Ouachita Baptist College - Ouachitonian Yearbook (Arkadelphia, AR)

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ONE OF THE STEREO- TYPED BEHAVIORS of a jock was the amount of food they q ate. Rufus Herndon prepares a peanut butter and jelly snack in Walt’s. 28 Student Life Reading the labels People could easily be placed in several distinct categories; it was harder to find the real person inside by Judy Waight label on a food could indicate to the consumer what kind of product was inside. When a label was pinned by others on a certain type of person according to his appearance, interests, or the company he kept, assumptions were made and the person was stamped. This kind of stereotyping was not necessarily an intentional act of abu- siveness, says Elliot Aronson in his book, The Social Animal. “‘It is fre- quently merely a way of simplifying our view for the world.” In our world at Ouachita we have personal labels attached to certain groups. Picture for a moment, a young woman, 18, stuffing last minute neces- sities into her suitcase. She was dressed immaculately with an air of sophistica- tion about her. Every hair was in place as she hurriedly put in the Websters, an econ-size box of Tide, and as a last thought, the daily newspaper. Her younger sister sat on the dresser swing- ing her legs in front of her asking child- ish questions about her older sister’s debut at college. As if on a talk show, the mature sister explained gently her plans to be involved in student gov- ernment, make new acquaintances | t was common knowledge that a ‘and study business and marketing in order to obtain ... a husband! The gleam came into the eye and the lips part enough for a pink bubble to burst through. Yes, we saw her on campus; the famed “MRS Degree seeker.” She could smell a good looking guy coming from a mile off and just happened to walk down his sidewalk at the same instant in hope of an encounter. She entered the cafeteria and as she served her salad her eyes scanned the room quickly until she spied the unknowing victim and picked the spot where she could make her move. Going through registration her thoughts weren’t on class schedule, chapel, or financial aid but on twirp week prospects. In other words, the binoculars and net in her closet were not for botany class. Where else could a girl go to find an eligible decent man to steal her away and save her from her fate? In his Applied Sociology class, Professor Quick referred to this girl as one who was majoring in Boylogy. However on the flip side of the coin you could usually see the male gender. And he may have been straining his neck, happening along her sidewalk and sitting next to the salad bar. What do you call the person who was to be heard and not seen? The Music major.” Damona Robbins, a communica- tions major admitted that before enter- ing Ouachita, she thought a person had to be a singer or pianist in order to be anything at OBU. Although she found it not to be true, there was a good amount of prestige attached to being a musician. We had one of the finest schools of music in Arkansas so musical talent ran rampant. Those students specializing in this field were sometimes set apart for the mere fact that after they shine in chapel services, concerts, recitals, beauty pageants and Noonday, they ducked into Mabee Fine Arts Center where they hibernated until the next performance. All this hibernation time was spent in constant practice and training for the benefit of those perfor- mances that OBU was so proud of. So often, because of this, they were con- sidered recluses who could not relate to anything they couldn’t blow in, strum on or sing about. 6 ‘, .. the binoculars and net in her closet were not for botany class.”’ “Music is not a solitary profession,” said Twyla Roach, a senior music ma- jor. “You don’t just work with an in- strument.”’ She explained that as a musician, one had to deal with people in so many tig, ways. This could be seen through sing- ing groups, combos and .accompani- ments. ‘Fine musicians are ones who can get the best talents out of people.”’ Music majors had other interests be- sides sharps and flats. Twyla observed that if you took a look at the music majors here, most of them were very versatile. “Some people think to be good in what you do is to eat, sleep, and breathe it. I don’t believe that. Iam interested in other things.” Then there is the “‘jock.” This was a name tag that hails from colleges across the nation. Supposedly they traveled in packs, not unlike wolves. No, actually this just meant they usu- ally ate together, studied together, practiced together and generally goofed around together. Yet, although the stigma of ‘“‘dumb jock”’ had pretty well dissipated, there was still an image (Cont. page 31) WHEN THE ALLIGATORS EMERGED from the swamp, it could even be found on key chains.

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THE “PREACHER BOY” LABEL — Mr. Pure Ameri- cans who couldn’t walk two steps without their Bibles. Three religion majors, Ken Shaddox, Brent Fields, and Dwight Magness find a topic for discussion in front of Berry. 30 Student Life 5 |