Miami Hurricane, February 22, 1940

              The Miami
THE
OFFICIAL        STUDENT        NEWSPAPER
0   F
Hurricane
THE        UN-IVERSITY        OF        MIAMI
Volume XIII
Corai. Gables, Florida, February 22, 19<1A
Number 19
Playwrights
Stage First
Productions
She's A-Gonna Be A Boy,'
The Green Dragon' Debut
While Audience Criticizes
Verbal tomatoes may be thrown between plays at the Monday night
program of University-written plays
in the Cardboard Theatre. The plays,
written under the direction of Frederick Koch, jr., in a special class inaugurated this year, will be produced
with no admission charge.
"She's a-Gonna Be-a Boy," by
Kdith Rosencrans, who first got the
ambition to write playB in Long
Island, New York, will be the first
student-written production ever to go
before the alternately cheering and
booing audience which will decide its
fate. _i ll
A college professor, whose part is
played by Milton DeVoe, and one
Papa Chirello, whose part will be
taken by Robert Zeeman, have a
violent argument in, of all places, a
maternity hospital waiting-room,
about the sex of thc grandchild, said
grandchild being both future and
mutual.
Re-it of Ciel
The part of Muria will be taken
by Vickie Seed. Also adding to the
action of the play well be Robert Anthony, as Frederick; Herbert Hock-
statter, as Harry; and Billy Sabshin
and Mildred Ellis as the first and sec-
emd nurses.
On the other side of the cheering
section in the middle of the program
will appear the production authored
by Walter Fieldhouse of Miami. Entitled "The Green Dragon," it concerns a Miami night-club and its invasion by a college girl in search of
a job. She (the part is played by
Barbara Beckstrom) confides her
troubles to the bartender — Arnold
Kay will fill that role—who adviecs
her to get back to the courses.
Ni,ht Club Proprietor
Jerry Weinkle is to take the part
of proprietor of the night club, who
has his own complications in the form
of Margy — Myra Atkins takes the
role —his ex-flame. Also mixed up
among the deviations of plot will be
Eddie Baumgarten, whose part will
be that of the piano player.
These two preeductions are only a
part of the total output of the class
in playwriting, and more of the eighteen achievements will appear later
in the year, two of them being scheduled for the month of May. The purpose of these experimental productions is "to give the playwrights an
opportunity to test the show on a
regular audience."
In other words, members of the
audience will find themselves, probably for the first time in their lives,
enjoying an examination.
University Boys To
Head Boys' Camp
Young Men's Christian Association
of Miami is opening up a new pro-
„„.„, „f community boys' work. The
„,„„ U to organize small groups of
boys centered around their ncighbor-
hoeid   church or school.
Each of these groups is to be unto the direction of a volunteer
leader, with these leaders under the
„,pervision of James H. Pless, Boys
Work Secretary of the Miami Y.M.
C A., anel secretaries to be placed in
the different communities of Greater
Miami. _••_■« .    .-.
It is the plan of the Y.M.C.A. to
use men students of the University
of Miami as leaders of these boys
clubs These club leaders will receive
•raining in group leadership and
oounnUng and will have special privileges in using the facilities of the
Y M C.A. As they prove their ability,
»nd find the time to give to this work,
•hey will be given a small salary for
their services.
The University of Miami is cooperating in this program through the
office eef Foster E. Alter, supervisor
nf freshmen students. Men students
interested in this opportunity for experience in Y.M.C.A. group work
should consult Mr. Alter.
MOT I CKf
M-CLUB
All M-Club members are aake-* to
attend an important meeting of the
organization Tuesday at 10:30 in
Room 213. Unless a member wishes
to be dropped from the member-
.hip rolls of the M Club, he must
attend thie  special meeting.
SOPH MEETING
A sophomore cUss meeting is
scheduled for the first ten minutes
of the 12:30 lunch hour Friday,
February 23. All class members
are asked to attend, as some very
Important business must be discussed.
