Campus Question: "Did Watching 'Sesame Street' Help You Educationally
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Murphy
Cowan
Fuller
Crustic
An interesting fact might have been missed by many students this year as they looked at the entering
Freshmen. They are the first class to graduate from “Sesame Street.” They were five years old when
the Children’s Television Workshop presentation first aired in the fall of 1969.
Collegiate Press Service writer Mary Ann Watson details the impact on viewing “Sesame Street”
elsewhere in this issue of Smoke Signals.
Smoke Signals staffers, David Winstead and Jeff Melton, questioned Chowan Freshmen about their
early television habits for this campus question.
Patricia Murphy, Murfreesboro said, “Yes, it helped me a little bit.”
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Beth Cowan, Bertie County, North Carolina: “I loved to hear Kermit the Frog sing.’
Sheila Fuller, Goldsboro: “Yes, it helped me a great deal.”
Norman Crustic, New Bern,: “I don’t know, I can’t remember that long.”
Joe Butler, Wilmington, N.C.,: “I ain’t never watched it.”
Marvin Cosby, Richmond,: “I never watched it.”
Pam Nobles, Walterboro, S.C.,: “The only reason I watched it was because of Oscar.’
Todd Kelly, Sterling, Va.: “Yes, I guess so. I learned from the Count.”
Volume 14, Number 2
Murfreesboro. North Carolina 27855
November 17, 1982
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A Look Into The Future
Chowan In Twenty-Five Years
(Ed. Note)....Members of the Class of
2007 have not been born yet. The
average age of this year’s entering
Freshmen will be forty-three and they
could be the parents of the Class of 2007.
Current faculty members would be “up
in age” at that time. What will it be like.
We are curious like you are. Reporter
Mike Shenuski dusted off his crystal
ball for his look into the future.
By Mike Shenuski
Now that the faculty and students are
well into the 1982-83, school year, the
last thing on everyone’s mind is what
we will be doing in 25 years.
The administrators and trustees of
Chowan College however, look into the
future with great optimism and an
ticipation. The year 2007 may very well
seem like a long way off, but to officials
planning for the future is necessary and
important. Plans have already been
conceived on how to educate people of
the future.
In the business department a new ap
proach to typing has been discovered.
Chowan is presently the only institution
in North Carolina which uses the Cortez
Peters Championship typing method. It
seems to be working too. Who knows
what new methods of teaching will be
offered to the class of 2007. Students,
who have yet to be born, are being plan
ned for now.
'Change is constant in all aspects of
life." notes Dean Lewis. “Chowan will
keep in step with the times, updating all
material and buildings as time goes
by.”
"Chowan is a religious oriented col
lege,” explains Dean Lewis, “and the
spiritual realm will always remain con
stant.”
Confronting Dean Lewis on the ques
tion of what will become of Chowan in
2007, his first reaction was a light
hearted smile replying “I won’t be
here.”
Dean I^ewis went on to say the cam
pus will hopefully have a few more
buildings, aside from the Graphic Arts
building which will be twenty-five years
old in 2007.
The buildings include a new cafateria
facility and a chapel.
The overall outlook of the campus
will be more beautiful as the trees will
be bigger and the buildings and dorms
renovated.
The size of the student body will de
pend on a number of variables, the
most obvious is whether our generation
will change the current birth rate and
add to the population. Other things to
take into consideration are interna-
Challenge Gift Made
For Graph ics Building
A North Carolina publisher, who
wishes to remain anonymous, has
pledged a $150,000 challenge gift to
aid in the construction of the new
Chowan College graphic com
munications center.
The donor stipulated that the col
lege raise an equal amount from in
dividuals, foundations and corpora
tions in order to claim the $150,000,
The announcement of the gift
was made by President Bruce E.
Whitaker and Lindsay B, Mount,
publisher of the l>enoir News Topic
who is president of the Chowan Col
lege Graphic Arts Foundation.
At the time of the announcement
of the challenge gift, the college
had reached the $130,000 mark in
its drive to raise $550,000 for the
new facihty. When the challenge
gift is matched, Chowan will be at
the $430,000 mark.
Stated Dr. Whitaker, "this
challenge grant has come at a
critical time in our campaign to
secure the necessary funds. We
must claim the $150,000 challenge
at the earliest possible dale.”
The Chowan Graphic Arts Foun
dation, organized in 1966 and made
up of members of the North
From 'Sesame Street'
To College Street
By Mary Ann Watson
Collegiate Press Service
ANN ARBOR, MI (CPS)-Time flies
when you’re watching tv.
It’s already time for college’s first
Sesame Street class. This year’s
freshmen were five years old —the
eldest of the show’s original target au
dience — when Sesame Street bowed in
the fall of 1969,
Back then the show was a bold experi
ment in combining education and enter
tainment. The goal was to help three-
to-five-year-olds prepare for school by
teaching basic cognitive skills and
social behavior through slick television
techniques.
