cpj0217.pdf

Media

Part of The Cooper Point Journal, Volume 8, Issue 13 (February 21, 1980)

extracted text

Sam

THE

Peckinpah
and
the
Wild
Bunch

Peckinpah's work has suffered from his

battles with the studios and distributors.
The Wild Bunch still remains a masterpiece though. I realize that critics (including myself) are too often prone to
throw around the word "great," but The
Wild Bunch really is one of the great
experiences in American cinema. It's an
epic. bul at the same time an anti-epic,
just as it is both a western and an
anti-western.
On one level, it's the story of a mostly
middle•aged gang of outlaws in the
Southwest in 1913. They rob a railroad
office. only to be ambushed by a gang
employed by the railroad. After discovering that the loot they got away with
was only steel washers, they make a deal
with a Mexican bandit general to rob an
ammunitions train. The Wild Bunch is
betrayed by the Mexican bandits; at the
same time they're being pursued by
bounty hunters led by the ex-partner of
the Bunch's leader. The film literally explodes into one of the most brilliant and
exciting climaxes ever filmed and has a
poetic ending in which metaphors
abound.
Peckinpah presents a vision of the
changing West that is at once unique and
personal. (Peckinpah himself is halfIndian.) The Wild Bunch represents the
last vestige of individualism and honor.

POINT

JOURNAL

THE
Vol. 8 No.13

By T. J. Simpson
When Sam Peckinpah's
The Wild
Bunch was released in 1969, it received
widespread critical acclaim. Critics wrote
about Peckinpah as if they had discov•
ered an American Kurosawa. The film
was a commercial success, too. However,
the past decade has not been a lucky one
for Peckinpah. His films have lost their
popularity with critics and audiences and

COOPER

The Evergreen State College

Olympia, Washington 98505

February 21 , 1980

FALAFEL,
TABOULTANDNO PEPSi
Compared to the new, more "civilized"
forces of law and order, their immorality
seems almost saintly.
As the film opens, we see townfolk
gathered for a temperance rally. Small
childrep gleefully giggle (much to the
audience's disgust) while watching a
scorpion being devoured by an army ol"
ants. When The Wild Bunch is ambushed
during the robbery of the railroad office,
the railroad henchmen open fire on the
townfolk as well as the robbers. Suddenly, the audience is shocked by blood
and violence, as people's faces explode
like watermelons and bodies gracefully
fall to the ground-all in slow motion.
The violence then becomes no longer
horrifying but a surreal, slow-motion
ballet-a symphony of destruction. The
audience is now watching death with the
same fascination that the children had
while watching the dying scorpion. (Of
course, Evergreen audiences are notoriously narrow-minded and squeamish
when it comes to screen violence. There
is a difference between unnecessary
violence and violence with a purpose.
Peckinpah's definitely has a purpose.)
The violence doesn't seem real, and we
are forced to question our attitudes
about it.
Peckinpah claimed that his reason for
filming the violence in slow-motion was
to make people h.ate violence by showing
what bullets really do to people. In
previous westerns, we'd see a man get
shot down off his horse, or on the street,
but no blood, no indic.ation of the real
damage and anguish. Yet in his subse-

quent films, Peckinpah's slow-motion
violence has become a childish, and toooften irritating and boring, trademark.
It's like he's become an eternal kid still
watching that scorpion.
Children play an important role in Tho
Wild Bunch. They're constantly around
to witness the America they will inherit.
In their innocence, they observe lawbreakers that defy authority and authority that defies the law. Corruption is
overwhelming, and the West wiU never
be the same again.
But The Wild Bunch is not all violence
and cynicism. (Most of the violence is
only in the beginning and climax anyway.) Peckinpah clearly believes in his
characters
and there's
many quiet
moments of beauty and friendship.
William Holden (as the leader of The
Wild Bunch), Robert Ryan, Warren
Oates, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien,
Jaime Sanchez, and Ben Johnson all give
wonderful performances that enrich the
characteri2.ations. (There's alao Lucien
Ballad's beautiful Cinemascope landscapes.) Ryan, in the role of the head
bounty hunter, gives wh.at t think is the
best performance of his career. We come
to understand and sympathize with his
character even though he must capture
the man (Holden) who bad once been bis
best friend. Yet we sympathize with
Holden's character, too.
The fllm's ending, in which Ryan finally understands the double irony of all
that has gone on, is one of the moat mov-

Saga goes organic for one week

ing and satisfying that I have ever seen.
It says more about the true nature of the
West and our feelings about it than a
hundred other westerna. (At the time of
the film's release, many saw the ending
as a metaphor for the Vietnam war, but
I think Peckininh's intentions are too
timeless for such an allegory.) Paradise
lost can never be regained if it never
existed to begin with. Peckinpah shows
us that everything we learned about the
West in our school history books was a
lie, but that there was a greatness that
did exist-one that was doomed from the
start and ignored by history.
So wh.at has been the problem with
Peckinpah's
career since The WIid
Bunda? He started out in television in
the 50's writing and directing such shows
as The RiOeman and The Weateraer. His
second feature film, Ride the High
Country (1961), received much praise as
a new kind of western. When the producers cut 70 minutes from his next mm,
Major Dundee (1965), Peckinpah told
them to shove it up their uses, retitle it
Gidget Goel to Muico, and remove his
name from the credits. He was then unable to find work in Hollywood for the
next five years, except for some television work.
With Tlte WUd Band,, the major
studioe acceJJted him back, but they cut
eight important minutes out of the film
for it.a American releue. Critics who
have seen the original agree that the
film ia seriously damaged without thoee
Continued on page 7

By Larry Stillwell
SAGA lunches, dinners, and snacks
will be diffrrent next week. They'll have
less salt and sugar, less additives, less
fat, and more fiber. Some traditional
standbys, such as french fries, onion
rings, and fishwiches, will be un..vailable
and new foods, such as falafel, tabouti,
and burritos, will be available for the
first time.
The whole point of the five-day experiment, says Kristi Morrish of the Food
Service Advisory Group helping SAGA
plan Whole Food Service Week, ia to see
if there really is consumer demand for
more nutritious food at SAGA. If that
proves to be the cue, Morrish says,
SAGA will make appropriate changes in
their regular offerings beginning next
quarter.
At the end of the week, SAGA customers will be asked to fill out evaluation forms which will be used in determining the experiment's succeaa. If sales
volume is not close to normal standards, SAGA will revert back to their
current fare.
..We want to see if there is another
potential customer on the Evergreen
campus. If not, then we know that the
other folks are completely content bringing their own or just not eating there.
That would mean the concern that's been
voiced is pretty shallow," Morrish said.
Queationnaires filled out by more than
500 SAGA customer& last fall indicated
"nutritional quality" and "price" as the
strongest consumer eoncerna about food
at SAGA. Morrish claims food prices
next week will not be higher than usual
While the new menu offeringa are not
extreme examples of the food eaten by
Everg:,-een's health food devotees, the
following replacements will be made for
normal ingredients:
unbleached
for
bleached white Dour; cold-pressed for
chemically-treated cooking oil: tabouli
and rice for macaroni and three-bean

-.,

·-----------------------------•-----------------------------1

"-~

I

... Study. 1 :30--' p.m. CAB 110.
The Olympla NicoSolldorlly Commit•
tee meet1 at the Food Coop, 921 ~odgers,
at 7:30 p.m.
FILMS ON CAMPUS

I

I

I
I

salads; Swiss and cheddar for American
cheese; lemonade, orangeade, and fruit
juice for carbonated drinks; and honey
or "light sugar" for normal sugar
measurements in all foods, including ice
cream.
AU deep-fried foods, white bread, pizza
with high-nitrate meat, and milkshakes
will be eliminated from the cafeteria for
the experiment. New items will include
an expanded build-your-own salad bar
(with raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
Chinese cabbage, more raw vegetables:
and shakers with seasonings like granulated kelp and brewers yeast), baked
potatoes at the snack bar, and falafel
sandwiches using pocket bread.
"Healthy Burgers," with whole-wheat
buns and cooked as greaselessly
as
possible, will replace regular SAGAburgers, says Vonda Drogmund, Saga

Director.
According t.o Morrish, Drogmund is
enthusiastic about Whole Food Service
Week and has been experimenting with
recipes t.o strike a balance between
1urist organic conceptions and the t.aste1uds of SAGA 's regular customers.
\fany on the staff, however, are against
the experiment and feel that an alJ-whole
foods menu limits freedom of choice,
Morrish says. She points out that this is
how health food advocates have felt all
along, but from the opposite point of
view.
While a totally "organic" SAGA is not
a likely possibility, Morrish points to a
SAGA-run whole foods program at Whitworth College in Spokane as an example
of SAGA's potential. Following student
initiative, SAGA spent over $10,000 to
design and implement the program,

which now has its own dining area and
food service and feeds 45% of the
student population.
If those who normally shun SAGA
turn out next week to sample the health
foods, Morrish says, they will be making
it possible to continue doing so.
"SAGA is real capable of tC\p-notch
alternatives," she said. "It's not that
they can't do it, it's that they respond to
a consumer demand."
In addition to a changed menu, activities staged by the Food Service Advisory Group include a series of free lectures. films and wotkshops open to the
public. Wednesday, February 27, Dr.
Jonathan Wright, author, nutritionist,
and medical consultant for "Prevention"
magazine, will speak on "The Future of
Nutrition in Medical Practice and SelfCare" in the Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m.

