M
ETHODIST
C
OLLEGE
Pride
Fayetteville, NC
Vol. XXXIV, No. 8
Monday, February 3, 1997
THE INTERNET
The&pbsionofcptiomhc^ledtopersoncdrisl^asivellasa
Icmmitjnmianwethadofcu^tomet^tryingtologon.
Beware of
who may lurk
in chat rooms
The College Press Service
NEW YORK-After weeks
of exchanging messages over the In
ternet, chatting about their favorite
movies and books, they finally decided
to meet face-to-face.
He was a 30-year-old doc
toral candidate at Columbia Univer
sity; she was a 20-year-old Barnard
College student.
After dinner at a Manhattan
restaurant, she felt comfortable
enough with the Ivy League computer
whiz to go back to his apartment.
Once there, prosecutors say he pro
ceeded to torture her for 20 hours,
tying her to a chair, burning her with
candle wax, and threatening to dis
member her.
“Chat”rooms, where Oliver
Jovanovic and the female student met
last fall, are among the most popular
features of the Internet. They’re also
the most danger-prone, experts say.
“The medium is really a play
ground for manipulative kinds of
people,” said Gail Thackeray, a Phoe
nix prosecutor who has been tracking
computer crimes for more than 20
years. “The Internet is a magnet
for...sociopaths. There’s always a dan
ger.”
The technology makes it
easy for people with similar interests,
from metaphysics to Maya Angelou,
to find each other and begin an online
relationship. But it also makes it easier
for a troubled stranger to gain the trust
of a person who might ultimately be
come his or her victim.
Jovanovic was charged with
kidnapping, assault, and sexual abuse,
and awaits trial. He has pled not guilty
to the charges, and Jovanovic’s attor
ney said the sexual encounter was
consensual and that the two contin
ued to exchange messages over the
Internet after their meeting.
In another bizarre case, a
Virginia woman discovered four
months into her marriage that her
spouse, whom she first met in a “chat
room,” was actually a woman.
Margaret Anne Hunter, 24,
said she and Holly a.k.a. “Thome”
Groves, 26, exchanged daily e-mails,
then daily phone calls, then eventu
ally met in Mexico. Groves, who
Hunter still refers to as “he,” had the
appearance of a man and claimed to
have AIDS to avoid intimacy.
“He wasn’t after my money,
because I don’t have much,” Hunter
told the Associated Press. “I know
that what he did was incredibly hurt
ful and cruel and fiendish. As to why
he did it, I don’t know. I don’t think
Thome knows, either.”
Bike patrol part of new
community policing program
By Yvette Williams
Contributing Writer
The current bicycle patrol
is part of a new campus security ef
fort known as the Community Ori
ented Policing Program (COP). Di
rector of Campus Safety and Secu
rity Dave Reece discussed the pro
gram and its benefits.
Q: How was the COP program
started? Whose idea was it to imple
ment it on campus?
A: The Methodist College campus
is ideal for the COP program. It is
necessary for community relations.
There is a need for everyone to know
that security is here for the campus.
The concept of COP goes beyond
patrolling from a car; officers need
to communicate with the community.
Q; How is the program going?
A: Thus far, the comments have been
good and reflect appreciation. The
community welcomes the program.
Q: What are the goals and expecta
tions of the program?
A: The bike patrol is just a step. The
major goal is to have a mutual rap
port with the community and thus
reflect that officers are people, too.
The community should feel comfort
able about sharing information. The
purpose it to project a family feeling
and a cohesive atmosphere to let the
community know we are here for
them. All this is to try to establish a
safe community. The officers are
approachable, caring, and con
cerned.
see COP, page 3
Thackeray says people who
are wary of meeting strangers on the
street are far less cautious when they
get to know someone in a chatroom.
“People arrive at intimacy
through this medium much faster than
they would in a relationship,”
Thackeray said. “You can be sitting
there [getting to know someone] with
your hair messed up and your jammies
on. You’ve got this very warm, inti
mate feeling of this continuing online
relationship.”
The problem, Thackeray
said, is that it’s a false sense of inti
macy.
“You only know the virtual
identity that you’ve been permitted to
see,” she said. “They’re controlling the
information you learn about them.”
Prosecutors use the term
“grooming a victim” to describe how
a disturbed person uses charm and
conversations to gain a victim’s trust.
