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BELLES OF ST. MARY’S
January 22,1^';.
THE BELLES
OF ST. MARY’S
Published in thirteen issues during the
school year, August to May. Monthly for
September, December, January, March,
and May; Semi-monthly for October, No
vember, February, and April, by the stu
dent body of St. Mary’s Junior College,
900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, N. C.
27611.
Second Class Postage paid at Raleigh,
N. C. 27611. Subscription rate $1.00 per
year.
BELLES STAFF
Editor-in-Chief Jane Lang Darden
Assistant Editor Rebecca Stallings
News Editor Patty Irving
Feature Editor Rebecca Stallings
Head Typist Lillian James
Circulation Head Becky Crittenden
Exchange Editor Linda Longing
Subscription Editor Ann Tyndall
NEWS STAFF
Debbie Turner, Anne Little, Anne Jus
tice, Anne Buddenhagen, Susan Mid-
gette, Mary Mikel, Betsy Valiant, Sara
Ashby, Claire Spinks.
FEATURE STAFF
Ann Tyndall, Betty Ward, Mary Zay-
toun, Carol Harrison. ^
TYPING STAFF
Susan Clay, Jane Eggleston, Sarah
Hoss, Tempe Anne Lampe, Joan Graham,
Ann Justice, Sara Ashby.
CIRCULATION STAFF
Susan Clay, Cathy Foltz, Mary Harper,
Betsy Valiant, Courtney Cochran, Lynn
Dawson, Neale Turlington.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Carroll Curtis.
CARTOONIST
Kay Turner.
PROOFREADERS
Chip Dodd, Suzanne Ishee.
ADVISOR
Mrs. Catherine Barnhart.
President's Letter
letter to the
EDITOR
Dear Jane,
It has come to my attention that
many students are disturbed about
compulsory chapel attendance and
are risking two week campuses in
stead of attending chapel. There have
been complaints about the traditional
service and the irrelevancy of the ser
vices. Our vestry and our chaplain
are open to new ideas for the im
provements of the services. They will
gladly put our talents to work to
make student participation a great
part of worship. We must have the
initiative to improve our services. If
they are not up to our expectations,
it is not the sole responsibility of the
chaplain. So lets put our brains to
constructive work instead of letting
them lie dormant while we sleep dur
ing Sunday chapel. It’s easy to com
plain.
Suzanne Ishee
Within the past couple of months
St. Mary’s has lost three people who
in very different ways made great
contribution to this community. The
contributions were varied. The
length of service to St. Mary’s ranged
from more than a half century to a
short year.
I write you, who are St. Mary’s,
about these three people, not to be
sentimental or maudlin, but to share
with you my feelings (that run very
deep), and to give you an apprecia
tion of people most of you knew but
slightly, and perhaps a deeper appre
ciation of St. Mary’s.
John Hill, by the world’s standards,
did a menial job. He carried the suit
cases of the girls for more than fifty
years. He swept floors. He did odd
jobs. I’m not sure how much formal
education John Hill had. Certainly
he did not have very much. What
did he give St. Mary’s? Everything
he had to give. His love, his devo
tion, almost all of his life. He began
working here as a very young man.
He gave St. Mary’s his faithfulness
in little things. He told me twice,
once at the reception we had for him
at the time of his retirement and
again in the hospital a few days be
fore he died, how much he loved
this place. He said how good we had
been to him. I was left wondering if
he had not been still better to us.
John Hill’s contribution was faithful
ness, steadfastness, and great, won
derfully great, dignity.
The Rev. Thomas J. C. Smyth
gave St. Mary’s a vision, a new sense
of purpose. Minister of God, edu
cator, pastor, his contribution certain
ly included mind and heart. As a
trustee of this school in days gone
1^, and as the first Chairman when
the trustees re-organized a few years
ago, this man kept pointing toward
what St. Mary’s could be. He kept
pointing to what it needed to be
come. Not only did he point, but he
worked tirelessly to lead others to
this insight. The direction he chart
ered for the school seems a right one.
1 lis enthusiasm was contagious. We
will always be in his debt. The
we may one day reach as a
school and community fit into the
vision he saw, and shared.
Dorothy Dodge was with us for
only a little while. Just over one year.
But in that short time she discovered
her depths of talents, and gave of
them unstintingly to this place. She
loved all of you, coveted her contact
with the students, as little as that
was. In her business management she
To Student Body
set out to strengthen the foundation.
She did! Just before she died she re
marked to me that she was really be
ginning to feel like a St. Mary’s girl.
She said this with a little laugh,
thinking I might find her statement
sentimental or silly. It was neither. It
was the highest compliment she
could pay St. Mary’s, hleasured in
terms of quality her contribution was
enormous. Only a few of us know
how wonderfully she straightened
out the business affairs of this school.
