In Our Words... 
We are giving everyone a chance to be recognized 

We’re not sure how carefully people read the fine print of our newspaper, but there is something new that will be happening in The Appalachian.  
If you look closely down there under this particular column, you will see a list of our names, and if you are an avid reader, you will notice that we have some new positions on staff One of these new positions is the Profiler Beat. This new beat might be of interest to you on campus who participate in fun activities or have friends who do. 
Each Tuesday and Thursday, we are planning to have an Appalachian profile where we will list questions that we ask the person as well as several pictures of them. 
We will have a pool of questions we will ask you and we’ll choose the answers that we’ll print. 
What are the requirements to be noted in The Appalachian? We’re glad you asked.  

•You must be a present student or professor here at Appalachian State University. 
•You must have had a recent accomplishment that is worthy enough to inform other students. 
•That’s about all, we aren’t hard to please. 

So to end our shameless self-promotion, go ahead and e-mail us at theapp@appstate.edu; Attention:Profiler. 
This campus is filled with interesting people, and we want to know more about them. With 12,000 students enrolled at Appalachian State there is no way we can spotlight all of you, but if you help us out, it gives us more interesting people to choose from. In turn, we can let all people know about the wonderful students and faculty here at ASU. 
We can’t wait to hear from you, and all of your interesting friends. 
 

Point Counterpoint 
Women's Month: "Yea" or "Nay?" 
Finally, we have a chance to learn solely about Women    Mike Boteilho 
Women's History Month should be celebrated all year not once a month    Leslie Hitchcock 
 

Finally, we have a chance to learn solely about Women 
Mike Boteilho 

What do you think of when someone talks about women?  

Do you think about your mom, or some other caretaker that has been influential in your life, or do you think of someone that has written 15 novels, or written famous screenplays? 

If you fall under the first category, like I used to, March will finally be the time to learn about the most influential people on this campus and in the world. 

I used to believe the only important people were people who were in textbooks, or those that other professors or teachers talked about in class.  

Then I realized that most women during history were suppressed, and were not published as often as their male counterparts.  

“Despite what your history book tells you, women have played a very important role in the development of this country.  Frankly, we shouldn’t have to have a Women’s History Month, or Black History Month for that matter. But due to the inequalities of our society, these months are necessary for us to celebrate each other’s successes and accomplishments” said Student Government Association (SGA) presidential hopeful Ryan Bolick.  

March allows those educated voices to speak and educate everyone about women’s issues, ideals and beliefs. 

“Women’s Month lets us take a breath and reclaim some of the diverse women’s voices that were lost,” said Dr. Cecelia Conway of the English department, “and also allows us to appreciate some of women’s lively new creations today.” 

March finally allows us as a community to learn about women’s issues together, just as Black History Month highlights African-Americans, Women’s Month does the same thing.  

Although it is not as widely recognized as Black History Month, that needs to change, and we are the very generation to do that. 

Guys, I know some of you have had the same feelings I had, but is it too hard to learn about something else?  

Once you do, you will find out that whatever the topic is, it is interesting and I promise that you will enjoy anything that the Women’s Center, or any other women’s group on campus presents. 

Women, this is your month to shine.  

Yes, I know that it should be more than one month, but at least during these next 31 days women around the world have a chance to show their individualism, and express their feelings and concerns to the whole world. 

This campus and the Women’s Center do a lot of work this month to inform and educate the campus about women, with events such as the Women’s Film Series, the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association (SEWSA) Conference and the exciting women authors like Silko that the Writing Series brings to campus. 

Events like these focus on issues that are often lightly represented in the media today. 

They do this to educate people like myself on the importance of women in today’s culture.  

It is time to break the mold of the 1950s woman, and realize that the 21st century woman deserves the respect and gratitude of the rest of the world. 

 Be happy that it is March, a month where each and every one of us can learn about the value and knowledge of women’s voices. 

Women's History Month should be celebrated all year not once a month     
Leslie Hitchcock 

Today marks the second day of the hallowed Women’s History Month. 

Yes, that’s right. Women’s History Month. As if we don’t have enough “… Months” already. 

Women’s History Month is yet another time for those who feel lightly represented and under-appreciated to whine and complain about their lot in life. 

From the housewife who’s tired of the kids and having a hot meal on the table every night to the 9-to-5 woman who is sick of hitting the glass ceiling every time she sets foot on the ladder, it’s your time to let your voice be heard. I mean, it’s time for you to complain and make everyone sick of hearing about your so-called worthy cause. 

Women, as a whole, do not need to glorify themselves even if they do feel under-appreciated. Most women do not need a month set aside to praise their accomplishments and accolades. 

Throughout history, women have often been viewed as insignificant aspects and have even been left out entirely. Despite this, setting aside an entire month to celebrate women is disheartening. It is an admission of society that women are frequently unnoticed and unappreciated. 

