Volume IX
Jhe Sdfcmite
WE DO NOT APOLOGIZE
Salem College, Winston-Salem, N. C„ Monday, October 11, 1976
Number 1
Dr. Cuninggim joins hockey field partiers.
ew Salem Faculty
By Jettie McCollough
Salem College hired five new
full time faculty and administra
tive personnel this fall, Dr. Bea
Ackenbom, and Dr. Todd Fay,
the Department of Psychology
and Education, Diane Dailey,
Assistant of Academic Affairs,
Dr. Jerry Pubantz, the Depart
ment of History and Political
Science, and Dr. Craig Miller,
the Department of Chemistry.
Dr. Bea Ackenbom received
her Ed.D. from the University of
Virginia at Charlottesville and
teaches Introduction to Learn
ing Disabilities and Develop
mental Psychology and super
vises the Learning Disabilities
interns. Dr. Ackenbom belies
in an eclectic approach to
Learning Disabilities, combin
ing the best aspects of the
various teaching methods.
Dr. Todd Fay, originally from
La Porte, Indiana, received his
Ph.D. from North Western Uni
versity and taught at the Univer
sity of Western Ontario before
coming to Salem. At Salem he
teaches Introduction to Psycho
logy, The Exceptional Child, and
Theories of Personality.
Dr. Fay is currently studying
the sexual psychology of women
and its relationship to androgeny.
He and his family bought an old
house on the west end of Winstotiv
Salem which they are enjoying
remodeling. Because his home is
close to Salem, he walks to class.
Diane Dailey, a 1971 graduate
of Salem College from Frankford,
Kentucky, received her Master’s
Degree at North Carolina State
University and worked at Chat
ham College in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvannia as an administra
tive intern before coming to
Salem. Before receiving her mas
ter s degree, Diane worked on
a farm in Switzerland for a
year and also as a Travel Agent.
She loves golf and tennis,
especially golf, and said, ‘If
Dr. Cuninggim Joins Salem
anyone wants a golf partner,
tell them to let me know!”
Diane is planning informal daily
discussion with small groups of
students so that she can get to
know Salem students better.
Dr. Jerry Pubantz, originally
from Chicago, received his Ph.D.
at Duke University, and taught
at Converse College before com
ing to Salem. Dr. Pubantz teaches
Western Civilization to 1850 and
Modern International Relations.
He is interested in enlarging the
interest in Political Science and
in the semester programs at the
United Nations and in Washing
ton, D. C.
Dr. Pubantz is also the chair
man of the Lecture Assembly
Committee and is interested in
encouraging more student in
volvement in the lecture series
and the Symposium.
Dr. Craig Miller, originally
from San Francisco, received his
Ph.D. from the University of
Illinois and taught at the Univer
sity of Wisconsin before coming to
Salem, where he teaches Organic
Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Dr. Miller finds “Students very
willing to learn, and less disil
lusioned than those on the large
university campuses because
there is less organizational hassle
at Salem to discourage the stu
dents.”
Other faculty changes this year
include the addition of Ann
Wooten, a part-time professor for
the Block Program in Education,
and Sally Boyd, a part-time pro-
fcssor in Home Economics.
New department heads are Dr.
Alono Villarino, the Department
of Modern Foreign Languages,
Dr Nancy Gilliland, the De
partment of Sociology and Econo
mics and Mr. Jordan, the Depart
ment of English and Drama.
Salem College has also hired a
new Administrative Intern, Mary
Margaret MacLauchlin.
By Beth Kinney
We have seen quite a bit of Dr.
Merrimon Cuninggim since his
selection as President of Salem
Academy and College, such as
listening intently to his Opening
Convocation speech and chal
lenging him to “drink chug-a-lug”
at breakfast on Founder’s Day.
But what are his thoughts and
feelings now about the Salem
community? How does he see
us, and how does he want us to
see him? Bearing in mind that
he is still a newcomer here, we
can not expect specific answers to
broad questions. He can evaluate
in light of impressions only.
Many of us are concerned about
the usefulness of the “single sex”
college. Dr. Cuninggim sees no
reason to disregard the “time
honored decision” for Salem to
be a women’s institution. The
push for colleges to become co
ed was about ten years ago, and
we are sufficiently over the hump.
He cited a few arguements pro
and con, and concluded that each
is invalid. For example, the
argument that men and women
need to be together in order to
have normal relationships does
not hold because we are such a
mobile society. A women’s col
lege can not keep men and women
apart.
Another pro co-education stand
is that the sexes “learn better”
through being with each other.
Co-education provides more chal
lenges. Dr. Cuninggim feels that
in our society we are able to
furnish challenges for people to
learn with only one sex.
A point in favor of remaining a
single sex institution is that
women are provided more of an
opportunity to exercise leader
ship potentials. Dr. Cuninggim
feels that the trend to give the
lead to men is still with us, and
we are prone to appoint women
as token leaders. Yet, he does not
see this as a life and death prin
ciple; and is prepared to look
at the status of men, women, and
Salem at any time and be guided
by those factors. At present he
holds that “Salem has a good
thing going,” and wants to make
it better.
What changes need to take
place in order to make Salem
better? Instead of the word
‘change’ Dr. Cuninggim prefers
the phrase “continue to grow.”
