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■THE WEST GEORGIAN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24,1984
2
■Opinion
THE
WEST GEORGIAN
West Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia
Editor Managing Editor
Don Stil well Angela Webster
Advisor
Joe Cumming
News Editor Advertising Manager
Ris Cowan David Bryson
Father time strikes 'back'
This is the time of year when, as the song says, the
days dwindle down. It is right that they do so. It’s all in
the natural order of the seasons.
So why are we left with this undefinable out-of-kilter
feeling that something is not quite right, is out of joint in
some way we can’t locate except to say it is like waiting
for the other shoe to drop.
Ah. It is Daylight Savings. It is still with us, lingering
like a parting guest that has lost his timing. Its moment
of greatness has passed. No more does it provide those
long, idle afternoons for American workers to play with
their children, for doctors to get out on the golf course,
and for working women to come home and tend their
hollihocks and their zucchini mounds.
But this week all will be put to rights. The switch back
to Eastern Standard Time will take place in some un
named wee dark hour between the 27th and 28th of Oc
tober.
These things happen by some cosmic conspiracy and
no mortal has even been able to discern the actual mo
ment of the click to know which side of midnight it
comes on.
But, we know it has come because the sun comes up
when it should: at sunrise, when normal people are get
ting up, getting breakfast. By the time people set out to
drive to work or school they won’t have to turn on their
headlights.
So, of the many burdens of this life, this is one that will
be lifted. The other shoe will drop. We can let out our
breath and get ready for things bleak and beautiful
cold winds and warm wool sweaters, the smell of
woodsmoke, runny noses, naked trees clutching a win
try sky, the brown of Thanksgiving, the holy glow of
Christmas.
All may not be right with the world but in some deep
invisible way we will be back in harmony with the
seasons.
And we will have been given one extra hour of sleep.
No way is U.S.'s
election like Norway
After having come all the way
from Norway to see what the
Americans are like, I have finally
found out. They are weird, crazy and
enthusiastic; at least when it comes
to politics.
I was in Macon at the big event last
week and saw it with my own eyes.
The visit of President Reagan got
over 10,000 people, including myself,
to stand in line, waiting under a bur
ning sun for almost five hours.
Reagan’s speech which was no
speech, but a confirmation of victory
in November lasted less than 15
minutes and my Finnish girlfriend
fainted right after the ceremony was
over. We Europeans are just not us
ed to American politics.
“Don’t you want a Reagan T
shirt? Only five bucks, and all of it is
cotton! That’s a good bargain!”
Reagan stickers, Reagan posters,
Reagan hats only the Pepsi Cola
we got free was not into politics
(though someone had to pay for it).
A group of college students who
seemed to run for The Most Zealous
Salesman of The Year, took a break
from their T-shirts and went into a
hot discussion with us Europeans.
Actually they were members of
Young Republicans and not in doubt
about right or wrong.
“We are Christians, so you know,
we are against abortion,” one of the
girls told me. Very simple. I did not
know what to answer, coming form a
country with a Lutheran State
church and free abortion.
“I’ll vote for Reagan, he is great,”
a boy said.
His enthusiasm was amazing. Just
no politicians in Scandinavia are be
ing elected because they are great!
Clever, qualified, nice yes. But
great no. I guess we lost that
dimension after Hitler’s rise and fall
in Europe.
People of all ages seemed to be
there; kids with ice-cream and
Reagan stickers, not understanding
a word of what was going on; young
musicians with American flags at
tached to their instruments; college
The Staff
Sport* Editor Jimmy Espy
Fsaturs* Editor Brian Baksr
Photo Editor Warran Hogg
Buslnasa Managar Marty Sanborn
OHlcaManagar Nikki Ovias
$
Cecilie Moe
students taking a day off; well
dressed businessmen doing the
same; old ladies with chairs, knit
ting and coffee server. All of them
crowded together, sweating, arguing
and searching for something to
drink. As the hours went, and the
temperature got higher, people’s
temperament got more aggressive.
At the point when the president
finally arrived, some were ready for
a fight, but fortunately, the mood
changed into enthusiasm, and the
fighters calmed down.
We all turned up to behave like
weird creatures screaming, boo
ing, waving, jumping and
photographing. Our 6.4-feet tall
Johannes from Germany got the
mission of taking pictures for all of
us. I guess he was the only one in the
crowd who saw President Reagan.
In addition to those in front, of
course.
I admit that all the other
Americans I have met so far, have
behaved a bit more normal than
those in Macon. Probably the
average American was at work that
Monday. Still, this was a part of “the
greatest show on earth.” And I am
glad I was there to see it.
