Silver Shield will induct six today
The Silver Shield
Honorary Society will hold its
fall induction Monday,
October 22, 1973 at the
morning convocation. The
constitution of the Silver
Shield states the standards
from which the society selects
its members.
“Members shall be
chosen on the basis of
constructive leadership,
Christian character, and
service to the school.
By constructive
leadership is meant not solely
leadership in the sense of
holding office, but also in the
sense of having helped to
direct student opini'on into
wholesome channels. The fact
that a girl does not hold office
shall not debar her from
membership, nor shall the
fact that she does hold office
necessarily mean that she
shall become a member.
By Christian character is
meant the actual practice of
the Christian principles of
helpfulness and friendliness
and kindness in everyday
student life, the conscientious
observance of student
government obligations, and
faithful and sincere
performance of academic
duties.
By service to the school is
meant the upbuilding of school
spirit through the contribution
of definite, constructive
helpfulness and initiative in
making Meredith a better
school and through actual
participation in student
activities.”
The Society members
nominate students for
membership at one of their
first fall meetings. This list is
then sent to Mr. Hiott for
academic approval. Members
from the Senior class must
have at least a 2.3 to be
eligible for full membership.
Associate members from the
Junior class must have at
least a 2.5. This list is then
sent to the entire faculty who
selects not more than 75
percent from the Senior
nominees and not more than
75 percent from the Junior
nominees. The 75 percent
from each group is placed on a
ballot and Society members
vote by secret ballot for the
designated number of
memberships open. The
membership from any one
class may not exceed twelve
and the Associate
membership may not exceed
three. Three Senior members
and three Junior Associate
members will be chosen
Monday. Current members
are Genie Bailey, Woody
Dicus, Pam Faison, Lucy
Marino, Louise McCaskill,
Meg Pruette, Ruth Ann
Stephenson, Elaine Williams
and Alice Winecoff.
THE TWIG
Newspaper of the Students of Meredith College
VOL. XLVIII
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, N. C.
OCTOBER 22, 1973
NO. 6
Forum draws response from overflow crowd
By NORMA HEATH
“Sexuality is more than
knowing what to do when
you’re 36-24-36, girls.” This
and many other provocative
statements piqued the interest
and intellect of the Meredith
community during the
sessions of the MCA Fall
Forum October 9-11.
Absorbing and quoting
phrases like “the heat of
battle” and “the story we
weave,” students were
stimulated to discuss and to
figure out their own ideas on
issues ranging from pre
marital sex to the problems of
changing sex roles.
The Forum began at 8:00
October 9 with the topic “the
birds and the bees?” and an
overflow crowd. Presenting
her ideas first, Mrs. Betty
Dorman, nursing supervisor
at the Wake County Health
Department, saw the major
Fall lunacy set for
Thursday eve
problem in the area of
physical sex as “lack of
forethought.”Using as source
material her experiences with
girls having unwanted
pregnancies, Mrs. Dorman
delineated ten misuses of sex
and the loopholes in the usual
arguments for premarital
intercourse. She also noted
two things any girl should take
into consideration no matter
what her decision about a
premarital relationship: (1)
that society as a whole does
not condone premarital sex
for girls and (2) that “the
decision to have premarital
sex is still up to the
individual” and no one else
can or should decide for a
person. Dr. Ronald Rolett,
director of family planning
services at the Wake County
Health Department, gave the
next portion of the program, a
more factual presentation
about methods of birth
control. To impress the
students with the need for the
use of contraceptives in
intercourse, he included
several startling statistics in
his talk. For example, if you
had 100 nineteen-year-old girls
who have intercourse
regularly and who use no birth
control devices, 90 of those
girls will be pregnant within
one year! Dr. Rolett did feel
that such risk-taking was
unnecessary, because “good
birth control methods are
available, and, beyond that,
people can say, “no.” He then
listed the known
contraceptive devices and
birth control techniques in
descending order of
effectiveness, from the pill to
withdrawal. The first session
ended with a question-and-
comment period for the
audience.
