Meredith Herald
Volume XI, Issue 9
October 26, 1994
Raleigh, North Carolina
Author puts students on the "write" track
by Christina Peoples
A well-known modem fiction writer
and doctor of anthropology at the Colo
rado School of Minds acWressed fac
ulty and students at convocation Mon.,
Oct. 24.
Dr. Joanne Greenburg is the author
of 11 novels and four collections of
short stories and lives in Golden, Colo,
with her husband. Dr. Albert
Greenburg.
“Whenever people ask me to name
my favorite authors, her name always
tops the list,” said Suzanne Newton,
professor of English, who introduced
the author.
Greenburg’s lecture topic was
“Love, death, guilt, revenge and ski
ing.” She discussed the myth of what
people think good writers should be
and what good writers actually are.
“The myth is that writers are re
moved and isolated people, creating in
some kind ofvacuum, ” said Greenburg.
“That is sheep dip.”
No good writer is uninvolved, dis
tant or removed because “writing is a
reactive art,” said Greenburg. Writers
they see things as close as they can to
the way they are.
Greenburg’s father thought that “fic
photo by Laura Ross
Suzanne Newton of the English department talks with Joanne Greenburg after the
convocation on Monday.
do not just see things happen; they
write them down and get even if they
disagree with what is going on.
“Getting even has a shelf-life of
about 15 minutes,” said Greenburg.
Writers get that out of the way, then
tion is telling lies for money, ” and there
are classic fiaion writers, but they are
all “dead men,” said Greenburg.
The best writers are fully involved
with their concern, said Greenburg.
Aspiring writers should ask themselves
Library floods due to sewage back-up
by Clarky Lucas
A portion of the ground floor of the
Carlisle CampbeU Library flooded be
fore fall break because of a back up of
the sewage system on campus, said
Janet Freeman.
Although there was no damage to
any of the books or media equipment,
the carpet was tainted.
“Dark and vile” is Rick McBane’s
description of the water that came
spouting up from the floor drain of the
men’s and women’s bathrooms on
Thurs. ,Oct. 13.
Around 10:30 a.m., a student re
ported that there was water coming
up from the floor drain.
“It got bad reaUy quickly,” said
Cindy Bowling.
The water began spreading out into
the hallway in front of the bathroom
and then to the doorway of the ground
floor. It also spilled over into the eleva
tor shaft. Freeman said.
“You could see it rippling from
under the men’sroomdoor, ” said Bowl
ing.
The staff reacted quickly by put
ting down newspapers and trying to
build a dam. Freeman said.
Maintenance was notified of the
situation and turned the water off to
the library. Freeman said.
smelled like a wet dog,” said Freeman.
Maintenance sucked the water out
of the bottom of the elevator shaft
which is working without any compli
cations, Freeman said.
Though the cause of the sewage
'Tm sure it would have been much worse if housekeeping
and maintenance hadn't responded so fast."
-Janet Freeman
Housekeeping arrived and started
cleaning with water vacuums which
got up a good portion of the water,
said Freeman.
A carpet cleaning service sucked
out more water from the wool carpet
and cleaned it. Blowers were left on
over night, along with the lights, to
generate heat in hopes of drying out
the carpet, said Freeman. The clean
ing service returned to steam clean
the carpet for a second time on Friday,
said Freeman.
“With steam on the wool carpet it
backup is not exactly known, it is
thought to be either a tree limb or root
that had grown into a sewage line, said
Chuck Taylor. The obstruction has
been cleared, said Taylor.
There is little evidence left of the
flood except a sharp, musty odor at the
foot of the steps before the doorway of
the ground floor.
“The staff reacted really quickly,
and I’m sure it would have been much
worse if housekeeping and mainte
nance hadn’t responded so fast,” said
Freeman.
questions: “What is it that movesyou?,”
“Who do you think you are?,” and
“What do you think ought to be done? ”
The idea that writing is a profes
sion is relatively new in the worid. “As
an art it is wonderful; as a trade it is
not,” said Greenburg.
She had to get what her father
called a “real job” in order to get the
much needed paycffeck that writing
did not constantly provide, said
Greenburg.
“One of the joys I have had in my
life is that I have been able to be free to
do what I want very, very often,” said
Greenburg.
One of the pieces Greenburg writes
may take her between 2-7 years, she
said. She does not have to worry about
how long it takes to write one because
she does not have to produce pieces
often enough to make a living.
see Greenburg
page seven
EMsM(£ a©
H©irgaM§
Editorial 2
Opinion Poll 3
Studio Tour 4
Tennis Team 5
Profile 6
Review
8
Only 29 more days
of classes!!!
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