PAGE TWO
ff he Oful -Sf uman (SonJihon
by Kelly Dempster
I would like to propose
the establishment of a board
of review for academic con
cerns. It would serve as a last
resort for the frustrated stu
dent who has a problem of an
academic nature and has been
unable to solve it via the
"presently existing channels."
Several examples which point
to such a board's usefulness
immediately come to mind
The Academic Dean re
quires a syllabus for each
course to be given to the pro
per department chairman.
The ruling is, of course not
enforced; worse yet, it is mis
guided, for students should be
the ones to receive the course
outlines. Students have the
right (or is it should have the
right?) to know what is plan
ned for a course and when.
Surely, if anyone knows the
direction of the course, it
should be the professor, and
I maintain that he should
know that direction before
the course starts. The student
has the right to know what he
is getting into - whether it be
too much, or more often at
Guilford, not enough -- and
if the course is what he wants.
Opinion: Do You
Support The ERA?
DO YOU SUPPORT THE ERA
WHY OR WHY NOT?
Richard Broadbent, fresh
man: "Yeah, I support it, but
not actively. I really don't
know all that much about it
or anything, except the basic
stuff. The main problem with
the amendment as well as
with anythina else, from my
point of view, is that I don't
know what to do."
Lynn McDaniel, senior:
"Usually, but not unequivo
cally, statistics often prove
that the biological maturation
processes in a correlated anal
ysis provide little foundation
for an optimistic prognosis.
Nancy Martin, freshman:
Yes, because women ought to
have the right for equal re
sponsibility and because,
hopefully, this amendment
will take away the male
oriented idea that women
aren't able to handle specific
responsibilities."
Barbara Westneat, sopho
more: "Yes, I support the
idea but I don't see how
will ever get enforced."
Ken Scales, Alumni: "It
should be passed because it
will reduce women's privi
leges. It will actually provide
equal rights for men."
Suzanne Dickinson, soph
omore: "I like the idea be
hind it, but the amendment
as it stands I don't like be
cause it's too vague."
Doug Minick, junior: "I'm
for it. I really haven't
thought that much about it
but as far as I'm concerned
things should be on a person
to-person basis - women are
just as capable of doing many
things as men are."
Personally, I have not re
ceived half of the syllabi I
have been entitled to -- or
asked for -this semester. The
same can be said for last se
mester. When complaint was
made to professors, nothing
happened. (From one profes
sor, I finally got one syllabus
out of the three he has owed
me - one of which he promis
ed daily for the entire dura
tion of last semester but with
which he never came
through.) From speaking to
the Academic Dean, it was
made clear that he was in no
position to enforce such a
rule as he, too, had not dis
tributed the syllabi for his
own courses. (He still owes
me one). As long as voluntary
compliance is not working,
and the rule is not being en
forced by the officials who
are paid to do so, then some
new system is needed as an
initiative.
Another matter of con
cern to a great number of stu
dents is the promptntM, or
lack of it, with which papers
and tests are returned. Surely
I do not recommend arbi
trary next-class returns. How
ever, it is reasonable to ex
pect a test, paper, or lab ex
ercise back before the next
Mike Wagner, sophomore:
"I support ERA. I don't think
England has prior claims to
mineral rights on Jupiter."
Alan Pensler, junior: "Al
though a paleontologist of to
lerant species I will give my
wholehearted support to any
movement such as the ERA
which is for the good of the
people. *
ROTC
Enrollment
Low est i n
25Ye a r s
(CPS) Enrollment in
Reserve Officers Training
Corps (ROTC) programs in
U.S. colleges and universities
is the lowest in 25 years.
Figures released by the
Pentagon in late December
indicate that college ROTC
rolls are down for the sixth
straight year.
The figures show that
72,459 students were signed
up at the beginning of the
school term —a decline of
10,574 from last year and
191,749 below 1966 when
the decline began.
Pentagon officials say,
however, that the ROTC is
producing its share of officers
to meet the needs of their
shrinking regular armed
forces Other officers came
from Officer Candidate
schools and the sevice
academies.
They said the drop on
ROTC enrollment is due to
lower draft calls and a decline
in the number of schools re
quiring all physically fit male
GUILFORDIAN
one comes up. Students suf
fer from not having gotten
back papers for weeks or
months. (Lab exercises have
not been returned for one of
my last semester's courses).
If courses were adequately
planned in advance, as would
be necessitated by the prepa
ration of a detailed syllabus,
then more time could be put
toward the prompt return of
student materials. Perhaps a
gentle reminder to that ef
fect from an impartial board
would help.
There are other issues.
The matter of "professional
ism" in testing has often been
raised in relationship to cer
tain professors who consis
tently test for trivia or in a
rather devious manner in or
der to outwit students who
may know the subject matter
but not how to read the pro
fessor's mind. Let someone
else hear the case, and if it is
rubbish, throw it out. If it is
valid, remember it at tenure
time. The same goes for in
equities in the grading set-up,
where personality conflicts
can bias grades without ap
peal. There are a myriad of
other complaints and issues
which could be arbitrated by
a neutral board of students
and faculty.
The role of such a board
would, of necessity, be to of
fer recommendations, but
with the cooperation of the
Academic Dean, faculty, and
student body, it could be a
useful tool for solving some
of the problems that students
often encounter.
