i
Smoke Signals, Fridoy, December 5, 1980 — Page 3
dmoKe Signals, muuy, .
Campus Question: Does Conserving Energy Justify Closing the Pool?
Speight
Thornton
Matos
Mason
Getts
By KATHY TRAMMELL
This question was asked during the time that the new Olympic-sized pool in Jesse Helms Center was closed for repair of
structural defects.
Even though the pool is now open again, it is felt that campus reaction to the previously announced proposed closing during
the coldest period of the winter to conserve energy is of interest.
The question — Does Conserving Energy Justify the Closing of the Pool? — was asked of members of Coach Jerry Hawkins
swimming class.
JEFF SPEIGHT — “No. Tuition cost should cover the energy cost.”
RICKY THORNTON — “No. Costs should fulfil our recreational needs.”
JOHN GETTS — “Yes, because cost is too expensive and oil is in short supply.”
Student Forum
Vacant Seats Hit
Dear Editor,
I would like to invite all the people
who tave complaints about the lack of
activities here on campus to the next
S.G.A. meeting. Mainly because most
of the members of S.G.A. haven’t
shown up.
A recent meeting shouldn’t have been
held because of the lack of representa
tion. We could only bring up and discuss
business, but accomplish nothing.
It’s hard to understand what the
president of S.G.A. is saying or wants.
Earlier in the year she suggested that
we, the reps., ask people to come who
weren’t on S.G.A. so we could get some
more ideas and opinions since the
representation was becoming slack. At
this time she made it a point that, you
don’t have to be a member of S.G.A. to
come to these meetings. Then a few
meetings later, when representation
was quite pathetic, the suggestion was
made to let other people know when the
meetings were. For example, putting
up signs in the mailroom since most if
not everybody reads the signs there. But
somehow they agreed that, words gets
around faster by mouth, and that Iht
idea of these meetings was for Um
representatives of the student body to
discuss and make the decisions.
Even though there isn’t much left to
this semester, S.G.A. needs new ideas
and a lot of new representatives since
most of the ones elected can’t manage
to get to the meetings. Especially hav
ing a budgat of $12,000 per semester, one
would ttok they could have done
something worth writing home about.
It would be nice to have something for
the poor souls who have to stay here on
the weekends. Although they have
discussed making weekends more
liveable, that was the extent of it. In
fact they wound up working around the
weekend in order to get the most par
ticipation as possible.
What S.G.A. really needs is
representatives or any others who don’t
sit there like veggies and as one person
put it “pull the wool over our eyes.” We
need people to speak up a little at least.
But I have to admit S.G.A. had one
problem happen to them. There was
$2,500 taken out of the S.G.A. budget for
a cultural event. And S.G.A. was told
we had no say in the matter even if we
tried.
The next meeting will be on the cam
pus calendar and we need help. So all
the representatives that disappeared in
the wild blue yonder, and all those that
might be interested please come to the
meetings.
Karen Carlough
S.G.A. Representative
Weather Report
A copy of the following letter, which
is addressed to the college’s superin
tendent of buildings and grounds Jack
Hassell, was also sent to Smoke
Signals.
Dear Mr. Hassell,
Our rooms are cold. '
Sincerely,
Several East Hall Residents
Scoop
m
BUT OFFICER, I ONLY WAOTED A PAIR OF PANTIES.... Scoop had a real good time at a
recent attempt at a Panty Raid and was facinated by all that went on. Scoop
knows that thousands of brain doctors have written books on the Justification of
Panty Raids at colleges and why they're soooo much fun, but now Scoop thinks
Shrinks should devote their time to the psychology of the Scurveysboro Police
Department. Scoop guesses that Panty Raids are the only times the men in blue
get to use their fancy equipment that is designed to stop riots around here, and
also figures that driving their new cop cars at TOmph on Pine Walk gives them
a big thrill. Scoop isn't bothered about the police here, unlike a lot of people,
because he's watched enough reruns of Barney Fife in Mayberry, N.C. on T.V.
HECK. WE PAID FOR THE COURT AND WE CAM DO AS WE PLEASE Scoop was at a basket
ball game one night and looked out onto the new shiny floor to see four pairs
of hard street shoes walking and standing around for a presentation ceremoney.
Scoop admits it would have been undignified for school officials to wear their
socks in the jump circle, but kept wincing when all the black heels dug into,
the floor. Scoop wonders why anyone could be so picky about students' movements
on a gym floor until he saw a student spit some chew on the sacred surface.
Class will always tell. Scoop opines.
