PAGE 2 - N.C. ESSAY
Commentary And Perspective
Marijuana Smoking May Be
Dangerous To Your Health
by mjf
Photo by Beck
I’ve spent the good part of the
last few weeks wondering what to
say in this column. I’ve played
with all kinds of pretensious “last
words,” struggling for some bit
of wisdom to leave you with.
Finally, the best thing, the most
relevant thing, seems to be to talk
about what we’ve tried to do here,
what we’ve attempted this year
with this newspaper.
Working on the Essay this year
has been a paradoxical ex
perience. On one hand, the
“progress” we’ve made has been
very gratifying. We’ve ex
perimented with some things and
they’ve worked. On the other
hand, we’ve had a lot of misery
over the things that weren’t
accomplished, &e things we just
couldn’t get, the areas which still
direly need improvement. You
might say that we’ve fostered an
intense love-hate relationship
with this whole operation. (And
believe me, there have been
times when I’ve literally had to
drag myself into this office to
face the task of getting this
newspaper out).
But overall, we’ve gained a
certain amount of satisfaction
from all this; not ego-trip
satisfaction (I hope), but a good
feeling in knowing that the Essay
is perhaps a little better, a little
Editorial
more interesting, and that we
have, in some ways, carried on
what Tony Senter and other
previous editors and staffs
began. The only criterion we’ve
had (aside from our own less-
than-objective feelings) is that
we’ve seen you reading the stuff
we’ve written and that’s ttie
highest compliment.
So, in a sense, that’s our only
real measure of “success” (a
really poor word to use). The fact
that you’ve cared about us has
made all the other nonsense (and
there’s been plenty of that)
bearable. It’s given us a reason to
keep on caring.
We tried to do some new things.
Sometimes it worked, other
times, it fell flat. Hopefully, next
year further improvement will be
made and, sooner or later, you’ll
have a firstH'ate mewspaper
here. The best feeling we could
have is to know that we con
tributed in that process of growth
in some fashion. One thing is for
sure: inspite of all the hassles
we’ve encountered, we’ll miss it.
Really, I guess the only
meaningful thing to say now is
Thank You, because wittiout you,
none of this would have teen
worthwhile.
That’s all I have to say.
Peace, brothers & sisters.
Advertising: The Senior Citizen
by Cortlandt Jones
In the United States ad
vertising is a media to entice the
buying public. This attraction is
stereotj^d and pointed in one
direction, youth. There is another
direction to look; the Senior
Citizen.
The Senior Citizen of today is a
functional human being who
should not be discarded as
unattractive. Our society regards
them as nonproductive citizens,
whose energies are not worth
attracting.
In television advertising,, the
Senior Citizen is virtually
omitted. The message is, if you
are not young, you’re not living.
This is far from the truth and
should not be projected to the
public, for the public believes
what it sees.
According to advertisements
young people buy tooth paste,
mou^ wash, clothes and save
money. Older people buy
laxatives, denture cleansers,
aspirins and settle on reser
vations (strictly for them).
Why do advertisers produce
these images?
Granted, there is a profitable
market in youth but there is also
an equally profitable market on
the other side that could be at
tracted if the same advertising
energies were geared for them.
The Senior Citizen can spend
money just as well as youth.
Since images are sold to sell the
product, so are ideas formed.
Just think, if you are iM-ain
washed into feeling old, you tend
to believe it.
Editor
Managing Editor
Copy Editor
Photographer
Reporters
Advisor
Hovering Guru
Publisher
Emeritus
N.C. Essay Staff, 1971:
Michael J. Ferguson
Kathy Fitzgerald
Ed Schloss
Sam Barcelona
Fred Avery, Kevin Dreyer, Jon Thompson,
Cortlandt Jones, Robin Kaplan, Alexander
Marsh, Gavin, Mary Beth
Donna Jean Dreyer
Buzbee
N.C. School of the Arts
Fragola
Two Philadelphia psychiatrists
recently released the results of
an “extensive” study pertaining
to the use and effects of
marijuana and have concluded
(on the basis of tests made in
volving 38 persons, ages 13 to 24,
who habitually smoked
marijuana at least twice a week)
that used could, and apprently
did in these instances, lead to
“serious psychological effects,
sometimes complicated by
neurologic signs and symptoms.”
