cember 2, 1967
n
Happiness Is Holidays - Enjoy 'em
ilf. Milligan led
35-32.
If was Mars Hill
Woodmen came
rt looking as if
ess. They racked
Milligan’s 30 in
:ore MH 80, Mil-
le pacesetter for
? 23 points. He""-
3ill Kenney with VoL XLII, No. 7
h was high man
ith 23.
ipionship game
; and Hanover
ttle all the way
g 95-93. Guy
red 37 points
ivas named Most
er in the tour-
the Mars Hill College
Hilliop
MARS HILL. NORTH CAROLINA
December 16, 1967
Foundation Grant Finances
New Political Science Course
ig game of the
the first to be
srs Gymnasium,
efeated by the
lollege Jaguars,
was 84-61.
e never in the
jumped off to
he Jaguars ex-
to a 40-26 mar-
half the Lions
; better, but
its lead to a
t was mainly a
le jitters and
tugusta out-re-
5-31. The Lions
percent to 41.4
floor.
Mars Hill was
ith 12 points.
by Goodwin,
more.
w
at people,
haircuts.
day
IRE
7/C”
A grant of $21,375 has been
Wade to Mars Hill College by the
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation of
Winston-Salem for the inaugura
tion of an innovative program in
political science and sociology. Dr.
F'red Bentley has announced.
The grant will finance the first
year of a new course in com-
Wunity development which will
t>e offered to juniors and seniors
Wajoring in the social sciences.
The course is designed to give
students first-hand encounter
■with community agencies and
leaders.
The students will study socio
economic and political problems
W the classroom and then be as-
•igned as interns with a govern
mental or community action agen
cy.
Pledges of cooperation in the
Pew program have been given to
l^lie college by City Manager
Weldon Weir of Asheville; Ora
Spaid, executive director of the
l^adison-Buncombe Opportunity
Corporation (OEO); and the
l^oard of commissioners for Madi
son County. Cooperation from
similar agencies and organizations
elsewhere in the immediate area
Will be sought before the program
1® initiated.
“The City of Asheville is com
plimented that Mars Hill College
desires its assistance with the in-
i^erns in this course in community
•levelopment and we are pleased
^0 cooperate,” Weir said.
“The proposal to develop a
oourse in community development
of special Interest to us,” said
Spald. “We will be delighted to
pooperate in any possible way,
Including providing placement for
^Paining of students and making
P'embers of our staff available to
college as teaching consult
ants.”
“The Board of Commissioners
Pf Madison County will be more
I'lian pleased to help in this new
Program and will solicit the co
operation of all its related agen
cies,” said W. B. Zink, clerk of
i'i'e board.
The new course is an effort by
i'i'e college to offer its social
^eience students a better educa
tion.
“Critics of higher education
Pave suggested that students have
to'w opportunities to relate class-
J'oom theory to live issues,” col-
Cke officials wrote in their pro-
i*osal to the foundation. “This
Course will be a step in answering
®Pch criticism.”
Itichard L. Hoffman, assistant
i*Pofessor of political science for-
**JPlated the new course. “Its de-
®i^,” he explained, “is to involve
■Po students with those organiza-
’PPs and agencies directly en-
^'Pged in the problem-solving pro
cesses of community life.”
“Hopefully this will have sev
eral effects,” he said. “It will
help the students become catalysts
for changing the intellectual cli
mate of the campus by raising
new issues and challenging tra
ditional approaches to the educa
tional process.”
He said the experiences pro
vided by the new approach should
also encourage more students to
prepare for careers in one of the
many facets of public life and
should encourage more of the
graduates to involve themselves
in efforts to solve the socio-eco
nomic and political problems of
the communities in which they
settle.
In seeking funds from the
foundation of college cited itself
as a developing senior college
situated strategically in an im
portant geographic area.
“The value of our project is
enhanced,” the college’s application
stated, “by the location of the
college in the Southern Appalach
ian Region. Appalachia has be
come the focus of the present
‘war on poverty’ and provides an
ideal laboratory in which to test
and apply newly developed social
science techniques.”
A former project director for
the Madison Community Action
program under the Office of Eco
nomic Opportunity, Hoffman will
be director of the new program
at the college. Two other faculty
members will be given part-time
assignments in the project.
Plans call for the course to be
offered for the first time during
the 1968-69 school year. Initially
only about 25 students will be
admitted.
“Once the coordination of the
field work is assured,” Hoffman
explained, “the number of par
ticipants will be expanded to in
clude all upper level students
with a major interest in the so
cial sciences.”
Standi Will Assume
Editorship of Hilltop
fr\
Editor Stancil
John Stancil, senior accounting
major from Asheville, will assume
the editorship of the Hilltop be
ginning next semester, the ad
visor, 'Walter Smith, announced
this week.
A member of the student news
paper staff for the last three
years, Stancil was sports editor
during the 1966-67 school year
and during the current semester.
He also has been president of
the Business Honor Club during
the fall term and vice president
of the campus chapter of the So
ciety for the Advancement of
Management. New officers will
'Corny' Akers Selected
As 'Miss Laurel of 1968'
Lovely Cornelia Brooks Akers
— better known on campus as
“Corny” — was chosen as “Miss
Laurel of 1968” Monday night
before a crowd of approximately
900 persons in Moore Auditorium.
