Sol Gordon stuns
students with
speech on
sexual behavoir
Dr. Sol Gordon, Professor
of Child and Family Studies at
Syracuse University spoke
Friday, January 24 at 10:00
a.m. in Rowe Recital Hall.'
The lecture, presented in a
comical 'manner, dealt with
learning about one's own
sexuality and relaying the
information to one's children.
In regard to sexual activity.
Dr. Gordon stated, "Young
people will do it whether we
like it or not," and whether we
educate them. He also
commented, "Less than ten
percent of sexually active
teen-age girls use
contraceptives".
According to the doctor a
parent cannot give a child too
much information about sex,
although when discussing sex
the parent should use correct
terminology. Some examples of
incorrect terminology the
doctor cited were "wee-wee,
poo-poo, and ding-aling".
During the lecture, Gordon
related that approximately one
million teen-agers become
pregnant each year, and one out
of four contract V.D.
Two questions most
—^by tamara sane
frequently asked on college
campuses deal with female
orgasm and homosexuality.
In regards to female orgasm,
Gordon stated, "Women don't
even know they have one unless
they have a Good
Housekeeeping Seal," and that
orgasm is psychological.
In regard to behavior Dr.
Gordon commented that all
thoughts and impulses are
normal, and "Guilt is the energy
for involuntary repetition of
thought".
According to the doctor,
one of the best techniques to
use in sex education is to have
each student write one question
about sex on an index card In
one incident in which Dr.
Gordon spoke to 1000 high
school students, he received
"950 questions and 50 fuck
yous".
The doctor ended the
lecture by saying that some
young people believed they
would not get pregnant if they:
"stood up during intercourse,
took one of their mother's pills,
used coke as a spermicidal or
used foam after sex."
Doctor Sol Gordon
RA applications
being accepted
If you're interested in
becoming a Resident Advisor
for the 1975-76 academic year,
applications will be taken from
Monday January 27 through
February 10.
Applications may be picked
up from a Resident Coordinator
or in the Residence Life Office.
Minimum qualifications for
becoming an RA are a 2.0
cumulative grade point average,
student ranking at UNCC for
one semester, and sophomore
standing by next fall. The
University also prefers the
applicant to have lived at least
one semester in a residence hall
setting.
Residence Life Director
Chuck Lynch said, "We're
looking for people interested in
building community and who
are Interested in developing
leadership potential and
communication skills." He
added, "We're also looking for
people interested in students
by susan sluss
and who are sensitive to the
needs of others".
The selection process for
the 15-20 openings will be held
during all of February and March.
The process will involve the
applicant in a variety of
interview situations. There will
be individual and group
interviews in addition to an
interview which will be
structured by the applicant.
Students, current RA's and
Resident Coordinators will be
involved in interview evaluations.
Writing Resources Center aids students
The Writing Resources
Center (WRC), organized here
last semester by Karen Horton
and Sam Watson of the English
Department, resumed its
operation on Monday, January
27. The center, located in the
basement of Dalton Tower, is
designed to help students with
writing problems. Senior English
majors — all of them training to
be teachers — volunteer their
services as tutors.
Although the WRC is still
considered experimental, both
Ms. Horton and Watson are
pleased with the results of last
semester's trial run. "We
received very favorable
comments from not only
instructors in the English
Department, but from
professors in other colleges,"
said Ms. Horton.
Most students, said Ms.
Horton, are referred to the
center by their instructors, who
believe that the extent of the
student's writing problems
justifies getting outside help.
However, she said, "Ideally the
students should come in on
their own."
The most frequent problem,
said the English instructor, is
that of the student who comes
to the WRC with a paper "that's
been bled all over" — marked up
and corrected by the instructor
— and realizes that he needs
help in certain areas, such as
research techniques, form and
organization, spelling,
vocabulary, grammar and
punctuation. Also commor^ said
Ms. Horton, is the student who
"can't seem to get started" on
an assignment. With the help of
a tutor, the student can learn
how to narrow his topic down
to some aspect of interest and
significance to him, and then
begin research on it. Watson
encouraged students to take
advantage of this 'pre-writing'
analysis. "We can do more for
the people at that (beginning)
stage," he said.
An important benefit, said
Ms. Horton, is the 'on-the-job'
experience that the center
provides for the tutors. "There's
a lot to learn about teaching
composition", she said, and
hopefully the experiences at the
WRC will give the future English
teachers a head-start. Weekly
workshops are held in which the
tutors share their experiences
with each other.
Both Watson and Ms.
Horton emphasized that the
instructions given at the WRC
are individualized to meet the
needs of each particular student.
Watson described the
philosophy of the center in this
way: "We meet the student
where he is, and try to get him
where he needs to be". When
questioned about today's
supposed decline in the basic
communication skills of
younger students, both
instructors denied noticing a
downward trend in their own
composition classes and asserted
that today's students are
definitely "more motivated"
than past students have been.
Henry Doss, a senior
English major and a WRC tutor,
thinks a little differently.
Although he agreed that
younger students are more
"aware" and highly motivated,
he does think there is a growing
lack of basic reading and writing
skills. Doss places the blame
squarely on the public school
system, which, he says, stifles
students' expressive abilities.
Ironically, Doss found English
majors to have the most writing
problems in his tutoring
experience last semester.
by laurie bassett
Doss and Janet Helms,
another WRC tutor, are
team-leading a 'teacherless
writing class' this semester.
Formed for students who
received an Incompete in
English 101 last semester, the
class of eleven students meets
once a week.
WRC services are available
to the entire university
community, including both
faculty and students in all
majors. Tutors are available
during the following hours: 9-2
Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday; 9:30-12:30 &
1:30 — 3:30 Tuesday and
Thursday. In addition, evening
hours are 6—9 Tuesday and
Wednesday. The WRC is located
within the Learning Resources
Center, which also has facilities
for teaching speed-reading,
note-taking, and other study
skills.
the Journal
volume, number 18
charlotte, north Carolina
January 29,1975