ird
March 8, 19E
the Mars Hill College
hiUtod
SLED is not
Something to ride;
It’s something to push.
Vol. XLIIL No. 12
MARS HILL. NORTH CAROLINA
March 21, 1969
Palmer
CIT Foundation Contributes
$5,000 to Capital Improvements
Squad
by the DistrK
rict squad. A
h no one in tb
54.4 percent
TT
• •
;rsity of SouH
zed to find tl»
e to the Gra»*
McGuire cho^
did so in frot
lan who argue*
, Florida gan>*
the game wit^
the Gamecocle A check for $5,000 from the CIT Foundation is presented to Dr.
^*ed Bentley by Les Fisher of Charlotte, field representative of Tuition
id instill teatf ^lan, lnc„ an affiliate of the CIT Financial Corporation,
and spectator* ~ ~
Nhip as a dea* SGA Presideiit Pons
id fourth plae*
ekend. In tl>‘
sated Milligan’
ost to the C'l'
ian 29-37.
Morty Roe,
y Anne Moor*
Collis.
Elaborates on His Platform
forage
.S
Jp.
Recently elected Student Gov-
®’'*rttient Association President,
. Pons, had four major planks
his platform. 1) More student
*^^ticipation, 2) Better lines of
"^rnmunication, 3) Activate the
^^asent court system, and 4) More
students on representative com-
>nittees.
This platform, buttressed by a
®®nse of lurgency, impelled stu-
to “take the initiative”, sup-
the SGA and “sacrifice to
•^ake Mars Hill better.” His theme
change and his four major
^ints were where it was most
^fcessary. In the following inter-
President Pons elaborates on
new SGA.
there any major policy
Changes planned by the SGA?
. ^ight now my one major change
^ Getting the Student Activities
Oftimittee select the movies for
^ ® year. At present there are
h e r things that should be
jT^ged, such as a more informa-
,means of communication, and
^^®ining within the attorney’s
aff. What I’m doing now is see-
. ® if these changes are fe2isible.
ajid
ihr,
^ake
seeing if they can be put
°ugh when the new senators
over.
Oo you think the recent election
supply you ■with the leader-
fo achieve these aims?
j.Tes, I do. There are a lot of
^ ddents capable of good leader-
j P on this campus, a lot of new
Were brought into Student
o '’ernment. Most of these people
I’ve talked with personally
® willing to work and this is
^ ‘Jat we are going to have to have
“otter Student Government —
^Ple who are willing to work.
SQA's of the past have often
od about broadening the base
atudent participation. Do«
administration have definite
e s
A check for $5,000 has been pre
sented to the college by the C.I.T.
Foundation of New York, Dr.
Fred Bentley, president of the col
lege, announced yesterday.
Similar gifts to 11 other recent
ly accredited colleges in the form
of matching grants were an
nounced this week by the founda
tion, bringing to 112 the number
of institutions thus helped during
the last nine years.
L. Walter Lundell, chairman of
C.I.T. Financial Corporation and
the Foundation, reported that the
total amount raised through the
program is $1,370,000. This in
cludes $495,000 in C.I.T. grants
and $875,000 in matching funds
contributed to the colleges by
alumni, local businesses, and other
supporters.
The other colleges receiving
grants included Alvemia College,
Reading, Pa.; Windham College,
Putney, Vt.; Bentley College of
Accounting and Finance, Boston;
Lawrence Institute of Technology,
Southfield, Mich.; New College,
Sarasota, Fla.; Concordia College,
St. Paul, Minn.; MoUoy Catholic
College for Women, Rockville Cen
tre, N. Y.; New England College,
Henniker, N. H.; Sacred Heart
College, Wichita, Kans.; the Uni
versity of Corpus Christi, Tex.;
William Woods College, Pulton,
Mo.
“The C.I.T. program is designed
as a form of recognition and en
couragement for colleges which
have achieved accreditation as a
further step in helping them to
meet the ever-increasing need for
higher learning,” Lundell said.
“The gift is doubly welcome,”
Bentley added, “because it has
produced more than $10,000 which
we will use in our capital im
provements.”
The 111 other institutions which
have received such grants have
realized double benefits also, Lun
dell explained.
“The stimulating effect of the
challenge grant is indicated by the
fact that the colleges thus helped
have raised total matching funds
amounting to twice the total of
the foundation contribution.”
The grants are awarded annual
ly to private, four-year, liberal-arts
colleges and universities which
have been accredited or re-accred
ited during the previous year by
one of the six regional U.S. ac
crediting associations.
Formerly a junior college. Mars
Hill gained full accreditation by
the Southern Association of
Schools and Colleges in November,
1967 and soon thereafter made ap
plication for the C.I.T. grant.
The C.I.T. Financial Corporation
is a highly diversified company
with interests in commercial and
industrial financing, banking, in
surance, and manufacturing and
merchandising. In addition to the
matching grants program for new
ly accredited colleges the com
pany — through its foundation —
sponsors scholarships and grants
through the National Merit Schol
arship Program and provides sup
port to the National Fund for
Medical Education, the National
Scholarship Service & Fund for
Negro Students, the United Negro
College Fund, National Achieve
ment Scholarships, and the Inde
pendent Schools Talent Search
Program.
plans for this?
Yes, (we plan) to have people
not officially affiliated with SGA
to be put on various committees.
