• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1986-03-06_Vol51_No07_01

COLLEGES Sixty-one teacher-students make history ON TAP Firs* graduation in Jamaica PROPOSED CUTBACKS TO AFFECT STUDENT AID If the Gramm- Rudman Deficit Reduction Act becomes law, many students will have to do more than just tighten their belts. According to Carl Buck, director of financial aid at the University of Utah, if passed, higher education will be "significantly" affected. Student Aid News reports that $263 million of the proposed $678 million cut in the Department of Education funding will be from higher education programs. The biggest cuts would come from the student financial aid progams. Don Davis, associate director of student financial aid at the University of Texas at Austin reports that students atthehigher end of the eligibility scale will be affected first, then needier students if the funding cuts continue. Just under 50 percent of the undergraduates nationwide currently receive federal financial aid, but the proposal would push the number down around 40 percent HAZING INCIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION Officials at the University of Texas at Austin are investigating a fraternity for an alleged hazing incident that may have sent as many as 10 pledges to the hospital. The investigation came only three days after the university administration repdrted that 55 student organizations had signed an anti- hazing statement. The cover letter on the document states that organizations caught hazing could be barred permanently from the university. "I'm very, very disappointed," said University President Bill Cunningham, "and if it turns out there was a hazing incident, the university will act in a way it has stated it will act." CONSERVATIVE GROUP NAMES MOST BIASED CAMPUS PAPERS The Leadership Institute gave awards for "skewed facts" and "liberal bias" to columnists at the Washington State Daily Evergreen, the Idaho Argonaut, the Wayne State South End, the Current at George Washington, and the North Texas Daily. MALE. FEMALE STUDENTSm DIFFER about Which issues worry THEM MOST While male students ranked pollution, nuclear arms and earning a living as their "most important personal issues," women students in a U. Wisconsin-River Falls survey ranked abortion, equal rights and drug use as their most important concerns. Women, concludes Prof. Bud McClure, "are still concerned with issues of personal autonomy," while the men "are free to pursue" issues about their relationships to the rest of society. ONE IN FIVE STUDENTS HAS MORE THAN $200 A MONTH TO SPEND Simmons Market Research found that, of the students who do have $200 a month in,"discretionary income" to spend, 66 percent hold part-time jobs. 'JOKE' COMMITTEE COULD HELP DISBAND SOME U. NEBRASKA STUDENT GROUPS A joke by student politician Dan Beck led the student government to approve a secret group to "infiltrate" some of the "smaller" of the 270 groups the government funds, and then lead a vote to disband them. Beck says he wasn't even aware the government has acted on his joke, much less formalized it and funded it. The Campus Activities Office estimates that 35 to 50 to 270 registered groups actually meet regularly. Pg. 3 ■ Interview - Larry Naylor Pg. 4-5 - Perspectives Pg6&7-AiTsAnd Entertainment Robert Godfrey Pg- 8&9 Sports Cats Fall To Aps Pg-10 Campus Bells Pg-11 Cartoons Pg-12 Co-op Jobs Pg-14 Classifieds by Doug Reed Director of Public Information KINGSTON, Jamaica-Sixty-one teacher- students made history Saturday, March 1, as the first Jamaicans to be graduated in their homeland by an American university. "You are the ones," said Western Carolina Chancellor Myron L. Coulter, "who can make such great differences., in generations of young people. "You are the ones who will instill the sense of patriotism, of morality, of national conscience." The setting for Western Carolina's historic overseas commencement was the national Caenwood Educational Development and Demonstration Centre at the Jamaican Ministry of Education, opened by the government for the occasion. Some 500 people attended the exercise and reception. Sixty Jamaican educators, most of them women, received bachelor of science in education degrees. One, Una May Lambert, became the first person ever to receive the WCU master's degree in overseas ceremonies. She earned it in human resources development, an area of special significance in Jamaica today. It was an evening of firsts. Coulter was the first WCU Chancellor to come overseas to deliver a commencement address and award degrees to citizens of another land. It was the first foreign commencement ever held on the grounds of the Jamaican Ministry of Education. If major American educational associations are right, it was the first time any American university has held an overseas commencement. Coulter, Dr. Yvonne Phillips, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Dr. Burton Fox, WCU director of international programs in the Caribbean and Latin America, conducted the commencement. The commencement was not held in Jamaica, they said, for the sake of setting a record. "We held the commencement here because this is where most of the courses have been taught in recent years and this is where our students were," Phillips said. The university recognized "the considerable personal sacrifice and work" that the students invested in their degrees, Coulter said, in bringing the commencement to Kingston. Three of the students-Doreth Chambers of Dunbar, Pauline Myers of Knockpatrickand Jacynth North over of Kingston-were graduated "with highest honors," setting another record as the first overseas graduates to earn diplomas summa cum laude. Twenty who were graduated magna cum laude and 13 who earned degrees cum laude also were firsts for WCU and the University of North Carolina system. Marjorie Olive Daley was one of the first to step forward to receive her diploma. "She started her program 10 years ago," one of her professors, Dan Saddler, said. "So it was a long time between her first course and her last, but she like so many others was very persistent in her studies and her work toward the degree." Joy Mullings had to leave her 3-year-old baby when it came time for a semester of study in the States. And when any of the Jamaican students, spending an obligatory semester in North Carolina, became homesick, another of Saturday's graduates, Sister Mary Augustine Plummer, majoring Airband Contest A Success The Winners! Kool-Aid, 1986's Airband champs heat up the crowd with their rendition of "Workin' For A Livin". Photo by Ken Lauber in guidance and counseling, earned a reputation for offering a shoulder to cry on. There were no sad tears here Saturday. From the moment the Rev. Canon Herman Spence, Rector of the St. Andrew Parish Church in Kingston, gave an opening prayer, it was an evening of joy. The Jamaican and United States national anthems, performed in recordings by the WCU symphonic band, rang through the hall. "Your nation, as all other nations of the earth, will develope, flourish