The perils of
a job well done
by Lin Redmond
Clarion Assistant Editor
Derrick Briggs and Beth Winters
K)ok the lead roles in BC’s staged
•Mock Rape Trial" on Thursday, Feb.
15, Performers in the "trial" were given
identities rather than the usual definite
scripts and had to ad lib their responses
[0 cross examination according to what
they were told of their character's
{personality and probable role in the
! situation.
: This method of staging brought a
' great deal of authenticity to the mock
ordeal. In fact, the play was so realistic
some BC students are apparently
experiencing difficulty distinguishing
fact from fantasy, leading Briggs and
; Winters to some unexpected and dubious
rewards for their all-too-convincing
performances.
Both students, who participated in
the play in order to make people more
i^nsitive to the anguish and complexity
of a rape situation, have been hassled on
; campus while going about their daily
‘businessby students who appear to have
'taken sides." Briggs, RA and former
SGA Speaker of the Legislature, says,
"Everyone's calling me a r^ist. It's like
I really did it."
One of Winters' roommates who
bonowed the sweater used as "evidence"
heard a student lemaric, "Oh, I see you're
wearing your rape sweater."
Since the "trial," students have
persistently offered negative comments.
'After a high school play people say,
itiood job,'" Briggs remembers. "It's
over. Everyone goes on about their
business. It gets to the point where it
gets on your nerves. Everyone should
jgetover it now."
' Winters, referring to past roles in
iC drama productions, says, "Why have
i P»p!e picked this one to label me as
' laead of a senile old woman, a cocky
oH woman or a Southern idiot?"
In spite of the harassment, however,
l»th performers feel they have gained
’iluable insight. Winters says, "When
[Battle] asked me to do it, I just
*Kiked at it as another chance to get on
But when I saw the scripts I saw
'■ow shaded gray it could be — how it
®“ld go either way. "
®riggs says, "I think I got an
understanding how the victim feels
^use you could see how they get
*'*3ted. Also the person who did what
did, even though they didn't mean
lobe as mean as they were."
Briggs and Winters both wish
•®*dents would glean the value from the
but stop being unhealthily
P®®ccupied with it "I think people need
1*® ^ that what they saw was not really
says Winters.
"•••A portrayal," adds Briggs.
Winters concludes, "So stop saying
■t was a rape trial. Don't forget it was a
Jpct rape trial."
The Clarion Feb. 26, 1990 Page 7
14
A bad day at Black Rock: Harper Haworth and
Cammy Cabe with the Mercedes....
and with the other totalled BC car, left to right, T.J.
McElaney, Guy Harris, John Turner and Chad Riggsbee.
BC students survive 10-car pile-up
by Harper Haworth
Clarion Reporter
Have you ever been in a 10-car
accident?
That’s what 10 BC students were
involved in on their way to Tallahassee,
Ha., Friday. Feb. 9 on 1-85 south in
Duluth, Ga., 15 minutes from Atlanta.
In addition to myself, these students
were: Marie Olson, Cammy Cabe, John
Turner, T.J. McElany, Guy Harris,
Chad Riggsbee, Todd Wysong, Sam
Sugaya and Steve Fitzhugh. Seven
other students on the trip were not in in
the wreck because they were traveling
further back in the flowing traffic, riding
in Wendy Orendorf s Honda Accord and
Martie Davis' Toyota Corolla.
Turner's 1987 GT Celica was the
first to hit the already-jammed up cars,
and Cabe’s parents’ Mercedes was next
in line -- both cars were totalled.
Sugaya’s 1988 Volkswagen Golf took a
front bumper hit, but it wasn’t too
serious.
What caused such a dreadful wreck?
Practially every BC student involved felt
that the heavy rains that followed us
from Brevard had a lot to do with it; cars
kept sliding into one another. Georgia
patrolmen are investigating the story
that the pile-up was caused by some
local guy in a pickup truck.
