Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Feb. 22, 1979, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 THE TWIG FEBRUARY 22, 1979 THE HBnVlTH TWIG CCLLB9B U.S. losing oil-rich nations Letters to the Editor Editor’s Note: Up to this point, the TWIG staff has had no policy that it is aware of on the publishing of unsigned letters. However, it has recently formed the policy that unsigned letters .to the editor cannot be printed. An unsigned letter has been printed this week because the policy has not been made clear to the community. However, future unsigned letters will not be printed. Dear Editor; Instead of crucifying the entire staff at the infirmary, let’s thank the one staff member who is always on call when she is on duty, always willing to assist any student with medical needs in an efficieni, professional, pleasant manner. In my years of using the infirmary. Mrs. Thacker has always taken her job seriously and to the best of her ability tried to uplift the name of the in firmary. 1 think it is time to lay the blame where it should be. I have yet to go to the infirmary when Mrs. Thacker is on duty and find her "lost" somewhere on campus or getting her hair done during infirmary hours as well as not during infirmary hours. On Mrs. Thacker s days off. it has been many times that hours were not kept by the other nurse on duty. And when there, her care has not been professional nor as a rule correct (as proven to me by my personal physician). How much longer is Meredith going to continue to allow inadequate persons to dispense medicine? Unsigned Dear Editor; I regret that I find it necessary to respond to criticism of the Medical department at Meredith through the open forum of your publication. However, the publishing of an unsigned letter leaves no other avenue of reply. I did respond personally to Miss Crowell and invited her to a conference with me regarding her apparently unhappy ex periences in the Infirmary, but to date have had no response to my letter. Your editorial, I must confess, somewhat amazes me. You have invited any and all that have a grievance to speak up and I heartily endorse that stance. However, 1 am disturbed that your editorial was written without any effort having been made by you or any member of The TWIG staff to even speak with me per sonally. In fact, your presence in the Infirmary has never been noted, either as a patient or a reporter in your years at Meredith, so 1; can only assume your own individual experience with the Medical department is limited. I again invite the writers of the letters, the Editor, or any' member of the Meredith student body to confer with me regar ding any complaints of our program they may wish to voice. Sincerely. Sidney Martin College Physician Dear Editor. Have you ever suffered painful burns on your back and legs Ijecause of a blast of hot water from your dorm shower? This has happened to me several times and I'm sick of it. One night the burnswereso severe that any contact at all on my back was im possible. It remained red and sensitive for hours. Is there anything that can tx' done or am I doomed to shower with the nozzle spraying the back shower wall, and a cautious me standing V ith my back on the front shower wall? Sincerely. Jeanne Vivona NOTE The TWIG is late this week due to the snow. We regret that it has led to some of the advance news coming out after the events, but the delay was unavoidable. THE MEREDITH Editor .\ssistant Editor Reporters Columnists TWIG COI.UEGE Sports Editor Photographer Art Business Manager Advertising .Manager Circulation Editor Faculty Advisors Kristy Beattie Renee Keever Davis Nancy Newton, Cathy White, Carolyn Morton, Sarah Williams, Ann Earp, Dana Warren, Marlene Debo, Jeanne Vivona Mary Pickett, Valerie Ray, Suzanne Barr, B.D. Hail, Mary Katherine Pittman Regine Nickel, Ann Stringfield Darla Stephenson Rymer Shaw Gerl Deines Leslie Landis Lura Anthony Carman Warren Dr. Tom Parra more, Mr. Bill Norton by Regine Nickel Iran is in shambles and there is no end in sight for the bloody fight for control bet ween Bakthiar and Khomeini - some sources seem to be rather hesitant to call this fight by its real name: civil war. Only last Saturday Senator Helms blamed the Carter Administration for the “loss of Iran.” What indeed went wrong? Why did the U.S. lose influence in Iran and thus the so necessary oil supply? The key to the problem really is Western uneasiness in dealing with friendly authoritarian governments, especially if they supply such vital goods as oil and gas. In such cases it is impossible to legally remain in touch with, the underground opposition, and no opposition really wants, secret support anyway. The trouble is that in authoritarian countries the opposition can come to power with a bang, as the example Iran clearly shows. Then how should one act? The answer is dilem ma.... With Iran tucked away under “lost countries,” there is now another desert country in the danger of falling to revolution. The situation in Algeria has b^en deteriorating steadily, especially after its political leader Boumedienne died in an operation last year. Why is Algeria important for the U.S.? The answer is oil and gas. Algeria has probably the vastest gas supplies in the world. Already the U.S. im ports gas from Algeria and the amount is hoped to increase greatly until 1980. It can’t be forgotten that Algeria is a developing country, based on a socialistic constitution. Until 1962 it was a French colony under military rule. Bloody strikes and rebellions led to its in dependence. In October, 1%3 Boumedienne came to power, through a military overthrow. Boumedienne had great plans of modernization and in dustrialization. As former chief of staff of