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Page Two The Chapel Hill Weekly Chapel HilL North Carolina 1M E. Rosemary Telephone 9-1271 or Mil Published Every Tuesday and Friday By The Chapel Hill Publishing Company, lot Locis Graves Contributing Editor Joe Joses ..... .... Managing Editor Buxy Arthve _ Associate Editor Orville Campbell Genera'. Manager O T Watkins . .Advertising Director Chariton Campbell Mechanic#: Sup: Entered as second-class nutier Februar-. 2t m at the poctofttce a: Chape H... NarU. Carolina, under •he ac‘. oi Marc/ 3 18Tj SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Ora age County, Year si-00 <6 months $2.25; 3 months, 11.60) Outside of Orange County "by the Year: State of N. C., Va., and S. C. A6<. Other State? and Diat. of Columbia 6.00 Canada, Mexico, Sou tt-A meric* 7.00 Europe • 7.60 ■■■■ ■ . ■ mm ... A Visiting Professor in Korea Almonte C. Howell, who has been in the University faculty ft>r thirty-six years, was visiting professor of English in Korea's Na tional University in the capita! city of Seoul last year. Here are some passages from his talk to the Faculty Club about the visit. The talk was illustrated with beautiful colored photographs. My students' idea.- of study were different from those held in the United States and I had to change my methods of teaching to conform at least partly to their ways. Reluctantly I became less and less sure that my way was right and theirs wrong. I soon discovered that the Korean was an intensely emotional person, but that his emotions were controlled by his Confucian background. It is not good form in Korea to display emotion, especially affection; and modesty and humility are characteristic traits of the scholar class. The Korean students ap peared to me to be extremely romantic. They live in a war-torn land of drab hillsides, muddy streets, dirt and squal or, in tiny rooms seldom furnished be yond a simple chest arid a plain low table, with a straw mat or Korean paper floor; yet they have dreams of beauty and are constantly hoping for the gold en age when their country will rise from the ashes of war as a leader in the new Asia. As a foreigner and a Westerner. I found I had much to learn before 1 could teach; and my experiences gradu ally led me to appreciate the many fine qualities I saw in the Koreans, as well as to be patient with what were to me, though hardly to them, defects. We learned patience from them, and we learned something about the Orien tal attitude toward lime. Why hurry, they say; things will wait. If classes don’t begin today, maybe they will next week. If you begin a class on time, you are being unkind to those who ar rive late —so take your time, and re member that good manners are more important than efficiency; and polite ness than promptness. The present-day system of higher education in Korea was developed dur ing the Japanese occupation after 1910. The universities were set up as are those of Europe. The teaching methods introduced by the Japanese are still practiced. In the National University in .Seoul classes last for two hours and courses meet only once a week. There are no bells and consequently there is much irregularity in class length. At tendance is optional, and one is never sure until the final examination who is a member of his class. Mrs. Howell, for instance, found that one of her students had taken the final examination in a course in English Conversation, al though he had attended only one class, and he was insistent that he should have credit for the cour.-<. The lecture method is used almost entirely. Textbooks are expensive and many students are unable to secure them. Therefore class recitations and discussions are rare. Introductory science courses are given with inade quate equipment and seldom require laboratory work. The same is true re garding library w'ork. The Library con tains four hundred thousand volumes in Japanese and two hundred thousand in all the other languages. The stacks, indeed all the hooks, are virtually inac cessible to students. There is a card catalogue, but the books are merely shelf-listed. Students cannot check books out of the Library and reserved reading lists are a rarity. Without the give-and-take of class discussion a great gap exists between the professor and the student —a relic of the aristocratic Japanese system. Professors are seldom on the campus, and such things as private offices are reserved solely for department heads. The professor is likely to consider his students as necessary interruptions-of his prime work in the study and the laboratory. His lectures are likely to be on his own specialty; and introductory, basic, fundamental courses are not com mon. The professors' salaries are so low that many are forced to teach in two institutions, or write, to augment their incomes. Formerly the professors often failed to meet classes for several weeks, and students would finally stop coming entirely. Now. each professor is re quired daily to sign an official roll-book, kept in