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Show THE ~NIVERSITY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY• TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1994 NATHENTOFF HEATHER GREEN I COMMENTARY .,. COMMENTARY OPINION The Cattle Call in Hollywood I have discovered that Hollywood is farther Brother Brigham! Hurray! Hurray!" to create a from becoming glamorous than a professor is diversion while his partner referred to as the from becoming a billionaire. stalky stranger, made an assassination attempt At the first shoot for a movie, hundreds of on Young. The problem was not that he forgot extras answer what is affectionately termed a his lines, it was that he was too eager to prove cattle call, and are herded into a "holding" he had not. In the middle of Heston's speech, area. There we wait ... for sometimes 16 hours. several seconds ahead of cue, the tall stranger About every half hour, a scurrying underling jumped to his feet and shouted "God bless director wearing headphones will come out, Brother Brigham! Hurray for Brother Brigham! point and yell "YOU! On set now!" The lucky Hurray! Hurray! " · cow will work his willing way to the There was, £or the first time that day, slaughter. The odd thing is that everyone who silence-complete, and perfect silence. And has not yet been placed on the set watches then, Heston turned to face the offender. In a quiet tone, reproachful enough to make the jealously as the doomed cow shuffles off. This past summer, TNT cast Tom Berenger, tall stranger feel just three inches tall, Heston Charlton Heston, and James Coburn in a made said "I wasn't finished." The tall stranger for cable movie with the working title of wished he could sink through the floor. Avenging Angel. Because no one rea lly The script proved to be far knew what was going on, from his t orica lly acc urat e, ' ••• we did what we wanted to, and a little less than a good and were still ignored. We western.One part read often spent three hours on something like this: one two-minute scene in a "Vigilance. That is the 90 degree room and never knew when a take was a word of the hour," and most print or when we were to of the time, the ac tor who p layed Rigby n e ve r retreat to the holding area. remembered past that first ' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Most learned quickly line. what glamo ur meantHis version went more like: "Vigi lance. That hours of confus ion, boredom and waiting, a is the word of the hour.. ... damn .. . LINE!" male hairstylist with tight jeans, a woman's At this point the make-up and hair artists voice and hair like Greg Brady who was overly would surround him like vultures around road fond of hairspray, and lackeys running around kill , po wde r his nos e, comb th e few w hite with boxes full of water and dust. Extras were expected to sta y out of the way hairs left on his balding head, the pro mpter wo uld prompt, and the actor would start on of dir ec tors, s taff, wagon s and even th e mark A, ta ke 27. livestock unless told otherwise, but some were T h at sce ne was film e d in i n a s m a ll, so cam era s tarved, they would have thrown overheated roo m, and after take 15, patience themselves from a balcony if the camera was wore t h in. It was s upposed to be a churc h on them . meeting. One director kept yelling at the 100 Fro m the chaos w ill co m e a glam orous odd extras crowded into the church set " Be representation of the wild west. How, I'm not more energetic! It's happy, happy church day. s ure. T h e ac t o rs wo rkin g on th e se t did You love going to church !" Sure. improve the script, but there rem ains a great During ano ther scene, C ha rlton Heston (who deal left to the miracles of modern technology. plays th e part of Brigham Young) was speaking lt's all almos t worth $50 dollars a day. to church-goers, a man referred to in th e script as the tall stranger was supposed to stand and H eath er Green is a junior an d th e opinion yell "God bless Brother Brigham! Hurray for director for th e 'University fournal. ' h k t e ma e-up and hai'r artl'StS would surround him like vultures around road kilJ .. ,' Can only women teach about rapel At Ohio State, a professor, Louis Jacobs, was fiercely attacked because of his choice of text, "Evidence in the Nineties." "The text," Jacobs explained, is oriented toward litigation, and includes a significant amount of behavior science materials, and extensively treats the standard by which the courts are to interpret the words used by legislatures." Professor Jacobs, who prides himself on being a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, has successfully litigated several sexual harassment cases. All in all, he points out, "my reputation has been that of a flaming liberal," and he has made II a career-long commitment to issues associated with feminism. " Jacobs was a model of liberalism until he