5
(Continued From Page 1)
he taught previously, Campbell
University. But let us back up for
a moment.
A few years ago Clyde wrote a
novel named “Raney”. It was a
story about a young women and
her Baptist upbringing. It sold
quite well but it offended a few
people in authority at Campbell
University as he found out when
his contract was withheld and a
salary raise was denied on ac
count of the book. “They told me
it was because of the book.”
Clyde decided to leave. He said it
was a painful experience but he
now feels more “learned and
wiser...and more experienced.”
He spoke of the battle that is
“not talked about.” That is, the
continual battle that sometimes
happens between the individual
and the organization. The
organization can be “like parents:
Warm and accepting; cold and re
jecting... People often believe
they can’t change organizations-
small groups sometimes have
more power than they realize, but
they need to speak up.” Clyde
likes St. Andrews not only
because the faculty is more in
volved but he says the school ap
pears to be “philosophically at
tuned to the stated goals,” and
there is a great emphasis on the
liberal arts (of which he feels there
is a “crying need in our culture”).
“Institutions are like people,” he
said, “(you) get to know what
they’re about... I’ve got good feel
ings (about St. Andrews)... The
students are responsive and are
ready to speak.” He finds that
creativity is also encouraged. “St.
Andrews encourages self suffi
ciency.” Clyde wants to teach a
class this winter term cMled
“How the work-place zaps, saps,
and-or helps you!!! ”
What is there about “Raney”
that upset the administrators at
Campbell? We didn’t talk about
why, we talked southern
literature. “The setting (of
‘Raney’) is southern...(but)... I
hope its truths are universal.”
Clyde criticized commercial
regional fiction writers, for
although they live in the south
their fiction “skims the surface of
southern life, while good southern
fiction writers write ultimately
about universal topics.” Clyde
considers Flannery O'Conner one
of his favorite writers.
What makes a southern fic
tional writer? Clyde puts his “em
phasis on the family” and the
historical importance of
agriculture in the south. A family
that works and builds together
develops good and bad relation
ships that may differ from rela
tionships in - other - kinds • of
families.
Clyde told me that when he was
growing up and “looking out” the
old family stories didn’t mean
much; as he reached his thirties
the stories became important: his
family gave him “a sense of who
he was.”
Clyde Edgerton met his wife,
Susan at Chapel Hill in 1973
where she was a graduate student
studying English Education. Ac
cording to Clyde, Susan is in
terested in English literature and
non-fiction, and has recently
edited five children’s books.
Perhaps you’ve met Susan at the
St. Andrew’s development office?
In the courtyard that sunny
afternoon the musicians picked
up the strains of the traditional
song, “The Old Homeplace.”
After the song was over and
everyone was recovering from the
truth of the simple refrain, Susan
vocaUzed the obvious: “...That
was the BIG QUESTION: ‘Why
did I leave the plow in the fields
and look for a job in the town?”
SHUrUPAA/P STOP
NO SUCH THINGS
GOBl/A/3 AfiD You KWIaJ/T/
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Experience The Real World On A Trip
To India Winter Semester
By Randa Richards
As winter term approaches, the
question of what course to take or
where to go arises. Many
students choose a course in a par
ticular area that they enjoy, while
others decide to go overseas to
visit and study in another coun
try.
In all, about ten trips are taken
to various places around the
world yet this will focus on the
trip to India with Dr. Neal
Bushoven. On this trip, students
will leam about new places and
different cultures. While visiting
India, the class will travel to Deli,
the capital, Agra, where the Taj
Mahal stands, and Bombay,
where they will depart to come
back home.
Professor Bushoven wishes to
take only a few students this year
because he feels that is feasible
for visiting other cities in the
hope that future trips will be
made suitable for a larger nuniber
of people. According to Neal, it is
easier to travel around with a
smaller group of people.
The cost of the trip is fairly
cheap, and the group will stay for
a period of about a month.
$1,500.00 pays for the air fare
round trip, and each person will
need approximately $500 extra
for food and personal items they
might want to buy when they ar
rive. Some may want to purchase
jewelry while others prefer to
spend their cash on hand made
rugs and crafts.
Besides going for the fun of
it, the main purpose of the trip is
for the students to be able to live
in-a totally different culture than
that of their own. They will see
poverty-stricken families and
hungry children. They will also
have a chance to meet the Indian
people and learn about their
ways. Some will even live with an
Indian family until time to move
on to another city.
Not all students are mentally
able to interact with this tye of at
mosphere, and therefore would
not be stable enough to handle
the trip.
Students will study religion,
politics, arts, and anything else
having to do with India’s
cultures. Dr. Bushoven wishes for
students to acquire knowledge of
these cultures and to answer their
own questions by using the
hbraries there. As usual, each stu
dent will keep a joimial and write
on a daily basis. There will be a
chance to study the people and
leam a little about India’s
history.
December 27 is “take-off” day,
and the class will return on
January 21. The 19 hour flight
will lead to many highlights of the
trip, including touring the Taj
Mahal and interacting with the
native people. The only dif
ficulties for a person would be the
tensions he or she might have
after seeing how other people real
ly live.
The advantages of the trip are
just the personal experiences one
might encounter any day while he
or she is there. Just being able to
talk with the native people and
understand their feelings is an ad
vantage in itself. Dr. Bushoven
says that “everybody changes in
'the way he or she feeW after ex
periencing the real world in the
Indians’ lives.”
Professor Bushoven has taken
this trip seven times and learns
something new and different with
each trip. The variety of cultural
experiences can be anything and
everything, from the various
churches to new civilization to in
dividual developments. One of the
main reasons India is so different
is because of technology and its
advances. Students must adjust
to a new way of life in order to be
able to get along well. There are
not many radios or television in
that part of the world. States
Bushoven, “Just think, when
your grandchildren ask you where
you’ve been, you can tell them
your adventures in the country of
India!”
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