About The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1975)
ED GREEN The Kid and Black, Thursday. August 7, 1975 Page 5A bONT WORR^V ABOUT YOUR N05E, bUlCrKT- ILL COVER VOU. leflers^ileiiers University is pod factory' TO THE EDITOR: My favorite science fiction film of all time — indeed one of my favorite films, period — is “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers." a 1956 release directed by Don Siegel. It has become something of a cult classic in recent years to the initiated among us For the uninitiated it is the tale of a California town that gets taken over by alien beings There are no bug-eyed monsters in this film, just some large, rather innocuous-looking pea-pods that hatch “blanks." The "blanks" are perfect facsimiles of the town's inhabi tants, perfect save for one thing — they have no feelings or emotions whatsoever This is the lasting achievement of the film and the source of its prevailing brilliance throughout. The monsters among us are most often human — or appear so The few critics who took note of this film at the time of its release dismissed it as a sincere if juvenile reaction to the McCarthyism of the 1950s, a not altogether successful warning against the perils of mass hysteria and creeping paranoia then at work in the country They missed the key point of the film, which director Siegel summed up as a reaction to the "pods" in everyday life, the dehumanized vegetables who attempt to pass themselves off as real people Film critic Pauline Kael has observed that people were turning into vegetables long before this film was released and the same is true now. In many ways it has gotten worse in the last 19 years, as the University itself can attest. Two years here have convinced me that it is a central breeding ground for pods and the pods have taken over The place is literally overrun with pods and has been for I know not how long At least they haven't taken me over - yet. The pods at UGA tend to congregate in cliques and other such groupings — fraternities, sororities, clubs, service organizations, athletic teams, et al, ad podium The faculty and the administra tion have been sufficiently subverted, as have the so-called students in the high-rise dorms (Russell, Brumby, Cres- well). Business majors as a class have been entirely taken over, but they were amenable to begin with. Last and certainly not least is the College of Education in Aderhold. Aderhold is a combination greenhouse-staging area- morgue for pods — they go there to breed, congregate, and die, ail in the course of one class period. Luckily though, a few of us have survived to tell the tale. I graduate at the end of this quarter and 1 have escaped detection up to now. I write this in the hope that it reaches what is left of my fellow human beings Together we may he able to expose this monstrous pod factory before it turns other unwitting victims into vegetables. JOHN K. W1LTER 'Thanks, UGA' ’It) THE EDITOR: Once upon a time a group of 11 French, students happen, d to come to the University of Georgia They did not know what life on a campus is like. They were expecting the unexpected Sharing dorms with American room mates, having meals not only with them but also with other students, attending classes — helped us know the students' American way of living As "Experimenters in International Living" we did not intend to go around. touring, we wanted to understand Ameri cans better through their past (old houses, built at the time of the War Between the Statesi, through their present life (dinner in host families), through their life at the University. We have appreciated the way teachers and professors have welcomed us in their classes, and talked about the American educational system. We have been posi tively surprised by the fact that Ameri can students are more relaxed than French students; professors are less distant and most friendly. American roommates and other stu dents have been very kind to us. They have always been eager to answer our questions and have shown much interest toward us. We are all very grateful to the University of Georgia, which let us know a little bit more of the U.S.A. FRANCOIS LENGLART ANNIE BAUER FRANCOISE GALLAUX Mark one up for faculty' TO THE EDITOR: Regarding the faculty questionnaire incident, mark one up for the faculty. I am pleased and proud of them. In the words of Erasmus Darwin. "He who allows oppression shares the crime.” J.P. EDWARDS 'Times change' TO THE EDITOR: There has been much discussion con cerning homosexuality, but 1 feel the subject has not been examined from the proper perspective. Instead of examining the question from the viewpoint of Biblical admonitions, let us analyze homosexuality in terms of survival. In the early years of history our species was small in number and the need to expand our numbers was the dominant instinct When members of the same sex joined together in exclusion of the opposite sex. essential potential life was sacrificed Powerful taboos were created against homosexual acts in order to stop what most saw as a practice wasteful of life It is