February 22, 1939

              Skidmore News 
VOLUME FOURTEEN		SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1939		NUMBER FOURTEEN

NEW METHOD OF ELECTIONS IS PROPOSED

Simultaneous Election Possible of Pres., Vice-Pres., and Res. Council Head
  
A proposal has come from Conference Committee and Senate suggesting a change in the election procedure of the three highest officers of College Government Association, namely, Student President, Vice-President, and Chairman of Residence Council.
  
The change has been considered feasible, because the three officers do a great deal of work together and each office is of relatively equal importance. Election of the three officers together would allow the honor of the banquet and celebration and other manifestations of student enthusiasm, to be shared equally by the three successful candidates.
  
The new procedure would require each member of the association to nominate three people whom they feel are qualified to hold the three different offices. Each choice would be of equal importance since if you are choosing intelligently, you would have in mind three different people as qualified to hold the three senior offices. The six nominees receiving the largest number of points shall be candidates for the three offices. A printed ballot shall be prepared on which the names of the six candidates shall appear in alphabetical order under each of the three offices.
  
The members of the Association shall indicate under the heading President, her first and second choice, the second choice being considered only in the event of a tie. Under Vice-President the members shall indicate first, second and third choices. In the event that the first choice has already been elected President, her name will automatically be eliminated and the second choice will count as first choice, the third choice being used only in case of a tie. This same procedure is followed when electing the Chairman of Residence Council in which instance there must be four choices. If the first and second choices have already been elected, the third choice will count as first choice, the fourth choice being used only in the event of a tie.
  
The new procedure is suggested as a temporary measure, to be used for the period of one year. If successful and meets the approval of College Government Association, it will be incorporated into the College Government By-Laws.
  
The printed ballot would appear somewhat as follows:
      
FOR PRESIDENT 
....1... Mary Allen
........ Ruth Draper
....2... Alice Edwards
........ Sarah Featherstone
........ Helen Morton
........ Judith Stone
     
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT
........ Mary Allen
....1... Ruth Draper
........ Alice Edwards
........ Sarah Featherstone
....2... Helen Morton 
....3... Judith Stone 

FOR CHAIRMAN OF RESIDENCE COUNCIL
........ Mary Allen
....2... Ruth Draper
........ Alice Edwards
....1... Sarah Featherstone 
....3... Helen Morton 
....4... Judith Stone







EXHIBIT FEATURES NEW HOUSING PLANS
   
At the opening of the current exhibition on modern housing Miss Edith McCrea spoke. The opening was held at the gallery on February 14th.

Up until the 20th century, houses 

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Extra Activities Are Important, Says Mr. Yunich

David Yunich, Council Head, Advises Freshmen on Selecting Activities
  
Mr. David Yunich, president of the student government at Union College spoke to the student body February 15 and in so doing carried out the exchange tradition between Skidmore and Union.
  
Mr. Yunich stressed the importance of extra-curricular activities but recognized their limitations. Four specific questions were taken up which were of particular interest to the freshmen. First, how many activities should one participate in? Mr. Yunich felt that one should pick only one or two activities and concentrate on them rather than joining many clubs and not being able to do well in any of them. To the freshemen he advised looking around and taking their time in picking out the activity they are most interested in rather than diving into many too soon.
  
The place that activities play in college life are important but studies are more important and never should extra-curricular activities interfere. If one is working his way through school it is advisable to drop such activities. Not only is it well to have activities if possible in college but one must plan for a margin of leisure that one may reserve for browsing in the library, attending concerts and lectures and reading the daily papers. Mr. Yunich emphasized the necessity of going in for one major activity and becoming known and efficient in it.
  
There are bad aspects of outside activities that one must take in account. Often one becomes so involved with them that his studies are neglected and there are times when poor sportsmanship is developed. But in spite of the disadvantages, in extra-curricular activities, one finds preparation for leadership and a laboratory experience for future vocations.







