University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

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L. Greenwald Perhaps the most common practice at URI is the dreaded all nighter which takes its toll on every student without exception. In every dorm and every frat there will be a select group that will take it upon itself to make the long stand until morning, in order to pull out a good grade from an almost sinking ship. I remember that feeling of urgency that drove me to the limit of endurance in the quest for good grades. On more than one occassion I have had a 64 oz. bottle of Coke at my side and a pack of cigarettes in my top pocket as the only compan- ions I could count on to last the night with me. I can ' t count the times different people would offer to spend the night with me to catch up on some work they had let get too far ahead of them. But my own problem, procrastination, would be my own doom, and would leave me with no one to count on but myself. I remember one night in particular when I had an especially difficult test in Music 101. I had not been to class for about four weeks. I went up to Copyright and had copied all the notes that I could lay my hands on. As I waited, I saw several classmates who were in the same predicament. Each of them seemed to have an excellent reason for missing weeks of class that made my meager excuse of a dying parent seem almost inconsequential. It’s a shame that so much bad luck had been levelled against the Music 101 class,” I said to myself. You know, it just didn ' t seem fair that so much tragedy should hit everyone in the same class and the same time. I snatched my notes from the lady behind the counter and dashed by back to my dorm room to stuff four weeks of class notes, totalling two- hundred and twenty five pages, into my brain in one night. Feeling as though the night would be a useless attempt at cramming, I went to a friend’s room where I hoped to find some solace. My heart almost fell through the floor to find a keg was just being tapped. Of all the things to see when I had ten hours of studying before me! It appeared to be some kind of omen that seemed to say, “Enjoy yourself . . . you ' ll be studying all night. I drank a beer or two and thought about all the work I had to do. The thought just seemed to make me have one or two more. But I had to study, so I headed back to the lounge where I left my notes. As I neared the door, my breathing and heartbeat simultaneously ceased as I found the door locked with my notes - and cigarettes - locked inside. The clock struck midnight. There I was with no notes, no time and no hall director. My heart began beating again, my respi- ration returned, and I pulled at my hair until I came up with a great idea: the campus cops. With their usual quickness, the police were on the scene in about thirty minutes. After I retreived my notes, I headed for my quiet room. But as I turned the key and slowly opened the door, something hit the door from the other side with such force, it knocked me into the one across the hall. The people from across the hall burst out and started screaming that I should not get so drunk when there are other people trying to study. I just shook my head in disbelief. After they retired, my room mate came out to tell me to leave because he had an “overnight guest. So there I stood, with no where to go and still a whole lot of work to do . . . I sat in the hall in front of my room for the rest of the night reviewing my notes until 5:30 the next morning. As I looked at my watch, the steady drip of acid in my stomach reminded me that it had been eleven hours since it had felt any solid food. Deciding it was time to go on a food search, I ventured to Butterfield Dining Hall where the first shift were going in to prepare breakfast. There is no more determined creature in the world than a Butterfield breakfast lady. She and her commrades had made up their minds not to give this starving, half- crazed student a morsel of food. As I lay begging at the feet of these food misers, I felt a strong hand grab me and yank me off the ground. I looked up and saw the cop that had let me into the study lounge the night before. Neither he nor I was very pleased to renew our acquaintance so early in the day. The cafeteria finally opened, I inhaled my breakfast, and reviewed my notes for the last time. I ran to Fine Arts to take the test. As I crashed through the classroom doors, I almost fainted when I saw an empty room. I checked the time, place and date. Everything seemed in place. Way over in the far corner stood an old black board scrawled with: Music 101 has been can- celled and the test will be held next week at the same time. Again, I shook my head in disbelief. By “Wild Bill Potter

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For six years, URI President Frank Newman has captained the great ship URI through both calm and stormy waters. From atop the modern struc- ture of the Administration Building, he charts out various courses for the University to take. Day and night Newman carries out the job of presi- dentmg over a sea of 12,000 students. It’s very difficult to enjoy a job like this if you don ' t feel at home with it,” Newman said. And home is a place Newman doesn ' t get to see very often, though he does find time for his wife, Lucille and his son, Mike. He said he can always count on his family for support, and sometimes they can be friendly critics. But, on some occassions they are on the other side,” Newman said, though he prefers to keep those (in- stances) in the family.” This year has been the hardest for Newman, but he ' s satisfied with the way things are currently going. The University is just beginning to get itself together, he said, and added that a lot of frustrations came out during the strike and nego- tiations, and the University is finally pulling itself back together. I think there is a way to solve the University ' s problems, but it’s not a magic solu- tion. Newman said. Things aren’t going to happen without a lot of hard work. 26 People assume if I was only committed, all the problems would disappear, Newman said. How- ever, the problems will be dismissed only if we work together,” he added. If you look beneath the surface, we ' ve made enormous progress. For example, Newman referred to the improved fire alarm system, the renovated landscape of the Memorial Union, and the new Information Center. “There ' s still a lot to be done,” he said, and it ' s frustrating that it happens so slowly.” One source of frustration is fighting for the Uni- versity at the state level. It’s a never-ending task to get the resources for this school, the President admitted. Recently, he said, the Board of Regents was given a tour of the underfurnished labs. While Newman seemed to think the Universi- ty may get some extra much needed-funds from the state, he ' ll still be ready to fight again next year. Part of the reason Newman is fighting, is for the students. Newman said he enjoys talking to them and playing football with them and his son on Sunday afternoons. A large majority of students are fun to be with, he said. While most students recognize the president on sight, Newman chuck- led, occassionally I run into someone who doesn’t know me. According to Newman, the students here are tough. At any other university, he explained, if a course requirement is to parachute into the Ama- zon, the students will ask if the university will have a station there to help them out. Tell a URI student to parachute into the Amazon for this class, and he ' d say, Okay, what time? and I ' ll be there!’” Just as the students are tough, so is the Universi- ty. We should be very tough with ourselves, Newman said. And he said there is a need for a tough judicial system for students. If a student doesn ' t want to follow the rules, he shouldn’t be at the University, Newman said. On the issue of security, Newman admits to having made a mistake. We would have been a lot better if we continued to run the old security plan. Here he was referring to mistakingly let- ting the evening manager program die down to the low numbers. We should have made a deci- sion and moved into them, he said. In an operation this size we make mistakes, the president said. “We have to learn from (them). Considering the future, Newman is presently working for his PhD in History. As to the question of when he ' ll take his leave of URI, Newman replied, I’ll worry about that next year. by Rob Rainville