Page 6
North Carolina School of the Arts
DARK
LIGHTS
WILL
SHINE
For the column this month I chose to interview Pauletta Pearson.
Pauletta is a senior here. I deliberately chose a senior because I
wanted to know about the transitions of the school and the reactions of
students to those transitions.
ARE YOU RELATIVELY HAPPY HERE AT N.C.S.A?
Pauletta: Well I came from Lenoir Rhyne, which is situated in
Hickory. There I concentrated more on academic work. I went to
Brevard for the summer and got back into the musical training I had
been used to before college. And I decided then I needed to go to a
place where I could concentrate more on music because that’s what I
was into. At the college I was attending, I had enough credits to major
in English but that’s not what I was into. So I decided to come here and
was very excited to be accepted. I felt I could concentrate now on what
I wanted to do for a career. I came here and I was very very disap
pointed because people were ego tripping, Faculty and Students.
People I thought I could relate to, I could not. Either they thought I
was ego tripping or they were or whatever. The teacher I had, we had
a communications problem, so I couldn’t get any work done. I thought
I was, but I wasn’t. For two years I was doing nothing.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SOCLVL LIFE ON CAMPUS?
Well, I think on this campus compared to the other campus the
social life is basically the same. At that college there were frater
nities, whereas here there are clicks. As far as social life, it’s just
dead. One thing in a college you have extra activities; here we don’t
have that and you don’t expect that, but I don’t see how we as artists
can get into our art if we don’t know anything else. For instance the
music students should know about Drama and Drama know about
Music and visual arts and everybody should know about each other. Or
else they can’t be all they can be. They should know something about
goings on in the world. When I say they I mean we. We should know
what’s going on in the world politically, because all the world... ah...
you cannot live in the world without politics.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A COMPARATIVE ARTS PROGRAM
WHERE YOU CAN COMPARE THE ARTS, CULTURES AND
LIFESTYLES OF EVERYONE INSTEAD OF A SELECT FEW?
This is the only way we can really see where we stand in our art is to
see where other people in their art are coming from.
SEVERAL STUDENTS HAVE INQUDIED WHY THE BLACKS
HERE ALWAYS SIT AMONG THEMSELVES IN THE CAFETERU
WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS HAPPENING AT N.C.S.A?
Why do they sit together? Why have they been segregated from the
Black students ever since we started this so caUed America
democratic society. That is the only answer I can give you because
well....we are building a nation, just like they started building a
nation. We are a part of America, but we are a separate part That’s
they only answer I know.
It is not that, well, I don’t feel that we are being racists...because if
we are being racists then they did it. They have banned us from
reading our own material and doing our own things. That is one thine I
had with this teacher I had the first time, that we first started cliking
dowgrade jazz or down grade our kind of music.
(BLACK) That IS the the teacher I have presently. She regards it as a
culture different from that of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, but it is a
culti^e and it is as equal. It has things that you can get and Beethoven
has thmgs that you can get, which is why I can get along with her
smce she is versatUe enough to see that. That’s one thing I have
against this school, it does not offer Broadway or Pop music, but it is
an art and it is music. Maybe it was not designed for that. We should
touch all music. Take for example-Brevard.
ARE THERE ANY DEFINITE PLANS FOR A BLACK ARTC
FESTIVAL THIS YEAR? MANY STUDENTS WONDER WHY YOU
FEEL THE NEED FOR A BLACKS ARTS FESTIVAL, SEPARATED
FROM THE NORMAL ACTIVITIES AT SCHOOL?
Working in Happy Hills with that course of Mr. Stone’s, I come in
TOntact with a lot of older Blacks who know where the school is and
have heard about it. A lot of them want to know when are we going to
do something they can come see. They feel that they are barred from
nere, I don t know why. A lot of them have never heard classical music
or never seen c^ssical baUet for that matter. They feel it is not meant
for them This is another ireason- for doing the Arts festival. It is not
hke they live twenty miles away, but they live in walking distance. Not
even across town. They are living around us. They come over and they
CM t relate, they don’t relate. They don’t relate to NUT-
Blacks go and they see it but when we did the BLACK
ARTS FEATIVAL we housed, you know, the capacity of the
auditorium, I think is 900, well we filled it, people were turning in the
aisles, standing in the hallways and we still had to turn people away.
Number one there are their people doing it.
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE HERE, IF YOU HAD THE POWER
TO CHANGE ANYTHING?
The atmosphere in which we are working. In other words that would
mvolve students and faculty. Egos are the main thing. I know there is
^ way tc get rid of an ego because people are going to have them
because that is vital to the individual. But to use them viciously, in
other words to cut other people down, not to have one good thing to say
to a person is not helping them. I have actually worked in a situation
whereas, I have been compared to another student in my lesson. That
IS TOt go(w and dwsn’t make me a stronger person. Maybe it should,
but after hearing it over and over, I don’t care who you are, it breaks
you down. I would like to see the attitudes change.
-H.J. Pankey
Student Focus:
A Candid Conversation
With The Bear
(The foUowing is the first in a
series of student interviews. The
views of the students recorded
here are not necessarily those of
the N.C. Essay staff or of the
North Carolina School of the
Arts.)
“The most exciting thing,”
exclaimed David WUson, “to
ever happen to me, was going to
Robert Ward’s house my senior
year in high school.” “Also,” he
added, “the most miserable thing
that h^ ever happened to me was
being beaten up by the Cleveland
Police, while protesting there
against the war in Vietnam in
1970.”
