• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-06-13_Vol49_No29_01

Western Carolinian Serving Western Carolina University Since 1935 Volume XLIX, Number 29 June 13, 1985 Cullowhee, North Carolina Phone 227-7267 Free COLLEGES- ON TAP FUNDAMENTALIST STUDENT SPIES "Religious KGB" is spying on campus activities in an attempt to discredit Baylor University. The president of Baylor has charged thatfundamentalist students "have made it their business to maintain surveillance over the campus activities in and out of our classrooms and to faithfully report to (conservative Southern Baptist Convention leaders)." The Baylor president is a leader in the effort to unseat the SBC president during the SBC national convention this summer. NATION'S TOP MED TECH EDUCATOR EX-FARMER Dan Southern, head of WCU's medical technology program, gave up farming for medical technology when he graduated from high school. He has been named the nation's top medical technology educator by the Scientific Assembly of the American Society for Medical Technology. As a 16 year old high school sophmore in West Virginia Southern ran the family's 400 acre farm, raising 100 head of cattle and preparing 10,000 bails of hay per summer, after the death of his father. UNC-CH MEAL PLAN SHOT DOWN BY STUDENTS A mandatory meal plan was soundly defeated by students voting on a referendum at.UNC-Chapel Hill. A Board of Trustees decision to impose a $100 mandatory meal plan on all on-campus students was opposed by 98%. In related action, the Campus Governing Council passed a resolution against the university imposing further restrictions on cooking in dorm rooms. LSD IS OUT BUT MUSHROOMS ARE IN Researc hers at U. of California-Los Angeles and California State U.-Northridge say that there is growing college student use of "magic" mushrooms which are natural hallucinogenics with effects similar to, but milder than, LSD. Their survey found that nearly 15% of college students have tried the mushrooms. THE FOOD GETS INSTANT FEEDBACK At the University of Rochester students write their dining reviews on napkins and post them on boards in the campus diningcenters. The director of dining services reprints, and responds to, the napkin comments in a weekly newsletter Ample Rations. He says the two-way communication has improved dining services. TO HONOR HISTORICAL MARKER LEWIS J. SMITH The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee approved a marker to honor the late Lewis J. Smith, which will read as follows: Lewis J. Smith, 1843 - 1901 A founder and benefactor of Cullowhee Academy, forerunner of Western Carolina University. Lived 2 miles north. The marker will be placed on the highway right of way at the entrance to WCU. Smith was a lieutenant in the Confederate Army, a State Senator from 1888 - 1890, and spearheaded the movement to establish a permanent school in Cullowhee. BOYCOTT OF TEACHER EVALUATIONS The Student Association Academics Adviser at Northern Illinois University is asking students to boycott teacher evaluations. The boycott is aimed at protesting the fact that the evaluation results are not made public. JUSTICE IS BLIND Students were unhappy guinea pigs at Arizona State University. A communication class was required to attend individual office sessions to argue for the grade they thought a paper they had written for 20% of their final grade deserved. The sessions turned out to be part of a blind experiment for a Graduate student a nd the pa per was real ly only worth %. The students complained of being deceived, degraded, inconvenienced and cheated. COORS TO YOU. ADOLPH The best of the Rockies will not be found at the University of Massachusetts this summer. The Campus Center Board of Governers there voted to boycott the sale of Coors beer in a campus tavern, because of reported anti-union and right wing political activity by the company. A Coors spokesperson dismissed the charges as "union propaganda," saying the boycott would only hurt area beer distributors. G.LA.D.D. TO BE ALIVE Greek Leaders Against Drunk Drivers (G.LA.D.D.) isa new program begun at Arizona State University to educate fraternity and sorority members about alcohol and new state laws. G.LA.D.D. members were trained by campus health officials. Chinese Scholar Speaks Frankly by Barbara Rosenthal Photos by Joe Reed On a typically soggy summer afternoon here in Cullowhee, Joe Reed, Randy Rosenthal, and I had the pleasure of spending an hour with Yang Bungshun. Mr. Yang is one of the scholars visiting Western from Yunnan University. During our conversation he £xplained the organization of the Chinese educational system and recounted his personal experiences during the War. He discussed future plans for the Yunnan/Western exchange including the possibility of a Chinese restaurant either in Sylva or Asheville. Here are some excerpts of our talk: Western Carolinian: How much longer is your group going to be here? Yang: Well, we came here on the 8th of January into New York. So we've been here for a total of five months. So we a re going to stay for .another two months. We just began our class yesterday afternoon. It was the very first one (for summer session).