Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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• ' -It 1 ' ' ' r -♦• ♦- r ir ♦• - ♦- ' ' ' ' f • ' t- ' ■ ' W .- ' • ♦ ' ♦ ► r i «»• •■ - r ' « ». « ,m w m f m r m, -- y - J An intense James Fowle seems surpiised to find mani- festations of artistic expression in cold Hilles. Howard Comfort displays a curious artifact discovered by him in the dark Sharpless basement. HISTORY OF ART LATIN A newly-arrived emigrant from Harvard, James Fowle has eagerly accepted Haverford ' s challenge of intimate student-faculty relations and informal discussions. He approaches his subject with infectious enthusiasm, adding youth and vigour to the Faculty, and he in.stills in his students a heightened perception and appreciation of works of art. Despite his laissez faire policy toward correcting papers, Mr. Fowle ' s genuine interest in the scholastic ef- forts of his students makes their analyses of whatever Egyptian figure is glowing on the screen seem profound beyond words. An expert in many fields, Howard Comfort, ' 24, specializes in Catullus and pottery. He spends his free time writing, coaching cricket (with unbelievable success), and flying about the world to preside at the meetings of learned societies. Assuming as he does that everyone will have the stuff cold, he seldom checks up on assignments and feels each grammatical massacre as a personal disappointment. No one in Latin 15 will forget his lecture on the Plautine influence in Sgt. Bilko, for such methods are part of his success in making a dead language come alive. Charles Ludington and Alfred Swan iiolish their rendi- tion of an ancient Oriental melody — Chopsticks. MUSIC Energetically teaching music a la grancle facon, Alfred Swan is able to elicit creativity from the chaotic turbulence of most musical souls. A Program of Student Musical Compo- sitions was actually a highlight of this year ' s Collection programs, thanks to Mr. Swan ' s dili- gent supervision of the compositions and his whimsical, yet penetrating, program comments. Charles Ludinprton was Amherst ' s loss and Haverford ' s gain. Substituting for Dr. Reese, Mr. Ludington ably taught, directed, or be- friended everyone he met. He is most memor- able for admonishing the Glee Club ' s slow sing- ing: although the men loved to linger over each note he conducted, he loved each one so well that he couldn ' t wait for the next.

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GERMAN Offering students a taste of German tradi- tion, as well as a knowledKe of German litera- ture, Harry Pfuiid, ' 22, makes his courses more than a series of lectures and discussions. As he reads from LessiuK or Goethe ' s plays or the Middle Hi h German of the Nibelungenlied, Dr. Pfund effervesces the true spirit of the old countrj ' . Projects with the genial head of the department are consequently noted for German beer and apfehaft. John Cary, ' 45, is an uncompromising perfec- tionist when it comes to precise translations of German passages. Yet he maintains a close iLjiMiiing- the magazine in order to look casual are I ' -srs. Heydebreck, Kelly, Pfund, and Cary. GREEK George Kennedy is new this year, but al- ready shows a youthful facility for an aged language. He is so much at ease before a class :hat it seems an effort for him to be disturbed 3y any student slurring classical phrases with i Left-Bank zeal. Every period he is purposeful :ind indulgent, calling students by their first aame, but allowing no lap.se in attention. Stu- ;lents studying the printed Greek with its sputtering accents, black iotas, and hearty . ' owels in their Homer .selections long for the ;wift chalk, articulate pause, and Hellenic oeace of their teacher. personal relationship with his students and is an ever-ready source of assistance to those un- fortunate individuals caught up in the com- plex cobweb of German grammar. His presence is also felt in a number of College activities, whether it be his participation in campus drives or his attendance at Meeting and soccer games. Professor Emeritus John Kelly came out of retirement last fall to teach a course in ele- mentary German. Precisely at 9:01 each class day, Herr Kelly appeared on Founders porch and commenced his way to the West Math room. Kommcn Sie nach meinem Hause, he often requested his students, who could only marvel at the versatility of this humble man, leading them in song around his piano. Tuesday night ! Time for Modern German Literature with Joachim Maass. Black-suited and precise, Mr. Maass would read melodically and imbibe some sort of Zaubertvank. What is beauty? he would ask. What is the literary work of art? Attempting to discover the an- swers, the class read Mann, Kafka, and Kilke. Each week, out came the attache case, the book of lecture notes, and the illuminating com- ments mit Witz und Aumiit vorgctragen. Spending only one year at Haverford, Man- fred Heydebreck showed enough detachment to smile o us and enough humanity to smile ivifli us. Besides taking English and teaching German, he endured innumerable dinner-meet- ings with local service clubs. What such experi- ences proved, beyond the superb powers of Manfred ' s digestive system, will never be known within our borders. Tact prevails. George Kennedy, newly-arrived Clas.sicist, frowns as he translates Class Night into Greek.

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PHILOSOPHY Prosidiiifr over the phil depurlment, Duuglas Steere defends an essentially non-rational — or should we say supra-rational — position ajrainst I.B.M. Parker; he is obviously a man to be reckoned with on intellectual Ki ' ounds. His true gift, though, is his ability to slip away from the troubles of philosophy to an ephemeral level where contradiction vanishes, where life meets its source, and where things begin to happen. There are the cynics who say the new level is underground, in Plato ' s cave. There are others who observe the sense of delight obvious in all that he does and suspect that the new level has something to do with Jeremiah ' s tree. A latter-day Socrates, Frank Parker believes that the unexamined life is not worth living. Also, the unexamined thought is not worth giv- ing in his classes. Master of the gentle but deadly riposte, he is lucidity personified ; one can almo.st hear the mental wheels turning whenever he lectures. Nor do the wheels grind slowly, though they grind exceedingly fine. Said an honors graduate from Sharple.ss: Mr. Parker was at my oral. He asked if the psy- chologist made value judgments. I said no . . . and found out in five minutes that the answer was yes. Thus does wisdom begin. Paul Desjardins has come this year to be the maitrc d ' hofel at French Hou.se and the new life-blood of the philosophy department. Often seen striding across campus, he seems lost The search for truth continues on into the autumn after- noon idlTcf-break. Larry Maud relates Zen Buddhism to the statements of (seated) Engelhardt, Smith, Zapf, Bennett; (standing) Green, Putnam, Newcomb, Tobias. somewhere in the circle of Plato ' s World-Soul. In class his enthusia.sm often blurs the issue at hand, and discussion sometimes becomes a good game of Blind Man ' s Bluff. But the Socratic method is a welcome innovation in the department, and as he settles down to Haver- ford life, we know that lines of meaningful communication will open. After all, il faiit cul- tiver notre Desjardins. Henry Joel Cadbury In-ings to his course on the history and philosophy of Quakerism a famed scholarship in Friends ' history and a wide reputation for his charitable activities as a Director of the A.F.S.C. Students signing up for Phil 24 in hopes of a snap course are some- what disillusioned, but this pain is more than alleviated by their pleasantly gained knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of great Quaker figures. Jovial profe.ssors Parker, Desjardins, and Steere take a break from their metaphy.sieal labors.