the Faculty Commons Room, and his pay for the month is based on the record thus kept. All admission to Korean universi ties is based upon quite difficult en trance examinations. For instance, around three thousand high school graduates took the entrance examina tions for admission Seoul "Na tional University College of Libera! Arts last year, and of this number around five hundred were admitted. I observed to a colleague that it is hard to enter a Korean university, especially Seoul National, but once in, it is easy to stay and obtain a degree; he agreed with me. This lack of attention U classroom activities was indicated bv the fact that about December first classes in the University almost ceased meeting, although the vacation did not begin until December 18th. One reason for this was that all the classrooms were unheated. Rather than suffer the cold, professors and students both went home. One of my colleagues went to his classroom and stayed over half an hour, and not a single student appeared. The students I taught were intelli gent but not all were well trained. They knew the fundamentals of mathe matics and English grammar. Their knowledge of the Korean language was also of a high order. In the sciences and the social sciences, with the exception of Korean history, they were not so well prepared. During the terms they studied very little, and at examination time they did a great deal of cramming. Since they had no class assignments, there was little for them to study. Often they would absent themselves from the University for a couple of weeks and then come back to pick up what they had missed. As individuals they were very polite and likeable but, with rare exceptions, too timid to ask questions. I found it difficult to secure class discussions. They considered it bad form to inter rupt the lecturer with questions, and .very bad form to volunteer for a task. Rut when I came to know them person ally, 1 found them charming, eager to learn, and very solicitous for our wel fare. Koreans are charming, happy peo ple, so polite and pleasant; and Korea is a lovely land, quite different from the one often pictured by our soldiers. The younger generation, burdened and handicapped as they are, are eager to erase the marks of war, to lighten the burden of poverty which encompasses them, and to make a new Korea in which tin- solid virtues and talents of her people will appear in their true light. Students are alert to these things; and they look to America to furnish them a pattern. Having almost no campus life, they envy, more than anything else, the full and varied op portunities which American students enjoy. As a substitute for the rich and varied life on an American campus, there is Ihe endless talk of the tea rooms, which are the clubs of the bar East, the earnest groups which gather in the bookstores, open to the outside air, reading the books they cannot af ford to buy, and the little crowds of students sitting around under tlie trees on the campus, reading and chatting. It was unintentionally symbolic that at Christmas we gave our faculty friends packets of American flower seeds. They understood the gesture, and one wrote us recently, “The flowers of my garden are still .in bloom. My family are always mentioning your kindness whenever they meet around it. You know the language barrier does not count where the heart can speak directly to other hearts.” And so, as visiting professors, Mrs. Howell and I tried to plant a few seeds, hoping that, in our humble way, we might share some of the good things of America with our neighbors in the Land of the Morning Calm. THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY Chapel Hill Chaff (Continued from page 1) else when the janitor came in and picked up the waste basket and_the box and carried them out to the waiting garbage truck. When she came to. some minutes later, she and the janitor jumped in his car and took off in search of the truck. "My heart was in my throat." Mrs. Betts said, "be cause somewhere in that garbage truck were all my stories and my mailing list and about S4O from North Carolina writers. About S3O of this was in $1 bills' clipped together inside an envelope. There was also some change in the envelope. ” ‘Be calm.' I said to myself, when we finally caught up with the truck. And I meant to be calm. But by the time J got out of the car and over to the truck and its five attendants I was swearing a blue streak. You have never seen such delighted garbage men. They savored my predicament with more enjoyment than sympathy. you sure is tuned up.' said one. " ‘Move over.’ I replied. I climbed up and we began rooting around among old potato peelings, dripping corn cans, and empty cereal boxes. Finally 1 found some of the stories. We scrabbled with more enthusiasm. One of the men found the proper envelope. ‘They’s a little sweet rattlin’ in here,' he said, hearing the clink of coins.” The subscription list never was found, and any authors who sent money to Mr-. Betts and have not re ceived Volume 1. Number 2 of ‘‘North Carolina Writer” are asked to let her know. 9 * * * * In a conversation about the gaudy rat-race our civilization has turned Christmas into, the Rev. Robert J. McMullen remarked that Thanksgiving should come right after Christmas instead of before it. “Then we could all give thanks that Christmas is over,” he said. * * * * William Baldwin is a commuter who lives in Chapel Hill and operates a barber shop in Pittsboro. Early one morning last week, on his way to Pittsboro, he stopped at Eubanks’ Drugstore and handed Clyde Eubanks a dollar and said: “Please ret in thi tj the bank for me when it opens. 1 cashed a SSO check there yesterday and asked for it in $1 bills. J counted it later and found they gave me 51. I counted it three times, just to make sure. I couldn’t sleep very well last night because my con science hurt.” ‘‘You can sleep sound tonight,” Mr. Eubanks said. “I'll take it right over to the bank as soon as it opens.” Reminded us of the woman taxpayer who sent a letter to the state revenue department saying she cheat ed on her income tax ten years ago and had slept poorly ever since She enclosed $25 and said, “If I don’t sleep well now, I’ll send the rest.” I.N.XX-V>’W'X>V-V--V-V-V X«V\ V X-V-X- V-V-V-VXNN • V 0 tunv into 0s urdvn By Mrs. L. L. Huffman “I would like to give tuhp bulbi to a gaiden- Moving friend for Christmas, but I noticed you aaid to* plant them in late November." Mrs. J. ( C, < am den, S'. C. Yes, late November and early December planting is best for tulips because they bloom much earlier when planted at this time. However, I planted them on March 6th one year because J couldn’t get around to it sooner and the) all bloomed in late May. But, by late May we havi so many other things blooming that they steal the show from tulips, and that is just the rea son we like, to plant them eai lier. Daffodils bloom first, tulips follow after them, but if w< wait too long they bloom along with roses, lilies, fever few, verbena, sweetpeas, and other things which should come after tulips. if planted a week or two after Christmas, or even early January, and are in good rich soil, they will still have time to News of Books By Robert Bartholomew HANOVER’S WISHING STAR By Nani y Caffiey. E. P. 1) Jt ton & Go., Inc. New York. 125 PP- $2.75. Remember a year ago when a 12 year-old giri, Karen Arn McGuire, made a bid at a horse sale, one of the horses being sold was the world fa mous Nashua. It was a child’s act of faith and this faith was justified. Karen Ann did not end up with Nashua, hut she did get a fine horse. This is the story of what happened to an average little girl and her family when they suddenly found themselves hurled into the spotlight, when the staff of the Hanover Bank of New York was touched by the wistful longing in Karen Ann’s letter, and decided in stead of just forgetting it, to do something about it. Karen Ann’s “sealed bid” to the Hanover Bank is well worth a reprint here: “Dear Sirs I read in the papers today that you are going to sell Nashua and his friends and if you have a horse that no one will buy, I would like to. You can send him or her out to the following address 22 Rutledge Rd., Valhalla, N. Y. The horse will have a good home Ift seres of woods sad fields sad corne up and bloom at the regular time, so give as many tulips for Christmas as you wish. Your garden friends will have them for many years to come. “Do you think tools for gar dening would make a gardener happy?' Mrs. L. B. W., Chapin. Indeed I do If I did not have one, I would rather have a little garden shovel than any thing I know. This shovel is about Bxl2 inches and is bent over at the top on either side so that pushing with the foot will not become painful. Jt can he bought at most hardware stores, and i- a priceless tool for a woman, for, with it, spading becomes a pleasure in stead of a laboring job. So many spading jobs aie waiting to he done now. An nuals have finished blooming and these beds and borders are ready to be spaded lift soil out and turn it over. Let it lie in the rough until next -piing. Fieezing and thawing will condition the soil and in the late part of winter it tan easily he paded and raked, ready for planting again. “J was interested iri the dwarf fruit trees you men tioned and have bought an ap ple, peach, apricot, plum and pear. Now I want dwarf flow ering shrubs. Will you please tell me what 1 can find in dwarf ” Mrs. < VV. B. Shelby, N. ( There are many dwarf flow ering shrubs which we do not plant as widely as we should. Dwarf deutzia in both pink and white arc gorgeous little shrubs which bloom just after azaleas and make as great a show. You can get these from State Bros. Nursery, Louisi ana, Mo. loving care. I would like a horse that would grow old with me. My Sealed bid is $24.03, but maybe by the time you open the bids I have earned some more money 1 can pay a little higher. Sincerely Yours Karen ‘Ann McGuire P. S. My place is called Bram ble Hill.” The book is finely illustrated