Page 2—Smoke Signals, Friday. November 18, 1983
Thank-You
Webster gives several definitions for the word CHEER. One is a mood; disposi
tion; state of mind or feeling. Another is anything that makes one happy; en
couragement. Another is to fill with joy, good spirits, hope; gladden; comfort.
“I’ve never seen her in a bad mood,” said one co-worker.
“She has made a lot of people happy in the classroom and outside,” said another
peer.
“Joy, hope, and comfort are a part of her,” said another co-worker.
While Webster’s definition has been in the book for a number of years, we could
safely ?ay that Chowan has had the personification of CHEER on campus tor the
past twenty-five years. In those years, many people have walked through the doors
of her classroom. When they’ve left, they’ve carried with them part of that cheer.
They are also better people for having been associated with her. Chowan College is
better because she has b^n here.
Whatever event was going on, she was there. Whatever the challenge she was
given, she tackled it. Whatever it took to get the job done, she did it.
One year it was teaching physical education and coaching basketball. Another
year it was Religion and Music Appreciation. Another year it was Speech and
English.
Not only has the Chowan Family been touched by her cheer and loyalty, other
people in other places have been touched by her work.
Church congregations, military bases, and prisons have all been made
somewhat better because she was there to cheer, to comfort, and to encourage.
Miss Anna Belle Crouch will retire at the end of this semester.
A lot of water has passed under that proverbial bridge in those years since she
came to Chowan in That water touches a lot on its journey to the sea.
And like the water, Anna Belle Crouch has touched a lot of lives in her journey.
We aren’t going to say goqd-bye to her. Instead, we have to say thank you.
You Know What I Mean
by Dr. Kenneth Wolfsklll
A student in Chapel Hill was heard to remark, “Because, well, you know, I mean,
like, I don’t know.” Period. That, apparently, was the best he could do to explain
cause behind some event. His words seem meaningless, but the phrase shows that
he tried to think (“well” fills up time, allowing the mind to function), he depended
on his friend’s support in interpreting his words and gestures (“you know”), he
tried to start the thought process over (“I mean”), tried and failed at
analogy(“like”), then admitted his absolute defeat (“I don’t know”). Mind you, I
understand the air-headed Valley Girl is in fashion fer sher (though I think she’s
actually already “out,” leaving only her costume around for us to enjoy); and
certainly the Tarheel was just talking in youthful, idiomatic English. But the
words as they came out of his mouth mean something, and, as I interpret them, his
words convey his inability to express any understanding of his situation.
“But Dr. Wolfskill,” you say, “you’re a tyrant, trying to make a common-place
conversation about something that was, after all, probably trivial into something
profound and insightful.” Well, like, maybe. But consider a basketball player a few
years back who wrote about his most serious problem with the sport, “dull
drilling,” which, he explained, is not something painful or boring in a dentist’s
chair, but the act of holding the basketball between bounces. And consider another
case; A football player has to understand the imaginary line on which the football
rests at the beginning of a down in order not to be called off-sides; but a freshman
wrote once that the ref puts Ihe ball on the “linascrimmage.” Don’t you suspect the
line of scrimmage is, to him, the point where the ball rests? Here, then, are two
cases where people find it hard to see the relationship between words and what
they mean.
I know, I know, if you say “They ain’t no difference” instead of “There isn’t any
difference,” people will think you’re normal, and if you say, “You haven’t any
sense” instead of “You ain’t got no sense,” folks will look at you very carefully
before getting too close. Here, the problem is not only the relationshop between
words and their meaning but also the meaning of grammar. It’s perfectly ac
ceptable to be ungrammatical with the uneducated. But with lawyers and doctors
and most corporation presidents and shop owners, yofi need, perhaps, a better
lingo.We’re talkin’ class distinction, ain’t we? Use the word ain’t and you’ve
marked yourself. Use the double negative and you seem emphatic, perhaps, but
ignorant (“I ain’t got no quarters! ” assures the beggar he won’t get a handout from
you, even though, grammatically, you’ve said you do have quarters).
