emerald
platform
Sexual revolution?
The black light glows on the writhing dancers. They
shimmer an eerie blue under the pall. The music thumps a
flashy disco beat. "You should be dancin’ yeah!" Grin
ning waitresses scuttle table to table with glasses of cold
beer balanced on round trays. Couples laugh at jokes and
touch each other with the look of intimacy A pair of men at
one table smile and raise their glasses to a pair of women at
another table. The joint is rockin' on a Friday night Danc
ing laughing drinking touching — but still, des
peration hangs in the air.
cort femald
sidelong glances
I’m taking notes for this column. “The status of the
sexual revolution,” I told my editor.
You wouldn’t know this was a restaurant by the bar or
clientele. These men and women aren’t hungry for the
eggrolls. This is what is called a “meatrack."
The noise of conversation, the incessant dance music,
the dipso revelry, relieves them of the burden of revealing
their true identities. Being slightly drunk, inbetween laughing
jags, and sweaty hot on the dance floor lets the romantic
delusions survive
Two middle-aged men come in and sit at a table on the
fringe of the dance floor. One is visibly agitated. He squirms
in his chair — looking, leering, looking. His steely eyes light
on every woman. The other sits rigidly in his chair His face is
set in stony grimness as he stares at women turning on the
dance floor. He sits and drinks and stares.
Three women slowly weave their way to an empty table
They are all eyes — as all male eyes appraise them
The beer arrives — $1.35 a glass. Those wishing to forget
their aloneness by drink will find it costly.
“Shake your groove-thang Shake your groove
thang . yeah yeah.”
A squat, overweight and balding man is doing
kneebends and high kicks on the dance floor. The young
woman he's dancing with eyes him warily. She's oh-so-cool
wiggling her hips and sashaying her shoulders, swaying her
$80 permed hair side to side The overweight man does
another squat and kick. His face is beet-red as if he may have
a coronary. But she knows what his acrobatics are saying
"The next fast one and we dance," she says to me
I see that diamond of light glint in the corner of her brown
eyes and smile.
“Okay but I have to warn you. I just flail away without
form or grace.”
After Tom Jones sings “Stay until tomorrow” — he plays
something unrecognizable, but fast. We half-stagger to the
dance floor, dodging turning bodies, and dive into the black
light. The rhythm infects me and I do my St. Vitus’s Dance
He seems to be in his mid-twenties. He's wearing leather
gear. His blond hair is cut in an expensive California-style
She’s easily in her fifties. The gauntness of her face pre
serves a memory of youthful good looks. She’s in a "smart”
black dress that says “money.”
Curious — I glance at him. We exchange a flinty look. I
recognize those predatory eyes. Some people have to work
Friday nights.
The hour gets late and fear tightens their expressions.
The laughter dies down Men flit from the bar to posts where
they lean and try to appear casual as they compulsively suck
cigarettes Women wend their way between tables, trolling
along with baited eyes.
I look around. Despite their fierce composure you can
read the plea for another voice in the crushing darkness
“This place scares me,” I say to her.
“I know what you mean,” she replies.
We leave quickly, passing single men and single women
silently filtering in.
Cort Fernald is the Emerald's editorial page editor.
'Oh,ou,b/e—rTSTHw crwionist m, jerw m&L agajn !
letters
Danzig 1939
It seems that a lot of modesty
as well as hard work has gone
into the Danzig program, which
is a wealth of lectures, panels,
films, music, and art objects
relating to the exhibit at the Art
Museum, "Danzig 1939: Trea
sures of a Destroyed Communi
ty " At the first lecture by Lucy
Dawidowicz Thursday, Jan 14.
Mark Levy was publically
thanked for his efforts on behalf
of the program But it is also
important to thank Richard
Stein, who conceived the
project and without whom it
would not have come into being
at all. We all owe him our grati
tude
Barbara Clarke Mossberg
Assistant Professor, english
Deception
Brought to my attention by an
announcement in the Emerald, I
attended a presentation last
Friday evening on "Subliminal
Advertising — are you being
seduced by those Ads?" This
event was sponsored by the
Campus Crusade for Christ and
held in the Carson dorm
Students came to learn more
about the idea of "Subliminal
Advertising.” I was appalled to
find that the students attending
were grossly misinformed The
"speaker" was neither an
accredited teacher of the sub
ject of advertising, nor an in
dividual who has worked in the
advertising field, but was the
Campus Crusades' director:
Gene Moniz.
I felt it deceptive advertising
in itself to be drawn to the sym
posium by wanting to learn
more about advertising (as the
announcement suggested) and
having instead to listen to not
one but two presentations; one
about the said topic, the second
about "Christianity in my life.”
After the presentations we were
asked to fill out three by five
cards and state on one side our
"impressions" of the presenta
tion, and on the other side write
our name, address and tele
phone number (For the Cru
sades’ reference )
Also we were asked to place
an "X" by our name to indicate
if we had accepted Christ into
our lives that evening I came to
hear about advertising
Some interesting "facts"
were presented to the group
Moniz cited the "fact" that "fifty
percent of individuals in mental
institutions and persons receiv
ing psychiatric counseling re
sulted from the impact of “mass
media" on their lives " (The
Emerald of course, falls under
that broad category of mass
media )
We were also addressed with
the idea that "Advertising sells
Lifestyles ” This is not true Ad
vertising sells products We ac
cept or reject certain products
just as we accept or reject cer
tain lifestyles Advertising twists
no-ones arm We as consumers
ultimately decide what, how,
when, and why we want a
product We exercise our
freedom of choice, in other
words
The Campus Crusade for
Christ has made two flagrant
errors. First, by presenting
opinions on "subliminal adver
tising" as documented fact, and
secondly, by drawing students
to their symposium under the
guise of discussing "subliminal
advertising" and then pon
tificating their own cause, and
making an obvious effort to
recruit new membership into
their organization Perhaps in
the future the Campus Crusade
could separate its platform from
those issues (in this case sub
liminal advertising) it advertises
as topics to be featured They
should also identify their
speaker and state clearly in their
public announcements exactly
what will be discussed at gath
erings Most importantly, the
organization owes it to the
University to be absolutely cer
tain that information dissemin
ated to students is credible,
substantiated, and true
Mary Campbell
student, journalism
Thanks
Thank you for your Jan 15
article about the Oregon Smok
ing Control Project If readers
are interested in kicking the
habit with our help, the should
call 586-4903
Karen McIntyre
Coordinator, Oregon Smoking
Control Project
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