Sparse Crowd Forces Curtailment, Deadlock At Athenaeum Debate

A sparse attendance of five forced a curtailment and stalemate at the Athenaeum's first spring term debate last night at P.B.H. The proposed topic was "Resolved: Harvard is a man's college and should remain so."

Peter R. Fisher '54, speaker for the negative, called for an immediate cancelation of the meeting after the two lead-off speeches were followed by 15 minutes of spasmodic silences.

Miles Davis '54, in supporting the motion to disband the discussion, attributed the meeting's poor turnout to the fact that no one around the College likes to talk. "There are too many plain listeners here," he said. "As for myself, I like to talk."

William W. Cancelmo '54, moderator of the debate, said, "Contrary to rumors that will no doubt be a circulated in the future, tonight's disbandment does not mean the organization is being disbanded." He said he planed to held and executives' meeting immediately to decide on the next debate's topic.

During the two brief speeches of the meeting, Oswald L. Johnston, Jr. '55, speaking for the affirmative, asserted that the University's tradition of 300 years was distinguished because of its exclusion of women. Fisher, the negative speaker, claimed that excluding girls from the College would leave Harvard men either monks or monkeys.