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Western Carolinian Volume 24 Number 13

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  • ^ Editorial Page Of The Western Carolinian Righteous Indignation- Restitution Must Be Made Lai H Ne^r &* m u.c.c. In the deplorable display of vandalism that took place on our campus just recently the material damage has now been estimated at about $900. Restitution must now be made by the students (the guilty and the innocent alike). Methods will have to be found to pay this money. Whatever methods are found to make restitution, directly or indirectly the student body will foot the bill. It stands to reason that the majority of the students view the whole business with justifiable indignation. Although means will be found to pay for the material damage it will be some time before we will have restored the lost prestige. Due Recognition On February 23rd, eleven new members were initiated into the Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, National Honor Fraternity here at Western Carolina College. These students achieved a scholastic average of 3.25 or better for 90 quarter hours of college work. Their acceptance for this honor is due recognition for a fine academic record. Congratulations to them. Six of the new members were science majors. This fact seems to indicate an encouraging trend toward fulfilling a national aspiration to compete in the new science age. Appreciation We wish to acknowledge formally the loyal and faithful service given to the Western Carolinian by Mr. Chuck Holmes, Assistant Editor, and Mr. Woody Needham, Sports Editor, who have worked long hours to give of their best to produce a good college newspaper. Thank you, gentlemen. We wish you good luck in your new endeavors. Letters To The Editor Sir: On behalf of the students of Western Carolina College I wish to express our appreciation for the 20 decks of new playing cards we received from the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Card playing is one of the favorite pastimes of the students here and without your help many students would not be able to partake in this pastime. I can assure you that these cards are used avidly by the students and that the name of Winston and Salem are ever1 before their eyes. Signed: Skip Pearce, Student Union Assistant. which was directed toward the Mountaineer supporters who were visitors on our campus. Complete investigation of the incident is now taking place and I will inform you personally of any developments. Sincerely yours, (signed) Danny McClure. i Editor's note: President McClure's letter to Student Body President Lynn Mize of Appalachian, reflects the sentiment of the majority of our Student Body. February 26, 1960 Dear Lynn: It is with deep personal regret that I find it necessary to write to you regarding the unsportsmanlike conduct which was recently displayed by a number of our students here at Western Carolina College. You may rest assured that this regret is echoed by the great majority of the students in this school. It is the desire of these students that the spirit of competition which has arisen between our schools be used constructively to further our common effort to develop better citizenship. We regret with all sincerity the display of animosity Editor's note: Danny McClure, President of the Student Body, wrote Dean A. K. Hinds the following letter: Dear Dr. Hinds: After giving a great deal of attention to the recent ruling by the Instruction Committee regarding the penalty for missing assembly programs, I would like to offer the following thoughts for your consideration. 1. It is my understanding that this action was taken, at least in part, as the result of the recommendation for compulsory assmblies made by the members of the 25th Annual Pre-Session Conference. May I point out that the recommendation was made in the belief that this would help to establish a better informed student body, thus "Increasing School Spirit through More Unified Participation," the theme of the conference. 2. It is my belief that the recent ruling, though following the letter of the Conference recommendation, is not in harmony with the spirit of the Conference. Through the recent ruling we will undoubtedly achieve increased participa tion, but I fear that the se- vereness of the penalty which is to enforce participation is likely to destroy unity, which was of equal concern to the members of the Pre-Session Conference. 