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The Reporter, November 1987

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  • The Reporter is a publication produced by Western Carolina University featuring news, events, and campus community updates for faculty and staff. The publication began in August of 1970 and continues digitally today. Click on the link in the “Related Mate
  • REPORTER Cullowhee, North Carolina Education professor guides Kodak team in product brainstorming Dr. Zoa Rockenstein, assistant professor of human services, is taking corporate executives to places in their minds where they've never been before. The Eastman Kodak Corporation asked her help in planning a new project so major that she had to sign forms swearing herself to corporate secrecy. Rockenstein is known nationally for her advocacy of creative/intuitive thinking, a domain that she defines as "an open channel to universal sources of knowledge and wisdom, which tran­scends boundaries of time, space, the senses, and the logical/rational mind." She teaches creative problem-solving and conducts workshops and seminars in unleashing creative energies. Her methods are unorthodox—"I do outrageous, unacceptable, non-cognitive things!"—but her purpose, she says, is "as normal as apple pie and motherhood." Whether she has people identifying meaningful problems and brainstorming solutions for them, or sitting on the floor playing musical instruments or flying through the air on imaginary mythological eagles, she hopes to leave participants with an expanded sense of themselves as creative people so that they will take higher level, analytical and evaluative thinking into every sphere of their lives. The tiny bit that Rockenstein will tell about her work at Kodak is that a special team there has been instructed to come up with a product that will move their company into the twenty-first century. "It's a very futuristic thing," Rockenstein said, "and they think it will take eight to ten years to Zoa Rockenstein develop. It is something new that will be entirely different and that will have a major impact, possibly in industries other than the film industry." Another reason that so little can be told about the product is that the Kodak people themselves don't know everything about it. Questions ranging from design to materials to production must still be answered. Rockenstein has been called in to help by teaching Kodak's team to tap into portions of their brains they weren't even aware existed. She teaches people to combine all the functions of their brains—physical, rational, emotional, intuitive—for a greater chance of coming up with insightful solutions to problems they think they have no answers for. Even if those problems lie too far in the future to be predicted, Rockenstein's methods A Weekly Newsletter for the Faculty and Staff of Western Carolina University November 6, 1987 teach thought processes that can be used when the need arises. Rockenstein is a self-proclaimed proponent of human possibilities, intent upon humanity's maximizing its potential and concerned for its survival. In fact, for Rockenstein, those two ends are quite nearly the same. She feels that our race must now grow collectively wise and secure enough to realize its interdependence with its universal environment. That realization will come about only as more individuals have the sort of "beyond-ego experi­ence" that Rockenstein's workshops promote. "If this planet is going to survive, people have got to expand their perception of their responsibility for not destroying it. They've got to think beyond their profits for the month and start caring about their children and their grandchildren and people from other countries and perhaps even people from other planets who have needs from Earth." Rockenstein regards herself morally and ethically responsible for using her talents to benefit all humans, and that code includes her consultation services. "In the back of my mind I've always wanted to take what I know about creative/intuitive thinking into the business and government realm where big decisions are made that affect all of us at the planetary level. I wanted to take my ethics and my values into those situations, and problem-solve for survival and for the quality of life," she said. cont'd back page News briefs Auditions to be held Auditions for Naughty Marietta, an operetta by Victor Herbert, will be held Monday, Nov. 9, at 5 p.m. in the Music/English Building. The musical calls for a cast of forty and includes both singing and speaking roles. Persons auditioning should bring their own sheet music. The dates of produc-tion are February 17-21 and 24-27. Truman awards available Faculty or staff who know sophomores interested a career in government service at the federal, state, or local level should encourage them to apply for a 1988 Harry S. Truman Scholar­ship. The scholarship award covers eligible expenses up to $7,000 per year for the junior and senior years and two years of graduate study. WCU can nominate three students for the 1988 competition. To be eligible, a student Several recent television appearances were arranged by the Office of Public Information. • Bill Hyatt (Criminal Justice) taped a news interview for WCSC-TV in Charleston, S.C., on October 20. He discussed the "Dixie Mafia," a large crime organization which flourishes in South Carolina. This week he is scheduled to tape an interview on organized crime in North Carolina for WPCQ-TV in Charlotte. • John Ritchie (CAP Center) taped an interview on the new men's move­ment on October 22 on "Carolina Spotlite," a talk show on WKFT-TV in Fayetteville. The interview aired the following week. • David Shapiro (Human Services) and Guy Morris of Asheville appeared on WIS-TV's "Carolina Today" in must be a full-time sophomore working toward or planning to pursue a bacca­laureate degree, have a "B" average or the equivalent, stand in the upper fourth of the class, and be a United States citizen or national. In April 1988, the Foundation will award 105 scholarships nationally. The deadline for all 1988 applications is December 1, 1987. For further information on the application process, contact Dr. Karl Nicholas in the University Honors office at 227-7383. LCE asks for suggestions The Lectures, Concerts, and Exhibi­tions Committee is accepting proposals and suggestions for exhibits, speakers, dance, theatre, and musical events (other areas will be considered) for their 1988-89 program. Please submit your proposal or suggestions, with identification and explanation of the event or activity