Page 4, THE PILOT, Gardner-Webb College, March 1, 1972
IBM Engineer Turns
Psychology Major
lOHN PANELLA
‘Youth Grants’ Program
“Life begins at forty." This is a
reality to John Panella who turned
college student and became a
“bachelor after eighteen years of
married life.” John temporarily
left his family in Bel Air, Mary
land and left his executive position
with IBM to major in psychology
at Gardner-Webb.
John and his wife and three
children were living comfortable
and secure in their suburban home
and with his position as branch
manager in field engineering with
IBM in Baltimore. A growing rest
lessness prompted him to make the
bold move.
After nearly two months on
campus John has “no regrets” and
realizes that he is “just beginning
to probe the full impact.” His
decision was both dynamic and
emotional to him and will involve
r gradual unfolding. Leaving his
job involved much more than a
material shift, but rather a restruc
turing of his entire value system.
Why Gardner-Webb? John chose
Gardner-Webb upon the recom
mendation of John Roberts, editor
of The Baptist Courier, and after
a visit to campus last fall. He
discovered that the "spirit and
dedication found on campus was
unique.” John states that he does
not really feel a generation gap but
feels that it must be there, since
he is twice the age of most stu-
John recollects that if he had
attended college right out of high
school the experience would not
have meant as much to him. With
his broad background of experi
ence and mature determination,
John feels he is getting more out
of college now than he would have
Christopher Agumadu, a sopho
more at Gardner-Webb, is among
the approximately 100 new stu
dents here this semester. His dis
tinction is that he is farther away
from home than most of us—he is
from Biafra of West Africa.
Christopher spent his freshman
year at the University of Nigeria.
He came then to Raleigh to see
his brother who lives there now
and found out about Gardner-
Webb from a friend. He then made
his decision to attend Gardner-
Webb.
Christopher has been in the
states now for four months. He
likes Gardner-Webb and has en
joyed meeting the students here.
Although Biafra lost its fight
twenty years ago.
The hardest part of his decision
involved leaving his family. John
travels the nine-hour journey to
Maryland every other weekend.
His family will be moving to Boil
ing Springs over spring holidays
and John will begin serving as
pastor of the Lavonia Baptist
Church in Gaffney. John states
that he really would have missed
something if he had not had the
opportunity to live on campus.
John Panella, at age forty, is
starting his second career as he
studies psychology with an em
phasis on Christian counseling.
Many people desire a change in
their life style but few are able
and willing to make the move.
Talent Show
March 16
The Gardner-Webb Business
Club will sponsor their fourth an
nual Talent Show on March 16 at
8:00 p.m. in Hamrick Auditorium.
The emcee for the show will be
Mr. Bob Decker, campus BSU Di
rector. There will be three out
standing persons from the Shelby
area as judges.
This talent show is the only fund
raising project of the Business
Club. The show committee this
year is headed by Randy Kirby.
There are no limitations on con
testants for the show and any in
terested persons are urged to con
tact Randy Kirby or Alan Mayhew,
President of the Business Club.
The tickets for the event are
75c in advance or $1.00 at the
for independence from Nigeria
there still shines a ray of hope in
the hearts of many Biafrians that
complete independence will be
won one day. Christopher feels
that the victory must be won to
assure his people a stable sense
of security.
Believing in individual freedom
for every man, Christopher still
maintains that this freedom is lim
ited where the other person’s be-
Christopher plans to remain here
in the States until he receives a
degree in civil engineering. Upon
the completion of his education he
plans to return to his native coun
try to pursue an occupation.
The National Endowment for
the Humanities has begun a pro
gram of grants for support of
humanities projects initiated and
conducted by young people. NEH
(hereby becomes one of the few
Federal agencies so involved. An
nouncement of the new program
was made by Dr. Ronald S. Ber
man, the Endowment’s Chairman,
who said that NEH is encouraging
proposals for projects effective im
mediately.
Created in line with a recom
mendation made last year by the
National Council on the Humani
ties, the new program—called
“Youthgrants in the Humanities”
—will consider applications from
both students and young persons
out of school. In announcing the
program, Mr. Berman described it
as “an important new thrust in
the Endowment’s continuing ef
forts to interest and involve all
sectors of the population in the
humanities.” The program will of
fer young people an opportunity
to translate their educational and
ethical concerns into concrete pro
jects and to reflect critically on
their own beliefs and values as
well as those held by the larger
society.
March 17th has been set as the
first deadline for “Youthgrants”
applications for projects scheduled
to begin during the summer or
fall of 1972. Proposals will be
evaluated comparatively by a
panel of young people prior to
submission to the National Coun
cil on the Humanities, which
makes final recommendations on
all applications for Endowment
Further information about the
College Student’s
Poetry Anthology
The NATIONAL POETRY
PRESS announces its Spring Com
petition. The closing date for the
submission of manuscripts by
College Students is April 10. Any
student attending either junior or
senior college is eligible to submit
his verse. There is no limitation as
to form or theme. Shorter works
are preferred by the Board of
Judges because of space limita-
Each poem must be typed or
printed on a separate sheet, and
must bear the name and home ad
dress of the student, and the col
lege address as well. Entrants
should also submit name of their
English Instructor. Manuscripts
should be sent to
Office of the Press
National Poetry Piress
3210 Selby Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034
program, including eligibility, ap
plication procedures, and grant
requirements is contained in a
brochure available without charge
from: Youthgrants in the Humani
ties, National Endowment for the
Humanities, Washington, D. C.