Chat rooms categorized by passion
ate interests make “grooming a vic
tim” that much easier, Thackeray says.
See CHAT ROOMS, page 3
AOL sued by
users unable
to get on line
By Alexandra Dummer
Staff Writer
In the month of December,
America Online, the world's biggest
computer on-line service, offered its
customers a flat rate of $19.95 for
unlimited use. The question users are
now asking is, what is AOL offering
unlimited use of?
The number of people who
subscribed to the flat rate was more
than AOL had anticipated, causing
customers to encounter busy signals
when trying to connect, sometimes for
hours at a time.
Last week, customers filed
class action suits in the states of Cali
fornia, Illinois, New Jersey, and New
York accusing the company of sell
ing a service that it could not provide.
The New York suit also accuses
America Online of breach of contract,
deceptive practices, deceptive adver
tising, and unjust enrichment. Tho
mas F. Pursell, senior counsel for the
Minnesota Attorney General, told
Business Week, "If somebody adver
tises a service and charges for it, but
people can't use it, it's a potential le
gal issue."
Despite the complaints,
AOL has gained L2 million custom
ers in the past month. Members now
spend an average of 35 minutes a day
on line, up from September’s 14 min
utes a day.
Many customers use the ser
vice as part of their businesses, which
makes getting e-mail critical and
quitting the service nearly impossible.
According to Business Week, Steven
See AOL, page 3
Dr. King honored for
his contributions to
history, religion, law
By Whitney Larrimore
Assistant Editor
On Jan. 20, Methodist
College celebrated the life and
works of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. with a panel of speakers
discussing King’s “Letter from
Birmingham Jail.”
King, a leader for
African-Americans and an
advocate against segregation and
racial injustice, traveled across
the South addressing audiences
and marching for equal rights. In
1963, King traveled to Birming
ham, Alabama, to speak against
segregation and try to bring about
social change for the benefit of
African-Americans. In the
process of speaking against social
prejudices. King wanted
southerners to look beyond the
color of skin. While in Birming
ham, King rallied the people and
decided to march even though he
had no permit. Because King had
no permit, local officials arrested
him and put him in prison. While
in prison. King wrote a letter to
fellow clergymen which came to
be known as the Letter from
Birmingham Jail.
The service honoring Dr. King
was centered on this letter and its
significance. Three speakers
presided over the service; Dr.
Peter Murray, head of the History
Department, Dr. Richard Walsh,
head of the Department of
Philosophy and Religion, and Ms.
Cheri Beasley, a public defender in
Cumberland County.
Dr. Murray, the first
speaker, focused on the historical
aspects of King and his work.
Particular attention was given to
the events occurring near and
during the time at which King
wrote his letter from Birmingham
Jail. Murray said King had a
significant impact on history
because "he was able to provide
unity for African-Americans. He
was their most eloquent speaker
[appealing to] Christian teaching
and American political ideals that
white Americans found compel
ling."
Dr. Walsh addressed the
religious aspects of King's letter.
Walsh compared King's letter to
New Testament language in the
Bible. Walsh presented evidence
that King's letter was a Christian
epistle in its language and was in
the standard Christian letter form,
context and purpose as in the
New Testament. "He was and is a
symbol of the Civil Rights
movement," said Walsh. "As that
kind of symbol, he [had] an
impact on history." Walsh also
said King was "a virtual hero of
the southern Black Christian and
Protestant liberals."
Cheri Beasley focused on
legal action taken during King's
advocacy against segregation and
racism. She said that at the time,
people were supposed to have
"separate but equal rights," but
that rights were not equal. She
recounted court cases in which
African-Americans were excluded
from theaters, restaurants and
other public facilities. She said
segregation had been so severe
that laws were written for
everything from housing to
playing simple chess games.
Beasley said King challenged
these segregation laws, called Jim
Crow laws, to change them.
Murray summed up the
tribute to King by saying that
King was a man for everyone and
that King’s message got to the
heart of the human experience.
"Whenever we do something to
bring less racial divide, we honor
King, whether on his day or any
other day," he said.
Methodist RA’s discuss challenges, rewards of job
INSIDE
Restaurant review: The Highlander. page 2
MC track team loaded with talent, experience page 3
Adams, Clark receive national recognition as “unsung
heroes” page 3
College spending priorities: present or future? page 4
Affirmative action is more detrimental than helpful to
society as a whole page 4
By Mike McDermott
Editor
Editor’s note: The resident advisors
interviewed for this story asked that
their identities to remain anonymous.