and its cost, to Terry Columbia on October 29. Shapiro discussed his work on the problem of stuttering. Morris, who for a lifetime has struggled with stuttering, spoke of the dramatic improvement in his speech after his two years of therapy with Shapiro. • Anne Rogers (Anthropology) will appear on WATE-TV's 'Tennessee This Morning" in Knoxville on Tuesday, Nov. 24. She will talk about the excavation of an ancient Indian village near Johnson City, Tenn. She was involved in the excavation and is presently in charge of the analysis of artifacts found at the site. • Eleanor Lofquist (Special Programs) will discuss the Odyssey of the Mind program on WFMY-TV's "Good Morning" in Greensboro on Tuesday, Nov. 24. She is state director for Odyssey of the Mind. • Kinnear, Management and Marketing, 319C Forsyth, by Friday, Nov. 13. For more information call Kinnear at 227-7401. Qareis visits Western Roland Gareis, president of the Austrian INTERNET Organization, the European counterpart to America's Project Management Institute, visited WCU on October 23 to discuss INTERNET and project counseling. Gareis was invited to visit by the Department of Management and Marketing to address students and meet with faculty members, particularly those in the master's degree programs in business administration and project management. In the School of Business, WCU has the only accredited Project Management degree program in the United States. Van service established Funds have been provided through the STAR Award program to provide faculty members with transportation to Clemson University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Tennes­see at Knoxville. The purposes of this project are to provide an opportunity for faculty to meet with colleagues in similar disciplines and research areas and to provide access to the libraries on these campuses. The van will operate one day each week, visiting a different campus each week. The van will depart Forsyth parking lot at 8 a.m., returning at approximately 8 p.m. This service is primarily for faculty, but graduate assistants may ride on a space-available basis. To assure a seat, call the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at 227-7398 at least two class days prior to the trip. Graduate assistants may call one class day prior to the trip. The van will make its next trip on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to Clemson University. • Western on the air November 6, 1987 The Reporter People and places • Jim Addison and Jim Nicholl (English) attended the eighteenth annual North Carolina English Teach­ers Association Conference in Greens­boro October 22-24. Addison pre­sented a paper entitled "Creating an Interactive, Engaged Writing Commu­nity in the Classroom." Dr. Nicholl, a former president and executive secre­tary of NCETA, also attended meetings of the North Carolina Writing Project advisory board during the conference. Addison was also recently elected to the executive committee of the Conference of English Instructors (CEI) and attended the group's western regional meeting on October 2 at Wilkes Community College. • Lynn Dillard (AgeLink) traveled to Northern Vriginia Community College in Alexandria, Va., on October 23 to participate in a conference entitled "Strategies for Linking the Genera­tions" for Washington, D.C., area professionals involved in intergenera-tional child care. AgeLink was one of six programs of national significance chosen for presentation at the confer­ence. Dillard also led an "Idea Ex­change on Intergenerational Programs" at the thirteenth annual North Caro­lina Department of Human Resources Division of Aging Training Conference on November 5 in Asheville. • Jim Horton (Biology) was one of three invited speakers at the 1987-88 conference of the Association of North Carolina Two-Year/Community Col­lege Biologists on October 23 at Wes­tern Piedmont Community College in Morganton. His topic,'The Regulation of Commerce in Rare Plants in North Carolina," grew out of his work with the North Carolina Plant Conservation Board. He has been chairman of that board since its establishment in 1980. • Donald L. Loeffler (Speech and Theatre Arts) was an adjudicator for the American College and Theatre Festival at the University of Kentucky on October 24. He critiqued a produc­tion of The Inspector General. • Clifford R. Lovin (Dean, Arts and Sciences) presented a paper entitled "Hoover and the League of Nations" on Oct.ober 24, in Newberg, Oreg., at George Fox College's fourth Hoover Symposium. The theme for the meeting was "Possibilities for Peace." The sym­posium honors President Herbert Hoover, who attended the academy which eventually became George Fox College. • Gordon Mercer (Political Science, Public Affairs, and Sociology)presided at the Constitutional Decisions 1987 convention, held on the North Caro­lina Central University campus in Durham, N.C., on October 22 and 23. The convention was sponsored by the North Carolina Political Science Association and the North Carolina Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution to discuss major issues addressed in the Constitu­tion and to directly participate in debates concerning the organizing prin­cipals of the Constitution. Twenty-one universities and colleges participated. • Michael Miles (Music) performed a program of trumpet and piano music as guest artist on the UNC-Asheville recital series on October 20, on the UNC-A campus. Miles's program included works by Shakov, Arutonian, Plog, Albinoni, and Sachse. He was accompanied by UNC-A instructor DeWitt Tipton. • Mylie Ramsey (Cooperative Education) attended the "You Deserve a Break" Seminar for Secretaries in Asheville on October 20. The seminar was conducted by Prime Learning International of Alpine, Utah. Topics covered included self-concept, time management, stress management, human relations, the emerging new secretary, and working for more than one boss. • Susan M. Smith (Center for Improving Mountain Living) presented a paper entitled "Computerized Adoles­cent Health Risk Appraisals: A Re­view" at the twenty-third annual meeting of the Society of Prospective Medicine on September 19 in Atlanta. The meeting, entitled "Healthier People: New Trends in Health Risk Appraisal and Health Promotion," was sponsored by the Society of Prospective Medicine and the Carter Presidential Center. • ROTC leader visits campus Brigadier Gen. Wallace C. Arnold, new commander of the 1st ROTC Region, is welcomed to campus by Chancellor Coulter. Gen­eral Arnold assumed command of the 14-state region this summer and was in Cullowhee