Faee Two
THE SALEMITE
October ?6
’951
. . .
Rat Week Poll
''.Ve’re tired of heariti^ it said that the world
is falling apart and can’t last much longer,
that we’ll never -see another normal Christmas,
that young people are going to the dogs. We
won’t believe all this, and because we won’t
believe it, they call us frivilous youth and
accuse us of being over-optimistic and of
never thinking beyond next week-end’s dance.
But this isn’t fair. Optimism is character
istic of youth, and we believe we are right
when we say that we still have a pretty good
chance of being alive this time next year, or
even ten years from now. Certainly we’re
optimistic — it’s a good kind of optimism,
though, that says the world may seem wrong,
but we can at least look for what is right and
try to do something about the wrong. We’re
optimistic, but why try to kill it? Why con-
remn us for it?
Youth must have a chance to make up their
minds about what they think, and this is
hard to do when older people find only criti
cism. They accuse us of having no sense of
honor—no morals and ideals. And they use
the basketball scandal to prove their point.
But who started the scandal in the beginning?
Whose idea was it? Certainly not the idea
of the college basketball team.
Then they decide they will give us a chance
to show that we have morals; so they let us
use the honor system for governing ourselves.
And they give us our exams in two parts so
that we can’t discuss it during our break. Is
thfs any way to show us that they have faith
in our sense of honor? There’s little incentive
to be honest when we know that we are being
patrolled anyway.
They accuse us of listening to anything
anybody says—of being unable to distinguish
between what is right in a person and what
is wrong. They tell us that as soon as we
hear someone praise communism, we become
communists. But who talks communism to
us? We didn’t think up the idea ourselves.
Besides, there is little in our. own government
at present to make us think that it is right.
Our country is run by the adults, not the
youth. We can’t even vote yet. So it is their
place to show us this right. Our problem is
that we can see only corruption where we
look for good.
We are optimistic, but what’s wrong with
that? We do have ideals, but we need leader
ship. We want to distinguish between right
and wrong, but we can find little good to
use as a basis of distinction. Maybe, then,
it is not we who are to blame. All we ask
is that we be granted our youthful optimism
—that we be encouraged, not condemned.
E. M.
By Mary Ann Raine*
At the close of rat week a poll
of students was taken to determine
“Should Rat Week Be Abolished?”
Among the sophomores it was
practically unanimous that rat
week should not be abolished. As
one student said, “Rat week is a
tradition to which both the fresh
men and the sophomt'res look for
ward. It is a test of good sports
manship and it can be lots of fun
if it is taken in the right spirit.”
The freshmen were divided in
their opinion. Fifty percent were
in favor of rat week and fifty per
cent were against it. There were
many points brought out on both
sides.
“It promotes a closer relation
ship between the classes and causes
the freshmen to become better ac
quainted with the sophomores. It
breaks up the monotony of college
life and gives everyone something
different to do.”
“It may promote closer relation
ship between the classes but that
relationship could be fostered in a
better way. It takes too much
time from studies and serves^ no
purpose except to create bitter
feelings.”
It was the general opinion that
if rat week is to be continued some
improvements should be made. It
was suggested that rat week should
xome closer to the beginning of
school, that it should last only one
day, and that a study hall should
be required. It remains to be
seen whether or not rat week will
continue as a Salem tradition.
Dear Papa...
By Anne Lowe
Dear Papa,
Yesterday I talked to a boy who
had been in Korea for a year. He
said he had been looking in the
papers and trying to find out how
far the boys had gotten since he
left. All he could find was politics.
Then he said he found one small
article about a certain hill. He said
it looked like people over here had
forgotten that the boys were still
fighting and dying and were only
thinking about “will so-and-so run
for president?”
England is also looking at poli
tics. The Tories and the Laborites
are getting pretty hot in their
campaigning. Churchill said, “It
will be a very hard thing for
people if I win—I want sweat and
tears in order to avoid blood.”
