Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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Most important topic of the day is war. Most bombarded people with war propaganda and ac- cusations of muddleheaded thinking and lounge lizard complacency are American college stu- dents. If the daily bushel of news releases to the Bethanian and Student Board of Govern- ors from a German student , anti-neutral- ity societies, and the like is any indication, it would seem that European interests are trying to pinch the American student by the nose, and carry him into a propagandists woodshop to have his mind whipped into shape for the great day when United States gets an invitation to play sucker again. Conscientious u n - dergratuates find them- selves in so much of a quandry as to what they ought to believe, that they begin to ap- ply Marjorie Hillis ' Live Alone and Like It advice to the war situation or else set up com- mittees for the investigation of America ' s mind- ing its own business in the German situation . Students develop a def- inite ho-hum to be used in 12- noring foreign atrocities. Signifi- cant is this remark in a student newspaper of Kansas State Teach- er ' s College in Emporia: We sup- port nothing. We are against ev- erything. We do not feel that we have sufficient information to justi- fy anything, especially effort. When confronted by such an attitude of dramatized non-inter- vention on the part of students. Dr. W. K. Woolery, head of the department of history, boils, (that is for Dr. Woolery). United States has come of age, he says. We must assume an intelligent interest and concern over foreign affairs. It is We Support Nothing Dr. Woolery and Dr. Shaw inter- viewed. Bethany ' s history de- partment attempts to teach unbias facts and lets students draw own conclusions. Bethanians should assume an intellegent interest and concern over foreign affairs. History background necessary for proper evaluation of war inci- dents. by Kenneth Underwood The author, a senior and ex editor of the Bethanian. true that we know little of what is going on in Europe today. The people of Europe, leaders of state included, are not even sure of what is hap- pening. But the college student can study the war in light of what has taken place in the past and arrive upon a fair interpretation of contemp- oraneous events, con- tinued Dr. Woolery. That is why history courses at college as- sume such importance today. This opinion was re- iterated by Dr. Chand- ler Shaw, professor of history. If we evalu- ate properly the war in- cidents of today we must have the back- ground which history gives us — particularly of the last century. Both the courses in Modern European His- tory and International Relations Since 1933 offered this year give such a background. According to both Dr. Shaw and Dr. Woolery no attempt is made to indoctrinate students with professors ' views. No professor is sure enough of the actual events to assume a position which he might wish students to adopt as their own. Any history professor recognizes the danger of drawing historical parallels or an- alogies, explained Dr. Shaw. Many history departments in American colleges have, since 1918, become little more than propa- ganda for the League of Nations, collective security, collaboration with Great Britain and France, or some kind of regularized interven- tion by the United States Govern- ment in foreign controversies, as Charles A. Beard charges in a recent Harpers Magazine article, Dr. Woolery was reminded. I do not believe that Bethany ' s history de- PAGE six

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Yes, but there are more girls than there are boys, protested the alumnus. Yeah, that ' s true, agreed the freshman, but three of those girls were valedictorians of their graduating classes, and two were salutatorians. There wasn ' t one boy that was either of those. Well, the boys beat them in sports anyhow. Well, perhaps, said the student. There are fifteen freshman boys who played high school ball out for Beth- any ' s team, and there are quite a few who were on high school cross-country teams that will help our team there, but although twenty percent of the freshman class played basketball in high school, twenty-eight of that forty freshmen were girls. A bevy of chattering girls climbed up the Oglebay Gates steps and with the usual cheery Bethany ' Hello ' continued up the walk towards Phillips Hall. Good looking girls, commented the alumnus. You wouldn ' t find any better looking ones in Holly- wood. By the way, are there any prospective Helen Hayes or John Barrymores in the class? And how about oper- atic talent? Any Carusos? From the blood-curdling yells that well up from certain parts of this campus it seems quite unlikely that any Metropolitan Opera material will be found, but a- bout fifteen girls and ten boys have had experience in singing and quite a few of them show promising talent. But we have a lot. of instrume ntalists. At least thirty- five boys and girls played some sort of instrument in their high school band or orchestra. Some of them are really good too. Incidentally there are eleven freshmen on the Bethany band. That is over one-third of the whole band. And there are eight freshmen in the choir. You forgot the dramatic talent. That ' s right. Well, about twenty-four of the fresh- men did work of some sort in dramatics in high school. What have you been doing since you got here? Have they kept you busy? And how! said the freshman strongly. These placement tests are well named. They sure placed me be- hind the eight ball. I never saw so many tests. You didn ' t just have tests, did you? Oh, no, we had informal parties and receptions. They finished up Freshman Week with a reception held up at Pendleton Heights, Dr. Cramblet ' s home. That gave the freshmen a chance to meet their instructors in- formally and try a little apple-polishing before then- classes started. continued on page 23 1. Derm Dwellers trudge trunks. 2. Bevy of freshmen girls Inspect the town. 3. Bethany bound with bonnets and bundles. 4 Prom near and far. In this case, the Heights and England.

