Prime Concern
What is The Guilfordian? Or
more appropriately, what should
The Guilfordian be? After a
violent meeting with The Guilfor
dian staff last week, I pondered
this question.
Is The Guilfordian a student
newspaper, a community letter
or an administrative potpourri
board? I asked myself this as I
reviewed the stack of community
notes, remembered all the pro
posed weekly administrative an
nouncement columns and recall
ed my own desire to write a few
"muck-raking" stories. I
believe a student paper should be
all of these, but there should be
appropriate ratios.
Community news can be read
in the campus newsletter, as well
as administrative an
nouncements. But where can
students make announcements?
Where can students complain,
praise and draw attention to sub
jects? In the newsletter - yes. But
the newsletter does not report
events that are unscheduled and
unheard of occurences.
I mean that I believe The
Guilfordian shojld represent the
happenings of the community.
But we, as staff and as a
mouthpiece of the student body,
should represent the students
first, then the community, then
the administration.
Dear Editor,
Some months ago, I walked into
the American Institute Library at
the University of Munich in Ger
many. It was in the building in
which my classes were being held
for the fall Semester in Munich
program, and I deemed it a quiet
place to study. I was right!
To me, this library proved to be
a quiet oasis for study in the
midst of the bustling downtown
university. The students working
there are serious about their
work and they show it. They are
also respectful of others and
whatever work they are doing. I
will not conjecture about where
this respect comes from; I simp
ly observed it.
I think that it would be great if
our quiet room exuded this
respect-it is a respect for the ac
complishment of fellow students!
Unfortunately, most nights the
.quietness is littered with
whispered conversations. It's not
that I resent people talking to
each other, and it's not that I
mind a whispered hello -1 do that
myself every time I study there.
It's the fact that we have extend
ed conversations in a room
designed for quiet study. I ask
everyone to think about this the
next time you are in the quiet
room and feel like conversing.
Why not step out in the hall?
Sincerely,
Todd Reitzel
As on all campuses, one in
dividual student does not hold
much clout. If he/she has a pro
blem or complaint he/she wishes
to voice against the administra
tion he/she does so. And it ends
there. He/she is successful in
achieving his goal or else is turn
ed away empty-handed. On the
whole though, a student just
doesn't stand a chance against
the establishment in a confronta
tion.
Consider, however, that this one
student is not the only student
who has encountered this pro
blem. Perhaps numerous
students and possibly faculty
have a grievance with an ad
ministrative office. Through in
vestigative, factual reporting,
this problem could be brought to
the attention of the entire com
munity. And these numerous
grievances would be galvanized
into a campus concern that would
warrant a community supported
investigation.
This is what I believe is the
responsibility of The Guilfordian.
This is the greatest service we
can offer the student body,
whether they will use it is up to
them. We should and will con
tinue to report administrative,
community and student news, but
our iprime concern will be the
Guilford College student.
By Don Kaplan
Dear Editor,
Recently I heard about a car
accident involving the death of
one student and injury of three
other students from my former
high school. Although I was not
close to any of these people,
somehow, through friends and
family members, they were
abstractly connected to my life.
What I find myself always ask
ing in any accident, is whether or
not the passengers were wearing
seatbelts. I have known too many
survivors that have survived
because they were belted, that
this question has become impor
tant to me. Unfortunately, none
of the students involved in this ac
cident were wearing seatbelts.
Seatbelts have been shown to
double one's chances of surviving
a car crash but less thanls%of
Americans buckle up for safety
when they drive. That means that
80%ofus,for various reasons and
excuses, don't use a safety device
that could save our lives. It would
seem that common sense would
tell us that seatbelts, which were
designed to protect a driver, were
not just added to cars for
"inconvenience" or as an after
thought safety device. The
possibility of an accident always
exists because of dangerous
roads, irresponsible drivers and
carelessness, and we should
"buckle-up" as automatically as
we stop for a red light.