I

I

Don Bonker answers critical citizens

I
I
I

i>-)' Lee R:ly . .
no comment!

I
I
I

I

I
I

I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

I
I
I

I

I

PPort for

I
I
I

I

By Kathy Davil
Young people were concerned about
registration, the draft and a poeaible
war. Older follta and workers were concerned about Social Security fundt running out. And everyone wu concerned
about energy. At an old-fuhloned town
meeting last Saturday, U.S. Cone-man Don Bonker responded to coneerna,
questions and comments from an overDowlng crowd In Olympia.
A diverse group of young anaold from
all walks of life came for a rare clianee to

"get It off their cbe1ts" to their representative In Wublngton D.C. It proved
to be a lively two hours u the
~mocratie Congressman fielded queationa on the arma race, foreign policy, inflation, E.R.A .. gay rights, Congressional
ethlca, and energy planning, and the pooalbitity of women being Included in the
draft. Whep the issue of the draft and
poeaible Inclusion of women in military
conacription came up, Bonker sighed,
,.That was one que1tion I kitew wu
to be uked today."

He caUed the drafting of women a philosophical issue. "I have not really formulated a decision ..... I do think it is a
timely and important subject that ought
to be aired by Congress and hopefully,
based on the information that comes to
us, we can make the right or at least a
prudent decision. I'm going to continue
with an open mind on that aspect of the
draft question."
One young woman received applause
for her comment, "If this country decides
that I as a woman don't have to do that
(kill) why should my brother have to do
that? It's not right."
Bonker was reluctant to come out with
a strong position denouncing the draft,
but several of his comments indicate that
he does not favor it.at this time. He said
he.-v~nst
I einstituting-tbe-d'tift.six months ago.
"I'm not convinced that an invasion of
Afghanistan ... that doesn't represent
our national security, per se. And I'm
not sure it warrants the revitaJization of
the whole draft sy1tem, But at some
paint we ~ave to understand just what
18 our national security interest
and if
our national security is threatened we
,have to have the capacity to deal with it
in this country."
He went on to say, "I think we have
plenty of time to meet a mobitiza\ion
effort without having to set up and reinstitute the entire Selective Service
1y1tem."
Bonker believes th.at Ruuia can not
get away with their invuion of an inde-

µe.ndent nation. In the Jong run, he
thinks they will be rejected by the third
world countries because their motives
will become apparent.
He said, "They have no more capacity
to rule the globe than we do to police it."
And he received loud approval when he
concluded, "We just can't react militarily
to everything that happens."
The Congreeman lost his patience at
one point when he tried to take a poll on
the issue of women in the draft. Many in
the crowd protested that no one should
be drafted and the room turned into a
shouting match. Finally, he agreed to ask
two questions:
First, should Congress appropriate
money to revitalize
the Selective
Service? Most people s.aid no. But il Lhe
rafi were necessary, a majority said
yes, women should participate. Jokingly.
he asked a third question, "How many
wish the issue would go away?" He
raised his hand along with many others.
Evergreen
student
Todd Litman
stressed the interrelationship between
e~ergy and foreign policy. He said, "The
situation now seems like I am going to
be asked to go to war to fight for the
United States' access to the oil in the
Persian Gulf and I would have to refuse
to do that. I want to encourage you to do
everything you can to keep us out of an
imperialistic war anywhere in the Mideast, directly or using the CIA indirectly
u we've done in the past.
"I understand that one of the things
Continued on page 4

3

LETTERS

f
VETS DEFEND ARMY
To the Editors of the CPJ,
This lelter is in response to the letter
entitled Studied Ignorance by one of the
faculty of this institution. That letter
was a piece of trash by a very misinformed man with a closed mind who has
never been in the military or who was in
during the 40's or 50's. I say to him that
the military has come a long way from
then to the present. The people in the
military are no different from the rest
of the people in the United States; the
only difference that I could see is the
strong feelings of companionship and
friendship !lasting friendships)
which
occur in the military. If he had to use an
organization to prove a point (that really
didn't need proving), an intelligent person would have used the state or federal
government,
or even the system of
hiKher education where they have token
minority groups-not the military. where
onr is judged upon one's ability and not
rolor. creed, or religion. Dr. David Marr
v. ho wrote the letter Studied Ignorance,
appear, to be a true case of STUDIED

IGNOHA:-JCE.
\' PIS

Steven Matteson, Poug Warr, Bob Houff

SNIDE AND
INSULTING
For whom it mav r-oncern
or the CPJ staff.'
E\ t•ry week as some new and childish
,;light comes out in your paper directed
at some minority or another, Trotskyists.
gays or what have you, I think to myself
"Why, that paper could be filling a much
more important role than that of a snide
high school rag. with newspapers having
o:;uchgreat potential for informing large
groups of people and all. And then I
pause to think that I'm a busy student.
that your paper isn't worth expending a
large amount of time or intelligence on,
and furthermore. when in Rome do as
the Romans do. So. in an effort to ease
my mind without ..trasting time on int.elliKent phrases, I'll stoop, just as many of
your writers do, to insults.
I wouldn't wipe my .,ss with your
paper. ~ot only are tht•re many betEr
product,; to be gotten for that purpo'P.
hut a-. we all know. that's a sensitive
area, and I wouldn't want to incur any
unnen•s,;ary burn:-.
Sincrrely,
Susan

NOT A FREAK
To the Editnr.
I am a womyn and I am anKry.
In ht•c·oming increasingly awarp of
v1oh·nrl' • a~ainst womyn, both blatant
and -.uhtly in-.idious, the anger and ocra
'itonal rage I experience wht•never I ~
romt· aware of anyone being treated un
JU'il I~ has been more ovt!rtly expressed
roncerning womyn because of its con
cn•le' reality in my everyday life.
Though lahels are for jelly jars. one of

EDITOR Larry StWweU
ASSISTANT EDITOR David Joyner
NEWS EDITOR Carol Tucker
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Mary Young
Pam Dusenberry
Tim Noglor

my labels J use on myself is lesbian. Because I have refused to deny my right to
a basic honesty with myself and others, I
have been ostracized, ridiculed. attacked
physically on several occasions, and the
ultimate humiliation of a gang rape has
made me more determined than ever to
be true to myself.
I am a human being first, a womyn
second, and a lesbian third. I am not a
freak. I bleed too.
The next time you start to tell an antigay joke, stop and think. Chances are
someone there is either gay or has dose
ties to someone that is. Regardless of
common courtesy, ask yourself why do
you tell such jokes? What's so damn
funny about them?
I am a womyn and I am angry. I don't
want my anger to cause any grief to anyone. I want to combat violence through
pacifism, because it is the violenee (both
overt and subtle) that angers me. Human
beings are loo beautiful to be violated.
Think about it.
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL.
Anonymous

To the Editor of the CPJ.
I am distressed by the derogatory
nature of the title ''Another Acronym·
that was placed by you or the staff on
my meeting announcement for the Environmental Advisory Committee. I am
upset because the title obscured tre
nature of the announcement so most
readers probably glossed over it becau9?
who knows what "acronym" is or evm
cares'! Even if a person had kept reading
the word probably instilled a mood cl
distaste.
The point is that the E.A.C. is a
vehicle for input by those who are en\1ronmentally aware. that may have paritive action, such as possibly convinciig
facilities about the dangers of sprayiig
herbicides all over campus and preverting accidents like fungicide on the aganic farm. I'm sick of having positive
action be twisted by cynical sarcasm lite
that of the CPJ. No wonder people trf'
apathetic, if the rest of the world doe!n't
condemn them their peers will.
Bitty !by

P.S. I suggest you check you dicti:mary. E.A.C. is an abbreviation not an
acronym.

Point Journal

is publlshed

To the staff of the CPJ,
Last week's paper struck me and several others as a profound statement of
I he deterioration of the Evergreen news•
paper. Not only wer(' several of the arti·
des superficial and insensitive but they
were written in an irresponsible and
haphazard approach.
I was particularly distressed with the
so cal\('d "coverage" of the anti-draft
rally which took place a couple of weeks
ago in Olympia. For those who were not
there, there is no way of knowing what
Larry left out. But for those of us who
were there, it was less than a complete
picture, it was a negative piece on a very
positive action.

MANAGING EDITOR Bea Alexander
FEATURE EDITOR T.J. Slmpoon
ART DIRECTOR Rudy Hunllq
ASSISTANT
Llloa Eckonbors
BUSINESS MANAGER Jon Todd

facutty,

slaff.

rodents,

and ex-

governors of The Evergreen Slate College Views e11pressedare not neceseartfy those c.f The EverQreen S1ate Cot1et;;1eor ol 1he Coopef Point Journal's staff. Ad¥erti•lng material presenlad her91n
does no1 imply endorsement by this newspaper Ollicel are localed in the College Actlvltlea Bul_ld1n9 !CAB) 104 Phone 866-6213 All letters 10 the editor, announcements. and arts and event,a
11emsmus, be received by noon Tuesday an<J'aH articles by noon Mondi{y ror that' Week's publl~
tion All contributions mus! be signed. typed, doubl&-SPl!Ced and of • tei,~ble
length Nat'nei
w1tt be wtlhheld on rt,q~
TW. lld!..,torl. rejer.,e the right to edll ~tiers 1nd .-ttctes tor tenotn1
coritenl.

and sly le

-.......
-

it's necessary.
The original joke wasn't about race at
all. It was a pun on two faculty's names.
If York Wong were white ... er ... caucasian, the joke would have meant the
same thing. The same would be true if
Sid Wbite were Asian. The races of the
faculty were only incidental lo their
names. This is really obvious, and the
Great Professor of Logic, David Marr,
has made a stupid oversight. The issues
raised do not reflect "oppressive stereotypes" or a "monocultural view" on the
part of the editors. They reflect the preconceived ideas of the pseudo-radicals.
In citing a "monercultural view," Lisa
Murphy is again taking a characteristic
of the pseudo-radicals and projecting it
onto everyone else. I think this group is
too narrow-minded and rigid to commun·
To the Editor:
icate with people of differing backWould like to meet someone for friendgrounds. Try to imagine their sort of
ship. etc. Only problem. I have no car or
"consciousness-raising" happening anyphone. I live in a small apartment on the
where but amQng white, middle-class,
west side. I'm at home any night after
college-age people. It seems preposter8 p.m. and all day Saturday. If anyone is
ous. They'd alienate anyone else.
interested, plea~e stop by.
I don't think "political correctness," as
Thanks expressed in rhetoric, pomposity, humorMy address
is 706 South Rogers
lessness, or the anti-editor bandwagon is
tgarage apt.) Olympia.
a means of social change. It is a means of
Kenneth Tyre
feeling virtuous. It is easy to convince
yourself that you're a social reformer by
shouting "oppreasor" at someone in the
letters column. It is not so easy to accept
diversity
among those you have to
work with.
Keep up the good work, editors, you're
putting out the best written, most inTo the Editor:
sightful version of the CPJ since I've
The anti-editor bandwagon we've seen
been around. Don't let priggish little
in the letters column, regarding "Two
Wongs Don't Make a White," is pseudo- turds like David Marr or Lisa Murphy
get- you down--or apologize -l.8--them,4
radicafism at its worst. PoliliCa1 correclonly encouragea them.
ness is the pseudo-radicalism of the New
Punsters Unite!
Age. It seems to be a leftward extension
Gilbert Craven
of liberal guilt, couched in sophisticatedP.S. See the pseudo-radical response
sounding catch-phrases and pompous,
doctrinaire rhetoric. The worst f!Xample in the next issue.
of this was last week's letter by Lisa C.
Murphy.
There are several thing, which are
totally alienating about the "poliUcally To The Editor
correct" mentality. First. it inhibits any Cooper Point Journal
1
open, critical thinking. The politically.
We are pleued to announce the nom•
correct, it seems, never have an original
ination of the Women Against Violence
1
j thought. They find it safer to spout the
A!"ainst Women (WAVAW) membership
~me trite swill. Of course, according to. as Four Star, Generals in our DAUGH)he guilt line. our backgrounds (as males! TERS OF THE REfCH battalion.
';pr whites or whatever) m&ke us ine&JB·. : Thia honor is for their relentless en..J:,leof thinking rationally. so we've got UY' COQragemeM of a free flow of artistic
~·raise our consciousness" with dogma.: e,cpression. By courageously mandating
~i.S!l. ¥urp~y refers to "our priviJE!ged' politif:al and moral rules governing the
p;>Sii"i"oii"-llir"ee•tifflti. -~#>tfflr~
creation or images in our increasingly
that the tot.al neglect of these speakers
in your article was your comment on the
female viewpoint. But what about journalism for the sake of an accurate record?
It is this same insensitivity to the
subtleties and details of our actions
which has led us to disintegration and a
sense of separateness from that which
indeed affects us so directly.
I hope for you continued growth-but
in that process I say less power to you in
your "published work."
Lisa Sampson

HAS NO FRIENDS

NEGATIVE PIECE

week-ly lor the students,

means is that Lisa Murphy is in a privileged position: she has no basis for a.,.
suming this in her audience. Well, Lia.
I'm sorry you're so bourgeois you can't
think, but I'll continue to think for my•
self, and I'll trust the editors lo do the
same.
The inability of these pseudo-radicals
to think also shows itself in their distortions of what others say, in order to fit
their preconceived ideas. The original
joke and the subsequent apologies are
prime examples of this. Its embarrassing
to me to have to explain what was meant
as if to third-graders, but with people
who can't think running around, I guess

OOZING WITH
VALUE JUDGEMENTS

CPJ'S CYNICAL
SARCASM

CYNICS. SATIRISTS, AND SARCASTIC SNOBS, David Innes, Kathy Davis,
Charlene Gold8tein, Andy KeUer, Steve Simpson, Sally Anderson, Red Horizon,
and most of all you, our reader.
The Cooper

On February 9th in Sylvester park a
seed was planted. The group of farmers
was small, but the dedication and con•
viction in their spirits lay down fertile
soil for our seed of peace. A seed which
was part of the crop planted nationwide
simultaneously that day. In the sunshine
a spontaneous circle of people formed
and those farmers sang the words of our
common dream "May the Circle Be
Unbroken."
Along with the singing and other
speakers who were mentioned, three
women expressed to and for the crowd
where the female of the species fits into
our peace plan. I could not help but feel

I

hedonistic society, WAVAW personifies
the freethinking spirit and rationale of
Anita Bryant (a previous Four Star
nominee).
Furthermore, we hope WAVAW will
take heed to the undeniable neeeaaity of
establishing an artistic responsibili(y
board to which artista must submit their
work for approval. Aa we all know,
moral responsibility comes from without.
WAVA W should extend their moral
leadership beyond their "badgering technique of concerned citizen letter writing"
by forming vigilant committees which
would monitor the insatiable bedrooms
of our community. Individuals engaged
in "unequal nudity," or those liatoning to
the Rolling Stones while reading Norman
Mailer, would be sent to rehabilitation
centers to be re-educated in the meaning
o! love as exhorted by Ms. Gloria
Steinhem.
May all Evil be banished from the
earth. Go to it girb!
Michelle Laeron
KAPUT-KoaUtion for Artistic
Putrification

ANTI-EDITOR
BANDWAGON

I

UNEQUAL NUDITY

To the Editor;
Larry Stillwell's story of confrontation
between a Tai Chi teacher and Fritjof
Capra's seminar group contains some revealing insights. His description of the
Tai Chi disciple, "long bearded, raggy
haired," as opposed to the "clean cut student organizer," is oozing with vaJue
judgements. What personal appearance
had to do with the issue only Larry Stillwell can tell us.
His conclusion that Capra and his
audience ~ere in harmony with their
natures, "because they approached the
east as westerners, intellectually and o~
jectively" is more sad than laughable.
"There was no conflict" to even hint that
Capra and his followers were in harmony
with their natures, or that in approaching a problem inteUe<tuaUy and objec,
lively there is no conflict, reveals a complete misconception, or no conception at
all of what man's nature is (much less
the value of conflict in approaching
understanding.).
Oscar Spidahl

LOGIC IS LIMITED
To Brian Friedkin:
Regarding your letter in the Feb. 14
edition of the CPJ: It's thinking like
yours that has brought Western "Civilization" to the brink of self-annihilation
where it now stands. Fritjof Capra's
studies have shown him (and anyone
with any percepUon) that the nature of
matter &nd, by implication, the universe,
far from being identifiable, is as mysterious and elusive as mystics for centuries
have suggested. rm afraid you've missed
the point. my man, by reaaoning that
logic is the only test of truth and that
other paths to enlightenment are valueless and meaningless. It seems to me
that a more open•minded view toward
spiritual (Le., mysUcal, i.e., intuitive)
values which we all possess, whether we
choose to admit it or not, is mankind's
only hope to raise its collective consciousness enough to realize the unwuable posiUon the human race finds itself
in due to 1hort-sig_hted logic which
attempts to justify the most outrageous,
inhuman actions in the name of progress.
It is our science that personifies this
logic and dominates the thought patterns
of western culture as a whole. Allow me
to quote Theodore Roszak, history
teacher-and au~,-wh0-W.r.ot.e. "Science •
is true, we have been told over and over
again, because it 'work.a.' But now we
discover that the scientific worldview
does net work. Not if our outlook is
wholistic. Not if we consider the long
run-which,
in the case of industrial
society, aeema to be about two centuries.
More and more it looks as if the future
is not de1tined to be an endloso escalator
of improvement. Rather, we may yet
take our place in folk-memory u the Age
of tho Great S&erllep, which wa■ ■ mit­
t<,n from on high for ita wanton wa:,■.
And children will cringe to bear bow vile
in tho ■lght of Goelwu our e:mt<,nce.•
Our ■denee ■ hould learn to eonlam•
plate nature u a mirror reflecting a
higher reality. For, what Kienee cu
meuure and lop, undentand la on)r a
■mall portion of what ma,, and woman

FORUM
"At 17 I was not long on wisdom"
By Steven W. Simpson
In 1968 I killed my first 'human beings.
I still haven't figured out if it was premeditated murder or self-defense. My
shattered hand and the buUet in my
chest made it clear that the people I was
killing had guns and were llbo trying to
kill me. But the fact was, I had invaded
their country. They were not invaders in
mine. They hadn't traveUed 10,000 miles
to kill me ... and that makes all the
difference.
I joined the army after I had graduated from high school in 1966. I was 17
years old. I tried to consider whether
joining the army was a good or bad-thing
to do. Since I was not what you would
call long on experience or wisdom, I did
what any kid would do. I asked my
parents what they thought and I asked
my [avorite teacher what she thought.
My parents said not to join. They told
me it was dangerous and I could get
killed. They were right, of course. My
teacher, on the other hand, told me joining the army would be a good thing. She
knew L.A. and she knew me and she
figured the hard life and discipline would
be good for me and possibly keep me out
of jail. She too was right.
I think the problem was that no one
told me that the sole purpose of an army
is to kill people. A soldier spends all of
his or her time training to kill people.
Killing people is wrong. It is a terrible
act. Perhaps I should have been able to
figure that out myseli. Perhaps. But at
17 I wasn't into moral philosophy. I was
into fighting and stealing and racing cars
and proving my manhood. Like I said, I
was not what you would call long on
wisdom.
Now it is 1980 and President Carter
wanta to register 18-21 year old kids for
the draft. I don't have to worry about
getting drafted because I am too old.
The country doesn't like killing off older
people with families and good jobs. They

can know. A person's inability to "prove"
certain facts learned by intuition, inspiration or revelation in no way refutes this
knowledge and is as valuable, meaningful
and true as any information determined
scientifically.
Capra should be commended and applauded for his efforts to
help raise the consciousness of men and
women in the face of such close-minded
prejudice.
Larry Dobberstein

GOOD QUESTION
Letter to the editor,
In many ways, the attitude I encoun·
tored while reading Larry Stillwell's
article, "Eaat meeta West: so what?"
was typicaUy mechanistic; "But nobody
asked the big question: so what?" That's
like saying, '"So what are you trying to
'prove' Mr. Capra?" Thia attitude is disturbing, in view of my feeling about
Capra's presentation. He wu merely
speculating. It is his opinion that science
and mysticism compliment one another.
The surprising· element of Stillwoll'a
article is that it seems that he did not
pick up on any of the insigbta/metsphon
into the sub-atomit world, that were so
poetically expresaed (through concise
explanation! by Capra.
It leads me to ask the question, Why
is Larry Stillwell the editor of the CPJ?
But what it reallY comes <!own to -is;

LIFE ORA WING
CLASSES
Every Wednoaday 6-9 p.m.
$pedal Rale■ for Students
W ublngton Academy of An
C«nor of Martin Way & Honaley

456-0783

like to get the kids. But even if I don't
have to worry about getting drafted or
going into the army, I do have to decide
what I think about registration. I will
soon be a high-school teacher and someday I will be a parent. I know that there
is a chance that some l7•year-old will uk
me what I think about him or her going
into the army. This is what I will tell
that young man or woman.
I believe that given the right circumstances, anyone ·will take the life of an•
other human being. Because we are
human we make mistakes. Some are
worse than others, but we make them.
Two examples, which are extreme cases,
of human beings taking the life of another. could include the following:
An accident is witnessed by some
climbers, and they stop to help. On
reaching the truck they find a hunter
dying a horrible death. He is on fire and
hall of him is crushed under the burning
truck. He is writhing and screaming
horribly because of the pain and the
names. When he sees the climbers he
immediately begs them to take his rifle
and shoot him. He screams over and
over for a quick, merciful death. What
do the climbers do? Can it be possible
that these circumstances warrant taking
a human life?
My second example is a little different.
My second example is Jesus. By teaching
ldve and pacifism, Jesus was responsible
for the death of thousands of Christian~
who died in the arenas in Rome. Jesus
didn't draw the sword that killed them,
nor did he turn the animals loose that
killed them. But he did tell them not to
light or hate. Although I can't pass judgment on the Christian belief in eternal
life after death and in salvation, I can
read the lacta of history. And the facta
are that those people died and they died
because they did what Jesus taught
them lo do. Dying in the arena was an
act of faith for those Christians. But

so what?
Neill Kramer

EVERGREEN
AD PROJECT
Dear editor,
In last week's CPJ there were two
letters from people associated with the
Admissions Office concerning "duplication of efforts" by the Evergreen Ad
group. This letter will hopefully clarify,
for both the Admissions Office and the
Evergreen community, our group's objectives. First of all, for those not familiar with us, the Evergreen Ad project is
a group of students and alumni trying to
attract qualified students from other
parta of the country to Evergreen by
conducting a national ad campaign. We
feel that there are an abundant number
of people who would potentiaUy be interested in the unique education offered
here, but presently these people don't
know that Evergreen exists.
We are not attempting in any way to

UNCLASSIFIEDS
Addressers wanted lmmedlatelyl Work
at home-no
experience
necessaryex.cellenLpay.- Write American -5e.r...vice.
8350 Park Lane, Suite 127, Dallas,
Texas 75231.
Women's Medical Center: Pre•
Pregnancy Toating, confidential counse Iin g; Tuesday ■ and Wodno1days,
12-6 p.m. Clinle located at 1213 S.
11th, Tacoma 98883. Call toU free
1-800-562-5958or Tacoma 388-2059.

Thurston County Off-Campus School.
Small, privat<, high school hiring immedi• at<,ly: certified teacher to develop curriculum, teach daoaM, work with community, and individually with 1tudeat■.
Studenta are primarily low-income and/er
high ■cbool dropout.a. Student. and ■taff
work and make dedllon■ eollect.lve!J.
M&O/mo.Contact Debbie Leung, P.O.
Box 982. Olympia. 98II07(~I.

what il Jesus was wrong?
My examples given to the young man
or woman woukl hopefully illustrate that
humans can, under certain cir.cum•
stances, find themselves in a position
where they may take a human life, or be
responsible for the taking of a human
life. But given this, I would say that
these are extreme cases. They were not
examples of premeditated killing. I believe registering for the draft and going
into the army, however. IS a premeditated act. It IS an act which may res.ult
in that person taking a human life.
If I were facing registration for the
draft, I would tell my country that I appreciate my freedom and the benefits of
the democratic system under which I
live. Although I did not ask to be born,
1nd had no choice in the matter of where
,,r how I live, still I appreciate what I
have. I would serve my country by work·
ing in a hospital, helping the underpriveleged,
or in any other lifesupporting way they may require. But I
would not allow myself to serve in an
army whose sole function is killing
people, nor would I take the life of another huml\n being if I could prevent it.
If not serving in the army and not killing meant that I would lose my freedom
and the benefits of the society in which I
live, then I will have to deal with that if
and when it happens. But losing those
things is not worse than having taken
the life of another human being.
I know that I would kill if I had to.
But receiving a piece of paper ordering
me to join the ar;ny or someone telling
me about freedon and patriotism are not
things which I l,l lieve qualify to make
me have to kill. I am human and make
mistakes. I will have to live with the
mistakes I makt>. But if I was a kid
facing registration for the draft, killing
for my country is no, a mistake I would
make again.

take over any of the functions presently
performed by the admissions office. Our
group is supportive of the Admissions
staff and the services which they now
provide to prospective students. but we
feel that they are necessarily restricted.
Since the school is a state college, we
cannot expect the Admissions Office to
effectively reach out to prospective students in other states. Our group realizes
this and our project is an attempt to increase our enrollment in ways that the
Admissions Office can't. Far from "duplicating efforts,'' the Evergreen Ad project
extends the outreach of this school in a
complimentary fashion to the existing
program of the admissions office.
Our project is in need of money. H you
feel our efforts are valid and you would
like to support us, please send cash or a
check made out to cash to Grapevine,
POB 2618, Olympia 98607.
Burt Yarkin

Secretary
PARTTIME
FLEXIBLEHOURS

MPR, a national policy research
fifli'i,
is curr-entty--seeking an
experienced individual to provide
secretarial support to the Direc•
tor on a permanent, parttime
basis. CoOO typing and steno
skills required.

WE OFFER
EXCELLENT SALARY
Candidates should contact
M. Willis

206-754-7084

MATHIMATICA
POLICY
RESEARCH,
INC.
20'.I East 4th Ave., Rm 20'.I
Olympia, Washington
-

-1Unlty

.. p,.,,_ m/1

5

:Bonkers

Continued from page 1
Carter is asking and Congress seems between public and private utilities. He
ready to do is to give much more free said his support for the bill depends on
reign to the CIA. I'd like to see you fight the adoption of his amendment dealing
against that because I think that the with the establishment of a regional
oppression we do in other countries is planning council. He wants to make sure
eventually going to be returned to us."
that the council is broadly and propor·
He went on to ask how we and the
tionately representative of the people of
Congress can encourage large-scale
the four-st.ate region and that it will
energy conservation so that we need not have the final say in development of a
have to fight for oil.
regional energy plan and establishment
Throughout the meeting. Bonker reof prioritie
iterated his support for conservation and
development of alternative energy systems. "You're not going to find any
quick-fix solutions to the energy crisis."
he said. "It's a very complex subject and
this country's only short-term answer is
a massive commitment to energy conservation."
He cited bills Congress has passed to
encourage more energy-efficient automobiles and appliances through the use
of tax incentives and penalties. He
stressed that the automobile is still our
biggest energy problt'm. "I called for gas
rationing five years ago when it wa:pretty unpopular," he reminded th,
group. He accused Congress of still lack
ing the courage to approve such a
program.
Many people asked about the Regional
Power Bill which has been bouncing
On the question of Congressional
around Capital Hill for some time now. ethics, Bonker said he believes that both
Bonker explained that the bill would the Justice Department and Congress
attempt to reconcile the many diverse
should conduct investigations into AB·
energy suppliers in the Northwest and
SCAM. They have two distinct roles he
to solve the problem of rate disparity
said. The Justice Department is con

Crime and Punishment
On October 28-30, 1979, 112 people (15
from the Olympia community) climbed
the fence al Trident-Base Bangor in
hopes of stopping construction of the Trident submarint> and missile system b)
increasing the awareness of the public
10 this imminent danger.
The lrial for this crime is set for
f Pb. 25 at the S,;aLtle Federal Court
house. The defendants are going pro-st>
,representing themselves), and will defend their actions on the basis of International Law. Necessity, and Religious/

Moral defenses.
.-\n educational forum will be held Sunday, Feb. 24, from 7-9,30, in the TESC
Library Lobby. Featured will be the
expert witnesses who will testify at the
trial. A donation of $2.00 is request.ed.
For those who wish to be more actively involved, the Olympia Trident Resistance group meets in CAB 108 on the
second Sunday of every month. The
March 16 meeting will begin at 6 with a
potluck and discussion of the issues surrounding the trial and future actions.

cerned with criminal activity and Con•
gress is concerned with the ethics of
its members.
Though Bonker supports federal fund·
ing of Congressional campaigns. he says
he does not see it happening even in the
long run. He believes many candidates
are dependent on PAC'o-political action
committees-to finance their campaigns.
..I think we are reaching a period when
this is going to be government by special
interest." he said.
One issue which Bonker rather awkwardly side-stepped, to the diuppoint·
ment of many in the crowd, wu that of
gay rights. One peraon read a letter be
had received from Bonker concerning
legislation in Congress which would in·
sure equal opportunity in housing and
employment for gay people. In the letter,
the Congressman stated, "I have no in-

tention of supporting any such proposal."
Bonker then indicated publicly that
that was indeed bis position. When uked
later how he could justify such a stance
in light of his support for human rights
in other countries, he indicated he had
already responded to the iasue and
would say no more.
When Bonker was asked to rate the
fU'at three yean of Gov. Dixy Lee Ray's
performance,
the room erupted in
chuckles and moana. He replied, "No
commenL Next question."
At the end of the meeting, Bonker
insisted he was trying hard to make himself available to the people of his districL
This was' one of a series of town meetings he held last week. He said, "I think
you will find me one of the more acceasi•
hie members of Congress-as long as you
don't work for the F.B.I."

Evergreen students affiliate
By Carol Tucker
Evergreen students recently became
affiliated with a statewide student lobbying organization. the Washington Association of University Students. S&A funds,
which come out of tuition payments,
supply $300 to pay Evergreen·s annual
membership fee.
Current issues on which WAUS is
focusing its efforts before the State
Legislature include student control of
S&A funds. day care, funding for student
housing, and compliance with Title IX,
the federal act which requires equal opportunity for males and females in public
institutions.
WAUS consists of students from fouryear colleges and universities; Ever•
green is the only non-university member.
Evergreen's WAUi representative is
Mark Young, a member of the S&A
Board, who volunteered for the post.
The student body president and a student legislative representative usually
serve as WAUS delegates; Evergreen,
howaver, has no student body president
and no established procedure for select•
ing W AUS representatives.
The other position is still open. Anyone interested should contact Young in
CAB 305. Young says a DTF will prob-

By Andy Keller
ably be charged soon to create a process
for WAUS representative selection.
Young enjoys his involvement with
WAUS, pointing out that the organization represents
75,000 students, all
potential voters, and can be quite influential with the legislature.
A biU currently before the legislature
would give students more control over
the use of their S&A funds. The proposed changes would make the S&A
system at other colleges similar to that
at Ev~rgreen, where students already
retain nominal control.
WAUS supports the bill. A similar bill
was vetoed by Governor Ray aft.er it
passed the Legislature last session. She
had called in student representatives to
witness the signing of the bill and then,
in a move called "insulting" by students,
unexpededly vetoed it.
With or without the passage of the
bill, the Board of Trustees, at Evergreen
and at other colleges, retains ultimate
control over S&A funds and can veto or
reject any allocation by the student-run
S&A Board. This has happened only once
in Evergreen's history.
Jim Arnest, an Evergreen graduate
and Olympia resident, is executive director of WAUS.

Put yourseHwhere
you're needed
Sale.

Anni\'ersary

7th

-featuring-

CHRISTOPHER PAT METHENY
CROSS
GROUP

UTOPIA

PAT llll!lTHBlllY
G1UJUP
.Amer1c&no.ra.-.

BSK 3383

01'1WarMr 1h01. fl•cotd1 .n, Tape1
lllfr. !lat prlc• 17.11 (Tep,ta 17.11)

s4_99

On ECM R•cord1 and hS-1
Mt,. !111prlc• H.H (T..,_, II.II)

On Bl-.wt .. Aecord1 and-.,..
Mfr. NII price 17.H f",pn 17.NJ

s5_99
Everything else in stock specially priced!
Through Sunday, Feb. 24th only.

RfCORDCO.
Westside

Center

357•47115

Alaska: the last or the new frontier ?

More than ten thousand Americans
are now serving as Peace Corps and VISTA
Volunteers in 58 developing nations and
throughout the United States, gaining
valuaole experience while sl\anng fl\elf ••
knowledge with others.
Your college degree OR relevant community work experience may qualify you
for one of the many volunteer positions
beginning in the next 12 months. Our representatives will be pleased to discuss the
opportunities with you.

Peace Corps

and VIS'Ii\:
Experience
Guaranteed.

Representative on campus now.
Information and interview on oversea.a
and U.S. openings beginning this aummer.
Information table CAB Lobby
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 & 22

"We don't talk about remnant& in
Aluka; we talk about healthy, thriving
natural systema. We don't need to manage Alaska, we juot need to protect iL"
Cecil D. Andrus, Secretary of the Interior of the United States.
A dnmatic conflict between human
utilization and the existence of natural
ecosystems ia being staged today in
Alaska. Five hundred years ago our
country wu a virtually uninhabited wil·
derneoa. Today only Alaska bu huge
expanses of wilderness and untouched
resources. Once it was too cold, too
rugged, too far, too expenaive to develop; we have now overcome those
problems through modern technology.
The forty-ninth state bu beeome a testing ground for American values.
The Aleuts aptly named the area
Alaksbak or "Great Land" and modern
Alaskans just u correctly call it "the
last frontier."
It's hard to talk about Alaska without using superlatives. Everything about
it is extreme. It is physically u big aa
Texas, California, and Montana combioed-876,000,000 acres. It opans four
time zones. Several of ita thousands of
glaciers are larger than tbe state of
Rhode Island. Rainfall average, from
over 200" per year at places in Southeast Aluk.a to only four inches in the
Arctic Desert of the North Slope. At
Fort Yukon in the vut central plateau
region, temperature•
plummet from
100° F in the summer to -75° F in the
winter. Alaska hao over 60% of the
coastal shorelines of the United States
with 42% of the nation's estuaries.
Alaskan babitata produce this country's
only populations of Dall Sheep, Musk Ox.
Polar Bear, Caribou and the only large
populations of Bald Eagles, Peregrine
Falcons, Bowhead Whales and Humpback Whales. Beluga and KiUer Whale
ply the pristine ocean waterways of
Alaska.
But there is more than wildlife and
beautiful wildernesa in Alaska. Below
the spectacular mountains and tundra lie
minerals and oil. A century ago Alaska
was "Seward's Folly." Now, everyone
wants a piece of the 49th state.
The 1964 Wilderneas Act gave Congreas authority to protect certain federal lands from development. Conservationists began to eye Alaska with
thoughts of preserving
some of its
grandeur in this wilderneaa ays~m. The
state began selecting ita land while na•
tives pleaded that they had claim to the
land too. Finally, in 1966, Secretary of
the Interior Steward Udall imposed a
"land freeze" until Congress acted upon
the native claims.
With the growing dependence on foreign oil, companies were searching the
North Slope for expected deposit&. Discolleey of between 16-49 billion barrel, of
oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 (U.S. uses
6 billion barrel& per year) set the stage
for a great battle between industry, conservationists,
natives, and the State
of Alaska.

1·m

In 1971 Congreaa, under mounting
pre11ure, paosed the historic Alaska
Native Claimo Settlement Act (ANCSA).
This act brought Alaska into the modern
era.
It (1) authorized the selection of 44
million aaes from tbe federal lands to be
choaen by the •state's 76,000 natives,
(2) alloted 962.6 million dollars to be
divided between 12 native corporations.
(3)provlded for the construction of the
780-mile Trana Alaska Pipeline.
Section 17(D) (2) authorized Congress
to choose up to 140 million acrea of land,
from the federal holdinp, to be designated aa national parks, wild and scenic
riven, national wildli!e refuges and wildernesa areas. An important provision of
this section waa that Congreoa must act
by December 18, 1978, or these "national
intereat lands" would be subject to selection by the state or native~r
be
developed.
Representative Morris Udall (D-Ariz.)
introduced H.R. 39. The Alaska National
Interest Lands Act. in January 1977.
This bill would protect 114 million aaes
of wilderness. Finally, in May of 1978 the
full House of ReJ,resentatives passed a
strengthened H.R. 39, favorable to COD·
servationista, that included 121 million
acres. The bill passed by a 9 to 1 vote.
Action moved next to the Senate.
With the December 1978 deadline only
months away, the Senate delayed action.
Finally in October the Znergy and Natural Resources Committee reported S.9,
not supported by conservationists, to the
full Senate. A compromise was worked
out between the Alaska delegation, the
House and Senate leaders, and conservationists,
but Senator Mike Gravel
ID-Alaska) then threatened to filibuster.
On October 16, Congress adjourned,
Alaska unresolved.
On November 17, Secretary of the
Interior Cecil Andrus and Agriculture
Secretary Bob Bergland used Section
204E of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act to withdraw 110 million
acres of pristine Alaskan lands from
development. President Carter then invoked The Antiquities Act to deaignate
56 million acres of the 110 as national
monuments, comparable to national
parks. The monuments are permanent
until Congreas acts. The other 64 million
acres are protected for two years. It was
the intent of the administration to protect these lands until Congress could
make a decision.
Upon the beginning of the new session
in January 1979, Representatives Morris
Udall ID-Ariz.) and John Anderson
(R.Ill.) introduced H.R. 39, which is simi1ar to the previous year's biU. Thia bill
passed the House overwhelmingly on
May 16, 1979.
Senate action was again slow, with
final passage of S.9 on October 16 by
Ule Enel'8}4,114-Na4wal Ro1ou,:,:e1C-om·
rnittee. Senatora Paul Tsongas (D-Masa.)
and William Roth (R-Del.) drafted their
own conservationists-backed subotitute
bill

ICIUIPMllir
•CustQmllilde
•
•~tTellb

• ~Quall~
Ull'

Ts 12 iwiw,;Jiu

·'

·,

'

'·-=--

•

Tao■1■1-Retll 8al11tlt■te Amendae■t
Z&!,tho --,ral:lo■ut'a 11111.

On February 9, 1980 Senate leaders
decided to postpone debate on the
Alaska land, issue until late July. Conservationists feel that the Senate delay
is an attempt by developers to fon:e a
weak compromise or to pus no bill at all.
Congress will push for early adjournment to campaign tllil fall If the Senate
does not p&11 a bill by the end of the
Congreaaional session in October the
whole legislative proceas will have to
begin again, and the politics may not be
as favorable. Secretary of Interior Cecil
Andrus has announced that he will not
wait for Congress. He is proceeding with
plans to give 20-year protection to the
balance (64 million acres) of the 110 million acres not proclaimed a.s monuments
by President Carter. Tbe Time for
Dodalon b Now!
Representative Udall claims that 70%

TSONGAS-

UNPRESERVED
LANDS

ROTII

PROPOSAL

State and
Private Lands

Official wilderness
areas are shaded.

....., ..........
..............
,........,,_
Mc.iwollN

•Iii,. .. ,_

k,p Suu
lnl,
••
-..1
,__

lhl
... ,

..........

106 million acres

Other
Federal
Lands
1.. ,<1,........ ,., ....
_,.,
... ,
,_

_.. ....

i., ...

,
,_...,.

~

,..,.,..,

••

...........

,.,,

N-

•1 11~,.... .I l..oM .,._...,._.._.,

-

Olto.r

_ ........
°""'.. """' ,.••, ,..,.r., ...
'""p.,,__ """'"•Alo•h
81 million acres
W1ft'"' ,.......,..,
• .,,._,.._,.,.

-U)

I""..,_

.,,,o,1_

Native
44 million

acres

41 million acres

M<>0lp<IOltttM

4',~,
.....--·...
-•DhM,

fllo<lo.....,....111

,,.,,

.....
, ,,u, '" ......
9 million acres
4 million acres

"PRESERVED" 28 million acres
LANDS

43 million acres

of Alaska's mineral wealth lies out.side of
his park proposals, as well as 95.5% of
the favorable gas and oil deposits. Representative Seiberling, Alaska subcommittee chairman, says the problem has
little to do with whether most resources
were outside proposed parka. "The
problem," he said, "is that developers
don't want 95% of the resource&; they
want them all The selfishness of the
industries involved would blow your
mind."
Even If the stricte1t cooaervation pro_posals_u:e..adop"te:d. two-thirda of Alaska__
will still be opened for potential developmenL Only 9% of the whole state would
be closed to hunting.

Letters and phone calls to the Senate
are urgently needed. The Senate should
begin consideration of the Alaska Lands
issue now. not in July. This is a highpriority issue for conservationists and all
Americans, and the Senate should delay
no morel Urge Senators Magnuson and
Jackson to support the Tsongas-Roth
Bill nowl
If you have questions or need infor•
mation (or have some information for
me} contact Andy Keller at the Environmental Resource Center, CAB 103, TESC
(866-67Ml or .at.home (866-3645).

THE PLACE

~

/·

pves tlle 8eaate • doolee be8-9, tlle develepor'a 11111,
ud the

AT

patio·, ~Ion
.
I • ,

nll
tw-

The Energy and Natural Resources
Committee Bill S.9, differs from the
conservationist-backed Tsongaa-Roth Bill
in that it would, (1) Delete 37 million
acres of essential habitat from national
wildlife refuges, i.nd 30 million acres of
wilderness, (2) Mandate oil exploration
in the famed Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, critical habitat for the Porcupine
Caribou herd-our
nation's largest,
(3) Allow mining in portions of the Gates
of Arctic and Wrangell-St. Elias National
Parks, and (4) Cut in half existing
Admiralty Island and Misty Fjords
National Monuments, opening them to
potential clear-cut logging.
The administration, conservationists,
labor unions, the fishing industry, the
House of Representatives, and much of
the Senate, and most of the American
people, support the Tsongas-Roth Bill to
protect the wilderness and maintain a
lasting =•omy.
A poll by the Anchorage Times shows that 61% of Alaskan's
support wilderness.
Henry David Thoreau once said, "a
man is rich in proportion to the amount
of things that he can afford to leave
alone." If this nation cannot afford to
protect these things then perhaps it is,
a.s Thoreau would agree, the "poorest"
nation in the world.
..The world needs an embodiment of
the frontier mythology, the sense of
horizons unexplored, the mystery of unhabited miles. It needs a place where
wolves stalk the strand lines, because a
place that can support a wolf is a
healthy, robust and perfect land. But
more than these things, the world needs
to know that there is a place where men
live amid a balanced interplay of the
goods of technology and the fruits of
nature."
Robert Weeden, Alaskan
EcologisL
In this sense, Alaska is not so much
the last frontier as the new frontier: the
place to prove that Americans can live in
harmony with the environment, and not
abuse it.

"-

'

You'n, Alwaya Welc,nmot
Trv Our Dolidous Early Bird
Bruldut Special. Only $1.49
Open Daily
Mon - Thur9
e a.m. - t p.m.

-

Frt - S.1

Sunday

e a.m.

..,..._....

10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sundays

- 10 p.m.

a a.m. • a p.m.

Authmtk Mtxialrr Food
Salad Bar with All Dinnen •

:IM--1111.

