Ohio University - Athena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

Page 28 text:

• • J H 3 i. r. J 0F X ' E

Page 27 text:

In a sense, Athens and Ohio University existing together present a paradox. Here, in conservative, rural Southeastern Ohio, where the natives look askance at learning and progress because they do not understand them, you studied and gained knowledge. Probably you swore at the townspeople collectively, and more than likely you hated the rain and the parking meters and the hesitant restaurant service. Inwardly and among yourselves, you objected to the taxation-without-representation imposed by the merchants and the police department. You walked the streets of Athens, and particularly Court Street. You heard the rumbling hotrods from Chauncey and The Plains, and you saw the rickety, rattling, ' 46 model cars splattered with mud from the farms. You listened to the lonely trumpet of the Salvation Army and self- consciously chuckled at the street-corner revivalists. The telephone directory talked of thriving industry, and you saw the unemployed coal miners and the dirty, underfed farm kids in hand-me- down clothes. Most of the streets and some of the restaurants were filthy. You heard about the students who aot broken glass and insects in food, and you saw the waiter dump the full ashtray under the table on the floor when he wiped up. And in the eating places and barber shops and beauty parlors, you heard the bitter townspeople speak acidly of you, the Ecumenical Conference, your automobiles, the Negroes in school, the Jews that were your friends, and the foreign students that you learned to like. But you realized that some of the waitresses and a few of the clerks and maybe, but probably not, even some of the cops were nice people if you treated them right. 23

Page 29 text:

j» jt . » Ifc- n M ■ - -■