Page two
THE TWIG
February 26, 1954
Viyie La Difference
You can tell a Meredith girl,
You can tell her by her walk.
You can tell a Meredith girl,
You can tell her by her talk.
And not only by these, we would add, but also by her poise, unassuming
charm and hospitable manners. What one of us was not as proud as the
parents of a child prodigy when we saw our own friends preside with such
ease, grace and efficiency at the morning and evening worship services
during Focus Week? They knew how to dress, how to stand, and how to
speak. All of these girls are to be commended for handling so well such
an important part of the week.
We can take pride, as well, in the hospitality extended to our guests.
Our girls, model hostesses, accompanied the guests to meals and appoint
ments, making them feel at home here in every way possible.
Surely those responsible for the planning and organization of the week
are due praise for the ability and originality demonstrated in the various
programs of the week. Those who can attend to multitudes of last-minute
details and still be calm and unfretted are worthy of our admiration.
Who can criticize unfavorably the behavior of our students at any
service or group meeting throughout the week? Courteous attentiveness
and real interest seemed to be unanimous at every meeting.
“You can tell a Meredith girl.” Meredith girls are different. Vivre la
difference!
Responsibility of Human Relations
On January 25 Benjamin Mayes spoke on “The Responsibility of Free
dom in Human Relations” at the Institute of Religion. It is our responsi
bility to have faith that an experiment in establishing really free human
relations, especially between the races, would work out, he told us. The
founders of our nation built on faith. Why are we afraid to let down the
barriers? In answering a question after his talk. Dr. Mayes pointed out
what we as college students could do to further good relations. We were
happy to realize that we as a college had done much already to let down
the barriers. In our own auditorium we do not have segregation at any
function. Indeed, students from Shaw and St. Augustine’s are often given
special invitations to attend functions here. In our state-wide B.S.U. of
which we are a part a number of forward steps have been made towards
avoiding segregation. Negroes are invited to attend B.S.U. Week at Ridge
crest. They are not invited during weeks sponsored by certain other
groups. Groups of us often make trips to Shaw for vesper services. Last
year our chorus sang there and were entertained at a reception afterwards.
Our student body has come to look forward to the yearly visits of the
George Washington High School Glee Club. One member of that group
was invited to sing at our Junior-Senior Banquet last year. We often have
Negro speakers both for chapel services and at various club meetings.
Through such relations we are accepting our responsibility in human
relations.
ARE YOU RELATED TO CITIZEN X?
(Continued from page one)
we thoughtlessly break the golden rule of friendship by trespassing upon
the rights of our fellow citizens to work, to play, to pray, or to sleep. At
other times, when we are tempted to talk about a fellow citizen, why not
hesitate a moment and measure the story by the old standard: “Is it true?
Is it kind? Is it necessary?”
This is my sixteenth year as a citizen of the Meredith community and I
am still happy to be a part of our campus democracy. In my heart I con
gratulate you upon your choice of an ALMA MATER, even as you should
congratulate yourselves upon the right of choice—denied to many young
people around the world today—for we know ONLY THE FREE CAN
CHOOSE. Let us then, as good citizens of our chosen community, dedi
cate ourselves to the ideals of world citizenship, as we Work together in
His sight, as we live together in His Love. Vera T. Marsh
Well, it’s election time again, and
I hope everyone’s getting ready to
support his favorite candidates. You
know, these elections are very im
portant—more so than most of us
ever realize, and we should consider
carefully the various girls who are
nominated. After all, these officers
will have a lot to do with what kind
of student government we will have
here at Meredith next year. So let’s
take this business of elections seri
ously and think carefully when we
vote. Good luck to all the candi
dates!
What did you think of Religious
Focus Week? I thought it was very
good. The attendance was very
good, especially at the evening serv
ices. However, why in the world did
everyone sit at the back in one
bunch, thereby causing the speakers
to have to talk over about ten empty
rows? It’s just a natural tendency to
sit at the back, I suppose. Also, why
didn’t people take more interest in
the afternoon seminars because they
were so very good? The speakers
were excellent and spent a lot of
time and effort while they were here.
Shirley McLean and her committees
really did a wonderful job planning
everything and deserve credit for
giving their time to such a worthy
cause so willingly. There was a dif
ferent spirit on this campus last
week, and there’s no reason there
can’t be such a good feeling all the
time. I think everybody is aware of
the fact that there needs to be a dif
ferent spirit here at Meredith, and
that kind of spirit is the one that was
felt by all of us last week. What do
you think? I’d like some reaction by
somebody, because I think it’s high
time that we did something about
this problem. I am also of the
opinion that if we conquered this
problem we would have no trouble
at all in overcoming all of the other
ones. Now, what do YOU think?
