VoL 47 Issue 13 Westark

Community College

Ft. Smithy Arkansas

72913 June 10,1993

Student orientation is

set for fall semester

See page ... 2

An editorial look at guns in

the public school system

See page ... 3

Instructors received

recognition and awards

See page...4

The Student Newspaper of Westark Community College

10th anniversary honored

President delivers address

resident Joel Stubblefield, while honoring his 10th anniversary at the College, presents degrees to graduates.

by Jonathan Gipson Although some students believed

it would never happen and others didn't think it would arrive fast enough, commencement exercises were held on May 7 at the Fort Smith Civic Center.

Friends and families packed the Civic Center to see 265 graduates re-ceive their degrees.

Westark had 626 graduates in all, six of whom were honors graduates. According to Henry Rinne, cospon-sor of the Westark Honors Organiza-tion, three honors students partici-pated in the commencement exercises.

"We [Westark] onlyhad 251 of the 626 graduates apply for graduation. Those 251 participated in the com-mencement exercises," Bob Cullins, director of admissions and records, said.

The Arkansas State-University Center had 14 graduates participate.

"We [ASU] had 14 graduates in all, three from the fall semester and 11 from the spring semester," Gwen Freeman, secretary for ASU-UC, said.

Guest speaker was President Joel Stubblefield who was celebrating his 10th anniversary as president of the College. In his speech, he dealt with outstanding students and their aca-demic achievements.

During the exercises, Fr. Jack Har-ris, administrator. Trinity Jr. High

School, gave the invocation and the benediction. Music was provided by Don Bailey and the Concert Band.

Westark graduates were presented their degrees by Dr. Terry Barnes, vice president for instruction; Larry Clark, chair of Board of Trustees; and Presi-

dent Joel Stubblefield. ASU-UC graduates were pre-

sented their degrees by Dr. Larry Williams, dean of off-campus pro-grams and continuing education, and Dr. Lonnie Talbert, dean of the Col-lege of Business with ASU.

Paulette Kowal and Belinda Crick congratulate each other with a hug after graduation.

A J u n e 10, 1993

Registration for summer II classes begins June 14, and

registration for summer III classes begins July 19. Fall reg-istration ends Aug. 23. Copies of the summer and fall sched-ules are available at the Infor-mation Booth. Registration hours are 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-day through Thursday and 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Of-fices will closed May 31 and July 5. For more information call 788-7400.

During the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Convention in April, the Zeta Epsilon Chapter received three international awards. Saun-dra Williams was awarded as one of the 25 "Bierkoe Most Dist inguished Members," Sharon Winn was awarded as one of the 15 "Giles Distin-guished Advisors," and the Zeta Epsilon Chapter was awarded "Dist inguished Chapter."

The Westark Bookstore's summer hours are 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and

closed on Saturday. During the first three days of summer sessions I, II, and III, it will be open until 7:30 p.m. The win-ter hours are 7:30a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday and 8 a.m. -12 p.m. on Saturday.

^ The Fort Smith Little Theatre wi l l present "Dracula... The Musical?" on June 9-12. The doors open at 7:30 p.m. for the evening per-formances with curtain time at 8:15 p.m. Admission is by sea-son ticket or $10 single admis-sion. Reservations can be made by calling 783-2966. The theatre is located at 401 North 6th Street in the Fort Smith Historic District.

Judy Marschewski of Greenwood, an elementary education major, has been awarded the President's En-tering Junior Scholarship to Arkansas Tech University. She was selected by President Joel R. Stubblefield.

NEWS

Orientation set for fall by Jonathan Gipson Fall student orientation will

take on a whole new look with the addition of new activities and a different format.

Orientation is tentatively set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19 at the Westark Fieldhouse. Con-trary to the past, only one ses-sion will be held.

"Ideally, I'd like to have all of the students show up at one time," Stacey Jones, director of student activities, said.

Activities will begin with a cookout tentatively scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. During the cookout, a club fair will be set up until 7 p.m.

Approximately 21 clubs will be represented in the fair. Dur-ing this time, students will be able to obtain information and ask questions about the various clubs. Yearbook pictures and student ID cards will also be made during the club fair.

Orientation will begin at 7

p.m. Jerome Green will present "Interactive Orientation," a pro-gram which allows students to interact with other students and have fun while still being in-formed about college services.

"It (the program) is not a speech. There will be times that he will speak, but there will be a lot of activity and moving around," Jones said.

Green has been in the field of education for approximately 20 years. He tours college and uni-versity campuses, presenting ori-entation programs.

