ■,
Got a letter from Israel' K'. 'Shulman'’3G, last
year’s Players publicity agent' and sometime actor.
Ike, it will be remembered, inhabited that low den,
the Beaver Hause, and his letter is revealing. He
wondered if we could find out for him who sent him
a blank postcard posted from State College on October
7. We quote from the letter: “If the denizens of
that last Bohemian outpost (the Beaver House) were
the senders (of the card), then I know the reason
why they sent it blank. I once asked them to write
me concerning “what the boys are doing;” they re
membered that you can’t send pornographic litera
ture through the mail.” \
Stuff:
Eddie Roberts doesn’t like' the new arrangement
of the Froth contents page. She liked the old page
because “you used to turn to it like you turn to the
joke page in Good Housekeeping.” ... Chuck Wheeler
borrowed Ben Jones’ car to take his Collegian dance
date “to get some cigarettes” and was gone an hour
. . . Perin State sophomoric humor reached new t - ■
heights Friday night with the placing of the Nazi flag'S>
on the top of the flag pole in front of Old Main . . .
High-pants Freudenhoim and Dud Himoff are vicing
strenuously for the favors of Joanne Walker . . .
OLD MANIA
Mind:
Dormitories For Women;
Hear Dean Ray On Topic
+ +
+ ♦ -*•
+ + +
- + +
—THE MANIAC
THE PENN STATE COLLEGIAN
Letter Box
To the Editor:
I have had the privilege of reading
yonr recent interesting satire on the
medical profession as it exists in
State College. I wonder if you re
alize how little has been accomplished
through it in cementing a decent feel
ing between the local physicians and
the student body. I also wonder what
sort of a feeling of insecurity may
have been aroused in the minds of
your student readers, your parent
readers and your faculty readers,
bearing in mind that many of this
latter group depend on the advice of
these same physicians who are refer
red to in rather unwholesome terms.
It is rather disagreeable that such
an issue might be made from one in
cident when I know (if the other
physicians in town have attended as
many students as I have) that the
student body as a whole has never
suffered greatly from want of atten
tion when it was requested except in
the case of an incident such as you
have referred to, which is not com
mon.
I have never hesitated to recom
mend the Infirmary for the student
who is HI enough to be confined to
bed, and who cannot attend to his
own wants. The attitude of a stu
dent body towards a division of the
College which is well equipped, pro
vided with adequate nursing, care at
the hands of graduate nurses and di
rected by two registered physicians
is difficult to'undcrstand. The tradi
tional “thumbs down” attitude with
regard to the Infirmary was one of
the first discoveries I made when I
became a student at Penn State. As
I see it now, with the eyes of a phy
sician, I can see no justification for
this attitude. I can surely see it as
an advantage to the student if for no
otlmr reason than the proper bed care
and nursing -which is provided as com
pared with the ridiculous attempts
made in the average fraternity or
rooming house to secure these import
ant contributions' to the welfare of
the sick.
In addition to calls on a nasty night,
with the hour at ten-thirty, there
may be some other phases of his life
that might be called a “doctor’s busi
ness.” One of these may he that the
doctor is just as willing to protect
his own health as the patient is anx
ious to secure his. There have been
a few times in my own life when at
the close of a busy day, mind and
body alike are so completely exhaust
ed that'another call appears as a per
sonal insult and as an outrage. It is
totally unnecessary for a physician
to furnish an .alibi. As I read your
editorial, and even if the statements
are correct, they all appear as
straightforward answers. . However,
jf I amithe pl&rsician who said he had
a patient and was quitting’ for the
night after Be had finished with him,
and I suspect'that I am, I can safely
say that the true remark was nicely
juggled to make it more effective for
purposes of ridicule.' As a former
news editor on the Collegian staff I
ask you if you must prant sensational
stuff like this, at least get it accurate.
Students who expect to get ill this
winter should request treatment when
they become ill and'not wait until th<?
late evening or early morning hours
to call a physician, as three out of
four who call in the night have done
in the past,. and incidentally they
should pay their bills. Come down
sometime and,l’ll show you the rec
ords of enough deadbeat students to
make you wonder how any physician
who held that many could ever look
at a student again.
And., here’s !a, little tip. If; at first,
'you ; dbh’ti succeed,''call him back 1 the
second time and tel! him your patient
is very ill and you' have tried every
other doctor in town—even tell him
that all the rest out on maternity
cases if you wish. He may swear and
be mad as H——l but tRe chances are
ten to one he'll come.
Very truly yours,
; E. H. Coleman
To the Editor:
This letter represents the opinion
Laundry Worries?
