2 The Lance, Thursday, February 19,1981
Remember the
human aspect
PAULJ.DOSAL
There I was the other day, of invading troops
in the pig sty numbered Suite
Granville, watching the
CBS Evening News. My
feeling of alienation and
isolation afforded by my
quarters was shattered by
the statement I suddenly
heard: “The question is no
longer will the Soviet Union
invade Poland but when.”
Perhaps it wasn’t the
factual contents of the
statement which struck me,
but the attitude taken by the
reporter. How could he state
it so matter-of-factly?
Millions of peoples lives were
in danger and this reporter
regarded it as inevitable.
However, I couldn’t condemn
this journalist only, for he
probably reflects an at
titude of many Americans.
Many of us watch the
events in Poland with the
same objectively as that
reporter. Television has
dehumanized the reporting of
intemationall affairs. Only
when we have rare footage
will we
empathize with the Polish
people. We even know the
position, strength, and
strategy of the Soviet Army
but we can’t feel the suf
fering of endangered people.
Can we not realize the
impact of Soviet in
tervention? It will be a brutal
act of power politics similar
to that which began WWII
almost 42 years ago. It wiU
be an act of barbarism and
inhumanity perpetrated by
as many as 200,000 Soviet
troops already perched on
the Polish border. Even so,
journalists cover the Polish
crisis with that objective,
value-less and deplorable
style. We as a Christian^
scholarly community must,
at the very least, learn ttie
human aspects involved in
domestic and international
affairs. We, as human beings
and Americans can’t remain
apatiietic as the Poles are
about to be invaded.
The Lance Staff
Julie Mainous
Editor
Jeff Hurely Associate Editor
Sharon Stanley News Editor
Mark Drinnon Sports Editor
Mark Stanley Features Editor
Corey Ingoid Editorial Advisor
Jonathan Webster Photo Editor
Gail Hutchison Special Editor
Kim Carter Copy Editor
Sue Calkins Public Relations
Winter term off campus
byTomLanghom
Not all St. Andrews
students spent the winter
term in Laurinburg. Some
went home, special students
studies courses took others
Cabinet notes
HOLU HADDIX
According to the Student
Association Constitution,
“The Student Cabinet is the
coordinating agency for
campus student activities at
an executive level.” In order
for the Cabinet to perform
this duty, it must be aware of
what is going on throughout
the campus. The Cabinet has
many ways of gathering this
information from reviewing
minutes from other club and
committee meetings, to
having its president meet
with administrators, to
simple keeping its ears open
to students’ concerns and
suggestions. One concern
that it has heard repeatedly
is that students are not aware
of the Cabinet’s activities.
This lack of conmituiication
is critical because although
the Cabinet is aware of
student activities, in order
for it to function effectively
as a “coordinating agency,”
students must also be aware
of Cabinet activites. As a
means of combating this
communication breakdown,
the Cabinet has decided to fill
this space regularly witti
news of its activities and
proposals.
One area of concern in
volves a proposal to im
plement reading or review
days prior to exams. There is
some question as to whether
these days should be referred
to as a reading days, during
which students would study
on their own, or review days,
during which professors and
students would meet for a
formal review. It has been
suggested that professors
and students should have the
opportunity to choose bet
ween the two, depending on
the particular class. Any
student input concerning this
issue is welcome.
The Cabinet has recently
completed a survey among
students concerning the St.
Andrews bookstore. The
Faculty and administration
have express concern about
the quality of tiie bookstore
and these surveys will serve
as a means of obtaining
student input concerning this
matter. TTie results of this
survey will be submitted to
the Dean of the College for
consideration.
The Cabinet is aware of tiie
concern among students
about the absence of a
student union on the St.
Andrews campus.
Suggestions, including
making changes in the Belk
Center or expanding
Farrago, have been
discussed informally among
students. Students have also
met with Dean Claytor who is
a member of the Long Range
Planning Committee. Claytor
will take the results of these
meeting to the committee for
consideration. Also, mem
bers of the Student Life
Workgroup on Physical
Plant, chaired by Ann Caimi,
will review this situation and
will submit a proposal to the
Student Life Committee
which will then make a
proposal to the faculty and
the president
The Cabinet is presently
involved in an evaulation of
its effectiveness in per
forming its duties. In order to
do this, each Cabinet
member is preparing a
statement including the
strengths and weaknesses of
the Cabinet as a whole in
reference to the duties and
responsibilites as outlined in
the SALTIRE as well as in
relation to the student body.
