Wednesday, March 2, 1938
THE CAMPUS ECHO
Page Three
Youth At Wheel
Found Skilful But
A Great Hazard
Drivers Between 16 and 20 Kill
Twice as Many as Equal
Number Average Motorists
The flaming younger generation
stands condemned as the greatest
group of mass murderers in America.
The weapon is the automobile.
Although including more highly
skilled automobile drivers than any
other age-group, 100,000 drivers be
tween 16 and 20 years of age kill
nearly twice as many on the road as
the average 100,Q00 drivers.
Accident rates for those below 25
years of age are so high that bring
ing down that age group’s accident
rate to the general level would save
nearly 8,000 of the nearly 40,000
killed each year on the American
highway and street.
These challenging figures were pre
sented to the American Association
for the Advancement of Science by
Dr. Harry M. Johnson, research asso
ciate for the Highway Research
Board, Washington. Young men be
tween 19 and 21 years of age are
apparently the worst menaces on the
highway. Dr. Johnson declared,
pointing to a chart which indicated
plainly that young men just ap
proaching their majority are respon
sible for many more accidents per
100,000 drivers than any other
group.
Middle-aged men between 46 and
55 may be a bit slow as compared
with their younger traveling mates,
but they are involved in relatively
far fewer accidents, he continued.
.^^Knnwledge of their own skill and
consequent willingness to take
chances beyond their own capacity
to meet were tentatively blamed by
the speaker as the factor chiefly re
sponsible for the great proportion of
accidents among youthful drivers.
“Some skilful drivers, relying on
their agility and alertness, may enter
hazardous situations that are a little
beyond their ability, whereas less
skilful drivers, being aware of their
weaknesses, may stay out of them,”
he concluded.
Nearly 30,000 drivers registered
for the six years from 1931 to 1936
inclusive in the state of Connecticut
were the experimental raw material,
study of which led Dr. Johnson to
the conclusions he revealed. Fatal
accident figures were compiled from
a study of 2,165,241 drivers over a
period of five years. His work is being
carried out as a joint project of the
Highway Research Board and the
U. S. Bureau of Public Roads.
Nearly two-fifths of all accidents.
Dr. Johnson pointed out, are caused
by a small number, less than four
per cent of the drivers, indicating
that a driver who has one accident
is likely to have others. Accident-
repeaters, as he termed them, are a
serious highway menace who do much
to increase death and destruction out
of proportion to their numbers.
—Science News Letter,
January 22, 1938.
A man, hearing that the bank
where he kept his money was shaky,
hurriedly drew a check for his bal
ance and rushed around to the bank
to try to cash it.
“Will you please cash this check?”
he panted to the teller.
“Gladly,” the teller replied. “How
would you like it?”
“Oh,” said the man, taken aback,
“if you’ve got the money, I don’t
want it. I just want it if you haven’t
got it!” .—Humorist
‘‘Y” News
By Edna Smith
The North Carolina Y. W. C. A.
Area Leadership meeting was held
on Saturday, January 29th, in the
Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill,
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
One of the most important discus
sions was: “The Problem of Labor
and Its Unionization.”
This is the list of actions that we
as “Y” members can take to help
solve the problem:
I. Make the problem real to the
group—
a. Plan trips for first-hand obser
vation of conditions.
b. Organize panel discussions on
labor.
c. Inform and encourage members
to attend summer projects which
broaden outlooks.
d. Visit industrial plants where
possible.
e. Invite representatives of labor
to meetings.
f. Visit labor union meetings where
possible.
g. Set up student-industrial groups
where students and workers may
meet regularly and discuss problems.
H. For more advanced action—
a. Work to establish campus co
operatives.
b. Study labor laws.
c. Work to get progressive legisla
tion passed.
d. Help with strike relief.
e. Help with workers education.
HI. Cooperate with other groups
both on and off the campus who are
working at the same problem, i.e.,
such groups as economic classes, de
bating clubs, sociology departments,
A.S.U., E.P.C., and student govern
ment groups; labor relations com
mittees of the Federal Council of
Churches; national labor relations
boards, etc.
As Christian groups work in diffi
cult and conflict areas they will be
confronted with serious choices.
Therefore, all groups should be pro
vided with the following:
a. The actual facts in the total
situation, i.e., understanding what is
involved as regards labor, the col
lege, the Christian Association, etc.
b. A basic understanding of why
Christians are concerned in the mat
ter.
c. A thorough understanding of
the National Y. W. C. A.’s position
on the issue.
IV. SEND FOR ACTIONS OF
THE FOURTEENTH NATIONAL
CONVENTION OF THE Y.W.C.A.
