• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1986-08-28_Vol52_No05_06

ersoecf/Ves The Western Carolinian Thursday, August 28, 1986 Editor's Notebook Andrew Dawkins Editor-in-Chief Aiming for All- This has got to be the absolute fastest summer of my life! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was preparing for finals week this Spring Semester '86? Where did the few months of promised ease and laziness go? Here I am sitting at my kitchen window in my apartment on the hill watching in disbelief as one by one the parking spaces are filled with returning students. Just a few days ago if was so confusing to park because of the unlimited Choice of space one had. Anyway... A warm welcome to the mountains to you. Ifyou areafreshman, I hope that your stay will prove pleasant and educationally profitable. These mountains have been good to me, they will be good to you too if you just give them half the chance. If you are a returning student, welcome back. I trust you had an enjoyable summer and that you're back rejuvenated and rearing to go. A warm welcome is also extended to members of the school's faculty and staff. We at The Western Carolinian are very excited about the recent rating the newspaper recieved from the National Scholastic Press Association/Associated Collegiate Press for Spring semester '86. The front page article tells the full story. Randy Rosenthal, Editor-in-Chief, 1985-86, must be commended for his efforts. A rating of first class is nothing to sneeze at! As Business Manager for the newspaper this time around, I have no doubt that he will allow us to again be awarded high marks for excellence in advertising. Randy will be the first to point out that NSPA/ACP also offered us some very constructive criticism. They pinpointed areas in last semester's publications that we needed to work on. The aim of this present administration is to produce an Ail-American college newspaper - the highest honor awarded by the NSPA/ACP. By addressing and implementing the | suggestions of the NSPA/ACP and ideas of our own we hope to go beyond their first class rating. The main area of criticism centered around our coverage of local news and views. The NSPA/ACP felt we needed to, as a local paper catering to a specific readership, focus more on local issues as well as make national and international issues as relevant as possible to our local situation. They felt we needed more local views expressed on our Perspectives page. They also felt we needed to pay more attention to our layout and design details, among other things. My staff and I came up with a number of ideas that are implemented in this the orientation issue, and that will be implemented in the first regular issue due out on September 4. The next, and subsequent issues will be approximately sixteen pages in thickness. The newspaper will be divided into the following sections: Local and Campus News; State and National News, international Affairs; Perspectives; People; The Arts and Entertainment, and Sports. Some individual features that deserve previewing include Speak Out! This page carries a note that explains how this feature works. The columnists will have their photos accompanying their articles. We feel this will enhance the appearance of the newspaper. Another new feature will be "The Student Voice." It appears in this issue and is self explanatory. Other features include "Week at a Glance" - a weekly look at what's happening on campus in terms of entertainment and other activities. "On the Air with Power 91" will be a weekly feature that looks at personalities and happenings with our campus radio station. These are just a few of several new features that will appear on our pages this year. The Editorial Board for 1986-87 consists of Barbara Rosenthal - International Affairs Editor; Joan Tucker - People Editor; Erin Millner - News, The Arts and Entertainment Editor, and myself. On their behalf I would like to say to the rest of the newspaper staff, welcome a board! This promises to be our best year yet. We can achieve all we want to achieve, we can make the newspaper something we can all be proud of, a national symbol of cooperation ,and excellence. We can only achieve this, however, if we each do our own little part. Again, welcome back, let us hear from you, and remember, our catch phrase for the year is "ALL-AMERICAN!" Go deh star! The WESTERN CAROLINIAN is published weekly by the Publication Board of Western Carolina University. It is an independent student publication that recieves its funding through student activities fees and advertising. Subscriptions are available at $16.00 per year ($20.00 Canada). The WESTERN CAROLINIAN is printed at the Waynesville Mountaineer in Waynesville, N.C. Ambivalence in Seeking New Relationships Mike Doerner An interesting phenomenon occurs here at Western Carolina University each year. Indeed, as you read this column it is happening. Each August we ponder the prospect of meeting someone "special." ("This could be the year.") This happens to you. This happens to me. We all wish to meet a good-looking, witty, and loving person, but what usually happens is that