Page 12
The Battalion
Wednesday, March 8.1989
^ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZM
BONFIRE ’88
pictures
tu SCOREBOARD ’88
pictures
The Fish Drill Team will be
Selling 8x10 pictures of:
Bonfire ’88
tu Scoreboard ’88
5 In A Row Scoreboards
Pictures for sell in the MSC
Monday, March 6 thru Friday, March 10
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>:
>>
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s
Bush decides against settling
Eastern strike by intervention
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Bush on Tuesday virtually
ruled out intervening in the Eastern
Airlines strike, saying “man-to-man
negotiation” is preferable to a gov
ernment-imposed settlement.
While he didn’t flatly rule out
stepping in to end the walkout, Bush
said his policy “will hold firm” de
spite pressure in some congressional
quarters to force him to act.
Fielding questions for more than
40 minutes in the White House
briefing room, he insisted that
“there isn’t malaise” in his adminis
tration because of the drawn-out
fight over confirmation of Defense
Secretary-designate John Tower.
“A lot is happening,” the presi
dent said. “Not all of it good, but a
lot is happening. . . . We’re on track.”
Bush defended his chief of staff,
saying John Sununu, the former
New Hampshire governor, knows
his way around Washington and is
doing his job well. Bush said he has
“total confidence” in Sununu.
Bush noted that Tower has
pledged not to drink a drop of liquor
if he gets the job and told his nation
ally televised news confreence,
“You’ll have 25,000 people in the
Pentagon making sure that’s true.”
The president said his backing of
Tower against Democratic opposi
tion in the Senate “isn’t iron-willed
stubbornness; it’s a question of fun
damental principle here.”
The president had spare time in
news conference statement to “res
tate my belief that free collective bar
gaining is the best means of resolv
ing” the strike.
He exhorted Eastern manage
ment, the Machinists union and
other unions to conduct “head-on-
head, man-to-man negotiation” and
said he thought that would be “bet
ter and more lasting . . . than an im
posed government settlement, which
could cause the airline to totally shut
down.”
On other subjects during the
more than 40-minute question-and-
answer sesion, Bush said he wool
like to see Palestine Liberation Orj!
ni/.ation Chairman Yasser Arafe
“speak out” against raids that hai
been carried out by Palestinian guei
rillas against Israelis in southei
Lebanon.
Bush said he hoped these int
dents would not jeapordize U.S
talks with PLO representatives
said he thought that Arafat shouli
“forthrightly condemn any tentt
that might be perpetrated by the Pi
estinians.”
President intends to replace
immigration head, source says
11 nr i
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Bush administration will replace
Alan C. Nelson as head of the Immi
gration and Naturalization Service,
an administration source said Tues
day.
Attorney General Dick Thorn
burgh, who recently received a de
partment audit that criticized man
agement and operations of INS, is
searching for someone to take over
the agency, said the source, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
The source confirmed a report in
Tuesday’s editions of the Los An
geles Times that Nelson would be
1986 immigration reform law, whid
E rovided for massive amnesty for
:gal aliens.
INS became embroiled in a mini
her of lawsuits charging that itwii
improperly making it difficult fori
legal aliens to obtain legal status un
der the new law.
The Justice Department audn
completed two weeks ago, cited INi
for its failure to conduct backgrount
checks on many applicants for d
izenship and found that 23,000 valir
able naturalization certificates hat
been lost by the agency’s Miami rt
gional office.
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12 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER
Life And Art ■ SPRING
Kathleen Peterson
She completed
her degree on
the 56-year plan
By Tim Casey
■ The Minnesota Daily
U. of Minnesota, Twin Cities
At a university, graduations are
sometimes commonplace and often
routine. But for Kathleen Peterson,
who started her college career in
1932 at Macalester College in St.
Paul, Minn., a college career has
taken on a new meaning.
“I went for two years, then quit
school to work because (of) the De
pression,” she said.
Now 73, Peterson, who “always
regretted not finishing school,” re
cently received her English Litera
ture degree in December — 46
years after she started her course
work and eight years after return
ing to the U. of Minnesota.
She finished last June with a 3.8
grade point average and went
through ceremonies last quarter at
the urging of her family.
Peterson said she didn’t feel out
of place at the university because of
her age. “I’ve found that people will
be a little nicer to you if you’re
handicapped or old. I try not to look
too decrepit.”
At one time, Peterson even
attended school with her daughter
Mary and her granddaughter
Sarah Williams.
Film critics: Ten stars or two thumbs down?
Led From
Self-styled celebrities
are either true authorities
or blatant advertisements
By Randy Gener
■ Sagebrush
U. of Nevada, Reno
When you browse through the Style
section of any newspaper and read the
exclamatory critics’ quotes in the movie
ads, don’t they make you feel as if the
greatest pictures of the year appear ev
ery week?
Film Commentary
Page one has Critic X blurting out:
“Sheer pleasure! Don’t miss it!” Just be
low that, Critic Y screams, “Compelling!
One of the year’s best!” with four huge
stars emblazoned across the ad. Then
come the conflicting opinions: Critic A
says the movie is “remarkable.” Critic B
launches a slap-dash attack: “silly,
crummy, predictable.” You are flabber
gasted: are these idiot savants watch
ing the same film?
But such is the politics of critical su
perlatives nowadays. A movie no longer
sells because it is a movie, work of art or
simple entertainment. Movie moguls
are more concerned with a set of good
reviews from the national critics.
