The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1969 Page: 2 of 8
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PACK 2
THE OPTIMIST
SIPTEM1ER 26 1M9
THE YOUTH REVOLUTION
Keeping in Tune'
Notes gathered from here and
there; notes a college commun-
ity should be interested in:
The Revolutionary Schools
Action Union a 15000-member
student group in England is
reportedly growing in power.
Operating mainly at state
schools the union campaigns for
self-regulated comprehensive
coeducational schools and no
examinations.
It particularly assails what it
calls the narrow-minded attitude
of some public school head-
masters where corporal punish-
ment and "fussy dress regula-
tions" still exist.
KITE radio station in San
Antonio announced during the
summer it will no longer carry
news of campus demonstrations
and student protestors refusing
to give the protestors the pub-
licity they seek and need.
The Vietnam Moratorium a
What Is Chapel?
By DR. TONY ASH
Associate Professor of Biblo
What is chapel?
The first answer of some
would be: a compulsory exer-
cise. You have heard and will
hear people complaining be-
cause they have to go. But
before you join them at least
take the time to think the
matter through.
One thing that is important to
realize is Uiat the only compul-
sory thing is that you be in a
certain place at a certain time
for a certain length of time. Isn't
this type of compulsory pres-
ence demanded of us in many
aspects of our society? And we
accept it without undue objec-
tion. In fact in a society where
there are many there must be
certain requirements to promote
orderly functioning of human
affairs.
Honesty compels that we
admit certain benefits in a
compulsory assembly in our
context. There is a place for
announcements of general inter-
est. It is a focal point for
building a unitive spirit on
campus. It is an opportunity to
BOOK REVIEW
'Devil in Mass
The reign of terror that swept
Salem Village in 1692 is still the
most celebrated of all witch
hunts. It was a tragedy of indi-
viduals which underlined as
sharply as has any event in his-
tory the power of self-righteousness
fantasy and fear to turn
decent people Into fanatical
persecutors.
The accused were diverse
personalities a well-respected
grandmother and an honest
skeptical farmer as well as a
plpe-smoklng female tramp.
One by one they were sent to
the gallows by a pack of un-
balanced young girls and a stiff-
necked little Puritan community
inflamed by the girls' "testi-
mony." The MasMchusetts affair is
possibly the most celebrated of
series of national escalating
anti-war actions will begin Octo-
ber 16. Students at more than
500 colleges are already com-
mitted to spend the day in the
community with door-to-door
campaigns teach-ins rallies and
vigils.
Business men clergymen
community groups and labor
officials are joining the efforts.
About 100 students recently
began building temporary teach-
ing and housing facilities of their
own to protest crowded condi-
tions at the University of Massa-
chusetts. A sophomore student said
"We discussed taking over a
building in protest but we
decided to do something con-
structive instead."
Enrollment at the university is
21000 this year. Two years ago
it was 14000. Students said
some dorm rooms previously
ASH EXPLAINS
worship for those who will use
it. It is even possible that some
spiritually insensitive people
could discover through chapel a
new meaning in life.
Why the gripes?
Possibly many reasons. But a
major one may be that we feci
we are being compelled to
worship and we believe this is
contrary to the genius of the
gospel. But worship cannot be
compelled by other men. It is a
free thing. Even in church this is
the case. Even there many
people attend (some regularly)
who seldom really worship.
Suppose then you come to
chapel and choose not to wor-
ship. No one calls you if you
don't worship a given number of
times. The picture only tells if
someone was in i our seat not
what was in your mind. It is not
taken to monitor your behavior
only to check your presence.
So if you are here you have
met the school requirement
though not the hopes of those
who plan chapel. So you choose
not to worship and instead you
read a paper or study or sleep
or gawk or talk or pass notes
or flirt or do an assignment or
all witch hunts and people will
never be done studying and writ-
ing about it. Another book
"The Devil in Massachusetts"
by Marlon L. Star key was pub-
lished September 5 by Double-
day Anchor ($1.05).
Born In the state that once
countenanced these atrocities
the author first published her
deeply moving "The Devil in
Massachusetts" in 1049.
An authentic historical narra-
tive it takes its dialogue from
the actual trial records but
applies modern psychiatric
knowledge to the witchcraft
hysteria. At the same time the
author's unerring sense of drama
succeeds in creating the pity and
the terror so necessary to an
understanding of man's capacity
for evil and suffering.
designed for two students now
housed three.
"Let me assure you that this
administration is as concerned
about the problems of today as
you are" said President Nixon
recently to delegates of the
Association of Student Govern-
ments. Nixon was a student
body president while in college.
He said the present college
generation seems more in tune
with the times than his own was.
"Today's youth revolution is
not a foreordained natural phe-
nomenon but a human response
to a specific set of conditions
that our generation helped to
create" said Peace Corps direc-
tor Jack Vaughn.
"It may be comforting to
think of what young people are
up to today as a kind of natural
catastrophe for which we bear
no responsibility but it is
neither accurate nor helpful."
court or pull your thoughts
together for the day or write a
letter or read one or just sit and
look sullen so everyone can see
how little you want to be here.
If you are one of these you
would do well to ask yourself
about you and God in terms of
how you behave. You may
conceivably choose not to wor-
ship on a given occasion and still
be a fine Christian. But you may
also make such a choice because
of real spiritual deficiency.
You might ask how others
around you will react to what
you do if you choose not to
worship. Perhaps they will judge
forgetting that the Lord said
"Judge not."
But if you distract their
worship they at least have
something worth considering.
