Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / March 1, 1973, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 THE TWIG MARCH I, 1973 THE MEREVITH TWIG Letters to the editor- COLLEGE Rechannel goals The obtaining of the 5-year Advancement Program goal on Founders’ Fay is to be commended, imt we must now be as sured that our sights will be turned inward toward the educa tional process itself. Granted, the 5 new buildings are essen tial to the student development here, but the emphasis on physical growth must now be placed Into intellectual growth. Meredith now has the facilities to create a strong intellectual environ ment and to make plans for a wide variety of educational oppor tunities and goals. We can no longer afford to allow our fin ancial success to l>e extended only to the building of structures; we must strive for the imilding of greater academic integrity. These statements are not to infer that Meredith does not have a strong sense of intellectual purpose now for tlie school is one of the strongest and most revered women’s colleges in the South. I do infer a re-channeling of our financial resources into stronger academic programs, better salaries for professors, and increas ed library facilities. Ur. Weems has committed us to this new goal, but we must also commit ourselves to cooperate in the pro duction and stimulation of a stronger Intellectual envrionment. JFS Unfair laws keep Communists out This past Monday in chapel a representative from the Russian Fimbassy was supposed to speak. Last week Dean Burris receiv ed a call from the Embassy informing liirn that the speaker would not b(‘ able to come due to a law in Wake County that for bids any Communists from entering tlie county. Confirnu'd by Ike Andrews, this statement was ac-epted and the Russian was unalile to appear. If thislawisa carry-over from tlie 1950’s or from the 1960 speaker ban laws, it desperately nei'ds to be revokc>d, and we as studi-nts at Meredith could have a voice in the action. One of the most important aspects of education is the intro duction of ideas different from ones accepted as part of growing ut>. The questioning of thf'se ideas or th(> challenging of their validity as life-styles enabli's people to grow to a better under standing of their own cultures as well as of others. Without the opportunities for encouraging tliese confrontations, stale environments develop in which opposing ideas are not accepted or cliallenged, and indei'd in whicli accepted ideas are not I'ven challengeil. If communists are not allowed in Wake County due to some past law which was maile during tlie ‘‘Red Scare” or even dur ing the speaki'r-ban -ontroversy, then we must immediately work to clear up this past mistrust. Wi' must qui'slion the ori gination of this law and work to get it changed if possilde. We must, above all, remain open to the fri'edom of other culturi's to live a philosophy and to believe in it. W(' do not have to ac cept the communist party goals In order lo accept the people who believe in them. We merely lu'eil lo be open so that a belter mutual uudei slanding between the tJ..S. and Russia can occur. JI'S Dear Editor: In response to letters re cently published in the TWIG concerning the construction of the President’s Dining Room vs. the inadequacies of the Music Department facili ties, I would like to mention another area at Meredith that needs improvement. Al though the Music Department does have its inadequacies, the tendency is to be concern ed with the area in which you are most interested. My in terest, along with the inter ests of a great many other Meredith students, lies in the area of the equitation program. I am not ashamed to admit that the riding facilities there had a great deal to do with my choice of Meredith. I have participated in the pro gram for four semesters, and each semester has seen the further deterioration of the program. The Meredith cata logue for the year 1972 states that instruction is offered in “saddle and forward seat and western.” Saddle seat is almost ex clusively taught. The college jumps were stolen years ago, and replacement -- due most ly to lack of funds — has been impossible. For the two years I have been here, a dressage ring has been promised but has never materialized. The present ring, like Crabtree Valley Mall, becomes flood ed every time it rains, thus making it impossible to work in the rings. A paddock -- built on a slope — was torn down and has not yet been replaced. Repairs are no toriously slow at the stables. A stall was unused for at least a three-week period be cause the door was off and wasn’t repaired. The water system has been recalcitrant the entire year, and water has to be carried by hand. Efforts to correct these faults and others too numerous to mention have been aimost to tally ignored. The stables seem to be the “ dark horse” of the Physical Edu cation Department. A com parison between the newWea- therspoon Gymnasium and the stables is all that is needed to point this out. When the equitation pro gram seems to attract so many students to Meredith, it seems ridiculous, and at the least unbusiness-like, to neg lect it so totally. If given ade quate facilities and promis ed additions, the stables could attract even more students. At the moment, only discour agement meets the excited equitation students. ******** Dear Editor: Recently, when several of us were discussing the pass age by the student body of the SDH proposal for sop homores, one girl comment ed that though she was against the legislation she had not bo thered to go to SGA because “it was going to pass any way, so there was no use in going”. To me this struck the nerve of what should be an issue of burning import ance on the Meredith campus- student apathy. With the type of self-government, student government, which we have here at Meredith it is every student’s duty, as well as their right, to express their views. Through the hall proctor