A man-eating shark being interviewed and the history of the greatgrandfather of Henry Flagler, who
left his native Germany because of
what he considered an insult to his
favorite hymn — the title of which
was "Florida"—will feature the "Believe It or Not" program scheduled
to be broadcast by WQAM and 88
affiliated Columbia stations, and originating in the Cardboard Theatre
of the University of Miami, tomorrow
night, at 11:30 p.m.
Bob Ripley will not be in Miami
this. week, but will appear along with
B. A. Rolfe's orchestra next Friday
night on the stage of the Cardboard
Theatre.
This week his voice will be piped
from underwater. The salt water
of the Marine Zoological Gardens in
St. Augustine will be visited by the
foremost oddity-hunter in an attempt
to obtain definite proof of the fact
that a man can come, without danger, close to a man-eating shark. In
the course of Ripley's conversation
with a professional diver, who will
enter the habitat of the shark with
him, the Believe It or Not, besides
the main point which will be brought
out, is that the shark is the only fish
that can blink its eyes.
When the audience has blinked at
that revelation a little, the program
Ripley's RadioProgram Will
Be Aired From Cardboard
Theatre, Believe It or Not
will continue, using some Miami actors to act out a story which is
strangely related to Florida. Among
the actors appears Walter Grossman,
a symphony conductor who has never
acted before, chosen from a large
group of auditions because of his
authentic German accent.
The band of refugees who tried to
escape from German political and religious persecution by coming to
America contained 3300 members,
among them Henry Flagler's greatgrandfather, and the ancestors of
several supreme court judges.
The point where the Believe It or
Not will ring out in this tale is the
fact that this ancestor of the man
who brought Florida out of the wilderness left his own country to come
to the United States because of indignation at the changing of the tune
of the religious song entitled "Florida."
Singer with the orchestra is Linda
Lee. The musical unit is made up in
part of players who have been working on the score music of the Fleischer studios productions.
As students who have watched the
orchestra rehearse on Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday will agree, the
big believe-it-or-not came in with
several little believe-it-or-nots trailing in its wake.
Orchestra OK, Belov OK, Bauer OK, But
Estersohn Not too Convinced About Music
By Harry Estersohn
The University of Miami Symphony
Orchestra's concert Monday evening
featured the work of contemporary
American composers. The w orks
nlayed presented two distinct trends
in music.
Mr. Hanson's "Romantic" sym-
nhony was written as an "escape''
from that type ef modern music that
tends to be "entirely too cerebral."
Mr. Gregor's "Arabesques" belongs
to the "cerebral" category. Neither
is the "radical" work it is accused of
being (as evidenced by the enthusiastic response of the audience.) Mr
Hanson's music is too romantic to be
radical, Mr. Gregor's is too cerebral
to be significant.
Divested of some of its dissonance,
the Hanson symphony might have
heen written 40 years ago. It is the
kind of music that we hear, but seldom notice, in the movies. Mr. Gregor's suite, on the contrary ,is too
much concerned with effect, orchestral and rhythmic. It is a successful
and interesting experiment in mod-
:_rn technique, and nothing more.
Perhaps I am being too harsh.
After alt. the cash customers had a
sood time, and that's what concerts
are for. However, it is disheartening
for a serious student of music to
compare the reception given these
works to the reception given the
work of Carl Ruggles, whose music
will be vital after Hanson and Gregor
have become the musicologists private province. I say this with all due
respect to the talents of Messrs. Greg-
at mid Hanson.
Harold   Bauer,  the evening's solo-
Ibis WiU Penalize
Unsnapped Juniors
Unphotographed juniors will have
to visit the Miami office of Tooley-
Myron for their Ibis pictures beginning this week.
Freshman and sophomore group
pictures are scheduled for Thursday, February 29, at 10:30 in the
patio. All organitations are requested to cooperate with Bernice
Milliman, who is arranging the
schedule for photographs.
ist, gave the musicianly performance
of the Beethoven "Emperor" concerto that was expected of him. Mr.
Bauer's tone, especially in the legato
passages, was a joy to hear. He was
ably accompanied by Mr. Belov and
the orchestra.
In response to continued applause,
Mr. Bauer gave three encores, the
first movement of the "Moonlight"
sonata, a Novellette by Schumann,
and Bach's Chorale "Jesu, Joy of
Man's Desiring" in a piano transcription by Myra Hess. The first of
these encores was dedicated to the
memory of Dr. Arnold Volpe, as was
the orchestra's first selection, an
Adagio for Strings by Brahms-
Kramer.
The orchestra acquited itself creditably of a difficult program. Mr.
Belov proved himself to be a capable
conductor. Any lack of cohesion noticed in the symphony can be attributed to the trying circumstances under which the work was prepared.
"Thunder and Mars, Girl!7 Remarks Canby
As He Describes Ideal Writing Career
Ih Handy Mebane
The first material result of Dr. Henry
Seidel Canby's literary efforts presented itself in a bicycle. It seems a
little strange that a man who is so
well-known as he is today ever entered a story writing contest; but he
did and won the first prize of fifty
dollars with which he purchased the
desire of his heart. The story was
first printed in a boy's magazine, and,
according to him, is the most popular
thing he has ever written. It has been
reprinted thirty times.
Commenting on the value of the
average newspaper review, Dr. Can-
by feds that it depends entirely on
the person who writes it. "Literary
review has deteriorated terribly in
the last twenty years, but it is getting on a much higher plane."
He feels that the newspaper is
prone to give a book a nice build-up
becau.f of the advertising matter
derived from the publisher. The
trends in review are still the same
although the approach is changed. It
being more general and having layman appeal.
In the early nineteen-hundreds it
would have been an impossibility for
a biography to become a best seller. It
was not until quite a bit later that
they became popularized for public
appreciation. Dr. Canby feels that
this is due a great deal to the Book-
of-the-Month-CIub. They were the
ones who first dared to sponsor a
biography and see it become a best
seller.
In speaking of "Gone With the
Wind," the critical side of Dr. Canby
comes out. He says, "It is not the
best book, but a darn good one!" He
thought that the last half of the book
dragged terribly and could have been
cut tremendously. As for Scarlett's
character, he feels that she was justified in being the sort of material-
minded person she was. He feels that
the book did a lot to fix in the minds
of Northerners the problems of reconstruction.
When asked what he thought about
a student taking a journalism course
in college, his reply was, "Thunder
and Mars, girl, get all the education
that you can get your hands on.
There are many, too many half-educated journalists in the world today.
You can learn how to write a news
story in two weeks after getting out.
The chief objection I have to the
average college course in journalism
is that it tells an aspiring young
writer how to be a news reporter the
rest of his life."
Dr. Canby plans to go to Key West
after completion of his lecture tour
here, and then back to New York for
work on the editorial board of The
Saturday Reviev of J Herat my
Evans, Pruitt
Are Featured
In Assembly
Democracy, Citizenship
Form Program's Theme;
Students Make Speeches
"Living for democracy instead of
dying for democracy" was the theme
of the talk given by Reverend Richard E. Evans, executive vice-president of the Florida Congress of Democracy, at the assembly held Tuesday
morning in honor of the birthday of
George Washington, which has been
designated by the state and national
governments as  Democracy  Day.
Emphasizing the spirit of good
will, responsibility, enthusiasm, appreciation, and triumph in the exercise of democracy, the Reverend
Evans pointed out that "the school is
merely the training-camp of peace."
The other featured speaker on the
program was William Pruitt, Miami
attorney, who discussed "Washington
and Democracy."
Student speakers on the program
were Lester K. Stein, who acted as
presiding officer and gave the closing
prayer; Adele Rickel, president of
Co-ed Council, who gave the invocation ; Catherine Hefinger, president
of the Newman Club, who spoke on
freedom of belief; Riva Hemphill,
president of the International Relations Club, freedom to work; Bertha
Neham, chairman of the Campus Citizens, freedom of ownership; Charlotte Meggs, president of the student
YWCA, freedom for happiness; Irving Lebowitz, Jewish Cultural Society, freedom of thought; Charlie
Franklin, editor "The Hurricane";
and Jack Madigan, student senator,
who summed up these freedoms and
warned tlftU they implied duties.
