THE S.ALEMITE
October 21, I960
Our Speakers Shouldn’t
Insult Our Intelligence!
The speaker in chapel on
Tuesday was one of a breed
that we get all too often at
Salem. No matter what poli
tical party a student supports,
the speech on Tuesday should
have been an insult to her in
telligence.
Although Mr. Carlyle is nor
mally an excellent speaker, he
either did not consider his
audience or he did not think
very highly of our ability. Mr.
Carlyle is not alone in this—in
the last four years everyone
from a Senator to a Sunday
School teacher has done the
same thing.
Therefore we would like to
suggest that any speaker in
vited to speak to a Salem
audience be tactfully reminded
of the following things before
they come.
1) We do not like to hear a
speaker stand up and read a
prepared speech telling us how
beautifxd Ave are. AV h e n a
speaker begins on a note of in
sincerity and flattery, we are
sometimes suspicious of the
sincerity of the rest of his re
marks.
2) As college students we are
not necessarily brilliant or
completely informed on every
issue; but we are fairly intel
ligent, and we do have a wide
background of studies to en
able us to understand a serious
discussion. We are not child
ren and we don’t like to be
talked down to.
3) Salem is a girls’ school,
but this does not mean that the
speakers have to appeal to our
emotions only. Certainly we
can listen to a discussion of
the candidates on some level
other than the color of eyes
they have. We do not have to
be approached only through
anecdotes that have no relation
to the topic involved.
AVe would rather have a
speaker challenge us to expand
our ideas than to have one
simplify everything to mush
and anecdotes.
RetfOiid £(^uane
By Janet Yarborough
Usually some explanation can be found for an “average
man’s actions; but the actions of the head of the Communist
World are practically beyond reason. He demands a summit
conference after having just wrecked one; he speaks for ‘ peace
ful coexistence” while trying to cripple the United Nations ;
he pounds his fists at McMillan one day and talks civily with
him the next. Why these inconsistent actions?
If it is possible to be objective about Khrushchev, let’s at
tempt to understand him. The Russian Premier, as head of the
Communist Party, is expected to be a good Communist mean
ing that he adheres to the Communist ideology. In a sense,
Khrmshchev is “a prisoner of the Party” because he has to act
as “all right-thinking Communists expect him to act” or he
will lose their respect.
Communists believe that all nations outside their camp are
their enemies and will eventually be defeated by war because
Communism is inevitable. But the top members of the Party
know that a nuclear war could be detrimental. Hence, Khrush
chev’s object is to get the fruits of war without an actual war.
As a result, Avhen Khrushchev carries on diplomatic negotia
tions he has to get “something for nothing”. The usual “give
and take” diplomacy where each diplomat respects the exis
tence of the other cannot work; for the Communists, it is all
“take”.
Khrushchev’s peculiar situation is referred to by G. F. Hud
son as the Premier’s “dilemma . . . between a bellicosity which
envolves the risk of a real war and a really peaceful diplomacy
which falls short of a Communist Leader”. He must aggravate
tension but at the same time explain the impossibility of war,
“with the result that his threats lose their force . . . AVhen the
intimidation thus fails and his demands are not conceded, he
flies into a rage”, pounding his fists and screaming—much like
a spoiled child.
Unlike the Russian leaders, Mr. Hudson maintains that the
dictators of Red China do not have to make excuses for their
failure to use nuclear weapons “since they do not as yet possess
them”. Consequently, the Chinese can be consistent in their
anti-Americanism and in their orthodox Communism.
Prom; ILidson, G. P., “Russia and China: The Dilammas of
Power”. Foreign Affairs, XXXIX (October, 1960), 1-10.
akmttF
Published every Friday of the College year
BY THE Student Body of Salem college
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AVhat is school spirit? Not
just noise and outward en
thusiasm. Not just how many
people sell ads or go to the
Christmas dance — it’s much
deeper than that.
School spirit consists of
pride in your school and a de
sire and willingness to make
others respect your school.
School spirit involves repre
senting yohr school so that
others will believe that the
standards and ideals of the
school are not given just lip-
service.
Participation is also a major
part of school spirit. Should
we come to college just to
TAI^B, never learning the art
Where Is Our School Spirit To Keep
Salem From Becoming Anonymous Blob?
of giving? Cooperation and
giving are tAVO attitudes which
stay with us, once learned.
They ARE attitudes!
AVe complain and gripe, but
do we ever once volunteer to
help correct the deficiencies we
see around us: Hoav many
times do Ave think “Let some
body else do it”?
The lack of school spirit at
Salem seems, in one sense, to
be caused by the feeling that
school spirit is “Mickey
Mouse”. AVe blase college avo-
men seem to think that any
loyalty and Avork for a girls’
school is Avasted time. AVe must
pour all our energies into sup
porting male institutions; and
of course anything that is hap
pening away from campus is
much more important than
Avhat’s going on at Salem.
