CA62 TVM
Maroon And Gold
Dedicated to the best intcn st of Elon
College and it;- tudcnt' invi uulty, th«
Maroon and Gold : published ■mi monthlj.'
during the college year at Elon ^ Ullege, N.C.
'Zip Code Z7244), publication 'ing in co
operation with the joumiilism ..urtmcnt,
KDITOKIAL KOAItl)
Mike Wynji.irden K Ji Dr-in-Chiof
Itichard Hut' ’;.‘nt ' /iii n
William Bradham A l; nt 'M t''
Tom Jeffery Dramdtics Editor
Jack DeVito I. zru i: •.
Carole rojx/r. =;ki Clirl S.wrii
H. Reid
Luther N. Byrd I'.i' il • \
Jimmy l''ill;;ck Staff I’ho'f-.jph?r
TKdlVICAI, M ■
L'«ii> Joni' I • I •
C.'irl Owen Linotype Operator
‘er. y V illiiiini I’ress Operator
ItKI'ORTOKlAI, .T' ,
Tho.na.s Anderson
Charles Avila
iam Barker
Marta Barnhart
John Bennett
Mary Btiison
Martha I^rodri
James Bro v' r
Eileen Cn’
John Cn
Roger C ou .
Ted Cru- ;
Leon Dic ker o^
Fer'i'l i.Jnio ison
Kit., ‘til Fa.v
Daniel Kulltr
Ronald George
James Craham
Daphne Hilli >rd
Judith Hillers
Kay Wilson
Denni Howie
Howard Johnson
Tim Kempson
Charles Kernodle
Donald King
William Macey
William Moore
Philip Pagliarulo
Elaine Phelps
David Potter
Larry Rayfield
. Comar Shields
Owen Shields
Stephen Sink
. . - Wayne Smith
David Speight
Tbomas St. Clair
.... William Stile*
... Stanley Switzer
George Weber
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 19fi6
CAMPUS INFLUENCES
When one reads in the papers or views on
television the widespread unrest that seems
prevalent on the campuses of many Amer
ican universities and coUeges from the
Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the
west, one wonders about the underlying
causes of so much upheaval. The follow
ing message from J. Edgar Hoover, which
appeared in a recent FBI bulletin, appears
worth reading. The message follows:
Th'’ American college student today is
bein;; subjected to a bewildering and dan
gerous conspiracy perhaps unlike any so
cial challenge ever before encountered by
our youth. On many campuses he faces
a turbulence built on unrestrained individu
alism, repuLsive dress and speech, ou'-
right obscenity, disdain for moral and
spiritual values, and disrespect for law
and order. Thi.s movement, commonly re
ferred to as the “New Left,” is cumplex
in its deceitful absurdity and character
ized by its xck of common sen.se.
Fortunately a high per of the
more than 3 million full iiiu ; .llp;e stu
dents are dedicated o. un®, and
serious-minded yoii ;>eop!t' however,
their good deeds a .J achievements are
greatly overshadcT I by tho;io who are
doing a tremendo amount of talking but
very little thinki ij.
Much of this turmoil has been connected
with a feigned concern for the vital rights
of free speech, dissent, and petiiion. Hard
core fanatics have used these basic rights
of our democratic society to distort the.
Issues and betray the puiOic. However,
millions of Americans, who know from
experience that freedom and rights also
mean duties and responsibilities, are be
coming alarmed over the anarchistic and
seditious ring of these campus disturbances.
They know liberty and justice are not
possible without law and order.
Tlje Comnunist Party, as well as other
subversive rnu/s. i., jubilant over ihese
new re^llious activities. The unvarnished
truth is that Ihe communist conspiracy h
seizin': this iasurrectionary climate to cap
tivate the thinking of rebellious-mind^
youth piid coax them into the communist
movement itself or at least agitate them
into -ervino the rnmmunist rMU'O. This is
bein,® accomplished primariW by a two-
pmn^cd offensive — a much publicized
co’Ieso speaking program and the campus-
oriented communist W. E. B. DeBois Clubs
of America. Therefore the communist in
fluence is cleverly injected into civil dis-
ol'i'dience and reprisals against our eco-
noTiic, poli'ical, and social system.
"^here are those who scoff at the signi
ficance of these student flare-ups, but let
us make no mistake: the Communist Party
doe^ not consider them insignificant. The
participants of the New Left are part of
the 100,000 "state of mind" members Gus
Hall, the Party's General Secretary, re
fers to when he talks of Party strength. He
recently stated the Party is experiencing
the ureolest upsurge in its history with
a ‘‘one to two thousand” increase in mem-
ber'hip last year.