There are those of us who feel objectified and turned into examples by the creation of this month. It draws attention to us for being different in a negative way, but admitting to a long standing societal notion of the inferiority of women. On the Women’s History Month webpage, it cites this reason as to the creation of Women’s History Month: “Women’s History Month is an ideal time to recognize and commend the contributions that women are making to the American economy.” It is important to celebrate and encourage the women of the past and present, but can this not be done on a daily basis? 

Perhaps this month is necessary because of the exclusion of women in history books even today. Obviously this is the reasoning some would place behind having Women’s History Month. And it is also obvious that people are trying to put an end to this discrimination by having Women’s Studies classes, Women’s Leadership Conferences and a Women’s Center on campuses around the country. It is understood that these programs are not extended to women only, but men also. 

Evidently, our society is letting women down by continuing to downplay the importance of women in history. If this is the case, petition textbook companies and encourage classes dealing with women’s history. 

In 1996, President Clinton proclaimed March as the national Women’s History Month saying “It is impossible to fully appreciate America’s proud history without recognizing the extraordinary contributions that women have made to our country.” But it did not start there. In 1987, National Women’s History Project petitioned Congress to expand Women’s History Week to the entire month of March. In 1982, the Women’s International Center was founded. 

Women, however oppressed we were in the past, have overcome that. I never thought that because I am female I would not get things that men have available to them. So far, I have yet to be discriminated against because I am female. I am confident that my abilities as a person will carry me through all that I try. I, as a woman, do not feel it is necessary to concentrate all of our pride into one month. We should carry it proudly throughout the year. 
 

Letters to the Editor 
ASU should try to attract the best students possible 
Please stop exploiting student workers; pay us on time 
Respect religious beliefs other than your own 
 

ASU should try to attract the best students possible 
This letter is in response to the article in the Feb. 24, 2000 edition of The Appalachian entitled “Student numbers continue to increase; campus changes suggested.”  This article states that the application rate to Appalachian is up 10 percent vs. 10 years ago, and that the average SAT score is up 15 percent over this same period. As an alumnus of Appalachian, I take pride in the fact that Appalachian is attracting better students, and that more students want to come to Appalachian for their college education. Imagine my horror, then, when in the very next sentence ASU’s Director of Admissions Joe Watts states: “there is a risk of becoming too elitist if the application process becomes more selective.” Am I missing something? Shouldn’t ASU strive to attract the best students it possibly can? It is hard for me to imagine the director of admissions of Harvard or UNC, or indeed any college being worried about becoming “too elitist” by attracting too many good students. In fact, in my conversations with colleagues at other institutions, just the opposite is true. They are worried that their students are less capable than those of 10 years ago. It is my fervent hope that Mr. Watts will rethink his worries about ASU becoming too elitist, and realize that we are in an excellent position to better the reputation of ASU. Make no mistake: a student body of intelligent students attracts other intelligent students and better faculty, thus enhancing the reputation of ASU as an excellent university. 

R. Lee Hawkins 
Department of Physics & Astronomy 
B.S.: ASU, Physics/Astronomy concentration, 1988 
M.S.: ASU, Applied Physics/Astronomical Instrumentation, 1990 

Please stop exploiting student workers; pay us on time 
I am a student employee in the Gold Room and I am a full time student. It has been brought to my attention that all student employees must wait until after spring break (or March 15) to receive their paychecks. The student employees on this campus are what keep the facilities running the way thay are supposed to.  Without the minimum wage labor of the students, I doubt that this university could afford to operate many of its facilites. The administration however, overlooks this and has decided to ruin spring break for its underpaid, overworked employees. This is not just food services, this is all student employees; RA’s, student union employees, recreation employees, etc. Student employees are sometimes forced to work on-campus because many off-campus business cannot work around a student’s schedule. The university is exploiting this and I am asking that student employees and students alike take a stand. Please send your complaints to Jane Helm, Vice Chancellor of Business Affairs (phone number 262-2030). 

Alex Templeton 
ASU box 11026 
at34117@appstate.edu 

Respect religious beliefs other than your own 
I am a Wiccan priestess who also happens to be a student at this “wonderful” university and I am sick of the ignorance that I have encountered just the last couple of days. Some do gooder Christian not only put one of those stupid tracts on my car, they decided to take it upon themselves to remove one of my bumper stickers (“darwin”). Not only did this person lack the guts to confront me about my beliefs, they basically “vandalized” my car. I “don’t” go removing theirs even though I disagree with them. 
Wicca is not Satanism, we are a federally recognized religion whose roots go back to prerecorded history with the fertility cults. That is over 20,000 years ago, about 6,000 years older than Jewish or Christian beliefs. We do not practice any form of sacrifice, we do not harm others. We have just as much right to wear our religious symbols, put whatever bumper stickers on our car, etc. as any Christian. I don’t go shoving it down someone’s throat, unlike some Christians. Nothing like having your best friend’s life threatened just for exposing you to the truth of their religion (No kidding). 
Christians don’t sit there and preach to me, I already know your line. When I was younger I was one too. 

Brandy Simpson 
Senior 
ASU Box 22454 
 
 

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