VOLUME 5, NO. 1
WINSTON-SALEM STATE COLLEGE, WINSTON-SALEM, N. C.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1966
Christmas Is a Big Holiday
Influenced by Variety of Factors
By Paulino Bowman
On the 25th day of this month,
thousands of people will cele
brate Christmas — one of the
most popular of all holidays. It
has been many years since the
first Christmas was proclaimed.
Today, in a world which seems
to be devoted primarily to tra
ditional gift giving, there is lit
tle time to ponder what the holi
day should really celebrate.
Christmas is a beautiful time
of the year when streets and
shop windows are invitingly dec
orated, with numerous items for
that gift list. Ah! How nice it is
to unwrap those packages of
season’s greetings. But, ooh! How
it is for the giver to receive those
Christinas bills, bills, bills! He
has that well devised budget. He
tries to ease his Christmas hang
over with alka-seltzer and as
pirin.
The conception of a fictitious
character called Santa Claus
means more to some children
(and adults) than the idea that
this day is the festival celebrat
ing the birth of Christ, the prop-
hesized Savior of mankind. Prei>
arations are made early for Dear
Santa’s midnight ride with his
bundle of toys and his reindeer-
dr'iwn s'ed.
How did Santa Claus and the
numerous other customs get into
the day that is set aside for
Christ in the first place? In
fable he was first known as the
patron - saint of children, St.
Nicholas, who was the bishop of
Myra, and died in 345 or 352. San
ta Claus, of Dutch origin, is rep
resented in popular fiction as the
bearer of presents to children on
Christmas eve. The old custom
used *0 be for someone on De
cember 5th to assume the cos
tume of a bishop and distribute
small gifts to “good children."
The anniversary of Christ’s
birth was not celebrated to any
appreciable extent until the 3rd
century. January fith and Decem
ber 25th were generally adopted,
first in the West, later in the
East, as dates on which it should
be celebrated in the 5th century.
Theatres in the Roman Empire
were ordered closed on Christ
mas as early as 400 but the day
did not become a legal holiday
until 534.
Many Christmas customs were
transferred from pre-Christmas
times. On .January 0th, the
Italian fairy Befana is supposed
to fill the stockings of children
with gifts. Our customs of the
Christmas season are associated
with that practice. So, it seems
that a combination of customs
and previous festivals have been
interwoven into Christmas.
Even Santa Claus, as history
states, was in existence before
the date for Christmas was ever
legally established.
Other customs of earlier festi
vals were transferred to the
Christian holiday. For example:
(1) The Christmas Tree — the
palm tree having twelve shoots,
one to represent each month of
the year, was used in the festival
of Isis, an Egyptian goddess. The
palm tree was modified in the
celebration of December 25th by
the substitution of the fir tree
Queen Doi-othy Davis is flanked by seniors on stage.
for it.
(2) Christmas cards — these
date from the latter half of the
19th century.
Rams Win 2 Games
In Whitaker Gym
Earl Monroe scored 126 points
in two games as the Winston-
Salem Rams hit triple figiu-es
twice in two games at the Whit
aker Gymnasium.
Monroe scored 08 when the
Rams topped the Fayetteville
Broncos 112-97.
He sank 58 while the team was
ripping the North Carolina Col
lege Eagles 115-96 before an over
flow crowd.
Dorothy Davis Reigns
As Miss W-S State
Dorothy Davis, a .senior with
a winning smile and a friendly
voice, was ci'owned Mi.ss in-
ston-Salem State in two cere
monies over t h e homecoming
weekend. Dr. Kenneth R. Wil
liams. president of the college,
crowned her both times.
She was officially inaugurated
in a coronation ceremony and
parade of queens Friday. Nov. 18
in a student assembly. Upon re
ceiving her honor, she said:
"Long after this crown has
been removed from my head, a
weight will still be there — the
weight of the honor my friends
and fellow students have bestow
ed on me. I welcome, cherish
and shall endeavor to uphold
Sylvio Sprinkle Recoils Happy Days In India
# ■ uncle, a drawing room, and a
“The most rewarding experi^
ence that I will ever encounter,”
are the words Miss Sylvia
Sprinkle uses to describe her
stay in India during the summer.
Sylvia, a senior of Winston-
Salem State College, w'as among
a group of eight students who
traveled to India to participate
in the Experiment in Interna
tional Living program.
“India is a nation of poverty,
with extremely low living stand
ards, with absolutely no sanitary
system, but a nation with very
hospitable people”, states Sylvia.
“As in any other poverty-stricken
country, there are exceptions;
however, a rich person in India
may be compared to a high
middle class American”, she add
ed.
Fortunately for Sylvia she liv
ed with one of the wealthy
families of India. Her father
owned five factories. Her family
consisted of a mother, father,
four sisters, two brothers, an
aunt and uncle. She was the only
member of her group who slept
indoors.
Sylvia lived in the main house
which consisted of two guest
rooms, a suite for her aunt and
Sylvia Sprinkle
Dr. Singh.
with two faculty members, Dr. Sandarchari and
bedroom for her parents. There
was a second house for her
Indian brothers and sisters, and
a house for the kitchen and the
cooks.
Sylvia visited nine states while
she was in India. Concerning
her travels, she has this to say:
“By traveling, 1 learned to ap
preciate the United States more.
I learned a lot that 1 should
have known, but didn’t. I now
have a better understanding of
people, and I want to travel
more.”
When asked what impressed
her most about India, Sylvia
stated: “The people impressed
me the most. Their habits and
customs are so different from
ours, yet they are so friendly.”
Sylvia gives this advice to
future travelers abroad: “Visit
the people of a nation or coun
try — not just the historical
sites. You only learn about life
in a country by getting to know
the people in that country.”
Miss Sprinkle gave the stu
dent body an exciting pictorial
and word account of her stay in
India at a Wednesday morning
chapel program.
this honorable weight.”
Her escort was Michael
Wright. Mrs. Davis was crowned
a second time in a public cere
mony during halftime of the
homecoming game at Bowman
Gray Stadium between the Rams
and Fayetteville State.
Attendants to Miss WSSC
were:
Patricia Holiday, a junior, es
corted by Louis Turner; Shirley
Brown, a sophomore, escorted by
Aljernon Williams, and Gwen
dolyn Jones, a freshman, escort
ed by Bronville Scott.
Mrs. Davis was elected by the
student body after an exciting
campaign against Miss Holiday.
Both conducted strenuous cam
paigns to win.
Other campus queens crowned
at the coronation ceremony were:
Brenda Lowrey as Miss Stu
dent NEA. E r m a Wiggins as
Miss X.AACP. Roberta Henry as
Miss Brown Hall, and Gloria J.
Tyson as Miss Ram.
John F. Lewis, chairman of
the homecoming committee, pre
sided over the ceremony. All the
queens rode the next day in a
tremendous "Tops in Homecom
ing" parade. A host of bands
from various high schools joined
the college bands of WSSC and
Fayetteville in the parade and in
pre-game ceremonies.
Other features of homecoming
were a campus dawn dance be
fore the football game and the
victory ball.