Page 2 — Smoke Signals, Friday, October 12, 1979
EDITORIAL OPINION
Stick to SGA Rules
Greg Kaserman, Student Government social chairperson for
men, angered most SGA members with his persistance to obtain
adjournment of the October 1 legislative meeting because the
organization lacked enough representatives to meet a quorum.
According to the present SGA constitution, two-thirds of the Stu
dent Legislature constitutes a quonun; however, two thirds did
not show for the meeting.
SGA President Michael Burke says the organization plans to
rewrite the constitution. He said he met with President Bruce E.
Whitaker,and he agreed the constitution needs some revisions.
Should Burke and his members rewrite the laws, the student body
must ratify it before it becomes official.
When Kaserman walked out on fellow SGA members, he “com
mitted a serious offence,” as Burke puts it. But he was also show
ing that the organization should follow the rules set before them—
and adhere to them accordingly.
We feel Kaserman’s stand is just. Until the SGA’s constitution is
revised, the government should stick to its rules and follow them
until another is ratified by the student body.
Burke said when he took the oath as president, there was no
stipulation calling for him to honor the guidelines provided by the
present constitution. Therefore he feels compelled to bend a law
here, and one there-even though the only guidelines he and the
organization have say differently.
Kaserman said he’s fed up with the organization’s not following
the constitution. He said he knows he’s not going to win any
popularity awards for his stand, but he’s tired of “too much
apathy” on the part of some representatives.
Kaserman’s actions were probably, at best, a waste of time and
an embarrassment. But he’s showed us, however, that he believes
in following set laws and abiding by them.
If everyone would abide by laws, rules, and regulations these
days, everything would move so much more smoothly.
HARRY PICKETT
Let the Students Speak
The Chowan College Student Handbook states that “student
government is the basic channel for student participation in deci
sion making and for meeting the needs of students. It is an in-
tregal part of student life and all students are encouraged to par
ticipate and support its efforts.”
If the preceding statement is true, then why weren’t students
allowed a voice in the SGA’s decision to charge 50 cents admission
to see on-campus movies already paid for in our tuition? It is the
job of the SGA to represent the student body. It is the job of the stu
dent body to voice its collective opinion to the SGA. This can be
done by seeking out the SGA representative on your floor. He or
she is there to listen to your gripes and suggestions.
Greg Kaserman, second floor Parker Hall RA and SGA movie
conmiittee chairman, reports that one of the issues leading to the
50 cents “service charge” has to do with the combined feelings of
SGA advisors Coach Nelson and Mrs. Vann that students wiU show
a little more respect for college property and self-control if they
are charged to see movies.
The SGA movie committee has been fighting a losing battle try
ing to keep food, drinks and cigarettes out of the Columns Building
auditorium. Since the money collected from students who attend
on-campus movies goes into the student entertainment fund, it is
essential that a minimum amount of damage be done to the
auditorium because it is our money that goes into fixing it.
So, please show a little concern and don’t hassle the movie com
mittee members when they tell you not to eat, drink or smoke in
the auditorium.
The present charge of 50 cents admission is on a trial basis until
the end of this month. If we can show the administration that we
won’t tear the Columns Building down, maybe we can start seeing
movies for free again. However, the next time the SGA decides on
something, the student body deserves a right to say “yea” or
“nay”. - CHARLES HITCHCOCK
Edited, printed and published
by students at Chowan College
for students, faculty and staff
of Chowan College
Harry Pickett — Editor
Donna Swicegood — Assistant to the Editor
Greg Bassett
Belinda Elmore
Kathy Fisher
Pattie Bolgosano
Doug Cowart
News Staff
Menford Grisewould
Charles Hitchcock
Wllliom Hobson
Photo Staff
Dennis Loan
Bob Lumpkins
Steve Sanders
Shelly Jankosky
Dean Lowman
Barbara Porker
Randy Stogner
Larry Stukes
Use Care
In Taking
Medicine
By SARAH WRIGHT
Director of Health Services
Students are seen in the infirmary
each day with prescription medications
which are not being taken with proper
instructions.
The following information was
provided by the Director of Health
Services last year and is being
reprinted for the benefit of those people
who may not have seen it or were not
here.
Some Do's and Don'ts
When Taking Medicine
Which Should Be Observed
When certain medications are taken
after eating one may receive the fuU
benefit of the drug, or the desired effect
may not be reached.
To help one avoid some unwanted
effects the following advice is being
given.
ERYTHROMYCIN — Take one hour
before meals or three hours after
meals. Do not take with carbonated
drinks or fruit juices. This makes the
drug decompose prematurely.
