Newspaper Page Text
Letters
Two Points
The Editors:
Three quarters ago I decided
* enier WGC for many and
. ,ried reasons, the main one
'unng the relatively inexpensive
charge for tuition and the low
cost of living around Carrollton.
1 am an independent and every
cent counts. Since entering this
institution there have been two
points that have troubled me.
The initial shock was dealt me
at registration for summer
school. 1974 1 was charged $2
for a parking sticker, which I
thought would expire at the first
of the year. But. at fall quarter
registration I received another
blow to the tune of $6 What an
outrage. 1 wish someone would
show me the invoice that says
these stickers cost anywhere
near that much I tried to calm
myself by telling myself this
money was to be used to relieve
the poor parking situation, but 1
still walk a mile to class when I
am a second behind schedule,
fight for a parking space, or
pray that the rain will slack off
so 1 can get my car out of the
neighboring mudhole.
The once a year charge for
parking doesn’t stir me half as
bad as a certain sls charge
under the mysterious nomen
clature, “Student Activities
Fee.’’ Mysterious because no
one can tell me what this money
is being used for and it certainly
isn’t obvious. Sure. I've seen
some explanation of what a
small percentage of this money
is being used for, but not the
bulk While 5,000 students per
quarter all paying sls per
quarter, don’t you think
$225,000.00 for three quarters is
a bit much to pay for a paper
and a B-rate film a week.
Certainly I am not trying to
falsely accuse anyone, but with
rising education costs my
chances to continue college are
growing dimmer. If money is to
be required for use by certain
areas of the school then why are
they not being used 0 Either
West Georgian
/Spr
ite >KK\ SMITH I.KN JOHNSON
Nev** anager | [ 1 J Business Manager
Offirr Manager llovis
Kealurr lidiior Drvid Willingham
(,op> Chief Nancy Batl-rtM-h-r
I’hotogr iphrr* 'lark Vrljkov. I rrd l^dbrttrr
Vrrctarv - Betsy Baltin in
SjH.rts Editor • • • Boh Eoley
Reporters
Jeff Barbee. Benjamin Bateman. Keating Bin/ortl. (<ee Bradford.
Berks Bradford. Jan lash. Helen Colevins. Kris < raddtH k. Susan
I frisk ell. Belli Foreman. Jim Highsmith. Pally Ifeptinslall. f.eorge
Knapp. Voti Knapp. Ed l.orenz. Pam Manley. Miehael Owen. Chuek
Pittman. Krberra ''antlers. Robert Smith. Olivia Stafford. Mary Staley.
I arol Worlev. Ronnv Nates.
Th WEST GEORGIAN is published weekly except during final exams and vacations a*
Carrollton. Georgia by the students of West Georgia College. Subscriptions are available
at *3 SO a year. Ad rotes are available upon request.
Opinions expressed in signed articles ore those of the authors. Unsigned editoriols ore
those of the majority of the staff members on the editorial board. In neither instance ore
they to be taken as representing those of the student body at large, the foculty. the staff,
or the administration of this college.
K,,\ tuns PtM.nr-B.lt-1366
there is an appreciable surplus
being built up or there is a
fantastic case of embezzlement
going on. Granted I am not fully
aware of all the costs and 1
would like to see an answer to
this from the administration,
but after three quarters and one
halfway fret* band, and another
decent band that required an
admission charge. I’ve had it.
Alan S. Ortiz
Waste
The Editors.
1 am a sophomore at West
Georgia, and lately I’ve been
thinking about how much we
waste and take for granted
when it comes to our natural
resources, which will soon be
depleted unless someone shows
some concern and does
something about it.
A good example is aluminum
We could get by with what we
have if we would reclaim it
from the waste, but instead we
import bauxite, to make more
aluminum. Someone once said,
"The mines of tomorrow are the
garbage dumps of today.’’
That’s really something to think
about.
I’m very concerned about the
things we throw away that could
be reprocessed and used over
and over again. I would like to
see more programs both on
campus and in town that will
make use of these materials.
