Newspapers / Bennett College Student Newspaper / Feb. 18, 1977, edition 1 / Page 3
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1977 THE BENNETT BANNER Page Three ROBYN'S NEST “Roots” Brings Alex Haley Success by Robyn-Denise Berryhill With the airing of Alex Haley’s “Roots” on ABC less than two weeks ago, it became the most watched program in the history of television. According to the surveys taken, an estimated three-fifth of the na tion’s population viewed it in its entirety for the eight successive nights. Continuing dramas adapted from a major novel have become almost a fad on prime-time television. It began last year when ABC aired Irwin Shaw’s “Rich Man, Poor Man” on a weekly basis for eight weeks. Earlier this television season NBC brought “The Captains and the Kings” and “Once An Eagle” on the air. So “Roots” became the fourth major novel to be viewed on nation-wide television. The success of “Roots” as a novel comes as no real surprise. Alex Haley had certainly established his ability as a writer when he shared co-authorship on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” In addition to this, “Roots” had already received advanced publicity as much as up to two years ago on national television and in national publications. Prior to coming to tele vision as a drama, it had already spent six weeks in the number one position on “The New York Times” best seller list and since the program has re-assumed that position. In terms of getting one’s just due, this obviously is Haley’s reward for a job well done on a twelve- year search. However, it must be slightly dishearten ing to have some of the original content of the book completely altered or omitted altogether. But with the price of television time being what it is, it would have been rather difficult to fuse 175 chapters worth of reading into twelve hours viewing time. Having read the book I would say as a whole the majority of the episodes fell together in a cohesive pattern. This is in no way to say that the show was without flaws. Many people feel that the character of Cicely Tyson should have been expanded to “show case” her talents. Being a well-established actress in her own right, this was hardly necessary. Her part al though brief was convincing and to the point. The brief appearance of author Maya Angelou was quite a different story. Being the marvelous teller of tales that she is, her role as the grandmother could have been used in establishing a wealth of knowledge in the history of the village. For that matter more of the everyday lifestyle of the village could have been examined. Seemingly more interest was put on the institution of slavery, and the familiar horror stories of how slaves were treated came forward. Although true, conditions were far worse than could be imagined and were described rightfully so in the novel, but were stricken from the television screen. What distinguished “Roots” however from the ordinarily-heard slave stories was that we were able to see the essence of slavery as it affected one family. We were able to see the “roots” that were established in their heritage and culture and how they were stripped away. The “roots” so to speak were set in Africa. The injustices of slavery showed how they were washed away and since one family was viewed intensively, our emotions as an audience came into play. It did in a sense affect each of us personally. In its entirety, “Roots” was aired for twelve hours and had almost as many directors. In several in stances, for example, when it was aired for two con tinuous hours, a different director was used for each hour. This perhaps did not alter the outcome of the story but a lot of the emotional impact was either changed or lost. For me, the first two episodes of the series really established the tone. This is not to say that the others were not effective, but the first two episodes were by far the best. The last episode, in terms of directing, was a big let down. For an emotionally packed series, the climax episode came off to me no differently than a typical version of “Gunsmoke” (music included). The two highlights of the entire evening were when Haley told what became of the rest of the family and George Sanford — Brown got ready to beat Lloyd Bridges with the whip. It was supposed to show humility and compassion when he declined to do this, but I was highly disappointed. He could have hit him at least once. The best performances overall in the series were given by Lamar Burton who played the young Kunta Kinte, Lou Gossett as Fiddler, Leslie Uggams as Kizzy, Madge Sinclair as her mother and Ben Vereen as Chicken George. John Amos gave a good per formance as Toby but there seemed to be something lacking that didn’t quite convince me that he felt secure in the part. Undoubtedly “Roots” will go down as one of the finest produced programs in the history of television. Some of the smartest black executives work for us. The Navy, though few black college men realize it, can be one of the fastest places for a smart young man to get ahead. Responsibility comes quickly at sea, and it’s real responsibility. An officer less than a year out of college may be in charge of thirty men; after just two years he may run a division of fifty or more. In four years, a Navy officer can have more managerial expe rience than most civilians have midway through their careers. The Navy has officer programs in Aviation and Nuclear Propulsion, in Supply, Law, Medicine, and many others. Talk it over with your Navy recruiter or call 800-841-8000 toll free. Early responsibility. Black or white, it’s what being a Navy officer is all about. NAVY OFFICER. IT'S NOT JUST A JOB, IT'S AN ADVENTURE. Dept, to Make Some Revisions by Joyce Bass After March of 1977, students enrolled in the Department of Special Education may notice a few revisions and new additions to their curriculum. According to Mrs. Mary Scar- lette, assistant professor and act ing chairman in the Department of Elementary and Special Educa tion, “All school programs geared to training persons who are handi capped must go through an ex tensive review. We, at Bennett, are taking a look at our program to see if our students know ‘what’s happening’ in special education.” She said that the department will be reviewing and trying to strengthen its own program. In March, the State Department of Public Instruction will be send ing a three member panel to re view the program “to see if we are doing what we say we are doing.” The panel will talk with instruc tors and they will also interview students in the education field at random. The department has been re vising and adding new courses to its curriculum. The department has discovered that the students in special education need to know how to teach sex education to EMR students or mentally re tarded students. “We are trying to increase the observation experiences for our students. Certification for teachers here at Bennett reads K-3. We’re trying to expose the girls to the reverse—12-K,” said Mrs. Scar- lette. The teaching members of the department have been taking field trips to various institutions where there are EMR students to see what their needs are. In this way they will be able to know what the girls will be expected to do. Mrs. Scarlette said that most of the staff members who went on the trips called them “mind- bending.” Bennett College and Guilford College are the only schools in this area that offer special educa tion on the undergraduate level. Mrs. Scarlette said that Bennett wants to do its best. The depart ment wants to increase the stu dent’s ability to do diagnostic testing. Some people may look at the March review as a pass or fail type of test. Mrs. Scarlette says that this is not the case. “Our program is not in jeop ardy. We want to strengthen our (Continued on Page 5)
Bennett College Student Newspaper
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