University of South Carolina Libraries
The Gamecock Founded January 30, 1908 WILLIAM ELLIOTT GON.ALES, First Editor Issued Weekly by the Literary Societies of the University of South Carolina during the college year except during examinations and holidays. Entered as second class matter at the postoffice at Columbia, S. C.,* Novmber 20. 1906. EXECUTIVE BOARD F. F. Williams. Jr. - - - - - - Editor Harold Prince - - - - - Managing Editor Andrew Jones - - - - - Business Manager DEPARTMENT HEADS George Zuckerman- Sports Editor; Leola Garety, Society Editor; Betty Comstock, Co-ed Editor; Tom Willis. Circulation Manager ASSOCIATES Catherine Narey, Ed Harter. and Charles Lee. Associate Ed itors; St. C. Muckenfull, Jr.. and Courtney Carson, Associate Managing Editors; Martin Hodges; Ray Bargeron, Associate Business Managers; J. H. Joyner Associate Circulation Mana ger; Albert Rouslin, Poet. STAFF WRITERS Max Husbands. Montv Skiles, W. A. Connolly, Jr.. Barneyi Beidleman, Jane Crout Louis Searson, Jr.. Colt Hendley. Elean or Cannon, Margaret Rollins, Frank Brown, and Alice Huiett. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBE t 23, 1937 Students Suffer Sunday Slavers r On the campus there exists an institution known as the NYA, the N standing for National, the Y for Youth and the A for administration. Financed by the national government, this or ganization has been a helping hand to many stu dents in furthering their education. However, in the group, there exist several evils which should be corrected and which should have been h corrected years ago. First, some professors under whom the s students are assigned to work are, surprisingly, i taking advantage of their position and are be- c coming virtual slave drivers. For instance, a there is one case on the campus in which students v a:e forced to work until the wee small hours of c the morning, and after six days of this, they are required to work cni Sunday. Maybe it is all p right for the professors to work the students s at bad hours. Maybe it is all right for the pro- t fessors to have such powers over their workers i that the assistants have no recourse except to : do what they are told, no matter what previous plans have been or whether an examination is scheduled for the next day, but we don't think s o . f Second, one of the first requirements for NYA assistance is that the applicants must not f be a pledge or member of a fraternity or a r sorority, yet many on the rolls are positively ' under that classification. We don't know b whether that rule is being overlooked or t whether the students are not truthfully filling e out their application blanks but something is r wrong. The fact that some students work only a few hours and get paid the full quota as that of other students who work their full time is no t concern of ours. If the professors and studentsi wish to play like that, sign the slips blindly, and connive at the slightest signs of misstate- t ments that is their business. In theory, the NYA is a wonderful institu- t tion and its benefits are necessary for many of 1 those working on it. Are we going to let this government project become as corrupt as the cartoonists would have us believe other divisions of government aid are? We do not think the administration of this student aid is at fault. It 5s hard for us to believe that the students would willfully prebaricate about their financial and social standings. How ever, there is something wrong somewhere. Why doesn't the committee on students aid investigate and see for themselves if the pro fessors are using their position to require students to work bad hours, even to the gross extent of working on the one day that has been set aside from the beginning of civilization for rest-Sunday. Why doesn't the University appoint one powerful comn .ittee to handle all awards, financial or along the scholarship line, and give this committee full jurisdiction. Make this an active committee who does not forget about the appointees after the first day but keep a close check on them through out the year. Why not? On the Rebound. The business of propheteering is quite t unique in that the losses and mistakes are quickly forgotten, and only the successes are recalled. Th physician who predicted the birth of a daughter was either considered a wizard, when a daughter was bozn, or quickly forgiven when the off-spring showed up in the masculine. Roger W. Babson or Babson' Park, whose word carries great influence in the Exchanges and Commodity markets, having inhaled an overdose of the fumes seeping up through the Delphian depths of his Journals and Ledgers, has predicted for us a reoccurance of economic catastrophe. Like the forementioned physician, he' isn't taking very many chances of being condemned. Should he prove right (may the Heaveny preserve us) he may go in heavily for orchid culture. Eventually there must be an economic set-back under our system, though he sets it definitely for late autumn or winter However, if it should not come off according to schedule there are not many who will hold it too hard against him. The question of a market or credit collapse in the near future must be seriously considered, however. No where else in the history of busi ness has there