February 1995Volume 5 ® Number 5

Thte month's Issue

Challenging Croee-pu zzie on pa e}e 4.

® Creative ComerPresents:

The funny anA heartwarming e&eay by Rich-ard Eltenffeld'e, Drown-ing Worms, orv page 5.

® "Uncloee* the HonorsSociety? Read what terriEllie found about theopen and closed doorpolicy on page?.

® Honors Society andThe Science Fiction Clubteam up to see The leftHand of Darkness, seepage 6 for more details.

A PublicationoftheHarper CollegeHonors Society

Profile of the MonthDr. John Muchmore

r. John Muchmore hasbeen enlighting studentslives at Harper College

for nearly thirty years.Muchmore is an author, actor,professional speaker, andhonored educator in Who'sWho in America. Dr.Muchmore is not just ateacher, he's much more;

he's a legend.Follow the beginnings

of his career from centralIllinois to his current positionHarper in the interview wehad with Dr. Muchmore.Experience the feelings andaspirations that Muchmoresees for the Honors students.

see Muchmore pg 2

Walking into Dr. JohnMuchmore's room, I immedi-ately noticed the warmth of hisoffice. The sun was shiningbrightly through the partiallyclosed blinds, yet the glare wasstill enough that I found myselfsquinting to find a seat next toMuchmore's desk. Stuck backin a corner near the window wasa desk filled with the typicalcluster of papers that one wouldexpect to find on a speechprofessor's desk. Among thecollection of papers and manilafolders on the desk, sat a two-tone tan and brown ceramicmug with the words "Rise andShining" written on it and alarge blue one-pound can ofMaxwell House coffee.

Hi, John, how are youdoing? "Fine," he said as heshuffled the papers around hisdesk, making himself comfort-able before sitting into a blackswivel chair. Settling before mewas a man I have grown toadmire, not only for his charm-ing disposition, but also for the

genuine enthusiasm that heconstantly exhibits towardeveryone he comes in contactwith. Wearing red tortoise-shellglasses, a black jacket, graypants and white shirt with amatching Waterman pen andpencil set in the pocket, hispleasing smile encouraged thestart of this interview.

Tell me about yourself,Dr. Muchmore. "Well okay MissPeden, I'm 112 years old. No,I'm just kidding." I was going tosay he looked good for his age."This is my 37th year teaching. Istarted at Harper when itopened, in 1967.1 grew up incentral Illinois, in a town calledCharleston. That's where East-ern is, in Charleston. I went tothe laboratory school at Easternfrom first grade all the waythrough high school, and contin-ued on at Eastern to receive myBachelor and Master's. So I wason the Eastern campus forseventeen years. I always likedschool. I can still rememberalmost every teacher I ever had.While I was teaching at CrystalLake High School I received aCertificate for Advanced Studyin Rhetoric and Public Addressfrom Northern. During thesummer I received the NationalDefense Education Act Fellow-ship in Linguistics from North-western and was invited to applyfor their Doctorate program. Ireally enjoyed NorthwesternUniversity.

I spent a lot of time witha wonderful man at Northern,Paul Crawford, but he died ayear ago. He was a walking

collection of interesting bits offacts. At Northwestern I also hadthe experience of working withone of the most famous linguists,Thomas Pile."

What kind of studentwere you? "I was an okaystudent. I was a hot and coldstudent. Things I liked, I reallyworked hard on. Things I didn'tcare much for, I did notnecessarily make the commit-ment to, and in retrospect I wishI had."

How did you find yourniche? "I guess I liked to per-form."

Were you in theater? "Ohyes, a lot. I was involved withthe theater group in high school.I started as an elementary educa-tion major in college andswitched to a speech theater

"An effectivecommunicatorhas the likelihoodof being success-ful."

major in my sophomore year."What do you think was your bestperformance? "I could be smugand say that they were all good.But if I had to choose one then itwould have to be The Same TimeNext Year. It was performedabout five years ago with theCountryside Players inHarrington."

