A Day of Silence...
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Vol. 73 No. 23
Guilford Students Join in March for Women's Rights
by Eliza Blake
Over 30 Guilford students and
faculty travelled to Washington, D.C.,
last weekend to march in support to
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and
constitutional abortion rights.
photo courtesy Autumn Miller
Chris Gosney and Susan Fleer at the Washington March
The march was organized by the
National Organization of Women
(NOW), but had multiple co-spon
sors, including the American Friends'
Serendpity Not a Washout
by David Simpson
Despite a rainy weekend. Seren
dipity 'B9 was a success thanks to
coordinated efforts by students and
administration to move the event into
Dana Auditorium.
Last year parts of Serendipity were
moved to Stemberger Auditorium
because of rain, but that space was
unavailable this year because of
production of a school play.
Steve Luber, Facilities Manager/
Director of Summer Conferences,
said that there was minimal damage
to Dana Auditorium above normal
wear and tear. Luber said that the
only actual damage consisted of a
few broken seats on the auditorium
chairs, a broken hydraulic arm on a
bathroom door, and some stains on
the walls from a pie-eating contest
which turned into a pie-throwing
contest.
Bob White, Director of Security,
agreed with Luber, saying that "there
were no major problems over Seren
dipity." He said that there was a
problem with people smoking inside
the auditorium but pieces of plastic
were put on the carpet to protect it
White added that he sees a need for a
multi-purpose building that students
GUILFORDIAN
Service Committee and various
health, legal, women's and religious
groups.
Originally the march was called as
an anniversary celebration of the
Suffrage Act to reintroduce the ERA.
The ERA, which reads "Equality of
rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of
could have access to for this type of
events.
Luber said that in talking to the
physical-plant people who surveyed
the damage the following Monday,
"they were impressed with the lack
of things that were broken." If there
was a major problem over the week
end, Luber said, it was that someone
had set fire to the toilet paper in
several of the port-a-johns by the
lake and caused extensive damage to
them.
Assistant Dean of Students Dick
Dyer said that there were very few—
no more than two or three—judicial
write-ups over the weekend, and those
were alcohol-related.
According to Luber, one of the
reasons that Serendipity ended up in
Dana Auditorium was because the
final date for the event was not set
until November or December, so it
was hard to calculate space.
Luber said that the administration
plans to begin processing next year's
Serendipity now to avoid space prob
lems next year. He urges students
who want to give positive or negative
feedback to contact their Union rep
resentatives this year.
Serendipity Photos!
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Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C.
sex," was proposed in 1923, and was
proposed to Congress every year
thereafter. It has been approved by
Congress, but it has not been ratified
by the necessary two-thirds of the
states in order to become law. North
Carolina was one of the final states to
defeat it.
March organizers decided to add
abortion rights to the agenda because
the Supreme Court has decided to
look at the abortion issue on April 26.
A Missouri case coming before the
Students Remember Abbie Hoffman
by Eliza Blake
"There was something about him
that was smokey and hearse, like a
fire going out, but Still burning,"
says junior Lisa Bogar.
Abbie Hoffman, radical leader in
the 60's and a defendant of the Chi
cago Seven trial following the riots
at the 1968 Democratic Convention,
died last Wednesday night at the age
of 52. He was found fully clothed in
his bed in his home in New Hope,
Pennsylvania. Guilford College had
a memorable relationship to
Hoffman, who called modem uni
versities "a hotbed of rest."
Two years ago, Jonathan Zim
merman, then editor of the Guilfor
dian, invited him to speak to stu
dents on political activism. When
Hoffman came to Guilford in April
of 1987, he held a workshop for a
groupof about fifty students in Boren
Lounge, and spoke to a much larger
group later in Dana Auditorium. He
met with numerous students infor
mally.
Hoffman created a deep impres
sion on a great many Guilford stu
dents, whose reactions to him ranged
from delight to disgust Senior Rich
James says, "Abbie was subversive
in every single way. He didn't ac
cept any sort of autliority, even so
cial convention. So in that regard he
was both repugnant and inspira
tional." Junior Matt Feinberg says,
"Abbie Hoffman was an extreme
person. He was firm in what he be
lieved and nobody could persuade
him otherwise."
Feinberg continues, "He droee
himself really hard The morning I
picked him up [from the airport], he
was dead tired. He said he never got
Court will call into question the use
of public money for abortion.
The 1973 Supreme Court Roe v.
Wade decision made the right to
abortion constitutional. Carol
Stoneburner, women's studies pro
fessor, commented on the changed
political climate that makes the over
v turning of that decision possible and
imminent: "The choices of the Su
preme Court justices have been care
fully designed [over the Reagan
years] so that now there are five new
more than three or four hours of sleep.
Later we took a walk and he was
really lethargic, dragging his feet....
So in a way it's not so surprising that
he died yesterday."
Senior Comer Gaither had mixed
feelings about him. "My general
impression of Abbie Hoffman was
not good. He was intense. It was a
really frustrating time working with
him. He was bitter, and I think that
was reflected in a lot of his ideas....
He was funny. His performance, and
it was a performance, was funny."
He continues, "My feelings
changed after he left. While he was
here I was all caught up in the emo
tion with everyone else. His political
humor and his intensity were very
overpowering, but with that came a
lot of things that didn't sink in until
after he left.
"It became a status thing to say *1
got high with Abbie Hoffman.' I
mean, that's not his purpose."
Rich James also had strong words
to say about Hoffman: "He had a lot
to say but he couldn't listen. He was
very hard to have a conversation with.
... I was disappointed because he was
photo courtesy College Relation Dept., by Steve McCollum
Abbie Hoffman speaking in Boren Lounge In 1987
Women's Tennis:
Tournament Bound
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April 17, 1989
justices who will re-consider Roe v.
Wade."
Stoneburner fears that Roe v. Wade
might be overturned, leaving the issue
of abortion up to the individual states.
She voiced concern that at that point
the state, or individual doctors, or
perhaps parents or husbands, not the
pregnant women, would become the
ones making the choice about abor
tion.
continued on page 5
an outspoken radical and I expected
him to be more disciplined, living
out his principles."
Yet James also called Hoffman
"brilliant," in reference to the pro
test of CIA recruiting at the Univer
sity of Massachusetts. Shortly be
fore his visit to Guilford, Hoffman
and Amy Carter were acquitted of
charges of obstructing CIA recruit
ing efforts.
Says James, "They chose Massa
chusetts because there they have a
law that says you can break the law
in order to prevent a more serious
crime. And they won. So in a sense
it's saying that the higher crime is
the ClA's covert actions in Central
America. That was brilliant."
Senior Seth Hassett, Community
Senate President, says "If everyone
lived the kind of life Abbie Hoffman
did, we would have utter chaos. But
we need people like him to shake
things up and challenge us from
falling into complacency."
"He was the ugly face of radical
ism," says James, "but he was still
very effective."