easy to see the real effect of the homosexual lifestvle-no children Early societies saw this to be a sin and branded those who willfully abdicated the respon sibility to procreate as deviants and criminals So societies chose to impress the people with the implications of homosexuality by ruling death to be the penalty for homosexual offenders. For thousands of years the restrictions against homosexuality have been denied intense public scrutiny by our civilization _ Today a social movement has begun that wants us to reexamine our prejudices against homosexual acts. If there ever has been a time when a logical argument could be presented in defense of homosexual union, it is during this time of dwindling resources on a planet many feel slowly sinking under the weight of mankind. But I wonder whether those who would avail themselves of the homosexual opportunity understand what it means to Administration repressive sacrifice the real opportunity to live forever, provided through the grace-full act called regeneration. NEAL HORSLEY Time will tell' TO THE EDITOR: When India's Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, was found guilty of campaign irregularities in the 1971 parlia mentary elections, her opposition leaders called for her resignation. Mr. Gandhi's appeal to the Supreme Court to allow her to hold office was granted by a vacation judge of the Supreme Court, Mr V. R Krishna Iyer, who laid down certain restrictions. She could perform her duties as Prime Minister without the right to vote in Parliament Mrs Gandhi's refusal to honor the judgement of the court and her authoritarian and dictatorial behavior was not surprising. The Maintenance of Internal Security Act was passed by Parliament during the Bangladesh crisis. Mrs. Gandhi has now employed the measure to muzzle her critics. More than the threats of strikes and violence throughout the nation, the threat of the opposition leaders to call the armed forces, government employes and police to mutiny added strength to Mrs Gandhi's decision to use the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. The President. Mr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared the state of emergency on the morning of June 26. 1975. due to “internal distur bances." The largest democracy in the world, consisting of 600 million people has been stripped of its civil liberties, and is now being suffocated by dictator- shi#. The citizens' fundamental rights ■ritCr the category known as "right to htWdom" have been suspended The passing of any bill poses no problem to the Prime Minister as the Congress party has a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha Censorship has been imposed on the country's press and foreign journal ists. and a wall raised between India and the rest of the world However, the voice of freedom and justice is not dead In fact Chief Justice of India. A. N. Ray and the Prime Minister's chief counsel. N A Palkivala have resigned in protest How much the Indian people value liberty and what their concept of democracy is. only time will tell ANIL PATEL As this is the yearly public relations edition of The Red and Black. I’m sure this issue contains in-depth commentary on such campus institutions as the football team, the arch, and the bronze bulldog in front of Memorial Hall Ad mittedly. the Univer sity has all these things It also has. among other things, numerous repressive policies and an ad ministration that is as unfeeling as it is inept Feeling assured that the football team the arch, and the bronze bulldog will receive their share of coverage. I intend to devote this space to the aforementioned repressive policies and unfeeling administrators. If you have not already abandoned this article in favor of the featuresque offerings tthe sports are usually found on the back pages i. I must assume an at least passing interest in those affairs which directly affect you as a student and a citizen Working from this assump tion, 1 will attempt to abandon the euphemisms that so often creep into criticism of the powers that be Although the ways in which the administration shafts students are many and varied, they all revert to a basic, all-encompassing attitude of in loco parentis. In other words, the University administration believes students to be little more than children entrusted to their care, to be given little responsibility or self-determination, and certainly not to be taken seriously The fact that most students on this campus are legal adults does nothing to mar the crazed obstinacy witli which most administrators cling to this outdated philosophy. Take, for example, the freshman residency requirement, which usurps the rights of freshmen (most of whom are legal adults) to choose whether or not they wish to live in on-campus housing Ask any administrator worth his swasti ka. and he'll tell you that freshmen are basically too immature to fend for themselves in the real world of apartment living. Take, for example, the solicitation policy which severely limits the free flow of information on campus This policy exists because our