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Editorial Opinion

The clubs and organizations By Dav id Hoe ltje
on this campus a re presently
facing a diminishing membership In November, 1972, more than
crisis. Membership grows con- 25 million young Americans will
stantly smaller. be offered their first opportunity
To cope with this problem, t o shape the de st in y of the
many clubs are conducting ad- United States of America.
vertising campaigns in futile at- The immense political bloc
tempts to stimulate student body this group represents is some-
involvement. These campaigns thing American politicians have
have had little success. never had to cope with before
and one by one they are all jump -
The membership situation is
so critical that many clubs are ing on the band wagon.
facing dissolution and abandon- Making speeches to groups of
ment of causes for which they young people has become a major
originally were organized.
part of po 1 it i ca 1 c a mpaigning
Still, the remaining clubs con- which brings us to the big ques-
tinue to meet, blaming student tion concerning the youth vote.
apathy for their declining num- Reporter Kevin Dooley battles a mechanical monster in this Are we capable of distinguish-
bers. edition of THE CANYON CALL. See story below. ing between sincerity and sugar-
However, the cause may lie coated deceptions which many
elsewhere. In fact, the problem politicians are using as lures to
may lie within the clubs them- Balky Coke Machines gain the support and confidence
selves. of American voters?
If this is so, the approaches To most politicians it is the
c 1 u b s h a v e t a k e n s o f a r are Wind Up In Las Vegas same old game with new faces
merely passive attacks against added to the crowd.
U-1e effects of this crisis. They By Kevin Dooley Thoughts and ambitions have-
have yet actively to engage the
cause of the crisis. An angry cry of frustration ''He called Leon Horton to n't changed; just tactics and
words.
breaks the campus calm. fix me, but Leon, a real compe-
Furthermore, the passive and This is the greatest chal-
A stud en t, s puttering with
negative attitude of a student rage, is kicking a metallic ob- tent guy, was over his head. Then lenge that faces this country's
body is not any internal disease. ject- -the infamous Coke Machine. he told his secretary to make out new voters. We must make every
a Maintenance Work Order--in
It is only a reflection of a pas- In a sense, this vignette is triplicate, of course. utter futil- effort to avoid being led like
s ive and negative stimulus. In symptomatic of a common ill- - ity! sheep to slaughter.
other words, apathy produces the mechanization of our civil- ''I heard later that the admin- We must not be taken in by
apathy. the smiling faces making prom-
ization. There are those who be- istrator, who by this time was a ises left and right, and ranting
You cannot persuade an aud- lieve that we slowly are being raving maniac, had placed the and raving about the need to
. ie nce to adopt a certain philoso- enslaved by computers, automo- matter on the agenda for the next dump Nixon in '72.
P h y if you are not fully com- biles, appliances and vending meeting of the Board of Trustees. There is no need to replace
mitted to that philosophy your- machines that constantly booby- "All for just a lousy dime. 11 Nixon if we do not intend to fill
self. · trap our environment. Lord Coke then advised me the vacancy with a man or woman
I thought it pertinent, there- that the customer immediately
P erhaps this is the root of the fore, to interview our campus' following the frustrated admin- of better quality and ability to
problem. If so, the remedy is ob- most flagrant and autocratic ad- istrator was a cute coed with respond to the people.
Most Americans know very
vious. vocate of Machines Uber Alles- - the most georgeous chest you little about the people they vote
Only with firm dedication to the Coke Machine. ever saw. for and do not seem to care to
their cause will clubs develop an "Why do you sometimes re- ''She got two Cokes- -the one know about them.
active and positive attitude. A fuse to spit up a coke and keep the administrator paid for and Americans must start paying
stro ng co m.mitment creates an the money,'' I asked for openers. her own.'' attention to whom they are elect-
active attitude just as a ,veak "People think they can buy As I continued to interview ing and stop letting the job be
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comm itm ent creates a passive me for a 1 o us y dime, he an- the mechanical monster, it be- done by little close-knit groups
attitude. They are inter-related s we red petulantly. "You 're so came evident that there is a mas- with enough money to pay the
and flow from each other as damned smug. I like to watch you ter conspiracy afoot among the image makers of Madison Avenue.
warmth from a fire. burn.'' campus vending machines. A Democratic Republic serves
11
This active and positive at- "That's sadistic, I pointed ''We never foul up for long no purpose unless the people it
titude , in turn, acts as a magnet. out. periods of time," Lord Coke ex- supposedly serves have the am-
It repels some, but it attracts "Oh, thank you very much, 11 plained. '' Just once in a while. bition to, take advantage of its
oth ers . he said, obviously pleased. The important thing is not to es- main pri viledge- -to think and
I the n ask e d the Coke Ma- t ab l is ha modus ,operandi, a have your thoughts represented
Bill Leach chine, or as he likes to be called, pattern. in Washington.
Lord Coke, to relate any antag- ''The ideal technique is to
onistic encounters he has ex- foul up for one customer then Well, we have been given the
THE CANYON CALL perienced with disgruntled stu- work right for the next. That power to confront and change the
dents who insert their dimes and really gets them! present power structure.
PUBLISHED TWICE MONTHLY receive nothing. ''Constant misfire on our part To change or not to change is
BY JOURNALISM STUDENTS "There was this football play- is bad. We're replaced. In our something that will be up to us.
AT COLLEGE OF THE CAN- er, see, who kicked me. But he Syndicate, that's fatal. The con- We young people have done a
YONS. EDITORIAL OPINIONS lot of talking the past few years
EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICA· just sprained his ankle and was tract goes out, we 're picked up,
TION ARE THOSE OF THE WRI- out of the next game. The Signal and wind up in Las Vegas. There and now the time has come to
TER AND NOT NECESSARILY reported that he had hurt himself they put handles on us and turn transform words into actions. The
THOSE OF THE COLLEGE.
in practice. us over to the untender mercies main task will be to weed out
EDITORIAL STAFF "Then there was this coed of the slotmachine-mad grand- the good from the bad and that
David Hoeltje, Editor type chick who tried to jimmy mothers. will be no easy job. But it must
her dime back by inserting a "That's OUR hell." be done- -if, indeed, it is possible.
Suzanne Muhl Kenneth Nix One final question: If we are not able to do it
William Leach James Beydler fingernail file into my distributor.
Reid Worthington Scott Peterson She contacted a 110 volt con- "Why are you so cantankerous now, we may never have another
Richard Hunter Don Chambers nection and landed hard on her w hi 1 e the c i g a rette machine, opportunity to make our dreams
Gregory Knights Robert Stevens gluteus·maximuses. It was beau- though far from perfect, is so become realities. Events are hap~
Kevin Dooley Ron Boydston
tiful." sweet?" I inquired. pening too fast for second chan-
PHOTOGRAPHERS Lord Coke also recalled the Lord Coke shuttered in dis- ces to be permitted.
Tom Burlew Bruce McKinney college administrator who put in gust. A trickle of selzer spittle We may not be able to shape
Paul Osterhues Paul Plamondon a dime and received nothing in spritzed from his nozzle. the future, but the least we can
return- -neither his grape julep ''The cigarette machine is a do is try not to be victims of the
TONY REMENI H, ADVISOR
nor his money. fag," snorted Lord Coke. past.