Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, November 13, 1949
The Red and Black
Page 5
Beverly Bethune, Columnist
Dialogue '69 — mind meeting monologue
The University's Dialogues
in ease anyone doesnt
know, are annual, early fall
coherences of students, fac
ulty and administration at
Hock Eagle 4-H Center Their
main objective is "to open
and advance communication'
airing the three groups
DIALOGUE 68 took place
Sept 10-12 How well it ac
complished its objective lias
yet to be announced by an
authoritative source - and
may never be
However, below are some
personal observations and
evaluations of Dialogue- in
general and Dialogue '69 in
particular from one who par
ticipated this year At Rock
Eagle I was voted the volley
ball plaver my team would most
to do without Other than
this dubious superlative. I
won no great honors as a Dia
logue participant. I offer my
opinions, for what they may
be worth, because Mike How
ell asked me to
PLEASE KEEP in mind
that Dialogue is a beautiful
concept Konocking it runs
along with knocking God
Mother and the flag in some
circles. That we — students,
faculty and administration —
can sit down together and
seek solutions to our mutual
problems ismn idea so funa-
mental to human relatiunshis
that one wonders how lor so
many years we gol along with
out a Dialogue or a reasona
ble facsimile
And from these meetings
there are significant fringe
benefits, most of them gr. w-
ing out of the opportunity by
virtue of proximity, to form
new friendships and strengdi-
en old ones
BUT IT WAS my feeling
that Dialogue 69 almost
didn't get off the ground
There were several reasons
for the slow start, the first of
which was the first big event
of the conference — the key-
nou- speech The speaker Dr
George Martin of the English
department, rather than
painting the University and
its problems with broad,
comprehensive strokes, pre-
senh.d a narrow, controver
sial view of our little world
It was an interesting,
thought-provoking and well-
developed speech, but it was
not one which enabled us to
accomplish our first task in
our smai 1 task groups — to
outline five large issues or
areas of controversy which
supposedly the speaker gave
us
BEFORE WE got to that
first group meeting however,
we had to overcome another
obstacle This was a commu
nications senstitivity session
that put us eyeball to eyeball
in a literal crush of together-
produced: accomplishment I
doubt We came to Rock Ea
gle to work We hardly needed
prodding Yet it took several
sessions for my task group to
break down the barriers that
distaste and embarrassment
had erected and reach the
rapport vital to group produ
ct tivitv
Beverly Bethune is an instructor in the
School of Journalism and was a participant
in Dialogue '69.
ness and ended with the entire
roster of the conference
stretched out on the floor like
kindergarten at naptime
The students loved it. The
faculty — at least the ones I
talked to - were appalled
Frankly. Dean William Tate's
crawling around on the floor
just didn't turn me on not to
mention what it may have
done to Dean Tate
ASKED LATER what was
the purpose, the session s
leader said this sort of thing
produced anxiety and anxious
people became emotionally
charged, active and ready to
get things accomplished
Anxiety he unquestionably
Once we were in task
groups, other problems began
to erupt Generally the ad
ministrative people tended to
dominate the floor (I admit
to a wee. small, minuscule bit
of prejudice here Some of the
faculty were equally guilty,
though not ir. mv group 1 »
THE ATTITUDE of the
administration seemed high!-
defensive, summed up with.
If you only undersold how
this system works .ou would
agree that this is the way
things have to be. so let me
explain all the minutiae
Such an altitude was most
evident in a panel discus
sion” before the conference
as a whole The panel consist
ed of the top administrative
brass including University
IVesident Fred Davison and
Chancellor George Simpson
Prepared questions were
asked from the floor, and
there was no opportunity lor
feedback
IN MOST cases it seemed
that students and faculty were
closer to each other than stu
dents and administration or
faculty and administration
This, of course, is not surpris
ing
In the task groups the stu
dents were usually too polite
to interrupt whoever might be
hogging the floor However.
