October 11, 1956

              Skidmore News 

Volume Thirty-two	Skidmore College Thursday, October 11, 1956	Number Two



Marked Trends and Statistics Revealed In College Community Pre-Election Vote

Participants in Survey Indicate Overwhelming Eisenhower Preference
By Joan Benninger

[photograph]
Natalie Westwood, ’58, exercises her franchise.

The Contemporary American Politics class in conjunction with the NEWS recently conducted a pre-election poll in which sample ballots were sent to all students and members of the faculty and administration.
  
The ballot asked for everyone’s co-operation in order to determine how the campus would vote in the Presidential election, how many were eligible and registered and if so, under what party, how their choices compared with those of their parents, and if they voted in the ’52 election, would they vote similarly this year. The home state was also included to consider geographical influence.
  
The purpose of the poll was not only to gauge the significant trends within the college community, but also to examine them in a national light. This, of course, is altered by the fact that Skidmore is far from a truly representative cross section of the United States in terms of geographical, intellectual, social and economic aspects, but certain broad generalities may be established from such a sampling.
  
Of the 1209 people who received ballots, a total of 566 voted. This amounts to a 46.8% participation, which is definitely lower than the ’52 national average of 62.5% of those eligible to vote. To narrow the range of comparison, New York State (which has the highest student representation) might be considered with a 152 participation of 68.1%. And again, the returns in the last Big 4 election numbered 85%. In the respect of participation, the focus is upon interest, not eligibility, as the poll was presented under the assumption that all students were voting, regardless of age.
 
To make further distinctions, 56.7% of the faculty, 46.2% of the students, and 41.7% of the administration voted. The senior class was slightly above the national average, however, with 68.6% returns. This greater degree of interest can perhaps be attributed to a recently acquired voting status by many members of the class. Other class results have not yet been compiled and will be announced later.
  
According to the poll, the campus is predominately Republican with 435 votes cast for Eisenhower, 127 for Stevenson, and four that were undecided. Within this group there were 405 who agreed with their parents, 44 who disagreed, 9 who agreed with only one parent, and 72 who did not know their parents’ preferences. A cursory knowledge of the ballots reveals that most of the students who disagreed with their parents are pro-Stevenson. Exact substantiating figures are being awaited.
 
A 100% correlation exists between those eligible to vote and those who have or intend to register. Out of 156, 100 are registered as Republicans, 28 as Democrats, and 28 as Independents.

Faculty Tabulation

Among members of the faculty and administration who voted in ’52, there are 66 who are again choosing the same candidate and 2 who are voting differently. The latter category is switching from Stevenson to Eisenhower; the former has not been analyzed. The ratio of Stevenson votes is highest among the faculty with 21 cast for the Democratic candidate and 29 for Eisenhower. The administration cast 11 for Stevenson, 20 for Eisenhower and four were undecided.
  
Because of the intricacies and time entailed in compiling the results, this first article deals only with the over-all picture, and the more subtle refinements will be printed in future issues.
  
Perhaps the most significant factor of the first tabulation is the high abstention rate, a rate that exemplifies one of the weaker facets of democracy. For a certain group of voters may decide the outcome of an election and if a majority of this group abstains, the concept of a “democratic election” is not being fulfilled. It is especially unfortunate when the so called “enlightened minds” of college level fall within this category.




Skidmore Takes Steps For Loan Cites Plans for New Dormitory

Skidmore College has taken its first steps in application for a loan of $1,020,000 from the Housing and Home Finance Agency of the federal government under the College Housing Program.
     
Skidmore meets the requirements to receive the loan, but before the funds can be allotted the college must submit architectural plans for final approval.
  
The plans, which will be submitted in early November, are being made by Henry Blatner of Albany. Action by the Board of Trustees of Skidmore College is anticipated.
  
Tentative plans for a new dormitory indicate that it will be located on Union Avenue, on what is now the lawn between the Salisbury House and the Administration Building. The structure will have four or five floors with space for 160 students. The ground floor will have a dining room seating 400 students, which will eliminate the need for dining halls in Wilmarth House and Furness House.
        
Completion in 1958 

As it is now planned, the ideas and specifications will be completed and approved in time for construction to be started in the spring. The building is expected to be completed by September 1958.
  
The rapidly growing Skidmore community has purchased many old residences, stables, and much city property which has been either renovated or converted into dormitories, classrooms and studios. The new dormitory will allow for the expansion of the present student enrollment of approximately 1,000.
  
