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PAGE TWO The Gold Bug, Western Maryland College, Westminster, Md. Passing in Review [VARIETY A REVIEW OF By IDAMAET. RILEY BOOKS, PLAYS, AND LIFE "It's like having diphtheria in the LITERARY AND SOCIAL CRITICS I method easily. How could Poe in erit- front room and then having pneumo- by Idamae T. Riley, '36 '1 icizing Tennyson's "Locksley Hall" Official-student newspaper of Western Maryland College, published on Thurs- nia break out in the back room," said collect data, classify, and compare day, semi-monthly during October, November. February, March, April, May, Pitman Potter, referring to the cur- We live in a world of haste and con- it, make generalizations, and verify and monthly during September. December, and January, by the students of rent German crisis, in an informal fusion. -We are awakened in the his deductions! Even if a literary Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland. Entered as second-class conference after- his talk at last Mon- morning by the insistent ringing of critic could use the scientific method matter at the Westminster Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879. day's assembly. The world was ap- alarm clocks, we gulp down our toast in his work, such a method would not SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.00 A YEAR pnrently worried enough already, and coffee often while scanning the be advisable. Would he appreciate a 1935 Member 1936 what with attempting to nurse a se- morning newspaper, we work all day rose more because he could "compute diphtheria J::lssocialed CoUe5ia!e Press vere case of diplomatic dispute). And in offices and schools, we ride home in or the stamens in a breath" or describe buses and cars trolley (the Italian-Ethiopian the action of the chlorophyll crowded in the then, on top of that case, diplomatic guide our own automobiles through stem? Would he be able to evaluate EDITORIAL STAFF pneumonia, so to speak, broke out in heavy traffic, we attend dinner parties the reactions of a literary artist as ex- Editor-in-Chic/........... . _. . ROSALIE G. SILBERSTEIN, '36 the back room, when Hitler denounced and theaters or read books or listen pressed in his writings more if he Associate Editors... . ..IDA~fAE T. RILEY, '36, ROBERTBROOKS, '36 Lccamo and sent his soldiers into the to the radio in the evening, and finally knew what enzymes had acted on what News Editors.. . GUY GRIFFEN,'36, SARABELLEBLACKWELL,'37 Copy Editors.. ._ JANET MACVEAN,'38, RALPHLAMBERT,'37, prohibited Rhineland. we go to bed exhausted. Our days are food elements to produce the psycho- JAMES COLEMAN,'38 But need the world get a cronic hurried; most of us have neither the logical state which had made the au- Proof EditorB..... EVELYNCROWN,'37, BEVERLYHARRISON,'37 headache over what Mr. Potter la- time nor the training to evaluate thor feel those reactions? The scian- Sports Edit"Or8........... . HERBERTSTEVENS,'36, ELIZABETHHAGEN,'36 belled the "pneumonia in the back them. We do not know whether Hor- tific method is practical and useful for Exchange Editor... . MIRIAMWHITFIELD, '36 room"? net's Nest which we bought on our the social critic, but for the literary MAKE-UP STAFF To my way of thinking, good may way home at the corner book store is critic it is as ineffectual as shooting Managing Editors _.._.GEORGENEEDHAM,'37, SHERWOODBALDERSON,'38 come from this apparent calamity. a worthwhile book. We do not know at the stars. method of critl- whether our opinions on family life or Some people will perhaps laugh at Not only is their this statement. Is not "Europe in the racial understanding are fair opinions. cism different, but the perspective of BUSINESS STAFF grip of the greatest crisis since the As a collective society, we do not social and literary critics is also dif- BU8inesB IIfanager......... .._ EDWARDBEAUCHAMP,'36 World 'Val'''? Will not a "single know whether our attitudes and ef- Ierent. Poe or Hazlitt could evaluate Adverti8ing Manager ._.. ROBERTKIEFER, '37 A8B1Btant AdvertiBing Manager .._ JOSEPH OLEAIR,'39 spark set off the European tinder-I forts in the fields of penal reform, the whole of a work, but a social Circulation ManagerB __ .THOMASEVELAND,'36, ROSALIEGILBERT,'36 box"? To these questions everyone moral standards, government, and r-e- critic can look only at scattered frag- ABBi8tant Cire-nlatiQ1t ManageTB JOHN CULLER,'37, NORVINGOMPF,'38 must answer "perhaps so". ligion are constructive attitudes and merits of life. Anthony Adverse, ARLINEHUDSON,'37, HILDABIDDLE,'38 But the present crisis does not pre- efforts. For most of us, life is a rap- Vanity Fair, and The Gift of the l\Iagi cipitate a war. The League of Na- idly whirling pool, and we must spend I are unified works, and critics can REPORTJ)::RS provides a peaceful Reporters contributing to this issue: tiona, fortunately, which proposals for (JUI"time struggling to keep ab~ve ~ts