3. As an alternate plan, I would like to suggest that, instead of denying a student all his cuts during the succeeding quarter, that the student be denied only one class cut in each course he carries during the succeeding quarter. This would, in effect, deny a student 3 to 5 cuts for missing assembly, which I believe is/ severe enough to sufficiently discourage the missing of assembly programs. This plan would be more in harmony with the total theme of the Pre-Session Conference. Your consideration of this suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Respectfully, (signed) Danny McClure. Editor's note: The following letter to Danny McClure is printed with permission from Dean Hinds. Dear Danny: . . . With reference to your letter of February 23, I shall be glad to call the attention of the Instruction Committee to the points that you make. The Instruction Committee did propose to the Senate that it come up with some method whereby we would be assured that the students would attend assemblies, and no report of any suggestion came back to the Committee. The Critic On The Hearth I feel troubled about the big wet kiss I gave The Little Foxes in the last issue. It is felt to be unprofessional to write nothing but plaudits. Reviews of plays rather need a couple of adverse observations, like beauty spots. Above the melodious caroling in praise of set, stage, and acting must be heard the squealing of dissent. The theatre is an art form. In the art form of the short story an author may show his product to a critic. If the critic produces a great smile, hands it back, and says: "Man, you really got it! Pace, characters, gimmick!—the best!" Then the author may have the uneasy feeling that the critic is a phony. I didn't see The Little.. Foxes as a critic but as a playgoer. When I learned I was to write the review my memory of the performance was bathed in the misty light of remembered pleasure. What could I do? Not one incident recurred to me at Which I might lift an eyebrow, shake a head, or wag a finger. The stage hands Hale Chamberlain obstinately refused to hang a picture upside down. The actors and the director, equally inconsiderate of the critical reviewer, failed to blow their lines, egragious- ly miss a cue, or misinter- pet a scene. They persisted in being good enough so that the lasting impression I had was of a satisfying evening's entertainment. Maybe they thought I was coming Friday, instead of Thursday, and arranged a bungling ineptitude for my review, which I missed. If so I'm sorry. Clue me in next time. 0 YevKt r*F*AiO f**r£*»TTif /iP£ uJOulo t*tr**F£A£. wit* y#t/«£. STvO/ES? M>*/S£a/SE, \3TAV1J3 Book Report Aldous Huxley is my favorite book titler. He is a better writer of titles than he is of books. However, the titles largely come from classical poems, so he may Committee spent many hours trying to figure out some scheme whereby the College would not be embarrassed by an empty auditorium for an assembly speaker. The Committee realized the severeness of the penalty. The Committee also felt that there should be no cut allowed for the three assemblies per quarter, and wanted a system as simple as possible because of the enormous amount of clerical work which would be required in record keep- in with a complicated system. I might say that the Committee is not committed to the present system from now on, but I feel that they will wish to give it a trial for the remainder of this scholastic year. However, as I indicated at the first of this letter, I will bring your letter to their attention at the next meeting. Sincerely yours, (signed) A. K. Hinds, Dean. Ape And Essence be called an excellent selector of titles. Here are a few, chosen for their rhythm: Time Must Have A Stop, After Many A Summer Dies The Swan, Eyeless In Gaza, Those Barren Leaves and Jesting Pilate. Ape And Essence, too, has its rhythm. Ape And Essence is a fine, way of saying Body and Soul, or Flesh and Spirit. Though the book was published 12 years ago, its value is beyond assessing today. Huxley has been sensitive to morality in the last half of his literary output, often at the cost of his style. Of him, too, it may be said that he sold his birthright for a pot of message. But the message is good. Huxley is an entertaining preacher, fired with prophetic vision. It is a vision of the end of the world. Ape And Essence pretends to be a rejected movie scenario. The bulk of the book is in the form of a scenario, but unlike any that Hollywood would dare attempt. Yet, in the wake of the dramatic filming of On The Beach, perhaps a brave producer might try. Huxley is at his best with satire. This book contains some of the most savagely bitter satire ever written. In the post-World War III world, the apes have triumphed over man, and imitate man's most revolting follies. The prevailing philosophy is called The Higher Ignorance. The empty sophistication of nightlife is thrown at the reader in the following description: "Cut to the screen, at which the apes are so attentively gazing. In a setting such as only By Hale