None of the patients involved had
a history of psychological
disorders prior to smoking
marijuana, the report further
stated.
The psychiatrists. Dr. Harold
Kolansky and Dr. William T.
Moore, said that between 1965
and 1970 they began to notice a
“sizeable increase” in referrals
to individuals who, when a
medical history was taken,
showed “an onset of psychiatric
problems shortly after the
beginnings of marijuana
smoking.”
EGO DECOMPENSATION
“It is our impression that our
study demonstrates the
possibility that moderate-to-
heavy use of marijuana in
adolescents and young people,
without predisposition to
psychotic illness, may lead to ego
decompensation ranging from
mild ego disturbance to
psychosis,” the psychiatrists
stated.
The patients consistently
showed symptoms including poor
social judgement, poor attention
span, poor concentration, con
fusion, anxiety, depression,
apathy, passivity and, often,
slowed and slurred speech, ac
cording to the doctors.
ALTERATION OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
Many also exhibited an
alternation of consciousness that
included a split between ob
serving and experiencing portion
of the ego, inability to bring
thoughts together, paranoid
suspiciousness, and regression to
a more infantile state. In a few
patients, hyperactively,
aggression and agitation were
common. The symptoms were
present even when the patients
weren’t “high” on the drug, the
doctors said.
A few patients who smoked
marijuana four or five weekly for
many months showed indications
of neurologic impairment, such
as slurred speech, staggering
gait, hand tremors, thought
disorders and disturbed depth
perceptions, according to the
psychiatrists.
In these cases, the doctors
hypothesized that marijuana use
caused “such severe decom
pensation of ego that it became
necessary ... to develop a
delusional system in an attempt
to restore a new form of reality.”
INTERNAL CONFLICTS
Because an adolescent nor
mally experiences intense
psychological and physiological
changes, the psychiatrists
warned that habitual use of
marijuana during adolescence
“will likely deprive him of the
ability to adequately resolve his
internal conflicts.”
In the group studied,
marijuana use seemingly ac
centuated the “very aspects of
disturbance bodily development
and psychological conflicts which
the adolescent had been
struggling to master,” the
doctors concluded.
The two psychiatrists, af
filiated with the Child Analysis
Division of the Philadelphia
Association for Psychoanalysis,
cited earlier estimates that
between 12 million and 20 million
adolescents and young people are
using, or have tried smoking
marijuana.
Posteript: Needless to say, the
entire report is too lengthy to
print in its entirety. We do,
however have a copy, and anyone
interested in reading it is
welcome to do so. Also, since the
issuing of this report, there have
been several subsequent reports
and statements, made mostly by
doctors, refuting its contents and
validity.
REVIEW
"The Just Assassins" by Tony Angevine
Notice: This review does not
necessarily reflect the opinion of
the editor or staff of the N.C.
Essay.
There have been some ex
cellent senior project productions
at the School of the Arts, beside
which “The Just Assassins”
withers in comparison. Camus
would have wept to see his
brilliant subtle work so mangled
and mocked.
For professional-rated actors
who have spent three and more
years studying the craft, the cast
should know that acting is a
great deal more than reciting
lines and throwing out grandiose
gestures. For the most part, the
actors i^ored each other and the
production as a whole looked no
better than a sloppy rehearsal.
Kurt Yaghjian as Stepan, the
Hot headed and brutally sincere
revolutionary, knew and por
trayed his character well, but
because he, as actor and
character, received no response
from the other characters, his
most explosive lines fell flat.
Stepan, a man who scoffed at the
sparing of children for the sake of
t^anny’s deposition, would more
likely bomb the revoluntionary
coup out of existence and carry
on the terrorism with only his
vengeance as comrade. But
because he backed down so
easily, his sincerity was open to
question and his desperate im
patience seemed no more than
petty heckling.