sys tem and monthly SGA meet ings we have tried to make our student government as campus-wide as possible, and yet this year attendance at SGA meetings has been, to put it plainly, pitiful. Many chan ges could, and should, be made at Meredith, but it will take an alert, interested, and actively involved student body to make them. Though I personally did not agree with them, I had to admire the tew girls last Friday who had the courage of their convic tions to vote “nay” against a vast majority of “yeas.” Let us hear your voice. We do not elect our officers so we can sit back and let them run things for us. Student par ticipation is an essential goal, and is desperately needed. Leza Wainwright Violence as a life-style questioned in STRAW DOGS No one knows how far he can go in defending himself until the time comes; those who scorn murder may be the first to shoot, and, like wise, those who confidently boa.st of their ability to act under pressure may find their fingers frozen on the trigger. Such is the question explored in Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs,” wherein Dustin Hoff man is initiated into the tribe of humanity as he answers the question for himself. For ced to defend himsi'lf, his home, a somewhat elusive character portrayi'd by Su san George, Hoffman must fight violence with violence. After all, violence is a way of life for mankind, as the film points out. An American returning with his wife to the English village where she grew up, Hoffman encounters a series of people and events designed to wear him down or open his eyes, depending on one’s point of view -- a brawl in the local pub, the presense of his wife’s ex-lover and her casual encouragement of not only the lover’s attritions but also those of all other avail able men, the discovery ofhis wife’s cat hanged in the ward robe, an aceident where In' hits a retarded man with his car, and the increasingly threatening di'inands that he turn the retarded man over to a grout) of angry villagers who accuse the man of seducing and murdering a young girl. At this iioint, anoteof irony is injected, for the same men who ry for bloinl earlier railed Hoffman’s wife. Oddly eiioutdi, Ms. George fails, for one reason or another, to report the I'veiit to her hus band, so that Hoffman’s only quarrel with the men is their insistence iiiHiii beating the in- noceiit victim to death. In till' role of his brother’s ki'i'iier, lloffmaii begins with polite riHiuests that a doctor and the imlii e be called. He niiisl resort, however, to boil ing oil, a steel lrat>, a club, and a really amazing va riety of weaiioiis as the men fori e llieir way inside, hav ing murdered the local magis trate. Here, then, is the turn ing point of the hero’s life. Called a coward by his wife, a fool by the men, and an “unknown quantity” by his own mathemetician’s mind, he must search within himself for the solution. The film goes into no di'tail of his inner struggle, it is obvious to the viewer, however, as Hoffman changes from theten- his-shoed mathemetician at his blackboard to a quick- thinking killer with sweat beaded on his brow. In a per iod of a few hours, a man is brilliantly iwrtrayed as one forced to realize his fullest capabilities, as one discover ing what it is to be a mem ber of the human race, as one recognizing the need for vio lence, if one is to survive. So much for the hero; as for Ms. George, she is soon recognized as a member of that long line of traditionally portrayed women who can only be iiitertireted as feather - headed, teasing, disloyal sex objects. She plays the part well; there is no doubt in the viewer’s mind that this is the true female, she is joined in her presentation of woman kind by a younger version of herself who, in fact, tries to seduce the retardi'il man and suffers for her sins when the poor man, frightened by the shouts of the approaching vil lagers, pulls her into a hiding place, unfortunately by the neck. One cannot deny that the movie is well-done, the cha racters convincing, and the question hard-hitting. But one does well to look twice at the answer the film offers. Is vio lence a necessary and un avoidable part of life? Does; one mature only when he ac cepts such a premise? Is peace of mind, survival it self, dependent upon the abil ity to inflict pain upon others foe one’s own gain? Does the very nature of the human being require such capabili ties? That is, are men, by birth, creatures of violence? Thus, it seems that the view er of “Straw Dogs” finds, in reality, not the answer to the original question (for it is hoped that no one will ever be pushed to the point of dis covering it) but, in fact,more questions. And is this not, af ter all, the test of a “good” movie: one that ' not only touches the surface with en tertainment but also probes the depths with thought? By DEAN A DUNCAN EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Janice Sams 'Copy Editor Eleanor Hill Feature Editor Renee landsev Reporting Staff — Karen Britt, Claudia Denny, Joy Sea born, Norma Heath, Catherine Stover, Susan Webster, Mary Owens, Barrie W alton, Gloria Smith Tyiiists ...Deborah Phillips, Suzanne Martin, Susan W ebster Faculty Advisers .... Dr. Norma Rose, Dr. Tom Parrainore Business Editor i^bby Owen Advertising Managers Deborah Phillips, Emily Johnson Circulation Manager Elaine Williams Staff ... Nancy Alvis, Lou Ann Roelnick, Candv Purvis F’acultv Adviser Photographei' Dr. I,ois Frazier Susan Berrv Meinl'i'r Associated Collegiate Press. loitered as second-class matter at post office at Raleigh, N.C, 27611 Published weekly....exceiit during holidays and exams. Tllk: TWIG is served by National halucafional Advertising Service, 18 East fiOtli Street, New York. Subscription Rates: $8.70 tier year.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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March 1, 1973, edition 1
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