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NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
U. s. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 217
Rocky Mount, N. C.
Non-Profit Organizatioo
V(H.UME XL NUMBER 3
ROCKY MOUNT. N. C.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 23, 1989
Chamber Singers Named, in Public Schools
Alternates Chosen For Negro Students ‘Petrified’
1969-70 Concert Season
For the first time in their
existence, North Carolina Wes-
leyan’s Chamber Singers have
chosen alternates to replace
regular members in case of
sickness or accident. Accord
ing to their director. Dr. John
S. Davis, the quality of the new
students who auditioned for the
Chamber Singers is extremely
high. He feels that the alter
nate system will give Fresh
man singers a chance to gain
experience with the group.
Returning members of the
Chamber Singers from last
year are Shirley Clay, Audrey
Ezzell, Caroly Lott and Ann
Townsend Draper, sopranos;
Eileen cyGrady, Donna Brad-
ham, and Barbara Epps, altos;
John Wilson, and Danny Shep-
(Continued on Page 4)
By ED SMITH
Explaining the relative doci
lity of black students in a re
cently integrated public school
where she teaches near here,
a 1969 graduate of Wesleyan
said, “I think it’s because most
of them are petrified.”
Commenting that her experi
ence as a teacher in a public
school near here has not been
dissimilar to that of other Wes
leyan graduates, she stated that
part of the difficulties in im
plementing integration in this
area are caused by the fact
that older white teachers and
administrators openly display
contempt for black teachers and
students.
In the first weeks of school,
she said, she discovered that
two blacks in a particular class
were among her best students.
The two boys, however, would
not answer any of her questions
Cast Chosen For ‘No Strings’
Thursday, Mr. Dingman post
ed a list of the cast for the
1969 production of the musical,
NO STRINGS. The lead roles
in the play were given to
Eileen cycrady (Barbara
Wooduff^ Roland Shaw (David
Jordan)^ Jeanie Johnson (Jean
ette Valmyi Rob Smith (Luc
Delbert^ and Helen Steiner
(Mollie Plummer).
The supporting roles were
given to; Miriam Leyda, Danny
Shpehard, Rick Houck, Barbara
Koehlein, William Neale, Maria
Gargano, John Hornaday, Sarah
Shoemaker, Will Thomson,
Linda Felton, Russ Shoop,
Barbara Epps, John Wilson,
and Berl Garrett.
In describing the play, Mr.
Dingman said “The production
is about the beautiful people
and we want the beautiful peo
ple to try out.” Mr. Dingman
continued, “I like the play very
much. I think it is one of the
few good, serious musicals cur
rently available. At the same
time, it has many comic lines,
characters, and situations and
opportunities for the developing
of its humorous moments.” Dr.
John Davis expressed the same
enthusiasm that Mr. Dingman
did, when he said, “It will be
great, because the students who
came out for it are great.”
The opinions of the students
were varied. Such remarks as,
“isn’t well know,” “unconven
tional,” “different,” “origi
nal,” “more of a dream se
quence,” and “I love the play”
were typical around Garber
Chapel Tuesday and Wednesday
night as the tryouts ground on
late into the night.
Rob Smith said, “I love the
play because the characters are
so very lifelike and they’re the
kind of people I like. They have
a good time with life usually.”
“It’s different from other plays
done at Wesleyan,” said Miriam
Leyda, “Because it’s notacos-
tume drama, because it’s more
of a dream sequence, than real
istic. I also think it’s sort of
stylilized.”
Tryouts, though grueling,
went very well according to the
students who tried out and Mr.
Dingman. Dingman said, “Fm
very pleased with my cast. I
do not think anyone has been
typecast, and therefore all the
roles will be a tremendous
challenge to their performers.”
Eileen C^Grady, a veteran in
the drama department at Wes
leyan, stated, “Tryouts went
exceptionally well. Everybody
exceeded his potential, every
one went beyond his level.
Everyone could work on the
same level. No one was excep
tionally good and no one was
exceptionally bad.”
Dave Siple, disc jockey for
WRMT, stated one of the few
negative reactions to the try
outs. He said, “I think that
it’s a pity more people didn’t
try out. It’s a problem you al-
(Oontinued on Page 2)
News Summary
By DON HENCHEI,
INTERNATIONAL: The
White House announced that the
second stage of President Nix
on’s troop withdrawal from Vi
etnam would soon go into effect.
The President’s News Secre
tary, Ronald L. Ziegler, said
that the President made his de
cision after a conference with
high officials was called to con
firm the decision.
Vice President Nguyen Cao
Ky of South Vietnam said the
U. S. would withdraw some
40,500 more troops from his
country by the end of Novem
ber and 150,000 or 200,000
more by the end of 1970,
In an effort to halt the “mad
momentum of the arms race,”
U. N. Secretary General U.
Thant called for the inclusion
of Communist China in dis
armament talks. Mr. Thant
also expressed hope that a
treaty banning nuclear wea
pons from the seabed would be
ready next month.
