Furness Articulate On
Rights Of Consumers
What do television sets,
aerosol cans, cars and trucks,
and dishwashers have in
common? According to Betty
Furness, consumer advocate
speaking in the Moon Room
last Tuesday nignt, all can
present dangers to the unwary
consumer. Introduced by
Kathy Sebo as the woman who
has come from "that Westing
house Lady" to "that woman
of consumer rights
Ms. Furness struck a
responsive chord in her
audience as she outlines some
of the problems that the
consumer faces as he or she
tries to distinguish the
difference between the 1700
brands, sizes and makes of
tires currently available, or
the seven different types of
packaging of Coca-Cola in one
store. (This packaging deter
mined the difference in price,
which ranged from 27 cents a
quart to 60 cents a quart).
Furness came out strongly
for unit pricing, commenting
"Most of us can't multiply by
eight and divide by 32 while
the Muzak is playing "Sweet
Lorraine" and the kids are
dismanteling the bubble-gum
machine," and claimed that
unit-pricing could save up to
10 percent on the average
grocery bill.
Ms. Furness outlines a
basic "Consumer's Bill of
Rights" as 1) The.right to
choose, 2) the right to be
informed, 3) the right to be
safe, 4) the right to be heardr
Of the right to be informed,
she said that the consumer
had the right to know "if the
detergent is made of phos
phatesy the container made of
plastic, or the food made of
food." She read off a list of
vile-sounding chemicals, ask
ed if anyone in the audience
woulc feed their child such a
product, and revealed that
that was the total ingredient
list in orange kool-aid. A
slightly more appetizing list
turned out to be the
ingredients in a synthetic
fabric pantsuit.
The former actress also said
that a consumer had the right
to be informed how long an
appliance would last and how
much power it takes to run it.
"Bargain" air conditioners, in
particular, she said, are no
bargains if they take more
power to provide the same
amount of cooling.
Stressing that the right to
be protected from unsafe
products is a basic one, Ms.
Furness informed the audi
ence that baby food manufac
turers put monosodium gluta
mate, which may be harmful.
to babies, in baby food, so that
the food would taste better to
adults who might be sampling
it, since, after, all adults do
the majority of baby food
buying.
Speaking of safety in
broader terms, Ms. Furness
criticized the modern automo
bile saying that it is "an
ecological disaster." She said
of the future, "We have to
choose between bigger and
better."
Of the final consumer right
-- the right to be heard - Ms.
Furness said that "we must
complain every time we are
disatisfied" and outlined the
best ways to complain. She
said that if a visit to the place
where the defective product
was bought didn't yield
results, a letter to the
President of the company
might. She reminded her
listeners, that, as a last resort,
small-claims court is "the
people's court."
Concerning the future of the
consumer movement, Ms.
Furness stressed that this is
not the time to sit back and
gloat about past successes.
She added that "women are
going to lead the consumer
movement...men think of
themselves first as producers,
then as consumers." She said
that consumers need each
other for strength and closed
her talk by saying "There is
much to be done, and it can
only be done by us."
John Lloyd makes valiant effort in pie-eating contest Saturday. Photo by Causey
Most Dorm Positions For '74-75 Filled
Interns and some coordina
tors for next year have been
selected. In Binford, the
interns are: Barbara Deßoise,
first floor; Gwenne Raschke,
second floor; and Pat Holman,
third floor. In Bryan, the
interns are: Crystal Duval,
The Quiffortocm
THURSDAY, .APRIL 11, 1974
One Woman Show By Actress Burrows
by Dave Owens
Actress Vinie Burrows, who
holds the record for the
longest running off Broadway
one-woman show, will appear
at 8:15 p.m. Monday, April
15, in Dana Auditorium at
Guilford College.
Her visit to the campus -- to
meet with students as well as
to perform is an Ihtegral
part of Journey Into Blackness
11, a week-long program
sponsored by Brothers and
Sisters in Blackness.
BASIB's president, Eloise
Gray, explained that "Journey
II" is made "in an effort to
bridge that gap that need not
exist between blacks and
whites on the Guilford campus
and in the community."
Cosponsoring Ms. Burrows'
visit are the Guilford College
Arts Series and the college's
"Being Human in the
Twentieth Century" course.
Tickets for the Burrows
program, expected to be
similar to her successful
one-woman show, "Walk
Together, Children," will be
available at the door.
Of "Walk Together, Child
ren" a New York critic wrote:
"On stage there is only an
unpainted wooden stool, three
first floor; Mike Kennedy,
second floor; and Tricia
Gamble, third floor. The
interns in Milner are: Jim
Knight, first floor; Brad King,
second south; Win Alexander,
second north; Steve Graves,
third south; Doug Neill, third
screens loosely hooked to
gether, and Vinie Burrows, a
pretty black lady in a flowing
red dress.
"That's the inventory of
'Walk Together, Children' but
it adds up to more theater than
you are likely to find in six
other shows combined.
"The credit and the thanks
all go to Miss Burrows - for
her enormous talent in this
'black journey from auction
block to new nation time!' and
for her taste in selecting and
compiling the material from
black writing past and
present."
The topics she selected for
use in the show deal with
"what it means and how it
feels to be black in America."
A native of New York City
and a graduate of New York
University, Ms. Burrows
made her Broadway debut
with Helen Hayes and has
since performed in a number
of successful plays both on
and off Broadway, appearing
with Ossie Davis, Raymond
St. Jacques, Mary Martin,
Ertha Kitt and Godfrey
Cambridge.
Since beginning her career
as a solo artist in 1963 she has
north.
Coordinators already se
lected are: Diann Howland,
Hobbs; Laura Donaldson,
Shore, and Suk Han Kim,
Milner, (Coordinators for
English, Bryan, and Binford
have not yet been chosen.)
GREENSBORO, N.C
Actress Vinie Burrows
created seven distinctly diffe
rent one-woman shows for the
college and national theater
circuit.
Her "Walk Together, Child
ren" opened in New York in
1968, causing Clive Barnes of
the New York Times to call her
"a magnificent performer"
and the New York Post to
describe her as "funny, gusty,
diverse and colorful, ironic,
apocalyptic."
Ms. Burrows then perform
ed at the First Pan-African
Cultural Festival in Algiers,
did a TV special in Bucharest,
appeared before 10,000 people
in Stockholm and made
another TV special in
Amsterdam.
She was invited to return to
Holland and, during the
winter of 1970, "Walk
Together" played 28 cities
during a six-week tour in
which more than 50,000 Dutch
youth applauded her artistry
with nightly standing ova
tions.
"Walk Together" reopened
in New York City last season
and the new edition broke all
existing records, its five
month run being the longest
for a one-woman show in off
Broadway annals.
Be An Editor!
Applications for editors of
the Guilfordian, Quaker,
Piper, and Urban Word are
now being taken by the
Publications Board. Applica
tions may be submitted to
Frederick Parkhurst, Gary
McCown, Dave Owens, Kris
Rice, Marc Weiner, or Daniel
Rumfelt. Interested students
should apply immediately.