PAGE TWO
it's in the Book
■ ■ • V' ■ v
"PENN STATE YANKEE/' ihe autobiography of Fred Lewis Pattee
is presented to actor Charles Laughton, on campus for the second
Community Forum program, who is a Yankee by choice. Today is
the publication date of the book, produced through the efforts of
friends of the late professor of American literature and author of
the words of the University's Alma Mater.
Actor Turns
Into Exciting
Charles Laughton, reminiscent and relaxed, paused long enough
between his reading presentation Thursday night in Schwab Audi
torium and a hurried trip to the Academy of Music in Brooklyn to
express opinions about his reading, his profession, and his audience.
Crowded into a small room off the stage, Laughton seemed com-
pletely at ease, with a foot
perched atop a table. Autograph
and information seekers swarmed
the room. The campus radio sta
tion microphone, in the hands of
Arthur Simm, WDFM interview
er, recorded for presentation after
broadcasting starts, the spontan
eous Laughton.
Posed With Book
First the 54-year-old dramatist
posed with some reading matter:
“Penn State Yankee,” autobiog
raphy of the late Fred Lewis
Pattee, former professor of Ameri
can literature at the University.
Then someone threw a question
to Laughton about his “oral inter
pretation.”
“Oral interpretation!” fumed
the dramatist. “What is oral inter
pretation? Just a lot of long
words.” He smiled. “Sounds like
a mouthwash!”
“Oral interpretation that’s
reading aloud, isn’t it,” he coyly
asked.
Traced Reading Career
Laughton retraced the progress
of his newest career, public read
ing. After the war, the British
born actor began to ride his hob
bv, reading, as if it were his
profession. He voluntarily ap
peared before thousands of
wounded veterans, reciting liter
ature that had pleased him.
Laughton read on' a telecast,
then decided to go on the road.
He found small audiences at first.
But soon crowds were enthusi
astically turning out to hear him.
Thursday night’s stop was part of
the actor’s sixth national tour.
The success of the readings
disproved every theatrical theory
formulated in the last 20 years,
Laughton said.
“They’ve been talking action,
action, action,” he declared.
People don’t come to the thea
ter to see action alone, he said.
Words are the important ingre
dient, he pointed out.
Words Are Permanent Gift
Words are man’s only lasting
contribution to civilization,
Laughton said.
This led to a discussion of
Greek tragedies. “They make me
giggle,” the actor said. “They are
soap operas written by geni
uses.”
“I read what I enjoy,” Laugh
ton explained. “I’ve stacks of
stuff, just files and files of it.
If I enjoy it, I feel others will,
too.”
About the 1200 enthusiasts who
crowded Schwab to hear him per
form, Laughton said, “I love
American kids. They are the
brightest, audiences in the world.”
By MIKE FEINSILBER
Liberal Arts
Council to Hold
3d Coffee Hour
The third Liberal Arts coffee
hour, sponsored by the LA Stu
dent Council, will be held from’
4, to 5:15 p.m. Monday in Ather
ton lounge.
Invitations were sent to ap
proximately 70 freshmen an,d
sophomores. The LA Council each
week invites students in the LA
school to attend the gatherings'.
The intention of the council is to
invite all the LA students during
the year so that they may become
further acquainted with faculty
and classmates.
Coffee hours are also a way of
returning to the students the 25-
cent fee which they are assessed
each semester.
Prom Refunds Continue
Junior Prom dance programs
may be exchanged for $1.50 re
funds until Wednesday at the
Student Union desk in Old Main,
according to Joseph Barnett, class
president.
NSA to Hold Freedom Week
Penn State students have been
invited to join an Academic Free
dom Week sponsored by the Na
tional Student. Association at
some future date in the school
year.
The purpose of the week, as
explained by Terry Stuver of the
local affiliate of the organization,
is to give students an opportunity
to examine the concept of aca
demic freedom through the pre
sentation of debate, forums, work
shops, and speeches promoted by
the student government, the
campus newspaper, fraternities,
sororities, living units, and the
student union.
NS A, in a report released by
Stuver, defined academic free
dom and responsibility as the lib
erty and obligation to study, in
vestigate, present, interpret, and
discuss the facts and ideas
concerning man, human society,
and the physical and biological
world in all branches of learning.
This requires freedom from limi
tations of investigation, expres
sion and discussion, it stated.
The report listed five beliefs:
1. The teacher is entitled to
freedom of research and in the
publication of the results is sub-
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
Hobby
Career
7 to Attend
Region NSA
Convention
Seven delegates from the Uni
versity were appointed Thursday
night by All-College President
Richard Lemyre to attend the Na
tional Students’ Association re
gional convention, Dec. 3 to 5,
at Swarthmore College.
Hugh Cline, sophomore class
president, and Thomas Inter, pres
ident of the Agriculture Student
Council, were named by Lemyre
to represent cabinet. Ellsworth
Smith, Ruth Grigoletti, Helen
Spagnola, Helen Sifman, and Rob
ert Smoot, campus NSA coordi
nator, were appointed from the
NSA Screening Board.
Col. Ben C. Limb, permanent
United Nations delegate from the
Republic of Couth Korea; Orio
Ciferri, former president of the
Italian Union of free students; and
Aletha K. Hottel, dean of womet
at the University of Pennsylvania
will be guests at the convention.
International Student Relation
will be the theme of the conven
tion, with emphasis on the Amer
ican student in international af
fairs.