I think if containers were
provided on campus for paper,
glass, and metal wastes, the
students would support the
program. Surely some of the
businesses in town could put
these things to use. It would be
nice if all the beer cans and
glass bottles that are emptied
by the students could be used
for something
Georgia Anne Kemp
Tickets
The Editors:
I am employed at the Campus
Bookstore in the afternoons.
Recently, my boyfriend picked
me up from work" in my car.
When we got to the car, there
was that old familiar green
ticket attached to the car door.
The ticket was given to me for
non registration. I do not have
my car registered, because I
walk to school There is also a
:tO-minute parking zone in which
customers can park. My car
was parked in this zone for no
more than 10 minutes.
Being thoroughly irritated at
this development, I confronted
the secretary, a metermaid,
and, 1 suppose, one of the
gentlemen who works in a
managerial capacity in the
department of public safety.
They informed me that even
Carrolltonians who wish to use
the Campus Bookstore facilities
must obtain some sort of a
temporary parking permit. I
feel sure that a majority of the
residents of Carrollton know
nothing of this rule.
I feel that the department of
public safety makes the rules
pretty much as they go along or
intentionally withholds crucial
points in their regulations when
given publically. These meter
maids are most certainly ticket
happy and I think something
very definitely needs to be done
in order to find some sort of
sane solution to this “gestapo”
persecution.
Suzanne Barnett
Dog’s Tail
The Editors:
I wish to respond to the letter
printed in last weeks’ paper
from Don Wells, a devotee of the
hallowed “tail wagging the
dog’’ school. There are
numerous fallacies in Dr. Wells’
discourse but I will only address
a couple of them.
My first reaction upon
reading his letter was to wonder
how his graduate program of
political science stands
amongst the graduate
programs here at present. Low
and behold upon investigation I
discovered that there is no
degree-conferring graduate
program in political science.
Apparently, the demand for
such a program has not been
indicated and logically there
hasn’t been one established.
Following this sytem of logic,
there is, indeed, a high demand
for the psychology graduate
program here in our little
“universe of knowledge” and it
would seem that some sort of
expansion would accordingly be
instituted. But here we are
faced with stern restrictive
measures. It might be possible
to detect in Dr Wells’ remarks
a certain frustration (or
perhaps jealousy?...)
And yes, Don Wells, you are
naive, because our other in
stitutions, such as Rice
University (and even Berea
College) have failed to
recognize this demand for a
humanistic psychology
program, consequently the
department here is a well
renowned and distinctive one in
this country. (I myself moved
700 miles to attend school here.)
It is admirable to witness a
faculty striving under the
duress that one finds in
Carrollton, Georgia, to answer
a very relevant need for so
many students.
It is also repugnant to see how
thinly veiled petty politics can
interfere behind the nebulous
guise of “program
equilibrium.” Why does the
psychology department come
out so deficient when figures
are plugged into “the for
mula," when the department of
education, for example, had
been allowed to expand to a
much larger faculty to meet
their heavy demand?
It is not surprising that Wells’
forte is political science. His
reasoning is reminiscent of
national government policy. He
emphasizes the responsibility of
other institutions to take the
initiative, passing the buck
right along. “Somebody” out
there will take care of it... and if
they don’t, you ignore the need,
for it will surely go away. How
appropriate and how sad to see
this professor disseminate this
sort of attitude among students.
It is rather ironic that when a
dog dies, frequently his last
motion is to wag that ever
active tail
Connie Schulze
Dr. Wells
The Editors:
I would like to congratulate
Don Wells for showing us that
schlepism is alive and well and
living in Carrollton, Georgia.
His letter reeks of the John
Martin School of Non-Thought;
it is truly frightening to think
that this man heads the
department of political science.
1 was even more astonished to
discover that there is no
graduate degree granted in
political science, and that Don
Wells seems hardly in a position
lo be speaking on graduate
admissions policy.
