WUt Huilf orbtatt Volume 79 Issue 17 mZfvmM ■ M ' > V $i f 1 ■ "*•* i\. P*" njpTlMp KflHp .I* jS h |i4^j^BcSs^^'., **" wr j^H v ' l J^MK.'ywapppu JB Bnrg ' J*®P| , 'T - -■ *^BBl ■■KiMMIXI 11111 iii L N BtoatniniinttiMMitiffiii -* in ■ j7f*fii iMrwi""* ** J Photo by Fabio Camera I \K. Sridhar performing in Sternberger. For story, see page 8. EASING THE COLLEGE TRANSITION ❖Guilford leaders have revised approaches to pre-college programming, and first-year advising Avanti replaces Venture, Step Ahead Cara Skeat Staff Writer Guilford College's Venture and Step Ahead programs will be com bined into a new program this fall. It will be called Avanti, Italian for "to go forward" or "to go ahead," said program director Anne Lundquist. Avanti will emphasize academic preparation and the outdoor expe rience. Students will spend one week developing their study skills. Part of the second week of the pro gram will be spent at the Nantahala Emphasis on advising heightened Cory Birdwhistell News Editor In order to ease the academic transition from high school to col lege, the office of the Academic Dean has initiated a revision of the first-year advising process. "In a sense, nothing has changed. In another, everything has changed," says Jerry Godard, associate dean of advising. He ex plains that the alterations of the advising program are a part of an effort to "do what we're doing as best we can." The major revisions include the Outdoor Center, where students will rock-climb, rappel, and white water raft. The outdoor portion of the course will involve "more inten tional linking of how you take on a challenging experience and what you do with it," Lundquist says. Students will keep a journal and discuss how their experience at Nantahala is relevant to the Guil ford experience, Lundquist adds. The thirty-six students who par ticipate in Avanti will receive two academic credits for the two-week course. They will also receive one following elements: •All advisors of first-year stu dents will be full-time faculty. Re search has shown that students with full-time faculty advisors have higher retention. •Advisors will all undergo spe cial training, focusing on the char acteristics and nature of first-year students. •Advisors will correspond with their advisees during the summer -going over schedules, interests and questions, etc. •On the Saturday of Orientation, students will participate in an aca demic seminar with their advisor. Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C. - j JR.• g jS# 3 flf X Lundquist credit for the follow-up course, "Learning Strategies." Please see AVONTI page 5 Afterward, the group will have dinner together. •On Sunday, they will finalize their schedules and the students will take a career survey. "This earlier expression of interests will get students to think about things career-wise," Godard says. •During the year, advisors will have regular contact with advisees. For instance, some may choose to have bi-monthly lunch meetings. •All students will be in a class taught by their advisor. This way, advisors will have first-hand knowledge of their advisees' aca demic situation. Cooley named Academic Dean Cory Birdwhistell News Editor Martha Cooley, chair of the his tory department, will be the new academic dean effective June 1, 1995. This decision is the result of a search process which began with the resignation of Kathy Adams in 1993 and has continued through the service of Interim Academic Dean Cyril Harvey. The Academic Dean Search Committee examined many candi dates throughout this time. The applicant pool was narrowed to three final candidates, and Cooley was selected. "I'm pleased the search worked out the way it did," Provost Dan Poteet comments, "I'm looking forward to working with Martha. I know she'll do a good job." President Bill Rogers says, "Clearly, Martha has a depth of experience in liberal arts education as a teacher and administrator." Crossroad of suffering ♦♦♦ Syracuse professor brings unique perspective to Holocaust, American slavery and child abuse Gail Kasun Contributing Writer While understanding black-Jew ish relations is a daunting and per haps unwelcome task for most, a professor of philosophy, political science and Jewish studies from Syracuse University will address the Guilford community on these relations. Laurence Thomas, who is both Jewish and black, will lead several discussions during his stay here next week. From recent work that relates to research on the Holocaust, Thomas will draw connections between this issue and that of his presenta tion of "The Grips of Immorality: Child Abuse and Moral Failure," at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 3 in the Gallery of Founders Hall. So cial silence is one of the connec tions he will discuss. Thomas has been studying evil and the ways to explain it. "Evil March 31,1995 She graduated from Women's College of the University of North Carolina (now UNCG) with a bac calaureate degree in history, cum laude. She has a certificate in Russian and East European stud ies, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in his tory from Indiana University. She came to Guilford as an As sistant Professor of History in 1965 and was tenured in 1971. In 1977 she was promoted to the rank of assistant professor and then to full professor in 1982. "Her particular involvement here at Guilford over the years en sures a sense of continuity and commitment which will be espe cially valuable to [Guilford]," Rogers comments. Chris Behm, student represen tative to the Academic Search Committee, says, "Martha will do a good job because she has exten sive knowledge of this institution. It is important for Guilford at this lime to have an individual of that caliber in this position." manifests itself in a multitude of ways," he said. "One's goals should be to understand the way evil operates." Another public lecture will be offered at Beth David Synagogue at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 2. Thomas "Flourishing in a Hostile Society: The Lives of Jews and Blacks," will focus on themes found in his recently-published book, Vessels of Evil: American Slavery and the Holocaust. Please see RELATIONS pane 5