M
ETHODIST
C
OLLEGE
Pride
Fayetteville, NC
Vol. XXXIV, No. 13
Thursday, May 1, 1997
Safley to leave MC after 10 years
Students can always be fuund on the MC golf course in front of the new Player Golf and
Tennis Learning Center. The PGM program is one of the largest at MC. (Photo by Jamee
Lynch)
Tiger Woods heightens
collegiate interest in golf
The 21-year-old rookie and youngest winner of
the Masters has proved golf isn’t just a game for
geezers. Now many college students are taking
a swing at golf for the first time, v
By Maggie Welter
James Madison University
It’s not your grandfather’s
game anymore. The college crowd
has found a new fairway of fun—the
golf course.
Once shunned as a slow
game of old geezers in funky plaid
pants, golf has become one of the
hottest leisure activities of college
students.
“Before golf was frowned
upon as a sissy sport,” said Jason
Rodenhaver, assistant coach of the
golf team at the University of Mary
land. “Now it’s really hot.”
Indeed. With a boost from
21-year-old golf sensation Tiger
Woods and other celebrities such as
Hootie and the Blowfish, young
people are now the fastest growing
segment of golf players in the United
States. According to the National
Golf Foundation, the number of 15-
to 30-year-old golfers grew 17 per
cent from 1994 to 1995. Across all
age groups, participation increased
only about two percent.
For proof of the phenom
enon, look no further than college
campuses. “It seems the thing to do
is go to the [driving] range,” said Jen
Nowitzky, a James Madison Univer
sity senior who picked up golf last
semester. “After class, you grab some
clubs, a few friends and head on out.”
Gary Carpenter, a senior
and co-captain of Maryland’s golf
team, has been playing since he was
six years old, but he’s seeing more and
more of his friends getting into the
golf groove. “Once you take them
out, they’re hooked. They’re like.
I ADD affects many college students
page 2
Men’s and women’s tennis teams wrap up their seasons
on a high note page 3
MC wins DIAC President’s Cup
page 3
It’s best not to burn your bridges
....page 4
Could human clones be in our future?...
page 4
The Pride staff wishes everyone a good
summer. We’ll see you in August.
By Mike McDermott
Editor
Dean of Students Mike Safley will say
good-bye to Methodist College after 10 years of
service as the Vice-President of Student Life.
This was the message announced two
weeks ago to the Student Life staff at an emer
gency meeting. A
resident advisor
emerged from the
meeting and
stated,“Dean Safley
is leaving to go
work at some hos
pital.” While not a
false statement, it
does little to illus
trate the position in
which Dean Satley
will soon be presid
ing. He will actually
be the President/Chief Executive Officer for the
Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh.
Dean Safley, or “Dean-o" as he is affec
tionately known, has been a part of the Methodist
College community off and on for four decades. He
was a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and
became the Dean of Students in the mid-1980s until
the present.
Satley said that upon coming to Methodist
College as the Dean of Students, he had a goal for
himself and the Student Life office: “To be student-
centered, so that students would know that their is
sues, growth, and development were my number one
priority.’’ He added, “In general, I think that this was
accomplished.”
Safley said he does not have any one par
ticular person at MC who has had a major impact on
his life, but rather, “a lot of individuals who have
struggled.” Safley said, “I have seen these individu
als’ growth and maturity, and [seen them] eventually
move on to be successful after graduation. I have
enjoyed seeing them get their direction and purpose.”
The Methodist College student body as a
whole has affected Dean Safley. He said that he has
enjoyed “the opportunity of getting to know students
and seeing their potential, and noting where they can
make significant contributions to the world. Observ
ing this (potential) has given me hope for the future
of the world in which we live.
“The most difficult aspect of leaving Meth
odist College will be leaving certain individuals who
1 have grown close to in 10 years,” he said. “It is also
difficult to leave while Methodist while it is growing
and developing at such a great rate.”
Safley said of his successor, Kim Dowd, the
current Assistant Dean for Academic Services,
“She is quite capable of doing this job. She has
a master’s degree in education. I expect her to
be a good Dean of Students. I also think that
knowing her, and knowing that she is replacing
me now, will allow for a smooth transition pe
riod.”
The legacy that Safley hopes to leave
behind is that “students know that they were
my number one priority and that I have cared
for them. Also, the expansion of Student Life
to the extent that students know that they can
be successful. We have grown so much in 10
years, from the small office that was here when
I arrived. One example is the counseling and
psychological services which has enabled emo
tionally troubled students to cope when times
are difficult.”