Letters, cont'd
If you think about how little ef
fort it takes to put on a seatbelt, it
seems ridiculous that anyone
should not do it. But on short hur
ried trips we forget or are
distracted and on longer ones it
sometimes becomes uncomfor
table. Maybe we should weigh the
discomfort against death; it
seems extreme but it could also
be an outcome. As for not looking
"cool" I'd rather be "uncool"
than injured anytime.
Although I don't have the
answer (unfortunately) to the
seatbelt dilemma, tragedy
always seems to at least for a
while scare many people into the
habit while the memories re
main. If there were only
some way to impress upon us all
as drivers the essential need to
wear seatbelts whether we're on
an eight hour trip or on the way to
the groery store.
Sincerely,
Moira Taylor
To The Kditor:
We would like to thank Guilford
students for their support in the
Community Senate elections last
Thursday and Friday. Also, we
would like to compliment Tom
Hill and his ticket on their
energetic campaign. The first
item on our agenda will be
"Service Saturday." On March 23
participating students will be
rented in pairs to people in the
community to raise money for
the Student Again,
thank you. We are looking for
ward to a successful year!
Sincerely,
Jim Freeman
Nathan Bolin
Cliff Tatum
Renee Godard
Dear Kditor
While working at the info desk
the other day I happened to pick
up a publication I had previously
known little about, much less
read: The Outlook, published by
the Admissions Office. In it was a
recap of the fall break 'B4 sailing
trip on the Photon, taken from the
participants' journals. I was
lucky enough to be one of those
participants.
As I read the familiar account,
a small lump formed in my
throat. It reminded me of how
valuable that experience was to
all of us on board.
I'd like to use this opportunity
to ask the Guilford community to
take five minutes and read the ar
ticle in The Outlook. Better yet:
talk to someone who's been on the
Photon. We all need to make
ourselves more aware of the
many different unique educa
tional resources of college has to
offer.
The Photon is an inexhaustible
source of learning experiences
wrapped up in a bundle of fun. It
would be a shame to let it go un
tapped.
I must add that the success of
all the trips on the Photon is due
to a very large extent to the
dedication, hard work, and love
of sailing that Dan McGehee and
Debra Dunn have invested over
the years. They deserve warm
thanks from all of us.
Without these two unique in
dividuals the Photon would be
just a boat like any other. They
make it a home, a school, a
"bundle of fun" on the water.
Now I ask you to ask yourself,
"Can I afford to let an opportuni
ty like this slip by me?" Read the
aforementioned article or ask
anyone who experienced a
Photon adventure and have an
easy answer!
Again, many thanks to Dan
McGehee and Debra Dunn.
Clayton Tyson
Page 7
February 22, 1985
Guilfordian—
Dear Editor
The recent problems connected
with the publication of The
Guilfordian are nothing new.
During the spring semester of
1948, William L. Kerr completed
his terms as editor in mid-March.
In his final editorial he reported:
"And now we're in a jam. We
have no editor. I'm sorry for the
existing situation, but I don't
think it will last too long."
Kerr was wrong. No one came
forward to take on the editorship.
Weeks went by. Finally. Mary
Elizabeth "Pinkie" Fischelis, the
managing editor, decided the
situation was so "desperate,"
that she "took over the
editoriship." Her efforts to
recruit help led her to discuss
some of the problems she faced.
In an editorial on May 7,1948. She
said:
Within the past few weeks an
average of perhaps six people a
day have approached me with the
question, "When is the Guilfor
dian coming out?" I had no
answer to that because it was ob
vious at the time that I would be
unable to write the entire paper
by myself. I don't know where
people get their ideas of the pro
cess by which a paper is publish
ed, but they seem to be all wrong.
Even I had no idea of the amount
of work involved in the Guilfor
dian. Now that I do, however, it is
plain that without proper
cooperation the Guilfordian will
die a natural death. If the people
who seem concerned over the
progress of the paper would show
a little of the same interest in
working on the paper, things
might get done.
The Guilfordian didn't die
because fortunately we have
always had students like Mary
Elizabeth Fischelis to carry on
the tradition. The paper won jour
nalism awards in 1941 and 1945.
Perhaps it will again. Forty
years is a long time between ac
colades.
Alex Stoesen
History Dept.