That man sure does throw out
some powerful words, doesn’t he,
Papa ?
Mr. Clem Attlee, who is against
Mr. Churchill, is the quiet type.
He calmly tells folks what he
thinks about things. He says, “Mr.
What God Has Joined
^alcmite
.3
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Editor’s Note: Below is the un-
editied text of Dr. Julian
Lake’s sermon on marriage
delivered Oct. 7 at the First
Presbyterian Church. Because
of space limitations the sermon
vrill he printed in several sec
tions dealing with the several
subjects found in the marriage
ceremony.
Text: Mark 10:9—“What there
fore God has joined together, let
not man put asunder.”
Our text is taken from the tenth
chapter of Mark, the ninth verse,
where we have these words of
Jesus: “What therefore God has
joined together, let not man put
asunder.” In the year 1946 there
was one divorce for every three
marriages in America. N e ed I
explain the meaning of it. It does
not mean that one-third of all
people who were married at the
time were divorced, nor does it
mean that one-third of all the
people married in that particular
year were divorced; but it meant
that of the number that were mar
ried in that year, one-third of that
number were divorced, that is, a
third of that number of people
were divorced, some of them may
have been married for years. That
is serious enough, is it not? Things
have gotten a little better, thank
God, since that time, but not too
much better. If one-third of our
business houses, should fail, you
would do something about it If
one-third of the schools in Amer
ica should close their doors, you
would take steps to remedy that
situation. If one-third of the farms
in the United States should fail,
surely the Farm Bloc would be
marching on Washington. Well,
one-third of the marriages broke.
We ought to do something about
it. Let me suggest a very simple
thing we can do this morning.
We can read, study, and take to
heart the wedding ceremony.
Some of you are not married
yet, some of you are already mar
ried. When you stand before the
minister you never hear what is
read. You only come to conscious
ness long enough to say “I will”
or “I do,” depending on what mar
riage ceremony you have. Let me
in
it
suggest this : that we make a study
and absorb and take to heart the
wedding ceremony. At perhaps
the most impressive and dramatic
moment of the ceremony the min
ister asks the couple to join their
right hands, then he says to them,
“Whom God hath joined together,
let no man put asunder.” It is a
quotation from Jesus and Jesus is
quoting from the Book of Genesis.
Of course, the quotation is slightly
altered. Where you have “what”
in the Bible, you have “whom”
the wedding ceremony, but
means the same thing. “Whom
God has joined together, let no
man put asunder.” Jesus was an
swering a question put to Him by
Pharisees—“Is it lawful for a man
to divorce his wife?” Now, mil
lions of people who are not Phar
isees ask that question. I want
you to note that Jesus lifted it out
'of legalism and put it on a high
spiritual plane. Now you under
stand that the answer of Jesus has
been the battlefield of theologians
and Biblical students for hundreds
of years, and. this morning I don’t
want to get Tnto that war. Let’s
avoid it if we can; but let me
make one or two statements about
what Jesus said. Jesus was not a
legislator. He did not belong to the
Senate or the House of Represent
atives. He was not a lawyer or a
legalizer. Jesus, I feel, was not
thinking about law when He said,
“If a man divorces his wife and
marries another, he is* committing
adultery.” Jesus lifted this whole
business up onto a high plane and
He said that God so made man
and woman from the beginning, it
goes against the grain of their
creation and their very nature for
them to be married to a person
and then have that marriage break
up and marry somebody else.
I think that people who have
perienced that would be the first
ones to agree with it.
Note that in this passage of
scripture He said, “For this cause
shall a man leave his father and
mother and cleave unto his wife.”
It is very necessary that we note
that for this is precisely what a
man and woman should do. When
(Continued On Page Four)
Churchill is an old-fashioned poli
tician, and I suppose he can’t
change his methods.” This reminds
me of when Jackson Mahaffey ran
against Old Pink for the, town
council. Jackson was fiery too,
but he won.