We should bring these independ
ents in, to see their opinions, and
maybe by discussion we can help
settle both ideas.
Do you see any good in this stu
dent power organization, SLED?
Yes, I see a lot of good in it.
Most of the people in it are people
who want to see change come to
Mars HiU College. The SLED pro
gram is good. I agree with their
ideas but not with a lot of action
that was taken in the chapel boy
cott. I think that now since a lot
of these have been elected to SGA
offices, I think their prime inter
est is to keep Student Govern
ment rolling, and to bring up new
matters for us to vote on, for the
betterment of Mars Hill College.
Recently, we've heard quite a
few complaints about closed chan
nels. Does SGA plan anything for
this?
All of the Senate and Commis
sion meetings are open, imless
otherwise posted in the “An
nouncer” or on the Cafeteria bul
letin board. This is the only means
we have. I hope we can get more
student participation there and al
so invite Faculty and Administra
tion to come and listen to what’s
going on in these meetings.
You have been talking mainly
about student affairs. Do you plan
to venture into matters involving
the Faculty, curriculum and other
business of the college?
The Students for Liberal Educa
tion is working on a “Curriculum
Evaluation” that will help the in
coming students see what teachers
are best on the campus and (it
will) also guide the administration
in selecting teachers in the com
ing year.
Thomas Sparks Drama Program
James Thomas is director of
theatre in the drama division of
the English Department. Reared
in McDowell County, he received
his B.A. in English at Western
Carolina University and his M.A.
in Dramatic Arts from the Uni
versity of North Carolina at Chap
el Hill. He taught in the public
school systems of Charlotte and
Raleigh before coming to Mars
HUl in 1962.
Mr. Thomas will be leaving
Mars Hill CloUege next fall in or
der to work on his Ph.D. at the
University of Georgia. He will be
replaced while on leave by Dr.
Virgil R. Gray, formerly of Indi
ana State University.
The B.A. degree in dramatic
arts is offered by the division on
drama. The drama major is com
posed of 32 semester hours in
courses in theatre history, design
and other basic production cours
es; 12 hours in dramatic literattire
and 12 hours in laboratory and
workshop areas.
Mr. Thomas feels that the drama
division has three major areeis of
responsibility at Mars Hill. First,
the drama major should have an
opportimity to develop profession
ally and academically. A consist
ent effort is made, then, to pro
vide the major with wide experi
ences in the theatre arts, as weU
as to give him an understanding
of the history of theatre and an
appreciation of its literature.
Secondly, Mr. Thomas says, any
liberal arts school should provide
its students an opportunity to par
ticipate in the performing arts.
Last year, for example, over 75
percent of the persons involved in
drama productions on campus
were non-drama majors.
The third responsibility of a col
lege drama department is to pro
vide its audiences with meaning
ful theatre experiences. The plays
produced by the theatre should
not only be entertaining but in
tellectually stimulating. The the
atre should address itself to per
tinent problems faced by its audi
ence — social, political, or more
personal problems. With this aim
in mind, the Mars Hill Ck>Uege
Drama Division has performed
such varied works as THE WIZ
ARD OF OZ, NO EXIT, and MAC-
BIRD!
Mr. Thomas feels the efforts of
the people involved in dramatic
activities on this campus have met
with some degree of success. He
points out that the senior college
drama program had a strong base
to build on, with the strong heri
tage in drama sustained by Mrs.
Elizabeth Watson, now of the Eng
lish Department, for a number of
years.
Although many of the depart
ment’s recent productions have
met with criticism and have been
the object of much controversy,
Mr. Thomas feels that constructive
criticism and controversy can be
healthy on a college campus. He
has expressed that he is glad to
listen to constructive criticism and
would be happy to consider sug
gestions for production from any
one on campus.
Members of the department
went to Chapel Hill Mar. 13, 14,
and 15 to present Tim EUmore’s
“The Starr-Crossed Lover.” Tim
recently won first place in a play
writing contest sponsored by the
senior college division of the Caro
lina Dramatic Association. It is
through participation in activities
like this that Mr. Thomas hopes to
recruit students to the college. In
dividuals like David Jones and
Terry Lindsay came to MHC after
seeing off-campus productions.
The next production of the de
partment will be “She Stoops To
Conquer.” The farce of character
and situation by Oliver Goldsmith
will be presented in Moore Audi
torium Apr. 25 and 26. It will also
be presented at commencement.
Beta, Beta, Beta
Begins
Ceremonies formally establish
ing a Mars Hill College chapter of
the national biological society
Beta Beta Beta were held on cam
pus Tuesday evening.
Dr. L. M. Bertholf, former na
tional president of the society,
presented a charter from the na
tional organization. Also on hand
for the ritual was Dr. I. W. Car
penter, regional director of the
society, who teaches at Appalach
ian State University in Boone.
The new chapter, designated
“Kappa Eta Chapter,” was
launched with 29 charter mem
bers. The original slate of officers
includes Reid Wilson Laney, jun
ior from Sarasota, Fla., president;
Gordon Plumblee, senior from
Burlington, vice president; Stuart
Caudill, senior from Winston-Sa
lem, secretary; and Mrs. Sarah
White Lunsford, senior from Mur
phy, treasurer and historian.
The students inducted into the
new chapter have been members
of the Science Honor Club and
will continue to hold such mem
bership.