Finlandia University - Yearbook (Hancock, MI)

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1 l KONVENTTI MEETING-FALL OF 1947 The Suomalainen Konventti is athe oldest student organization in Suomi College. 1 Many students wonder what the Konventti is and what its purpose is. One of the purposes of founding Suomi College was to maintain Finnish culture rn America, and the Korrventtr IS the only organization in our college which has carried and strll can carry out those arms Besrdes berng a cultural socrety the Konventtr in the early days also pro- vrded an actrvrty for the students who lrved at the college, a purpose which even our present day college' organrzatrons serve During thrs era the Frnnrsh lan- guage predomrnated It rs needless to point out how the comp-lexron of the student body has changed srnce then especrally rn that Englrsh rs spoken almost exclusively Furthermore to many students of Frnnrsh descent the Frnnrsh language rs vrrtually forergn To compensate for this deficiency rt has b come a matter of necessity to carry on the meetings and programs rn both languages In dorng so rt has partially sacrrfrced rts marn purpose that rs the Frnnrsh language rn whrch the Konventtr promotes rnterest for rt 1S the key to Frnnrsh culture The Arnerrcan her rtage IS unique, but lt IS not or rgrnal Rather rt 13 a con glomeratron of many drversrfred cultures whrch rndeed makes rt unrque rf not exceptronal By learnrng as much as possible about hrs specrfrc background an American contrrbutes to hrs own culture The Amerrcan culture rs compara trx ely young and strll 1S rn the developmental stage By learning more about our Frnnrsh background, we can hasten thc errergence of thrs Amerrcan culture and can add sornethrng wor thwhrle to thc meltrng pot Thrs year we were partrcularly fortunate rn haxrng several students from F rnland who gave us first hand rnformatron on ex cry phase of lrfe rn that country Arvo Hamalarnen descrrbed the Frnnrsh school system and teaching methods rn contrast to our own He hunrorously portrayed the lrfe and tr 1d1t1ons pr ac trced rn grammar school In addrtron he told lokes and performed some tr rcks as a part of the program Armo Ervanne who mas an offrcer rn the Frnnrsh Army, related hrs experr ences rn Frnlands two wars wrth Russra rn 1039 and 1944 He not only men Page swcty two WWf J WHWVMMWW235 WWW dH0'd viwlflhi rant ff Nh 1 1942 3 ana ' ilbll 1 gfarnmi taUST't advanu rl , USU2' in Cong Hed,Q I l qucslfjd recgmff bers Ol the Clll The abiliut somC I Tr Christi' itself vr Anyone CXPTCSF placed mlmeo the or Ameru Estonr of Fm scrrbes U01 STUD e neu, r l1llx0 11

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U Simi 'Em B. h rsiime If Iiidl ilu pro iii stu db lan- : due 1 ifmst Ymh 1 hiifllllt was Fwh ' iflll' Ni not ijifldf filfl' , fur P214 i 1- fum v irvm 1135? e Hindi 52155 - 1 W W tioned the activity during border patrol duty before the outbreak of war, but vividly described the military tactics and final consequences. In addition, he related some of the more cheerful and humorous incidents of warfare. Mrs. Alma Haapanen presented a lecture, based on her visit to Finland in 1947, giving an insight on the current status of Finnish social and economic affairs. , T s The Finnish students presented a humorous skit portraying the typical grammar school scene. The teacher having taught history for about 25 years taught current history using antiquated methods. Among the students was the usual teacher's pet, the dunce, and the witty student who never failed to- take advantage of the teacher's absent-mindedness. The members of the Konventti carried out a campaign to gather old clothes in conjunction with the Help Finland Society. The part ofthe campaign car- ried out by this group centered around the student body. of the college. The American Red Cross in a letter to Mr.,K. Arho, faculty advisor, re- quested that his classes translate some letters from Finnish children who had received gift boxes from children of the American junior Red Cross. The mem- bers of the Konventti decided to fulfill the request by making it a project of the club. There were about 500 letters written in simple, yet sincere language. The linguists of the group had an opportunity either to test or display their abilities. Even those who are novices in the use of the Finnish language received some practical experience. Two issues of the Sade' Lehti were printed, the first one being a special Christmas issue. The word sade literally means spark, and the Sade Lehti itself was originally meant to be a form of communication among the members. Anyone who has an inspiration to do some creative work in prose or poetry may express himself in this pamphlet. A Heretofore, only one copy was printed and placed permanently in the college library. This year for thefirst time it was mimeographed -so that each member had a personal copy. -I The Suomalainen Konventti is proud to be identified withtSuomi College, the only educational institution for the perpetuation of Finnish culture in America. --- ' A BRIEF SURVEY OF FINNISH FOLK-POETRY At least the original forms of certain known old poems reach back to the Estonian-Finnish era 11000-1200 A.D.j. The question whether the oldest part of Finnish folk-poetry is mythical or historical, is still open. The historical viewpoint presumes that the oldest Finnish folk-poetry de- scribes historical conditions, persons and events of the Viking era and the transi- tion period of paganism and Christianity. Defenders, of this standpoint have STUDENTS FROM FINLAND Left to right: Arvo Hamaliii- nen, Airno Ervanne, Albert Le- hikoinen, Paul Tirri. . 1 E l Page sixty-three 5