Northwestern University - Syllabus Yearbook (Evanston, IL)

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SCHOOL OF JOUR ALI M cmted-THIS YEAYR . . . 4700 Journalism grads to ease newspaper personnel shortages! And most of these must be drawn from the ranks of WOMEN. F orty-seven hun- dred petticoated figures are needed in news- paper city rooms throughout the nation. Such was not the case in former years- Up to 1939, newspapers relied upon journ al- ism schools for 1400 replacements a year, and most of the jobs were for men. The above hue and cry set up by news- paper publishers and editors over the United States has arisen because of the drain of man-power from their staffs during the past three years. At a critical time when bigger and better stories are making the wires hum, only a scanty news corps is available. Since the establishment of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern in 1921, until recently, a program of graduate and professional courses 01101 was offered to students, following preparation of three years in Liberal Arts or Commerce. In 1938, following its operation as a division of the School of Commerce for 17 years, Medill reorganized as an inde- pendent professional school. The program set up at that time provides the student with three years pre-professional training for background courses and beginning jour- nalism, and two years professional work, ending with a degree of Master of Science in Journalism. A year ago last fall, a survey was taken by the National Council of Professional Education for Journalism, liaison group between newspapers and schools. This was done through Kenneth E. Olson, dean of Medill and secretary-treasurer of the Coun- cil, through which the tremendous problems already described were found. Representa- tives of leading newspapers met with the 26 dean to set up accelerated programs for many journalism schools in the country. To do its part in wartime Northwest- ern's journalism school introduced the four- quarter-a-year War Emergency Program, primarily for three-year college students, offering them a solid year of training for a degree. With this twelve-month course on the quarterly system, the school turns out a crop of graduates every three months, thereby easing the acute shortage. Two years ago, newspapers realized that the need for women would arise because of the drafting of men for armed service. In the past, Medill boasted 80'Z, men and 20'Z, women in its classes: now the ratio is practically reversed, partly due to recruit- ing campaigns of newspapers for women to fill the emergency programs. This year, our I-School opened with as large an enrollment as in peacetime, but with 882 women! We may be running a female seminary this year, said the dean, but we have selected top-notch women and we are con- fident they will measure up to the respon- sibilities of the men's jobs for which we are training them. All courses at Medill are interesting, varied in scope, and, above all, practical. f l c 9223? V.-4314i ,ff '42, ,V ,' ff' f 51,5 mn . . K A . Wa f QQ, A 'QPU X ,l f l,i j Xf f ff- f ffm ,4 . QQVY' I If , N! . ffl X..--ff Harifrirai- 4 2 l .er 1-'-W -,L-wK,,,-:fi-if w X-, 1 M9 3' 1' wg ,fr 'L X Y? 12. l. ' ya- 2-if WZQQH' 1 ,F-,N illlugh- V' I H ,.15:7'A' f ...wh ' Iii' ' X ' 'Y ' 'N c X .gf-f .1-J., fvzygf' -'jf Nc! XXX, 1' Laboratory work constitutes a large part of class-time in many of them, and practical application is made of the theories learned.

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Public speaking majors, the progeny of Mr. Cumnock's original idea, have an opportunity to participate in debates and discussions. They, with those interested in speech re-education, supposedly have little interest in the theatre. A certain amount of work in oral in- terpretation is necessary for graduation. After two years of study, each student is ,,:'-.7 Ma- , f - f ,... T VX' -': .' .f ,.- I. I., T- , rw,- fsfe ' A-.1-.Jw K Nfl--. .4 'rl-lf Q' A,w.,x1'. Y - 1-gf, 1 A-,X L, XJ I , .,, ,f Q A--,.1 V, 5, ,,. ,H .5 Wg, pn -.N,,.,,-FIT, rp,-ff, Hu, ,,1,!,, rf ,-A . ,-M f' 1, l 'kxiuiaflz IN :,,,-f ,Z-'A A hx ETA xX1f-fi,ltX- lv'Qvi,. f'e,'i l W l ,fx fb, -256.1-',!., V- X X- f S gf K , 1 'aw ' -' if fx ---ee 1 i l l Nfl- V' 1 4 val - e l li? jizvgii j iN. ' ' ii-'i'l.-- V - l x f K .V , -- I Iik, - l -A H .1 ---..-. f, l x , - V I .-ggpggir 5 'ici pew I rip f7 4 if HVMAQ- f- . 1 - 1 f , ,f.,. 1 ' . .ig --- . -T ' e. A ' ,?Q:fi P ,--l 1 gg: 1.1, ,, I Q. XX---L , R I Ex- .N ' if NN li-x -i X I li .5 l l l'-..-., ., .... l ll -QNX . P1 - l Li , gl Xgyl Y Jr-E H l .gl l , - ff HX. , QU x-:'fc 4X-3 Qlf lljil? gggkggjiliilii expected to give a fifteen-minute platform test which is judged by the faculty. Sub- jects have ranged all the way from Dorothy Parker satires to readings from Ibsen. Not only are these juniors graded by their teachers, they must also submit -themselves to the critical scrutiny of lower classmen who are required to hand in written reports. The lack of male actors has become so apparent it was feared the program of plays for the year might consist solely of The Women and Girls in Uniform , repeated every quarter. This was not, fortunately, the case. One all-female show, Cry Havoc , was produced, but the other dramas such as The Affairs of Anatol and Candida included men in their casts. Where, in the university, they were found is the well-guarded secret of the Theatre staff. As an integral part of the social life at Northwestern, the Theatre gave a per- formance on Saturday night during the run of Beggar on Horseback to enable men in the armed forces stationed on campus to attend. This departure in policy was coupled with an innovation in Work- shop organization. The Workshop theatre is composed of Speech students who direct and act in short plays. It provides an opportunity for those who want to act, and acquires a part of its audience from the ever present workers' in B4O. Eager to try new and unusual methods of presentation, a group of students have organized a branch of Workshop known as the Experimental Theatre. Tryouts are open only to those on the casting list of the mother organization, and parts are awarded on the basis of auditions. Black drapes and startling lighting effects characterize the serious efforts of the experimenters. Actors are given still another oppor- tunity to practice their art, along with stage managers and crew heads, in Children's Theatre. Winifred Ward's specialty is pro- ducing juvenile plays with casts drawn from Evanston schools supplemented by North- western students who are members of Thalian. Among the classics performed have been Treasure Island , Peter Pan , and Tom Sawyer . Although not so widely known as the 'various theatres, speech and hearing clinics and laboratories provide diagnosis and treatment for many types of speech deviations. Qualified students observe and may even treat patients under faculty super- vision. One of the trademarks of the laboratory is a large larynx which, after a little careful practice, obligingly comes apart into its sections. The Student Senate, composed of two members from each class, is a clearing house for student opinion on school affairs, and makes the administration of its policies as democratic as possible. If one has really learned the principles of persuasion, he may even convince the powers that be to add another party to the social calendar. Excep- tional students are awarded membership in Phi Beta and Zeta Phi Eta. i . 25

