November 17, 2000
Kircher Speaks On Importance of Teaching
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Guilford's Timothy Kircher
Anna Belle Peevey
WORLD AND NATION EDITOR
We live in a very different
world than the one 700 years ago.
In an age where large uni
versities and lecture halls often
dominate the scholarly scene, a
re-evaluation of what it takes to
be a teacher plays a critical role
in the direction education is
headed.
Guilford history professor
Timothy Kircher spoke on the im
portance of choosing teachers for
their attributes in a talk he gave
Monday, November 6th. The talk
was part of the Newlin lecture se-
VOICE-MAIL: , , t .
10 situations, tips, and tricks
Zack Hample
STAFF'WRITER
WHEN YOU'RE CHECKING
YOUR MESSAGES...
1. "Wait up! Lemme run to my
room and check my messages!" Hey,
tough guy, you can check your voice
mail from someone else's phone. Dial
2501. When you hear the computer
ized, female voice, press pound (#)
followed by your four-digit extension.
Then follow the basic instructions for
entering your password and proceed
as you normally would.
2. "I missed her digits because
she was talking mad fast, yo." Plan
A: press 1 to rewind her message 10
seconds. Plan B: press 11 to rewind
her message to the beginning. Plan
C: press 4 to slow down the playback
speed of her message. Plan C is phat.
3. "Who was that, anyway? She
didn't say her name, and I have so
many honeyz that I can't tell them
apart." Okay, pimp daddy, press 5
while her message is playing. If she
called from somewhere on campus,
you'll find out her name and mailbox
number, in addition to the date, time,
and length of the message.
4. "Another frickin' mass voice
mail to waste my time. I really don't
give a hoot about Fed Ex." All righty
Features
sance, and second that the Re
naissance has much to teach us
about it," he said.
In his lecture, Kircher out
lined Renaissance humanist
Petrarch's four criteria for choos
ing teachers. Petrarch chose his
teachers based on his respect for
their wisdom and upright actions.
He chose them because they chal
lenged his view of life. Petrarch
sought teachers who expected him
to question their teaching, and he
wanted his readers and students
to also question themselves as well
as their teachers. This interchange
of ideas was intended to be dy
namic, as "Petrarch displayed
then. Option one: press 3 to feist for
ward the message ten seconds. Op
tion two: press 33 to fast forward to
the end. Option three: Press 6 to
quicken the playback speed. Option
four: press 77 to instantly delete the
message. Option five: press pound (#)
to skip it and move on to the next
message.
5. "My girlfriend who's in Spain
this semester left me the most lov
ing message, and I want to copy it
word for word into my journal." Bet
ter enjoy it now before she dumps
you. You can pause her message by
pressing 2, copy down her melodic
words, and press 2 to resume her
message where it left off.
6. "Oy, my poor eardrums. The
first message was too loud, the sec
ond too soft." Hey, quit your
kvetching and change the volume.
Press 8 to lower it or 9 to raise it.
WHEN YOU'RE CALLING
SOMEONE, LIKE, SAY, YOUR BOY
FRIEND...
1. "I forgot to tell my boyfriend
goodnight, and he already went to
sleep!" Chill out, lady You can leave
him a message through the voice mail
system, and he won't hear his phone
ring. Dial 2501, and when you hear
the computerized, female voice, sim
The Guilfordian
shifting perspectives both to
ward himself, and toward his
teachers," said Kircher in his
lecture.
Much of Petrarch's educa
tion was spent dedicated to under
standing the teachings of Saint
Augustine, one of the Fathers of
the Catholic Church. Augustine
lived nearly 900 years before
Petrarch, yet Petrarch used him in
his dialogue, the Secretum. "The
theme of the Secretum, which is
Latin for secret," Kircher said, "is
Petrarch's search for happiness."
This search was aided by the man
ner in which Augustine taught
Petrarch.
Although Petrarch lived
nearly 700 years ago, the quality
with which he chose his teachers
is still important today, Kircher
argued.
"Petrarch's ideas on good
teaching and learning are more
important that ever, when stu
dents are increasingly pressured
to steer their college courses to
ward a narrow, professional end,"
he said.
ries in the
Guilford Col
lege History
Department.
Kirc he r
chose this
topic "to
show, first of
all, how im
portant this
topic is not
only for us to
day, but also
for writers
and thinkers
in the Renais-
"While preparing for jobs
and careers has become a critical
piece of our studies, Petrarch
tells us that life's larger subject,
ply dial his four
digit extension.
2. "I really
do like him, but
his message is
long and stupid
and annoys the
hell out of me ev
ery time I call."
Maybe, you
should tell the
guy, but until
then, save your
self the time and
agony of listening
to it by pressing
pound (#) when it
comes on. This
whisks you right
to the end, and
you'll hear the
beep that indicates you can begin
leaving your message.
3. "Oh my god, this message I'm
leaving him is so dorky." Luckily, you
can unsend the message that you're
leaving him as long as you haven't
yet hung up. Press star (*) and you'll
hear the voice say, "Message erased.
At the tone please rerecord your
message. At the end of your message
please press one." After pressing one,
you'll have lots of options, and the
the happiness of the self, shapes
this preparation."
At Guilford, these qualities
continue to play an important
role in education. A recent sur
vey in the New York Times of col
lege students showed that at
most schools, discussions be
tween faculty and students out
side of class rarely occur, and,
with large lectures during class,
in-class discussion is uncommon
as well.
"Guilford provides a special
environment to learn through
conversation, when students may
challenge teachers and them
selves," Kircher said. "What we
need to ask is how many of us take
advantage of this environment
and hold each other accountable
for what we say and do."
"What are you doing, little
man? What are you dreaming?
What are you waiting for?" These
first words St. Augustine says to
Petrarch in the Secretum illus
trate Kircher's view of the rela
tionship between a teacher and
his student. A constant inter
change of ideas through dialogue
is something that continues to be
an essential foundation for
Guilford today.
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instructions talk you right through
it.
4. "What were those beeps I
heard when I was talking at the end
of my message?" Just like your boy-
Mend, the double beep says that you
talk too much. After you've babbled
for 80 seconds, the beep serves as a
warning that you'll get cut off after
another 20 seconds.
That's all, folks. Good luck in
your respective voice-mail pursuits.
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