Investigate Publications

PRESIDENT NAMES COMMITTEE TO STUDY STUDENT PUBLICATIONS;START MOVIE-SCRIPT WRITING; ELEAZAR IN MURALS

In a memorandum to the editors and business managers of student publications, President Hopkins announced on September 22 the appointment of a special committee to study the organization and procedures of the publications and to make recommendations for their improved administration. President Hopkins named the committee representing the faculty, administration, undergraduates and alumni in accordance with a vote passed by the Board of Trustees last June.

Francis H. Horan '22, New York attorney, who as an undergraduate was editor of The Dartmouth and of the Aegis, is serving ,as chairman of the committee. The faculty is represented by Prof. Leslie F. Murch, chairman of the Committee on Student Organizations; the administration by Albert I. Dickerson '3O, executive assistant to the President; and the undergraduates by Robert E. Archibald '3B, president of Palaeopitus. Other members of the committee are John French '3O, former editor of The Dartmouth-, David H. Callaway '34, former business manager of Jack-o-Lantern; Richard F. Treadway '36, former business manager of The Dartmouth; Robert R. Bottome '3O, former editor of Jack-o-Lantern and managing editor of The Dartmouth; and Jerry A. Danzig '34, former editor of The Dartmouth. The full committee had its opening meeting at the Dartmouth Club in New York City on September 24.

CITES REASONS FOR SURVEY

In his memorandum to the editors and business managers of the student publications, President Hopkins cited a number of reasons for the vote of the Board of Trustees. Among these were the lack of any requirement for the publications to recognize a responsibility to College interests, the failure of the publications to safeguard against the impinging of their work upon the college work of board members and heelers, and the skepticism existing in the College with regard to the internal adminstration of the publications.

"At the meeting of the Board of Trustees on June 10, 1937/' President Hopkins explained in his memorandum, "I called attention to the fact that the publications of the College were the only activities connected with the College having the privilege of utilizing the College name and exploiting the College constituency that were not required to recognize a responsibility to College interests. I spoke of the extent to which the publications in organization of their own work failed to safeguard against the impinging of this upon the college work of candidates for the respective boards. I referred to the skepticisms which existed in the College as to whether the Boards in their internal administration always operated with regard to principles of equity and justice. I submitted some of the inquiries that were periodically made with regard to the extent to which the publications were remunerative; the questions as to whether in the desire for private profit individuals and groups sacrificed quality in materials and workmanship of their publications at the expense of prestige and repute to which the College and its constituency were both entitled; the questions which have been raised increasingly within the last few years concerning the extent to which the publications do or do not insure to the College that they shall be edited and directed in their business management by men of the greatest aptitude and talent for such work; and the question whether the complete freedom from any oversight or control of financial affairs of the publications, such as were existent in all other organizations, was for the good of the individuals concerned on the one hand, or on the other hand gave any assurance that enterprises possible only by existence of the College and dependent wholly upon its constituency would hold as their first responsibility the conserving of College welfare."

The discussion of these points by the Trustees led to the passing of the vote for a committee to study publications affairs. At the same time the Trustees also voted that all student organizations using the name Dartmouth or purporting to represent the College or student body must first be officially recognized by the College.