The word ‘change’ implies that
we would have to disavow our
past and embark on a new and
different direction. Instead, we
are to use the past in examining
shaping, and reshaping the direc
tion we choose. He added that
we should shift in degree rather
than kind. As far as he could
tell, there is no situation present
ly needing surgery, although
again he emphasizes continuing
development. January term is a
case in point. Dr. Cuninggim likes
the 4-1-4 flexibility but is not sure
if we have an undergirding philo
sophy for the interim between
semesters. He is sure that
some experiences have been
valuable, then again some seem
to be merely fillers.
Founders’ Day 1976
By Linda Joynes
At 6:30 a.m. a band of Peter
Pans swooped down on the sleep
ing dormitories of Salem College
with shaving cream, hammers,
and pots and pans. The Seniors
began Founder’s Day festivities
by waking up the underclassmen:
the Seniors were welcomed with
buckets of water, greased door
knobs, and various obstacles:
water and toilet paper covering
the stairs in Babcock and a bar
ricade of chairs in the middle of
second floor Gramley. Escaping
relatively unharmed, the Seniors
strolled by Dr. Cuninggim’s
house and serenaded him until he
came out and politely but very
distinctly told them that breakfast
was not until 9:00. He made the
best of being awakened at so
early an hour by directing the
Seniors in singing the Alma Mater
and watching them return to
their dorms for showers and cock
tails.
During breakfast the Refectory
vibrated with songs, cheers, and
toasts. Each class wore colorful
T-shirts and gym shorts. The
Seniors made a grand entrance
into the Refectory wearing their
graduation gowns and singing
the Peter Pan peanut butter
jingle. At the signal, “Seniors of
’77, Strip,” they ripped off the
gowns and dramatically revealed
their Founder’s Day uniforms.
They looked like a troop of Boy
Scouts.
After breakfast each class en
tered onto the hockey field; the
traditional game of red rover fol
lowed. When word filtered through
the crowd that the Juniors won
the Entrance, after congratula
tory cheers, the red rover game
broke up and girls wandered back
to their rooms and more cock
tails to wait for lunch in the
Square. At lunch the Archways
and Dansalems provided enter
tainment, and Jim Barrett, Nan
Rufty, and Frank Lazarus con
tributed to the enchantment of
the scene by dressing up as Cap
tain Cook, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan.
The games began at 2:00 and be
came a contest between the
seniors and sophomores. Victory
hinged on the volleyball game; it
was close, but luck was with the
Seniors who won the games for
the first time in four years.
Skits and class songs were a
teary conclusion to a happy day.
The Freshmen recreated the Cin
derella story with the aid of Brian
Wilson and the Beach Boys. The
Sophomores and Mother Goose
recited Salem’s nursery rhymes.
The Juniors had a Mickey Mouse
Revue with all the Disney char
acters on parade. Finally tear-
jerker time drew near when the
Seniors put on their skit. Caroline
Gehrken dreamed in songs and
dance of Salem’s history from the
1700’s until the present. Along
with the Seventies came the tears.
It was planned that way, but the
Seniors were supposed to wait
until the class song was over, that
was asking too much. The Seniors
won Founder’s Day and with
laughing and crying the crowd
left the Gym for the Club Dining
Room to groove to disco music.
The enchantment would last a
few more hours, until Tuesday
morning.
see photos page 3
Included with January term
evaluation. Dr. Cuninggim would
like to examine the total curri
culum to see if we have a pro
per proportion of on and off
campus learning. He emphasizes
though that the academic dean
has the most responsibility here.
Also, he does not want to appear
like “some joker from outside”
saying that he has all the answers.
Some Salem students feel that
areas needing adjustment are
rules and the honor system. Dr.
Cuninggim believes that people
will always be restive but this
does not necessarily mean that
rules need to change. Concerning
the honor system. Dr. Cuninggim
is delighted that we have an
honor court in charge and that
students and faculty are involved.
We have no excuse for abolishing
the honor system just because
other institutions have.
Concerning the college’s finan
cial situation. Dr. Cuninggim
again emphasizes his ‘impres
sions only’ stage. So far, he sees
that we have a surplus although
we are still in somewhat tight
straits. He predicts a touch and
go year, one reason being that
we do not have as many boarders
as wanted.
When asked what he thought
about Founder’s Day his first
reaction was that he wanted to
take a nap. Somehow he managed
to get a full day’s work done while
waving his magic wand in Never-
Never Land. He saw Founder's
Day as more than just an easy
fun time. Inviting the residents
of Old Salem to the picnic lunch
gave all a measure of good will
and helped the community in
terms of relationships. He stated
that “poor taste took a beating”
with our sense of taste and style
although there were some
“excesses of expression."
In conclusion Dr. Cuninggim
was asked about what he felt
he could do for Salem. In return,
he asked this reporter what she
could do for Salem. He proceeded
to say that he did not know what
he could do, and even if he did
he couldn't tell us. Why? Be
cause telling us now would de
crease his chances of getting
anything done. He felt that this
type of question invited the
answer “I want to do my very
best” which is the political chat
ter of our time, and he does not
want to sound as if he's cam
paigning.
In order to discuss issues in
more detail and get some feed
back from students. Dr. Cun
inggim would like to plan to set
aside evenings for discussion in
his home.
Interclub Weekend
Nov. 5-7
WRA Picnic
IRS Dance