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Page Four
Ed Tant
Brain Power Shall Overcome;
Popcorn Ads Rule the World
In the past, many people and nations tried to conquer the world or,
as the handle bar mustached Kaiser of Germany euphemistically
termed it, secure “living room/’
These efforts have, without
question, been interesting, but
the technique used has usually
been wrong. Almost without ex
ception, would-be world conquer
ors have used violence and kill
ing to force their desires on oth
er people. As examples, I cite
Hitler, Napoleon, and Alexander
the Great, the colorful conqueror
who cried in his tent when he
found that he had run out of lands
to subjugate.
WEAPONS
Many of these attempts were
superficially successful, but be
cause of the forceful use of wea
pons and killing, most territorial
rights have shifted through the
centuries like dust in the wind.
Since violence only alienates peo
ple and because most of the con
querors were motivated only by a
thirst for power. Thus, sooner or
later, most of the dictators were
toppled.
For this reason, it is obvious
that the best way to take over the
world is through the use of brain,
not brawn. Asa guide to West
Georgia students who someday
wish to graduate and go into the
world conqueror business, this
columnist presents some sug
gestions about how any college
student can someday have the
world as his oyster without having
to fire a shot.
SUBLIMINAL
One technique is known as the
Lie-In,West Georgian Criticized; Croft Praised
DEAR EDITOR
I was very much discouraged by the “lie-in” last Tuesday. To the
best of my understanding, the purpose of the demonstration was not
only to protest the unwritten rule against couples reclining on the
front campus lawn, but to symbolically protest, through this single
protest, various written and unwritten rules which students feel are
either archaic or unduly restrictive to their full enjoyment of campus
life.
I have mixed feelings about the
specific rule in question, but I
am discouraged by the actions of
both the administration and the
students at the lie-in.
FREE COKES
Evidently when the administra
tion heard of the planned demon
stration, they decided to hire a
band and give away free Cokes
in order to take the attention away
from the purpose of the protest.
This ruse proved to be eminently
successful, for everyone had a
great time, but the demonstration
was unsuccessful in the sense that
it failed to materialize in its
purpose. It was as if the adminis
tration petted the students on the
back, but told them there would
be no change in rules or genuine
consideration of the matter being
protested. (Although it may well
be unseemly for students to be
seen “making out” on the front
campus in view of all persons who
drive past it or near it, no real
effort has been made to provide
an alternate location for such ac
tivity. Quite often the campus will
be instantly beautified for the
benefit of visiting VlP’s or par
ents, but there seems to be little
concern for beautifying the cam
pus for everyday life for the or
dinary students. There are many
worthwhile plans for future beau
tification, but the present stu
“subliminal advertising ap
proach.” To do this, it would be
necessary to have a large num
ber of dedicated people in the
movie or television business. The
principle of subliminal advertis
ing is to flash propaganda or ad
slogans on movie or television
screens so rapidly that viewers
see the message not with their
eyes, but with their subconscious
minds. A large movie theater
once tried this technique to drum
up more business for its snack
bar, and after a message saying
something like “Buy more pop
corn” was flashed on the screen,
crowds rushed into the lobby
clutching their dimes. In the en
suing rush, several movie-goers
were trampled and one usher, in
the way of the popcorn-crazed
mob, had his teeth knocked out
with his own flashlight.
Ambitious students wishing to
use this technique must be fore
warned of its shortcomings, how
ever. For one thing, many coun
tries are short on movies or tele
vision sets, so to subliminally
propagandize the whole world
would necessitate a fund drive to
buy TVs for impoverished Chi
nese and Indians. Students not
wishing to go to this trouble could
act to take over only the United
States, where idiot boxes abound.
COMMUNICATIONS
Another technique is termed the
“direct communications” ap-
dents are losing out on what could
be done now if the college showed
as much interest in their enjoying
the campus as it does in the im
pressing of visiting dignitaries.)
LACK OF PARTICIPATION
I was further discouraged by the
lack of participation in the dem
onstration by the students. Sure,
there was excellent attendance,
but few if any actually carried
out the demonstration as planned.
Whether it actually exists or not,
students seem to exhibit the apa
thy with which they have so often
been accused by manifesting a
fear of bucking the administra
tion’s policy.
If and when students do finally
begin to have the guts to challenge
through demonstrations or even
“legitimate channels ” policies of
the administration with which
they disagree and if at the same
time the administration reacts
with a ruse similar to last Tues
day’s, I wonder how serious will
be the consequences of these
demonstrations. These are my
personal opinions; I wonder how
other faculty members and the
students feel.
