• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1961-09-22_Vol27_No02_02

- Editorial Page Of The Western Carolinian Civil Defense Well, you just never can tell. About people, that is. One minute they're serious and before you know it they have you rolling in the aisles. Take Civil Defense. When warfare was restricted to a mere slaughter of armies and planes dropped measly 500 pound bombs, the CD advocates were probably dead serious when they encouraged the construction of bomb shelters for protection. That was the day when you could hear a bomb whistling down, and the word "fallout" was a blessing to a soldier at attention. The atomic bomb was something for Flash Gordon to deal with, and Civil Defense was certainly serving its purpose. What amazes us is how that organization has fooled so many normal, intelligent people into believing that they are serious when they ask us to build bomb shelters for protection against nuclear attack. Kind of like the Chinese building the Great Wall to keep out Sabre Jets. Verily, they jest. Because, dense as many Americans may be, most of us realize that Russia does have the H- bomb. And the decision to use it would mean the end of modern civilization. As a matter of fact, for most of us, it would mean the end of life, ceramic bombshelter or no. We are not anti-living. We are all for it. But, say you build a bomb shelter, Russia obligingly sends over a holocaust of nuclear missiles, and you retire to And Reality your concrete suite for a few weeks. When you crawl out of your hole and blink your eyes, you'll pray that atmospheric radiation doesn't get you right away (it probably will) and then you'll look for food and water, which is what you came out of your hole for in the first place. If you're lucky enough to find nourishment and strong enough to fight off the local gentry (we would see how fast mankind can degenerate into savagery), you would pray that the food and water isn't contaminated. Then, you could relax and wait for Strontium 90 to kill you. And anyone who has been in downtown New York traffic can see the absurdity of trying to evacuate the millions with only a few hours notice. We refuse to jump on the Civil Defense bandwagon. CD is not only impractical in this age, but embodies a defeatist attitude by undermining reasonable disarmament negotiations and accepting the fact that nuclear war is inevitable. When the American people embrace such a doctrine, they not only betray their faith in their country, but in humanity as well. There is another way. Provided man is still a rational animal, there must be. If there isn't, then Antony can scream like a maniac, "O judgment thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason." And surely, the joke will be on us. ■ The Silent Generation the article "Student Leaders and Campus Apathy." The writers contend, and not entirely erroneously, that "Contemporary collegiate student governments are, to put it mildly, a poor vehicle for transmitting political awareness. They reflect the desire of the college administrator to 'avoid difficulties' at all costs by eliminating the student from all areas of controversy which might 'reflect on the university.' " The cure for the malady is quite a problem. A re-definition of "reponsibil- ity" is in order, more in the vein of duty to one's own principles first and duty to society secondly. A critical look at student government and the role of the student in society (in contrast to his role on campus, which he hardly need be told) is urgent. Student leaders who believe that the student is incapable of influencing state, national, or international conditions have no place in student government. The formation of student political parties on this campus is essential to an awakening to our real problems. The college student cannot afford to live in isolation and accept a world he wants to change. It's something to think about. "Galloping apathy still dominates most American college students," the article said. The statement merited thought, so we thought about it. Perhaps no class of people on earth hear the word "responsibility" more than American college students. Higher education has gained phenomenal prestige in an age of political intensity. And yet, we remain "the silent generation." What is wrong? The concept of student responsibility has become so warped that it no longer implies any positive action on important issues. The hum-drum routine of daily student life and trivial campus matters easily trap the not-too-energetic student in a web of complacency and disinterest for matters outside the campus. The ever present image of the highly organized business world has forced the student to abandon any conceptions he may have had concerning the courage to try to change the world, etc. Individuality and liberality are tagged "immaturity" or "irresponsibility" by so-called "conservative" students who are capable of individual initiative only in the sense that they reflect the inaction of the majority. The Sept. 16 issue of The Nation offers one diagnosis of the malady in The UN's 'Peace' sights and The United Nations and the free world suffered a INSIGHTS great loss when Dag Hammarskjold plunged to a fiery death in the Congo, needless to say. But his death did not endanger the existence of the U.N. as an "effective organization for the protection of the peace" as the press reported. We don't know that the U.N. has ever been an effective organization for the protection of the peace. The U.N. has helped, possibly, to avert nuclear war thus far. The ultimate goal of the U.N. is definitely well and good. But anyone who thinks the U.N. effectively protects peace must not have been on this planet in the last few years. There was a war in Korea, freedom fighters were murdered in Budapest, the Reds have taken much of Indo-China and all of Cuba by force, there has been fighting in Tunisia and Algiers, the Irish are getting it in the Congo, and . . . well, need we go on? We mourn the death of Dag Hammarskjold and we are all for U.N. negotiations instead of bombs. But facts are facts. A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy... Now, women never bother us except when they're around. So we may not be connoisseurs of pulchritude, nor qualified to judge a beauty contest (they all look good to us), let it never more be said that Western North Carolina does not have its share of distractingly pleasant feminine scenery. Maria Beale Fletcher, an Asheville girl, was recently chosen the most beautiful girl in America, which, to put it delicately, tickled the hell out of us. Gail Robertson, a WCC co-ed, is Miss Rhododendron 1962. The freshman co-eds are certainly well . . . well, see for yourself. Now we ask you guys — what more do you want, Bardot maybe? By Don Yarbrough **-? THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN is published every week during the school year with the exception of mid-term and final exam weeks 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. A member of the North State Press Association and the Intercollegiate Press Association. Gerald Bastarache, Editor Jim Clonlnger, Business Mgr. Mrs. Ruth K. Nelson, Advisor This quarter Is getting under way with a bang, I think. One thing in particular I've noticed that the inter-Greek attitudes have improved com- siderably. Let's face it last year the contention between the fraternities, the "cold war", was so sharp it was silly. I hope this friendly attitude persists the whole year. There has been some talk of all the Greeks combining their resoures and having a couple of dances with all the trimmings. The school is large enough to produce something of this nature; yet, it is small enough so that irrational attitudes between the Greeks could turn back the hands of fate, and no growth of any kind would ever be. Let's don't let this happen. Troilus and Cressida, to be presented in November, is a play nobody should miss. Much preparation and rehearsing will be necesary for its production and I am sure that all the actors, actresses, and everybody concerned will knock themselves out! WCC should be quite proud of the progress the Little Theatre has made over the past few years. The plays are getting better and better, I think. Support them! Something else to add prestige to the school ... I guess you've heard about the twenty-five gals called the West Carol-ettes? Asheville Stadium should contain an enthusiastic crowd Saturday night; We meet with our old rival for one thing, and the West Carol-ettes will do a precision and dance routine with the band at half-time. These beauts will add a new life to "Can Can" music. 9m*0ww*rww*****ww**v*****************m****v^w****mi*^imrt***m*w**i*^mm*m**w* i *!WHMilW»lWW*l«fVlilfWl«W«'lfWWl>i>WWWW*»MVWVl*lW The Odyssesy: A Modern Sequal NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS You Can Quote Me By Clyde Ray It was once said that the true man or woman must include within his or her every word and action the following traits: Poetry, Sex, Reason, and Blood. During his long and colorful life, the noted modern Greek poet, Nikos Kazantzakis gave ample proof of his ability to move freely in each of the four worlds. If the above stated axiom is true, then it necessarily follows that that which holds true with the creator must also hold true with the created. It is as it might be expected to be. Kazantzakis, in his The Odyssey: A Modern Sequal, has written a modern epic in verse that meets all standards. The poet will find the symbolism and imagery strong and original; a Ph. D. would be intrigued by the careful and almost flawless realism that prevades and the entire work; both the soldier and the lover will enjoy and profit from the reading of it. The Odyssey; A Modern Sequal, as it's name implies, is a continuation of the story of the original Odyssey of Homer. After two decades of continuous warfare and exodus, Odysseus soon grows dissatisfied with the peaceful pastoral life of Ithaca and, soon after his return, he embarks with a few aging companions of a greater and final odyssey. With flame and sword, he crosses the Mediterranean to Egypt and his blood-stained footprints come only to an end at the edge of the Sahara, where he finds himself at the head of a dissolute rabble of soldiers, beg- gers, and prostitutes in search of a new world and a new life. Odysseus leads them to the headwaters of the Nile, where the "New City" is eventually constructed, and one of the brighter pages in the History of Man seems ready to be written. However, an unforeseen catastrophe occurs to the "New City" and it is this catastrophe in Africa