Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Thinks U. S. Co-eds ] Swedish Varied I BY MARGARET BAIRD Feature Writer Junior co-ed Margareta Acker man of Goteborg, Sweden, wanted to kill two birds with one stone to get a view of America from the inside, and to further he'r educa 'on, so she decided to attend an lWerican University. Margareta chose the .University of South Carolina as the institu tion which she would attend in order to live with Americans and form her own unpredjudiced ideas about them. Although Margareta likes it at the University and doesn't particularly miss home, she expressed herself at being somewhat disappointed in Caro lina. She feels that most of the students lack school spirit. However, she declared herself especially pleased with the rela tionship between adults and young ^people In this country. She finds that American young people have surprisingly more freedom than those of her own country and that they and the adults are much closer here than in Sweden. Major Differences To Margareta the major dif ferences between the two countries seem to be food and dress. Asked her opinion of American f o o d Margareta replied that it is diffi cult to compare American and Swedish foods because there are many differences, however, gen erally speaking, she likes it. She did observe that Americans eat less fish than Swedes. Concerning d r e s s , Margareta stated that the average American student has a much larger ward robe than the average European student, but is more inclined to sacrifice quality for quantity. She remarked t h a t sometimes thr A merican girl d r e s s e s like a middle-aged woman and wants to know "Why are American girls so made-up?" Reporting that school styles are (uite different in Sweden, she pointed out that a girl never wears SAFE D HAPPY IN TO "Al, Invisib Salemi paper t than ev 3ress Poorly Co-Ed Ea )pinions socks and loafers to class there. Instead, they wear nylons with flats or heels while the boys wear blazers or suits. Dating In Sweden In Goteborg, a girl begins dating at practically the same age as she would in America, but with one important difference. T h e r e is group dating only-that is, four couples or more. The young peo ple, Margareta says. usually go %fon. INear4. Spo"ean ON CAMPUS Upon hearing the news of a wire fence being placed around the girls' dorm, one coed asked iwihere she could obtain a pole vault. SquirreiR taking advantage of a over-heated power transformer behind larnwell to roast nuts. Coed, upon being told she looked a bit pale, replied, "I think my blood circulation has run down." Students discussing the pros pects of receiving "Ouija" boards for Christmas in ordr to obtain answers to their future marital status. Students playing 'a "Merri Christma" album on their own record player in Russell 1ouse cafeteria. iiology student trying to lo cate some "green beetles" for his insect collection. Male student seen, around cam pus with a pair of red mnufflers oer his ears. A "Santa Claus" seen entering the post office and "Gamecock" Roomn, Russell House, causing quite a commotion among the students. RIVING OLIDAYS ALL aIemse Softens e porous openings blend fresh air a milder, cooler, more refreshing esearch creates a revolutionary ne hat makes Salem taste more Sprinj er ! Richer, too. Srhoke refreshed... sr Created by a. J. Reyi NOW MORE 7NAN EM~ presses 9n USC dancing or to parties. According to Margareta, t h e parties at her homq are similar to those in the United States except that they serve not only light refreshments, b u t buffet style dinners as well. Margareta, asked her opinion of American music and (ances, replied t h a t she likes American dances, but p r e f e r a Latin-American ones. As for music, she likes every thing except "hill-billy," although modern jazz is her favorite. She is aho partial to mood music and her favorite recording artist is Johnny Mathis. School Not Hard Margareta does not find school extremely hard; her greatest diffi culty is in understanding t h e English language as Americans speak it. Of this she says: "Ameri can students seem to have a hard time understanding each other the dialect and slang are so varied. Naturally, understanding is much more difficult for me." Margareta isn't yet sure what she will do when she finishes school, but she is positive about one thing: she's going back to Sweden! First USC President, Maxe BY BILL IUMIKIN If disgruntled faculty mem hers and administrative person nel were aware of the havoc r a i s e d by Carolina students about 1805-1820, when Maxcy was President at the College they might feel that the modern Carolina student, even at his worst, is fairly harmless by comparison. The first volume of Professor Dantiiel WN. Hlollis' two-volume history of the University, which deals with this period, indicates that tie early Carolina student was inclined to be both more fractious and more lawless than his modern counterpart. In any case, today's students usually limit themselves to such enterprises as hanging in effigy, multilation of elevators and tele p)hones, a w i p i n g megaphones, pennants, andl such from the op)position cheerleaders and bom barding t h e basketball court with paper cups, penriies, etc., wvhen they want to misbehave. Unscholarly Behavior Jonathan 'Maxcy, the Rhode Islandl Baptist who became the first president of the University, opened in 1805 under the name of the South Carolina College, soon discovered that his stu dent body wvas capable of most )ecial High Porosit) every with each smoke. w cigarette rtime-fresh . .. soke Salem. ~hoI fresh - rich tob Salem, After a lifetime of political gres ficial becomes adept at posing f of elder statesman James F. Byri unaware of the camera's presenc S. C. governor as he converse 1805-1820 Faces un-scholarly behavior. According to Professor Hollis' book, "The young bloods who lived in South Building (now Rutledge) and the unfinished North building (now DeSaussure) lost little time in flagrantly violating the puritani cal code of laws imported from New England." This was about 1807-09. M a n y students displayed an alarming fondness, in the