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Keep On Truekin
Once again it is that time of year when most of us wish we had
decided to be truck drivers instead of students. Those hard core
pre-exam blues are setting in and the 23rd of January is a long way
off. The usual number of people will not be able to cope with the
blues, enough speed will be consumed to keep one person up for
seven years, a few people will get rich, and a lot of people will flunk
out.
The time has come to realize that this will just not do, desite the
fact that it has gone on at colleges and univerities for a long time.
We are not suggesting here that we do away with exams, although
hopefully the days of life or death exams are numbered. Rather, we
feel that Guilford, which seems to take pride in calling itself a
progressive school, could take steps to catch up with the truly
progressive schools who have now scheduled exams before
Christman vacation.
The advantages of pre-Christmas exams are immense. First of all
it would mean a much longer vacation, anywhere from a month to a
month and a half. It would also be a more pleasant vacation.
Although most of us never get any work done during Christmas
vacation now, we spend a lot of time worrying about what we
should be doing. Many people would also like to get jobs during
vacation, but very few employers think of hiring anyone for two
weeks. A long, worry free vacation would allow students to have a
real vacation, not just a brief period when they don't have to attend
classes. Under the current system the academic frame of mind is
abandoned for two weeks, exactly at the time when it should be at
its highest. It is like a candidate taking a two week vacation right
before election day. The timing is all wrong.
There is another, slightly less pleasant, angle to pre-Christmas
exams, but we should be able to live with it. Moving exams t*
before Christmas would require advancing the opening of school to
the beginning of September, or perhaps as early as late August.
Certainly starting school that early is no fun at all, however we lived
with for years during high school with very little permanent
damage. Pre-Christmas exams would also mean thhat those people
who are inclined to aactually get work done during Christmas
vacation would have their catch-up time taken away. This could
conceivably motivate some students to keep up during the mid-fall
"it's getting cold and dark" blues.
Academic reform is possible at Guilford, as evidenced by the four
class, four day system which will take effect next fall. Pre-Christmas
exams are well within our reach, if we want it badly enough. The
first step shouuld be discussion. Talk to your friends, your teachers,
your advisors, and you can even try your administrators. Perhaps if
enough people talk about it, a few will even go so far as to work
for it. It's worth a try.
Kyd Brenner
There are certain problems inherent in the production of a
weekly newspaper in a school of the size and ethos of Guilford
College. We have managed to overcome some of these problems
while some of them have overcome us. The need for more adequate
support of the newspaper is slowly being recognized and we are
optimistic about the future. 1 would like to thank all.of the people
who have given the paper friendly assistance, but my special thanks
go to the people listed below who coped with various facets of the
existing chaos.
Jeanette Ebel, editor
Tty Quilfortton
Created and Produced by
Danny Beard, Bonnie Boyles, Kyd Brenner, Paul
Bryant, Jeannie Campbell, Jerry Clawges,
Minnette Coleman, Tony Cottle, Kelly
Dempster, Ed Diaz, Phil Edgerton, Lyn Gilman,
Clare Glore, Sam Greathouse, Alan Haines, Susan
Hardee, Judy Harvey, Sally Hemdon, Ann
Hornor, Linda Jackson, Carla McKinney, Dave
Musser, Tori Potts, Dave Rhees, Sue Scheider,
Douglas Scott,Lucette Sharkey, Jim Shields,
Carloyn Simmons, Marc Weiner, Sara Willis, Jim
Villson, Susan Wilson, Terry Wyszynski.
rinted by the students of Guilford College weekly except
('or examination periods and vacations.
The office is Cox Old North. Telephone 292-8709. Address
Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C. 27410. Subscription
Rates $4.00 per year; $2.50 per semester.
Supported by student fees and advertising, THE GUIL
FORDIAN is an independent publication of the student staff
not subject to censorship or control by college admitistration.
THE GUILFORDIAN
(SPILING IS
/ OPINION is Tturyl / —-
I FORM IS AbTHINiS / _ ( HUMAf/1
fajM SIX pso, iP""\ o" bjw6W
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Guest Cartoonist Professor John C. Grice
RESISTER
by Sam Greathouse
The Selective Service laws are
modified by rulings in court
cases as well as directives from
the National office. These
rulings have drastically affected
the position of registrants. His
rights as an individual have been
solidified and his exposure to
the draft limited.
