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HIGH LIFE
Grimsley Sr. High
801 Westover. Terrace
Editor-in-chief
Larry Reece
Managing Editor
Allen Patterson
Adwrtising Manager
Susan Thaxton
Editorial Page Editor
Julie Workman
-
Advisor
Ms. Jane Crisp
High Life
Friday December 14, 1984 Volume LIV Number 3
Cold Weather not only chilly state
Cancelled dance hot issue
by Larry Reece
Unfortunately this
year’s traditional Holiday
dance has been deleted
from Grimsley’s
December Calendar.
The dance, which has
been a “heated” discus
sion in the main office for
quite some time, is being
“victimized” by the ad
ministration because of a
poor turnout at the
Homecoming Dance. The
administration argues
that few people showed up
for the dance, and of those
who did the so called
“social elite” arrived late.
In addition to the poor at
tendance and tardiness, a
point was made about the
traditions of going out to
dinner beforehand and
buying new outfits for the
dance. The administration
considers the cost of these
traditions prohibit those
who can not afford them
from attending the dance.
On the other hand
Grimsley High School Stu
dent Council members
argued that tickets are
sold prior to the dance.
Therefore whether or not
someone attends or the
time she or he attends
should be a personal
choice.
The tradition of going
out to dinner before a
dance is just that-a tradi
tion one chooses to follow
or not. Definitely it is not
mandatory nor is a new
“outfit.” Certainly
students are free to eat
and dress for the occasion
as they please.
The administration has
offered a supplement of a
“dollar dance” that would
be held on December 7th
from 9 p.m. until 12 mid
night. However the Stu
dent felt this decision was
reached too late to make
appropriate plans and con
sequently declined to have
a holiday dance.
It is the view of High
Life that a traditional Holi
day Dance should have
been held, but High Life
respects the decision that
has been made, perhaps if
plans had been discussed
earlier things would have
been different.
BREAK DANCE
Death Before Breakin’
New fad spinning its way out
Caulfon: this posiiion i
my be perworent- Cartoon by E Anthony
by Robert Corbett
Brrr. There’s something
cold about Grimsley these
days. Maybe it is the on
coming winter weather,
but the chilly state of stu
dent’s politics has this
observer worried.
Reagan’s sweep of the
country is hardly surpris
ing; it’s
his—brrr! —overwhelming
majority among young
people that shocks many.
After all, much of the
Republican policies have
for years been an
anathema to idealistic
youth. However, a change
has occurred among
young people of today,
unlike their counterparts
in the sixties and the
seventies. That’s money,
and the worry it brings.
Oh, yes there are other
reasons. President
Reagan brought
patriotism back to us, they
say. He has a “macho”
image, that indicates he
won’t back down
(something that scares
many). Or the Democratic
Party offered no real solu
tions. There is however,
one overriding reason,
which many young people
give specifically for hav
ing voted for him, and this
of course is money and
jobs. They ignore the fact
that inflation was brought
down by one of the worst
recessions ever, that poor
people suffer all the more
because of President
Reagan’s policies. Young
people today seem to wor
ship self and security,
paths that lead to
no’vvhere.
It’s a cliche, but money
is still not everything. It’s
not even the only reason
why young people have
turned frigidly conser
vative. President
Reagan’s campaign
presented America as
returning to simpler
times, and many young
people seemed to long for
it. The confusion of the six
ties, a decade some have
put down as purely drug-
related, has left a group of
young people who refused
to question anything. How
else could they accept
Reagan, a conservative
Republican, who has com
pared himself to John F.
Kennedy, a notoriously
liberal Democrat? In
truth, what we are return
ing to is a time when one
should be patriotic, should
be happy to live in this
country. This all sounds
suspiciously like the fif
ties, an era noted for Mc-
Carthyism. As for the
upswing in patriotism, is it
possible that the Olympics
had anything to do with it?
Now youth has aligned
itself with the religious
right, conservatives, even
Sun Myung Moon (his
church contributed quite a
bit to the campaign) in its
support of President
Reagan. Let us hope we
are not as empty as the
candidates we elect, or
else it could be a long four
years. A cold winter, in
deed. Brrrr!
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
School dances have
always been a focal point
of social life during the
year. But, because of low
turnout at the Homecom
ing Dance, the Ad
ministration is against
having the annual Holiday
Dance. They argue that
only a small percentage of
students attend the dance,
that the “social elite” of
the school arrive nearly
two hours after the dance
begins, and that students
feel a need to buy new out
fits and eat dinner out
before the dance, making
it an expensive evening.
They even go so far as to
say that is this dance is not
successful, there will be no
more dances.
This is ridiculous! Many
students, particularly
Seniors, look forward to
dances for several weeks.
It is not fair to suddenly
take this away from them
without a survey, at least
to see exactly how many
students would attend. As
for when people show up,
this is incidental. Tickets
are sold for the entire time
of the dance. Students are
allowed to choose whether
or not to attend, why can’t
they decide when to ar
rive? Faculty must be pre
sent the whole evening,
anyway, so late atten
dance causes no extra
work. Not all students feel
compelled to buy new
clothes, for this dance
especially. If they don’t
want to spend money, they
won’t.
This whole argument
sounds like the Ad
ministration, led by Dr.,
Baur, is trying to find ex
cuses for not holding the
dance. If this dance were
harmful in any way, this
position might be
understandable, but the
motives of this dance are
to promote spirit and to
raise money for charity.
It is a sad state of af
fairs, indeed, when the Ad
ministration would deny
students a traditional
dance because it is not
convenient for them.
Dances are a privilege of
the students, and, as far as
I know, these students
have done nothing to war
rant revoking this
privilege. There is no ex
planation for us not to be
able to have this dance!!
Donna Berklehammer
by Allen Patterson
Does anyone remember
Disco? Those giddy days
of Disco Duck, The Bee
Gees, John Travolta,
Saturday Night Fever, and
Hey, what’s your sign?”
It was the most prevalent
fad of the Seventies. Disco
appeared suddenly, and
ended in the same way
(thank goodness) leaving
many wondering why they
had invested all that
money in red satin shoes
and an assortment of
heavy gold necklaces.
Musicians thrived, then
suffered from the fad, los
ing 11 respect as Disco
died. (^Do you still have
your Andy Gibb, The
Tramps, or your K.C. and
the Sunshine Band
albums?) These were
small losses, but it seems
the public has yet to get
its’ fill of absurd fads. The
“in” question now is “Yo,
can you break?”
Break Dancing, the ins-
tant hit of the eighties, is
falling into the same pat
tern as Disco. It started
overnight, it is presently
enjoying unlimited suc
cess, and above all, is
stupid. I’m not overly im
pressed to see someone
with an IQ of 60 perform a
feat which is physically
impossible. Take Curtis
from the Bronx. “Uh, I can
spin on my head both
ways, I can spin on my
back in a figure 8,1-uh-can
do a reverse wave, and of
course I can wrap both
legs around my neck in
mid air.” Curtis, however,
cannot perform without
music. “Breakdancin”’ is
one of his personal
favorites. Curtis can also
pick up some great dance
tips from any of the ten or
fifteen GREAT movies
about break dancing. If
this young man works
hard enough he could go to
the National Break Danc
ing Contest, the famous
bring-ypur-own
(cardboard) Breaking
event. Curtis could win a
years supply of Breakin’
shoes, or a three minute
spot on the following
week’s Breakin’ movie.
Wow. Don’t get me wrong,
I don’t have anything
against people who like
breaking, but I have
already got my first order
in for 200 “Death Before
Break Dancing” T-shirts
and bumper stickers. I
suppose I just want to be
ready when the time
comes.