view of the faculty, for taverns, for creating disturbances in town, harassing boatmen on the Con garce, and keeping pistols .in their rooms, sometimes firing them in "friendly youthful ex uberance." But their favorite "fowl deed," according to Professor Hollis, was turkey stealing, which "be came such a favorite outdoor sport that it appears that not a fowvl in Columbia was safe from the night prowlers unless it roosted in the sky." Wall Is Suggested This extensive extra-curricu la.j activity led to President Maxcy's suggestion that a high brick wall be built around the campus, as a means of keeping the students in their rooms and on the campus. Such a wall was not constructed until 1835. Maxcy was g r aei ousa and paper acco taste -*moder Vfese8c "Oh, Now I mtness, almost any government of or photographers. Is this the case res, in these photos or was Brynes e? Both pictures show the former d with Carolina board chairman Student courteous and preferred to ap peal to the better natures of the students, whom he addressed as "young gentlemen," rather that act as a stern disciplinarian. Un fortunately, there were far too many who remained unmoved, and some chronic trouble-makers took advantage of Maxcy's len iency and the pliant board of trustees, as Professor H o lI i s points out. History has left us the names of some of the earliest discipli nary problems of the University, who usually managed to obtain a suspended sentence u p o n an apology for their misdeed or a promise to do better. Of these boys, perhaps the worst behaved was a youth from Darlington, "whose college career was a con tinuous trial for the faculty." D)isciplinary Problem Betwveen February 15, 1815 and the time he finally grad uated in 1817, this student was repeatedly brought before the faculty for insulting various pro fessors, intoxication, and creat ing a scene on the main street of Columbia on separate occas sions. Each time he was repri manded, promised to r e f o r m , apologized to the offended party in the case of insults, and before long committed another infrac e . n filter, too ir taste Get It . Rutledge Osborne at last Frida banquet in the Russell House. B in which Byrnes finally gets the p rapher Blake Fishburne says the (Photo by Fisburne.) Riot Of tion. It can well be imagined how the faculty must have groaned when he failed to pass his ex ams in December, was demoted to the class below him and re turned to haunt them in 1816 and 1817 as their number one disciplinary problem. The faculty nearly reached the point of writ ing for his guardian to come down and get him off the cam pus, but he finally graduated in 1817. Severest Punishment To add to Maxcy's troubles the severest punishment that the faculty was allowed to impose was suspension, which was light ly regarded by the students since in actuality it often amounted to a vacation. The faculty did not have the right to expel stu dents although it could report them for expulsion to the Board of Trustees, which seldom took such a drastic step. In 1807 a group of three stu dents were reported to the trus tees for having been involved in a near duel which was prevented only by the intervention of the law. By college regulations even the sending and accepting of a challenge wvas a "per se" reason for explosion. On this occasion, Professor Hollis remarks, the students involved regained their former status after fellow stu dents petitioned on their behalf, then a common practice. But the biggest ordeal for Presi dent Maxcy was to come with the riot of 1814 in which almost all the students participated, not just one, or a small group of two or three troublemakers. This up rising very nearly cost him his job. Riot of 1814 In Professor Hollis' words: "With friction existing between Maxey and at least some of the trustees, with the president suf fering either from hypochondria or poor health and his position as chief executive of the college undermined and superseded by the standing committee, a n d wvith dissension existing between the faculty members, it is no FRIED SPRII Fried the Real Southei Corn Toastette with Fre Creamy Cole Slaw-. Crner Stat. & r's International Relations Club at they appear to be a sequence oint of a joke. Gamecock photog re's one clue. Can you find it? 1814 wonder that an explosion re sulted." The focal point of student dis content was Professor George Blackburn, an irascible and bril liant scholar who had little pa tience with his students who were not sufficiently prepared for his advanced courses. He was further hated as a concientious disciplinarian. Seething with discontent, and despite Maxcy's earnest plea at evening prayers, the students broke out into open rebellion about 7:00 p.m., February 8. A large body of them, in disguise, gathered at the college well w h e r e they drank and dis tributed spirituous liquor and burnt Professor Blackburn in effigy. Then they marched, with fife and drum, to the center building of North College, broke open the doors, carried off and destroyed the bell, and turned toward the professors' homes. Riot Suppressed The f aeult y found itself powerless against the s t u d e n t mob, which made a "furious at tack with brickbats" first on the home of Professor Reid, then on that of Blackburn himself. The lives of Blackburn's family were in danger until the town militia was finally brought in to curb the rioters. For the remainder of the night a strong g u a r d was posted around Blackburn's house, al though the riot had been broken up. Virtually the only student known not to have participated in the riot was Hugh S. Legare "whose intellectual mind had no time for such antics," according to Hollis. Several of the student ringleaders were suspended and expelled. Although Maxcy still had to weather many difficulties with the students, faculty and trus tees, he survived the crisis and remained president until his death in 1820. As to who was to blame, the trustees accused the faculty and vice versa, but the ieniency of both in regard to dis cipline was probably the main cause. Ah, the good old days! IG CHICKEN n Way and Served on a neh Fried Potatoes and 00R aOn.