"It was like we were a pinball in a
pinball machine." says McElaney, a
freshman from Clearwater, Fla. "We
were hit once, then again, and then
again. McElaney was in the back seat of
Turner's Celica, and ended up in the
front seat
The disaster may have caused a lot
of tears, but one message that got to
everyone was this: "HI always wear my
seatbelt," says Olson, Hilton Head,
S.C., freshman who believes his
seatbelt prevented him from flying
headfirst through the windshield of the
Mercedes.
Cabe, a Brevard native and a BC
sophomore, thinks back: "The only two
people who went to the hospital are the
ones who didn t have on their seatbelts,
he says.
The real scare during the accident
wasn’t seeing whose car got hit the
worst, but seeing if anyone of the
students got hurt. Thank God, everyone
walked away from the accident. We
should all be grateful.
The Georgia Highway Patrol was
right there when the accident started to
unfold...reason being, a smaller accident
had happened earlier at the same spot.
They called an ambulance and five tow
trucks. Some cars had to be taken off
the Interstate two at a time. The Georgia
patrolment scoped the area quickly and
promptly, and one of the patrolmen
Turner. "You’re lucky to be alive."
Futzhugh. a Charlotte sophomore,
summed up the entire event in three
simple words: "Eerie, weird and
miraculous." The word "eerie" comes to
Fitzhugh’s mind he says because he
remembers all the BC cars had red
ribbons tied to their antenae - and after
the wreck, the three BC cars in the
wreck were lined up in the middle of the
interstate in different directions with
those red ribbons flowing in the wet
rain.
Tallahassee freshman Davis, who
was not in the accident, says, "This is
the worst accident Tve ever seen," adding
that she was still in shock over the in
cident. Davis, along with the six other
BC students not involved in the wreck,
say they were as stunned as those
actually in the accident
As for myself, I just remember
before we crashed, holding onto the
backdoor handle of the Mercedes,
thinking, "Here I come, God!"
In a crash that only lasted for seven
seconds, a lot of damage happened. The
BC student’s cars involved were jammed
with people: four in the Cclica, three in
the Mercedes and three in the Golf. It’s
amazing that no one got seriously
injured.
Needless to say, the weekend trip to
Florida was not off to a good start.
What could happen next? After the
police gathered their information on the
accident, they left, somehow forgeuing
that we had three cars towed away and
that there were 17 of us needing
transportation. So... as all 17 stood in
the pouring rain on 1-85 watching the 5
p.m. traffic How by, we all knew were
weren’t going to Tallahassee that day.
Luckily, a "flower child" of a man
was nice enough to let eight of us climb
in his VW van and give us a ride to the
nearest motel. Everyone else piled in
Orendorf s and Davis’ cars and followed
close behind. When we arrived at the
Days Inn in Duluth, Ga., for a moment
we thought our nightmares were over.
But it only got worse. The motel's staff
let us know right off that if any one of
us messed up one time, they’d kick us
all out - with no refunds. We were told
that at the front desk and then again
when they gave us a room inspection.
What more could happen lo us? That
was enough for one night, and all 17 of
us crammed in three rooms, with TV
our only means of entertainment for that
night.
The next day, those of us who were
in the wreck w(Ae up sore, and with
empty wallets as well, after paying for
the rooms.
Not too much more could happen,
could it? Two out of the five cars were
driveable. But how can two cars carry 17
people on a two-hour roadtrip back
home?
Then, when Orendorf s Honda broke
down, we were down to one car for 17
people.
We called some friends for help, but
only two could make it.
Thanks to Sharon Waggy for the
offer of a BC school van, and thanks to
David Bamhardt, Eric Sandberg and to
Cammy's dad for all coming to pick us
up.
In closing, everyone who was a part
of this never-ending weekend said a
number of times, "I never thought I'd be
glad to be back at Brevard..." As you
can see for yourself in these pictures,
this was no joke; it was scary and tense.
I guess next time we all decide to go to
Honda, we'll Hy.
Did anything good come out of all
this?
Before we left lo go on the trip,
some of us were strangers. By the time
it was all over, we'd formed a club that
will live with us for a long lime: the
Red Ribbon Club.