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partment has been guilty of such one sidedness, asserted Dr. Woolery. Even now, the German justification, as well as the English is being taught here. The intelligent student of European affairs will read everything he can from good books such as Van Paassen ' s Days of Our Years, or Vincent Sheean ' s Not Peace But the Sword. to such authoritative magazines as the well written Foreign Af- fairs, and the opinionated New Republic, suggested Dr. Wool- ery. What are your own convic- tions on the war crisis? was the last question put to Dr. Woolery by one who was aware, at least, that convictions arrived at after years of study and ob- servation are not to be explained in a few statements. The answer to war is the use of common sense. Not sub- terfuge. Not power politics. Nations which have, must give to those which have not. What are the ends to such a war as this? Poland cannot be main- tained independent, Dr. Wool- ery said. If you want a com- plete statement of my views, you ' ll find them in the article I mentioned before. It ' s Charles A. Beard ' s titled ' Giddy Minds and Foreign Quarrels ' in the September Harper ' s. I ' d sign my name to it, all except the last section in which Beard criti- cizes Walter Lippman for his demand that America assume her natural responsibilities as a world power. For the remainder of the space allotted us, suppose we turn then briefly to Beard ' s article. From 1783 to 1890, United States kept out of European troubles, and there -were plenty of troubles, according to Mr. Beard. But with the entrance on the national scene of such men as A. T. Mahan, Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Albert J. Beveridge, a new doctrine of imperialism appeared in which America was DR. WILLIAM KIRK WOOLERY Provost and Professor of History and Political Science DR. CHANDLER SHAW Assistant Professor of History expected to plunge into every European dispute for the sake of enlightening barbarians and spreading democracy. At the end of the World War United States decided that the loss of life and repudiated war debts did not balance the joy of playing savior. During the first years of the ..„ Roosevelt era, domestic troubles kept the government men busy. When the alphabet soup turned into poor fare for a hungry na- tion, the Roosevelts turned an inquisitive eye to South America where they tried to teach our democratic way of life to a con- tinent of which three-fifth of the people are now under dic- tatorships. In the east we hung on to the Philippines, which Beard terms the Achilles ' heel of United States; meanwhile refus- ing to recognize the war in China as a war, but selling Japan one-half the munitions she used in China. A month after the election of 1936, won on a platform of neutrality among other things, the Roosevelt administration, says Beard, in violation of inter- national law and U. S. neutral- ity, passed a bill placing an em- bargo on munitions to the loyal- ist government in Spain, which was fighting fascist domination. In January, 1938, the White House, not the navy (for the navy, according to Admiral Lea- hy, had adequate forces to pro- tect the Western hemisphere) demanded an enormous increase in naval outlay, presumably for an European bound navy. With these and oth- er definite examples cited by Beard, of United States meddling into European incessant quar- rels, it would appear that America is getting clos- er to becoming victims of the foreign malestrom. According to the July 4th New York Times. the president asserted in an interview that pre- vention of war in all parts of the world was the first policy of his administration. continued on page 22 PAGE SEVEN