Newspapers / Methodist University Student Newspaper / Sept. 24, 1990, edition 1 / Page 4
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Hage4 SMALLTALK September 24, 1990 Convocation cont'd at times by those immortal words “Will this be on the next test?” I once had a student who said that he thought that as the teacher I was supposed to know what was important for him so that he would not waste his time on the unim portant. He had what I would call the Cliff Notes approach” to education. He believed in literature stripped to its bare essentials. I tried to tell him with mixed success that I wanted him to learn to make reasoned and respon sible decisions about what is impor- lant. You can, of course, learn certain things from Cliff Notes, e.g. the plots of Shakespeare’s plays. But you will never appreciate the beauty of the lan guage, nor will you come to love the characters from such outlines. But most importantly, you will never see yourself in their lives and motives from >uch outlines. You will never live the play. If you want to be instructed, buy ihe outline; if you want to be educated, read the play. An outline of a play will never help you to answer the funda mental questions of “Who am I and what am I to do?” One problem with instruction—the transmission of information—is that the information so given is so tempo rary. That is one of the fundamental problems that I sec with technical edu cation. One is trained today with and for today’s technology but one will live one’s life tomorrow with tomorrow’s technology. I still remem ber the hours that I devoted to mas tering—well almost mastering—the technology that was current when I was a graduate student: the slide rule. Nowadays such slipsticks are just quaint museum pieces. The technol ogy is useless. And the situation is getting worse as the pace of techno logical evolution accelerates. Lynne Cheney, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humani ties, observed recently that “very few people stay in the same line of work over a lifetime. They switch jobs, even change professions, and what is crucial for advancement is not specialized training but theability to think critically rather of his faith and his lovingness. “If he is indeed wise he does not bid and judge wisely. Given the difficulty of predicting which skills will be in demand even five years from now, let alone over a lifetime, a student’s best career preparation is one that empha sizes general understanding and intel lectual curiosity; [in short] knowledge of how to learn and the desire to do it. (Newsweek. September 1,1986, p. 7) What Cheney is describing is education, leading out, not instruction, the filling up. Cheney suggests four things that characterize education: 1. Thinking critically 2. Judging wisely 3. Knowing how to learn 4. Desiring to learn Education is not the filling of your mind with data and information. It is the opening of eyes, the stirring of the spirit. It is the development of the ability to think, to judge, the ability to learn and especially to come to love learning. Perhaps the fundamental thing that a faculty member conveys is not information but excitement, the love of learning. As an undergraduate I remember a faculty member’s comment about the reading of books. He said, “Gentlemen, I know that while you are in college you will read books because it is re quired. But the measure of our success as a college is not how many books you read while you are here, but how many you read after you leave. The way I measure my success as a teacher is through the question have I helped you to love learning.” The purpose of education is to le^d out not to fill up. In the book The Pronhet. various people are speaking with a wise man. When it is time for a teacher to speak he asks “Speak to us of teaching.” And the wise man replied: “No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.” “The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his fol lowers, gives not of his wisdom but Public Service Announcement Octoberfest Internationale October 11-21 Fort Bragg Fairgrounds OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Opens - Weekdays - 5 p.m.; Weekends 1 p.m. One-price admission covers unlimited rides and shows: Mon.-Thur.: $5; Fri.