with pictures of Karen Ann and her new horse and a repro duction of her letter to the bank and a drawing of Nashua by her. Miss Caffrey is to be com mended for this delightful book. Perhaps we seed more hooka Letter to Editor I>ear Sir, \V>- want to thank you for the fine publicity you cave us in your paper. Our bazaar was a great success. We have al ready made $650.00 and when all the orders for cemetery wreathes are filled, we think we ma\ almost reach $700.00 We fee! that this was large')' due to the help and cooperation (if friend- like you and we do greatly appreciate it. Sincerely Annie S. Cameron Publicity Chairman St. Matthew’s Parish Guild Hi Nboro. C. on th< faith of children. ¥ * * OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES. By Tad Mosel. Simon and Schuster. New York. 243 pp. $3.95. The author writes, “Never before ha- been a me dium so sujted to what I call the ‘personal drama,’ that is, a play wherein the writer ex p ore- one simple happening, a day, or even an hour, and tries > suggest a complete life Television cannot evoke the same response in every writer, but Mr. Mosel is not prescrib ing’ for anyone but himself. In hi- plays, the author deals with the joys and sadnesses of the ordinary man, the man who is 50 and is losing his success at business, the woman who goes at great length to hold a forma! awn party, what a inn.:.'/ i-an do about an aging father Wid the misunderstand • .i%x a father,' da lgl ter and potential stepmother. Mr. Mosel’s plays; have been on "Phileo Television Play house,’’ “Goodyear Television Playhouse'' and “Playwrights ’so.'’ * * * Recent reprints in the Uni versal Library Series by Gros set & Dunlap, New York. THE WEB AND THE ROCK. By Thomas Wolfe. $1.45. THE PURITAN OLIGARCHY. By Thomas Jefferson Wertgn baker. $0.95. THE DANCE OF LIFE. By Havelock Ellis. $0.95. • HR]ST STOPPED AT ABOLJ By C’aiK; Lev;. $0.95. tion of flue-cured to oa < o in North Carolina from ’he crop <if 195 b, forecast on July 1. at 783,625,000 pounds, would he 20 per cent below the record production in 1955. Announcing A Special IgSCHRISTMAS SALE on our famous Continental Pure linen Braided Nationally Advertised NATIONAL CARPETING JmJ 'I hi- S.tJc expire - Homin'.. December 31.-1. Act now for once t.ti rug value. I In- Special I’mchn-e bring- mu lor the first rug Gome in Today and Select from Multi-Colored Combinations and Solid Colors. Check these Qualities! # Mothproof! % Fire Resistant! • Reversible! • Mildewproof! —OPEN UNTIL NINE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY -422 W. Prank tin Street —:— Phone 8-451 # Likv 0 hapv / Hill Dr. Ed Hedgpeth was telling about the i>opular Henry Merritt, a colored campus employe of several decades ago, being about one of the most polite people he ever knew. While the good doctor was in school, his father came to visit him and they espied Henry coming across the campus. They called to him, and as he approached he removed his hat and bowed. “You’re the most polite man I ever saw,” Dr. Hedg peth quoted his father as saying to Henry. “Well, sir, I’ll tell you,” Henry replied. “I found out years ago that good manners will get you places that money won’t.” * * * * Add things I’d like to see and hear: Spike Jones directing the N. C. Smphony with Victor Borge as piano soloist. ***-•> Life is getting to be complicated around our house. For instance, the other day the Missus carted our four-vear-old to Durham, and,as they passed Ellis-Stone Co. she called out the name of the place. Upon their re passing the store. Buba wanted to go buy some rocks. His association of stone and rocks didn't dawn upon her until she got home. Then the other morning the deliveryman had left the paper at the foot of the drive in the rain, and the Missus remarked, “If he doesn’t put the paper on the porch, we’ll fire him.” Whereupon Annis Lillian spoke up, “Yes, mama, we’ll get some matches and paper and burn him good.” “Not that,” the Missus tried to explain. “We meant we’ll discharge him.” “What’s discharge, mama?” she asked. “1 mean we’ll stop taking the paper.” “We ain’t gonna set fire to him?” "No.” “That ain’t nice, is it?” “No. Sav, Annis, what do you reckon you’ll do in school today?” Then, to me: “Got to get out of that onb some way or the other.” if * * * * It’s not always necessary to speak your mind. Of times it’s not worth speaking. * * * * Jt takes a live fish to swim against the current, but even a dead one can float with it. * * * ¥ The Blue Ridge Parkway is like a business man’s life. It has its quick turns, up and downs, fears and joys, and a beautiful memory of the entire trip. * * * * We don’t need an Eleventh Commandment. We have ten too many already. * * * * We quite often get she idea that some’ ptft)li<? re lations men prefer to promote bad causes for good sal aries than good causes for bad salaries. Tuesday, December 18, 1956
The Chapel Hill Weekly (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 18, 1956, edition 1
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