In the meantime the Egyptians
are calling the British THE
ENEMY. I sorta agree with the
Egyptians about that treaty they
made with England, but I’m still
wondering what they’re going to
do about it.
Our vice-president, Mr. Barkley,
doesn’t get into the news often.
It seems he’s going to get a little
publicity soon though. I noticed
that Barkley’s secretary and a Sen
ate committee lawyer are accused
of helping swing a $1,100,000 guv-
ernment loan to build a luxury hotel
in Florida. I hope none of our
boys in Korea find out about this.
They might think some folks are
more interested in getting money
than saving, soldiers’ lives.
Your ever lov’en daughter,
Anne
And
ex-
By Emma Sue Larkins
Katy Kombs had been preparing for
Week ever since the first week of school when
some assuming little freshman not only snap,
ped on her current boy-friend, but slithered
off with him.
She had first of all practiced up on Gestapo
tactics. This involved shouting, snarling,
stomping, screaming, and scaring which in-
volved three call-downs. The call-downs were
administered by the same assuming freshman
who besides being a “snake” was also a
“proctor.”
So it was with much enthusiasm that Katv
chanted, “Freshmen, the Sophomores are com
ing after you.” It was with a gre^t deal
more enthusiasm that Katy began her own
private version of Rat Week.
Attired in black and holding in both hands
a lemon which she sucked if she ever had the
slightest desire to smile, Katy achieved the
desired effect as the big bad soph.
The theme this year was the Sophomores
as Adam and Eve (mostly Eve) and the Fresh
men as snakes. (Obviously Katy had been
chairman of the committee who decided on
the theme!)
Katy took a great deal of pleasure in snarl
ing “Slither Snakes”. The assuming Fresh
men looked especially good crawling on the
Katy made her slither across the hockey field
and back three times the day she forgot to
make up Katy’s bed, and Katy received her
fourth call-down. Besides being a snake and
a proctor, the assuming freshman also checked
rooms for I. R. S.
She was also a good sport much to Katy’s
distress. She adored being ratted— she ex
hilarated in it—;she blossomed from it.
By the end of Snake Week she had sung
‘—‘Beautiful Wilson” at least fifty times be
sides composing three new xmi’ses to it that
were a delight to all on campus.
The “flirting freshmen” had learned the
“Snake Song” backwards and forwards and
had mastered the “Snake Crawl” down to the
last slither.
She had set a new record by writing 12a
Snake letters and had received no less than
100 “interesting” answers. (Katy had had a
suspicion that the flirting freshman would be
good at writing Snake Letters—too good!)
Going even further she had proposed to
every male who had appeared on campus and
had gained some very promising replies. Even
Stevie Gramley said “yes” to the proposal,
because as he put it, “All boys like snakes.
Not only boys but everybody liked the.
Snaky Freshman. She was clever and so verj
fiFuny. Her impersonation of Katy at Stunt
Night as “The funniest looking sophomore
ever” earned Katy a sizable reputation. Ever)
one on campus—from Dr. Gramley to bo®?
Spencer — laughed continually when they
looked at Katy.
However, no one laughed quite as furiouslj
as did Katy’s ex boy-friend xvho came up
Snake Court. Katy had been looking f®''
ward to having him see the freshman as she
really was a down-trodden snake without
make-up or curls. Katy had been anticipa^
ing the day when her ex could contrast
lowly flirting freshman with her—the '
sophomore. Katy was sure he would see
as “The Eve who could get her Adam an
kill the snake.”
Adam saw her as Eve all right—^the
who had enslaved men too long—j
him. He was through with Katy, instea
Cupid Katy the Snake had struck Eis Eea
Right after Snake Court with which
flirting freshman sang “I’ve Got You
My Snake-Skin” and “I’m A Venom-Pach
Mama”—Adam and the snake slithered o
the Garden of Eden. (Carolina
Court in modern language.) They IcB
alias Eve holding the bag^—of lemons.