5ronco8 "Voice
February 1995
Editorial Comment
FORM VERSUS SUBSTANCE
By Roger A. Harris
Knowledge: a vessel whose form
is experience, whose substance is
understanding; constantly filled
through the passage of time-
Gyendor
It’s sometimes very hard to dis
cern the difference between what
issues are at the heart of a situation
and what issues merely address the
situation’s surface cause and effect.
This argument is more commonly
referred to as form versus sub
stance. What’s more, form is often
mistaken for substance when
viewed through the smoked-and-
mirrored perception of subjective
reasoning. Examples of this effect
can be noted in the comedic firing
of former Secretary of Health
Joycelyn Elders for promoting sex
education (in an era of AIDS); the
Reagan administration’s overly
simplistic, ill-targeted, and patron
izing “just say no to drugs” cam
paign; that fiasco in the sand, oth
erwise known as Operation Desert
Storm (I know because I was
there); and of course, our
government’s insultingly blun
dered Haitian national policy. In
these examples, perceptions mag
nified their form while at the same
time distorting (or altogether hiding)
the real issues affecting their sub
stance.
This circumstance begs the ques
tion (at least for me) “What issues
are more form than substance at
FSU?” In what areas are we simply
going through the motions; of doing
“feel good stuff’ that makes FSU
look good but actually has little ef
fect in the here and now. Here are
my top seven observations:
(1) Administration. Although it’s
1995, many administrators at the top
of our university carry the archaic
and paternalistic opinion that stu
dents should be seen and not heard;
instead, it is thought that they should
concern themselves solely and only
with their academic development.
“How dare students question larger
issues such as our internal staff pro
motions, hiring, firings, salaries,
etc.,” they might be heard to say. In
other words, stop asking questions
and get to class. What’s not under
stood here is that when you change
academic vice-chancellors five
times, deans in the College of Arts
and Sciences six times, and deans in
the School of Business three times,
and all this within the last six short
years, that even Ray Charles and
Odie would have to see and ques
tion what’s really going on. What’s
also not understood here is that the
student is the number one customer
at FSU and should, therefore, be the
administration’s number one con
cern. To that point, any question a
student may ask (concerning any
topic) should be answered quickly,
correctly, and with a smile, not a
condescending attitude. Today’s
student (regardless of age) realizes
this fact; it’s time the administra
tion does, also. The stereotype of the
typical FSU student who is disad
vantaged and humbly grateful to be
given academic “pablum” should be
abandoned and replaced by a more
realistic and complimentary image
of an intellectually alive student
who is demanding to be given a sub
stantial, competitive education.
(2) Management. Chancellor
Hackley was a great ambassador for
FSU off campus. Respect due. But
it’s no misstatement to say that the
homefront suffered academically
and administratively. We still
haven’t gotten answers to questions
we’ve been asking for the past two
years (Scurrying around call in reg
istration and knocking on Woods
about “Lift Every Voice and Sing”).
We send thousands of dollars’
worth of printing off campus every
semester. Proper equipping and
staffing of the print shop would see
those thousands returned to FSU
(and the upgrade would pay for it
self in as few as two years). Finan
cial Aid releases our guaranteed stu
dent grant and loan funds weeks
after their posted release date, while
at our sister institutions, students re
ceive their funds days after their
posted release date-why? Do we
students realize what a powerful
tool we have in our faculty evalua
tions? They were used as part of the
rating criteria to identify and award
25% of the faculty with lifetime
base pay increases. But does it strike
you as odd that the Teacher of the
Year (1993-1994) didn’t also re
ceive the award? To be honest, our
phenomenal six-year growth in stu
dent enrollment (56% as compared
to the national average of two per
cent armually) has affected manage
ment as well as other services at
FSU. Managers are like ship cap
tains; they get paid lots of money
not only to apply vision to develop
and plot future plans, but also to
anticipate and adjust to unexpected
changes in course. Remember the
Exxon Valdes incident? FSU is that
ship; management, its oily cargo;
we students, the unspoiled shore
line. ‘Nuff said.
' See Editor Page 3.
The Broncos’
VOICE
Faculty Advisor Dr. I incia Harlow
Staff Jeff .Anderwn
OghonrjH C’tMlus
Fashcba Diiki.s
I.ishan Hariison
Sharviii High
F.ric .loncs
Rhontht kcyts
l.nnii; f>u7-MnTa!es
Aniev Pu;kt;U
Josse Shdw
P',li/alx‘th Wilk't
Copy Editor Ijisli S»mpic
Layout Editor ChristopFier Johnson
Office Manager Benetla Kingsbcriy
Business/Advertising Biad Wright
Manafiing i:ditor Dennis Allman
Editor Rogei Harris
The Broncos’ Voice
c/o Fayetteville State University
1200 Murchison Road
Fayetteville, NC 28301
(910) 486-1357
fax (910) 486-1857
email- wright@fsu.fsufay.edu
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed in The Broncos ’ Voice are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily
represent the views of Fayetteville State University, its employees, the University of North Carolina, the
Voice staff and editors, or our advertisers.
Submission guidelines
Submissions of editorial material, news, and letters to the editor are welcomed. Any such submis
sions should be typed and double-spaced, free from grammatical or typographic errors, and should include
the name and telephone number of the writer.
Announcements of upcoming campus events should follow the same format as editorial submissions
and should include the name and telephone number of a contact person (for example, the president of a
club).
Where to submit your articles
Typewritten articles may be submitted in person at the Voice office in the Rudolph Jones Student
Center or mailed to the address on this page. If possible, include a 3.5" 720k or 1.44 M disk with your
document. Electronic documents may be sent through email or by fax.