Several points of Mr. Wells
necessitate a specific response:
His oft-rderred to “program
equilibrium,” necessary to
provide “universe of
knowledge * On what does he
base his conclusion that growth
in one dep rtment (specifically
a gradual department) must
eliminate I t ogether the other
programs 0 Of what use is
program equilibrium” if no one
desires to ake the courses
offered, particularly on a
graduate level where it is not
necessary take any courses
outside of the department. I
don’t hear any complaints about
the education department
wagging John Martin’s dog. The
education program is large to
meet a large demand; yet their
politics (or lack of them) don’t
offend the sensitivities of the
John Martins and the Don
Wells, so they are permitted to
expand.
He speaks of hawking one’s
wares and destroying one’s
essence Other than a possible
attempt to outdo John Martin’s
“tail wagging the dog ” rhetoric,
I see no relevance at all to this
statement, and certainly mo
accuracy to it. What ’‘wares”
and what “hawking” is Dr.
Wells talking about?
Asa psychology student I
have beer unaware of the
inevitable debilitating effects
in the department” in having to
compete for funds that Dr.
Wells warns us about. In any
event, is one to forego one’s
beliefs on the assumption that
they might have a debilitating
effect**
Ur. Wells cleverly notes the
TNI WEST GEORGIAN EERRUARV M IE7S
possibility of frustration in Dr.
Arons' remarks and goes on to
suggest that the psychology
department ask the question of
what the drive for unlimited
growth has done to them
Dr. Wells said that “a policy
of limited enrollment has a
positive effect on the larger
interest of the discipline.” This
may be so in that it prevents a
glut on the market, with
humanists running all around
the place looking for jobs. But
what has this to do with the
immediate and more pressing
problem of responding to
student needs; and what right
has Don Wells or John Martin to
sit in judgement on the interests
of the discipline as a whole (let
alone at the expense of student
interests)?
LETTERS POLICY
I lie II HSI 1.h.111t1.l IN urltnoirs
Ifllfrs Imm our rrmlrrs on to/ilis oj
uriirriil mol < nni/nis inlrml.
I.fllfrs lo bv /> nnlnl ninsl intliulr
nnnir / nrilfr. In ifrliun insiuni'fs.
nninfs n ill In- mlhhflil 1/ rfifiifni is
niuilf.
>linrt If lift* urf In-si. 11l 11 ill hf stili
jf 1 1 lo siiintlnnl filitnifi for rlnrih nml
s/iiiii- nijiiirrinfills.
I.fllrr s inns In- inltlrrssfil in. lln
h.ililors I In- II rsi l.forumn II llo\
lihhi.'i. I nrnilllon. ho. 11l 11 7.
Secondly, this refusal to
accept responsibility as a
college is inexcusable. The
word is response-ability, Dr.
Wells, the ability to respond, in
this case to the changing needs
of society as represented by the
changing needs of the students.
This unwillingness to take
responsibility on the dubious
assumption that someone else
will do it is the same kind of
rationale that breeds a national
social inactivity conducive to a
lack of compassion for one’s
fellow man, as well as per
mitting the political corruption
that has become our way of life.
Last, and most certainly
least, is the subject of Don
Wells’ naivete. He says that “if
there are good students who
want a humanistic program and
can’t get it here, other in
stitutions will respond to that
need and offer such programs.”
First, the fact is that there are
good students who want such a
program, and it is not being
offered elsewhere, certainly not
at Dr. Wells’ beloved Rice,
Berea, Southeastern Seminary,
or Alabama.
How ironic lliai uuii *eu
should be teaching political
science, and how tragic that he
must pass his laissez-faire style
realism off as educated wit.
Don Wells, like John Martin
and, I fear, far too many other
vegetables of the silent
majority, help retain regional
stereotypes and perpetuate
mediocrity. In so doing, they
will help to sustain the already
existing belief among many of
the better professional and
graduate schools that a college
education from a Southern
institution is an inadmissable
sign of academic ac
complishment. These pseudo
educators may well one day
inherit the earth as represen
tatives of The Meek, but I’m
afraid what they will inherit will
be nothing more than a pile of
debris, the product of apathy
and waiting for someone else to
lake the initiative in making
this a better world to live in.
Nelson Randall
5