last week to meet with administrators and to address the WCU Army ROTC cadre on leadership. The Reporter November 6, 1987 Campus Events THEATRE - The Department of Speech and Theatre Arts production of Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean will be staged in the Niggli Theatre beginning Wednesday, Nov. 11. The comic play is by Ed Graczyk and begins as a group of middle-aged women gather in a small west Texas dime store for the twentieth reunion of the Disciples of James Dean. "'Tis then the fun begins," says director Steve Ayers. Production dates and times are November 11-14 and November 18-21 at 7-30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students, senior citizens, and children. Reservations may be made by telephon­ing 227-7491. VETS DAY PROGRAM - Martin Dean Martin, associate professor of manage­ment and marketing, will be guest speaker at the Veterans Day program at Southwestern Technical College in Sylva. The observance will begin at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in the Multipurpose Room of the college's Services Building. Martin, a retired colonel, served in the Air Force for twenty-three years in various manage­ment and leadership positions in the Air Force systems command. The Veterans Day program will be high­lighted by the WCU Army ROTC Color Guard's Presentation and Retiring of the Colors. The public is invited to attend. ADVISORY BOARD MEETING - The first meeting of the advisory board of the Upward Bound Program will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Ramsey Hospitality Suite. The Upward Bound Program welcomes the more than fifty community members, school personnel, and faculty and staff who responded to the programs request for advisors. CAMPUS CONCERTS - Two free concerts are scheduled for next week featuring performers from the music department. On Tuesday the university chorus will perform, and on Thursday there will be a faculty recital. Both are scheduled for 8 p.m. in the Music-English Recital Hall. The chorus will present a varied program including three selections from "West Side Story" and "Fame," three madrigals, three Hungarian folk songs, "Gloria in Excelsis," and several other works. The faculty recital will feature Mario Gaetano, Maxie Beaver, Betsy Farlow, Robert Kehrberg, John West, and Michael Miles. A variety of instruments and literature will be featured. YULETIDE REVELRY - The annual Madri­gal Christmas dinners, featuring the fanfare, feasting, and pageantry of Elizabethan England, are scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Dec. 3-5, at 6:30 p.m. in the Grandroom of the University Center. The program will feature costumed ladies and lords, strolling minstrels, a court jester, and brass consort. Members of the Early Music Ensemble will provide authentic madrigal entertainment. Tickets are $15.75 ($8.50 for students). For reservations or additional information call the University Center at 227-7206, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. • Brains torming cont'd "I will not participate, as profitable as it may be, in any project where any product or manufacturing process that comes out of that consulting will be socially or environmentally damaging." Rockenstein got involved with Kodak in June, when Ken Lamport, in-house creativity consultant for Eastman Kodak, approached her during the Creative Problem-Solving Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. Lamport had attended Rockenstein's session on intuition in executive decision-making and was intrigued. He told Rockenstein his company might be interested in having her conduct a workshop for his staff. "At first I tried to convince him that what I do is not appropriate for the corporate environment. I wanted no pretenses, and I had not taken corpo­rate types into different states of con­sciousness before," said Rockenstein. Nevertheless, Lamport phoned in August to ask Rockenstein to come to Kodak headquarters in Rochester, N.Y., to help with the planning of their futuristic new product. He sent a videotape in which his staff explained that they wanted to open new areas of their minds. No further convincing was necessary. There are those, of course, even at Kodak, who are wary of the beyond-ego experience and find intuitive thinking a little strange. That fear, says Rocken­stein, is the result of societal expecta­tions. Rockenstein doesn't try anymore to overcome participants' skepticism before a session begins. She simply structures her classes and workshops so that participants never sense that they are carrying out two separate func­tions—working on the problem at hand and learning to expand their minds. Rockenstein wants them to internalize creative thinking methods without having to fight fear. In mid-October, Rockenstein made her initial planning visit to Rochester. She was scheduled to return to Rochester this week for an intensive two-day brainstorming session. Rocken­stein and Kodak's creative people will choose and recommend an idea they hope the company's research and devel­opment division will implement. Kodak's secret product will then really be on the drawing board. - Joseph Price November 6, 1987 The Reporter is published by the Office of Public Information. The Reporter REPORTER A Weekly Newsletter for the Faculty and Staff of Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina November 13,1987 1987 freshmen better prepared for college work The 1987 freshman class at WCU is both larger and better prepared for college^level study than were freshmen entering in 1986. This year's 1,064 new freshmen on the average ranked higher in their high school classes, completed more college prep courses, and had higher SAT scores than their 1,021 counterparts last fall. "In terms of Western's image, the statistics represent that we're a bit more selective than we have been before. We're no longer strictly open-door," said Joe Creech, assistant vice chancel­lor for academic affairs. Twenty-seven percent of new freshmen ranked in the upper one fifth (20%) of their high school graduating classes. Cumulative figures show that fifty-six percent ranked in the upper two fifths of their classes, and eighty-six percent fell within the upper three fifths. Creech pointed out that this year fewer entering freshmen than in previous years were in the lower two fifths (40%) of their high school classes. Most 1987 applicants who fell in this category were conditionally admitted to the 1987 summer session. "Conditional admittance is made with the hope that summer session will fill gaps in students' preparation for full