1971-12-13; Central Michigan Life

              CMU resident halls are apicture of activity and Christmas scenery/as students work    working atthe desk there. The Reindeer and sleigh are courtesy   of the Woldt Hall
to decorate trees,  doors  and windows.    Head resident Ron "Mope" Gishpert . Terrace.  Proof again that it "is the season to be jolly..M»\
worked on the tree in the Robinson Hall lounge arid Jim Lambert gets with the spirit LI FE photo by Brent Pctton
■H
CENTRAL
MICHIGAN
LIFE
returns
Jan. 17
Volume 52, Number 42
Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48858
Monday, December 13, 1971
What's Christmas like in other lands?
By ARMEN KETEYIAN       .  / .
LIFE Staff Writer
. With Christmas just around the corner,
everyone is busy preparing for the Joyous.
occasion. Trees are being bought,
presents wrapped and houses are being
decorated. The emphasis is normaUy on
family togetherness and in the midst of
all this confusion is the question, what
does Christmas mean to others?
It's probably impossible to recount all
the various customs throughout the world,
but Holland children fill wooden shoes
with straw for Santa Glaus' white horse,
hoping to have them filled with gifts
of candy and toys.
In Italy, children set out their shoes
for the female Santa Claus to fill with.
:
Bookstore opens
Operating  hours   for   the student
government-Pi    Kappa = Phi-studehtr
bookstore have been scheduled for both
set-up this week  and   actual   sales
during registration week.
To sell textbooks-, students should
take them to the bookstore this week
k between noon and 4 p.m. daily. Lb-
k eated in the old Sloan-Ronan Food
;! Commons, the store will be operibe-
;, ginning Tuesday of registration week
through Jan. 17 from noon to 4 p.m.
students can purchase and bring
;, oooks in for sale during the, entire
11 week.
k Week.
»»»»p»pti#Wi#*#jMi*»d
gifts. English and French celebrations
closely parallel those in the United States,
with gifts, carols* and feasts.
In Mexico, Christmas begins with Las
Posadbs, "a period of, nine days where
"people visit different "houses each night.
At the homes they dance around a pinata,,
a figure usually Of an animal, which is
filled with candy and presents. On January 6, the night of the Nochebvena, the
children of Mexico put their shoes on
the window sills in hopes that sometime
during the night the three wise men will
come and fill them with gifts.
Most of the customs now associated with
Christmas were not originallyChristmas
customs, but rather were pre-Christian
and non-Christian customs taken upbythe
Christian church.
Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated
in mid-December, provided the basis for
many of the merry-making customs of
Christmas. From this celebration we
have derived our long-standing customs
of elaborate feasting, the giving of gifts
and the burning of candles.
However, the sending of Christmas
$"ards by the way of friendly greeting
and- remembrance has grown up since
the middle of the nineteenth century
to become one of the most commercial
items on the Christmas market today.
For many nationalities, the holiday
>season lasts quite a bit longer, The
Greeks, Armenians and Serbians all celebrate their Christmas on January 6. While
all of the presents are exchanged and opened on December    25,   special   church
services are held on January 6, where
customs from the old countries are very
evident.
Christmas means different word sin different lands, too. Germany calls the
event Weihnacht, or holy night. Descendants of Romance language countries
form a derivative from the Latin Dies
natalis Domini, when they call the celebration  Day  of Christ  or  Christmas.
No matter what religion, nationality or
color a person is, Christmas always
seems to be a time of the year when
people forget their differences and enjoy
the spirit of the season.
No matter how it is celebrated or on
what date, Christmas is stijl a veryhappy
part of a person's life - - any person.
In the United States, the customs and
traditions of many nationalities and faiths
are now gradually blending into common
usage - - hopefully to form new traditions
Which .are meaningful and enjoyable for all.
escribes policies
CMU autos
easiii
By KATHY KULINEC
LIFE Administrations EditOF
CMU President William B. Boyd has
referred to the leasing of University
cars to "unclassified" administrators an
option"J that could become available to
faculty in the future.
He was commenting on the option offered to administrators where they could
either receive their pay raise in cash
or buy a lease on a new car.
"It was my idea in trying to provide
as many different options as possible in
the contracts of 'unclassified' administrators," explained Boyd,
An unclassified administrator is one
who doesn't fall into any structured pay
scale and one whose salary has no relationship to his title.
"If a young person comes in as a
vice president but is inexperienced, his
pay cannot be compared to that of an
older vice president who has been, on the
job for a number of years," said Boyd.
"Some unclassified people are paid less
than employees on a structured pay scale."
There are 21 unclassified people on
campus consisting of the vice presidents,
vice provosts and deans.
"Because the contracts of these people
are negotiated separately, it seemed like
a good idea to start the options with their
contracts," said Boyd.
Continued on page 7
LIFE photo by Brent Pdtton
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