CHARLOTTE
COLLEGIAN
Vol. 2 No. 5
CHARLOTTE COLLEGE, CHARLOTTE, N. C.
May 16, 1951
PROGRESSIVES WIN ELECTION
The Right To
A Free Latvia
If the name of Latvia is not
written on the roll of the states
presently belonging to the U.N.,
that does not mean that our
homeland has ceased to exist
forever. Latvia is there, and no
body can tear it away from the
shores of our Amber Sea. It will
remain there for all times to
come.
Many historical facts prove that
the inhabitants of Latvia had
settled there in the bronze age,
1500 years B.C. I think that every
nation has a right to live in the
place its forefathers had lived
and fought for freedom. But fate
played a trick settling the people
of Latvia on the coast of the
Baltic Sea between two mighty
nations, the Germans and the
Russians. Since the 13th century
Latvia has always been the
“playground” of these two na
tions, yet Latvia gained its in
dependence in 1918.
Everybody who has had oc
casion to get acquainted with our
land will without doubt acknowl
edge what outstanding persis
tence and self-sacrifice the hard
working Latvians had to employ
in order to build up their native
country from the debris of the
war. Everywhere there sprang up
thousands of constructions: new
schools, new railway stations,
new highways, bridges, and mon
umental buildings. Much was
done already, but much more
remained to be done when, on
September 1st, 1939, the German-
Polish war started, which proved
to be the beginning of a catastro
phe the history of mankind has
never recorded yet. And again
Latvians were under the yoke of
a foreign power. In 1940, the
Soviet armies entered Latvia, and
soon afterwards it was annexed
by U.S.S.R. This dictatorship un
der the guidance of the Com
munist party not only inflicted
upon the Latvians terrible ma
terial losses and degradations,
but cost them many lives, for
more than 36,000 Latvians—men,
women, and children—were de
ported to U.S.S.R. For those who
remained life became more and
more intolerable with every com
ing day.
On June 21st, 1941, Germany
attacked U.S.S.R. and in quite a
short time, occupied Latvia. The
independence of the Latvian state
was not restored by the Germans.
Instead of that they incorporat
ed our land into the occupied
“Ostland” territory. Streams of
blood and persecutions, which
were directed particularly
against the Latvian citizens of
Jewish origin, started again.
In 1944, the Red Army entered
Latvia as “liberators.” The dic
tatorship of the proletariat and
the rule of single party was es
tablished anew in our land. As a
result of those quite undeserved
misfortunes two considerable
parts were split from the Latvian
nation. One of these parts was
deported to U.S.S.R. proper, and
the other one was scattered
throughout Western Europe.
We Latvians can testify before
the whole world that we are
staying in Western Europe con
trary to our wishes, and that the
burden of supporting us would
(Continued on page 4)
New Student Officers
m
• y-. ^
1951-2 STUDENT OFFICERS
Winners in the April elections for next year's student leaders are (sealed) Jack Proctor, Presi
dent, Student Government and (standing, left to right) Jo Ann Conrad, Secretary, Student Gov
ernment, Velma Ray, Business Manager, Charlotte Collegian; Scotty Stallings, Editor, Charlotte
Collegian; Demetrios Nixon, Vice-President, Student Government, and Barbara Quinn, Editor,
Annual.
Soil Cultivation Days In Foreign Lands
As we all know, life in Europe
is quite different from the life
in the United States. Not only
the social life in towns and vil
lages is different, but also the
farm life is different. People in
Greece live mostly, if not whol
ly, on soil cultivation. When one
cultivates the land, he expects
to live from what he will pro
duce; if the soil isn’t rich enough,
he is really in bad shape.
Cultivation in the United States
is conveniently and easily done
in comparison with Europe.
People in Europe do not have the
conveniences and equipment as
the people do in a rich country
like America. Farmers are minus
the modern cultivation imple
ments that make the work a lot
easier for them. Instead, they
have a heavy wooden plow, a
pair of oxen, or horses, and prob
ably a half dozen hoes.
When soil cultivation season is
at hand, everybody from child to
grandpa has to do his part in
order that the work be finished
in certain days or weeks. The
farms vary in distance from the
By Demetrios Theo Nixon
village. On the night before, all
villagers prepare their wheat bags
and all the equipment for the
next day’s work. Unfortunately,
they either have to ride on horses
or mules, or walk to get to their
farms. Before going to sleep, the
farmers always feed the pair of
oxen well and have it ready for
the hard work which lies ahead.
