Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Student Passes Humboldt Faces Hisl By Feature Writer Recent complaints about the mid term grades in History bring to mind the great educational crisis that faced the history department of Humboldt University in 1948 when a deliquent student had the temerity to pass freshman history at this institution. Now the members of the History Department of Humboldt U. were reknowned not only in the South but throughout the nation'for the remarkable erudition of their many volumes and t h e i r educational acheivements. Their proud record until that fateful day of 11 years ago: Not one incoming freshman had passed freshman history in 20 years. A co-ed named Eloise Mc Gillicuddy had been- the last to turn the trick and she had man aged only a D-. Revolt Smolders There had been traces of revolt smoldering for some years before the crucial incident. The students felt it was unfair for the history department to require a minimum grade of 99 to pass when other departments set 70 as the lowest possible passing grade. They had also protested the fact that the professors kept the same questions in their hour quizzes year after year but always changed the an swers. Furthermore, t h e y com plained, it has a somewhat dis couraging effect for a freshman history student to be handed a drop card along with his course card at the beginning of the semes ter. This Idyllic state of affairs was rudely disrupted by the matricula tion to Humboldt of one Algernon Serving the Univer South I Slater Food Serv Russell iSLA Have a ri University ory Crisis Henry Hiccup, a brilliant exchange student from England. He excelled in all subjects, bqt History was his special dish. He could reel off causes and effects of wars, famines, and plagues, the dates of rule of Kings, Emperors, Tzars, and Pharoah-, and he was infal lible on discussion questions on anything at all historical. He sim ply could not and would not be failed. Profesmors Yield At last his professor was forced to yield and give him not only a passing grade but an "A", after which he forthwith drowned him self in the schools goldfish pond. His collegues followed h i s ex ample or sorrowfully crept away to institutions where students were more respectful of History pro fessors. That one passing grade utterly ruined them and destroyed their prestige. As for Algernon, at the end of his course of graduate study he became the new head of the his tory department and immediately won the enthusiastic support of the freshmen by -failing only 50% of them. Within a few years he rose to .the Presidency of the in stitution and abolished all compul sory History courses, thus assuring himself of the lasting adoration of the student body. As a result the Humboldt Uni versity history department is no longer reknowned throughout the land, but more students are tak ing history and learning at least a little of it than ever before. And the 50-foot statute of Algernon Henry Hiccup beams benignly over all. Students at sity of arolina ice Management House lcigaret Thhbstt See, Hawrd. Spoken ON CAMPUS Student remarking about a controversial individual around campus, "Well, you 0a# fee some of the people all the Om, but you can't foot all the people~ some of the time." 0 0 0 Student, upon biting into his sandwich, came up with a mouth full of glass-he washed it down with a soft drink bought some where else. Fish pond by building "H" in all its glory, filled with beer cans. Student calling the dorm in request of coed and upon finding her not there asked, "Look in the bureau drawer and see if she is curled up asleep." Several student "paupers"' seen wandering around campus during holidays in a state of starvation. Student trying to make his car an "alcoholic" by pouring a bottle of gin in the radiator. After taking a bite from ham burger and finding it to taste peculiar, a coed discovered there was no meat in the burger. 0 0 e Student seen walking across campus with a handful of "No Trespassing" signs the morning before Thanksgiving holidays. 0 0 0 Student replying to a friend's question about the names en graved on the windowsills of Currell with: "Those are the names of the students who passed History 11." Male student seen releasing small rat, captured in his room the previous night, on horseshoe to the amusement of an English professor. MARTIN ROBERTS RESTAURANT Qua$V good Open 6 a.m. Closed Mondays 1507 GERVAIS e-have a I bacco makes the b st~enBl. M. 0. # Interesting Sidelights Of Music By Special Writer The coming of hi-fi has brought music to the minds of many people. No longer is great music the sole property of t h e elite, though, checking t h e prices of today's equipment, there are those who would argue that it still is the province of the wealthy. Be that as it may, every type of music has enjoyed an unparalleled rebirth. Music is to he enjoyed, but there are some odd facts and little known sidelights of music that the av'er age devotee is likely to be un aware of. The Sufi religion, one of the cults of India, as based on sound. Its followers believe that the sound of music brings them closer to God consciousness, or universal love. According to the ancient Arabs, playing music on an instrument was supposed to develop heroism, make a peaceful heart, and drive away harm and impurity. Psycho logically, music does have benefic cial effects. Farmers-no kidding -find that their cows give more milk when listening to waltzes. Fox trots and jazz tense poor Bossie up, but a little Strauss bears fruit . . . or gives milk, as the case may be. Sir Walter Parratt, a British organist of note, carried on a chess game while playing Beetho ven Sonatas. He would dictate the moves without even looking at the chess board, and, if we may be lieve history, he generally won. No mention was made, however, of how his Beethoven sounded, and it's probably just as well. Music has influenced the course of history in many strange ways. The Spartan, Tyrtaeus, inspired his countrymen with such courage as he sang to flute accompinament that they won a great