The Law Of Good
Workmanship In College
The welfare of our college depends
upon those who have learned to do
in the right way the work that makes
the college possible. Therefore:
1. I will get the best possible edu
cation, and learn all that I can as a
preparation for the time when I am
grown up and at my life work. I will
invest and make things better if I
can.
2. I will take real interest in work,
and will not be satisfied to do slip
shod, lazy and merely passable work.
I will form a habit of good work and
keep alert; mistakes and blunders
cause hardships (sometimes disaster)
and spoil success.
3. I will make the right way to
give it value and beauty, even when
no one else sees or praises me. But
when I have done my best, I will not
envy those who have done better, or
have received larger reward.
Envy spoils the work and the
worker.
Young college men and women,
try to do the right thing in the right
way. —Frances T. L. Oakley.
Borrowing As A Good
Policy
Shakespeare says, “Neither a bor
rower nor a lender be, for loan oft
loses both itself and friend; and bor
rowing dulls the edge of lusbandry.”
Borrowing has long been consid
ered a parasitic act, but modern
time has shown us that it may be
either parasitic or useful. One who
borrows merely because he is able,
and who has no absolute need for that
which he borrows, is truly a parasite
of the worst kind. On the other hand,
one who borrows not because of hab
it, but because of dire necessity, is a
true man.
To point out more clearly the
difference between parasitic and use
ful borrowing, I will use three illus
trations, and put you in each situa
tion: First, you are a high school
graduate who desires to go to college.
You are not able to pay all your ex
penses, but if helped by an N. Y. A.
scholarship you will be able to attend
college. You apply for a scholarship,
you succeed in getting it, and as a
result you are able to attend college.
This is useful borrowing.
Now you are a young college grad
uate who gets a good paying job
immediately after graduation. You
spend your money fpolishly, and
after squandering all your salary, you
borrow from your friends repeatedly.
Again and again you commit this act,
spending foolishly and borrowing
recklessly. This is parasitic borrow
ing, and one who is a real man will
not be guilty of such an act.
At last you are the head of a fam
ily of six. Yours is not a well paying
job and your wife (or husband) is
seldom working. V'our four children
are in high school, hence they are un
able to help you with your expenses.
Your house needs r'^^iairing badly and
you actually need to borrow some
money from someone; but rather
than resort to borrowing from your
friends, you obtain a loan from the
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation.
The loan corporation arranges the
terms of your payment in proportion
to your salary. Now you have a
chance to save your home. This is
useful borrowing, the kind that is
done by real men.
If one borrows only when force of
circumstances has jarred and jangled
him, I feel justified in thinking and
saying that even Shakespeare would
approve of his borrowing and call
him a true man.
—Dahlia Christine Harrington
The Freshmen Murmur
We little “Eaglets” have gotten
well under way striving hard; wind
ing the thread to make the ball big
ger and bigger. When it comes to
getting things done hurriedly and
efficiently the “Eaglets” of N. C.
College play second fiddle to no one.
During the month of December we
invited you into our secret chamber
to read our scroll for the year. Do
you remember Article I, Section H,
where it said, “Dance February 12,
1938”? The day dawned bright and
clear, promising delightful surprises
to a campus already teeming with
excitement and anticipation. Since
a blanket invitation had been extend
ed to all the members of the faculty
and student body, gay bedlam broke
loose about 7:30 p.m. in the dormi
tories. Arriving late, this writer, on
entering the gymnasium where the
dance was given, thought for a mo
ment that she had broken in on the
wrong party. Reassured by the sight
of our sponsor, Mr. Charles L.
Holmes, who was personally greeting
all the guests as they entered, she
ventured awefully in very much as
“Alice” must have ventured into
“Wonderland.” The familiar “gym”
had disappeared like magic and in its
place stood a room uniquely deco
rated to resemble a pent-house ball
room on a New Year’s eve. From the
center light, a large grape-wise bunch
of varicolored balloons was suspended
with a huge heart whose attachment
was lost in that billowing cloud. Red,
blue, and gold crepe paper streamers
tapered from the balloons to a spaced
line which blocked in a perfect
square for dancing. To make the
square cozier, groups of balloons
were attached to the lines. On en
tering the door, one had to pass
through an archway of hearts (no
one has ever mentioned it but I be
lieve there must be the same senti
mental tradition coupled with them
as with mistletoe). Good swing music
was provided by that incomparable
mechanism “the piccolo.” A New
Year’s eve festive air and mood were
inevitable, if confetti, serpentine,
horns and balloons were distributed,
n’est pas? Our sponsor and Lightner,
the class president, saw to it that the
bevy of beautifully dressed, laughing
young women and well-groomed
young men had plenty of souvenirs
from a seemingly unlimited supply.