and endure only as long asyoUr education system develops, flourishes and endures," Coulter said. "There is a quickening of education going on throughout the world," he said. "The nations that have had strong educational systems for generations are placing new emphasis upon the improvement of their schools. Nations whose school systems are less sophisticated are turning their full attention to the upgrading of their programs." Western's Jamaican graduates, he said, have dedicated their careers "to the children of Jamaica." The commencement address praise for the students, most of whom already teach in Jamaican schools, was echoed by Cecil Turner, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education. A platform guest for the graduation, he is the nation's second ranking education official. Turner represented Dr. Mavis G. Gilmour, Minister of Education, who was in Washington meeting with American education officials. For two graduates, the evening had a special meaning. Graduation was practially the only time Beverly and Rhyne Whittingham of Falmouth, a married couple, succeeded in matching schedules for a WCU activity. They finally got it together Saturday when she earned her degree magna cum laude and he his cum laude. It would be difficult, Coulter said, "to identify a way in which you could be of greater service to your country and to the world of nations than to serve as a teacher. You are. the ones who have such a significant and lasting impact upon the lives of the children and youth who will shape your national destiny." Western Carolina has been offering degree programs in Jamaica for more than 10 years, the only institution in the UNC system with an overseas degree authorization. Saturday's commencement was far from being an end to the WCU-Jamaican program. Earlier in the day, graduates from throughout the island met to plan the first WCU Jamaican Alumni Chapter, and a new series of courses begins this week with Cullowhee professors Larry Ziegler starting a business course- in Kingston; Otto Spilker, an education course in Montego Bay; and Lillian Zachary, an education course in Mandeville. Coulter told the graduates, "Western has given you the best we have...we are proud of what you have done. We anticipate that you will distinguish yourselves and your university." As the twilight ceremony deepened into dark, a Jamaican commencement tradition was observed. The graduates and a throng of husbands, wives, children and parents stood and sang the words of the old hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God": "Nowthankwe all our God with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has.done, in whom His world rejoices..." Waste repository placement condemned SGA conference with Jim Martin by Stan Murrow GUEST WRITER SGA President Todd Davis, along with UNC Asheville's SGA President Neal Rhodes presented a resolution to Governor Jim Martin in a press conference at UNCA February 27 condemning the placement of a nuclear waste repository in Western North Carolina. Governor Martin thanked Davis and Rhodes for their responsible attitude and said he was pleased that the resolution avoided the extreme of apathy.and the extreme of panic and hysteria. The governor emphasized several times that although this is a serious matter, the issue should not be misconstrued as a debate against the military or energy uses of nuclear technology. "People will try to turn the issue around," he warned. The resolution was a product of the University of North Carolina Association of Student Government meeting held February 14-15 at East Carolina University. Davis is treasurer of the association and Rhodes is vice-president. The resolution is titled "A Resolution Concerning the Proposed Siting of a Crystalline Nuclear Waste Repository in North Carolina." It referenced the two proposed repository sites (the Buncombe / Haywood / Madison area and the Fanklin / Johnson / Wake area) and outlined three reasons that neither site should be considered. The first and most important is the ancient rock formations of the areas. Research shows that shifting has occured over the years, causing folds, fractures, and fissures. Dynamite would be used to construct the repository, which would greatly increase the likelyhood of more fractures. The chance for groundwater and air to be contaminated in this case would be tremendous. The resolution also stated that a repository would have severe effects on tourism and economic development in the proposed areas and could affect the growth and quality of learning at University of North Carolina schools and other colleges that are located in the proposed area. Governor Martin stressed that the issue addressed here is the suitability of the rock formations in the proposed sites and he "is convinced that they are not suitable." He said that deep water tables in the two sites make water leaks highly possible with or without fractures. According to Governor Martin, sites in Texas, Nevada, and Washington have already been approved for nuclear waste repositories and the Eastern part of the United States is being considered by -the Department of Energy to be fair to the Western states. He stated that "the DOE has no authority to build a nuclear waste repository in the Eastern United States." Sites here will not be considered if the rock formations are not suitable. He also announced a referendum that could be held during the primary elections this spring. Five students representing Western Carolina's SGA accompanied Davis to the press conference: Cliff Clark, SGA Vice-President; Lloyd Hinote, Vice- Presidential Assistant; Stan Marrow, UNCASG delegate; Tommy White, Student Senator; and Myra Neill, Senate Secretary. In a briefing on the way to UNCA, Davis said he was pleased that Western Carolina had a chance to affect something happening on the state level. He explained that the resolution's roots date back to early fall 1985, when Davis, Rhodes, and UNCASG President Todd Campbell met to discuss major issues for the Western part to the state. The placement of a nuclear waste repository in Western North Carolina was identified as one of these. After gathering information on the subject of nuclear waste and the dangers a repository would hold, Davis assigned Cliff Clark the duty of formulating a resolution condemining the placement of a nuclear waste site in our mountains. The resolution passed the Student Senate, but Davis vetoed it because he said "it didn't have enough meat." Clark revised the motion and he and Davis took it to the UNCASG Conference. There they discovered that Rhodes had a similar resolution and the two were combined into the document presented to Governor Martin. The M.E.L.T. in action story on page 7 nights Open Night Photo by Ken Lauber

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: 1986-03-06
  • Date digitized: 2019-03-21
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 14 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_1986-03-06_Vol51_No07
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library