THE VOICE OF WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE
VOLUME 4, No. 13
WILKESBORO, NORTH CA1UM.INA
OCTOBER 7, 1974
POWER MECHANICS
BUILDING
AUDITORIUM, STUDENT
«)MMONS, GYMNASIUM,
TECH ED BLDG.
S’'
«
The Bond Issue: An Afterthought
‘‘ALL WISH TO BE LEARNED ; FEW ARE WILLING
TO PAY THE PRICE
An oxcart is just as useful to a man as a rocketship if he doesn’t know or
care where he’s going. By the same token our outmoded schools and inadequate
college facilities are going to need to be as useful now as the passing of the
bond issue would have made them, as it is apparent that the voters of Wilkes
either don’t know or don’t care where education is going. Education is not un
like any other organization that exists. It must move, forward or backward. It
cannot stand still.
EXAMPLE
Ruskin said: "Education does not mean teaching people what they do not know
' it is a painful, continual, and difficult work to be done by
watching, by warning, by precept, and by praise, but above all by
EXAMPLE."
The recent example set forth by the voters of Wilkes contains many lessons
for many people. Progressiveness is not among them. I have learned silence
from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, kindness from the unkind,
and progressiveness from the backward. Yet strangely, I am extremely ungrate
ful to these teachers.
MINORITY RULES
Examine the ashes of the dreams burned by the ballot box, and you will
discover the fire was kindled by insensitiveness. The opposite of education is
probably not ignorance. It’s apathy. (About 25% of the voters decided the
future of education of the majority, the community college’s $2 million bond
referendum losing 4712-2171,)
WHO REALLY LOST?
If the bond issue had passed the only tangible difference it would have
It would not
made to Dr. Thompson would have been an increased work load,
have affected his salary by one cent.
STAFF
None of the staff lost. Their salaries were unaffected, and there is no
way to expect them to do any more work than they do now. It saved them work
and headaches because now it may be necessary to limit enrollment.
FACULTY
The faculty didn’t lose. Communication flows more easily in cramped up
offices anyway, and it does project the image of togetherness. Most of the
faculty have pretty full schedules. Their salaries would not have been affected.
STUDENTS
The new buildings would not have been ready for a couple of years anyway
so the students who are here now would not have benefited. The only thing
I can think of that the students may have lost is the pride of talking about the
far-seeing citizens of our county.
That covers pretty much everyone directly connected with the college, and
the loss from our standpoint is minimal. The real losers are in the future.
The community certainly has lost a valuable economic stimulant by virtue
of the “new money” that will not come now.
SHALLOW VICTORY
Normally after an election victory, the winning side celebrates with a “vic
tory party.” I know of no such parties that took place on the eve of September
26. Such would have been a “victory wake” and probably would have been held
in potters field. To the winners I drink a toast and suggest that your winning
is a two-edged sword and remind you: “to the victors belong the spoils.”