Thursday, September 5, 1974 THE MICHIGAN UAiLY Page Seven Thursday, September 5, 1974 THE MICI-IIGAN UAILr Page Seven Loneliness on Saturday night Local galleries delight art lovers, nature enthusiasts By BETH NISSEN The best part about Saturday night is Sunday morning. Most students can escape the electric nagging of their ,alarm clocks and leave themselves umpled in bed until noon. Getting happy and tired enough to necessi- tate such slothfulness is part of the American institution of 'Saturday night. For those who have the security .of an assured companion for the weekend, or those with a well-established and. stable circle of friends, Ann Arbor is a .tolerable place to spend a Saturday. There are several good places to go with friends to laugh, dance and drink. 'BUT FOR THOSE who are still rela- tively new here, those with no backlog of homework, or friends from Back Home, Ann Arbor can be a social dust-. bowl. If you live in a dorm, chances are the majority of the inhabitants will be out late Saturday night, leaving you to wander morosely through the halls in search of another wanderer :or lie on the floor of the television room smiling stupidly at All in the Family reruns and off-color commercials.. If you want to feel particularly self- righteous and in control, you can pick up books and reading glasses and head for the cloister of the library, where you can read last week's Poli Sci as- signment and the March 3 issue of Time. THERE IS ALWAYS the inner sanc- tum of your room, where you can scrape Tuesday's peanut butter off the knife, write a newsy letter home or pace back and forth on the six by four piece of carpet you can call your own.. Somehow being alone on a Saturday night denotes a personal failure and social leprosy, The sixth night of each week is the traditional ritual day to prove and 'celebrate personal mastery of the social graces. Social interaction is expected; com- mercials on television insist you can- not be happy or even well-adjusted un- less hand-in-hand with a lover and a balloon in a sunny park or giggling with a gaggle of compatible friends. The students who feel very much alone have few alternatives. They can walk confidently into a bar, order a drink and try to pick someone up -and end up staring through' the bottom of the glass. There are parties, if one knows where to go and when, but a solitary merge into the chattering traf- fic of strangers is not an easily execut- ed or comfortable maneuver. If a student gets desperate for com- panionship, there is a computer dating service that matches you with some- one who looks like your cousin for $15.00 a night. YOU CAN PUT a heart-felt plea into the Daily personal column and will pro- bdbly get a high-pitched voice asking. you over the phone how you and a can of Reddi-Whip would like to spend an evening. If all else fails, you can Flair your name and number on an Angell flall wall and take a layer of skin off your knees praying for a miracle con- tact. Being alone has its undeniable good points; privacy on a standing-room- only size campus has some value. But there are time when even the most Orthodox. hermits become bored with themselves and want to reflect other personalities instead of wallowing in their own. Finding a satisfying social life in Ann Arbor is a challenge, even to the de- voutly friendly. There is no proven answer, no infallible solution, only ter- minal relief in feeling very sorry for yourself. By JANET HARSHMAN If you have a desire to be "cultured," but can't tell the :lifference between a Picasso and a Rembrandt, don't be discour- aged. You don't have to- be an artist or a sharp-eyed, critic to enjoy going to an art gallery- especially in Ann Arbor. Offer- ing a wide variety of art styles and specialties, the city's gal- leries have something for every- one from the Bob Dylan sketch- es to Eskimo soaps one carv- ings. * * * Union Gallery If you want to visit an art gallery that doesn't "cater to sophisticated or s' n o b b i s h needs," go to the Michigan Union and walk into the Union Gallery on the first floor. In contrast to many other com- mercial galleries, the Union Gallery was established two years ago to aid local emerging artists and to provide a place for students to exhbit and sell t h e i r art. Representing the widest variety of art styles and forms, the Union Gallery has something for everyone, includ- ing oils, lithographs, ceramics, macrame, batique, jewelry, pho- tography and blown glass. Be- i w 4 t I 1 l 1 r l r i f ji $ ore the beginning of each nonth, 'submitted works are uried andthen selected for dis- play. Prices range from $1 to $2,000. Collector's House of Art Located on Liberty Street, this gallery offers a different kind of visual experience. Na- ture buffs will love it, for the walls are bedecked with color- ful detailed prints of wildlife and other nature subjects. All the works are "limited" edition prints" which means that only a certain amount are produced. "This makes. the work mpore valuable," says Susan Hensel, an associate of the gallery. "These prints are not just pos- ters. As you wander through the gallery, your eye will also catch some other rather rare sites, including