Pag>
e Four
THE CAMPUS ECHO
Monday, October 25, 1937
Dormitories Should Be
Educational Centers
(Contiuued from Jiape one)
The roots of this non-intellectual
side go very deep into the past. Take
the following from John Addington
Symonds’ translation of a medieval
student song:
“Cast aside dull books and thought;
Sweet is folly, sweet is play;
Take the pleasure spring has brought
In youth’s opening holiday!
Riglit it is old age should ponder
On grave matters fraught with care;
Tender youtli is free to wander,
Free to frolic light as air
Like a dream our prime is flown,
Prisoned in a study;
Sport and folly are youth’s own,
'fender youth and ruddy.”
Thus, conventions have grown up
on our campuses which foster this
tendency toward interest in the
pleasures of college life. Large num
bers of our students deem it disloyal
to their companions should they be
seen in the act of doing college work
except just before examinations.
There is the convention that a stu
dent attends class only because he
has to, and hence that a student must
take all the cuts allowed him each
term or he will feel himself disgraced.
There is also a noticeable evidence
of the fact that our students, women
especially, are not interested in life
outside the college environs. Listen to
their conversations or note how many
read daily newspapers intelligently,
if you doubt this statement.
With this inertia of some students
and lack of interest in education it
becomes our task to provide dormi
tories which function as educational
centers. We then ask ourselves—how
can it he done?
I would suggest several methods
which would lead us toward our goal.
There is everywhere a renewed inter
est in student housing and social life
on the campus, and a belief that the
conditions of actual living should
contribute their proper share to a
well-rounded college experience. The
life of the dormitory should influence
manners, develop taste, and offer
training in the courtesy and coopera
tion necessary to group living.
Within our dormitories, we should
provide a reading room, that young
people may learn to read, not to
“make a grade,” but to have a
broader view of life. Vassar has a
fine library in Main Hall which girls
are not allowed to enter with note
book or pencil. It is placed there for
the purpose of having girls read for
the love of reading. Many students
come to our college who have read
few, if any books, aside from those
required by course assignments.
Hence, many students must acquire
in college a love for good books.
Closely related to the reading room
or library provision in our residence
hall is the provision of bulletin
boards. Bulletin boards should be
used as a means of creating interest
in current news and stimulating
thought. We must take care, how
ever, to prevent students ■ substitut
ing bulletin board reading for well-
chosen magazines and papers.
Considerable attention has been
given recently by college authorities
to the way housing conditions effect
the scholastic standing of students.
Both the student working for room
and board and the light-housekeeping
student have to devote a number of
hours per day to housework. That is
not the case of the student housed in
the dormitory. The life of the whole
residence hall is centered around the
idea of what is most conducive to
the best interests of the student’s
life and comfort. Therefore, we ex
pect that students living in residence
halls will stand higher in scholarship.
If the dormitory is to accomplish
Roland Hayes Expresses
Genius Of His Own Race
(Continued from page one)
singer afterwards, showed that they
had divined their content.
Roland Hayes thus described the
spirituals in a recent interview:
“In the community where I was
born, nothing but the spirituals were
sung. There was no question of the
blues or jazz. These were looked upon
as profane. And the Negro sang the
spirituals in deep devotion, unbound
humbleness, and worship. He did not
approach God, he did not attempt
to call to Him in his song and prayer;
he just surrounded God, face averted,
with his art.”
its purpose in our educational pro
gram, it will be necessary for us to
majie a study on our campuses to
determine the effect of the living
environment on grades. We may then
be able to foster a pride in house
standing which will lead to higher
standards of scholarship. A scholar
ship committee composed of students
resident in our dormitories should
function constantly and is most val
uable. The following, from an edito
rial in the Harvard Crimson seems to
me significant:
“When a man is put on probation
his friends slightly deplore the fact,
but seldom do they exert any moral
pressure to impel the man to attend
his classes and do the reasonable
amount of study that is required to
save him—If probation were looked
upon as a disgrace, and if a little
healthy missionary work were done
by classmates, in other words, if un
dergraduates realized some responsi
bility for their fellows, the sinking
probationer would more often make
an effective effort to reform his
ways.”
Group responsibility and coopera
tion is not to be limited to student
achievement in classes. Again, if the
dormitory is to fulfill its function
there must be shared responsibility
in its management. We would sug
gest that the members of the resident
hall organize themselves into a house
association or dormitory organization
with specific objectives.
An evaluation of this sort of ef
fective management would lead us
to believe that gains will be made to
ward the development of desirable
moral and social characteristics, high
scholarship and leadership qualities.
To become successful, an individ
ual must develop social characteris
tics such as integrity, judgment,
cooperation, initiative, perseverance,
ambition, and industry. These char
acteristics can be developed through
dormitory activities.
