• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1986-11-06_Vol52_No12_03

Perspectives The Western Carolinian 3 Thursday, November 6, 1986 Editor's Notebook Andrew Dawkins Editor-in-Chief Success Key: Solid General Education The following is the 2nd in a series of articles expounding the wisdom of persuing a liberal arts education. This week's article was written by William Raspberry and is reprinted from The Washington Post. by William Raspberry WASHINGTON — High-school counselors need to get their hands on the little pamphlet published a few days ago by the University of Virginia, its 22 pages contain more useful advice, guidance and perspective than all the high-school baccalaureate addresses I've heard in 35 years — including those I've made. The booklet, Life after Liberal Arts, is basedona survey of 2,000 alumni of U. Va. 's college of arts and sciences. And, assuming Virginia graduates are reasonable typical, it should lay to rest the myth that a liberal-arts education "doesn't prepare you for anything." Well, 91 percent of the survey respondents, representing an array ofprofessions, notonly believe that liberal arts prepared them for fulfilling careers but would recommend liberal-arts majors to students considering those same careers. At a time when too many parents and counselors are looking at college as a sort of trade school, pressing students into such "hot" majors as engineering and computer science, these undergraduate generalists offer a different view of what college should do. A 1971 biology major who later earned a master's of business administration is now a bank vice president, said the undergraduate years "provide me with an overall understanding of people, politics and society, which are most important to ihe understanding of marketing." A $60,000-a-year executive, a 1973 psychology major, said "liberal arts helped me with the ability to think and write." Observed a program-grants specialist with the National Endowment for the Arts, "My liberal-arts education did not so much affect my career as it affected and guided my personal growth. " A preponderance of the respondents, all of whom graduated between 1971 and 1981, are working in careers that have no obvious connection with their undergraduate majors or even their first full-time iobs. The English majors, for example, are in fields as varied as television sales forecasting, network editorial production and systems analysis. One is an assistant district attorney. A fifth of the survey participants are in law, 9 percent in medicine, another 9 percent in financial services, and 6 percent each in government and electonics or computer technology. But more important than the revelation that undergraduate majors have essentially no bearing on ultimate careers is the advice these successful men and women offer those who would follow them: That they (and their parents) should stop thinking of college as an assembly line that automatically deposits them, after four years, into lucrative professions. Most experienced uncertainty, confusion and discouragement immediately after graduation, and only 16 percent were happy with their first jobs. College, they overwhelmingly believe, should provide a solid general education. Far more important to career success, they spy, is experiential learning — extracurricular activities, internships and summer iobs — writing and thinking skills, and the students' own personal initiative. And yet the trend, at Virginia and elsewhere, is toward locking into career tracks as early as the sophomore year. "It seems that college students have a sense that their future might be more happy if they were getting an undergraduate professional degree as opposed to an undergraduate liberal-arts degree," said Susan Tyler Hitchcock, an assistant professor of humanities who, with Richard S. Benner of U. Va. 's Office of Career Planning and Placement, co-authored the booklet. "They'll seem more ready- made for a job, whereas they'll have to sell themselves more ith liberal arts." But the unsurprising fact is tht most students cannot know at age 19 or 20 what they will want to be doing at age 39 or 40. Consider the dizzying pace of new technology, they cannnot even guess what the possibilities might be. Instead of a too-early commitment to a specific career, the survey consensus recommends this "winning combination": a liberal-arts foundation, complemented with career-related experience and personal initiative. It is, to this liberal-arts graduate and father of a college-bound daughter, splendid advice. 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. United Campus Ministries It Was God's Will By SHERRY MATTSON EPISCOPAL CAMPUS MINISTER "It was God's will." How many times have you heard that statement after something terrible has happened? How often have you said it yourself when faced with something that is hard to explain? What other words of comfort are there for someone who has survived a loved one's death or some other sort of painful loss? These are questions I have thought about a good deal lately. I've thought about them because I have had to live through a most painful loss in my own life. Three years ago I began the process of adopting a baby. I chose an international adoption because the needs of children in the developing countries are so very great. I chose India because there are so many babies abandoned at birth there. These infants are abandoned because their families are too poor to raise another child. My hope had been to provide a better life, in fact the hope of life itself, for at least one such child. After a long wait, a baby girl was referred to me for adoption. In August the legal work was begun which would enable her to come "home." Five weeks later I was informed that my baby had died in a pneumonia epidemic that spread through the nursery in Calcutta. I was so numb that I really do not remember the events of the next few days. Many people expressed sympathy and tried to contort me. As time went by, the statements made in comfort began to stick in my memory. Many were things like "God has other plans for you." or "God didn't want you to have that baby." Variations on "It was God's will." But the more I thought about it, the more I was certain that God's will had very little to do with it. The God of love who is the source of life does not give life to a tiny person only to take it away a few short months later. God does not kill babies. The fact is that my baby died of pneumonia that very likely could have been treated given enough sophisticated medical care. Very few babies in this country die of pneumonia. Why? Because we have the money to buy hospitals, equipment, medicines, and to train medical personnel. Is it God's will that we in this country have superior medical treatment