1987 VES Meteor

VOL. LXVm- -NO. 3
By Daniel Riekenmann
The faculty met with Bob MacDonnell from FCD on Mon- day night during their weekly meeting. Bob explained to them
precisely what the purpose of his visit was all
about and the issues he would be taking up with the eleventh graders during the week. He also gave a brief explanation of FCD's organization and pur- pose and related his own per-
sonal experiences with drugs and alcohol.
The Meteor spoke with Bo Lauder, Laura Gray Street and Steve Culbertson to get some
feedback on the faculty re-
action to the FCD visit. Mr. Lauder felt that the program
was very effective, and that it raised alot of questions and hard thinking about alcohol and drug use by students and
faculty alike. He thought that Bob was very sincere, but was worried at first that Bob's presentation was little more
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL, lYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
U ~- PO~lAGt
PAID
Permo1No 65" lynchburg va
Non Profol Org
JANUARY 27. 1987
e ea Pro
em?
By Jared Daw110n and Cliff Schro der
confidentiality which the concernl'd student could telJ a
Commentary:
and gradually
made the
TY, S'I'UIJ
than personal experiences - a notion quickly dispelled by Bob's dealing with cold, hard
facts pertinent to VES.
Miss Street, like Mr. Lauder, thought that the program was excellent. She felt the pre- sentation to the faculty was a good idea, making many stop and think more specifically and personally on the subject. Mr. Culbertson had nothing but great comments about both the
faculty and eleventh grade programs. He felt Bob was outspoken and a "straight- shooter' - there was "no beating around the bush."
All three faculty agreed that the school needs to have a regular consultant for the
students to be able to talk to on campus. This not only would help them ward off potential problems, but would make them feel more secure about sharing their feelings on a confidential setting.
TOF
do not believe in.
At V.E .S. often times the social
when most students were approached and faced with the question," would you turn in your roomate for drinking?" all
to use the program, by
pressure to do the accepted
A. p r prelliJUre ia a part of
growmg up, 110 too are th activity is a 1trong one. As a the answera were flatly, NO.
general rule, w have Wh n uked "Why not?" they 11.11 temptatJOnl, particularly diacovered that, appropriately would quickly answ!'r "It'a not
at V.E 8. exposed to
>eeaiJ th11 II a OOarding enough, the younger and
cool "
ThPanawr1w r xctlythe
pon from th adm1ru It'a clear th
_ ool.
newer atud nts at V.E.S. nr
pnmary lt'a not that
pr. ure t m ny f)f u
more
refi rn n~e to dr ug1 nd alcohol.
me for llll th r 11t of rul
violation ac n rio's that e ch concPrnmg th chool's polic1 1
concern a they don't
wll m more
m J ng !.tJ p~>er
T fom m to tm.
student wa1 fll d with Only li~ehtly more than 50 perc nt
of the atud nta be!Jev d that if the perann in qu etion waa on
on dnnking and drug . It 1 th
owev
nr
f) nd..iVJrl 1 t.P-mpta·ontol
tr ly aay they
, n bl to toeng n t, morally, th y
Pe"r pm ur i1 ind Pd a wny
etud nta who ar moat allow a potentmlly
to
th victim• of pe r r . Sp lfically, w ar
nfhfi hr.If
Cf)nd•m
other
reto lvn giVIng into
they ar vet th v ry
qulred tl)
them adione,
lntM tinue practJCJni Without k· blind
d pnv10g
freedom th y have
of the1r
would approa h that pt'raon
I
By Jim Par&ott
VES has not escaped from the national controversy over drug and alcohol abuse. Recently
Mr. Bob MacDonnell from the Freedom from Chemical De-
pendency organization visited the campus to educate the
students and faculty on this matter. His lectures to the students brought mixed re- actions and strong opinions.
'
Mr. MacDonnell, a laid back man in his fifties, has been fighting alcoholism for almost forty years. His youngest son, 16, is locked up for alcohol- related crimes, while his eldest son is a crack-addicted rock
musician adrift somewhere in California. Mr. MacDonnell himself went from being a
teenage drunk to a sixties flower child to an unemployed adult alcoholic. Certainly, he's taken a walk on the wild side and paid dearly for it.
But has he experienced
McDonald wlks to the juniors
about his knowledge of modern drugs? Was his passive attitude that persuassive? These were the most common questions among students interviewed by
the Meteor. Class after class of juniors attended his lectures only to be confronted by a man of questions, not answers. At first the lectures seemed to
students open up a little bit. Eventually, most of the stu- dents who voiced a concern
received the answers they were looking for.
Those who felt a little uncomfortable, however, may not have received anything valuable from him at all. His style consisted of very
confident comebacks to
questions which tended to pro-
hibit many from asking any-
thing further. His lack of medical knowledge meant he
had problems scaring anybady
make coherent decisions. It is in this vein that we have opened thissubjecttoinv stigation.
enough? What
many as
productive, but he persisted
slow and un-
fnencl , th y end try to mak h mlher atop.
about the physical dangers !I drugs to the body. He eome- times failed to back up hia opinions with hard facts.
On the positive side, many felt his style to be penuasive. He continually placed the question of"risk' to the classes. Basically, be was saying one thing: "The chance might be one in one
thousand that you have a bad experience with drugw and/or alcohol, but why risk apendi111 the rest of your life in a rubber room fingerpainti111? 'lllink about it." HopefulJy we alJ will, m• our own way.
Only 25 percent would chOOH
As teenagers, WP ar growing faculty about hialh r up in a world wher tePnng fri nd'a aituation without
drug us is fnirly cceptabll'. provoking a di Clphn
Certainly, dnnking i1 ccppt d. Itiainth11rgardthatavry di11tinct lin h . he n drawn
drinkPr or drui
lnr help. Why? F ar of "I
a "nark" by
•
110 oon·