Who is your favoriteauthor, besides yourself? "My-

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self is not my favorite author,that's one I can answer withouthesitation. That depends on thesubject. If you say casual orrecreational, I'd have to say Ilike Robert Parker's detectivestories." Can you give me thename of a book that really standsout in your mind? "I don't thinkI could. I do like Eddie LeeHarris' second book, Stranger ina Native Land or something likethat." There's a rumor thatyou've written several books."That's the way rumors spread. Ihave not written several books. Iwas the coauthor on a speechtext."

You're an Honors profes-sor, are you not? "I'm teachingan honors speech course." Whatimportant advice would you giveto someone who is teaching anHonors course for the first time?"I'd probably say don't be afraidto enjoy it. I guess you couldsay, be ready for questions." Doyou think honor students tend toask more questions? "I don'tmean to suggest that thesedifferences are as clear-cut asthat. I think what you do get is ahigher percentage of a givenclass that will be interested inquestioning. Give them a littleroom to roam."

How does your Honorsspeech course differ from yourregular speech course? "Thebiggest difference is the smallernumbers in Honors classes. Thisallows for much more detailedcriticism and response."

Do you believe thatsomeone should be a goodspeaker if they want to succeed

in life? "An effective communi-cator has the likelihood of beingsuccessful. It depends on howone defines things. If you havenothing to communicate, there'sno particular advantage to beinga good communicator. But ifyou have things to communi-cate, that is if you know aboutthings and you believe inthings, then certainly yourability to affect others will beenhanced. History has demon-strated the power of effectivespeakers, or the impact thateffective speakers have had onhistory."

Is it true that you're inthe Who's Who in America?"Well that is true." How longhave you been in the Who'sWho? "I was nominated for theWho's Who in America's Teach-ers in 1994." That's a prettyprestigious honor to get into theWho's Who. How does one getnominated? "One is the productof student nominations."

Why do you think yourstudents are so impressed withyou?

"I don't know. I guess theycan tell that I care about themand what they do."

The life of Dr. John Much moreBorn:• November 9, 1936, in Central Illinois

Personal:• Married to Josephine for almost 35 years.• Father of four; two adult sons and daughters, three of whom are also

educators.• Grandfather of three.

Education:• Attended Eastern's Laboratory School grades 1st through High School,

in Charleston, 111.• Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Eastern University in Charleston 111.• Certificate of Advanced Study in Rhetoric and Public Address at

Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb 111.• National Defense Education Act Fellowship in Linguistics, at

Northwestern University, in Evanston 111.• Received PhD in 1974 from Northwestern University in Evanston 111..

Professional Career:• Educator • 2 years Palatine Grade School

• 2 years Crystal Lake High School• 1 year Lincoln Way High School (in Joliet)• 3 years Cary Grove High School• 28 years Harper College

• Actor • In High School and College Theater• Parts in approximately 20 plays including

The Cradle Song, Rainmaker andThe Same Time Next Year.

' Author • Coauthor on a speech text book-E3y Claudette

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NO DOUBT

ACROSS

1 Power source5 Media member10 North Carolina college14 - la Douce15 Adversary16 Watery: prefix17 Sure things20 Banner21 In miserable style22 Secluded valley23 Egg on24 Did by oneself27 Getting a whiff31 Goodbye, to Juan32 Clutch engagements33 USIA's radio arm34 Lash35 Stadium features36 Men in mufti: abbr.37 Tote38> Tower over39 Succumb to Morpheus40 fullness of heart42 Isolate43 Part of CPA: abbr44 Nerve-cell process

45 Greet43 Attributed52 Sure thing54 Remainder55 Certain catchalls56 Put in chips57 Before wyes56 Paris' waterfront59 Plumbum

DOWN

1 Feels 21 Across2 Weight allowance3 - Sharif4 Succeeded5 Coached6 Mature7 Eternally& Pouch9 Boudoir wear10 Accompany11 Annealing chamber12 City on the Oka13 Inquisitive18 Loses color

