Elections - The W&M Digital Archive - College of William and Mary

PAGE TWO THE FLAT HAT Wednesday, April 10, 1946
THE FLAT HAT
Founded October 2, 1911
"Stabilitas et Fides"
JOYCE REMSBERG Editor-in-Chief
MONIE PRICE „ Business Manager
NANCY GRUBE : _ —Managing Editor
NANCY EASLEY \ _... - News Editor
JANE SEGNITZ :.- Make-up Editor
BOBBY STEELY Feature Editor
BUD JONES - „ Sports Editor
LAURIE PRITCHARD ;. _ Librarian
GEORGE NEWMAN : Photographer
ELIZABETH GILLAM .'. Circulation Manager
H. REID _ Cartoonist
A weekly newspaper published by the students at the College of
William and Mary every Wednesday of the college year except during
vacations. Entered as second class mail at the post office in Williamsburg,
Virginia. Subscription: $3.00 per year; $1.50 per semester, postpaid!
Advertisements: 40c per column inch; classified, 2c per word,
minimum 20c. Address Box 637, Williamsburg, Virginia.
I N the last issue of The FLAT HAT, one of our columnists
* took the stand that politics are good for elections, that they
invoke interest and activity on the part of the students. From a purely
idealistic standpoint, we'd like to go on record as saying that we
think politics are absolutely and irretrievably bad. Naturally, we
mean "dirty politics."
But, facing the facts, we know that they're here—at William
and Mary as well as in the rest of'the world—to stay. And at
William and Mary they will henceforward
be .carried on largely by the
WB II th e greeks
9
show us?
newly de-cocooned fraternities. Thus
the fraternities have an inescapable
responsibility. The fate of many a
student government election, including
the impending elections of Men's
Honor Council, Student Assembly representatives, and class officers,
will undoubtedly be decided in the individual fraternity meeting.
In the first election after the reactivation of fraternities, it is to
be feared that the Greeks will forget everything else in the supreme
desire to put their men in, to prove that their group is composed of the
Big Men on Campus. We hope this won't happen. To prevent it,
the fraternities must, in spite of their "growing pains" maintain a
sense of balance; specifically, they must choose their candidates carefully,
selecting them for qualities of leadership rather than popularity,
for competence rather than fraternity affiliations.
We've heard a lot in the last three years about the fine energy and
the great worth of the men's fraternities. They're back now, and
we're about to be shown.
N. L, E.
F ROM
the ten-minute report which Pat Jones made at the
W.S.C.G.A. meeting Monday we learned that other colleges
face the same problems that William and Man/ does. Some meet
them in our way, some in others. The conference which Pat attended
at Northwestern University brought forth many suggestions. Already
she has begun the investigation of two of these. We commend such
prompt action, and ask only that the other ideas be given equally good
attention.
One of the suggestions on which she reposed seems particularly
worthy of consideration by the Judicial Committee. At the University
of Arkansas "all misdemeanors
are handled by house boards and are
council should
share the job
not turned over to the Judicial (committee)
until deemed necessary."
Such a system would seem to have
many advantages over the one which
William and Mary uses. It would
1) give the house committee greater responsibility, thereby creating a
greater division of authority and power among individuals (as is advocated
in the point system) ; 2) give offenders the opportunity for a
personal trial since their character and attitude is better known by
the women in their dormitory than by the members of the Judicial
Committee; 3) provide the Judicial Committee with greater prestige
and respect since their consideration of a case would be reserved for
important offenses.
Immediately the question arises "Which violations would be
judged by the house committees?" "Misdemeaners" is the word Pat
used in her report. These would perhaps include lateness, dating out
of hours, failure to sign out, and infraction of other minor rules. It
is reasonable that a third offense of any kind would automatically be
reviewed by the Judicial Committee.
^ A second question arises "What about the sorority houses? They
don't have house committees." A solution to this problem would be
a committee composed of the sorority house presidents. These officers
are, underthe present system, only figureheads who do a few weekly
"drudge" jobs.
