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Page Two
THE TWIG
February 15, 1946
Newspaper of Students, Meredith College
Member
Pissocioted Golie6iate Press
EDITORIAL STAFF
Jewell Eatman Editor
Florine Olive Managing Editor
Elizabeth Davis Associate Editor
Mable Summers Associate Editor
Ruth Franklin Associate Editor
Marilynn Ferrell Feature Editor
Frances Wallace Photo Editor
Elizabeth Sawyer Columnist
Betsy Jean Holt Music Editor
Ruth Martin Sports Editor
Reporters—Ruth Hall, Ann Hood Hughes,
Norma Cartwright, Hilda Austin, Barbara
Shellsmith, Stella Lassiter, Mary Alice
Turner.
Typists—Myra Teague, Jerry Miller, Olema
Olive, Jean Trentman, and Bette Linney.
BUSINESS STAFF
Martha Hamrick Business Manager
Mary Martin Advertising Manager
Alice Delbridge Circulation Manager
Frances Watkins..Ass't Circulation Manager
Members of Business Staff—Margaret Wil
son, Emily Hine, and Doris Moore.
Entered as second-class matter October 11, 1923,
at postoffice at Raleigh, N. C., under Act of March
3, 1879. Published Semi-monthly during the months
of October, November, February, March, April and
May; monthly during the months of September,
December and January.
Subscription rate, $2.00 per year to students.
Alumnae membership associational fee $2.00, of
which $1.00 covers a year’s subscription.
Thought for the day . . .
“And we know that to them that love
God all things work together for good,
even to them that are called according
to his purpose.”—Romans 8:28.
Will IPiscussion Series
Prore Successful?
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
The plan for having extra student
meetings in the Auditorium each Thurs
day night, which was outlined in chapel
February 7 and is now being executed,
may prove to be the successful solution
to many disturbing problems here on
the campus.
The feeling is practically unanimous
that the regular student assemblies have
proved inadequate, not only from the
point of view of a lack of time, but also
in that students have been unprepared
for well-thought-out discussions. Issues
have been brought up and a feeble at
tempt often has been made to settle
them in the remaining five minutes be
fore the bell rings. The short period of
time plus the fact that topics for dis
cussion were not always known before
hand have often resulted in hurried re
marks by students who were completely
in ignorance of the facts of the issues at
stake and in the employment of the tech
niques of persuasion more than in
formative discussion. These sessions,
however, at least have shown that the
student body has many questions which
it hopes can be clarified by openly air
ing them before the entire group and
having all the facts shown on both sides.
The students feel that group discussions
prove constructive, the degree of con
structiveness depending, apparently, on
how they are carried out. The organ
ized discussions led by interested well-
informed students as proposed in the
new plan should prove very helpful.
Especially does the suggestive list of
topics seem well chosen, for surely some
of the more serious misunderstandings
have arisen about such topics as “the
honor system,” “the relationship be
tween the honor system and the stu
dent government,” and “the responsi
bilities of students in a student govern
ment.” Complaints and issues frequent
ly have been hurled at the Student
Government Council over which they
have no jurisdiction. Later questions
come up as to why these issues are not
settled because their authority is not
completely understood.
These Thursday night discussion
groups should prove beneficial to every
one at Meredith who is interested in
thorough, intelligent treatment of ques
tions raised and who is interested in
helping erase some of the now existing
misunderstandings. Every student
should feel a certain responsibility in
making them a success, for their success
or failure will represent the student
body, will reveal whether it is capable
of carrying on orderly, rational, and
democratic, group discussions.
I was very interested in the letter
appearing in The Twig of Jan. 18 ask
ing if we still have an honor system at
Meredith. It was asked if we can still
have an honor system and check on stu
dents and if the honor system is “merely
floating around in the minds of ideal
ists.”
The honor system at Meredith, as de
fined by the Student Government Asso
ciation Constitution, means that each
student conforms her conduct to the
Meredith standards of honor, fulfills
her responsibilities to the Student Gov
ernment Association and to the college,
and sees that others do likewise. Each
student when coming to Meredith ac
cepts this definition of the honor system
and is expected to carry it out. When,
however, it becomes known that stu
dents are not living up to this honor
system, it becomes the duty of the Stu
dent Government Council, as the elected
executive body of the Association, to see
that the honor system is enforced.
