Justice has still not been done
Eric Longley
'The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in
insidious encroachment by men of zeal,
well-meaning, but without understanding."
-Justice Louis Brandeis
After an agonizing week in which they
faced suspension from Guilford on charges
of which they may have been innocent,
two of the five students in the drug case
have been permitted by an appeals board to
return to campus on disciplinary proba
tion. With respect to the reinstated stu
dents, the official brief of the case says
"[The] [i]ndividual[s] [were] found guilty
based on the presence of an illegal sub
stance in the room [they were visiting]...
there was no direct evidence that the
defendants] had used an illegal substance
and no evidence that [they] knew of its
presence in the room." This is what the
protesters have been saying all along.
It is good that the suspensions were set
aside in the appeals process. But if stu
dents must rely on the appeals process
alone to vindicate their rights, their liber
ties hang by a very slender thread indeed.
Unless the rights of defendants are re
spected at the trial level, injustices will
continue to occur. There is no guarantee
that appeals boards will take it upon them
selves to correct each and every such injus
tice.
The forces of justice have still won only
a partial victory in this case. In setting
aside the suspensions of the two students,
the appeals board, according to the official
1990 Quaker lacks diversity, but is still considered professional and artistic
Lesley Funk
Butch Maier
A year and a half ago, a dark-haired man
emerged from the shadows to accept a task
for which he had no prior experience: to
THE GUILFORDIAN
Editor-in-Chief Jacob Stohler
Managing Editor Peter Smith
News Editor Courtney Roberts
Features Editor Lara Ramsey
Editorials Editor Lisa Pope
Sports Editor Butch Maier
Photo Editor Charles Almy
Layout Editor Bruce James
Copy Editor Suzanne Moore
Business Manager Erskine James
Advertising Director Lesley Funk
Faculty Advisor Jeff Jeske
The Guilfordian is the student newspaper of Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C.
Submitted articles are welcome. Opinions expressed in editorials and letters to the
editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and editorial board. The
editors reserve the editorial licence to The Guilfordian staff. Please address all
mail to: The Guilfordian, Box 17717, Greensboro, NC 27410.
2
THE GUILFORDIAN September 24, 1990
PERSPECTIVES
brief, "[reduced] the sanction.. to discipli
nary probation." The meaning of this
action is far from clear. Did the appeals
board let the drug conviction stand but
reduce the penalty, due to the circumstan
tial nature of the evidence and the injustice
of imposing suspension as a punishment?
If the automatic-suspension rule is so un
just that judicial boards feel unable to
enforce it, this is a serious reflection on the
rule. But, unjust as the rule is, the judicial
boards cannot change it. That is the job of
our elected representatives in the student
Senate.
Another interpretation of the vague
words of the brief is that the appeals board
overturned the drug conviction and then
imposed probation as a penalty for the two
students' failure to present their student
IDs to the RAs. This was the only other
offense for which the sudents had been
convicted. The ID conviction is based on
the fact that the students had left their IDs
at their dorms and, therefore, did not have
them immediately available. Probation
seems an extreme penalty for mere forget
fulness. Last year, five members of the
Judicial Board recommended a modifica
tion of the ID policy so as to permit stu
dents like the two involved in this cas to
have a "resonable time" to produce their
IDs. Under such a rule, the convicted
could have avoided the ID charge entirely.
To the partially-vindicated students I
extend a wholehearted, if belated, wel
come to Guilford college. May you be
worthy of the college, and it of you.
create the Quaker-GwxMorA College's year
book.
Richard Alton Montgomery had a plan.
From the looks of the 1989-90 Quaker
released last Friday, was it carried out?
Yes.
"One Strike" is caring policy
Angus McLees
The new drug policy, which has been
oversimplified as the "One Strike, You're
Out" policy, is not quite as simple or as'evil
as it sounds. It is not designed "to get those
druggies out of Guilford College," but is
meant to serve as an educational tool.