I shall suggest only two activities
that may be included in a program of
this type. Tea prepared daily by the
house committee serves not only to
bring the girls together after classes
for sociability, but often to interest
the listless girl in real college work
through the lively social, philosophi
cal and political discussion of the
upper classmen.
Informal interest groups may
parallel the formal work of the class
room. Their characteristic is always
some vivid personal interest, and be
cause these groups operate quietly
and make no effort to gain campus
recognition, they seem most valuable
as a type for dormitory units.
Dormitory Life! Is it for better
or for worse? There will be leisure
hours and they will be spent in many
ways. There will be opportunity for
spontaneous group relationships. Is
it not time that we make the dormi
tory contribute more to its educa
tional objectives?
Ruth G. Rush ,
Dean of Women.
Shorthand Lesson
Astounds All Comers
(Coiitiniied from page one)
hand is written exactly the way the
word sounds. Thus, should I have oc
casion to write the word bay, I
should write ba and pronounce it
bay. All silent letters and unnecessary
appendages are omitted. There are
two requirements, however, that are
necessary and without them, one
wastes his time in the attempt to
study shorthand. One is a neverfail-
ing memory, the other is an instant
reaction to the spoken word.
There are three hundred and fifty
much-used words called brief forms.
These are to be memorized thorough
ly from time to time. Also, there are
a number of rules to be mastered if
they are to be put into execution in
a split second.
If you are blessed with the faculty
of retaining; if you can make imme
diate application of rules; and if you
are willing to give from one to three
hours daily to preparation; then, by
all means, have no hesitancy in be
ginning the study of shorthand.
Sophomore Class Settles
Down For Best Year Yet
(Continued from page one)
tain of her exhuberant, cultural char
acter. It was therefore with no sur
prise that she was unanimously re
chosen, not as “faculty advisor,” but
as co-worker, mother, and friend.
“Great oaks from little acorns
grow.”
The seed has been planted, the
blade has parted the crust; the mem
bers of the Sophomore Class are
planted deep in the soils of this col
lege where they shall continue to
grow in the richness and grace of its
tradition.
The SoDhomores are a progressive
group of people in a progressive
school;
Answers To ‘Coronet’ Test
1 Arcadia. 2 Bluebeard. 3 Cataline.
4 Troy. 5 Ambrosia. 6 Virginia. 7
Bank of England. 8 Independence
Hall. 9 John Greenlief Whittier. 10
The .i^ilneid. 11 Utopia. 12 Wellington.
13 The Bourse. 14 Thor. 15 Albion.
16 King Cole. 17 The northern coast
of South America. 18 Cockney. 19
Defeating the British in the Battle
of Lake Erie. 20 Opening Japan to
foreign trade. 21. Hippocrates of
Cos. 22 Order of the Garter. 23 Ven
ice. 24 Lombard Street. 25 The Ap-
pian Way. 26 Richelieu. 27 George
W^ashington. 28 Mississippi. 29 Abyla
and Calpe. 30. A university; Paris.
31 “Eureka” (I have found it!)
32. Thomas J. Jackson. 33 Caledonia.
34 Bismarck. 35 The Alexandrian
Library. 36 Rome. 37 Atilla, King
of the Huns. 38 York and Lancaster.
40 Plato’s disciples. 41 Cincinnati.
42 A petition with signatures in cir
cular form. 43 The Colossus. 44
Cuba. 45 The Adorable., 46 The
Kohinoor. 47 A series of orations by
Demosthenes against Philip of Mace-
don. 48 Congressional Library, Wash
ington. 49 The Kremlin. 50 Lares
and Penates.
Senior Class Organizes
Melvin Sykes
The Senior class has organized for
the year ’37-’38 with the following
officers:
President—Melvin Sikes.
Vice-President—W'alter Ellerbee.
Secretary—Esther Delaney.
Treasurer—Jessis Cofield.
W'ith the cooperation of every Se
nior, the class plans to make this its
banner year.
Esther Delaney,
Secretary.
Commercial Club Will
Study Business Procedure
Grades Not Only Important Aspect
of Commercial Course
By J. O. Yeates
It is time that students taking a
commercial course should realize
that making good grades in their
subject matter is not all that is nec
essary to good business training.
Good marks do give one assurance,
self-confidence, and poise to some
degree, but these qualities must
be broadened.
The aim of the Commercial Club
is to motivate interest in the civic
actions of the outside world. Busi
ness people make a definite contact
with other people; they must be
trained to make these contacts. No
man or woman already active in
commercial affairs has time to coach
new-comers in the etiquette of good
business manners—that is the task
of the school from which they are
graduated. Success in this respect de
pends upon the flexibility and initia
tive of the students themselves.
