College Etiquette Classes--Getting Down to Business

A few universities are teaching their business students not to forget Amy Vanderbilt in their quest to match the success of Donald Trump. Stetson University, near Orlando, Fla., warns against serving sloppy spaghetti at a dinner party. The University of Miami gives instructions on where to put the butter plate, and Prof. Stephen Barnett, who gave several etiquette lectures last semester to a sales management class at DeLand College, also near Orlando, plans this term to conduct a weekly evening course in etiquette, including advice on proper attire and cross-cultural business relationships. “Some of this stuff is so basic, it’s scary in a way,” Barnett said. The unofficial mentor of Barnett’s class is Margaret Lee, wife of Stetson President H. Douglas Lee. Drawing on her experience as a hostess, she offered tips on “power entertaining” and being a gracious guest. Karen Aronoff, who began business etiquette lectures last year at the University of Miami, said many college students stumble on the social graces because their parents, who grew up in the ‘60s had mottoes of “Do your own thing” and “Forget tradition.”

--Former child movie star Shirley Temple Black has arrived in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to begin her duties as U.S. ambassador, the U.S. Embassy announced. Black, 61, was U.S. ambassador to Ghana in 1974-76, White House chief of protocol for President Gerald R. Ford and a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations in 1969. She hopes to present her credentials to Czechoslovak President Gustav Husak in the near future, an embassy spokesman said.

--About 150 campers remained on the field where hundreds of thousands gathered 20 years ago for the Woodstock festival. A larger weekend crowd had played softball, thrown Frisbees or taken shelter from rain reminiscent of the showers that drenched the original event of Aug. 15-17, 1969. “There are the die-hards there. They’re just hanging out,” said Sgt. Charles Kulick of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department. Thousands of sightseers stopped during the weekend at the farm field outside Bethel, N.Y., once owned by Max Yasgur, but most just took pictures and quickly left. Hawkers pushed T-shirts, bumper stickers and medallions. Kulick said crowds are expected next weekend too, since the anniversary falls in the middle of the week.