acceptance in the fall," Creech said. Conditionally accepted students must maintain a C average during the summer in order to be accepted unconditionally for fall semester. Creech is particularly pleased with SAT scores for 1987 freshmen. The 920 unconditionally admitted freshmen this fall averaged a combined score of 910 on the test, 19 points higher than the average of 891 for unconditionally admitted freshmen in 1986. The score was also four points higher than the WCU, state, and national SAT scores 1987 national average of 906. The average score for all 1987 WCU freshmen (including summer provi­sional students) was 828, a nine-point increase over the 1986 average. "The higher the scores, the higher the potential for students to do well," Creech said. "As a quantitative measure, the SAT doesn't change from year to year in the standard aptitudes it tests, and the scores indicate that this year's freshmen are better prepared for college work than the freshmen last year were." Creech noted that these statistics should assist faculty in defining and meeting the educational needs of their freshman classes. "Our students are from diverse backgrounds. We have first generation students, and we have students who are the sons and daugh­ters of doctors and lawyers. Differences in economic backgrounds and differ­ences in breadth and depth of the secondary school curricula our students experienced mean that different kinds of academic, social, and personal adjustments have to be made when the student reaches college. cont'd last page News briefs Senator to give speech at CIML anniversary dinner Sen. Terry Sanford, D-N.C., will be the keynote speaker Monday, Nov. 16, at a dinner celebrating the tenth anniver­sary of the founding of the university's principal technical assistance agency, the Center for Improving Mountain Living(CIML). The celebration, to which several hundred western North Carolina economic development and educational leaders have been invited, will be held at 7 p.m. at the Ramada Inn West in Asheville. CIML, in addition to technical assistance, specializes in community development, environmental education, leadership training, citizen participation, resource management, and international programs. Before his election to the Senate last year, Sanford was president of Duke University for fourteen years. He was North Carolina governor from 1961-65 and a state senator from Cumberland County from 1953-55. Auto raffle tickets on sale The Big Cat Club will give away a 1987 Ford Thunderbird at halftime of the Catamounts' final home game against Appalachian State University on Saturday, Nov. 21. Chances for the auto are $5 each. All proceeds go to athletic scholarships. Tickets are available now at the Big Cat Club Office, 401 Robinson Administration Building, and will be on sale through the first quarter of the November 21 game. For more information, call the Big Cat Club at 227-7377. Contractor chosen for campus renovations The bidding process for major renova­tions to two classroom buildings and Hoey Auditorium was completed November 9 with apparent low base bids totaling $5,118,054, a sum within the funds appropriated for the project by the North Carolina General Assembly. Bids on the project, which included asbestos abatement in and renovation to Stillwell Building and renovation to McKee Building, were opened in sessions on October 29 and November 9. The apparent low bidder on the general contract work was H.M. Rice and Son of Weaverville with a base bid of $2,249,300. Rice had a bid total of $145,772 on four alternates to the GEOGRAPHY WEEK - To recognize the importance of geographic knowledge, Congress has declared November 15-21 as Geography Awareness Week. In celebrating the week, Western's geology program is planning a series of activi­ties. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Jeffrey Nefif, associate professor of geography, will discuss America's geographic illiteracy on radio station WRGC's 8:30 a.m. "Anything Goes" program in Sylva. At 3 p.m. on November 18, the Department of Earth Sciences and Anthropology will sponsor a career seminar in Room 211 of Stillwell Building. The seminar will feature three Western graduates discussing the opportunities and rewards of a career in geography. Professor Gary White will present a public talk and slide presentation on "Nepal: Land of Everest" at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, in Room 211 of Stillwell Building. Refreshments will be served after the program. For additional information or to become involved in Geography Awareness Week, contact Neff in the Department of Earth Sciences and Anthropology at 227-7268. project that included items such as a new orchestra pit structure and lift, and a new entrance canopy for Hoey. Four other contractors bid on the general contract for the project. NEO Corpora­tion of Waynesville was the apparent low bidder on the asbestos abatement contract with a bid of $49,450. Total cost of the renovation project will be $6,513,600. Funds not committed to construction on the project will be used to pay for design services, for equipment and furnishings, and for a contingency fund. • SANDWICH SEMINAR - Lee Minor of the math department will speak and lead discussion at the first Sandwich Seminar, to be held next Thursday, November 19, from 12:25 until 1:30 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room, Hunter Library. His topic is "Ap­proaches to Grading." As a result of research he has done, Minor is trying new ideas in grading this semester. All university personnel are invited to bring a lunch to the library, hear what he has to say, and contribute ideas. Minor says he will raise more questions than he will answer. Hot coffee and tea will be provided. For more information, call 227-7196. FRANCOPHILES TAKE NOTE - Vocalist Phil Stovall, visiting artist at South­western Community College, will be featured in "An Evening of French Song" at 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16, in the Music/English Recital Hall. The program is sponsored by the WCU French Club. Ann Trevarthen of Waynesville will be S to vail's accompa­nist. Songs included will be by Poulenc, Ravel, Hahn, Duparc, Chausson, and Faure. A reception will follow in the cont'd last page Campus events November 13, 1987 The Reporter THE REPORTER features HOMECOMING ' 8 7 A Special Report from the Office of Public Information at Western Carolina University Coulter, Hopper announce centennial plans Homecoming's annual Alumni Associa­tion meeting has been hailed as one of the best ever, and largely due