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TjMUNDA c LONGWOOD COLI;EGE, FARMVILLE, VIRGINIA, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8,1983
NO. 15
Departmental Advisory Committees Formed By MIKE LYNCH Future shock was the theme I that commanded the interest of the listeners to Gil Davenport, Senior Vice President of the City National Bank of I/is Angeles as he spoke on how just as five-yearold kids can wipe out their parents at Pac-Man these same kids will grow up to perform computer functions that their elders won't even be able to comprehend. His reasoning was something about how they picture the screen and his overall message in relation was that if we don't get on the ball quickly and acquaint ourselves well with the computer we will soon be left behind by people younger than us. "How many of you have ordered something without checking the size, shape, price and other features of the product," Mr. Davenport said, scoring his main point while everybody ignored their Slater dessert to catch it. "It's the same for college students." His following comment built on that theme, that college students should be tailored to fit the job they seek as closely as possible. He especially pointed out the problems imposed by the vast acceleration of technology, noting that the more acquainted the student is with computers, the
more assured he will be of employment. Gil's audience was perhaps the most impressive group ever to assemble at Longwood College. Among them was a state senator, the President of the Virginia Education Association, two Professors Emiritus from North Carolina University and William and Mary College respectively, a newscaster, a physics expert from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the guy who tells them what to do on that big kyanite mountain up route 15. They were here last Friday to attend the Orientation Meeting of the newly formed departmental Advisory Committee of longwood College. Here's what that means. A Departmental Advisory Committee is a small group of professionals from outside this institution who render advice, assistance and knowledge to the college department that it applies to. For example, Mr. Davenport's field of knowledge is quite obviously the business world so he is on the Advisory Committee to the Department of Business and Economics. In the future that committee will meet with the Business Department from time to time and hopefully assist them in any type of
l From left): Dr. Delmar Bergen, Janet Peckinpaugh, Gil Davenport, Dr. Janet Greenwood and Thomas Rust. improvement. "We seek your advice, we seek your expertise and we seek your knowledge of the world outside the Longwood campus. We are asking you to help our academic departments in the college answer the question where are we, where do we need to be and how do we get there,"
stated Longwood President Janet Greenwood in an introductory address to the participants. The meeting, last Friday, did not involve solving any problems right then but merely got the participants acquainted with the College and its basic intentions, problems and goals. But if what
went on is any indication of future •esults. the possibilities are endless. Six speeches were given at the meeting, including the luncheon address by Davenport and five others by Longwood administration. Thomas Rust, (Continued on Page 8)
An Interview With Toby Thompson It seemed particularly appropriate that an interview with Toby Thompson should take place in a country bar named the Pioneer Inn. Although he doesn't look like the type — a meek looking man of about 5*8" with blonde thinning hair and a preference for wool mittens — Toby Thompson has spent a number of the best vears of his life in, around, and consuming at some of the best bars in America. Of course that's not exactly what he does for a living, for a living he writes...about the great American bar, about other writers, about movie stars like Raquel Welch or Jackie Gleason about...well how far can you count. He came to Longwood last semester as a journalism professor and The Rotunda's advisor, replacing William C. Woods who is currently on leave. Mr. Thompson professes a certain affinity for the location
and, it seems, even though he's been to some of the most movin' bars in the country he doesn 't mind sitting in a nearly vacant Pioneer Inn and nursing a Lowenbrau, while delivering a few candid comments for The Rotunda about himself and journalism in general. Rotunda — You've been published in The American Film Magazine, Playboy, The Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, The Outside Magazine, The Rocky Mountain Magazine and the Washington Post magazine. You've been contributing editor to the Washington Magazine since 1986 and have had articles printed in many numbers of newspapers across the United States. How did your obviously successful career begin? Thompson — I was in the writing program with Peter Taylor at U.Va. enrolled in the short story program there. As a matter of fact I was the first
person to do a short story as a master's thesis for U.Va. I was very much interested in writing and in fiction. I had absolutely no interest in reporting at that point. That was around 1968 when I graduated with my degree and I had nothing to do. At the time I was obsessed with Bob Dylan. I really loved Bob Dylan becaude he was this synthesizes of a literary figure and cultural idealists. He was the great poet of our time. He symbolized for my generation the incredible impact that a writer could have on the culture and art. So, I didn't have anything to do then and I had some money and I decided to ride out to his home town in Minnesota. I had this notion of finding a story because nobody had ever written about his hometown — where he came from. I called one of his uncles before I went out there. I remembered that Bob Dylan's real name was Abraham
Zimmerman and called one of his uncles, a Zimmerman and said "if I came out there would you talk to me" and he said "Sure I'll talk to you, never been anybody out herc.Yeh I'd be happy to talk to you." I got in my car and drove straight out there. It was Hipin, Minnesota; it was small town America, very much like Farmville as a matter of fact. Dylan had a very small town-like childhood. Anyways, to make a long story short, I did write an article about that. I found all these people from his childhood, parents, relatives, old girlfriends; including this one wild blonde haired girl named Echoe. We had this romance. It was really Freudian because Dylan was my hero. She was this other side of the tracks creature with long Swedish blonde hair — I mean Echoe — talk about a poet's muse. She wrote me poems while I was there. At the
end of the visit she wrote me this poem like "You drove me near, You drove me far, You came to town in your little car" — I had this Volkswagen— "You stood on your head in my hometown bar" — which I did — and "Hey Toby where you are!" or something totally corny like that. It was really charming and it was a great story. Nobody had ever done it. I came back to Washington and I wrote this thing up thinking "Esquire" or "Harper" or something like that. I finished it and sent it around to a couple places like that and they didn't want it. Then I sent it to "The Village Voice" and "The Village Voice" in 1969 was the hip newspaper in America. It was what Rolling Stone was going to become; but different, the "voice" has always been different...it's a really great newspaper in a lot of ways. They (Continued on Page 2)