8 a.m. - 9 p.m. weekdays

...,,

WE;STSIDE CENTER

6

"friday"on saturday
Continued Crom pagt 8

HI, Girl Friday.
It's Hl1 Girl Friday'• mixture of satire
and cynicism (along with the Hawksian
battle of the sexea, a merciless portrait
of political CO!Tuptionand lightning-fast
dialogue) that gives a profoundly American feel to it. We just don't have this
"verbal slapstick" in American fi.Jmsany•
more. Monty Python is popular, but
extremely British. Steve Martin is
better on T. V. Mel Brooks' ftlms just
aren't that funny, and when they are,
it's usually on a visual level. Woody
Allen has become too serious and inteJledual to really be called a "comedian"
anymore and his best films are hi! more
serious recent ones anyway (with the
exception of Interior■ ). Besides, both
Brooks and Allen represent two different styles of New York-Jewish humor
that rose in the 50's to influence all
modern American humor. Yet., Sleeper,
Love and Death, Yous Fnakea,teln,
and High Anxiety could just have easily
been set in other countries or were set
in other countries. (Allen's best films,
Annie Hall and Manhattan, I don't really
consider to be comedies.)
However, Hi, Girl Friday with its
dirty newsrooms, cranky, cynical reporters, crooked politicians, incredible
fast pace. and especially its brilliant use

of the American (not English) language,
seems uniquely American. (It's not that
I'm patriotic, nationalistic. or whatever,
or even have any particular preference
for American art. I'm ju11t trying to
separate what's distinctly American
comedy as opposed to other kinds. Each
country hu its own sense of humor.)
"The Front Page" was a play written
by Ben Hecht (a reporter turned screenwriter) and Charles MacArthur in 1928.
It's been ftlmed four times-in 1930 by
Lewis Milestone; in 11140by Hawks; aa
a T. V. production in 1969; and by Billy
Wilder in 1974. Hawks' veraion, Bia Girl
Friday, ( the only version not called "The
Front Page") ia di!ferent from the rest
mainly because Hildy Johnson, the main
character, is a woman, instead of a man.
I hesitate to use the word "feminist," but
in terms of Hildy's role (played by
Rosalind Russell) Hla Girl Friday is a
feminist film. Russell's Hildy is an
aggressive reporter who even tackles a
politician to the ground and sits on top
of him until he gives her a story. In the
newsroom, she's treated equally and
with respect by the men, not because of
her looks, but because they know that
she's the best damn reporter in the
bunch. I have yet to see a female character in a 60's or 70's American film who is
as strong as Russell is here.

She does have problelill! with Cary
Grant, her editor and ex-husband who
wants her back. Russell is engaged to a
goody-two sboea (Ralph Bellamy doing a
parody on himselO who Grant keepa
getting thrown in jail so be can keep
Russell working on a big story. A eonfused radical convicted of murder has
escaped on the eve of his execution
and ... well, wait and aee for youraeH.
Grant's performance is a masterpiece
of comic timing. He gracefully struts
around, interrupts
other■' lines, and
makes a fool out of everyone except
Russell. As Walter Burna, the editor, the
ruthlessness he applies to bis job is not
out of dedication, but simply out of greed
and ego. If be wun't so smugly in control of everything and everyone, he'd
definitely go stark raving mad.
Some of the actors must have almost
gone mad working on thls film. The
dialogue, according to Hawks bimaelf. is
the fastest ever recorded on film. I've
never heard (or seen) anything quite like
it, not even in an Altman film. Lines are
constantly overlapping so much. that, by
the time you get the joke in one line,
there's three more that you just missed.
{Of course it helps to see the rtlm a num·
ber of times.)
Political corruption is not treated as
something unusual and morbid. The

sheriff and the mayor are laughable
idiota, an innocent man is sentenced to
die 10 the politicians can profit, and the
implications are that thia ia pretty much
the way it is all over. Too many films
show corruption as an isolated situation,
but Hawks shows hia cynicism for politica iltelf.
I can't really say that the film gives ua
a realistic portrayal of reporte'l,s and big
city newspapers. But it's the kind of portrayal many of us would like to believe is
the way it really was in the SO's and 40's
(and in many respects, still is today).
The press does ita job and gets to the
truth (in the film) but the truth is not
what they're really after. It's a aenaationalistic story they want and it doesn't
matter what side is exposed as long as
they get a story.
AU in all, W1 Girl Friday is line for
line funnier than any other film I've ever
seen. {There's more wit in one line here
than there ia moot of the stuff that's
been passing u comedy in the 70's.)
I don't think that anything really new
has been done with comedy in American
films in the last decade, but every old
style (physical slapstick, sight gags, etc.)
has been dragged back into use except
for the "verbal slapstick" of Hla Girl
Friday. Le's bring back verbal slapstick.
I haven't seen any good foreign comedies
lately either.

NOTES-----------NOT INSURED?
Self-Help Legal Aid will present a
workshop entitled "Choosing an Automobile Insurance Policy in Washington
State: Why and How" on Monday, February 25 from 2-4 p.m., in Library 1417.
The workshop will focus on why you
need to carry insurar:.ce in the state, the
consequences of not doing so, and how to
choose adequate coverage. Students originally from other states are particularly
encouraged to come. as their policies
may not comply with the regulations set
up by Washington's Bureau of Licensing.
A representative from the Washington
State Insurance Commissioner's Office
will be available to answer questions.

OPEN HOUSE
Westside neighbors are invited lo an
Open House at the Olympia Food Co-op
on Wednesday, February 27 and Thursday the 28th from 7:30-9 p.m. The Co-op
staff will be on hand lo answer questions. Ongoing tours of the store and
memberships will be available for those
interested.
The Co-op is located at
921 N. Rogers, on the corner o( Rogers
and Bowman, Refreshments
will be
served.

MORE JOBS!
The Financial Aid Office has received
supplement.al work-study money for the
year. Students needing financial assistance are encouraged to contact the
Financial Aid Office.

POETRY
RESCHEDULED

The Women's Poetry Reading originally scheduled for February 15 will be held
on February 22, from 1-4 p.m. in the
Library 3500 lounge. Women will read
two to five selections of their original
poetry. The atmosphere is intended to
be one of support and encouragement for
each woman's unique creativity and
style. Home-baked cakes, breads and
cookies v. ill be sold along with tea and
coffee. The event is being sponsored by
the ACCESS for Re-Entry Women
Center. For more information or to sign
up as a reader, call 866-0080 or drop by
Library 3510.

DISCRIMINATION
SURVEY
The Office of Civil Rights is asking for
volunteers to participate in a survey on
the nature and extent of perceived discrimination in educational institutions.
Eleven women-three
non-students and
eight students-are
needed. Students of
science and other fields traditionally
occupied by men are especially encouraged to take part. If you are interested
or would like more information, call the
Women's Center, 866-616~.

DEMOCRACY IS A SIN
A meeting to discuss the proposal for
a Student Information Network, Wednesday, Feb. 'l:T. CAB 110, 10 a.m. One
student from each seminar should attend.

COLLEGE STUDENTS
AFROTC offers 2- and 4-year programs leading to an Air Force commission, 2- and 3-year scholarships available
paying tuition, books and lab fees, particlarly to majors in math, _pl!rsics, chemistry and engineering. Majors in other
subjects who complete six semester
hours of Differential
and Integral
Calculus by May '80 also stand a good
chance for a 2-year scholarship. Nursing
and Pre-Health scholarship recipients
and members of the 2-year program
without scholarships receive $100 per
month.
AFROTCDET 900
WRITE:
University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, Washington 98416
756-3264
CALL:

HELLO!

Volunteers are needed to staff the
phone at the Olympia Women's Center
for Health. A training session will be
held on Wednesday, February 'l:T. For
more information, calJ 943-6924 between
12-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday or between 10-1 on Saturday.

INTERNS
AND INDIVIDUALS
Any o( you students out there contemplating a last-minute Individual Cont.rad
and or Internship for Spring Quarter
should attend the FEBRUARY 'l:T Workshop, sponsored by Academic Advising
and Cooperative Education, in LIBRARY
2205 from 11 to noon. Topics diacussed
will include how and where to find a
faculty sponsor; negotiating the Individual and Intern.ship Learning Contract;
interviewing tips for prospective interns;
evaluations; and much more. This i.s your
last chance to get it together before
Spring Quarter. BE THEREII

COUGAR LAKES
Hearings on the Cougar Lakes Wilderness issue will be held sometime in
March. Public awareness is needed now!
Find out what Congress is considering
doing with your land. Attend a slide presentation on February 21 and 25 from
12-6 p.m. Donations are appreciated.
Also, come write a letter fOI"the Cougar
Lakes Wilderness Bill and the Anti-Toley
Bill February 26-29, 2nd Floor CAB. Any
questions. should be directed to Judy or
Andy at the ERC.

HAVE A LOAN?
If you have received a National
Defense/Direct
Student Loan while
attending Evergreen and you plan to
graduate, withdraw, or go on leave next
quarter, you are required to go through
an NDSL Exit Interview before leaving.
Please contact the Accounts Receivable
Department at 866-6448 to make an
appointment for an Exit Interview.