E s k i m o soapstone carvings from Quebec, bronze sculptures, enamel jewelry, and porcelain flowers. Prices range from $12 to $60. L .antern Gallery Housed in a small shopping complex on Main Street, the Lantern Gallery displays a va- riety of media sincluding oil, sculpture and prints. A large, plush, carpeted room with high celings lends atmosphere to the gallery which contains works from all over the world. Every three weeks a different ;how is featured. The gallery also has a Collector's Club for those who are interested in knowing more about what's going on in art. Prices have range from S5 to $5,000. * * * Forsythe Gallery Located in Nickels Arcade and Gays confront stereotypes By BETH NISSEN There is, first of all, a problem of com- munication. Anything written on 'homo- sexuality by someone who is not a homo- sexual is at best an attempt at interpreta- tion of ideas and attitudes the writer can never completely identify with. No matter how accurate the writer's perception is, much of the real meaning is lost in trans- lation. Homosexuality is a skeleton in many a family closet, and efforts of organizations like the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Awareness Women's Kollective (GAWK) to bring it out in the open has incensed many of those who are legally or morally opposed to what they believe is a sexual perversion. BECAUSE GAYNESS is such an uncom- fortable subject, it has usually been pub- lically, ignored and privately whispered about.' A mention of homosexuality in a crowded room.will probably bring a few jokes to cover embarrassment, or un- easiness - and.a quick change of sub- ject.. In Afln'Atbor,'GAWK and GfL Mte pro- vided much' of the fuel for the local gay. rights movement. In past years, they have sponsored such events as "Gay Pride Week", and the "Gay Spring Conference" - a' week-long affair devoted to forums and educational workshops. The two groups also serve as social organizations, frequently holding commun- ity dances and parties.. AS EFFORTS' OF groups like GLP and GAWK prove increasingly effective, many non-homosexuals are finding it more dif- ficult to lock the subject away in their own mental closets. Some are even be- coming physically hostile 'oward gays. Homosexuality still suffers from an im- age of a mental and moral disease that can be "cured". Gayness itself 'is more than a sexual preference; being gay is not necessarily based solely on: personal sleep- ing habits. Gayness is ati attitude and a lifestyle as well. Public rejection of the gay lifestyle is probably due to the fact that gayness breaks the number one social law - it differs from what is generally accepted. MANY NON - HOMOSEXUALS,. or "straight" people, stare at two females kissing or holding hands with a gauche in- terest in something considered grotesque and freakish. To see a male imperson- ating a female in actions, mannerisms, or dress shakes the carefully programmed idea we have of what is "right" and "nor.mal", and often brings uneasiness, shudders of disgust or a shameful feel- ing that urges one not to look. From a detached philosophical or rhe- torical viewpoint, gayness can be accept- ed and understood by the "straight" com- munity. But personal emotional accept- ance and understanding is more difficult. GAYNESS IS FAR from being some- thing mothers wish for their sons,' and it still holds a strong claim for closet stor- age space. But the issue of hotnosexuality is more complex than a uueition of what the straight population is' comfortable dis- cussing. The existing attitudes toward homosex- uality are hindering the personal growth and self-acceptance of the gays them- selves, who struggle against the societaal label of a social leper. "If it bothers you to think of us as male relating _to male," said one gay, "think of us as people relating to people." For more information on GAWK and GLF, contact the University Human Sexuaity Ad- vocates at 763-4186. e r . r one of the oldest galleries in Michigan, the Forsythe Gallery is a perfect example of the "something for everyone" for- mula. It offers a wide variety of contemporary paintings, cer- amics, sculpture, graphics, and prints-all originals. On display are works by art- ists from all over the world, as well as by a number of Univer- sity faculty members. Prices of the work range from $5 to $6,000. Becrfu ihfire: The~re are babes in the woods. ARKANSAS, A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND LITLE ROCK, Ark. A') - Arkansas is the only diamond state in the nation. Diamonds can be found in the kimberlite soil of Southwest Arkansas. ,L WE BUY OU LEV 5 A I - ^ t ii \R S/i iti tt~tI y: i i i Mm ir1+ w ubridvW,ae pIZZ V ,i "Love thy enemy.. This is a religious precept that challenges the mind. Love my en- emy when I can barely deal calmly with my in-laws? Yet this hard say- ing has validity in a world where even a small act of violence has such unforeseeable repercussions. Scientific advances have heighten- ed our mutual vulnerability. Only love and non-violence can sustain us. We may concede violence is in all of us. So is God. Try His way. It works. 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