Why send your laundry home when you can have it done
here for practically the same amount that it costs to send
by Parcel Post home and back?
We now offer to the students a special BUDGET bundle
which saves them money, bother, and time.
Two or three students may “budget” their washng together
as one wash and send it for the low rate of twenty cents', per,
pound. Minimum bundle $l.OO. (Average student’s wash
ing weighs from two to three pounds.)
All laundry called for arid returned beautifully washed and
ironed (Including shirts.)
Not only; doing away with the bother of packing and Parcel
Posting it home, but also gives the mothers at home the
relief of this extra work and packing.
The COLLEGE VALET SERVICE
113 E. BEAVER AVENUE
“IT’S SMART, THEY SAY—TO SEND THE VALET WAY”
of a large proportion of students,
parents* and townspeople—a ‘propor
tion larger upon reflection than upon
the first impression. It concerns the
Players’ production, “Personal Ap
pearance” on Saturday night. This
reaction is not that of a Victorian
old-maid, nor is it the impression of
a dogmatic, religious ascetic or a
squeamish, hot-house variety of hu
man-being. I express the real con
viction of the majority of that au
dience of thoughtful, -dad-respecting
college students, their parents and
townspeople in this year 1936.
Unlike most of the Players' shows
during the past three years, “Person
al Appearance” was a very smutty,
an extremely low comedy. It left a
distinctly bad taste.. To admit that
sex aspersion and fluent profanity
offer the only opportunities for
laughs is, to say the. least, an in
sult to the intelligence.
“Personal Appearance,” the Dad’s
Day show, although well enough act
ed, wasf utterly foreign to all the deep,
worthwhile things Penn State stands
(not stood) for. It was foreign to all
the finest in life, to all the bases
upon which anything endures in God’s
world. We felt about it afterward, as
wc often feel after a movie,—that it
was a waste of perfectly good money
and time. For many parents, it cre
ated an impression which Ponn
State’s founders and present admin
istrators oppose for the good of the
institution.
Since this was an exception in the
long line of worthwhile plays, we feel
it is still perfectly safe to entrust the
the future selection of shows to Mr.
Cloetingh and Mr. Neusbaum.
Very, very sincerely,
Robert W. Young, ’37
We Women
By MARION. A. RINGER
This is the first year that fresh
man class meetings have not been
compulsory. Some of the freshmen
this year have preferred seeing the
best movies, which inevitably come
on Monday nights, to class meetings.
One thing we get from Polit Sci
ence, is that primary elections are
more important than the finals. It
is too late, now, to worry about the
primaries, but you can put your two
cents in on your final officers.
These meetings are expressly for
you. At every meeting there is a se
lected speaker who has something vi
tal to offer you. If their suggestions
are taken seriously you’ll find out in
a year they have had more than a
grain of salt in them.
Unknown to many students, W. S.
G. A. has a loan fund for women
needing financial aid in finishing
their college course.
One advantage of this fund over
others is that interest upon the loan
does not begin until September a year
after graduation.
Loans are made preferably to jun
iors and seniors who have justifiable
qualifications. Inquiries may be made
to Gene Ziegler or Dean Ray.
DIAL 2403
CINEMANIA
Tonight, “Libeled Lady,” with the
four-star cast of Jean Harlow, Will
iam Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer
Tracy plays at the Cathaum. The
story, as the title suggests, is all
about newspapers, the original script
having been •written some time ago
by a certain star reporter on the
Chicago Tribune, since lured to Hol
lywood.
The story moves through a suc
cession of incidents in which an.heir
ess bring suit against a great news
paper and one-time reporter. The
one-time reporter, who is William
Powell, is rehired and eventually
winds up in a romantic clinch with
the heiress, Myrna Loy, or should.
A return engagement of Alexander
Korda's “The Private Life of Henry
VIII” plays at the Nittany tonight
and tomorrow night. Although most
of the publicity on this film has been
unquestionably vile, the picture repre
sents one of the most artistic histor
ical jobs London Films, have put out.
Since it was first released a few years
ago, the then practically unkno\vn
players, with the exception of Charles
Laughton, have come into stardom
and were made by the picture. They
were Binnie Barnes, Merle Oberon and
/
Where
Is
SALLY?
FALL BOOK NOTES
A SAD PARENT’S GARDEN OF VERSE by Ogden Nash, 132
pages, $2.00. (Simon & Schuster)
Now that Ogden Nash is a father, his reflections on children come
with a new mellowness:
“Many an infant that screams like a calliope
Could be soothed by a little attention to its diope.”
So, without attempting to review his new book, we dedicate to
him this which lias come on as an acute attack of whimsey:
From changing often, changing pronto,
Nash is writing Esperanto.