19 Certain words23 Neckwear24 Fine fur25 Execration26 Patois27 One that sees28 Climbing plants29 Innovative30 Canadian peninsula32 California athlete35 Small change36 coolly dispassionate38 Judicial opinions39 Shot of booze41 Gibes42 Pardon44 Colorless45 Hurting46 Uppermost point47 - majesty48 Sparkling wine49 Noxious thing50 This, to Juan51 Exploit53 Forest creature

-By Claudette

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'I

Creative CornerPresents:

Drownin' WormsBy

Richard Eilenfield

I often felt sorry for ourneighbors' son Mike, because hewas usually without a male rolemodel to aid him on his journeytoward manhood. So much so infact, that I assumed responsibil-ity for this imposing task. Sinceit was necessary to spend sometime alone with Mike, I thoughta fishing trip might be theperfect opportunity to discuss theimportant things in life, likehunting, fishing, and how a manis expected to behave. Besides, itwould be relaxing, and whoknows, we might even get luckyand catch a fish or two.

We set out on a latesummer morning with our baitand poles for the river bank. Thehalf-hour walk to the river gaveme the opportunity to explain thebasics of proper fishing etiquetteto my young student. My newpupil seemed to be interested ineverything but what I wastalking about, and while I en-joyed my role as "teacher"immensely, I didn't have much

appreciation for the elusivenessof Mike's young mind.

Mike's attitude wasamazing. Most people don'thave much use for snakes, but itis considered to be a bit "girlish"to react too squeamishly. Well, Iwould have to break him of that.But the annoyance I now feltwas masking a deeper premoni-tion, just a slightly uncomfort-able feeling. I thought to myself,"What was I worried about? Imean, I was fourteen, a man.There's nothingI can't handlein thesewoods."

Focusedon finding asuitable placeon the bank tofish, we enteredthe shade of thetrees, feelingwith relief thecool damp airnear the water.After being inthe bright sun,it took some time for our eyes toadjust to the dark trail we nowwalked on. Here the path nar-rowed to a two-foot-wide trackin the dark brown, sticky soil.The smell of decaying vegetationblended with the odor of thedark, brackish water at the bank.The tree branches hung well outover the water, draped in Span-ish moss that reminded me ofcamouflaged tinsel. Remindingmyself that these weren't Christ-mas trees, I warily eyed thelimbs above us for any hazard. I

His flight wasaccompanied byhysterical whim-pering screams

that slowly beganto have meaning."Snnaa... snnaa...

snnaaaake!"

remembered the stories of watermoccasins or "cottonmouths" asfolks around here called them,falling out of trees onto peopleor into their boats.

We watched intently forany sign of fish in the still watersurrounding the dark finger-likeprojections of the cypress knotsthat rose out of the water. Idecided to move down the bankjust a bit more. At that instant anear splitting scream shattered thepeace of the river bank. Building

and echoingamong the treesand off of thewater, the cry ofanguish drove thebirds out of thetrees, and theinsects brieflyceased theirbuzzing.

The shriekthat came frombehind me, whereMike was walk-ing in my foot-steps, made my

heart skip a beat. I felt some-thing slam into my back knock-ing me flat in the mud, and wasvaguely aware of the burningsensation as a fishing polewhipped across my right ear.Mike ran straight up and over meto disappear into the gloomahead. His flight was accompa-nied by hysterical whimperingscreams that slowly began tohave meaning. "Snnaa... snnaa...snnaaaake!"

Snake. I should haveknown. I never should have

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mentioned them. Looking back along the pathand seeing nothing, I turned back toward Mikeand began my pursuit. The going got tougher asthe path grew smaller and the trees lower. Myanger was increasingwith every step takendown the path whenfinally, I found himhuddled and crying at thebase of tree. Angry as Iwas, seeing the state ofshock he was in unsettledme.

Realizing the path ended where we were,and seeing the trees and bushes so thick the suncouldn't shine through, left us only two choices.Either we swim with our poles, or go back theway we came. As I explained the options toMike, his moans of despair increased in intensityas it became clear that I did not intend to get wet.Taking his hand, I led him back along the trailtoward the place he feared so much. The closerwe got, the more he wailed and resisted my pull.Weak with fear, he sat in the mud unwilling to goon.