In the past few years much has been said about the importance of
house committees. In the spring of 1944 the proctors and the house
officers met with the president of the college, the dean of women, the
assistant dean of women, and the W.S.C.G.A. chairmen to have the
importance of the house committees stressed to them. .Since then
the chairmen of the judicial committee have made special talks to the
house committees about their being an" "intergral part of women students'
government." The response to these approaches have been
So what! We really don't do anything." The house committees
realize that under the present system their jobs are of relatively little
importance. But they are capable of doing more "governing" than
is alloted to them. _ The proposed system would give them a chance
to actually become important as a governing group and would create
an opportunity for more individuals to have an active part in the administration
of student government.
At present the Judicial Committee is at work revising the social
rules. We suggest that they consider a revision of the method of reviewing
the violations of these rules.
A. L. P.
frechette advocates snow job in "
william and mary go-round
College is a seat of higher education. We can't
all sit in the seat, however, because some people
take up too much room. To retain one's seat requires
an irreducible minimum showing in grades,
as much as we hate to admit the fact.
Over the basic structure of the courses we take
we build a gigantic superstructure of life which almost
submerges the importance of classes. Fraternities,
sororities, dates, clubs, beer, movies, meetings,
elections, social life, etc., etc., and etc., are
fun. They take up a lot of time. In fact it's
sometimes hard to fit classes into
a heavy program of such doings. % - •
Time and again we hear our- *; •
selves make the claim that classes
are but a small part of the educational
process of college, that college
is a place in which to acquire
a certain kind of culture. But our , ' .
statements are shattered by those
periodic appraisals of our class- '"
room work which are referred to
as "grades."
With the college receiving more applications than
the average Hollywood casting office, the pressure
is on. There's always someone who could replace a
student who fails to make the "grade". • Everyone
and his dog is in college, and those damned dogs
are smart!
All of which means that in order to stay in college
one must pass a certain amount of work. How
to pass?
stinson asks
rehabilitation of matoaka
Spring has arrived in Colonial Williamsburg in the land of the
sunny south. With the coming of the season when the men's fancy
turns to what the women have been thinking about all year, it is
quite normal that afternoon walks in the woods replace the winter's
afternoon bridge game. We do not'intend to discuss the emoional
uprisings that are wrought by the coming of spring. We leave this to
poets, the song writers and any who consider themselves, through present
experience/masters of the subject. (Incidentally, for the biologist
spring is the time of the year he spends Saturday afternoons
collecting specimens for the lab.) :
However, even the biologist on his purely scientific traverse of
the woods, is able to detect signs of decay in the bridges and benches
that the college at one time saw fit to place in Matoaka Park. For
anyone who ventures to walk through Matoaka, it becomes quite apparent
that the condition of the paths has been marred somewhat by
the absence of the wooden bridges that once made it possible to cross
the streams without the fear of wetting one's feet. Now, with the only
remains of former bridges being a few inappropriately placed logs, it
is not an uncommon occurence for the lover of nature to find himself
suddenly confronted with the problem of dragging himself out of four
feet of mud.
Equally indicative of neglect in the upkeep of Matoaka Park are
the benches placed along the pathways. Very few, if any of them at
the present time offer much of a resting place for the wanderer in
the woods. With the bottomless seats the simple primitive act of sitting
down is brought about with no little difficulty. In fact it requires
all of one's energy to maintain himself in a position that in any way
resembles the normal sitting posture. In short, the benches are falling
apart.
Tjhe College of William and Mary is fortunate in having Matoaka
Park right in its backyard. It is very apparent that a large number
from the student body find it useful for a variety of reasons. That
some time and energy has been spent in the past laying out pathways
and in general improving the appearance of the park, can easily be
seen. But at the same time there are glaring evidences that the manmade
additions to Matoaka are
falling into ruin.
student receives
flood of letters
Since the benches and bridges
in the park receive almost yearround
use, it is to be expected that
they should eventually begin to
show signs of wear. The college
authorities in charge of maintenance
of the grounds have evidently
not taken account of this fact.