Ptesockied
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor Lorette Oglesby
Assistant Editor
Feature Editor -
Managing Editors Nancy Brown, Barbe White
Art Editor ■
Music Editor Leah Scarbori^gh
Sports Editor - -
Photo Editors Bobbye Rice, Janice Witherington
Columnists Margaret Ann English, Shirley West
Reporters—^Nancy Reece, Nancy Drake, Mary Frances Colston, Mary Jo
Pinner, Lynette Haislip, Trudy Fitzgerald, Ann Parr, Nancy Carpenter,
Dorothy Smith, Jean Grealish, Joyce Herndon, Pat Dowell, Bess Peeler
Typists Betty Hunter, Chief; Theresa Raynor, Mary Lib Delbridge, Jane
Condrey, Annette Caudle
Faculty Sponsor - i Dr. Norma Rose
BUSINESS STAFF
Business Manager Barbara Propst
Advertising Manager - - - Peggy Bennett
Advertising Staff—Betty Smith, June Vann, Frances Moncrief, Lucy
MacDonald, Mary Louise Cornwell, Ann Jane Barbrey, Jo Ann Selley,
Sara Martin, Judy Baker, Joyce Ballard.
Circulation Manager - - McCosley
Entered as second-class mateer October 11, 1923. at postoffice at Halel^
N C.. under Act of March 8. 1879. Published semi-monthly during the
months of October. November, February. March, April, and May; monthly
during the months of September, December, and January.
The Twig Is the college newspaper of Meredith College. Raleigh. North
CaroUna, and as such is one of the three major publications of the Institu
tion—the other two being The Acom, the literary magazine, and The Oofc
Leaves, the college annual. . ,, .
Meredith College is an accredited senior liberal arts college for women
located in the capital city of North CaroUna. It confers the Bachelor of Arts
and the Bachelor of Music degrees. The coUege offers majors in twenty-one
fields Including music, art business and home economic. » ^
!ince 1921 the Institution has been a member of the Southern Association
of Colleires and Secondary Schools. The college holds membership in the
Association of American Colleges and the North Carolina College Conference.
Graduates of Meredith CoUege are eligible for membership in the American
A^Sliatlon of University Women. The Institution is a Uberal arts member
^f^ -N^Uo^ Association of Schools of Music,
of the ivauonai am subscription Rates: 82.45 per year
LEHERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
The Greeks gave us the word, but they didn’t give us democracy; the
Greeks had slaves. Democracy means The People. If one is a citizen in a
democracy he has convictions about people. It is impossible to hold con
victions without believing they must be expressed in action, and believed
convictions will not crumble and disintegrate the first time someone says
boo.”
A child born in our country inherits a tradition of democracy and a
mandate to perpetuate and improve the way of life we are evolving. He
should be taught this responsibility as soon as he is taught anything. By
the time he finishes high school he should be a daily practitioner of the
virtues of the good citizen. This implies that he is acutely conscious of
and actively concerned with every aspect of the welfare of people every
where. He will not idly stand by when an injured man is sent from a hos
pital to die in jail; he will not condone the execution of feeble-minded
mental cases by our state; he will devote his energies and abilities to
establishing one school system for our people, not three systems; he will
see that steps are taken to provide more dentists for our people than one
for every 4,000. And he wDl not limit his vision to the boundaries of his
own state. Most people in Asia went to bed hungry last night. Most people
in South America can neither read nor write. Most of the people in India
have never seen a doctor. Most of the people in the world have never
known civil liberties.
Who is there big enough to be concerned about the whole of mankind?
We must find such people. And soon—the time on history’s relentless
clock is now. Harry K. Dorsett
Dear Editor:
Is your interest in the morning paper confined, predominantly, to the
funnies? Do you give the front page a fleeting ^ance as you flip the
pages to the “story”? If so, you are neglecting an important area of your
future life—your part in politics. As the trite saying goes “The nation’s
future is in our hands.” If this be true, we should endeavor to prepare our
selves for this role. A knowledge of national and international affairs is
instrumental in making the right choices which are alarmingly subsequent
to our entrance into a vocation. An indelible concern for the welfare of
others should accompany our quest for knowledge. As students, there are
limited opportunities for us to enter into politics. The most remunerative
can face the problem with conscientious and well informed minds. As
college students in our American democracy, we have the opportunity to
be well informed and then to take an active part in the building of a
better world. Lethargy in getting knowledge of current affairs is deadly.