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Newspaper and advertising typography, under the direction of Professor Albert including Sutton, is a one-quarter course the fundamentals of editing copy, make-up, and ads, and printing actual headlines plus seemingly endless days and nights of illustrate clipping newspaper articles to class discussions-all so familiar to J- School students! Reporting, under the guidance of Pro- fessor R. E. Wolseley, consists of organizing the class, actual city-room style, to cover the city of Evanston and the university for practical experience in interviewing, re- porting, and writing news stories. Photography courses, also under the direction of Mr. Albert Sutton, are designed to teach fundamentals of developing films, enlarging, compounding of chemicals, and the correct use of standard photographic equipment. Advanced classes acquaint students with techniques of photography for newspapers, the nature of reader interest, photo-editing, and reproduction require- ments for pictures. Advertising courses, under Professors Charles Allen and Walter Kurz, give instruc- tion in selling and advertising and mer- chandising problems of retail stores. Actual practice is given to students who sell and service local stores for Evanston and campus papers. Replacing several persons on the regular Medill faculty who have gone into various forms of government service recently, ex- perts in different fields of journalistic activity from the Chicago area have joined the staff. Mitchell Dawson, Chicago at- torney, particularly versed in press law, has replaced Edgar Vernard. Walter Kurz and Lawrence Coughlin, of the T ribime adver- tising staff, Charles Kinger and Howard Taylor, also Tribune men, and Van Allen Bradley, from the copy-desk of the San, are now doing part-time work at Medill in advertising, copyreading and news editing courses. Charles L. Allen, following a year's leave of absence with the O.W.I. in Washington, rejoined the faculty at the beginning of the winter quarter this year. Supplementing the staff, a Newspaper Council, composed of managers and editors of Chicago newspapers, agencies and press associations, gives its assistance to the school. During each school year, several well known men and women, whose work and experience is of special interest to jour- nalism students, are brought to the campus for school convocations. This year the speakers included Irving Pflaum, foreign editor of the Chi- cago Daily Times, who x 1 1 ,n,,w.-in , 1: J 'fi mm lflllll sriwi1sllli'lI - 'll We fqfvgflfiwfmiaryfse Mffr- ' T fi I7 qrilillillliilliiigvtlilll - -,-...W , ' wi-1 e'1.sw-- ,n, X , Uv F 'M' . f2gsjgffn',U 'Tw-v- l ' dr -YTNF te l l' lt ' n .- 'L ff-AE-L ' ,--- f- X? has been foreign correspondent for U.P., Time magazine and the London Daily Express. William M.Newton of the British Broadcasting Company, who was on tem- porary assignment as midwest representa- tive of BBC, also spoke to the students. Mr. Newton was the organizer of British broad- casts to conquered European peoples, and was creator of the British monitoring service. William D. Clark, who taught at the University of Chicago in 1938 and left at the outbreak of the war to join the British Information service, spoke on England After Four Years of War , following his return from a trip abroad. After his arrival on campus at the conclusion of a year with the Office of War Information in Washington, Professor Allen was the main speaker at one of the convoca- tions. Because of the cooperation and close coordination between the newspapers and the Journalism school, the speed-up pro- gram, and the expert faculty and speakers, Medill graduates are just what the doctor ordered for shorthanded newspapers. Today, these students are learning to write to- morrow's history. 27