introduced "Evidence in the Nineties" in the classroom . A number of students vehemently criticized that textbook because of one of its case files invoked the rape of a woman. For some of the women students, having to deal with the rape created a hostile learning environment. He defended the text because "political rather than pedagogical correctness" was at work. He appreciated that "a victim of any form of rape would be bothered by reliving it through the courts." But if law students are to learn how to litigate cases, they have to know how to cope with many unpleasant subjects. At a forum to discuss demands that "Evidence in the Nineties" be expelled from the law school, a black male law professor and a woman member of the department argued caustically that Jacobs was clearly unqualified to determine whether that text should be used. Only a "reasonable female" should make that decision. After the forum, the atmosphere in Jacobs' classroom became oppressive: "Male students seemed silenced for fear of misstatement." Initia lly the text h ad been attacked for its insensitivity in creating a hostile learning environment. But now, 11 A hostile learning environment had in fact developed." Several students accused the professor of caving in. And the ANONYMOUS student evaluations were nearly universally opposed to dropping the text. As for Jacobs' support from his colleagues before he decided to surrende r "Evide nce in the Nineties, " I recently as k ed that question of another faculty member at O hio State's law school. "Once the attacks began," he said, " the faculty let Jacobs hang. " " And the president of the university? Did he do anything?" Another professor laughed, " Oh, yes, like Mussolini at the end of the Second World War. He's running around trying to figure out whom to surrender to first. " M eanwhile, at an o ther la w s choo l, my nomin a tio n as a graduation speaker is in trouble. Some students insist that I have incorrect views on abortion. If invited, they say, I might create a hostile learning environment. Nat H entoff is a nation ally ren own ed authority on th e First Amendment an'd th e rest of the Bill of Rights. THE 'UNIVERSITY JOURNAL' STILL THE PEOPLES' PAPER Ma n y papers are o wned by corporations, or b y eccentric old m en who hide their mon ey under their mattresses and are never seen by light of day. Many of those will print only what they want to be news. This newspaper is not one of those many. This is a paper of the people, and in it, the power of the pen is mightier than the sword. While editors are constantly fa ced wlth the ch a ll enge of de termining what is newsworthy and how and where it is placed, students should know that their input is encouraged and welcomed. There are several ways of reaching readers through the University fournal. Part of any student's education is the forming of opinions and no one can do this without knowing what all opinions on a certain subject are. This newspaper plays a role in allowing all these opinions to be heard. We will print letters to the editor, though we reserve the right to edit due to space limitations. The I letter doesn't have to agree with our point of view- it can even be critical of us. It must not, however, be libelous or obs cen e. Lett er dea dlines are the day before print at noon (Fridays for Monday papers). The 'Access' column is a chance to spout off at a bit more length. Deadline for this column is three days prior to print. 'The Watchdog' is a new feature in this paper and is a chance for people with opposing views on a certain' topic to debate their opinions. The editors reserve the right to incorporate letters to the editor in this feature. Readers also have the power to access the paper through classified adds, Almanac submissions, and article ideas. Deliver these, and all letters and' Access' co lumns to our offices (TH 003 I. Almanac submissions may be phoned 24 hours a day to 5867759. If readers have problems with the newspaper, there is recourse available by speaking with the editor. The fournal adheres to the following guidelines: Any criticism of groups or individuals shall be on a re sponsible basis and no m aterial malicious or libe lo u s in n at ure, or th at involves chara cter assassination, will be published. The newspaper shall reflect responsibility to all members of the university community, and the editors shall seek press accuracy and fairness at all times . Responsibility to the public interest is vital and won't be used to advance any selfish interests. T hose who fe el they have a grievance with the newspaper are encouraged to speak directly with the editor, Larry Baker, TH 003, 586-7751. If the problem remains unsolved, a meeting with the /ournal Steering Committee may be scheduled through the editor or through the administrative assistant to the vice president for student services, Lois Bulloch (AD 212, 586-7710.J |