It is certainly unfair to
imply that the entire faculty
is guilty of such lax actions
(I fully expect to hear the
other side of this), or that
students with complaints are
always justified in their op
inions. Yet it is just as unfair
to deny the conscientious stu
dent the right to know what
he is signed up for and the
method of the course's imple
mentation. A student has the
right to know whether he is
progressing by learning from
his mistakes, rather than find
ing them all out on the day
his final grade is issued. Addi
tionally, students and faculty
alike have the right to expect
professionalism in teaching
methods by their colleagues
and mentors.
The issues raised here, as
well as others, are becoming
more and more important to
students as they seek to take
a more important role in the
shaping of their education.
It is becoming increasingly ap
parent that many professors
and the Academic Dean are
deaf to such issues. The estab
lishment of an academic re
view board might be more
successful in changing the too
traditional axiom that posses
sion of the gradebook is nine
tenths of the law.
students to take at least two
years of ROTC
training. Pentagon officials
indicated a possible upward
trend in the future. The 1972
enrollment was 13.7 percent,
while the decline registered
for 1970 was 28 8
Officials said that there
were ROTC units on 392
campuses in 1972, and in
crease of 18 from 1971.
Tlx Gtulfbrtom
Editor K. Rice
Managing Editor L. Swan
Business R- Gel man
Advertising M - Weiner
Sports J* Shields
Photography . . . . D. Baynham, R. Catoe, C. Fenske, P. Geraty,
R. Truslow
Staff D. Baynham, E. Hickey, L. Lathrop, Y. Long, S.
Meeker, K. Reddick
Contributors . . . . G. Bunk, T. Collins, K. Dempster, T. Potts, S.
Schedin, B. Shelton, B. Westneat
Advisors D. Owens, L. Swofford
The Guilford ian is published weekly except for examination per
iod! and vacation*. The Guilfordian is not an official publication of
Guilford College, and the opinion* expressed herein are solely thoee
of the authors end editor*. Office: Room 223. Cox Old North, Phone:
292-8700. Meiling addre**: Guilford College. Greensboro, North
Carolina 27410. Subscription rater $4.00 per year, $2.50 per semee
ter. dfotrifaoted free of charge on the Guilford College campus.
Male View
Of The ERA
by Gordon M. Thomas
I have been in favor of
the Equal Rights Amendment
since it was proposed by the
last Congress and submitted
to the states for ratification.
The strategy is good in that
the amendment to the federal
Constitution is needed in or
der to provide a more exped
ient dissolution of laws that
maintain discrimination on
account of sex. Several tacti
cal errors have been commit
ted during the debate on the
amendment by women who
have been too militant and
by men who have been too
apathetic. Most of the blame
for this, however, must be
reserved for the mass media.
The media have given too
much biased coverage to the
sometimes radically new
rights to be gained by women
and not enough to those that
men should receive from the
enactment of the ERA. Men's
rights under the proposed
amendment are quite simple,
but would make a great deal
of difference to all men in
this nation and state.
Women would be assured
of receiving equal pay for si
milar work done by men.
Consequently, the husband
with a working wife who is
forced to work overtime or
at a second job would not be
under such great pressure to
do so.
In a divorce proceeding,
men would be automatically
eligible for alimony. If ali
mony is to be paid as a result
of the settlement, the ali
mony would be paid by the
party more able to pay be
cause of education, type of
work done, and salary. In ad
dition, men would be equally
eligible for custody of the
children. Believe it or not,
there are many men who can
give parental love and affec
tion and minister to the needs
of children just as well as or
■better than any woman. At
the present time, it is practi
cally impossible for fathers to
get legal custody of children
unless blatant and continued
abuse by the mother has oc
curred.
Women would be forced
to share selective service ob
ligations with men. Most mil
itary jobs now done exclu
sively by men could be done
equally well by women. If a
better military is the objec
tive, this would allow for as-
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22, 1973
signment of tasks more in line
with one's abilities or fields
of specialization regardless of
sex.
The tax, inheritance, and
finance laws of most states
and on the federal level
would have to be altered con
siderably. In some states, the
wife is guaranteed a certain
percentage of an inheritance
while the husband is not. A
husband must pay inheritance
tax on his wife's estate much
earlier than a wife does on
her husband's estate. In many
states, the husband is auto
matically responsible for any
and all debts incurred by his
wife.
At the present time, men
can be jailed for the rape of a
woman or for the seduction
of a female minor. The ERA
would demand that women
be held accountable for rape
of a man or for seducing a
male minor.
The Equal Rights Amend
ment would provide for legal
equality of the sexes. Ano
ther result of the amendment
would most certainly be a
major change in the social
and marital roles of men and
women. If the sexes were
equal in the eyes of the law,
the resulting new processes
of socialization would doubt
lessly change the societal
mores that demand that wo
men be subservient and sub
missive in order to prove fe
mininity and those customs
that require men to be domi
nant and overly aggressive in
order to demonstrate mascu
linity.
Varied versions of the
ERA have been introduced
into each Congress for the
past fifty years. "Only in the
92nd Congress did it receive
the necessary majorities. The
time for ratification and en
actment of this important
amendment is now.
APOLOGIES
We apologize to Jitter
bugging Jerry G., who was in
correctly labelled "Litterbug
ging Jerry" in last weeks is
sue.
* * *
We apologize also to Char
les Thomas, (the only Charles
Thomas on campus) who cl
aims he did not write the let
ter to the editor which app
eared in the Guilfordian two
l weeks ago.