April 13, 1979
Youth Denied Rights
By Mark Langston
Without realizing or understanding it, government and
swiety have repeatedly placed responsibilities on youth
without recognizing the rights that go along with these
duties.
The best example of this is in the justice system. A person
is legally classified as an adult at age 18. However, he **«" be
legally prosecuted as an adult for crimes committed at age
16. Such laws are meant to curb juvenile crime, but atati-ofiVo
indicate that the number of crimes is still rising at ten to
twenty percent a year.
Liquor laws are another example. In North Carolina and
other states, beer and unfortified wines can be bought at age
18. Fortified alcohol requires an age of 21. But in many other
states, no alcohol may be bought until age 19, 20, or 21. The
only plausible reason for this is that young adults often do
not control their alcohol use. However, neither do older
adults. The number of adult alcoholics in this country is now
in the tens of millions. Further, the laws have not kept
alcohol out of the hands of minors. Youth can get it from a
number of sources, including the home.
Society, also, imposes responsibilities on youth without
granting ensuing rights and privileges. The most ridiculous
example of this is the price of theater tickets. A person mut
be 18 to see an “adult” movie, yet he must pay adult price
at age 12. The easiest solution for this injustice is to price
movies according to their ratings; children’s movies could be
cheapest and adult movies more expensive. The prices would
balance out fairly, with theaters making approximately the
same profit.
Adults often say that youth must prove itself before rights
are grated. Perhaps these adults should take a closer look at
both rights and responsibilities before passing judgment and
meiking rules.
Carter To Travel Abroad
The Experiment Way
‘^he China Syndrome’
Nightmare Becomes Reality
by Joe Morris
Two weeks ago, the failure
of a cooling system at Three
Mile Island nuclear power
plant threatened Pennsylva
nia. The unsmticipated hy
drogen bubble, which
formed int he reactor and
prevented escape of heat and
pressure, gradually shrunk,
eliminating the potential of
explosion. The threat was
thus contained. But the
danger did not abate without
first rousing suspicions of
this temjjerament^ source of
power.
“The China Syndrome,” a
suspenseful film which deals
with this subject of ominous
pertinence, also raises
doubts about the safety of
nuclear energy. Starring reed
life anti-nuclear activists
Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda,
and Michael Douglas, the
plot has striking parallels to
the real drama which took
place in Permsylvania. Faul
ty cooling systems are the
culprits of both mishaps.
And the public was misled
regarding the hazards in
volved in each incident by
deceptive euphemisms de-
llivered by PR men. But
ironically, the Three Mile
Island accident was far more
serious than the fictitious
occurrence at Ventana Nu
clear Plant in Cahfomia.
And, mysteriously, “an area
Shaim Elizabeth Carter
will be doing herself a favor
this summer. Instead of stay
ing in Greensboro all sum
mer and sleeping and swim
ming, she will be living in
Switzerland!
Shaun, a rising senior and
daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
Larry W. Carter of Greens
boro, has been selected to
participate in The Experi
ment in International Living.
Shaun is only in the third
level of French at Grimsley,
but when her teacher, Mrs.
' Oakley told the class about
“The Experiment in Interna
tional Living,” she (Shaun)
was immediately interested.
For two weeks before she
goes to Switzerland she will
attend a Language Training
Camp in Vermont. The main
1 purpose of the camp is to
I train the students in the
, social customs of the country
, where they will be living.
I Four four weeks, Shaun
f will be hving with a family in
1 Switzerland, speaking their
[language, participating in
[the fife of their community.
Experimenters travel in
groups of eight to twelve, led
by a qualified and trained
young adult familiar with the
culture and language of the
host country.
At the conclusion of the
home stay, the students
regroup and, together with
young members of host fami
lies, tour parts of the coun
try. For 1979, Experimenters
could choose from over sixty
programs in thirty-one coun
tries in Europe, the Middle
East, Asia, Africa, and Latin
America.
In addition to its summer
programs, the Experiment
conducts semester programs
for high school and college
students.
Shaun says she is kKddng
forward to the trip and thinks
of it as “an experience that
could be the most valued
thing” she ever does.
EASTER BONNETS: Students in one of Mrs. Beamer’s
home economics classes prepare for an Easter parade!
[Keith Miller photo] ^
‘Just Friends’
Remember Rizzo, Sandy’s
rebellious foil in the movie
“Grease?” She’s back, but
this time on the smaU screen
as Susan Howard, .a newly
divorced health spa worker
in Los Angeles.
The versatile Stockard
Channing is now surrounded
by four very stereo-typical
characters. There is Gerrit
Graham as Leonard Scrib
ner, the looney neighbor.
Mimi Kennedy as Bictoria,
Susan’s snooty Beverly Hills
sister, Lou Crisculol as Milt
D’Angelo, the owner of the
“Fountain of Youth” Health
Spa (and poster boy for
athlete’s foot) and Sydney
Susan’s
co-wor-
Goldsmith as
‘ ‘dumb secretary’
ker.
Although the lines are
relatively predictable, Chan-
i^’s “Groucho Marx” de
livery of one-liners and
smirky grin allow for some
laughs.
While the characters
seem a little too familiar,
their insanity can create
some interesting situations.
Perhaps, if given more time,
the writers wiU develop the
now shaUow characters into
some that are more realistic.
The public will become more
than “just friends” with the
irrepressible Stockard Chan-
ning.
the size of Pennsylvania”
was cited in the movie as
what would be rendered per-
' manently uninhabitable by a
nuclear accident.
The accident takes place
when TV reporter Kimberly
WeUs, effectively portrayed
by Fonda, and her camera
man, played by Douglas
(who also directs the movie),
are filming an energy docu
mentary at the Ventana
plant. In spite of the pan
icked appearance of the con
trol room crew, the repor
ters are assured that the
vibration which shakes the
plant is a routine ‘ ‘event. ’ ’ A
hasty Nuclear Regulatory
Commission investigation
affirms this assertion, and
the plant is given the go-
ahead to resume operation.
Control Room Operator Jack
Goodell, however, movingly
depicted by Lemmon, disco
vers cost-cutting defects in
construction, and advises
that operations cease. What
follows is a chilling account
of the power struggle
between the press, Goodell,
and the profit-hungry plant
owners.
The movie’s conclusion is
packed with suspense, but
the action building up to it is
often slow. However, the
objective behind “The China
Syndrome” is obviously
much more than captivation
of an audience; it is a
powerful political film which
adds to the nation’s spread
ing anti-nuclear sentiment.
Whirlie Pride
hi each of the past three
years, Grimsley’s High I.Q.
Team has qualffied as one of
the eight bert in the state,
and has twice reached the
finals. Excellent instructmn
and frunlities in music and
dnuna compose y^ another
facet of academic excellence.
Grimsley also has the fi-
nert high school campus in
North Carolina. The college-
type landsciq>e and well-kept
grounds are for everyone to
appreciate. A new gymna-
sium and science facilities,
complete with a greenhouse,
add to Grimsley’s advanta
ges. We should be proud to
have the largest footbaU and
basketball facilities of any
4-A school in the state. John
Dewey pool and eight teimis
courts also contribute to the
welfare of Grimsley stu
dents, as well as to the
community.
All things considered, I
can honestly say that I’m 90
proud to be a Whirlie!
Alison Pentz