The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 8

8 KOKOMO (Ind.) TRIBUNE Saturday, Jon. 4, 1969 Northwestern Students Discuss Issues Notes From The College Scene By PATRICK ROCCHIO Received your letter last week and must admit that I agree with most of what you wrote. Needless to say, I always enjoy hearing from you and having an opportunity to share in your thoughts. However, I do have some few comments to make. "Life," as described by Thomas Wolfe in his novel, YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN, "is like a train, rushing across me traciv, giving us only a glimmer of things we see but cannot hold in our hands." Wolfe also write that there are two types of people in the world, or on the train: those who experience life, and those who attack it.

The unfortunates are the attackers. Those who experience life find a treasure in that brief glimmer of things, a treasure which unfolds the meaning of existence. The fundamental motivation in human life and I think you will agree -is to find meaning in one's existence. And the fundamental decision which all humans must make is whether it is possible to find meaning in life. It becomes a two edged sword, two extremes without a mean, an "either-or" as Kierkegaard would say.

Either there is meaning in life, or there is not. If you believe there is no meaning in life, but live as if there is, then you are a fool. Likewise, if you believe life has meaning, purpose, and yet you fail to dedicate yourself to it, then you are a fool. But there is no empirical proof of meaning in life. It's a commitment that must be made upon shaky ground, with only three cards showing and two of those are down.

Something of a gamble. It's the supreme test of maturity. What confidence, what trust it must require to say, "I believe there is meaning in life," and yet have no definitive proof, nothing but your intuition as evidence. With intuition, it seems possible to deduce from "the glimmer of things we can see but cannot hold in our hands" that we are passengers on the train of time so that we might discover. Discover what? Isn't it to discover the reality of humanity? Remember last year when you received the letter from your friend in the Peace Corps? He wrote that he was beginning to experience the reality of people.

We were both confused by his words, not too certain what he meant. But now it seems much clearer, thinking of the moving train. From the time of our birth, we are conscious of others. They are always in our life. Ironically, we are not really aware of them.

What we recognize are objects, not living beings. Do you see it that way? The meaning, the purpose of this journey down the tracks, seems to be to discover humanity, not to accumulate little souvenirs, but to see the being within those objects we so carelessly shrug off as people. It's every easy to pass through the journey, never taking note of the glimmer of things. Never experiencing. Just attacking.

So busily absorbed. Tragic, isn't it? Once you recognize the being which resides in humanity, you might begin to love. One cannot hate being, and all of us all colors, all creeds, all nationali- Discussion Group Faculty and seniors at Northwestern High School are shown participating in a group formed recently to discuss the pressing issues of the day. Theyexpect tKe meetings, which are held in students' homes, to con- tinue on a weekly basis. Seated foreground (l-R) are Janet Harding and Barb Hunter.

Seated background (L-R) are Malcomb Black, teacher; Ed Reinke; Andy Cooke; and Homer Trammell, teacher. (Tribune Photo) The topic was freedom of speech. The place was a government class at Northwestern High School. Students said that they did not feel free to express their ideas on all subjects in class. They wanted a time and a place to talk about the issues of the day where the old student-faculty barriers didn't exist.

The result was the formation of a weekly discussion group for seniors and interested faculty members. Because topics such as sex, morality, and religion are off limits at school, the students decided to explore the possibility of meeting in their homes. Three sessions have been held now, with as many as 25 participants. Discussion often continues as long as three hours and ranges from communism to Vietnam to religion. A Japanese student at Northwestern, Yuriko Noboru, recently explained the beliefs of Buddhists.

Current events, fads, beliefs all are possible topics for a given session. No one person is in charge of the meetings, so each person feels a responsibility for keeping things moving. Jan Gilbert, who originally proposed the idea, said that she hopes the group will be opened to juniors sometime in the spring so that the program can continue from year to year as students feel the need. ties, all races possess it. Can you hate life? It is that which is, the I am who am.

Do you wonder why the train not one of love alone? Perhaps, it is because man is free to choose between experiencing and a 11 a i g. Many choose to attack. They don't really seem to know who they are, to have even discovered the primary reality that they are passengers on a train through time, a train offering to those willing to accept it, a glimmer of things, a brief glimmer into the essence of being. There are many attackers on the train. Cry for them.

