page three/the journal/february 13,1974
Rethinking Valentines’ Day
Last year when I was Susanne
Dean's research assistant I dug up
what historical information there
was concerning Valentine's Day.
Ms. Dean utilized this material in
a brilliant essay concerning the
character and vicissitudes of the
ancient holiday, and this year It Is
my charge to continue the
tradition and offer some opinions,
reflections and further material
evidence as to the true nature of
this regularly scheduled
phenomenon.
Journal co-editor Charlotte
Porter doesn't like Valentine's Day
whatsoever, as according to
herself "I don't ever get a
Valentine". A sculptor from the
BCA says the event "sucks". Ed
Hendricks, a candidate for student
body president, says he has a
"wife and two kids", and
therefore he regards the day as "a
very nice day to take my wife out
to dinner". However, it Is the
opinion of Richard Butterfield,
who now holds the office that Ed
aspires to, that Valentines Day is a
very bad thing. For him It Is the
anniversary of a 72-stitches
accident, and "it's dumb to send
cards with little hearts anyway".
Before continuing with this
unscientific sampling of public
opinion, it could be enlightening
to recapitulate the rather sketchy
history of St. Valentine's Day.
First of all, not only was there a
real St. Valentine, there were
three, and they all died or were
born or did something significant
on February 14. All of them were
martyrs. But strangely enough, it
appears that none of them had
anything to do with what we now
commonly regard as the loving
holiday.
Then there is the Roman feast
of Lupercalia, during which young
men and maidens had their names
tossed into a box, from which
couples were drawn. The male and
female pairs danced around and
sang a lot together, with the
additional attraction that the
fellow became the girl's "gallant"
for a year. Later this event
became Christianized, which cut
out a lot of the fooling around,
and finally the Christians
substituted a saint's name for the
day, and changed the
name-drawing to a gift-exchange,
and rather arbitrarily chose
February 14 as the date for the
event.
Despite all this derivation
another very like cause for our
present celebration of February
14 is the Middle Ages' belief that
this was the day the birds mated,
or got married, or even got
Christianized?
For Bill Lowrance, "the hot
anxiety of thrusting passion"
associated with this day "leads me
to anticipation of "Rethinking
Thinking"' which refers, of
course, to a seminar featuring
Elizabeth Sewell, to be held on
campus the night of February 14.
Somewhat in the same vein (so to
speak), Susan Clark responds to
Candidates running for the
positions of Journal Editor,
Rogues and Rascals Editor,
Sanskrit Editor and Business
Manager, WVFN Station Manager,
President of the Student Body,
Chairman of the SUB, Vice
Chairman of the SUB, Student
Body Vice President, Superior
Court Justice, and Student
Representatives to the Media
Board 'will meet, along with
candidates for Emperor of UNCC,
to answer questions that members
of the student body have. This
meeting will be held in the
Parquet Room of the Cone
University Center, on Wednesday,
February 20 at 11:30. All
students are urged to come.
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Vote
Bill Keith
Rogues 'n' Rascals Editor
Progressive Yearbook
Vote
Jeffery Beame,
editor
Joe McCorkle,
business manager
the concept of Valentine's Day b^
noting that "it will be a good
exhibit", referring of course to
the art/love showing to be held in
Rowe Building on Thursday.
Buddy McManus searched and
searched within himself but could
finally arrive at no opinion or
emotion concerning the saint's
day. Susan Lockhart, a recent
transfer to UNCC, was of much
the same disposition. She
confessed a tendency to ignore
the pseudo-holiday, simply
because it always fails to affect
her. Journal photographer John
Baynard simply advises everyone
to visit the doctor for a check-up
on Valentine's.
A recent article in the
Charlotte Observer details the
Valentine's Day sentiments of
Gloria Steinon, who happily
enough, doesn't waste too much
time on the subject. The nicest
part of it, Gloria reveals, is that
Valentine's Day incurs no great
burden of preparation on the part
of the female. As a matter of fact.
It's true that this is one holiday
that incurs hardly any burden on
anyone, and perhaps that's why it
don't get no respect. Like most
American holidays, Valentine's
seems now bereft of all or any of
the great rhythms that inspired
festivals like Lupercalia, and since
It's not mandatory either, nobody
cares anymore.
