Page 14 - 1917 February - To Dragma

98 TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI
room. Book cases full of well-chosen books are necessary for com-
fort. We spend many hours each day with books—why would we
remove every trace of them from the gaze of our guests? Grate
fires and easy chairs and Mowers do their part, too, in giving the
chapter house the atmosphere of a home.
T h a t is merely the material side of it, however. F a r more impor-
tant is the attitude of the occupants. A t home one is entitled to
expect the family to be interested in even the most trivial events of
the day. T h e same should be true in our chapter home. It is so
easy to grow self-centered and indifferent to those around us. O n
the other hand. Ave sometimes find ourselves indulging in confidences
to the point where it becomes a task rather than a pleasure to
listen.
It is said that he gets the most out of life who puts the most and
the best into it. Why not put our best into our fraternity life? Then
surely our home life will be harmonious, our meal times seasons of
real refreshment (not hours for personal gossip and poor conversa-
tion) and our relations with one another born of true fraternity
interest and love.
EDNA H A T H WAY, Z, '18. in your midst a real guiding star, who is the confident friend of every
V. T H ECHAPTER HOME
T h e home-like chapter house surely involves many perplexing
problems, and just how to meet and solve these problems is, some-
times, quite as perplexing. While, of course, it is necessary that
each house should have a few "cut and dried" rules and regulations
to which each member must always render obedience, yet
these do not create the "homey" spirit which is so desirable. T o
the majority of the girls concerned, the chapter house is a substitute
for their respective homes during the school year, but it cannot be a
home unless each of us feels the individual responsibility to make
it so.
Those two words really sum up the whole thing, but they can
and do include such a vast number of things. While rules and
regulations do not finally settle the question of harmony, yet to a cer-
tain extent they are necessary and this implies a willingness on the
part of every girl to work for the interest of the group in obeying such
rules. T h e girl who feels no responsibility about study hours or
getting in just on the dot, always makes trouble for the sponsor or
the chapter president. Consequently the rest of the girls must feel
the effect, and the usual desirable spirit receives a deadening blow.
Above all things there is no place in a crowd for the person who
is always selfish, wanting to monopolize the honors, be on every
TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 99
committee, and constantly be seen. T h e character of the group must
be determined by the character of the individuals in it, and when
selfish interest prompts the actions of each of us, the action of the
group must be impaired.
There is always enough to do in the house and the willingness with
which each girl sets about her task brings happiness and satisfaction
to the whole group. When asked to serve on a committee, she must
work with all her might to make her service mean something.
Wounded feelings should he absolutely unknown in an ideal home,
and a sharply spoken person is undesirable. E a c h of us has so
many little faults and defects which she must overcome before she
meets the world. Why not make the life in the chapter house a
"cure all"? Here we meet a variety of dispositions and we must
remould ourselves to fit occasions. Our attitude then should be one
of willingness to' admit our defects as they show themselves and
of desire to remake them into desirable, lovable characteristics.
I cannot feel that I have said anything at all until I tell you
just a little bit about our chaperon in connection with our chapter
life. As never before we have come to a realization of how impor-
tant a factor the c haperon is. It is such a help to know that you have
girl in the house and who just naturally fits in any place from
planning parties to enforcing rules.
However, back of the whole thing, there must be in the heart of
every girl, that great, deep, sacrificing love which is the guide to
all nobler and better ideals.
AGNES L A K I N , ®, '19.
VI. T H E CHAPTER HOME
Although the word "home" suggests to most of us an atmosphere
rather than the material building and furnishings, I think that the
exterior and the interior of the house as well as the far more impor-
tant factor—the traits of the girls—have their parts in the creation
of that subtle condition which makes a house a home.
The exterior of the house may vary according to taste—it may
be old or new. large or small—but I think that it should look like a
"home" rather than a public building. Here at California there is
a growing tendency toward making the fraternity houses look exactly
like our public libraries. Now if I lived in a place that looked
like a public library, I would certainly be afraid to talk above a
whisper for fear somebody would scold—and that surely would not
make me feel at home. In all seriousness let me emphasize the impor-
tance of the first impression given by the outside of a house—when