Page 2, December 15, 1977
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Telephone Blues
It’s a typical Sunday night. After an hour of desperate searching and
pleading, you discover some generous soul who will lend you 20 cents. You
then take your place in line for the next hour to wait (along with 15 other
people) for an available phone. When your big moment finally arrives,
(which , literally, is all you get sometimes) the 15 people waiting overhear
every private comment you make to the person on the receiving end.
This is a familiar story for any MAC student who resides in a dorm. The
dorms have only one phone per hall, with the exception of Howerton, which has
only two phones for the students it houses.
It’s an unnecessary inconvenience to have to hunt for 20 cents everytime
you need to make a phone call. And when you’re paying for a long distance call
from the pay phone,it’s not always possible to find four or five dollars in change,
especially at night.
Most of the students are courteious about keeping calls brief. But when you
haven’t conversed with someone for awhile and you need to do some serious
talking, you want to spend time on the telephone. Many times, sharing a phone
with 30 (or more) other people makes this impossible.
A hall phone is also impracticable for private conversations. People
unavoidably overhear personal things that are meant only for your caller’s
ears. It’s distracting when people are constantly walking by, and this makes it
difficult to carry on a consistant calloquy.
Quite a few colleges have found an easy answer to the phone problem in
dorms. In many schools, telephones have been installed in each room, and
students are directly resposible to the phone company for the bill they run up.
Phones in each room would be convenient for the students, they wouldn’t have
to hustle up 20 cents everytime they needed to use the phone, and they could
talk in the privacy of their own room without being overheard and without any
distractions. Curtis
Editor’s Note - What ever happened to the old-fashioned phone ‘booth: I
think telephone companies have forgotten'how to make them.
Letters to the Editor
This
‘n
That
Dear Fellow Students,
The MAC catalogue describes
convocations as being “for cultural
and educational purposes’! It goes
on to state that they are intended “to
broaden the horizons and enrich the
experience of the student body’ 1 I
am concerned about the quality of
some of this past semester’s con
vocations and their ability to fulfill
the goals defined in the catalogue. I
stronglyagree with the school policy
of having musicians or speakers in
to enhance our college experience;
however, I question the necessity of
our meeting for a full period when
there is no organized program.
While I don’t understand why we’re
required to be there for skits and
fillers when there is no program,
when the skits are designed to make
convocation “more interesting’ 1 I
am more interested in taking care of
my personal affairs than in being
entertained. While I am not ad
vocating doing away whth con
vocation, I would like to. see the
amount of time shortened when
there is no prograUi When I brought
this up at a recent SGA meeting I
was informed that the majority of
the students would rather have the
skits rather than straight an
nouncements and leaving earlier.
Those representatives present voted
by an overw'helming majority to not
even poll the students to see if that
was indeed their wish. As members
of the student body, we have control
over what happens at convocation. I
disagree with the SGA’s policy and
their belief that the majority of the
students agree with them.
Regardless of your point of view, I
urge you to tell your representative
how you fell concerning this issue so
that the SGA’s decisions may truly
reflect the students’views. Student
government at MAC should
represent all the students.
David Siegrist
by Allen Meadows
Several weeks ago some female students attending this college were
reprimanded for possessing alcholic beverages in thier room. This offense is
considered wrong by the college due in part to the fact that it is against the^
ordinances of the town of Montreat. Just for the record this is how the storj^|
goes:
After the girls were suspected of having alcoholic beverages a fire drill was
called during which a hall counselor must check to see that everyone is out
side as a rule. The hall counselor checking the girl’s room was shocked as she
opened their door for it wreaked with booze, to put it bluntly. Dean of Housing
Martha Sue Carroll was notified immediately for the search of a student’s
room can only take place with both the students and the authorization of
Martha Sue or Dean Wilson., After all had assembled evidence was found
yielding disciplinary action on the students.
Now here is the interesting part - Martha Sue Carroll, after leaving the girl’s
dormitory went to her car parked outside the offencers’room and overheard
them talking. She then stole over to the girls’window to get a closer listen.
Suddenly another girl from inside the room, not one of the offenders, raised the
curtain exposing Dean Carroll’s presence. One of students, disgusted, looked
down out of the window and remarked, “pathetic! What a low thing to do. ’
According to Dean Carroll, the reason for this act “was not for more in
criminating evidence and it was not for the school. I was just curious to their
reactions. I knew I was wrong (for listening in).” She apologized later that
night to the girls for “intentional eaves-dropping.”
Vandalism defined by Webster is
“a willful or malicious destruction
or defacement of public or private
property.” Willful refers to the intent
of the person in question’s heart. I
do not know the heart of the person)’
s) responsible for bending my car
antenna; therefore I cannot call the
act vandalism. I am not even angry
about the monetary loss that I have
suffered, however I am sad that I’m
not the only victim of this act. For in
the words of the MAC Student
Handbook “the failure of one person
to live honorably is in part the
failure of all.” I regret that I too am
included in this failure.
Name withheld
Our student library has got to be one of the most beautiful around BU’T -
students and teachers alike have complained repeatedly of excessive noise
coming from study and class rooms located inside the facility. Why? Quite
simply the problem is bad insulation within the walls. According to the Head
Librarian, Mrs. Gilkerson, it was never a problem of finding enough money,
but merely the fact that the architect hired to do the building refused to put in
insulation. Architects are hired primarily on their reputation based on past
work and this one was no exception. It was felt then that nothing could be done
and the feeling is the same today, so everyone must bear with this in
convenience trying to remember all the good points of the library. However,
the library will remain more pretty than practical.
During the CBU conference held by the Mountain Retreat Association in
October many students were up in arms over the inconvenience of an over
crowded cafeteria. 5,600 People were served lunch that Friday and the at
mosphere was total chaos. The cafeteria must serve the public by law as
stated in the agreement between the cafeteria and the school. This provision
was made in order that parents and other student visitors could eat on campus.
Part of the problem that day was limited seating due to the administration
borrowing chairs and tables for registration Saturday morning - A poor lack ot
insight and planning to say the least.
When I asked the Director of Food Services, Jim King if the affair was
profitable he responded, “I didn’t like it either. It was an inconvenience. The
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