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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1982)
state on/Pagej ■y 10, Battalion/Page 7 February 10, 1982 . • fales are a form of closeness, intimacy | Professor’s new book subject of gossip Failure to] [s is a viol d an und ' °f policei„ in validly J nf a detail f rom cityi nan for ire said clieck in ; United Press International ■NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Pro- Ifessor Patricia Spacks is writing a book on gossip. Today, she could almost bite her tongue. ■ Just between you, me and the lamppost, she won’t finish the book until next year. As an ex- rienced author, she realizes anv publicity now would be pre mature. But word got around about her topic and people found it so fascinating, she was soon in de mand as a speaker. “I talked, talked, talked and talked,” Spacks said. “I love to talk about my book. That’s how I got into trouble.” It seems Carolyn Wyman, a New Haven Register reporter, saw an announcement of a talk the Yale University professor was going to give to a women’s studies group. The reporter wrote a story that the newspaper carried on page one. That almost stopped the pro fessor from talking to any more reporters, but she agreed to an interview with UPI. “I think there is real know ledge in gossip,” Spacks said. “There’s no question but that gossip is a mode of intimacy, a mode of intimate relationship for many people. I think that’s a positive value.” She said gossip can be about almost anything. It’s usually the backfence variety: — Hugo left Harriet out of the will; Snidely and Debbie are getting married; Margo is pre gnant; Bea told Barney she was having an affair, and he wanted to know if it was going to be ca tered. — Snidely and Debbie broke up; Charlie’s on the sauce again; that gear-head kid, Kenny, got a ticket for speeding; the judge said it should have been for flying too low. “There’s only one subject for gossip and that’s people,” Spacks said, recalling a Harvard audience and a man who wanted her to say gossip could be talk aby Swiss I.... 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She says that’s “partly because of its association with malice and partly because of its association with trivia.” She says the material of the realistic novel is the material of gossip and has been from the beginning. In the 18th century, actual scandal about people’s lives was incorporated into works of Fiction. “I’m also interested in the fact that many novels are about gos sip in one way or another, which is a different point,” she said. “It’s not that the authors use the material of gossip, but they deal with people gossiping with one another as a mode of communi cation.” She said the most gratifying thing that has happened since beginning her research is the avalanche of assistance she has received, some of it from stran gers. “It’s extraordinary the amount of help I’m getting from all kinds of people,” she said. “When I’m writing a book, I keep a running list of people I’m going to give acknowledgments to. Already, I’ve gotten a huge list.” Originally, gossip was a good word, meaning godparent. It moved from that to mean close friend, still of either sex. Gra dually, it came more and more to mean woman friend, she said. Dr. Samuel Johnson’s First English language dictionary in 1755 gave it three meanings. The third was deFined as “one who runs about tattling like women at a lying-in,” or prepar ing for a birth. This meant the gossip was someone who talks like a woman among women. Savings mergers possible United Press International HOUSTON — State and feder al officials are likely to merge 20 ailing Texas savings and loan associations rather than permit them to close, a Financial leader says. S. Don Norris, chief execu tive of Commonwealth Savings and president of the Greater Houston Savings & Loan. League, said Monday the fact that many state-chartered S&Ls are losing money should not come as a surprise. “Many are losing money, (but) their net worth can carry them for some time,” Norris said. Texas Savings and Loan Commissioner L. Alvis Vandyg- riff has said he is monitoring the financial condition of 20 un named savings institutions. Ab out 65 percent of the state’s chartered S&Ls are losing money, Vandygriff said over the weekend. He said he has no plans to close them soon, but wants to watch them closely for signs of further trouble. However, both Vandygriff and Norris said there is strong interest by outsiders in gaining a foothold in the Texas market. “We understand Texas and Florida institutions are the most sought-after by the big Califor nia and New York savings and loans,” Norris said. “There is a real market value in Texas sav ings and loans charters. We probably have the best financial powers in Texas.” Last month, the state S&L commission ordered five institu tions closed, and turned them over to the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corn. Within minutes of the order, the federal agency found a buyer in Home Savings of California, a Los Angeles institution. Business leaders nationwide said savings institutions are hav ing problems because about two- thirds of their deposits are in costly market-rate accounts. But almost as much of their mort gage portfolios are earning less than 10 percent.