Vol. LIX, No. 5
Dean Says Salem
Is Student-oriented
By Linda Joynes
Dean Helmick, Salem’s new Aca
demic Dean, has been on campus
for over a month. That month
has done nothing to dampen her
enthusiasm about Salem. Enthu
siasm is the first thing I sensed
when we began to talk, and to be
sure, she likes to talk because
she and Dr. Hill chatted away
while I waited in her outer office
and got a good start on my Span
ish paper. She is easy to talk to;
\ think I talked more than I
listened.
However, I discovered that
Dean Helmick has gracefully
settled into campus life, and her
second impressions of Salem coin
cide with her first: “I am just so
pleased with everything that has
happened so far. It is a remark-
ahe place to work,” she said,
halem is remarkable, Dean Hel-
miCK believes, because the Fac-
y, and the Administration are
Ment-oriented. They know Sa
cra s purpose; they all strive for
e same goal: to provide a strong
cnal arts education for women.
Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Friday, February 25, 1977
Thomas Transformed
to Twain in Three Hours
Along with these general state
ments concerning Salem, Dean
Helmick and Faculty are working
on new academic programs.
Piedmont Studies may be a
new degree program consisting
of local research into the Pied
mont’s rich culture, its music,
art and literature, history and
politics. The program would be
an inter-departmental effort. An
other new possibility is Economic
Management, and yet another
option may be a Home Economics
Program geared to older returning
students.
Touching momentarily on the
Faculty Advising issue, Dean
Helmick says that she wishes to
talk with both faculty and stu
dents. She does not want the
issue to become a “venting situa
tion” but rather a constructive
exchange of criticism and sugges
tions between both parties.
Our conversation ended with an
open invitation. Dean Helmick
says that her office is open all
day, and if she is not busy, stop
by anytime.
By Janet Jones
Jack Thomas spoke about Mark
Twain on the morning of February
15. By 8:00 that night, he spoke
as Mark Twain.
Thomas, an actor from West
Virginia, came to campus to per
form “Mark Twain on Stage” last
Tuesday evening.
Earlier in the day he talked to
a group of students and faculty
members about some of the lesser-
known aspects of Twain’s life.
One of Thomas’s main topics of
discussion was Twain’s courtship
of Olivia Langdon, who became
his wife. According to Thomas,
Twain became involved with
“Livy” in an unusual fashion.
Twain first met her brother
Charles, who had an ivory image
of his sister on a chain. When
Twain saw the statue, “it was love
at first sight,” said Thomas. Twain
vowed to meet the girl, and he
did. He eventually won her by
courting her through letters, ac
cording to Thomas.
After Olivia and Twain were
married, Thomas continued,
Olivia, who was a devout Chris
tian, tried to ingrain her faith into
her husband, who was not a will
ing convert. Twain, according to
Thomas, refused to “lead a hypo
critical life;” he believed that all
religions have just as good a story
to tell as does Christianity.
Thomas emphasized that Twain
was an extremely wealthy and ex
travagant man during the height
of his popularity. He built a house
that resembled a steamboat, and,
according to Thomas, spent over
$100,000 a year entertaining guests
at the house.
Later in the day a small group
of students, reporters, and photog
raphers watched Thomas trans
form himself into Twain for the
evening performance. Thomas be
gan applying make-up at 4:30 p.m.
and completed the process about
three hours later.
According to Thomas, the white
suit he wears is a carefully tail
ored replica of the suit that the
writer wore during his lifetime.
During the make-up demonstra
tion Thomas said that he studied
movies of elderly people in order
to help him with movement in his
impersonation of the 70-year-old
Twain.
At approximately 8:05 p.m.,
Thomas shuffled onto the stage in
Hanes Auditorium as Mark Twain.
His set was a rocking chair, a rug
and table; his props, a cigar, a
kerosene lamp, and some books.
He began his raspy monologue
with a confession: laziness had
prevented him from performing
here last year. Commenting on his
first job, Thomas said, “I didn’t
want to work, so I became a
schoolteacher.”
Lapses of memory and a brief
nap flavored his telling of a Twain
tale, “The Old Ram.” The lights
dimmed for Thomas’s rendition of
“The Ghost Story.” The audience
flinched, then chuckled at the sud
den conclusion of the story.
The remainder of Thomas’s
monologue covered such favorite
Twain topics as politics, religion,
smoking, and lying, as well as a
section from Huckleberry Finn.
He said he used to lie, “but
gave it up since the field was so
overrun by amateurs.” And, tak
ing a shot at politicians, he con
tinued, “The lie is man’s truest
friend . . . and will never perish
from the earth as long as Congress
remains in session.”
But Twain’s favorite topic for
satire was “that curious invention
the human race.” “Man started a
little lower than angels and has
been getting lower ever since,”
said Thomas, “I sometimes won
der,” he added, “if God didn’t
invent man because he was dis
appointed in the monkey,” and,
“Man is the only animal that
blushes, or needs to.”