The statements above and
below are a few of the candid
reactions expounded upon by
David “Bear” Wilson in a recent
interview, which ran for twelve
straight hours.
“Bear” is originally from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and
currently lives in C^pel Hill. He
is a struggling oboeist and a
damn fine “bag pipist”, who is
currently in his third year here at
the School of the Arts.
He is the proud owner of an old
English sheep dog, named Angus,
for short, and his hobbies are
reading, breathing, and making
dirty faces at young girls.
\^en asked how he felt about
the present situation, on the
treatment of dogs on tiie NCSA
campus, he proclaimed. “Well, I
do believe that any campus,
including an arts school campus
needs to have other creatures of
the earth dwelling on it. I feel that
the rules regarding sanitation are
completely and unjustifily cruel
and ridiculous.”
Why, Bear?
“First of all,” he said,
“animals are usually as clean, if
not cleaner in some instances, as
many students here on campus.
For example, one can inspect on
any given night, the halls of the
college dorms and find them
unsanitary. Secondly, most of the
dogs that run around campus are
bastardized by their owners.
Then they come to NCSA for
affection and generally receive
the same amount of affection as
they give.”
Okay, then what do you think
about the feces and other gar
bage these animals leave beh^d?
“That’s a joke,” he replied, “I
have seen very little remains
lying in the Commons, as well as,
in Uie other buildings, which is
a hell of a lot more than you can
say about the bathrooms and
some of the lunches you receive
on this campus.”
Well, then, what is your per
sonal feeling about the present
administration and faculty?
“The administration handles
this school very meticulously,
almost as if it were a business
organization.”
On what do you base this
assumption: How so?
“The major productions this
year,” he said, “are all being
presented to bring in money. This
school was designed to produce
young artists, not to make money
to keep the school in existence.
Such as - the drama productions
are causing the whole depart
ment to work over-time to
produce just the production. It is
good if students get a chance to
perform under guidance of the
teachers, but it is bad when
students are supposed to meet
professional artistic demands, as
well as, their student respon
sibility.”
“I can speak mostly about the
School of Music. The backbone of
the School of Music seems to be in
the orchestra. There are ap
proximately 225 music students
here at the school, and only about
seventy, at the most, play in
orchestra. Since there are so
many students, then some are not
able to perform or even get
decent coaching. On the whole as
a performance class, these
students do not get the
background to inspire them to
strive for a career as a
professional musician.”
In that case, do you have a
particular peeve against the
School of Music?
“To me,” he stated, “it seems
that since I have been here,
the orchestra has reached a great
peak and has steadily gone down
hiU. I believe that Dean Harsyani
does not have the time to d^ect
the School of Musii, the Pied
mont Orchestra, and the School
of the Arts Orchestra. Also, I feel
that there are many necessary
changes that need to be done in
the &hool of Music.”
“First of all,” he explained,
“there is not enough adequate
performing and rehearsing areas
here. The plans for renovation of
the auditorium were drawn up
last year, and work had just
recently begun after four or more
months of delays and promises.
There is not even adequate
practice areas for the piano
majors, to say the least, for the
rest of the department.
Hopefully, when the work is
completed, if it is completed, it
will be beneficial to the School of
Music.”
In a lighter tone, what do you
think about the social scene and
gay life here on the NCSA
campus?
“Well, what can I say?” he
shouted, “This is a very diverse
crowd of people we have here. It
seems almost at times lie it is a
mixture between a Marx
Brothers movie and a Bamum-
Bailey circus act. In short, this
place is a zoo! However after „
living on campus for three years, curfews, intervisitation, and
of the students, would have found
or become what they are now, no
matter what school they at
tended.”
“The whole country is going
through these changes right now.
Just because the School of the
Arts is isolated, it is easy to say
that it is the cause. Besides, it is
none of my business how other
students live their lives, just as
long as, it doesn’t affect me.”
Seriously, what do you think of
the drug situation here on the
NCSA campus?
“That’s a hard question for me
to answer. My first year here,”
he continued, “I spent most of the
time, just getting stoned. It would
be hj^critical of me to com
pletely condemn the use of drugs
on campus. However, I do feel
that more people are using drugs
now than my first year here. As I
said earlier, it is none of my
business how the rest of the
people here conduct their per
sonal lives. In fact, I could really
say, that I do not give a damn.
However, marijuana is illegal,
and I feel that few of the people
that use it realize that. But most
people don’t realize the con
sequences involved in getting
busted.”
In discussing rules and
regulations are there any par
ticular rules which you feel are
unprecendented?
“What do you mean un
precendented?” he questioned,
“it is hard enough for me to say
anything about rules, when most
of them are broken anyway. I do
think that there are some very
unnecessary rules for the high
s^ool people, which have been
discussed repeatedly.”
Specifically, what do you
mean?
“Intervisitation, curfew rules,
and the actual locking up of the
high school student at ni^t are a
few,” he expounded, “I feel that
these are an invasion of personal
rights. It is a difficult problem to
cope with, because most of the
students are imder age legally,
and most of the rules are abused.
Placed in a normal situation,
most of these students would
never have to dream about rigid
I can honestly say, it is an
asylum!!! There are some un
pleasant, flaming points that
seem to infuriate the public.
Specifically, the “drug problem,
homosexulaity, and the de
moralization of younger
students.” However, no matter
now bizarre this is, the majority
strict room inspections, which I
found were utterly riiculous.”
After the interview. Bear
solemnly walked away and began
to sing, ‘I’m in love with the big
blue frog, and the big blue frog
loves me.”
-Interviewed by Larry Faw