REALLY GUYS, THE FOOD IS BETTER THIS YEAR.... Scoop has been telling freshmen
that the food in the cafeteria is better this year and has been doing his best
to defend it. Then one night Scoop realized he had eaten mashed potatoes four
nights in a row and'Knew he was being brainwashed into liking cafeteria food.
Then when potatoes were served on the fifth night, Scoop was ready to throw a
handful of the mushy muck at anyone in sight. Scoop also began to realize he's
having trouble eating some normal, non-watered down french dressing on his
salad when he goes home for the holidays. Scoop is patiently waiting for a
good food fight, which should be soon.
YOU THINK THIS IS BAD, YOU SHOULD SEE MY ROOM AT HOME Scoop knows that RAs
have a tough job during room check, but cannot have sympathy with the RAs who
are writing call-downs for such major violations as "untidy shelves," "dirty
closet floors," and a host of others. The folks in Parker say life is too rough
this year, with drug-busts, drug dogs, and RAs hounding them constantly;
especially compared to life across campus. Scoop thinks things are a bit rough
in Parker, and imagines he'll be told to love it or leave it. Scoop will have
to dust the T.V. in preparation for next week's room check. Dust seems to cling
to the tube.
C'MON COACH, CUT ME A LITTLE SLACK.... Scoop heard some gory details the other
day concerning a disagreement between a certain varsity athletic coach and his
assistant. Scoop even heard there was a threat involved; but when he went
looking for witnesses, there were none to be found. So, being one never to report
a mere rumor. Scoop dismissed the whole idea. The Scoop noticed the pair acting
cooly towards each other on several occasions and began to wonder again. Scoop
knows why the old coach left town in such a hurry without much notice, but
can't figure out how a new coach was hired so fast and why a local middle
school position was filled so fast. Also, Scoop can't figure out why those who
live in the basement didn't get into trouble last year.
Zimmerman
Hawkins
Baumgarner
Crowder
Schulmeyer
JOEY MATOS — “No, because I think Chowan has more than enough money for the cost. Other equipment that is not being
used is taking up energy and money.”
CHRYSTAL MASON — “No. Cost should have been figured out before. Now it is hurting us.”
LEROY ZIMMERMAN — “Yes. Energy is going up and students do not pay enough to cover cost. ”
COAC^ HAWKINS — (administrative viewpoint)- “Yes, because I am involved in overall cost. Some of larger schools have
found it necessary to close their pools for financial reason.”
RICKY BAUMGARNER — “It is according on how many people use the pool.”
JOE CROWDER — “No, for recreational reasons and we should be able to use the facilities because we pay enough.”
LARRY SCHULMEYER — “No. What else is there to do, and besides it is good exercise.”
(Photos by Kathy Trammell)
Nationwide
Draft Still
Possibility
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CPS) - Jack
Watson, the White House Chief of Staff,
would not rule out the possibility of a
nationwide draft if the present turmoil
in the Persian Gulf escalated into wider
conflict.
“I can’t say unequivocally that a
draft would be out of the question,”
Watson said in an interview with Col
lege Press Service and several college
newspapers.
Watson’s comments contradict
previous White House promises that a
draft was not even within the realm of
realistic scenarios. Since the president
called for registration in January, his
aides have continually maintained that
registration is just a precautionary
move, and that the draft is not even be
ing considered.
If a draft was deemed necessary, it
would be a fair one with very few ex
emptions or special clauses, Watson in
sisted.
“We would want it to be fair and
equally-applied draft,’’Watson says.
“The last time the draft was instituted,
the minorities and the low-income
youth who did not have the chance to
get school exemptions had to bear the
brunt of the war effort.”
At the same time he hinted of the
possibility of a draft, Watson tried to
shift the responsibility for starting it
away from the administration into Con
gress.
“Remember, there would have to be
an act of Congress to institute a draft,
so a majority of them would have to
agree to our position,” he said.
0
ismwYou
i
g/f
YS
Soap Opera Addiction Growing
On Campuses Across Country
By JANET SINGLETON
(CPS) — Vivian Relta, a graduate
student at Cornell, starts with “Ryan’s
Hope.” Then she switches channels bet
ween ABC’s "AH My Children” and
CBS’s “The Young and the Restless.”
Afterwards comes “Edge of Night,”
“One Life To Live,” and “General
Hospital.”
And Relta’s viewing habits, once
assumed to be exclusively those of idle
housewives or aged shut-ins, are
becoming more common among college
students. Soap operas, in other words,
have come to campus.
Estimates of just how many students
have taken to the soaps are almost
always unscientific. But one scholarly
study, by Northern Illinois University
Professors Myles Breen and Jon
Powell, projected that 40 percent of the
female and 10 percent of the male
students on campus regularly tuned in.