Words have fairly precise meanings. The way we use them has meaning. I am
convinced that a person doesn’t have an idea until he can put it into words. Thus a
man’s word-power is his ability to understand himself and the human condition,
and the form his word-power takes distinguished him from others.
You know what I mean?
Smoke Signals
Welcomes Letters
SMOKE SIGNALS welcomes letters to the editor and contributions of columns to
the editorial pages.
All contributions should be typed, double spaced, and are subject to editing.
Column writers should include their majors and hometowns; each letter should
include the writer’s name, address, and telephone number. Unsigned letters will
not be printed.
Bring letters and columns to the Graphic Communcations Center.
New
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The ladies of Jenkins Hall went all out for Hallow^een this year. The costume residents gathered in
front of their dorm Halloween afternoon for the chance to win prizes for the best costumes. Janine Pap-
profh won first place with her pumpkin suit. Debbie Underwood put color into the affair as a crayon.
Third place went to Marian Gilbert and Susan Utt for their horse.
Rainmaker: A Review
A Review by
Dr. Ken Wolfsklll
In one of the finest productions I’ve seen on the stage at Chowan College, the
Chowan Players gave performances that lifted Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker
beyond mere fun to delightful comedy.
Sandra Boyce, producer and director, has done serious things like Our Town and
The Crucible, colorful musicals like Godspell and Guys and Dolls, and classic
comedies Arsenic and Old Lace and The Front Page. But of them all, I think this
production of a play that may be the least unusual and most traditional of them is
the most thoroughly enjoyable. Because of the players.
The Rainmaker is about a family that needs rain for a drought-burdened dirt-
farm and a husband for a bookish and plain daughter. Enter the charismatic
rainmaker, the con artist or “confidence man” who must, if the play goes right,
bilk the farmers and seduce the daughter and leave when everybody has what he
or she wants, including the audience. So it goes in this play, and, just like The
Music Man, implausibility in the plot just doesn’t matter.
Implausibility doesn’t matter because our interest is in the characters, who, like
us, are weak but have dreams and aspirations. Like us, they have no confidence in
themselves and try to be what they think other people want them to be lest they
seem foolish: Deputy File calls himself a widower rather than admit his wife ran
out on him; Lizzie Curry, the plain daughter, plays the coquette rather than appear
bookish; poor ol’ Jim Curry, the dim-witted son, repeats his older brother’s words
in order to keep from seeming stupid. They are all foolish, conned not so much by
the rainmaker as they are by themselves: the whole world knows that File’s wife
ran off, that Lizzie is plain and Jim’s dumb. What delights us is that, in the end,
they all find love because they are who they are. Rather than conning people, the
play teaches, honesty-being who you are-will get you what you want. (And the
Heavens will rain on your crops and shine on your picnics, right?)
In this productions, our interest in the characters was due more to the players
themselves than the roles. That’s especially true of Dr. R. Hargus Taylor who
played the father, H.C. Curry. Setting his dignity aside to play the bumpkin, he
could say anything and get a laugh (and that included, unfortunately, some fine,
significantly outbursts). Generally in amateur productions we are aware that
people are acting. That didn’t seem the case with Thomas Gale as the older and
wiser son Noah; his timing and subtlety of tone were exceptional. Scott Canfield,
playing the tall and lanky, dim-witted brother, was hilarious and, remarkably, not
because of tricks of slapstick, but because of his real ability to play the slack-jawed
idiot. Michael Hewitt, as Sheriff Thomas, seemed right out of Southern farce, and
Greg Lowe, though at times too tense, seem the real straight-shooter who ought to
get the girl.