The Egyptain newspaper, “A1
Ahram” urged Palestinian or
ganizations to call upon Arab
states to welcome any Jewswho
wanted to come back from their
homes in Arab landr
NATIONAL; The Federal Trade
Commission wastes time on tri
vial matters, has an incom
petent staff, and does less work
than it did a decade ago and
should be changed or abo
lished.” This was the heart of a
report given to President Nixon
by a group of distinguished law
yers and economists who stu
died the commission.
A study group on space ex
ploration gave its findings to
President Nixon, and he report
edly agreed with its main re
commendation that the U. S.
should not begin an extensive
space program with the ulti
mate goal of landing a man on
Mars.
A panel of scientists re
ported that the rocks brought
back from the moon by the Apol
lo 11 crew are unlike any rocks
found on earth in respect to
their chemical composition.
This finding seemed to rule
out one of the theories of the
moon’s origin—that it was once
a fragment ripped out of the
earth when it was still young.
Wheelchair Said
Taken, Damaged
Kristen Eckfelt’s wheelchair
was stolen Thursday night,while
she was at the Hardee’s res
taurant in Rocky Mount. The
chair was still missing on Mon
day morning, although first im
pressions of the Administrative
officials were that the missing
chair was a prank. Finally
on Mondav morning an anony
mous phone call led to the lo
cation of the chair in Wilson.
In the forty-five minutes that
Karen had left the campus her
chair was stolen without
alarming any one. Despite
|the exhaustive search conduct
ed throughout the weekend, and
despite the aid of local radio
station and newspapers, the
wheel chair remained undis
covered.
Finally on Monday mormng,
the switchboard received an
anonymous phone call that re
sulted in the location of the
wheel chair near the Southern
500 restaurant in Wilson, North
Carolina. Unfortunately, the
arms of the chair were missing
the rear-axle broken, the cush
ion lost, and the entire chair
rendered virtually useless.
3 ^l/e
Stt '6Tr>ofic.6y (fedgc: '
Foundation
Announces
Fellowships
Inquiries about the Danforth
Graduate Fellowships, to be
awarded in March, 1970, are
invited , according to Richard
Dill, Asst. Professor of Music,
the Wesleyan representative.
The deadline for filing for
applications with Mr. Dill is
Friday, September 26, 1969.
The Fellowships, offered by
the Danforth Foundation of St.
Louis, Missouri, are open to
men and womenwho are seniors
or recent graduates of accredit
ed colleges in the United St
ates, who have a serious in
terest in college teaching as a
career, and who plan to study
for a Ph. D. in a field common
to the undergraduate college.
Applicants may be single or
married, must be less than thir
ty years of age at the time of
application, and may not have
undertaken any graduate or pro
fessional study beyond the bac
calaureate.
Approximately 120 Fellow
ships will be awarded in Mar
ch, 1970. Candidates must be
nominated by Uason Officers
of their undergraduate institu
tions by November 1, 1969.
The Foundation does not accept
direct applications for the Fel
lowships.
Danforth Graduate Fellows
are eligible for four years of
financial assistance, with a
maximum annual living stipend
of $2400 for single Fellows
and $2950 for married Fellows,
plus tuition and fees. Depen
dency allowances are availabe.
Financial need is not a con
dition for consideration.
in class discussions, she said.
Private conversation with the
boys, she said, revealed that
they were simply afraid to dis
tinguish themselves in front of
the white students. They told her
that the year before, after tak
ing a too conspicious part in
class discussions, they had been
beaten up by white students
while on an athletic trip.
The coach, she said, was pre
sent during the incident, and
the two boys told her that no
punitive action had been taken
on the white boys who had at
tacked them.
She told the boys not to be
afraid to answer questions in
class in the future and discuss
ed the problem with her Assis
tant Principal, who, she later
discovered, was the coach who
had stood by during the beating
incident the year before.
Several other teachers were
present at the interview with
the Assistant Principal, she
stated. According to her re
port, the Assistant Principal
asked the names of the boys
and then said, “Well, they al
most got hung last year. Maybe
they’ll get hung this year. It’s
good enough for them.”
After that, she said, “I car
ried it no further. I figured
it wasn’t any use.”
“I think if the white teachers
accepted the black teachers and
gave the black students a
chance, the white students would
follow along,” she commented,
adding that such was not the
case.
The white teachers present
at the interview with the As
sistant Principal, she stated,
were in obvious sympathy with
his feelings.
“There is a high feeling of
resentment against black teach
ers in the school on the part of
the white teachers,” she said,
adding that in a training pro
gram last summer a white su
pervisor had made slurring re
marks about the Negro teach
ers’ association. When a partly
Negro teacher who was present
called him down on it, temper
ing her remarks with a smile,
his answer was, “Well look,
she’s even smiling at being a
nigger.”
Library Extends
Borrowing Time
Books in the circulating col
lection of the Wesleyan College
Library may be borrowed for
three weeks beginning this fall,
librarian Alva Stewart has an
nounced. In the past the loan
period has been two weeks.
“By extending the loan period
another week, we hope to reduce
the number of overdue books
out at any given time”, Stewart
declared. Such a reduction
would be beneficial to the bor
rower as well as the library,
he noted.
(Continued on P^e 2)