PAGE TWO
The Daily Collegian Editorial Page
Editorials and columns appearing In Tha Daily Collegian repremmt the opinion• of the writer. They make no elaim so reflect student or University consensus. Unsigned editonals sra writhe los the elite&
Why Vote at All?
Sophomore elections, scheduled for today at the
TUB, bring up one of the most important ques
tions in student government, why vote at all?
Far too many students seem to adopt the atti
tude that these elections concern only those imme
diately concerned with the political parties—the
clique members, officers and nominees.
Since all sophomores are neophytes to campus
politics at Penn State, it is essential that they
realize that it is a must for them to participate in
the election today.
A truly democratic election cannot be successful
unless there is widespread common interest in it.
This interest must arise from the voters. In the
past there has been a lack of interest. The turn
out at recent elections was only 20 to 30% of the
eligible voters.
If you want student government that you can
be proud of, one that truly represents the students
enrolled in your class, cast your vote today.
But casting your vote is not enough, you must
cast it wisely. This does not mean a careful study
of the candidates' photograph and th,Fn voting for
the better looking guy or girl, neither does it
mean to vote a straight party line.
It does mean, however, inquiring into the past
record of the candidates and gaining a personal
knowledge of their character and personality. Past
abilities usually foretell future potentialities.
Don't stray aimlessly to the TUB today but
know whom you are going to vote for and why.
It is your duty to vote and vote wisely, and not
until you do exactly that can today's election be
termed successful.
Stea m I ined Giving
The perennial "charity drive" season will open
soon. Following rapidly one after the other, the
pleas of many "worthy causes" irritate the giver
and exhaust the resources of the quota-harried
promoter.
A satisfactory method of eliminating the dis
agreeable characteristics of a multitude of drives,
and of increasing the efficiency of the very Amer
ican custom of cheerful giving, has been practiced
successfully in most cities and in many other
universities.
"Why not a Campus Chest?" was asked edi
torially by the Daily Collegian in May. National
Student Association committee has mentioned the
institution of a "chest" at Penn State.
Unfortunately, action has not passed the talking
stage, although it would appear that such a pro
gram would be enticing to all groups contemplat
ing a drive for necessary funds.
Probably little need be said about the obvious
efficiency of the chest plan. Workers from the co
operating organizations, by pooling their efforts,
prevent duplication of solicitation, and enable a
more efficient and concerted coverage of all stu
dents, faculty and administrative personnel.
Students in the past have shown that, even
even though they must be dollar-conscious, they
are still willing to "give 'til it hurts" to worthy
causes. They should appreciate the fact that their
money will be more beneficially given, under the
chest plan.
Student objections to contributing to causes and
organizations with which they are not in sym
pathy can be overcome by permitting them to ear
mark their donations for specific uses in which
thny do have an interest.
Perhaps the soliciting organizations will feel
sh=it students will be unable or unwilling to con
tribute as much at one time as they would over
an extended period. An installment system should
adrquately meet that objection.
Charitable groups may think that they will not
receive an equitable share of the solicitations.
Considering that they are cooperating, instead of
competing for the available funds, more money
should be obtained by each. Distribution could be
made on the basis of need and participation in the
'lrive.
Someone—All-College Cabinet, NSA commit
tee, or interested organizations—should instigate
:lotion at once. before the drive season begins.
Let's simplify and streamline our giving.
The Built; Collggian
suer...., to THE Build
LANCE, est. 1877
P Vished Tuesday through Saturday mornings inclusive Or
og the College year by the titaff of The Daily Collegian of The
•.•; raylvania State College. Entered as second class matter
Orly 5 1934 at the State College. Pa.. Poet Office under the
,-t of March 3, 1879. Subscriptions —s3 a semester. $4 the
hew! year.
Represented for stational advertising by National Adrertis
ng Service. Madison Ave.. New York. N.Y. Chicago. Boston
.08 Angeles San Francisco.
Editor
Lew Stone
Managing Ed.. Elliot Shapiro; News Ed., Malcolm White:
Sports Ed., Tom Morgan; Edit. Dir. Arni (keen; Feature Ed.,
to Fox; Society Ed., Frances Keeney: Asst. Sot. Ed.. L.oretts
Neville: Photo Ed., Betty Gibbons; Promotion Mem, Selma
Zaoaahr Senior Board, Claire Leo.
Asst. Baa. Mgr.. Margaret Bream; Adv. Director, Barbara
Keefer: Local Adv. Mgr.. Selma Liimpert Smith: Circulation
Sir.. Brett &witch : Clam. Adv. Mgr„ Wilma Brehm; Pm—
mnnel Mgr., Koati Burgas; Mice Mgr, George Lifts
wiry, Mimi Pomerene.