"Spinsters' Stomp"
Is Coming, Fellows
While continuing preparations for its
fifth annual Spinsters' Stomp, Alpha
Theta sorority is announcing that the
event will be held March 1 In the
cafeteria, following the last lecture
of the Winter Institute. Tickets are
priced at 35 cents each.
LaRose Arrington and Barbara
Burke, active and pledge chairmen
of the dance, promise a plentiful and
varied program. Among the events
scheduled are the selection of the
"Bull of the Ball" by judges chosen
from those attending; solo and trio
singing; a sweetheart waltz (all the
steady couples have the floor to themselves) ; and a special "girl lead"
dance. Eddie Sussman's Miami Collegians will be featured.
Committees and their respective
members include: Place, Irene Cropp;
Orchestra, Madeleine Mulloy, Evalyn
Daniel; Entertainment, Barbara
Marley, Elizabeth Edwards, Barbara
Burke; Decorations, Madeleine Mulloy, Hilda Ringbloom, LaRose Arrington; Tickets, Denise Caravasios,
Nenita de Lago; Publicity, Helene
Putnam, Connie Caravasios, Naomi
Anderson; Door, Nenita de Lago,
Evalyn  Daniel.
Presbyterians Form
New Campus Union
With 22 University -students attend-
:ng, a banquet for the organization
of a Presbyterian Student Union on
campus was held Tuesday evening at
Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Speaker was Rev. V. Shaaf, of
Coral Gables Presbyterian Church,
who discussed religious responsibilities of college students. Invocation
was given by Dr. J. V. Johnson; the
benediction by Dr. R. L. Torrence.
Bill Hallman was named chairman
of an organizing committeee. Other
committee members are Eunice Stripling, secretary; Bill Yarrington, Dick
Harvey, Bob Hess and Alan West.
Next meeting of the group is called
for Tuesday in the social hall.
German Club Makes
Prize Plans, Elects
Election of officers, and plans for
prizes marked the first meeting of the
German Club this week. Prizes in the
form of books are to be awarded to
the best second year German student,
and the most outstanding student in
the third ior fourth year German
class. Mrs. Melanie Rosborough, faculty advisor, will select the most proficient studenst.
Elisabeth Schwinn was elected
president, Margaret Wyant waB chosen for the vice-presidency, Billie Sabshin was elected secretary, and William Weaver was named treasurer.
The aims of the German Club are
cultural, and non-political. All students at the University are invited
to attend meetings.
Wurdemann, Auslander
Close Institute Lectures
Ism-Fighter Poet,
Wife Will Follow
Canby's Sessions
Friday night's meeting of the Winter Institute of Literature will be
held in the Lounge of the Administration Building. The lecture wil)
begin  promptly  at  8:30.
Concluding the series of lectures in
the 1939-40 Winter Institute of Literature will be Miss Audrey Wurde-
mann and Joseph Auslander, whose
talks will be heard throughout next
week. Henry Seidel Canby will complete his fourth and fifth lectures
this afternoon and tomorrow night,
when he discusses ways of expressing
and ways of valuing in contemporary
literature.
Mr. Auslander believes that as long
as America has her poets, she need
not tremble at the crunch of the dictator. "A poet," he continues, "does
not need any 'isms'; all he needs is
his own great heart and humanity."
Having been a lecturer, an anthologist, a critic, an editor, and a consultant in poetry throughout his life,
Mr. Auslander is well qualified to
discuss the following topics:
Great Poets and Great Poetry,
Monday afternoon; Poetry and the
More Abundant Life, Tuesday evening; Poetry in a Democracy, Wednes
day afternoon; Poetry Comes of Age
in America, Thursday afternoon; and
Reading, With Comments, Friday
evening.
Miss Wurdemann, who will give a
Reading, With Comments Wednesday
evening, "writes poetry which
reaches toward truth in a manner
that cannot be gainsaid." Like Mr.
Auslander, she "probes beneath the
littler problems which are rooted
eternally in the experience of man."
Gregor Piatigorsky
Next Concert Soloist
Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist, will be
the featured soloist on the fourth
subscription concert of the Univer-
siyt Symphony Orchestra, March 4 at
Miami high school.
Mr. Piatigorsky will play two concertos with the orchestra, the classical Bocherini concerto and the romantic Saint-Saens.
The orchestra's portion of the program will consist of Von Weber's
"Oberon" overture, Mozart G minor
symphony, and Conductor Belov's
transcription of Bach's Prelude and
Fugue in D minor.
GET PETITIONS IN!
All campus organizations who are
going to petition the Student Senate for appropriations during the
second semester have to have their
petitions in by Friday, March 1,
Bob Hillstead, treasurer of the Student Boly, announced today. The
next Senate meeting is scheduled
for Tuesday, March 4.
Dr. Henry S. Canby
Posterity Gets
Celebrities'
Recording
Andre Kostelanetz: Everything
you say is being taken down.
Lily Pons: Dees is taken down?
John Erskine: Yes, they want to
hear my French. You know, my
French was one of the casualties of
the war!
Lily: Carleton, your lecture was
wawnderful! I'd like to go to all those
places.
Carleton Smith: Ah, you want to
go to South America where the Indians get you drunk at five in the
evening.
John Erskine: Why do they make
you wait so long?
Smith: How do you like Florida
Lily?
Pons: I adore Florida. I come every
year from now on.
Kostelanetz: I subscribe to that
most heartily. I'll come every week.
Smith: Scott you must say something!
Walter Scott Mason: What can 1
say? Everyone knows how I feel
about it. This is a great day.
It was a great day, last Wednesday
..fternoon. Carleton Smith had just
finished his Winter Institute lecture,
and John Erskine, Lily Pons, Andre
Kostelanetz, Walter Scott Mason and
Dr. Ashe had come backstage to congratulate him.
With University recording equipment already on the stage, for use
during the lecture, it was a simple
matter to turn over a  12-inch disk.
When Miss Pons and Mr. Erskine
heard the record ,they asked for a
copy. For the reverse side of the disc,
the radio department set up two microphones, took down a continuous recording of the closing paragraphs of
Erskine's "Don Quixote." This week
Rift records are being shipped to all
participants, a record of their visit to
the U.
Hearing Opera With Hitler: Discussing
Miranda With Vargas; Smith Travels
By Martha Hibbs
"Music is the one common denominator that seems to appeal from the
highest to the lowest. Although there
has always been a tendency for
people to confine their tastes to one
type of music, modern education in
music and its availability to the layman is beginning to show results in
that the youth of today can witness
an opera one night and attend a
dance the next with equal enjoyment.
This wider acceptance of things is
probably the main reason that I believe the best audiences in the world
are college students."
And Carleton Smith ought to
know, for just three weeks ago he
arrived in Palm Beach from a four
months' voyage over South America,
collecting recordings of native folk
songs. In the past few years, this
hobby has taken him to many parts
of the world. Mr. Smith went to the
opera with Hitler, discussed Carmen
Miranda with Getulio Vargas, the
Brazilian dictator, and found what
is probably the oldest music in the
world, the folk songs of Tibet, in the
land between Mt. Kasbek and Mt
Eldrus.
Going to the opera with Hitler, he
found that Der Fuehrer is a passionate lover of opera and believes that
he enjoys identifying himself with the
heroes of the Wagnerian stories. Hitler may sometimes see the three-day
Ring operas three times a month, and
this means his entire staff must go,
whether they are musically-inclined
or not. The emotional effect of the
music is very great on him, for quite
frequently he breaks down into tears.
In Finland he talked with Sibelius,
composer of "Finlandia" and other
great works, who intrigued his imagination by describing to him the
beauty, vibrations, and poetic quality
of the greatest American composer
. . then astounded him by adding.
'Edgar Allen Poe."
From his most recent travels, Mr.
