Page Two
THE SALEMITE
Friday, September 24, 1971
Will All Communications
Break Down At Salem?
are
other
lacking
are
Communications Salem
faculty and do know
If this sentence seems funny to you, then you
can understand just what is the communication
problem at Salem. There is often a lack of
communication between faculty and students.
Also students do not always know what is hap
pening with other students, and faculty mem
bers with other faculty members.
This situation is not entirely anyone's fault.
Of course there are some committee meetings
at which things are kept secret, perhaps un
necessarily.
Yet there are a lot of things that students can
and should know that they never find out.
There are many things that occur in student-
faculty committees that both the students and
the faculty should but never do hear. People
often do not realize that so many things are
going on.
Communication has often been a problem at
Salem, but now without required assemblies it
could become even worse. For the first time
The Salemite has the opportunity to maintain a
real function—to be the instrument of communi
cation on campus, instead of simply reporting
"old" news about past assemblies and such.
The staff hopes to keep its readers informed
of meetings, assemblies, the arts in Salem and
the community and the proceedings of commit
tees.
We'll try to do our part—to keep giving you
the news. But you have to do the important
part. You'll have to read it.
• • • •
I should like to bring to the at
tention of the readers of The
Salemite that Salem College is now
offering its very own January pro
gram in typing for the Beginner.
This is the latest January program
approved by the members of the
January Program Committee. This
course offers a rare opportunity for
any student to continue his quest
for a liberal education. It is as
sumed that many will sign up for,
this course. There is even a rumor
circulating around that if enrollment
is high enough Salem College would
change its name to Salem Secre
tarial School.
Michel Bourquin
Dear Editor,
I would like to take this oppor
tunity to express my enthusiasm
and gratification for the establish
ment of the typing course, offered
in the January program of Salem’s
Editor-in-Chief
EDITORIAL STAFF
Associate Editor Cori Pasquier
Managing Editor Laurie Daltroff
News Editor Chris Verrastro
Assistant News Clark Kitchen
Feature Editor Chris Moran
Assistant Feature - Dee Wilson
Copy Editor Anna Burgwyn
Cartoonist - Marcia McDade
Photography Editor Beth Wilson
Roving Photographer Billie Everhart
Jeanne Patterson
Printed by the Sun Printing Company
Subscription Price $4.60 a year
Member U. S. Student Press Association
S. G. A. At Southern Pines
4-1-4 plan. I can think of no better
way to broaden my horizons than
with this independent and highly
individualistic study of the marvels
of the typewriter.
I hope to attain a high level of
achievement — at least 50 words a
minute with no errors. I feel I will
then be prepared for anything the
world after graduation has to offer
me! And what fortune to have this
opportunity to develop skill and
agility of the keyboard right here
on campus, and not in one of the
local junior high schools!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Sincerely,
A fulfilled Salem student,
Kathy Manning
Editor’s Note:
The opinions expressed in The
Salemite in signed articles and let
ters are not necessarily those of the
editorial staff.
By Catherine Cooper
The huge interesting house that
sat there among the pine trees lust
waiting for the twenty of us saw
and heard many unusual things the
weekend of September 10-12. We’d
set aside these three days at the
beginning of school for a student
council retreat at Southern Pines.
Almost everyone invited made it—
executive board, honor council, in
terdorm officers, and the house
presidents. Also present were six
ministers from the Wake Forest
and UNC-G campuses and Raleigh
to supervise the activity.
It being the first(actually THE
FIRST) time the Salem Student
Council had ever assembled as a
group, everybody had some getting-
acquainted to do. This was ac
complished magnificently at our
first planned session . . . one of
those sensitivity, bare-your-soul
type things. Practically each one
of us came out of that mentally
and emotionally exhausted, but cer
tain that nineteen other real people
were now our friends.
The next session’s activity con
sisted of each one drawing a picture
representation of student govern
ment. We then discussed each pic
ture to get a conception of how
Salem’s student government stands
right now. Most of the pictures
w'ere optimistic and most empha
sized the idea that all students at
Salem can and should participate
in the decision-making processes.
Change was a dominant feature in
many drawings.
After we had some impressions
of where we now stand, we split
into groups to come up with lists
of what we thought were the three
most important areas of concern at
Salem right now.
The next day we began with fun
and games. “Star Power” was the
game we played for several hours.
The game involved person-to-person
bargaining for different valued
poker chips. We were then devided
into three groups according to who
got the highest valued chips. One
group continually won (got the most
points) and so was given all power
to make whatever rules for the
game it wanted to. By this time,
you’ve probably discovered that the
game is a simulation .of life, or any
situation involving the dominance
of a power group over any other
groups. The main lesson learned
v/as that those who don’t have
power always resent those who do.
The power group must be careful
to listen to and consult with repre
sentatives from the weaker groups,
so that the interest of the weaker
group will be represented m any
decision.
After that, we had a lesson m
decision-making. Each one of us
tried to correctly rank a kst of
fifteen things that would be needed
on a moon landing mission, by order
of their importance. Then we did
the same exercise in two groups of
about ten people each. Comparing
the individual scores with the group
scores, it was clear that the process
of exchanging ideas in group de
cision-making gets better results.
