ALETHEIA
Back to School Issue
Vol.^, No. 1
September 20,1983
Discovery unveils quality
by Julia Stedman
Discovery is an 18-19 day
trip offered by Montreat-
Anderson College each
sping immediately following
graduation. The trip covers
areas throughout Pisgah
National Forest and in
cludes hiking from the Mt,
Mitchell State Park to Lin-
ville Gorge Wilderness area.
Activities included in the
Discovery program are 150
Gallup poll records
religious renewal
Collegians Turn
to Religion
A recent Gallup poll sug
gests that college cam
puses are becoming recep
tive to religous renewal. The
survey shows:
Religious commitment
becoming stronger. .35%
Religious commitment
becoming weaker.. .16%
Religious beliefs
important 80%
Religious beliefs not
important 15%
Forty percent attend
religious services at least
once a weel^ — Christian,
Muslim, Hari Krishna,
Moonies, etc.
“No Sin”
Ninety percent of the
French populaffon no longer
believes in sin. Although
82% consider themselves
Catholic, 69% say they
never have gone to confes
sion.
miles of biking, three days
of white water canoeing,
rock climbing and rappell
ing, orienteering, first aid,
Bible studies, service pro
jects, a three-day solo ex
perience, and a 14 mile run
back to Montreat-Anderson
on the 1st day.
Through challenging ex
periences, Discovery helps
a person unveil the qualities
that form the basis for self
esteem and confidence, and
an insight into that in
dividuals inner qualitiies.
This past May, sixteen
people from Montreat went
on Discovery, including
returning students James
Cook, David Egelkraut, June
Fennelly, Lois Hedges,
Sarah Horne, John Jackson,
Pamela Jones, Russell
Kullmar, Wendy Rogers, Rae
Sawyer, Ginger Stencher,
Bryan Thomas and Eric
Wi.lson. One of the most
mentioned aspects of the
trip was food - or rather the
food they did not have such
as doughnuts and steak - as
they ate peanut butter sand
wiches and raisins. Be
cause it rained the majority
of the days, being wet and
cold ranked as being one of
the worst aspects of the trip.
Despite these things the
group learned a lot about
responsibility and serving
others. They encouraged
each other and helped each
other through times of
depression and physical
hardship. The group grew
closer to each other, they
grew closer to God, ex
perienced His help and see
ing many of the more remote
areas created by Him. “It
was easier to rely on God,”
several group members
said, “away from the world.”
The members of this
year’s Discovery gained
much experience and know
ledge about themselves,
each other and God. Al
though it is not for everyone,
it is recommended by group
members to anyone who has
a desire to improve and
challenge themselves,
College enrollment levels off
by Mindy Maden
As the last of the “baby
boomers” began marching
through high school gradua
tion ceremonies five years
ago and as the Reagan ad
ministration started cutting
back in federal aid to these
prospective college stu
dents, many colleges began
programs to re-evaluate ad
missions standards and
practices. Here at Montreat-
Anderson the Admissions
Office views this potentially
harmful combination of
fewer students and less
money as an incentive to
refine the admissions pro
cess and to be better
stewards of the College’s
resources.
According to Charles
Lance, Director of Admis
sions, a committee was
formed three years ago to
review admissions stan
dards and policies at the
College. As a result of study
and review by the commit
tee, changes were put into
effect to improve the selec
tion and acceptance pro
cedure for new students.
Because of these policies
Montreat-Anderson did not
accept twenty-five more
students than usual that
year, yet the College still
had an enrollment of 407
students.
In considering someone
for acceptance at Montreat-
Anderson there are a
number of criteria that are
evaluated; SAT scores, high
school grades, teacher
recommendations and inter
views are used to help deter
mine if an applicant would
be a succesful student at
Montreat. If it is judged that
a student has potential but
is lacking in basic skills
they are given the option of
acceptance to Montreat if
they succesfully complete
recommended courses at
their local community col
lege. Approximately-10% of
the prospective students in
this category take this op
tion and later attend Mon
treat.
Although enrollment has
declined since 1980, it
seems to be leveling off.
The fall enrollment in 1982
totaled 388 and this year it
stands at 387. An in
teresting aspect of the
enrollment figures is that
fifty-eight of last year’s new
students did not return this
fall. (Montreat presently has
223 new students and 164
returning students.)
Compared to other pri
vate, two-year Christian col
leges, Montreat is holding
it s own in enrollment.
Studies have shown that ap
proximately one-half of
these schools have ex
perienced decreases in
enrollment while the other
half had increases in enroll
ment. Academically the
quality of student admitted
to Montreat has also risen.
The average SAT score for
new students in 1980 was
756; the new average has im
proved the last three years
and now stands at 789.
Average grade point ratios
have also increased.
Mr. Lance feels that Mon
treat’s maintenance of both
standards and enrollment is
due to the quality academic
program at the College and
a professional admissions
staff. How is enrollment?
Good and getting better.
‘How is enrollment?
Good snd getting better. ”
How to maintain
with a pain
by Susie Sinclair
Everyone knows that I’m
always right. I mean, there’s
nothing really hard to under
stand about that. I’m per
fect and it’s obvious. The
only reason I find it
necessary to assert the fact
now is to emphasize the pro
per attitudes, as mine are,
about rooming together. A
case in point is my room
mate this semester. She is
invariably frustrating simply
because she never thinks
about things the way I do. If
I were occasionally at fault
could grant her a wider
margin of error, but luck
lessly, unlike me, she
doesn’t have it together.
Poor thing. I realize her
misfortune and have be
come convicted. I should
spot all of my roommate’s
defects and problems so
that I can remind her of
them often and do her the
favor of making her realize
that my ways are right after
all, and hers are wrong, lam
determined to make her stay
with me profitable through
seeing how wonderful I am.
If 1 weren’t so understand
ing, she could really grate
on my nerves at times. Like,
when we sit at our desks,
I’m the one to initiate friend
ly conversation, which she
doesn’t make any easier by
hiding behind her barricade
of textbooks, buried under
papers. I don’t know what
she thinks she came to
school for. You know,
sometimes I think she ac
tually believes that line
those professors feed us
about discipline and con
sistency in studies. I try not
to be too judgmental
though, realizing she is a lit
tle fluffy. I just try to help
her out of the slump she in
evitably falls into when she
hits that desk chair by chat
ting about the day’s events,
or singing loudly with the
radio so she too can learn
the words to the songs,
which I already know by
heart.Sometimes I’ll read my
letters to her or write letters
and ask her questions about
them like spelling, the date
or how something sounds...
(Cont. on p. 2)