Hometown fit
for a queen
I was intrigued by the headline of a
recent UPI story: “Queen Elizabeth
Goes Shopping in Wyoming.”
Wyoming? Don’t ask me. With all
the popular states in this country, I
don’t understand why the Queen
would want to visit one as obscure as
Wyoming.
According to the article, the Queen
is vacationing as the guest of Lady
Porchester, the wife of the Queen’s
racing manager and sister of a
Wyoming senator. The Queen is
staying at the family’s 4000-acre ran
ch.
Saturday the Queen went shopping
in Sheridan, Wyoming, and 1000 peo
ple lined the roped-off streets to
catch a glimpse of royalty. Not
everyone was impressed, however,
as one man complained about having
to leave the diner where he was en
Guest Edjtqrial
The art of teaching know the
subject, not the technique
When Ronald Reagan, that third
rate actor and grinning cheerleader
for America currently playing the
President, when Mr. Reagan states
publically that we have a crisis in
public education in this country, then
countrymen, we have a serious crisis
indeed. Things are awful in our
public education system, and much
of the reason for this lies in the way
we select and train our prospective
teachers. Our schools of education
need a total overhaul or even better,
a gentle demolition.
Here’s why: What we have abroad
in the land today is ignorance
especially among the young ig
norance of damn near everything.
Except sports (the national deity),
sex (the national obsession), and
consumer-buying (the national scan
dal). (I often wonder if America is
not degenerating consumeringly into
a vast K-Mart in which the denizens
of the land wander mindlessly from
counter to counter, tawdry icons in
hand.)
Here at WGC (and everywhere
else, nearly, from what I read) we
Letter to the editor
Dear Editor and WGC,
I realize that I am but a freshman
here at West Georgia. I grew up near
Athens and was accepted as an
honors student at UGA. I chose to at
tend WGC, however, because I
thought it would be easier to become
a “part” of the school and its
organizations. At least I assumed
that I wouldn’t get “stepped on”
here.
So, I’ve been wrong before.
In high school, I was a member of
our school’s yearbook staff, the
HILLTOPPER staff, for four years.
I worked on everything from class
sections to artwork to clubs to
photography to designing the cover.
I was named business manager my
senior year. The young woman who
received the title of editor was an
honor graduate and is now a
member of the Pandora staff at
UGA. I was nominated for Who’s
Who two years and the USA Nat’l.
Journalism award once. The
HILLTOPPER won superior ratings
each four years from several press
groups including the GSPA and
SIP A. I worked hard in high school to
become a good journalist.
I learned that WGC had not had a
yearbook program for three years. I
spoke with Dr. Jim Hurt and Dr.
Chester Gibson about starting an an
nual program. I worked out an
organization called the VAC which
introduced the experimental idea of
doing a yearbook on videocassette.
There were several advantages, but
I don’t have space to list them all.
I was encouraged by the student
services staff to enter a booth in the
organizational fair on C-night. I
spent SSO on my presentation. My
goal was clear: to begin a yearbook
program. I supported one on
videocassette, but if that onewasnof
West Georgian Policies
Letters
Letters are welcome from readers concerning topics of
general andcampus interest. In order for a letter to be published,
however, it MUST be signed by the writer. Under certain cir
cumstances, names will be withheld by request, but the letters
still must be signed.
Letters should be typed, double-spaced if possible, and must
include a valid mailing address or phone number for verification
purposes.
Letters are not to exceed 300 words and are subject to editing
for length, libel, clarity and/or style.
joying his cup of coffee, since the
store was within the area that had
been roped off so that the Queen
could shop privately in the town’s
stores.
Now why was that poor man
ordered to leave? If the Queen had
half the class that a royal person
should, she would have shaken the
man’s hand and sat down and finish
ed the cup of coffee with him. But I
suppose that his leaving may not
have been her fault. Probably some
overeager Chamber of Commerce
official had escorted the man out for
fear of his making a bad impression
on the Queen.
In a way, I am jealous of Sheridan,
Wyoming. If the Queen absolutely
had to visit a little podunk town, why
couldn’t she have visited one in my
Jim Dahl
Assistant Professor of English
teach young students who know vir
tually nothing about anything but the
American Trinity mentioned above.
Now why is that? It is, of course,
that they learned practically nothing
in the junior highs and high schools
from which they recently were
graduated. And who taught them all
this nothing they know so well? Their
teachers in those schools, of course.
And why did their teachers not teach
them more? Could it be otherwise
than that most of them knew too lit
tle themselves. And if that is true,
how did they become teachers
without learning more? Answer
by taking courses in professional
education rather than subject mat
ter. Here at WGC prospective
teachers must take fifty hours (50!)
of education stuff to become cer
tified by the state department of
education in Atlanta; that’s ten
courses that could have been taken
in the subjects they will one day
teach.
