Page Two The Clarion
Brevard Students Too Apathetic
Wednesday, February 6, 1985
By Susan Rogers
I am constantly hearing Brevard College students
gripe about being bored or not having enough to do.
Many say that they can’t wait to get out of Brevard and
move on to someplace more exciting. Frankly, I’m get
ting a little sick of students, who claim to be responsible
for themselves, sitting around and waiting to be enter
tained.
In their report, “Involvement in Learning: Realizing
the Potential of American Higher Education,” the Study
Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American
Higher Education, sponsored by the National Institute
of Education, states that “the amount of student learn
ing and personal development associated with any
educational program is directly proportional to the
quality and quantity of student involvement in that pro
gram.” The report does not say that learning institu
tions are responsible for motivating students, although
that quality is apparent in some institutions. The
responsibility for involvement lies with the student.
No student expects to be told when to study, when to
do their laundry, or how much beer to buy for Friday
night’s party. Why should they expect to be told how
and when to get involved? Student organizations are a
prime example. At the first meeting of most organiza
tions, student turnout is quite large. However, as the
semester wears on, most groups experience lack of in
terest and decreased participation. Plans are made and
activities are scheduled but when the event actually oc
curs, no one seems to care. Many of the student leaders
of these organizations are actually forced to circulate
campus and remind individual members that they have
committed themselves to participation in the group.
The level of apathy on this campus is incredible. It ap
pears that a lot of students simply wish to compile a list
of groups to which they are connected in order to im
press colleges and prove what desirable students they
are. Others don’t want to become involved unless they
are guaranteed some measure of public recognition.
Are Brevard College students so insecure as to need ex
ternal reinforcement to feel that they have contributed
something of themselves to a cause?
The faculty and administration at Brevard are paid to
perform their jobs. The students, however, pay quite a
bit of money to attend this college. Why then should
they not have any desire to make the most of their in
vestment? Most people only have limited recollection of
the classes they took in college, but they have far more
significant memories of their activities outside of class.
If all you do is fulfill your academic responsibilities,
then you have cheated yourself out of a limitless amount
of personal pleasure and satisfaction that may have a
great effect on the type of person you will become after
college.
The National Education study group says, “We could
offer hundreds of recommendations to college officials
and faculty on the best way to increase student learning,
and they could implement all of our suggestions/all to
no avail if students themselves do not respond. It is your
involvement, your commitment, and your energy that
will determine the extent to which the nation achieves
excellence in undergraduate education.”
According to the group, in the coming years our nation
will require citizens who can identify, organize and use
all of the learning resources at their disposal. It wiH de
pend on creative people who can synthesize and reshape
information and who can analyze problems from many
different perspectives. In order to become this type of
citizen, students must begin to take advantage of the op
portunities around them.
It is your responsibility to become involved. It is up to
you to make Brevard an exciting and interesting place
to be. Accept the challange. The rewards are worth it.
BC Provides Opportunity
For Tom, Willson
How does it feel to return to col
lege at age 24? This is a question
most students never face, but
here at Brevard College, Tom
Willson finds himself in exactly
this situation. In 1978, Tom
graduated from Brevard High
School in the upper ten percent of
his class and was a member of
the National Honor Society. He
was accepted at three colleges
and chose to enroll at UNC-
Chapel Hill in November of 1978,
“I thought the transition to col
lege would be easy, but the ad
justment was greater than I ex
pected. For one thing, coming
from a relatively small high
school, I was totally unprepared
for a campus of over 20,000
undergrads.” Tom’s freshman
chemistry class had over 400
students and the teacher presen
ting the lectures was a graduate
student. No attendance was ever
taken and the only thing that mat
tered was your grades. “I went
from being an individual to being
a number,” he said.
Adjusting to’ new social ex
periences was also difficult. Tom
Teacher Feature
Tom Willson
said, “There were so many ac
tivities available that is was easy
to become distracted from your
academics. I joined the Kappa
Sigma fraternity and, while I
thoroughly enjoyed the ex
perience, I can now realize that I
spent more time socializing than
hitting the books. Frankly, I was
too immature at'^'that time to
realize why I was going to col
lege. At the end of my sophomore
year I was totally disappointed
with my GPA and performance
as a student. Not having any
clearly defined goals, I thought 1
was wasting my time and money
being in school.”
During the next seven months,
Tom worked in construction
w’hile trying to decide how to get
on with his life. Although the
military had never been a serious
consideration, it then offered the
opportunity to earn some money
and see the world.
On January 20, 1981, Tom
enlisted for four years in the US
Army. “By coincidence Ronald
Reagan and 1 were both sworn in
on the same day. However, he
went to Washington and I went lo
Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.”
After completing basic training
Tom was assigned to an artillery
unit in Wertheim, Germany,
about sixty miles south of
Frankfurt. During the next three
and a half years he lived the life
of a soldier, attaining the rank of
a sergeant and being placed in
charge of a section of soldiers
responsible for heavy artillery.
He bought an old German Ford
and used most of his free time to
travel throughout Europe, seeing
nine separate countries, Tom
found the structure and discipline
of military life to his liking and
gradually realized that the Army
had helped him to discover and
develop his personal skills. In
competition with other soldiers,
he found that these skills allowed
him to succeed and he earned
numerous honors and awards.
He was also selected as the 1983
Soldier of the Year for the entire
US Army in Europe.
Tom intends to pursue a career
as an officer in the Army, but
must first complete the re
quirements for an undergraduate
degree. He intends to attend
Wake Forest University in the
fall and enroll in the ROTC pro
gram there. “I decided to apply
for the spring semester at BC
because I felt Brevard provided
the best opportunity to ac
complish two things: improve
my background in the
humanities, and redevelop my
abilities as a student.”
Rachel Daniels Adds Up
Rachel Daniels discusses math with BC student John
Johnson.
By Jill Avett
She’s a grandmother, a gard-
ner, and an avid Trivial Pursuit
player, but BC students know her
better as Mrs. Rachel Daniels.
A math teacher at BC for the
past 25 years, Mrs. Daniels has
seen several changes in the
Brevard College system. She has
seen an increase in women’s in
volvement in athletics and in all
academic programs and regards
this as a major achievement. As
for goals for the future, Mrs.
Daniels hopes to one day incor
porate the use of computers into
math courses.
Mrs. Daniels enjoys teaching at
BC because she loves working
with young people. However, she
has trouble with students who
come into class late. Thus she
gets several, if not true, at least
creative excuses for tardiness.
Once a student came into class
late and told her he was late
because he had to take his room
mate to the hospital. The only
hole in his story was the fact that
his roommate was sitting right
there in class looking quite well.
Mrs. Daniels graduated from
Meredith College with a BA
degree. She began graduate
work at NC State and later at
Furman. Putting graduate work
aside for the time, she began a
teaching career at Brevard High
School. In one of her classes was
the daughter of Dean Bennett,
then the Dean of Brevard Col
lege. The young lady was havmg
difficulty with her math and even
told Mrs. Daniels that her father
couldn’t work the problems. Mrs.
Daniels replied, “If he was in my
class, he could work those pro
blems.” The next year Mrs.
Daniels was teaching math at
Brevard College. She recently
resumed work on her Master’s
degree at Western Carolina and
earned the degree in December
of 1984.
Besides teaching, Mrs. Daniels
enjoys sewing, cooking, and
reading. She and her husband
Bob, an architect, reside in
Brevard. They have two sons, a
draftsman and a lawyer, and two
daughters, a math teacher and a
freshman at UNC-Greensboro.