A recent study by the
Chronicle of Higher Education found
a significant rise in the number of ho
micides on college campuses. The
increase in campus crime has forced
the role of the resident advisor to
evolve into much more than being a
peer counselor for resident students.
Resident advisors are expected to en
force school policies in an environ
ment which studies have shown to be
much more volatile than in the past.
The national survey showed students
to be uncooperative with the author
ity imposed upon them by the pres
ence of the resident advisor.
Methodist College resident
advisors seem to be an exception the
rule, however, as they feel very much
in control of the situations in which
they are placed. Several senior R.A.s
were interviewed, and all seemed to
enjoy the opportunity to serve in their
positions.
One female R.A said, “You
have to come into the job being a
people person. It cannot be a power
trip, because you have to spend a lot
of time with your residents and you
have to learn to take care of them. I
find the job very rewarding...I really
love it.”
A male R.A said of his job,
“The privacy of my room is nice, but
I really like the fact that the other stu
dents look up to me, not just because
“I enjoy the sense of community that being an RA. has given me. Being an RA.
has given me the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of many people.”
of my position, but because I had to
be a standout to get the job. I like
helping people and this job allows me
to do that. I feel like 1 am a role model
for my residents.”
He was joined by a female
R.A who said, “I enjoy being of ser
vice to the students...I feel like I am
setting an example for them.”
Another male R.A. stated, “1
like being an R.A., not just because
of the free room, but that helps. 1
enjoy the sense of community that
being an R.A. has given me. Being
an R.A. has given me the opportunity
to make an impact on the lives of many
people.” Having an effect on the lives
of fellow students seems to be the
most common objective of the resi
dent advisors.
Life as a Methodist College
R. A. is not all roses, however, as the
R.A.s questioned related several prob
lems that they feel need to be dealt
with regarding their authority over the
students as well as school policies that
they feel can be changed.
One female R.A. said, “The
Student Life Office needs to back us
more. They need to be more profes
sional with the students.”
She was joined by another
female R.A. who said, “Tickets are a
joke to some students. They can af
ford to keep paying the fines, so they
keep on breaking the rules. The
school is too lenient on repeat'offend
ers. Students should be kicked off of
campus after being given a certain
amount of tickets. Otherwise they
won’t learn a lesson.”
In response. Dean of Stu
dents Mike Safley said, “I am not
aware of any tickets being overtumed,
unless it was possibly done by the stu
dent court. Anything that has crossed
my desk has been handled. Sometimes
things happen in the dorms that the
R.A.’s see, but do not report. If it is
not documented, it cannot be handled.
They have to help us, also.”
Another issue that was ad
dressed was that of overnight visita
tion. Most of the R.A.s surveyed
agreed that upperclassman should be
allowed overnight visitation, provided
that it does not interfere with a room
mate.
A female R.A. said, “1 hate
the visitation policy for upperclass
man. Juniors and seniors have proven
themselves, so they should be given
overnight visitation privileges if their
roommate is not there. If they set
aside dorms for women and men up
perclassmen, then we could enforce
the policy a lot easier.”
Regarding the visitation
policy, Safley said, “The student gov
ernment is looking into the visitation
issue right now. Once they come up
with something, visitation may be
changed.”
One male R.A. brought up
the topic of R.A. training, when he
said, “I think that there is too much
training. The classes get redundant
after a while.”
He was joined by a female
who said, “most of the training is sim
ply common sense. I think that they
need to use more common sense about
our training.”
If training is ever redundant,
Safley responded, it is sometimes nec
essary. “Some of the training is re
peated because everyone does not do
their jobs right,” he said. “If everyone
did their job, then some of the train
ing wouldn’t have to be repeated. I
like to think of some of the classes
like basketball practices, though. The
more you do it, the better you get at
it.”
Other complaints included
staying up late on duty the night be
fore exams, and perhaps the most
common issue of concern was, as
stated by one of the females, “We need
to get more money for what we do.”
Although they felt that there
could be some changes made, all of
the R.A.s interviewed stated that the
positive aspects of the job outweigh
the negative. They all agreed that al
though there could be some changes
made that would make their jobs
easier, they enjoy their work and are
happy to have the opportunity to serve
the student body.