North Carolina Newspapers

    December 7,1990
OPINION
The Lance Page 3
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
It is not the intention of this letter to
undermine the stance taken by the Honor
Court, in fact, we could not support
their actions any more if we had de
cided it ourselves. The St. Andrews
student body needs to realize that the
Honor Code is not an empty formality,
but a contract in which you give your
word to live by an oath that promotes a
community of mutual trust. However,
out of something that started so posi
tive and in the best interest of the St.
Andrews community, it has developed
into a situation that has caused us, as
’ well as many others, much frustration.
' Somehow, one person has come to
symbolize the entire situation, as can be
confirmed by listening to people talk
on campus, and what’s more to our
’ dislike, it is in apparent disregard for
procedure and students with which the
Dean of Students has chosen to act. One
■ of the reasons that we chose to address
■ ,this subject was because we felt so
much of the case has come to center
around the Vice-President of the Stu-
^ dent Body, Abe VanWingerden.We
have never had more respect for a friend
than in the manner with which Abe has
'■ admitted his mistakes and backed the
actions taken by the Honor Court. Per-
sonally, we have witnessed Abe struggle
endlessly with this difficult situation,
and attempt to reach a decision in the
- best interest of the school, students, and
himself. Have not all of us made deci
sions that were unethical, in some way,
at some point in our lives? Let us hope
that we act with the same uprightness
and effort to admit our mistake as Abe
has done. He has put more time, work,
and dedication into the office of Vice-
President than anyone has a right to
expect,and while everyone may or may
not like his personality, there can be
little doubt that he has done an incred
ible job. Despite actions working to stir
up additional problems, we as students
need to work together to leam from this
incident and move forward.
From our understanding of the situ
ation we have reached several conclu
sions which we would like to pose as
questions toward the Dean of Students
and her handling of the problems. We
as students find it rather disturbing that
the Dean of Students should feel that
she must impose her own stipulations
to the adequate decision of the Honor
Court. Dean Greer, does this not under
mine the great strides that were made
by the Honor Court? We could under
stand your position if it was done in an
effort to further the learning experience
of the students and campus, but to add
further punishment to the more than
adequate sentence serves to undermine
the validity of the court. The Honor
Court, through careful deliberation,
arrived at a just punishment for the
actions of the students. Why then has
the Dean chosen to recommend further
punishment instead of working to make
this a positive learning process in which
she supports both the Honor Court and
helps those students found guilty to
move forward? Is the purpose of the
Honor Court to punish people or to help
people in the learning process? St.
Andrews is a unique community where
one can mature under an open system
that allows for mutual understanding;
we invite the Dean of Students to join
us in this growing process and to realize
the special qualities that make this col
lege so meaningful to us.
Scott Gregory
Anton Whiley
Jon Holloway
Kevin Gullette
To the editor:
In the past, I have used this column
to make some insensitive accusations
about the Physical Plant. I later apolo
gized, but did not really see why I was
wrong until this year. As a Resident
Assistant, I have worked closely with
many people firom the Physical Plant. I
only have words of praise now.
Yes, I understood that there are still
complaints: breaks appear awful long,
sometimes, some things just never get
fixed after a student has broken it for
the fifth time, we have all heard or said
something.
I came back early from Thanksgiv
ing Break. It was surprising to see a
great deal of water outside Wilming
ton, but like anyone else, I really did not
think much of it. On my second trip past
this new lake, there seemed to be water
actually coming out of the ground. I
decided to ask Paula if she had noticed
it earlier. We found Security, who then
called Juri Kirs.
We were lucky, you were lucky.
The water main had broken. Two years
ago, it broke twice between Wilming
ton and Granville. The pipes are older
than the school, so it is understandable,
but it is still upsetting when water has to
be shut off for the entire Quad: Albe
marle, Concord, Granville, and
Wilmington. Juri shut off the water as
soon as he saw what was happening.
This was all that Juri was required to
do. He could have gone home and tried
to solve the problem on Monday morn
ing. He does not get overtime pay for
this kind of work.
However, Juri called the people that
work on our water lines. They got to St.
Andrews at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday
night. They stayed here until the line
was fixed. I do not know when they left,
but they were still digging for that line
when I fell asleep at 11:30. The next
morning there was water. Rudi, on his
vacation, came through the Quad mak
ing sure that all the toilets worked at 8
a.m on a Sunday morning.
You may not realize just how ex
traordinary this is. Most people would
have just left to come back to fix the
problem on Monday morning. Over
250 students would have come back to
no water. We are lucky to have people
like Juri to help us in times of need.