to a superb performance by Max Hopper, 1987-88 Alumni Association President. In this special report on the lunch­eon meeting in the Ramsey Activity Center October 24, The Reporter centers on remarks by Hopper and Chancellor Myron L. Coulter for the significance they have for the Associa­tion and the university. Excerpts from President Hopper: Alumni have experienced the Association in different forms, some­times as a dues-assessing organization, sometimes as a program where anyone who graduated from or attended Western was automatically a member. The Alumni Board has acted to institute a Centennial membership campaign (linked to the upcoming 1989 Centennial observance) to re-enact an active association with a viable membership of alumni who are ready and willing to support Western Carolina University, to support the great things that these people have helped to accomplish here and that the students of today will help to accom­plish tomorrow. It's going to mean that members of this association will be those people who support with their gifts either the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund or who support the project the Associa­tion has taken on in honor of our Centennial, our Alumni Tower project. It is our intent to erect a tower that will provide a central site for people to identify with Western; what has been Western Carolina to each of our generations has been different. To some it was the wall. To some it was the victory bell; others, Madison Memorial, Litde Caesar. We all have different ideas of what is quin-tessentially Western Carolina. We can't create instant tradition. But with Dr. Coulter's leadership and with the help of the Alumni Asso­ciation, we can provide a focus for that type of emotion in the future. Nothing has been decided as to what the tower will look like. I can say that the tower, when it is built, will be in front of Hinds University Center to more accurately define what has become the center of the campus. I can tell you that the Alumni Board is working on design criteria that will incorporate all of those things that I mentioned—the bell, Little Caesar, stones from the rock wall—into a new central place. In the tower, perhaps a clock; in the tower, certainly a carillon to ring out our pride in Western after athletic events, to signal the time of day, so that students of today, tomorrow, and for the next 100 years will think of Western with all of their senses when they hear a church bell or a carillon in our large cities. It will call them back to their days on this campus. We need that. I want to call on your support as we try to raise the funding, new funding, not taking away from any of our wonderful existing programs, not from First gift for alumni tower The Centennial Alumni Tomer project was given a surprise start at the 1987 Homecoming by Chancellor and Mrs. Myron L. Coulter. The Coulters presented their $1,000 gift for the project, the first to be made, to Afumnt Association President Max Hopper, left, at the annual Alumni Association luncheon. Big Cats, not from Alumni Scholar­ships, but funding to build this tower over the next three years. We want you to be a part of what is the brick and mortar, the stuff, of Western Carolina. You are a part of its heart, we want you to be part of this central campus feature. It can't be done without you and it can't be done without the other 22,500 alumni who aren't here today. Excerpts from Chancellor Coulter: The General Assembly reserved $167,000 for a "distinguished professor­ship" for each of the sixteen universities in our system when the individual institution raises $333,000. We feel that in the very near future, Western will have its first distinguished profes­sorship. Our privately funded scholarships cont'd next page Coulter cont'd have increased from $250,000 to $403,000 in the past three years, a sixty-one percent gain. Private gifts have increased from $856,000 to $ 1,314,000 in the same period. Total foundation assets increased from $ 1.9 million to $2.7 million, a forty percent gain. The Teaching Fellows Program provides grants of $5,000 a year for four years to young people coming to Western who intend to enter the teaching profession. Eighteen of these fellowships that amount to $20,000 each over a four-year period have been awarded to entering freshmen at Western. Western has been identified by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities as one of four universi­ties in the United States as having developed exemplary programs to improve teaching in the public schools and universities in the country. We will be singled out for attention at a national meeting in New Orleans in November. We have two very active programs in China. The Yunnan University project (an exchange and assistance program started some years ago) is flourishing. A Moment of transition Selina Johnson ofVcddese, 1986 Homecoming Queen, passes on the crown and title to 1987 queen Toni Jackson during halftime at WCU's homecoming game October 24. Jackson is a sophomore radio and television major from Clyde. new program is just developing in Guangdong Province (the city of Guangzhou, which is Canton as we know it). They are sending a delegation in December to sign agreements between Western and the city of Canton and one of their universities in some economic development enter­prises. In Thailand, Western is assisting in the education of 1,000 of the faculty members of thirty-six colleges being converted to universities, and we are working on a three-year program to upgrade Swaziland College of Technology in Africa. The university through the Center for Improving Mountain Living (CIML) and in collaboration with Auburn University is conducting an acquaculture project in nine or ten countries to teach the people of devel­oping nations how to use water more effectively. The biology department and CIML have been successful in attracting nearly $1 million for a research center in breeding trout and studying trout production. Dr. Robinson was very instrumental in helping to obtain that fine grant. Last year, the state set down new standards for athletes for admission to the universities of the UNC system. The admission requirements are rather rigorous. Thus far, only two institu­tions—Western and Appalachian State—have met those requirements, so we are trying as best we can to say that our athletes are scholar athletes. Our centennial plans are proceeding nicely under the chairmanship of Bill Kirwan, our librar­ian, and we will celebrate our centennial in 1989 and 1990, 100 years of service by this fine institution. • Childress