Academic Mountainbiking
PROF. CHRIS CRAIG, ENGLISH DEPT
Guest Writer
This August, eight new first-year stu
dents, a sophomore, and I went mountain
biking in West Virginia, a four-day outing
event. Up there in the clean, almost heav
enly air, I realized how amazingly well we
know our physical limitations. It's hilly there
and difficult climbing, but we already knew
how to climb these physical mountains. We
proved it to ourselves on that trip.
The trip was part of Avanti, a Guilford
organized, pre-orientation program for in
coming freshmen. In addition to many other
day-long jaunts, Avanti offered multiple-day
trips that gave total strangers a safe situa
tion, bringing them together to tackle a com
mon (and usually fun) difficulty. One op
tion was to go Whitewater rafting, another
took folks climbing. The mountain bike trip
proved particularly challenging. It made me
realize that climbing and coasting through
the Appalachian mountains seems a good
metaphor for the academic mountaineering
that occurs each semester at Guilford.
You see, physical success awaits at the
top of the hill. We envision the goal and
then work hard to enjoy ourselves on the way
up. If during the trip our bodies said "slow
down," we stopped, we slowed down, we
walked instead of ran. Bodies won't be ig
nored. Unconciousness is hard to argue
down.
So when the ten of us tried to tackle those
West Virgina rises, those of us with the en
ergy and impetus pedaled straight up, but the
ones with singing muscles saw the hills and
stepped off theii iron horses to walk. Ev
eryone had their limit—the group respected
that—and so everyone, ultimately, did fine.
We already knew how to climb physical
mountains because we understood our
muscles; we respected the strength of our
lungs. Muscles are muscles, we say, and they
only stretch so far.
But when it comes to academic hills, we
tend to think differently. We treat the brain
The Power of Language
CORY BIRDWHISTELL
staff writer
You probably take the use of print as a
given. You read these words, as most of us
do, without effort or thought. But for many
people in this country, this newspaper would
act as another barrier to our culture.
Britta McNemar works for them.
It was really sort of life-changing,"
McNemar says about her family's 1989 stay
in a Siberian town. Raised in Pittsburgh and
educated throughout the Northeast, she dis
covered the importance of literacy while
teaching English to teachers at the local sci
ence and math high school.
I came away with a tremendous appre
ciation for how hard women in Russia have
to work to balance home and their jobs,"
McNemar explains. "And for them to give
an hour each day to learn English.. .well it
made me think about the power of language."
This thought stuck with her when the
September 27,1996 fCdtUTCS The Guilfordian
like a machine. Rather than acquiesce to the
hills, we try to macho and grunt our way
through difficult semesters and confusing
papers.
When it comes to climbing physical
mountains, we understand the threat of
physical collapse. But we don't necessarily
recognize its mental counterpart. We, the
academically excited, the mentally masoch
istic, abuse our intellectual limits. We don't
know when to climb off the bike to walk.
What I'm saying is that when its three
A.M. the morning before the final paper is
due, and you're juiced on No-Doze and burnt
Wilco coffee, feeling a little yellow but
awake, most of you will experience brain
bonk. That doesn't mean you'll miss the
paper deadline. On the contrary, you might
turn it in on time, but the paper itself will be
dead, a corpse, DOA. Your professor will
notice.
We're all tempted to treat our brains, by
sprinting our way through the academic
projects at the last minute. I have done it
too. But imagine the head as a muscle, and
think of the abuse we're putting it through.
Isn't it time for group brain massage?
Most of us learn sooner or later to respect
the wisdom that we can solve some of our
homework problems all of the time. Why,
even Guilford physics professor Rex
Adelberger admitted the other day to his
class that he couldn't, at the time, solve a
perplexing problem; he got off the bike to
walk. Later on, his brain refreshed, he
worked the problem again.
The moral of this story is that you,
Guilford students, need to slow down when
the work gets overwhelming. You'll need
to start your projects earlier, but you'll ulti
mately get addicted to that too. When your
brain becomes brutalized from producing
discrete connections, from finding power
ful implications, when you're lost, go walk
in the woods. Get off the metaphorical
mountainbike and stroll —let your cerebel
lum chill. You'll climb higher and have
much more fun doing it.
McNemars returned to Boston. She began
teaching English as a second language to im
migrants in the Chelsea area, then became
an adult literacy teacher in a family literacy
project.
This made me realize how empowering
literacy it is to people, particularly women,"
McNemar says.
With a history degree from Conneticut
College and a Master's in Urban Education
from the University of
Pennsylvania, she had
begun her Ph.D. work
withß os to n
University's Literacy,
Languages, and Cul
tural Studies program.