Fo.' the first time since 1959, the Party
pL'.ni a national convention this spring. We
(('(Kitlnurd On Pa|>f Four)
MAROON AND GOLD
Friday, February is.
4'
n
rforious
feast
By
iMriiAiiii nLTM'^;.v.s
Hich With God
l'h( c h:-, f.jiTie to the attention of this
edi’ ir nrif! ;-..;r element of our society that
n - J.. iiivesti'Ration and a thorough re-
... prai'r :l. Feihaps the need is even for
:i doliI.Hi.i;.v almost venomous attack on
f/ie hjhjeci at hand.
Havi.-ig hopefully aroused the reader to
I he ;)ont of frantic speculation let us see
juit what is thi.s enemy to reason, this
cau for disenchantment. It is not the
• nr in Soutlieast Asia, it is not free love,
and it is not the fallacies of the honor
council. It is funerals.
Does this seem a bit disrespectful? Does
one cringe at the thought of anyone being
so presumptuous as to think that he should
criticize such a sacred and enduring in
stitution? If the subject is offensive then
read no further.
How many funerals have you ever wit-
ne.ssed. They are sad, poignant, but they
are done with the survivors' interest at
heart and in very ‘‘good taste”. What the
visitors seem to either overlook or mis
understand is the trauma and heartache
actually forced upon the family of the
deceased by those who would make a fu
neral into a social event complete with
the survivors' interest and ‘‘good taste”.
As a matter of fact, the only good that
the modern method of burying someone
seems to do is to allow self-made martyrs
to weep a little longer and to put more
money into the local economy by making
the undertakers so wealthy. Just what are
some of the side effects of these mourn
ful occasions?
First let us consider the family in a
situation that requires a burial for an
immediate relative. No sooner than rigor-
mortis sets in, a representative from the
funeral parlor is in the home asking all
kinds of impersonal questions that are
so consoling; such as how long has he had
multiple sclerosis, when did he last see
the family, or even what will be done now
that he is dead.
Not only has the representative come
to annoy and distress but he has brought
him with chairs (at least thirty) to seat
the guests who will soon be arriving to
ask similar questions and sit around with
sorrowful, yet smug expressions on their
faces. Finally, as the "coordinator” leaves,
just to make sure that the memory lingers,
he places a guest book at the door to be
signed by all present and to be kept by
the bereaved one.
In addition to the mental strain put on
those involved in the burial of a loved
one, the strain on the pocketbook is al
most beyond belief. Of course one wouldn’t
want to put their loved one in a wooden
coffin, a bronze one is waterproof and
looks so much nicer in the chapel while
the service is being carried out. Naturally
one wouldn’t want a funeral without flow
ers either, it is the least one can do to
put a veritable blanket of roses atop the
casket (p>resumably to keep the deceased
warm). As the style for a person’s final
rites become more and more elaborate the
prices grow higher and higher until a
thousand dollar burial is a relatively cheap
funeral! Perhaps we will progress to the
state of re-innovating the tradition of the
pyramid and the mummy.
The friends of surviving members of
families are also victimized by this cor
ruption of decency. They are obligated to
visit them at the risk of being socially im
proper or losing the respect of others who
really don't want to be there either. Upon
arrival one smiles and says ‘‘nice to see
you” or better yet, “hi”. After this em-
barrasing and incongruous greeting the
visitor .stands face to face with a person
distraiught with grief and he finds him
self strangely at a loss for words. There
is, however, an out for the visitor: he
simply mutters “if 'eres sum’n I c’n do,
lemme know” then dashes out the door
\!\ION(; THOSE Ari’KARINC IN MUSICAL SHOW
■JO WARNER
As Daisy Mae
PROF. AL HASSELL
.As S .1 'tor Phogbound
MRS. JEANNE BRIDGEWATER
As A Dogpatch Wife
REN BAYOL
As Pappy Yokum
TOM JEFFERY
As Rarlhquake McGoon
PAM LITTLE
As Stupefying Jones
snd faculty memb rs v lie will be mernbcrj o' the cast for the Elon
ahouo t” u Abner” when the musical io presented in mid-March ure those pictured
inrliiHp nolo woZj i*? picture, for wh .;n pictures were not available at this printing,
Diilv WinCim, ,I r. 1 r, Warner, a M ;rrjing Sam; Pat^y Bailey, as Mammy Yokum;
Von Climax General Bullmose; Bill Tyson, as Evil Eye Fleagle; Linda Sipila, as Apasionata
Eloii Players Will Present Ti’l Abner’
be seen as Apassionata von tion of Prof. Sandy Moffett. In
Climax, General Bullmoose’s at-'addition to the success with which
tractive .secretary, will be Linda Prof. Moffett has supervised the
lesperario ,r
General .' ..inioo-ie.