that marks the turning point in the Epic. Up to this one event, Odysseus has primarily been interested in gratifying his own human appetites. The sting, as well as the glitter, of life are presented fairly and without excuses. However, the virtues of Odysseus's experience and his role as a leader of a rejected people gradually combine to bring out his depeer and more sensitive aesthetic and philosophical nature. The catastrophe that befalls him and his new society is the crucial point in this development. Alone in the night forest, grey and broken, with just a flicker of light remaining from his former full flame of resolution and defiance, Odysseus enters a trance-like state in which he remains for a number of days. It is only then that he learns what his true purpose is in the world of trees, men and continents. Just as Odysseus was destined to be the only one of the Greek captains wise enough to breach the walls of Troy, and as Odysseus was destined to be the only one of a handful of derliends soldiers-of-for- tune who had the royal and the worldly experience to forge a new State out of a crowd, so Odysseus now finds himself fated to be the only man with the courage and the wisdom to solve the ancient Riddle: What Is Death? and How May Man Defeat Death? Eventually, Odysseus discovers a potential answer to this dual riddle. It is a strong and realistic solution, born on a new surge of resolution and defiance, such a child as only a man with the wisdom and courage of Odysseus could father. Over the following years, Odysseus wanders the length of Africa, renowned as a great aestic by Man and Nature a- like. Many of the negro tribesman approach him in order to ascertain the means of overcoming death, but few understand him, and fewer still have the courage to practice his simple and disturbing philosophy of life and death. The turning pages whisper a multitude of farewells, and the last sections read like the passing colors of a silent, autumn sunset. At length, Odysseus stands alone and withered on a promontory of the Cape of Good Hope. The Sea and his life were forever inseparable, and it is to the sea that he returns for the final struggle and chapter of his life. A- drift on a makeshift raft, he in time finds himself becalmed among the dark and silent ice flows of the Antartic. It is there where his last and greatest battle is finally fought. The translation by Kimon Friar has the approval of Kanzantzakis himself as being as good as the original Greek, and the volume is illustrated with a number of unusual drawings by Mexico's famed artist, Ghika. Based on an ancient and eternal rheme, Kazantzakis's Odyssey is written not in the language or for the eyes of By Joe Britt The editor asked me to write a current events column. He had heard I was a History minor and probably wanted to wage war on the History Department as well as the Administration. I told him I couldn't do it because . . ." Look man, anybody can do that. Just talk about the election and bombs and things." He looked a little dazed Feed Back WHG Welcomes All We of the Woman's House Government welcome all Freshmen, transfers, and old students to the campus of Western Carolina College. We are hoping for each of you a happy and a successful year. The Woman's House Government leaders have already begun their work for the year. The Counselors of Madison Dormitory were ready bright, and early Sunday morning, Sept. 10, as a special welcoming committee for the freshman girls. During Orientation week, the W.H.G. president, Ann Piemmons, conducted a a "Woman's Hour" during which the officers of the Woman's House Government were introduced. They are Ann Piemmons, president; Selma Burgess, Vice President; and Sarah McNabb, Secretary. Other leaders who were presented to the freshman and Transfer students were the officers of the two women's dormitories and the counselors of Madison Dorm. Student speakers for the assembly were: Linda Kay Furr, President of Alpha Phi Sigma, . . . "Scholarship" Mary Hill, President of Madison Dorm . . . "Importance of Church participation" Becky McMinn, Assistant Housemother of Madison Dorm, . . . "Dormitory Life" Becky Westmorland, Director of Intramurals, . . . "The Intramural program" Presented also at this meeting were Mrs. Renfro, Dean Fifth and Twentieth Century Readers alone, but in many languages and for many readers. Whatever one's medium may be — essays, guns, verse, women — this volume will emerge at the end of the reading almost as unforgettable as the sun "rolled across the sky by Yesterday and Tomorrow," or as the "dark and heavy rose petals that drop one by one from the armpits of Helen of Troy." when I asked," What election?" Anyway, history, math, science, and the like are too dangerous to talk about. They're too definite. You have to know facts. I prefer the vagueries of art and literature. With a little priming you can talk all day about Pollock and never get into trouble. So let's talk about Hemingway. He's dead now and everybody's doing it. Time even had an article without a bull in it about him. Steiner, in Kenyon Review, got his two bits in also. It seems that Hemingway was limited. This is undoubtedly true. He died. There are also whispers a- bout his outliving his period, and only being able to do 110 push-ups. This generation