Are you living in love if you
destroy the good intents of
those who come to praise God?
If you choose not to worship
would it not at least be appropri-
ate to maintain a demeanor of
respect for the fact that others
are trying to worship God?
Would you do on Sunday
morning in church what you do
here? You can also choose not
to worship there but there are
rules of respect that we follow.
One can see Christianity as
love or duty. Duty implies
compulsion. In a sense one
might see all Christianity as what
God compels us to do. But this
view often fails to reach the
heart and produce in a man the
motivation God desires.
Or we can respond to God's
grace in love because we want
our lives to show gratitude for
what He has done for us. When
we learn to act by love in
worship and everywhere else the
whole experience of being a
Christian takes on new meaning.
So it is with chapel. Do what
you are required to do. It is a
part of life and no one is really
hurt by it. You eould be
markedly helped.
As for the worship decide
what free decision you will make
by looking U your own attitude
toward God. And in any event
have consideration for others
who are using the time to glorify
their Maker.
Hk i IT)
PSSSk S 1
Way back in 1902 - that's
about 100 years ago the
stylish thing was to race our
brothers to good old Catchlngs
Cafeteria. I was then a freshman
and very impressionable.
Most impressive were the long
lines stretching out beyond the
last faculty office building west
of the old Grill. And too one
had to wait several minutes
before he deposited his tray into
one of two dishwashing areas.
Catchlngs most unique feature
perhaps was its seating or lack
of.
But times change and now we
are In newer bigger and better
facilities. As Abilene Christian
College students we have three
ways to go as far as punch
tickets are concerned: 20 16 or
14 meals a week. After delibera-
tion this summer officials in-
stalled the 14-meal ticket to give
the student more latitude.
Well that old nemesis "absen-
teeism" creeps up. To give a
parallel consider what happens
at a school where a student pays
room board and tuition. If he
sleeps in one morning and misses
breakfast his school is not going
to refund him tho cost of that
missed meal.
ACC is now the only college
in Texas with the punch ticket
system. With our enlarged dining
accommodations we are certain-
ly ready for the standard room
and board setup. But wait . . .
more.
Can anyone remember when
there were two chapel periods in
rustic Sewell Auditorium? Yeah
boyt The singing was clear as a
bell we all stayed together and
Dr. Adams
In Chicago
Dr. Walter H. Adams vice
president for academic affairs at
Abilene Christian College is in
Chicago this weekend at a
meeting of team chairmen of the
National Council for Accredita-
tion of Teacher Education.
NCATE selects teams of pro-
fessional educators to evaluate
' the teacher education programs
of each American college or
university seeking accreditation.
Dr. Adams will head a team of
about five who will visit New-
berry College in Newberry S.C.
in March.
The Chicago meeting serves as
an orientation session for the
team chairmen of 1969-70. An
estimated 100 chairmen will
discuss the standards for NCATE
accreditation and the points that
each team is to look for on its
three-day visit to its assigned
school.
ACC is accredited by NCATE
but is scheduled to be re-evaluated
this spring In accordance
with council policy that each
accredited school be reaccred-
ited every 10 years.
Dr. Adams has also served on
teams evaluating Sam ford Uni-
versity at Birmingham Ala. and
Southern Missionary College at
Collegedale Tenn.
some truth
some shuck
from raymon fullerton
there was a closeness ... a
togetherness feeling.
Of course now we are down
there In that cavern or conven-
tion center or whatever It Is. If a
guy sits in section "T" it takes
him an extra minute to hear
everything being said on the
rostrum.
Another thing. Much too far
to walk. Surely wouldn't hurt us
any to go back to the good old
days in Sewell . . . would it? I
said all of that to say this: A
change of system brings ques-
tioning. People will be people and
people are funny. It is probably
the people who need curfew the
worst that yell the loudest; or
probably the boys that yell the
loudest about the girls' regula-
tions and so forth.
A college cafeteria is main-
tained to serve the need of the
student and not to fleece the
student. Maybe some things
mentioned here will cause you
to think. All responsible and
legitimate inquiries should be
directed to VP Garvin V.
Beauchamp.
(Continued from Page 1)
newly cleaned suit by such a
tiny blob.
We thank our own vending
company for the effort it must
take to make a coke machine
that fills a cup half-full with a
syrup that you could put on
pancakes and not tell the differ-
ence and all for the sake of a
thin dime.
Tiie TCU student newspaper
"Skiff" complained recently
about the poor entertainment on
campus. The criticism was based
upon the fact that SMU was
having Donovan and ACC was
having Sergio Mendes and Brasll
66 and Dionne Warwick. AH
that TCU was able to come up
with was The Vogues.
In last week's "Brand" H-SU
paper there was a story on the
ACC-Arkansas Tech game and a
story on Sergio Mendes. We
commend and thank them for
this unheralded coverage and
hope we may do the same in
return.
"This is the first day of the
rest of your life." - A GI In
Vietnam.
THE OPTIMIST
Published weekly except durinf vaca-
tions and final semester examinations
by student journalists at AbHww
Chrktlsn College. Subscription latest
$3 a year or $2 s semester. Entered
as second claes matter June 29
1929 at the pott office In Abilene
Tex. under IN Act of August 24
1912.
STAPF
Executive liditor Garner Roberts
gutlAsss Managwt . . . TwHta IHwasn
ami David Dimes
Photographer Raymond Blatinaame
Astifttnt Photographer Bobby lirwin
Sports Lditor John Shaw
Duraan & Himes
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1969, newspaper, September 26, 1969; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth99497/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.