I want our world to live. Betty Baird Vance
Dear Editor:
In the last issue of The Twig there appeared a short article describing
a new course that is going to be taught at Dartmouth. It is to cover the
college history and government.
How can we have a course such as this taught at Meredith? I think it
would be interesting to say the least.
Meredith has a wonderful history. We students would appreciate our
school even more if we knew more about how it came to be. Dr. Johnson
is writing a book about our history. Why couldn’t we use it as a text? I, for
one, would be very interested in seeing such a course instigated.
Annette Caudle
STUDENT EDITOR REPORTS ON RUSSIA
(Editor’s note: Recently seven college paper editors toured Russia. One of these editors, Dean Schoelkopf,
of the University of Minnesota, is writing a series of articles for ACP Feature Service. Below is the first in the
series.)
r
(ACP) — The first Russians I saw
were soldiers. Six of them — all
armed — climbed aboard our plane
as soon as it landed in Leningrad
airport.
A senior lieutenant of the Red
army marched forward in the plane
and looked quizzically at the
seven American students dressed in
strange furry caps and coats. He
raised his right hand in salute and
addressed four or five sentences in
Russian to the other passengers.
Then he turned to us and said in
English, “Passports.” After we had
showed him our visas, the other five
soldiers stepped aside to let us leave
the plane.
We stepped into the chilly, three-
above-zero weather and were met by
a young, English-speaking official of
Intourist, the official Russian travel
agency. He welcomed us to the
Soviet Union and told us we would
be met in Moscow by other Intourist
representatives.
But the warmth of his reception
didn’t erase the apprehension we
had when the six soldiers boarded
our aircraft. The strange welcome
was but the first of many unusual
situations we were to encounter.
During the next 22 days in the
USSR, we were to travel more than
5,000 miles by air, train and car.
We were to talk to students in their
schools, workers in their factories,
farmers in their homes and directors
and managers in their offices. Dur
ing that time we detected absolutely
no feeling of hostility to us per
sonally.
Early in our trip, one of the two
interpreters who travelled with us
throughout the country asked us
why we had come to Russia. We
told him the answer was simple.
Early last fall a few American col
lege editors met at a student press
convention (the ACP conference in
Chicago) and decided they wanted
to see this country, so little under
stood in the United States.
We applied to the Soviet embassy
in Washington for visas, and within
three weeks Moscow granted per
mission. The American state de
partment issued passports December
23, and on Christmas day we
boarded a plane for Russia.
Students at Stalin University in
Tbilisi asked us who was paying for
the trip. When we told them we
financed the trip ourselves, one
blue-eyed coed said in perfect Eng
lish, “Ooh, you must be very rich.”
“Bourgeosie,” shouted a black
haired lad.
Our group was anything but
bourgeosie. Most of us had financed
the trip through loans—in that re
spect we were alike. Politically, we
were miles apart. Two of our group
were Taft men, one supported
Eisenhower, and four belonged to
the Stevenson clan.
We had differences of opinion on
almost every issue, and in that re
spect we provided a striking con
trast to the Russian students we met,
who agreed on almost everything in
the area of religion, economics, poli
tics and government.
Arguments on these subjects erupted
frequently during our talks with
Russian people. There were few
things we could agree on — but
through it all they remained com
pletely friendly to us.
Almost everywhere we were
objects of curiosity. Cosmopolitan
Muscovites, more accustomed to
visiting delegations, paid less atten
tion to us than their countrymen in
southern Russia.
In many areas we were the first
Americans the Soviet citizens had
ever seen. They followed us in the
streets and crowded around us if we
stopped to take a picture. It was
not unusual to stop in a department
store to buy a gift, and then turn
around to find from 25 to 150
Russians crowded about.
The only other Americans we
saw in Russia were at the United
States embassy in Moscow. We met
Ambassador Charles Bohlen three
times during our stay, once at his
Spasso house residence during a
luncheon he and Mrs. Bohlen held
for us.
The embassy there operates un
der tremendous handicaps. Practi
cally no contact is permitted with
the Russian people. Mail, which
moves through the Russian postal
system, is opened before it reaches
the embassy. All telephones are as
sumed to be tapped. Wires and
miniature microphones have been
found in the walls.
Russian police guard the entrance
to the embassy ’round the clock,
ostensibly to protect the Americans
but more likely to prevent any
Russian from entering.
A policeman is on almost every
corner in the cities. But a sight even
more common than that of police
men is that of Russian soldiers. We
saw Red troops everywhere we
travelled. It was not at all unusual
to see a platoon of soldiers with
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