James Edwards, national NSA
president; Leonard Bebchick,
NSA international vice president,
and former NSA presidents will
attend the convention.
The sending of additional dele
gates to regional conventions is
part of the new policy to back
NSA as much as possible. Screen
ing board members will exchange
ideas with delegates from other
schools with the intention of ap
plying them to campus problems.
In the past, no delegates were
sent to represent cabinet.
Customs Board
Tries Frosh Coed
The first semester woman who
received a three week strict cam
pus in the Theta Xi drinking case
was tried by Freshman Customs
and Regulations Board instead of
Judicial, as reported in yester
day’s Daily Collegian. '
The penalty was imposed upon
the Thompson Hall coed after she
returned late to her dormitory
following the Junior Prom. Ac
cording to testimony given before
the board, the coed was in an in
toxicated condition and was taken
to the Infirmary.
Later investigations by the Sen
ate committee on student affairs
and the Interfraternity Council
Board of Control revealed the
woman had been served alcoholic
beverages at Theta Xi.
Norton Chairs Pane!
Newell A. Norton, professor of
wood utilization, was recently
chairman of a panel discussion on
industry training problems at the
fall meeting of the northeast sec
tion of the Forest Products Re
search Society.
ject only to the limitations im
posed by the performance' of his
other academic duties; but re
search for pecuniary return
should be based upon an under
standing with the institution.
2. The teacher is entitled to
freedom in the classroom in dis
cussing his subject, but he should
not introduce into his teaching
controversial matter which has
no relation to his subject.
3. The teacher has the right to
join organizations whether re
ligious, ‘ political or social —pro-
vided that these organizations are
not illegal under the civil sta
tutes—without being discrimin
ated against through economic,
social, or political pressures be
cause of such activity.
4. When the teacher speaks or
writes as a citizen outside the
Campus, he should be free from
EUTAW HOUSE
' Potters Mills
SUNDAY DINNERS
Pan Fried
CHICKEN CAPETTES
The Long Waif
THREE STUDENTS in basic Air ROTC begin an all-nighl wait for
tickets to the Military Ball at 1Q:30 p.m. Thursday outside the
Armory. Left to right, they are George' Kennedy, first semester
business administration student; Richard Sheppard, first semester
.geology and mineralogy major, and Ronald Mauer, first semester
electrical engineering major.
'Hut' Was Hangout
In Pre-Lounge Era
In these days of Student Union and West dorm lounges,
it’s hard to imagine an era when Penn State had only one campus
hangout. v .
But such was the case in the years 1918-1930. The Y “hut” was
the center of student activities, and the only semblance on campus
of a congregational center.
Located behind the original
Old Main, the hut was ''a one
story, L-shaped green frame
building, about the size of the
faculty houses. It had a sloping
roof, and' a YMCA banner hung
on one of the outside walls. Trees
surrounded the building and a
path ran from the single door of
the hut to the campus.
Rustic Interior
The interior of the building,
more rustic than that of the Tem
porary Union Building, consisted
of one large lobby and several
smaller offices. The rooms were
furnished in mission-style leather
covered furniture. A box-shaped
crank victrola was the main
adornment of the lobby.
The hut was erected in 1918,
immediately after World War I,
for the use of soldiers on cam
pus. One year later it was pre
sented to the Young Men’s Chris
tian Association (later replaced
by the Penn State Christian As
sociation) as a result, of a petition
by the Y officers and the National
War Work Council of the Y.
The petition was drawn up by
President Edwin E. Sparks; I. L.
Foster, president of the local ad
visory board; and Frank I. Olm
stead, general secretary of the Y.
On Feb. 6. 1919 the Free Lance
institutional censorship or disci
pline.
5. The basis for employment
of faculty shall be only their
ability to fulfill the requirement
of the position.
Limitations, the paper con
cludes, of. academic freedom be
cause of the avowed purposes of
the institution should be clearly
stated in writing at the time of
the appointment. It urges- all
teachers to be accurate and use
restraint because they may., be
Jv.dged as representative of'their
institutions or professions.
So. America
By Sea By Air
(.Iterator. Reservations Tickets
STATE COLLEGE TRAVEL BUREAU
State College Hotel Phono 71J6
Leoctta Neasbaain, Jo Gettig
SATURDAY, FTUYEMBER 21, 1953
By PEGGY McCLAIN
(predecessor to the Daily Colle
gian) carried an announcement
of the dedication and housewarm
ing of the Y hut. The report told
of the $3OOO construction and
furnishing of the hut begun that
fall and of the delay in comple
tion “due to difficulty in getting
labor and materials.”
Hut Was Landmark
The hut immediately became a
landmark to- students and towns
people. It was available to all
campus organizations for meet
ings and offered students a “sand
wich hour” retreat.
The Y moved its offices into
the little building, and kept it as
its headquarters until Old Main
was remodeled in 1930.
When Old Main was completed
the Y moved its offices out of the
green hut and back into Old Main.
Eventually the conveniences of
the hut were replaced by new ac
tivity centers built on the cam
pus. Enrollment at the University
increased, and the student body
outgrew the quarters of the little
frame hut.
And in that same year the hut
was moved to Lemont, a small
town five miles outside of .-State
College, where it is now used for
a community center.
In Cinemascope
Richard Widmark
Karl Malden
"TAKE THE HiG
GROUND"
"SAFARI DRUMS"
with
Johnny Sheffield
"THE ROBE"
Technicolor