PAGE TWO
MAROON AND GOLD
Wednesday, December 15, 1954
'A
Maroon And Gold
Edited and printed by itudent* of Elon
'College Published bi-weekly dunng the
• tollese year under the auspices of the
B srd of Publication.
Kntwed a- second claf matter at the
‘ ■■It nffice at Elon ColleKt N C under
ttie Act of Mareh 8, 1879 Delivered by
I,.ill. $1 50 the college >ear, 50c the
■ jarter.
editorial board
^anrif Waggoner Editor-in-Chief
Ann Stoddard Assistant Editor
Ciarlie Oat^s Feature Editor
Judith Chadwiclt Music Editor
. Neil Johnson Art Editor
Reuben Askew Staff Photographer
Luther N Byrd Faculty Advisor
BLSINESS BOARD
Jack Lindley Business Manager
Bill Burke Circulation Manager
Carl E Owen Printing Advisor
Worden Updyke Pres* Operator
SPORTS STAFF
Joel Bailey Sports Editor
REPORTERS
Lonnie Campbell William Frederick
Doris Chrismon Margaret Stafford
Anita Cleapor Gary Thompson
Sylvia Eaton Lewis Winston
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15. 1954
STUDENT RtI.E IN DANGER
(A Gurst I'UHtorlal)
Imagine that the headlines in some fu
ture issue of the Maroon and Gold should
read, •ELON COLLEGE LOSES STUDENT
GOVERNMENT ' And imagine that the
story underneath should begin, "The re
commendation of the administration and
faculty was accepted at last week's Trustee
meeting, providing that student body af
fairs of such groups as the Dance Commit
tee or the Student Council will hereafter
be directed under the authority of a
faculty advisory group."
Can you Imagine the student uproar
that would result? ' We have some rights!"
"What'd they do that for?" "Where's our
representatives? Somebody pulled a fast
one " In mild form, those would be a few
of the student comments.
Sure, if someone took away our privi
leges. we'd scream to the clouds, and yet
that situation might not be too far away,
for much the same situation exists now.
HOWEVER, instead of someone taking
them away, we are fast losing our rights
through student apathy. It's really serious,
the lack of student interest that exists
today.
Take for example, the now common act
ion of a student legislature meeting be
ing postponed (indefinitely) due to a lack
of a quorum The meeting for last Wed
nesday. December 8th. was announced
ahead of time in student chapel by Stud
ent Vice-President Phil Carter, and yet
tnly eight members were present, not
enough to hold a meeting, although earlier
this year a bill was passed to decrease the
□umber needed for a quorum.
As a matter of fact. North Dorm and
Veteran s Apartments, with a total of four
possible members, has not even elected a
member this year. And many other campus
Croitps. inciuriinK two of the four classes,
have never sent the members they did
elect to any of the meetings. Have we for-
fotten the importance and responsibilities
if the student legislature?
Everyone knows that he pays fifty cents
in student body fee? each quarter, a total
of $450 for the nine hundred students each
quarter. Who allots this money? The an
swer is the Student Legislature, and cer
tainly the student representatives should
be present and share in this important
responsibility
The truth is that no nlore than twelve
vt a possible twenty-three student legis-
li.tors have been presei;! for any one meet
ing this fall, and yet those few members
:iav been considering such important ques
tions as the four per-cent plan, chapel at
tendance. student bookstore hours and li
brary service, all of which appear of vital
interest to the student lM>dy.
Now. who has beeei absent from the
meetings? It is (uprising to note that most
absentees are found among the dormitory
fctudents. The day students have usually
been present in force, but students who
live on the camus and who could attend
with least inconvenience have been the
o'if- missing at roll calls.
Let'^ snap out of it my friends, unless
»e want to yield our hard-won freedoms.
Let'f find the interest and spirit which is
iiuw lacking.—-A LEGISLATURE MEMBER
jottings I
from here
and there
By JAMES WAGGONER ’
•THE OTHER WISE .MAN”
Nothing could be more timely than a
re-telling of Henry Van Dyke's great
Christma.- Story . 'The, Other W.ise Man '
It IS my opinion that this- story is one of
the most electrifyinK ar;d dramatic things
ever written on the .Nativity.
We all know the story of the Three Wise
Men who journeyed far to pay homage to
the Christ Child, but not too many are
familiar with the story of that Oher Wise
Man. who also saw the Star of the East and
set Out to seek the child Jesus, who yet
was unable to arrive with his companions
of the .Magi.
This was Artaban. that Other Wise Man.
a son of Abgarus, who sought to prevent
his son from making the long journey to
see the new-born king. Others, too, were
skeptical about Artaban and his proposed
trip, .but Artaban would not be persuaded
to stay.