Childress, Tolleson receive awards A radio executive praised as one of North Carolina's most public service-minded broadcasters and a WCU graduate who was the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees this year won the Alumni Association's top awards on October 24. James B. "Jimmy" Childress of Sylva, radio executive and broadcast personal­ity whose Sylva station anchors the WCU sports network, received the 1987 Distin­guished Service Award. Wayne Tolleson of Spartanburg, S.C., football and baseball star at WCU from 1974 to 1978 and former Southern Conference Athlete of the Year, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Childress, who has developed radio stations in several states, has champi­oned the economic development of the state and has twice been named by North Carolina governors to the state's principal development boards. A longtime booster of Western, he is a former president of the Big Cat Club and is a former member and chairman of the board of the WCU Development Foundation. The James B. Childress Family is a Patron of Quality. Tolleson played for the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox before he was traded to the Yankees in 1986. He led the Yankees in hitting this season but injured his shoulder and spent the last two months of the season on the disabled list. Still an avid Catamount fan, Tolleson returns as often as possible to see WCU play and to visit with Western head football coach Bob Waters. • _ Tolleson People and places • Gentry O. Crisp (Speech and Theatre Arts) attended the Carolinas Speech Association Convention in Boone October 16 and 17. He pre­sented two papers, "Conflict Communi­cation: Champion International vs. Dead Pigeon River Council and the EPA" and "Is There a Place for Trans­actional Analysis in the Health Care Course?" • John C. Deupree and Debby Sims (Registrar's Office), Drumont Bowman and Phil Cauley (Admissions), Van Wilson (Academic Services), Nancy Morgan (Financial Aid), Renee Corbin (Institutional Studies), and John Newman (Com­puter Center), represented WCU at the first annual Carolina Student Informa­tion Systems Users (SISU) Conference held at UNC-Wilmington October 25-27. They presented a session together at the meeting. • Mario Gaetano (Music) directed the Percussion Ensemble at the North Carolina Music Educators Association Convention on November 3 in Winston-Salem. The ensemble played works by Tull, Del Borgo, Cunning­ham, and Lo Presti, and two ragtime selections. Student members of the ensemble are Rich Frettoloso, Richard Haynes, Danette Henry, Anthony Higdon, Sharon Kerr, Steve Kershaw, Joe Reed, and Steve Ruff. • Richard Gentry (Elementary Education and Reading) was a featured speaker at the Alabama Reading Association Convention in Birming­ham, Ala., on October 23. He ad­dressed the state conference of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of English on November 7 with a session entitled "Helping Thinkers Grow through Spelling." Gentry's paperback, Spel...Is a Four-Letter Word, is being reprinted in Hong Kong and distributed in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. • Lester Laminack (LIFE Network) was an invited speaker at the Region IV (Southeast) Conference for Commis­sions on Women this summer. The conference, co-sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Administra­tion Council on the Status of Women, was held at Meredith College in Raleigh. Laminack's presentation focused on networking in adult literacy to combat under-education. • Walter Oldendorf (North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching) and Sandra Oldendorf (Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction) presented papers at the Conference on Appalachia in Lexing­ton, Ky., on October 23 and 24. His paper was entitled "The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching: A Radical Innovation in Teacher Development." Her topic was "Democratic Empowerment and the South Carolina Sea Island Citizenship Schools." • Keith Stetson (Hunter Library) was elected director of the resources and technical services section of the North Carolina Library Association at the organization's biennial conference in Winston-Salem October 28-30. • Familiar faces You see her often as you walk or drive around campus. Maybe she's collecting cuttings in a flower bed outside the Robinson Administration Building. Or perhaps she's delivering fig trees to the University Center. Or she might be driving a physical plant van in the direction of the greenhouse across Highway 107. Her name is Peggy Eidson (pronounced ED-son), and you recognize her instantly by the trademark James Dean-type sunglasses she wears. A grounds worker for the university greenhouse, Peggy has worked at Western for seven and a half years, time enough to see several brier patches on campus developed into landscaped gardens. She came to work Pe8& Eidson here in 1980, after holding jobs at both Smoky Moun­tain Nursery in Sylva and Tuckasegee Valley Nursery in Cullowhee. Peggy grew up near Detroit, in Pontiac, Mich., where her parents met when her father, a native of Franklin, came to Michigan to find work. The family returned to Franklin in the summers and finally, in 1971, their love of the mountains lured them back to North Carolina to live in Cullowhee. "My father never had a doubt that I'd grow up and come to Western Carolina University," Peggy said, and indeed she has attended classes here. Her father couldn't have suspected, however, that his daughter would become so well recog­nized among those who make their way around campus every day. She is regularly seen tending house plants in the Robinson Administration Building, Hunter Library, the University Center, and Brown Cafeteria. Her crew takes care of the yard work around the chancellor's home, too. All around campus, there are cuttings to be gathered, gardens to be designed, flower beds to be planted or taken up, soil to be repaired, large indoor plants to be moved from place to place, and other duties to be performed to insure the safety and the beauty of the campus greenery. .. cont a last page The Reporter November 13, 1987 Campus events cont'd recital hall lobby. Both the program and the reception are free and open to the public. LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP - Dr. Ronald E. Wiley, seminar leader for the "Success-ful Supervisor" series sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education and Summer School, will present a session entitled "Leadership Skill—An Alternative to Management" on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The