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Permit No. 56
Associated
Collegiate
Press
Volume XXVIII, No. 3
Methodist College, Fayetteville, N.C. 28311
Monday, September 24, 1990
President Delivers Convocation Address
Text Of Speech
This summer I read an interesting
book by Bruce Wilshire, a philosophy
professor at Rutgers University. The
book was entitled The Moral Collanse
of the University. Wilshire’s book has
been described as a liberal response to
Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the
American Mind as well as a step be
yond his rather pessimistic critique of
American education. If you are inter
ested in education, and especially lib
eral arts education, I heartily recom
mend Wilshire’s book. Some of what
1 say to you today can be attributed to
him—although you cannot blame him
for everything. I am quite capable of
mistakes without any help.
One of the things that Professor
Wilshire observes is that college pro
fessors spend very little time talking
about the art and science of education.
He notes that they talk about many
things—including, he reports, admin
istrators. I find that hard to believe but
that is what the man says. I can only
conclude thatRutgers must be a strange
On the Verge
of Exploring
by Linda C. Welch
On the Verge will play at Methodist
College’s outdoor O’Hanlon Theatre
on Friday, Octobcr 5 and Saturday,
October 6 at 8:00 p.m.and on Sunday
October 7 at 2:00 p.m. Methodist
College students, faculty an staff are
admitted free. For everyone else, the
price of admission is S5.00 for adults
and S3.00 for children and senior citi
zens.
The play will be directed by Meth
odist drama department faculty mem
ber Paul Wilson. Wilson admits he
chose this work becau.sc it contains
strong roles for women and more
women try out than men It is also a
play that could easily be done at
Methodist’s O’Hanlon outdoor theatre.
Mr. Wilson has previously worked at
the Cape Fear Regional Playhouse and
the Ft Bragg Playhouse. Patrice
Spangler, having had various roles at
MethodistCollege, stars as Mary. Amy
Currie, also having had previous
Methodist roles, stars as Alexandria
and Tracy Maness, a new talent here at
Methodist, stars as Fanny. Tim
Callahan—of Cape Fear Regional
Playhouse, Ft Bragg Playhouse,
Manny’s Dinner Theatre, and Meth
odist Col lege fame—wil 1 play the only
male part in which he will branch out
into eight different characters.
Has anyone ever stopped to consider
why certain plays are presented here at
Methodist College? Many may won
der when they see the title of the up
coming Fall production. On the Verge
by Eric Ovenmyer.
Ovenmyer, a former story editor
and script writer for television’s St.
Elsewhere, has given us an incredibly
witty situational comedy filled with
puns and hilarious physical comedy.
But why On the Verge? Who has
heardofit? Weliketosee things we’re
familiar with. We feel safer then
somehow. Why not Neil Simon?
Ironically On the Verge is a play which
deals with exploration. Many plays
that you haven’t seen but are familiar
with may leave you with a precon
ceived notion. So why not explore?
The story begins in 1888 when three
women set out to explore geographical
space. The adventure takes them to
darkest Africa, the highest Himalayas
and, Terra Incognita, spinning into lime
travel.
Our explorer heroines can accom
modate themselves to any emergency
(natural or man made) and are in no
way representative of a weaker sex.
Momentarily disorientated as they
approach modem times, they journey
through a rain forest of hundreds of
artifacts from the future—household
utensils, mechanical devices, and an
automotive side-view mirror thatreads
'‘Objects in this mirror may be closer
place indeed if the faculty have noth
ing better to talk about. Faculty
members also talk frequently about
their disciplines but seldom do they
talk about teaching as an activity.
Now I susfxjct that at liberal arts
colleges like Methodist that the lack of
reflection about teaching is not nearly
so acute as Wilshire believes but he is
onto something. Even at small un
dergraduate schools devoted to teach
ing very little attention is paid explic
itly to the practice of teaching. I pur
pose today to reflect briefly with you
on what it is we do as teachers—or at
least on what we intend to do.
The Romans had two words for
education: Instruere from which we
get the English word instruction. This
Latin word has the meaning to bui Id in.
In rich contrast is the word Educare
from which we get the English word
education. It means to lead out or to
drawouL The difference between these
two words is striking.
“The educator leads students out to
confront basic questions, while the
instructor merely builds in information
and techniques . . . [the instructor
provides]... answers to questions that
each person need not ask anew . .
