® HUE €M £ 1 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 22 CORNING, NEW YORK ' MAY 2,1974 Bulkley Won't Accept '74 - '75 Contract by Tom Beiswenger “I don’t plan on being Director of Athletics.” This is the word from Neil Bulkley in response to a question about the contract he is slated to receive shortly. Bulkley was Director of Athletics and Chairman of the Health Physical Education and Recreation ( HPER) Division last year. He in on a one year sabbatic leave at SUNY at Buffalo, but is scheduled to return next year. It is his status with the College next year that upsets him. Instead of receiving the contract which he feels he is most qualified for, Division Chairman, the College plans to offer him a contract as Director of Athletics. When asked about the probability that a contract for Director of Athletics would be all that the College would offer him he said, “I would return as a full-time instructor”. He said that legally the College must take him on as an instructor because he is a tenured faculty. He said that according to his contract he is an associate professor first and that the Athletics appointment is an administrative assignment “Which I have the right to refuse’Y According to Bulkley, the issue here is that, “There have to be reasons through the evaluation processes of the College for changes in the job status of their employees”. He commented further that, “Without that foundation, it is illegal to move people around ‘willy-nilly’ Bulkley said that the only evaluation of him that he knows of that was done recently is the one that was done at the end of last year. In citing this evaluation, Bulkley said that it recommended that the two positions, Director of Athletics and HPER' Division Chairman, which he held simul-taineously last year, should be split between two individuals. The reason given in the evaluation was that it was too much work to give one person. Bulkley a-greed. However, the evaluation did support him as Division Chairman. According to Robert Chapman, Dean of Instruction, Bulkley has been here 11 years and many of the people in his Division have been working with him for WCEB Broadcasting from makeshift tower. Seat belts saved this guy; how (bout wearing yours. several years. It is for this reason that he feels an evaluation of Bulk-ley can take place without his physical presence. Chapman also said that there has been an evaluation of Bulkley since last year, but that “Niel will never tell you that”. He said it is in response to this evaluation that Bulkley is receiving the contract for Director of Athletics. This was the unami-mous decision of the NPER Division he said. Bulkley did, however, acknowledge that fact that an evaluation of him has taken place since he left last summer. But he does not recognize it as a true evaluation because he was not present when it took place. Chapman contends that the evaluation done this year without Bulk-ley’s attendance recommended that Beverly Beebe, presently acting Division Chairman, should be Division Chairman next year and that Bulkley should be Athletics Director. However, Chapman would not release a copy of this evaluation, he would only say the evaluation had taken place and that it did not support Bulkley as Division Chairman. When asked what he would do if a contract as Division Chairman or as a full-time instructor would be the only thing that Bulkley would accept, he said, “I don’t know what recourse I’ve got.” He further cited that, “The problem with Neil is two-fold, (1) he has done no teaching in two years, and (2) the fact the' HPER people collectively have been responsible for the administrative positions within that division”. The uniqueness of the HPER Division lies in the fact that there are so marfy administrative assignments in the division. Some of these are Division Chairman, Athletics Director, Director of Intramurals, Director of Women’s Athletics, and Director of Men’s Athletics. No other division is like this, Chapman said. Consequently, Chapman noted that, “Neil is saying, ‘I want a fulltime teaching job’ and everybody else is saying “I want a full-time teaching job,’ so how the hell do you get the job done.” WCEB Is On The Air! It’s been a long hard fight, but the sweet smell of victory is finally in the air, along with the waves of sound from WCEB. WCEB is the radio station owned and operated by Corning Community College. The station, located at 91.1 on the FM Dial, officially went on the air Tuesday, April 30, at noon. The station has an effective transmitting distance of 15 miles in all directions, with the transmitter located atop Spencer Hill. WCEB will be run by Corning Community College students. David W. Game is, as General Manager, the backbone of the operation. Mr. Game has been the driving force behind the testing and licencing of the station over the past year. The disc jockeys will also be students. At present they include Game, Randy Horton, Randy Fradarcangelo, Liz Presley, April Lee Evens, Dave Abbey, Loren Morse, and George Hussmith. The type of music will mostly be determined by the d.j. on the air, and will cover the entire spectrum of musical tastes. It will, however, be gauged according to the time of day. In the morning, for example, the music will be more in the easy listening vein, with the harder rock coming in the afternoon. The station has announced _several times over the past few years that they would be going on the air, only to be stopped by unavoidable problems. Most of these had to do with getting a licence from the FCC. The original concept of the radio station was developed nearly ten years ago. THE CRIER PAGE 2 PERSPECTIVE by Tom Beiswenger, Editor in Chief MAY 2, 1974 Gambling Ruling Death Penalty.