His companions, Caspar, Melchoir and
Balthzar. the Three Wise Men, had
searched the ancient tablets of Chaldea and
had computed the time of their departure
to be ten days after the new star had
shown again.
Now. Artaban could make the trip only
by selling his possessions, which he did,
and he bought three jewels as gifts for
the Babe of Bethlehem, a sapphyre, a ruby
anS a pearl. With them in his posses»ion,
he mounted his horse, Vasda, and rode
away to meet his fellow travellers at the
Temple of the Seven Spheres.
Bvit along the way he found a man lying
across the road, seemingly ready for the
grave. Thinking the man dead, Artaban
was passing by when the man seized Arta-
ban’s robe and besought aid. Knowing that
he might miss his friends, Artaban yet
stayed and ministered to the sick man and,
upon departing, left the man with food
and drink.
Artaban then hastened on, but, upon
arrival at the Temple of the Seven Spheres,
he found his friends gone. He was then
lorced to part with his Sapphyre to obtain
supplies for his lone journey over the
desert.
On he went, even unto Bethlehem, where
he found that the Three Wise Men had
departed, and he learned that the Man
of Nazareth had fled unto Egypt with his
family in order to save the life of the
Babe.
Still determined to find the Christ-child,
Artaban prepared to follow, but before
he left Bethlehem the soldiers came, seek
ing to kill all the children, and Artaban
heard a mother scream. Artaban then told
the searching soldier that only he was in
that house, and he gave the soldier his
precious ruby, and the searcher went his
way.
Only the pearl remained of Artaban's
gifts for the King, and he turned his lace
to the East and prayed. "God of Truth, for
give my sin. I have said the thing that is
not to save the life of a child, and two of
my gifts are gone. 1 have spent for man
that which was meant for God. Shali I ever
be worthy to see the face of the King?"
Then for thirty and three years Artaban
searched for the little family of Bethle
hem, passing through countries where
famines were prevalent, and he fed the
hungry, clothed the naked, healed the
sick, and comforted the captives.
Finally he returned to Jerusalem and
found the crowds preparing to crucify two
famous robbers and another one with
them, called Jesus of Nazareth, who some
cdlled the "King of the Jews." and Artaban
s.iid within himself. "I have found the
King at last in the hands of his enemies,
and perhaps my pearl may ransom him
before he dies '
But on the way he found a soldier drag
ging a young girl down the stree’, and
she threw herself at Artii;>an's feet and
cried. "Have pity on me and save me, fo;-
the sake of the God of f’urity." Once more
Artaban gave a precious stone for some
one's ransom, and at that instant an earth
quake shook a heavy tile upon his head.
The girl bent over the unconscious man
and heard him crying words of anguish,
ending with "Thirty and three years have
I looked for Thee, but 1 have never seen
thy face, nor ministered unto •thee, my
King."' Ai;d from above came an answering
voice:
"Verily. .1 say unto theu. Inasmuch as
thou hast done it unto one of the least of
these, my brethren, thou hast done it unto
me.
Artaban's journey was ended. The Other
Wise .Man had found the King
ELON’S OLD GYMNASIUM WAS ONCE FLNEST IN ^^TATC
Elon's old gymnasium in North Dorm, pictured above during a hot volley ball game, was at one
time the finest in the state. Spectators crowded closely about the edges of the court, as shown in
the above photo; and the balcony above the playing court, a part of which is pictured, at one t me
was used as an indoor running track. The combination gymnasium and dormitory was erected and
placed into use in 1913. and the gym continued in use for basketball and physical education un
til early in 19.’>0.
There If A Time When .,.
Phvsical Ed Was Physical Culture
By JA.MES WAGGONER
While making a study of old
catalogues and other records con
cerning the development of physi
cal education at Elon College, many
interesting facts were found, re
lating to the long history of this
phase of the Institution's service
and major programs.
The first definite record avail
able dates back to 1911; however,
the college was not wild or raving
over athletics and neither did ii
undervalue the real worth of ath
letics in the symmetrical develop
ment of life and character. Base
ball, basketball, tennis, and track
games were all encouraged by and
under the direction of the athletic
director.
It was at this iparticular time
that a new gymnasium was well
underway, and it was stated that
the success of the gymnasium de
pended upon the director. To this
post was elected Roy N. Miller,
of Steeltown, Pa., who had had
four years' experience in gym
nasium work in Richmond, Va.,
&nd with the Railroad Y.M.C.A.,
and had filled with eminent suc
cess his important post there. He
had studied with the Association
Physical Training in New York
City, and his plans were to give
instructioa in Calisthenics. Dumb
Bells. Indian Clubs. Wands. Medi
cine Ball, Punching Bag, Vertical
Rope, Vertical Pole, Low Hori
zontal Bar, High Horizontal Bars,
Low Parallel Bars. High Parallel
Bars, Suspended Bars. Horizontal
Ladder. Flying Rings. Buck. Ger
man Horse. Mats, .and all of the
various kinds of gymnastic games,
as well as other activities included
in Physical Education.