study their various parts in relation interlude We are not able to enjoy Its during to the whole. But a social problem, wa!el:s. Sally Price, '37; Walter Lee Taylor, '37; Anne Chew, '38; Eleanor Taylor, '38. averting war may be considered, and whiz-ling motion or to study the scien- such as penal systems, is not a unified it seems likely that, when a final tific fact~ which explain its motion. whole and critics cannot view the showdown comes, France will steer Like bewildered children, we need an fragmentary parts of it in relation to clear of war. So the calamity is not interpretation of life. the whole. The perspective of the so- as bad as most people at first sup- Literary and social critics give us cial critic is far less advantageous posed. . such an interpretation. They both ex- than that of the Iiterm-y critic. In addition, I believe, certain defi- plain life, although they look at it Not only is his perspective less ad- nite gains will come from Der Fuher- from slightly different viewpoints. vantageous, but the social critic's er'e moves. These gains include the Poe, Hazlitt, H. S. Canby, and other grasp of the matter to be evaluated is Conversation At Scene: A room. A maple desk. Two chairs. following: literary critics consider literature. also inferior. A literary critic who Midnight Time: One of these Tuesday nights. 1. Strengthening of the League of They evaluate and interpret it. Now, reads In l\Iemoriam, Hamlet, or Far Characters: The two of them. Nations-The League could not be since literature concerns life, Poe, From t.he Madding Crowd, has the One: ... funny that we never got around to that .. Is it too late now? very strong without Germany, and it Hazlitt, H. S. Canby, and other liter- highlights of the material to be criti- seriously felt Germany's withdrawal ary critics are evaluating and inter- cized presented to him. He can view The other: I guess we'll have to let the next staff take ca.re of it now. a few years ago. Now Hitler offers preting life. Social critics, such as them as aefinitely as a guide views the Funny about that ad, too. Some people seem to think it to come back with no strings attached Dickens or Sinclair Lewis, consider points of interest on his tour. But was out of place. But some others seemed to think it was to his offer. social problems. They evaluate and the social critic docs not have the O. K. Thought it was a pretty good test of whether our 2. The possibility of a real Franc- interpret the condition of society. highlights of the problem to be criti- economics courses had registered. co; German reconciliat.ion-e-If Ger- Now, since social problems concern cized presented to him. He is like an many and France remain thorns in life, social critics, such as Dickens or untrained tourist without a guide- One: Well, maybe next year the staff won't have to use that ad. May- be they'll be permitted to use other ads, like some other college each other's side, the peace of the Sinclair Lewis, evaluate and interpret book or a guide. What places are papers. world can not be very secure. Hitler ~:; t~'i~:~S~:v:'eaS~~~:!~1 ~~:e!~~::: ~::so~:t~no:~v:nteresting? Often he The other: At least we didn't start every story with "the". I guest; ~~~:i~:~io~~s terms for a genuine re- the interpretation of life. Often literary men have been social I learned what a participial lead was. .And did you ever realize before what a difference starting a story with a -~o ~:;i~;l p~~c~s~:unstb:n~u~~ttr;~ Ob~~~i:~~h~~~~l t~~ hJ~;eer~:.yCo~::i~~ ~~~:.:~' so~~::h~~::, acr~;!~:~y m:~~:~~~ preposition sometimes makes 7 the rotten foundations of distrust and are not critical twins. They differ in but his contemporary, Eul"ipides, who suspicion. But distrust and suspicion several important ways. First, their turned an X-rayon society, was a so- One: Remember those articles we had on college traditions. Who'd of method of criticism is different. A cial critic. Lessing and Schiller were thought the Aloha had such an interesting history' are imbedded firmly within the Treaty r:f Versailles, the product of a victor's social critic weighs the actions of literary men, but Goethe, who tried to The other: Remember some of our other dreams 7 But I guess the~' peace, and even in the Treaty of Lo- men. A social critic must therefore dispel the superstitions of men, was weren't exactly pipe-dreams at that. carno, proposed by Germany herself be objective; a literary critic may be a social critic. Poe and Lowell were in 1925. For this latter treaty safe- more subjective, more personal. A literary critiCS, but Dickens, who ex- One: No. I think we have had everybody's name in the paper at least guards the demilitarized Rhineland, social cl"itic can use the scientific posed the conditions in English slums onee. and why need the Rhineland be demil- method effectively. He can collect and prisons, was a social critic. In The other: And we have used more cuts. You know, I like a