victory over their previous conquerers, the Mes senians. Napoleon also blamed his defeat in Russia on the singing of the fearsome Cossacks, as well as the hard winter. The music so aroused the Russians that they overcame the French . . . at least, that's what Napoleon says. Many more unusual aspects of music could be brought up, but these are the least known. We are indebted to the American Music Conference, of Chicago, for these amusing anecdotes about music ... there are many more, perhaps you knowv some yourself. Now let me see, I remember the time. ... AMEL est smoke! CHESS PLAYERS in the Rusell new cafeteria as they contemplate fied. (Photo by Fishburne.) Newest Russell House Chess Be Pastime BY BILL LUMPKIN Feature Editor Carolina students, s e e m to have only this year discovered a new form of indoor entertain ment-Chess! Russell House has acquired several sets of chess men which have seen extensive use since the beginning of the year and frowning chessplayers, surrounded by kiblitzers, can be found in the lobby almost any time of day. No doubt there has been a hard core of chess devotees at the University before, this year, but they were less conspicous. Per haps they felt that bridge had pretty well established itself as the dominant pastime, next to reading newspapers and conver sation, of those students who whiled away their spare time at Russell House. This year all that has changed. Now there seem to be almost as many people play ing chess aroundl as there are p)laying bridge. Naturally, this doesn't mean that students no longer listen to the assortedl sounds loosely clas sified as music on the Gamecock Room juke box, that they have renounced bridge, p o k e r and other games on masse, or that they no longer use the music rooms, but that chess has defini nitely joined their list of ac tivities. Knights, Pawns, and Bishops Chess might he described for the uniniated as "checkers with complications" and is generally reputed to be more intellectually stimulating than any other game of its type. Of, course, there may be a few rare, seldom played Slim Yoursell economic Reduce, Relieve T WE HAVE Massage' Exercycle Belts Roaler Mc All Equipment - 10 MINUTES FO 933 He *4 A House lounge are silhouetted againi the next move in their gamte. The Activity comes PO of USC S games which are more difficult but chess is about as esoteric as most college students want to get in their recreation. The board used for chess, by strange coin cidence is called a chessboard and it is marked off in colored squares exactly like a checker board. But its the pieces used in the game and not the board that makeso the game complicated; they can be moved in a greater variety of directions than the pieces used in checkers. In fact, they can be moved sideway.s, for wames bachwar d, diagonally, and in short practically any direc tion but straight up. Once these chess pieces, g i y e n such in triguing names as pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, and kings, were carved mad ffrom ivory and were worth considerable sums. But the dayswhen it was a game for those of high birth and ae made gfpasticmlctd Lke calemoveyingrete aliavariety of dirctor tanthe colores usejdg ino cher.I feeat They chesna be movdiey, fr-d blard, backwar, diagonallch set ton bru ofaih up. piece hewas ofche pieces, goos ihe schess knigts, shoprs, aend theins,ita caread byradom wivor andh wter wha blconsirbe sumsee. BuWtebdasten efines ahess for thoe even hih brtcl ad toaydt maspouchd tche pieces ar er ofprehesinc che. Lkeei alwas evrthaoin eseu tedan'hes fietsaion avail F-lrste jdeasy teseea oegopo16peeisalwaay ension and e laxe rop n -of inesuae Opeinte ieia be an rdtoaeht n h oterzhal blale,or ren it the honeveonib pattern of the two che" players are unidenti pular udent wise known as Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, to turn to. This admirable publication de fines chess as follows: "a game of pure skill played on a board (chessboard) with sets of 16 pieces, (chessmen) the players moving alternately u n t i I the King of one is so trapped that he cannot escape." This is rather scanty informa tion but it gives one the general idea. Most of the Carolina stu dents playing chess seem to be old hands at the game, although at least one player was over heard to admit that he had never played the game until this year. Undaunted by rules which make some chessmen more versatile in the moves they can make than others and apparently attracted by the challenge of the "pure skill" chess is said to require, the ranks of devotees seem to have increased considerably since September. Chess has become popular in a very short time and seems to have rapidly established itself as one of the favorite pastimes of the Carolina student. Perhaps it has been just as p)opular in other years but was played in the dormitories or off-campus since chess sets were not previously available in Rtussell House. Curious p)asserbys need not be alarmed by the frowning con centration and immobile poses of the students hunched over the checkered board sprinkled with oddly-shap)ed little plastic fig ures. They're not contemplating suicide, just their next move, and they're p)erfectly sane. If it takes themi an hour or two to make a move, they're only giving due decliberation. Chess is like that. Decemiber 14 New Opening Dale For Play According to Professor C. E. Crotty, D)irector of the Univer sity Players, "Hlotel Universe" by Phillip Barry, the Players opening production, will be pre sented December 14, 15, 16 in steadl of December 9, 10, and 11 as announced on this page in the last issue. The new dates wvill he Mon day, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the same week as Christmas holidays. The p)lay will be pre sentedl in Drayton Hall with the curtain rising at 8:15. Students will be admitted free upon pres entation of I. D. cards. Admis sion for faculty members and Columbians will be $1.25 per couple. LOST from 628 Pickens St. small brown tabby Persian cat. Female, 1 year old. Special pet. Liberal reward. Phone AL 4.7562