Page 9 - 1917 September - To Dragma

302 TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI
"HUMANNESS"
September. I think, should be the Alpha of every college girl's
ideals. There is so much to be bettered i n our aims and intentions; so
much that we realize we have failed in during the previous year;
and so much more to be expected of us as we pass f r o m year to year
i n the short, too short, span of college l i f e , that September comes to
us w i t h almost providential voice: " N o w is the time to start in and
fight, heart and soul, f o r your ideals."
H o w many there are, of us who have ideals buried deep i n our
hearts and who yet never f a n them into the glow that perhaps might
light the way f o r others. We may strive to realize our aims our-
selves, but the greater good lies i n instilling them in those about us.
T h i s is especially true i n f r a t e r n i t y l i f e where one member can so
easily hinder the best intentions of the others, unless a l l hold alike,
an ideal before them as a sort of guiding light.
"Humanness," i t seems to me, should be the ideal of every A l p h a
O. " T h a t characteristic," an author once wrote me, referring to
humanness, "is a l l that makes this world go round and the folks
upon it happy."
I t is not impossible to describe humanness but i t is difficult to do
so. T h e first element, the fundamental basis of this all-embracing
ideal, is sympathy with your fellow-men; not the weep-when-they-
weep idea, but a deep, general interest in the affairs and cares of
others. Few college girls can plead guilty to enough human sympa-
thy to entitle them to be called "human." The "human" person can
"understand" the little personal things, is tolerant, and what is more
positive, is active in interest. The "human" person in a school knows
everyone just a little better, speaks to everyone just a l i t t l e oftener,
and is liked just a l i t t l e more, than her comrade who is not so human.
H u m a n persons come most near being "Citizens of the W o r l d " al-
though they may pass their entire span i n the same l i t t l e village.
They are adaptable in all company and circumstances, convincible
and open to conviction, fair, upright, and pleasure-giving; they are
the salt of the earth and should be sought after to swell the ever-
growing ranks of Alpha Omicron Pi.
GENEVIEVE GROCE, N K '19.
TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 303
EDITORIALS
T H E CONVENTION W H I C H D I D NOT CONVENE
J N spite of the fact that we did not get together last June on the
banks of the James w i t h the most cordial of hostesses, we are very
much together this September. Together in fraternity spirit, in sin-
cerity of aim, in loftiness of purpose, in a real, honest desire to meet
new conditions of l i v i n g , new requirements of t h i n k i n g , i n a sane,
alert, optimistic way. Perhaps the singleness of our opinion that,
under the circumstances, the Convention would be inappropriate,
caused a getting together in spirit which was proof against miles and
mountains.
T h e entire f r a t e r n i t y owes a debt of gratitude to our Kappa host-
esses who were b e a u t i f u l l y ready f o r a party which never came. But
it is coming some day—not a mythical some day either, or the kind
our weary mothers used to promise us i n days long. past. U n t i l then,
Kappa must keep our gratitude against the day when we can express
it at Randolph-Macon.
T H E DIRECTORY
W E trust you w i l l study the Directory i f only to find the mis-
' takes which doubtless lie therein. A n d as you study i t , w i l l
you please see a Grand Secretary copying hundreds of names when
she longs to look at the sea, a harassed Registrar upon whom most of
the work falls, mentally cursing careless chapter secretaries and gaz-
ing at indelibly inky fingers, and a f r o w n i n g E d i t o r , whose f a m i l y
has just told her she is "too cross to live w i t h . " I am sure that a
Directory has never been compiled w i t h more thought or care, and
it is with an annoying sense that we ought not to beg appreciation,
that we are begging yours. Please read your chapter roll at least,
and i f you find an incorrect name or address, w i l l you please take the
time to report it corrected to Miss Henry and to Mrs. Swanson.
T H E QUESTION OF L I F E SUBSCRIPTIONS
A 1. T H O U G H there was no Convention and although the Con-
Btitution has not been amended as yet to provide f o r l i f e sub-
scriptions to T o D R A G M A , l i f e subscriptions have become a reality
with the receipt of a ten-dollar check f r o m our Grand President.
Who w i l l be the next? A l l grand officers and a l l alumna.', i n fact,
are urged to become l i f e subscribers. The ten dollars asked is most
inexpensive, and T o D R A G M A is not in any danger of dying before