Omnibus Spreads Tale of Mystery Concerning Lady

Sometimes we call her “a good egg,” “a good scout,” “swell kid” or “a neat person.” A Kind Lady at Skidmore—
  
1. Opens doors for people
2. Never pushes into the mail room
3. Says “excuse me”
4. Serves others before herself
5. Closes your window on an icy morning
6. Uses “please” and “thank you” unsparingly
7. Doesn’t have frequent, temperamental moods
8. Understands
9. Has a smile and a “hello” for everyone
10. Is everlastingly considerate.
  
Are you a Kind Lady? Have you a friend who is a Kind Lady?
  
Is this the sort of Kind Lady that Omnibus is going to present on the Little Theater stage, March 3 and 4? Come and find out Hugh Walpole’s conception of a Kind Lady. Is he being satiric? Does he mean the same thing by a Kind Lady as we do? It is a mystery and will only be solved on the Skidmore stage. No, it is not a Sherlock Holmes, or a Crime Club, or a Saint, or a movie mystery. It is something new and startling in unusual happenings. Who is the KIND LADY?







PRESIDENT TO ATTEND MEETING
  
President Henry T. Moore is to attend a conference between the Regents and the representatives of the New York colleges and members of the State Education Dept, in Albany Saturday, Feb. 25.








PRESIDENT MOORE
    
President Henry T. Moore represented the Upper Hudson Association of Phi Beta Kappa at the dinner meeting at the Hotel Astor, New York City, on February 20. The principal speaker at the round table discussion was Miss Dorothy Thompson, followed by Roscoe Pound, Christian Gauss and Charles Evans Hughes, Jr. The subject of the symposium was “The Crisis of the Humanities in the Fight for Intellectual Freedom.”






GAY NINETY BELLES AND BOYS TRIP TO MUSIC OF ANDY KIRK AT ANNUAL BEAUX ARTS BALL

Famous Diamond Jim Brady is Master of Ceremonies; Mary Butler and Jane Gray Win Prizes for Most Outstanding Costumes
  
Transformed into belles of the Gay Nineties Skidmore girls danced with their escorts at Beaux Arts Ball, the first formal dance of the new semester, held in the Canfield Casino February 18th. Andy Kirk and his “Clouds of Joy” played for the Sophomore tea dance in the afternoon and the dance in the evening. Ann Allaben, president of Studio Arts Club, arranged for the dance and Betty Eisenhart and Gladys Harvy headed the decoration committee.
  
At 9:30 Diamond Jim Brady, better known about campus as Dr. Jesse V. Mauzey. and his company arrived at the Casino in time to introduce to the audience Barbara Brett, who sang “The Man I Love,” and “Melancholy Baby.” Betty Clark’s piano selections were followed by the appearance of the Floradora Sextette. In this group were Lee Blanchard, Jane Tobin, Barbara Lord, Lorraine Southard, Helene Meron, and Bessie Eisenberg. Directly following the floor show Diamond Jim issued directions for the Grand March. Judges awarded the first prize for the most outstanding costume to Mary Butler, a sophomore. The costume which she wore has been in her family for many years. The costume had been worn at the Casino in Saratoga during the days when the Casino was at its height. Jane Gray was awarded second prize, a bouquet of roses. Dim lighting served to outline distinctly the white drawings which decorated the large mirrors surrounding the dance floor. Other decorations were poster print drawings of Gay Ninety belles and announcements of plays, one in particular stressing the “Electrical gas lighting apparatus lights simultaneously all the gas jets- in this theatre.”
 


[photograph] 

JANE GRAY AND MARY BUTLER, WINNERS






Assembly Speaker Reviews Problems Current in Mexico
  
On Friday, Dr. Frederico Bach, an assembly speaker from Mexico, was introduced by President Moore. Dr. Bach said in introducing his subject, “Problems of the New Mexico,” that it is difficult for an outsider to understand Mexico unless he knows something of its past history. During the last century when the leaders were trying to build up a firmer economic basis they failed because they did not consider the immense Indian population and its influences. These Indian peasants are almost entirely without land. Therefore there is no chance for political and economic security.
  
Mexico, contrary to popular opinion, is not a rich country for the native population. The foreigners there now want, for the most part, merely to exploit the country. They wish to take the raw materials out, giving nothing in return and thinking nothing about the welfare of the country as a whole.
   
The very poor living conditions of the workers, and their unbelievably low wages are the result of this unconcern of the foreign employers. A few cents a week is all they get, and even if the children could have an education it would be of little use to them for on the wages the families receive it is impossible to buy even a newspaper, much less a book.
  
Now the government is trying to raise the standards of living among these workers and is meeting opposition among many of the foreigners. Dr. Bach said that “Oil companies never even take into consideration Mexican law,” much less consider their employees. Although the government has been trying to fight these companies that refuse to comply with regulations the object is not to destroy the concerns. It is only to force them to better conditions.
  
Mexico is at present neither fascist nor communist. The government respects private property and allows all sorts of enterprises to exist. All those that respect the Mexican law have no reason to complain of the government or its policies.






Dr. Rudolph Ganz Presents Concert Of Varied Program
By Louis Edgar Johns,
  
The recital by Rudolph Ganz at Skidmore College Hall on February 15 fully sustained the distinguished guest’s reputation as a pianist of high attainments. Dr. Ganz has been also active for a number of years in the field of orchestral conducting, and is now director of the Chicago Musical College.
  
The program was generous and many-sided, and the artist showed himself thoroughly at home in the different styles of playing demanded by the various periods and composers. The unusual order of the numbers (the Chopin group at the beginning) justified itself by lending by contrast a most piquant emphasis to the 18th century charm of the Haydn D major Sonata, which in its turn introduced the Sonata Appassionata, the climax of the entire evening’s performance. Under the hands of the artist, the majesty of the first movement, the almost devotional tenderness of the second, and the tragic haste of the Finale were projected vividly into the consciousness of the listener. The style was broad and vigorous, as befitting so large a conception, while the detail in the slow movement was rendered with delicacy and subtle tonal graduation.
  
Outstanding in the Chopin group at the opening of the program were the C sharp minor Waltz, the Impromptu in A flat, and the Berceuse, the last a marvel of lovely tone and easy fluency. The Polonaise in A flat was impressive in spite of a certain haste and dynamic overintensity.
  
In the last group, the three works of Mr. Ganz himself thoroughly merited their cordial reception by the audience, the most distinctive being, perhaps, the “Little Sphinx,” although the other two show great talent as well as pianistic ingenuity. Tastes may differ about the Debussy numbers, but one thing is certain—they invariably accomplish what they set out to do. “La puerta del vino” is for instance the very essence of local color 

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DANCE CLUB GIVES DRAMA ON ‘NEWS’
  
“News,” a dance drama was presented last Thursday evening in the Little Theater by members of the Dance Club. The drama was given under the direction of Miss Dorothy Schwartz. The music was composed and played by Miss Giovannina de Blasiis.
  
The theme of the drama depicted the reactions of society to the distribution and analysis of the contents of a present day newspaper.
  
“News Boy” interpreted by Betty Flatow, opened the program. This was followed by “Reactions” which consisted of interpretative dancing depicting the reactions of people after reading the news of the day.
  
Bessie Isenberg gave a solo dance called “Carnival,” which was symbolic of the excitement and confusion in the mingling of the classes at the coming World’s Fair. Penny Simpson, Edith Cosgrove and Anna King interpreted the moods of investors at the fluctuations of the stock market in a dance titled “Financial.”
  
Sports, rendered by Janet Birdsall and the group was a burlesque on the training and the development of the modern hero. The entire group then presented “Society” in which the nouveau riche attempt to emulate the aristocrats, who are dignified, ambitious and gossipy.
  
After a period of ten minute intermission, Barbara Smith and the group started the second half of the program with “Comics” in which society suppresses the timid soul who is meek, gullible, cowering and of uncertain bravado. “Editorials” interpreted by Margaret Mohler and the group showed the freedom of democracy being threatened by the powers of a dictator. “Crime,” a jury dance, in which the criminal pleads his case, was rendered by Katherine Cole as the criminal and the group as the jur-

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