TYLENOL (ACETAMINAPHEN)
If taken with carbohydrates, this will
slow down the rate of absorption, so if
this was being taken to lower tem
perature the process would be delayed.
TETRACYCLINE - Do not take with
milk or any dairy product, this prevents
absorption of the drug. It is best to take
tetracycline one hour after meals. The
long range use of tetracycline in the last
half of pregnancy and in infancy to age
8 years may cause permanent
discoloration of teeth. Sunburn is more
likely when taking tetracycline.
LINCOMYCIN — No food or
beverage one hour before taking or two
hours after taking. Only water may be
used during this one to two hour period.
The drug will not be properly absorbed
when consumed with food or beverage.
PENICILLIN — Should be taken with
water on an empty stomach. When
taken with acidic fruit juices or
beverages the drug decomposes too
soon.
ASPIRIN — When taken in excess
can cause abnormal bleeding in the
stomach and leads to stomach ulcers.
Chewing the aspirin before swallowing
will keep the tablet from sticking to the
wall of the esophagus or stomach.
IRON — Should not be taken with
milk, eggs or cereal. The beneficial
effect will not be achieved. When iron is
taken with citrus fniit juices the iron is
absorbed too quickly and may ..cause
nausea and vomiting.
When your doctor gives you a
prescription, tell him if you are taking
other medication. Ask if you should
expect any reaction or side effects.
Mention any chronic condition you
might have such as diabetes, high blood
pressure and be sure to mention any
allergy you may have.
When a doctor gives you a
prescription for an antibotic such as
penicillin, tetracycline, etc., be sure to
take the medicine as prescribed. When
you start feeling better don’t stop
taking the prescribed medicine. The
doctor prescribes the least amount
of,medication believed to take care of
the existing condition. When
medication is stopped after the signs
disappear, the relapse likely to occur
will be more resistant to treatment.
Student
Forum
Editor:
All is well in the college-front, except
for the complaints, complaints, com
plaints . . . Nothing but regrets,
grumbles and excessive growls. The
biggest criticism, prohibiting of
alcoholic beverages, followed by non-
coed dorms, lack of any uplifting enter
tainment and the ever-popular Chowan
gruel.
In any general conversation it can be
well assumed that the college catalog
(“overflowing” with rules and regula
tions) had never been read and that
orientation, which is virtually man-
dantory, was never attended. But alas,
the complaints still run-on, many
stating the rules were not “explained”
to them. (This College is Baptist af
filiated.)
As for the entertainment, what can be
expected in a town of 5,600, 1,200 of
which include Chowanians and the
nearest town of any greater amuse
ment being Ahoskie, 13 miles away.
Surley, this could have been forseen
before the long hard trek off to college,
of which most weekends are spent at
home.
And the food . . . True it isn’t quite
like Mom’s and a little more personal
touch is needed, but feeding an average
of 1,000 students three times a day is no
easy task.
In my conclusion it is my hope that
the complainers and those who have
“stuck-it-out” find a “better” place to
get their heads straight as to what the
future may hold.
Sincerely,
Robert E. Laws, Jr.
(jiWtKccfFee.
w ie?...
!
I
s
cPS
1/mr’remem^/h
A'.iv '■V '
GUEST PERSPECTIVE
By MICHAEL BURKE
SGA President
As Student Body President I would
like to urge each student to get more in
volved in school activities. Even though
students need to spend countless hours
studying each day, one should still not
overlook other important things.
In search for a job after college, you
will find an employer will be more like
ly to hire a well-rounded person than
one with a one-track mind. With this in
mind, reach out and find something you
are interested in and go for it. The
social clubs, for instance, are always in
need of students willing to lend a help
ing hand. The SGA itself has many com
mittees that need to be filled.
The faculty and administration have
been more than helpful to these clubs
and organizations. They have done
their part — so lets do ours. We as
students have been given much power
to govern ourselves if we will just ex
cept the responsibility.
There is a saying, “It is better to have
little talent and much purpose than to
have much talent and little purpose.”
Let us as students stop complaining
and decide to do something about our
problems.
Current Issues
Beware of the Pollsters —
They Can Prove Most Anything
By DEAN LOWMAN
Public opinion polls aUow, sup-
, posedly,, the , majority to. ...base
judgments about a certain subject on
.i^itheideas nfaisekotfew. Howenrer«iwith
all the different polls (Gallup, Harris,
NBC, etc.) in circulation today, one
hardly knows what or who to believe.