The most important ruling
recently concerns those who
were included in the 1970 pool.
This group was selected by the
lottery in 1969. The national
office has set limits for drafting
and no local board will exceed
number 195. The Director has
ruled that registrants with
numbers over 195 who hold
deferments may drop their
deferments and be considered
as having fulfilled their year's
eligibility. If a registrant had a
number below 195 and has not
Letter
Caps and Gowns
Dear Editor,
Our world has shrunk so
tremendously in the last few
years that even from my
ice-encased habitat here in
Finland, 1 would like to share
some thoughts with you all
concerning increased financial
aid for foreign students.
Stop for a moment and
consider the condition of the
world--the whole world. Think
of Pakistan, of Poland. Consider
Canada's furies and the
Vietnam dead which you see
every night on your TV's, Chile,
Russia, Peru, the rich, the poor,
the Biafran hungry, the
Appalachian hungry, the
Greensboro hungry .. .
Somehow it seems as if no
matter where one looks, there
are similar signs of political
disruption, social convulsion,
economic paralysis, spiritual
destruction-all in all a world
writhing, bleeding and falling
apart.
Stop for another quick
What then is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonymies
anthropomorphisms, a sum, in short, of human relationships which, rhetorically
and poetically intensified, ornamented and transformed, comes to be thought of
after long usage by a people, as fixed,binding and canonical. Truths are illusions
which we have forgotten are illusions, worn out metaphors now impotent to stir
the senses, coins which have lost their faces and are now considered as metal rather
than currency. -Neitzsche.
been drafted, his status is
uncertain. He is eligible for the
first three months of 1971. The
probability of his being drafted
will depend on his local board,
that is, whether they decide to
exhaust the old group before
beginning the new group, draft
quotas, and manpower supply.
If he holds a deferment for the
year 1970 he will be placed in
the prime category when his
deferment runs out. Individuals
would do well to check with
draft counselors and local
boards before relinquishing
deferments.
For those considering
application for conscientious
objection, the Appellate courts
have handed down a number of
major decisions. The most
important of these states that
conscientious objection based
on purely moral beliefs is just as
moment and take a glimpse at
the world--the whole world.
Look at people living their lives
in varying manners, with unique
customs. They all have to face
similar "human" challenges in
their daily lives. Love, joy,
sadness, struggle are a part of
their vocabulary too. The Finns
are not polar bears in fancy
dress, as many assume, nor are
the Russians mere carbon
copies of Marx and Lenin.
Mankind is like a flower
garden of different colors,
different fragances, different
sizes and shapes. How can we
ever learn to appreciate the
tulips if we only stand forever
among daffodils?
You are all smart and I'm
sure are already quite aware of
the immense value of unity
with diversity. So the question
which 1 would like to again
bring into the spotlight is:
How to achieve unity with
diversity at Guilford?
jontmued on page J
Friday, January IS, 1971
valid as conscientious objection
based on religious beliefs. This
ruling greatly broadens the area
of belief acceptable for CO
classification and opens new
ground for iinitial requests and
appeals.
Coupled with this ruling was
another which dealt a serious
blow to those opposed to only
the war in Southeast Asia. They
rules that selective objection,
that is, objection to a specific
war is no longer valid grounds
for CO classification. The basis
for their ruling is unclear.
However the impact is obvious.
CO applicants must be opposed
to all wars.
In rulings last Spring, two
major decisions were handed
down by the Circuit Courts.
The most important concerned
an individual's rights within the
Selective Service- appeals
procedure. The court ruled that
boards must inform applicants
why their requests for a
specific classification were
denied. This allows applicants
to appeal their cases on specific
grounds. In another decision
the court ruled that the time of
application for CO classification
does not affect the validity of
the claim and cannot be used as
the sole reason for refusal.
This summer the current
draft law must be reenacted or
it will expire. Reenactment
requires vote by the Congress.
As of January 1971,
18-year-olds will have the vote.
Since the group between 18 and
23 has been politically active
and since they are the people
most directly affected by the
Selective Service Act, they must
speak now. W? are ' n a different
positioj) apw than we were a
yea'r ago *b eca us e now
leaders- have to listen because
we can vote them in or out.
We've got the numbers to do it.
and the numbers to
significantly affect policy and
the time to begin working on
the repeal of the Selective
Service Act is now. Let's get it
together. Peace.