| Summary: | April 13, 1956 THE CONCOEDIAN Page 3 Male ecies Not Sleeping, Just Disgusted Initiation Mystifies Touring Observer * By Anna Mae Berg The following is an excerpt from the diary of Sir Lord Crackpot, dated April 13, 1956. I say, 1 really stumbled onto » something q u i t e quaint today. While t o u r i n g many colleges throughout the United States, I came to a certain Concordia Col-lege. Arriving at a very early hour, I set forth in quest of something to satiate my hunger pains. Since it was so early, I wondered if the cafeteria would be open. I not only found it open, but teeming with activity. Now this surprised me greatly, since I was under the impression that college students sleep as late as possible; but evi-dently this college was different. What surprised me even more was the type of activity being carried on. AS I stood in utter bewilderment, viewing the scene or organized chaos, I could only reflect, "This is civilization?!" There were about fourteen different groups, e a c h group being similarly garbed. For instance, one group was dressed in blue and white, and each mem-ber was wearing a halo (but this didn't fool me, because some of their halos were slipping!). Others were dressed in red and white, with long black stockings; some were real dressed up, some had their hair in braids or curlers and some were even dressed in sheets or gun-ny sacks. Now, I realize that most students are usually broke, but I didn't think it was that bad! Talk a b o u t barbaric people, though. Some of the aforemen-tioned students were sitting on the floor eating, others were eating with their fingers or with gloves on. Then, all of a sudden, a whole group would stand on their chairs and break forth with some charm-ing little ditty, or someone would evidently feel moved (sometimes physically) and would burst out in an emotional exposition on some insignificant problem or issue. Oh, I say, it was really quite moving! AS I turned around, I was con-fronted with a group of creatures w i t h their faces so contorted I thought they must be in great pain. Then, as I was recovering from that shock, I heard a discussion about "putting them through the pond at high noon." I'd heard of going through the mill, but t h i s was something new, so I asked them what was going on. They looked at me with disbelief in their eyes. "Why man, this is initiation day! Don't be a square bear, get in the groove — it's the most, boy," one of them exclaimed to me. p. This left me more bewildered than before, but after a transla-tion by some kind soul and a little explanation a b o u t the costumes and strange ceremonies connected with this iniation, I thought, "Well, by Jove, I'll have to come around next year at this time, too. This seems like jolly good sport!" "Classy" Girls Too "Choosy" We are a group of tho male species who "have not been asleep." The last Concordian's article, "Let's Hope Spring Will Wake the Sleeping Species," we read with deep disgust. We came to the con-clusion that we could not havo been the subject, of your investigation or this article would have been written from a little different angle. Why? Because we (the writers of this article and others we know) have been trying to improve the dating siluaiion but all to no avail! FIRSTLY, how could we bo afraid of competition when you (the females) even admit lhat there is such a lack of dating that no real competition exists. That statement of "fearing competition by the males" could only be an implication that a boy will want to go steady with the first girl he takes out. And this situation is certainly the exception rather than the rule. Another thing, why didn't the girls who wrote the article in the last Concordian clue us in on the social events they attend off campus? Are they afraid, or is that too forward? Furthermore, if they're referring to the AC students w h e n saying Con-cordia girls are preferred by other students 2 to 1, let us remind you that the ratio of boys to girls is 2 to 1 at the AC. FINALLY, we have foun'' out from unpleasant experiences that a boy mu.s. have more in common with a girl other than attending the same school. It is a serious blast to a boy's ego when he calls a girl for a date somewhat in advance in order to give her fair warning, and then she proceeds to the information center (Fjelstad Hall) to give him a more thorough screen job than he would receive if he were to apply for a job with the FBI. . . . Or else she may quickly offer the excuse that she has an English term paper to finish or an important test about a Week away! Now we realize that not every girl will follow such procedure before accepting a date, but we do know that our position is seriously hampered by the blackballs we receive if we do not appeal to the girl we take out. We feel, of course, that the above mentioned information doesn't help the dating situation much. It is also being unfair to the male to get these blackballs marked against him just because some girl is looking for the Tony Curtis, Clark Gable or Rock Hudson whose qualifications all of us don't fill. We don't want the girls to think we do not look upon the dating situation as a problem, because we do. More cooperation is perhaps the only thing by which the situation can be improved. Females Cause Own Woe This letter is especially for the poor, despondent, ignored maroon-and-gold beanied females ot Con-cordia. In reference to your statement that "Concordia girls are preferred by fellows on our neighboring campuses 2 to 1," we would like to know where you got your statistics. Even if the above reference were t rue, what are you blowing about? Aren't you satisfied? You seem to be self-complacent people, if you want numerous boys hanging around you competing for dates. Since you think you're pre-ferred 2 to 1 over girls of other colleges by boys of other colleges, maybe that explains the reason for Concordia boys preferring girls of our neighboring colleges by 2 to 1. IF YOU think that we're going to hang around here waiting for two or three months till you finally decide to say "yes" to a date, you're, if you will pardon the expression, crazy. At least when we call up the neighboring girls' dormitories, we can get a date once a week anyway. . One of the "general" faults of Concordia girls is /that they carry an aristocratical point of view. They seem to think they are better than girls of other colleges, as illustrated in the quotation: " . . . pre-ferred 2 to 1," therefore they look down upon the Concordia boys and criticize many of their rustic actions. Well, how do you expect a boy from Con-cordia to call you up, when he does not k n o w whether or not you will accept an engagement