Monologue
Idle Hands
Dignitary's visit ill-timed
Kristi Blackman
By J. Dana Haynes
Eulogies are a little out of the normal line for
an editorial page, but with the passing this week
of CBS’ M*A*S*H, I couldn’t help responding.
M*A*S*H is something of a legend for televi
sion. Few shows make it past five years. This one
ran for 11, more than three times the length of the
Korean conflict. And throughout that time, It re
mained high on that sorcerous crystal ball that so
few of us understand and even fewer trust: The
Neilson ratings.
The show remained a fan favorite for several
reasons. For one thing, It never leaned on smirky
sex jokes and big bossomed, walk-on roles to
keep their ratings.
Another advantage M*A*S*H had was one
they shared with such classic television shows as
“I Love Lucy” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
Namely, more than just good actors.
M*A*S*H did have appealing characters,
played by good people. But they were backed up
by the finest script writers In the business, good
direction, and manditory originality.
Several people have written about this
week’s movie episode, and referred to it as
M*A*S*H’s untimely demise.
It is, in fact, untimely. For it should have
taken place back in 1978, when the show’s orbit
began to deteriorate. It was then, at the beginning
of the sixth season, that creativity expert and co
creator Larry Gelbart left the show, along with
Larry Linville (Major Frank Burns), who is probably
the most underrated member of the cast.
The sixth season was the first one to feature
several so-so episodes. Up until that time, the
show had served up sensational scripts without
fall.
The next few seasons declined in originality
considerably, until the last three years, which
have been dominated by Colonel Sherman Potter
(Harry Morgan) drawling every line like Little
Abner, Klinger (Jamie Farr) suddenly becoming a
nationalistic Lebonese with endless references to
camels and baklava, and Margaret “Hot Lips”
Hoolihan (Loretta Switt) shouting every line as a
threat and sounding exactly like Lucy from the
comic strip “Peanuts.”
It's too bad. However, before anyone writes In ,
accusing the newspaper of heresay, let me re
mind you that mediocre for M*A*S*H is far better
than average for prime time television,
Still and all, nothing done in the later years
came close to touching some of the original
episodes, including my all-time favorites (doesn’t
everybody have some?) “Hawkeye,” producer
Larry Gelbart’s penultimate episode, in which
Alan Alda, suffering from a concussion and afraid
of passing out, does a one-man show for 25
minutes, and “Abyssinia, Henry,” the last show of
the third season, in which Colonel Henry Blake
(McLean Stevenson) prepares to leave for home
and is shot down over the Sea of Japan.
There are a few people who did not particular
ly like M*A*S*H, and they won’t miss it. But I will.
Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce is
my nominee for the best character to ever grace a
television show and I’m sorry to see him go.
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grew up with him. I’ve known him almost thrice as
long as I’ve known Peggy, my wife.
Ill also miss the rest of the cast, as I’ve miss
ed Henry Blake, Trapper John MacIntyre and
Walter “Radar” O’Reilly.
This show also presented the finest non
regular characters of all time: Psychiatrist Sidney
Freedman (Alan Arbus), crazed CIA agent Colonel
Flagg (Edward Winter), and the greatest fighter
pilot of all time, Five O’clock Charley.
M*A*S*H proved, if proof was needed, that
good, prime-time, network television is possible.
Other examples of this fact are few and far bet
ween.
And M*A*S*H was the best of the bunch.
Page 2
Dialogue
It’s that time again for registration, and for
students and community members to coordinate
their schedules here at the College.
The class schedules have most of the
general and most popular courses between the
hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and this is where a
majority of the students schedule themselves in
to the system. I mean, who wants to stay at the
College beyond four o’clock?
Last year the administration spent a great
deal of time working on class scheduling to help
recruit students and keep remaining students in
terested. Certain key speakers were asked to
come to the College as a way of keeping student
interest in school and on campus.
Governor Victor Atiyeh was invited in the
fall of ’81 for a press conference on campus, this
happened at 2 p.m., and was received well.
Two weeks ago when Swami Krishna Deva (a
disciple of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh), the
mayor of the Rajneeshpuram, was asked to
speak and answer, questions, his appearance
was scheduled at a peak hour, 11 a.m.
Many students were able to attend but
others, due to lack of space in the McLoughlin
Theater, were turned away at the door. The ses
sion went well and I believe that the students at
the College are very interested and curious in the
outside events and the effects on them.
I am not complaining that the mayor spoke
at the College, and the scheduling was superb,
unlike the scheduling of the visit of Secretary of
State Norma Paulus, where the time frame was
unreasonable.
Paulus spoke at a question-and-answer ses
sion at 4:30 p.m. last Wednesday. It is great
publicity, I suppose, to hold a session of the sort
on a Community College campus, with all the
budget problems we seem to face year after
year, but at that time of the day is unrealistic.
Why hold a question-and-answer session
when there is not a good cross section of the
faculty and students on campus?
I mean, at 4:30 in the afternoon a large ma
jority of students have left the campus or are go
ing to work, and the instructors have just begun
to head out, if they haven’t left already.
I realize that Paulus has a very busy
schedule, but if common sense had been in use
for the timing of the audience, and if her
publicists had thought of the peak hours of the
day for the audience, I think that the information
and feedback would have been greater and
more useful not only to Paulus, but the au
dience.
This was a bad choice of time frames, and
politicians wonder why they do not receive any
feedback . . . it’s no wonder.
Child abuse editorial very informative
Dear Editor:
I appreciated the article in
the February 16 edition of The
Print entitled, “Idle Hands.”
The problem of child abuse in
our society must be discussed
and remediated not only by
human services professionals,
but by all citizens. Profes
sionals, like our staff at Christie
School, tend to see and treat
child abuse after the damage
has been done. Significant
reduction in the incidence of
child abuse will only occur
through prevention and educa
tion activities conducted by
neighborhood groups, schools,
media and human service pro
fessionals.
I would point out that the
“Child Sexual Abuse Resource
Directory” lists a number of
qualified trainers who are
available to speak before civic
groups. Perhaps your readers
should be aware of the fact that
one of the best resources in the
County in the area of preven
tion is the Clackamas County
Rape Victim Advocate Pro-
gram-655-8616.
Sincerely,
Christopher J. Krenk, ACSW
Director of Program Services
reader
Lack of open mindedness irks
right. Just don’t force me to.
To the Editor:
The intolerance of other
belief systems exhibited by the
letter in last week’s Dialogue
(“Rajneeshees, ‘Idle Hands’
draw criticism”) both frightens
and angers me.
In this institution of higher
learning I find it appalling that
some students and community
members self-righteously
presume to tell me what I
should or should not be allow
ed to hear.
A college campus is a
place for the free exchange of
differing points of view on
social, political, scientific and
aesthetic subject matter. Only
by having an open mind and
respect for others’ opinions can
learning occur. Without this,
blind acceptance and indoc
trination, not learning, occurs.
Further, I would rather
study facts based on empirical,
scientific knowledge, than
those offered by an authority
figure spouting parables and
condemning others based on
his presumption of supreme
knowledge.
I also resent being judged
wrong and sinful for belief in
scientific fact by people of such
closedmindedness that they
refuse to even listen to another
point of view.
If you want to insulate
yourself from reality that is your
Also Concerned,
Kay Brant
THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers
Association, alms to be a fair and Impartial journalistic medium
covering the campus community as thoroughly as possible. Opi
nions expressed In THE PRINT do not necessarily relect those of -
the College administration, faculty, Associated Student Govern
ment or other members of THE PRINT.
Clackamas Community College