The Michigan Daily-Sunday Page 2--Sunday, April 2; 1978-The Michigan Daily RAMRLINGS/eileen daley FILM /christopher potter T O HER parents, she is their bright, T well-mannered youngest daughter. To others who know her - either per- sonally or by reputation-she is better known as "Perv", the resident sex monger of Helen Newberry, and my roommate for a while last year. I'll call her Wanda. Wanda and I became best friends at age 12, when her passion for Tom Jones and my affinity for Paul McCartney drew us together. Her erotic fantasies about.Tom Jones were always a big hit at slumber parties, even though most of us didn't always understand what she was talking about. It was in the sixth grade that we decided to be roommates at the University of Michigan, Fall term, 1976. I was sure rooming with Wanda would be great. She has always had an ex- tremely perverse sense of humor, and since seventh grade, when she pointed out the double entendre of "She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain", I've been very amused by it. I never would have guessed her perversion would for- ce me to move out. After a few months at school, Wan- da's libido went wild, and she changed from someone mildly obsessed with sex to a full-blown erotopath. "I see everything in sexual terms now," she explained once. "Telephone poles are phallic symbols to me, and the world is one big orgy." ROSS PLAYGIRL pinups were soon 'Gspread all over the room, along with a chart detailing how many calories various sexual acts burn up. A colorful embroidered sampler which said "Home - a place to lay my head and a few intimate friends," hung above her bed. It was not long before she became known as the "Perv" to everyone on our side of campus. At an early October football game, amid West Quad cries of "South Quad sucks!", someone shouted out "Wanda sucks!" She immediately jumped onto the bench, shook her fist and shouted, "You're damn right I do!" Our phone didn't stop ringing for weeks after that. She was inspired by the West Quad- South Quad cursing however, and she thought it would be quaint if Newberry and Barbour followed their example of comraderie. One night she yelled "Barbour sucks!" out a bathroom window. Bar- bour women responded to her taunts and the badgering went on for weeks until, after a women's studies class, she decided it would be more of a cut to yell "Barbour can't suck!" During one study day, the razzing became particularly vicious: "Newberry sleeps with wazoos!" screamed an irate Barbourite. "We take any ethnic group!" came the reply. T HE BARBS continued for some time, and the next day, many residents who had been fervently trying to study were angry. Complaints reached the building director, who was slumming it for the day by eating in the Barbour-Newberry cafeteria with RDs and RAs from both establishments. The building director was appalled to learn of the previous night's activities, and he wanted to have the instigator's identity. Our RD, Gail, told us she tried desperately to defend Wanda's charac- ter - Wanda was really a nice, decent young lady, she argued. But the building director was not convinced, and demanded that the trollop be poin- ted out. Reluctantly, Gail nodded towards Wanda, who was bopping across the cafeteria in a t-shirt proclaiming "A hard man is good to find." The building director was not amused, and has since threatened to cancel her lease. When "Perv" turned our room into an erotic art gallery, I could take it no, more. In addition to her pin-ups and posters, the light switch plate was replaced by a picture of a lecherous overweight flasher done in pale blue and green watercolors. Fleshy paper mache sculptures were everywhere. Most notable among them was a four- foot replica of the male anatomy which she sometimes used as a hobby horse to ride to dinner. I had had it - there was no way I could ever let my parents visit me, and it was impossible to have a date over without him suspecting the place was a campus branch of the Velvet Touch. But I didn't expect her to change the decor simply because I didn't like it, and she wouldn't have anyway. So in January, I moved down the hall. No bit- ter feelings were involved, and we remain as close as ever. In fact, the other day she sent me a card. "When it comes to friends I have to hand it to you," it says. "Or would you rattler come over and get it?" 'the envelope please ,ri > ++.... : a .+-.. ' ; ..,ar, 1 . '' ... . r,,,,,, '. - -_~ c M' , ,,.r r orr r. """r ++ C ONTRARY TO the wishes of my best artistic and social intentions, I suspect I'll be at least obliquely glued to the TV screen when Oscar once again rears his glossy but shopworn head at the Academy Awards tomorrow night. There will most likely be nothing better to do. I will probably lug my television up to the Daily edit room, plunk it down in a corner and hope that its blaring media prominence will lure a few film- freak afficianadoes over to its grey-lit sanctuary, ready to argue the general hot banalities of Travolta vs. Dreyfuss, Bancroft vs. MacLaine (Yeechh!), Lucas vs. Speilberg. Deep in my tiriseled gut, I don't think I really care. It should have been an interesting year for the Academy Awards, but it didn't turn out that way. The expected battle of the galaxies didn't materialize, as Star Wars was nominated for best picture but Close Encounters, astonishingly, was not._ The Year of the Actress should have and indeed does provide stiff com- petitiongbut by all the wrong people. Kathleen Quinlan gave the most galvanic female performance of the decade in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, but wasn't even nominated; nor were Sissy Spacek and Shelly Duvall, whose brainy interpretations lifted Robert Altman's otherwise eclec- tic triviality 3 Women to a passable level of interest; nor was Lily Tomlin's compellingly engaging kook of The Late Show. Diane Keaton was nominated for the wrong picture-her shattering tragedian portrait in Looking for Mr. Goodbar ranked leagues above her charming but light- weight mea culpa of Annie Hall. Liza Minelli was vibrantly poignant in New York, New York, but was forgotten almost as swiftly as the movie was discarded itself. So who have we left to root for? Well, officially there's mechanical Marcia Mason counting her way through the mechanical pacings of The Goodbye Girl (Best Picture nominee, yet!), all under the auspices of mechanical- laughter hubbie Neil Simon; we also have those over-emotive harpies Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine ham- ming their way through the stillborn soap The Turning Point (Best Picture nominee, of course); the only ringing renunciation to Oscar's canonized mediocrity comes from Jane Fonda, whose subtle but wonderfully sinewy portrayal of Lillian Hellman was, un- fortunately, far better than her film, Julia (Best Picture nominee, natch), deserved. THE ODDSMAKERS claim Richard Burton will win Best Actor, not because his performance in Equus is any great shakes, but because the award will compensate for all of Oscar's past slights and defeats suf- fered unto the aging Welshman. Three deeply flawed but fascinatingly offbeat films-Saturday Night Fever, 3 Women and Looking for Mr. Goodbar -secured a grand total of one nomination between the three of them. Reportedly, this mass-group omission was due to the fact that 3 Women and Goodbar were made by maverick, buck-the-establishment individualists, while Saturday Night Fever's predilec- tion toward the youth culture proved of- fensive to the Academy voting mem- bers, whose average age reportedly approaches 65. The bookies claim Julia and The Tur- ning Point are running neck and neck for best picture. If the latter wins, I will personally puke upon my TV screen; if the former takes the honors, I will merely propel forwardly the contents of one of the many cans of beer I will doubtless be 'course of the 1 I must, ho Oscar's ritual provide an alt distorted by 1 lenses. If I'm life, I can at 1 a couple of . 35mm psych unending val suming anti-p seems the lea a couple of the ch these cell other misgui Right?? I'm tired, ft I had someth: night. I call n vary word r critics serve society? Are Shaw, Benjar others have c harpies beset own lack of mindedly to artists of the bet, dear rea else would tl such appeal t< I don't knox subject frighi Anne Bancro Am I really love-with illusion reall life? If they s tomorrow, w on, unaltered I have to night, for the of sheer brea and I honest] happen to n religiously p sund av mndeazine lCHOWTI PUZZLE N. Reach; attain .+ A. Site of a number of recent illegal break-ins and burglaries B. Type of reporter currently in vogue C. "Operation _."-John Caulfield's plon to provide "offensive intelligence and defensive security" for Nixon's reelection campaign D. Tending to call or draw forth E. Game the objectof which is to snap small disks into a container F. instrument for compressing ableeding vessel G. Incited to action (2 words) I. The CIA spent $6 million to topple this elected South American leader . Made a sound like o cat . Marked by weakness or decadence K. Presented or went over again 77 85 149 169 179 94 165 192 211 218. 33 46 64 70 95 106 110 118 134 145 163 215 209 4 78 103 125.176 187 180 213 204 7 24 49 92 128 143 185 151 19 19 101 47 80 84 183 112 13216469 61 O. Catch-all justification for governmental abuse of power (2 words) 45 52 172 198 44 109 56 2763 72 82 93 123 126 138 142 150 58 105 BY STEPHEN J. POZSGA I Copyright 1978 INSTRUCTIONS Guess the words defined at the left and write them in over their numbered dashes. Then, transfer each letter to the cor- responding numbered square in the grid above. The letters printed in the upper-right-hand corners of the squares indi- cate from what clue-word a particular square's letter comes from. The grid, when filled in, should read as a quotation. from a published work. The darkened squares are the spaces between words. Some words may carry over to the next line. Meanwhile, the first letter of each guessed- word at the left, reading down, forms an acrostic, giving the author's name and the title of the work from which the quote is extracted. As words and phrases begin to form in the grid, you can work back and forth from clues to grid until -the puzzle is complete. Answer to Last Week's Puzzle 'In the history of finance, capitalism, in-the history of medicine, it was an event of single consequence. It marked a score of advances in engineering, government planning, labor relations. It was the first grandiose and. assertive show of American power at the turn of the century. " -David McCullough The Path Between the Seas 160 166 190 206 148 162 20 36129 107 2051IS 170 22 40 53 866113 34 15 38 50 60 30 186 141 6 74 152 188 130 16 17 108 212 117 203 146 11 41 73 173 207 90 121 156 krishna P. Nixon's private secret police 0. CIA's domestic spying program (2 words) R. Washed; poured S. Impending: close at hand T. Decide not to remain (3 words) U. Fix upon: call: ordain V. One who seeks to overthrow or overturn W. Indent; jag X. One having or affecting sensitivity to the beautiful Y. Crowd upon; press Z. Man of property, authority or education in the eastern Mediterranean 48 75 99 210 182 194 67 32 --- ---- - - - - - - - 2 136 13 26 76 86 97 104 127 133 147 161 175 184 37 202 120 155 12 51 2219 139 79 87 135199 43 62 6 83 171 181 100 119 197 214 25 195 159 140 222 18 10 66 81 91 122 177189154220 31 5 157 98 193 54 65 178 89 116 124 168216 35 191 3 9 221 55 29 1 8 21 42 174'200 (Continued from Page 6) master cannot answer the problem, it is referred to the governing board of commission, who will provide an an- swer gleaned from the Bagavad-Gita. THE KRISHNA devotees search- ing for the truth mirror a larger slice of American society looking for answers in other mediums. In the sixties, the medium was often drugs. Today's youth are turning to the burgeoning swarm of Eastern religions that offer direction and identity. The Hare Krishna believers join the ranks- of other young spiritualists - the Moonies, the Sufis and innumberable yogis - all offering a different path to truth. Robert Greenfield described the workings of many Eastern faiths in his book The Spiritual Supermarket, an, account of modern day gurus. "There exists in America an entire circuit,".Greenfield says, "a spiritual counterculture, .for which there is even a. guidebook called Spiritual Com- munity Guide. The credentials required of those applying for positions of power in this new world are, at best, hazy. No degree can certify a man to be "holy". No piece of paper can attest to the fact that he is able to accept responsibility for the lives of others. Along the circuit there are scenes that deny the law of probability." One of those scenes is the growing ac- ceptance of the Hare Krishna movement. Detroit-based Kirti Raja Das, a former head of the California publishing and distribution center for Krishna materials, estimates that 90 per cent of the libraries in the country have the teachings of Swami Prabhupada on file. The business caters to a variety of interests, using the best of Madison Avenue methods to swell the number of congregants. According to Kirti Raja Das, the publishing company produced 55 million books in 26 languages on the culture, philosophy, meditation and yoga relating to Krishna in the past ten _years. A member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Club and host to many State Department dignitaries, Kirti Raja Das works to give the movement credibility in mainstream American society. "Krishna consciousness comes off better with a little bit of hair and a three-piece suit, so that is how I do it," he said. A member of the Detroit Economics Club and the International Institute, the seemingly polished young executive has discussed the teachings of Krishna with many prominent figures, including Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Far from being a departure from traditional beliefs, the religion em- bodies traditions basic to every doc- trine - one supreme being who com- municates his will through a chosen speaker and the realization of life after death. The Krishna devotees welcome with open arms the discontented in society. The blend of eastern mysticism and western advancement fits nicely into the framework of American society. HIS DIVINE Grace Swami Prab- hupada, disseminator of Krish- na to the western world, died last fall. His followers, while acknowledging that he "has left the planet," feel that he lives on in another form because they believe the soul never dies. They plan to carry on his work, building a Krishna-conscious society. "He went through a lot both for me and for everyone else who is a member of this society. Now, upon leaving, I have a great responsibility to carry on his work," said Kirti Raja Das. Sitting in the dimly lit Ann Arbor temple, relati ten years as Raja Das sp leader and d the sect. After a few to the New that only in t Grace Swam direction for "It was the perience I + deringly. "I perience -1 words like v those are no even near to Pari Pu devotees in ded their i reminiscing The late af the room I shading the grey. The c parapherna "People a we are not group," Par night bunch thing. What and benefici L. One of the main sources of b sn s 1 130 - 1- 1- 2- information in the spy business 39 57 114 102 131 201 144 167 208 M. Code name for FBI's counter- intelligence program 4 23 59 :71 96 111 153 158 217 137 ___________________________________________________________________________________ II