Page Four
March 4, I94Q
Our Student Leaders Speak
(Ed. note: There has been lately a
good bit of thought put on the ques
tion of what each major organiza
tion on campus does. Many of the
organizations have duties which are
open and we need not be reminded
of them. But there are many small
and un-recognized activities which
are taken for granted by the stu
dent body, which are just as neces
sary as the more prominent and
larger activities—we think that the
student body should be made aware
of all of these. With this in mind,
the Salemite presents this week, an
open letter from the heads of each
major organization summarizing her
organization’s work.
In two weeks we will begin elec
tions for officers to fill these major
offices next year. We urge you to
think about the responsibility con
nected with each office before
voting.
The organizations included in this
section are the Student Government,
the YWCA, the IRS, the Sights and
Insights, the May Day Committee
and the A. A. The Salemite is
not represented as we had an arti
cle, “The Story of a Story” sum
marizing our work, in an i^sue be
fore Thanksgiving and felt that it
was not necessary to .repeat this.
ANNUAL
Manager can begin to worry about
where the money is coming from to
pay all the bills. Time marches on,
proofs are returned for proof-read
ing (which entails much more than
the words imply) and finally the
whole business is sent back for the
final printing.
That, very briefly, is what goes
on behind your annual. The feel
ings of bewilderment, discourage
ment and panic are impossible to
write down in words. I can say
only that it takes hard work and
the ability to think during late
hours, to edit a yearbook but .when
the child is finally born, one can
see that the worry and work hasn’t
been in vain.
YWCA
night will be held in the spring,
also. We wanted to send delegates
to the National Y Conference in San
Francisco, but decided that the
money can be spent to greater ad
vantage at Salem. Incidentally if
you wonder why we are always hav
ing money making projects, total
the expenses facing us and throw in
all of the national organizations to
which we have to contribute.
IRS
STEE GEE
by Tootsie Gillespie
To the majority of students who
have an annual put into their hands
at the end of the year, the year
book is something which is merely
the inevitable result of a year at
school, sometliing which is expected
and something which is never right-
■ fully appreciated. It is an obje;t
which suddenly appears out of no
where, all bound and new and ready
to read. But let me tell you just
a few points to keep in mind, not
only when looking through the
Sights & Insights, but any yearbook
you may happen to pick up. Re
member that the work of the editor
and her staff doesn’t suddenly begin
when the class photographer comes
to take pictures. The., work began
many months ago, back in the sum!
mer, on a blank sheet of paper, and
those tiny shreds of ideas that began
simmering in the summer, continue
until the last annual is handed out.
The entire layout of the book (or
how each separate page looks) is
started in the summer. Each page
is (or should be) handled like a
separate piece of art that must be
perfectly balanced and pleasing to
the eye. Even the psychological
effect of each page is considered
and changed around many times
before it is completed. When school
begins, the annual work really be
comes heavy. There are a million
and one lists to be checked and re-'
cheeked, pictures by the dozens to
be made, all types of club write-ups
to be got and then re-written a
dozen times, now assignments are
constantly to be made, the gruesome
business of getting all the class pic
tures done and, by the way, passing
all your academic work. Add to
this the constant proofs of art work
from the engraver to be O.K.’d and
the continual flow of correspondence
between the editor and her engraver
and printers.
If the editor and her staff are
lucky, they will meet their deadline,
in which case some of the work
eases up a bit and the Business
by Betty Holbrook
When are Y meetings held? Sev
eral people have asked this question
and it makes one wonder if it ever
occurred to them that every project
that the Y sponsors is a meeting of
the Y. Sunday night vespers, Early
Morning Chapel and Y-Wateh are
the old standbys that continue thro
ughout the school year.
What has the Y done this year?