- A Major Step Backward Despite raging criticism and many court rulings, including one by the U.S. Supreme Court, it looks as if the death penalty will be back in New York State. Just last week the Assembly easily passed a bill which would sentence a person, 18 years or older, to death for killing a police officer or prison employee. The bill now goes to the Senate where swift approval is expected; what’s even worse is that Governor Wilson is also in favor of the bill. It seems strange though, that these supposedly wise lawmakers would waste their time on a bill which has already been outlawed as “cruel and unusual punishment” and thus, unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. This bill holds only one significance, and that is, it admits the inadequacy of New York’s correctional facilities to rehabilitate its inmates. It would seem that our prisons are supposedly to rehabiltate those sent to them, but the facts show differently. In New York, a larger percentage of convicts return to the prisons after their release than in most states in this nation. Instead of seeing this and its indication that our prisons are doing the job, our legislators have chosen the easy way out, to legislate away the problem, or so they think. However, legislation alone never solved any problem. It takes more than that; it takes respect for human life and the conviction that no mistake is incorrectable. Obviously, our men and women in Albany are not of that school of thought, for they have turned their backs on anybody who does something they don’t like. Hide the dirt under the rug and nobody will see it, goes the adage. And so a guy doesmurder a police officer. Sure, he’s wrong and should be rehabilitated, but since when did death become part of the rehabilitation process. The solution simply is this, we must take a long hard look at our penal system. Obviously there is something wrong or we wouldn’t be witnessing such irrational acts as reinstation of the death penalty. After taking that look, we can not sit back with the satisfaction that thatxjob is finally done. Instead, we must find ways to change our prisons to correctional, rehabilitation institutions. Right now they hold that title but we all know that it is nothing more than a euphemism. When people kill they always have a motive, or they are mentally disturbed. It is up to the judicial system to correct that problem and return these people to society, not sweep them under the rug forever. Unless this is done, the Empire state will have taken a major step backward. Letters to the Editor Editorials Irk Gov’t President To the Editor: For a little over a semester I have been the President of Student Government. During this time a lot of important decisions have been made such as: 1) dealing with reduced budget, 2) return of the snack bar, 3) allocating correct and proper monies for trips and expenses. There has been much critisism in reference to the handling of Student Government. With no fault of the last president, when my term started Student Government wasn’t. In reference to this criticism, none of those who are critics (?) have aided or tried to aid or better the government by any means other than badmouthing. Although these critics were asked to join, their excuses by Bill Gray, Managing Editor THANKS Hi kids. There is a fellow on the campus of Corning Community College who richly deserves the praise of each and every one of us. We would all do well to follow his example. He is Nelson Reppart, associate pastor of the Grace United Methodist Church, disaster chairman of the national United Methodist Committee on Relief, C.C.C. religious resource person, and a man who likes to help people. On April 3 a tornado leveled the town of Guin, Alabama, killing 19 persons. Perhaps 19 out of 200 million people in the U.S. doesn’t sound like that great a disaster. Well then, try thinking of 19 of your friends and imagine what it would be like without them. Nelson Reppart didn’t waste time sitting around shaking his head and saying how bad a break it was for those poor people. Instead, he found 27 people from this area who also were willing to give of their time, and proceeded to go to the heart of the problem. I think that this is a good time to stop and think about what you have just read. Try to remember what Corning was like just after the flood dried up. Think of the gutted buildings, the destroyed homes, the acres of mud and dust, the lost, homeless, hopeless, God-help-us looks on the peoples faces. Now think about what it would be like to turn off your television, skip your supper, get out of your easy chair and go there. Nobody forced those 28 people to go. They went because they wanted to help people less fortunate than themselves. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a very easy thing to say. It’s a little harder to live by it. 28 people deserve your thanks. They have mine. To the Editor: On Monday, April 23, 1974, a meeting was held concerning the gambling going on downstairs in the Commons Building. The meeting consisted of the Student Judiciary Hearing Board (Wilf Kalbach and I), a number of students involved in a formal complaint brought to the board, and two sit-in listeners. We spoke for a short period of time. What was decided upon was this, providing the gambling continued, (since gambling is a state law violation) legal action may be taken. Suspension from school is also another penalty. It is also hoped that fines can be given, although this has not been determined yet. Everyone involved has either been warned against, or at least are a-ware of the illegality, so please don’t gamble. Card playing is fine, in fact the school supplies cards, but no money can be shown at any time during the game. The school could get into many legal problems if this conditions continues. So, for the school’s sake, or at least your own neck, don’t gamble. Rick Dunbar Chief Magistrate Student Judiciary Hearing Board were feeble and quote “We don’t want to be biased”. Yet what are these editorials about Student Government? It is true that one closely knit group of people do control Student Government, but what of the Crier and WCEB and many others. These critics are only showing their impudence and laziness of getting involved to better Student Government. An election of the officers (Pres., V. Pres., Sec., Treas.) will be on May 7th and also candidates for senatorship of student government. Any person can run for these offices with a GPA of 2.0 or better. Repeatedly I asked for new blood to enter student government. Here is the chance the critics say they’ve never had. Student government needs people. Without people it can not function. If.you are interested in these offices contact the student activities office.. Remember, you and only you are the ones that make it happen. Gary Peet Student Government President OPINION SHE mMK Published by ths Students of Corning Community Col logo . . Editor- in-Chief . . Managing Editor Photography Editor . . Lay-out Editor .Business Manager . . w . Sports Editor ......Publisher Tom Beiswenger Bill Gray....... Mike Kuentz . . . Sandy Carpenter. Kris Smith ■ • • Frank Chalk ■ ■ • William E. Dolan Editorial Consultants Richard Peer...........Betty White...........David W. Game ' Many Thanks To THE LEADER Lay-Out Micheh' McHh Ic Graphics Galt' Wolfe Mike Kuentz Typists f Kris Smith Larty Dixon Photography Dave Bailey Dick Hoffman Richanl Schocknt'i Circulation Mel Noivick i Business Staff Wayne Adams Reporters Steve Fay Julie Garfunkel Donii Hoovet Can)l Johnson Kip Saul Michele MediaIc Special Features Tom Rent sen Rarh Fin la la Sports Jim Guild J. Mirando Vinnie Nykivl Rewriter Jan See lev The Crier is published weekly throughout the fell end spring semesters through the Student Activity Fund. Letters to the editor ere welcomed. It is esked thst they be brief end to the point, end thst they beer the ns me end sddress of the writer All meteriel on the opinion pege is thst of its respective suthors end not necessenly thst of the Editoriel Bosrd, stsff, or the AOninistretion. Offices ere meinteined in Treiler 4 of the Commons et Coming Community College. For sdvertising, telephone (607) - 962-9339 All copy submitted is subject to editing. First cless postege peid et Coming. New York. The Crier it e member of United Press Intemetionsl. All ritfits reserved. PAGE 3 MAY 2, 1974 THE CRIER Corning School Board Candidates On The Issues by Tom Beiswenger, Editor Tuesday, May 7, is the date set for the election of two people to serve on the Corning-Painted Post School Board. Three candidates are running for the two non-paid five-year Board positions. They are: Lou Nell McGrady, Robert Kelley, and incumbent James Knapp. This is Mrs. McGrady’s third bid for a seat on the Board and Kelley’s second try; both have yet to be successful. The candidates aired their views at an open forum sponsored by the PTA last Thursday. No CCC students, other than a Crier reporter, showed at the sparsely attended meeting. Mrs. McGrady On Education In her opening statement, Mrs. McGrady stressed that education must be a “development of self-knowledge”, that it should concern itself with humans, not judgmental decisions. She said that students should be concerned with changes in behavior, not in mastering bodies of knowledge. “Students should recognize interdependence a-mong the peoples of the world.” Mrs. McGrady favors the elimination of standardized testing. Instead, testing “should grow from the material taught”. She also