Salem offers so much —■ the
chance to work together to
make our school live up to its
ideals and traditions. After all,
we ARE Salem! AVhat the stu
dent body becomes, so Salem
will be.
Are we going to let Salem
become an anonymous blob
among the many small schools
or are Ave going to help her
continue in her position of
prestige ? It’s up to us to keep
the spirit of Salem alive as a
vital force in the lives of all
AA-ho are associated with her.
Alexander Pope Around the Square
By Ann Moore and Betsy Hicks
First, robed in white, the
Nymph intent adores.
With head uncovered, the Cos
metic powers.
This is the way Alexander' Pope
describes the “sharp” girl of the
early 18th Century. Sharp girls
around Salem, however, seem to
use very different means to the
same end. There may be one in
your room right nowr She’ll be sit
ting cross-legged in the middle of
her bed, robed in wild plaid and
intently adoring newly curled eye
lashes in the magnified side of her
hand mirror. She worships, head
covered by a Lady Sunbeam
Hooded Hair Dryer, at the alters
of Revlon, Merle Norman, and
Charlie of the Ritz. Twelve hair
dryers from twelve rooms mix their
hums in the hall; but the usual
sounds prevail—showers are gush
ing and Johns are flushing. An
other weekend.
Last weekend Ricki Eikendal, un
aided by Lady Sunbeam, plaited
her famous pig-tail and took off for
a visit with Becky Chappel in the
mountains. Ricki enthusiastically
described the vivid colors she saw
everywhere; but she was disap
pointed to find that an Indian chief
she met at Cherokee didn’t really
have a “red skin”.
Our, political authority of the
week: Linda Leaird. Linda en
joyed Lodge’s comparison of the
U. S.-Russian situation with the
World Series when he spoke here;
but she wasn’t so sure about the
6-0 lead he gave the U. S. after
watching the Great Debate that
night. Linda observes that most
college students seem to be for
Kennedy. “His sex appeal prob
ably has something to do with that
. . . but after all, we ARE the
intelligentsia!” she laughed. Girls,
you should’ve taken notes at the
Johnson rally—YOU could be our
next political authority!
Mr. Yarborough now zooms
through the archway in a new blue
Lancer Avhile Barbara Edwards
chugs by in a very special old car.
Bash declares she has to jump to
reach the seats, they’re so high.
Girls in Strong can vouch for the
goodness of chocolate cake and
steaming coffee served by their
downstairs neighbor. Beth Bobbitt
and even some of those Avho don’t
wear pins say, “I'd even stay home
Saturday nights for a piece of Mrs.
Heidbreder’s cake!” Sophomores,
remember this at room drawing this
spring.
News in brief: A table of sopho
mores who found chewing gum in
their shrimp salad were seen
“carrying the evidence” to Mrs.
Calhoun . . . We offer our con
dolences to Lynn Hall Avho received
word that her cat had died as re
sult of being shut up in the family
refrigerator . . . Other condolences
go to Katie Kochtitsky who traveled
all the way to Chattanooga only to
find that her boyfriend Avas in bed
with flu ... A Davidson gentleman
left that all-important mark of dis
tinction—his tall Bud can—on the
ping-pong table in Babcock. We’d
love to know how Mrs. Chatham
explained its presence to a group
of parents she was taking through
. . . Louisa Freeman was explaining
to Dr. Lewis why her theater
course should be re-named Slave
Labor 201 when Miss Battle dashed
past holding her nose with one
hand and a large metal bucket in
the other. Cleaning out the cata
combs can be interesting!
A few warm days are left and
Sara, Bell, Gay, and Cook still can
be heard every night after supper
all over campus. Randak already
insists upon wearing her racoon-
collared coat to meals.
Have you noticed the unusual
backbrop to Mr. Shewmake’s art
exhibit in Main Hall? It’s a real
parachute (it only cost $.50). When
they were getting ready to put up
the exhibit last Friday one of the
students was helping Mr. Shew-
make. She had diligently cut all
the cords to the parachute and then
she asked him what to do with
them. Mr. Shewmake answered
that he wanted to save them “be
cause of the Scotch in me.” This
student replied very seriously “You
knoAV, I just can’t drink Scotch!
I’ve tried but I just can’t stand the
stuff!”
It was a bad week for all the
students it seems. One of the sen
iors heard her alarm clock go off
on Sunday and got a bit confused.
It seems that she thought it was a
fire drill—she went running out in
the hall in her pajamas. When she
ran back into the room for her
towel, her suitemates caught her.
After all, it couldn’t have been a
fire drill because she didn’t have
her cup of water!
As you lay down your Salemite
the girl on the bed across from you
carefully removes the hood of her
dryer and asks you if you’re SURE
that her blind date for the weekend
is really sharp. Late Sunday night
excited voices will discuss Hattie’s,
the House they dated in, and Avho
was dating who at the Polo. Pope
had something to say about this
sort of thing too:
One speaks the glory of the
British Queen,
And one describes a charming
Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks,
and eyes;
At every word a reputation dies.