Do you remember the marriage cli
nic with Mrs. Quid as speaker; what
about the pajama party in Clewell
in September; the tea given with
the Stee Gee; the coffee for Miss
Isabelle Catto; the letters you re
ceived before school started? You
must have' noticed the calendars
placed in your rooms and your names
on the door to your room—who did
it—the Y, of course! We -tried to
promote several things that didn’t
go through such as a faculty play
and dinner for the Wake Forest
football team—they were good ideas
anyway. We launched and are Spon
soring the W. S. S. F. drive (don’t
forget to meet your pledge). This
year we are trying something new—
an Interfaith Council as part of the
Cabinet to look after the religious
side of campus life and to take
care of denominational groups. The
Moravian Church has been extremely
helpful in this and has offered us
the use of any of their facilities.
Surely you know who puts the candy
and food in each dorm, who is res
ponsible for the coke machines, and
have you seen the new 7-UP and
candy machines in Clewell?
What are we going to do? Big
plans are afoot but since surprises
add zest to life, we’ll keep a few
projects undercover until the right
moment to announce them. You
can look forward to the bright spot
during exams—Y . Filling Stations.
Religious Emphasis Week was in
February with Dr. Warner Hall as
speaker. We are planning to have
an Easter Egg Hunt for the colored
orphans, maybe a dance or big stu
dent-faculty party, and whatever
else you want or suggest. Stunt
by Bet Pearson
When someone told you that the
I. R. S. is the Social Standards Com
mittee, I wonder exactly what that
meant to you. If you are anything
like I was when I first came to
Salem, it was just a bunch of words
with little meaning. However, those
words have grown to mean much
more to me—an ideal or way of liv
ing graciously and courteously, j.
hope you don’t think of your I. R, S.
as an organization to give you a
call-down wiien you wear a kerchief
in the dining room or knit on those
argyles under your napkin—You are
the I. R. S., and you’ve always
heard “a chain is only as strong
as it’s weakest link”, so we must
all contribute to the whole so we
can be proud to say ^‘1 Represent
Salem. ’ ’
The I. R, S. is also an organiza
tion of fun and social events open
.0 everybody. Remember our Sun
day afternoon tea for the new fac
ulty and students? And do you like
the idea of having birthday dinners
to make school seem a little more
like home? This . year we have
taken over making out table assign
ments, and by the way the new
assignments will be posted after
Christmas. The I. R. S. gave the
Tea Dance before the Student Gov
ernment Dance back in October.
We enjoyed putting on th'e Chapel
program—we hope you enjoyed it
as much.
The competition between dorms
for the most attractive and most,
original Christmas decorations was
another of our projects. Every year
the I. ,R. S. gives-a prize to the
dorm selected by the judges as the
best on the basis of the above men
tioned qualifications. This year the
Senior members of Salem won it for
their decoration of Bitting dorm
decidedly modern and functional.
The biggest event of the calendar
was the Christmas dance and we say
we enjoyed it and hope that you did.
Another of our undertakings was
Charm Week. Mrs. Drummond was
on hand to give the girls facials—
free, that is. She also gave advice
to the skin-lorn and recommended
special creams for special troubles.
We’re planning another Bridge
Party—this time not during six
week tests! Maybe an after dinner
or two and of course.there is the
May Day Dance. There’ll be more
fun for all if you’ll join in with
the crowd.
by Nell Penn Watt
The Student Government Associa
tion on our campus is,a democratic
organization in which students and
faculty have vested the powers of
leading and guiding student life.
In view of this never-ending pur
suit, never a day or week goes by
that is not a challenge to the stu
dent government as an organization
and its members as individuals.
There is no beginning or end for
the work of a school year for it con
tinues over every summer and actu
ally never takes a vacation. The
first undertaking of this summer,
after a few weeks of recuperating
from the previous year, rests on the
shoulders of the vice-presidents. The
handbook, which has been re-edited
by a student-faculty committee at
the last of school, goes to press, us-
alljq the day school gets out. There
is proof-reading and trips to the Sun
Printing Company to see that the
handbook comes out by August first.
Red hot off the press, they are
rushed to the anxiously awaiting
freshmen.