we meet someone almost like that. So, we continue to spend time with this person, and they with us, because most of us will settle for less, rather than nothing at all. And we wait for someone better to come along next week. Naturally, we are attracted to having a relationship for obvious reasons: companionship, love, and something else that I will leave up to your imagination for now. But the idea of getting involved with a person here at WCU is also rejected by many of us A relationship, we feel, could harm our grades, cost too much money, and eventually end in a broken heart, or two, due to the interruptions of Christmas, Easter, and summer vacations. I am not saying a relationship here will destroy your grades, empty your bank account, or drive you to suicide. However, I do think that there are those of us who are walking (or jogging) around this campus already wishing we had a boyfriend or girlfriend (depending on which gender we are to begin with). But we are too worried about getting hurt, or "getting stuck" with a somewhat less-than- perfect mate. So we are doomed to roam the Earth in a condition of terminal loneliness. Then mere are those or us who are neither lonely nor "stuck" in a bad relationship. We are the people who have a myriad of mates. These kind of shallow relationships are compensation for not having the "perfect" mate. In other words, we are these social butterflies (read "promiscuous") who do not want a deep relationship. We want a lot of superficial ones. It is like owning a dozen mediocre cars because we could not decide on just one good one. (If one breaks down, we still have eleven others to rely on.) So, if one tover decides to go home for the weekend, us butterflies still have several others to choose from. It is a sort of loneliness '"^^Amyth exists about relationships here at WCU. It is said that if we do not find a mate within the first few weeks of Fall semester, all the 'good ones will be taken, and only 600 pound, neurotic axe- murderers are left to pickfrom. This simply is not true! They only weigh 400 pounds. (I'm kidding. Really.) Now if we don't find a mate in the first weeks back here' most of us tell ourselves (and others): "Oh I don't care. I don't want a loving relationship with somebody anyway." Poppycock!! It is basic to the human condition to seek a mate. Friends may say that you are trying too hard. So we qo out to parties and do not try to pick up somebody But by not trying we are trying even harden We cannot escape the libido, it is as much a part of us as our soul. We could get lost in an analytical maze, so just relax, don't worry, and let nature run its course. Mike Doerner is a staff writer and Photographer for The Western Carolinian. The WESTERN CAROLINIAN is looking for a few opinionated students to be regular contributors to its Perspectives page. Ifyou feel you have something to say on any issue that would be of interest to the student body and can do so in a regular and responsible manner, The WESTERN CAROLINIAN would welcome your contribution. You will be exposed to a readership of approximately 10.000 per week. Your photograph, name, and status will accompany your weekly column of approximately 500 words. Send resume plus sample editorial, and small black and white photo (if available) to: Perspectives/ The WESTERN CAROLINIAN/ P.O.Box 66/ Cullowhee, N.C. 28723 Or drop it off at the newspaper offices in- the Old Student Union Building. "Some of My Best Friends are Twenty- One/' Barbara Rosenthal As the end of summer and many new faces descend upon Cullowhee, it may seem to some like an apt time to withdraw fully into the socio- academic hollows and valleys of WCU. Although it is only August, many have already successfully adapted, through cinder block and fraternity house camouflage. And why not? There has never been much more to do here than flood one's central nervous system with beer and, on occasion, study. But perhaps this year's freshmen will not succumb to the same nasty traditions that have been so integral to mainstream Cullowhee culture. When the drinking age is raised on September 1 the social scene here will be permanently transfigured. What will become of the frat party? Will those under 21 turn to more constructive pursuits? Instead of a Friday night spent wading across the floor at the TKE house perhaps students will engage in service activities, such as fund raising for a soccer team or the foreign language department. Other students might take advantage of university sponsored activities. Could you imagine not being able to find a seat at an LMP movie? The Mountain Heritage Center might even have to extend its hours. It is also conceivable that Western students might take the route followed by collegians during the late 1960's. When alcohol was not available to them they explored more creative and sometimes less physically destructive means to change their heads. In the same vein, after a busy week of cramming and test taking, Catamounts could find release in a wide variety of protests and sit-ins. As has been exhibited on other college campuses, even in North Carolina, there is a myriad of issues