P^e 2
THE GRYPHON
Wednesday. November 24. 1971
Welcome Back Dick!
Now that the anti-war groups have staged what ap
pears to be their last large-scale demonstration,
the fliture of the U, S. involvement in Southeast Asia
is left in the hands of our election-minded officials
in Washington.
The Nixon Administration has played their cards
well. In the beginning, the Nixon troops made it evi
dent they were going to do something about this rot
ten war. They manuvered the public into accepting
their peace plan by selling it to the people. Next, they
began the actual withdrawals of American troops, A
time table was established to enable the vast major
ity of troops out of action by August, 1972.
Why August, 1972? Why not January, 1972? Why
not December 31, 1971? Why not November 24,
1971? The Nixon Administration, like all political
organizations, are election-conscious. The thought
behind the August *72 date is an easy one to under
stand. The Nixon's are very comfortable at the White
House, and they want to keep it that way. So, to in
sure himself of a place to live for the next four years,
Richard Nixon has set the August date. He figures
that if he pulls the troops out, he will have obliged
his 1968 campaign promise to end the war. By wait
ing until August *72, he figures his anti-war effort
will be fresh in the minds of the voters. This also
eliminates the chance of any other issue developing
Into a major obstacle to the re-election of Richard
Nixon.
If the troops are home by August, it*s welcome back
to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Dick Nlxcm.
Let Them Teach
There’s an oU song that says **H you want bread go
to the baker, H you want fish go to the sea”. Along
these same lines one could say you want to learn
go to a teacher”. This seems like a logical state
ment, but teachers are constantly being questioned
and harrassed by people who know absolutely nothing
about teaching.
Teachers have a hard job. Teachers are over-work-
ed and under-paid. Teachers hold the future of Ameri
ca in their hands. So why not let the teachers teach?
In the past few years teachers in the Rocky Mount
School System have been the target of attacks that
‘Were totally uncalled for. The attacks had little basis
for complaint as was realized after the dust settled.
The criticizers soon realized that their assum^ons
were based on unstable framework, or their informa
tion was incorrect.
The profession of teaching needs qualified teachers
to instruct the youth of America. The teachers at
RMSH are some of the finest in the state. How about
shoveling them out of the red-tape and let them teach?
What About N. C.?
K*s getting about that time again. You know, elec
tion time. Everybody, especially the new 18-20 year-
oM voters are beginning to think about whoto vote for
to fill the office of the President. But what about the
state of North Carolina? What about the office of
Governor? What about the state government?
In recent years, political Interest has shifted from
the state level to the national one. The state govern
ment directs as much policy toward the people as the
federal government, but It seems that people get more
excited about national politics, if they even get excited
at alL At a rally heU at Northern Nash last mcmth,
I saw a total of about 10 RMSH faces.
So the youth are gcwma change the world? Not un
less they get off their posteriors and get interested
in government, instead of constantly griping about the
situaticML,
And when you think about voting for President, what
about N. C.?
Hot Wax
Notes From
The John
(Editor’s note: In our never
ending crusade for a better
paper, we arepresentingforthe
first time ever, a column by
one of our faculty. We have
invited John Woollen to kick off
what we hope to be a highly-
successful feature. The fol
lowing is the first of our
teacher columns,)
1
I finally have a media which
enables me to answer the ques
tion which has most been ask
ed of me, since beginning my
teaching career.
“Are you prejudiced?” K
been asked by students,
parents, teachers and, I sup
pose, yours truly more times
than I can remember.
I rarely give a pat answer
to any question and this one is
no different as you will see,
.The basic answer Is yes. To
those of you who wince at this
realization concerning part of
my personality, read on and find
If you fit Into my structure of
prejudices.
