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Hagt* * Thf Red and Black, Tuesday. November 29. 1977
Editorials
JOEL BURKE
Sadat brings hope to Israel
The Red and Black
Irrational behavior
• No more war." Egyptian President Anwar Sadat told
the Israeli Knesset
With these words a new picture has developed in the
Middle East For the first time in her 29 year history.
Israel has good reason to hope one of her former
enemies may become a friend
Much remains unresolved yet,
but the fact that an Arab leader
has willingly flown to Israel to talk
peace is an enormous step.
Sadat’s courage is worthy of
praise He has thrown off the
shackles of prejudice which his
predecessors have held for cen
turies
Most of the other Arab nations
are vocally upset with his action
To discuss issues in a non-explosive atmosphere seems
beyond their comprehension They complain Sadat is
searching for a separate Egyptian-Israeli solution, that
he is ignoring the views of Syria. Jordan, and the
Palestine Liberation Organization <PL()».
They should realize an initiative on their behalf
similar to Sadat s would allow all Arab nations
concerned to negotiate a final solution to the Middle
East conflict
The time-bomb situation between Egypt and Israel
prior to the Sadat visit seems more to their liking
The Soviet Union is also upset. An Arab country has
finally decided to take its fate into its own hands
Totalitarian regimes hate to see their allies tor puppetsi
aet in an independent manner.
Since 1972. when Egypt kicked out the Soviet advisors
stationed there, the two countries have not been on the
best of terms. Hut Russia continues to play an important
role in influencing more radical Arab nations
Sadat rules approximately half of the Arabs in the
Middle East His country has the strongest army. For
these reasons he has realized he has the power to act as
he wishes
Egypt's economy is in perilous shape Another war
with Israel would lie suicide Sadat knows this, and so
Joel liurke is assistant campus edi.or of The Red and
Black
do his people, who have openly supported his Israeli
visit.
Sadat is learning it is not easy working for peace
Israel knows this fact well.
The world still remains insensitive to the situation.
Last week the United Nations (UNi General Assembly
demanded Israel immediately surrender all land gained
in its lour Arab initiated wars This means allow ing the
hostile nations of Syria and Jordan to sit within 10
minutes of major Israeli population centers
The Palestinians deserve a voice and Israel has
always accepted this But the PLO, which swears to the
destruction of Israel, is not the proper party to
represent them. The PLO ignited the war in Lebanon
and supported numerous attacks on innocent people
throughout the world Let us not forget the killing of
Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics or the slaughter
of children at Maalot
Israel is open to concessions; their government has
said '‘nothing is withheld from negotiation." A
Palestinian state is a possibility, provided the PLO does
not govern it.
The world expects more from Israel than it does for
itself When was the last time you heard England say it
would give Jamaica to the Jamaicans or Ireland back to
the Irish'.’ All the land China has had to be taken from
someone I heard Germany and most of Western Europe
was conquered from various trifles Let us not forget our
land was once a hunting ground for the Indians, until we
hunted the Indians.
One of the grossest examples of territorial conquest is
when Russia overran Czechoslovakia Yet the UN never
passed a resolution against that
The fact is Israel does not want all the land it has
gained in its 29-year history. The Arabs simply lose
more every time they go to war Maybe Sadat is
realizing wars only increase Israel s size
If the neighboring Arab countries lived peacefully
with Israel she would gladly give back all acquired land
Egypt may well gel back the Sinai if. she continues an
open dialogue with her Israeli neighbor
Sadat may not last very long Assasination or political
turnover is always a possibility IPthe awful happens, a
new light will have been extinguished in a dark world
JERRY MASON
No way to please
some organizations
Shutt lamented that students
are more interested in what
period a class is offered than in
what subject matter is taught.
The registrar may be right to
some extent. But many students
use the first two days of classes
to decide if a particular class
and instructor is for them. If
drop-add is only two days long,
students will not have enough
time to evaluate their classes.
Many seniors are closed out of
a needed CwIVSi in pre-registra
tion and depend on drop-add to
pick up their graduation require
ment. With only two days for
drop-add. these seniors will have
even less chance to pick up the
needed course.
Most students have stood in
line for hours trying to add
English 101 or drop History 252.
And despite administrative at
tempts to the contrary, they will
probably continue to stand in line
to get the schedule they want
and need. Shortening the drop-
add period to two days will only
create more chaos than already
exists. Lines will be even
longer—if that is possible—and
less people will get what they
want.
Even if it was true, as Shutt
complains, that all students
recklessly registered for classes
fed unhappy at an article of this sort
unless it is complimentary to the point of
being public relations nonsense The
“poorly written" part is merely an
opinion; I happen to feel that the piece
read fairly well
These ladies were also concerned about
the section concerning sorority rush.
There was no “insight," claims the
council.
Think about it for a minute or so. It
shouldn't take you any longer than that to
realize there is very little, if any, insight
involved in rush They either like you or
they do not You also get a chance to like
or dislike them, but they get to choose
first.
