Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Feb. 23, 1996, edition 1 / Page 14
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10 |—"TThe rorum editorial board Cory Birdwhistell Adam Lucas Keir Bickerstaffe Susan Allen statement of purpose The Forum exists to facilitate dialogue and expression on matters of importance to Guilford College and its mission. Toward this end, active community participation in these pages is vital. editorial policy Every effort will be made to print appropriate submissions of editorials, cartoons and letters to the editor. They must be signed, with the phone number of the author or artist included. Editorials must be no longer than 400 words and letters to the editor must be no more than 250 words. The Guilfordian reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical correctness and brevity. The Guilfordian Fe^ 23 ' 1996 Democratic process? Confusion followed by outrage pervaded the campus Wednesday as students gathered round the Dry- Erase board in Founders that bore the election outcome. There were results; there was no winner. These elections are one of the few times during the year that Guilford bypasses the consensus method and calls for a direct vote. From such a vote should come results. Instead, behind closed doors the Senate Elections Committee and the candidates themselves worked to put together some piecemeal solution for this odd situation. The students who voted were taken completely out of the process, causing many to feel as though their Letters to the Editor Response to "Stuck" Dear Editor: We are writing in response to John Cocking's article, "'Stuck' in an Embarrasing Situation." As members of Guilford's housekeeping staff, we take exception to Mr. Cocking's remarks re garding the work we do in Binford Hall and elsewhere. First, for Mr. Cocking to include the name of a particular residence hall and describe the cleaner's body shape was not only insensitive, but in extremely poor taste; no one's physical appearance should play any part in this discussion. As for Mr. Cocking's suggestions, when exactly are "normal showering times," around which we should do our cleaning? He himself mentions getting up at 10:00 one morning and at 8:00 on another. How can we possibly predict when everyone will be showering on a given day. If it were possible, housekeep ing staff would be the first to avoid any "embarrasing situations." And in regard to the suggestion that male staff clean the men's restrooms on campus, we agree that this would be ideal, but the fact of the matter is that our staff (like the housekeeping profes sion in general) is overwhelmingly com prised of women. Last, all students' showers are cleaned and disinfected on a regular ba sis. Housekeepers, of course, cannot be held responsible for whatever might be left behind in a shower stall after we have cleaned that day. We do the best we can in an 8-hour shift, often without much cooperation or support from the students. As for Mr. Cocking, we would suggest he consider wearing shower shoes when in any public restroom, and that he un derstand that it is up to all of us, as a community, to work together respect fully to ensure that Guilford students have a clean environment in which to live. Sincerely, Guilford Housekeeping vote had been cast in vain. While neither candidate gained a majority (more than SO percent) of the vote, one ticket did receive a two vote plurality. Unless otherwise stated in the Senate Constitution (which it is not), this should have been a de clared ticket for the Marasco ticket right away. Disappointingly, in this warm and fuzzy atmosphere where no one wants to step on anybody's toes, the Elections Committee decided, in effect, to disenfran chise the voters and replace those voices with their own. In the end, the proper decision was made, and the winning ticket will preside over Senate next fall. Kudos for Circles Dear Editor, On behalf of the Admissions Of fice and Richard Harrison Bailey/ The Agency, I would like to express our appreciation to those members of the community who took time out of their often all-too-hectic sched ules to participate in the Circles of Influence. In particular, I would like to thank the eight students who formed Circles: Brian Burton, Will Butler, Gwyneth Cliver, Bryan Corbitt, Mary Henry Hawes, Sara Johnson, Shawntay Stocks, and Chris Weber. The groups which they assembled represented a broad, if not comprehensive cross-section of the Guilford College community and provided our guests —Lissa Hunt, Scott Collins, and Rick Bailey— with invaluable qualitative impres sions of our distinctiveness. Equally important to articulate publicly is our continuing reliance on the passionate involvement of the Admission Communications Com mittee, which was instrumental in the initial selection process. The in put of students Susan Allen, Santes Beatty, and Cory Birdwhistell, SOAN professor Patti Delaney and College Relations Director