She soon became interested in adolescent
literacy, and this led her to a pregnant and
parenting teen program. "I walked in," she
laughs, "and in five minutes had one hand on
a stroller and another on a protractor."
She continues, "I began to watch and lis-
Problems are actually opportunities. The
larger the problem is, the larger the opportu
nity." -Ron Smothermon
The Guilford College Community will
face numerous problems this year. As a stu
dent, you are an essential part of that com
munity. I want to encourage all of you to join
together to face the issues that face Guilford
and its students on a daily basis. Take ad
vantage of the opportunities presented to
you. Take advantage of the fact that ATTHIS
SCHOOL PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO
YOU. Talk to your Senate representative(s).
Ask what is going on and give your opin
ion. That's what they're there for. Do NOT
just complain about things. DO SOME
THING about it. It doesn't take much. Sim
ply talk to the people who will listen.
If you want to do more than that go to a
Senate meeting Wednesdays at 3:35 p.m. in
Boren lounge. Voice your opinion. You will
not be turned away. We will listen. If you
are interested in joining one of the Senate
committees that change the way Guilford is
The Guilford College Student Union
would like to take this opportunity to intro
duce itself to you! Union exists to bring
students here entertaining and enlightening
events. You probably have already taken part
in one or more of our events, like Welcome
Weekend, the Family Weekend Student Cof
feehouse, the trip to Emerald Pointe Water
Park, Jay Friedman's "Sex Matters," or the
Christine Kane coffeehouse.
Union has even more fun events planned
for the rest of the semester. There will be
dances, a homecoming bonfire, films, more
student coffeehouses, and even a concert!
We invite you all to come to these events.
We are also producing a poster calendar with
all of our events on it, so you can stay in-
ten and realized I never saw anyone reading
to their child." This made her see the gap
between adolescent literacy programs and
family literacy programs. While the family
literacy field recognizes the importance of
families reading and learning together, it
doesn't include teenage parents.
McNemar concluded that the adolescent
programs should coordinate with family lit
eracy programs, and
since then worked to
ward making this re
ality. The process
has included a lot of
challenges and pain,
she says, but she has
The process has a lot of
challenge and pain," but she has
hopes for its success.
hope for its success.
Meanwhile, she documented everyday lit
eracy behavior for adolescents, interviewing
and visiting five teenagers in Boston for her
doctoral thesis. As an observer it was hard
to see things she may not agree with. "It was
The President Corner
by Steve
Marasco
The Union Vox
CARA SKEAT
union president
run just ask. It's that simple. (We Quakers
wouldn't have it any other way...)
This week in Senate we discussed a pro
posal that would switch the quiet reading
space in Dana Lounge with the recreation
room downstairs in Founders. We also ap
proved several appointed positions on Sen
ate.
Thank you to everyone that participated
in ROCK THE VOTE this week! All the help
and support is appreciated. Now just remem
ber to vote on November 5 th.
Also, thank you to everyone who con
tributed to the discussion on Marriott food
services.
Organization leaders take note: there will
be a Leaders Meeting on Friday, October 4th
(next Friday!) in Boren lounge at 3:35 p.m.
We will be discussing what we are all up to
and what resources are available to organi
zations. We will also be serving PIZZA!
Please send one representative of your or
ganization.
As always, if you have any questions,
comments, concerns, ideas or if you would
like to join a Senate committee or just help
out, please call the Senate office at x 2310.
We are ready to listen. Thank you.
formed and decorate your room at the same
time.
We also invite every Guilford student
to become involved with Union on an in
dividual level, by attending our meetings
on Tuesday nights at 9 pm in the Passion
Pit upstairs in Founder's Hall. We are al
ways looking for more student input, and
this is your chance to tell us what you think
about what Union is doing.
Tuesday night meetings are also your
chance to help put on events, because that
is when you can become what we call a
production assistant. You can help publi
cize events, set up for a concert, hand out
free goodies at athletic events... the list
of what needs to be done goes on and on!
Simply talk to one of our event coordina
tors at the meeting.
See you on Tuesday!
hard to sit and watch things go on," she re
calls.
Now McNemar has finished with her re
search and faces writing her conclusions. As
for the students on which her research is
based, she says, "It was harder to leave them
than I imagined, but I'll be back to see them
this semester."
When she finishes the writing, she smiles,
"I'll be ready to jump into family literacy
here. I have lots more to learn but I'd like to
do some writing and advocacy work for ado
lescent women."
It is interesting for McNemar to be here,
where Shirley Bryce Heath has done a great
deal of literacy work. "If I had a hero in lit
eracy, it would be her," she says.
North Carolina has lots of good work go
ing on in literacy," she explains, "and I can't
wait to get involved. This is a wonderful
location."
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