-Sun.: $6 For more information, call 396-3919/5576 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT - Let’s Meet Pamela Johnson by Shane Gravitt This summer Pamela worked as an intern in Raleigh with Governor Jim Martin. She was one of thirty people from this state accepted in this pro gram. At the end of the summer, the Governor made her an honorary “Tarheel” since she was the only “Yankee” there. Some of her duties included run ning the volunteer program for the Governor, working on proposals for the volunteer program, writing letters for the governor, and spending time at press conferences. She also spent many hours writing essays and conducting interviews. Pamela said that this was the best Debate Team Prepares for Competition by Caroline F. Kearns The Methodist College Debate Team is preparing for its first intercollegiatedebate tournament. The team plans to take up to four debaters (two teams) to Randolph-Macon Col lege in Ashland, Virginia on Octobcr 12,13, and 14. The debate topic for this tournament isasfollows: Resolved: thatiheUnited States should substantially change its trade policy toward one or more of the following: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan. Any students interested in debate are invited to join the Debate Team, and no prior experience is necessary. Interested students can contact Eric Kimbel, team president, at 483-9274 or Dr. John Sill, office T118, Ext. 292 or watch for posters announcing the date and lime of the next meeting. summer job she ever had and it was a great learning experience. However, at the end of the internship she realized that she would rather work with social services than for the government. Her advice to everyone wanting to broaden their horizons is to apply for these programs. Students can write to the Institute of the Government. Look for a poster on the campus and/or contact the Political Science Depart ment Pamela Johnson is a returning jun ior this year at Methodist College. She is an English major with a minor in history. After graduation her future plans include attending law school and studying social service law. Congrats Ronnie Richardson We all wish you the best on your recent marriage. m you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. “The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. “The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm not the voice that echoes it. “And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weights and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither. “For the vision of the one man lends not its wings to another man.” Look for the next issue of Small Talk in the middle of October SCEC Plans Crafts Festival, Kiddie Carnival by Caroline F. Kearns The Student Council for Exceptional Children will be sponsoring its First Annual Autumn H^est Crafts Festi val from 10 am to 4 pm on October 27, 1990. In conjunction with the Crafts Festival, SCEC will also sponsor a Kiddie Carnival in which campus clubs may participate. The Crafts Festival will feature lo cal artisans selling a variety of handcrafted items. Booths for the Crafts Festival will be set up behind Reeves Auditorium, and space may be reserved for twenty-five dollars. Campus clubs wishing to open a booth in the Kiddie Carnival must pay a registration fee of twenty dollars. SCEC plans to keep half that amount and place the other half in a “kitty” to be won by the club with the best b^th. The booths are to be judged by an impartial panel. Campus organizations can earn money by setting up booths as vendors of food, games, or other appropriate activities, especially those with a Halloween theme. All booths must be in good taste and should be geared toward family fun. No alcoholic bev erages will be allowed. Booths will be setup in the outside courtyard of Reeves Auditorium, and the Student Union will be available in the event of in clement weather. The Crafts Festival and Kiddie Carnival will be advertised throughout Cumberland and the surrounding counties via television, radio, and print. The festival will be a major fund-raiser for SCEC, and they are anticipating the attendance of at least 1,000 people. Members of SCEC feel that the First Annual Autumn Harvest Crafts Festival and Kiddie Carnival will have a positive impact on the college and the community. SCEC intends to donate a portion of its proceeds to Methodist College for the purpose of improving handicapped accessibility to the cam pus. SCEC will also use a portion of the funds raised to attend the National Council for Exceptional Children’s Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. SCEC is encouraging each campus club and organization to reserve a space foritsboothintheKiddieCamival. To reserve a space, contact SCEC through campus mailbox # 12058, or contact Audrey Houser, extension 262 or 868- 5688. The deadline to reserve a space is September 30,1990, and the twenty dollar registration fee mustaccompany the request. Some Talk On Chalk by Kathy (Jrasso Tlie other day I came to class ready and eager to soak up all the infonnation that wouldbepresentedtomeby the instructor when suddenly my attention was caught by a number of oddly-shaped small objects. Every student 1 am sure has seen them before: the bits and pieces of chalk lying in the tray on the blackboard. As the lecture progressed that day and my eagerness to soak up information regressed, my thoughts started wandering and I started wondering what ever happens to those little pieces of chalk? Well, what ever does happen to them? 1 guess