Mark Owczarski was crucial in narrowing the field of interested candidates from twelve, who submitted propos als, to six, whom we invited to cam pus to make presentations, to the ultimate consensus that RHB was the firm with which we ought to work. Collectively, our confidence con tinues to grow that Lissa, Scott, and Rick will be able not only to under stand the complexities that define Guilford College, but to assist us in communicating our message to an even broader ranger of prospective students. We look forward to their return visit in mid-March when their objective will be to address some Their task will not be an easy one as the may never gain full sup port as a result of this fiasco. Theii fault in this process in minimal and they should not have to servt a year-long sentence of punish ment. We urge Senate to clarify its election procedures and to regair touch with the voice of the stu dents, a voice which was thought lessly disregarded late Tuesday night. Editor-in-chief's note: As c candidate for an Senate executivt position, I did not participate in tht development of this editorial. gaps that they and others in the com munity identified by attending a Com munity Senate meeting, meeting with groups of faculty and staff to discuss how we might market specific aca demic and extra-curricular programs, and to continue to enjoy various com munity activities as they did the Stu dent Loan FuAd Auction. ''' ■ Thanks again to the entire Guilford College community, especially the stu dents, who helped to make RHB's first full visit a success. Many of the people with whom we have met through this process have commented that Guilford is one of the "best kept secrets" in higher education and a college whose time has come; by working together, we can ensure that their impressions indeed do come to fruition! Sincerely, Bob Spatig Admissions Office Response to a response Dear Editor, I must first apologize to CaraSkeaL 1 in no way meant to assume a protector's role. Cara, please accept my humblest apologies. Now, I will unabashedly strike back at Max Carter in defense of Sara Johnson. Please forgive me, Sara, if I step out of bounds. The point of the article was to give the means of self-protection to those who choose recreational sex. That is their choice, as yours, Max, is to consider sex a "sacramental act" I take umbrage at your insinuation that those who choose a life style other than yours are "self-disciplanarily challenged." I guess it just comes down to tolerance. I had considered this a Quaker value, and am disappointed to discover in its (dace a smug moral superiority. - Sincerely, John Cocking A second opinion on recycling OUVIA BRADEN staff writer OK, I read it. In fact I read it twice. And you know what? I dis agree. First of all, to refer to the recy cling system currently in place at Guilford and across the nation as "decadent" is a backwards state ment. If you look back just ten years in American history you will find huge amounts of recyclable mate rials being dumped in slimy, dis gusting landfills. And what were they doing there? Rotting away, polluting our air, water and soil. Now such materials as plastic, glass, paper, aluminum, and even S tyro foam are being reprocessed into usable resources. Recycling has proven itself the world over to be an enormously effective means of reducing harm ful waste. Did you know it takes only one third the energy to manu facture a product from recycled materials that it does to produce the same product from raw resources? Secondly, there is nothing slothful about throwing botUes and cans into recycling bins instead of just dumping them all in the trash. In fact, Guilford students should be encouraged to recycle more in stead of being insulted for trying to improve our imperfect system. Finally, there are few things as arrogant as knocking one's own generation just for the sake of kick ing up a fuss. I would even say that it was our parents' generation, not ours, that first thought of recycling.We simply expanded it by pioneering the recycling of cer tain materials. Just because your peers may not be willing to carry a china plate and stainless steel utensils on their person at all times does not make us decadent, sloth ful, or arrogant. Instead of some people spend ing large amounts of time knock ing their peers in order to set them selves above the "common people," they should take a lesson from politicians, who know that you never get an audience to lis ten by insulting them. Our culture has simply moved too far away from its agrarian roots to ever return. Even if we could, what should be done with the tons of harmful waste that has been pro duced up to this point? Simply tell ing everyone to use reusable con tainers will not make the many millions of disposable containers that are still sitting around go away.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Feb. 23, 1996, edition 1
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