Towson University - Tower Echoes Yearbook (Towson, MD)

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Richard Yardley An Interview IYIADELINE CABELL Y O U INI I O H T say that I have a very untidy office. remarked Mr. Yardley. l'his will give you an idea of my personal habits. On the floor were bits of paperg empty ink bottles could be seen almost everywhere. the desk was so littered that its top did not present one small patch to the air above it, and a coat was draped over the window sill. A few months ago I had a visitor who put me very much to shame by telling me that the condition of my oflice was hopeless. I was so ashamed of my untidiness that I set to work immediately and house-cleaned vigor- ously. I put papers in the cupboard, threw away all the empty ink bottles. cleared my desk of its debris, and hung my coat on the rack for nearly a week. The funny part about it was that I didn't even miss the things on my desk which I had spent weeks in collectingf' Alas, much to Mr. Yardley's sorrow, no one has come since, and his oflice has now become as cluttered as ever before. A'Six years ago I drew two maps of Maryland for the Sunday Sun. I decided to have some fun with them. and, in this way. I started cartooningf' Ever since. he has been working on the Sunday paper and for four years on the morning paper. I draw a cartoon and then hope and pray that the public will accept it. The next morning, I look at the paper and shudder to think that I could have ever produced such a thing. There is usually a wealth of material in the daily news. XVhen there isn't, I take a very insignificant hap- pening and play it up. Then. too. I like to poke fun at my friends, Harry Nice and Mayor jackson. Mr. Yardley has been working on the newspaper ever since he began to earn his living. He has always written or drawn for the editorial page. I like my work because it offers a great deal of freedom in that I can express my own ideas and work on my own time. He has had such interesting experiences as spending two or three days with the Oyster Fleet, viewing the Yankee Clipper, and attending meetings of the State Legislature. Legion parades, and national political conventions. His main objection to his vocation is night workg this fault he at- tributes to himself. His wife's chief objection is that he never gets home to dinner on time. I have always lived in IXIaryland, more or less. and went to Friends School and the Maryland Institute. I went to the Institute three times and did about one weeks work during my entire stay there. He closed his eyes and leaned his something over two hundred pounds back in the chair. HI wish I could tell you something in- 6 teresting that I'vc done, but I have never rescued any- body or explored the wilds of darkest Africa. I have led the life of an average citizen. although I have had a few more opportunities than most people. One of Mr. YardIey's hobbies is traveling. I especially enjoy going to Europe but one can't just pick up and E dash over during a week-end. Consequently. I haven't I been there for two years. One of the most trying ex-I periences which I have had was missing my boat train to Paris. I had to hire a car and race the train from Cher- 1 bourg. I made it. This may not sound hair-raising to you, ' but it was a trying experience for me. and I gained quite I a few gray hairs. Mr. Yardley has been to Cuba. He likes Florida and goes there often. He likes to travel any- where. even such short distances as to New York. XVash- ington, and Annapolis. ' I go to New York frequently, and I have the typical yokel's idea of the big city - that one should see every- thing of interest and all the bright lights. I have many' friends who live out on Long Island. and I usually end up spending the evening with them. listening to the ra- dio. This I could easily have done at home. I like cats. This explains why Mr. Yardley always has a cat following him in his cartoons. I have two: one, a white cat with one brown eye and one blue one, and the other, a black cat. The black cat is from Ruxton, while the white one comes from the slums. The white cat from the slums has a very expensive appetite. It turns up its nose at oysters which are bought at the store in a carton and insists upon the best. fresh from the shell. I am proud to say that all my editors are kind to ani- mals. remarked Mr. Yardley. UA stray police dog came I into the yard of the editor of The Morning Sun. It was Thanksgiving Day and the family prepared to sit down to a dinner consisting of turkey. dressing. and all thc things that go with such a dinner. There stood the dog' outside in the cold, looking in longingly at the window The dog came in and has been in ever since. As he ran his lingers through his hair. Mr. Yardlej said that he usually needed a hair-cut when people came to see himg but he had it done in a forty-cent barbe I shop in New York City. He also remarked that wheil I he got up, I would notice that his suit needed pressing .. His only regret was that he couldn't think of any r thing interesting which he had done. I wish I coulf I. flatter myself by thinking of something out of the ord' I nary which I have doneg but I just can't. If you don, have enough. give me a ring. and I'Il make up a goo.. story for you. TOWER LIGH' 0

