PageFour THE TWIG May 23, 1963
Success ond Foilure
Ceramics Class Can Be Chaotic
By JANIE ERNST
There’s a room on second floor
Joyner that many Meredith college
students never enter. The room is
the art lab, and any Tuesday or
Thursday between 2:00 and 5:00
p.m. finds it the crowded seat of
much activity. At this time seven
teen ceramics students fill the room
already occupied by sculpture and
oil painting classes.
The large group, however, is sur
prising in its enrollment, for all but
one of the ceramics students are
non-art majors. “You surely don’t
have to be artistic to take it,” Velma
McGee commented, “yet it lets you
see just how creative you can be.”
Then laughing she added, “There’s
a bunch of history majors in there,
and it’s for sure that we aren’t all
talented!”
Not Just a Hobby
However, their work is by no
means a type of hobby. Extensive
reading in the library is required,
and the girls must use ideas gained
through the reading in one of their
project pieces. A minimum of five
pieces is required of each student for
the semester. These include a pinch
pot, a coil pot, an incised pot, and a
lidded pot. The course may sound
like a class in “pot-making,” yet
students do work ranging from
pitchers and vases to cups and
banks. Ash trays, however, are
strictly forbidden by Dr. Downs,
the professor, who threatens to fail
anyone who makes an ashtray. If
asked why, he simply refers them
to a favorite anti-nicotine article he
has posted on the wall. Yet, he
knowingly smiles when he says he’s
quite aware that many items to later
serve as ashtrays are made under
the innocent quises of small candy
bowls or pin dishes.
Dr. Downs has gained the re
spect and affection of his students.
Many speak of the wonderfully dry
CITY GOVT. RACE PROBLEM
(Continued from page 1)
Carper, and not the city council.
Mr. Reid stated that Mr. Carper,
a qualified manager who has his
master’s degree and earns a salary
of $13,000 a year, has been Ra
leigh’s city rhanager for fifteen
years.
Mr. Reid said that businessmen
and businesswomen who are inter
ested in Raleigh are encouraged to
run for council membership. Reid
said that the council actually di
rects Raleigh’s “everyday life.” The
seven members work with “every
day intimate things” and with the
“Government very close to the peo
ple.”
“The chief duties of the council,”
Reid elaborated, “are directed to
ward fire services, police services,
water bills, streets, dog catchers,
stop lights, and other immediate city
policies.”
Raleigh’s citizens are invited to
attend the council’s 2:15 meeting
on the first and third Mondays.
Councilman Winters, commenting
on the relationship between city
government and racial problems,
hopes that at these meetings and
other occasions the efforts to dis
cuss intelligently any subject with
the white or Negro could be stimu
lated so that a step could be made
toward overcoming the racial bar
rier. Considering th^e clash of values
occuring violently in Birmingham
and in a more sophisticated manner
in Raleigh, he concluded that the
city government is of utmost im
portance.
In the dual presentation of the
machinery of municipal govern
ment, Reid elaborated upon an
external analysis of the city govern
ment form, while Winters intro
duced the basic concepts and pre
suppositions upon which the council
and the public are to work.
Marilyn Maki shapes a coil pot of clay in the art lab.
wit which he is forever exhibiting,
and others fondly make such com
ments as — “Oh, he’s a bird; he
really is.” — “just love him” —
and “funny as all get out.” Who
else but Dr. Downs when confronted
with the problem of still wet pieces
being handled and broken when
left in the lab would hang a large
sign reading:
“KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF!!!
All works not yours. Pieces are con
tinually being damaged by snoopers.
If you want to handle clay sign up
for the class.”
Many Problems
Yet “snoopers” is not the only
problem facing the girls in ceramics.
Two small kilns must serve the class
of seventeen, and now, at the end
of the semester, there is much
scurrying about with fears that there
may not be time to fire all pieces.
Every item must be fired for a
day, cooled for a day, glazed, and
fired again. For experience, each
girl is responsible for firing the kiln
at least once. The task involves
going over to the lab early to turn
the kiln on — with the hope that
all pieces will be done by dinner
time so she may leave. Some girls
have had trouble with pieces stick
ing together in the kiln. Mary Lou
Davis had to file, partially re-glaze,
and refire one of her pieces when
one of the tiny tiles Ruth Arm
strong was making for a mosaic-top
table fell on the piece and stuck.