paternalistic adminis trators are afraid students will be enticed by advertisements into spending their next quarter's tuition on toothbrushes and magazine subscriptions. Or, as acting Dean of Student Affairs Dwight Douglas put it, "We can't have people selling telephones door-to-door in the dorms.” Take, for example, the fact that the administration has consistently altered the student activities budget as allocated by the Student Senate In so doing, the administration claims that students are not competent to decide how their own student activities money should be spent Feel insulted'’ Well, you should' Every time the administration abridges your right to make those decisions which govern your life. they, in effect, assert that you are incompetent to make those decisions But don't take my word for it Ask Assistant Vice President for Instruction Louise McBee. who has often expressed concern that students are trying to shoulder too many responsibilities so early in life. Ask Director of Student Activities Bill Powell, who expressed fear that the student activities budget would become a "political football" if it were left up to the student to decide. Or. better yet, investigate for yourself whether or not my assessment of administrative attitudes is a cored one. If your investigation is thorough, I believe you'll find that the University has many things to offer, but a democratic educational community is not one of them ED PARKER Majority element's interests ignored Many students entering the University this fail will discover that there is no one in a position of power on campus who is willing to stand up for their interests The Student Government Association and the University Administration seem to agree that the various minority groups are more im portant than the ma jority element stu dents The most glaring example for this lack of concern for the majority student centers on the Dixie issue. Few students are still enrolled who were here when Roger Dancz decided in 1971 that the song "Dixie" should be banned Over the last half-decade, it has been said that the song was banned because those who wanted to hear it-those who didn't want to hear it constituted a physical threat to the band members Whatever the facts were. Dancz and his bosses have resisted all attempts to restore this remnant of Southern heritage to its rightful place. Last winter, in the highest turnout ever recorded for a UGA student referendum, students announced by a three-to-one margin that they wanted the right to hear "Dixie" at University athletic events. Less than half as many students voted a few days earlier in a multi-issue referendum "Liberal" student senators, opposed to “Dixie." had blocked the song from that vote, because they feared the r results But the significant thing about the Dixie" reterendum was the result. The SGA did not offer its almost non-existant prestige to help fulfill the students' wishes And the administration tried to ignore the controversy, saying only that they could not cut into Dancz’s academic freedom by permitting the playing of a banned song. Another area where majority interests suffer is in the area of expression of ideas The University welcomes all expression — as long as it is to the left of center The University Union brings in liberal speakers, such as Margaret Mead, but when another campus organization sponsored a debate between Dr. William Shockley and a University faculty mem ber. it was broken up by a group of blacks and others. The Student Judiciary held the Black Student Union responsible for the demon stration. which that group could easily afford: they receive an average of about Sio.ooo a year in student activities funds (While student activities funds are alio cated by the Student Senate, the alloca lions must be approved by the adminis tration-dominated Allocations Review Committee > There is little that a student, proud of his or her Southern heritage can do. besides singing "Dixie" at home football games If your parents are Georgia alumni, though, be sure to tell them what’s going on here at Georgia. They might be interested. Even if you can spare just one hour a week, you can get involved in Scouting. Find out more. W rite Be Prepared, BSA. Nonh Brunswick, New Jersey 08902. z.p_ Scouting todays a lot more than you think, i I McDonald’s welcomes you to campus with two delicious Big Mac trT1 sandwiches. How’s that for openers—two allbeefpattiesspecialsaucelet- tucecheescpicklesonionsona sesameseedbun t.m. You get two of all of the above for the price of one at McDonald’s (R) because we’re glad you’re here. BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE at any of these McDonald’s * i/ * * AfiAAir* mxY [ it 22:10 Atlanta Hwv. 150 Oaines School Kd. FREE BIG MAC WITH TIIF PI IMIIA8F OF X BIG M AC Um» m I McDonalds ’22:141 Xtlanla llwx. 1121 Prince X\e. I '*»• Gaines School ltd «.«.■» at the^e UtatkMr- unit Present this coupon and receive one Big Mac free with the purchase of a Big Mac. One free Big Mac per customer. iKIft MRtkrfx Oct 31. Itii At McDonalds wedoitall forYourtf\ iMcDonaji aids
