Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Sept. 27, 1996, edition 1 / Page 12
Part of The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
10 a £ H o UH editorial board Keir BickerstafFe Lindsay Oldenski Courtney Christian Ben Thorne statement of purpose The Forum exists to facilitate dialogue and expression on matters of importance to Guilford College and its mission. Toward this end, active community participation in these pages is vital. editorial policy Every effort will be made to print appropriate submissions of editorials, cartoons and letters to the editor. They must be signed, with the phone number of the author or artist included. Editorials must be no longer than 400 words and letters to the editor must be no more than 250 words. The Guilfordian reserves the right to edit submissions for grammatical correctness and brevity. The Guilfordian 1 Community service: more than an admissions attraction We hear it all around us. "The chance to be involved in meaningful work, work that makes a more just and livable place, is a central part of why they chose Guilford; others develop a sense of community service once they ar rive." Page 8, the new Guilford College viewbook. Before sports, before academics, even before the college map—our community service program was touted. But is this accurate? In preparing for this week's fo cus story on G.U.T.S. and those in volved with Project Community, we came across several people giving genuinely to the cause, with an amazing passion and love for their LETTERS*LETTERS*LETTERS*LETTERS An open letter to Jane Caris's former clients A goodbye is an order. The essence of a relationship is commitment, and meeting honesty with honesty. For the therapist it means a readiness to be a midwife, using her skills at any time in the process of psy chological birth. For the client, it means a willingness to entcf that wild country of the psyche— the reality often hidden by a suc cessful or floundering persona. Together we entered a partnership for your chance. In the fall of 1995, I appeared to suddenly leave my part of the commitment, and I owe you an explanation as well as a thank you, and goodbye. My request for a sabbatical in 1995-95 and a permanent career change for 1996-97, were granted too late in the spring to notify my clients, although I added a brief informative note to a Counseling Center article last fall. My life change began with the First phone call about my father's terminal ill ness in October 1994. In January 1995, our family decided to move my parents to Greensboro where I could assist my father through his dying process and my mother through her grief and increasing memory loss. After a semester of fielding my par ents' emergencies along with expected psy chological emergencies from Guilford, it became clear that a change was in order. Given my MFA in writing and published poetry and essays in my pocket, I accepted with some confidence a part-time appoint ment in the Academic Skills Center and General Studies/English. My love of writ ing, an active understudy in the wings for years, thrived on center stage last year and forum work. Great stories coupled, unfortu nately, with deep discouragement. These student leaders told of their frustration over lack of resources, as well as the lack of faculty in- "Somewhere between page 8 of the Guilford viewbook and (these frus trations) —well, something doesn't add up." volvement (as of now) with this, the so-called Guilford community's day of service. To be sure, the community ser vice department here, due to the announced it was time to make a permanent career shift which was approved late last spring. My decision to walk into new, sometimes scary, territory was bolstered by the cour age I witnessed in so many of you. What a privilege to assist as an authentic self emerges from the fog of sexual abuse, de pression, addiction, or simply the need to please others more than oneself. I've been in therapy. I know the nerve it takes to walk into a therapist's office — the mixture of hope, fear, and sometime swallowed distrust of adults. You have proved my profiles in courage as you owned how events in the past shaped your attitudes and behaviors, and as you began to change them. I carry your sto ries and the intimate "ah ha" moments deep in my cells. You have been my teachers. I miss you, especially those I worked with over time, and I thank you. I used to end counseling sessions with "take care" — meaning care for yourself like a good parent/mentor/friend. I end this let ter the same way, with the hope that you've continued to move through the deep woods of habit and hurt, using the light of therapy when needed. If you wish to say goodbye in person, I would welcome it Come by my office in the ASC at the library. Take care, Jane Caris Caf workers experi ence must count as fact I am one of the "clueless hippies" that was thoughtlessly protesting and getting arrested at Kmart last semester. I believe September 27,1996 dedication of the student leaders and its coordinators, is something many schools should marvel at. And they do. But somewhere between page 8 of the Guilford viewbook and the frustration over not being able to transport students to their tutoring jobs due to lack of funds —well, something doesn't add up. The powers that be — you have made community service a tenet of the "Guilford experience". October sth will be one of its biggest ex amples all year. From here, it could get bigger. Invest in this wellspring. Don't allow the discouragement of these student leaders to turn into bitter accusations of exploitation. Let them live up to the name they've been given. I am also the "extremely indignant" woman who argued with Ben Thome about the Marriott issue two weeks ago as I petitioned and handed out fact sheets. I feel the way that editorials in the Guilfordian have con tinuously attacked the personality and integ rity of students who are involved in "con troversial" issues, claiming that we are un informed, easily angered bandwagon riders is a tactic used throughout history to water down issues and complicate issues that ba sically speak for themselves. I also feel that people who have used this tactic do so, not so much because they are concerned with "seeing both sides" but because the are pro jecting their own discomfort with issues of social justice. This became significant in my argument with Mr. Thome when he said something akin to "Don't you think it is a bit strong of an association between this situ ation and centuries of racist oppression?" No, I don't, but obviously he does. The editor is correct in his argument that people should be informed and know the facts from both sides of an issue. But what weird standards for what counts as fact! Marriott and the Food Service Director have, up until very recently, denied an issue is present in our cafeteria. The facts on the fact sheet I handed out, however, were straight from the mouths of our cafeteria workers. But because Marriott was unwilling to give a rebuttal, does that mean the workers are lying? Trying to cause a ruckus despite the danger to their jobs? In denying that "facts" were found before the petition began, Mr.Thome has denied that the folks in the cafeteria can read their own paychecks. Brittany Boden
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 27, 1996, edition 1
12
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75