said that “the authoritarian role of the teacher should be eliminated and, instead, the teacher should be a facilitator”. Student Best Equipped In Racism Fight When questioned about racism in the district, she said that it exists and that students should be allowed to work these things out unfettered by their parents. Often students are better equipped to handle problems such as these on their own and are also much quicker at it than their adult counterparts. For Free-School On alternatives in education - in particular, the free-school proposal which is slated to come before the Board early this month, Mrs. McGrady said that since she is a member of the task force working on the proposal, she is for the free-school concept and any viable educational alternative. Voc. Ed. Should be Expanded When questioned as to her position regarding the expansion of vocational education programs in area schools, she commented that she is in favor of this. She further remarked that “not every student should be made to go to college” and that vocational education should start at an earlier level in school. Kelley: Schools as Businesses Robert Kelley, an instructor at Corning, compared the school to a business firm which must satisfy the con- sumers (students) to remain in business. He said that competition a-mong the schools would result in better schools if a student were able to go to the school of his choice. “Public education ought to behave as if it were in competition,” he said. They should be consumer-related. Free-School Delay Too Long Kelley strongly favors the free-school and chided the present school board for what he called “an overly long delay in the implementation of alternative forms of education”. He said, “We don’t have to provide for only one type of education;” the district is rich enough to provide others. Community Should Be Made Aware of Racism On racism, Kelley said that it does exist in the Coming school district. He recommended that the school board make the community a-ware of the problem, but he felt that it is basically the teacher’s obligation to deal with it. Extend Vocational Ed Kelley is a strong proponent for vocational education and feels that the high schools “haven’t done enough to prepare students for vocational careers.” He feels that most students are forced to choose higher education and consequently, many become college drop-outs. In Kelley’s opinion, vocational education should be expanded to students at an earlier age, possibly in ninth grade. He said that our schools should concentrate more on vocational careers and education. Knapp Cites Experience The incumbent, James Knapp, unlike his rivals read his opening statement from a pre-prepar-ed text. He cited his five years of experience on the school board as giving him a better handle on how to solve the problems facing the district. He complimented' Corning’s schools as being good “because our citizens want them to be good”. However, it is difficult to improve standards as well as maintain others, he said.. Hedges on Free-School When questioned about his position regarding alternatives in education and especially the free-school concept, he replied, "We’ve got to provide alternatives for people but there are serious questions to be answered.” Among these questions is the big one to cost. He said that if these alternatives are going to cost more than what ii normally costs to educate a student, then it must be looked at more careful- However, after much hedging, he gave his position. He said that “with the proper setup, limitations, and evaluation mechanisms,” he would be for a “form of free-school.” Racism: Not A Major Priority On racism, Knapp acknowledged its existence and cited it as a “major problem for the people most affected.” However, he said it is not a major priority to the school district and that the solution will come with “continuous effort”. Vocational Education Knapp, like the other candidates, is strongly in favor of vocational education. He also feels that the program should be extended to youhger students. He said that it should not have an inferior tag and that it ranks equally along with college education. School board elections never produce a large voter turnout; but when the taxpayers are upset about the board’s policies, they always complain. However, probably the best way to effect one’s power over the policies chosen by the board is through voting in the school board elections. Polls are open until 9:00 p.m. May 7, get out and vote. Wilber at Odds with Nixon’s VN Policies by Tom Beiswenger Letters to t Editor_ Candidate Takes Issue With Editorial To the Editor: I would like to take this opportunity to refute some of the statements that have been printed about myself and about the Tech Club in the April 25, 1974, issue of the Crier. The item concerned most is the accusations made by the Crier’s Editor in Chief, Tom Beiswenger, and the General Manager of WCEB, Dave Game. These accusations are “false” and harmful to my purpose for my involvement in Student Government. These two gentlemen have stated that I am a