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AND
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tkRCHWES
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10UIS6URG COLLEGE
LOUISBURG, N.C. 27549
Volume XVIII
LOUISBURG COLLEGE, N. C., MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1959
Number 5
SGA APPBOTCS JUDICIARY BOABD
Fire Dangers
Seen Evident
Tightening Up Program
Now Under Way
By PETER B. MAUPIN
Mr. W. R. Sinclair, Fire Preven
tion Engineer for Liberty Mutual In
surance Company, Louisburg Col
lege’s insurers, arrived on campus
February 24, and focussed his atten
tion and the attention of college offi
cials on fire hazards and fire preven
tion techniques here. His visit was a
part of the general “tightening up”
of compliance with fire regulations
conducted by almost all insurance
companies as a result of the numer
ous institutional fires that have
claimed many lives in recent months.
As a direct result of Mr. Sinclair’s
visit the college is now undertaking
a fire prevention program aimed at
lessening the fire hazards and pro
viding for a workable evacuation
procedure in case of a fire. A Fire
Prevention Committee has been
formed, and is being backed by the
men’s student government and the
administration.
One of the most serious hazards
that Mr. Sinclair discovered here is
the practice of some students of
throwing lighted cigarette stubs on
the floors in the halls and rooms, and
leaving them to go out by them
selves. According to Walter McDon
ald, Dean of Men, the floors in all the
older buildings have, over the years,
been deeply impregnated with wax
from countless floor waxings, and
then covered with an inflammable
floor sealer varnish, leaving them
highly combustile. To help remedy
the danger that exists from smoking,
Mr. Sinclair recommended that more
cigarette disposals be distributed
over the campus buildings, and that
they be fitted with small-mesh wire,
just big enough for cigarettes, not
paper or other trash.
Another serious hazard he found
is the overloading of electrical cir
cuits. In many rooms there are un
authorized hotplates and colTee pots
that could possibly raise the wattage
of a circuit past the safe limit. In
practically every room in the men’s
dormitories, there are long, poten
tially dangerous extension cords,
worn or possibly touching some
metal object.
As to the buildings themselves,
Mr. Sinclair found several serious
situations and deficiencies which had
not been brought to the attention of
the school by the State Fire Mar
shal. According to a fire prevention
checklist received from Mr. Sinclair,
a serious building hazard is the fact
that in Main and Franklin buildings,
the stairs leading to each floor are
not separated by fireproof metal
doors or partitions and the doors
that separate the dormitories proper
from the stairways are not self-clos
ing. He said also that the stairs
should be kept well-lighted and free
from obstructions, and that there
should be “EXIT” signs at each
stairway that leads outside or leads
to a way outside.
Another very serious deficiency
that he called to the attention of the
college is the lack of any fire alarm
system here at the school, or in the
town of Louisburg.
Until now, the school had taken
the word of the State Fire Marshal
that the buildings of the school were
adhering to modern fire laws. It was
only recently that college officials
discovered that the “O.K.” given the
school by the Fire Marshal was
based on a law that maintains that
the safety of a building from fire and
its confirmation to the fire safety
laws is determined, for him, by the
statutes that were in ett'ect when the
building was constructed. In other
words, he was merely saying that
we conformed to the fire laws of
1929—the date of the last complete
renovation of Main and Franklin
buildings. That there is a tremendous
difference between the laws then and
now is evidenced by the construction
employed in the completely reno
vated Davis Building, the new Ben
jamin N. Duke Student Union
Building, and Holton Gymnasium,
which conform to the fire laws of
the 1950’s. Both Main and Franklin
buildings are constructed of wood
lathe and plaster walls, with wooden
floors, beams, and wall supports.
Since Mr. Sinclair’s v[sit, the fire
prevention program has been under
taken with vigor, and is being sup
ported by the Student Council. On
March 2, in a faculty meeting, Grady
Snyder was appointed Fire Warden
for Louisburg College. Under Mr.
Snyder will be two assistant fire
wardens who will be members of the
respective student government or
ganizations, a staff monitor, and two
faculty monitors.
Under the assistant fire wardens
will be two monitors from each
dormitory, who will be appointed
soon from the student body. The
duties of the Fire Warden will be to
have complete control and super
vision of all fire prevention measures,
including evacuation procedures.
The duties of the Assistant Fire
Wardens will be to assist the Fire
Warden jp every possible way and
to see that the monitors under them
know their duties and know how to
perform them.
The duties of the Monitors, espe
cially the dormitory Monitors, will
be to assist as needed in any and all
emergency evacuation procedures,
and, in case of fire, to cut off elec
tricity if it is an electrical fire, to
hold open exit doors, to facilitate
egress, to close the doors when nec
essary to prevent smoke spread and
to make sure that everyone is out of
the dormitories.
(Continued on page four)
PASSED ON SECOND VOTE;
TO BE OPERATIONAL SHORTLY
On Tuesday night, March 31, after 20 minutes of last-minute debate,
the men’s SGA cast a majority of votes in favor of the proposal for the
estabhshment of a new ten-member judiciary board. This was the second
time the proposal had been brought up after being first rejected.
The plan was rejected at the first voting because some members felt
that there was an overbalance of faculty authority. But after further dis
cussions and consideration, most objections disappeared.
o The judiciary, board, as now
CoIIgQC Socicty planned, win be given authority over
Initiates Ten Into
Honor Group
Valjean Fox
Voljeon Fox '
Chosen 1959
May Queen
Out of 30 contestants senior Val
jean Fox was chosen 1959 May
Queen in an election that took place
in the B. M. Duke cafeteria on
February 28.