grew up with the 'Old Man's" books tucked in its boots and cries of Nada echoeing in its ears, but without a war (for most of us) to show whether he was right or not. At least not a shoooting war. We have our psychological war and "Let's go to Venice West; I wanna write" school. These will have to suffice until the real things come a- long. Or perhaps we don't like to be told that in the end result we have to take a stand, because like Harry Morgan and Robert Jordan it might be on the losing side. While we're sitting around waiting for the sure winner some nut always comes up with a "Just talk about the election . . ." and we have to of Women, and the dormitory Hostesses, Mrs. Edith Hall and Mrs. Leland Waters. Again, welcome to our campus. We hope your adjustment will not be too painful, but if it is, Woman's House Government is here to help you in anyway we possibly can. Ann Piemmons. President E PLURIBUS COLUMN . . . John Streetman IH In an evident attempt to stamp out a plague of literary loafers who frequently invaded the English Department conference room, someone has chosen to install three "counseling cubicles" which somewhat resemble a series of oversized public latrines. I am indignant. One of my fondest memories is the daily congregating of The Clan to discuss such lurid topics as the philosophy of Norman Vincent Peale or the use of the apostrophe as opposed to the comma. Now these monumental- seminars have been forced to make way for the installation of prefabricated privies. However, we will not accept defeat. In fact, there is a movement currently in the making to convert Stillwell's second floor broom closet into a temporary mecca for this undaunted minority group. Although the new cells reflect a great store of architectural inspiration (two-by- fours held together by a sliding door), the old home place just won't be the same. Pax Vobiscum, Frank Lloyd Wright, wherever you are. C'est la vie After reading a colleague's verbal vomiting about Greeks in the last issue of the paper I am reminded of Don Gentry one of Cullowhee's more illustrious columnists who frequently chose to question the purpose, morals and aptitude of the campus brethen. Gentry, however, is a writer's writer; this makes a difference. Snooping Around, last week's appropriately titled literary acident in the Caro- inian, was, ironically, its author's swan song. People who live in glass houses . . . Breese Revisited Plaudits to the faculty, who survived the annual campus knuckle-crushing marathon last Wednesday evening. Your endurance is commendable — especially during introductions to local karate enthusiasts. My roommate, who suffers from an advanced case of seven-year itch, so enjoyed the reception that he went through the receiving line twice. Requiem Amidst clouds of smoke a la Phillies Cheroot, Cullowhee natives lean judiciously a- gainst sagging barn doors and lament the passing of Ham- arskjold. "I just don't understand it," grumbles a head-scratching sage of sixty harvests. "It wasn't in the almanac." Ain't freedom grand . . . Boys, Keep Out Of Daisy Mae Room It seems necessary to explain the rules of the girls' poolroom (Daisy Mae) to the freshmen as well as to some of the upperlclassmen. No men are allowed in the Daisy Mae poolroom at any time except Friday and Saturday nights after 7:30, accompanied by a date. Please abide by these rules in order to prevent us from taking action with your respective deans. Yours for a better SU, Student Union Personnel .His threat I could ignore... but his butchered couplet demanded retribution. -^r* Greenroom Chatter By Joe Walker In his column on the Little Theatre and the coming production of Troilus and Cressida last week, Harry Sandlin neglected to mention two very noteworthy personages concerned with the play. I have come not to bury John Streetman and Biff Maye but to praise them. Mr. Streetman spent much of his vacation on the score and other music for Troilus and Crsesida. People who have heard it called the music— "Great," "Excellent," etc. So rest assured it is up to par with Mr. Streetman's other worthy compositions. Mr. Maye is carrying a double load in Troilus. He not only has the role of Pandarus, uncle to Cressida, but also is doing the choreography for several dances in the play. John and Biff both deserve credit for putting so much time and talent into what promises to be one of the best productions by the Little Theatre at Cullowhee. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Ace Tago, please contact someone in the Ltitle Theatre. Ace has one of the scripts of Troilus, and it is needed badly as there are very few of them. Any information will be appreciated. Tryouts for the remainder of the roles in Troilus will be Monday the 25th. Everyone is eligible except first quarter freshman girls, and from what I've seen of the Acting I <*»* it's a shame.—This seems like a good closing note so I will' appear unconcerned. Election? Good God. What election?

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina College
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1961-09-22;
  • Date digitized: 2017-09-27
• Extent
  • Dimension: 21.5" x 16"
  • Pages: 4 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1961-09-22_Vol27_No02
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library