SUNY at Oswego - Ontarian Yearbook (Oswego, NY)

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ion. the be the and now with nose te in still :end 3 al- like. ges- than itions f this . and repre- e and i you, ession :hool? isiast, k you Junds. Eddie argue. Last month when Cortland sent up their orators, he made them all look silly. He should have, though, after keeping me up almost all of the pre- vious night inventing new arguments for him to build defenses against. All of this talk ofdances, clubs, and social organizations will leave the im- pression that the school is one mad whirligig of parties and social affairs. lt isn't so. We try to strike a happy medium between the curricular and extracurricular activities. lt was diffi- fult for me at first but now l'm straddling a shining 2.40 index and without trepidation, backward only for amusement, a spirit founded upon practical racial and religious toler- ance, practical democracy in student government, and practical living on and off campus. It is a spirit which envisions a new expanded Oswego State, a spirit which realizes the ne- cessity of her expansion, and lastly, one which, day by day, and year by year, actively promotes this new order which is so vital to her life. Yours, JIM 17 77m ,112 M ' ri don't intend to let it throw me. If l had the time and space I could tell you about the snowball fights, the basketball games, the skiing and Snowshoeing and of the hikes along the frozen lake shore. lt could go on for pages and pages. I could inform you about many more clubs and or- ganizations although, in one way, describing one is describing them all -that is, in spirit. The spirit evinced by these or- ganizations is typical of the faculty, it is typical of the entire student body, it is typical of the school itself. It is a spirit which looks forward

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tures at the opening of the spring semester when it held a mixer for all of the new frosh. St. Mary's, patron of the Newman Club, frequently lets its hall to various college organiza- tions for social purposes. J.Y.O. has promoted interdenominational rela- tions by sponsoring current topics for discussion. Eddie, my I. A. roommate and current events zealot, informs me that the I.R.C. has grown by leaps and bounds and will soon be too big a baby for Mrs. Hart's science lab in 110. Next stop is that wonderful I. A. auditorium with the sleeper when I accept a teaching position. My mailbox has been empty for the past week. Even a card would be most welcome, if only to break the monotony of library fee slips and physical exam notices. You know how the mail situation is up here . . . it's the only contact we have with home, and doubly important to those of us who make it home but once in the spring semester. The religious organizations still convene on 'fhursday nights. I attend the meetings as often as possible al- though still not as much as Ild like. O.P.Y.0. made one of the first ges- seats. The I.R.C. does more than merely discuss international relations . . . it promotes them. Early this present term the club wined and dined four foreign students, repre- senting Brazil, Norway, France and India. Wouldn,t this prove to you, Jack, that decadence or retrogression are not to be found in this school? Eddie is a great debate enthusiast, too, Jack. That's where I think you two could meet on common grounds. Like yourself, there's nothing Eddie would rather do more than argue. 16

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RALPH W. SWETMAN Our president has devoted a lifetime to service for others, a life full of work, devotion and sacrif1ce for the education of youth. Though this devotion to duty, this eternal struggle to secure and hold advantages for young people has broken his health, he would, knowing the consequences, pursue the same path again. Were he to speak to us now, he would say, as Marcus Aurelius said, lf thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, than thine own soul,s satis- faction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thine own choice, if, I say thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best. To our president we owe a debt of gratitude and devotion. 18