<>ne group's students staged a
walkout and theld their own
meeting down by the water
front because they felt they
were getting nothing done
with then faculty and admin
istrative participants
Besides being polite, the
students were very persona
ble intelligent outgoing, lika
ble and conforming They all
apparently knew each other
quite well, which gave them
an advantage as a group over
the rest of us
THEY WERE also very
white There were onlv two
black facts in the crowd, and
unle»s one was fortunate
enough tr lie in a task group
or discu' tin group with one
of these two black students,
as I was not. the conference
appeared dazzling white
I asked someone who was
involved in participant selec
tion why there were so few
blacks and was told that
selection was based on the
proportion of black to white
students on campus Five stu
dents were interviewed, three
were selected and two accept
ed
Anotlier informant said one
of the black students who was
not selec ted was 'surly” at
his interview
IN VIEW OF the fact that
'to mv knowledge 1 most task
groups listed the larial situa
tior as one of the top five is
sues on our campus, such a
quota system is patently ab
surd Twenty blacks might
have been too few to provide
adequate communication
Thirty might have been too
tew
And seom surley' black
students might have been just
what we needed to push Dia
logue '(ft from a beautiful
concept to a pragmatic adven
ture 1 And why not some aver
age students'* Why not some
students on probation'* Why
not some ot these students,
who seem to need commum
cation more than honor stu
dents and leaders'’
And for that matter, why
not some surly old faculty
members who are covinced
students should be seen and
not hoard under any circumst
ances'*
ONE OF THE nicest things
that happened to Dialogue tft
was a sparkling and percep
tive lady named Dr Melvene
Drahemi Hardee*, the* confer
ence conulstant from Florida
State University Among her
suggestions to humanize”
the Umversitv. she included a
directive to discover every
enclave on the campus and
who speaks for each
Diaglogue is too homoge
neous That is my principal
criticsm. beside which all the
rest is mere carping With a
few exceptions the students
were all very much alike, as
were the faculty and the ad
ministration A meeting of
such like minds is not a diag
logue. it's a monoglouge
lEECHWOO
NOW
SHOWING
From the country
that gave you.
I A WOMAN."
INGA" and
I AM CURIOUS
imiow)"
Jerry Gross and
Nicholas Demetroules
Fanny
Hill Hr
2:05 3:50 5:35 7:20 9:15
■Reader reaction 1
Questions Columnist's Nixon analysis
TO THE EDITOR:
The absurdity o( Tom Giffens
objections lo President Nix-
on s speech is matched only
by the ineptness with which he
expressed those objections
ili He complains that there
was no expected surprise in
the speech According to the
topsy-turvy world of this arti
cle. 1 suppose Ho s letter
would not count as a surprise
since it was unexpected <21
He acknowledges that it is
' imperative to point out that
the North Vietnamese have
not been constructive" in
negotiations but never ex
plains whv it is imperative.
Are we to take this intransig
ence as a sign of their good
will'’ an argument for our
immediate wi’hdrawal'’
I3i Giffen writes. It would
seem that with the Vietnam
conflict this country would
have learned its lesson con
cerning helping' world neigh
bors ' This equivocal state
ment is treated thereafter as
a positive statement (i.e.. the
country has decided never to
help a world neighbor again).
i|i He writes that our reasons
for being in Vietnam are
purely economic," implying
we are making money through
our presence there The illog-
ic of such a contention is ob
vious.
THE SUPERFICIALITY of
Giffin's discussion in combi
nation with vague and ambig
uous language prevents any
systematic refutation Indeed
refutation is not the impor
tant issue Perhaps his abuse
of language is more indicative
of American's problems than
is the subject of his essay
After all. it is easier to shout
"Slop the war!" than it is to
write a good paragraph
George Orwell among others
has reminded us that clarity
of expression is not only a sign
of logical thinking but a moral
obligation
Giffen s article is a hodge
podge of implications and
Driving-mind and the machine
TO THE EDITOR:
Do you remember the day
after you got your driver s
license 0 You were probably
the most cautious driver on
the road that day; you were
probablv trving to recall everv
thing vou had learned about
driving
DO YOU remember the
last time you got behind the
wheel of a car° This morning
or even yesterday? How cau
tious were you then 0 Did you
fasten your seatbelt'* Were
you in a hurry? Preoccupied
about your date 0 What were
you thinking about? — driv
ing 0
Thursday, Nov. 6. 10:30
p.m. across Lumpking Street
from Stans', a girl lay in the
street, her legs still partially
inside her smashed Volkswa
gen In front of the car's right
door stood a green truck. One
of the drivers ran the red
light. One of them couldn't
wait for the light to change
What were they thinking 0
OR WERE they thinking ’
Do any of us think while we
are driving 0
I believe we do. but per
haps our problem lies in
thinking only of ourselves —
— Gosh. I'm going to be late
unless, well, the speed limit
here is 50-but there's not
much traffic today-and be
sides nobody pays any atten
tion to the limit on this good
road-and it s not raining. The
light is vellow-but the others
will wait for it to turn green-
1*11 just goon through
I HESITATE to use the
term "accident” to explain
the distorted metal and the
torn bodies I’ve seen at the
scene of some "accidents.”
