(Editor’s note: Old News is a biweekly column featuring articles in The Spectator from the past. These are brief summaries of past articles.)

This week in…

1950 – Thursday, Dec. 7 Issue

‘Good News, Gals, Men Outnumber Women 10%’

Ten percent more male than female students are in attendance at Eau Claire State Teachers College this semester, a study conducted in the office of the college dean of instruction reveals. Of the 901 enrolled students, 491 are men, and 410 are women.

Twenty-eight percent of the men are veterans. Only six female veterans are enrolled this semester.

Four foreign countries, ten states and 138 Wisconsin communities are represented. Aside from the United States, the college has two women and one man enrolled from Germany, one woman enrolled from Japan and one woman from Mexico.

From the Eau Claire community, the men are represented by 200 students, and the women are represented by 150 students.

1975 – Thursday, Dec. 11 Issue

‘Alcohol abuses arouses administrative concern’

Prompted by two recent events, student use of alcohol has become a major concern on the UW-Eau Claire campus.

“There have been two recent incidents to enforce my concern,” Chancellor Leonard Haas said. “During the Homecoming parade there was an upset between some of the participating bands and students from our university, and then the upset on Water Street on Halloween (Nov. 6, 1975 issue, referenced in The Spectator’s Nov. 8, 2018 issue).”

The University Alcohol Abuse Awareness Steering Committee has been developed by the Counseling Center.

“Most students don’t even realize their alcoholic problem, much less admit that they do have a problem,” Richard Boyum, a counselor at the Counseling Center, said. “This is our major problem, they don’t realize, and therefore they don’t come for help until it is too late.”

Boyum said one-third of the students he sees have an alcohol-related problem. The counseling service does refer students to Alcoholics Anonymous but students are usually reluctant to go because it is oriented toward older persons.

2000 – Monday, Dec. 4 Issue

‘Ask Anything: Stupid Secret Santa’

(The following is an excerpt from a former Spectator Q&A column.)

Dear Tim,

What should I get my Secret Santa? It’s a guy.

A Stupid Girl

Dear A Stupid Girl.

You are stupid. You shouldn’t be getting anything for your Secret Santa because you shouldn’t know who it is. But I think I know what you meant in your stupidity — you’re the Secret Santa for someone, right? Brilliant.

Since it’s a guy and it’s a Secret Santa gift, which probably should be something cheap and funny, get him a Green Bay Packers football jersey. Hey, no matter if it’s Brett Favre, Antonio Freeman or an old Don Majkowski jersey, it’ll be hilarious.

If not that, try my Ask Anything sidekick, Tom Shlagalla’s 1996 holiday album “Merry Christmas from the Stillwater State Prison” after his whole robbing Salvation Armies phase. His past is horrible, but his holiday vocals are fantastic.

– Tim Ruzek

Fuerstenberg can be reached at [email protected].