Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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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

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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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Letters from home Is Cl) OtV. Your entry into college is so momentous an event in our lives that I feel I want to write you a few words of advice. We here at home have a great stake in your future. If it is happy and successful your mother and I will be content, for it will fulfill our hopes and dreams and justify the years of struggle and planning and the sacrifices we made that you might have the opportunity for higher education. From now on, you are largely on your own. How well you adjust to your new environment and what you learn will determine how success- ful you will be in later life. College offers you three things: Knowledge, friends, and a chance to develop some skills. Starting with the latter I urge you to take part in extra-class activities, if they bring you pleasure. Determine for yourself which activity has most value and interest for you. Then go out and give it everything you have. Don ' t attempt to be in everything. Do one thing well and others will follow naturally. If you attain prominence in activities or ath- letics, drink gladly of the joy it brings; but re- member that, four years from now, there will be no one on the campus to whom your name will mean anything. Even the great are soon forgotten. Don ' t hold your professors in awe. Cultivate friendships with members of the faculty. Finally, always remember that the primary purpose in going to college is to get an education. If you finish your four years of college without having developed a love for learning and acquired an intellectua curiosity these years will have been a failure. If a man empty his purse into his head, no one can take it from him. Remember this. As ever, Dad. JJear JJciUCjkter: So you ' re really at college. Certainly, it should be one of your great- est experiences. Dad ?nd I know that you ' ll be true to our hope. All that we ask is that you be true to your- self, that you make yourself the finest, broadest, most thorough, and most thinking individual possible. You will find it easy to slip into the habits of those around you ,and, if their habits are what you sincerely want, then slip. But first, take a little time out to think. Don ' t be a- fraid to be yourself — people are thankful for an individual. You asked about joining a sorority. If you will be happier, dear, Dad and I say, Go a- head. But if you join a sorority, we want you to keep open-mindedness and tolerance. Don ' t build a barbed-wire fence around your sorority sisters, or pin a No Trespassing sign on your heart against other friends. Become interested in campus activities, but not to the exclusion of the wider world around you. Read a newspaper and some current litera- ture. Keep in touch with the world. Take care of your health. Don ' t burn your- self out now; you don ' t want to feel like an old woman when you graduate. You ' ll acquire poise, and lose self-conscious- ness when you think of other people ' s happiness first. Charm and personality spring from your consideration and thoughtfulness. You ' ll find these by thinking first of others, rather than try- ing to play the lead yourself. Your loving Mother. The rural delivery PAGE EIGHT