program will be held from 6:30 until 9 p.m. at the Ramada Inn West in Asheville. Wiley will emphasize the difference between positive and negative motivation and how to better function as a leader. For more information or to register, call the Continuing Education and Summer School office at 227-7397. ALCOHOL AWARENESS - The ninth annual Great American Escape, an alcohol awareness program, will be held Thursday, Nov. 19, from 1-3 p.m. at the University Center and from 4:30-6 p.m. at Dodson and Brown cafeterias. The program's organizers say it is unique in that it provides alcohol and drug information and alternatives to drinking and other drug use in a positive, non-threatening manner. The program emphasizes responsible drinking and personal decision-making. The Great American Escape is spon­sored by the Housing Office and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Penny Ethridge in the Housing Office at 227-7303. JAZZ CONCERT - The university's jazz ensemble will perform in concert on Friday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. in the Music/ English Recital Hall. The student concert, conducted by instructor Mario Gaetano, will begin with "'Round Midnight" and "Eleventh Command­ment" performed by a jazz combo. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Department of Music at 227-7242 FOOTBALL SOCIAL - First Citizens Bank, the Best Western Catamount Inn, and Budweiser of Sylva together will sponsor the final pregame social of the Catamounts' 1987 football season on Friday, Nov. 20, from 9-11 p.m. at the Catamount Inn. The social's preview of Western's November 21 home game against Appalacahian State University (final game of the season) will feature the Catamount football staff. All university faculty and staff are invited. For more information, call the Big Cat Club at 227-7377. • Freshmen cont'd "If we're aware of these needs, then the faculty can deliver instruction that should lead to students' developing better. And this in turn helps with retention," Creech said. Eighty-one percent of the 1987 freshmen are North Carolina residents. While this figure represents no change from last year, the number and percent­age of students enrolling from the various regions of the state did change. Forty-seven percent come from 28 western North Carolina counties (a seven percent increase over 1986, accountable for most of the increase in the size of the class), twenty-nine percent come from the piedmont region of the state, and five percent from eastern North Carolina. Eighteen percent are from other states and one percent are international students. Forty-nine percent of the class are female, fifty-one percent male. Minori­ties comprise six percent of the class. Creech added that while the average SAT score of all freshmen enrolled at WCU increased, the overall distribu­tion of scores indicates that the university is maintaining its stance as an institution of educational opportu­nity. "As our mission statement says, we continue to serve students with a wide range of academic abilities and apti­tudes," Creech said. 'The most signifi­cant thing about the freshman class statistics is that they demonstrate that the majority of our freshmen are comparable to freshmen anywhere. Our freshmen are just as capable of pursuing college instruction as freshmen at most other American institutions of higher education." • Familiar faces cont'd "It keeps you busy year-round," Peggy said. Her fellow greenhouse crew members include Willard Beck, Hayes Coggins, supervisor Larry Sims, and assorted student workers. Peggy likes the fact that the greenhouse crew has such a variety of responsibilities. Their work has little room for monotony. Her favorite part of her work is watching the whole planting-growing-nurturing process that takes place particularly in the flower beds, and if there is an individual plant that she's partial to, it's the blue spruce behind Scott dorm. "I think it's beautiful. I also love the perennial flowers, especially the colum­bines in the rhododendron garden that you see coming down from the chancellor's home," Peggy said. She has trouble thinking of any­thing she would change about her work, although she concedes that mainte­nance is the least fun part of her job. Work with plants has brought Peggy more than just a great deal of satisfac­tion. She also met her husband Steve through her job here. Steve now owns and operates S.J. Eidson and Company, a landscaping firm in Cullowhee. Peggy and Steve have a two-year-old daughter, Carrie, who spends her days at the day-care center in the Belk Building. Peggy's daughter Mecca, 14, lives in Charlotte. Peggy believes, not surprisingly, that eventually she would like to teach hor­ticulture. Meanwhile, she stays busy keeping things green at Western. 1 November 13, 1987 The Reporter THE REPORTER THE A Weekly Newsletter for the Faculty and Staff of Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina November 20,1987 Sanford, legislators, regional leaders join in birthday salute to CIML The Center for Improving Mountain Living's 100th birthday blowout in Asheville last Monday night pulled heavy hitters from throughout Western North Carolina and an anniversary salute from U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford (D-N.C.) who said Western Carolina University and the center are models of how universities can promote regional development. The anniversary celebration also was an appreciation dinner for Western North Carolina state legisla tors, to whom a special tribute was paid by Chancellor Myron L. Coulter, host for the occasion. The celebration was held at Ramada Inn West in Asheville and included a reception marked by a visual display highlighting CIML's services, and a dinner at which Sen. Sanford was the principal speaker. Dr. Coulter, Vice Chancellor for Develop-ment and Special Services James E. Dooley, and F. Merton Cregger, CIML director, were university speakers for the program. Chancellor Emeritus H.F. Robin­son, who with Mrs. Robinson was seated at the head table, was singled out by Sanford for adding a dimension of regional service to Western Carolina University that was epitomized by his creation of CIML in 1977. Since 1984, when he became Chancellor, Dr. Coulter has given new leadership, support, and direction to CIML, Dr. Dooley said, making possible continued expansion of its services. Sanford said Western North Carolina's "miraculous" development in the past 25 years largely could be attributed to WCU's influence. In Washington, he said, "people are always saying