* Western Carolinian: How did it go? Yang: It went well. It will last for two sessions. First Summer Session and Second. We've been teaching for almost four months. And now at the request of the Western Carolina University, we are to stay another two months. Western Carolinian: How is the classroom situation different here as compared to Yunnan University? Do you find students more or less attentive? Yang: My impression is that our students are more serious in the .classroom. Well, excuse my being .frank with you. Your students seem to be particularly free. Sometimes they come late or when the professor's already lecturing in the class they may come two or three minutes late. In China, no such thing. Even if some student, especially new students-freshmen students- it they come one or two minutes later than the teacher- the student will stand outside the classroom and ask the permission of the teacher before walking in. (Pause) Veryserious.veryserious. And when they listen to the lectures, no student will smoke or eat something. I sometimes see students here drink Coca-Cola, sometimes eat. Western Carolinian: Does the way American students behave make it difficult for you to teach? Yang: No, not at all. Not at all. In fact, I like the American students verymuch. You see, I went to quite a few high schools and talked to the students. Once I spent almost a whole day at Rabun Gap- Lacoochee School. Very nice school. I was very much impressed by the students and the teachers. The students and the teachers are just like of one family. The teachers are so much concerned about them. Not only about their studies, but their lives, their work. So the relations between the teachers and the students are excellent, I'm assuming. And then I talked to the Principal of the high school. They called him the President. I said I would like to have my daughter to come here. He said, "Oh, welcome." My daughter is only sixteen. She's going to graduate from high school next summer. Western Carolinian: How are the school structures different? Yang: Before the school age , before primary school, the kids are attending the kindergarten for two years, at the age of six or seven. And then primary school. They begin primary school usually at seven. Western Carolinian: Is there any sort of instruction during kindergarten? Yang: Yes, they learn reading, simple Chinese, simple arithmetic, and then music, art and crafts, and teaching the kids to love labor. After this is primary school which takes six years. Usually they graduate at eleven or twelve and go to junior middle school, (which takes) three years and then senior middle school, also three years. Western Carolinian: At what age does the student enter the university? Yang: At eighteen. But in China it is not easy to attend college. They must go through very strict entrance examinations. Sometimes only one in twenty is admitted. Very difficult. Western Carolinian: What do students do who cannot attend college? Are there trade schools? Yang: Yes, because most of graduates of high will not be admitted to colleges. These students will attend professional, technical schools to train them to be cutters or technicians for various departments. Usually we do it like this: aftergraduation from junior middle school, if the student shows no interest to carry on his studies in high school or later, he himself orhispa re ntscould let him go to the professional, technical secondary schools. In these high schools we have radio schools, news schools, agriculture, forestry, and even health services. What do you call it here? Western Carolinian: A lot of that is incorporated into the University. Later Yang: I get the impression that this University (WCU), an older university with a very good foundation and strong faculty members, tends to be more efficient. Very efficient. Practical. We have, in our university the same thing. Besides this, we also emphasize scholastic studies, academic studies. For example, we also have a department of philosophical and political science, history, Chinese literature, foreign languages and literature. There are lots of similarities, of course, between our universities. But besides these similarities, lots of differences. Western Carolinian: What are some of those differences? Yang: For example, you here, you can select course out of your particular school such as Liberal Arts School or Science School. But at our university, at least for the time being, the student chooses courses under the instruction of professors of the relative department. A science major couldn't choose courses in the foreign language department. Here,if you study very hard, you can graduate one year earlier. But in our school, the student cant ao that, at least for the time being. Maybe that will change because now we are in the situation of reforms. Especially from this year on. Recently we've had a very important document published by the Central Committee of the Party and the Central government in connection with the educational reform, especially with the reform of the higher institutions. For example, students will have the cont'd on page 4 Enrollment Down by Barbara Rosenthal Staff Reporter There's been alot of loose talk going around campus about enrollment prospects for next fall. Some of the more pessimistic among us are expecting a significant decrease in enrollment. These figures are important because they effect many departmental and extracurricular budgets. So is Western facing the first drop in enrollment after a long period of general population increase? According to Joe Creech, head of Academic Services, it's much too early to say. It is true that he expects freshman enrollment to be lower than last year, but last year New Coliseum Offers LMP Hope Jeff Bacon Staff Reporter Spring,1985: Toto, multi-million dollar, Grammy award winning band, plays Reid Gymnasium at Western Carolina University. A band known for its excellent concerts and platinum albums. However, as the concert date drew near, with only a minimum of advance tickets having been sold, people began to get nervous. A week before the show, Last Minute Productions tried to buy out the concert by offering Toto a price for not playing, thus, hopefully reducing their losses. Toto refused and demanded that they play and for full fee. The concert wason. John Parr and Toto rocked Reid Gym but when the smoke had cleared, Last Minute Productions had lost an estimated $27,000 on the show. Students are now wondering, "What went wrong?" "Why did the show lose so much money?" Also, word is