October 2, 1970
The N.C. Essay
Page 2
VlvcV\ae\ ferguson
When one forgets all the con
fusion concerning the newly formed
Visual Arts Program and inspects the
course for what it is and intends to
do, it seems that the school has made
an important step toward improving
itself.
Structured as a pilot program,
the project is designed to afford
high school students an opportunity
to receive artistic training that
few public or private schools could
offer. High school art courses gen
erally provide only cursory instruc
tion, leaving the student with an
extremely limited background. With
out proper training, the student
fails to recognize the possibilities
of the field and his own potential.
This program should give, stu
dents a first-rate Introduction to
the Visual Arts. It will allow the
student to prepare for college-level
instruction. Or, perhaps find in
terest in other fields, such as de
sign and production.
Solid training would enable
them to make these decisions.
Obviously, expansion causes
problems. Already, a limited budget
and cramped space have hindered the
Visual Arts program from doing all
they might X'^ant to; but that is
simply a fact of education today.
And it would be a mistake for the
school to attempt something beyond
its means, especially at this point
in the program. Thus, a pilot pro
ject appears to. be a wise decision.
This school is growing rapidly.
Many of the changes which have oc
curred, even since last year, have
been constructive, implementing the
school and its function. The most
significant changes are those which
most directly benefit the student.
(Another example of this would be
the Drama department's "level sys
tem" for actors). It is an encour
aging sign that these programs are
being initiated specifically with
the students in mind. We are, after
all, the school's most important
product.
STAF]’ BOX
EDITOR - MlCm.
MANAGING EDITOR
COPY EDITOR - TOM
FEATURE EDITOR - B
PHOTOGRAPHER - SAM
ALAN ZINGALE * COU^'
ALEXANDER MARSH *
MARY BETH ZABLOTN
MASTER PRINTER -
ADVISOR - DONNyj
EL J. FERGUSON
K. FITZGERALD
CAVANO
i:CKY SLIFKIN
BARCELONA
TNEY JONES
:iYRON TIDWELL
OVALESKI
EAN '^REYER
BUZB
* PAX VOBZSCUM
Washington (UPI) - As a 1970
college student, you belong to the
best educated, most sophisticated,
most poised generation in our his
tory.
The vast majority of you, I am
convinced, sincerely love America
and want to make it a better country.
You do have ideas of your own -
and that's good. You see things
wrong in our society which we adults
have minimized or overlooked. You
are outspoken and frank and hate
hypocrisy. That is good too.
There's nothing wrong with
student dissent or student demands
for changes in our society or the
display of student unhappiness over
aspects of our national policy.
Student opinion is a legitimate
aspect of public opinion in our
society.
Concev'*^ Oveir
But there is real ground for
concern about the extremism which
led to violence, lawlessness, and
disrespect for the rights of
others on many college campuses
during the past year.
The extremists are a small
minority of students and faculty
members who have lost faith in
America. They ridicule the flag,
poke fun at American Institutions,
seek to destroy our society. They
are not interested in genuine re
form, They take advantage of the
tensions, strife, and often promote
chaos. They have no rational, in
telligent plan of the future either
for the university or the nation.
The extremists are of a wide
variety: adherents of the Students
for a Democratic Society (SDS) in
cluding the Weathermen; members of
the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA),
the Trotskyist youth group; the
Communist Party's Young Workers
Liberation League (YWLL). Or they
may be associated with the Student
Mobilization Committee to End the
War in Vietnam (SMC), a Trotskyist-
dominated antiwar group.
GUnT€R GRflSr~
fl RGUIGlil-
If one notes the critical blurbs
on the covers of paperback editions
of novels by Germany's Gunter Grass,
a recurrent phrase is "Rabelaisian
writing . . . funny and grotesque."
A lot of critics seem to agree that
Grass's use of droll grotesquery
is hilarious. True, he does use this
method of evoking humor, but is it a
valid way of doing such? Is being
fantastically gross a solid, effect
ive manner with which to be funny?
I doubt it.
Many are not associated with
any national group. The key point
is not so much the identification
of extremists but learning to
recognize and understand the mental
ity of extremism which believes in
violence and destruction.
Extremist L^ve$
Based on our experience in the
FBI, here are some of the ways in
which extremists will try to lure
you into their activities:
1. They'll encourage you to
lose respect for your parents and
the older generation. This will be
one of their first attacks, trying
to cut you off from home. You'll
hear much about the "failures" and
"hypocrisy" of your parents and
their friends. The older generation
has made mistakes. But - your parents
and millions of other adults have
worked hard, built, sacrificed, and
suffered to make America what it is
today. It is their country'too. You
may disagree with them, but don't
discredit their contributions.
2. They'll try to convert you
to the idea that your college is
"irrelevant" and a "tool of the
establishment." The attack against
the college is often bitter, arro
gant, and unreasoning. SDSers, for
example, have sought to disrupt the
colleges by demanding the right to
select professors, determine the
curriculum, and set grading stan
dards.
3. They'll ask you to abandon
your basic common sense. Campus
extremism thrives on specious gen
eralizations, wild accusations, and
unverified allegations. Complex is
sues of state are wrapped in slogans
and cliches. Dogmatic statements are
issued as if they were the final
truth. You should carefully examine
the facts. Don't blindly follow
courses of action suggested by ex
tremists. Don't get involved in a
cause because it seems "fashionable"
or the "thing to do." Rational dis
cussion and rational analysis are
needed more than ever before. •.
(contonppo|e o )
For example, in The Tin Drum,
the author's debut as a novelist,
there is a horrifying sequence in
which a horse's head, swarming with
green eels, is hoisted from the
ocean. One of the characters vomits,
and we get on top of this noxious
episode, an analyzation of the con
tents of this vomit. Another por
tion has the narrator examine and
talk about large scabs on his obese
neighbor's back. And so on.
In Cat and Mouse, Grass dwells
upon gull droppings. As is typical
in his works. Grass has a peculiar
interest in deformities. Whether an
enormous Adam's apple, faulty teeth,
scabs, and the like, Gunter Grass
(_conV, on