Dean Safley will begin his new job on
July 1. He will leave Methodist College in the
last week of June. The Methodist Home for
Children will provide Dean Safley with a ve
hicle, as his job will entail a great deal of travel
ing. He will, however, be buying a house, which
means that he will not be passing the keys to
the Lexus to Dean-elect Dowd, as he will have
to sell it to make house payments.
‘Yeah, this is fun. Let’s go out again.’”
At some courses, students
have become like the Energizer Bunny,
say pros. They just keep coming and
coming and coming.
“Students fill our course all the
time now,” said Rodenhaver. “It used
to be more older players, but recently
the number of male and female kids has
really increased.” Maryland has its own
course and a half-price student greens
fee is an extra incentive to. hit the links,
he added.
For some, the course is the
ultimate playground; for others, teeing
off is a way to relieve stress. “Our gen
eration feels cooped up and over
worked. Golf lets you relax and take
your mind off school,” said JMU junior
Seth Burton.
Some students actually get
credit for clubbing the ball. Since the
sport has become so popular, however,
getting into a golf class can be as diffi
cult as booking a tee time on a sun
drenched day. “I teach two sections of
golf a semester, and five minutes into
registration they’re full,” said Bob
Vanderwalker, an instructor at JMU. “I
have students knocking down my door
to get on waiting lists.”
For JMU senior Lisa Brown,
Golf 101 was a required course—sort
of “Golf is now a kind of required class
for business majors. All the bigwigs
conduct business on the course, so you
need to know how to play,” said Brown,
an international business major.
Interest in golf has been build
ing for some years, but increased sub
stantially this year, Rodenhaver said,
largely due to Woods’ presence on the
See WOODS, page 3
No job yet? Career service can help
By Sonya Sparks Murdock
Staff Writer
OK. so you’re a senior,
complete with cap and gown,
tassel and diploma, resume and
3.0 GPA. But there’s just one
thing you don’t have ... a JOB.
Don’t plan on taking the
summer off to unwind on a
tropical island, then. That advice
comes from someone who should
know: Paula Miller, Director of
Career Services at Methodist
College.
Miller, who has been
helping students plan their
fijtures in “the real world” for
four years at MC, suggests that
spring ‘97 graduates focus on
job-hunting if they have not
already located employment.
“Don’t take a summer job and
beach it, no matter how tempting
it is. Persistent people get jobs,”
says Miller.
Miller’s advice to
seniors? First, if you don’t have
a resume, get one! The Office of
Career Services is located in
room #7 on the second floor of
the Student Union by the snack
bar and book store and offers the
resources needed to prepare a
resume and cover letters. The
center is equipped with a computer
and laser printer, as well as a fax
machine for students to respond to
job postings that request faxed
applications only.
And for students who have
no idea where to begin in putting a
resume together, there are standard
samples on the computer already.
But Miller is available to assist
students in designing more personal
ized resumes. Miller states, “We
can sketch (a resume) out depending
on what we want to sell about (the
student),” adding, “I’m not real high
on those pre-fab deals.”
Miller’s next recommenda
tion is to compile a list of contacts.
One senior recently joked, “If I ever
make it big, I’ll be a self-made man,
because I don’t know anyone with
connections.” This is a misconcep
tion, according to Miller. She
suggests that job-hunters “treat
everyone like a potential employer.”
That includes professors, neighbors,
relatives and friends... basically,
anybody who knows a lot of people.
Think about past employers;
whether from summer jobs or
internships. These are people you
should stay in touch with.
Another tidbit of advice
from Miller is to “hand out resumes
fast and furious!” The resource
center keeps a notebook of job
listings updated daily. One such
listing is the “Current Jobs in
Writing, Editing and Communica
tions,” which reports career
opportunities across the country by
region. The Office of Career
Services subscribes to the listing, as
well as one for the business field and
one for humanities majors. The
notebook contains a smorgasbord of
information on current job opportu
nities for all areas of interest.
Another resource available
to students seeking employment is
the Internet. Miller admits that the
computer system in the resource
center has limited access to the
Internet, but she does send people
to “surf the net” on the computers at
the campus library.