According to this policy, students who
are judged by the Judicial Board to have
been in possession and/or use of controlled
substances should be suspended, not kicked
out forever, and forced to participate in a
drug rehabilitation program before being
re-admitted as Guilford College students.
At least in my eyes, this is a much more
humane and caring approach than simply
letting offenders slide by until they get out
into the real world, where thepenalties will
be more substantial than taking a little time
off from school.
By maintaining the new policy, we will
be embodying the values of the Society of
Friends by helping offenders to recognize
their problems and work through them.
Such a suspension will not, I repeat, WILL
NOT ruin anyone's life. It may seem a
horrible inconvenience at the time, but in
the long term it will be to the offender's
benefit. Upon graduation from Guilford
College, all judicial records for each indi
vidual are destroyed, and (hopefully) all
offenders will have learned an incredibly
valuable lesson. If, however, the new pol
icy is altered to recommend some lesser
sanction, their lives may be irreparably
The Quaker is a professional-looking
yearbook. It is the ultimate coffee-table
book, with a cover sleeve capturing the
beauty of Founders Hall and on the under
side, the tranquility of the Guilford lake at
night.
The Quaker orders photographs chrono
logically, innovatively enhancing the nos
talgic purpose of annuals.
In addition to the wide array of candid
snapshots are the artistic photographic
renderings of rain falling on a car wind
shield, a Guilford College window sticker,
a band member's keyboard, a stack of
records from WQFS, and the favorite
Guilford late-night hangout—Jan's House.
Also given a unique treatment was the
senior section. The senior pictures convey
a classic look, with individuals emerging
from the shadows and releasing their atti
tudes upon the observer. The turn-out for
senior pictures was the biggest in recent
memory.
Special features included a two-page
color spread on the library book move and
a two-page tribute to Julie Workman, an
alum who died of cancer last December.
There were also humorous touches:
several photos of Mizzo the Dog, photos
damaged, for they will not recognize the
severity of drugs or the ramifications of
their use, and could continue use until they
either overdose and die or are caught by the
police, not just their friendly R.A.
tlrl f
In the real (non-Guilford College) world,
boys and girls, when you are caught in
possession of controlled substances, you
are either (1) fined or (2) arrested, con
victed, and sent to jail. In either case, the
record of that fine or conviction follows
you forever. This means that every single
time that you apply for employment, you
are likely to be eliminated from considera
tion based on your police record, and that
will never go away. This situation, how
ever, can easily be avoided, for the new
policy as it stands is perfectly capable of
handling controlled substance offenses in
a caring, humane manner which would
allow students to make their mistakes and
learn from them, without the risk of a life
long label of "drug user."
Let's just take a few moments to sit
down and think about our options in a
rational, objective manner, and decide what
will be best for each of us as an individual,
as well as for the Guilford College com
munity as a whole. Which would you pre
fer: to learn your lesson during college
without any long-term ill effects, or to
party your way through school, only to get
busted after graduation and have all of
your plans ruined forever, and your life as
you know it is brought to a screeching halt?
with tongues as their main focus, and the
book-ending photo of a lizard (a lizard,
hmmmm?).
Nothing, however, is flawless. There
are too many photos of the same people.
Where are all the forgotten Guilford stu
dents? Where are the athletic teams, the
faculty and the abroad students?
Some problems have to do with the
reader's level of comfort: the senior pic
tures are too dark, their quotes are too
small, and other students are hardto find
with such a confusing index.
These are minor problems. The point is:
there is a yearbook—seniors get their
annual. Last year's didn't. The Quaker
published two years ago went over budget
and was nine months late.
The 1989-90 school year is now crea
tively preserved other than in our minds.
Look at it, read it, talk about it—just do it
right and enjoy it
In the editor's own words, "the creation
of a yearbook like the 1990 Quaker proves
that Guilford is a great place to be."
Goal accomplished, Richard Alton
Montgomery is headed out west to explore
broader horizons.