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CAMPUS MIRROR
3
I)r. Dubois Addresses
Convocation
Speaking for the first time to an At
lanta audience since returning from his
seven-month journey around the world,
Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, Professor of So
ciology at Atlanta University, addressed
the students and faculty members of
the Atlanta University System, Tues
day, February 9, at a university con
vocation in Sisters Chapel.
During the course of the seven-month
journey Dr. Dubois revisited many of
the principal countries of Europe and
for the first time visited the Orient.
France and England, according to Dr.
Dubois, are democracies which are oc
cupied with new and different tasks,
that of preserving the peace of the world
and that of adjusting themselves to the
ever changing economic situation.
Dr. Dubois spoke of the great cele
brations and demonstrations of armed
force by the Nazi party; he reported
the gigantic housing program of
the lower and middle classes; the
construction of new roads; the na
tional vocational guidance program by
which each youth is advised by a coun
selor concerning the chances of securing
work in certain fields and the compul
sory work program.
The most astounding situation to be
seen in Russia is the absolute absence
of retail trade stores. This fact proves
the belief of the Soviet government, in
timated Dr. Dubois, that business and
industry are direct concerns of the state.
Dr. Dubois was much impressed on
his first visit to Asia by the immense
size and power of the population. In
this country he not only saw the phy
sical center of future mankind, but he
found a civilization that has some sort
ot eternity. In Japan Dr. Dubois was
greatly amused and pleased with the
seemingly instinctive and natural cour
tesy found in every class of society. Her
almost sinful efficiency is making Ja
pan, and not England, the textile center
of the world.
Though Dr. Dubois found economic
conditions of the world upset and peace
conditions uncertain, the chief im
pression remaining with him at the end
of his journey was the tremendous, un
dying beauty of the world—the rich
beauties of nature, the seas, mountains,
and islands—and most of all the al
most unbelievable achievements of man
in the building of his temples and other
works.
Thought for the Month
“None but the nightingale should part
his lips just to make a sound.”
A Chinese proverb from the lecture
by .Mrs. John Henry White on Chinese
literature.
Fhe Most Frequently
Broken Vow
Ruby L. Sanders, ’38
My friends! Have you ever been
through one of those hand-wringing,
heart - sickening, head - cramming, eye
straining knowledge machines? I am
sure, if you have, that some hours after
ward there could be found a few silver
strands among your bright tresses. Yes,
you walk into the room at the appointed
hour with your head full (from cram
ming all night); the teacher hands you
your “blue book;” you take it, smiling
—not for pleasure but in an attempt to
disguise your fear; the teacher hands
you the examination sheet which you
tremblingly reach for, usually turning
it face down. Finally you ease the paper
over inch by inch and peep at its con
tents—first with one eye, next with both
eyes, then you open your eyes very
widely and read the contents carefully.
“Oh, pshaw! I thought this exam was
going to be hard; I know all this stuff,”
you will say to yourself. You open your
examination book in order to proceed
on your two-hour (or more) task. The
moment you attempt to write down the
answer to the first question all of your
knowledge flees from you. Then you
say, “What is the matter with me? I
am sure I know the answer to all of
these questions.” You read the first
question over and over trying to recall
the answer, but it will not come. Then
you leave the first question, promising
to go back to it later, and go to the
second. You find it the same way and
go to the third, then to the fourth, and
finally you reach the last, giving all the
same “look” and the same promise. Then
you begin at the first again. You grasp
your head and squeeze it, unconscious
of the fact that there is any one else
in the classroom besides you. About that
time you look up and the teacher is
looking at you. Then you begin writing
away—on almost nothing, but you feel
that you must write something to keep
from handing back the blue book just
like it was handed to you.
Soon the first bell rings, and you lose
your head—what little you have left.
You get very heavy and your hand will
not move; you then get very light and
your hand flies up and you cannot get
it back down on the paper. You get
awfully warm and persipration begins
to “pop” out like little beads all over
your face; then you get very cold and
your hand begins to tremble; you can’t
read your own writing and you know
the teacher can’t. Your eyes are weak
from the neglect of sleep the night be
fore, and everything looks blurred. Fi
lially you adjust yourself again and look
over and see your fellow classmates
writing away. About that time one
hands in his paper and walks out of
What Impressions?
Speaking to the students of Spelman
College, Thursday, February 4, in Howe
Hall, on the subject “The Impressions
We Leave,” Miss Elizabeth MacDonald
Osborne, nationally known authority on
appearance, stressed the fact that the
impressions which we leave with a per
son are so important to our happiness
and success in life that it should be of
vital concern to each person to develop
to the fullest extent his or her assets
and to overcome liabilities as completely
as possible.
Miss Osborne’s talk included four
main topics: manner and manners,
grooming, bodily posture, and voice.
What one does everyday, the way one
sits, walks, or talks, the general car
riage—creates one’s appearance in the
future. Finally, she said no two indi
viduals are alike—each person is a dis
tinct individual—each has assets and
liabilities; the more one makes of his
assets and the less one is hampered by
his liabilities, the bigger one is; for great
people are those who make the most of
what they have rather than attempting
to acquire the qualities which someone
else possesses.
Of all the things one wears, the facial
expression is most important, for it re
flects one’s personality and philosophy
of life. Miss Osborne expressed oppo
sition to masking, for, she said, “Masks
are worn because of one of two reasons:
over-sensitiveness or a desire to appear
sophisticated. Masks are very dangerous
because in shutting other people out,
one shuts himself in, making real under
standing impossible.
Grooming, according to Miss Osborne,
is the care of clothes and the way one
wears them. It includes also the com
plexion, which is more dependent upon
circulation than upon make-up; the hair
—its quality and health rather than its
dress; and general cleanliness and care
of the nails. That well-scrubbed, well-
pressed look adds greatly to one’s at
tractiveness, and anyone can have it.
Miss Osborne was available to stu
dents for short conferences during her
three day stay on the campus, and stu
dents took full advantage of every con
ference period.
the room, then another, then another.
You treat all of your questions more
or less in the same manner, get up and
hand in your paper and walk out, too.
1 he moment you close tin * 1 door behind
you all the answers to the questions
pop back into your mind again—the
correct answers in correct form. Oh, if
you could get your paper again! But
you can’t, even if you try.
You march on with the “semesterlv”
resolution that you will not let that hap
pen again—the most frequently broken
vow!