BELLES OF ST. MARY’S
October 12,1962
THE BELLES
OF ST. MARY’S
Published ev^ery two weeks during
tile school year by the student body
of St. Mary’s .Tunlor College.
Entered as 2nd Class matter Dec.
7, 1944, at Post Office, Raleigh, N. C.,
under Act of March 3, 1879. Subscrip
tion .$1.00 per year.
BELLES STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Sally Stevens
Assistant Editor Elizabeth Lackey
News Editor Flo Pitts
Ecature Editor Cohnelia Fitzgerald
Feature Editor Sarah Rand
Alumnae Editor Susan Hathaway
Exchange Editor Sue Battle
Photographer .1 udy Randolph
Head Typist Ann Farmer
Circulation Manager Nancy Baum
Business Manager Carol Turner
NEWS STAFF
Louise Albertson, Margaret Bell,
Mary Boyd Brown, Betty Gee Hern
don, Alice Hubner, Dudley Lester, Kim
Marsden, Suzanne Nagel, Harriet
Spruill.
FEATURE STAFF
Alice Calhoun. Alexa Draxler, Mary
Emerson, Rosalie Hanley, Marilyn
Koonce, Hilda Little, Betsy Ross, Lily
Farley Ross, Cindy Schwartz.
SOCIAL STAFF
Laurie Burbank, Susan Cook, Diane
Harrelson, Stewart Howie.
SPORTS STAFF
Nelson Pemberton. Ann Richards,
Ro.se Watson, Susan Dixey.
ART STAFF
Susan Ehringhaus, Susan Lawford,
J’rances McLanahan.
TYPISTS
Gretchen Bullard, Sharon Floyd,
.lanle .ludd. Betty Pat Parsons, Dianne
Ricks, Betsy Rudisell, Marilyn Stad-
ler. Missy Wilson.
PROOFREADERS
Rosanne Hollis. Frances Pegues.
MAKE-UP
Katherine Duncan, Nancy Griffin.
CIRCULATION
Mary Block, Sarah Carpenter, Anne
de la Vergne, .Ioanna Houston, Dianne
Littlefield, Leah Osgood, Kit William
son.
UNITED FUND GOAL
EXCEEDED — 112%
St. Mary’s Has
Outstanding Scholars
Two members of the Sophomore
Class have been named Semifinal
ists in the 1962-63 Merit Scholar
ship competition. They became
Semifinalists through their out
standing performance on the Na
tional Merit Scholarship Qualify
ing Test, the first step in the eighth
annual Merit Program. Moya
.Jean Lavin and Alice Leone Stall
ings are among approximately 11,-
000 high school seniors throughout
the country who attained Semi
finalist status. Each Semifinalist
now moves a step closer to winning
a four-year Merit Scholar.ship to
the college of her choice. The qual
ifying examination, a test of edu
cational development, was given in
more than 16,000 high schools last
March. The Semifinalist group is
composed of the highest scoring
students in each state and in United
States territories. .John M. Stal-
naker, president of the nonprofit
Oxford ... In Mississippi
The name “Oxford”, as an institution of learning, connotates a dig
nified and sedate place where students devote themselves conscientiously
to education—sacred learning. But the English Oxford has no relation
to our American college town of Oxford, Mississippi.
A circus is in town: a circus featuring soldiers carrying real guns
with real bullets in them. Since there are no actual wild animals, hu
mans have exhibited primitive behavior and are locked in cages behind
bars; perhaps the largest and most amazing catch was a Major General
in the United States Army. Two human lives have been taken need
lessly, quite a promotion for the circus, but the main attraction in the
center ring is the sacrifice of education at the altar of prejudice.
The ringm.aster of the Racial Equality Circus is James iMeredith,
a Negro who, motivated by one reason or another, desires to join those
in Oxford also devoted to education. Whatever his reason for entering
“Ole Miss” in Oxford, James Meredith has become the main center of
attraction in what is really a nationwide sideshow. What can be so im
portant about education if its devotees ignore the inevitable, drop every
thing but their prejudice, and go to see the circus which has come to
town?
National Merit Scholarship Corpo
ration, described the Semifinalists
as “representative of the best of a
new generation of young people
who are increasingly conscious of
the importance of intellectual
achievement.” The Semifinalists
will take the College Entrance Ex
amination Board Scholastic Apti
tude Test on December 1, 1962.
Students whose scores on the sec
ond test substantiate their per
formance on the qualifying test and
who are endorsed by their schools
will become Finalists in the compe
tition. In past years, about 97 per
cent of the Semifinalists have be
come Finalists. All Finalists receive
a Certificate of Merit in recognition
of their outstanding performance
in the program. As Finalists, the
students will be eligible for schol
arship awards sponsored by Na
tional Merit Scholarship Corpora
tion and about 150 business corpo
rations, foundations, unions, pro
fessional associations, and indi
viduals.
