City College of New York - Microcosm Yearbook (New York, NY)

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E-:-b t.'W (obove) oustod from Colum- bia College for demonstrot g in front of Nicholos Mwrroy Butler's ©fR », spoke of the College dospite odministrotlori oppositio . Having broadened considerably, tlie A.S.U. nominated many former Progressive Student Party men. and the ballot was practically void of opposition. Joseph Janovsky. Jack London, and Stanley Silvcrbcrg were elected President. Vice-President, ami Secretary of the Student Council respectively. Harold Kotli easily won the class presidency. As it must each term, exam week came again to the College. Put this exam week made tile front pages. .No sooner did vacation start, than the Fire Department took over the Main Building. Five fires were discovered in different rooms in one day. Valuable records went up in flames. The Times blamed pymmaniacs. The more original World-Telegram sug- gested that, since examination papers bail been burned, the blazes were caused by students who did not want their failures discovered. As usual, the Journal-American was sure it was red sabotage . Equally positive were the Communists that some subversive Trotskyite bad done the dire deed. IV Towards the end of the spring term. Editor Siissman of the Campus bad scored a Grade A “scoop with a story of a Co-op Store deficit. The charges were confirmed just before school closed, and over the summer an investigation was conducted. Always an object of derision, the Store’s high prices had already aroused student suspicion. Hut the College was enraged on hearing that Gmiinissioncr of Accounts Hlanshard bad uncov- ered a shortage of $51,000. As a result, the co-op was reorganized as the “City College Store , prices were lowered, and a new manager appointed. nli-Scuiilisni. spread by Hitler in Europe and more suhtlely by Coughlin in merica. made headway even in the College. The Hoard of Higher Education, in carrying out its policy of allowing complete freedom of speech, had ruled that any organization might meet on the grounds without official recognition. V group which called itself the American Guards was granted a permit. Numerous protests to the Hoard led to an investigation into the purposes of the club, and when charges of anti- Jewish programs were proven to lie well-founded, the by-law was changed so that anti-religious groups could not meet on College property. The remains of two magazines. Lavender and Clionian were put together, and Monthly appeared. From the start, the new literary effort n Siudor.ii o! »Wo Collogo gotk«r»d 1» espress tKoir support of frude» o«d liberal i-dco. (top): of o progressive moyor ond ooutK mo («ente»).

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1 .'landing, since the riot readied its height in a snake dance on Time Square. Only taxis were hold enough to enture into the heart of the snake «lance. Traffic was tied up on Seventh Avenue and Broadway until one o'clock when sheer exhaus- tion sent the celebrants home. Aside from the smoker and a highly successful ’39-'40 gym dance (previewed by an alcove weenie-feast), history was not made by students of City College that fall term. The Student Council was so moribund that President Herbert Robinson trieel housecleaning by forcing the ouster of his vice-presi- dent. Hob Burke, who had been expelled from Columbia. wa refused permission to speak on St. Nicholas Terrace—and did. The College Widow, a humor maga- zine for New York City's College.' appearc«l. was sold out three times and then disappeared: while Aid Loyalist Spain booths hc«’ame alcove fixtures. In the perennial Campus poll “FDR” was reelected, followed by Brow- der and Thomas, with I„'imlon bringing up the rear. Higher ed- ucation W eek was celebrated from November 9 to 13 but attracted few visitors. Professor McGold- rick introduced a resolution which would automatically make the A. S. U. a legal organization, hut a tic vote by the Board of Higher Falucation killed the motion. , Elections at the end of the semester provi«lc«l real fireworks. The Progressive Students party, headed by Vic Alex road, put up a complete slate against the Stu- dent Union, whose camlidate for S. C. President was Sy Slavin. For a week the street-cleaning dc- t partment was forced to put on an extra contingent to take care of the leaflets, which averaged three a day. The Progressives claimc«l their opponents held office merely to pass piditical resolutions. The Student Union re- taliated with cries of “Politicians” and “Red-baiters”. The final result was as close as the campaign had indicated. In the Student Council. Alcxroad, Sollcs (SU) and Jack lam- don (PS) triumphed. ’39 went Student Union by a narrow margin. After four tallies. Leon Katzen (PS) held a one vote lca«l over Jack Fcrnbach (SU) for class president, with one ballot in «louht. A tie resulted when the Flections Committee counted the doubtful ballot for Fcrnbach. but the situation was cleared when Katzen declined. Students became very interested in politics as attempts were made in the first months of 1937 to dis«'ontinue the Na- tional Youth Administration. By countering with a demand for passage of the American Youth ct. a pilgrimage to Wash- ington succeeded in having the appropriation increased rather than cut. Coupled with the A. Y. A. movement, the Anti-War Strike on April 22 caused a majority of the school to cut classes for one hour, ami rc ]uired an S.R.O. sign on the doors of the Great Hall. In general, students were apathetic toward demonstra- tions. I)r. Giovanni E. Conterno, leader of the K.O.T.C. Band, was dismissed for physical incapacity”, although his physi- cian had declared him hale and hearty”. The Campus re- ported that Conterno had carnc ! the enmity of Colonel O. P. Robinson for supporting the movement for a non-R.O.T.C. band. Half-hearted efforts to reinstate l)r. Conterno failed. Charter Day was once more boycotted, thus giving the stu- dents an excuse to stay away. The conservative swing became more evident when pickets failed to prevent a record crowd on “Jingo Day”. A brief Hurry of excitement re- suited when Arthur Frank Payne. Personnel Bureau Director, was refusc«l reappointment. An ap- pointee of President Robinson, Payne had been called a quack by the American Psychologists As- sociation ami had been under fire from liberal students for years. When Payne tric«l to «lis- miss several of his subordinates, he put the final t« uch to his own banishment. Payne «leclarc«l that the “Triple Alliance” (thcTcach- ers Union, the Psychologists League, and the omnipresent Communists) was “out to get him”—they “got” him. He was refused reappointment by the Board of Higher Education, and the quiet but efficient Dr. Daniel Brophy took his place. A start in inter-collcgiate co- operation occurred when the Stu- «lent Council called the first Met- ropolitan Student Council Con- ference. attended by fourteen universities and colleges in New York City. As a result of the find- ings of the conclave, the Student Council was reorganized to give clubs direct representation. The class scored its greatest financial success in a dance chairmanncd by Harold Roth. A less riotous smoker was held in the Hotel Center, where not a mirror was broken. Featuring the current candid camera vogue, Dramsoc staged Don't Look Note. The review gained excellent pub- licity when a hundred alcove-wolves. Ic«l by Dean '39, rioted and chased six chorines, demanding the kisses they ha«l been promised with their tickets. The '39 Council's grandiose plan for a Boat-Ride was taken over by the Student Council. Nevertheless, the '39 Class ran the affair. The show-boat Rear Mountain was fillc«l beyond capacity on the moonlight sail immediately after exams. The hit of the evening was not Kay Parson’s floor show, but Win- some Winnie, a melerdramar staged by the faculty and directe«l by “Kernel” Frank Dav idson. Tho vppor hoW of ho '39 Clou to- «ho lot pvblicotion of THE STUDENT NEWS ot on ♦ipronion of tho difforon collegot' opposition to rcootion on «ho oomput. 21

