The Functions of a
College Newspaper
ByCAROLDENTON
The college newspaper is a means of ex
pression wherby students are kept informed,
entertaining articles are provided, and opinions
are expressed.
It is a vital part of college life and to the public.
It is in a sense a power which can save this
society. A college newspaper is a living thing.
It’s young men and women with their fingers on
the pulse of the college campus and the com
munity, devoting their time to bringing you the
news and opinions, as it happens and as they see
it, as truthfully, and accurately as is humanly
possible. And you know that one year in the life of
a newspaper is just a fragment of time. Time
moves on, others take over, we and our ideas are
forgotten, but the newspaper lives on and
flourishes.
This is the last edition, there have been many,
some right, perhaps some wrong, but all honest
opinions based on the facts at hand. Some battles
have been won. Apathy has been conquered in
other instances. Accomplishments have been
made, but there is still so much to be done.
We, on the Smoke Signals staff, worry con
tinually about how we will fill up the paper, or
about what we will have to leave out. Sometimes
it gets frustrating and we on the staff wonder
why we ever chose to work on the paper. We ask
ourselves: “What’s the use?” and “What’s it all
for?”
Even so, we on the staff have become a
working unit. The Editor, Richard Jackson, and
myself as Associate Editor realize that it would
not have been possible to have a paper at all
without the hard work of those persons, students
and faculty alike, who worked with us in making
this paper truly a college student newspaper. As
we have learned to deal with our frustrations, we
have become a part of the paper. Deep down we
take pride in knowing that the paper looks pretty
good after all. We also get a sense of satisfaction
when the facts are accurately reported and the
editorials are just and constructive.
Trying to cover both the campus and the town
news is sometimes an impossible task,
especially since we have academic standards to
keep up. And yet, this is the real function of the
college newspaper. We have tried to cover as
much as possible, as well as possible, and to get
it in our four-to-eight page newspaper. Some
stories don’t get in. But then more have got in the
recent publications because of the better un
derstanding arrived at between the editor, his
staff, and the publications committee.
There have been times when we on the staff
have been accused of not knowing what we are
writing about. It is the job of us on the staff to be
in a position to keep all things in their place. We
can’t begin to know it all; but we can make an
effort to find out the facts and report them as
accurately as possible.
Sometimes the paper is charged with the fault
of just being a “mouth-piece” for the ad
ministration. In truth the paper is caught in the
middle between the student body and the ad
ministration. Both sides have their own ideas
about what is good for Chowan College, and these
ideas are not always-and often seem never-the
same. The editor has to choose whether to take
either, both, parts, or none of the opinions. Above
all, he and his staff have tried to weigh the
merits of “right” and “wrong” in making
decisions about what is best for Chowan College.
What is best involves both agreement and
disagreement with other’s ideas. The SMOKE
SIGNALS is not a publicity sheet; we report on
what is happening, and the editor comments
either for or against-whichever seems to be for
the good of the school.
Another thing that is sometimes very difficult
to do is that of remaining open-minded about
opinions other than our own. This does not mean,
we are not to have an opinion. If facts prove us
wrong, our open minds will then allow a change
in our way of thinking.
Track Team Sets Record
Chowan College’s track team
has set five school records while
compiling a 7-0 record which
includes two victories over
Ferrum.
Coach Dan Surface reports that
the Braves’ victories also include
two over Wingate and Fork Union
and defeat of Elizabeth City
State.
Stan Lucas of Carry, N.C. has
set records in the shot with a
heave of 45’ %” and the discus
with a toss of 138’ 9”. Bobby
Britt, sophomore of Rocky
Mount, N.C., broke the mark in
the 100 with a run of 9.9 against
Ferrum April 14 and Mike Ribet
of Durham, N.C. set the pole
vault standard at 12’ 8%”. Don
Holts of Waynesboro, Va., tied
the high jump record of 6’4”.
The mile relay squad added
another record with a clocking of
3:28 against Ferrum, April 17. In
that meet, Chowan trailed fte
Panthers by nine points entering
the last three events. The Braves
Gnished 1-2 in the 220 with Britt
winning and Johnny Smith of
Smithfield, Va., second, and first
and second in the two-mile with
John Spears of Afton, Va., the
victor and Drew Thompson of
STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF CHOWAN COLLEGE
Volume 3—Number 14
Wednesday, May 3, 1972
Murfree..,boro, North Carolina
Miss Patti Fallis Crowned Queen of Spring
r
Portsmouth, Va., runnerup. The
team cinched the victory with the
mile relay win. Members of this
outfit were Ribet, Smith, Bill
Wingo of Cary, N.C. and Earl
Boyette of Clayton, N.C.
