May
Court
By Elizabeth Stephenson
May Court is the focal point of Spring
Fest. On the Friday of Spring Fest, par
ents can attend abbreviated classes, as
they did during parents wreekend. Then
parents will have the opportunity to dine in
the cafeteria with their student. The par
ents and students will be able to enjoy
performances by the Chorale and Ensem
ble, followed by the Sea Saints. Finally,
fhe May Court is presented. They will be
escorted by their pages to the front steps
of Smedes. Then the dance clubs will
dance before the Court.
Not everyone is eligible for May Court.
You must be elected by the student body
and have a grade point average of at least
2.0 or better. Seven college sophomores
are chosen, and the one with the most
Votes is declared the May Court Queen.
Four freshman, three seniors, and two
aleventh graders are also elected to the
court. The senior with the most votes is
*be Maid of Honor. Next year an additional
^6nth grader will be eligible for the May
Court.
The first known May Queen of Saint
Mary's was chosen in 1856. Then May
Cay was celebrated with an elegant
Supper and a dance in West Rock that
lasted until 9:00 p.m. May Day was
honored each year, but did not become a
custom until the 1920's. Soon after, it
became known as Spring Fest;
Unfortunately the Depression caused a
Suspension of Spring Fest until 1935.
When it resumed, the court and queen
jvore Grecian costumes. After 1937, the
M^y Court wore traditional long pastel
''•’esses and the queen was gowned in
'^bite. The presentation of May Court on
S'umnae day began in 1961.
In 1894, the great-great aunt of Ginny
“'ckens, Katie McKimmon, taught Ameri-
History at Saint Mary's. The seniors
Apparently liked her so much that they
1 'owned her May Queen.
I^^Yhe May Court for this Spring is as fol-
„ Sophc.
^'oene, Miriam Mason, Ginny Dickens,
eilie Thorpe, Elizabeth Allen, Scott Cole,
^Acy Morgan.
_ -«K>nomores: Queen: Deedee
Vare
Froshr
Underwood,
|j - ’"Oilmen: Anna
g®Ather Moore, Anna Tighman, Lizzie
g Seniors: Maid of Honor: Catherine
Melissa Elliotte, Travis Brady.
®elle£i
01
Volume XLVIll No. 5
Marcb. 1989
Changes In The Pledge
Last spring, it was evident to many
that the Honor Code at Saint Mary’s was
not working. There were many incidents of
cheating, one of which was cheating on a
final Latin exam. In this Latin class, there
were 15 out of 18 people found guilty of
cheating. For these reasons, several
changes have been made. The exam
scheduling has been changed so that a
teacher only has one exam scheduled at
a time. The faculty also decided to
change the Honor Code.
This year the pledge reads, "I pledge
that I have neither given nor received help
on this test." In the past the pledge in
cluded that a student had not seen an
other give or get help on the test that she
had pledged. This year's trial policy does
not penalize a student for not turning a
cheater in, but encourages a cheater to
turn herself in. Dr. Jenkins said that in the
past there had been "no action from
students." The reason for this change
was to encourage students to be
responsible for themselves.
Dr. Jenkins would like to make clear
that a student still has an obligation to
turn a cheater in. By signing the oath in
Honor Chapel, a student pledges that she
will "uphold the highest standard of per
sonal integrity in every phase of life at
Saint Mary's and recognize her responsi
bility for helping others to live up to that
standard."
Dr. Jenkins suggested that anyone
who suspects someone cheating should
talk to the girl about turning herself in. By
turning herself in, she will have a lesser
penalty than if is someone else turns her
in. If the student refuses to turn herself
in, then she should be taken to the Judi
cial Board.
The Honor Code will only work if every
one obeys and believes in it. Every stu
dent should remember that she has an
obligation to "uphold the highest standard
of personal integrity." The Honor Code
needs the support of every student.
A Different Life
By Atta Raouflan
"Always have a positive attitude," said
my father when 1 left Germany to study in
the United States of America.
This important advice can be very
useful to international students during the
process of adjustment which takes a long
time and involves a lot of courage. The
word "adjustment" itself seems to have a
negative suggestion. The adjective hints
that somebody has to accept a new
situation and try to deal with all the prob
lems which will occur.
the chapter fully.
An additional problem, the lack of vo
cabulary, causes international students
to be scared, quiet, and even depressed.
But as soon as somebody encourages
us, and spends time trying to understand
and to communicate with us, we are de
termined to try our best to have a positive
attitude because we want to learn. At
SMC the teachers and staff have been
the ones who understand us, or at least
take time to try to understand.
So J'lnlors: Katherine Taft, Cammie Ba-
On the SMC campus, sixteen foreign
students, from countries like Japan,
Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahamas, and
Venezuela, have experienced situations
that no American who has never left the
United States can truly understand or
imagine. For example, I found it very diffi
cult to use the telephone in the United
States because of the operators. Every
time I had difficulties making a call, the
operator started talking to me, which
made me very nervous since it is not easy
to communicate without seeing the other
person. Mami Harada has shared my ex
perience: "I was always scared to talk on
the phone."
Another kind of difficulty for interna
tional students in using the telephone is
the process of acquiring knowledge about
certain techniques. For instance, I wil
never forget an event that happened last
year When I wanted to reserve some
rooms in Williamsburg for the Atlas trip I
found an ad saying: Call 1-800-history.
Therefore, I picked up my pink telephone,
dialed 1-800 and screamed "history" in the
phone. Unfortuantely, no one answered,
except the annoying answering machine
voice which tried to tell me that I did not
complete my number. Finally, and to my
embarrassment, a friend caught me
screaming "history" and exp ained the
process. Even today she still teases me
about my naivete.
Of course, language problems also in
fluence our daily lives. Most of th®
students spend their free time
because it takes them more irne to com
prehend the reading rnaterial.
pie, an American studerit might read a
chapter in a history book in a^ut one
hour, but for an international student d
can take from two to seven hous. And
even then she will not have understood
Finally, cultural differences often
cause communication problems between
American and International students. To-
momi Watanabe from Japan said, "I find it
more difficult to accept the culture than
the language. The people think different in
America. Japanese understand each
other without words, and I can always
imagine what people think. Americans try
to understand each other by talking, and
you always have to say what you think if
you want to express yourself. Qf course,
that is good sometimes, but it is not easy
for me to adjust. I read many books to
understand this culture, and though I
mostly understand it, I am not ready to
adjust to it."
I think that the international students
would like for people to be open-minded
about their cultures. It makes us happy
when people show interest in our back
grounds, and often they learn things from
us as well as we learn every day from the
American people. "Ignorance" among cul
tures should be avoided because we can
all get benefits from each other.
In conclusion, I want to mention some
positive aspects of my years in the
U.S.A. Since I have been here, I have
learned to try my best and always to try to
maintain a positive attitude, as my father
advised me. Furthermore, I learned to ac
cept people the way they are and appre
ciate their help. Moreover, the word
"appreciation" plays a major role in my life
even if I often do not show it enough. Nat
urally, I know how delicious my mother's
food is, after all the junk food I eat here.
Unfortunately,, I have noticed that I be
come more homesick the longer I stay
here, but I am determined to finish my ed
ucation in this country. Lastly, I want to
mention that I am very grateful to the
teachers at his school because they have
inspired me to try hard, and some have
taken a lot of time for me so that I do not
feel lonely.
Will Spring ever come to stay?