These were three jieople, three
very different people. Yet they had
at least one thing in common. They
had a strong and positive effect on
the life of St. Mary’s. The spirit of
this lives on. It always will.
Faithfully yours,
Frank W. Pisani
THE BELLE TOWE®
The foremost purpose of St.
is, to quote from the handbook [
develop character through
influence.” Religion is an
part of St. Mary’s life; we
church-centered school.
What kind of “Christian 'A_
ence ’ is St. Mary’s presenting l|
students? Is it accomplishing
stated purpose of developing^
characters through the church? ^
the church actually reach us
affect our lives?
The answer, to many of
us, ■
We feel that religion here eon*||'
solely of a meaningless, stifling f jj
that does not reach or affect us ^
We go to church; we function 2* ,
quired; we stand, we sing, we ^
all in unison as one big happ^
ASSEMBLIES BECOME
A PROBLEM
a:3 UIIC Ul^ nayV} '
But our minds are turned off
pomposity, self-piousness, and
ism in our services.
Assembly is increasingly becoming
a major problem. There have been
many complaints from both students
and faculty concerning this. The ma
jority of complaints are about the
types of programs that have been pre
sented. It is felt that many of the
films would have served a better use
if they had been presented to the
group for which they were designed.
Moreover there is no reason to have
assembly just for the sake of having
it. Wouldn’t one relevant and in
teresting assembly every week or
every two weeks be more beneficial
than what we have now? Certainly
the announcements could be posted
elsewhere, and the students could
use their time to better advantage.
There is another side of the prob
lem; however, and that is the con
duct of the student body during as
sembly. Whether or not we like the
program, we should have respect for
the other students and for the assem
bly chairman. In this age of freedom,
we should keep in mind that our
freedom ends where another’s begins.
When students create uncalled-for
distractions, they are violating the
freedoms of every student and faculty
member. Even during interesting pro
grams, the conduct leaves a lot to be
desired. There is a low hum of noise
throughout the program. Several in
teresting speakers have been can
celled because the jx?ople who have
asked them to come don’t want them
to be subjected to the rudeness shown
past speakers. Let’s take a look at our
own role before we criticize the
efforts of others.
lii'?
Look at the actual facts |,
these chapel services: The
ment is upset that chapel atten ^ t
is down — way down. Sixteen
twenty year old girls risk
day campus rather than go to
Many girls that do attend, do
because they are threatened wn*'
'ing campused. Many
chapel, not with the hope of 8®
•.0
Aiwt. VVlLll llic ^ -
isomething out of the serv0
stii’j
with the hope of merely
through the next half houn,
around the next time yoj*
chapel: are those girls slumP'”^,
being devout or are they asleep-
ov'
Why is this going on? It B 0°
cause we are opposed to ^
K
»»w. HI V..
religion, it is because chapel ^
,d«'
not meaningful to us. At this
' - ■ -arefl.
time of our lives when vve
tioning every possible aspeet
oi\
existence, we are having
religion forced down out jl
Orpanizpfl rplim'nn fhnt m
Organized religion that inak
lowance for young, idealis^^’.jjg
its "
ing minds which are search!
perately for their own cohC
'God and life. Too many ° ^ ^ (jis
turning away from the chap®
gust.
We realize that there
jfl0
many girls who really dig K 0'
• « 1 • _ rtiif (Jk
vices and get something out
0
vites ana get sometniu?,
But there are also entirely
^ 1
knocking religion, we are
uui lucre are aisu ci*i“—^
of us who don’t, and vve are
for something to be done.
editorial ^ ^
cause^r 'idenl-^IiH-^ ^ ^ ** .’Rnoring your responsibility to a
you Wieve. ’ something or just quitting; going against what
poor c m something that has stuck in the mind of society
ewr since. He said Know thyself.” Do we really know ourselves? If w do
Surely ^evMwmc^orm"/” jumping on bandwagons?
vcSlX moat “"I)”"'*' aiorus before >vc found out what the
didatc bofok we kSek hi,’’p|alh!"';
the way it is presented
Church doesn’t have
this; it can be made r .
meaningful. We don t A, |gi)i,
have the answers to this pr ^
we feel that the first ^teP^^ pge
tion is a statement or o ^
nun IS a siaic'iiicut. . (jic/
We hate to admit it, ^ £^|i up^^
things are now, we are so
the brim with church
mindedness, that lcaV®,.,w
graduate, we will ^1^ aud
Wo arS-hg promts t^tTlaT
Freedom, the Establislimonf T.. u v ^ f anthers. Young Americans for
hquor-hy-thc-drink, knSa 'D^^i
liquor-by-the-drink Anopl-, ’jw,^'-.““y /^®oricdy, bpiro Agnew, social
A C« f * V V V A ^7
"grove of stately oak trees
little chapel ” forever. r® (
- - - - cp)
Barbara
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