Newspapers and television stations,
on the other hand, are simply en
chanted when their critics get quoted —
it’s publicity for them too. So they
accelerate efforts to “sell” their critics,
who then become instant celebrities,
whether deserved or not.
No one is disputing that credit should
be given when due. But when intelli
gent film discussions are reduced to im
potent puffs, the public is being duped.
National Review Film Critic John
Simon once wrote that reviews are in
ventions of newspapers. Essentially a
consumer service group, staff critics
were but publicity tools. When some
media big-wigs found out only a handful
of people read reviews anyway, they
“a
iculous,
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lling.”
Ill, I had:
had to come up with a easy-on-the-mind
shorthand. Thus the star-rating system
emerged as a form of criticism.
Ultimately, however, the star system
is as meaningless as KABC-TV movie
reviewer Gary Franklin’s 1 to 10 ratings
or Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert’s “Two
thumbs up!” Is there truly a difference
between two stars and one-and-a-half
stars? If there is, should people go to the
two star movie instead?
Franklin himself isn’t satisfied with
his system and sometimes exclaims “10
plus!” Does a better film than that be
come a 10 plus-plus? And when Siskel
and Ebert say “two thumbs up,” does it
mean they were better films than last
week’s “thumbs up” films?
What if you saw the movie anyway
and you’re not sure what you think of it.
Do “thumbs up” or “six stars” help you
make any sense of it? Village Voice film
critic David Edelstein got upset over a
similar issue: “For several months my
name loomed large on a ... marquee for
the Japanese film Tampopo —
‘Obscenely pleasurable! Edelstein,
Voice.’ Then they took me down for two
serious critics: T liked it Roger.’ T liked
it too, Gene. Let’s give it two thumbs
up.’ Swine.”
Often, the quotes are deliberately
lifted out of context. Vincent(
The New York Times was quotol
ads for Midnight Run, whichbl
“i nstan tly forgettable,” since hef
a fine performace by RobertDe!|
the ads for Cop, the line,
thriller!”, could be seen. Butifl
really saw Janet Maslin’sj
Times piece, that quote wasactiu
headline of the review.
The worst cases occur when!
seems to pander to publicityp
only interested in spreadinghii!
name around. Jeffrey Lyons, ftiira Pereiro
d flamenco, jazz
I the lead role i
ill," from his la
ing auditions, o
i, who coordinate
Sneak Previews, is the MaryPojS f
movie critics. Lyons’ critical |ng the Iasi
appeared in 97 ads last year, ft iSandra Pereiro
only by Joel Siegal of ABCwil (hanMTVvidec
Lyons is the “critic” who h# sic - Pereiro 15
Cruise’s dopey performance inG
as a “tour de force,” and rave
Vibes, one of the most panned
last year, with “I haven’t laug!
hard all year.” To top it all off,lit ^ FI a ’ e
a spokesman for General
In the end, it’s all a debilitatiiffor all and
piriting mess. With critics
mistake the glint of Tinseltown!
and with publicity people for win
sponsible advertising” is an o$
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UJILL THE CHARACTERS IN "uFE IN HELl" EVER ACHIEVE HAPPiNESS?
whixt ft siu-y ooes-noo: Anp-mt vnu &e esnapp*) ps w'flet.
College favorite Groening
achieves success in ‘Hell’
ons, is brc
.prose, art and c
“difterentiate
ine$,"said Twee
m department. ■
1 Tar Heel,
Biel Hill
By John Delavan
■ The Maroon
Loyola U., LA
The introductory cartoon to Matt Groening’s nihilistic look at Life In Hell.
The primary themes of Matt Groen
ing’s cartoon are love, sex, work, death-
... and, of course, rabbits.
It’s a comic strip featuring characters
teeming with feelings of alienation and
angst, whose mental states are
tenuously neurotic at best.
Given the premise, Life In Hell has
rapidly become one of the most popular
alternative comics, featured nationwide
in college newspapers and weeklies.
Groening seems to be taking most of
his success in stride. He comes across as
pleasant and amiable, grateful that suc
cess has come on his terms.
“The total enterprise of drawing car
toons is frivolous and absurd,” Groening
said. “It’s like playing.”
But why create a rather demented
(and often controversial) cartoon
,
featuring three pathological ral
and two fez-wearing, gay midgets
Groening confirmed that some
characterizations in his strips ac
came from life experiences. “1 ^
Binky on a friend I had in a
said. “We both had tremendous m
tic difficulties with girls,
us endless frustration.”
Groening’s choice to draw rabbit;
pretty arbitrary, he said. “But Iq® 1 ennsy Vdni
learned that a rabbit was the only® ness and Br
al I could draw that most people ft ilswtio aren’t ai
readily identify.”
sol visual andpe
iled arts prograr
With Groening’s success has co® is, le student is
series of compilations entitled W dean get hands-
Hell, Work Is Hell, School Is Hi
Childhood Is Hell.
He is also an Emmy
nominated writer for Fox-TVs W ion," not just or
Ullman Show, which features aca®
family named the Simpsons
ing things ii
. Described
only journal
World Review is
of about 40 stm
[global affairs and
itotmostjourna
loose and discus
"Weil said. "But
icltas'Questionii
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is for foreign c
i The
Professor t
I to appeal to nor
med at arts majo
live. “We’ve trie
■Michelle
^western, Noi