The College Housing Program of the government is intended to make low-interest loans available to qualified colleges, handicapped by the need of housing and dining facilities. The interest is two and seven-eights per cent, and the school is allowed to borrow the full amount needed. The loans run for 40 years.




Faculty Election
  
According to a recent faculty election, a number of new committee positions have been filled.
  
Mrs. Minerva Barron has been elected to membership on the Committee on Admissions, Mr. Peter Baruzzi to the Committee on Educational Research, Mrs. Ernst Waldinger to the Library Committee and Miss Sylvia Emery to the Schedule and Calendar Committee.
  
In addition, Miss Gladys Brownell and Mrs. Edith Hayter have been appointed by President Moore as members of the Evaluation Steering Committee.




Interpret Masters, Modems

Philharmonic Quartet Performs
By Joyce Burstein 

The Philharmonic Piano Quartet, which will appear at Skidmore on October 17th, has won great acclaim from the press and public of the United States and Canada, in its seasons of performances.
   
The group is composed of Ada Kopetz, Moreland Kortkamp, Emmett Vokes and Herbert Rogers. Moritz Bomhard is responsible for the arrangements. In especially prepared programs, the group ranges through a repertoire which includes classics and light music and arrangements of moderns and masters. The Quartet recorded two albums for Columbia Masterworks, one entitled, “Music for Four Pianos” and the other “Popular Classics for Four Pianos.”
  
The foursome has played at New York’s Lewisohn Stadium, Denver’s Red Rocks and at New York’s Roxy Theatre. In addition, they appeared with the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic.

Members of Quartet
 
Ada Kopetz, who was born in New York, studied with James Friskin at the Julliard Graduate School, with Edward Stenermann in California and later taught at Julliard. In addition to doing a good deal of accompanying and radio work, she has played solo and ensemble concerts throughout the country and appeared in New York’s Carnegie and Town Halls. She was soloist with the New York City Music Hall and had visited Manila and Hong Kong, playing concerts with the Manila Orchestra and recitals in both cities. During World War II she played many recitals in connection with the U.S.O.
  
Born in Alton, Illinois, Moreland Kortkamp was brought up in California where she began her piano studies at the age of nine. Having won the Southern California Allied Arts Contest for two consecutive years, she received a six-year scholarship at the Julliard Graduate School where she studied with Josef and Rosina Lhevinne. After graduation, she toured North Africa and Italy as a member of the first concert group to be sent overseas and later she returned with 

(Continued on page seven)




Sonneteers Pick Three Elect Bass, Two Leads Group Debuts At Mixer

On Sunday evening, October 7, three new Sonneteers were welcomed into the group in the traditional manner. The girls who were serenaded represented the three upper classes: Muriel Jorgensen, a senior; Laura Riordan, a junior; and Helen Vaughn, a sophomore.
  
Although the official time for choosing new Sonneteers is at the end of April, this year two leads and one bass were needed to fill the places vacated by Camilla Villas, Romaine Harrington and Barbara Miller. Muriel sings a lead, Helen an alternate lead, and Laura an alternate bass.
 
The Sonneteers are, at latest count, made up of 19 girls, and are led by Debbie Grigg, Class of 1957. There are only five old members in the group now as eleven girls were selected last April.
  
The girls will make their debut as the 1956-57 Sonneteers at the Colgate-Skidmore Freshman Mixer, which is set for October 20 at 50 Acres. Their next appearance will be at the Junior Prom, Saturday, November 3. They also hope to have a “Sour Hour” before then, although plans are not yet definite.




Linguists Forecast Films And Coffees

Every week henceforth, the French and Spanish Clubs are incorporating a weekly coffee hour into their programs. These will be held at the International Center. Monday night the “senioritas” have their cafe, while the “mademoiselles” enjoy demitasse demi-heure on Thursdays. The French Club will have a“French-speaking” table at dinner, every week before their coffee hour at Skidmore Hall. The foreign students also are an important part of this program.
  
The Spanish Club plans to play Spanish music (via records) and a new member of the Spanish department, Mr. Gallant, will teach the “senioritas” folk-songs.
 
These weekly coffee hours are for anyone who is interested in improving her linguistic abilities and conversational facilities in either French or Spanish. The foreign students and members of the respective departments will be present to help keep the conversation flowing smoothly. Natalie Westwood, president of the Spanish Club, presides over the Monday night gatherings, while Betsy Helmer, French Club president, is at the International Center on Thursdays.