Then before the dawn begins to
break, the wife will get up, pre
pare the breakfast, and all eat
a heavy breakfast to last until
about one or two o’clock in the
afternoon. About 7 o’clock the
whole family begins the trip to
the farm. If you were somewhere
around there then, you would
really be amazed, excited, and
confused. Pigs, dogs, mules, don
keys, goats, and sheep give the
early dawn a noisy atmosphere.
Everything has to be carried to
the farm because the family
usually gets home late at night.
Only the cats are left home and
the old grandmother to take care
of them. Even the mothers are
compelled to carry their infants
on their backs, in order to take
care of them during the day.
There, as the farmer walks along
the rocky streets, you will see
him meet his friend and light a
cigarette. Very soon he reaches
his farm, where he immediately
goes to work; likewise does the
whole family.
Yes, a farmer has to go through
many hardships to make life
pleasant. As you look at his face
during the day you see a face
covered with sweat and a heart
full of hope. The whole family
works from early in the morning
until the set of the sun, and
sometimes later. When they come
home, they are nearly exhausted.
But grandmother always has
something to relieve their fa
tigue. A little wine for grandpa
and for dad and hot coffee for
mama are always necessary. And
for the young men, who don’t
feel the work too much, cold
water from the well in the yard
is good enough.
The day has passed, but now
the farmers plan for the next
one. At first they feed the oxen
(Continued on page 4)
FRESHMAN EDITION
Proctor To Head
Student Body
Have you been glad-handed
lately? ... or back-slapped? The
chances are that both Jay Sher
rill and Hugh Adams have
“shook” your hand and slapped
your back. For about two weeks
prior to the Student Council
Election, C. C. was a bloody bat
tle field between the Adams
Progressives and the Sherrill In
dependents and the Commercial
Department Candidates.
This election, with every candi
date rating as the best material
C. C. had to offer (in the eyes of
his manager and party), added a
good deal of life to the day by
day routine of our school.
While the Independents passed
out baloney (the chewing kind),
the Progressives stood by telling
Sambo stories. While the Pro
gressives whispered and Chamis
yelled, and the Commercial De
partment talked, the Indepen
dents very obtrusively played
“Dixie” and waved toilet tissue.
On the scheduled day, Mr.
Kirkpatrick, with his little white
ballot box, assumed position and
the election began. And a record
breaking election it was: 81% of
the student body cast votes to
determine who would be the next
President, Vice-President, Treas
urer, Secretary, Editor of the
Paper, Editor of Annual, Busi
ness Manager of Paper, and Busi
ness Manager of Annual. In the
primary election, Jo Ann Conrad
was elected Secretary; Scotty
Stallings, Editor of the Paper
with Velma Ray as his Business
Manager; and Larry Holland,
Business Manager of Annual.
There was one more day of
(Continued on page 3)
A Biography
Of Ernie Pyle
To me, the writings of Ernie
Pyle stand out as modern Ameri
can classics. Through his daily
columns in the newspapers, I
followed Ernie from Tunisia to
Paris. I shall never forget the
human interest stories of this
great war correspondent who
knew war as no one except the
infantryman ever knew it. That
is why I was eager to read The
Story of Ernie Pyle, by Lee Mil
ler, a book that brings down the
curtain on an almost legendary
modern American.
The tragic and heartbreaking
domestic problems which were
never mentioned by Ernie, him
self, are revealed in the biogra
phy by his friend, Lee Miller.
The intimate letters of Ernie and
Jerry, his wife, tell the story of
their beautiful, but often pathe
tic, romance.
Ernie and Jerry were married
in 1925 when Ernie was working
for the Washington Daily News.
They soon began the itinerant
ways of life which Ernie follow
ed until his death. However, the
rigors of eccentric and irregular
living broke down the mind and
body of Jerry. From that time on,
Jerry would periodically fall to
the depths of alcoholism and de
pression. Under this burden Ernie
labored the rest of his Ufe.
Ernie Pyle went to London in
1940 as a correspondent for the
(Continued on page 4)