"I think this format will be effective. My goal is to create a sense of belonging. If students get to know each other right off the bat, then they will feel closer on campus," Jones said.

"If they feel closer on cam-pus, I feel they are more likely to get involved on campus whether it be in student activities, clubs, or just going to see or participate in events."

Rare bird finds new home by Martha Burbaugh

Westark has a new addition to the cedar trees in front of the Math-Science/University Center Building. A house finch rare to this area was found nesting there.

Before the dedication of the Math-Science/ University Center Building, cedar trees were planted, and in these trees the new birds were discovered by Westark's science instructors.

Although Fayetteville had a record of this bird nesting in 1991, this is the first sighting in the Fort Smith area.

"They had 49 birds last year when the count was done," Tho-mas Buchanan, biology instruc-tor, said.

Officials at the University of Arkansas confirmed, however, that the nestings at Westark are considered to be the first for the Fort Smith area.

The science instructors be-came interested in the bird and started trying to identify it and check its history. Since then, the

Along with the orientation format, the student handbook and calendar will also change. Student calendars will be a poster- type calendar and will be separate from the handbook.

"We'll no longer have the old calendar-handbook format. We're going to have a poster-type calendar to put on the wall. A lot of students didn't like the old format. They would rather have it on the wall so they can see it across the room," Jones said.

According to Jones, the hand-book will be an issue of the Lion Pride which will come out near the middle or end of July.

If students are unable to at-tend the orientation session, club information, ID cards, and year-book pictures will also be avail-able during the first week of classes.

"I hope students will take ad-vantage of orientation and come learn and participate," Jones added.

Arkansas Audubon Society has visited the campus and identi-fied the bird as a house finch.

This rare bird is native to the west, but had been introduced to the east and then spread west-ward from there.

"We think that this bird will be the next English sparrow," Buchanan said, speaking about how abundant the finches will become to this area.

The bird is about the size and color of a sparrow, except that the male finch has a red-colored head.

"Since Fort Smith is a bird sanctuary, the finding of the birds is a noteworthy event for those interested in the bird popu-lation here," Buchanan said.

Along with the finch, spar-rows have taken up residence as well. At first there seemed to be some bickering among the two species, but instructors are now reporting that the two species seem to be getting along quite well in their new home.

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J u n e 10. 1993

Gun problem disturbing issue

O P I N I O N S

by Jonathan Gipson For decades, parents and edu-

cators have pondered the ques-tion of why Johnny couldn't read. Yet the high-tech days of the •90s have presented a more disturbing question, "Why is Johnny pack-ing a gun to school?"

The nation has looked at this situation as a "big" city problem. Guns in the public school systems existed only in the crowded, ur-ban metropolitan areas like New York City or Chicago. Naive, small town America had nothing to fear.

However, for small-town America the age of innocence is over. Big city crime and delin-quencies have invaded the Natu-ral State. First, the Little Rock schools were besieged by pistol-packing delinquents. Like the flu, once Little Rock was affected. Fort Smith and northwest Arkansas were soon hit by the gun problem.

The public school system in America has taken enough hits as it is with falling test scores and higher dropout rates. It doesn't need the problem of firearms to weaken it further. Teachers are paid to teach and not to waste valuable time collecting guns and other instruments of terror.

In such a hostile environment, very little learning can be accom-

Let your opinion be heard!

Send Letters to the Editor to Ballman/SpeerlOSA.

All letters must be signed and contain your social

security number.

Names can be withheld upon request.

plished. Not only do students have to worry about studying and mak-ing good grades, but they also have to worry about dodging bullets and protecting themselves. Study-ing the "three Rs" will have to be replaced by courses in self-defense, guerilla warfare, and gang tactics. The traditional notebooks, back-packs, and pencils will be replaced by bulletproof vests, riot helmets, and shields. Back-to-school shop-ping will take on a whole new look.

As with other civil issues, sev-eral rights groups start babbling about the forever-debated issue of gun control. Gun control isn't the answer. School suspension is use-less because the student can easily enroll elsewhere. One answer lies in education. Through education, students can see other ways to vent their angers and frustrations in a safe manner.

However, the main answer lies at home. Parental control and supervision will deter most of the gun problem in the schools. If parents would keep their guns locked up and teach their chil-dren proper handling of firearms, America's schools will again be learning institutions and not war zones. Guns don't belong in the schools, and unless action is taken, there will be fewer scholars and more illiterate delinquents.

How should students who bring guns to school be

punished?

