Newspaper Page Text
The Panther
DECEMBER, 1965 3
Greeks —Are You Worthwile?
Listening to a recent Frater
nity program which stated the
aims and purposes of a Fra
ternity, I began to wonder just
how well do Greek letter organ
izations fulfill their aims? The
speaker said, “A Greek-letter
organization’s aim is to develop
better men and finer women, to
promote scholarship and to pro
mote the ideas of human dignity
by uniting in a program of sis
terhood and brotherhood.” But
do they really accomplish their
aims and purposes?
I have been at Clark College
for 2Vz years during which time
I have known many sorors and
big brothers. I have been asking
question after question about
each Greek-letter organization,
and the answers are quite in
adequate to convince me of the
group’s significance. During the
first semester of my freshman
year at Clark, I attended every
rush party and talked with many
members of these organizations,
asking the following question.
“What are your organization’s
aims and purposes?” The an
swers were “to develop better
womanhood or manhood,” “to
promote scholarship and to add
to the academic and social at
mosphere of the college life.”
Let’s analyze these three an
swers. How do they develop
better men and finer women?
They don’t. During the periods
of initiation each member is
put through childish unneces
sary prankish antics. The mental
anguish and even the physical
abuse doesn’t add any to the
development of greater men and
women, nor does it help their
scholastic averages. Why not
change the initiation period in
to constructive programs that
really teach each member to be
finer women and men. What do
1 propose? A program that will
train them in the Social graces,
or in other words, teach them
etiquette. Stage constructive pro
grams that will really do some
good, and plan an initiation pe
riod where pledges averages will
not fall, as it does in 90% of
the cases when they are on the
line, but increase their aver
ages. These things will definitely
make better men and women
and not just a group of people
who become a member of a
Greek organization because they
like a certain sweater and no
other reason.
What about the addition to
the social and academic atmos
phere of the college life? With
a total of 8 Greek-letter organi
zations on our campus, just ask
yourself how many academic
programs have they presented to
enhance the academic atmos
phere this year or in the pre
ceding years. The same question
can be asked about the social af
fairs (of value) and your an
swer would be few indeed.
What do Greek-letter organi
zations really do? They have
lunch, breakfast, and dinner to
gether; often live and associate
in a small clique; wear the same
colors on a particular day and
conform to the ideas and pat
terns set by their particular or
ganization. It is not unusual for
the members of a sorority to
tell their members how to wear
their clothes or to fix their hair
or even tell them who they may
associate with. They lose their
sense of individualism, while
they conform to things, object
to themselves.
Some of their members say,
“I joined a Greek-letter organi
zation so I could belong to a
prestige group of leaders and be
one of the ‘in crowd.’ ” If you
have the ability to be a leader
you do not need to be in the
“in crowd” to obtain presige.
You can be an individual and
have just as much prestige and
possibly more respect because
you made it to the top alone
and not because of a big brother
or a big sister, but because you
were capable of such a position.
There are others who say, “I
joined because of the sisterhood
elements it possesses. I know I
have some one to be with and
to talk with, someone who will
be willing to help me always.”
I ask you is this completely
true? There are many members
who do not like their sisters
and brothers and would not lift
a finger to help them. Why
not make as many people your
friends as possible. You will
surely find that sometimes peo
ple who are not a member of
your sorority or fraternity will
help you more than your sister
or brother.
I feel that the aims may be
high, but the organizations are
not fulfilling those aims and
purposes. Sororities and Frater
nities should revamp their pro
grams of initiation and organi
zation so they can accomplish
those true aims they want to
exhibit to the general public.
Many Greeks often say, “you
will never know what we are if
you don’t join; but, this is a
very illogical statement. If you
are thinking straight and using
your head, you know you “don’t
leap before you look.” You first
need to present something to the
student body that is tangible and
very plainly seen.
The student body should de
mand to see something con
structive before they go blindly
into an organization that really
doesn’t fulfill their aims and
purposes in their present form.
Remember to “Investigate be
fore you Invest.”
Greeks — are you worth
while? If you believe you are
please comment. I am eager to
know your value.
Author, Bea Madison
Intercom Please
A gentleman from More
house, (whom we’ll call John)
entered Holmes Hall at 3:00
p.m. Sunday and proceeded to
visit a young lady. After being
told by the receptionist that he
must devise his own method of
contatcing her, he waited for
someone to enter the dorm, who
seemed to be going in that di
rection. Finally a girl (whom
we’ll call “Susie”) came by and
agreed to journey to the third
floor to ask the young lady to
come down for him. She pro
ceeds to execute the deed, but
learns that his girlfriend is not
in. After a moment’s contem-
Hear My Plea!
by Jimmye Cassandra Vaughn
My dear fellow Clarkites,
continue to cast your eyes upon
this column while I enlighten
you on a grievance of the upper
classmen.
Every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday at 10:00 A.M., I,
along with many other junior
and senior Clarkites, experience
an emotion of annoyance. Why
do we become annoyed?
We become annoyed when
those particular lights flicker,
and when that dreaded voice
says, “the library is closing for
chapel; please leave quietly.”
The freshmen and sophomores
leave to go to the auditorium
for chapel as they are obliged
to do. We upper classmen must
leave only to go tread the halls
in search of a quiet and empty
room, in order that we may
continue to study. If we find
an empty room, it is usually
invaded by someone who does
not have to study and who
wants to talk.