Steve Bordner’s Alexis was
smooth and consistent; his few
lines were handled with ad
mirable professionalism. The
gentleness and sensitivity of his
character were strongly evident
through the toughness of
dedication. His scene with leader
Anna, in which he confides to her
that he is not meant to be a
terrorist, was particularly
touching.
The part of Boria Annenkov,
played by Christine Rosania, was
originally written as a man’s
part, but having a woman play it
opened fascinating possibilities.
Had Miss Rosania used her
physical appearance, her strong
voice and her very dominant
personality to strengthen her
role, she would have had an
impressive and memorable
characterization. Instead, she
seemed to be laughing at herself
for even being on stage, laughing
at the other actors for taking it so
seriously. One wonders about this
Anna’s being chosen leader; the
revolutionaries must have been
merely playing at their game to
entrust their lives and souls to
such an ineffectual leader. An
nenkov’s humanity and near-
maternal understanding
presented themselves as
weakness and indecision.
And Joyce Rheeling’s por
trayal of Dora was quite em
barrassing. The role is an
ingenue’s dream - passionate,
sincere, the proud maiden
sacrificing her love to the cause.
But Miss Rheeling got so wound
up in her overly dramatic per
formance that she failed to notice
that the other actors were not
responding sufficiently. Or
perhaps she overacted to com
pensate and, trying to carry the
weight of the entire performance
on her own shoulders, stumbled
absurdly under the weight. Her
self-abuse, flinging herself into
walls and such, was agonizing.
Dora and Yanek - silent lovers
whose love seemed rather to pop
out suddenly at the threat of
parting. Their physical love for
each other was transformed into
love for and dedication to the
cause. Their conversations
showed that they cared only for
the glory of dying violent deaths
as revolutionaries. Their lines
were courageous and nessarily
idealistic, but they were
presented in idiotic raptures of
innocent romanticism. They
seemed totally oblivious to the
danger of their lifestyle except as
enticement, oblivious to the
ghastly importance of their work
except in its potential to make
them heroes and-or martyrs.
They shared their anticipation as
the only permissible mutual
excitement. And later, Dora’s
reaction to the too explicit details
of Yanek’s execution was a
raging perverted arousal -
leading her in a struggling
climax to the need to ttaow a
bomb and be hanged herself to
share with Yanek the apocolyptic
orgasm of death that she had
missed out on in bed.
Yanek’s character, played by
Ron Dortch, was painfully out of
place. His dealings with the Chief
of Police, especially, seemed
unmotivated and directionless.
Dick Macwell as Police Chief
Skuratov created a character too
syrupy to ever be cunning, more
like a consoling minister than a
cajoling, bribing political enemy.
He made Yanek’s loudly verbal
indignation seem unwarranted
and foolish. Both Mr. Dorteh and
Miss Rheeling should know that
even a dynamic characterization
is no good if it doesn’t work within
the context of the other actors’
interpretations. This combining
of interpretations is the director’s
job: Mr. Hotton must have slept
during the rehearsals, for his
presence, his guidance was
nowhere evident in the produc
tion.
In spite of all, Jim Stubbs did a
beautiful job as Foka, Yanek’s
fellow prisoner, ‘brother’, and
executioner., the irony of his
disclosure suitably crushing.
Berlinda Tolbert as the Grand
Duchess was believably
bereaved and slightly crazed,
though her very soft delivery was
hard to cateh at times.
Sets, costumes, props..perfect.
Conclusion: The failure of this
show as a polished production
was not necessarily the fault of
the students involved. Many
outside factors .. end of the year
laxity, impending court ap
pearances for certain actors,
lack of overall direction ..made it
a burden and a bore. But in light
of the students’ past
achievements,' they deserve a
slight reprimand and a second
chance with hopes that their
future careers blush no lower
point than “The Just Assassins.”
tony angevine
19 May 1971