They should be suspended from school,

ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation, and

perform community service."

— Heather Armstrong, art major

They should be prosecuted. There*s no

need to bring guns to school."

—Tracy Young, business major

They should be sent to prison."

—Bryan Cheeks, foreign language

major

Westark Community College

Lion Pride Westaric Commimity College

P.O. Box 3649 Fort Smith, Arkansas 72913

Lion Pride is published every other week fall and spring semesters excluding holidays and breaks and once in summer I. LP is produced by Student Publications, a student service bud-geted from student activity fees.

LP staff members are eligible for academic credit and scholarships through the joumalism program of the Division of Humanities.

Editorial policy is established with the ap-proval of the adviser of Student Publications and the Student Publications Advisory Coun-dl.

Letters to the editor are welcomed and en-couraged. LP reserves the right to edit letters to conform with AP style and grammar, but meaiungs will not be altered. All letters must be signed and include social security number for verification; however, names will be with-held from publication and only initials used upon request. No libelous letters will be con-sidered for publication.

Views expressed are not necessarily those of the board, administration, faculty, staff, or stu-dents of Westark.

Manuscripts, photographs, and artwork are welcomed. LP reserves the right to accept or

reject materials for publication. LP will neither knovmigly discriminate nor

print fraud ulentor false information in its adver-tising.

Subscriptions are $5 per year. Offices are in room 105A of the Ballman-Speer

Building. Telephone number is 788-7261. LP is printed by Graphics Place.

Editor Martha Burhaugh

Photographer Danny Sykes

Assistant Editor Jonathan Gipson Adviser

Lori Norin Darkroom Matuger Jennifer Partain

Assistant Darkroom Manager TirmTisbe

J u n e 10. 1993 FEATURES

Instructors received awards by Martha Burbaugh Three faculty members re-

ceived awards recognizing their outstanding service to the Col-lege during an awards ceremony held on April 30.

Mary Jane Keel was awarded the Whirlpool Master Teacher award for 1993. As a recipient of the award, she will attend the Hawaii Great Teachers seminar in July. The seminar will cover new ideas and instructional problems in community colleges.

According to Keel, who has taught at Westark since 1984, this was a great surprise, and she honestly never thought she would get the award because of the many f ine teachers at Westark.

"I am very honored to have received this award, and it was a very special honor to have been chosen. I am very much looking forward to the trip to Hawaii," Keel said.

Keel serves as team leader for Nursing III and has represented the Health Occupations Division on the Curriculum Committee

Mary Jane Keel for more than five years. She will serve as chair the Curriculum Committee for the 1993-94 aca-demic year.

She served as acting division chair of Nursing during 1991-92 and currently serves on four ten-ure review committees.

She also chairs the Associate Degree Nursing Management Subcommittee and has assisted in developing competencies and curriculum for health occupation courses.

Calline Ellis, who had sub-mitted Keel's name to the compe-tition, also had to submit a list of

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things she (Keel) had been in-volved with in the community.

Among some of the things Keel was involved in was the Amlyothrophic Lateral Sclero-sis (ALS) support group in Fort Smith which was established by Keel and her husband.

She also had to submit some student evaluations to the com-mittee, along with copies of su-pervisor evaluations which are done every semester. Also, three committee members came and observed in some of her classes.

Keel has a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Duquesne University in Pitts-burgh, Pa., and a master of sci-ence degree in nursing from the University of Oklahoma.

She has previously taught for Red River Area Vo-Tech in Duncan, Okla., and was a staff development instructor for Duncan Regional Hospital.

Keel was also mentor of two University of Central Arkansas graduate students for their teach-ing experience.

The Whirlpool Corporation

has provided special funding since 1980 to support recogni-tion of a "master teacher" at Westark.

Previous recipients of the Whirlpool Master Teacher Award include Linda Gibbons, Martha Efurd, Mary Copeland, John Preas, Calline Ellis, Betty Price, Paul Leggett, Jerry Center, Anita Hammack, Bill Lacewell, Ron Floyd, David Meeks, and Sharon Winn.

Two part-time instructors, Charles Armour and Jane R. Foltz, were awarded the Luella M. Krehbiel Teaching Excellence Award.

Armour, who teaches in the Division of Social and Behav-ioral Sciences, has been teaching here since the fall of 1987.

Foltz, who teaches in the divi-sion of developmental educa-tion, has been teaching here since the fall of 1990.

Armour and Foltz were se-lected by the Faculty Develop-ment Committee of Westark. Each was awarded a $1,000 cash award.