In Act I, I was uncomfortable with Laura Crum, who made Lizzie so serious she
whimpered rather than showing the sensible self-possession the sister of Noah
Curry ought, I think, to have. But the first scene with the rainmaker gave her
strength and, by the time she showed joy in the rainmaker’s arms, she was con
vincing. Thomas Cole as the rainmaker Bill Starbuck was also convincing after
that scene; but in his first scene, playing the shyster, he made Starbuck seem to
believe his claims for his powers rather than enjoying the con; thus Starbuck
seemed deluded by his sense of power rather than consciously fostering wild
hopes. But once he showed the character’s human side, confessing his weaknesses
to Lizzie, Mr. Cole seemed quite comfortable.
With clever lighting and set design, Mrs. Boyce staged the play so that three
different scenes were possible without a major scene change, and players were
able to use a number of stage areas and levels, none more important than the
platform at center stage that brought H.C. to eye level with his sons.
The Rainmaker is a fine play, giving new meanings to the word confidence. The
cast gave the play real life. And the audience (you could tell by the laughter) was
delighted.
Course
The Department of Religion and
Philosophy announces a new course
beginning in the spring semester
Religion 131, Introduction to Ethics!
This is a practical introductory study of
CJffistian values and their relationship
to the decision-making process, the
principles of biblical ethics, and
specific issues in contemporary
society.
Some of the issues will be; Can the
ten commandments tell us in our time
and place what God expects of us? C®
certain things be considered “right” or
“wrong” depending on the situation?
Can Christain love and justice alter
decisions? How can students “honor”
their parents? If life is sacred, what
about abortion, suicide,capital
punishment, war, and letting people
die? Must one always tell the truth? Is
it ever right to take something or use
something that is not yours? Do human
beings have rights simply because they
are human?
Introduction to Ethics will be an
elective course. Religion 101 and 102are
pre-requisites. Mrs. Esther A.
Whitaker will teach the course.
Thanksgiving Buffet
Thomas Cafeteria
Monday Evening, November 21,1983
Relish Tray
Potato Salad
Jello and Cottage Cheese Mold
Fresh Cranberry Relish
Waldorf Salad
Cole Slaw
Roast Turkey Breast with Cranberry Sauce
Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
Giblet Gravy
Fresh Baked Virginia Ham with Pineapple Sauce
Whipped Potatoes
Candied Sweet Yams with Marshmallow
Whole Kernel Com in Butter Sauce
Green Beans with Bacon Chips
Fresh-Baked Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Topping
Apple Pie
Mince Meat Pie
Fresh Fruit Display
Fresh Apple Cider
Assorted Dinner RolB 4
Assorted Beverage/ •
Thomas Cafeteria will be closed after lunch Tuesday, November 22
for the holiday and will re-open for supper Sunday, November 27.
Edited, printed, and published
by students at Chowan College
for the students, faculty, and staff of Chowan College.
EDITORS
Eric Kaiser
Richard Michaels
Fred Barnes
Jeff Miller
NEWS STAFF
Tom Florence Ken Keefner
Cindy Pike Jerry Sutton
Sisari Suwanparpaisri
ff.
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One of the annual Fall happenings at Chowan is the visit of the Bloodmobile from the First Colonies Division of
the American Red Cross. Chowan students have supported the Bloodmobile in the post enthusiastically. In fact
Chowan has for the past three years had the highest percentage of blood donors based on students enrolled of the
schools end colleges serviced by the First Colonies Division. This year's visit was no exception as 145 students
rolled up their sleeves.
RESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS AND THE PRESIDENT....Chowan s Presidential Scholars gathered recently to have dinner
with Dr. Bruce E. Whitaker and Mrs. Whitaker. Presidential Scholars maintained a 3.3 or better during high school
as part of the requirements for the oward. Left to right, Yvonne S. Eliason of Windsor, Alysan Bornes of Lum-
berton. Dr. Whitaker, Donna Orbison of Kannapolis, and Charles Poole of Lamar, South Carolina. Ms. Elioson
commutes daily from Windsor and Ms. Barnes and Poole are athletes.