that, after enough accumulates to form a small heap in tlie tray, somebody will notice tliem and throw them away. But isn’t there something else that could be done with them, something more productive and creative? And so 1 began to think. There really are many alternatives to just throwing those pieces away. One very effective way of utilizing the chalk is to use the pieces as earplugs. Just grab a handful as you enter the class room and when the lecture gets too boring—voila\—insert a piece of chalk in each car. Another suggestion would even be lucrative. Thepieces could be packed into small plastic bags, about ten in each bag. Then the bagscould be tied with ^een and gold ribbon, the college colors. These bags would make perfect souvenirs to be sold at Homecoming! I became so intrigued with the idea of conserving the chalk that 1 even began to ask my fellow students for their unique suggestions. Some of the ideas brought forward are outright ingenious. Daniel “Snapper” Covell thinks that the chalk could be ground up and then be mixed with water to form a thick paste —tooth paste. If used regularly, this pa.ste will help to achieve that perfect, “chalk-white” smile. He also suggests that the little pieces can be sold to dentists for them to use as third teeth. He may be on to a way to raise a student’s al lowaiice with I ittleeffort. Linda Welch also has some interesting ideas. She says that the chalk pieces can be ground up and the powder then used for costume make-up in the theater department. This powder could even he dyed to obtain an array of colors. Basically there are numerous possibilities for using the bits and pieces cf chalk creatively. Once you get started, you won’t have any problem coming up with innovative ideas. Just think, you could grind the chalk and use the powder to make trails around campus so you won’t ever get lost. Or you could siring them on a single piece of thread to make costume jewelry. Or. .. Help!! We need writers for Small Talk. If interested, please contact Editor Caroline Kearns, 630- 1133 'A Small TaWs Professor of the Month Simericaii CoUrgintc ^ntfjologp International Publications is sponsoring a J^ational Colles^ ^optrp Contest --Fall Concours 1990-- open to all college and university students desiring to have their poetry anthologized. CASH PRIZES will go to the top five poems: $100 $50 $25 $20 First Place Second Place Third Place $20 AWARDS of publication for ALL accepted manuscripts in our popular, handsomely bound and copyrighted anthology, AMERICAN COLLEGIATE POETS. Deadline: October 31 CONTEST RULES AND RESTRICTIONS: 1. Any student is eligible to submit his or her verse. 2. All entries must be original and unpublished. Poems previously printed in student publications are acceptable. 3. All entries must be typed, double-spaced, on one side of the page only. Each poem must be on a separate sheetand must bear, in the upper left-hand corner, the NAME and ADDRESS of the student as well as the COLLEGE attended. Put name and address on envelope also! (Alumni Welcome!) 4. There are no restrictions on form or theme. Length of poems up to fourteen lines. Each poem must have a separate title. (Avoid “Untitled”!) Small blackand white illustrations welcome. 5. The judges’decision will be final. No info by phone! 6. Entrants should keep a copy of all entries as they cannot be returned. Prize winners and all authors awarded publication will receive a gold-seal certificate ten days after the deadline. I.P. will retain one-time publication rights for accepted poems. Foreign language poems welcome. 7. There is an initial S3 registration fee for the first entry and a fee of one dollar for each additional poem. 8. All entries must be postmarked not later than the above deadline and fees be paid, cash, check or money order, to; INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS P.O. Box 44044-L Los Angeles, CA 90044 Have anything to swap or sell? Looking for that special some one? Put an ad into Small Talk! Reasonable rates, great ex posure. For more info., con tact Dr. Perkins, Room 227. COLLEGE REP WANTED to dis tribute “Student Rate” subscription cards at this campus. Good income. For information and application write to: COLLEGIATE MARKETING SER VICES, 303 W. Center Ave., Mooresville, NC 28115 BABYSITTING JOB: 5 hours a week for professor’s 10 month old son. Flexible schedule. 822-5403. The Last Word Dr. Jaeger, Head of the Psy chology Department: "Let's say I fake my mind out of my head, put it on the table, and hit it with a hammer. It wouldn't hurt my mind now would it? Contributed by Kathy Grasso We want to publish memorable or funny quotes by your professors. Submit quotes to Small Talk through Dr. Perkins or any staff member.
Methodist University Student Newspaper
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Sept. 24, 1990, edition 1
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