I am prejudiced against all
persons who willfully tear pages
out of magazines and stealbooks
for their own use. If you have
never sought out information
and found It missing from the
library, because someone else
has torn out a certain page or
taken a book, than you have
never experienced the disgust
I feel for these people every-
tlme it occurs to me! The li
brary exists to aid everyone
in the learning process, both
students and teachers. Those
who practice this shameful
habit, thus stopping that pro
cess, should be branded for
exactly what they are —
THIEVES!
Another category ol people
whom I am prejudiced against
are those who make you search
for a clean table to eat your
kinch off of, ShouU you find
one, cherish the occurence, for
it Is rare. Survey our cafe
teria and you will notice the
only difference between it and a
trash can are square corners.
Our kitchen staff tries valiant
ly, but In vain, to clean up af
ter these people but it is to
no avail. For those of you who
believe that there is nothing
wrong with this and seem to
want to make the entire world
your own personal trash pile I
have this wish; May all the
trash you leave lying on tables
and that which you drop on the
ground, not to mention the floor,
you materialize' in your living
room! litterers of our world.
I brand you PIG.
The last category, and the
by far worst to me, are you with
no real business in KMSH, You
who are lazy white others are
teaming, you who disrupt white
others try to tearn, and you who
do not care to tearn at all, to
all of you I say this, GET OUT!
“CRIPPLED INSIDE”
You can shine your shoes and
wear a suit.
You can comb your hair and
look quite cute.
You can hide your face behind
a smite.
One thing you can't hide
Is when you’re crippled inside.
You can wear a mask and paint
your face.
You can call yourself the hu
man race
You can wear a collar and a tie.
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled Inside,
You can go to church and sing
a hymn.
Or judge me by the color of
my skin.
You can live a He until you die.
One thing you can’t hide
Is when you’re crippled inside.
Now that the Beattes have teft
us as a unit, a rash of Indivi
dual efforts have been produced,
Paul McCartney has scored with
the hidlous “Ram” and “Mc
Cartney” albums; George Har
rison has done a fine LP en
titled “All Things Must Pass”;
Ringo Starr has done two al
bums; the medicore “Sentimen-
talJourney” and the extremely
well done “Becoups of Blues”
which everyone has seemed to
overlook.
Although McCartney has sold
out to the over-thirty set, and
George Harrison has been pro
claimed the most-serious of the
Beatte-breakoffs, John Lennon
has hit the pot-of-gold with his
latest Appte LP, “Imagine”.
Beginning with the highly-
successful titte number, the al
bum next goes Into a rinky-
tlnk plano-chorus line number
called “Crippled Inside”. For
those who beUeve that McCart
ney was responsibte for the soft
and easy string arrangements
on things like “The Long and
Winding Road” and “Let It Be”,
listen to the next out entitled
“Jealous Guy”, This is better
than anything Paul McCartney
ever dreamed about doing. The
next cut, “Rs So Hard” is a
hard-rocker which features a
sptendid sax solo by King Cur
tis, “Momma I Don’t Want To
Be A Soldier” is about the
strongest thing Pve heard in the
last year. B has a haunting
melody and a nightmare-ish
quality. Side Two opens with
“Gimme Some Truth”, This
one has some of the old J(^
Lennon qualities of social cri
ticism, and is the best lyrical
song done by Lennon since “I
Am A Walrus”. “Oh My Love”
gives us more on the Idea that
Lennon had the greater hand
in the string arrangements than
did McCartney. “How Do You
Steep?” Is a direct cut by Len
non against McCartney. (A
pretty face may last a year or
two, But pretty soon they’ll see
what you can do. The sound
you make is muzak to my ears.
You must have teamed some
thing in all those years.) The
next tune, “How” asks the ques- '
tion of “How can we go for
ward when we don’t know which
way we’re facing?” H says !
that we have to know where we
are to know where we are going.
The album ends with a simpte
love song by Lennon to his wife, ,
Yoko Ono, “Oh Yoko” is a
perfect ending to a perfect al
bum. The future is alive and
living in John Lennon, Give
him a listen.
THE GRYPHON
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Member of Qain oDd Se^
|L2S Yeariy
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