February 8,1977
VISITATION
Continued from 2
being abused to be the
"party pooper." I believe that
the responsibility lies with
each of us to have respect
for and not to abuse the rights
of those we live with. I have
even had students threatened
with bodily harm simply
because they desired to
sleep in their own beds. This
was more evident when
freshmen were paired with
upper classmen. These
students were sincerely afraid
to even seek help in reacquir
ing the half of the room they
paid for. I want to make it
clear that I don't put two
cents worth to the argument
that if you don't stand up
for your rights then you lose
them! "Chicken George's" son
Tom pumped water from the
well for the white men - but
I surely hope none of us would
argue that since he acted like
a slave he had lost his rights
to be free! When a child is
abused by his parents society
steps in to stop the abuse
even if the child has not com
plained. According to your
argument if a police officer
saw a non-violent protestor
being beaten on the head with
a pipe he should do nothing
unless the individual being
beaten asks for help. I don't
buy it. In order to have a
truly free society the rights of
Attitudes on Conservation
BY JIM HOOD
A number of recent occur
ences, most notably the
shortage of heating fuels,
have brought to mind what I
find a simple yet hard-to-deal
with concept of why the
environmental problems that
exist in this country are so
hard to begin to solve. What
I have to offer here is a
thought, a suggestion if you
like, about the cause of these
problems. Their solutions
are way beyond the scope
of anything I might dream of
writing, yet I think what I
have to say represents a valid
reasoning one that we need
to give serious consideration
to.
My thoughts are grounded
in the idea, which I am surely
not the first to bring up, that
environmental problems in this
country are, at the deepest
level, caused solely by the
attitudes about natural
resources shared by the
nation's inhabitants. Of course
at other levels the problem
takes on a multitude of other
facets, but these only serve to
cover up the real cause.
the minority, the weak, the
timid, and the immature must
be preserved and held
inviolate. If not we have the
rule of the Bullyl
5. Finally, I am sick to death
of the morons who continually
invoke Quaker principles to
justify the doing away of all
regulations and the institution
of a state of anarchy. You
demonstrate as much
knowledge of Quaker principles
as you do of common sense -
in other words - none! 11 Every
time some student is dissatis
fied with a situation here at
Guilford he/she mouths off
about how phony we are
about our belief in Quaker
principles. Not once
have I found such a student
who had the faintest concept
of what Quaker principles
were. My advice to you is
that if you are dissatisfied
with something, formulate a
logical, intelligent argument to
back up your position. Don't
balme the problem on Quaker
ism - it only demonstrates your
ignorance, and your inability
to think clearly, and intelli
gently. If something bothers
you, formulate a positive
alternative and bring it to your
Student Senate.
On balance I think that there
are good reasons for having
visitation regulations. I think
they allow the student, for at
least part of the day, the
privacy he/she has paid for.
I have seen the very serious
abuse of some individuals by
We tend to treat any
natural resource, like
water, wood, food, fuel, as
some kind of God-given right
that allows each of us to use
that resource in whatever way
we see fit. Water is just
there for me to use, for my
wants, for my needs. If one
wishes to search for a reason
why this attitude is so persis
tent, the Judeo-Christian
tradition of dominion over the
fowl of the air and the fish
of the sea is a fine place
to start. Now, however, the
reasons behind this attitude
are not as important as is the
fact that it exists and must
be dealt with.
Only by changing this
attitude, this selfish way of
thinking, can true progress be
made in the saving of our
planet. Ecological catastrophes
can be averted, and have
been, by governmental
intervention, but real change
can come only by changing
attitudes and lifestyles. If you
think that any corporation has
stopped environmental
destruction simply because
The Guilfordian
their roommates even though
we do have visitation regul
ations. My heart goes out
to the sensitive, the young,
the weak, and the immature
should visitation regulations
be dropped across the campus.
Sincerely youn.,
Frank Keegan
To Gary Farlow:
I apologize fdr my res
tatement of Quaker principle,
and hope that I did not come
across as petulent, unduly
adamant, or obnoxious. I
think, however, that it is time
to reweigh these decisions. I
believe that it would be more
just to remove the unneces
sary consequences that
exercising this particular free
dom would bring about.
To Frank Keegan:
You yourself have just
pointed out repeated examples
of abuse. The regulations
do not guarantee the privacy
you pay for. Only you can do
that; and to do it you must
speak up. It does very little
good for your heart to go out
to the "sensitive, the weak,
and the immature," for
despite you good intentions,
these people are sleeping on
the lounge floor.