It is true that Trevor-Arnett
Library is across the street. It
is apparent too, that time is
wasted getting coats, walking
across the street; and of course,
there is always the inability to
study comfortably because of
fear that too much time will
elapse before the 10:40 A.M.
class.
We appreciate not going to
chapel because we need every
available moment for our stud
ies. However, closing the library
is not helping our situation any.
If closing the library is doing
anything, it is promoting us to
grow more apathetical.
The library’s remaining open
will not be detremental to the
freshmen and sophomores. They
know their obligations. They are
aware of the consequences they
will encounter for excessively
cutting chapel. For if they are
really looking for a place of
retreat, I am sure that they will
choose the “rec” rather than the
library.
To whomsoever has the au
thority to improve this situation
— if you would take a closer
look, I think you will agree that
leaving the library open will do
more good than harm.
plation, Susie decides to go to
her own room rather than go
all the way back down to tell
him. Meanwhile, poor John sits
waiting and waiting in vain.
This is only one of such in
cidents. There are many others,
such as the father who missed
the opportunity to see his
daughter, while she slept; the
girl who received a special de
livery three hours later; the girl
who missed an evening at Pas
chal’s, etc.
Why is the matter of fixing
the intercom system in Holmes
Hall such a delayed issue? Mer-
ner Hall has been provided a
new television set. Pfeiffer Hall
has an excellent intercom and
recently finished an addition.
Brawley Hall and Kresge en
joy efficient intercommunication
systems. We in Holmes Hall
feel that we should be given the
same consideration.
If a young man whistled at
our window, we would be less
than ladies to give heed. So
Guest Student . . .
Pre-requisite for Learning
Now that I have your attention, let us begin a discussion on
B-O-O-K-S. I spelled it out because many of us just don’t like to
hear the word mentioned. Why? Because most people don’t realize
that books are to be enjoyed and
to gather dust.
I’m going to let you in on
a secret. We at Spelman have
initiated our own paperback li
brary right in our dormitory. It
is completely self-service, with
the understanding that we will
return them as soon as possible.
We are simply trying to encour
age students to become well-
rounded through acquiring bet
ter reading abilities.
I could fill this little essay
with statistics, but I won’t. But
I will tell you this. The average
college student should read at
least 300 words per minute. If
you read just ten minutes per
day, in a five-day week you will
discussed, rather than laid away
have read 15,000 words which
is over half of an average pa
perback.
When time permits, consult
one of the prescribed book lists,
St. John’s, for instance, for a
more formal guide to better lit
erature. Also, The New York
Times Book Review, a section
of the Sunday Times, is a very
informative guide to more re
cent happenings on the literary
scene.
So, when you find a little
time on your hands, pick up a
book and read, you might just
enjoy it.
Camille Smith
Senior, Spelman
You, Too, Can Be Inferior
The second gravest problem confronting college students today
is inferiority feelings. (The first gravest problem is, of course, the
recent outbreak of moult among sorority house canaries.) Let us
today look into the causes of inferiority feelings and their possible
cures.
Psychologists divide inferiority feelings into three principal
categories:
1. Physical inferiority.
2. Mental inferiority.
3. Financial inferiority.
(A few say there is also a fourth category: ichthyological in
feriority — a feeling that other people have prettier fish — but I
believe this is common only along the coasts and in the Great
Lakes area.)
Let us start with the feeling of physical inferiority, perhaps
the easiest to understand. Naturally we are inclined to feel inferior
to the brawny football captain or the beautiful homecoming queen.
But we should not. Look at all the people, neither brawny nor
beautiful, who have made their marks in the world. Look at Na
poleon. Look at Socrates. Look at Caesar. Look at Lassie.
But I digress. Let us turn now to the second category — mental
inferiority. A lot of people think they are dumber than other peo
ple. This is not so. It must be remembered that there are different
kinds of intelligence. Take, for instance, the classic case of the
Sigafoos brothers, Claude and Sturbridge, students at a prominent
Western university (Dartmouth). It was always assumed that
Claude was the more intelligent just because he knew more than
Sturbridge about the arts, the sciences, the social sciences, the
humanities, and like that. Sturbridge, on the other hand, was ten
times smarter than Claude when it came to tying granny knots.
But no matter; everybody looked down on “Stupid Sturbridge,” as
they called him, and looked up to “Clever Claude,” as they called
him. But who do you think turned out to be the smart one when
their granny almost got loose and ran away? You guessed it —
good old Stupid Sturbridge.
We arrive now at the final category, financial inferiority. One
way to deal with this condition is to increase your income. You
can, for example, become a fence. Or you can pose for a life class,
if your college is well heated.
But a better way to handle financial inferiority is to accept it
philosophically. Look on the bright side of poverty. True, others
may have more money than you have, but look at all the things
you have that they don’t — debts, for instance, and hunger cramps.
Always remember, dear friends, that poverty is no disgrace. It
is an error, but it is no disgrace.
why not give heed to the girls
over here. Do we not deserve
attention?
—Disturbed Resident
of Holmes Hall
3L Path
Distress O’ertakes me as I
wander
Idly in search of the path;
Back to Christmas, back to
wonder,
Back to youth at last!
I search for thee, for long lost
years
Slipped quietly by to leave this
breath;
The hopelessness of all my fears,
This season should bring life,
not death.
Yet, I imprisoned in this strife
Reach out for God, my fate out
cast;
And for the two who gave me
life,
While waiting for the way, the
path.
Lelia Marshall