Page 2, April 1986
The Salemite
A Christinas Memoiy
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By; Liz McGehee
"It's fruitcake weather. Buddy," Truman Capote remembers the elderly
female cousin who raised him in Depression-worn Alabama exclaiming
every Christmas in his autobiographical short story A Christinas
Memory. For Capote, his cousin's announcement marked the beginning
of the holiday seasons.
Those words could well belong to my mother who, the week after
Thanksgiving, begins my family's Christmas rituals with her annual
holiday bake-off. Come December 1 jars of Russian spiced tea and old
fruitcake tins (the fruitcakes having been long ago used as doorstops or sent
as last minute gifts to people we don't like) filled with poundcake,
orangeslice cake, fruitcake cookies, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and
graham cracker-caramel-pecan cookies, start to occupy the lower
cupboards of the kitchen.
Over the following days my father hauls our boxed artificial, plastic
tree down out of the attic and my mother uncovers and then places gently
on our good dining room table rows upon rows of ornaments which fit
and crowd the branches of our tree. (The branches of our tree are angled
perfectly at 15 and 20 degree intervals.) Just two years old, the tree we
have now is already showing signs of disrepair. (In fact, buying a tree has
become for my family a process similar to that of buying a new car; each
year companies keep coming out with trees more sturdily constructed,
more streamlined, fire resistant, and imitation forest green than ever
known before. Approximately every four years we are forced to carry
home the latest model tree from the dealer showrooms.)
A certain kind of love arises from these rituals which carries over into
the rest of my year. 1 think it's the kind of love that Mahatma Gandhi was
referring to in the following selection from his Science of Satyagraha:
"The fact that there are so many men still alive in the world shows that
it is based not on the force of arms, but on the force of Truth or Love.
Therefore, the greatest and most unimpeachable evidence of the success
of this force is to be found in the fact, that, in spite of the wars of the
world, it still lives on."
Indeed, I think this love is the very force which led William Faulkner to
conclude optimistically in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech that
mankind will not only endure but will prevail. In the turmoil fostered by
the arms race, by the strife in South Africa and Latin America, by the
plights of the homeless and hungry, by the Marcoses and Duvaliers, I find
the notion that we have't killed ourselves off yet sort of comforting. So
despite the fact that there are still over 200 shopping days left until Santa
Claus makes his next rounds, 1 plan to keep keeping Christmas in my
heart.
Day Students Overlooked
By; Kimberty Btyant
The Off-Campus students are a vital and important
group of students at Salem College. We want to be
involved and active in campus events. But, it is almost
impossible for us to be included if signs are not posted
in the Day Student Center with the important
logistics, at least a week in advance. There have been
numerous occasions the Off-Campus students have
been omitted from campus events (Sophomore-
, Senior Banquet, SGA meetings, class meetings,
I yearbook pictures, etc.) simply because someone
neglected to post a sign in the Day Student Center.
The events listed above are not inclusive and have
continued to occur in a cycle for a period of many
years.
The assumption of many residential students is that
because we chose not to reside on campus, we also
chose not to be involved. As President of the Off-
Campus Association, 1 can assure you that this
presumption is far from being accurate. The subject of
I amission and the solution for it have been the topic of
Jiscussion at several of our meetings.
I believe that these omissions are senseless and must
stop. We, the Off-Campus students, can no longer
tolerate these systematic omissions. Whether the
omissions are committed intentionally or simply
oversights' is not important to the issue. What is
important is that the students, Off-Campus and
residential, take an initiative to ensure that the
existence of these omissions ceases. I will be greatly
satisfied knowing that new students, who choose to
live off campus, will not have to experience the same
frustrations that I have for three years which have
stemmed from the omissions.
The solution to this dilemma, which is ours as well
as the residential students, is simple. Everyone should
be extremely conscientious and aware to post a sign in
the Day Student Center identical to the one posted in
the dormitories and the refectory. Please remember, if
you choose not to post a sign in the Day Student
Center then you have made our decision for us. And
we have not been permitted to determine our own
destiny.
Centennial Homecoming
To the Editor,
When 1 was a Salem senior and
editor of the Salemite my
definition of an alumna was one
who had met all her deadlines,
passed her exams and graduated -
out of school, off campus and out
of touch. Many years later I realize
happily that graduation is simply
transition into one big class of
"study abroad" and that eventually
all "independent studies" lead right
back to campus.
This is especially true this year
when the Alumnae Association of
Pax Americana
By. Lois Gramley
The first and last thing to remember about foreign
policy is that it is determined by each nation according
to its own self-interest. The US is certainly no
exception, and a military advantage across the globe
seems to be a most attractive position in the eyes of
our policy makers. We have the most extensive
military presence in the world, encompassing 360
major bases and over 2000 facilities which cover
nearly every section of the globe.
Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean and
California in the US are polar opposites, and each
harbors bases for US militay installations. Our bases
are located from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean
Seas, the Indian Ocean, Europe, the Middle East,
Canada, Iceland, Greenland, and Asia. Indeed, from
one end of the earth to the other, the US exerts its
military prowess.
One may wonder why a nation with friendly
neighbors and oceans along its borders requires a
global network of military bases to protect itself. The
rationale behind US strategy and the justifications for
its dominant military stance provide a complex matter
for discourse. But there are several prominent theories
that lay the ground for the Pentagon's reasoning;
"national security" must be protected by deterrence
and by maintaining resource availability and regional
stability throughout the world. National security is
viewed on a global scale by the Pentagon because the
US has "interests" on a global scale and commitments
to other nations (we have signed 43 mutual
defense pacts which allow for forward-deployed
military facilities, and many smaller nations do
request our presence). Maintaining economic ties,
assuring use of transit facilities near Sea Lines of
Communication, diminishing Soviet influence and
agression, and promoting regional stability and
progress are needs which the Pentagon expresses to
justify its military posture.
Salem Academy and College
observes its 100th anniversary! For
almost a year now a special
Centennial Committee has been
planning for a giant homecoming
and year-long celebration of the
treasures of Salem - the history, the
place, and the people.
A research committee has
organized a comprehensive collec
tion of memorabilia of 1886-1986
in the Siewers Room of the library.
Kick-off events begin Alumnae
Week-end May 2-4, 1986 with the
grand opening of the restored
Rondthaler-Gramley House, a
birthday party in the May Dell and
special dinners and brunches for
all returning alumnae. In October
alumnae come back to college to
study (appropriately) "Historic
Preservation".
Local clubs everywhere will be
drawing themselves closer to
gether, having special functions to
project the image of Salem to their
communities. Special Christmas
events, musical concerts, lectures,
and art exhibits will carry the
sensational awareness of Salem to
the Centennial Celebration Finale
May 1-3, 1987.
It may be impossible for you, the
unborn alumnae, to realize our
born again joy, but we invite you to
join us and catch our enthusiasm!
We expecially ask for your
suggestions. What part of campus
life would you most like to share
with us? What would you add to
the celebration?
You may write to the Centennial
Committee, c/o Doris Eller at the
Alumnae House. We look forward
to your participation and your
responses. See you May Day!
Mary Ellen Thatcher
Centennial Chairman
National security is undebatably a necessary
undertaking for the government of the US in a world
with terrorists, a world where countries are
economically entwined, and a world where hostilities
among and within nations seem unending. As the
strongest democratic nation, America must and does
reach beyond its domestic concerns, for isolation
would be an impossible position in this age of
internationalism.
But, American foreign policy makers have taken us
beyond what is necessarily a part of our national
interest and have decided that the US merits a
predominant military role in world affairs, a job as
world affairs overseer and global policeman,
requiring bases and facilities and rapid deployment
forces on an expansive global scale.
In making the world our sphere of influence, we are
finding it easy to spread our ostensibly democratic
ideals by quite undemocratic means: intimidation and
force. And the tendency of the military mind to
perceive the world as a chessboard-type situation is
perpetuating a tendency to see it in only black and
white. Our allies in Central America, the South
Pacific, and Western Europe have become annoyed
over US military maneuvers and bases, rejected
American warship visits, and rebelled over our
missiles. While terrorist crises occur against the US
with seemingly increasing frequency, we have little
trouble showing Khaddafy what a real bully is. And in
Nicaragua, the Reagan Administration remains intent
on intervening to overthrow a government by force.
Maybe the best way to prevent war is to prepare for
it, but in view of the Administration's apparent need
to use bully diplomacy to get what it wants, we're
doing more than prepare for war, we're provoking it.
The first and last thing to remember about foreign
policy is that it is determined by each nation according
to its own self-interest. . .
Co-Editors:
Laney Frick, Maryanne McDonough, Liz McGehee
Business Manager;
Lynne Daniels
Sports Editor:
Tate Renner
Advertising Manager:
Alice Sanders
Circulation Manager:
Robin Wiley
News Staff:
Malinda McCall, Jodi Smith, Susan Webb, Monica Carter,
Christa Phillips, Barbara Teates, Linda Surles Christy Mock,
Robin Wiley, Lisa Councilman, Stephanie Zoebelein, Lois
Gramley and Helen Hagan.
Business Staff:
Marion Taylor, Marcy Svoboda, Lee Shackelford, Alice
Sanders
Photographers:
Laney Frick, Noel Lumpkin, Julia Vargas, Kathy Ferrara
Sports:
Caroline Robinson, Christa Phillips,
Graphics:
Malinda McCall