STAFF THIS ISSUE
Managing Editor .
Araistant
News Editor ___
/kite/ate:a .
Copy Editor_________
Asaiatant_ _
Advertising Manager_
—George Vedas:.
Business Manager
Vance C. Klepper
lobaßonnoll
---
.George Seibert
I"Robert Roo'
Barbara Wachtel
Dorothy Hunshergor
Rey Kbehlor
J)on Biker
litab CLAD
Non Political Ballot
In the Land of Jim Crow
nay Sprigle, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and staff member
of "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette," recently disguised himself as a
Negro and for four weeks "lived black" in the South among his fel
low Americans. This is the sixth of a series of twelve articles in
which he presents his findings. Mr. Sprigle has changed the names of
persons and places in some instances to protect those involved.
When they call the roll of
Americans who died to make men
free, add to that heroic list the
name of Private Macy Yost
Snipes, black man, Georgia, U. S.
A.
Death missed him on a dozen
bloody battlefields o v ersea s,
where he served his country well.
He came home to die in the lit
tered door-yard of his boyhood
home because he thought that
freedom was for all Americans,
and tried to prove it.
It wasn't that he didn't get fair
warning. He knew what to ex
pect. And he got just that.
Early in July the white folks
passed the warning through the
Negro countryside around the lit
tle sun-warped country hamlet of
Rupert, in Taylor County, Geor
gia. It was brief and to the point.
The first Negro to vote in Rupert
would be killed, ran the word.
Macy Yost Snipes hadn't even
thought of voting, so his friends
told me. But when the word came
that he'd die if he did—then he
decided that he'd vote. He had
never voted. He didn't know
where or how to do it. He went to
Butler, the county seat, to regis
ter. There they told him he'd have
to go back to his home town of
Rupert to register, and later, vote.
The white folks in Rupert let him
register. There were already a
few Negro names on the registry
lists.
Bright and early on Election
Day Macy appeared at the polling
place and voted. Afterward
Macy told a friend that the white
folks on the election board ap
peared "sorta dazeiff as he cast
his ballot. "It wa's like they
thought a dead man was voting."
Macy said laughingly to his
friend who told me the story of
how a Georgia Negro died.
Private Snipes didn't know it,
but the white folks were right. He
was already dead when he drop
ped that ballot in the box. The
white folks just let him walk a
round another week before they
buried him.
Just a week later four white
men drove up to Macy Suipes's '
home, called him out, and after a
While waiting for a date in Atherton Hall last weekend the
word "cocktail" printed on a menu struck our eye. Shades of Dean
Weston! Cocktails served in dining commons. Happily, though, the
drink seemed to consist of only grape juice and ginger -ale. Do girls
who chink wow *gibe get Mee 61111168 than the nalwarinamoot
By Ray Sprigle
few words riddled him with bul
lets and drove off.
Taking courage from the fact
that the white folks had promised
to kill only the first Negro who
voted, another black man voted
after Private Snipes. He was
right. The white folks didn't kill
him. They just ran him out of the
county.
But even after they had mur
dered him, the white folks were
n't finished with Private Macy
Yost Snipes. The Snipes family
owned a little burial plot in a Ne
gro cemetery near Rupert. The
mother and father of the dead
soldier arranged with a Negro
undertaker to bury their slain son
in the family plot. But the day of
the funeral the undertaker got
word from Rupert.
"You try to bury that nigger
here and you better have another
grave ready for yourself." The
undertaker had a plot in another
cemetery at the other end of the
count y. That's where Macy
Snipes rests.
But it wasn't enough to murder
the returned veteran and deny
his body burial because he had
sought to overthrow whits su
premacy by dropping his ballot in
the box. The white folks decided
that they wanted none of Macy
Snipes's family in their midst,
either. The Snipes family were
hard-w ork i n g and respected
farmers owing 150 acres which
provided them with a better-than
-ordinary competence. They were
warned that they had better get
out of the county. "Remember"
one note read.
So the Snipes family sold their
farm and fled North. They live
in Ohio now.
And what about the champions
of racial purity who murdered
Macy Snipes? Well, one William
Cooper proudly claimed the hon
or of having fired the shots that
dropped the young veteran in
front of his own threshold. He
hunted up the coroner and ex
plained that he and his friends
were just trying to collect $lO
from him. When Snipes told him
that Macy Snipes had borrowed
(Continued on page six)
Edit Briefs
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16 1941
-SWety Valve
Another Landmark
TO THE EDITOR: Many Penn State people—
students, alumni, faculty—would like to see the
"Hort Woods" area of our campus preserved in a
natural state„ While there has been no announced
intention of placing buildings in it, disturbing
rumors to that effect keep cropping up. Nobody
has said that buildings will not go there, Even
now the largest of trees in it are being felled with
ominous frequency. In its way the situation is not
unlike the forgotten case of Mt. Nittany, when a
landmark was saved from despoliation in the nick
of time.