Smith brought back quantities of
folk music from the high districts of
South America, for it flourishes most
in the mountain country. He also returned with the definite idea that the
United States would do well to
strengthen its good will and trade relations with South America along the
lines of the suggestion of the Brazilian Dictator, "I am thinking of starting a school to create Carmen Mirandas   as  ambassador   of   good   will!"
What we need most to solve this
problem of American solidarity is in
Mr. Smith's words, "a word to describe
ourselves. We say Americans, and
they get angry, for they are Americans, too. North Americans doesn't
fit the bill. What we need is something that means someone who lives
in the U.S.A., all in one word."
After covering the Orient and possibly India, Mr. Smith plans to publish a book, containing the results of
his survey, which will probably be
published within a year.
Carleton Smith,
Erskine, Canby
Discuss Writing
That one should not try to teach contemporary literature as contemporary literature is the belief of Henry
Seidel Canby, whose recent lectures
in the Winter Institute of Literature
concerned ways of thinking, feeling,
and imagining in contemporary literature. John Erskine concluded his
lectures on "great stories" Friday
night.
Together with Carleton Smith, who
told his audience "How To Write
Criticism," Mr. Canby used various
colorful illustrations in discussing
his topics. He spoke about American
traditions and how these traditions
appear in contemporary literature,
enumerating points and elaborating
upon them. Mr. Canby then took
great American books and showed
how the various traditions were carried out in the stories.
"All Feeling is Mush"
"All feeling is mush," he startling-
ly declared in the opening paragraph
of his second talk. Elements and their
importance in the realm of contemporary literature were listed by the
speaker, together with distinct examples and explanations of each type.
Discussing Edgar Allan Poe and his
non-interest in one of the more important elements in contemporary
literature, proved a fascinating subject to the audience.
That criticism is not important
seemed to be the general theme of
Mr. Smith's lecture. Smith, who has
been termed as "perhaps the most
brilliant young man in music criticism today," pictured to his audience
the life of a music critic.
Smith's  Discussion  Interesting
He stated that one cannot really
criticize when he is writing for a
newspaper; people demand news. His
discussion proved very entertaining,
because of its contrast to the popular
opinion of today in regard to music
criticisms. Most people read these
criticisms and then form their opinions of the concert or whatever it
may be — instead of forming their
opinions first and contrasting them
with that of the music critic.
In his talk on "Ways of Imagining
in Contemporary Literature," Mr.
Canby stated the facts which go into
the makeup of the American imagination. Comments upon authors and
their works provided an interesting
explanatory phase of the discussion.
"Don Quixote" Explained
Discussing "The Legend of Tristram and Iseult" and "Don Quixote,"
Mr. Erskine again took these great
works from their opening sentences
and explained them in detail to the
audience. The different ways in
which the first story has been
changed and rewritten by various
people proved an interesting study to
Mr. Erskine. Stating that "too few
of us in this country know more than
the name" of Don Quixote, Mr. Erskine showed, his audience the true
character of the old gentleman and
explained why he did the things he
did.
Two more lectures will conclude
Mr. Canby's participation in the current season of the Winter Institute
of Literature.
McNicoll To Attend
Washington Meeting
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of
the foundation of the Pan-American
Union, the Inter-American Library
and Bibliographical Association is
holding its third convention in Washington, D.C. tomorrow and Saturday
The recently formed organization
will meet in the Pan-American Union
Buliding.
Dr. Robert McNicoll, associate professor of Hispanic-American studies
at the University and a member of
this association, will attend the meeting. On the program are prominent
Latin-American scholars, among
whom are two of the Hispanic-American Institute speakers—Dr. Rnfael
Pico and Dr. Richard Pattee,
The association plans to complete
a photographic reproduction of the
archival material of importance in
Latin-American libraries. Senorita
Umloff, the cataloguer of the Library
of San Marcos is Lima, Peru, has
been retained by the association as
•ataloguer in-chief of this collection.
IBIS PHOTOGRAPHERS
Student, interfiled in taking
picture, for the annual are re-
queeted to .(tend the nest Ibi. .t.ff
meotini, which will be held on
Monday at 3:30.