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The Gas Light
February 14, 1972
The Idea And The Man Gaston students' Foreign student French Class
Pulse Beat Found Advisor To Speak To Attend Dromo
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Landrum Trammell entered
college late in life, at a time
when most people are reaching
the mid-point of their careers
and lives. But he had already
completed one distinguished
career before he arrived at
Gaston College, and he was
ready to begin another.
Before he entered college he
already had an education that
most of us could never begin
to appreciate, but he came
here to learn. He gave his
respect to all of us. and he
praised us highly by wanting to
learn what we had to offer
him.
For twenty years he served in the United States
military, almost all of the time as a pilot. He was one
of the first helicopter pilots to enter the Southeast Asia
wars, and he was qualified to fly everything that had
wings. As testimony of his exceptional career, there is a
desk drawer filled with decorations, and among them is
the Distinguished Flying Cross, the first one to be
awarded since World War II.
There are many other medals, but these had ceased
to hold importance for him. He didn't discuss his
military life except with those whom he respected,
partly because he had begun to develop a strong
reaction to American policy concerning the Vietnamese
War. But while he may have felt a loss of respect for
those persons who manipulated the war, he never lost
an atom of respect and high regard for the ideals of
the American military.
He was buried Monday, February 7, at Sunset
Cemetery in Shelby. He had left instructions that, when
he died, he would be given a full military funeral and
be buried in the uniform he wore for half of his life.
He was proud of the uniform, and he was prouder to
have been a part of a unit of combat pilots that he
rated as the best in history. But he was more than a
credit to his uniform and to his country: the man
transcended the uniform.
Foremost among his ambitions, once he returned to
civilian life, was the chance to become a teacher — a
college history instructor. He will never realize that
ambition, and there is evidence to show that he knew
he would never complete his degree, although he never
voiced such beliefs.
On the last day that he attended Gaston College, he
handed me the third in a series of papers he had typed
during recent weeks, papers in which he was attempting
to focus his ideas and beliefs concerning the war.
During this time he and I had been working several
hours each week on what Landrum hoped would
become a book about the Vietnamese War, and it was
his one major desire that we tell the story as he knew
it to be.
What kind of man was Landrum Trammell? He was a
man who loved his family; he admired his instructors;
he honored his friends; and he respected his fellow
students. But I suspect that he has already said it much
better than I ever could. Here is how he saw himself,
OS Hb d,€pict€ci his beliefs in the typed pci^es he save
me on that last day:
“I was just a warrant officer with an independent
mmd who always believed that you were dead when the
moment of your birth occurred, but you had to wait
for it, and that is why earth is so competitive, trying
to outsmart or by-pass that moment when you had to
return to the point of your origin.
Maybe we hate death too much because we’re trying
to wiri our wings not those shiny ones you pin on
your fly suit — and I wonder if I am a bird of death.
And you wonder what is going to happen to all the
beautiful creatures who can only see and feel and hear
but^ can never express what they know and feel.
“In Viet Nam the young and the good always die
first because they are not flying; they are protecting
their futures. We were the old pros and we didn't
worry because we knew we had no future. We wanted
no glory; we wanted to get a job done, and each of us
who stayed and lived made if possible for others to go
home or stay home.
‘'The professionals were there because they either had
a good reason to be there or a better reason not to be
somewhere else. There were those who said we sold
ourselves to our government, but we bought too: we
were there voluntarily, and the kids just out of school
had no business there. The kids believed in too much
/iW/e, and we believed only in ourselves.
"We liked to think that we were the Byrons of the
Those unkind critics of
Gaston students have said for
years that the students are
dead, but hard facts now
indicate that students here are
very much alive.
It wasn’t a wonder drug or
adrenalin activity that did it:
the miracle-working wonder is a
tiny rectangular piece of paper
that is slipped under the
windshield wipers of cars that
are improperly or illegally
parked.
Students who haven’t been
fully awake during this entire
year are up in arms, screaming
for justice, and threatening
everything short of mayhem.
And all as a result of
someone’s tapping that Holy of
Holies — the pocketbook.
Security Officer Ralph Miller
reports that business has been
brisk since the parking
regulations went into effect. He
says that if students want to
hang onto that dollar, they can
do so with a minimum of
difficulty. Number one cause of
the parking ticket is the failure
of the student to display his
parking permit properly - on
the left rear portion of the
bumper. Simply paying the
parking fee is not sufficient;
the permit must be visible.
The second leading cause of
tickets is unauthorized or illegal
parking, such as backing into
spaces, taking up two spaces,
or not parking at the proper
angle.
Third major cause is parking
in areas that are labeled “No
Parking.”
It’s rewarding to see that
students live and breath;
however, it’s still a shame that
they can’t be motivated by a
better cause.
Mrs. L. A. Rogerson of the
National Association of Foreign
Students will be on the Gaston
campus on February 25 to
speak to representatives of local
civic clubs. The conference will
be held from nine till twelve
o’clock on Friday morning in
the Industrial Building.
The primary purpose of the
conference is to discuss
methods of helping students
from other lands to adjust to
living in the United States.