The dark-haired sophomore
beauty from Stuart, Va., was
crowned by her immediate prede
cessor Beverly Cansler. As she
paraded down a special runway
into the audience, a wave of ap
plause and cheering greeted her.
Backstage moments later after
the curtain had fallen, tears of
joy rolled gently down her cheeks.
The new campus beauty queen
received a congratulatory hug
from boyfriend Bob Wood and
other affectionate gestures from
fellow contestants, relatives and
friends. Cameras flashed and the
stage became a pandemonium of
joy.
Such was the climax to the
annual pageant, sponsored by the
yearbook, to select a beauty queen
both for the campus and the pub
lication. It was an exciting finish
to a well-planned and smoothly
executed evening of entertain
ment.
The judges for the contest were
Mrs. Wallace Hyde, Bill Christo
pher and Mrs. “Tuck” Gudger,
all of Asheville. Mrs. Gudger was
substituting for her husband who
came down with the flu last
weekend.
The poise and talent of the
new “Miss Laurel”—as well as
her physical beauty—apparently
captivated the judges. They se
lected Janis Elam, Martha Morris,
Maria Hunt and Ginger Eddle-
man, along with “Corny” as the
five finalists.
Although 17 coeds were origin
ally schedule to participate in the
contest, only 15 did so. Sally
Spaulding, a representative of the
Junior Class, was in the infir
mary; and Thelma Ann Riddle,
who was to represent Edna Moore,
withdrew last week.
Janis performed the entire one-
act play “Occasion” as her display
(Continued on Page 3)
Epiphyllae Interest MHC Biology Graduate
Lois Jane Watts, 1967 gradu
ate, is chasing epiphyllae at the
University of Georgia.
If that sounds as though Janie
has flipped, don’t believe it. She’s
doing research. A graduate stu
dent at the U. of G., she has be
gun laboratory exploration that
may eventually produce good re
sults for farmers everywhere.
She is trying to determine
whether or not algae on certain
tropical plant leaves can be
treated and used as fertilizer. If
successful, she will save farmers
a lot of time by helping prove
it possible for them to produce
good crops by fertilizing only once
during a growing season.
Janie, who has an assistantship
and serves as instructor for a
freshman botany lab class, is do
ing her research under the direc
tion of Dr. Joe Edmisten, associ
ate professor of botany.
Dr. Edmisten has been awarded
a grant of $25,240 by the U. S.
Air Force Office of Scientific
Research for a study of the role
of epiphyllae in the nitrogen cycle
of tropical rain forests.
Thus far, according to Janie,
he has proven that there is some
thing growing on tropical plant
leaves that fixes nitrogen. That
something is called “epiphyllae”
—the term means “upon a leaf.”
The term refers to anything that
might be growing on a leaf, such
as algae, fungi, lichens or liver
worts.
If the research shows that
epiphyllae can hold sufficient
quantities of Nitrogen 15, it will
mean a big step forward in one
time-only crop fertilization.
Eventually this could free farmers
of the chores and costs of con
tinued fertilizing. In practical
application the farmer could in
troduce treated algae into his
fields and this would keep his
plants nourished for the duration
of the crop.
Janie, whose home is in States
ville, anticipates three years of
graduate study in Athens and
field trips to Puerto Rico to in
vestigate tropical plant life. She
hopes eventually to receive a doc
tor’s degree and take up a career
in general research. At this stage
she is thinking about the possi
bility of working in the U. S.
space program.
be elected in each of these organi
zations next term, freeing Stan
cil to become editor of the paper.
The new editor will continue to
work part-time for the athletic
department, handling basketball
press releases.
“I appreciate the opportunity
to edit the Hilltop,” Stancil said,
“It will be a challenging and edu
cating experience for me. Al
though it is supposed to be a stu
dent newspaper, the Hilltop has
not had much real support from
the student body during the first
semester. I hope this situation
will change drastically next term.
The Hilltop can be a big factor
in improving our college. It can
be the voice of responsible stu
dents.”
“I am confident John can
handle the job and do it well,”
Mr. Smith commented. “He is a
dependable man and has been
more than merely a sports editor
during this fall semester.
“Few persons on this campus
realize what a demanding task
the editorship of the student
newspaper is. It calls for more
patience than any one person
ought to have. It requires long,
late hours; and it subjects the
conscientious person to many anx
ious hours of soul-searching. Un
fortunately, expressions of thanks
are few and far between, but
the satisfaction of doing a job
well is exceedingly rewarding.”
The paper has operated through
out the fall semester without an
editor and with only a small staff.
During the coming term a jour
nalism class (English 29) will be
taught by Mr. Smith and will be
utilized in the production of the
paper. The first issue is sched
uled for January 27.
The class will be officially
scheduled from 3 until 4:30 p.m.
on Tuesdays and Thursdays; how
ever, according to Mr. Smith,
some of the class periods will be
used in outside work on the paper,
including the gathering of infor
mation, the writing of news stor
ies and features, editing and
makeup, and proofreading.
The paper, which was founded
in 1925, is printed by the letter-
press process at Biltmore Press
in Asheville. It is financed by a
budgeted appropriation out of col
lege general funds and by income
from the sale of advertising and
subscriptions. Approximately 200
copies of each issue are mailed
out to high schools, other colleges
and to former students.
The paper is affiliated with
other college newspapers through
membership in the Associated
Collegiate Press. In 1964-65 it
won “All-American” rating, high
est ranking among the nation’s
collegiate papers.