been such a long period of con tinuous increase in prices, without a parellel in :rease in wages. Credit has been extended and ?xpanded by government and private corpora ;ions far beyond the requirements, of the de ression for which they were first inflexed. A ecent observee. stated that a collapse of the :redit structure, and not the stock market,. would be the cause of a far more disasterous mnd wide-spread depression. The Man With the Cap Shouldn't Take the Rap Hazing, as a punishment for first year men, Las become as outmoded as the corsets of the :ay nineties. However, there still remain a few tudents who take personal delight in inflict rig punishment on members of the freshman lass. This group, an over-whelming minority t Carolina, goes on the warpath, stops students fearing freshman caps, and uses them for their hildish amusement. Hazing, in forms not injurious can be racticed without creating .tr ined r intion hips between the two parties. There is nothing asically wrong with the so-called "rat" meet rig when it is done. in good-natured fun but utal beatings are cowardly. Leave the child ,h pokes and brutal beatings for the other chools, let Carolina lead the way again. The Gamecock goes on record as bitterly pposing hazing in this, the state university. There is one movement which should be ostered by the University, one that should be rade an integral part of the incomin; classes. 'e speak of "rats" caps. These small garnet and >lack felt caps distinguish the first year men as Jniversity of South Carolina students. Wher ver they go, they are spoken to by upperclass rnen, who recognize them as members of the ame school. Without the caps, they would be assed by unnoticed. The cap is not one of shame but should be he proud mark of every first year man that he s a Carolina student. Wear your caps, freshmen, nd we have enough faith in human nature that he upperclassmen wifi not chastise you in tead of these first year men who refuse to don he head gear. Show your school spirit and be roud of your colors. And by the way, freshmen, WELCOME! A Declaration of Policy This year will find the Gamecock with a ve thousand circulation that extends to all the igh school seniors in this state. In view of this ne of the local influences approached us and sed u 'to exclude all controversial subject nlatter from the paper" because of the fact men ioned above. -To this our answer: The Gamecock will con inue to publish, as it did in the past, as the New tork Times puts it, "All the news that's fit to >rint". We flatly refuse to become an unofficial uxiliary to the Unnversity News Service. We will not filter the news to make it ap >ear that the University is free from controversy nd "scandal", that the University is a Utopia. The University is a Democracy. And con roversy is the backbone of Democracy. T hestudents are of common clay. "Scandal"~ s a common malady with this clan. In the past the Gamecock was instrumental n correcting many evils of the type that crop ip at many of the American universities. All is not peaceufl today. All will not be >eaceful tomorrow. The Gamecock will continue to be a NEWS1 'APER. Literary Digress By The Three Plagiarists MOiE 1N TOMORROW Last night a freshman cried him' self to sleep. He was crippled. HM had been hazed. He was small. The senior was large. Other student had condemned the senior. The freshman did not. The senior fel sorrow. The freshman did not. Moral: The crippled freshman hac been looked upon with kindness an< pity by all who saw him. He wa not slapped on the back, made to en. dure mild hazings or join in witt the crowds. He was lonesome. Then for some reason, an upperclassmar made him ask a passing girl hei name. The efforts were successful The frosh" was in. He had been mid ly hazed. He was a part. He re turned home with tears in his eyes not from embarrasment but from pure joy. Don't you understand hie feelings? JOHNSON TRUCKS AGAIN Evelyn "Sis" Johnson, a recent graduate of the University and now a charm marm, is having her troub les with the pupils in her class. They insist on "trucking" out to recess and after school. One chronic offender, a small blond girl with blue eyes, even went so far as to invite Teach er Johnson out t oher house for tea and to give a few instructions in jthe finer art of the "Big Apple." The "Big Apple" dance, originated in Columbia and made famous :y U,iiversity students, received its first widespread publicity as danced by 3ia Johnson and Johnnie Campbell. Ho hum, the lie u; a Leacher. Can't compare to a preacher. BACK TALK I Chailengas for Progress To the Editor, for the Forum. Being a student at the University f South Carolina and A lover of its traditions and customs I am natural ly concerned with the progress and rack of progress that our school is making. Those who came before us accomplished many things and left H "s a nohle heritage. The adminis .. ::. a-". . . aL o were nen of action; thought their own houghts and dared to express them. The students have developed into nen-of ten leaders of men--whose lives are exemplary. From the time )f Johathan Maxcy on down to the ~resent great men have been associ ated with the University. The in rears have gone, with like certainty wvery student entering