“I would estimate about 30 percent of
the students here watch them,”
speculates a Yale senior who preferred
that her name be withheld. The senior,
who says she's suspended most tv view
ing in deference to her studies, likes
“General Hospital” because “it’s so
complicated. I started watching and got
hooked.”
A male senior at Harvard’s Currier
House “used to watch them, but 1 don't
anymore since school started.” He
notes that “quite a few people seem to
know something about them, so 1 would
say most of them have watched them. ”
Apparently a number of students
haven’t been able to give up the soaps
for the duration of the school year.
Celia Roddy, a dorm head at Cornell,
knows "quite a few" women who daily
gather in the tv rooms of sorority
houses and dormitories, particularly to
watch “General Hospital.”
But she claims Cornell women don’t
watch as much television as women at
other colleges. And no one in college,
she asserts, cares as much about the
soaps as high school students.
Roddy supervised a group of high
school seniors in a special summer pro
gram at the university. The students,
she recalls with some awe, "planned
their whole days around the soaps.”
Lorraine Zenka Smith, editor of the
soap fan magazine "Rona Barrett’s
Da;^imers'' says the campus soap
opera boom is part of a more general
spread of popularity for the shows.
She cites a budding interest in the
programs for their production values
and for sociological observations. She
wouldn’t mind cultivating that interest,
either. She has been discussing the
possibility of teaching classes on soap
operas with administrators at UCI.A
and “other” California schools.
“Soaps are more sophisticated than
they ever were,” Smith says. “They're
shooting on location now in places like
Ireland, Greece, France, the
Bahamas.”
Moreover, “they can treat an issue
with more in-depth coverage and
perspective than night-time program
ming,” she adds. "They cover issues
like wife beating, cancer, abortion, in
fidelity.”
Smith guesses that the subject matter
has helped soaps reach new, male au
diences. "We get a lot of letters from
men. For every three men who v.Titc,
you can bet there are seven behind
them who don't write. ”
ABC’s line-up of "General Hospital,”
"All My Children,” and "One Life to
Live” seems to be most popular among
students, she observes.
The reason may be that the competi
tion — soaps like “As the World Turns”
and "the Guiding Light” — are older
and more conservative in tone.
“The ABC stories integrate their
oldest and their youngest story lines,”
Smith points out. She, like many of the
students contacted for this article by
College Press Service, thought
“General Hospital” is the most suc
cessful integrator.
Student interest tends to center on the
tale of Luke and I^ura, just two of the
tormented crew at "General Hospital.”
Luke is a down-and-out-kid from the
wrong side of town who got mixed up
with mafioso. 1-aura's past is a bit
checkered, too — notably the business
about killing her lover. But then she
married Scotty, and became respec
table.
_ Luke rapes l.aura, paradoxically
because he thinks the mafia is going to
kill him for not carrying out a hit. Scot
ty finds out about it, tracks Luke to a
boat, and attacks him. They struggle.
Luke pitches overboard. Scotty has kill
ed Luke, as-weil asthe viewing htibUH of
jnflliensofcoHegestudeWs. *'■
But wait. Luke not only survived, he
left town with I^ura. When last seen,
they were both on the ■ run from a
transvestite hit man.
Figuring out why such material ap
peals to the educated elite of American
youth can be a problem. "The pro
grams have obvious appeals,” says
sociologist Rodney Jacobs of the
University of Delaware. "They offer
romance and escape and relatively-
harmless titillation. But as to why col
lege students watch them instead of
higher-quality programs that offer the
same things, 1 don't know"
In the Northern Illinois study con
ducted last fall, 40 percent of the soap
watchers said they viewed soaps
because they were interested in the in
volved plots, 30 percent said they wat
ched because the characters were "so
dumb," and almost 14 percent noted the
beneficial effect of watching televised
programs that made their own troubles
seem trivial.
Jacobs figures "it's the same reason
people of all ages watch Three's Com
pany.' All of us who have studied televi
sion viewing know why people watch
mindless shows. But no one honestly
understands it."
Editor Lorraine Zenka Smith,
however, is willing to make a guess.
Women viewers, for example, weren't
offended by Luke's rape of I.aura
because I-aura "really didn’t mind. She
had a crush on him all along."
And why would someone have a crush
on her rapist? "Still a lot of menivrite
for the soaps,” Smith explains.
cheer up, JlMHY. Wl&ToRY
WORKS IN FUNNY ways,
remember, you MADE THE
FORP PREg)lPENCY LOOK GOOD!
MTN.
CPS