It was the first 440 run by Smith
this season who replaced the
ailing Alphonso Collins and
Surface said the sprinter turned
in an outstanding performance.
Chowan closes its regular
season at Hargrave Military
Academy Friday. The Braves
will compete in the regional
tournament April 26 at Brevard.
The host team is favored but
Surface believes his Braves will
give a strong showing.
YEARBOOKS TO BE
distributed THURSDAY
The 1972 publication of “The
Chowanoka” will be given out to
the students Thursday at a
supper on the green. Students will
have to bring their ID cards to be
able to pick up their copy of this
year’s annual.
This year’s “Chowanoka” is
really an outstanding issue. It has
many pictures that are
representative of the campus
scenes and activities.
The rain drizzled but Chowan
College’s Spring Festival, moved
indoors to the gymnasium,
refused to fizzle Saturday, April
22.
The decision to move the
festival from the traditional site,
the front lawn, was made at noon
following morning rains and the
promise of more to come, which
materialized.
Saturday's rains were sand
wiched between bright and sunny
days but Mrs. Janet Collins,
faculty director of the festival,
and her student assistants
quickly made the transition to the
gymnasium. We before the
time of the coronation the athletic
structure had undergone such a
colorful transformation that it
would surely have left Braves’
basketball coach. Bill McCraw,
wondering, “Is this really the
gymnasium?”
On schedule at 3 p.m. the
processional began. A decided
hit with the overflow crowd were
flower girls Linda Paul and Shari
Lynn Harris and crown bearer
Robert Morris.
Basking in the center spotUght
was Queen Patricia Fallis and
her court, which included fresh
man princess, Debra Alley of
Norfolk. Chowan President
Bruce E. Whitaker fixed her
crown in place to signal the
command performance for the
reigning Norfolk beauty.
The weather failed to dampen
the enthusiasm of the audience
nor th,.- performers, Chowan’s
snappy drill team of coeds in
Indian costumes, Spanish dan
cers and Professor Jefferson
Ishee, soloist, accompanied by
the Chowan Stage Band, Bob
Brown, director.
The Campus Carnival, minus
the games but with eats ranging
from tacos to candy apples to
cakes and cookies, was shifted to
the porch of McDowell Columns
following the festival. Business
was reported brisk.
Earlier activities included
registration and reception for
parents in East Hall lounge and
registration and luncheon for
alumni in the President’s Dining
Room of Thomas Cafeteria.
THE QUEEN IS CROWNED—Dr. Bruce E. Whitaker,
President of Chowan, places the crown upon Miss Patti
Fallis, to begin her reign as the 1972 Queen of Spring.
Miss Fallis, of Norfolk, was selected from a group of
contestants in the annual Queen of Spring Pageant held
in February.
Students Urged to Get Degree
Prior to Transfer from Chowan
ByD.H. NICHOLSON
Registrar
When an applicant is accepted
here at Chowan College as a
regular or full-time student, it is
automatically assumed by the
Director of Admissions and-or
the Admissions Committee that
the prospective student intends to
Transfer
Program
Announced
A direct transfer agreement
has been worked out between
Chowan College and Greensboro
College. So that you might have
appropriate information for the
guidance of your advisees and
other students that you might
have the occasion to counsel, we
are furnishing you with the terms
of this agreement.
1. Applicant must complete the
requirements for an Associate in
Arts or Associate in Science
degree at Chowan College.
2. Applicant must be recom-
meended by the Dean of the
College and the Dean of Students
of Chowan College.
3. Applicant will be accepted by
Greensboro College if he com
pletes his application by April 15
preceding toe fall semester.
4. All credits earned by the
applicant at Chowan College for
the Associate in Arts and for the
Associate in Science, with the
following exceptions, will be
accepted for transfer either as
required courses or electives,
subject to a limit of 66 semester
hours.
1. Those majors that require
courses in shorthand,
typewriting, office machines,
Nancy Taylor, dictation, and
transcription.
If there ar® students at
Chowan College who wish to go to
Greensboro College next fall,
1972, GC would waive the third
requirement that the student
apply to GC by April 15.
pursue work in a curriculum
which leads to a diploma or a
degree. Of course, whether or not
a student does this is primarily
his own decision.
However, members of the
faculty and the administration of
Chowan College strongly
recommend that the student stay
in a degree program and get the
associates degree, whether or not
he plans to continue his education
at a senior institution.
It is recommended the com
pleting the work for the two-year
degree for two reasons,
primarily: First, if the stude’ht
plans to complete his education
after two years at Chowan
College, he will have a tangible
form of evidence of recognition
for the completion of a particular
program or curriculum, and this
tangible evidence says much to a
prospective employer who will
want to know about the degree of
success which the student has
already met in his first two years
of higher education. Second, and
Registrar Issues
Information
On Transcripts
Chowan College sophomores
and prospective 1972 graduates
who anticipate transferring to
senior institutions next Fall
semester must have their final
transcripts released to the in
stitutions under consideration,
according to an announcement
this week from D. H. Nicholson,
Chowan Registrar.