Members of our Freshman Class
this year will be given an oppor
tunity to take the National Merit
Scholarship Qualifying Test here
at St. Mary’s on Saturday, March
9, 1963. Those interested in taking
this test are asked to give their
names to Mrs. Poole as soon as
possible.
We arc happy to have with us
this year, in our Junior Class, five
students who wore awarded Letters
of Commendation by the National
Merit Scholarship Corporation. Re
ceiving this high honor are Louise
Gaither Albertson, of Portsmouth,
Virginia, Harriet Thomson Wil
liams, of Columbus, Ohio, Eliza
beth Anderson Taylor of Chapel
Hill, N. C.; Margaret Etheredge
Graham of Durham, N. C.; and
Lily Farley Ross of Opelika, Ala
bama.
Today we honor Christopher Co
lumbus who crossed the Atlantic
ocean in 74 days.
COFFEE GROUNDS
By .Ylice Calhoun
On September 20, 1962, the sen
ior class at St. iMary’s was subject
ed to a series of day-long tests.
These tests covered material from
six books which the seniors were
assigned to read during the past
summer. The books were Edith
Hamilton’s Mythology, Homer’s
Iliad, AI. I. Finley’s The World of
Odysseus, Homer’s Odyssey, Vir
gil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s Divine
Comedy. The purpose of the objec
tive quizzes was to test each stu
dent’s reading of the texts. The
essay-type questions, given in the
afternoon, were for the purpose of
testing the student’s ability to re
late the material in all the books.
The overall purpose of the reading
assignments was to give the seniors
the background information neces
sary for a clear understanding of
English 31-32.
The Summer Reading Program
at St. Mary’s is a good one. It is
thorough, comprehensive, and of
inestimable value to the senior
throughout her final English course
at St. Alary’s. But objections have
been raised on many sides as to
the manner in which and the time
at which the tests are given.
If it is necessary, financially or
otherwise, for a girl to work dur
ing the summer in order to continue
her education, her summer reading
simply must take second place, at
least for most of the summer.
Any well-paying job is a demand
ing one, and one which takes most
of any girl’s supply of energy, in
dustry, and time. No businessman
wants a secretary with bags under
her eyes from reading far into the
night, who slouches on the job be
cause of fatigue. And no employer
wants a “helper” who is going to
quit before his summer rush is over
because she has to read books. He
doesn’t understand books. He un
derstands dollars and cents and the
quality of help he thinks he should
get from an employee he is paying.
Essentially, the same theories
hold true if a girl, for some reason
or another, finds it necessary to at
tend summer school. Whether she
has had previous academic difficul
ty or whether she wants the bene-
_ fits of some extra courses, in order
' to obtain the desired results from
summer school, she is going to have
to study and study hard on her
school work. Alental labor is as
hard as most physical labor, if not
harder. If advanced algebra, psy
chology, and the most uninteresting
love affairs of a certain Zeus are
all swimming around in a girl’s
head at once, it is fairly certain
that she is not going to be able to
do her best work in any of these
subjects. Added to that situation
is the fact that most faculty mem
bers have a certain amount of loy
alty to the school at which they
teach. What kind of grade is any
human instructor going to give a
girl if he suspects that she is slight
ing his assignments for those of
another school, especially a school
which the girl is not even attend
ing at the time?
Even if a girl has the rare good
fortune of being released from
or summer school responsibilit'®
one or two weeks before her retuin
to St. Alary’s, she probably need®
a period of rest and respite at tna
time. And she certainly is goim
to be in no mood to sit down an^
do the quality of work on her sum
mer reading that is necessary
pass the tests. College students a^^^
young and strong and durable, ^
they are not made of cast u®
Older people are not the only
who get tired and cross and
couraged. They aren’t alone
having full schedules, many
sponsibilities, and nagging
The privilege of having a point
yond which they cannot be
is by no means reserved fo® ^
Students are capable of all of 1
feelings and many more. And au
all, a student is not a mac
which will go as long and hard ‘
fast as desired. g
The answer to these proh
is not the discontinuation o ^
Summer Reading Program, m
change in the manner of testmb-
the six books are so importan
the course for which they
requisite, it seems that class
would not be wasted
first week of school if it pja-
as review for summer reading-
cussion of two books per juc®
would not be sufficient to >
dis-
in
re-
tlic
af®
students to forego reading
books. Summer reading tc® , i\\e
necessary to make sure ti
student has gotten what she
out of the books, but the ^
ment could stand improveme
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ceming any phase of
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