Newspaper Page Text
Doctor becomes West Georgia history grad student
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'lf you fail fhis test you
musf take English 200'
BY BARRY EASTERWOOD
We were all there. The
frightened freshmen, the
worried repeaters and those
who never seemed to get around
to it before. And we arrived on
time. It was to begin at 7:00, but
that deadline came and went.
The room and hallway were
lined with nervously chattering
people awaiting the start of the
dreaded Regent’s Test.
“I’ve already flunked it three
times.”
‘‘l’ve already flunked an
accounting test today.”
“We had a tennis match this
weekend and all I could think of
was the Regent’s Test!”
As the minutes crawled bits
and pieces of worried dialog
pierced the air. None had any
special direction but all shared
the same troubled tone, “I hope
I make it through this thing!”
Five minutes late a woman
with an air of authority
positions herself at the
registration table and the loose
assortment of victims stam
peded to gain a place in line.
From the haste shown you’d
think they were actually eager
to do this terrible thing.
Fingers crimped and juggled
the blue admission tickets
which the lady at the table
demanded to see. Checking off
my name on a long list she
hands me a filing card and
directs me onward and upward.
We next must pass the careful
scrutiny of the ID checker. She
made sure everything was in
order, admission ticket, filing
card and most importantly, the
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ID. To guard against trickery
she matched the ID photo with
the bearer’s face. Guaranteeing
me that it was indeed my face
she allowed me entry.
“I’m glad you could tell
because I can’t,” I said, looking
at my horribly blurred picture.
“Well I can,” she assured me.
As I entered the room an
eager young woman directed
me to a seat.
“Skip a seat between you and
him,” she instructs.
Once seated I felt somewhat
better. Those already seated
were noticeably quieter than
they were outside. The con
versations were low, muted and
sparse. Hands were now oc
cupied with pencils and pens
with so much activity it looked
like a tryout for conductors. The
usherette continued seating the
growing crowd.
“You, you sit here, you sit
here, you sit here and you sit
there. NO, NO!!! You HAVE to
skip a seat,” she cried.
“But those two seats are
missing,” retorted the victim.
“Well, then you sit there, you
sit there, you sit there and you
sit here,” was her brilliant
solution.
The time continued to drag
along. That uneasiness began to
flare up again. There was much
squirming and muttering now.
“This section has one person
too many,” interrupted the
usherette. “Somebody is over
here that shouldn’t be.”
She went into a huddle with
those in charge and they make a
lightning quick decision, look at
everyone’s card.
BY DEBRA NEWELL
Biology and chemistry are
not enough for one former army
doctor, so he has begun work on
a graduate degree in history at
West Georgia.
Randy Christenson,
originally from Montana,
graduated from medicine
school in Portland. He also
attended Oregon. He feels that
his concentration in the area of
medicine was at the expense of
his learning other liberal arts,
and he plans to catch up on all
he missed earlier.
“I am more than pleased,”
said Christenson of the program
he is now involved with which
includes auditing some un
dergraduate courses
Although his formal studies
were restricted to one or two
core curriculum history
courses, his personal ex
periences give him an extra
edge.
He has studied in Europe,
worked in army hospitals in
“Where’s 1? 2? 3? 4? 5?” And
on and on and on until, “68?”
“Here,” two voices chime in
at the same time.
“It looks like there are two
68’s,” was the verdict from the
usherette. “I guess we’ll have to
give you another number.”
With that problem solved we
moved on to bigger and better
things. A silver haired,
bespectacled gentleman who
reeked of being a prof took the
stage and solemnly, ex
cruciatingly deliberate,” gave
us our test packages and in
structions. He also offers
pencils to all those without the
proper type, which was number
two of course.
“I’m sorry but there’s been a
mistake. We passed out some
number three pencils and you
may only use number two
pencils,” he announced meekly.
Finally all was as it should be.
A deadly quiet blanketed the
room. The grey haired man
strode to the microphone.
“If you fail this test you must
take English 200 and there’s no
way you’re gonna get out of it,
“he reassures us, making
English 200 sound like a deadly
curse. He pauses for dramatic
effect and adds, “Also, anyone
who accumulates 105 credit
hours and has not passed the
Regent’s Test will only be
allowed to take remedial
courses until they do pass. You
have one hour to complete the
essay section, good luck.”
And so begins the fate of a
victim.
HALT!!
Korea, and plans on working in
a jungle hospital in Africa this
summer.
“I think I am getting more
from studying, at this point in
my life, than I would have had I
studied these things when I was
first in school. I can apply what
I have seen to what I am being
taught.”
His travels to other countries
have taught him many things,
among them that, “Americans
are egocentric. We think our
country has everything to offer
and we do not like other
places.”
He speaks highly of the
Oriental culture as being far
reaching and offering a great
deal.
“I also feel kind of cheated by
the American attitude toward
education. Everyone wants
marketable skills only,” says
Christenson, “But I think it is
also important to learn about
the world and your place in it.”
As an army doctor, he saw
young men who could not deal
with army life, uprooted from
their homes. He treated many
anxiety related cases, drug
overdoses, and field work in
juries.
Because of the many
psychologically rooted
problems, he said, doctors were
prone to pass out pills without
trying to get to the cause of the
symptoms.
Asa result, the soldiers
became dependent on heavy
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drugs such as valium and
librium.
“I once had a guy leap across
a desk and go after my neck
when I told him I would not
renew his valium prescription,”
said Christenson.
In Korea, he came across
malaria and other clinical
diseases.
“Because the civilians were
so far from any urban medical
center, we treated them too,”
he said, “We also went to the
local orphanage to treat the
children there.”
Despite working in conditions
many doctors would detest,
Christenson’s only complaint
about his years as an army
doctor is, “I did not like taking
orders.”
He finds he prefers treating •
adolescents to other kinds of
medicine. He compares his
work on the army base to that of
a doctor on a college campus.
“You are dealing with a
particular age group with
similar problems. The
majority of cases do not involve
severe health problems, but
rather stress related problems
brought on by changes they are
undergoing emotionally. We
must help them tackle their
problems which are making
them sick,” he said.
Unlike Marcus Welby or Joe
Gannon, who become per
sonally involved with patients,
Christenson hopes to avoid such
long term patient relationships.
3