Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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THE TOWER LIGHT What Will You Do About It? ORKING each school day with a group of tuberculous youngsters makes me feel more and more strongly the inadequacy of our present laws. We, who are supposed to have reached a high standard of civilization, have really only begun. It is true, money is given yearly from the pockets of the rich and poor alike for the care of the unfortu- nates. Proud donors 'of large sums to the Community Fund and Tuber- culosis Association lean back in satisfaction and say, Oh yes, I contri- buted to that just cause . But, if after they had given this money, they would only think how they could prevent the cause which calls for the money, then they could heave a sigh of complete satisfaction. Tuberculosis is a dreadful disease. Those who do not come in daily Contact with it are fortunate. They whisper in grave and lamenting tones about their friends who are so unfortunately doomed. lt is indeed fitting to be grave, but the whisper should become a shout-a shout of protest. Daily, hundreds of people are admitted to institutions for the medica- tion and hospitalization necessary for the cure of tuberculosis. Through the unfailing care and study of these people by doctors and nurses the Tuberculosis Association and Medical science have learned much about the disease. What good is all their untiring work if laws do not force the use of this knowledge? Millions of dollars have been spent to help hun- dreds who should never have had the disease. Then why do they have it? The answer to this, in a great many cases, is again, inadequate laws. Returning to the children in whom I am particularly interested, l believe I am justified in saying that in nearly all cases judicial neglect has caused these bedridden, crippled children to be in the hospital. Dr. Brailey, from Johns Hopkins, Harriet Lane Clinic, pointed out in a lecture to some teachers recently that tuberculosis is not an hereditary disease. Children who contract the disease have gotten it because they have been closely associated with parents or relatives who have the disease. Of course, many mothers little know they are bestowing a lifetime of pain upon a baby when giving it a kiss. But even if they do know, many parents are unwilling to part with their children and at present there is no law to make them. It may seem strange that parents, who have even been in sanitoriums and realize their condition would give birth to children who might suffer as they do, but it is true. Not long agol had as a pupil a little girl six years old. She had tuberculosis of the hip and was in the hospital for over a year. For many months she was strapped to a frame with a cast from her waist to her toes. She is now walking with crutches and in all probability will do so for years to come. l3

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THE TOWER LIGHT Enthusiastic Babble ACH fall on returning to school, it seems that everyone except me is enthsiastically bubbling over with interesting conversation, but this year I, too, am joining the ranks of the enthusiastic, for I have chosen a some what different means of conveying my experiences to my friends and others who appear to be curious about .three months of my life. The TOWER LIGHT enables me to tell my story to all my friends at once, and it keeps the story from becoming more vivid each time it is told. Summer came. With no prospects of a vacation in view, a desire to work possessed me. However, lack of experience was a handicap, so I called for the aid of influential friends. Almo-st before I was aware of what had happened, I had become inveigled into directing a group of children, seven to ten years of age, in a rhythm orchestra. I became panicky. What was a rhythm orchestra? I-Iow did one begin? How did one continue after having once begun? My eight years of musical training seemed meager for the task, but thanks to Diller and Page my problems were soon solved and a happy summer amid the clamor of drums, tom-toms, cymbals, tambourines, triangles and sand- blocks ensued. Almost too soon we found ourselves preparing for an exhibition. From fifty children on one day to seven on another, we finally emerged with a group of twenty in a final performance. The children marched to their seats which were placed in typical orchestral arrangement. At a given piano signal from me, a jitter in the balcony, the conductor's baton came down, and- amazing- all instruments began their parts together. The children carried on nobly throughout their two selections, and soon all was over. Still excited to the core, Iwent to congratulate them on their accomplishment. And I completed a happy experience amid such exclamations as Oh, Miss Kovitz, how were we?u Did we play all right? I tried so hard not to look at the balcony, and It was so hard to keep from laughing. F. Kovirz, Jr. 3. q2QCgQS a War Great scourge! Hell on this earth Looking e'er for new birth, I pray that you will come no more, Damned war! BOSLEY ROYSTON, '37. 12

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THE TOWER LIGHT In the hospital at the same time was her three year old brother whom I saw die with tuberculous meningitis. A few months later, after his death, his mother gave birth to another child also destined to contract the disease unless something could be done to take the child away from her. We have no law requiring that a mother give up her child. We have no law preventing that woman from marrying a man whom she had met in a tuberculosis sanitorium. This is a pathetic state of affairs. We as teachers, are interested in children of our nation. We are an intelligent, well informed group and should turn all our efforts toward the channels by which such laws can be introduced. It is for us to arouse public sentiment, for it is the public who pass the laws. It is not an easy job. What natural mother would want her child taken from her? How many of you would want to submit to a clinical test before marry- ing the partner of your choice, who would also submit to a similar test? It is, therefore, a challenge. Let us spend our money for prevention which will make cure no longer necessary and so develop a healthier citizenship. DOROTHY FARMER, ,34. GQQQQMP A Freshmarfs Opinion of Freshman Week The name, Freshman Week, put somewhat of a feeling of fear into my mind as to what each freshman was expected to do, and when I approached the entrance to the Campus and beheld the towering halls of masonry before me my pulse quickened perceptibly. Everything seemed so strangely large-the buildings, study halls, dormitories, and dining hall. I seemed lost in a maze of bewilderment, but this was quickly thrust aside when I was met by my big sister and several other very congenial students who seemed to take special delight in showing me about and helping when and wherever needed. Finally, I was located in my dormitory room and was kept from becoming homesick by the many activities planned for us during our first week. Again, I saw huge sinister shapes in the form of tests rise before me which for a time turned joy and pleasure into almost a nightmare. When the 'ftestsv were no longer a thing of worry and apprehension everything seemed to take on a rosy hue once more. After meeting many of our instructors for the coming year Iwas ready to settle down to the general routine of the school, feeling that my worries and fears were gone and forgotten in the pleasant and social atmosphere of the various depart- ments, and I look for a happy and instructive year before me. BETTY L. WOODFALL, Freshman 5. 14