SINCERELY,
THOMAS R. ISELEY
THE WEST GEORGIAN
proach. This involves setting up
pirate radio and television sta
tions off the coast of various con
tinents or orbiting high above
earth in communications satel
lites. For those of you who are
not technologically inclined, sat
ellites are actually easy to orbit
- they do it at Cape Kennedy al
most every day. To have your own
talking moon, all you need is
several thousand pounds of gun
powder, a long cylinder with fins
and a cone on top, a large back
yard to use as a launching area,
and a metal sphere crammed with
electronic equipment which can
jam conventional stations. One
word of warning, though - when
you launch your satellite, light
fuse and retire quickly.
WARY
If you are wary of anything that
might explode or accidently shoot
down airplanes, you can always
develop powerful offshore radio
stations in ships at sea. These
can be used to broadcast racy and
propaganda-filled programs all
over the world and thus mold
men’s minds. Out in California,
a college professor is already
hard at work on his broadcaster,
which he calls “Radio Free
America.”
Anyone wishing to further inves
tigate the lucrative and romantic
hobby of world conquest should
read again the guidelines laid
down in this column and peruse
Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New
World Revisited’ and some of the
science fiction stories of Arthur
C. Clarke.
TO THE EDITOR
In response to the recent edi
torial in the West Georgian, en
titled “Back to the Caves,” I
would like to take this opportu
nity to express the feelings of the
members of the Student Govern
ment Association. We are con
cerned about student interest, not
only in elections, but also in oth
er student activities, and are
working toward creating a more
informed student body.
QUOTE
I quote from the above men
tioned article: “On its face, it
seems that Jay Reardon was the
clear and definite winner in the
race for Sophomore Class presi
dent. However, he was not seat
ed immediately and the Student
Government skirted the issue by
sending the problem on to the Ju
diciary Committee.’ At the time
this article was published it was
both outdated and misinforma
tive. The election complaints had
already been dropped and Jay
Reardon had been unanimously
approved by SGA. That Jay Rear
don was the clear and definite
winner immediately after the
election is just as the article stat
ed, an appearance. There were
pending complaints which pre
vented the Student Government
from approving him as president
elect of the Sophomore Class and
representative to the SGA. Be
cause of these formal complaints
the issue was referred to the Ju
diciary Committee, not because
the Student Government wished to
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
"THIS SCHOOL MAKES IT DIFFICULT KIOHT UP TO THE
VEKT LAST TO ©ETA DIPLOMA."
High Purpose
The newly approved Fraternal Organizations have the possibility of
becoming one of the best things that has happened to West Georgia
College in years. Of course, these groups also have the chance to be
come the worst imaginable. If these groups can become no more than
“beer drinking cliques,” they will certainly detract from campus
life, for members as well as those other students who may not be as
sociated with the group.
So far, these groups have performed many worthwhile service
projects, and we hope that the leadership of these groups will con
tinue to keep up the good work and keep in mind the purpose of these
organizations.
skirt the issue, but because this
is established SGA procedure and
it is the duty of the Judiciary
Committee to investigate the va
lidity of such complaints. If so
cial factions exist within the Stu
dent Government, they did not in
terfere with the final decisions
rendered by the SGA.
TAKES TIME
The Student Government is not
incapable of making simple de
cisions, but it is willing to take
the necessary time to make cor
rect decisions when difficult is
sues arise. For this we might
thank the student body for choos
ing capable and interested rep
resentatives.
We hope that the West Georgian
will take advantage of the oppor
tunity offered them to obtain ac
curate, first hand information
concerning the issues, policies,
and procedures of the Student
Government Association, by be
ing assured that their represen
tatives to the Student Government
attends future meetings and does
not continue to follow the pattern
set by their past representatives.
We would appreciate this attend
ance.
On behalf of the Student Govern
ment Association, I sign,
JENNY RAINWATER,
SECRETARY, STUDENT
GOVERNMENT
ASSOCIATION
TO THE EDITOR
In acknowledgment and praise
of an outstanding job, we the de-
May 24, 1968
bate team of 1967-68 are honored
to take this opportunity to express
our gratitude and appreciation to
Mr. Blanton Croft, our debate
coach.
DEVOTED
All year long, Mr. Croft has de
voted his time, talents, and ef
forts toward molding us into bet
ter speakers. He has relentless
ly pushed himself as well as his
debaters toward the goal of per
fection.
We are sincerely grateful to Mr.
Croft for his efforts and their re
sults, but he has also gone be
yond the call of duty in being a
perpetual optimist. Whenever
things look bad, he’s always there
to show the good side and boost
our morale. Sacrificing thoughts
of his own problems in order to
encourage us has been his con
stant pastime.
TRAVELING
Through traveling to eight de
bate tournaments in six different
states, Mr. Croft has had to put
up with many of our little idio
syncrasies, yet he has constantly
been our support and encourage
ment, and never shows disap
pointment with us when we fail to
bring back the hardware, though
we have succeeded in winning
many awards and honors this
past season, due to his superb
coaching.
For this superb coaching beyond
the call of duty, we salute you,
Mr. Croft. May you have many
more successful seasons of de
bate.
S/THE DEBATE TEAM