(Wilshire, p. 22) Instruction has as its
major thrust helping students to answer
questions. Good instruction would
leave no important question unan
swered.
Good instruction provides infor
mation or in today’s jargon it expands
the database.
Good students are those who can store
information, readily access that infor
mation and efficiently process it. Such
students have a large number of ge
netically supplied memory chips and
they can rapidly access archival stor
age and they can also efficiently pro
cess instructions. It is probably sig
nificant here that the directions that we
give to computers are also labeled with
the Latin root instruere.
Now please do not misunderstand
me. We will not bash computers. 1
love computers. Programming is a
hobby of mine. It is pleasant relaxation.
One can build and retreat into a well-
ordered and structured world where
everything works according to clearly
stated rules. It has a kind of fascinating
beauty. The words of this talk today
were “processed” with a fairly so
phisticated word proces.sor. I love my
computer.
But loading information into a da
tabase, whether the active memory is
made of silicon chips on the
motherboard or neurons in the brain
cells is quite removed from what I
mean by education. Of course one
should learn to access a database just
as one leams to use the telephone or to
drive. An educated person should be
able to use or not use current technol
ogy as personal preference and par
ticular situations dictate. But also being
instructed in the use of technology—
or anything else—is not education.
Education aims to teach students to
ask questions, perhaps even questions
that have never been asked before.
Edward Purcell, a famous Harvard
physicist, said that “Knowledge ad
vances at the rate at which we ask
correct questions.” The.se are questions
that must be asked again and again—
Good, Truth, Virtues.
Education prepares one to deal
creatively with complexity and to re
late different disciplines. Most of the
major problems which will confront
our world during the lives of our stu
dents are multidisciplinary issues.
Consider genetic engineering or envi
ronmental problems. My first intro
duction to complexity was as a junior
in high school when a teacher suggested
that I read Dickens’ A Tale of Two
Cities. It begins with the famous pas
sage “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness, it was the
epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us ...”
1 struggled with how so many con
tradictory things could exist simulta
neously. I now realize that such con
tradictions and complexities are the
rule rather than the exception of human
existence. Education prepares us for
the complexities and contradictions of
life.
Of course, our students often en
courage us as faculty to instruct them
President Hendricks
rather than to educate. They want us to
provide a body of knowledge, prefer
ably even a body of facts, which they
can learn for the next test. All of us as
faculty members have been disturbed
Convocation Page 4
ODK Distributes Membership AppUcations
Paul Wilson
than they appear.”
Eventually Fanny and Alexandria,
intrigued by such amazements as the
surfboard, the barbecue (“the suburban
charred meat festival”) and the jacuzzi,
decide to settle down in the year 1955.
Mary, still ablaze with adventure, re
solves to move on. The others know
that Mary can take the future in her
stride. And if Mary can, we may find
ourselves thinking at the end of this
unconventionally fun play, so can we.
The author himself is an ecologist
of language and a shrewd observer of
ourquest to control our environment—
and the environment of others. May
you enjoy your journey through a
continuum of space, time, history, ge
ography, feminism and fashion.
by Caroline F. Kearns
The national leadership society
Omicron Delta Kappa will soon be
sending applications for membership
to qualified students. According to the
ODK president, Pamela Johnson, jun
iors and seniors with a GPA of 3.2 or
higher will be receiving applications.
To be eligible for membership, ap
plicants must demonstrate exemplary
character, intelligence, and leadership
ability through participation in threeof
these six areas: athletics, academics,
performing arts, speech and journalism,
.student government, and community
service/religious life. ODK is urging
students who receive applications to
fill them out and return them to Pamela
Johnson, Methodist College box #
12626.
Current members of ODK are:
Pamela Johnson, president, Kelli Sapp,
vice president, John Hawkins, Kelly
Cleverly, Anne Thorpe, and Nancy
Ramsey. The group’s faculty advisor
is Mr. Parker Wilson, and their faculty
secretary is Mrs. Nona Fisher.
ODK recently presented ius first
“Professor of the Month Award” to
Mr. Alan Porter and Mrs. Elaine Por
ter. The club also plans to present
awards for freshman and sophomore
leadership and most outstanding club
at the end of the second semester.
