Behrend Campus officially opened its Christmas season December 7th -with the traditional “Hanging of the Greens” at the Behrend Chapel in Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery. Over a hundred Behrend and Hamot Hospital students crowded into the candlelit chapel to see, hear and gfng- this annual introduction to Christmas. The service was, in effect, a nostalgic remembrance of feelings and people interspersed with pas sages, from the Bihle, the hanging of the greens, the words of Dean Lane and the singing of Carols. The service was first presented in 1948 as a tribute to Ernst Beh rend and his son Warren, who, at the age of twenty, was killed at tempting to avoid hitting a school bus full of children. Grateful for the sacrifice, thoughtfulness and generosity of Ernst and Mary and War ren, the students of this new addition- to Penn State wanted to .show their , appreciation to the Behrends and to keep alive in themselves and future students the qualities shown by this family. The birthday of Christ was aptly chosen as the best time to express their appreciation, for it was and is a time to remember another, husband.and wife who bore and later lost a son so that others might live. Since that time,- the “Hanging of the Greens” has, for Behrend stu dents, become synonymous with Christmas and the spirit and everyone that attends this ceremony for the first time is deeply impressed. Behrend's Drama Club Will Present First Play .During Common Hour on Thursday, December 15th, the Drama Club of Behrend Campus .presented the first of two productions planned for this school year. Their one-act Christmas Play is entitled Eternal Life and is by Fred Eastman, author of The Tinker, The Great Choice, and The Doctor Decides. Eternal Life, directed by Dean B. A. Lane, takes place in a family air-raid shelter- about twelve feet long and eight feet wide, somewhere in England. For three days six persons have been trapped inside by the collapse of an adjacent building. Facing what seems inevitable death, tfrogg six persons react differently. Esther Hale (played by Barbara Shapokas), a woman whose successful dress shop has been bombed out of existence, is dominated by fear and hatred. Her sister Mary (played by Kathy Dayton), widowed by the war and now caring for her sick son Danny (played by Ed Finucane), maintains her poise and courage. The others, Peggy (Mary’s daughter, played by Pat Thomas), Alec (Peggy’s fiance and a Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, played by Don Filegar), and Stephen Hale (father of Esther and Mary, played by Bill Sturdevant) are swayed between these two. To drive away the gloom, the family tries to play games. They begin by recalling their happiest memories. Under Esther’s domination, however, this is soon discarded for an alphabetical game in which each person tells why he hates the dictator. The game of hate mounts toward a Mimav until Danny’s nerves give way. Mary, the mother, now takes command in order to save her son and to prevent the whole group from succumbing to fear. Out of the mood of hate she leads them in singing a Christmas carol and in repeating, in verse-choir fashion, some of the great promises o fthe Bible until their faith and hope are restored, their spiritual dignity reasserted. THE NITTAN'Y CUE AH The Fine Young Instructors Three young instructors have been added to Behrend’s faculty this year, namely, James Gallagher—Physical Education, Oliver Lerch— History,- and Ronald Thomas —English. They all have a Master’s degree and all of them are trying to achieve the standards of instruction which, naturally, have yet to be proven effective through the daily work, periodic exams and final retainment achieved by their first students. It is too, early for them to tell if what they believe and teach is creat ing a knowledgeable and desirable result. . Mr. James Gallagher, 23, strives to attain three things in his phys ical education classes: 1) to develop muscular fitness which forms a basis for a mentally as well as physically energetic body; 2) to instill in a player the desire, to win coupled with the ability to accept defeat and" improve_on his mistakes, and 3) to improve a person’s sociability by providing games and other tests that enable the person to achieve a certain degree of the self-realization which brings about both emo tional stability and personal integrity. Knowing that every man must have some other activity to counter-balance the almost constant book work in college, Coach Gallagher provides the recreational workout needed to relax tense nerves and pent-up feelings, and he considers the future in developing skills which will keep the man physically active and relaxed throughout his life. Mr. Oliver Lerch, 24, has one objective. He is primarily concerned with a student attaining an appreciation and an understanding of our current history through a study of the past. His lectures are like the history book in that he may sound dull but, if you really listen, he is interesting. He emphasizes the points he thinks important by using damn and hell, not because he is profane, but in the sometimes futile hope that the idea he wants to get across will be retained by the ma jority of his students. Mr. Lerch does not believe in assigning reports or long research papers in history, or requiring outlines or tests to determine if you read the book. If you do not, he will not care—and that'brings the subject to his system of grading. History exams are usually essay tests which ask you to define a term or explain a move- - ment (naturally, that means a movement in history). The best way to answer these tests, as far as Mr. Lerch is concerned, is to use a para graph outline which contains a general statement and enough support ing facts.to explain or define the question. What he does not want is an editorial or an epic poem. So go the professional ethics of your history teacher; so follow them to the letter and you will never be left in the Lerch. Mr. Ronald Thomas, 24, is the newest addition to the English De partment whose friendliness and generous nature is greatly taken ad vantage of. A student is wise who is friendly but never attempts to be on intimate terms with an instructor whose name is always Mister or Professor. Mr. Thomas has one ideal and a host of subordinate objec tives. He strives to establish in his freshmen students a high degree of personal responsibility and creative individualism. This must he gotten by the student and the student alone. One of his secondary con cerns is to acquaint his students with different American writers, their styles and comparative merits. He can generally be defined as a liberal who believes in originality expressed in good English and assigns themes and a term paper, to give his students an early education in the fundamentals of English expression so that later college work will be less tedious. It will be interesting to note the progress of these young men and what impact their instruction and influence will have on Behrend students. CHRISTMAS TREE (Continued from Page 1) At that time the tree was widely accepted in those parts. In the course of the following centuries it slowly became popular in other parts of Germany. The tree came to America as a cherished companion of the Ger man immigrants. The first wave of Germa nimmigration, about 1700, brought thousands of Protestant farmers from the Rhine Provinces who, after much suffering and many adventures in the colony of New York, finally settled in west ern Pennsylvania. The descendants ‘Monday, December 19,1960 of these early immigrants still in habit the Lebanon valley, keeping most of the ancient customs. The second wave of German im migration began about 1830. These people, made up of both Catholic and Protestant groups, settled in New York, New England, on the farms of Ohio and Wisconsin, and other parts of America. Through them the Christmas tree was brought to the attention of their neighbors, and soon became a much admired and familiar sight in all the churches of German settle ments and in the homes of Ger man-Americans everywhere.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers