Robert N. Putnam
Boycott accomplishing
Exactly what good is the meat boycott
likely to do? 1 fear that if there are to be
any tangible benefits, they will come
from the indirect, rather than the direct
effects of the boycott. If all this
adventure amounts to is a substantial
number of housewives and other
consumers abstaining from their use of
meat for the period of one week, then it
would be rather foolish to expect any real
changes to occur at the meat market.
The nature of the problem of rising
meat prices, governed by the laws of
supply and demand, is simply not
amenable to attack in the form of a
boycott: boycotts, with their attendant
publicity, may be excellent for remedying
some types of social ills, where their
effect in accelerating implementation of
some new and progressive policy may
alleviate the problem. But all the
publicity and furor which the consumers
of this country can precipitate during this
week are not likely to instantly bring new
and vast herds of beef cattle into
existence where there were none before.
And only indirectly, if at all, will a
boycott bring about permanent decreased
demand for meat (consumers might find
they don't really need meat everyday).
Only an increased supply or a
decreased demand will bring about a
substantial and permanent decrease in the
price of meat. I will resist the temptation
to offer an exposition on the economic
theory of supply and demand, since I
have already done so once in this space
this year (apparently to the great joy of
the insomniacs among my readers who
found that writing to be marvelously
curative of their ill).
Boycotts, unless very rigidly organized
and almost universally observed, may
tend to impose sacrifices on only those
participating, may result in losses to
grocery store owners, and be of real
benefit to anti- or non-boycotting
consumers only. Any tactic that gives its
benefits to a different group than that
undergoing the sacrifice is not likely to
enjoy much success.
The course of events this week is quite
predictable. Meat sales will be down in
the grocery stores at first. A lot of meat
will just sit in the coolers. Meat
department managers will fear that the
meat will go bad if sales are not increased,
so they will mark down the prices to get
rid of the excessive stock.
Non-boycotting consumers, (and even
Rick Sebak
TMeMtre
Laboratory Theatre hardly ever lets
you down. When costumes, sets, and all
the rich theatrical trappings are
subjugated, only performances can create
and save a production. In the basement
theatre, this semester's most outstanding
and distinctive student acting has been
unfolding each week, and a grand
reputation has been firmly established for
Lab Theatre.
The changeable stage in 06 Graham
Memorial has housed more than its share
of near classical portrayals this year.
There was not a weak moment or
unconvincing character in Duane Sidden's
production of "The Rimers of Edlritch,"
: which revealed a storehouse of previously
.hidden talent while drawing' superb
performances from Playmaker regulars.
Barbara Richarson in "I'm Really. Here"
gave one of the most memorable and
Crossways
Why efforts as Key '73?
Editor's Note: Key '73 is a nationwide
f Christian evangelical movement
sanctioned by the National Council of
'Churches and various denominations
throughout the nation. Participation here
is sponsored through local churches.
"Why can't Christians just leave me
alone? Why do they need to convince me
that Christ is the only way? Can't they be
' satisfied with it being a way for them?
Christians are constantly being
bombarded with these questions,
questions that really say "Why
' evangelize?" or "Why such efforts as Key
' '73?"
These questions reflect the prevailing
idea that there is no one correct way to
live, no one set of principles we must
recognize as universally true and
" compelling. Right has become "right for
me.", What we ought' to do or be is seen
: merely as a matter of opinion.
; .. Because he holds this subjective
'' attitude about values and morals, modern
man sees specific religions and religious
ideas only as alternatives, not imperatives,
for his life. The Christian cannot accept
' this subjective view of moral truth.
The Christian holds that his life has an
objective moral foundation, based on his
belief in the historical reality of Christ's
ressurection. .- If, Christ has not been
raised," Paul said, "lour faith is
futile. . .and we are of all men most to be
pitied."
This belief in Christ's resurrection as
historical truth motivates Key 73 and all
Christian evangelical efforts. What. Key
'73 basically tries to do, then, is to
confront everyone clearly with the person
of Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the
II
those who intend to boycott, but are
weaker-willed) will spy cuts of beef
formerly selling for $1.39 marked down
to $.99. They will load up their grocery
carts with such bargains, and spend many
happy hours rearranging the contents of
their freezers to accommodate their
hoard. In short, the boycotters will have
done without meat; the grocery stores
will have sustained losses from the
despiration selling of meat at below cost;
and those consumers who have ignored
the boycott will have saved a lot of
money, and will be enjoying steak. If a
sufficiently strong discipline were
universal among consumers, the results
would penetrate much more heavily
down the chain of meat suppliers, but the
temptation of bargain ices puts too
great a strain on human nature to expect
such cohesion.
If, after the boycott, everyone goes
1T), CkUt rM
grdiip never lets ydii dowiri
delightfully bizarre performances of the
Lab season.
Playwrights have ranged from John
Lennon ("In His Own Write") to W.B.
Yeats ("On Baile's Strand") and from
Harold Pinter ("Old Times") to Carolina
student Carol Banks ("The Divine
Misunderstanding"). The Lab Theatre is
an artistic playground which remains
unknown to many people on campus, but
it becomes more important and exciting
with each production.
This week, an original conception of
the Frankenstein story was mounted by
Russell Graves with help from the acting
and directing majors in the L.D.A.
program. An ensemble piece, this
Laboratory Showcase production was
exciting and interesting in each of its
fragments even though they failed to fuse
into "some everlasting whole."
Bible so that each individual can make his
own moral decision based on intelligent
investigation-to accept or reject Jesus
and his claim to objective moral truth.
Personal honesty requires just such an
investigation arid decision.
Beyond the belief that Christianity is
objective moral truth which must be
proclaimed in this age of relativism, there
are several other related reasons why Key
73 is taking place. For one thing,
Christians are specifically commanded by
Jesus to "Go, therefore, and make
disiples of all nations. . ."
Key '73's particular focus is calling the
North American continent to Christ. This
is not merely stimulated by the
Christian's obligation to truth-it is also
motivated by the deep, sincere desire of
many Christians to share what is the most
important and exciting thing in their
lives.
Key '73 is also motivated by the
Christian's belief it is God's will that all
men know the truth which Christ reveals.
"God our Savior." the Bible says, "desires
all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth." In keeping with
this. Key '73 is making an effort. to reach
all men. regardless of their beliefs or
attitudes-not to coerce or belittle
another's beliefs or religion, but to simply
and rightfully present our own to be
considered.
Many people turn off Christianity
because they see -too often
just ifiably-Christians who evangelize
with pitying or condescending motives.
These people are unfortunate warnings to
Christians that God loves all men equally,
and counts even the least of all
back to their old buying habits, the
supply and demand situation will not
have changed one bit from the
pre-boycott state: meat prices will simply
return to their old, high level, and remain
there.
There is a much better remedy for the
consumer than a total boycott of one
week's duration, namely, a less
spectacular but firm resolution to cut
down on the weekly purchase of meat for
the forseeable future. If a significant
percentage of consumers act in this
manner, there will be a general and
permanent decrease in the demand for
meat. This will inevitably be felt along
the entire marketing chain, and result in a
decrease in price at all levels, without
subjecting any one link (such as the
supermarket) to the entire sudden loss.
The primary advantage of such an
'Frankenstein" is based on the Mary
Shelley novel, features written material
by Rebecca Ranson and Russell Graves,
and tries to coalesce around the scenario
developed by Ms. Ranson, Nancy Boykin,
Dallas Greer, Michael Kerley, Richard
Mason, and Duane Sidden. The acting
ensemble was uniformly well-disciplined
and quite effective in this non-traditional
theatrical approach to the monster story.
The entire conception obviously owes
much to Jean-Claude Van Itallie's "The
Serpent" and the Open Theatre's style of
acting. Unfortunately, the discipline and
consistency of the ensembel are unable to
complete the work which, unlike
Vanltallie's play, suffers from a weak
base structure.
Duane Sidden as the Doctor valiantly
tries to pull the pieces together through
his. fragment-mouse speech, one of the
men their moral and intellectual
integrity as well as their "souls" as
valuable as any other.
Christians must realize they are no less
sinners than anyone else, that salvation is
by God's grace and not our own
accomplishments. But non-Christians
must remember, too, that real truth may
be more compelling than its advocates.
Christians launch such efforts as Key
'73 not to gain Ctm 'an brownie points
but because we wish to be friends and
disciples of Christ. "You are my friends if
you do what I command you," Jesus
says, and what he commands us is "to
love one another even as I have loved
you." So Christians share Christ, also,
because we love our fellow man. and'want
him to know and share the truth, love,
strength, and lasting meaning and purpose
that Christians have found shapes and
sustains our lives in all events.
To be friends and disciples of Christ is
not always easy. But most Christians
would probably never make such extreme
and extensive efforts like Key '73 to
evangelize, the world, knowing how many
friends they may lose and people they
may upset, if they believed Christ was
merely one more way among many.
Christians have found that those who
accept Christ on his own terms must
accept him as "the way" for their lives,
and not merely as a possible alternative.
What Key "73 is trying to reveal is
something that none can afford to not
hear something which we as Christians
also feel no one can afford to live
without.
nothin
action is, of course, obvious. As opposed
i
to the boycott, here the consumers who
are making the sacrifice by cutting down
on meat will also be able to reap the
fruits of their action: when they do buy
meat the price will be lower. If large
numbers of consumers participate in a
mutual reduction in the quantity of their
meat purchases, there is a very reasonable
certainty that each will receive a benefit.
The same cannot be said of a total
boycott of one week's duration. While
such a demonstration may serve as a
catharsis for frustrated consumers who
somehow feel that they are doing
something constructive about a very real
problem, the boycott is unlikely to
accomplish much unless it somehow is
modified to a more permanent, but less
drastic, method of decreasing consumer
demand for meat.
few continuous threads which might
gather and hold all the bit of business.
There is an odd ring to his final claim of
success in creation because of the
fragmentary feel of the play itself.
Michael S. Rogers and Valerie Stancik
are standouts as the monster and his bride
in their two guises. They first emerge as a
tap-dancing vaudevillian Jack and Jill who
are "just flesh and bone with a coupla
bolts in our necks." Their hammy
moments as this pair are marvelously off
set by the intense monster-like presence
of Gene Sher in the center of the playing
area.
The monster is later shown as a
traditional Christ-clown, silent and yet
powerful. The stylized monster-attack
used throughout the piece is another
uniting factor which never loses its
theatrical beauty and effectiveness but
nonetheless is not powerful enough to
cement the pieces together.
"Frankenstein" is being done upstairs
in the Lounge Theatre, and utilizes the
room itself in a most intriguing fashion.
The hallway outside has an eerie and
appropriately threatening whiteness
which ends the play.
Special praise is due to the lighting
designer and crew. Each segment achieves
a special beauty and significance through
the simple yet intense lighting.
Despite the fact that "Frankenstein"
never fuses into a monster of a show,
each part is totally absorbing and well
executed. The show runs through
Saturday night with a nightly curtain at
8:00. As always, Lab admission is free.
Sit?
Susan Miller
Editor
Rod Waldorf, Managing Editor
David Eskridge, News Editor
Lynn Lloyd. Associate Editor
Seth Effron, Associate Editor"
Winston Cavin. Sports Editor
Adrian Scott, Feature Editor
Dean Gerdes, Night Editor
Scott Stewart, Head Photographer
Opinions of The Daily Tar Heel are
expressed on the editorial page- Unsigned
editorials are the opinions of the editor,
while letters and columns represent only the
views of the writer.
Qlhe iaihj
HO Years of Editorial freedom
Susan Miller, Editor
Nothing
students
If you're on financial aid, you'd
better write your congressman.
William Geer, UNC Director of
Student Aid, is now sending out
lists and addresses of all North
Carolina congressmen with financial
aid forms . to - incoming and
returning students. Day before
yesterday, he went to Washington
and spoke to the N.C. joint
congressional delegation.
Geer is serious about this, and
there's a reason for it. . .
All he now has to offer students
on aid for this fall and this summer
is proposals, arid proposals won't
pay for an enzyme steak, much less
tuition.
The proposals are from the
Nixon administration, and they
involve completely restructuring
federal aid to students. Meanwhile,
here it is April, when undergraduate
grants are normally made. No one
knows when the new programs
might be put into action-may be
next week, maybe next fall.
And Geer can take no action on
filling the estimated needs of his
applicants.
When Geer went to Washington,
he requested that any changes be
held off for a year to prevent
disruptions in the flow of aid. The
same request has been made by
other aid officials across the
country.
The timing problem is
complicated by statutory conflicts
to the proposals which threaten to
lengthen the controversy even
further-more headaches for Geer
and the students.
Nixon intends to end
immediately the National Direct
Student Loans ; and Educational
Opportunity Grants and replace
them with Basic Opportunity
Grants and Federally Insured
College Loans. But the NDSL's and
TheBayit
NureeL
When you enter the house, a dog
named Nureet will jump up and down in
front of you. That is her way of saying
"Shalom! Welcome to the Bayit!" Also in
this greeting party will be Shimshon, the
cat, who slinks over to . your feet,
preparing to attack your shoelaces.
Mark and Lee will probably be sitting
on the couch in the flying room discussing
when the kosher meat order will be
coming in, Shana and Stan will be in the
kitchen making deep-dish vegetable pie
(oh no, not that meat again!), Bonnie will
be under a pile .of rabbinical school
application forms next to Debbie who
will be under a pile of sketches and
diagrams of the upper left arm pit, for
one of her nursing courses. Steve will be
oops!. . .in the bathroom. .
Steve comes out of the bathroom and
into the kitchen howling for supper. Stan
hands him a dog biscuit. Shana begins to
set the table, sending Debbie and Bonnie
upstairs to the study, leaving a trail of
diagrams and application forms behind
them. It is about 6 p.m.
I guess the Bayit is a place where you
can be free, if you can be free with the
responsibility of yourself plus six other
people on your shoulders. If you live
there, you are a part of the whole and
you do things for the whole, and not for ,
yourself. This kind of existence is a sense
of freedom to many people. Some find
joy in helping others besides themselves.
What gives me the right to talk about
the Bayit? I do not live, there but I was
going to. There were eight of us who had
been planning to live together since
1 97 1 -1972. At the last minute I could
not move in and so now I'm considered
the "almost-eighth person." From my
Aid
will
Star ifarl
Friday, April 6, 1973
X if o
race
yet to give
next year
EOG's are required by law to be
fully funded before there is any
spending for the BOG's or the
FICL's.
So in this case, Nixon is
attempting not simply to withhold
funds as in the impoundment
controversies, but to bypass a
Congressional decision on spending
priorities.
But there are other good reasons
besides timing why aid officials and
students should object to these
proposed changes. The high-interest
bank loans of the FICL program
will be relatively useless to
students, compared to the three
percent NDSL's. But the interest
subsidy that the feds will pay to the
banks involved, while making the
FICL attractive to banks, will make
it cost the taxpayer more than
NDSL.
Nixon recommends funding
BOG (perhaps the most apt
acronym to come out of
Washington in years) at only half
the estimated level of national need
for the program he asks 620
million instead of the 1 .2 billion
experts say the program should
cost. So the individual student will
be given only half the amount he is
eligible for.
As President Nixon has often
announced, he considers it his duty
as a new federalist to hold in check
the concern of Congress about such
things as the country's educational
needs.
It appears that, in this case, the
president's "duty" may wreck the
capabilities of financial aid offices
to help students.
So like we said, if you're on
financial aid, you'd better write
your congressman. After all, it is
getting to be the middle of April,
and you probably can't eat
controversies and proposals.
Shimshon
welcome you
perspective off the sixth floor of
Ehringhaus Dorm I see the Bayit from
within and without, usually considering
myself part of the whole, but often
feeling very cut off from the seven of
them.
The phone rings and Mark answers it,
still talking to Lee as he puts the receiver
to his mouth. It is a Hillel member calling
to tell the Bayit that he is coming to the
Friday night communal dinner and
religious services with a friend who is not
Jewish and who wanted to see the unique
Hillel Sabbath service.
The amazing thing about Sabbath
services is that they are spontaneous to a
great extent. Lead by one or two students
as opposed to a Rabbi, the service follows
the traditional pattern with variations on
the melodies used for prayers, and timely
passages are read instead of outdated
ones. If you know a good song, you are
welcome to teach it during the break in
the service that most Rabbis take for a
sermon.
Since the Bayit has been in existence
(back in the days before we actually had
a house of our own), HillePs active
membership has greatly increased. People
enjoy coming to the communal dinners
because they arc made to feel welcome.
Many people wear jeans, others dress up
if they feel like it. Visitors are quite
welcome whether they are Jewish or not.
Good. Dinner is ready. Shzna passes a
slice of bread around the table and each
person takes a piece. A prayer is said in
Hebrew thanking Cod for the bread, and
dinner begins. .