1984-11-15

              The Recor

STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY

November 15, 1984

Volume 97

Number 13

non-profit organization U.S.   POSTAGE

PAID

Permit No. l

Collegeville. Minn.

Collegeville, MN

Sophomores critical of Honors

By Tom Johnson

The Honors Program of Saint John's University (available also to students of the College of St. Benedict) offers superior students the opportunity to study in an intellectually exciting atmosphere.

— Excerpt from SJU Honors Program pamphlet

Recently, many SJU/CSB students who were involved in Freshman Honors have expressed dissatisfaction with the program.

Designed to be "select, invitational, demanding, and rewarding", the Freshman Honors program attracts about 100 CSB and SJU students every year. Entitled "The Making of

a Nation" this year-long course deals with the American Revolution through reading, writing, and discussion.

Many of the freshmen planning to take part in the program come in excited about the thought of participating in an intellectually demanding class, but once the class begins, many become disappointed. As Sophomore Tony Lewno stated, "I was expecting Honors to be my mosrdifficult class, but it turned out to be my easiest!' Several other sophomores expressed the same sentiments.

The most common complaint seems to be that the program is not challenging. Many students expected an academically challenging class but found it to be "boring" or "easy" instead.

Photo by John Rosengren Volunteers at the Oxfam Hunger Banquet last Monday consume their meals representing the distribution of food throughout the world. The banquet was an effort to create awareness for the Oxfam Fast yesterday. (See Brief on page 2 for details.;

Experts clash in debate

By Dan Forstner

While Walter Lafaeber contended that the United States should de-escalate its military role, Howard Wiarda supported the continuation of present American involvement during Tuesday night's Forum Debate on Central America.

Before a packed crowd in the SJU Great Hall, Wiarda, resident scholar at "the American Enterprise Institute, and Lafaeber, professor of American History at Cornell "University, debated the motion "The United States Should Halt All Military Aid to Central. America!'

Speaking for the negative, Wiarda argued that military assistance, in conjunction with economic aid and diplomatic iniatives, must be continued in order to serve the interests of the United States and people of Central America.

Although not fully advocating the resolution, Lafaeber spoke in support of the Contadora process1 request for the United States to de-escalate its military involvement and serve more as a mediator.

Throughout the debate, the two speakers offered   conflicting   critiques   of   President

Reagan's foreign policy iniatives in the region.

Wiarda maintained that there were "powerful signs- indicating the policy was finally working!' According to Wiarda, human rights in El Salvador are infinitely better than they were six months ago and the Soviets and Cubans are beginning to reassess their Central American "adventurism."

In contrast to Wiarda's remarks, Lafaeber asserted that Reagan's approach "not only goes against the most basic of human values, but has already failed!1 Regarding Reagan's policies as counterproductive, Lafaeber cited figures indicating that Sandanista forces have doubled and El Salvadoran revolutionaries have tripled since 1981.

Labeling k as more of a "political campaign speech" than a serious presentation, Wiarda argued that Lafaeber's remarks misrepresented the Reagan Administration. Wiarda later depicted Reagan's approach as a "multi-prong strategy!* not only involving military intervention, but also social, political, and diplomatic iniatives.

Forum   continued on page 4

Regarding the reading, one student pointed out that he did not even read four of the books on the reading list and still received an "A" in the class. In response, Dean Robert Spaeth, who himself has taught in the Honors Program, claims that "profs can't be FBI agents" and says "a student must have something diabolical in mind if he doesn't read!'

Besides the reading, many students failed to find the writing and discussed sections of the course to be challenging.

One student said that Freshman Honors "didn't help any" of his reading, writing, or thinking skills. This student, along with many others, pointed out that writing was not stressed nearly enough. Honors   continued on page 3

Photo by Bernard Chow Dean Robert Spaeth

SJU jumps NAIA

By Julio Ojeda

The decision to drop the long standing SJU membership in the National'Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) was a unanimous, if unenthusiastic, decision of the coaching staff and university administration.

The university will continue its membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Dan Ward, OSB, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) faculty representative, suggested the move, in part, because the MIAC officially endorses the NCAA rules and because he thought it advisable to have SJU teams follow only one set of eligibility -requirements.

In a letter to Harry Fritz, Executive Director of the NAIA, SJU Vice President of Student Affairs Roman Paur, OSB, wrote: "Because error can result easily due to technical requirement differences and disqualifications can happen because of incompatible competition regulations, we regretfully can no longer accept dual membership."

A principal reason for ttfis move is the differing scholarship rules of the two organizations. Schools that offer scholarships to athletes and those that do not, including SJU, can belong to Division II of the NAIA. Only non-scholarship schools are allowed in Division III of the NCAA.

Because of its policy, the NAIA must forbid athletes who transfer from one Division II school to another from competing for 16 weeks. This rule is intended to prevent schools from using enticing financial rewards and other allurements to attract talented athletes.

Athletes who transfer between Division III schools can participate in athletic competition immediately.

Because most MIAC schools chose to belong to the NCAA in recent years, SJU was, until now, restricted by the NAIA rule and less able to attract good athletes who were not primarily interested in scholarships. Freedom from the organization will allow SJU teams to attract athletes as easily as other NCAA Division III schools.

"We held out as long as we could, " basketball Coach Jim Smith said, referring to SJU's traditional loyalty to the NAIA, "But most schools in the conference have gradually drifted to the NCAA!' Remaining with the NAIA would "jeopardize recruiting," he added: "In the NCAA all the teams will be on

equal footing!'

Smith, the former NAIA National Coaches Association Vice President, has mixed feelings about abandoning the organization, however.

The MIAC has long been established as strong conference in the NAIA, he noted, and the superb "grass roots" district committees of the national organization have been helpful to SJU teams, financially and otherwise.

"The NAIA was always there when we needed it" he said, "(with the NCAA) 1 don't have the feeling (MIAC teams) can be heard. As a conference we're starting ourselves!'

Smith feels the MIAC and SJU is crippled by lack of representation on important NCAA coaching, rating and selection committees, which are important political levers to secure much needed recognition and financial . rewards.

"We have to do extremely well from now on to be recognized" he said, "But 1 really think our conference will be one of the strongest!'

Smith is also fearful that rating committees in charge of picking teams for national tournaments will discriminate against MIAC teams.

"1 don't know what criteria they use for picking the best teams, and that's what worries me. In the NAIA, the top two teams go to the nationals. It's an objective process, written down in black and white!'

Another hurdle SJU must overcome is the stif-fer competition it will face with the NCAA in some sports. The caliber or wrestling teams in national competitions, for instance, has been betier in that organization than in the NAIA. Last year seven wrestlers qualified for the NAIA tournament and only one qualified for the NCAA competition.

"I can live with (the decision to drop the NAIA);1 SJU wrestling Coach John Elton said. "We're simply going to have to wrestle harder. I believe our athletes are competitive enough to wrestle on the national (NCAA) level!'

SJU wrestler Dave Dumonccaux was less understanding.

"We're the ones dropping the NAIA, not the administration!' he said. "We should have been asked. In the NAIA it's not out of sight for a person from a small college to (compete in the national competitions). In the NCAA it's off limits for an athlete to do well." NCAA   continued on page 3