out that there will be only one big concert at Western for the next school year. Many questions have arisen, as to what exactly is happening. Ken Harris, last year's president of Last Minute Productions and recent graduate of Western, offered to speak on the subject, to clear up the questions arid offer some advice. One main issue is where does LMP get such large amounts of money so that it is possible for it to lose $30,000? Every student pays an activity fee attached to his tuition and fees, of which LMP receives $9 for each student. Next semester they will get $10 from each activity fee, thus producing upwards of $70,000 for Last Minute Productions to work with each semester. Another question, and the main one at hand, is, "Why was the concert so unsuccessful?" According to Ken Harris, a number of factors were working against the LMP staff. First, the Toto- Isolation tour was selling poorly nationwide, many cities having already cancelled their scheduled shows. Also, due to the rising fees charged by performers and the limted facilities available to the LMP crew, it was becoming nearly impossible for a concert to be held in Reid Gym without incredible amounts of money being lost. Ken Harris states, "LMP loses $8,000 to $9,000 no matter how well we do. The gym doesn't hold enough people to coverall the costs without LMP having to charge ridiculously high ticket prices." Harris also expressed that he feels the students don't have enough control over the proceedings of Last Minute Productions. Are there solutions? Yes. Harrisfeelsthatinthe new Regional Activities Center, scheduled to open in the spring of next year, the inevitable losses of the past can be turned into LMP profits. The new center should be able to facilitate big name bands, bigger than Toto, yet hold enough people to coverexpenses and still keep ticket prices down for students. Ken Harris would also like to see a group of student representatives from all walks of campus life, overseen by a director who does not govern LMP, to have direct input into concert decisions and other LMP affairs. "Some students don't seem to care," stated Hams, "but with more control in our affairs, maybe they would." As for concerts for next year, Last Minute Productions will wait out the fall semester before sponsoring any big shows. Tim Jacobs, director of LMP, and the staff will concentrate on replacingthe stage equipment and on building up cash reserves, so that the concert planned for spring in the new activities center, will avoid any financial problems. Good-bye, Reid. Hello, Regional Activities Center. The campus awaits the first big concert. INDEX DIEHARDS WANT OLD COKE BACK. NEW RECRUITS- SMART TANNING... THE CHINESE CONNECTION- SNOOPY AND RECORD REVIEWS.. page 2 Page 3 Page 3 Pages 4 and 5 Page 7 enrollment was up significantly. The number of freshman entering in the fall of 1985 should be about the same as it was in fall 1983. There are a number of factors that could create a drop in freshman enrollment and also in the number of students who return to Western. The pool of high school graduates is declining. The General Assembly may raise out-of state tuition. Financial aid may be harder to come by for some students. In early fall a survey will be taken to find out why students chose not to return and why newly admitted students decided not to come here at all. Only then will Academic Services know what role these various factors played in regard to student enrollment. Wolfpack or No Wolfpack? Work on the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activities Center is progressing much slower than scheduled, according to sources within the administration. There is doubt whetherthe Center will be ready for its opening, a basketball contest with N.C. State, in mid-November. WWCU Where the Girls Are-- Heather Frey Staff Reporter The Student Government elections of this past April brought some new faces into various offices. Most notably, the first female General Manager of 91FM was elected. Lynnette James, a senior from Pigeon Forge, TN, has worked at the campus radio station since her freshman year. Shespentthe 84-85 school year as Business Manager of the station and said she is confident about her upcoming term as General Manager. Part of her confidence, she said, comes from the fact that she has qualified professionals helping her out. Among these are two other females who will be acting as James's administrative staff. Cindy Schwartze, a senior from Lincolnton, is the new Program Director and Lisa Mirando, a junior out of Fort Lauderdale, isthe Music Director. Together, these two decide what goes on the air and when. Their jobs include deciding on what's hot and what's not, the slogans, and who goes on the air at what time. James said her job means, "making sure everybody does his job and then some." She works woth the Business Manager making sure supplies are ordered; she is also in charge of all paperwork and overseeing the station's orgainzation. Many people might think the General Manager would have her hand in everything, including what is heard on the air. Commenting on that, James said, "Basically, I leave decisions as far as programming and music up to Lisa and Cindy simply because I have enough respect for them to know that tney are going to dotheir jobs." Is an all female administration, then, going to affect 91FM's sound? New leaders generally bring changes, and Schwartze and Mirando do plan on somewhat reshaping the sound and personality of the radio station. cont'd page 3

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 Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1985-06-13
  • Date digitized: 2019-02-28
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 8 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-06-13_Vol49_No29
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library