Next, the council decided that it did not
like the article's concern with black and
white sororities. Is it just possible that
Panhellenic is embarrassed by the racial
distinction?
These fine people also took offense at
the inclusion of an outsider's comments
about the Greek system. Come on,
Panhellenic, wake up: What other people
think of you is a rather important part of
your organization, since you rely upon
outsiders to supply the new members
every year.
Lastly, even the pictures that
accompanied the piece drew some fire.
The council graciously included some
sugg«»stions on what would have made
better pictures showing the “closeness of
sisterhood "
The Panhellenic Council showed real
conviction when they signed their letter
• The Panhellenic Council." Any idiot can
hide behind the name of an organization
And if the council hoped to intimidate
somebody by presenting an august
unified front, they failed. It wasn't even a
good try.
It is curious that an institute of
higher learning that puts as
much emphasis on research as
our own University could try to
solve problems in such an
irrational manner. But you need
look no farther than last week’s
decision to shrink the drop-add
period to two days to find a
perfect example of irrational
behavior.
The period used to be five
days, but little by little it has
been shortened to the present
two. Officials cite the high
number of students going
through drop-add as the reason
the period needs to be so short.
“At this University it seems
there is a free-for-all when it
comes to classes,” Registrar
Bruce T Shutt said.
they knew they were going to
drop, it would make sense for the
University to accomodate the
students’ needs. It might mean
extra work for our administra
tors, but it would mean the
people paying to go here would
be served.
Drop-add is a service; a
service for the students, and
heaven knows students' desires
and needs are not taken into
consideration enough by this
University.
But you can't win. A few days later, a
letter crossed the desk of fhe editor,
expressing more than moderate displea-
Jerry Mason is a former cops editor of
The Red and Black
sure at the entire page, and signed by the
nebulous group calling itselt “The
Panhellenic Council." OK, I guess
everyone is entitled to their opinion, -ven
the Panhellenic Council
These folks were upset about, among
other things, the fact that the article
"lacked cohesiveness, organization and
purpose;'' some even felt that it was
"highly misrepresentative and very
poorly written."
I really think that any group is going to
I guess there's just no pleasing some
people I have worked for The Red and
Black for one year plus now, and in that
space of time I have heard or heard of
complaints from damn near every
campus organiza
tion, all the way
from the women's
rugby club to the
Black Theatrical
Ensemble. All wan
ted more coverage.
Some were justified.
But one complaint
last week took the
prize
Think back for a second to two weeks
ago The Red and Black ran some
articles concerning the Greek system
here at the University. Two of them, in
fact; one about sororities, the other about
(what else’) fraternities. On a page all
by themselves. Complete with pictures.
The stories made every effort to be
objective, and the pictures were, well,
typical and innocuous.
LETTERS
‘Boxing, violent movies cultivate crime’
TO THE EDITOR:
As I walked out of South PJ the other
night after seeing Marathon Man. it took
all I had to keep down the dinner I had
eaten not long before. I, and a
cross-section of University students, had
just been subjected to 125 minutes of
non-stop blood, guts, violent murders and
very imaginative methods of torture
Personally, I didn't enjoy the movie, so 1
headed back to the dorm in hopes of
getting a few laughs from Saturday Night
Live.
Upon entering the lobby. I found
numerous residents huddled around the
television cheering and yelling Not
hearing the unexpected laughter, I
wanted to find the source of all this
enthusiasm Looking closer. I noticed
that Young and Norton were in the
process of beating each other The yelling
from the crowd made me feel as though I
were a part of the cast of Kollrrball.
Death Race 2000. or A Clock-work
Orange. I saw there and began to feel
very sadistic Here I was. enjoying two
human beings try to incapacitate each
other it made me sick to my stomach.
What is the matter with all of us? We
go out and support the violent movies by
buying tickets to see them, we pay
boxers huge sums of money to mangle
themselves ui public, and then we wonder
why the crime rate is rising and there is
an increase in the incidence of rapes!!
It's sick, and we are all the victims of
our need to see blood
Many people I've talked to say I'm
overreacting-A»ut I wonder what they
would say if their girlfriend was raped
while waiting for the night bus. or their
boyfriend was knifed on his way
downtown’
It's a proven fact that social deviants
can be cultivated by a violent or
abnormal environment
By accepting all this crap going on
around us, we are creating that
"abnormal environment " Think about
it—it makes sense
Next time you get that urge to see a
machine gun massacre, try taking your
date to a musical, go dancing, get
together with friends, spend the evening
at home—if not for you, do it for the one
you love.