The Hort Woods tract, too, is worth preserving.
It is the last remaining portion of this campus ,to
retain the wilder tang of a Penn State which has
vanished. All the rest has been transformed into a
well tended and landscaped suburban lawn on a
large scale. Only in Hort Woods can the leaves
now fall in autumn to lie throughout the winter,
instead of being scooped up by gasoline powered
leaf rakers.
Preservation of this spot can only be assured
by making it officially untouchable. All Penn State
graduates and undergraduates might in some
manner bring pressure to have these woods set
aside and dedicated as a memorial grove—perhaps
as a living memorial to soldiers, but in any case as
one to an older Penn State. No funds would be
needed. Little should be done to the place other
than to keep it intact as a natural retreat for plant
and animal life. But surely steps ought to be taken
to do this before other irrevocable decisions are
made and we are left holding nothing but regrets.
—H. E. Dickson, '22,
Professor of Fine Ars,
Good Scouts Know
TO THE EDITOR: Why doesn't the ROTC get
on the ball? Even the Boy Scouts know that a flag
at half-mast is lowered to the ground before being
raised to its full height.
Collegian Gazette
Tuesday, November 1$
WRA BRIDGE CLUB, WH Playroom, 7 to 8 p.m.
WRA FENCING, 1 WH, 7 to 8 p.m.
WRA BOWLING TEAMS, WH Bowling Alleys,
6:30 p.m.
COLLEGIAN AD STAFF, Collegian Office, 41:46
p.m.
MEN'S BRIDGE CLUB, PUB, 7 _p.m.
DRUIDS, 409 Old Main, 7:30 p.m.
College Hospital
Admitted Saturday: Ruth Neiman.
Discharged Saturday: John Post, Irwin Robin
son, John Folk and Ruth Neiman.
Admitted Sunday: George Gushn*r, Donald Gib
son, Emerson Leiter and Ruth Gebhard.
— Discharged Sunday: Gordon Cunningham and
Joe Mazza.
Admitted Monday: William Ruth.
College Placement
General Fireproofing Co., Youngstown Sheet and
Tube Co., and Timken Roller Bearing Co., eighth
semester men from CE, EE, lE, ME, Arts and Let
ters, C&F, Metallurgy, Mining Eng. Chem Erg,
Physics.
General Electric Co., November 15 and 16,
eighth semester men from EE, ME and lE.
Westinghouse Electric Corp., November 17 and
1-8, eighth semester men in EE, lE, ME, Metal
lurgy, Chem Eng, and Chemistry.
Linde Air Products Co., November 15 anod 17,
eighth semester men from EE, IE, ME, Chem Eng,
Physics, and Chemistry.
West Penn Power Co., November 18 and le,
eighth semester men in EE and ME.
Monongahela Connecting Railroad Co., Novem
ber 22 and 23, eighth semester men in CE.
Pennsylvania Railroad, November 23, eighth
semester men in EE and ME.
United States Civil Service Commission, Novem
ber 23, eighth semester men in Aero Eng, Arch
Eng, CE, EE, lE, ME, Sanitary Eng, Metallurgy,
Petroleum & Natural Gas Eng, Chent Eng and
Chemistry.
Babcock & Wilcox Co., November 22, eighth
semester men in lE, ME, Fuel Tech, and Metal
lurgy.
Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., November 30,
eighth semester men in CE, EE, IE, ME, Chown
Eng, and Chemistry.
Philadelphia Electric Co.. December 1, eighth
semester men in EE and ME.
North American Aviation Corp., November 30,
eighth semester men in Aero Eng, Civil Eng, EL,
and ME.
Douglas Aircraft Co., December 2 and 3, sev
enth and eighth semester men in Aero Eng, EE,
ME, and Physics.
J. C. Penney Co., December 2 and 3, eighth se
mester men in IE, C&F, Arts & Letters, Adver
tising, Education, Hotel Adm., Ind. Ed., Pit y -
chology.
Ingersoll-Rand Co.. December 2 and 3, aevienth
semester men in If, ME and EE.
-Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., December 3,
eighth semester men in lE, ME and C&F. .
Student Employment
Contact Mr. Atka Room TUB
Men interested in restaurant work at night.
Substitute waiters and dishwashers.
Experienced clothes presser.
Men with upholstery experience.
Man or woman with experience as a desalt
assistant.
Gads las stacking.
--Name withheld.