Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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..Hv Gerald R. its '- In the first issue of Abraxas, the interview with President Ruthenberg made mention of Admis- sions a how it can be used as an effective tool to re-vamp the attitudes at Southwestern and enlarge upon present opportunities. All this talk about Admission made us here at Abraxas curi- ous about what is actually happening in the north end of Christy Hall. It really doesn't take much to find out. All you have to do is walk into the office and say, Hey, what's happening'W' and they'll tell you e ttthey being Donna Bean, Rick Johnson, Don Hapward, and the Director of Admissions, Gerald Raines. A conversation with them seems to follow the theme of 'Make A Wishf which is, for those of you unfamiliar with Sunday morning TV: Make a wish, Dream a dream . . . Anything you want to try Just reach out and fly high. In a 45-minute interview with Raines, the year 2000 was mentioned four times HCultural Center for Human Valuest' was the term used to describe a possible future Southwestern. A few years ago, speaking in terms of two years would have been considered long range. In the short while I was in the office, one pro- spective student was lost on campus tat South- western? That's what I thought; another one was given the t'royal treatment, three secretar- ies were kept busy, and people kept wandering in and out wanting to know what was making it in Admissions. In the meantime Raines was using phrases such as ttexciting things about Southwestern, ttthis is a revolution on our oampusf' and Huniimited possibilities, none of which has been heard on campus since Indians held a powwow where Christy is now. This man, who is at the center of Admissions, is quick to point out that the so-called t'ohanges are nothing but extensions of past programs and have been on administrative drawing boards for some time; theytve just acquired a new empha- SIS. This new emphasis could be seen in President Ruthenbergts interview and is carried on in the following interview with Gerald Raines. This inter- view gave me the impression of a man who thor- oughly enjoyed his work and wasn't afraid to let me know it. Most striking is his faith in the pro- grams now being carried out in admissions. This man really believes in Southwestern and if he typifies the rest of the administration, maybe their goals can be reached.

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operate in the lives we live and the decisions we make. There seem to be only a limited num- ber of possibilities concerning the relationship of our values to our lifestyle. One possibility is that one simply lives. without reference to any values at all. However, to live, act, and make decisions implies that there are some things we desire or find valuable. Even to simply go on living implies that we find some value in life itself. The only per- son who exhibits no values is the one who performs no actions tsuch as the mental patient in a catatonic trancey A second possibility that we can imagine is that of one's values and lifestyle being con- sistent. I'm not sure if there is anyone who lives up to their ideals perfectly. However, there have been some in history who have affirmed as a creed, cer- tain values and ideals which many people reject verbally but live in actual practice. Recent examples would be found in the Playboy philosophy of una- bashed hedonism or in Ayn Rand's collection of essays, The Virtue of Selfishness. .i, Bill Lawlwad - Resource Director New Generations For New Days n- The majority of us will find ourselves firmly nestled in a third category I will now set out. This category includes all those whose values and ideals are not perfectly consistent with their practice or their lites- tyle. The lesson learned by the market researchers was that there is commonly a wide gap between the real values which direct our behavior and those that we mistakenly think we cherish, As Socrates loved to put it, it is bad enough to be afflicted with a disease. How- ever, to be diseased and not know it is doubly bad. There- fore, a large dose of painful, reflective self-awareness is necessary to cure the latter condition, whether it be a dis- ease in the body or in our character. I will leave it up to you to document the discrepancy between ideals and actuality in our personal and corporate lives. I will also assume that most will recognize the wisdom of consistency between theory and practice, creed and con- duct, or values and actions. But once we are aware of the disparity, the question remains as to how we resolve it. One solution would be to lower our ideals and bring them down to the level of our actual practice. Thus the status quo would be the measure of our ideals and not the other way around. Though such a solution is easy, it will not be satisfactory. it seems then, that we are led to the paradox of defending the values of a certain amount of hypocrisy. The moral man is not the one who sets his goals and ideals within easy reach. Rather, he is the one who is always aware of the haunting hiatus between his best efforts and the highest aspirations of his soul. William Hazlitt has said, 'Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.

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. TOWARD ; THE YEAR 2000 An interview By Theo Otte Abraxas: Have the changes in Admissions, one being your new position as director, brought any new viewpoints or philosophies into the depart- ment? Haines: Admissions in higher education today is a very Challenging and exciting field. There are many colleges, all seeking the good student, making it a competitive field. The real excitement in our own admissions program is the new options that we are able to offer young people today, with the curriculum that is being envi- sioned and being put into effect on our campus. We're not able to talk to young people about protecting themselves 300 yards ahead. What we're trying to envision at our school is helping an individual be what he wants to be a when he wants to be it, In other words, we would like to be able to help the student in such a way that when he is through with Southwestern he can find the career vocation that he really wants, he has the tools to be effective in this chosen career, and he will have an opportunity to prac- tice in that field, Abraxas: With changes in the emphasis of the curriculum, what do you find to be the big selling points of Southwestern? Raines: We're interested in people and we're interested to the effect that these people can find themselves in an environment that isnot geared to ltl've got to get to the very topi' but to til can be myself and i can express myself without the pressure that seems to be enclosing me from society itself? Abraxas: Do you really find this as a conscious attitude among young people? Raines: i find it coming into our program from our desire to be concerned about life planning and career goals rather than just the broad phi- losophy that has been so cumbersome to the lib- eral arts program. Each student had to come in and then he was set in a particular mold rather than being allowed to develop in a line of his own choosing. He had to meet this requirement, that requirement e when it really didnt seem to affect or add to his ultimate objective. We feel that a student should be able to come and, it he has definite plans down the line, that we can ini- tiate those plans immediately. We can get him started in his line, at his pace, and in the direc- tion he wants; right now, not as a sophomore or junior. In other words, it that individual wants to get a good broad background that isn't neces- sarily professional, he can come to us, We can offer him the background of a liberal arts pro- gram and yet give him experiences in a vocation