Sever;:! ;v. no , vill be making
Jrbuts m prn>ipal roles on the
Elon sta.w j
ville. will play L'le part of Stupi-
lyin Jones, who lives up to her
Sipila, an Elon Freshman from Elon Drama Department for the
O^land, N. J. past several years, he has spent
Completing the cast of Dogpatch summers in stock and repertory
citizens and Washington personnel theatre. Last Summer Prof. Mof-
will be the following: Laura Rice, fett was production stage man-
Raad, Emily Anderson, ager for the Aso 3 Theatre Festi-
name by stupirvin- any man who Thompson, Nancy Boone, val in Sarasota, Florida,
looks at her. j Karen Reider, Peggie Ferguson, Organization and direction of the
Tom Jeffer/, a senior from
Bethesda, Md,, who has been in
strumental in the technical as
pects of Player productions for
the past two years, will be seen
as Earthquake McGoon, frustrated
suitor of Daisy Mae, and titled
the “World’s Dirtiest Wrestler,”
Alice Harding, Eveline Garrison, orchestra for the production will
John Lucas, Steve Myrick, Tim be handled by Prof. Jack 0. White
Kempson, Richard Bennett, John band director at Elon and a mem-
Lucas, Allen Bush, Ted Obrecht, ber of the Music Department fac-
Tom Payne, Chuck Richards,; ulty. Music director and vocal
Maurice Lippincott, and Jim Pepe.l coach will be Prof. Wendell Bar-
_The entire production of “Li’l^tolf, also of Elon's Music Depart-
Abner” will be under the direc- ment.
With only one semester to com
plete before eraduation, 1 would
like to take a look in retrospect
at academic life here at Elon,
with special regard for the teach
ing profession. This area of aca
demic life here at Elon, as in all
institutions of higher learning, is
perhaps one of the most import
ant facets of life in a college.
A student is to learn by his own
academic endeavors or studying.
arts degree. I, like others, feel
that such a course is a waste of
time, and yet I know that I must
take it in order to graduate.
Hence, only a minimum effort
do I make. Whose fault it is, I
would not attempt to say. Would
a curriculum change be desirable?
Maybe so! Maybe not! Possibly
the above situation is the sole
fault of the student. Maybe not!
There is, however, I feel an
other reason for the classroom
^ ^ , ,, but equally important is' the i being turned into a silent battle-
as if someone had told him that he really knowledge he is supposed to re- ground. It is the professor. He
wasn’t going to the electric chair.
Can anyone really be held responsible
for this abomination? Not really, for our
society seems to demand such sensational
ism to replace the slaughter in the Roman
arenas and the public hangings of seven
teenth century England (with boxing ap
parently on the way out, funerals will
probably get even more spectacular and
more morbid than they have to date). The
undertakers have to make a living and
they are certainly answering the call of the
consumer so a scapegoat can't be found
here.
In all seriousness there is a principle
of the Salvation Army that could work
to the benefit of mankind in this dilemma.
This being that man should praise and
(Contlnii»-d on Page Four)
ceive from his professors. It often'fails in many cases to show us the
seems that this particular area!way and fails to aid us in our
has been turned into a virtual bat-, search for some sort of answer,
tleground between professors and As a result we have been forced
students to the detriment of both, j 'o fight with those whose job it
In many cases in point, the stu-|is to help us; due to a consider-
dents show no desire to coperate, able degree in some instances to
and exude no effort toward learn- (heir apathetic attitude about their
ing. They would rather try to get
away with as little work as pos
sible and yet hope to gain a mark
or grade undeserved.
I would many succeed and many fail. I
have to admit that I too have been | sometimes seriously double wheth-
guilty of this, and even though' er there have ever been very many
the reason may be bad, I give it actual teachers. Teaching is dlf-
anyway. ficult and self - sacrificing, and
I have at times failed to fulfill | very few people possess such need-
my half of shall I say the “aca- 'ed traits.
demic contract” due solely to the j I remind you teachers that this
(fact that the course may hold is a student’s attitude. I may be
absolutely no interest for me, even wrong. However, my experience
A Sieeveless Erraiid
Ry WILLIAM BRADHAM
liberal and impressions tell me other-
instance, is there any
excuse for a teacher to sit up in
front of a class and lecture, or
shall we say “ramble,” with no
apparent goal evident to the stu
dent and then, when it is time
for a test, the student receives a
so-called standardized test with
questions that have never been re
ferred to previously by the pro
fessor and cannot be found in the
textbook.