In the nursery—an abhorrence—
It never .rains but .comes in torrents;
Hemingway can hunt the kudu
And not endure what we and you do.
In Africa’s mud old Hemingway splashes,
But Nash in the nursery, gnashes and gnashes,
And parodies poems of the poet, Stevenson;
As we parody parody, just to get even, son!
« * #
A WORLD I NEVER MADE by James T. Farrell, October 22,
$2.50. (Vanguard)
The first edition of this book will be limited to the number of
copies ordered before publication date.
CATALOGUE by George Milburn, 279 pages, $2.00 (Harcourt,
Brace)
Better read this thin, rich slice of Americana and discover
what happened when the fall deluge of Sears, Roebuck and Mont
gomery Ward catalogues swamp the small town Conchartee. Milburn’s
first novel, the funniest book so far this season.
THE ENCHANTED VOYAGE by Robert Nathan, 187 pages,
$2.00. (Knopf)
An amusing satirical fantasy by the author of ONE MORE
SPRING.
Hector Pecket was a carpenter and he dreamed of sailing to the
Bay of Fundy and other romantic places; he was a Viking anchored
to the Bronx.
He built an uncaulkcd boat without a keel and named her the
SARAH PECKET for his wife, a practical woman. She was irked
about the ark, the dreaming, and the fact that Hector did odd jobs of
carpentry for less than cost. It didn’t .help matters when she.put
wheels on her and sold her to' Schultz, the butcher, to use for a ham
burger stand.
Pecket stole the boat from the butcher on a stormy night and
headed for the Caribbean. On his way south he picked up a wait
ress, Mary Kelly, who dreamed of the good life that is lead in the
movies. And another itinerant, a combination scissors sharpener and
dentist. He was a realist heading south, but who would like to have
been going north to see if pemmican is really good for the teeth.
Mary and Williams, the dentist, fell in love enroute.
At Beaycr Dam, Virginia, Hector sent a card to his wife and
wrote “Greetings from Valparaiso.” Soon afterward he was put in
jail for harpooning a hen. Meanwhile Mrs. Pecket is heading for
Beaver Dam.
As she was bailing him out he did Pecket’s charge for the boat.
The enchanted voyage ends as our hero ran off the road into the river.
Hector and crew are saved, but not Hector’s illusions which went
down with the boat.
MORE POEMS by A. E. Housman will be published on October
2Gth. English and American editions are to be issued simultaneously.
As the first printing will be small, an advance order will be necessary
to secure a first edition. $2.00. (Knopf)
Here is a partial list of the many books to be published at re
duced prices on October 20th. It looks like National Reprint Week:
..‘Sinclair Lewis: IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE, $.98
Somerset Maugham: CAKES AND ALE, $.89
William McFee: THE HARBOURMASTER, $.89
Richard Aldington: ALL MEN ARE ENEMIES, $.89
Stephen Leacock: GREATEST PAGES OF AMERICAN HUMOR
$.89
Aldous Huxley: BRAVE NEW WORLD, $.89
Arnold Bennett: IMPERIAL PALACE, $.98
Ellen Glasgow: THE SHELTERED LIFE , $.89
Siegfried. Sassoon: MEMOIRS OF A FOX HUNTING MAN, $.89
Christopher Morlcy: HUMAN BEIN.G, $.79
Theodore Dreiser: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY, $.98
•« KEELER'S »
Cathaum Theatre Building
Tuesday, October 13, 1936"*
Robert Donat. Laughton, of course,
plays a terrifying Henry.
Tomorrow at the Cathaum, Victor
McLaglen, whose work in the “In
former” indicated to a doubting pub
lic his abilities as an actor, and Bin
nie Barnes co-star in the academy a
ward winner, “The Magnificent Brute”
McLaglen docs the part of the ideal
ized steel worker who fusses around
with molten metal in the daytime and
spends his enormous salary chasing
blondes at night Great stuff for the
steel industry. At the Nittany Thurs
day. • '
Thursday at the Cathaum, Shirley
Temple is again with us in “Dimples.”
With her is Frank Morgan, Stepiii
Fetchit and a cast of goons. As the
story goes, Shirley is a street singer
eking out a living for herself and
her old grandfather, Frank Morgan,
who also picks pockets on the side.
Shirley sings and dances, also plays
“Little Eva.”
Sackett at Meeting
Dean Robert L. Sackett is attend
ing a meeting of the committee on
Engineering in Colleges of tlie Amer
ican Society of Civil Engineers in
Pittsburgh which will he held from
today until Friday. The purpose of
the meeting is to make plans for fu
ture contacts of engineering colleges.
State College