Many people only see the jobs that
do not get done. Physical Plant employ
ees and housekeepers are human, some
times the little things do not get done.
Sometimes, they are dependent on other
people to do the job and those people
will not respond the way Juri does. I
think Orange can appreciate that point.
Take a minute some day, and look at
what does get done around here. Please
remember that these people that clean
and repair our campus are humans and
treat them as such. Kindness takes very
little energy and is well worth it. The
days that St. Andrews runs smoothly
far outnumbers those that glitches show.
This is a special thank you, espe
cially to Juri Kirs, but also to the many
others that keep St. Andrews going.
Sincerely and gratefully,
Jo Frost
To the editor:
I am writing this letter to the entire
St. Andrews community, but especially
to my fellow students who have elected
me to represent them as a whole. This
letter is in reference to my recent un
ethical conduct which 1 feel has been a
detriment not only to my character, but
also to the St. Andrews community as a
whole. The reason for this letter is not
to dwell on how or why people violate
college policy, but rather to extend my
thoughts regarding my behavior and
responsibility as a student leader.
We at St. Andrews pride ourselves
in being a community where we sup
port and trust each other in all contexts
of life. When a ftiend has a difficult ex
perience, we support and nurture that
person through caring and sharing that
difficulty with them until their stability
is restored. In the same context, when a
fellow student has a good experience,
we celebrate with that person to ac
knowledge his or her accomplishment.
This type of activity brings us closer
together and breaks down the barriers
of class, race, sex,and all other types of
prejudice that are so evident in our
society today. But with this comes a
responsibility of trust among each other
that we must obey and implement in
our lives and at St. Andrews this is
called our Honor Code. When this re
sponsibility is violated by members of
the community, it only facilitates in
building and fortifying those barriers
that have taken so long to break down.
As Vic,e-President of the Student
Body, I have an additional responsibil
ity to uphold that trust because I am
expected to represent the ethos of this
institution. What I did is in direct viola
tion of this ethos, and I am truly sorry
and I do not expect any kind of sympa
thy. As a student leader, it is incumbent
upon me to always contemplate my
actions before they are executed, but in
this situation, I made a stupid and unwise
decision. I absolutely do not encourage
this type of behavior, and I am trying
everything in my power to reverse the
negative effects of my actions. Student
Government must continually estab
lish its legitimacy to be successful, and
my actions have only worked to mini
mize that legitimacy.
This situation has taken an extreme
mental and physical toll on many of my
fellow students, and I am sorry for this
and by no means did I intend for this to
occur. I would like to publically thank
all of those people who have supported
and uplifted me through this situation,
and I hope that we can take this nega
tive action and turn it into a positive
reaffirmation that St. Andrews survives
and advances by our participation in an
Honor system. If we let this behavior
pass without some type of statement,
then we are facilitating the negative
effects of this action. That is why 1 am
extremely supportive of the actions of
the Student Senate regarding this situ
ation and I hope that we can now put the
focus of attention on the larger issue at
hand which is the reestablishment of
what St. Andrews is all about. I love
this school and the effect it has on
people, and I would hate to see that
diminished through this situation.
I do not expect forgiveness, but
rather I hope to be given the opportu
nity to repay St. Andrews by continu
ing to work for the protection of our
autonomy and the continuing of our
sense of community. 1 am truly sorry
for my actions and 1 hope that you
will understand that this was only a
stumble in my character, and not a
developing and disturbing trend. 1
will work even harder now to correct
that unwise stumble and continue to
preserve the values that St. Andrews
teaches us all.
With deepest sincerity,
Abraham VanWingerden
SGA Vice-President
To the editor:
Last Sunday (Dec. 2), I informed
our SGA President Bill Cox, of my
resignation from the position of Stu
dent Defense Counsel. My decision
was based on personal reasons, not
because of the resiiltS of last Saturday’s
hearings. I wish to inform our commu
nity of the reasons behind my decision,
as well as propose some questions we
may wish to discuss as a community.
I resigned primarily for stress-re
lated reasons. I found my academic
performance and personal life both
adversly affected as a result of my
participation in the judicial system. I
am a student first and foremost. In
hindsight, an additional reason for my
resignation is my inappropriate focus
of concern. I was more concerned with
truth and justice, and less concerned
with procedural questions. In hindsight,
I see that the Student Defense Counsel
should strive to balance these two goals.
