description:
Oct. 28,1964 THE SKYSCRAPER Page Three Senior President Wins Russian Travel Grant by Jean Durall Volcanoes, Fungi, Termites Spice Costa Rican Research Communist observation, guarded conversations, whirlwind prepara tion and disconcerting Danish en counters are but a few of the expe riences senior Virginia Finnegan included in her account of her sum mer visit to the Soviet Union. The senior class president participated in the Indiana University ten-week summer Slavic Workshop on a scholarship granted by the Univer sity. The opportunity to meet and ob serve Russian people on equal terms as an American student during her four and one-half-week visit en thralled Ginger as she voiced im pressions of her Russian tour, A wild wonderful whirl. Speak Russian Preparation included six hours of class work daily on Russian cus toms, history, contemporary prob lems, pattern drills, conversation, phonetics and grammar. From her arrival at Indiana University until the tour ended in Helsinki, Finland, Russian was Ginger's language. After five and one-half weeks of intense study, 29 undergraduates and four teachers left the United States for Copenhagen, Denmark and then for Moscow. In Denmark the group was treated with indignant mistrust and, alternately, with touching con cern for their safety. But, Ginger adds, We knew no fear, only anti cipation for our adventure to be gin. Everyone in the group was striving to be as open-minded as possible, in contrast to the precon ceived prejudice advanced by so many people in the free world. Ginger was impressed at the free dom of movement allowed them on their tour although they did have to use some caution. The mornings were spent in organized tours to museums, galleries, some factories and other such points of interest. The afternoons and evenings were generally free and it was then that Ginger and four other students succeeded in becoming fast friends with three Moscow youths. Always careful to meet in crowded areas to avoid suspicion, the Americans and Russians shared many discoveries and criticisms. The Russian students were amazed by the great freedom to choose an occupation after college and the freedom to travel about the world, Ginger commented. Ginger reported that their Rus sian friends were interested in ma terial prosperity and were espe cially fascinated by American cloth ing and materials. They also asked if there were really dangerous gangsters in Chicago and if it was safe to walk the New York streets. Exchange Gifts In return for their gifts of books, a Chubby Checker record album and gloves, the Americans received a satirical Russian novel, The Twelve Stools, a set of folk records, a pre-revolution book of Kremlin churches and a biography of the popular poet Esenin. Ginger also re ceived a topaz ring which she wears on her right index finger in the Russian fashion. In Leningrad we were observed more closely and evening free time was somewhat restricted, Ginger continued. The Americans also vis ited Sachi, Gagra, Krasnadar, Volo- grad and Rostov and a youth camp for university students at Kiev. Braving volcanoes and earth quakes, scaling walls, leaning out of buildings and climbing moun tains, Sister Mary Cecilia, B.V.M., chairman of the Mundelein biology department, took pictures of Costa Rica where she spent eight weeks working as a research fellow. The Organization for Tropical Studies, composed of ten American universities and the University of Costa Rica, sponsored Sister's work at the Institute. Sister pointed out that the unspoiled forests and natu ral beauties of Costa Rica show that one of the purposes of study ing tropical biology is to find means of preserving these resources. The University of Costa Rica is try ing to be a first-class university on the American plan, according to Sister, and the Tropical Studies program aids their goal by bring ing professors from American uni versities to the Costa Rican cam pus. Overlooks Three Mountains El Pension Canada, the boarding house where Sister lived, had ter mites in the wood and rats in the wall. Three professors from the University and 20 other people lived in this old, all-wood building overlooking three mountain peaks called the three Marys. Sister said several of the British men liv ing at El Pension Canada offered to teach us Americans English any time we wanted it. Sister's mode of travel in Costa Rica was different each time she went on a journey, but her baggage was always the same: suitcase, airline bag and raincoat; these were my uniform. Travelling along the road she sometimes passed a campasino, the Costa Sister's Study in England Combines Poetry, Theater What can one person do in 15 weeks in England? If that person is an ingenious B.V.M. like Sister Mary Anne Leone of Mundelein's English department, the answer is A lot Sister was one of 140 involved in an International Summer School at Oxford this summer. Her six weeks' stay there centered around Exeter College, which was founded in the 14th century. Her studies, however, were more updated. Sis ter renewed her enthusiasm for Donne, Herbert and Marvell with a tutorial taken in the metaphysical poets. To complement her studies, Sis ter met with her tutor and two other students in a 17th-century house. Tutorials and seminars were supplemented by two hours of daily lecture on the history, art and lit erature of the 17th century. Before and after completing her course at Oxford, Sister lived in London where she was able to visit many famous places in English history, including, by special per mission of the governor, Thomas Moore's cell in the Tower of Lon don. Five times during her stay in England, Sister visited Stratford on Avon where she viewed the first production of the entire sequence of English history plays from Rich ard I to Richard III. Sister de- by Pat Ference scribes this sequence as a thrilling experience. Among the highlights of the performances, Sister cited Hugh Griffith as Flagstaff; Roy Dotrice who was brilliant as Hot spur and a scenestealer as Justice Shallow in Henry IV, part two, and Peggy Ashcroft as Queen Margaret, she-wolf of France. She credits Skyscraper Photo by Diane Sargol Sister Mary Anne Leone, B.V.M. the directors, Peter Brooks and Peter Hall with expert cutting of Henry IV which unified a loosely structured play. Sister recalls that the biggest surprise in the Stratford series was the dramatically exciting staging of Henry IV and Edward IV. This sequence had never been done be fore and must have taken a great deal of courage and inspired di rection. The staging, production and acting were characterized by verve, brilliance and a perfect tim ing. In the plays, a throne always oc cupied the center of the stage but most of the