March 20, 1997

SGA candidates debate issues
Darin Glass
Staff Writer

The candidates for SGA president and vice president met Tuesday evening in a presidential debate. They fielded questions from students and a panel consisting of representatives from the Appalachian and WASU.

The candidates were Cliff Fitte and Michelle Lawrence, Mike Hagerty and Jewel Irish, and Fernando Little and Jake Parker.

The panelists were Renee Cagle, Ryan Price, Beth Bliss and Kelly Reynolds.

The questions ranged from safety concerns, student voice, experience and leadership. The candidates tried to answer the questions in the hour and half session.

"We are really excited about our campaign this year and our agenda of restoring the student voice," said Little of their main goal for the students.

Responding to a question of how will they work for the students, Lawrence replied, "We want to take the student government to the students."

Lawrence talked about having senators going to club and committee meetings to be educated on what is happening on campus. They were concerned about educating the students because they feel that the student body is not informed enough about issues on campus.

"My philosophy on student government is to set the example. Words like initiative and followership are words that are associated with leaders that we all know," said Hagerty on the question of defining his personal philosophy on leadership.

Safety was a big concern to all the candidates who emphasized more security officers and increased awareness about sexual assault and what to do if a person finds themselves in one of those situations.

"We would like to appoint a person in charge of safety on the cabinet, which would give the students someone to turn to. So often students do not know who to turn to or what to do," said Irish of improving safety.

Operation Outreach was also discussed in length by all the candidates. Outreach, originally started by last year's president Darby Weaver, was supposed to bring the students closer to the government by interacting with the officers more. Little and Parker want to expand on the idea, with Internet access for students to write in questions and responses on what is going on. They are also in support of having a monthly call-in show on WASU so students can phone in questions as well.

"Diversity is not about gender, race or sexual orientation. It is about all of us working together toward one goal," said Lawerence of how diversity is important to all the candidates.

"We want to give our senators more diverse training when they come into the position at the beginning of the year and as they go through the Outreach program," said Irish.

In the area of commemorating veterans, Mike Hagerty said he wanted to see a plaque in honor of the veterans. He suggested it might go at the bottom of a flag pole in either the stadium or the new convocation center.

"There are more than 400 veterans among us today sitting in our classes. It is the least that we can do for the veterans who served for us all around the world," said Hagerty of why the plaque is important.

The most important issue was restoring the students' voice and to keep the students more informed about issues on campus.

All of the candidates spoke on their individual platforms and stressed for the students to go out and vote.

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Retiring dean reflects on award-winning career
ASU News Bureau

Joyce Lawrence started cheerleading in college and she hasn't stopped yet. Instead of cheering for athletes, however, Lawrence lends her support to women and minorities interested in a graduate education.

Lawrence, dean of Appalachian State University's Cratis D. Williams Graduate School for the past 16 years, is a long-time advocate of women's rights. That's why it might surprise some to learn that she was a cheerleader at the University of Florida and a finalist in the school's Miss University pageant.

But those experiences led her to a career as a top university administrator and to recognition as a prominent graduate educator.

Lawrence developed her leadership skills while at the University of Florida. She entered the university the second year after women were admitted and was one of only 1,000 women out of 10,000 students. She graduated in three years, earning membership in Mortar Board, a leadership and scholarship honor society.

She married while in school and began teaching elementary school after receiving an education degree. She had four children during those years and became active in community service right away, an interest that has continued throughout her career.

Lawrence completed her doctorate in education in 1972 at Florida and accepted a faculty position in Appalachian's College of Education.

"I was motivated early to try to improve the lot of women at Appalachian," Lawrence said, adding that women on most campuses were discriminated against in the early 1970s. Progress was made when seven female faculty were selected and granted one-quarter "release time" by the university to work on specific projects as a way to develop their administrative skills.

The group organized a conference, "Creative Career Development for Women," in 1974, and Lawrence was one of two of the seven to win a competition sponsored by the American Council on Education to attend a conference for women with leadership potential.

"Every woman who was anybody in terms of national leadership was there," she said. "It was a very important conference for me because I realized that I had been discriminated against for years."

In the mid-1970s, as Appalachian worked toward eliminating discrimination, Lawrence was asked to help revise the Appalachian faculty handbook to eliminate sexist language.

"I sent back hundreds of examples (of sexism) and the administration was astonished," Lawrence said. "We have come a long way, of course, but it worries me that we tend to slip back from time to time in the area of discrimination."