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MEET THE NEW EACULTY 1 l 5 coMProN N. CROOK KENNETH MILLER r jTH E S TA E F of the Towisiz Lrer-rr, in requesting that il prepare a summary of my background and my impres- L sions of the State Teachers College, has unwittingly I . jzommitted an act of cruelty that should be reported promptly to the S. P. C. A. However. the following may, berhaps, show it the error of its ways, so that it will ivrite its own summaries in future. I was born a mimber of years ago down in the exten- :ive swainpland country of western Tennessee. This en- j1lfO1l1HCHtlCflf a lasting mark. From the woods, swamps, jrnd mountains I have since acquired the greater portion if my education, regardless of the fact that six years in lleorge Peabody College for Teachers netted me two jlegrees and a respectable start on a third, the privilege pf working with a truly great biologist and teacher, and undry information about the world of books. L As a teacher I now have a personal alumni group of oerhaps a thousand students. Many of these are now Quceessful teachers. At least one is in jail. I have taught jn the Appalachain State Teachers College in North Car- jilina, the School of Education of XVestern Reserve Uni- hersity, Cleveland, Ohio, and in the laboratory school jrf the College of XVilliam and Mary in Virginia. In all lit these I have been concerned with the teaching of sci- jznce in the grades and in high school. In addition, I rave served the National Park Service for six summers s ranger naturalist, in the Yellowstone and Rocky jxflountain National Parks. I..eeturing, hiking, mountain ilimbing, museum preparation, and ecological research jre some of the duties of the ranger naturalist. In ind studying that very interesting biological phenome- ddition, he has unparelled opportunities for observing anon, the American Tourist. Iyly impressions of the State Teachers College are jrniformly pleasant. Faculty and students have united jo make me feel a part of the institution from the day arrived. I have never been in a school atmosphere more jonducive to good work. XVhat better inducements can fre found to make Environmental Science as useful, jleasant, and applicable as possible? l!CTOBER - 1939 An Interview IT IS A pleasure to meet some people. Mr. Miller. our new English teacher, opened his interview in such an informal way that immediately I felt he had been with us for a long time. His cordial manner encouraged me to ask many, many questions, and all were answered freely. Our conversation covered many fields - international affairs, current literature, our friendly college academic freedom, professional ethics and the Tutor System at Harvard. The interviewer discovered a variety of things about the instructor. Ile has studied in the XVest at Ohio XVes- leyan University, and in the North at Syracuse Univer- sity and at Harvard. Mr. Miller has travelled in England and Germany. Creek literature has been a subject of extreme interest to him. He has spent a great deal of time pondering on professional ethics and has high standards in regard to teaching. Certainly the State Teachers College welcomes Mr. Nliller and hopes his high standards are realized. HARRIETT WELLS XV O U L D YQ U like to have some help in developing better study habits? XVhether you're a Freshman or an upper-classinan. just take your woes to Miss XVells. the new staff member in the Dormitory. Miss XVells is as- sisting with staff duties and acting as a counsellor in study problems. CI understand that themes and home- sickness seem to be the greatest problems thus farfl Miss XVells has spent several years teaching English. and at present is working for her Masters degree in ed- ucation at the johns Hopkins University. This academic background makes Miss XVells well qualified to help solve the study problems of all students. Besides her work at the Dormitory. our assistant likes all sports, particularly tennis. golf, badminton. and swim- ming. She comes to us from our rival peach-producing state, Michigan, and we're willing to admit that the com- petition is keen. YVC welcome Miss XVells to the Dormitory, and we hope her stay will be a joyous and successful one. 5