Now my only option was to carry him.Mike agreed immediately to this solution, andpromptly scaled my back like a cat climbing atree. I carried Mike "piggy back" style, forcinghim to hold the poles with one hand whileclinging to my neck with the other. Moving moreslowly now with the added weight, I could feelthe fear in the small quivering body on my back.As we neared the place where Mike had knockedme down in the muck, I felt his grip tightenaround my neck making it difficult to breath.Then as suddenly as the first, another terrifiedscream ripped through the woods. I was soconcentrated on calming myself and looseninghis death grip on my neck, that it took a fewseconds to realize Mike was pointing at my feet.Stretched out about four feet, with its head nottwo inches from my boot, was the biggest cot-tonmouth I had ever seen. Thick as a motorcycle

tire and dark brown almost black in the shade ofthe trees, with eyes like shiny black bb's, thesnake appeared to be sizing us up. Its dark tongueflicking in and out, sensed us there in its home. Ijumped backward a step and nearly fell. Thepressure on my neck made my pulse pound in myears, and I thought ironically, "Hell, if I don't getbitten, I will soon be strangled." Deciding to runand jump over the spot on the path the snakeguarded, I told Mike to hang on, a useless precau-tion since a crowbar couldn't have pried him offat that point. I backed up and sprinted toward thesnake and timed my leap perfectly only to bebrought suddenly back to earth as the poles Mikeheld caught in a tree branch. We landed exactly infront of the snake.

Time stood still as my feet moved ever soslowly in another attempt to escape the now open,cotton white, fanged mouth of the moccasin. Anew sound assaulted my ears, the screams nowadded to those of my passenger were my own.Y e s s i r, sounded just like

Q£»MBr^ Like I said,fishing is JOi a re^axing Pas"time that j^C^V. provides an

.y^^ -̂v^S opportunity to putall the f j|i||||- j( events of life intot h e i r %^ ^imSF f proper perspec-t i v e . ^*^̂ 1A^ Things likebehav- ing in a manlyfashion, and getting close to nature. After oursuccessful escape, Mike and I agreed on whichversion of the story we would tell. The agreementwith him not to tell about the sounds I made lastedabout as long as the walk home. My brother wasthe first person we met, and we left him in a fit oflaughter and a welter of tears after Mike's all tooaccurate description of the events at the water'sedge.

Mike and I didn't fish together for a longtime, and as I recall we ate chicken for supper thatnight. As for the worms, well it seems they gotlost in the shuffle.

Challenger Paged

"Unclose"The Honors Society

by Terri Ellis

The Honors Society is complainingthat it should be designated an "open" club.Currently, The Honors Society is considered a"closed" club, thus not receiving any moneyfrom Student Activities. This means that themembership is restricted to Honors programmembers. The club has always welcomed non-members to its meetings. However, they arenot allowed to be members.

The Honors Society's Constitutionstates: "Students who qualify for the HonorsProgram may become members of the HonorsSociety." It also states: "A student who be-comes ineligible for the Honors Program dueto academic deficiency may be terminatedfrom membership even though he or shecontinues taking courses at Harper."

Here is your problem. An "open" clubis one that is open to anyone regardless of age,gender, religion, sexual orientation, or GPA.There is no statement in the Honors SocietyConstitution that allows for exceptions. Anyexceptions made are left up to the discretion ofthe coordinator. Have you thought it through?Do you think that all of the great minds in thehistory of the human race have been honorstudents? I don't think so.

The Honors Society is separate fromthe Honors Program. It is a club. An open clubworks out of Student Activities, gets free useof the copy key (within reason) from StudentActivities, gets assistance with publicity (ifwanted) from Student Activities, and is eli-gible to apply for any grants available tosupplement activities, trips, or events.

The amount of money an open clubreceives is not colossal, but it would identifythe Honors Society to students looking for

I want to thank Valerie Weiskirch, themanaging editor of the Harbinger, for showingme this mind-streching puzzle.

There are many ways to connect thenine dots. Your challenge is to connect themusing four joining lines. You may not lift yourwriting utensil. You may not trace a line. Yourlines may intersect other lines.

