The Mont
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Volume IV, Number IV lSJu-eal|l|®8757 October 31, 2003
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Trustees Vote on Tuition Increase
by Don King
President
The Montreat College Board
of Trustees met on the Montreat
Campus last week for the annual fall
meeting. Many of you may have had
an opportunity to meet some of these
men and women .who love this col
lege and are committed to it and to
you, the students. As you can imag
ine, a Board of Trustees must deal
with a.multitude of issues concerning
the growth and welfare of a college.
One of the items decided during
last week’s meeting was the need
for an increase in tuition, room, and
board for the 2004-05 academic year.
After extensive discussion, the Board
of Trustees approved an increase of
8.1% in the full charge for tuition,
rooin, and board; this will be an
increase of SI,502.
Among the many factors influenc
ing this decision were two primary
ones. First, in order for the college
to strengthen its academic program
'and best meet the needs of its stu
dents, three faculty positions need
to be filled for next year; Computer
Information Systems, English: Cre
ative Writing/Rhetoric, and History.
Second, for three consecutive years
the faculty and staff have not received
increases in their compensation; as a
result, you may know that we have
already lost valuable members of the
A Bear Thing
This sow, or she-bear, often
makes appearances in Montreat
with her three cubs. These
American black bears live wild
in this region, and wander into
Montreat scavenging for food.
Black bears are not
usually hostile; however, they
anger quickly and can turn
dangerously aggressive. Full-
grown black bears usually
weigh between 200 and 300
pounds, and can run up to 25
miles an hour.
Never feed wild bears;
people who feed the bears run
the risk of being attacked by
wild bears.
SparkNotes Upgrade Boosts Appeal of Shortcut
by Kortney Blythe
According to Collegiate Presswire,
web users can now download audio
SparkNotes, delivered by famous
actors for $4.95.
The company’s wide collection of
easily digested summaries of classic
literature is breaking into the audio
field. This makes their material more
accessible for students with reading
difficulties.
Started by two Harvard graduates,
SparkNotes is now owned by Barnes
and Noble.
For the initial launch, only select
titles have been converted to the
audio fonnat - To Kill a Mockingbird,
Hamlet, The Odyssey, The Adven
tures of Huckleberry Finn, and The
“ But you are shield around me, O LORD; you
bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the
LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his
holyhill.» Selah
- Psalms 3:3-4
Scarlet Letter.
Notable actors such as Phil Morris
(“Seinfeld”), Yvonne Craig (TV’s
original batgirl), and Jason Robards
III narrate the full-length study
guides, which are available in MP3,
Windows Media, and QuickTime.
Students can download the
entire audio file or just the sections
they need. According to Tammy
Hepps, Director of Technology for
SparkNotes, “students can search
the audio files for specific words or
phrases.”
Montreat College English adjunct,
Betty Sue James, does not see much
value in the new audio fonnat. She
guesses “students will fall asleep”
listening to them.
SparkNotes attracts millions of
student users, but many professors
frown upon this shortcut.
College President and Shakespeare
professor Don King reveals, ‘“Ponies’
like these have been around for a long
time; they are the inevitable result of
people looking for a ‘quick fix’ when
it comes to learning.”
“Why would someone want to
shortchange a writer like Shakespeare
who created thousands of words and
is a bard in the English language?”
asks James.
King adds, “SparkNotes are fine if
someone just wants to get the ‘gist’ of
a work. They will not, however, help
someone who has not read the origi
nal work really learn the material.”
However, the fact remains that .
over 24 million students hit the site
weekly for a shortened overview of
their assigned novel or play.
Many Montreat students refrained
from eomment on their use of
SparkNotes, not wishing to mar their
reputation with professors.
Junior Dustin Etheridge admits.
Continued on pg. 4
faculty and staff. Accordingly, por
tions of the tuition, room, and board
inerease are intended to go toward
providing fair and adequate wages
for the faculty and staff
While we understand an increase
in tuition, room, and board is dif
ficult for students and their families,
we arc studying ways to help soften
the impact of this increase. Please
know that we will make additional
information about this available in
the coming weeks.
Visitor’s
Center
'oy April Heyward
For the one million travelers vis
iting the area annually, the Black
Mountain Visitor Center educates
tourists about places to eat, sleep,
shop, and stroll around town.
Many tourists visit the center in the
summer months, between June and
August. The middle of October tends
to be the busiest time for the center.
Executive director of the center, Bob
McMurray, says, “Most people
Continued on page 2