Thomas also inserted a rebuttle
to Franklin’s epigram, “Early to
bed, early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise”: “the
old folks have to get up early:
they’ve done so many mean things
in their lives, they can’t sleep.”
The script for “Mark Twain on
Stage” is the result of years of
study and research on Thomas’s
part. He has performed the show
for almost six years at colleges
and universities throughout the
nation.
Thomas’s visit was sponsored
by and coordinated by the college
Lecture-Assembly Committee,
which is headed by Dr. Pubantz.
Oslo Summer Proves Valuable
By Lisa Jorgenson
At this time every year there
appears in the refectory an an
nouncement about something
called the Oslo Scholarship. The
normal reaction to this sign is
“Does this mean we have to have
.Norwegian fish for dinner to
night?” ... in other words, most
people do not give the scholarship
a second thought — but it can
mean a lot. This scholarship is
funded by L. Corrin Strong, for
mer ambassador to Norway, and
is open to all rising juniors and
seniors. In past years, applicants
have been asked to write a four-
page paper concerning contempo
rary society — hardly a chore for
a $1,250 scholarship! After being
a recipient of the scholarship, I
can wholeheartedly recommend it
to anyone.
You may have been to Europe
before, but going to summer school
is totally different. You are given
a unique opportunity to know
firsthand both the Norwegian cul
ture and the many other cultures
represented by the foreign stu
dents (it’s almost like visiting the
U.N.!). It is rather strange that
in Norway I should learn more
about the Iranian, Turkish, Israeli,
and African cultures than I have
in my four years of college. Amer
ica has been called a “melting
pot” of cultures in which person
alities of different countries have
blended to form a unique Ameri
can character; and by meeting
these other foreign students I can
appreciate some of the strong
cultural diversity that went into
making this American character.
The Norwegians, in contrast, are
culturally, linguistically, religi
ously and racially homogeneous.
This uniformity creates great
feelings of nationalism as well as
a sense of community. It was
comforting to see people identify
with their king and to take such
pride in their country. One of the
highlights of my summer was ex
changing greetings with King
Olav — it’s no wonder the people
admire him so much! The entire
summer school was invited to the
king^s summer palace for food
and drinks but more impressing
was his warm, personal welcome.
Being able to visit with relatives
added yet another dimension to
my summer in Norway . . . my
equivalent to “Roots” I suppose!
Since I was living in Oslo, which
was much like many other cities,
it was nice to travel to the coun
try villages of my relatives (those
scenic little towns which we all
(Continued on Page 4)
Parents’
W eekend
Update
By Ginger Harris
As you may know Parents’
Weekend, March 4, 5, and 6, is
just about two weeks away. Much
progress has been made with
plans for the weekend since the
last “news bulletin” from the
Parents’ Weekend Committee.
“Those Were The Days” is the
overall theme chosen for Parents’
Weekend. This is why we need
your cooperation in obtaining a
■"‘now” and “then” picture of
vour parents and yourself. The
pictures should have you^r name
written in pencil on the back, as
we plan to use them in the deco
rations for the dance.
Another question frequently
asked is why do we need to
charge $20 per couple. This
money is a lump sum to cover
the various activities of the week
end instead of asking for $2.00
here and $5.00 there. The $20.00
per couple registration fee in
cludes Friday night activities
(skits); Saturday coffee, lunch
and tea; all Saturday activities
such as the seminars and tennis,
the Dance; and Sunday Brunch.
We, the Parents’ Weekend Com
mittee, do not feel that this is too Committee, several “higher-ups”,
much to ask of our parents. The and then voted on by the Corn-
decision was discussed by the mittee and adopted.
PARENT’S WEEK-END SCHEDULE
Sons'; Soph.—Sr. Banquet Skit;
Senior — Founder’s Day Skit;
Friday, March 4
4 :()()' 5:00 Kesistrntion. Main Hall
5:00- 0:50 Buffet Supper, Refectory
800- 0:00/0:50 Freshmen—Founder’s Day
Junior—Founder’s Day Sons
All—son^? “Are You Listening”
Saturday, March .5
0:00-10:50 La^e Uejjistration. Main Hall
0:50-11 :15 Morning ('offee. the (hiuiiiff^rims’ home
ll;50-l-:45 ‘‘Mini-Seminars” F.A.(/ — 11:50-11:45—Welcome to Parents, Intro
ductions. and Oener.il Information — Hanes
11 :45-ll2:45 — 3 Mini-Seminars
12:50' 1:45 Buffet Lunch
2:00' 5:00 Assorted Activities Tennis. Old Salem. Shopping in town, etc.
4:15- 5:50 Babcock Tea. An opportunity for imrents to meet the faculty
8:50-12:50 Formal Dance. Refectory, BYOB, Mixers provided, black tie
0})fional, Special Oi-casion — band
Sunday, !Mar'h 6
11 :50- 1 :00 Brunch