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The Belles
VOLUME XLV NUMBER 1
9M HILLSBOROUGH STREET.
ST. MARY^ C(M.LEGE. RALEIGH. N.C.
of
StA/lary:
Collie
OCTOBER 1985
The Beauty of St. Mary’s
by Elizabeth Williams,
Editor-in-Chief
i love to show off St. Mary’s and I
don’t have any pretensions of modesty.
1 feel comfortaible bragging about her
beautiful oak trees, precious chapel,
and her never ending spirit which is
present in ail aspects of the SMC life.
I will take visitors through the his
toric campus vratching them absorb the
beauty amongst them. I suppose my
pleasure in showing off St. Mary’s is
the kind of chauvinism so many of us
feel for the places we live. The pride of
North Carolinians for their pine trees,
beautiful cities, to the quiest Outer
Banks. It is the sense of worth we feel
we deserve for being so clever for
choosing such a special place to live.
One can feel less of a braggart
showing off the beauty of St. Mary’s
campus than showing off one’s ward
robe. So I have my special places on the
campus where I t^e people. Zealously 1
sing the praises of the stately oak trees
and retell the stories of the Union
troops camping out in St. Mary’s grove
during the Civil War, more than a 100
years ago.
If they have time I take them into the
chapel, which I particularly love. Or I
will take my visitors up into the dorms
of Smedes — an experience all should
have. Then we go a bit further and I take
them into town where they can compare
the hustle and bustle of the Yuppies in
the city to the hushed silences of
acorns and pecans dropping from the
trees of the SMC campus.
My visitors often tell me that they
don’t want to take up too much of my
time, they know that I’ve seen it all.
They don’t seem to understand that
they are just an excuse for me to see it
again! So I go along narrating as if I
\were a professional guide. When we re
turn they understand why I never pass
up a chance to go along.
I met a girl from Williamsburg, who
after hearing me praise St. Mary’s,
rudely interrupted saying that, “St.
Mary’s is just another college, so
what?” “Where do you go?”, I asked
with a note of surprise in my voice.
“Ohio State,” she replied.
Weil, there’s nothing wrong with
Ohio State, but it in no way measures
up to the extravagant language I use to
describe St. Mary’s. So i told her you
couldn’t just go to St. Mary’s and plop
yourself down and expect the college to
reveal herself to you. I suggested the
next time she was here to go a bit fur
ther and investigate all that SMC has to
offer. Somehow, I don’t think she be
lieved me. But, that’s her loss.
St. Mary’s doesn’t reveal herself easi
ly. One can be fooled and misdirected
by her blatant charms or lulled by her
comfortable surroundings, and think
this place is just another college cam
pus.
Indeed, the visitor may never dis
cover the grandeur of SMC. And many,
like the girl from Ohio State, will not
give SMC a chance. There must be
some effort on your part to search for
the warmth and spirit, to explore the
subtleties that provide St. Mary’s with
the qualities that give its students a
reason to call St. Mary’s home.
The St. Mary-OTT
by Charlotte Moffat
Staff Writer
There is something new around cam
pus this year other than new students.
It is a building that has been completely
redecorated. The “new” Holt, also
known as the “St. Mary-ott,” is the talk
of the college. It has been fifteen to
twenty years since Holt last had badly
needed redecoration.
In the past few years Holt was badly
needing new paint, wall paper, and
floor covering. This past summer St.
Mary's decided not only to slap paint on
the walls, but to spend approximately
$80,000 on the renovation.
The college hired a professional in
terior decorator to put a feminine touch
to the building, instead of painting the
walls classic white. Mr. Conrad, busi
ness director, commented that Holt has
always been a favorite dorm among the
students. Thus, the administration
wanted this particular project to be an
outstanding one.
The decorator matched rose and blue
wallpaper to tie in with and comple
ment the carpeting. St. Mary’s is
hoping that the students in Holt dorm
will care for their new home and also be
happy in their comfortable new “hotel.”
Interview with Mr. Solari
by Alystyre Julian
Editorial Editor
Mr. Anthony Solari (he likes his stu
dents to call him Tony) is one of St.
Mary’s new faculty members. He
teaches An Introduction to Business
class which, he explained, was more
“of a political economy class.” He also
teaches an American government class.
At N. C. State Solari teaches an inter
national relations class which he would
like to see taught In the future at St.
Mary’s.
Originally from New Jersey, Solari
was an undergraduate at Rutgers,
where he said he had a very influential
professor that opened up his mind and
explored ideas that he had never heard
before. Being a bouncer in bars,
painting houses, and working in New
York as a sales analyst helped put
Solari through school. Solari still had a
need to find something meaningfui to
him. Six years ago he came to Duke
Uniersity on a schoiarship. Along with
teaching, he is currently working on his
dissertation for his PhD. He says he
would like to finish with his research by
this spring. Because of this work, So
lari has little spare time. He often finds
Self
Defense
St. Mary's Chapel
by Elizabeth Williams
Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday night, September 18,
at midnight a hush fell over the St.
Mary’s campus. One by one the stu
dents left their dorm rooms to gather on
the back lawn. Quietly they watched as
the girls in the light blue robes as
cended into a circular group to induct
the new members of the 1985-86 Circle.
Those who were new to St. Mary’s
probably watched these draped girls in
amazement, possibly even skepticism,
it is not every night at twelve a.m. that
one sees seventeen girls in light blue
robes carrying candles around. Yet, to
those girls who are familiar with the
Circle, the walk was a welcoming sight.
In 1943, the Circle was formed with
the intentions of promoting good facul
ty-student relationships and spirit
throughout the school. The tradition
still carries on today.
The Circle inducted three new mem
bers at the walk: Marinda Sapp, Rebec
ca Wilson, and Ashley Williamson. Ju-
iie Brady, last year’s President, led the
ceremony. Also attending were eight
old members from the graduating class
of 1985. Needless to say the walk was a
successful one.
1985-86 Circle members:
Grace Fulton — President
Mary Ecclescheatman — Vice
President
Robin Ballard — Treasurer
Frarinye Fowle
Elenor Field
Marinda Sapp
Rebecca Wilson
Ashley Williamson
by Charlotte Moffat
Staff writer
Are you physically capable to fight
off an attacker? Could you handle a
potentially dangerous situation with
control? Sergent D.B. Henton of the
Raleigh Police Station is going to hold
a self defense class this year for the
students of St. Mary’s. The course is
for those who are interested in learning
how to defend themselves and talk their
way out of attempted rape.
Sergeant Henton has practiced mar
tial arts for nineteen years. He holds a
4th degree black belt and a 2nd degree
belt in Jiu Ji Su. He has taught stu
dents of many colleges: among them
are St. Mary’s, Peace, Meredith, and
Wake Technical Institute. He has also
taught self defense classes to officers
in basic training, community centers,
civic organizations, and women em
ployees of large companies.
A number of years ago Henton be
came interested in teaching women
how to defend themselves. Being on
the police force, he saw how women
were being raped at places and times
that were clearly dangerous.
Even women on the police force were
being attack while working undercover.
Henton decided to educate women by
teaching them how to get out of these
dangerous situations. He started by
interviewing women who got them
selves out of the rape situation,' both
physically and verbally. He then took
apart the rape situation, piece by piece,
to invent techniques that would enable
a woman of any size to escape the
situation. Henton stated that most of
the time murder is not associated with
rape. The victim usually knovvs when
she is going to be murdered.
The sergeant gave a striking example
of a girl in one of the three surrounding
colleges. He demonstrated how she
used her wits to get herself Out of being
raped. The girl \was met in her dorm
room by a man who was naked. The girl
persuaded the attacker to let her use
the bathroom. Thus, the girl escaped
and ran for help. This incident is one of
many in which a young woman with the
proper training and knowledge knew
how to defend herself. A student’s well
being may depend on taking this class.
his research lasting into late night, but
he is studying the martial arts as a hob
by.
When asked what made him choose
St. Mary’s he explained that there are
two ways to a career. “A big name uni
versity,” he said, “stresses scholarship
at the expense of teaching.” St. Mar/s
is an ideal place for him because it
stresses the scholarship, but has a
commitment to teaching and getting to
know his students. In fact, he feels this
' is so important fhat he would like more
students to talk with him about any
problems they may have academically
or about life in general. f'ARTS
Most of all, Solari wants his students
to be “challenged in their beliefs.” He
wants to make his class politically
meaningful by presenting both sides of
issues and demanding a lot from stu
dents in terms of wanting to learn. By
“shaking students up and making
things a concern,” Solari wants them to
make their ow/n minds up about what
they hear. Thus, they can argue their
position more intelligently. Solari is
overall very happy here at St. Mary’s.
He said it is nice to see “bright women
faculty.”
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