page 4
The Fourth Wall
Soldier from page 1
showing all of those people
starving, people without a
home, people looting, and
people dead. I knew that I had
to do something about it; I
vowed to myself that I had to
help because the trauma I was
going through at the moment
was minuscule compared to
what they had on their
shoulders. Before I left,
somebody told me that I was a
hero, and I thought to myself:
“How can I be a hero when I
have second thoughts about
not even going?” I said, “I'm
just your average guy going to
do something to help. The
people that endured that
hurricane are the real heroes!”
The Director of Student
Affairs, Andrea Christopher,
The Business Club President,
Mark Burnett, and the
Volunteer Club President, Bub
Stokes, all accompanied me as
I went to the armory in
Gettysburg. They dropped me
off and from there, my journey
began.
When I got to the armory,
it was a “hurry up and wait”
situation. We didn’t know
where we were going exactly,
but we did know it was to the
hurricane-stricken south. I
didn’t really believe I was
leaving until I got on the bus
departing for Louisiana. Once
on the bus with the rest of my
platoon, I went into deep
thought. I wondered what our
mission would be, if we would
be in New Orleans, and if so, I
wanted to know how bad it
was. I also wondered if I
would have to shoot anyone.
How would that affect that
person and their family? I am
highly qualified in shooting a
weapon, but actually shooting
a person would have been
unimaginable to me.
I wasn’t the only one
thinking that though. The
platoon had the same idea on
their mind and that’s why we
always tried to keep our morale
up. Jokes were common
amongst us all, and that helped
Elizabeth S. Stiles
The carapus learning center
has benefited students on
campus for years and it is the
goal of new Director, Jack M.
Ebersole, to continue that
tradition.
Ebersole assumed his
position in the learning center
in June of this year. In an
October 5 interview, he openly
spoke of where the learning
center has been, what services
it offers now, and his intentions
to continue forward with these
Services.
“When I came, and I
talked to a number of different
people, everyone was of the
opinion that the Learning
Center here at Mont Alto had
a really good reputation; that
it operated very professionally
and proficiently; that the
faculty were happy with what
had happened here,” Ebersole
said. “Generally the services
provided have worked.”
So what services have been
and are provided through the
learning center? Its primary
service is to provide tutors,
both peer and professional, free
of charge for students who
need help in any discipline
offered at Mont Alto.
The center also offers
training in terms of study skills,
strategies, time management,
and the like through
efforts of learning specialists.
As the director of the
learning center, Ebersole also
coordinates disability services
for students with documented
disabilities. These can include
physical, learning, or any other
type of disability.
The learning center can
coordinate study groups, but
does so on a limited basis
currently. This is an area that
Ebersole would like to see
expand in the future.
In addition to these services,
the learning center offers
supplemental instructors to
assist professors in class -
especially labs - with students
who need extra help.
One of the learning center’s
most successful programs is
OWL (on-line writing lab).
“Rather than you coming into
the learning center face-to-face
with your printed paper, you
submit it on-line to the on-line
writing lab,” Ebersole explains.
“The professional tutor makes
suggestions as to how you can
improve this [paper]. It could
be grammatically, it could be
how it is organized, how the
ideas are expressed - things such
as that.”
The learning center uses the
aforementioned services to
assist the faculty and staff in
their teaching and to assist
students in their educational
efforts.
Twice each semester the
learning center hosts exhibits in
its Museum of Temporary Art.
It is here that artists display
their works. These exhibits are
coordinated with the art
department. There is usually a
reception or “opening” for
each exhibit, open to the
campus and community at
large, at which interested parties
can explore the new exhibit,
enjoy refreshments, and (often)
meet the artist.
With a host of services
available, the learning center is
in place to promote the
educational well-being of
Mont Alto’s students. Under
the direction of Ebersole, the
programs will continue to fulfill
this role well into the future.
ease some of the tension.
While still on our way, the
Reverend Jesse Jackson and
award-winning rapper Kanye
West gave their perspectives on
how they thought everything
was being handled. They said
that the mishap with FEMA
and others in New Orleans was
because of race. Since I am the
only African American in my
platoon, and in the unit as
well, many of the soldiers
wanted my view on it. My
opinion is that race really had
nothing to do with the turmoil
in New Orleans; it had to do
with the socioeconomic status
of the citizens. Of course, race
was the first thing that popped
into everyone’s mind because
it is the easiest thing to point
out. If you look at the area as
a whole, there is poverty with
not only the African Americans
but Caucasians and Latinos as
well. African Americans are the
majority though.
When we finally arrived in
Slidell, LA we could see the
damage instantly. We were also
given “Rules of Force” stating
what the proper procedure is
should we encounter
disgruntled citizens. Slidell was
atrocious: trees uprooted,
power lines down, and houses
destroyed. No picture could
convey how bad it was down
there. We left Slidell and
traveled to Alexandria,
Hammond, Bellechase, and
then Harahan in Jefferson
Parrish (a Parrish is equivalent
to a county). In Harahan,
there was no power, no
running water, no nothing. In
fact, the first few nights we slept
outside. We ended up sleeping
inside the gym of Riverdale
High School. It wasn’t the
Hilton, but everyone was
grateful.
As time progressed we
were tasked with a mission.
My battery (equivalent to two
platoons) was put in charge of
security operations for the
perimeter of where the brigade
was staying as well as being in
charge of PODS (Point of
Distribution) for food in
Westwego, LA, and some
other parts of Jefferson Parrish.
For the most part, I pulled
security for a while. Even
though I would always hear
the other soldiers talk about
how the PODS and the people
were, I had to go for myself
and have the experience of
meeting these people so I can
know what they were going
through. I finally did end up
going one day and it was truly
the highlight of my
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