In instances here, I have heard
members of an entire class say
that the professor was unable to;
answer a given question from a'
standardized test without looking
into his reference or teacher’s
manual. Is this fair to the stu
dent? Of course not.
I feel that a test should cover
material referred to in the class
room, along with supplemental ma
terial from the text. Also, it should
be the teachp’s duty to compile
any test which he gives. Or at
least, if he is pressed, he should
iwderstand any standardized test
that he gives. Failing to do this
^e teacher fails to fulfill his aca
demic contract with the student.
We are here to learn, and the
professor should make it his bus-
mess to help us. After all, teach
ing IS his profession, and who pays
part of his salary?
profession.
Other professors, however, want
to do their best, and they do try;
a few
blasts
and bravos
By
MIKE WYNGAKDEN
On Athletics
The last column discussed the niaop „p
athletics within the college commu^t^
especially in the large state-supported cnl
leges. This column deals with athletics in
the small college.
In the small college anytime athleUe?
becomes more important than academics
anytime an athlete’s life is devoted to plaV
ing basketball and going to class or anv
time a basketball player or a basebil
player is forced to practice throughout the
school year; then it is an obvious and
indeed pathetic fact that the realm of
athletics has expanded much too far. After
all, the purpose of coming to college is
to learn the liberal arts and not to devote
the entire four years to the winning of
athletic events. Athletics is not that im
portant.
At some small colleges, in which a pow
erful athletic committee dictates athletic
policy, athletics becomes over-emphasized
because of the coaches control over their
athletes. That is to say, some colleges
employ a policy which allows the coach
who recruited an athlete to have complete
wntrol over that athlete.
Such a ridiculous policy as this is detri
mental to the mental growth of the ath
lete, who is supposed to be, above all a
student and not some athletic puppet. This
type of policy stunts mental growth be
cause it substitutes winning games for
winning grades. It de-emphasizes extra
curricular activities for the athlete; it
opens the door for professors handing
good grades to athletes, thus allowing the
athlete the knowledge that he doesn’t have
to work for his grades.
Furthermore, this policy of allowing the
coach to control his players is a direct
repudiation of student academic freedom:
Athletes controlled by their coaches may
be denied participation in student govern
ment, student groups and committees. They
cannot participate in these activities
cause they may have to devote all their
time to the winning of games.
This type of coach, if he deserves that
title, may also demand that his athlete
practice whenever he desires, even if It
means yanking the athlete out of some
other sport. When you figure, for instance,
that a basketball team practices for the
entire school year and therefore controls
all athletic facilities available, then this
amounts to a very small fraction of the
student body monopolizing the gymnasium.
Now there are other effects arising from
such over-emphasis on athletics. Usually
in the small college, and many times in
the larger universities, there exists fric
tion between the athletic committee, com
posed usually of members of the faculty
and administration, and the coaches and
athletic director. Tliese committees think
at times that they are some guiding light.
A small Michigan college with which I
am familiar has an athletic committee
composed of dignified men and women of
the college. They are brilliant in their
respective fields of academic discipline;
they know little or nothing of the admin
istration of athletics. They mean well, but
their thoughts are rather shallow; it is
academics that come first, and then and
only then is it time for football, basketball
and baseball. It is obvious that these peo
ple are unaware of the proper administra
tion of college athletics; otherwise, they
would nover formulate such a policy as
the one which allows the coach to have
supreme control over the athlete he has
recruited.
Now, why should any coach have tto
power. It would be fine if the coach dio
as much for their athletes when it comes
to academics as they do when it comes
to athletics. .
This sort of policy is, obviously, most in
consistent with the majority of college
philosophies of education, which hire a
man first as a professor and second as
a coach. This is true, especially of small
colleges in which the athletic department
and physical education department
united into one major department under
direction of one man.
From all of the above, it is obvious that
the policy of coach control is highly out
of to’ich with the very essence of athletics.
The very core of athletics is intrinsic; the
sport is played for itself, not because some
coach demands that his players partici
pate in only one sport and practice five
days a week eight months a year
deny him the right of participation
campus activities. Such a practice con
stitutes professionalism and has no place
In the academic community.