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had tough sledding. A story hy Jerome Wcidinun of I-Can- Get-It-for-You-Wholesalc fame was attacked as anti-Catholic. chauvinistic, and in poor taste, while a later story was crit- icized as unfair to the Negro race. For a time Monthly was banned from the Commerce Center. Editors Neidcr and Dris- coll were compelled to reiterate their explanation that indi- vidual characterizations were not meant to represent a group. As a result of the Board of Higher Education's warning to the College Faculty to “take adequate action to prevent of- fensive articles and stories such as have appeared in Monthly . a warning was also directed at the Mercury of January 1938. (Dean John R. Turner announced a policy of faculty govern- ment through influence, not censorship over all student publications.) The Spring of 1938 saw Board of Higher Education Week receive more attention than it had obtained the previous year, and the Student Council sponsor a peace rally at which Spanish and Chinese envoys spoke for their respective gov- ernments. Councilman Michael Quill's thick Irish brogue proved a strong drawing card. In the new semester House Plan reached maturity. One of the numerous alumni donations enabled the House Plan As- sociation to purchase 292 Convent Avc. In honor of the donor, the building was named the Edward M. Shepard House. The vacancy which bail been created hy the sudden resignation of Mortimer Karpp was filled hy Hygiene instructor James Peace, who became the new director. The Junior Prom arrived and dwarfed all other social functions. It outdid all previous promenades, even in num- ber of directors, although Bill Tomshinskv was unofficial chairman of the chairmen. Joined hy the Junior Class of the Commerce Center, the Class Council hired the Hoof Carden of the Hotel Astor and Paul Tremaine’s Orchestra. Swamping •lie school with publicity—Petty’s cartoons attracted crowds to a billboard in the alcoves, and Martin Block's voice brought five hundred to a Great Hall rail)—resulted in one hundred seventy-five couples, who helped crown Marjorie Norton Queen, ami danced until two. Everyone had a good time hut the class treasurer. The net loss was approximately S250. During the Christmas vacation the American Student Union held a national convention at Yassar. Following the trend of the times, the Oxford pledge was dropped, and replaced hy support of collective security. To carry out this new principle, an active campaign to aid the hard-pressed Spanish Loyalist Government was started. The A.S.U. came of age when the Board of Higher Education, now controlled hy Fusion Party appointees, passed the McGohlrick resolu- tion. which legalized all organizations hut those which cs- poused racial or religious hatred. The College suffered an irreparable loss when Professor Morris Raphael Cohen, an outstanding member of the faculty and a leading authority on the philosophy of law. resigned. The school-wide election was another Hitler Ballot . The fusion in New York City politics provided a model which was followed in the College. The Student Union ami the College Labor Parties nominated the same tickets ami swept the school. Jack London, Harold Both, ami Jack Fernbach be- came the Student Council's officers and Leon Katzen was elected without opposition to the class presidency. Between terms, the school was far from deserted. The Col- lege played host to the New York State Model Legislature. Eleven hundred delegates from Y’s, trade unions, ami cellar clubs attended the American Youth Congress' unicameral assembly. The spotlight of the convention was centered on Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who addressed a capacity audi- ence from the Great Hall platform. legislation on labor, public health, crime prevention, housing, education, ami peace was proposed, passed and submitted to Albany. Latenesses were more common than usual during the first week, for sex appeal had hit the College. Miss Gladys Lovinger found that the law had forgotten to forbid females in the School of Technology. Hunter’s loss was our gain. C.C.N.Y. Main Day became co-ed. Two new trustees were appointed by Mayor I iGuardia during the Spring. Chairman Mark Eisner resigned, to be replaced by Carmyn Lombardo, and Maurice Deichcs, long a member of the Board of Higher Education, passed away early in 1938. That genuinely liberal and sincere humani- tarian” was replaced by Mrs. George Z. Medalie. Idealistic Mrs. Medalie proceeded to take the College under her wing. Small articles describing speeches Mrs. Medalie delivered TK» Cr»3 Wor in Spoia. cootompo-rory wifh our Coll«g« co- re . found lh »fu- d f body • - uholmingly U sup- port of )li« toyotat covi (Mr). 23