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CAMPUS MIRROR
Irina Skuriatina Visits
Spelman
On February 3. Irina Skariatina, dis
tinguished author and lecturer and mem
ber of the Russian nobility, came to our
campus. 1 be few students who were
able to meet her that afternoon were im
pressed by her friendliness and vivacity.
That evening, before an interested group
of students and people f r o m the
community, Mis> Skariatina delivered
a lecture about Russia. She talked
of her parents and of the particular
influences in her childhood which broad
ened her outlook and gave her a keen
interest in her fellow countrymen. Her
mother was a Russian princess and her
father a nobleman of Tartar descent.
Her father had very decided conservative
opinions, and she told the audience of
the violent debates that he had with an
old tutor of hers who was progressive
in his views. The Countess attended the
University in Petrograd where she took
her degree in medical science. With such
training she was able to go to many
places and see numbers of things that
were denied to other students at the
University.
Countess Skariatina gave the history
of the Russian people since 1861. when
the period of serfdom ended. She told
of the series of conflicts beginning with
the intellectual revolution in the hands
of the college people, through the period
of Karensky. then of Lenin, and of pres
ent day regimentation under Stalin. She
told of various incidents in the struggle
of mass against class, and of her father
whose outward defiance of the new situ
ation cost him his life on a dusty Rus
sian street. She told interestingly and
charmingly of her stay in a Bolshevik
prison when she was forced to use the
Hindu custom of concentration that she
and her brothers had learned, in order
to keep her equilibrium during solitary
confinement.
Miss Skariatina talked for a while of
present day conditions behind which is
the philosophy that the great masses of
the Russian population don’t know what
is best for them and must be directed
in their thought and action until they can
stand upon their own feet. She believed
that in spite of the fact that the situation
seems to be one of hopeless chaos, that
her people are slowly but evenly pro
gressing. that they will some time have
the institutions and comforts that they
see and admire so greatly in other lands.
In Sunday School the next morning.
February 4. the Countess told of some
of the religious practices and supersti
tions in Russia, and of her life in court
as the maid of honor to the Empresses
Marie Teodorovna and Alexandra. At
the end of her talk there was an oppor
tunity to ask questions, as there had been
the night before. The Countess is a
charming person, vivacious and sincere,
and the force of her personality plus the
tremendous amount of authoritative in
formation in her possession made her
visit to our campus seem far too short.
Registration Day
Upon entering the Atlanta University
Library on registration day one might
get a picture of either gaiety, satisfac
tion. despair, disgust, anger, or heart
break of varying degrees. Students, hun
dreds of them, bustling about, upstairs,
downstairs, in line here, in line there,
but everywhere—students.
A line at the door, a line before the
treasurer, a line before each teacher, a
line before the registrar. Despite these
numerous lines, the treasurers, Mrs.
Stanley and Mr. Gassett hold the record
for maintaining the longest lines
throughout the day.
Nevertheless, amusing and humorous
things happened. For example, there
was student No. 1 who, while she was
standing in line, heard the “Prof” tell
student No. 2 in front of her to “see
Miss Jenson, the Registrar,” before he
would sign her card. Student No. 2 then
said anxiously to the same “Prof,” “I
wonder if you would sign my card.”
To which the instructor replied, “I won
der what you wonder!”
Then there was that delicate bee-like
creature who saw written on the instruc
tion sheet. “Miss Mather and Staff”;
this cherub went flitting about hither and
thither looking for “Miss Staff.”
After long efforts to make schedules
come right, the instructors were divided
into four categories: those who smiled
and signed your card; those who smiled
and said you barely passed; those who
smiled and told you that you were con
ditioned; and those who smiled and told
you they were sorry.
At 5:30. there were no lines, or even
many reasonable suggestions of lines.
Likewise about 99% of those hundreds
of students had gone, and the Reference
Room gave a sigh of relief as the place
was cleared of posters, ink wells, and
other tools of registration.
Coming
Morehouse Founders Day—February
18 and 19.
Sir Hubert Wilkins—February 20.
Maurice Hindus—February 24.
Student Dance Demonstration—Feb
ruary 23.
“Wise is the man who has a cage ready
for the bird in hand.”
Dr. Steere at Prayer
Meeting
At the weekly prayer meting service
on February 1. Dr. Steere spoke to the
students and a number of faculty mem
bers on the subject of “Roots.” He
spoke of several items from his expe
rience in which tlie roots of certain
plants were the only things that saved
them from complete destruction. These
examples included the hardy pines of
New England and the water lilies in a
pond whose roots get much tangled in
a storm but arrange themselves in their
natural pattern after the disturbance is
past. Dr. Steere said that in our lives,
reverence as shown in prayer is the tap
root which gives us stability in condi
tions that threaten to shake our foun
dations.
In our busy world, it is often difficult
to find time to pray, and even more
difficult to get into the mood for rever
ence. The first essential is a place with
at least a degree of quiet. Then the in
dividual must concentrate upon what he
is doing. Do not fight your distraction,
Dr. Steere said, but rather acknowledge
its existence. In deep concentration, dis
tractions can serve as aids in bringing
about a closer communion with God.
A fierce wind, for example, may moti
vate one to pray for a cooling of one’s
soul. It is not necessary to kneel while
praying, particularly if one is conscious
of the hard surface; but most people
find that closing the eyes helps to shut
out distractions.
Prayers may be of all kinds and for
all purposes, but one must not pray for
others unless one is ready to drop every
thing to go to aid them. Prayer serves
as a source of strength and courage.
Jesus, Dr. Steere concluded, is the su
preme example of one who received
power from frequent prayer and medi
tation.
Penguin Hop Echoes
The Penguin Hop was greatly en
joyed, and will be written up fully in
the next issue—but until then here are
a few echoes:
Mr. X. to teacher: Did you say I
could have one of these pygmies to take
home for a souvenir?
Mr. Y. to teacher: Is it all right for
me to take one of these pigeons home?
Miss Z. to teacher: I am sorry I did
not get to help paint the penguarns.
Mr. S. looking at what was supposed
to be a representation of an Atlantic
iceberg: What you’all got them sheets
up there for? What’s they hiding?
So there really was need for the ex
planation which a certain young lady
tried so hard to give during intermis
sion. but with little success.