It's just a thought; that's all. A WORD OF THANKS Our thanks is due Joe Bowser, a sophomore at Haworth High School, for his art work in producing a new "logo" for the Teen Page. -We'll use Joe's work for awhile. Meanwhile, let's see what you other art buffs can come up with. Ed.

Haworth Teens Put Little Stock in New Resolutions Beatles Bedazzle, Bug Critics By Marty Atwell It's that time of year again when people are making resolutions. Webster's Dictionary defines the word resolution as "the power of holding firmly to a purpose; determination." Before I read the defination of a resolution I would have pegged it as something a person says he's not going to do in order to be a better person, but ends up doing anyway. Resolutions have built a bad name for themselves. Whenever a person hears someone talking of the New Year's resolutions he has made, it-s almost certain to become a joke because of the reputation resolutions have of being broken. I have interviewed several students from Haworth High School to see just how many teenagers make resolutions, and if so, if they keep them.

TOM REED: I never make New Year's resolutions because I never stick to them. I always forget them after a week, so what's the use of making them in the first place? JULIE DUNCAN: I usually make New Year's resolutions, but in about a week they always fade away. I didn't make any this year because I knew it wouldn't do any good, that I would just forget about them. CHUCK McCOSKEY: I make New Year's resolutions because I want to live a better life. I haven't really thought about it too much this year.

1 am going to improve my grades. I am almost certain that it is possible for me to keep this resolution my grades aren't as good as I know they could be. BILL HENDRIX: I make New Year's resolutions because there are things that could stand some improvement in my life. If I make rules to go by I can get away from going back to my old habits. I usually keep my resolutions unless it is something I forget about or don't want to keep very much.

CRISS RANKERT: I don't make lots of resolutions. I used to make them, but I didn't stick to them. I made one or two this year, and I think I will stick to them. When I was younger I made lots of resolutions but they never worked because I couldn't remember them. Besides, all my resolutions used to be stupid.

I decided that it would be better to make only important ones so that I could stick with them, and wouldn't forget them. VICKI TIMME: I don't make New Year's resolutions because if I make them I'll just forget them, and it doesn't do any good to make resolutions if you aren't going to abide by them. I think resolutions are stupid. When someone mentions resolutions I usually think they are kidding me. I don't think anybody remembers then 1 resolutions after they've made them.

So why make them? DIANE BRINKERHOFF: I don't make New Year's resolutions because I find it hard to stick to them. I find very few people stick to them. I think that you should make your decisions and resolutions when something comes up rather than making them at the beginning of the year. At the beginning of the year you usually have to make up what you resolve, but if you wait until something comes up or when you really have to make a resolution, you will be a lot more serious about your resolution. I have found that most people don't take New Year's resolutions seriously.

RAY CRISTINE: I don't make New Year's resolutions because I usually don't keep them. I make my resolutions throughout the year. I just try to improve things as I come to them. I don't think people take everything they resolve seriously after the year gets under way, but they may think pretty seriously about them at the first of the year. It is quite obvious that there are mixed opinions on New Year's resolutions, but the majority of teenagers, it would seem, doesn't make them.

I think resolutions are a good thing if you stick to them. But when you make up a bunch of resolutions and forget all about them, you're simply helping New Year's resolutions become more of a joke. 10 Top Tunes Best-selling records of the week based on The Cash Box Magazine's nationwide survey: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Gaye "Wichita Lineman," Campbell "Stormy," Classics IV "I Love How You Love Me," Vinton "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," Diana Ross and the Supremes "Abraham, Martin and John," Dion "Love Child," Diana Ross and the Su- premes "Cloud Nine," Temptations "For Once in My Life," Wonder "Cinnamon," Derek Should Parents Teach Driving To Teenagers? Can a parent help his teen-age son or daughter learn how to drive? If so, how effectively? According to Arthur A. Opfer of the Automotive Safety Foundation, the answers to these questions have been argued by driver educators for years. There is widespread disagreement.