I did not resign because I diagree with
the events that transpired last Saturday.
My resignation is not a protest, it is a
decision made on the basis of what I felt
I needed to do.
I believe in the Honor Code.I be-
lieve in the judicial system. I think that
as a community, we should discuss ouii
Honor Code and the judicial system.
Do we want an Honor Code? How
should it be enforced? How should the
Honor Code inform our relationships
with other members of the community?,
How should the Honor Code inform
our moral choicefer?' Do we vvish to re-^
vise, the judicial System or do we just
want to make some minor adjustments?
As a community we have been divided
by what transpired last Saturday. It is
time for the healing process to begin.
We should take this controversy and
use it to inspire constructive communi
cation, I urge all the members of this
community who are concerned with the
Honor Code to find ways to discuss
these questions and others.
On a personal note, I would like to
commend my colleagues in student
government. I would also like to com-^
mend all those who have worked with
such dedication in the judicial system
this year. Additionally, I would like to
thank those members of our commu
nity: students, faculty, and administra
tion for their support, encouragement,
and understanding.
Sincerely,
Jay Bimigarner -
To the editor:
We, the feminist theory class, have
become aware of certain misunderstand
ings on this campus concerning the
concept of feminist thought. We feel
that this can be largely attributed to a
lack of awareness of what it really mean s
to be a feminist theorist. In an attempt
to dispel harmful stereotypes, we would
like to share some of what we, as femi
nists, believe.
Perhaps the best place to start is to
state what we are not. We are not only
females. Our class consists of nine males
and fourteen females (this includes a
professor, a student aid, and an auditing
student who are all females). We are
not male-haters; we are opposed to the
oppression caused by the social struc
ture of patriarchy, ri2l to the male gen
der. Our path is not a destructive one;
rather, our goal is to build a nuturing
environment that allows all people to
reach their full potential as thoughtful,
caring, and loving human beings. Our
vision is nol to replace the power of pa
triarchy with the power of matriarchy;
rather, we re-envi'sion power as em
powerment of ail, not as power over
others. Feminist theory is not merely a
political construct; it is an all-encom
passing worldview that touches all
aspect of life and non-life.
As feminist theorists, we celebrate
plurality, multiplicity of gender, emod-
iedness, and connectedness to one
another, our environment, nature, and
the sacred. We see plurahty both as a
way to broaden our understanding of
who we may be and as a way to open
our minds to the differences of others.
Consequently, we do not view gender
dualistically. Instead, we want to allow
for a multiplicity of ways of being
gendered. While dualism tends to deni
grate the body and elevate the soul,
feminist theory wishes to honor the
body with the soul, rejoicing in their
unity. Feminist theorists attempt to
weave the world into a web of intercon
nectedness. We acknowledge that we
do not exist alone without relation to
others. Therefore, as feminist theorists,
we are not haters; we are lovers: lovers
of nature, of men and women, of the
sacred, and of constructive change and
infinite possibilities.
The Feminist Theory Class
To the editor:
In a recent incident, many students
were involved in altering registration
cards in a selfish attempt to gain entry
into preferred courses. Such behaviour
represents a willful subversion of the
registration process and a blatant viola
tion of the Honor Code of our campus
community.
The assignment of randomized
numbers to students is an earnest at
tempt to bring fairness to the process of
course registration. The modification
of these numbers and the manufacture
of phony labels are examples of how
many students sabotaged pre-registra
tion for the upcoming spring semester.
These self-serving activities prevented
other students from getting into courses
of their choice.
As freshmen, all St. Andrews stu
dents are made aware of the Honor
Code and even speak it aloud at convo
cation. How, then, can so many stu
dents participate in such an act of fraud
that is an obvious undermining of
community integrity? It is quite discon
certing to me that some St. Andrews
students are quite willing to lie, cheat,
and steal to gain certain ends.
However, I am even more disap
pointed in our judicial system that dealt
out community service hours as the
only punishment for these I lonor Code
offenders. The Saltire clearly states on
page 44 that “any student found guilty
of a Honor Code violation is ineligible
to participate in major extracurricular
activities for twelve months following
sanctioning.” Perhaps members of the
Honor Court were swayed by the fact
that more than a few offenders are offi
cers in student government and mem
bers of athletic teams. Is it possible that
these individuals are being shielded
from proper punishment? It seems to
me that our judicial system is not inter
ested in justic at all, but in campus
politics.
Without doubt, we are all witness
ing the death of the Honor Code at St.
Andrews.
Todd Spradlin