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others For Ransom CATHERINE GRAY j Qlld. Note: This story is based on actual facts.j l jj' A S O N G U E R LIC K stared back over the widen- jing stretch of water at tl1e docks where stood his mother. xl-le waved a thin white hand in answer to a wisp of handkerchief and a grey head behind it. lt was a noble ihead, erect and stately, set delicately upon a gentle body. ,It was a head that had seen much trouble, much sacri- fice, many joys and now. disaster of a sort. jason was going to America. He was born in Bohemia, a place later to become a part of Czechoslovakia, and because of a 'job that led him to Germany, had taken his widowed mother to live in Emden near the sea. Several months ago a German friend had told him that the depression was not so bad in America. There was a depression, of course. but wasn't it all over the world? The standards of living were higher over there and it had been hard jsinee he had lost his job. There was no reason to go back to Czechoslovakia - no work - and both could not live on his mother's pension. That night he and his mother had talked. Many emotions came close to the surface during that conversation, but only cold facts Jroke through. So today, jason strained his eyes to get 1 last glimpse of the woman who must remain behind 1I'lCl wait: wait for money from America: wait for a son to come back with money enough to take her back :O her homeland. In the years that passed jason was not a brilliant suc- cess. but he had a S25 sales position in a downtown dc- oartment store. He lived alone: ate littleg enjoyed no lux- jiries. and banked the larger part of his salary. Gradually. sie became accustomed to the liberties in America - free jzpeeeh, free press - and his letters to his mother re- jilected the change. He became sensitive to the fact that iihe new ruler of Germany controlled the press there hnd that the German people learned only what they j.vere permitted to learn. He felt himself a privileged per- jzon every time he bought a newspaper or turned on fthe radio. Because of his mother's great desire to know pow he was and what his new surroundings were like. jie wrote letters telling her more and more about the lljtlnited States and gradually more and more about what ,ire had learned of Europe. One day a lightning bolt struck. A man sent thousands bf soldiers into a tiny country called Austria. lt seemed to climax a series of Germany's internal social rearrange- 'HDCTOBER . 1939 l'llC1lt El1lCl consequent expulsion of certain peoples. ja- so11 was shocked! hllusie by famous composers was burned! Books by immortal authors were destroyed! Diseoverers of great seientihe principles were driven from their l101'l1CSl jason wondered that his placid Ger- man friends could do such things, lt was impossible! Then came the crowning blow - his mother country absorbed! Poor jason and his American-German friends! He could contain himself no longer. Obviously his friends abroad and the great mass of people were being deceived. Their press and radio must be government- eontrolled. lt's too bad he forgot that censorship ex- tended over inore things than press and radio! The same night that found tl1e Slavs struggling, found jason and a Bund leader in a blistering argument. lm- mediately following this, he wrote to his mother in paf thetie tones - - - Dear Mother, VV hat has happened to my friends? XVhat are Fritz Humber and Otto, the butcher doing? ls the foot of this power-crazed man 011 their necks? Do you not know what is going on? Here in America. the German people are de- spised and it is because of one man .... Days passed. The ship that should have brought his mother's reply, returned to Germany. No letters. But. one day a large white envelope was delivered to jason. It was postmarked Germany. XV ith great curiosity jason ripped open the flap and read. His eyes fell on one sentence. 'Unless payment of S323 in American money is re- ceived. Mrs, Gerlick will remain at the ljmden Conf eentration Camp - indehnitely - for espionage. Espionage - an undiplomatie letter from abroad, jason fell into a state of semi-consciousness. His mother behind barbed wire: whipped: driven: subject to countless indignities: coarsely clothed: coarsely fed. He must get the money instantly. lt was simple. llc had saved much more than that. llc could have sent a thou- sand dollars - S25 was nothing. But wait. If it was nothing to him. it would be less to the German Govcrmnent. The Bund leader would know. Perhaps he would tell him something. They 7