Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / April 15, 1994, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Zijt 6utifarfatan 6 Voice of Reason S. Scott Spagnola Staff Writer On Friday, an electrician in Se attle discovered the body of Kurt Cobain. Cobain was the frustrated lead singer of the grunge rock band Nirvana. According to the police, Curbain blew his own head off with a 12 gauge shotgun. Admittedly, I am no fan of Nir vana, or Cobain as a lyricist. I found their songs to be filled with anger and apathy that was overly negative and irresponsible. Still there is no denying that Cobain as the lead singer and songwriter for Nirvana was widely respected in the music world as an important messenger for disenfranchised youth. Here is where the problem begins. As details come out, we will no doubt learn of the demons that haunted Cobain's tortured soul. Critics credited him as being the voice of a generation. I disagree with this. Cobain's negative energy and angst certainly did not speak for me and many others of my gen eration. You see, we are in danger of becoming the X Generation they have labeled us to be. Older gen erations and sociologists define us by the actions and words of people like Cobain, If we continue to al low this, then we are selling our selves short. Are we so selfish that we are owed something from our elders? When we don't get what we be lieve we deserve, do we resort to apathy and negative aggression? If we are dealt a few bad cards, do we "cancel our subscription to the resurrection" and drop out of so ciety? If we are truly weak, then we will do all of these things. We will become the lost generation they have painted us to be. I'm not &fje (^utlfortiian Editor-in-Chief. JoanMalloch Associate Editor. Karen Rowan Adviser. Jeff Jeske News Editor. Gail Kasun Perspectives Editor: Ashley Clifton Features Editor. Joe Wallace Sports Editor. Kiley Holder Copy Editing. Kinsey Gitnbel Layout Editor. Caroline A. Wolfe Circulation Robert Withers Subscriptions Reagan Hopkins Advertising. Brian Lane Business Rich Ewell Photography. Rob Davidson, Daphne Lewis Spagnola going to let it happen to me, and I think it would be a tragedy if our generation reduced itself to a bunch of lost, alienated whiners. As for Cobain and Nirvana, they were a delight to many ears. Cobain's lyrics provided an ouUet for aggression in a harmless man ner, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, Cobain was living the life his lyr ics described. To him, and many of his fans, it was much more than an outlet for aggression. It was a life that they chose. It was this choice that cost Cobain his life. The tragedy in Kurt Cobain's death is that he, and many others like him, rejected society to the point that society couldn't save them. Instead of dealing with the world rationally, he chose to with draw further. By withdrawing, fur ther into his own pain-ridden world, Cobain was soon unable to find a rational solution to his prob lem. The lesson is that running from problems by lashing out at the rest of the world only serves to make problems worse. Too often, people in our generation think it is a "cool" solution to dealing with the world. Nirvana's message was that drugs, anger, and spite were somehow virtuous. Reality was somehow unbearable and undesir- sergpecttbe£ able and it was better to say "the hell with it" and drop out, than deal with it. This kind of thinking has been the signature of our genera tion in the minds of many and it is not flattering. I thought very little of Cobain or Nirvana for the glorification of apathy, yet I feel a sadness over his death. Here was a troubled young man who tried everything to find happiness. He was on top of the musical world, he had been hap pily married for less than two years and had a baby girl around whom he always seemed happy. None of this was enough to exorcise what ever demons haunted him. I can not help thinking that perhaps if Cobain had not so completely re jected society, he may have been able to come to terms with his an ger. Instead, he retreated further into his world of rage and apathy until it could offer no more solu tions. Maybe his passing will serve as notice to our generation that tun ing out reality and embracing rage is self-destructive. Photo by Mark Lewinter This is the last issue of The Guilfordian for this year. ...And thus the last running of the "Voice." So don't forget to at tend the much-awaited debate between Scott Spagnola and Eric Parisi: Sunday, April 17th at 2:00 pm in Sternberger Topics to include: Education, Censorship, Health Care, Economics, and Foreign Policy. Ctotorial soltcj> Opinions expressed in editorials and letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and editorial board. The editors reserve the right to edit all submissions for length, style, and taste. Cubmtsstons The Guilfordian will no longer accept sub missions as our year of publication ends with this issue. For information on next year's paper write: Editor P.O. Box 17717 Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, 27410. FRestauran eview •Vending Machines • Laura Davis Staff Writer Eating at Guilford for Chump Change I don't have a car this week (my baby died in Chapel Hill), so I de cided to do something a little bit different. You probably have all heard people complaining about the vending machines in their dorms, now here's my review. Of all the dorms, I think Shore wins for nicest vending machine area decor. Located near their kitchenette just off their main lounge, the vending machines are clean and have a very nice table and chair set next to them. Shore has the standard Coke machine (with Sprite) and a Tom's vending machine - with microwave pop corn! I liked that a lot. Mary Hobbs' vending machines are lo cated in the laundry room, so the atmosphere is not nearly as nice, however, you're right next to the caf, which is open all the time. Hobbs doesn't have much in the way of interesting food, but one can get by in a crunch. Next step "down" is Binford. The locale is not nearly as cheery as Shore, and not as well lit as ei ther Shore or Hobbs, but they have a juice machine in addition to Coke and Tom's. The Tom's machine had a metal grill across the front, which is a big tumoff to me and makes it harder to see what you're getting. I think the grill was there Thanks to our staff for an excellent year. Your hard work is appreciated. Good luck to Seniors! Chris Behm Catherine Jernigan Naomi Blass Susie Jeffries Jason Caplain Amy Newsome Luisa Constanza Krista Mitschele Will Cooper Christian Scanniello Laura Davis Rachel Salzberg Mignon Ezzell S. Scott Spagnola Courtney Frankhouser Louisa Spaventa Heather Glissen Beth Stringfield Nat Gray Beth Williams Chris Hosford Junior Yim The last staff meeting of The Guilfordian will be held Monday, April 18, in the Pub Suite. Awards will be handed out to ALL members(And Joan just might strip). April t5,1994 for good purpose, though, as the machine looked rather abused, implying money-eating tendencies (although all machines are sus pect). I couldn't find the machines in Bryan, and all I could find in Mil ner was a juice machine, but I'm sure if you felt adventurous, you'd probably be able to find some may be ask a resident for directions (I wasn't feeling all that extro verted when I was looking). English's Coke machine had Sprite in it, but both the Coke and Tom's machine looked beleaguered and abused, and I stuck to the floor in their kitchenette. I don't like stick ing to floors, especially when I hope to get something to eat there. The library and Founders' ma chines are both nicer than what's in the dorms, and I know for sure Founders has Sprite (can you tell what soda I like?), but the ultimate of ultimate dining-for-a-dollar pleasure is to be found in Bauman. Located upstairs, the Bauman lounge area has tables, it's quiet, and it's definitely the safest place on campus to munch down. Al though not equipped with Sprite, Bauman has a Coke machine, a juice machine, and the best stocked food dispenser on campus. Not only that, but all the machines take dollar bills. High class. That's my review this week...don't forget to tip big when you do go 0ut...1'1l see you next spring.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 15, 1994, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75