The result, many experts said, would
revolutionize education as the genera
tions of show-taught kids moved up, for
cing educators to re-align curricula to
accommodate them.
But except for some fond memories,
this year’s freshmen aren’t sure
Sesame Street has made that much of a
difference. Their teachers, moreover,
haven’t done much to alter college
courses to allow for their earlier educa
tional development.
“Let’s put it this way: college faculty
aren’t ripping up their syllabi waiting
for these kids to enroll at college,” says
Carl Fessler, an education professor at
the University of Alaska who has
studied television’s effect on education.
Fessler believes most of the show’s
impact is confined to lower grades, and
that it never rippled upward in spite of
educators’ best hopes.
The show has done “creative and ex
citing things,” says Helene Gerstein, a
professional development specialists
with the National Education Associa
tion, but it’s had little effect on even
elementary school curricula.
Some teachers have added extra pro
grams because of the increased
"reading readiness” Sesame Street
provided, but they haven’t been able to
change their methods of teaching
reading and writing, Gerstien says.
It’s a far cry from the starry-eyed vi
sions that entranced Sesame Street
fans when the show debuted.
Common Cause Director John Gard
ner, then a recent ex-Secretary of
Health, Education and Welfare, saw the
show as a harbinger of “a radical
upgrading of educational quality on a
massive scale.”
" Anyone who doesn’t recognize these
breakthroughs as the first limping
(Continued On Page 4)
Carolina Press Association, has
been conducting an intensive drive
to secure funds for the new center
from its members and the
newspaper and printing industry.
The officers of the Graphic Arts
Foundation include:
Lindsay B. Mount. l>enoir, presi
dent; Chester Middlesworth,
Statesville, vice president; and Joe
Parker, Ahoskie, treasurer. Her
man Gatewood, chairman of the
School of Graphic Communica
tions, serves as secretary.
Mount commented. "We’re
pleased that one of our own North
Carolina publishers has made this
challenge grant. We urge all
members of the North Carolina
newspaper and printing communi
ty to help us meet this challenge. At
the same time we are seeking help
from members of the industry, in
dividuals and foundations across
the nation.”
The building is being constructed by
Kevelle Builders Inc. of Murfreesboro.
The foundation including its exterior
walls and plumbing has been com
pleted, Work is now progressing on the
exterior walls, plumbing and wiring for
the main floor. Charles L. Reveile, Jr.,
president of Reveile Builders Inc., said
plans call for the building to be closed in
by December.
The center will be 200 ft. long and 70
ft. wide. Rooms include photograhic
labs, press room, preparatory offset
room, and a composing room. The
building also will contain 10 offices, a
newsroom, two classrooms, student
lounge, a studio, production darkroom,
and other photography areas.
Dr. Whitaker said he anticipates that
the building will be completed by May,
1983. The equipment will be set up dur
ing the summer and the building will be
ready for classes to begin in the fall of
1983, he noted.
The Chowan College School of
Graphic Communications has been
training young men and women to meet
the acute need for trained workers in
the printing and publishing industries
(Continued On Page 4)
tional relations. Hopefully, the United
States will be at peace with the rest of
the world. World peace is important
and will have an impact on Chowan Col
leges attendance in more ways than
one. The armed forces could possibly
draft many would be Chowan students.
The amount of money the government
can put into financial aid will be a fac
tor, although by 2007 Chowan hopefully
will not be as dependent on the govern
ment for financial aid.
The basic core of the curriculum at
Chowan will remain unchanged.
Although the content of the courses will
change due to further research, such as
in the Business Department, the basic
titles of the courses will stay the same.
Perhaps the biggest change at
Chowan College in twenty-five years
would be if the school should grow to a
four year institution. Since it is the only
Baptist junior college in North
Carolina, there might be some feeling
as to joining Wingate Mars Hill, and
Gardner Webb, and the other four year
schools. The other side of that coin
would be the belief of being a strong two
year school or a weak four year school.
A decison of that magnitude is a long
way down the road. A lot of study and
(Continued On Page 4)
Three In A Row
Colin Steele, Betsy Miller, and Ed Wooten are not talking about themselves but the trophy they're holding. It was
recently presented to Chovs/on College by the Tidev/ater Regional Blood Center of the American Red Cross. It is in
recognition of Chov^/an College having the highest percentage of blood donors based on student population of the
colleges and schools in Northeastern North Carolina. Ms. Miller, Field Representative for the Red Cross, told
Smoke Signals that it is unusual for schools to win the aword fhree yeors in a row like Chowan Only Roanoke Bi
ble College is listed on the plaque besides Chowan, which has won it since 1979.(Staff Photo)