So, what do you do for
cash in the downtime, while you’re
job-searching? Miller recommends
that students put themselves in jobs
with temporary agencies. These are
generally short-term jobs where a
person can try out different fields to
see which areas interest them. She
also says the benefits of temp jobs
include meeting a lot of people who
could become contacts for your
reference list and increasing your
work skills in a short period of
time. “A person’s learning curve
shoots way up,” Miller says.
One other alternative for
seniors is to opt for graduate
school, but you’ve missed the
boat for fall admissions. For a
listing of graduate programs in
every field imaginable and at any
school nationwide, check the
Graduate School Guide, which is
also available in Miller’s office.
You can search for schools and
determine which schools offer
graduate programs in certain
fields on the computer at the
center as well. Registration
booklets which include practice
tests for the GMAT, GRE and
LSAT can be obtained at the
center or at the MC and
Cumberland county libraries.
Offering hope to seniors
who have procrastinated in
registering for graduate pro
grams, Miller notes that while
most schools only take fall
applicants, there are some that do
accept spring admissions. The
next entrance exam date is
See JOBS, page 3
Internet censors threaten First Amendment rights
By Amanda Fellers
Staff Writer
Do you know what come
dian George Carlin’s infamous
“seven dirty words” are? Well, I
downloaded them off the Internet
last night and got to hear them for
the first time. You can hear them,
too, but hurry. If the telecommuni
cations bill is passed, you’ll have to
look elsewhere to hear them. They
will no longer be available on the In
ternet.
As a communications ma
jor, I am required to take a media
law course. Chapter 14 of the text
for this course, “Regulation of Ob
scene and Other Erotic Material,”
gives brief accounts of the Commu
nications Decency Act and censor
ship on the Internet. Exploring the
Internet itself taught me so much
more.
The Communications De
cency Act was adopted by Congress
in February of 1996. The CDA pro
hibits sending “indecent” material di
rectly to a minor or making “inde
cent” material available over public
computer networks to which minors
have access. The CDA requires that
all content on the Internet be accept
able for distribution to children.
What does “indecent” mean,
though? Who decides what is or is
not indecent? Does the standard defi
nition truly define the word?
Indecency is defined in the
textbook Mass Media Law as “any
comment, request, suggestion, pro
posal, image, or other communication
that, in context, depicts or describes
in terms patently offensive as mea
sured by contemporary community
standards, sexual or excretory activi
ties or organs.”
Indecent material, which in
cludes Carlin’s “seven dirty words,”
artwork containing nude images, and
rap lyrics cannot be posted in a public
forum. Public forums are web pages,
news groups, chat rooms, and online
discussion lists.
Violation of the CDA can
result in fines of up to $250,000' and
jail sentences of five years.
After the CDA was passed.
The Coalition to Stop Net Censorship
asked everyone, everywhere, to turn
their World Wide Web pages black to
show how broadly these new restric
tions will impact the Internet. The
black pages represented the single
largest demonstration from the Inter
net community in history; more than
1500 web sites participated.
Arguments are made by par
ents and schools in support of cen
sorship. Arguments are made by or
ganizations like the American Civil
Liberties Union to stop censorship.
Both sides continue to make them
selves heard. Both sides hope to make
a difference.
Clearly, the opponents of the
CDA argue that the act, which makes
the Internet the most heavily regulated
communications medium in the United
States, is a violation of First
Amendment’s guarantee of freedom
of expression. After all, the First
Amendment does state that “Congress
shall make no law abridging the free
dom of speech.”
The Center for Democracy
and Technology believes that the act
threatens the very existence of the
Internet as a means for free expres
sion, education, and political dis
course. CDT supporters believe the
act is an unconstitutional intrusion by
the federal government into the pri
vate lives of all Americans.
The CDT also argues that
the same materials legally available in
book stores and libraries would be
come illegal if posted on the World
Wide Web. They argue that the In
ternet should not be subject to restric
tions which apply to radio and televi
sion.
These are a few of the web
sites that could be banned: In art,
photographs of the Sistine Chapel and
Michelangelo’s David; in literature,
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet
Letter and Mark Tw in’s The Adven
tures of Huckleberry Finn', in health,
“The Breastfeeding Page”; in support
groups, “Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation”; in entertain
ment, lyrics by Pearl Jam and Alanis
Morissette; finally in news media, gov
ernment, etc., the Supreme Court de
cision in Roe v. Wade.
The CDT supporters are
confident that the courts will find the
CDA unconstitutional and will reject
it.
There is another side to the
See CENSORS, page 3
I