Chamberlain Semiramis or M-G-M could have imagined we see a bosomy young female baboon, in a shell- pink evening gown, her mouth painted purple, her muzzle powdered mauve, her fiery red eyes ringed with mascara. Swaying as voluptuously as the shortness of her hind legs will permit her tp do, she walks onto the i . . stage." That is the Ape. The Essence is hinted at through a description of Michael Faraday, in chains, as the camera closes in on his face, which registers 'astonishment, disgust, indignation and, finally, such shame and anguish that tears begin to flow down the furrowed cheeks." The unmistakable warning against the tragedy of nucelar warfare would be effective in the unfamiliar experience of a satirical movie. There are still people in this future world. They have supernumerary fingers and toes. Once a year all babies born with more than seven digits are thrown into a fiery pit. Also once a year the people are allowed to mate. The rest of the year the women wear clothes on which the word "No!" appears in several places. The government is a sort of super-Fascist horror, not nulike Orwell's Niweteen-Eighty-Four. The doggerel chant of the Narrator intones: Church and State, Greed and Hate:— Two baboon-persons In one Supreme Gorilla. This is a book for those who like the unusual. It has the impact of Huxley's more famous Brave New World. It may disturb the complacent. And so it should. The Face Of A Generation By Jerry Bastarache It's like leprosy, you know. This drive we have to insult, to halfway conduct a crusade for some vague ideological cause, or to just blow off about something in general, and leave it at that. Like leprosy it spreads, and once it gets started, it can only be arrested. There is no cure. In college, we are taught to criticize. Criticism is a necessary thing. But criticism for the sake of criticizing, for the sake of proving only that we have the ability to verbally or otherwise tear something down in short order, is not only dense ignorance, but is an underhanded slaughter of every worthwhile idea even before the idea is conceived. We call people "pseudo- intellectuals" and other convenient brand names, whenever they look at something differently. We attack everything that we don't or can't understand, and especially, we attack the "old way of doing things" simply because it is the old way. We call ourselves "realists," and we're proud of our tough talk and statistical findings. And behind it all, we're scared to death. I do not mean to be facetious, but we have lost faith in our country. History shows that all great nations have reached their peak and have crumbled. So, facing the so-called facts like a brave bunch of cowards, we automatically assume that we are living in the last great days of the Roman Empire. Yep, we're being real courageous by facing up to the fact that we're about to commit suicide and it's only a matter of time until we atom-bomb ourselves out of existence. No nation, no college, no city, no profession, no idealogy ever became great because it was a good thing and people backed it. Things become great because every now and then, a single person—a dreamer —sees what is wrong and proceeds to do something about it, or believes things are OK the way they are and does something about that. But we don't believe in dreaming today. Oh, we let our dreamers dream so long as they don't really do anything. But let them try to realize their dreams, like people used to do in this country only a hundred years ago, and immediately (Continued on page 6) THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN is published bi-monthly during the school year by the students of Western Carolina College. Represented for National Advertising by National Advertising Service, Inc., 18 East 50th Street, New York 22, New. York. Subscription Rate—$2.00 for the School Year. THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN STAFF Editorial Staff Editor- In -Chief _ Derrick Hockin Assistant Editor—News Don Gentry Assistant Editor—Make-Up „ „ Wayne Culp Assistant Editor—Features Jerry Bastarache Feature Writers „ Jane Blankenship, Barbara Byers, Hale Chamberlain, Barbara Hembree, Raydee Wyatt Reporters Don Gentry, Harry Sandlin, John Streetman, Dan Yarbrough Arts Staff Drama Editor Joe Britt Photographer „ _ Zeke Ange| Sports Staff Sports Editor Ken Drury Girls' Intramurals Nancy Harmon, Barbara Messer Business Staff Business Manager m _ Wes piePce Assistant Business Manager—Circulation "... Bob Dean Assistant Business Manager—Publicity ... Russell Elliott Secretary _ I'Lyndon Smith Proof Readers Joyce Qa E|a|ne pruette Circulation Staff Jim Chandley. Ma|ver„ We8t, Horace Whisnant, James White Adv,80r Mr. George Herring
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