Carson- Newman Studies Vol

Carson- Newman Studies Vol. X, No. 2 Fall 2003 ISSN 1081-7727 Don H. Olive, Sr. Dean of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy Editor Michael E. Arrington Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Managing Editor Carson-Newman Studies is published annually by the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor, P.O. Box 71938, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, TN 37760. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the editors or of Carson-Newman College. Statements fo fact are the responsibility of the individual contributors. Contents A Word from the Editors . iii Who Moved My Cheese? [2002 Distinguished Faculty Award Address] Sharon Teets . 1 The Soul of Christian Higher Education: Unleashing the Eternal Wonder in the Heart of Every Child of God [Student Honors Banquet Address] D. Brian Austin. .15 The Dialectic of War and Peace in the Psalms: Can the Psalms Speak to the Events of 9-11? Wayne Ballard. .28 Analysis of Aerosols Using Atmospheric Sampling Glow Discharge Ionization and a Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer Christine N. Dalton, Mohammed Jaoui, Richard M. Kamens, and Gary L. Glish. .47 Altered States: Sleep, Dreams, Somnambulism, and Death in MacDonald’s The Portent David N. Goff. .54 A Three Prong Approach to Preceptor and Faculty Evaluation of Students Cynthia Huff. .67 Reflections on Christianity in the Twenty-First Century Earl R. Martin. .69 The Slippery Slope of Oil Ken Morton. .74 iii Great Attributes in Athletics David Needs. 81 How Could Jesus Be So Wrong? [Peace Chapel Sermon] Don H. Olive. .87 Preservice Teacher Attitudes towards Mathematics Teaching Stephanie Robinson and Gerri L. Adkins. .92 Distinguished Alumni Award Responses John H. Ratledge, II (C-N ’76) . 105 Pamela (Chinn) Parkinson (C-N ’94) . 111 J. Earl Stallings (C-N ’43) . .113 Alice (Singletary) Petree (C-N ’77) . 116 World Religions Lectures [Concert-Lecture Series] Huston Smith. 117 Contributors . .129 iv A Word from the Editors Year by year the variety of subject matter treated by Carson- Newman faculty, staff, and alumni continues to reveal broad scholar- ship and interests. One of the strengths of an academic community is the diversity of the ideas that circulate among its members. From the highly technical to the broadly sermonic this year’s edition of Carson- Newman Studies demonstrates this diversity. The array of ideas is led by the challenging address offered by Sharon Teets, recipient of the 2002 Distinguished Faculty Award. She reminded the academic community that it must be above all a living community where constant change is creatively accommodated. Each year the recipient of this most coveted award sets the tone for that year’s work. Sharon Teets led the campus in a year of understanding who we are as educators who are committed to the Christian faith. Various addresses, scholarly articles, and sermons explore these ideas from many other perspectives. It is not unexpected that this year of the completion of formal self-study should provoke such reflections among thoughtful faculty and staff. We thank all the contributors to this year’s issue and invite others of the faculty, staff, and alumni to offer their intellectual efforts for future issues of Carson-Newman Studies. The forty-third issue of this academic journal will be better still because of your efforts. Don H. Olive, Editor Michael Arrington, Managing Editor v Who Moved My Cheese? [Distinguished Faculty Award Address, 2002] Sharon Teets Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard’s Who Moved My Cheese? (1998) is a tiny little book, ninety-four pages to be exact, that tells the tale of four characters—Sniffy and Scurry and Hem and Haw, who live in a maze. They live quite a happy existence, because they readily have all the cheese they need to eat. The world falls apart when, one day, there is no cheese at Cheese Station C! Sniffy and Scurry quickly move on through the maze to find another Cheese Station, but Hem and Haw, as their names imply, waste valuable energy whining around about the loss of the cheese, and they, of course, begin to get pretty hungry and agitated. Haw finally begins to look for new cheese, and of course, finds it, along with Sniffy and Scurry, at Cheese Station N. Haw learned some things along the way, and even though there is an abundant and even better-tasting supply of cheese here, he remembers the long gone Cheese at Station C, and observes carefully to note daily changes in the supply at Station N, just to be sure he averts another C disaster! Unlike most of the parables Jesus told, in which we are left on our own to interpret the meaning, throughout this tale about change, the reader is given little hints about the meaning of the story. For example, on a picture of a block of cheese, the reader sees the statement, “If you do not change, you can become extinct.” Obviously, cheese is a meta- phor for anything that is important to an individual (jobs, relationships, recognition, and golf). The story of how the characters negotiate the maze (their environment) and how they find new cheese (or not), is supposed to provide us insight in to how to deal with change. The main points of the parable are summarized in one page, entitled, The Handwriting on the Wall: • Change happens (they keep moving the cheese) • Anticipate change (get ready for the cheese to move) • Monitor change (Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old) 2 • Adapt to change quickly (the quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese) • Change (move with the cheese) • Enjoy change (save the adventure and enjoy the taste of new cheese) • Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again (they keep moving the cheese) This book is priced at $19.95 new, and it’s still even priced at $10.00 at a well-known used bookstore in Knoxville! It has sold 10,000,000 copies since 1998, and the jacket cover, as well as the Whomovedmycheese.com web site, lists dozens of corporations, like Mercedes Benz and the Mayo Clinic, that are using this book and its training programs to help employees deal with change. The NCAA has recommended this book to universities to help incoming faculty and students deal with change. The phenomenal response to this simplistic tale, which is written by the author of the well-known One-Minute Manager (Teacher, Mother), demonstrates that we, as a culture, are fascinated with, consumed by, and terrified by change! During our sesquicentennial year, President James Netherton asked students to think back to what the world was like about 50 years ago, and he reminded students, among other things, that television was a black and white medium that only the most affluent families owned and that computers were the size of entire rooms. He asked students to think about what people could have been taught in their four years of college that would have prepared them adequately to deal with all of the changes that have occurred in the last fifty years, which he sug- gested was about the lifespan of most people’s working careers. He concluded by reminding students that they were not finished with their “education” –that, they, in fact, were just beginning, and he was hope- ful that they had acquired the necessary skills at Carson-Newman to continue their learning for the rest of their lives. It is probably accurate to say that faculty at most colleges and universities would agree that they are hoping to help students develop the capacity to be lifelong learners. What does it mean to be a lifelong learner? What does it mean to be always in the process of education? Some people equate education to schooling; hence, the comments that one often hears, “He has a good education,” or “I want to finish my education before I start my family.” However, a more inclusive and accurate definition of education might be something like “the lifelong process by which individuals achieve their potential as human beings—in all aspects of their lives.” Dealing with change in a way that helps a person to continue to develop 3 positively throughout the lifespan, therefore, is the central task of the education process. Who Moved My Cheese? may be a tool for raising awareness about how to deal with change, but as faculty members, surely we have more to offer students than simply telling them to “enjoy change!” Col- lege students, especially those that are traditional students, are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two or so, and this is one of the most significant developmental periods in terms of the formation of enduring values (Perry, 1998). Non-traditional students are often beginning new careers, and they are often interested in being very deliberate about their course of action. Surely colleges and universities cannot shirk their responsibilities in helping students think deeply about changes that are taking place in their lives as they acquire new knowledge and skills. Nor can they justify teaching that does not encourage students to consider carefully the condition of the world in which they live, and the roles they will play in shaping the world of the future. Certainly, colleges that claim to be Christ-centered must help students focus on how they can use their knowledge and skills not only to advance themselves personally, but also to work for justice and fair- ness for people who do not have the same level of knowledge and skills.

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