while people in India (and many other countries) do not? I can almost hear some of you saying "Yes. It is God's will." However, I do not believe God is manipulating the lives of human beings and arranging for some to be bom in a wealthy country and others to be born in poverty. I believe God has given us on this earth all the resources we need to enable every person to live to the fullness of their potential. And I believe living to thatfullnessis God's will for each and every one of us. But God has also given us the freedom to choose our own values and to live out our days according to them. We, as a society in the Western Woria, have chosen to value things-mateial wealth- more than we value the lives of people created in God's image. Why else would there be such extremes of poverty and wealth in the world? We have the resources to eliminate poverty and feed everyone. But we in the Western World consume an inordinate percentage of those resources. We have the knowledge to prevent many, many deaths. But we in the Western World prefer to use our knowledge to further our own comfort or sense of security. We have the knowledge and the resources to make this world a very different place, but we have chosen to satisfy ourselves and ignore the people we do not see. This choice is our will. God's will has been demonstrated to us in the life of Jesus Christ, who always had compassion torthe poor and disenfranchised. Jesus always fed the hungry and healed the sick. He taught his followers to do the same. "In so far as you did this (or neglected to do this) to one of the least of my brother or sisters, you did (or neglected to do) it to me." Matthew 25:40(46). God's will tor us is to love one another and care for one another as we care for ourselves. How can we then say it is God's will when our own choices have caused pain and death? Isn't it time to stop blaming God for terrible things that happen and instead begin to look at our lives and see how we are falling short of the Gospel life to which we have been called? As has been said "Christianity has not failed. It has never been tried." General State of Arousal Barbara Rosenthal Assignment: Somehow acquire a number two pencil, Papermate pen, lipstick, B Marko, or any other type of writing Implement. (Freshman and sixth-year seniors might wish to avoid sharp objects and are encouraged to use something harmless- such as a crayon.) Now you are ready to fill out the following questionaire. Please take this seriously- This is serious business. The purpose of this survey is to assess the.diversity of viewpoints and the general state of arousal of Carolinian readers. Simply by participating, and then, by some sordid means, getting this back to us, you will make a statement. Please answer all questions in whatever way seems most appropriate. 1. Did you vote in Tuesday's election? 2. If you did not vote, were you aware that there was an election? 3. What color hair does Ronald Reagan really have? 4. Who in your opinion is the best looking North Carolina politician? 5. Which candidate had the most effective television ads? (Choose one from each pair.) Sanford Broyhill Clarke Hendon Johnson Goldwater 6. Are you a virgin? 7. Ate you lying? 8. Please rate the following musical performers on a scale of 1 to 10,1 being intolerable and 10 being God-like. Lionel Ritchie Donny Osmond Kate Smith Jean-Pierre Rampal The Circle Jerks Ertha Kitt 9. Which of the above would you like to see perform at the Regional Activities Center? 10. If Ronald Reagan were to perform at the Regional Activities Center, what would you prefer to see him do? a. give a speech on an important issue b. wear women's clothing and sing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" c. recreate his famous role in "Bedtime for Bonzo" d. present a large federal check to your favorite university department 11. If Nancy Reagan were given a drug urinalysis today, would the test show a. high levels of Metamucile b. trace amounts of L.S.D. c. a good bit of valium d. there could never be such a test because Nancy does not piss 12. Even the most staunch proponents of S.D.I, admit that one or two nuclear missies are more than likely to pass through the system, and land somewhere in the U.S. If this is the case, which American city would you prefer to see annihilated? a. Washington, D.C. b. Sytva, N.C. c. Canton, N.C. d. Cleveland, OH. '13. When S.D.I, does save the majority of us from (nuclear annihilation, and we win Nuclear War 1, what would be the most appropriate way to celebrate? a. small family gatherings b. a ceremony in the R.A.C., hosted by Louise Mandrell c. a stately procession of tall ships in New York harbor d. a mass lynching of all those sissy, commies who said it would never work 14. Should evangelists be allowed to run for political office? a. Yes, in fact only evangelists should be allowed to run b. Yes, but only with a notarized statement of support from God c. Yes, but they may not campaign on Sunday a. No. 15. Do you think most Americans are too eager to give up their civil liberties? 16. Which literary work do you think most violates individual religious freedom? a. The Wizard of Oz b. The Bible c. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory d. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance After you have completed this survey, remove it from the paper and either mail it to P.O. Box 66 Cullowhee, NC 28723, or give it to a Carolinian staff member. It can also be brought to Ihe Old Student Union. Thank you for your kind indulgence. Barbara Rosenthal is the International Affairs Editor for The Western Carolinian. The Student Voice... How do you feel about the recent rash of bomb threats on campus? Mike Doerner photo Doug Uoyd Chapel Hill CIS "I fee) that whoever Is doing It It very immature. It is ridiculous to pull such pranks." Rosemary Hepworth Fran kiln History "I deplore the recent bomb threats. It seems juvenile • like high school. It also Inconveniences a lot of innocent students and faculty." Crystal Head Mocksville Early Childhood Education "I feel that It Is juvenile. Whoever It doing tils should still be in high school. It takes class time away from the people who really care about learning." Paul Turner Cullowhee R/TV "It really scares me because I know that David Letterman is behind It in some way.. But I do have a new blueprint for Stillwell at the radio station that Is beautiful." Sparta Med. Tech. "I think this person is a Looney and feeding us a bunch of B.S."

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: 1986-11-06
  • Date digitized: 2019-03-29
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 10 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_1986-11-06_Vol52_No12
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library