other props and the curtains were eliminated. Elabo rate costumes were retained. Plays were enlivened by the presence of outspoken students from the sec ondary schools. On the night of the performance of Henry IV, part two, Prince Philip paid a surprise visit to the theater and was seated in the same row as Sister when the actors paid him special homage at the curtain call. One of the highpoints of Sister's trip was a presentation of Othello with Sir Lawrence Olivier playing the lead at Olivier's theater in Chi chester. Owing to excellent seat ing and staging arrangements in the hexagonal theater, the spectator felt intimately involved throughout in the psychological disintegration of Othello and in the daring machi nations of I a go. In this part, Frank Finlay provided a brilliant counterpart to Olivier. The bare platform stage offered no distraction to the audience's sense of participation in the tense drama. by Nancy Vandenberg Rican peasant, pulling his wooden- wheeled blue and red cart with a pair of those beautiful cream- colored oxen. Sister also met the ticos, Costa Rican cowboys, who were her guides during summer ex cursions through the country. Sis ter's usual guide was Caesar, a 15-year-old who didn't enjoy high school. Like most ticos he wanted to come to the United States, go to Hollywood and be in the movies. On her journeys into the tropical forests Sister collected colorful flowers and fungi, some as large as 12 inches across. The national flower of Costa Rica is a type of free-living orchid, smaller and pinker than those used in American corsages. Sister Mary Cecilia, B.V.M. I think this flower represents the spirit of Costa Rica. The peo ple can afford to keep on hoping even when danger threatens, ac cording to Sister. The shallow soil of this country forces fungi and flowers to live on fallen trees, and many flowers ap pear to be growing out of dead wood. Under cultivation many common flowers reach gigantic pro portions in the tropical climate, as shown by one Costa Rican lady's dahlias which grew to heights above Sister's head. She studied botany in the Garden of the Americas, where flowers, which the United States cultivates, grow wild in the mountains. Cartago, the city where Sister lived, lies in the arms of the moun tain, and like every village in Costa Rica it has a church, a school, a village square and a priest liv ing nearby to keep his eye on the village. Seeing and exploring Our Lady of the Angels basilica, proba bly the most beautiful church in the capital city; the national thea ter, a scale copy of the Paris Opera House; and Spanish style homes, old and well-kept were part of Sis ter's experiences in the cities of Costa Rica. Lives with Volcano Perhaps the most damaging, dan gerous and exciting aspect of Sis ter's stay in Costa Rica was the experience of living with a live vol cano. Showering ashes and throw ing rocks, El Volcan Irazu repre sents a real threat to Cartago's water supply and to its wooden buildings. In a series of pictures, Sister relates her path up the side of the mountain volcano in Ger trude, the institute's ill-behaved jeep. At the foot of the mountain the bright tree-top blossoms of the flame forests are a striking con trast to the gray-green dullness of dairy farms, higher on the slope, being destroyed by the ash. As the mountain rises, desolation con tinues, and the gray ash covers a greater portion of the land. Sev eral people have been killed at the crater from the volcano throwing rocks, and when she stood there Sister remembers, I felt a little uncertain; I was ready to run. Looking back down at those naked and denuded hills, Sister re marked, Somebody said it looks like the moon. Damages Water Commenting on the volcano's danger to Cartago, Sister pointed out that the main source of the city's water supply, the Reventazon River, is gradually being clogged by the ash. The silt has also spoiled the water which does reach the city. Many children come to the Univer sity's water tap to fill bottles and pails for the day's water supply. Sister's pictures present this country of Costa Rica, and what the volcano is doing to it. Classicist Visits Rome; Explores Grecian Ruins by Jennifer Joyce Who says the god Apollo and the oracle at Delphi are dead? To Sis ter Mary Donald, B.V.M., they were almost as alive as the Greeks and Italians she visited this summer. Sister, who is chairman of the classi cal languages department marvelled at Greece and the Eternal City, say ing, All the things you've ever heard about are right there. Accompanied by Sister Mary Joseph Aloysius, B.V.M., of Clarke College, Sister trod through the streets of Athens for several days. What happened when they got lost? When you ask a Greek for directions, said Sister, he will either lead you to the place where you are going or be there when you arrive to make sure you didn't get lost. Or if an other Greek is around, the two will hold a conference on which directions to give. While in Athens, they attended the Sixth International Congress of the European Cultural Foundation. Distinguished scholars from all parts of Europe lectured on philosophy, the arts and the city. The pur pose of the Congress was to discuss our inheritance of classical tradition and see how it can be preserved. From Athens the travellers took a ten-day cruise of the Greek is lands, most of which are steeped in ancient mythology. They visited Delos, the legendary birthplace of Apollo and spent leisure time on Samos, the native island of the goddess Hera. The tour also included an excur sion to Delphi, home of the ancient oracle. After the cruise the Sisters went to Rome for a month. After a ten-day tour of northern Italy the Sisters spent two weeks at the Academy of the American Virgilian Society in Naples. The group lived in a villa and spent each day on excursions to various points of interest. The outing to the Pompeian ruins was of special interest to Sister. You can actually go through the rooms of homes and see the decorations on the walls, she reported.
title:
1964-10-28 (3)
publisher:
Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
creator:
Mundelein College
description:
Student newspaper for Mundelein College
subject:
Newspapers
subject:
Religious communities--Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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Students
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Universities and colleges
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Women's education
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Mundelein College Records
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English
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Mundelein College