Mary Lou, in fact, seems to have
more than her share of troubles in
ceramics. One of her little pots
melted completely when left in the
kiln too long. She is now also faced
with the question of what to do
about a sling-mold dish made by
hanging clay in a burlap bag: it
seems the piece is longer than the
longest inside dimension of either
kiln. The only hope now is to fire it
tilted at an angle, and this may
well prove tricky!
Large pieces are a general prob
lem for the class. Some have been
made that almost fill the entire kiln
and have to be fired alone. The
time consumed by such large pieces
with just two small kilns for the
large class has led Dr. Downs to
declare, “Next year we’re going to
either have a larger kiln or smaller
classes, or the girls are just going to
make doll dishes!”
Feeling of Accomplishment
Despite the trials and troubles
they go through, ceramic students
recommend the course. They take
great pride in their work and enjoy
having something to show at the
end of a semester. In the words of
Barbara Jean Radford, “Ceramics
is really wonderful. It’s a learning
experience, and I find it completely
relaxing. I feel that all the things
I’ve made are part of me — even
the Grecian urn I smashed until it
was a flat vase.” Bravely ignoring
her past problems with the course,
Mary Lou Davis said, “I love it
’cause we can do what we want to.
It’s lots of fun.” Nodding toward
her work on a shelf in her room
she added, “I think everyone should
try it because you get stuff like
that you can use and keep,”
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What makes a person commit a
crime and how does society treat a
person who is a deviant? These
were the questions to which Mr.
Preston Parsons and his criminology
class sought the answers as they
toured the penal institutes located
in Raleigh. The class visited Wom
an’s Prison on April 25. They were
given an extensive tour which
started at the admissions office
where the criminals are orientated.
The tour included a visit to the
various workrooms. There were
sewing rooms where uniforms for
different governmental officers were
being made and canneries where
food was being prepared which
would later be used in school cafe
terias and other government insti
tutions. The class was told that by
doing work such as this, the in
mates feel that they are helping to
pay their debt to society. The class
then saw the living quarters of the
prisoners. The honor system was
explained to the group and they
were told that those who had ob
tained the highest honor grade lived
in individual rooms in cottages
Snakes, Worms, Food
Provide Week-end Fun
By POLLY FINAN
Two days of fun and excitement
were enjoyed by the Community
Recreation and Camp Leadership
Class during the week-end of May
11 and 12. Under the guidance of
Mrs. Helena Allen, this group of
girls journeyed to William B. Um-
stead State Park for two days of
pioneer living! While there, they
planned their own menus and lived
in an umbrella tent and several pup
tents which they pitched themselves,
Saturday night, guests for “vittles
cooked in the open air” included
Mr. Allen, little Ross Allen, and
husbands of the married day stu
dents.
Also included in the experiences
of the girls was an encounter, dur
ing a nature walk, with a snake,
which was probably more fright
ened by the group than they were
by him. Fishing with dig-them-your-
self worms added to the fun, but
not to the food supply, for Mr. Al
len was the only one catching any
thing.
around the prison grounds. The
cjass was interested to learn how
much freedom the inmates were
allowed and were surprised not to
find as many security precautions
as they had expected. Many mis
conceptions which students had
were dispelled because of this trip.
Instead of finding drab cells, the
girls saw spacious wards and cot
tages. The group saw television sets
in each ward and realized that each
inmate is given opportunity for con
tact with the outside world. There
was a chapel for private meditation
and a church which is attended by
a high per cent of the prisoners.
In direct contrast to the Woman’s
Prison was Central Prison where a
cross-section of criminals, ranging
from the boy whose home is In the
slums to the business man who
comes from a respectable family,
were housed in “dingy, horrible”
cells. Again, the class began their
tour in the orientation office. They
were conducted through a room
where many inmates were making
state license plates. The school
where it was possible for an inmate
to receive a high school diploma
was next on the tour. This work
and schooling is intended as con
structive rehabilitation for the in
dividual. The group then viewed
the gas chamber. At this point, their
guide said that the prison officials
felt that whipping, under controlled
conditions, was better punishment
than solitary confinement. The
group was told that the prisoners
had plastic coins, which are ap
proved by the state government, to
use as money. This precaution elimi
nates the possibility of bribery.
The class learned that the incoming
and outgoing letters are strictly cen
sored. The guide explained that
the prisoners have some type of
entertainment each Saturday night
and on holidays. This recreation in
cludes movies, visiting entertainers,
acts from the circus, and highlights
from the fair.
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