student of the Technology Department, and that I belong to the Tech Club. Neither of which is true. I am enrolled in the Human Science Program in the Social Science Division, which is about as far away from the Technology Department as anyone can get. My other concern stems from an article written by Tom Beis- wenger about the Tech Club ruling Student Government. The main reason that I got involved in Student Government was so there could be some other type of representation within it. My decision to run on the same ballot with Roger Williams, was that this would equalize the representation, and I likeed what he thought. So far as the Tech Club ruling Student Government this is true, but ask yourselves the question Why? The only answer that I have is that the Tech are the only ones interested. A fact that may prove my point is that, there are still some open seats in Student Government why aren’t these seats filled. The Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper, and the General Manager of WCEB are making me stop and think about getting involved with any organization at this school. Why should I be submitted to these false acquisations just because I liked another person’s thoughts. And what would it be like if I was elected to office? Would I be subjected to this treatment all of the time? If someone has something bad to say to me, I will listen and take it as it is given, but only if the facts concerning me are true. If these two people who are in charge of two important business’s can’t accumulate the full and true facts about these things, they shouldn’t be writing these articles. Robert H. Hooey 1158 Pleasant Street Horseheads, N.Y. 14845 (EDITOR’S NOTE: It is true that there was an error in the Editor’s column. Bob Hooey is not a member of the Tech Club. However the rest of the facts in the aforementioned column are correct and can be documented.) Nixon could have ended the war in Vietnam in 1969 when Hanoi first presented its five-point-plan for peace. According to Captain Eugene Wilbur, speaker at a convocation held last week, the only difference between the ‘69 proposal and the ‘72 agreement is the matter of reparation payments. Hanoi again put forth another five-point plan in ‘71 and again Wilbur said that the only difference be-twen this proposal and the ‘72 agreement was one word. The word recognized sovereignty for Vietnam as one nation. He said that the only reason Nixon would not recognize this is because he thought that Theiu was not strong enough. Consequently, the POW’s were nothing but pawns in this endeavor. This is evidenced by the fact that the peace proposals are so similar. When asked how he knew all of this, Wilbur replied that while a POW, the North Vietnamese kept him informed of the events, verbatum statements, and proposals of both sides. He said that only the interpretation of these was tainted with propoganda. After his release he checked with the State Department on the authenticity of the verbatum reports he got while a prisoner and found them to be word for word correct. He further noted that the Hanoi bombings did not do anything but kill a lot of civilians.'Contrary to what the Defence Department claims, no industries were hit during these raids. He said that Hanoi had anticipated the raids many years previous and had moved all its industry into the caves. Consequently, Wilber claims that Dixon’s statement that the bombings brought the peace agreement was incorrect. Instead, he said that the “bombings were a farce, they were just hanging on to give the U.S. a good name” and to “buy time for the Saigon government”. During that time the big build-up of the South Vietnamese Army took place. This build-up turned out to be ineffective because no matter how much you give Saigon, they just wildly shoot it up, he said. Wilber concluded that the peace agreement signed in ‘72 is not an honorable peace because you can’t have an honorable peace in a dishonorable war”. PAGE 4 THE CRIER MAY 2, 1974 Ex-Pow Talks To C.C.C. Audience Captain W. Eugene Wilber retired U.S. Navy pilot, who spent 56 months in a prisoner of war camp in North Vietnam, spoke on campus April 25th. His talk was informal and ranged in subject from his experiences as a prisoner to his views on politics and religion. Captain Wilber began his talk with a vivid description of his capture. In 1968 he went to Vietnam as a commanding officer aboard an aircraft carrier. His plane was shot down 17 days after his arrival in Vietnam, in an attack which killed his partner. “I’m sorry that he, like 50,000 others, died in this war. If we can learn from our experiences in Vietnam they will not have died in vain”, he said. He was captured about one minute after he parachuted to the ground. He was stripped down to his underwear and blindfolded, and marohed through rice paddies to a house where he was given water from a rusty tin can. He was taken to Hanoi, travelling at night and hiding during the day. The journey lasted nine days. During the trip he suffered a stroke which left him with no feeling on the entire left side of