Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Long
Last winter, a continent away from the ice-laced trees and stately buildings on the Washington and Lee campus, Marc Newman was getting an education beyond his wildest expectations.
Newman spent the semester in Kenya, engaging in such activities as leveling roads in the rural countryside. This semester, the senior from Ponte Vedra, Fla., is focusing on leveling opponents on the football field from his new position at cornerback for the W&L team.
Newman, who is majoring in anthropology and environmental science, was one of 25 students from across the country who participated in the Kenyan program, which consisted of four main segments.
``The first thing we did is spend three weeks with Kenyan professors learning to speak Swahili, which is an easy and fun language,'' Newman said.
The students put their language skills - and physical skills - to use in the next portion of the trip, spent in the rural village of Kathangathini with no electricity or running water. There, Newman made bricks from mud and helped level roads. He also found time to have some fun, playing basketball on a dirt court and soccer in a field with cows.
``I didn't want to go someplace like Europe. Those sights and experiences are going to be the same whether you're 20 or 40 [years old],'' Newman said. ``I wanted to go someplace different, get a unique experience.''
In Kathangathini, the students stayed at a primary school, where Newman said the children were inquisitive about life in the United States.
``They wanted to know if everyone carries guns,'' he said.
Kathangathini also was the place Newman had one of his most unusual - and least appetizing - experiences. He explained that one of the highest honors for men in the village is to eat the face of a goat and a stew made from a goat's head during a ritual ceremony.
``They slaughtered the goat the day before we were supposed to leave and it takes two days to make the stew,'' he said. ``We left the day before it was ready, fortunately.''
In contrast to the countryside of Kenya, which Newman described as flat and brown, the group spent the next three weeks in the country's capital, Nairobi, a city with more than 800,000 residents. The students participated in a lecture series with Kenyan professors, focusing primarily on urban and rural development.
``In a lot of situations, living in a rural area is better than an urban area,'' Newman said. ``The whole family stays in the rural village and only the man will come into the city to work. ... There's a lot of urban decay. Women are coming in and becoming mistresses, which is making for a lot of single-family homes.''
Among Newman's other adventures was a 10-day educational tour of Tanzania and a four-day climb up 16,000-foot Mount Kenya. The final three weeks of his trip were spent on Kenya's shore working on an independent study project.
Newman researched a limestone quarry adjacent to a stretch of beachfront property that is one of the country's largest tourist areas. He worked with a Swedish professor trying to reclaim the land for more eco-tourist activities, such as hiking, biking and jogging.
``My conclusion was they needed to branch out,'' Newman said. ``They're losing repeat visitors who, when they've done the beach, done the safari, they've done it all.''
Back home on the W&L campus this semester, Newman is having more new experiences as a captain of the Generals' 1-3 football team. He has moved to cornerback this season after spending the past two years at free safety, where he earned second-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honors last season.
While the W&L offense has struggled this season - scoring nine points in four games - the defense has been solid. The Generals rank third in the league in pass defense, scoring defense and total defense.
``We have a defense that has played together a lot and feels comfortable together and an offense that hasn't,'' he said. ``[The defense] knew early that we had to play strong to give the offense some time together.''
The team jelled Saturday in a 9-3 victory over non-conference foe Davidson. Newman had his best game of the season, registering 12 tackles and a sack, the first of his career.
``Now that we've finally scored, the pressure is gone,'' Newman said. ``But it was wild for [the defense], because as soon as we scored, there was a whole new type of pressure on us. Now, we have a lead that we can't blow instead of the pressure of not allowing [the opposition] to score.
``But we can get used to that kind of pressure.''
ROCKBRIDGE REUNION: Three former Rockbridge County athletes will be battling Saturday when the Generals entertain Hampden-Sydney in a 1:30 p.m. game.
W&L junior defensive tackle Robert Hull, a preseason Division III All-American candidate, leads the Generals in tackles (54). Hull is a graduate of Lexington High School. Hampden-Sydney (1-4 overall, 1-2 ODAC) will feature senior Robert Thompson, a graduate of Natural Bridge High School who leads the team with 532 yards rushing and six touchdowns, and backup fullback Robbie Dickinson, a Parry McCluer High School alumnus who has run for 117 yards.
by CNB