OPINION
The biggest, bestest show in town
Tired of paying $6 to soo tho
latest movies ut the 26
plex-cinumarnma theater?
Have you grown out of tho
"what's-your-sign" atmosphere
of tho local clubs? OD'd on Or
egon's famous outdoors?
Here's the solution to your
spare-time blues. It's dollar-for
dollar the best entertainment
doal going. It is a must see. Two
thumbs up. Four stars. The foel
good hit of the season. You'll
luugh. you’ll cry, it will become
a part of you.
Sound too good to be true?
It's not. It’s tho Springfield CUy
Council meetings.
Othor city councils have lot
their respective ontortainmont
values slide by doaling with the
hackneyed themes of city fl
nances, police and lire, iraitlc
problems, etc. It’s all so gauche.
I mean, where's the creativity?
The Springfield City Council
should be applauded for taking
a bold step to revive this flag
ging entortainment medium by
introducing Councilman Raff
Walters — morality's clown
prince — into the production.
And Walters' plan is bril
liant. In just a few years, the
councilman has lifted the coun
cil from the doldrums of gov
erning into the limelight of po
litical theater. And the recipe
ho followed is so simple.
By introducing his own mis
guided religious political agen
da into this "pagan nation('s)"
politics, Walters has created a
surreal climate with all tho ele
ments of award-winning drama.
There are now dear and deep
divisions in tho production
Good and bod guys ubound
with little room to deal with
those boring responsibilities of
actually governing the commu
nity. By enabling tho produc
tion to got the governing mon
key off its buck, Wallers and his
cronies have tried to set the
council free to pursue some tru
ly exciting fare — imposing one
narrow ideology on society.
Pal Malach
The As-lhe-C-ouncil-Tums at
mosphere began last year when
Walters end two other like
minded councilman plotted be
hind closod doors — via E-mail
— to keep certain
unacceptables off the city’s hu
man rights commission. Those
pesky open-meeting laws can't
And talk about versutilo.
Waiters understands that a
good drama needs that touch of
humor between the grotesque
Without (sitting an eye, with no
nod to the subtle touch of Irrev
erence and irony, the man. who
told a Register-Guard reporter
that becoming an evangelical
Christian had inspired him to
got Into politics und fight the
"cultural war.” told the Dorm
hue crowd that the state should
not legislate morality
Bravo, Ralf! Encore! Such a
light comedic touch. It was
simply boautiful. And he suld it
with a straight face. Complete
deadpan. Where was ho whan
stop a iruo
zealot.
Now comes
the OCA's
anti-gay rights
measures, and
Walters has
thrown his
weight behind
Springfield Is doing
all It can to change
the way Americans
view government
t h o y worn
filming Ani
mal House on
campus?
And It
doesn't ond
(hero. The
Monday fol
lowing the
me witcnnuni
110 percent. Waltors has been
orchestrating the climax of this
plot with a genius only Hitch
cock might have approached.
His next step was to appear
on national TV with Phil Dona
hue and others to debate tho
OCA's statewide message of
hate, intolerance and divtsive
noss. This was Walters at his
dramatic best. While represent
ing Springfield, Walters em
ployed the tactics of interrup
tion and intimidation to paint
himself as a rude bully.
His performance was simply
genius. How one man could act
so evil and cold — with deep
set beady eyes peering down
his nose at the unacceptable*
ho hud to share the stage with
— is hard to comprehend.
C^n you say Oscar? No hu
man could reully be so Inhu
mane, but Walters pulled off
tho act. I haven't been so fright
ened since Anthony Hopkins
was eating people in Slionctt of
the Lambs.
uonanue ap
pearance might have been the
beat performance yet. During
the public comment portion of
the council meeting, person af
ter person told Walters they
wore embarrassed and angered
by his actions on TV.
After growing tired of being
callod to the carpet. Walters
stormed out of thn room railing
his detractors "fascists," but
only after threatening to vomit
in one man's face — the origi
nal vorslon of being ralfnd on.
For those who have missed
out so fur. this is just the warm
up The good nows is that Wal
ters is running for re-election.
The council mootings are
showing regularly on the first
and third Mondays of every
month with public input start
ing at 7:30 p.m. The next meet
ing is lonighl. admission is free,
but you'll have to supply the
snacks.
I'at MjInch is editor of the
Emerald.
Free ts.
no TEASE.
CKT A MU I T-SHIRT* WITH ANY
JANSPORT PURCHASE.
UNivmirr or omcon ioomtom
kwu wmiH un
TNI FAR SIM
By GARY LARSON
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OCT. 5 - 9
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The Art of Outdoor
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Free I
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University Scheduling Office <Q
• 346-6060 •
There are two major conference* schedukrfm the iEMUthis week
OREGON PLANNING INSTITUTE October 5-7. 1WU
Sponsored by Planning. Public Pohcyand Management
ORTESOL CONFERENCE • October 9 10 1992
Sponsored by American English Institute
Registration for both conferences will take place in Lobby
outside like EMU Ballroom
Student organizations are reminded to clear any outstanding
fund raising report, for 91 92. Outstanding report, must be
cleared prior to new reservations bctn^ii^cplcd_
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