Students Are Unrealistic
About Job Expectations
by Colleen Witt
Kathy Woltz, Director of Counsel
ing and Career Placement, has ex
pressed concern for students entering
the job market after graduation. “Stu
dents are incredibly unrealistic about
what their starting salary will be and
how easy it is to find a job,” Ms. Woltz
said. She finds that most students feel
that just because they have a degree
they will be guaranteed a job. She also
finds that many students with little or
no experience nevertheless expect to
start out making $25,(XX) a year. Al
though Ms. Woltz concedes that sala
ries for entry level positions range
widely, most college graduates will
find that local starting salaries arc be
tween SI5,000 and S16,0(X) a year.
Students are also unrealistic about
the number of resumes that they will
have to send out in order to land an
interview. “Some students send out
five resumes and become upset be
cause they haven’t heard from the
companies.”
This is not the “real world,” Ms. Woltz
Omicron Delta Kappa (Last Year)
Students Forced To
Share Dorm Rooms
said. On the national average, fewer
than a third of the resumes sent out will
receive responses. The applicant will
either be immediately rejected or will
be placed on file. The student must
remember that he or she may be com
peting against 200 to 3(X) other appli
cants for the same job. It is not un
common for a student to send out up to
30 resumes in order to secure an in
terview.
In today ’ s society, the job market is
highly competitive and students are
going to have to work hard to get the
job they want, Ms. Woltz said. She
also stressed the importance of grades.
“A degree is not everything, a GPA is
very important when competing for a
job.” When all other factors are equal
between two applicants, the one with
the higher GPA will almost definitely
be awarded the position.
Ms. Woltz is ready to assist all
students with career counseling and
job placement. She suggests that se
niors should not wait until the last
moment to start applying.
by Melissa Rogers
Last year many students were al
lowed private rooms, but over the sum
mer all residents of both Cumberland
Hall and Sanford Hall were informed
that they would be sharing their rooms
despite requests for private rooms.
Space was suddenly at a premium due
to the rise in male enrollment Ac
cording to Chris Ryan, Assistant Dean
for Student Affairs, there were 495
resident students as of August 23: 252
new students and 243 returning stu
dents, 328 of the total number were
men.
The high ratio of men to women can
be attributed to the recruiting efforts of
coaches for Methodist’s sports pro
grams. As Chris Ryan explained, the
programs “don’t offer females what
they offer males.” The football program
brought in 70 new students while the
golf program brought in 100 to 150
new students, and the majority of those
students were men. The men’s soccer
team, the baseball team, and the track/
cross country program brought in ad
ditional men. This large influx of
males created the shortage of private
rooms.
Many students have openly ex
pressed their displeasure with having
roommates. CumberlandresidentEric
Holle expressed his disapproval by
saying, “They stuck a bunch of fresh
men in with upperclassmen! That’s
bull!” Although many students were
displeased, no one was guaranteed a
private room even if they requested
one. In Todd Pope’s case, he was not
guaranteed the room that he had put a
deposit on. “I reserved a room last
semester... and Iefta$50 deposit, and
when I came back they had put fresh
men in my room. . . When I asked
student affairs, they said they couldn’t
do a thing and left us on our own.”
Overcrowding in the men’s dormi
tories has led many students to ask two
questions: Should another dorm be
built? Should some of the men be
moved to empty rooms in the women’s
dorms? The college administration
has recognized that there is a problem
and is attempting to find a solution.
On-campus apartments were recently
“renovated for the overflow” of male
students. The idea of moving all of the
women into one dorm was also con
sidered. However, after a bit of arith
metic, the administration realized that
this plan would leave 15 women with
out a room. Some male students have
complained that there were plenty of
private rooms on the men’s first floor
in Garber Hall but Dean Ryan explained
that the reason no men were moved
into Garber to alleviate the crowding is
because nobody asked to be moved
intoGarber. Hesaid,“Youhavetofill
out an application to be in Garber.”
Discontent engendered by over
crowding may be a factor in campus-
wide social problems—such as
breaking dorm rules, parking viola
tions, and fighting or vandalism. Dean
Ryan agreed. “Sure the number of
violators is up. That’s a given.” But he
also added that the number of parking
violations is down since the beginning
of the year and the number of alcohol-
related problems is notas high as would
be expected with such a large number
of residents.
IsthereanychanceofaC umberland
or Sanford Hall resident still obtaining
a private room? During the 1990 spring
semester, there were 58 fewer resi
dential students than there were at the
end of the previous semester. If this
historical pattern holds, there may soon
be private roomsavailable. Dean Ryan
says the only way to take advantage of
this opportunity is on a “first come—
first served basis.” Students are asked
to “hang in there for a little longer.”
V