his body, making an ordeal of performing the necessary functions of life. Eating and drinking were especially difficult for him. He recovered within a few. months. He described the prison in Hanoi to which he was taken. “It was built during the French colon- ial period. The walls were 18 feet high and one meter thick, made of solid granite. The prison filled an entire block in the center of the city.” He said that the prison was “very formidable” and impossible to escape from. He said that the food, which consisted of soup and fatty pork twice daily, was very bad, but he and the other prisoners “just had to learn to eat it and enjoy it as much as we could”. After about a year the food improved, with another meal each morning and small amounts of salt and sugar a few times a week. In 1969, conditions were improved with the prison. The prisoners were allowed some organized activities. “It seemed that things were getting better rapidly”, he said. The following year the prisoners were given Bibles and English -language magazines and newspapers to read. Some of these were printed in Russian, as the Vietnamese were “very reluctant” to admit reading material from the U.S. Books and magazines were shared by all of the prisoners. Captain Wilber estimated that he read 300 books while in captivity, which was “much higher than the average”. Beginning in 1972 the prisoners were allowed to receive “Stars and Stripes”, a U.S. military newspaper published in'The Far East. Through this, the prisoners learned of current events in the U.S. - by Julie Garfunkle crime, unemployment, inflation, and news of the growing anti-war movement. This was met by reactions ranging from disbelief to rage, on the part of the prisoners. Captain Wilber described prison life as “pretty grim”. He lived in a cell that was seven feet long and about four feet wide, which contained all of his possessions - two sets of underwear, one set of clothes and a sweater, all made of cotton and “not very warm”, three cotton blankets, a straw mat, toothpaste, a small bar of soap and a towel. He felt the worst of prison life was the slow passage of time. “Everyday seemed about forty hours long. We were a-wakened at 5:00 A.M. and had nothing to do until our first meal at ten. We took naps from noon to 2:00 P.M. and just sat around until bedtime at 9:00 P.M. The prison rules tightly regulated working and sleeping times. Captain Wilber said that he spent most of his time thinking. “Why was I in Vietnam? What was the U.S. really after? Had there been any alternatives for me? Legistically, the U.S. Constitution did not support the war. Of course, I was given orders to go to Vietnam — but what authority did the President have for sending me there?” “The constitutions says that war must be declared or commanded by the United Nations, so why was I involved without either having been done? How could I justify my partner’s death?” He felt that there was simply no basis for the war, and that the Vietnamese position was “Yankee go Home”. He said that the North Vietnamese did not want Americans to be involved there, any more than they had wanted the Chinese, French, or Japanese who had been there in the past.’ It was hard for me, as an American and a Christian, to kill someone because he is a Communist”, he said. Captain Wilber and other prisoners made several anti-war statements voluntarily while in prison. “This was required by my conscience”, he explained. Serious charges including mutiny were filed against him by another prisoner of war who he never met until his return to the United States. The charges, which he described as “ridiculous” were later dismissed by the Secretary of the Navy. Captain Wilber retired from the Navy last October and now lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with his wife and children. He said that his im- prisonment was “very difficult” for his family. It was IV2 years from his capture before his wife received word that he was alive. “It was cruel, but the Vietnamese felt that it was cruel for us to be over there killing them. There were no Vietnamese in America killing Americans.” Captain Wilber asked the members of the audience to study the peace agreements and ask themselves “What are we violating?” He said, “The world is so small — if we are really proud of our country, we should make sure that what it does is right. We are violating the peace agreements right now, as is the other side. We have no control over them, but this is a democratic society so we have control over what we do.” The spirit of the peace agreement was Yankee go home — we haven’t done that yet. The conflict is not capitalism versus Communism — it concerns political freedom.” Citing the seven million U.S. soldiers who served in Vietnam, Captain Wilber said, “It is important for Vets to speak out and say that we have to accept other people for what they are and try to improve ourselves”. He concluded his talk with some of his views on politics and religion and their relation to each other. “Politics concern people and their earthly affairs. Re- Continued on Page 8 Wilber.