COLLEGE HAS CRASH COURSE IN ETHICS.Byline: Jeff Wilson There are a number of people named Jeff Wilson.
Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Life's tough for arriving freshmen at the campus of Pepperdine University Pepperdine University is a private institution of higher learning affiliated with the Church of Christ in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States. The university's location overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is adjacent to the city limits of Malibu. . And we're not necessarily talking curriculum. Located on a hill overlooking this coastal playground for the rich and famous, gorgeous vistas of the blue sea, white beach and bronzed bodies can be awfully tempting for a new kid from Kansas. But these $22,000-a-year students are getting some help this month in the form of a morality handbook and a message designed to help them rise above the party-hearty lifestyles that may surround them. While it's the season for shouts of ``Toga! Toga! Toga!'' at many of the nation's colleges, Pepperdine ethics Professor Russell Gough says freshmen at his school will likely yell, ``Character! Character! Character!'' In Malibu? For sure. And to be sure, every new Pepperdine student is given a copy of his book, ``Character Is Destiny: The Value of Personal Ethics in Everyday Life.'' ``Even at the large state universities, they are finding ways to de-emphasize (the party atmosphere) more and more, and in some cases pull the rug out from under the `Toga! Toga!' mentality,'' Gough said after addressing 600 freshmen Friday. ``Many of these schools unfortunately, in my opinion, haven't gotten to the point, like we have and other small liberal-arts universities have, in being proactive and taking it to the students directly.'' His audience was a typical college crowd in many ways - shorts, T-shirts, sandals and ballcaps with bills facing backward. ``I don't think it really seeps in until the first day of school. This is all so overwhelming. Then it hits them. This program really sets the tone,'' student body President Marcus Brown Marcus James Brown (born April 3 1974, in West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing in Zalgiris Kaunas. Brown, a 6'3" (191 cm) guard, attended and played collegiately at Murray State University and was selected with the 17th , 21, of Dallas said afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here . Gough's discussion and distribution of free copies of his new $18 book is a bold approach to addressing student morality, Pepperdine Provost PROVOST. A title given to the chief of some corporations or societies. In France, this title was formerly given to some presiding judges. The word is derived from the Latin praepositus. Steven Lemley said. ``Putting this book in the hands of students is truly unprecedented,'' he said. ``Our Malibu location sometimes causes people to overlook the fact that we're a place not only interested in strong intellectual formation, but we are equally interested in what students are becoming.'' Classes start Monday, and Gough's presentation culminated new-student orientation week Orientation week is the first week of the academic year at a university or other tertiary institution, and a variety of events are held to help orient and welcome new students. It goes by a variety of names in different countries. with a talk about virtue, personal ethics and ``basic human standards of respect and integrity.'' ``I think it's something that needs to be done more,'' said student Ben Woodward, 20, of Edmond, Okla., after hearing Gough. It wasn't a hell-and-damnation lecture condemning alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex, date rape date rape n. forcible sexual intercourse by a male acquaintance of a woman, during a voluntary social engagement in which the woman did not intend to submit to the sexual advances and resisted the acts by verbal refusals, denials or pleas to stop, and/or physical or abortion. The school's professor of ethics and philosophy instead spoke in generalities about virtue and didn't condescend con·de·scend intr.v. con·de·scend·ed, con·de·scend·ing, con·de·scends 1. To descend to the level of one considered inferior; lower oneself. See Synonyms at stoop1. 2. . ``You can have fun while at the same time being responsible and showing character,'' Gough said. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Pepperdine ethics Professor Russell Gough smiles after addressing 600 incoming freshmen on the value of character. Associated Press |
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