A court of twelve was chosen with
Barbara Jean Leonard, of Louis
burg, as Maid of Honor.
The May Court will be presented
May 2 in the gymnasium.
Attendants to the court are Miss
Rebecca Garner, Burlington; Miss
Rebecca Houser, Goldsboro; Miss
Betty Woodhouse, Harlinger; Miss
Carol Spence, Kinston; Miss Caro
lyn Smith, Rocky Mount; Miss Bar
bara Reynolds, Troy; Miss Barbara
Page, Burlington; Miss Mary Jones,
Lumber Bridge; Miss Phyllis Lee,
Smithfield; and Miss Rachel Breed
love, Henderson.
The active Miss Fox hails from
Cary and is the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. C. G. Fox. She is editor of
The Oak and a member of Beta
Phi Gamma, honorary journalistic
fraternity. Miss Fox, a member of
the 1958 May Court and a candidate
for homecoming queen last semester,
plans to study art after graduation
from Louisburg.
The attendants will be dressed
alike in pastels while the queen will
be dressed in white.
1959 Raseball Schedule
The 1959 baseball schedule is as
follows:
March 7 P.J.C.
17 E.M.I.*
24 Chowan
April 8 Wilmington*
10 Campbell*
13 E.M.I.
18 P.J.C.*
21 Chowan*
24 Frederick
May 7 Campbell
8 Wilmington
* denotes home games
Ten pledges were initiated into
Gamma Upsilon Chapter of Phi
Theta Kappa Tuesday evening in
the Faculty Parlor at Louisburg
College.
A very impressive candlelight
ceremony was conducted by Bar
bara Hickman of Troy, president
of the chapter, assisted by Rebecca
Garner of Burlington, Betty Jean
Edwards of FrankUnton, and An
nette White of Dover.
The initiates were Douglas Wil
liams and Tom Cooke of Louisburg,
Elizabeth White of Dover, Bill Tun-
stall of Elizabeth City, Almeta
Brown of Middlesex, Peggy Riddick
of Ahoskie, Linda Lea of Durham,
Dwight Camper of Forest, Virginia,
Elsie Hill of West End, and Denny
Lawrence of Morehead City. These
students had fulfilled the require
ments of at least a 2.0 accumulative
average on an average of 15 semes
ter hours of college work, of leader
ship ability and of character. Phi
Theta Kappa Society in the junior
college is the equivalent of Phi Beta
Kappa in the senior colleges.
Immediately following the initia
tion, Barbara Hickman presented in
behalf of Gamma Upsilon Chapter
and alumni members a Phi Theta
key and honorary membership certi
ficate to Miss Elizabeth Johnson who
has sponsored this chapter for eleven
years.
Refreshments were served from a
lace covered table laden with a crys
tal punch bowl and plates of cup
cakes on one end and an arrange
ment of red roses on the other. The
president presided at the punch bowl
from which a fruit punch was served.
Miss Rachel Modlin and Miss
Zelda Coor, alumni, and Miss Ruth
Merritt, honorary member, were
present.
more serious offenses. Its powers
will be such as to make its decisions
and recommendations final, while
still subject to appeal to the presi
dent of the college.
In passing the proposal, the SGA
felt that the need existed for a
branch of government that would
deal specifically and singularly with
only the more serious disciplinary
cases. This would free one branch
of student government from an ex
cess load of work and the risk of
prolonged involvments with so many
and diverse affairs.
Plans Going Ahead
At present plans are going ahead
for an election of three students and
three faculty members to the Judici
ary board. Automatic membership
goes to the president of the SGA, to
the president or a male member of
the honor fraternity, and to two fac
ulty members selected by the presi
dent of the college. An SGA member
may serve on this board.
In voting, one faculty member
will act as chairman and will be al
lowed no vote. Of the remaining nine
votes a three-quarter majority, or at
least 6, will be required in any de
cision.
The members will be elected with
in the next month and the new dou
ble branch system will go into effect
well before the Spring semester
closes.
The plan was accepted practically
without changes. Only until the
judiciary board has been organized
and watched in action can changes
be suggested.
At a later meeting the drafting of
a new section for the present con
stitution will be on the agenda. The
regulations governing the board will
become Article III of the existing
constitution.
Already the plan has received the
approval of the president of the col
lege, and there remains only the
working out of details of organiza
tion before the Board can begin
operation.
Student Pulls Victim From Wreck
Kearney Pace, young FrankUnton
Route 2, man, escaped possible
death or serious injury Monday
night, because Bill Carden, Louis
burg College student, picked that
time to be on his way home to
Durham.
Pace and James Wood, another
Franklinton man, were proceeding
down the crooked Franklinton-
Creedmoor road, when a short cir
cuit caused their car lights to go out.
Wood jumped from the vehicle just
as it went over a twenty foot em
bankment, some three miles west of
Franklinton.
The car crashed to a halt, upside
down; Pace lay beside it in a semi
conscious condition. The wrecked
vehicle burst into flames, but the in
jured man was too stunned to move.
Carden came down the road, saw
the unconscious Wood lying on the
shoulder of the highway, brought
his car to a halt, and rushed to the
aid of the injured man.
As he approached Wood, he
(Continued on page four)