20506.
Three outstanding pastors and
scholars in the field of Bible teach
ing will lead Gardner-Webb’s Fifth
Annual Pastor’s Conference on
campus February 28 through
March 3.
The speakers will include Dr.
Wayne Ward, professor of Chris
tian Ethics, Southern Baptist Sem
inary, Louisville, Kentucky; Rev.
Ralph Logan Carson, a New Jer
sey pastor and teacher; and Dr.
Thurman Lewis professor of an
cient languages and literature.
Prepared by Consumer Reports
Unless a college student has
children, as a rule he should not
buy life insurance. In fact, says
the nonprofit Consumers Union,
“the last thing most college stu
dents need is life insurance.”
The exception would be the
breadwinner on whom children
will be dependent until they grow
up. Despite this atypical circum
stance for a collegian, CU says
“the life insurance agent has be
come a familiar figure on many
campuses.”
Bearing this out is an industry
survey of more than 30 life-insur
ance companies which turned up
20 per cent with sales programs
aimed at college students and
young professionals who are not
yet earning enough to pay the pre
miums.
Isn’t it difficult to sell a policy
to someone who can’t afford it?
Insurance men have their sales
pitch so programmed to this hur
dle that they can often turn it
into a selling point. Says Con
sumers Union, they approach the
premium paying problem by offer
ing to finance the first annual
premium, and frequently the sec
ond, with a loan to be paid off
perhaps five years later.
The interest on that five year
loan? It’s payable at an annual
rate of 6 to 8 per cent or more.
And, says CU, in many plans the
policyholder pays interest on the
interest, too.
As an example of what life-in
surance loans can cost, the non
profit consumer organization tells
of a $10,000 policy sold by Fidel
ity Union Life of Dallas in 1970.
The 21-year-old student purchaser
paid an annual interest rate of 8.5
per cent. The compounded finance
charge on the first year premium
loan of $151 comes to $76.07.
From the creditor’s standpoint,
such loans are among the safest
ANCHOR Near
Completion
Deadlines, pictures, layouts,
deadlines, meetings, typing, and
more deadlines have been the es
sence of the year for the ’71-’72
annual staff, which officially start
ed last March. At that time Tom
Parker was appointed editor of the
1971-72 ANCHOR and began a
duty which after long hours of
work will culminate this May.
With a unique color and design
this year’s ANCHOR will include
approximately 900 candid pictures
with 224 pages at an approximate
cost of $15,000. The last deadline
was February 25 for all copy ex
cept the basketball section. The
shipping date is May 3 and hope
fully students will receive their
ANCHOR May 4 or 5.
There are twenty students on
this year’s staff, including assistant
editor Linda Gillespie and Tom.
Tom and Linda went to the stu
dent year-book workshop last July
at Furman and both were certified
in practical year book procedure.
Although this year’s ANCHOR
may appear similar to last year’s,
the books really aren’t similar at
all. Students will be surprised to
see a unique and different year
book this May 4.
Gardner-Webb.
Each of the three speakers have
selected a theme which will guide
their daily presentations to the
pastors. Dr. Ward’s theme is, “A
Biblical Faith for Today.” Rev.
Carson has chosen “Messages to
Pastors from a Persecuted Preach
er”, as his theme. Dr. Lewis’s
theme is, “Some Side Lights to
the Scriptures.”
Of the pastors attending the an
nual conference some seventy will
be staying on campus.
imaginable, says Consumers Un
ion. Its full report on the sale of
life insurance to students, con
tained in the January issue of
Consumer Reports, explains why
the lender’s risk is so minimal.
One element involves a minia
ture endowment policy built right
into the insurance policy. At the
end of five years, the insurance
company gets most of the cash
value in payment of the policy
holder’s debt.
The promissory note itself has
built into it an acceleration clause,
a typical feature of retail install
ment contracts. If the student fails
to pay any premiums on time, the
lender can demand immediate pay
ment of the entire loan. With the
promissory note, he can also read
ily obtain a court judgment order
ing payment.
Entitled “Caveat Emptor on
Campus,” the CU report, warns
that as with most retail credit
agreements, an insurance policy
financing note may be impossible
to cancel. Life insurance is cus
tomarily sold for a year at a time.
When a student is persuaded to
buy a policy and sign a financing
agreement, he is committing him
self to buy a full year’s protec-
None of the policies or promis
sory notes examined by Consum
ers Union had a provision for re
fund of premiums during the first
year. And, says CU, the policies
examined tended to be relatively
expensive cash value policies with
lots of extra-priced features.
Companies doing a big business
in college policies often set up
special agents in college towns.
They like to recruit as salesmen
popular campus figures such as
fraternity leaders, recently gradu
ated star athletes, former coaches
and even faculty members and
administrators.
CHRISTOPHER AGUMADU
Biafran Student
At Gardner-Webb
Pastor’s Conference This Week
Insurance For The College Man?