CAMPUS FEATURES September 28,2995 6
Soccer Team Travels to D.C.
LAUREN STANFIELD
Staff Writer
This past weekend the Mer
edith, Soccer Team took a
trip to our nation's capital to
play in a tournament hosted
by Catholic University. The
team left Friday morning in
order to get to the field and
prepare for their game under
the lights, later that night at
7.
The Angels first opponent
was Marymount University
of Arlington, Virginia. The
team was excited to play a
game under the lights, as
many of them did back in
high school. With one great
oppormnity would come an
other hindrance. Meredith
would also be playing on an
artificial mrf field, instead
of grass. Many players had
not experienced playing on
a turf field before, and were
anxious to see what it was
like.
Playing on a turf field is by
far a tough task. The speed
of play is increased times
two versus playing on a reg
ular field. The ball moves at
a quick pace, so that means
each player has to be ready
and quick on their toes. With
Marymount accustomed to
such a field, it would possi
bly pose as a challenge for
the Angels.
Both teams were pumped
and ready to go. Each team
played at incredible speeds.
The first half was full of fast
passes and runs off the ball.
Meredith played tough and
overcame the challenge of
the mrf field. Many began
to like the new, soft field and
it showed through. Mary
mount was a tough, fast
team, but as was Meredith,
who then took control. Ni
cole Boucher scored the first
and only game of the night.
dribbling down to the left
comer flag, and then push
ing the ball back to the mid
dle, in order to set up a shot
for herself. She had a great
look on goal, and netted one
for the Angels to put them
ahead 1-0.
Freshman Charts Hill went
down with a knee injury in
the first half, after a long
fight to win the ball against
a Marymount defender.
She was sidelined due to a
sprained LCL (lateral col
lateral ligament) and was
unable to play the rest of the
tournament, Meredith con
tinued their strength of play
throughout the second half,
giving Marymount hard-
fought competition. The
soccer team held off Mary
mount 1-0.
Saturday was a day of site
seeing for the girls. They
traveled in groups to D.C. in
order to visit the various mu
seums and works of art that
Washington D.C. has to of
fer. Many went to visit such
places like the Holocaust
Museum, The World War II
Memorial, and the Washing
ton Monument. Meredith
students also got to witness
a war protest, which was
taking place on Constimtion
Street, right at the heart of
D.C. They also visited less
historic places like the mall,
where they were able to
spend quality time with each
other, some with their fami
lies, and others just relaxing
and touring other various
places.
Sunday the ladies would
face off in the championship
game against host school
Catholic University of
America. The Angels were
ready to make their record
7-3 and come home with
another tournament victory.
Catholic University was a
strong, well composed team.
They passed well and ulti
mately set up a perfect shot
for their midfield, putting
them ahead 1-0. The An
gels played strong and made
many attempts at a goal, but
were unlucky. In the end,
luck was not on Meredith’s
side, but they did not go out
without a well-fought battle.
They played a hard game and
took 2nd place at this year’s
Catholic University Soccer
tournament. Congratulations
to the Meredith Soccer Team
for a great performance this
past weekend.
Catch the Angels next home
game, this Wednesday at
4 against Ferrum College.
Help cheer them on to
victory!
Review of "The Inept Witness"
ELIZABETH
HENDRICK
Contributing Writer
Gunter Grass immediately
catches the reader’s atten
tion by creating a sense of
anticipation of the meeting
and interaction of two great
literary authors, Erich Maria
Remarque and Ernst Jiinger.
The title, “Witnesses of An
Era,” alludes to the idea
that Grass is going to of
fer insight into the authors’
famous literary works, All
Quiet on the Western Front
and The Storm of Steel, or
capture the two gentlemen’s
stories as they reminisce of
their past experiences dur
ing World War I. Grass con
veys the men’s relationship
accurately. However, the
essay is disappointing as it
lacks detail and insight fi*om
the two gentlemen and aim
lessly discusses seemingly
irrelevant issues.
The object of Grass’ re
search that she makes refer
ence to in the first paragraph
is unclear, causing the pur
pose of her essay to be indis
tinguishable. She never ex
plains her purpose in getting
these two literary novelists
together. Not only did Grass
fail to address this central is
sue but the ending dropped
off with no conclusion, cre
ating even more conftision
as to the main idea.
One sentence used near
the beginning of the essay
captures the essence of what
the story should have fo
cused on. “They laid their
evidence, their once hotly
debated novels, on the mar
ble table between the crois
sants and the cheese platter”
(108). This is the perfect
sentence to lead into the
story that she has seemed to
set up but not delivered. Af
ter so many years had gone
by, these two insightful men
have gathered to share one
table and share their experi
ences of WWI. It seems that
the Swiss researcher had at
her disposal two of the great
est resources of that era and
didn’t utilize her time wise
ly. Her writing would have
been more captivating had it
explored intriguing details
of their personal accounts or
their own insights into their
novels and not on their opin
ions or comments about the
weaponry or protective gear
used during the war. We are
given a taste of the stories
they have lived, like when
Jiinger recalls that, “even af
ter the war showed its claws,
I was fascinated, during the
raiding parties I led, by the
idea of battle as inner expe
rience” (107). She gives us
enough glimpses into their
lives to want to hear more
about their raids, for exam
ple. Then she switches to a
dry subject like why JUnger
liked a certain kind of hel
met, instead of writing about
a moving experience he had.
There is something magical
about men of an era gone by
who get together and casu
ally reminisce. Grass had an
opportunity to capture that
magic and she failed miser
ably.
Grass was successful, how
ever, as she showed them re
lating to one another and the
corrmients that were made be
tween them. The connection
was established early in the
essay when “first Remarque,
then Junger hummed the
haunting, melancholy melo
dy, and both knew the lines
that brought the refrain to a
close; ‘Flanders is in danger./
Death is there no stranger’”
(106). Later, Grass conveys
the conflicts between the two
men as she quotes Remarque
when referring to Jiinger’s
novel, The Storm of Steel, as
a “hymn of war,” as though
JUnger glorified the idea of
war (108). Describing the
two gentlemen drinking to
gether also allowed for the
connection to be shown be
tween the two of them, while
at the same time reiterat
ing the detached roll of the
Swiss researcher as she never
shared a drink with them. In
the first paragraph she intro
duced the idea of the dynam
ics of the two gentlemen’s
relationship and success
fully depicted these dynam
ics through their interaction.
Grass did this by establishing
the distinction between their
opposing views, while still
managing to show how they
connected by experiencing
the same horrible event and
past hardships.
GUnter Grass failed to cap
ture Remarque and lunger’s
emotive stories from their
past. Had she written more
about the intriguing, person
al tales of war, readers would
have been more riveted.
As it were, the essay skips
around to a great extent and
neglects to ftilfill readers’
expectations, Although she
successfully portrayed the
two men’s relationship with
one another. Grass seems to
have chosen a bad angle to
portray her experience with
the two men.