paper itarized if France is not suspicious of data, classify, and compare it, make our own day, Hervey Allen is a liter- with a few pictures. They let you know what people look Germany? By scrapping the Treaty generalizations, and verify his deduc- ary man, but Sinclair Lewis, with his like. Say, I've kept the issue with Serge Jaroff's picture in of Versailles and the Treaty of Lo- tions by experiments. But the liter- satiric treatment of Main Street, Bab- bitt, alld Dodsworth, is a social critic. it. Five years from now I might want to know what he (Continued on Page 4, Col. 1) ary critic cannot use the scientific critic. looked like. One: That's the way I feel about the personality pictures. Five years from now I'll be mighty glad to have a word.picture of some of COLLEGE RHYTHM the teachers here. 'rhe other: They help us to know what teachers in other departments are like, too. You know, sometimes I see a teacher walking I about the campus or in elm pel, and I wish I had a class Old Folks at Home "Or that once I could enjoy my wit.h him. But these pictures let us know what a teacher is Today, Thursday, March 26, 12 be~uty rest in ~eace,JJ piped a hag- like, even though we can't take one of his courses. ~~o~he\V~~n~:rr:~:~d:!.sinot:hedi~!~~ ~~I~:e:a:; !O~~;~~g in just then, sup- One: We've put out several special issues this year, too. That Field House issue went out to o.ver 3,000 alumni. .And the OLD MUU Bug staff as more significant than the as:u~!~O~~: J:;:~dc~;~l;~!,e~:~e~~e re- let us know that it was Leap Year. ~:~seo~o:~: g~~~:;et~::l~~anff inB:~~ cur youth has been devoted. to the The other: Yes, it's funny we never got around to some things. But cmn conclave. ~:~:l~~d.Ye.;~s·... ~::a~:v:t~a:~:: :~~ I suppose we did get around to others. And I' guess it "Braintrust", she wheezed, resting isfied anyone, not even ourselves. But takes more than a year to accomplish a whole lot. :Maybe her gaunt, withered hand on the oth-I now we can rest." the next staff' will take care of some of the things that for MARGUERITECARRARA er's cranium, "Braintrust, our labors us were just pipe-dreams. arc done." "No," contradicted Beauchamp with A combination of proficiency, per- One: .And maybe they'll leave some pipe-dreams themselves. sonality, and poise has made this Senile Stevie, old Smoothie Beau- I a Il~sh of,~is erstwhile charm and ani- Latin from Manhattan a real caml)US champ, and Bygone Betty nodded mabon. No... we cannot rest. No leader. their weary heads in mute agreement, b': n~ve~ .:0.,;. we have a unit to "Professor" Carrara has managed to flickering glimmers of hope momen- !:! III Y l"l ay. take in much of what the Hill has to !arily lighting up the bulging creases "A unit," shrieked the hag, who was offer. A member of the W. W. Club, in their wrinkled visages. now playing jacks in the corner. "Why Tips To The New Staff 1. Don't try to be funny. The result is eith- interested in inter-class athletics and bring that up"? er "conscious humor" or "subtle stuff". "Veterans," Braintrust cackled, "it's college dramatics, Marguerite has bard to remember that we were once Just then the tower bell tolled the 2. Never argue with a headline. ("You should have known when you come to know a wide circle of stu- young and sprightly. It's hard to re- knell of parting day, and into the of- started that you had too many words there. ") dents here. member that once our fresh young fin- fice there rushed pell-mell a horde of As president of the French Club gers had better things to do than to 3. Don't schedule any classes for Wednesday morning. You may just. this year, president of the Internation- eager, shining, sparkling, young as well not go to classes if you ~ave them then. al Relations Club last year, an "hon- count words." And she smiled wanly scribblers-the NEW GOLD BUG 4. Always keep a math major around to count words. ('rs" candidate in English, and student nnd blushed like a shriveled apple .. STAFF! "Yes," muttered the Old Smoothie instructor of French in the Extension "Ah," the old crones muttered sadly, 5. Don't put anything in the lower'drawers of the file. They have no Department, Marguerite has had the from his wheel chair, "and it's hard to "iittle do they know what the future bottoms. opportunity to use her qualities for remembel' that once I was a gay holds in store for them." leadership. young Lothario and received letters, 6. Invest in an alarm clock-to warn you when the lights are going real letters, perfumed letters" (and out. She is one of the write-up editors Enrollment in Haverford's courses for the 1936 Aloha, a member of the here he heaved a long tremulous for the college janitors and kitchen 7. }Vhen anybody gripes, ask him to be guest columnist for the nest "Y" cabinet, and an associate in the sigh), but now what do I get? letters raen jumped this year from 11 to 25. Jssue. "Argonauts". with a curt "Please remit." . Subjects include civics, French and al·