Point News, 1986 November 13

              2-The Point News/November 13, 1986V
iews Across Campus
contributed by Dennis James
One week ago, five student
Leaders including myself had the
priviledge as serving as delegates
from St. Mary's College in the 1986
East Coast Regional Conference of the
National Association of Campus Acti­vities
held in Lancaster
Pennsylvania, November 2-5.
N.A.C.A. initially known as Block
Booking is a 24 year old organiza­tion.
The purpose of the organiza-
'tion and conference is to bring stu­dent
leaders together from different
colleges and walks of life while at
the s a m e 1 time enabling them to
program campus activities at a
economical price. Also, the purpose
of St. Mary's College sending repre­sentatives
was to screen films, lec­tures,
comedians, as well as to speak
to agents on a one on one basis co n ­cerning
possible programming. The
three major components of the confe­rence
were showcases which included
every kind of entertainment one could
possibly think of, from comedians to
internationally acclaimed pop h a r ­pists.
Secondly, exhibit halls in
which agents had the opportunity to
display their performances on video
cassette recorders or perhaps to
astonish people through the use of
hypnosis and E.S.P.
Finally, the most important part
of the conference was the educational
session covered over 66 areas that
led towards successful programming.
Such areas ranged from legal issues
in the areas of film and video, being
an effective leader, to
multiculturalism on a predominantly
white campus. I personally believe
that the most effective part of the
conference was the eduational
session. One can not effectiviely
program any function wiithout having
some kind of knowledge of what he/she
is doing. Thus, the educational
session prepared delegates to program
performances that would be to the
enjoyment of a diverse student body
and at the same time educational.
Having not so long ago departed
from the four day conference, I was
delighted in all the proaramminq
knowledge I had acquired in such a
short time. But to my discontent,
some of the programming knowledge
brought up a lot of "Racial Tension."
It was not unusual for one to walk
into a showcase and hear persons
routinely assaulting Jewish, Black,
Hispanic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
and other minority groups with racist
jok e s .
St. Mary's College has had its share
of controversial performances that
have brought about unwarranted
attitudes and behaviors.
Many of the delegates attending
the conference found derogatory jokes
against minority ethnic groups to be
"ludicrous," however, one could still
hear laughter. But as a student
representative of St. Mary's College
and as a Black American, with morals
and a virtuous conscience, I found
that many of the performers would be
highly offensive to the student body.
Intraconflict of ethnic groups is
minimal at St. Mary's College
compared with other schools in New
York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. I
had the opportunity to talk to various
student leaders in educational
sessions at N.A.C.A. concerning
racial tension on their campus. To
my surprise a great deal of the
iracial tension was brought up on
their campus after they permitted
imbeciles to perform on their campus.
St. Mary's College has had its share
of controversial performances by
professionals and students that have
brought about unwarranted attitudes
and behaviors.
As a precaution, I believe the
c o l l e g e s 'original intent for sending
students to N.A.C.A was not just for
Block Booking, but also to screen acts
and showcases that would not be a c c e ­ptable
or tolerable at schools with a
clear humane conscience, and morals
that are held in high esteem. There­fore,
it would be a very unwise
decision to have any negotiations
with practicing racists.
The purpose of this letter is to
form a coalition of student senators,
presidents of organizations, faculty,
staff, and the general student body
to simply stop playing the "Unracist
Role" and sincerely make efforts to
routinely confront racism. We as a
coalition of moral leaders can alle­viate
the bitter tension of racism.
If we do not routinely confront
racists as they perform and interact
within our college community, we aret
perpetuating the negative stereotypes
of minority ethnic races and
c u l t u r e s .
If we permit the overt racism
that was displayed at N.A.C.A. into
our schools, we are in a sense moving
towards a segregated rather than an
integraded institution. Therefore, I
strongly urge the senators of the SGA
to become more involved in the
programming of the activities of
various interest groups present b e ­fore
the programs board. What this
campus doesn't need is a grop of com­placent
senators. With student
apathy as high as it is, someone must
stand against outside forces- such as
performers that can be regulated.
So, in my appeal for a better m u l t i ­cultural
institution over the next
several years, I humbly ask for your
help in dealing with the racial a t m o ­sphere
at St. Mary's College. Inte­raction,
programs, and attitudes are
changing rapidly for the good at St.
Mary's College. Perhaps part of this
is do to the institution of the Task
Force on Ethnic and Racial Diversity
that has been reconstituted by Presi­dent
Lewis. I strongly urge any SMC
student to become involved on issues
that are currently confronting the
college.
Dr.
GILKEY, from cover
expert testimony for over
six hours and the plain­tiffs
won their case: the
court ruled the law uncon­stitutional.
Gilkey noted
that a similar case from
Louisiana will be heard in
the United States Supreme
Court in the near future.
After giving the facts
of the case, Gilkey beqan
some philosophical reflec­tions
that were intriguing.
Statements like, "science
would be detrimental w ith­out
the human matrix,"
"any established religion
is a particular religion,"
and "God cannot be finite
and be God" that raise and
attempt to answer questions
familiar to any
phi l o sopher.
Gilkey
After a brief question
and answer period, a recep­tion
in the reconstructed
Statehouse was held.
Gilkey was the eighth
speaker in the annual
Father Andrew White lecture
series which brings d istin­guished
speakers to St.
Mary's College campus.
Other Father Andrew White
lecturers include:
Theodore Lowi, a renowned
political scientist, Paul
Nitze, arms control nego­tiator
for the Reaqan
administration, and Charles
Curran, the controversial
theoloqian from Catholic
University. This year's
lecture was funded by the
St. Mary's Colleqe Lecture
and Fine Arts Committee.
HANDICAP, from page 1
along the walls
redesigned stalls.
Other buildings on
campus are also being
brought within the
necessary standards. Kent
Hall is almost done, with
the bathrooms being the
only detail not completed.
Baltimore Hall will be
receiving a ramp and is now
$160
3 days of skiing
January 5-9
in the midst of having its
bathrooms rebuilt. The
finishing touches are due
for the the ramp to upper
Charles and a cut has been
made from the reserved
parking spaces to the
sidewalk. By the beginning
of fall semester next year,
St. Mary's will be fully
accessible to all studenhs-
CONTACT:
Wes Amos,
Doug Wantling, or
John Webster
Handicap Access
and
MONT ORFORD, CANADA
SKI TRIP ***************************