Why is it necessary to enforce the
honor system? First would be the goal
of ultimately achieving an honor system
upheld by each student. Second, the
honor of the whole group must be pro
tected from being destroyed by a few of
the group who consistantly break it
down. When the honor system is con
stantly abused, some means must be
taken to correct that abuse and to keep
the whole system from collapsing.
I am not saying that checking is a
good way to enforce an honor system;
it is a very poor means, distasteful and
unpleasant to everyone. The Student
Government Council has tried checking
this year in only one field, that of chapel
attendance. The honor system has been
given a chance to work without check
ing in every other field of student gov
ernment, smoking, wearing hats and
hose, etc. How well do you think it has
functioned?
What other means besides checking
could be taken to make the honor sys
tem work? The only means I can think
of is a wholesale education-towards-
self-government program that would
bring each student to understand and
uphold their part in the honor system.
Perhaps the student discussions now
taking place will help do this.
The honor system functions only as
each student makes it function. It
4AHiU
by LIB SAWYER
I think I’m supposed to write about
Valentine’s Day; but valentines remind
me of hearts, and hearts remind me of
love for somebody, and love for some
body reminds me of getting to them, so
I believe I’ll write about buses.
Buses have been defined as those
vehicles which carry from 50 to 200
passengers (mostly in the aisles) not to
their destination but to some isolated
spot for approximately a 6-hour rest
period, preferably in the small hours of
the night because of that dreaded oc
currence known to all of us as a break
down.
I doubt if there is a better way to
study this phenomenon than to follow
one of its passengers through a trip—
sort of the participant-observer method,
they call it. Let’s take that college girl
over there with the red hat.—Um Hum,
she must be from Meredith. We’ll name
her Unit ’cause that’s what they call a
case study I found out.
We’ll just have to imagine how she
simply what we make it, and the honor
system will live for us as we live it.
Flora Ann Lee.
Dear Editor:
In a letter which appeared in The
IS
Twig recently, there was a discussion
on “Why the library couldn’t be opened
on Sunday for those students who
wished to read the periodicals.” May I
suggest that we do have a place on the
campus where students may read maga
zines on Sunday or any time they wish.
This place is the Baptist Student Union
Game Room.
In case you’ve never seen this room,
it is located across from Miss Baker’s
ofhee. Among the periodicals there are
Life, Century, Readers’ Digest, New
York Times, Between the Lines, and
others.
Besides good reading material there
are games. In case you didn’t know,
this room is a wonderful place to enter
tain your date. We hope very soon to
have a new record player and records
for you to enjoy. Doubtless, there are
many other places on the campus where
we could find entertainment, if we
would just look around.
Sue Betty Chapman,
Publicity Director of B.S.U.
Scanty Sketches
By BETSY HATCH
The power of suggestion is amazing!
And to that very power we owe the
presence of Ruth Vande Kieft at Mere
dith. Acting on what she says was “the
best suggestion anyone ever gave me,”
Ruth decided to come here when her
parents moved to Raleigh.
Ruth was born in Holland, Michigan,
and she’s really Dutch. (Her father
came from the Netherlands when he
was five.) When she was six, her pa
rents moved to New Jersey and she re
mained there through high school. Ruth
attended school at Calvern College in
Grand Rapids, Michigan, her first year.
That summer she joined her family here
in Raleigh, where her father is a service
men’s pastor. Then came that wonder
ful suggestion, and Ruth became a day
student sophomore at Meredith.
Her reception here was a nice sur
prise to Ruth. Although she knew no
one, everyone was very friendly, and
soon she came to love the south. Now
only occasionally does she have home
sick spells for the north.
The best way anyone could ever pic
ture Ruth Vande Kieft would be to say
she’s very blond, has a merry smile and
a low chuckle, and loves kelly green (in
which she looks very nice, incidentally).
Her interests are quite varied. She likes
to write and sing. Ruth has composed
some very nice poetry, and her pet writ
ers are Hardy, Sandburg, and Keats.
