European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 21, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes wednesday september 21, 1977 the course of Truel Merence once Moke please. Without tub stars. By Roy Reed new York times hat did Henry Viii s poems express More feelingly than shake speares and what did Don Juan for All his reputation probably never feel at All the answer is Liverence. Never mind the dictionary it s a new word just coined by prof. Dorothy Tennov an experimental psychologist at the University of Bridgeport Conn. What it Means in a scientific Way is being in love. Tennov was one of More than 100 scientists Gath ered at Swansea on the Welsh coast in Dylan Thomas Hometown to Exchange scholarly ideas on the flesh blood and testable qualities of love an sexual attraction. Some of the Wisdom is restatement in psychological jargon of the obvious. Even Tennov a woman of some humor had to suppress a Giggle when she spoke in her paper of the consummate by moment the instant when the hands first come together or the eyes touch and lock and All is lost. But much of the presentation is a dead and some times deadening by serious Effort to explain Why people behave As they do in sexual relationships varying from the fazed to the comfortable. There have been diversions. A Man who was sexually attracted to children and was trying to get his proclivity legalized in Britain appeared Long enough to be ousted from the conference. Shortly afterwards in a pub nearby a woman punched him in the nose and he went to the Hospital. A lecturer Drew an a scholarly amount of at Tention by launching a love is dead Campaign taking the View that Liverence has almost been snuffed out by such historic forces As coeducation contraception and women s liberation. There have been papers on what attracts people women like men with Small buttocks but Are not impressed by Charles Atlas Muscles one paper reported advances in sex therapy Homer s portrayals of love in the Iliad and Odyssey husbands responses to their wives suicide attempts child sexuality in american communes. Also the psychological significance of facial deformity scars Are a sexual obstacle the sexual rights of children the personality attributes of rubber fetishists changes in courtship and cohabitation in Canada mate selection in the Netherlands unmarried cohabitation in Sweden and predicting a teenage girl s attractiveness when she is 40. By one count there were 101 subjects such As these. One of the Best received lecturers was professor Tennov who is a writer a teacher a Mother a wife 16 years divorced a feminist and a scientist who likes music and poetry. In an interview after her talk she said that she became professionally interested in romantic love about 10 years ago when two Young men visiting her office started to complain of the perils of romantic love. One had lost a semester s work at the University and the other had taken to drink. She recalled her own experience with love and decided that a Force that can cause Bliss alcoholism and murder was worthy of scientific research. Since then she has interviewed "50, 100, maybe 150" people. Her research is to be published in a Book next year. Tennov s findings so far suggest a scientific base for what the poets have always said that a person in love is frequently irrational spends much time replaying past encounters with the loved one and scheming for the next frets Over his or her appearance and can even feel physical pain in the Chest. You find yourself doing things not in your own Best interest she said such As walking Down cer Tain streets out of your Way because you think the person might be  Tennov says that some people seem not to fall in love and Are puzzled by those who do. She has recently reread the poems of Henry Viii a Man who clearly knew the feeling. Shakespeare s sonnets on the other hand describe love More objectively and Deal Little with Lime rent feelings. She coined Liverence she said because it sounds Nice and has no connection with other love qualities such As caring and concern. Did she suppose that Don Juan was a Lime rent probably not she said he was More interested i exploiting the feeling in others for his own sexual gratification and satisfying the sex urge does not mean being in love. What sets her findings apart from the in sights of the poets i m searching for testable statements she said. A scientific theory must be testable. Could it be a different electric potential in the brain or a Secre Tion of some hormone maybe it occurs because a person simply has never Learned to. Cut the process off. It May be possible to discover Why it happens or what state a person is in when it  in which Case she added Many undoubtedly would take pains to avoid it. One of the most alarm ing findings of her interviews is that it May happen at any age. It tends to be temporary she said but even so it sometimes takes years to Wear off. By Ermo Bombeck at wits end an and in a Midwest newspaper read wanted woman to do ironing for housewife 10 years behind in everything. Must have Strong courage and sense of  now there s a woman i could live next door to in perfect Harmony. I Iron by appointment  i Learned Long ago that if i ironed and Hung three dresses in my daughter s closet she would change three times during dinner. The other Day my son wanted me to Iron his jeans for a class play. Which leg faces the audience i asked with my Iron poised in mid air. Boy he said you re sure not like mrs.  i had t thought about mrs. Breck in Yean. She was an Antiseptic old Broad who used to live two houses Down from me. She had an annoying habit of putting her ironing Board up on tuesdays and put Ting it away again at the end of the Day. What can you expect from a woman who ironed Belt buckles one afternoon i dropped in on her As she was pressing the tongues in her son s Tennis shoes. You know what you Are mrs. Breck i said.  of i enjoy ironing she said. You keep talking like that and someone is going to put you in a  what s so bad about ironing she grinned. No one does it i snapped. Did you Ever see the women on soap operas Iron they re just Normal Ameri can housewives. But do you Ever see them in front of a ironing Board no they re out having abortions com mitting murder blackmailing their Boss undergoing sur Gery having fun if you weren t chained to this ironing Board you too could be out doing All sorts of  like what she chuckled pressing the wrinkle out of a pair of sweat socks and folding them neatly. You could give Tupperware parties learn to scuba dive learn hotel management while sitting under a hair dryer have an affair with the Avon lady s unemployed brother in Law sing along with Jack Lalanne collect an Tique barbed wire take a course in hebrew Flower arranging Start Chain letters. I Don t now woman us your imagination i read the newspaper and again. It intrigued me so that i dialled the number and waited. Hello mrs. Breck  son of a gun. It sure makes you feel Good when you had a part in someone s Success does t it c Field enter prints inc