Miss Ethel Clemehts was the
Director of Physical Culture for
the young women and had been
since 1910. Planrf had also been
fpr a gymnasium iij. West Dormi
tory, which would be fitted up
with the latest gymnastic appli
ances for young ladies.
Duak Was Coach
Coach Robert S. Doak hau
charge of the general athletic lile
for the men of the college, a de
partment in which he served with
exemplary success, putting out the
first all-amateur, bona-fide stud
ent baseball team in Elon's h^-
tory. Prof. A. L. Hook was' man
ager of the ba.'-eball team, and R. S.
Thompson, of Aurora. N. C.. was
Ihe captain. G. G. Holland was the
tennis manager. |nd R. M. Home
wood was in charge of track. C. C.
Johnson (husband of Mrs. Oma U.
Johnson) was manager of the bas
ketball quint.
Finally, in June of 1912, the
president of the college submitted
his annual report to the Board of
Trustees, which mentioned in it
as chief among the pressing needs
of the growing institution the
means of systematic exercis-e for
young men and young women. Dur-
FIKSI CHAPTER
This is the first installment
of an article, which reviews the
story of physical education at
Elon College, picking up in the
early days when the program
was known as “Physical Cul
ture” and when the old gym-
rasium in North Dorm was still
a dream in the minds of Elon
students, faculty and alumni.
ng the discussion of the matter
that followed, it was shown that
very college in Elon's class in the
state possessed a gymnasium and
the time for an addition to the
campus had arrived.
Dr. W. W. Staley, a devoted
friend of the college who had
served as president for eleven
years, moved that a gymnasium
for young ladies be provided in
the annex of the West Dormitory
and that a seperate building be
erected to contain the men’s gym-
,iasium, with lockers and running
track. Another staunch friend of
he Elon idea. Dr. J. Pressley Bar
rett, moved that the men's build
ing be constructed with the view
of using it for dormitory purposes
js well as for a gymnasium
The Board of Trustees voted
jnanimously to put both these
itiotions into effect, and they ap
pointed a building committee
A'ith full powers to act. consisting
of the president of the college.
Dr. W. W. Staley, and K. B. John
son. Tha^ committee's work is the
present structure which is called
North Dormitory.
Trustees Approve Gymnasium
Interested friends gave money
0 erect and furnish the building,
rheir confidence in the future of
Elon College was thereby estab
lished. for which the institution's
grateful acknowledgement was
iierewith recorded. The Board ol
Trustees readily saw the need ol
he building and " helieved that
the Lord would provide a way to
pay for it. "
: The 1912-13 school year rolled
■around, and a name had to be
Jelected for publication in the an-
1 ual catalogue. The faculty of
college could think of none more
appropriate that North Dormitory
was constant demand for teachers
who had had this type of training.
The course in physical culture
was free to the students of the
college, and its aim was not only
to correct bodily deficiencies in
the students themselves, but to
equip them to handle physical cul
ture classes of their own.
During this same year Robert N.
iVIiller was the Director of the
Gymnasium. Athletics and physical
culture instructed that each stud
ent must have a healthy body and
mind in order to do the best work.
Heads of the schools and colleges
had learned through years of ex
periences that it was almost neces
sary for each student to take a
certain amount of physical exer
cise each day. Therefore, such
games as would contribute to the
best interests and the good health
of the students were introduced.
All the sports participated in by
the young men were under the
direction o& the athletic director.
Gym Was Well Equipped
The Alumni Building was a four-
story, pressed-brick structure. 125
feet long and 65 feet wide, with
every modern convenience. It was
one of the latest additions to the
college buildings for dormitory
purposes and was architecturally
imposing and prepossessing. The
cost of the building was $26,600.
and it was called the peer of any
in the South. The cost was as
stated, but its value was reckoned
at $50,000. The Class of 1913 was
the originator of an Alumni As
sociation Fund, which would by
vote of the Association and the
Board of Trustees be used to
pay for the building.
The first floor of the new men
gymnasium consisted of five
howers and 117 lockers. It was
also equipped with lavatories, slate
shower baths with non-scalding
valves, and every modem con
venience known to the plumber
art at that time. It was described
as sanitary and beautiful
On the second floor there was
rioor space of 100x60 feet. The
floor was made of Michigan hard
maple, and the gymnasium itselt
was equipped with every appli
ance known to the gymnastic art.
