The_Rambler_1980-04-17

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FARMINGDALE STATE UNIVERSITY
Funded By Your Mandatory Student Activity Fee
Thursday April 17, 1980 FREE F&RUIN6D&LE FRIENDS The Farmingdale Friend
Program continues this spring
semester. After a year of
preparation and consultation
with all units of the campus
community, it was decided to
develop the Farmingdale
Friend Program by starting off
with a small sample of students
chosen at random. The idea
behind the program is that
some students come to
Farmingdale knowing staff
members who may be relatives
or who may be relatives or may
be friends. It has been observed
that these students have a
distinct advantage over other
students at the College since
they have someone with whom
they feel comfortable and can
gain assistance for whatever
problems they may be facing at
the College. With this general
idea in mind it was thought that
the College should try to
institutionalize a program
whereby all students could
have a staff member who would
serve as a friend. This
relationship would be informal
and not take on any official
capacity whatsoever, yet
because the staff member
knows the campus, the student/
might be able to profit from
such a relationship.
Considering all of these
factors, the Program began in
September 1979 with 810
students assigned to 54 friends;
a ratio of 15 students to one
friend. There was a meeting
held with theFriends at which
time the Program was
discussed, then random lists of
students* names were
distributed to the Friends so
that they might contact the
students in whatever way may
be appropriate to them. It was
decided that Friends would try
to contact each student at least
three times per semester.
After one semester experi-ence
with this Program there
has been uniform agreement
that the concept of the
Program is worthwhile, but
that there are some problems in
operation of these activities.
Students and staff alike have
indicated that the idea is great
and that it has been very nice to
know that there are staff
members who are willing to
give of their time freely to help
students to be successful at the
College. There have been
problems in contacting
students. Some students have
not clearly understood the
Program and, therefore, would
not respond to offers of
friendly assistance from the
College staff members. Some
staff members finding it
difficult to attract the students
have been discouraged and
doubtful of whether or not they
should try to contact the
students further.
Development of real
friendships takes time, as we all
know. Under the circumstances
of this Program, it is clear that
it will also take time for
students to realize that there
are indeed people on (Jampus
who care very much about
them individually and want to
help in whatever ways they can.
Staff also need to find ways to
cpmmunicate with students
that will be most beneficial. In
other words, effort is needed in
both directions in order for a
constructive relationship to
develop. Students and staff are
encouraged to be creative in
trying to work with one
another. No grandiose plan is
intended by this Progam;
simply an effort to try to
provide support and assistance
to students in thier collegiate
pursuit. Many studies have
shown us that college students
tend to be successful when they
feel comfortable in the
environment in which they are
studying. Thhat comfort can
be obtained in many ways, and
it is hoped that this Program
can provide one more means
for students to enjoy their
educational pursuits at
Farmingdale and be as
successful as they want to be.
Some students in learning
about the Program have asked
whether or not they might be
able to participate even
though they were not a part of
the initial group selected at
random. The answer is a very
strong yes. Anyone who would
like to be involved and
participate may simply contact
the Student Activities Office in
Roosevelt Hall and leave your
name, telephone number and
time when you may be
contacted, and someone will
give you further information
about participation in the
Program.
Reactions to this Program
are encouraged. If the attempts
that are being made here to be
helpful to students are not as
meaningful as they might be,
we need to know about it.
Please respond both positively
and negatively and let us know
what you think. If after our
evaluation at the end of this
academic year we find the
Program to be worthwhile,
efforts will be made to broaden
the contacts to the entire
student body. We need your
help in trying to determine the
directions that we should take.
Please get involved and let us
know.
by Dr. Paul E. Bedell
NORMAL. '80... AND BEYOND
NORML, the nation's
leading marijuana de-crim
vehicle and most respected
group on the issue, is taking
stock of itself as it enters its
second decade.
"The issue isn't on the wane
at all," says a NORML chief
Larry Schott. "When you
notice how the major media
focus on it, and how many
people are becoming aware of
the dimensions of this whole
area, you can see that it's a
major national concern."
For college kids, the topic of
marijuana decriminalization
has been a hot one since the late
60'8, the days when the Flower
Child culture bloomed. Now,
the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws
hopes to coalesce young people
into a quasi-political voice that
will neutralize the myriad of
laws and regulations affecting
grais. In Washington, some
people in the pro-NORML
camp feel that the question can
be decided in the next few years
with the help of students.
They're prime consumers of the
weed, they know the subject
inside out, and they're also a
group suffering a high
proportion of busts.
Latest research shows how
prevalent pot is. The market
draws $25-50 billion each year
in sales, not counting all the
pipes, papers and other
equipment. Over 50 million
people have tried it, and in 1979,
16 million were believed to be
users on a regular basis.
Penalties are still there for
weed. Last year, 400,000 busts
were scored on grass—about
three of every four drug arrest
around the country. That's a
big climb from the 18,000
recorded in 1965. Best
quesstimates are that 90
percent of the pot busts are for
possession. Every year, law
enforcement costs for
marijuana run up ^o $600
million in tax dollars.
NORML was launched in
1970 by Schott and Keith
Stroup. Today, the organiza-tion
is headquartered in the
capital city, running a network
of law firms that aids clients
with drug-related legal hassles.
The outfit's record includes
winning court cases, conduct-ing
lobbying, and generating
letter-writing campaigns with
an eye on changing state and
national policy.
After a decade of struggle, 11
states have passed de-crim bills.
The Alaska Supreme Court
declared personal use and
possession to be legal. A sign of
the times comes in the
legislation proposed in Florida-which
nearly became law-allowing
for pot sales in
established liquor stores.
NORML has called for re-classification
of pot, so that
glaucoma patients could use it
in treatment. "Now, 16 states
recognize marijuana's value as
a medicine," declares Schott,
"and this is a major step for us.
We were working on this since
1972, but the message has
f i n a l ly gotten across."
In Congress, several senators
support a de-crim bill,
including Jacob Javits (R.-
N.Y.), John Melcher (D.-
Montana), Pat Moynihan (D.-
N.Y.), and Dennis DeConcini
(D.-Cal.) with 22 co-sponsors.
The decriminalization concept
is supported by American Bar
A s s o c i a t i o n , American
Medical Association, and
National Education Associa-tion.
It was a position advanced
by a Nixon-appointed
commission in 1972.
The medical and therapeutic
gains of marijuana use for
glaucoma patients will be a
cornerstone in NORML's 1980
legislative thrusts. The
paraquat fight and other court
work should dominate activity
as well. The group promotes
campus speaking tours, and
Schott or other officials are
available to schools.
NORML now has over
20,000 members and a $350,000
budget. "We think we're very
cost-effective," says Mr.
Schott. "We know we can't
change everything today will a
small budget, or even turn
things around in a state, but we
still have an impact."
A court decision in
Washington, expected by late
spring, could make the Alaska
model one followed by the
nation selling use and
possession as a Constitutional
right. Schott regards long-term
use, and use by adolescents, as
a serious affair, paralleling
abuse of liquor and alcohol.
"Our job here is to sort out facts
without emotion, to look at the
individual's right without the
emotion that surrounds this
issue. We should have a goal of
giving control to an informed
consumer so he or she has a
choice of deciding for his or
herself."
by Julian Weiss