The second undertaking of the
summer for the members of the Stee
Gee is planning orientation. The
first week program must be planned
hour by hour with plenty of enter
tainment squeezed in. An orienta
tion booklet of this program must
be printed for. the freshmen, faculty
and members of the Stee Gee who
come back early with the freshmen.
And we can’t overlook the letter
writing job. Letters must be sent
to every member of the student
body—it is mimeographed, however
and another letter of welcome sent
to the new students. There are also
letters to the senior advisors tellipg
them of their necessary early return,
their teaching job and advises
names. Less routine letters make
arrangements for the Stee Gee
houseparty, which takes plaee in
August at the beach or the moun
tains or anywhere that strikes the
fancy of the judiciary board. The
kouseparty, which takes place in
to plan the details of orientation
and discus,s projects for the entire
comm year.
When opening day arrives, the
work_ really begins. That first week
of orientation is chocked full—meet
ing the new students, helping them
0 get settled, entertaining the
freshmen at a Stee Gee party, ar
ranging a student-faculty tea and
seeing that the new* girls like Salem
from the very beginning.
At the beginning of the second
week handbook tests must be given
to the new students and to the old
students. Regular Stee Gee meet-
ings begin, first with the Executive
ommittee which meets every'Mon-
ay to discuss campus problems,
at things are running smoothly.
After the flurry of those first
weeks, the Student Government
iTeltlTr October,
campus. " "" organization on
e Stee Gee conducts freshmen
elections. Also, the Legislative Com-
mittee must call for and review
petitions which are submitted for
tne ^ '
November. At an appropriate time
before the end of the term, the
Stee Gee sponsors Honor Week
when all students as members of the
Student Government Association are
asked to sign the pledge to the
honor system, which every Salemite
is expected to live up to every day
in the year. This year. Honor Week
was the second week in January.
The big project for the spring
semester is elections. The last of
February, the Nominating Commi
ttee of Student Government begins
its meetings and it is this committee
that is responsible for carrying out
the elections. They must submit
nominations to the student body and
accept review petitions for other
nominations. The actual elections
are held in chapel periods in March.
In April all campus officers are
sworn into office at a Student Gov
ernment installation in chapel. They
immediately resume their new duties.
Also, at the end of February, the
Legislative Committee has its second
meeting. Other meetings may be
called by the chairman if further
business arises.
It’s a busy time until the end of
school for the Stee Gee. There is
the Conference of Southern Inter
collegiate Student Government As
sociations to which Salem sends re
presentatives. The handbook must
be re-vised and re-edited by a Stu
dent-Faculty Committee. Ads must
be gotten to pay for its printing and
it must be ready to go to press at
the end of school.
A committee of faculty mnci all
new officers meet and start compil
ing plans for orientation program
for the next year. The Nominating ■
Committee must conduct elections
for bouse presidents as soon as new
room assignments are made.
The foregoing is a skeleton of the
main projects of the Student Gov-
^Co-!ti ir.ed on page five)
MAY DAY
I’all Legislative meeting
by lone Bradsher
The May Day Committee—we who
are responsible for the presentation
of May Day in the spring. The work
for May Day does not begin the
week or month before it happens.
It begins a year before. It begins
with the election of the new May
Day Chairman who makes out her
list of helpers in the spring. In the
summer the script is written and
revised—and revised. Ideas and
plans are thought out.
In the fall, the committees begin
to function. There are many ar
rangements to be made for the elec
tion of the Court, Maid and Queen
— nominations — dresses — photo
graphers—the final “scoop” for the
Salemite.
Soon after Christmas, the dance
group and the music group '"'lU
work on choreography. Sewing mach
ines will buzz as costumes are being
made. There is the consultation
with florists, publicity is begun, and
there is the printing of thousands
of programs.
In the spring, those who feel
talented or just want to help,
be in the pageant—^practices in the
Dell at five. From then on: Salem-
ites muttering to themselves—''Let>
the sun shine! ’’
May Day is not presented by one
group or one person, everybody
more than welcome to help. It takes
time, it takes thinking, but it i®
something that is exciting to work
in on, to plan and to be in.
/