Odr
THE
PILOT
Gardner-Wfebb Gdlege
OCTOBER 16, 1985
BOILING SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA
Mock Disaster Produces
Real Headaches, Injuries
LEON MARTIN ATTENDS INJURED STUDENT DURING MOCK DISASTER.
Record Labeling: Censorship?
On Tuesday, September
24th, Cleveland County
officials organized a
“mock disaster” that took
place in and around our
own beloved Hamrick
Building. At 8:40 p.m.,
portable radios buzzed
with the talk of an explo
sion in the boiler room,
and the disaster began.
Students were decorated
with artificial wounds,
briefed on their situation
and location, and placed
strategically throughout
the building. Vehicles and
personnel from Boiling
Springs, Shelby, Shang
hai, Kings Mountain, and
other area hospitals and
fire stations arrived in a
blaze of red and white
lights. But was it really a
mock disaster?
Two students who were
participating received very
real injuries. One was
splashed with burning
kerosene, and another is
on crutches due to the ag
gravation of a previous
knee injury. Several of the
“mock injured” made the
transition to “mock ca
sualties” due to the great
length of time that it took
for fire fighters to evacu
ate them from the build
ing. A student in the base
ment was not located for
an entire hour. One would
think that such a disaster
would be handled in a very
co-ordinated and efficient
manner, yet I frequently
observed small groups of
disaster workers moving
about without direction,
independently of one
another, and appearing
rather confused.
If we ever have a REAL
disaster at Gardner-Webb,
God help us all! Although
this was only a drill, it is
apparent to me that Cleve
land County has a few
things to smooth out in
their procedures. Let us all
pray that those involved
have learned a valuable
lesson, and that steps will
be taken to further im
prove the way in which
such incidents are han
dled.
By E. Pogo Costley
It is not surprising that
groups of middle-aged
women are banding to
gether to lobby congress.
Neither is it surprising that
the victims of their crusade
are the filthy lyrics that
have come to permeate the
airwaves of the eighties.
Parents are finding that
their children buy and play
records that offend them
morally, sexually and spi
ritually. But what will re
cord rating really accom
plish?
The idea behind record
rating is to devise a stan
dard whereby records that
contain questionable lyric
content will be tagged with
a sticker that identifies the
offending lyrics in four
main categories: sexually
oriented, drug or alcohol
oriented, violence orient
ed, and occult oriented.
Now, imagine that you are
a young teenager that has
developed a particular ap
petite for things dealing
with the occult. If record
ratings were instituted, not
only would you find it
easier to locate an album
that contained occult re
ferences, but you would
probably also find that the
standards that record com
panies have here-to-fore
voluntarily ascribed to had
been all but totally elimi
nated. Why? If record
companies have to label
potentially detrimental
albums, they should be as
detrimental as possible.
Until now, sales have de
pended on airplay to pub
licize songs. If record rat
ings occur, songs will be
publicized in the store sim
ply by their rating stickers.
This means that record
companies will no longer
fear to sign groups that
border on the fringes of
total depravity, for the rat
ing alone will guarantee at
least a minimal quota of
sales. Nothing will be
denied the right to be en
graved in vinyl: for the
public is “protected” by
the ratings system.
Furthermore, ratings
stickers are noit practical
for use on albums. An al
bum is a collection of
songs, (usually about ten),
which may or may not be
related in theme or con
tent. Do we judge an en
tire album on the detri
mental factors that are in
cluded in one song? Where
do we draw the line on
what is a hindrance to a
teen’s normal develop
ment?
Personally, I feel that a
ratings system is only a
feeble attempt to curb the
growing trend toward
questionable lyric ma
terial. In fact, I feel that
such an attempt will only
serve as a breeding ground
for the further demise of
an art form which I find
great pleasure in. Can we
call this attempt at ratings
censorship? No, not yet,
but let us stand guard
against Big Brother. He
may find that he only
serves to destroy the values
we can find in good rock
music.
Search
Continues
Welcome back to the
continuing saga of
“Search for a President.”
As of now, there have
been approximately 75 ap
plications, of which there
are currently 20 who, on
paper, seem to have excel
lent resumes, credentials,
and references. Of these
20, there are five to eight
who are the front runners.
What remains now is to
move toward interviews.
According to Dr.
Stowe, who is on the Fa
culty Advisory Committee
of the Search Committee,
there is a good chance of
having a finalist before
Christmas, or even as early
as the end of October.
Hobart Smith, Chairman
of the Faculty Advisory
Committee, says that the
intent was to draw Gard-
ner-Webb closer to the
Baptist State Convention.
Dr. Williams, our cur
rent president, apart from
initiating the research, has
had no contact with the
committee, and every ef
fort is made to insure the
candidates’ confidential
ity.
DR. WHEELER CONDUCTS STALEY LECTURES.