Many educators say no; parental instruction tends to undo the professional driver education teen-agers receive in school. other think responsible parents should be allowed to participate in the laboratory, or practice driving, phase of a driver education course. Opfer, a former high school driver education teacher himself, feels there is a place for parental involvement in teaching young people to drive. In fact, he said, this was the purpose of the parental-assisted driver education experimental project in Janesville. Wisconsin earlier this year.

"The adults and their children involved in this project proved that parental participation in driver education is helpful, providing it is under the supervision of a qualified driver education instructor." Opfer points out the importance of a supervised program and periodic group meetings during the course of instruction. "If this is not possible, the project will have no direction. What's more, parent interest will wane. Worse, some of the parents' own bad driving habits may become too ingrained in their children, or they may misinterpret course material if no professional supervision is available at regular intervals." Opfer passes along these suggestions to schools considering enlisting the aid of parents in the laboratory phase of a driver education program: 1. The parental involvement should be six to 12 weeks in length.

2. Hold at least five meetings, one to two hours each, during the course. 3. Use at least one meeting for individual parent-supervisor conferences. 4.

Use visual aids to better help parents understand driving skills. "Above all," Opfer says, "insist that students not be introduced to new skills by the parents." He added, "The role of the parent should be strictly to reinforce what is taught by the driver education teacher." LONDON (NBA) Are the Bea- Ues the greatest songwriters since Schubert? Is John Lennon an embryo Brahms? Does Paul McCartney show signs of becoming another Bach? Some of Britain's critics think so, judging from the rave notices they have given to the Beatles' latest double LP album, which is tilled simplv "The Beatles." "The most important musical event of the year." is the way the stuffy London Times greets (he appearance of the album. The Times' music critic goes on to gush. "No other living composers have achieved so much." The Observer rates the Beatles oven higher than Franz Schubert (17971827)). Commenting on the fact that the Beatles recently turned out 15 new songs in one batch, the Observer's egghead critic crows, "Not even Schubert wrote at that rate." As for the influential Guardian, its critics calls the Beatles "the first full citizens of the postscicntific age," whatever that may mean, and is ecstatic over their new LP record.

Whether or not it puts them in I he music master class, the Beatles' lalesl album, which contains 30 new songs, should boost them into Britain's highest income tax bracket. For even before the Li's appeared in the shops here more than $2 million worth had been sold in advance. This is in of a new purchase tax which the government has slapped on all records. The New is also expected to do well in America, where the Beatles' single, "Hey Jude." has notched up sales of over three million in just two months. The pop world is by no means in agreement that the Beatles" album is another Beethoven's Ninth or Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.

The Melody Maker finds such talk pretentious if not sinister. Deploring the tendency to take pop music seriously Michael Smith, the Melody Maker's critic, longs for the good old days when "pop music had all the complexity and durability of candy floss." "It must be a source of never-ending amusement to the Beatles," Smith writes, "to see their naive musical bits and pieces acclaimed as manifestations of blinding genius." However, the consensus here is that the new Beatles' LP is an impressive performance. Many of its 30 tracts are deliberate send-ups, parodies and put- ons of other pop artists, including Elvis Presley, Donovan, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Beach Boys, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Other influences that can be traced include talking blues, shouting blues, rock 'n' roll, Nashville country and western Latin American. Calypso, Indian traditional music, music concrete, and flamenco.

Some of the songs have weird titles such as "The Glass Onion." Others refer to animals, among them being "Blackbird," "My Monkey," "The Eagle Who Picks My Kye" and "Piggies," which is supposed to be about the Chicago police, according to one interpretation. Similarly song. "Sexie Sadie." is said to refer to the Maharishi the Hindu mustic at whose feet the Beatles sat at one time. AFS Dance The "Heavy" will play at the American Field Service Dance, to be held Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. In Memorial Gym.

The dance will be open to all Howard County high school students and 1968 graduates Students are asked to enter through gate 6. Admission will be $1 per person. Members of the band pictured above are (l-R) Phil Thompson lorry Ingle, Frankie Woners, and Jeff Williams..