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CAMPUS MIRROR
3
Here and There on the
Campus at Christmas Time
Ida Alice Flowers, ’31)
Christmas day. The noisy clatter of
spoons and glassware, the buzzing of
voices, the general excitement suddenly
subsided. There was a startled hush,
forgotten for a moment was the dinner
so lately the cause of universal ejacula
tion; as all eyes turned to the rear of
Spelman dining hall, to follow wonder-
ingly the path of our smiling president
and her chauffeur, the latter carrying a
very large and attractively wrapped
Christmas package. The hush continued
as Miss Read announced the package
contained a gift to the Spelman stu
dents from our recent guest, Dr. Charles
Henry Richer. Two members of the
Community Council, Ella Mae Jones and
A dell Morgan, were given the honor of
opening the gift. There was a chorus of
surprised exclamations as the wrappings
(or unwrappings) disclosed a large, yes,
very large box of candy. Numerous
were the comments upon the thoughtful
ness of Dr. and Mrs. Rieber. The box
of candy was placed upon an improvised
pedestal in the door of the fireplace
dining room and there, immediately fol
lowing the meal, groups of students went
to partake of Dr. Rieber’s Christmas
gift.
During the holidays there were many
surprises and expressions of thoughtful
ness toward the students on the part of
the heads of our institution. Among
these was a party held on Tuesday fol
lowing Christmas in the living room of
Morehouse North. This affair was chief
ly distinctive in that table games were
featured during the early part of the
evening. Dominoes, checkers, and mo
nopoly kept the guests entertained, a
“rise and fly” system being employed.
The participant remaining longest at the
head table received a prize, a large stick
of peppermint candy. The second half
of the evening was devoted to the Vir
ginia Reel, the execution of which caused
a good deal of merriment. Refreshments
hnt a fitting climax.
Another holiday diversion was “Big
Sister—Little Sister” week, promoted by
Miss Brett. Everyone drew a name for
the selection of a little sister for whom
each girl was obliged to enact the role
of big sister by making her happy in
any way she could, without betraying
her identity. At the end of the week
a “Big Sister—Little Sister” party was
held. Cold supper on that Saturday
night was served to students and faculty
alike in the fireplace dining room. Each
girl presented her “little sister” with a
small gift. There were games, novel in
type and enjoyable to everyone. The
girls were asked if they had any clues
as to the identity of their ‘‘Big Sisters.”
Dr. Albro Attends the Amer
ican Association for the Ad
vancement of Science and
Associate Societies
Dovey Johnson, ’3S
Miss Helen Tucker Albro, head of the
Biology department of Spelman College,
attended the American Association for
the Advancement of Science and Asso
ciate Societies, which met at Atlantic
City, New Jersey, from December 28,
1936, to January 2, 1937. Miss Albro
was a delegate from the Sigma Delta
Epsilon Fraternity, the women’s nation
al science society.
The American Association for the Ad
vancement of Science and Associated
Societies meets annually for the purpose
of pooling information from individual
reports on some particular research
during the year.
Some of the high-lights of the meeting
as reported by Miss Albro were the sym
posia on cancer and on taxonomy, an
after dinner speech by Dr. Edith Patch,
of the University of Maine, on Bene
ficial Insects, and a moving picture on
cancer cells of mi-sarcoma, which showed
that cancer could be carried through
twenty generations and still retain its
peculiar characteristics. Another inter
esting picture was shown which treated
the effects of hormone-like substances
on plant growth.
Among outstanding individuals at
tending this convention were Dr. Walter
Schiller, of the University of Vienna,
Austria; Maude Slye, of the University
of Chicago, and Ernest Just, of Howard
University.
Miss Albro stated that there was a sur
prisingly large amount of material pre
sented on the cancer disease.
X-rays
On Monday, December 14, 1936, a
section of the Spelman Nursery School
was converted into a temporary clinic
and there all members of the Spelman
community (teachers and students) who
received a positive reaction from the
tubereuline test given at McVicar Hos
pital on October 27, were X-rayed. The
findings of these X-rays will be reported
later to the individuals and perhaps the
pictures may be obtained upon request,
those in authority stated.
Mother (to son wandering around
room): “What are you looking for?”
Son: “Nothing.”
Mother: “You'll find it in the box
where the candy was.”
One clue was a poem, another a descrip
tion of the “sister’s" name.
This party brought to an end the so
cial life of the campus holiday season.
On the Psychology of
Failure
After repeating the critic’s definition
of a psychologist as one who tells peo
ple what they already know, in words
they cannot understand, Dr. 0. W.
Eagleson, teacher of psychology at Spel
man College, at the morning chapel ser
vices on Wednesday, January 13, gave
what leading psychologists consider
guides to a successful life. These sug
gestions are based on the studies which
have given rise to the theory that life
is a series of problems and puzzles and
a person’s success or failure is deter
mined by the number he solves or fails
to solve. The conclusions are as fol
lows :
1. Have ambition—the drive to do
something.
2. Narrow this ambition to a field
small enough to be mastered; it is not
enough (or too much) to want to be a
musician, for example, but be a pianist
or a violinist.
3. Take inventory—see if you have
the prerequisites necessary to make suc
cess possible, and if not, change your
objective and start all over.
4. Formulate your plans of proced
ure.
5. Get rid of any inferiority com
plex; if this will help any, remember
that nobody is perfect, so that if another
person excels in one respect he will be
weaker than you are in another. So that
in the end you still have a fair chance.
6. Have patience; just as failure
does not happen over night, neither does
success. Give your dreams time to come
t rue!
A Candy Pull
Eager eyes searched the programme
of daily events. “What!” someone ex
claimed, “Aren’t we having any cele
bration to send the old year on its way?”
“Of course we are,” came the enthu
siastic reply; “there is going to be a
candy pull beginning at nine o’clock
Thursday evening, December 31, 1936,
and lasting until, well-er, until we leave.
Perhaps we’ll stay to watch the new
year come in!” she exclaimed hopefully.
A few minutes after nine o’clock on
the evening designated, the joyous
voices of many Spelman students were
mingling in the Morgan fireside dining
room. Miss Brett explained the game,
“The Ghost Walks,” and when what tin 1
students thought was the only ghost
present departed and they were begin
ning to compare this with the stealthy
departure of 1936, Lo! the lights went
out. A voice hissed in spooky whispers
“the ghost walks! The real game was
in progress, and the participants had a
“shivering good time.”
(Continued on Page 6)