Language Films
 
The Romance Language Department has again planned a series of films. On Thursday evening, October 11, at 7:30, the French film, “Bernard de Clairvaux, Medieval Hero” was presented. This was the first of a series of foreign language films to be sponsored by the department this year. The plot of the story centered around the life and work of this great figure and religious leader of the 12th century. The film was introduced by Mademoiselle Simone Cousinie and was shown in Clark Street 103.
  
On November 1st, a Spanish film will be shown and on January 17th, another French film, “La Haute Mantagne,” will be presented. The action in this technicolor film relates to skiing in the high mountains.




Drama Department Plans Year

Skidmore’s playreading series, inaugurated on campus last year, is this year dedicated to the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bernard Shaw.
  
As in the past, the primary purpose of the readings is to bring enjoyment to the audience and the readers alike. The Drama Department has issued an invitation to all those interested in taking part to come to the tryouts. The time and place will be posted at various locations on the campus.
  
This year, the series consists of three of Shaw’s lesser known, less frequently done plays. The first, to be presented on October 18, is Mrs. Warren’s Profession, one of Shaw’s earliest efforts. The Apple Cart, an example of his later work, will be the second selection. The third is particularly interesting as it is an original adaption of the short story, The Adventures of the Black Girl in her Search for God. The department believes that this will be the first time that the story has been presented in play form.

Theatrical Background
  
The first play has an interesting background in theatrical history. Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren’s Profession in 1824, but it was not produced in England until 1902, and then it was done privately. It was thought to be a scandalous and shocking play, and was banned by the British Government. In 1905, it was presented in the United States, but only for one night, for the next night found all the players in jail. Finally, in 1925, the Lord Chamberlain granted the production a license and the curtain went up on the first public production of Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
  
Omnibus, Skidmore’s drama society, will present Noel Coward’s sophisticated English comedy, “Blithe Spirit,” on November 15, 16, and 17. The performance will be directed by Miss Margaret Ellen Clifford, chairman of the department, who selected the play. This year, Miss Clifford has chosen a modern production which she hopes will appeal to a wider audience.

Try-outs were held on Sunday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 9, in the Little Theater. All students were eligible excepting freshmen who are not drama majors. This is a new policy requested by the Office of the Dean. Hereafter freshmen will not be working on the first Omnibus performance of the year. The drama faculty has the privilege of choosing the cast.

Sophisticated Comedy
  
Mr. Coward wrote “Blithe Spirit” during a period of personal suffering; it is a pure example of escape. While most literary works of that time were morbid and depressing, Noel Coward turned the tables and produced a comedy, sophisticated and side-splitting.
  
The male lead, an author, is in the process of writing a novel on the subject of spiritualism, when much to his surprise he discovers that he is psychic. Complications arise when his first wife, who died some years before, re-appears on earth and comes face to face with her ex-husband and his second wife. The women are none too fond of each other, and the poor author is in a bewildered state of confusion. Mr. Coward takes the utmost advantage of the situation, and produces a hilarious play.

(Continued on page five)




A.A.U.W. Evaluates Democratic Heritage
  
The members of The Periclean, the academic honor society, were invited to attend the afternoon program of the Upper Hudson Area Conference of the American Association of University Women which was held in the Little Theater on Saturday, October 6 at 1:45 p.m.
  
The program was a panel discussion on“Our Heritage of Freedom.” The five panelists included Mrs. Walter K. Underwood of Albany, Mrs. Harold A. Larrabee of Schenectady, Miss Sabra J. Hook of Saratoga Springs, Mrs. Henry W. Leland of Schenectady, and Miss Kathryn H. Starbuck of Saratoga.
  
The panelists pointed out how the concept of freedom has influenced developments in the arts, education, international relations, social studies and status of women, from 1776 to the Civil War; from the Civil War to World War I; and from World War I to the present. Tape recordings of music and of quotations from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and famous historical speeches were also included.




Skidmore's Freshmen Enjoy Williams Mixer
  
On Saturday, October 6, thirty-five Skidmore freshmen met thirty-five Williams’ Frosh for a mixer which according to reports, turned out to be a rollicking success.
  
The men arrived at 5:30 at the Rec Center and were assigned dates by drawing numbers. The group was then driven out to Fifty Acres for a chicken dinner, dancing, mixer games, and socializing.
  
Because of the limited space at Fifty Acres, only thirty-five of the two hundred and ten girls who signed up were allowed to participate in the outing.
  
On Saturday, October 13, the Williams’ freshmen will reciprocate and give a mixer for the Skidmore freshmen.