Wednesday, September 28, 1983
HIGH LIFE
Page 3
Men Without Hats, the latest
Canadian group to reap success in
the U.S., has been called “trendy,
annoying, and lacking in imagaina-
tion,” but some listeners may tend
to disagree with these harsh
statements. Their only hit so far,
“Safety Dance,” is said to be
somewhat “...ridiculous...” (J.D.
Considine, Rolling Stone) but it has
still managed to gain acceptance by
many discriminating members of
the pop/rock audience.
Men Without Hats has lacked
success with the critics because of
their use of sounds and effects such
as those used by Duran and Duran
and After the Fire, and their seem
ingly meaningless and “light”
lyrics. But these present downfalls
may be large contributions to the
band’s longevity. Their combina
tion of musical styles does give
their music mild distinction from
the rest of today’s music; and the
lyrics, which do not come close to
dealing with the serious matters
Record
Reviews
By Allen Patterson
covered by modern lyrics, provide a
relaxing and uncaring background.
This may be another point in the
band’s favor. “Rhythm of Youth”
may never become a classic, but it
has served its purpose as a “ground
breaker” for Men Without Hats to
pursue a productive career.
However, their future and success
lies within their talent or lack of it.
- CONCERT NEWS -
The concert schedule has been
bleak for the past several months,
but some mild relief has arrived.
The Grateful Dead will play at the
Greensboro Coliseum at 8:00 p.m.
on October 29. (Tickets have been
on sale since 9/14/83.) Iron Maiden
will be in Charlotte in mid October,
but will not be in Greensboro as
previously announced. (Have a nice
trip to Charlotte.) The Talking
Heads will play in Chapel Hill in
October although the date has not
yet been announced.
(Note: A column dealing with
music wiU be featured in High Life
throughout the year. Any ideas,
comments, or suggestions are ap
preciated.)
Cheerleaders Defend Title
By Alan Biller
Grimsley cheerleaders suc
cessfully defended their
cheerleading title on Saturday
September 9, at the WQMG FM 97
Cheerwine Cheer-Off at Four
Seasons Mall. Grimsley, Page,
Dudley, Smith, and High Point An
drews competed Saturday for
“bragging rights” of the city.
The competition is based on a
five minute routine of cheering and
dancing. Each team can receive a
maximum of fifty points based on
originality, appearance, crowd ap
peal, and difficulty. The top four
teams compete again for first place.
Four plaques are awarded to the
top four teams, T-shirts and the
Cheerwine victory bell go to the
As the Whirlie cheerleaders won
the crown, Gina Russo said, “AU
the hard work has paid off.” The
Whirlie spectators were very
jubilant as Grimsley was announc
ed once again the champions.
A few unfortunate happenings
occured at the competition. Some
of our Whirlie cheerleaders pocket-
books were stolen along with the
winning T-Shirts. Good luck in
recovering your lost items.
Here are the standings of the
competition, first place went to
Grimsley while Page and Dudley
tied for second and Smith took
third place.
Congratulations to all the
cheerleaders, and keep up the good
work!
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Shocking Stats
Teenage Suicide
By Jay Floyd and Carrie Milgrim
Between 1950 and 1980, the
percentage of adolescent suicide
has increased by more than 200
percent. The pre-teen suicide rate
(ages 5 to 14) was even more
dramatic. By 1978, suicide had
become the number two killer of
adults ages 15 to 24, a deadly trend
which effects people of every race
and social background.
Statistics show that the rate of
successful male suicides is 4 times
as high as that of females; however,
females attempt suicide 3 times as
often as males. Females tend to re
ly on pills and other less lethal
modes of suicide, whereas males
tend to make use of more violent
means, such as firearms or hang
ing. Homes which contain firearms
pack an incredibly higher risk for a
male suicide than homes without
firearms.
The guidelines used to trace the
pattern for a potential suicide vie-
timare indeterminable. Not all
suicide attempts spring from a
massive depression. Many suicides
are spontaneous acts committed
when the mind is suddenly exposed
to a mental shock. Most teenage
suicides are alcohol induced.