Competent critics pronounced it
to be the best gymnasium in the
since all the other buildings were
named for their location with re- state, and no erpens’e ’had been
ference to the Administration ^ spared to make it so It even in
Building, between it and East;eluded sanitary drinking fountain.
Dormitory, hence the original!and cuspidors at each end of the
, i building. Another phase of the
Although the buiMing was at second floor was the use of the
first designated as the North rowing machine, the dumb bells
Dormi ory. the Alumni Associa- wands, Indian clubs, and other ap-
tion at commencement agreed to’paratus of similar character
pay for it, and it was therefore Balcony Served As Track
named the Alumni Building
The two excellent gymnasiums
offered ideal conditions for the
work of Physical Culture, which
;is now called Physical Education
II was stated that Physical Cul
ture was a necessity in the life of
;the modem school and that there
An interesting feature about the
gymnasium was the fact that it
provided the balcony on the third
floor which was used as a running
track. Fifteen laps n«de one mile
and It was lighted by skylights in
the roof.
(CouTiDued On Pagt Four)
Curley's
campus
chatter
Bv CHARLIE O.-VTES
Greetings, fellow students and campus
cronies! To everyone having the generosity
to devote a few moments to the constunp.
tion ol this column, may I say thia—Any
resemblance between the contents set
forth and the accepted material is left to
the consideration of the reader 'and we.
hope there is one").
With all the spontaneity it contains,
chatter we hear around the campus is often
exactly what the name implies. However,
ve do occasionally find ideas, humor, and
viewpoints that seem worthy of sharing
with others.
♦ * * * ♦
'Tis the week before Christmas in Elon.
College.
No one is thinking of acquiring knowl
edge.
Be careful driving," the radios moan.
"The life you save may be your own."
But, I told those to whom 1 was talking.
“You may save my life, because I am
"walking.”
During vacation, drink soft drinks alone.
And the headaches you save will be
your own.
» » » • ♦
WELCOME CHRISTMAS
Welcome Christmas! Elon’s welcome mat
is spread for You, while millions await
your arrival. As we take notice of the
atmosphere of the campus, it is quite evi
dent to us that the big day is "‘just around
the comer.”
Our ears have already become accus
tomed to the novelty tunes and jingles we
hear during the YuletMe season. The
sounds are the same every year. Of course,
there is the exception of an occasional tune
with the touch of humor that momentarily
catches our attention. In spite of this, we
wonder why we do not hear more ef the
truly great Christmas music, which repre
sents what this great holiday really stands
for.
Happiness, surprise and suspense-filled
moments of expectancy surround us in
our hurry to do the things we are so eager
to finish before Christmas. With the other
things we have to do, there is that Christ
mas shopping we were going to do early.
That was two or three months ago.
As the days grow shorter and colder,
the, hand of winter settles over festive
scenery. Trivialities of Christmas com
merce weigh down on the mhids of all of
us. It is time for standing in lines at post
offices, long traffic jams and short temp
ers, great exjpectations and small bank ac
counts, less Christmas and more Christ
mas spirit.
The Yule spirit seeps into us in our
classes and in our rooms, in the dining
hall or at the grill, on campus or in town.
It is in the grey depth of Winter during
the December days. Sniffy noses pressed
against shop windows, tired eyes of sales
clerks and bits of red ribbon blowing
down the sidewalk show evidence of its
presence.
The sound of weary music is replayed
across the night air, the long-clanging bell
of the Salvation Army, and the ciiatter of
lelatives tells us that we are no longer
amid campus life. It is the stacks of Christ
mas cards, bleating like little sheep,
■ Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. Mer
ry Christmas." It is the waste baskets piled
high with discarded paper, strings, bits of
holly and cedar. It is the smell of wet feet
and heaps of unsold greenery on the
corner lots..
Then comes a moment of quietnesss On
Christmas Eve, as the shadows lengthen,
a hush steals into the atmosphere. The
Christmas bustle runs down like an un
wound toy. The world sighs. As the lights
twinkle on, shining through icy darkness,
there comes the familiar feeling of ex
pectancy. Cooking smells flow from the
kitchen: angels, padding on pajama-clad
feet, rush from room to room—from the
red-embered fire and tfie stocking to the
riotous tree and the bright boxes under
neath. A pleasant silence reigns, and then
happiness, contentment and thankfulness
are in the hearts of all; it is Christmas.
*****
A worldly-wise history teacher in an
Oklahoma high school ended one lecture
by saying, “Will Aaron Burr win his duel
■ with Alexander Hamilton? Will the Amer-
] acan people go for the Monroe Doctrine'’
j Come to class next Monday and find out.”