Primary emphasis will be placed
on sociological adjustment.
Horace Cline, Dean of
Student Personnel, invites any
students who are free at the
above hours to attend the
conference. Faculty members
are also invited to hear Mrs.
Rogerson,
Community College
Drama Contest Set
Any community college
student or faculty member who
wants to try his hand at drama
or who needs some ready cash
is invited to take advantage of
the invitation to enter the first
annual playwriting contest.
The play must be a drama
or comedy, full length (about
two hours playing time); all
manuscripts must be typed and
accompanied by a self-addressed
envelope and postmarked no
later than May 15, 1972,
The winning play will be
awarded a cash prize of $250.
Manuscripts should be mailed
to Dr, John Handley,
Department of Speech and
Drama, at Prince George’s
Community College, Largo,
Maryland, 20870.
Members of Ken Davis’s
French classes will attend the
Le Treteau de Paris
performance of Beaumarchais’
drama “Le Barbier de Seville ”
which will be presented on
February 19 at Queen’s Collese
in Charlotte,
The performance, which will
be entirely in French, will be
presented in Dana Auditorium
and will be sponsored by the
Charlotte Area Educational
Consortium and the Charlotte
area schools.
Tickets will be $4 for adults
and $2.50 for students.
First Aid Class
Is Offered Here
Dr, Michael Latta, Dean of
the Continuing Education
Division, has announced that a
class in Mulri-Media First Aid
will be offered to the faculty
and staff of Gaston College,
The class, which is sponsored
by the Continuing Education
Division, will be taught by
Ralph Miller and Jim Brown,
The class will be taught on
February 26, 1972 (Saturday)
from 8:30 a,m. to 4:30 p,m.
in the student lounge in the
Academic Division classroom
building.
Participation in the course
will be restricted to the first
twenty-five people who register.
There is no charge for the
course, which will consist of
eight contact hours of
instruction. The instruction will
incorporate lectures,
demonstrations, and individual
practice work.
m
M
People's Park Is Dedicated To Gaston College
choppers, but maybe we were the Huck Finns or one of
the people like Hawthorne’s “Ambitious Guest." We
learned to close our eyes and ears and mouths and be
blind and deaf and mute. But when you can’t see or
hear or talk, you must learn to feel more deeply than
you have ever felt before, and then you can never stop
feeling again for as long as you live.
“We learned that the best of anything is whatever
force makes people take out their values, face them,
and test them; and when people come face to face with
the^^ truth, they either live by it or are crushed by it.
“There is much more that I could write about the
people who, I know now, felt as I do. But I won't
write it. It will have to wait until we can talk again.
“This is the fourth time that I have tried to say
something simple, but it never comes out the way I
mean for it to sound. ”
I know the feeling. It would be a near-impossibility
for a few pages to equal an idea; it would be a miracle
for a few paragraphs to equal a man and a friend.
Robert L. Williams
Members of the Ecology
Club of Gaston College
officially dedicated a park to
the student body, faculty, and
administration on Tuesday,
February 1, 1972. People’s
Park, as the site is named, is
for the use of any member of
the college family who is in
need of a place to meditate or
relax. As the college grows,
this area will remain to provide
respite from the day’s activities.
Ralph Brown, president of
the Ecology Club, officiated at
the ceremony. Dedicatory
comments and ideas were
brought out by other speakers,
including Dr. Woody Sugg, Dr.
Joseph Mills, Bill Farrell, Mrs.
Judith Cole, George Ball, and
Paul Whippo.
Brown emphasized the fact
that the park would be open
for all members of the college
and that it was made possible
by the united efforts of the
college at large. He also noted
that while a ribbon-cutting
ceremony was part of the
opening, the ribbon would find
its way into the garbage can.
Paul Whippo commented that
the idea of the park was
worthy, especially in that it
represents a joint rather than
individual effort. He cited the
fact that work on the park
was done by club members in
their spare time. He pointed
out that the Saturdays that
have gone into the work are
too many to count and that
the park will remain as a
testament of what can be done
if people have the dedication
to do more than complain
about the state of affairs in
our country.
Mrs. Cole expressed the hope
that the park will not be
abused but used for intended
purposes. George Ball echoed
her views and pointed to the
fact that so much of our land
is being stripped of its natural
resources and beauty. Bill
Farrell, who was scheduled to
provide entertainment for the
dedication if the weather had
permitted, expressed his desire
to see more students become
involved with ecological
problems, not only on the
college campus but in the
community.
Dr. Sugg, Gaston College
President, complimented the
members of the club for their
energefic and meaningful work
and thanked them on behalf of
the entire college for a gift of
permanent value.
Dr. Mills, Dean of the
Academic Division,
congratulated the club members
on their successful work and
offered his continuing support
of their efforts.
Brown noted that, while
much work has been done,
much more work will be
necessary before the park is
completed. He expressed the
hope that the students and
faculty members will take an
active part in the development
of People’s Park. At this point
Dr. Sugg and Dr. Mills, assisted
by Miss Gail Alexander, who
made the sign that now marks
the entrance, cut the ribbon
and turned the park over to
the members of the Gaston
College family.