Dean Claytor and Peggy
Johnston, advisors to the
Cabinet, will also perform
evalutions of the Cabinet. It
has not yet been decided if
their evaluations should
include the Cabinet as a
whole or each Cabinet
member as an individual.
Cabinet members are also
involved in preparing “job
descriptions” of their in
dividual positions. These
descriptions will include the
responsibilities and duties of
each position and will serve
as a clarification and a sert
of guidelines for incoming
officers. Such guidelines will
be beneficial to incoming
officers as they prepare
themselves to assume these
responsibilites.
On the agenda for future
meetings is the possibility of
changing the present credit
system to the more common
hour system. Many students
have expressed that this
change would be helpful and
the Cabinet will investigate
this possibility and the pros
and cons of implementing
such a revision.
The Cabinet members want
to remind all students that
suggestions, criticisms,
questions, comments, etc.
are always welcome. Also,
students are encouraged to
read Cabinet minutes which
are posted on the bulletin
board outside of the Red Uon
after each meeting.
Holli Haddix, SGA
Secretary
off campus, and a select
group spent their Januarys in
such exotic locales as Belize,
the Soviet Union, London,
and even Washington, D.C.
This reporter spoke with
representatives of all four
adventures. Kyle Gillespie,
for one, went outside the
borders of the USA for the
first time to visit the Soviet
Union. What was it like
there? “Well, we were told
we couldn’t take pictures of
soliders or visit hospitals”,
said Gillespie. Soviet
citizens, he noted, are not
allowed to leave their counry
without satisfying numerous
requirements. Daring to
express opinions which^fer
from the official Moscow Hne'
can cost a citizen up to
several years in harsh prison
camps.
In talking to several
average Russians, Gillespie
was able to determine ttet
Soviet citizens exist on a
level roughly eqiialivant to
that of lower-middle income
Americans. It runs counter to
communist theory for one to
achieve any greater success
than that.
London, England, where
fourteen students whiled
away their winter term, was
a different story entirely.
Jennie Gleach, who went
along witti all ttie others for
Dr. Arthur McDonald’s
“Theater in London” course,
told the tale. Double decker
buses, unusually small
automobiles and bizarre
British driving habits were
only a few of the many od
dities S.A. students en
countered during the month
loiig excursion to Great
Britian. Miss Gleach and
others related tales of seeing
fresh fruit stands on almost
every comer and observing
foreigners at every turn,
most notably Pakistani and
Indians. In recognition of
this, many London area dress
stores feature items of
cultural clothing from these
countries.
Theater is much more
popular in England than it is
here-some students reported
seeing as many as fifteen
plays in twenty days.
Punking out is also quite
popular in London. Returning
students teU of encountering
outrageous punks nearly
everywhere they went. Many
note that under the Con
servative Party leadership of
Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher, the value of the
British pound has risen
considerably.
Dr. George Fouke took a
small group of students to
Washington for the winter
term. There the tiny band of
political science scholars saw
and heard seminars and
speeches on subjects which
ranges from the presidential
transition to federal election
reform. They also heard a
wide range of speakers
including Dr. Fouke, and
consumer activist Ralph
Nader. They, of course,
visited the Smithsonian
Institute and other weu
known sights and took the
obligatory White House tour.
One student even had the
experience of watching
Senator George McGovern’s
(D-S.D.) aides cleaning out
the Senator’s office after the
end of his term.
The trip was orignally
intended as an extension of
Dr. Fouke’s fall term course
on the presidency. From
what those who participated
in the course have said, it is
fairly safe to assume that to
time was well spent.
Sunny Belize was a striking
contrast to Washington, at
least from a meteorUogical
point of view. Aided by
constant ninety degree plus
weather, visiting students
sunned themselves and
engaged in numeorus other
outside recreational ac
tivites. A typical day wo®
consist of breakfast, lecturWi
specimen collecting, lunch,
more lectures and specimen
collecting, free time, dinner,
and then homework aiid
more free time. The students
were tiiere to study manne
biology under the tutelage, o
Professors Michael Torres
and Leon Applegate.
With littie electrical power,
S.A. students were forced to
rough it, subsisting wiwu
the aid of such essentials"
electric hair dryers,
razors, and television,
rugged existence indeed, d
preliminary reports in
dicated that a good time
had by all.