Polls are constantly being taken and
studied. Inevitably they overlap, which
can cause confusion if the results of
the overlapping polls do not agree. The
average person can only base his
judgments on the information which he
receives and, if this information hap
pens to be in conflict, he must make yet
another decision — which information
should he believe.
.This system, would be ideal it^a true
.^sampling of the population could be li
n] lObtBined. iHowetfeF^-ithe pollster has a
neither the time nor the facilities to
handle every bit of the public’s opinion
on the various subjects. Another
problem is evident as the pollster is
foried to obtain a limited sampling of
the opinions of the public-at-large. In
doing this, the pollster is capable of
selecting people whose opinions agree
with whatever he may want them to
agree with. The very possibility of a
biased sampling renders the resulting
results of the survey inaccurate.
With this fact in mind, one should
., begin to prepare himself -for... the
inevitable onslaught of poUticid |k>l]s
vrtiich will' appear monei'andinmore
frequently as the presidential election
of 1980 nears. It is not advisable to base
one’s opinion on what “everybody else”
says. A wiser, more responsible action
would be to read comments by the
politicians involved and to see them if
at all possible. After doing this, one
should then make his judgement on the
basis of truthful evidence, rather than
inaccurate polls or damaging rumors,
as to where his allegiances lie.
Fewer Minority Students Enroll
In First Post-Bakke Law Class
(CPS)—The first law school classes
to be fully processed under strictures of
the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 1978
Bakke decision seems to be a lot whiter
than last year’s first year students.
A number of law schools have
reported significant declines in the
registration of minority first-year
students. The number of Chicano law
students at George Washingtoi)
University law school, for example, fell
from nine to four this year. Harvard
registered 88 minority students, as
compared with 98 last year.
First-year law classes at Nor
theastern University, Berkley, the
University of Pennsylvania, and New
York University, among others, include
fewer minorities this year.
The major exceptions to the trend
were the University of Chicago law
school, where there are nearly twice as
many black first-year students than
last fall, at Stanford, and at the
University of Califomia-Davis, where
minorities make up almost a quarter of
the class.
It was at Davis, of course, that Allan
Bakke claimed that he had been denied
admission to medical school because
preferential—and discriminatory—
treatment had been given minority
students. The case went to the U.S.
Supreme Court, which ruled that Davis’
quota system amounted to reverse
discrimination. The court ordered
Bakke accepted at the med school. The
ruling has had major impacts on
professional schools’ admissions
procedures.
Some law school adminstrators,
however, blame the decline in the
number of black enroUees on simple
competition, not on affirmative action
programs allegedly gutted by the
Bakke decision.
Robert Staneck, assistant dean of
admissions at George Washington, says
“we admitted more minority students
than ever this year, but a lower per
centage came to register.” Penn ad
missions director Arnold J. Miller says
that was just a case of law schools
competing for fewer minority students.
“There was on overall drop in the
number of minority applications to law
schools, which means that Harvard
has to search a little further, and dig a
little. When they do, it’s a game of
musical chairs, and it goes on down the
list Everybody else then has to dig
deeper, or get fewer enrolled.”
Compus Pciperbock bestsellers
1. The World According to Garp, by John Irving. (Pocket,
$2.75.) Hilarious adventures of a son of a fannous mother.
2. The Far Pavilions, by M. M. Kaye. (Bantam, $2.95.) High
adventure and love in the Himalayas; fiction.
3. Chesapeake, by James l\/1ichener. (Fawcett, $3.95.)
Multi-family saga along Maryland’s Eastern Shore; fiction.
4. Evergreen, by Belva Plain. (Dell, $2.75.) Jewish immi
grant woman’s climb from poverty on lower Manhattan.
5. Wifey, by Judy Blume. (Pocket, $2.50.) Housewife’s ex
periences on road to emotional maturity; fiction.
6. Scruples, by Judith Krantz. (Warner, $2.75.) Rags to
riches in the fashion world; fiction.
7. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett. (NAL/Signet, $2.95.)
British/Nazi espionage thriller; fiction.
8. The Women’s Room, by Marilyn French. (Jove/HBJ,
$2.50.) Perspective on women's role in society; fiction.
9. Murphy’s Law, by Arthur Bloch. (Price/Stern/Sloan,
$2.50.) And other reasons why things go wrong.
10. Bloodline, by Sidney Sheldon. (Warner, $2.75.) Woman
inherits power and international intrigue; fiction.
Compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education from information
supplied by college stores throughout the country. October 1,1979.
Association of American Publishers