CONFERENCE AT PRINCETON

Which the Princeton-Harvard-Yale Conference on Public Affairs pitches its tent on the Nassau campus May eighth and ninth, another link will be forged in the chain of natural interests and friendship that bind together the traditional "ivy colleges". In times of economic and social duress, with politicians and patriots scornfully hooting at the intellectual leadership of educational institutions throughout the country, the great universities are called upon more and more to take an active hand in the conduct of national affairs. By enthusiastically sponsoring the forthcoming colloquium on "Government and Economic Stability", the college newspapers wish to bear refreshing testimony to the unified aims and purposes of colleges in general, and in particular to the solidarity that exists among the "big three".

The set-up of the conference is designed to give the undergraduates who participate the greatest possible opportunity to find out how public problems are handled. Direct contact with men who shape the nation's destiny from day to day will prove as stimulating as a dozen text books. With the three estates of faculty, business, and officialdom mixed together at round tables, the clash of conflicting opinion will open fresh and fertile fields of thought to all concerned. Furthermore, since all remarks are to be "off the record", the discussions should bring to light private feelings and convictions, unpublished in the press, which will help to clarify the students' personal ideas about the various problems of government and industry.

Though the conference is run primarily by the undergraduate papers, delegates from the colleges at large will be invited to join in. The broad outlook that comes from associating with men of experience and responsibility in many walks of life forms a valuable part of editorial training, but cannot be denied to those who want to develop a mature and independent viewpoint of their own. To insure an air of informality at the round tables small groups are of course essential, but when the conference comes to Cambridge next winter, there will be one or more open meetings which a large number of students may attend. Meanwhile the enthusiasm of undergraduates and guests alike augurs well for a successful party in Princeton the second week-end in May.