On Wednesday October 10
there were two sessions of the
Forum, each using the arts to
look at some facet of
sexuality. Rev. Sheryl
Scrimsher, NCSU Methodist
chaplain, and Rev. Bill Wells,
NCSU Episcopal chaplain, led
the first at 10:00 during the
chapel hour. With the
assistance of Mrs. Laney
McDonald, singing a song
(continued on page 4)
Orew^ American Universities offer
semester study in government
action
by Catherine Stover
The hour approacheth and
now is when the true
enthusiast shall find an outlet
for her energies; when the
true creator shall make
manifest her imagination;
when the true procrastinator
shall discover many an
opportunity to delay her
scholarly duties. In other
words, it’s time once again for
our favorite fall lunacy -
Cornhuskin’!. For those of you
unfamiliar with this annual
ritual, a brief history and
description is in order, and for
this purpose Dr. Johnson’s
History of Meredith College is
relied upon.
Cornhuskin’, sponsored
by the MRA, made its first
appearance in 1945 and was
introduced by Miss Peterson,
a member of the P.E.
department. “Through the
years Corn Huskin’ has
become more elaborate;
especially so is the parade
with which the program
begins, and in which each
class has a theme carried out
in... costumes” and a script.
The latter is a subject of much
debate among the members of
the script committees of each
class, who spend many hours
shaping it under the skill of
their masterful pens until it
makes as much sense as is
possible; they then present it
to the class as a whole, which
greets it with much applause.
And it is never funnier than on
the final night when all the
class is in costume. The
costumes are works of art
which seem to be much more
effective if conceived and
completed within 15 minutes
of the parade’s incipience. It
is easily seen that having the
responsibility of representing
the Atlantic Ocean or the
nation of China could present
a slight problem and avoiding
the issue until the last moment
is a widespread, accepted act.
On the other hand, much
planning may be seen in many
costumes.
Songs and contests follow
the parades, the nature of the
contests having changed
much since 1945, although
they still “bring out
unexpected talents” among
the student body and faculty.
At present, the classes and
faculty compete in apple
bobbing, hog calling, the
telling of tall tales, and
cornhusking, naturally. But in
the past, the contests were a
bit different. Dr. Johnson
notes in her History that in
1945, “a freshman was the
best chicken caller and was
given an egg basket filled with
candy-coated almonds”.
Meredith girls seem to puil off
the hog costumes fairly well
each year, but dressing as
chickens probably required a
bit more ingenuity. It was
(Continued on page 4)
by Cathy Rodenburg
For all of you ambitious,
career-minded women out
there on the Angel-Farm, take
off your wings, forget about
your date at the local frat this
weekend, and zero in on an
excellent opportunity which is
being offered in the spring of
this year. Actually, there are
two, and you may choose
according to your interests
and desires.
American University is
sponsoring a “Washington
Semester Program” which is
made up of four parts: (1) the
Washington Semester, (2) the
Washington Urban Semester,
(3) the Foreign Policy
Semester, (4) the
International Development
Semester. This is an excellent
way to break into the nucleus
of government in action -
“selected juniors and seniors
from over the hundred
American college and
universities participate with
legislators, lobbyists, party
officials, administrators.
policy planners, embassy
personnel, judges and
community leaders.”
Students live on the American
University campus, so not
only do you widen your
acquaintances, but you are
actually observing the
processes of government at
first hand.
Drew University, which is
located in Madison, New
Jersey, and is an hour away
from New York City, is
(Continued on page 2)
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Drs. Syron and Rose ham it up as part of the 1958 Cornhuskin’ celebration. The annual event began in
1945 and originally included such competitions as chicken calling and square dancing. The “sing
song contest” of that year based the selection of the winning song upon its “exhibition of pure corn
and hill-billy-ishness”.