the army he had the army-backed authority to realize them. Rapid industrialization brought problems for Algeria. It needed to go in debt to make available money for those ambitious plans. It was considered highly credit worthy because of its gas supplies, but as of now gas production is still low. Only by 1980 is there any hope of in creasing gas ej^ort to a degree of beginning to pay back the debts. Also, the country population has migrated to the cities by the thousands in the hope of finding better jobs. There are few jobs for unskilled workers. As a result of this trend every third Algerian is unemployed and the capital Algier, built for 700,000 p^ple. is now inhabitated by two million people! This means a poverty stricken city populace is led by a small elite of rich functionaries. It is only un derstandable that this vast gap in income breeds dissatisfaction and dissent. Boumedienne realized this problem and tried to remedy it with education. Indeed, his educational program and its achievements are remarkable. Today 70 percent of the children under 16 go to school, a record for a developing nation. However, lately there have been sporadic strikes in Algeria. Boumedienne, with his influence and strong leadership, always avoided fatal confrontations. With him gone and no capable successor in sight, the country is in danger. Strikes would mean a decline of the economy and no more money from abroad. Poverty would increase, in stead of decrease. Algeria might then go the same way Iran went. It may become a “loss” to the U.S. ^^Anne Frank”: Well-received by Jeanne Vivona Meredith Playhouse’s presentation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” was received with a majority of good reviews. The play is based on the book Anne Frank: Diary .of - a Young Girl. Phyllis rthompson, the director, was ■ assisted by Rita Jennings. The •costuming of the early 1940’s was designed by Kristy Beattie. The set and light design, which was very ef fective, was constructed by Lin Shehdan. The cast of ten worked well together; however, I was disappointed to see that the talents of the actors and ac tresses were not utilized due to the dominance of Anne Frank. Since most of the parts were small and dispersed with large segments involving Anne, I was dismayed to see that specific incidents- highlighted by other characters were not played up. The small audiences responded well to the moving and highly personal lives of the characters. It is un fortunate that the many hours of hard work were not rewarded with a larger crowd. The lengthy scene changes detracted from. the overall flow of the play; however, the two episodes which created a most responsive . effect upon the audience, the scenes in which Anne and Peter xUscoyer the sheer happiness of love and the distribution of Ti^nukkah gifts, ihade a delightful im pression on the otherwise serious and morose setting of the play. The acting abilities and technical direction proved that Meredith is capable of performing dramas as well as musicals. The Meadowline Tales by Ann Stringfield “Hello?” I called as I entered Nan’s room, “Is anybody here?” " “No, but I am,” she yelled from the bathroom. I walked towards the bathroom where I found Nan standing on top of the sink, looking out the porthole shaped window. “What, may I ask, are you doing?” “I’m being overwhelming right now. Later I’ll be caustic.” Nan replied, eyeing me. “Are you okay? You’re acting rather strange.” “Am I?” She said, placing one foot on the radiator. Presently she jumped down and said, “Talk to me. Everyone’s gone and I’m lonely.” “Where are they?” “Bug-face is in the library agonizing over Othello and my suitemates are...well, one of them is at a judy board thing, I think.” “What’s a judy board?” “As Fred Allen put it, it’s a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.” “Seriously, Nan, what do they do?” I asked. “Well, they get together and hear cases like a regular court except it’s no more like a regular court than your mother is like Calvin Coolidge. No witnesses, no defense, no justice. It’s a real trip for everyone concerned.” “How do you know all of this? Have you observed a proceeding?” “Like I said, it’s not like a real court, the trials aren’t open to the public. However, I have this irrfo form, to coin a phrase, unimpeachable sources.” “What kind of cases do they hear?” I asked, curiosity aroused. “Oh, violations of the honor ccide, etc.” “Ah, you have an honor code. I’m sure that’s an asset to the school.” “Oh, yes. It keeps the honest people honest. It also makes a lot of people hyper about everything because they fear they will be falsely accused.” Sensing Nan was about to become riled, 1 changed the subject. “What are the professors like here?” “Auden once said; ‘A professor is one who talks in someone else’s sleep.’ I’m kidding. Actually the professors here are great. They throw snowballs at students and act like regular people. The atmosphere is such that you can become friends with them.” “Do you call them by their first names?” “A few of them. Some want to be informal, for in stance, Carl Johnson. Others are referred to by first name only in closed circles. Some you wouldn’t dare call by their given name, simply out of respect. Others you can kid with like Bernie Cochran. I frequently yell “Bernie” across the cafeteria.” “What does he do?” “He laughs, lo.oks amused, looks embarrassed, and says hello at the same time. He’s very versatile! But enough of this optimism. I must, as Carl puts it, go do something insignificant. Bye!” Stay tuned until next week. Same bat-channel. Same bat-station.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Feb. 22, 1979, edition 1
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