worth getting arrested for. Whether in protest of apartheid, US contra aid, financial aid cuts, or the cafeterb service, students could pass the time by seizing the Administration building and kidnapping, a few bureaucrats. For better or worse, life here in Cullowhee will never be the same after September 1. Here there are no shopping malls, beaches, rock clubs, movie theaters, or other centralized places for young people to congregate. For years many have been able to rely on the frat party for beer, limited conversation, and social reinforcement. Beginning this fall students will have to be more inventive in their methods of obtaining all three. Barbara Rosenthal is the International Affairs Editor for The Western Carolinian. New Beginnings Erin Millner August 25 was an important day. Not only did my daughter, Amanda, climb on that big yellow bus that wisked her away to her first day of kindergarten, but I began my first fall term at WCU. Amanda had no choice in attending kindergarten, but the decision for me to return to school after ten years was arduous and anxiety inducing. Not only was I giving up the financial security of gainful employment, I was leaving my hometown of 27 years and many dearly loved friends. However, the idea of the personal satisfaction and professional advancement I would gain from a college degree overcame my doubts and the decision was made for a new beginning. My circumstances are not unique. The non- traditional student enrollment is increasing across the county and it is no longer uncommon to see the older student in the college classroom. There is no stereotype for the non-traditional student, the range of their ages is as varied as their reasons for returning to school. However, they do share the common bonds of family and financial responsibility as well as the initial concerns of acceptance and success in their new roles as students. There is a gripping anxiousness accompanying that first step back into a classroom and leaving the security of the familiar for the bright, yet foreboding unknown of the future. But each day the self doubt does lessen and you find you are being accepted and even appreciated for the knowledge and experience gained from being a non-traditional student. I would like to report that both mother and daughter are doing well. I know that Amanda and I are sharing the emotions of anticipation, excitement and fear, and not only does this experience improve the parent child relationship, it provides me with courage. For if a five year old can succeed in this adventure, then so can I. Erin Millner is the News. Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Western Carolinian. Western Carolinian 704) 2Z7-7267 Western Carolina University P.O. Box 66 Cullowhee. North Carolina ZT723 Andrew Dawkins Editor-in-Chief Randy Rosenthal Business Manager Erin Millner-News, The Arts and Entertainment Editor; Joan Tucker-People Editor; Barbara Rosenthal-lnternational Affairs Editor; Billy Graham- Sports Editor; Gray Erlacher-Advertising Coordinator Mike Doerner-Photographer; Jack Tackett-Chief Typesetter Typesetters Kirk Mitchell Randy Craig Writers Andy Hornsby Scott Stalmasek Lena Coggins Mike Doerner Layout Artists Winnifred Hall Sheila Gunter Rosemary Cook Margaret Crites Proof Sharon Smith Distribution Manager Marianne BaHles Special Assistant to Editor Eric Horn The Western Carolinian welcomes your feedback on any issue, especially those arising from articles published in the newspaper. Send letters to: Letters to the Editor/The Western Carolinian/P.O. Box 66/Cullowhee, N C ?R7??. SPEAK OUT! This column is your chance as a student to express yourself about any issue relevant to campus life that concerns you. It was designed to accomodate the once-in-a-while contributor, or someone who has much more to say than would be able to fit in the section for Letters to the Editor. Manuscripts should be kept to about 500 words, and preferably typed. A photograph of contributor will be made by The Western Carolinian to accompany article. Send manuscript, brief biography including name hometown, status, and major along with phone number to: SPEAK OUTI/The Westerr Carolinian/P.O. Box 66/Cullowhee, N.C. 28723 The Student Voice... Mike Doerner photos "Why did you choose to attend WCU?" 'The scenery and the football team and the pretty girls." Raymond Taylor Business/Computer major; Salibury, N.C. Todd Garner Art Education major Matthews, N.C. "WCU is in the Mountains and they offered Art. And I Tike to Ski. "It's away from everything, and I can get my studies done." Cheron Jackson Psychology/Social Work major Winston-Salem, N.C. Ginny Norris Interior Decorating major Thomasvllle, N.C "A friend told me about WCU. I visited and liked the people and the scenery." Karen Long Accounting major Monroe, N.C. "It's deep in the mountains. And my parents wanted me to."

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: 1986-08-28
  • Date digitized: 2019-03-29
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 12 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_1986-08-28_Vol52_No05
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library