Before I continue what must sound
like a mere diatribe, I wish to state
desired I made it clear that one on
paper would be perfectly fine.
I received approximately twenty
signatures that night, including one
from a Ms. Deborah'Globe who in
troduced herself as vice-president of
the student gov’t and offered her
support in any way possible. I told
her I would be in touch in about a
week.
Some support.
I spent the week working out the
details and preparing a budget for
my project. As I was almost com
pleted, about six days later, a poster
appeared at the exit of the student
BIT DONdJ tW SRWe ”
..—Ml, ij
Angela
Webster u. t
‘Angel on a pin’
homestate, Georgia, such as my
hometown, Buchanan? The people
there would have treated her with
such respect that she would probably
never want to go back to England.
Her first stop, I imagine, would be
C.W.’s Comer Cafe. She would have
to get there at 6 a.m., however, to get
a good seat near the men who con
gregate there every morning and
discuss the town’s business. I’ll bet
that C.W. would let her have her
sausage biscuit on the house.
If her hair was in need of repair,
the Queen could stop off at the Beau-
T-Rama, and she could get the
town’s female version of the gossip.
The Queen would have to visit the
town’s most famous store, Perry’s
Shoes, of course. If Mrs. Perry took a
liking to her, the Queen might even
get a 15 percent discount on her se-
that I speak as one poor soul who en
dured the nonsense of education
courses once upon a time. I even
taught a year in high school. In other
words, I’ve been there l’ve been
there.
The crux of the matter is that
junior high and high school teachers
of mathematics, science, languages,
history do not take enough courses in
their majors to teach their
disciplines effectively in our public
schools. Instead, prospective
teachers must take course after
course of ed psych, methods,
materials, education block
(whatever they might be!) in order
to get a teaching certificate. Now a
mildly bright child of seven knows
that a teacher must know something
before he can communicate it.
Besides, teaching is an art, not a
science. One can’t teach people to
teach. If a person knows and loves
his subject, he will naturally want to
communicate his knowledge and
love of it. Nobody ever needed to tell
an informed enthusiast how to get
center. It read:
SGA YEARBOOK INTEREST
GROUP MEETING
(date, time, place, etc.)
FOR FURTHER INFO, CON
TACT DEBORAH GLOBE.
The first words hurt. The last six
killed me. She had not gotten in
touch with me. She hadn’t given me
a chance to get in touch with her.
I haven’t bothered to work on my
project since. I knew I wouldn’t have
a chance. “SPONSORED BY THE
STUDENT GOV’T ASSOC.” her
poster said. What chance would a
freshman have against the entire
• .
Letters should be addressed to the following- The West
Georgian, Student Center, West Georgia CoHege, Carrollton
Ga. 30118.
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The West Georgian is a full-size newspaper published every
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The West Georgian reserves the right to refuse any paid
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date.
cond pair.
And no excursion to Buchanan
would be complete without a stopoff
at Donna’s Country Store, home of
Playboy magazine, Miller beer, and
the famous Donna’s Pizza. One look
at those huge mounds of olives,
onions, mushrooms, sausage,
cheese, and anchovies, and the
Queen would be a believer. She’d
probably order pizzas flown over
when she returned home.
With all that Buchanan has to of
fer, I am slightly insulted that the
Queen chose Sheridan, Wyoming.
But if she ever decides to return to
the states for a vacation, I’ll put in a
good word for Buchanan. It’s such a
nice little town.
And who’s ever heard of Sheridan
anyway?
*• v
across what he knows and believes
in.
In short, we have ill-prepared
students in college because they
were taught by teachers badly train
ed themselves. In fact, the fifty
hours in education chase off many
would-be int elligent teachers who
change their majors at the prospect
of all that dead weight of educa
tionese. _
To those in education, I offer this
challenge: Let us put our English
and math and science, and history
majors into the junior and senior
highs of the country to compete
against your education-course
burdened certificated “profes
sionals” and see who can teach the
youth of this nation more effectively
and enthusiastically.
As things now stand, this can’t be
done in the benighted old state of
Georgia. The education establish
ment and the legislature will not
allow it because, I believe, in their
hearts they know what would happen
to the house of cards called the pro
fessional education establishment.
SGA?
I simply want to voice my opinion
and explain the injustice that was
done to me. Ms. Globe, I was brought
up in a Christian family where you
work with each other, you don’t steal
their ideas and their momentum
away. That’s my stand.
I think when I saw her the night of
that meeting, her first words to me
summed up her position.
“Are you coming to my meeting
tonight?”
Sandy Wood
WGC Freshman