that things need to be done in this country to promote entrepre-neurship, inventiveness, and a sense of development. People say we need more jobs. Well, you're doing something about it, and you're doing it where it counts." Chancellor Coulter introduced Sanford as a former North Carolina governor, university (Duke) president, and a U.S. senator who "clearly knows that people are the human reserves that shape history and who has never forgotton to ask the crucial question, 'but what about the people?"' Sanford said WCU and CIML are "concerned about people here in North Carolina and about spreading the American dream of freedom and hope to people all over the world." CIML's divisions of Economic Development, Human Resources, Natural Resources, and its affiliate, WNC Tomorrow, he said, are doing the job in North Carolina while through CIML's International Division "you help to create and maintain the nation's sense of integrity by helping other countries develop their economies." Dr. Coulter said North Carolina legislators are due credit and apprecia­tion for making possible the work of Western Carolina and CIML. As all of the legislators were recognized and stood, they were serenaded by Anita Knight, WCU music major and soloist, who was accompanied at the piano by -cont'd Campus events POTTERY EXHIBITION - An exhibition of recent work by potter George Rector of Cullowhee will be on display December 2-16 in the University Center's Chelsea Gallery. Rector's exhibition, the result of his work on a master's degree in studio art at WCU will open with a 7:30 p.m. reception Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the gallery. Both the reception and the exhibition are open to the public with no admission charge. For additional information, contact Roger Stephens at 227-7206. BRAZILIAN MUSIC - A concert of Brazilian songs, featuring Carmela Mattoso, soprano, and Sara Kauffman, piano, will be presented Monday, Nov. 23, at 8 p.m. in the Music-English Recital Hall. Kauffman and Mattoso are music faculty members at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil. The concert, sponsored by WCU's music department and interna­tional instruction programs, is free and open to the public. In addition to their concert, the artists will present master classes in voice and piano at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, in the recital hall. For additional information, contact the music department at 227-7242. IBM SOFTWARE DEMO - William Graves, mathematics professor and special assistant to the provost at UNC-Chapel Hill, will be at Western Tues­day, Nov. 24, to demonstrate some of the software developed for the IBM-PC in many subject areas from history to mathematics. The presentation begins at 3 p.m. in Classroom A, Hunter Library. Dr. Graves is a consultant under arrangement with IBM this year. His visit to Western is sponsored by IBM, the Office of Instructional Services, the Task Force on Teaching Effectiveness and Faculty Development, and the Media Center. Video projection courtesy of the Office of Public Infor­mation. Refreshments will be served. ACTING RECITAL - Theatre major Patrick Williamson of Richmond, Va., will present his senior recital, a series of scenes from all periods of theatre, Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23 and 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Niggli Theatre. Williamson has performed in numerous campus productions, the annual madrigal dinners at Western, and in outdoor drama in Minnesota. The recital is free and open to the public. CHRISTMAS SHOW - The University Center Christmas Craft and Gift Show will be held Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23 and 24, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the University Center. Grandroom. THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS - University offices will close for Thanksgiving holidays on Thursday and Friday this week. Hunter Library will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, reopening from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday. Regular library hours resume Saturday. The Media Center will be closed from 5 p.m. on Wednesday until Monday morning. Thanksgiving holidays for students begin at 2 p.m. on Wednes­day. Classes resume at 8 a.m. Monday. TRIPS TO GEORGIA AND UT - Four trips for faculty members remain on the schedule this fall for the STAR van service to neighboring university campuses. The van will travel to the University of Georgia on Tuesday, Nov. 24, and Wednesday, Dec. 16, and to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on Tuesday, Dec. 1, and Wednesday, Dec. 9. To reserve a seat, call the Office of Research and Graduate Studies two class days before the trip, telephone 227-7398. Mrs. Barbara Dooley. Special guests introduced at the dinner included Charles Von Canon, Charles Flack, and Hugh Morton, the current and former chairmen of Western North Carolina Tomorrow; Jan Shafer, coordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Program for the North Carolina Children's Trust Fund; Thomas Heath, associate director of the administrative offices of the Small Business and Techno­logical Development Center in Raleigh; Hugh Granade, chief of the economic analysis and assistance branch of the Tennessee Valley Authority; Norman Barth and Chancellor Emeritus H.F. Robinson, co-chairmen of the board of directors of the Joint PVO/University Rural Development Center. Members of the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina system: Philip G. Carson, chairman; Flack, Phillip Haire, and Samuel Neill. Members of the WCU Board of Trustees: Dr. Wallace N. Hyde, chairman; Robert L. Edwards, William F. Forsyth, John Q. Schell, Jr., Richard A. Wood, Jr., and Stephen W. Woody. Also introduced were District Court Judge John J. Snow; Jonathan L. Taylor, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokees, and Roy A. Taylor, former U.S. Congressman. Legislators in attendance were Senator R.P. "Bo" Thomas (29th District); Rep. Charles Beall (52nd District); Rep. Charles F. (Monroe) Buchanan (46th District); Rep. Narvel J. Crawford (51st District); Rep. Jeff H. Enloe, Jr. (53rd Dis­trict)); Rep. Gordon H. Greenwood (51st District); Rep. Martin L. Nesbitt (51st District); and Rep. Liston B. Ramsey (52nd District), Speaker of the North Carolina House of Repre­sentatives. -Doug Reed

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Western Carolina University Publications

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolin...

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