While so much attention is being
given to the improvement of the
campus proper we earnestly point
out the need for repairs in Matoaka
Park.
Did you ever notice professors? They are the
deciding factor. The courses we take don't flunk
us . . . the professors do. Professors hand out
grades. . Professors can pass us. Professors can
refuse to pass us. Professors are human beings.
Most of them.
Why bother with the courses a professor teaches?
If he's the one you must pass, study him rather than
the text. Do your research on him. Find out what
his likes and dislikes are. Then give a first class
snow job.
A snow job is apple polishing that grew up. It's
a mass production job. Everything the prof likes,
you like. If he makes a statement he considers
funny, you die laughing. If he hates something,
you bare your teeth and snarl when he mentions it.
If he feels sorry for someone, you weep and sob,
filling your handkerchief with copious floods of
tears.
You sit in the first row, pen in hand, notebook
opened and hang on each word he utters. Hang
by one hand so that you don't drop your pen. If
he likes legs, wear shorts. If he doesn't like legs,
leave your outside.
If he likes Jane (Did you notice my face?) Russell,
you can understand. If he likes~ sweaters,
wear a tight one. If he likes ties, wear. several.
If it's an early morning class, bring bromo-seltzer.
If it's an afternoon class, bring some soda and. If
he's a Southerner, you're a democrat. If he's a
Northerner, you came south to college because of
the climate. If he smokes, leave
cartons, not apples, on his desk.
In other words, give him what
he likes.
There's only one catch. Some
of them like their subjects. It's
tough in a case like that. It means
that you might have_ to know the
subject! ~
Ictte r expresses
thanks for party
To the editor:
We wish to express our appreciation
to Miss Wynne-Roberts
and to the housemothers for all
the trouble they went to in making
life for the students left here
on campus during vacation pleasant.
The open house in Barrett
was an unexpected pleasure. The
fresh fruit cup was a treat for
hungry stomaches as were the
cakes and sandwiches. We know
the effort it must have caused
Miss Wynne-Roberts and housemothers
who were also supposedly
on vacation, :
An Appreciative Group
slurch organizes
yo-yo commission
To the editor:
I wish to announce the formation
of the Junior Yo-Yo Commission
of the World. The organization's
aims will be to form Yo-Yo
groups on the college campuses of
the world. I visualize the day
when a group from William and
Mary will travel to Mexico, Venuzuela,
or Brooklyn to discuss the
vital problems of yo-yokery which
are integral to us all.
I realize that I need not sell you
the yalue of the J.Y.Y.C.W., but
I may refer to my publications
"The Dialectic of Yo-Yo" and "A
Two-Valued World."
Your readers can become charter
members by enclosing two
used yo-yo strings and a $5.00
bill to defray cost of publications.
I hope to see the day when the
yo-yo string of friendship will
stretch from one campus to the
other throughout the world. Our
motto is "Yoicks and away."
Melchior G. Slurch
I'm in an odd predicament—too
much mail! The FLAT HAT
printed a notice a few weeks ago
concerning correspondence with
Swedish boys and girls. I innocently
sent my name to the organ-'
ization "My Friends Abroad" expecting
to get one answer. Instead,
my name was published in
a science periodical and I have The repairs that are called for
received letters from 16 boys and would consume very little time of
one girl. ' the laborers, if they are taken
The letters are all very interest­ care of immediately. Should much
ing. My correspondents range in more time elapse before anything
age from 18 to 26 years and their is done, even the framework of
interests are mainly sports and
what at one time were benches
music.
and bridges will have disappeared.
I shall be glad to give a letter
to anyone - who is interested • in
The improvements needed are The FLAT HAT this week
keeping up a correspondence. simple ones and it would be was under the supervision of
Laurie Pritchard in accordance
Come see me in 218 Monroe. shameful to allow them to go un­
with the policy of having each
Jean Capplemann. attended to.
junior editor edit one issue.