Before most victims attempt
suicide, they have usually mention
ed to a friend, jokingly or other
wise, that they are going to kill
themselves. When a person is con
fronted with a potential suicide vic
tim, if the subject is offered by the
victim it is often profitable to
talk to them in rational terms such
as, “How do you intend to kill
yourself?” The degree of violence
with which he or she replies is often
an indicator as to the seriousness of
the problem. Often, a person con
templating suicide will go through
sudden mood changes. The person
in question may give an object of
great sentimental value to a close
friend, accompanied by a state
ment such as “I don’t need it
anymore.” If a manically depressed
individual suddenly becomes fully
energetic and radiant with hap
piness, many times this can mean
that the person has definitely
decided to take his own life, thus
relieving the unbearable pressure
that has weighed on his mind.
Massive depression leads to a
low ener^ level. Many times, a
severely depressed person who con
templates suicide, lacks the energy
to actually carry out the act. The
time when suicide is at the highest
probability level is when the severe
ly depressed person regains energy.
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Impulsive suicides are related to
traumatic incidents in the victim’s
life. Most impulsive suicides are
brought into reality by artificial
stimulants.
It has been theorized that
suicide potential for people of all
ages may be an inherited trait
brought on by inherited chemical
depression. Many families who
have experienced a suicide have a
strong history of manic depression
and suicide in their family
histories.
If an adolescent makes a “cry for
help” attempt - a suicide attempt
so organized that death is a remote
possibility but the attempt is in
evitably discovered - it is the
responsibility of any person who
recognizes the traits listed to
acknowledge the cry. Parents
should be notified or professional
counseling should be sought, for
after an attempt is made the poten
tial victim is twice as susceptible to
a successful attempt as he or she
was before the preliminary attempt
was made.
Summer Exchange Program
Tracy Taft and Xan IFise lleft
to right) went with A.F.S. as
exchange students this past summer.
‘We Don’t Realize How Much We Have’
Do you ever want to just get
away from the dull routine of sum
mer? Well, Xan Wise and Tracy
Taft wanted to - and they did
something about it.
Xan went with a foreign ex
change program, AFS (American
Field Service), to Columbia, South
America. “I wanted to get away for
a change, to break away from the
dull routine,” Xan says. His first
choice was Italy, but he was sent to
Columbia.
Xan met “his family” at the Col
ombian airport and spoke a few
words in Spanish which he had
learned from some friends in
Miami. His “mother”, in return,
spoke some English. Each assumed
that the other could speak their
language! After spending only a
month in Columbia, Xan could com
municate most any thought,
however, his grammar was unac
ceptable.
Xan associated well with his Col
ombian family, becoming close to
his “older brother”. His “parents”
were both dentists and his “father”
also was vice president of a large
company.
The Colombians are much more
personable than Americans and do
not get upset easily. The friends
made are valuable friends. “The
kids our age don’t resent school like
By Jackie Quinet
some kids here do. To them going
to school is a privilege and it is very
hard to get into a university.”
School is from 7:30 until 1:00 and
the teachers change classes, not the
students. All of the schools are
parochial (run by the church), not
public.
Colombians have very high
moral standards. There is no drink
ing age but there is no problem
with alcoholism. Kids do not get
drunk, and they would never con
sider going to school drunk.
The high school age kids seem to
hang out at country clubs. They
play tennis, swim, and just, “hang
out”. They have parties and
dances. The radio stations play
music from different countries and
most movies are in English and
subtitled in Spanish.
A lot of families have coffee
farms in the mountains and often
go there for relaxation and get
away from city life. “
The people dress more formally,
usually nice jeans and a button-
down. They called Xan a “hillbilly”
because he dressed casually.
* * *
Tracy wanted go to with AFS for
a different reason- She wants to
pursue a career in International
Relations and she also wanted to
gain a greater appreciation for
America.
Tracy’s first choice had been
Australia, but AFS sent her to
England as part of a special work
program. AFS assigned her a part
ner, Antje Heese, from Germany,
to work with-her. “We became very
close because of all the things we
went through together. We gained
confidence in ourselves while
traveling from one job to the next.
Some of their job projects includ
ed: building a fence to protect trees
from wandering sheep, dry stone
walling, and building a path in a na
tional park.
“I was always meeting new peo
ple,” says Tracy, “and it caused me
to find ov.t more about myself.”
The people seem reserved,
pessimestic, unexcited about life,
and unfriendly. They are prejudic
ed against Americans and resent
them because Americans have so
much more than the English.
Tracy’s favorite area was Lon
don. “You hear more languages
walking down a street in London
and its full of extremes.” says
Tracy. “Someday I would like to
take people where I’ve been,
especially to see London.” One
thing Tracy has gained from all her
experiences is a greater apprecia
tion for her country. “We have so
much, we just don’t realize how
much we have.”