JH| THE
•■KJOILFORDIAN
Greensboro, N.C.
Beschloss speaks; Bryan Series concludes
Becca Spence
Staff Writer
Michael Beschloss,
called "the nation's
leading presidential historian" by
Newsweek, visited Guilford on
Feb. 10 as the concluding event
in the 2004-05 Bryan Speaker
Series, themed "Challenges
Facing Democracy."
Beschloss began his activities
at Guilford with a student semi
JULIE KNIGHT/SPECIAL TO GUILFORDIAN
Historian Michael Beschloss speaks at Dana on Feb. 10
Chabotar outlines SIRP for Community Senate
Kyle West
Staff Writer
Amidst partially consumed food and
passed proposals, President Kent
Chabotar visited the Feb. 9 Community
Senate meeting ready to face tough opposi
tion. By the end, students were more recep
tive and tolerant than he had expected.
Chabotar began his hour-long discussion
talking about the lack of previous plans for
the college.
"This college made deals, signed initia
tives... without even budgeting it," Chabotar
said. "When I got here, they hadn't even
budgeted for my inauguration."
"Don't worry, I think balancing a budget is
critical," said Chabotar leading into the need
for a balanced budget. According to
Chabotar, the Strategic Long Range Plan
nar held in Founders Gallery.
Students and professors from
Guilford and UNCG attended
the seminar, during which
Beschloss and the attendees
discussed the role of the
Internet in news, how people
get their news now compared
with 30 years ago, how George
W. Bush will be viewed in histo
ry, and other issues.
When Beschloss asked at the
(SLRP), which took two years to produce, is
the first long range plan in the College's his
tory that is paid for in advance.
Chabotar moved on to the five major parts
of the plan, going over each one in detail.
Beginning with what he called transforma
tional education, Chabotar stressed that
principled problem solving was to be a cen
tral tenet of the academic programs at the
College. He also explained the "Guilford
Challenge:" a plan to integrate co-curricular
activities into a student's final transcript.
Chabotar explained that although the col
lege is looking to expand its alliances with
other colleges, Guilford will remain an
undergraduate school. However, depending
on the programs, some students would be
able to do four years at the college and one
year at UNCG for a cooperative graduate
degree.
Volume 91, Issue 19
www.guilfordian.com
seminar how those who attend
ed primarily get their news,
almost everyone cited the
Internet as their main source.
Beschloss praised this advance
ment in the way people become
informed, and said, "The best
thing younger people can do ...
is to get access to as many
sources of information as you
can."
Beschloss said that how the
public views presidents depends
largely on the results of their
actions rather than the actions
themselves. For example, peo
ple 20 years from now will view
Bush very differently depending
how the situation in Iraq turns
out.
Beschloss also discussed his
own life at the seminar. "I'm a
historian," he said. "I've wanted
to be that, grimly enough, since
I was about 10 years old."
After the seminar, The
Guilfordian had the opportunity
to ask Beschloss questions.
When asked if he finds it diffi-
cult to be objective and keep his
own political views out of his
history, Beschloss responded
that he is "not by nature parti
san," and that we "have to
always assume events will look
very different 30 years from
now" and that this knowledge
makes him more careful not to
rush to judgment.
When asked if he thinks the
media is harmful or helpful to
presidential elections,
Beschloss said, "The media just
reacts to the system that exists,"
and said the biggest problem is
the presidential nomination
process. He pointed out that the
process used to last six months,
and that this allowed for better
candidates to be nominated.
Beschloss's evening presenta
tion began at 8 p.m. in Dana
auditorium. After an introduction
by college president Kent
Chabotar, he began his speech
by praising Guilford. Beschloss,
who attended Williams College,
Continued on Page 3
He also talked about the steep growth the
college has seen in the past year in terms
of enrollment. In 2003, the first-year class
was only 298 students. By 2004, the num
ber leapt to 440, instead of the budgeted
328. The quality was not lost, according to
Chabotar, as 19 percent of the class arriving
in 2004 was in the top 10 percent of their
class in high school, whereas only 10 per
cent of the class that arrived in 2003 were
in the top 10 percent in high school.
Chabotar said that the plan intends to
slow the increase of the school, enough so
that by 2010, the enrollment will total 3,300:
1,500 traditional students, 1,700 CCE stu
dents, and 100 Early College students.
He also stressed the need for expanding
on Guilford's Quaker heritage. "We need to
get serious about this," Chabotar said, as
Continued on Page 3
February 18, 2005
Anit-abortion
sentiment
increasing
Page 5
Guilford cele
brates Mardi
Gras
Page 6
Daze of Campus
Life
Page 11
QHL _ JUL ..1
Jordan Snipes
Page 11