The purpose of this game is not to pre-occupy you. It is to let you experience havingto think beyond what you are taught.

It is not obvious. You must think "out-side" of the realm of childlike game playing.

Clue: It is not a box. That would leave out themiddle dot.

stimulating, intelligent conversation as beingopen to them.

There are several ways other than thesemester stipend to get money. Information isavailable for the asking in....Guess where?

Student Activities. Think about it!It would be simple to fix the problem of

being open or closed. Just think "outside" of therealm of childlike game playing.

Page? Challenger

Challenger Update

Honors Society Discussion Topics:February 22: Smoking ProhibtionMarch 1: Gay/Lesbian Adoption

March 8: CensorshipMarch 15: Religion

March 22: ScholarshipDiscussions are held every Wednesday

at 3:00 p.m. in L329

The Honors Society &\A The Science Flctidrt Club;Invite you to join ue> \,Q$te^e\-^tt&rid Qf&#rk-nee>e>t an original adaptation from th£ cl#$£i£ sci-ence fiction novel by Uj^ii^tion wi l l be performed #t the U:W^Chicago, at 3.30 p.m. ph Sunday, K^^rch 19. The vanwil l be parked in front of BuWihg 13 &nd vyijf feavaHarper at 2:p.rn. The ci||$£M^H u l l for more Information.

~{3y

The Honors Society and The Student Senate: Are asking for your help to r&\$e money for theMuscular Dystrophy foundation. There are two ways in which you can help toe MSFoundation.first, we wil l be selling large, green shamrocks for a $1 Each shamroc|:"h|||||||p||;fYou can then tape the shamrocks up around school. Second, there will be a bovyi-#~thon the sec-ond week of March. Pick up a spon-sor sheet from Hull's office in L-334and get people sponsor you. If some-one sponsers you for 5 cents per pinand if you knock down 20 pins, thenyou have earned $1 for the MuscularDystrophy foundation.

-By C\audette Peden

President Heather TollersonVice-President: Stefan PoulsonTreasurer: Claudette Peden

Secretary: Norm Held

Editor in Chief: Claudette PedenManaging Editor: Claudette Peden

-Thanks Skip ChidesterLab Assistance

Challenger

Welcome new members to theHonors Society

Guetty Alfred1048KnollwoodDr.#CSchaumburg, IL. 60194(708) 519-9225

Kelly Arabinko551 BurnoDr.Palatine, IL. 60067(708) 934-0871

Susan Barbini530 Meadowview Dr.Wauconda, IL. 60084(708) 824-7112

Sylvia Butler227 N. Wolf Rd.Prospect Heights, IL. 60070(708) 824-7112

Matthew Chesher135 Oaklawn #301Schaumburg IL. 60195(708) 882-3262

Catherine Dalsky5245 Landers Rd.Hoffman Estates, IL. 60192(708) 888-3262

Cheryl Dittmer602 Irmen Dr.Wooddale, IL. 60191(708) 766-8466

Nancy DonMt^W325 E. LibertyBarringtortJL. 60010(708)3814537

Amy Fleischmann37 Lynnbr&b£)r,Prospect tftignt£tiL 60070(708)541-4506

Susan Fujitit187 Sunrise Dr.Wheeling, tL 60090-316!(708)459-9170

Carrie Jaries2004 Franham Cl.SchaumburgJL.60194(708)289-1566

Kara Kirklattd

Christian Movre

Palatine* IL 60067

fOebbie Moore134 King George Ct. #309

. 60067

JillSederberg52 Station Ct.#2DSchaumburg, IL. 60193(708) 635-956$

ElirihunttRd. 6ADM Plaint^ 11 : 60018

Susan Rademacher

Wheeling M 60090

Ryan Lars&n

Hanover-Park, IL, 60103(708)372-9664

MitalShah

BarringtoriifL 60QIO(708)381-468$

Sabrina McClo*4607 StrongM.Crystal Lake jlL.Mt*(815)356-9731

Mount Prospect, IL, 60056; (708)439^747

Palatine, IL: 60067

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