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THE CAMPUS MIRROR
January 15, 1936
The Campus Mirror
rhc Students’ Own Publication
“Service In Unity"
THE CAMPUS MIRROR STAFF
Annie Louise Motley Etlitor-in-Giief
Beulah Johnson Associate Editor-in-Chief
Malde Murphy Editor of News
Frankie Smith Associate Editor of News
Anita Lain Editor of Special Features
HaJoise Walker Asst). Ed. of Special Features
Frances Rrock — Exchange Editor
Ella Mae Jones Editor of Sports and Jokes
Wehelmina Chapman Social Editor
Business Staff
Minnie I’inson Business Manager
Johnnie Childress Treasurer
Raymond Whigman Secretary of Staff
Jessie Hubbard . Circulation Manager
Clara Ivy .... Advertising Manager
M. Mae Neptune Faculty Advisor
Subscription Rates
75 cents a Year, 10 cents a Copy, 40 cents a
Semester—Postage 2 cents a Copy
Volume XII January 1 5, 1 936 No. 4
Editorial
In a time like this when the very
foundations of institutions long ac
cepted and unquestioned are being
shaken by doubt and disbelief; when
comparatively new institutions found
ed upon hope, trust and confidence in
the ultimate good of everyone are tot
tering on legs that have never become
fully mature nor firmly planted in
the thoughts and minds nor even in
the political codes of the peoples;
when nation again “lifts up sword
against nation,” and the aggressor
goes apparently unpunished, is thei’e
any wonder that the average young
person finds difficulty in making ad
justments and in keeping his beliefs
in ideals and supposedly proved
truths? In fact, the person who still
maintains unshaken faith in the good
of ‘‘whatever is” in our institutions
is the exception rather than the rule.
Faith has come to mean to many of
ns what it did to the little boy who
defined it as “believing in something
that we know isn't really true.” In
answer to the thought-provoking ques
tion, “What is the safest attitude to
take toward life”?, a thoughtful and
very intelligent young woman replied
that we should hope for the best and
expect the worst. An atheist who was
studying theology said that he did it
so that when and if he reached his
final destination of hopeless damna
tion, lie would have one consolation: he
would have gone there with his eyes
open. The general trend of this type
of reasoning among thinking young
people is not mere coincidence. In our
personal associations, not to speak of
the histories of great nations, we find
examples of broken promises, betrayed
trusts, insincerity and the prostitution
of noble ideals and principles to the
satisfying of greed and base desires.
Often one feels like paraphrasing the
frequently quoted passage, and saying
“God’s in his heaven, all’s wrong with
the world.”
But it is precisely at a time like
this that true worth is determined,
character strengthened and souls beau
tified. Nothing is more tragic, to my
mind, than a soul hideously warped
and a mind impaired and embittered
by uncertainty, failure and adversity.
Toyohiko Kagawa is living proof that
this need not be so, if one has a phil-
osophy simple enough to live by and
big enough to allow others to live. If
one’s disbelief in some things de
presses and destroys, then one should
concentrate on what he does believe
(I do not think one has to believe in
everything to be happy). I believe, for
example, that there is a God; that in
side of me He has deposited a spark
which is and shall be forever free,
one which no earthly force can com
pletely crush and extinguish; that
friendship is sacred, and friends loyal
and true; that in spite of examples to
the contrary there is a love that binds
man to man and blesses; that there is
some good in everyone.
As We Face a New Year
Instead of making a long list of New
Year resolutions, which we would be
sure to break, let us, as we face the
New Year, carefully take stock of what
we have, and decide what we will keep.
The year which lies ahead of us is
as a darkened hall; we can not see
what we shall meet with as we go
through it; perhaps there are stones
over which we would stumble, perhaps
there are losses and sorrows; there
may be hard problems to solve; there
will be some pleasant travels, but there
will also be some rough and very dif
ficult ones.
The year that has just passed is as
an opened book already read. We can
review its pages, take out from them
the worthwhile things of life, and say,
“I will hold fast to these, but the
others which have not gotten me any
where, I will get rid of, so that I may
have strength to make my travels
easier, and by a surer course.” We
would hold fast to self reliance. To
quote from Emerson’s essay Self-Re
liance: “To believe your own thought,
to believe that what is true for you
in your private heart is true for all
men—that is genius.”
Conviction, patience and faith we
would have with us always—we would
The Library: Its Importance
Frankie B. Smith, ’38
“Many times the reading of a book
has made the future of a man.”—Em
erson.
Personalities and ideas are always
the most productive and the most en
gaging resources of our college life.
The Library plays an all important
part in the construction of these two
essentials.
William Lyon Phelps reminds us,
“There are no friends like living,
breathing corporeal men and women;
my devotion to reading has never made
me a recluse. How could it? Books
are of the people, by the people, for
the people.”
It is true that we all have an af
finity for personal friends and ac
quaintances but we cannot always be
with them, possibly they are inacces
sible at the time or they are busily
engaged in other lines of duty; but in
the Library you can enjoy the society
of nobles, converse with Shakespeare,
be an intimate of Longfellow, and be
come a part of Poe, Hughes, DuBois
or Tennyson. These men’s lives have
been devoted to us. By reading their
works we openly express our apprecia
tion of their devotion. Are we doing
this ?
Literature represents years of con
tinuous preservation and compilation;
it shows the thought and tendencies
of by-gone days; it is an embodiment
of our social heritage. On the basis of
the experience and ideas of other gen
erations we must shape our destinies.
Read! Read! Read!
Thanks
The staff appreciates the efforts of
the Associate Editor-in-Chief which
resulted in this issue of the Campus
Mirror.
have faith to believe in our convic
tions and work with patience towards
our goals. Certain other things which
we would carry over are independence
in thought, pleasure in good conversa
tion, the spirit of thankfulness, and a
love of the beautiful.
As we go into the New Year let us
think of the old Chinese saying: “I
have three precious things, which I
hold fast and prize. The first is gen
tleness; the second, frugality; the
third is humility, which keeps me from
putting myself before others. Be gen
tle and you can be bold; be frugal
and you can be liberal; avoid putting
yourself before others and you can
become a leader among men.”