Our three instructors, Miss Cee
Vee Harris, Dr. V. V. Oak, and Mr.
C. T. Willis, are well prepared to
foster such training. However, with
the large number of students enrolled
in the commercial department, they
cannot do this successfully unless
students themselves manifest some
interest. In order to foster this inter
est the Commercial Club was or
ganized last week and the following
officers were elected:
President—Juanita Yeates.
Vice-President—Charles Williams.
Secretary—Lucradie Porter.
Assistant Sec.—Bernice Humphey.
Treasurer—Mrs. Herndon.
Reporter—E. G. Spaulding.
Chni. Soc. Com.—Emily Ferguson.
Chm. Prog. Com.—Esther Delaney.
Chm. Dec. Com.—B. Madison.
\\^atch us grow to be the most ac
tive organization on the campus!
Y. W. C. A. Solicits
Support of Women
Varied Activities Need Support
The Y. W. C. A. is looking for
ward to the best year it has had on
this campus. Through its worship,
its committee meetings, and its rec
reation it intends to develop the
young women on this campus
spiritually, mentally, and physically.
During the month of November the
Y. W. C. A. is planning a Thanks
giving breakfast for its members, a
Thanksgiving dinner for about three
needy families in Durham, and a
Y. W. C. A. vespers for the student
body.
We need your support. Come on
girls, and give us a hand!
Dorothy Whitted.
Y. W. C. A. Secretary.
The Faculty Members
The New Faculty members, are
going about their respective duties
like old stagers. They are adding to
campus life and you can hardly tell
the new faculty members from the
old ones. This is as it should be.
The customs officer was making a
routine inspection of Pat’s baggage
when he discovered a bottle of whis
key.
“Aha!” said the officer. “I thought
you said there were only old clothes
in this trunk.”
“Shure, and that’s only me night
cap,” said Pat. —Lyre.
Recently Formed History
Club Makes Rapid Strides
By William Tuck
One of the most recently organized
clubs on our campus is the History
Club which had its beginning just
two years ago at the beginning of
the 1935-1936 school year. It origi
nated among a small group of young
people who were far-sighted enough
to realize what great possibilities
there were for the program of such
a club. Before the History Club was
organized the students who were in
terested in important current events
had no way of meeting for discussion
and exchange of ideas concerning
current history, but now every meet
ing of this club is partly devoted to
the discussion of the most outstand
ing and most important topics of
current interest. It really serves the
purpose for which it had its begin
ning through the enlightenment that
one can not help getting from these
discussions. When the discussion of
any topic gives rise to serious differ
ences of opinion that can not be
settled among the members because
of lack of information or because of
a misinterpretation of the informa
tion at hand, we are always fortu
nate enough to have these differences
settled in a later meeting in the form
of an interestingly informative lec
ture by someone whose position and
experience cause his opinions to be
somewhat authoritative.
The History Club had its first
meeting for the 1937-1938 school
year on September 30 and officers
for the year were elected. William
Tuck was unanimously reelected
president with Andrew Sharpe vice-
president, Miss Mittie Kelly secre
tary, Miss Biverous Pretty assistant
secretary, and Mr. Nathan Brewing-
ton treasurer. The program commit
tee is headed by Miss Tyltr
and Miss Edna Smith was elected
chairman of the social committee.
These officers have pledged to make
this year the most successful ever for
the club through increasing the num
ber of students on the campus who
will have a practical knowledge of
current history.
The club is sponsored by Profes
sor D. J. Jordan, who always en
courages constructive ideas among
students, and who is made happy
when he sees any example of student
initiative. He deserves credit for
whatever success the History Club
might have.
Prospective governess: Sorry, but
I’m not interested in the position. I
didn’t know had thirteen children.
Mother: Don’t tell me you’re sup
erstitious! —Jester.
THE ORCHESTRA
Everything is pointing to a very
successful year for the band and or
chestra. Our enthusiastic directress,
DeMond, has done a great deal to-
ard causing every member of the or
chestra to take a new and keener in
terest in music and its relation to his
favorite instrument. This enthusiasm
has also spread among students who
have never played instruments and
if they receive the right sort of en
couragement, nothing can stop our
band from attracting attention this
year.
In a meeting on the evening of Oc
tober 12, the orchestra elected the
following officers for the year;
William Stafford, president; Jo
seph Mills, vice-president; Miss Sa
rah Tuck, secretary; Miss Roberta
Fair, librarian, and William A. Tuck,
reporter.
History teacher: Now, what do we
know about the Phoenicians?
Student: They invented those win
dow blinds made out of wooden slats.
—Bedlam.
Mrs. Brown: What I say to you
never seems to bear any fruit.
Mr. Brown: Try pruning it a lit
tle, my darling. —Bear