at the time, and fearing that if you do accept the date, he cannot feel at ease all night, because you can-not act unsophisticated and down-to-earth as girls of other colleges. Some of our personalities may be bad, but we do not intend to change them com-pletely just for the "Marie Antoinettes" at Concor-dia. We do not want pity, for by no means do we feel inferior to the girls of Concordia; but we do prefer, and always will prefer, to be in company In which we can relax. YOU HAD stated that we are cowards and are "afraid of competition and fun, laughs and friendliness in general." Being you have been check-ing statistics, why don't you check on the fun-loving and friendly attitudes of the Concordia boys at the neighboring campuses, where we are in the pre-sence of down-to-earth friendliness. Don't get us wrong; we do not despise the high standards of Concordia, for if we did, we would not be here. But we do not believe in making an aristocratical out-look as the sole and complete content of life. We enjoy many varied types of conversation and social life. Frosh Spurns Strange Ritual By Clark Tufte Has the rest of the male species ever wondered what went on in the deep, dark, secret chambers of the girl's society teas? What is the strange ritual which governs the conduct of these girls? What makes them t a k e a whole evening of primping themselves lo go to a place where boys are forbidden? It had been a strange day for Mr. Romayne Leer, Concordia Col-lege Freshman. He almost sensed that this day was different. Little did he know that by the end of this awesome day he would have the chance to be confronted by the strangest human ritual ever devised by the mind of modern woman. MR ROMAYNE LEER, Concordia freshman, walked into the quiet sanctuary of the post office at ap-proximately 9:55 a.m. As he opened his mail box there was a hushed expectancy over the milling crowd. It was as though all knew. Even the homesick, lovelorn and bill re-ceivers were silent. As a small but attractive en- JOYCE Van Wechel and Waldo Ost combined talents to present a piccolo and sousaphone duet at Frosh Frolics. (See picture page for additional Frolics pictures.) velope fell from his box to the floor, hundreds of willing hands flew to aid him in retrieving it. A small, chubby, knuckled hand gave him the envelope. It was the hand of a girl. She had spotted the envelope falling while looking at the identi-fication bracelets in the book store. She had flitted past the ball point pens, skipped past the Concordia College Choir records, torn madly past the candy counter, and left lightly behind the E-Z erase typ-ing paper. UPON entering the post office she had started what is known to let-ter retrievers as the forward slide roll. Inertia was on her side. She slid for ten feet below the upright bodies of the calm and considerate mail expectants. Only three more feet and she would retrieve the handsome boy's strange l e t t e r . Kicking, squirming and stretching proved again to be victorious. Romayne took the letter, smiling down at the broken, humble, but devoted body of the limbless girl. Replacing the arm which held the letter, he opened the strange en-velope w i t h careful deliberation and almost uncanny fear. Little did he know that upon seeing what was inside he would hold the key which men have longed for since Socrates. READING with gasping eyes he hardly believed that which was in front of him. It w a s strangely enough an invitation to the secret girl's Society tea planned exclu-sively for propaganda purposes. Could he believe his eyes? He, Romayne Leer, interested freshman, invited to such a thing. Realizing w h a t he had in his hands he quickly placed the card into the notebook which had hith-erto been hidden under his heavy spring sheep lined coat. Needless to say, Mr. Romayne Leer did not fall for such propagan-da. Nor did his head spin when he received invitations from other so-cieties. He knew it was a well or-ganized movement. I must finish, with this note. Let us not judge Romayne too harshly for not taking advantage of this once in a lifetime experience. Though it would h a v e probably meant more knowledge into the secret orgys which puzzle us, there is always the possibility that he would not have returned alive. So let us, with our love of life, un-derstand how Romayne must have felt. Perhaps, If it Is to be a new policy of the "Flimsy Curtain" peo-ple, we will again have the op-portunity for investigation into the dark secrets of the other half. Students Battered After Postman Call By Joan Stecker Buised , battered, bedraggled, stiff and sore from limb to Hmb. My toes have been stepped on; my hair has been mussed. Breathing is difficult and at times painfully impossible. As n o s e Is pressed against nose Eskimo fashion and ribs are punched elbow fashion, one struggles desperately on. ONE herd stampedes from the south, and another equally deter-mined charges from the north. The head-on c l a s h is shaking. If a member should slip and fall, he is carelessly trodden underfoot. Here, not even time marches on; it Is caught between copius streams of students. Although everyone finds it hard, yea impossible, to talk, the din is deafening. Only screams of hope-lessness can be distinguished from the loud rumble. Sardines never had it so bad. THIS goes on day after day, se-mester after semester. Maybe after a few years, Cobbers will become so calloused that not even this will disturb them. Is there a better time to visit the post office besides before and after Chapel? Have You Read It? Race And Nationality, is a very significant book that will be of vi-tal concern to all Amercans of any race, creed or color who are inter-ested in alleviating or eliminating class discriminations, conflicts and differences in our democratic so-ciety. Dr. Henry Fairchild, distinguished sociologist and scientist, has at-tempted in this volume to present the fundamentals of the problem clearly and impartially, with world origins as a background, and with particular emphasis on their ef-fects on the American way of life. He endeavors to face significant facts honestly, put them in their proper place in the general inter-pretation, and derive whatever con-clusions and practical indications the facts themselves justify. Though the book bristles with unwelcome truths, the general con-clusion is by no means pessimistic. The final result is to make it clear that on the basis of a genuinely scientific analysis, and a clear dif-ferentiation in the nature of many of the problems, it is feasible to work out solutions which are im-possible under conditions of mere undiscriminating good will.
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