None of us, I think, knew what
we were in for when we set out
to apply a lesson in consensus de
cision-making. A group can make
a decision two ways under the
democratic process—by vote or by
consensus. In a vote, there is al
ways the problem of a dissatisfied
minority. But a consensus decision
is one that has been discussed until
practically everyone in the group
agrees. Obviously, consensus can
only be effective in small groups.
Our task was to rank-order one
big list of our concerns at Salem
from the four separate lists we had
already drawn up. Problems im
mediately arose with everyone talk
ing at once, not listening (or not
being able to listen), and getting
bogged down completely in picky
details. The going was pretty rough.
Finally, our “supervisors” broke
into the mess, pointed out where
we were going astray, and advised
us to cool off for about thirty
minutes, which was a relief. (An
ample supply of beer greatly facili
tated things). Soon afterwards the
task was successfully accomplished
First in importance was the Bi
centennial, with its publicity poten-
tial for attracting students and im-
proving Salem’s image. Admissions
itself was an area we felt needed
work so that the Salem student
body could be more diversified in
regard to geographic, economic, and
racial background.
Curriculum changes were on the
list. We would like to see more
courses, interdisciplinary majors and
concrete programs of exchange with
male colleges. As far as academic
standards go, we would like to see
grade-credit given for summer
school work at other institutions.
Another innovation could be the
practice of not recording “F”’s on
a student’s record. If a course was
failed, no credit would be given
but neither would the failing grade.
We would like to see academic re
quirements for remaining at Salem
strengthened and upheld. Getting
a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and im
proving the library facilities are
other projects to work on at Salem,
We felt that the sense of com
munity at Salem should be pre
served and strengthened by improv
ing the facilities and activities oi
the student center.
These were the major points we
considered as important concerns
for us today at Salem. Ideas,
criticisms, and cooperation of all
students are needed and welcome at
all times. The weekend was finished
up on Sunday morning with a sym
bolic sharing of bread and wine (in
reality, a hamburger bun and Tay
lor sherry). Hopes were high, the
feeling was warm, and now all sys
tems are “GO”!
Coming Attractions For 200th
BUSINESS STAFF
Business Manager _ _ Lynn Bode
Advertising Manager Margaret Brinkley
Circulation Manager Pat Terry
Mailing Manager Beth Duncan
Head Typist Kathy Bacon
Published by Students of Salem College
Advisor — Mrs. J. W. Edwards
If you get the “blahs” thinking
about the long cold semester after
Christmas, perhaps a little news
about plans for Salem’s 200th Anni
versary will warm the heart. A
tentative list of events for next
year has been released, and it looks
as though Salem will be host to
quite a bit of activity beginning in
January.
To start the year off, Salem
will release the documentary film
shot last spring on campus. A bro
chure on the 200th Anniversary will
also be published. Sometime in
January a regional photography
contest will be held, along with an
exhibit by one of the senior staff
photographers of LIFE magazine.
February will feature a Czech
Festival (Feb. 15-20), which will
give Salemites and the public a
taste of Czech music and dance.
Visiting Czech composers and dig
nitaries will speak, the Piedmont
Chamber Orchestra will perform
Czech works, and possibly we may
hear Czech music composed espe
cially for the Festival.
March begins with a Conference
on Education, which will bring edu
cators with broad experience to
Salem to discuss problems and pos
sibilities for today’s higher edu
cation. This conference will be a
three day meeting, and the speakers
and groups will try to draw con
clusions from the conference on the
final day. Among the visiting
speakers will be Dr. Harris Wof
ford, President of Bryn Mawr Col
lege; Dr. John Sibler, President of
Boston University; and Edith
Green, U. S. Representative from
Oregon.
March will also see Dr. Chandler,
Salem’s 14th President, inaugurated.
The inauguration ceremony will be
held Saturday, March 4.
A symposium is scheduled for
Aprd 11-12 on Future Society t
Family, Church, Economy. The
April Arts Festival to be held in
late April, will this year feature a
nationally known entertainer or
group because of the Bi-Centennial.
Other plans, including student
activities, are being worked on, and
hopefully there will be a report
about them at the next SGA meet-
One student project connected
with the Bicentennial but not de
pendent on it is a radio progf®
to be broadcast weekly on WSJS
and other interested stations. Tl"®
project is in its first stages of bem?
organized and offers a good oppof
tunity to those who would like te
get involved in Bicentennial pl^^s.
The weekly program will consist ol
a five-minute tape about what is
going on at Salem, possibly prt
sented as interviews with studentSi
faculty, administration, or
speakers. The tapes will requirt
two or three hours of preparatieij
each week including making musk*
arrangements, preparing an
teresting program, and actually taP
ing the program. Mr. Bray h®*
pressed an interest in helping
this project and will help with 1
for programs and the taping ol
programs. Anyone interest ^
helping with any aspect of this
ject, please get in touch ^
Pickard, 209 Strong, or Mrs. M
in the News Bureau.