college is ab surd, even foolish; and yet, our own nany credit sindicate? What courses should be required of all students? With how much accuracy are grades given? ? ? Ah, here are three aven zes for progress. The old days of 1801 have passed. A.t least seven destinct stages of de velopment have come and gone; each bringing new ideals, new zeal, mnd new practices; and each carry ng with It that which was obsolete mnd worn out. For instance candi sates for admisision to the Freshman :lass are no longer required to, 'render from Latin Into English, Cornelius Nepos, Sallust, Ceasar's Commentaries and Vergils' Aeneid; :o make Gramatical Latin of the Exercises in Mair's introduction; to ranslate into English from the E.vangelist St. John, In the Greek restiment . . . that applicants for admission shall address themselves n writing in the Latin language ,to the faculty, and the Exercise shall ,e performed In the presence of the Eaculty." No, such requirements no onger exist. As sure as the require nents, ideals, and practices of other years have gone, with like certainity those of the present must go. This is a changing world and ours must me a changing Institution. To us the requirment of that much Latin of every student entering college is ab surd, even foolish; and yet our own requirements might alike be judged. rhe very word require Is challeng ng, and dictatorial In its postive ness; and for that very reason should aeldom be used in the light of our nany differences a n d constant rhanges. Of course we are sure that our re auirements are good ones, that they are fair and just-but, that past generation were just as sure of theirs! Who with any ce.a-nt..a.. say th*t thisor: that shoid be re quired of. all peqpZ? With time our: tem o!f'. quire ments, grades, and scriter hour will break down, "ed seemin$ly ;par of them should have already gQne How much "education" does s many credits indicate? What coUrse should be required of all students' With how much accuracy are grade given? ? ? Ah, here are three avenues for progress. Individuality, ability, and meri must more prominently take their places in the solving of our problems t Lest one person fail to get the courses that he needs most, lest one injustice be done we" must con tinuously be conscious of our prob lems and the weight that a mistake might carry. Flexibility of curriculam, elastic ity of rule, and allowance for in dividual differences are some of ou challenges for progress. To The Gamecock: Perhaps it would be interesting tc your readers, as it has been to me, to note as we begin another session, the modern trends in education, and to ponder on whether or not they will eventually affect our own institu tion. My own thinking along this line caused by a rather startling question out to me in one of my courses in Library Service at Columbia Uni versity this summer. It was a course in college library administration, and the assignment was on recent educational cxperiments and their ef'cct upon the libraries. The ques lion was: Do you think these experi 'nents are likely to result in a gener al reorganization (both of the insti tution and the library) My reply was "No, not a general reorganization,,' To which the instructor repliei "No, maybe not in o: r life-time, but even ttmlly." The experiments which he refer re-i to. and about which we had had assigned readings, were those being carried on in many institutions of higher learning, whereby independ ent study is done by the students and they are not required to attend class es, but are given comprehensive ex aminations at such time as they are prepared to take them. A more mod ified experiment, but also tending in the direction of independent and self-directed study is the Honor Course, Tutorial course, etc. The first type of experiment is being made at University of Chicago, Rollins, Reed, Bennington, Goucher and others. The second is being tried at Harvard, Corbell, Radcliffe, Wells and perhaps a hundred others. The essential difference between the two types of experiments is that in the first the independent study plan applies to all students! whereas in the second independent study is carried on by a selected group of students--honor students, graduate students, etc. IImmediately one recognizes the far-reaching effect this would have 4pon the library of the institution observing such practices. Under such plans, the whole educational scheme revolves around the library, where the independent reading is done. In fact, one college, Stephens, has made its librarian the dean of edu cation, and at another, Rollins, the librarian is "Professor of books". The library becomes a veritable laboratory, with books as the equip ment, and the librarian, or his sub ject specialists, ap tutors. Furthermore, the library building, to met the needs of these new methods would evolve into one of many reference rooms and many in dividual cubicles. (This is interest ing to ponder upon in view of our high hopes of some day having a bigger and better library building.) In the light of these trends, it is interesting to recall the findings of President Hoover's committee on social research in 1933. In its re port, embodied in "Recent social trends", various phases of modern educational