- Calley Should Be Freed Wilber Treated Well As POW Captain Eugene Wilber thinks that Lieutenant William Calley should be let go free. He said this in response to a question put to him during a question and answer session held in the Commons at 2:00 p.m. following the 1:00 p.m. convocation in the Gym. About 30 people attended. In his statement on Calley he said, “If he (Calley) stays in jail, so should about 20 other higher ups”. However, he did agree that Calley was wrong. He said that Calley “committed a war crime and there was no doubt about it”. According to Wilber, what Calley did happened all the time in Vietnam. He said that the war was a people’s war which means that everyone becomes a participant, even women and children. Consequently, you considered everyone as your enemy. However, this kind of war crime could not be condoned so, the military decided to make an example of Calley. In Wilber’s opinion, Calley carried the guilt for everyone who committed a war crime, thus getting all the higher-ups out of trouble. On another topic, amnesty, Wilber said that the President should grant a general amnesty and that any kind of conditional amnesty is “ridiculous”. He said that the whole question of amnesty “has to be looked at by all”. He cited as an example the agreement that the United States and Hanoi signed to end the war. According to him, amnesty was part of the peace agreement if you consider that we gave amnesty to all the people who we considered our enemy in Vietnam. He considered leaving one’s country, unsure of what would happen in the future, as punishment en- ough. On giving amnesty to deserters Wilber said, “The difference between a draft dodger and a deserter is hard to determine”. Therefore, amnesty must be granted to all, unconditionally. During the same discussion, a question, concerning whether he would fight again in a right war came up. He said thatJie would but only if it was truly in defense of the United States. However, that is not what the military is doing now. He said that the military is too big, that it is spending too much for other non-essential things. He suggested that, “The military’s business should be limited to defending its country”. Most of those attending stayed through the whole question and answer period which ended at 3:00 P.M. According to Capt. Eugene Wilber, a released POW of the Vietnam war, “I was not tortured and the guys around me Were not tortured”. He did say that torture did exist, however. Hanoi did not consider it torture; instead, it was punishment for not following the prison rules. Wilber said that those rules were much the same as for a kid, you were told when to do everything. “You had to do what you were told or you were punished”. When queried by a citizen at a question and answer session after the convocation held last week about the prison guard and the statement by many that they were “sadistic”, Wilber replied there were all types of guards. He said that they had all lost close relatives, evidently one of the criterea North Viet Namese used in picking its prison guards, and had various temperments. However, he said flat out that there “were no guards that could be classified as sadistic”. The treatment was contradictory To the Geneva Convention of 1954 as the U.S. claimed, but he said, the U.S. broke that agreement when it got into Vietnam. Nobody ever declared war and consequently, North Vietnam did not follow the Geneva accords. Other than punishment for broken rules, Wilber considered that he had been treated pretty well or at least better than average by his cap-tors. MAY 2. 1974 THE ARTS Hobbit Opens Tonight In a change of pace from the usual heavy offering, the Drama Club and the Two-bit Players will stage a light play, The Hobbit tonight through Saturday. The play is considered by its author, J.R.R. Tolk-ein, to be an adult fairy-tale, but one does not have to look far to find all kinds of symbolisms in it. It is funny, crazy, and absurd, but rendered well by our college company. Directing the play is Tim Cleary and Jo Anne Laface. This is their first try as directors. Others in the play include Kim Dolittle who was last seen in the lead role in last year’s production “Sticks and Bones”, Dave Burbage, Kim Gillette, Tony Orbanac and a host of others. The curtain goes up at 8:15 in the newly renovated Science Amphlitheatre tonight. THE CRIER Lady Sings The Blues by Bill Gray I should tell you from the very beginning, that I didn’t expect to like this film. I was very pleasantly surprised. ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ was one of the most interesting and entertaining 144 minutes I have spent in a long while. The film, for those of you who don’t know, is the highly fictionalized story of Billie Holliday. Ms. Holliday was a blues singer/songwrit-, «r of the 20’s and 30's, proud of her blackness long before it became fashionable. This is the film debut of ex-Supreme, super- star Diana Ross. I don’t know why she was not given the Oscar. Her performance certainly deserved it. The film required her to become a raving maniac, a 13 year-old child, a prostitute, a morphine addict, and a lovely scared lady. She became all of them, with ease. When Billie was attacked by a marching group of cross-carrying white sheets, Ms. Ross’s performance mirrored what she must have gone through in her early days in the fantasy world of show business. The film also owes a Hungry Dwarfs grab for food in Hobbit rehearsal. lot to the excellent jobs done by two of the supporting actors. Billy Dee Williams was exceptional in his role as Billies husband. The scenes featuring he and Ms. Ross together are some of the best of the film. Especially memorable was their meeting, when he and Billie went to the hip white restaurant, located uptown. Their moments together are the films happiest moments. Another great co-star in the film was the ‘piano man’, beautifully portrayed by Richard Pryor. Pryor is a so-so comic, who decided to try his hand at acting. We are all lucky that he did. His rare inborn sense of humor fits the part of the junky, goodtime piano-man like a glove. When he was beaten to death by the small-time gangsters, I swear I felt the blows. The film also had many interesting cene-matic effects. There were shots in the film when sections of Billie’s life were shown through the use of a series of brown and white photographs. These scenes helped to create a sense of reality within the film, by creating an ‘actual event being photographed’ motif. There were also some striking beautiful shots of Ms. Ross alone on a blue background singing to no one. They tended to take my breath away and fog up my eyes. No kidding. In my opinion there were only two serious flaws in the film. First, at five reels, it was a bit too long. Secondly, it was not the story of Billie Holliday and shouldn’t have been played up as such. Rochester Philarmonic: Impressive In Both Sound And Appearance Friday, April 26, music of Italy filled the gymnasium. In this concert by the Rochester Philharmonic, Morton Gould, the noted composer and conductor, chose music of Italian spicuous; the attention of the audience was drawn to the music and the musicians, not to the conductor. These seemingly simple methods were very effective in the creation of very by Kip Said ly found in orchestras serving cities the size of Rochester. The second piece, "Botticelli Triptych” by Respighi featured the woodwind players, notably the oboist and the * composers or those strongly influenced by Italy. Mr. Gould himself composed the last piece which employed the combined forces of the Rochester and Corning Philharmonics, impressive in both sound and appearance. In his conducting, Mr. Gould was not ornate and certainly not con- beautiful and intricate myriads of sounds in music of varied styles. The program began with “The Thieving Magpie”, a selection by Rossini. This piece which has recently been made familiar as a theme from the film Cloekwork Orange demonstrated a precision in the string sections rare- bassoonist. At times, it seemed to be written for woodwind trio or woodwind quintet with orchestral accompaniment. The piece consisted of three movements, each with a different mood inspired by paintings by Botticelli. A more familiar piece by Tchaikowsky “Cap-ricio Italien,” was em- phasized by the impressive sound of an augmented brass section. After the intermission, a piece by baroque composer Gabrielli, proved that the concept of stereo sound is not unique to the twentieth century. The piece, a canzona, was performed by two brass choirs at opposite sides of the area where the orchestra was seated. Antiphonal music of this type must have been very impressive in the huge Italian cathedrals, as it had as almost stunning effect when presented in our own gymnasium. The last work was composed by Mr. Gould. Entitled Venice, it was a pictorial and musical representation of the city. This piece employed two orchestras and brass choir, in addition, this piece demonstrated the great variety of sounds a percussion section can be called upon to create. The different scenes (or movements) were entitled, “Morning Scene with Church colors”, “Saint Mark’s Square,” “Traffic”, “Pigeons”, “Cafe Music in Saint Mark’s Square”, “Doge’s Palace”, “Grand Canal”, and “Night Festival with Fireworks”. Very amusing was the movement “Pigeons” it reproduced the sounds of cooing of the birds, their flight, and as Mr. Gould described, “the other things pigeons do”. Between pieces and in the quieter parts of-the music, accompaniment was provided by the crickets of Spencer Hill. Unfortunately, not many persons attended this concert. It was stated by members of the Coming Philharmonic who had assisted in a duplicate concert presented to the Rochester public the night before in the Eastman School of Music Theatre that the theater had been filled up to and including the second balcony. Corningites who chose to stay home missed a great concert. Corning Community College students, too, have reason to be angry with themselves; student tickets for a concert of this type usually cost $1.50. Tickets to this concert were reduced to 50