Control of violence has to begin
somewhere. Why not with the victims’
MARK WALDROP
‘Knowledge
not spoon-fed’
TO THE EDITOR:
I would think that by the time a person
is old enough to go to college, it would
have become evident to him that
knowledge is a thing to be acquired, not
spoon-fed After reading about John
Harrison's “discovery" (Nov. 14) of the
wisdom of multiple choice tests. I am
afraid that this seemingly self-evident
truth is not so self evident
As a microbiology major at the
University, I have been through the
biology courses to which Harrison
referred Rather than getting the
impression that I was suffering from
acute knowledge deprivation, I really
enjoyed and benefitted from the courses
I must admit, however, that I was more
concerned with learning about biology
than I was with preparing for multiple
choice tests If one s only concern is to
prepare for multiple choice testa in order
to get the grade, then all that will result
is a multiple choice knowledge Let us be
clear at this point; the tault of obtaining
a multiple choice knowledge lies with the
student, not with the teacher To repeat
an often used phrase, "School is what you
make It.”
All of the above points do not even take
into account the practical concerns I
wonder if Harrison, as a professor or
T.A., would be willing to take the extra
time necessary to grade 600 essay exams
from Biology tot or 102 classes Idealism
is fine, but we live in a real world
Finally, let me say that 1 agree there
are more thorough ways to test
knowledge than multiple choice exams
In targe classes, however, alternative
testing methods may not be viable No
form of test (nor any biology professor
that I know) prohibits learning. If
Harrison is really concerned about his
deprivation of knowledge, he should
move into a field in which all information
is spoon-fed, if he can find one It is high
time that we as students stopped putting
all of the responsibility for learning on
the shoulders of our teachers, and placed
the bulk of it on our own backs, where it
belongs
BRYAN WILLIAMS
‘Try graduation
gauntlet idea’
TO THE EDITOR:
I have come up with an innovative new
idea for graduation which I feel will be
comparable to the present procedure I
would like to outline it here and petition
for its approval by the student body
After four years of intensive training,
including nurses such as LUP 100, AVD
210 and l R *-« (Lines and Lining-up.
Intermediate Advisor Dodging and Bu
reaucracy Appreciation! ..." student shall
receive an invitation to his graduation
ceremony There he must stand 100 yards
from the podium and listen to an
unamplified speech of two hours duration
after which the speaker will throw him a
football with his diploma concealed
inside.
The perspective graduate must then
run the gauntlet of a double line of
University personnel. Specifically, these
shall be Fred Davison, the student's
fatuity advisor, an English 102 professor,
a Chemistry 121 professor, the head of
Food Services and the Director of
Housing For the student aspiring toward
graduate or professional school there will
be added an administrator from
Educational Testing Services
It is these persons' job to tackle the
student in his pursuit of success If he
passes through unscathed he will then, and
only then, receive an appointment with
the University vet school to have his
sheep skin removed from the pig skin
JEANNE WARD
‘Movie review
misses theme’
TO THE EDITOR:
Regarding the movie review of looking
for Mr. Goodbar. obviously Libby Myers,
the reviewer, is overwhelmed instead of
Diane Keaton Myers lacks an under
standing of the movie’s central theme—
Theresa Dunn's incoherent view of love
and its different concepts Keaton more
than adequately fills the role of the
obsessed woman. Theresa Dunn, in her
search for love Keaton's natural flair for
portraying insecurity, as seen in Annie
llall. is again used very effectively in
l ooking for \1r. Goodbar
Another thing Myers fails to compre
hend is the reason for the drab,
depressing sets The sets are not drab
because of lack of funds Instead, their
depressing appearance is utilized to
accentuate Theresa Dunn's lost and
searching self Also, Myers forgets the
lively and diverse bar scenes They are
not bland and all alike as described in the
review.
The next important flaw in Myers’
review was her incorrect view of the
supporting actor's effectiveness, exclud
ing Tuesday Weld, who was overly
praised in the review Each actor fully
represents Judith Rossner's intentions
concerning the supporting characters
Since Myers fails to recognize the
central themes of Looking for Mr.
(ioodbar, her review is inconsistent and
misleading Myers also mistook Weld as
being Keaton’s younger sister when, in
fact. Weld’s character is much older
Considering all these mistakes in her
review, maybe Myers should see the
movie again and revise her previous
misconceptions
ELIZABETH L. BOLLING
THE RED AND BLACK
Steve Bills, Editor
Gregg Steinle, Ed Stamper,
Executive editor Business manager
Hope Dlugozima, copy editor; Matt Prichard, campus editor; Tom Barton, city
editor; Yvonne Williams, state editor, Ed Grisamore. feature editor; William
Haines, entertainment editor, David Westin, sports editor. David Croaby, photo
editor; Vincent Papsidero. Vali Braselton. assistant copy editors; Joel Burke,
Katheryn Hayes, Skip Hulett, assistant campus editors; Mike Roberts, assistant
city editor. Mike Virtanen, assistant stale editor, Geraldine Romano, assistant
feature editor; Bob Ingram, assistant sports editor. John Cline assistant photo
editor; Louise Lamer, wire editor. Tammy Savage, editorial assistant; Debbie
Osteen, graphics coordinator; Debbie Blevins, production manager.
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