These final transcripts will
include grades for this semester.
Such releases to senior in
stitutions are wholly the
responsibility of the students
themselves, and these releases
are initiated when the students
fill in the “Transcript Request
Form” in the Registrar’s office
and pay the proper fee.
perhaps this reason is the most
important, the associates degree
is becoming increasingly im
portant if that student ahs any
plans for continuing his education
at a senior college or university.
And it win be on this last reason
that the remainder of this column
will be focused.
For the Chowan College
student who anticipates tran
sferring to a senior college or
university, we strongly recom
mend that he complete work for
the associates degree because we
know that, increasingly, the
senior institutions are requiring
that transfer students from the
junior and community colleges
hold the two-year degree before
they are admitted to junior
status. Accordingly, we may see
this emphasis on the two-year
degree as a growing trend in the
admissions offices of many
senior colleges or universities.
For instance, last April, 1971, the
Community College System of
Florida negotiated with the State
University System of the same
state an “Artticulation
Agreement” which will facilitate
the movement of the state’s
community college and junior
college student into the Florida
state university system. And one
of the criteria for this movement
from the two-year school to the
university is that the prospective
transferer must hold the
associates degree. Florida is just
one of many states with such
agreements, and more such
institutions are in the making.
Perhaps, the most obvious
reason for completing the
requirements for the associates
degree is that one concerned with
the actual transfer of course
hours and course requirements
from the two-year instiution to
the four-year institution: many
schools will accept an occasional
‘D’ grade in transfer where the
student either has an over-all ‘C’
average or the associates degree.
For instance, through the use of
what is termed “Direct Transfer
Agreements” many senior
colleges and universities will
consider accepting ‘D’s’ in
transfer if the student has earned
the over-all ‘C’ average and-or
the associates degree.
For example, Radford College
in Virginia, Campbell and
Catawba Colleges here in North
Carolina and East Tennessee
State University will accept ‘D’s’
in transfer if the applicant has an
over-all ‘C’ average on all work
and-or the associates degree.
Since 80 per cent of our
enrollment here at Chowan
College does plan to transfer, this
percentage should address itself
early to the clear advantages of
first earning the associates
degree before planning to
transfer to a senior institution.
For more information about
this situation and others which
the student may not at this time
be able to anticipate, a
publication, A STEP AHEAD, is
available in the Registrar’s
Offiae which answers many of the
salient questions of two-year
college students as they attempt
to ready themselves for a senior
college or university. The reader
is invited to purchase a copy of A
STEP AHEAD and explore the
many options open to him as he
prepares for his admission to a
senior instiution.
irfi —'
QUEEN AND ESCORT—Miss Patti Fallis, Queen of
Spring, is escorted to her throne by her escort.
Nixon Trip Topic of Symposium
President Nixon’s visit to China
and its repercussions on Taiwan
was discussed at a Sino-
American Symposium for North
Carolina and Virginia high school
students held Saturday, April 15
in Marks Hall auditorium at
Chowan College.
Registration began at 10 a.m.
with refreshments served until
10:25 when Chowan President
Bruce E. Whitaker gave the
welcome.
The program featured a native
Hungarian and former chairman
of the Social Science Department
at Chowan, Dr. Bela Udvarnoki.
He spoke on President Nison’s
visit to China at 10:30 a.m.
At 11 o’clock, Stephen T. S.
Chiang, a Chowan student from
Taiwan, discussed “Storm Cloud
Over Formosa.” At 11:30 a.m., a
panel of faculty and staff
members gave their reaction to
the messages. Members were
Dr. B. Franklin Lowe, Jr., dean
of the college; Darrell H.
Nicholson, registrar; and
professors Bruce Charles Fryer,
social science, Mrs. Rachel N.
Pittman, business, and Warren
G. Sexton, chairman of the
sponsoring social science
department. A question and
answer period completed the
program.
Dr. Udvarnoki served as
president of the Hungarian
Baptist Convention and Baptist
Siminary in Hungary before
fleeing the country in 1947 during
the Communist takeover. From
1948 to 1952 he was pastor of
Gatesville Baptist Church and
served as chairman of the social
science department at Chowan
from 1952 to 1963.
He is presently the editor of a
Hungarian magazine, “The
Gospel Messenger,” distributed
across the United States and 10
foreign countries. He is the
author of several books and many
articles and widely known as a
speaker on international
relations.