Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / March 8, 1968, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE GUILFORDIAN Something New For Guilford? —by Zack Lowe Have you ever thought about how much Guilford students could contribute to the College if they really wanted the responsibility? Have you ever really thought about Guilford College and how it com pares with other institutions? These are some of the questions which Terry Gentry and I concerned ourselves as we headed South to Atlanta, Georgia, last week as representatives of Guilford College at an educational reform conference. This conference which was sponsored by the United States National Student Association gave me an insight into NSA which has been hidden to many people. Terry and I saw the good and the bad points and we have tried to evaluate the organization from our own experience just as we hope you will judge NSA from your own experience. We spent four days in concentrated study, evaluation, and instruction. We investigated the possibilities of how we as students could make Guilford a better community in which to live. It did not take long for the realization to come upon us that colleges and universities all over the country are experiencing the same malfunctions which seem to be so pre- valent at Guilford. Helping your fellow students through mutual experiences and with' the help of many workshops set up for this purpose was most encouraging and worth all the time and effort de manded of us. Conformity, Non-Conformity, and Guilford in General After reading Carter Delafield's letter to the editor, it was only a matter of time before the mental sap began to flow and the nature of conformity began to assume importance in my thoughts. We have seen a great deal of conformity in Guil ford, from the way students dress to the methods of thoughts they employ in hopscotching through college. That dress means a great deal is hard to deny. I be lieve the whole matter can be summed up by using an idea one fellow had on the nature of shirts. He told me that a Gant shirt is the only shirt to wear - - its collars, its general cut, and its lasting qualities could not be beaten. I seriously doubt that one could tell a Hathaway white from a Gant, or a Creighton, or some of the lesser articles sold at King's, but yet I've been told that a Gant sticks out. At eight dollars a throw, it should, but I have yet to see how it does. Mine didn't last longer than my two doilar i specials, and both looked equally well under my sport coat. The chinos and the carefully casual jeans, the Gant tucked neatly in, the Nettleton shoes at thirty five dollars a pair, all these blend together to give the Guilford that slighty untidy elegance that seems too "campus" to be believed. We found that NSA offers many ser vices to students all over the country because it is a confederation of the student governments of colleges and uni versities with the purpose of serving the needs of student governments whether it be in the form of information, leadership training, films, talent programs, insurance policies, etc. Yet we must be honest with ourselves and say that this is not all of NSA. As time passes the National Student Association has become more and more involved with political issues and has associated itself with the new left wing movement. The argument is that "students are people, too." Yet the organization is an educational endeavor and should con centrate where it can be most effective. NSA has destroyed a great deal of its support by taking extreme positions on many issues. Many member schools feel that they can no longer affiliate with NSA's philosophy. At the conference we were fortunate enough (and I mean fortunate) to hear Dick Gregery speak on the Black Power Movement. It is not often that we are able to really hear an indictionary speech of this nature. The speech was good - - the reaction I did not like. Students can be come too enthusiastic, too involved, and thus lose their effectiveness altogether. We can and must allow equal rights for all our citizens but sometimes the power As for mental conformity, a great deal has already been written in various school publications, and the change in curic ulum recently given to us has tried valiantly to overcome the sin of straight memorization. Some of the new faculty have been like a breath of fresh air clear ing away the old stodge. Cross-curiculum thinking has been stressed by them, and if one could do it, a precedent is set. Admittedly, though, this is difficult. Not all instructors wish to see psychology used in English, or philosophy in eco nomics. In the sociology and psychology departments there are too many fill-in-the blanks, muliple-choice type tests, and after boning up for exams - honors of tedious memorization in order to guess multiply, the facts supposedly lodged in our heads slip away effortlessly. These tests are to some degree, prevalent in all departments. They are no test of reason, or thinking, but only of parrot-like abilit ies. Except for language exams I see no use for them, and members of the depart ments where such tests are given com plain about them, laugh about them. It is here that complete conformity reigns, when all have to remember the same set of facts rather than part facts to hypothe tical usage. tactics, involved turn us away. Terry and I hoped to receive some useful information from the NSA Con ference so that we might be of better service to the students of Guilford College. I think we were successful. We also tried to evaluate the possibility of becoming a member of NSA. And it is here that we become completely unglued. For we our selves are unclear and undecided. We are most thankful that a decision of this nature must be left up to all the students of Guilford College and not a single facet of it. We can see that when speaking solely of goods and services NSA has much to offer Guilford but when one speaks of what Guilford could offer NSA we see a membership fee supporting the political activities of an organization controlled at top by an extremely radical, tightly knit group which shows no sympathy when a course of action is taken. Terry and I would urge each of you to decide for yourselves whether or not NSA should offer something new for Guilford. The time may come when you will be left with the decision to vote for or against NSA. We hope that you will discuss with us the conference and the organization as a whole because we want the best for Guilford and we think what is best for Guilford should be decided by the students of Guilford. -by Fred Krongold How then does one become a non conformist? Certainly it is not be chang ing clothes, exchanging one uniform for another. Dirty clothes are not the answer, nor are sloppy clean clothes. These, be sides, are unesthetic; they are not beauti ful. Must we throw away the splendor of Dr. Courtenay in a fine suit lighting up a drab hallway? Or the remarkable neat- ness of E. Kidd Lockhart in immaculate casual dress? Are they conformists? Non- Conformity is a state of mind that has nothing to do with excessive swearing, unusual physical action like skipping across campus or rolling around on floors to show that one is "free," or modes of dress. If a student would think in non-con formist patterns, aided by teachers who will not give standard tests from their test sheets yellowed by age, helped by in teresting lectures not read from sheets that students could easily read them selves, then, perhaps, the air would change. Anything done in the name of non conformity that involves activities beyond the mental is usually a gross sham. The outer dress, filthy language or long shiny hair will never cover mental deficiency, except to the naive. If appearance becomes the end-all, college goes out the window. PAGE THREE
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 8, 1968, edition 1
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