In the midst of the fun ballons began
popping, and when the sidelines were
exhausted, the bunch in the center
was lowered slowly. The sight drew
a hilarious crowd of dancers to the
center, hands reaching for the teas
ing balloons, confetti covering their
heads; horns blowing; the piccolo
adding its contribution. After all the
balloons had been dispensed with,
the novelty of the evening was an
nounced: The floor was to be occu
pied by freshmen only, for one dance.
The fun lasted until 10:30 p.m.
with all due thanks to our president.
The freshmen’s mid-season dance
was a big success and enjoyed by all.
We defy any class to do better.
—Mattie Laws.
Dormitory News
The “Y” is offering many inter
esting forms of diversion in our dor
mitory this year. There are classes
and study groups under the super
vision of leaders who are well suited
to the group with which they are
working.
Our dean. Miss Rush, has mapped
out a very interesting fun calendar
for the “Y” girls. She also conducts
a study group of juniors and seniors
on Sunday afternoons. On Friday
night, the bridge class meets. Miss
Gordon and Miss Hunter teach this
class and already they have a large
class of enthusiastic pupils. Miss
Kelly has charge of the dancing class,
and for those girls who desire to
develop their literary ability rather
than nimble feet, there is a reading
class under the supervision of Mrs.
Eagleson. There are many other
classes equally as interesting, each
making campus life happy and en
joyable.
The sponsor of the “Y,” Miss
Rush, has worked faithfully with the
various committees of the “Y” in
working out social problems as well
as business problems. Under the
sponsorship of such a courageous and
industrious person, defeat will never
perch on the scroll of the “Y”, for
she seems to realize that the great
purpose of genuine education is not
to store the memory or to accustom
to observances, but to strengthen
man with his own mind, to rouse him
to higher self-activity, to deepen the
foundation of his being, to cultivate
his faculties, and to give him a firmer
grasp of truth and a clearer view of
things as they are.
Dahlia Christine Harrington.
The Passing Of An
American Myth
(From a lecture by Dr. Charles
Wesley)
From ancient times to modern
times man’s achievements have been
recorded, but only the white man’s
achievements have been exemplified.
Herodius wrote a history of why the
Greeks made war on barbarians, dis
playing their glorious deeds, and the
inglorious deeds of the barbarians.
While the Greeks were revelling in
their glory, the Negro was making
history and contributing his worthy
achievements to civilization.
Prior to the Jamestown settlement,
the black man was an indigenous
part of America. As he built settle
ments, he was building himself into
American life. As far back as 1858
the white man was saying that in no
age and in no part of the world had
the Negro given vent to any expres
sion, to any act to bring forward any
praise to distinguish himself. He re
fused to remember or he purposely
ignored the men of color who accom
panied Balboa, the explorer, who in
his exploring discovered the Suez
Indians, and the Negro men who la
bored with Cortez. All of this prior
to the coming of the Anglo-Saxons.
Samuel G. Gross stated, “The black
man lacks executive ability. He
knows jiothing of mental sciences.”
Such propaganda has gone down
through the years, this myth of Ne
gro people as victims of base mis
representations.
Out of Africa came a group of
Negro leaders. St. George was knight
ed by Louis XVI. Dumas in France.
In 1770 Phyllis Wheatley and a Ne
gro man began writing poetry. Boser,
an essay writer, came out of the 18th
century. Andrew Neil and Bryant
organized the first churches in Geor
gia, soon followed by other churches.
With James Varick —in
New York, Prince Hall founded the
Negro masonry in Massachusetts.
One after another, these mountain
peaks rose to disprove the myth of
the Negro’s inability.
He stands not as a myth but as
a reality. Out of the past comes a
worthy heritage. The Negro has not
always been a slave. In 1860, when
the census was taken, four thousand
Negroes were free, and voting in all
the principal states, including North
Carolina. He was once a landowner,
going into court maintaining his
rights, having slaves of his own. He
has been not only a slave, an un
skilled laborer, but a landowner,
weaving himself into American life.
From that time until now he stands
an American among Americans.
A German officer observed, “No
regiment is seen but there are Ne
groes, strong, able-bodied individuals,
living in good houses.” The Negro
was not a joke to this man. Here was
the beginning of the passing of the
American myth. The conditions of
economic slavery were passing. Then
let us revere the name of Wendel
Phillip, but let us not forget women
like Sojourner Truth who, with Susan
B. Anthony, stood for woman suff
rage; and these black men who struck
for their freedom. Let us not forget
our Negro artists, actors and writers
who bring out the human attributes
and joy of life, bearing the difficulties
of life by laughing and joking. Let
us disprove the myth that:
1. The Negro is a coward.
2. The Negro is subservient to a
master.
Let us feel proud of our heritage,
when we do, we can join hands with
the rest of the world, and stand side
by side with the Irish American, the
Jewish American, the German Amer
ican, confident of our past; proud of
our heritage. .—M. Laws.