Lawrence's leadership skills were recognized by the College of Education and she became assistant dean in 1975. In 1980, she was named the dean of the graduate school, the first female dean in ASU's history.

Lawrence said that she had no specific goals when she accepted the position, "but I wanted the graduate school to be respected and to deliver a quality degree beyond the baccalaureate level."

Lawrence has helped to establish exchange programs with universities spanning the globe. Her interest in diversity issues has resulted in a substantial number of grants for special programs, including the Patricia Roberts Harris fellowship and Access to Graduate Education for Minorities. Both programs introduced minorities and women to graduate education and many went on to earn graduate degrees.

Lawrence has not only had an impact on the lives of Appalachian students but she has also played an important role in encouraging women educators in the South. The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools recently gave her its Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in the Southern Region, making her the first recipient from a North Carolina school and only the second woman ever to receive the award.

"We need to be sensitive to our image in higher education," Lawrence said. "We need to tell our story to help people realize the importance of developing our best minds."

Lawrence currently works part-time until her full retirement in June.

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Spelling bee not just for the kiddies
Patty Wheeler

It's not too late for student organizations to sign up for the Student Spelling Bee to be held Thursday, April 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. in I.G. Greer Auditorium. Because of Spring Break, the deadline has been extended to Tuesday, April 1 at 5 p.m.

Organizations are invited to sponsor teams of four students at a cost of $50 per team. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the University, and proceeds will go to purchase library materials.

The friends hope to hold the spelling bee for the next five years as a way for students to support the library during the Centennial Campaign.

The goal for this year is to have 20 teams. Teams will be given practice word lists prior to the event. Dr. Bill Griffin, chair of the foreign languages and literatures, is pronouncer.

Admission to the spelling bee is $2 a person. Refreshments will be served after the winner is declared and prizes are awarded to the top three teams.

For more information or to register a team, please call Patty Wheeler at 262-4973 or go by her office on the second floor of the library next to the Mac Lab. Registrations may be taken to the library's administrative office.

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In the News...

Judicial Board Seeks Applicants

The Office of Student Judicial Affairs is now accepting applications for the 1997-98 Student Judicial Board.

Applications can be picked up in the Judicial Affairs Office, located on the second floor of Plemmons Student Union. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.25 and return their application to Judicial Affairs by March 27 at 5 p.m.

For more information, call 262-2704.

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Creative writing contest

Appalachian undergraduate students are invited to enter the John Foster West Creative Writing Contest. Entrants will be judged in one of three categories: poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction.

Poetry entrants must submit two collated copies of six to eight poems, typed and single-spaced with one poem per page. Poems longer than one page should have the extra pages identified with the poem's title.

Fiction and creative non-fiction applicants must submit two collated copies of two to four stories or essays or 20-30 pages of a longer work, typed and double spaced.

Manuscripts should not contain the writer's name as all work will be judged anonymously. Instead, entrants must submit one copy of a title page with his or her full name, address, phone number and titles of all submitted work. No work will be returned.

Deadline for submissions is March 27 in the Department of English, Sanford Hall. The winning writer will receive $400 and will have their work submitted to "The Cold Mountain review," the university's annual literary magazine for possible publication.

For more information, call the English Department at 262-3098.

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"Pieces of She" presented

The Department of Theater and Dance will bring the voice, heart and talent of women to the stage with "Pieces of She: A Celebration of Women in the Arts."

"Pieces of She" is comprised of short scenes, long and short poems and monologues. It was created and produced by women in the Department of Theater and Dance to give women an opportunity to be involved in all aspects of production from writing and performing to set construction.

The show will be presented tonight and Friday at 8 p.m. in I.G. Greer Arena Theater. There is no charge for admission, but donations will be accepted, a portion of which will be donated to OASIS.

For more information, contact the Valborg Theater Box Office at 262-3063.

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Black Sheep presents "Pope Joan"

The Women's Studies Program and the Black Sheep Theatre will present Dennis Bohr's "Pope Joan: The Hiss of the Snake" March 25 and 26 in I.G. Greer Arena Theater.

Set in 855, "Pope Joan" is the story of the first and only woman pope. Through music, visual art, movement and dialogue, Black Sheep tell of Joan's education disguised as a male, her rise to power in the Vatican and her love affair and exposure by a jealous clergy.

Admission is $3 for students and $7 for all others. For more information, contact Ingrid Hayes at 262-7603.

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