University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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FOREWORD What is a theme? In music it is the underlying melody used as a basis for development. In a book it is the keystone, the motif, that gives purpose to the pages within. In seeking a theme for your 1953 El Rodeo, the staff found that often the most obvious is overlooked. Perhaps this is because being so much a part of Troy, vv e are not always conscious of the theme of SC itself. Our theme, yes, the very SPIRIT OF TROY is sometimes lost in the din and clatter of the grill, the waves of jubilance and despair that envelop us at a football game, or even in the glare of a desk lamp on the dawn of a final exam, and yet, somehow in these things it is also found. How, then, is it possible to portray this spirit that has as many meanings as there are individuals? What is the essence that is common to all Trojans whether of the class of ' 28 or of ' 53? When we are alums we too will probably look back and reminisce about the good old days and the statue painted pink in the Fine Arts Building . . . the cadaver jokes in lab . . . the colorful Indo- nesians in our Cinema department . . . the bearded engineers and the Kiss of Death . . . the sarcastic professors that turned out such spunky lawyers . . . the bonfires . . . water fights . . . lunch bag gatherings on the lawn at noon . . . the evenings spent at Ballard ' s or Julies that should have been spent at Doheny . . . that mad trip to San Francisco (imagine anyone going that long without sleep!) . . . These things are very much a part of our lives, here and now in 1953, but will they be the most important things that we will remember in the years to come? Perhaps those five short words that are inscribed on the base of the familinr Tommy Trojan: FAITHFUL « SCHOLARLY ' SKILLFUL ' CPU- KAGEOUS • AMBITIOUS • possibly, those v ords will seem a little bigger, a little more important than they do now, for these qiinlities constitute the ideal of a Trojan, and the foundation stone of SC ' s spirit. El Rodeo has been divided into five sections honoring the groups most representative of each attribute. For FAITHFUL we have chosen our administration and our Helens. SCHOLARLY is portrayed by our schools. SKILLFUL describes our Professionals, COURAGEOUS, our athletes and AMBITIOUS, our undergrad- uates. The staff presents this record to you not only that you may remember these important and wonderful days of the school year 1952 and ' 53, but in the hope that you may carry with you, where- ever you go, THE SPIRIT OF TROY.