PAGE 2, THE COUGAR CRY, NOVEMBER 19, 1969
EDITORIAL
Letters To The Editor
A lot of ideas and opinions
came out of a letter that was
printed in the last edition of The
Cougar Cry. This letter was
written by a former student at
Wilkes Community College, Ken
Welborn.
The letter dealt with the idea
of an unlimited cut policy for our
school.
Some of the faculty and staff of
the college did not agree with Mr.
Welborn's point of view citing the
daily Rook and bridge games in
the student commons as an ex
ample of the inevits^le failure of
this program were it to be ac
cepted by the administrating body
at WCC.
The people who stated this
were not really thinking very
much.
The students in these card
games are of two types. One type
is the student who plays as a re
lease from the school work that
he is subjected to or maybe just
to pass the time of day while wait
ing for his next class to come up.
The other type is the student
who cuts class and plays cards.
The teachers and administrators
can damn the cards all they want
to. The cards are not the pro
blem, The students not attending
class and playing cards would
most likely cut anyway, the card
games only give them something
to do while they are not in class.
Those opposing the unlimited
cut policy seemed alsotobeof
the opinion that the classes would
eventually wind up empty and the
teachers would have no one to in
struct.
If that were to happen, the stu
dents in this school do not de
serve to be able to say, *l am a
college student."
In essence, the teacTiers and
staff have given the students at
this school a challenge to show
that they are mature enough to
really be called a college student.
Whether an unlimited cut policy
is adopted by this school or not is
unimportant. The point tobe con
sidered is the challenge in that
this is not a high school attended
by boys and girls but a college at
tended by men and women but
first, we must prove ourselves to
the people who believe that we
must still be ruled by the “yard
stick*.
Editor’s Note
In the last issue of the Cougar
Cry, a misrepresentation was
made. This statement appeared
on the front page and stated that
there were no candidates from
the Vocational or Technical Di
visions in the elections for fresh
man class officers. This states
ment was not time and was an in
justice on my part.
When the article was written,
it did not mean to degrade the
non-college transfer students as
they are just as much of the life
and breath of Wilkes Community
College as the college parallel
students.
The mistake was however,
mine and I take full blame.
There were four candidates
from the deleted divisions and
one technical student Patty Wag
oner was elected secretary.
A lot of people did get ex
cited about the article which
made me happy to see that they
did care and had some pride in
themselves and their fellow stu
dents.
Jerry Pardue, Editor
Cougar Cry
^oumx/i
THE VOICE OF WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Edltar
Assistant Editor Montie Hamby
News Editor — Keith Savoy
Feature Editor Mike Inscore
Sports Editor Kenny Brooks
Business Manager Anita Sheph«rd
Photographers Gyenda Joines, Johnny Clark.
Jerry Pardue, Montie Hamby
Staff Keith Savoy, Carol Key, Mike Inscore, Kenny Brooks
Sam Sebastian
.|iyplst6 Brenda Mathis, Shirley Russell
1
This letter is sent in re
sponse to a letter sent by a
former student at Wilkes Com
munity College regarding class
cuts. Let me first make my
case clear. I do not disagree
with the principle of unlimited
cuts; however, I think that it
would be an untenable position
for anyone to assume that all
colleges should follow this po
licy.
Colleges, that at present use
this policy, have determined by
observation of their student bo
dies, that their students demon
strate a maturity that is ne
cessary for such a policy to be
effective. These colleges do not
have “open-door* policies. They
are selective in their admissions
policies and, thereby, do not ad
mit students with serious acade
mic deficiencies.
Wilkes Community College is
an “open door* institution. Stu
dents here are admitted with se
rious academic deficiencies.
Then, every effort is made by
the faculty to aid the student in
the correction of these deficien
cies. These remedial provisions
require class attendance. A stu
dent who has not taken the inia-
tive in the past to correct these
deficiencies cannot correct them
now without professional help.
This often means extra lab work
that requires regular attendance
if it is to be effective.
From the standpoint of the
maturity of the student body in
general, let us observe a case
in point. Class attendance had not
been taken in the GAS session
in the humanities program. The
students have not reacted to this
with any indication of maturity.
The attendance has decreased
with every session. At the last
meeting approximately 30 per
cent of the students were absent.
When the only requirement for
passing this class is attendance
and verbal response to what is
presented in the GAS Chamber,
does this attendance pattern in
dicate maturity and responsi
bility on the part of our students?
Do patterns such as this honestly
indicate that an unlimited class
cut policy would be for the aca
demic benefit of the students
at Wilkes Community College?
N. Wooten
Students Direct
(Continued from Page One;
Sixty students-20 each from
UMass, Federal City College in
Washington, D.C., and the Uni
versity of South Carolina —will
receive full academic credit for
interdisciplinary research pro
jects of their own choosing aimed
at the correction of U.S. social,
economic and cultural problems.
Another group of up to 80 stu
dents on each of the three cam
puses will be part of the project
as assistants, and in other capa
cities. They will receive partial
credit.
“A frequent complaint of many
university students is that their
learning is severely circum
scribed by the formal curriculum
and they have little opportunity
to study problems more relevant
to their own lives and interests' *
said Marshall Robinson, Ford
Foundation program officer in
charge of higher education and
research.
“One answer to this complaint
is the student-directed learning
movement in which students un?-
dertake research and study pro
jects of their own choosing under
the guidance of a faculty advisor
or student director.
“This grant will permit ex
perimentation with this comcept
on a larger scale than heretofore
attempted and a set of highly re
levant matters.*
SNEA Now
(Continued from Page One)
tended the NCEA Convention in
Charlotte. Mr. and Miss Repre
sentative Future Teacher, Mike
Dancy and Wrenda Rogers, along
with other representative future
teachers from various colleges
and universitites, were presented
to all the people attending the con
vention. The four members at
tended a formal luncheon and
heard many inspiring speeches,
one of which was presented by
Dr. Criag Phillips, Superinten
dent of the Public School System
in North Carolina.
This year the club has many
tentative plans for projects and
activities. Plans are being made
to give all SNEA members the
opportunity to visit and to assist
some of the teachers in the coun
ty with their class work. The
club again plans to send Christ
mas cards to Wilkes County ser
vicemen who are stationed in
Vietnam, to participate in the
NCEA Convention, sponsor a
dance, and has other activities
in the making. Anyone interested
in joining the SNEA, who has a
genuine interest in teaching, is
urged and invited to become a
member of the club. We are in the
process of taking new members
into the club now, and we will
have a meeting for this purpose
on Thursday, November 20, at
1:00 in Room 211.
I