The Undergraduate Chair
Atmosphere Clears as Definite Word on Navy V-12 Unit and on Status of Students Arrives with Delayed Spring
THE SUN IS SHINING and the Undergraduate Chair can crawl from beneath the unhealthy cloud of gloom that overshadowed it last month. An uncertain sky has cleared. The doubtful atmosphere has been whisked away.
Spring has a lot to do with it, but more definitely the status of Dartmouth and those who compose it has been clarified to a relieving absoluteness. During the month Dartmouth has found it will home a large unit of the Navy College Training Program starting in July. This assures it financially. During the month Dartmouth has positively reasserted its intention to continue as a liberal arts institution on no matter how contracted a scale. This assures it spiritually. During the month the men of Dartmouth have found out, to put it simply, where they stand. They know to a fair degree how long they will stay here, what their position will be, whether they will graduate and when, where they will go when they leave, and other facts that were a mere jumble of rumor a short while back. During the month doubt has disappeared.
And so we can gaze at the more intimate happenings of the undergraduate body with a proportionate cheerfulness. As this is being written the final exam period is approaching with frightful rapidity. Over the semester student sentiment about finals has vacillated between an attitude of "I don't give a damn; I just want to get out of here" to thoughtful reflection about what a good grade might mean to one in the armed services. The prevailing tendency is probably towards the latter mood. A good percentage of the men in the Naval Reserve will be staying right here after July and will continue many of their courses without any break from the present routine. So marks mean as much and more than they ever did. And the Navy will not be as lenient as a soft-hearted professor. Apple polishing will be out.
At this time also seniors are writhing in torment over a little matter known as a thesis. The thesis involve endless peering through the stacks of Baker Library, scrawled piles of paper, notes and subnotes, and weary work into the night. The senior sweats and fumes and tries to postpone the date his masterpiece falls due. This year he has a beautiful alibi for tardiness. A manpower shortage has caused a noticeable lack of stenographers in Hanover to retype his brain-child. The excuse is quite perfect but, as so often happens, it doesn't always work.
For most undergraduate organizations this month sees the wind up of their activity for the duration. Jacko finally struggled through with a 35th Anniversary issue that will terminate its efforts for some time to come. One notable exception, TheDartmouth, plans to continue publication through the seven-week intersession until July at least. It will not be in its present form but will concentrate more on national news and, owing to the depletion of the student body, intends to number the Navy anen in the majority of its readers. A comic strip, "Terry and the Pirates," has also been added.
The energies of the Dartmouth Players in no way flagged through the month. Keeping fairly close to Broadway's heels, they advantageously displayed their histrionics in an able presentation of My SisterEileen. In their last two productions the Players have made good use of a recent town ruling that Sunday afternoon public entertainment is permissible. They now give a Sunday matinee besides regular Friday and Saturday evening shows. During their present season, variety seems to be the keynote of the Players' productions. First we had the seriousness of The Eve ofSt. Mark, then the complete burlesque of Love Rides the Rails, and now a touch of light comedy with My Sister Eileen. The Players have done well by every type.
Besides presiding at the class elections of the '4ss and '46s, the chief activity of Palaeopitus was study of a plan sponsored by The Dartmouth for "revitalization" of Dartmouth dormitories. Revitalization was construed to mean a step to make the dormitories more than mere living quarters for both freshmen and non-fraternity men who could not enjoy the social and recreational facilities of the fraternities. The plan is more or less in the nebulous stage and probably will not swing into full effect until after the war, but a Palaeopitus committee intends to hold a student poll in the near future to ascertain interest in converting the basement of Thayer Hall into a large recreation room. It sounds like a good idea.
The College played host to a group of varied personalities over the past few weeks. Heading the list was a joint effort by Metropolitan stars Lauritz Melchior and Astrid Varnay. A while later saw Shakespeare expert and director Margaret Webster make the English dramatist appealing to both chubber and English professor. The next lecture jumped from the artistic to the political with war correspondent Robert Bellaire relating his harrowing experiences in a Japanese prison camp. The Hanover audience appeared to definitely approve each.
As a sidelight, it is interesting to remark on two quite different types of "raids" that occurred not so far back. The first was a routine air raid with no more uniqueness than a slight confusion in the differentiation between a "blue" signal and a "red" signal. The other was more sensational. It was a raid on the Navy Arsenal which netted the burglar two Thompson submachine guns, four forty-five calibre automatic revolvers and several odd magazines. A swarm of FBI; Navy and State Police officials converged at the scene of the crime determined to rout out the guilty party. It was probably not a German saboteur, but we still like to think the war has actively come to Hanover.
But outweighing all the minor though very important incidents in the mind of the undergraduate has been the succession of official announcements clarifying his position in college. The Naval Reserve alphabet muddle of V-1's, V-5's, V-7's, and V-12's has been straightened out. Army and Marine categories have been cleared up. Most men will attend the seven-week intersession beginning May 10. The intersession gives credit for a full semester which will permit most members of the Class of '44 to graduate.
Dartmouth has been fortunate. The great majority of Naval Reserve men going on active duty in July will remain right here in Hanover. Many will take regular college courses. This is heartening to hear. For now Dartmouth men can go into uniform and still be a very tangible and real part of Dartmouth. "Dartmouth Undying," a phrase that would be true in any case, will now have a more direct application.
And so, because this is all true and because the sun is shining, we can say that this has been a very satisfactory month.
LAST RALLY FOR THE DURATION? A view of the undergraduates, still vociferous if reduced in ranks, who gave the basketballteam a send-off to the NCAA tournament on March 23.
CAMPUS LIFE OF YESTERYEARS. CAN ANYONE IDENTIFY THE DOINGS ON THE RIGHT?—PHOTO TAKEN IN THE SPRING OF 1892
MILESTONES 1946 DOC Winter Sports Board: William Mese- role Branch Jr., James Justin Brod, John Leyson Dellinger, James Crothers Jones, Harry Kamensky, David Morton Narva, William Carlton Soule, John Alexander Ulrich. Cabin and Trail: David Kilton Andrew '46, James Herbert Von Rohr '46. 1943 Class Officers: Ralph Gannett Tyler Jr., Sec- retary-Chairman; John William Callaghan, Treas- urer. 1946 Class Officers: Harold Stewart Bowman, Secretary-Chairman; Charles Tignor Duncan, Treas- urer.
