The Lance
"We will express the
thoughts, ideas, and wishes of the
entire student body and not the
views of a minority. ”
-Elaine Ward-
First editor of the Lance
. 36, No.4
St. Andrews Presbyterian College
November 17,1995
Non-traditional Students: A Growing Minority
by REGINA HARRINGTON
There is a special strain of stu
dent that roams the halls of St.
Andrews unnoticed. Many of
them transfer in as juniors others
start anew as freshmen. In many
ways they endure the same or
deals and make the same adjust
ments as any other student. How
ever, these students are special
and are a very important addition
to the student body. They are
called non-traditional students.
The term non-traditional refers to
students who generally live off
campus (because unfortunately
St. Andrews does not accommo
date housing for married couples
or single parents), are single or
manied, with or without children
and reluming to school after a
lengthy absence.
Why are they so special?
Well, statistics show that non-tra-
ditional students do exceptionally
well academically and are ex
tremely dedicated students. This
is for obvious reasons. The most
obvious being that they are pay
ing for their own education. Too,
generally these students are much
older and have a variety of life’s
experiences under their ^h. They
sometimes bring an extensive
knowledge of their field of study
with them. For example, Tara
Laws has been working within the
Southern Pines medical commu
nity for a number of years before
choosing to retum to college for
her Bachelor of Science Degree.
Another, Dan Parsons, is a mili
tary retiree and on the road to a
successful future in Law. I my
self, completely shifted from a
career in environmental engineer
ing with the State of North
Carolina’s Department of Envi
ronment, Health and Natural Re
sources in pursuit of one day be
coming a Professor of Ethnic
Studies.
Non-traditional students are
not bombarded with the distrac
tions of being away from the pry
ing noses of parents for the first
time. Many have been indepen
dent for a number of years. Some,
actually are prying parents. Dan
expresses the views of many, he
states that he “would have wasted
his time and money by going
straight to college after graduat
%
ing from high school in 1979.”
He was not ready for the disci
pline it would have taken at the
time. His GPA is exceptional
now and he is much more com
mitted.
On the other hand, the picture
would not be complete if the
negatives of being a non-tradi-
tional student were not presented.
Along with all that life experi
ence, these students often ca^ a
heavier load of responsibilities.
Many are head of households, fa
thers, mothers and full-time em
ployees — sometimes all of these
roles are combined. Imagine jug
gling all that and 15 to 19 credits
every semester. They do not have
the extra time needed to take ad
vantage of study groups or spe
cial interest clubs. Natonja Jack
son, a single parent, student and
part-time employee, states that
managing priorities is her biggest
challenge. “You have to plan
ahead and be very selective about
how you utilize your absences.If
Continued on Page 3
Panel Discusses Censorship With SAGE Classes
BY SUE LEWKE
Johmy Cochran’s daughter,
M aspiring author, and a poetry
short story writer, all speak
ing about censorship. What more
wuM you ask for? Tiffany
whran, a television news anchor
woman; Betty Hodges, book col-
®inist for the Duram Hearld Sun
™ spiring novelist; and Stephen
^mith, editor of the Sandhills Re-
®w,poet, short story writer, and
spoke recently to the
age 105 and 409 classes about
of censorship.
Hodges discussed censor-
P ® the book industry and its
effect on both classical and mod
em literature. She described cen
sorship and a “red flag that is al
ways lurking.” When asked how
she personally handled censorship
in her writing, she said that she
pretends every one she knows is
dead and writes whatever she
feels, holding nothing back.
Stephen Smith dealt with the
creative writer and censorship.
Mr. Smith performed a song he
wrote about Jesse Helms to help
get his point across that regardl^
of what other people think, he
should have the right to say or smg
as the case may be, anything he
wants, across to the audience. The
reactions of people in the audi
ence showed that some were of
fended by the song and a few got
quite upset. However, no one
suggested that Mr. Smith stop
singing his song.
The fmal speaker was Tiffany
Cochran, who is an anchor
woman for the evening news on
WPED Channel 15. Ms.
Cochran, a graduate of
Pepperdine University, felt, like
the other panelists, that censorslup
should not be part of the m^ia.
She told sevend stories of times
when people had tried to censor
Channel 15’s news but had been
unsuccessful. Ms. Cochran be
lieves that, “Every ethical journal
ist has the right to pursue a story
that effects the community.”
All the panelists agreed that
censorship has absolutely no
place in media, and that the me
dia should be a place where the
concerns of the community can be
voiced and heard freely.