progress were taken up, but libraries were not mentioned. This oversight, coming as it did, just when library schools were being organized upon scientific foundations was something of a blow to libra-' rianship as a profession.. Had not Gray and- Munro shown that their scientific investigation of the "read ing habits and interests of adults'' was equally as important in the field of Adult Education as Thorn dyke's mental tests and Dr. Ruger's physical tests? Had not Pierce Butler, Dean of the Graduate Library School of Chiqaog University, pro claimed in his "Introduction to Library Science" (1933) that in the library, no less than in the school curriculum, selection (of books) with reference to the kind of people served is the sole criterion of social efficiency.. A continuous sociological study of grou chrc.. sic n aettvities id the nfln1' sife guide to a successful reformatio of either (school or library) ifstit )tion"? . And have not these iivestigations gone steadily forwarlI, as exetinpli.. fled in such as Waple aId Tyler's "What people want to read about" s 'and Waples and Carnovsky's "Re lationship between reading interests and actual reading", and many others? Therefore, although it msy be a cr from ourt practices ir4 the Uni versity of South Carolina to such experiments as above referred to, it is got visionary to lobk for more moderate changes. It is very evident that we can reasona6ly hope for and expect a closer co-ordination between library and class-room, a close contact between librarians and facul and librarians and student body, nd more output on books for "free reading" and research. Per sonally, I am hoping for, and shall do all I can to hasten the arrival of , the Browsing Room. I note, with interest the recent ap pointment by the College of Char leston of Prof. Esterby as "liaison of ficer" between libary and faculty. Y More power to them in their appre ciation of the close relationship be tween teacher and librarian! Sallie B. Anderson. Steward's Hall (Continued from page one) chromium modernistic furniture, and has been painted white. Red glaze4 chintz curtains of ship design ad i color to the room. A piano has been placed in the entrance hall to make waiting for the door to open easier, and a radio will be installed soon. The meals, which last year were served boarding-house style, are being served in cafeteria fashion. The one steam table, which had been installed and which had been th :ght large enough to meet the demands of the men students, was found to he inade quate when the waiting line of diners stretched down the length of the Mess Hall and reached the front steps of the building. A new steam table waz installed Tuesday, laborers working even diring meal times in order to re hove the pressure of the waiting line as soon as possible. Mrs. Smith apolo gized 'for the inadequacy of the se: vice duo to the lack of facilities and expressed the opinion that with the new table waiting in line would be re duced to a minimum. A new pattern china is being used this semester. The old china and equipment is being sold by Mrs. Smith to Allen University of Columbia and to State College of Orangeburg. The kitchen of the cafeteria has re. ceived as many lauprovements as tha rest of the buildins. Two Swin9 stoves, an upstairs storage unit, and a dishwasher are among the new equipment. An ice machine which freezes two 300-pound lots of ice a day is now in operation. Downstairs is a refrigerating unit which meats and vegetable sare kept fresh. Two ice-water boxes have been placed on the main floor of the dining room. The whole improvement of the Steward's Hall was accomplished, Mrs. Smith said, through the co. operation of Dean John A. Chase, Jr., and Mr. Frank Taylor, assistant business manager of the University, with her. No interior decorator was ' employed in redecoration; Mrs. Smith and her sister, Miss Rodgers Dantzler, hostess of the cafeteria, directed the work. An idea of the crowd 'being served at the cafeteria may be obtained from a glimpse at the amount of food 'being served there daily; 157 pounds of steak was cooked for Monday dinner; 100 pounds of potatoes went into salad for Sunday night supper; 65 cocoanut pies, including 130 eggs were the des sert for Tuesday night. Anyone who wishes to know what kind of food he is being served may easily find out, Mrs. Smith said. He0 may go downstairs to the refrigerat ing room and see for himself the branded meat, the creamery butter and the fresh vegetables that will be given him for his next meal. The Women's Cafeteria, at which Mrg. Smith was dietician last year, is again under her personal direction. Miss f!lisabeth Burriss is serving as hostess this year. The Women's Cafeteria was red1eco rated and Improved under Mrs. 8niith's direction last year. At that time it was repainted and rearranged. A "9 Sw'iss stove, an ice maker of 108 pound capacity, and a new refrig erating unit were installed. This year ' a new gas hot plate is being used. *9 The refrigerating unit is one of the most modern on the market, It is air conditioned and is able to keep meats and vegetables at the same tiene at different temperatures. In it vegeta- , bles, milk, and 'butter may be kept side by side without one tasting the other.