50 Years Ago (or thereabout)

From the Polar Star, Jan. 25, 1957

Two New States?

Note: Reprint from the New York Time 18 Jan. 1957

If Alaska and Hawaii do not gain statehood at the session of Congress it will be because some persons do not take their promises seriously. Lat [sic] year's Republican platform pledged "immediate statehood" for both these territories. The Democratic party not only pldged [sic] immediate statehood but condemned "the Republican Administration for its utter disregard of the rights of both Alaska and Hawaii." In this week's budget message President Eisenhower came back to the subject. He recommended "the enactmnt [sic] of legislation admitting Hawaii into the Union" and urged that Alaska be brought in "subject to area limitations and other safeguards for the conduct of defense activities."

This seems fine for Hawaii, which has some defense installations but is not so near to Russian soil. In spite of the fact that a Congressional committee found it necessary at the end of the year to proceed to Hawaii's pleasant and balmy shores in order to inquire into Red infiltrations in the territory's life, there seemed to be general belief that the proposed statehood measure, as far as Hawaii was concerned, would bring in a vast majority of good and useful citizens. The same may be said of Alaska, which not only includes virile white stock, able if necessary to endure extremely low temperatures, but also contains Eskimos and Indians who were there before the white man but have acquired the white man's interest in self-government.

Both territories are ready to be represented in Congress by voting members in both houses whenever our lgislators [sic] decide that a little more democracy wouldn't do any harm…      

25 years ago:

From the Northern Sun/Polar Star, Jan. 22, 1982

Summertime Flags Make Appearance

By Julie Scott

What has traditionally been a mainstay of summer made an unexpected appearance this month. The flags surrounding the fountain on the lower campus stood rigidly atop their icy poles during registration. Their presence was startling to some observers; the flags seemed out of place.

When the flags are out, young and old dip their toes into the fountain. Bicycles swerve across the network of sidewalks that radiate from the fountain. Atop each little hill between the sidewalks, there lies a body or two or three, listlessly soaking up the sun. The gardeners meticulously groom the cabbages growing near by, while the flags flutter in the occasional breeze.

But the surroundings didn't conform to this mental image on that January day. Only the breeze was there, and even so, the frosty flags barely responded.

What made the flags emerge from their hibernation in the basement of the Bunnell Building? Much construction has been occurring near the flags' resting place; maybe they needed some fresh air. Perhaps the flag raiser was getting impatient for his duties to resume in the spring. Several phone calls around campus revealed that putting the flags our during spring registration, weather permitting, is a campus tradition.

The snow-covered campus certainly benefited from the splash of color from the flags of the 50 states plus Puerto Rico which encircled the fountain this month. They gave reassurance of what's to come. After all, when spring registration is here, can summer be far behind?