According to the statistics
there are very few actual "ac
cidents;” I can not consider
speeding or running red lights
or any of the other equally
irresponsible actions of many
drivers to be sulficient rea
sons for the use of the word
"accident.”
false starts Look at this, a
typical passage
But the impact of the shal
lowness of the Monday night
address was late in coming as
the arguments presented by
Nixon were quite persuasive
(Who is shallow in this case 0 '
For sometime isici Nixon
evoked sympathy with an ex
planation of his plight as the
nation's chief executive (If
sympathy is a proper reaction
to a "persuasive argument,
logically such sympathy
should continuer Considering
the buck can go no further
isic> than his desk, it seemed
that he was taking a rational
approach to the problem at
hand, really making an effort
to get the United States (sic>
out of Vietnam
VAUGHN MAPI.F.S Giffen fails to explain whv
CAMELOT RESTAURANT
OPEN HEARTH, REAL CHARCOAL
Starting Thursday Noon
Burger 'n Beer
W ith Trimmings
97<
Fish *n Fries W ith Beer 81.35
FOR FR0HPT, EFFICIENT
ROAD SERVICE
CALL
548 4998
BULLDOG STANDARD SERVICE
flatter Hi. ftcrOM from Ruaaell Haft
•'Where «e lake belter cart of jour ear"
CHAHUk VOl'XC and Bl IIDY KESLHt
t
WANTED
FOR ASSAULT ARMED ROBBERY AND
COMM IT DWG A LEWD AND IMMORAL DANCE
WITH A CHOCOLATE PUOOtNG
i
gjS
paiOMa* nctuots nirewiaTiQsai «it sorts
woooruLtn
"TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN"
W00DV MIEN - JANET MARGOLIN
A JACK ROLLINS ANO CHARLES H JOFFE
■owe tut.'fV* - ch*~ mn w
umwn«k£0 •oocWiin taw **°‘ oc * 1 '** C01 ****' **
ovampilD at caaaao. nuasmo cooeoearoo My
Starts obc
Friday!
lott Dor The Good Guy) And The God Guy'
PALACE
GO DOGS!
BEAT THE AUBURN TIGERS!
AND AFTER THE GAME TRY
PIZZA HUT
PIZZA
Open 11:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Carry Out
Call Ahead • Allow 20 Minutes
549-4620
1074 Baxter
this last seemed posture
was deceiving, although the
sentence implies deceit And
the impact mentioned in the
first sentence is never ex
plained I suppttse the delayed
impact was on Giffen an in
teresting point but hardly
germane to the discussion
Other scattered gems such as
the* more-elusive-than-ever
credibility gap would be
amusing except for the re
mote possibility that someone
belives Giffen makes a good
case against Nixon s address
KEARNEY SMITH
ALPS DN1VE IN
NORTH AVI AT I
fill!
“King Kong Etrapet’
AND
“Mhal Ever
Happened
To Aunt Alice ”
3UH6Ar& P ifbllK
“The Stalking Moon'
Cregory Peck
AND
“Me ISatalie”
Patty Duke
RED & BLACK
CLASSIFIED ADS
|
Rote for dossified cds is
$1.25 for ten words
(minimum charge) and five
cents vor each addi.tonal \|
word Ads for fuesdoy's
poper are due Friday at
noon and Tuesday ot noon
♦or Thursday's paper Alt
ADS MUST BE PRE PAID Ads
moy be turned into the Red
land Black offices at the Ban
;ner-Herald or in RM 130 in
[the Journolism building.
low To Ttw btti pvnhin m It* world
Wonted Compvt Mart* RmootcK &
MAori*T*ng ft*pr*t*ntotiv*t Corn ot
much ot U .OOO plot bonutod 6 10
Itowrt per wmk
Writ* To: CoA*g* Mofkgting Corpo
ration
lit Cot* 38*t> S»r—t
Nrw Yori, Nr- Tort 10016
*OT Sol* S**r*0 top* p*oy*» ondt*n
To pot torgom at 54? 5799
SEAMSTRESS
Dr*ttmofc*ng ond Minor Ah*raliom
h
tip*n*ncod toomttroti
op d*tw*ry
543-1059
TUB SAL!
lo-T Mpnal Vimna
Oh tio Col 549 *160 oha. loo.
fm Ida mototyda. HA 6)0 tSy
l
, *ocnt*c*
$300. cod* 769 6312
~~ taping
9ro**ttw»nol Typ,ng T*rm
*F*VV dnt*rtotionv dwTot.on Com
porobl* rot*t 548 2037, 543 8353
Typing j*rvK* fotf & OCCurot*
E*p«f«n<*d in Typing, term popen
duwrlotioni jftnoh CoH
Mm Good 548 5059
WSw yOM PwW 0< Typang - Co*
MorVn* ’ A/»yt»*n* doy or i«gM"
P'O^utrnd Typing Srwtl 54*