I agree, no roommate
should have to be in bed and
listen to the moans and groans
of a couple a few feet away.
No one should be locked out
that company has a genuine
concern for the world and
its people, you are probably
mistaken. Progress has been
achieved in this area only
because in some way a change
profited those initiating it. We
seem only to be able to think
in these terms: what is it
going to do to benefit me,
look at the sacrifice I am
making, why me and not him,
me, me, me, me, me.
Biophile meeting this
Wednesday, February 9 at
8:30 p.m. in the Boren Lounge.
We're working on a big com
munity service project and
need some more help. Please
come if you can!!
Conservation must begin
with individuals but cannot
stop there. Communities
must also begin to change
their perspectives. Guilford
wants to think of itself as a
community and thus must
begin to alter its attitudes.
Guilford, too, has been
of his room. No one should
be locked out of his own
room. No one should be
threatened with bodily harm.
And no one should stand still
to have his rights taken away
from him by a bully. These
problems must be brought to
the attention of someone with
the authority to handle them,
if you are unable to deal with
them effectively yourself. But
these problems arise despite
visitation rules. They will
continue to arise until bullies
disappear, or we learn to be
responsible for ourselves.
To Abby Ott:
1) A High School diploma is
also not an automatic ticket
to college.
2) Everyone on campus is
capable of dialing a telephone.
3) If you believe that
getting rid of visitation will
result in men screaming up
and down the halls at 3 a.m.,
this is a big issue. But I
don't notice it at 12, and don't
expect it at 3.
4) I'm quite certain that you
are exaggerating.
Barbara Gottfried
Editor's comment:
First, my notions of freedom
are two-fold. We should be
free "to" do something, as
well as free "from" something.
Shouldn't we?
Second, I have lived in
dorms or gone to school and
been somewhat familiar with
the visitation rules on two
other campuses, and at those
blessed -with the gift of
existence, and should be
very thankful for that, thankful
enough to stop first considering
its own wants. As a community
Guilford can accomplish a great
deal.
I was a bit leary of writing
this little piece because I had,
and still have, serious doubts
about whether it could accom
plish anything. But if it makes
a few people think more about
their actions, that is all it need
do.
I would like to put a challenge
to every person on this campus.
I want to ask everyone here to
see if he or she can begin
looking at natural resources in
this new way. See how much
scrap paper you can save and
use constructively. See how
little water you can use. Silly
as it may sound, it becomes
more necessary each day.
I would also like to put a
challenge to Guilford as a com
munity. Guilford wants to be
innovative, it wants to be
known as an institution where
a good education can be had
at a good price. But if Guilford
places the rules were not as
strict as Abby Ott might
believe them to be at "most"
institutions.
Third, regarding Frank
Keegan's concerns what if
the individual has a single
room, and therefore no room
mate to abuse?
Fourth, regarding Gary
Farlow's explanation of the
Quaker principle of individual
freedom where does the
justice lie if an individual is
expelled from this institution
for choosing not to adhere to
a rule that is designed for but
is not appropriate to his/her
particular situation?
Fifth, I think it is unfair to
discredit someone's position
simply because they choose
not to sign their real name.
It is all good and well for
someone to be willing to "take
a stand" and by doing so to
sign their name to the piece.
But, I think it best to remember
that some particular individual
might just want to "have a
stand known," and not to
have him/herself identified
with the stand. There may be
a multitude of reasons why
someone would not want to
have themselves identified
with a particular stand on an
issue and I think it is narrow
minded not to consider this
and thereby discredit their
position. We at The Guitfordian
certainly prefer to announce
the authoriship with any piece
we publish, but we are tolerant
of private concerns known or
unknown to us.
Richard Phillips
really wants to be unique, I dare
it to become a school that puts
education and conservation on
the highest level of priority. I
dare you, Guilford, to write
memos and letters on scrap
paper, to stop sending notices
to students in wasted envel
opes. I dare you to require
students to type papers on
two sides of a sheet. Incon
venience is a small price to pay
for life. Most of all, I dare
you to conserve not because
it is good for you, but because
it is good for the world.
What you will do, I cannot
say. You may think that used
paper is improper. But survival
has dictated that doing what
is proper be replaced by
doing what is necessary.
Guilford has been bestowed
with a great priviledge and
honor: to educate students.
We must begin to recognize
all the privileges we have
and we must become
committed to the wise conser
vation of resources. To think
elsewise became insanity long
ago.
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