But hope is on the way. The
Journal, ajways concerned with
the public need, has suddenly
decided to establish a "VD
Tradition" at UNCC, in hopes of
restoring some of the primal
human connection to the need for
a festival of love. Or If not that,
perhaps it can recreate a sense of
mandatory celectration. At any
rate, the JouranI has rented the
rock stump Immediately beside
the Bell Tower for the entire
duration of Valentine's Day,
February 14, 1974. The purpose
of this rental is to allow readers of
the paper and/or friendly
acquaintances a place for the
voicing of one-way or even mutual
affections. Due to the
benevolence of the Journal, no
one may feel afraid to leap up
beside the Belk thing on
Valentine's Day and relate the
truth abiding in his/her respective
heart. This Is no joke.
Bill Frye and Tom Duley offer
an interesting dialogue on the
nature of St. Valentine's. Tom
quite reasonably suggests that
February 14 is a much too early
date for a celebration of love. It
should come a month or two
later, he argues, when the skies are
warmer and love is truly in the air.
On the other hand, Mr. Frye
regards the holiday held at any
time as a "Crock of shit".
Borrowing words from H.D.
Thoreau, Bill additionally
remarks; 'Simplicity, simplicity,
simplicity!"
To lend this exposition some
measure of historical significance
it Is perhaps best to relate the
by pat miller
feelings about Valentine's Day
garnered from Susanne Dean, who
initiated this commentary last
year. To Susanne February 14
offers several opportunities. It is
"a good day to send candygrams
to President Nixon", and "give
your boyfriend the clap."
Furthermore, the date recalls the
time to make a "yearly donation
to the Church of God the
Indifferent", and this has some
giggly connection with "kissing
Henry Miller on the cheek."
Sussanne assures me that this last
idea will make a few people
chuckle somewhere. In toto, Ms.
Dean reminds all that V-Day is the
only time to wash "your
grandmother's dirty socks".
Mike Aldridge, the other
co-editor of this paper, sits at the
business desk across from his
friendly acquaintance, the stately
and Mormonesque Mary McNeill.
A few moments ago they were
communicating nonverbally right
in the center of the Journal office,
and now as I ask Mike who is
slumped in his chair just what he
thinks of St. Valentine's Day, he
starts juggling a little with
laughter and this continues for
thirty or forty seconds until his
face matches his pullover
straberry sweater. I thank Mike
for his message and assure him
that he need verbalize nothing.
Perhaps all great ancient traditions
come to this.
IFC Long Overdue
The beginning of this Spring
semester has brought stilt another
effort to organize and formalize
an Interfraternity Council on this
campus. Unlike past attempts at
this sort of organization, the latest
effort seems to have been
successful in laying the
foundation of a united fraternity
voice at UNCC. "It's about time"
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seems the appropriate response.
For some time now, the IFC
has been no more than casual
discussion and a strong mutual
disinterest on the part of the
individual fraternities. Each group
has been content to struggle along
on its own, barely recognizing
even the existence of the other
fraternities on campus. Seldom
did interest, in potential members
or otherwise, coincide.
Consequently, any effort at a
common bond between Greeks
was viewed as, at the most,
needless and at the least, a threat
to the freedom of separate
fraternities. Early attempts at IFC
organization by Assistant Dean
Betty Chafin were greeted with
disinterest, reluctance, and
criticism. With the same sort of
commitment displayed by the
Paris peace delegations, fraternity
representatives found it difficult
to even agree on a meeting time,
much less any organizational
policy. Flowever, Ms. Chafin's
persistence and changes in
fraternity leadership eventually
brought about the atmosphere
necessary for the initial steps of
by bill carpenter
organization to be taken. At trns
writing the IFC seems to have
gained the support of most of the
fraternities on campus (Omega Psi
Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi have yet
to attend meetings despite
repeated invitations) and has
made significant progress toward a
setting of priorities in respect to
what shall concern the council.
Much discussion has been devoted
to the potential power of a
unified Greek vote in campus
elections. With as many
give-a-damri students as UNCC
seems to have in regard to campus
affairs, any sort of block vote
would be very effective in
determining the outcome of
campus elections. The value of
such tactics would not be in what
the Greeks would gain but in the
influence such a rah-rah threat
would have upon the give-a-damn
majority. Faced with an all Greek
legislature, student body officer
slate and SUB, perhaps at last the
majority of students would be
forced to take an interest in what
goes on at this university. Once
again, "it's about time."
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