But music is her favorite pastime. She
enjoys symphonies very much; the com
posers she particularly likes are Beeth
oven, Wagner, and Debussy. As to
movies, she prefers a good drama or a
musical comedy that doesn’t pretend to
have a plot. Two of Ruth’s loves are
bracelets and chess. She has lots of
bracelets, but she never wears them;
and she simply dotes on a good game of
chess. Ruth likes to talk; she enjoys a
discussion about anything from Pla
tonic love to Liederkranz cheese. As to
foods, she adores Southern fried chicken,
fish foods, and cheeses, but she misses
the hard rolls from up north. And Ruth
can cook! Once when her mother was
away she cooked all week-end for
twenty-five soldiers!
Not only can one see Ruth’s versa
tility through her likes but from what
she’s done in school, also. She is in the
orchestra and the glee club. She’s a
member of the Silver Shield and Kappa
Nu Sigma. Last year Ruth was swim
ming manager for the Athletic Associa
tion and vice president of the Day Stu
dent Council. This year she’s president
of the Day Students. Ruth’s getting her
major in sociology and her minor in
English—and incidentally, she’s a dean’s
list student.
Not to omit another interest—
“Chuck” is in Pearl Harbor, and there
are a couple of boys overseas yet. That’s
all she will say.
As to plans for next year, Ruth hopes
to do post graduate work at the Univer
sity of Michigan or maybe Red Cross or
social work.
got here at the station, but if she is like
most college girls, it went something
like this. After a class that almost
never ended, she dashes out to a cab
that isn’t there and which, when it does
arrive, has to pick up at least four other
passengers before heading in the direc
tion of her bus. But if she has already
bought her ticket and can find it, she
still may have a chance to squeeze on
the bus.
Phew, she made it, and is now merg
ing into her very close neighbors in
order to enable the driver to get the door
closed and with her on his side of it.
Her neighbors happen to be several
dyed muskrats sewn together and
draped across a lady who proudly re
gards them as mink. Muskrat or mink,
they tickle one’s nose who is as close as
our college friend. Unit. But because
of her excellent courses in rhythms and
modern dance, she miraculously man
aged to keep on both feet except, of
course, for and sudden stops or corners
which inevitably resulted in a mass of
mangled muskrats and herself.
But with traffic out of the way and
the highway stretching ahead, she be
gan to feel more at ease. Then, you
guessed it, at the first crossroads a tingle
signaled the driver to stop and the
passengers in the aisle to file out for,
you guessed it again, it was next to the
last man in the bus who pulled the cord.
With one man less, Unit and the little
muskrats had breathing room once
again, that is, until an old, old man took
his place, accompanied by two crates of
baby chicks whose peeping the driver
was forever mistaking for the bell.
But fate finally came around to her
side and Unit stole a seat right from
under the eleven aggravated muskrats.
Ah, how good it felt—now to sleep—
sleep. However, the gentleman with
whom she was seated began holding up
both ends of a conversation which re
sulted in his dramatic recitation of some
of his own poems whose rhythm con
flicted with the mighty snores of the
man behind them and the noise of the
bus; in fact, with everything. The poet
explained kindly that he only rode the
bus to read his poetry to those fortunate
enough to sit by him.
Happily, the bus didn’t collapse for
another forty miles; the lucky passen
gers only waited a little over an hour
in the cold, and they were on their way
again. But, counting the hour wait in
the next town in transferring to another
bus, precious hours at home were lost.
Unit was not lucky enough to get a seat
this time; but then, she really didn’t
expect one since the bus was full when
it came and she didn’t have a fighting
chance.
After thousands of stops, exits, re
entrances and starts, she saw in the dis
tance the lights of her own home town
and forgot in a second the trouble she
had had just to see that sight.
And the last we hear of Unit, after
she has run to her Mother and Father
with hat sitting obliquely on her head
and coat dragging behind, is her Mother
saying, “Why darling, you look all in.
They must be working you too hard at
that old school.”
“EXCHANGING”
Scottish football
quarterback.”
yell.
‘Get that
Freshman: A fool can ask more ques
tions than a wise man can answer.
Sophomore: No wonder I flunked.
“I should like to know how long girls
would be courted?”
“The same way as short ones.”
The Lenoir Rhynean.
“Every time I kiss you I feel a better
man.”
“Well, you don’t have to try to get
to heaven in one night.”
“Now tell me what is the opposite of
misery?”
“Happiness!” shouted the class in
unison.
“And sadness?”
“Gladness.”
“And the opposite of woe?”
“Giddap!” shouted the enthusiastic
class.
The Lenoir Rhynean.