GARDEN PLOTS
Evergreen students, faculty and itafr
are invited to grow their own vegetable
crops this year in the Community Garden areas of the Organic Farm. The
Farm supplies land and garden toolsyou supply the labor and seeds. You may
cultivate your own individual plot or join
with a group of friends to cultivate a
larger area. Planning must begin NOW
to make preparations for Spring plant~
ing. Community Garden space ts allocated on a first-come, first-served basis,
so be sure to attend the first olannin•
meeting on Friday, February 22 at noon
in CAB UO.

THIRD WORLD
WORKSHOPS
A presentation for Third World student& regarding the Cooperative Education and Community Volunteer Services
Program will be given on Wednesday.
February 27, 1980, from 12-1:30 in
Library 8205. April Weat, Coordinator of
the Third World Coalition invites all interested student& to attend.

CLASSES
NOW
FORMING IN
OLYMPIA
}!OBERT GO_ODWIN,--t--t-t1r
GUITAR
A SA~S
Make 1980 the year you• Learn to play Folk, Classic and
Flamenco style guitar
• Gain confidence to play your instru-ment in groupe or individually
• Develop the ability to read music.

FOR INFORMATION CALL
ANY TIME 752-9847
Preaented by Robert Goodwin Studios
andHarp Shop, Inc.
4102 W. 15th
Tacoma, WA !l840G

An Old
Time
By David Joyner
John Barth's latest novel, Letter,.
though undoubtedly one of the most important books of the last two decades,
has received rather mixed reviews. Gore
Vidal, for example, called it "academic"
and "unreadable," a book "to be taught
in the sunless chapels" of university
classrooms. This kind of "criticism," of
course, is not altogether unexpected
Crom a man whose deepest psychological
insight involves the size and shape of
George Washington's buttocks, but even
normally perceptive reviewers are shying away from the book's apparent
difficulty.
Too much unnecessary energy was
spent, in the early part of this century,
in defending those novels known as
"difficult" or "incomprehen11ible." One
would have thought that such defenses
were no longer needed. After all, a
novelist of Barth's calibre and reputation
does not spend ten long years writing a
book he hopes no one will read. On the
contrary, novelists want very much to
have people read their work, and Barth
has taken more care to insure the readability of this book than most writers do

Each
of
Which

plots to bring about the "Second
Revolution."
-Jerome Bray. "A rival novelist, who
may in fact be a very large insect with
computer assistance, plotting from his
base in the Spiritualist Capital of Amer·
ica." Bray's computer is involved in the
composition of either a Revolutionary
Novel, or a Novel Revolution; no one is
sure which.
-Ambrose Mensch. Once Lo■ t in the
Funbouae, now an avant-garde novelist,
and lover of Germaine Pitt.
-Author, "none other."
The epistolary novel, widely popular in
the eighteenth-century, has been called
the '"hoariest of early realist creatures."
It represents the squalling infancy of the

bySeven
Fictitious

... SACHI

s~~

..R.

~

Mon.-Frt. 1M1
ff youw -

E

Sit. 1M
you'll buy IIACHe

Dreamers

nowadays, and certainly more than most
readers are willing to recognize.
Letter■, subtitled "an old time epistolary novel by seven fictitious drolls and
dreamers each of which imagines himself
actual," involves correspondences
between, by, and about seven characters,
all of whom, except one, have appeared
in Barth's earlier fiction.
Letter ■ is comprised of 88 letters, and
some of the characters
who stroll
through its intricate post.al plots are as
follows:
-Germaine
Pitt/Lady
Amherst. The
only "new" character in the novel in that
she hasn't appeared in Barth's previous
novels. "A fifty year old British gentlewoman, erstwhile mistress (by her own
confession) of Hermann Hesse, Aldous
Huxley, and James Joyce." Now acting
provost of Marshyhope U.
-Todd Andrews. Prot.agoniat of Barth's
first novel, The Floating Opera. Now a dull affairs-painfully slow in develop69 year old bachelor lawyer "who enjoys ment, and (Richardson especially) mor·
cordial incest during his final cruise on ally obtrusive.
Perhaps mercifully, the epistolary
the Chesapeake."
form died with the century that spawned
-Jacob Horner. Voluntary patient at the
it. Richardson is remembered mostly for
Remobilization Farm. Practices. as treata more illustrious contemporary's parody
ment, such things as Scripto-therapy,
and Histrio-therapy.
Subscribes ad- of his Pamela-Fielding's Shamela. Smolamantly to the Anniversary View of llet is not remembered at all, except maynames.
History. Hero (?) of Barth's second novel be for his odd character
Roderick RAndom and HumnhrP.v f!linkP:r.
The End of the Road.
While Barth's
Letteu
does pay
-A. B. Cook VI. Descended from the
virgin poet of Barth's 1960 novel The due homage to those early predecessors,
s.t-Weed Fllder. Like Ebenezer Cooke, . it does not attempt to revive or update
A. B. Cook ia the sell-styled laureate or their happily deceased invention. Rather,
Maryland. Engages in plots and counter- Barth uses the realist aspects of the cor-

by
JohnBarth

Imagines
Himself
Actual

AMPEX

friendly
service!

°'

-OullltyCouftlo

respondence novel to his own advantages: that is, dissolving the border
between fact and fiction. For unlike the
correspondents in Richardson and Smollet, the characters in Letter ■ are aware
of, and contribute to, their fictionalized
personalities.
The Author asks each of them in turn
if they'd be willing to participate in his
work-in-progress, a novel to be composed
of letters. Eventually, the would-be characters submit to the Author's advances,
and begin sending him copies of their
various correspondences, which finally
(or so the reader knows) end up as the
no~el Lettere. This is 8 dauntingly challenging effect in that the reader is
"tricked" into believing the characters
have two lives: one that exists only in
print, and another that is ordinary flesh
and blood.
The idea behind this "perspectival
gimmickry" is hardly new or surprising.
but Barth's is probably the most convincing attempt yet at evaporatirig the boundary between illusions and reality.
"I've got capiLal-H History on my. that innovative as "themes" go, but
mind," says Author Barth to lawyer Barth's engaging style. and fascinating
Andrews. More particularly. the Author characters propel the reader through all
772 pages of Letten.
Like those early romance readers.
most of us would rather read shabbily
researched historical novels, or cute
pseudo-philosophical ramblings about a
lrirl with elephantine thumbs, than a
serious effort branded capital L-Litera
ture. Barth himself admits that:
to be a novelist in 1969 is, a bit
like being in the passenger railway business in the age of the jumbo jet: our
dilaoidated rolling stock creaks over the
weed-grown right o( ways, carrying four
winos. six Viet Nam draftees. three
black welfare families. two nuns, and one
incorrigible railroad buff, Like that
railroad buff we deplore the shallow
"attractions" of the media that have
means historical cycles, and the regurgi- supplanted us, even while we endeavor,
tation of the past into the future. All of necessarily and to our cost, to accommothe characters in Letter■ are concerned
date to that ruinous competition by rewith the past"s fertilization of, defication
ducing even further our own amenities:
on, the future.
fewer runs. fewer stops. fewer passenTodd Andrews keeps numbered lists _gers, higher fares. Yet we grind on,
of the "Important Moments" of his life, tears and cinders in our eyes, hoping
against hope that history will turn our
waiting for each entry to return in the
present. Jac~b Horner, incarcerated vol- way again."

Drolls
and

novel in English, when English prose
still puked on writ.ers' shoulders, and
English audiences were more inclined to
French r.omances than to any native literature. Tobias Smollet and Samuel
Richardson, the most famous practitioners o( the epistolary novel, brought the
form t.o dubious fruition in the middle of
eighteenth century. Except for a few
graceful passages. and some not so
subtle humor, their novels are gennally

--------

Moped la an economic.al way to
eommut• (rom home to wortc or achOot or
Juat buzz around town. You ean perk Just
about anywhera ■nd rkt■ tor p«m._ • day.
City
country rtdlng 1, mote fun with 1
SACHS. And only with the Germen-ctafted
SACHS moped WIii you get the lamoua
SACHS engine along with the aturdy
SACHS ,,..,..., SN your SACHS factorytrained dealer today for I tMt ncte. Sacha
ll'a • kldt In the QM .. ,cn,nch.

Epistolary
Novel

untarily at the Remobilization Farm.'
subscribes to the Anniversary View of
History, and is charged by an excolleague with re-dreaming his own past.
Re-enactment is the cohesive center of
the novel. The whole re-enacts a long
disregarded form, the components-the
letters-re-enact
the writers' daily life in
print, and the reader re-reenacts the
entirety.
Characteristically,
~-e~aine
Pitt pronounces that "history)../f_Vcical
recyclings, ... mean nothing more than
that the world is richer in associations
than in meanings, and that it i.s the part
of wisdom to distinguish
between
the two."
The division between fact and fiction,
and the re<:yclings of history are not all

Capitol

SCHWINN®

GRAND MASTER""
"TAPE HEADQUARTERS"

Parts ~nd repairs for all makes
Complete line of ~c,essorie•s fr9m

ois·co
ELECTRONICS
W.

~::~~!;~~-~.

3..

1931 E 4th

•r~X~~,~~-:.~1~e

·943~''•

-

'Harrison

t-..,_t,

943-1393